The present invention relates to a circuit configuration having a flow controller that can be put into a plurality of states and which outputs a respective command, in a respective one of the states, to a circuit component to be controlled. The flow controller has at least one asynchronously operating delay circuit via which the flow controller moves from one of the states into the respective next state. The invention also relates to an integrated memory and to a test configuration having such a circuit configuration.
Integrated memories, for example in the form of DRAMs (Dynamic Random Access Memories), are operated in data processing systems and in this case are actuated by a microprocessor or memory controller, for example. From a certain size of the memory device upward, for example for a memory size of over 1 Mbit, all available DRAMs normally use a so-called xe2x80x9cmultiplex address scheme.xe2x80x9d Such a multiplex address scheme has the advantage that it is very well suited to the functionality of a DRAM.
In general, for memory access, first the word lines which are to be addressed and then the bit lines which are to be selected are activated in synchronicity with a clock signal. The address scheme thus involves row addresses being transmitted first and then corresponding column addresses. This selects those memory cells from which data are read and those memory cells to which data are written. Similarly, the microprocessor or memory controller transmits a plurality of single commands, for read access particularly in the form of a word line activation signal, a column access signal and, to complete memory access, a word line deactivation signal.
One drawback of such a functionality is, in particular, that a DRAM interface used for the purpose is not immediately aligned with a corresponding processor interface which communicates with fast xe2x80x9cSRAMxe2x80x9d memories. In contrast to DRAMs, SRAMs are very much smaller and faster and they are generally not operated in a multiplex address scheme as described. However, SRAMs have the drawback that they are considerably more expensive than DRAMs.
Efforts are therefore generally made to use DRAMs also for applications in which SRAM memories have been used previously. In order to be able to use a DRAM also instead of an SRAM, access commands are combined into a macro command which is then processed within one clock cycle. When the macro command has been applied, the single commands for controlling access in a flow controller which can be put into a plurality of states are generated out of sync with the clock signal, with a respective single command being output to the access controller in a respective one of the states. The duration of the individual commands is set using asynchronously operating delay circuits via which the flow controller moves from one of the states into the respective next state. This allows a DRAM to be actuated with a command set that is oriented to fast SRAM memories.
To establish the operational functionality or serviceability of an integrated memory, a memory that is to be checked is operated in a test configuration in which a test unit is connected to the memory, and the functionality of the memory is checked. Particularly for the purpose of checking the command sequence for memory access, it is advantageous and appropriate if the single commands run in sync with a clock, since normal test units operate in sync with a clock.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a circuit configuration of the above-mentioned type which overcomes the disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and in which, in a test mode of the circuit configuration, for example, the commands are output in synchronized fashion.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a circuit configuration, comprising:
a flow controller enabled to assume a plurality of states and for outputting a respective command, in each of the states, to a circuit component to be controlled;
the flow controller having at least one asynchronously operating delay circuit, the flow controller moving from one state into a respectively next state via the delay circuit;
a further signal path connected in parallel with the delay circuit, the further signal path having a clock-controlled multivibrator; and
a switch connected to alternatively operate the delay circuit and the further signal path.
In accordance with the invention, the delay circuit in the flow controller mentioned initially has a further signal path connected in parallel with it which has a clock-controlled multivibrator. In the novel circuit, the delay circuit and the further signal path can be operated alternatively using a switch. This allows, for example in a test mode of the circuit configuration, the commands output by the flow controller to be output by the flow controller in synchronized fashion. The invention then affords the advantage that the basically asynchronously operating flow controller, which thereby controls the command sequence, particularly in a normal mode, does not need to be modified. In addition, the additional circuit complexity is kept comparatively low by virtue of the provision of the multivibrator.
The invention can be used, in principle, in any type of circuit configuration which has a flow controller which can be put into a plurality of states and which outputs a respective command, in a respective one of the states, to a circuit component which is to be controlled. The invention thus allows the command sequence from a flow controller which operates asynchronously per se to be synchronized with a clock in a second operating state.
With the above and other objects in view there is also provided, in accordance with the invention, an integrated memory device that comprises a plurality of memory cells, an access controller for controlling an access to the memory cells, and a circuit configuration as outlined above. The flow controller is connected to output the commands to the access controller for controlling the access to the memory cells.
In other words, the invention can be used with particular advantage in an integrated memory in which a flow controller is connected, for the purpose of outputting commands, to an access controller for controlling access to memory cells in the memory. Such a memory is suitable, particularly in a normal mode, for controlling memory access using a command sequence oriented to fast SRAM memories, as described in more detail in the introduction. In addition, however, a memory in accordance with the invention allows, particularly for the purpose of testing the memory using a test unit operating in sync with a clock signal, the command sequence for memory access to be synchronized with the clock signal and hence to be rendered checkable by the test unit.
In accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the clock-controlled multivibrator is in the form of a clock-controlled D-type flip-flop circuit. The delay circuit has an input and an output, with an inverter chain being connected between the input and the output in one embodiment of the delay circuit. The further signal path is connected in parallel with the inverter chain between the input and the output. Alternatively, the delay circuit can have another configuration. It generally outputs the input signal at the output, delayed by a particular time.
With the above and other objects in view there is therefore provided, in accordance with the invention, a test configuration that comprises the above-outlined circuit configuration and a test unit connected to the circuit configuration. The further signal path is thereby connected via the switch, and the multivibrator is actuated by a clock signal of the test unit.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a circuit configuration having a flow controller, integrated memory and test configuration having such a circuit configuration, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.


Chemokines constitute a family of small cytokines that are produced in inflammation and regulate leukocyte recruitment (Baggiolini M. et al., Adv. Immunol. 55: 97-179 (1994); Springer, T. A., Annu. Rev. Physiol. 57: 827-872 (1995); and Schall, T. J. and K. B. Bacon, Curr. Opin. Immunol. 6: 865-873 (1994)). Chemokines are capable of selectively inducing chemotaxis of the formed elements of the blood (other than red blood cells), including leukocytes such as neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, eosinophils, basophils, mast cells, and lymphocytes, such as T cells and B cells. In addition to stimulating chemotaxis, other changes can be selectively induced by chemokines in responsive cells, including changes in cell shape, transient rises in the concentration of intracellular free calcium ions ([Ca2+]i), granule exocytosis, integrin upregulation, formation of bioactive lipids (e.g., leukotrienes) and respiratory burst, associated with leukocyte activation. Thus, the chemokines are early triggers of the inflammatory response, causing inflammatory mediator release, chemotaxis and extravasation to sites of infection or inflammation.
Two subfamilies of chemokines, designated as CXC and CC chemokines, are distinguished by the arrangement of the first two of four conserved cysteine residues, which are either separated by one amino acid (as in CXC chemokines IL-8, γIP-10, Mig, PF4, ENA-78, GCP-2, GROα, GROβ, GROγ, NAP-2, NAP-4) or are adjacent residues (as in CC chemokines MIP-1α, MIP-1β, RANTES, MCP-1, MCP-2, MCP-3, I-309). Most CXC chemokines attract neutrophil leukocytes. For example, the CXC chemokines interleukin 8 (IL-8), platelet factor 4 (PF4), and neutrophil-activating peptide 2 (NAP-2) are potent chemoattractants and activators of neutrophils. The CXC chemokines designated Mig (monokine induced by gamma interferon) and IP-10 (γIP-10, interferon-gamma inducible 10 kDa protein) are particularly active in inducing chemotaxis of activated peripheral blood lymphocytes. CC chemokines are generally less selective and can attract a variety of leukocyte cell types, including monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. CC chemokines such as human monocyte chemotactic proteins 1-3 (MCP-1, MCP-2 and MCP-3), RANTES (Regulated on Activation, Normal T Expressed and Secreted), and the macrophage inflammatory proteins 1α and 1β (MIP-1α and MIP-1β) have been characterized as chemoattractants and activators of monocytes or lymphocytes, but do not appear to be chemoattractants for neutrophils.
CC and CXC chemokines act through receptors which belong to a superfamily of seven transmembrane spanning G protein-coupled receptors (Murphy, P. M., Annu. Rev. Immunol., 12: 593-633 (1994); Gerard, C. and N. P. Gerard, Curr. Opin. Immunol., 6: 140-145 (1994)). This family of G-protein coupled (serpentine) receptors comprises a large group of integral membrane proteins, containing seven transmembrane-spanning regions. The receptors are coupled to G proteins, which are heterotrimeric regulatory proteins capable of binding GTP and mediating signal transduction from coupled receptors, for example, by the production of intracellular mediators.
The chemokine receptors can be divided into two groups: CC chemokine receptors 1 through 5 (CCR1-5), which bind CC chemokines, and CXC chemokine receptors 1 through 4 (CXCR1-4), which bind CXC chemokines. In general, the CC chemokine receptors occur on several types of leukocytes, and are important for the migration of monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, and T cells (Qin, S., et al., Eur. J. Immunol., 26:640-647 (1996); Carr, M. W., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 91(9):3652-3656 (1994); Taub, D. D., et al., J. Clin. Invest., 95(3):1370-1376 (1995); Neote, K. et al., Cell, 72: 415-425 (1993); Gao, J. -L. et al., J. Exp. Med., 177: 1421-1427 (1993); Charo, I. F. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 91: 2752-2756 (1994); Myers, S. J., et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270: 5786-5792 (1995); Combadiere, C. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270 (27): 16491-16494 (1995); and Correction, J. Biol. Chem., 270: 30235 (1995); Ponath, P. D. et al., J. Exp. Med., 183: 2437-2448 (1996); and Daugherty, B. L. et al., J. Exp. Med., 183: 2349-2354 (1996); Power, C. A. et al., 1995, J. Biol. Chem., 270: 19495-19500 (1995); Hoogewerf, A. J. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 218: 337-343 (1996); Samson, M. et al., Biochemistry, 35: 3362-3367 (1996)). In contrast, the two IL-8 receptors, CXCR1 and CXCR2, are largely restricted to neutrophils and are important for the migration of neutrophils (Baggiolini, M., et al., Adv. Immunol., 55:97-179 (1994)). The IL-8 receptors, CXCR1 (IL-8R1, interleukin-8 receptor type 1; Holmes, W. E. et al., Science, 253: 1278-1280 (1991)) and CXCR2 (IL-8R2, interleukin-8 receptor type 2; Murphy, P. M. and H. L. Tiffany, Science, 253: 1280-1283 (1991)) recognize the NH2-terminal Glu-Leu-Arg (ELR) motif, an essential binding epitope observed in CXC chemokines that induce neutrophil chemotaxis (Clark-Lewis, I. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 266: 23128-23134 (1991); Hébert, C. A. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 266: 18989-18994 (1991); and Clark-Lewis, I. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90: 3574-3577 (1993)).
In contrast to monocytes and granulocytes, lymphocyte responses to chemokines are not well understood. Notably, none of the receptors of known specificity appear to be restricted to lymphocytes and the chemokines that recognize these receptors cannot, therefore, account for events such as the selective recruitment of T lymphocytes that is observed in T cell-mediated inflammatory conditions. Moreover, although a number of proteins with significant sequence similarity and similar tissue and leukocyte subpopulation distribution to known chemokine receptors have been identified and cloned, the ligands for these receptors remain undefined. Thus, these proteins are referred to as orphan receptors. The characterization of the ligand(s) of a receptor, is essential to an understanding of the interaction of chemokines with their target cells, the events stimulated by this interaction, including chemotaxis and cellular activation of leukocytes, and the development of therapies based upon modulation of receptor function.


