A system, computer program product, and computer-implemented method for smart contract dependent resource transfer are disclosed. The system is configured to establish a smart contract between a first storage location and a second storage location, the smart contract being configured for conditionally transferring resources between the first storage location and the second storage location; monitor the first storage location to determine that a first transfer condition has been met; based on determining that the first transfer condition has been met, automatically transfer a number of resources from the second storage location to the first storage location; determine that a second transfer condition has been met; and automatically transfer the number of resources from the first storage location to the second storage location based on determining that the second transfer condition has been met.

Block chains leveraging smart contract protocols are a growing, highly-adaptive new technology already being implemented across multiple industries. Due to the unique characteristics inherent to the block chain structure and smart contract execution, the technology is able to provide unique security to executed processes and stored data. As a result, there exists a need to implement block chain and smart contract technology to improve electronic resource transfers between storage locations, and in particular management of temporary resource transfers.

System for smart contract dependent resource transfer


With a conventional hands-free system formed by a radio apparatus and a hands-free apparatus connectable to each other by a local radio link, accepting a call on the hands-free apparatus is ineffective after the radio apparatus starts to send a reply message. There is provided a method for hands-free control to solve this problem. The method comprises measuring time since transferring a call arrived at the radio apparatus to the hands-free apparatus, and establishing a voice channel on the local radio link in a case where an operation is done to accept the call on the hands-free apparatus while the reply message is being sent.

Radio communications are now widely used, including on moving vehicles or in any busy situations. Hands-free systems are used for such kinds of radio communications to assure traffic safety or any kind of conveniences. A hands-free system is formed by a radio apparatus, e.g., a cellular phone, and a hands-free apparatus.
A radio apparatus and a hands-free apparatus are linked to each other by a local radio link to form a hands-free system, provided that they are capable of sending and receiving radio signals through the link. Examples of such a local radio link are Bluetooth (TM) and a wireless local area network (WLAN), and particularly in the Bluetooth specifications there is provided a standardized hands-free profile to support such kinds of applications.
Here is assumed a hands-free system formed by a radio apparatus and a hands-free apparatus. The hands-free apparatus has a microphone, a loud speaker, and an operation panel. The hands-free apparatus is connectable to the radio apparatus by a local radio link, and the radio apparatus may be set normal, i.e., to be used while being held by a human hand, or hands-free. When the radio apparatus is set hands-free, a control channel is established on the local radio link.
The radio apparatus is used as an ending node of a communication network. An incoming phone call received at the radio apparatus is transferred to the hands-free apparatus through the control channel. The call may be accepted on the hands-free apparatus, i.e., by operating the operation panel thereof. When the call is accepted on the hands-free apparatus, a voice channel is established on the local radio link to enable a voice communication in a hands-free manner, using the microphone and the loud speaker of the hands-free apparatus.
When a call arrives at the radio apparatus from another ending node of the communication network, i.e., the other party on the phone, the call is transferred from the radio apparatus to the hands-free apparatus through the control channel. If the call is not accepted on the hands-free apparatus during a predetermined time period, the radio apparatus reads out a reply message, like "Sorry, I am not available for the time being", stored in a built-in memory and sends the reply message to the other party, as one of usual functions of radio apparatuses.
Accepting the call on the hands-free apparatus is usually ineffective after sending the reply message begins. That is inconvenient, in a case where an operation to accept the call has to be delayed due to an instantaneous traffic situation or some other reasons although such an operation has been intended.
Vehicular phone systems were improved to alleviate a danger when a call arrives at a radio apparatus included in the system, and the improved systems are disclosed in the Japanese published patent applications, e.g., H11-4190 and 2003-51896, the English versions of which are available on the Japan Patent Office website.
The former one of those conventional systems determines if the vehicle is moving or not, when a call from another party arrives at the radio apparatus, based on the velocity data obtained by a velocity measurement unit on board. When it is determined that the vehicle is moving, a reply message is sent back, saying that the call cannot be accepted since the vehicle is moving, and a spoken message of the other party is recorded, if any.
The latter one sends a reply message to the other party including vehicular status in addition to the information if it is moving or not at the time when the call arrives at the radio apparatus. That may help not to receive repetitive calls from the other party, who understands the vehicular status well due to the contents of the reply message.
These conventional techniques, however, do not solve the problem that accepting the call on the hands-free apparatus is ineffective after sending a reply message begins.

Method for controlling a hands-free system, radio apparatus, and hands free apparatus


A system, apparatus, and method for a smart switch are provided. The smart switch may be integrated into various types of security devices and intelligently protect the devices from unwanted manipulation. In one particular embodiment, the smart switch may use location information from a GPS receiver to determine whether the device is in a safe zone, and the smart switch may intelligently enable or disable certain changes of the current operational status of the security device. Alternatively, pre-set time period, RFID authorization, environmental factors, or a combination of several factors may be used by the smart switch to determine whether users may change the operational status of the security device.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to container security and, more particularly, to a smart switch that may be integrated into various types of security devices in order to intelligently protect the devices from unwanted manipulation.
(2) Background Art
Containerized shipping is a critical component of domestic and international trade. The fourth element of the 2002 Container Security Initiative (CSI) calls for smarter, tamper evident shipping containers. Cargo container monitoring and security devices are incorporated into new cargo container models and/or retrofitted into existing models. These devices have been designed to warn of intrusion, transmit location information, and deter unwarranted breaches of security.
A high degree of security is necessary during many stages of container transportation. However, when containers are located inside a safe zone or near authorized personnel, it is desirable to turn off the security functions, shut down the monitoring or security devices, or re-initialize the security devices. Without a security threat, it would be a simple matter for an operator to power down the container security system in some situations.
However, it is necessary that only authorized personnel in special situations are able to turn the security or monitoring devices off. Such protection is often implemented by using a physical key or some other equivalent tools. With containers frequently transported worldwide, authorized operators cannot always be relied upon to have the right keys or codes in a timely manner. This logistical issue hinders the wide acceptance of more sophisticated security measures, and slows down the shipping process due to human errors.

Smart switch for providing container security


An electrode supply unit corrects an electrode target position based on a positional displacement amount of a first separator material, a first offset amount which is an actual positional displacement amount between the first separator material and an electrode when the first separator material is supplied in a manner that a positional displacement is not generated, and a movement amount in a lateral direction when an electrode supply region moves from a first position T1 to a second position T2 The electrode supply unit then supplies the electrode to the first separator material. A joining head corrects a joining target position based on a positional displacement amount of the electrode, a second offset amount which is an actual positional displacement amount which occurs when positions of the electrode and the joining head are adjusted so as not to cause positional displacement, and a movement amount in the lateral direction when the electrode supply region moves from the third position T3 to the fourth position T4. The joining head then joins the separator materials.

