Infrared detection is used to monitor the temperature within a vapor transport deposition processing chamber. Changes in temperature that occur when a substrate passes an infrared detector are detected and used to precisely locate a position of the substrate within the chamber. Position correction of the substrate can also be implemented.

Photovoltaic devices such as e.g., photovoltaic modules or cells can include semiconductor and other materials deposited over a substrate using various deposition systems and techniques. One example is the deposition of a semiconductor material such as cadmium sulfide (CdS) or cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin fihns over a glass substrate using a processing chamber such as e.g., a vapor transport deposition (VTD) chamber.
During the processing, it is important for a system controller to know the positions of the substrates within the processing chamber to ensure, among other things, that there is proper spacing between the substrates and to know what process the substrates are currently undergoing. Typically, the edge position of each substrate is checked before the substrate is placed into the chamber. This gives the controller an initial point to track the substrate as it progresses through the chamber. Unfortunately, the actual substrate position can be shifted/offset from the controller's calculated substrate position at different times during the process. For example, a position shift can occur as the substrate is entering the processing chamber due to the high speed transfer used to place the substrate into the chamber. Other shifts between the actual and controller calculated positions can occur due to speed changes arising from material build up on the rollers transporting the substrates.
Differences between the controller calculated substrate position and the actual substrate position can adversely impact the processing or lead to mishandling of the substrates. Thus, processing systems will incorporate edge detection mechanisms, portions of which reside within the chamber. Each detection mechanism includes a laser that emits a light beam through a chamber window to a reflector located within the chamber at a point somewhere along the substrate travelling path. The reflector reflects the beam back to a detector. When the substrate passes by, the beam is interrupted, signaling the presence of the substrate. The controller can use this information to try to compensate for the new substrate position.
The above detection mechanism has some shortcomings and relies on several factors to be successful, some of which cannot be controlled. For example, the chamber windows must be clean to allow the light beam to enter the chamber, be reflected back and detected. Keeping the windows clean will require additional maintenance and down time, which is undesirable. Moreover, the laser, reflector and detector must remain properly aligned, which is difficult to achieve due to the processing and vibrations within the chamber. Furthermore, there is the general need to prevent the light beam path from being blocked or disrupted by anything other than the substrate to prevent false detections, which is an onerous task.
Accordingly, there is a need and desire for a better way to detect a position of substrate that is being transported within a substrate processing chamber.

In situ substrate detection for a processing system using infrared detection


A user equipment according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a reception unit that receives signal waveform configuration information related to either or both of a multicarrier scheme and a single carrier scheme to be applicable in uplink communication from a base station, a setting unit that sets the received signal waveform configuration information, and a transmission unit that transmits an uplink signal in accordance with the set signal waveform configuration information.

In a radio communication system of a long term evolution (LTE) scheme, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) is employed for downlink communication, and single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) is employed for uplink communication (Non-Patent Document 1).
Particularly, in uplink communication, an SC-FDMA scheme capable of suppressing a peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) to a low level is employed, and discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) is used as a technique of generating an uplink signal in a frequency domain. In DFT-s-OFDM, single carrier transmission is implemented in OFDM transmission by providing discrete Fourier transform (DFT) prior to inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT).

User equipment and uplink signal transmission method


A plasma display device and its method of manufacture includes a chassis base supporting a Plasma Display Panel (PDP) and having at least one assembly hole, and at least one standoff, each standoff having a first end inserted into a respective assembly hole of the chassis base and a second end coupled to the chassis base. The second end of each standoff is pressed into the chassis base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display device and its method of manufacture. More particularly, the present invention relates to a plasma display device having an improved coupling structure between a chassis base and a standoff and its method of manufacture.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a plasma display device is a display device that can display an image on a Plasma Display Panel (PDP) using a plasma generated by a gas discharge.
A plasma display device includes a PDP for displaying an image, a chassis base for supporting the PDP, and a circuit board assembly facing the PDP and connected to display and address electrodes disposed in the PDP through a flexible printed circuit and a connector.
The plasma display device further includes a case defining an outer appearance of the plasma display device by surrounding the PDP, the chassis base and the circuit board assembly.
The PDP includes two glass substrates sealed together and discharge cells formed between the glass substrates. The PDP is a display panel for displaying an image by exciting phosphors using vacuum ultraviolet rays generated by the gas discharge occurring in the discharge cells. The PDP has excellent display capacity, luminance, contrast, view angle and the like while being large and slim.
The chassis base is formed of a metal having relatively high mechanical strength to support the PDP. The chassis base is attached to the PDP by, for example, double-sided tape.
The chassis base serves to maintain the toughness of the display panel and support the circuit board assembly. Furthermore, the chassis base functions as a heat sink for dissipating heat generated by the PDP and as a ground for grounding Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI). In order to couple the circuit board assembly to the chassis base, a variety of standoffs (e.g., bosses) are arranged on a rear surface of the chassis base.
Recently, it has become necessary to improve the chassis base in order to reduce a weight of the PDP and to simplify a structure of the PDP. In response to this requirement, a thickness of the chassis base has been gradually reduced: 2.5 mm→2.0 mm→1.5 mm→1.0 mm→0.8 mm→0.6 mm. Therefore, there is a need to develop a method of effectively attaching the standoffs to the chassis base.

Plasma display device and its method of manufacture

Maetan-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do


A measuring bridge, fixed in place above a moving paper web and disposed crosswise to it, is provided, having a measuring head, movable back and forth--crosswise to the paper web--, for determining the measuring values for judging the thickness of the paper web at the measuring spots or point on top of which the measuring head happens to be. The measuring device, has a process management system, in which a traversing flow program has been installed, in accordance with which the traversing time and/or the reversing time of the measuring head are changed after each traverse of the measuring bridge. Because of this, the frequency of the measurements along the web becomes irregular. This prevents false evaluations of the cross section and, as a consequence, inappropriate control instructions of a control computer.

The present invention relates to a measuring device and method for measuring the crosswise profile of a paper web.
Up to now it has been customary to move the measuring head along the measuring bridge, crosswise to the paper web, with always the same speed. This results in the measurements always taking place in the same time frame at the individual measurement places.
The goal of measuring is to determine the stable cross section of the web and to make corrections to the accumulation of material accordingly, for example by the required adjustment of the inside width of the headbox gap or slice --and along and crosswise to the direction of running--in order to achieve a desired cross section or transverse profile of the web. Formation of the desired cross section of the web is impaired by interference or disturbances in the material flow from the headbox. These interferences, which may result in deviations from the desired cross section, cannot always be precisely determined. It may happen that the frequency of the interference or disturbance and the frequency of measurement are in a whole number relationship to each other. In this case the measurement result may falsely indicate a deviation from the desired cross section. Therefore, a correction as a result of such a measurement cannot lead to the attainment of the desired cross section or transverse profile of the web.
GB-A-1 218 001 discloses a measuring device for determining average values, for example, for the thickness of a passing web. In this connection the sensing speed is controlled proportionally to the speed of movement of the web. However, this measuring system is not capable of preventing the falsification of the results caused by the matching of the measuring frequency and the interference frequency.

Measuring device and method for measuring the crosswise profile of a paper web


An improved motor and bearing assembly is provided for use in an axial gap electric motor. The motor and bearing assembly includes a bearing support, bearing cones circumferentially mounted on the bearing support and a rotating bearing member. Each bearing cone has an axial conical surface at one end. The conical surfaces face each other to form a V-shaped cross-sectional groove. The rotating bearing member includes two rotating bearing rings abutting one another, each ring having an angularly disposed surface forming a V-shaped configuration complementary to the V-shaped groove of the bearing cones. The rotating bearing member provides axial and radial support of the rotor of the axial gap electric motor. Each of the bearing cones is axially movable relative to the bearing support, thereby permitting the stator-to-rotor gap and the bearing clearance to be adjusted after final assembly. Additionally, lubrication and coolant can be introduced to the system through both a lubrication opening in the bearing support and a gap between the bearing cones.

