A profile element for connecting a vehicle pane to a water draining chamber includes a U-shaped snap-in recess formed by a bearing rib and a resilient leg disposed below the bearing rib. At an entrance into the snap-in recess, the bearing rib protrudes downward towards the resilient leg and the resilient leg protrudes upward towards the bearing rib so as to define an engagement aperture into the snap-in recess between an upper-most part of the protrusion of the resilient leg and a lower-most part of the protrusion of the bearing rib. A detent element is disposed in the snap-in recess behind the engagement aperture in an insertion direction of a rib of the water draining chamber.

A water draining chamber is used in motor vehicles underneath the vehicle pane for instance the windshield, said box collecting water from said pane and draining it sideways. Illustratively an extruded profile element or contoured extrusion molded element is used to affix the water draining chamber to and seal it against the lower edge of the pane and furthermore is fitted with a snap-in groove to detachably receive said box.
To preclude forming an offset or an edge in the transition zone between the pane surface and the profile element, the published German patent document DE 200 08 555 U1 discloses a design for sealing vehicle panes and including a cross-sectionally hooked profile element which is bonded to the lower edge of the vehicle pane. Said profile element comprises a resilient leg which, together with a ribbed wedge, constitutes an outwardly open snap-in seat. Said snap-in seat receives the water draining chamber which is fitted on its back side with a detent rib. A sealing lip is fitted onto the ribbed wedge and may be fitted between the lower pane edge and the upper edge of the water draining chamber's lid and in its assembled position ends flush with the external surfaces of water draining chamber and vehicle pane. A buffer strip made of a softer material is configured below the snap-in groove and allows resting the seal against the vehicle body.
The profile element must be supported by the vehicle body because a high resistance must be overcome when the water draining chamber is inserted perpendicularly to the pane surface into the profile element. In turn said resistance is required to always reliably affix the water draining chamber to said element, that is, in order not to accidentally coming loose when in motion on the road or on account of other mechanical or thermal loads. On the other hand maintenance frequently entails detaching the water draining chamber from the vehicle pane and reassembling it for instance when changing a filter.
However relatively high forces are always encountered when installing the water draining chamber and they directly act on the adhesive bond between the profile element and the vehicle pane. In the absence of the contoured body resting on the vehicle body or absent per se from such a body, there is danger of the installation stresses detaching the profile element from the vehicle pane.
The profile elements of the state of the art moreover incur the further drawback that resting on the vehicle body may entail annoying noises, especially so when the highly compliant support elements lose their elasticity with time.

Profile element connecting a vehicle pane to a water draining chamber


A restraining mechanism of an adjustable work table is disclosed for releasably restraining movement of a movable member of the table relative to a stationary member of the table. The restraining mechanism includes a clamping portion connected to one of the movable and stationary members, and a spring portion connected to the clamping portion for forcing the clamping means against the other of the movable and stationary members and thereby restraining movement of the movable member relative to the stationary member. The restraining mechanism further includes a pivot portion attached to the one of the movable and stationary members, and a lever arm portion, pivotably cooperating with the pivot, for contacting the clamping portion during pivotal motion of the lever arm portion and thereby operating against the bias of the spring portion to reduce the force applied through the clamping portion to the other of the movable and stationary members, to allow movement of the movable member relative to the stationary member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices useful for releasably restraining movement of a movable member relative to a stationary member. More particularly, the present invention relates to restraining mechanisms for adjustable tables.
2. Description of the Invention's Background
There are many situations where a movable member is movable relative to a stationary member. For example, in many adjustable work tables such as adjustable tool or vise tables there are often provided at least one base portion and at least one table portion which are movable relative to each other. Generally, a tool or vise is attached to one of the base and table portions. In the case of a tool, some type of workpiece guide surface is attached to the other of the base and table portions, and relative movement between the base and table portions thereby causes relative movement of the tool relative to the workpiece guide surface, and allows different positionings of the tool relative to a workpiece. For example, it is common in miter saws for base and table portions thereof to be rotatable relative to each other, and thus for the saw to be rotatable relative to workpiece guide surfaces thereof to allow miter cuts of various angles to be made with the saw.
In the case of a vise or clamp, the other of the base or table portions is fixed to a stationary object, such as a bench. Relative movement between the base and table portions then allows different positionings of a workpiece held by the vise or clamp relative to the bench.
In the situations where there is a movable member movable relative to a stationary member, it is often desirable to releasably restrain relative movement of the movable and stationary members. Thus, for example, in a miter saw, some mechanism for releasably restraining relative movement of the base and table portions is desirable, to hold the saw and the workpiece guide surfaces fixed relative to each other during cutting of a workpiece.
Many mechanisms have been proposed to effect such releasable restraint. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,782 to Clark, et al., discloses a locking and detenting portion for a power miter saw which includes a trigger latch member mounted on a swinging lever, which trigger pivots about a pin and includes a detent lug. A compression spring biases the trigger to urge the detent lug into any one of a number of recesses in a base front flange portion. A handle is additionally provided which can be threaded inwardly to force a vertical flange of a plate against the flange portion to secure the saw at angles other than and between those determined by the recesses 128.
There are several disadvantages to the arrangement described in the Clark, et al. patent. First, the trigger is only effective to latch a saw at certain preset angles. It does not provide a continuous range of angles at which the saw may be set. The handle provides such a continuous range, but requires that an operator must supply the force to frictionally secure a saw at a particular angle. The handle thus has the disadvantage that it requires an operator to supply a relatively large amount of force each time the operator wishes to secure a saw at a particular angle, and, in addition, that even the maximum amount of force which the operator can supply still results in a relatively weak frictional force, thus increasing the risk that the saw will move relative to a workpiece during a cutting operation.
Other devices are known Which include the same disadvantages as the handle of the Clark, et al. patent. For example, FIG. 9 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,548 to Sato, et al. illustrates a grip which is mounted to a rotatable turntable and which is threadable into frictional engagement with a side of a base, to thereby restrict rotation of the turntable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,453 to van Hauten discloses means to fix a saw table and saw unit relative to a fence, which includes bolts mounted in the fence. The bolts include sloped annular shoulders which mate with sloped annular shoulders in the fence such that turning of the bolts causes annular end faces of the bolts to be pressed against the saw table. FIGS. 6-10 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,937 to Garuglieri discloses a circular saw arrangement which includes a clamping lever which is rotatable to apply a load to an angular lever through a clamping bolt, and thence to the angled section of a screw bolt. The angled section thereby abuts against a projecting area of a guide-rib section of a table plate.
Each of the aforementioned devices includes a continuous range of angle settings, but requires an operator to apply a relatively large force to move a part into frictional engagement with another part. In addition, a maximum force which an operator can exert still generates only a relatively small frictional engagement force. In an apparatus that includes a high speed power tool which generates constant vibrations, it is undesirable to rely upon such a relatively weak force to prevent relative movement between a saw and a workpiece.
U.S. Pat. No. 766,791 to Richards discloses a locking mechanism for a miter saw, which includes a plug having a bearing face thereon for bearing upon a bearing face of a frame of a miter box. The plug is cut away to accommodate a rotatable rock shaft, which rock shaft is embraced by split hubs of a bow-shaped lever. The lever is biased by springs to bias the bearing faces into frictional engagement. The miter box of the Richards patent thus includes a continuous range of angle settings, and it also provides spring biasing so that an operator does not need to supply the force to frictionally engage two parts to secure the miter box at a particular angular setting. However, the frictional force supplied by the spring biasing of the Richards device still tends to be relatively weak, because the spring biasing is supplied through the same part, i.e., the lever, which an operator must move to release the frictional engagement. The larger the spring biasing force becomes, the larger the force the operator must supply to release frictional engagement. The spring biasing force can therefore not be too large or the operator will be unable to release the frictional engagement. In addition, the device of the Richards patent has the disadvantage that both spring biasing and releasing of frictional engagement are achieved through the lever, thereby through the rock shaft, and thereby through the plug, which unnecessarily increases the complexity and risk of failure of the device.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved restraining mechanism for releasably restraining movement of a movable member relative to a stationary member.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a restraining mechanism which can restrain movement of a movable member relative to a stationary member over a continuous range of relative positions of the movable and stationary members.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a restraining mechanism which does not rely upon an operator to generate a restraining force thereof.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a restraining mechanism that provides a relatively strong restraining force, but requires an operator to supply a relatively weak releasing force.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a restraining mechanism which is relatively simple in operation and relatively resistant to failure.