A battery is known including an electrode body having a structure in which a plurality of positive electrodes and a plurality of negative electrodes are alternately stacked with a separator interposed there between. An electrode body having such a structure is formed, for example, by alternately laminating a plurality of electrode laminates having a structure in which one of a positive electrode and a negative electrode is sandwiched between a first separator and a second separator, and the other ones of the positive and negative electrodes.
As a method for manufacturing such an electrode body, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-74402
(Patent Document 1) describes a method in which a positive electrode and a negative electrode are alternately and repeatedly placed on an elongated separator along its longitudinal direction, another elongated separator is further laminated on the above, and then the above laminated body is folded in such a manner that the positive electrode and the negative electrode alternately overlap with each other, so that an electrode body in which the positive electrode and the negative electrode are alternately laminated with the separator interposed there between is manufactured.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-221252 (Patent Document 2) describes a technique, in which, when an elongated positive electrode sheet, an elongated separator, and an elongated negative electrode sheet are laminated, an edge sensor detects a positional displacement of the positive electrode sheet with respect to the separator and the negative electrode sheet that are previously laminated and the positional displacement is corrected.
According to Patent Documents 1 and 2, a manufacturing apparatus having a configuration as shown in FIG. 9 is conceivable as an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode laminate.
In the manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. 9, a first separator material supply unit 91 supplies an elongated first separator material 11A wound in a roll to a predetermined position on a conveyor belt 90.
At a first position T1, a first camera 92 captures an image of the first separator material 11A supplied onto the conveyor belt 90, so as to detect, as a first positional displacement amount, a positional displacement amount of the first separator material 11A in a lateral direction that is a direction (Y-axis direction) orthogonal to a traveling direction (X-axis direction) of the conveyor belt 90 with respect to a first reference position.
At a second position T2, which is a position advanced in the traveling direction of the conveyor belt 90 with respect to the first position T1, an electrode supply unit 93 supplies an electrode 12 onto the first separator material 11A based on an electrode target position. In particular, in order to supply the electrode 12 to a predetermined position on the first separator material 11A, the electrode supply unit 93 supplies the electrode 12 based on a position obtained by correcting the electrode target position based on a first positional displacement amount and a first offset amount which is a lateral positional displacement amount between the first separator material 11A and the electrode 12 when a first positional displacement amount of the first separator material 11A with respect to the first reference position is zero and the electrode 12 is supplied based on the electrode target position.
A second camera 94 captures an image of the electrode 12 supplied onto the first separator material 11A at a third position T3 which is a position advanced in the traveling direction of the conveyor belt 90 with respect to the second position T2, so as to detect, as a second positional displacement amount, a lateral positional displacement amount of the electrode 12 with respect to a second reference position.
A second separator material supply unit 95 supplies an elongated second separator material 13A wound in a roll onto the conveyor belt 90, more specifically, at a position overlapping with the first separator material 11A in such a manner that the electrode 12 is sandwiched between the second separator material 13A and the first separator material 11A.
A joining head 96 descends based on the joining target position, and joins portions of the first separator material 11A and the second separator material 13A around the electrodes 12 by, for example, a thermocompression bonding method that performs pressure bonding by heating. In particular, in order to reliably join portions around the electrode 12, the joining target position is corrected based on the second positional displacement amount and a second offset amount which is the lateral positional displacement amount of the joining head 96 with respect to the electrode 12 when the second positional displacement amount of the electrode 12 with respect to the second reference position is zero and the joining head 96 is operated so as to perform joining at the joining target position, and the joining head 96 descends at the corrected joining target position to perform joining.
After the above process, the first separator material 11A and second separator material 13A which have been laminated are cut into a predetermined shape by a cutting blade 97a of a cutting unit 97, so that an electrode laminate including the first separator, the electrode, and the second separator 2 is formed.
With such a configuration, a position at which the electrode 12 is supplied can be corrected in accordance with a lateral positional displacement of the first separator material 11A, and a positional displacement between the first separator material 11A and the electrode 12 can be suppressed. Further, according to a lateral positional displacement of the electrode 12, a position at which joining is performed by the joining head 96 can be corrected, and portions around the electrode 12 can be joined with high accuracy.
However, in the manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. 9 described above, there is a case where the conveyor belt 90 meanders when driven, and a lateral positional displacement occurs while a portion where the first positional displacement amount of the first separator material 11A is detected moves from the first position T1 to the second position T2. In this case, even if the electrode target position is corrected based on the first positional displacement amount of the first separator material 11A detected at the first position T1, and the electrode 12 is supplied at the second position T2 based on the corrected electrode target position, a positional displacement occurs between the first separator material 11A and the electrode 12.
Further, in the manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. 9 described above, there is a case where the conveyor belt 90 meanders when driven, and a lateral positional displacement occurs while the electrode 12 on the conveyor belt 90 moves from the third position T3 to the fourth position T4. In this case, even if the joining target position is corrected based on the second positional displacement amount of the electrode 12 detected at the third position T3, and the joining head 96 is caused to descend at the fourth position T4 based on the corrected joining target position, portions around the electrode 12 cannot be joined with high accuracy.
The present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing apparatus for an electrode laminate, the manufacturing apparatus capable of suppressing occurrence of a positional displacement between a first separator and an electrode by suppressing the influence of meandering of a conveyor belt conveying a first separator material and the electrode, and manufacturing an electrode laminate in which portions around the electrode are joined with high accuracy.

Manufacturing apparatus for electrode laminate


A motor structure comprises a rotor having a driving portion and a magnetic element; the magnetic element being assembled to a lower end of the driving portion; and a stator including an electrode sheet, a coil, and a seat; the coil winding around a stator flame assembling the seat; a magnetic induction portion being protruded from the electrode sheet; and the electrode sheet being installed to the seat. The rotor is pivotally installed to the stator and the magnetic induction portion of the electrode sheet is arranged corresponding to the magnetic element so that after conduction, the coil is interacted with the magnetic element by using phase differences therebetween.

Currently, fans are classified into two types, axial fans, and centrifugal blower. The axial fans have lower cost with a larger volume. The centrifugal blowers have thinner bladders with higher density and have higher cost and great noises.
There are two kinds of fans are used in power devices. One is brushless motor and the other is carbon brush motor. In the brushless motor, the coil is wound around the stator and the rotor is assembled with magnetic elements, which are contrary to the conventional carbon brush motor. Thereby for the burshless motor, the rectifier needs not to contact the carbon brush for conducting the rotor coil and rectification. Under the condition of no brush, the absorption and repulsion of the conduction stator coils and rotor magnetic elements will induce the operation of the motor. Therefore, currently, the brushless motors are used as power sources of axial fans and centrifugal blowers.
With reference to FIG. 1, the prior art fan structure is illustrated. The fan has a rotor 11 and a stator 12. The rotor 11 has a driving portion 111 and a magnetic element 112. The magnetic element 112 is assembled to the axial fan 111c, transmission shaft 111d, and the hub 111f. A bearing 111e is assembled to the transmission shaft 111d.
The stator 12 includes an electrode sheet 121, a coil 122 and a seat 123. The electrode sheets 121 are assembled to the seat 123 and the coils 122 are wound around the stator flame 124 assembled on the seat 123.
Referring to FIG. 2, as illustrated in the drawing, the seat 123 is assembled to the frame 13. A circuit board 123a is assembled to the seat 123. In assembly, the magnetic element 112 is assembled in the hub 111f of the driving portion 111 and then the bearing 111e is assembled to a hollow chamber 123b in the seat 123. Then, the rotor 11 is pivotally installed to the stator 12 and the electrode sheets 121 are arranged corresponding to the magnetic element 112, but not contact with the magnetic element 112. Thereby after the coils 122 are conducted, stator 12 and rotor 11 will interact with one another.
However in above mentioned fan structure, since the arrangement of the magnetic element 112 and the electrode sheets 121, the thickness of the hub 111f cannot be reduced. However currently, the requirement of the fan is light, thin, short and small and has a larger capacity, while the prior art cannot achieve the object.


An apparatus, system and method is provided for injecting a fluid additive into a viscous fluid food flow stream. A fluid additive injector device is utilized to inject the fluid additive which has structure to prevent or minimize the amount of fluid additive that contacts or pools along the periphery of the fluid food flow stream. A fluid additive delivery system is provided to deliver equal amounts of fluid additive to a plurality of fluid additive injectors using a single pump without adjustable flow control apparatus.

Food products are commonly in some type of fluid form during and/or after processing. Extruders are often used to process various types of food products. Extruders are desirable because they can produce a large amount of a fluid food, which may be a food dough, for example, and more specifically a cooked food cereal dough in a short period of time. Moreover, it is advantageous to divide the fluid food extrudate or other mass food flow into a multiplicity of extrudate subflows by splitting the mass flow and directing these extrudate subflows into and through a plurality of corresponding separate passageways. This enables each extrudate substream to be further manipulated and processed. For example, an additive injection device can then be incorporated into each passageway thereby enabling a suitable type and quantity of fluid additive to be introduced into the extrudate subflow. Additives can be introduced to enhance the flavor, color or texture of the final food product. Thus, either a single food product with one or more desired characteristics (i.e., a ready-to-eat cereal of a desired color or with an assortment of differently flavored and/or colored pieces, for example) or a variety of distinct food products (i.e., an array of distinct snack foods derived from the common extrudate mass flow) can be produced by dividing the extrudate mass flow into subflows.
However, obtaining a desired degree of mixing or a homogenous mixture after introducing a fluid additive into a relatively viscous fluid food extrudate subflow or other fluid food product is troublesome. Typical food dough extrudates may have a viscosity in the range of from about 200,000 to 1,000,000 centipoise, for example. Upon introduction into a fluid food extrudate, a typically less viscous fluid additive (such as a colorant or flavorant) has a tendency to migrate to the exterior periphery of the extrudate where the additive tends to pool without blending with the food extrudate. This pooling at the extrudate's periphery prevents adequate blending of the additive throughout the extrudate mass by static mixers or other mixers located downstream from the additive injection point leaving undesirable pockets or areas of relatively high additive concentration in the extrudate mass.
Dividing a fluid food extrudate mass flow into subflows and subsequently introducing a fluid food additive has inherent shortcomings in addition to pooling or insufficient mixing. Introducing an additive injection device into the cross-sectional flow of the extrudate substream can substantially increase the pressure drop along the length of the passageway where the injection device is present. This increases the overall resistance in the system. When the original extrudate mass flow is divided into a plurality or many subflows, each travelling through a corresponding separate passageway, the additional energy required to drive the highly viscous fluid food extrudate to system's end can be substantial. Moreover, providing an independent additive supply for each additive injection device incorporated within each passageway makes it difficult to obtain a uniform introduction of additive in each of a plurality of extrudate sub flow passageways.
A need exists to more uniformly introduce the same amount of additive across a plurality of food extrudate subflows travelling through separate passageways. A need also exists to more effectively reduce pooling when additive is introduced. Finally, a need exists for an additive injector device that can be easily and readily cleaned and/or sanitized.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Device, system and method for fluid additive injection into a viscous fluid food stream


