A high clearance agricultural sprayer of the type including a ground wheel mounted on a vertical section of an axle with a hub having a hydraulic motor for driving the ground wheel has an accessory mounted on the ground wheel using an inner bracket attached to the bottom of the vertical section of the axle and an outer bracket attached on the cylindrical surface of the hub. The outer bracket includes a cylindrical sleeve having a shaft on an end face of the sleeve and the bearing surrounding the shaft. The system can be used to support a crop divider carried on the ground wheel by a pair of arms each extending forwardly from their respective brackets for pivotal movement about the axis of the wheel such that the crop divider comprises a pair of frames which extend forwardly each in a respective arm to a front apex where the frame is being covered by plastic cover sheets. A central ground wheel is carried on one of the frames and carries a forward end of the crop divider for defining the height of the crop divider to the ground.

In recent years developments have been made in agricultural processes which require the spreading of chemicals in liquid or granular form onto the crop at various stages during the crop's development including pre-emergene, post-emergence and pre-harvesting. Machines have been developed which are suitable for movement across the grand during these different stages. Such machines generally have a relatively high clearance so they have raised axles and relatively large narrow tires so that the tires can move over the ground without the frame of the vehicle damaging the crop and at the same time minimizing damage to the crop from impact by the wheels.
In the situation where the crop has emerged or has developed, it is desirable to provide crop dividers on at least the front wheels of the vehicle so that, ahead of the wheels, the crop is separated or divided so that it passes to restricted sides of the wheel while minimizing the damage to the crop. Various designs of a crop divider have been developed. Such crop dividers have the appearance of fenders with a relatively sharp leading edge in front of the wheel and two side surfaces which extend rearwardly from the leading edge to the respective sides of the wheel.
Until now this crop divider arrangement has generally been mounted on a bracket system attached to the support structure for the wheel on the inside of the wheel only. Generally machines of this type include a vertical axle portion of an outer end of a horizontal axle portion with a wheel hub mounted at the lower end of the vertical axle portion. In general the bracket is attached to the vertical axle portion with intention that the structure of the crop divider is supported from this bracket only.
This arrangement has had the disadvantage that the crop divider is difficult to support by this single bracket thus limiting the size and effectiveness of the crop divider which can be used.

Bracket for supporting a crop divider on a wheel assembly of an agricultural vehicle


A system for on-site detection at remote locations of various microscopic contaminants in samples without requiring use of growth media or involving extensive testing methodologies. Electronic transmission of such digitized high-level resolution photomicrographs to a certified mycologist or other technically trained personnel for rapid analysis is provided.

Many biological organisms trigger allergic reactions, respiratory difficulties, and some types of asthma. Some molds release mycotoxins and metabolites that may cause respiratory or thermal discomfort. These spores are the reproductive units of fungi and their elimination has become a matter of importance in enhancing the general well-being of man.
A discussion of conventional techniques for microscopic examination of growth such as fungi is set forth at pages 180-181 of "Medically Important Fungi—A Guide to Identification" by Davise H. Larone (1987). Three most popular types of microscopic examination techniques include tease-mount which is a rapid method but is destructive and does not always preserve the original position and structure of the conidia, spores and the like, both of which are extremely important to allow accurate identification. Cellophane tape-mount is also a rapid method and uses tape to remove part of the growth before the fungi is placed on a small drop of LPCB on a glass slide and examined under a microscope. This method helps retain the original position of characteristic fungal structures. Slide culture techniques preserve the structure of a fungus in a slide culture; however these is not as rapid as other techniques since they require suspending a microscopic slide in a petri dish with a block of agar on top of the slide. Once the fungi have grown to a stage sufficient to permit proper identification, a slide culture is generally made from this initial culture. The slide culture generally consists of a square of agar medium which has been inoculated with a sample of the culture of the fungi initially made, and which has been placed upon a microscope slide with a cover glass on top of the culture on the slide. The slide culture is then generally incubated in a humid environment. After incubation, identification of the fungi is generally accomplished by removing the cover glass from the slide, placing the cover glass on another microscope slide on top of a drop of lacto-phenol cotton blue stain, and viewing the fungi under a microscope.
A problem with microscopic techniques is that they are dependent upon the individual expertise of the operator, thereby increasing the margin of error both in the over identification of fungi-false positives, and in the under identification of fungi-false negatives whenever the analysis is made by any person other than a certified mycologist.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,445 discloses a method of diagnosing a disease of a fingernail, a toenail, skin, or a mucus membrane using a confocal microscope to observe abnormal structures within the fingernail, the toenail, the skin, or the mucus membrane. The characteristics of those structures are compared to corresponding characteristic structures known to be associated with a given disease state. This method includes monitoring the progress of a treatment of a disease using a confocal microscope to observe changes over time of an infected area.
One recent approach to ease these problems, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,441, permits the growth of a culture of microorganisms, such as fungi, in a closed system so that the microorganisms may be viewed at any time under a microscope through a slide system apparatus without interrupting the growth of the microorganisms. This enables an operator working with the culture to view the growing fungi (or other microorganisms) on a daily basis without disturbing the growing fungi in any manner until the fungi have grown to a stage where they can be properly identified; i. e., until they have formed the reproduction bodies known as conidia, which will permit their proper identification and diagnosis. At this stage, the operator can properly identify and diagnose the fungi by placing the slide system apparatus on a microscope, and viewing the growing fungi through the slide system apparatus. This approach is exemplary of conventional methods for identifying microorganisms but suffers the disadvantage of being very time-consuming.
Unfortunately, the rising demand for diagnosing fungal pathogens has exacerbated this situation and tremendous demands are placed on a limited availability of board certified dermatologist. Further, it is becoming important for businesses considering capital expansion to new property or certifying an existing work area to be free of fungal pathogen. Generally, it is best to examine a fungus microscopically when the culture first begins to grow and forms conidia or spores, and again a few days later. In many instances, the manner of conidiation or sporulation, which is critical to the correct identification of the fungi, is obscured in old cultures. Further, many fungi are polymorphic and, therefore, observation of the fruiting bodies as they grow is essential. Such observation is not possible in-situ with currently-existing methods for growing cultures of fungi.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,964 discloses a system for automatically detecting the presence of contaminants in samples. The system includes a microscope, a controllable stage positioner for holding slides under the microscope, a computer for controlling the stage positioner and a digital camera to capture images through the microscope. The system scans microscope views of regions of a slide sample and provides the digital images to a computer. Image processing routines stored in the computer analyze the digital images and determine whether these images may contain certain contaminants by comparing the characteristics of the objects in the image with the known characteristics of the contaminants.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,700 discloses a digital imaging spectrophotometer configured for the direct determination of the ground state absorption spectra of microscopic samples from approximately 400 nm to approximately 950 nm at 2 nm resolution with approximately 1 micron refraction limited spatial resolution. The instrument also uses image processing techniques to identify features, such as a single microbial cell, on a microscope slide or thin section.
It can therefore be seen that available examination techniques sacrifice accuracy of identification for speed or speed for accuracy of identification. Furthermore, the most accurate method, the slide culture method, does not allow in situ viewing.
American Journal of Clinical Pathology 111 (6), p 792-795 June, 1999, defines telepathology as the practice of pathology at a distance using video-microscopy and telecommunication tools. It mentions the use of "virtual microscopy" techniques and the Internet as tools for tele-pathology gastrointestinal biopsy consultations. Gastrointestinal biopsy specimens were photographed using a high-resolution digital camera, a light microscope, and a microcomputer. Digital photomicrographs collected at 40× or 100× optical magnification using 2,700×3,400 pixel resolution were saved in a JPEG image format. Such images could be magnified digitally up to 600% without visible degradation and scrolled at different magnifications on a video monitor, simulating examination under a light microscope. The image files (281 to 3,324 KB) were attached to e-mail messages containing patient information and sent through the Internet to Michigan for interpretation using a Macintosh™ computer.
Mycopathologia Journal 118 (2), 1992, 65-69, describes a system for the evaluation of antifungal activity of volatile compounds based on dynamic growth of a single hypha. The system is composed of a reaction vessel under a microscope, an automatic stage, a charge coupled device camera, a TV monitor, a video tape recorder, and a microcomputer. A fungus was inoculated in the reaction vessel containing agar medium and then was treated with an antifungal reagent in the gas phase either in batch or flow reaction manner. The apex of a growing hypha displayed on the TV monitor was followed automatically. From the ratio of the growth rate under exposure of a reagent (UBXPO) to the growth rate before the exposure, the antifungal activity was expressed quantitatively.
A solution to the shortcomings of existing systems has heretofore been impeded because of the lack of sufficiently accurate microscopic techniques that would provide for on-site examinations for fungal pathogens enabling board certified dermatologist to make fungi examinations on-site at remote locations.

Method and apparatus for diagnosing pathogenic or allergenic microorganisms or microparticles at a remote location


A point of sale display stand includes a peg type article display tray having side walls, an end wall forming shelf and a bottom wall which is inclined upright when in use. A tray support has a collapsible state and a deployed state. The support comprises two triangular sidewalls with medial foldlines and spaced upper and lower rear walls connected by foldlines to the sidewalls. A flat sheet material brace is attached to the lowermost support rear wall medially the upper and rear walls by a foldline. The support has two sets of two L-shaped tabs that mate in slots in the tray bottom wall. The bottom wall cooperates with the support three walls to form a four wall support for the tray. The tabs have cantilevered legs wherein an upper pair of tabs have their cantilevered legs facing upwardly and the lower pair of tabs have their cantilevered legs facing in the opposite direction downwardly when the display is in use. The lower tabs cantilevered portions fold over so the tabs can be inserted in relatively smaller slots in the tray to securely lock these tabs in place which unfold after insertion into the slots.

