A method of mounting a semiconductor device first forms a barrier layer on one surface of an semiconductor substrate made of Si. Then, a first Au layer is formed on the barrier layer. Accordingly, a semiconductor device is provided. The barrier layer is formed of metal for preventing mutual diffusion of Si in the Si semiconductor substrate with Au in the first Au layer at a high temperature of 600.degree. C. or higher. A step of acquiring a package substrate forms a metal coated layer on a base first and then forms a second Au layer on the surface of the metal coated layer. Then, the semiconductor device is placed on the package substrate with the first and second Au layers contacting with each other, and the semiconductor device and the package substrate are scrubbed against each other. Consequently, the first and second Au layers form Au--Au eutectic layer, thereby connect the semiconductor device to the package substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a package having an Au layer, a semiconductor device having such an Au layer, and a method of mounting the semiconductor device, which can prevent a positional deviation between semiconductor devices and a package substrate even when exposed to a high temperature of 500.degree. C. or above after the mounting of the semiconductor devices on the package substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
The attachment of a device to the position of a die pad such as a lead frame for a ceramic package and a plastic shielded package is called "die bonding." This die bonding can allow a device to mechanically and electrically connected to a package substrate and can cause heat generated from the device to be easily discharged. In general, die bonding requires that ohmic connection as well as stable mechanical and chemical bonding should be provided at the junction between a package substrate and the back of a device.
Die bonding techniques or methods of mounting semiconductor devices on a package substrate mainly include resin adhesion, an Au--Si eutectic alloy techniques, a soldering technique and an Au--Au eutectic technique. Method of bonding semiconductor components using such die bonding and packages fabricated using such die bonding are disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 6-177135 (hereinafter called "first prior art") and Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-263788 (hereinafter called "second prior art").
FIG. 1 is a side view showing method of bonding a semiconductor components according to the first prior art. First, a barrier layer 21 of tungsten or the like is selectively formed on the surface of a submount body 20. Next, nickel-tin alloy and tungsten are simultaneously sputtered on the barrier layer 21 to form an auxiliary layer 22. Then, a wet layer 23 of nickel-tin alloy is deposited on the auxiliary layer 22. Then, gold and tin are alternately vapor-deposited on the wet layer 23, thus forming a solder layer 24. It is preferable that the area of this solder layer 24 which is in contact with the wet layer 23 and the top surface of the solder layer 24 should be formed of gold.
A laser element 8 which is to be bonded to the submount body 20 has a laser chip 9 formed of semiconductor in a III-V group, and an ohmic contact layer 10 formed on the surface of the laser chip 9 which is bonded to the submount body 20. A titanium layer 11, a platinum layer 12 and a gold layer 13 are sequentially and selectively deposited on the surface of this ohmic contact layer 10.
In bonding the thus formed submount body 20 and laser element 8 together, the submount body 20 and the laser element 8 are placed with the gold layer 13 in contact with the solder layer 24, and force 15 is applied to both at a temperature of approximately 320 to 340.degree. C.
In this first prior art, the barrier layer 21 is formed of W, Mo, Cr or Ru. This barrier layer 21 serves to prevent the melting temperature of the solder layer 24 to increase. Generally, when silicon is diffused into the solder layer 24 formed of gold and tin, from the substrate, the melting temperature of the solder layer 24 increases. Therefore the barrier layer 21 can prevent the diffusion of silicon into the solder layer 24 from the substrate, thereby preventing the melting temperature of the solder layer 24 from increasing.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a semiconductor laser device according to the second prior art. First, Ni is vapor-deposited on the surface of a heat sink 36 to form a barrier layer 35. Next, a low-melting point solder layer 34 of In, Sn or their alloy is selectively formed on the barrier layer 35. A p-type electrode 33 is formed on one surface of a semiconductor laser element 31 and an n-type electrode 32 is formed on the other surface thereof. The heat sink 36 is then heated to approximately 200.degree. C. to melt the low-melting point solder layer 34, after which the p-type electrode 33 formed on the semiconductor laser element 31 is pressed against the low-melting point solder layer 34. Thereafter, both are cooled down so that the semiconductor laser element 31 is bonded to the heat sink 36.
According to this second prior art, Ni, W and Mo are used for the barrier layer 35. This barrier layer 35 serves to prevent Cu in the heat sink 36 from being diffused into the semiconductor laser element 31. Without the barrier layer 35, Cu would be diffused into the semiconductor laser element 31, deteriorating the laser output.
As the integration of semiconductor devices and the packing density thereof become higher and higher recently, the precision on the order of micrometers is demanded of the mount positions of semiconductor devices on a package substrate and the distances between adjoining semiconductor devices. In the case where a package substrate and semiconductor devices mounted on this package substrate are exposed to a high temperature, as in the case where a field discharge type electron source is used in a CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube), a die bonding technique which is excellent in heat resistance is demanded.
Because the melting temperature of the solder layer 24 is normally less than 400.degree. C. in the first prior art, however, the solder layer 24 is melted if the package is exposed to a temperature of over 400.degree. C. As the barrier layer 21 prevents the melting temperature of the solder layer 24 from becoming higher, melting of the solder layer 24 becomes easier.
Likewise, the solder layer 34 is made of metal whose melting temperature is low, e.g., approximately 200.degree. C., in the second prior art, so that the solder layer 34 is melted if the package is exposed to a temperature of over 400.degree. C.
Further, the barrier layer 35 merely serves to prevent Cu in the heat sink 36 from being diffused into the semiconductor laser element 31, but does not improve the heat resistance of the junction.
According to the first and second prior arts, as apparent from the above, when a package fabricated by mounting semiconductor devices on a package substrate is exposed to a temperature of over, for example, 400.degree. C., the junction is melted, the misalignment of the semiconductor devices to the package substrate is likely to occur. As the junction is less durable to a high temperature, therefore, it is difficult to set the mount positions of the semiconductor devices on the package substrate and the distances between adjoining semiconductor devices at a high accuracy.
The Au--Au eutectic technique is one die bonding technique which gives a high heat resistance to the junction between a package substrate and semiconductor devices and ensures a high precision of alignment of the semiconductor devices to the package substrate. This Au--Au eutectic technique will be discussed below.
According to the Au--Au eutectic technique, an Au film is formed on the back surface of an Si substrate of semiconductor devices and also on the top surface of a package substrate, the Si substrate and the package substrate are arranged with their Au films facing each other, and the semiconductor device and the package substrate are rubbed (scrubbed) against each other while applying a load on both Au films. Consequently, Au--Au eutectic layer is formed so that the semiconductor devices and the package substrate are connected together. There are two scrubbing methods: one is an ultrasonic scrubbing method which applies ultrasonic waves to both Au films so that the semiconductor devices and the package substrate are scrubbed against each other by the ultrasonic vibration, and the other is a pressure scrubbing method which vibrates both Au films while mechanically applying a load on the semiconductor devices and the package substrate.
In either way, because Au as an adhesive has a high melting point of 1064.43.degree. C., once semiconductor devices are connected to a package substrate, no misalignment occurs at the junction even if the package is exposed to a high temperature. With the ultrasonic scrubbing method in use, as the amplitude of ultrasonic waves ranges from -1 .mu.m to +1 .mu.m, misalignment hardly occurs at the time of making the connection. In other words, the Au--Au eutectic technique ensures a high heat resistance and a high precision of alignment at the junction between a package substrate and semiconductor devices even under the atmosphere of a high temperature.
In the case where this Au--Au eutectic technique is used to connect a package substrate and semiconductor devices together, conventionally, a metal layer is formed on the surface of the Si substrate of the semiconductor devices which is mounted on the package substrate, and an Au layer is formed on the top surface of this metal layer to form Au--Au eutectic layer. The metal layer is a barrier metal to prevent diffusion between Au and Si, and is normally formed of Ti or the like.
When a package fabricated by mounting semiconductor devices on a package substrate by the Au--Au eutectic technique is exposed to a high temperature, another problem arises. With the package exposed to a temperature of, for example, 370.degree. C. or higher, diffusion between Au and Si cannot be prevented even when the conventional barrier metal of, for example, Ti is formed on a semiconductor device.
The mutual diffusion of Au and Si provides the same structure as the one where an Au--Si eutectic alloy layer is formed. The melting point of the Au--Si eutectic alloy layer is 370.degree. C., which is relatively low among those of eutectic alloys. When the mutual diffusion of Au and Si occurs at a high temperature of 370.degree. C. or higher, the Au--Si eutectic alloy layer is melted so that the portion near the barrier metal becomes susceptible to a high temperature while the Au--Au eutectic layer oriented junction shows an excellent heat resistance. In other words, when a package fabricated by mounting semiconductor devices on a package substrate by the Au--Au eutectic technique is exposed to a high temperature, misalignment occurs near the barrier metal.
A description will now be given of the case where a field discharge type electron source is mounted on a package substrate using the Au--Au eutectic technique. In using a field discharge type electron source for a CRT, after the field discharge type electron source as a semiconductor device is mounted on a package substrate, this package substrate is exposed to a high temperature of about 400 to 500.degree. C. in the step of sealing the resultant structure with glass as the CRT. In a later process of discharging air from the glass container (discharging step), the semiconductor device and the package substrate (package) are also exposed to a high temperature of about 400 to 550.degree. C. As a result, the junction between the semiconductor device and the package substrate is also exposed to a high temperature.
Although the semiconductor device and the package substrate are connected together by the Au--Au eutectic technique, therefore, misalignment of the semiconductor device on the package substrate occurs near the barrier metal of Ti and the like. When the field discharge type electron source is used for the CRT, the misalignment of the semiconductor device on the package substrate results in irregular colors or color deviation caused by misconvergence.
If the misalignment of a semiconductor device on a package substrate in any other package becomes greater, the distance between the bonding pad of the semiconductor device and the bonding portion of the package substrate becomes longer, thus making it difficult to connect the semiconductor device and the package substrate together.