Described herein are embodiments of a method that includes forming a hard mask over an interlayer dielectric layer, patterning said hard mask, etching said interlayer dielectric layer, and removing said hard mask during a post-etch clean with a wet etchant having a selectivity to etch said hard mask at a greater rate than said interlayer dielectric layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor devices and more specifically to patterning of an interlayer dielectric layer.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The fabrication of semiconductor devices with smaller dimensions and the increasing switching speeds of transistors necessitate the use of copper lines and low-k interlayer dielectric (ILD) layers to accommodate the high speed signals. The use of the copper and low-k interlayer dielectric layers reduces the resistance of the metal interconnects and the capacitance between the metal interconnects to enable the high speed signals to be transmitted. Because process techniques used to pattern layers within a layer stack used to fabricate a semiconductor device also effect any low-k Interlayer dielectric layer included in that layer stack, exposure to the other processes alter the low-k interlayer dielectric layer from the shape or characteristics the layer was designed to exhibit.
A current solution to protect a low-k interlayer dielectric layer is to form a hard mask layer over a low-k interlayer dielectric to protect the low-k interlayer dielectric layer from processes performed on other layers. For example, an anti-reflective layer and a photoresist layer may be formed over an interlayer dielectric layer for patterning the interlayer dielectric layer as necessary to form a semiconductor device. Once the low-k interlayer dielectric layer is patterned, the remaining photoresist and anti-reflective layer must be removed. In the absence of using a hard mask layer that separates the interlayer dielectric layer from the anti-reflective and the photoresist layers, a dry or wet etch process performed to remove an anti-reflective layer and a photoresist layer would result in degradation of the interlayer dielectric layer. As mentioned above, the degradation results because the chemistries that are used to etch or remove photoresist and anti-reflective layers may damage an ILD layer. Therefore, the characteristics or dimensions of the patterns in the ILD may be significantly altered during the etching or removal of an anti-reflective and photoresist layers. This ultimately would result in unreliable operation of semiconductor devices or low manufacturing yields of properly operating semiconductor devices. Therefore, the use of a hard mask is needed to protect the ILD layer from the processes used to alter other layers.
As the dimensions of the patterns implemented in the interlayer dielectric layer decrease, the photoresist layer begins to breakdown making forming critical dimensions unreliable. To increase the reliability of patterning smaller dimensions in the interlayer dielectric layer, a thicker hard mask is needed to maintain the fidelity of a pattern printed on a mask used for photolithography. However, the use of a thicker mask prevents the proper alignment of additional layers because the alignment marks are no longer as accessible. Because proper alignment is now more difficult, manufacturing yields of semiconductor devices degrade.
Another problem with the use of a hard mask is that the hard mask is designed to protect a lower interlayer dielectric layer from chemicals and processes used in the manufacturing process making the hard mask layer difficult to remove. One method of removing the hard mask is through chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) after the deposition of an interconnect metal. Leaving the hard mask over the interlayer dielectric until after the deposition of an interconnect metal allows the interlayer dielectric layer exposed to intermediary processes that result in the interlayer dielectric layer undercutting the hard mask layer. The interlayer dielectric layer undercutting the hard mask layer during intermediary processes results in the formation of voids in metal deposited in a trench or via formed in the interlayer dielectric layer. The voids in the interconnect results in unreliable operating characteristics and performance of a semiconductor device and decreases the reliability of the semiconductor device.

Soluble hard mask for interlayer dielectric patterning


A cargo loading system capable of retaining a pallet along a centerline of a cargo aircraft and outside the wingbox area of the aircraft includes a number of devices. Included among these are first and second centerline end restraints mounted on the centerline, at least one caster panel mounted on one side of the cargo hold and across the centerline from a side door of the aircraft, and a plurality of mechanical restraints mounted on a floor of the cargo hold on either side of the centerline and outside the wingbox area. The first and second centerline end restraints each have at least one retractable lockhead configured and dimensioned to engage an end of a pallet. The at least one caster panel includes at least one retractable guide formed at a first end thereof, and at least one retractable guide formed along a first side thereof. Lastly, the plurality of mechanical restraints are mounted with a portion of each mechanical restraint overlying a laterally extending floor joist in the cargo hold, such that a lateral load applied to a given mechanical restraint is transferred to at least one laterally extending floor joist.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a restraint system for loading air cargo along a centerline of a cargo hold.
2. Background
Commercial aircraft carry cargo in containers and pallets, referred to collectively as unit load devices (ULDs). ULDs are available in several different standard configurations with different lengths and widths. During loading and unloading operations, ULDs must be guided within the cargo compartment. During flight, ULDs must be retained to prevent damage to the aircraft and the cargo. Floor-mounted devices, such as guides and restraints are typically used for these purposes and some such devices (referred to herein as a "guide/restraint") serve both functions.
The deck of a Boeing 747 main cargo compartment is configured with a multitude of longitudinally extending retaining devices such as seat tracks (sometimes referred to as "seat rails") and lock trays to which such guides, restraints and guide/restraints (collectively, "conveying devices") are attached. A number of these retaining devices and conveying devices are positioned to accommodate some containers in predetermined locations in a side-by-side configuration along the centerline of the 747 main cargo deck.
From time to time, a 747 main cargo compartment must carry out-sized cargo (i.e., cargo that does not fit in standard positions because it would interfere with the inside contour of a cargo hold). An example of out-sized cargo might be a large turbine engine which, due to its large width and circular profile, cannot be loaded in a standard location close to the cargo hold sidewall. In such case, the out-sized cargo is loaded onto a standard-size pallet which in then placed along the centerline of the cargo hold. Currently, standard-sized pallets for air cargo transport are approximately 96 inches wide and either 20 feet, 16 feet or 10 feet in length. Mounting such a pallet along the centerline results in the long sides of a pallet extending about 48 inches on either side of the centerline.
Currently, the 747 cargo deck is not equipped with guide/restraints that are suitable for both guiding containers and retaining centerline mounted pallets. As a result, on a 747 main cargo deck, a centerline loaded pallet is normally tied down using straps. This method of restraining the pallet requires a large amount of manpower, requiring a number of personnel trained to properly strap cargo securely. It also delays the unloading of the such cargo, due to the time it takes to safely remove the straps at the destination.

Air cargo centerline restraint system having restraints mounted over floor joists outside the wingbox area for lateral support


To improve startability and reduce the amount of HC emission at start-up with the aid of a construction where vaporized fuel is supplied to the bypass passage that bypasses the main passage.

1. (Field of the Invention)
The present invention relates to a starting apparatus, a starting method, and a control method of an internal combustion engine. They comprises a main air passage (intake air passage) for the engine, a bypass air passage provided in parallel to the main air passage, a means for supplying vaporized fuel to the bypass air passage at the time of start-up cranking, and also to an exhaust filtration apparatus of an internal combustion engine equipped with the starting apparatus.
2. (Prior Art)
Generally, at the time of state where an internal combustion engine has not been warmed up yet (This state is called as "cold state of the engine" fuel injected from the injection valve mostly adheres onto the intake passage wall and cylinder wall of the engine. Accordingly air-fuel mixture around the ignition plug in the cylinder becomes leaner, thereby ignitability and combustibility of the fuel deteriorate. If the fuel supply is increased so as to prevent the leanizing of air-fuel mixture around the ignition plug, more fuel adheres onto the cylinder wall. Accordingly after the warming up of the engine, excessive fuel is supplied to the engine, and a lot of unburnt vaporized (HC) is exhausted.
Prior arts for preventing this problem are disclosed in the Japanese Application Patent Laid-open Publication No. Sho 63-150465 (1988) and Hei 7-139455 (1995). These prior arts have an auxiliary injection valve and an electric heater installed in a bypass passage that bypasses the throttle valve in the intake air passage. The heater is energized at the time of a cold state of the engine to facilitate vaporization of the fuel. Hence no fuel adhesion is caused, and it prevents the combustion of the engine at start-up from deteriorating, and HC emission is reduced. In these prior arts, at the starting time of the engine, a throttle valve installed in the main air passage closes, and the bypass air control valve installed in the bypass passage (here, the cross area of the bypass passage is smaller than that of the main intake air passage) opens. Thereby the high-velocity airflow is generated in the bypass passage, and so atomization of the flowing fuel and vaporization of the fuel adhered onto the heater surface can be facilitated. Further, no heater is installed in the main air passage. Accordingly the resistance of the airflow passage at high velocity becomes lower, and the fall of engine power can be also prevented.
In an ordinary multi-point injection (MPI) system, liquid fuel is injected atomizing by a fuel injection valve installed near the intake port of each engine cylinder. The injected fuel mostly adheres onto the intake passage wall, the intake valve and the cylinder wall. The fuel adhesion onto these walls causes to decrease the fuel amount to be supplied in a gaseous phase around the ignition plug. Hence, the ignitability and combustibility are deteriorated. On the contrary, with a system where fuel is heated and vaporized by a heater and then supplied to the cylinder, it is generally known that, because no fuel adheres onto walls, the ignitability and combustibility improve remarkably, particularly at the time of the cold state of engine, and so unburnt vaporized (HC) emission reduces.
An example starting apparatus of a conventional internal combustion engine is explained hereunder, using FIG. 9. The intake passage of the internal combustion engine comprising:
a main air passage 3, that consists of a intake passage 1, a surge tank 2, and a manifold passage 3a branched downstream of the surge tank 2 and connected to the intake ports 10 of respective cylinder (FIG. 9 shows one pipe among the manifold 3a),
a bypass air passage 4 installed in parallel to the main air passage 3 and connected close to the intake port of each cylinder,
fuel injection valves 5 installed near the intake ports of respective cylinders or installed directly in the respective cylinders,
an auxiliary fuel injection valve 6 installed in the bypass air passage 4, and a bypass air control valve 7 capable of adjusting the incoming air quantity into the bypass air passage. A throttle valve 8 is installed in the intake passage 1 and an air cleaner 9 is installed upstream of the throttle valve 8. Besides, a heater 15 is provided to heat and vaporize the fuel injected from the auxiliary injection valve 6.