This invention relates to article display stands comprising display trays for use with collapsible tray supports.
Of interest are commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,762,207 and 5,620,104 incorporated by reference herein.
Display stands employing corrugated paperboard are in wide use. The stands have numerous configurations established for particular point of sale display of articles. Generally, such stands have a display portion and a support for retaining the display portion upright or inclined in a display orientation. See for example the aforementioned U.S. patents. Stands may have shelves or they may have a display panel from which pegs extend for hanging articles for display. For example, see the aforementioned patents and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,871,608, 4,671,417 and 3,433,365 for peg type displays all incorporated by reference herein.
These displays are counter type units which are relatively small, light and easy to assemble. Other displays are floor mounted and typically have large boxes and the like for supporting a display member. Many are collapsible type displays and require, in some cases, relatively complex assembly of the various components. Because they are generally paperboard, the interconnections of the components tend to be difficult at times and sometimes the connections may become damaged during assembly affecting the connection of the various components. Typically such displays need to be first assembled prior to placement into use at the point of sale location. This can be time consuming for the personnel involved and is not always conducive to proper assembly and thus can lead to an unattractive display.
The present inventor recognizes a need for a point of sale display that can be readily assembled quickly and without possible damage to the interrelated connections. In particular, a need is recognized for a display support that is readily adaptable to conventional displays but needs no mechanical assembly of the components. The support can be readily deployed from a portable configuration to a display configuration with no or a minimum of such component assembly.
A collapsible display stand according to the present invention comprises an article display tray for receiving articles to be displayed; the tray having a bottom wall, a pair of opposing side walls and an end wall forming a display chamber, the bottom wall having spaced slots adjacent to the opposing side walls, the tray further including a front wall spaced from and juxtaposed with the bottom wall, the end wall being coupled to the bottom wall and front wall forming a shelf in the tray chamber.
A collapsible display tray support is included and has a deployed state and a collapsed state, the support including at least one rear wall with opposing first edges, opposing spaced first and second side walls each hinged to the rear wall at a different one of the rear wall opposing first edges, the first and second side walls each having a medial first hinge and a second edge distal the first hinge and distal the at least one rear wall such that the first and second side walls can each selectively collapse against the at least one rear wall.
At least one tab extends from each of the first and second side walls at the second edge thereof the at least one tab being received in a different slot in the tray to releasably secure the support to the tray whereby in the collapsed state the at least one rear wall and the first and second side walls are juxtaposed with at least a portion of the tray bottom wall and in the extended state the tray serves to stiffen the support such that the tray and support cooperate to form a self supporting display stand.
In one embodiment, the support first and second side walls, tabs, at least one rear wall and brace are one piece paperboard and the tray is one piece paperboard.
In a further embodiment, the at least one rear wall comprises two spaced coplanar rear walls and further includes a brace, the brace being secured to one of the two rear walls medially the two rear walls, the brace in the collapsed state being positioned between and coplanar with the two spaced rear walls, the brace, rear walls, first and second side walls and tabs being one piece paper board.
In a further embodiment, the tray side walls, bottom wall and front wall each have a support edge, the support first and second side walls and at least one rear wall each having a further edge that is coplanar with the tray support edges, all the edges lying in and defining a support plane for the tray and support.
Preferably the at least one rear wall comprises two spaced rear walls and a brace member hinged to a first of the rear walls for abutting the tray bottom wall in the extended deployed state.
In a further embodiment, the tabs are hook-shaped. Preferably the tabs are L-shaped, the support rear and side walls each having coplanar edges forming a support edge, the tabs comprising two sets of two tabs in each set, the hooks of each set facing in opposite directions. Also, preferably the slots in the tray have a given length, a first tab of each set being proximal to the support edge, the tabs each having first and second legs, the first leg extending from a corresponding support side wall edge and the second leg extending cantilevered from the first leg parallel to the corresponding side wall edge, the first leg having a transverse width in the direction of the cantilevered second leg, the transverse width being approximately the same value as the length of the mating slot in the tray bottom wall such that the cantilevered second leg must be folded juxtaposed with the first leg for insertion into the mating slot.

Display stand with releasable collapsible support


A thick film composition consisting essentially of:                a) electrically conductive powder;        b) an inorganic binder wherein the inorganic binder is selected from TiO2 and any compounds that can generate TiO2 during firing; and        c) an organic medium.

An interconnect circuit board of an LTCC design is a physical realization of electronic circuits or subsystems made from a number of extremely small circuit elements that are electrically and mechanically interconnected. It is frequently desirable to combine these diverse electronic components in an arrangement so that they can be physically isolated and mounted adjacent to one another in a single compact package and electrically connected to each other and/or to common connections extending from the package.
Complex electronic circuits generally require that the circuit be constructed of several layers of conductors separated by insulating dielectric layers. The conductive layers are interconnected between levels by electrically conductive pathways, called vias, through a dielectric layer. Such a multilayer structure allows a circuit to be more compact than traditional Al2O3 substrates by allowing vertical integration.
LTCC tape has been widely used in the automotive and telecom industry for its multilayer, cofiring and flexible design capabilities. One of the critical elements in the successful use of the materials is that the surface conductors need to have good soldered adhesion under both thermal aging (isothermal storage at 150° C.) and thermal cycling (typically between a low temperature in the range of −55 to −40° C. and a high temperature in the range of 100–150° C.) conditions. Such exposure often will result in the development of stresses in the solder joints used to attach surface mounted components to the substrate. The primary reason for these stresses is a mismatch in thermal expansion of the various different materials that comprise the joint, namely, the ceramic, the conductor metal, the solder metal, the metal that comprises the leads to the surface-mounted device and the material used to make the device. Through careful layout design and skilled application of underfill materials one can distribute the stresses more evenly and prevent a concentration of stresses at any one joint. However, it is not possible to eliminate these stresses completely. One key to sustaining good soldered adhesion during such exposure is the ability of the materials involved to absorb these stresses without undergoing any permanent or irreversible mechanical damage. In other words any improvement in the mechanical properties, i.e., elastic and bulk modulus, of the materials, particularly those of the underlying tape will increase the ability of the overall joint to absorb stress during thermal exposure.
One of the most common failure modes observed in the thermal cycling of solder joints is cracking of the tape at the periphery of the conductor pad. As exposure continues such cracks can propagate through the dielectric and under the pad itself. In some cases the onset of cracking has been observed after less than 10 cycles. This is compared to a typical specification which requires 500 thermal cycles without evidence of ceramic tape cracking or significant loss of adhesion between the conductor and the underlying tape.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,718 to Lombard et al. provides a high adhesion strength, co-fireable, solderable silver metallization material for use with low-fire ceramics. The metallization material includes the metal powder as well as an organic vehicle, and adhesion promoting agents. This combination of elements allows a metallization material which can be cofired at relatively low temperatures necessary for firing ceramic substrate materials while providing an adequate base for soldering subsequent circuit components to the ceramic substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,932 to Nair discloses a ceramic substrate having a conductive pattern coating wherein the coating comprises an admixture of finely divided particles of a noble metal or alloy, a low melting, low viscosity glass, a spinel-forming metal oxide and an organo-titanate and the process of making same.
Neither of the above inventions meets the specification of 500 cycles without cracking of the dielectric and maintaining adhesion of the conductor to the substrate during thermal exposure. Accordingly, there exists a need for a conductor composition which is able to surpass the thermal cycling capabilities of the prior art. In particular, there is a need for a conductor composition which can exceed 500 thermal cycles without cracking or losing adhesion on the tape substrate. The present invention provides such conductor compositions.

Thick film conductor case compositions for LTCC tape


ABSTRACTA transceiver (20) for a millimeter wave signal, consisting of a PCB (140) having PCB microstrip lines (141) and PCB waveguide apertures (159), and one or more transmitter modules (22) and one or more receiver modules (24, 26, 28) mounted on the PCB. Each module has a single microstrip-waveguide transition (34, 48) and a microstrip-microstrip transition (47, 49). The microstrip-waveguide transition of each module couples to one of the PCB waveguide apertures via a PCB-module waveguide-waveguide transition (167). The microstrip-microstrip transition of each module couples to one of the PCB microstrip lines via a PCB-module microstrip-microstrip transition (165). The PCB-module transitions are low tolerance, facilitating implementation of the transceiver.

