A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to this specification solves the problem in the prior art that the silicon on the edge of an oxide layer in an LDMOS drift region is easily exposed and causes breakdown of an LDMOS device. The method includes: providing a semiconductor substrate comprising an LDMOS region and a CMOS region; forming a sacrificial oxide layer on the semiconductor substrate; removing the sacrificial oxide layer; forming a masking layer on the semiconductor substrate after the sacrificial oxidation treatment; using the masking layer as a mask to form an LDMOS drift region, and forming a drift region oxide layer above the drift region; and removing the masking layer. The method is applicable to a BCD process and the like.

With the continuous development of integrated circuits, in order to save space, a variety of devices are manufactured on the same chip at the same time. For example, in a BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) process, high voltage (HV) of the laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) and low voltage (LV) of the CMOS devices are integrated on the same chip. Referring to FIG. 1, a semiconductor substrate 100 includes LDMOS 110 and CMOS 120, which are separated by a filed oxide layer 114. The LDMOS 110 has a drift region 111 between the source region and the drain region. The low doped drift region can withstand a higher voltage due to its high impedance. As shown in FIG. 1, the gate 112 of the LDMOS extends to above the drift region oxide layer 113 of the drift region to be regarded as a field plate.
The LV CMOS employs a very thin gate oxide with a thickness of 100 to 200 angstroms, and the quality of the substrate surface determines the quality of the gate oxide. Before growing the gate oxide, the substrate surface must be oxidized, and the oxide layer is removed via etching, thus exposing a high quality gate oxide. This process is also known as the sacrificial oxidation process. Typically, to ensure the complete removal of the sacrificial oxide layer, the etching loss of the oxide layer is greater than the growth of the sacrificial oxide layer.
A manufacturing method for a semiconductor device according to a prior art is shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, which includes:
Step S301, a semiconductor substrate 200 is provided, which includes a LDMOS region and a CMOS region.
Step S302, a masking layer 201 is formed on the semiconductor substrate.
Step S303, an LDMOS drift region 202 is formed using the masking layer 201 as a mask; and a drift region oxide layer 203 is formed on the drift region 202.
Step S304, the masking layer 201 is removed.
Step S305, a sacrificial oxide layer 204 is formed on the semiconductor substrate.
Step S306, the sacrificial oxide layer is removed.
Step S307, a gate oxide 211 and a gate 210 of the CMOS are formed on the semiconductor substrate 500 treated by the sacrificial oxidation. Then subsequent production processes are performed by diffusion, photolithography, etching, thin-film processing.
Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, since the step of sacrificial oxidation is configured after the step of forming drift region oxide layer, during the etching process of the sacrificial oxide layer, the drift region oxide layer of HV LDMOS is also etched. At a corner area 221 shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 2G, the edge of the drift region oxide layer is susceptible to damage. In addition, the area shown in dashed lines in FIG. 2F is etched as the drift region oxide layer 203. Although the corner portion on edge of the drift region oxide layer will be oxidized to a certain extent during the process of forming the gate oxide, the oxide layer at the corners is too thin, which will cause breakdown of the LDMOS device due to the higher electric field across the drift region.
One solution in the prior art is to increase the length of the drift region to elevate the breakdown voltage. However, this method also has some problems.
LDMOS device is a single structure unit consisting of hundreds LDMOS units, and the more the number of units, the stronger the drive capability of the LDMOS device. The increased length of the drift region results in an increased area of the LDMOS unit chip, such that the number of unit is decreased, thereby decreasing the drive capability of the LDMOS device under the same area.
Furthermore, on-resistance is a resistance of a working device from drain to source, and when the on-resistance is small, a larger output current occurs, such that the device will be provided with a good switching characteristics and a more powerful drive capability. However, the increased length of the drift region results in an increased on-resistance, thereby further decreasing the drive capability of the LDMOS device.
Accordingly, increasing the length of the drift region to improve the breakdown voltage will increase the on-resistance and chip area, thus reducing the driving capability of the LDMOS device.
When implementing the manufacturing of the LDMOS device, the inventors has found that there are at least the following problems in the prior art:
The silicon on the edge of an oxide layer in an LDMOS drift region is easily exposed, which leads to leakage on the junction edge and causes breakdown of the LDMOS device.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device


Disclosed herein are two techniques, neutral point switching and field voltage boost, that will increase the output of today's 12 volt automotive electrical systems in vehicle idle conditions solely by the addition of circuitry. Neutral point switching enables the flow of a third harmonic current, which does not normally flow at low speeds, but only at high speed. Boosting the field voltages can be obtained by integrating a field voltage boost circuit and voltage regulator to increase the field voltage, and consequently the field current, above the level obtained from the battery. Furthermore, the transient response of the alternator to a change in load is improved by temporarily increasing the field voltage above the level needed to sustain the load. These two techniques are compatible, and thus may be implemented together, or may be implemented independently. No changes to a standard alternator are required to accommodate the proposed additional circuitry.

The 12 volt systems used in today's automobiles are required to supply ever increasing currents as the load on the system continues to increase. This increase is due to a combination of increasing numbers of electronic devices, such as communication, entertainment, and telematics systems, as well as the proliferation of electric powered auxiliary systems to replace traditional hydraulic or mechanical powered systems. To reduce the amount of current required to supply these higher loads, it has been proposed that automobiles should adopt 42 volt electrical systems. However, the automotive industry has been reluctant to transition to 42 volt electrical systems because of increased costs. Consequently, there is a strong demand to improve the performance of 12 volt systems, thereby allowing higher electrical loads to operate effectively with conventional vehicle electrical systems.
One principal limitation in the performance of automotive electrical systems is the alternator, and particularly the amount of current that can be drawn from the alternator and the response time required to draw this current. The output current capability of today's automotive alternator is influenced by the speed at which the alternator is operating, which is determined by the engine speed of the vehicle. A typical alternator might produces a rated current of 135 amperes at an engine speed of 3000 rpm, might typically produces only 60 amperes at an engine speed of 600 rpm (corresponding to engine idle). Most automotive electrical loads are insensitive to vehicle speed, such as rear window defoggers, heated seats, lights, HVAC blowers, entertainment devices, etc. The loads that are sensitive to engine speed (e.g., ignition) do not consume significant current. Consequently, the electrical system is in significant current deficit at idle, which can produce voltage fluctuations if additional current is required. Furthermore, because some loads are very sensitive to voltage fluctuations (e.g., lights), an alternator that responds quickly to large load application will reduce the undesirable effects of voltage fluctuations, such as light flickering, seen by the driver.
It bears mentioning that the problem addressed herein is not one of power limitation where the alternator cannot supply sufficient power, but rather is a problem of voltage limitation. Fundamentally, the back emf (electromotive force) produced by the alternator is not large enough to supply the required current at engine idle, even with the field current at its max value.
Solutions to address certain aspects of the performance deficiencies in automotive electrical systems are addressed in co-pending U.S. patent application, having the Ser. No. 60/599,328, filed Aug. 6, 2004, and entitled "Automotive Electrical System Configuration." This patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The present invention attempts to further minimize the above-mentioned drawbacks and proposes a system that solves or at least minimizes the problems of the prior art.

Systems and method for boosting output of an alternator


A method and arrangement for detecting rotational movement. The method comprises the steps of arranging a sensor at the end of a rotation axle of a rotating object and at a distance from the rotation axle, arranging a detector external to the end of the rotation axle of the rotating object in such a manner that the distance between the sensor and detector changes as the object turns around its rotation axle, transmitting an poll to from the detector to the sensor, receiving the poll at the sensor, and in response to receiving the poll, transmitting a reply from the sensor to the detector, determining the power used in signaling, and detecting rotational movement on the basis of the change in signaling power.

The invention relates to the determination of the rotational movement of an object and especially to a preferable way of providing duplication of speed measurement related to machine safety.
Conventional non-contacting speed measurements are based on inductive, capacitive, magnetic, or light-employing solutions in which a detector, in other words a short-distance proximity switch, is typically set very close to the axle of a rotating object, and the passing of a counterpart or counterparts fastened to the cylindrical surface of the axle can be accurately detected as detector pulses. This counterpart can be characterized as a passive part of the system. In this type of speed measurement, a typical pulse frequency is one pulse per axle rotation, in which case the measurement is called a sparse pulse measurement. Due to the nature of the sparse pulse measurement, it is not very accurate, and there are delays in the measurement when the speed changes.
The purpose of such a measurement of rotational movement is to provide information on the actual rotational movement and not so much an accurate measuring result of the exact speed of the rotation that could be used as feedback information for speed control, for instance. The task of the conventional sparse pulse measurement is typically to produce a second measuring result related to machine safety. In certain operating conditions, two independent measurements of the rotational speed are often required, and these relate to the operation of safety equipment, for instance.
For the duplication of the measurement, it is unnecessary to implement both duplicate measurements with exact and often high-cost detectors, when the second measurement is only used to detect the rotational movement.
Contacting tachometers and pulse detectors are generally used for performing accurate measurements. In addition, a magnetized or other non-contacting code ring can be fixed to the axle. The use of such a device corresponds to said contacting solutions in view of its relatively high costs and difficulty of installation.
To achieve machine safety and duplicate measurements, it is thus necessary to produce a reliable measuring method that is simple to install and inexpensive and reliable.

