Some embodiments of the invention provide a method of identifying a group of routes for a set of nets. The group of routes includes one route for each net in the set of nets. The method identifies a set of routes for each net. It then iteratively selects one identified route for each net. During each iteration, the method selects the identified route that least increases a tracking cost that accounts for each of the previously selected routes.

Design engineers design IC's by transforming logical or circuit descriptions of IC's into geometric descriptions, called layouts. IC layouts typically include circuit modules with pins, and interconnect lines that connect the circuit-module pins. A net is typically defined as a collection of pins that need to be connected. A list of all or some of the nets in a layout is referred to as a net list.
To create layouts, design engineers typically use electronic design automation ("EDA") applications. These applications provide sets of computer-based tools for creating, editing, and analyzing IC design layouts. Routers are one type of EDA tool. A router defines routes for interconnect lines that connect the pins of nets.
A router typically receives a routing problem that requires it to identify a route for each net in a net list. Some routers solve such a routing problem by first identifying multiple routes for each net. These routers then try to select a combination of routes that includes one route for each net and that optimizes a particular objective function. The objective function typically expresses one or more metric costs, such as length of routes, congestion in the design, etc.
Routers of this sort use different techniques to select the combination of routes from the set of identified solutions. One technique is randomized rounding. Generally, this technique is a probabilistic method that converts an exact solution of a relaxed problem into an approximate solution to an original problem. With randomized rounding, an EDA router interprets fractional routing solutions (e.g., solutions provided by a linear program) as probabilities for rounding the solutions. Numerous examples of this technique can be found in the literature. One such reference is disclosed in Randomized Algorithms, by Rajeev Motwani and Prabhakar Raghavan, Cambridge University Press (1995, 1997).
Randomized rounding works well in certain situations but not in others. For instance, one type of routing is global routing. Global routing typically identifies routes between cells, which partition the layout into several regions. Such cells are called Gcells. In global routing, randomized rounding works well when the Gcells are large, but does not work as well when the Gcells are small. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a better method for selecting a combination of routes from a set of routes that includes one or more routes for each net in a net list. More generally, there is a need for a better method for solving optimization problems.

Method and apparatus for identifying a group of routes for a set of nets


A process for making metal features in an insulator layer in integrated circuits is disclosed. The process involves depositing an antireflective coating layer of a material such as TiN over the insulator layer patterning both the ARC and the insulator with a series of channels or apertures vias and depositing a metal such as tungsten over the ARC and in the channels and apertures. The metal can then be planarized by CMP using the insulator as an etch top.

Photolithography is a fundamental technology in the production of semiconductor devices. In the integrated circuit lithographic process, a photosensitive polymer film is applied to the substrate, dried, and then exposed with the proper geometrical patterns through a photomask. After exposure, the wafer is soaked in a solution that develops the images in the photosensitive material. Depending upon the type of polymer used, either exposed or non-exposed areas of film are removed in the developing process.
A frequent problem encountered in this process is reflectivity of the activating radiation back into the resist by the substrate, especially by substrates containing highly reflecting, irregular topographies. Such reflectivity tends to cause standing wave ripples and reflective notches, which interfere with the desired pattern in the photoresist. The notches are particularly bad when the support or metallurgy is nonplanar.
The problem, as well as its cause, as discovered by us, is illustrated in FIG. 1 which depicts a substrate 1 containing numerous structures appropriate to integrated circuit function whose nature and function will be described later. The substrate has been covered with an insulator 32 and patterned with a series of channels 7, which will be used for wiring interconnections in semiconductor processing. The channels 7 are to be deepened and the insulator layer 32 is to be cut back slightly to create vias, contacts or interconnections between channels. As shown in FIG. 2, a layer of photoresist has been deposited on the insulator 32 and has been exposed and developed. Because of reflected radiation during the exposure step, the development of the photoresist 36 has removed a notch 3 where a straight side was intended. As a result, when the photoresist is used as an etch mask, etching occurs in a region that was to have been protected by the resist. When the photoresist is stripped, the insulator layer 32 appears as shown in FIG. 3 having a portion of the insulator etched away where a vertical wall had been intended. When the channel is filled with a suitable metal and planarized, the metal 46 has an extension 5 which intrudes into the region which was supposed to be occupied by insulator. The extension 5 gives rise to shorting and circuit failure, particularly when the dimensions are critical.
The art discloses three basic approaches to the problem: (1) decrease the intensity or time of exposure to the radiation; (2) incorporate a radiation absorber into the photoresist; and (3) incorporate a dye or other chromophore of appropriate absorption into a removable polymer layer beneath the resist. Each of these approaches has its attendant drawbacks: Decreasing the intensity or duration of the exposure decreases reflective radiation but also decreases the radiation necessary for efficient exposure. This becomes an acute problem when creating sub-micron features. The result of underexposure is blocked or partially blocked contact/via openings due to residual resists remaining in the pattern after photodeveloping and subsequent etching. The incorporation of a radiation absorber into the photoresist itself cuts down on reflected radiation but also results in decreased resist sensitivity. In the third approach, the radiation absorbing layer beneath the resist has, in the prior art, been of such a nature that its removal was required prior to any subsequent deposition of metal. This adds additional steps to the process, and removal of the absorber can affect exposed regions in the contact/via openings.
There thus remains a continuing need for a process that precisely defines metallization in an insulator layer and that avoids the foregoing drawbacks.

Process for metallization of an insulation layer

International Business Machines Corporation


A device for loading at least one carcass drum with tire components for green tires, a tire-building machine and a method for producing green tires. The device for loading the at least one carcass drum with tire components includes a placing device, which can move linearly in the horizontal direction, for delivering material components to a carcass drum, wherein the at least one placing device can be moved vertically so that a vertical movement in addition to or alternatively to the horizontal movement is facilitated and, in this way, the ply server is designed to be self-opening.

The invention relates to a device for producing tire blanks.
The invention furthermore relates to a method for producing tire blanks, using a tire building machine according to the invention.
Ply servers for feeding at least one carcass drum with tire components for tire blanks are provided within a tire building machine, wherein said ply servers for supplying material components to a carcass drum comprise at least one placing device that is movable in a linear manner in the horizontal direction.
The production of a tire, for example for vehicles such as automobiles or motorcycles, is an extremely complex process which is composed of a multiplicity of production and process steps. The reason therefor lies in the complicated construction of the tire, which is composed of a significant number of different individual components. In addition, this multiplicity of components have to be interconnected under the effect of pressure and temperature, by so-called vulcanization.
Not only the finished tire as the final product of the tire-production process, but also already the tire blank, is a highly complex component that is composed of many semi-finished product elements. As a result of the multilayered construction, the individual components initially and prior to a vulcanization procedure have to be assembled, that is to say that the tire components are supplied to a carcass drum in the correct size in a singularized manner so as to be precise in terms of location, position, and orientation, said carcass drum being located within a tire building machine. The tire blank is produced and prepared for the following vulcanization in this manner.
Many of the tire components are available as web-shaped and/or sheet-shaped semi-finished products. Various rubber mixtures and caoutchouc-based composite materials, woven textile fabrics or textile cord, respectively, woven steel-belt fabrics, and caoutchouc-sheathed bead cores are used. Ply servers are in some instances used within a tire building machine in order for these web-shaped and/or sheet-shaped semi-finished products to be supplied to the carcass drum.
In the case of tire building machines having ply servers and carcass drums being used, significant issues pertaining to the mutual coordination arise by virtue of the required movement kinematics. In order for the individual movement procedures of the ply servers and of the carcass drums to be able to be implemented in spatial terms, corresponding installation spacings are required in order for collisions in the case of the respective linear, rotary, and displacement movements to be avoided before, while, or after the tire components are or have been supplied, respectively, to the carcass drum in the correct size in a singularized manner so as to be precise in terms of location, position, and orientation.
This set of issues arises above all when double-drum carcass machines are used. Double-drum carcass machines are two carcass machines which are disposed so as to be horizontally pivotable on a rotary table. An additional space requirement results from the pivoting movements since the kinematic moving space of the double-drum carcass machines has to be maintained so as to be collision free. On account of the large installation areas required, systems of this type are very cost intensive; additionally, the installation spacings have a negative effect on the production rate.

Device and method for producing green tyres


A tantalum capacitor may include two tantalum wires exposed through two surfaces of a capacitor body opposing each other, first and second positive electrode terminals, connected to the tantalum wires, respectively, and disposed on two surfaces of a molded part opposing each other, and a negative electrode terminal disposed between the first and second positive electrode terminals. The negative electrode terminal may be electrically connected to the capacitor body by a via electrode or a pad electrode disposed between the negative electrode terminal and the capacitor body.

