Apparatus and methods of thermally treating a wafer or other substrate, such as rapid thermal processing (RTP) apparatus and methods are disclosed. An array of radiant lamps directs radiation to the back side of a wafer to heat the wafer. In one or more embodiments, the front side of the wafer on which the patterned integrated circuits are being formed faces a radiant reflector. In one or more embodiments, the wafer is thermally monitored for temperature and reflectivity from the side of the reflector.

The fabrication of integrated circuits from silicon or other wafers involves many steps of depositing layers, photo lithographically patterning the layers, and etching the patterned layers. Ion implantation is used to dope active regions in the semiconductive silicon. The fabrication sequence also includes thermal annealing of the wafers for many uses including curing implant damage and activating the dopants, crystallization, thermal oxidation and nitridation, silicidation, chemical vapor deposition, vapor phase doping, thermal cleaning, and other reasons. Although annealing in early stages of silicon technology typically involved heating multiple wafers for long periods in an annealing oven, rapid thermal processing, (RTP) has been increasingly used to satisfy the ever more stringent requirements for ever smaller circuit features. RTP is typically performed in single-wafer chambers by irradiating a wafer with light from an array of high-intensity lamps directed at the front face of the wafer on which the integrated circuits are being formed. The radiation is at least partially absorbed by the wafer and quickly heats it to a desired high temperature, for example above 600° C., or in some applications, above 1000° C. The radiant heating can be quickly turned on and off to controllably heat the wafer over a relatively short period, for example, of a minute or less, or even a few seconds.
FIG. 1 schematically represents a Radiance RTP reactor 10, available from Applied Materials, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. Peuse et al. describe further details of this type of reactor and its instrumentation in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,848,842 and 6,179,466, all incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. A wafer 12 to be thermally processed is supported on its periphery by an edge ring 14 having an annular sloping shelf 15 contacting the corner of the wafer 12. The size of wafers is currently transitioning from 200 mm to 300 mm in diameter. Ballance et al. more completely describe the edge ring and its support function in U.S. Pat. No. 6,395,363, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The wafer is oriented such that processed features 16 already formed in a front surface of the wafer 12 face upwardly, referenced to the downward gravitational field, toward a process area 18 defined on its upper side by a transparent quartz window 20. Contrary to the schematic illustration, the features 16 for the most part do not project substantial distances beyond the surface of the wafer 12 but constitute patterning within and near the plane of the surface. The nature of the wafer features 16 is multi-faceted and will be discussed later. Three lift pins 22 may be raised and lowered to support the back side of the wafer 12 when the wafer is handed between a paddle bringing the wafer into the chamber and the edge ring 14. A radiant heating apparatus 24 is positioned above the window 20 to direct radiant energy toward the wafer 12 and thus to heat it. In the Radiance reactor 10, the radiant heating apparatus includes a large number, 409 being an exemplary number, of high-intensity tungsten-halogen lamps 26 positioned in respective reflective hexagonal tubes 27 arranged in a close-packed array above the window 20. However, other radiant heating apparatus may be substituted. Generally, these involve resistive heating to quickly ramp up the temperature of the radiant source.
It is important to control the temperature across the wafer 12 to a closely defined temperature uniform across the wafer 12. One passive means of improving the uniformity includes a reflector 28 extending parallel to and over an area greater than the wafer 12 and facing the back side of the wafer 12. The reflector 28 efficiently reflects heat radiation emitted from the wafer 12 back toward the wafer 12. The spacing between the wafer 12 and the reflector 28 is preferably within the range of 3 to 9 mm, and the aspect ratio of the width to the thickness of the cavity is advantageously greater than 20. The reflector 28, which may be formed of a gold coating or multi-layer dielectric interference mirror, effectively forms a black-body cavity at the back of the wafer 12 that tends to distribute heat from warmer portions of the wafer 12 to cooler portions. In other embodiments, for example, as disclosed in U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 10/267,053, filed Oct. 7, 2002 and Ser. No. 10/280,660, filed Oct. 24, 2002, both incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, the reflector 28 may have a more irregular surface or have a black or other colored surface to more closely resemble a black-body wall. The black-body cavity is filled with a distribution, usually described in terms of a Planck distribution, of radiation corresponding to the temperature of the wafer 12 while the radiation from the lamps 26 has a distribution corresponding to the much higher temperature of the lamps 26. Preferably, the reflector 28 is deposited on a water-cooled base to heat sink excess radiation from the wafer, especially during cool down.
A kinetic means of improving the uniformity includes supporting the edge ring 14 on a rotatable cylinder 30 that is magnetically coupled to a rotatable flange 32 positioned outside the chamber. An unillustrated motor rotates the flange 32 and hence rotates the wafer about its center 34, which is also the centerline of the generally symmetric chamber.
An electrical means of improving the uniformity divides the lamps 26 into, for example, 15 zones arranged generally ring-like about the central axis 34. Control circuitry varies the voltage delivered to the lamps 26 in the different zones to thereby tailor the radial distribution of radiant energy. Dynamic control of the zoned heating is effected by, for example, 8 pyrometers 40 coupled through optical light pipes 42 positioned to face the back side of the wafer 12 through apertures in the reflector 28 to measure the temperature across a radius of the rotating wafer 12. The light pipes 42 may be formed of various structures including sapphire, metal, and silica fiber. A computerized controller 44 receives the outputs of the pyrometers 40 and accordingly controls the voltages supplied to the different rings of lamps 26 to thereby dynamically control the radiant heating intensity and pattern during the processing. Pyrometers generally measure light intensity in a narrow wavelength bandwidth of, for example, 40 nm in a range between about 700 to 1000 nm. The controller 44 or other instrumentation converts the light intensity to a temperature through the well known Planck distribution of the spectral distribution of light intensity radiating from a black-body held at that temperature. Pyrometry, however, is affected by the emissivity of the portion of the wafer 12 being scanned. Emissivity ε can vary between 1 for a black body to 0 for a perfect reflector and thus is an inverse measure of the reflectivity R=1−ε of the wafer back side. While the back surface of a wafer is typically uniform so that uniform emissivity is expected, the backside composition may vary depending upon prior processing. The pyrometry can be improved by further including a emissometer to optically probe the wafer to measure the emissivity or reflectance of the portion of the wafer it is facing in the relevant wavelength range and the control algorithm within the controller 44 to include the measured emissivity.
Bulk silicon representative of the wafer back side has an emissivity ε. of about 0.7. In comparison, the front surface of a semiconductor wafer for integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing is subject to RTP while its front surface is composed of polysilicon and nitride portions. As a result, a typical front side emissivity is about 0.8 to 0.9. That is, the back side is more reflective than the front side.
Although the above temperature control has been effectively used to greatly improve the close and uniform control of temperature, increasingly difficult fabrication constraints necessitate yet further and tighter control. One of the difficulties is that the emissivity or absorption on the front side of the wafer greatly varies over the wafer's area. The non-uniformity arises from several origins. First, integrated circuits are invariably rectangularly shaped but arranged on a circular wafer. As illustrated in the plan view of FIG. 2, a large number of identical integrated circuit die 50 having rectangular shapes are arranged on the circular wafer 12. The arrangement of the die 50 avoids an edge exclusion zone 52 at the periphery of the wafer 12. The edge exclusion zone 52, typically having a width of about 2 mm, is felt to be unduly affected by edge effects such that any die 50 located within the edge exclusion zone 52 is highly likely to be defective or at least non-uniform relative to die 50 located closer to the wafer center. The die 50 are fundamentally patterned in a photographic process including for most advanced processing an optical stepper which successively projects a single image of the developing integrated circuit onto the area of one die 50 and is then stepped to another die to repeat the imaging process. Except for the stepper imaging, the remaining steps of the semiconductor fabrication process processes all die 50 simultaneously. At the end of processing, the die 50 are separated across kerfs 54 separating the die 50 to form separate integrated chips or circuits.
The temperature distribution in rapid thermal processing has been observed to depend upon the patterning of wafer and to vary from one level to another in the developing circuitry as well as between different IC structures. As a result of the rectangular die arrangement on a circular wafer, relatively large structured die regions 56 develop at several locations near the periphery of the wafer 12. These regions are not exposed to the stepper imaging. As a result, while the structured die regions 56 are processed along with the die 50, no pattern develops there. In contrast, as the multi-step and multi-level processing proceeds, the die 50 begin to develop a distinct pattern across the components of the developing integrated in which multiple layers produce a rapidly varying emissivity. On the dimensional scale of IC features, the emissivity variations can be averaged to an effective emissivity across the individual die 50. This effective emissivity, however, likely varies from the unpatterned emissivity of the structured die regions 56. An associated problem is that some of the internal die 50 may be used for test structures or patterns other than the production integrated circuits. These different die will have effective emissivities different than the production ICs. As a result, they absorb a different amount heat of heat than do the production ICs so that temperature uniformities arise near the test structures. A related problem arises from the kerfs 54 which must be kept wide enough for a saw but are generally unpatterned. As result, temperatures may vary near the kerfs. Similarly, if an IC has a distinct macro-pattern, such as RAM versus logic, the effective emissivities of the two areas may differ, producing temperature non-uniformities within the chip. It is possible that some areas of the die 50 develop a stack structure that acts as an interference filter for the high-temperature radiation from the lamps 26. These interference effects become more pronounced as higher-temperature lamps shift the radiation spectrum closer to film thicknesses. Even single layers of a different material may introduce significant reflection because of the abrupt change in refractive index.
A further problem is that the edge ring 14 may have a substantially higher emissivity than the structure developing on the wafer 12, which may be highly reflective. As a result, the edge ring 14 absorbs more radiation and heats to a higher temperature than the bulk of the wafer 12, resulting in the wafer 12 being hotter at its periphery than in its more central portions. This problem has been partially circumvented by tailoring the emissivity of the edge ring 14 by the use of coatings to more closely resemble the emissivity of the wafer. However, the wafer emissivity depends upon the IC design and the point in the fabrication process. Therefore, this solution in its extreme requires separate edge rings for each IC design and each step of the process, obviously an inconvenient and costly solution.
Aderhold et al. have addressed some of the problems with structure die regions 56 as well as some other macro non-uniformities in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 10/243,383, filed Sep. 12, 2002. Their method electronically filters the pyrometer readings in those rings of the wafers exhibiting large circumferential temperature variations. Nonetheless, further improvements in uniformity in RTP are desired.

