Disclosed is a method and apparatus for the correction of defective solder bump arrays arranged in a plurality of cavities in a mold. In the method, a faulty solder bump is searched, identified and located (i.e., its position is determined) in an arrangement of solder bumps disposed in cavities of a mold and the faulty solder bump is subsequently replaced by a prefabricated solder bump. The apparatus for carrying out the method comprises a mold holder, a scanning and locating device for finding and locating faulty solder bumps and a repair device for replacing the faulty solder bump by a prefabricated solder bump.

The invention relates to a method for correcting defective solder-bump-arrays and an apparatus for performing said method.
Solder bumps are electrically conducting contact elements and are used, for example, for the production of semiconductor elements according to the flip-chip-technology, in which the chip or die is provided on its active contacting side with solder bumps and subsequently connected to the active side of the substrate (circuit plate, carrier) via said solder bumps, i.e., without any connection cables. Advantages of this technology are the particularly small dimensions of the package yielded in this manner, the smaller dimensions of the connections, and the short connection lengths. This way high connection density, low production costs, and high functionality of the package can be achieved.
Various methods are known to produce solder bumps.
According to a first method the wafer is first coated over its entire surface with metal and subsequently a lacquer reticle is applied, which is provided with openings above the contact sites of the chips. Subsequently, a metal alloy (the solder) is released galvanically and first the lacquer reticle and then the areas of the metal layer not coated by the released solder are removed by selective etching. Then the solder cylinders are melted to small solder bumps (reflow). In the following, the chips or dies are separated by cutting the wafers. The chips are then moistened with a flux material and placed with their active contacting side onto the active side of the substrate. By heating the entire structure the solder bumps are melted and thus an electric connection is created between the contact surfaces of the chips and the contacts of the substrate (reflow soldering).
The solder bumps may also be prefabricated outside the wafer, for example, and subsequently applied to the wafer. For this purpose, a matrix made from glass (mold) is used having a grid in the X-direction and in the Y-direction, on which the solder bumps are arranged for all chips located on a wafer, for example in a so-called solder-bump-array. The mold provides the array-structure to be produced in the form of cavities accepting the solder-bumps. In order to produce the solder bumps these cavities are filled with molten solder using a doctor. After the solder has set the solder bumps are provided in the required arrangement for the entire wafer. In a later process, this arrangement of solder bumps is transferred from the mold onto the chips or dies still located in the wafer-laminate.
It has shown that in this method various defects can occur. For example, it can happen that individual cavities are insufficiently filled with solder or not at all. Other potential defects comprise that individual cavities are filled with too much solder or that neighboring cavities are connected to each other by bridges of soldering material.
In order to ensure the functionality of the dies produced from wafers it is necessary to identify and correct such defects before the solder-bump-array is transferred onto the wafer. Therefore the object of the present invention is to provide a method and a device to correct defective solder-bump-arrays.

Method and apparatus for the correction of defective solder bump arrays


Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a display apparatus, including: a display panel; a frame, provided at a side part of the display panel and including a light-transmitting area; a plurality of light guide structures spaced apart from each other, one end of each light guide structure having a photosensitive area, the photosensitive area being provided opposite to the light-transmitting area so that light is irradiated on the photosensitive area through the light-transmitting area; and an optical device provided at an end of each light guide structure away from the photosensitive area, wherein each of the light guide structures is configured to transmit the light irradiated on the photosensitive area to the optical device.

A white frame is provided around a display area of an existing painted screen. To control the painted screen through optical gesture operations, multiple holes need to be provided in the area of the white frame to expose the optical device, but this method will destroy completeness of the white frame of the painted screen and affect the appearance of the painted screen.


A magnetic disk device having a cover of a simple structure having high rigidity and not easily deformable by pressure from the outside. An envelop surface configuration (46) of at least a portion of a cover (40) positioned opposite a magnetic disk (2, 43) is made generally conical, such that the distance from the magnetic disk decreases along a direction from the vicinity of a rotating shaft of a motor, as the center, toward the outer periphery of the magnetic disk, thereby reducing the amount of deformation of the cover, particularly in the vicinity of the rotating shaft of the motor.

A problem has recently arisen that, in magnetic disk devices mounted in mobile appliances such as notebook computers, it is necessary to make a cover sufficiently rigid in the direction toward the magnetic disk surface. For example, in notebook computers and magnetic disk devices incorporated in the notebook computers, the magnetic disk device is ordinarily mounted under a palmrest portion closer to the computer front side relative to the keyboard. In such a case, if the palmrest portion is strongly pressed by a person, the pressed portion is warped and presses the cover of the magnetic disk device mounted under the palmrest portion incorporated mounted. The cover of the magnetic disk device is ordinarily made a thin metal plate. At worst, a portion of the warped cover is brought into contact with the magnetic disk rotating in the magnetic disk device. There is a demand for thinner mobile appliances and thinner magnetic disk devices incorporated in the mobile appliances. Therefore, it is thought that this problem will become more serious.
In view of this problem, devices for improving the rigidity of covers have been provided. For example, a method is known in which a reinforcing member of a high rigidity is placed in a space between a magnetic disk and a cover and is connected to the cover and to a base by using fastening screws (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-343071).
The shape of a conventional cover will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. FIG. 6 shows a magnetic disk device using a conventional cover. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the conventional cover. FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along a line passing through the rotating shaft of a motor. As can be seen in FIG. 7, drawn portions 70 having a semicircular sectional shape are formed in a sectoral pattern above and opposite a magnetic disk to ensure the desired rigidity of the cover.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The order parameter of a superconductor is reduced by injecting spin-polarized carriers into the superconductor. The reduction in the order parameter is used to modulate the critical current of the superconductor. In a typical embodiment, a current is caused to flow through a superconductor. Spin polarized electrons are then injected into the path of the current in the superconductor by biasing a magnetic metal with respect to a terminal of the superconductor. The bias current may be varied to modulate the injection and thus the flow of current through the superconductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to superconducting devices and more specifically to superconducting devices modulated by a controllable weak link.
2. Description of the Background Art
Superconducting materials have found uses in devices such as amplifiers, logic devices, Josephson junctions and switches. For superconducting materials to be useful in these and other devices, it is desirable to control or otherwise modulate their superconducting properties. This control has been typically accomplished by forming a weak link in the superconducting material. At a weak link, the ability of the superconducting material to carry current is significantly reduced with respect to the remaining bulk of the superconductor.
Weak links can be fixed or variable. A weak link formed by reducing the width and/or thickness of a selected portion of a superconducting film is fixed. That is, the size of the weak link cannot be readily altered. Other fixed weak links include superconductor-normal (non-superconducting) metal-superconductor junctions and the superconducting point contact.
Fixed weak links have also been formed by overcoating a narrow strip of a superconductor with a non-superconducting metal. The non-superconducting metal weakens the superconductivity of the overlaying portion of the superconductor.
Variable weak links, in which the characteristics of the weak link can be readily adjusted, are desirable because they offer the ability to modulate the superconducting current across the link. Previously, variable weak links have been created by injecting current from a non-magnetic and non-superconducting metal into a small region along a superconducting wire, strip or film. These unpolarized carriers minimally disrupt the singlet ground state (paired spin up and spin down carriers) in the superconductor. Also, the injection of unpolarized carriers changes the relative population of spin-paired and unpaired carriers, thus reducing the critical current of the superconductor.
The reduction in superconducting current created by this conventional injection of non-spin polarized carriers, however is small and the gain is therefore low. A superconducting device in which the size and critical current density of the weak link can be better modulated and/or tuned and thus provide higher gain is desirable.
Others have shown that, in a bilayer consisting of a spin-polarized material and a conventional superconductor, the polarization of the spin-polarized carriers penetrates the interior of the superconductor. Previously, however, no one has suggested the injection of spin-polarized carriers, or the use of other spin-polarization phenomena, to suppress the order parameter, and thus control the conductivity, of a superconductor.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Disclosed herein are methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for retrieving data from external data sources for processing within a blockchain network. One of the methods includes receiving a request for data that includes encrypted data, the encrypted data including access data that is encrypted using a service public key of a key management node; selecting a relay system node from a plurality of relay system nodes that share a service private key of the key management node; transmitting the request to the relay system node; receiving a response provided from the relay system node, the response including result data and a digital signature, wherein the digital signature is generated based on the result data and the service private key of the key management node; and transmitting the response to a client.

