A rail track derailer is comprised of a box assembly which includes a pair of parallel, spaced guide plates supported vertically on a horizontal base mounting plate configured for attachment on the gage of a rail to the top sides of a pair of spaced rail ties. The spaced guide plates may be transversely locked to the gage side of a rail. A pivotal arm is slidably attached between the guide plates. The arm includes a derailer shoe along the top of a rail. An arrangement of guide surfaces and followers that connect the box assembly and arm effect positioning of the shoe on and off the rail. The mounting plate may be attached to ties by spikes and to concrete or steel ties by plates on the underside of such toes bolted to the box assembly mounting plate.

This invention relates to railway safety equipment, namely, a derailer assembly which is used for derailing rail vehicles including locomotives, railroad cars and the like which may be undesirably moving along railroad tracks at a relatively low speed.
There are many types of derailers or derails known in the railroad industry which have been used for many years. Certain types of derails are substantially permanently fixed to one rail of a pair of railroad track rails and various methods may be used to move the derail between an operative position and an inoperative position. Some derails are relatively light in weight and thus portable and some are heavy, bulky or otherwise not movable between operative and inoperative positions.
With the advent of railroad technology, the use of wooden ties to support steel rails has become less common. This change in technology has been inspired by the fact that wood ties may degrade over time requiring costly replacement and/or repair. Further, with the growth of rail technology, including the development of high speed rail transportation, new materials have been utilized and adapted for use as rail ties. For example, concrete and steel ties are now often utilized for the construction of railroad track systems.
Nonetheless, the necessity to provide a system for derailing rail cars has remained. Adapting derailing devices or derailers for use in combination with rails mounted on, or supported by concrete, steel and/or wood ties are thus an increasingly desired apparatus.
Heretofore, such an issue has not necessarily been addressed with respect as exemplified by various prior art patents such as the following:
PAT. NO.ISSUE DATETITLE6,105,906Aug. 22, 2000Lightweight and Ultra-Lightweight Portable Derails7,549,611Jun. 23, 2009Hinged Derail with AssistedManual Lifting and Methodfor Constructing7,909,293Mar. 22, 2011Low Profile Derail8,262,033Sep. 11, 2012Derail Assembly
Thus, there has developed over time a need for a more universal derailer system.


A wheel insert for removable placement within the apertures of the wheel rim of a vehicle wheel for preventing mud, dirt and debris from entering and blocking the apertures and marring the vehicle wheel includes a tubular body portion insertable into the aperture, a closed end flange engaging the rear surface of the wheel rim, a front flange spaced from the end flange for engaging the front surface of the wheel rim, and a pair of inwardly projecting receiving flanges adjacent the front flange for holding a stiffening and closure member that locks the wheel insert within the aperture and to the wheel rim with the stiffening and closure member having both reflective and decorative elements for enhancing the safety and aesthetic features of the wheel insert by enhancing the visibility of the vehicle wheels at night.

The present invention pertains to plugs or inserts for plugging apertures in machines, accessories parts and structural members, and more particularly pertains to plugs for plugging the apertures spaced about the rims of truck wheels.
For reasons of aesthetics and personal taste, vehicles wheels for automobiles, jeeps, SUVs, and trucks now come in a wide variety of styles and designs, with much of the styling and design being located on and arranged about the rim of the wheel. More specifically, the external or outwardly facing wheel rim can include numerous apertures spaced about the rim and the axle of the vehicle. The apertures spaced about the wheel rim can be in any geometric or decorative configuration with such configurations ranging from diamonds and octagons to crescent and s-shaped curves.
However, one prominent problem with such wheels, whether they are of standard or of customized design, is that dirt, debris and mud can collect in and occlude the apertures spaced about the rim of the wheel. In addition, mud, dirt, and debris will get onto the wheels themselves. This is undesirable for both safety and aesthetic reasons as many types of wheel rims are manufactured from high-grade, polished aluminum that must be kept clean and dirt free.
Thus, the use of plugs is one method utilized to prevent the collection and passage of dirt, mud and debris into and through the apertures spaced about the wheel rims. For example, the Winters patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,670) discloses a wheel hole insert that includes a liner for insertion into the wheel hole and which is held in place by tabs or detents that engage the rear surface of the wheel rim. In addition, an exterior member, integrally formed to the liner covers the wheel hole and is externally visible.
Despite the ingenuity of the above device, there remains a need for a plug or insert that can be easily inserted into the wheel hole and locked into place, and that includes an external surface that both covers and blocks the wheel hole and incorporates both decorative and reflective qualities and features.


The present invention relates to a device for machining mechanical parts by means of a hollow cylindrical tool presenting a distal end with a free edge that is shaped to perform machining when said tool is rotated about its axis. In accordance with the invention, the hollow cylindrical tool is fitted internally with a transverse member forming a shaving-breaker, and said hollow cylindrical tool is secured axially to a distal end of a hollow cylindrical spindle, said hollow cylindrical spindle being mounted to rotate about its own axis on a support plate, and being driven externally by rotary drive means mounted on said support plate, and said hollow cylindrical spindle having a proximal end facing and directly adjacent to a hollow cylindrical endpiece secured to said support plate and connected to a suction hose, such that the machining shavings can be evacuated internally by passing successively through the hollow cylindrical tool going round the transverse member forming a shaving-breaker, through the hollow cylindrical spindle, through the hollow cylindrical endpiece, and through the suction hose.

It has been known for a very long time to machine mechanical parts by using a hollow cylindrical tool presenting a distal end with a free edge that is shaped to implement machining when said tool is driven in rotation about its axis, the free edge generally being shaped to carry a set of teeth for attacking the material of the mechanical part that is to be machined.
In the field of portable drills, proposals have already been made to remove swarf or shavings via a central channel of the drilling tool and the associated spindle (see for example patent document U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,609).
Other machine tools are sometimes fitted with a central suction system for shavings (see for example patent documents DE-C-929 930, U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,901, and DE-U-200 09 411).
For technological background, reference can also be made to patent documents U.S. Pat. No. 3,382,743 and EP-A-1 093 897.
The machining device used naturally depends on the type of mechanical parts concerned, in particular on their dimensions and above all the materials from which they are made. In this respect, making three-dimensional mechanical parts, e.g. life-sized models of motor vehicle bodywork parts, has led specialists in this technical field to abandon traditional materials such as wood and to turn instead to plastics materials, and in particular polystyrene.
It is thus common practice to make three-dimensional models of motor vehicle components, and in particular bodywork parts, starting from a blank made of polystyrene. In order to achieve a shape for the three-dimensional part that is very precise, it is necessary to undertake machining in which precision is under complete control.
To this end, it is present practice to use milling robots having a machining cutter that rotates at high speed, e.g. about 20,000 revolutions per minute (rpm), with milling being performed with high precision by the robot being moved under the control of a numerical control installation.
Unfortunately, such milling robots present two major drawbacks, that have not been overcome in satisfactory manner.
The first drawback is that of noise, the high speed of the spinning cutter leading to very high frequency noise and whistling that are particularly burdensome for nearby personnel, even though they generally wear helmets with sound protection, thereby de facto excluding the presence on site of other people, because of the discomfort caused.
The second drawback lies in generating relatively fine dust as a result of the milling passes, and removing such dust leads to practical problems inherent both to the size of the particles, and also to the electrostatic charge of said particles which stick to a greater or lesser extent to the surrounding equipment, and in particular to the hinged arm of the milling robot. The dust is thus difficult to remove, and in particular, it is not possible to conceive making use of the suction techniques that are traditionally to be found in installations for removing wood sawdust, using suction that is necessarily applied laterally because of the presence of the outlet shaft of the drive motor on the axis of the tool.
Finally, in addition to the two major drawbacks mentioned above, it should also be observed that the machining device fitted to the milling robot uses a drive motor that is adapted to the speed conditions required, and consequently constitutes a component that is both expensive and fragile. Finally, such motor drive also implies that the installation consumes a non-negligible amount of electrical power.

Machining mechanical parts with a hollow cylindrical tool


A method of producing a carbonic diester involves allowing an alcohol to react with carbon monoxide and oxygen in the presence of a supported catalyst wherein the support is an activated carbon obtained from a vegetable or polymeric raw material, a support having an aluminum content of up to 2% by weight, or a support having sulfur content of up to 1% by weight.