Various systems have been proposed for water-going vessels in which one or more propellers are disposed beneath the waterline of the vessel for semi-submersible vessels or disposed within a portion of the hull of submersible vessels. Typically, the propellers in submersible vessels have been driven by diesel power, steam turbines or electric motors mounted within the hull of a vessel. A propeller shaft extends through the hull to the propeller mounted on the shaft outside the hull. Such systems have the disadvantages of shaft vibration and noise radiating from the shaft. Further, a rotating seal is necessary where the shaft passes through the hull but this is prone to leak. Alternative systems have been suggested using shaftless electric motors mounted outside of the hull with only electric power cables passing through the hull, as shown for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 3,182,623. A disadvantage of such a system is that propulsors (electric motors and impellers) occupy almost the entire interior of the tail section. Additionally, traditional shaftless electric motors are either too small to effectively move a vessel or, if large enough, add significant weight to the vessel.
An improved marine propulsor has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,628, incorporated herein by reference. The propulsor consists of a shaftless motor with disk-shaped rotor and stators mounted in the vessel structure with a blade hub mounted on the rotor. The hub includes propeller blades extending beyond the circumference of the vessel housing.
In manufacturing this improved propulsor, problems have been encountered in centering the rotor. It is difficult to achieve the proper gaps between the stators and the rotor and the proper bearing clearance at an intermediate stage of assembly. After final assembly, it is impossible to gain access to the bearing components in a conventional bearing assembly, thereby precluding the adjustment of the stator-to-rotor gaps and the bearing clearance at this stage. Thus, disassembly of the propulsor is required to adjust these gaps and clearances, a complicated and time-consuming prospect.
Accordingly, the objects of the present invention are to provide the following:
a) an improved rotor assembly for axial gap motors; PA0 b) an improved rotor assembly permitting the axial displacement of the rotor support assembly; PA0 c) an improved rotor assembly permitting the stator-to-rotor gaps to be adjusted after assembly; and PA0 d) an improved rotor assembly permitting the rotor bearing clearance to be adjusted without requiring the disassembly of the motor.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company


A robotic surgical system uses a passive preload system attached to a tendon that is wrapped around a capstan to control relaxed tension in the tendon. The passive preload system can employ a spring or other structure to apply tension to the tendon. The capstan can be driven by a motor when the tendon is needed to pull on a structural member of the instrument. For example, for the application of clamping pressure or movement of the structural member against resistance, capstan friction can produce the tendon tension that is many times the tension applied by the passive preload system. However, when the tendon is not needed to apply force to the member, the capstan can be freed, so that the spring system provides enough tension to prevent derailment or other malfunctions of the tendon. The low tension in relaxed tendons can reduce tendon friction, particularly in instruments with flexible shafts.

Robotically (as used herein, the terms "robot" or "robotically" and the like include teleoperation or telerobotic aspects) controlled instruments are well known and often used in minimally invasive medical procedures. FIG. 1 shows an example of an instrument 100 having a structure that is simplified to illustrate basic working principles of some current robotically controlled medical instruments. Instrument 100 includes a tool or end effector 110 at the distal end of a shaft 120. The proximal end of shaft 120 attaches to a transmission or drive mechanism 130 that is sometimes referred to as backend mechanism 130. During a medical procedure, end effector 110 and the distal end of shaft 120 can be inserted through a small incision or a natural orifice of a patient to position end effector 110 at a work site in the patient. End effector 110 as illustrated includes jaws 112 and 114 that may be used at the work site for clamping, gripping, cutting, or other purposes. Other types of end effectors, for example, scalpels, wire loops, and cauterizing instruments, are known and could alternatively be mounted on the distal end of shaft 120. Normally, a surgical instrument would further include a wrist mechanism (not shown) at the distal end of shaft 120 to provide additional degrees of freedom of motion for positioning, orienting, and using end effector 110.
Tendons 121 and 122, which may be stranded cables, rods, tubes, or similar structures, run from backend mechanism 130 through shaft 120 and attach to end effector 110. A typical surgical instrument would also include additional tendons (not shown) that connect backend mechanism 130 to other structural members of end effector 110 or of a wrist mechanism, so that backend mechanism 130 can manipulate the tendons to operate end effector 110 and/or the wrist mechanism when performing the desired procedure at the work site. FIG. 1 illustrates two tendons 121 and 122 attached to jaw 112 in a pin joint structure, where jaw 112 is mounted for rotation about a pivot pin 116. To enable both clockwise and counterclockwise rotations of jaw 112, tendon 121 acts on jaw 112 at a moment arm about pivot pin 116 such that pulling on tendon 121 causes a torque tending to rotate jaw 112 clockwise in the view of FIG. 1. Similarly, tendon 122 acts at a moment arm such that pulling on tendon 122 causes a torque tending to rotate jaw 112 counterclockwise in the view of FIG. 1. Jaw 112 is thus provided with bi-directional actuation through pulling in a length of one tendon 121 or 122 and simultaneously releasing an identical length of the other tendon 122 or 121. Mechanisms other than pin joints are known or can be devised that provide bi-directional actuation of a distal joint through pulling in a length of one tendon 121 or 122 and releasing an equal and opposite length of the other tendon 122 or 121. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,974 (filed Jun. 28, 2002) entitled "Surgical Tool Having Positively Positionable Tendon-Actuated Multi-Disk Wrist Support" by Cooper et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,998 (filed Sep. 17, 1999) entitled "Surgical Tools For Use In Minimally Invasive Telesurgical Applications" by Wallace et al., both of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe some known medical instrument structures in which actuation requires pulling one or more tendons while releasing lengths of one or more other tendons.
Slack in tendons 121 and 122 can cause malfunctions, for example, by permitting tendons 121 and 122 to derail from guides or pulleys (not shown) that route tendons 121 and 122 through instrument 100. Slack can also cause jumpy or unpredictable motion of the instrument. To avoid creating slack in tendon 121 or 122 when moving jaw 112, backend mechanism 130 operates to release a length of one tendon 121 or 122 while simultaneously reeling in an equal length of the other tendon 122 or 121. Tendons 121 and 122 can be attached to the same capstan 132 but wrapped in opposite directions to provide the desired movements of tendons 121 and 122 when a drive motor (not shown) turns capstan 132. In cases where an end effector has several degrees of freedom that are controlled by several tendons, for instance as described in patent U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,394,998 and 6,817,974, the backend mechanism can include mechanisms other than capstans to perform the function of releasing and reeling in related lengths of tendons in order to avoid slack in the tendons as distal joints are turned. It can be seen that tendons 121 and 122 can be two separate components, or they may be part of a closed loop component with a capstan actuator, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,316,681 B2 (filed Oct. 4, 2005) entitled "Articulated Surgical Instrument For Performing Minimally Invasive Surgery With Enhanced Dexterity And Sensitivity" by Madhani et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.
Avoiding slack may also require tendons 121 and 122 to be pre-tensioned, particularly when end effector 110 may be used for pushing and pulling, clamping, gripping, or other actions that encounter resistance. In particular, backend mechanism 130 can apply tension to tendon 122 to cause jaw 112 to clamp down on material between jaws 112 and 114. Increasing tension in tendon 122 causes higher clamping force but also causes tendon 122 to stretch. To prevent the stretching of tendon 122 from causing a corresponding amount of slack in tendon 121, tendon 121 can be preloaded with a tension that stretches tendon 121. For example, assuming tendons 121 and 122 are identical, tendon 121 can be pre-loaded with a tension about equal to or greater than maximum clamping tension used in tendon 122. As a result, tendon 121 starts stretched by the preloaded tension, and when applying a clamping force, the stretching of tendon 122 reduces the tension in tendon 121, allowing tendon 121 to contract without becoming slack.
The tensions preloaded in tendons can increase the forces that a backend mechanism must apply to operate an instrument. In particular, tension increases friction where tendons may ride on guides or solid surfaces. Also, if shaft 120 is a flexible tube such as might be employed to follow a natural lumen in a patient's body, the preloaded tension causes friction where tendons 121 and 122 contact curved surfaces of shaft 120. In all the above cases, increased friction quickly makes accurate control of the motion of end effector 110 difficult and can lead to imprecise manipulation of, e.g., tissue, sutures, and needles during a surgical procedure. Further, preloading of the correct tension in tendons of a medical instrument can also increase the complexity of the manufacturing process of the medical instrument. Accordingly, medical instruments are desired that can avoid slack in drive tendons without requiring high preloaded tension.

Passive preload and capstan drive for surgical instruments


Input device for a cruise control system in motor vehicles, having an accelerator pedal, a switch for input of a desired speed and a determination device which increases the desired speed as a function of the duration of operation of the switch, wherein the determination device changes the function which determines the increase in the desired speed as a function of the operation of the accelerator pedal.

