An ESD protection circuit includes a detection circuit for detecting an ESD current and a bypass circuit for bypassing the ESD. The detection circuit and bypass circuit are connected to a first pad and a second pad. The bypass circuit is connected to an output terminal of the detection circuit. The bypass circuit comprises a MOS transistor, a first bipolar transistor and a second bipolar transistor. The drain of the MOS transistor, the collectors of the first bipolar transistor and the collector of the second bipolar transistor are connected to the first pad. The source and the substrate of the MOS transistor and the emitter of the second bipolar transistor are connected to the second pad. The base of the first bipolar transistor is connected to the gate of the MOS transistor and the emitter of the first bipolar transistor is connected to the base of the second bipolar transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrostatic discharge protection circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electrostatic discharge protection circuit with a bypass circuit having a plurality of bipolar transistors connected in stack.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the integration of semiconductor devices advances by reducing the line width and increasing the number of stacked film layers. For example, in the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices, the thickness of the gate oxide layer is reduced and the length of the channel is shortened as the MOS device is miniaturized. Furthermore, thickness of the junction between source and drain is reduced and the source/drain region is fabricated using the lightly doped drain (LDD) method. However, as the dimensions of integrated circuits (IC) are gradually reduced, the tolerance of current diminishes correspondingly. Therefore, the smaller the size of integrated circuits, the larger the damages caused by electrostatic discharge (ESD).
In general, the waveform of electrostatic discharge has a profile of a relatively large voltage (around 2000V) or current (around 1.3 Amp) within a very short rise time (often between 1 ns to 15 ns). Hence, if the integrated circuit receives electrostatic discharge suddenly, the integrated circuit may be burnt, damaged or punched through.
To prevent the damage of ESD to the integrated circuit, an electrostatic discharge protection circuit is normally installed between the highest voltage input terminal (VDD) and the lowest voltage input terminal (VSS) of the integrated circuit for bypassing most of the ESD current. Therefore, the ESD current are avoided to pass through the integrated circuit.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a conventional ESD protection circuit. As shown in FIG. 1, the ESD protection circuit 100 including a gate-grounded N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (GGNMOS) transistor 108 is connects with an integrated circuit 102 and two input pads 104 and 106 of the integrated circuit 102. The pad 104 is connected to an input voltage VDD and the drain of the NMOS transistor 108, and the other pad 106 is connected to input voltage VSS and the source, the gate and the substrate of the NMOS transistor 108. In general, the voltage VSS is a ground voltage. Therefore, when the ESD voltage received by the pad 104 is higher than that received by the pad 106, the parasitic bipolar transistor 110 (as dashed line 110 shown in FIG. 1) will turn on the NMOS transistor 108 to bypass the ESD current. On the contrary, when with the ESD voltage received by the pad 104 is lower than that received by the pad 106, a parasitic diode 112 (as dashed line 112 shown in FIG. 1) of the ESD protection circuit 100 or the integrated circuit 102 will be forward biased to bypass the ESD current. However, the performance of the ESD protection circuit shown in FIG. 1 is generally poor because the turn-on speed is rather slow.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of another conventional ESD protection circuit. As shown in FIG. 2, the ESD protection circuit 200 is connected with an integrated circuit 202 and two input pads 204 and 206 of the integrated circuit 202. The pad 204 is connected to an input voltage VDD and the other pad 206 is connected to another input voltage VSS. The ESD protection circuit 200 comprises an NMOS transistor 208, a resistor 210, a capacitor 212 and an inverter 214. The drain of the NMOS transistor 208 is connected to the pad 204, the source of the NMOS transistor 208 and the substrate are connected to pad 206 and the gate of the NMOS transistor 208 is connected to an output terminal of the inverter 214. The resistor 210 is connected with the pad 204 and an input terminal of the inverter 214. The capacitor 212 connects with the pad 206 and the input terminal of the inverter 214. In FIG. 2, the capacitor 212 is a MOS transistor having its source and drain connected together. The inverter 214 includes a PMOS transistor 214a and an NMOS transistor 214b. The gate of the PMOS transistor 214a and the NMOS transistor 214b are connected together to serve as the input terminal of the inverter 214. The drain of the PMOS transistor 214a and the NMOS transistor 214b are connected together to serve as the output terminal of the inverter 214. The source terminal of the PMOS transistor 214a and the NMOS transistor 214b are connected to the pad 204 and 206 respectively.
The rise time of the resistance R of the resistor 210 and the capacitance C of the capacitor 212 is proportional to the product of R and C (i.e., referred to as the RC constant). In general, the rise time RC (conventionally between 0.1 μs to 1 μs) is much larger than the rise time of ESD current (conventionally between 1 ns to 15 ns). Therefore, when the ESD voltage received by the pad 204 is greater than that received by the pad 206, the voltage V1 (shown in FIG. 2) at the input terminal of the inverter 214 is at a low level relative to the voltage VDD. After the voltage V1 is inverted by the inverter 214, a high level voltage V2 is obtained. The voltage V2 is high enough to turn on the NMOS transistor 208 to bypass the ESD current. On the contrary, when the ESD voltage received by the pad 204 is smaller than that received by the pad 206, a parasitic diode of the NMOS transistor 208 within the ESD protection circuit 200 is forward biased and hence is able to bypass the ESD current.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of yet another conventional ESD protection circuit. As shown in FIG. 3, the ESD protection circuit 300 is connected with an integrated circuit 302 and two input pads 304 and 306 of the integrated circuit 302. The pad 304 is connected to an input voltage VDD and the other pad 306 is connected to another input voltage VSS. The ESD protection circuit 300 includes a PMOS transistor 308, a resistor 310, a capacitor 312 and inverters 314 and 316. The source and the substrate of the PMOS transistor 308 are connected to the pad 304, the drain of the PMOS transistor 308 is connected to the pad 306 and the gate of the PMOS transistor 308 is connected to an output terminal of the inverter 316. The resistor 310 is connected to the pad 304 and an input terminal of the inverter 314. The capacitor 312 is connected to the pad 306 and the input terminal of the inverter 314. In FIG. 3, the capacitor 312 is a MOS transistor having its source and drain connected together. The inverter 314 comprises a PMOS transistor 314a and an NMOS transistor 314b. Similarly, the inverter 316 comprises a PMOS transistor 316a and an NMOS transistor 316b.
Referring to FIG. 3, when the ESD voltage received by the pad 304 is larger than that received by the pad 306, the voltage V3 (shown in FIG. 3) at the input terminal of the inverter 314 is at a low level relative to the voltage VDD. After the voltage V3 is inverted by the inverters 314 and 316, a low-level voltage V4 is obtained. The voltage V4 is low enough to turn on the PMOS transistor 308 to bypass the ESD current. Conversely, when the ESD voltage received by the pad 304 is smaller than that received by the pad 306, a parasitic diode of the PMOS transistor 308 within the ESD protection circuit 300 is forward biased and hence is able to bypass the ESD current.
One major drawback of the aforementioned techniques shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is that the amplitude of the voltage V2 for switching the NMOS transistor 208 and the voltage V4 for switching the PMOS transistor 308 is dependent on the ESD current. As the ESD current rises, the current passing through the channel layer between the source and the drain under the gate of the NMOS transistor 208 or the PMOS transistor 308 increases. Therefore, a gate over-drive problem may be caused when the current is over a threshold level, and the areas close to the drain and the channel may be destructed. Thus, the performance of the conventional ESD protection is reduced.
Another drawback is that when the ESD protection circuit 200 or 300 is turned, the conductive resistance thereof is high, and the potential between the VDD terminal and the VSS terminal may be increased. Therefore, the possibility of damage the integrated circuit 202 or 302 or the circuit devices inside is also increased since the protection efficiency of the ESD protection circuit is reduced. In other words, the improvement of the performance of the ESD protection circuit is necessary.

Electrostatic discharge protection circuit


An apparatus and a method for transmitting and receiving a reference signal in a wireless communication system are provided. The method includes determining a cluster-specific reference signal configuration according a cluster configuration, transmitting information about the cluster-specific reference signal configuration, and transmitting cluster-specific reference signals of at least one cluster according to the cluster-specific reference signal configuration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to transmitting and receiving a reference signal in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The aim of a communication system is to transmit a large amount of data at low error probability. To achieve the aim, it is essential to secure high system capacity. Recently, there have been femtocell technologies for reducing an interval between a user and a Radio Access Unit (RAU) by reducing a cell radius and for improving performance through the reduced interval, Coordinated MultiPoint (CoMP) technologies for improving cell-edge user performance using cooperative transmission of adjacent base stations, Virtual Cell Network (VCN) technologies, etc.
A VCN refers to a topology for adaptively building a virtual cell to optimize use efficiency of frequency resources in a multiple cell environment having different user/traffic/interference characteristics and providing a service. Distributed small base stations which belong to the virtual cell may share information in real time and may control interference using a transmission scheme such as coordinated beamforming based on the shared information. In order to operate a wireless communication system to which the VCN technologies are applied, an apparatus and method for effectively transmitting a control signal such as a reference signal according to a cell configuration which is dynamically changed is needed.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.

Apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving reference signal in wireless communication system

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology


A wire-bondable image sensor having an integral contaminant shadowing reduction structure is described. In one aspect, an image sensor includes a substrate that has a side supporting at least one imaging area and at least one wirebonding area. Light detectors are constructed and arranged to receive light through the imaging area. Bond pads are exposed in the wirebonding area for connecting to respective bond wires. A contaminant shadowing reduction structure on the imaging area has an exposed contaminant displacement surface over the imaging area and separated from the imaging area by a distance of at least 300 μm. The contaminant shadowing reduction structure is substantially transparent to radiation within an operative wavelength range specified for the image sensor. Methods of making the above-mentioned image sensor also are described.

Image sensors typically include a one-dimensional linear array or a two-dimensional array of light sensitive regions (often referred to as "pixels") that generate electrical signals that are proportional to the intensity of the light respectively received in the light sensitive regions. Solid-state image sensors are used in a wide variety of different applications, including digital still cameras, digital video cameras, machine vision systems, robotics, guidance and navigation applications, and automotive applications.
One class of image sensors is based on charge-coupled device (CCD) technology. In a common implementation, a CCD image sensor includes an array of closely spaced metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) diodes. In operation, a sequence of clock pulses is applied to the MOS diodes to transfer charge across the imaging area. Another class of image sensors is based on active pixels sensor (APS) technology. Each pixel of an APS image sensor includes a light sensitive region and sensing circuitry. The sensing circuitry includes an active transistor that amplifies and buffers the electrical signals generated by the associated light sensitive region. In a common implementation, APS image sensors are made using standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes, allowing such image sensors to be readily integrated with standard analog and digital integrated circuits.
An individual image sensor chip oftentimes is mounted inside a camera module package, which protects the image sensor against damage from environmental hazards that may arise after the image sensor chip has been packaged. The image sensor chip commonly is electrically connected to the leads of the camera module package through bond wires that are attached to bond pads on the topside of the image sensor chip or through solder bumps on the backside of the image sensor chip. Although solder-bump bonded electrical connections provide improved data rate performance due to their shorter length, wirebonded electrical connections are favored in terms of cost and throughput.
In addition to post-packaging-generated contamination, the performance and the yield of image sensors also are compromised by the presence of contaminants, such a dust and other particles, that are generated during fabrication, dicing, and packaging of the image sensors. The presence of these contaminants tend to damage various components of the image sensors, including the pixels in the image (or pixel) areas, the bond pads, and the electrical traces on the surfaces of the image sensors that carry signals to and from bonding pads.
Various approaches have been proposed for protecting wire-bondable image sensors against damage and defects that are caused by contaminants that are generated prior to the dicing and packaging of individual image sensor chips. In one approach, a photo-etchable cover wafer is attached to a semiconductor wafer containing a plurality of image sensor dice prior to dicing and packaging of individual image sensor chips. The cover wafer protects the image sensor substrate from environmental hazards, such as particulate contaminants, moisture, processing agents such as solvents, and inadvertent scratching of the image sensor substrate. In another approach, a thin, transparent, water-repellant and oil-repellant resin is applied over the image sensors prior to dicing and packaging. The low surface energy of the resin layer is purported to substantially prevent dust from attaching to the resin layer and to readily allow any dust that manages to attach to the resin layer to be removed easily by means of a cotton swab or the like.
The proposed image sensor protection approaches described above appear to reduce the damage caused by contaminants during fabrication and packaging of the image sensors. These approaches, however, do not address the additional need to reduce the adverse impact caused by the presence of contaminants that interfere with the reception of light by the pixels in the imaging area and thereby cause defects in the images captured by the image sensors.

Wire-bondable image sensor having integral contaminant shadowing reduction structure

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


System and method allow for communication with and management of multiple external components. A component manager communicates with one or more component adapters. Each component adapter communicates with an external component and is able to call the methods, functions, procedures, and other operations of the external component. The component manager associates these external operations with local operations, such that an application may use local operation names to invoke the external operations. Furthermore, the component manager has component definitions and operation definitions that describe the component adapters and operations, including input and output parameters and the like. The component manager is able to receive a group of data including a local operation and a list of input and output parameters and determine from the foregoing information which external operation to call and which component adapter has access to the external operation.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the invention relate to the integration, within local applications, of external operations performed by external components.
1. Description of the Related Art
Organizations often employ computer applications to manage data and perform other processes. Many times, the applications may perform these processes using local operations, including local methods, local functions, local procedures, and the like. Other times, however, the applications require access to external operations that run, for example, on external servers. The external operations may operate in a different environment from the local applications, such that the local applications cannot directly execute them. One typical scenario in which this occurs is when an organization upgrades many of its local applications, but still requires access to external operations running on, for example, legacy systems. Typically, to access such external operations, organizations have been required to customly reprogram at least a portion of their applications. Such customized programming is expensive and time consuming.
In addition, organizations often desire to access external operations of other organizations, such as, for example, operations that allow one organization to order goods or services from another, to communicate, to share information, and the like. In many cases, such external operations have replaced more traditional communication methods, including telephone, facsimile, email, and written communication.
In both cases, accessing external operations typically requires server-to-server communication, where each server contains a communications component configured to send and receive certain information. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a typical server-to-server communications system 100 used by one organization, in this example a manufacturer, to order widgets, over a computer network, from a supplier. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the manufacturer's server 102 and the widget supplier's server 104 are connected via any public, private, or combination communications link 106, including a direct cable connection, a network such as the Web or the Internet, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless connection, or the like. The manufacturer's server 102 has an order widget component 108 configured to communicate, over the communications link 106, with an order receive component 110 within the widget supplier's server 104. The order widget component 108 and the order receive component 110 may be, for example, server-side Java components that, once instantiated, perform their tasks without significant human interaction. In fact, the order widget component 108 and the receive order component 110 may be entirely transparent to an ordering entity 112.
For example, the order widget component 108 typically transmits an order to the order receive component 110. The order receive component 104 typically records the order, determines that it can be filled, and sends a confirmation message to the order widget component 108. As illustrated, the ordering entity 112 may commence an order by logging into a front-end user interface 114, such as a Java applet, filling out information about the order, such as number of widgets ordered, and requesting transmission of the order. Also, the ordering entity 112 is responsible to determine when more widgets are needed and to order any necessary widgets. Typically, the ordering entity 112 may enter authentication information that is used by the order widget component 108 and the order receive component 110 to ensure security for the transaction. For example, the two components may use Java Authentication and Authorization Service ("JAAS").
As an increasing number of organizations implement such server-to-server communication, and when organizations must access a growing number of external operations located on legacy systems, the system of FIG. 1 becomes less effective. Each additional external component that must be accessed requires the expenditure of significant resources to manage a typical system such as the system of FIG. 1. Organizations must manage more components, more servers, more user interfaces, more authentication and security information, and the like. Such management may be especially difficult where, as often occurs, each component communicates using different parameters, data formats, and the like. These factors and others diminish the capability of the system of FIG. 1 to scale to match increasing demands. Additionally, systems as shown in FIG. 1 typically perform one isolated function. These isolated server-to-server transfer functions have not been integrated into applications such as workflow processing systems, without requiring customized programming or reprogramming of the applications.

International Business Machines Corporation


The temperature of the air exiting an evaporator and the relative humidity of the air entering and exiting the evaporator can be calculated by using existing sensors in a vapor compression system. The temperature of the air exiting the evaporator is calculated by using the detected temperature of the air entering the evaporator, the saturation temperature of the air, and a bypass factor. The relative humidity of the air entering and exiting the evaporator are then estimated using a psychrometric chart. By using the existing sensors to determine the temperature of the air exiting the evaporator and the relative humidity of the air entering and exiting the evaporator, the load requirement of the vapor compression system can be calculated without employing additional sensors. The system capacity of the vapor compression system can be matched to the load requirement to allow the effective use of electric power.