Carbonic diesters are compounds of value as automotive gas additives and organic solvents or as reactants, replacing phosgene, in the production of various carbonates, carbamates, urethanes and fine chemicals such as drugs and agrochemicals.
For the commercial production of a carbonic diester, generally the corresponding alcohol is allowed to react with phosgene. However, this known technology demands the use of phosgene having a great toxic potential and, moreover, the reaction of the alcohol with phosgene gives rise to a large quantity of hydrochloric acid which is a highly corrosive substance.
Therefore, a technology has been proposed for producing a carbonic diester without the use of phosgene which comprises allowing the corresponding alcohol to react with carbon monoxide and oxygen in the presence of a catalyst. The catalyst used for this purpose can be classified into two major categories, i.e. the palladium catalyst including a compound of palladium as the main catalyst component and the copper catalyst including a compound of copper as the main catalyst component.
The liquid-phase reaction using the palladium catalyst is described in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 8816/1986 and 43338/1986. According to this technology, a palladium compound as the main catalyst component is used in combination with a copper compound and an alkali metal compound. The liquid phase reaction conducted in the presence of a copper catalyst is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8020/1981. However, since the reaction system containing such a catalyst, irrespective of whether it is a palladium catalyst or a copper catalyst, is highly corrosive, the reaction must be conducted in a pressure-resistant reactor having an anticorrosive lining made of e.g. glass or a baked-on type enamel. Therefore, since there is an upper limit to the size of a pressure-resistant reactor having such an anticorrosive lining that can be fabricated, it is difficult to produce a carbonic diester containing such a catalyst on a commercial scale.
To obviate this corrosion problem associated with a liquid-phase reaction, a technology has been proposed for producing a carbonic diester which comprises allowing the corresponding alcohol to react with carbon monoxide and oxygen in a gas phase in the presence of a solid catalyst. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,044 discloses a catalyst comprising a complex formed with copper hydrocarbyloxy halide supported on an activated carbon for a reaction in a gas phase. JP-A-503460/1988 corresponding to WO87/07601 based on U.S. Ser. No. 871,725 (filed on Jun. 6, 1986) discloses a production process which comprises allowing all the reactants to react in a gas phase using a catalyst comprising metal halide supported on a solid support by an impregnation technique. In these literatures, an activated carbon especially an activated carbon derived from lignite, a kind of mineral substance, which have been acid washed is used in order to obtain a high reaction rate. Further, above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,044 teaches that a particularly preferred activated carbon is a Darco (trade name, ICI Americas, Inc.), as an acid washed activated carbon derived from lignite.
Further, G. L. Curnutt, who is the inventor of U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,044 and JP-A-503460/1988 mentioned above, reported in American Chemical Society concerning the catalytic activity in a gas-phase reaction in the presence of solid catalysts using activated carbon as a support, wherein lignite, bituminous coal, peat, petroleum coke and the like was used as the raw material of the activated carbon.
According to these technologies, however, a suffiient catalytic activity and selectivity of the reacion for the objective carbonic diester are not yet obtained, thus, production of the same in a good yield and with high selectivity has not been achieved.

Catalyst and method for producing carbonic diesters


A protective, impact resistant material and method which includes a fabric of thermoplastic polymeric fibers having a strength of at least 0.5 GPa and an elastic modulus of at least 25 GPa and a matrix of polymeric material disposed in the interstices between the fibers having an elastic modulus of 0.2 to 3.times.10.sup.6 psi. The polymeric fibers can be gel spun, polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, polyvinyl alcohol and polyethylene terephthalate. In a second embodiment, the matrix is derived from the fabric. The method includes the steps of providing a matrix of melted polymeric material transparent to energy of a predetermined type and having a predetermined melting temperature, placing a fabric of polymeric fibers having a melting temperature higher than that of the matrix in the matrix, applying a pressure of 1000 to 2000 psi to the fabric in the matrix, then raising the temperature to the melting temperature of the fabric for the time required to cause consolidation of the fabric and the matrix and rapidly cooling the consolidated fabric and matrix to a temperature below the melting temperature of the fabric. In accordance with the second embodiment there is provided a fabric of polymeric fibers as in the first embodiment which is operated upon as in the first embodiment to cause melting of a sufficient portion of the fabric to fill the interstices between the fibers of the fabric. The fabric is then rapidly cooled to a temperature below the melting temperature of the fabric.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a tough, durable and impact resistant continuous polymer. The polymer in accordance with this invention has very high strength and stiffness in a direction parallel thereto while being compliant in a direction normal thereto. This permits the polymer to be very impact resistant and relates it to applications where high strength and/or impact resistance is desired in a moldable material. Since the polymer in accorance with the invention is continuous, it also relates to applications requiring high strength and/or impact resistance while being impermeable or transparent. More specifically, this invention relates to, but is not limited to, optical coatings for windows and domes (a window being defined herein as something between a system and the environment to protect the system from the environment) and particularly, but not limited to, coatings for infrared windows and domes, primarily, but not limited to, use on aircraft, and, more specifically to a polymer or plastic optical coating to protect infrared optics, particularly infrared windows and domes.

Method of making a protective coating material

Raytheon TI Systems & University of Massachusetts


An optical transmitting and receiving system for connection to an optical bidirectional transmission path comprises a transmitter and a pair of coherent receivers sharing a local oscillator. The transmitter and receiver and connected to the transmission path via a hybrid circuit. The hybrid circuit is provided with a first polarisation splitter, a nonreciprocal polarisation rotator and a second polarisation splitter. A connection of the first polarisation splitter and a connection of the second polarisation splitter form, respectively, the input connection for the transmitter and the bidirectional connection of the hybrid circuit. The input and output of the nonreciprocal polarisation rotator are connected between the first and second polarisation splitters. The receivers are connected to separate outputs of the polarisation splitters.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical transmitting and receiving system comprising an optical bidirectional transmission path, a transmitter which hybrid circuit is provided with a first polarisation splitter, a nonreciprocal polarisation rotator and a second polarisation splitter, the first output of the first polarisation splitter and the input of the second polarisation splitter forming the input connection and the bidirectional connection, respectively, of the hybrid circuit and the input and output of the nonreciprocal polarisation rotator being respectively connected to the input of the first polarisation splitter and the first output of the second polarisation splitter.

Optical transmitting and receiving system having polarization diversity in each hybrid circuit


A novel semiconductor fabrication process having the advantages of conventional LOCOS (process simplicity and reduced defects) while providing a scaleable, planar isolation region between active regions formed in a semiconductor substrate. The preferred process includes formation of a barrier layer and a masking layer over the substrate. An active region mask defines an exposure region of the masking layer. The exposure region is etched to form an opening, exposing a portion of barrier layer in the opening. A spacer is added inside the opening, around a perimeter of the opening to define a second exposure region. The barrier layer, and substrate, under the second exposure region, but not under the spacer, are etched to form an isolation region opening. The isolation region opening may have a suitable isolating material, such as silicon oxide, grown, filled, or some combination of both, in the isolation region opening. The spacer width and the depth of the isolation region opening are independently controllable.

The present invention relates generally to an improved local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) process. More specifically, improved LOCOS and silicon etch processes are disclosed that provide an effective isolation permitting device scaling beyond the present state of the art.
Isolation is a fundamental semiconductor device fabrication process designed to electrically isolate active regions in a semiconductor substrate. The incorporated US patent referenced above identifies a number of conventional isolation methods, and describes some of the drawbacks to implementation of these various processes. Conventional LOCOS, or modified LOCOS, remains the preferred process for high-volume manufacturing when implementing standard sub-micron integrated circuit technology.
Research on improved processes has heretofore resulted in increasingly complex processing requirement, while continuing to produce various device degradations due to various defects. It is important to design a simple, cost effective alternative to LOCOS processing to overcome some or all of its disadvantages. The well-known disadvantages of conventional LOCOS processing are that the resulting isolation oxide is not planar, nor is it deep enough in the substrate to provide effective isolation to improve device scaling without compromising device performance.
Scaling refers to an ability to improve transistor density in a semiconductor by decreasing an amount of substrate area required to implement various semiconductor structures in the substrate. The LOCOS process does not scale well in that variations in processing to reduce the substrate area required to form the isolation regions negatively impacts on the performance of devices formed in the active regions.
From the foregoing, it is apparent that an improved process for forming isolation regions in a semiconductor substrate is desirable. This improved process should offer the advantages of conventional LOCOS (i.e., it is simple to implement and has few stresses/defects that adversely affect device performance) and improves on some of its disadvantages (e.g., planarity, scalability, bird's beak formation, and isolation effectiveness).

High quality isolation for high density and high performance integrated circuits


A unique cathode (30) for an ultraviolet discharge lamp (10) is described. The cathode includes a triple-coil wire, i.e., the wire has a primary coil (43), a secondary coil (41) wound around the primary coil and a tertiary coil (36) wound around the secondary coil. The interstices of the primary coil and secondary coil, but not the tertiary coil, are occupied by a crystalline oxide emitter material. Filling the primary and secondary coils of the triple coil cathode provides a cathode having a greater amount of emitter material than prior art. In addition, as the outer layer of the emitter material sputters away from bombardment by positive ions, the remaining emitter material is protected by the now-exposed portion of the coil wire which protrudes beyond the remaining emitter material. Thus, incoming positive ions are apt to strike the exposed wire, and not the remaining emitter material.