The present disclosure relates to a tantalum capacitor.
Tantalum (Ta) is a metal widely used in various industrial sectors such as aerospace and defense sectors, and the like, as well as in the fields of electrical, electronic, mechanical, and chemical sectors due to mechanical and physical properties thereof such as a high melting point, excellent flexibility, and high corrosion-resistance, and the like.
Since tantalum may form a stable anodic oxide film, it has been widely used as a material for miniaturized capacitors. Recently, in accordance with rapid development of an information technology (IT)-related industries such as the electronics and info-communications sectors, tantalum has been increasingly used on a year-on-year basis.
A capacitor generally indicates a condenser temporally storing electricity therein. For example, a capacitor, a component accumulating electricity by allowing two flat plate electrodes insulated from each other to approach each other, inserting a dielectric between the both electrodes, and creating an electrical charge with electricity by attractive force, may be used to obtain capacitance by confining electrical charges and an electric field in a space enclosed by two conductors.
A tantalum capacitor formed of the tantalum material uses voids created when tantalum powder particles are sintered and solidified.
For example, the tantalum capacitor may be completed by forming tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) on a surface of a tantalum particle using an anodic oxidation method, forming a manganese dioxide (MnO2) layer, an electrolyte, on the tantalum oxide as a dielectric material, forming a carbon layer and a metal layer on the manganese dioxide layer to form a body, and electrically connecting positive and negative electrode terminals to the body and forming a molded part so as to allow the tantalum capacitor to be mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB).
Recently, as high functional electronic products such as smart phones have been released, a capacitor drivable in a high frequency band has been demanded. However, a general tantalum capacitor does not satisfy this demand.
In addition, equivalent series inductance (ESL) in the tantalum capacitor refers to parasitic inductance in a circuit. A reduction in ESL of the tantalum capacitor may be a very important factor in terms of designing a PCB power unit.


A method of adjusting channel widths of semiconductive devices includes providing a substrate divided into a first region and a second region, wherein the substrate comprises numerous fins. A first implantation process is performed on the fins within the first region. Then, a second implantation process is performed on the fins within the second region, wherein the first implantation process and the second implantation process are different from each other in at least one of the conditions comprising dopant species, dopant dosage or implantation energy. After that, part of the fins within the first region and the second region are removed simultaneously to form a plurality of first recesses within the first region and a plurality of second recesses within the second region. Finally, a first epitaxial layer and a second epitaxial layer are formed to fill up each first recess and each second recess, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of adjusting channel widths of semiconductive devices, and more particularly, to a method of adjusting channel widths by adjusting the thicknesses of epitaxial layers within different regions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the semiconductor industry, there is a constant demand for increased operating speed of integrated circuits (ICs). This demand has, in turn, resulted in a continual reduction in size of the semiconductor devices. Specifically, the channel length, junction depths, and/or gate dielectric thickness of field effect transistors (FETs) are reduced to provide a compact semiconductor structure.
Channel width of a FET or FinFET may affect the total amount of electronic current that the FET or FinFET is able to provide during an operation. Manufacturing of FETs or FinFETs to certain desirable channel widths is often required, wherein the FETs/FinFETs are sometimes on a single chip and sometimes placed next to each other in a densely populated area, in order to fulfill particular performance targets of the devices.
Therefore, a novel method of adjusting channel width to achieve desirable channel width is needed.

Method of adjusting channel widths of semiconductive devices


A measuring device for determining and/or monitoring a chemical and/or physical measured variable of process automation technology, wherein the measuring device includes at least one housing, and the housing has at least a first wall; which comprises a first material, and the housing has at least a second wall which comprises at least a second material. The second wall is secured to the first wall; and the outside of the first wall is at least partially surrounded by the second wall. The second wall is approximately fitted to the shape of the first wall, and the second wall is mechanically connected to the first wall.

Electronic apparatuses, which are so embodied that they satisfy ignition protection type Ex-d, must a have pressure resistant housing or a pressure resistant housing part. In this way, it is prevented that an explosion possibly occurring in the interior of the housing or in a portion of the interior of the housing can penetrate outwardly or into another portion of the interior, e.g. to the electronics in an adjoining space. In the standard, minimum values for the length and size of slits or gaps etc. between portions of the interior are fixed so that the slits or gaps etc. are flameproof.
In order that housings having pressure resistant parts have a sufficient mechanical strength, they are embodied with thick walls; thus, they are heavy and expensive. Constructing an electronic apparatus according to the ignition protection type Ex-d consequently requires a pressure resistant and therefore heavy and expensive, closed housing, or a housing with a correspondingly dimensioned housing part.
Housings for industrial applications include, for example, housings for accommodating the electronics of a measuring device, e.g. a pressure, fill level or flow measuring device. Such housings have a removable lid, e.g. so that the electronics is accessible for adjusting or parametering the same at the measuring location.
To allow such a housing to be applied in the food industry, it must satisfy special requirements. In this connection, there are hygienic requirements, according to which all seals contacting food must be replaceable; the housings have to be completely cleanable and the housings must have as few undercuts, in which deposits can accumulate, as possible. Additionally, the sealing of the housing must be assured in the face of long term utilization. This must also be assured inspite of its being cleaned regularly, e.g. by means of high pressure steam cleaning used in the foods industry. The pharmaceutical industry has comparable requirements. Moreover, housings for industrial applications must be corrosion resistant and chemically resistant.
Housings are commercially obtainable, in the case of which a lid is screwed onto a housing pot by means of a multiple start thread. The lid and housing pot are usually castings of aluminum or stainless steel. Such components are expensive. In order to assure a sufficient mechanical stability, these housings must have a wall thickness of at least four millimeters due to the screw thread. This wall thickness places a lower limit on the amount of material needed for the housing and therewith a lower limit for the weight of the housing.
Additionally, housings for industrial applications usually have a housing pot and a removable lid. Such arrangements are most often installed in the vicinity of the process or the medium to be measured and frequently are exposed to unfavorable process conditions reigning there, such as e.g. high environmental temperatures and heavy fouling or also rain, wind, dust, snow and ice in the case of an installation in the open.
It has been found that the screw connections usually used to connect a metal lid to a metal housing tend to seize. They can, after a certain length of time, no longer, or only with considerable effort, be loosened and, in individual cases, have to be broken or cut open.
A measure applied to this point in time to avoid the seizing of screw connections is the complete coating of the lid and housing, wherein, depending on the metal material of the lid or housing, a nickel coating, a lubricating lacquer or other powder coating, or an anodized or hard anodized aluminum coating is applied. A usual method is an immersion bath with a liquid providing the coating. The parts to be coated are completely immersed in the liquid. In cases where, for lids or housings of the past, no coating was desired, the concerned surface portion was covered by a lacquer or an adhered film before immersion in the coating bath. After the coating immersion bath, the covering must usually be removed, which is not only an additional working step but also requires the additional expense of a solvent.
Moreover, it should be noted that a complete coating of the lid and housing is complicated, expensive and not very environmentally friendly, because it requires a long residence time for the parts to be coated in the coating process.

