Author: claimsbot

1. A method of imaging targets using an unmanned air vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
making a determination of cloud obscuration of a target;
selecting an imaging sensor based on the cloud obscuration determination; and
using the selected imaging sensor to produce an image of the target.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of making a determination of cloud obscuration of a target comprises the step of:
using forecasts of precipitation in an area of interest to determine a probability of cloud obscuration along a line of sight between an aircraft position and a target.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of making a determination of cloud obscuration of a target comprises the steps of:
detecting clouds based on reflected light from a laser.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of making a determination of cloud obscuration of a target comprises the steps of:
firing a laser beam toward an area of interest;
measuring a time for a reflected beam to return to a sensor; and
comparing the measured time to an expected time.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of making a determination of cloud obscuration of a target comprises the steps of:
detecting clouds based on image content.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of detecting clouds based on image content comprises the steps of:
taking an image of an area of interest;
identifying cloud edges in the image of the area of interest;
summing the number of cloud edges; and
comparing the total number of cloud edges to a predetermined number.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of identifying cloud edges comprises the step of:
comparing relative velocities of at least two of the edges.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of making a determination of cloud obscuration of a target comprises the step of:
detecting clouds based on the relative movement of the clouds.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of making a determination of cloud obscuration of a target comprises the steps of:
shining a laser beam toward a target area;
taking an image of the target area; and
determining an offset between the laser beam and the target in the image.
10. An apparatus for imaging targets from an air vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
a sensing system for determining cloud obscuration of a target;
at least two different imaging sensors; and
a controller for selecting one of the target sensors for imaging the target, based on the determined cloud obscuration.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the sensing system comprises:
a processor for using forecasts of precipitation in an area of interest to determine a probability of cloud obscuration along a line of sight between the air vehicle position and a target.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein sensing system comprises:
a laser for producing a beam of light capable of being reflected by clouds; and
a processor for measuring a time for a reflected beam to return to a sensor and for comparing the measured time to an expected time.
13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein sensing system comprises:
a camera for producing images of an area of interest; and
a processor for identifying cloud edges in the images, for summing the cloud edges, and for comparing the total number of cloud edges to a predetermined number.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor identifies cloud edges by comparing relative velocities of at least two of the edges in different image frames.
15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein sensing system for determining cloud obscuration of a target detects clouds based on the relative movement of the clouds.
16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein sensing system comprises:
a camera for producing images of an area of interest;
a laser for shining a laser beam toward the area of interest; and
a processor for measuring an offset between the laser beam and the target in the images, and for comparing the measured offset to a predetermined offset.
17. An apparatus for imaging targets from an air vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
means for making a determination of cloud obscuration of a target;
means for selecting an imaging sensor based on the cloud obscuration determination; and
means for using the selected imaging sensor to produce an image of the target.

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 substrate holder for supporting a substrate in a processing system, comprising:
a temperature controlled support base having a controlled first temperature;
a substrate support opposing said temperature controlled support base and configured to support said substrate, said substrate support including a clamp electrode embedded therein, said clamp electrode configured to electrically clamp said substrate to said substrate support;
one or more heating elements embedded within said substrate support and configured to heat said substrate support to a second temperature above said controlled first temperature; and
an erosion resistant thermal insulator disposed between said temperature controlled support base and said substrate support, said erosion resistant thermal insulator having a thermal conductivity lower than respective thermal conductivities of both said substrate support and said temperature controlled support base such that said erosion resistant thermal insulator provides thermal resistance between said substrate support and said temperature controlled support base, wherein said erosion resistant thermal insulator is an acryl-based adhesive which bonds said temperature controlled support base to said substrate support and includes an exposed portion which is exposed to an external environment of the substrate holder, wherein at least the exposed portion consists of an acryl-based chemical compound material that resists halogen containing gas corrosion when exposed to a process gas of the processing system, the resistance to corrosion being quantified by the acryl-based chemical compound material having an erosion ratio of less than 5.5 mm3hr when exposed to an SF6-based plasma.
2. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein said erosion resistant thermal insulator mitigates heating of a substantially edge region of said substrate.
3. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein said erosion resistant thermal insulator comprises an acrylic material or an acrylate material.
4. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein said erosion resistant thermal insulator is configured to resist corrosion by a cleaning chemistry containing fluorine or oxygen.
5. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein said one or more heating elements comprises resistive heating elements or heating channels.
6. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein said one or more heating elements and said clamp electrode lie in separate planes.