Backside rapid thermal processing of patterned wafers


A dynamic random access memory (DRAM) array is configured to appear to a host computer as a static random access memory (SRAM) array. This allows the use of a component which is functionally equivalent to an SRAM array, but which is less costly and which provides more memory in the same unit area. A temperature sensing circuit allows the DRAM array to use less power than would normally be possible by using a reduced refresh rate based on the temperature of the DRAM array. For example, instead of refreshing a 1 megabyte DRAM every 8 ms, refreshing the DRAM every 128 ms is possible, depending on the temperature of the DRAM array.

Portable computers are power limited due to the requirement of being able to operate from batteries. Any technique which will lower the power requirement for the computer will, therefore, result in longer battery life. Memory can be a significant factor in power considerations, especially as more memory is required for emerging applications.
The systems designer has various choices for memory design. One choice is complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) SRAM. This memory device uses either a four or six transistor cell which implements a static storage mechanism requiring no refresh cycles. Six transistor (slow SRAM) devices have the added advantage of consuming very little power, but usually lag behind components such as DRAM in memory density.
Another choice is to use one transistor cell DRAMS. Unfortunately, the DRAM needs continuous refreshing which requires more power than a static CMOS implementation. Although the DRAM's simpler storage mechanism produces a lower cost per bit than SRAMS, its power requirements prevent it from adequately serving portable computers.
The requirement to refresh the DRAM is basic to the storage technique used in the DRAM cell. In this cell, data is stored as a charge of electrical energy trapped between two plates of a capacitor. Because the capacitor experiences leakage, the cell must be recharged or "refreshed" every so often. In today's technology, a 4 megabyte DRAM cell for example must be refreshed every six milliseconds at 70.degree. C.
Leakage of charge from the DRAM cell is mainly temperature dependent. Refresh times are always specified at the highest allowed operating temperature for the DRAM chip, as the leakage rate accelerates with increasing temperature. For every 12.degree. C. increase in temperature, the refresh rate must be doubled. If refresh rates can be adjusted for temperature, DRAM power consumption may be lessened allowing them to be candidates for use in portable computers and other devices which are battery powered.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,489 describes a circuit which adjusts the DRAM refresh rate based on the ambient temperature. This invention employs a thermistor in proximity to the DRAMs and a resistor to form a voltage divider, the output of which is digitized by an analog/digital (A/D) converter inside a processor. The processor in turn controls the refreshing of the DRAMs at a rate controlled by a table accessed by the processor using the value digitized from the voltage divider. Thus the frequency of a refresh signal is determined by prestored refresh constants retrieved from the table.

Dynamic RAM array for emulating a static RAM array


Apparatus (1) for sterilization and/or heat treatment of products in particle form, e.g. bone meal, and comprising an upright-standing pressure vessel (2) with elevator arrangement (6) which lifts the meal from the bottom area (5) to the top area (4), and lets it fall back to the bottom area for re-lifting.. The processing is effected by direct steam supply (16), whereby the meal is heated to sterilization temperature.. After the treatment or the sterilization, the vessel is emptied by the opening of a bottom valve (10). During the whole of the process, i.e. during filling, sterilization and emptying, the elevator arrangement (6) is in operation.. The elevator arrangement is, for example, a helical vibration elevator firmly built into the vessel and with external vibration motors (8), so that the whole of the vessel is made to vibrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method, an apparatus and processing plant for the sterilization and/or heat treatment of products in particle form, e.g. bone meal, fish meal and other feedstuffs, possibly also foodstuffs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to sterilize bone meal and similar organic products in batches by heating the meal while it is stirred in a pressure vessel.
The known pressure vessels for this purpose are large, horizontally-lying vessels with a through-going, horizontal shaft which comprises mechanical stirring elements etc. The shaft is led out through the ends of the vessel via specially constructed stuffing-boxes and bearing arrangements. The heating is effected by the introduction of steam and possibly by heating of the shroud via a steam jacket. Such sterilization plants are characterized by high power consumption, great wear and tear, corrosion if the parts are not made of corrosion-free materials, almost constantly leaking stuffing-boxes, frequent bearing damage due to the leaking stuffing-boxes and due to the fact that it is difficult to seal the hatches necessary for the pressure vessel. The high energy consumption is due, among other things, to the fact that vessels of this kind as a rule cannot be filled more than 20% with meal which is to be sterilized, among other things because the stirring is not good enough if the vessel is filled more.

Method and apparatus for sterilization and/or heat treatment of products in particle form, E.G. bone meal, and processing plant herewith


Woven UHMWPE fabric stretches in the bias direction to such an extent that it is unsuitable for many potential applications and is porous, allowing air and water transmission. A composite UHMWPE material includes a single ply of high tenacity woven UHMWPE fabric having warp fibers in a first direction and weft fibers in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. The UHMWPE fabric has first face and a second face. A stretch resisting axially oriented fusion layer is fused to at least one of the first face or the second face of the UHMWPE fabric with an axis aligned parallel to at least one of the UHMWPE fabric warp and weft axes, such that the stretch resisting fusion layer increases fabric tensile strength and inhibits bias stretch of the UHMWPE fabric, and renders the UHMWPE woven fabric air and water impermeable.

