A horizontal rotary transfer apparatus comprises an endless linked belt in which a plurality of holding and connecting links are alternately connected via joints so that a pallet on the holding link may be transported. The links are engaged with and driven by a pair of polygonal rotary plates such as a rectangle and a regular triangle which is located at both ends of the belt, thereby reducing installation space of the apparatus.

The present invention relates to a horizontal rotary transfer apparatus in which an endless linked belt is horizontally rotated so that loaded material such as pallets may be transferred.
For example, there is a known horizontal rotatable transfer apparatus which comprises an endless belt as mentioned in Japanese Utility Model Pub. No. 56-49942, the apparatus being shown in FIG. 5.
In the known apparatus, there is a pair of circular rotary plate 1 around which cut-out portions 1a are provided at regular intervals, each rotary plate 1 being rotatably mounted around a vertical shaft 1b. A linked belt in which a plurality of holding links 2 and connecting links 3 are alternately connected is wound around a pair of circular rotary plates 1 and is driven by suitable power means, so that material 4 on the holding link 2 is horizontally transferred.
However, in the known apparatus in FIG. 5, the distance "W" between parallel runs of the linked belt is substantially the same as the diameter of the circular rotary plate 1, which brings about a useless wide space between the two runs.
To decrease the distance "W" between the two runs, if the diameter of the circular rotary plate 5 becomes smaller, it is necessary to shorten the length of the links 6 and 7 so as to match the size of the circular rotary plate 5, which causes unstable transporting of loaded material.
The main object of the present invention is to diminish pulsatory motion generated in driving the link train by constructing a link driving device as follows.
A link driving device in a horizontal rotary transfer apparatus using a pair of regular triangular rotors (111), in which a plurality of links (21, 22) of a unit length which corresponds to the length of a side of said regular triangular rotor (111), each of the rotors (111) is rotatably mounted on each of pair of vertical axes (112) respectively. The links (21) and (22) ((21) which is a leading link) and (22)) of unit length are connected one after another by joining pins (114) to form a pair of endless link trains so that the link trains can be circulated.
The link driving device comprises a pair of endless chains (115a), (115b) which are wounded with a pair of sprockets (116a), (117a), (116b) and (117b) respectively along said pair of endless link trains used to which a plurality of engaging members (118) are attached at an interval equal to the unit length of the link (21,22), a pair of driving shafts (122a) (122b) disposed on a common axis so that at least one of the sprockets (116a) (116b) (117a) (117b) wound with the endless chain can be driven via transmitting means, a differential gear means (124) which interconnects rotatably the driving gear means (124) which interconnects rotatably the driving shafts (122a 122b) at the same or different speed, and a driving means which drives the driving shafts (122a) (122b) through said differential gear means (124).
The link driving device of the present invention is constructed as afore-described.
Hereinafter referring to the accompanying drawings, detailed description of the present invention is given as follows.


The present invention refers to teat cup cleaning in an automated milking system comprising a plurality of teat cups, each connected to a first end of a respective milk line (5), and the second end of each milk line being individually and automatically connectable to a first (7) or a second container (9), respectively, wherein, during milking of the teats of a milking animal, the plurality of teat cups are attached to the teats of the animal, the second ends of the milk lines are connected to said first container and vacuum is supplied to said first container in order to draw milk through the milk lines into said first container. The cleaning comprises supplying (41, 43) a cleaning fluid to at least a first (3) of said plurality of teat cups; connecting the second end of the milk line (5) connected to the first teat cup (3) to said second container (9); and supplying vacuum to said second container in order to suck cleaning fluid through the milk lines into said second container (9), while keeping said first container (7) at substantially atmospheric pressure.

The present invention generally relates to dairy farm machine milking and to teat cup cleaning related thereto.
Particularly, the invention relates to a method for teat cup cleaning in an automated milking system, and to such an automated milking system.
When a milking animal, such as a cow, presents for milking it is important to ensure that the teat cups to be attached to the teats of the milking animal are clean and free of any condition that could contaminate the teats of the milking animal. This need applies to both manual and automatic application of milking apparatus. Therefore, it is customary to wash the teat cups between the milking of each milking animal, either a cleaning liquid or only water is used.
One such teat cup cleaning technique as used by applicant comprises injecting water from below into the teat cups arranged with their respective teat receiving openings faced towards the floor, whereafter the water is allowed to flush back trough the openings and out on the floor. Using such a technique, there is a risk that milk remaining far up in the milk tubes to which the teat cups are attached, after washing, flows down into the teat cups and contaminates the same.
Another prior art teat cup cleaning technique is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,504 (CORNELL RESEARCH FOUNDATION) and in the Swedish patent application No. 8600770 (TAURINA) and comprises a forward flush method, wherein the cleaning liquid is injected into the teat cups from a cleaning liquid supply tank and flushed through a major part, including the milk jar, of the milking system and back to the cleaning liquid supply tank in a closed loop. Such a cleaning technique is however not intended to be performed such frequently as between the milking of each milking animal.
Still another prior art teat cup cleaning technique is disclosed in EP 0,385,539, A2 (LELY) and EP 0,510,779, A2 (LELY). Here, a rinse fluid container is connected to teat cups in upright positions, via respective rinse lines and rinse jetters, said jetters being attached to the respective teat cups in a fluid-tight manner, whereafter, due to vacuum, rinse fluid is sucked from the container, through the rinse lines and the jetters and into the teat cups, and further through respective milk lines to respective milk meters. Inside the milk meters, the rinse fluid flows from respective milk receptacles to respective measuring chambers, from where it is pumped (in the same manner as milk during milking) through respective discharge lines, and into a common discharge line. At the end of this common discharge line there is provided a three-way valve for feeding the rinse fluid through a second rinse line and back to the rinse fluid container in its first position and for admitting milk to be fed through a further milk line and to a milk jar loop in its second position.
Drawbacks of this cleaning technique includes that there may be a risk of contaminating collected milk in the milk jar loop if the three-way valve fails. The pumping of the rinse fluid through the common discharge line and the three-way valve gives an over-pressure in the three-way valve, the three-way valve thus being the only component that prevents rinse fluid from leaking into the milk jar loop. Further, the fluid-tight attachment of the jetters and the upright positions of the teat cups limit the discharge of all rinse fluid to be performed through the three-way valve.
WO 96/11568 (MAASLAND) discloses still another cleaning technique, which should be acknowledged, this technique being particularly designed for teat cup cleaning between pre-milking and milking. Three-way valves are arranged in immediate vicinity of respective teat cups, said valves connecting to respective pre-milking lines in their first positions and to respective milking lines in their second positions. No details of the washing principle as such are disclosed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for teat selective milking and teat cup selective cleaning in an automated milking system, which avoids at least some of the problems associated with prior art systems.
It is in this respect a particular object of the invention to provide such a method that is effective, fast, accurate, reliable, safe, easy to install and perform, and particularly of low cost.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide the method, which may be implemented by using a minimum of equipment.
These objects among others are, according to one aspect of the invention, attained by a method as claimed in claim 1.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for performing the method according to the first aspect of the invention.
In this respect, it is yet a further object of the invention to be integratable in an automated milking system.
Consequently, there is according to a second aspect of the present invention provided an automated milking system as claimed in claim 17.
Further characteristics of the invention and advantages thereof will be evident from the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention.

Method and apparatus for teat cup cleaning


An air cleaner device includes a filter element for filtering air and being disposed in a housing. The device comprises a hollow housing having an inlet portion, an outlet portion, and a flow passage therein which is communicated with the inlet portion and the outlet portion. The housing also has an opening which is disposed between the inlet portion and the outlet portion, and communicates the flow passage with the exterior of the housing. A filter element is inserted through the opening into the flow passage, disposed between the inlet portion and the outlet portion, so as to filter the air flowing through the flow passage. A lid is mounted on the housing for covering the opening. A resilient urging member allows the lid to be urged toward the housing so as to close the opening, and the resilient urging member allows the lid to be moved away from the opening when this urging is released. With this construction, by moving the lid, urged by the resilient urging member, to open and close the opening in the housing, the filter element can be easily inserted into and removed from the housing through the opening.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an air cleaner device for use in an internal combustion engine or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The type of air cleaner which improves the exchange of a filter element (air cleaner element) is disclosed in Journal of Nippon Denso Technical Disclosure No. 70-007.
This conventional air cleaner includes a housing of a resin or the like composed of a case and a cap. An opening is formed through an upper wall of the case, and a filter element is inserted into and removed from the case through this opening.
After the filter element is inserted into the case through the opening, a plate having a plurality of springs is inserted between the filter element and the case. The filter element is urged by the springs of the plate under a predetermined load to be supported within the case.
The plate is slidable vertically (i.e., upward and downward), and the filter element can be easily mounted relative to the case through the plate. Namely, in this conventional cleaner, the filter element can be slid vertically to be inserted into and removed from the case through the opening, without having to remove an air cleaner body from a vehicle. Therefore, the exchange of the filter element can be carried out in a short time without requiring much space.
In the above air cleaner, when the filter element is to be attached and detached, the element-urging springs are resiliently deformed so that the insertion and removal of the filter element can be carried out between the element-urging springs and a gasket. Namely, during the insertion and removal of the filter element, the filter element, while always urged the gasket by the element-urging springs, slides, and therefore the gasket may be caught between an element end plate and the housing, so that a load is applied to the gasket. This results in a possibility that the sealing ability of the gasket may be lowered because of the load exerted on the gasket. This makes it difficult to properly insert and position the filter element in the housing.