Method and arrangement for determining rotational movement


A video image data decoding apparatus includes a pair of buffer memories for storing decoded intra coded picture data or forward prediction coded picture data, a switch circuit for selecting either the decoded intra coded picture data or forward prediction coded picture data to be sequentially stored in the pair of buffer memories, and a generating circuit utilizing picture data stored in one of the pair of buffer memories for generating picture data to be stored into another buffer memory and also utilizing picture data stored in one buffer memory for generating picture data to be newly stored again into the same buffer memory. The generating circuit performs motion compensation by utilizing picture data stored in one buffer memory for generating picture data to be stored into another buffer memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video image data decoding apparatus (hereinafter briefly called "picture data decoder") suitable for use for example in reproducing picture data compressed and recorded in a recording medium such as a disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when picture data were compressed, pictures were classed in three types: I picture, P picture, and B picture. The I picture (intra coded picture) is such that, when it is coded, it uses a set of closed data within one area (one frame) of the picture. Although the quantity of data increases when the I pictures are used, random access or high-speed reproduction can be achieved by scattering the I pictures in the picture data. The P picture (forward prediction coded picture) is such that it uses an I picture or a P picture which has already been decoded and temporally located forward as the prediction picture (the picture serving as a reference in obtaining a differentiaL). The B picture (bidirectional prediction coded picture) is such that it uses, as the prediction picture, three types of pictures: an I picture or a P picture which has already been decoded and temporally located forward, an I picture or a P picture which has already been decoded and temporally located backward, and an interpolated picture produced from both of them.
In the case shown in FIG. 6, for example, the pictures denoted by numerals 0 to 9 are compressed as I0, B1, B2, P3, B4, B5, P6, B7, B8, and P9. Here, character I denotes the I picture, character P denotes the P picture, and character B denotes the B picture, respectively. That is, the picture No. 0 is an I picture, the picture Nos. 3, 6, and 9 are P pictures, and the picture Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 are B pictures. For example, it is arranged such that the picture I0 is generated from the data of itself, the picture P3 is generated from the temporally forward picture I0, and the picture B1 is generated from both the temporally forward picture I0 and the temporally backward picture P3.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of structure of a conventional picture data decoder for decoding such compressed picture data as described above. An inverse VLC circuit 1 gives an inverse VLC (inverse Variable Length Coding) treatment to picture data supplied from a picture data encoder, not shown, and outputs the data to an inverse quantization circuit 2. The inverse quantization circuit 2 performs inverse zigzag scanning on the data that has undergone the inverse VLC treatment, gives an inverse quantization treatment thereto, and outputs the treated data to an inverse DCT circuit 3. The inverse DCT circuit 3 gives an inverse DCT (inverse Discrete Cosine Transform) treatment to the input data and outputs the data to an adder circuit 4. In the adder circuit 4, there is present prediction picture data which has been selected by a switch 15 and input thereto through a gate 17, and this prediction picture data and the output data from the inverse DCT circuit 3 are added up and thereby decoded picture data is generated.
When the output from the adder circuit 4 is an I picture or a P picture, a gate 5 is opened and the output is supplied, through a switch 6, to a buffer memory 7 or a buffer memory 8 to be stored therein. The inverse VLC circuit 1 is supplied with such data as motion vector data, quantization width data, and coding mode data, in addition to the picture data. The inverse VLC circuit 1 controls a timing circuit 16 in accordance with such data. The timing circuit 16 generates various timing signals in accordance with outputs from the inverse VLC circuit 1 to thereby operate the gate 5 and the gate 17 and turn switches 6, 9, 10, and 15 to the sides of predetermined contacts. When the output from the adder circuit 4 is an I picture or a P picture, the switches 9 and 10 are turned to the side of the contact a. The switch 6 is adapted to be alternately turned to the sides of the contacts a and b so that the pictures output from the adder circuit 4 (I pictures or P pictures) are alternately stored into the pair of buffer memories 7 and 8.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the picture data in which pictures are arranged in the sequence of I0, B1, B2, P3, B4, B5, P6, B7, B8, P9 are processed in the encoder in the sequence of I0, P3, B1, B2, P6, B4, B5, P9, B7, B8. Accordingly, the data are input to the inverse VLC circuit 1 on the decoder side in the same sequence. As a result, if, for example, decoded data of the picture I0 is stored into the buffer memory 7, then decoded data of the picture P3 is stored into the buffer memory 8. Thereafter, the data of the piture I0 in the buffer memory 7 is updated to data of the picture P6 and the data of the picture P3 in the buffer memory 8 is updated to data of the picture P9.
When the data of the picture B1 or B2 is input from the inverse DCT circuit 3 to the adder circuit 4 in succession to the data of the picture I0 and picture P3, the data of the picture I0 stored in the buffer memory 7 is motion compensated in accordance with a motion vector in a motion compensation circuit 12 to be supplied to an interpolation circuit 14. At the same time, the data of P3 stored in the buffer memory 8 is motion compensated in accordance with a motion vector in a motion compensation circuit 13 to be supplied to the interpolation circuit 14. The interpolation circuit 14 combines the inputs from the motion compensation circuits 12 and 13 in the ratio according to data input from the inverse VLC circuit 1. The combined data is selected by the switch 15 and supplied to the adder circuit 4 through the contact b of the switch 15 and the gate 17. The adder circuit 4 adds up the data from the inverse DCT circuit 3 and the data selected by the switch 15 to thereby decode the picture B1 or B2.
When the picture B1 or B2 is decoded only from the forward picture I0, the switch 15 is turned to the side of the contact a, and when it is decoded only from the backward picture P3, the switch 15 is turned to the side of the contact c, whereby the data of the picture I0 and the picture P3 are respectively supplied to the adder circuit 4.
The switch 9 is adapted to be turned to the side opposite to the side of the switch 6. More specifically, when the switch 6 is turned to the side of the contact a (the contact b), the switch 9 is turned to the side of the contact b (the contact a). Therefore, when the switch 6 is turned to the side of the contact b and the picture P3 is stored into the buffer memory 8 after the picture I0 has been stored in the buffer memory 7, the switch 9 is turned to the side of the contact a. Since, at this time, the switch 10 is turned to the side of the contact a, the picture I0 is read from the buffer memory 7 and supplied, through the switches 9 and 10, to a display 11 to be displayed thereon. Since the switch 10 is turned to the side of the contact b when the picture B1 or B2 is output from the adder circuit 4, the picture B1 or B2 is supplied to the display 11. Then, the switch 9 is turned to the side of the contact b and the switch 10 is turned to the side of the contact a, whereby the picture P3 already stored in the buffer memory 8 is read out to be supplied to the display 11.
Thereafter, the same operations are repeated and all the pictures are sequentially output and displayed.
In the conventional apparatus, as described above, it is adapted, when data of a P picture is decoded, such that picture data stored in the other buffer memory of the pair of the buffer memories is read out. As a result, in the case where for example the pictures arranged in the sequence of pictures I0, B1, B2, P3, B4, B5, P6, B7, B8, and P9 are those of a person walking along a street with buildings for a background as shown in FIG. 7, if it is attempted to generate the picture of the area indicated by the window W1 in the picture P6 (the picture of buildings in the background) from the forward picture P3, then, because the person in the picture P3 is located in the position corresponding to the window W1 in the picture P6, the picture of the window W1 (the picture of the buildings in the background) cannot be obtained therefrom.
Similarly, when it is attempted to generate the picture in the area indicated by the window W2 (the picture of buildings in the background) in the picture P9 from the forward picture P6, then, because the person in the picture P6 is located in the position corresponding to the window W2 in the picture P9, the picture of the window W2 (the picture of the buildings in the background) cannot be obtained therefrom. Thus, the conventional apparatus has been unable to reproduce an accurate picture.
In other words, since it was arranged in the conventional apparatus to perform the forward prediction by utilizing the data stored in the other of one pair of buffer memories, there was a problem that it was difficult for the conventional apparatus to accurately reproduce the original picture.


The invention provides a hot dip galvanized steel sheet which has: a hot dip galvanizing layer having a flat part on a surface thereof; and a film formed on the flat part. The film is composed of a compound containing Zn, Fe, and O, having an average film thickness A in a range from 10 to 100 nm determined by an element analysis of the film, and has {[Fe]/([Zn]+[Fe])} in the film in a range from 0.002 to 0.25, where [Zn] and [Fe] designate the content (% by atom) of Zn and Fe in the film, respectively. Since the hot dip galvanized steel sheet of the invention has excellent press-formability, bondability, and phosphatability, it is suitable for automobiles and electrical appliances.

