1. A damper assembly comprising:
a linear motion to rotary motion conversion mechanism including;
an outer tube member;
an inner tube member reciprocally movable and at least partially disposed within said outer tube member, wherein said inner tube member is adapted for generally linear translation in a first and a second direction;
a shaft rotatably mounted to and at least partially disposed with respect to said inner tube member;
wherein translation of said inner tube member in one of said first or said second directions produces a rotation of said shaft;
a damping mechanism including;
a rotor fixed to said shaft;
a coil sufficiently configured to generate an electromagnetic field in response to an applied current;
a magneto-rheological fluid in contact with said rotor, said magneto-rheological fluid having a variable viscosity in the presence of said electromagnetic field; and
wherein application of said electromagnetic field to said magneto-rheological fluid produces changes in the viscosity of said magneto-rheological fluid that in turn provides variable resistance to rotation of said rotor and translation of said inner tube member within said outer tube member.
2. The damper assembly of claim 1, further comprising:
a nut member mounted with respect to said inner tube member;
wherein said nut member is sufficiently configured to threadably receive said shaft; and
wherein said nut member is operable to cause rotation of said rotatable shaft as said inner tube member is translated.
3. The damper assembly of claim 2, wherein said nut has a ball screw configuration.
4. The damper assembly of claim 2, further comprising:
a nut housing mounted with respect to said inner tube member and sufficiently configured to receive at least a portion of said nut member; and
a bushing disposed about the periphery of said nut housing and engageable with an inner surface of said outer tube member.
5. The damper assembly of claim 1, further comprising:
an end cap mounted with respect to said inner tube member;
a dust shield depending or extending from said end cap; and
wherein said dust shield is sufficiently configured to receive at least a portion of said outer tube member.
6. The damper assembly of claim 1, further comprising:
a first attachment member operable to mount the damper assembly, wherein said first attachment member is mounted with respect to said inner tube member; and
a second attachment member operable to mount the damper assembly, wherein said second attachment member is mounted with respect to said damping mechanism.
7. The damper assembly of claim 1, wherein said rotor includes:
a hub portion extending generally radially from said rotatable shaft; and
a drum portion extending generally axially from said hub portion.
8. The damper assembly of claim 7, wherein said hub portion is formed from non-magnetic material and defines at least one orifice sufficiently configured to promote the movement of said magneto-rheological fluid within said damping mechanism.
9. The damper assembly of claim 7, wherein said drum portion includes a generally annular non-magnetic portion operable to shape said electromagnetic field.
10. The damper assembly of claim 9, wherein said generally annular non-magnetic portion defines at least one orifice sufficiently configured to promote the movement of said magneto-rheological fluid within said damping mechanism.
11. The damper assembly of claim 7, wherein the drum portion includes a surface treatment to increase at least one of the surface roughness and wear resistance of said drum portion.
12. The damper assembly of claim 11, wherein said surface treatment is electro-spark deposition of tungsten carbide.
13. The damper assembly of claim 1, further comprising a sensor assembly operable to determine at least one of rotational velocity and position of said shaft.
14. A damper assembly comprising:
a linear motion to rotary motion conversion mechanism including;
a generally cylindrical outer tube member;
a generally cylindrical inner tube member reciprocally movable and at least partially disposed within said generally cylindrical outer tube member, wherein said generally cylindrical inner tube member is adapted for generally linear translation in a first and a second direction;
a shaft rotatably mounted with respect to and at least partially disposed within said inner tube member;
wherein translation of said generally cylindrical inner tube member in one of said first or said second directions produces a rotation of said shaft;
a nut member mounted with respect to said generally cylindrical inner tube member, wherein said nut member is sufficiently configured to threadably receive said shaft and wherein said nut member is operable to cause rotation of said shaft as said generally cylindrical inner tube member is translated in one of said first and second direction;
a damping mechanism including;
a housing;
a rotor fixed to said rotatable shaft;
a coil sufficiently configured to generate a variable electromagnetic field in response to an applied current;
a magneto-rheological fluid in contact with said rotor, said magneto-rheological fluid having a variable viscosity in the presence of said electromagnetic field;
wherein said housing is sufficiently configured to receive at least portions of said coil, said rotor, and said magneto-rheological fluid; and
wherein application of said variable electromagnetic field to said magneto-rheological fluid produces changes in the viscosity of said magneto-rheological fluid that in turn provides variable resistance to rotation of said rotor and translation of said generally cylindrical inner tube member within said generally cylindrical outer tube member.
15. The damper assembly of claim 14, wherein said rotor includes:
a hub portion extending generally radially from said rotatable shaft;
a drum portion extending generally axially from said hub portion; and
wherein at least one of said hub portion and said drum portion defines at least one orifice sufficiently configured to promote the movement of said magneto-rheological fluid within said damping mechanism.
16. The damper assembly of claim 14, wherein said rotor includes:
a hub portion extending generally radially from said rotatable shaft;
a drum portion extending generally axially from said hub portion; and
wherein said drum portion includes an electro-spark deposition of tungsten carbide to increase the surface roughness and wear resistance of said drum portion.
17. The damper assembly of claim 14, wherein said rotor includes:
a hub portion extending generally radially from said rotatable shaft;
a drum portion extending generally axially from said hub portion; and
wherein said drum portion includes a generally annular non-magnetic portion operable to shape said electromagnetic field.
18. The damper assembly of claim 14, further comprising:
a nut housing mounted with respect to said generally cylindrical inner tube member and sufficiently configured to receive at least a portion of said nut member; and
a bushing disposed about the periphery of said nut housing and engageable with an inner surface of said generally cylindrical outer tube member.