In order to easily provide data successively generated from a real world sensor network in a time series to a user, a unit for generally and flexibly performing mapping between a source for generating physical electronic information (for example, a tiny sensor node) and sensing data to be provided to the user is provided. Therefore, a manager of the sensor network is composed of a device management table for mapping among a wireless sensor node, a wireless base station, and a data managing server, a real world model table capable of including device information and giving plural attributes, a registration/search processing unit for registering/searching that information, and a data manager for data mapping between the tables.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of managing and using sensing data generated from plural sensors connected to a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, sensor network technologies for acquiring a large amount of sensing data from plural tiny wireless sensor nodes through a network have been developed. Sensor networks are different from the current Internet in that current services provided via Internet are restricted to virtual spaces, while sensor networks are fused with real spaces. Since sensor networks are fused with real spaces, they can provide various services depending on timing and locations. In other words, real world information is acquired as a large amount of sensor data, and transmitted via networks, and utilized for applications such as disaster monitoring, equipment monitoring, and security from a remote place. Further, a general-purposed sensing infrastructure can be applied to various applications. In JP-A-2005-122491, a technology is disclosed in which sensing environment and application environment are separately managed and the sensing environment is shared by plural applications.
In information search systems according to the related art, static electronic information to be searched for is input to and accumulated in a database on a network. Users can acquire desired information from a directory containing accumulated data information by changing of view or sorting, or search based on a keyword or an attribute.
However, in comparing with the case above, when considering a system for acquiring successive and time series sensing data by placing physical electronic devices within a real space (e.g., a sensor network), units and procedures for generally and flexibly matching physical electronic information generating sources (e.g., tiny sensor nodes) with sensing information to be presented to users are required. For this reason, it is difficult to apply information search systems as they are according to the related art.
For example, in JP-A-2005-122491, there is disclosed a technology of matching sensing environment to a specific application in advance for routing sensing data to pre-assigned applications. However, it is not disclosed how to easily present a large amount of sensing data, which is one of the features of the sensor networks, to users.

Sensor net system, sensor net system data managing method, and sensor net system data managing program


A method for filling bags with metered quantities of bulk products includes providing a first container and a second container having an assigned total volume. Each container is divided into two respective half-volumes, each half-volume being designed to feed product to a first station or a second station for filling bags, so that each container has a half-volume connected to the first station and a half-volume connected to the second station of the two stations. A first predefined metered quantity of product is provided inside the first container by dividing-up the metered quantity of product into two quantities equal to approximately half the metered quantity, each fed to a respective half-volume of the first container. A bag is conveyed to the first filling station. The bag is filled with the quantity of product of the first half volume of the first container.

It is known in the product sector relating to the packaging of bulk material that there exists the need to introduce said material inside bags, which must be filled with a given and precisely defined quantity of material and then sealed. It is also known that, for this purpose, automatic bag filling machines have been developed, an example of said machines consisting of so-called form, fill and seal machines, which are able to perform at high speed the cycle of forming the bag, filling the bag and final sealing of the bag mouth. These machines comprise in particular a station for filling the bag with the product contained inside a hopper arranged in a position substantially coaxial with the bag itself and higher than the level of the bag mouth, said quantity of filling product being able to be determined substantially using three main methods referred to as follows: a net-weight method (i.e., involving weighing the product before it is introduced into the bag); a gross-weight method (i.e., involving weighing the product together with the filling bag; and a volumetric method (i.e., where a predefined volume of product is prepared independently of the measurement of its overall weight).
Machines of this type, which are known for example from EP 0,595,778 in the name of the same present Applicant, comprise a bag filling step which is performed by allowing the product to fall by means of gravity inside the bag, which is filled with given quantities determined using one of the aforementioned metering methods. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a form fill seal (FFS) machine with a forming station F, a filling station R with fixed grippers for gripping the bag engaged with the product feed mouth, which station is provided with rotating valves 210 able to open and close; a station S for sealing the bag mouth and a conveyor 113 for conveying out of the machine the filled and sealed bag; FIG. 2 also shows in schematic form the working sequence performed by means for conveying the bag from one station to another with opening of the mouth, closing of the mouth after filling, and sealing of the mouth with release of the grippers.
Although fulfilling its intended function, this bag filling operation, which is performed in a single step, involves a number of problems due to the fact that the falling movement of the product generates a large quantity of dust, which tends to spread outwards, being dispersed in the environment or resulting in the need to use costly suction devices. In addition, with single-step filling, a large amount of air is also introduced into the bag and must be expelled to allow correct filling with the correct metered quantity of material. In addition to this, products such as cement products, finely ground calcium carbonates, powder milk, starches and the like have the characteristic feature that they increase in volume by more than 50% in terms of their own particular weight unit, owing to the air, which is trapped between the molecules of material. These products inside the bags, if not suitably treated, have a high instability and consequently require specific treatment for reduction of their volume and palletization so that they are ready for commercial distribution. In addition, it is also mentioned that a suitable compaction of the volume of product introduced into the bag results in a reduction of the material needed for packaging, thereby reducing the final cost and the impact on the environment.
In order to perform the packaging of these materials, auxiliary mechanisms such as vibrators and porous suction probes are used, these being designed to remove the air from the material already introduced into the bag and being installed on automatic machines, such as the abovementioned FFS machines for forming, filling and sealing the bag.
In addition to the above, a further problem is mentioned, i.e., that due to the fact that the apparatus for metering the product to be filled inside the bags are always affected by a certain degree of uncertainty with regard to the measurement operation. In fact, in the case of net-weight weighing, the quantity of product actually present inside the bag is approximate, with consequent weighing errors.

Method, apparatus, and machine for filling bags with a metered quantity of bulk material


A releasable hose fitting comprises a male member that mounts on the end of a flexible hose and a complementary female member that mounts on a hose receiving nipple. The male member includes a pair of arms that extend along the side of the hose and that include inwardly projecting barbs that grip the hose walls to hold the member on the hose. The male member also includes a pair of relatively resilient wings that extend along the side of the hose and that include outwardly projecting noses. The female member has a cup-like configuration including a wall portion defining an entrance opening in which the male member is received. A locking rim is formed on the inside surface of the wall portion. As the male member is pushed into the female member, the wings deflect inwardly until the noses clear the rim, whereupon they snap outwardly and lock behind the rim. The male member is released from the female member simply by squeezing the wings inwardly sufficiently for the noses to clear the rim.

This invention relates generally to hose fittings and, more particularly, to a fitting for flexible hoses which enables the hose to be snap-connected to a hose-receiving nipple, which securely retains the hose on the nipple under conditions of vibration and pressure development in the hose, and which enables the hose to be released from the nipple when desired by a relatively simple manipulation.
Flexible hoses are used in a variety of applications to conduct fluids between components. In the automotive field, for example, most modern day vehicles include gasoline engines that are equipped with anti-pollution equipment. Typically, this equipment comprises several interacting parts that are connected together, or to parts of the engine such as the carbuerator, distributor and the like, by small diameter flexible rubber hoses. It is important for the proper operation of the anti-pollution equipment and, in some cases, for the proper operation of the engine itself, that these hoses maintain their intended connections at all times during the use of the vehicle. It is equally important, however, that these hoses be readily removable from their connections when repairs to the anti-pollution equipment and/or the engine are to be made.
Prior arrangements for connecting flexible hoses to the operative parts of the anti-pollution equipment have typically involved design trade-offs between the retention and removal properties of the connection. In most prior designs, the part that receives the hose is equipped with a nipple which is dimensioned to fit within the internal channel of the hose. In some designs, a fastener, such as a screw-tightenable band or ring-shaped spring clip, is used to squeeze the hose against the inserted nipple and thereby to hold the hose in place. These designs are usually adequate in retaining the hose on the nipple in spite of engine vibration and high pressure development in the hose, but are disadvantaged because of the inconvenience involved in loosening or repositioning the fastener when the hose is to be removed from the nipple.
In other designs, no fastener is used, but the nipple is provided with peripheral ridges or barbs which grip the internal channel defining wall of the hose when the nipple is inserted. With the latter designs, the hose is usually easy to remove simply by pulling it from the nipple. However, hose manufacturing tolerances are such that the internal channel of the hose is sometimes too large for the nipple in which case the ridges or barbs are ineffective in gripping the hose. Also, through the process of removing and reinserting the hose on the nipple, the hose can stretch or split or material can be pulled from the internal wall of the hose to loosen the connection. Additionally, the hoses often become brittle with age, making it difficult for the nipple ridges or barbs to bite or grip the hose. As a result, the latter designs have experienced problems with the hose being vibrated or blown from the nipple.
There thus exists a need in the automotive field and in other fields utilizing flexible, fluid conducting hoses, for improved hose fittings that provide both secure retention and ready releasability when desired.


