A system for powering a disk drive microprocessor using the back electromotive force (BEMF) generated by the still-spinning spindle motor after host DC power fails, and for parking the heads under microprocessor control in a manner similar to that of a conventional seek. The system detects failing host computer DC power, converts the BEMF to DC, applies the DC power to the microprocessor, and moves the heads toward the parking zone under microprocessor control in accordance with a seek profile or other suitable control method of a type conventionally used for seeking. Thus, the heads travel to the parking zone at controlled velocities that minimize the travel or seek time.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to disk drive parking control systems and, more specifically, to the means by which such systems park the disk drive heads using power derived from the kinetic energy of the spinning disk when external power is removed from the disk drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
A computer typically includes one or more hard disk drives that provide economical, nonvolatile storage for relatively large quantities of data. A typical hard disk drive includes one or more platters or disks having magnetic recording surfaces, disk drive controller electronics, one or more actuator arms on which are mounted magnetic transducer heads, an actuator motor for moving the actuator arms, and a spin motor for rotating the disks. The disk drive may also include amplifier and driver circuitry for the heads and motors, respectively. A well-known type of actuator motor is known as a voice coil motor (VCM). In response to signals received from the controller, the VCM swings an actuator arm and its transducer heads across the surface of the disk. The procedure of moving the heads to a predetermined position on the disk (at which it is usually desired to read or write data) is known as a seek.
A seek may use a one-pass control procedure that merely sends the heads to a predetermined disk location without processing feedback signals or it may use an iterative control procedure that iteratively adjusts the seek motion responsive to feedback of true head position information. In the iterative process, the controller receives servo signals from the heads and uses those signals to determine the radial position of the heads on the disk. In response to this servo feedback, the controller adjusts the VCM drive signal to first quickly move the heads to the desired radial position and then to maintain the heads at that position. The controller accesses data organized in concentric annular tracks on the disks by positioning the heads at radial positions corresponding to the tracks. Data are stored in sectors on each track. With the heads hovering over the target track on the spinning disks, the controller may activate the heads to record data on the disks or read data from the disks.
The controller electronics typically include a microprocessor or microcontroller that operates in accordance with firmware instructions. The microprocessor controls the VCM in response to read and write commands it receives from the host computer. The microprocessor controls the VCM by providing digital acceleration values to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), the output current of which is provided to the VCM driver. This DAC is known as the demand DAC.
The VCM operates in response to current through its coil. To efficiently seek the heads from an initial track to a target track, the microprocessor increases the current provided to the VCM to accelerate the actuator as it leaves the initial track and then reverses the current provided to the VCM to decelerate the actuator as it approaches the target track.
A disk drive typically includes a means for moving the actuator arm to a band or area at one edge of the disk outside of the area reserved for data storage. This procedure is known as parking. The area in which the heads are parked is most typically at the extreme inside edge of the disk and is known as the parking zone. Parking the heads minimizes the likelihood that the heads will inadvertently contact and thus damage the magnetic recording surface of the data storage portion of the disk.
A disk drive may park the heads in response to a park command received from the host computer. One of two different methods may be used to park the heads. A controlled seek to the landing zone under microprocessor control may be employed or a "hardware parking sequence" can be invoked. A useful hardware parking sequence puts the actuator driver into a controlled output-voltage mode to produce a low output voltage having a polarity and value sufficient to move the actuator toward the landing zone at low speed. This moves the heads slowly across the disk until they are stopped in the parking zone when the actuator arm hits a "crash stop" member. The crash stop absorbs the (slight) impact force to decrease the likelihood of damaging the heads or other portions of the actuator assembly.
A disk drive may also automatically park the heads in response to a power failure. A disk drive typically receives its power from the host computer direct current (DC) power supply via a cable. If a user turns the host computer off, or if the disk drive loses host computer power for any other reason, it is desirable to automatically, i.e., without user intervention, park the heads. A disk drive that parks its heads in response to a power failure typically includes a circuit for detecting failing host computer DC power, a circuit for rectifying the back electromotive force (BEMF) produced by the spinning disk, and a hardware parking circuit for implementing the hardware parking sequence mentioned above. Because host computer DC power is unavailable or of too low voltage to power the demand DAC, the rectifier circuit converts the BEMF to DC and supplies it to the actuator driver during parking. The kinetic energy stored in the still-spinning disk after power has been lost is sufficient to park the heads in this manner. A disk drive also typically includes a circuit for braking the disk by shorting the spindle motor windings after a delay period sufficient to ensure that the heads have reached the parking zone.
Parking the heads in response to detection of a power failure by using a constant voltage from the actuator driver is inefficient because maximum parking velocities and/or maximum seek velocities must be limited to handle a worst-case parking scenario. In the worst-case scenario, if a seek in the direction toward the parking zone is in progress when power fails, the actuator may not decelerate significantly when the reduced predetermined voltage is applied to the VCM because of the length of the VCM electrical time constant. The actuator arm may therefore hit the crash stop at a velocity higher than intended in the hardware parking sequence design. The maximum parking velocity and/or maximum seek velocity must be limited to a value below the maximum velocity of which the actuator is capable to eliminate a requirement for undesirably larger or more resilient crash stops to prevent damage to the heads and actuator from crash stop collisions at higher velocities. Larger or more complex crash stops are uneconomical and decrease the disk surface area usable for data storage.
It is desirable to provide a system for parking the heads in response to detection of a power failure that does not require limiting the maximum seek velocity and does not decrease the area of the disk surface usable for data storage. These problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by this invention in the manner described below.

Method and apparatus for controlling disk drive head parking during power interruption


A flexible graphite sheet material having improved molding characteristics is provided by effecting resin impregnation such that the resin profile across one of the dimensions of the sheet is non-uniform.