7. The substrate holder of claim 1, further comprising:
at least one temperature sensor disposed in said substrate holder to measure a temperature of said substrate support, to measure a temperature of said substrate contacting said substrate support, or to measure a temperature of both said substrate support and said substrate contacting said substrate support.
8. The substrate holder of claim 7, wherein said support base, said substrate support and said temperature sensor each include a feature to provide coupling to a control system such that a temperature of said one or more heating elements in said substrate support and a temperature of a temperature controlled fluid in said support base are adjusted based on a measured temperature of said at least one temperature sensor during each processing step of a multiple step process performed by the processing system.
9. The substrate holder of claim 7, wherein said temperature sensor comprises:
a central temperature sensor to measure a temperature of a substantially central region of said substrate and a temperature beneath the substantially central region of said substrate; and
an edge temperature sensor to measure a temperature of a substantially edge region of said substrate and a temperature beneath the substantially edge region of said substrate, wherein the central and edge temperature sensors are each coupled to a temperature monitoring system.
10. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein:
said one or more heating elements comprises a plurality of heating elements,
the substrate holder further comprising a heating element control unit dedicated to controlling said one or more heating elements, and
a temperature setting of each of said plurality of heating elements is independently performed by said heating element control unit to generate a temperature gradient over a surface of said substrate.
11. The substrate holder of claim 1, further comprising a backside gas supply system to supply a heat transfer gas to the backside of said substrate through orifices disposed on said upper surface of said substrate support.
12. The substrate holder of claim 11, wherein said orifices of said backside gas supply system are arranged in a plurality of zones on said upper surface of said substrate support to vary a backside gas pressure in a radial direction between a substantially central region of said backside of said substrate and a substantially edge region of said backside of said substrate.
13. The substrate holder of claim 12, wherein each of said plurality of zones corresponds to a different temperature zone of said upper surface of said substrate support, each temperature zone having a different temperature.
14. The substrate holder of claim 11, wherein said temperature monitoring system is configured to provide temperature sensor information to at least one of said one or more heating elements or said backside gas supply system before, during, and after the processing steps of the multiple step process.
15. The substrate holder of claim 11, further comprising:
a backside gas flow control unit for said backside gas supply system, wherein said heating element control unit, said backside gas flow control unit and said temperature monitoring system are operatively coupled to exchange information with each other.
16. The substrate holder of claim 15, wherein said heating element control unit and said backside gas flow control unit exchange information in each of the processing steps performed in the processing system according to a process recipe.
17. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein said erosion resistant thermal insulator includes a non-uniform spatial variation of a thermal conductivity thereof.
18. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein said erosion resistant thermal insulator includes a non-uniform spatial variation of a thickness thereof.
19. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein said substrate support is a plurality of ceramic layers stacked on each other with said one or more heating elements being disposed between the ceramic layers and sintered together.
20. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein said substrate support consists of:
a first ceramic layer having the one or more heating elements thermally sprayed on a surface thereof; and
a second ceramic layer stacked on said first ceramic layer with said one or more heating elements disposed between the first and second ceramic layers.
21. A substrate holder for supporting a substrate in a processing system, comprising:
a temperature controlled support base having a controlled first temperature;
a substrate support opposing said temperature controlled support base and configured to support said substrate, said substrate support including a clamp electrode embedded therein, said clamp electrode configured to electrically clamp said substrate to said substrate support;
one or more heating elements embedded within said substrate support and configured to heat said substrate support to a second temperature above said controlled first temperature; and
an erosion resistant thermal insulator provided between said temperature controlled support base and said substrate support, said erosion resistant thermal insulator having a thermal conductivity lower than respective thermal conductivities of both said substrate support and said temperature controlled support base such that said erosion resistant thermal insulator provides thermal resistance between said substrate support and said temperature controlled support base, wherein said erosion resistant thermal insulator is an acryl-based adhesive which bonds said temperature controlled support base to said substrate support and includes an exposed portion which is exposed to an external environment of the substrate holder, wherein at least the exposed portion consists of an acryl-based chemical compound material that is configured to resist halogen containing gas corrosion, the resistance to corrosion being quantified by the an acryl-based chemical compound material having an erosion ratio of less than 5.5 mm3hr when exposed to an SF6-based plasma.