Package having Au layer semiconductor device having Au layer


The present invention includes a novel means for destroying aggressive mold in a system. A foreign target antagonist both draws and depletes defense mechanisms for the mold at which point the mold may be attacked with conventional anti-fungal preparations. A more preferred means for destroying the mold includes the post-depletion application of a mold indirect antagonist adapted to ameliorate cellular organelle deformation in the organism. In this preferred means, the organism overcomes the mold with its inherent biodefense mechanisms.

Biotoxins include fungal (mold or yeast) toxins, and other types of toxins. The presence of biotoxins in patients shows up as several symptoms. Effects of fungal toxins cause symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, asthma, shortness of breath, sneezing, burning in the throat and lungs, sinusitis, memory loss, confusion, brain fog, and cognitive impairment may present, vision problems, eye irritation, headaches, swollen lymph nodes, ringing in the ears, dizziness, hearing loss, fatigue, muscle weakness, multiple chemical sensitivities, joint pain, muscle pain, lowered pain threshold, irregular heartbeat, seizures, depression, anxiety, irritability, psoriasis, skin irritation, fever, chills, sleep disorders, coagulation abnormalities, depletes antioxidants, alters cell membrane function, acts as potent mitochondrial toxins, alters apoptosis, may negatively affect the endocrine system, including sex hormones, thyroid function, and adrenal function, may lead to food allergies and chemical sensitivity, in some cases, POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) may be fungus induced, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome
(CFS) have both been associated with mycotoxin exposure. (http://www.gordonmedical.com/unravelling-complex-chronic-illness/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Townsend-Letter-Mold-Article-1.pdf)
Detection of Mycotoxins in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Other conditions that may have a mycotoxin component include various cancers, diabetes, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, autism, rheumatoid arthritis, hyperlipidemia (elevated cholesterol), inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, Sj6gren's syndrome, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Raynaud's disease, kidney stones, and vasculitis.
Microbes have mechanisms for supporting their survival as an individual as well as a community. They produce chemical compounds that can have an adverse effect on our immune system's ability to fight them off (e.g., causing the immune system to either not recognize them or to not be able to attack them), weaken our health or ability to fight them off. Also, as with yeast, they can cause us to feed them by getting us to crave sweets. Some studies showed that oils like caprylic oil from coconut acted against fungus but were not known to decrease symptoms of fungal toxicity. Some methods for decreasing toxins include treatment with binders that directly attack the fungal population or burden as antifungals, etc. such as cholestyramine, clay, zeolite, glucomannan. Reduction of toxins can also take place by providing fungal treatment such as antibiotics, or pharmaceuticals such as Diflucan, Nizoral, Nystatin, or herbal such as Caprylic acid or oregano oil. Oregano, however can increase the toxin level by causing the fungus to release the toxins in response to the offending substance. This would transiently raise the fungal toxin level. The same (as oregano) can be said of grapefruit seed oil as this specification later details, but milder than the oregano's effect.


A method for control of communications from an edge device of an access network, via the provisioning or the non-provisioning of at least one layer 2 destination address of at least one other edge device of the access network to the edge device by a network management module of the access network. The at least one layer 2 destination address is delivered to the edge device on request of the edge device. In an exemplary embodiment, the edge device checks, upon arrival of a packet including at least one layer 2 destination address, whether the at least one layer 2 destination address is stored within a communications restriction filter of the edge device and generates the request including the at least one layer 2 destination address in case the at least one layer 2 destination address is not stored within the communication restriction filter.

The present invention relates to method for communications control from an edge device of an access network, via the provisioning or the non-provisioning of at least one layer 2 destination address of at least one other edge node of this access network, to this edge device as is further described in the preamble of claim 1.

Method for control of communications from edge device of access network, and edge device and network management module for performing method


A turbomachinery component with a surface that includes a bounded wear coat, the component includes: a body; a contact surface defined by the body; a recess extending into the body and communicating with the contact surface; and a wear coat positioned in the recess.

This invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and more particularly relates to internal components of such engines.
A gas turbine engine includes, in serial flow communication, a compressor, a combustor, and turbine. The turbine is mechanically coupled to the compressor and the three components define a turbomachinery core. The core is operable in a known manner to generate a flow of hot, pressurized combustion gases to operate the engine as well as perform useful work such as providing propulsive thrust or mechanical work. One common type of turbine includes a rotating disk with a row of airfoils, referred to as turbine blades.
In some turbines, the blades are long and thin and are bounded on their outer ends by tip shrouds. Tip shrouds of adjacent blades are positioned to contact each other such that in normal operation little or no relative motion occurs between blades. However, under certain conditions some relative motion does occur and this motion can cause fretting wear. Therefore, the affected surfaces need to be protected from wear. Conventionally, the affected surfaces are protected with the material referred to as a "wear coat" which is a metal alloy or other material having a high hardness. The blades are built with a preload to ensure that the adjacent tip shroud end surfaces touch and bear against each other. One problem with such an arrangement is that the wear coat is subject to high-temperature "creep" which is time-dependent plastic strain. Stated another way, the wear coat material can deflect or smear out of its intended location.

Turbine component with bounded wear coat


Land vehicle weapon system including a base mount coupled with a land vehicle, a weapon mount, a plurality of weapons coupled with the weapon mount, a weapon moving mechanism coupled between the base mount and the weapon mount, a plurality of moving elements coupled with at least one of the base mount, the weapon mount, the weapons, and with the weapon moving mechanism, a sensing mechanism coupled with at least one of the weapon mount, the weapons and the base mount, and at least one user interface coupled with the weapons, the weapon moving mechanism, the moving elements, and with the sensing mechanism, the user interface enabling a user to remotely operate the weapons, the weapon moving mechanism being operable to move the weapons between a plurality of configurations.