Radar transceivers operating at millimeter wavelengths have been in use for some time on vehicles, where they are installed to provide such features as warnings of obstacles that may not be visible to a driver of the vehicle, or for autonomous cruise control (ACC). Because of their use in vehicles, the transceivers have to comply with a number of constraints, which taken together make it extremely difficult to implement a simple, efficient transceiver that is to be usable in a mass market environment.
Some of the constraints are inherent to operating with millimeter waves, which are typically transmitted in waveguides, microstrips, or by short wire bonds between components. The problems generated by the millimeter (mm) wavelengths include requirements for close tolerances for mm wave structures such as the waveguides, microstrip chip adhesion, and wire bonds. Failure to meet these requirements leads to unwanted reflections, cross talk between adjacent components, and/or absorption in the transceiver, with consequent degradation of received or transmitted signals. Typical cross-talk in adjacent mm wave receivers can be of the order of 15 dB or more.
Other constraints arise from the need to use the transceiver in a vehicle. Vehicular use requires that the transceiver be mechanically and electrically robust, be able to operate as an all-weather system, be relatively simple to construct, and preferably be relatively simple to maintain. The latter constraints are necessary in order to keep the cost of the transceiver to acceptable levels. The former constraints must be met so that the transceiver continues to function in the vehicle.
In an article titled "A Compact Manufacturable 76–77-GHz Radar Module for Commercial ACC Applications," by Gresham et al., in IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 49 (2001), the authors describe a transceiver module for a pulsed Doppler application. The module is switched between transmitting and receiving modes. In the receiving mode, the module operates, inter alia, a mixer which mixes received 76–77 GHz signals with local oscillator 76–77 GHz signals.
Modem vehicular radars typically require implementation of a multi-channel architecture. This leads to a complex multi-function front end. The complexity and stringent requirements on the transceiver lead to high cost solutions which limit the applicability of the technology.
There is thus a need for a low-cost, simple system for vehicular radar.

Rf system concept for vehicular radar having several beams


An information presenting method and apparatus for a vehicle which may process display information based on a predicted direction of movement of the vehicle, detect an object near the vehicle, determine whether the object is a dangerous object, and control a presentation direction so that the display information is a direction of movement of the vehicle during operation, and if the object is a dangerous object, the information presenting method or apparatus moves the presentation direction from the direction of movement of the vehicle to a direction of the object and presents the display information of areas outside the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to an information presenting apparatus and method for a vehicle, for example, an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
JP6-255399A illustrates a prior art technique for providing an alarm to a vehicle driver, to alert the vehicle driver to the existence of a dangerous object. As taught in JP6-255399A, the alarm may include warning information identifying the dangerous object displayed on the windshield of the vehicle. Displaying warning information on the windshield essentially "spotlights" the dangerous object for the vehicle driver.
In practice, when warning information is displayed on the windshield, the vehicle driver may divert his focus from the road to look at the warning information and appreciate the presence of the dangerous object. Then, the vehicle driver may focus on the dangerous object itself in order to ascertain the distance to the dangerous object.
Thus, when a method of displaying warning information on a windshield is adopted, the vehicle driver may be required to perform a focal adjustment from the road to the dangerous object displayed on the windshield and/or from the dangerous object displayed on the windshield to the actual dangerous object.
Techniques, such as the one described in JP6-255399A, initially display the information on the windshield for the first time when the dangerous object is detected. Therefore, a driver may not necessarily react to the newly displayed information. Because the vehicle driver's focus is usually in the direction of movement of the vehicle, when the information on the windshield is first displayed, the vehicle driver may overlook the information.
Thus, in the prior art, a vehicle driver may be required to perform a focal adjustment to a dangerous object displayed on the windshield. The vehicle driver may overlook the newly displayed information, be unable to react to the newly displayed information, and/or be distracted from the actual dangerous object by the newly displayed information.

Information presenting apparatus and method


In one embodiment, a method includes detecting, using one or more sensors of a vehicle, an entity in an environment surrounding the vehicle. The method includes determining a position of the entity relative to the vehicle. The method includes determining that a message is to be provided to the entity. The method includes selecting at least one of multiple notification devices of the vehicle based on the position of the entity relative to the vehicle. The method includes providing the message to the entity using the selected notification device.

Traditionally, transportation and related services have been provided by a human-operated vehicle. Improvements in computer processing have led to increasing efforts to automate more of these services, using autonomous vehicles that do not require a human operator. However, integrating these autonomously-provided services into a mixed autonomous and human-operated environment has many challenges. Drivers and pedestrians are accustomed to interacting in particular ways, removing a driver from some vehicles can lead to uncertainty and miscommunication.


Disclosed are a method for forming a silicon thin-film on a substrate, and more particularly a method for forming a polycrystalline silicon thin-film of good quality on a flexible metal substrate. A metal substrate (110) is prepared and a surface of the metal substrate (110) is flattened. An insulation film (120) is formed on the metal substrate (110). An amorphous silicon layer (130) is formed on the insulation film (120). A metal layer (140) is formed on the amorphous silicon layer (130). A sample on the metal substrate (110) is heated and crystallized.

An active device of an AMLCD (Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display), and a switching device and a peripheral circuit of an electro-luminescence device mostly use a polycrystalline silicon thin-film device.
A conventional method for converting an amorphous silicon film to a poly-crystalline silicon film uses high-temperature heat treatment and a laser.
The method for re-crystallizing the amorphous silicon film by means of laser beam radiation can perform a low-temperature process at 400° C. or less and manufacture a polycrystalline silicon thin-film in which field-effect mobility is high. However, it is difficult for the laser-based method to ensure uniformity of a crystallized sample when fabricating a large-area sample. There is a problem in that the laser-based method requires high-priced laser equipment, such that alternative technology is required.
The method using high-temperature heat treatment fabricates the polycrystalline silicon thin-film by means of a heat treatment process at a high temperature of 600° C. or more for a relatively long time. The method using high-temperature heat treatment necessarily requires a high crystallization temperature and a long heat treatment time. Because grains crystallized by the above-described method have many flaws, there is a difficulty in fabricating a device. Moreover, the method using high-temperature heat treatment has a problem in that a glass substrate cannot be used at a high crystallization temperature.
A crystallization method using metal has been recently proposed. The re-crystallization method using metal is a metal induced crystallization method and a metal induced lateral crystallization method. The crystallization method using metal can form a uniform thin-film in which a polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistor has high field-effect mobility. There is a problem in that a polycrystalline silicon thin-film fabricated by the re-crystallization method using metal has a limitation of electric characteristics due to a structure flaw within a thin film at a device manufacturing time. To address this problem, the re-crystallization method using metal requires a high-temperature heat treatment process at 800° C. or more or a re-crystallization process using a laser.
However, there is a problem in that the conventional method using a glass substrate cannot be used in a process at 600° C. or more and hence cannot perform a re-crystallization process at a high temperature.

Method for forming silicon thin-film on flexible metal substrate

Kyunghee University Industrial & Academic Collaboration Foundation


A housing assembly is provided. The housing assembly may be used in an automotive vehicle. The housing assembly includes a trim piece and a base. The trim piece is configured to engage the interior trim panel and attach to the base. The base is attached to the trim piece wherein the attachment to the trim piece is weaker than the attachment of the trim piece to the interior panel so as to allow the trim piece to separate from the base before the trim piece separates from the interior trim panel. The housing assembly may further include a pair of spacers configured to maintain a spatial relationship between a first side wall and a second side wall so as to prevent the first and second side walls from squeezing inwardly with respect to each other when the trim piece is displaced from the base.

Door assemblies for use in automotive vehicles include an exterior panel, a vehicle frame, and an interior trim panel. The interior trim panel includes a door housing. The door housing is formed in one piece and includes an opening. The opening is configured to receive a stem of a door handle. The stem is mounted through the opening and attached to the vehicle frame. A cable support may be sandwiched in between the housing assembly and the vehicle frame. Displacement of the interior trim panel may warp the housing assembly. Accordingly, it remains desirable to have a housing assembly formed of two pieces wherein a first piece may move with the displacement of the interior trim panel and the attachment of the handle to the vehicle frame is not disturbed.

Housing assembly for a vehicle door handle

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


This invention comprises mainly a first strap, belt, or the like encircling one of the legs of the wearer, at least one first shield for covering and/or supporting a private part of the wearer, and a connecting element for connecting the first shield to the first strap or belt or the like. The invention can furthermore comprise a second strap which, with one end thereof connected to the first strap, the belt or the like encircling the leg, with the other end encircling a neck, attached to an upper arm, attached (with a hook-shaped portion) to a shoulder, or attached to the first strap after passing over the front side of body, a shoulder, and the rear side of the body. A second shield for covering and/or supporting the breasts of a wearer (particularly female wearer) can be fixedly or removably attached to the second strap. The first shield can be attached to the first strap directly or through the connecting element.

There are some garments, shields, or underwear, that people can wear, e.g.
(1) Yerkes' U.S. Pat. No. 1,955,523 discloses brassieres; PA0 (2) Rawson's U.S. Pat. No. 204,088 shows a suspensory bandage; PA0 (3) Richardson's U.S. Pat. No. 1,720,439 depicts a groin protector; PA0 (4) Guthrie et al U.S. Pat. No. 1,599,762 illustrates an abdominal belt; PA0 (5) Dwyer's U.S. Pat. No. 1,840,621 shows a suspensory and the like; PA0 (6) Marbach's U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,208 depicts a bathing brief or the like clothing article; PA0 (7) Viniegra's U.S. Pat. No. 2,534,934 illustrates a strapless supporter or shield; PA0 (8) Russell's U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,932; and PA0 (9) Boggs' U.S. Pat. No. 2,319,292 illustrate garments using magnetic fasteners; PA0 (10) Burkard's U.S. Pat. No. Des. 233,633; and PA0 (11) Dietz's U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,849 disclose cup supporters for the male vital parts.
People wish to feel relaxed at home. The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a novel shield or the like clothing article that people can comfortably wear and feel relaxed at home while preserving some privacy.
This invention provides a variety of shields or like clothing articles for people to choose from so as to keep life at home vivid instead of monotonous.
The shields or like clothing of this invention is particularly suitable for single people or a couple living together because some parts of the body of the people wearing the same sometimes may be exposed.