An ion exchange membrane fuel cell, more specifically a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell, produces electricity through the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen in the air. Within the fuel cell, electrodes, denoted as anode and cathode, surround a polymer electrolyte to form what is generally referred to as a membrane electrode assembly, or MEA. Oftentimes, the electrodes also function as the gas diffusion layer (or GDL) of the fuel cell. A catalyst material stimulates hydrogen molecules to split into hydrogen atoms and then, at the membrane, the atoms each split into a proton and an electron. The electrons are utilized as electrical energy. The protons migrate through the electrolyte and combine with oxygen and electrons to form water.
A PEM fuel cell includes a membrane electrode assembly sandwiched between two flow field plates. Conventionally, the membrane electrode assembly consists of random-oriented carbon fiber paper electrodes (anode and cathode) with a thin layer of a catalyst material, particularly platinum or a platinum group metal coated on isotropic carbon particles, such as lamp black, bonded to either side of a proton exchange membrane disposed between the electrodes. In operation, hydrogen flows through channels in one of the flow field plates to the anode, where the catalyst promotes its separation into hydrogen atoms and thereafter into protons that pass through the membrane and electrons that flow through an external load. Air flows through the channels in the other flow field plate to the cathode, where the oxygen in the air is separated into oxygen atoms, which join with the protons through the proton exchange membrane and the electrons through the circuit, and combine to form water. Since the membrane is an insulator, the electrons travel through an external circuit in which the electricity is utilized, and join with protons at the cathode. An air stream on the cathode side is one mechanism by which the water formed by combination of the hydrogen and oxygen is removed. Combinations of such fuel cells are used in a fuel cell stack to provide the desired voltage.
It has been disclosed that a graphite sheet that has been provided with through-channels, which are preferably smooth-sided, and which pass between the parallel, opposed surfaces of the flexible graphite sheet and are separated by walls of compressed expandable graphite, can be used to form gas diffusion layers for PEM fuel cells. As taught by Mercuri, Weber and Warddrip in U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,671, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, the through-channels can be formed in the flexible graphite sheet at a plurality of locations by a compressive mechanical impact, such as by use of rollers having truncated protrusions extending therefrom. The through-channel pattern can be devised in order to control, optimize or maximize fluid flow through the through-channels, as desired. For instance, the pattern formed in the flexible graphite sheet can comprise selective placement of the through-channels, or it can comprise variations in through-channel density or shape in order to, for instance, reduce or minimize flooding, control gas flow, restrict water flow, equalize fluid pressure along the surface of the electrode when in use, or for other purposes. See, for instance, Mercuri and Krassowski in International Publication No. WO 02/41421 A1.
Compressive force may also be used to form the continuous reactant flow channel in the material used to form a flow field plate (hereinafter "FFP"). Typically an embossing tool is used to compress the graphite sheet and emboss the channels along the surface of the sheet. Unlike, the GDL, the channel(s) in the FFP do not extend through the FFP from one opposed surface to a second surface. Typically, the channel(s) is on one surface of the FFP, although a cooling channel can be formed on the other surface, for the flow of a cooling fluid therealong.
In addition, and as taught by Mercuri et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,528,199, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, a combination GDL/FFP can be provided, wherein a reactant flow channel is formed in a graphite sheet that has been provided with channels. Therefore, both the fluid flow function of an FFP and the fluid diffusion function of a GDL can be combined in a single component.
Depending on the desired end use of the flexible graphite sheet, whether it be flow field plate, gas diffusion layer, catalyst support, or a non-fuel cell application such as heat sinks, heat spreaders or thermal interfaces for electronic thermal management applications, it may be necessary to emboss features on one or more surfaces of the sheet, such as flow field channels. Different methods have been proposed for providing embossed features with improved feature definition (see, for instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,604,457 and 6,663,807, both to Klug; and International Publication No. WO 02/084760 A2, also to Klug). However, further optimization of the flexible graphite sheet material itself is still believed within reach.
What is desired, therefore, is a flexible graphite sheet material (and method for producing the material) formed so as to further facilitate the formation of embossed features on one or both surfaces thereof. The desired material should have characteristics which permit the embossing of features thereon while reducing the values of the process parameters of the embossing process. The desired material should also facilitate the functioning of the sheet material in its end-use application, such as a fuel cell component.
Graphites are made up of layered planes of hexagonal arrays or networks of carbon atoms. These layered planes of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms are substantially flat and are oriented or ordered so as to be substantially parallel and equidistant to one another. The substantially flat, parallel equidistant sheets or layers of carbon atoms, usually referred to as graphene layers or basal planes, are linked or bonded together and groups thereof are arranged in crystallites. Highly ordered graphites consist of crystallites of considerable size: the crystallites being highly aligned or oriented with respect to each other and having well ordered carbon layers. In other words, highly ordered graphites have a high degree of preferred crystallite orientation. It should be noted that graphites possess anisotropic structures and thus exhibit or possess many properties that are highly directional, e.g., thermal and electrical conductivity and fluid diffusion.
Graphites may be characterized as laminated structures of carbon, that is, structures consisting of superposed layers or laminae of carbon atoms joined together by weak van der Waals forces. In considering the graphite structure, two axes or directions are usually noted, to wit, the "c" axis or direction and the "a" axes or directions. For simplicity, the "c" axis or direction may be considered as the direction perpendicular to the carbon layers. The "a" axes or directions may be considered as the directions parallel to the carbon layers or the directions perpendicular to the "c" direction. The graphites suitable for manufacturing flexible graphite sheets possess a very high degree of orientation.
As noted above, the bonding forces holding the parallel layers of carbon atoms together are only weak van der Waals forces. Natural graphites can be treated so that the spacing between the superposed carbon layers or laminae can be appreciably opened up so as to provide a marked expansion in the direction perpendicular to the layers, that is, in the "c" direction, and thus form an expanded or intumesced graphite structure in which the laminar character of the carbon layers is substantially retained.
Graphite flake which has been greatly expanded and more particularly expanded so as to have a final thickness or "c" direction dimension which is as much as about 80 or more times the original "c" direction dimension can be formed without the use of a binder into cohesive or integrated sheets of expanded graphite, e.g. webs, papers, strips, tapes, foils, mats or the like (typically referred to as "flexible graphite"). The formation of graphite particles which have been expanded to have a final thickness or "c" dimension which is as much as about 80 times or more the original "c" direction dimension into integrated flexible sheets by compression, without the use of any binding material, is believed to be possible due to the mechanical interlocking, or cohesion, which is achieved between the voluminously expanded graphite particles. These flexible graphite sheets can be described as sheets of compressed particles of exfoliated graphite.
In addition to flexibility, the sheet material, as noted above, has also been found to possess a high degree of anisotropy with respect to thermal and electrical conductivity and fluid diffusion, comparable to the natural graphite starting material due to orientation of the expanded graphite particles and graphite layers substantially parallel to the opposed faces of the sheet resulting from very high compression, e.g. roll pressing. Sheet material thus produced has excellent flexibility, good strength and a very high degree of orientation.
Briefly, the process of producing flexible, binderless anisotropic graphite sheet material, e.g. web, paper, strip, tape, foil, mat, or the like, comprises compressing or compacting under a predetermined load and in the absence of a binder, expanded graphite particles which have a "c" direction dimension which is as much as about 80 or more times that of the original particles so as to form a substantially flat, flexible, integrated graphite sheet. The expanded graphite particles that generally are worm-like or vermiform in appearance, once compressed, will maintain the compression set and alignment with the opposed major surfaces of the sheet. The density and thickness of the sheet material can be varied by controlling the degree of compression. The density of the sheet material can be within the range of from about 0.04 g/cc to about 2.0 g/cc. The flexible graphite sheet material exhibits an appreciable degree of anisotropy due to the alignment of graphite particles parallel to the major opposed, parallel surfaces of the sheet, with the degree of anisotropy increasing upon roll pressing of the sheet material to increased density. In roll pressed anisotropic sheet material, the thickness, i.e. the direction perpendicular to the opposed, parallel sheet surfaces comprises the "c" direction and the directions ranging along the length and width, i.e. along or parallel to the opposed, major surfaces comprises the "a" directions and the thermal and electrical properties of the sheet are very different, by orders of magnitude, for the "c" and "a" directions.

Variably impregnated flexible graphite material and method


An MRP explosion portion calculates the amount of common and optional parts necessary for producing a forecasted sales amount of products. An amount correlated with actual results of received product orders is added to the amount of optional parts. The delivery amounts are added to stock amount parts data corresponding to the shared and optional parts. If a required amount of products is accepted, an MRP implosion portion assigns shared and optional parts to the required amount of products, and subtracts the amount of the assigned common and optional parts from the stock amount parts data. Then, with respect to each kind of product, an excess amount of common parts is assigned. The amount of products of the kinds to which the excess amount of common parts has been assigned are output as the amount of products of the kinds for which additional orders can be received.

The present invention relates to an ordering/order receiving system capable of increasing the order amount of products while reducing the amount of parts in stock.
As an example, a production management system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-79542 is known as a system for drawing up a production plan by making use of material requirement planning (MRP). In this production management system, conditional MRP processing is executed in response to the amount of products required from the seller. If the parts go out of stock as a result, the amount of manufacturable products is calculated from a maximum amount of parts available now according to the priority orders for products (reverse MRP processing) Then, if the amount of manufacturable products is established on the seller side by comparison of the required amount of products and the amount of manufacturable products, the production management system finally exedutes MRP processing in response to the amount of manufactured products. It is said that according to this production management system, the amount of manufactured products on which the seller and manufacturer have agreed can be secured.
According to the above-described conventional production management system, an accurate production amount can be obtained but this system does not lead to an increase of the order amount of products exceeding the production amount.