It is necessary to move the weapon of a vehicle, such as a cannon or a gun of a tank, a sub-machine gun on an armored vehicle, and the like, in order to place the weapon at the desired firing position. Systems and methods for changing the firing position of such a weapon are known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,446 issued to Magnuson, and entitled "Linkage of Actuating System for Elevating Gun Mount", is directed to a mechanism for elevating a gun from a tracked military vehicle. The mechanism includes a bracket secured to a turret of the tracked military vehicle, a lever, a first power cylinder, a second power cylinder, and a toggle linkage. The toggle linkage includes a relatively long link and a relatively short link. The bracket includes a first bracket pivot connection, a second bracket pivot connection and a third bracket pivot connection. The relatively short link includes a first short link pivot connection, a second short link pivot connection and a third short link pivot connection. The relatively long link includes a first long link pivot connection and a second long link pivot connection. The lever includes a first lever pivot connection and, second lever pivot connection and a third lever pivot connection. A receiver of the gun includes a first receiver pivot connection and a second receiver pivot connection.
The first lever pivot connection is connected to the first bracket pivot connection with a first pin. The second lever pivot connection is connected to the second short link pivot connection and to the first receiver portion of the gun, by a second pin. A first cylinder connection of the first power cylinder is connected to the third bracket pivot connection by a third pin. A first piston rod connection of the first power cylinder is connected to the third lever pivot connection by a fourth pin. A second cylinder connection of the second power cylinder is connected to the third short link pivot connection by a fifth pin. A second piston rod connection of the second power cylinder is connected to the second receiver connection by a sixth pin. The first long link pivot connection is connected to the first short link pivot connection by a seventh pin. The second long link pivot connection is connected to the second bracket pivot connection by an eighth pin.
The imaginary horizontal planes of the first short link connection and the second short link connection are spaced apart by a first vertical spacing. The imaginary horizontal planes of the third short link pivot connection and the second receiver pivot connection are spaced apart by a second vertical spacing. The mechanism is constructed such that the first vertical spacing is the same as the second vertical spacing. In order to raise the gun vertically above the turret and maintaining the gun horizontal, the first power cylinder is activated and the second power cylinder is de-activated. In order to change the elevation of the gun, the second power cylinder is activated and the first power cylinder is de-activated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,772 issued to Eggers et al., and entitled "Large-Bore Twin-Weapon System for Combat Vehicles", is directed to a system for lifting a carrier of two weapons of a combat vehicle. The system includes the carrier, a first pivot, a second pivot, a third pivot, lifting means, aiming drives, a main support bearing, a step bearing, a journal, an eccentrically formed bearing ring, a first support arm, a second support arm and a hydro-accumulator.
The two weapons are supported rotatably at the carrier. The first pivot and the second pivot are connected to the carrier by the first support arm and the second support arm, respectively. The first pivot and the second pivot are connected to the combat vehicle. The lifting means is connected to the carrier, to the third pivot and to the hydro-accumulator. The third pivot is connected to the combat vehicle. The aiming drives, the main support bearing, the step bearing and the journal are located within the carrier. The aiming drive is located between the main support bearing and the step bearing. The journal is connected to the weapon and to the aiming drive.
The position of the journal and the weapon are altered when the eccentrically formed bearing ring of the step bearing is rotated. In this manner the weapons are point-aimable to a predetermined distance. The aiming drive transmits a torque to the journal for changing the elevation of the weapon. The first pivot and the second pivot are located on a first rotating axis, and the third pivot is located on a second rotating axis. The carrier and the weapons are lifted by the action of the hydro-accumulator, the lifting means and the third pivot. Each weapon is height-aimable independently. The lateral aiming of the weapons is affected by rotation of the combat vehicle about a height axis, or by a rotary device on the combat vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,230 issued to LeBlanc and entitled "Weapon System", is directed to a manually operated multiple weapon system for an armored vehicle turret. The system includes a main gun, a coaxial machine gun, two four barrel automatic grenade launchers, a turret, a basket assembly, a rotor mounting assembly and a hydraulic cylinder means. The turret is mounted on a roof portion of the armored vehicle. The basket assembly depends from the turret. The rotor mounting assembly is mounted to the turret. The main gun, the coaxial machine gun and the automatic grenade launchers are attached to the rotor mounting assembly.
The basket assembly accommodates a gunner and a commander. The basket assembly includes an ammunition storage box for feeding ammunition to the main gun, linked ejection chutes, a compartment and a manual elevation and trigger assembly. The linked ejection chutes guide the ejected ammunition links from the main gun through the rotor mounting assembly, into the compartment. The compartment opens to the outside of the armored vehicle for ejection of the propellant gases and the brass and rounds of the main gun. A machine gun ammunition storage box is positioned in the turret for feeding ammunition to the coaxial machine gun, through machine gun feed chutes. The hydraulic cylinder means is pivotally attached to the rotor mounting assembly and to the turret. The extension and retraction of the hydraulic cylinder means rotates the rotor mounting assembly.
The manual elevation and trigger assembly includes a handle, a pump, a gear box assembly and a trigger button. By operating the manual elevation and trigger assembly, the gunner manually elevates and fires the main gun. As the handle is turned, the gear box assembly is turned, thereby activating the pump and pressurizing the hydraulic cylinder means. When the trigger button is depressed the main gun fires, and when the trigger button is released, the firing stops.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,127 issued to Whitting and entitled "Fire Control System for a Vehicle or Vessel", is directed to a fire control system for a vehicle to compensate for the roll, pitch and yaw motions of the vehicle, and provide the true target motion to the gun, despite the gun recoil and the rocking motions of the vehicle driving on hilly ground. The vehicle is fitted with a spring-suspended chassis on pneumatic tires.
The fire control system includes a turret, a gun, a target tracking unit, a plurality of servo control units, reference orientation means, a plurality of angle data transmitters, a data processor and a fire control computer. The target tracking unit includes a radar tracking apparatus, a laser range detector, an infrared tracking unit, a TV tracking unit and optical detection means. The fire control computer includes an aiming point generator, a first coordinate conversion unit and a transformation unit.
The gun is mounted on the turret. The turret is rotatable about a first axis perpendicular to a roof of the vehicle. The gun is movable in elevation about a second axis parallel to the roof. The target tracking unit is biaxially connected with the turret. The target tracking unit can rotate about a third axis parallel or coaxial with the first axis, and about a fourth axis parallel with the roof.
The servo control units are connected with the turret, the gun, the target tracking unit, the data processor and with the fire control computer. The reference orientation means and the angle data transmitters are connected to the turret, the gun, the target tracking unit and with the fire control computer. The data processor is connected with the target tracking unit and with the fire control computer.
The fire control computer calculates aiming values for the gun, according to the angle and range data from the target tracking unit, and according to orientation data from the reference orientation means. The fire control computer operates the servo control units according to the calculated aiming values.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,730 issued to Hawkes et al., and entitled "Rapid Aiming Telepresent System" is directed to a system for remotely aiming a firearm at a target. The system includes a hand controller, display means, a pointing device and a control unit. The hand controller includes a portable viewfinder, a two-axis joystick, stereo headphone speakers, visual indicators, a tactile signal generator, and a plurality of controls. The display means includes two computer display screens. The pointing device includes a firearm, a carriage, a base, a first rotational mount, a second rotational mount, a first linear actuator and a second linear actuator. The control unit includes a microprocessor.
The firearm is mounted to the carriage. The carriage is connected to the base by the first rotational mount and the second rotational mount. The first linear actuator is attached to the base and to the carriage. The second linear actuator is attached to the first rotational mount and to the carriage. The first rotational mount rotates the carriage along a first axis which is approximately vertical. The second rotational mount rotates the carriage along a second axis which is approximately horizontal.
The hand controller is connected to the control unit by a transmission cable. The control unit transmits electrical control signals to the first linear actuator and to the second linear actuator, via control signal transmission means. The computer display screens display a live video image of the area in the vicinity of the target as well as the current pointing direction. The user operates the hand controller according to the images on the computer display screens. The control unit sends electrical control signals to the first linear actuator and the second linear actuator, to actuate the first linear actuator and the second linear actuator, according to the signals received from the hand controller. The first linear actuator and the second linear actuator move the carriage along the first axis and the second axis, respectively. The control unit produces a first audio signal and a second audio signal at the stereo headphone speakers, according to the actuation speed of the first linear actuator and the second linear actuator, respectively.

Multiple weapon system for armored vehicle


Test fixture includes measurement terminals that connect to an oscillator to be tested and contacts that connect to a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board includes a load capacitance circuit with load capacitance contacts and a direct coupling circuit with direct coupling circuit contacts. By changing the direction or orientation of the printed circuit board or reversing its top or bottom surfaces when attaching it to the test fixture, it is possible to switch between a configuration that connects a load capacitance to the oscillator and that directly couples the oscillator to a measurement system.

Measurement methods for quartz oscillators can be found in JIS C 6701, "Quartz Oscillators". FIG. 4 of the present application illustrates a circuit design of one such measurement method which includes measurement equipment 30 and test fixture 20. An oscillator 31 to be tested is connected to measurement terminals 26 of the main body of test fixture 20 and, thus, to the main body of a measurement equipment 30, via pi circuits 24 and 25 of test fixture 20. The main body of measurement equipment 30 typically includes impedance measuring equipment or a network analyzer for measuring the properties of connected oscillator 31.
In the case when the properties of oscillator 31 is to be measured with a serially connected load capacitance, the method as illustrated in FIG. 4 is modified. A printed circuit board 40 with an on-board load capacitance 11 is inserted between the main body of test fixture 20 and oscillator 31, as shown in FIG. 5.
FIG. 6 illustrates an overview of the actual components of FIG. 5. Note that FIG. 6 omits design details that are unrelated to the present invention. For more detail, one can refer to JIS C 6701, "Quartz Oscillators", Appendix 2, FIG. 3.
In FIG. 6, test fixture 20 includes connectors 27 for connecting to the main body of measurement equipment 30. A pressure plate 28 utilizes a spring (not shown) to press terminals 32 of oscillator 31 in the direction of connectors 27. The example in FIG. 6 shows both oscillator 31 and a printed circuit board 40 with an on-board load capacitance 11 being pressed toward connectors 27. In order to make contact with terminals 32 of oscillator 31, printed circuit board 40 includes printed contacts 41. The printed contacts for connecting the main body of test fixture 20 with printed circuit board 40 are provided on the back side of printed circuit board 40 (the surface that is not visible in FIG. 6).
As described above, pressure plate 28 is employed to press oscillator 31 and printed circuit board 40 together. Each time a different oscillator is tested, a new pressing operation is required on both printed circuit board 40 and the new oscillator to be tested. Furthermore, for measurement items for which a load capacitance is not required, it is also necessary to remove printed circuit board 40 and directly attach oscillator 31 to the main body of test fixture 20 (i.e., direct coupling). As a result, such an arrangement increases the number of steps for attaching oscillator 31 and printed circuit board 40.
It is also known that there is a method for inserting a load capacitance configuration or a direct coupling configuration in the measurement circuit by opening or closing a switch connected across the load capacitance. This method is found in JIS C 6701, "Quartz Oscillator", Appendix 3, FIG. 1. Although the actual switching operation in this method is simplified, the physical size of the switch has the disadvantage of increasing the size of the main body of the test fixture and the overall cost of the measurement system.
There is a desire to decrease the operational steps for exchanging different oscillators to be tested and for switching between a load capacitance configuration and a direct coupling configuration, without increasing the overall size and cost of the measurement system.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve the operations for attaching and removing the oscillator to be tested and the printed circuit board.
It is a further object of the present invention to improve the operations for switching between a load capacitance configuration and a direct coupling configuration.
Another object of the invention is to provide the above improvements to the measurement system at a low cost.