Starting apparatus, starting method, control method and exhaust filtration apparatus of internal combustion engine

Abstract: The main air control valve 16 is installed near the intake port 10 of the main air passage 3, and the main air control valve is closed or throttled at the time of start-up or additional injection from the port injection valve 5 is given in the beginning of start-up cranking. With a apparatus equipped with the main air control valve, vaporization of the fuel injected from the auxiliary injection valve 6 is facilitated in the beginning of cranking and also intake delay of the vaporized fuel is reduced, and hence startability can improve and the amount of HC emission at the time of start-up can decrease. With a apparatus where additional injection is given from the port injection valve 5 in the beginning of cranking, fuel supply into the cylinder is achieved quickly, and hence startability can improve and the amount of HC emission at the time of start-up can decrease.


An orthogonal finger capacitor includes a layer having an anode bone frame adjacent a cathode bone frame, the anode bone frame having a first portion extending along an axis and a second portion extending perpendicular to the axis. A set of anode fingers extends from the first portion. A set of cathode fingers extends from the cathode bone frame, interdigitated with the set of anode fingers. An overlaying layer has another anode bone frame having a first portion parallel to the axis and a perpendicular second portion. A via couples the overlaying anode bone frame to the underlying anode bone frame. The via is located where the first portion of the overlaying anode bone frame overlaps the second portion of the underlying anode bone frame or, optionally, where the second portion of the overlying anode bone frame overlaps the first portion of the underlying anode bone frame.

Metal-oxide-metal (MOM) (or more generally metal-dielectric-metal) capacitors are a known device for use in integrated circuits, and commonly include multiple layers of patterned metal conductors with intervening layers of metal oxide or other insulating dielectric materials to prevent unwanted shorts between successive conductor layers. For brevity, the term "MOM" is hereby defined and shall be understood to mean "metal-dielectric-metal," except in instances where expressly stated otherwise or made clear from the context to have a different meaning, where 'dielectric' may be, for example, an insulating dielectric material such as a metal oxide." For like reasons, reference in this description to an "oxide" layer of a "MOM" structure will be understood to mean a reference to an "insulating dielectric layer," for example a "metal oxide."
One known type of MOM capacitor is generally termed a MOM "finger capacitor." One general structure of a MOM finger capacitor is two comb-like conductor patterns, each comprising a set of fingers extending from a frame, aligned such that the two sets of fingers are parallel and interdigitated. One of the comb-like structures is an "anode" and the other a "cathode," The interdigitated fingers thereby form a plurality of finger pairs, each comprising one anode finger extending parallel to one cathode finger. Each of these pairs, in turn, forms a capacitor element, often termed a "sub-capacitor." The total capacitance of the interdigitated arrangement is, to a first order approximation, the sum of the sub-capacitors.
As known in the conventional IC capacitor arts, design and fabrication targets of MOM finger capacitors can include high capacitance density, meaning high capacitance per unit area occupied on the IC, and a low real resistance. As also known in the conventional arts, constraints can arise in design and fabrication toward these and other targets. For example, adjusting values of certain structural parameters of conventional MOM finger capacitors to increase capacitor density can create an unwanted increase in real resistance and/or reduction of reliability.

Bone frame, low resistance via coupled metal oxide-metal (MOM) orthogonal finger capacitor


The apparatus performs phase imaging interferometry on a test medium with spatially varying optical length. The apparatus uses a polarization based phase shift element in either the probe or reference arm of the interferometer to simultaneously generate both the conventional in-phase spatial interferogram of the test medium, and a quadrature interferogram which is ninety degrees out of phase with the conventional interferogram at all image positions, allowing a reconstruction of the test medium's interferometric phase image over 0 to 2.pi. radians. In contrast to the prior art, the present invention accomplishes the phase shifting operation in a single interferometer stage, using a polarizing beam splitter which accomplishes polarized seggregation of the interferometer output beam. The apparatus has high resistance to vibrations, instability and misalignment errors.