Measuring device with a multi-walled housing


A programmable controller (PC) which converts PC instructions directly into targeted CPU instructions, not into a macroprogram format, and stores them as an execution file. The PC stores restoration information for ladder display together with the CPU instructions, whereby the number of program steps to be executed is reduced and a ladder display can be provided. The PC also converts PC instructions written in the ladder language into restoration information restorable to the ladder language and generates them as a main processing restoration information file, then converts the PC instructions directly into targeted CPU instructions, not into a macroprogram format, on the basis of the restoration information file, and stores them as an execution file independently of the main processing restoration information file. Also, the execution file for sequence processing is separated from the main processing restoration information file for ladder display, ensuring that processing can be performed much faster without needing to judge whether a step is an execution instruction or display information. The PC incorporates conversion programs and conversion tables for generating finally required CPU instructions, whereby sequence programs can be developed in an environment where there is no computer for sequence program development. The use of such tables and programs permits function change and function addition to be made to the stored conversion tables using an accessory CRT/keyboard so that specifications can be changed as required.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the efficient operation of a programmable controller (hereinafter referred to as a "PC") under the programmed instructions of a processing unit (herein a "CPU") and, in particular, the generation of an execution file, the execution of such file and the display of information indicative of the instructions and processing carried out by the CPU.
2. Description of the Background Art
Programs for operating a PC which exercises sequence control ("sequence programs") are written with several different types of instructions, including (i) "basic instructions" for performing bit processing corresponding to relay operation, (ii) "function instructions" for implementing more complex operation and control, and (iii) other instructions.
These sequence programs are generally programmed as ladder diagrams in a ladder language, comprising the basic instructions, function instructions, and other instructions, with reference to a flowchart.
Programmable controllers for performing fast bit processing for sequence control were disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 38902 of 1987 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 304302 of 1988. In these conventional controllers, however, their function instructions have a low processing speed. This is because the function instructions are developed in a macro-program and are software-processed. Furthermore, these PC instructions are subject to ladder display functions which result in low execution speeds.
The "ladder language" referred to herein is a programming language in which input/output signals are written with symbols, such as electrical circuit symbols that conventionally represent relay contacts and relay coils. Also, for example, a processing function such as "count up" is written with an instruction symbol (mnemonic) such as INC (Increment). The ladder language is suitable for user programming in an interactive form.
It should be noted that there are other languages in which such electrical circuit symbols are written with mnemonic instruction symbols, such as LD (Load) and LDI (Load Inverse), and processing functions are written similarly with mnemonic instruction symbols. These languages are adequate for programming employing a PC which does not have a graphic function and programming using a computer.
In a conventional processing operation, a sequence program written in a ladder language is converted into a "machine language" corresponding to the various instructions and is stored in a memory in the PC via a program input device. A CPU (central processing unit) is operative to read and execute each instruction step of the stored sequence program cyclically in sequence, thereby carrying out desired sequence control.
If it is desired to display the sequence program as a ladder diagram on a display device, such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), the PC memory contains a converter program. The converter program sequentially reads the sequence program instructions written in the machine language from the memory, decodes them, outputs the ladder language corresponding to the machine language to the CRT, and displays it as a ladder diagram.
Such control will now be described with reference to FIG. 8 to FIG. 12.
FIG. 8 is a PC configuration diagram known in the art, wherein a CPU 1 is connected to a memory 2, that stores programs and information required for the PC to exercise control, via the direct connection of an address bus 3 for specifying memory addresses and the indirect connection of a data bus 4 for transferring data at the specified addresses of the memory. A bit operation instruction detector 5 is for detecting basic instructions which perform bit processing. A no-operation (NOP) instruction generator circuit 6 will return a response to the CPU 1 at the time of a basic instruction, the response NOP being via a sub-data bus 7 for inputting the output of the no-operation instruction generator circuit 6 to a selector. A bit operation processor 9 is for performing the processing of bit operation instructions as basic instructions and also connects to the CPU 1 via a system data bus 10, which also transfers data to and from the CPU 1 and each circuit and device. One such device is a digital input/output circuit 11 for inputting various signals and outputting processing results in response to sequence processing, which also is connected to a switch input 12, a relay contact input from a relay circuit 13, a lamp 14, and a relay coil 15. Another device connected to bus 10 is a keyboard 16 and a CRT acting as interfaces between the PC and an operator. A further device connected to bus 10 is a floppy disk drive 17 for storing various programs and data.
In the memory 2, there are a variety of sub-storage areas, including a control table 201 for storing data required for program processing of the PC, and an interrupt processing program 202 for carrying out processing, e.g., immediate reading of coordinate data initiated by an interrupt signal or the like in a measuring operation, etc.
First a control transition will be described in accordance with FIG. 9 by taking as an example the PC which is used with a numerical control (hereinafter referred to as "NC") apparatus. NC processing includes control which reads a machining program and moves a tool along a tool path specified by the machining program at a specified speed. The machining program consists of linear interpolation and circular interpolation commands for specifying the tool path and the tool compensation commands for compensating for tool dimensions, etc. Processing time depends on the combination of these commands, e.g., when only the linear interpolation command is used, the processing time is short, and when the circular interpolation and tool compensation commands are combined, the processing time is long. The processing time changes according to the control status and operation complexity.
In a NC processing environment, the PC is being operated under control of a main program "d". The control transition is started up by a reference interrupt signal "a". In response to the servicing of the interrupt, the PC first executes a program to be processed periodically in a cycle of the reference interrupt signal that was generated, i.e., a high-speed processing program "c". When this high-speed processing program ends, the PC carries out NC processing "e" (e.g., linear and circular interpolations, pulse distribution processing and the like) and thereafter resumes a main processing program "d", i.e., a sequence program, from where it had been stopped during the previous execution. After that, on occurrence of another reference interrupt signal "a", the PC stops the execution of the main processing "d" and executes the programs in a sequence of high-speed processing "c", NC processing "e" and the rest of main processing "d".
When an interrupt signial is input, the PC stops the currently executed NC processing program and runs an interrupt processing program "b", for example, for storing a memory content at a prodetermined address . When the a execution of this interrupt program ends, the PC resumes the previously stopped NC processing program from where it left off. unlike the high-speed processing "c" which runs the whole program every time it is started, the main processing "d", executes the program cyclically. At the end of each cycle of operation, it sometimes is stopped by another program of higher priorlty.
The operation of the PC will now be described with reference to the configuration in FIG. 8. The CPU 1 is started at predeter mined intervals (for instance, 7 msec) by a starting circuits not shown, which generates the reference interrupt signal, and specifies an address of the memory 2 via the address bus 3 to read the content of the memory 2 at the predetermined address.
At this time, the high-speed processing program 203 is first executed from its beginning. Such program could provide, for example, a position count control, etc., for a turret and an ATC (automatic tool changer) magazine of a machine tool (not shown) which are mounted with tools.
When the CPU 1 specifies the memory address via the address bus 3, the memory content at the corresponding address is read and output to the data bus 4. The memory content output onto data bus 4 is decoded by the bit operation instruction detector 5, which determines whether the content is a "basic instruction" for executing a bit operation or a "function instruction" for carrying out high-level operation processing.
When it has been determined that the content read is a basic instruction, a bit operation instruction detection signal is output to the NOP generator circuit 6, which then outputs a NOP code representing a no-operation instruction onto the sub-data bus 7. At this time, the bit operation instruction detection signal is also output from the bit operation instruction detector 5 to the selector 8, which then outputs onto the system data bus 10 the NOP code representing the no-operation instruction output onto the sub-data bus 7.
Further, the bit operation instruction detection signal is also output from the bit operation instruction detector 5 to the bit operation processor 9, which then performs processing, e.g., turns on/off a predetermined bit at the memory address specified by the basic instruction of the PC. In the meantime, the CPU 1 executes the no-operation instruction output onto the system data bus 10 and progresses to a step next to the basic instruction of the PC.
For a function instruction of the PC, the bit operation instruction processor 5 does not output the bit operation instruction detection signal. Hence, the selector 8 outputs the data content, which has been read from the memory 2 and output onto the data bus 4, intact onto the system data bus 10, and the CPU 1 executes programmed control by analyzing the data from selector 8.
The sequence program is thus executed in sequence, predetermined processing is carried out according to the states of various input signals, such as the switch input 12 and relay contact input 13, the lamp(s) 14 are lit and extinguished, and the relay coil(s) 15 are controlled on/off.
As a result, the spindle motor and other components of the machine tool controlled by the NC apparatus containing the PC are switched on/off, and forward/reverse rotation, coolant, etc., are controlled on/off.