A serial bus controller having improved bus performance when a physical read request or a physical write request is present. A link and physical layer logic unit is provided, coupled to a serial bus having at least one peripheral device coupled thereto. A host interface is provided, coupled to a host data bus. A request FIFO is provided, coupled to receive a host memory read or write request packet from the link and physical layer logic unit, and coupled to said host interface. A physical read request FIFO is provided, coupled to receive a physical read request from the request FIFO for further processing of the physical read request. A physical write request FIFO is provided, coupled to receive a physical write response for transfer to the peripheral device.

The invention relates to methods for reducing bus latency in a computer system and, in particular, to such methods in computers including a data bus controller.
The typical computer system communicates almost continuously with peripheral devices attached to the system. This creates a requirement for high performance, bidirectional data transmission to accomplish mass information transfer. One way this requirement is met is through the use of a high speed serial data bus to which the peripheral devices are interfaced through one or more bus controller devices.
A primary aspect of the information transfer when communicating with a peripheral device is reading from and writing to the memory of the computer system by accessing the system""s peripheral device access bus, for example by accessing a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) data bus. This is accomplished by performing direct memory access (DMA) through use of a DMA controller which oversees the system memory read and write functions for peripheral data independent of the central processor unit (CPU). Use of a DMA controller provides a more efficient way in which to perform memory read and write tasks related to peripherals than by using the CPU to do so. This is due to the capability of the DMA controller to transfer large blocks of data at one time, whereas the CPU is limited to a register-by-register procedure.
The DMA controller communicates with the CPU to acquire control of the system memory bus for a memory read or write task, and then signals the CPU when the task is complete. The DMA controller returns control of the system memory bus to the CPU only when it determines that the data transfer is completed. The CPU is idle during the time required for the data transfer since two devices cannot access the memory bus simultaneously, and the serial data bus is unavailable for use by any other attached peripheral device while a data transfer is taking place. The availability of the system memory bus and serial data bus determine the computer system""s bus latency or dormancy, which directly influences the overall system performance as related to CPU idle time.
Typically, a data bus controller contains memory devices for temporarily storing the data to be transferred, and no data is stored in the DMA controller. The number and size of these memory devices and their utilization scheme largely determine the efficiency with which the bus controller is able to effect a data transfer.
FIG. 1 shows an IEEE Standard 1394 high speed serial data bus controller, 1394 Bus Controller 1, and the data path to an IEEE Standard 1394 physical layer device, 1394 Physical Layer 6, to which Peripheral Devices 7 are connected. The 1394 Physical Layer 6 typically includes cable transceivers and arbitration logic for peripheral device interfacing.
1394 Bus Controller 1 is capable of transferring data packets between Peripheral Devices 7 and the computer system memory (not shown) by performing direct memory access. Data structures referred to as descriptors, sometimes referred to as packet control lists (PCL), completely describe the data to be transferred including sources and destinations, how many bytes of data are to be transferred, and error control information.
In the discussion that follows the transfer of data will be described in the context of data being transferred from one of the peripheral devices in Peripheral Devices 7 to computer system memory (not shown). The transfer of data from system memory to a peripheral device is similar in most respects, and in order to avoid duplicative description will therefore not be described in detail.
When the peripheral device is required to transfer data it submits a system memory read or write request to a 1394 Link Layer Control Logic unit (LLC) 5 through a 1394 Physical Layer 6. The LLC 5 directs the request to DMA Logic 3. DMA Logic 3 then acquires control of the system memory bus, placing the CPU (not shown) in an idle state. The data to be transferred is acquired by LLC 5 through 1394 Physical Layer 6 and written to first-in-first-out (FIFO) memory in FIFO Logic 4. When DMA Logic 3 determines that all criteria for the transfer have been met in accordance with the descriptors, DMA Logic 3 causes the data to be transferred from the FIFO memory to the PCI Bus through PCI Logic in a PCI and Local Bus Interface unit 2, and to be written to system memory. Upon completion of the memory write cycle LLC 5 signals the peripheral device that the transfer is complete, at which time the device must return an acknowledgment to LLC 5 in order to close out the transfer. The CPU is then signaled by DMA Logic 3 that the transfer is complete, at which time the CPU acquires control of the system memory bus and resumes processing.
If for any reason the peripheral device does not issue the required acknowledgment, as might be the case if the device were busy, LLC 5 can not close out the transfer and release the system memory bus. The device may also request a retry of the data transfer, which is sometimes done to provide more current data, which too prevents release of the memory bus back to the CPU.
Computer systems typically include provisions for limiting the time the bus controller must wait for device acknowledgment and the maximum number of transfer retries permitted for purposes of overall system performance. These limits are usually not so stringent, however, as to prevent unacceptable bus latency.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a serial bus controller having improved bus performance when a physical read request or a physical write request is present. A link and physical layer logic unit is provided, coupled to a serial bus having at least one peripheral device coupled thereto. A host interface is provided, coupled to a host data bus. A request FIFO is provided, coupled to receive a host memory read or write request packet from the link and physical layer logic unit, and coupled to said host interface. A physical read request FIFO is provided, coupled to receive a physical read request from the request FIFO for further processing of the physical read request. A physical write request FIFO is provided, coupled to receive a physical write response for transfer to the peripheral device.