Cruise control systems are known for motor vehicles for regulating the speed of the vehicle at a desired speed selected by the driver. If the vehicle also has a distance sensor, e.g., in the form of a radar sensor, a stereo camera system or the like, the vehicle speed may also be regulated in such a way that a suitable safety distance from a vehicle traveling in front is automatically maintained. One example of such a regulating system, which is also known as an ACC system (active cruise control), is described in "Adaptive Cruise Control System—Aspects and Development Trends" by Winner, Witte, Uhler and Lichtenberg, Robert Bosch GmbH, in SAE Technical Paper Series 961010, International Congress & Exposition, Detroit, Feb. 26–29, 1996.
The switch with which the driver is able to change the desired speed is usually formed by a lever on the steering wheel, which is movable either up or down to increase or reduce the desired speed. If this lever is kept in the upper end position for a long period of time, the determination device causes an incremental increase in the desired speed with fixed increments and at fixed intervals. Accordingly, the desired speed is reduced when the driver keeps the lever in the lower position. When the driver releases the lever, the set desired speed is maintained.
With the help of the accelerator pedal or, more generally, with the help of an acceleration control device, the driver may also intervene directly in the driving system of the vehicle and thus override the function of the cruise control system at any time. Thus, for example, the driver may depress the accelerator pedal to temporarily exceed the set desired speed so as to pass another vehicle. When the driver releases the accelerator pedal again, the speed of the vehicle drops back to the previously set desired speed. However, when the driver has accelerated the vehicle with the help of the accelerator pedal, the driver may briefly tip the lever up or down so that the vehicle speed which has then been reached will be stored as the new desired speed. In this sense, the acceleration control device, i.e., the accelerator pedal is also to be regarded as part of the input device.
German Published Patent Application No. 198 02 704 describes an input device using which the desired speed may be varied only incrementally, e.g., in 10 km/h increments. If the driver operates the switch while accelerating by using the accelerator pedal, the value closest to the actual speed then reached is stored as the new desired speed.
In general the driver thus has two possibilities of increasing the desired speed. First, the driver may accelerate the vehicle with the help of the accelerator pedal and then set the new desired speed by touching the switch. Second, the driver may hold the lever in the top position to cause the determination device to increase the desired speed at a fixedly predetermined rate of increase.
The advantage of the first variant is that the driver himself is able to determine by the pressure on the accelerator pedal at what rate the vehicle is accelerated, so that the driver is able to reach the new desired speed relatively rapidly by a high rate of acceleration of the vehicle. However, one disadvantage is that the new desired speed may not be set until the vehicle has reached that speed. Since the regulating system operates with an unavoidable control lag, this may result in temporary overshooting of the actual desired speed.
This overshooting of the regulating system may be largely avoided with the second variant. Another advantage of this variant is that the change in the throttle valve setting and/or the injection quantity using which the acceleration of the vehicle is induced is not determined directly by the driver in this case but instead is calculated by the engine management system of the vehicle and therefore may be optimally adapted to the particular operating state of the engine, so that acceleration is accomplished with optimum efficiency and therefore with favorable fuel consumption. One disadvantage of the second variant, however, is that the driver must hold the lever in the upper position until the setting ultimately desired has been reached by incrementally increasing the desired speed. This is perceived in a negative sense in terms of comfort and may also result in negative effects on driving safety, in particular when negotiating turns at a high speed. Even if the lever is located near the steering wheel, the driver will be unable to grip the steering wheel firmly with two hands as long as he is operating the lever, so this has a negative effect on control over the steering.
The time required for setting the higher desired speed depends on the increments and intervals by which the speed is increased as the desired speed is being implemented by the determination device. When the increments are larger, the new desired speed may be achieved rapidly, but with a relatively low precision. Conversely, if the desired speed is increased in shorter intervals, setting the speed is more difficult because of the very critical dependence of the desired speed on the duration of operation of the lever. When there is a rapid increase in the desired speed, the actual speed also remains temporarily behind the desired speed, so the driver may inadvertently set a desired speed that is too high and then have to correct the desired speed subsequently by adjusting it back in the opposite direction.

Input device for speed regulating system on motor vehicles


A method for data storage in a memory that includes multiple analog memory cells, includes defining, based on a characteristic of the memory cells, an uneven wear leveling scheme that programs and erases at least first and second subsets of the memory cells with respective different first and second Programming and Erasure (P/E) rates. Data is stored in the memory in accordance with the uneven wear leveling scheme.

Several types of memory devices, such as Flash memories, use arrays of analog memory cells for storing data. Each analog memory cell stores a quantity of an analog value, also referred to as a storage value, such as an electrical charge or voltage. This analog value represents the information stored in the cell. In Flash memories, for example, each analog memory cell holds a certain amount of electrical charge. The range of possible analog values is typically divided into intervals, each interval corresponding to one or more data bit values. Data is written to an analog memory cell by writing a nominal analog value that corresponds to the desired bit or bits.
Some memory devices, commonly referred to as Single-Level Cell (SLC) devices, store a single bit of information in each memory cell, i.e., each memory cell can be programmed to assume either of two possible programming levels. Higher-density devices, often referred to as Multi-Level Cell (MLC) devices, store two or more bits per memory cell, i.e., can be programmed to assume more than two possible programming levels.
The performance of some types of analog memory cells deteriorates as a function of use (e.g., as a function of the number (or rate) of Programming and Erasure (P/E) cycles applied to the cells). This property is sometimes referred to as cell wearing. Some data storage techniques attempt to distribute cell wearing evenly among different groups of memory cells. These techniques are commonly referred to as wear leveling techniques.
PCT International Publication WO 2008/077284, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a wear leveling method for non-volatile memory. An embodiment includes counting erase cycles for each of a set of multiple memory blocks of a non-volatile memory, including incrementing a first count for a physical block address of the memory block. If the memory block is not a spare memory block, a second count for a logical block address of the memory block is incremented. The method also determines whether the memory has uneven wear of memory blocks based on the counting of the erase cycles of the plurality of memory blocks.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2007/0208904, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a wear leveling apparatus, which uniformly distributes wear over a nonvolatile memory containing a plurality of memory blocks. The apparatus includes a memory unit for storing a record of cold block candidates in the nonvolatile memory and a control unit configured to update the memory unit and release the cold block candidates under a threshold condition. The control unit selects a new memory block to replace one cold block candidate in the memory unit when the cold block candidate is matched with a written address in a write command for the nonvolatile memory. The cold block candidates remaining in the memory unit are identified as cold blocks when the nonvolatile memory has been written more than a predetermined write count threshold. The memory blocks with infrequent erasure can be identified and released to uniformly distribute wear over the nonvolatile memory.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,233, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a mass storage system made of Flash memory cells organized into blocks, the blocks in turn being grouped into memory banks. The system is managed to even out the numbers of erase and rewrite cycles experienced by the memory banks in order to extend the service lifetime of the system. Relative use of the memory banks is monitored and, in response to detection of uneven use, memory banks have their physical addresses periodically swapped for each other in order to even out their use over the lifetime of the memory.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,441,067, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a re-programmable non-volatile memory system, such as a Flash system, having its memory cells grouped into blocks of cells that are simultaneously erasable. The system is operated in a manner to level out the wear of the individual blocks through repetitive erasing and re-programming. Wear leveling may be accomplished without use of counts of the number of times the individual blocks experience erase and re-programming but such counts can optionally aid in carrying out the wear leveling process. Individual active physical blocks are chosen to be exchanged with those of an erased block pool in a predefined order.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,865,761, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a data storage apparatus includes a set of memory modules, an interface and a main controller coupled to the each memory module and to the interface. The interface is arranged to communicate with a set of external devices. The main controller is arranged to (i) store data within and (ii) retrieve data from the memory of the set of memory modules in an uneven manner on behalf of the set of external devices to unevenly wear out the memory modules over time.

Uneven wear leveling in analog memory devices


A circuit and method for generating a write enable pulse that is independent of the clock duty cycle and the clock frequency. The circuit includes a pulse generator for generating a pulse in response to a clock signal and a write enable signal generator for generating a write enable pulse. The pulse tracks the leading edge of the clock signal. A logic circuit is coupled to the pulse generator and the write enable signal generator to generate the write enable pulse by combining the pulse and the write enable signal.

