A composite electrode (10) that is used for conducting a modulated voltage in a plasma reactor. An electrically conductive non-oxidizing surface and an electrically conductive metal surface are electrically and mechanically joined together by threads (12 and 13) to form a composite electrode (10). The composite electrode (10) is used to make contact between a wafer holder and the plasma reactor when the wafer holder is at rest in a chamber of the reactor.

This invention relates, in general, to electrodes and more particularly to electrodes used for any frequency connections in plasma reactors.
Electrodes have been used for conducting any frequency or modulated voltages in reactors for quite some time. Generally, the electrodes that are constructed for this purpose are made of graphite material such as DFP-2POCO, or the like. Electrodes are generally used to conduct a modulated electrical voltage so that a plasma is generated in a reactor. The plasma is then used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices for either etching, deposition, or a combination of both. Graphite electrodes however have several disadvantages or problems such as material softness, brittleness, and a high incidence of breakage.
Graphite electrodes are generally, formed into a threaded shaft with a button or head on one end of the shaft. The screw threads are used to fasten the electrode into a semiconductor wafer susceptor or boat, while the button forms a contact point between the reactor and the boat. During cleaning of the boat the electrode is unscrewed from the boat and removed. Removal of the electrode from the boat prevents breaking or damaging of the electrode during the boat cleaning process. However, repeated assembly and disassembly of the electrode from the boat causes the screw threads to wear and to degrade with time. The degradation of the screw threads on the electrode causes contact problems which result in poor plasma uniformity, and in general poor reactor performance. Additionally, contamination of the semiconductor wafer or wafers can also be caused by poor contact problems. Generally, poor contact that results in arcing of a plasma, further results in particles or contamination being generated and deposited on the semiconductor wafer or wafers. The wearing of both the electrode threads and buttons are generally, attributed to the softness of the graphite material. The softness of the graphite material not only contributes to the aforesaid problems but, also causes an additional increase in maintenance time.
It can be seen that conventional graphite electrodes have severe limitations. Therefore, an electrode design that improves electrical contact, decreases maintenance time, decreases particle levels, and reduces cost would be highly desirable.

Susceptor electrode and method for making same


Planarization of defects in laser mirror and other optical component manufacture is disclosed. The planarization is performed by first depositing a relatively thick planarization layer, then carrying out a sequential deposition and etch process. The technique takes advantage of the non-uniform material removal rate as a function of etchant incident angle, and effectively buries the inclusion in a thick film with a near planar top surface. The process enables faster, more reliable manufacture of a non-defective high fluence multilayer mirror particularly suitable for high energy laser applications.

This invention relates to techniques for the manufacture of large optics, for example, as used in lasers for inertial confinement fusion power plants, and in particular to the manufacture of mirrors for lasers for use in such fusion power plants. The invention, however, generally has applicability to the planarization of optical substrates to overcome defects in such substrates used for laser mirror coatings and defects caused during the coating deposition process.
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a laser-based inertial confinement fusion research machine located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, Calif. NIF uses lasers to heat and compress a capsule of deuterium and tritium (DT) fuel to the temperatures and pressures to cause a nuclear fusion reaction. In NIF a bank of 192 lasers fires a hohlraum holding the capsule. The lasers used in NIF are large, extremely powerful lasers, producing beams on the order of a foot square.
Inertial confinement fusion power plants using the technology now being developed at NIF have been proposed. The equipment, systems and support necessary for the deployment of such a fusion power plant are now being investigated and designed at LLNL. In the indirect drive approach to inertial confinement fusion (often "ICF" herein) proposed for such power plants, hohlraums, each with a capsule containing the DT fuel, are injected into a fusion chamber. As they arrive at the center of the chamber, the "targets" are fired upon by a bank of lasers. The hohlraum absorbs and re-radiates the energy of the laser beams striking the inside of the hohlraum as x-rays onto the fuel capsule. This causes the outer surface of the fuel capsule to ablate, compressing and heating the DT fuel to cause a fusion reaction.
The lasers used in such a system operate at high energies with concomitant heat and energy demands imposed on the components of the laser. As such they impose unique design requirements on the optical components within the laser. Of particular concern here is that multilayer optical coatings are laser fluence limited by small inclusions on the substrate or imbedded within the coatings. These inclusions are created by micron-sized particulates on the optical component substrate. The particulates result from imperfect substrate cleaning, contamination during transport of the substrates after cleaning to the coating apparatus, as well as other causes. The geometry of these inclusions and the interference nature of multilayer coatings can lead to extremely high light intensification around the defect, thus causing the defect to have a much lower laser resistance than the surrounding non-defective multilayer coating.
Various approaches have been tried to minimize defects in smaller optical components. In particular, for extreme ultraviolet lithography, small nanometer-sized contaminants are detrimental to the functionality of the resulting masks. A variety of approaches have been tried, some with success in addressing this issue. See, e.g., "A Silicon-Based, Sequential Coat-and-Etch Process to Fabricate Nearly Perfect Substrate Surfaces," Mirkarimi et al., Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, July, 2005, and "Advancing the ion beam thin-film planarization process for the smoothing of substrate particles," Mirkarimi et al., Microelectronic Engineering 77 (2005) 369-381. Each of these publications describes techniques for mitigating surface imperfections such as pits or particles in the coatings for extreme ultraviolet lithography masks. The approaches described in the articles, however, address defects which are much smaller than those of concern here. For example, the techniques described in these articles address defects on the order of a few tens of nanometers in depth, as opposed to the micron-sized defects problematic with the optical and near infrared coatings. Furthermore, the materials used in the processes described in these articles, primarily silicon, are highly absorbent of energies at the wavelengths of the laser light. As such they cannot be employed for components in which wavelengths in this range are used. Finally, the primary concern addressed in these prior art approaches is one of assuring reflectivity and surface flatness for mask transfer. Here, in contrast, the primary issue relates to energy concentrations around the defects within the coating.
What is needed is a technique for mitigating nodular defects of approximately micron size in a manner to enable use of optical components that include such defects in laser or optical applications.

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC


A steering system for a work vehicle having a steerable wheel. The steering system includes a steering input device configured to provide a first steering input and a second steering input to move the steerable wheel. A pilot system is operatively connected to the steering input device and includes a first pilot line operatively connected to the first steering input and a second pilot line operatively connected to the second steering input. A piloted system is operatively connected to the pilot system and includes a direction control valve operatively connected to each of the first and second pilot lines and to a steering cylinder. The steering cylinder is coupled to the steerable wheel. The direction control valve responds to each of the pressure signals of the first and second pilot lines to adjust the position of the steering cylinder which in turn moves the steerable wheel.

Agricultural equipment, such as a tractor or a self-propelled combine-harvester, includes an electro-hydraulic steering control system to adjust the position of one or more of a vehicle's wheels to adjust a moving direction of the vehicle. Steering control systems include electro-hydraulic valves which respond to a steering control signal generated by a steering device, such as a steering wheel or joystick, or a steering control signal provided by a global positioning system (GPS) signal. Steering control systems often include one or more sensors configured to sense a position of the steering device or a position of the wheels with respect to a frame of the vehicle. In these types of systems, a failure of an electro-hydraulic valve or an incorrect steering signal to an electro-hydraulic valve by the controller software can initiate an unwanted or undesirable steering action. Such a steering action is identified by one or more of the system sensors and interpreted by a system controller. Once the undesirable steering action is identified by the system controller, a corrective signal is generated by the system controller to prevent unintended steering resulting from the failure. The identification and response to the failure takes a certain amount of time, which is often too long to prevent an undesirable result. What is needed therefore is a steering control system, which is configured such that steering action cannot be initiated by an electro-hydraulic valve or electronic command only, but must also require steering initiation action by the vehicle's driver.

Electro-hydraulic steering control system


Disclosed is a novel method and apparatus for rotating a stripper bar associated with a paper path. A cam and cable mechanism replaces a rigid link mechanism on the stripper bar, the cam and cable mechanism providing for a much greater angle of rotation of the stripper bar than the rigid link mechanism. The additional rotation allows the stripper fingers on the stripper bar to be rotated completely out of the way of a paper jam clearance path. Other new developments include a wrench positioning system that controls the orientation of the stripper bar and an over-rotation prevention system that stops the rotation of the stripper bar when the stripper bar and stripper fingers are being serviced.