A method of controlling a current command by comparing voltage with a set value needs to vary the set value depending on voltage fluctuation, which involves taking a complicated control. A vector controller for a permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor, according to the present invention, can realize with a simplified configuration a field-weakening operation in a one-pulse mode in a high speed range by providing a current command compensator that corrects a current command by a corrected current command calculated based on a modulation index.

Vector control technologies for permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors (hereinafter abbreviated as "electric motor") using an inverter are widely employed in industry. By separately controlling the magnitude and the phase of inverter output voltage, a current vector in an electric motor is optimally controlled, so that torque of the electric motor is fast and instantaneously controlled. Permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors are known as high-efficiency electric motors in comparison with induction motors because no energizing current is needed due to establishment of magnetic field by the permanent magnet and no secondary copper loss is generated due to no rotor current. For that reason, application of permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors to electric railcars has been investigated in recent years.
Subjects with controllers in applying permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors to electric railcars are to realize a stable field-weakening operation up to a high speed range and to achieve a stable transition to a one-pulse mode in which inverter loss can be minimized and voltage applied to the electric motors can be maximized. The one-pulse mode is an operation mode for inverters, in which an inverter outputs, as its output line voltage, square waves having a positive and a negative maximum rectangular voltages of 120 degree durations each that are repeated one after another with a zero voltage period of 60 degrees therebetween, in one cycle, i.e., 360 degrees.
The following method is disclosed in Patent Document 1 as a related prior art. A voltage setting unit is provided that receives a voltage fixing command and a voltage command calculated based on a current command. When the voltage fixing command is input, the voltage setting unit outputs a voltage command as a new voltage command by setting its magnitude to a predetermined voltage set value. A magnetic-field-direction (d-axis) current command is then corrected using a magnetic-field-direction (d-axis) current correcting value obtained by taking a proportional-integral control of the difference between the voltage command calculated from the current command and the new voltage command. A modulation index for the inverter is then calculated from the voltage command to control the inverter, so that a field-weakening operation is performed.
Patent Document 1: Japan Patent Application Laid-Open No. H09-84399 (see paras. [0023]-[0029]).

Vector controller for permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor


Disclosed is a method for assisting an operator of a vehicle in adjusting a nominal steering angle at steerable wheels of the vehicle for the vehicle stabilization. An additional steering torque is applied to the steering line of the vehicle, which is determined dependent on a difference between a nominal steering angle and an instantaneous steering angle. The method is characterized in that a value of a load moment acting on the steering line of the vehicle is estimated, and that the additional steering torque is established dependent on the estimated value for the load moment.

The invention relates to a method for assisting an operator of a vehicle in adjusting a nominal steering angle at steerable wheels of the vehicle for the vehicle stabilization, wherein an additional steering torque is applied to the steering line of the vehicle, which is determined dependent on a difference between a nominal steering angle and an instantaneous steering angle.
Further, the invention relates to a device for assisting an operator of a vehicle in adjusting a nominal steering angle on at least one steerable wheel of the vehicle, comprising a means for adjusting an additional steering torque, which is determined by a control unit dependent on a difference between the nominal steering angle and an instantaneous steering angle.
When braking on an inhomogeneous roadway with different coefficients of friction on the left and the right longitudinal side of the vehicle, asymmetric brake forces may develop which cause a yaw torque that will induce rotational movement of the vehicle about its vertical axis. To prevent the vehicle from skidding, the driver is required to build up a compensating yaw torque by way of appropriate steering movements, said yaw torque counteracting the torque caused by the asymmetric brake forces. As this occurs, locking of the wheels should be avoided also on the vehicle side with the low coefficient of friction because the major reduction of the transmittable cornering force of a wheel, which comes along with wheel lock, can prevent the development of the necessary compensation torque. The situation at topic, hence, places high demands which regularly asks too much of inexperienced drivers in particular.
In vehicles with an anti-lock system (ABS), a controller prevents the wheels from locking. In situations of the type mentioned, a control strategy that is generally used has the objective of effectively decelerating the vehicle by way of a maximum high brake pressure in the wheel brakes on the vehicle side exhibiting the higher coefficient of friction, on the one hand. On the other hand, the driver must not be overloaded by a yaw torque caused due to different brake forces on the side with high and low coefficients of friction. Therefore, in the situations at topic, the control is carried out in such a manner that a difference between the brake pressures on the side with high and low coefficients of friction at the front axle of the vehicle develops only slowly in order to impart sufficient time to the driver to perform stabilizing steering movements. In addition, the brake pressure at both wheel brakes of the rear axle is limited to the value admitted for the low coefficient-of-friction side ('select low') to allow a sufficient rate of cornering force to build up at the rear axle, with a view to stabilizing the vehicle by steering interventions.
The presented measures enable the driver to master the vehicle easily, however, the coefficient-of-friction potential of the high coefficient-of friction side is not optimally utilized to decelerate the vehicle. Therefore, it has been proposed to include the steering angle of the steerable wheels of the vehicle into driving stability control and to have a controller and an appropriate actuator actuated by the latter adjust a steering angle, which brings about the necessary compensation yaw torque. The vehicle may thus be stabilized more quickly and more reliably so that a more 'aggressive' ABS control strategy can be chosen, which permits a more effective brake intervention and consequently a quicker deceleration of the vehicle. Also, it is avoided that the vehicle will be skidding due to insufficient or misdirected steering interventions of the driver.
International patent application WO 02/074638 A1 discloses applying an additional steering torque to the steering line of the vehicle, which is established from a deviation between the steering angle that is adjusted by the driver and a steering angle requirement, and which is set by an electronic power steering system. The steering angle requirement is determined from the estimated yaw torque that acts on the vehicle, the yaw rate of the vehicle, and the lateral acceleration of the vehicle.
The result is that the steering angle that is determined by the control unit is not adjusted directly, but the additional steering torque assists the driver when adjusting the steering angle.
However, the problem encountered in a control of this type involves that the additional steering torque will adopt excessively high values in a braking operation on a roadway with low coefficients of friction when the control is tuned to high coefficients of friction. When the control is tuned to low coefficients of friction, the additional steering torque is too low when braking on a roadway with high coefficients of friction in order to assist the driver effectively. This may cause erroneous or inappropriate steering interventions of the driver, which is frequently noticed as being uncomfortable.
In view of the above, an object of the invention involves improving a method of the same type to such extent that the vehicle can be stabilized more reliably and more comfortably in a large number of possible driving situations.

Method and device for assisting a motor vehicle server in the vehicle stabilization


A piezoelectric sensor with configurable sensitivity thresholds in response to at least one sensitivity threshold command received from a host (28) over a serial data bus (27). The piezoelectric sensor (2) is improved by configuring its microcontroller (26) such that                after receiving the sensitivity threshold command, to continue using the at least one actual sensitivity threshold until the sensitivity threshold command has been completely processed and the sensitivity threshold register (30) has been updated by the microcontroller (26), and then to swap to using the updated sensitivity threshold register with the adjusted sensitivity thresholds, and        after receiving the sensitivity threshold command, to discard any signals from all piezoelectric sensor elements (20) or at least from such piezoelectric sensor elements (20), to the sensitivity threshold of which the sensitivity threshold command relates, until the microcontroller (26) has completely processed the sensitivity threshold command and updated the sensitivity threshold register (30).