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates efficient transactional execution. During operation, the system executes a starvation-avoiding transaction for a thread, wherein executing the starvation-avoiding transaction involves: (1) placing load-marks on cache lines which are loaded during the starvation-avoiding transaction; (2) placing store-marks on cache lines which are stored to during the starvation-avoiding transaction; and (3) writing a timestamp value into metadata for load-marked and store-marked cache lines. While the thread is executing the starvation-avoiding transaction, the system prevents other threads from executing another starvation-avoiding transaction. Whereby the load-marks and store-marks prevent interfering accesses from other threads to the cache lines during the starvation-avoiding transaction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the design of computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique that facilitates starvation-avoiding unbounded transactions in a transactional memory system.
2. Related Art
Transactional memory is a promising programming abstraction that helps programmers write correct parallel programs and helps compilers automatically parallelize sequential threads. Unfortunately, existing transactional memory systems suffer from limitations on the size of transactions that they can support. This limitation occurs because transactional memory systems use structures which are bounded in size to keep track of information which grows proportionately to transaction size. For example, in a typical transactional memory system, the processor buffers transactional store operations in a store queue. However, if the transaction is a large transaction which generates a large number of stores, the store queue will overflow and the processor must abort the transaction.
In order to alleviate this problem, processor designers have suggested different techniques to provide both hardware-based and hybrid hardware-software-based support for "unbounded" transactions. For example, the UTM transactional memory protocol proposed by Ananian et al. (see C. S. Ananian, K. Asanovi'c, B. Kuszmaul, C. Leiserson, and S. Lie, Unbounded Transactional Memory, Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture (HPCA '05), 2005), and the TCC protocol proposed by Hammond et al. (see L. Hammond, V. Wong, M. Chen, B. Carlstrom, J. Davis, B. Hertzberg, M. Prabhu, H. Wijaya, C. Kozyrakis, and K. Olukotun, Transactional Memory Coherence and Consistency, ISCA p. 102, 31st Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA '04), 2004), are both hardware-based techniques that support starvation-avoiding, unbounded transactions. Unfortunately, UTM requires very complex hardware which buffers all data overwritten by transactions in memory and automatically searches through linked lists in memory to determine the value to return for loads. Moreover, TCC requires very high bandwidth, because all data stored during each transaction must be broadcast to all other processors. Furthermore, TCC requires that all other processors stop accessing memory whenever a large, starvation-avoiding transaction is being processed.
The Hybrid protocol proposed by Moir et al. (see M. Moir, P. Damron, A. Fedorova, Y. Lev, V. Luchangco, and D. Nussbaum, Hybrid Transactional Memory, Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems, (San Jose 2006)), and the Log™ protocol proposed by Moore et al. (see K. Moore, J. Bobba, M. Moravan, M. Hill & D. Wood, Log™: Log-based Transactional Memory, 12th Annual International Symposium on High Performance Computer Architecture (HPCA-12), 2006), are hybrid hardware-software-based techniques that use hardware for certain transactions but fall back on software for other transactions. More specifically, the Hybrid protocol uses software to run transactions that cannot be completed in hardware (due, for example, to resource constraints), and thus implements a software transactional memory protocol which involves buffering store data in separate data structures until the transaction commits. In contrast, the Log™ protocol requires hardware support to copy old values of certain memory locations that are written within a transaction, and it requires software support to traverse data structures and restore old values of cache lines that were written by transactions that abort. The use of software to implement all or part of the transactional memory system can seriously degrade the performance of the transactional memory system. Furthermore, the hardware support required for Log™ is complex and difficult to implement.
Hence, what is needed is a processor that can execute unbounded transactions without the problems of the above-described transactional memory systems.

Starvation-avoiding unbounded transactional memory


A wireless communication device includes a Wi-Fi module for operating in WLAN system and a Bluetooth module for operating in Bluetooth system. After entering a power-saving mode, the wireless communication device is configured to turn off the Wi-Fi module and periodically scan an operational frequency band of a network using the Bluetooth module. When detecting a radio frequency signal having the same bandwidth as the network in the operational frequency band, the wireless communication device is configured to enter a normal mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a wireless communication method with low power consumption, and more particularly, to a wireless communication method with low power consumption by scanning wireless signals using a Bluetooth module.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a local area network, many terminals may be connected for providing fast and efficient data transmission between different users. A wireless local area network (WLAN) further eliminates the need to set up cables and provides users with easy access to various network resources using portable wireless communication devices.
In a prior art WLAN system, a wireless communication device includes a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) module capable of establishing wireless connection with a network. Batteries are the most common power supply of the wireless communication device. In order to reduce power consumption, the wireless communication device is normally configured to operate in a normal mode or a power-saving mode. The Wi-Fi module which consumes large amount of power is activated in the normal mode, but turned off in the power-saving mode. Since the current wireless connection is cut off after entering the power-saving mode and frequency scan is required for establishing new wireless connection after switching back to the normal mode, the prior art wireless communication device may not be able to provide network services immediately after switching operational modes.
Intel Corporation has developed a technique known as AOAC (always on & always connected), in which a scan engine is installed in the Wi-Fi module of the wireless communication device. After entering an AOAC power-saving mode, the Wi-Fi module is first turned off, and then periodically activated for performing frequency scan. If the Wi-Fi module can detect a WLAN access point, the wireless communication device may then be waked up for establishing connection with the WLAN access point. Although the prior art AOAC technique can provide immediate network services, the Wi-Fi module may consume large amount of power when performing frequency scan in the power-saving mode. If there is no access point near the wireless communication device, the periodically activated Wi-Fi module in the power-saving mode may perform unnecessary frequency scan, thereby consuming extra power.

Wireless communication method with low power consumption


A composite material comprising: (i) hyaluronic acid and/or hyaluronic acid derivatives, (ii) demineralised bone and/or biocompatible partially or totally demineralised bone tissue matrix and/or biocompatible and bioresorbable ceramic materials. This material preferably associated with at least one layer comprising a hyaluronic acid derivative may be used in the preparation of bone substitutes or grafts for the regeneration or formation of bone tissue in surgery.