22. The substrate holder of claim 1, wherein the erosion ratio is from 0 to 0.32 mm3hr.

1. A plasma display apparatus, comprising:
a plasma display panel in which scan electrodes and sustain electrodes are formed; and
a scan driving unit that applies a scan voltage and a sustain voltage to the scan electrodes when the absolute value of the scan voltage and the sustain voltage are the same,
wherein the sustain electrodes are maintained in ground voltage
2. The plasma display apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scan driving unit includes:
a driving unit that drives the scan electrodes;
a first voltage application unit which supplies a negative scan voltage to a selected scan electrode through the driving unit and supplies a negative sustain voltage to the entire scan electrodes through the driving unit;
a first ground unit that sinks the current due to the negative scan voltage; and
a second voltage application unit that applies a positive sustain voltage to the entire scan electrodes through the driving unit.
3. The plasma display apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the driving unit, the first voltage application unit, the first ground unit and the second voltage application unit are formed on a single board.
4. The plasma display apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the driving unit includes a first switch and a second switch,
the first and second switches being all turned on when being applied with the negative scan voltage from the first voltage application unit in a scan process,
the first switch being turned on when being applied with the positive sustain voltage from the second voltage application unit in a sustain process, and
the second switch being turned on when being applied with the negative sustain voltage from the first voltage application unit in the sustain process.
5. The plasma display apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scan driving unit includes:
a driving unit that drives the scan electrodes;
a third voltage application unit that applies a negative scan voltage to a selected scan electrode through the driving unit;
a first voltage application unit that applies a negative sustain voltage to the entire scan electrodes through the driving unit;
a first ground unit that sinks the current due to the negative scan voltage; and
a second voltage application unit that applies a positive sustain voltage to the entire scan electrodes through the driving unit.
6. The plasma display apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first voltage application unit is turned off when the third voltage application unit applies the negative scan voltage to the selected scan electrode in a scan process.
7. The plasma display apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the scan driving unit further includes a second ground unit that makes a pulse to be a ground level rapidly when the pulse shifts from a negative sustain pulse generated by the negative sustain voltage to a positive sustain pulse generated by the ground level or a positive sustain voltage.
8. A driving method of a plasma display apparatus in which a plurality of sub-fields implements an image with the image being divided into a reset period, an address period and a sustain period, comprising the steps of:
applying a first negative voltage to a selected scan electrode in the address period; and
applying a first positive voltage to the entire scan electrodes in the sustain period, and then applying the first negative voltage to the entire scan electrodes.
9. The driving method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first negative voltage and the first positive voltage have the same value.
10. A driving method of a plasma display apparatus in which a plurality of sub-fields implements an image with the image being divided into a reset period, an address period and a sustain period, comprising the steps of:
applying a second negative voltage to a selected scan electrode in the address period; and
applying a first positive voltage to the entire scan electrodes in the sustain period, and then applying the second negative voltage to the entire scan electrodes.
11. The driving method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first positive voltage and the second negative voltage have the same value.
12. The plasma display apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the scan driving unit further includes a second ground unit that makes a pulse to be a ground level rapidly when the pulse shifts from a negative sustain pulse generated by the negative sustain voltage to a positive sustain pulse generated by the ground level or a positive sustain voltage.

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 wire saw for cutting a workpiece by moving the wire lengthwise, the saw comprising:
a first reel bobbin having an axis of rotation;
a second reel bobbin having an axis of rotation;
a strand of wire connected to the bobbins, wherein the wire is wrapped about the first bobbin and is connected to the second bobbin such that the wire is unwound from the first bobbin and is wound about the second bobbin;
a plurality of cutting rollers about which the wire is wrapped;
a bobbin support for supporting each bobbin such that each bobbin is rotatable about its axis and such that the weight of each bobbin acts only in the axial direction;
a rotatable shaft, the axis of which is aligned with the axis of the associated bobbin; and
a flange connected to an upper end of the rotatable shaft for supporting the associated bobbin, wherein a lower end of the associated bobbin is connected to an upper end of the flange so that rotation of the rotatable shaft is transmitted to the associated bobbin and the associated bobbin is readily removable from the flange;
a pair of motors, one being connected to each bobbin for rotating the bobbins individually; and
a controller for controlling the rotating speed of each motor in accordance with the wire winding diameter of at least one of the bobbins such that the wire is moved at a predetermined speed.
2. The wire saw according to claim 1, wherein the top of each bobbin is urged downward by a spring and wherein the spring allows the bobbin to expand and contract axially while being firmly held.
3. The wire saw according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the bobbins has a flange formed at each of its two ends for confining the wire, and wherein each flange is tapered.
4. A wire saw according to claim 1 further comprising a traverser associated with at least one of the bobbins for guiding the unwinding and winding of the wire, said traverser being constructed to reverse direction such that it travels back and forth in the axial direction of the associated bobbin.