This invention relates to generation and control of write enable signals for memory devices, in particular, to an apparatus and method of controlling the width of the write enable pulse and the relative position of the write enable pulse with respect to a clock signal, without dependency on the clock duty cycle and frequency.
Local or temporary storage of information is often needed for application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). ASICs provide their users the ability to manufacture products having a proprietary design without having to begin the design at the device level. Many different ASIC technologies are available, including gate array, standard cell, full custom design, and programmable logic devices.
ASICs generally require internal storage facilities that typically take the format of first-in-first-outs (FIFOs) or register files. However, the library of logic elements available for use with a particular manufacturer""s ASIC devices seldom include pre-constructed FIFOs or register files because FIFOs and register files come in many variations. Thus, it is very difficult for ASIC manufacturers to provide compatibility for all variations of the pre-constructed FIFOs or register files. The ASIC library, therefore, often contains random access memories (RAMs) of various sizes which are used by ASIC designers to construct FIFOs and register files that suit a particular application.
The RAMs provided in the ASIC library may be static or dynamic and may be synchronous or asynchronous. Certain RAM devices require precise control of the write enable pulse during programming, particularly for high speed applications. However, all RAM elements are sensitive to the timing relationships between the write enable pulse and the address and data signals. A write enable pulse is generated in order to establish a window for the write cycle to occur and must have a pulse width that ensures a predetermined setup time and hold time for the write enable signal, address signals, and input write data signal. If the write enable pulse is not precisely controlled during the write cycle, incorrect data may be written into the selected memory cell. Typically, the write enable pulse is dependent on the frequency and the duty cycle of the system clock signal, the rising edge of the system clock signal initiating the pulse and the duty cycle of the system clock signal determining the duration of the write enable pulse.
Synchronous devices, sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9cregisteredxe2x80x9d RAMs in which the input data and control signals and/or output data signals are registered or latched in the RAM element, are typically preferred for general applications because such RAM devices are easy to design with. Synchronous RAMs use the clock input to latch the write enable, address, and data signals and an internal timing circuit that generates and times an internal write enable pulse to ensure that all setup and hold requirements are met. Since synchronous RAMs internally generate the write enable pulses, when an ASIC designer chooses to use synchronous RAM for internal storage, the design of the precise write enable pulses and the handling of the complex interdependencies between the write enable, address and data signals are performed by the ASIC manufacturer. To this end, the ASIC designer only needs to ensure that the write enable, address and data signals external to the synchronous RAM element meet the setup and hold times with respect to the clock signal.
Alternatively, asynchronous RAMs provide better performance than synchronous RAMS for designs that require the shortest possible latency because synchronous RAMs impose one additional clock cycle of delay if input signals are registered and two additional clock cycles of delay if output data signals are also registered while asynchronous RAMs do not impose such latencies. Unlike the synchronous RAM situation described above where the ASIC designer only needs to ensure setup and hold time requirements of the write enable, address, and data signals external to the RAM element with respect to the clock signal are met, the ASIC designer must control the write enable pulse so that the setup and hold time requirements with respect to the address and input data signals are met over all process, voltage, and temperature variations. In addition to write enable pulse width requirements, both synchronous and asynchronous RAM elements impose possible system requirements for testing these internal RAMs.
Efforts have been made to better control the write enable pulse generation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,343 entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Generating Write Signalsxe2x80x9d describes a method of generating write pulses using two toggle flip-flops with one flip-flop clocked off of the rising edge of the clock and the other flip-flop clocked off of the falling edge of the clock. The output of these two flip-flops are then exclusive NORed together to generate the active low write pulse. This technique has several shortcomings. First, the width of the write pulse is determined by the falling edge of the clock signal which can have considerable variation, thus producing write pulses having different widths. Second, there is no mechanism for adjusting the position of the leading edge of the write pulse with respect to the clock signal, nor is there a mechanism for adjusting the width of the write pulse.
Another example of write enable pulse generation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,355 entitled xe2x80x9cIntegrated Circuit Memory Having A Self-Timed Write Pulse Independent of Clock Frequency And Duty Cyclexe2x80x9d which shows the generation of write pulses using two delay lines and combinatorial feedback loops. However, combinatorial feedback loops are generally not supported by current integrated circuit (IC) design tools such as place and route, design rule checking, static timing analysis, simulation, and test vector generation.
In accordance with the present invention, a write enable pulse is generated such that it is independent of the clock duty cycle and the clock frequency. A pulse generator for generating a pulse in response to a clock signal and a write enable signal generator for generating a write enable signal are coupled to a logic circuit. The pulse tracks the leading edge of the clock signal and is independent from the trailing edge of the clock signal. The logic circuit generates the write enable pulse by combining the pulse and the write enable signal. By generating the pulse and the write enable signal independently from each other and combining at the final stage of the circuit allows maximum flexibility and tightest control of the write enable pulse.
The pulse generator may include a device for generating an output signal in response to a clock signal. The device decouples the output signal from the trailing edge of the clock signal. The pulse generator includes a first delay circuit coupled to the device and a second delay circuit coupled to the first delay circuit. The delay circuits are polarity independent and allow independent control of the rising edge and the falling edge of the pulse. A second logic circuit is coupled to the first delay circuit and the second delay circuit, the second logic circuit generating the pulse by combining the first delay signal and the second delay signal.
The write enable signal generator may include a selector for selecting a registered external write enable signal from a plurality of registered external write enable signals. The selector allows the use of multiple external write enable signals without significantly impacting the performance of the circuit because the selector eliminates the need for multiple pulse generators (e.g., one for each external write enable signal).
This summary is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the claims attached hereto.

Method and apparatus for generating and controlling integrated circuit memory write signals


A method is disclosed for integrally forming at least one low voltage device and at least one high voltage device. According to the method, a first gate structure and a second gate structure are formed on a semiconductor substrate, wherein the first and second gate structures are isolated from one another. One or more first double diffused regions are formed adjacent to the first gate structure in the semiconductor substrate. One or more second double diffused regions are formed adjacent to the second gate structure in the semiconductor substrate. One or more first source/drain regions are formed within the first double diffused regions. One or more second source/drain regions are formed within the second double diffused regions. The first double diffused regions function as one or more lightly doped source/drain regions for the low voltage device.

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor processing technology, and more particularly to a method for forming an integrated circuit (IC) having both high voltage and low voltage devices.
Many of today's IC's have some devices operating at a low voltage and other devices operating at a high voltage. For example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) driver is one of those IC's that have both low and high voltage devices. In order to operate in a high voltage condition, the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors of the LCD driver need to sustain high voltages without experiencing breakdown or parametric shifts. Although the breakdown voltage of the MOS transistor can be increased by using a thick gate oxide, hot carrier injection between its source and drain remains a concern. A variety of specialized transistor structures have been developed to minimize this hot carrier effect.
A double diffused drain (DDD) MOS transistor is one of the structures typically used for high voltage operations. The source/drain region of the DDDMOS transistor is constructed by two overlapping regions doped with impurities of different densities. Such DDDMOS transistor can provide a high breakdown voltage to better sustain an electrostatic discharge. The DDD structure can also provide a solution to the hot carrier effect when the transistor operates in a high voltage condition.
Conventionally, the processes of constructing the DDDMOS transistor operating at high voltages are incorporated in the typical processes of forming low voltage MOS transistors. This approach requires extra masks and ion implantation steps, thereby increasing the costs of manufacturing an IC with both the DDDMOS and low voltage MOS transistors.
It is therefore desirable to have methods for integrally constructing high and low voltage devices without the penalty of additional masks and processes that drive up the manufacturing costs.

Method for forming an integrated circuit with high voltage and low voltage devices

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A battery tub tester is disclosed that tests the individual batteries, battery accessories and connections as they are being assembled into a battery tub for an electric vehicle. The batteries and battery tub accessories, including temperature sensing devices and battery monitor modules, are mounted and electrically connected in the battery tub in accordance with a known battery tub assembly scheme. As the assembler mounts and connects the batteries and battery tub accessories, the tub tester determines the battery voltages of each battery after it is mounted and connected within the tub to determine if the batteries have the desirable voltage and will operate as they are intended and are connected properly. Additionally, the tester determines the temperature readings as the temperature sensors are being mounted, to determine if the temperature sensors will operate as intended and are connected properly. In this manner, the assembler will know that the battery tub is assembled properly and the components will operate properly prior to the battery tub being mounted to the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a battery tub tester for testing battery tub components during tub assembly and, more particularly, to a battery monitor and tester for testing batteries and battery tub components as they are being assembled in a battery tub for an electric vehicle, to determine whether each individual battery and component is acceptable prior to the battery tub being connected to the vehicle.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Electric vehicles which run on electrical power stored in multiple batteries within a battery housing or tub are known in the art. The popularity of electric vehicles is on the rise as a result of many factors including consumer demand, emission concerns with internal combustion engines and increased government regulations. An assembled battery tub includes a certain number of batteries and battery components mounted and electrically connected in the battery tub in accordance with a particular assembly scheme. Once assembled, a lid is bolted to the tub and the tub is then bolted to the vehicle.
In one example, twenty-seven 12 volt batteries, three battery monitor modules (BMMs), and fifteen temperature sensors (thermistors) are mounted and electrically connected within the battery tub. The batteries are electrically connected in series, and a group of batteries is connected to each BMM such that an electrical connection is made between each adjacent battery and the particular BMM. A single temperature sensor is used to sense the temperature of two adjacent batteries. During vehicle operation, the BMMs monitor the battery voltage and battery temperature of the individual batteries within the tub, and provide a signal indicative of these values to a controller to be processed for visual indication to a vehicle operator. U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,534 issued to Kopera discloses a battery monitor module for an electric vehicle of the type being discussed herein.
A problem exists with the above-described technique of assembling a battery tub for an electric vehicle. That problem has to do with the lack of ability, in the known art, to test the batteries, BMMs, and thermistors, and the various connections, as they are being assembled in the tub. Occasionally, one or more of the batteries being mounted and connected in the tub may be defective, and not be able to produce its intended charge. Additionally, it is typically necessary that the batteries all have approximately the same voltage capacity (generally on the order of 12-131/2 volts) and voltage spread. Further, other tub components, such as the BMMs and the temperature sensors, may be defective and not operate properly. Also, the various connectors and leads may be defective or not connected properly, and not provide the desired electrical connections between the tub components.
Currently, no technique exists for determining whether the battery tub is being assembled properly, and whether the batteries and electrical components being inserted in the tub will operate as intended. Thus, the assembler of the tub would not know that the battery tub will not operate correctly until the battery tub was completely assembled, mounted to the vehicle, the vehicle was started, and the readouts from the BMMs were determined. After the battery tub was secured to the vehicle, and it was determined that there was some problem with the battery tub operation, it was necessary to remove the battery tub, and individually check each of the connections, batteries and other components to locate the problem. Because the battery tub is extremely heavy and is connected to the vehicle by several bolts, the manpower required to connect and remove the tub is intensive, as well as the manpower and lost time required to test the individual batteries and components once it has been removed.
What is needed is a system and method for sequentially testing the individual batteries, battery tub components and connections in a battery tub as the battery tub is being assembled, so as to insure that the battery tub will operate correctly prior to the tub being connected to the vehicle. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide such a system and method.