An assembly for fastening a compressible layer of insulation includes a threaded screw projecting through the center of a flat circular disk of a resilient plastic material. A central hub on the disk is received between the head and a flange spaced below the head to hold the disk adjacent the head, the hub being defined in part by resilient fingers which flex outwardly to let the flange pass through the hub as the screw and the disk are assembled together. An annular surface is formed on the underside of the disk at the periphery thereof to engage the insulation and ribs which decrease in width are formed on the underside of the disk and project radially from the hub to the peripheral surface so that an uplift force causes the disk to flex upwardly progressively from the periphery toward the center.

This invention relates to an assembly for fastening a layer of compressible material to a rigid member such as a layer of insulation to a roof deck and, more particularly, to an assembly which includes a metal fastener such as a screw projecting through the center of a resilient disk. The screw projects through the compressible layer and is threaded into the rigid member so that the head of the screw holds the disk down against the compressible layer. In the case of a roof, a waterproof membrane covers the insulation layer as well as the disks.
Uplift forces such as may result from wind tend to lift the insulation and the disk and this appreciably reduces the effectiveness of prior disks in holding the compressible layer down. Also, with prior assemblies, a downward force such as may be caused by walking on a roof causes the disk to slide down on the screw with the result that the membrane often is punctured by the screw head.

Assembly for fastening a layer of compressible material to a rigid member


The rotary housing of a hydrokinetic torque converter, which can be utilized in the power train of a motor vehicle--for example, in conjunction with a continuously variable transmission--contains a torque monitoring device which is installed in such a way that it does not take up any, or any appreciable, additional space, especially in the axial direction of the housing. The torque monitoring device can serve to transmit torque between the lockup clutch and the output element of the torque converter. Additional features reside in the provision, configuration and manner of mounting of an auxiliary mass, and in the provision of a member for centering the piston of the lockup clutch in the housing as well as a member for centering the housing on the output element of a prime mover.

The invention relates to improvements in torque transmitting systems in general, and more particularly to improvements in so-called hydrodynamic or hydrokinetic torque converters.
A hydrokinetic torque converter which can be modified and improved to embody the present invention is disclosed, for example, in published German patent application No. 44 20 959 A1. A torque converter of the type disclosed in this published German patent application comprises a rotary housing which can be driven by the output element of a prime mover (such as a crankshaft or a camshaft of an internal combustion engine in the power train of a motor vehicle), a pump which is mounted in and is driven by the housing, a turbine which is rotatably mounted in the housing and can transmit torque to a coaxial output element of the torque converter, an optional stator which can be installed in the housing between the pump and the turbine, and a so-called lockup or bypass clutch which can be engaged to transmit torque from the housing directly to the output element.
Torque converters of the above outlined character are frequently combined with a hydraulic or hydromechanical torque sensing or monitoring device (hereinafter called torque sensor or sensor for short) which is normally designed to establish in a hydraulic supply conduit a fluid pressure proportional to the magnitude of transmitted torque. Such sensors are normally or often employed in conjunction with hydrokinetic torque converters which are designed to transmit torque from a prime mover to a continuously variable transmission (CVT). A torque sensor which is employed in conjunction with a hydrokinetic torque converter for controlled transmission of torque to a continuously variable transmission serves to ensure that one or more force transmitting parts are automatically acted upon with a pressure which is a function of the torque to be transmitted by the transmission.
A continuously variable transmission with two adjustable sheaves or pulleys and an endless flexible torque transmitting element (such as a chain or a belt) trained over the pulleys is disclosed, for example, in published German patent application No. 42 34 294 A1. A torque sensor is associated with at least one of the adjustable pulleys in order to ensure that the arcuate portion of the endless flexible element which is trained over the at least one pulley is clamped with a force which is proportional to the magnitude of the torque to be transmitted by the respective pulley. For example, the torque sensor can comprise preferably spherical rolling elements cooperating with surfaces arranged to transmit clamping and/or other forces related to the ratio of and to the torque to be transmitted by the torque converter.
As a rule, a torque sensor is installed next to the housing of a hydrokinetic torque converter, for example, between the torque converter and a continuously variable transmission. Reference may be had, for example, to pages 181-196 of the 1990 edition of German "VDI-Berichte" (meaning: Reports by the Association of German Engineers). A drawback of such mounting of a torque sensor is that, though it is or can be made readily accessible, it contributes significantly to the bulk of the power train, especially as considered in the axial direction of the torque converter.
Reference may also be had to commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,448 granted Sep. 16, 1997 to Oswald Friedmann for "POWER TRAIN". The patented power train employs a torque sensor which is installed between two torque transmitting systems in the form of clutches and an adjustable pulley of a continuously variable transmission. That clutch which is at least partially engaged receives torque from the output shaft of a prime mover, e.g., an internal combustion engine in the power train of a motor vehicle. In a motor vehicle wherein the space under the hood is at a premium, the placing of a torque sensor as a discrete part between neighboring constituents of the power train is likely to increase the overall axial length of the power train to an extent which renders the power train unsuitable for use in certain types of motor vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,737 (granted Mar. 25, 1986 to Niikura et al. for LOCK-UP TORQUE CONVERTER AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING CLUTCH SLIP IN LOCK-UP TORQUE CONVERTER) discloses a hydrokinetic torque converter with a lockup clutch and an electromagnetic torque sensor which is surrounded by the pump as well as by the turbine of the torque converter and is installed radially outwardly of the radially inner portion of the piston of the lockup clutch. Such distribution of the pump, turbine, lockup clutch and torque sensor in the housing of the torque converter contributes significantly to the space requirements of the torque converter, particularly in the radial direction of the housing.


A biocide composition that provides an organic and food grade biocide to serve as an insecticide, moldicide and fungicide. The biocide composition consists of honey; acetylsalicylic acid; polysaccharide; guar gum; bee propolis; decylglucoside; and water. The crystallization of the honey is central to the effectiveness of the biocide composition. The biocide composition is safe, 100% organic, environmentally friendly, and pesticide free. Thus, the biocide composition enables a process of keeping infestations under control without the use of dangerous chemicals. The composition is formulated through generally known analytical chemistry that includes a series of mixing, heating, crystallization, dilutions, and finally liquefying into a usable form for dispersion. The biocide composition kills rapidly and leaves a protective barrier behind when applied in a mist to the walls and surfaces of the plant.

Biocide is an active chemical molecule to control the growth of or kill bacteria. Conventional biocides available have several drawbacks. One type of biocide has oxidizing action to either kill the bacteria and fungi outright, or it weakens the cell walls so that they are more susceptible to the other main class of biocides. The other type of biocide involves highly toxic organic chemicals. Subclasses of toxic biocides are generally known as thiazoles, thiocyanates, isothiazolins, cyanobutane, dithiocarbamate, thione, and bromo-compounds.
In order to overcome the above drawbacks, the present invention uses crystallized honey as an essential ingredient to obtain an organic, food grade biocide that chiefly kills small insects and controls contamination and the growth of molds and mildews.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide an organic, food grade, three in one biocide that serves as an insecticide, moldicide, and fungicide. The generally organic nature of the ingredients that makes up the biocide composition results in a safe, purely organic, environmentally friendly, and pesticide free biocide. The present invention enables a process of keeping infestations under control without the use of dangerous chemicals, thus it may be used on plants and in proximity of food. Further it requires few costly ingredients or sophisticated laboratory equipment.
Numerous innovations for biocides have been provided as described below. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific purposes to which they address, they differ significantly from the present invention however.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,989,981, to Hamilton, teaches an insecticide compound especially useful for killing ants containing an ant poison including sugar, honey, a thallium compound, agar, and water. Hamilton does not, however, teach an organic 3-in-1 biocide that can act as insecticide, moldicide, and fungicide. Also it does not describe a biocide composition consisting of crystallized forms of honey, and other natural ingredients and several other advantages and improvement of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,191,259 to Pfaff et al., teaches an insecticide comprising an inert substance and a diazoamino compound free from sulfonic acid groups and carboxyl groups, however, Pfaff et al. does not teach an organic 3-in-1 biocide composition consisting of crystallized forms of honey and other natural ingredients that can act as insecticide, moldicide, and fungicide and several other advantages and improvement of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,935 to Tucker describes an insecticidal composition based on diatomaceous silica. But Tucker fails to disclose a biocide composition consisting of crystallized forms of honey and other natural ingredients that can act as insecticide, moldicide, and fungicide and several other advantages and improvement of the present invention.
WIPO published application WO2011057421A3 to Pontifica Universidad, teaches a phenolic extract honey to serves as a disinfectant and sanitizer for sanitary and domestic use, as well as for topical or systemic application as a bactericide and fungicide in living beings. Pontifica Universidad does not, however, disclose a biocide composition consisting of crystallized forms of honey and other natural ingredients that can act as insecticide, moldicide, and fungicide and several other advantages and improvement of the present invention.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for biocides such as insecticides or moldicides or fungicides have been provided that are adequate for various purposes. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described. Thus an organic, food grade, three in one biocide that serves as an insecticide, moldicide, and fungicide is needed.


