text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Aug 30, 2005
|Filing date
|Dec 18, 2003
|Priority date
|Dec 18, 2002
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Richard P. Welty, Klaus Brondum, Douglas S. Richmond, Patrick B. Jonte
|Original Assignee
|Masco Corporation Of Indiana
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (104), Referenced by (29), Classifications (23), Legal Events (5)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This invention is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/322,871, filed Dec. 18, 2002 which is incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates generally to multi-layer surface coatings for use with articles of manufacture and products requiring low friction, low wear, and protective exterior surfaces. More particularly, the invention is related to articles having mutually sliding components, such as valve components for water mixing valves, having surface protective layers comprising a strengthening layer and an outer amorphous diamond coating.
In certain applications, such as for example, valve plates for fluid control valves, there is a need for mutually sliding surfaces to be wear resistant, abrasion resistant, scratch resistant, and to have a low coefficient of friction. The elements of one type of control valve for mixing of hot and cold water streams typically comprise a stationary disk and a moveable sliding disk, although the plate elements may be of any shape or geometry having a sealing surface, including e.g. flat, spherical, and cylindrical surfaces. The term "disk" herein therefore refers to valve plates of any shape and geometry having mating surfaces which engage and slide against each other to form a fluid-tight seal. The stationary disk typically has a hot water inlet, a cold water inlet, and a mixed water discharge outlet, while the moveable disk contains similar features and a mixing chamber. It is to be understood that the mixing chamber need not be in the disk but could part of an adjacent structure. The moveable disk overlaps the stationary disk and may be slid and/or rotated on the stationary disk so that mixed water at a desired temperature and flowrate is obtained in the mixing chamber by regulating the flowrate and proportions of hot water and cold water admitted from the hot water inlet and the cold water inlet and discharged through the mixed water discharge outlet. The disks mating sealing surfaces should be fabricated with sufficient precision to allow the two sealing surfaces to mate together and form a fluid tight seal (i.e. they must be co-conformal and smooth enough to prevent fluid from passing between the sealing surfaces). The degree of flatness (for a flat plate shape), or co-conformity (for non-flat surfaces) and smoothness required depend somewhat on the valve construction and fluids involved, and are generally well known in the industry. Other types of disk valves, while still using mating sealing surfaces in sliding contact with each other, may control only one fluid stream or may provide mixing by means of a different structure or port configuration. The stationary disk may for example be an integral part of the valve body.
Previous experience with this type of control valve has demonstrated there is a problem of wear of the mating surfaces of the disks due to the fact that the stationary and moveable disks are in contact and slide against each other (see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,935,313 and 4,966,789). In order to minimize the wear problem, these valve disks are usually made of a sintered ceramic such as alumina (aluminum oxide). While alumina disks have good wear resistance, they have undesirable frictional characteristics in that operating force increases, and they tend to become "sticky" after the lubricant grease originally applied to the disks wears and washes away. The scratch and abrasion resistance of alumina plates to large and small particles (respectively) in the water stream is good; however, they are still susceptible to damage from contaminated water streams containing abrasive particles such as sand; and improvement in this regard would be beneficial. Additionally, the porous nature of the sintered ceramic disks makes them prone to "lockup" during long periods of non-use, due to minerals dissolved in the water supply that precipitate and crystallize between coincident pores in the mating surfaces. One objective of the present invention is to provide disks having reduced wear, improved scratch and abrasion resistance and reduced frictional characteristics. Another objective is to provide non-porous or reduced-porosity valve disks to reduce the number of locations where precipitated crystals may form between the mating surfaces.
Sintered ceramics in particular are relatively difficult and expensive (due to their hardness) to grind and polish to a degree of co-conformity and smoothness adequate for sealing. It would be advantageous to use a material for the disks, such as metal, which is less expensive, easier to grind and polish and which is not porous. However, the wear resistance and frictional behavior of bare metallic disks is generally not acceptable for sliding seal applications. A further objective of the present invention is to provide disks made of metal a base material and having improved wear, scratch, and abrasion resistance and improved frictional characteristics as compared to uncoated ceramic disks.
It is disclosed in the prior art (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,384 and 4,734,339, which are incorporated herein by reference) that polycrystalline diamond coatings deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at substrate temperatures around 800-1000 C. can be used in combination with adhesion layers of various materials in order to provide scratch and wear resistant components. Polycrystalline diamond films, however, are known to have rough surfaces due to the crystal facets of the individual diamond grains, as is apparent in the photographs of FIGS. 2 and 3 in the '384 patent. It is known in the art to polish such surfaces in order to minimize the coefficient of friction in sliding applications, or even to deposit the polycrystalline diamond on a smooth substrate and then remove the film from the substrate and use the smooth side of the film (which was previously against the substrate) rather than the original surface as the bearing surface. The present invention overcomes prior art problems by providing a number of advantageous features, including without limitation providing a smooth and very hard surface for sliding applications, while avoiding difficult and expensive post-processing of a polycrystalline diamond surface layer. The methodology also advantageously employs substrate materials (such as, suitable metals, glasses, and composite and organic materials) that cannot be processed at the elevated temperatures necessary for CVD deposition of polycrystalline diamond.
It is also disclosed in the prior art (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,616, which is incorporated herein by reference) that engineered interface layers may be employed to relieve thermally-induced stress in a polycrystalline diamond layer. These thermally induced stresses arise during cooling of the substrate after coating deposition at relatively high temperatures, and are due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the substrate and the diamond coating. Rather complicated engineering calculations are specified in '616 to predetermine the desired interface layer composition and thickness. The interface layer thickness' disclosed in '616 to minimize the thermally-induced stress in the diamond layer are of the order 20 to 25 microns according to
It is further disclosed in the prior art (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,313 and 4,966,789, which are incorporated herein by reference) that cubic crystallographic lattice carbon (polycrystalline diamond) and other hard materials may be used as surface coatings on valve disks, and that pairs of mutually sliding valves discs which differ from each other in either surface composition or surface finish are preferable to those which are the same in these characteristics, with respect to minimizing friction between the plates. The present invention provides mating valve disk surfaces having a lower friction coefficient than the disclosed materials in water-lubricated or fluid wetted surface applications such as water valves, and to allow identical processing of both mating surfaces in order to avoid the need to purchase and operate different types of processing equipment. The present invention further provides, without limitation, mating valve disk surfaces having a lower friction coefficient than the disclosed materials in water-lubricated or fluid wetted surface applications such as water valves. Furthermore, both mated sliding surfaces of the disks can be hard and have an abrasion resistance to contaminated water streams and to allow identical processing of both mating surfaces in order to avoid the need to purchase and operate different types of processing equipment.
The present invention is directed to a component having a wear resistant, scratch resistant, abrasion resistant, and low-friction surface. More particularly, it is directed to components having a multi-layer structure comprising a thin strengthening layer having higher hardness than the substrate material, and a thin amorphous diamond wear-resistant and friction-reducing layer deposited on the strengthening layer. The amorphous diamond layer provides a low-friction, wear and abrasion resistant sealing surface with particular advantages in water-lubricated or fluid wetted applications. The incorporation of a strengthening layer to support the top amorphous diamond layer, provides better scratch and abrasion resistance than an amorphous diamond layer alone, and allows a thinner amorphous diamond layer to be used. The strengthening layer is particularly useful to avoid problems with large particles caught between the mating surfaces, which can break through a thin diamond coating because of plastic deformation of the softer substrate beneath.