Program conversion and control sequences in the conventional PC will now be described.
FIG. 10 illustrates a program conversion sequence in the conventional PC, FIG. 12 shows a flowchart for a data move instruction program and corresponding specific instruction examples, and FIG. 11 shows a program structure and a control sequence in the known PC. It should be noted that in FIG. 11, a memory width is represented and described in 32 bits for convenience.
Referring to FIG. 10, 211a indicates ladder language input data, which is input to a working RAM 211' by an operator from the keyboard/CRT 16 in FIG. 8 in accordance with a ladder diagram shown below 211a. The working RAM comprises a RAM (Random Access Memory), allowing data to be rewritten optionally.
A ladder language/intermediate language conversion program 207 reads a ladder program from the ladder language input data 211a sequentially, converts each step of the ladder program into an intermediate language separated into each component element with reference to a ladder language/intermediate language conversion table 208a, and generates an intermediate language file 211b in the working RAM 211'.
As a preliminary matter, the PC instructions that are referenced in the intermediate language file in FIG. 10 comprise the following:
"LD"--In the PC instructions, LD (short for "Load") is the basic instruction which reads the content of the specified bit on memory to the specified register and executes the subsequently commanded instruction if the result is "1". PA1 "LDI"--LDI (short for "Load Inverse") is the basic instruction which, like LD, reads the content of the specified bit on memory to the specified register. It is different from LD in that the inversed content of the bit is read. Therefore, "LDI M100" indicates that the inversed content of the bit defined as M100 on memory is read to the register.
For example, "LD M123" indicates that the content of the bit defined as M123 on memory is read to the register. Hence, if the content of the bit defined as M123 is "1 ", "1" is read to the register. Reversely, if the content of the bit is "0", "0" is read to the register. If the result is "1", the "MOVE D200 D100" instruction commanded subsequently is executed. Conversely, if the result is "0", "MOVE D200 D100" is skipped and the "LDI M100" instruction commanded subsequently to "MOVE D200 D100" is executed.
In the example, if the content of the bit defined as M100 is "1", "0" is read to the register. By contrast, if the content of the bit is "0", "1" is read to the register. If the result is "1", the "INC D800" instruction commanded subsequently is executed. In contrast, if the result is "0", "INC D800" is skipped and the instruction (not shown) commanded subsequently to "INC D800" is executed.
"MOVE"--is the function instruction of the PC which transfers the content of an identified register to another identified register.
For example, "MOVE D200 D100" is the function instruction of the PC which transfers the content of the data register defined as D200 to the data register defined as D100."MOVE D200 D100" is implemented by the macroprogram as shown in FIG. 12.
"INC"--"INC" is the function instruction which has the function of adding (incrementing) 1 to the content of an identified data register.
For example, "INC D800" instructs the addition of 1 to the content of the data register defined as D800.
After the intermediate language file is generated, compiler 209 converts each element of the intermediate language file 211b into a machine language with reference to an intermediate language/machine language conversion table 210a, and inputs the results to a main processing program 204 in the memory 2 as an "execution file" comprising CPU instructions. The ladder program thus written in a ladder language is converted into a CPU 1 executable machine language file and is stored into the main processing program 204 in the memory 2.
The machine language, which is represented by 0's and 1's , is the only representation that a computer can recognize but is not suitable for easy understanding by man. In the present description, therefore, the machine language is divided on a four-bit basis and the four bits are represented in hexadecimal (HEXA).
In FIG. 10, a macroprogram file 206 contains programs stored in the PC, which have been written separately in advance as shown in FIG. 12 in a C language for achieving function instructions, translated into the machine language by the compiler, and stored in the memory 2 as existing programs.
The head addresses of these programs are stored in a jump table 205 and a transition to a desired program can be made by referring to the jump table 205.
FIG. 12 shows a macroprogram designed to accomplish a MOVE function of the PC which transfers data stored in a memory area having a first-specified data number to a memory area having a next-specified data number.
Unless otherwise noted, instructions employed in describing the following program are written in an assembler language for use with the CPU 1 and the assembler language is translated by the compiler into the machine language, i.e., instructions with which the CPU 1 operates. In the present specification, the PC instruction and intermediate language are described in UPPERCASE and the assembler language in lowercase for ease of identification.
When a corresponding macroprogram is called, the content of a stack pointer "sp", which stores a memory 2 address and is located next to the address where a function instruction used to call such macroprogram is stored, is first read to a register a0 in step 1.
In step 2, it is checked whether a condition for executing the MOVE instruction of the PC, i.e., relay contact information, is 1 or not.
The position of this flag to be checked is fixed by the PC hardware and is herein bit 0 of an address specified by FLAG.
If the result of this check is 0, the execution branches to step 6. If the check result is 1, the execution advances to step 3.
In step 3, a register needed for the processing is cleared.
In step 4, the data number of a transfer source specified attendantly on the MOVE function instruction of the PC is first fetched and the head address of a data table is then read. The head address of the data table is then added to the data number, thereby finding a memory address of the data number of the transfer source. Finally, data stored at the resultant memory address is read to a register d0.
As in step 4, the data number of a transfer destination is fetched and the head address of the data table is added to the data number in step 5, thereby obtaining a memory address of the data number, of the transfer destination. Finally, data stored in the register d0 is written to the memory address found.
In step 6, 8 (one byte) is added to match the stack pointer with an address where a next-valid PC instruction is stored.
FIG. 11 shows a program structure and a control sequence in the conventional PC, and combines the execution file and jump table in the machine language created by the program conversion illustrated in FIG. 10 and the machine language file, such as the macroprogram, which achieves the MOVE function, etc., illustrated in FIG. 12.
In the structure shown in FIG. 11, high-speed processing is executed by the reference interrupt signal, NC processing is then performed, and sequence processing is thereafter resumed from where the main processing program had been stopped. The cycle is repeated to carry out control by the control apparatus combining the NC and PC.
If, during the execution of the main processing program, the CPU 1 specifies, for example, a memory 2 address where a PC function instruction of MOVE D200 D100 (actually, this instruction written in the machine language and stored in the memory is three-step information, beginning with a code having a jump function, which is represented 4EAD02BO in HEXA) is stored, the code stored at the corresponding address is read and output onto the data bus 4. Since this code is not a basic instruction, the bit operation instruction detector 5 controls the selector 8 so that the code output onto the data bus 4 is output onto the system data bus 10.
Accordingly, the code 4EAD02BO is read to the CPU I, which further judges that the code is a function instruction from the 16-bit code of 4EAD. The CPU 1 refers to information on the MOVE instruction stored starting at an address offset by 02B0 output to the 16 least significant bits of the code, beginning at the head address specified in the jump table. The head address is an absolute address in the memory 2 where the macro program for the targeted MOVE function and the attributes of the macroprogram are stored.
By transferring control from the instruction to the absolute address where the macroprogram for the targeted MOVE function is stored and executing an instruction group as shown in FIG. 11 in sequence, starting at that absolute address, the CPU 1 transmits data from a transfer source data number designated in the sequence program to a designated transfer destination data number.
When the macroprogram has been executed to the end, the CPU 1 specified a memory 2 address indicated by the stack pointer updated by the postprocessing of the macroprogram, i.e., a memory 2 address where an instruction next to the just executed MOVE function instruction of the PC in the sequence program is stored, and continues the decoding and execution of instructions.
Meanwhile, when the sequence program is diplayed, a machine language/ladder information conversion program (converter) 212a is employed to read and analyze the first instruction information of the main processing program 204. These instruction include information on relationships between the machine language and ladder language and information on the lengths of corresponding instructions. Reference to a machine language/ladder language conversion table 213a according to corresponding information provides a corresponding ladder language and a memory address where a next-read instruction exists. For instance, the code "4EAD02B0" reveals that it is JSR $02B0, i.e., an instruction of three steps long, "MOVE, data transfer source number, data transfer destination number." The data transfer source number and data transfer destination number are stored in the second and third steps. According to this information, predetermined graphic information may be added to the format of the MOV instruction and the result output to the CRT.
Therefore, by causing the converter 212a to read instructions from the beginning of the sequence program stored in the main processing program 204 in sequence and to convert the instructions into the ladder language in accordance with the machine language/ladder language conversion table 213a, the machine language written in the main processing program area 204 can be displayed on the display device as a ladder diagram.
The conventional PC designed as described above has certain disadvantages:
To execute a single "function instruction", a procedure for accomplishing a predetermined function must be preprogrammed and a large number of processing steps in a macroprogram stored in the memory 2 must be executed. In addition, a step for extracting the storage address of the macroprogram is needed before the program is reached. Hence, a high-level sequence program employing many function instructions will be executed longer and respond slower.
Also, if the CPU instructions of "move (a1), d0" in the step 4 and "move d0, (a1)" in the step 5 as shown in FIG. 12 are combined or integrated to generate a move instruction which directly designates memory addresses, processing speed increases but these instructions must be manually programmed in the assembler language. Also, these instructions do not include information required for restoration to the original ladder language, disallowing ladder display.