In printers and duplicators commonly in use today, a photoconductive insulating member is typically charged to a uniform potential and thereafter exposed to a light image of an original document to be reproduced. The exposure discharges the photoconductive insulating surface in exposed or background areas and creates an electrostatic latent image on the member which corresponds to the image areas contained within the original document. Subsequently, the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive insulating surface is made visible by developing the image with toner. Most development systems employ a developer material which comprises both charged carrier particles and charged toner particles which triboelectrically adhere to the carrier particles. During development the toner particles are attracted from the carrier particles by the charge pattern of the image areas on the photoconductive insulating area to form a powder image on the photoconductive area. This image is subsequently transferred to a support surface such as copy paper to which it is permanently affixed. Following transfer of the toner image to a support surface, the photoconductive insulating member is cleaned of any residual toner that may remain thereon in preparation for the next imaging cycle.
One of the more conventional approaches to fixing the toner image is through the use of heat and pressure by passing the print substrate containing the unfused toner image through a nip created between a pair of opposed roller members, at least one of them being heated and normally referred to as the fuser roll, and the other being pressed against the fuser roll and normally referred to as the pressure roll. During this procedure, the temperature of the toner material is elevated to a temperature at which the toner material coalesces and becomes tacky. This heating causes the toner to flow to some extent into the fibers or pores of the substrate. Thereafter, as the toner material cools, solidification of the toner material causes it to become bonded to the substrate. Typical of such fusing devices are two roll systems wherein the fuser roll is coated with a material such as silicone rubber or other low surface energy elastomer. The silicone rubbers that can be used as the surface of the fuser roll include room temperature vulcanizable silicones referred to as RTV silicones, liquid injection moldable or extrudable silicone rubbers, and high temperature vulcanizable silicones referred to as HTV silicones.
During the fusing process, and despite the use of low surface energy materials for the fuser roll surface, there is a tendency for the copy substrate to remain tacked to the fuser roll after passing through the nip between the fuser roll and the pressure roll. When this happens, the tacked print copy substrate does not follow the normal substrate path but rather continues in an arcuate path around the fuser roll, eventually resulting in a paper jam which will require operator involvement to remove the jammed paper before any subsequent printing cycle can proceed. Such a jammed piece of paper can also lead to a damaged fuser roll, a condition that requires a trained service technician to replace the roll, which is an expensive procedure. As a result it has been common practice to use one or more techniques to ensure that the print substrate is stripped from the fuser roll downstream of the fuser nip. One of the common approaches has been the use of a stripper finger or a plurality of stripper fingers placed in contact with the fuser roll to strip the print substrate from the fuser roll. Normally, the shape of the fingers, and their location and orientation relative to the fuser roll, are very important to their function, especially in the case of flexible stripper fingers. Still, even with the use of stripper fingers, a copy substrate can become jammed in the fuser assembly and when this occurs, the stripper fingers must be moved away from the jammed paper in order for the area of the paper jam to be accessible to an operator for clearance.
In a current fuser assembly, stripper fingers are mounted on a rotatable stripper finger mounting bar which moves the stripper fingers away from the fuser roll when the fuser assembly top cover is opened. However, the degree of rotation of the mounting bar is limited and at the end of the full rotation of the mounting bar the stripper fingers are still exposed to operator manipulation and/or damage during the process of clearing the jammed paper from the paper path. Due to the easily deformable nature of some types of stripper fingers and the criticality of maintaining their design-intent shape and orientation, it is desirable to keep the stripper fingers out of the jam clearance path of the casual operator in order to minimize their potential damage during jam clearance.
The following disclosures may be relevant to various aspects of the present invention:

Method and apparatus for stripper bar rotation


A method (20) of scheduling performed by a network node (3) is disclosed. The network node (3) comprises a distributed local oscillator architecture in which elements (181, . . . , 18i, . . . , 18N) of an antenna array (14) have at least partly uncorrelated local oscillator signals, and the network node (3) has wireless connectivity to at least two transmitter nodes (2a, 2b). The method (20) comprises calculating (21) a phase noise value between one or more layers received in each element (181, . . . , 18i, . . . , 18N) from a first transmitter node (2a) and one or more layers received in each element (181, . . . , 18i, . . . , 18N) from a second transmitter node (2b), and determining (22) a scheduling allocation for the at least two transmitter nodes (2a, 2b), taking the calculated phase noise value into account. A network node (3), computer program and computer program product are also provided.

In order to increase capacity and coverage for future 5G communication systems massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology, small cells as well as more spectrum are some of the most promising means. Antenna array systems will be a ubiquitous component in such forthcoming 5G systems as a means of improving capacity for the presently used low GHz frequencies but also for ensuring sufficient coverage as the operating frequency extends to the mmW range. Antenna arrays may be used for simultaneously transmitting or receiving multiple layers, e.g. through multiple beams in the special case of line-of-sight (LOS) communication or more generally through the concept of Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO).
Uplink transmissions in cellular systems are typically controlled by an access node, in the following exemplified by an eNB. Based on, e.g., communicated transmission needs, channel properties and some measure of fairness, the eNB allocates the resources of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) to the competing transmitter devices, in the following exemplified by user equipment (UEs). In case of a high load the eNB may choose to schedule a MU-MIMO transmission such that multiple UEs transmit in the same time-frequency resource. Since such scheduling increases noise, e.g., from interference from other transmissions (or layers) using the same time frequency resource, typically only transmitters with suitable transmission properties (i.e., weakly correlated channels) are selected. Non-orthogonal scheduling techniques have been proposed wherein a strong received signal is combined with a weak received signal whereby the strong signal is (presumably correctly) decoded and then recoded and subtracted from the jointly received signal after which the weak signal may be decoded.
In an antenna array system (AAS) receiver architecture with a common local oscillator generation, signals from all antenna elements are downconverted using the same LO-signal with the same phase noise. In an AAS receiver architecture with a distributed local oscillator generation, all antenna element signals are downconverted using different, i.e. uncorrelated or at least partly uncorrelated LO-signals.


The instant invention is directed to battery separator membranes useful in alkaline battery systems formed from a homogeneous admixture of a polyolefin, a plasticizer, and a filler selected from particulate material having a surface area of from 100 to 385 m.sup.2 /cc and a pore volume of at least 0.075 cc/gm.

The instant invention is directed to an improved battery separator membrane suitable for use in alkaline battery systems, such as nickel-zinc systems, which is capable of exhibiting an unexpected high degree of dendrite inhibition, electrical conductivity, stability to alkali, and ability to form very thin membranes.
Alkaline battery systems, because of their high energy density, have great potential for replacing the more conventional lead-acid battery system in a number of terrestrial applications. However, extending the cycle life of such batteries beyond that presently attainable and reducing the cost of all the components are required criterias which must be met to make the alkaline battery an effective energy source.
One of the recognized key components in extending the life and efficiency of the battery is its separator. The separator is a membrane located between the plates of opposite polarity to prevent contact between the plates while freely permitting electrolytic conduction. Contact between plates may be due to imperfections in the plate structure or due to warping or wrinkling of the plate during use. Such macro deformations are readily inhibited by any type of sheet material which is coextensive with that of the plates. Contact may also occur due to the formation of dendrites or localized needle like growths on an electrode, such as zinc dendrites formed on a zinc electrode in an alkaline nickel-zinc battery system. These dendrites bridge the gap between electrodes of opposite polarity either by puncturing the separator membrane located in the gap, or by passing through the pores of the separator. The high degree of solubility of zinc oxide in alkaline electrolytes normally permits extensive loss of active material from the negative electrode through deposition of the zinc oxide in the separator pores and onto the positive electrode. These factors cause shorting out of the battery system and significantly reduce its effective life. The ability to produce a separator membrane which can effectively act as a dendristatic diaphragm is a required criteria for forming an effective battery system.
Further, a separator suitable for use in forming a highly effective alkaline battery system must be capable of exhibiting a high degree of electrical conductivity. Stated another way, an effective separator membrane must exhibit a low electrical resistance and good wetting properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,495 discloses battery separators for use in both acid and alkaline battery systems formed from very high molecular weight polyolefin compounded with a plasticizer and an inert filler. The reference further teaches that, in alkaline battery separators, filler having relatively low surface areas, e.e., one square meter per gram or less, are satisfactorily employed. Battery separators formed in accordance with the general procedure and materials disclosed in this patent exhibit a high degree of electrical resistance and poor wetting properties. These separators, therefore, do little to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the resultant battery systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,323 is directed to a variation of the 3,351,495 battery separator which aids in processability. The resultant separator has similar defects.
A battery separator which is capable of increasing the efficiency of a battery system and cause it to have a high energy density is highly desired, especially with respect to alkaline battery systems. It is generally agreed that such separators should be (a) resistant to degradation by the alkaline electrolyte and by oxidation due to nascent oxygen, (b) be very thin, (c) exhibit a high degree of inhibition to dendrite formation and growth, and (d) exhibit a high degree of electrical conductivity. The first two elements and the last two elements are each thought to be counter productive with respect to each other. For example, very thin sheets have a high surface area to volume ratio and are, therefore, more susceptible to attack by the strong alkaline electrolyte solution and to oxidation. With respect to the latter two criterias, it is known that separator membranes which are nonporous normally exhibit a high degree of inhibition to dendrite formation, but have low electrical conductivity. Microporous separators, that is those which have discrete pores usually in the form of a tortuous network, have a high degree of electrolyte permeability but they lack the ability to inhibit dendritic shorting.

Alkaline battery with separator of high surface area


An apparatus (10) for forming open ended, cone-shaped snack products includes a rotary cutter (28) having opposed, counterrotating rollers (30) each formed by multiple cutting discs (36) axially spaced on a mandrel (34) by spacers (38). A dough sheet formed by a sheet forming device (12) is conveyed to a slitting device (24) which slits the dough sheet into multiple pairs of dough strips. The dough strips are conveyed on a conveyer (26) towards the rotary cutter (28). The first dough strips of each pair pass over the end of the conveyor (26), and twisted 90.degree. as they pass over sheaves (44, 56, 60) and pass between stationary guides (42) to the first roller (30) while the second dough strips of each pair pass over the end of the conveyor (26), are twisted 90.degree. as they pass over sheaves (46, 58, 62) and pass between the stationary guides (42) to a second roller (30). The pair of dough strips are drawn under tension through the nip of the rollers (30) in a face to face stacked orientation. The snack products are cut and shaped by cavities (32) in the cutting discs (36).