Embodiments of the invention are illustrated generally in the figures, where
As shown in
Another material suitable for the strengthening layer 23 is conventional DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon), which is a form of non-crystalline carbon well known in the art and distinct from amorphous diamond. DLC coatings are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,616 (in which they are called (a-C) coatings). DLC can be deposited by sputtering or by conventional CVD. DLC is an amorphous material with mostly sp2 carbon bonding and little of the tetrahedral sp3 bonding that characterizes amorphous diamond. The hardness of DLC is substantially lower than that of amorphous diamond and is more similar to the hardness of conventional hard coating materials such as titanium nitride and chromium nitride. The internal stresses in DLC coatings are also lower than those in amorphous diamond coatings, allowing DLC to be deposited in thicker layers than amorphous diamond without loss of adhesion. The term DLC as used herein includes hydrogenated forms of the material.
The strengthening layer 23 functions primarily to improve scratch and abrasion resistance of the multilayer coating. The hardness of the strengthening layer 23 should be at least greater than that of the substrate 18 in order to perform its intended function of improving the scratch resistance of the coated disk. The thickness of the strengthening layer 23 is at least a thickness sufficient to improve the scratch resistance of the substrate 18. For materials typically used as hard coatings, such as those disclosed above, this thickness is generally from around 500 nm to around 10 microns, and preferably from about 2000 nm to around 5000 nm. In testing of faucet water valves it has been found that a chromium nitride strengthening layer having a thickness of about 5 microns provides adequate scratch and abrasion resistance (in conjunction with a thin amorphous diamond top layer) for types and sizes of contaminants considered to be typical in municipal and well water sources.
In some embodiments of the present invention as shown in FIG. 3 and for component 22 of
PVD processes are well known and conventional and include cathodic arc evaporation (CAE), sputtering, and other conventional deposition processes. CVD processes can include low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), and thermal decomposition methods. PVD and CVD techniques and equipment are disclosed, inter alia, in J. Vossen and W. Kern "Thin Film Processes II", Academic Press, 1991; R. Boxman et al, "Handbook of Vacuum Arc Science and Technology", Noyes, 1995; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,162,954 and 4,591,418, with the patents incorporated herein by reference.
In the case of sintered ceramic materials, although the individual granules forming the sintered material may have high hardness, the scratch resistance of the overall sintered structure as measured by scratch testing is much lower than that of the material forming the granules (e.g. alumina). This is due to the fact that the materials typically used to sinter or bond the alumina granules together, typically silicates, are not as hard as the granules themselves. The hardness of the strengthening layer 23 can be similar to or even less than the hardness of the individual granules comprising the ceramic disk, and still being harder than the overall sintered ceramic structure. It has been found by experiment, for example, that the depth of the scratch caused by a stylus (radius=100 microns) sliding under a load of 30 Newtons is approximately 4-6 microns on an uncoated sintered alumina substrate, while the scratch depth on an identical substrate coated with a 3 micron thick chromium nitride strengthening layer is only 2-3 microns.
The strengthening layer 23 can be formed by conventional vapor deposition techniques including, but not limited to sputtering, cathodic arc evaporation (CAE), and CVD. The most preferred methods are sputtering, CAE, or other means which may be carried out at a relatively low temperature, thereby minimizing thermally-induced stresses in the coating stack upon cooling. If the strengthening layer 23 is deposited by CAE, it is also desirable to use macroparaticle filtering in order to control and to preserve the smoothness of the surface of the substrate 18. The strengthening layer 23 can also be formed by other well-known methods for forming hard coatings such as spray pyrolysis, sol-gel techniques, liquid-dipping with subsequent thermal treatment, nano-fabrication methods, atomic-layer deposition methods, and molecular-layer deposition methods.
The strengthening layer 23 can alternatively be formed by a process that produces a hardened surface layer on the substrate base material. Such processes include, for example, thermal oxidation, plasma nitriding, ion implantation, chemical and electrochemical surface treatments such as chemical conversion coatings, anodizing including hard anodizing and conventional post-treatments, micro-arc oxidation and case hardening. The strengthening layer 23 can also include multiple layers 24 and 25 as shown in
In the multi-layer structure of
The thickness of the amorphous diamond layer 30 is at least a value effective to provide improved wear and abrasion resistance of the sliding component. This thickness is generally at least about 100 nm, preferably at least about 200 nm and more preferably at least about 300 nm. The upper thickness range of the layer 30 is determined by material characteristics, economic considerations and the need to minimize thickness-dependent intrinsic stresses in the layer 30 as discussed below. Also amorphous diamond layer 30 advantageously exhibits an extremely smooth surface topology as can be seen by reference to the photo of
One characteristic of amorphous diamond is that it develops high intrinsic (non-thermally-induced) internal stresses, which increase as the coating thickness increases and which are predominately related to atomic bonding distortions and not to thermal expansion/contraction. While this intrinsic stress is believed to contribute to the high hardness of the material, it also limits the coating thickness since stress-induced forces tend to cause delamination of the coating from the substrate 18 (or the strengthening layer 23) above a certain thickness. Although amorphous diamond can be deposited directly on a metal, glass or iron aluminide disk (optionally with an adhesion layer), it is difficult to deposit a thick enough layer to provide adequate scratch resistance for water valve applications. Scratch resistance is important because water supplies sometimes contain abrasive contaminants due to pipeline breaks, construction, etc. The additional strengthening layer 23 of the present invention provides better support of the amorphous diamond layer 30 than does the softer substrate material, advantageously allowing a thinner layer of amorphous diamond to be used, while still obtaining improved scratch and abrasion resistance. The strengthening layer 23 can also be chosen to be a material that has a greater deposition rate and/or is less expensive to deposit than the amorphous diamond layer 30, in order to minimize overall coating cost while maintaining performance. In the most preferred embodiment, an upper thickness limit for the amorphous diamond layer 30 of around 1-2 microns can be used to avoid stress-induced delamination, while an upper thickness of around 800 nm, and more preferably around 300-500 nm, can be desirable for economic reasons while still achieving the desired performances characteristics.
Amorphous diamond is well suited to wet sliding applications in water valve applications. In particular it has been shown to have a very low coefficient of friction and also extremely low abrasion wear in water-lubricated sliding tests in which both sliding surfaces are coated with amorphous diamond. In contrast, DLC coatings are known to have higher friction coefficients higher wear rates, and to deteriorate in frictional performance with increasing humidity. A further advantage of amorphous diamond is that the relatively low deposition temperature allows a wider choice of substrate materials and minimizes or eliminates permanent thermally induced distortion of the substrate.
Regarding the low coefficient of friction reported for amorphous diamond coatings in water-lubricated sliding tests, it is thought that this may be due at least in part to graphitic inclusions (commonly called macroparticles) that are incorporated in amorphous diamond coatings made by some methods. Such graphitic inclusions can be numerous in carbon coatings deposited by cathodic arc evaporation, depending on the choice target materials and use of macroparticle filtering means as discussed below. These graphitic inclusions do not degrade the performance of the amorphous diamond coating due their softness and the small fraction of the total surface area they occupy. Rather, it is thought that they may improve performance by increasing lubricant retention between the sliding plates.
It is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,543 (incorporated herein by reference) that amorphous diamond coatings which are essentially free of macroparticles can be deposited by cathodic arc evaporation from a vitreous carbon or pyrolytic graphite cathode. The maximum density of macroparticles (graphitic inclusions) in such coatings, as calculated from the areal dimensions of the photographic figures and the macroparticle counts disclosed, is around 200 macroparticles per square millimeter. Such macroparticle-free amorphous diamond coatings can be used as layer 30 in the present invention, but are less-preferred than those deposited from an ordinary graphite cathode and containing substantial numbers of graphitic inclusions, such as, for example, at least about 500 per square millimeter. They are also less preferred because the required vitreous carbon or pyrolytic graphite cathodes are quite expensive compared to ordinary graphite.