Hot dip galvanized steel sheets are widely used in automobiles, electrical appliances, and other apparatuses owing to their good corrosion resistance compared with ordinary cold-rolled steel sheets. The hot dip galvanized steel sheets in these uses are often press-formed. The hot dip galvanized steel sheets have, however, a drawback of inferiority in press-formability compared with the cold-rolled steel sheets because the galvanizing components in the hot dip galvanized steel sheet adhere with the press die thus making the sliding resistance between the steel sheet and the die large and instable compared with that for the cold-rolled steel sheets. That is, for a hot dip galvanized steel sheet, the steel sheet becomes difficult in sliding into the die during the press-forming stage at a portion such as bead part where the sliding resistance increases, which likely induces fracture of the steel sheet.
A common practice to improve the press-formability of zinc-based plated steel sheet is a method of coating a high viscosity lubricant oil. The method, however, has problems such as the generation of defects during the painting stage caused by insufficient degreasing, and the instable press-formability during the press-forming stage caused by absence of the lubricant oil. To solve these problems, minimization of the quantity of lubricant oil is an effective means. To do this, however, the improvement in the press-formability of zinc-based plated steel sheet is required.
The galvannealed steel sheet is a hot dip galvanized steel sheet which formed an Fe—Zn alloy layer thereon after heating thereof. The alloy layer is normally composed of Γ phase, δ1 phase, and ζ phase. When the Fe concentration decreases, the alloy layer tends to decrease in hardness and melting point in an order of Γ phase→δ1 phase→ζ phase. From the viewpoint of sliding performance, the Γ phase with high Fe concentration is effective because of the high hardness, the high melting point, and the hardly-inducing adhesion. Accordingly, the galvannealed steel sheet which emphasizes the press-formability is manufactured so as to have a high average Fe concentration in the alloy layer.
When, however, the average Fe concentration in the alloy layer increases, the Γ phase which is hard and brittle is likely formed at the interface between the plating and the steel sheet, thereby likely inducing a phenomenon of peeling of plating (what is called the "powdering") in the vicinity of the interface during the press-forming stage.
JP-A-1-319661, (the term "JP-A" referred to herein signifies the "Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication"), discloses a method of forming a hard iron-based alloy as the secondary layer on ordinary alloy layer using electroplating method or the like to attain both the sliding performance and the powdering resistance. The double plating layer, however, increases the manufacturing cost.
Further low cost methods are disclosed in JP-A-53-60332 and JP-A-2-190483. According to these disclosed technologies, the weldability and the press-formability are improved by forming an oxide film composed mainly of ZnO on the surface of a zinc-based plated steel sheet applying electrodeposition treatment, dipping treatment, coating oxidation treatment, or heat treatment.
JP-A-4-88196 discloses a technology to improve the press-formability and the phosphatability by forming an oxide film composed mainly of a P oxide on the surface of a zinc-based plated steel sheet by dipping the steel sheet in an aqueous solution of pH 2 to 6, containing 5 to 6 g/liter of sodium phosphate, by applying electrodeposition treatment in the aqueous solution, or by spraying the aqueous solution onto the steel sheet.
Furthermore, JP-A-3-191093 discloses a technology to improve the press-formability and the phosphatability by forming a Ni oxide film on the surface of a zinc-based plated steel sheet by applying electrodeposition treatment, dipping treatment, coating treatment, coating oxidation treatment, or heat treatment.
However, the inventors of the present invention applied the technologies disclosed in the respective JP-A-53-60332, JP-A-2-190483, JP-A-4-88196, and JP-A-3-191093 to hot dip galvanized steel sheets, and found that these technologies cannot improve stably the press-formability. Detail study for the cause of failing in attaining the stable improvement has revealed the following. A hot dip galvanized steel sheet contains Al oxide, and a galvannealed steel sheet contains an irregularly distributed Al oxide and has an increased roughness on the surface of plating layer, thus a desired film cannot be stably formed for both cases even by electrodeposition treatment, dipping treatment, coating oxidation treatment, heat treatment, and the like. Specifically for the galvannealed steel sheet, several micrometers or larger irregular profile on the surface thereof is created owing to the non-uniformity of alloying reaction and to the shape of Fe—Zn alloy phase, thereby increasing the sliding resistance at the surface of plateau to deteriorate the press-formability. Furthermore, the inventors of the present invention determined the friction factor of ZnO film formed on each of the hot dip galvanized steel sheet and the galvannealed steel sheet by a physical method, and found that sufficient press-formability cannot be attained. The findings lead to a conclusion that the conventional technologies of forming a ZnO film on the surface of plating layer cannot expect the sufficient improvement in the press-formability even when a uniform film is formed.
To this point, the inventors of the present invention disclosed a technology to improve the sliding performance in JP-A-2001-323358. According to the disclosure, a plateau is formed on a plating layer on a galvannealed steel sheet, and a film composed of an oxide or a hydroxide containing Zn, Fe, Al, and the like is formed on the plateau, and further a fine irregular profile is formed on the surface of plateau including the film.
Although the technology disclosed in JP-A-2001-323358 improves the press-formability more than the technologies disclosed in the above patent publications, there was occurred insufficient improvement in the press-formability in some cases.
In recent years, the bonding method of hot dip galvanized steel sheets increases the cases of applying adhesives to bonding the steel sheets together. To do this, however, the hot dip galvanized steel sheets have to have strong bonding strength, or have excellent bondability.
The above-described conventional technologies, however, decrease the bondability and the phosphatability, in some cases, by forming a film on the hot dip galvanized steel sheet.

Hot dip galvanized steel sheet and method for manufacturing same


A cationically polymerizable anisotropic conductive film is provided. The cationically polymerizable anisotropic conductive film includes an alicyclic epoxy compound and achieves storage life property better than known anisotropic conductive films while ensuring curing temperature and connection reliability equivalent to known anisotropic conductive films. The anisotropic conductive film contains a binder composition containing a film forming component and a cationically polymerizable component, a cationic polymerization initiator, and conductive particles. The anisotropic conductive film contains a quaternary ammonium salt-based thermal acid generator as a cationic polymerization initiator and an alicyclic epoxy compound and a low polarity oxetane compound as a cationically polymerizable component.

An anisotropic conductive film in which conductive particles are dispersed in an insulating binder composition containing a polymerizable compound has been widely used for mounting an electronic component such as an IC chip on a wiring board in the related art. Patent Documents 1 to 3 propose the use of an alicyclic epoxy compound as a polymerizable compound in such an anisotropic conductive film, the alicyclic epoxy compound having higher cationic polymerization reactivity than that of glycidyl ether compounds that are generally used, in order to achieve rapid curability at a low temperature, and also the use of a sulfonium salt-based thermal acid generator that generates protons by heat as a polymerization initiator that exhibits no polymerization inhibition due to oxygen and exhibits dark reactivity. Such an anisotropic conductive film of the related art containing an alicyclic epoxy compound and a sulfonium salt-based thermal acid generator exhibits a relatively low curing temperature (for example, approximately 100° C.).


A system for cooling an environmentally sealed enclosure. The system includes an air channel extending generally vertically from a top surface of the enclosure to a bottom surface of the enclosure, at least one interior heat sink forming a barrier between the air channel and an interior portion of the enclosure, a fan disposed in the air channel and adapted to force air to flow through the air channel, and a plenum proximate the air channel to duct exhaust air away from the enclosure, wherein air flowing through the air channel cools the enclosure. A method employs the system.

A limitation of electronic equipment, such as power supplies and inverters, is inadequate cooling of their internal components. It is desirable to keep certain components such as power stages cool, so as not to exceed the rated temperature for the components and to permit higher output power ratings for the equipment. Forced convection cooling is preferred because moving air is highly effective in removing waste heat. However, with convection cooling there is a risk of contaminated air (such as gas byproducts of nearby batteries) being drawn into the equipment. The contaminated air can cause corrosion and degradation that can reduce the life of components and adversely affect the reliability of the equipment. In addition, heated waste air drawn from the equipment tends to heat other nearby equipment. Therefore it is desirable that there be adequate cooling of the components of electronic equipment and that it be done such that the waste air is disposed of without thermally affecting adjacent electronic equipment.

System for cooling environmentally sealed enclosures


This invention relates to compounds which are N-oxides and derivatives thereof, as well as their use to treat HIF related diseases. These compounds have the general formula set out below and are used to treat a variety of diseases associated with HIF:

Chlorambucil derivatives have been previously described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,278 ("the '278 patent"), which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto. The '278 patent describes the use of chlorambucil and N-oxide derivates thereof in hypoxic environments, and more particularly chlorambuci in combination with hydralazine to create such reactive conditions. However, the complexity of tumor condition and the value of N-oxides derivatives in treating a range of diseases associated with hypoxia-inducible factor was not appreciated by the '278 patent.
A number of people have studied the N-oxide derivative of chlorambucil to determine whether this agent would provide selective toxicity to hypoxic tumor cells. Some studies have reported that the N-oxide of chlorambucil are ineffective as anti-tumor agents because this derivative is not preferentially toxic under hypoxia. Others reported that the N-oxide of chlorambucil showed no enhancement of hypoxic selectivity beyond the value for chlorambucil. However, the '278 patent demonstrated that chlorambucil and its rearranged product was effective when administered with hydralazine to thereby create a hypoxic environment.
This invention relates to pharmaceutical formulations containing compounds of the present invention. The formulation may also comprise one or more of such compounds together with one or more of a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, a diluent, an aqueous solution, an adjuvant, or another compound useful in treating various medical conditions.
This invention also includes a method of medical treatment comprising the use of such compounds. The method may also comprise using such compounds together with other methods of medical treatment.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

N-oxides and derivatives of melphalan for treating diseased states associated with hypoxia inducible factor

Abstract: wherein R is an alkyl, aryl, arakyl or derivatives thereof such as CH3OCH2CH2—, CH3CH2OCH2CH2—, C6H5OCH2CH2—, C6H5CH2—, CH3(CH2)3OCH2CH2Cl; or any one of the following:


A power load center comprises a first terminal block adapted to receive multiple high voltage DC power feeder pairs, a protector block adapted to receive the multiple high voltage DC power pairs from the first terminal block and to aggregate them, a DC to DC voltage converter adapted to receive the aggregate feeder pairs and convert them to −48V DC, and a power tap bus or second terminal block adapted to receive the −48V DC power and to output it as multiple −48V DC power taps.