Method for improving direct memory access performance


In an internal combustion engine with a combustion heater for elevating a temperature of an engine related element, there is provided a combustion heater comprising a combustion chamber and a heat exchange portion for transmitting to an engine related element heat held by burnt gas that has been burnt in said combustion chamber is provided, characterized by a first burnt gas discharging portion for discharging from the combustion heater the burnt gas which has passed through the heat exchange portion, a second burnt gas discharging portion for discharging from the combustion heater the burnt gas which has not yet passed through the heat exchange portion, and a burnt gas passage controlling unit for supplying at least one of burnt gas discharged by the first burnt gas discharging portion and burnt gas discharged by the second burnt gas discharging portion to elevate the temperature of an exhaust gas purifying catalyst.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine provided with a combustion heater for elevating a temperature of an engine related element such as cooling water or intake air.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an internal combustion engine to be mounted on an automotive vehicle or the like, in particular, an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine in which a heat quantity is likely to be small, a technique to additionally provide a combustion heater for the purpose of acceleration of warming up the internal combustion engine or enhancement of a passenger room heating device in a cold state.
The above-described combustion heater is provided with a combustion chamber which is independent of the internal combustion engine. Furthermore, the combustion heater is provided with a heat exchange portion composed of a water path formed so as to surround the combustion chamber.
The water path (water path in the heater) of the above-described heat exchanger and a cooling path of the internal combustion engine are in communication with each other through a cooling water leading path for introducing the cooling water from the cooling path of the internal combustion engine to the water path in the heater and a cooling water discharge passage for introducing the cooling water from the water path in the heater to the cooling path of the internal combustion engine. A heater core of the passenger room heating device is provided in the midway of the cooling water discharge passage.
In the thus constructed combustion heater, a part of fuel of the internal combustion engine is burnt in the combustion chamber in a cold state or the like of the internal combustion engine, and at the same time, the cooling water for the internal combustion engine is introduced to the water path in the heater through the cooling water leading path.
In this case, the heat generated as a result of the combustion within the combustion chamber is transferred to the cooling water in the heat exchanger portion to elevate the temperature of the cooling water. The cooling water (hot water) which has been heated in the heat exchange portion is discharged from the water path in the heater to the cooling water discharge passage to be returned back to the cooling water path through the heater core. When the above-described hot water has passed through the heater core, a part of heat of the hot water is transferred to the heating air that flows through the heater core, thereby the temperature of the heating air being elevated.
According to the above-described combustion heater, it is possible to elevate the temperature of the heating air or the engine cooling water in an earlier stage in the cooling operation of the internal combustion engine and it is possible to enhance the acceleration of the warmup of the engine and the heating capacity.
However, in the combustion heater, since the combustion is conducted by utilizing the part of the fuel for the internal combustion engine, there are cases where the burnt gas emitted from the combustion heater contains harmful gas components like the emission of the internal combustion engine. In those cases, it is necessary to discharge the emission after purifying the harmful gas components contained in the burnt gas.
In order to meet such a requirement, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-78819 describes xe2x80x9cHEATING DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE PROVIDED WITH A COMBUSTION HEATERxe2x80x9d. In the heating device disclosed in this publication, an exhaust port of a heater exhaust pipe for discharging the gas burnt in the combustion heater is provided upstream of the exhaust gas purifying device of the exhaust pipe of the internal combustion engine, and the burnt gas to be discharged from the combustion heater is introduced into the exhaust gas purifying device for the internal combustion engine to thereby purify the harmful gas components contained in the burnt gas with the exhaust gas purifying device for the internal combustion engine.
It is possible to exemplify a three-element catalyst, an adsorption reduction type lean NOx catalyst, a selective reduction type lean NOx catalyst or the like for the exhaust gas purifying device of the internal combustion engine. However, since these exhaust gas purifying devices are activated so that the harmful gas components contained in the exhaust gas may be purified when the catalyst bed temperature exceeds a predetermined level, in order to positively purify the burnt gas from the combustion heater and the exhaust gas from the internal combustion engine, it is necessary to keep the exhaust gas purifying devices at the activation temperature or more.
However, in the case where the internal combustion engine is a diesel engine, a heat generation amount of the internal combustion engine tends to be small in a low load operational region, and the exhaust gas temperature is likely to be low. Accordingly, it is difficult to keep the exhaust gas purifying device at the activation temperature or more only by the exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine.
In contrast, as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-78819 entitled xe2x80x9cHEATING DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE PROVIDED WITH A COMBUSTION HEATERxe2x80x9d, it is possible to propose that the burnt gas that is relatively high in temperature from the combustion heater is introduced into the exhaust gas purifying device to thereby elevate the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying device. However, since the temperature of the exhaust gas to be discharged from the above-described combustion heater is lowered by the heat exchange with the heating air in the heat exchange portion, there is a problem in that it takes long time to elevate the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying device up to the activation temperature, and the exhaust emission would become worse in the meantime.
In order to overcome the above-noted defects, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that may provide an internal combustion engine provided with a combustion heater for elevating a temperature of an engine related element by supplying a burnt gas having a large heat quantity to an internal engine of an exhaust gas purifying device, to thereby effectively perform temperature elevation of the exhaust gas purifying device and warmup acceleration of the internal combustion engine.
In order to attain the above-described object, the present invention adopts the following means.
Namely, an internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention, comprises:
an exhaust gas purifying catalyst provided in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine for purifying harmful gaseous components contained in exhaust gas;
a combustion heater including a combustion chamber that is independent of the internal combustion engine and a heat exchange portion for transmitting to an engine related element heat held by burnt gas that has been burnt in the combustion chamber;
a first burnt gas discharging means for discharging from the combustion heater the burnt gas which has passed through the heat exchange portion;
a second burnt gas discharging means for discharging from the combustion heater the burnt gas that has not yet passed through the heat exchange portion or that has passed through a part of the heat exchange portion; and
a burnt gas passage controlling means for communicating at least one of the first burnt gas discharging means and the second burnt gas discharging means with a portion upstream of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst in the exhaust passage.
In the thus constructed internal combustion engine with a combustion heater, the relatively low temperature burnt gas through the heat exchange portion in the combustion heater and the relatively high temperature burnt gas that has not passed through the heat exchange portion are fed to the exhaust passage upstream of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst as desired.
For example, in the case where the temperature of the engine related element is to be elevated, the burnt gas passage controlling means communicates the first burnt gas discharging means and the exhaust passage upstream of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst with each other. In this case, the burnt gas that has been burnt in the combustion chamber of the combustion heater has passed through the heat exchange portion and thereafter is fed to the exhaust passage through the first burnt gas discharging means. While the burnt gas passes through the heat exchange portion, the heat of the burnt gas is transmitted to the engine related element to elevate the temperature of the engine related element.
Also, in the case where the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst is to be elevated, the burnt gas passage controlling means communicates the second burnt gas discharging means and the exhaust passage upstream of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst with each other. In this case, the burnt gas that has not passed through the heat exchange portion is fed to the exhaust passage through the second burnt gas discharging means. Since the burnt gas that has not passed the heat exchange portion has a high temperature in comparison with the burnt gas that has passed through the heat exchange portion, if such a high temperature burnt gas is fed to the exhaust passage upstream of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst, the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst is elevated earlier.
Incidentally, the above-described internal combustion engine with a combustion heater may further comprise an intake throttle valve for reducing an amount of intake air flowing through an intake passage of the internal combustion engine if the second burnt gas discharging means is in communication with the portion upstream of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst in the exhaust passage.
The reason for this is that, in an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine in which a combustion temperature is low in a low load operational region and an exhaust gas temperature is likely to be low, since there are cases that the exhaust purifying catalyst is cooled by the low temperature exhaust gas, it is necessary to reduce the exhaust gas amount to be discharged from the internal combustion engine by reducing the intake air amount of the internal combustion engine in order to elevate the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst.
As the internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention, it is possible to exemplify one provided an intake air introducing passage for introducing the air for combustion from the intake passage to the combustion chamber of the combustion heater. In the case where a supercharger is provided in the intake passage of the internal combustion engine, it is preferable that the above-described intake air introducing passage is connected to a portion downstream of the supercharger in the intake passage.
The reason for this is that, since there are some cases that the pressure of the intake passage upstream of the supercharger is lower than the pressure of the exhaust passage upstream of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst, when the intake air introducing passage is connected to the portion upstream of the supercharger in the intake passage, it is assumed that the exhaust gas flowing through the exhaust passage upstream of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst is caused to reversely flow from the first burnt gas discharging means or the second burnt gas discharging means through the combustion heater and the intake air introducing passage to the intake passage.
Next, an internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention may comprises:
a combustion heater including a combustion chamber that is independent of the internal combustion engine and a heat exchange portion for transmitting to an engine related element heat held by burnt gas that has been burnt in the combustion chamber;
a first burnt gas discharging means for discharging from the combustion heater the burnt gas which has passed through the heat exchange portion;
a second burnt gas discharging means for discharging from the combustion heater the burnt gas that has not yet passed through the heat exchange portion or that has passed through a part of the heat exchange portion;
an intake air introducing passage for introducing air for combustion from an intake passage of the internal combustion engine to the combustion heater;
a first burnt gas passage for communicating the first burnt gas discharging means with a joint portion downstream of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage;
a second burnt gas passage for communicating the second burnt gas discharging means with a joint portion downstream of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage; and
a burnt gas passage controlling means for controlling of a flow of gas in the second burnt gas passage.