Kite boarding, sometimes also referred to as kite surfing, is an extreme sport whereby a person uses a kite, generally having a "C" or modified "C" shape. Such shape, also termed "a leading edge (LE) inflatable kite", is created by using a hand or electrically operated pump to inflate a bladder contained within a protective cover material forming the kite's leading edge. The kite's leading edge, which forms a rigid C-shaped 10 cm-25 cm diameter round tube when inflated, also has one or more orthogonally aligned abutting struts, which structure supports the fabric material forming the kite canopy. Kites are deflated for packaging and transport. During use, the kite's leading edge and struts are inflated to about 5-10 psi (34-69 kPa), depending on kite size, above ambient atmospheric pressure. The leading edge and strut bladders can be inflated simultaneously, or separately. Without inflation, or low inflation, a kite becomes floppy in the water, with some wind drag, but cannot create an aerodynamic shape.
Modern prior art kites are attached to 4 (or 5) lines, which lines are generally 10-30 meters in length, and are also attached (tethered) to the kite rider, who is wearing a special harness, allowing the kite rider, while standing on a surfboard-like device, to be pulled along the surface of the water due to wind powering the kite. Besides water-based kite boarding, kites are also used on land where the rider stands on a skateboard type device (with wheels) travelling on, for example, packed sand, or sitting in a device with wheels for travel over a hard surface. Recently, kites have also been deployed by snow boarders for use over snow-covered areas.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,078 by Legaignoux, et al. teaches the first use of a kite design that can be re-launched from the water surface, which key innovation spurred the sport of kite boarding. Subsequent innovations seek to improve on re-launching the kite from the water surface, such as, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,104,504 B2 by Peterson et al. which describes a system whereby the kite rider can use a dedicated line (or piggybacking onto one of the existing lines) to adjust the kite canopy profile to exhibit different aerodynamic characteristics to facilitate re-launching the kite.
A key aspect of all kites is weight, as the overall kite weight will determine the ease of re-launch, the ability of the kite to fly in light winds, and the kite's response while being powered through the horizon. A lighter kite will also reduce handling and shipping weight, and volume.
Most modern kites are comprised of four basic elements that contribute to the kite's overall weight: the LE (leading edge) and struts, the bladders within the LE and struts, the canopy and the various reinforcing elements for inflating the bladder and attaching the kite lines to the leading edge. The estimated weight contributions of the various kite components for prior art kites are, 35% for the LE material, 35% for the bladder material, 20% for the canopy material, and 10% for the other miscellaneous items such as seam stick tape, webbing, thread, valves, valve tubing, clamps, scuff pad material, zippers and Velcro.
In an effort to minimize weight, prior art kites generally use a tightly woven fabric made from polyethylene terephthalate fibers, which material is trademarked as "Dacron" by du Pont in North America. The Dacron fabric commonly used for the kite's LE has a weight of about 160 gsm (grams per square meter). The weight of this fabric has a tensile strength of about 108 lb/inch (950 N/5 cm) in the warp direction and about 137 lb/inch (1200 N/5 cm) in the weft direction. As an example, for a 12 m2 Ocean Rodeo Sports Inc., Victoria, Canada, "Flite" kite, with a LE diameter of about 17 cm, pumped to 7-8 psi (48-55 kPa), the air pressure exerted on the LE fabric in the radial direction is about 70-84 lb/inch. (613-735 N/5 cm). As the tensile strength of the 160 gsm Dacron fabric in the warp direction is about 108 lb/inch (950 N/5 cm), the Dacron fabric tensile strength provides a safety margin of about 40% if used in the radial orientation.
However, the LE Dacron fabric must not only withstand the radial and longitudinal forces imposed by the pressurized air from the bladder, but also any over-pressurization due to over pumping, overheating in direct sunlight, or being forcefully crashed onto the water surface; These actions can cause the Dacron fabric to rupture, and the air bladder to expand, herniate, and explode, resulting in the kite's destruction. The LE fabric must also withstand repeated water immersions, and especially abrasion, as kites are often dragged across sand and rough land surfaces during launch and landing.
The kite's canopy determines the size rating of a kite. Most current kites range in size from about 5 m2 to about 17 m2. The canopy fabric is generally comprised of a Ripstop nylon fabric, weighing about 50 gsm, and represents about 20% of the overall kite weight. This canopy material is fragile, and tears easily, making the use of such fabric for the canopy problematic.
There are some prior art examples of efforts to fabricate a lighter kite. Shogren in US Patent Application 2006/0192055 A1 discloses a bladderless or partially bladderless kite made from CUBAN FIBER, which is a high strength synthetic material comprised of polymer filaments, with the kite having a smaller diameter leading edge and an aerodynamic shape. No data are provided regarding actual kite weight reduction, although the author claims such a kite could fly in 3-5 knot wind velocity. However, these kites were found to be difficult to control, and had the seams fail at the leading edge due to flawed sewing and sealing technology.
To create a lighter kite, some kite manufacturers have also reduced the number of kite struts from 5 to only 1-3, and in some cases to none. However, flying a kite with no or 1 strut affects kite performance, especially in high winds.
Commercially available woven UHMWPE fabric has a number of desirable qualities. For example, it is lightweight and resistant to wear, impact and abrasion. However, woven UHMWPE fabric would not normally be considered a suitable material for use in making a kite. Woven UHMWPE fabric tends to stretch in the bias direction to an unacceptable extent. Woven UHMWPE fabric is also porous, allowing air and water transmission. There will hereinafter be described a composite UHMWPE material, that is suitable for making a kite. There will further be described technical problems experienced in developing the composite UHMWPE material and the methodology that was developed to overcome those technical problems.

Composite ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) material and method of manufacture of the same


Accordingly, the present invention, in one embodiment, encompasses an apparatus for the fluidized catalytic cracking of a hydrocarbon feed comprising: a riser which is generally vertically positioned within a catalyst disengaging zone and which has a plurality of openings around the circumference of the riser at its discharge end. The openings in the riser have a vertical stub portion that extends tangentially outwardly from the riser and communicates with a first end of an upwardly sloping curvilinear tunnel that terminates at a second end. The second end of the tunnel opens into a tangential opening in the primary cyclone. The area of the opening of the first end of the tunnel is larger than the area of the opening of the second end of the tunnel.

There are wide varieties of chemical processes which are conducted using particles of fluidized particle size suspended in a gaseous phase. Of particular importance in the petroleum industry is the well known fluidized catalytic cracking process (FCC) in which the particles that are fluidized and suspended in a gaseous phase are catalyst particles. In this typical hydroconversion process, it ultimately becomes necessary to separate the particulate material from the fluidizing gas and this is generally achieved in a catalyst separation zone equipped with cyclones.
Recent trends of fluidized catalytic cracking have tended toward operation of the process at higher temperatures with extremely active catalysts. The concomitant result is that there has been an everincreasing necessity to be able to efficiently separate the catalyst from the fluidizing media in an extremely rapid and efficient manner in order to minimize undesirable side reactions. Consequently, there has been a plethora of methods and apparatuses developed to achieve the separation of fluidized catalyst particles from the fluidizing gas.
The following U.S. Patents illustrate the number of apparatuses and methods employed: U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,159; U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,083; U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,780; U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,814; U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,552; U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,660; U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,437; U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,880 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,993.
The foregoing patents show various riser termination devices with internal vanes and the like used in an attempt to bring about satisfactory separation of fluidized particles from the entraining gas.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and an apparatus for removing fluidizable particles from a fluidizing gaseous stream.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which will permit the fluidized solid fluid gas mixture to travel directly from a riser into a primary cyclone.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which will channel the natural movement of the fluidized solids into the cyclone in such a way as to avoid abrupt diversion of the gas stream and changing of its essential flow pattern as it exits the riser and enters a primary cyclone.

Improved method for transferring entrained solids to a cyclone


A device and a method are provided for saving electric power consumed in a digital broadcasting receiver. The device and method includes acquiring information regarding a transmission order of all service channels, calculating a delay relationship between an arbitrarily played service channel and a service channel for switching, and enabling a broadcast receiving unit when the service channel for switching is received.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting receiver. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device and a method for saving power in a digital broadcasting receiver by turning on the receiver when a channel selected through channel switching is received.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently a digital broadcasting receiver performs functions of receiving and displaying a variety of digital broadcasting signals. The digital broadcasting receiver comprises a tuner, a broadcast data demodulator and a broadcast data decoder. As the digital broadcasting receiver receives the digital broadcasting signals, which are encoded and modulated, the received digital broadcasting signals are demodulated and decoded.
A digital broadcasting system includes Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) system and Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) system. In general, digital broadcasting provides several service channels through a single frequency channel. The service channels may transmit broadcast data and/or additive broadcast information regarding channels for sending digital broadcast signals that a broadcasting station offers.
In a Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) digital broadcasting receiver applied to a mobile terminal, broadcast data comprises audio/video data and additive broadcast information data. Here, audio/video data uses a Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) suitable for real-time transmission. Additive broadcast information data uses a File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport (FLUTE) protocol suitable for high-capacity file transmission. The FLUTE protocol is formed of Asynchronous Layered Coding (ALC) including Layered Coding Transport (LCT), and FLUTE data has a File Delivery Table (FDT) and object data.
The DVB-H digital broadcasting receiver is supplied with limited power to enhance the receiver's mobility. That is, a mobile digital broadcasting receiver uses a rechargeable battery with limited size for the purpose of making transportation easier. Therefore, it is difficult for the mobile digital broadcast receiver to operate for a long duration of time. Additionally, when a DVB-H digital broadcasting receiver has additional functions, such as a mobile communication function or file play function, for example, battery consumption becomes greater.
Therefore, a need exists for a device and method for saving power consumed in a digital broadcasting receiver.

Device and method for saving power in digital broadcasting receiver


A new and distinct cultivar of Sutera plant named ‘Danova900’, characterized by its outwardly spreading and low mounding plant habit; vigorous growth habit; freely branching habit; early and continuous flowering habit; large lavender-colored flowers; and good garden performance.