Piezoelectric material is material that converts mechanical stress into electrical voltage and vice versa. Traditionally, piezoelectric switches have been appreciated for their durability—a piezoelectric switch may withstand well over 50 million presses.
An excellent piezoelectric sensor is described in published patent application WO 2011/158154. The device described therein comprises in addition to a piezoelectric sensor element also a microcontroller. The piezoelectric sensor element is arranged below the surface of a device in such a manner that, when the device surface is being pressed with a finger, the at least one piezoelectric sensor element is bent, generating a voltage over the at least one piezo electric sensor element. The microcontroller is configured to read the voltage and to output a signal in response to the voltage, after having determined that the measured voltage output from the piezoelectric sensor element is stable enough.

Piezoelectric sensor, and an electrical appliance, an installation or a gadget comprising at least one piezoelectric sensor


A projector device includes a distance detector, an imaging unit, a projector unit, a driver, and a controller. The imaging unit detects a specific target object. The projector unit projects a projection image. The driver drives the projector unit such that a projection direction in which the projection image is to be projected is changed. The distance detector detects a state of the target object detected by the imaging unit. The controller controls at least one of the projector unit and the driver such that the projection image tracks the target object. The projection image has display data including a content for guiding the target object. The controller changes a content of information included in the display data in the projection image, which is to be projected while tracking the target object, according to the state of the target object detected by the distance detector.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a projector device that projects an image.
2. Description of Related Art
Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2007-312026 discloses an imaging projector device that projects an image while tracking a moving object. The imaging projector device has, in a housing, a camera that captures an object and a projector that projects a projection image onto the object which has been captured, the camera and the projector being mounted such that their relative position and orientation are fixed. The imaging projector device is supported by a turning device that performs a pan drive control and tilt drive control in an imaging direction of the camera and a projection direction of the projector. The imaging projector device can easily continue capturing a moving object and the projection of an image onto the moving object by performing pan and tilt drive controls by the turning device such that the size and position of a target object in the image captured by the camera are substantially constant.

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


One embodiment of the present application is directed to a protection technique for an electric power generation system. In one or more implementations, an electric power generator, generator control circuitry, electrical output sensors to provide one or more corresponding signals, electrical switching equipment to selectively couple the generator to an electrical load, and electric power feeder or branch circuit conductors, to route electric power from the generator to the switching equipment, are provided. The control circuitry is responsive to the sensor signals to determine if a shutdown condition exists as a function of a protection profile determined for the system. This profile may account for damage thresholds of the generator, the feeder or branch circuit conductors, the electrical switching equipment for each of a number of different combinations of level and duration of electrical output as represented by the sensor signals.

The present application relates to electrical power generation and electrical power distribution, and more particularly, but not exclusively to fault protection and predictive protection techniques associated with electric power systems.
Typically, circuit breakers are the primary protective device utilized for electric power generator systems. In the event of a fault condition, such as excessive electrical current, the circuit breaker is opened. A given circuit breaker may be packaged with fault detection capability and/or depend on external inputs to indicate a fault has been detected. Under certain circumstances, circuit breakers may improperly open in response to transient conditions resulting in a false trip; and under other circumstances, there may be an attendant delay in opening the circuit breaker resulting in damage to a generator, feeder or branch circuit conductors, transfer switch, transformers, utilization equipment, or other equipment of the power system.
Thus, there remains a need for further contributions in this area of technology.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Protection techniques for an electric power system


A method and apparatus for performing frequency analysis of sub-epoch correlations to estimate an unknown frequency of a received signal is provided. The method includes forming a sequence of correlation values from a plurality of correlations performed over a period less than a repeating period of a code, and analyzing the sequence of correlation values to estimate the frequency that is used to receive a signal comprising the code.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to signal correlators for digital signal receivers and, more particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for performing frequency synchronization.
2. Description of the Background Art
The process of measuring a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal begins with a procedure to search for the GNSS signal in the presence of noise by attempting a series of correlations of the incoming signal against a known pseudo-random noise (PRN) code. The search process can be lengthy, as both the exact frequency of the signal and the time-of-arrival delay are unknown. To find the signal, receivers traditionally conduct a two dimensional search, checking each delay possibility at every possible frequency. To test for the presence of a signal at a particular frequency and delay, the receiver is tuned to the frequency, and the incoming signal is correlated with the known PRN code delayed by an amount corresponding to the time of arrival. If no signal is detected, the search continues to the next delay possibility, and after all delay possibilities are checked, continues to the next frequency possibility. Each individual correlation is performed over one or more milliseconds in order to allow sufficient signal averaging to distinguish the signal from the noise. Because many thousand frequency and delay possibilities are checked, the overall acquisition process can take as much as tens of seconds.
Recently, new applications of GNSS technology in wireless devices have emerged, for example, the use of GNSS in cellular phones to provide emergency location capability. In these applications, rapid signal acquisition in just a few seconds is required. Furthermore, these applications require a GNSS receiver to operate in harsh signal environments and indoors, where GLASS signal levels are greatly attenuated. Detecting attenuated signals requires each correlation to be performed over a relatively long period of time. For example integration may be performed over a few seconds, as opposed to the 1-10 millisecond period used in traditional GNSS receivers. The two-dimensional sequential search process employed by traditional receivers to synchronize time and frequency values becomes impractical at such long integration times, because the overall search time increases by a factor of 100 or more.
To accelerate the search process, GNSS designers add additional correlators to the receiver so that multiple time of arrival possibilities can be tested simultaneously. Typically, each correlator that is added requires a separate code mixer and signal accumulator. For a given sensitivity level, this decreases search times in proportion to the number of correlators. To achieve the sensitivity and acquisition time demanded in cellular phone applications, the design might have to incorporate thousands of correlators. Various techniques, such as multiplexed use of correlators, have been developed to facilitate the functionality of many correlators without having the physical correlators in the receiver. Code delay tracking is typically performed by searching all possible code delays, finding a best matching delay, then establishing a "window" about the delay in which correlations are generated. The code is adjusted to maximize the correlation output.
To properly correlate a signal, the receiver must track both the code delay and frequency of the GNSS signal. Adding numerous parallel correlators reduces the time used to search for signal delays, but does not reduce the search time used to achieve frequency lock.
Frequency tracking is typically performed using a conventional phase or frequency lock loop. Once a frequency lock is achieved through an exhaustive search of all possible frequencies, the phase or frequency lock loop maintains the local oscillator at a frequency that optimizes the correlator output.
However, such exhaustive delay and frequency searches are time consuming and, once synchronization is received, the tracking techniques do not operate very well at low signal levels. Such low signal levels (−148 dBm to −160 dBm) are common during reception of GNSS satellite signals.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved technique for performing frequency search and tracking.

Method and apparatus for performing frequency synchronization


Liquid herbicidal compositions comprising aqueous solutions containing:. (a) N-phosphonomethylglycine or one of its derivatives, in the amount of at least 40 grams of glyphosate equivalent per liter of solution; and PA1 (b) a surfactant having activating character, of the formula ##STR1## wherein R is an alkyl radical having 4 to 12 carbon atoms, n is an integer from 2 to 10 and M is a hydrogen, sodium, ammonium or alkylammonium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to new concentrated formulations based on N-phosphonomethylglycine or on compounds containing an N-phosphonomethylglycine group.
2. Description of the Prior Art
N-phosphonomethylglycine (sometimes known as glyphosate), as well as analogous compounds, their herbicidal properties and formulations containing them, are described, in particular, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,758. Although many water-soluble or water-insoluble glyphosate derivatives are known, it is very generally preferred, in fact, to use the water-soluble derivatives, and for this reason the salts of N-phosphonomethylglycine are the derivatives which have been generally developed or marketed, especially the isopropylammonium salt.
More recently, European Patent Application No. 290,416 describes an effort which has been made to develop concentrates based on N-phosphonomethylglycine salts, capable of containing N-phosphonomethylglycine in acid form but in any case containing this N-phosphonomethylglycine and/or its derivatives in soluble or solubilized forms, these concentrates being characterized by the presence of an alkoxylated amine of a particular type. This alkoxylated amine must have at most 12 alkoxy groups per molecule, and must have the character of a surfactant and must promote the herbicidal activity of the N-phosphonomethylglycine derivatives. It can be used in smaller amounts than the known surfactants of the previously known formulations of N-phosphonomethylglycine, at least as regards the production of concentrates intended for outdoor application, in the form of dilute slurries, on the basis of 100 to 600 l/ha.