An apparatus for redirecting energy applied to a susceptor of a substrate process chamber. Specifically, a shield comprising one or more reflector members is disposed below said susceptor whereby thermal energy radiated from a backside of said susceptor is reflected back to the susceptor. The apparatus comprises a bracket member attached to the reflector members and a pedestal assembly disposed below said susceptor. The reflector members are fabricated from a low emissivity material such as stainless steel (which can be polished to a highly reflective condition). Also, the first and second reflector members can be annealed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor wafer processing equipment and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for conserving and redirecting power applied to a substrate support.
2. Description of the Background Art
Within a process chamber of a substrate processing system, a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, is typically supported by a substrate support or susceptor while being processed. The susceptor is in turn supported by a pedestal assembly. The pedestal assembly houses attendant components to assist in substrate processing including but not limited to power supply connections, gas conduits and the like. To facilitate processing of the wafer, the susceptor is heated to raise the temperature of the wafer during one or more of the process steps. To facilitate heat transfer to/from the wafer, the susceptor is fabricated from a ceramic material and a heating member such as a resistive heater element is embedded therein, or pressed thereagainst. Additionally, a heat sink such as a liquid cooled block may be disposed below the susceptor. The heater element is generally a coil of resistive wire or a metallized layer fabricated from a material such as tungsten. When power is applied to this wire or layer, the element generates heat that conducts through the ceramic to the wafer.
Generally the power applied to the susceptor is on the order of 1000W. During initial heating of the susceptor and wafer (referred to as ramp-up) and subsequent cooling, the susceptor may break if it does not have sufficient thermal uniformity characteristics or too much power is applied to it. That is, the thermal stresses on the susceptor material caused by the application of the power will cause the susceptor to crack, thereby necessitating its"" replacement.
Thermal uniformity of the susceptor is not only dependent upon the susceptor material, but also upon the configuration of the susceptor and its support, known as a pedestal. The industry standard for semiconductor wafers is a 200 mm diameter, thus the susceptor is slightly larger. Recent improvements in this area of technology and the natural evolution of the field is allowing for larger substrates (on the order of a 300 mm diameter). Regardless of the susceptor size, the pedestal assembly is smaller in diameter than the susceptor. As such, a certain amount of heat radiates from the backside of the susceptor and into the chamber where the susceptor overhangs its backing structure of the pedestal. This radiative heat loss increases in a radial direction as one moves away from the center of the susceptor. Additionally, the thermal gradients in the susceptor may result in similar gradients on the substrate. Non-uniform substrate temperatures result in degraded substrate conditions (poorly formed layers or variable properties in the layers or the like).
Typically, the pedestal includes a temperature regulating member, such as a resistance wire heater, fluid channels, etc., therein to raise or lower the temperature of the susceptor and thus of the wafer. Where the pedestal is immediately under the susceptor, the susceptor temperature will be correlative with the temperature of the area of the pedestal immediately behind it. Since the pedestal assembly is smaller than the susceptor, the heat flux to the overhanging region of the susceptor comes to/from the pedestal through the susceptor, or radiatively off of the side of the pedestal rather than directly from the pedestal. Thus the greatest temperature variation leading to non-uniformity occurs at the circumference of the susceptor where the susceptor and pedestal are not positioned against each other. It has been further realized that the radiative heat losses rise significantly as susceptor diameter increases where pedestal diameter is maintained constant. For example, a substantial amount of backside surface area of a 300 mm susceptor is not covered by its pedestal assembly in comparison to a 200 mm susceptor. Therefore, there is a greater amount of heat radiating from the 300 mm susceptor backside into the process chamber resulting in a heat loss condition at the susceptor and consequently, the wafer. As such, an increased amount of power (current) must be applied to the susceptor to maintain the desired operating temperature. The increase in power can exceed the design constraints of the pedestal assembly/susceptor thereby causing irreparable damage. Two possible forms of damage are the aforementioned ceramic cracking and fusing, oxidizing or general degrading of the power terminals that connect the susceptor to a power supply. Further, the overhanging portion will have a substantial temperature gradient leading to non-uniform film (layer) properties.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for conserving heat along the overhanging portion of a susceptor to maintain greater temperature uniformity across its diameter. Such apparatus would be capable of reducing the thermal gradients in ceramic susceptors in general and to a greater extent for susceptors that have enlarged radiating surfaces thereby compensating for radiative heat losses of same.
The disadvantages heretofore associated with the prior art are overcome by the present invention of an apparatus for redirecting energy applied to a susceptor of a substrate process chamber. Specifically, the apparatus is a shield comprising one or more reflector members disposed within said process chamber. The reflector members are disposed below said susceptor whereby thermal energy radiated from a backside of said susceptor is reflected back to the susceptor.
The apparatus further comprises a bracket member proximate said reflector members which more specifically is attached to a pedestal assembly disposed below said susceptor. The bracket member has an arcuate portion that is provided with a plurality of openings. Fastening means communicate with said arcuate portion openings (preferably four of each) and said pedestal assembly.
The bracket member further has a first vertical portion transitioning from said arcuate portion and a second vertical portion transitioning from said arcuate portion. A first horizontal portion then transitions from said first vertical portion and a second horizontal portion transitions from said second vertical portion. The first and second horizontal portions each have a first flange and a second flange. The first and second flanges of the first horizontal portion have a plurality of flange openings as does the first and second flanges of the second horizontal portion. Preferably, there are three openings per flange.
A first reflector member and a second reflector member are supported by said bracket member. The first reflector member and the second reflector member each have a first end and a second end. Each of said first and second ends of the first and second reflector members have a flange. The flange on the first end of the first reflector member has a plurality of openings that coincide with the plurality of openings on the second flange of the first horizontal portion of the bracket member and the flange on the second end of the first reflector member has a plurality of openings that coincide with the plurality of openings on the second flange of the second horizontal portion of the bracket member. Similarly, the flange on the first end of the second reflector member has a plurality of openings that coincide with the plurality of openings on the first flange of the first horizontal portion of the bracket member and the flange on the second end of the second reflector member has a plurality of openings that coincide with the plurality of openings on the first flange of the second horizontal portion of the bracket member. With this arrangement, the first and second reflector members are attached to the bracket member via communication of a fastening means with the coinciding plurality of openings. Such fastening means can be bolts threaded through the coinciding openings, nut and bolt pairings, rivets, welds and dowels and the like.
The first and second reflector members have one or more lift pin access holes. Preferably, there are two lift pin access holes provided on the first reflector member and there is one lift pin access hole provided on the second reflector member. Further, the first and second reflector members are fabricated from a low emissivity material such as stainless steel (which can be polished to a highly reflective condition). Also, the first and second reflector members can be annealed.
With the apparatus as described, energy conservation can be achieved in the process chamber. Energy that would have otherwise been radiated by the susceptor and absorbed by other chamber components is instead reflected back to the susceptor. As such, less power is required to maintain the susceptor at process temperatures and the likelihood of nonuniform thermal conditions across the susceptor is greatly reduced.

Method and apparatus for conserving energy within a process chamber


An antenna coil includes a bar-shaped core, a bobbin, a coil, a case, and a wiring harness. The bobbin is formed of insulating material and has the coil wound around the bobbin with the bar-shaped core within the bobbin. The case is formed of insulating material defining a cavity having a cavity interior wall. The bobbin with the coil wound therearound is disposed in the cavity. The case has a protrusion extending into the cavity. The wiring harness is connected to the coil and disposed around a portion of a perimeter of the protrusion in a substantially omega shape and is disposed at least in part between the protrusion and the cavity interior wall. A flexible resin fills spaces in the cavity between the bobbin and the cavity interior wall.

This invention relates to a miniature antenna coil using an induction magnetic field to be utilized in a keyless entry device such as a door handle, a door mirror and the like in a vehicle.
As a conventional keyless entry device in a vehicle, a device in which a remote unit transmits radio waves with a prescribed code when an operator operates a button in a remote unit and locks or unlocks a door of the vehicle and when the code coincides with the specified code registered in the vehicle previously is common. Also, a device in which a door of the vehicle can be unlocked automatically only when a driver carrying a remote unit with him approaches the vehicle without operating a button and a door of the vehicle can be locked automatically when the driver gets out and leaves from the vehicle is known recently in this type of the device.
Referring to FIG. 3, a keyless entry device of the vehicle is provided with a first antenna coil 27 in a remote unit A side, a transmitter 28, and a control circuit 29 which transmits a prescribed signal to the transmitter 28 in response to an electric current from the first antenna coil 27. Radio waves are transmitted between the unit A and the vehicle to lock and unlock the door of the vehicle. Battery 30 supplies electric power to the transmitter 28 and the first control circuit. A second antenna coil 31 and a feeding circuit 32, which supplies electric power to the second antenna coil 31, transmit an electromagnetic wave for activation of the remote unit A, and a receiver 33 which receives the prescribed signal from the transmitter 28 are provided in the vehicle mounting side unit B. The receiver 33 controls the feeding circuit 32 to supply electric power to the second antenna coil 31. When the first antenna coil 27 is in a fixed range to the second antenna coil 31, that is to say, when the scope of magnetic field is within about 1 m from the second antenna coil 31, the electromagnetic wave for activation of the remote unit is coupled by electromagnetic inductive coupling with the first antenna coil 27. The device is also provided with the second control circuit 34, which locks and unlocks the door of the vehicle based on the prescribed signal from the receiver 33 and an automatic locking timer 35 and timer 36, a human body detection sensor 37 in the vehicle and a door lock device driving circuit 38 to drive the door lock device for locking and unlocking the door of the vehicle, which are attached on a portable item for carrying the remote unit A.
In this way, the second control circuit 34 controls the feeding circuit 32 to supply electric power to the second antenna coil 31 and to transmit the electromagnetic wave for activation of the remote unit. The first control circuit 29 activates the transmitter 28 to transmit the prescribed signal based on electric current from the first antenna coil 27, which received the electromagnetic wave for activation to activate the remote unit. And, the second control circuit 34 locks and unlocks the door of the vehicle based on the prescribed signal from the receiver 33 on a vehicle mounting side unit A, which received this prescribed signal. Accordingly, when the first antenna coil 27 is in a fixed range to the second antenna coil 31, the first control circuit 29 receives electric current from the first antenna coil 27 as an activation signal to activate the first control circuit 29 and activates the transmitter 28 for the first time receiving this signal. After the transmitter 28 is activated, a battery 30 in a remote unit A is used only for the stand-by power necessary for stand-by to receive electric power from the first antenna coil 27 in the first control circuit 29 and so the consumption of the battery 30 can be reduced. The keyless entry device is carried by attaching the remote unit A on the portable item. And this keyless entry device is disclosed in a Patent Document 1.
The second antenna coil 31 on the vehicle mounting side is usually attached at the handle of the doorknob in the conventional keyless entry device in the vehicle.
An antenna coil using a bar antenna attached on a door handle is disclosed in a Patent Document 2 as an antenna coil for keyless entry. The disclosed antenna coil has a single core made of thin bar-shaped ferromagnetic substance with a winding. The core and a bobbin wrapping the core are contained in a storing case and an opening between the core and the bobbin and the opening between the bobbin and the case are filled with potting material to prevent damage of the single core unit and deterioration by temperature, humidity and the like.                [Patent Document 1] JP2001-115700 Publication of unexamined patent applications        [Patent Document 2] JP2001-358522 Publication of unexamined patent applications


Packaged LED devices include a first lead having a first recess in a bottom surface, a second lead having a second recess in a bottom surface, a LED die located over a top surface of at least one of the leads and electrically connected to the leads, and a package located around the LED die, the first lead and the second lead. The package contains an opening in its upper surface exposing at least the LED die. The package also contains a first castellation and a second castellation in a side surface of the package, such that the first castellation exposes at least one of the first lead and a first platable metal which is electrically connected to the first lead, and the second castellation exposes at least one of the second lead and a second platable metal which is electrically connected to the second lead.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs), such as nanowire LEDs, have a variety of uses, including in electronic displays, such as liquid crystal displays in laptops or LED televisions. In a typical LED packaging process, a semiconductor die containing one or more LEDs is mounted to a lead frame, and the die and lead frame are encased in a protective mold. The mold may include an open region aligned with the LED that enables light to be emitted from the LED. Electrical connections to the LED package may be made via the lead frame. Further improvements in LED packaging would be desirable.