The number of graphitic inclusions 40 incorporated into coatings (see
The adhesion of the amorphous diamond layer 30 to a nitride form of the strengthening layer 23 can in some cases be improved by the introduction of a carbon-containing gas, such as methane, during a short period at the end of the deposition of the strengthening layer 23. This results in a thin transition zone of carbo-nitride and/or carbide material between the strengthening layer 23 and the amorphous diamond layer 30. In other cases the adhesion can be improved by turning off all reactive gasses during a short period at the end of the deposition of the strengthening layer 23. This results in a thin metal layer between the strengthening layer 23 and the amorphous diamond layer 30. It has also been noted that the introduction of methane during the filtered-arc deposition of the amorphous diamond layer 30 increases the coating deposition rate, and can also improve the coating hardness and scratch resistance. In still other cases, for example the case in which the amorphous diamond layer 30 is to be deposited on a thermally oxidized metal surface, it can be desirable to deposit the separate adhesion-promoting layer 21 between the strengthening layer 23 and the amorphous diamond layer 30. Suitable materials for the adhesion layer 21 can include for example refractory carbide-forming metals, such as, Ti and W, and various transition metals such as Cr, and can also include carbides of those metals.
In order that the invention may be more readily understood the following examples are provided. The examples are illustrative and do not limit the invention to the particular features described.
Clean stainless steel valve disks are placed in a vacuum deposition chamber incorporating an arc evaporation cathode and a sputtering cathode. The arc source is fitted with filtering means to reduce macroparticle incorporation in the coating, as described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,480,527 and 5,840,163, incorporated herein by reference. Sources of argon and nitrogen are connected to the chamber through a manifold with adjustable valves for controlling the flowrate of each gas into the chamber. The sputtering cathode is connected to the negative output of a DC power supply. The positive side of the power supply is connected to the chamber wall. The cathode material is chromium. The valve disks are disposed in front of the cathode, and may be rotated or otherwise moved during deposition to ensure uniform coating thickness. The disks are electrically isolated from the chamber and are connected through their mounting rack to the negative output of a power supply so that a bias voltage may be applied to the substrates during coating.
Prior to deposition the vacuum chamber is evacuated to a pressure of 2�10e-5 Torr or less. Argon gas is then introduced at a rate sufficient to maintain a pressure of about 25 milliTorr. The valve disks are then subjected to a glow discharge plasma cleaning in which a negative bias voltage of about 500 volts is applied to the rack and valve disks. The duration of the cleaning is approximately 5 minutes.
A layer of chromium having a thickness of about 20 nm is then deposited on the valve disks by sputtering. After the chromium adhesion layer is deposited, a strengthening layer of chromium nitride having a thickness of about 3 microns is deposited by reactive sputtering.
After the chromium nitride layer is deposited, the valve disks are disposed facing the arc source, and a top amorphous diamond layer having a thickness of about 300 nm is deposited by striking an arc on the carbon electrode and exposing the substrates to the carbon plasma exiting the source outlet. A negative DC bias of about 500 volts is initially applied to the substrates to provide high-energy ion bombardment for surface cleaning and bonding improvement. After about 5 minutes at high bias voltage, the bias voltage is reduced to about 50 volts for the remainder of the deposition process. An argon pressure of about 0.5 milliTorr is maintained in the chamber during deposition. Pulsed or AC bias voltages may alternatively be employed, and a higher or lower argon may also be maintained in order to stabilize the arc source operation and optimize coating properties.
It has been found by experiment that valve disks made of stainless steel and coated according to the above example were able to withstand more than 15,000 test cycles in circulating water carrying 20 micron silica sand, while standard uncoated alumina valve disks failed under the same conditions in less than 2500 cycles.
Clean zirconium valve disks are placed into an air oven, heated to a temperature of 560 C., held at this temperature for about 6 hours, and cooled. A strengthening layer of zirconium oxide is thereby formed on the substrate surface, having a thickness of 5-10 microns. The disks are then placed in a vacuum deposition chamber incorporating a filtered arc evaporation cathode and a sputtering cathode. An adhesion layer of chromium having a thickness of about 20 nm is deposited on the valve disks by sputtering as described in example 1. After the chromium adhesion layer is deposited, an amorphous diamond layer is deposited as described in Example 1.
Valve disks made of zirconium and treated as described to form a multilayer structure on their surfaces were tested for scratch resistance, using a scratch tester with variable loading. The scratch depths generated on the treated Zr disks by a stylus tip having 100 micron radius under a load of 3 Newtons were around 4.7 microns deep, while those on untreated Zr disks were about 9.5 microns or more than twice as deep. Scratch test performance is believed to be a relevant predictor of scratch and abrasion resistance in field applications.
Clean molded-glass valve disks are placed in a vacuum deposition chamber incorporating a laser ablation source, a PECVD source, and a sputtering cathode. The valve disks are subjected to a RF (radio-frequency) discharge plasma cleaning by known means. An adhesion layer of titanium having a thickness of about 20 nm is then deposited on the valve disks by sputtering. A strengthening layer of DLC having thickness of about 3 microns is then deposited on top of the adhesion layer by PECVD using known deposition parameters. An amorphous diamond layer having thickness of about 300 nm is then deposited on top of the DLC layer by laser ablation using typical deposition parameters.
Clean stainless steel valve disks are placed in a vacuum chamber containing a filtered arc evaporation source and a sputtering cathode. The chamber is evacuated, nitrogen gas is introduced, a plasma discharge is established between the disks and the chamber walls, and the disk surface is plasma-nitrided according to known parameters. Nitrogen diffuses into the stainless substrates to form a surface layer harder than the bulk substrate, and the process is continued for a period of time sufficient for the layer depth to reach about 2 microns. A superlattice consisting of multiple alternating layers of carbon nitride and zirconium nitride is then deposited on the nitrided stainless steel surface by filtered arc evaporation and sputtering respectively. The alternating individual layers are about 10 nm thick, and about 100 layers of each material is deposited for a total superlattice thickness of about 2 microns. The ratio of nitrogen to carbon in the carbon nitride layers is preferably around 1.3, since carbon nitride+zirconium nitride superlattices having this N:C ratio have been shown to have primarily sp3-bonded carbon and hardness in the range of 50 gigaPascals. Carbon nitride as used herein refers to a material having a N:C ratio between about 0.1 and 1.5.
The large number of thin layers may conveniently be deposited by mounting the substrate on a rotating cylinder such that the substrates pass first in front of one deposition source and then the other, such that one pair of layers is deposited during each revolution of the cylinder. The total strengthening layer thickness is about 4 microns including the plasma-nitrided stainless steel layer. An amorphous diamond layer having thickness of about 200 nm is then deposited on top of the superlattice layer by filtered arc evaporation as described in Example 1.
The construction and arrangement of the elements shown in the preferred and other exemplary embodiments is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, use of materials, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited herein. The order or sequence of any process or method steps may be varied or re-sequenced according to alternative embodiments. Other substitutions, modifications, changes and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement of the preferred and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention.