In dialysis apparatuses usually ultrasound-based detectors (hereinafter referred to as detector) are used to protect patients against dangerous air embolisms. For this purpose, a part of an extracorporeal blood circuit to be monitored may be guided in the form of a blood hose through an ultrasonic path of the detectors. For this, a detector includes a piezo element that transmits an ultrasonic (US) pulse or US waves through the blood hose by electric excitation to its resonance frequency. The further detector in the form of a piezo element may convert said US pulse into an electric signal. This signal may be compared to a reference voltage and evaluated by a comparator. On the output side of the comparator a signal is available which informs about whether “air” or “no air” (i.e. fluid or blood only) is provided in the ultrasonic path.


The present invention relates to the attachment of vinyl or metal siding to a building and in particular to a bracket for use in attaching siding to a building.
Metal and plastic siding are commonly used as an imitation and substitute for wooden lap siding. The metal and plastic siding provide the appearance of wood siding while generally having a longer life span and require less maintenance. Metal siding is typically formed of aluminum or steel while plastic siding is conventionally formed of extruded sections of thermoplastic polyvinyl chloride which is commonly referred to as vinyl siding. In both types of siding, the bottom margin of each panel is typically bent inwardly and then upwardly to form a longitudinal channel with an upstanding inner leg. The top portion of each panel is formed to provide an outwardly and downwardly projecting longitudinal lip corresponding to the channel running along the bottom of the panel positioned thereabove. A securement flange extends above the longitudinal lip of each panel. The panels are typically secured to a wall along their top portions utilizing fasteners driven through the securement flange extending along the top of each panel.
One problem common to both metal and vinyl siding is its tendency to expand and contract with changes in temperature. Because of this problem, it has been a practice to incorporate longitudinally extending nail slots along the securement flange through which nails may be driven. It is intended that the nails be driven into the slots a distance sufficient to support the siding but not far enough that the head of the nail would engage the siding pressing it against the side of the building and preventing slidable movement of the siding along the nail through expansion and contraction of the siding. The primary problem with such nail slots is the difficulty in driving a nail or other fastener through the nail slots without fastening the nail too tight thereby preventing slidable movement. This is particularly true when the fasteners are applied utilizing power tools.
Siding clips as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,435,933 and 5,150,555 have been developed to overcome the problem of nailing siding too tightly to the wall to which it is secured. Each of the clips generally includes an upper hanger portion which may be nailed to the wall to which the siding is to be secured and a lower portion shaped to receive the upper portion of the siding in a channel or slot while allowing the siding to freely slide laterally through expansion and contraction. One drawback to such clips is that in use it is generally time consuming to slide a large number of clips onto long sections of siding from the ends to provide the appropriate number of clips for supporting the siding. Further, it is then difficult to maneuver the siding with the clips secured thereto prior to securement to the building without having the clips slide off the end of the siding.
An additional problem associated with conventional methods for hanging siding which is not corrected through use of siding clips is the tendency of vinyl siding to conform to irregularities or bows of a wall. Because vinyl siding is extremely flexible, the siding will conform to the shape of the wall to which it is attached when it is secured thereto by nailing or through the use of the clips noted above. As a building settles and ages, movement of the foundation and warping, racking or twisting of wood framing members through weathering and natural drying processes results in irregularities and distortions of the wall surface of the building. The materials of construction of a wall to which siding is to be attached may present inherently irregular surfaces such as stucco walls, stone walls or other types of siding. In addition, other factors, such as sloppy construction may cause distortion of the wall surface of a building such that the surface is not flat and is wavy or undulates. Current fastening systems for siding are inadequate to prevent the siding from conforming to such irregularities in the shape of building walls.
Although metal siding tends to be more rigid than vinyl siding, sections of metal siding spanning inward bows on a wall on which it is hung are insufficiently rigid to prevent indentation and permanent deformation of the siding when pressure is exerted against the section of siding spanning such an inward bow. Existing siding attachment systems do not provide sufficient additional rigidity to prevent such permanent deformation.
Another drawback of existing siding attachment systems including nailing and the use of clips is uneven sagging. Over time the siding tends to sag. When nails or clips are use to support siding the nails or clips are generally driven into or secured to the framing studs spaced sixteen inches apart such that the siding panels are supported every sixteen inches but not therebetween. Over time the unsupported sections of the siding panel will droop or sag further than the supported sections resulting in an uneven, wavy appearance.