The present invention relates generally to a method for estimating the inlet and outlet air conditions of an HVAC system to determine the load requirements of the system.
The greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere by an HVAC system can be reduced by efficiently utilizing electric power. Electric power can be efficiently utilized by employing capacity control that matches the system capacity to the load requirements of the HVAC system. Capacity control utilizes various refrigerant and air conditions to determine the load requirement of the HVAC system. Sensors are generally utilized in an HVAC system to detect the pressure and the temperature of the refrigerant entering and exiting the compressor, the temperature of the refrigerant entering and exiting the evaporator, and the temperature of the air entering the evaporator. Once the load requirements are known, the compressor can be control so that the system capacity matches the load requirements.
The temperature of the air exiting the evaporator and the relative humidity of the air entering and exiting the evaporator also need to be detected to employ capacity control. However, a drawback is that additional sensors must be installed to monitor the temperature of the air exiting the evaporator and the relative humidity of the air entering and exiting the evaporator. In the prior art, humidity sensors, dry bulb sensors, and wet bulb temperature sensors were added to the vapor compression system to monitor these conditions.
There are several drawbacks to installing additional sensors in the HVAC system. For one, employing additional sensors is expensive. Additionally, the measurements provided by some sensors may not be reliable due to the complex dynamics of a thermodynamic system. For example, if a sensor is employed to measure the air temperature of the air exiting the evaporator, the turbulence in the outlet air created by a fan can affect the temperature reading. It would be beneficial to determine the temperature of the air exiting the evaporator and the relative humidity of the air entering and exiting the evaporator without using additional sensors.
Therefore, the present invention provides a method that utilizes existing sensors to provide an accurate estimation of the inlet and outlet air conditions of the evaporator that are needed for capacity control without additional cost to the system and also provides the information needed for the diagnostic/prognostics of the HVAC system as well as overcoming the other drawbacks and shortcomings of the prior art.

Method for estimating inlet and outlet air conditions of an HVAC system


A conduit hub includes a conduit hub body having a cylindrical inner surface configured to receive an end of a cylindrical conduit having a male thread, wherein the conduit hub body includes a female thread and a counterbore formed in an outer rim of the cylindrical inner surface. The conduit hub further includes a wiper seal configured to fit into the counterbore such that a lip of the wiper seal extends beyond the outer rim of conduit hub body and a surface of the wiper seal engages with an outer surface of the cylindrical conduit, when the male thread of the cylindrical conduit is threaded to engage with the female thread of the conduit hub body, to resist the ingress of moisture, dirt or contaminants into the conduit hub or the conduit.

Current conduit bodies and fittings for electrical conduit systems use the National Pipe Thread (NPT) standard to fasten and connect them together. An electrical conduit includes an electrical piping system used in the routing of electrical wiring that provides protection of the enclosed wiring from impact, moisture and chemical vapors. Electrical conduit systems, however, are susceptible to internal condensation due to temperature changes at different areas within the conduit systems. Additionally, since the threaded connections of the conduit systems need to carry grounding connectivity, they are typically installed without Teflon tape or other means to ensure positive sealing between the threaded connections. In food and beverage environments (or other environments having water), liquid ingress is a prevalent problem where periodic high pressure wash-down occurs for cleaning and sterilization. In such environments, the liquid eventually makes its way to the lowest part of the conduit system, which is typically the conduit junction box. Consequently, any exposed threads on the conduits that may exist after tightening the conduits to the conduit hub can permit the passage of liquids, dirt, contaminants and bacteria, which can then settle within the conduit system.


A gauge for checking the tolerance of a manufactured tube having at least one bend therein is digitally manufactured layer-by-layer using an additive manufacturing machine. Multiple features of the gauge are integrated with each other within a common reference coordinate system to precisely locate the features relative to each other.

1. Field
This disclosure generally relates to gauges and checking fixtures, and deals more particularly with a method of automatic fabrication of a gauge having integrated features and components, and a gauge fabricated by the method.
2. Background
Fixture type gauges may be used to determine the conformance of mass-produced parts with one or more reference standards. For example, metal or plastic tubes used as fuel, hydraulic or pneumatic lines on vehicles may include a number of bends and turns that must be manufactured within certain tolerances in order to assure that the tubes can achieve proper fitment on the vehicle. Fixture gauges, sometimes referred to as checking fixtures, may be used to check whether a tube has been manufactured to within the required tolerances.
In the past, fixture gauges of the type mentioned above were manufactured from wood, or similar solid material, in which one or more gauge blocks were individually fabricated and mounted on a gauge base. The gauge blocks included features that allowed a worker to place a tube on the gauge blocks and visually determine whether various features of the tube had been manufactured within the required tolerance. Early types of fixture gauges were made by skilled toolmakers with woodworking skills. More recently, the process of fabricating wooden fixture gauges has been partially automated using computer-controlled equipment to cut out components of the gauge and mark them with alignment marks that aid in assembling the components with the required accuracy. This partially automated process for fabricating fixture gauges is nevertheless more time consuming than desired, and relies on skilled workers to properly align and assemble the components of the gauge. Additionally, reliance on workers to assemble a gauge introduces the possibility human error which may affect accuracy of the gauge
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of making a checking gauge having features that are integrated within a common reference coordinate system that is rapid, repeatable and substantially eliminates human error in the fabrication and assembly process. There is also a need for a checking gauge having multiple features that are precisely located relative to each other using automated manufacturing techniques.

Checking gauge having integrated features and method of making the same


Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media are provided for data analysis. A user interface comprising boards corresponding to one or more objects and one or more operations on the input and/or output objects of the boards can be generated for high-scale top-down data analysis.

Researchers and analysts may need to perform high-scale top-down data analysis. Existing technologies fail to provide such functionality with robust and intuitive graphical user interfaces and operations. For example, logical operations which are essential for particular types of research and analysis (e.g., medical research and analysis) are not provided in traditional solutions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for high-scale top-down data analysis


A developing device has a sealing unit that seals a gap between an inner wall of a housing that stores developer and a blade that controls a thickness of developer attached on a developing roller. The sealing unit of the developing device includes a first sealing member inserted into a gap between the inner wall of the housing and an end portion of the blade, a second sealing member placed on the blade to contact the first sealing member, and a pressing member that presses the first and second sealing members so as to prevent gaps between the first and second sealing members. Therefore, the gap between the blade and the inner wall of the housing can be blocked efficiently without damaging the developing roller, and a stable and efficient developing process can be performed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing device for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus which develops an electrostatic latent image formed on a photosensitive medium using developer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a developing device having an improved sealing structure for preventing developer from leaking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer, an electrostatic latent image formed on a photosensitive medium 20 by a laser scanner 40 is developed into a visible image by a developing device 10 using developer, and then, the developer image is transferred onto a sheet of paper 1. That is, when the laser scanner 40 scans the laser onto a surface of the photosensitive medium 20 that is charged to a predetermined electric potential by a charger 30, the electric potential of the exposed surface is lowered and an electrostatic latent image is formed. Developer particles attached on a developing roller 11 of the developing device 10 are transferred onto the electrostatic latent image by an electric force to develop the image.
The developing device 10 includes an agitator 14 for agitating the developer in a housing 15 of the developing device 10 to electrically charge the developer by friction, a supplying roller 13 for supplying the charged developer onto a surface of the developing roller 11, and a blade 12 for controlling a thickness of the developer layer attached on the surface of the developing roller 11. Therefore, the developer particles charged by the agitator 14 are supplied to the surface of the developing roller 11 by the supplying roller 13, and the blade 12 maintains a constant thickness of developer attached on the developing roller 11. Then, the developer particles are attached onto the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive medium 20 separated from the developing roller 11 by a developing gap (g). Bias voltages are applied to the supplying roller 13, the developing roller 11, and the photosensitive medium 20 for transferring the charged developer particles.
Referring to FIG. 2, a sealing member 16 for preventing the developer particles from leaking out is installed between the blade 12 and an inner wall 15a of the housing 15. That is, the sealing members 16 are installed on both end portions of the blade 12 to prevent the developer from leaking through a gap between the inner wall 15a of the housing 15 and the blade 12.
However, according to the above conventional sealing structure, the developer can leak out through the gap between the sealing member 16 and the blade 12. That is, the sealing member 16 is generally formed of a sponge, and even if the sponge 16 is adhered to both ends of the blade 12, the developer particles may leak through the small gap between the sponge 16 and the blade 12 after rotating the developing roller 11. If the attaching force of the sealing member 16 to the end portion of the blade 12 is increased, leakage of the developer may be prevented. However, in this case, the blade 12 may be curved, and thus may not maintain a constant thickness developer layer on the developing roller 11. In addition, in consideration of the above problem, the both end portions of the blade 12 may be formed of a material having high rigidity and the sealing member 16 may be strongly attached to the both end portions of the blade 12 to prevent the blade 12 from curving. However, in this case, the hard portions of the blade 12 that have a high rigidity may scratch the surface of the developing roller 11, and thus, the life span of the developing roller 11 may be shortened.
Therefore, there is a need for a sealing structure for a developing device that does not damage the developing roller and can prevent the developer from leaking out.