Distributed ledger systems (DLSs) enable participating entities to securely, and immutably store data. DLSs can also be referred to as consensus networks or blockchain networks, without referencing any particular use case. Examples of blockchain network can include consortium blockchain networks provided for a select group of entities. A consortium blockchain network can control the consensus process for the select group of entities. A consortium blockchain network includes an access control layer.
Smart contracts are programs that execute on blockchain networks. A smart contract contains a set of pre-defined rules under which the parties to that smart contract agree to interact with each other. In some instances, the smart contract running on the blockchain network requires input from outside of the blockchain network to evaluate pre-defined rules and perform corresponding actions. However, the smart contract itself cannot directly access external data sources. Consequently, a relay agent can be used to retrieve external data, and submit the data to the blockchain network for processing by the smart contract. This process, however, can result in security issues, such as potential attack vectors (e.g., distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks).
Although techniques have been proposed for addressing security issues associated with data retrieval from external data sources, a more effective solution to address the security issues would be advantageous.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Retrieving access data for blockchain networks using highly available trusted execution environments


A small-sized and bright wide-angle zoom lens having a variable power ratio on the order of 2 at a field angle of approximately 84.degree. and constructed of a small number of constructional lens. The wide-angle zoom lens, sequentially from an object, comprises a first lens group having negative refracting power on the whole and a second lens group having positive refracting power on the whole, wherein a magnification is varied by altering an air space between the two lens groups. In this wide-angle zoom lens, the first lens group is constructed of, sequentially from the object, two pieces of negative meniscus lenses with their convex surfaces toward the object and a positive lens with its convex surface toward the object. At least one of the negative meniscus lenses is formed with an aspherical surface. The second lens group is constructed, sequentially from the object, two pieces of positive lenses, a negative lens and a positive lens. The zoom lens is further constructed to satisfy the various conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a zoom lens and, more particularly, to a compact wide-angle zoom lens suitable for use with a 35 mm format camera.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, a super wide-angle lens and a wide-angle lens employed as an interchangeable lens for a 35 mm format still camera have become smaller and smaller in size and higher and higher in performance. Especially for actualizing a small-sized wide-angle zoom lens at a low price, the optimum lens type is a so-called negative/positive two-group zoom lens. A variety of types have hitherto been proposed. Further, it has recently been possible to attain a miniaturization, a higher performance and a drop in costs by incorporating an aspherical lens surface. Examples of such known zoom lenses are shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 62-94812 and 63-136013, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,677.
The wide-angle zoom lens disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 62-94812 stated above, however, presents the following defect. This wide-angle zoom lens is, though small in the number of constructional lenses and also relatively small in total thickness of the lens system, relatively large in total length at the wide-angle end. A diameter of the front lens element increases. It is difficult to install a .phi.52 mm filter that has already been generalized as a standard filter size. The following is an additional defect. If forcibly installed, this brings about a remarkable reduction in amount of marginal rays at the wide-angle end. The principal ray having the maximum field angle is eclipsed during near distance photographing. Besides, in an aspect of aberrations also, it is insufficient to compensate a coma, an astigmatism and a curvature of field in the vicinity of the maximum field angle at the wide-angle end. It is also insufficient to compensate a chromatic aberration of magnification and a downward coma (hereafter called a [downward chromatic coma]) due to a difference between wavelengths of rays.
The super wide-angle zoom lens disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-136013 stated above exhibits such an advantage that this zoom lens has the maximum field angle as large as 92.degree. or more. The super wide-angle zoom lens is, however, constructed of a Great number of lenses and is large both in size and in diameter of the front lens element. This zoom lens is therefore insufficient in terms of reducing the size and the costs as well. A filter size is also large. Further, in the aspect of aberrations, the compensations of the curvature of field and the astigmatism are not enough from the wide-angle end to a state of intermediate focal length.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,677 by the same applicant as the one of the present invention discloses a small-sized wide-angle zoom lens having a field angle of approximately 76.degree. at the wide angle and a small diameter of the front lens element. If the field angle at the wide-angle end increases up to as large as 84.degree. with this lens construction, a total length at the wide-angle end outstandingly elongates. The diameter of the front lens element is also dilated, which in turn causes an increase in the filter size. Further, the amount of marginal rays is conspicuously reduced. Eventually, this conduces to a defect in which the eclipse occurs. Besides, in terms of aberrations, there are undesirably worsened particularly the curvature of field, the astigmatism, the downward coma, the downward chromatic coma and the distortion.
Hence, it is difficult to actualize the small-sized wide-angle zoom lens exhibiting a good performance with such refracting power arrangements and lens constructions of the known zoom lenses.


A transition duct assembly for a gas turbine engine includes an outer diameter surface and an inner diameter surface. A substantially annular flowpath having a radial offset is defined between the inner diameter surface and the outer diameter surface. A curvature distribution of the inner diameter surface includes a first region of increasing slope in a radial direction and a second region of decreasing slope in the radial direction adjacent to and downstream of the first region. The first and second regions are configured to reduce flow separation along the outer diameter surface of fluid traveling along the substantially annular flowpath.

The present invention relates to ducts for gas turbine engines, and more particularly to configurations of mid-turbine frame ducts for gas turbine engines.
In some gas turbine engines, a mid-turbine frame is utilized between turbine stages, such as between a high-pressure turbine (HPT) stage and a low-pressure turbine (LPT) stage. The mid-turbine frame includes a vane that guides combustion gases as they pass through the duct. The vane can comprise or envelop a strut that provides engine structural support that can be used, for instance, to connect the gas turbine engine to an aircraft. In some gas turbine engines, a flowpath radial offset is desired, with the radial offset initiated as close as possible downstream of the HPT blades. In order to provide such a radial offset, an annular duct formed at the mid-turbine frame induces a radial offset of combustion gases passing between the HPT and LPT stages, that is, an increase in radius in the downstream direction.
A problem encountered with mid-turbine frames is the tendency for the radial offset of the duct to cause flow diffusion. Flow diffusion can cause combustion gas flow in the duct to separate from boundary wall surfaces of the duct, causing fluid mixing and relatively high aerodynamic losses. It is desirable to reduce such flow separation and reduce aerodynamic losses.

Separation-resistant inlet duct for mid-turbine frames


A rear axle suspension includes a holder for pivotable connection of a connecting portion of a semirigid axle to a vehicle superstructure. The holder is stationary relative to the vehicle superstructure and has a first and a second holding arrangement for an axle pin. The first and second holding arrangements are arranged on both sides of the connecting portion along a pin axis. In order to provide an optimized connection of a semirigid axle to a vehicle superstructure, the first holding arrangement has a stabilizing element with an arcuate portion. The arcuate portion, in the direction of the pin axis and tangentially, extends at least partially around the pin axis. The axle pin is mounted in the arcuate portion. Fixing portions are adjacent the arcuate portion on both sides and attach the stabilizing element to the vehicle superstructure.