Herbicidal compositions comprising N-phosphonomethylglycine and alkyl polyoxyethylene phosphoric acid ester surfactants


Systems, methods, architectures, mechanisms or apparatus adapted to suspend or otherwise hang heavy objects such as chandeliers such as from a ceiling via a junction box suspended therein from a crossbar secured to one or more adjoining beams or joists via respective bracket housings configured to adjust an inclination of the crossbar secured therein.

Existing systems for hanging heavy objects from ceilings are cumbersome and extremely expensive. The systems are adapted to secure a standard electrical box such as a 4″×4″×1.5″ junction box to some mechanism adapted to attach to ceiling beams, joists or other structural members of a house or building. For example, a typical installation comprises securing the junction box directly to a structural member or securing the junction box to a cross piece secured between two structural members. Such installations work best within the context of new construction where all beams, joists and other structural members of the house or building are specifically located in appropriate positions to facilitate installation of the logical box.
Unfortunately, when retrofitting a house or building to include a heavy hanging object such as a chandelier, ceiling fan and the like, the location and construction techniques associated with beams, joists and/or other structural members within the ceiling are usually not known. In these cases, costs are increased due to the time necessary for custom installation work and/or the use of custom installation components.

System and apparatus for hanging heavy objects


A heat-resistant, high-impact polystyrene composition is disclosed, comprising:. (A) 100 parts by weight of high-impact polystyrene, PA0 (B) from 1.5 to 5 parts by weight of glass fibers, PA0 (C) from 2.5 to 10 parts by weight of a styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer, and PA0 (D) from 0.05 to 5 parts by weight of a metal salt of a higher fatty acid, PA0 the high-impact polystyrene (A) having a polybutadiene content of from 4.5 to 8.0% by weight and an average rubber particle diameter of from 0.5 to 2.0 .mu.m and containing no plasticizer; PA0 the glass fibers (B) having an average fiber length of from 0.5 to 2 mm and an average aspect ratio of 20 or more and having undergone surface treatment with a silane coupling agent; and PA0 the styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer (C) having a butadiene unit content of from 40 to 80% by weight.

Materials for housings of copying machine, OA apparatus, etc. and for interior automotive trims are required to have good appearance and high heat resistance and high impact resistance. As such materials, ABS resins and modified polyphenylene ether (hereinafter abbreviated as modified PPE) resins are being generally used.
ABS resins and modified PPE resins are expensive as compared with high-impact polystyrene (hereinafter abbreviated as HIPS) and, hence, there is a desire, in the industries, for a less expensive resin material in order to attain cost reduction.
Incorporation of glass fibers into HIPS which is less expensive than ABS and modified PPE has conventionally been practiced for the purpose of improving heat resistance. However, since the incorporation of glass fibers generally impairs the appearance and impact strength of the HIPS, the glass fiber-incorporated HIPS cannot be used as housings of copying machines, OA apparatus, etc. or as interior automotive trim materials, to which the composition of the present invention can be advantageously applied.

Heat-resistant high-impact polystyrene composition


A vehicle power supply apparatus includes a battery that is the main power storage device, a power feed line through which power is supplied to an inverter that drives a motor generator, a boost converter provided between the battery and power feed line to convert voltage, batteries that are a plurality of subpower storage devices provided parallel to each other, and a boost converter provided between the plurality of subpower storage devices and power feed line to convert voltage. The boost converter is selectively connected to any one of the plurality of subpower storage devices to convert voltage.

In recent years, electric cars, hybrid vehicles, fuel-cell vehicles and the like have been developed and adapted to practical use as environment-friendly vehicles. These vehicles are mounted with a motor and a power supply apparatus to drive the motor.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-209969 discloses a power supply control system of an electric traction motor for a vehicle. This system includes at least one inverter to supply adjusted power to the electric traction motor, a plurality of power supply stages each having a battery and an up-down voltage DC/DC converter, wired in parallel to provide DC power to at least one inverter, and a controller controlling the plurality of power supply stages such that the battery of the plurality of power supply stages is charged and discharged equally to allow the plurality of power supply stages to maintain the output voltage to at least one inverter.
In an electric car, it is desirable that the running distance allowed by one charge is as long as possible. Likewise with a hybrid vehicle that incorporates an internal combustion engine, a storage battery, and a motor, it is desirable that the running distance allowed per one charge without using the internal combustion engine is as long as possible in the case of a configuration in which the storage battery can be charged from an external source.
The amount of energy of the battery incorporated in a vehicle must be increased in order to lengthen the running distance allowed by one charge. The method of increasing the energy amount includes: 1) increasing the energy capacity per battery cell, and 2) increasing the number of mounted battery cells.
The method of the above 1) is disadvantageous in that the desired amount of capacity cannot be ensured since the upper limit is restricted in view of the strength of the case for the battery cells and the like. By the method of the above 2), a possible consideration is to increase the number of cells in series or in parallel.
The voltage will become higher when the number of battery cells is increased in series. In view of the breakdown voltage of the inverter and motor that are electrical loads, there are limitations in increasing the number of battery cells in series connection due to the upper limit by the breakdown voltage. Although the required capacitance may be ensured by connecting the battery cells in parallel, the capability of all the batteries cannot be thoroughly depleted since only some of the batteries will first become degraded if parallel connection is established without a power adjuster.
In a power supply control system that has a power adjuster provided for each battery, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-209969, the configuration will become complex to result in higher cost of the apparatus. Moreover, a relay of a large current capacity must be provided at each power supply when the power supply is to be used in a switching manner. The configuration will become complex, necessitating a device for switching.

Vehicle power supply apparatus, and vehicle


Systems and methods are provided for designing a preferred route for a vehicle. The route designing system receives a request from the vehicle for a preferred route from a first geographical point to a second geographical point. The route designing system analyzes the request and obtains driving scores associated with drivers of other vehicles. The route designing unit may identify a set of preferred and non-preferred vehicles based on the driving scores. The route designing system then determines a preferred route based, at least in part, on the driving scores associated with drivers of the other vehicles. The preferred route is designed to minimize the likelihood of proximity to non-preferred vehicles and maximize the likelihood of proximity to preferred vehicles.

Insurance companies value the safety of drivers and the general public. Accordingly, preventing clusters of bad driving behaviors is a matter of good policy. Although techniques exist to generally encourage safe driving, they might not provide a mechanism whereby drivers may avoid proximity to bad drivers while traveling from one geographical point to another. Further, these techniques might not allow good drivers to maintain proximity to each other.

Preferred vehicle routes based on driving scores from other vehicles


A method is provided for making a trench capacitor by forming a trench in a substrate. The trench is then widened and a sacrificial collar is formed on sidewalls of the widened trench. The trench is then vertically deepened to extend below the sidewalls of the sacrificial collar. Subsequently, a capacitor is formed in the trench below the sacrificial collar. An integrated circuit includes a deep trench structure formed in a single-crystal region of a semiconductor substrate including an upper trench portion, the upper trench portion having an opening of rectangular shape. A lower trench portion is formed below the upper trench portion. The lower portion may be widened to have a bottle shape. Alternatively, the upper trench portion may be widened relative to the lower trench portion.