Programmable controller having directly executable CPU instructions


Charging equipment and a charge control unit are provided, in which a plurality of devices mounted with battery can be simultaneously charged by the single charging equipment. Further, a method of controlling charge and a method of receiving charge are also provided. The charging equipment supplies electric power to the battery for charging, comprising a power output part which outputs DC power used for charging, a plurality of user operation units which can be connected with a vehicle equipped with a battery as a device mounted with battery, and the charge control unit which controls a power supply from the power output part to the user operation unit. Herein, the charge control unit distributes the electric power outputted from the power output part to supply the distributed power to the user operation unit connected with the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of receiving charge, a method of controlling charge, a charge control unit and charging equipment, for charging a battery in a device mounted with battery such as an electric automobile.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, because of an increasing concern about environmental aspects, an electric automobile and a hybrid vehicle have been widely used as a vehicle discharging less exhaust gas. Such a vehicle is equipped with a battery which supplies an electric power to a motor so that the vehicle runs by the motor as a driving source. Accordingly, when a charge amount of the battery is lowered as running the vehicle, it is needed to charge the battery at a charging station or the like placed at a corner of a street at all such times (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 2010-28913, H07-115732, 2006-20438, 2006-262570 and S54-101526).
Although a technology for quick charging has been developed, under the present circumstances, it needs a long time to charge a battery. Hereby, when a vehicle occupies a charging station, other users have to wait their turn, resulting in causing the significant inconvenience. Further, the time required for the full charging of a battery is different depending on the battery residual quantity when the charging starts. Therefore, users can not know when the vehicle during charging completes the charging, which is a factor for spoiling the convenience of the users. In order to solve such inconvenience, a technology disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-28913 has been proposed.
As shown in FIG. 30, charging equipment 81 disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-28913 comprises a charge converter device 82 which converts the voltage acquired from the system to output a predetermined DC voltage, and a plurality of user operation units 84 connecting a vehicle 83 to the charge converter device 82 when charging. The charge converter device 82 comprises a power conversion unit 85 which converts a commercial power source to a DC power source, and a switching circuit 86 which distributes the DC power outputted from the power conversion unit 85 to a specific user operation unit 84. Herein, the user operation unit 84 corresponds to a so called charge terminal, in which a power supply plug is arranged at the end of a charge cable.
When a vehicle 83 is parked at a parking lot, a power supply plug of the user operation unit 84 is connected with the inlet of the vehicle 83 for charging the battery thereof. At that time, the charge converter device 82 connects the switching circuit 86 to the user operation unit 84 which is connected with the vehicle 83, thereby to connect the power conversion unit 85 to the user operation unit 84 in use. As a result, by a DC voltage from the power conversion unit 85, a DC current flows into the vehicle 83 through the user operation unit 84 in use, to charge the battery of the vehicle 83.
Here, the charging equipment 81 disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-28913 only performs a switching operation, in which one power conversion unit 85 is connected to a user operation unit 84 by a switching circuit 86. Accordingly, only one vehicle 83 can be charged by one charge converter device 82. That is, only one-to-one charging is available. Therefore, if a vehicle 83 is being charged, other vehicles can not be charged until the vehicle 83 completes the charging. Meanwhile, when a plurality of charge converter devices 82 are provided, a plurality of vehicles may be charged. However, this is not realistic because the costs required for preparing the charge converter devices 82 increase.

Method of receiving charge, method of controlling charge, charge control unit and charging equipment


The present invention relates to an artificial nail, more especially to an artificial nail and an apparatus for attaching the artificial nail on a nail of human being so that it is convenient to attach and change the artificial nail an can be adjusted according to the length of the artificial nail. The apparatus for attaching an artificial nail on the natural fingernail includes a lower attaching plate attached on an upper side of the natural fingernail, and an upper attaching plate attached on a lower side of the artificial nail and combined with the lower attaching plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an artificial nail, more especially to an artificial nail and an apparatus for attaching the artificial nail on a nail of human being so that it is convenient to attach and change the artificial nail an can be adjusted according to the length of the artificial nail.
2. Prior Art
In recent, for the beauty, women give a great deal of effort and interest to adorn them selves with a variety of bright clothes and ornaments suited with the clothes. These ornaments are used in various styles. Among the ornaments, women give the greatest deal of effort to adorn a fingernail, one of organization of the body that is always exposed exterior. Namely, there are several typical adornments for the fingernail such as painting manicure on the fingernail, sculpting shapes on the fingernail, as well as attachment of the artificial nail having a plenty of colors and shapes on the fingernail. More especially, women have loved a long and fingernail-like-made artificial nail, which is attached on a natural fingernail.
This artificial nail can be attached on the natural fingernail by coating adhesive material on an upper side of the natural fingernail, so that almost women have loved the artificial nail. However, the attached artificial nail on the natural fingernail should be detached from the natural fingernail by chemicals so that it is inconvenient for use. Moreover, it should be required much effort and time to use the artificial nail once so that the attached artificial mail on the natural fingernail cannot be easily detached from the natural fingernail as well as the attached artificial nail must be worn for the long time even when feels repugnance.
In detail, chemicals should be used for the detachment of the artificial nail, the detached artificial nail cannot be used again, as well as there is inconvenience that the natural fingernail on which the artificial nail is attached should be token care for the attachment of other artificial nail.
In addition, the natural fingernail on which the artificial nail is attached grows as time goes, a part of the grown natural fingernail (the innermost end of the natural fingernail) must be exposed exterior, so that it must be lack of sense of beauty. Some user fills up the exposed part of the natural fingernail (the grown part of the natural fingernail) with resin or chemicals. However, the natural fingernail grows no longer time so that the grown natural fingernail should be taken care for filling up the grown part.


A work holder is provided for modifying an automatic transmission such that clutch pistons within the automatic transmission receive a unidirectional valve therethrough rather than the associated clutch drum as is typically the case. The work holder includes a base with a horizontal upper surface having a central disk which is sized to fit and retain one clutch piston to the base when the central disk is in one orientation and another clutch piston when the central disk is in another orientation. With the clutch piston securely attached to the work holder, a drill bit guide mounted on the work holder directs a stepped drill bit so that it may bore a hole through the clutch piston for passage of hydraulic fluid therethrough. Two drill bit guides are provided, one for each clutch piston, which each direct one of two of the drill bits to the appropriate location. Once the holes are drilled in each clutch piston a check ball and seat combination are located within each hole thus made. Finally, the existing hole in the clutch drum is drilled out and plugged. The work holder provides quick and precise modification of the clutch pistons of an automatic transmission for improved performance and durability of the automatic transmission.

Automatic transmissions have been established in the automotive industry as a major way to transmit power from an internal combustion engine to wheels of an automobile with a torque and angular velocity which drives the automobile in a manner desired by the vehicle operator. The primary advantage of the automatic transmission over a manual transmission is that the automatic transmission relieves the vehicle operator from the requirement of manually shifting gears and operating a clutch while driving the vehicle.
While there are various nuances to automatic transmission operation, this application is concerned primarily only with a modification to existing automatic transmissions. Thus, details of automatic transmission structure and operation are omitted to the extent that they do not directly affect a thorough explanation of the invention described herein.
Automatic transmissions have often exhibited failure rates which are more frequent than failure rates of other types of transmissions. Furthermore, as a general rule, the repair costs involved in automatic transmission failures have exceeded the cost of repair for other types of transmissions. One common source of automatic transmission failure is through blowout of check balls located within clutch drums of the automatic transmission. (Clutch drums are also referred to as clutch liners in some publications).
One fairly common configuration of an automatic transmission (exhibited for example in the turbo hydro-matic 350 automatic transmission manufactured by General Motors) including a clutch drum having a hole passing therethrough with a check ball located within the hole. The hole is staked on an end adjacent a clutch piston to prevent the ball from exiting the hole. The hole and check ball are provided so that hydraulic fluid can enter a small gap between the clutch piston and the clutch drum but can not escape through the same hole. When the hydraulic pressure is of a sufficient value, the hydraulic fluid can cause the clutch piston to move away from the clutch drum. The net effect is to apply the clutch and cause the automatic transmission to shift to a different gear ratio.
In this check ball configuration, the automatic transmission often fails by having the staked portion of the clutch drum break away allowing the check ball to enter the region between the clutch drum and the clutch piston. The tight clearances and high rotational velocities of the clutch drum and clutch piston allow the clutch ball to severely damage the clutch drum and the clutch piston. Furthermore, without the check ball in place hydraulic pressure cannot be maintained on the clutch piston and so at least one gear of the automatic transmission is disabled. Repair after this type of failure is a fairly expensive procedure which requires replacement of the clutch drum at a minimum.
The device of this invention is utilizable to easily modify an automatic transmission having a configuration such as that of the turbo hydra-matic 350 transmission to prevent failure of the check ball. The applicant's device relocates the hole and check ball within the clutch piston. The new hole is drilled and fitted with a check ball and seat apparatus which is more durable in construction than the staked-in check ball utilized by existing automatic transmissions such as the turbo hydra-matic 350 transmission. The replacement check ball and seat are less likely to fail. Furthermore, if failure should occur, the repair of the transmission will require replacement of the clutch piston rather than the clutch drum. Replacement of the clutch piston is a less expensive procedure than replacement of a clutch drum.
The following prior art reflects the state of the art of which applicant is aware and is included herewith to discharge applicant's acknowledged duty to disclose relevant prior art. It is stipulated, however, that none of these references teach singly nor render obvious when considered in any conceivable combination the nexus of the instant invention as disclosed in greater detail hereinafter and as particularly claimed.
______________________________________ INVENTOR U.S. PAT. NO. ISSUE DATE ______________________________________ Gerbig, S.A. 2,365,068 December 12, 1944 Dion, E. 2,471,940 May 31, 1949 Robertson, H.P. 3,280,661 October 25, 1966 Boggs, B.A. 3,743,420 October 21, 1969 Haselmo, R.D. 3,713,747 January 30, 1973 Klee et al. 4,461,603 July 24, 1984 Sommerfeld, C.A. 4,955,766 September 11, 1990 Nordstrom, E. 4,993,895 February 19, 1991 Lee, R.C. 5,056,966 October 15, 1991 Carswell, C.W. 5,069,093 December 3, 1991 OTHER PRIOR ART Arthur, Title Pertinent Pages Year ______________________________________ Transmission "Technically Speaking" Page 34 1992 Digest Motor "Domestic Trans- Page 8-1 et seq. 1986 mission Manual" ______________________________________
The patent to Sommerfeld teaches the use of a holding fixture for drilling pocket joints from wooden pieces. It includes a vise-like structure for securely holding the piece to be drilled, a guide portion which supports the drill in the desired alignment and a stepped drill bit. The device of this application is distinguishable from Sommerfeld in that, inter alia, it is specifically designed to securely hold a clutch piston of an automatic transmission. Furthermore, the device of this application is designed for use in metalworking on high precision automotive parts which require the maintenance of precise tolerances in drilling the hole. The device taught by Sommerfeld shows an angled drill bit guide which directs the drill bit against the piece to be drilled at a non-orthogonal angle. In precision metalworking this type of an angular hole is not effectively accurately drilled even with a guide for the drill bit.
The patent to Dion teaches the use of an all purpose work holder to be utilized with a drill press. The device of the instant invention is distinguishable from Dion in that it includes a drill bit guide to ensure that the hole to be drilled is precisely located without the prior art's requirement of carefully adjusting a base of the device with respect to a table of the drill press.
The article under the column entitled "Technically Speaking" in Transmission Digest, page 34 describes the hole located in the piston retainer (i.e. clutch drum) and describes the problem of blowout of a small orifice screen due to it not being staked properly in manufacture and the result involved when the screen blows out. The screen blow out problem shares similarities with the problem of check ball blow out. While this article clearly describes the problem existing in many automatic transmissions this article does not address remedies to the problem or any methods of correcting the problem as does the method disclosed by this invention.
The book Domestic Transmission Manual published by Motor teaches at Page 8-1 et seq. the use of a C3 and C4 automatic transmission by the Ford Motor Corporation. These transmissions are characterized by having check balls located within the clutch piston which parallel the same end result achieved by the device of the instant invention. However, the instant invention is distinguishable in that it is a work holder and method for modifying a transmission to have a configuration similar to that taught by Motor. Motor teaches no such modification apparatus or procedure.
The other prior art listed above but not specifically described teach other devices for various machining operations and further catalog the prior art of which the applicant is aware. These references diverge even more starkly from the references specifically distinguished above.