In motor vehicles, widely varying designs of suspension for the wheels of the vehicle are known. In particular, we can distinguish between the independent wheel suspension predominantly used today in cars, and the rigid axle suspension mainly used on the rear axles of trucks. In addition, however, there are so-called semirigid axles in which the wheels provided on both sides of an axle, or their wheel carriers, are connected to two longitudinal control arms that are connected together via a transverse member running in the transverse direction (sometimes called an axle bridge). The latter is formed bend-resistant but torsionally flexible, so that in the manner of a stabilizer, on uneven suspension compression of the longitudinal control arms, it transmits a torque between said arms. Depending on the position of the axle bridge along the longitudinal control arm, we distinguish between a twist-beam axle (axle bridge closer to the superstructure end) and a torsion crank axle (axle bridge on the end remote from the superstructure).
The semirigid axle is connected pivotably to the vehicle superstructure, normally the chassis, via two holders normally arranged symmetrically relative to the vehicle middle. Each holder is connected on one side to the vehicle superstructure and on the other side it forms a receiver for an axle pin, by means of which the semirigid axle is mounted pivotably, e.g., via a rubber-metal bush. The respective axis of the axle pin, i.e. the pin axis, may here, like the pivot axis of the semirigid axle, run parallel to the transverse axis (Y axis) of the vehicle or at an angle thereto. The part of the semirigid axle which is provided for pivotable mounting may be called the connecting portion or bearing portion. It may be formed on one of the longitudinal control arms or on an arm or extension which protrudes from the axle bridge.
The holder may be made of one or more welded sheet metal parts and have two cheek portions, between which the connecting portion is arranged and on which the axle pin is mounted. In front of the pin axis in the direction of travel, the cheek portions are connected together via a connecting portion which serves to create a necessary stiffness in the transverse direction which the cheek portions do not normally possess. The cheek portions and the connecting portion are normally made of a single sheet metal formed part.
Such a design has various disadvantages. Firstly, bearing forces occurring in the transverse direction act primarily on the cheek portions, which only have a limited stiffness and due to the connecting portion can only be stabilized to a certain extent. This leads to undesirable deformation of the cheek portions and hence to a movement of the respective bearing as a whole. Firstly, vibrations occur which are undesirable from NVH aspects. Secondly, premature material fatigue and failure of the holder can occur. The limited stability in the region of the holder also means that the behavior of the semirigid axle on suspension compression can only be controlled to a limited extent. In order to achieve an approximately adequate stiffness in the transverse direction, comparatively a great deal of material must be used for the holder, which leads to a relatively high weight. In addition, the holder must often be arranged at the side next to a tank of the vehicle which, in the event of an accident, must be protected from damage from parts of the semirigid axle or the associated pivot bearing. In order to protect the tank from sharp edges of the holder, often an additional protective body must be provided between the holder and the tank, which further increases the weight. To prevent slipping of the rubber-metal bush (or its inner sleeve) relative to the cheek portions, normally an axle pin of comparatively large diameter is required which is secured with a high tightening torque.
CN 202727914 U describes an assembly which is part of a holder for connection of a twist-beam axle to a longitudinal member of a vehicle. The assembly consists of three sheet metal parts welded together. The part of the holder which receives the actual pivot bearing is not shown, but is connected to the assembly via screw connections.
CN 204077275 U discloses a holder for connection of a twist-beam axle to a longitudinal member which is formed substantially from four sheet metal parts welded together. A main part, on which the pivot bearing of the twist-beam axle is arranged, is formed as a U-shaped profile which extends parallel to the longitudinal member and is attached thereto at its base. Furthermore, three reinforcing plates are welded to the main part. All reinforcing plates are arranged in front of the pivot bearing in the direction of travel.
KR 10 2008 0035380 A discloses a special bearing bush for a longitudinal control arm of a twist-beam axle. The bearing bush has an inner part assigned to the vehicle superstructure and an outer part assigned to the longitudinal control arm, which are connected together via a concentrically interposed rubber part. In order to adapt the rotational stiffness of the bearing bush dynamically, it is provided that the inner part can be pivoted relative to the vehicle superstructure by means of a motor, in order thus to influence the return force generated by the rubber part. The longitudinal control arm is connected to the vehicle superstructure via a holder consisting of a sheet metal part with two cheek portions which are connected by a connecting portion formed above and in front of the pivot axis in the direction of travel.
CN 204736669 U discloses a holder for pivotable mounting of a twist-beam axle on a vehicle superstructure. The holder is formed from a single sheet metal part which is bolted to the vehicle superstructure. Two cheek portions are connected together via a connecting portion arranged below the pivot axis, wherein a fixing portion running approximately parallel to the pivot axis adjoins each cheek portion. All said portions are formed integrally with each other and have a continuous flange on the edge side.
DE 10 2014 212 950 A1 discloses a mounting structure for a twist-beam axle. Here, a side element runs below a rear floor panel in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a door sill runs on the vehicle outside relative to the side element in the vehicle longitudinal direction. A side connecting element is connected to the rear end of the door sill and attached to the longitudinal control arm. A connecting element reinforcement is joined to the side connecting element to reinforce this. Optionally, a support element may be provided which extends over a lower and a side face of the side element, up to a face of the connecting element reinforcement on the vehicle inner side. This support element, formed as a sheet metal part, is intended to improve the stiffness.
In view of the prior art outlined, the connection of the semirigid axle to a vehicle superstructure leaves room for improvement. This applies in particular to the stabilization against lateral forces and optimization of the weight.
In the various figures, the same parts always carry the same reference signs so these are usually only described once.


The disclosure discloses a pixel circuit, a display panel, and a display device. The display device comprises: a light emitting device with a second terminal coupled to a low voltage signal line; a drive thin film transistor with a second terminal coupled to a first terminal of the light emitting device; a light emitting control thin film transistor with a first terminal coupled to a high voltage signal line, and a second terminal coupled to a first terminal of the drive thin film transistor; a switch thin film transistor, which controls data voltage to be written into a control terminal of the drive thin film transistor; a reset thin film transistor, which resets potential of the control terminal of the drive thin film transistor; and a storage capacitor, coupled to the control terminal and the second terminal of the drive thin film transistor.

More and more organic electroluminescent display devices (OLEDs) are applied to display screens of display devices. Compared with a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, an OLED screen has many advantages, such as high brightness, high color gamut, high contrast, and thinness, but the OLED screen currently applied on the market has many problems due to the structures of the pixel drive circuit and the pixel arrangement, thus resulting in poor display quality.

Pixel circuit, display panel and display device


An apparatus and method for isolating at least one of a plurality of applications included in an electronic device are provided. The method includes selecting at least one of the plurality of applications included in the electronic device, preprocessing the at least one selected application so as to be at least one modified application included in a sandbox isolating the at least one selected applications from others of the plurality of applications, and installing the at least one modified application on the electronic device so as to be executed only according to the sandbox.

Mobile terminals are developed to provide wireless communication between users. As technology has advanced, mobile terminals now provide many additional features beyond simple telephone conversation. For example, mobile terminals are now able to provide additional functions such as an alarm, a Short Messaging Service (SMS), a Multimedia Message Service (MMS), E-mail, games, remote control of short range communication, an image capturing function using a mounted digital camera, a multimedia function for providing audio and video content, a scheduling function, and other similar functions.
Additionally, mobile terminals may execute applications, which may provide the above noted functions and/or provide other functions and/or operations on the mobile terminals. For example, the applications may include a music playback application, a video playback application, a photo gallery application, game applications, social networking applications, internet browsing applications, file management applications, cloud service applications, and any other similar and/or suitable applications, functions, and/or operations. However, an Operating System (OS) of a mobile terminal, such as an Android OS and/or any other similar and/or suitable OS, may not allow installation and/or execution of multiple instances of a same application on the mobile terminal. For example, if a user of a mobile terminal attempts to download and/or install a second copy of an application, the OS of the mobile terminal may prevent the downloading and/or installation of the second copy of the application unless a first copy of the application is removed, deleted, and/or overwritten. However, a user of a mobile terminal may desire install and/or execute more than one instance of an application on a mobile terminal. Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for providing an improved user interface while reducing power consumption in a mobile terminal.

Apparatus and method for running multiple instances of a same application in mobile devices


An over-sampling device is provided for double over-sampling the input signal and for outputting as a sampling signal. The sampling signal is filtered at one of conversion rates of 147/160, 160/147, and 1/1 by using a prototype filter, based on the first sampling frequency and the second sampling frequency, and a filtering signal is produced. The filtering signal is filtered by a low pass filter having a predetermined cutoff frequency band, and a low frequency signal is produced. A down-sampling device is provided for down-sampling the low frequency signal by one half.