Telephone companies are working on ways of extending broadband services to as many of their customers as possible. This means that they must find ways to reach substantially all their customers with digital subscriber lines (DSLs). In order to do so, they are installing more and more electronics such as DSLAMs and broadband loop carriers (BLCs) in remote locations away from central offices (COs) and remote terminals (RTs). Naturally, this electronic and fiber equipment needs to be powered. If local power is to be used, an AC service and an expensive AC to DC converter must be provided at the remote site, along with batteries for power backup and the recharging circuitry to go along with them. As an alternative to AC power, the concept of providing DC power from the CO or other convenient point by using existing copper cable feeder pairs has many advantages. However, connecting multiple cable pairs to each individual DLSAM or other device could prove to be unwieldy, costly and cumbersome. Termination of the pairs, electrical protection, and DC to DC conversion would need to be provided for each DSLAM, fan tray, fiber multiplexer, etc., sometimes at the board level. Clearly, a solution that overcomes these limitations is needed.


A sensor unit for a rotating shaft of a device includes a body having an axial opening and a second opening. The axial opening receives the rotating shaft and contacts an outer surface of the rotating shaft to precisely and repeatedly radially align a sensor to the shaft. The second opening receives the sensor.

Hydraulic motors and other units having a rotary output are frequently used with devices for which information as to the positioning and/or speed and/or direction of rotation is useful. Examples include robotic arms, salt spreading units, scissor lifts, winches and power steering units. Some units utilize sensors deep within the housing of the units together with specialized shafts. The Parker hydraulic motor with its slotted shaft and inductive sensor is an example. Other units utilize sensors in specially machined intermediate members between a device and its associated motor. The White Hydraulics motor with cast cap having a screwed in separate sensor is an example. In this motor (FIG. 11) a screw-in sensor 90 is provided with access to, and adjustment of, the clearance 92 through an enlarged dust cap 93 in original and subsequent installations. Typically it is necessary to have a separated power unit to do this. Additional units use specialized housings with multiple sensors. The Ross gear commutation apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,292, Electrical Commutation Apparatus, is such a unit.
These units necessitate complicated housings, additional individual manufactured parts and/or additional components. These add to the complexity of the overall device, increasing manufacturing maintenance and other costs relative to the hydraulic units. The units typically require specialized integral design and/or relatively significant individual adjustments. The units also typically have to be removed and rebuilt if there are sensor problems. The units are thus costly to both build and maintain.


In one aspect, a method of determining a geographical location of a base station is provided. The base station is within a coverage area of a master base station and requests geographical location information from the master base station through a first Precision Time Protocol (PTP) management message. The base station receives the geographical location information from the master base station through a second PTP management message. In addition, the base station determines the geographical location of the base station from the geographical location information included in the second PTP management message.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to time and frequency alignment systems operating over packet-switched communications networks and, more specifically, to methods and apparatus for distributing location information in addition to precision time transfer.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
It has been recognized that by establishing the geographic location of a mobile telephone user, location-based services can be provided, thereby increasing the potential average revenue per user. It is also a federal mandate (in the USA) that, for emergency services, the geographic location of the origin of an emergency (i.e. E911) call be established with a prescribed level of accuracy. GPS-equipped mobile devices can establish their own geographic location if there is a good and unobstructed view of the sky. In other cases the location of the mobile station is established relative to the location of the serving base-station. That is, it is advantageous to establish the geographic location of the base-stations.
Outdoor base-stations can be equipped with GPS antenna/receiver functionality and thereby establish their location autonomously. In the case of smaller, typically indoor-mounted, base-stations, the option of self-positioning via GPS is not a viable option for reasons of cost and/or visibility of the sky. Determining the location of a base-station that does not have GPS functionality is done by manually surveying the location where the base-station is installed prior to deployment.
Such pre-deployment surveying does not satisfactorily address the case where the base-station itself can be moved. Pre-deployment surveying is also not appropriate in the case where the base-station device is purchased and installed by the end-user.
The provider of mobile communication services requires knowledge of the location of the base-station for variety of reasons such as billing and often the service contract pre-supposes a deployment location. Consequently it will be advantageous to ascertain the location of a deployed base-station, albeit approximately, in order to deliver mobile communication services.
The conventional methodology for distributing timing to base-stations is depicted in FIG. 1. The various base-stations (BS-x) 120 are connected back into the service provider network via communication links 160. The provider has at least one location that can operate as a master clock (MCLK) 110 that represents the timing reference for the base-stations in the (sub)network that home in to the master clock. The master clock is usually associated with a Radio Network Controller (RNC) or a Base-Station Controller (BSC) or even the Mobile Switching Office (MSO). Legacy mobile telephony networks often used TDM links to implement the backhaul from the base-stations and these TDM links (e.g. T1/E1 or SONET/SDH) were suitable for carrying a (frequency synchronization reference signal.
It is increasingly common for the backhaul network to be replaced with a packet-switched network wherein the physical layer could be implemented by a wide variety of technologies including Ethernet (typically over optical fiber), microwave, ADSL/VDSL, and coax (cable-TV derivative). The timing information 270 in this case is delivered in the form of a packet flow 260. The technologies used for delivering timing in this situation are packet-based including precision time protocol (PTP) and/or network time protocol (NTP). Whereas legacy mobile telephony required simply a frequency reference, more recent advances require a time/phase reference (as well as frequency). Two-way methods such as PTP and NTP are required to support this requirement. As depicted in FIG. 2, timing information is delivered from the master base station 110 clock 215 to the slave clock 225 in the base station 120 over a packet network 250 wherein the processing elements 216 and 226 exchange packets via a flow 260.
Whereas FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 depict terrestrial methods for distributing time/frequency from the central location to the base-stations, they do not teach how the base-station can assess its own geographical location. In FIG. 3 a third approach is shown wherein all the elements (base-stations and master clock) derive their timing from a common source, namely a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) 310 (the most commonly quoted example of a GNSS is the global positioning system (GPS) operated by the US Government). The satellite signal 330 is received by the terrestrial elements and by synchronizing to GNSS the terrestrial elements are indirectly aligning themselves in time/frequency. One advantage of the GNSS signal is that it provides not just timing but enables the receivers to establish their own geographical location(s). However, due to constraints such as cost and deployment location considerations, base-stations with GPS/GNSS functionality are usually macro-base-stations deployed outdoors; smaller base-stations (such as micro-, pico-, and femto-base-stations) are often deployed indoors and without a clear view of the sky.

MICROSEMI FREQUENCY AND TIME CORPORATION


A current collector assembly for an electrochemical cell is made by inserting an elongated current collector with identically shaped ends, such as a rod, into a seal body such that a minor amount of the current collector passes through the seal body.