"Backache" affects about 60% of the population aged over 65/70 years, and approximately one third of sufferers have to undergo spinal surgery.
Although the etiology of backache remains partially unexplained, reliable clinical data trace the cause to a slow degenerative process in the intervertebral disk. Such a process may be due to various causes:                altered metabolic activity;        reduced supply of nutrients;        decreased cell viability;        mainly age-related cell senescence.
For the surgical treatment of said pathology, two procedures are currently in use: removal of the disk (diskectomy) and the fusion of the two adjacent vertebrae (spinal fusion).
Vertebrae can be fused together by a special surgical technique that prevents any movement between them.
This type of intervertebral fusion is also performed in other pathologies, namely:                breakage of one or more vertebrae;        to correct spinal deformities such as scoliosis;        Following removal of an intervertebral disk;        Infections and/or tumours that may cause degradation of the vertebral body;        To treat vertebral instability where the vertebrae are prone to slide on one another. This condition is called spondylolisthesis and may cause compression of the nerve roots, so that, besides pain, there may be impaired movement of the upper and lower limbs.
There are various surgical techniques and methods of fusing two adjacent vertebrae but they all involve the introduction/application of a bone graft, generally between two vertebrae, or bone substitutes of various kinds of different shapes and sizes, such as pins, plugs or small plates fitted in the intervertebral spaces to prevent collapse and assist fusion.
Said measures are aimed to:                maintain correct alignment between the two vertebrae;        maintain and reconstruct the intervertebral space;        consolidate fusion;        eliminate pain caused by compression of the nerve root due to slipping or herniation of the disk.
It is known that spinal fusion may also require additional fixing at the back of the two vertebrae, using rigid metal instruments of various kinds and sizes, such as screws, plugs, pins, plates, intervertebral connectors in various materials, with or without a screwable thread (for example, titanium), to prevent the vertebrae from slipping on one another with consequent compression and loss of alignment, while fusion is established.
These devices do not undergo resorption so they generally remain at the site of implantation until they are surgically removed once fusion is complete.
For many years, the material used for bone grafts was of bovine origin, or it was constituted by fragments from the tibia, fibula, femur or iliac crest of autologous or heterologous origin, with a fusion success rate ranging between 63 and 95%.
The fusion process is similar to that which occurs following bone fracture and is not visible on X-ray till six weeks after surgery.
The vertebrae can be fused in the intervertebral space and/or to the front between the two adjacent vertebral bodies and/or to the back between adjacent transverse processes, laminae, or between other posterior elements of the vertebrae, according to the pathology that the surgery in question is intended to treat.
As we have already said, solid fusion is generally achieved by grafting autologous or allogenic bone, both having specific advantages and disadvantages.
Indeed, in the case of autogenous bone, it may prove difficult to find a quantity that is sufficient for the purpose of the graft. Allogenic bone, on the other hand, is sure to have less osteoinductive activities.
These difficulties have led to the study and development of bone substitutes of synthetic, semi-synthetic and bioengineering origin, that is, to the construction of two- and three-dimensional osteoconductive matrices able to induce the migration of cells within their structure for the subsequent formation of bone.
Research was then focused on the study of the physiological mechanisms involved in bone repair and regeneration.
Bone is constituted by cells immersed in an extracellular matrix, 30-35% of the dry weight of which is represented by organic matrix (formed by fibres of collagen and glycosaminoglycans including hyaluronic acid), and inorganic substances (including calcium phosphate, calcium and magnesium fluoride) deposited among the collagen fibrils during the mineralisation phase.
Bone metabolism is regulated by hormones and growth factors mainly released by platelets, macrophages, fibroblasts or other types of cell, and chiefly includes, for example, proteins such as BMP, TGF, PDGF, FGF, EGF, IGF and VEGF that can have both a osteoinductive and angiogenic effect on the mesenchymal cells of bone marrow.
Special three-dimensional matrices have been designed and developed in various forms with different types of polymer, such as poly-L-lactic acid, poly-glycolic acid and poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid, for the formation of scaffolds (possibly containing also trophic and/or osteoinductive factors) that can favour the migration of bone progenitor cells within their structure for the regeneration/formation of new bone tissue (Boyan B D et al., Clin Plast Surg. 1999, 26(4):629-645; Ishaug S L et al., J Biomed Mater Res, 1997, 36(1):17-28).
However, it is known that these polymers can actually be toxic, because they release lactic acid as they degrade, and moreover they may induce an inflammatory response thus inhibiting the bone regeneration process.
Ceramics too, like hydroxyapatite, tribasic calcium phosphate, and calcium sulphate, have been widely used in bone regeneration because they are biocompatible and have osteoinductive potential.
Also known is the use of proteins (and other molecules) of the extracellular matrix for the formation of porous and/or fibrous structures (such as collagen, laminin, fibronectin, and hyaluronic acid) that enhance osteoblast migration and differentiation because they can be loaded with osteoinductive trophic factors.
As we have already said, the main trophic, osteoinductive factors are BMP and TGF, and they are able to direct stem cells to differentiate into osteoblasts and subsequently osteocytes.
BMP was first isolated from demineralised bone specimens. Indeed, as early as 1965, it was demonstrated that such demineralised matrices (DM) induced the formation of new bone structures (Urist M R, Science 150: 893, 1965).
Further studies subsequently clarified the role of BMP in the repair/formation of bone tissue.
In 1990, clinical trials on the fusion of vertebrae using various types of carrier containing BMP, in comparison with autologous bone grafts (Boden S D et al., Spine, 2000, 25(3):376-381), showed that the protein determined a high fusion rate with consequent increase in the mechanical stability of the fused vertebrae. The process of producing DM consists in pulverising bone samples into particles with a diameter of 70-450 μm prior to partially or totally demineralising them with 0.5 N of HCL.
This process enables the total or partial maintenance of the organic component of the bone tissue, ensuring also the integrity of the proteins (and therefore of the gowth factors) contained therein.
The ability of bone to regenerate when damaged is due to certain peculiar features:                osteogenic capacity;        osteoinductive capacity;        osteoconductive capacity.
In spinal surgery, this last property is linked with the presence of a scaffold fixed to the structures to be fused, allowing the migration and distribution of both bone progenitor and vascular cells within its structure.
It is known that the best examples of scaffolds are autologous and/or allogenic bone grafts, demineralised bone matrices, ceramics, bone substitutes constituted by molecules of extracellular matrix (such as collagen and glycosaminoglycans), even though it is obvious that only bone grafts and DM can be defined as osteoinductive, because of the intrinsic presence of differentiating factors. The osteogenic and osteo-conductive potential of the scaffolds listed above can be considerably increased by introducing bone-progenitor cells, possibly derived from:                whole bone marrow;        bone marrow treated for the preparation of purified mesenchymal cells (possibly also expanded in vitro);        bone marrow treated for the preparation of mesenchymal cells expanded in vitro and also partially differentiated towards the induction of osteoblasts using osteoinductive factors such as TGF β1 and BMP.
Various scientific experiments have already demonstrated the validity of the use of autologous and/or allogenic mesenchymal cells loaded into different carriers/scaffolds or into matrices constituted by molecules of the extracellular matrix, or by synthetic and/or semisynthetic polymers, or into ceramics, possibly associated with differentiating factors in the regeneration/formation of new bone tissue (Horwitz E M et al., Nat Med, 1999, 5(3):309-313; Gregory A H et al., Neurosurg Focus, 2001, 10(4):1-5; Pilitsis J G et al., Neurosurg Focus, 2002, 13(6):1-6).
For the above reasons, there are many known types of bone graft for use in spinal orthopaedic, neuro-maxillofacial and dental surgery, in orthopaedic surgery to the shoulder, hand and foot, in oncological surgery and in all those pathologies requiring the regeneration/formation of new bone tissue (hence also in pathologies where the fusion of two adjacent bones is indispensable), such as in the following examples:                demineralised and freeze-dried bone powder in a simple mixture with glycerol; (U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,373);        hydrogels constituted by hyaluronic acid or chitosan, cross-linked and with a high molecular weight, containing particles of demineralised bone and possibly also BMP (U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,018);        porous, biodegradable, three-dimensional matrices, containing a mesh of fibres constituted by mineralised polymers such as collagen immersed in other polymers (such as cellulose, hyaluronic acid, chitosan and others of synthetic origin), and possibly also containing bone marrow cells (U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,193);        grafts constituted by porous, composite scaffolds, containing hydrophilic materials such as collagen, glycosaminoglycans and other synthetic and/or semisynthetic polymers, as vehicles for proteins such as BMP (EP 0784985);        bone substitutes constituted by an organic matrix of demineralised bone, subsequently treated with glycosaminoglycans, containing bone-inductive factors for bone regeneration (U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,487);        artificial bone substitutes mainly formed by collagen in matrices of calcium sulphate (U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,769);        bone substitutes composed of demineralised bone matrices and poloxamer as carrier;        porous synthetic matrices containing polymers such as collagen and glycosaminoglycans cross-linked ex vivo, also containing osteogenic proteins and setting agents such as methylcellulose (U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,308);        bone grafts constituted by particles of demineralised bone, in a carrier containing hyaluronic acid together with cellular material and possibly also trophic factors (US 2002/0197242);        devices constituted by three-dimensional macrostructures of D,D,L,L-polylactic acid with microstructures of hyaluronic acid as a carrier for BMP (J. Biomed. Matter. Res. 1999, Spring 48(1):95);        bone grafts formed by porous, three-dimensional matrices similar in structure to sponges, constituted by particles of demineralised bone (WO 02/05750).

Composite structures containing hyaluronic acid the derivatives thereof as new bone substitutes and grafts