The present invention relates to a system for converting a digital audio data recorded at a sampling frequency to a digital data to be sampled at another sampling frequency, and a method thereof.
There are provided various types of digital audio systems, for example, compact discs (CDs) and digital-audio tape (DAT). Each system uses different sampling frequency (sampling rate) such as 96 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 48 kHz, 44.1 kHz, and 32 kHz. In order to record the digital data originally recorded on a digital audio system on another system, the original data must be converted into data at another frequency.
The most simple method for converting the digital data is to convert the digital data signal into an analog data signal. The analog data signal is further converted into a digital data signal at a desired sampling frequency which is different from the original sampling frequency. However, in the course of the conversion, noises and jitters are generated, thereby inevitably deteriorating and changing the sound quality.
There has been a demand for a method where the digital data is digitally processed to obtain another digital data.
The principle of one of the conventional method for converting the digital data having a sampling frequency fa Hz into a digital data having a sampling frequency fb Hz is described. First of all, the number of the sampling points is increased to the value of the least common multiple between the sampling frequencies fa and fb Hz. The number of the sampling points is decreased so that the number correspond to the sampling frequency fb Hz.
However, when these processes are carried out, noise due to an aliasing error is generated. In order to restrain the noise, the sampling is performed in accordance with the sampling theorem, or performed so that the noise is canceled. Moreover, an extremely large amount of calculation is necessary to precisely execute the process. Ingenious steps to decrease the calculation must be taken to put the method into actual use in hardware.
One of the conventional converting method is called a synchronous direct conversion method. For example, the method for converting the sampling frequency at a rate of 3/2 is described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 31a to 31e, showing the changes in the spectrum of the data when the sampling frequency is converted.
First of all, two zero data are inserted in the two sampling point (sampled digital data) of the original digital data signal shown in FIG. 31a. Thereafter, the sampling frequency is expanded triple, namely, triple over-sampling is performed. FIG. 31b shows the spectrum after the insertion in accordance with the z transform and Fourier transformation.
Thereafter, an image component, which is generated upon the triple over-sampling, is removed by a low-pass filter (LPF) having a one-third band width as shown in FIG. 31d. Since the level of the direct current is reduced to one-third of the original level when the zero data are inserted, the triple DC gain of the LPF is imparted at the present step as shown in FIG. 31c.
At the next step, the number of sampling is reduced to one half, that is, one-half down-sampling is performed, by taking one data out of two. Thus as shown in FIG. 31e, the conversion of the sampling frequency is completed.
In another example, the sampling frequency is converted at the rate of 2/3 as shown in FIGS. 32a to 32e.
One zero data is inserted in the sampling point so that the sampling frequency is doubled. Namely, double over-sampling is performed. Thus the original spectrum shown in FIG. 32a is converted into the spectrum shown in FIG. 32b in accordance with the z transform and the Fourier formation.
Thereafter, an image component, which is generated upon the double over-sampling, is removed by the LPF having a one-third band width as shown in FIG. 32d. Since the level of direct current is reduced by one-half when the zero data are inserted, the double DC gain of the LPF is imparted at the present step as shown in FIG. 32c.
At the next step, the number of sampling is reduced to one-third, that is, one-third down-sampling is performed, by taking one data out of three. Thus as shown in FIG. 32e, the conversion of the sampling frequency is completed.
As described above the method of converting the sampling frequency at a rate of L/M where L and M are natural numbers, can be generalized as follows.
(1) (L-1) number of zero data are inserted in adjacent sampling point so that the sampling frequency is increased L times. PA1 (2) An LPF having either a 1/L band width or a 1/M band width whichever is narrower, is used to remove an image component generated during the over-sampling. Since the DC level is reduced to 1/L when the zero data are inserted, the DC gain of the LPF is L times. PA1 (3) One data out of M sampling data is taken, thereby decreasing the number of sampling to 1/M.
Although the LPF used in the case of converting at the rate L/M and the LPF used in the case of converting at the rate M/L differ in DC gains, they have the same cutoff frequency.
FIG. 33a shows a block diagram of a sampling frequency converting system for converting the sampling frequency in accordance with the synchronous direct conversion method. The system comprises a fixed sampling frequency changing rate converter 31 and phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit 32 to which is connected an oscillator 33, the oscillating frequency of which is variable. The input signal is applied both to the converter 31 and the PLL circuit 32 so that the timings of the input signal and the output signal are synchronized.
As shown in a graph (i) in FIG. 33b, the data of the input signal are sampled at the sampling points indicated by white dots. When converting the sampling frequency at the rate of 3/2, the sampling points are increased three times as shown by xs in a graph (ii). Every other point is selected as shown in black dots in a graph (iii) to obtain digital data wherein the sampling frequency is converted.
Since the conversion rate is fixed, the accuracy of the synchronous direct converting method depends on the precision of the LPF as the conversion filter. Moreover, in order to synchronize the input and output signals of the fixed sampling frequency changing rate converter 31, it is necessary to provide the PLL circuit 32. Hence the conversion accuracy is not affected by a time jitter of the input signal. Namely, the same process as that executed in a computer is carried out.
In the above described synchronous direct conversion method, a large amount of calculation is required although the conversion is carried out at a single fixed rate. In order to render it possible to convert the sampling frequency at various rates, the amount of calculation must be further increased. Hence it is difficult to provide hardware capable of performing such a conversion.
Moreover, there are cases where it is necessary that the input and output signals of the converter are asynchronous with each other, such as when converting video signals.
On account of these problems, most of the sampling frequency conversion systems which are currently on the market use asynchronous indirect conversion method.
In the asynchronous indirect conversion method, the sampling frequency of the output signal is a fixed desired frequency. When input signals having various sampling frequencies are applied to the conversion system, the sampling frequency thereof detected by some means or other and the conversion rate is adaptively changed as necessary. Since the conversion rate is variable, it is impossible to provide the system with conversion filters for every possible situation.
Referring to FIG. 35a, an asynchronous indirect conversion system comprises a variable sampling frequency changing rate converter 34, and a counter 35 to which is connected an oscillator 36 generating a signal at a fixed frequency. The counter 35 counts a sampling frequency of the input signal by a sampling frequency of the output signal.
As shown in a graph (i) of FIG. 35b, the input signal, the sampling points of which are shown by the white dots, is over-sampled by a power of 2, for example, amounting to several hundreds, for the ease of the processing.
The input frequency is converted using the output frequency as shown in the graph (ii). The signal undergoes such process as averaging so that the conversion rate is determined. As shown in the graph (iii), the data at the sampling points indicated by triangles is determined in accordance with the adjacent sampling points indicated by the black dots by a simple process such as linear interpolation.
More specifically, in order to convert the sampling frequency at the rate of 3/2 times, the input signal is double over-sampled and the data at the desired sampling points are calculated by linear interpolation.
In the asynchronous in direct conversion method, the PLL circuit is not necessary, and a conventional over-sampling IC can be used for over-sampling. Hence the method can be easily applied to hardware and ICs. In addition, input signals with jitters are processed by changing th e conversion rate, the clocking precision is increased. Hence the converter also serves as a jitter reducer.
FIG. 34 shows a table showing the conversion rates in principle between the input sampling frequencies and output sampling frequencies. As seen from the table, if the asynchronous indirect conversion is to be carried out to the principle, over-sampling with a conversion filter as much as 320 times at maximum becomes necessary. This requires the conversion filter to be provided with more than 30,000 taps if the precision of 24 bits is to be realized.
FIG. 36 shows a spectrum of an audio signal of 10.007 kHz in the form of a sine wave reproduced from a CD, the sampling frequency of which 44.1 kHz, and converted into an audio signal having a sampling frequency of 48 kHz. As shown in the graph, the spectrum after the conversion changes with time so that the main lobe is expanded. Hence the desired precision is not obtained.
In the synchronous direct conversion method, the spectrum of the signal changes after the conversion so that it is impossible to achieve a desired precision in principle. In addition, the synchronous direct conversion is effective in the cases where digital data are converted into analog data, and vice versa. In the case of digital to digital conversion, the conversion rate is changed to absorb the jitters and the absolute differences. Therefore, the frequency components of the resultant signal differs from those of the original signal. The sound quality is inevitably deteriorated.
Another problem inherent in the conventional conversion system is that, in order to improve the accuracy of the conversion, the over-sampling must be performed before the conversion at a large number. Namely, for the purpose of obtaining a precision of about 20 bits, the over-sampling must be performed at several hundred times at the least. If more precise conversion is required, the scale of the hardware must be increased. Moreover, since the conversion rate is calculated in accordance with the input and output clock, the source having jitters cannot be accurately converted.
In order to solve these problems, it is conceivable to use a synchronous indirect conversion method. However, the over-sampling must still be performed at a large number to increase the accuracy, thereby increasing the scale of the hardware.

Sampling frequency converting system and a method thereof


A gas insulated electrical apparatus in which electric devices for three phases are housed within a common gas-filled vessel includes a first and a second curved wall spaced apart from each other by a first distance and a third and a fourth curved wall connected between the first and second curved walls and spaced apart from each other by a second distance smaller than the first distance to define a substantially oval cross-sectional shape. The electric devices are arranged in a row extending between the first and second walls. The first and second curved walls may have a first radius of curvature and the third and fourth curved walls may have a second radius of curvature larger than the first radius of curvature.