An input apparatus includes: a light source that emits detection light toward a first direction, and raster scans a detection interface defined in space, with the detection light; a first light sensor that is disposed closer to the light source than the detection interface, and detects first reflected light which is the detection light that has been reflected; a second light sensor that detects second reflected light which is the detection light that has been reflected off an instructing body that has entered a detection region extending from the detection interface toward the light source; and a control unit that detects a coordinate value of the instructing body using received-light data obtained by the first light sensor and the second light sensor receiving light at the same timing.

There are known conventional input apparatuses that identify a position of an instructing body in three-dimensional space to enable input corresponding to the position (for example, see Patent Literature (PTL) 1). According to the technique disclosed in PTL 1, an image captured by a camera is analyzed so that a position of an instructing body is identified.


A tire applique comprising a laminate material of first, second and third layers, the first layer being a vulcanizable rubber latex coating or other elastomer, the second layer being a stamping material secured to the first layer, and the third layer being a data material hot stamped to the second layer. The tire applique is vulcanized or otherwise adhered to a tire surface to provide identification material for the tire.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates primarily to a method and apparatus for applying identifying markings on articles such as vehicle tires, and in particular to an identification applique which may be conveniently applied at a location which facilitates visual inspection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is often desirable to provide markings for vehicle tires to discourage unauthorized replacement or transfer thereof, particularly in respect to commercial operation of vehicles. Automobile rental agencies, for example, have particular need for permanently providing each tire on their automobiles which are leased with identification marking. This is true in particular because of the possibility of unauthorized tire interchange or substitution while the automobiles are beyond the agencies control for an extended period. In addition, public service commissions in many states require that trucking companies apply a variety of identifying indicia to trucks and trailers operating across their particular states. These requirements make additionally desirable an inexpensive, convenient means of vehicle marking.
Tire manufacturers supply each tire produced with a serial number, usually with many digits and typically of quite small dimension. These numbers are difficult to read, and may be positioned in a manner that makes the numbers inaccessible for viewing. The present invention provides a method and apparatus for applying identifying markings to articles such as vehicle tires, which provides an attractive and easily read marking.
In my earlier patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,216, issued on May 23, 1961, I disclosed a related method and apparatus for applying markings to vehicle tires. In accordance with that patent, a tire applique was provided which comprised a pad of rubber laminations of contrasting color. Identifying perforations were die cut into the pad laminations to provide the markings. This tire applique was found to be very useful, but is limited in that the amount and types of identifying material which could be included were limited by the die cutting procedure. The present invention overcomes that limitation and permits the use of a great variety of identifying matter to be applied to tires.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,544,262, issued to Midgley on June 30, 1925, there is disclosed a method for marking rubber. Under the Midgley procedure, the tires are formed with stocks of contrasting shades. Heat is applied to the tire to react upon the rubber mixture to produce a change of shade at this location. Coding devices formed with tires are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,225,810, issued to Enabnit on Dec. 28, 1965, and 3,233,647, issued to Newell on Feb. 8, 1966.


An auto focus image system that includes a pixel array coupled to a focus signal generator. The pixel array captures an image that has at least one edge. The focus signal generator may generate a focus signal that is a function of a width of the edge and/or statistics of widths of edges. A processor receives the focus signal and/or the statistics of the widths and adjusts a focus position of a focus lens. The width can be determined by various techniques including the use of gradients. An width determined along a prescribed direction is corrected for a slant of a boundary to which the edge belongs relative to the prescribed direction. The correction may use a peak gradient in the prescribed direction along the edge in conjunction with a largest gradient of a perpendicular direction within a predefined neighborhood of the peak gradient.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter disclosed generally relates to auto-focusing electronically captured images.
2. Background Information
Photographic equipment such as digital cameras and digital camcorders may contain electronic image sensors that capture light for processing into still or video images, respectively. Electronic image sensors typically contain millions of light capturing elements such as photodiodes.
Many image capturing devices such as cameras include an auto-focusing system. The process of auto-focusing includes the steps of capturing an image, processing the image to determine whether it is in focus, and if not, generating a feedback signal that is used to vary a focus position of a focus lens. There are two primary auto-focusing techniques. The first technique involves contrast measurement, the other technique looks at a phase difference between a pair of images. In the contrast method the intensity difference between adjacent pixels is analyzed and the focus is adjusted until a maximum contrast is detected. Although acceptable for still pictures the contrast technique is not suitable for motion video.
The phase difference method includes splitting an incoming image into two images that are captured by separate image sensors. The two images are compared to determine a phase difference. The focus position is adjusted until the two images match. The phase difference method requires additional parts such as a beam splitter and an extra image sensor. Additionally, the phase difference approach analyzes a relatively small band of fixed detection points. Having a small group of detection points is prone to error because noise may be superimposed onto one or more points. This technique is also ineffective if the detection points do not coincide with an image edge. Finally, because the phase difference method splits the light the amount of light that impinges on a light sensor is cut in half or even more. This can be problematic in dim settings where the image light intensity is already low.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Frequency synthesizer (1) has compensation circuit (45) and correction circuit (10). Compensation circuit (45) has compensation capacitor (46), while correction circuit (10) has detection capacitor (23). Correction circuit (10) charges/discharges detection capacitor (23) corresponding to the control signal of the PLL loop to generate a reference voltage. Compensation circuit (45) applies a voltage to compensation capacitor (46) on the basis of the reference voltage to cancel the ripple current included in the control signal. By making the time for charging/discharging detection capacitor (23) equal to one period of a comparison signal obtained by dividing the frequency of the external output signal of the PLL loop, it is possible to generate a reference voltage which can follow changes in the external output signal. Consequently, the ripple current can be correctly cancelled out by following the changes in the external output signal.