Cylindrical alkaline electrochemical cells generally comprise the following major internal components: anode, cathode, separator, electrolyte, a cylindrical cup shaped metallic container and a current collector assembly. The current collector assembly usually consists of two or more parts that are preassembled to form the current collector assembly which is then inserted into the open end of the container thereby sealing the electrochemically active components within the container. The current collector assembly generally comprises an elastomeric seal body with a centrally located opening and an electrically conductive current collector which is designed to provide electrical continuity from the exterior side of the seal body, through the seal body's opening to the interior of the cell. Although a variety of current collector designs may be used, many battery manufacturers use collectors that are shaped like a nail. This type of collector is generally an elongated rod with a head formed on one end and a point on the other end. The head is formed by flattening the end of the collector thereby increasing the diameter of the rod and creating a ledge or bulge. In conventional battery manufacturing processes, the current collector assembly is manufactured by inserting the pointed end of the collector through the exterior side of the seal body's centrally located opening and forcing the shaft of the collector through the seal body until the head of the collector abuts the exterior surface of the seal body. This process requires that the collector be oriented prior to insertion and that virtually the entire length of the collector pass through the opening in the seal.
A variation of this process which has been used to produce commercially available cells is to weld one end of a rod shaped current collector to the inside surface of a cell's exterior cover and then insert the opposite end of the collector through the seal's central opening until the inside surface of the cover abuts the outside surface of the seal body. This process produces a cell with a rod shaped collector inserted through a seal body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,983 discloses a terminal conductor which incorporates an anchoring means, such as a rounded barb functioning as a buttress, to prevent extraction or explusion of the conductor from the cell. During the cell assembly process, the pointed end of the conductor is inserted into the seal's central opening so that the shank of the collector is forced through the seal body's external opening until the head of the nail abuts the outside surface of the seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,650,319 discloses a current collector for batteries which contain manganese dioxide within a cup shaped zinc container. The centrally located current collector has a constant diameter throughout most of its length. However, at one end, a short section of the collector has a reduced diameter and that portion of the collector is inserted through the opening in the sealing disc until the shoulder of the collector abuts the interior surface of the sealing disc.
The prior art processes for manufacturing current collector assemblies have the following disadvantages. First, the collectors must be oriented prior to insertion of the collector through the seal. Second, one of the long standing problems with this type of process is the sensitivity of the collector assembly process to misalignment of the collector during insertion which may allow the leading end of the collector to nick or scratch the interior surface of the seal's opening. Third, small imperfections on the surface of the collector's shaft can create longitudinal grooves in the seal body as the collector is inserted through the seal's opening. The resulting nicks, scratches or grooves in the seal may enable the cell's electrolyte to migrate via the groove from inside the cell to outside the cell. In order to prevent leakage of electrolyte from the cell along the surface of the nail's shaft, battery manufacturers that use a nail shaped current collector have been forced to spend substantial amounts of money to develop and monitor current collector manufacturing processes that do not mar the surface of the collector prior to inserting the collector through the seal. In addition, battery manufacturers must insure that the collector assembly manufacturing processes maintain virtually perfect alignment between the nail and seal during insertion of the collector through the seal body in order to avoid the possibility of damaging the inner surface of the seal body's central opening. Fourth, collector shapes are generally limited to those shapes which can be easily inserted through a seal body. Conventionally, collectors with constant diameters are preferred. Nonsymmetrically shaped collectors, such as those which are curvilinear or have been flattened in order to increase the collector's surface area, have not been used because the nonsymmetrically shaped portion of the collector could not be forced through the opening in the seal body. Yet another problem with the known manufacturing processes is the time required to fabricate a current collector assembly. In high speed manufacturing processes, there is a need to reduce assembly time in order to minimize manufacturing costs. However, the known current collector assembly processes actually waste time when the longest portion of the collector is forced through the seal even though only a small portion of the collector needs to be inserted through the seal. While the manufacturing processes currently in use have been successful in producing large quantities of current collector assemblies, there is a need to develop a current collector assembly process that: (1) simplifies the manufacturing process by eliminating the need to orient a collector prior to insertion, (2) allows irregularly shaped collectors to be assembled into current collector assemblies, (3) decreases manufacturing costs by inserting a minimum length of the collector through the seal body thereby minimizing the time required to fabricate the current collector assembly, and (4) reduces the risk of leakage by minimizing the opportunity for damaging the inner surface of the seal's opening during the collector insertion process.

Process for producing a current collector assembly for an electrochemical cell


The marking device includes a plurality of LED diodes (10,20,30,40,50,60,70) fitted to respective translucent marking plates (L1,L2,L3,L4,L5,L6,L7) whose number corresponds to that of the selectable positions of the gear shift lever arm (6). Each LED diode is electrically connected to a respective voltage divider consisting of two series-connected resistors (11,12; 21,22; 31,32; 41,42; 51,52; 61,62; 71,72) connected in series with the respective LED diode. A lever switch (2) cooperating with the gear switch lever arm (6) is connected with the voltage dividers so that all LED diodes are energized but the LED diode corresponding to the selected lever arm position emits a higher-level light flux than the remaining LED diodes.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The object of the present invention is a device for marking the position of automatic transmission gearshift lever arms of automobile vehicles, being of the type which employs a lit-up marker to show the user the possible positions which the lever can take up and, by means of extra lighting, the selected or working position of the lever.
2. Prior Art
Known in the art are an extensive variety of embodiments of devices for marking the selectable positions of automatic transmission gearshift lever arms and the position selected by the user or working position. In general, the known embodiments of marking devices such as those cited are fitted to the support of the gearshift lever and include, on the external cover of the support which is traversed by the lever arm, a plurality of translucent marking plates of relatively small dimensions whose number and layout correspond with the positions in which the user may situate the lever arm, each marking plate being provided with a corresponding graphic sign to show the working speed of the gearbox. Mounted inside each of the marking plates are means of lighting powered by the battery of the vehicle and permitting the graphic sign on the plate to be seen. In order to achieve brighter lighting of the marking plate for the working position of the lever, the known embodiments of marking devices include means of extra lighting which are in general based on the reflective properties of a specular surface in order to achieve, by means of reflection of the incident light beam coming from the corresponding means of lighting, an extra lighting of the marking plate which thus differentiates it from the other adjacent marking plates. Such means of extra lighting by reflection essentially include a prismatic body provided with a reflective surface which is attached to the lever arm in such a way that both, arm and reflective body, take up the same relative position independently of the working position of the lever.
In general, the means of extra lighting which use a reflection surface coupled to the lever arm present the following main disadvantages: a) the extra lighting of the translucent plates is dependent upon the state of the reflective surface which, due to environmental conditions, may vary, reducing thereby the reflective capacity of the incident light beam and in consequence reducing the level of extra lighting of the plates; b) the fact that the reflective surface is attached to the lever arm in such a way that both take up the same relative position, together with the limitations presented by the path of the reflected light beam, imposes a certain layout of the marking plates, which layout consists specifically in situating the marking plates in positions substantially parallel to the travel of the lever arm; and c) the intensity of the extra lighting of the marking plates is difficult to adapt to the needs of each specific case of application and is even, under certain circumstances, insufficient.

Device for marking the position of automatic transmission gearshift lever arms


When a shutdown instruction is input, whether there is a job under execution or a waiting job is determined (S604). A list of information on a job under execution, if it is found, and information on a waiting job, if it is found, is displayed (S611). After the list is displayed, a control process pertaining to shutdown is performed.

Recently, various functions of, e.g., a copying machine and printer used in an office are beginning to be installed in a single apparatus, and an image processing apparatus called a digital multifunction peripheral (MFP) is put on the market. This MFP is obtained by installing a printer controller having an image processing function in a copying machine, and has functions of both the copying machine and printer. The number of functions of the MFP is more and more increased by further adding a facsimile function and the like.
Conventionally, some digital MFPs have a sleep mode in order to reduce the power consumption when they are not in use.
Since, however, electric power is slightly consumed even in this sleep mode, some users shut down the main power supply. Also, the final user more and more desires to shut down the power supply of the main body because the security awareness increases in recent years.
Accordingly, some recent digital MFPs have a mode called a shutdown mode in which the main power supply is shut down after all input jobs are completed.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-265174 describes that if an image forming operation is under execution when an instruction to shut down the main power supply is accepted, a message indicating that the instruction to shut down the main power supply is accepted is displayed, and the main power supply is shut down after the image forming operation is completed.
In the conventional apparatus, however, a message indicating that the power supply shutdown instruction is accepted is displayed, but no information about how will presently input jobs be executed is displayed.
For example, neither a message indicating presently input jobs nor a message indicating jobs to be recovered and jobs not to be recovered when the power supply is shut down is displayed. In addition, a print job (called a secure print job) which is input as a job but is not executed unless a predetermined operation including the inputting of a password is performed is displayed as a job waiting for execution, but is not executed unless the predetermined operation is performed. No message taking account of (the state of) a job like this is displayed.
Accordingly, the user can know the existence of a job waiting for execution or a job under execution, but cannot know the timing at which the power supply can be shut down without any job disappearance (cancellation). Also, if a storage type job, such as the secure print job described above, which is not executed unless a predetermined operation is performed is input, it is difficult for the user to know the existence of this storage type job.

Image forming apparatus, and control method of the same


A mold clamp control method for an injection molding machine having a toggle-type mold clamping mechanism. The mold clamp control method includes: a low-pressure mold clamping step that performs position hold control by which a crosshead is held in a set holding position in a state where a toggle link has been bent, when injection-filling is started; and a compression-press step that performs speed and position control by which the crosshead is advanced toward a set advancement position from the set holding position in a state where a first output upper limit value has been provided to a driving section. Advancement of the crosshead is continued in at least part of the compression-press step in a state where a generated output of the driving section is maintained at the first output upper limit value.