19. A damper assembly for a vehicle suspension having a variable resistive force, the damper assembly comprising:
a linear motion to rotary motion conversion mechanism including;
a generally cylindrical outer tube member;
a generally cylindrical inner tube member reciprocally movable and at least partially disposed within said generally cylindrical outer tube member, wherein said generally cylindrical inner tube member is adapted for generally linear translation in a first and a second direction;
a shaft rotatably mounted with respect to and at least partially disposed within said generally cylindrical inner tube member;
wherein translation of said generally cylindrical inner tube member in one of said first or said second directions produces a rotation of said shaft;
a nut member mounted with respect to said generally cylindrical inner tube member, wherein said nut member is sufficiently configured to receive said rotatable shaft and wherein said nut member is operable to cause rotation of said rotatable shaft as said generally cylindrical inner tube member is translated in one of said first and second directions;
a damping mechanism including;
a housing;
a rotor fixed to said shaft;
a coil sufficiently configured to generate a variable electromagnetic field in response to an applied current;
a magneto-rheological fluid in contact with said rotor, said magneto-rheological fluid having a variable viscosity in the presence of said electromagnetic field;
wherein said housing is sufficiently configured to receive at least portions of said coil, said rotor, and said magneto-rheological fluid; and
wherein application of said variable electromagnetic field to said variable magneto-rheological fluid produces changes in the viscosity of said magneto-rheological fluid that in turn provides variable resistance to rotation of said rotor and translation of said generally cylindrical inner tube member within said generally cylindrical outer tube member.
20. The damper assembly of claim 19, wherein said rotor includes:
a hub portion extending generally radially from said shaft;
a drum portion extending generally axially from said hub portion;
wherein at least one of said hub portion and said drum portion defines at least one orifice sufficiently configured to promote the movement of said magneto-rheological fluid within said damping mechanism; and
wherein said drum portion includes an electro-spark deposition of material having sufficient properties to increase the surface roughness and wear resistance of said drum portion.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including a low-voltage MOS transistor and a high-voltage MOS transistor, comprising the steps of:
performing a low-voltage well implantation process on a semiconductor substrate to form a first well in a first region of the substrate and a second well in a second region of the substrate;
forming a first and second gate oxide layers and a first and second gate electrodes in the first and second regions, respectively;
forming a first photoresist pattern to expose the first region;
forming a first LDD region in the first region exposed by the first photoresist pattern and the first gate electrode;
removing the first photoresist pattern;
forming a second photoresist pattern to expose the second region;
forming a second LDD region in the second region exposed by the second photoresist pattern and the second gate electrode;
performing a compensational implantation on the second region to adjust a well concentration for the high-voltage MOS transistor; and
removing the second photoresist pattern.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second region contains a NMOS high-voltage transistor, and the compensational implantation comprises implanting impurity ions having a conductivity type opposite to the second well.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein compensational implantation conditions comprise an implantation energy of 100-250 KeV, and a dose of 1E12-1E13 ionscm2.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second region contains a NMOS high-voltage transistor, and the compensational implantation is performed under conditions comprising impurity ions having a conductivity type opposite to the second well, an implantation energy of 170 KeV, and a dose of 4.3E12 ionscm2.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second region contains a PMOS high-voltage transistor, and the compensational implantation comprises impurity ions having a conductivity type identical to the second well.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the compensational implantation conditions comprise an implantation energy of 100-250 KeV, and a dose of 1E12-5E12 ionscm2.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second region contains a PMOS high-voltage transistor, and the compensational implantation is performed under conditions comprising impurity ions having a conductivity type identical to the second well, an implantation energy of 170 KeV, and a dose of 2.5E12 ionscm2.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second gate oxide layers are formed simultaneously, and the first and second gate electrodes are formed simultaneously.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first photoresist pattern blocks implantation into the second region, and the second photoresist pattern blocks implantation into the first region.
10. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including a low-voltage MOS transistor and a high-voltage MOS transistor, comprising the steps of:
performing a low-voltage well implantation process on a semiconductor substrate to form a first well in a first region of the substrate, and a second well in a second region of the substrate;
forming first and second gate oxide layers and first and second gate electrodes in the first and second regions, respectively;
forming a first photoresist pattern to expose the first region;
forming a first LDD region in the first region exposed by the first photoresist pattern and the first gate electrode;
removing the first photoresist pattern;
forming a second photoresist pattern to expose the second region;
performing a compensational implantation on the second region to adjust a well concentration for the high-voltage MOS transistor;
forming a second LDD region in the second region exposed by the second photoresist pattern and the second gate electrode; and
removing the second photoresist pattern.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second region contains a NMOS high-voltage transistor, and the compensational implantation comprises impurity ions having a conductivity type opposite to the second well.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein compensational implantation conditions comprise an implantation energy of 100-250 KeV, and a dose of 1E12-1E13 ionscm2.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the second region contains a NMOS high-voltage transistor, and the compensational implantation is performed under conditions comprising impurity ions having a conductivity type opposite to the second well, an implantation energy of 170 KeV, and a dose of 4.3E12 ionscm2.
14. The method of claim 10, wherein the second region contains a PMOS high-voltage transistor, and the compensational implantation comprises impurity ions having a conductivity type identical to the second well.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the compensational implantation conditions comprise an implantation energy of 100-250 KeV, and a dose of 1E12-5E12 ionscm2.
16. The method of claim 10, wherein the second region contains a PMOS high-voltage transistor, and the compensational implantation is performed under conditions comprising impurity ions having a conductivity type identical to the second well, an implantation energy of 170 KeV, and a dose of 2.5E12 ionscm2.
17. The method of claim 10, wherein the first and second gate electrodes are formed simultaneously.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first and second gate oxide layers are formed simultaneously.
19. The method of claim 10, wherein the first photoresist pattern blocks implantation into the second region.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the second photoresist pattern blocks implantation into the first region.