The present invention pertains to a frequency synthesizer. In particular, the present invention pertains to a frequency synthesizer that can correctly compensate for ripple current.
Frequency-division multiple channel access systems are used in cellular telephones. In order to shift the transmission frequency to an empty channel, a frequency synthesizer capable of high-speed locking is required.
Reference numeral (101) in FIG. 7 represents a conventional frequency synthesizer. A PLL (phase-locked loop) circuit of the fractional frequency-division type is used.
Said frequency synthesizer (101) is arranged in a semiconductor integrated circuit device which constitutes the sending/receiving circuit of a cellular phone. The frequency synthesizer comprises oscillator (131), frequency divider (132), reference clock signal generator (133), phase comparator (134), charge pump circuit (135), low-pass filter (136), compensation circuit (137), and control circuit (138). Oscillator (131) outputs an external output signal OUT. The external output signal OUT is input to frequency divider (132) and other circuits in the semiconductor integrated circuit device where said frequency synthesizer (101) is arranged.
Frequency divider (132) divides the frequency at the input external output signal OUT, generates a comparison signal; and then outputs the comparison signal. Said phase comparator (134) compares the phase of the comparison signal input from frequency divider (132) with the phase of the reference lock signal input from reference clock signal generator (133), controls charge pump circuit (135), and generates a control signal. The control signal is output to oscillator (131) via low-pass filter (136).
Oscillator (131) operates in such a way that the frequency of the external output signal OUT is varied according to the input control signal to make the phase of the comparison signal consistent with the phase of the reference clock signal. As a result, the frequency of the external output signal OUT becomes higher than the frequency of the reference clock signal by a multiple of the frequency division value of frequency divider (132).
Said frequency divider (132) is controlled by control circuit (138) so that its frequency division value varies periodically. For example, if the frequency of the reference clock signal is 200 kHz and the frequency division value is 5000 for seven clock cycles (35 xcexcsec) and 5001 for one clock cycle (5 xcexcsec), the average frequency division value obtained by averaging over eight clock cycles will be 5000.125 (=5000+xe2x85x9). The frequency of the external output signal OUT becomes 1000025 kHz, which is higher than the frequency of the reference clock signal by a multiple of the average frequency division value.
If the frequency division value is 4000 for six of eight cycles and is 4001 for the other two, the average frequency division value will be 4000.25, and the frequency of the external output signal OUT will be 800.050 MHz.
If the average frequency division value has a fractional part, it becomes possible to use a high frequency, such as 800 MHz or 1 GHz, in a narrow channel interval, such as 25 kHz or 12.5 kHz.
However, if the frequency division value is varied periodically as described above, even if after the external output signal OUT is locked to a desired frequency, a phase difference will occur due to inconsistency between the phase between the comparison signal and the reference clock signal. As a result, ripple current appears in the control signal output from charge pump circuit (135).
Reference symbol a in FIG. 8 indicates the waveform of the comparison signal output from frequency divider (132) after the external output signal OUT is locked when the frequency division value is varied by N and N+1. Reference symbol b indicates the waveform of the reference clock signal. Reference symbol c indicates the waveform of the ripple current included in the control signal output from charge pump circuit (135) as a result of inconsistency between the phase of the comparison signal relative to the reference clock signal.
The ripple current included in the control circuit [sic; signal] will cause a spurious component to appear in the external output signal OUT. Therefore, the ripple current not only impairs the receiving performance of the cellular phone or another telecommunication device but also acts as a source of interference during communication. This is a very serious problem.
A compensation circuit (137) having D/A converter (141) and capacitor (142) is arranged in said frequency synthesizer (101). D/A converter (141) varies the voltage applied to capacitor (142) to generate a compensation current of opposite polarity and the same amount of charge as the ripple current. The compensation current is superimposed on the control signal output from charge pump circuit (135) to cancel the ripple current. As a result, an external output signal OUT without the spurious component is obtained.
The amount of charge in the ripple current varies with time in such a way that it is an integer multiple of a certain amount of unit charge. The amount of unit charge is the product of the phase difference between the comparison signal and reference clock signal and the output current of the charge pump circuit. In the example described above, the frequency of the external output signal OUT was 1000025 kHz; if the output current of charge pump circuit (135) is a constant current of +1 mA or xe2x88x921 mA, the following Qr
Qr=(xe2x85x9)xc3x97(1/1000025 kHz)xc3x971 mAxc3x97xc2xd=62.5xc3x9710xe2x88x9215 (Coulomb)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(101)
becomes the amount of unit charge.
The aforementioned compensation current with a charge amount in the range of xc2x11 time to a maximum of xc2x17 times (xc2x1Qr) the amount of unit charge Qr is generated with the same period as the reference clock signal in the sequence of
+7Qrxe2x86x92+5Qrxe2x86x923Qrxe2x86x92+1Qrxe2x86x92xe2x88x921Qrxe2x86x92xe2x88x923Qrxe2x86x92xe2x88x925Qrxe2x86x92xe2x88x927Qr
In order to compensate for the ripple current, with the capacitance of capacitor (142) taken as Ct, if voltage Ve which satisfies the following equation
Ctxc2x7Vc=Qrxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(102)
is used as the unit and the output voltage is varied as xe2x88x927Ve, xe2x88x925Ve, xe2x88x923Ve, xe2x88x921Ve, +1Ve, +3Ve, +5Ve, and +7Ve by D/A converter (141), a compensation current with the opposite polarity and the same amount of charge as the ripple current can be generated.
However, as can be seen from said equation (101), the amount of the ripple current is proportional to the output current of charge pump circuit (135). Since the output current varies as a function of temperature, etc., the-ripple current cannot be compensated.
The general object of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned problems of the conventional technology by providing a technology which can correctly compensate for the ripple current.
This and other objects and features are provided by one aspect of the present invention by a frequency synthesizer comprising an oscillator that controls the frequency of an oscillation signal with an appropriate control signal, a frequency divider of the fractional frequency division type that frequency-divides the aforementioned oscillation signal and generates a comparison signal, a reference clock signal generator that generates a reference clock signal, a phase comparator that compares the phase of the aforementioned comparison signal with the phase of the aforementioned reference clock signal and outputs a phase difference signal, a charge pump circuit that outputs a current corresponding to the aforementioned phase difference signal, a low-pass filter that removes the high-frequency component of the current output from the aforementioned charge pump circuit and supplies its output as the conventional control signal to the aforementioned oscillator, and a compensation circuit that supplies a compensation current used for compensating the ripple current included in the aforementioned control signal to the output terminal of the aforementioned charge pump circuit; wherein the aforementioned frequency divider includes a prescaler which performs frequency dividing for the aforementioned oscillation signal and a counter that is operated corresponding to the output signal of the aforementioned prescaler to output the aforementioned comparison signal; and the aforementioned compensation current is determined on the basis of one of the frequency division values of the aforementioned prescaler which varies periodically, one period of the aforementioned frequency division value which varies periodically, and the time period of the aforementioned frequency division value.
Another aspect of the invention includes a frequency synthesizer having a correction circuit that includes a detection capacitor connected to the aforementioned charge pump circuit and is able to generate a reference voltage from the voltage of the aforementioned detection capacitor. The aforementioned compensation circuit includes a voltage generator that outputs a voltage corresponding to the aforementioned reference voltage, and a compensation capacitor connected between the aforementioned voltage generator and the output terminal of the aforementioned charge pump circuit. The capacitance ratio of the aforementioned detection capacitor to the compensation capacitor is determined on the basis of one of the frequency division values of the aforementioned prescaler that varies periodically, one period of the aforementioned frequency division value that varies periodically, and the time period of the aforementioned frequency division value. The aforementioned correction circuit charges/discharges the aforementioned detection capacitor with the output current of the aforementioned charge pump circuit only during the time period of one of the frequency division values of the aforementioned prescaler, and the aforementioned reference voltage is generated from the voltage of the aforementioned detection capacitor obtained by means of said charging/discharging.
A further aspect of the invention is provided by a the frequency synthesizer in which the time difference between charging and discharging of the aforementioned detection capacitor is set as the time for one period of the aforementioned oscillation signal whose frequency has been divided with one of the aforementioned frequency division values. The aforementioned detection capacitor is charged or discharged twice, and the aforementioned reference voltage is generated from the voltage of the detection capacitor obtained in that way.
Yet another aspect of the invention includes a voltage generator of the frequency synthesizer which outputs a voltage that is an integer multiple of the aforementioned reference voltage to the aforementioned compensation capacitor.
As described above, according to one aspect of the present invention, the frequency of the oscillation signal output from the oscillator is divided while the frequency division value is varied periodically by the prescaler in the frequency divider, and the counter operates correspondingly to generate a comparison signal. The comparison signal and the reference clock signal are input to the phase comparator.
The charge pump circuit of one aspect of the invention is operated by the phase comparator which compares the phase of the comparison signal relative to the input reference clock signal. A constant current is output from the charge pump circuit corresponding to the phase difference. After the high-frequency component is removed from the current with the low-pass filter, a control signal is obtained.
The control signal output from the low-pass filter of one aspect of the invention is input to the oscillator. The oscillator varies the frequency of the oscillation signal on the basis of the control signal. As a result, the frequency of the oscillation signal becomes higher than the frequency of the reference clock signal by a multiple of the average frequency division value. In this way, the frequency of the oscillation signal is increased, and the channel interval is reduced.
A compensation circuit of one aspect of the invention is arranged in the frequency synthesizer to generate a compensation current opposite in sign to the ripple current that appears in the control signal. Since the compensation current is superimposed on the control signal, the ripple current that appears in the control signal is cancelled out, and the spurious oscillation signal component is eliminated.
However, if the amount of charge in the ripple current varies and becomes inconsistent with the compensation current, the ripple current cannot be cancelled out correctly.
Therefore, a frequency synthesizer which makes the amount of the compensation current follow the variation in the amount of the output current of the charge pump circuit is proposed as one aspect of the present invention. Since the amount of charge in the ripple current is proportional to the amount of the output current of the charge pump circuit, once the reference charge amount becomes consistent with the amount of charge in the ripple current, the compensation current can follow the variation in the ripple current, if any exists. Consequently, the amount of charge in the compensation current can be kept equal to the amount of charge in the ripple current correctly and with only the opposite polarity.
The compensation circuit of the frequency synthesizer of one aspect of the invention has a compensation capacitor and a voltage generator. One end of the compensation capacitor is connected to the output end of the charge pump circuit, and the other end is connected to the voltage generator. The voltage applied to the compensation capacitor is varied on the basis of the reference voltage input to the voltage generator to generate a compensation current. The reference voltage is supplied from a correction circuit. The correction circuit has a detection capacitor which is charged/discharged by the charge pump circuit. The voltage of the detection capacitor is output as the reference voltage. In this way, the amount of compensation current can follow the amount of output current of the charge pump circuit. As a result, the amount of charge in the compensation current can be made to follow the amount of charge in the ripple current.
However, the unit amount of charge in the ripple current is expressed as the product of the phase difference between the comparison signal and the reference clock signal and the output current of the charge pump circuit. The amount of charge in the ripple current varies as an integer multiple of the amount of unit charge for the same period as the reference clock signal.
As a result, if the charge/discharge time of the detection capacitor is set regardless of the oscillation signal, which is related to the unit charge in the ripple current, when the period of the oscillation signal varies, then the charge/discharge time does not change following the variation in the oscillation signal, nor does the charge on the detection capacitor change as a result of charging/discharging.
Consequently, the amount of the compensation determined by the charge on the detection capacitor as a result of charging/discharging cannot follow the amount of the output current after the oscillation signal is varied. As a result, the amount of charge in the compensation current cannot follow the amount of charge in the ripple current to cancel the ripple current.
In one aspect of the present invention, however, if the reference voltage is determined, the capacitance ratio between the detection capacitor and the compensation capacitor is determined on the basis of one of the frequency division values of the aforementioned prescaler which varies periodically, one period of the aforementioned frequency division value which varies periodically, and the time period of the aforementioned frequency division value. The detection capacitor which satisfies the capacitance ratio is charged/discharged by the output current of the charge pump circuit only during the time of one period of the prescaler, and the reference voltage is generated from the voltage appearing at the two ends of the detection capacitor during charging/discharging.
Therefore, when the period of the oscillation signal varies, the reference voltage also changes correspondingly.
In the compensation circuit of one aspect of the invention, a voltage generator outputs a voltage corresponding to the reference voltage to the compensation capacitor, and a compensation current is generated when the compensation capacitor is charged/discharged. Therefore, when the reference voltage changes, the amount of compensation current also changes. The compensation current can follow the variation in the amount of the output current of the charge pump circuit which causes the variation in the oscillation signal.
Consequently, even if the oscillation signal varies, the amount of charge in the compensation current can follow the amount of charge in the ripple current, and the ripple current can be cancelled out correctly.
Also, the charge/discharge time of the detection capacitor in one aspect of the invention is varied. The difference between various charge/discharge times is set to be equal to one period of the aforementioned oscillation signal whose frequency has been divided by one of the frequency division values. The detection capacitor is charged/discharged at least twice. The voltage across the detection capacitor during each charge/discharge cycle is stored, and the reference voltage is obtained from this voltage difference. In this way, the error in the voltage value caused by the difference in time, which is taken by the switch that controls charging/discharging to change from the conductive state to the cut-off state, and the time taken by the switch to change from the cut-off state to the conductive state can be eliminated from the reference voltage. Consequently, the amount of charge in the compensation current can be made equal (with opposite polarity) to the amount of charge in the ripple current.