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|Articles coated with adherent diamondlike carbon films
|Mar 15, 1985
|Oct 27, 1987
|Lemelson Jerome H
|Chemical reaction apparatus and method
|Jun 24, 1985
|Nov 17, 1987
|Santrade Limited
|Method for making a composite body coated with one or more layers of inorganic materials including CVD diamond
|May 20, 1986
|Nov 24, 1987
|Smith International, Inc.
|Diamond bearing and manufacture thereof
|Apr 29, 1986
|Nov 24, 1987
|Eltech Systems Corporation
|Coating metal mesh
|Dec 23, 1985
|Dec 22, 1987
|Fansteel Inc.
|Hard coatings with multiphase microstructures
|Sep 3, 1986
|Jan 19, 1988
|Smith International, Inc.
|Bearing structure for downhole motors
|Nov 4, 1985
|Jan 19, 1988
|The Agency Of Industrial Science And Technology
|Sliding member of graphite-metal borides
|Apr 17, 1986
|Feb 16, 1988
|Kabushiki Kaisha Kenwood
|Method for forming a hard carbon thin film on article and applications thereof
|May 19, 1986
|Mar 8, 1988
|Smith International, Inc.
|Transistion layer polycrystalline diamond bearing
|Nov 12, 1985
|Mar 22, 1988
|Ameron Iron Works USA, Inc.
|Wear resistant diamond cladding
|Aug 27, 1986
|Mar 22, 1988
|Smith International, Inc.
|Downhole motor bearing assembly
|Jun 24, 1985
|Mar 29, 1988
|Santrade Limited
|Body with superhard coating
|Sep 15, 1986
|Jul 5, 1988
|Lemelson Jerome H
|Methods for making cutting tools
|Jul 24, 1987
|Jul 12, 1988
|Smith International, Inc.
|Diamond bearing for high-speed drag bits
|Mar 17, 1987
|Aug 2, 1988
|Dorsett Terry E
|Electroplate to moving metal
|May 14, 1987
|Aug 16, 1988
|Smith International, Inc.
|PCD enhanced radial bearing
|Jun 26, 1987
|Aug 16, 1988
|Sandvik Aktiebolag
|Diamond tools for rock drilling and machining
|Oct 19, 1987
|Aug 30, 1988
|National Institute For Research In Inorganic Materials
|Method for synthesizing diamond by using plasma
|Dec 8, 1987
|Oct 11, 1988
|Wiand Ronald C
|Brazing of diamond
|Sep 9, 1987
|Oct 18, 1988
|Remgrit Corporation
|Method of applying non-slip coating to tools and resulting product
|Nov 5, 1986
|Nov 8, 1988
|Kanegafuchi Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
|High heat conductive insulated substrate and method of manufacturing the same
|Sep 28, 1987
|Jan 10, 1989
|Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
|Dynamic pressure air bearing
|Nov 25, 1986
|Mar 28, 1989
|Showa Denko Kabushiki Kaisha
|Process for synthesis of diamond by CVD
|Aug 19, 1987
|Mar 28, 1989
|The Regents Of The University Of California
|Process for making diamond, doped diamond, diamond-cubic boron nitride composite films
|Dec 17, 1987
|Mar 28, 1989
|Levitt Charlie M
|Detection of nuclear radiation
|Jun 21, 1988
|Apr 18, 1989
|Sree Chitra Tirunal Inst. For Medical Science & Technology
|Heart valve assembly
|Sep 25, 1987
|Apr 25, 1989
|Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Chuo Kenkyusho
|Unlubricated sliding member
|Jun 30, 1989
|Oct 9, 1990
|The Regents Of The Univ. Of Calif.
|Process for making diamond, and doped diamond films at low temperature
|May 21, 1991
|Mar 31, 1992
|Tokyo Yogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
|Valve of faucet
|Dec 21, 1995
|Jun 9, 1998
|Maruwa Ceramic Co., Ltd.
|Ceramic sliding member having pyrolytic carbon film and process of fabricating the same
|Apr 23, 1997
|Nov 3, 1998
|Kyocera Corporation
|Disc valve
|Jul 23, 1997
|Aug 10, 1999
|Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.
|Valve unit for water mixing valve
|Dec 16, 1980
|Apr 8, 1986
|Toy track and vehicle therefor
|Citing Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Sep 7, 2005
|Jul 24, 2007
|Ina - Schaeffler Kg
|Wear-resistant coating and process for producing it
|Apr 9, 2007
|Jan 11, 2011
|Vapor Technologies, Inc.
|Valve component for faucet
|Jun 18, 2008
|Jan 11, 2011
|Masco Corporation Of Indiana
|Jun 15, 2010
|Feb 21, 2012
|Vapor Technologies Inc.
|Valve component for faucet
|Jul 1, 2008
|Feb 28, 2012
|Vapor Technologies Inc.
|Method of producing an article having patterned decorative coating
|Aug 18, 2010
|Jul 17, 2012
|Vapor Technologies Inc.
|Faucet with wear-resistant valve component
|Feb 4, 2010
|Dec 11, 2012
|Sistag Ag Absperrtechnik
|Slide valve with slider plate sealing mechanism
|Jun 21, 2010
|Feb 5, 2013
|Sistag Ag Absperrtechnik
|Slide valve with temperature barrier
|Jan 31, 2008
|Jun 11, 2013
|Moen Incorporated
|Valve cartridge insensitive to installation load
|Dec 17, 2009
|Oct 15, 2013
|Vapor Technologies Inc.
|Faucet component with coating
|Jun 22, 2011
|Dec 24, 2013
|Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd
|Coated article and method for making same
|Sep 21, 2007
|Nov 4, 2014
|Smith International, Inc.
|Atomic layer deposition nanocoatings on cutting tool powder materials
|Dec 27, 2012
|Aug 25, 2015
|Picosun Oy
|Current insulated bearing components and bearings
|Apr 12, 2011
|Dec 8, 2015
|Vetco Gray Inc.
|Gate valve having low-friction coating over substrate and method for making same
|Sep 9, 2013
|Jul 12, 2016
|Delta Faucet Company
|Faucet component with coating
|Feb 9, 2004
|Sep 23, 2004
|Lee Watts
|Exhaust pipe valve
|May 12, 2004
|Nov 17, 2005
|General Electric Company
|Superalloy article having corrosion resistant coating thereon
|Sep 7, 2005
|Mar 9, 2006
|Ina - Schaeffler Kg
|Wear-resistant coating and process for producing it
|Sep 21, 2007
|Mar 27, 2008
|Smith International, Inc.
|Atomic layer deposition nanocoatings on cutting tool powder materials
|Sep 29, 2006
|Apr 3, 2008
|Nanogate Ag
|Metallic Valve
|Jan 31, 2008
|Jan 29, 2009
|Moen Incorporated
|Valve cartridge insensitive to installation load
|Feb 4, 2010
|Sep 9, 2010
|Sistag Ag Absperrtechnik
|Slide Valve, In Particular for Blocking a Line Conveying Media
|Nov 9, 2007
|Dec 16, 2010
|Jtekt Corporation
|Highly corrosion-resistant member and manufacturing process for the same
|Jun 21, 2010
|Jan 6, 2011
|Sistag Ag Absperrtechnik
|Slide Valve, in Particular for Blocking a Line Conveying Media
|Jun 22, 2011
|Jul 5, 2012
|Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
|Coated article and method for making same
|Sep 13, 2010
|Jul 12, 2012
|Nippon Itf Inc.
|Lubricant composition and sliding mechanism using the lubricant composition
|Apr 12, 2011
|Oct 18, 2012
|Vetco Gray Inc.
|Gate Valve Having Low-Friction Coating Over Substrate and Method for Making Same
|Dec 27, 2012
|Aug 15, 2013
|Hauzer Techno Coating Bv
|Current insulated bearing components and bearings
|Mar 27, 2008
|Oct 15, 2008
|Vapor Technologies, Inc.
|Valve component for faucet
|U.S. Classification
|251/368, 428/408, 428/698, 137/625.41, 137/625.17, 428/701
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Jun 1, 2005
Owner name: MASCO CORPORATION OF INDIANA, INDIANA
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|Feb 13, 2009
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Owner name: DELTA FAUCET COMPANY, INDIANA
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:MASCO CORPORATION OF INDIANA;REEL/FRAME:035168/0845
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Stories tagged by '1852-1861'
March 17, 2012
What's the story behind some plant specimens now part of the Academy's Lewis and Clark Herbarium?