In this case, it is preferable that the joint portion between the intake passage and the second burnt gas passage is selected to a position where the pressure may be lower than that of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage and that of the intake passage introducing passage in the intake passage.
In the case where the supercharger is provided in the intake passage of the internal combustion engine, it is preferable to provide the intake air introducing passage downstream of the supercharger.
In the thus constructed internal combustion engine with a combustion heater, the burnt gas passage controlling means communicates the second burnt gas passage when a temperature of the body of the engine or a temperature of the engine related element is to be elevated.
In this case, since the intake air introducing passage, the first burnt gas passage and the second burnt gas passage are in communication, applied to the combustion heater are the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage, the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage and the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage.
The pressure of the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage is lower than the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage and lower than the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage. For this reason, the air is introduced from the intake passage through the intake air introducing passage to the combustion heater and at the same time the air is introduced from the intake passage through the first burnt gas passage to the combustion heater. The air that has been introduced through the intake air introducing passage and the first burnt gas passage to the combustion heater is discharged through the second burnt gas exhaust means and the second burnt gas passage to the intake passage.
Here it should be noted that the combustion heater is provided with a gas passage for introducing the air from the intake air introducing passage to the combustion chamber and subsequently introducing the air from the combustion chamber to the heat exchange portion, the first burnt gas discharging means is constructed to discharge the burnt gas from the gas flow passage downstream of the heat exchange portion, and the second burnt gas discharging means is constructed to discharge the burnt gas from,the gas flow passage upstream of the heat exchange portion.
The air that has been introduced into the combustion heater through the intake air introducing passage reaches the second burnt gas discharging means through the combustion chamber (The air reaches the combustion chamber from the intake passage through the intake air introducing passage will hereinafter be referred to as the air for combustion). The air that has been introduced into the combustion heater through the first burnt gas passage reversely flows through the heat exchange portion and reaches the second burnt gas discharging means (The air that reaches the second burnt gas discharging means through the heat exchange portion and the first burnt gas discharging means from the intake passage will hereinafter be referred to as secondary air).
If the above-described secondary air is fed to the second burnt gas discharging means located downstream of the combustion chamber, even if the pressure difference between the joint portion of the second burnt gas passage and the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage is increased, the pressure difference between the upstream side and the downstream side of the combustion chamber is suppressed. As a result, the flow rate and the flow amount of the gas passing through the combustion chamber are not increased excessively and the combustion within the combustion chamber is stabilized.
Also, in the combustion heater, the air for combustion introduced into the combustion chamber is burnt together with predetermined fuel. The burnt gas that has been burnt in the combustion chamber is discharged from the combustion chamber to the gas flow path. At this time, since the burnt gas is prevented from entering the heat exchange portion by the secondary air reversely flowing the heat exchange portion, the burnt gas reaches the second burnt gas discharging means without passing through the heat exchange portion. Accordingly, the burnt gas discharged from the combustion chamber is not used for heat exchange with the engine related element and the heat quantity of the burnt gas is increased.
Subsequently, the second burnt gas discharging means discharges the mixture gas of the above-described secondary gas and burnt gas. The burnt gas that has been discharged from the second gas burnt gas discharging means is fed to the intake passage through the second burnt gas passage. The mixture gas fed to the intake passage is introduced into the internal combustion engine through the intake passage.
Since the above-described mixture gas has the heat quantity that is substantially equal to that of the burnt gas but has a lower temperature than that of the burnt gas, none of the second burnt gas discharging means, the second burnt gas passage and the burnt gas passage controlling means or the like are not excessively elevated. Furthermore, the atmospheric temperature within the sleeve of the internal combustion engine is elevated by the relatively large heat quantity possesses by the mixture gas.
Incidentally, as described above, in the case where the intake air introducing passage, the first burnt gas passage and the second burnt gas passage are connected in order from the upstream side to the downstream side of the intake passage, it is possible to provide an intake throttle valve between the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage of the internal combustion engine and the joint portion of the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage of the internal combustion engine for adjusting a flow rate of the intake air flowing through the intake passage.
With such an arrangement, by throttling the opening degree of the intake throttle valve after the start of the internal combustion engine in the cold start of the internal combustion engine (in cranking) or the like, the joint portion of the second burnt gas discharging passage in the intake passage may be kept at a lower pressure than that of the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage and the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage.
In this case, the air for combustion is fed from the intake passage through the intake air introducing passage into the combustion heater, and at the same time, the secondary air is fed from the intake passage through the first burnt gas passage into the combustion heater. The combustion heater discharges the mixture of the burnt gas having a large heat quantity and the secondary air having a high oxygen concentration to the intake passage through the second burnt gas passage.
As a result, it is possible to keep the necessary amount of oxygen for the engine combustion by the oxygen contained in the secondary air in the mixture gas while elevating the temperature of the atmosphere within the sleeve of the internal combustion engine by the heat held by the burnt gas in the above-described mixture gas.
The internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention, the burnt gas passage controlling means also communicates the second burnt gas passage when temperature elevation demand of an exhaust gas purifying catalyst provided in the exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine occurs.
In this case, the combustion heater discharges the mixture gas of the secondary air and the burnt gas having the large heat quantify. The mixture gas is fed through the second bunt gas passage to the intake passage.
As a result, it is possible to elevate the intake air temperature while preventing the thermal damage of the internal combustion engine body or the intake system of the internal combustion engine to thereby elevate the exhaust gas temperature of the internal combustion engine to elevate the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst.
In this case, if the amount of the intake air of the internal combustion engine is decreased by the intake throttle valve, even if the amount of the gas discharged from the combustion heater is small, it is impossible to sufficiently elevate the temperature of the intake air and to reduce the amount of fuel consumption for the operation of the combustion heater.
Next, an internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention may comprise:
an exhaust gas purifying catalyst provided in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine for purifying harmful gaseous components contained in exhaust gas;
a combustion heater including a combustion chamber that is independent of the internal combustion engine and a heat exchange portion for transmitting to an engine related element heat held by burnt gas that has been burnt in the combustion chamber;
a first burnt gas discharging means for discharging from the combustion heater the burnt gas which has passed through the heat exchange portion;
a second burnt gas discharging means for discharging from the combustion heater the burnt gas that has not yet passed through the heat exchange portion or that has passed through a part of the heat exchange portion;
an intake air introducing passage for introducing air for combustion from an intake passage of the internal combustion engine to the combustion heater;
a first burnt gas passage for communicating the first burnt gas discharging means with a joint portion downstream of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage;
a second burnt gas passage for communicating the second burnt gas discharging means with an exhaust passage upstream of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst; and
a burnt gas passage controlling means for controlling of a flow of gas in the second burnt gas passage.
In this case, it is preferable that the joint portion the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage is selected to a position where the pressure may be lower than that of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage and that of the intake passage introducing passage in the intake passage.
Also, in the case where the supercharger is provided in the intake passage of the internal combustion engine, it is preferable to provide the intake air introducing passage downstream of the supercharger.
The internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention, the burnt gas passage controlling means communicates the second burnt gas passage when temperature elevation demand of an exhaust gas purifying catalyst provided in the exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine occurs.
In this case, since the intake air introducing passage, the first burnt gas passage and the second burnt gas passage are in communication, applied to the combustion heater are the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage, the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage and the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage.
The pressure of the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage is lower than the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage and also lower than the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage. For this reason, the air for combustion is introduced from the intake passage through the intake air introducing passage to the combustion heater and at the same time the secondary air is introduced from the intake passage through the first burnt gas passage to the combustion heater.
The above-described air for combustion is introduced into the second burnt gas discharging means through the combustion chamber of the combustion heater. The above-described secondary air is caused to reversely flow through the heat exchange portion and to be introduced into the second burnt gas discharging means. Thus, if the secondary air is fed to the second burnt gas discharging means located downstream of the combustion chamber, even if the pressure difference between the joint portion of the third burnt gas passage in the exhaust passae and the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage is increased, the pressure difference between the upstream side and the downstream side of the combustion chamber is suppressed. As a result, the flow rate and the flow amount of the gas passing through the combustion chamber are not increased excessively and the combustion within the combustion chamber is stabilized.
Also, in the combustion heater, since the burnt gas that has been discharged from the combustion chamber is prevented from entering the heat exchange portion by the secondary air reversely flowing in the heat exchange portion, the heat of the burnt gas is not transmitted to the engine related element and the heat quantity of the burnt gas is increased.
Subsequently, the second burnt gas discharging means discharges the mixture gas of the above-described secondary gas and burnt gas. The burnt gas that has been discharged from the second gas burnt gas discharging means is fed to the exhaust passage upstream of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst through the second burnt gas passage. The mixture gas fed to the exhaust passage is introduced into the exhaust gas purifying catalyst through the exhaust passage.
In this case, since the above-described mixture gas has the heat quantity that is substantially equal to that of the burnt gas and has a lower temperature than that of the burnt gas, none of the second burnt gas discharging means, the second burnt gas passage and the burnt gas passage controlling means or the like are not excessively elevated. Furthermore, the exhaust gas purifying catalyst is elevated for a short period of time by the relatively large heat quantity possesses by the mixture gas.
The internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention, the burnt gas passage controlling means may close the second burnt gas passage upon ignition and extinguishment of the combustion heater.