Optical length measurements, made by interferometry, are highly sensitive and adaptable to the study of a wide range of physical phenomena because they sensitively measure small induced changes in the optical length of a material medium, of the order of a fraction of an optical wavelength.
A number of physical and chemical phenomena may account for a spatial variation in the optical length of a condensed phase material, which may be interferometrically probed under appropriate conditions. Two and three dimensional variations in the surface topography of a material result in thickness (and therefore optical length) variations on the order of one or more optical wavelengths, which may be spatially imaged by interferometry. Two and three dimensional variations in the chemical composition or physical micro-structure of a material may produce both spatially distributed thickness variations and spatial variations in the index of refraction. All of these effects may be probed under suitable conditions, and, potentially, imaged in two dimensions by interferometry.
In addition to the static or intrinsically occurring spatial variations in the optical length of a material, additional optical length variations may be induced in a material in the presence of externally applied perturbations. A number of physical and chemical phenomena provide mechanisms for inducing spatially distributed changes in the optical length of a condensed phase material, which may then be interferometrically probed. Such mechanisms could include thermal or electromagnetic excitation, or acoustic or mechanical perturbation of the material. When interferometry is used to record images of the optical length changes induced in a material by such applied external perturbations, it may provide a method of imaging the thermal, acoustic, optical or topographic properties of the material, depending on the nature of the externally applied perturbation.
Because of the many physical and chemical phenomena which are capable of producing optical length changes in a material, which interferometry may potentially probe with very high optical length resolution, imaging methods based on interferometry have widespread applications in industrial measurement. Some examples include interferometric imaging of materials or structures excited using thermal energy, ultrasonic waves, or mechanical vibrations.
When a material sample is subjected to a perturbation such as one of the above-mentioned perturbations, any resulting changes in the material optical length may be potentially sensed by an interferometer. Optical length variations occurring along the transverse coordinates of the interferometer may be probed to form an interferometric image: the transverse coordinates of the interferometer, which are also the image coordinates of the phase image, are defined as occupying orthogonal directions, namely (x,y), which lie in the plane perpendicular to the probe beam axis of optical propagation (the "z" axis), which will be defined hereinafter. The primary interferometric image produced by the interferometer is called a spatial interferogram. The spatial interferogram is defined as an image formed by the superposition of the probe and reference beams in the exit pupil plane of the interferometer or in a plane conjugate to the exit pupil plane, with the aperture stop of the interferometer assumed to be located at the test medium. The spatial interferogram is recorded by a camera, which is considered to be a generalized imaging device composed of an array of optical sensing elements (or image pixels) operating over the wavelength range used by the interferometer beams, and the information is stored in a a data storing and processing system, e.g. a computer.
Known interferometric phase imaging apparatuses generally consist of a phase imaging interferometer and an external imaging system, the latter briefly described above. The interferometer stage consists of the following elements:
a) a radiation source normally containing a band of wavelengths lying in the ultraviolet to the far infrared (shorter wavelengths such as x-rays or longer wavelengths such as those pertaining to microwave and radio-frequency fields are not excluded in principle); the radiation source emits a source beam having a spatial coherence length of 10-100 cycles or greater of the radiation at all wavelengths; PA1 b) an input plane or surface at which the source beam is separated (by partial reflection or other means) into one (or more) probe beam which propagates along a path called the probe arm of the interferometer, and one (or more) reference beam which is phase coherent with the probe beam and which propagates along a path called the reference arm of the interferometer; PA1 c) a material medium, on which property measurement is accomplished by means of the interferometry apparatus; the material medium is also called the test medium, and is intersected by the probe beam which experiences a one, two or three dimensional spatial variation in optical phase shift with respect to the coordinates (x,y) and z; and PA1 d) an output plane or surface in which the probe and reference beams are superimposed so as to produce electromagnetic wave interference, thus forming an output beam. PA1 a radiation source providing a source beam along an axis of propagation; PA1 a polarizer for plane polarizing said source beam along a single polarizing axis lying in a plane perpendicular to said axis of propagation, thereby producing a plane polarized beam; PA1 a first beam splitter for separating said polarized source beam into plane polarized probe and reference beams with the test medium intersecting said probe beam, having electromagnetic influence thereon; PA1 a second beam splitter at which said probe beam and said reference beam are interferentially combined into an output beam, whereas one of either said probe beam or said reference beam, called the plane polarized component of said output beam, is polarized in a plane perpendicular to said beam axis of propagation, said plane polarized output component having an electric field vectorially composed of a first and a second electric field polar components of equal magnitude aligned orthogonal to each other along respective first and second polar axes, and where, at said second beam splitter, the other one of said probe and said reference beam, being not the plane polarized output component, called the elliptically polarized component of said output beam, has polarization being either one of circular or elliptical, in which said elliptical polarization has associated major and minor axes, and where said major and minor axes of said elliptically polarized output component align colinearly with said polar axes of said plane polarized output component, and where, at said second beam splitter, the electric field components of said probe and said reference beam which are aligned along said first polar axis interfere with each other, but distinctly of the electric field components of said probe and said reference beam which are aligned along said second polar axis; PA1 a wave plate assembly intersecting either one of said probe or said reference beam, where so selected beam is giving rise to said elliptically polarized output component, said wave plate assembly being aligned to confer on said beam at all positions downstream of said wave plate assembly and upstream of and at said second beam splitter, either one of a state of circular polarization or of elliptical polarization, where said elliptical polarization occurs with unequal maximum electric field magnitudes projecting along major and minor axes which align along said polar axes of said plane polarized output component at said second beam splitter, thereby imposing a phase difference of N*.pi./2 radians where N is any signed odd integer, between the electric field component of said elliptically polarized output component at said second beam splitter aligned along said first polar axis and the electric field component of said elliptically polarized output component aligned along said second polar axis; PA1 a single polarizing beam splitter accomplishing polarized segregation of said output beam according to alignment of electric field components of said probe and reference beams along said first and said second polar axes so as to obtain a first interferogram comprising the components of said output beam aligned along said first polar axis and a second interferogram comprising the components of said output beam aligned along said second polar axis; and PA1 image recovering means, for recovering images of said first and second interferograms. PA1 a radiation source providing a source beam along an axis of propagation; PA1 a polarizer for plane polarizing said source beam along a single polarizing axis lying in a plane perpendicular to said axis of propagation; PA1 a first beam splitter for separating said plane polarized source beam into plane polarized probe and reference beams with the test medium intersecting said probe beam, having electromagnetic influence thereon; PA1 at least one reflective element intersecting at least either one of said probe and said reference beam, whereby said probe beam and said reference beam are redirected to said first beam splitter and are interferentially combined thereat into an output beam, whereas one of either said probe beam or said reference beam redirected to said first beam splitter, called the plane polarized component of said output beam, is plane polarized in a plane perpendicular to said beam axis of propagation, said plane polarized output component having an electric field vectorially composed of a first and a second electric field polar components of equal magnitude aligned orthogonal to each other along respective first and second polar axes, and where, at said first beam splitter, the other one of said probe and said reference beam redirected thereto, being not the plane polarized output component, is called the elliptically polarized component of said output beam, having polarization being either one of circular or elliptical, where said elliptical polarization has associated major and minor axes with unequal maximum electric field magnitudes projecting along said axes, and where said major and minor axes of said elliptical polarization align colinearly with said polar axes of said plane polarized output component, and where, at said first beam splitter, the electric field components of said redirected probe and reference beams aligned along said first polar axis interfere with each other, but distinctly of the electric field components of said redirected probe and reference beam which are along said second polar axis; PA1 a wave plate assembly intersecting either one of said probe or said reference beam, where so selected beam is not the beam giving rise to said plane polarized output component, said wave plate assembly being aligned to confer on said beam at all positions downstream of said wave plate and upstream of and at said first beam splitter, either one of a state of circular polarization or of elliptical polarization, where said elliptical polarization occurs with unequal maximum electric field magnitudes projecting along major and minor axes which align along said polar axes of said plane polarized output component at said first beam splitter, thereby imposing a phase difference of N*.pi./2 radians where N is any signed odd integer, between the electric field component of said elliptically polarized output component along said first polar axis and the electric field component of said elliptically polarized output component along said second polar axis; PA1 a single polarizing beam splitter accomplishing polarized segregation of said output beam according to alignment of electric field components of said redirected probe and reference beams along said first and said second polar axes so as to obtain a first interferogram comprising the components of said output beam aligned along said first polar axis and a second interferogram comprising the components of said output beam aligned along said second polar axis; and PA1 image recovering means, for recovering images of said first and second interferograms. PA1 a) providing a source beam polarized along an axis lying in a plane perpendicular to said beam axis of propagation; PA1 b) splitting the beam with said first beam splitter into two distinct probe and reference beams which are substantially identical at said first beam splitter; PA1 c) merging, at said second beam splitter said probe beam and said reference beam into at least one output beam, and maintaining, in either one of said probe or said reference beam, a state of plane polarization at said second beam splitter, in which the electric field components of said plane polarized beam at said second beam splitter are vectorially composed of a first and second polar components of equal magnitude oriented orthogonally to each other along first and second polar axes in a plane perpendicular to said probe beam axis of propagation; PA1 d) intersecting said probe beam with the test medium and intersecting with the wave plate element a selected beam among either one of said probe or said reference beam, being not said plane polarized output beam at said second beam splitter, whereby said wave plate element confers either one of a state of circular or elliptical polarization to said selected beam at said second beam splitter, and where the major and minor axes of said elliptical polarization are aligned colinearly with said polar axes of said plane polarized output beam at said second beam splitter, thereby producing a phase difference of N*.pi./2 where N is any odd signed integer, between the electric field components of said probe and reference beams aligned along said first polar axis and the electric field components of said probe and reference beams aligned along said second polar axis at said second beam splitter; PA1 e) producing at said second beam splitter interference between the components of said probe and reference beam aligned along said first polar axis and a distinct interference between the components of said probe and reference beam aligned along said second polar axis; PA1 f) segregating said output beam according to its polarization with the polarizing beam splitter wherein the first and second polar components of said output beam will be separated so as to allow distinct interferograms to be formed, whereby a quadrature interferogram will be formed from said first polar components and an in-phase interferogram will be formed from said second polar components; and PA1 g) recovering the images of the quadrature and in-phase interferograms with the image recovering means.
Other external components with which the interferometer is equipped include: a set of image transfer elements such as lenses, mirrors or other beam directing elements, operating over the wavelength range of the interferometer, where the set of image transfer elements transfer an image of the wave interference occurring in the interferometer exit pupil plane to the imaging device or camera consisting of an array of radiation intensity sensing elements. If negligible diffraction or refraction occurs between the test medium and the output plane (as is usually the case), an image of the interference at the output plane provides a good approximation to the image observed in the exit pupil plane and the imaging system may have as its object plane the output plane of the interferometer (or points in the neighborhood thereof).
It will be assumed that the probe and reference beams have spatial coherence over a length of at least 10 cycles at each wavelength in the interferometer's wavelength range. Within the beam spatial coherence length, said beam propagates with wavefronts of deterministic phase dependence, which obey the laws of coherent scalar wave propagation theory.
In practice, through the use of lasers as the radiation source, which is common in interferometry, a coherence length on the order of centimeters to meters is readily obtainable. Hence the probe and reference beams often behave as though they were completely spatially coherent over distances which are large relative to the probe and reference beam path lengths in the interferometer, when laser sources are used. This is the usual condition assumed for the description of probe and reference beam propagation in the present specification.
In many cases, both the probe and reference beams propagating in the interferometer will have nearly flat phase fronts, and will propagate approximately as plane waves. This means that the divergence or convergence of the beams in the interferometer will be small in these cases. Such a beam has a well defined axis of propagation which is seen to be oriented in the direction colinear to the surface normal of the beam front at the central axis of the beam. The central axis of such a beam will spatially coincide with the centroid of the optical intensity distribution, as averaged in a direction along the beam's wavefront or wavefronts. These transverse orthogonal coordinate directions are assigned the notations x and y. It is normally desirable for the probe and reference beams, when superimposed at the output plane, to have nearly flat wave fronts, where any transverse length displacements of the probe wave front arising from phase shifts imparted by the test medium are of the order of the probe beam wavelengths.