Hydrogen and deuterium-filled ultraviolet discharge lamps ("UV lamps") are well known. Examples are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,159,236 (INDIRECTLY HEATED CATHODE FOR A GAS DISCHARGE TUBE) and 4,910,431 (HYDROGEN DISCHARGE UV LIGHT SOURCE OR LAMP, AND METHOD OF ITS MANUFACTURE), the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. UV lamps provide a broad-band continuous spectrum ultraviolet light, (generally in a range between the wavelengths of approximately 160 nm and approximately 360 nm. UV lamps are used in applications such as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultra violet visible absorption spectroscopy (the measurement of the wavelength and intensity of absorption of near-ultraviolet light by a sample), and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AA).
Typically, a UV lamp comprises a sealed quartz or ultraviolet glass bulb filled with a gas, such as hydrogen or deuterium. It is also known to use neon, argon, krypton and xenon in addition to H.sub.2 /D.sub.2 bulbs. The bulb also contains an anode/cathode combination. The cathode is traditionally a double-coil tungsten wire. "Double-coil" describes a wire comprising a primary and secondary coil. That is, a length of wire has been wrapped around a mandrel to form a primary coil, and the primary coil is then wrapped around a second, larger mandrel to form a secondary coil. The cathode is coated with an electron-emitting material, such as an alkaline earth oxide (e.g., barium oxide, calcium oxide, strontium oxide,) etc. or an alkaline earth mixture.
UV lamp cathodes can either be directly heated ("hot cathode") or indirectly heated (see '236 patent, supra). Heating the cathode raises the temperature of the emitter material until it freely emits electrons, or becomes thermionic. When an appropriate voltage is applied across the anode and cathode, and the cathode is thermionic, the cathode will emit electrons allowing a current flow between cathode and anode. The electrons of the current flow collide with the hydrogen or deuterium gas and enhance the conduction path by forming ions. In the hot gas, molecules of hydrogen (or deuterium) are excited and emit continuous ultraviolet radiation by decay to a lower state.
An unavoidable characteristic of thermionic electron emission is the sputtering away of the emitter material. As the emitter material decreases, the cathode voltage drop increases. Accordingly, a UV lamp design must balance the need to emit electrons with the need to conserve emitter material to ensure a long, useful life.
Currently, both 10 V and 3 V filaments are used in UV lamps. That is, a 10 V potential is impressed on the filament to generate the desired cathode temperature. It is also known to apply coatings of electron-emitter materials to filaments. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 2,306,925 (ELECTRODE AND ITS FABRICATION), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Emitter material is applied to a 3 V cathode by dipping the cathode into a triple carbonate solution (e.g., barium carbonate, calcium carbonate and strontium carbonate). The carbonate solution is allowed to dry onto the cathode. It is then oxidized to create a more stable alkaline crystal oxide (e.g., barium oxide, calcium oxide and strontium oxide). Dipping applies a layer of emitter material to the cathode of a 3 V UV lamp adequate to provide free electrons and acceptable product life before substantial evaporation.
However, dipping of known 10 V cathodes, in many cases, is not possible. The dimensions of cathode wire are driven by electrical requirements (e.g., attaining 10 V potential) and thermal requirements (i.e., the cathode must reach the thermionic temperature of the emitter material). The 10 V cathodes are normally made of wire approximately half the diameter of the 3 V cathode wire. The thinner wire used for a 10 V cathode is less rigid than that of a 3 V cathode, and has much smaller primary and secondary coils. These two factors make application of the emitter material by dipping impractical. Dipping a double-coil 10 V cathode will completely fill the interstices of the primary and secondary coils with emitter material. Thereafter, movement of the pliable double-coil 10 V cathode is likely to loosen and flake away the crystalline emitter material filling the interstices of the double-coil. Thus, the effective life of the double coil 10 V filament is substantially diminished. It is known to use a spraying technique to apply emitter material to 10 V cathodes. However, spraying is more expensive than dipping, and it applies less emitter material. Thus, the material evaporates more quickly, sometimes making the life of the UV lamp unacceptably short (i.e., less than 1000 hours).
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a ultraviolet discharge lamp using the industry-standard 10 V cathode also having a useful life greater than 1000 hours.

Cathode filament for an ultra-violet discharge lamp

Imaging & Sensing Technology Corporation


A power transmission apparatus including a power transmitting unit which includes an induction unit which receives an electrical energy from an external power source by induction and a magnetic resonance unit which transmits the electrical energy to an external receiving unit by magnetic resonance.

This invention relates to a power transmission apparatus, a power reception apparatus and a power transmission system, and particularly to a power transmission apparatus, a power reception apparatus and a power transmission system which can transmit power contactlessly in small equipment.
In recent years, research and development of a system for transmitting electric power contactlessly has been conducted. One of such systems is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-295191.
As a power transmission method for contact less power transmission system such as an electromagnetic induction type power transmission method is available. Further, in recent years, a power transmission method a magnetic field resonance type power transmission method has become available. The magnetic field resonance type power transmission method allows for the transmission of power over a long distance in comparison to an electromagnetic induction type power transmission method.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a configuration of an existing power transmission system to which the magnetic field resonance type power transmission method is applied.
The existing power transmission system 11 shown in FIG. 1 consists of a power transmission apparatus 21 and a power reception apparatus 22.
The power transmission apparatus 21 includes an oscillation circuit 31, a power transmission coil 32 and a resonance circuit 33 which are accommodated in a single housing 21A.
The power reception apparatus 22 includes a resonance circuit 51, a power reception coil 52, a bridge rectification circuit 53 and a smoothing capacitor 54 which are accommodated in a single housing 22A.
The existing power transmission system 11 having such a configuration as described above operates in the following manner.
In particular, alternating current outputted from the oscillation circuit 31 flows to the power transmission coil 32, and as result, an oscillating electromagnetic field is generated around the power transmission coil 32. Alternating current is induced by the oscillating electromagnetic field of the power transmission coil 32 and flows to the resonance circuit 33 on the power transmission side, and as a result, an oscillating electromagnetic field having a predetermined resonance frequency is generated around the resonance circuit 33 on the power transmission side.
The resonance circuit 51 on the power reception side of the power reception apparatus 22, alternating current flows by resonance of the oscillating electromagnetic field of the resonance circuit 33 on the power transmission apparatus 21 side. In particular, wireless non-radiation type energy transfer is carried out using an electromagnetic field mode of oscillation resonance so that alternating current flows to the resonance circuit 51 on the power reception side. As a result, an oscillating electromagnetic field having a predetermined resonance frequency is generated around the resonance circuit 51 on the power reception side. Alternating current is induced by the oscillating electromagnetic field of the resonance circuit 51 on the power reception side and flows to the power reception coil 52. This alternating current is full-wave rectified by the bridge rectification circuit 53. The full-wave rectified current in the form of pulsating current is smoothed by the smoothing capacitor 54 and then supplied to a circuit on the following stage not shown.
In this manner, in the existing power transmission system 11, power is supplied contactlessly from the power transmission apparatus 21 to the power reception apparatus 22.
Incidentally, in such a magnetic field resonance type power transmission method applied to the existing power transmission system 11 as described above, if the Q value of the resonance circuit is not raised, then the transmission efficiency cannot be enhanced. In particular, in the example of FIG. 1, in order to enhance the transmission efficiency, it is necessary to set the Q value of the resonance circuit 33 on the power transmission side and the resonance circuit 51 on the power reception side to a high value.
It is to be noted that, since, with such a frequency as is utilized in the magnetic field resonance type power transmission method, the Q value of the resonance circuit depends upon a characteristic of a coil, the Q value is calculated in accordance with the following expression (1):
                    Q        =                  ω                                L            R                                              (        1        )            where ω is the angular frequency, L the inductance value of the coil of the resonance circuit and R the resistance value of the resonance circuit.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example of variation of the transmission efficiency of power by the magnetic field resonance type power transmission method.
In FIG. 2, the axis of ordinate indicates an attenuation amount [dB] with respect to a maximum transmission efficiency. The attenuation amount represents a transmission efficiency. The axis of abscissa indicates an oscillation frequency [MHz] of the oscillation circuit (in the example of FIG. 1, the oscillation circuit 31) on the power transmission side.
It is to be noted that, in one embodiment of FIG. 2, the resonance frequency is 13.56 MHz of the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) band. In another embodiment of FIG. 2, the resonance frequency is set to 120 kHz. Further, in the example of FIG. 2, a very high value of approximately 400 is adopted as both Q values.
As shown in FIG. 2, where the oscillation frequency is 13.56 MHz which is equal to that of the resonance frequency, the transmission efficiency is highest and the attenuation amount is zero.
However, it is difficult to apply the existing power transmission system 11 as a power supply to small equipment such as a portable telephone set, an electronic notebook, a headphone, a music player and the like.
In particular, such small equipment frequently is used at a place spaced from a power supply by several meters or more. As a result, efficient power transmission at a transmission distance of several meters or more is required for the existing power transmission system 11. In order to satisfy the request just described where the existing power transmission system 11 wherein 13.56 MHz described above is used as the resonance frequency is applied, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the coils of the resonance circuit 33 on the power transmission side and the resonance circuit 51 on the power reception side to approximately 0.44 m. It is very difficult to accommodate such a large coil having a diameter of approximately 0.44 m as just described in the inside of a small equipment.
Therefore, it is desirable to implement contact less electric power transmission in a small equipment.

Power transmission apparatus, power reception apparatus and power transmission system


A central controller for robotics and connected devices includes a first communication interface configured to receive data from a plurality of robots or connected devices, at least some of which plurality of robots or connected devices are of different types. The data generated by robots or connected devices of different types are generated in different native data formats. The central controller also includes a processor configured to translate said received data from the different native data formats into a common protocol format, a storage framework configured to store the data translated into the common protocol format; and a second communication interface configured to transmit commands based on data stored in the common protocol format and translated to the native data format of one or more of the plurality of robots or connected devices.