This invention relates to a gas insulated electrical apparatus in which electric devices for three phases are housed within a single vessel filled with an electrically insulating gas such as an SF.sub.6 gas.
FIG. 4 is a front view showing partially in section a conventional three-phase gas-insulated switchgear apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-101907 and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the main portion shown in FIG. 4.
In FIGS. 4 and 5, three circuit interrupters 2a, 2b and 2c for three phases are disposed within a cylindrical vessel 1 in a parallel relationship with a necessary insulating distance A between them. The vessel 1 has shunt pipes 3, 4 and 5 extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the row of the circuit interrupters 2a, 2b and 2c and connected to a vessel 6 and 7 containing bus bar disconnectors as well as to a vessel 8 containing cable heads. It is seen that electrical conductors 9 and 10 extend through these shunt pipes 3, 4 and 5 to connect the circuit interrupters 2a, 2b and 2c to the disconnectors and the cable heads.
Since the conventional gas insulated switchgear apparatus has the above-described structure, the cylindrical vessel 1 and the circuit interrupters 2a, 2b and 2c aligned in a row disadvantageously define therebetween spaces B which are unnecessary from the view point of the electrical insulation.
As a measure for minimizing the above spaces B, a gas insulated switchgear structure in which the vessel has an oval-shaped cross section is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-191210 for example.
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the gas insulated switchgear apparatus and FIG. 7 is a side view thereof. In FIGS. 6 and 7, the vessels 11, 12 and 13 of an oval cross-sectional shape each containing one of the circuit interrupters for three phases (not shown) are arranged in a row with their longitudinal axes of the oval cross section placed at right angles with respect to the direction of the alignment in the row and a shunt pipe 14 is disposed at the end of each of the vessels 11, 12 and 13 so that an electrical conductor (not shown) may be allowed to extend therethrough for connecting the circuit interrupter to other external electric apparatus.
However, in this arrangement, each of the circuit interrupters for three phases is contained within a respective separate vessel, so that the overall dimensions of the gas insulated switchgear apparatus is disadvantageously large.


A hose manipulator according to the present invention includes an elongate shaft having upper and lower ends and extending between about 3 feet and about 5 feet in length. The hose manipulator also includes a handle at the shaft upper end, the handle having a portion extending generally perpendicular to the shaft. A hook is positioned at the shaft lower end and extends between about 150 degrees and about 180 degrees and includes a diameter between about 3 inches and about 6 inches. The hook and the perpendicular handle portion are generally coplanar.

This invention relates generally to firefighting equipment and, more particularly, to a hose manipulator with which large and heavy water hoses may be moved and manipulated without undue energy being expended by a firefighter.
Fire personnel are daily faced with dangerous circumstances related to fighting fires. Working amidst unpredictable and extreme conditions, firefighters go to battle with as much skilled manpower, equipment, and tools as are necessary to safely extinguish a fire. Unfortunately, over one hundred firefighters lose their lives every year, sometimes as a result of fatigue. Battling fires while wearing heavy safety gear sometimes results in firefighters becoming fatigued and, as a result, being unable to quickly exit a dangerous situation.
Various devices have been proposed in the art for handling heavy objects and, more particularly, for manipulating heavy fire hoses. Although assembly effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices and proposals are directed primarily to aiding a firefighter in holding a fire hose in use rather than the movement of heavy hoses from one location to another.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a hose manipulator that enables an individual firefighter to move a heavy fire hose from one location to another or merely to straighten it so as to allow full water flow. Further, it would be desirable to have a hose manipulator that is lightweight, compact, and that enables a firefighter to hook a hose quickly and efficiently. In addition, it would be desirable to have a hose manipulator that minimizes bending or stooping by a firefighter when removing restrictions from a hose.


A wellhead assembly to seal to a production casing including one or more pressure-containing wellhead body members defining a vertical bore, with the lowermost of the wellhead body members sealing to the production casing. A fracturing isolation tool is sealed in the vertical bore of the wellhead body members above the production casing, and forms a pressure barrier profile in its internal bore. A removable protector sleeve is located at least partially within the fracturing isolation tool to seal, protect, isolate and cover the pressure barrier profile against a fracturing pressure and a fracturing fluid. After fracturing the protector sleeve is removed and a pressure barrier is sealed in the pressure barrier profile of the fracturing isolation tool. The invention also extends to the method of isolating the wellhead body members and to the fracturing isolation tool assembly which includes the fracturing isolation tool and the protector sleeve.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for isolating a portion of a wellhead during a fracturing operation.
One frequent well servicing technique for oil and gas formations having low permeability is to artificially "stimulate" to increase the permeability of the production zone(s). Generally, these stimulation techniques are referred to as "fracturing". Fracturing involves pumping pressurized fluids through perforations in a well casing into a production zone in order to break or fracture pores in the production zone to improve permeability so that the hydrocarbon fluids can drain from the production zone into the casing. Fracturing generally involves first using a tool known as a perforating gun to perforate the production zone adjacent the casing. Thereafter, fracturing fluids are pumped under very high pressures of about 5,000-10,000 psi through the perforations into the formation. The high pressure breaks the formation to form a flow channel for hydrocarbon fluids. Proppants are also injected to prevent the formation from collapsing after the high stimulation pressure is released.
During fracturing, isolation tools are needed to isolate the wellhead from the high pressures of fracturing, since fracturing pressures are typically much higher than the wellhead pressure rating (which might be rated only at 5,000 psi, for example). In the prior art, these fracturing isolation tools generally seal inside the casing or on the bit guide in a manner which can restrict full bore access to the casing. Full bore access is particularly desirable for fracturing techniques which involve fracturing in stages. After fracturing, the fracturing isolation tool is removed. At this point, since the well may be live, it is necessary to maintain control over the well. One prior art approach is to install a bridge plug, which seals inside the casing. These tools are expensive to rent and to use. Another approach is to control the well pressure with a column of mud or water. However, this procedure can damage the formation. Both of the above approaches require a service crew at the well, which is time and resource intensive.
Fracturing isolation sleeves are shown in a number of patents, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,819,851; 6,247,537; 6,364,024; and 6,491,098 to Dallas, Canadian Patent 2,276,973 to Dallas, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,488 to McLeod, U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,861 to Allen, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,920,925 to Duhn et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,069,987, filed Feb. 6, 2004, issued Jul. 4, 2006 to Kwasniewski et al., (assigned to the assignee of the present application), discloses a casing adapter tool to accommodate fracturing equipment at the wellhead during fracturing, and then to accommodate one or more pressure barrier seals in the wellhead, such as a check valve, after the fracturing operation. Full bore access to the production casing is preferably provided by this tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,308,934, filed Feb. 18, 2005, issued Dec. 18, 2007 to Swagerty et al., discloses a fracturing isolation sleeve for use in two wellhead members above a production casing. The fracturing isolation sleeve seals in the wellhead members above the production casing. As well, the sleeve bridges the two wellhead body members, i.e., is disposed in the internal bores of both of the wellhead body members. The wellhead members are typically a tubing head and an adapter. Further, the fracturing isolation sleeve has an internal diameter greater than or equal to the internal diameter of the production casing. The fracturing isolation sleeve is formed with a pressure barrier profile to seal a pressure barrier in its central bore.
The isolation sleeve of the Swagerty patent is directed at solving previous prior art problems which arise when the wellhead isolation tool seals to the inside surface of the casing string. In that previous prior art, the inside diameter of the wellhead isolation tool is substantially smaller than the inside diameter of the casing string. The bridge plugs, which are designed to have an outside diameter the same as the drift of the casing string, cannot pass through the wellhead isolation tool. Therefore, each time a bridge plug is installed, the wellhead isolation tool is removed and the wireline lubricator installed. Repetitive installation and removal of equipment adds to the costs of managing the wellhead.
However, a problem exists with the fracturing isolation sleeve of the Swagerty patent. During the fracturing operation within the fracturing isolation sleeve, the seal surfaces and the pressure barrier profiles formed for the later to be installed pressure barriers are both exposed to the fracturing environment, i.e., the high pressure and abrasion of the fracturing fluids. This exposure may damage the sealing surfaces and/or pressure barrier profile, preventing the pressure barrier from sealing after the fracturing process.