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Sutera plant, botanically known as Sutera hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Danova900'.
The new Sutera is a product of a planned breeding program conducted in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, Israel. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new uniform Sutera cultivars with large and numerous flowers.
The new Sutera originated from an open-pollination in August, 2001 of a proprietary selection of Sutera hybrida identified as code number BA-1-12, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unidentified selection of Sutera hybrida, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Danova900 was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from the aforementioned open-pollination in a controlled environment in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, Israel in February, 2002.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, Israel since March, 2002, has shown that the unique features of this new Sutera are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A system and method for regulating the pressure within a volume between a pressure regulator and an injector that injects hydrogen gas into the anode side of a fuel cell stack. The method includes delaying a copy of the a pulsed signal that controls the opening and closing of the injector a predetermined period of time and provides a bias signal from a look-up table that is determined by a desired average mass flow of the hydrogen gas flow to the fuel cell stack and the pressure at an upstream location of the hydrogen gas flow from the pressure regulator. The method selects the bias signal as a pressure regulator control signal that controls the pressure regulator when the delayed pulse injector signal is high and selects an arbitrary value at or near zero as the pressure regulator control signal when a delayed pulse injector is low.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a system and method for regulating a gas flow from a high pressure gas tank system and, more particularly, to a system and method for regulating a gas flow from a high pressure gas tank system, where the method provides synchronous control between an electronic pressure regulator and an injector that injects the gas into an anode side of a fuel cell stack.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Hydrogen is a very attractive fuel because it is clean and can be used to efficiently produce electricity in a fuel cell. The automotive industry expends significant resources in the development of hydrogen fuel cell systems as a source of power for vehicles. Such vehicles would be more efficient and generate fewer emissions than today's vehicles employing internal combustion engines. Fuel cell vehicles are expected to rapidly increase in popularity in the near future in the automotive marketplace.
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are a popular fuel cell for vehicles. The PEMFC generally includes a solid polymer electrolyte proton conducting membrane, such as a perfluorosulfonic acid membrane. The anode and cathode typically, but not always, include finely divided catalytic particles, usually a highly active catalyst such as platinum (Pt) that is typically supported on carbon particles and mixed with an ionomer. The catalytic mixture is deposited on opposing sides of the membrane. The combination of the anode catalytic mixture, the cathode catalytic mixture and the membrane define a membrane electrode assembly (MEA). MEAs are relatively expensive to manufacture and require certain conditions for effective operation.
Several fuel cells are typically combined in a fuel cell stack to generate the desired power. For example, a typical fuel cell stack for a vehicle may have two hundred or more stacked fuel cells. The fuel cell stack receives a cathode input gas, typically a flow of air forced through the stack by a compressor. Not all of the oxygen is consumed by the stack and some of the air is output as a cathode exhaust gas that may include water as a stack by-product. The fuel cell stack also receives an anode hydrogen input gas that flows into the anode side of the stack. In one known type of fuel cell system, the hydrogen gas fuel is injected into the anode side of the fuel cell stack by one or more injectors. The injector controls the amount of injected fuel for a particular stack current density based on pulse width modulation (PWM) control signal that controls the opening and closing of the injector.
A fuel cell stack includes a series of bipolar plates positioned between the several MEAs in the stack, where the bipolar plates and the MEAs are positioned between two end plates. The bipolar plates include an anode side and a cathode side for adjacent fuel cells in the stack. Anode gas flow fields are provided on the anode side of the bipolar plates that allow the anode reactant gas to flow to the respective MEA. Cathode gas flow fields are provided on the cathode side of the bipolar plates that allow the cathode reactant gas to flow to the respective MEA. One end plate includes anode gas flow channels, and the other end plate includes cathode gas flow channels. The bipolar plates and end plates are made of a conductive material, such as stainless steel or a conductive composite. The end plates conduct the electricity generated by the fuel cells out of the stack. The bipolar plates also include flow channels through which a cooling fluid flows.
Typically, hydrogen gas for the fuel cell system is stored at high pressure in a tank system including one or more interconnected pressure vessels on the vehicle to provide the hydrogen gas necessary for the fuel cell stack. The pressure within the vessels can be 700 bar or more. In one known design, the pressure vessels include an inner plastic liner that provides a gas tight seal for the hydrogen gas, and an outer carbon fiber composite layer that provides the structural integrity of the vessel.
A hydrogen storage system typically includes at least one pressure regulator as part of the various and numerous valves, gauges, and fittings necessary for operation of the hydrogen storage system that reduces the pressure of the hydrogen gas from the high pressure in the vessels to a constant pressure suitable for the fuel cell stack. Various pressure regulators are known in the art to provide this function, including mechanical pressure regulators and electronic pressure regulators.
Most fuel cell systems employ one or more injectors for injecting the reduced pressure hydrogen gas into the anode side of the fuel cell stack. The injectors are typically controlled by a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal having a certain duty cycle and frequency that provides the desired mass flow of the hydrogen gas for a command stack current density. However, the opening and closing of the injector in response to the PWM signal causes pressure oscillations or disturbances in the anode gas volume between the injector and the pressure regulator that reduces the performance of the pressure regulator.

Advanced controls algorithm for an electronic pressure regulator system with pulsed disturbances


A method of compensating for an inoperable inkjet in an inkjet printer that forms printed images with multiple drop sizes has been developed. The method includes identifying at least one neighboring pixel in a region of multi-bit halftoned image data around a pixel corresponding to the inoperable inkjet and modifying the at least one neighboring pixel to enable an inkjet that neighbors the inoperable inkjet to eject an ink drop during printing operation to compensate for the inoperable inkjet.

Drop on demand inkjet technology for producing printed media has been employed in commercial products such as printers, plotters, and facsimile machines. Generally, an inkjet image is formed by selectively ejecting ink drops from a plurality of inkjets, which are arranged in one or more printheads, onto an image receiving surface. In a direct inkjet printer, the printheads eject ink drops directly onto the surface of a print medium such as a paper sheet or a continuous paper web. In an indirect inkjet printer, the printheads eject ink drops onto the surface of an intermediate image receiving member such as a rotating imaging drum or belt. During printing, the printheads and the image receiving surface move relative to one other and the inkjets eject ink drops at appropriate times to form an ink image on the image receiving surface. A controller in the printer generates electrical signals, also known as firing signals, at predetermined times to activate individual inkjets in the printer. The ink ejected from the inkjets can be liquid ink, such as aqueous, solvent, oil based, UV curable ink or the like, which is stored in containers installed in the printer. Alternatively, some inkjet printers use phase change inks that are loaded in a solid form and delivered to a melting device. The melting device heats and melts the solid phase change ink to a liquid form that is supplied to a printhead for printing as liquid drops onto the image receiving surface.
During operation, some inkjets in one or more printheads fail to operate due to contaminants that clog nozzles or due to other malfunctions in the printhead. As used herein, the term "inoperable inkjet" refers to an inkjet that fails to eject ink drops onto the predetermined locations of an image receiving surface in a reliable manner during a printing operation. Inoperable inkjets may fail to eject ink drops entirely, eject drops only intermittently, or eject drops onto incorrect locations on the image receiving surface.
Existing compensation methods for inoperable inkjets identify pixel locations in binary halftoned image data that correspond to inoperable inkjets and redistribute the "orphan" pixels from the inoperable inkjet to neighboring inkjets to reduce the perceptible impact of the inoperable inkjet. However, the hardware and software implementations of prior art printers are not suited for use in printers that eject ink drops of different sizes from two or more arrays of inkjets in a print zone. As used herein, the term "multi-level" as used to apply to a printer or to image data for a printed image refers to configurations in which a combination of multiple drop sizes form printed images. For example, in a printer that forms images using two different drop sizes, each halftoned pixel has a total of four potential values or "levels" (e.g. no drops, one small drop, one large drop, or both a small and large drop) instead of the traditional binary image data that only includes two values for drop/no drop. Consequently, improvements systems and methods for inoperable inkjet compensation methods in multi-level printers would be beneficial.

System and method for missing inkjet compensation in a multi-level inkjet printer


A prevailing torque type lock nut for assembly onto a threaded bolt that affords a substantially 360 degree break loose torque engagement resistance against the standard bolt threads and is comprised of a compressively controlled height reduction as compared to a standard nut of like size.