An apparatus performs simultaneous data monitoring, logging, and controlling of the state of a system. The apparatus includes at least one system sensor that provides a sensor data signal corresponding to a system characteristic of which the sensor is detecting, a memory that stores data and program instructions, at least one output port that provides an output signal to the system, and a microprocessor that receives the sensor data signal and executes the program instructions to monitor and log data corresponding to the data signal received from the system sensor and to provide system control data to the output port.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for controlling and monitoring processes. In particular, the devices may be used for the process control and monitoring of engine exhaust treatment systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
An internal combustion engine generates exhaust gases that includes components that are regarded as pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Many engines are fitted with an exhaust treatment system to reduce the exhaust gas pollutants emitted by the engine. Exhaust treatment systems that are retrofitted to an in-use engine can be passive or active in nature. Typically, passive exhaust treatment systems are simply connected to the engine exhaust stream and cannot respond to unusual conditions outside of their design parameters.
An example of a passive system is a diesel particulate filter (DPF) such as the "CRT" (Continuously Regenerating Trap) particulate filter product available from Johnson Matthey of Malvern, Pa., USA. A DPF places a filter in the path of the exhaust stream to trap pollutants that would otherwise be released as part of the exhaust. These types of exhaust treatment systems typically require periodic maintenance and in some instances might require immediate attention to maintain proper operation (i.e., effective exhaust treatment). Therefore, it is necessary to continuously monitor the engine exhaust gas components during engine operation. An active system, for example, a DPF with exhaust brake, a DPF with reagent injection, or a lean NOx catalyst with reductant reagent injection, requires a controller for proper function.
The Johnson Matthey company provides a "CRTdm" (CRT Filter diagnostic module) product, a monitoring apparatus for particulate filters. The "CRTdm" has two inputs (a thermocouple and an analog voltage), four LED outputs, and includes a data logging capability. The "CRTdm" apparatus, however, does not allow control of an injector or valve.
In addition to system monitoring, it is also important to record engine operating conditions for future analysis and to provide information for troubleshooting malfunctions. For example, if a DPF is approved for application on a vehicle with a duty cycle that results in high exhaust temperature, but the vehicle is operated under a duty cycle with significantly colder exhaust temperature, a record of the engine operating conditions, such as a data log, would document the out-of-specification operating conditions. In addition, the data log may be used to document the regularity of scheduled maintenance.
National Instruments Corporation of Austin, Tex., USA has a line of data acquisition and control systems that is generally flexible and programmable (viewable on the Internet "World Wide Web" at the URL of www.ni.com). The systems, however, tend to be relatively expensive, complex, and generally require a personal computer to operate. For example, National Instruments Corporation provides a "LabVIEW" software product that supports development of measurement and control applications using a graphical user interface. The software runs on a personal computer and contains various modules for data collection, instrument input/output, and data processing. One of the modules provides a histogram tool, as described in "LabVIEW Statistical Process Control Tools" User Guide, document 322042A-01.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,733 to Fuchs et al. entitled "Exhaust filter backpressure indicator", indicated as assigned to Donaldson Company, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn., USA, describes an exhaust filter backpressure indicator that includes a sensor for measuring the backpressure and the exhaust system. The sensor sends a signal that is processed for indicating that an exhaust filter element is filled. The indicator operates according to engine operating speeds (RPM) and according to exhaust back pressure. There is no description of any data logging function.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,176 to Domac et al. entitled "Data logger for transportable life support system", indicated as assigned to Integrated Medical Systems, Inc., of Greenwich, Conn., USA, describes a technique for logging information representative of the operation of medical devices, such as those of a transportable life support system. The technique includes isolation circuitry designed to mitigate electronic interference with the medical devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,285 to Jurewicz et al. entitled "Method of converting a time based data logger to a time and random event based data logger" is indicated as assigned to Thermo King Corporation of Minneapolis, Minn., USA. The Jurewicz patent describes a method of processing data logger inputs to allow both asynchronous logging of data (i.e., event-based data such as equipment malfunction) and also synchronous logging of data (i.e., time-series data stored at predetermined constant time intervals).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,416 to Hocker entitled "Contact closure data logger", indicated as assigned to Onset Computer Corporation of Pocasset, Mass., USA, describes a contact closure data logger that monitors state changes in a main switch, and records the time at which the state changes occur. Operational features to conserve power are included. The logger is described in the context of energy usage monitoring and for use with tipping bucket rain gauges.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,717 to Rodrigues entitled "Wheel mounted data logger" describes a wheel mounted data logger with an odometer for mounting at a hub of a wheel of a vehicle and response to turning of the wheel, an hour meter for mounting on a structure of the vehicle and response to running of an engine of the vehicle, and microcontroller for mounting on the vehicle and receiving, recording and transmitting the responses of the odometer and hour meter. The wheel logger obtains information about operation of the vehicle to which it is mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,118 to Wilburn et al. entitled "Mobile incident logger", indicated as assigned to Step Engineering of Sunnyvale, Calif., USA, describes a mobile incident logger for monitoring an on-board, automotive, computer and signal levels developed by analog and digital sensors, the logger employing a coverage monitor, which records which memory locations are accessed by the computer; a cycle tag counting unit, which counts bus cycles of the computer; a discriminator, which detects the occurrence of incidents the logger is to record; a trace memory unit, which stores bus states of the computer; a trace memory unit, which stores memory variables of the computer; a discriminator, which detects the occurrence of some of the incidents the logger is to record; and a trace memory unit, which stores the sensor signals.
German Patent Application No. 36 09 428 is directed to "A Method and a Device for Testing Devices of a Motor Vehicle for a Fault-Free Condition". The application discloses the detection and storing of faults, both with respect to the input and output signals, as well as to the internal signal processing of a control unit, and the outputting of the same in response to a request signal. Specifically, the memory, into which possible fault signals are written, is queried on a block by block basis in response to a request signal and, moreover, there is a ranking of the faults when they are output to the display.
German Patent Application No. 40 38 972 is directed to a "Device for Computing a Motor-Vehicle Service Interval". It provides for various operational values to be recorded, such as number of starts, crankshaft revolutions, driving and parking times, engine temperature, engine oil pressure and the like, and for the service interval to be calculated from the values by a computer.
Several commercially available data loggers are known, including the Pace Scientific Pocket Logger, the Onset Computer HOBO, Omega data loggers, and loggers from Campbell Scientific.
Another important function to be performed is that of actively controlling a process. For example, an active exhaust treatment system might include components that adjust engine operation to achieve a desired exhaust emissions characteristic or otherwise adjust system operation to be within predetermined operating parameters. Such adjustments can be initiated by an appropriately designed controller.
There are many controllers for engines and engine exhaust aftertreatment systems. Some systems involve fitment of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems and have controllers that monitor the engine and aftertreatment system, and also control the injection of a reducing agent. Examples of manufacturers who provide such SCR systems include HUG Engineering AG of Räterschen, Switzerland and Siemens AG of Regensburg, Germany. Such systems can be both mobile and stationary.
In addition to engine and engine exhaust treatment systems such as described generally above, other industrial processes would benefit from improved monitoring, logging, and control. Such processes can include, for example, chemical plants, fuel processing plants, and the like.
Because data logging can require a relatively large amount of data storage space, efficient data recording can be important. Commercially available data loggers and data acquisition systems typically use constant logging intervals (e.g., record the sensor values every 10 seconds until the user chooses another value). The use of a constant logging interval is highly inefficient for data logging of vehicles because there are many time periods where sensor values do not change. For example, a truck driving at a steady speed on the open highway, or a bus stopped and waiting to run to the next route repetition, will both exhibit little change in their operating conditions and sensor values.
Thus, there is a need for combinations that provide monitoring, logging, and control functions and that can be easily fitted to systems. In addition, there is a need for efficient recording of system data for such combinations. The present invention satisfies these needs.

Apparatus and method for simultaneous monitoring, logging, and controlling of an industrial process


A method of servo writing a disk of a disk drive is disclosed. The disk comprises a plurality of spiral tracks, wherein each spiral track comprises a high frequency signal interrupted periodically by a sync mark. A timing recovery measurement is generated in response to the sync marks, wherein the timing recovery measurement comprises a sinusoidal component. A timing compensation value is generated in response to the sync marks which estimates the sinusoidal component in the timing recovery measurement. A frequency control signal is generated in response to the timing recovery measurement and the timing compensation value, a servo write clock is generated in response to the frequency control signal, and the servo write clock and the head internal to the disk drive are used to write the product servo sectors to the disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disk drives. More particularly, the present invention relates to compensating for repeatable phase error when servo writing a disk drive from spiral tracks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When manufacturing a disk drive, product servo sectors 20-2N are written to a disk 4 which define a plurality of radially-spaced, concentric servo tracks 6 as shown in the prior art disk format of FIG. 1. Each product servo sector (e.g., servo sector 24) comprises a preamble 8 for synchronizing gain control and timing recovery, a sync mark 10 for synchronizing to a data field 12 comprising coarse head positioning information such as a track number, and servo bursts 14 which provide fine head positioning information. During normal operation, the servo bursts 14 are processed by the disk drive in order to maintain a head over a centerline of a target track while writing or reading data. In the past, external servo writers have been used to write the product servo sectors 20-2N to the disk surface during manufacturing. External servo writers employ extremely accurate head positioning mechanics, such as a laser interferometer, to ensure the product servo sectors 20-2N are written at the proper radial location from the outer diameter of the disk to the inner diameter of the disk. However, external servo writers are expensive and require a clean room environment so that a head positioning pin can be inserted into the head disk assembly (HDA) without contaminating the disk. Thus, external servo writers have become an expensive bottleneck in the disk drive manufacturing process.
The prior art has suggested various "self-servo" writing methods wherein the internal electronics of the disk drive are used to write the product servo sectors independent of an external servo writer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,679 teaches a disk drive which performs a self-servo writing operation by writing a plurality of spiral tracks to the disk which are then processed to write the product servo sectors along a circular path. Each spiral track is written to the disk as a high frequency signal (with missing bits), wherein the position error signal (PES) for tracking is generated relative to time shifts in the detected location of the spiral tracks. In addition, the '679 patent generates a servo write clock by synchronizing a phase-locked loop (PLL) to the missing bits in the spiral tracks, wherein the servo write clock is used to write the product servo sectors at the appropriate circular location as well as at the appropriate frequency. However, the '679 patent does not compensate for repeatable phase errors such as sinusoidal phase errors due, for example, to eccentricities caused by clamping the disk to the spindle motor after writing the spiral tracks using a media writer. The repeatable phase errors causes phase incoherency in the product servo sectors of adjacent tracks when servo writing the disk from the spiral tracks.
There is, therefore, a need to servo write a disk of a disk drive by synchronizing a servo write clock to spiral tracks prewritten on the disk, and compensating for repeatable phase errors.

Compensating for repeatable phase error when servo writing a disk drive from spiral tracks


An air nozzle for use in the production of nonwoven fabric that is adapted to receive spun filaments from a spinning nozzle and feed the filaments in an air jet into a receiver. The air nozzle is directed to the prevention of any abrasion of the inner surface of the nozzle body by an additive, such as titanium white, contained in filaments, and thus to the prevention of any defects in the nonwoven fabric. The inner surface of a nozzle body for guiding filaments is formed using a ceramic material to protect that surface. The nozzle body has a conical passage whose diameter gradually decreases from an inlet for receiving the filaments from the spinning nozzle, and a straight passage continuing from the conical passage and extending with a constant diameter, at least part of the inner surface of the conical passage and/or the straight passage being formed as a ceramic surface.