Work holder for modifying an automatic transmission and method therefor


A vehicle includes a floor and an occupant seating area above the floor. An airbag is fixed to the floor and is inflatable upwardly from the floor to an inflated position. At least a portion of the airbag in the inflated position extends endlessly around the occupant seating area.

A vehicle may include amenities that allow occupants to face one another during operation of the vehicle. As one example, an autonomous vehicle may be autonomously operated, allowing occupants of the vehicle to ride in the vehicle without monitoring the operation of the vehicle. Specifically, the autonomous vehicle may include seats free to rotate during the operation of the vehicle. This may allow the occupants of the seats to face each other and to interact. This may also allow all of the occupants to relax, interact with one another, and focus on vehicle amenities. Likewise, an occupant may be seated in a personal mobility device, e.g., a wheelchair, scooter, etc., that may be positioned in the vehicle in multiple directions. There remains an opportunity to design the vehicle to take into account the positioning of occupants facing in multiple directions.


A steering apparatus includes: a column pipe; an outer column having an embracing main body portion that allows the column pipe to freely move in a front-rear direction and fixes the column pipe; and clamping portions that extend and contract the embracing main body portion in a diametric direction; a fixing bracket having a fixing side portion that holds widthwise opposite sides of the outer column in a sandwiching manner; a stopper bracket having an telescopic slot secured to the column pipe and an impact absorbing slot and having a collapse portion, the telescopic slot and the impact absorbing slot being contiguously formed along an axial direction; and a clamper having a bolt shaft inserted through the clamping portions, the fixing side portion, and the stopper bracket and collapsing the collapse portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering apparatus including a telescopic adjusting mechanism and an impact absorbing mechanism for a secondary collision and allowing the mechanisms to be shared by the same member, the steering apparatus further allowing a telescopic holding operation and an impact absorbing operation to be performed independently so as not to affect each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various steering apparatuses are present which include a telescopic adjusting mechanism and an impact absorbing apparatus configured to protect a driver at the time of a secondary collision when a collision accident occurs. As one common structure of a steering apparatus of this kind, a conventional technique is disclosed in which, at the time of a secondary collision, a bracket moves along a slot against the pressing force of a clamping bolt.
Furthermore, an effect is conventionally used in which the slot in the bracket is formed to be smaller than the diameter of the clamping bolt so that, when a predetermined load acts on the bracket, the bracket moves while the edge of the slot is being collapsed by the clamping bolt. One of such conventional techniques as illustrated above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-337699.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-337699 will be described in brief. To be distinguished from the description of the present invention, the description of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-337699 uses parenthesized reference numerals. A steering apparatus in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-337699 has a second upper bracket (22) welded to a column (2) at an upper end of the second upper bracket (22) and which moves in conjunction with the column relative to a vehicle body when the column (2) moves relative to the vehicle body as a result of an impact.
Furthermore, the second upper bracket (22) is sandwiched between opposite walls (21a and 21b) of a first upper bracket (21) fixed to the vehicle body so as to be slidable relative to the vehicle body. Threaded shafts (51) with heads (51′) with lateral axes are inserted in first through-holes (41) formed in the opposite sidewalls (21a and 21b) of the first upper bracket (21) and in second through-holes (42) formed in opposite sidewalls (22a and 22b) of the second upper bracket (22). The threaded shaft (51) has a nut (54) screw threaded over the shaft (51) via a washer (52) and a lever (53) integrated with the nut (54).
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-337699, when clamping is performed using the levers of the threaded shafts (51) with the heads (51)′, the opposite sidewalls (22a and 22b) of the second upper bracket (22) with a telescopic adjusting section and an energy absorbing section formed thereon come into pressure contact with the opposite sidewalls (22a and 22b) of the first upper bracket (21). That is, the opposite sidewalls (22a and 22b) of the second upper bracket 22 serve as surfaces fractioned against the opposite sidewalls (21a and 21b) of the first upper bracket (21).
In other words, both the telescopic adjusting section and the energy absorbing section are used by a single member. Thus, in a clamped (locked) state following completion of telescopic adjustment, the second upper bracket (22) is subjected to a sandwiching pressure from the first upper bracket (21).
Thus, an energy absorbing operation in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-337699 definitely involves not only a structure in which "the impact is absorbed based on the advancement of the threaded shaft (51) from a shaft standby area (42b) into an impact absorbing area (42a), which pushes the second through-hole (42) open to plastically deform the second upper bracket (22)" but also the sandwiching pressure from the first upper bracket (21) as described above. In other words, the sandwiching pressure from the first upper bracket (21) sandwiching the second upper bracket (22) between the sidewalls has a significant effect on the operation of absorbing an impact load at the time of a secondary collision.
In these circumstances, in setting of the load of impact absorption at the time of a secondary collision, it is necessary to sufficiently consider a frictional load on the frictional surface resulting from the sandwiching pressure from the first upper bracket (21) as well as resistance offered to the threaded shaft (51) by the impact absorbing area (42a) during relative movement. Thus, setting the energy absorbing load is extremely difficult.
Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-337699, at the time of impact absorption, the threaded shaft (51) moves from the shaft standby area (42b) into the impact absorbing area (42a) in such a way as to push the impact absorbing area (42a) open, thus plastically deforming the second upper bracket (22). A portion collapsed in the plastically deformed area may stick out between the lateral sidewalls (21a and 21b) of the first upper bracket (21) and the lateral sidewalls (22a and 22b) of the second upper bracket (22). When the sticking-out portion is rubbed against the frictional surface, the impact absorbing load increases. The shape, amount, direction, and the like of the portion sticking out due to plasticity vary depending on the impact. Thus, controlling the energy absorbing load with the effect on the frictional surface taken into account is difficult. Hence, setting the desired energy absorbing load is difficult.
An object of the present invention (a technical problem to be solved by the invention) is to provide a steering apparatus which includes a telescopic adjusting mechanism and an impact absorbing mechanism for a secondary collision and which allows these mechanisms to be shared by the same member, the steering apparatus preventing a telescopic holding operation and an impact absorbing operation from affecting each other.