The invention relates to a wheel hub unit comprising a wheel hub, a hydraulic motor and at least one bearing for supporting the wheel hub and the hydraulic motor.
Hydraulic motors for driving wheels of a vehicle are generally known in the art. According to a known wheel hub unit, a steering knuckle is pivotably connected to a kingpin and the hydraulic motor is attached to the steering knuckle at an opposite end of the steering knuckle in relation to the kingpin. The steering knuckle has a cylindrical shape and comprises interior channels for transmitting hydraulic oil to the hydraulic motor. Two bearings are arranged around the steering knuckle at an axial distance from each other.
A typical range of operation of a hydraulic motor is when the vehicle is running at a speed below a speed limit, for instance below 30 km/h. At higher speeds the hydraulic motor is in a freewheeling mode and a counter pressure is applied for disengaging the pistons in the hydraulic motor. When the vehicle decelerates and the vehicle speed passes said speed limit, the hydraulic motor can be engaged again. At the transition between the freewheeling mode and the operation mode pressure spikes in the millisecond range can occur in which the peak pressure is by far exceeding the normal pressure during operation. Such pressure spikes can reach 100 bar, for instance.
According to the known wheel hub unit, a restriction is provided between the bearings and the bearing which is arranged closest to the hydraulic motor is adapted to let the hydraulic oil pass through to said restriction during said pressure spikes. One problem with this design is that the bearing which is arranged closest to the hydraulic motor will have a relatively short life.
It is desirable to provide a wheel hub unit comprising a hydraulic motor, which creates conditions for a long life of the wheel hub unit.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a wheel hub unit comprises a wheel hub, a hydraulic motor and at least one bearing for supporting the wheel hub and the hydraulic motor characterized in that the wheel hub unit comprises a first seal for protecting the at least one bearing from hydraulic oil from the hydraulic motor.
Advantageously, by protecting the at least one bearing of the wheel hub unit with the first seal the bearing is not exposed to high pressure lubricant such as hydraulic oil and is particularly not exposed to pressure spikes with high peak pressure. Further, it creates conditions for using a conventional wheel bearing which employs grease as lubricant instead of hydraulic oil from the hydraulic motor. Grease greased bearings can be sealed to the ambient with well-proven seals. Grease greased bearings have favourably a low friction and less abrasive particles are present in the bearing, thus reducing the fatigue of the bearings. Leakage of hydraulic oil through the seal of the bearing or complex seals for sealing the bearing against the ambient can be avoided.
According to a favourable embodiment of the invention, the wheel hub unit comprises means for protecting the first seal from pressure spikes transmittable by the hydraulic oil of the hydraulic motor. This arrangement creates conditions for using soft seals for sealing the bearing section despite high pressure spikes during operation of the hydraulic motor.
According to a favourable embodiment according to the invention, the protection means may comprise a passage between the hydraulic motor and the first seal, wherein hydraulic oil may enter said passage. The passage may be configured for protecting the first seal from pressure spikes transmittable by the hydraulic oil of the hydraulic motor when passing from a freewheeling mode at high speeds to an operation mode at a speed range where the hydraulic motor is operative. The hydraulic oil passage may comprise a region which causes a change of direction of the hydraulic oil for protecting the first seal from said pressure spikes particularly when entering the oil passage in a pressure spike. By changing the direction of the hydraulic oil entering the passage during a pressure spike counteracts the effects of the pressure spike and reduces stress to the components in the oil passage. The change of direction is preferably a relatively sharp change, such as a 90° bend of the passage. The change of direction is preferably at least a 45° bend, and specifically at least a 60° bend of the passage. The passage may be configured with various means, such as for instance, a long extension of the passage, sealing means, restrictions in the passage. Favourably, by protecting the first seal from pressure spikes the first seal can be a standard soft seal. By providing a region causing a change of direction in the hydraulic oil passage a pressure load of the first seal and the effect of pressure spikes can be effectively reduced in the hydraulic oil passage. The hydraulic oil passage may be arranged so that an entrance of the hydraulic oil passage at the hydraulic motor is positioned at a different radial position than an exit of the hydraulic oil passage at the first sealing. Advantageously, the hydraulic oil may enter the hydraulic motor in a central region of the steering knuckle and the exit may be provided at an outer surface of the steering knuckle, resulting in a compact arrangement.
According to a further favourable embodiment according to the invention, the hydraulic oil passage may comprise a first section extending in an axial direction of the wheel hub unit and a second section extending in a radial direction of the wheel hub unit. At the transition between the first and second section the hydraulic oil has to change its direction thus reducing detrimental effects of a pressure spike in the oil passage. The hydraulic oil passage can be designed in an expedient way to reduce pressure spikes.
According to another favourable embodiment according to the invention, the protection means may comprise a second seal which is arranged between the hydraulic motor and the first seal for protecting the first seal from pressure spikes transmittable by the hydraulic oil of the hydraulic motor. Expediently, the second seal may be arranged in said hydraulic oil passage. The second seal can separate the hydraulic oil passage into a high pressure region at one side of the second seal away from the first seal and a low pressure region between the second seal and the first seal. Favourably, the protection of the first seal is improved by the second seal which may be conditioned to seal against a large pressure difference, and the axial length of the hydraulic oil passage can be reduced. This results in a compact arrangement of the wheel hub unit.
According to a favourable embodiment according to the invention, a first drainage channel may be arranged between the first seal and the second seal. Additionally or optionally a second drainage channel may be arranged in front of the second seal. The first drainage channel between the first and the second seal additionally reduces the action of pressure spikes which may pass the second seal. Such oil is discharged to the first drainage channel. The second drainage channel in front of the second seal further reduces an influence of a pressure spike on the first seal. Hydraulic oil entering the hydraulic oil passage is discharged to the second drainage channel thus reducing the pressure load of the second seal. Favourably, the both drainage channels can join in the same drainage channel in the knuckle on which the wheel hub unit is arranged. The first and second drainage channels can be embodied with of without a flow restriction for the hydraulic oil. Expediently, the first drainage channel may be equipped with a restriction device in order to reduce or avoid a pressure load from the joint drainage channel in the knuckle when oil in a pressure spike is discharged to the second drainage channel.
According to a favourable embodiment of the invention, the second seal can comprise a soft seal portion. Expediently, the soft seal portion can provide a defined leakage thus easing requirements for the design of the second seal for a reduction of a pressure spike. By providing a defined leakage, the pressure of the hydraulic oil between the first and the second seal can be controlled. A complex and expensive seal arrangement for providing a fluid tight second seal can be avoided.
According to a favourable embodiment according to the invention, the soft seal portion can be arranged at a radial inner side of a housing which is connected to the wheel hub and configured to rotate with the wheel hub. It is of advantage that the housing can hold the second seal securely in place even during very high pressure spikes. The housing can also take over load caused by the pressure spike thus protecting the second seal from direct actions of the pressure spike. The soft seal portion is configured to rotate with the housing.
According to a favourable embodiment according to the invention, the soft seal portion can be arranged around a spacer ring which can be connected in a rotatably fixed manner to a steering knuckle. The same spacer ring can be used to distribute hydraulic oil into a high pressure section of the hydraulic oil passage. A compact arrangement is achieved.
According to a favourable embodiment according to the invention, the second seal can comprise a leakage channel with a predefined leakage. In an advantageous development, the leakage channel can be arranged between the soft seal portion and the spacer ring. Expediently, a defined pressure level can be established between the second seal and the first seal by a proper design of the leakage channel. As the soft seal portion can rotate with the housing, hydraulic oil in the leakage channel is at the same time a lubricant for the soft seal portion during rotation.
According to a further favourable embodiment according to the invention, a radial inner surface of the first seal is positioned on a radial different, preferably radial larger distance from a wheel hub rotational axis than the leakage channel. The radial different position of the leakage channel with respect to the first seal is of advantage because if pressure spikes transit the channel in unfavourable circumstances, an oil jet may be generated which hits a wall portion of the hydraulic oil channel in the low pressure region of the oil channel and not the first seal. The radial larger distance from the wheel hub rotational axis is of advantage because the first discharge channel is at a radial smaller distance from the wheel hub rotational axis than the leakage channel. As a result, oil can be discharged to the first drainage channel without passing the first seal.
According to a favourable embodiment according to the invention, the wheel hub unit may comprise two bearings and the hydraulic motor may be arranged beside the two bearings in an axial direction of the wheel hub unit. It is of advantage that the two bearings can be constituents of a standard wheel bearing for wheels without a hydraulic motor.
According to a further favourable embodiment according to the invention, the at least one bearing can be formed by a taper rolling bearing. Advantageously, the at least one bearing can be constituents of a standard wheel bearing for wheels without a hydraulic motor.
According to another favourable embodiment according to the invention, the at least one bearing may be configured to be greased by grease. By lubricating the at least one bearing with grease a long lasting bearing arrangement with low friction and low fatigue can be achieved. As such a standard wheel bearing is sealed with soft seals, the invention provides a favourable combination of a hydraulic motor and a standard grease greased wheel bearing.
According to still another favourable embodiment according to the invention, the hydraulic motor may be formed by a radial piston hydraulic motor. A radial piston hydraulic motor has a compact size which is favourable for wheel motors.
According to a further favourable embodiment according to the invention, the first seal may be a soft seal. Favourably, the first seal can be a standard seal as the pressure differences on both sides of the first seal can be maintained comparably small.
The invention is particularly useful for commercial vehicles, e.g. tractor vehicles, or construction equipment where wheel motors are helpful for providing a sufficient maneuverability of the vehicle.