A device for producing a "hair wrap". The device includes an elongated open ended tube which has a layer of decorative material on the outside of the tube and an elongated filament loosely positioned within the tube and extending from both ends of the tube. One extending end of the filament has a loop. The device is used by extending a strand of hair through the loop at a first end of the tube and pulling the filament from the opposite end of the tube so that the loop and strand of hair are drawn into the tube. The tube or decorative material at the first end of the tube is secured to the strand of hair near the scalp and the filament is withdrawn from the tube. More specifically, the layer of decorative material are formed by winding a pair of strands of decorative material such as string or yarn about the tube so that an end of each strand of decorative material extends beyond the first end of the tube. The freely extending ends of the strand are used to secure the device to the strand of hair. Beads or other decorative items are applied to the tube during the wrapping of the strands of decorative material about the tube.

The present invention is directed generally to a method of decorating hair and apparatus for performing the method. The invention is directed particularly to the simulation of a form of hair decoration which is known as a "hair wrap".
A conventional "hair wrap" procedure involves wrapping a strand of string, yarn, or other flexible material about a strand of hair while intermittently applying beads or other decorative items as the string is applied to the strand of hair. This procedure is very tedious and time consuming and, consequently, very costly.
It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and procedure for producing a "hair wrap" decoration in a person's hair without wrapping the decoration on the person's hair.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of an apparatus producing a "hair wrap" decoration in a person's hair which is simple in construction and easy to use.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a method of producing a "hair wrap" decoration in a person's hair which takes substantially less time to produce than conventional "hair wrap" methods.

Apparatus and method for decorating hair


In a card storage device containing a non-volatile memory and a buffer memory, the buffer memory includes a plurality of banks. Data is transferred sequentially from a host CPU to the banks of the buffer memory, data is transferred to the non-volatile memory from a bank that becomes full, a write operation is started when one unit of data to be written into the non-volatile memory at a time has been transferred and, without waiting for the data to be written, the next write data is transferred from the host CPU to a bank from which write data has been transferred.

The present invention relates to a technology that may be applied to a non-volatile storage device, for example, to a technology that may be applied to a non-volatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory or a card storage device, such as a multimedia card or a smart media memory card, that contains such a non-volatile semiconductor memory.
Recently, a card storage device, called a memory card containing a non-volatile memory, such as a flash memory, that retains its storage data even after the power has been switched off, is widely used as a data storage medium for portable electronic apparatus such as a digital camera.
Unlike a volatile memory such as a RAM, a non-volatile memory requires a longer write time. To solve this problem, some memory cards that contain a non-volatile memory further contain a buffer memory including of a RAM with a memory amount smaller than that of the non-volatile memory. When storing data, write data transferred from an external host CPU is once transferred to this buffer memory and then sequentially transferred from this buffer memory to the non-volatile memory (for example, JP-A-2-62687 laid-open on Mar. 2, 1990).
However, a conventional memory card that contains a buffer memory transfers data as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, a write command is sent during period T1 and a predetermined amount of write data is transferred from the host CPU to the buffer memory during period T2. Then, during period T3, one unit of data that is written at a time is transferred from the buffer memory to the non-volatile memory. On the other hand, after sending data DATA3, the host CPU stops data transfer to the buffer memory and waits until data is written in the non-volatile memory (period T4). Then, after confirming that data has been written on the memory card, the next write data is transferred from the host CPU to the buffer memory (period T5′).
The advantage of this method is that, even if the write operation fails for some reason, the write data need not be transferred again from the host CPU to the memory card because the write data is retained in the buffer memory for period T4 during which the write data is written into the non-volatile memory. However, the problem with this method is that the overhead is large and that total write time is long because, for period T4 during which data is written into the non-volatile memory, data transfer to the buffer memory is suspended and the host CPU is put in the wait state and because the write operation of the non-volatile memory is also put in the wait state for the period during which the next data is transferred from the host CPU to the buffer memory.

Non-volatile memory device and data storing method


A composite oxide coating is provided on a substrate over an infrared (IR) blocking multi-layer coating (e.g., low-E coating), where the composite oxide coating efficiently blocks ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The composite oxide coating and the low-E coating may be heat resistant, and the coated glass substrate may be processed in a single high temperature heat treatment step. The coated article may be effective at blocking both IR and UV radiation in applications such as window applications. The UV blocking coating may include ceria as a UV blocker in certain example embodiment of this invention.

Commercial products such as low-E coatings used for solar energy management effectively block large amounts of infrared (IR) radiation but fail to block significant amounts of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Meanwhile, coatings specifically designed to block UV radiation tend to be fairly transparent to IR radiation. Thus, there is a need in the art for a coating which is effective at blocking significant amounts of both IR and UV radiation.
A coating sol comprising zinc antimonate is known in the art, under the tradename Celnax. For example, see Nissan Chemical's website at www.snowtex.com/celnax.htm for the absorption spectrum of Celnax sol (zinc antimonate sol) which is mixed with a resin. The nanoparticles of the antimony double oxide absorb significant amounts of IR, while allowing a good portion of UV and significant amounts of visible radiation to transmit therethrough. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,888, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Thus, unfortunately, this coating is not good at blocking IR radiation. It would be desirable if such coatings could be designed so as to improve blockage of UV radiation.
U.S. Ser. No. 11/229,837, filed Sep. 20, 2005 and hereby incorporated herein by reference, discloses a composite oxide coating that efficiently blocks both UV and IR radiation, e.g., a colloidal electro-conductive oxide solution having infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) blocking characteristics may be used in forming the coating. In Ser. No. 11/229,837, a substantially transparent composite oxide coating is provided that includes a silica matrix, zinc antimonate, and a UV blocking material, thereby permitting the sol after application to block significant amounts of both IR and UV radiation. The UV and IR blocking coating may comprise each of cerium oxide and zinc antimonate in the form of nanoparticulate, and silicon oxide (e.g., SiO2) formed from precursor materials such as silane(s). It has surprisingly been found that such coatings of Ser. No. 11/229,837 are effective at blocking both UV and IR radiation as shown in FIG. 1. In certain example embodiments of Ser. No. 11/229,837, the coating sol from which coatings are formed comprises from about 15 to 50% cerium oxide (more preferably from about 20 to 45%, and most preferably from about 30 to 40%), from about 30 to 70% zinc antimonate (more preferably from about 35 to 65%, and most preferably from about 40 to 55%), and from about 5 to 35% silicon oxide (more preferably from about 10 to 30%, and most preferably from about 12 to 25%). It has been found that these amounts of such materials in the coating sol provide a coating that is effective at blocking both UV and IR radiation.
In Ser. No. 11/229,837, a coating sol was coated on a substrate, and its transmission characteristics measured as shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the coating sol was applied to a glass substrate and included cerium oxide and zinc antimonate in nanoparticulate form, and silicon dioxide, in amounts of 47 mole % zinc antimonate, 36 mole % cerium oxide and 17 mole % SiO2. When this sol was applied to a glass substrate at a thickness of about 2 microns, the coated article yielded average UV transmission in the range of 300-380 nm of about 10% as shown in FIG. 1. When the cerium oxide was not present (see comparative example CE in FIG. 1), the UV transmission was undesirably higher. Different cure temperatures for the coating on the glass substrate are shown in FIG. 1 for the Example of Ser. No. 11/229,837 and the CE. Thus, in Ser. No. 11/229,837 a single layer coating is provided that blocks significant amounts of both IR and UV radiation.
Unfortunately, in certain situations the single layer coating of Ser. No. 11/229,837 may not be desirable because of the need to mix zinc antimonate, cerium oxide and SiO2 in a single layer. In particular, this technique may suffer from incompatibility of mixing the different materials (e.g., instability of dispersions, formation of single phase materials, etc.) and thus may be limited to use of only certain combinations of materials to produce single layer coatings with both IR and UV blocking properties.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, there exists a need in the art for more efficient coating capable of blocking significant amounts of both IR and UV radiation. In certain example embodiments, a heat resistant coating is provided that may be processed (e.g., thermally tempered) cost effectively with minimal steps.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a method of making a coated article, the method comprising: forming a low-E coating on a glass substrate, the low-E coating comprising at least one infrared (IR) reflecting layer located between at least first and second dielectric layers; applying a wet coating comprising titania and ceria on the glass substrate over the low-E coating, curing the wet coating solution to form a UV blocking coating on the glass substrate, the UV blocking coating comprising a mixture of oxides of cerium and titanium.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a method of making a coated article, the method comprising: forming a low-E coating on a glass substrate, the low-E coating comprising at least one infrared (IR) reflecting layer located between at least first and second dielectric layers; applying a wet coating comprising at least one UV blocking oxide and/or at least one precursor of a UV blocking oxide on the glass substrate over the low-E coating, forming a UV blocking and IR blocking coating on the glass substrate and subjecting the coated glass substrate to a heat treatment process including temperatures of at least about 580 degrees C. In certain example embodiments, the wet coating comprises at least one metal oxide from the group consisting of ceria, titania, zinc oxide, bismuth oxide, tin oxide and antimony oxide, and/or a precursor of at least one of these metal oxides. In certain example embodiments, the UV blocking coating comprises: titanium oxide: from about 0-50%, cerium oxide: from about 40-98%, and silicon oxide: from about 5-50%.
In certain example embodiments, the UV blocking coating comprises: titanium oxide: from about 5-50%, and cerium oxide: from about 40-98%. In certain example embodiments, the UV blocking coating comprises: titanium oxide: from about 5-20%, and cerium oxide: from about 60-95%. In certain example embodiments, the coated article has a transmission at 600 nm of at least about 60%, or at least about 70%. In certain example embodiments, the coated article has a transmission at 1700 nm of no greater than about 30%.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a method of making a coated article, the method comprising: forming a low-E coating on a glass substrate, the low-E coating comprising at least one infrared (IR) reflecting layer located between at least first and second dielectric layers; applying a wet coating comprising a silane and ceria on the glass substrate over the low-E coating, curing the wet coating to form a UV blocking coating on the glass substrate, the UV blocking coating comprising a mixture of oxides of silicon and cerium.
In other example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a coated article comprising: a glass substrate; a low-E coating provided on the glass substrate; a UV blocking coating provided on the glass substrate over at least the low-E coating; and wherein the UV blocking coating comprises cerium oxide and at least one of silicon oxide and titanium oxide.