Method and apparatus for isolating a wellhead for fracturing


The vitamin dispensing machine is constructed of a canister that is divided into a plurality of individual sections. The canister is transparent and divided into individual sections configured to store a plurality of a certain vitamin or pill-shaped object. The canister includes a snap on lid that has a plurality of snap on caps, which correspond to each of the individual sections in order to refill the respective individual section with the certain vitamin. The canister also includes a plurality of dispense knobs that are able to pull outwardly in order to enable a single vitamin to be dispensed along with other selected sections via a wheel.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of dispensing machines, more specifically, a machine that is capable of dispensing a plurality of different vitamins.
B. Discussion of the Prior Art
As will be discussed immediately below, no prior art discloses a vitamin dispensing machine that includes a canister that is divided into a plurality of individual sections; wherein the canister is transparent and divided into individual sections configured to store a plurality of a certain vitamin or pill-shaped object; wherein the canister includes a snap on lid that has a plurality of snap on caps, which correspond to each of the individual sections in order to refill the respective individual section with the certain vitamin; wherein the canister also outwardly in order to enable a single vitamin to be dispensed along with other selected sections via a wheel; wherein the wheel rotates a rotating disc that includes a disc hole for each of the individual sections, and upon rotation of the wheel to align the disc hole with the outlet of the dispense knobs, the selected sections are able to dispense a single vitamin simultaneously into a funnel that collects the dispensed vitamins into a pull out drawer; wherein the canister includes a calendar member to keep track of the previous time of use.
The Capotorto Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,077) discloses a vitamin dispenser designed for home use that may be hung on a wall, and includes a manual release levers for dispensing different types of vitamins when desired. However, the vitamin dispenser is not a transparent canister that includes a plurality of individual sections that are individually drawn from in order to dispense a single vitamin.
The Rappaport et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,757) discloses a pill dispenser providing sequential dispensing means and automatic incremental dispensing control. However, the pill dispenser does not include a base that enables the machine to lie on a flat surface, and which includes an indexing knob to rotate a canister for dispensing a designated vitmain.
The Kaufman et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,944) discloses an interactive medication delivery system for individual pills and caplets. However, the delivery system does not include a transparent canister that rotates with respect to a base in order to individually select and dispense a single vitamin from a plurality of different vitamins.
The Boyer Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,262) discloses a method for counting and dispensing pills, tablets, and capsules. However, the method is not a dispensing machine that can dispense a single vitamin from a plurality of different vitamins.
The Galesi Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,046) discloses a vitamin and pill dispensing device including a housing having an upper portion, a lower portion of an intermediate portion there between. However, the device is not a canister having a base that enables the device to be placed on a flat surface.
The Guarr Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,342) discloses an automatic medicine dispensing apparatus. However, the apparatus does not include a transparent canister.
The DiBartolomeo Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,880) discloses a compartmentalized vitamin dispensing system. Again, the system is not a transparent canister able to rotate above a base.
The Stillwell et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,865) discloses a device and method for dispensing pills or vitamins. Among other things, the device is not a canister that includes a plurality of individual sections that are vertically aligned, and which include a dispense knob that individually dispenses a single vitamin or pill-shaped object into a drawer located in a base.
The McLaughlin et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 289,738) illustrates an ornamental design for a combined dispensing box for pills and electric alarm.
The Vlastuin Patent (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 363,086) illustrates an ornamental design for a dispenser for candy.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective and particular objects and requirements, they do not describe a vitamin dispensing machine that includes a canister that is divided into a plurality of individual sections; wherein the canister is transparent and divided into individual sections configured to store a plurality of a certain vitamin or pill-shaped object; wherein the canister includes a snap on lid that has a plurality of snap on caps, which correspond to each of the individual sections in order to refill the respective individual section with the certain vitamin; wherein the canister also includes a plurality of dispense knobs that are able to pull outwardly in order to enable a single vitamin to be dispensed along with other selected sections via a wheel; wherein the wheel rotates a rotating disc that includes a disc hole for each of the individual sections, and upon rotation of the wheel to align the disc hole with the outlet of the dispense knobs, the selected sections are able to dispense a single vitamin simultaneously into a funnel that collects the dispensed vitamins into a pull out drawer; wherein the canister includes a calendar member to keep track of the previous time of use. In this regard, the vitamin dispensing machine departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art.


A steering apparatus steers a steerable road wheel in response to turning movement of a steering wheel with a variable steering angle ratio therebetween. The steering apparatus includes a first member operatively coupled to either one of the steerable road wheel and the steering wheel, and a second member operatively coupled to the other of the steerable road wheel and the steering wheel. The first member has a portion engaging the second member at a variable engaging position that is movable on a predetermined path. The steering angle ratio varies when the engaging position varies. When the steering angle ratio varies with the first and second members in their respective neutral positions, the first and second members remain completely still, and their neutral positions are kept in alignment with each other.

1 Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a steering apparatus for steering a motor vehicle, the steering apparatus being capable of varying the ratio (steering angle ratio) of a steered angle of a steerable road wheel to a steering angle of a steering wheel.
2 Description of the Relevant Art:
One conventional steering apparatus with a variable steering angle ratio for a motor vehicle having steerable road wheels, is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 61-122075, for example. The disclosed steering apparatus comprises a planetary gear mechanism disposed in a steering force transmitting path between a steering wheel and a steering gear mechanism. The planetary gear mechanism has a sun gear coupled to the steering wheel, a ring gear coupled to the steering gear mechanism, and a carrier coupled to a motor. The carrier is driven by the motor depending on the speed of travel of the motor vehicle for adjusting the steering angle ratio.
In the conventional steering apparatus with the variable steering angle ratio, the sun gear, the carrier, and the ring gear of the planetary gear mechanism are rotatable independently of each other. Therefore, it is difficult to align the neutral position of the steering wheel with the neutral position of the steerable road wheels.
Another problem of the conventional steering apparatus with the variable steering angle ratio is that the motor operates for a long period of time and consumes a large amount of electric energy because the motor is energized each time the steering wheel is turned.
The present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above problems of the conventional steering apparatus with the variable steering angle ratio.

Steering apparatus with variable steering angle ratio


A data center module is a data center that can be prefabricated using generally standardized off-the-shelf components, and quickly assembled on a collocation site where a shared central facility is provided. The data center module is typically configured to be deployed with other identical data center modules around the central facility both in side-to-side and/or in back-to-back juxtapositions, typically without the need for interleaving space between adjacent modules in order to maximize real estate use. Each data center module typically comprises harden party walls, several floors for accommodating all the necessary electrical and cooling subsystems and for accommodating all the computing machinery (e.g. servers). Though all the data center modules share similar physical configuration, each data center module can be independently customized and operated to accommodate different needs. Each data center module also incorporates a highly efficient hybrid cooling system that can benefit from both air-side and water-side economizers.

Modularity, scalability and flexibility are now essential requirements for efficient and cost effective data centers. Modularity is the building block that allows rapid on-demand deployment of infrastructures. Modularity minimizes capital expenditure and, thus, maximizes return on investment (ROI). Scalability relates to modularity, but is the additional key that enables a design to scale past the barrier of a predetermined fixed number of modules. It is the glue that allows the different types of modules to coherently scale: specifically computing modules with floor/space modules, power modules, and cooling modules. Flexibility further refines modularity and scalability by allowing any type of hardware from any vendor, with various power and cooling requirements, to coexist within the same data center. It is most crucial in the context of serving multiple independent users choosing to collocate their specific computing machinery in a shared data center.
Recent power density increases in computer packaging are amongst the greatest limiting factors of scalability and flexibility in data centers. Current best practices suggest to partition large computing rooms into low, medium, and high power density zones. In this way, a limited form of scalability and flexibility can be reached, negating the need to overprovision the whole computing room with the highest possible power density capability. Nevertheless, forcing these zones to be sized a priori is hardly modular. The problem lies with the conventional data center design where a huge computing room is surrounded by proportionally sized mechanical and electrical rooms. Such arrangements are difficult to scale, because large distances limit our ability to efficiently distribute low voltage power to computing machinery, and move enough air to keep this machinery cool. Air cooling at large scales especially becomes daunting, because air velocity needs to be kept at acceptable levels using air conduits with limited cross-sections. Too much air velocity brings turbulence that in turn produces pressure differentials and, thus, non uniform air distribution and poor cooling efficiency. Moving water over large distances is both much easier and efficient. However, bringing water all the way to the computer cabinet (or even inside the cabinets) creates other challenges like leak detection and proofing.
Another popular trend is to use shipping containers to host preconfigured and preassembled computing hardware. Although this approach can be very modular and, to some extent, scalable, it is not so much flexible. The physical dimensions of a standard shipping container impose severe space constraints that usually limit the computer form factors that can be hosted while rendering hardware maintenance operations more difficult. Promoters of this approach are often hardware vendors of some sort, using the container model to push their own hardware as the backbone of data centers. Container based data centers are most practical when computing resources need to be mobile for some reason. In practice, however, even though rapid initial deployment is an obvious competitive advantage, rapid redeployment is a rare requirement because of the relative short lifespan of computers. Moreover, there is the additional issue of the low voltage power feeds usually required by these containers that have limited space for in-container power transformation. For large scale configurations, this forces either to inefficiently carry low voltage energy over large distances, or to combine computing containers with power transformation containers.
Finally, energy efficiency is also a very important requirement for modern data centers, both because of its financial and environmental impact. The two main sources of power losses in data centers lie in voltage transformation and regularization, on the one hand, and heat disposal, on the second hand. Best practices for efficient electrical systems are to minimize the number of voltage transformation stages and to transport energy at higher voltage. Also, it is important to correctly size the electrical infrastructure according to effective needs, as underutilized electrical systems are usually less efficient. As for efficient heat disposal, there are mostly air-side and water-side economizers to exploit favorable outside climate conditions to totally or partially circumvent the need for power hungry chillers. The holistic problem, however, is how to design cost-effective and energy efficient data centers that are also modular, scalable, and flexible.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an improved data center module which mitigates at least some shortcomings of prior data center modules.