The present invention generally relates to an apparatus and methods for forming food products, particularly, to an apparatus and methods for forming snack products intended to be held by the fingers and consumed in a single bite, and specifically to an apparatus and methods for forming three dimensional snack products having at least one open end, such as tapered or generally cone-shaped snack products.
One type of food product which has gained wide market acceptance is open-ended, three dimensional snack products. As an example, snack products sold under the trademark BUGLES have enjoyed considerable commercial success worldwide. The production of such snack products has been performed on apparatus of the type shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,398 and especially of the type shown and described in U.S. Pat. 3,310,006, which patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference. In particular, the most recent production equipment prior to the present invention utilized fingers or die pins around which the individual snack products were formed. In this regard, a flat dough sheet was slit into dough strips and conveyed along a conveyor where the two outermost strips were passed through the spacing between adjacent conveyors and each twisted 90.degree. and passed around rollers to the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,006, where the axis of the cutting wheels were parallel to the conveying direction of the dough strips on the conveyor. The remaining strips were continued to be conveyed where the next two outermost strips were passed through the spacing between adjacent conveyors to its corresponding machine, and this process was continued until the two center strips were passed over the end of a final conveyor to its corresponding machine. In certain manufacturing locations, the dough strips were untensioned when they entered the cutting wheels, while in some manufacturing locations the dough strips were under various degrees of tension depending upon the judgment of the particular tastes of the operator of the apparatus.
While such snack products have been successfully produced for over 35 years, there is a continuing need for improved apparatus and methods of production to reduce production costs and to enhance product uniformity. In particular, the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,006 is formed from many moving parts which are subject to wear, failure, and other operational problems. Thus, the prior production machine was capital intensive and operationally expensive in both parts and labor. But more importantly, a major factor in production costs is the area of the footprint of the apparatus in the production facilities, with production expenses being directly related to the amount of space that is required for the production of the snack products. It can be appreciated that because the mechanism for carrying the fingers or die pins must be arranged perpendicularly to the nip between the cutting wheels, it is not possible to arrange the mechanisms to allow the apparatus to be of a compact size but requires considerable spacing between each of the mechanisms.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide novel apparatus and methods for forming three dimensional snack products from continuous dough strips.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such novel apparatus and methods for forming three dimensional snack products including at least one open end.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such novel apparatus and methods having reduced production costs and enhanced product uniformity than produced utilizing prior apparatus and methods.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such novel apparatus and methods including rotary cutters formed by multiple axially spaced cutting discs on the same mandrel.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such novel apparatus and methods including enhanced removal of the individual food products from the cavities of the cutting discs.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such novel apparatus and methods enhancing the separation of the dough strips during further processing such as during deep frying without requiring the use of fingers or die pins during formation.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such novel apparatus and methods minimizing the area of the footprint of the apparatus.


Copper alloy having the basic composition Cu—Zn—Sn contains 23-28 wt % Zn and 0.3-1.8 wt % Sn and satisfies the relation 6.0≦0.25X+Y≦8.5 (where X is the addition of Zn in wt % and Y is the addition of Sn in wt %). The alloy is cast into an ingot by melting and cooling over the range from the liquidus line to 600° C. at a rate of at least 50° C./min; the ingot is hot rolled at a temperature not higher than 900° C. and then subjected to repeated cycles of cold rolling and annealing at 300-650° C. to control the size of crystal grains, thereby producing a rolled strip having a 0.2% yield strength of at least 600 N/mm2, a tensile strength of at least 650 N/mm2, an electrical conductivity of at least 20% IACS, a Young's modulus of no more than 120 kN/mm2 and a percent stress relaxation of no more than 20%.

This invention relates to copper alloys having satisfactory strength, electrical conductivity and stress relaxation characteristics that are suitable for use as materials for connectors and other electrical or electronic components, as well as small Young's modulus.
With the recent advances in electronics, the wire harnessing in various machines has increased in the degree of complexity and integration and this in turn has led to the growth of wrought copper materials for use in connectors and other electrical or electronic components.
The demands required of materials for connectors and other electrical or electronic components include lightweightness, high reliability and low cost. To meet these requirements, copper alloy materials for connectors are becoming smaller in thickness and in order to press them into complex shapes, they must have high strength and elasticity, as well as good electrical conductivity and press formability.
Specifically, electrical terminals must have sufficient strength that they will not buckle or deform during connection and disconnection or upon bending, as well as sufficient strength to withstand caulking of electrical wires and connector fitting followed by holding in position. To meet this need, electrical materials for use as terminals are required to have a 0.2% yield strength of at least 600 N/mm2, preferably at least 650 N/mm2, more preferably at least 700 N/mm2, and a tensile strength of at least 650 N/mm2, preferably at least 700 N/mm2, more preferably at least 750 N/mm2. In addition, in order to prevent chain transfer of deterioration that may occur during pressing, terminals must have sufficient strength in a direction perpendicular to that of working operations such as rolling. To meet this need, electrical materials for use as terminals are required to have a 0.2% yield strength of at least 650 N/mm2, preferably at least 700 N/mm2, more preferably at least 750 N/mm2 and a tensile strength of at least 700 N/mm2, preferably at least 750 N/mm2, more preferably at least 800 N/mm2, in the perpendicular direction.
Further, in order to suppress the generation of Joule's heat due to current impression, electrical materials for use as terminals preferably have a conductivity of at least 20% IACS. Another requirement is that the materials have great enough Young's modulus to ensure that connectors of small size can produce great stress in response to small displacement but this has increased rather than reduced the production cost of terminals because the need for closer dimensional tolerances has required rigorous control not only in mold technology and pressing operations but also over variations in the thickness of strip materials to be worked upon as well as the residual stress that develops in them. Under these circumstances, it has become necessary to design a structure that uses a strip material of small Young's modulus and which undergoes a large enough displacement to allow for substantial dimensional variations. To meet this need, electrical materials for use as terminals are required to have a Young's modulus of 120 kN/mm2 or less, preferably 115 kN/mm2 or less, in the direction where they were wrought and a Young's modulus of 130 kN/mm2 or less, preferably 125 kN/mm2 or less, more preferably 120 kN/mm2 or less in the perpendicular direction.
The above situation has become complicated by the fact that the frequency of mold maintenance accounts for a substantial portion of the production cost. One of the major causes of mold maintenance is worn mold tools. Since mold tools such as punches, dies and strippers wear as a result of repeated punching, bending or other press working operations, burring and dimensional inaccuracy will occur in the workpiece. The effect of the material itself on the wear of mold tools is by no means negligible and there is a growing need to reduce the likelihood of the material for causing mold wear.
Connectors are required to have high resistance to corrosion and resistance to stress corrosion cracking. Since female terminals are subject to thermal loading, they must also have good anti-stress relaxation characteristics. Specifically, their stress corrosion cracking life must be at least three times as long as the value for the conventional class 1 (specified by Japanese Industrial Standard, or JIS) brass and their percent stress relaxation at 150° C. must be no more than one half the value for the class 1 brass, typically 25% or less, preferably 20% or less and more preferably 15% or less.
Brasses and phosphor bronzes have heretofore been used as connector materials. The lower-cost brass, even if its temper grade is H08 (spring), has a yield strength (proof stress) and a tensile strength of about 570 N/mm2 and 640 N/mm2, respectively, thus failing to satisfy the above-mentioned minimum requirements for yield strength (≧600 N/mm2) and tensile strength (≧650 N/mm2). Brass is also poor not only in resistance to corrosion, resistance to stress corrosion cracking, but also in anti-stress relaxation characteristics. Phosphor bronze has good balance between strength, resistance to corrosion, resistance to stress corrosion cracking, and anti-stress relaxation characteristics; on the other hand, the electrical conductivity of phosphor bronze is small (12% IACS for spring phosphor bronze) and an economic disadvantage also results.
Many copper alloys have been developed and proposed to date with a view to solving the aforementioned problems. Most of them have various elements added in small amounts such that they keep in a balance between important characteristics such as strength, electrical conductivity and stress relaxation. However, their Young's modulus was as high as 120-135 kN/mm2 in the direction where the alloy was wrought and in the range of 125-145 kN/mm2 in the perpendicular direction. In addition, their cost was high.
Under these circumstances, researchers are most recently having a new look at brass and phosphor bronze because they both have small enough Young's moduli (110-120 kN/mm2 in the direction where the alloy is wrought and 115-130 kN/mm2 in the perpendicular direction) to meet the aforementioned design criteria. Thus, it is desired to develop a copper alloy that is available at a comparable price to brasses and which exhibits a 0.2% yield strength of at least 600 N/mm2, a tensile strength of at least 650 N/mm2, a Young's modulus of no more than 120 kN/mm2, an electrical conductivity of at least 20% IACS and a percent stress relaxation of no more than 20% in the direction in which the alloy is wrought while exhibiting a 0.2% yield strength of at least 650 N/mm2, a tensile strength of at least 700 N/mm2 and a Young's modulus of no more than 130 kN/mm2 in the perpendicular direction.
Connector materials are given Sn plating in an increasing number of occasions and the usefulness of alloys is enhanced by incorporating Sn. Inclusion of Zn as in brasses increases the ease with which to produce alloys having a good balance between strength, workability and cost. From this viewpoint, Cu—Zn—Sn alloys may well be worth attention and known examples are copper alloys having designations ranging from C40000 to C49900 that are specified by the CDA (Copper Development Association), U.S.A. For example, C42500 is a Cu-9.5Zn-2.0Sn-0.2P alloy and well known as a connector material. C43400 is a Cu-14Zn-0.7Sn alloy and used in switches, relays and terminals, though in small amounts. However, little use as connector materials is made of Cu—Zn—Sn alloys having higher Zn contents. In other words, increased Zn and Sn contents lower hot workability and unless thermo-mechanical treatments are properly controlled, various characteristics such as the mechanical ones desired for the connector materials cannot be developed and, what is more, nothing has been known about the appropriate Zn and Sn contents and the conditions for producing the desired connector materials.
Specific examples of copper alloys containing more Zn than C42500 include C43500 (Cu-18Zn-0.9Sn), C44500 (Cu-28Zn-1Sn-0.05P) and C46700 (Cu-39Zn-0.8Sn-0.05P) and they are fabricated into sheets, rods, tubes and other shapes that only find use in musical instruments, ships and miscellaneous goods but not as wrought materials for connectors, particularly as strips. Even these materials fail to satisfy all requirements for connector materials, representative examples of which are as follows:    (1) that they have a 0.2% yield strength of at least 600 N/mm2, a tensile strength of at least 650 N/mm2, a Young's modulus of no more than 120 kN/mm2, an electrical conductivity of at least 20% IACS and a percent stress relaxation of no more than 20% in the direction where the alloy was wrought;    (2) that they have a 0.2% yield strength of at least 650 N/mm2, a tensile strength of at least 700 N/mm2 and a Young's modulus of no more than 130 kN/mm2 in a direction perpendicular to the one where the alloy was wrought;            (3) that they have good press formability; and        (4) that they have high resistance to stress corrosion cracking.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Connector copper alloys and a process for producing the same