Compensation circuit for fractional-N frequency PLL synthesizer


A negative electrode active material with sufficiently high discharge capacity at a high rate, and a negative electrode and a lithium ion secondary battery using the negative electrode active material. A negative electrode active material according to the invention includes a negative electrode active material particle containing silicon and silicon oxide, wherein a surface layer part of the negative electrode active material particle is a layer with lower density than a core part of the negative electrode active material particle. With such a structure of the negative electrode active material, the sufficiently high discharge capacity at a high rate can be obtained.

A lithium ion secondary battery is lighter in weight and has higher capacity than a nickel-cadmium battery, a nickel hydrogen battery, or the like. For this reason, the lithium ion secondary batteries have been widely used as a power supply for mobile electronic appliances. The lithium ion secondary battery is also a strong candidate for a power supply to be mounted on hybrid automobiles and electric automobiles. With the size reduction and higher sophistication of the mobile electronic appliances in recent years, the lithium ion secondary battery used for the power supply is expected to have higher capacity.
The capacity of a lithium ion secondary battery mainly depends on an active material of an electrode. As a negative electrode active material, graphite is typically used. To meet the above demand, however, it is necessary to use a negative electrode active material with higher capacity. In view of this, metal silicon (Si) with much higher theoretical capacity (4210 mAh/g) than that of graphite (372 mAh/g) has attracted attention.
An example of the negative electrode active material including such metal silicon is a mixture of silicon and silicon oxide. In the case of using the mixture of silicon and silicon oxide, the stress due to the expansion and contraction of silicon in the charging and discharging is relieved by silicon oxide. Thus, this mixture is superior to silicon in the cycle characteristics. On the other hand, the mixture of silicon and silicon oxide has low electric conductivity. Therefore, when the current density in the discharging is high relative to the battery capacity, the discharge capacity is remarkably deteriorated. In view of this, to achieve higher discharge capacity at a high rate has been an important issue to enable the battery to be used as a power source for hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles.
In the technique suggested to suppress the deterioration in discharge capacity at a high rate, the surface of the negative electrode active material is covered with carbon to allow the negative electrode active material layer to have higher electric conductivity and higher discharge capacity at a high rate.

Negative electrode active material, and negative electrode and lithium ion secondary battery using the negative electrode active material


An imaging lens includes a first lens L1 having positive curvature radii on both an object side and an image side, a second lens L2 having a concave shape on both sides, and a third lens L3 having positive curvature radii on both the object side and the image side. The first to third lenses L1 to L3 are arranged in this order from the object side toward the image side. When the first lens L1 has a focal length f1 and the second lens L2 has a focal length f2, the imaging lens is configured such that a relationship f1>|f2| is satisfied.

The present invention relates to an imaging lens for forming an image on an imaging element such as a CCD sensor and a CMOS sensor. In particular, the present invention relates to an imaging lens suitable for mounting in a relatively small camera such as a cellular phone, a digital still camera, a portable information terminal, a security camera, an onboard camera, and a network camera.
An imaging lens to be mounted in a small camera has been required to have a high resolution lens configuration suitable for a recently developed imaging element with a high resolution, as well as to use a fewer number of lenses. Conventionally, various lens configurations have been proposed. Among the various lens configurations, a configuration formed of three lenses has been suitable for miniaturization and easy to correct various aberrations properly, and has been applied to many cameras.
An imaging lens disclosed in Patent Reference has been known as an imaging lens having such a three-lens configuration. The imaging lens disclosed in Patent Reference includes a first lens having positive refractive power; a second lens having negative refractive power; and a third lens having positive refractive power arranged in this order from an object side. In the configuration, the third lens has a shorter focal length relative to that of a whole lens system, that is, the third lens has relatively strong refractive power. Further, the first lens has refractive power stronger than that of the second lens. Accordingly, it is possible to correct a field curvature or coma aberration.
Patent Reference Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-76594
In recent years, miniaturization and resolution increase of cellular phones and cameras have been rapidly advanced, and even an imaging lens has been increasingly required to have more advanced performances than before. The imaging lens disclosed in Patent Reference has been known to properly correct aberration. However, the lens system has a relatively long focal length. Accordingly, it is difficult to reduce a distance of an optical axis from a surface of the first lens on the object side to an image plane. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve both miniaturization and satisfactory aberration correction.
In view of the problems of the conventional techniques described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an imaging lens with a small size capable of properly correcting aberration.


A method includes providing a server including a memory and a processor coupled to the memory; defining a plurality of databases in the memory, the databases including fields for respective client matters, and the databases including a plurality of notes for respective matters, the notes including text, and the databases including a plurality of buzzwords; associating respective buzzwords with descriptive pages; generating a user interface including a text editing screen area in which a user can type text for a note, the text including a plurality of terms; comparing terms to the buzzwords and, in response to a term matching a buzzword, indicating that the matching term is a buzzword in the user interface; and displaying the descriptive page associated with the typed buzzword in response to the user interacting with the buzzword indicating area of the user interface.

Various types of businesses use and maintain data related to the company's business, such as information about customers, existing projects, business opportunities, and completed projects. The data is stored in a database that is accessible to company employees.
To facilitate effective use of data, many business organizations have a system to help manage the company's interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects, commonly known as a customer relationship management (CRM) system or client management system (CMS).

Systems and methods for matching buzzwords in a client management system


In a fuel container (1) for a motor vehicle having a plurality of chambers (2, 4), a suction jet pump (18, 19) with a filling level sensor (11, 12) is arranged in each of the individual chambers (2, 4). A valve (24, 25) is arranged in a propellant line (20, 21) leading to the suction jet pump (18, 19). When a chamber (2, 4) is virtually empty, the supply of fuel to the suction jet pump (18, 19) is disabled and an unnecessary movement of the fuel is thus avoided.