5. A wire saw according to claim 4 further comprising a controller for controlling a drive means of the traverser in correspondence with a program such that the traverser reverses direction and travels back and forth between reversing directions.
6. A wire saw according to claim 5 further comprising:
a sensor for detecting the inclination of the wire extending between the traverser and the associated bobbin and transmitting a signal when the inclination is abnormal; and
means for adjusting the traveling speed of the traverser so as to incline the wire extending between the traverser and the associated bobbin to a normal angle.
7. A wire saw according to claim 6 including a means for adjusting at least one of the positions of the traverser when it reverses direction so that the wire is wound uniformly.
8. A wire saw according to claim 7 including a sensor for detecting an upper limit position of the traverser with respect to the associated bobbin.
9. A wire saw according to claim 4 including a controller for controlling the position at which the traverser reverses direction such that the controller compares the winding diameter in the vicinity of the middle of the second bobbin with the winding diameter at an end of the second bobbin and adjusts the reversing position to maintain uniform winding of the wire on the second bobbin.
10. The wire saw according to claim 1 further comprising:
a displacement device, which is displaced in accordance with the tension of the wire to apply a constant tension to the wire, and
a sensor, which detects the position of the displacement device.
11. The wire saw according to claim 10 further comprising:
a braking device associated with each bobbin for braking the rotation of the associated bobbin in response to detection by the sensor of the displacement device being in a predetermined position.
12. A method for controlling a wire saw that cuts a workpiece by moving the wire lengthwise, the saw having a first reel bobbin having an axis of rotation; a second reel bobbin having an axis of rotation; a strand of wire connected to the bobbins such that the wire is wrapped about the first bobbin and is connected to the second bobbin, and the wire is unwound from the first bobbin and is wound about the second bobbin; a plurality of cutting rollers about which the wire is wrapped; a bobbin support for supporting each bobbin such that each bobbin is rotatable about its axis, the method comprising the steps of:
arranging the axes of the bobbins such that the weight of the bobbins and the wire wound thereon acts in the axial direction of each bobbin; and
guiding the wire as it is wound onto the second bobbin to cause the wire to be wound uniformly with a traverser that reverses to move back and forth between reversing positions in the axial direction of the second bobbin in correspondence with a program.
13. A method according to claim 12 including the steps of detecting the inclination of the wire extending between the traverser and the associated bobbin and adjusting the traveling speed of the traverser so as to incline the wire extending between the traverser and the associated bobbin to a normal angle when an abnormal angle is detected in the detecting step.
14. A method according to claim 12 including the step of periodically adjusting at least one reversing position of the traverser to assure uniform winding of wire on the second bobbin.
15. A method according to claim 14 including the steps of sensing an outer limit position of the traverser with respect to the second bobbin with a sensor and moving the traverser to the outer limit position before reversing it every predetermined number of reversals in order to wind the wire in a uniform manner.
16. A method according to claim 12 including the step of sensing the position of the traverser with respect to the second bobbin with a sensor.
17. A method according to claim 12 including the step of gradually increasing the distance the traverser moves between reversals by gradually moving the reversing positions toward the ends of the second bobbin.
18. A method according to claim 12 including the steps of:
judging the winding diameter of the bobbin in the vicinity of the middle of the bobbin and in the vicinity of the ends of the bobbin; and
adjusting the reversing positions of the traverser in accordance with the winding diameters to achieve a uniform winding on the second bobbin.
19. A method for controlling a wire saw that cuts a workpiece by moving the wire lengthwise, the saw having a first reel bobbin having an axis of rotation; a second reel bobbin having an axis of rotation; a strand of wire connected to the bobbins such that the wire is wrapped about the first bobbin and is connected to the second bobbin, and the wire is unwound from the first bobbin and is wound about the second bobbin; a plurality of cutting rollers about which the wire is wrapped; a bobbin support for supporting each bobbin such that each bobbin is rotatable about its axis, the method comprising the step of arranging the axes of the bobbins such that the weight of the bobbins and the wire wound thereon acts in the axial direction of each bobbin;
reading the traveling speed of the wire and the initial winding diameter of each bobbin; and
controlling the rotational speed of the bobbin in accordance with the change in winding diameter compared to the initial winding diameter so as to adjust the traveling speed of the wire.
20. A method according to claim 19 further including the steps of:
sensing changes in the tension of the wire at a point on the wire’s path located between the first and second bobbins by detecting the position of a displacement device which is displaced in accordance with the tension of the wire to apply a constant tension to the wire; and
altering the rotational speed of at least one of the bobbins to suppress changes in the tension of the wire sensed in the last step.