This invention is directed at a cross-flow filtration device for receiving a feed stock and for separating the feed stock into filtrate and retentate, comprising a multicellular monolith structure having a central longitudinal axis and a peripheral surface. The monolith structure has both an inlet and outlet end face and a matrix of porous walls which define a plurality of cells; these mutually parallel cells extending longitudinally between the inlet and outlet end faces. The cells exhibit a uniform transverse cross section throughout each respective cell's length and each cell's cross-section and shape is variable when compared to at least one other cell such that all of the cells of the structure exhibit an equivalent hydraulic diameter. Lastly, the monolith structure's cells exhibit an increasing aggregate wall thickness in at least one direction as the cells approach the peripheral surface.

There are a multitude of filtration devices which separate a feed stock into filtrate and retained suspended matter which is too large to pass through the pore structures of the filter. A straight-through filter retains the suspended matter on the filter surface or within the filter matrix and passes only the filtrate. Cross-flow filters operate with tangential flow across the filter surface to sweep away suspended matter unable to pass through the filter surface pores. Cross-flow filters provide for the continuous extraction of retentate, or concentrated suspended matter, from one portion of the device and continuous extraction of filtrate from another portion.
Cross-flow filters can be constructed using multiple passageway, porous monoliths. Such monoliths can have tens of thousands of passageways extending through them, with the passageways normally parallel and uniformly spaced. When in use the feedstock is introduced under pressure at one end of the monolith, flows in parallel through the passageways, and a portion is withdrawn as retentate at the downstream end of the device, while a second portion passes through the membrane and porous monolith walls to exit at the periphery of the monolith.
Filtrate which passes into the porous monolith walls separating the passageways combines and flows through the walls toward the periphery of the monolith, and is removed through the outer skin of the monolith. The resistance to flow in the tortuous flow path of the monolith passageway walls can severely limit filtration capacity, and for this reason cross-flow filters based on large diameter high surface area, multiple passageway, porous monoliths are not found in wide commercial use.
Membrane devices utilize a semipermeable membrane to separate filtrate, also called permeate, from retentate. There is a multitude of different pressure driven membrane devices which separate and concentrate particles, colloids, macromolecules, and low molecular weight molecules. Membranes generally require a mechanical support which can be integral with the membrane, or separate. For example, membranes can be coated onto, or simply mechanically supported by, a porous support material.
Multiple-passageway, porous monoliths, e.g., honeycomb substrates, can be especially useful as membrane supports. In this instance membranes are applied to the passageway walls, which serve as both a mechanical support and as the flow path for filtrate removal to a filtrate collection zone. The walls of the substrate not only act as the supports for the membranes, but also serve as the egress path for the filtrate or permeate. In these pressure driven separation processes, the feed is forced through the small pores of the membranes that are supported on the walls of the honeycomb. Once the fluid has passed through the small pore size of the membranes (the path of most resistance), the filtered material enters the relatively larger pore of the walls. The amount of filtrate material that can pass from the innermost cell or cells, to the outside of the substrate, is limited by the wall porosity and thickness. If the walls are not sufficiently thick or sufficiently porous, the total volume of filtrate cannot be carried through the walls to the skin, and hence to the outside of the substrate. This results in a failure to use all of the available membrane surface area. That is, all or most of the feed that passes through the innermost cell or cells may simply pass through the support as retentate, without any portion passing through the membranes supported on those cells.

Filtraion device with variable thickness walls


An artifact is configured whose constituting components and features are selectable via parameters in an interrelated set of parameters. A range of consistent configurations for the artifact is defined by a set of constraints restricting which variable values that are simultaneously selectable. A proposed storage means stores a problem description in the form of a part-of hierarchy and a list of step definitions. The part-of hierarchy includes at least two different parts and each step definition includes a pointer to a respective part in the part-of hierarchy. A processing means solves constraint satisfaction problems in response to input data designating parameter settings, and an application module creates and executes step instances, which are based on the list of step definitions. The step instances are executed sequentially, and the execution of each step instance involves: creating a CSP based on the part to which the pointer of the corresponding step definition points and any descendents to this part, presenting a range of variables wherein each variable has at least one selectable value assignable via a user-committed setting in the input data, solving the CSP of the step instance based on the user-committed settings and any variable values resulting from any preceding step instances in said sequence, and presenting the set of resulting variable values. The application module repeatedly prompts a user to enter input data to represent user-committed settings until all the step instances in said sequence have been executed.

The present invention relates generally to interactive computer-implemented support solutions for facilitating the configuration of complex products having characteristics that are variable over a relatively wide range of possibilities. More particularly the invention relates to a system for configuring an artifact according to claim 1 and a method according to claim 10. The invention also relates to a computer program product according to claim 18 and a computer readable medium according to claim 19.
When a customer orders or purchases a product, or a system of products, hereinafter collectively referred to as an artifact (e.g. a car, a truck or a computer), which has a plurality of selectable features, sub-components etc., it may be a very intricate and tedious task to find a combination of features that is both technically permissible and satisfies the customer's requirements (as well as applicable regulatory restrictions, such emission levels, maximum vehicle dimensions and axle weights). Moreover, the combinations of possible choices are often interrelated, such that for instance a particular gearbox can only be used together with certain engine types and so on. Of course, depending on choices made at one stage, other choices to be made at a later stage may become irrelevant. For example, when configuring a computer a user may choose not to include a CD-ROM station in his/her PC, and instead opt for a DVD read/write station. If so, the user would like to avoid having to specify a particular CD-ROM model in a later step of the configuration procedure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,524 describes a method and an apparatus for configuring systems, which employs a generative approach. Here, a configuration system with a model hierarchy is used, which is referred to as being a constraint-based. This approach renders it possible to define a model element as being contained in, or by, another model element. Consequently, logical and physical interconnections between various elements can be identified. However, the configuration engine operates in batch mode, i.e. it can only be applied to a complete set of parameters. This means that the mechanisms for selecting the parameters and the logic associated therewith are separated from the configuration model. As a result, only relatively low degrees of efficiency and user-friendliness are attainable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,955 discloses an interactive rule-based system with selection feedback that parameterizes rules to constrain choices for multiple operations. This system may reduce the number of necessary choices. However, since at each stage, also options potentially incompatible with the configuration according to the prior choices are presented to the user; a latest made parameter selection can result in a rejection. Typically, this behavior will irritate the user who then must step back a number of steps, and choose differently.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,110 describes a system for solving a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) and constructing of a system, wherein a large CSP is divided into a plurality of subsets, which each only has two alternatives for each part. Allegedly, this division renders it possible to solve the large CSP relatively quickly. However, in practice, configuration problems often contain variables with very large domains, e.g. variables expressing dimensions like length, width and/or height. Therefore, this division-approach is not efficient. Namely, the number of subsets here becomes unrealistically large.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,170 reveals a solution for inference of partial knowledge in interactive configuration, which enables configuration of a set of object values in a computer, e.g. in order to configure a car by choosing a specific combination of engine, paint, accessories, etc. The object values are here constrained by a rule base defining a number of relationships between the objects or the object values. Knowledge about undetermined object values is deduced by means of at least one interruptible algorithm. Thus, it can be determined whether a user selection of some, or all of, the individual undetermined object values are possible or not. Nevertheless, the strategy proposed in this document is tightly linked to the configuration of a particular product having predetermined object values and constraints. In order to be applicable to the configuration of a different product the apparatus and the method performed thereby must be redesigned entirely. Naturally, this is highly inflexible.
Applicant's published U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0094175 discloses interactive computer-implemented support solutions for facilitating the configuration of complex artifacts. Here, a model translation module converts a configuration model into a CSP. The CSP, in turn, is defined by a set of variables, wherein each variable may attain a finite number of different values, and a set of constraints restricting which variable values that are simultaneously possible for the variables in the set of variables. A configuration engine calculates a solution to the CSP, which solution is optimal with respect to a value assigned to each variable in the CSP relative to a predefined optimizing criterion. The configuration engine also derives a set of optimal parameter values associated with the calculated solution. Hence, these parameter values describe the artifact's configuration.
Although this strategy is generally highly efficient, in practice the approach may be incapable of handling the configuration of very complex artifacts. Namely, the number of variables must be known on beforehand, and a large CSP may require exponential time to solve.