There currently is no standardized software language or communication protocols for robotics systems and smart devices, making it difficult for end-users to deploy a variety of robotics systems from different manufacturers. To address this, the industrial sector (e.g., auto manufacturing) employs robotics integration companies to build customized software to control robots from multiple manufacturers, often at the cost of millions of dollars. For example, Ford Motor Company may hire an integration company to develop software to coordinate activities of a dozen welding arms and conveyers from disparate manufacturers into a single assembly line.
In the service sector (e.g. hospitality, custodial, medical) which does not use robotics to perform repetitive actions on a large scale, customized software is cost prohibitive. As such, the service sector has not been able to take advantage of the growing variety of service robotics systems as anything more than single robot deployments. For example, consider the custodial sector: although an essential service, this sector is under constant pressure to reduce costs because janitorial services add no direct commercial value to an organization. In the U.S., industry cost for contract building cleaning services hit $65.4 billion in 2017 (including contract and personnel management, but neglecting in-house custodial staff). A mere 5% increase in efficiency would result in $3.2 billion in savings annually that could be re-invested into the companies.
Further, the custodial sector is rife with robots from disparate manufacturers, as well as custodial managers without the expertise to employ multiple, specialized robotics systems. In 2014, the service robotics industry was valued at $3.77 billion with more than 24,000 units sold for professional use. These systems include (but are not limited to) large vacuuming and scrubbing robots from companies like Intellibot, Avidbot and Clean Fix; small vacuuming and mopping robots from iRobot and Neato environmental monitoring robots from Ecovacs; security robots from Knightscope and RoboteX. Additionally, there is a great variety of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors from hundreds of manufacturers, including sensors from Measurement Computing, Wicked Device, Monnit and Senseware; intelligent bathroom dispensers from Hagleitner, Tork and Pure and tracking beacons from Estimote and BluVision to name only a handful of examples. Unfortunately, every one of these robots and many smart devices run on their own software and are not designed to share information across a common framework.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an integrated facility management hardware portal that allows end-users to monitor, control, and report on a deployed fleet of robots and smart devices as they transmit data about themselves and their environment, in a form consistent with the service industry.

Map-based framework for the integration of robots and smart devices


A portable computing device for automatic attachment of a captured image to a document being displayed triggered by the act of capturing the image is disclosed. A new page is added to the current document being reviewed and displayed on the portable computing device, and then the image and metadata are attached in that new page. In other variations, the document includes metadata having a location at which images may be stored and upon capture the image, the captured image is stored at the metadata location.

1. Field of the Invention
The present embodiment of the invention relates to portable computing devices and electronic documents, and in particular, user interfaces for portable computing device that allow the automatic attachment of a captured image to a document based upon the context of use of the portable computing device.
2. Description of the Background Art
The use of portable computing devices has become commonplace for many users. In addition to having a conventional desktop computer, many users also have some type of portable computing device. Examples of present-day computing devices include electronic devices for reading such as the Reader from Sony Corp., the Kindle from Amazon, and the Nook from Barnes & Noble. Smaller portable computing devices include a plethora of smart phones including the iPhone from Apple Computer Inc., the Blackberry from Research In Motion and the Pre from Palm just to name a few. There have also been increased sales of notebook laptops and tablet computers offering different levels of processing capability and size.
One particular problem with such prior devices is that they are difficult to operate and configure especially for the layman or unsophisticated user. For example, these portable computing devices are very similar to desktop computers and have a variety of configuration details such as an input device, output device, communication type, available connections, data synchronization which can make them very difficult to use. Furthermore, many of the devices require a conventional keyboard or some pseudo-simulated type version of the keyboard in which to input data to the portable computing devices. This requires that the users learn a number of different interfaces to interact with portable computing devices. Those interfaces may also change depending on the application that is being run by the portable computing device. Requiring the use of such numerous and different interfaces reduces the usability and convenience of such devices.
Many portable computing devices also include a camera. However, one particular aspect of portable computing devices that is difficult to use is the camera. First, the user often has to change modes in order to operate the camera. This requires that a current application be exited, a new application or camera mode be started, and then settings for the camera input only after which the user is able to take a picture. Second, once a picture has been captured, it is stored on the portable computing device. A number of steps or user interactions with the portable computing device are required to either send the photo or move it to another location. For example, in order to send a picture that has just been taken, the user has to exit the camera mode, enter an application that is going to send the picture, attach the picture to a message, and then send the message. Even when merely copying the picture that has been taken from the portable computing device to a desktop computer requires a number of steps. Typically, the camera must be connected for communication in some manner with a desktop computer. Then the browser or file system must be utilized to locate the picture from a directory that includes the files on the portable computing device. Then the picture must be copied from the portable computing device to a desired location on the desktop computer. Finally, an application must be opened so that the picture can be used or sent (e-mail). Thus, current day portable computing devices make it very difficult to use the camera to capture images and integrate those images into workflows or otherwise transmit those images.

Automatic attachment of a captured image to a document based on context


The present invention discloses a method of forming an oxide layer on a layer of gallium arsenide, including the steps of depositing a layer of aluminum arsenide on the layer of gallium arsenide, of exposing the layer of aluminum arsenide to an oxidizing gas mixture so that the aluminum arsenide is oxidized to aluminum oxide, and of controlling excess arsenic released in the aluminum oxide during the exposing step, so as to ensure enhanced electrical properties in the aluminum oxide. The method is used to provide an insulating gate layer for a GaAs field effect transistor by forming an oxide layer on GaAs and controlling excess arsenic so as to maintain high resistivity in the oxide layer and to avoid the formation of interface surface states which degrade transistor performance. The method is also used to provide complementary metal-insulator-semiconductor logic devices based on the gallium arsenide field effect transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to semiconductor devices, and in particular to gallium arsenide field effect transistors and related devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Silicon logic chips and logic families, for example transistor-transistor logic (TTL) and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), have dominated the digital logic field of electronics for many years. Silicon is widely favored as a base material for semiconductor logic devices because of the ability to produce both semiconducting material (silicon) and insulating material (silicon oxide) with good electrical and mechanical properties. This combination of high quality semiconducting and insulating silicon-based materials has allowed the widespread implementation of planar growth and fabrication technologies, leading to the production of large scale integrated circuits. Therefore, silicon-based logic families include devices which are easily fabricated and are inexpensive to produce, and have gained wide acceptance. However, silicon-based devices are limited in speed and frequency bandwidth due to a relatively low carrier mobility. Materials having higher carrier mobility are preferable to silicon for many applications, and the implementation of such materials would result in the production of semiconductor devices which are faster and have a larger bandwidth than those currently fabricated using silicon.
Several alternative materials have been used to create new devices previously unavailable in silicon. One of these new materials, gallium arsenide (GaAs) is common in high frequency devices, high power microwave devices and in optoelectronic devices. However, even although gallium arsenide is widely regarded as being a superior material to silicon, because inter alia of a higher carrier mobility and higher breakdown field, GaAs has captured only a small fraction of the semiconductor device market share. The use of GaAs has been limited, in part, because it has not been possible to grow an insulating layer, such as an oxide layer, on GaAs, where the insulating layer has good electrical and mechanical properties. This has, therefore, restricted the large scale integration of GaAs using planar fabrication technologies. Consequently, reliable, high quality gallium arsenide metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) field effect transistors (FETs) have not been widely available. This has forced designers of digital circuits and devices to maintain the use of silicon for many applications.
A new technique has recently been developed (U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,360) for forming an oxide layer in a GaAs-based heterostructure and superlattice devices. The technique includes depositing a layer of aluminum arsenide (AlAs) where an oxide layer is desired, heating the substrate to a temperature in excess of 375.degree. C., and exposing the AlAs layer to a mixture of N.sub.2 gas and water vapor. At least partial oxidation of the AlAs layer takes place, producing one or more of the following: Al(OH).sub.3, AlO(OH) or A.sub.2 O.sub.3. The motivation for fabricating the oxide layer in the GaAs-based device was primarily to obtain an insulating layer with a low refractive index, which is advantageous for producing waveguide layers in optical devices, such as laser diodes. The electrical properties of the oxide layers thus formed have not been examined nor optimized, and their suitability for use as gate oxide layers in logic devices untested.
There is therefore a need to develop techniques of fabricating insulating layers, such as oxide layers, on GaAs-based semiconductor devices, in order that high speed, wide bandwidth semiconductor logic families become manufacturable. In addition, the insulating layers should have electrical and mechanical properties commensurate with use in planar fabrication technologies, including a high resistivity and only a nominal effects on the electrical properties of adjacent semiconductor layers. The successful implementation of an insulating layer compatible with GaAs-based semiconductor devices will lead to the production of faster, wider bandwidth circuits.

Enhancement-depletion logic based on gaas mosfets

The Regents of the University of California


The present invention discloses a network processor for a broadband gateway. The network processor includes a host processor; a plurality of networking interfaces, corresponding to a plurality of networking technologies, respectively; and a network address translation (NAT) engine, for accelerating packet processing from a first networking interface to a second networking interface.