Electronic equipment such as mobile phones containing semiconductor devices has been reduced in size and power consumption in recent years. Accordingly, there is a demand for reduction in power consumption in semiconductor devices.
It is effective for reducing power consumption to decrease power supply voltages. Decreasing power supply voltages also decreases leakage current, which results in reduction in power consumption. However, decreasing power supply voltages uniformly also decreases available clock frequencies and hence the operating speed. Therefore, multi-supply-voltage semiconductor devices operating at multiple voltages are used in which the power supply voltage supplied to blocks can be independently changed in such a manner that blocks that do not require a fast operating speed from among the blocks constituting the semiconductor device are supplied with a low power supply voltage and blocks that require a fast operating speed are supplied with a high power supply voltage.
In a stand-by state, leakage current can be minimized and consequently the power consumption can be reduced by supplying a power supply voltage only to blocks that need to be supplied with the power supply voltage.
The term multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device as used in the following description refers to semiconductor devices that operate on multiple power supplies having different voltage values supplied from multiple power supply systems as well as semiconductor devices that operate on multiple power supplies having the same voltage value supplied from multiple power supply systems and semiconductor devices that operate on a single power supply system whose power supply voltage changes.
In conventional semiconductor devices consisting of multiple blocks, some or all of the blocks have independent clock circuits, each of which drives a clock signal used within each block in accordance with a clock signal provided from a common clock generator circuit provided for the multiple blocks. However, when a clock signal is driven within each block, clock skew can occur within each block due to timing disagreement in driving the clock signals in the blocks. Such clock skew between blocks can cause a problem of disagreement in signaling timing between blocks. Therefore, semiconductor devices consisting of multiple blocks use a delay circuit to adjust the timing of a common clock signal inputted into the blocks to control clock skew between the blocks.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a conventional multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device that uses such a delay circuit to inhibit clock skew between blocks. The conventional multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device includes two blocks 31, 32, clock (CLK) generator circuit 10, and delay circuit 120. For simplicity, the multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device consisting of two blocks 31, 32 will be described herein. However, semiconductor devices in practice may consist of more than two blocks.
Clock generating circuit 10 generates a clock signal and supplies it to blocks 31 and 32. The clock signal supplied from clock generator circuit 10 to block 32 is delayed by delay circuit 120 inserted between them, and a clock delayed by a certain amount of time from the clock signal generated by clock generator circuit 10 is provided to block 32 as its clock signal.
Block 31 includes clock circuit 41 and flip-flop (F/F) circuits 51, 52. Block 32 includes clock circuit 42 and flip-flop circuits 62, 63.
Clock circuit 41 of block 31 drives clock signal CLK1 to be supplied to the circuits within block 31 based on a clock signal from clock generator circuit 10. Clock circuit 42 of block 32 drives clock signal CLK2 to be provided to the circuits within block 32 based on a clock signal delayed by a given amount of time by delay circuit 120.
In such a multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device, proper operation must be guaranteed at all operating points even though the device uses a variable power supply which supplies a power supply voltage changing within a certain range as a power supply. That is, the block circuits (clock circuits and arithmetic circuits) must be designed in such a manner that a clock skew is smaller than a signal propagation delay at all power supply voltages, conversely, a signal propagation delay is larger than a clock skew.
Clock skew between blocks 31 and 32 can be suppressed by using delay circuit 120 that provides a certain amount of delay, unless the amount of delays of clock circuits 41, 42 between blocks 31 and 32 changes depending on the voltage value of variable power supply 101.
For example, in the conventional multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device shown in FIG. 1, the clock skew between blocks 31 and 32 can be suppressed by setting the amount of delay of delay circuit 120 such that clock signal CLK1 outputted from clock circuit 41 is in phase with clock signal CLK2 outputted from clock circuit 42.
However, if the amounts of delay of clock circuits 41, 42 of blocks 31, 32 do not agree with each other in power supply voltage dependency, a problem arises that a change in the power supply voltage of variable power supply 101 changes each clock circuit delay, increasing the clock skew between the blocks significantly.
This problem is more considerable especially if a technique called multi-Vt is used in which MOS transistors with different thresholds (Vt) are formed on the same semiconductor device or if a technique called multi-Tox is used in which MOS transistors having different gate oxide thicknesses (Tox) are formed on the same semiconductor device, because the amounts of delay of clock circuits 41, 42 of blocks 31, 32 differ considerably in power supply voltage dependency from each other.
For example, suppose that the power supply voltage dependencies of the amounts of delays of clock circuits 41, 42 shown in FIG. 1 have characteristics as shown in FIG. 2. Even if delay circuit 120 is set so as to prevent clock skew between the blocks at voltage A of variable power supply 101, a delay difference will be produced and therefore clock skew between the blocks will increase when the power supply voltage of variable power supply 101 is changed to voltage B.
The timing chart in FIG. 3 shows the operation of clock circuits 41, 42 in such a conventional multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device. Referring to the timing chart in FIG. 3, it can be seen that the clock skew which is minimal at voltage A of variable power supply 101 becomes substantial after the supply voltage of variable power supply 101 is changed to voltage B.
Further, as mentioned earlier, some multi-supply-voltage semiconductor devices use both of a non-variable power supply and a variable power supply. FIG. 4 shows a multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device including a block into which a non-variable power supply is inputted and a block into which a variable power supply is inputted. In FIG. 4, non-variable power supply 102 is inputted into block 41 and variable power supply 101 is inputted into block 42. If a different power supply voltage is inputted, a signal with a different level is outputted. In order to accommodate the voltage difference, level shifters 71-73 are provided for signals between blocks 31 and 32. In a multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device as shown in FIG. 4, the power supply voltage of clock circuit 42 in block 32 changes as the supply voltage of variable power supply 101 changes, as shown in FIG. 5. Consequently, clock skew between block 32 and block 31 supplied with different power supplies increases significantly.
A variety of methods have been proposed for reducing clock skew. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-39868 discloses, for example, a method for reducing clock skew in a semiconductor integrated circuit system consisting of multiple IC chips. In the semiconductor integrated circuit system, one IC chip is classified as a master chip and the others as slave chips. The master chip detects a change in conditions such as a power supply voltage change and indicates the detected change to each of the slave chips. Each slave chip then adjusts the phase of its clock according to the indicated information about the detected change.
Since the conventional semiconductor integrated circuit system consists of multiple IC chips, it has a configuration different from that of a multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device in which multiple blocks are formed on a single chip. If the method described above is to be applied to a multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device, a circuit for detecting a change in the power supply voltage and wiring from the circuit to each block are required. In particular, because a multi-supply-voltage semiconductor device has multiple power supply systems, the device requires a circuit for detecting a change in the power supply voltage of each of those power supply systems. Therefore, the number of circuit conductors increases with the number of blocks that are included and power supply voltage systems that are used, which makes it impractical to use this method for high-density semiconductor devices.
The conventional multi-supply-voltage semiconductor devices as described above use a delay circuit to control the amount of delay to reduce clock skew at a particular power supply voltage and therefore have the problem that clock skew between blocks increases as the power supply voltage changes if the amounts of delay of each clock circuit provided in each block have a different power supply voltage dependency.


1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a projector.
2. Related Art
There has been known a projector including: a light source device; an optical modulator for modulating a light beam irradiated by the light source device; and a projection optical device for projecting the light beam modulated by the optical modulator in an enlarged manner.
For the projector, there has been proposed an arrangement in which an optical diaphragm for adjusting light quantity of the light beam incident on the optical modulator is employed to enhance image quality of a projection image by appropriately changing a brightness of the projection image. The light quantity is adjusted by moving a light shield into and out of an optical path to shield at least a part of the light beam irradiated by a light source. However, it has been difficult to enhance the image quality of the projection image because change over time or manufacturing errors in mechanism components for driving the light shield hinder the light shield from being located at a desired position, in other words, because the projection image cannot be changed to a desired brightness.
To solve the problem, there has been proposed a projector employing a light beam detector for detecting the light quantity adjusted by the optical diaphragm, the projector driving the optical diaphragm based on the detected light quantity (see, for example, JP-A-2005-55760). In a case of such projector, even with change over time or manufacturing errors in mechanism components for driving the light shield, the image quality of the projection image can be enhanced, because the light quantity adjusted by the optical diaphragm is detected to reliably detect changes in the light quantity adjusted by the optical diaphragm.
Noted that, as the light source device for the projectors, light source lamps for generating a light beam by an electric discharge are often used. Such light source lamp for generating a light beam by an electric discharge irradiates a light beam not only in a visible light region but also in a nonvisible light region (such as an infrared region).
The projector disclosed in the above-cited document has a problem in using the light source lamp for generating a light beam by an electric discharge, in which, when the light beam including a light beam in the nonvisible light region is irradiated by the light source device on an optical component such as the optical modulator, the temperature of the optical component rises to deteriorate features of the optical component, making it difficult to appropriately maintain the image quality of the projection image.


In our New Zealand Patent Specification No. 229080 (European equivalent Application No. 90304922.9 and Australian equivalent Application No. 55013/90) there is disclosed a process of preparing a hydrolysed lignocellulosic material, the full content of which is hereby incorporated by way of reference.
The present invention could have application in such a process/system between different pressure situations or in improved versions thereof. Indeed, the present invention can provide an alternative in many situations to the very expensive and high upkeep "Bauer valves" (Sprout-Bauer inlet rotary valves manufactured and sold by Andritz Sprout-Bauer Australia Pty. Limited of 22 Princes Highway, Dandenong, Victoria 3175, Australia), or any such other rotary devices or devices that do not involve rotary chambers and which are used by default in the absence of an economic way of feeding materials from one vessel to another.


Attempts have been made for some time to make the THz frequency range available for imaging applications, in particular in security technology for checking and inspecting people.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,609 discloses a device for holographic approximated real time imaging of concealed articles by means of THz radiation. A vertical linear antenna arrangement is moved over a circular path to achieve cylindrical scanning of 360° of a covered target such as for example a clothed person. The data are present in the form of a non-focused millimeter wave illumination which is capable of reaching a covering such as for example of a clothed person and which is capable of penetrating a covering such as for example clothing. The millimeter wave illumination has to be focused or reconstructed mathematically, that is to say by computation, into recognisable images.
Such a device suffers from the disadvantage that for producing imaging of a three-dimensional article by means of a synthetic aperture in two dimensions on the one hand a large number of sources and detectors are required in a first direction and in addition the arrangement of sources and detectors has to be moved completely around the object in order also to be able to generate an image with a synthetic aperture in a second direction perpendicular to the row of sources and detectors. That is linked on the one hand to high costs by virtue of the large number of sources and detectors required, but on the other hand it also involves a comparatively long measurement time as the entire arrangement must be rotated once though 360° in a circle, for example for recording a complete person.