In a general injection molding method using an injection molding machine having a toggle-type mold clamping mechanism, first, a toggle link in a bent state is extended by movement in a mold closing direction (advancement) of a crosshead, a movable plate guided by a tie bar is moved to a fixed plate side, and a movable mold attached to the movable plate is mold-matched to (mold-touched on) a fixed mold attached to a fixed plate. In this state, the toggle link is not completely extended (bending angle ≠180°), and the tie bar maintains a substantially natural length where there is almost no occurrence of an elastic force in a longitudinal direction (a state where a certain elastic force in the longitudinal direction has occurred in the tie bar is also sometimes regarded as a mold-matched (mold-touched) state). Then, the crosshead is further advanced and the toggle link is completely extended (bending angle=180°, so that the tie bar is extended a certain amount more than the natural length in the longitudinal direction, whereby an elastic force in the longitudinal direction occurring in the tie bar based on same extension amount can be imparted as a mold clamping force on the movable mold and the fixed mold, via the movable plate and the fixed plate. Such a state where the toggle link is completely extended (bending angle=180° is referred to as a lockup state, and a state other than that where the toggle link is even only slightly bent (bending angle≠180°) is referred to as a non-lockup state.
Next, a molten state resin material (molten resin) is injection-filled from an injection apparatus, into an inside of a mold cavity formed between the movable mold and the fixed mold in a state where the mold clamping force has been imparted (mold clamped state). The molten resin injection-filled inside the mold cavity undergoes heat release from a surface region of molten resin flow contacting the likes of air in the mold cavity or a contact region with a mold cavity surface, whereby cooling and solidification due to temperature drop proceed and melt viscosity increases, hence fluidity and pressure propagation characteristics of the molten resin lower. Therefore, in order for the mold cavity to be completely filled with the molten resin while the molten resin has sufficient or required fluidity and pressure propagation characteristics, the molten resin is injection-filled into the inside of the mold cavity from the injection apparatus with a certain speed (injection speed) and pressure (injection pressure). As a result, a mold opening force occurs between the movable mold and the fixed mold, due to a rise in resin pressure based on the injection speed or injection pressure, of the molten resin inside the mold cavity.
The mold clamping force counters this mold opening force, thereby maintaining as a closed space the mold cavity formed between the movable mold and the fixed mold, and is imparted in order to prevent resin from spurting out (burr blow) from mold matching surfaces (mold dividing surfaces) of both molds. Therefore, mold clamping force adjustment (adjustment of an amount that the tie bar is extended more than the natural length in the longitudinal direction) is performed in the toggle-type mold clamping mechanism, so as to impart a mold clamping force which is larger than a maximum mold opening force estimated from various kinds of injection-filling conditions. In addition, the toggle-type mold clamping mechanism, as well as having an advantage that an output of a driving section for retreating/advancing the crosshead in a mold opening/closing direction, required to set the toggle link to the lockup state so as to impart the mold clamping force or to set to the non-lockup state by releasing the lockup state so as to release the mold clamping force, may be smaller than the imparted mold clamping force (boosting effect), also has an advantage that in the lockup state, the mold clamping force is maintained without this output of the driving section being maintained. Due to these advantages, the toggle-type mold clamping mechanism represents a main form of mold clamping mechanism alongside a direct pressure-type mold clamping mechanism.
On the other hand, in the toggle-type mold clamping mechanism, there are injection molding methods that start an injection-filling step in the non-lockup state, without setting the toggle link to the lockup state. One is an injection compression molding method that starts the injection-filling step in the non-lockup state where the crosshead has been advanced to a degree causing a low mold clamping force, from a state that the movable mold and the fixed mold have been mold-matched (mold-touched), or mold-touched state. In the injection compression molding method, there is performed position hold control (a low-pressure mold clamping step) by which the crosshead is held in a set holding position (target position), in a state where the toggle link has been bent countering the mold opening force occurring due to molten resin flow (the injection speed or injection pressure) of the molten resin injection-filled into the inside of the mold cavity. As a result, due to the mold opening force generated by injection-filling, the movable mold is mold-opened from the fixed mold a certain time and a certain amount, and, at the same time, the tie bar is also extended. A difference from a later-mentioned injection press molding method is that the low-pressure mold clamping step is started from a state where the mold dividing surfaces of the movable mold and the fixed mold are not opened.
Moreover, another is the injection press molding method that starts the injection-filling step in the non-lockup state where the movable mold has been mold-opened a certain amount from the fixed mold. Even in the injection press molding method, there is performed position hold control (a low-pressure mold clamping step) by which the crosshead is held in a set holding position (target position), in a state where the toggle link has been bent countering the mold opening force occurring due to injection-filling. The difference from the previously mentioned injection compression molding method is that the low-pressure mold clamping step is started from a state where the mold dividing surfaces of the movable mold and the fixed mold are opened. In these injection molding methods, by performing the injection filling step in a state where, due to mold opening, a mold cavity volume has been expanded to more than a desired volume of a resin molded product, a filling resistance is reduced, whereby a pressure deviation within the molten resin is reduced. This reduction of the pressure deviation reduces internal strain occurring during cooling and solidification.
In addition, these injection molding methods are characterized in having a step (a compression-press step) by which, after start of the injection-filling step, the mold cavity volume expanded by the above-described kind of mold opening is contracted to a normal volume by movement in the mold closing direction of the movable mold (movable plate). In the injection compression molding method, this movement in the mold closing direction of the movable mold (movable plate) is referred to as a compression operation, a compression step, or the like, and is generally performed by speed and position control by which the crosshead held in the set holding position countering the injection-filling is advanced to a set advancement position (target position).
On the other hand, in the injection press molding method, this movement of the movable mold (movable plate) is referred to as a press operation, a press step, or the like, and, similarly to in the injection compression molding method, is generally performed by speed and position control by which the crosshead held in the set holding position countering the injection-filling is advanced to a set advancement position (target position). The movement in the mold closing direction of the movable mold (movable plate) accompanying advancement of the crosshead, of the kind described above, in the injection compression molding method and the injection press molding method will be referred to as a compression-press step in the present application. Regarding the set advancement position of the crosshead in the compression-press step, first, this is set to a position corresponding to a position of the movable mold (movable plate) at which the mold cavity volume will be the normal volume, and after that set advancement position has been reached, there is a shift to a mold clamping step further advancing the crosshead to another target position at which a normal mold clamping force is generated, the crosshead is advanced to yet another target position at which a certain mold clamping force is generated, whereby from the set holding position to the set advancement position of the crosshead is divided into a plurality of sections, a set advancement position for each of the sections is set, and a variety of positions are set according to a molded product or molding conditions.
Moreover, in the compression-press step, speed and position control by which the crosshead is advanced at a set speed to the set advancement position (target position), is performed. As a result, an output required to maintain a set advancement speed of the crosshead is generated in the driving section of the toggle-type mold clamping mechanism, with respect to an advancement resistance force acting on the crosshead via the movable plate.
With respect to a general injection molding method in which molten resin is filled into the inside of the mold cavity only by resin flow of molten resin to inside a normal volume mold cavity from a gate (filling region of molten resin to the inside of the mold cavity), in the injection compression molding method or injection press molding method, due to the above-described kind of compression-press step in which the filling resistance during injection-filling is reduced by expanding the mold cavity volume and in which, by movement in the mold closing direction of the moveable mold (moveable plate) (volume contraction of the mold cavity), the molten resin inside the mold cavity whose volume has been expanded is filled by flow to an extremity region of the mold cavity in a state that a substantially uniform compression-press force has been imparted, a resin flow having a substantially uniform resin pressure is generated in an entirety of the molten resin inside the mold cavity, hence it is difficult for a resin pressure deviation to occur in the molten resin flowing to the extremity region inside the mold cavity, and internal strain occurring during cooling and solidification of the molten resin can be more reduced. Therefore, the injection compression molding method or injection press molding method is adopted in molding of a resin molded product such as a resin disk for a recording medium that requires shape deformation due to internal strain after molding to be more reduced or a thin wall resin molded product where effect due to shape deformation is large.
Note that in the injection compression molding method, the injection-filling step is started in a state where the mold dividing surfaces of the movable mold and the fixed mold are not opened, that is, a mold-closed state of the movable mold and the fixed mold (a mold-touched state, or a state where the crosshead has been advanced from the mold-touched state to a degree generating a low mold clamping force). Therefore, the mold attains a mold-opened state with substantially the same timing as a skin layer (initial solidified layer) is formed on a contact surface with a mold cavity inner surface of a molten resin surface. This skin layer has flexibility, hence can be likened to a state where a substance having fluidity (the molten resin) has been contained inside a rubber balloon (the skin layer). Therefore, provided there is a mold opening amount by which the molten resin contained by strength of the formed skin layer can be prevented from leaking to outside, an ordinary mold having flat mold dividing surfaces is frequently adopted, without molten resin leaking from between the mold dividing surfaces of the movable mold and the fixed mold. Exceptionally, when time is required for formation of the skin layer, when strength of the formed skin layer is low, or when the mold opening amount is large, and so on, a later-mentioned kind of mold having a shared-edge structure is used.
On the other hand, in the injection press molding method, the injection-filling step is started in a state where the mold dividing surfaces of the movable mold and the fixed mold are opened, hence the molten resin ends up leaking out from the opened mold dividing surfaces to the contact surface with the mold cavity inner surface of the molten resin surface, without time for the above-described kind of skin layer (initial solidified layer) to be formed. Therefore, excluding the exceptional case of the mold opening amount being minute, a mold having a shared-edge structure is generally adopted.
A shared-edge structure is sometimes also referred to as the likes of a pincer structure or a spigot joint structure, and is a structure generally known as a structure of mating sections forming mold-matching dividing surfaces of a mold. Specifically, it is a structure where, by forming between the movable mold and the fixed mold mating sections (concave-and-convex sections) extending in the mold opening/closing direction so as to be capable of insertion/removal into/from each other while sliding against each other, a mold cavity is maintained as a closed space, and it can be prevented that the molten resin that has been injection-filled into the inside of same mold cavity leaks out to outside of the mold or that burr blow occurs, even when the mold has been mold-opened a certain amount to expand the mold cavity volume.
Patent Document 1 discloses a molding method (injection press molding method) of a thin wall molded product, having: a compression step (compression-press step) in which, after a mold has first been set to a state of being opened a certain amount by a screw or plunger being driven in an axial direction and a mold cavity of said mold has been injected with a molten resin, this mold is mold-clamped and the injected molten resin is compressed; a pressure release step in which, in parallel with this compression step, the screw or plunger is retreated for a certain time, whereby a resin pressure of the molten resin in the mold is lowered; and a pressure hold step in which, after this pressure release step, a driving force in the axial direction is applied to the screw or plunger, whereby a certain resin pressure is applied to the molten resin.
This has an intention of solving non-uniformity of pressure of the molten resin in the molded product, that is, that due to the molten resin moving in a peripheral direction from a central section vicinity (gate vicinity) of the mold cavity by the compression step (compression-press step), resin pressure of a peripheral section of the mold cavity is low, whereas the gate vicinity is at a high pressure. That is, Patent Document 1 describes that by the screw or plunger being retreated during implementation of the compression step, pressure of the molten resin in the gate vicinity can be sharply reduced, hence the high pressure resin pressure of the gate vicinity is reduced, whereby non-uniformity of pressure of the molten resin in the molded product is relieved.
Moreover, Patent Document 2 discloses a molding method (injection compression molding method) of a disk molded product, in which an injection-filling step of a molten resin material is performed by mold clamping pressure control, and, that, after a peak of a mold retreat position of a movable mold accompanying injection-filling of the molten resin material, or, after start of injection, performs a shift-switch to a compression step (compression-press step) in which, after the mold clamping pressure has reached a predetermined certain mold clamping pressure, compression is performed by position controlling the movable mold to a predetermined certain mold position. This has an intention of stably performing compression by making a compression start timing in the compression step constant, and of making a compression amount uniform in the compression step by performing positioning control (movement control) of the movable mold as in an injection press molding method, and is substantively a mold clamp control method for an injection molding machine having a direct pressure-type mold clamping mechanism.