The reason for this is that, in the internal combustion engine with a combustion heater, it is expected that the pressure of the intake air supercharged by the supercharger is considerably high by the pressure of the exhaust gas, and in such a case, if the second burnt gas passage is communicated, the intake passage and the exhaust passage are in communication with each other through the combustion heater so that the amount of the intake air passing through the combustion heater is excessively increased to degrade the ignitability of the combustion heater.
On the other hand, in the internal combustion engine provided with the supercharger in the intake passage, in extinguishment, i.e., in the inoperative condition of the combustion heater, if the second burnt gas passage is communicated to thereby communicate the intake passage and the exhaust passage with each other, a part of the intake air supercharged by the supercharger is bypassed around the internal combustion engine to flow into the exhaust passage, resulting in degradation of the supercharging effect by the supercharger.
Next, an internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention may comprise:
an exhaust gas purifying catalyst provided in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine for purifying harmful gaseous components contained in exhaust gas;
a combustion heater including a combustion chamber that is independent of the internal combustion engine and a heat exchange portion for transmitting to an engine related element heat held by burnt gas that has been burnt in the combustion chamber;
a first burnt gas discharging means for discharging from the combustion heater the burnt gas which has passed through the heat exchange portion;
a second burnt gas discharging means for discharging from the combustion heater the burnt gas that has not yet passed through the heat exchange portion or that has passed through a part of the heat exchange portion;
an intake air introducing passage for introducing air for combustion from an intake passage of the internal combustion engine to the combustion heater;
a first burnt gas passage for communicating the first burnt gas discharging means with a joint portion downstream of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage;
a second burnt gas passage for communicating the second burnt gas discharging means with a joint portion downstream of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage;
a third burnt gas passage for communicating the second burnt gas discharging means with the exhaust passage of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst; and
a burnt gas passage controlling means for controlling a flow of gas in the second burnt gas passage and the third burnt gas passage.
In this case, it is preferable that the joint portion between the intake passage and the second burnt gas passage and the joint portion between the exhaust passage and the third burnt gas passage are selected to a position where these pressures may be lower than that of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage and that of the intake passage introducing passage in the intake passage.
Also, in the case where the supercharger is provided in the intake passage of the internal combustion engine, it is preferable to provide the intake air introducing passage downstream of the supercharger.
With such an arrangement, it is possible to selectively feed to the intake passage and the exhaust passage the gas that is high in heat quantity and lower in temperature than the burnt gas, without unstabilizing the combustion condition of the combustion chamber.
For instance, in the case where the temperature of the engine related element or the engine temperature is less than a predetermined temperature in start of the engine or the like, the burnt gas passage controlling means communicates the second burnt gas passage and at the same time closes the third burnt gas passage.
In this case, since the intake air introducing passage, the first burnt gas passage and the second burnt gas passage are in communication, applied to the combustion heater are the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage, the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage and the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage.
The pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage is lower than the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage and lower than the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage. For this reason, the air for combustion is introduced from the intake passage through the intake air introducing passage to the combustion heater and at the same time the secondary air is introduced from the intake passage through the first burnt gas passage to the combustion heater.
The above-described air for combustion is introduced into the second burnt gas discharging means through the combustion chamber of the combustion heater. The above-described secondary air is caused to reversely flow through the heat exchange portion and to be introduced into the second burnt gas discharging means. Thus, if the secondary air is fed to the second burnt gas discharging means located downstream of the combustion chamber, even if the pressure difference between the joint portion of the second burnt gas passage and the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage is increased, the pressure difference between the upstream side and the downstream side of the combustion chamber is suppressed. As a result, the flow rate and the flow amount of the gas passing through the combustion chamber are not increased excessively and the combustion within the combustion chamber is stabilized.
Also, in the combustion heater, since the burnt gas that has been discharged from the combustion chamber is prevented from entering the heat exchange portion by the secondary air reversely flowing in the heat exchange portion, the heat of the burnt gas is not transmitted to the engine related element and the heat quantity of the burnt gas is increased..
Subsequently, the second burnt gas discharging means discharges the mixture gas of the above-described secondary gas and burnt gas. The burnt gas that has been discharged from the second burnt gas discharging means is fed to the intake passage through the second burnt gas passage. The mixture gas fed to the intake passage is introduced into the internal combustion engine through the intake passage.
In this case, since the above-described mixture gas has the heat quantity that is substantially equal to that of the burnt gas and has a lower temperature than that of the burnt gas, none of the second burnt gas discharging means, the second burnt gas passage and the burnt gas passage controlling means or the like are not excessively elevated. Furthermore, it is possible to keep the necessary amount of oxygen for the engine combustion by a large amount of oxygen contained in the secondary air in the mixture gas while elevating the temperature of the atmosphere within the sleeve of the internal combustion engine by the heat held by the burnt gas in the mixture gas. Thus, the startability of the engine is enhanced.
Incidentally, the internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention may further comprise an intake throttle valve provided between a joint portion of the first burnt gas passage and a joint portion of the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage of the internal combustion engine for reducing a flow rate of intake air flowing through the intake passage in start of the internal combustion engine.
The reason for this is that, by operating the intake throttle valve at the start of the internal combustion engine, the pressure of the joint portion of the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage is lower than the pressure of the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage at the intake passage and lower than the pressure of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage.
In the internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention, the burnt gas passage controlling means closes the second burnt gas passage while communicating the third burnt gas passage when temperature elevation demand of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst occurs.
In this case, since the intake air introducing passage, the first burnt gas passage and the third burnt gas passage are in communication, applied to the combustion heater are the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage, the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage and the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the third burnt gas passage in the exhaust passage.
The pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the third burnt gas passage in the exhaust passage is lower than the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage and lower than the pressure in the vicinity of the joint portion of the first burnt gas passage in the intake passage. For this reason, the air for combustion is introduced from the intake passage through the intake air introducing passage to the combustion heater and at the same time the secondary air is introduced from the intake passage through the first burnt gas passage to the combustion heater.
The above-described air for combustion is introduced into the second burnt gas discharging means through the combustion chamber of the combustion heater. The above-described secondary air is caused to reversely flow through the heat exchange portion and to be introduced into the second burnt gas discharging means. Thus, if the secondary air is fed to the second burnt gas discharging means located downstream of the combustion chamber, even if the pressure difference between the joint portion of the third burnt gas passage and the joint portion of the intake air introducing passage in the intake passage is increased, the pressure difference between the upstream side and the downstream side of the combustion chamber is suppressed. As a result, the flow rate and the flow amount of the gas passing through the combustion chamber are not increased excessively and the combustion within the combustion chamber is stabilized.
Also, in the combustion heater, since the burnt gas that has been discharged from the combustion chamber is prevented from entering the heat exchange portion by the secondary air reversely flowing in the heat exchange portion, the heat of the burnt gas is not transmitted to the engine related element and the heat quantity of the burnt gas is increased.
Subsequently, the second burnt gas discharging means discharges the mixture gas of the above-described secondary gas and burnt gas. The burnt gas that has been discharged from the second burnt gas discharging means is fed to the exhaust passage through the third burnt gas passage. The mixture gas fed to the exhaust passage is introduced into the exhaust gas purifying catalyst through the exhaust passage.
In this case, since the above-described mixture gas has the heat quantity that is substantially equal to that of the burnt gas and has a lower temperature than that of the burnt gas, none of the second burnt gas discharging means, the third burnt gas passage and the burnt gas passage controlling means or the like are not excessively elevated. Furthermore, it is possible to elevate the exhaust gas purifying catalyst for a short period of time by the relatively large amount of heat of the mixture gas.
Incidentally, the internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention may further comprise an intake throttle valve provided between a joint portion of the first burnt gas passage and a joint portion of the second burnt gas passage in the intake passage of the internal combustion engine for reducing a flow rate of intake air flowing through the intake passage when the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst is elevated.
The reason for this is that, in an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine in which a combustion temperature is low in a low load operational region and an exhaust gas temperature is likely to be low, since there are cases that the exhaust purifying catalyst is cooled by the low temperature exhaust gas, it is necessary to reduce the exhaust gas amount to be discharged from the internal combustion engine so that the cooling caused by the exhaust is suppressed in order to elevate the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst.
On the other hand, the burnt gas passage controlling means may close the third burnt gas passage and may simultaneously communicate the second burnt gas passage when a temperature elevation demand of the exhaust gas catalyst provided in the exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine, occurs. Namely, in the case where the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst is to be elevated, by elevating the temperature of the intake air of the internal combustion engine, the temperature of the exhaust gas to be discharged from the internal combustion engine may be elevated, to thereby elevate the temperature of the exhaust purifying catalyst.
In this case, it is possible to reduce the amount of the air flowing through the intake passage by operating the throttle valve. The reason for this is that, since the air to be fed to the internal combustion engine through the intake passage and the mixture gas to be fed to the internal combustion engine from the combustion heater are included in the intake air to be fed to the internal combustion engine, if the amount of the air to be fed to the internal combustion engine through the intake passage is decreased, it is possible to sufficiently elevate the temperature of the intake air even with a small amount of the mixture gas and it is possible to reduce the fuel consumption rate needed for the operation of the combustion heater.
In the internal combustion engine with a combustion heater according to the present invention, the burnt gas passage controlling means may close the second burnt gas passage and the third burnt gas passage upon ignition and extinguishment of the combustion heater.