» Read More
February 26, 2012
Where can you find an extinct Ice Age giant in Philadelphia? » Read More
November 20, 2011
How can a specimen collected 150 years ago provide new scientific knowledge today? » Read More
November 13, 2011
What can old catalogs teach us about natural history? » Read More
November 09, 2011
What famous Academy scientist passed notes with the father of evolutionary theory? » Read More
October 28, 2011
Why did the Sioux believe an 1850s fossil collector was an odd character? » Read More
October 16, 2011
Why does the Academy have a sample of George Washington's hair? » Read More
October 15, 2011
How can little old booklets help us find new ways to use microscopic algae? » Read More
October 10, 2011
Was Charles Darwin the first to present a theory of evolution? » Read More
September 22, 2011
Did you know that Haddonfield, New Jersey was the site of an incredible dinosaur discovery? » Read More
September 19, 2011
How did the world learn about the paleontological treasures of the American West? » Read More
September 16, 2011
Has your pet had heartworm? Find out how a famous Academy scientist got to the heart of the matter of diagnosing this deadly affliction. » Read More
Become a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and get insider access to our scientists, collections, exhibits, and more.
©2017 The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University | 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (215) 299-1000
Explore the work of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative
Members' Night at the Academy

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Music Magazine
I have spent months working on this site. It has been around for a couple of years but was running on WP2.7 due to the theme version.
I originally had this online live but due to the amount of work I knew i had to do to get the theme working with 3.0.1 I pulled it down on to a local Xampp server to complete. I made a few mistakes and realized that the old site was hacked in the process of re-design. But after many months i have managed to get it back up live and running very smoothly. There has been one instance of a hack in a plugin called Pagepeel but after some reverse engineering I managed to solve that problem.
The amazing accomplishment for me is that I am running somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 plugins on this thing and I am still managing to get 2-3 seconds or less load times. It wasn't easy though.
Anyway check it out and tell me what you think so far.
- The topic 'Music Magazine' is closed to new replies.


text:
NDSU professor seeks bat colonies
FARGO - They squeak and scream in the night. With fangs shining in the darkness, the black, fleshy critters are often associated with the blood-curdling ghost stories of the season.
But even though bats don't have the best reputation, Erin Gillam has taken a liking to them.
"They're really fascinating creatures," said Gillam, a biology professor at North Dakota State University who, along with her graduate students, has studied bat habitats and behaviors across the state since 2009.
"Before we started, there was very little known as far as statewide surveys," she said. "Out in the Badlands, there's lots of great habitat. Lots of great rock crevasses, things like that."
Gillam and her students are now looking to do more research on bats living in urban environments during the winter months. She's asking for anyone who has seen bats in an urban structure - a home or barn, for example - to contact her so that her students can begin to study how they live in artificial habitats.
"There are definitely bats living in buildings across the state," Gillam said. "But we don't really have any concrete data about it."
Gillam said while bats can pose health concerns in urban environments - about one percent of them carry rabies, she said - she's looking for bats that have made a home at a safe distance from humans.
"I'm definitely not looking for people who want to get rid of the bats," she said. "But lots of people have barns or other places associated with their property, and it doesn't bother them. They're fine with the bats living there."
Despite their bad rap, bats are an important, healthy part of the local ecosystem, she said.
"They eat mosquitos," Gillam said. "They eat a lot of insects that do damage to agriculture, especially a lot of moth species."
And even though Halloween is upon us, the professor doesn't plan on donning a cape and black, pointy ears tonight.
"I usually try not to," she said, laughing. "It's kind of cliché."
Anyone with information on possible urban bat locations can contact Gillam at firstname.lastname@example.com or call (701) 231-9401.


text:
JSFpwrote a review of TIME ATAC XS Pedal on August 15, 2013
They seem to be saving my knees
Familiarity: I've used it several times
As I'm getting older, my knees are in need of pedals which have more float. These puppies have done the trick. Lots of power, easy on the knees, AWESOME! Not sure why I didn't pick them up earlier.


text: Of course, I'd eat it, but the cake in question is for my mother in law's birthday. It's a four layer chocolate cake with fleur de sel caramel filling and chocolate ganache. Has almonds. It tastes good, but is just beyond ugly. I guess it was just beyond my skill level. Should I run out and try to find something at the bakery (there aren't any great bakeries around here actually), or just serve it and say the grandkids made it? It's not a huge party, just a few of my husband's sisters and their kids and MIL. It's just embarassing it's so bad! Not to mention it's ruining my day - I hate it when things don't turn out. (And I do like my mother in law, so don't say serve it to her out of spite).


text:
|You are in: Health
Monday, 6 August, 2001, 10:27 GMT 11:27 UK
Eye transplants 'hit by Alder Hey'
Leading experts say the Alder Hey organ scandal has affected the number of eye corneas available for transplantation.
Moorfields Eye Hospital in London says there says been a 13% drop in the donation of corneas over the past year.
And it says the same kind of fall has been seen at four other eyebanks in the UK, who have seen drops of between 11% and 21 %.
If the trend continues, doctors warn patients may have to wait longer for treatment.
Sybil Ritten, director of the Eye Bank at Moorfields, said: "Probably people are confusing the tissue transplantation surgery with issues of pathology tissue retention."
At the time, there were some concerns the scandal could affect organ donation rates.
Ms Ritten added: "It looks like we are facing an increasing need against a downward turn in donation.
"We are having to eliminate some generous offers because of issues of safety for recipients."
The 13% drop seen by Moorfields occurred between the first and second half of the year between April 2000 to March 2001.
Donation rates were very poor in 1999, but there was a slight improvement in 2000, before this recent fall.
In 1999, Moorfields carried out 354 corneal transplants, provided 49 for operations at other London hospitals, and 87 sent to other UK hospitals.
Last year, 426 corneal transplants were done at Moorfields.
Figures from UK Transplant, which co-ordinates donors and recipients of organ transplants confirm a drop.
They show that in the first half of 2000 there were 1,096 donors, who each gave both eyes.
In the second half of the year, that fell to 938, and in the first half of 2001, there were just 848.
Waits 'more likely'
Frank Larkin, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields said there had been a steady decline in the numbers of eyes donated over the last four to five years.
He told BBC News Online Alder Hey was the most likely explanation for the drop in donations: "We can never be sure. But it's the most likely reason.
"What's important to bear in mind is that over the last three to five years there's been a very slow decay in the numbers of donations coming along.
"In the past few months its dropped a bit more sharply."
He warned that if the numbers of corneas available dropped much more, patients who can now be treated on a first come, first served basis - may have to be prioritised and endure longer waits.
Around 3,000 corneal grafts are carried out every year.
Many are needed because of keratoconus, a disorder of the shape of the cornea, or corneal disease, often caused by cataract surgery.
Corneas, unlike kidneys and livers, can be removed up to 24 hours after death.
Some potential donors can feel squeamish about donating their eyes.
See also:
10 Jul 00 | Health
Lab-grown corneas 'restore sight'
04 Feb 01 | Health
Organ transplant summit called
27 Mar 01 | Health
Eye clinics 'offer poor support'
08 Jul 01 | Wales
Researchers eye up �1m bonus
19 Jul 01 | Health
CJD risk from eye operations
Internet links:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Top Health stories now:
Links to more Health stories are at the foot of the page.