Nut fasteners forming threaded joints with bolts on which they are assembled are subject to dynamic loads, stress reversals, shock, vibration and radical atmospheric fluctuations rendering them susceptible to undersireable loosening. When the joint design permits tightening of the nut fastener to high preload levels, the chances of nut loosening in service are significantly reduced. However, in many applications, the joint makeup, e.g. interposition of a soft gasket, accessory, etc. between the bolt and nut is such that preload alone is inadequate and an assisting anti-loosening measure must be employed in order to maintain an installation standard. One such measure is the use of lock type fasteners.
Lock type fasteners in general comprise a broad family of mechanical fasteners each having a design capability to resist loosening after the fastener is assembled in its service application. They encompass both externally and internally threaded parts and are available commercially in a variety of different constructions.
Generally, lock type fasteners are characterized as falling into one of three basic categories, namely "free running", "prevailing torque" and "chemical reaction". The "free running" lock type nut fastener assembles freely until seated. It then gains resistance to loosening through the presence of an accessory device or through development of a tensile load in the externally threaded component as a result of tightening. The "prevailing torque" nut fastener typically has a self contained feature that creates frictional interference between the threads of the mating components. Finally, the "chemical reaction" fastener tends to adhesively bond-mating threads through the application and reaction of chemicals deposited on or about the threads. They are primarily suited to applications intended to be permanent in that they have little, if any, re-use potential. Official regulation of the fastener nut industry is governed by the Industrial Fastener Institute (IFI) standard 100/107 or ANSI/ASMIE standard B18.2.2.
The common design principal of all lock type fasteners is to increase the break loose torque resistance between the nut and bolt. The Inalor disadvantage of the free runninig type nut is that, when they break loose, resistance is overcome either through loss of fastener preload or ineffectiveness of the accessory device. Re-use resistance to fastener loosening becomes essentially zero and eventual disengagement of the mating parts becomes a possibility. Exemplary forms of free running lock type nut fasteners include jam nuts, cotter pins extending through a nut slot aligned with an aperture in the bolt shank; lock wire, lock washers, etc. The top lock form of lock nut is also free running until the top of the nut engages the bolt thread.
By contrast, prevailing torque type lock nut fasteners retain a continuing resistance to removal rotation even after fastener preload is fully dissipated so as to afford re-use suitability. Prevailing torque fasteners are typically of all metal that includes a thread modification of sorts or with an intervening non-metallic element added or fused to the threads. A form of prevailing torque lock nut is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,924 incorporated herein by reference.
It will be appreciated that such nuts, in whatever format, are typically manufactured in bulk and a factor critical to their marketability is a predictable consistency in their operative features. Not least of such features are the torque levels by which lock nuts in their various sizes are applied for maintaining a required break loose torque. Overtorquing beyond IFI standards has typically caused thread galling of the nut, bolt or both. Attempts at creating a prevailing torque type lock nut for effecting annular engagement with bolt threads have previously proved unsuccessful. Failure has been generally attributed to gross inconsistencies in encountered torque levels both above and below IFI standards that rendered operating performance unpredictable, unreliable and caused chronic galling to be incurred.


A method of shortening cycle time required to compression mold shingle or tile is provided, wherein carrier plates are comprised of a surface material and a base, and receive a thermoplastic material, thereon. The roofing material is applied to the carrier plate and the carrier plate is subjected to induction heating, by which its surface material has its temperature raised, without substantially raising the temperature of the carrier plate base, such that the thermoplastic material applied thereto is kept heated in the compression mold. Cooling of the thermoplastic material is by heat transfer from the carrier plate surface material to the carrier plate base, and with both materials having good heat conduction capability. The carrier plate surface material has a high receptivity to being heated by induction heating relative the carrier plate base. The carrier plates are serially delivered through the process, to the compression mold.

In the art of making roofing shingles and tiles for exterior application in the building industry, various approaches have been made toward making shingles and tiles that are manufactured, but give the appearance of being made of traditional natural materials, such as wood cedar shakes, tiles, slate, etc.
In many instances, such shingles and tiles are made of bitumen coated mat having granules on the exterior surface, with the granules being provided in various designs, shades, color configurations, etc., to yield various aesthetic effects.
It is also known, in making roofing shingles and tiles, to mold them to the desired shape by various molding techniques. The materials that are used in such molding techniques usually include inexpensive filler material, in order to achieve low production costs.
Additionally, molding operations tend to be capital intensive, with relatively high manufacturing costs, although molding techniques do provide a high level of definition or dimension control. Also, there is a disadvantage to molding techniques, in general, in that the length of the cycle for injecting material into the mold, molding to the desired shape, and ejecting the shape from the mold is largely a function of the time required to cool the molten thermoplastic material before it can be removed from the mold. However, the temperature of the thermoplastic material must be sufficiently high that it can flow and fill the cavity within the constraints of the material and equipment (i.e. material characteristics, melt pressures, mold clamping pressures, etc.). While modifications can be made to the materials to help the flow characteristics and thereby lower the required melt temperature, and while improvements can be made to the mold to increase heat transfer and removal, cooling remains the longest part of the cycle for these processes. In order to achieve the necessary cooling, the time required causes a lengthening of the manufacturing cycle, which increases the capital costs of investment in molds and machinery for a required output, thereby substantially increasing manufacturing costs.
An example of one process for making a shingle or tile is disclosed in U.S. patent application Pub. No. U.S. 2006/0029775, the complete disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of shortening the time to compression mold a roofing shingle or tile and apparatus for facilitating same


A process is disclosed for estimating by a computer a relationship between geometric distortion of an element used for approximately representing the shape of an object to be analyzed by a finite element method, and an analysis error which occurs, due to the geometric distortion of the element, in analysis results of the object by the finite element method. The process includes: assuming at least one deformation mode occurring in the element upon deformation of the object, in the form of at least one of tension, bending, shear, and torsion; and estimating the analysis error associated with the geometric distortion, for each of the at least one assumed deformation mode.

A finite element method is known as an approach to analyze the deformation of an object. In the finite element method, an object is approximated for representation into a set of a plurality of elements, and the deformation of the object is analyzed by use of the set of plurality of elements. More specifically, according to one known example of the finite element method, the shape of an object to be analyzed is approximately represented by means of elements, and then the deformation of the object is analyzed with the use of the elements. Each of the elements (plane elements or plane-like elements) may be defined to be a membrane element, a shell element having a thin wall, an element having a quadrilateral plane, an element having a triangular plane, etc.
Approximation accuracy of the finite element method depends on the type of a selected technique to partition an object into a plurality of elements, as hereinafter referred to as "element generation" or "mesh generation." Therefore, in order to reduce errors in results of analysis by the finite element method (hereinafter, referred to as "analysis error"), an object to be analyzed is partitioned into a plurality of elements, such that the size or the shape of each element is proper with respect to the position of each element within the object, for example, such as disclosed in JP Hei 04-268674 and JP Hei 11-25292.
JP Hei 04-268674 discloses techniques of, once an analyzed object, i.e., a structure has been partitioned into a finite number of meshes (elements), optimizing the mesh generation, by moving nodes which have been initially assigned to the analyzed object, in consideration of the resulting errors in analysis results of such as stress, strain energy, etc. This technique provides one example of modification of elements in shape.
JP Hei 11-25292 discloses techniques of generating meshes of an analyzed object, each of which has the size meeting analysis accuracy required, and techniques of selecting the type of mesh generation as one of uniform mesh generation, non-uniform mesh generation, and junction mesh generation, depending upon the location of each mesh within the analyzed object. This technique provides another example of modification of elements in shape.
One example of a conventional mesh generation technique exists that allows the surface of an object to be partitioned into a plurality of meshes or elements so that every mesh or element may be desirable in shape. The conventional technique enables mesh generation to be performed so that every one of a plurality of elements (quadrilateral elements) into which the surface of an object is partitioned may be formed to be as close as possible to a square, i.e., a quadrilateral not distorted.
Further, in the above conventional technique, for evaluation to determine whether the shape of each element generated by mesh generation is desirable or not, the geometric distortion of the shape of each element due to the mesh generation is expressed by means of four geometric characteristic quantities, namely, the aspect ratio; the amount of warping; the amount of skew; and the amount of trapezoid, of each element.
The aspect ratio is defined, for example, as the ratio between a first and a second distance. The first distance is measured between a reference point of a distorted element, which is generally located at the center of the distorted element, and the midpoint of a first one of four sides of the distorted element (hereinafter, referred to as "element-sides"). The second distance is measured between the reference point, and the midpoint of a second one of the four element-sides, which is a selected one of two element-sides consecutive to the first element-side.
The amount of warping is defined, for example, with the use of a projection plane which is assumed for a distorted element such that the projection plane is equidistant from four nodes of the distorted element. More specifically, the amount of warping is defined as the arc sine of the ratio of a projection height equal to the distance between the projection plane and each node of the distorted element, to the half of the length of a selected one of the four element-sides of the distorted element.
The amount of skew is defined, for example, as the difference 90 degrees minus a smaller one of angles between a first and a second line. The first line passes through both the aforementioned reference point and the midpoint of the aforementioned first element-side. The second line passes through both the reference point and the midpoint of the aforementioned second element-side.
The mount of trapezoid is defined, for example, using a triangle for each element-side of a distorted element. The triangle is formed by a combination of the present element-side, and two rectilinear segments connecting the aforementioned reference point and each of the two nodes of the present element-side. In the example, the amount of trapezoid is then defined as four times the smallest one of four areas of four triangles which have resultantly generated for the four element-sides, respectively, divided by the total of the four areas.
Then, according to the above-described conventional technique, the actual value of each of the aforementioned four geometric characteristic quantities is compared with an allowable value, per each element. If the actual value of at least one of the four geometric characteristic quantities, for an element, exceeds the allowable value, then it is determined that the element is not proper in shape.