The invention relates to a semiconductor processing method, and more particularly to an improved trench structure and method for processing a trench such as used as a storage capacitor of a dynamic random access memory.
The semiconductor industry's relentless drive to increase the circuit density of integrated circuits ("ICs" or "chips") demands that individual devices and circuit elements of a chip be reduced in size. In some dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), trench storage capacitors are used to store data bits. In those DRAMs which contain storage capacitors, the surface area of the chip occupied by the storage capacitor must be reduced with each new generation.
However, achieving such reduction in surface area is not straightforward. The different components of a trench storage capacitor scale unevenly. Some components such as the isolation collar formed in the trench above the storage capacitor cannot be reduced below a certain thickness such as 30 nm.
Trench capacitors are advantageously used in DRAMs because they allow capacitance to be increased without enlarging the surface area occupied by the memory cell. A trench capacitor is formed by etching a vertical structure into the silicon substrate. An increase in the capacitance can be achieved simply by etching a deeper trench, as opposed to "stacked" capacitors that require an increase in the area of the capacitor that occupies the main transistor-bearing surface of the chip. In addition, where planarity of a substrate is desired in processing a chip, trench capacitors are advantageous because their use does not affect the planarity of features on or above the substrate.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a prior art trench capacitor structure 10. The trench capacitor structure 10 is formed by a series of steps starting with etching a deep trench 111 into a single crystal region semiconductor substrate 100. The trench 111 includes a bottom 114 and sidewalls 116 and is separated into a lower portion 118 and an upper portion 119. The trench capacitor structure 10 is formed in the lower portion 118, while an isolation collar 160 is formed in the upper portion 119 to provide electrical isolation from nearby devices, such as transistors and other trench capacitors of the chip (not shown).
A buried plate 130 is typically formed in the single-crystal substrate 100 in the lower portion 118 of the trench as the first electrode of the trench capacitor 10. The buried plate 130 is typically formed by out-diffusion of n+ dopants from a dopant source inside the trench 111 into a region of the substrate 100 which surrounds the lower portion 118. For example, an n+ doped glass, such as arsenic-doped silicate glass (ASG), can serve as the dopant source if deposited onto the sidewalls 116 and bottom 114 of the lower portion 118. This would be done after the isolation collar 160 is in place in the upper portion 119. The dopant source is then driven into the lower portion 118 by an annealing process at high temperature. Alternatively, gas phase doping (GPD) could be used, also after the isolation collar 160 is in place.
A capacitor dielectric layer 140 is then formed on the sidewalls of the trench 111. Thereafter, a conductive fill 120, such as n+ doped polycrystalline silicon (herein after "polysilicon" or "poly") is deposited to fill the lower portion 118 of the trench 111 as a second capacitor electrode.
A buried well region is shown at 170. The buried well 170 serves to provide a connection between buried plates 130 of respective trench storage capacitor of a DRAM array in which the DRAM cell is located.
In some prior art methods, the trench 111 is etched into the semiconductor substrate with the aid of a pad stack 180 which includes a pad oxide layer 182 over which a pad nitride layer 184, also known as a pad stop layer is provided. The pad nitride layer 184 can be superposed with a hard mask layer 190, typically including a layer of deposited oxide.
In some other prior art methods, the final isolation collar is formed prior to subsequent processing steps which form the trench capacitor. The presence of some kind of collar in the upper part of a deep trench is imperative both for forming the buried plate and for the enhancement of node capacitance. The collar acts as a hardmask to block the outdiffusion of a dopant into the sidewalls of the upper part of the trench. The collar also prevents the silicon in the upper part of the trench from being etched.
However, as ever narrower trenches are required to reduce the chip surface area of a DRAM cell, particular challenges are presented. Narrower trench capacitors have smaller trench openings at the chip surface. Since the fabrication of a trench capacitor requires successive steps of deposition and etching of material layers through the trench opening, a narrow trench can become clogged, a condition commonly referred to as "pinchoff". In pinchoff, the opening of the trench may close up entirely or otherwise leave insufficient space for the deposition and etching steps are performed inside the trench.
This problem is particularly exacerbated by the thickness of the collar. In fact, in processing trenches at an exemplary width today (90 nm), formation of the final isolation collar prior to formation of the trench capacitor is no longer possible. This is because the final collar typically has a thickness of 30 nm on each sidewall of the trench. Given that the collar is formed on both sidewalls of the trench, in a 90 nm wide etched opening, the collar would leave an opening of only 30 nm through which all subsequent processing would need to be performed.
More recent approaches are focused on use of a thinner, i.e. significantly thinner than 30 nm, sacrificial collar to protect the upper portion of the trench during processing to form the trench capacitor. After such processing, the sacrificial collar is removed and later replaced with the final isolation collar.
In the prior art, there are two main classes of methods of trench processing that utilize a sacrificial collar in the upper part of a deep trench. In the first class, the deep trench is formed by a one-step process, preferably by reactive ion etching (RIE). A sacrificial collar is formed after etching the deep trench. Three common processes in this class are briefly described as follows, along with their inherent limitations.
These three processes are the anti-collar scheme, the sacrificial polysilicon scheme and the modified anti-collar scheme. In the anti-collar scheme, an oxide layer is first formed on the sidewalls of the trench. The trench is then filled with resist, and the top surface of the resist is recessed to a predetermined depth below the top of the trench. Thereafter, the oxide is removed from the upper portion of the trench. Then, the resist in the lower portion of the trench is stripped. This leaves only the bottom portion of the trench sidewalls covered by oxide. Next, the wafer is exposed to a nitrogen-containing atmosphere, such as NH3. By this step, a thin layer of nitride is thermally grown on the trench sidewalls only in the upper portion of the trench. The oxide in the lower portion prevents the nitride from being grown there. Thereafter, the oxide is removed from the sidewalls in the lower portion of the trench, leaving the nitride collar in the upper portion only.
An inherent limitation of the anti-collar scheme is that the maximum thickness of nitride that can be grown thermally is limited to about 25 Å. A layer having such thickness is not sufficient to act as a collar for subsequent processing.
The second method, the sacrificial polysilicon scheme, begins with the formation of a first oxide layer on the trench sidewalls, typically by thermal oxidation. A first nitride layer is then formed on the trench sidewalls by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). The trench is thereafter filled with polysilicon, and the top surface of the polysilicon is recessed to a predetermined depth below the top of the trench. Using in-situ steam growth (ISSG), the polysilicon and nitride surfaces are oxidized, and then a second layer of nitride is deposited by LPCVD. Anisotropic etch by reactive ion etching (RIE) is then used to remove the nitride and ISSG oxide on the polysilicon, while leaving the nitride and ISSG oxide on the sidewalls of the trench. An aggressive etch follows, in order to remove all of the polysilicon in the trench bottom portion.
The first nitride layer in the lower trench portion is then stripped, stopping on the first oxide layer. Simultaneously, the second nitride layer in the upper trench portion is stripped. The first oxide layer in the lower trench portion and ISSG oxide on the upper trench portion are then stripped, leaving a collar formed in the upper trench portion only. The resulting collar includes a thin layer of oxide and a layer of nitride.
Unlike the anti-collar scheme in which the nitride collar is formed by thermal growth, the nitride in the sacrificial polysilicon scheme is formed by LPCVD. Therefore, the nitride in the sacrificial polysilicon scheme may be of any thickness. This scheme, however, suffers from the following disadvantages: process complexity, and severe defect generation during polysilicon removal from the lower trench portion. The removal process must be very aggressive in order to completely remove the polysilicon. This may cause severe defect issues such as pinholes on the trench sidewall and damage to some surface features of the substrate such as alignment marks.
In the third process, the modified anti-collar scheme, a first oxide layer is formed on the trench sidewalls by thermal growth. Thereafter, a first nitride layer is formed on the first oxide layer by LPCVD. Then, a second oxide layer is formed on the nitride layer. Thereafter, a thin layer of polysilicon is deposited on the second oxide layer, and then the surface of the polysilicon is oxidized to form a third oxide layer. In such manner, a stack of three oxide layers and one nitride layer are formed on the sidewalls of the trench. The trench is then filled with resist, and the top surface of the resist is recessed to a pre-determined depth below the top of the trench. The third oxide layer is then removed from the exposed top portion of the trench sidewall, and then the resist is stripped. A second nitride layer is formed on the upper trench portion only by thermal nitridation. The bottom portion of the trench is covered by the third oxide, thereby inhibiting nitride growth on the lower trench portion. The third oxide is then stripped from the trench bottom portion, using a removal process which is selective to the second nitride layer. The polysilicon is then stripped from the lower trench portion, using a removal process which is selective to the second nitride layer. The first nitride layer is then stripped from the lower trench portion, stopping on the first oxide layer. Simultaneously, the second nitride layer on the upper trench portion is stripped, stopping on the polysilicon layer. The polysilicon layer is then stripped from the upper trench portion. The first oxide layer is then stripped from the lower trench portion. Simultaneously, the second oxide layer on the upper trench portion is stripped. A collar is thereby formed on in the upper trench portion only. Similar to the sacrificial polysilicon scheme, the collar includes a thin layer of oxide and a layer of nitride.
An advantage of the modified anti-collar scheme is that it avoids the aggressive polysilicon removal step. However, its disadvantages include: process complexity, poor collar quality in which the sacrificial collar can have "pinholes" due to the conditions in which the thin films are deposited. The multiple layers of film deposition may cause a high defect density in the sacrificial nitride collar. This process is also subject to the possibility of pinch-off in narrow trenches.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,883 describes a process in which a trench is formed by a two-step etch. As described in that patent, a trench is etched to a predetermined depth. A collar is then formed on the trench sidewall, and then a second etch is performed to reach the final depth of the deep trench. A problem of that process is collar integrity. In that process, it appears difficult to form a collar having good integrity because the collar is exposed to and damaged by ions and plasma during the second etch.
Consequently, an improved method of trench fabrication is needed using a sacrificial collar structure that avoids the problems of the prior art methods currently being practiced. The present invention provides such an improved method.
In addition to the above-described challenges of fabricating trench capacitors, the structure of the deep trench itself poses challenges to the achievement of desirable DRAM cell. For the vertical transistor in the upper portion of the trench to have good performance, it would be desirable for the deep trench to have a rectangular shaped cross-section, when viewed from top down looking into the trench.
However, resolution limits make that goal difficult to achieve by photolithography. Trenches having minimum width, i.e. width at the minimum lithographic feature size F, for example 90 nm, cannot be patterned lithographically and etched by conventional methods to provide a rectangular shaped cross-section. Instead, resolution limits cause trenches at that feature size to be patterned and etched in a somewhat octagonal shape. The octagonal shape is undesirable because it presents a set of three angled trench sidewalls to the active area at the main surface of the semiconductor substrate. Variations in the electric field at vertices between the trench sidewalls decrease performance of a transistor formed vertically along those sidewalls.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a two-step deep trench etch process in which a sacrificial collar is formed after the first etch step. In such manner, the sacrificial collar desirably retains satisfactory integrity during and after the second deep etch step.
It would further be desirable, in a two-step deep trench etch process, to widen the upper portion of a trench after a first trench etch step, prior to forming a sacrificial collar on the upper portion of the trench.
It would further be desirable, in a two-step deep trench etch process, to widen the upper portion of the trench in a semiconductor substrate selectively to one or more overlying layers serving as a mask for the second deep etch step. In such manner, an overhang would be desirably disposed over the sidewalls of the upper portion of the trench. Moreover, a sacrificial collar formed in the upper portion is desirably protected by the overhang from damage during the second, deep etch step.
It may further be desirable, in a two-step deep trench etch process, to widen the upper portion of the trench in a semiconductor substrate in an anisotropic manner to reshape the trench to a rectangular form. In such manner, the trench desirably presents a single planar surface to an active area at a main surface of the semiconductor substrate.