The present invention relates to an air nozzle used in the production of nonwoven fabric to cause filaments received from a spinning nozzle to be dispersed and deposited on a screen belt as a receiver and, more specifically, to such an air nozzle directed to the prevention of wear resulting from the high-speed contact of filaments with the nozzle.
A conventional air nozzle of the above-mentioned type is disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Patent Publication No. 28386/1973 which discloses a nonwoven fabric web of continuous filaments and a method of manufacturing the same. As shown in FIG. 4, an air nozzle used in the manufacturing method according to this disclosure comprises a nozzle member 1 for receiving spun filaments from a spinning nozzle (not shown), and a housing 2 disposed on the outside of the nozzle member 1 and provided with a feeding guide tube 2a. With this arrangement, filaments are fed in an air jet through the tube 2a onto a screen belt (not shown) disposed below the nozzle.
More specifically, the nozzle member 1 has a conical hopper-shaped converging hole 1a formed therein and having its diameter gradually decreasing toward the lowermost apex to facilitate the receiving of filaments, and a discharge tube 1b projecting from the lowermost apex of the converging hole 1a and communicating therewith. The housing 2 also has a compressed air chamber 2b and an air throttle portion 2c formed therein and surrounding the discharge tube 1b. When compressed air A has been introduced into the compressed air chamber 2b, the flow of the air A is straightened by the air throttle portion 2c and the air A is transformed into an air jet A1 at high speed. The air jet A1 flows on the outer periphery of the discharge tube 1b and is blown toward the outlet of the tube 1b at the tip thereof. Since negative pressure is caused to prevail in the outlet of the discharge tube 1b by the action of the air jet A1, a sucking action is provided to facilitate the discharge of filaments and to stabilize the flow of the filaments being fed. The filaments are guided by the guide tube 2a, and are then dispersed and deposited on the screen belt to manufacture nonwoven fabric.
Filaments spun by a spinning nozzle usually contain a pigment such as titanium white (TiO.sub.2). Consequently, when filaments containing such a pigment are fed at high speed into an air nozzle, such as that shown in FIG. 4, formed of a stainless steel (e.g., SUS 304), the pigment in the filament acts as an abrasive material as the filaments come into contact with the air nozzle. This results in various problems, such as wear of the inner wall surface of the air nozzle.
The occurrence of such phenomena as wear is particularly serious over the entire region from the lowermost apex of the conical diameter-decreased hole 1a across the border 1c at which the conical hole 1a changes into the straight discharge tube 1b to the tip of the discharge tube 1b. If wear of the like occurs in this region, this causes, for insance, an increase in resistance to the flow of filaments, thereby making it difficult to achieve uniform dispersion. In such cases, the nonwoven fabric being produced by dispersing and collecting the filaments on the screen belt may become partially defective due to the occurrence of filament overlaps, filament masses, and band-shaped areas of irregular thickness extending in the direction of the flow of the filaments.
Wear and similar phenomena may occur even within a relatively short time of operation. If replacement of a nozzle member 1 has to be frequently performed, frequent stoppages of operation for replacement would lead to an increase in stoppage period and a reduction in production efficiency.

Air nozzle for use in production of nonwoven fabric


A common-mode sensing circuit (504) of a clocked differential amplifier (602) includes a refresh circuit (604) which precharges a capacitance during a first clock phase (P.sub.1) and discharges the capacitance to drive the outputs (514, 516) of the differential amplifier (602) to a desired common-mode voltage (V.sub.AGO) during a second clock phase, which increases the output loading during the second clock phase (P.sub.2). A load balancing circuit (606) selectively switches a load to the outputs (514, 516) during the first clock phase (P.sub.1) to match the load produced by the refresh circuit (604) during the second clock phase (P.sub.2).

The present invention relates in general to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to sensing a common-mode voltage of a clocked differential amplifier.
Signal processing functions are often implemented more economically using digital rather than analog methods. For example, a wireless communication device such as a cellular telephone or pager often uses fewer external tuning components if a transmitted carrier signal is converted to digital data at an early stage in the communication device. A high frequency analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is used for converting the analog carrier signal to a digital data stream. A demodulated signal is computed from the digital data stream using a preprogrammed demodulation mathematical algorithm.
A typical high frequency ADC includes a plurality of parallel time-interleaved, pipelined ADC channels which sample the carrier signal at alternating time points and produce data words representative of the amplitude of the analog carrier signal at the time of the sample. The data words from each channel are interleaved to form the digital data stream. A low data error rate requires symmetry among the parallel channels, including carefully matched components and timing signals.
Analog signals are processed through each channel in a series of pipelined sample-and-hold stages. A clocked differential amplifier in each sample-and-hold stage processes an analog input signal to produce a residue signal that is clocked to the next stage using switched capacitors enabled on alternate clock phases. Control of common-mode voltages is needed to maintain the analog signals within the operating ranges of the differential amplifiers, which is provided by periodically refreshing the common-mode voltages to desired levels with a common-mode sensing circuit. However, prior art common-mode sensing circuits produce different loads at the outputs of the differential amplifiers during the alternate clock phases. The difference in loading results in output spurs in the differential amplifier frequency response, which produces data errors and incorrect demodulation of the carrier signal.
Hence, there is a need for a common-mode sensing circuit which reduces output spurs and data errors.


A semiconductor device that includes: a memory cell array that includes non-volatile memory cells; an area that is contained in the memory cell array and stores area data; a first storage unit that holds data transferred from the memory cell array, and outputs the data; and a control circuit that selects between a primary reading mode for causing the first storage unit to hold the area data transferred from the memory cell array and to output the area data, and a secondary reading mode for causing the first storage unit to hold a plurality of pieces of divisional data formed by dividing the area data and transferred from the memory cell array and to output the divisional data.

In recent years, non-volatile memories that are data-rewritable semiconductor devices have been widely used for various electronic devices such as portable telephone handsets and digital cameras. Flash memories that are typical non-volatile memories include NOR flash memories and NAND flash memories. In cases where a small amount of data for programming or the like is processed at high speeds, a NOR flash memory is often employed. In cases where a large amount of data such as image data is processed, a NAND flash memory is often employed.
A NOR flash memory includes a cell array in which the sources of memory cells are coupled together. The amount of data to be accessed by one-time writing or one-time reading is as small as several tens of bits, and the access time for reading is as short as 10 ns. On the other hand, a NAND flash memory has strings to which memory cells are coupled in series, and includes a cell array that has bit lines coupled to the respective strings. Writing and reading are collectively performed by page (2 Kbytes, for example). Therefore, the NAND flash memory has a page buffer for holding page data, and the page data is collectively written from the page buffer into the memory cell array. Also, the page data is collectively read from the memory cell array into the page buffer. Because of this structure of the memory cell array, the initial access time for reading is as long as 50 μs, but the data on one page can be continuously output. A NAND flash memory is normally formed with memory cells that have floating gates as charge accumulating layers. Writing in a memory cell is performed through a FN tunnel phenomenon caused by generating a high potential between the control gate on the floating gate and the substrate. Accordingly, a large amount of data of one page can be written at once.
Also, a copy back mode has been suggested for NAND flash memories. In the copy back mode, page data stored in the memory cells is read into the page buffer, and the page data is written (or copied) onto a page at a different address. In this mode, the data read into the page buffer is not output to the outside, but can be copied inside. Accordingly, the operating time can be shortened. The copy back mode is often used by a host side (an external circuit) for managing a file called a garbage collection for the data stored in the NAND flash memory. In each page area, the information indicating whether the stored data is valid or invalid (flag data) is stored. To carry out the garbage collection, the host side needs to read the flag data in advance.
Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,725 discloses a SONOS (Silicon Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon) flash memory as a flash memory that includes virtual-ground memory cells that switch sources and drains and symmetrically activate the sources and drains. This flash memory is one type of a NOR flash memory, and performs writing in a memory cell by applying a high voltage to the drain and the control gate of the transistor in the memory cell and injecting hot electrons into the charge accumulating layer.
Also, the leaflet of International Publication No. 02/01574 discloses a flash memory that has bit lines divided so as to perform data reading at a higher speed than in a conventional NAND flash memory. In this flash memory, the memory cell array is divided into two areas, one on the page buffer side and one on the other side. Likewise, the bit lines are divided. A dividing transistor is provided between the two areas. When the dividing transistor is switched off, data can be read from the area on the page buffer side at a high speed. When the dividing transistor is switched on, data can be read from both areas at a normal speed.
In an electronic device that sometimes needs to process data at a high speed and sometimes needs to process a large amount of data with small power consumption, it is necessary to prepare a NOR flash memory and a NAND flash memory, respectively. Also, when the host side carries out the garbage collection, it is necessary to read the flag data in advance. However, in a NAND flash memory, a long period of time is required for reading the flag data.

Ornand flash memory and method for controlling the same


A stationary microwave system for irradiating microwave frequency energy 200-40 GHz) at target vehicles disrupts the operation of the target vehicle's electronic engine control systems, rendering it incapable of fleeing law enforcement agents (LEAs). The system includes a microwave generation source; a triggering system to control pulsewidth, periodic frequency, duration, and time on; an interlock system for safety; and a delivery system for directing the microwave energy and irradiating the target vehicle. The parameters of the microwave energy are optimized by the system such that the radiated microwave energy has the characteristics required to disrupt the target vehicle.