The present invention relates to a network processor in broadband internet devices, and more particularly to a network processor with a network address translation (NAT) engine, i.e. a packet accelerator, for accelerating packet processing between different kinds of networking technologies, to reduced power consumption and reserve computing power for other networking applications.
With the rapid development of internet, there are more and more networking applications. Thus, the broadband gateways need to handle many kinds of packet processing via different types of networking technologies, e.g. Ethernet, xDSL (digital subscriber line), ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), WLAN (wireless local area network), 3G/3.5G etc.) as well as the application protocols, e.g. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), OSGi (Open Service Gateway Initiative) etc.
Under such a situation, the network processor in the broadband gateway shall boost the performance for these demands. Increasing the Central Processing Unit (CPU) operation frequency is an intuitive approach to boost the network processor performance. However, the power consumption will increase a lot.
Besides, even with higher grade of CPU, the improvement ratio is not enough because of more and more computing power demand due to the above packet processing and applications. Moreover, a conventional packet offload engine only considers a single networking interface instead of different kinds of networking interfaces. Thus, there is a need to improve over the prior art.


A multi-tune radio frequency (RF) coil for concurrent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is disclosed. The multi-tune RF coil includes a first end ring having a generally annular opening and a first plurality of elongated segments coupled to and positioned circumferentially around the first end ring. The first plurality of elongated segments are azimuthally offset from one another by a substantially equal angular distance. A second RF coil includes a second end ring having a generally annular opening and a second plurality of elongated segments coupled to and positioned circumferentially around the second end ring. The second plurality of elongated segments are azimuthally offset from one another by a substantially equal angular distance. The first and second plurality of elongated segments are coupled to and positioned circumferentially around at least one of an a third end ring having a generally annular opening and an end cap, thereby forming a coil volume, and the first and second plurality of elongated segments lie in a same circumferential plane.

NMR or MRI
In Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) systems, a static magnetic field (B) is applied to a body under investigation. The static magnetic field defines an equilibrium axis of magnetic alignment in a region of the body under investigation. An RF field is applied in the region being examined in a direction orthogonal to the static field direction. The RF field excites magnetic resonance in the region, and resulting RF signals are detected and processed. Generally, the resulting RF signals are detected by RF coil arrangements placed close to the body. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,270 to Damadian and U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,356 to Misic et al. Typically, these coils are either surface type or volume type coils, and, depending on the application, are used to transmit RF and receive NMR signals from the region of interest (ROI).
Signals pertaining to different nuclei exhibiting ±½ spin can be observed using NMR. While proton (1H) is used commonly for MRI, signals from other nuclei (31P, 13C, 23Na, 19F, 7Li, etc.) are used to obtain bio-chemical and other information (e.g., functional, physiological, vascular etc.) from the object under investigation. The sensitivities of these nuclei, however, are much smaller than water protons. Hence coils with improved signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) are sought to improve the quality of the MR data obtained with these nuclei. Other techniques, such as proton decoupling and inverse experiments, are utilized to enhance the sensitivity of the NMR experiment. Thus, the dual tune coil chosen for the experiment must be capable of simultaneous operation. This should be done without sacrificing the performance of the low gamma nuclei.
Birdcage Coil
The birdcage coil is well known in the art (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,705 issued to Hayes, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference) and includes two end rings connected by several straight segments, which are referred to as legs. The birdcage coil has several resonance modes, of interest being the principal k=1 mode for homogeneous imaging. The principal mode has two linear modes oriented orthogonal to one another. The outputs from these modes can be combined using analog circuitry or digitally combined in a receiver system. The birdcage provides about a 41% improvement in S/N and expends about one-half of the power of conventional linear coils.
In addition, owing to the sinusoidal currents in the coil periphery, the birdcage provides a highly homogeneous B field in the transverse planes (XY) inside the coil, which is ideal for imaging whole-body, head, knee, wrist, etc. for adults. The B field profile along the coil axis, however, mimicks a gaussian distribution with maximum at the coil center.
The B field distribution can be improved over the adult head with an end-capped design of Hayes (see, e.g., Book of Abstracts, 5th ISMRM, p39–40), which provides a more uniform B field distribution toward the top of the head. At the open end of the coil axis, the B field distribution for the end-capped coil design falls off like a conventional birdcage, which is ideal for imaging the adult head.
A dual-tuned birdcage (U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,016 issued to Rezvani et al.) used two birdcages in a lapped concentric fashion (one inside the other). Note, the low frequency birdcage coil located inside the high frequency birdcage coil will prevent flux from the outer high frequency birdcage coil from penetrating the dual-tuned coil's volume. The outer high frequency coil will be capacitive and let all of the flux from the low frequency coil pass through the dual-tuned coil's volume with little or no effect. Thus, the efficiency of the high frequency coil (proton coil) is reduced, which was seen by Fittzsimmons et al. (see e.g., Double Resonance Quadrature Birdcage, Mag Res Med, 1993, 30:107–114).
Likewise, if the low frequency coil is located outside the high frequency coil, flux from both coils penetrates the dual-tuned coil volume (over the imaging field of view [FOV]). But since the low frequency coil is located outside of the high frequency coil, the filling factor and hence the resultant S/N is low.
These effects prompt in favor of a design where the performance of a coil at the NMR frequencies can be maintained despite the dual frequency quadrature operation or despite the presence of a second coil near it.
A novel four-ring design was introduced in U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,811 issued to Murphy-Boesch et al., but here the FOV of the low gamma nucleus is much shorter than protons, which is undesirable if the coverage over the entire brain is sought.
A new design is solicited that will provide high signals and a high degree of RF homogeneity at both the NMR frequencies over the imaging FOV.

Multiple tuned radio frequency coil for resonance imaging and spectroscopic analysis


The present invention is directed to a power finishing tool having a variable position handle. In aspects of the present invention, a power finishing tool includes a motor housing for containing a motor configured to drive a working element. A variable position handle such as linear handle is adjustable generally toward/away from a power cord such that the power cord is maintained in a standard orientation (i.e., toward the rear of the tool/the direction toward a user). In a further aspect a joystick type variable handle is configured to pivot about a Z-axis extending through the power finishing tool. Suitable adjustment mechanisms include a track type mechanism wherein the handle travels along a track, a rotating bracket mechanism for permitting linear adjustment of the handle may be included for varying the position of the handle, and a ball and socket mechanism. An electrical switch for controlling operation of the power finishing tool may be mounted on the handle for controlling the motor included in the power finishing tool or alternatively to the housing in a location so as not to interfere with a user's grasp but permit efficient access. A securing mechanism such as a biased securing mechanism is configured to fix the position of the handle with respect to the motor housing is further included to secure the handle such as a pommel in a desired orientation. Suitable securing mechanisms include friction locks, positive stop (incremental locking mechanisms), or the like for securing the handle with respect to the motor housing.

Finishing operations such as sanding and polishing often require significant time and effort to remove imperfections from the workpiece. For example, woodworkers typically implement a random orbit sander to remove surface imperfections prior to applying coatings, stains, and the like. In this instance, a user may make repeated passes with sanding pads/paper (working element) having sequentially smaller grit size in order remove large imperfections quickly, while correcting smaller defects with finer grit sandpaper during subsequent steps. In another example, a user may implement a polisher with various polishing compounds/finishes or conduct repeated polishing operations to achieve the desired finish. As a result, a user may typically implement polishers/sanders for a significant amount of time. In addition, since most finishing operations are conducted near the end of a project (e.g., after assembly) a user has often expended large amounts of time, effort, expense in creating a craftsman-like project prior to finishing. In these instances, the user often associates the overall craftsmanship of the project with the achieved finish.
Typically, power finishing tools such as quarter pad sanders, random orbit sanders, polishers, and the like, require a user to grasp/control the tool in a particular manner or fashion. For example, a portion of the sander/polisher housing is configured to be grasped or a fixed handle is implemented to permit user manipulation of the device. As such, a user may become fatigued due to the particular orientation, due to vibrations, and the like. User fatigue may decrease overall satisfaction with the tool, reduce working intervals, and the like.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a finishing apparatus having a variable handle.

Method and circuit for inserting a picture into a video picture


Manufacturing optical devices (e.g., for cameras) includes providing and allocating mount elements to lens modules wherein the mount elements are to be arranged within the optical devices to define a fixed separation distance between the lens modules and the image sensor plane. The mount elements have variable mount FFL sections by means of which the geometrical distance between the lens module and the image sensor plane is adjusted for each lens module, individually or in groups dependent on the optical properties of the lens modules, to compensate the variation of the lens module values among the lens modules, so that the focal planes of the lens modules falls into the image sensor plane.