Mold clamp control method for injection molding machine having toggle-type mold clamping mechanism


A method of partitioning a control program among many spatially separated computing devices places most of the program instructions in computing devices supporting outputs to the controlled processor equipment. Inputs then simply report their data to the output computing devices rather than having that data processed by a path of computing devices communicating with each other such as may cause the evaluation of the outputs to be delayed by multiple transmissions on the common link.

Industrial controllers such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,810,118; 3,942,158; 4,165,534; and 4,442,504 are typically centralized, high-speed computers that may be connected to industrial equipment, such as automated assembly lines or machine tools, to operate such equipment in accordance with a stored control program. The stored program includes instructions, which when executed, examine the condition of selected inputs to the controller from sensing devices on the controlled equipment and outputs from the controller, and energize or de-energize selected outputs or actuators from the controller to operate devices on the controlled equipment.
Inputs to the industrial controller may be discrete binary signals, such as those from switches, which may detect limits of process variables such as motion, temperature, time, or other quantities, or the inputs may be analog measures of process variables which are generally then converted to digital words for processing, or the inputs may be multivariable information.
Similarly, the outputs of the industrial controller may be either discrete binary signals as produced, typically, by mechanical or solid state relays; analog outputs produced by means of a digital to analog converter; or multi-variable commands.
Some of the inputs and outputs to the industrial controller may be remotely located and communicated to the controller by means of a digital communications link. Typically, the digital communications link connects the controller with a remote "I/O rack" at which a number of inputs and outputs are clustered.
Present industrial controllers are often programmed by means of a "ladder logic" language in which the control program is represented as ladders whose vertical rails represent a power source or power return and whose rungs are series and parallel connected contacts and relay coils. The contacts may be either normally-open or normally-closed as controlled either by external inputs or by relay coils. This language reflects an implementation of the control program in discrete electrical devices (relays) as was practiced prior to industrial controllers.
The centralized architecture of current industrial control systems, in which a single central controller is used to read and control many remote control points, reflects both the historically high cost of computer hardware (as may be reduced by the use of a single centralized controller) and the desire for centralized reporting and coordination of the operation of an entire industrial process. Nevertheless, a centralized controller architecture may not be ideal for all control tasks.
For some simple control tasks with few inputs and outputs, the centralized controller may be unnecessarily complex and expensive, providing unneeded features and capacity. Conversely, for some complex control tasks with many inputs and outputs, the speed limitations of the centralized controller may significantly degrade the performance of the control system.
The centralized controller typically processes each input and output of the control system, sequentially. For large programs, a significant delay may occur between the changing of an input and the control of a corresponding output. If the delay is large enough, the control system may become sluggish or unpredictable. With a centralized controller, the state of each remote input and output must also be repeatedly transmitted over the link to the centralized controller. When there are many remote inputs and outputs to the control system, the capacity of the link between the I/O and the centralized controller may become overloaded.
Finally, failure of the centralized controller typically disables the entire control system. Troubleshooting the cause of the controller failure may be difficult because often the failed controller cannot report information about its internal operation or execute troubleshooting programs.
One technique for eliminating some of these shortcomings of a centralized controller architecture is to divide the control process up to be executed by many separate computing devices each of which may be located near each of the different control points on the machine or process. In this way, input and output signals are only communicated to a local computing device and do not tax the capacity of the link connecting the computing devices together. Because the many computing devices may perform their control tasks in parallel, an effective speed gain is also realized. This approach, where there are many separate computing devices acting in concert, is termed: "highly distributed control".
Ideally, in a highly distributed control system, a single control program is written for the entire system and then broken apart so that portions can be transmitted (downloaded) to and stored in each of the computing devices. Together with the control program, the computing devices receive instructions as to how to communicate among each other to synchronize the control process.
Dividing a single control program among various distributed computing devices, and providing the computing devices with the necessary instructions to synchronize their operation can be a difficult and time consuming process. Normally, there will be a number of ways that a control program can be divided. Choosing the correct division is important to ensure optimal performance of the control system.

Output weighted partitioning method for a control program in a highly distributed control system


An articulated bone reconstruction bar includes a series of short segments connected by fixable axles. The length of the bar is adjusted by varying the number of segments. Before the fixable axles are tightened, the bar is positioned across a discontinuity on a bone. It is adjusted to match the contour of the bone, and the fixable axles are tightened to fixate the connections between the segments and make the bar rigid. The bar is then attached to the bone with mounting screws extending through the segments. Fixable axles with long posts may be used for mounting a dental support plate at the gum line in an area where bone has been lost or removed. If failure occurs, the fixable axles enable the broken segments to be replaced without replacing the entire bar.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to surgical implants for repairing continuity defects in bones, such as the mandible.
2. Prior Art
Discontinuities in bones, such as the mandible or jaw bone, may comprise of a fracture caused by an accident, or a missing section caused by the surgical removal of a diseased portion. The defects are commonly repaired by attaching a bar of titanium, stainless steel, or other metal alloy, across the fracture or gap. A typical bar includes a series of screw holes and intermediary segments. The bar is attached to the mandible with screws positioned through the holes. However, it must be cut to size and accurately bent to conform to the contour of an individual mandible before installation. Due to the stiffness of the bar and the accuracy required, cutting and bending the bar may take two hours or longer. If the bending is not completely accurate, the mandible is stressed when the bar is tightened thereon, and also deformed to prevent proper dental occlusion. Further, the narrow intermediary segments between the screw holes create stress points, which are exacerbated by bending, where failure sometimes occur. If broken, the entire bar must be surgically removed and replaced, causing further suffering to the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,668 to Bartoli shows a dental support bar for mounting dentures. It is comprised of segments connected by pins. Threaded sleeves are screwed onto the pins. Plates attached to the lower end of the pins are embedded in the gum. The segments are disclosed as requiring bending to follow the gum line. The dental support bar cannot be used for repairing discontinuities in a mandible, because the pins are merely attached to the gum, and the pivots between the bar segments are not tightly connected enough to remain rigid, i.e., the bar relies on the mandible for stability. It can only be used on a part of the jaw which is normal, i.e., without a reconstruction bar.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,286 to Hader shows another dental support bar for mounting dentures. It is comprised of segments connected by ball-and-socket joints attached to the jaw by posts. The segments arc extendable to allow for unequal spacing between the joints. The support bar thus relies on the jaw for stability, so that it cannot be used for reconstructing a broken jaw. It must also be used in combination with a mandible reconstruction bar when there is a discontinuity in the mandible. It can also only be used on a part of the jaw which is normal.