Coated glass substrate with infrared and ultraviolet blocking characteristics


Particle compositions are described comprising certain metal halides in combination with a strengthening agent. The addition of the strengthening agent to a metal halide particle increases the particle's strength thereby reducing breakage on impact and during handling. When used as a vaporizable metal halide fill in discharge lamps, the particle strength is increased without significantly altering the spectral and electrical characteristics of the lamp. Methods of making the particles and arc tube containing the particles are also disclosed.

Metal halides have a variety of uses, many of which require high purity. They are easily contaminated by water and oxygen and are generally handled in dry boxes.
One of the primary uses of metal halides is as a fill material in the arc tube of electric gas discharge lamps. Such lamps use a variety of fill materials including rare gases, metals, mercury amalgams and metal halides, and the proper operation of such lamps requires that these lamp fill materials contain less than 200 ppm oxygen, preferably less than 50 ppm, and less than 100 ppm hydrogen, preferably less than 20 ppm, and desirably less than 5 ppm.
The proper operation of such lamps also requires that the fill materials be inserted in precisely measured quantities during the fabrication of the lamps. Of particular concern is the vaporizable metal halide fill, generally in the form of pellets or particles. These metal halides determine the electrical and spectral characteristics of a lamp, and it is well known to select particular metal halides and their relative concentrations both to give light of a desired color and to impart desired electrical characteristics to the arc.
A typical metal halide arc tube contains a mixture of metal halides dosed as one or more spherical particles or a cylindrical pellet of precise composition and size.
Various methods are known for manufacturing both spherical uniform composition metal halide particles as shown in FIG. 1 and pellets (i.e., physically aggregated metal halides) as shown in FIG. 2.
If uniform composition and size is desired, the particles of FIG. 1 may be made by the apparatus schematically illustrated in FIG. 3, such apparatus and the manufacturing processes being of the type described, e.g., in the Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,534 dated July, 1972 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
In the process described in the Anderson patent, uniformly sized particles of metal halide mixtures are formed by forcing a homogeneous melt through an orifice of known diameter at a known velocity and acoustically or electromechanically breaking the molten jet into controlled lengths.
Using this process of controlled jet break up, a mixture of DyI.sub.3, NdI.sub.3, and CsI with the CsI concentration greater than approximately 35 mole percent, forms particles which are quite weak, if particles are formed at all. These compositions typically have compressive breaking strengths, as measured by crushing a particle between two flat surfaces, of about 25 grams or less.
An alternative process described in the Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,739 dated May, 1980 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference. In that Anderson patent, particles are formed by the controlled wetting of an orifice which allows the dripping of molten metal halide spheres of a larger diameter.
Additionally, powders of a variety of metal halides may be aggregated by pressing into a cylindrical pellet or compacted tablet such as illustrated in FIG. 2 in a conventional mechanical device. (See, e.g., Friedrich U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,584). Finally, pellets for use in metal halide arc tubes have been produced by casting or by combining melting and pressing. (See e.g., Schaller U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,247).
It is known that the melting of metal halide mixtures can produce a homogeneous liquid, which if jetted, dropped, cast or pressed as described above, will produce Particles having a bulk composition that is the same as the original molten mixture. When a homogeneous liquid is rapidly frozen and ground into a powder it is in a suitable form for being pressed into a cylindrical or tablet shape.
For efficiency of manufacture, uniformity of dosage, and consistency of the electrical and spectral characteristics of the lamps dosed, it is advantageous to combine several metal halides into a single particle or pellet. Each of these doses must have uniform composition to ensure consistent color and arc characteristics within the lamp and are dosed into the lamp arc tube by various mechanical schemes.
However, the metal halide particles and pellets, without regard to shape, (hereinafter referred to individually and collectively as "Particles") are frequently subjected to considerable mechanical abuse in the various manufacturing, handling, and dosing processes. To routinely withstand the rigors of manufacture, handling, shipping, and dosing the breaking strength of the metal halide particle needs to be greater than about 100 grams as measured by crushing a particle between two parallel surfaces, or through the use of a three point bend test. Certain metal halide mixtures do not form particles or pellets strong enough to withstand this mechanical abuse.
In addition, certain metal halide compositions can not readily be united into a single Particle. For example, a mixture containing iodides of dysprosium, neodymium, and cesium with a cesium content above approximately 35 mole percent could not be pressed into a solid pellet.
One reason for the fragility of metal halide mixtures is phase transformations. For example, a large volume change resulting from freezing of the particle may cause the particle to be in tension on its surface and under compression in its liquid interior. The result is often a particle with a large residual stress, which stress may lead to cracks or cleavage.
Other reasons for the fragility of the particle include the formation of weak and brittle intermediate phases, excessive numbers of cracks or voids, or both, and growth in preferred orientations that are weak.
Breakage on impact may be a significant problem in the formation of particles which are formed by a process in which the particles fall through a cooling tower and impact either the collecting vessel or previously collected particles. Depending on the need for spherical particles, significant waste may thus result in the formation and in the subsequent shipping and handling of such particles.
Without regard to the shape of the Particle being dosed, the implementation of the dosing of lamps with the desired metal halides in the desired quantity to obtain a desired color has heretofore suffered from the imprecision resulting from Particle breakage. Whether the fill is dosed by count or by volume, breaking of the fragile Particles during manufacture, shipment, handling and dosing may result in lamps with electrical and spectral characteristics other than those desired, and variation from lamp to lamp.
In addition to the variations which result from overdosing and underdosing of the lamps, breakage of the Particles may clog the dosing apparatus, disrupting the manufacturing process and wasting an expensive component of the lamps.
Because of the fragility of certain metal halide compositions, there is a great need for a strengthening agent that will not deleteriously affect the intended use of the Particle, e.g., in a lamp the agent must not significantly vary any of the arc characteristics, chemically react with the lamp electrodes, if present, or the walls of the arc tube.
It is thus highly desirable to strengthen the fragile Particles without negatively impacting the electrical and spectral characteristics of the lamp or the various arc tube components such as electrodes.
Attempts to strengthen metal halide particles without the addition of a strengthening agent have been partially successful. Annealing metal halide particles has produced a slight increase in the strength of certain particles, but the success of this procedure has been limited to relatively few materials. By controlling the freezing rate of metal halide particles, a few fragile compositions have been manufactured with improved strengths that allow them to be mechanically dosed. However, neither annealing nor control of freezing rate is universally applicable to metal halides.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a novel strengthening agent for metal halide Particles, a novel process for strengthening metal halide Particles, and novel compositions of Particles.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel composition for, and method of making, vaporizable metal halides useful in gas discharge lamps.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an strengthening agent for a vaporizable lamp fill which increases the breakage resistance of the material without significantly affecting the electrical and spectral characteristics of the lamp.
A further object of the present invention to provide a novel breakage resistant composition for metal halide Particles having particular utility as lamp fill material for metal halide lamps.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

Strengthening agent, strengthened metal halide particles, and improved lamp fill material


The present invention comprises a method and apparatus of transporting and moving a load having a combination of a hoist arm and an apparatus of a support structure with one or more (preferably a pair of opposed) moveable carriages.