Cameras and particularly integrated camera optics are nowadays integrated in a large percentage of any electronic devices manufactured, including mobile phones, computers, web cams etc. It is increasingly important that such cameras can be manufactured economically, for example in a parallel process, and that they have as few parts as possible that are mechanically complicated, difficult to manufacture or delicate to handle. Especially for mobile phone applications but also for other applications, there is moreover an increasing demand for cameras that are thin, i.e. the extension in direction of the optical axis is small. Nevertheless, there is also an increasing demand on the resolution that should be achieved by such integrated cameras.
For economical reasons the components of the optical devices, for example lens modules, are often produced on a wafer-scale. A wafer or a wafer stack is thereby produced in an automated process and contains a plurality of congeneric components, as e.g. lens modules, which are individualized in a subsequent process step by separating them from the wafer or wafer stack.
The optical devices, amongst them lens modules, also contain an optoelectronic unit with an image sensor which defines an image sensor plane on which image sensor elements are arranged. Also this optoelectronic units can be manufactured on a wafer-scale as described above. This type of manufacturing processes are well known in the state of the art and e.g. described in the patent publication WO 2009/076 786.
Lens modules comprise an arrangement of one or more lenses or lens parts which serve for the guiding and distribution of the incident light on the image sensor plane of the optoelectronic unit of the camera. Such lens modules have a fix focus which is laid out to match with the distance between the lens module and the image sensor plane of the optoelectronic unit once assembled in the optical device. The fix focus is thereby defined by the flange focal length (FFL), which corresponds to the distance between the last physical plane of the lens (or rather objective) which is the last wafer plane, i.e. that one directed to the sensor in present case, and the focal plane on the side opposite to the object to be imaged, i.e. on the sensor side. Hence the flange focal length refers to a back FFL In order to achieve a high image sharpness, the focal plane and the image sensor plane have to be congruent. I.e., using fix focus lens modules in a large scale production process of optical devices for cameras all lens modules must have a constant FFL.
However, due to fabrication tolerances the lens modules of a wafer or wafer stack assembly and/or the lens modules of different wafers or wafer stack assemblies to some degree have variable FFL-values. I.e., the FFL-value of the lens modules rather follows a normal distribution as e.g. shown in FIG. 3. It is clear that lens modules with an FFL which lies off the center of this normal distribution have to be rejected as the focus plane of the lens module would lie far-off the image sensor plane. However, for an economical production of such optical devices it is essential that as few rejects occur as possible. To reduce the mentioned fabrication tolerances the production process can only be improved to a limited degree. Hence, other ways have to be found to reduce the amount of rejected components.
It is known from the state of the art that lenses are assembled into a barrel and mount and are then focused after assembly on the image sensor. This approach has the drawback of additionally assembly costs, which are caused by the focusing step. A further disadvantage is the large camera footprint since the barrel/mount solution is usually bigger. Further, this method has the risk of so-called "foreign material" on the image sensor. This, because particles of the barrel/mount could fall onto the sensor during the focusing operation.
It is also known from the state of the art to assemble a lens at a fixed focus distance, e.g. by means of a bottom spacer or a mount with a fixed height for all lenses. This method overcomes the disadvantages of the above mentioned approach but has the risk that if the lenses in a production batch have a certain distribution in their FFL's (caused by regular fabrication tolerances), many of the assembled lenses would not be in focus and hence the yield could be quite low.

Method of manufacturing a plurality of optical devices for cameras


A method of and a system for controlling brakes. A target slip ratio of each of wheels at the start of antilock control is estimated and a vehicle deceleration prior to the start of the anti-lock control is detected. The target slip ratio at the start of the antilock control is corrected based on the detected vehicle deceleration. Thus, vehicle controllability correlated to the vehicle deceleration can be prevented from being impaired. It is therefore possible to reliably improve the control performance of a vehicle and to effect the optimum brake control.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and a system for controlling brakes wherein a target slip ratio of each wheel can be estimated based on a vehicle deceleration prior to the start of antilock control.
2. Description of the Related Art
An antilock control system is known which is suitable for use in a motorcycle, i.e., a 2-wheeled automotive vehicle, for example. In the antilock control system, an antilocking modulator is disposed between a master cylinder for converting a brake operating instruction issued by actuating a lever and a pedal by a driver into desired hydraulic pressure and a caliper cylinder for causing brake disks of wheels to generate braking forces. A control circuit is supplied with signals indicative of front- and rear-wheel speeds. Further, a caliper pressure control signal is outputted to the modulator so as to brake each wheel, based on a computed slip ratio or both an acceleration and a deceleration of each wheel or the like.
In this case, the antilock control is started when the computed slip ratio is more than or equal to a set slip ratio. The set slip ratio normally varies depending on a vehicle speed or velocity.
Now, it is known that controllability of the vehicle is related to a ground load sharing proportion or ratio of each of the front and rear wheels and the ground load sharing ratio is correlated to a vehicle deceleration. Though it is apparent that correlation exists between the vehicle controllability and the vehicle deceleration in this way, conventional antilock control has been carried out irrespectively of the vehicle deceleration. Thus, the vehicle controllability is subject to change depending on the vehicle deceleration at the start of the antilock control.

Method of correcting target slip ratios with a correction coefficient based on vehicle deceleration


In summary, this document describes a collapsible superstructure 1 for a pallet 15, wherein the superstructure 1 comprises: four corner profiles 10, a first pair of opposite sides 11 of the superstructure 1, a second pair of opposite sides 12a, 12b of the superstructure 1, wherein at least one of the sides in said first pair of opposite sides 11 or said second pair of opposite sides 12a, 12b is provided with an openable portion 16 in an opening. Moreover, the openable portion 16 is designed such that displacement, in a horizontal direction H along said side provided with an opening, of a first abutment portion relative to a second abutment portion, substantially diagonally opposite the first abutment portion, is counteracted, and such that displacement, in the horizontal direction H along said side provided with an opening, of a third abutment portion relative to a fourth abutment portion, substantially diagonally opposite the third abutment portion, is counteracted, whereby a unidirectional angle setting of the two corner profiles 10, connected to the side provided with an opening, along said side provided with the opening, is counteracted.

Pallets are used to transport many different types of loads. A pallet may be used separately, purely as a load bearer, in order to facilitate the handling of loads in the form of one or more items. A pallet may also be used together with what is called a superstructure. The superstructure may be provided with walls, and, in this case, part of its function is that, when it is placed on top of the pallet, it delimits the loading space with its walls, which then extend around the load-bearing surface of the pallet. Awkward loads, such as small packages or loose objects, may then also be transported on the pallet. The superstructure may also be used to create an even surface on top of which a further pallet may be placed, so-called stacking. Known superstructures are usually made of wood, plastic or corrugated board.
In order to delimit the loading space at the top, a superstructure may also have a lid. This provides additional protection for the load.
One or more of the sides of the superstructure may be provided with windows to permit access to the load without having to remove the whole superstructure.
To be able to effectively transport and store pallets with their load, it is in many cases desirable to be able to stack one or more pallets onto pallets with superstructures. An upper pallet is then placed such that it is supported by the superstructure of a lower pallet. The weight of the upper pallet, and possibly of further pallets lying on top of it, is placed on the superstructure.
An example of a commonly used superstructure is a so-called pallet collar. Pallet collars often consist of a wooden frame which is provided with four hinge joints of metal in the four corners. The metal pieces that form the hinge joint are provided with downwardly and outwardly extending tongues which engage around the corners of the pallet or an underlying pallet collar. Several pallet collars stacked on top of one another provide a higher and therefore larger loading space.
A problem with pallet collars is that they are awkward to handle and difficult to store when not in use. A solution to these problems is to provide a more collapsible superstructure. There are known superstructures which are collapsible by virtue of the fact that they are provided with further hinge joints in addition to the four in the corners. These further hinge joints are placed, for example, on the two opposite short sides. In this way, the short sides may be collapsed inward and the superstructure may then be folded up such that its necessary area becomes slightly less than the surface area of the pallet. An advantage of this is that the superstructure, when collapsed, may then be placed on the pallet during transport of the pallet, after the load has been removed. However, collapsible superstructures of this known type are unable to cope with such a great load as may a pallet collar composed of a wooden frame and metal hinge joints. The reason is that the design of the collapsible superstructure with further hinge joints, and in some cases with an openable window, adversely affects the load-bearing capacity, which means that the superstructure is deformed under a lower load than is a pallet collar.
Consequently, there can be said to be a need for an improved superstructure that is easy to store and that has an improved load-bearing capacity, particularly in the event of stacking pallets with superstructures.


The system is disclosed in which a storage system having data, and meta-data which describes attributes of the data including its address, can copy the data to a secondary system in a more efficient manner. The storage system identifies the blocks which contain the data described in the meta-data, then reads those blocks in the order of their addresses and copies them to the desired target. The method reduces disk access time and thereby speeds copy operations.