A wind turbine rotor blade has a blade root, a lightning protection conductor for dissipating a lightning current toward the blade root, a suction side, a pressure side, a lightning receptor arranged on the suction side, a lightning receptor arranged on the pressure side, and an integrally formed lightning receptor base, which is arranged in the wind turbine rotor blade and on which the two lightning receptors and the lightning protection conductor are fastened, wherein the lightning receptor base includes two fastening rings, which each have an internal thread, into which one of the two lightning receptors is screwed, and an outer diameter and an outer side, wherein the outer sides of the fastening rings are arranged with a spacing of less than one outer diameter from one another.

It is known to protect wind turbine rotor blades from damage by a stroke of lightning using a lightning protection device. For this purpose, a plurality of lightning receptors can be arranged on the rotor blade. The current from a flash of lightning striking such a lightning receptor is dissipated via a lightning protection conductor toward the blade root and from there via the nacelle and the tower of the wind turbine into the ground.
The lightning receptors and all other elements of the lightning protection device should be arranged in such a way that flashes of lightning only strike the lightning receptors. Each stroke of lightning at another location, whether it be another electrically conductive element of the wind turbine rotor blade such as, for example, a supporting structure consisting of a carbon fiber material, an electrical heating device or another electrical line, can under certain circumstances result in irreparable damage to the rotor blade. This also applies to flashes of lightning which strike a lightning receptor base or the lightning protection conductor itself at a distance from a lightning protection receptor.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,883,321 discloses a wind turbine rotor blade having two lightning receptors arranged opposite one another in the region of the blade tips. The lightning receptors are screwed to in each case one lightning receptor base. The two receptor bases are coupled to one another via a bolt and are connected separately from one another to a central lightning protection conductor via electrical lines.
WO 2011/080177 A1 discloses a lightning protection device for a wind turbine rotor blade. A conductive surface coating acts as lightning receptor and is coupled electrically, via rods, to a lightning protection conductor in the interior of the rotor blade.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,105,635 discloses a lightning protection device for a wind turbine rotor blade in which mutually opposite lightning receptors are coupled to a lightning protection conductor via a rod.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,133,031 discloses a wind turbine rotor blade in which two lightning receptors arranged on the pressure and suction sides are screwed to an integrally formed lightning receptor base in the region of the blade tip. The lightning receptor base is a solid, large-volume block consisting of an electrically conductive material.

Wind turbine rotor blade having a lightning receptor base and method for making the same


A music box includes a plurality of star wheels, a plurality of vibration valves, a plurality of anchoring members, a plurality of electromagnets, and a control unit. The control unit is configured to control one or more of the plurality of the electromagnets to be a first state by supplying a first electricity and control each of the plurality of electromagnets to be a second state by supplying a second electricity. Each of the plurality of anchoring members is configured to engage with one of the plurality of protruding parts in the second state. The one or more of the plurality of anchoring members is configured to rotate about a second axis extending parallel to a first axis in the first state, and the one or more of the plurality of anchoring members is positioned remote from the electromagnet with a gap therebetween in the first state.

Music boxes that play melodies are well known in the art. One such music box includes: a plurality of star wheels rotatably supported on a shaft and having a plurality of protruding parts protruding radially outward; a vibration plate disposed along the shaft and having a plurality of vibration valves corresponding to the plurality of star wheels; and a solenoid for each star wheel.
The solenoid is driven to control the rotation of the corresponding star wheel. The music box produces a melody by selectively contacting the vibration valves with the protruding parts on the star wheels. By controlling the rotation of the star wheels with solenoids, the protruding parts can be selectively made to contact and pluck the corresponding vibration valves at a prescribed timing. Accordingly, the conventional music box device can play arbitrary musical pieces, without having to replace a rotating member, such as a cylinder or disc.


The thickness of the entire surface of a thick semiconductor (94) layer on an insulator is determined all at once by dividing the surface into a plurality of pixels, by varying the length of a variable length optical path (110) in a Michelson interferometer (66) having an infrared source (62), illuminating the entire surface of the layer with an image of the IR source during the length variation operation, and by detecting (64) the product of the intensity (I.sub.s (z)) from the Michelson interferometer and the reflectivity R(t) of the layer as the path length is varied, such being indicative of the thickness of the layer, and by determining, for each pixel, which one of a plurality of groups of stored reflectance values, for a corresponding plurality of thicknesses, best matches the detected values, thereby providing a thickness map of the semiconductor layer.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for measuring the thickness of a semiconductor such as the outer layer of a semiconductor-on-insulator wafer for thicknesses of more than five microns and up to many hundreds of microns.
There are no accurate full aperture imaging systems which can measure very thick layers of silicon in a bonded wafer and provide a thickness map of the outer layer. Commercial instruments operate one point at a time on the wafer in either the ultraviolet or visible region and cannot measure films hundreds of microns thick since the high absorption in the silicon outer layer effectively eliminates fringe formation.
Even though infrared radiation is not absorbed as much, it is difficult to achieve a plurality of narrowband infrared filters such as would be required to expose the wafer separately to many different infrared wavelengths (as was similarly done in the above mentioned copending application Ser. No. 07/804,872) with visible light for relatively thin layers of silicon on insulator, i.e., on the order of four or five microns or even tens of microns thick.
Semiconductor manufacturers presently purchase silicon wafers that have been micropolished down to the four-to-five micron thickness range. The above cited patent application permits smoothing down to less than 100 nanometers with uniformity better than 10 percent. Nevertheless, it has heretofore been required to purchase wafers already micromachined down to the four-to-five micron thickness level as a starting point. This is due to the inability of the visible light system disclosed in the above cited copending patent application to create a thickness map for wafers in the hundreds of micron thickness range for the reason of the absorption problems mentioned above.
It would be desirable to purchase thick wafers to begin with and be able to create a thickness map thereof so that high rate plasma assisted chemical etching (PACE) polishing might be used to remove the bulk of the layer now removed by conventional grinding and chemo-mechanical polishing technologies. If such thickness maps of thick silicon layers could be produced quickly (approximately one minute per map), then not only can less expensive starting wafers be used, but the map would allow partial smoothing of the outer film as the bulk of the layer is removed by a high rate plasma assisted chemical etching polishing process. The final thickness target would be in the four-to-five micron range and the additional smoothing afforded by the high rate PACE process would reduce local slopes and subsequently allow precise measurement with the visible metrology system disclosed in the above cited copending application.

Apparatus and method for thick wafer measurement


A hinge assembly includes a pivot shaft, a fixing module, a rotatable module, and a fixing member. The pivot shaft includes a first end and a second end opposite to the first end. The fixing module is non-rotatably sleeved on the pivot shaft adjacent to the first end and includes a first magnet. The rotatable module is rotatably sleeved on the pivot shaft adjacent to the second end and includes a second magnet. A polarity of the second magnet faces an opposite polarity of the first magnet such that the first and second magnets creating an attracting force. The rotatable module is pushed to tightly contact the fixing module by the attracting force such that a friction is created between the rotatable module and the fixing module to hold the rotatable module. The fixing member is fixed at the second end of the pivot shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to hinge assemblies and, particularly, to a magnetic hinge assembly used in a foldable electronic device having a top cover and a main body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Foldable electronic devices, such as notebook computers, are popular for their portability. In the foldable electronic device, a cover is rotatably connected to a main body via a hinge assembly. A typical hinge assembly may be a magnetic hinge assembly.
The typical magnetic hinge assembly includes a housing fixed in the main body, a pivot shaft fixed to the cover, a first magnet, and a movable second magnet. The housing defines a chamber. The pivot shaft is rotatably received in the chamber. The first magnet is fixed in the chamber. The second magnet is rotatably received in the chamber and sleeved on the pivot shaft. A polarity of the second magnet faces an opposite polarity of the first magnet such that the first magnet attracts the first magnet. Thus, the typical hinge assembly includes two stable positions. In a first stable position, a first polarity of the second magnet faces a first side of the first magnet, and the first side has a polarity opposite to the first polarity. In a second stable position, a second polarity of the second magnet faces a second side of the first magnet, and the second side has a polarity opposite to the second polarity.
To adjust a desired view angle of a display positioned in the cover, the cover generally needs to be opened to any angle relative to the main body, and remain in any position. However, the typical hinge assembly only includes two stable positions, so the cover only can be opened to two stable positions relative to the main body, and cannot remain in any other position.
Therefore, a new magnetic hinge assembly is desired to overcome the above-described shortcomings.