The present invention relates in general to the use of radiated microwave energy to remotely disable vehicles, and in particular, to the use of radiated microwave energy to interfere with the operation of electronic engine control systems, thereby causing a vehicle to stall when irradiated.
An advantage of using microwave energy is that a vehicle can be disabled without causing any harm to the vehicle operator. Microwave energy also has an advantage over lower frequency sources which produce EMP (electromagnetic pulse) or radio waves, in that microwave energy is more directional, thereby reducing the chance of interfering with vehicles other than the target vehicle.
Among others, law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and military police are interested in the invention. One area of particular interest to the LEAs is the protection of border crossings and public, Military or Federal facilities.

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


An electromagnetically driven valve includes a driven valve having a stem and carrying out reciprocating motion along a direction in which the stem extends, a disc support base having an abutment surface, a disc extending from one end coupled to the stem toward the other end supported by the disc support base so as to allow free oscillation of the disc, and an electromagnet applying electromagnetic force to the disc. The disc has a root portion formed at the other end, and an arm portion formed from the root portion to one end. The electromagnet has a surface facing the arm portion. When the disc is attracted to the electromagnet the abutment surface abuts on the root portion and a gap is created between the surface and the arm portion. With such a structure, excellent quietness and durability can be achieved and energy loss can be reduced.

As a conventional electromagnetically driven valve, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,441 specification discloses an electromagnetic actuator actuating valves of an internal combustion engine as a result of cooperation of electromagnetic force and a spring. The electromagnetic actuator disclosed in the specification is called a rotary drive type, and includes a valve having a stem and an oscillating arm having a first end hinged on a support frame and a second end in abutment on the upper end of the stem.
An electromagnet consisting of a core and a coil wound around the core is arranged above and below the oscillating arm. The electromagnetic actuator further includes a torsion bar provided at the first end of the oscillating arm and moving the valve toward a position of maximum opening and a helical spring arranged on an outer circumference of the stem and moving the valve toward a closed position. The oscillating arm oscillates using the first end as a fulcrum, in a manner alternately attracted to and contacted with the cores of the electromagnets arranged above and below the same.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 09-133010 discloses an apparatus for electromagnetically driving a valve called a parallel drive type, which aims at power saving and improvement in response. The apparatus for electromagnetically driving a valve disclosed in this publication includes a valve element having a valve shaft fixed. The valve shaft is connected to a ring-shaped plunger through a plunger holder. A first electromagnetic coil and a first core are disposed above the plunger, and a second electromagnetic coil and a second core are disposed below the same. An upper spring moving the plunger downward is disposed further above the first electromagnetic coil and the first core, and a lower spring moving the plunger upward is disposed further below the second electromagnetic coil and the second core.
In the parallel drive type apparatus, an electromagnet constituted of an electromagnetic coil and a core and applying electromagnetic force to the plunger, and an upper spring and a lower spring applying elastic force to the valve shaft are arranged in series in a direction in which the valve shaft extends. According to such a structure, the electromagnetic force and the elastic force directly act on the valve shaft, so as to cause the valve element to carry out reciprocating motion.
According to the electromagnetic actuator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,441 specification, the oscillating arm comes in contact with an entire end surface of the core of the electromagnet when the oscillating arm is attracted to and contacts with the electromagnet. Accordingly, sound produced by collision between the oscillating arm and the electromagnet is great, and quietness when the electromagnetic actuator is driven is not satisfactory. In addition, as large repeated load is imposed on the oscillating arm moving at a high speed, the arm tends to be fractured in the vicinity of the first end. In order to solve this problem, it is possible to improve strength by increasing an overall thickness of the oscillating arm. In this case, however, a weight of the oscillating arm becomes too large, resulting in increase in energy loss.
In addition, according to the electromagnetic actuator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,441 specification, collision between the oscillating arm and the core of the electromagnet is repeated, which results in a problem of durability of the electromagnet. If the core is broken, the electromagnet should be exchanged, which impairs maintenance performance of the electromagnetic actuator. Such a problem also occurs in the apparatus for electromagnetically driving a valve disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 09-133010.


The present invention relates to a method of controlling an ion implanter having a plasma power supply AP and a substrate power supply, the substrate power supply comprising:                an electricity generator;        a first switch SW1 connected between the generator and the output terminal of the substrate power supply; and        a second switch SW2 connected between the output terminal and a neutralization terminal;        the method including an implantation stage A-D and a neutralization stage E-H. The method also includes a relaxation stage C-F overlapping the implantation stage and the neutralization stage, during which relaxation stage the plasma power supply is inactivated. Furthermore, the neutralization stage includes a preliminary step E-F for closing the second switch, this preliminary step being followed by a cancellation step F-G for activating the plasma power supply AP.

The present invention relates to a method of controlling an ion implanter in plasma immersion mode.
The field of the invention is that of ion implanters operating in plasma immersion mode. Thus, implanting ions in a substrate consists in immersing the substrate in a plasma and in biasing it with a negative voltage of a few tens of volts to a few tens of kilovolts (generally less than 100 kV), so as to create an electric field capable of accelerating the ions of the plasma towards the substrate so that they become implanted therein. The atoms implanted in this way are referred to as "dopants".
The penetration depth of the ions is determined by their acceleration energy. It depends firstly on the voltage applied to the substrate and secondly on the respective natures of the ions and of the substrate. The concentration of implanted atoms depends on the dose, which is expressed as a number of ions per square centimeter, and on the implantation depth.
For reasons associated with the physics of plasmas, a few nanoseconds after the voltage has been applied, a sheath of ions is created around the substrate. The potential difference responsible for accelerating the ions towards the substrate lies across the boundaries of this sheath.
The growth of this sheath as a function of time follows the Child-Langmuir equation:
      j    c    =            4      9                                    ɛ          0                                  (                                    2                                                                                e                        M                    )                            1        /        2                                V        0                  3          /          2                            S        2            where:                jc is current density;        ε0 is vacuum permittivity;        e is the charge of the ion;        M is the mass of the ion;        V0 is the potential difference across the sheath; and        s is the thickness of the sheath.
By stipulating that the current density is equal to the amount of charge passing through the boundary of the sheath per unit time, ds/dt represents the travel speed of this boundary:
            ⅆ      s              ⅆ      t        =            2      9                                    S          0          2                ·                  u          0                            S        2
In which expression, s0 is given by:
      s    0    =            (                        2                                ɛ            0                                          V            0                                    e          ·                      n            0                              )              1      /      2      it being understood that u0=(2 eV0/M) is the characteristic speed of the ion and that n0 is the density of the plasma.
The thickness of the sheath is associated mainly with the applied voltage, with the density of the plasma, and with the mass of the ions.
The equivalent impedance of the plasma, which conditions the implantation current, is directly proportional to the square of the thickness of the sheath. The implantation current thus decreases very quickly as the sheath becomes thicker.
After a certain length of time, it is necessary to proceed with re-initialization. This becomes practically essential once the sheath reaches the walls of the enclosure, thereby stopping the implantation mechanism.
In order to reinitialize the system, nearly all implanter manufacturers switch off the high voltage on the substrate, while maintaining the plasma ignited. It is therefore necessary to have a pulse generator that produces high-voltage pulses.
Thus, with reference to FIG. 1, document WO01/15200 proposes biasing the substrate by means of a power supply that comprises:                a generator GEN having its positive pole connected to ground;        a capacitor Ct in parallel with the generator GEN;        a first switch IT1 having its first pole connected to the negative pole of the generator GEN and having its second pole connected to the output terminal O of the power supply; and        a second switch IT2 having its first pole connected to the output terminal O and having its second pole connected to ground.
The method comprises the following stages:                an implantation stage during which:                    the plasma power supply is activated;            the first switch IT1 is closed; and            the second switch IT2 is opened;                        a neutralization stage during which:                    the first switch IT1 is opened; and            the second switch IT2 is closed.
The continuous presence of the plasma inside the enclosure gives rise to undesirable side-effects:                particles are generated;        heat is delivered to the substrate;        the enclosure is attacked, giving rise to risks of that parts being processed will suffer metal contamination;        charge effects are created, which effects are particularly troublesome in microelectronics applications; and        during the stages in which the voltage applied to the substrate is rising and falling, implantation takes place at an acceleration voltage that is not stabilized.
Furthermore, document US 2007/069157 provides for the following succession of operations:                activating the substrate power supply;        after a certain time delay, activating the plasma power supply for the duration of one pulse;        deactivating the plasma power supply; and        after a certain time period, deactivating the substrate power supply.
It follows that during said period, the substrate power supply is activated and the plasma power supply is deactivated, which corresponds to a relaxation stage.
During the implantation stage, the zones of the substrate and that are electrically insulating become positively charged, with this taking place in cumulative manner. It goes without saying that this situation is not desirable, if only because of the resulting disturbances to the implantation process. It is therefore desirable to neutralize these positive charges by supplying electrons.
It is thus possible to provide a filament, however a filament will tend to vaporize. It is also possible to provide an electron gun, but that constitutes additional equipment that is relatively burdensome.

Method of controlling an ion implanter in plasma immersion mode