This invention relates to storage systems, and in particular to techniques for improving the performance of copy operations between volumes in such storage systems.
Large organizations throughout the world now are involved in millions of transactions which include enormous amounts of text, video, graphical and audio information. This information is being categorized, stored, accessed, and transferred every day. The volume of such information continues to grow. One technique for managing such massive amounts of information is the use of storage systems. Conventional storage systems include large numbers of hard disk drives operating under various control mechanisms to record, mirror, remotely backup, and reproduce this data. The rapidly growing amount of data requires most companies to manage their data carefully with their information technology systems, and to seek high performance within such systems.
One common occurrence in the management of such data is the need to copy it from a primary system to a secondary system. Such copies are often made to provide redundancy for the data, thereby enabling retrieval of the data if events at the primary storage system preclude accessing the data, or destroy the data. Maintaining copies of the data at a remote site helps assure the owner of the data that the data will be available, even if there are natural disasters or unexpected events at the primary site. By having stored the data in a remote location, protection is also provided in the event of failures in the primary storage system. Should an event occur at the primary site, the data from the secondary site can be retrieved and replicated for use by the organization, thereby preventing data loss and precluding the need to recreate the data, at commensurate cost and delay.
Typically the data at the secondary (or remote) site is provided to that site via a communications network which is either dedicated to the transmission of data between the primary storage system and the remote storage system, via the internet, or by some other means. One method for copying the data from the primary storage to the secondary storage is to read the data at the primary site from the server connected to the primary storage, and then send that data from the server to the secondary storage. This method requires the server to handle very heavy loads for the copy operation, and causes heavy network traffic, leading to copy performance degradation.
One known method for reducing the work load on the server and/or the network is to copy data directly from the primary storage system to the secondary (or remote) storage system. In a typical implementation, a source volume (at the primary storage) needs to copied to the secondary storage. To achieve this, another volume, called a target volume is prepared in the secondary storage, and all of the data in the source volume is copied to the target volume. One problem with this approach is that even if only a small part of the volume is occupied with actual data, the entire volume needs to be copied. One solution to that issue is described in U.S. published patent application 20030163553 A1. This publication discloses a method which uses meta-data from the file system, for example an i-node table, to determine the address of the actual data to be copied. Thus, this method reduces the time required to complete the copy, because it is not necessary to copy data which are not included in the meta-data. Unfortunately, however, if the actual data is fragmented on the source disk, the scattering of the data around the disk may cause delays in copy performance due to the relatively long seek time to locate the disk read-write head at the address of the target data.
What is needed is an improved technique for copying data which overcomes the delays of the seek time for the hard disk drive head, yet copies only actual data.

Method and apparatus for mirroring objects between storage systems


A method of forming an interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer forms a polymer sacrificial ILD on a substrate. After metallization structures are formed in the polymer sacrificial ILD layer, a low power etch back is performed on the sacrificial ILD layer. Dielectric material is non-conformally deposited as an ILD layer over the substrate and the metallization structures, forming air gaps between some of the metallization structures.

One of the major concerns in semiconductor processing, and in particular, to microminiaturization of CMOS technology, is reduction in coupling capacitance between interconnects in order to limit propagation delay and signal faults due to cross-talk. In order to achieve this goal in reducing the cross-talk between lines, low k-dielectric materials have been increasingly investigated for integration into the interconnect level. However, extreme low k materials have been considered to cause serious integration and reliability problems. In response, it has been suggested to create air gaps in the dielectric material between metal lines, since air has the lowest permittivity that can be achieved. This makes the resulting dielectric constant of the insulating layer to be very low. FIGS. 1–3 depict a prior art process for forming air gaps in the dielectric layer of an interconnect level.
In FIG. 1, a sacrificial interlevel dielectric layer 12 is formed on a substrate 10. Substrate 10 can be any underlying layer or layers, such as another metallization level. Within the ILD layer 12 are recesses in which metal lines 14 are formed. For example, the metal lines 14 may be made of copper, either deposited by electroplating or electroless deposition. A barrier layer 16, consisting of titanium nitride or tantalum nitride, for example, lines the recess and prevents contamination of the dielectric layer by diffusion of copper 14. A conventional material for use as a dielectric material is silicon oxide (SiO2).
In order to create air gaps between the metal lines 14 and reduce the dielectric constant k for a metallization level, an etch back process is performed. This involves etching of the silicon oxide of the dielectric layer 12. However, the etching process would undesirably cause the copper at the top of the metal lines 14 to be sputtered during the etching process if left unprotected. The surface of the metal lines 14 would then undesirably roughen, leading to poor connectivity and increased resistance between metallization levels. Hence, an additional mask set is formed and lithography process steps are performed to create photoresist masks 20 that need to be precisely aligned over the metal lines 14.
FIG. 2 depicts the formation of FIG. 1 following the etching back of the dielectric layer 12. An imprecise alignment of the photoresist masks 20 over the metal lines 14 is depicted to illustrate concerns regarding the problems related to exposure of the copper during etching. This includes copper sputtering around during the process and the roughening of the surface of the copper of the metal lines. Part of the cause of the sputtering of the copper is the relatively high power required to break the strong silicon-oxygen bonding required to etch back the silicon oxide of the dielectric layer 12.
FIG. 3 depicts the structure of FIG. 2 at a non-conformal deposition of silicon oxide (SiO2) over the metal lines 14 and the substrate 10. This forms a second dielectric layer 22. In the narrow space between metal lines 14, the non-conformal deposition of the silicon oxide creates air gaps 24 in the second dielectric layer 22. These air gaps reduce the overall dielectric constant of the second dielectric layer 22. The morphology of the air gaps depends upon the aspect ratio of the trenches and on the step coverage of the process used to achieve the non-conformal dielectric deposition.
The conventional process depicted in FIGS. 1–3 has the disadvantage of requiring an extra mask set and additional lithography steps to create the masks that protect the copper at the top of the metal lines 14. Such protection, however, is essential due to the high power needed to etch back the silicon oxide used as the sacrificial material in the first dielectric layer 12. Otherwise, exposure of copper to the etch process caused by even minimal misalignments of the mask would allow sputtering of the copper and roughening of the surface of the metal lines.

Method of forming an interlevel dielectric layer employing dielectric etch-back process without extra mask set


Disclosed is a micro power cell capable of being applied as an energy source and utilizing a streaming potential phenomenon occurring in accordance with an electrokinetic principle when an electrolyte aqueous solution flows in the microchannels piled up in several layers. The streaming potential cell consists of a PDMS microfluidic-chip fabricated by MEMS process as well as micromachining technology. The microfluidic-chip is formed with multi microchannels radially arranged in parallel with each other around a center of a disk at a regular interval. The disk type multi microchannel can achieve uniform inflow and outflow effects. According to the invention, there is provided a cell device comprising a pile-up chip having a number of disk type microfluidic-chips with the optimal structure of flow-in and flow-out of a fluid, a distributor, a collector, an electrode insertion part, etc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a micro power cell capable of piling up a disk type microfluidic-chip to generate an electric energy by a streaming potential of a fluid flowing through a multi micro channel of the chip.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When fluid flows through a charged channel by pressure gradient, the density of counter-ions whose charge is opposite to that of the wall surface becomes higher near the surface of the channel wall, resulting in an establishment of the electric double layer (so-called Debye layer). Counter-ions in the electric double layer generate the streaming current by the flow to a direction of the pressure gradient. Due to the potential difference caused by distribution gradient between the co-ions and the counter-ions, the streaming potential generates between upstream and downstream of the channel. Since counter-ions are accumulated in the downstream, the counter-ions move to the opposite direction of the pressure gradient (i.e., the opposite direction of the fluids flow) by the back diffusion effect, and thus conduction currents are induced. Note that a summation of the streaming current and the conduction current is zero at steady state, meaning the conservation of net current in the channel.
When the electrolyte solution prepared with arbitrary ionic concentration (i.e., the ionic strength) flows through the straight cylindrical channel having a well-defined circular cross-section, the relationship between the zeta potential ζ and the streaming potential E is given by equation 1 referred to as Helmholtz-Smoluchowski (H-S) equation.
                                          Δ                                                                          E                                Δ                                                                          p                          =                                            ɛ              o                                                  ɛ              r                                    ζ                                η                                                                                λ              o                                                          [                  Equation                                                              1                ]
wherein,
∈ denotes the potential induced by the electrokinetic effect, i.e., the streaming potential,
Δp denotes the applied pressure difference exerted between both ends of the channel,
∈o denotes the dielectric constant at vacuum or vacuum permittivity,
∈r denotes the relative permittivity of the electrolyte solution,
λo denotes the electric conductivity of the electrolyte solution, and
η denotes the viscosity of the electrolyte solution.
Many researchers have tried to understand the electrokinetic phenomena, and to analyze the fluid flowing in the microchannel with diameter less than several hundreds micrometers and the streaming potential according to it.
Rice and Whitehead addressed a correction factor from the analytic solution of Poisson-Boltzmann (P-B) equation that should be applied to the case of using the H-S equation (i.e., equation 1) when the surface potential is low in the paper [C. L. Rice, R. Whitehead, "Electrokinetic flow in a narrow cylindrical capillary", J. Phys. Chem., 69, 4017-4024, 1965]. Levine et al. presented an analytic solution of the P-B equation to monovalent symmetric electrolyte solution with same mobilities for full range of the surface potential in the paper [S. Levine, J. R. Marriott, G. Neale, N. Epstein, "Theory of electrokinetic flow in fine cylindrical capillaries at high zeta-potentials", J. Colloid Interface Sci., 52, 136-149, 1975].
The streaming potential, which is an opposite mechanism to the electro-osmosis, is one of the electrokinetic phenomena. The streaming potential has been considered as a useful method for determining the unknown zeta potential, corresponding to the surface potential of charged material. From studies disclosed in Causserand et al.'s paper [C. Causserand, M. Nyström, P. Aimar, "Study of streaming potentials of clean and fouled ultrafiltration membranes", J. Membr. Sci. 88, 211-222, 1994] and Szymczyk et al.'s paper [A. Szymczyk, B. Aoubiza, P. Fievet, J. Pagetti, "Electrokinetic phenomena in homogeneous cylindrical pores", J. Colloid Interface Sci. 216, 285-296, 1999], it can be known that the measurement of electrokinetic streaming potential effectively contributes to the charge characterization of the pore and the surface of porous material.
As disclosed in Sung et al.'s paper [J. H. Sung, M.-S. Chun, H. J. Choi, "On the behavior of electrokinetic streaming potential during protein filtration with fully and partially retentive nanopores", J. Colloid Interface Sci. 264, 195-202, 2003], or Chun et al.'s US patent [M.-S. Chun, J.-J. Kim, S.-Y. Lee, "Equipment and method of local streaming potential measurement for monitoring the process of membrane fouling in hollow-fiber membrane filtration", U.S. Pat. No. 6,277,099 B2, 2004], important information about the colloidal particle deposition onto the surface of the porous membrane can be obtained by monitoring the dynamic behavior of electrokinetic streaming potentials with time progress.
The physical meaning of above equation 1 is that when the electrolyte solution flows in a charged channel with a pressure gradient Δp, the potential difference ΔE occurs between the ends of the channel. Accordingly, connecting the external circuit applied with an appropriate resistance provides the electrical energy encountered by electric current and potential.
In recent years, studies were explored on whether a streaming potential occurring from the electrokinetic principle can be used as an energy source. D. Y. kwok, et al. reported that when tap water was allowed to flow in a porous glass filter having a pore size of 10˜16 μm (diameter: 2 cm, thickness: 3 mm, Schott-Duran, Mainz) by the pressure difference, a maximum streaming potential resulting from the flow was 10V and a maximum electric current was several μA [J. Yang, F. L. Larry, W. Kostiuk, D. Y. Kwok, "Electro-kinetic microchannel battery by means of electro-kinetic and microfluidic phenomena", J. Micromech. Microeng., 13, 963-970, 2003].
Olthuis et al. reported the streaming potential and energy resulting from a change of an external resistance with regard to the same filter having a pore size of 1.0˜1.6 μm [W. Olthuis, B. Schippers, J. Eijkel, A. van den Berg, "Energy from streaming current and potential", Sens. Actuators B, 111-112, 385-389, 2005].
In addition, Chun et al. established a theoretical model of an electrokinetic flow field and carried out the numerical computations to build theoretical origins capable of predicting a streaming potential in a multi-channel circuit [M.-S. Chun, T. S. Lee, N. W. Choi, "Microfluidic Analysis on Electrokinetic Streaming Potential by Microflows of Monovalent Electrolyte Solution", J. Micromech. Microeng., 15, 710-719, 2005].
Until now, however, it has not been developed a power cell capable of commercializing the streaming potential.
Both the micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) process and micromachining technologies allow us to fabricate microchannels with desired channel dimension. Using the lab-on-a-chip technique based on these technologies, the micro total analysis system (μ-TAS) as well as the high throughput system (HTS) can be realized.
After the middle of 1990s, micromachining technology for the disposable plastic materials that are easily replicable in mass has been developed. The master mold for replication can be made by the traditional silicon-based micromachining technology. Like the study of Jo et al. [B.-H. Jo, L. M. van Lerberghe, K. M. Motsegood, D. J. Beebe, "Three-dimensional micro-channel fabrication in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer", J. Microelectromech. Sys., 9(1), 76-81, 2000], a method using photoresist SU8 and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is widely known as a simple and low-cost technology among the technologies using organic polymers.
To make the microchannel, a master mold patterning the channel shape is formed on the silicon wafer. Liquid PDMS prepolymer is poured over the mold, and then cure it. Subsequently, the PDMS replica is peeled from the master, and cut into a proper size. Then, the replica is sealed to either glass coverslip or PDMS substrate to enclose the channels.
As disclosed in the study of McDonald and Whitesides [J. C. McDonald, G. M. Whitesides, "Poly(dimethylsiloxane) as a material for fabricating microfluidic devices", Acc. Chem. Res., 35(7), 491-498, 2002], the above method is easier in process and lower in cost than the conventional method of etching the glass or silicon wafer in view of mass production of microfluidic-chip.
Especially, since PDMS is indeed inert and transparent in the range of visible or near UV lights, it has merits as a material for microfluidic devices.