In the generalized phase imaging interferometer it is normally desirable that probe and reference beams have phase fronts which are flat or slowly varying along the x and y directions. This flatness is a desirable property for the probe and reference beams forming an interferogram at the output plane or surface. If the probe and reference beams have large intrinsic phase front curvatures at the output surface, the spatial interferogram may become highly sensitive to small displacements in the transverse coordinates of central axis positions of the superimposed probe and reference beams. Hence the output surface is usually chosen to be planar to a good approximation, and in the discussion hereinafter, the term output plane, is used in preference to output surface. It is also usually desirable for the source beam arriving at the input plane to be flat. If the radiation produced by a given source is not collimated, a set of optional beam collimating components may be located in the source beam path between the radiation source and the input plane of the interferometer, to insure adequate phase front flatness of the probe and reference beams propagating in the interferometer.
As known to the person skilled in the art, the purpose of an imaging interferometer is to measure optical length variations in the test medium, which may be obtained by mathematically processing the experimental results retrieved by the imaging system. The experimental result that must be obtained is the phase variation in the probe beam .DELTA..phi.(x,y), which may be determined through the interferograms formed with the probe and reference beams.
The test medium optical length variation may be intrinsic to the medium, or may be induced as the result of a perturbation mechanism. There are three possible means by which the interferometer may probe the phase distribution in the test medium (TM): (i) by propagation of the probe beam through the test medium with full (greater than 99%) or partial optical transmission of the probe beam by the medium; (ii) by full (greater than 99%) or partial reflection of the probe beam at a surface of the test medium;(iii) some combination of full or partial reflection at a surface of the TM with full or partial transmission by the constituent medium or media comprising said TM. In the case where the test medium is composed of an inhomogeneous assembly of contiguous layers of media, reflection may occur at one or possibly more of the interfaces contained in such an assembly.
The relationship between the radiation phase shift measured by an interferometer and the measured spatial interferogram must next be examined. The equations given hereinafter pertain to a generalized phase imaging interferometer equipped with a highly spatially coherent source such as that supplied by a laser.
Assuming that the probe and reference beams are highly collimated in a generalized phase imaging interferometer, under the above conditions, a cosine or "corrected in-phase" interferogram may be obtained through equation (1), ##EQU1## in which: .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x, y) is the interferometric phase difference between the interferometer probe and reference beams, since the probe and reference beams originate from a same source beam and assuming nearly flat phase fronts with the condition of good matching of the probe and reference beam central axes;
I(x,y) is the output beam intensity (the "in-phase" interferogram), as measured on the interferogram by means of the imaging system, as an array of pixels having individual intensities and each having corresponding respective transverse coordinates (x,y); PA0 I.sub.r (x,y) is the reference beam intensity, as measured independently while the probe beam is optically sealed with a suitable shutter; and PA0 I.sub.p (x,y) is the probe beam intensity, as measured independently while the reference beam is optically sealed with a suitable shutter.
Thus, the first step in any phase reconstruction method is a linear recording of the intensity interferograms I(x,y), I.sub.r (x,y) and I.sub.p (x,y) by an imaging device, in which the output beam intensity distribution incident on the sensing elements of the camera is sampled as a two dimensional array of picture elements or pixels, where the camera signal generated at an individual pixel is linearly proportional to the integral light intensity over that pixel's area. The recovery of .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y) from interferograms measured by the interferometer is termed "phase reconstruction". Once the images of the probe beam intensity, of the reference beam intensity and of the interfering beams intensity are captured, they are mathematically processed through equation (1), for recovering the optical phase difference over the interval from 0 to .pi. radians. The inverse cosine function cannot recover negative values of the phase argument, however, and two quadrants of angular correction, from .pi. to 2.pi., cannot be accurately reconstructed from the cosine interferogram alone. Note that in the absence of mutual interference, the probe and reference beam intensity images are highly stable over relatively long periods of time, and need not be recorded in rapid succession with the interferogram.
For phase reconstruction over the full angular interval from 0 to 2.pi. radians, a quadrature component of the cosine interferogram, namely + or -sin(.DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y)), must be recovered in addition to the cosine interferogram. Such a quadrature component would have a value of the optical phase which is a constant ninety degrees greater or less, at all transverse spatial (x,y) positions, than.DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y), the intrinsic interferometric phase.
The quadrature component of the corrected spatial interferogram may be recovered experimentally by measuring a so-called quadrature interferogram. The quadrature interferogram can be recovered by physically imposing a precise positive or negative 90 degree optical phase offset between the probe and reference beams at all (x,y) coordinate positions, over and above the intrinsic interferometric phase, .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y), existing between probe and reference beams. This imposed differential phase offset must be applied precisely, without any significant error, over all of the interferometric transverse coordinates. The positive quadrature interferogram is given the notation I.sub.q (x,y), and yields a sine interferogram expression as in equation (2). ##EQU2##
It is also experimentally possible to generate a so called negative quadrature interferogram, which is mathematically expressed similarly to equation (2), but then the negative sine interferogram (-sin(.DELTA..phi..sub.c)) will be recovered. The negative quadrature interferogram is recovered by physically adding a precise -.pi./2 radians phase value to the interferometric phase, .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y), between the probe and reference beams, where the probe beam lags the reference beam by .pi./2 radians, at all transverse spatial positions in the interferogram.
A recovery of .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y) may be made with good accuracy from the corrected interferogram data by computing: ##EQU3## when .vertline.sin(.DELTA..phi..sub.c).vertline..ltoreq.cos .vertline.(.DELTA..phi..sub.c).vertline.and: ##EQU4## when .vertline.cos(.DELTA..phi..sub.c).vertline..ltoreq..vertline.sin(.DELTA..p hi..sub.c).vertline..
Phase reconstructions may thus be made over all four Cartesian quadrants by consideration of the signs of the corresponding pairs of sine and cosine terms in equations (3) and (4).
If one measures the negative quadrature interferogram instead of the positive quadrature interferogram, the equations (1) to the cosine interferogram and (2) as modified to the negative sine interferogram (-sin(.DELTA..phi..sub.c)), will then reconstruct the negative of the interferometric phase. Hence, a recording of either the positive or negative quadrature interferogram will enable recovery of the interferometric phase image. The term quadrature interferogram thus refers equally to either a positive quadrature or negative quadrature interferogram.
In advanced applications of interferometric imaging, an externally applied perturbation (such as heating, acoustic perturbation, etc.) causes a change in the transverse optical length distribution of the test medium. If any significant deviations from uniformity of the optical phase fronts are contributed by imperfections in the optical components placed in the probe or reference beam, a background phase image contribution will be produced which is additive with the phase image from the test medium. Together, these background image contributions sum to produce a phase image, .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y).sub.unperturbed. is desired, in such a case, to measure images of the applied perturbation independently of any intrinsic optical length variations existing in the material in the absence of said applied perturbation.
To accomplish this, a first phase image .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y).sub.unperturbed is computed as described above and expressed in equations (3) and (4) from the interferometric image without any external perturbation, and is then subtracted from a second phase image .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y).sub.perturbed computed from equations (3) and (4) while the test medium is being subjected to an external perturbation.
Many established interferometric imaging methods require the recovery of the phase image of an externally perturbed test medium for a complete physical interpretation of the image formation process in a material, obtained through the differential measurement explained hereinabove.
Any method which reconstructs the interferometric phase image, especially when such a method is applied for the purposes of differential image subtraction as when external perturbation on the test medium is present, must be stable, accurate and rapid. Speed of measurement is especially desirable for two reasons. First, the perturbation applied to the test medium may be transient and the requirement for obtaining information at high speed may be essential. If the perturbation consists of an ultrasonic pulse applied to the sample, a measurement time of microseconds or less may be appropriate, for example. Second, the interferometer has high sensitivity to small optical and/or geometric displacements. In the differential measurement described hereinabove, the measurement of the phase images .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y).sub.perturbed and .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y).sub.unperturbed occur under conditions of precisely matched optical alignment. If the interferometer optical paths drift or displace between these image recordings, the differential measurement will be invalidated. Consequently, the shorter the interval of measurement between .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y).sub.perturbed and .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y).sub.unperturbed required by a given method, the higher the fidelity of the differential phase reconstruction made by that method.
The consideration of stability of the methods used to reconstruct .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y).sub.perturbed and .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y).sub.unperturbed in a differential subtraction scheme is also of paramount importance. Stability in this context is the degree to which the alignment geometry of the interferometer is preserved during the measurements of all spatial interferograms, and more particularly during the measurements of in-phase and quadrature interferograms. A resettable phase reconstruction method is one in which the optical alignment of the interferometer which produced the in-phase interferogram may be precisely restored after the quadrature interferogram is recorded. Finally, an accurate phase reconstruction measurement is one in which the measured quadrature interferogram has a highly uniform optical phase offset from the in-phase interferogram over all points of the image field, (x,y), where said phase offset absolute value is very close to .pi./2 radians (or some odd integral multiple thereof)
The key problem associated with a practical implementation of all interferometric phase measurement schemes is the requirement for a rapid, stable, accurate and resettable measurement of the quadrature (or conjugate quadrature) interferogram. The measurement of the quadrature interferogram, when performed correctly, requires a precise and accurate insertion of a .pi./2 radian optical phase offset between the probe and reference beams, over and above the inherent interferometric phase difference, .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y). If the interferometer is supplied by a helium/neon laser, for example, this entails a physical path length displacement (in air) of +632/4 nm, as applied to either the probe arm or reference arm of the interferometer. Furthermore, this phase offset must be applied uniformly at all transverse coordinates, (x,y), as the optical path length is varied, for example, using a micropositioning apparatus.
A classical method of imposing such a phase difference between the interferometer arms is to supply a precise translation of a reflecting surface, such as that of a mirror, to increase or decrease the probe or reference arm's length, as appropriate. The translation of either the probe or reference mirror requires a precise motion to be applied, where such motion is colinear with the optical axis of the reference or probe arm of the interferometer, depending on the arm chosen to which the translation is applied. As a mirror element is displaced, all points of its surface must move with a fixed alignment precisely normal to the axis of motion. Any displacement transverse to the axis of motion introduces an error into the spatially uniform .pi./2 radian offset required by the quadrature interferogram, relative to the in-phase interferogram. Hence, expensive precision translation equipment must be used to apply the optical path length difference to the instrument. The optical path length must be set and reset to the values assumed by the in-phase and quadrature measurements, and this operation must be applied without slippage or decentration of the motion control apparatus. Thus,the likelihood of non-negligeable experimental errors under these conditions is high.
A standard alternative to purely mechanical motion controllers is to use a piezoelectric element in which an applied electric field across the element effects a change in the element thickness. In such a case, it is likely that there will be a difficulty in accurately calibrating the element absolute thickness change in terms of the voltage applied to the element.
Finally, another difficulty of the above methods is that there will be a time lag between the measurement of the in-phase and quadrature interferograms, which will be in the order of a few tens to a few hundreds of milliseconds for a mechanical motion controller. In this time interval the interferometer may accidentally drift or becomed mis-aligned slightly. A time lag problem remains even if a piezoelectric element is used to effect the optical path length translation.
A better method of measuring .DELTA..phi..sub.c (x,y) which involves the introduction of no moving components into the interferometer, is by introduction into the reference or probe arm, of an electro-optic element which is optically transparent at the interferometer beam's wavelength. To vary the optical length of the arm into which the electro-optical element is inserted, a voltage is applied across the element, which varies the refractive index of the crystal, by an amount governed by the electro-optic coefficient of the crystal. Application of a sufficiently large potential difference across the element varies the refractive index of the crystal sufficiently to produce a .pi./2 phase shift in the reference arm of the interferometer. The beam propagating through the electro-optic element must be polarized along one of the principal axes of the electro-optic crystal in order to effect this phase shift, however. With this method, the electric field applied across the crystal must be stable and spatially uniform across the transverse dimensions of the reference beam. The crystal must be of a high optical purity to ensure that the electro-optical coefficient is spatially uniform for a given applied potential, across the transverse coordinates through which the beam propagates. Temperature variations might also have to be compensated depending upon the choice of electro-optical material. As with methods which use translation of the optical path, there will necessarily be a time lag between the measurement of the in-phase interferogram and the quadrature interferogram.
A phase imaging interferometer was reported in 1984 by the "Smythe and Moore" prior art reference [R. Smythe and R. Moore, "Instantaneous Phase Measuring Interferometry", Optical Engineering, 23(4), pp. 361-364 (1984)], which generates polarization isolated probe and reference beams with orthogonally aligned plane polarizations, which propagate along a pair of short physically separated paths, and are then recombined at partially reflecting surface, without mutual interference. Separate beams are then directed through separate polarizing beam splitters, for obtaining in-phase and quadrature interferograms. A more complete description of the Smythe & Moore reference apparatus will be given later, in the present specification.
For now, let us say that the Smythe/Moore interferometer apparatus forms the in-phase and quadrature interferograms in distinct spatial locations, and thus any transverse alignment difference between the in-phase and quadrature beam paths will effectively yield an error in the output data concerning the phase reconstruction. Also, the Smythe/Moore interferometer apparatus requires a minimum of four and as many as five wave plates for it to become operational; and a minimum of two and as many as three polarizing beam splitters. Thus, it is rather expensive to produce, and complex to assemble (up to five polarization axes adjustments).