Developing device having improved sealing structure


A turbine rotor blade and stator vane assembly in which the rotor blades include a cooling air discharge slot formed within the blade platform to discharge cooling air toward a surface of the adjacent vane to prevent formation of a vortex flow over the region of the vane where the vane airfoil and the inner endwall merges around the fillet. The rotor blade includes a row of exit holes to discharge cooling air from an impingement cavity to provide cooling for the trailing edge. The platform injection cooling air ejection slot is connected to the impingement cavity and provides cooling for the platform and injection of cooling air to break down the formation of the vortex on the vane endwall region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a gas turbine engine, and more specifically to a rotor blade and stator vane arrangement to reduce pressure side vortices on the vanes.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
A gas turbine engine includes multiple stages of stator vanes and rotor blades in the turbine section that are exposed to a high temperature gas flow. The stator vanes guide the hot gas flow into the adjacent and downstream rotor blades in order to increase the performance of the turbine.
As the hot gas flow entering the turbine with a boundary layer thickness and reacts with the leading edge of the vane airfoil, a horseshoe vortex 10 separates into pressure side vortex 11 and a suction side vortex 12 as seen in FIG. 1. Initially, the pressure side vortex 11 sweeps downward and flows along the airfoil pressure side forward fillet region first. Then, due to the hot gas flow channel pressure gradient occurring between the pressure side to the suction side, the pressure side vortex 11 migrates across the hot flow passage and ends up at the suction side (13 in FIG. 2) of the adjacent airfoil. As the pressure side vortex 11 rolls across the hot gas flow channel, the size and strength of the passage vortex 15 becomes larger and stronger. Since the passage vortex 15 is much stronger than the suction side vortex 12, the suction side vortex 12 flows along the airfoil suction side fillet and acts as a counter vortex for the passage vortex 15. These vortices formation for a boundary layer entering the turbine airfoil can be seen in FIG. 1. As a result of the vortices flow phenomena, some of the hot core gas flow from the upper airfoil span is transferred toward close proximity to the endwall and thus creates a high heat transfer coefficient and high gas temperature region at the airfoil fillet region.
As shown in FIG. 1, the resulting forces drive the stagnated flow 21 that occurs along the airfoil leading edge towards the region of lower pressure at the intersection of the airfoil and endwall. This secondary flow flows around the airfoil leading edge fillet and endwall region. This secondary flow 21 then rolls away from the airfoil leading edge and flows upstream along the endwall against the hot core gas flow 20 as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. As a result, the stagnated flow forces acting on the hot core gas and radial transfer of hot core gas flow from upper airfoil span toward close proximity to the endwall and creates a high heat transfer coefficient and high gas temperature region at the intersection location.
In the prior art, injection of film cooling air at discrete locations along the horseshoe vortex region is used to provide the cooling for this design. However, there are many drawbacks for this type of film blowing injection cooling and includes the following. A high film effectiveness level is difficult to establish and maintain in the high turbulent environment and high pressure variation region such as the horseshoe vortex region. Film cooling is very sensitive to pressure gradient. The mainstream pressure variation is very high at the horseshoe vortex location. The spacing between the discrete film cooling holes and areas immediately downstream of the spacing are exposed to less or no film cooling air. Thus; these areas are more susceptible to thermal degradation and metal over-temperature and shorten the life of the airfoil.
FIGS. 4 and 5 shows a stator vane with a leading edge and a pressure side of the airfoil, with an endwall having a fillet where the endwall merges into the airfoil. The horseshoe vortex region 23 is located in the leading edge and porous plug cooling holes 24 open onto the endwall in this location. Discrete pressure side film cooling holes 25 are on the airfoil just above the fillet. FIG. 4 shows the suction side film cooling holes 26 along the trailing edge section.
For the rotor blade trailing edge root section of the prior art, due to the hot gas migration from blade upper span down to the trailing edge versus the platform region, the blade aft fillet region experiences hotter gas temperature. Also, at the blade trailing edge fillet location, due to the stress concentration issue, the cooling slot for the airfoil trailing edge root section cannot be located low enough into the blade root section fillet region to provide proper convective cooling. Cooling of this particular blade trailing edge root fillet region becomes especially difficult.

Turbine stator vane and rotor blade arrangement


Modular heat exchange baskets for rotary regenerative air preheaters have radially extending tie bars which are positioned at each of the top and bottom side edges of the basket and which tie together the inboard and outboard end frames. These tie bars are located inside of the side edges of the heat exchange plates such that the plates extend out beyond the tie bars. This reduces the bypass gap between baskets.

The present invention relates generally to rotary heat regenerative heat exchangers and, more specifically, to improved modular heat exchange baskets.
A rotary regenerative heat exchanger is employed to transfer heat from one hot gas stream, such as a flue gas stream, to another cold gas stream, such as combustion air. The rotor contains a mass of heat absorbent material which is first positioned in a passageway for the hot gas stream where heat is absorbed by the heat absorbent material. As the rotor turns, the heated absorbent material enters the passageway for the cold gas stream where the heat is transferred from the absorbent material to the cold gas stream.
In a typical rotary heat exchanger, such as a rotary regenerative air preheater, the cylindrical rotor is disposed on a vertical central rotor post and divided into a plurality of sector-shaped compartments by a plurality of radial partitions or diaphragms extending from the rotor post to the outer peripheral shell of the rotor. These sector-shaped compartments are loaded with modular heat exchange baskets which contain the mass of heat absorbent material commonly comprised of stacked plate-like elements.
The rotor is surrounded by a housing and the ends of the rotor are partially covered by sector plates located between the gas inlet and outlet ducts which divides the housing into hot gas and cold gas sides. In order to improve the efficiency of operation, it is conventional to provide seals, which are referred to as radial seals, on the ends of the rotor such that the seals will come into proximity with the sector plates and minimize the flow of gases between the hot and cold sides at the ends of the rotor. These seals are normally attached to the edges of the diaphragms.
One type of modular heat exchange basket is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,877 in which the rotor is constructed for the loading and removal of the baskets in a radial direction through the side of the rotor. The baskets are positioned and supported in each sector so that they also act as supports between diaphragms and serve to stiffen the rotor structure while reducing bypass gaps. The baskets are supported on gratings fixed between diaphragms at each end of the rotor and between layers of baskets and the angle of each rotor sector is smaller than the complimentary angle of each basket such that the outboard end of each basket can contact the diaphragms before the contact of the inboard end.
The prior art basket designs, such as shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,877, contain a basket wrapper frame or structure which serves to contain the heat exchange elements, provide structural strength and provide an attachment point for lifting the baskets. While these basket wrap structures are valuable for lifting purposes, they limit the amount of the elements that can be contained within the structure. In addition, the basket wrap structure creates a flow-bypass gap between the element plates and the diaphragms of the rotor structure. This limits the thermal efficiency of the rotor structure for a given size of air preheater.


This invention discloses a method of fabricating a plurality of diamond semiconductor wafers from a single crystal diamond semiconductor boule, where the diamond boule is grown by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Initially, a single crystal diamond seed is polished and an impurity layer is deposited on the polished seed crystal. The CVD growth process is then initiated to deposit a layer of single crystal diamond over the impurity layer to form the diamond boule. At desirable intervals, the CVD growth process is stopped and a surface of the diamond boule is polished in order to accept another impurity layer. Each impurity layer is photolithographically patterned in order to generate an alternating configuration of impurity regions and hole regions. The impurity regions and the hole regions enable the bond between the diamond layers to be weakened without causing the crystalline orientation to deviate. Once the diamond semiconductor boule is developed by this process, it can be easily sliced by a laser slicing process into a plurality of diamond semiconductor wafers along the impurity layers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method of fabricating single crystal semiconductor wafers and, more particularly, to a method of fabricating single crystal diamond semiconductor wafers including cutting the semiconductor wafers from a large single crystal boule of diamond.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The fabrication and use of diamond semiconductors is known in the art. Although diamond semiconductors are relatively costly to produce, they have a number of distinct advantages over other types of well known semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide semiconductors, which make them an attractive alternative for many applications. These advantages include at least high thermoconductivity providing for the effective removal of waste heat in a semiconductor device incorporating a diamond semiconductor. Consequently, higher thermoconductivity allows generation and dissipation of higher power. Additionally, diamond has a relatively large bandgap, thus providing a more reliable device with a higher signal-to-noise ratio.
Polycrystalline diamond semiconductors provide a device for at least partially realizing the advantages discussed above. However, a polycrystalline structure in and of itself provides a number of drawbacks. One of these drawbacks is the limitations of control of the current flow through a polycrystalline diamond semiconductor device due to the inconsistent orientation of the lattice structure.
In order to provide a worthwhile diamond semiconductor, it is believed to be necessary to utilize single crystal diamond in order to provide for a more reliable flow of electrons through the semiconductor. Because it is very difficult to provide carbon in a liquid form, the known methods of generating single crystal diamond are limited. With the development of chemical vapor deposition (CVD), however, the fabrication of single crystal diamond semiconductors at a reasonable production level is a real possibility. When large boules of high quality single crystal diamond are successfully developed by the CVD process, it is then generally necessary to slice the boules into semiconductor wafers for fabricating the single crystal diamond semiconductor devices.
Since diamond is the hardest known material, the abrasive cutting required to slice the wafers from the large single crystal boules is an extremely slow process. The use of lasers for cutting diamond wafers has generally been shown to be the most effective method at the present time. In a diamond cutting process, it is believed that an increase in the impurity level of the single crystal diamond reduces the diamond to diamond bonds in the lattice structure, and therefore, the effectiveness of the cutting may increase. However, as the impurity level of the diamond increase, the efficiency of the diamond material to act as a semiconductor device diminishes. Consequently, it appears a trade-off arises between high purity diamond and effectiveness of slicing the diamond boules.
What is needed then is a method of successfully slicing high purity single crystal diamond semiconductor boules into semiconductor wafers. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide such a method.