In the water well industry, a machine is manufactured called a hydraulic pump hoist. It is designed of primarily steel tubular construction, upfits to a service body mounted on a chassis cab, and is a mobile machine designed to be transported from place to place. Its primary function is to extract coupled pipe from a water well by means of a telescoping hydraulic derrick and a hydraulic winch with cable.
The coupled pipe may be hundreds of feet deep in the water well. The pipe is normally in 21-foot lengths, and is fastened in a continuous fashion with pipe couplings. When the pipe is extracted out of the well, the couplings are taken loose (one at a time), and the pipe must be handled at the ground level in 21-foot lengths. Once the pipe is uncoupled, the operator and his helper must handle it. The only way of storing or containing the pipe has been by utilizing stationary pipe racks. Conventional stationary pipe racks must be mounted high on the pump hoist frame to clear both the frame and the top of the chassis cab.
Serious safety and efficiency problems arise out of this stationary storage system. A dangerous working environment is created when the handlers have to load and unload the pipes due to height and other obstructions with the pump hoist, service body, and truck in general.

Method and apparatus for transporting and moving load


Modified carbon blacks, such as rubber blacks, having a low PAH concentration are described. Furthermore, elastomeric or rubber compositions containing the modified carbon black of the present invention are further described, as well as methods of making modified carbon black having a low PAH concentration.

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of prior U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/606,282, filed Mar. 2, 2012, which is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.
The present invention relates to modified carbon blacks, compositions containing the modified carbon blacks, such as elastomeric or rubber compositions, methods of making the modified carbon blacks, as well as methods of using the modified carbon blacks.
Industrially manufactured carbon black is produced by pyrolysis of hydrocarbons at high temperatures under controlled process conditions. Under these conditions, trace levels of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, also known as PAHs, form on the carbon black surface.
Some PAHs have the potential to cause adverse health effects. Although the PAHs that are adhered to the carbon black are not readily available for human exposure, actions are being taken by both EU regulators and customers to reduce the concentration of PAHs in carbon black (See Borm P J, et. al., Formation of PAH-DNA adducts after in vivo and vitro exposure of rats and lung cells to different commercial carbon blacks, Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 2005 Jun. 1; 205(2): 157-167). Recent examples include:                Promulgation of EU directive 2007/19/EC which harmonizes the rules for the plastic materials and articles intended to come in contact with food. The directive establishes a Benzo(a)pyrene content of 0.25 mg/kg in carbon black. Previous to this directive, no PAH limit existed for carbon black.        Promulgation of EU directive 2005/69/EC which regulates the content of PAHs in extenders oils used for the production of tires. This directive does not directly regulate the content of PAHs in carbon black; however, the EU has chosen to restrict the content of PAHs in extender oils and blends used to produce tires, in order to reduce the total annual emissions of PAHs, as required in the 1998 Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
The above listed examples demonstrate the growing trend towards lower PAH carbon blacks.
Previous processes have made carbon black with lower PAHs. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 8,034,316 describes low PAH concentrations in carbon blacks. As described in the patent, the carbon black can be separated from a gas phase in a carbon black manufacturing process at a temperature of from 260° C. to about 950° C., such that the PAH in gas form can be removed, and this temperature is low enough that it does not anneal or degrade the surface of the carbon black and degrade reinforcement performance of the low PAH carbon black. In another description in this patent, the carbon black can be formed during the manufacturing of carbon black, wherein the method includes removing hot tail gas that contains PAH generally at temperatures of from 260° C. to about 950° C. Other methods are further described in this patent, wherein the objective of the patent is not to anneal the surface of the carbon black or otherwise affect surface activity and capacity for reinforcement of elastomeric composites. While the processes described in this patent are effective in forming carbon blacks having low PAHs, the processes require changes in fundamental manufacturing steps and, in some cases, equipment and plant configuration used to create the carbon black particles. Thus the methods described in this patent cannot be carried out within existing manufacturing equipment and/or operating conditions for making particles of carbon black on an industrial scale. It is not possible to alternate between these methods and ordinary methods in the same carbon black plant and it would be necessary to dedicate a line to low PAH carbon black processes. As a result, engineering and operational complexities and costs can be excessive.
While there is a growing desire to have lower PAHs for carbon blacks, any reduction in PAH cannot compromise the desirable performance properties of carbon black in rubber and other applications. Thus, it is desirable to reduce PAH concentration in modified carbon blacks without sacrificing the reinforcement properties achievable by the current carbon blacks and utilizing current manufacturing plants.