Apparatus for rapid phase imaging interferometry and method therefor


A vehicle-mounted emulsion dispersing device including a dispersing nozzle that is opened and closed by an opening/closing device, an emulsion tank that stores emulsion, and an emulsion pump for pumping emulsion from the tank to the nozzle and spraying the emulsion from the nozzle. A control device controls the emulsion pump and the dispersing nozzle so that the rate of emulsion dispersion coincides with a set value. A method of dispersing emulsion using the emulsion dispersing device wherein the control device intermittently disperses the emulsion by intermittently opening and closing the opening/closing device so that the area of dispersed emulsion is continuous from front to back.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an emulsion dispersing device and method which may be suitably employed in an asphalt finisher or other type of paving machine.
This application is based on patent application No. Hei 9-55564 filed in Japan, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
When applying an asphalt mixture on top of a cement or bitumen material, an emulsion such as asphalt is typically dispersed on top of the base, in order to ensure good adhesion of the asphalt mixture thereto.
In conventional emulsion dispersing devices developed for this purpose, a dispersing nozzle which is opened and closed by an opening/closing means; an emulsion tank for storing the emulsion; an emulsion pump for sending the emulsion in the emulsion tank to the dispersing nozzle and spraying the emulsion from the nozzle in a roughly elliptical pattern; and a control device for controlling the emulsion pump; are provided to a vehicle such as an asphalt finisher. The control device control the rotating speed of the emulsion pump during dispersion of the emulsion, so that the rate of emulsion dispersion reaches a set value.
For reference, an example of the typical capacity of a conventional emulsion dispersing device follows below.
emulsion dispersing rate: 0.2.about.1.0 liters/m.sup.2 PA1 dispersing speed from vehicle: 2.about.5 m/min PA1 number of dispersing nozzles: 10 PA1 diameter of dispersing nozzle: 2 mm
When dispersing small quantities of emulsion using conventional devices, however, the rotating speed of the emulsion pump is reduced and, if necessary, the dispersing nozzle is exchanged for one with a smaller diameter. In this case, however, if the rotating speed of the emulsion pump is reduced too much, then emulsion's discharge pressure drops, and the angle of dispersion of the emulsion from the nozzle becomes small. As a result, an interval of separation between the emulsion dispersed from adjacent dispersing nozzles occurs, so that a non-uniform application of the emulsion tends to result. Further, the smaller diameter dispersing nozzles tend to clog, again resulting in a non-uniform dispersion.


Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for virtual machine (VM) backup from a storage snapshot. An embodiment operates by receiving selective backup parameters including a VM to backup and then creating a VM snapshot associated with the VM. Next, an offset table associated with a virtual disk of the VM stored on a storage is retrieved. The embodiment further includes generating a storage snapshot and deleting the VM snapshot and then promoting the storage snapshot to a new logical unit number. The promoted storage snapshot is then mounted to the backups server. The virtual disk data is backed up to a backup storage using the offset table from the storage snapshot. The storage snapshot is dismounted from the backup server and deleted from the storage.

Server virtualization has grown in popularity and importance as it provides a flexible way to configure server resources and allows for maximizing usage of server resources in a cost-effective manner. A very large company or a small business, as well as anything in between (including individual users), can utilize server virtualization in order to allocate an appropriate amount of server resources so as to ensure efficient use of server resources. The virtual server resources may be administered using a virtual machine (VM). While virtualization of server resources provides benefits, use of a VM also introduces complexities and challenges.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical or similar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

Virtual machine backup from storage snapshot


A method for managing design files shared by multiple users is provided. A plurality of design files are stored in a design library. A lock table is moved to a memory of a first computer when information of the lock table indicates that the design files were locked by a first process corresponding to a first user, wherein the memory is only accessible to performance of the first process. The lock table is moved from the memory to a common memory of the first computer when one design file is locked by a second process corresponding to a second user. The first and second processes are being performed in the first computer. The lock table is moved from the memory to the design library when the one design file is locked by the second process corresponding to the second user, wherein the second process is performed in a second computer.

Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to a method for sharing a plurality of design files, and more particularly, to a method for managing concurrent access to a plurality of design files shared by multiple users.
Description of the Related Art
A hierarchical design approach is used to partition a complex design into a plurality of smaller design units for an integrated circuit (IC). Furthermore, the design units are organized into a design hierarchy. A design unit is typically called a "cell" (or more specifically a "cell view"). A design hierarchy starts with a top cell, which is the root of the hierarchy. The top cell comprises a plurality of instances of cells, wherein each smaller cell may comprise a plurality of instances of smaller cells. The hierarchy can "go down" for as many levels as needed.
Cells of an IC design are stored in one or multiple design libraries. The contents of a cell (or a cell view) are typically saved in a disk file. A design library is typically implemented as a "folder" (or "directory") on the disk, and the design files are stored in the library folder or subfolders. Multiple users may concurrently work on the cells in a library. To ensure data integrity, a cell needs to be "locked" when the cell is being edited by a user; thus, other users cannot edit the cell until the cell is unlocked. Traditionally, to lock a cell is achieved by creating a lock file and placing an exclusive lock on the lock file. Therefore, the presence of a lock file plus the exclusive lock placed on it tells the world that the cell is being modified, and other programs attempting to modify the cell shall wait until the lock is dropped and the lock file deleted. If the lock file is present but the exclusive lock on it is gone already, it means the lock holder program has terminated abnormally—for example, the lock holder program didn't get a chance to remove the locks and delete the lock files properly. Logically, subsequent user programs attempting to lock the cell should implement routines to do the clean-up work for the abnormally terminated program. After the clean-up, the locking protocol can continue. This scheme works fine except for the performance overhead. That is, when there is only one user accessing the cells during the entire editing session, the overhead of creating and deleting locks files and creating and deleting exclusive locks may be too much. What is needed is a new locking scheme that does as little as possible until another user comes in asking for accessing cells concurrently.
Accordingly, what is desired are improved methods and apparatus for solving some of the problems discussed above and/or herein. Additionally, what is desired are improved methods and apparatus for reducing some of the drawbacks discussed above and/or herein.

Method for managing design files shared by multiple users and system thereof


A method is provided for improving high temperature performance grade properties of polymer-modified, vulcanized asphalt by treating an asphalt cement under mild oxidizing conditions sufficient to provide a change in viscosity per hour as measured at 140° C. of less than about 500 poises per hour, of said asphalt cement, adding 1 wt. % to 10 wt. % of a polymer based on weight of said asphalt cement, and vulcanizing the polymer-containing asphalt cement. The invention further relates to asphalt compositions thus made and paving compositions containing these asphalt compositions.

It is known that adding polymer to asphalt improves the high temperature performance grade (PG) of paving asphalt cements as defined under the test methods established by the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP). Commonly used polymers include ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers and styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock (SBS) copolymers. These polymers may be blended into the asphalt using high shear mix conditions to ensure proper dispersion of the polymer. Of the polymers used, SB or SBS polymers are preferred because of their compatibility with a large number of asphalts.
Blending crosslinkable polymers with paving asphalts produces a change in the viscoelastic behavior of the asphalt. The change in behavior can be attributed to the formation of a network structure as well as to an increase in viscosity and elasticity. The change in viscoelastic properties is related to the amount of polymer added. Network formation occurs above some finite polymer concentration. Thus, higher temperature PG grades are achieved as the polymer, e.g., SBS, concentration in the asphalt increases. However, the SBS is more costly than the asphalt, so for economic reasons, its use should be kept to a minimum. The amount of SBS polymer needed can be reduced by adding a vulcanizing (crosslinking) agent such as sulfur. The crosslinking agent allows the network structure to form at lower polymer concentrations. This improves polymer efficiency, reducing the amount of polymer needed to make specific grade of asphalt composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,322 to Maldonado et al. teaches that the addition of sulfur can improve the efficiency of the SB or SBS, decreasing the amount needed to achieve a desired grade. The sulfur is believed to act as a vulcanizing agent yielding crosslinks between the SB or SBS and asphalt. Typically, with sulfur crosslinking a 3% SBS/asphalt mixture has about the same SHRP high temperature PG grade as an uncrosslinked 5% SBS/asphalt mixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,697 to Miller et al., incorporated herein by reference, teaches SDA-produced asphalts made by blending SDA bottoms with an aromatic extract. Preferably, the aromatic extract is produced from an extraction process such as that employed in lubricating oil production. In one aspect, the SDA-produced asphalt can contain added polymers which can be vulcanized in situ with the asphalt by using sulfur and accelerators.
One drawback, however, is that polymer-modified asphalt compositions can suffer from a lack of homogeneity over long storage periods, particularly when stored at elevated temperatures. The polymer tends to separates out from the asphalt composition on standing resulting in loss of properties imparted by cross-linking of the polymers.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to not only improve the useful temperature index of an asphalt composition, but improve its storage stability as well.

Polymer-modified, vulcanized asphalt composition and its method of preparation


A resistive composition for screen printing onto a substrate to form a cured film. The resistive composition, based on total composition, has a) 5–30 wt. % of polymer resin, b) 10–30 wt. % conductive particles selected from the group consisting of carbon black, graphite and mixtures thereof and c) 0.1–10 wt. % zirconia particles, wherein all of (a), (b), and (c) are dispersed in a 60–80 wt. % organic solvent. A cured resistive film composition is also disclosed.

This invention generally relates to polymer thick film conductive compositions and coatings. In particular, the invention is directed to such compositions, which are suitable for making variable resistive elements such as those used in position sensors.
Electrically resistive or conductive polymer thick film compositions have numerous applications. Polymer thick film (PTF) resistive compositions are screenable pastes, which are used to form resistive elements in electronic applications. Such compositions contain conductive filler material dispersed in polymeric resins, which remain an integral part of the final composition after processing.
Resistive compositions are used as resistive elements in variable resistors, potentiometers, and position sensor applications. A resistive element is, in most cases, printed over a conductive element, which acts as a collector element. In position sensing applications, a metallic wiper slides over the resistive element. The wiper can slide back and forth for several million cycles over the collector and resistive elements during the lifetime of the electronic component. For accurate position sensing, the wiper should give continuous electrical output throughout the life of the sensor.
The durability of these position sensing elements depends on the mechanical properties of both the resistor and the conductive film. The polymer thick films tend to wear out after several million cycles of sliding with a metallic contactor over the element at extreme temperature conditions typically seen in an environment such as an automotive engine compartment. Therefore, polymer resistive and conductive compositions having excellent mechanical properties and wear resistance are required for performance and signal output in these applications.
In addition to good mechanical properties, these materials should also have good thermal properties. Polymer thick films show a decrease in storage modulus as temperature is increased. A sharp decrease in mechanical properties is observed near the glass transition temperature. In addition to loss in modulus, these materials also tend to show an increase in coefficient of thermal expansion, which increases significantly above the glass transition temperature (Tg). When used in, for example, motor vehicles, a position sensor is exposed to high temperatures in under the hood applications.
At these temperatures, resistive elements show a high rate of wear due to a decrease in modulus properties. In addition to the surrounding temperature, a still higher temperature is observed at the interface between the metallic wiper and the resistive element surface due to frictional heating. In some cases, these temperatures can approach the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resistive material and can cause loss of the material's mechanical properties, which adversely affect signal output.
A prior art resistor composition is as follows:
Prior Art Composition
ComponentWeight (%)Polyamide imide21.58Carbon black5.47N-methyl pyrrolidone72.95
One way to improve mechanical properties of a resistive film is to incorporate fillers, such as short fibers, in these films. The presence of fibers of relatively large dimension creates an electrically heterogeneous surface. This results in non-linear electrical output in contact sensor applications. Even when the size of the fibers is in the order of a few microns, the surface is still electrically and mechanically heterogeneous. A dither motion at high frequency on a surface region where these fibers are absent can create large wear.
Another problem with using fibers with greater than 10 volume percentage is they can significantly wear the metallic contactor. This wear is accelerated if these fibers are protruding from the surface. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a conductive wear resistant coating or resistor composition and cured film with enhanced mechanical and thermal properties that exhibits homogeneous surface electrical characteristics and good signal quality.

Polymer conductive composition containing zirconia for films and coatings with high wear resistance