Electrokinetic micro power cell using pile-up disk type microfluidic-chip with multi-channel

Korea Institute of Science and Technology


Systems and methods are provided herein for eliminating speckle noise in die-to-die inspection systems. In one embodiment, an illumination system in accordance with the present invention may include a coherent light source, a diffuser, a first detector, a second detector and a controller. The diffuser may be coupled within an illumination path between the coherent light source and the specimen. In one embodiment, the diffuser may be a rotational diffuser having a variable rotational rate. The first detector may be coupled for detecting a desired position on the specimen. The second detector may be coupled for detecting a rotational position of the diffuser when the desired position on the specimen is detected. The controller may be coupled to: (i) the first and second detectors for determining a difference between the rotational position of the diffuser and the desired position on the specimen, and (ii) the diffuser for adjusting the rotational rate of the diffuser to eliminate the difference.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to inspection systems and, more particularly, to inspection systems and methods for reducing speckle noise in images.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are given as background only.
Fabricating semiconductor devices such as logic and memory devices typically includes processing a substrate using a large number of semiconductor fabrication processes to form various features and multiple levels of the semiconductor devices. For example, lithography is a semiconductor fabrication process that involves transferring a pattern from a reticle to a resist arranged on a semiconductor wafer. Additional examples of semiconductor fabrication processes include, but are not limited to, chemical-mechanical polishing, etch, deposition, and ion implantation. Multiple semiconductor devices may be fabricated in an arrangement on a single semiconductor wafer and then separated into individual semiconductor devices.
Inspection processes are used at various steps during the manufacturing process to detect defects on wafers, promoting higher yield in the manufacturing process, and thus, higher profits. Inspection has always played an important role in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. However, the performance requirements of inspection systems continues to increase, as the dimensions of the semiconductor devices decrease. In comparison to previous systems, today's inspection systems require significantly higher resolution and sensitivity for detecting the small sized defects, which occur on advanced semiconductor wafers.
One way to increase the resolution of an optical inspection system is to decrease the wavelength at which the system can operate. For instance, resolution is defined as: Resolution=λ/n(NA), where λ is the wavelength, n is the index of refraction, and NA is the numerical aperture of the optical system at the object. Therefore, resolution increases as wavelength decreases. In some systems, however, steps taken to increase resolution have an adverse affect on the sensitivity of the system.
For example, there are generally two types of light sources available for use in an optical inspection system. In some cases, an incoherent light source (such as, e.g., an arc lamp, a tungsten incandescent lamp, a deuterium lamp, and a light-emitting diode) may be used to illuminate the semiconductor wafer of specimen. However, most incoherent light sources are incapable of producing light with sufficient brightness as the wavelength of the inspection system is decreased (e.g., to increase resolution). The relative brightness of the light source affects defect sensitivity by affecting the signal-to-noise ratio of the output signals generated by the inspection system. If the brightness is too low, the signal-to-noise ratio may be too low for accurate defect detection. In some cases, the inspection throughput may be reduced to allow enough light to be collected. Obviously, reduced throughput is highly undesirable for inspection.
Therefore, a laser light source is often used to generate brighter light at shorter wavelengths. However, laser light sources produce coherent light, which is undesirable for inspection for many reasons. For example, coherent light tends to introduce speckle and/or ringing into the inspection images generated by the image detector. Speckle decreases the sensitivity of the inspection system by decreasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the output signals generated by the inspection system. Ringing introduces artifacts into the inspection images, which reduce sensitivity and make it difficult to detect defects. Many illumination systems have been designed to mitigate the affects of speckle and/or ringing.
In some cases, speckle and/or ringing may be improved by reducing the spatial coherence of the laser light used to illuminate the specimen. One technique for providing partially incoherent laser light involves the use of a rotating diffuser. The diffuser is arranged within the path of the incident laser beam and rotated to introduce random phase variations into the beam.
As the diffuser rotates, multiple images of the specimen are collected from independent views or perspectives by an image detector (e.g., a CCD or TDI detector). The multiple images are averaged over the integration time of the image detector to reduce speckle and ringing. For example, the mask inspector 5xx provided by KLA-Tencor Corp. of San Jose, Calif. includes a diffuser, which may be configured for averaging approximately 250,000 images over the integration time of the image detector (e.g., about 0.5-1.0 msec). Since the noise reduction factor is the square root of the number of images averaged, the diffuser may provide a noise reduction factor of about 500 times.
In some cases, further noise reduction may be needed as device dimensions continue to shrink to smaller and smaller sizes. One obvious way to reduce noise is to increase the number of images averaged. However, in order to do so, one would have to either: (a) increase the integration time of the detector, or (b) increase the rotational rate of the diffuser. Increasing the integration time of the detector is usually undesirable because it reduces the throughput of the inspection system. However, increasing the rotational rate of the detector may not be desirable, either. For example, the diffuser included within the mask inspector 5xx currently rotates at about 20,000 rpm. Increasing the rotational rate to higher rotational speeds may lead to stress, vibrations and potential damage.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved inspection system and method for reducing speckle in images obtained using coherent illumination. Preferably, the system and method would minimize speckle and improve defect sensitivity, while maintaining inspection throughput and avoiding undue stress on rotational system components.

System and method for reducing speckle noise in die-to-die inspection systems