Data center modules and method of large-scale deployment


Sealed and thermally insulating tank for storing a fluid, a tank wall having a secondary thermal insulation barrier, a secondary sealing membrane, a primary thermal insulation barrier and a primary sealing membrane supported by the primary thermal insulation barrier, where the primary insulating elements have parallelepiped insulating panels disposed so as to provide voids between them. The primary thermal insulation barrier having an anti-convective filler plate disposed in the void between a first parallelepiped insulating panel and a second parallelepiped insulating panel, the anti-convective filler plate being made of thin continuous material and having a plurality of elongated wall elements extending over substantially the entire width of the void to delimit cells extending substantially perpendicular to the thickness direction.

In the prior art, sealed and thermally insulating tanks are known for storing liquefied natural gas, which tanks are integrated in a support structure, such as the double hull of a vessel intended to transport liquefied natural gas. In general, such tanks comprise a multilayer structure successively having, in the thickness direction, from the outside to the inside of the tank, a secondary thermal insulation barrier retained in the support structure, a secondary sealing membrane resting against the secondary thermal insulation barrier, a primary thermal insulation barrier resting against the secondary sealing membrane, and a primary sealing membrane resting against the primary thermal insulation barrier and intended to be in contact with the liquefied natural gas contained in the tank.
Document WO 2016/046487 discloses a secondary thermal insulation barrier and a primary thermal insulation barrier formed by juxtaposed insulating panels. In this document WO 2016/046487, the secondary sealing membrane is made up of a plurality of metal sheets comprising corrugations projecting toward the outside of the tank and thus allowing the secondary sealing membrane to deform under the effect of the thermal and mechanical stresses generated by the fluid stored in the tank. An internal face of the insulating panels of the secondary thermal insulation barrier has grooves receiving the corrugations of the corrugated metal sheets of the secondary sealing membrane. These corrugations and these grooves form a meshwork of channels extending along the walls of the tank.

Sealed and thermally insulating vessel having an anti-convective filler plate


A Centronics type interface comprising a switching circuit selectively outputting one of two input signals having a timing relationship such that only during the time one input signal is active, the other input signal is active according to the state of a select signal, a pulse generating circuit outputting a signal for a predetermined time from the rising edge of a signal outputted from the switching circuit, and a signal selecting circuit outputting one of the other input signals and a signal outputted from the pulse generating circuit, which can hold one input signal and the signal outputted from the signal selecting circuit in a desired timing relationship.

The present invention relates to an interface device of the type commercially designated as the "Centronics" type. It is used, for example, in a printer or a plotter for sending and receiving data to and from external electronic equipment employing a microcomputer connected to the printer or plotter, based upon a communication system having what is commercially designated as the "Centronics Specification".
In general, the system of communicating parallel data by handshaking, which is based on the so-called Centronics specification, is well known as one specification used in communication systems between a printer or plotter and external electronic equipment employing a microcomputer. In the communication system based on the Centronics Specification, the timing relationships for each of the enabling signals ACK and BUSY, which are standards of handshaking, include three patterns as generally shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C. Normally, the Centronics type interface in one printer or plotter outputs said signals by any one of the timing patterns as shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C.
However, in case the printer or plotter performing communication by the timing relationship shown in FIG. 3B is connected to the external electronic equipment performing communication by the timing relationship shown in FIG. 3A, no handshaking can be performed because of the different timing relationships of the ACK and BUSY signals. Accordingly, the printer or plotter having the Centronics type interface cannot always communicate with the external electronic equipment using a communicating means based on the Centronics specification.
The present invention has been made in the light of the above-mentioned problems, and makes the timing relationships of the signals operate in accordance with the standards of handshaking so that the signals can be received by the external electronic equipment, provided the communicating means based on the Centronics Specification agrees with the timing relationships of the signals for handshaking outputted from the printer or plotter in case these timing relationships of the signals differ.

Interface device providing desired timing relation between two signals


A delivery scheduling system that is configured for scheduling the delivery of an item or service from a sender to an intended recipient. After receiving a signal indicating that, for example, a particular package is to be delivered to an intended recipient, the system attempts to establish interactive contact with the recipient either by direct contact with the recipient, or by leaving the recipient a message to establish direct contact with the system at a convenient time. Upon establishing contact with the recipient, the system allows the intended recipient to schedule delivery of the package. More particularly, the recipient may schedule the package to be delivered: (1) within a particular time window; (2) before or after a particular time of day; or (3) on a particular day.

Businesses currently use a variety of different methods for arranging the delivery of items and services to recipients. For example, after receiving an order from a third party, a florist may contact a person to whom flowers are to be delivered and confirm that the person will be at home at a certain time to receive the flowers. Similarly, a repair or installation service may contact a customer after receiving a certain part or product to arrange a time to install the part or product in the customer's home.
In the context of parcel delivery, parcel delivery services, such as UPS, typically receive packages from package senders (i.e., consignors) for delivery to intended package recipients (i.e., consignees). After receiving a particular package, a parcel delivery service will typically use a delivery scheduling system to develop a delivery route and schedule for the package. In developing the route and schedule, the scheduling system will generally implement standard logistics modeling techniques that seek, among other things, to reduce the additional distance within a delivery route that a delivery truck will need to travel to make the delivery.
In developing the delivery route and schedule, prior art systems also consider any time constraints imposed by the sender on the delivery. For example, if the sender has specified that the package must be delivered before 10:00 am on the next business day, the delivery service will schedule the package to be delivered before the 10:00 am deadline on the specified day. Thus, a delivery truck will be scheduled to make the delivery before 10:00 am, even if the delivery truck will need to travel far out of its way to make the delivery on time, and even if the package recipient is scheduled to receive other deliveries in a separate trip later in the day.
Thus, the focus of prior art systems is to assure that the package is delivered in the most cost-effective manner possible while meeting any established delivery deadline. If there is a conflict between meeting a delivery deadline and delivering the package at low-cost, the system will typically sacrifice the low-cost aspect of the delivery and schedule the package to be delivered on time.
However, because the package recipient is often unavailable to receive a package according to the delivery schedule established by the sender, it often turns out that the extra expense of delivering the package according to this schedule is not of particular value to the recipient, the sender, or the delivery service. In fact, in situations where the package delivery service can not leave the package unattended at the place of delivery, attempting to deliver the package according to the schedule specified by the sender may actually delay receipt of the package by the intended recipient. If the recipient is unavailable to receive the delivery on the delivery date established by the sender, the delivery service will typically try again to make the delivery on the following day, which delays the delivery by at least one day. Alternately, the recipient may choose to pick up the package from a delivery service branch office, which may be inconvenient for the recipient, and which may also delay delivery of the package to the recipient.
Failed deliveries are not only undesirable because they may result in untimely receipt of the package by the intended recipient, but also because they result in increased delivery costs for the parcel delivery service. A failed delivery typically makes it necessary to reschedule delivery of the package and to execute at least one additional delivery trip to deliver the package.
Even in situations where the intended recipient is available to receive the package according to the schedule specified by the sender, the intended recipient may actually have no preference about what time they receive the package on a particular day, or whether the package is delivered on the delivery date specified by the sender. For example, a busy accountant may be scheduled to receive a package by 10:00 am on a particular morning, but may not actually be available to review the contents of the package until 5:00 pm that afternoon. In addition, it may be relatively expensive for the delivery service to make the delivery by 10:00 am, but relatively inexpensive for the delivery service to make the delivery by 3:00 pm. In this case, there is no real benefit to delivering the package as part of an expensive "before 10:00 am" delivery rather than a less-expensive "before 3:00 pm" delivery.
Another example may be understood within the context of scheduling deliveries to a business that receives daily deliveries at the same time every day. Using current delivery scheduling systems, if a sender sends a package to the business and specifies that the package is to arrive before the business' regularly scheduled delivery time, the package delivery service will have to make two separate visits to the business on a particular day. In some situations, making an additional visit to the business to satisfy an early delivery deadline for a particular package may be of no value to the recipient of the package. For example, if the recipient does not need the package before the business' regularly scheduled delivery time, delivering the package before the requested delivery deadline may be of no benefit to the recipient or sender and would, therefore, not justify the additional cost associated with making the early delivery.
Accordingly, there is a need for a parcel delivery scheduling system that is configured to schedule deliveries to be made generally according to rules set forth by the consignor, but also according to the availability of the consignee to receive and use the package.
Turning to the field of grocery delivery, some modern grocery delivery services allow customers to schedule groceries to be delivered to their home within a customer-selected time window. To use these systems, customers access a Web page to first select their desired groceries and then to select an available delivery time window (generally on the following day) in which the groceries are to be delivered. The time windows are generally one-half hour or one hour long.
Algorithms for deciding which time windows are available for presentation to a customer ordering groceries vary from simply allowing a maximum number of deliveries per time window in each route area, to the cost-based time window evaluation method described in UPS pending patent application Ser. No. 09/811,375, filed Mar. 16, 2001, entitled "Variable Time Window Processing Systems and Methods", published Oct. 10, 2002, Publication No. 2002/0147654, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,299, which is incorporated herein by reference. The latter method utilizes the durable Roadnet 5000 routing and scheduling program to assess the cost of delivery to a particular address in each possible time window in light of the previous delivery commitments in that route area, and does not present any time window in which the cost would be above a pre-determined threshold. UPS' publicly-available e-Roadnet product is used to interface the Roadnet 5000 program with a Web-based customer ordering interface.
Most home grocery delivery schemes have failed because they were unprofitable. The low volume of orders and unwillingness of customers to pay enough for the delivery service hurt these efforts. One difference in parcel delivery is that many parcel delivery companies (such as UPS) operate thousands of routes each day that are supported financially by the delivery volume of regular customers who have daily pickups and deliveries, although these routes include the burden of sporadic non-daily deliveries.
There is another fundamental difference between parcel delivery and home delivery of groceries. In home grocery delivery, the purchaser places the order and receives the delivery, and therefore can schedule the delivery when making the order. In parcel delivery, the purchaser of the parcel delivery service typically is a consignor who will not be the person receiving the delivery. This leads to a requirement to contact the consignee separately if there is a need to schedule delivery. Therefore, the techniques of home grocery delivery cannot be applied directly to parcel delivery services.
Accordingly, there is a need for a scheduling system that is configured to schedule services (such as the delivery of a package) to be provided generally according to rules set forth by the sender of the service (such as a consignor), but also according to the availability of the intended recipient (such as a consignee) to receive and use the service.