Links to more Health stories
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text:
Launch of new North East focused jobs website
North East Jobs Today has launched its very own job site, providing a fantastic new resource for job seekers and businesses in the North East
North East Jobs Today utilises the best technology from national job website Jobsite and couples this with unique jobs on offers from local businesses.
In total more than 45,000 jobs with be advertised at any one time, ranging from opportunities in the local market to positions further a field across the UK and Ireland.
The new site specialises in jobs being advertised directly by local businesses, rather than through recruitment agencies, so job hunters can make direct contact with companies they are interested in working for.
The ability to upload your CV, and have it reviewed by employment experts, has also been built into the new site. Companies looking to take on new people can also subscribe to search the site's CV database to find the right candidates.
Announcing the launch of North East Jobs Today, Editor John Szymanski said: "North East Jobs Today is a fantastic new resource for job seekers in the north east
"The strong focus on employment opportunities in this area, coupled with a huge database of jobs being advertised around the country, will make it invaluable to anyone seeking their first job or looking to move up the career ladder.
"What's more, the latest employment stories from this area will also be featured on the site, making it a one-stop-shop for everyone interested in the job market."
Other tools and services on the new site include a jobs by email alert service, full information on local companies and recruitment agencies in the area, and more opportunities to interact with job advertisers and employment specialists.
Companies and agencies looking to advertise on the new site will also be able to expect a far greater response from users than ever before thanks to the site's easy-to-use design and user friendly navigation.
North East Jobs Today is part of a new UK and Ireland wide network of job sites, each linked to the local area's newspaper.
Opportunities to advertise vacancies both in the newspaper and on the new website, are available by calling the recruitment team on 0191 501 5900
Visit the new North East Job Today site by clicking here


text:
1970 Gottlieb Aquarius Pinball Machine Hippy Wedgehead
Sold for:
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- Sold Date:
- Source: eBay
This 1970 Gottlieb Aquarius is one of two pinball machines I have for sale, both at no reserve!Back in the Age of Aquarius, it was all about free love, freeing your mind, and free pinball... well, 25 cents wasn't quite free, but you weren't t man, you wouldn't understand. Well, neither was I, but this Aquarius pinball was, and the stories it would tell if it could talk. Fast forward nearly 30 years, this machine is in good condition and is sure to bring the new owner years of enjoyment. This machine features lots of targets and five kickout holes. The famous "Special when Lit" awards free games once all of the targets have been hit. The backglass is in very good condition, and aside from a tiny bit of flaking one letter of "Aquarius", it only suffers from problems typically found on Gottliebs of this vintage - a few marks in the center of the score reels, and a scrape near the credit window. Both of these could be touched up by someone more talented than I, but overall the glass looks great from the player's standpoint. The playfield is also in good condition, showing wear from the kickout holes that is hard to see from the player's standpoint. Other than thatm it is pretty nice. Look at the reflection in the supersize photos! All plastics are in excellent condition. The cabinet is also in good condition, and shows ... read more


text:
Sold out.
CAP - "Silver". Canvas Measures approx 17"x14". Image area measures 11"x8". Paint Marker and spray paint on canvas
Cap was born in the bronx new york in 1963, his first public artwork were his graffiti letters and numerals in 1976. doing street graffiti till 1979 then painting the outsides of trains. in 1981 cap was an all city king and took part in the iconic graffiti documentary style wars, he was the only artist to paint a train live for the film and his copyrighted cap throw up [piece] became the most recognized graffiti design in the world. cap is considered a true outlaw in the graffiti world. for over 30 years cap has worked sprayers and with sign painters also doing interior and exterior work honing his skills as a painter/artist becoming an all aspect painter, he travels the world painting with friends and for companies adding his skill and professionalism to art projects


text:
11 yr old girl riding him on 5/22/13Little redhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG7iezQVFskMore Information about this Horse
A beautiful barn located in quiet Eagleville, TN. Full care stall and pasture board available along with training and lessons in multiple disciplines. We welcome all breeds from Thoroughbreds to TWH to Arabians to Mustangs and everything in between. We pride ourselves on our care for our horses from keeping up with deworming, farrier, vaccinations, etc. Miles of trails from half an hour long to all day rides. We have a quiet family atmosphere with clients of all ages. Call John for more information 615-427-3383


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Combat Modifiers
Critical Hit & Fumble
Laying Waste-Crit App
Actions in Combat
Combat Maneuvers
Special Attacks
Space, Reach, & Threatened Area Templates
Ship Combat
Special Abilities
Traps, Hazards & Special Terrains
Armor and Encumbrance
Vision and Light
Breaking and Entering
What is a Game Master?
You might already know what a Game Master is. The likely definition, if you're reading this, is "you." But if you don't know, a Game Master (or GM) is the player who arbitrates the rules of the game and controls the actions of every game element that isn't explicitly controlled by the other players. But as any experienced Game Master knows, being a GM is also much, much more.
Host: Game Masters are the unifying force behind most of the game, not just organizing a social event but providing excitement and entertainment for those who participate.
Mastermind: GMs work to keep a game's momentum moving in directions that entertain all the players while exploring the stories and settings they desire. To such ends, a GM manipulates dozens of elements, from how narrative components unfold to what rules are used and how they function in every situation.
Mediator: Just as GMs make sure all of a game's plots and rules work together to entertain, they must also ensure that the players themselves mesh and cooperate.
Actor: Through the GM, the cast of entire fantasy worlds takes the stage. In a given session, a Game Master might play a generous peasant or a conniving king, a rampaging dragon or an enigmatic deity. Whatever the persona, the GM's characters are only as convincing, endearing, despicable, or memorable as the person who portrays them.
Patron: While GMs constantly confront their players with all sorts of dangers, they also serve as the source of every reward the PCs ever gain, from each experience point to treasures of legend.
World Builder: GMs control nearly every aspect of an entire fantasy reality. With not just one world, but perhaps even multiple planets, planes, or even stranger settings under the GM's direction, the more insight and forethought invested into the ways and workings of locations, the more believable these become.
Storyteller: Among a GM's most important tasks is imagining and telling engaging stories.
Game Designer: Even with the vast range of options available, only GMs know what threats their players might face or powers they might come to control. Just as GMs arbitrate the rules within their games, so can they manipulate, repurpose, and wholly invent new rules to improve their games.
Director: Over the course of a campaign, Game Masters have need of dozens of characters and hundreds of encounters, choosing and customizing each and presenting them however best aids the overarching plot.
Regardless of skill or experience as a Game Master, it's likely that every GM can identify one of these roles as an area in which she lacks experience or confidence. This site seeks to address such needs, counseling on challenging aspects of campaigns, contributing new options and inspirations, and refreshing the game's classic elements. Most importantly, the countless tools herein are designed not to change games or tell GMs how they should play, but rather to inspire new stories and save effort, leaving GMs with more time to run exactly the adventures they and their groups want to play—or have been playing for years.
Customizing Your Game
Roleplaying games are, at their cores, simulations, with most rules focusing on how to perform epic feats and participate in the fantastic adventures of legendary heroes.
When to Design?