Internal combustion engine with combustion heater


A cutting tool having multiple functional faces and an adjustable blade. The cutting tool may include a solid body having multiple functional faces, a blade, and a peg. The multiple faces of the solid body may include a cutting face, a gripping face, a base face, one or more securing faces and a pressure face. The cutting face may be curved and may form a receiving bay for receiving an item to be cut and may include a plurality of slots. The blade may be secured in any one slot of the plurality of slots. The peg may help to secure the blade within the cutting face. The cutting tool may also include a compartment for storing extra blades.

A great variety of knives, cutters, safety cutters, and cutter apparatuses are known in the art. Features variously found in prior art knives, cutters, safety cutters, and cutter apparatuses include mechanisms and devices facilitating, for example, blade deployment, blade locking, blade depth adjustment, the ability to change blades, and the ability to store the blade when not in use. Various handle designs and ergonomic designs are also known in the art.
Many people have and regularly use the common retractable blade utility knife for a variety of household and work-related projects. For example, these types of knives may be used to open boxes, cut down cardboard, cutting straight lines in a variety of different materials, scrapping off paint from surfaces, making marking or scoring lines in a variety of different materials, etc.
While these types of knives are useful in a variety of different applications, it may be hard to use them in other applications. For example, it may be hard to use the common retractable blade utility knife for cutting that requires rotation such as cutting pipes or cutting other rounded surfaces. With these types of knives, it may be hard to produce straight lines or cuts when rotational cutting is required or when cutting rounded surfaces.
Accordingly, there has been an ongoing need for improvements in utility knives. Therefore, new designs and functional features for utility type knives would be well received by the general public.


Disclosed is a process for the purification of a mixed diol stream. The mixed diol stream comprising two-, three-, and four-carbon diols is separated into component diols by extraction with a hydrophobic solvent mixture. The diols recovered in the extractant may be removed from the extractant stream by back extraction with water or by distillation with an azeotrope-forming agent present, preferably an azeotroping agent already present in the extractant mixture.

Two-, three-, and four-carbon diols, as exemplified by ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,2-butanediol, 2,3-butanediol, 1,3-butanediol, and 1,4-butanediol, find use in a myriad of industrially important polymers and formulations. Many processes have been disclosed for the production of these diols. For example, ethylene glycol can be produced by the hydrogenation of glycolic acid, glycolic acid esters, methyl glycolate, oligomers of glycolic acid, oligomers of glycolic acid ester, or mixtures thereof with a ruthenium compound such as, for example, a ruthenium-organophosphorus coordination compound, that is soluble or partly soluble in the reaction mixture. Such a glycolic acid-based route has been described in the art as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,615,671. The hydrogenation of glycolic acid species may also produce by-product higher diols, primarily 1,2-propanediol and 1,2-butanediol, in small quantities, e.g., typically less than 1 weight percent of each compared to ethylene glycol.
Carbohydrate feedstocks also may be used to produce mixed diol streams with varying amounts and particular species of two-carbon diols, three-carbon diols, four-carbon-diols, and higher diols.
It is desirable to separate the mixed diol stream into its component diols in a most economic manner. Distillation, a common method of separation, can prove difficult when components have close boiling points. The normal boiling points of ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol, and 1,2-butanediol are 197.1° C., 187.7° C., and 196.5° C. respectively, and ethylene glycol and 1,2-butanediol are known to form a minimum boiling azeotrope, precluding complete separation by single-feed ordinary fractional distillation. Separation of such mixed diol streams into pure fractions by ordinary single-feed fractional distillation is extremely difficult, if not impossible due to numerous azeotropes and close boiling points.
There is a need for a process whereby a diol mixture can be separated into pure fractions in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process for the separation and purification of a mixed diol stream


A separator for a hydraulic system is provided, including a substrate and a membrane. The substrate includes a substrate outer surface and a gas side expulsion area. The expulsion area is for expelling gas from the separator. The membrane is in communication with the substrate, and is for permeating gas to the substrate outer surface while substantially blocking ingression of fluid to the substrate. The substrate outer surface is for receiving gas. The substrate is for transporting gas from the substrate outer surface to the expulsion area.

Hydraulic systems operate by circulating a hydraulic fluid repeatedly throughout the hydraulic system, where movement of the hydraulic fluid is used to selectively power hydraulic system components. As the hydraulic system operates, unwanted gas from certain hydraulic system components may permeate into the hydraulic fluid. If the hydraulic fluid becomes saturated with gas, the hydraulic system may experience issues, such as a decreased level of performance, unwanted noise, or even potential damage to the hydraulic system components. Manually purging the gas from the hydraulic fluid may be costly or time-consuming, and is not always an option on some types of hydraulic systems, especially hydraulic systems that are intended to be sealed for life.
In one approach, a separator may be utilized to remove the gas from the hydraulic fluid. There are several known types of separators for removing the gas trapped within the hydraulic fluid. The separator has the ability to absorb gas while limiting the absorption of hydraulic fluid.
In at least some types of separators, a polymer may be used to absorb the gas. The polymer may be designed to absorb the gas from the hydraulic fluid, while substantially restricting the hydraulic fluid from entering the separator. The polymer's physical properties may be modified in order to restrict ingress of the hydraulic fluid into the separator. In one example, the outer surface of the polymer is modified to change the polymer's microporosity and hydrophobic properties. However, producing polymers to have the ability to repel fluid while still being able to absorb gas may require complicated manufacturing processes, may be costly, and may have absolute pressure limits below those of modern high-pressure hydraulic work circuits.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide a cost effective separator for a hydraulic system that absorbs at least some of the gas from the fluid, while substantially restricting the flow of fluid into the separator.


Insulating barriers for flat, confronting C-shaped bus bars with facing, depending end portions are integrally formed with a pair of confronting C-shaped insulating members conforming to the shape of the bus bars and joined by a pair of projections extending between and electrically insulating the facing, depending end portions from each other. Preferably, the insulating barrier is formed with flat linear sections joining the confronting C-shaped members which are then folded to form the projections. The C-shaped insulating members have edge extensions covering the edges of the bus bars. Grippers formed integrally with the edge extensions snap under the bus bars to secure the insulating members in place.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ground fault circuit breakers with flat bus bars extending through toroidal ground fault sensing coils, and to insulating barriers for such bus bars.
2. Background Information
There is a growing demand today for circuit breakers for residential and light industrial and commercial use which provide ground fault protection. An example of such a circuit breaker is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. patent application No. 676,150, filed on Mar. 27, 1991. The ground fault detector in this circuit breaker utilizes two toroidal coils as transformers laterally spaced from one another. Both the line and neutral conductors are passed through the toroidal coils to form the primaries of the two transformers. A test lead also passes through one of the toroidal coils.
These residential and light commercial and industrial circuit breakers are designed for installation and standardized load centers and panel boards, and therefore, the space available within the circuit breaker having for the ground fault detector is limited. In order to increase the rated capacity of such circuit breakers provided with ground fault protection, commonly owned, concurrently filed U.S. Patent Application entitled Ground Fault Circuit Breaker with Flat Bus Bars for Sensing Coils, Ser. No. 07/943,801, discloses the use of flat bus bars as the line and neutral conductors passing through the toroidal coils. This co-pending application proposes insulating the bus bars from each other and from other components in the circuit breaker by coating the bus bars with an air dry insulating enamel.

Insulating barriers for circuit breaker bus bars and a ground fault circuit breaker incorporating same


Disclosed are systems, apparatus, devices, methods, computer program products, computer media, and other implementations, including a method that includes communicating data representative of one or more location-based restrictions corresponding to a venue area to a mobile device determined to be located within the venue area, and controlling, by at least one venue server, use at the mobile device of services available at the venue area from one or more nodes associated with the venue area based, at least in part, on a determination, by the at least one venue server, of whether the mobile device complies with the location-based restrictions corresponding to the venue area.

Some mobile devices, such as mobile phones, include various sensors, input modules/devices, and communication modules, that are configured to obtain data available in the devices vicinity. For example, mobile devices equipped with WLAN transceivers (e.g., WiFi-based transceivers, Bluetooth-based transceivers) may establish communications links with nearby access points and/or servers, and access data available at, or through, such access points and servers. In another example, mobile devices equipped with a camera device and/or an audio recording device may be able to record visual and/or audio data.
In certain areas, unregulated use of sensor/input/communication modules/devices, whether housed on a mobile device or otherwise, may constitute a security-risk. For example, situations of frequent camera use in a security-sensitive area, such as a government building, a hospital, a bank, etc., may be deemed to pose a security risk, as does an unfettered ability to access data via a device's communication module (e.g., a WiFi transceiver/interface of the mobile device, a cellular transceiver for communicating with a WWAN network, etc.). Various ways to mitigate potential security problems associated with the presence of these types of mobile devices in security sensitive areas include completely disabling those devices (e.g., taping the mobile device's camera shut, or powering down the device), temporary confiscating a mobile device when its user enters a security-sensitive area, and other such onerous measures.
However, in some situations, users entering such security sensitive area may need their mobile devices to, for example, take notes during a meeting, access needed data stored on their devices, etc.

Location based enforcement of mobile policy