Single crystal diamond wafer fabrication


Mechanisms, in a data processing system, for generating a reminder notification are provided. The physical presence of another device within a physical local range of a wireless communication device is detected. An identity associated with the other device is determined and a determination is made as to whether a reminder record is stored in association with the identity associated with the other device. In response to a reminder record being stored in association with the identity associated with the other device, a reminder notification is generated and output on the wireless communication device based on content of the reminder record.

The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for providing proximity based reminders.
Wireless communication devices, such as cellular telephones, smart phones, tablet computing devices, notebook computing devices, and the like, typically include the capability to store and execute calendar programs and to generate alert messages on the wireless communication device based on a current day/time and the events associated with that day/time in the calendar program. Such wireless communication devices further provide electronic agenda and notepad applications as well. While these applications provide the ability to generate alert notifications to a user of the wireless communication device, these alert notifications are tied to day/time criteria.


A horizontal scan circuit comprises a column selector and a plurality of block selectors. A column selector is used to address particular columns of pixels within blocks. A block selector is used to select a particular block and to select the particular columns of the selected block that are addressed by the column selector. Each block selector typically comprises a single D-type flip-flop that is associated with a block of pixel columns. The block selectors are arranged such that the blocks can be scanned from left-to-right or right-to-left. The column selector comprises an asynchronous counter and a decoder that are further arranged to provide sub-sampling and horizontal adding functions. The use of block and column selectors reduces the number of relatively large D-type flip-flops (which conserves die area) and reduces the parasitic capacitance associated with the otherwise required relatively large number of inputs of the column selection circuit drivers.

Electronic image sensors are widely used to produce video and photographic images. The electronic image sensors typically comprise pixel sensors that are arranged in an array of rows and columns. The image sensors typically read pixel values by using a horizontal scan circuit to sequentially address pixel columns. A charge amplifier is often used to read the charge of pixels of the pixel columns as the pixels are addressed by the horizontal scan circuit.
Conventional pixel arrays are arranged with a relatively large D-type flip-flop being associated with each column of pixels. As pixel sizes ("pitches") decrease, it is becoming correspondingly more difficult to efficiently arrange the D-type flip-flops and/or pixel columns on the image sensor die wherein each flip-flop is associated with an individual pixel column.
An appreciation of the present invention and its improvements can be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, which are briefly summarized below, to the following detailed description of illustrated embodiments of the invention, and to the appended claims.

Bidirectional horizontal scan circuit with sub-sampling and horizontal adding functions


A solar energy collector suitable for use in a solar energy collection system. The collector may have a plurality of reflector panels, a support structure that supports the reflector panels in a manner that defines a pair of adjacent reflector troughs, each trough having a base, a pair of reflective side walls and a trough aperture suitable for receiving incident sunlight during operation of the collector, a plurality of solar receivers positioned generally adjacent an edge of an associated trough and including at least one photovoltaic cell, wherein the reflector panels are arranged to direct incident sunlight towards the solar receivers using a single reflection during operation of the collector, and a frame that is coupled to the support structure near the bases of the troughs to define a closed reflector support truss framework.

The highest cost components of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system are the solar cells that convert sunlight to electricity by the photoelectric effect. To use these cells more effectively, concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems focus sunlight from a larger aperture onto a smaller cell area. Although many CPV designs have been developed from the very beginning of the commercial PV industry in the 1960's, not one has achieved significant commercial success as of late 2007. Although CPV designs use less active cell material, they typically require additional structure such as mirrors, lenses and heat sinks, and are fundamentally limited to utilizing less then all of the total available light. These factors increase cost and system complexity and reduce the optical-to-electrical efficiency over non-concentrating PV systems.
Although existing concentrating solar PV systems address some applications, there are continuing efforts to further improve the design and cost effectiveness of concentrating PV system.

Dual trough concentrating solar photovoltaic module


An applicator for applying a liquid composition to a work surface. The applicator includes a bottle, a cap detachably mounted on a neck projecting from the bottle and a cover that extends over the cap and an upper portion of the bottle. The cap has and inclined surface with a multi-layer polishing pad mounted thereon. The pad has a cloth outer layer overlying a compressible, preferably foam, under layer. The pad has a central aperture exposing the end of a valve stem. Pressing the pad against the work surface opens a normally closed valve dispensing the liquid in the bottle onto work surface. The valve stem moves reciprocally along a path generally perpendicular an inclined surface on the cap on which the pad is mounted.

Applicators of the general type to which the present invention relates are numerous and varied many of which have no flow control valve or utilize a manually operative valve and/or have an application pad of a porous foam material.
Obviously no valves give the user little if any control of dispensing liquid from the container during use of the device. Manually operated valves make the devices inconvenient to use and foam pads have not only a short useful life span but are unsuitable for polishing and particularly attaining an evenly applied film of the protectant composition. By way of example of known devices reference maybe had to the following United States Patents: U.S. Pat. No. 6,945,722 issued Sep. 20, 2005 by T. Colburn et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,282 issued on Jul. 15, 2003 by O. Fontanet et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,701 issued on Jul. 30, 2002 by N. Jacobs; U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,413 issued on Jun. 11, 2002 by G. Schwartzman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,877 issued on Apr. 5, 1994 by D. Birden; U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,148 issued in Jun. 9, 1992 by W. Waters et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,894 issued on May 28, 1991 by A. Goncalves; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,491 issued on May 6, 1980 by H. Kohler.

Ashland Licensing and Intellectual Property, LLC


A detector for detecting ionizing radiation comprises a scintillator 10 selected to emit light in response to incidence thereon of radiation to be detected, at least one detector 16 for detecting said emitted light, and at least one optical waveguide 12 for transmitting said emitted light to said detector 16. The optical waveguide typically comprises a flexible solid or hollow fiber that can be incorporated into a flexible mat or into a fiber-reinforced structure, so that the detector is integrated therewith.

The term "ionising radiation" is used in the conventional sense to mean alpha particles, beta particles, x-rays, gamma radiation, neutrons and protons. There are many instances where it is required to detect ionising radiation. For example medical or scientific staff and those working in other facilities where radioactive material is used carry personal dosimeters to monitor the amount of radiation to which they have been exposed. It is also important routinely to monitor such facilities against inadvertent leakage of radiation. Conventionally, detectors such as Geiger tubes, liquid scintillators with an attached photo multiplier or photodiode, and solid state detectors are used. Although such devices exist, they tend to be separate instruments that are not readily incorporated into structures or fabrics. In addition, the static devices are not readily capable of detecting more than just the presence and magnitude of the radiation signal. They do not accurately locate the source of the signal and this has to be done separately by a portable device.


A multi-layer type semiconductor device is disclosed, in which a plurality of semiconductor layers are formed in vertically opposite directions. The multi-layer type semiconductor device is obtained by forming a first semiconductor layer, an insulating layer and a second semiconductor layer in the mentioned order on a main surface of a first substrate, forming a semiconductor device by using the second semiconductor layer as a base, with an exposed surface thereof directed upward, forming an insulating film on the semiconductor device, attaching a second substrate to the insulating film, thinning the first substrate to expose the first semiconductor layer, and forming a further semiconductor device by using the first semiconductor layer as a base, with an exposed surface of the first semiconductor layer directed upward. A single- chip type image forming system or sensing system may be provided by employing, as the semiconductor devices, a sensing device such as a photosensor, a pressure sensor or the like, a processing circuit for processing a signal received from the sensor, and a display device for displaying results of the processing. A large number of pads may be provided by arranging the pads on opposite surfaces of a chip.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to multi-layer type semiconductor devices, and more particularly to multi-layer type semiconductor devices having semiconductor element layers stacked in opposite directions. This invention relates also to methods of manufacturing such multi-layer type semiconductor devices. The invention has particular application in the field of image processing system fabricated on a single common multiple layer integrated circuit.

Multi-layer type semiconductor device with semiconductor element layers stacked in opposite direction and manufacturing method thereof


A medical instrument has a connector configured for being fixed to a spine support, and a rib support connected to the connector and configured for supporting the rib. The medical instrument has a pair of an upper hook and a lower hook provided on the rib support. One of the upper hook and the lower hook is fixed to the rib support so as to be vertically adjustable. The rib support is connected to the connector to be movable in a direction along the rib.