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A nonvolatile semiconductor memory apparatus of a reference type is provided with a memory circuit, reference circuit and differential amplifier. A drain current of a reference cell transistor is formed such that it becomes almost half a drain current of a memory cell transistor, thereby enabling the memory circuit to be in symmetric relation with the reference circuit. Therefore, a parastic capacitance in the memory circuit is made to be almost the same as that of the reference circuit, and thus a difference in noise level between a noise input to one input of the differential amplifier and a noise input to the other input of the differential amplifier is made to be almost zero, thereby speeding up the data read-out operation of the semiconductor memory apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory apparatus, e.g., an EPROM, an EEPROM or a mask ROM, adopting a reference method pertaining to the data reading. That is, this invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor apparatus comprising a memory circuit part equipped with a memory cell transistor, a reference circuit part equipped with a reference cell transistor, and a differential amplifier for outputting the content of the memory cell transistor by comparing the output from the memory cell transistor with the output from the reference cell transistor.
Generally, the operation of a nonvolatile semiconductor device can be speeded up by adopting a reference method, and a further speed up is possible with a reduction in noise effect in a differential amplifier.
2. Related Art
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory apparatus adopting a reference method has been proposed, as detailed in FIG. 1.
This nonvolatile semiconductor memory apparatus is an EPROM. It comprises a memory circuit part 1, a reference circuit part 2 and a differential amplifier 3, and reads out data by comparing the output voltage V.sub.MEM of the memory circuit part 1 with the output voltage V.sub.REF of the reference circuit part 2.
The memory circuit part 1 comprises a power source line 11 supplied with a power source voltage V.sub.CC, e.g. 5 V, an n channel MOS transistor (hereafter referred to as nMOS) 12 for a load, an nMOS 13 for bit line bias, a sense line SL, nMOS 14.sub.0 through 14.sub.m for bit line selection, bit lines BL.sub.0 through BL.sub.m, word lines WL.sub.0 through WL.sub.n and EPROM cells 15.sub.00 through 15.sub.nm making up a memory cell transistor.
nMOS 12 is a depletion type nMOS whose drain is connected with the power source line 11. Its gate and source are commonly connected, and its common connection point (hereafter referred to as node N.sub.MEM) is connected to one of the input terminals 31 of the differential amplifier 3 (turnover input terminal -) and a drain of nMOS 13.
nMOS's 13 and 14.sub.0 through 14.sub.m are enhancement type nMOS's. nMOS's 14.sub.0 through 14.sub.m, in particular, are the same size and have the same characteristics. Here, the source of nMOS 13 is connected to the drain of nMOS's 14.sub.0 through 14.sub.m via the sense line SL. The respective sources of nMOS's 14.sub.0 through 14.sub.m are connected to the drains of the first-line EPROM cells 15.sub.00 through the (n-1)th line 15.sub.n0, the drains of the second-line EPROM cells 15.sub.01 through the (n+1)th line 15.sub.n1, . . . , and the drains of the (m+1)th line EPROM cells 15.sub.0m through the (n+1)th line 15.sub.nm via bit lines BL.sub.0 through BL.sub.m.
The control gates of the first-line EPROM cells 15.sub.00 through the (m+1)th line 15.sub.0m, the second-line EPROM cells 15.sub.10 through the (m+1)th line 15.sub.1m, . . . , and the (n+1)th line EPROM cells 15.sub.n0 through the (m+1)th line 15.sub.nm are connected to word lines WL.sub.0 through WL.sub.n, and the sources of all the EPROM cells 15.sub.00 through 15.sub.nm are earthed.
EPROM cells 15.sub.00 through 15.sub.nm are all the same size. Their plan view and cross section are as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Here, 16 is a p type silicon substrate, 17 is a field oxide film, 15.sub.00C is a channel region, 18 and 19 are SiO.sub.2 (silicon dioxide) films, 15.sub.00FG is a floating gate, 15.sub.00CG is a control gate in the word line WL.sub.0, 15.sub.00 is a drain region, and 15.sub.00S is a source region.
This EPROM cell 15.sub.00 has a channel width W of 1.5 .mu.m (micro meters), a channel length L of 1.0 .mu.m (1 micrometer=10,000 angstroms), an overhang length A from the channel region 15.sub.00C of the floating gate 15.sub.00FG of 0.6 .mu.m, an oxide film thickness t.sub.CF between the control gate 15.sub.00CG and the floating gate 15.sub.00FG of 0.03 .mu.m (300 angstroms) and an oxide film thickness t.sub.FS between the floating gate 15.sub.00FG and the channel region 15.sub.00C, also of 0.03 .mu.m (300 angstroms).
Here, the capacitance C.sub.CF between the control gate 15.sub.00CG and the floating gate 15.sub.00FG is expressed as, ##EQU1## and the capacitance C.sub.FS between the floating gate 15.sub.00FG and the channel region 15.sub.00C is expressed as, ##EQU2## where .epsilon. SiO.sub.2 is the relative permittivity of SiO.sub.2 films 18 and 19, and .epsilon..sub.0 is the dielectric constant.
Also, the voltage V.sub.FG of the floating gate 15.sub.00FG is expressed as, ##EQU3## where V.sub.CG is the voltage of the control gate 15.sub.00FG and Q.sub.FG is the charge of the floating gate 15.sub.00FG. Therefore, if there is no charge in the floating gate 15.sub.00FG, ##EQU4## Substituting equations (1) and (2) into equation (4), ##EQU5## Substituting W=1.5 .mu.m and A=0.6 .mu.m into equation (5), EQU V.sub.FG =0.64 V.sub.CG ( 6)
Therefore, when V.sub.CG= 5 V, EQU V.sub.FG= 3.2 V
In the memory circuit part 1 thus configured, the gate of nMOS 13 is supplied with V.sub.BIAS, such as 2.5 V, and bit lines BL.sub.0 through BL.sub.m, i.e., the drains of EPROM cells 15.sub.00 through 15.sub.nm, are biased at about 1 V. This is purported to prevent a writing due to a so-called soft write phenomenon while data are read, if the drain voltages of EPROM cells 15.sub.00 through 15.sub.nm are too high.
Word lines WL.sub.0 through WL.sub.n are each supplied with word line selection signals X.sub.0 through X.sub.n so that a row is selected, and the gates of n MOS 14.sub.0 through 14.sub.m are each supplied with bit line selection signals Y.sub.0 through Y.sub.m so that a column is selected. These word-line selection signals X.sub.0 through X.sub.n and bit line selection signals Y.sub.0 through Y.sub.m are all either 5 V (the power source voltage V.sub.CC at a selection time) or 0 V (the earth voltage V.sub.SS at a non-selection time).
If the EPROM cell selected from among 15.sub.00 through 15.sub.nm memorizes the "ON" status, i.e., logical "1", a drain current flows through it. Conversely, if the selected EPROM cell memorizes the "OFF" status, i.e., logical "0", the drain current does not flow through it. Since nMOS's 12 and 13, as well as the nMOS selected from among 14.sub.0 through 14.sub.m and the EPROM cell selected from among 15.sub.00 through 15.sub.nm, configure a current-voltage conversion circuit, the existence of a drain current appears as a change in voltage V.sub.MEM of the node N.sub.MEM.
FIG. 4 shows the I.sub.DS -V.sub.FG characteristic of of EPROM cells 15.sub.00 through 15.sub.nm when the drain bias V.sub.DS is 1 V. When V.sub.FG =3.2 V in the "ON" status in this EPROM, as described earlier, I.sub.DS= 60 [.mu.A] (micro amperes).
The reference circuit part 2 comprises a power source line 21 supplied with a power voltage V.sub.CC, nMOS's 22 and 23 for a load, nMOS 24 for bit line bias, a reference sense line RSL, nMOS's 25.sub.0 through 25.sub.m for reference bit line selection (of which of nMOS's 25.sub.0 through 25.sub.m-1 are selected as dummy nMOS's), a reference bit line RBL, and EPROM cells 26.sub.0 through 26.sub.n making up a reference cell transistor.
nMOS's 22 and 23 are depletion type nMOS's the same size and having the same characteristics as nMOS 12. nMOS's 22 and 23 are connected in parallel. That is, their respective drains are connected to the power source line 21. Their respective gates and sources are commonly connected, and their respective common connection points (hereafter referred to as a node N.sub.REF) are connected to the other input terminal 32 (nonturnover input terminal +) of the differential amplifier 3 and the drain of nMOS 24.
nMOS 24 is an enhancement type nMOS of the same size and having the same characteristics as nMOS 13. The source of nMOS 13 is connected to the drains of nMOS's 25.sub.0 through 25.sub.m via the reference sense line RSL. nMOS's 25.sub.0 through 25.sub.m are enhancement type nMOS's the same size and having the same characteristics as nMOS's 14.sub.0 through 14.sub.m.
The sources of nMOS 25.sub.0 through 25.sub.m-1, are earthed, and the gates thereof are supplied with 0 V so that they are always in the "OFF" status. The source of nMOS 25.sub.m, however, is connected to the drains of EPROM cells 26.sub.0 through 26.sub.n via the reference bit line RBL, and the gates thereof are supplied with 5 V so that they are always in the "ON" status.
As for nMOS 13, the gate of nMOS 24 is supplied with V.sub.BIAS, e.g., 2.5 V, and the reference bit line RBL, i.e., the drains of EPROM cells 26.sub.0 through 26.sub.0, is biased at about 1 V.
EPROM cells 26.sub.0 through 26.sub.n are EPROM cells the same size and having the same characteristics as EPROM cells 15.sub.00 through 15.sub.nm. Their respective gates are connected to word lines WL.sub.0 through WL.sub.n and their respective sources are earthed. Electrons are not injected into the respective floating gates of EPROM cells 26.sub.0 through 26.sub.n, which are configured to be in the "ON" status when the power source voltage V.sub.CC is supplied to the control gate and to have the same drain current as that which flows when any of EPROM cells 15.sub.00 through 15.sub.nm of the memory circuit part 1 is turned to the "ON" status.
In the reference circuit part 2 thus configured, nMOS's 22, 23 and 24, plus any one of EPROM cells 26.sub.0 through 26.sub.n, configure a current-voltage conversion circuit. Since nMOS's 22 and 23 are parallel connected and their load resistance values are set at half that of the memory circuit part 1, the voltage V.sub.REF of the node N.sub.REF is set at the medium of the maximum and minimum values of the voltage V.sub.MEM of the node N.sub.MEM. Such an EPROM uses this voltage V.sub.REF as a reference voltage.
Because the node N.sub.MEM of the differential amplifier 3 is connected with one of the input terminals 31 (turnover input terminal -) and the node N.sub.REF thereof is connected with the other of the input terminals 32 (nonturnover input terminal +), when V.sub.MEM >V.sub.REF the differential amplifier 3 outputs a low level "L" (the earth voltage 0 V) to its output terminal 33, and when V.sub.MEM <V.sub.REF the differential amplifier 3 outputs a high level "H" (the power source voltage V.sub.CC). In this case, a voltage difference between V.sub.MEM and V.sub.REF of 50 mV suffices, and there is no need to change the output voltage from the memory circuit part 1 to either the high level "H" (power source voltage V.sub.CC) or the low level "L" (the earth voltage 0 V). In other words, if the node N.sub.MEM has a voltage change as low as 100 mV, data can be read out.
Therefore, access time of the EPROM adopting the reference method can shorten the access time.
Incidentally, in an EPROM adopting such a reference method, even when the voltage difference between V.sub.MEM and V.sub.REF is smaller than 50 mV, as long as the differential amplifier 3 can detect the difference, its response can be further speeded up. However, in an EPROM of the prior art, shown in FIG. 1, when data are read, since the memory circuit part 1 and the reference circuit part 2 configure asymmetric circuits, a difference arises between the stray capacitance to the input terminal 31 of the differential amplifier 3 and that to the input terminal 32 thereof. Therefore, when a noise generated from an output circuit (not shown in the drawing) is inputted to input terminals 31 and 32 of the differential amplifier 3, a difference arises between the levels of the noises respectively inputted to the two input terminals 31 and 32. As a result, if a further speed up of an action of a nonvolatile semiconductor memory apparatus is aimed at with a difference between V.sub.MEM and V.sub.REF smaller than e.g. 50 mV, the apparatus tends to be affected by noise and to read data erroneously. The problem is that no speed-up can be achieved unless this point is solved.
To solve such a problem, this invention provides a nonvolatile semiconductor memory apparatus which adopts a reference method having a higher action speed with a smaller level difference between the noise inputted to each of the two input terminals of the differential amplifier by making the stray capacitance to the memory circuit part and that of the reference circuit part as near equal as possible.