A device for use in assisting a person to stretch a targeted tissue in the body. The stretching device consists of a long, inelastic strap with a fixed loop at one end, and a connector on the other end. The connector has a fixed part and a movable part that, when connected together, form a second loop at the second end of the strap, of varying size. The device is used in combination with instructions that inform the user of the proper use of the device to stretch a targeted tissue in the body. Packaging of the device and the instructions together provides a convenient kit for use in stretching exercises for the body.

The present invention relates to a device in a kit for stretching the body.
A regular program of physical exercise is important to the physical and mental health of persons. Many people exercise at health and exercise facilities under the guidance and instruction of a trained exercise director. Other persons exercise alone or at home. Exercise takes on a variety of routines, including, but not limited to, yoga, martial arts, aerobics, swimming, running, cross-training, and gymnastics.
The stretching of the muscles, ligaments and other body tissues improves flexibility, reduces muscle cramping and strains or other forms of injuries, and improves exercise performance and endurance. Safely stretching tight muscles prior to an activity may help prevent soft tissue trauma during activities. Re-stretching during the cool-down phase after the completion of the activity minimizes muscle soreness and helps to elongate tissues that may become tight during the activity.


The present invention provides a magnetic recording medium which is capable of improving the perpendicular orientation of a perpendicular magnetic recording layer while maintaining a writing performance during recording and obtaining both an improvement in the perpendicular orientation and fine magnetic crystal particles with a uniform diameter, and which enables information to be recorded or reproduced at high density, a method of manufacturing the same, and a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus. A magnetic recording medium 10 according to the present invention includes at least a soft magnetic underlayer 2, an orientation control layer 3, a magnetic recording layer 4, and a protective layer 5 formed on a non-magnetic substrate 1. The orientation control layer 3 has a seed layer 6 and an intermediate layer 7. The seed layer 6 is made of a Cu—Ti alloy that has a face-centered cubic structure and includes Cu as a main component. The Cu—Ti alloy has a (111) crystal plane oriented substantially perpendicular to the surface of the non-magnetic substrate 1 and has a pseudo-hexagonal structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium, a method of manufacturing the same, and a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus using the magnetic recording medium.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-209907, filed Aug. 18, 2008, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, the application range of magnetic recording apparatuses, such as magnetic disk apparatuses, flexible disk apparatuses, and magnetic tape apparatuses, has increased remarkably, and their importance thereof has increased. Therefore, a technique has been developed for significantly improving the recording density of magnetic recording media used for these apparatuses. In particular, the development of an MR (magneto resistive) head and a PRML (partial response maximum likelihood) technique has accelerated the improvement in the areal recording density of magnetic recording media. In recent years, with the development of GMR (giant magneto resistive) heads and TuMR (tunneling magneto resistive) heads, the areal recording density of the magnetic recording media has increased significantly.
As such, there is a demand for a further increase in the recording density of magnetic recording media. In order to meet the demand, it is necessary to improve the coercivity, the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio), and the resolution of a magnetic recording layer. In a longitudinal magnetic recording type that has generally been used, with the increase in linear recording density, recording magnetic domains adjacent to a magnetization transition region mutually weaken their magnetizations, which is called self-demagnetization. In order to prevent the self-demagnetization, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the magnetic recording layer to increase shape magnetic anisotropy.
When the thickness of the magnetic recording layer is reduced, the strength of the energy barrier for maintaining the magnetic domain is substantially equal to that of thermal energy, and the phenomenon in which the amount of recorded magnetization is reduced due to temperature variation (thermal fluctuation phenomenon) is not negligible. The thermal fluctuation phenomenon or the self-demagnetization determines the limit of the linear recording density.
In recent years, a technique has been examined for solving the problem of the reduction in thermomagnetic and improving the linear recording density of the longitudinal magnetic recording type. For example, a medium having an AFC (anti-ferromagnetic coupling) structure has been proposed in order to maintain the magnetization state of the magnetic domain at a high level.
As a technique for further improving areal recording density, a perpendicular magnetic recording technique has attracted attention. In the longitudinal magnetic recording type according to the related art, a medium is magnetized in the in-plane direction. However, in the perpendicular magnetic recording type, a medium is magnetized in a substantially perpendicular direction to the surface of the medium. In this way, in the perpendicular magnetic recording type, it is possible to avoid the self-demagnetization that prevents an increase in linear recording density in the longitudinal magnetic recording type. Therefore, it is considered that the perpendicular magnetic recording type is suitable for high-density recording. In addition, since the perpendicular magnetic recording type can maintain the thickness of the magnetic layer to be constant, it is possible to relatively reduce the effect of thermomagnetic relaxation caused in longitudinal magnetic recording.
In general, a perpendicular magnetic recording medium is obtained by sequentially forming an orientation control layer, a magnetic recording layer, and a protective layer on a non-magnetic substrate. In many cases, a lubrication layer is formed on the surface of the protective layer. In addition, in many cases, a soft magnetic underlayer, which is an underlayer, is provided below the orientation control layer. The orientation control layer generally includes a seed layer and an intermediate layer formed on the substrate in this order. The intermediate layer is formed in order to further improve the characteristics of the magnetic recording layer. In addition, the seed layer functions to align the crystal particles of the intermediate layer and the magnetic recording layer, and control the shape of a magnetic crystal.
The crystal structure of the magnetic recording layer is important to manufacture a perpendicular magnetic recording medium with good characteristics. That is, in the perpendicular magnetic recording medium, generally, the crystal structure of the magnetic recording layer is a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure. It is important that a (002) crystal plane is parallel to the surface of the substrate, that is, a crystal c-axis ([002] axis) is aligned substantially perpendicular to the surface of the substrate with the least possible disorder. However, the perpendicular magnetic recording medium has an advantage in that it can use a relatively thick magnetic recording layer, but it has disadvantages in that the total thickness of the layers of the medium is likely to be larger than in the longitudinal magnetic recording medium and the crystal structure is likely to be disordered during a process of forming thin films of a medium.
In order to align the crystal particles of the magnetic recording layer with the least possible disorder, the intermediate layer of the perpendicular magnetic recording medium has been made of Ru having the same hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure as the magnetic recording layer. Since the crystal of the magnetic recording layer is epitaxially grown on the (002) crystal plane of Ru, a magnetic recording medium with good crystal orientation is obtained (for example, see Patent Document 1).
The seed layer disposed below the intermediate layer needs to have characteristics that improve the crystal orientation of the intermediate layer. Therefore, in the related art, the seed layer having a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure has been used (for example, see Patent Document 2). In this case, the (002) crystal plane having the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure is preferentially oriented on a (111) crystal plane having the face-centered cubic (fcc) structure. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the total thickness for obtaining the same orientation, as compared to when Ru is directly formed on the underlayer.
In Patent Document 3, a first intermediate layer (seed layer) formed immediately on the underlayer is made of Ti having the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure, a second intermediate layer is made of Cu-5at % Ti having the fcc structure, and a third intermediate layer is made of Ru.
However, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the seed layer having the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure to a certain value (10 nm or more), in order to improve the crystal orientation. However, when the seed layer is made of a non-magnetic material and the thickness of the seed layer is increased, the distance between the magnetic recording layer and the soft magnetic underlayer is increased. As a result, during recording, the magnetic field applied from the head is weakened, and the writing performance is reduced.
In contrast, an element having the face-centered cubic (fcc) structure shows a certain degree of crystal orientation with a thickness of about 5 nm. When the crystal orientation is improved, the crystal particle diameter thereof is also increased. Since one crystal of the intermediate layer and one crystal of the magnetic recording layer are grown on one crystal of the seed layer, an increase in the crystal particle diameter of the seed layer means an increase in the crystal particle diameter of the magnetic recording layer. In order to further improve areal recording density, it is crucial to improve the crystal c-axis orientation of the magnetic recording layer, make the particle diameters uniform, and reduce the size of the particles. When the seed layer having the face-centered cubic (fcc) structure is used, it is difficult to improve the crystal orientation and obtain fine particles with a uniform diameter.
As described above, the seed layer made of a crystal material having the face-centered cubic (fcc) structure or the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure is insufficient to obtain a perpendicular magnetic recording medium having good read/write characteristics. Therefore, a perpendicular magnetic recording medium is required which is capable of maintaining the writing performance during recording by reducing the thickness between the underlayer and the magnetic recording layer, improving the crystal orientation of the magnetic recording layer, obtaining fine crystal particles with a uniform diameter, and being manufactured by a simple process.
Patent Document 4 discloses a structure in which an orientation control film is made of a material having a C11b structure and the orientation control film is made of a material including at least one or two or more of Al, Ag, Au, Cu, Ge, Hf, Ni, Si, Ti, Zn, and Zr.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2001-6158
[Patent Document 2] JP-A-2002-109720
[Patent Document 3] JP-A-2005-190517
[Patent Document 4] JP-A-2004-46990
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic recording medium which is capable of improving the perpendicular orientation of a perpendicular magnetic recording layer while maintaining the writing performance during recording and obtaining both an improvement in perpendicular orientation and fine magnetic crystal particles with a uniform diameter, and which enables information to be recorded or reproduced at high density, a method of manufacturing the same, and a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus.

Magnetic recording medium, method of manufacturing the same, and magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus