A biosensor unit that can be wall mounted in a location to perform testing of ambient air for bio-contaminants. This unit could contain an air filter for collecting contaminants and a micro-laboratory on a chip or otherwise situated within the unit to perform DNA or RNA binding tests for specific biological targets. Information from such units distributed within an environment could be communicated to one or more central locations via the internet or other communication means to be logged or recorded or to produce reports or alarms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of interior air quality and more particularly to a biosensor reporting system that can track airborne bio-contaminants.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Remote reporting of environmental data in buildings can be accomplished by placing sensors in various locations and then reporting the data back through wires or by wireless to a gathering station. Alternatively sensor units can store data and report back via telephone lines over the internet to a central facility that usually produces a report. Systems also exist that pipe air to a central location for testing.
Current building environmental systems generally collect data including temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and many times toxics such as carbon monoxide. Some units collect data on particulate content, mold and radon.
Recently various companies have reported "labs on a chip" where entire chemical and DNA matching operations can be performed on a single chip. An example of this technology is the recent announce by the company Infineon of a one half centimeter chip that contains micro-channels that can perform DNA trapping of target DNA in liquid phase of over 400 different DNA target types.
What is badly needed is a reporting system that can collect and report data on airborne pathogens as well as mold, fungi and other airborne biological contaminates.

Bio-sensor and bio-sensor reporting system


When using unstable processing solutions, high recirculation and/or replenishment rates may be required. However, when replenisher is added to a processing tank, a noticeable drop in the temperature of the processing solution may occur. Such a drop in temperature may lead to variable photographic sensitometry of the material being processed. Described herein is apparatus in which temperature control means (28) are provided to ensure that the temperature of the solution being added to the processing tank does not produce such a temperature drop.

Conventional colour photographic silver halide materials are processed by a process which includes a colour development step. In this step silver halide is reduced to metallic silver in the light-exposed areas and the oxidised colour developer formed in this reaction then couples with a colour coupler and forms image dye. The amount of dye produced is proportional to the amount of silver halide reduced to metallic silver.
Redox amplification processes have been described, for example in British Patent Specifications GB-A-1268126, GB-A-1399481, GB-A-1403418 and GB-A-1560572. In such processes colour materials are developed to produce a silver image (which may contain only small amounts of silver) and then treated with a redox amplifying solution to form a dye image. The redox amplifying solution contains a reducing agent, for example a colour developing agent, and an oxidising agent which is more powerful than silver halide and which will oxidise the colour developing agent in the presence of the silver image which acts as a catalyst. Oxidised colour developer reacts with a colour coupler (usually contained in the photographic material) to form image dye. The amount of dye formed depends on the time of treatment or the availability of colour coupler rather than the amount of silver in the image as is the case in conventional colour development processes. Examples of suitable oxidising agents include peroxy compounds including hydrogen peroxide, cobalt (III) complexes including cobalt hexammine complexes, and periodates. Mixtures of such compounds can also be used.
Since the amplifying solution contains both an oxidising agent and a reducing agent it is inherently unstable. That is to say unlike a conventional colour developer solution, amplifier solutions will deteriorate in less than an hour even if left in a sealed container. The best reproducibility for such a process has been obtained by using a "one shot" system, where the oxidant is added to the developer and the solution mixed and used immediately (or after a short built in delay) and then discarded. This leads to the maximum solution usage possible with maximum effluent and maximum chemical costs. As a result the whole system is unattractive especially for a minilab environment where minimum effluent is required. It is believed that it is these shortcomings that have inhibited commercial use of this process.
Japanese Specification 64/44938 appears to describe such a system in which a silver chloride colour material is processed in a low volume of a single-bath amplifier solution. The processes described therein however fall short of what is required in the fully commercial environment for exactly the reasons given above.
Published International Patent Application WO-A-91/12567 (which corresponds to British Patent Application No. 9003282.2) describes a method and apparatus for photographic processing in which a minimum amount of processing solution can be used in a processing tank which is thin and has a low volume. In order to overcome the inherent deterioration problem due to the instability of the processing solutions used, the method and apparatus described result in the need for high recirculation and/or replenishment rates.
One difficulty with processing photographic material continuously in apparatus described in WO-A-91/12567 is that the heat capacity of the processing tank plus its contents is low when compared with normal processing tanks which contain tens of liters of processing solution. When a continuous web of photographic material is passed through the processing tank, a noticeable drop in temperature of the processing solution occurs. This temperature drop will depend on the temperature of the web. An additional drop in temperature is also observed when replenisher is added to the processing tank. In the case of a low volume processing tank, the replenisher forms a larger proportion of the total volume of the tank than normal. For a colour development stage, for example, variation in the processing solution temperature is undesirable and will lead to variable photographic sensitometry.
One solution to the above problem is to ensure that the photographic material and replenisher solutions are at the same temperature as the desired processing solution temperature in the processing tank. However, it may be difficult to do this in relation to the photographic material.
Another solution to the problem is to place the processing tank and its contents in a thermostatically controlled bath to maintain the desired temperature. This will be practicable if the heat transfer through the tank to the processing solution is high enough to give a constant temperature whether photographic material is being transported through the tank or not. However, this solution suffers from the problem of having to control the temperature of a large bath in order to maintain the processing tank and its contents at a constant desired temperature.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apparatus and method which overcome the problems mentioned above.


A tunable multiple frequency source system employing offset signal phasing includes a first frequency source, a phase delay element, and a second frequency source configured to operate concurrently with the first frequency source. The first frequency source includes an input coupled to receive a reference input signal and an output for providing a first frequency source signal. The phase delay includes an input coupled to receive the input reference signal, and an output, the phase delay element operable to apply a predefined phase delay to the input reference signal to produce a phase-delayed input signal. The second frequency source includes an input coupled to receive the phase-delayed input signal and an output for providing a second frequency source signal.

The present invention relates to tunable systems employing concurrently operable frequency sources, and in particular to offset signal phasing for use with said system.
The implementation of multiple frequency sources in a system, as described in the application entitled "Multiple Frequency Source System and Method of Operation," presents possible challenges in how to control the system's power consumption. Specifically, the operation of multiple frequency sources may create a high peak current demand from the power supply, possibly resulting in a drop in the power supply voltage to a level which may be insufficient to continue reliable system operation.
What is therefore needed is a system and method for avoiding high peak current consumption in a system employing multiple frequency sources.

Offset signal phasing for a multiple frequency source system


An emergency request system includes a portable emergency device designed to be carried on the person of a user, the emergency device containing stored data useful in the event of an emergency, such as data on medical problems of the user, contact information of a person able to supply information when the user is incapacitated and location information as to the present location of the user. The emergency request system includes a cellular phone that supports Bluetooth and software that interacts with the portable emergency device and the 911 emergency system.

Contacting a source of help in the event of an emergency is a problem that has been addressed in many ways over the years. A common solution in the United States of America is the "911" telephone number, which connects the caller to an operator trained to identify a number of emergency situations and having access to communication equipment to contact the police, ambulance, fire department and the like. Similar facilities are available in many countries.
Each year, however, many situations are not responded to because the victim cannot get to a telephone or cannot dial and/or speak. Many medical emergencies incapacitate the victims so severely that they are unable to move or to summon help. For example, many people fall, breaking a hip or otherwise becoming sufficiently incapacitated that they are unable to reach a phone, even though they could dial and call for help if they were able to get to the phone.
In other cases, victims are unable to speak (e.g. in the event of a stroke) although they are able to reach a phone.
In still other cases, the victim is able to reach a phone and call, but does not know where he or she is sufficiently well to give directions to emergency personnel.
Thus, there is a need for a system that will call for help once activated and compensate for incapacity of various kinds.

Emergency response system with personal emergency device


Non-crushable pill formulations and methods of using the formulations are disclosed. A non-crushable pill formulation for preventing unintended use of a drug, comprising a polymer, the polymer forming a polymer backbone of the complex; cross-linkers, the cross-linkers connecting the polymer backbone through covalently bonding to form at least one inner cavity within the complex; and the drug, the drug being trapped either covalently or non-covalently in the at least one inner cavity within the complex, wherein the drug is protected from releasing outside of the complex.

Abuse of opioid analgesic alkaloids such as oxycodone is a major societal problem. It is estimated that nearly a third of people who abuse drugs started with prescription medicines; 2.4 million Americans used prescription drugs recreationally in 2010 and 15,000 people in the U.S. alone died in 2009 because of overdose from prescription pain relievers; many more burdened hospitals and medical facilities.1,2 Misuse of drugs like oxycodone is carried out by crushing the pills for immediate burst release, typically by nasal insufflation, or by liquefying the pills for intravenous injection. In both cases the immediate dosage is higher, causing euphoria, which perpetuates abuse. Thus, there is a strong impetus to develop formulations that prevent and deter misuse. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has made preventing abuse a priority, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have determined that prescription drug abuse is an epidemic, and the Obama administration released a Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan in 2011.2 Despite strong efforts, abusers have found ways around new non-crushable and non-dissolvable pills by dissolving in solutions found in the home or subjecting the pills to extreme temperatures in microwaves to melt the materials. We disclose in this invention a method to prevent abuse of drugs such as oxycodone, a commonly prescribed opioid, through the use of a non-crushable and non-dissolvable elastomeric polymer formulation. Oxycodone will be physically trapped or covalently bound inside elastomeric polymer micro particles too large to syringe via linkages that can only be degraded by enzymes in the stomach or intestine. We anticipate that the drug delivery vehicles described herein could replace current formulations for these patients since the drug itself is the same, but the formulation is superior to current formulations in preventing misuse of the product.
Needed in the art are drug delivery vehicles and noncrushable pill formulations which are specifically designed to avoid misuse of the drug such as opioid.

The Regents of The University of California


An interposer chip in accordance includes an insulating layer, conductive patterns and a dummy pattern. The conductive patterns are formed on the insulating layer. The dummy pattern is formed on the insulating layer to suppress a bending of the insulating layer. Further, the dummy pattern can have first isolating grooves formed along peripherals of the conductive patterns to isolate the dummy pattern from the conductive patterns. Thus, the interposer chip is not vulnerable to being bent. Further, an electrical short between the conductive patterns through the dummy pattern caused by particles is substantially avoided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interposer chip, a method of manufacturing the interposer chip, and a multi-chip package having the interposer chip. More particularly, the present invention relates to an interposer chip for electrically connecting together two semiconductor chips having different sizes, a method of manufacturing the interposer chip, and a multi-chip package having the interposer chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, various semiconductor fabricating processes can be performed on a wafer to form a plurality of semiconductor chips. In order to mount the semiconductor chips on a printed circuit board (PCB), a packaging process can be carried out on the wafer to form semiconductor packages.
In order to increase storage capacity of the packaged semiconductor device, a multi-chip package including sequentially stacked semiconductor chips can have been widely researched. The stacked semiconductor chips can be electrically connected with each other via conductive wires.
Here, when the semiconductor chips have different sizes, it can be difficult to directly connect the stacked semiconductor chips only using the conductive wires due to length limits of the conductive wires. In this case, an interposer chip can be interposed between the semiconductor chips. The semiconductor chips can be electrically connected with each other through the interposer chip.
A conventional interposer chip can include an insulating layer and a conductive layer pattern formed on the insulating layer. The semiconductor chips having different sizes can be electrically connected with each other via the conductive pattern.
However, the conventional interposer chip can be prone to becoming bent due to a weak strength of the insulating layer. When the interposer chip becomes bent, the conductive layer pattern can also be bent. As a result, connection of the conductive wires connected to the bent conductive layer pattern can become compromised. Consequently, an electrical connection between the conductive layer pattern and the conductive wire can have very low reliability.

Interposer chip, method of manufacturing the interposer chip, and multi-chip package having the interposer chip


An earpiece-less eyeglass apparatus and retainer-strap attachment mechanism. First and second attachment mechanisms are mounted on each side of a lenticular frame. Each attachment mechanism includes a stemball assembly, a socket housing, and a spring. The stemball assembly includes a shaft, a narrow neck, and a ball. The socket housing includes a primary socket, a secondary socket, and a narrow slot joining the primary and secondary sockets. The spring is mounted within the primary socket and the slot, and is shaped to form a rounded portion within the primary socket and a narrow restriction portion within the slot for receiving, respectively, the ball and the neck of the stemball assembly. The narrow restriction portion locks the ball into the secondary socket without placing stress on the housing when the neck of the stemball assembly is slid through the slot, moving the ball into the secondary socket.

Straps are used to hold a variety of objects together. For example, a retainer strap may be attached to the earpieces of a pair of eyeglasses, including sunglasses, to hold them in place on a user's face. Short elastic straps may be utilized to hold the eyeglasses in place during physical activities such as various sporting events. Longer, generally non-elastic straps connected to the earpieces may be placed around a user's neck, so that the user can remove the eyeglasses from his face and let them hang by the retainer strap when not in use. However, the user still has to contend with uncomfortable earpieces and with strap-connecting mechanisms that add bulk or come loose from the earpieces.
A known solution to this problem has been utilized with sunglasses in an ophthalmologist's eye care center. The sunglasses were provided to patients who had had their eyes dilated during various procedures in the eye care center. An earpiece retainer pin was removed from the frame of the sunglasses, and the earpieces were removed. The pin was pierced through a retainer strap and was then replaced in the frame, thereby permanently attaching the retainer strap to the eyeglass rim.
Although this solved the problem of uncomfortable earpieces, it did not provide the user with the ability to interchange retainer straps or move a retainer strap from one pair of eyeglasses to another.
Co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,427,133 discloses an earpiece-less eyeglass frame that utilizes a ball-and-socket mechanism for quickly and easily attaching and detaching a strap to the temple end of the eyeglasses. The connector mechanism includes a "stemball" that is connected into the distal end of an eyeglass retainer strap. The stemball is sized for insertion into a socket in the end of the plastic eyeglass frame where a traditional earpiece would normally be attached. The stemball is initially inserted into a round opening of the socket in the eyeglass frame. The stemball is then slid by its shaft past a narrow restriction in the body of the socket into a secondary distal socket where it "snaps/clicks" into place.

Earpiece-less eyeglass apparatus and strap attachment mechanism


A vacuum assisted handling and loading of radioactive seeds into implant needles from a lead glass shielded glass tube and with seeds manipulated within an enclosed visible radiation shield. Radioactive seeds and spacers are located on a loading platform within a shield having at least two transparent side walls for viewing into the interior of the shield. A vacuum pickup probe is inserted into the shield to manipulate the radioactive seeds and spacers to lift and drop the radioactive seeds and spacers into the funnel leading to a glass tube, behind a lead glass window. The manipulation of the vacuum pickup probe is performed from outside of the shield and vacuum force exerted through the pickup probe and the glass tube on the radioactive seeds or spacers. When the desired sequence of seeds and spacers has been achieved and visually verified through the glass tube window, the implant needle within its slip shield body is positioned through the visible radiation shield to dock with the funnel opening of the glass tube in the loading platform. A vacuum force is applied to the interior of the implant needle and the sequence of seeds/spacers in the glass tube is drawn up into the docked implant needle surrounded by a slip shield body. While the needle interior vacuum is still active, the loaded implant needle in the slip shield body is withdrawn from the visible radiation shield docking position and the terminal end of the implant needle is sealed and placed in a needle slip shield holder according to a template designation.

Prior practices involving the use of radioactive seeds for medical treatment have involved the use of unsafe methods for movement of radioactive seeds from storage and for loading of radioactive seeds using forceps and exposing the hands of individuals to radiation. These prior practices do not provide a safe, reliable and accurate means of handling and loading radioactive seeds into implant needles nor do they allow a verification of the loaded contents.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a safe and accurate method and apparatus for handling and loading radioactive seeds into implant needles and at the same time provide a means of verifying the number and arrangement of radioactive seeds and spacers that are in the implant needle.

Apparatus for vacuum-assisted handling and loading of radioactive seeds and spacers into implant needles within an enclosed visible radiation shield for use in therapeutic radioactive seed implantation


A developing unit used in an image forming apparatus with a latent image carrier includes a developer carrier, a supply compartment, a recovery compartment, a separation member, and a gap. The developer carrier facing the latent image carrier rotates while carrying two-component developer containing toner and carrier and supplies the toner to the latent image. The supply compartment includes a supply transport member to transport the developer in a first direction. The recovery compartment includes a recovery transport member to transport the developer in a second direction. The separation member includes one end portion facing the latent image carrier at a facing area. The separation member separates the supply compartment and the recovery compartment and is disposed above the recovery compartment behind the separation member. The gap is provided at the facing area. The gap has a width of not more than 1.4 millimeters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a developing unit used in copiers, facsimile machines, printers, or other image forming apparatuses, and more specifically, to a developing unit using a two-component developer containing toner and magnetic carrier, a process cartridge using the developing unit, and an image forming method and apparatus using the developing unit.
2. Description of the Background
An image forming apparatus used as a copier, facsimile machine, printer, or multi-functional device thereof may have a developing unit to develop an image with two-component developer containing toner and carrier.
Such a conventional developing unit has a configuration as illustrated in FIG. 1, for example. In FIG. 1, a conventional developing unit 104 has two developer compartments, that is, a supply recovery compartment 402 including a supply screw 401 and an agitation compartment 10 including an agitation screw 11. The supply recovery compartment 402 and the agitation compartment 10 transport developer in opposite directions to circulate the developer in the conventional developing unit 104.
In the conventional developing unit 104, the developer is supplied from the supply recovery compartment 402 to a surface of a developing roller 5 and is used for development in a development area in which the developing roller 5 faces a photoconductor, not illustrated. After passing through the development area, the developer is recovered from the developing roller 5 to the supply recovery compartment 402.
In the conventional developing unit 104, a single compartment, that is, the supply recovery compartment 402 performs both functions of supplying developer to the developing roller 5 and recovering the developer passed through the development area. Consequently, on a downstream side of the supply recovery compartment 402 in its developer transport direction, the concentration of toner in the developer to be supplied to the developing roller 5 may decrease, thereby resulting in failures such as a reduction in image density during a development process.
Accordingly, certain conventional developing units have a supply transport member that supplies and transports developer to the developing roller and a separate recovery transport member that recovers and transports the developer passed through the development area in separate developer compartments.
FIG. 2 illustrates one type of conventional developing unit 204 having such configuration adjacent a photoconductor 1.
The conventional developing unit 204 separately has a supply compartment 9 to supply developer to a developing roller 5 and a recovery compartment 7 to recover the developer passed through a development area. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the conventional developing unit 204 has a separation member 133 separating the supply compartment 9 and the recovery compartment 7, which recovery compartment includes a recovery screw 6. The separation member 133 has an end portion 133a facing the developing roller 5. The supply compartment 9 and the recovery compartment 7 each are disposed to face the developing roller 5. The supply compartment 9 is disposed above the recovery compartment 7 behind the separation member 133. FIG. 2 also depicts a gap Gp, between the developing roller 5 and a supply screw 8.
In the conventional developing unit 204 thus configured, the developer passed through the development area is transported to the recovery compartment 7 and thus is not mixed into the supply compartment 9. Such configuration eliminates a change in toner concentration of the developer transported to the supply compartment 9, thereby allowing the toner concentration of developer supplied to the developing roller 5 to be maintained substantially constant.
FIG. 3 illustrates another type of conventional developing unit 304.
The conventional developing unit 304 has a supply compartment 9 to supply developer to a developing roller 5 and a separate recovery compartment 7 to recover the developer passed through a development area. The conventional developing unit 304 also has an agitation compartment 10 that agitates excess developer, transported to a downstream end portion of the supply compartment 9, and recovered developer, transported to a downstream end portion of the recovery compartment 7, which includes a recover screw 6, into agitated developer and simultaneously transports the agitated developer in a direction opposite to the developer transport direction of the supply compartment 9.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the conventional developing unit 304 also has a separation member 133 separating the supply compartment 9 (and associated supply screw 8) and the recovery compartment 7 (and associated agitation screw 11). The supply compartment 9 and the recovery compartment 7 are disposed to face the developing roller 5. The separation member 133 has an end portion 133a facing the developing roller 5. The supply compartment 9 is disposed above the recovery compartment 7 behind the separation member 133.
As is the case with the conventional developing unit 204 described above, in the conventional developing unit 304 thus configured, the developer passed through the development area is transported to the recovery compartment 7 and thus is not mixed into the supply compartment 9. Such configuration eliminates a change in toner concentration of the developer transported to the supply compartment 9, thereby allowing the toner concentration of developer supplied to the developing roller 5 to be maintained substantially constant.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, in each of the conventional developing units 204 and 304, the supply compartment 9 is disposed above the recovery compartment 7 behind the separation member 133, which has the end portion 133a facing the developing roller 5. However, such configuration may result in failures depending on the size of a gap between the end portion 133a and the developing roller 5.
For example, if the gap between the end portion 133a and the developing roller 5 is too great, a portion of developer in the supply compartment 9 may not appropriately be supplied to the developing roller 5 and may drop through the gap into the recovery compartment 7.
Such dropping of developer into the recovery compartment 7 may result in failures as follows. Specifically, when the developer dropping through the gap reaches the recovery compartment 7 in addition to the developer supplied to the developing roller 5 from the supply compartment 9, the amount of developer consumed from the supply compartment 9 may increase. Consequently, developer may run short in a downstream portion of the supply compartment 9 in its developer transport direction, thereby resulting in shortage of developer to be supplied to the developing roller 5.
Further, such dropping of developer into the recovery compartment 7 may increase the amount of developer contained in the recovery compartment 7. As a result, the thickness of developer may increase on the downstream side of the recovery compartment 7 in its developer transport direction, thereby preventing the developer on the surface of the developing roller 5 from appropriately dropping to the recovery compartment 7 after a developing process.
Further, such preventing may result in a so-called "taking-around" phenomenon, in which, after passing through the development area, the developer remains on the surface of the developing roller 5, passes through a facing area in which the developing roller 5 faces the supply compartment 9, and reaches the development area again. Such taken-around developer may repeatedly pass through a doctor gap 5a and thus be degraded by friction, thereby resulting in uneven degradation of developer.
Further, such taken-around developer may be heated by friction at the doctor gap 5a. Accordingly, if the taking-around phenomenon occurs when using a toner having a low melting point, the toner is repeatedly heated at the doctor gap 5a before being cooled down, thereby causing the toner to be melted while being taken around with each rotation of the developing roller 5. Such melting of toner in two-component developer carried on the developing roller 5 may result in such failures as, for example, fusion of the toner on the developing roller 5, or aggregation of toner particles.
Consequently, there is still a need for a developing unit, process cartridge, image forming method and apparatus capable of preventing failures that may be caused by developer dropping through a gap between a developer carrier and an end portion of a separation member.

Developing unit, process cartridge, and image forming method and apparatus incorporating an agitation compartment


A device for controlling the bark of an animal. The animal bark control device includes a housing having a curved bottom side extending between opposing distal ends forming an open neck receiving area. The curved bottom side can rest flush against a neck of a dog when mounted thereon. A speaker is disposed on a front side of the housing such that the speaker faces toward an ear of the dog when the housing is secured to a dog collar and mounted against the neck of the dog. The animal bark control device mounts to a dorsal region of a pet dog thereby allowing the speaker to deliver an audible corrective sound directly to the dog. A bridge extends from the housing, wherein the housing is movable along a longitudinal length of the bridge in order to adjust the placement of the housing when mounted to the dog.

The present invention relates to an animal bark control device. More specifically, the present invention provides an animal bark control device and method to soothe a barking and excited dog or prevent barking. The animal bark control device provides a speaker positioned in close proximity to the ears of a dog so as to produce tranquil sounds or relay commands from an owner from a paired remote electronic device.
Most pet owners know the problems associated with controlling the barking of a pet dog. Dogs naturally bark for many reasons such as to signal other dogs, to define their territory, to communicate excitement or fear, and to warn prior to an attack. When a dog owner lives in an area closely proximate to other people or the dog is easily riled such that it barks at the slightest of noises, the barking of a dog can become a nuisance to both the dog owner and the neighbors. Further, constant barking may be a signal that the dog is agitated or uncomfortable.
Various techniques have been developed to control the barking of a dog. First, the bark of a dog can be controlled surgically by the removal of the larynx. However, this solution is usually unacceptable to the pet owner as unnecessarily cruel and expensive. Second, standard obedience techniques can be used to train the dog to not bark, but this is time consuming and often requires the presence of the owner to correct the dog. If the owner is absent from the home for long periods of time, such as at work, the dog may learn to not bark only when the owner is present, remaining a nuisance while the owner is away.
Finally, remote and automatic systems using various trigger mechanisms have been developed to control the barking of a dog. For example, these remote and automatic systems deliver an electronic pulse to the dog upon detection of a bark, or an external sound that falls within the defined parameter of a bark, as a barking deterrent. Many pet owners find these devices ineffectual and cruel, as the delivery of a painful electronic pulse confuses the dog and hampers effective training with false triggers.
The present invention provides an animal bark control device that aims at reducing the frequency and duration of barking caused by external sources. Additionally, the animal bark control device reduces the associated stress of both the pet and owner. The delivery of sound directly to the pet reduces the instinctual barking and can interrupt a series of barks by distracting the pet with sounds directed at the pet. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the animal bark control device connects an owner to the pet via a wireless communication system that notifies the owner of a bark and allows for direct commands to be communicated to the pet. The sound created by the pet is detected by the animal bark control device and emitted through a remote control. In this way, the owner is able to detect the location or confirm the safety of the pet when the pet is not visible to the owner.
The above references methods and devices that have been disclosed in the known art that relate to controlling the barking of a pet. These include methods and devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. However, none of these known art methods and devices provide the configuration of controlling the bark of a dog as disclosed by the presently claimed invention. The prior art lacks a system for controlling the barking of a pet dog which can be used at all times of the day, without the need for human monitoring. Further, none of the prior art devices filter extraneous noises and only apply a corrective stimulus when the particular dog barks in such a way as to trigger the system.
In light of the devices disclosed in the known art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the known art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement for controlling barking of pet and to reduce the associated stress. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method, system on a chip, and computer system for generating more robust keys which utilize data occupying relatively small die areas is disclosed. Embodiments provide a convenient and effective mechanism for generating a key for use in securing data on a portable electronic device, where the key is generated from repurposed data and a relatively small amount. A multi-stage encryption algorithm may be performed to generate the key, where the first stage may include encrypting the secure data, and the second stage may include encrypting the result of a logical operation on the encrypted secure data with a unique identifier of the portable electronic device. A secret key may be used as the encryption key for each stage. The result of the second encryption stage may include the generated key which may be used to perform subsequent operations on the portable electronic device.

Encryption processes are often used to secure data stored on computer systems. The encryption is commonly performed using a known key, where the key may subsequently be used to decrypt the data. Accordingly, the security of the encrypted data may be influenced by the encryption process itself and/or the key used by the encryption process to encrypt the data.
Smaller conventional devices, such as portable computer systems or the like, commonly store encryption keys within fuses of a device component die. Given that the die area of device components is limited, these smaller conventional devices generally use encryption keys which are small in size. Since the robustness of the device's security is influenced by the size of the key, smaller conventional devices generally offer limited security for the data stored on the devices.
Although this low-level of security was marginally suitable for smaller conventional devices in the past, smaller devices are beginning to store data requiring increased amounts of security. Additionally, an increased amount of content is becoming available for which digital rights management (DRM) mechanisms are used. Accordingly, the low-level of security offered by smaller conventional devices is insufficient to implement some DRM mechanisms, thereby limiting the content accessible by smaller conventional devices.

Method and system for generating a secure key


Changing a mode of operation of a destination communication device by establishing a voice service option communication channel over a network between an initiating device and a destination device. Using the voice service option communication channel, a predetermined sequence of data is transmitted from the initiating device to the destination device. The predetermined sequence of data specifies a different operation mode of the destination device. The destination device receives the data packet and determines if it is a predetermined sequence of data. If the data packet is a predetermined sequence of data then the destination device examines the sequence of data and changes its operational mode in response to the predetermined sequence of data. The predetermined sequence of data may be transmitted in compliance with a TTY standard for data communication.

1. Field
The invention relates generally to control of communication devices in a communication system, and more specifically to data transfer over a voice channel of the communication channel.
2. Background
Enhancements to communication devices are being developed and it may be desirable, or necessary, to change the operating mode of the communication device to utilize the enhancements. The operating mode of a communication device may be changed by transmitting initiating data to the communication device requesting that the communication device change its operating mode.
A technique that could be used to transmit the initiating data to change the operational mode of a destination communication device, is to transmit the initiating data over a voice channel. Typically, a user at the initiating device would use the device's keypad to enter the initiating data as a data sequence formatted as FSK or DTMF tones The tones are then encoded by a vocoder, a device used to encode and decode speech, and data corresponding to the tones are transmitted to the destination communication device.
In a destination device, a host processor receives the data corresponding to the sequence of tones and sends the data to a vocoder that decodes the tones. The tones are then converted back into the initiating data and the host processor determines that a special (changed) operational mode is desired by the initiating device. In response, the host processor of the destination device changes its operational mode and sends a message to the initiating device that will confirm the changed operational mode and will result in both devices operating in the desired mode. This technique may be used, for example, when two users want to communicate using a secure connection to transfer encrypted data.
A problem with this technique is that vocoders are optimized for encoding speech and are not well adapted to encode and decode pure tones such as would be used in data formatted as FSK or DTMF data. Also, the vocoder encoded data may be decoded and re-encoded as the data traverses a voice channel of a communication system. These, as well as other, problems lead to ineffective, and unreliable, transmission of the initiating data over the voice channel.
A technique used to transfer text messages across a communication system is Short Message Service (SMS). SMS is a service that enables the transmission of text messages between wireless communication devices (WCD). However, SMS is not supported in all networks. In addition, SMS messages are not used to transmit data to change the operational mode of a device, instead when the message is received it is simply displayed to the user. In addition, SMS messages are routed through a SMS center thereby adding delay in the signal arriving at the destination device.
There is therefore a need in the art for transmitting data that is used to change the operational mode of a communication device when the WCD is operating in a voice service option mode.

Changing the operational mode of a wireless communication device using a voice service option


A lid handling system employs a lid alignment assembly for aligning lids randomly placed on a rotating input disc, a lid separation assembly for separating lids spinning on a pair of horizontal spin bars into a counted stack, a vacuum pickup assembly for picking up a counted stack of lids, a pick and place assembly for transporting and placing stacks of lids into trays having upwardly bent side members, and a conveyor for conveying filled trays toward a carton.

This invention relates generally to lid handling systems. Lids are typically received from production facilities in a randomly oriented manner and are destined for use in the medical, food service, and toy industries. It is therefore necessary that these lids be single-filed, oriented, stacked, counted, and placed into a carton for shipping without disturbing the counted stacks. Single-filing, orienting, and stacking operations have been automated in the prior art. However, these prior art systems are limited in terms of the number of lids per minute that can be handled. Today's high speed production operations require higher lid handling rates. Manually counting and placing lids into a carton is labor intensive and also slow.
Single-filing of the lids has commonly been accomplished by using the centrifugal force of a horizontally positioned rotary disc to first move lids to the outside circumference of the disc. A single, flat lid may then exit the disc through a slot that is the same height as the lid. Lids that are positioned on top of each other can occasionally jam in the slot and completely stop production. Even if a jam does not occur, two lids attempting to exit the slot together tend to hesitate before moving downstream from the slot. This situation can dramatically reduce the throughput of the lid handling system.
Additionally, lids must be channeled into one or more lanes. After exiting the slot, existing systems use a stationary guide to route the lids into one or more lanes. Lids that do not directly enter a lane, but instead impact the stationary guide, can cause stoppages or hesitation in the flow of lids.
After being routed into lanes, lids must be stacked horizontally and separated into counted stacks. Stacking has historically been accomplished by utilizing horizontal spin bars. The difficulty of separating lids into a counted, horizontal stack arises because the lids are spinning, and variations in the lids can change the location of the seam between adjacent lids. Sweep motion devices have been used in the past to accomplish lid separation. These devices typically do not reliably locate the seam in the stacks of lids, thus disturbing the stacks and frequently knocking some lids off the horizontal spin bars.
After lids are counted into stacks, the stacks must then be moved without disturbing their alignment in order to place them into a carton. This is difficult because lids frequently fit together with an interference of only a few thousandths of an inch. If the integrity of the stack is not maintained, individual lids may warp during shipment, rendering them unusable. No method has yet been devised to move stacks of lids reliably. The prior art method of handling stacks of lids is to manually place them into a carton. Placing the counted stack directly into a carton is difficult because the carton tolerance must be tight to maintain stack alignment during shipping. Frequently, a plastic liner placed in the carton snags lids that are located on the ends of each stack, thereby resulting in mis-alignment of the stack. When one layer of stacked lids is placed into a carton, a piece of cardboard is manually placed over that layer of lids, and another layer of stacked lids is added. This process is repeated until the carton is filled, but since each stack must be handled manually, labor costs are high and the potential for contamination exists.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved lid handling system having increased output, while reducing stoppage and labor costs.
This and other objects are accomplished in accordance with the illustrated preferred embodiment of the present invention by providing a lid alignment assembly, a lid separation assembly, and a vacuum pickup assembly.
The lid alignment assembly of the present invention eliminates stoppages at the input end of the system by replacing the traditional lid exit slot with a horizontally positioned moving belt located one lid height above a horizontal rotating disc. Any lids positioned on top of each other will contact the moving belt and be moved by the belt away from the lid exit slot.
After lids exit the rotating disc through the lid exit slot, a secondary stoppage can occur when lids impact a stationary guide that defines the single lane at the output of the rotating disc. This stoppage problem is eliminated in accordance with the present invention by locating a rotating wheel at the impact point of the stationary guide. This wheel will force each lid to either move into the output lane or back onto the rotating disc to be recycled.
Separating lids into counted stacks without knocking off the conventional rotating spin bars is accomplished by replacing prior art separating devices with a beveled separating wheel that is mounted for free wheeling and sliding movement on a shaft. When the separating wheel is lowered into contact with a stack of spinning lids, it will in turn begin to spin with a circumferential speed equal to that of the lids. If the shaft on which the separating wheel is mounted is angled both upwards and sideways with respect to the stack of lids, the separating wheel will be forced to move parallel to the stack of lids until it contacts a seam between two lids. This will allow an accurate separation into stacks of a desired length without knocking lids off of the spin bars.
Transporting counted stacks of lids is accomplished by lifting each stack from above using the vacuum pickup assembly that has length and width dimensions approximately equal to the stacks of lids. The vacuum pickup assembly is arranged to be mechanically lowered into near contact with the spinning stacks of lids. Vacuum ports on the underside of the vacuum pickup assembly serve to lift the spinning stacks of lids into associated stack receivers. A flexible, low-friction fabric material attached to each of the stack receivers serves to seal the vacuum without disturbing the stacks of lids. The result is that the stacks of lids will be pulled upward off the spin bars and the spinning stopped without disturbing lid alignment. Since the peripheral edge of each lid is firmly held by vacuum, the stacks of lids can then be transported without disrupting the lid alignment.
Lid handling labor and the opportunity for contamination can be reduced by automatically placing the stacks of lids onto a holding tray that can retain an entire layer of stacks of lids. The bottom of each tray serves as a divider between layers when placed into the carton. Each tray includes an upwardly bent flap on each end that contacts, holds, and protects the end lids of each stack. An additional problem that is overcome by the present invention exists when the number of stacks of lids that are transported by the vacuum pickup assembly is not the same number required to fill each tray. By placing trays adjacent to each other, the vacuum pickup assembly places the stacks of lids into trays as required. While conveying a filled tray, an external guide holds the end flaps in position to provide pressure on each stack, thereby maintaining stack alignment. The entire tray can then be placed into a carton, either manually or automatically. In either instance, labor is reduced, stack alignment is maintained by protecting the end lids of each stack from the plastic carton liner, and potential contamination is reduced by eliminating manual handling of each individual stack of lids.


The invention provides an epitaxial growth method which is a single wafer processing epitaxial growth method by which at least a single crystal substrate is placed in a reaction chamber with an upper wall having a downward convexity and an epitaxial layer is deposited on the single crystal substrate by introducing raw material gas and carrier gas into the reaction chamber through a gas feed port, in which, after any one of the radius of curvature of the upper wall of the reaction chamber and a difference between an upper end of the gas feed port and a lower end of the upper wall of the reaction chamber in the height direction or both are adjusted in accordance with the flow rate of the carrier gas which is introduced into the reaction chamber through the gas feed port, an epitaxial layer is deposited on the single crystal substrate. As a result, a single wafer processing epitaxial growth method is provided that can obtain the effects, such as an increase in the quality of an epitaxial wafer and an increase in productivity, which are produced by the degree of the flow rate of carrier gas, and deposit an epitaxial layer on a single crystal substrate without deforming the film thickness shape.

An epitaxial growth technique is a technique of obtaining a single crystal thin film layer by vapor deposition, the single crystal thin film layer used in production of an integrated circuit such as a MOSLSI or a bipolar transistor, and is a highly important technique because the technique makes it possible to grow a uniform single crystal thin film on a clean semiconductor single crystal substrate according to a crystal orientation of the substrate and form a steep impurity gradient at a junction where there is a great difference in dopant concentration.
As a typical apparatus for performing such epitaxial growth, there are three types of apparatuses: a vertical (pancake) type, a barrel (cylinder) type, and a horizontal type. These growth apparatuses have common basic principles. The growth apparatus includes a reaction chamber inside which a susceptor is provided, the susceptor on which a single crystal substrate is mounted, a heating unit provided outside the reaction chamber and made up of a halogen lamp or the like, and other components. Of the vertical types, a apparatus processing substrates one at a time is called a single wafer processing epitaxial growth apparatus.
Here, the single wafer processing epitaxial growth apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventionally-used, common single wafer processing epitaxial growth apparatus.
A single wafer processing epitaxial growth apparatus 101 has a reaction chamber 103 inside which a single crystal substrate 102 is placed, the single crystal substrate 102 with a front surface on which an epitaxial deposited is deposited, and is provided with a gas feed port 104 for introducing raw material gas/carrier gas into the reaction chamber 103 and a gas exhaust port 105 for exhausting the gas therefrom. Moreover, inside the reaction chamber 103, a susceptor 106 on which the single crystal substrate 102 is mounted is provided. Incidentally, an upper wall 107 of the reaction chamber 103 is made of silica glass.
Also, at least, in the outside of the reaction chamber 103, a heating unit 108, such as a halogen lamp, which heats the single crystal substrate 102 is provided.
When an epitaxial layer is formed on the single crystal substrate 102 by using this single wafer processing epitaxial growth apparatus 101, the single crystal substrate 102 is placed on a pocket formed in the susceptor 106, and the single crystal substrate 102 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heating unit 108 while rotating the single crystal substrate 102 by a support shaft 109 supporting the susceptor 106 and an unillustrated rotation mechanism rotating the support shaft 109 (making the support shaft 109 rotate). Then, when a silicon single crystal layer, for example, is epitaxially grown, the growth is performed by feeding raw material gas, such as trichlorosilane, which is diluted with carrier gas such as hydrogen into the reaction chamber 103 through the gas feed port 104 at a predetermined flow rate for a predetermined time.
However, when epitaxial growth is performed by using such an epitaxial growth apparatus 101, the film thickness of an epitaxial layer deposited on a single crystal becomes nonuniform, leading to a problem with a film thickness shape.
The reason is considered to be as follows. The raw material gas introduced into the reaction chamber 103 through the gas feed port 104 is gradually consumed for the formation of the epitaxial layer when passing over the single crystal substrate 102, resulting in decreased concentration of the raw material gas in a direction from the gas feed port 104 toward the gas exhaust port 105.
On the other hand, Japanese Translation of PCT International Application Publication No. 2001-512901 discloses a method for performing epitaxial growth by using an epitaxial growth apparatus 101′ in which an upper wall 107′ of a reaction chamber is not flat but has a downward convexity, unlike the epitaxial growth apparatus 101 of FIG. 8. In FIG. 9, an example of this single wafer processing epitaxial growth apparatus 101′ is shown.
There has been an attempt to make the film thickness of an epitaxial layer uniform by, as in the epitaxial growth apparatus 101′ described above, promoting an epitaxial reaction effectively by narrowing the space in the center of the reaction chamber by placing a single crystal substrate inside the reaction chamber whose upper wall 107′ has a downward convexity and performing epitaxial growth.
However, even when such an epitaxial growth apparatus 101′ is used, an excellent film thickness shape (film thickness distribution) may not be obtained, and this growth apparatus is inadequate.
Incidentally, the flow rate of carrier gas has the greatest influence on the film thickness distribution, and it is necessary to set an optimum carrier gas flow rate for each growth apparatus.
Furthermore, as described above, it is known that the film thickness shape is also influenced by the upper wall of the reaction chamber. In addition, there is a considerable individual difference among the upper walls of the reaction chambers, and the upper walls have various shapes microscopically. Therefore, even when apparatuses of the same model are used, due to the individual difference among the upper walls of the reaction chambers, the growth apparatuses have different optimum carrier gas flow rates for the film thickness shape.
Moreover, as for the relationship between the quality etc. of the epitaxial wafer other than the film thickness shape and the flow rate of carrier gas, when priority is given to the quality of, for example, a back surface halo or back surface nanotopology, it is necessary to increase the flow rate of the carrier gas (for example, hydrogen) which is introduced into the reaction chamber. This makes the film thickness of the epitaxial layer near the outer edge of the single crystal substrate particularly small (results in the generation of the peripheral sag), lowering the degree of flatness. On the other hand, in order to increase productivity, it is necessary to decrease the carrier gas flow rate and thereby reduce by-products that would accumulate in the reaction chamber. However, in this case, it is known that the film thickness shape has a thick peripheral part, also lowering the degree of flatness.
The above-described high or low quality of the epitaxial wafer other than the film thickness shape and productivity do not necessarily match the high or low quality of the film thickness shape of the epitaxial layer, and it is difficult to strike a balance between them in an optimum state.


The present disclosure includes systems and methods for sharing bias current. In one embodiment, shared bias current passes through a first level device to one or more second level devices along a bias current path. Multiple active devices may share bias current along a bias current path and process signal along the same or different signal paths. In one embodiment, bias current from one device is split among multiple devices. In another embodiment, bias current is combined from multiple devices into a device. Embodiments may include an interstage circuit along a signal path that improves stability of the circuit.

The present disclosure relates to electronic circuits, and in particular, systems and methods for sharing bias current in electronic circuits.
Electronics systems and devices use ever increasing numbers of active devices (e.g., transistors). Active devices are typically operated with a bias current, which results in power usage. For integrated circuits in which low power consumption is desired, the overall contribution of the bias currents from many individual devices can result in undesirably high power usage, even when the integrated circuit is merely powered on in an idle state.
Power consumption is a particularly important problem in RF amplifiers. Many wireless systems run on batteries or other limited power supplies, such as a solar cell. If an RF amplifier consumes large amounts of current, it may reduce the operating lifetime of the system. In many RF amplifier designs, different amplification stages are each separately connected to a power supply rail. Thus, active devices in each stage each draw bias current which may be added together to determine a total bias current for an amplifier, for example. Given the performance demands on such circuits, the total bias current in an RF amplifier may be very high, which results in a correspondingly high power load on energy systems that provide power to circuitry in the system.

Circuits and methods for sharing bias current


A three-phase synchronous electric motor, especially a motor of a motorized fan unit for a motor vehicle, includes a synchronizing device in which the energizing signal for the three phases of the motor is synchronized with the rotational position of the rotor. The energizing signals are synchronized with a single position signal representing the rotational position of the rotor, and, in order to start the motor, its three phases are supplied with three energizing signals out of phase one with another by 2.pi./3; if the motor then fails to start, the energizing signals are phase shifted by 2.pi./3.

Conventionally, in order to synchronize the energization of the different phases of a three-phase motor with the rotation of the rotor of the motor, it is considered necessary to provide the same number of sensors as there are phases to be synchronized, the purpose of these sensors being to identify the instant rotational position of the rotor.
An example of this is shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, which illustrates the simplest case of a three-phase synchronous motor, the rotor of which has only one pair of poles. In this case, the electrical angle is equal to the mechanical angle, that is to say one period in the control signals corresponds to one revolution of the rotor.
The windings B1, B2 and B3 of the stator of the motor are for example energized by three energized signals G1, G2 and G3, such as are shown in FIGS. 2a to 2c of the accompanying drawings. Three sensors C1 to C3 (FIG. 1) are usually provided for generating the three signals G1 to G3. The sensors follow the rotation of the rotor and detect the instant at which a transition must occur on the energising signals G1 to G3 respectively.
The sensors C1 to C3 are for example Hall effect cells which are spaced apart around the stator of the motor, the sensors being offset from each other by 120 degrees as shown in FIG. 1. The rotor also includes a magnetic sector S with an opening (or angle subtended at the centre) of 120 degrees. This sector cooperates with the three sensors C1 to C3.
By convention, it is decided that the winding directions of the windings are such that when a current flows through a winding, it tends to cause the north pole of the rotor to be aligned on its axis.
The signal which is given by each sensor Ci is the signal Gi which must be applied to the corresponding winding Bi. On starting, it is sufficient to energize whichever one of the windings is associated with the sensor which is in the high state, whereupon the motor will start.

Method and device for starting and synchronizing a three-phase motor


Integrated snubber device on a semiconductor basis for wiring an electric network for absorbing electric energy from an electric energy store, of an electric network, including at least two terminals for being connected to the electric network to be wired, an electric resistor structure, and a reactance structure, which are connected between the terminals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention-relates to the wiring, or connecting, of electric networks for switching load reduction, voltage limitation and/or oscillation attenuation, in particular to the utilization of monolithically integrated snubber devices for the above-mentioned purposes in power electronics and high-frequency engineering.
2. Description of Prior Art
In electronic circuits, with each switching operation there is a risk of exciting parasitic oscillations. This is intended to mean oscillations within resonant circuits formed from undesired electric energy stores, i.e. parasitic inductances and capacitances. In real devices and assembly techniques, these parasitic elements are, in principle, inevitable. Examples thereof are the self-capacitances of semiconductor devices, the line inductances of electric connections, or the leakage inductances and winding capacitances of transformers.
Excitation of parasitic resonant circuits is effected by edges within the currents or voltages of a circuit. The resulting oscillations form a source for electromagnetic interference, which may lead to malfunctions within electronic circuits, and which significantly complicate compliance with the relevant EMV norms as high-energy narrow-band interferers. To reduce the amplitudes of parasitic oscillations, what is required is either to reduce the slope of the exciting current or voltage edges, and/or to increase the attenuation of the causal parasitic resonant circuit.
FIG. 1a shows, by way of example, a series resonant circuit consisting of the elements L, C, and of an attenuation resistor R. FIG. 1b describes the step response of this resonant circuit for different attenuations. For values of attenuation D within the range from 0.5-1, an optimum switching edge with a high level of steepness and, at the same time, with no or only little overshoot is achieved.
In real circuits it is generally not justifiable, for reasons of power dissipation, connecting the attenuation resistor immediately in parallel with a component of the parasitic resonant circuit. FIG. 2 shows a network to be wired which comprises a voltage source 200 providing a voltage Vin, a MOSFET 202 and a parasitic line inductance L. The MOSFET additionally comprises a parasitic capacitance C depicted as a separate element. It represents an energy store to be wired with a snubber network, exemplary wiring topologies being shown by networks A, B, and C in FIG. 2. If, for example, an attenuation resistor were connected in parallel with parasitic capacitance C formed by the drain-source capacitance of power MOSFET 202 (FIG. 2), what would permanently arise in the attenuation resistor, with the MOSFET switched off, is a power dissipation proportional to the square of the drain-source voltage VDS.
However, for the attenuation action desired it is generally sufficient to allow the attenuation resistor to become active within the area of the switching edge only, and to decouple it from the circuit in a stationary manner. This may be achieved, as is depicted in attenuation network A in FIG. 2, by a coupling capacitor C1 in series with resistor R1. This coupling capacitor is preferably dimensioned such that its impedance, with the oscillation frequency to be attenuated, roughly corresponds to ½ to ½π of the value of attenuation resistor R1.
But even with a coupling capacitor, power dissipation will arise in the attenuation resistor, the power dissipation roughly corresponding to the energy stored within the parasitic resonant circuit, multiplied by the switching frequency. It is this energy withdrawal that the mode of operation of the attenuation resistor is based on. The respective power dissipation is therefore inevitable, and in real applications it may take on substantial values and require effective cooling of the resistor.
A further critical point is that the resistor can only perform its function if coupling to the resonant circuit to be attenuated is performed at an extremely low inductance. Otherwise, the parasitic inductance of the feed line will decouple the attenuation resistor from the resonant circuit to be attenuated precisely during the switching edge, and thus will considerably reduce the effect of the attenuator.
What has been described results in requirements placed upon the attenuation network A consisting of resistor R1 and coupling capacitor C1. The resistance of R1 should be adjustable to the characteristic impedance Z0 of the parasitic LC resonant circuit to be attenuated (for an optimum attenuation behavior), and may range between 0.5 Ω and 100 Ω. The resistor should be effectively coolable. The attenuation network should comprise a low-inductance structure and a high level of pulse handling capability. In addition, there should be compatibility, in terms of assembly techniques, with the circuit to be attenuated (e.g. power module) for simple assembly with extremely small parasitic connection inductances.
In addition to purely attenuating a parasitic resonant circuit, a further possibility of reducing the amplitudes of parasitic oscillations is to reduce the slope of the exciting current or voltage edge. This is possible, for example, with a so-called dV/dt limiter such as network B in FIG. 2. Network B comprises a capacitance C2 in series with a resistor R2, and a diode D2 connected in parallel with resistor R2. Such a network is also very frequently used for protecting devices of limited dV/dt stabilities, such as thyristors, triacs or GTOs.
During the positive voltage edge (here, during the drain-source voltage), diode D2 places capacitor C2 directly in parallel with the circuit element at which the dV/dt limitation is to be effected. The process of charging C2 immediately results in the desired limitation of the slope of the positive voltage edge. Resetting the voltage at C2, i.e. discharging C2, is performed during the ON phase of the switch via discharging resistor R2, which may range between 10 Ω and 500 Ω. Diode D2 and capacitor C2 are exposed to very high peak loads. During the phase of the voltage increase, virtually the entire load current from the device switching off (here the MOSFET) commutes to these two elements of the dV/dt limiter.
A third, very frequently used wiring is the voltage limiter in accordance with FIG. 2, network C. Network C comprises a resistor R3 in parallel with a capacitance C3, the parallel connection of R3 and C3 being serially connected to a diode D3.
If the voltage present at the device to be protected (here, MOSFET 202) exceeds the voltage present at capacitor C3, diode D3 will clamp the voltage (VDS) to the value of the voltage present at C3. Unlike networks A and B, with network C the capacitance of C3 is typically selected to be so large that the voltage present at this capacitor will only slightly change due to the energy to be clamped in a switching operation. Between two switching operations, resistor R3 sees to the conversion of the energy supplied per clamping operation to heat, and it may range between 500 Ω and 10 kΩ. Thus, the means voltage present at C3 results from a balance between the energy supplied and the energy converted to heat within R3.
For a high level of efficiency, in networks B and C, the current path from the terminals of the network across the diode and the capacitance must be configured to be particularly low in inductance (whereas the current path via the resistor is uncritical, specifically within network C).
In principle, snubber networks for switching load reduction, or for limiting the stress on the switch, voltage limitation and/or oscillation attenuation, referred to as so-called snubber networks, may be divided up into passive and active networks. Passive networks consist of passive devices (resistors, capacitances, inductances and diodes), and active networks additionally contain one or several active switches (e.g. MOS devices). A special case are networks comprising non-linear devices such as Z diodes, varistors, actively clamped switches, or current limiters which limit voltages or currents in accordance with their characteristic curves.
Snubber networks withdraw energy from parasitic reactances of an electronic circuit. Depending on whether this energy is converted to heat or is fed back into the circuit, one differentiates between dissipative and regenerative snubber networks. To attenuate parasitic oscillations, use is made virtually exclusively of dissipative snubber networks. Networks A, B and C of FIG. 2 work in a dissipative manner.
In accordance with the prior art, snubber networks for power electronics are constructed from discrete devices. Integrated solutions for applications in the voltage range of up to several hundred volts and for peak currents of up to several hundred amperes have not hitherto been known. Integrated networks, e.g. on the basis of thick-film or LTCC technologies, have been available only for filtering signal lines. In discretely structured snubber networks, what is predominantly utilized are foil and ceramic capacitors, due to the high demands placed upon the alternating-current handling capability. The electric series resistance of a ceramic capacitor is typically not sufficient for using the capacitor as a snubber device. Even if the series resistance were increased, the resulting device would be difficult to cool due to its high thermal resistance, and thus it would be poorly suited as a snubber device. RC attenuators structured in accordance with network A in FIG. 2 place particularly high demands upon the resistor. To this end, low-inductance metal film resistors are employed, in the high performance range, composition resistors are also employed. Even with power losses of a few watts in the resistor, a sufficiently low-inductance architecture of the network cannot be realized, in accordance with the prior art, due to the spatial expansion of the individual devices and to the necessity of cooling. In view of the increasingly steep current and voltage edges in modern power-electronic systems, this represents a considerable problem.
The requirements placed upon an extremely low self-inductance of the snubber networks are increasingly difficult to meet, with increasing levels of power, due to the spatial expansion of classical devices such as capacitors, power diodes, and power resistors, as well as due to the cooling required.

Integrated snubber device on a semiconductor basis for switching load reduction, voltage limitation and/or oscillation attenuation

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V.


In the formation of semiconductor devices, a processing method is provided, including steps for forming an oxide layer. The embodied methods involve a series of oxidation steps, with optional interposed cleanings, as well as an optional conditioning step after oxidation. In a preferred embodiment, these steps are clustered and transportation between the clustered process chambers takes place in a controlled environment such as nitrogen or a vacuum. In some embodiments, the method provides an oxide layer to be used as part of the device, such as a tunnel oxide for a flash-EEPROM, or as a general gate oxide. Alternatively, the steps can be used to sculpt through oxidation various levels of a substrate, thereby allowing for embedded memory architecture. Cleaning between oxidation steps offers the advantage of providing a more defect-free oxide layer or providing access to a more defect-free level of substrate.

In the semiconductor industry, oxide films are used in a variety of applications. Oftentimes they are used for scratch protection and passivation purposes. Oxide films are also used as a dielectric or insulative layer, electrically separating various regions or structures. For example, an oxide film can be used as a dielectric between different levels of metal in a semiconductor device. Such a film could also be used for field isolation. Moreover, an oxide film can serve as a gate oxide, wherein the film is provided above an area, such as a semiconductor substrate, having a source region, a drain region, and an interposing channel region. A gate, in turn, is formed on the oxide film. As a result, the voltage applied to the gate must reach a particular threshold before overcoming the insulative effects of the oxide and allowing current to flow through the channel. When used as field isolation, an oxide is formed in order to electrically insulate one device, such as a transistor, from another.
Whether for field isolation purposes or for application in the gate stack of a transistor, providing the oxide typically begins by exposing designated oxide regions of a substrate to an oxidizing ambient through a patterned mask. The mask may be made, for example, of silicon nitride. For purposes of explaining the current invention, it is assumed that the substrate represents the surface of a wafer and is comprised generally of silicon. Nevertheless, this invention is understood to cover devices having a substrate comprising any construction made of semiconductive material, including but not limited to bulk semiconductive materials such as a semiconductor wafer (either alone or in assemblies comprising other materials thereon) and semiconductive material layers (either alone or in assemblies comprising other materials). Upon exposure to the oxidizing ambient, the unprotected portions of the silicon substrate oxidize into silicon dioxide (SiO2). The silicon at and below the surface of the substrate that oxidizes is often referred to as having been "consumed." It follows that the amount of silicon consumed can indicate the depth of SiO2 beneath the substrate's original surface. As a result, greater consumption allows for a greater depth of SiO2 and, thus, greater electrical isolation between devices or between active areas within a device.
The consuming effect of oxide films on silicon serves other purposes as well. For example, greater consumption in a particular area of the wafer allows access to a lower level of silicon within the substrate. Accordingly, removing the oxide results in a wafer topography having different elevations of silicon, depending upon the amount of prior oxidation in each area. This is particularly helpful in embedded dynamic random access memory (DRAM) processing, wherein the memory cell array should be embedded deeper within the wafer than other memory elements.
Oxidizing the exposed substrate, as discussed above, is often referred to as "growing" the oxide. Oxides can be grown in a "dry" process using oxygen (O2) or in a "wet" process using steam as the oxidizing agent. As an alternative to growing, oxides can be deposited on the substrate with techniques such as sputter deposition or chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
Oxide layers have a large impact on device performance due to their role in isolating active device regions and in establishing voltage thresholds for devices. Thus, there is always a need in the art for high quality oxide films. Further, as the dimensions of semiconductor devices are scaled down to enhance circuit density and speed, the oxide films must advance accordingly. Therefore, those skilled in the art are constantly striving to provide oxide films that are thinner and that have a high dielectric constant.
However, during the deposition or growth of oxides, defects in the oxide can occur due to the presence of certain constituents within the layer, such as contaminants exposed to the oxide. For example, particulate matter in the process atmosphere is one source of contamination. Even when the oxide or other layers are developed in a "clean room" environment, wherein filters and other techniques attempt to remove particles from the environment, particles that are too small for these techniques to handle may nevertheless end up within the oxide layer. Further attempts at reducing defects have been made by clustering together the chambers for several wafer processes in an environment isolated from and even more controllable than the clean room atmosphere. Transferring the wafers between the clustered chambers can involve the use of a wafer carrier capable of maintaining a vacuum or a nitrogen atmosphere. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,613,821 and 5,344,365. Nonetheless, there is a constant need in the art for further lowering the number of defects in oxide films, including a need for methods of handling contaminants that find their way to the wafer despite the controlled environment.

Method of forming a semiconductor device


A system and method for removing energy from the rotating group in an energy storage flywheel system during flywheel system testing includes one or more sensors is operable to sense operational parameters of the energy storage flywheel and to supply a sensor signals representative thereof. A primary control circuit is coupled to receive the sensor signals and, in response thereto, selectively supplies a primary brake activation signal to a brake. The brake, in response to the brake activation signal, selectively supplies a brake force to the energy storage flywheel.

Many satellites and other spacecraft, as well as some terrestrial stationary and vehicle applications, such as seagoing vessels, can include one or more energy storage flywheel systems to provide both a backup power source and to provide attitude control for the vehicle. In such systems, each flywheel system is controlled and regulated to balance the electrical demand in the vehicle electrical distribution system, and may also be controlled in response to programmed or remote attitude (or torque) commands received by a main controller in the vehicle.
Many energy storage flywheel systems include one or more components that are rotationally mounted within a housing assembly. These components, which may be referred to as the rotating group, include, for example, an energy storage flywheel, a motor/generator, and a shaft. In particular, the energy storage flywheel and motor/generator may be mounted on the shaft, which may in turn be rotationally mounted in the housing assembly via one or more bearing assemblies. In many instances, the shaft is rotationally mounted using one or more primary bearing assemblies, and one or more secondary, or back-up, bearing assemblies. For example, in many satellite and spacecraft applications, the flywheel system may include one or more magnetic bearing assemblies that function as the primary bearing assemblies, and one or more mechanical bearing assemblies that function as the secondary bearing assemblies.
The rotating group in an energy storage flywheel system may rotate at several thousand revolutions per minute (rpm) during operation. For example, in some applications, the rotating group may reach rotational speeds of up to 100,000 rpm. Though highly unlikely, it is possible that one or more components or subsystems that make up the energy storage flywheel system may deteriorate, or otherwise become inoperable, which could result in damage to other components and subsystems.
To reduce the likelihood of such component or subsystem deterioration when placed in its end-use environment, energy storage flywheel systems are typically rotationally tested and certified in a test facility. During this testing, it is also possible, though highly unlikely, that one or more components or subsystems that make up the energy storage flywheel system may deteriorate or become inoperable.
Hence, there is a need for a system and method that will stop energy storage flywheel system operation during system testing if component or subsystem deterioration is sensed. Namely, a system and method that will remove energy from the rotating group in the event one or more energy storage flywheel system components or subsystems is sensed to be deteriorating, and/or a system and method that is configured to reduce the likelihood of falsely removing the energy from the rotating group. The present invention addresses one or more of these needs.

Energy storage flywheel test control system


A monolithic component including, in an N-type lightly-doped substrate of a semiconductor wafer, two portions separated by a P-type insulating wall. A first portion of the two portions includes a high voltage lateral component, a layer of which substantially corresponds to the thickness of the wafer. The second portion includes logic circuit components. A rear surface of the substrate includes a P-type layer coated with a metallization. The insulating wall is in electrical contact with a low voltage terminal of the high voltage lateral component, such as the gate region of a thyristor. The logic portion includes at least one vertical component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the implementation of at least one high voltage component and logic circuits in monolithic form.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
High voltage components, such as thyristors, which are frequently used to block voltages higher than 600 V, are generally implemented in semiconductor wafers, one of the layers forming the component substantially corresponding to the thickness of the wafer. Of particular interest are technologies in which the rear or lower surface of the component is uniformly coated with a metallization in direct contact with the semiconductor.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a monolithic structure associating a high voltage component and logic circuits.
This structure is implemented in a semiconductor layer 1, for example, of type N corresponding to the semiconductor substrate. In the right portion 3 of the wafer, a vertical thyristor is shown. On the rear or lower surface side of substrate 1, a P-type region 2 is formed, and on the front or upper surface side a P-type well 4 is formed in which an N-type region 5 is also formed. An anode metallization M1 forms one piece with the rear surface. A cathode metallization M2 covers region 5. A metallization M3 covers a portion of P-type region 4 and forms the cathode gate G of the thyristor. This vertical thyristor is insulated from the remainder of the monolithic structure by a P-type wall 6, generally formed at the beginning of the fabrication process by drive-ins extending from the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer. Reference 7 has been used to designate N.sup.+ -type regions used, conventionally, as channel stops. On the left side of the substrate, insulated from the thyristor by wall 6, several logic components can be formed in a P-type well 8. However, since the rear surface of N-type substrate 1 is coated with metallization M1, this rear surface is likely to be at the highest potential applied to this metallization, for example, a potential of approximately one thousand volts. This imposes a great number of insulation restraints on the components formed in well 8 and makes it very difficult to form components directly within the upper surface of substrate 1.
In the related art various solutions have attempted to improve this situation, and notably, to satisfactorily bias well 8 so that it remains properly insulated from the high voltage.
One conventional solution to solve this problem of insulating the logic portion consists of coating the bottom of the wafer facing the logic portion with an insulating layer over which metallization M1 is then deposited. This technique provides excellent results but is complex to implement and is incompatible with some manufacturing processes.

Monolithic component associating a high-voltage component and logic components


An electromagnetic solenoid includes a housing enclosing an electromagnetic coil assembly. An armature is disposed within the electromagnetic coil assembly. An end of the housing is provided with an annular groove. A nut is selectively received by the groove for varying the magnetic path of the coil assembly. Adjustment of the nut thereby sets the solenoid at a predetermined armature activation force accounting for manufacturing tolerances of the solenoid components as well as variations in the electric current supplied to the coil assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electromagnetic solenoid construction and, more particularly, to a solenoid with the capability of being easily adjustable to establish a predetermined armature force to account for variations in the solenoid construction due to manufacturing tolerances and supply voltage deviations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electromagnetic solenoids are well-known in the prior art for use in a variety of applications. In one form solenoids may be used in pressure surge fuel pumps which may be fitted with high pressure nozzles suitable for direct injection of fuel into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine. These pumps typically comprise an electromagnetic coil which serves to activate an armature which in turn may drive a plunger to create a high pressure fuel condition which opens a valve and causes a fuel spray to be discharged through a nozzle. An example of such a combined pump and nozzle assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,401 to Binversie et al. and assigned to the common assignee herein.
It is important in the design and manufacture of an electromagnetic fuel injection pump for an internal combustion engine to construct such a device such that it delivers a precise amount of fuel to the associated combustion chamber so that a proper fuel-to-air ratio is achieved. Too much fuel can not only waste fuel but also cause undesirable emissions from the engine. Too little fuel can cause the engine to run with excessive heat build-up and damage the engine. With an electromagnetic fuel injection pump constructed by mass production techniques natural manufacturing tolerances can cause such pumps to vary in terms of pumping pressure and fuel discharge quantity. In addition, variations in electrical current to the pump can also cause consequent variations in fuel discharge quantity. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an electromagnetic fuel injection pump which is readily manufacturable by known mass production techniques but is also adjustable such that it can be set to deliver a precise predetermined amount of fuel despite the occurrence of normal manufacturing tolerances. It is further desirable to provide such a pump which is easily adjusted to account for variations in electrical operating current.