In recent years the automobile has been sophisticated, which entails incremental use of a variety of rotary torque sensors or rotary angle sensors for sensing rotary torque or a rotary angle of a steering shaft in order to control a power steering device or a braking device.
One of the foregoing conventional rotary angle and rotary torque sensing devices is described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 5 which is a sectional view of this conventional device.
In FIG. 5, conventional device 20 is formed of the following structural elements: first rotator 1, holder 2, magnet 3, second rotator 4, first ferromagnetic body 5, second ferromagnetic body 6, spacer 7, printed circuit board 8, magnetic sensing element 9, controller 11, coupler 12, third rotator 13, first sensor 14, second sensor 15, magnets 16A, 17A, and magnetic sensing elements 16B, 17B.
First rotator 1 is shaped like a cylinder and rotates together with the steering shaft. Holder 2 is shaped like a cylinder. Magnet 3 is shaped like a cylinder where multiple N-poles and S-poles are alternately and adjoiningly arrayed. Magnet 3 adheres to a lower section of an outer wall of holder 2, which adheres to an upper section of an inner wall of first rotator 1.
Second rotator 4 shapes like a cylinder. First and second ferromagnetic bodies 5 and 6 are shaped like a ring respectively, and spacer 7 is also shaped like a ring. Second rotator 4 is placed below first rotator 1. First ferromagnetic body 5 is placed above second ferromagnetic body 6, and these two ferromagnetic bodies adhere to an upper section of second rotator 4 such that they confront an outer wall of magnet 3 with a given space therebetween via spacer 7.
Printed circuit board 8 has multiple wiring patterns (not shown) on both the faces, and placed beside, substantially in parallel with, first rotator 1 and second rotator 4. Magnetic sensing element 9 includes a Hall element and is disposed between first ferromagnetic body 5 and second ferromagnetic body 6 on a face confronting magnet 3.
Rotary torque sensing section 10 is formed of first and second ferromagnetic bodies 5 and 6, magnet 3 confronting ferromagnetic bodies 5 and 6, and magnetic sensing element 9. Controller 11, which includes electronic components such as a microprocessor, is formed on printed circuit board 8. Controller 11 is coupled to magnetic sensing element 9.
Between first rotator 1 and second rotator 4, coupler 12 is provided such that an upper section of coupler 12 adheres to rotator 1 and a lower section thereof adheres to rotator 4. Coupler 12, e.g. torsion bar, is made of steel and shaped like a pole.
Third rotator 13 includes a spur gear at its underside. First and second sensors 14, 15 include spur gears on their outer walls. Third rotator 13 is rigidly mounted to a lower end of second rotator 4, and first sensor 14 mates with spur gear of third rotator 13 and second sensor 15 mates with spur gear of first sensor 14.
Magnets 16A and 17A are mounted at the center of first sensor 14 and at the center of second sensor 15 respectively by insert-molding. Printed circuit board 8 is placed beside and generally in parallel with those magnets 16A and 17A. Printed circuit board 8 includes magnetic sensing elements 16B and 17B such as AMR (anisotropic magnetic resistance) at places confronting magnets 16A and 17A respectively.
Magnet 16A and magnetic sensing element 16B form rotary angle sensor 16, and magnet 17A and magnetic sensing element 17B form rotary angle sensor 17. Magnetic sensing elements 16B and 17B are connected to controller 11. Rotary angle and rotary torque sensing device 20 is thus formed.
Sensing device 20 discussed above has first rotator 1 coupled to the steering shaft and is mounted below the steering wheel of the automobile. Controller 11 is coupled to an electronic circuit of the automobile via connectors and lead-wires (not shown).
With the foregoing structure, turning of the steering wheel entails rotation of first rotator 1, and also entails rotation of second rotator 4 which is connected to first rotator via coupler 12. Therefore, third rotator 13 adhering to the lower end of second rotator 4 rotates. This mechanism allows first sensor 14 mated with third rotator 13 and second sensor 15 mated with first sensor 14 to rotate together with third rotator 13.
The rotation of first and second sensors 14 and 15 entails the rotation of magnets 16A and 17A, which are mounted at the centers of sensors 14 and 15 respectively. Since magnetisms emitted from magnets 16A and 17A vary due to the rotation, magnetic sensing elements 16B and 17B sense the varying magnetisms, and then a rotary angle sensing signal is supplied to controller 11, where the rotary angle sensing signal repeats fluctuations and draws like a sine-wave, cosine-wave or saw-tooth wave.
Controller 11 carries out a given calculation based on the rotary angle sensing signal, supplied from rotary angle sensors 16 and 17, as well as the number of teeth of respective gears. Controller 11 thus senses the rotary angle of third rotator 13, i.e. the rotary angle of the steering shaft, and the result is supplied to the electronic circuit of the automobile.
The rotations of the steering shaft and first rotator 1 entail coupler 12 to twist, and then second rotator 4 starts rotating slightly behind first rotator 1. For instance, smaller rotary torque is required for turning the steering wheel when the automobile is driven, so that the delay of second rotator 4 relative to first rotator 1 is small. To the contrary, greater rotary torque is needed when the automobile is halted, so that second rotator 4 starts rotating with a greater delay relative to first rotator 1.
The rotations of first and second rotators 1 and 4 entail magnet 3 adhering to those rotators to rotate, and also prompt first and second ferromagnetic bodies 5 and 6 to start rotating after slight delays from magnet 3. Magnetic sensing element 9 senses variation in the magnetism of magnet 3, formed of multiple N-poles and S-poles placed alternately and adjoiningly to each other, via first and second ferromagnetic bodies 5 and 6, and supplies the sensed variation in the magnetism to controller 11.
At this time, magnetic sensing element 9 senses weak magnetism when second rotator 4, to which first and second ferromagnetic bodies 5 and 6 adhere, starts rotating after a small delay from first rotator 1, whereas sensing element 9 senses strong magnetism when second rotator 4 starts rotating after a great delay from first rotator 1.
Based on magnitude of the magnetism sensed via ferromagnetic bodies 5 and 6 by sensing element 9, controller 11 calculates the rotary torque of first rotator 1, i.e. the rotary torque of the steering shaft. The calculated rotary torque is supplied to the electronic circuit of the automobile. Using this calculated rotary torque and other data, the electronic circuit controls the power steering device, the braking device, and other devices of the automobile, where the other data includes the rotary angle of the rotary shaft discussed previously and supplied from controller 11, and various other data supplied from other sensors including a velocity sensor mounted somewhere in the automobile.
As discussed above, in response to the rotary angle or the rotary torque supplied from controller 11, conventional rotary angle and rotary torque sensing device 20 controls not only the effectiveness of the braking device in accordance with an angle of the steering wheel turned by a driver but also the operating force for turning the steering wheel.
Patent Literature of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-82826 is known to the public as one of related art to the present invention.
Conventional sensing device 20 discussed previously includes magnet 3, first and second ferromagnetic bodies 5 and 6, which work for sensing the rotary torque, and those elements are covered with first rotator 1 and second rotator 2. However, when foreign matters such as iron powders attach to those structural elements 3, 5, or 6, magnetic sensing element 9 senses an error in the magnetism emitted from magnet 3 via first and second ferromagnetic bodies 5 and 6. As a result, sensing device 20 fails to sense accurate rotary torque.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement for the degassing small high-aspect ratio drilled holes or vias which are present in panels prior to wet chemical processing of the panels. Moreover, more particularly, the present invention is directed to the degassing of vias which are formed in printed circuit boards prior to the copper plating of the vias in order to remove any air or gas bubbles from the vias tending to inhibit the reliable plating thereof. In addition to the foregoing, the invention is also directed to a method for implementing the degassing of the small high-aspect ratio drilled holes which are provided in the panels or printed circuit boards prior to the wet chemical processing of the latter, such as the copper plating of the surface areas of the drilled holes or vias.
In the technology directed to the manufacture of electronic packages, especially modules comprising semiconductor devices and printed circuit boards, the modules are frequently provided with considerable numbers of vias or holes, ranging up to 2000 to 3000 in numbers, which are frequently required to have their surfaces copper plated, to produce PTH""s (plated through holes). In attempting to implement the copper plating of such small diameter holes or vias, which normally each possess diameters within a range of about 0.001 to 0.002 inches at high aspect ratios of 6-8:1, difficulties are at times encountered in being able to satisfactorily completely wet or plate the inside of the holes due to the occluding presence of air or gas bubbles. Consequently, in the event that even if a single hole is not adequately copper-plated, then the entire apertured module comprising of the printed circuit board must be discarded, and resultingly leading to considerable economic losses. With respect to the foregoing, it is of extreme importance to be able to provide an adequate wetting of the holes or vias which are present in the printed circuit boards or modules prior to the effectuating of an electroless copper plating pre-cleaning process step, in order to ensure that all of the interior surfaces of the vias or holes are adequately prepared for the electroless copper plating process. This, in effect, would then prevent any potential internal separation phenomena to occur due to a lack of adequate pre-cleaning of the inner planes of the copper material which being applied to the surfaces areas the vias or holes, inasmuch as, if any air or air bubbles were to remain in the holes during the electroless plating process step, the copper plating would fail to fully deposit on the via or hole surfaces, thereby resulting in internal plating separation causing an open circuit and potential failure of the electronic product being equipped with the specific printed circuit board or module.
Basically, in order to implement the removal of gasses or air bubbles from a liquid bath environment which is employed in the processing of articles, for example, such as modules comprising printed circuit boards incorporating a multiplicity of holes or vias which are to be copper plated in an electroless copper plating process, it is imperative that a suitable degassing step is implemented. This may be preferably carried out through the utilization of an ultrasonic prewetting in a deionized water or other suitable liquid bath preceding cleaning for the electroless plating process, thereby enabling all of the vias or holes to be degassed; in effect, having air removed and the vias or holes filled with liquid; thereby allowing subsequent process cleansing solutions to easily flow into the respective holes or vias in order to facilitate the electroless copper plating process.