Many types of spinal abnormalities arise from diseases such as a trauma, a tumor, and a degenerated intervertebral disc. Surgical techniques for fixing a part of a spine by the use of surgical medical instruments are widely adopted in spine disease, for example, scoliosis, degenerative disc disease, intervertebral disk displacement, spinal canal stenosis, or other teratogenic diseases.
The surgical medical instruments of related art include a spine support configured for extending along a spine to support the spine, and a rib support configured for extending along a rib to support the rib (see US 2015/0190174 A1). The rib support has a pair of hooks which engages the ribs. The rib support is connected to the spine support. The load applied to the spine is dispersed to the ribs via the spine support and the rib support, and the spine is protected.
Since the rib support of the medical instrument of related art is fixed to the spine support, it cannot move along the ribs. In addition, the pair of hooks of the rib support cannot move in a vertical direction. Because of such a structure, it was often not possible to efficiently disperse the load applied to the spine to the ribs, and it was difficult to engage the hook with the ribs by a minimally invasive surgical procedure.

Surgical medical instrument for spinal fixation


A bracket with a central portion and extended end portions, each end portion fitting in a space between the hinge assembly and rear edge of the seat ring on a toilet bowl, for mounting of a light on the central portion, between the hinge assemblies, so that the bracket and the attached light pivot with the seat ring as the seat ring is raised and lowered.

Night time use of the toilet begs for some degree of illumination, but not so bright as to disrupt the user's night adapted vision. A battery powered light which is turned on to illuminate the toilet bowl interior when the seat is raised is a positive toilet training aid for little boys. The man of the house will appreciate the benefit of a lighted target and moreover, a seat position warning light will also serve for training the positionally insensitive male so that his lady may be spared the annoyance of an unexpected seating position. It is highly desirable to install such a light at the rearmost edge of the toilet seat, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,066. This location relative to the seat hinge pivot axis causes the light to be displaced away from exposure to the bowl interior as the seat is lowered, so as to be protected from contamination. Installation of a light in this manner has heretofore required adhesive attachment, which is somewhat difficult in the limited working space at the rear edge of the seat. Inasmuch as the light is battery operated it is also desirable that the assembly be easily removed and reinstalled for battery replacement.
An object of the present invention is therefore, to provide a bracket for mounting a toilet bowl light adapted for easy installation and removal and a second object is to provide this device in simple and inexpensive form.
The present invention accomplishes these objectives by providing a light mounting bracket that supports the light assembly centrally, between the seat hinges at the rearmost edge of a toilet seat ring. Extensions of the bracket drop into place in the spaces between the hinge arms and the seat edge. Mounted thusly, the light assembly moves away from the bowl interior as the seat ring is lowered to its horizontal position and moves forward, while rotating to aim the light into the bowl, when the seat is raised. A gravity actuated switch turns on the light when the seat ring is vertical.

Mounting bracket for use on a toilet seat ring


A sensor device for the detection of the lining wear at a disc brake having a brake caliper and a brake actuation mechanism being arranged in the brake caliper, which includes a thrust piece which cooperates directly or indirectly with a brake lining so that a movement of the brake lining corresponds to the movement of the thrust piece, in which the sensor device can be inserted as a unit into the housing of the brake caliper from the rear.

In the field of disc brakes sensor units for wear detection with different embodiments are known.
From EP 0 492 143, for example, it is known to detect the wear of the brake linings at the end of an adjustment spindle facing away from the brake disc, in that the rotation of the adjustment spindle, which correlates with the translational movement compensating the wear-induced clearance or slack, is utilized as a measure. A similar method has been described in EP 0 566 006.
DE 43 12 377 discloses a sensor device in which the displacement movement of the brake actuation mechanism in the brake caliper is preferably detected by a linear potentiometer.
From EP 0 784 162 a wear monitoring device is known in which the movement of a thrust spindle is detected by means of a gear. For that purpose the thrust spindle comprises a gear rack which meshes with a gear pinion of a sensor unit.
From WO 2004/111484 of the applicant it is known to linearly sense the movement of the thrust spindle at the face surface of the thrust spindle facing away from brake disc.
It is common to all solutions of the prior art that these cannot ensure an exact wear sensing, since always the tolerances in the brake actuation mechanism and vibrations and tensions in the brake caliper do influence the measuring result and thus do negatively affect the accuracy.


An oscillating sprinkler having a pattern select feature. The sprinkler includes, in one embodiment, a tubular member having a plurality of spaced apart longitudinal slots thereon and an end portion having the same plurality of apertures therein. A plurality of lumens is formed inside the tubular member. A plurality of longitudinal series of nozzles extend through the spaced apart longitudinal slots. Each lumen is associated with one of said series of nozzles; one end of each lumen includes a fluid inlet and the other end of each lumen is closed. A selector piece is fitted to the tubular member and includes an opening to be aligned with a selected fluid inlet. The sprinkler further comprises a water-driven oscillating mechanism for oscillating the tubular member, wherein the oscillating mechanism includes a water inlet and a water outlet, wherein the water outlet is in fluid communication with the interior of the tubular member. Finally, a support structure for supporting the tubular member is provided.

The present invention relates to the field of lawn and garden applications. Particularly, the present invention is directed to an oscillating sprinkler with a pattern select feature.
Various oscillating sprinkling systems are known in the art. Typically, these sprinklers provide an oscillating motor coupled to a tube having spray outlets disposed thereon. As the tube oscillates, the spray pattern moves back and forth to water a selected area of lawn. The range of back and forth movement determines the length of the watering area, and the position and orientation of the spray outlets defines the width of the watering area. Some current systems allow the range of oscillation to be adjusted to set the length of the desired watering area. In addition, certain prior systems have developed methods for adjusting the width of the spray area. However these prior art width-control systems suffer from certain disadvantages, including complexity of construction and assembly that increases manufacturing costs.
For example, certain of the prior art systems require sleeves having various nozzle-blocking patterns on them. These sleeves are mounted over the spray tube and can be rotated over some of the spray outlets, thereby adjusting the width of the spray pattern. However, if the fit between the sleeve and the spray tube is not precisely maintained, leakage occurs, diminishing the effectiveness of the system by allowing a spray pattern beyond the desired width. Leakage around the sleeve contributes to reduced water pressure to the working nozzles and puddling around the sprinkler which can have an undesired effect on the area being watered.
Other prior art sprinklers provide multiple sets of nozzles of different widths that can be selected by some adjustment of a sprinkler spray tube. However, these prior art designs typically require complex construction of the water flow tube body that is expensive and difficult to manufacture. Therefore, what is needed is an oscillating sprinkler that provides a simple water tube construction and a stepwise incremental adjusting feature allowing for a pre-selected width of a watering area.

Oscillating sprinkler with pattern select feature


A pneumatic tire is mounted onto a rim with maximum loading, and with an air pressure corresponding to maximum loading, such that the ground contact shape has a gradually decreasing circumferential direction length from the tire width direction center to the portion corresponding towards the tire width direction outermost circumferential groove, followed by the ground contact shape having a gradually increasing circumferential direction length towards the tire width direction outside. In the ground contact shape, the relationships 0.02≦(A−B)/L≦0.1, and 0.02≦(C−B)/L≦0.1 are satisfied, in which A is the maximum length in the circumferential direction of the tire width direction outermost rib, L is the circumferential direction length of the tire width direction center, and B and C are distances in a tire circumferential direction which depend on the width of the tire width direction outermost rib and the width of the second rib from the outside in the tire width direction.

In general, the shape of the ground contact portion (footprint) of a pneumatic tire is, for example, as shown at numeral 100 in FIG. 8, such that the length of the ground contact portion gradually reduces from the central portion toward the shoulder portion. However, with the rib pattern of the ground contact shape 100 uneven wear due to dragging in the vicinity of tread ground contact edge 102E is easily generated, and in order to suppress the above uneven wear the ground contact shape can be made close to a rectangular shape.
However, if the ground contact shape gets closer to rectangular, due to the variation in the conditions of tire manufacture and conditions of use, the length of the ground contact increases from the central portion to the shoulder portion to give the ground contact shape 104, and rib punch wear easily develops in the vicinity of the outer edge in the tire width direction at the second rib from the outer side rib 106 (the shaded portion of FIG. 9).
In order to solve this problem, a pneumatic tire has been proposed (see Patent Publication 1) with a ground contact pattern where the ground contact length first gets shorter from the central portion in the tire width direction to the tread ground contact edge side, and then the ground contact length gradually gets longer up to the tread ground contact edge.    Patent Publication 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 5-77608.