Part of a GM's fun is not just coming up with exciting adventures, but devising new ways to present his adventures. While Chapter 2 discusses many techniques a GM might use to make his campaign more captivating, good organization, tracking tools, handouts, and the like aren't always enough. Sometimes, a GM might find that there's no perfect fit within the existing rules for an encounter, creature, or other element he'd like to include. Yet rather than being deterred and having to reimagine his adventure, it's completely within the GM's purview to get creative with the rules to make what he wants or a campaign needs. Ultimately, while the rules are designed for ease of use and to promote fairness in a game, they exist to help a GM tell his story, and should never be a hindrance to play. If revising the rules or reworking them to better suit a situation improves an adventure, the GM is within his rights to make any adjustments he sees fit. At the simplest level, such changes might be purely cosmetic—using the stats of an existing monster while describing some new threat, or describing a magic item differently from its typical interpretation, for example. In other cases, actual rules might be altered as the GM chooses, though the balance and fairness of the game should always remain a consideration. There's nothing wrong with increasing the hit points of a major villain or monster if the PCs risk breezing through a campaign's climax, or increasing the DC of a disease meant to be especially virulent. In such cases, though, the GM should consider if not making a change is actually bad for a game. Sometimes real heroes slay a dragon in a single round or shrug off the world-ravaging plague, and such things make the players feel special and remain memorable long after the adventure ends.
Occasionally, though, an adventure might call for a change that a cosmetic alteration or a random adjustment won't satisfy. In such cases, GMs have the option of creating their own simple subsystems to handle exactly the circumstance they desire. Aside from what a GM determines, there's no other authority that a rule or subsystem must appease for use in a game. While published rules typically have the benefit of professional design and extensive playtesting, there's nothing preventing any GM from designing his own components. This could be basic, like using existing rules to create magic items or monsters; more complex, like using existing spells as guidelines to create new ones; or wholly new, like many of the subsystems in this chapter. While GMs uncomfortable with the details of a game may want to keep things simple or mimic existing rules, those more experienced might attempt to design any element they feel could improve their game.
Designing new elements for one's game doesn't need to be daunting, and taking cues from existing examples serves as a fantastic departure point. A GM might design wandering monster tables for his specific adventure, customize a new kind of staff for a villain, or create a new kind of flaming tornado hazard for a side trek onto the Plane of Fire. In each of these cases, templates or components exist for such elements, requiring just a bit of customizing on the part of the GM, yet feeling completely unique to the players—which is all the matters. On the other side of the spectrum, should the GM have need of complex rules for arguing in court, climbing on titanic beasts, or firing a laser canon, he might be forced to rely on his own ingenuity. In such cases, simple, flexible systems tend to work best, especially when they rely upon established rules. In the case of courtly arguments, one might devise a scale for a king's opinion, and have the actions and urgings of PCs and NPCs affect the scale in one way or another, creating a more nuanced system for argument than a mere Diplomacy check. GMs should try to test their rules systems before games begin, compare them to existing rules, and then let the players know that they're trying rules the GM has created himself. If things go poorly, the GM can adjust elements on the fly or even abandon the system in favor of more standard rules—and go back to the drawing board after the game. If things go well, though, the GM might solicit feedback and make additional adjustments, tinkering until he's devised a useful new tool.
When to Disguise?
Often the appearance of a rule works just as well as a rule. For a GM faced with a situation for which there seems to be no obvious reference in the game's rules, yet who also lacks the time or interest needed to create a new subsystem, good storytelling, even-handed arbitration, and a bit of deception can typically solve the problem and keep a game moving along. When need for a new rules element unexpectedly comes up mid-game, that's rarely the time to stop and begin designing new rules. While you can easily make a few cosmetic changes to existing rules and stat blocks if you know of elements that might serve as good stand-ins, sometimes players come up with plans no rules system could account for. Say a PC wishes to run, leap off a cliff, and attack a dragon soaring past, digging in his axe to maintain a hold on the soaring beast. While rules exist for elements of the action, sticking and hanging onto a weapon embedded in another creature is not part of the game system. Yet rather than denying a character the opportunity to attempt a heroic feat, you could easily rely on the results of the rules you do know to arbitrate those you don't. For example, if the same character rolls high on his Acrobatics skill check and significantly exceeds his target's AC with his attack, you could declare that her plan works and she's now being dragged along by the dragon. Alternatively, if the PC botches either roll, she might be in for a long fall. Either way, interpreting existing rules in an unconventional way, or even just calling for an ability check to suggest either a good or poor result, can save you from paging through volumes of rules trying to find a nonexistent perfect fit. And with some shuffling of notes and hidden dice roles, no player should be the wiser to such an improvised ruling.
Designing Encounters
The heart of any adventure is its encounters. An encounter is any event that puts a specific problem before the PCs that they must solve. Most encounters present combat with monsters or hostile NPCs, but there are many other types—a trapped corridor, a political interaction with a suspicious king, a dangerous passage over a rickety rope bridge, an awkward argument with a friendly NPC who suspects a PC has betrayed him, or anything that adds drama to the game. Brain-teasing puzzles, roleplaying challenges, and skill checks are all classic methods for resolving encounters, but the most complex encounters to build are the most common ones—combat encounters.
When designing a combat encounter, you first decide what level of challenge you want your PCs to face, then follow the steps outlined below.
Step 1—Determine Average Party Level (APL)
Determine the average level of your player characters—this is their Average Party Level (APL for short). You should round this value to the nearest whole number (this is one of the few exceptions to the round down rule). Note that these encounter creation guidelines assume a group of four or five PCs. If your group contains six or more players, add one to their average level. If your group contains three or fewer players, subtract one from their average level. For example, if your group consists of six players, two of which are 4th level and four of which are 5th level, their APL is 6th (28 total levels, divided by six players, rounding up, and adding one to the final result).
Step 2—Determine Challenge Rating (CR)
Challenge Rating (or CR) is a convenient number used to indicate the relative danger presented by a monster, trap, hazard, or other encounter—the higher the CR, the more dangerous the encounter. Refer to Table: Encounter Design to determine the Challenge Rating your group should face, depending on the difficulty of the challenge you want and the group's APL.
|Challenge Rating Equals…
Step 3—Build the Encounter
Determine the total XP award for the encounter by looking it up by its CR on Table: Experience Point Awards. This gives you an "XP budget" for the encounter. Every creature, trap, and hazard is worth an amount of XP determined by its CR, as noted on Table: Experience Point Awards. To build your encounter, simply add creatures, traps, and hazards whose combined XP does not exceed the total XP budget for your encounter. It's easiest to add the highest CR challenges to the encounter first, filling out the remaining total with lesser challenges.
|Total XP
|Individual XP
For example, let's say you want your group of six 8th-level PCs to face a challenging encounter against a group of gargoyles (each CR 4) and their stone giant boss (CR 8). The PCs have an APL of 9, and Table: Encounter Design tells you that a challenging encounter for your APL 9 group is a CR 10 encounter—worth 9,600 XP according to Table: Experience Point Awards. At CR 8, the stone giant is worth 4,800 XP, leaving you with another 4,800 points in your XP budget for the gargoyles. Gargoyles are CR 4 each, and thus worth 1,200 XP apiece, meaning that the encounter can support four gargoyles in its XP budget. You could further refine the encounter by including only three gargoyles, leaving you with 1,200 XP to spend on a trio of Small earth elemental servants (at CR 1, each is worth 400 XP) to further aid the stone giant.
Adding NPCs: Creatures whose Hit Dice are solely a factor of their class levels and not a feature of their race, such as all of the PC races detailed in Races, are factored into combats a little differently than normal monsters or monsters with class levels. A creature that possesses class levels, but does not have any racial Hit Dice, is factored in as a creature with a CR equal to its class levels –1. A creature that only possesses non-player class levels (such as a warrior or adept) is factored in as a creature with a CR equal to its class levels –2. If this reduction would reduce a creature's CR to below 1, its CR drops one step on the following progression for each step below 1 this reduction would make: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8.
High CR Encounters: The XP values for high-CR encounters can seem quite daunting. Table: CR Equivalencies provides some simple formulas to help you manage these large numbers. When using a large number of identical creatures, this chart can help simplify the math by combining them into one CR, making it easier to find their total XP value. For example, using this chart, four CR 8 creatures (worth 4,800 XP each) are equivalent to a CR 12 creature (worth 19,200 XP).