In order to implement the comprehensive degassing of the liquids; in effect, the removal of any occluded air or gas bubbles, specific physical conditions must be satisfactorily met. Firstly, the liquid in the bath which is utilized in order to initially prewet the modules or panels containing the vias or small holes, and with the bath being constituted of either deionized water or other suitable liquids, must be fully degassed, preferably through the application of ultrasonic energy or any other process in which normal levels of dissolved air entrained in the liquid within the tank and/or entering the tank must be depleted and removed therefrom. Secondly, the apertured modular panels or printed circuit boards within the tank must be exposed to ultrasonic energy in order to promote the displacement and/or the dissolution of air or gas bubbles from the small holes or vias. In essence, failure to employ both of the foregoing conditions would result in the process being ineffective for adequately prewetting all of the small-diameter high-aspect ratio holes or vias, although potentially for small diameter holes or vias with small aspect ratios, agitation in a fully degassed tank (without ultrasonic energy) may be sufficient to dissolve and eliminate all of the air bubbles which are present in the bath or liquid.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Although numerous processes have been developed in various technologies which are directed to the degassing of liquids utilized in the cleaning of articles of the most diverse types, these have not been found to be fully satisfactorily, although complex systems utilize ultrasonic vibrators and energy generators in order to degass the liquids.
Sasaki et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,037 discloses an ultrasonic treatment apparatus for articles immersed in a cleaning liquid which are subjected to a cavitation phenomenon caused by an ultrasonic vibrator. The cleaning liquid is then conveyed to a degassing vessel and thereafter re-circulated to the cleaning vessel subsequent to gas being dissolved in the degassing vessel and the bubbles separated out and maintained in a vacuum.
Philips, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,470 discloses an ultrasonic gas separator wherein gas bubbles in a moving fluid is collected in a chamber arranged adjacent a conduit conveying the fluid. An ultrasonic transducer is adapted to cooperate with a reflector to create a particular ultrasonic wave pattern so as to remove gas bubbles and enable these to be collected exteriorly of the flow of the fluid.
Long U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,385 discloses a racking fixture for electrochemical processing wherein gases trapped in components are adapted to be removed through suitable ultrasonic applications.
Chung, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,635 discloses a method for wetting a filter element, and wherein a vibration device will cause pressurized liquid to have entrained air bubbles in a filter element to be separated therein from a liquid and exhausted from the system.
Ohmi et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,814 discloses a cleaning method employing a degassed cleaning liquid with applied ultrasonics, whereby particular ultrasonic frequencies are utilized to remove air bubbles through the intermediary of water vapor from a degassing device containing a liquid.
Kraus Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,625 discloses an apparatus and a method for debubbling a discrete sample of a liquid through the intermediary of an ultrasonic device which causes air or gas bubbles to be exhausted from essentially high viscous liquids through the formation of ultrasonic waves.
Nicholls, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,860 discloses a system for the ultrasonic removal of air bubbles from the surface of an electroplated article, and wherein the mechanical vibrations produced by the ultrasonic transducer results in vibrations removing air bubbles and gases from the article surfaces.
Hackett U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,364 discloses a system for removing bubbles from small cavities consisting of blind via holes in a semiconductor wafer by immersing the article and cavities in a liquid medium. The bubbles are enabled to flow freely to enable the processing within the cavities to commence in a suitable degassed liquid.
Shibano, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,907,611 and 4,865,060 each disclose ultrasonic washing apparatuses whereby air bubbles are removed from a liquid washing specific articles through the intermediary of an ultrasonic vibrator causing the radiation of ultrasonic waves into a washing bath, and enabling the cavitation resulting therefrom to remove soil from soiled articles located in the washing bath.
Japanese Patent JP 11 94 388 discloses a metal plating apparatus which incorporates a vibration generator to enable air entrapped in a plating liquid to be removed therefrom
Furthermore, various Japanese publications, including Japanese Patent Publication 10-056261; Japanese Patent JP 73 26 862; Japanese Patent JP 52 1 384; Japanese Patent J 32 48 494; Japanese Patent JP 12 63 300; and Japanese Patent JP 41 54 192, are directed to various aspects of removing entrained or occluded gas or air bubbles from liquids which are employed in the processing of various articles, such as modules or panels including semiconductor devices, printed circuit boards and the like.
Although the foregoing patent publications each describe various types of arrangements, systems and methods for implementing the degassing of liquids, which through suitable applications may be employed for the pre-wetting of articles and any vias or holes formed therein so as to facilitate further wet chemical processing thereof, such as electroless copper plating or the like among other processes, none of these fulfill the above-mentioned conditions in being able to ensure, in a completely satisfactory manner, the pre-treatment of small diameter holes or vias possessing high aspect ratios to provide for the non-problematic subsequent wet chemical processing, such as copper plating. The intent is to produce desired high quality semiconductor devices comprising modules with printed circuit boards each incorporating a large number of small diameter holes or vias. In particular, a review of the current state-of-the technology, particularly as represented by the prior art, indicates that the pre-wetting or cleaning actions are primarily implemented in vessels wherein these contain the liquids in a generally stagnant or static environment, which frequently may be inadequate to fully remove entrapped air or gas bubbles from the modules, and particularly from internally of the small-diameter high-aspect ratio holes or vias which are present in such semiconductor devices or modules in the form of printed circuit board panels.
In order to clearly be able to fully utilize the ultrasonic energy, the application of which to the cleaning of articles or components is well known and developed in the technology, the use thereof in a highly reliable manner in order to eliminate entrapped gas or air from vias or holes in a separate manufacturing process is unique, and in order to achieve a high degree of reliability it is necessary to specify the required conditions at which the process becomes most effective.
Accordingly, the present invention utilizes a novel concept in the form of an in-line degassing arrangement forming an aperture system in which a prewet tank into which the modules or printed circuit boards containing the numerous small high aspect ratio drilled holes or vias are inserted, are degassed through the intermediary of a continuously flowing liquid, such as but not limited to deionized and essentially degassed water rather than the stagnant or static bath tanks which are presently employed in the technology.
The continuous water exchange and flow of the liquid employed by the inventive arrangement not only eliminate the air and gas bubbles from the surfaces of the modules and the vias which are formed therein, but also carries off any contaminates and particulates which are freed from the panel and the via surfaces by means of ultrasonic energy or mechanical vibratory action, thus imparting a further cleaning function to the pre-wetting process. This, in effect, will prevent any drying or dewetting of the articles prior to subsequent electroless copper plating, through which a so-called xe2x80x9ctxe2x80x9d could be encountered at the walls of the vias, resulting in a lack of adequate copper plating thickness and presenting a potential reliability problem in the use of electronic packages having the printed circuit boards or modules installed therein.
The inventive arrangement and process depends upon a dissolution of bubbles into the gas-depleted liquid flow of the bath, wherein the generated ultrasonic energy field due to the action of ultrasonic transducers serves primarily to promote acoustic microstreaming within the vias, thus shorting the path of diffusion of the air in the liquid by virtue of circulation. The ultrasonic field which is produced also serves to maintain the degassed condition of the bath into which there are immersed the modules, such as the printed circuit board panels incorporate the vias, over the course of time, wherein maintaining the degassed condition of the liquid in the tank is actually of greater significance than a direct application of ultrasonic energy to the panels.
Although so-called panel bumping and panel tilting have been employed in the technology in order to remove air from drilled holes prior to and/or during the plating processes, this maybe somewhat effective for larger-sized holes or vias, but remains essentially ineffective for smaller holes or vias, particularly those possessing high-aspect ratios.
Pursuant to the invention, there is thus provided an in-line, continuous flow pre-wetting process wherein the liquid is degassed prior to entering the pre-wetting tank having the panels immersed in a water bath, such as deionized water, liquid/surfactant, caustic solution or the like, and wherein prior to entering the prewetting tank an ultrasonic degassing unit or units will eliminate air or gas bubbles from the incoming flow of liquid.
The degassed liquid is then conducted into a bath tank containing one or more panels, such as printed circuit boards, and a surface spray may also be employed in spraying the upper surface of the bath liquid with the degassed liquid to flush surface impurities.
An ultrasonic transmitter array may be provided to face the panel or panels in the tank, and enables the freeing and removal of other contaminants and residual amounts of air from the surfaces and vias hereof, whereas a drain facilitates the continuous flow of the treatment liquid from the tank responsive to an overflow of liquid.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel arrangement for the degassing of small high-aspect ratio drilled holes or vias in panel structures prior to any wet chemical processing of the latter.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement for the degassing of modules comprising panels each incorporating a plurality of small holes or vias through the intermediary of suitably degassed liquid and continuous circulation of the liquid through a bath tank in which the panels are immersed.
Yet another object of the present invention resides in the provision of an arrangement of the type described wherein the degassing of the panels containing the small sized vias or holes prior to wet chemical processing thereof is implemented through the intermediary of ultrasonic energy in a continuous manner inhibiting the de-wetting of the via or holes which have been previously wetted in a capillary-like manner.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for the degassing of small high-aspect ratio drilled holes or vias in panel structures, such as printed circuit boards prior to wet chemical processing thereof.