Pneumatic tire with tread having ground contact shape and uneven wear sacrificial protrusion


An optical disk device is disclosed that includes loop gain adjustment means for finding the first tracking loop gain of a first region, and loop gain estimation means for estimating the second loop gain of a second region on the basis of the loop gain of the first region. Accordingly, it is possible to set the optimal tracking control loop gain for all regions. As a side benefit, good tracking control stability can be ensured regardless of the region, which improves the reliability of reproduction and recording.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk device that uses a laser or other such light source to reproduce signals on an information carrier (including various kinds of information carrier, such as those used only for reproduction and those used for both recording and reproduction), and more particularly to an optical disk device having a tracking control means for controlling a light spot so that it will accurately scan a track. The present invention also relates to a loop gain setting method and a loop gain setting program with which the loop gain of tracking control is set.
2. Background Information
Digital versatile disks (hereinafter referred to as DVDs) have gained prominence in recent years as high-density optical disks that allow a large quantity of digital information to be recorded.
FIG. 5 is a schematic of the structure of a DVD-RAM, which is an example of a high-density optical disk. FIG. 5a is an overall diagram of an optical disk 506. The optical disk 506 is made up of two different doughnut-shaped regions (regions 1 and 2) separated in the radial direction of the disk. Each of these regions has a plurality of tracks. Region 2 has a phase-change film and allows the optical recording or reproduction of information (hereinafter referred to as the RAM region).
FIG. 5b is a cross section of the optical disk 506, cut radially in the RAM region. As shown in FIG. 5b, tracks which are continuous guide grooves are formed at a specific spacing on the substrate surface in the RAM region. These tracks have a pitch of about 1.6 μm. In addition, in this RAM region, convex grooves (hereinafter referred to as groove tracks) and portions sandwiched between these groove tracks (hereinafter referred to as land tracks) are both used as tracks for the recording or reproduction of information.
Meanwhile, in region 1, pits are formed in the tracks by interrupting the grooves. Region 1 is a reproduction-only region in which information is prerecorded by means of these pits (hereinafter referred to as the ROM region).
FIG. 5c is a cross section of the optical disk 506, cut radially in the ROM region. As shown in FIG. 5c, the track pitch is about 0.8 μm in the ROM region.
With a conventional optical disk device, in order to perform stable tracking control of the optical disk 506 during the reproduction or recording of information, the tracking control is performed by switching between tracking error signal detection methods for the RAM region and the ROM region (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H10-124900 (paragraphs 0022 to 0046, FIGS. 1 to 5)).
A conventional optical disk device will now be described in which tracking control is performed by switching between tracking error signal detection methods in the RAM region and in the ROM region.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the configuration of a conventional optical disk device. In FIG. 6, an optical head 100 is made up of a light source 101, a collimator lens 102, a polarizing beam splitter 103, a quarter wavelength plate 104, an objective lens 105, a converging lens 107, a detector 108, and a tracking actuator 123.
The light source 101 is a semiconductor laser device, which outputs an optical beam onto the information side of the optical disk 506. The collimator lens 102 converts the divergent light emitted from the light source 101 into parallel light. The polarizing beam splitter 103 is an optical device that reflects all of the linear polarized light emitted from the light source 101, and transmits all of the linear polarized light perpendicular to the linear polarized light emitted from the light source 101. The quarter wavelength plate 104 is an optical device that converts the transmitted polarized light from circular polarized light to linear polarized light, or from linear polarized light into circular polarized light. The objective lens 105 converges the optical beam onto the information side of the optical disk 506. The converging lens 107 converges the optical beam transmitted by the polarizing beam splitter 103 on the detector 108. The detector 108 is a device that converts the light it receives into an electrical signal, and is split up into four detection regions. The tracking actuator 123 is a member that moves the focal point of the optical beam in the radial direction of the optical disk 506.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of the detector 108. As shown in FIG. 7, the detector 108 has four detection sub-regions A, B, C, and D. The left-right direction in the drawing is the radial direction of the optical disk 506 (hereinafter referred to as the tracking direction), while the vertical direction is the track lengthwise direction.
Preamps 109a to 109d are electrical devices that convert the output current of the four detection sub-regions A to D of the detector 108 into voltage. Adders 110a to 110d are electrical circuits that add two of the outputs of the preamps 109a to 109d and output the result. A subtracter 111 is an electrical circuit that subtracts the two output signals of the adders 110c and 110d and outputs the result. Comparators 112a and 112b are electrical circuits that digitize the outputs of the adders 110a and 110b. A phase comparator 113 compares the digitized signal outputted from the comparators 112a and 112b and outputs pulses with a time width corresponding to the phase advance or phase delay of the edge. A low pass filter 114 is an electrical circuit that smoothes the pulse signals outputted from the phase comparator 113. A switch 115 is an electrical circuit that outputs either the output signal from the low pass filter 114 or the output signal from the subtracter 111 according to a command signal from a microcomputer 119. A tracking controller 116 is a circuit that outputs a tracking control signal on the basis of the output signal from the switch 115. An A/D converter 117 is a circuit that samples the tracking control signal from the tracking controller 116 and converts it into a discrete signal. A disturbance generator 118 is a circuit that outputs a disturbance signal of a specific frequency according to a command from the microcomputer 119. An adder 120 is an electrical circuit that adds the tracking control signal from the tracking controller 116 and the disturbance signal from the disturbance generator 118 and outputs the result. A gain adjuster 121 is an electrical circuit that can set the gain to the desired value on the basis of a command signal from the microcomputer 119. A tracking driver 122 is a circuit that outputs a tracking actuator drive signal on the basis of the signal outputted from the gain adjuster 121. The tracking actuator 123 is an element that moves the objective lens 105 in the radial direction of the optical disk 506. An adder 124 is an electrical circuit that adds the two output signals of the adders 110c and 110d and outputs the result. An address regenerator 125 is a circuit that reads and outputs an address from the total amount of light obtained at the detector 108. A comparator 126 is an electrical circuit that digitizes and outputs the output signal from the switch 115. A pulse counter 127 is a circuit that counts the number of rising edges of the digitized signal outputted from the comparator 126. A memory 128 is a storage circuit for holding data. A transport motor driver 129 is a circuit that amplifies and outputs a transport motor drive signal outputted from the microcomputer 119. A transport motor 130 is an element that moves the optical head 100 in the radial direction of the optical disk 506.
The operation of a conventional optical disk device configured as above will be described through reference to FIG. 6.
The optical beam of linear polarized light emitted from the light source 101 is incident on the collimator lens 102 and converted into parallel light by the collimator lens 102. The optical beam that has been made into parallel light by the collimator lens 102 is incident on the polarizing beam splitter 103. The optical beam reflected by the polarizing beam splitter 103 is converted into circular polarized light by the quarter wavelength plate 104. The optical beam converted into circular polarized light by the quarter wavelength plate 104 is incident on the objective lens 105, and is focused on the optical disk 506. The optical beam reflected by the optical disk 506 is transmitted through the polarizing beam splitter 103 and is incident on the converging lens 107. The optical beam that was incident on the converging lens 107 is then incident on the four sub-regions A to D of the detector 108. The optical beam incident on the four sub-regions A to D of the detector 108 is converted into electrical signals for each region. The electrical signals converted for each region of the detector 108 are converted into voltage by the preamps 109a to 109d.
The tracking control operation in the RAM region will now be described.
The output signals from the preamps 109a and 109b are added by the adder 110c. The output signals from the preamps 109c and 109d are added by the adder 110d. The output signals from the adders 110c and 110d are subtracted by the subtracter 111, which gives a tracking error signal (hereinafter referred to as TE signal) indicating the positional relation between a track and the light spot on the optical disk 506.
The above method for detecting TE signals is generally called a push-pull method. If the optical beam deviates from the group track center, or from the land track center, the intensity distribution to the left and right of primary diffracted light diffracted at the edge of the track changes according to this offset. With a push-pull method, track offset is detected by utilizing this change in the intensity distribution. A TE signal obtained by push-pull method is called a push-pull TE signal (hereinafter referred to as a PPTE signal).
The PPTE signal that is the output signal from the subtracter 111 is inputted through the switch 115 to the tracking controller 116, is transmitted through a low frequency compensation circuit, a phase compensation circuit, or other such circuit made up of a digital filter involving a digital signal processor (hereinafter referred to as a DSP), and becomes a tracking drive signal. The tracking drive signal outputted from the tracking controller 116 goes through the adder 120 and amplified to a specific gain in the gain adjuster 121. The output signal from the gain adjuster 121 is inputted to and amplified by the tracking driver 122, and outputted to the tracking actuator 123.
The position of the objective lens 105 is controlled in the radial direction of the optical disk 506 by the above tracking control operation so that the optical beam focused on the optical disk 506 scans the desired track of the RAM region of the optical disk 506.
Next, the tracking control operation in the ROM region will be described.
The output signals from the preamps 109a and 109c are added by the adder 110a. The output signals from the preamps 109b and 109d are added by the adder 110b. The output signals from the adders 110a and 110b are converted into digitized signals by the comparators 112a and 112b, respectively. The digitized signals from the comparators 112a and 112b are compared for phase by the phase comparator 113, and pulses with a time width corresponding to the phase advance or phase delay of the edge are outputted. The pulse signals outputted from the phase comparator 113 are smoothed by the low pass filter 114 and become TE signals.