Modified carbon blacks having low PAH amounts and elastomers containing the same


A semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array having a plurality of memory cells arranged in rows and columns, a plurality of pairs of bit lines to each of which the plurality of memory cells arranged in the column direction are connected, a plurality of latch type amplifiers each of which is provided between the bit lines of a corresponding one of the bit line pairs to amplify a potential difference between the bit lines, a plurality of activation circuits for respectively activating the plurality of latch type amplifiers, a data bus acting as passages of input data, a plurality of latch type storage circuits each of which is provided on a corresponding one of the columns and connected to the data bus, for temporarily storing the input data, a plurality of transfer gates for transferring the input data from the latch type storage circuits to the latch type amplifiers, and a transfer control circuit for controlling the transfer gates to simultaneously transfer the input data from the latch type storage circuits to the latch type amplifiers for each of the rows, wherein the memory cell array is divided into a plurality of sub-arrays including a preset number of columns and the activation circuits are provided for the respective sub-arrays.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and more particularly to the improvement of a sense amplifier for a dynamic RAM.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of the integrated circuit technology, semiconductor memory devices, especially, dynamic RAMs (which are hereinafter referred to as DRAMs) have come to be widely used in the field of electronics. Since it has become possible to form the DRAM of large capacity, applications requiring a large storage capacity of image memories or the like have been developed, but in this field, it is necessary to continuously read out stored data at high speed. At the time of readout of memory data, the main factor controlling the readout time is the time for readout from the memory cell to the sense amplifier. Therefore, various attempts have been made to apparently eliminate the readout time. For example, there is provided a data latch DRAM having a latch circuit which is provided between the sense amplifier and the I/O buffer and in which a readout instruction is temporarily held for future usage.
FIG. 1 shows the main portion of the general construction of the data latch DRAM. The data latch DRAM has a data latch circuit provided in the next stage of the sense amplifier in the memory core section of a normal standard DRAM. That is, in FIG. 1, 110 denotes a DRAM cell array, 111 a row address buffer, 112 a row decoder, 113 a word line level generator, 114 a sense amplifier, 115 a transfer gate, 116 a data latch circuit, 117 a column address buffer, 118 a column decoder, 119 a column selection gate, 120 a data bus, 121 an input/output (I/O) buffer, 122 a transfer gate control signal (WW) buffer, 123 a row controller, 124 a column controller, and 125 an external I/O bus. Further, the DRAM includes a transfer gate selector 126 as a control circuit for the transfer gate and a driver and precharger circuit 127 for the sense amplifier 114.
In this case, if the DRAM cell array 110 has a structure of M rows.times.N columns, the data latch circuit 116 is formed to have N latch circuits capable of holding data of one row. The structure is similar to the structure in which a cache portion is constructed by a data latch circuit of one row.times.N columns in a Cache DRAM.
The readout operation of the DRAM with the above construction is performed as follows. At the time of readout, a row address strobe signal (BRAS) is activated and a row address signal is input in synchronism with activation of the BRAS signal. By activation of the BRAS signal, the row controller 123 is driven and a boosted word line potential is created in the word line level generator 113. The boosted word line potential is given as a power supply of the row decoder 112 and the potential is supplied to a word line (not shown) selected by the row decoder 112.
If the word line is thus activated, data is read out from DRAM cells corresponding to the selected word line and supplied to corresponding bit lines (not shown). Further, in response to the signal of the row controller 123, a sense amplifier control signal generated from the driver and precharger circuit 127 is activated, data of N columns on the same row supplied to the bit lines as described before is sensed and latched by the N sense amplifiers 114. After this, the transfer gate control signal WW is activated to turn ON the transfer gate 115 between the sense amplifier 114 and the data latch circuit 116 so as to permit data latched by the sense amplifier 114 to be transferred to the data latch circuit 116. Latch data of the data latch circuit 116 is supplied via the column selection gate 119 selected by a column address signal input decoded by the column decoder 118 and then output to the external data bus 125 via the data bus 120 and input/output buffer 121.
In the above operation, after the transfer gate 115 is turned OFF when data is transferred to the data latch circuit 116, the DRAM cell array 110 and sense amplifier 114 can be operated independently of the data latch circuit 116 and the succeeding stage circuits.
Based on the above fact, if a next row address signal is input while data on the previous row is transferred between the data latch circuit 116 and the external data bus and new data on the row corresponding to the new row address is read out from the cell array 110 to the sense amplifier 114 and latched therein, new data can be transferred from the sense amplifier 114 to the data latch circuit 116 by turning ON the transfer gate 115 again when transfer of latch data from the data latch circuit 116 to the external data bus is terminated.
As a result, the time (normally, 50 ns or more) necessary for reading out data corresponding to the row address input from the DRAM cell array 110 to the sense amplifier 114 can be eliminated when viewing the DRAM from the external data bus. That is, new data can be read out at high speed from the data latch circuit 116 again after a short period of time (for example, 10 ns or less) required for transferring data from the sense amplifier 114 to the data latch circuit 116 by turning ON the transfer gate 115.
The schematic flow of the data writing operation of the data latch DRAM is explained as follows. First, data is input from the external I/O bus 125 to the I/O buffer 121. Then, a column address strobe (BCAS) signal is input to the column controller 124 from the outside of the chip and a column address signal is input to the column decoder 118 via the column address buffer 117 in synchronism with the BCAS signal. A column gate 119 corresponding to a column address designated by the column decoder 118 is activated. Further, the data is input from the I/O buffer 121 to the data bus 120 in synchronism with the BCAS signal. Then, data input to the data bus 120 is written into the data latch circuit 116 connected to the activated column gate. The operation of writing data into the data latch circuit 116 is performed with the transfer gate 115 kept in the OFF state. The above operation is repeatedly performed while changing write data and input column address. The operation of writing data into the data latch circuit 116 is performed only for columns which require rewriting of data. Therefore, data are not always written into all of the N data latch circuits 116.
Next, if the operation of writing data of one row from the data bus into the data latch circuit 116 is completed, the transfer gates 115 only for the columns for which data writing has been performed are turned ON to permit data to be simultaneously transferred from the data latch circuit 116 to the sense amplifiers 114 and memory cells 110. The operation can be attained by activating the transfer gate only for the columns for which data writing has been performed.
In the column for which data writing has not been performed, the same operation as the refresh operation in the normal DRAM is performed and data held in the memory cell is amplified again. Then, the data are written into the memory cell again. The above operations construct the schematic flow of the data writing operation.
However, in the DRAM with data latch having a function of transferring data as described above, if the number of columns in which simultaneous data transfer is performed increases, there occurs a possibility that the sense amplifier is incorrectly operated to invert and destroy the data to be refreshed in the column in which data transfer is not performed. That is, if the transfer gates of the columns in which data are written are simultaneously turned ON, the current driving ability of the driver and precharger circuit 127 for supplying a signal for driving the sense amplifiers 114 becomes insufficient and the signal potential fluctuates, thereby causing a possibility that data of the sense amplifier in which data rewriting is not performed are destroyed. This is a problem of the DRAM with data latch to be solved.


An improved protective breathing mask comprising fire-resistant stretchable material shaped as a hood for wearing over and enclosing the head. An access opening allows the head to be placed therethrough such that a substantially airtight closure is provided at the neck. The mask includes a visor and filter materials sealed to the stretchable material. The improvement to the basic mask construction is a breathing adaptor provided on the interior side of the mask face, which encloses a one-way respirator. The breathing adaptor maintains the mouth and nose spaced apart from the filter, and efficiently directs breathing efforts to equalize inhalation airflow via substantially all of the filter, while the one-way valve eases exhalation airflow and reduces condensation on the interior side of the visor. Thus, filter utilization is improved and the filter protection time is extended, for increased safety.

There are known gas masks and protective breathing devices used to insure safe breathing in situations where harmful or deadly air is generated, such as in fire emergencies, chemical or biological warfare, or industrial chemical gas hazards. As referred to herein, the term "toxic air" will be used to refer to gases generated by fire, solid particles, smoke particulate matter, chemical warfare agents, including nerve agents, blood agents, choking agents and blister agents, biological warfare agents such as anthrax, botulinium, and hazardous industrial chemical gases, such as ammonia, chlorine, carbon tet, etc.
While there are well-developed protective breathing devices used by firefighting personnel entering the scene of a fire to rescue fire victims, the general public has not used them.
In recent years, there have become available lightweight, portable protective breathing masks for use by civilians, to reduce smoke inhalation mortality rates. These devices are designed with the recognition that in fire emergencies, immediately upon the outbreak of a fire, every second becomes precious in the preservation of life. By the time firefighters arrive at the scene of the fire and locate the victims for rescue procedures, many victims have been overcome with toxic air and may be unconscious and unable to aid the rescue efforts. Untold numbers of fire victims perish not by contact with flames, but through an inability to breathe just long enough to safely exit burning buildings, or be located and rescued by firefighters. A prime example of an institution requiring these devices is a tourist hotel, where many tragic fire fatalities of the past may have been avoided were protective breathing masks instantly available.
Examples of the protective breathing masks available in the market include the mask described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,959 to Reisman, owned by the owners of the present invention. The patent discloses a protective breathing mask made of fire-resistant, stretchable elastomeric material shaped as a hood with an access opening through which the head is placed for wearing the mask over the head and enclosing it such that a substantially airtight closure is provided at the neck. A portion of the mask is provided with a transparent visor for the eyes, and the hood has filter materials sealed thereto at a mouth location, with the filter comprising a plurality of fire-resistant flexible layers, at least one of which having embedded therein activated charcoal.
Other examples of protective breathing masks include that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,465 to Shou, which describes a mask made of fireproof cloth impregnated with a smoke preventing chemical substance, and having a transparent visor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,803 to Schichman describes a smoke hood which can be secured substantially airtight about the user's neck and filled with ambient air to enable breathing of the air within the hood, for a predetermined time, free of external air.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,636 to De La Pena discloses a heat and smoke protective hood comprising a bag-like head covering of a heat-resistant, substantially gas-impermeable sheet material adapted to fit loosely over the head, with a filter provided in an aperture of the hood covering, and a stretchable annular neck portion attached to an open end of the head covering for sealing around the neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,966 Hosouchi et al discloses a smokeproof foldable bag having an opening which, when unfolded, can be used to receive a person's head therein, to prevent smoke inhalation during a fire. A fire and smoke protective hood is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,527 to Robertson-McKenzie, and is made from a high temperature-resistant plastics material coated on its exterior with a layer of titanium to reflect heat.
Among the goals in design of protective breathing masks as aforementioned is the desire to achieve easy breathing. In achieving this goal, two of the design constraints faced are related to the type of filter used and the interior mask volume, which determines the amount of "dead space" once the user dons the mask. Those masks which have a stretchable hood, such as the Reisman patent, minimize the "dead space" by pressing the filter close up against the mouth, and achieve easy breathing by use of a thin filter which provides low resistance to exhaled air. These features tend to reduce psychological pressure on the user, since they assist in minimizing the buildup of heat, vapor and CO2 gas.
A drawback in the existing designs which minimize the "dead space" is that by pressing the filter against the mouth and nose, the filter surface area is not effectively utilized and uneven airflow distribution is provided, reducing the useful filter protection time. An inverse relationship exists between increased protection time and easy breathing, since increasing the filter materials increases resistance. Alternatively, by increasing the space between the mouth, nose and the filter, air distribution is more uniform, and thus the filter utilization is improved. However, the "dead space" increases, exacerbating the psychological effects, due to heat, vapor and CO2 gas buildup.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a protective breathing device which, in addition to being convenient, affordable and instantly available to civilians in toxic air emergencies, achieves easy breathing and increased protection time.