Parcel or service delivery with partially scheduled time windows


A method of forming vias in an interlevel dielectric structure of an integrated circuit, such that the aspect ratio of the vias is smaller than the aspect ratios of vias having a height equal to the thickness of the entire interlevel dielectric structure, and the integrated circuit formed according to such a method. Conductive elements are formed over an insulator. A first dielectric structure is formed over the conductive elements and over the insulator. The first dielectric structure contains a first dielectric, formed over the conductive elements and the insulator, and a planarizing dielectric, formed over the first dielectric to bulk fill the areas between the conductors. A thin layer of a second dielectric can be formed over the first dielectric and the planarization dielectric. Vias are patterned and etched in the first dielectric structure. The thickness of the first dielectric structure is such that the aspect ratios of the vias through it is close to, or less than, 1. A thin barrier is formed in the vias, and the vias are filled with contact plugs. A second dielectric structure is then formed over the first dielectric structure and the contact plugs. Vias are patterned and etched in this second dielectric structure. The thickness of the second dielectric structure is also such that the aspect ratios of the vias through it is close to, or less than, 1. A thin barrier is formed in the vias, and the vias are filled with contact plugs. Additional dielectric structures containing vias and contact plugs may be formed over the second dielectric structure.

A continuing trend in the semiconductor industry is to decrease chip size while increasing the density of components per unit area. This has lead to a decrease in the linewidth of both conductors and the spaces between the conductors, making it advantageous to use several layers of conductors, typically formed of metal for the uppermost conductor levels, in the integrated circuit device. Because of the increase in the number of metallization layers it has become important that the interlevel dielectric structures that serve as insulators between adjacent metallization layers are as planar as possible. To produce planar interlevel dielectric structures the thickness of the interlevel dielectric structures must be increased. Additionally, increases in the thickness of the interlevel dielectric structures also reduce the interlevel capacitance, which has a positive effect on the speed of the circuit. However, the increase in the thickness of the interlevel dielectric structures poses problems for via etch and plug formation.
FIG. 1, is a cross-sectional view of conventionally formed vias 22, 24, and plugs 28, 30, with thin barriers 26, 27 on the sidewalls and bottoms of the vias, formed in a thick interlevel dielectric structure 32. The interlevel dielectric structure 32 is made up of a first dielectric layer 46 deposited over conductive elements 12, 14 and an insulation layer 44; a planarizing layer 48; and a thick second dielectric 20.
As the thickness of the interlevel dielectric structure increases or the device size decreases the aspect ratios of the vias formed in the interlevel dielectric structure increases. Referring to FIG. 1, the aspect ratios of vias 22, 24 is the ratio of the height of the vias to the widths of the vias. The vias 22, 24 have to allow contact plugs 28, 30 and barrier layers 26, 27 to make contact between the conductive elements 12, 14 of the metallization layer below and the enclosures 34, 36 above the interlevel dielectric structure 32, so the vias must extend through the entire interlevel dielectric structure 32. For vias etched through the entire interlevel dielectric structure, the heights of the vias 34, 36 is the thickness of the interlevel dielectric structure 32. Therefore, as the thickness of the interlevel dielectric structure increases, the heights of the vias increase, causing an increase in the aspect ratios of the vias. Additionally, the widths of the vias 22, 24 cannot exceed the widths of the conductive elements 12, 14 over which the vias are formed. Therefore, as the device size decreases, causing the widths of the conductive elements to decrease, the widths of the vias 22, 24 must decrease, and again the aspect ratios of the vias 22, 24 increase.
As the aspect ratios of the vias 22, 24 increase, the ease of etching these vias decrease, particularly as the aspect ratios increase significantly above 1. In vias 22, 24 with high aspect ratios, it is difficult to get a vertical etch, resulting in slanted sidewalls. The slanted sidewalls of the vias 22, 24 cause problems with producing uniform barriers 26, 27 in the vias 22, 24. The slanted sidewalls also make the tops of the vias 22, 24 larger than the bottoms of the vias. To compensate for this, either the width of the top of the vias 22, 24 will be larger than the width of the conductive elements 12, 14 below the vias and the enclosures 34, 36 above the via, or the size of the entire vias 22, 24 must be reduced.
In vias, like via 24, where the width of the top of a via 24 is larger than the enclosure 36 above the via the contact plug 30 and barrier 27 will not be entirely covered by the enclosure 36, part of the barrier 27 may be etched away in later process steps, reducing the reliability of the device. Additionally, larger tops of vias increase the misalignment sensitivity of the enclosures, even if the enclosure is larger than the top of the via, as in the case of enclosure 34 and via 22. Although the enclosure 34 is large enough to cover the entire top of the via 22, any misalignment of the enclosure 34 will result in the barrier 26 and plug 28 not being entirely covered by the top of the via, producing the problems discussed above. If one were to enlarge the enclosures 34, 36 to ensure that they cover the vias 22, 24 entirely, a short circuit may result because of the small distance between conductors.
Furthermore, the widths of the contact plugs 28, 30 at the tops of the vias will also be large. Contact plugs are usually either tungsten or aluminum. Tungsten is typically the metal used to fill vias with high aspect ratio since tungsten has better flow properties than aluminum. Contact plugs 28, 30 are typically formed by depositing tungsten and etching it back to leave tungsten only in the vias. However, because of the widths of the tops of the vias 22, 24 the tungsten does not etch evenly and gaps 23a, 23b, 25a, 25b are formed at the tops of the vias, which reduce the performance and reliability of the device. The thickness of the tungsten in the vias can also cause cracks 19 in the tungsten.
The smaller bottoms of vias 22, 24 also make it more difficult for the metal of the plug to fill the vias, resulting in poor step coverage. For larger sized vias, like via 24, this can cause gaps at the bottom of the via which lead to reduced performance and reliability of the device. For vias, like via 22, where the entire size of the via is reduced, the poor step coverage can result in a void 21 the width of the bottom the via, which produces an open circuit.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a method of forming vias with low aspect ratios in thick interlevel dielectric structures.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a method of forming vias with aspect ratios of about 1 or below in thick interlevel dielectric structures.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a method of forming vias such that the enclosure sensitivity of the conductors above the vias is reduced.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a method of forming vias with straight sidewalls.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a method of forming contact plugs with good step coverage.
It is further an object of this invention to provide such a method that utilizes conventional process flows.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide integrated circuit formed according to such a method.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having reference to the following specification together with the drawings.

Vias and contact plugs with an aspect ratio lower than the aspect ratio of the structure in which they are formed