| Recent
Patents on Engineering
ISSN: 1872-2121
Recent Patents on Engineering
Volume 1, Number 2, June 2007
Contents
ESD Protection Design with Low-Capacitance Consideration
for High-Speed/High-Frequency I/O Interfaces in Integrated
Circuits Pp. 131-145
Ming-Dou Ker and Yuan-Wen Hsiao
[Abstract]
Piezoelectric Actuator for Intra-Cytoplasmic
Sperm Injection Pp. 147-152
Andi S. Putra, Sunan Huang, Kok K. Tan, Sanjib K. Panda
and Tong H. Lee
[Abstract]
Current Developments in Heat Pipes: An Overview
Pp. 153-161
Raffaele Savino, Diego Paterna and Yoshiyuki Abe
[Abstract]
Differential Quadrature, Generalized Methods, Related
Discrete Element Analysis Methods and EDQ Based Time Integration
Method Pp. 163-176
Chang-New Chen
[Abstract]
Microparticle Retention Aid Systems in Mechanical
Pulp Suspensions Pp. 177-186
Yonika Wiputri and Peter Englezos
[Abstract]
Decoupling Methods for the Mutual Coupling Effect
in Antenna Arrays: A Review Pp. 187-193
Hon Tat Hui
[Abstract]
Recent Patents of Product Design Technologies
Pp. 195-202
Chun-Hsien Chen, Yih T. Chong and Wei Yan
[Abstract]
Patent Selections
Pp. 203-205
Abstracts
[Back to top]
ESD Protection Design with Low-Capacitance Consideration for
High-Speed/High-Frequency I/O Interfaces in Integrated Circuits
Ming-Dou Ker and Yuan-Wen Hsiao
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection has been a very
important reliability issue in microelectronics, especially
for integrated circuits (ICs). ESD protection design for giga-Hz
high-speed input/output (I/O) circuits has been one of the
key challenges to implement high-speed interface circuits
in CMOS technology. Conventional on-chip ESD protection circuits
at the I/O pads often cause unacceptable performance degradation
to high-speed I/O circuits. Therefore, ESD protection circuits
must be designed with minimum negative impact to the high-speed
interface circuits and to sustain high enough ESD robustness.
In this paper, ESD protection design considerations for high-speed
I/O circuits are addressed, and the patents related to on-chip
ESD protection designs for high-speed I/O circuits are presented
and discussed.
[Back to top]
Piezoelectric Actuator for Intra-Cytoplasmic
Sperm Injection
Andi S. Putra, Sunan Huang, Kok K. Tan, Sanjib K. Panda
and Tong H. Lee
While manual ICSI has been able to accomplish artificial fertilization
rather satisfactorily, it has also been associated with several
drawbacks inherited from its manual manner of operation. Piezo-assisted
ICSI is currently gaining attention and preference because
of its ability to perform sperm injection in a precise manner,
which has significantly improved the result. A number of piezo-actuators
for this purpose have been proposed. This paper discusses
the publications and patents pertaining to this application,
as well as a proposed device to further improve the result.
[Back to top]
Current Developments in Heat Pipes: An Overview
Raffaele Savino, Diego Paterna and Yoshiyuki Abe
Heat transfer is one of the most difficult tasks in thermal
management of electronic components and directly influences
cost, reliability and performances. Heat pipes are efficient
heat transfer devices used in many applications, e.g. electronic
systems, spacecrafts thermal control, energy collectors, power
generation, chemical engineering, air conditioning, engine
cooling and others. At normal operating temperatures all heat
pipes have heat transfer limits imposed by the capillary transport
capabilities in presence of high heat fluxes. Typical wick
or capillary structures and common working fluids show advantages
in some aspects and disadvantages in others. After a general
introduction and a short description of the history of heat
pipes developments, an overview of the current intellectual
property environment and market is presented to identify trends
for future developments. Then an overview of recent patents
related to heat pipes technology is presented, with particular
reference to: flat heat pipes, flexible heat pipes, innovative
wick structures, phase change materials, innovative working
fluids. Concerning flat and flexible heat pipes, a number
of patents are shown that are characterized by different geometries
and materials and, differently from usual cylindrical heat
pipes, are particularly suited for use in microelectronics
applications. Patents related to innovative wick structures
are shown that are aimed to overcome some limitations associated
with usual wick structures (woven mesh or sintered powder).