Method and structure for improved trench processing

International Business Machines Corporation


A dust-collection head for use in a dust-collection system. The outer end of the head has a substantially C-shaped configuration with a substantially curved face formed therein. At least two curved, parallel slots extend generally along the length of the face. A plurality of flow directors are disposed within a chamber formed in the housing of the head. And the flow directors extend inwardly from the face to form a number of flow passages within the chamber for providing a substantially even capture velocity along the face.

Exposure to dust when handling certain dust-producing materials may be hazardous to personnel. For instance, when dry-dumping a nickel-containing catalyst from a reactor into an open container, toxic dusts will be produced near the area of the container. Accordingly, to protect personnel in the area, some type of dust-collection equipment needs to be provided to render the work area substantially dust-free.
The present invention is directed to dust-collection equipment for accomplishing the above-stated purpose. In particular, it is directed to a configuration for a dust-collection head that is specifically designed to control the release of very small--100 microns and smaller--and toxic dust particles produced when dumping nickel-containing catalysts into open containers. But the dust-collection head of the present invention is not to be so limited; it may be used in a variety of situations where dust-control is important.

Dust-collection head for a dust collection system


A first access switch in the first Fabric receives a notification sent by a second access switch in the first Fabric, and the notification includes a nickname of the second access switch. The first access switch identifies an egress interface to a TRILL path from the first access switch to an access switch corresponding to the nickname in the notification. The first access switch stores the egress interface to the TRILL path in a fiber channel (FC) forwarding table. The first access switch forwards a received FCoE packet by using the egress interface stored in the FC forwarding table. The FCoE packet is forwarded by the first access switch without encapsulation with a TRILL header.

FCoE (fiber channel over Ethernet) is a technique for network convergence which utilizes fiber channel packets to enable an FC SAN (storage area network) and an Ethernet LAN (local area network) to share a single integrated network infrastructure, thus solves problems stemming from co-existence of networks of different types.
In an FCoE/TRILL (transparent interconnection of lots of links) convergence network, switches on the access layer (also referred to as access switches) and switches on the convergence layer (also referred to as convergence switches) both serve as Rbridges (routing bridges) in the TRILL network. Access switches are equipped with FCoE functions, and convergence switches are not equipped with FCoE functions.
Access switches have FCoE forwarding capabilities and TRILL forwarding capabilities, but do not support performing TRILL forwarding on packets which have been through FCoE forwarding nor performing FCoE forwarding on packets which have been through TRILL termination processing. Conventional access switches generally adopt port loopback for forwarding FCoE packets in a TRILL network, i.e., FCoE packets can be forwarded in a TRILL network only through loopback ports of switches on the access layer. Loopback ports occupy port resources. Furthermore, performances of the loopback ports may become the factor that restricts the performances of FCoE forwarding.

HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT LP


A mounting of a substantially spherical lens in a metal tubule, in particular for optoelectronic modules in manufacturable mechanically stable and with low expense. The spherical lens (1) is fastened in the thin-walled metal tubule or in its inner front edge through press-fit in the form of a contracting-down or contracting-on or a springiness.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a mounting for a substantially spherical lens in a metal tubule, in particular for optoelectronic modules, and a method for its production.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In electro-optical transducer modules for the optical information technology free-beam optics (for example spherical lenses) are used to an increasing extent for coupling light output from optical transmitters into light waveguide fibers and from the light waveguide fibers to the optical receivers.
For this purpose the optical imaging elements, in this case spherical lenses, must be mounted so as to be mechanically stable.
Freedom from the presence of exopy in the transducer modules rules out the use of an adhesive agent for fastening the lenses, e.g. spherical lenses. In the event that the mounting of the spherical lens takes place in the module, the manner of fastening need not be hermetically tight.
Heretofore several methods for mounting a spherical lens have been developed and also commercially applied:
For example, the spherical lens is metallized along a great circle and soldered hermetically tight and free of flux agents into the metal mounting.
Another technique involves glazing the spherical lens hermetically tight into a metal mounting with a suitable glass solder.
It has also already been suggested to glaze the spherical lens with glass solder on silicon into depressions produced through anisotropic etching.
These known mountings are, however, relatively expensive and have a complicated structure with respect to their manufacture or due to their applications a complicated structure.
The invention is based on the task of creating a mounting of a substantially spherical lens in a metal tubule, in particular for optoelectronic modules, as well as a method for its manufacture which not only is simple to carry out, connected with low complexity and therefore cost-efficient, but also permits economical serial production of spherical lens mountings which are distinguished through high mechanical stability with simple structure.

Mounting for a substantially spherical lens in a metal tubule, and method for making such a mounting


A control system for controlling a stepper motor which uses six power transistors in a single, interconnected configuration with two stepper motor field coils. Two transistors are common to both field coils of the stepper motor with two stepper motor field coils. Control circuitry for switching the six transistors allows full and half step motor positioning to be performed. Transition phases are used between steady state phases to provide accurate motor operation. The transition phases are controlled entirely within the control circuitry without a requirement for input from outside the controller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to controls for electric motors, and more specifically to a control system for controlling operation of a stepper motor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The construction, control, and use of stepper motors is well known to those skilled in the art. Because of their design, stepper motors are able to accurately position the rotor at multiple known locations. Because of this capability, stepper motors have many uses. For example, they are used to position the platen and print head in electronic typewriters and printers.
Controllers for stepper motors are used to energize the field coil windings in selected sequences to change the position of the armature. Various switching sequences of the different field coil windings are used to give full step and half step positioning of the armature. Stepper motors can also hold the armature in a fixed position. This is typically referred to as detent mode.
Stepper motors typically have 2 independent field coils, but other numbers may be used. For example, it is known to construct stepper motors having 5 field coils. The number of field coils, and the number of armature pole pairs used, determine the angular separation between each full or half step position. For example, a motor having 50 armature pole pairs and 2 field windings may be positioned at 200 different settings in the full step mode. This corresponds to an angular separation of 1.8.degree.. Controlling this same motor in half step mode gives 400 positions, each 0.9.degree. apart.
A H-bridge is provided for each field coil. Switching of transistors in the bridge is used to cause current to flow in either direction through the coil as desired. The transistors can also be turned off so that no current flows from the power supply through the coil. Controlling the switching of the transistors for the two coils steps the motor in a forward or reverse direction as desired.
Each bridge has four power transistors, so that eight are required for a typical two coil motor controller. These power transistors may be bipolar junction transistors or field effect devices. Since power transistors must conduct large driving currents, on the order of one or two amps for a typical medium-sized stepper motor, they must be physically large. As known in the art, large devices result in a low level of integration, so that control functions must be designed as separate chips.
It is desirable to increase integration levels for integrated circuits generally. It would be desirable to increase integration levels for stepper motor control circuitry. It would be further desirable to provide a control system for a stepper motor which utilized a lesser number of power transistors, allowing increased levels of integration.