The invention relates to a fuel container for a motor vehicle having a plurality of chambers for collecting fuel, having a fuel feeding unit whose feeding capacity can be regulated, having suction jet pumps which are arranged in at least some of the chambers of the fuel container and have the purpose of feeding fuel to the feeding unit, having a propellant line which leads from the pressure side of the fuel feeding unit to the suction jet pump, having a filling level sensor for acquiring the filling level of fuel, and having a control unit for evaluating the signals of the filling level sensor and for actuating the feeding unit.
Such fuel containers are usually designed as a saddle tank and are known from practice. In this context, the suction jet pumps are used to feed the fuel from the corresponding chamber to the feeding unit or to the chamber holding the feeding unit. The feeding unit frequently has a surge chamber which can be filled by a further suction jet pump and has the purpose of collecting fuel. It is already known to regulate the feeding capacity of the feeding unit as a function of signals of a pressure regulator which is arranged in the forward feed line, and thus as a function of the consumption of the fuel, in order to avoid unnecessarily pumping fuel around the fuel container. However, even when there is particularly low consumption, the feeding unit must maintain the feeding of fuel to the suction jet pumps, and thus ensure a minimum feeding capacity. This is generally achieved with a minimum pump rotational speed. As the number of chambers increases, the minimum feeding capacity rises since the number of suction jet pumps also rises.
A disadvantage with the known fuel container is that a large amount of fuel is moved to the fuel container as a result of the feeding capacity of the feeding unit which is defined by the number of suction jet pumps. In addition, when a fuel container is virtually empty, all the suction jet pumps are supplied with fuel via the propellant lines, even if there is no fuel present in the respective chamber. This movement leads to the formation of foam and to increasing vaporization of the fuel, which results in a high level of permeation of the fuel into the surroundings of the fuel container.
The invention is based on the problem of designing a fuel container of the type mentioned at the beginning in such a way that the movement of fuel is kept as low as possible.


The present technology provides an impact test device and method. The rotational speed of a rotary drum with a rubber sample attached on the outer surface is set to a desired rotational speed, the impact cycle for the surface of the rubber sample of the contact member by the repeat-impact mechanism is set to a desired cycle, the impact load by the contact member is set to a desired impact load by a weight member, a desired contact member is selected from among the plurality of contact members with different specifications, and the contact member is repeatedly made to collide with the surface of the rubber sample by rotating a vertical excitation roller and pivoting the arm portion in the vertical direction with a rotation shaft.

Various objects, including mineral resources such as iron ore and limestone, are conveyed by a conveyor belt. When the objects are conveyed by the conveyor belt, the objects to be conveyed are fed onto an upper cover rubber of the conveyor belt from a hopper or another conveyor belt. The fed objects to be conveyed are carried on the upper cover rubber and conveyed in a traveling direction of the conveyor belt. When the objects to be conveyed are fed onto the upper cover rubber of the conveyor belt, the upper cover rubber is subject to impact, and when the surfaces of the objects to be conveyed are sharp, the upper cover rubber sometimes sustains cut damage. Thus, in known art, various proposals have been made (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-40295A for example) in order to improve the cut resistance of the upper cover rubber.
A size and occurrence frequency of the cut damage, a wear amount, and the like occurring in the upper cover rubber significantly change depending on use conditions of the conveyor belt (including types of the objects to be conveyed). Because of this, it is preferable to perform an evaluation with requirements resembling the actual use conditions in order to accurately predict the impact durability of the upper cover rubber as much as possible. Because of this, it is required for a test device that performs evaluation to be able to set requirements matching various use conditions of the conveyor belt.
Though the object to be evaluated is not an upper cover rubber of a conveyor belt, an impact cushioning evaluation device with the purpose of evaluating the impact cushioning of a cushion body for a human such as an impact absorbing pad is known (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-233016A). The evaluation device proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-233016A is provided with a bar having an impactor disposed on a front end portion, and a back end portion pivoted by a rotation shaft. It is configured so that after the impactor is moved upward by pivoting the bar with the rotation shaft as the center, the impactor can be made to collide with the object to be evaluated disposed below by lowering the impactor downward. For conveyor belts, the objects to be conveyed continuously collides with the upper cover rubber. Furthermore, the objects to be conveyed collide with an upper cover rubber that is moving. Because of these reasons, it is not possible to reproduce requirements resembling actual use conditions of a conveyor belt.


Etch uniformity is improved by providing a thermal pad between an insert ring and electrostatic chuck in an etching chamber. The thermal pad provides a continuous passive heat path to dissipate heat from the insert ring and wafer edge to the electrostatic chuck. The thermal pad helps to keep the temperature of the various components in contact with or near the wafer at a more consistent temperature. Because temperature may affect etch rate, such as with etching hard masks over dummy gate formations, a more consistent etch rate is attained. The thermal pad also provides for etch rate uniformity across the whole wafer and not just at the edge. The thermal pad may be used in an etch process to perform gate replacement by removing hard mask layer(s) over a dummy gate electrode.

With the increasing down-scaling of integrated circuits and the increasingly demanding requirements to the speed of integrated circuits, transistors need to have higher drive currents with increasingly smaller dimensions. Fin Field-Effect Transistors (FinFETs) were thus developed. The FinFETs include vertical semiconductor fins. The semiconductor fins are used to form source and drain regions, and to form channel regions between the source and drain regions. Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) regions are formed to define the semiconductor fins. The FinFETs also include gate stacks, which are formed on the sidewalls and the top surfaces of the semiconductor fins.
In the replacement of dummy gates used in a gate-last fabrication, hard mask layer(s) of nitrides and/or oxides may be formed over a dummy gate electrode, such as polysilicon. Replacing the dummy gate can involve etching the hard masks, however, due to gate loading effects gate heights may have different heights and widths. Etching the hard masks may cause shortening of some of the gates, due in part to gate loading and etch rate variations in the etching chamber.
In a plasma etching process, a gas is first introduced into a reaction chamber and then plasma is generated from the gas. This is accomplished by dissociation of the gas into ions, free radicals and electrons by using an RF (radio frequency) generator, which includes one or more electrodes. The electrons are accelerated in an electric field generated by the electrodes, and the energized electrons strike gas molecules to form additional ions, free radicals and electrons, which strike additional gas molecules, and the plasma eventually becomes self-sustaining. The ions, free radicals and electrons in the plasma react chemically with the layer material on the semiconductor wafer to form residual products which leave the wafer surface and, thus, etch the material from the wafer.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


An apparatus for interpolating an image from a plural number of image values for a display having an array of display pixels more numerous than the number of images. The apparatus includes a generating device, a designating device, and first and second applying devices. The generating device generates image signals based on image data representing an image of a living body and for designating an array of pixels based on the image signals. The designating devices designates as primary image pixels a limited plurality of display pixels within the array of pixels. The first applying device applies the image values each to a respective one or more of the primary image pixels. The second applying device applies the image values to the remaining display pixels of the array according to an allocation pattern associating each remaining display pixels with a particular one of the primary image pixels, such that the distribution of display pixels associated with each primary image pixel is, at a distance from the respective primary image pixel, increasingly sporadic with increasing distance from the respective primary image pixel.