Process of estimating relationship between element distortion and analysis error


One disclosed embodiment of the invention is directed to circuit control that comprises sensing a delivered voltage to a portion of an integrated circuit, determining an appropriate frequency for the portion of the integrated circuit, and providing the appropriate frequency to the integrated circuit.

Because of trends in process technology, scaling, and the frequency of operations for VLSI devices, power consumption has become a dominant issue in integrated circuit design. Managing power consumption is thus a high priority in the design objectives of these devices.
It is broadly recognized in the implementation of power management systems for VLSI devices that the most efficient means of power management is to simultaneously change 1) the voltage delivered to an integrated circuit, and 2) the frequency of that integrated circuit's operation. Because voltage is a primary determinant of switching speed for transistors of an integrated circuit, a designer will typically specify the maximum frequency at which a part can operate for a given voltage. Thus, for an example micro-processor, a power supply may generate a fixed voltage of 2 volts to a device and the device may be specified as operating at 2 GigaHertz (GHz). However, the design of the device has to be such that the voltage seen at the integrated circuit is never below the level that enables the full 2 GHz operation. If the voltage on the integrated circuit falls below that level, there could be a timing failure and some of the components would be unable to switch fast enough to make the 2 GHz cycle times.
But power supplies vary and electrical parasitics between the power supply and the actual transistors of an integrated circuit effect power transmission. Thus the voltage actually delivered to an integrated circuit is not a completely fixed value, but rather ripples and varies with time. On average these ripples may have a total magnitude of approximately + or −10% of the total voltage. If the intent is to deliver 2 volts to the integrated circuit, the actual delivered voltage may vary between 1.8 volts and 2.2 volts. Since the voltage in large part determines the switching speed of components, designers have to make sure that (in the current example) the device in use can still operate at 2 GHz even if the delivered voltage is 1.8 volts. This is a technique known as guardbanding. Without this guardbanding, the integrated circuit could fail when the voltage drops.
For power consumption, two relationships become important when the voltage varies. One is the relationship of the device speed to voltage; a relationship that is approximately linear. If the voltage applied to a transistor is lowered by 10%, the switching speed of that transistor is reduced by approximately 10%. A first order approximation can be shown as:F∝ν  (1)
The second relationship is between power and frequency. Power (the total wattage dissipated by an integrated circuit) is equal to the switching capacitance of a device (a relatively fixed value for a given design, labeled C), multiplied by the voltage across the device squared (labeled V), and multiplied by the frequency at which the device is switching (plus a leakage term which may be disregarded here). This relationship is thus:P=C×V2×F  (2)
Using the previous example, if the capacitance on a component is switching once per cycle, then the capacitance is switching at a rate of 2 GHz, (or once every 500 picoseconds). Equation 2 show that a reduction in voltage would result in a square law reduction in power. For example, when voltage (V) drops 10%, becomes 0.9×V, the square law reduction causes the power (P) to be 0.9×0.9×P, or 0.81×P (a 19% reduction).
As equation 1 indicates, frequency is directly proportional to voltage. Thus when combined with equation 2, a reduction in frequency will lead to an additional voltage factor in power reduction. This results in power being reduced by approximately V3. Using the previous example, a 10% drop in V would result in a 0.9×0.9×0.9×P (0.72×P or 28%) reduction in power for a 10% reduction in voltage. This relationship is well known, and has been exploited for power management particularly in mobile devices such as laptops.
Many power-management solutions use software to minimize the excess computing power of microprocessors and other like devices. Based upon an expected load, the software determines how fast the processor must operate; for example, the software may note that a densely coded application may require more speed than a simple one. Once the software determines the speed required by the demand, it can reduce the speed to only that which is required. The result is a reduction in the power consumption for the device over time.
However, these methods lead to inefficiencies in voltage management. For example, these methods require that a software program predict the computing demands an integrated circuit may see and then change the voltage and frequency accordingly. This results in lag times associated with prediction inaccuracies. Further, the intention of these systems is to minimize the total energy consumed over time for the processor. Portable units, such as laptops, can then maximize the battery life with these algorithms. For a server type processor, minimizing total energy usage over a period of time is not the goal. Maximum computing power is the goal. Within a given power envelope, a server system should maximize the performance that is available on demand for a customer. Ideally, the full performance capability should be available at any time to a customer. Even in server systems, however, there are significant motivations for keeping the power down. For example, as a chip bums power it generates heat that is difficult to draw away from a small silicon die. Further, it is more expensive to run a large number of processors at higher power, and it is difficult to provide that power in tight spaces. Thus, for a server, a system that only tries to minimize power when the compute needs are high does not suffice; the compute needs are always high. Likewise, a system that simply provides maximum computing power is insufficient for most systems. Thus, there exists a need for a method that actively optimizes the power consumed while maintaining the system's ability to deliver the highest performance without having to rely on software predictions that are often inaccurate.
An additional shortcoming of currently available solutions is the time lag between the recognition that an opportunity to reduce power (or the recognition of the need to increase power due to high compute needs) and the operation that effects that change. After recognition, a command to vary voltage must be sent out to a voltage regulator which generates the voltage used by the processor. It then takes a number of microseconds (10s to 100s of microseconds, typically) for the voltage regulator to perform that task. It is not until that voltage transition is completed that the frequency can actually be raised on the processor itself, because a processor running at a frequency higher than the voltage supports can result in a timing failure. Thus, there is a time lag waiting for the voltage to slew before the frequency can be raised. Similarly, in order to lower the voltage (to reduce the power consumption) the frequency must be lowered first to avoid a timing failure caused by a voltage too low for a given frequency. A system that understood exactly how fast the integrated circuit could operate for a given voltage, combined with a system that could operate the chip at a frequency matched to that voltage, would result in a significant efficiency gains. Instead of anticipating a voltage reduction and lowering frequency in advance, such a system could lower voltage and frequency together. Such a system could also avoid the guardbanding necessary when a designer is required to anticipate the varying operating conditions of a device. If, using the above example, the voltage varies by + or −10%, a designer must ensure that the device will work at its quoted frequency if only 90% of the expected voltage is provided. Thus, there exists a need for a system that could set the frequency to an observed voltage and constantly vary the frequency to match the voltage actually delivered.
In order to further improve efficiencies, many power-management systems shut off parts of an integrated circuit that are not in use. For example, the floating point computation unit in a microprocessor is a high performance unit that is needed for technical code. For many applications (word processing, transaction processing, and other general integer applications) the floating point computation is unnecessary. A typical power-savings method might shut the clock down to the floating point unit so that it is not using power. But as units on an integrated circuit are powered up and down, the processor can experience large, sudden changes in power consumption. This poses a challenge to the power delivery system, because there is always some resistance and some inductance between the components and the power supply. Further, a sudden spike in power to dormant areas can result in a voltage drop to already powered sections that can cause operational and timing problems. Thus, there exists a need for a system that can adapt very rapidly to changes in voltage induced by sudden changes in power consumption.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A ventilation system for ventilating a passenger compartment of an aircraft is disclosed herein. The ventilation system includes, but is not limited to, a nozzle that is adapted to be mounted proximate an interior of the aircraft and that is configured to direct a stream of air into the passenger compartment. The ventilation system further includes a valve that is spaced apart from the nozzle and positioned upstream of the nozzle, the valve configured to control a flow of air to the nozzle. The ventilation system still further includes a conduit that fluidly couples the valve to the nozzle. The conduit is configured to convey the flow of air from the valve to the nozzle.