Memory cells of electronic memory devices such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) typically employ a number of electronic components in order to store data. For example, in order to store data, a combination of electronic components such as transistors, diodes, and/or capacitors are typically employed in such memory cells to store or not store electrical charges. A charge stored in such a memory cell, may indicate a logic “1”, and no charge stored in such a memory cell, may indicate a logic “0”.
An alternative approach for storing data is to use memory cells made of phase change material (PCM). Phase change material may include a material that can be placed into at least two physical states—e.g., a crystalline state and an amorphous state—by increasing or decreasing a temperature of the phase change material. By changing the physical state of the phase change material, certain characteristics of the material, such as electrical resistance, may also change. Such properties may be exploited to form memory cells made of phase change material (referred to herein as “PCM memory cells”).
As devices including PCM memory cells (referred to herein as “PCM memory devices”) scale to smaller sizes, fabrication may be limited by higher aspect ratios of device structures and/or limits of conventional lithography and physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes. Techniques and structures that overcome such challenges may allow continued scaling of PCM memory devices to smaller sizes, or may allow increased memory density of PCM memory devices, or combinations thereof.


Gas seals or dry gas seals of the type defined in the introduction are already known from various publications. Examples of these are WO2014/037150 and WO2014/023581.
Dry gas seals of said type generally comprise components composed of ceramic, in particular manufactured from silicon carbide or tungsten carbide. The ceramic components are normally the stationary and/or rotating slide rings and, if appropriate, adjoining elements. A further example from the patent literature is given by DE 39 25 403 C2.
Features of the shaft seal defined in the introduction are already known from DE 202 17 983 U1, DE 20 2007 012050 A1, DE 10 2011 007071 A1, WO 96/04497 A 1.
In addition to the primary sealing of the gas seal, in particular dry gas seal, it is required that both the rotating sealing ring and the stationary sealing ring are sealed off with respect to the rotor or stator (housing and possibly connected components) by means of a substantially static seal. Owing to the possible axial vibrations, it is necessary for at least one of these seals to be axially movable. This is generally at least the stationary seal because the mobility is easier to realize at this component. Owing to the high dynamics of the movements, this secondary seal is subjected to extreme loading.
It has been found that, in conventional designs, the secondary seal, which generally has to ensure an axial movement, was cumbersome, relatively ineffective and susceptible to defects.


The present invention relates to storage batteries. More specifically, the present invention relates to battery monitors of the type used to monitor individual storage batteries or banks of storage batteries.
Individual storage batteries, and banks of storage batteries, are used in various applications including backup power supply applications. For example, remote cellular stations, electrical switching stations, hospitals, and many other installations require a source of backup power. In many such installations, it is important to ensure that the battery or batteries have not degraded and are capable of maintaining a desired amount of charge.
In the past, a technician has been typically required to perform battery tests on each of the batteries at the installation. This can be by manually connecting a battery tester to each of the batteries and taking measurements of the batteries. In another example configuration, test connections are run out to each of the batteries and connected to a central location. This allows the testing procedure to be automated.
These prior art techniques are cumbersome and are difficult to implement.


The use of wireless communication has become prevalent, especially in the management of assets, particularly those applications associated with inventory management. For example, the use of RFID tags permits the monitoring of the production line and the movement of assets or components through the supply chain.
To further illustrate this concept, a manufacturing entity may adhere RFID tags to components as they enter the production facility. These components are then inserted into the production flow, forming sub-assemblies in combination with other components, and finally resulting in a finished product. The use of RFID tags allows the personnel within the manufacturing entity to track the movement of the specific component throughout the manufacturing process. It also allows the entity to be able to identify the specific components that comprise any particular assembly or finished product.
In addition, the use of RFID tags has also been advocated within the drug and pharmaceutical industries. In February 2004, the United States Federal and Drug Administration issued a report advocating the use of RFID tags to label and monitor drugs. This is an attempt to provide pedigree and to limit the infiltration of counterfeit prescription drugs into the market and to consumers.
Since their introduction, RFID tags have been used in many applications, such as to identify and provide information for process control in filter products. U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,381, issued to Den Dekker in 1997, discloses the use of “electronic labels” in conjunction with filtering apparatus and replaceable filter assemblies. Specifically, the patent discloses a filter having an electronic label that has a read/write memory and an associated filtering apparatus that has readout means responsive to the label. The electronic label is adapted to count and store the actual operating hours of the replaceable filter. The filtering apparatus is adapted to allow use or refusal of the filter, based on this real-time number. The patent also discloses that the electronic label can be used to store identification information about the replaceable filter.
A patent application by Baker et al, published in 2005 as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2005/0205658, discloses a process equipment tracking system. This system includes the use of RFID tags in conjunction with process equipment. The RFID tag is described as capable of storing “at least one trackable event”. These trackable events are enumerated as cleaning dates, and batch process dates. The publication also discloses an RFID reader that is connectable to a PC or an internet, where a process equipment database exists. This database contains multiple trackable events and can supply information useful in determining “a service life of the process equipment based on the accumulated data”. The application includes the use of this type of system with a variety of process equipment, such as valves, pumps, filters, and ultraviolet lamps.
Another patent application, filed by Jornitz et al and published in 2004 as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0256328, discloses a device and method for monitoring the integrity of filtering installations. This publication describes the use of filters containing an onboard memory chip and communications device, in conjunction with a filter housing. The filter housing acts as a monitoring and integrity tester. That application also discloses a set of steps to be used to insure the integrity of the filtering elements used in multi-round housings. These steps include querying the memory element to verify the type of filter that is being used, its limit data, and its production release data.
Despite the improvements that have occurred through the use of RFID tags, there are additional areas that have not been satisfactorily addressed. For example, there are a number of applications, such as integrity testing and protein monitoring, in which real time monitoring of the concentration of a particular substance would be extremely beneficial. While RFID tags offer one embodiment of the present invention, solutions utilizing wired communication are also envisioned.


Many electrical connectors enable the conductors of a cable to be electrically joined to terminals in the connector. The connector with the cable extending therefrom can be mated with a compatible connector which is mounted to another cable, an electrical apparatus or the like. Electrical connectors desirably should achieve many objectives including: a high quality electrical connection; low manufacturing costs; a minimum number of components; a low design profile; easy assembly; environmental sealing; compatibility with other connectors and durability.
One very desirable electrical connector that achieves the above identified objectives is shown in patent application Ser. No. 005,045 entitled "ENVIRONMENTALLY SEALED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR", now U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,174, which was filed by Leonard H. Michaels and which is assigned to the assignee of the subject invention. The disclosure of this co-pending application is incorporated herein by reference.
As explained in application Ser. No. 005,045, it is often necessary or desirable to have the cable extend from the connector at approximately 90.degree. to the mating axis of the connector. However, the mere uncontrolled bending of a cable through 90.degree. immediately adjacent to a connector can create stresses within the cable or at the electrical and mechanical connections between the cable conductors and the terminals of the connector. The stresses created at these locations by the uncontrolled bending of the cable has been known to cause sufficient stress to damage the conductors and render the connector substantially inoperative.
One type of structure intended to avoid these problems is a plastic right angle head molded directly onto the assembled connector. Although this prior art structure is compact, it is also costly and suffers from poor reliability. In particular, the insert molding process required for these right angle heads is time consuming and labor intensive. Additionally, these right angle heads employ elastomers as the insulation material to bond to and seal the cable under flexing. However, these elastomers contribute to two other failure modes. For example, the elastomer stresses under tension and becomes proportionally thinner. As a result, it is possible to break the wires under the elastomer at the crimp joint in the right angle head. Damage of this type cannot be seen on the outside of the part, and will only be realized by a failure of the connector in testing or actual use. It also has been found that the bonding of the elastomer to the cable is unpredictable and appears to vary in accordance with unpredictable molding process parameters. In many instances, the elastomer will fail to seal and/or bond to the cable. Consequently, the cable will slip relative to the elastomer, and the intended strain relief will not be provided.
Another distinct structure for providing right angle connectors is to employ cast metal angles or multiple cast parts to obtain the required angular orientation. These designs generally work well and do not suffer from the failures described above with respect to the molded on right angle heads. However, connectors employing multiple cast parts are extremely expensive to manufacture and are much larger. Size often is one of the most important design criteria of the connector.
Still another structure for obtaining the right angle orientation of the connector is to employ multiple metallic parts that are brazed together. Once again, the resulting parts are reliable, but they are costly and labor intensive to manufacture, and are undesirably large.
The above described U.S. patent application Ser. No. 005,045 shows and describes a right angle adapter that is molded from an elastomeric material. This adapter is desirable in that it can readily be added on after the cable and connector half are in a fully assembled condition. Although this right angle adapter offers certain advantages, it is desirable to provide a right angle connector that reliably provides more positive strain relief and that securely grips the cable in an unstressed condition.
In view of the above, it is an object of the subject invention to provide an electrical connector with a cable exit at an angle to the mating axis of the connector.
It is another object of the subject invention to provide an efficient electrical connector with a cable exit at 90.degree. to the mating axis of the connector.
It is a further object of the subject invention to provide an electrical connector with a right angle cable exit and that is simple in construction, and easy to assemble.
It is still another object of the subject invention to provide an electrical connector with a right angle cable exit wherein the connector provides a seal and strain relief to the cable interface.
A further object of the subject invention is to provide an efficient electrical connector with a right angle cable exit and with a compact design profile.


Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing equipment and a computer-readable recording medium that generate print data for leaves for leaf pressing processing.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, leaf pressing print has been known for forming characters and designs made of leaves of gold, silver, and the like, on a sheet. Leaf pressing print is performed by applying adhesive material such as varnish on the sheet, and bonding a metal thin film (leaf) with a point where the adhesive material is applied.
Here, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a print system including a conventional leaf pressing machine will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an entire construction of the print system including a conventional leaf pressing machine. FIG. 2 illustrates conventional leaf pressing print (when a leaf object does not stride over a boundary).
According to the conventional leaf pressing print, when print data (submitted data 5) including a gold leaf image and a silver leaf image is submitted from a client terminal 1, the submitted data 5 is divided by a controller 2 into three kinds of print data 6 without leaves excluding a gold or a silver leaf object (also referred to as a “leaf pressed image”), print data 7g for gold leaves including a gold leaf object, and print data 7s for silver leaves including a silver leaf object.
Subsequently, the print data 6 without leaves is printed by a printer 3, and a user sets printed matter 8 in a leaf pressing machine 4. Since only one kind of leaf pressing can be performed by a general leaf pressing machine 4, a gold leaf roll is set in the leaf pressing machine 4 first, and the leaf pressing machine 4 performs additional print (leaf pressing) on the printed matter 8 based on the print data 7g for gold leaves. Subsequently, a silver color leaf roll is set in the leaf pressing machine 4, and the leaf pressing machine 4 performs the additional print (leaf pressing) based on print data 7s for silver leaves to create printed matter 9 on which the gold leaf and the silver leaf are pressed.
Further, in recent years, a leaf pressing machine that can mount two leaf rolls has been developed. As illustrated in FIG. 2, two leaf rolls in different colors are arranged adjacent to each other in a vertical direction with respect to a sheet forwarding direction. A boundary C is a boundary part between a gold leaf region 11g (one example of first region) where the leaf pressing processing is performed with a gold leaf roll 10g (first leaf roll), and a silver leaf region 11s (one example of second region) where the leaf pressing processing is performed with a silver leaf roll 10s (second leaf roll), and corresponds to a center of a leaf image 12 of the submitted data. Such a leaf pressing machine mounting two leaf rolls can press the gold leaf and the silver leaf at a time, if a leaf image 12 includes a gold leaf object 13g and a silver leaf object 13s that are located at a left side and a right side respectively holding the boundary C between the gold leaf object 13g and the silver leaf object 13s as illustrated in FIG. 2.
Patent Literature 1 discloses constructions of a rotational drive section, a bearing device, a winding axis, and the like, to keep stopping a partial leaf roll that does not perform the leaf pressing, in a device provided with a partial leaf roll sending a partial leaf row obtained by dividing a transfer leaf into one or more.


This invention relates generally to the field of electronic devices, and more particularly to an integrated circuit having a doped porous dielectric and method of manufacturing the same.
Integrated circuits typically contain a large number of semiconductor devices. Manufacturers of the integrated circuits often wish to decrease the size of the integrated circuits, which allows more circuitry to be placed within the same physical area of a circuit. To help decrease the size of the integrated circuits, the manufacturers may place the semiconductor devices closer together in the integrated circuits. One problem is that capacitance between the semiconductor devices typically increases as the space between the semiconductor devices decreases. The increased capacitance between the semiconductor devices can interfere with the operation of the semiconductor devices and with the operation of the integrated circuits.
One approach to decreasing the capacitance between the semiconductor devices involves decreasing the thickness of the semiconductor devices. For example, the manufacturers may reduce the thickness of gates used in transistors. The capacitance between the semiconductor devices is typically proportional to the cross-sectional area of the semiconductor devices. Because thinner semiconductor devices have less cross-sectional area, the capacitance between the semiconductor devices typically decreases. A problem with this approach is that difficulty may be encountered in maintaining the operation of the semiconductor devices. As the semiconductor devices become thinner, the reduced size of the devices may interfere with the ability of the devices to conduct. Eventually, the reduced thickness of the semiconductor devices may prevent the devices from conducting, and the semiconductor devices in the integrated circuits can fail.
Another approach to decreasing the capacitance between the semiconductor devices involves lowering the dielectric constant (K) of the insulating material between the devices. For example, oxide may be used as an insulating material in an integrated circuit, and oxide typically has a dielectric constant of approximately four. The capacitance between the semiconductor devices is typically proportional to the dielectric constant of the insulating material. As a result, lowering the dielectric constant of the insulating material reduces the capacitance between the semiconductor devices. A problem with this approach is that, as manufacturers place the semiconductor devices closer together, the dielectric constant of the insulating material may still be high enough to allow the formation of an appreciable amount of capacitance in the integrated circuit. Also, the insulating material may suffer from contamination, such as by metal ions like sodium, that interferes with the operation of the integrated circuit.
The present invention recognizes a need for an improved integrated circuit having a doped porous dielectric and method of manufacturing the same. The present invention reduces or eliminates at least some of the shortcomings of prior systems and methods.
In one embodiment of the invention, an integrated circuit includes a semiconductor device. The integrated circuit also includes a contact layer disposed outwardly from the semiconductor device and operable to provide electrical connection to the semiconductor device. In addition, the integrated circuit includes a dielectric layer disposed inwardly from the contact layer and outwardly from the semiconductor device. The dielectric layer comprises an at least substantially porous dielectric material doped with at least one dopant.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the semiconductor device comprises a transistor. Also, the dielectric layer may, for example, include an at least substantially porous dielectric material doped with at least one of phosphorus, fluorine, carbon, and boron.
In another embodiment of the invention, a method for forming an integrated circuit having an at least substantially doped porous dielectric includes forming a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device comprises at least a portion of a semiconductor substrate. The method also includes forming a dielectric layer disposed outwardly from the semiconductor substrate and surrounding at least a portion of the semiconductor device. The dielectric layer comprises an at least substantially porous dielectric material doped with at least one dopant. In addition, the method includes forming a contact layer disposed outwardly from the dielectric layer and operable to provide electrical connection to the semiconductor device.
Numerous technical advantages can be gained through various embodiments of the invention. Various embodiments of the invention may exhibit none, some, or all of the following advantages. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, an integrated circuit is provided that uses a doped, at least substantially porous dielectric material disposed between a semiconductor device and a contact layer. The dielectric material may be doped with any suitable dopant material, such as phosphorus and fluorine. The use of a fluorine dopant decreases the dielectric constant of the dielectric material, which helps to reduce the capacitance between different conductive regions in the integrated circuit. The use of phosphorus reduces the effects of metallic contamination in the dielectric material, which helps to reduce or eliminate interference caused by the contaminant in the integrated circuit.
Another technical advantage of at least some embodiments of the invention is that the conductive regions in the semiconductor device retain an appropriate amount of thickness, helping to ensure that the integrated circuit operates properly. The conductive regions in the semiconductor device may retain enough thickness to conduct properly, which helps to ensure that the semiconductor device operates properly. The conductive regions need not be reduced in size to the point where it interferes with the ability of the integrated circuit to function.
Other technical advantages are readily apparent to one of skill in the art from the attached figures, description, and claims.


Meetings held in large rooms involving two or more individuals can be facilitated using an audio conferencing system. Audio conferencing systems typically include some number of microphones, at least one loudspeaker and a base station which may or may not be linked to a network. The microphones can operate to pick up local acoustic audio signals (speech) and transmit the signals to the base station which generally operates to provide session control and to process the audio signals in a number of ways before sending the signals to a far end system to be played. Among other things, the base station can be configured to track the operational state characteristics of each of the portable devices. Recently, some audio conferencing systems have been designed with wireless or portable microphones, speakers and control devices. Such wireless audio conferencing systems afford much greater flexibility with respect to the conduct of a meeting, permitting individuals to participate in a meeting while moving around the conference room and permitting the optimal placement of the speaker so that it can be heard by everyone in the room.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing functional components comprising a commercially available room audio system 100. The system 100 can be comprised of a fixed base station 102 and several different types of wireless or portable devices. In this case, the system 100 has a number of wireless microphones 110, one or more loudspeakers 108, a wireless control device 106, and a charging tray 104. The charging tray 104 has a charging receptacle for each of the portable devices such that when a portable device is placed in the tray an electrical potential will be applied to the portable device and it's battery will start charging.


Many technologies exist that have the ability to digitize different types of input. There are two main touch sensing approaches: active and passive. Passive devices include those that are receptive in a predictable manner to resistive, capacitive, acoustic surface wave, or electro-optical variations due to contact or touch by, for instance, a human finger or a stylus. Active devices include inductive and RF devices.
The key downside of active approaches is that an explicit object must be used (e.g., a special pen), which is implemented with electronics (and potentially batteries). This is more complex to manufacture. For example, pens augmented with infrared light emitters on their tips can be used on the commercially available Microsoft Surface.
Therefore, there is a need to construct a passive input tool without the need for electronics (including e.g., indirectly or wireless powered or EM coupled components including coils) or other active components.