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory apparatus


A package for optical components and a method for making the package are disclosed. The package comprises a quasi-planar substrate having a positioning floor, a platform and an optional ring frame of precisely determined height. Optical components picked and placed on a substrate floor, a raised platform and frame. A flexure assembly allows fine positioning of components requiring critical optical alignment.

The present invention relates generally to optoelectronic assemblies having optical components and methods for making the same; more particularly, the present invention relates to an assembly having optical components mounted on a quasi-planar substrate and a flexure and methods for making the same.
Sealed packages are necessary to contain, protect, couple to optical fibers and electrically connect optoelectronic components. Optoelectronics packaging is one of the most difficult and costly operations in optoelectronics manufacturing. Optoelectronic packages provide submicron alignment between optical elements, high-speed electrical connections, excellent heat dissipation, and high-reliability. Providing such features has resulted in optoelectronic packages that are an order of magnitude larger, costlier and difficult to manufacture than electronic packages, particularly for fiber coupled devices. In addition, current designs of optoelectronic packages and associated fabrication processes are ill adapted for automation because today""s high-performance butterfly packages are characterized by a large multiplicity of mechanical parts (submounts, brackets, ferrules . . . ), three-dimensional (3D) alignment requirements, and poor mechanical accessibility.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,006 by Kovatz discloses a package for an edge-coupled optoelectronic device. The package includes a cover with a window, so that optoelectronic device, such as, for example, a laser, may be coupled to external optics, such as a lens or an optical fiber. Although this package provides hermeticity and high-speed electrical connections, it does not provide for a way to mount and align collimation or coupling optics nor optical fibers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,178 by Kluitmans and Tjassens and U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,646 by Shigeno also disclose packages for optical and optoelectronic components. Kluitmans et al. discuss a package for a laser diode coupled to an optical fiber. The package includes a conducting rod so that the laser may be used at high speed. Shigeno describes a heat sink for cooling an enclosed laser diode, where the laser diode is preferably coupled to an optical fiber. However, in both of the above patents, it is difficult to align the laser diode with the optical fiber when constructing the package. Both designs use numerous parts in complex 3D arrangements and are unsuitable for automated assembly. U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,196 by Farmer discloses a package including a heat sink for a semiconductor laser, but provides no efficient means for coupling the laser to other optics.
Embodiments of the present invention overcome the limitations in the prior art.
An optoelectronic package is described. In one embodiment, the optoelectronic package includes a substrate having a floor, a first optical element coupled to the substrate, a second optical element, and a flexure coupled to the second optical element and the substrate to optically align the second optical with the first optical element.

Optical electronic assembly having a flexure for maintaining alignment between optical elements


An apparatus and method for transmission of wireless power to a plurality of chargeable devices. The apparatus and method include and provide for a wireless power transmitter including a power transmitting element configured to use a current at a first level to wirelessly transmit power sufficient to provide power to one or more chargeable devices positioned within a charging region. The apparatus and method further include and provide for a controller to detect a subsequent chargeable device positioned within the charging region and to adjust the current from the first level to a default level prior to communication with the subsequent chargeable device.

An increasing number and variety of electronic devices are powered via rechargeable batteries. Such devices include mobile phones, portable music players, laptop computers, tablet computers, computer peripheral devices, communication devices (e.g., BLUETOOTH devices), digital cameras, hearing aids, and the like. While battery technology has improved, battery-powered electronic devices increasingly require and consume greater amounts of power, thereby often requiring recharging. Rechargeable devices are often charged via wired connections that require cables or other similar connectors that are physically connected to a power supply. Cables and similar connectors may sometimes be inconvenient or cumbersome and have other drawbacks. Wireless power charging systems, for example, may allow users to charge and/or power electronic devices without physical, electrical connections, thus reducing the number of components required for operation of the electronic devices and simplifying the use of the electronic device. As such, wireless charging systems and methods that efficiently and safely transfer power for charging rechargeable electronic devices are desirable. Wireless power transfer systems include a power transmitting unit (e.g., a charging device or transmitter) and one or more power receiving units (e.g., a cellphone, a laptop, etc.) to be charged. The receiving units may be used to provide power to hardware and circuitry coupled to the receiving units. The power level transmitted by a transmitting unit may be adjusted to advantageously provide a preferred or sufficient power to the receiving units. The transmit power level may need to be readjusted upon the detection of configurations of various receiving units.

Apparatus and method for wireless power charging of subsequent receiver


A low rotational speed gear module includes a fixed tube member, a rotational sleeve, a first planetary gear set, a sun gear, and a second planetary gear set. The fixed tube member includes a first inner gear. The rotational sleeve includes a second inner gear. The first planetary gear set includes a fixing plate, first planetary gears fixed to one side of the fixing plate, and a driven gear fixed to the other side of the fixing plate. The first planetary gear is engaged at one side with the sun gear and engaged at another side with the first inner gear. The second planetary gear set includes second planetary gears. The second planetary gears is engaged at one side with the driven gear and engaged at another side with the first inner gear and the second inner gear.