A modern passenger aircraft commonly includes a ventilation system that is configured to direct a stream of cooled (or heated) air towards each passenger onboard the aircraft. Typically, each passenger is presented with an adjustable nozzle that is mounted in an overhead compartment and which the passenger can manipulate and reposition to control the direction of the stream of air. For example, the nozzle may be configured as a sphere and may be mounted in a ball socket in the overhead compartment. By moving the spherical nozzle in the ball socket, the passenger can control the direction of the stream of air.
The nozzle also includes an integrated valve that the passenger may open and/or close at will. Commonly, the valve is a pintle valve that includes a pintle and an opening that is configured to engage with, and to be obstructed by, the pintle. As the passenger unscrews and/or screws an actuator on the nozzle, the pintle is retracted and/or extended causing the pintle valve to open and/or close, respectively. When the pintle valve is opened, the stream of air flows out of the nozzle and when the pintle valve is closed, the stream of air is cut off. Accordingly, the conventional ventilation system described above allows each passenger to turn the stream of air on and off at will and to direct the stream of air towards a desired target. This level of control provides for the comfort of the passengers. This style of adjustable ventilation is commonly referred to as a 'gasper' in aviation applications.
Another feature of the above described ventilation system that aircraft passengers have found satisfying is the relatively high velocity of the stream of air that is produced by such a ventilation systems. The production of a relatively high velocity stream of air has proven to be very effective at cooling/warming passengers in the aircraft's cabin. The high velocity of the stream of air is typically achieved as a result of the nozzle's configuration. In a conventional nozzle, an upstream portion of the nozzle has a larger diameter than a downstream portion of the nozzle. Accordingly, as a relatively low speed flow of air enters the nozzle, the area of the passageway through which the flow of air passes begins to constrict. This constriction tightens as the flow of air continues down stream through the nozzle. This constriction causes the flow of air to accelerate as the flow of air moves through the nozzle in order to maintain a constant mass-flow rate.
While the above described ventilation system is adequate, there is room for improvement. The movement and the acceleration of the flow of air through the nozzle causes the emission of an appreciable hissing sound as the stream of air exits the nozzle. In many applications, the hissing sound made by the ventilation system is not appreciably louder than the background noise in the cabin of an aircraft and is therefore acceptable. However, some aircraft (e.g., privately owned corporate jets) are designed, constructed, and/or configured to provide a reduced level of background noise within the cabin during aircraft operations as compared with conventional commercial aircraft. In such aircraft, the noise generated by the ventilation system may be quite noticeable and/or unacceptable to potential customers.
Previous attempts to quiet the ventilation system have included the use of different types of valves in the nozzle. Other attempts have included reducing the air pressure of the air flowing past the valve which, in turn, yields a lower speed stream of air. These solutions have not been effective. For example, while the use of different types of valves in the nozzle has, to some extent, yielded reduced decibel readings at the nozzle's exit, such volume reductions have been insufficient. Additionally, while the reduction of the air pressure of the air flowing through the nozzle has proven effective at reducing the decibel level of the noise produced by the stream of air exiting the nozzle, such reduction of air pressure greatly reduced the speed of the stream of air exiting the nozzle. Such a reduction in the speed of the stream of air exiting the nozzle has resulted in an unacceptable diminution in the effectiveness of the ability of the stream of air to cool/warm aircraft passengers.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a ventilation system that produces a relatively quiet, high speed stream of air. In addition, it is desirable to provide a method for assembling such a ventilation system. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Ventilation system and method of assembly


A film sticking/testing equipment mainly includes a transmission mechanism, a film sticking apparatus and a test apparatus. The transmission mechanism is used for delivering at least a touch pad. The film sticking apparatus has a film release base to allow a protect film being released from a rolling belt, which temporarily adheres with the protect film. The protect film is attracted by the film sticking apparatus and adhered to the surface of the touch pad by way of vacuum suction. The testing apparatus provides a test rod traveling along a preset locus on the touch pad to take the output test value of the touch pad and input to the computer device such that the test value is compared with the preset value in the computer device to distinguish qualified touch pads from unqualified touch pads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a film sticking/testing equipment and particularly to an equipment can automatically perform a protect film being adhered to a touch pad and automatically carry out test for the touch pad completely.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
In order to meet requirement of high speed, high effect and a size of lightness, thinness, shortness and smallness, miniature is a trend for developing various electronic parts. Hence, portable electronic devices such as notebook computer, cell phone, electronic dictionary, personal digital assistance, web pad and tablet computer are becoming the main stream products. Further, the computer has become an indispensable part of our daily routine life due to the information industry growing vigorously.
Taking the notebook computer as an example, a mouse is used as an operation control interface, i.e., input interface for the notebook computer and the user can operate the buttons of the mouse to control various functions built in the main unit system in the notebook computer. In another word, the operation of the notebook computer is by way of wire transmission. The mouse is connected to the notebook computer with a transmission wire but the transmission wire also a limitation for the user to operate the notebook computer conveniently. In order to overcome the deficiency, the notebook computer currently is equipped with a touch pad on the main body thereof and the cursor on the screen can be moved by way of the fingertip sliding on the touch pad instead of the mouse.
It is worth to note that the touch pad is adhered with a protect film at the upper surface thereof before being assembled to the main body of the notebook computer for the fingertip of the user being able to slide on the protect film repeatedly so as to prevent the touch pad from being scraped. At the present time, the protect film mostly is adhered to the touch pad manually or semi-automatically with aid of a fixture, that is, the protect film from being released till being stuck is not completely automatically worked. Under this circumstance, the assembly job for the protect film is time consuming such that the production efficiency and the perfection rate of the touch pad are affected seriously.
Besides, a test of sensitivity is usually performed after the touch pad being adhered with the protect pad and unqualified touch pad and qualified touch pad are dispensed at the same time too. However, the conventional test procedure is done manually and, for instance, a touch pen is slid on the touch pad, which is electrically connected to a computer device, and the screen can show displacement of the curser for the test person judging the sensitivity of the touch pad with visual sight. Because the conventional test method is tedious, it is easy to result in inconsistent standard of quality control due to different test persons having subjective factors different from each other and it results in perfection rate of the touch pad is lowered.


There is provided an information processing apparatus including a display control unit configured to include a first display control mode in which control is performed in a manner that a first image from a user viewpoint, which is captured by a first imaging unit, is displayed on a display unit or control is performed in a manner that the display unit is transmissive, and a second display control mode in which control is performed in a manner that a second image captured by a second imaging unit including a user within an angle of view is displayed on the display unit, and a switching control unit configured to perform control in response to an instruction from the user in a manner that a display control mode of the display control unit is switched from the first display control mode to the second display control mode.

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus and a recording medium.
In recent years, there has been proposed a system in which an object called an avatar indicating a user is transmitted into a virtual space displayed in three-dimensional graphics, which is namely a three-dimensional virtual space, the avatar can walk around in the virtual space, and the avatar can also have a conversation (chat) with an avatar for another user. The virtual space displayed in three-dimensional graphics allows a user to feel more strongly as if the user were in the virtual space than two-dimensional graphics.
It is possible in the three-dimensional virtual space to cause an event to occur that is hardly conceivable in the real space, or an event to occur that occurs only in a fantasy world of a user. For example, JP H11-161812A proposes a technique for making a user feel as if the user were in a three-dimensional virtual world and floated outside the body, by switching a first person viewpoint (pilot avatar viewpoint) and a third person viewpoint in the virtual world.

Information processing apparatus and recording medium


A nozzle (e.g., a flat nozzle, an asymmetric nozzle, a micro nozzle, a flat micro nozzle, etc.) is configured to make injection molded components. The nozzle includes a nozzle body, a heater associated with the nozzle body, a melt channel running through the nozzle body configured to allow melt material flow, and a thermally conductive device located inside the nozzle body. The thermally conductive device can be configured to produce an even heat profile along an entire length of the melt channel. The nozzle body can be symmetrical or asymmetrical and can be made of a different, less thermally conductive material, than the thermally conductive device. The thermally conductive device can be used to balance a heating profile of the nozzle to produce consistency in melt material viscosity and speed throughout a micro nozzle channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an injection molding device, system, and method. Specifically, an injection molding device, system, and method using asymmetrical nozzles, flat nozzles, or flat micro nozzles. The present invention is further related to arrays of asymmetrical nozzles, flat nozzles, or arrays of flat micro nozzles that are tightly spaced along a preferred direction.
2. Background
In the production of small injection molded objects and of objects having a small dimension along a certain direction, it is ideal to use an array of tight or small pitch injection systems in order to increase the output per injection cycle without increasing the overall foot print of the entire system. (e.g., systems that have a small or tight spacing between adjacent nozzles or adjacent injection molding parts). One problem that arises is that, while the injection molding devices (e.g., nozzles) have become increasingly smaller (e.g., micro nozzles), it has become more difficult to provide a uniform temperature profile in various areas of the nozzles. Typically, injection nozzles have a heater element, such as a tubular, thin film, band heater, embedded heater or helical coil heater that are wrapped around the nozzle body. There are also injection nozzles including cartridge heaters and heat pipe heaters located inside the nozzle body along the melt channel. Spacing available within the nozzle for the heater element decreases as pitch specifications require smaller or thinner pitches.
Every molding process has a required tolerance for a temperature window and a temperature profile along the melt channel of the injection nozzle to manufacture an injection molded object. Depending on a melt material being used in the process, this tolerance can become relatively narrow. For example, if there is 50–60 degrees of temperature variation in different areas of a nozzle along the melt channel, there can be areas where the melt material will prematurely solidify. This can cause mild to severe blockage of a nozzle channel, which can completely stop melt material flow in the nozzle channel.
This problem is exacerbated in the flat micro nozzles that are being designed with increasingly smaller diameter nozzle channels and that have quasi square cross sectional profiles.
Reference is made in this regard to DE 19723374 to Heitec that shows a flat nozzle having a heater located in the nozzle body along the melt channel. The heater wiring disclosed therein has an uneven distribution along the melt channel in order to compensate for the inherent heat loss that occurs at the head portion and at the tip portion of the nozzle.
Another manufacturer, Günther Heisskanaltechnik (see US Patent 2002/0102322A1), uses a flat copper jacket that uses a cartridge heater, which is mounted around the nozzle body and along the melt channel. This heating configuration attempts to address the problem of uneven heating. Unfortunately, in order to fit the copper jacket, a size of the nozzle must be increased. Hence, this method most likely will not work with micro nozzles that are arrayed to fit a certain space constraint.
Therefore, what is desired is a nozzle (e.g., a flat nozzle, a micro nozzle, or a flat micro nozzle, all referred to herein as "micro nozzle") that balances a heating profile of the flat micro nozzle to produce consistency in melt material viscosity and speed throughout a micro nozzle channel without adding significantly to the size of the nozzle.