A measuring apparatus 2 comprises: a base 10 fixed onto the rotary table 83; a rotational angular position detector 35 having first and second members 36 and 37 mounted in relatively rotatable fashion about a preset rotational center axis, one member being provided with a scale and the other with a reading device, wherein the first member 36 is mounted fixedly on the base 10; a restraining mechanism 55 which engages with the second member 37 of the rotational angular position detector 35 and thereby restrains rotation of the second member 37, while allowing the base 10 and the rotational angular position detector 35 to move in vertical direction; and a ring-shaped detection member 49 mounted perpendicularly on the base 10 by orienting center axis at right angles to the upper surface of the rotary table 83 and accommodating therein the rotational angular position detector 35.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a measuring apparatus for measuring the rotational angular position of a rotary table and a displacement in a direction along its rotational center axis, and an accuracy analyzing apparatus, equipped with the measuring apparatus, for analyzing rotational accuracy of the rotary table, accuracy of its rotation operation, and dynamic accuracy in the direction along its rotational center axis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of machine tools, for example, a rotary table is used that is suitably equipped with a horizontal loading surface, and that can be indexed at a prescribed rotational angle (rotational angular position) by rotating about its rotational center axis extending at right angles to the loading surface; since the indexing accuracy of such a rotary table and the dynamic accuracy in the direction along its rotational center axis directly affect the machining accuracy, these accuracies are suitably measured as needed at the time of use as well as at the time of manufacture.
Here, the dynamic accuracy in the direction along the rotational center axis of the rotary table concerns the displacement of the loading surface that occurs in the direction along the rotational center axis (i.e., in the vertical direction) when the rotary table is rotated about its rotational center axis. This displacement occurs, for example, when the rotational center axis runs out during rotation of the rotary table, or when the loading surface of the rotary table is not properly oriented at right angles to the rotational center axis, but is tilted from the horizontal.
In the prior art, no apparatus has been known that can comprehensively measure the indexing accuracy of such a rotary table and the accuracy in the direction along its rotational center axis, and therefore, these accuracies have been measured individually by using different apparatuses, as briefly described below.
First, the accuracy in the direction along the rotational center axis of the rotary table has been measured using, for example, a level or like instrument, as a tilt of the upper surface of the rotary table against the horizontal plane. However, the measurement using such a level is of static nature and is limited to the case where the loading surface of the rotary table is tilted with respect to the horizontal plane; therefore, when the rotational center axis is running out, the run-out cannot be detected.
On the other hand, the indexing accuracy is measured using an autocollimator, but in this case, there is a limit to the number of reflecting mirrors that can be used, and generally it is only possible to measure the indexing accuracy every 30 degrees. In view of this, measurements have been attempted using rotary encoders that can make measurements at any given rotational angle.
There are various types of rotary encoders, such as optical type, magnetic type, contact type, and capacitance type, but the basic structure is common, that is, the rotary encoder includes two members, the first and second members, mounted in relatively rotatable fashion about a preset rotational center axis, one member being provided with a scale and the other with a reading device; here, the first member is, for example, fixed to the loading surface of the rotary table and the second member is held in a non-rotating condition, and in this condition, the scale position is detected by the reading device to detect the relative rotational angular position between the two members, thus measuring the indexing accuracy of the rotary table.
Here, the relative positional relationship between the scale and the reading device is extremely important in detecting the relative rotational angular position between the two members, and if the positional relationship between the two is displaced from the initially set state, the rotational angular position cannot be measured accurately. Accordingly, when measuring the indexing accuracy of the rotary table by using such a rotary encoder, the rotational center axis of the two members constituting the rotary encoder must be accurately aligned with the rotational center axis of the rotary table.
However, in the prior art, there has not been available any apparatus that can align the rotational center axis of the rotary encoder with the rotational center axis of the rotary table in a simple manner, and there has been no choice but to employ, for example, a technique in which, with a contact type indicator held in contact with the outer periphery of the rotary encoder on the rotary table, the rotary table is rotated and, while measuring the relative displacement between the rotational center axis of the rotary encoder and the rotational center axis of the rotary table, the position of the rotary encoder on the rotary table is adjusted manually so that the measured displacement becomes zero.
However, manually aligning the rotational center axis of the rotary encoder with the rotational center axis of the rotary table is extremely inefficient as the manual adjustment is not only time consuming but requires skill.
The present invention has been devised in view of the above situation, and it is an object of the invention to provide a measuring apparatus that can easily and accurately measure the rotational angular position of the rotary table and the displacement in the direction along its rotational center axis, and an accuracy analyzing apparatus that can easily and accurately analyze the rotational accuracy of the rotary table, the accuracy of its rotation operation, and the dynamic accuracy in the direction along its rotational center axis.

Measuring apparatus and accuracy analyzing apparatus having the same

Intelligent Manufacturing Systems International


A system of structural elements for a pergola structure including vertical posts supporting a roof formed of carrying rails supported by the posts and cross rails supported by the carrying rails. Each post includes a post core element, a post shell enclosing the post core element, and a post shell adapter. Each carrying rail adapter mounts a carrying rail to a post and includes a post core interior adapter joined with a single or dual carrying rail retainer, and each rail connector mounts a cross rail to a carrying rail. The elements may further include shell extensions and beam filled rails comprising a rail shell and a reinforcing beam insert.

A pergola is a type of structure originally employed in gardens and similar environments to support, for example, woody vines, or to provide a horizontal open-work roof-like structure over outdoor areas, such as patios, terraces and walkways. Pergola structures continue to be used to shelter patios, terraces and walkways and for landscaping purposes, as decorative structures or for screening unwanted view, and are often for utilitarian purposes, such as sheltering storage areas and parking areas for vehicles.
A classic pergola type structure includes a plurality of upright posts typically arranged around the periphery of a rectangular area and covered by a roof formed of a rectangular grid or lattice comprised of a first layer of carrying rails or beams supported by the upright posts and an upper layer of cross rails or beams supported by and orthogonal to the carrying rails. A pergola structure may, however, assume plans other than the rectangular or square form, such as two or more mating rectangles or squares or a multi-angular plan, with appropriate adaptations in the details of the post and rail assemblies. In addition, one or more sides or ends of a pergola structure may be comprised of another structure, such as the side of a house or a wall.
Both classical and contemporary pergola structures, however, present a number of problems. For example, although pergola structures are comprised of a limited number of types or different forms of elements, that is, upright posts, carrying rails and cross rails with a few decorative trim elements, a given pergola structure is comprised of a relatively large number of such elements, resulting in a complex and time consuming assembly that typically must be constructed by an experienced worker in order to obtain a relatively strong structure.
In addition, the inherent design of pergola structures is such that the elements are not mated or assembled to one another in a manner to result in an inherently strong structure. That is, and for example, the upright posts are rarely provided with any form of bracing, except by the carrying rails at their top, the cross rails are only weakly secured to the carrying rails and contribute little to the to the strength of the structure, and a pergola structure contains many joints, all of which are exposed to the weather and stress and thereby comprise points of weakness. These problems are compounded by the materials used to construct pergolas, which are classically constructed of wood, which is highly susceptible to weather and rot, particularly at the joints.
Contemporary pergola structures, including those intended for construction by relatively unskilled persons, have attempted to address at least some of these problems. For example, contemporary pergola structures typically employ man made materials, such as metal, fiberglass or various forms of plastic elements, often as shells encasing metal, fiberglass or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) structural elements assembled by, for example, nuts and bolts, screws or glues, and often in kit form for assembly by home handicraftsmen. Such structures, however, while avoiding or alleviating at least certain of the effects of weather and exposure to the elements, typically have many of the problems presented by traditional materials and constructions methods, that is, assembly of painted wood parts. That is, it is often difficult for relatively unskilled workers to assemble a satisfactory structure, and the materials used, in composition, dimensions and design, and the design of the structural elements and their assembly, often do not result in a satisfactory structure, even when assembled correctly, with the jointing of the component parts remaining a particular problem.
The present invention provides a solution to these and related problems of the prior art.