A conventional planetary gear module includes an inner gear and multiple planetary gears. A sun gear is mounted on an output end of a motor, so that the power of the motor is output via the sun gear. The sun gear is inserted in the center of the inner gear. The planetary gears are interposed between the sun gear and the inner gear. Each planetary gear is engaged at one side with the sun gear and engaged at another side with the inner gear. Therefore, the output power of the motor is adjusted by the planetary gears and then transmitted to the inner gear.
However, the conventional planetary gear module does not effectively reduce a rotational speed, and also have trouble achieving a large torque or enabling a motionless state. When the inner gear is used to lift or lower a heavy object, the planetary gears can be rotated when the sun gear is not driven by the motor. The weight of the heavy object exerts a force to rotate the inner gear, and consequently, the heavy object will be pulled down at high speed by its own weight after the heavy object arrives a desired position or during a process of conveying the heavy object to a lower position.
In view of this, the inventor studied various technologies and created an effective solution in the present disclosure.


A two transistor mixer for mixing radio frequency signals in a communications device. A mixer core section comprised of a pair of matched semiconductor devices having their drain ports connected to a first common node through matched load resistors and their source ports connected to a second common node end. A local oscillator (LO) signal input connected to the first and second nodes, wherein the connection to the second node is through a current source. A radio frequency (RF) signal input connected to the gate ports of said pair of semiconductor devices and an intermediate frequency (IF) output obtained from the drain ports of said pair of semiconductor devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radio frequency mixers and, more particularly, to balanced mixers.
2. Prior Art
In the context of a communication device, such as a mobile phone, there is a need to combine the RF input signal with a local oscillator signal to generate an intermediate frequency signal for filtering. This function is performed in a mixer and it is this circuit component to which this application is directed.
A singly balanced mixer is shown in FIG. 3, and includes a differential pair of transistors connected to a collector of an RF-amplifier transistor. The local oscillator signal is connected to the bases of the differential switching pair and the RF input is connected to the base of the common emitter amplifier transistor. The RF-amplifier converts input RF-voltage to current at its collector. LO switching transistors alternate the routing of this current to either of the loads.
FIG. 4 shows a double balanced mixer, commonly known as a Gilbert cell mixer. A differential RF transistor pair converts differential RF input voltage to differential current. Two sets of LO switching transistor pairs are used to alternate the routing of the current at the output. The mixer operates as a sign-switcher. The double balanced mixer was designed, among other things, to eliminate the need, in the case of the singly balanced mixer, to cancel out. the local oscillator component from the IF signal. The proliferation of components over the singly balanced mixer, however, creates a sensitive matching challenge. For optimum performance, double balanced mixers require that the component pairs, be matched as close as possible in order to maximize port to port isolation and to reduce undesirable distortion. Conventional integrated double balanced mixer circuits may need compensation for any imbalance by either electrical means or even laser tuning.
It is a purpose of this invention to design a mixer having many of the attributes of the double balanced mixer, while minimizing matching problems. This is accomplished with a reduction in the number of components.
A mixer is provided for mixing radio frequency signals in a communications device. A single pair of matched transistors comprise the core of the mixer. Each of the transistors have their drain port connected to the in phase local oscillator signal(LO) through matching resistance loads and their source port connected to a reverse phase local oscillator signal(xe2x88x92LO) through a resistor acting as a current source. No DC bias is applied between such ports. The gate ports of each of the transistors in the pair receive the differential radio frequency signal. The intermediate frequency output is obtained from the drain ports of the matched transistors. In the positive half cycle of the local oscillator signal the mixer will operate as a differential pair having inverting power gain, while in the negative half cycle of the local oscillator signal, the mixer circuit will operate as two source followers, i.e. two non-inverting amplifiers having current gain. In this manner a mixer is provided with port to port isolation, low noise, and high linearity. This is accomplished with only two sets of matched components.


An artificial intelligence voice interactive system may provide various services to a user in response to a voice command. The system may perform at least one of: receiving user speech from a user; transmitting the received user speech to the central server; receiving at least one of control signals and audio and video answers, which are generated based on an analysis and interpretation result of the user speech, from at least one of the central server, the internal service servers, and the external service servers; and outputting the received audio and video answers through at least one of speakers and a display coupled to the user interactive device and controlling at least one device according to the control signals.

The present disclosure relates to performing tasks in response to user speech and, more particularly, to performing various tasks in response to a voice command and providing audio and visual feedbacks thereof.
Due to advances in speech recognition technology, major electronics manufacturers have introduced many electronic devices capable of performing tasks in response to user's voice command. Through such electronic devices, a user may perform simple tasks. However, there are many restrictions and obstacles to overcome for providing various types of services to users based on voice commands, performing tasks associated with the services, and providing audio and video feedbacks in response to the voice commands.

Performing tasks and returning audio and visual feedbacks based on voice command


A static gasket configured for establishing a seal between a cylinder head and an engine block including at least one layer having an opening and at least one compression bead. The compression bead extends circumferentially about the opening and projects out of a plane for deforming elastically when the gasket is compressed between the cylinder head and the engine block. A compression limiter which is formed from a metal wire is disposed radially between the opening and the compression bead for preventing the compression bead from being fully flattened, even if the cylinder head is overloaded onto the engine block. The compression bead is preferably induction and/or resistance welded to at least one of the layer(s).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to static gaskets of the type used to establish a gas-tight seal between two members to be clamped together, and more particularly to static gaskets such as cylinder head gaskets.
2. Related Art
In establishing a gas-tight seal between two members to be clamped together, such as a cylinder head and an engine block, it is common to use a static cylinder head gasket having one or more layers. Generally, at least one of the layer(s), sometimes referred to as a functional layer, has a compression bead to establish the fluid tight seal. The gasket may also include at least one distance layer, which may be configured to backload stoppers and limit the compression of the compression bead, thereby improving fatigue resistance. Unfortunately, while fastening the cylinder head to the engine block, the compression bead can be over-compressed and substantially flattened. If the compression bead is over-compressed, in addition to losing its ability to maintain a gas-tight seal, fatigue cracks can form in the area of the compression bead during the initial clamping or while in use. If formed, fatigue cracks ultimately reduce the ability of the static gasket to maintain a gas-tight seal, thereby diminishing the life and performance of the engine.
Some gasket manufacturers have begun producing multi-layer gaskets including compression limiters for preventing, or at least reducing, flattening of the compression bead between the cylinder head and engine block. However, these compression limiters are often costly and laborious to produce or may not sufficiently protect the compression bead from flattening.

Static gasket with wire compression limiter


A coupling having two coupling members with engaging faces; each face has a plurality of annular, concentric ribs of trapezoidal cross-section and grooves correspondingly shaped to receive the ribs on the other face; less than the entire contact area of each face is ribbed; a spigot on one in a recess coupling member is received for initially positioning the coupling members; devices for clamping the coupling members together.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to couplings for rigidly connecting two substantially coaxial machine elements, such as two shafts, for example, and which coupling is particularly suitable for transmitting torque. The coupling comprises two coupling members whose adjacent faces are clamped against each other.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Flange couplings are examples of known couplings of this kind. In these, the coupling members are formed as flanges with flat faces that are arranged normal to the axis of rotation and that press against each other. The coupling members are clamped together by bolts or similar connecting devices. The transmission of torque is effected purely by friction-locking, produced by tensile loading of the bolts. The torque which can be transmitted by these couplings is restricted when, due to lack of space, the flanges cannot be constructed as large as necessary.
It is known, e.g. from German Patent No. 1,066,818, to use tapered bores for attaching wheels, discs and the like to a shaft. Friction-locking couplings with complementary cone shaped friction surfaces are also known. It is known that is this type of coupling, where the coupling members press against each other via cone shaped faces instead of via flat faces, there is an increase in the clamping force exerted, so that greater torque can be transmitted. However, cone shaped clamping surfaces have the disadvantage that they may require a great deal of space in the axial direction. In addition, cone shaped complementary surface are expensive to produce as they have to be machined very accurately.
For these reasons, many other types of couplings are known in which other means are used to increase the torque which can be transmitted. For example, fitted bolts may be used and they may be inserted between the faces of the coupling members (see the journal "Konstruktion 1977", page 427, left-hand column), radial serrations may be formed (see German Patent No. 440,816), or tapered pins may be arranged to point in the radial direction between the coupling members (see German Patent No. 1,450,160). By any of these means, the friction-locking connection is supplemented or replaced by a form-locking connection. Couplings of this type are similarly expensive to produce. Some of these known couplings are also sensitive to impact or fluctuating torque, especially the coupling with a key. A coupling with radial serrations has the disadvantage that it produces a high axial thrust when transmitting torque.
In another known type of form-locking coupling (see German Patent No. 635,207), spiral ribs and grooves which engage in each other are machined in the faces of the flanges.
Moreover, other proposals have recently been made for form-locking couplings, especially for linking a universal jointed shaft with the shafts adjoining it. According to German Laid-Open Specification No. 25 54 574, the flanges of a flanged coupling have several groups of parallel teeth which mutually engage in each other. According to German Utility Model No. 77 05 744, the contact surfaces of the two flanges of a coupling lie in a plane which is determined by the axis of rotation. These proposals also have the disadvantage of high production costs.
In addition, it is common to all types of form-locking couplings that the coupling members cannot be assembled in any random position. They must first be brought into the correct relationship by rotating one member relative to the other.