A method of bandwidth management enabling to insure a guaranteed bandwidth to each station of transmission network comprising a plurality of stations (10, 12, 14) forming a logical ring wherein a token frame is circulating from station to station, each station being allowed to transmit a credit (c) of data bytes upon reception of the token frame wherein the credit is increased in proportion to a variable TRTT standing for Token Round Trip Time which is the time taken for the token frame to circulate around the logical ring since the preceding reception of the token frame by the station. The credit is increased in proportion of a variable CIR standing for Committed Information Rate which is the guaranteed transmission rate that the station can use to transmit data wherein the value of CIR is determined by a class of bandwidth which has been previously selected by the station upon the preceding reception of the token frame by the station.

On local Area Networks (LANs) of the Ethernet type able to transmit the data at speeds higher than one gigabit/s, an unlimited number of stations can be connected to a shared medium. To control the exchange of data between the stations connected on the shared medium, Ethernet uses a protocol called Carrier Sense, Multiple Access Collision Detect (CSMA/CD). The "Multiple Access" part means that every station is indeed connected to the shared medium forming a single data path. The "Carrier Sense" part means that before transmitting data, a station checks it to see if any other station is already sending something. If the transmission medium appears to be idle then, the station can actually begin to send data. However, two stations can start transmitting at the same time, causing a collision. When this occurs, each interfering station is made able to detect it. Hence, all stations attempt to transmit, back off, and try a retransmission at randomly selected later times thus minimizing the chance of another collision.
Although Ethernet does not set an upper limit to the number of stations that can be connected on a same transmission medium there are, in practice, drastic limitations. Generally speaking, as more users are added to a shared network or, as applications requiring more data are added, performance inevitably deteriorates. This is because all users become competitors in trying to use a common resource: the shared transmission medium. It is generally agreed that, on a moderately loaded 10 Mbps Ethernet network, being shared by 30-50 users, the network can only sustain throughput in the neighborhood of 2.5 Mbps after accounting for packet overhead, inter packet gaps and collisions resulting of the use of the here above CSMA/CD protocol. Thus, yet simple, CSMA/CD protocol, suffers drastic limitations in its ability to take advantage of the intrinsic performance of the shared transmission medium i.e., 10 Mbps in this example. Further increasing the number of users (and therefore packet transmissions) creates an even higher collision potential. Since collisions occur when two or more stations attempt to send information at the same time, when these stations realize that a collision has occurred, they must, to obey standard, all shut off for a random time before attempting another transmission. This tends to add a considerable overhead, severely impacting performance, until the mechanism just collapses when medium is attempted to be too much utilized.
One well-known solution to alleviate this problem is to segment traffic over independent, disjoint, smaller collision domains, but at the expense of having to put in place extra devices to allow communication between the independent pieces thus created of a LAN. This may be a bridge or a switch. For example, an eight-port high-speed switch can support eight Ethernets, each running at a full 10 Mbps so as to be able to interconnect more users on what appear to them as a single LAN. Such a solution consisting in creating a more expensive and complicated network goes against the original objectives of the Ethernet LAN that wanted to be a very inexpensive solution, simple to administrate for local communications, over a campus or between the employees of a company dispersed over a group of buildings.
Another solution consists in implementing a passing-token mechanism of Token Ring LAN type so that the physical Ethernet network becomes collision free and therefore can be used at higher rates. In this mechanism, a logical ring is formed between connected stations and a token is circulated among those of the connected stations part of the logical ring. Then, transmitting from any one station part of the logical ring is only permitted while holding the token thereby, preventing collisions from happening. But, even though the above system prevents the collisions between stations from happening, it does not prevent a station from monopolizing the bandwidth while the other stations cannot transmit.
The above drawback can be solved by using a method wherein a credit of data bytes is allowed to each station and can be transmitted upon reception of the token by the station, such a credit being increased in proportion to the time spent since the preceding reception of the token. Unfortunately, the need of a station varies during the time. A station may need to use a lot of bandwidth at a certain time and less bandwidth later on. Typically, the needs for bandwidth are related to the applications running on the station. If a station is configured with a static credit of bytes which is too low for running an application, this one will experience some problems (jitter, lost packets . . . ). Conversely, if the station is configured with a high credit of bytes, the application will work correctly but the station will keep a high credit, even after the application has been ended, resulting in a part of bandwidth which is no more used and cannot be used by the other stations of the logical ring.

Method of allocating bandwidth on request to the stations of a local area network

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for determining of spraying parameters for controlling a painting appliance which sprays and is moved over an area to be painted, in particular a robot with a painting application. A known spraying map is produced, using known spraying parameters and paint amount, for a predetermined movement speed of the painting appliance, and a paint amount is matched to a new movement speed in comparison to the predetermined movement speed. Furthermore, new spraying parameters are calculated for the adapted paint amount, while maintaining a spraying map which is similar to the known spraying map.

It is generally known that, for industrial painting purposes, painting appliances, in particular paint atomizers, such as high-rotation-speed atomizers or air atomizers, are mounted on manipulators, in particular robots, and carry out a movement over the object to be painted, with the paint atomizer switched on, during the painting process. The aim of a painting process is to cover the object to be painted with paint as homogeneously as possible with a desired coating thickness. If the coating thickness is not homogeneous, there is a danger of visual defects or the risk of paint runs or popping marks on the object to be painted. This should be avoided, for quality reasons.
The paint atomizers are frequently moved in meandering paths over the object to be painted in order in this way to cover the entire surface with paint, gradually.
The requirement in this case is for ever higher paint atomizer movement speeds in order to complete the painting process as quickly as possible On the other hand, the paint atomizer speed at the turning points is virtually zero, so that the atomization conditions at the paint atomizer can likewise be matched to this change in the movement speed.
Until now, this adaptation of the outlet-flow rate of paint material, particularly in the area of the turning points, has been achieved by reducing the amount of paint material, or by switching off the atomizer completely at times. In order to reduce the amount of paint material, additional switching points are defined on the movement path during the programming phase, at which, when these switching points are reached, a change is made to a spraying parameter set for the painting appliance corresponding to the new movement speed. Until now, a parameter set such as this has been determined in advance by experiments on a case-by-case basis, and has been available to the painting system in a so-called brush table. A parameter set such as this covers a specific speed range of the painting appliance since the mathematical relationship between the movement speed and the outlet flow rate is not linear.

Method for determination of spraying parameters for controlling a painting appliance which uses spraying means


Example techniques that mitigate against memory hole shorts during an erase operation for memory cells in a string include an example method in which, during an erase operation, erase pulses are applied to the word lines of the memory string and terminated at different times based. In some instances, the erase pulses applied to the word lines of the memory string are terminated based on the temperature of the memory cells of the memory string. In further implementations, the erase pulses applied to the word lines of the memory string are boosted for different times depending on the location of the word line along the memory string during the erase operation.

Advances in the design and fabrication of 2D and 3D-NAND devices have revolutionized flash storage technology by stacking memory cells on top of each other to optimize usage of storage device real estate. This has led to significant increases in memory cell density and more precisely, storage capacity of modern flash storage devices.
Existing fabrication techniques for building 2D and 3D-NAND storage devices introduce structural and other design limitations that can negatively affect the operation of NAND storage devices. For example, the etching of memory strings/memory holes/memory channels (to which bit lines and source lines are coupled to) of 3D-NANDs results in a funnel-like shape for each memory string. When memory strings having this funnel-like shape are energized during either a program/erase operation associated with memory cells coupled to the memory string, a high electric stress can develop across such memory strings. This is highly undesirable since this high electric stress usually leads to word-line-memory-hole-shorts (i.e., grown bad blocks). Word-line-memory-hole-shorts do not only cause permanent program failure but also, cumulatively cause storage device failures.