Two active cell structures are prepared each comprising anode/electrolyte/cathode layers, each anode and cathode layer having embedded spaced-apart physical structures therein. Two interconnect sublayers are prepared, each comprising a layer of non-conductive material with holes formed therein and a conductor layer formed on one surface. The sublayers are placed together with the conductor layers in contact and with the holes offset to form an interconnect layer, which is then stacked between the two active cell structures. The multi-layer stack is laminated together and the anode layer of one active cell structure and the cathode layer of the other active cell structure fill the adjacent holes in the interconnect layer. The physical structures are pulled out to reveal embedded gas passages, and the multi-layer stack is sintered to form two active cells connected in series by the interconnect layer.

Ceramic tubes have found a use in the manufacture of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs). There are several types of fuel cells, each offering a different mechanism of converting fuel and air to produce electricity without combustion. In SOFCs, the barrier layer (the "electrolyte") between the fuel and the air is a ceramic layer, which allows oxygen atoms to migrate through the layer to complete a chemical reaction. Because ceramic is a poor conductor of oxygen atoms at room temperature, the fuel cell is operated at 700° C. to 1000° C., and the ceramic layer is made as thin as possible.
Early tubular SOFCs were produced by the Westinghouse Corporation using long, fairly large diameter, extruded tubes of zirconia ceramic. Typical tube lengths were several feet long, with tube diameters ranging from ¼ inch to ½ inch. A complete structure for a fuel cell typically contained roughly ten tubes. Over time, researchers and industry groups settled on a formula for the zirconia ceramic which contains 8 mol % Y2O3. This material is made by, among others, Tosoh of Japan as product TZ-8Y.
Another method of making SOFCs makes use of flat plates of zirconia, stacked together with other anodes and cathodes, to achieve the fuel cell structure. Compared to the tall, narrow devices envisioned by Westinghouse, these flat plate structures can be cube shaped, 6 to 8 inches on an edge, with a clamping mechanism to hold the entire stack together.
A still newer method envisions using larger quantities of small diameter tubes having very thin walls. The use of thin walled ceramic is important in SOFCs because the transfer rate of oxygen ions is limited by distance and temperature. If a thinner layer of zirconia is used, the final device can be operated at a lower temperature while maintaining the same efficiency. Literature describes the need to make ceramic tubes at 150 μm or less wall thickness.
An SOFC tube is useful as a gas container only. To work it must be used inside a larger air container. This is bulky. A key challenge of using tubes is that you must apply both heat and air to the outside of the tube; air to provide the O2 for the reaction, and heat to accelerate the reaction. Usually, the heat would be applied by burning fuel, so instead of applying air with 20% O2 (typical), the air is actually partially reduced (partially burned to provide the heat) and this lowers the driving potential of the cell.
An SOFC tube is also limited in its scalability. To achieve greater kV output, more tubes must be added. Each tube is a single electrolyte layer, such that increases are bulky. The solid electrolyte tube technology is further limited in terms of achievable electrolyte thinness. A thinner electrolyte is more efficient. Electrolyte thickness of 2 μm or even 1 μm would be optimal for high power, but is very difficult to achieve in solid electrolyte tubes. It is noted that a single fuel cell area produces about 0.5 to 1 volt (this is inherent due to the driving force of the chemical reaction, in the same way that a battery gives off 1.2 volts), but the current, and therefore the power, depend on several factors. Higher current will result from factors that make more oxygen ions migrate across the electrolyte in a given time. These factors are higher temperature, thinner electrolyte, and larger area.
Fuel utilization is a component of the overall efficiency of the fuel cell. Fuel utilization is a term that can describe the percent of fuel that is converted into electricity. For example, a fuel cell may only convert 50% of its fuel into electricity, with the other 50% exiting the cell un-used. Ideally, the fuel utilization of a fuel cell would be 100%, so that no fuel is wasted. Practically, however, total efficiency would be less than 100%, even if fuel utilization was 100%, because of various other inefficiencies and system losses. Additionally, if the gas molecules can't get into and out of the anode and cathode, then the fuel cell will not achieve its maximum power. A lack of fuel or oxygen at the anodes or cathodes essentially means that the fuel cell is starved for chemical energy. If the anode and/or cathode are starved for chemicals, less power will be generated per unit area (cm2). This lower power per unit area gives lower total system power.
In a tubular fuel cell device, such as that shown in FIG. 1 where the anode lines the inside of the tube and the cathode forms the outer surface with the electrolyte therebetween, it is wishful thinking to expect high utilization of fuel. The inside diameter of the tube, which forms the fuel passage, is very large when compared to the thickness of the anode. Anode thicknesses may be on the order of 50-500 nm, whereas tube diameters may be on the order of 4-20 mm. Thus, there is a high likelihood of fuel molecules passing through the large fuel passage without ever entering the pores of the anode. An alternate geometry for the tube is to have the anode on the outside of the tube. In that case, the problem could be worse because the fuel is contained within the furnace volume, which is even larger than the volume within the tube.
Within a multilayer fuel cell device, such as the Fuel Cell Stick™ devices 10 depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3 and developed by the present inventors, fuel utilization can be higher because the flow path for the gas can be smaller. FIG. 2 is identical to FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 7,838,137, the description of which is incorporated by reference herein. Device 10 includes a fuel inlet 12 feeding a fuel passage 14 to a fuel outlet 16, and an oxidizer inlet 18 feeding an oxidizer passage 20 to an oxidizer outlet 22. An anode 24 is adjacent the fuel passage 14 and a cathode 26 is adjacent the oxidizer passage 20, with an electrolyte 28 therebetween. By way of example, both the anodes 24 and fuel passages 14 can be made to a thickness of 50 nm, and this similarity in thickness, where the ratio of thickness can be near 1:1 (or a bit higher or lower, such as 2:1 or 1:2) can give a more optimal chance of molecule flow into and out of pores.
These multilayer fuel devices 10 are built from green materials, layer by layer, and then laminated and co-fired (sintered) to form a single monolithic device having a ceramic support structure 29 surrounding one or more active cells 50, each active cell 50 having an associated anode 24, cathode 26 and electrolyte 28 fed by fuel and air passages 14, 20. An active cell 50 (or active layer 50) is one in which an anode 24 is in opposing relation to a cathode 26 with an electrolyte 28 therebetween, and the active passages are those that run along or within the active cell 50. FIG. 3 depicts two active cells 50. Areas of the device 10 that lack an opposed anode 24 and cathode 26 are non-active or passive portions of the device 10 that form the support structure 29, and passive gas passages are those that run through these passive portions of the device 10. The active cells 50 are "within" the device 10 and substantially surrounded by and supported by ceramic support structure 29. The device has an exterior surface and internal supporting structure, which is the ceramic support structure 29, such that the active cells 50 are contained substantially inward of the exterior surface and are contained by the internal ceramic support structure. It should be understood that extension of all or a portion of an electrode to an edge of the device for electrical connection at the exterior surface does not compromise the support of this structure as the active cell 50 is still within the interior structure, and is within the scope of "substantially surrounded." The electrolyte 28 in the active cell 50 is monolithic with the ceramic support structure 29 by virtue of being co-fired therewith, and may be made of the same or different material. In exemplary embodiments, the electrolyte 28 and ceramic support structure 29 are the same or similar in composition, with the primary difference between them being that the electrolyte 28 is that portion of the ceramic material that lies between an opposing anode 24 and cathode 26 (i.e., the middle layer in the 3-layer active cell 50) and the ceramic support structure 29 is the remaining portion of the ceramic material (i.e., the ceramic that surrounds the 3-layer active cell 50). Air and fuel are fed into the device 10 through the passive passages that are fluidicly coupled to the active passages that feed the active cells 50. Thus, a fuel passage 14 and an oxidizer passage 20, as referred to herein, include both the passive and active portions of the passages.
As discussed above, it is desirable to make the electrolyte 28 as thin as possible. However, as the electrolyte 28 is made thinner, the support of the structure can be compromised, and distortion of the active portion of fuel and air passages 14, 20 that feed the anodes 24 and cathodes 26 can occur at one or more locations within the active cell 50, as well as distortion of the passive portions of the passages 14, 20. These distortions in the passages 14, 20 may lead to leaks that degrade the performance of the affected active cell 50 and of the overall device 10.
One advantage of the multilayer fuel cell devices developed by the present inventors is that many active cells 50 can be provided within a single monolithic device, including multiple cells along a single active layer and stacks of active layers one upon another, which can be connected in various parallel and series arrangements, leading to a single device with high output. If one area of one cell distorts, there are still many other cells that produce power, such that the multilayer fuel cell devices are still superior to single cell tubular devices or stacked devices that are not monolithic, However, the more layers that are incorporated, the higher the chance for multiple distortions throughout the device.
Therefore, there is a need to provide thin electrolyte layers while still providing the needed support to prevent distortion of the gas passages within a monolithic multilayer fuel cell device.