Patented heat pipes architectures are also described that
are designed to enlarge the operating temperature range by
using appropriate phase change materials. In addition, recent
patents are shown that exploit the use of binary mixtures
as working fluids to improve the heat pipes efficiency compared
to conventional pure working fluids.
[Back to top]
Differential Quadrature, Generalized Methods, Related
Discrete Element Analysis Methods and EDQ Based Time Integration
Method
Chang-New Chen
Development of differential quadrature related generalized
methods, discrete element analysis methods and EDQ based time
integration methods has been carried out in the past few years.
The related numerical algorithms are summarized and presented.
Four discrete analysis techniques related patents are also
reviewed. Some engineering problems are solved using the developed
DQ related discrete analysis methods. Numerical results are
also presented. They prove the effectiveness of the developed
algorithms.
[Back to top]
Microparticle Retention Aid Systems in Mechanical
Pulp Suspensions
Yonika Wiputri and Peter Englezos
Today’s papermakers face the ever-increasing challenge
of producing good quality paper while keeping prices low.
This is achieved by using cheaper raw materials such as mechanical
pulps and mineral fillers. To increase productivity, machine
speeds have also increased. To meet these challenges, it is
crucial that the papermakers are able to effectively retain
mineral fillers and fiber fines while simultaneously improving
dewatering rate. Microparticle retention aid systems, typically
utilizing anionic colloidal silica and/or clay-based particles
in combination with cationic polymers, have been developed
to help deal with these challenges. Generally, microparticle
retention aid systems have shown better retention and dewatering
performance compared to the classical single or dual polymer
retention aid systems. In the past decade, many variations
of the microparticle system have been developed to further
improve its performance. With respect to the silica-based
particles, these include modifications to their physical and
chemical structures. In the case of the clay-based particles,
various methods have been devised to keep the suspension dispersed,
either by mixing the clay-based particles with silica-based
particles or synthetic metal silicates. Cationic microparticle
systems are also available. Examples include cationic bentonite
and fibrous alumina, which are used in combination with cationic
or non-ionic polymers. A patent literature search on microparticle
retention systems was conducted. It covered the period from
1990 to 2005. The various inventions are described in this
paper.
[Back to top]
Decoupling Methods for the Mutual Coupling Effect
in Antenna Arrays: A Review
Hon Tat Hui
Mutual coupling is a common problem in the applications of
antenna arrays. It significantly affects the operation of
almost all types of antenna arrays. Over the past years, there
have been many different kinds of methods suggested to decouple
(or to compensate for) the mutual coupling effect in antenna
arrays. The effectiveness of these methods varied and depended
upon the types of antenna arrays being considered and the
applications in which the antenna arrays were used. In this
paper, a brief review of the decoupling methods for the mutual
coupling effect in antenna arrays is presented. These include
patented and non-patented methods. The methods are grouped
under seven categories for antenna arrays in communications
and four categories for antenna arrays in magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI). The various methods will be first briefly described
and their operation principles will be explained. Then some
comments on their scopes of application and their comparisons
or relations to other methods will be given. The problems
associated with these methods will also be analysed. This
is the first review on this topic and we believe that it helps
to give an overview of the decoupling methods which have been
so far proposed in the literature. We also believe that this
review will help clarify some main differences and relations
between the various decoupling methods and provide some information
for future research on the problem of mutual coupling.
[Back to top]
Recent Patents of Product Design Technologies
Chun-Hsien Chen, Yih T. Chong and Wei Yan
Design phase, the front-end of a development process,
is known to have the highest impact on the lifecycle cost
of products. Presumably, it is considered necessary for product
developers to legally protect the product design technologies
that they have invented. This paper categorically reviews
a group of selected patents, which were filed in the last
twenty years, in this area of concerns. From the structural
review, several patterns and trends were identified. The product
development pipelines in corporations have visibly undergone
technological revolution during the last two decades. Notably,
design methodologies and product data management techniques
were the prominent classes of patents observed. Furthermore,
this work has revealed the recent focuses of the industry
in the areas of collaborative design and environmental-friendly
design.
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