A storage control apparatus is provided that comprises a failure monitoring unit arranged to add points in proportion to detected abnormality to find statistically added points for each of N disk devices, the failure monitoring unit issuing an instruction to re-create parity when the statistically added points come closer to a predefined failure determination point, the failure monitoring unit issuing an instruction to disconnect the failed disk device when the statistically added points exceed the failure determination point; and a parity re-creation unit arranged, when receiving the instruction to re-create parity from the failure monitoring unit, to read the plural pieces of user data from (N-1) disk devices to re-calculate parity data for write into the remaining one (1) disk device for each of all addresses of the plurality of disk devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a storage control apparatus, method and program for a disk array, etc., securing data redundancy through RAID configuration and, more particularly, to a storage control apparatus and control method and program assuring data recovery based on the redundancy configuration upon failure disconnection of a storage device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional disk array system, data redundancy has been enhanced by configuring RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) composed of a plurality of disk devices arranged in a disk array, to respond to I/O requests from a host. Though various types of RAIDs exist, RAID5 has ordinarily been used that is suited for I/O requests from the host attendant on the transaction processing. The RAID5 writes user data into (N-1) disk devices having the same logical block address making up a stripe, of N disk devices configuring a disk array, and writes a parity into the remaining one, the parity being generated by EXORing the user data, the disk device with the parity written thereinto being different from stripe to stripe so that the parities can be distributed. In the disk array system having such a RAID5 redundant configuration, when a disk device fails and degenerates, the user data of the failed disk device can be recovered by implementing the EXOR operation of the user data and the parity read from the other disk devices forming a RAID group together with the failed disk device.
Such a conventional RAID5 disk array system, however, may face the worst situation possible that the data cannot be recovered and goes lost due to being incapable of the EXOR operation in case, when a disk device fails and degenerates, data cannot be read from two or more disk devices including the failed one. The following may be considered as causes of rendering the data recovery infeasible upon the occurrence of a failure in the disk device. First, is a case where the parity consistency has broken down as a result of the parity going abnormal due to some reasons such as design errors of firmware of the disk device. There is another case where an abnormality has occurred in a medium of the other disk device than the failed disk device. Furthermore, a portion unsubjected to read and write for a long while may appear even at the same logical block address on the same stripe, and such a portion may not probably undergo data recovery due to the medium abnormality occurring thereat.

Apparatus, method and program for the control of storage


Cargo may be optimally placed within a cargo hold using a cargo mover comprising a flexible conveyor belt extending from a ground location to a cargo hold, data defining a dimensional map of available space existing within the cargo hold for placement of cargo, a conveyor controller operatively in communication with the flexible conveyer belt and comprising packing software, and a smart loader comprising a predetermined set of scanning sensors operative to scan the cargo hold and a processor operatively in communication with the predetermined set of sensors and the conveyor controller. An interior of the cargo hold is scanned to create a dimensional map of the cargo hold and cargo placed onto the flexible conveyor belt where certain of each piece is cargo's physical dimensions are scanned. The processor compares the scanned cargo hold data set with the cargo's physical dimensions as well as with an order in which that piece of cargo will arrive at the smart loader to determine the placement of each piece of cargo. As each piece of cargo is placed into cargo hold, the smart loader continues to scan and update the dimensional map of the cargo hold to determine where each subsequent piece of cargo will be placed in the cargo hold.

Loading/unloading baggage or cargo from a cargo hold such as may be associated with an aircraft, e.g. a narrow-body jet aircraft, or other cargo carrier requires personnel to access the cargo hold of the plane to manually stack or retrieve the baggage/cargo. While conveyors are used to move cargo from the ground level into the cargo hold, personnel working inside the cargo hold must drag, lift and stack the baggage. This activity can result in injuries to ground support personnel due to the cramp space in which the work is conducted.


The present disclosure relates generally to the identification of enzymes within the cyclopamine biosynthesis pathway as well as to engineering transgenic plants or organisms for the production of cyclopamine.

Cyclopamine (11-deoxojervine):
is a naturally occurring alkaloid isolated from the corn lily (Veratrum californicum). It belongs to the group of steroidal jerveratrum alkaloids, and causes usually fatal birth defects such as preventing the fetal brain from dividing into two lobes (holoprosencephaly) and inducing cyclopian teratogenic effects in sheep, causing the development of a single eye (cyclopia). It does so by inhibiting the hedgehog signaling pathway (Hh), and is therefore useful in studying the role of Hh in normal development.
Inappropriate activation of the Hh can also trigger cancer in adult humans, leading to basal cell carcinoma, medulloblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and prostate, pancreatic, and breast cancers. Cyclopamine appears to act as a primary inhibitor of the Hh in cells, and controlling the pathway using cyclopamine could provide a way to treat cancers in which the Hh is overexpressed. It is currently being investigated as a treatment agent in basal cell carcinoma, medulloblastoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma, which are tumors that result from excessive Hh activity, glioblastoma, and as a treatment agent for multiple myeloma.
Cyclopamine has thus far been described from the California corn lily Veratrum californicum and the Japanese species Veratrum glandiflorum. Cyclopamine is of pharmacological interest as a Hedgehog signaling pathway inhibitor. Cyclopamine was discovered to inhibit the Hedgehog signaling pathway by direct binding to the G protein-coupled receptor Smoothened. As such, it has shown promising antineoplastic activities against several cancers in which Hedgehog signaling pathway malfunction is implicated, including pancreatic cancer, renal cell carcinoma, medulloblastoma, and leukemia. A semi-synthetic analog of cyclopamine, IPI-926, has been in clinical trials for treatment of several cancers including metastatic solid tumors, pancreatic cancer and leukemia. Due to a complicated total synthesis, wild-collected V. californicum is the current source of cyclopamine. Cultivation of the plant has not been achieved. Coupled with slow growth in the wild, this makes cyclopamine an attractive target for biotechnological production.
Little is known about the cyclopamine biosynthetic pathway. Studies performed in the 1960's and 1970's on V. californicum and V. grandiflorum provide a general framework for the pathway and described hypothetical precursors, intermediates, and related compounds found in planta. Cholesterol has been shown to be a common precursor to the steroid alkaloids in this and similar pathways. Thus far, none of the genes involved in cyclopamine biosynthesis has been identified.
In view of the potential importance of cyclopamine and verazine metabolite derivatives with improved properties as a cancer therapeutics, the need for adequate supplies of these compounds to facilitate development of these molecules for patients, the complex chemical synthesis of cyclopamine, and the supply constraints imposed by wild collection of the source plant Veratrum californicum, there is a need in the art for methods to enhance the accumulation of this compound in plants via the development of a synthetic biology production platform. Engineering of the cyclopamine biosynthetic pathway into an easily cultivated host plant can result in an economically attractive, sustainable supply of this drug to meet future market demand. However, improved in planta production requires knowledge of the underlying biosynthetic genes, which is currently lacking.

Constructs and methods for biosynthesis of cyclopamine


A floral sleeve is made from two layers of non-woven thermoplastic fabric such as polypropylene. The layers are joined at the side seams of the sleeve by first pre-sealing the edges and thereafter trimming them. Pre-sealing compresses the fabric to make it denser along a band and applying heat causes the band to retain the compressed and at least partially fused set. Trimming may be done using a hot knife that completes the fusing process of the layers to each other. Alternately, the pre-sealing step may form a satisfactory fusion between the layers and the trimming step need not effect further fusion.

Sleeves are used in the floral industry to package floral groupings for shipment between growers and retail outlets and also at retail outlets for packaging goods for sale to retail customers. Floral groupings include pot plants, bouquets and similar materials. Sleeves for floral groupings come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and generally are tapered or frusto-conical to hold a pot plant or bouquet. The sleeves may have open bottoms or closed bottoms.
Sleeves of this sort have been made from webs of thermoplastic material. In a conventional sleeves making machine, the web is folded to form two layers (or two separate webs may be provided) and fed incrementally through a machine which cuts and fuses the edges of each sleeve with a hot knife.
In sleeves of this sort it is important that the seals along the edges be strong. Past attempts to make such sleeves from two layers of non-woven, thermoplastic fabric have resulted in seals that were not satisfactory. Neither a grower nor a customer wants a pot plant to fall through the bottom of the sleeve because the seals at the sleeve's side edges were insufficiently strong.