Various different tomographic techniques for imaging bodies for medical and other purposes are known and have found practical application. These include X-ray computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), and electrical impedance tomography (EIT).
Considering the last-mentioned technique in more detail, EIT involves the application of electrical signals to peripheral points of a body under investigation and the measuring, at other peripheral points, of electrical voltages or currents. The measurements provide data sets which can be processed to form an image representing the distribution of electrical conductivity or resistivity over a section of the body. EIT provides a relatively inexpensive tomographic technique in terms of the equipment required and does not involve any of the risks associated with some other techniques, such as radiography. A description of an EIT tomographic imaging system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,939, where the method of `backprojection` is disclosed, used for reconstructing the image from the data sets. This patent also teaches the method as applied to the study of rapid changes in the internal state of the body, enabling dynamic imaging of, for example, respiration response, cardiac response or gastric functioning.
Technical advances in hardware and software since the date of invention of the technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,939 now enable the production of EIT images in real time using parallel processing. Data acquisition at 25 frames per second (fps) is thus possible, enabling a clinician to display on a video monitor a real time colour image sequence representing the temporal changes of impedance within the body.
To be useful, the displayed image must appear large enough on the screen to be viewable from a reasonable distance. As presently used, a 16 electrode EIT system provides only 104 independent measurements at any one time. The backprojection image reconstruction matrix used generates 208 image pixels from these measurements, as this number of image pixels can conveniently be arranged within a circle inscribed within a square array of 16.times.16 pixels. If this image were displayed directly on a typical image display of, say, 512.times.512 display pixels, with each image pixel occupying one display pixel and the 208 occupied pixels being located immediately adjacent one another, the displayed image would be too small for convenient viewing. On a typical 14-inch diagonal CRT monitor the image would be only 7 mm in diameter.
To produce a larger and hence more useful displayed image, the relatively small number of image pixels must be spaced out over the array of many display pixels, and some means of image interpolation is required for allocating image display values to the display pixels located between the image pixels. An interpolation scheme should provide an acceptable transition between neighbouring image pixels whilst performing the required computation sufficiently quickly to enable the results to be displayed in real time, without requiring powerful and expensive hardware.
Two previous interpolation schemes used in EIT image display include nearest-neighbour interpolation and bilinear interpolation. In the former, a display pixel is assigned the image value of its most nearly adjacent image pixel, thus effectively merely enlarging each image pixel on the display. This method, also called `zero-order interpolation`, involves minimal computation time as a simple pattern remains constant in time, but can have the drawback of producing undesirable artifacts, such as very sharp boundaries within the displayed image which are highly distracting to the eye.
The method of bilinear interpolation involves calculating the image value of each display pixel for each frame as a linearly weighted sum of the values of the several most nearly adjacent image pixels, for example of the four nearest image pixels if these are distributed on a square lattice. Boundaries between image pixels are much less obtrusive than those obtained using nearest-neighbour interpolation. However, for each frame, a new image value has to be calculated for each display pixel, and this involves considerable calculation time. The image value of a particular display pixel is of course not necessarily that of any of the neighbouring image pixels, the values for the interpolated display pixels being in general both different from and more numerous than those of the image pixels. With the equipment currently commonly available it is unlikely that in the 40 ms frame time an image large enough for viewing by more than one or two persons is feasible. On the 14-inch CRT monitor the largest image producible in the available time per frame is approximately 50 mm in diameter.

Image interpolator for an image display system


A curved reflector of electro-magnetic radiation formed of an elastic, reflective membrane which utilizes a partial vacuum to provide the curvature to the membrane and an adjustable valve to vary such curvature, and therefore the focal length of the reflector. The valve comprises a central aperture in the membrane and a body adjustably mounted above the aperture with a flow restricting surface thereon which overlies the aperture.

In constructing a system for utilizing solar energy, it is highly advantageous to provide a solar reflector that can concentrate the solar energy and aim that concentrated energy at a specific target. This results in a more efficient system and can reduce the size and cost of the overall system.
While various solar reflectors, and reflectors of other electro-magnetic radiation, have been known in the art, they have tended to be heavy and expensive to make. In addition, many of these devices have complicated or imprecise mechanisms for varying the focal length of the reflector.
Such prior art devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,952,189, issued to Pajes, on Sept. 13, 1960; 4,033,676, issued to Brantley, Jr. et al, on July 5, 1977; and 4,046,462, issued to Fletcher et al, on Sept. 6, 1977. In addition a variable focal length reflector is disclosed in the article entitled "Variable Focal Length Mirrors", Review of Scientific Instruments, Volume 32, No. 2, February, 1961, pages 210-211, by J.C. Muirhead.

Curved reflector with adjustable focal length


A sheet discharge device includes: a sheet discharge path for discharging a sheet to be discharged; a plurality of sheet discharge trays disposed along the sheet discharge path; a plurality of switching guides disposed in the sheet discharge path corresponding to the sheet discharge trays, and being changed a position between a retracting position for being retracted so that the sheet being conveyed can pass through, and a distributing position for distributing a sheet being conveyed to the sheet discharge tray; and a switching mechanism which changes the position of the switching guide between the retracting position and the distributing position. This switching mechanism includes: a switching piece which interferes with the switching guide to switch the position of the switching guide, one transporting member which moves the switching piece among the plurality of switching guides, and a drive member driving the transporting member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet discharge device having a plurality of levels of sheet discharge trays, that is, a multi-tray device, and an image forming apparatus in which this sheet discharge device is applied.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus performs a predetermined image formation processing based on image information acquired by reading an original image or one transferred from the outside, and then performs print processing on paper (sheet) according to this image information. Paper on which print processing is performed is immediately discharged, or is discharged after post-processing, such as punching processing and stapling processing.
Some image forming apparatus have a multi-tray device, in which a plurality of paper discharge trays are installed in vertical parallel positions as paper discharge destinations. In an image forming apparatus having a multi-tray device, discharge paper conveying paths are provided along the edge of each paper discharge tray in the vertical direction.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H4-308865, for example, discloses a multi-tray device in which switching guides (distribution guides) for switching the paper conveying destination between the paper discharge path and the paper discharge tray, and solenoid devices for changing the orientation of each switching guide, are disposed on the paper discharge path at a position facing each paper discharge tray. In such a multi-tray device, however, the solenoid device must be installed for each of the plurality of paper discharge trays, which increases the number of components and therefore increases component cost.
To solve this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-137866 discloses a multi-tray apparatus in which a gate is disposed in each paper discharge path, without disposing the respective switching guide and solenoid device in the plurality of paper discharge trays. This gate is rotatably supported with the rotation support point formed on a wall surface on one side of the paper discharge path, and the top edge thereof contacts the wall surface on the other side of the paper discharge path by the biasing force of the biasing means. When paper ascends the paper discharge path, the paper moves while opening a gate by the ascending operation, and when paper descends, the paper is always received by a gate and discharged to a paper discharge tray corresponding to this gate. In this device, a paper discharge tray at the paper discharge destination is selected in advance, and immediately after the rear end of paper passes through the gate corresponding to the selected paper discharge tray, this paper is conveyed in reverse. Thereby the paper is discharged and guided to the gate, and discharged to the target paper discharge tray.
However, in the case of a multi-tray device that requires the reverse conveying of paper, paper is unnecessarily conveyed in the forward direction until the rear end of the paper passes through the gate for the selected paper discharge tray, and then is reversed and discharged to the paper discharge tray. As a consequence, it takes an unnecessary amount of time to discharge the paper, for the amount of extra forward conveying and reverse conveying, and paper discharge efficiency is not good.

Sheet discharge device and image forming apparatus


A method, apparatus, and recording medium including computer instructions for estimating the size of a core section of a semiconductor integrated circuit are provided. The method includes calculating a total net length of wires of nets and usable channel length of the core section by referring to circuit information and a layout parameter that are used to design the semiconductor integrated circuit. The method includes determining a size of the core section that satisfies conditions based on total net length and usable channel length.

1. Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for efficiently designing a semiconductor integrated circuit.
To produce a semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI), a floor plan is designed based on a netlist obtained through logic synthesizing. Cells are arranged and routed in accordance with the floor plan to layout the circuit in detail, The circuit undergoes simulation to determine whether the layout of the circuit guarantees signal integrity (SI) and power integrity (PI).
The determination of whether the SI or the PI may be guaranteed is performed by determining whether or not an IR drop value (voltage drop value) exceeds a maximum value or by determining whether or not the value of the current flowing through an input/output buffer (hereafter referred to as IO buffer) exceeds a current capacity value. When the SI and PI cannot be guaranteed, the layout of the circuit must be redesigned.
The redesigning increases the design time and raises the design cost. It is thus important that redesigning be decreased.
One reason causing the IR drop value to exceed a maximum value (hereafter referred to as maximum IR drop value) or causing the value of the current flowing through the IO buffer to exceed the current capacity value (hereafter referred to as current capacity) is in that the quantity and locations (provisional quantity and provisional locations) of power supply pads determined through initial designing prior to the detailed routing of the circuit is inappropriate. Thus, in the prior art, the provisional quantity and locations of the power supply pads cannot be accurately determined.
In one prior art example, the provisional quantity and locations of the power supply pads are determined as described below.
(1) Rules are established based on past experience to obtain the quantity of power supply pads required to reduce simultaneous switching noise in an output buffer. The quantity of power supply pads may be determined in accordance with the rules.
(2) A clock buffer or the like is adjoined each power supply pad for the noise decrease.
In the prior art, the determination of the provisional quantity and provisional locations of the power supply pads is based on past experience mainly from the viewpoint of countering noise.
Japanese Laid-Out Patent Publication Nos. 11-297840 and 10-294380 describe processes for estimating chip size (more specifically, core size) before laying out the circuitry. In the process described in Japanese Laid-Out Patent Publication No. 11-297840, when predicting the wire length of a core section, factors of a netlist that affect the value of the wire length is not taken into consideration. In the process described in Japanese Laid-Out Patent Publication No. 10-294380, the wire region required around a circuit block may be determined from the arrangement of the circuit block.
2. Description of the Related Art
One aspect of the present invention is a method for provisionally determining quantity and positions of a plurality of power supply pads when designing a semiconductor integrated circuit including a core section provided with a plurality of nodes and the plurality of power supply pads, with each power supply pad being connected to the core section via an IO buffer. Each IO buffer has a predetermined current capacity. The method includes performing a power supply network analysis of the core section based on power consumption information of the core section and power supply wire resistance information, which includes resistances between the nodes, to calculate voltage values of the nodes. The method further includes calculating current values between the nodes from the voltage values of the nodes and the resistances between the nodes, calculating current values of the power supply pads from the current values between the nodes, determining whether the current value of each of the power supply pads exceeds the current capacity of the associated IO buffer, and eliminating or adding at least one power supply pad in accordance with the result of the determination.
Another aspect of the present invention is a method for provisionally determining quantity and positions of a plurality of power supply pads before detailed design of a semiconductor integrated circuit. The semiconductor integrated circuit includes a core section provided with a plurality of nodes and a plurality of power supply pads. The method includes initially defining all of the pads as power supply pads at which the potential is the same, and performing a power supply network analysis of the core section based on power consumption information of the core section and power supply wire resistance information, which includes resistances between the nodes, to calculate voltage values of the nodes. The method further includes calculating current values between the nodes from the voltage values of the nodes and the resistances between the nodes, calculating current values of the power supply pads from the current values between the nodes, determining whether there is a power supply pad for which current value is less than or equal to a predetermined current capacity, and adding a new power supply pad near a power supply pad for which current value exceeds the predetermined current capacity, and assigning a power supply pad as another type of pad when the current value of that power supply pad is less than or equal to the predetermined current capacity.
A further aspect of the present invention is a method for estimating the size of a core section of a semiconductor integrated circuit. The core section includes a plurality of nets, each including a plurality of wires. The method includes calculating the total net length of the wires of the nets and usable channel length of the core section by referring to circuit information and a layout parameter that are used to design the semiconductor integrated circuit. The total net length is the sum of the lengths of a plurality of first wires extending in a predetermined first direction and the lengths of a plurality of second wires extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and the usable channel length is the sum of a channel length in the first direction and a channel length in the second direction. The method further includes calculating the total length of the first wires, calculating the total length of the second wires, and determining the size of the core section that satisfies conditions of the total net length being less than or equal to the usable channel length, the total length of the first wires being less than or equal to the channel length in the first direction, and the total length of the second wires being less than or equal to the channel length in the second direction.
A further aspect of the present invention is a method for estimating the size of a core section in a semiconductor integrated circuit provided with a plurality of circuit blocks and the core section, which includes a plurality of repeater cells arranged between the circuit blocks. The method includes calculating the total area of the circuit blocks, calculating the area of a wire region extending around each circuit block to receive wires in order to calculate the total area of the wire regions of the circuit blocks, calculating the total area of the repeater cells, and calculating the size of the core section by totaling the total area of the circuit blocks, the total area of the wire regions, and the total area of the repeater cells.
A further aspect of the present invention is a method for estimating provisional wire capacitance in a semiconductor integrated circuit including a plurality of nets, each having a plurality of wires. The method includes calculating an average path length for nets having the same fan-out by referring to circuit information and a layout parameter that are used to design the semiconductor integrated circuit, calculating an average net length of the nets having the same fan-out based on the average path length calculated for nets having the same fan-out, and estimating the provisional wire capacity for nets having the same fan-out based on the average net length and the capacity per unit length of the associated wires.
A further aspect of the present invention is a method for estimating the size of a chip for a semiconductor integrated circuit provided with at least one core section and a plurality of power supply pads. The core section includes a plurality of nets, each having a plurality of wires, and each of the power supply pads being connected to the core section via an IO buffer having a predetermined current capacity. The method includes calculating the total net length of the wires of the nets and the usable channel length of the core section by referring to circuit information and a layout parameter that are used to design the semiconductor integrated circuit. The total net length is the sum of the lengths of a plurality of first wires extending in a predetermined first direction and the lengths of a plurality of second wires extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The usable channel length is the sum of a channel length in the first direction and a channel length in the second direction. The method further includes determining the size of the core section that satisfies conditions of the total net length being less than or equal to the usable channel length, the total length of the first wires being less than or equal to the channel length in the first direction, and the total length of the second wires being less than or equal to the channel length in the second direction. Additionally, the method includes performing a power supply network analysis of the core section based on power consumption information of the core section and power supply wire resistance information, which includes resistances between the nodes, to calculate voltage values of the nodes, calculating current values between the nodes from the voltage values of the nodes and the resistances between the nodes, calculating current values of the power supply pads from the current values between the nodes, determining whether there is a power supply pad for which current value exceeds the predetermined current capacity, eliminating or adding a power supply pad in accordance with the determination result and determining the quantity and locations of the power supply pads to calculate the area of an IO region in accordance with the determined quantity, and totaling the size of the core section and the area of the IO region.
A further aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit including a core section provided with a plurality of nodes and a plurality of power supply pads. The core section has a plurality of nets, each including a plurality of wires. Each power supply pad is connected to the core section via an IO buffer. Each IO buffer has a current capacity. The apparatus includes a storage device which stores power consumption information of the core section and power supply wire resistance information, including resistances between the nodes. A data processor is in communication with the storage device. The data processor performs a power supply network analysis of the core section by referring to the power consumption information and the power supply wire resistance information to calculate voltage values of the nodes, calculates current values between the nodes from the voltage values of the nodes and the resistances between the nodes, calculates current values of the power supply pads from the current values between the nodes, determines whether the current value of each of the power supply pads exceeds the current capacity of the associated IO buffer, and eliminates or adding a power supply pad in accordance with the result of the determination to determine the quantity and locations of the power supply pads.
A further aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit having a core section provided with a plurality of nets, each including a plurality of wires. The apparatus includes a storage device which stores circuit information and a layout parameter that are used to design the semiconductor integrated circuit. A data processor is in communication with the storage device. The data processor calculates the total net length of the wires of the nets and the usable channel length of the core section by referring to the circuit information and the layout parameter. The total net length is the sum of the lengths of a plurality of first wires extending in a predetermined first direction and the lengths of a plurality of second wires extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The usable channel length is the sum of a channel length in the first direction and a channel length in the second direction. The data processor further determines the size of the core section that satisfies conditions including the total net length being less than or equal to the usable channel length, the total length of the first wires being less than or equal to the channel length in the first direction, and the total length of the second wires being less than or equal to the channel length in the second direction.
A further aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit provided with a core section and a plurality of power supply pads. The core section includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of nets, each net having a plurality of wires. Each of the power supply pads is connected to the core section via an IO buffer having a predetermined current capacity. The apparatus includes a storage device which stores power consumption information of the core section, power supply wire resistance information, which includes resistances between the nodes, and circuit information and a layout parameter that are used to design the semiconductor integrated circuit. A data processor is in communication with the storage device. The data processor calculates the total net length of the wires of the nets and the usable channel length of the core section by referring to the circuit information and the layout parameter. The total net length is the sum of the lengths of a plurality of first wires extending in a predetermined first direction and the lengths of a plurality of second wires extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and the usable channel length is the sum of a channel length in the first direction and a channel length in the second direction. The data processor further determines the size of the core section that satisfies conditions of the total net length being less than or equal to the usable channel length, the total length of the first wires being less than or equal to the channel length in the first direction, and the total length of the second wires being less than or equal to the channel length in the second direction. Additionally, the data processor performs a power supply network analysis of the core section by referring to the determined size of the core section, the power consumption information, and the power supply wire resistance information to calculate voltage values of the nodes. The data processor further calculates current values between the nodes from the voltage values of the nodes and the resistances between the nodes, calculates current values of the power supply pads from the current values between the nodes, determines whether there is a power supply pad for which current value exceeds the current capacity of the associated 10 buffer, and eliminates or adds a power supply pad in accordance with the result of the determination to determine the quantity and locations of the power supply pads.
In the present invention, conditions of IR drop value and IO buffer current capacity that guarantee Si and Pi can be satisfied when the circuit is laid out for the first time. As a result, redesigning of the layout of the circuit and a major correction, such as reselecting the LSI package or changing the chip size will not be necessary, In the present invention, when estimating the wire length of a core section, factors of a netlist that affect the value of the wire length is taken into consideration. Thus, the core size can be accurately estimated. Further, in the present invention, a circuit block and the wire region required around the circuit block are determined. Thus, even if there are many circuit blocks, it is easy to accurately estimate the core size.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.

Method and apparatus for estimating core size in designing semiconductor integrated circuit