The above method for detecting TE signals is generally called a phase difference method. When the optical beam passes pits, the intensity distribution of the reflected light on the detector 108 varies with the position of the optical beam in the tracking direction, which produces a deviation in the phase of each of the diagonal sum signals of the four sub-regions. The phase difference method involves detecting track offset by utilizing this deviation in phase. A TE signal obtained by phase difference method will hereinafter be referred to as a phase difference TE signal.
The phase difference TE signal that is the output signal from the low pass filter 114 is inputted through the switch 115 to the tracking controller 116. The processing after this is the same as that in the tracking operation performed in the RAM region.
The position of the objective lens 105 is controlled in the radial direction of the optical disk 506 by the above tracking control operation so that the optical beam focused on the optical disk 506 scans the desired track of the ROM region of the optical disk 506.
The "search operation" will also be described through reference to FIG. 6. This search operation is an operation in which the optical beam is moved from a state of being located on a track in the RAM region to a state of being located on the desired track in the ROM region, or, conversely, an operation in which the optical beam is moved from the ROM region to the RAM region.
Before describing this "search operation," the "address regeneration operation" will be described first. Address regeneration is an operation in which the current address of the light spot is obtained.
The output signals from the adders 110c and 110d are added by the adder 124, producing a signal corresponding to the total amount of light obtained at the detector 108. The output signal from the adder 124 (the total amount of light) is inputted to the address regenerator 125. The address regenerator 125 digitizes the input signal so as to read the address, and the read address is outputted to the microcomputer 119. The above address regeneration operation allows the optical disk device to obtain the current address of the light spot.
Next, the search operation from the RAM region to the ROM region will be described.
A boundary address ADb between the ROM region and the RAM region is stored in a memory 128. When the address ADt of the desired track is inputted to the microcomputer 119, the microcomputer 119 obtains the current address AD0 from the address regenerator 125 and calculates the number of tracks Nt (=AD0−ADt) between the current track and the desired track. The microcomputer 119 also compares the boundary address ADb with the desired track address ADt to find whether the desired track is in the ROM region, and calculates the number of tracks Nb (=AD0−ADb) until the ROM region is entered. The microcomputer 119 also produces a transport motor drive signal on the basis of the calculated number of tracks Nt, and outputs this signal to the transport motor driver 129. The transport motor driver 129 amplifies the transport motor drive signal and outputs it to the transport motor 130.
A PPTE signal is generated when the optical head 100 is moved by the transport motor 130 in the radial direction of the optical disk 506. This PPTE signal is inputted through the switch 115 to the comparator 126, where it is digitized. The pulse counter 127 counts the number of rising edges of the digitized signal from the comparator 126, so that the number of tracks Nc crossed by the optical beam since the start of the search operation is outputted to the microcomputer 119. The microcomputer 119 reads the number of tracks Nc crossed by the optical beam since the start of the search operation, and compares this number to see if Nc is greater or less than the number of tracks Nb until the ROM region is entered. If Nc is less than Nb, the microcomputer 119 leaves the output signal from the switch 115 as a PPTE signal. If Nc is greater than or equal to Nb, the microcomputer 119 switches the output signal from the switch 115 from a PPTE signal to a phase difference TE signal. Further, when the microcomputer 119 reads the number of tracks Nc crossed by the optical beam since the start of the search operation, if Nc is equal to Nt, the count of the pulse counter 127 is reset and tracking control is performed. The tracking control operation here is performed on the basis of the phase difference TE signal. After this, the microcomputer 119 obtains the current address from the address regenerator 125, and if the obtained address matches the desired address, the track search operation is concluded, but if there is no match, the above track search operation is repeated until the desired track is found.
The search operation from the ROM region to the RAM region is the same. Specifically, the microcomputer 119 compares the number of tracks Nb (=ADb−AD0) until the RAM region is entered to see if it is greater or less than the number of tracks Nc crossed by the optical beam since the start of the search operation. If Nc is less than Nb, the microcomputer 119 leaves the output signal from the switch 115 as a phase difference TE signal. If Nc is greater than or equal to Nb, the microcomputer 119 switches the output signal from the switch 115 from a phase difference TE signal to a PPTE signal. After this, if Nc and Nt are equal, the microcomputer 119 resets the count of the pulse counter 127, and performs tracking control. The tracking control operation here is performed on the basis of the PPTE signal.
As discussed above, with a conventional optical disk device, if the light spot is moved over the RAM region, a TE signal is produced by a PPTE signal detection method, and if the light spot is moving over the ROM region, a TE signal is produced by a phase difference TE signal detection method.
Further, this optical disk device is configured such that tracking control is performed by suitably switching the TE signal detection method according to the movement between the RAM region and the ROM region.
Another type of optical disk device is one that automatically adjusts the loop gain of tracking control in each region in order to ensure the control characteristics needed for the tracking control system (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H4-19830 (pages 2 to 5, FIGS. 1 to 7)).
The adjustment of the loop gain in a tracking control system will now be described through reference to FIG. 6.
The microcomputer 119 generates a disturbance signal of a specific frequency by means of the built-in disturbance generator 118. This disturbance signal is applied to the tracking control system by the adder 120. Along with the generation and application of the disturbance signal, the microcomputer 119 also samples and takes in the response signal of the tracking control system with respect to this disturbance signal by means of the A/D converter 117. Further, the microcomputer 119 calculates the disturbance signal applied to the tracking control system and the response signal that is taken in, and measures the ratio between the applied disturbance signal and the incorporated response signal (hereinafter referred to as the loop gain), or the phase difference between the applied disturbance signal and the incorporated response signal (hereinafter referred to as the phase difference). After this, the microcomputer 119 actuates the gain adjuster 121 according to the measured loop gain or phase difference, so that the tracking control system is adjusted to a specific loop gain.
This loop gain adjustment operation results in the optimal loop gain for the tracking control system, allowing stable tracking control to be achieved.
As discussed above, this conventional optical disk device is configured such that loop gain adjustment results in the optimal loop gain for the tracking control system, allowing stable tracking control to be achieved. However, when the RAM region, which is composed of land and groove tracks, and the ROM region, which is composed of pit strings, are mixed together in a disk, as is the case with the optical disk 506, it is necessary to switch between two different detection methods for tracking control, which leads to a larger dedicated circuit in the optical disk device.
Furthermore, the loop gain adjustment has to be performed for the RAM region and for the ROM region in order to achieve stable tracking control in each region, so adjustment takes longer, which leads to lower performance of the optical disk device.
With the next-generation high-density optical disks that allow both recording and reproduction, the recording of information ahead of time in the ROM region is accomplished not by pit strings, but by minutely varying (wobbling) the track shape in the radial direction of the optical disk. In addition, the RAM region is formed by continuous, convex and concave guide grooves, just as with conventional configurations.
Employing the above configuration for these next-generation high-density optical disks allows the same TE signal detection method, namely, PPTE detection, to be used in both the ROM region and the RAM region.
When the recording of information in the ROM region of an optical disk is accomplished by the above-mentioned wobbling, the track pitch must be wider in the ROM region than in the RAM region in order to wobble the track. In other words, the optical disk has a structure in which the track pitch is different in the RAM region and the ROM region.
The following problems are encountered when a PPTE signal detection method is applied to an optical disk such as this that has a plurality of regions of different track pitch.
FIG. 8 is a diagram of the correspondence between the PPTE signal waveform and the tracks on an optical disk 106 having regions of different track pitch. FIG. 8a is a cross section of the optical disk 106 in its radial direction. As shown in the drawing, region 1 is a region with a track pitch of Tp1, while region 2 is a region of Tp2. FIG. 8b is a waveform diagram obtained by plotting the PPTE signal obtained at various locations along the horizontal axis in FIG. 8a.
As shown in FIG. 8, the amplitude of the TE signal obtained by PPTE signal detection is dependent on the track pitch where the light spot is located. Accordingly, the detection sensitivity for the TE signal is different in regions 1 and 2, which have different track pitches. Specifically, even if the tracking control loop gain in region 1 is optimally adjusted by loop gain adjustment, the loop gain will still not be optimal in region 2. Therefore, a problem is that stable tracking control cannot be ensured in region 2 even when using an adjusted loop gain in region 1.
It is also possible to perform the adjustment of tracking control loop gain for each region in order to avoid this problem. In this case, the stability of tracking control can be ensured for all regions, but loop gain adjustment has to be carried out once for every region. Consequently, just as with a conventional optical disk device, this leads to longer adjustment time and lower performance of the optical disk device.
The present invention was conceived in an effort to solve the above problems, and provides an optical disk device that includes tracking control means for estimating the loop gain so that the desired tracking control characteristics will be obtained in all of the regions of an optical disk having a plurality of regions of different track pitch.

Optical disk device, loop gain setting method, and loop gain setting program