A vehicle headlamp is provided with an upper stage light source unit, a middle stage light source unit, and a lower stage light source unit. The upper stage light source unit, the middle stage light source unit, and the lower stage light source unit are provided at a lamp body constituting a lamp member by way of a support member. A low beam light distribution pattern is formed on a front side of a vehicle by overlapping light from the respective light source units. The lower stage light source unit includes two subunits, the two subunits commonly share a single cylindrical lens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle headlamp, particularly relates to a vehicle headlamp for forming a predetermined light distribution pattern by overlapping light emitted from a plurality of light sources.
2. Related Art
In a background art, as a vehicle headlamp (headlamp), it is general to use a halogen bulb or a discharge bulb as a light source and reflect light emitted from the light source to a front side by using a reflector or a projecting lens. Although a halogen bulb or a discharge bulb is a light source capable of ensuring a sufficient light amount for vehicular use, a problem that power consumption is large is posed.
On the other hand, there is a high tendency of adopting a semiconductor light emitting element such as a light emitting diode as a light source for a vehicle headlamp. A light emitting diode is generally small-sized and power consumption thereof is small. Therefore, it is expected to realize to effectively use limited power by being applied to a vehicle mounted with a battery such as an automobile.
Although high luminance formation of a light emitting diode has been promoted, in comparison with a halogen bulb or a discharge bulb, a luminance thereof is not sufficient yet, and a light amount capable of sufficiently ensuring optical recognizability cannot be irradiated to a front side by simply replacing a halogen bulb or a discharge bulb by a light emitting diode. Therefore, currently, it is general to conceive such that a plurality of light source units respectively including light emitting diodes is mounted to a vehicle and a desired light distribution pattern is formed by over lapping light emitted from the light source units.
For example, JP-A-2004-095480 discloses a vehicle headlamp for forming a synthesized light distribution pattern for low beam by combining three pieces of units for forming a cutoff line, five pieces of units for forming a hot zone, three pieces of units for forming a diverging region. According to the vehicle headlamp, semiconductor light emitting elements are used in all of the units as the light sources, and the vehicle headlamp is constituted to form a light distribution pattern for low beam having a pertinent light amount by overlapping light distribution patterns formed by respectives thereof.
Further, JP-A-2005-141918 discloses a vehicle headlamp for forming a main light distribution by using a projector type light source unit using a discharge bulb, and using an additional light source unit using a semiconductor light emitting element, capable of being switched on and off and capable of being swiveled in a left and right direction and forming a synthesized light distribution pattern by overlapping and auxiliary light distribution on the main light distribution. According to the vehicle headlamp, for example, by switching on the additional light source unit in turning a vehicle and forming the additional light distribution pattern in a direction in accordance with a turning direction, side optical recognizability of a vehicle, particularly, optical recognizability in the turning direction can be promoted.
Meanwhile, when a synthesized light distribution pattern is intended to provide by combining a plurality of units as in JP-A-2004-095480, a number of the units is necessarily increased, a number of parts is increased and assembling performance is deteriorated in accordance therewith. Further, the constitution is not preferable in view of cost.


An electronic game having a display screen for viewing of images generated by the internal circuitry of the game is provided. The game includes player controls for interactively playing the game with one of the controls being a multi-directional control key which can be used to control movements of an image on the screen for playing the game. The game has a joystick adapter which allows a joystick to be used in lieu of the control key for controlling image movement. Preferably, the joystick adapter includes a releasable snap-fit attachment between the joystick and control key to allow the joystick to be readily snapped into an operative position on the key for pivoting the key with the joystick. The game can also include mounting clips for receiving the joystick when it is not being used in a stored position attached to the game housing. The joystick can be configured in the form of an action figure to enhance its appeal to youngsters.

Interactive video games such as found in video game arcades have long been popular where players can exercise some degree of control over the action viewed on the screen of the game. Such control can include controlling movement of images or characters in a precise manner so as to accomplish predetermined goals as set out by the scheme of the game. For example, video games can include various types of control keys which allow a character to be moved to avoid being hit, such as by another image generated by the game program or by projectiles, missiles, etc., while at the same time allowing the player to control the image to selectively engage other characters on the screen or shoot or throw projectiles of its own at target images, such as at other characters or obstacles generated on the game screen.
The types of controls used on video games include multi-directional control keys to be mounted to the game so that when a player pushes on a portion of the key, the key pivots in response to the pressure towards the direction of desired image movement. Some control keys allow the image to move in four directions, such as right and left and up and down on the screen. The use of multi-directional joystick controls for controlling image movement are also known, and similar to the above-described control key, work to control image movement depending on how the joystick is pushed or pulled by the player. Other common types of controls include the use of directional buttons which can be positioned adjacent each other so that a player can utilize the fingers of one hand to push on the button corresponding to the direction of movement desired, and also roller balls wherein the player simply rolls the ball towards the direction of movement desired for the image.
With the progress in miniaturization of integrated circuits, the ability to provide hand-held video games that include game schemes comparable to that of regular stand-alone arcade video games has improved. However, with hand-held video games, the space taken up by the game housing and the player controls thereon are still significant design factors that must be considered. Thus, the provision of joysticks on hand-held video games is typically not done. Instead, the use of the previously-described player controls such as keys and buttons are normally utilized. However, where a player does not have sufficient tactile control, such as with younger players, it can be difficult for them to coordinate precise manipulation of the keys and buttons for them to properly realize full enjoyment of the game. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a video game where a player has the option of either utilizing the player controls such as a control key, or in lieu of the control key, a joystick for controlling image movement on the video display screen.

D21
FSC 273
FSC 463
FSC 206
FSC D28
FSC D14


The invention is an apparatus for adjusting a luggage handle in relation to a luggage frame utilized to transport luggage by a traveler. The handle is connected to two extendable and retractable slide tube assemblies, the assemblies allow for the telescoping of the luggage handle to multiple positions in relation to a pair of fixed frame tubes connected to a luggage shell with wheels, to accommodate the height and personal stride of traveler. The luggage handle incorporates triggering buttons that allow ambidextrous and single-handed control of the height of the handle and slide tube assembly in relation to the luggage. The handle and slide tube assembly are connected by interior filaments to pulleys and filaments within two concentric light-weight slide tubes, which are inserted respectively into two fixed frame tubes, to allow a multitude of positions for the slide tubes to lock into the fixed frame tubes. The apparatus can be pushed or pulled by the traveler, and the support shell can accommodate multiple pieces of luggage.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to an apparatus for adjusting a luggage handle, and more particularly to a telescoping luggage handle capable of extending to multiple positions by a single right or left hand actuation.
2. Description of Prior Art
Luggage cases and suitcase carts have been utilized to assist travelers in hand-carrying luggage during travels. Handles capable of adjusting the distance between the handle and the luggage are preferable for comfort during rapid transport. In Arias et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,447, the device is a suitcase cart having tubular frame members and a U-shaped handle which telescopes relative to the legs of the tubular frame members. In Burtley, U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,336, the device is a suitcase having wheels on the bottom, a retractable handle, and a pair of longitudinally extendable tubes connected to the sidewall of the suitcase. In Cassimally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,252, the device is a combined luggage case and collapsible trolley with a foldable wheel assembly that has a sleeve which is rotatable and slidable to numerous height positions. These and other prior suitcase handles have shortcomings based on the inability to adjust the handles to a multitude of handle heights, the weight and size of the telescoping mechanisms, the durability of luggage carriers when exposed to abuse during transport, or the expense of the additional suitcase carriers. Thus there exists room for improvement within the art.

Extension arm for mobile travelers suit case

Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation


The present invention is related to a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) having a symmetrical layout such that the resistance between drains and sources is reduced, thereby reducing power dissipation. Drain pads, source pads, and gates are placed on the MOSFET such that the distances between drains, sources, and gates are optimized to reduce resistance and power dissipation. The gates may be arranged in a trapezoidal arrangement in order to maximize a ratio of the gate widths to gate lengths for current driving while reducing resistance and power dissipation.

There has been a trend towards integrating previously off-chip circuits onto a single integrated circuit (IC), particularly in mobile devices. Such ICs are sometimes called system-on-chip (SoC) solutions and may include components such as high power metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) used for driving circuits, buffers, amplifiers, or the like. The use of high power MOSFETs is limited to low driving currents, since power consumption on an IC is limited, particularly for mobile applications. However, higher driving currents are desired. Since power MOSFETs typically occupy more space on an IC than normal MOSFETs, space on the IC must also effectively be allocated.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) layout 100 comprising an n-type metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistor 110 and a p-type metal-oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistor 120. CMOS transistors are a particular type of MOSFET. An n-type MOSFET is one in which a conduction channel is formed by electrons and a p-type MOSFET is one in which a conduction channel is formed by holes. In FIG. 1, the NMOS 110 and PMOS 120 transistors share a common polysilicon gate 130 and lay on a common p-type substrate 140. The NMOS transistor 110 and PMOS transistor 120 may also have separate polysilicon gates, as desired. The NMOS transistor 110 is constructed by implanting two "n+" layers 150 for the drain and source in the p-type substrate 140.
The PMOS transistor 120 is constructed by implanting two "p+" layers 160 in an implanted n-well region 170. The n+ layer 150 represents a large number of free negative carriers, whereas the p+ layer 160 represents a larger number of free positive carriers available for conduction. The n-well 170 is created by an impurity implantation into the p-type substrate 140. A gate oxide layer 190 typically exists between the polysilicon gate 130 and p-type substrate 140 or n-well region 170. The NMOS transistor 110 and PMOS transistor 120 are separated by an insulting silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer 180.
In the CMOS layout 100, the current driving capability of the transistors is described by the relationship in Equation (1) as follows:
                                          I            ds                    ∝                      W            L                          ;                            Equation                                                            (          1          )                    where Ids is the current between the drain and source of the transistors 110 and 120, W is the width of the polysilicon gate 130 over the active area, and L is the length of the polysilicon gate 130 over the active area. Therefore, in order to provide higher driving currents for power applications, it is desirable to have a transistor with a higher W and lower L.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional PMOS transistor circuit 200. Various resistors, which may be parasitic resistors, are created by the layers and the interconnection between layers of the PMOS transistor 200. In the source 201, Rspad 210 is the source pad resistance, Rslayer 220 is the resistance of layers connecting a pad to a source region, and Rds 230 is the drain to source MOSFET resistance. In the drain 202, Rdlayer 240 is the resistance of layers connecting a drain region to a pad, and Rdpad 250 is the drain pad resistance. RON 260 is the total resistance calculated by Equation (2) as follows:RON=Rspad+Rslayer+Rds+Rdpad+Rdlayer  Equation (2)An NMOS transistor, not shown, has similar resistance characteristics.
The power dissipated by the PMOS transistor 200 is calculated by Equation (3) as follows:P=RONIds2.  Equation (3)Similar to Equation (1), Ids is the current flow through the PMOS transistor 200 from the drain pad to the source pad. The source and drain pins in 200 are possible connection points to the pads, as desired. Therefore, the power dissipated is closely related to the total resistance RON 260. Since Ids of a power MOSFET is typically high, it is desired to reduce power dissipation by reducing RON 260. Of the resistances in Equation (2), Rds 230 may be reduced by taking into consideration the layout of the PMOS transistor 200.
FIG. 3 shows a layout of a conventional power MOSFET 300. The MOSFET 300 comprises drain and source pads 3101, 3102, . . . 310M, drain regions 320, source regions 330, a plurality of gates 340, and a plurality of VIAs 350. The pads 3101, 3102, . . . 310M may be used for signal input/outputs (I/O) or for supplying power to the MOSFET 300, as desired. A plurality of gates 340 is needed in order to provide higher driving currents, in accordance with Equation (1). A VIA is typically needed to interconnect different metal layers on the MOSFET 300. The Rds value of MOSFET 300 is related to the placement of the gates relative to the drain and source pads.
Conventional MOSFETs, such as MOSFET 300, are often inefficient due to the increasing distances between the drain pads and source pads relative to the active regions. Referring still to MOSFET 300 as an example, the distance between source pad 3101 to drain pad 310M relative to the active region 360 is greater than the distance between source pad 3103 and drain pad 3104 relative to the active region 362. The increased distance between source pad 3101 to drain pad 310M may result in poor biasing and driving currents of active region 360.
In view of the above, a need exists for reducing power dissipation in MOSFETs without the limitations of the prior art.


The present disclosure relates to the field of network communication and particularly discloses a method for monitoring performance of a wavelength path. The method includes: receiving, by a second node, a path request message of a wavelength path from an upstream neighboring node, where the path request message includes at least a path identifier of the wavelength path and second wavelength identifier information; obtaining, by the second node, a wavelength identifier according to the second wavelength identifier information, and recording a mapping relationship between the wavelength path and the wavelength identifier; and determining, by the second node according to the wavelength identifier, a low frequency signal modulated at a working wavelength of the wavelength path, and obtaining performance of the wavelength path by monitoring the low frequency signal. A system for monitoring performance of a wavelength path and a node device are also disclosed in embodiments of the present disclosure.

A WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing, wavelength division multiplexing) technology is a mainstream technology in the current optical transmission field, and can transmit optical waves of multiple different wavelengths in a single fiber synchronously. The wavelength path performs transmission on the network in an all-optical state, and intermediate nodes cannot obtain, like an SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, synchronous digital hierarchy) network, path information by extracting path overheads. Therefore, the wavelength path cannot be managed and maintained by using the path overheads.
In this case, a wavelength tracking technology emerges in the industry, that is, in each wavelength path, a low frequency signal is modulated by using a certain modulation scheme; after multiple wavelength paths are multiplexed, signals are transmitted through the main optical path. The frequency value of the low frequency signal and a binary code representing the modulation scheme form the wavelength identifier of the wavelength path. A node in the wavelength path splits a part of light from the main optical path, obtains, through demodulation, multiple low frequency signals added to multiple wavelength paths, determines, according to the wavelength identifier, a low frequency signal modulated in the wavelength path, and monitors the low frequency signal to obtain the transmission track and performance of a corresponding wavelength path. In this way, the management and maintenance of the wavelength path are implemented.
Currently, in this method, the performance of the wavelength path can be monitored only when a wavelength identifier is allocated to each wavelength path manually by using a network management system and a mapping relationship between the wavelength identifier and the wavelength path is configured into each node manfully by using the network management system. Therefore, the implementation is complex, and the reliability is low.

Method and system for monitoring performance of wavelength path, and node device


A method comprises initiating a gaming session for a grid-based game, tracking a number of consecutive losing plays of the grid-based game during the gaming session, and providing a player of the grid-based game with an option to reuse a wild symbol that appears in one play of the number of consecutive losing plays in a next play when the number of consecutive losing plays exceeds a threshold. The method further comprises receiving first input from the player to reuse the wild symbol in the next play, generating, in response to the first input, a sequence of symbols comprising the wild symbol, and causing a display to display the sequence of symbols populated in the array of cells.

The present disclosure is generally directed to gaming devices, systems, and methods for reusing wild symbols, for example, in a grid-based game.
Gaming machines typically offer a number of built-in game play features that contribute to the overall player experience. Any type of game play feature that presents the player with an additional opportunity to win is often viewed as desirable and can lead to increased play of the gaming machine.

Gaming devices, systems, and methods for reusing wild symbols


Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for a mobile client device to discover and obtain the parameters of a heterogeneous wireless network via a fuzzy logic operation, within a plurality of heterogeneous wireless networks.

In recent years, network reach and flexibility has been greatly enhanced through the development and deployment of broadband wireless networks. Wireless networks are important for many business operations. Indeed, viable broadband wireless networks are emerging to enable an always-on communication model for mobile platforms and are even providing an alternative to asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSLs) and cable modems as the "last mile" network access to the home or office. Additionally, broadband wireless networks are providing network access and network backbone infrastructure in developing areas.
As integrated circuits and wireless networking technology continue to advance, it has become possible for the mobile platforms to host multiple radios enabling them to operate in a Mixed Network (MxN) environment using diverse wireless networks. Successful deployment of such multi-radio mobile platforms requires support of a seamless wireless network service hand-over mechanism to transfer live sessions among heterogeneous wireless networks.

Methods and systems for heterogeneous wireless network discovery and selection


A SpO2 measurement system includes at least one light transmitter configured to transmit a first wavelength light and a second wavelength light into tissue of a patient, wherein the second wavelength is shorter than the first wavelength, and a detection device that detects the first wavelength light and the second wavelength light emitted from the tissue of the patient. The SpO2 measurement system operates the at least one light transmitter in a high power mode during a first time period to determine a SpO2 value and a high power DC ratio based on the first wavelength light and the second wavelength light detected during operation in the high power mode. The SpO2 measurement operates the at least one light transmitter in a low power mode during a second time period to determine a low power DC ratio based on the first wavelength light and the second wavelength light detected during operation in the low power mode, and to determine a blood oxygenation status for the patient based on the low power DC ratio.

This invention generally relates to pulse oximeters that non-invasively measure the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin arterial blood, and more specifically to systems and methods for measurement of SpO2 that utilize a reduced power consumption.
Pulse oximetry is a well-established technique for measuring oxygen saturation (SpO2) in arterial blood. SpO2 is an important parameter, nowadays often called the fourth vital sign, which relates to the adequacy of oxygen supply to peripheral tissues and organs. Pulse oximeters provide instantaneous in-vivo measurements of arterial oxygenation, and thereby an early warning of arterial hypoxemia, for example. Pulse oximeters also display a photoplethysmographic (PPG) pulse waveform, which can be related to tissue blood volume and blood flow, i.e. the blood circulation at the site of the measurement, which is typically at the finger or ear. At present, there is a growing interest to develop portable and wearable medical sensors for various medical applications that allow the subject to move freely and thus also remote supervision of the subject. Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) refers to short-range radio-frequency communications technologies, which are specifically suited for transmitting measurement data between different patient-worn devices. This includes battery-operated SpO2 sensors.
Pulse oximetry typically uses two different light sources and a detection device, such as a photodiode. Two different measurement techniques are generally employed for measuring SpO2, which include transmissive measurement technique where the light travels through the measurement site and is received on an opposite side of the measurement site, and a reflective measurement technique where the sensed light reflects off of the patient's tissue at the measurement site and is received by a detection device on the same side of the measurement site as the light source. Thus, transmissive measurement sensors have a light source on an opposite side of the measurement site from the detector. For reflective SpO2 measurement, on the other hand, the light source and the detector are on the same side of the measurement site, and the light is reflected back at the detector by the tissue around the measurement site.


An embodiment is directed to a method for limiting network communications. The method is implemented at a device through which communications can be routed between client devices and the internet. The method includes receiving a routable communication. A communication type for the routable communication is identified. The communication type may be owner, authorized, or anonymous. Access rules for the identified communication type are identified. The routing of the communication is limited according to the identified access rules.

Cellular service providers sell data plans to customers. To ensure that the costs of operating the cellular data network are matched to the income from selling data plans, network operators often impose use limitations on each subscriber. These limitations include constraining: available time of day/week; total time connected; quantity of data moved through the network; accessible portions of the network and so forth.
This business model assumes each account is matched to a single-user network. For example, a cellular telephone may be coupled via a USB cable to a personal computer creating a single user network. Through this connection, the personal computer can gain internet access via the data capabilities of the cellular telephone. Various embodiments allow for a multiple user network in which each user accesses the internet via a single cellular telephone. There is currently no practical way for cellular service providers to distinguish between different users in such a network.


A lens barrel includes: a plurality of lenses disposed in an outer enclosure; an imaging device that converts image light introduced through the plurality of lenses into an image signal; a movable unit including a movable lens and a lens holder that holds the movable lens; a lead screw rotated by a drive motor; a nut member made of a metal material threadably engaging the lead screw and connected to the lens holder, the nut member moved by the rotation of the lead screw in the optical axis direction moving the movable unit in the optical axis direction; a guide shaft that guides the movable unit in the optical axis direction, both axial ends of the guide shaft held by the outer enclosure; and an urging spring that presses part of the lens holder against the nut member when the movable unit moves in the optical axis direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technical field of a lens barrel and an imaging apparatus, and particularly to a technical field in which a nut member made of a metal material is separated from a lens holder in a non-drive mode to improve resistance to impact.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any imaging apparatus, such as a video camera and a still camera, includes a lens barrel having an imaging capability. In recent years, a variety of electronic apparatus, such as mobile phones, personal computers, and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), have been used in an increasing number of applications, and some of such electronic apparatus include a built-in lens barrel. Therefore, mobile phones, personal computers, PDAs, and other electronic apparatus including such a built-in lens barrel are also used as imaging apparatus for capturing images.
Some of such lens barrels have a configuration in which an outer enclosure houses a fixed lens, such as an objective lens, a movable unit including movable lenses, such as a focus lens and a zoom lens, an imaging device that converts an image light acquired through the fixed lens and the movable lenses into an image signal, and other components.
Some of such lens barrels have a configuration in which a movable unit can be moved in the optical axis direction by a driving mechanism having a lead screw (see JP-A-08-95143, for example). The drive mechanism includes a drive motor and a lead screw rotated by the drive motor.
Some of the lens barrels described above use a rigid nut member made of a metal material as a nut in order to prevent so-called tooth chipping, which results in a shift in the position of the nut that threadably engages the lead screw, or so-called tooth scraping, in which the threaded groove of the nut is scraped, when an impact is applied.
In particular, since a mobile imaging apparatus is prone to receive an external impact, the tooth chipping and tooth scraping described above may degrade the reliability of the operation of the movable unit. To address the problem, it is desirable to use a nut member made of a metal material.
In the movable unit, a lens holder is supported by a guide shaft in such a way that the lens holder can slide in the optical axis direction, and a nut member threadably engages a lead screw. The nut member is then connected to the lens holder. An urging spring applies an urging force to the lens holder in the direction in which the lend holder is pressed against the nut member in order to reduce backlash between the nut member and the lead screw in the axial direction of the lead screw.
Therefore, the lens holder in the movable unit is typically pressed against the nut member by the urging spring.
The reduction in backlash between the nut member and the lead screw is necessary to ensure good positional accuracy when the movable unit moves in the optical axis direction in a drive mode in which an image is ready to be captured when a power supply is turned on.


The semiconductor device according to one of the embodiments of the present invention includes a metal block having first and second main surfaces and defining a recess on the first main surface. It also includes a semiconductor chip received within the recess of the metal block and mounted on the metal block. Further, a first terminal electrically connected with the semiconductor chip is provided, and a second terminal electrically connected with the metal block is also provided.

1) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a manufacturing process thereof, and in particular to a transfer-mold type power semiconductor device and a manufacturing process thereof.
2) Description of Related Arts
A conventional transfer-mold type power semiconductor device, in general, includes a metal block having a mounting surface on which a power semiconductor chip such as an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) chip and a free wheel diode (FWD) chip is mounted via a solder layer. The power semiconductor chip includes a lower electrode (such as a collector electrode and a cathode electrode), an upper electrode (such as an emitter electrode, an anode electrode and a control (gate) electrode, if any). Also, the power semiconductor device includes a plurality of lead frames (terminals), at least one of which is electrically connected with the upper electrode of the Dower semiconductor chip via a thin wire of metal such as aluminum. Those components of the power semiconductor device are molded with resin covering the mounting surface of the metal block.
The power semiconductor device may include an insulating layer adhered on another surface opposite to the mounting surface of the metal block, and a metal thin layer formed on the insulating layer. In this case, the molded resin encompasses the metal block exposing the metal thin layer. The power semiconductor device is assembled with a heat sink (radiating fins, radiator) contacting with the metal thin layer. Another power semiconductor device may be mounted directly on the heat sink without the insulating layer. According to those conventional power semiconductor devices, heat generated in the power semiconductor chip is transmitted into the metal block and dissipated via the insulating layer or directly to the heat sink.
In the meantime, the heat dissipation feature from the power semiconductor device to the heat sink generally depends on the contacting area and the temperature difference between the metal block and the heat sink. Thus, in order to improve the heat dissipation feature, those skilled in the art may contemplate extension of the temperature difference and/or increase of the contacting area between the power semiconductor device and the heat sink.
However, if atmosphere temperature (e.g., ambient temperature of the heat sink) is constant, the temperature of the semiconductor chip has to be raised for extension of the temperature difference, thereby reducing the reliability of the semiconductor chip. Alternatively, increase of the contacting area prevents the power semiconductor device to be downsized. Also, even when the contacting area is extended, since the temperature inside the metal block decreases as being away from the power semiconductor chip, the heat dissipation feature cannot be improved as expected.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing process thereof


A method (200) of making a flash memory device without poly stringers includes forming a stacked gate region (202) on a substrate (102) and forming one or more word lines (122a, 122b, 204) in the stacked gate region. The method further includes performing a self-aligned etch (206) in regions adjacent to the one or more word lines (122a, 122b) and subsequently performing an isotropic etch (208) to remove any poly stringers (128) in the regions adjacent the one or more word lines (122a, 122b).

Semiconductor devices typically include multiple individual components formed on or within a substrate. Such devices often comprise a high density section and a low density section. For example, as illustrated in prior art FIG. 1, a memory device such as a flash memory 10 comprises one or more high density core regions 12 and a low density peripheral portion 14 on a single substrate 16. The high density core regions 12 typically consist of at least one MxN array of individually addressable, substantially identical memory cells and the low density peripheral portion 14 typically includes input/output (I/O) circuitry and circuitry for selectively addressing the individual cells (such as decoders for connecting the source, gate and drain of selected cells to predetermined voltages or impedances to effect designated operations of the cell such as programming, reading or erasing).
The memory cells within the core portion 12 are coupled together in a circuit configuration, such as the configuration illustrated in prior art FIG. 2. Each memory cell 20 has a drain 22, a source 24 and a stacked gate 26. Each stacked gate 26 is coupled to a word line (WL0, WL1, . . . , WLn) while each drain 22 is coupled to a bit line (BL0, BL1, . . . , BLn). Lastly, each source 24 is coupled to a common source line CS. Using peripheral decoder and control circuitry, each memory cell 20 can be addressed for programming, reading or erasing functions.
Prior art FIG. 3 represents a fragmentary cross section diagram of a typical cell 20 in the core region 12 of prior art FIGS. 1 and 2. Such a cell 20 typically includes the source 24, the drain 22 and a channel 28 in a substrate 30; and the stacked gate structure 26 overlying the channel 28. The stacked gate 26 includes a thin gate dielectric layer 32 (commonly referred to as the tunnel oxide) formed on the surface of the substrate 30. The stacked gate 26 also includes a polysilicon floating gate 34 which overlies the tunnel oxide 32 and an interpoly dielectric layer 36 which overlies the floating gate 34. The interpoly dielectric layer 36 is often a multilayer insulator such as an oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) layer having two oxide layers 36a and 36b sandwiching a nitride layer 36c. Lastly, a polysilicon control gate 38 overlies the interpoly dielectric layer 36. The control gates 38 of the respective cells 20 that are formed in a lateral row share a common word line (WL) associated with the row of cells (see, e.g., prior art FIG. 2). In addition, as highlighted above, the drain regions 22 of the respective cells in a vertical column are connected together by a conductive bit line (BL). The channel 28 of the cell 20 conducts current between the source 24 and the drain 22 in accordance with an electric field developed in the channel 28 by the stacked gate structure 26.
According to conventional operation, the flash memory cell 20 operates in the following manner. The cell 20 is programmed by applying a relatively high voltage V.sub.G (e.g., approximately 12 volts) to the control gate 38 and a moderately high voltage V.sub.D (e.g., approximately 9 volts) to the drain 22 in order to produce "hot" (high energy) electrons in the channel 28 near the drain 22. The hot electrons accelerate across the tunnel oxide 32 and into the floating gate 34 and become trapped in the floating gate 34 since the floating gate 34 is surrounded by insulators (the interpoly dielectric 36 and the tunnel oxide 32). As a result of the trapped electrons, the threshold voltage of the cell 20 increases by about 3 to 5 volts. This change in the threshold voltage (and thereby the channel conductance) of the cell 20 created by the trapped electrons is what causes the cell to be programmed.
To read the memory cell 20, a predetermined voltage V.sub.G that is greater than the threshold voltage of an unprogrammed cell, but less than the threshold voltage of a programmed cell, is applied to the control gate 38. If the cell 20 conducts, then the cell 20 has not been programmed (the cell 20 is therefore at a first logic state, e.g., a zero "0"). Likewise, if the cell 20 does not conduct, then the cell 20 has been programmed (the cell 20 is therefore at a second logic state, e.g., a one "1"). Consequently, one can read each cell 20 to determine whether it has been programmed (and therefore identify its logic state).
In order to erase the flash memory cell 20, a relatively high voltage V.sub.S (e.g., approximately 12 volts) is applied to the source 24 and the control gate 38 is held at a ground potential (V.sub.G =0), while the drain 24 is allowed to float. Under these conditions, a strong electric field is developed across the tunnel oxide 32 between the floating gate 34 and the source region 22. The electrons that are trapped in the floating gate 34 flow toward and cluster at the portion of the floating gate 34 overlying the source region 22 and are extracted from the floating gate 34 and into the source region 22 by way of Fowler-Nordheim tunneling through the tunnel oxide 32. Consequently, as the electrons are removed from the floating gate 34, the cell 20 is erased.
During the processing of the core portion 12 having a circuit configuration as illustrated in prior art FIG. 2 and a structure as illustrated in prior art FIG. 3, a problem often occurs involving poly stringers. The manner in which poly stringers are formed is illustrated in conjunction with prior art FIGS. 4a-7. Poly stringers result from (among other things) imperfect anisotropic etching of the floating polysilicon gate 34 (when delineating memory cells 20 along a given word line) and the subsequent shielding of some polysilicon material by an ONO "fence."
An ideally anisotropically etched polysilicon gate 40 is illustrated in prior art FIG. 4a with an oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) layer 42 overlying the gate 40. Note that at regions 44 and 46 the ONO layer 42 exhibits a film thickness "X" while at a region 48 (along the sidewalls of the gate 40) the ONO layer 42 exhibits a film thickness "Y", wherein X<<Y. Consequently, as illustrated in prior art FIG. 4b, when the ONO layer 42 is subsequently etched, removing a film thickness of X, an ONO fence 50 is left along the sidewalls 52 and 54 of the polysilicon gate 40. Subsequently, when portions of the polysilicon gate 40 are again etched to define the various words lines for the memory device, the ONO fence 50 remains, as illustrated in prior art FIG. 4c.
The manner in which the ONO fence 50 remains after the second etching of the polysilicon gate 40 may best be understood in its macroscopic context, as illustrated in prior art FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the polysilicon gate 40 rests on the substrate 30 (actually, it rests on a thin tunnel oxide which, although not shown for simplicity, overlies the substrate 30). The ONO fence 50 remains along the sidewalls 52 and 54 in the regions 60 and 62 where a first word line (WL1) and a second word line (WL2) are formed in a manner similar to prior art FIG. 4b. (Note that the additional layers that make up the stacked gate structure 26 are not shown in prior art FIG. 5 for the sake of simplicity.) In an etched region 64, which delineates the regions 60 and 62 (and consequently the word lines WL1 and WL2) the ONO fence 50 also remains in a manner similar to prior art FIG. 4c.
As long as the initial etching of the polysilicon gate 40 (which delineates cells 20 along a single word line) occurs in an ideally anisotropic manner, as illustrated in prior art FIGS. 4a-4c and FIG. 5, no poly stringers are formed during the second etching of the gate 40 (which delineates separate word lines). It is well known, however, that anisotropic etch processes do not repeatably provide ideally anisotropic profiles. Instead, most anisotropic etch processes provide non-ideal profiles in the range of about 85-95.degree. (wherein 90.degree. is ideal). A non-ideal anisotropic etch profile 65 is illustrated in prior art FIG. 6a. When the ONO layer 42 of FIG. 6a is etched, an angled ONO fence 68 is left on the sloped sidewalls 70 and 72 of the polysilicon gate 65 because the region 66 has a film thickness "Z" along the sidewalls 70 and 72 that is thicker than the film thickness "X". Consequently, the angled ONO fence 68 remains, as illustrated in prior art FIG. 6b.
When the polysilicon gate 65 is subsequently etched (in an anisotropic manner via, e.g., reactive ion etching (RIE)), as illustrated in prior art FIGS. 6b and 6c, the angled ONO fence 68 shields a portion of the polysilicon gate 65, resulting in remnants 74 and 76 of polysilicon, which are the poly stringers. Transposing the non-ideally anisotropic polysilicon gate 65 and the resulting poly stringers 74 and 76 of FIGS. 6a-6c into their macroscopic context (as illustrated in prior art FIG. 7), it is clear that the poly stringers 74 and 76 pose a substantial reliability problem since the poly stringers 74 and 76 in the etched region 64 can short out the word lines in regions 60 and 62, respectively. That is, instead of the etched region 64 electrically isolating the word lines in regions 60 and 62 from one another, the poly stringers 74 and 76 (which are conductive) span the etched region 64, shielded by the angled ONO fence 68 and cause the gates 65 in the regions 60 and 62 to be shorted together.

Method of eliminating poly stringer in a memory device


A method and system for calculating a local specific energy absorption rate (SAR) is based on an electric parameter and the mass density of a segmented geometry of an object and a magnetic field vector distribution of a radio frequency (RF) antenna. The values of the electric parameter and the mass density are pre-determined values, while the magnetic field vector distribution is estimated by a magnetic field mapping method based on a magnetic resonance (MR) scan, such as a B1 mapping method.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique most commonly used in radiology to visualize a detailed internal structure and a function of a body of a human being. MRI uses a powerful magnetic field to align nuclear magnetization of usually hydrogen atoms in water in the body. Radio frequency (RF) fields are used to systematically alter the alignment of this magnetization, causing hydrogen nuclei to produce a rotating magnetic field detectable by a scanner. This detected signal can be manipulated by additional magnetic fields to build up enough information to construct an image of the body.
During a MRI procedure, the patient absorbs a portion of a transmitted RF energy, which can result in body tissue heating and other adverse effects, such as alterations in visual, auditory and neural functions. The so-called Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), in watts per kilogram (W/kg), is the RF power absorbed per unit mass of tissue. The SAR is one of the most important parameters related with thermal effects and acts as a guideline for MRI safety.
For an exact determination of local SAR, a spatial distribution of an electric field of the involved RF coil throughout the patient as well as an electric conductivity and permittivity distribution and a mass density throughout the patient is required. In principle, the electric field can be calculated from three spatial components of the magnetic field. A spatial distribution of the electric properties conductivity and permittivity can be determined via Ampere's law known in the art.
No reliable method has been found to determine in vivo the electric field and electric conductivity, and thus, the local SAR. Instead, rough estimations are performed, based on models. These models are based on human anatomy obtained from single individuals in a fixed position. Usually, the body is dissected into sub-cm voxels, each assigned a particular tissue type and thus well-defined electric properties, i.e. electric conductivity σ and permittivity ∈, and mass density ρ. Using a model of the applied RF coil, the electric fields and accordingly local SAR are determined via simulations. This approach is not patient specific with regard to individual anatomy and position. Patient specific models within this framework are not practicable due to the simulation times of several hours. The uncertainties of such models require large safety margins, frequently leading to a potentially unnecessary increase of the repetition time, and thus, the total acquisition time.
An embodiment of such a method is disclosed in WO-2007017779 A2 patent application. The method according to this patent application aims at measuring the body electric properties σ and ∈ via measuring magnetic fields produced by a RF coil and performing simulations. For SAR computation, the measured electric properties are used together with electric fields computed via simulation using patient models and RF coil models. Such simulation is based on the measurement of the magnetic fields.
A drawback of the known system is that the full simulation of coil and patient is very time consuming, in particular at least several hours, and thus not practicable in a clinical setting.

Method for calculating local specific energy absorption rate (SAR) in nuclear magnetic resonance


A system and methods are provided for a wing stabilizer charging system for recharging onboard batteries during operation of an electrically powered vehicle. The wing stabilizer charging system comprises a wing stabilizer configured to be coupled with a rear of the vehicle. One or more air inlets are disposed in the wing stabilizer and configured to receive an airstream during forward motion of the vehicle. Wind turbines are disposed within the wing stabilizer and configured to be turned by the airstream. A circuit box is configured to combine electricity received from the wind turbines into a useable electric current. A power cable extends from the circuit box and is configured to supply the useable electric current to any one or more electronic devices, such as any of an onboard battery for powering the vehicle, mobile phones or smart phones, portable music players, tablet computers, cameras, and the like.

Electrically powered vehicles generally solve problems associated with the gasoline-powered vehicles, such as environmental pollution, noise and depletion of crude oil reserves due to the increasing use of gasoline-powered vehicles. As such, electrically powered vehicles are gaining in popularity and their use is becoming increasingly widespread. Unfortunately, electrically powered vehicles have certain drawbacks, including limited travel range between battery recharging and excessive time required for recharging the batteries. In generally, the average travel distance between battery recharging for currently available electrically powered vehicles is considerably less than the driving range of gasoline powered vehicles. Further, several hours may be required to recharge the batteries while the vehicle remains inoperative.
Increasing the driving range of electrically powered vehicles between battery recharging downtimes can significantly increase the desirability of operating electrically powered vehicles. One approach to increasing the driving range of electrically powered is by charging the batteries while the vehicle is in motion, such as by way of utilizing air currents as a motive power. Although there have been many contributions to the art of electrically powered vehicles, significant improvements are needed to solve the short travel distance problems associated with such vehicles. There is a continuing interest, therefore, in developing battery recharging systems capable of extending the driving range of electrically powered vehicles during vehicle operation.