A technique is described for facilitating delivery and adjustments of customer orders at a customer delivery site. A delivery courier is assigned a mobile field computing device for facilitating delivery and order adjustments of customer orders associated with that courier's delivery route. The mobile field computing device includes memory for storing customer order history data and delivery route data downloaded from a server system. The delivery route data stored in the mobile field computing device may be used by the delivery courier to facilitate delivery of the customer orders. Further, the delivery courier may use the mobile field computing device to process a variety of different order adjustment transactions at a customer delivery site.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of electronic commerce. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for delivering and modifying customer orders for consumer products using a data network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Companies have been delivering goods to customer homes for years using many different kinds of delivery systems. Examples run from mail order catalog shopping to on-line ordering and delivery services such as those provided by Amazon.com and Peapod.com. Indeed, the demand for home shopping and home delivery is increasing. However, many of the conventional systems which provide home shopping and home delivery services have significant limitations that prevent their adoption on a large scale basis.
Using conventional techniques, an on-line product purchasing transaction will typically include the following steps. First, the customer selects one or more products to be purchased. Once the customer has finished selecting the desired product(s), the customer may then proceed to a check-out or order confirmation page. During the check-out or order confirmation process, the customer provides the necessary information for completing the transaction purchase, such as, for example, the customer's name, credit card number, shipping address, etc. Before the order is confirmed by the on-line retailer, (e.g., Amazon.com), the billing and financial information is verified and processed. For example, if a credit card is used by the customer to purchase selected on-line products, a credit card transaction for the total amount of the purchase will be authorized before the purchase order is confirmed and fulfilled by the merchant. Once the payment transaction has been authorized, the on-line merchant typically fulfills the order by obtaining the purchased products, and shipping the purchased products the customer's shipping address using a common carrier (e.g. third-party courier) such as, for example, UPS, USPS, Federal Express, etc. The customer's credit card is typically billed at the time of shipment.
Although conventional on-line product purchasing techniques provide the convenience of allowing a customer to purchase and receive a desired product without having to venture outside his or her home, these techniques suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, many on-line merchants provide adequate customer service relating to on-line product purchases, but typically provide inadequate customer service for handling returns or customer complaints. Further, once the customer's order has been processed, a customer typically does not have the ability to change, alter, or cancel the order. Rather, the customer must typically wait until he or she receives the originally ordered goods, and then must make a subsequent request to the on-line merchant for returning or modifying at least a part of the order. This latter request is typically handled as a separate transaction on the merchant's side, and may involve lengthy delays. Additionally, if the customer wishes to return one or more products, the customer is typically required by the merchant to first obtain a return authorization number (after first submitting a return request), and typically is responsible for paying shipping costs for shipping the returned products back to the merchant.
The following example may help to illustrate some of the potential problems which a customer may encounter when purchasing products via on-line retailers or merchants. First, let us assume that a customer has selected two books for purchase using an on-line merchant, such as, for example, Amazon.com. When the customer proceeds to the check-out page, the customer authorizes a total amount (i.e., for the books, tax, and shipping) to be billed to his or her credit card. Once the credit card authorization for the total amount has been received, the merchant fulfills the order and forwards the order to a common carrier for shipment. The customer's credit account will be billed at this time for the total amount specified above.
After the order has been fulfilled by the merchant, the customer is typically unable to modify or cancel the order. Thus, for example, if the customer subsequently wishes to cancel one of the ordered books after the merchant has fulfilled the order, the customer must first wait to receive the book, and then submit a separate request to the on-line merchant for returning the book. It is worth noting that since the purchased items are typically shipped using an independent courier service or common carrier such as UPS, Federal Express, or the U.S. postal service, there is no mechanism in place whereby the customer is able to return the undesired product (e.g., book) back to the delivery courier for an immediate refund. Rather, as is typically the case, the customer must first obtain a return authorization number from the merchant, re-package the unwanted product, and ship the unwanted product back to the merchant. Typically, the customer is required to pay for shipping charges for returning a product, even if the product was received in a defective condition.
Once the returned product is received by the merchant, it is typically processed within four to six weeks, meaning that a credit for the returned product may not be issued to the customer until four weeks after the product has been received by the merchant. In the example above, a credit, when issued, may appear as a refund or a credit on the customer's credit card account.
An additional problem with conventional on-line purchasing transactions relates to merchandise availability. For example, when a merchant receives a request for a product return, the merchant is not able to include the returned product as part of the merchant's current inventory until the returned product is physically received at the merchant's site and the return processed, which may take up to 4 to 6 weeks. Moreover, until the returned order is processed, the returned merchandise will typically not be included as part of the inventory made available for customer purchase. This results in an inefficient allocation of resources.
In light of the above, there exists a continual need to improve upon electronic commerce and on-line purchasing and delivery techniques.

Technique for processing customer service transactions at customer site using mobile computing device


A wafer holding stage used during a semiconductor device fabricating process decreases the number of particles that accumulate on a wafer. The wafer holding stage includes a stage having an upper surface for holding a wafer and a heating element disposed inside the stage for raising temperatures of the upper surface to a holding temperature above an ambient temperature. The heating element may be a heating wire for producing heat when supplied with a electric current or a heat exchange tube for carrying a heated fluid. The wafer holding stage may further comprise a low temperature particle collector, having a surface maintained at a collecting temperature below the ambient temperature, spaced apart a small distance from the stage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stage for holding a wafer during semiconductor device fabrication and, more particularly, to a stage which is heated in order to prevent particles in the air from accumulating on the wafer.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In general, semiconductor device fabrication involves multiple steps, including: a diffusion step for forming a thin film on the surface of a wafer; a heat treatment step; a photographic process for forming a previously set pattern on the wafer surface; an etching process for realizing the pattern; an ion implanting process for producing an intended electric characteristic in the film; and a thin film process for making the film thinner and more uniform. After these processes, the wafer is examined in a testing/measuring process to determine whether the desired effect has been achieved.
Testing/measuring facilities are designed specifically to test each wafer one at a time after each wafer is laid on a stage. The wafer is transported and tested while on this stage.
An example of a stage used in the testing/measuring processes is illustrated in the loadlock chamber of FIG. 1. The loadlock chamber serves as an airlock for a test chamber. The loadlock chamber has a wafer holder arm 4 and a stage 5 which is placed under the holder arm 4 in the load chamber 1. The loadlock chamber 1 further has an inner gate 2 and an outer gate 3. In the case where the loadlock chamber is used with a vacuum test chamber, the outer gate 3 is opened while the inner gate 2 is closed in order to protect the vacuum test chamber from the outside air. In that state, a wafer (not shown) is inserted and laid on the stage 5. Then, the outer gate 3 is closed and air from inside the loadlock chamber is removed by a suctioning process until its pressure matches the predetermined low pressure of the vacuum test chamber. Then the inner gate 2 is opened so that the wafer on the stage 5 of the load chamber can be moved to the vacuum test chamber.
However, even though the loadlock chamber is used in a clean room, each wafer is exposed to the air before being inserted into the test chamber. Therefore, particles remaining in the fresh air in the clean room or falling from the facilities or introduced by a worker, may accumulate or adhere onto the wafer. This contaminates the wafer 6, causes the product to be defective, and thus decreases the yield of the semiconductor device fabricating process.

Heated stage for holding wafers during semiconductor device fabrication