Ad Hoc CR Adjustments: While you can adjust a specific monster's CR by advancing it, applying templates, or giving it class levels, you can also adjust an encounter's difficulty by applying ad hoc adjustments to the encounter or creature itself. Listed here are three additional ways you can alter an encounter's difficulty.
|Number of Creatures
|Equal to…
|1 Creature
|2 Creatures
|3 Creatures
|4 Creatures
|6 Creatures
|8 Creatures
|12 Creatures
|16 Creatures
- Favorable Terrain for the PCs: An encounter against a monster that's out of its favored element (like a yeti encountered in a sweltering cave with lava, or an enormous dragon encountered in a tiny room) gives the PCs an advantage. Build the encounter as normal, but when you award experience for the encounter, do so as if the encounter were one CR lower than its actual CR.
- Unfavorable Terrain for the PCs: Monsters are designed with the assumption that they are encountered in their favored terrain—encountering a water-breathing aboleth in an underwater area does not increase the CR for that encounter, even though none of the PCs breathe water. If, on the other hand, the terrain impacts the encounter significantly (such as an encounter against a creature with blindsight in an area that suppresses all light), you can, at your option, increase the effective XP award as if the encounter's CR were one higher.
- NPC Gear Adjustments: You can significantly increase or decrease the power level of an NPC with class levels by adjusting the NPC's gear. The combined value of an NPC's gear is given in Creating NPCs on Table: NPC Gear. A classed NPC encountered with no gear should have his CR reduced by 1 (provided that loss of gear actually hampers the NPC), while a classed NPC that instead has gear equivalent to that of a PC (as listed on Table: Character Wealth by Level) has a CR of 1 higher than his actual CR. Be careful awarding NPCs this extra gear, though—especially at high levels, where you can blow out your entire adventure's treasure budget in one fell swoop!
|PC Level*
|1,000 gp
|3,000 gp
|6,000 gp
|10,500 gp
|16,000 gp
|23,500 gp
|33,000 gp
|46,000 gp
|62,000 gp
|82,000 gp
|108,000 gp
|140,000 gp
|185,000 gp
|240,000 gp
|315,000 gp
|410,000 gp
|530,000 gp
|685,000 gp
|880,000 gp
|* For 1st-level PCs, see Table: Starting Character Wealth.
Awarding Experience
Characters advance in level by defeating monsters, overcoming challenges, and completing adventures—in so doing, they earn experience points (XP for short). Although you can award experience points as soon as a challenge is overcome, this can quickly disrupt the flow of game play. It's easier to simply award experience points at the end of a game session—that way, if a character earns enough XP to gain a level, he won't disrupt the game while he levels up his character. He can instead take the time between game sessions to do that.
Keep a list of the CRs of all the monsters, traps, obstacles, and roleplaying encounters the PCs overcome. At the end of each session, award XP to each PC that participated. Each monster, trap, and obstacle awards a set amount of XP, as determined by its CR, regardless of the level of the party in relation to the challenge, although you should never bother awarding XP for challenges that have a CR of 10 or more lower than the APL. Pure roleplaying encounters generally have a CR equal to the average level of the party (although particularly easy or difficult roleplaying encounters might be one higher or lower). There are two methods for awarding XP. While one is more exact, it requires a calculator for ease of use. The other is slightly more abstract.
Exact XP: Once the game session is over, take your list of defeated CR numbers and look up the value of each CR on Table: Experience Point Awards under the "Total XP" column. Add up the XP values for each CR and then divide this total by the number of characters—each character earns an amount of XP equal to this number.
Abstract XP: Simply add up the individual XP awards listed for a group of the appropriate size. In this case, the division is done for you—you need only total up all the awards to determine how many XP to award to each PC.
Story Awards: Feel free to award Story Awards when players conclude a major storyline or make an important accomplishment. These awards should be worth double the amount of experience points for a CR equal to the APL. Particularly long or difficult story arcs might award even more, at your discretion as GM.
Placing Treasure
As PCs gain levels, the amount of treasure they carry and use increases as well. The game assumes that all PCs of equivalent level have roughly equal amounts of treasure and magic items. Since the primary income for a PC derives from treasure and loot gained from adventuring, it's important to moderate the wealth and hoards you place in your adventures. To aid in placing treasure, the amount of treasure and magic items the PCs receive for their adventures is tied to the Challenge Rating of the encounters they face—the higher an encounter's CR, the more treasure it can award.
Table: Character Wealth by Level lists the amount of treasure each PC is expected to have at a specific level. Note that this table assumes a standard fantasy game. Low-fantasy games might award only half this value, while high-fantasy games might double the value. It is assumed that some of this treasure is consumed in the course of an adventure (such as potions and scrolls), and that some of the less useful items are sold for half value so more useful gear can be purchased.
Table: Character Wealth by Level can also be used to budget gear for characters starting above 1st level, such as a new character created to replace a dead one. Characters should spend no more than half their total wealth on any single item. For a balanced approach, PCs that are built after 1st level should spend no more than 25% of their wealth on weapons, 25% on armor and protective devices, 25% on other magic items, 15% on disposable items like potions, scrolls, and wands, and 10% on ordinary gear and coins. Different character types might spend their wealth differently than these percentages suggest; for example, arcane casters might spend very little on weapons but a great deal more on other magic items and disposable items.
Table: Treasure Values per Encounter lists the amount of treasure each encounter should award based on the average level of the PCs and the speed of the campaign's XP progression (slow, medium, or fast). Easy encounters should award treasure one level lower than the PCs' average level. Challenging, hard, and epic encounters should award treasure one, two, or three levels higher than the PCs' average level, respectively. If you are running a low-fantasy game, cut these values in half. If you are running a high-fantasy game, double these values.
Encounters against NPCs typically award three times the treasure a monster-based encounter awards, due to NPC gear. To compensate, make sure the PCs face off against a pair of additional encounters that award little in the way of treasure. Animals, plants, constructs, mindless undead, oozes, and traps are great "low treasure" encounters. Alternatively, if the PCs face a number of creatures with little or no treasure, they should have the opportunity to acquire a number of significantly more valuable objects sometime in the near future to make up for the imbalance. As a general rule, PCs should not own any magic item worth more than half their total character wealth, so make sure to check before awarding expensive magic items. Note: CR 21-30 from Bestiary 4
|Treasure per Encounter
|20 gp
|35 gp
|50 gp
|30 gp
|45 gp
|65 gp
|40 gp
|65 gp
|100 gp
|55 gp
|85 gp
|135 gp
|85 gp
|130 gp
|200 gp
|170 gp
|260 gp
|400 gp
|350 gp
|550 gp
|800 gp
|550 gp
|800 gp
|1,200 gp
|750 gp
|1,150 gp
|1,700 gp
|1,000 gp
|1,550 gp
|2,300 gp
|1,350 gp
|2,000 gp
|3,000 gp
|1,750 gp
|2,600 gp
|3,900 gp
|2,200 gp
|3,350 gp
|5,000 gp
|2,850 gp
|4,250 gp
|6,400 gp
|3,650 gp
|5,450 gp
|8,200 gp
|4,650 gp
|7,000 gp
|10,500 gp
|6,000 gp
|9,000 gp
|13,500 gp
|7,750 gp
|11,600 gp
|17,500 gp
|10,000 gp
|15,000 gp
|22,000 gp
|13,000 gp
|19,500 gp
|29,000 gp
|16,500 gp
|25,000 gp
|38,000 gp
|22,000 gp
|32,000 gp
|48,000 gp
|28,000 gp
|41,000 gp
|62,000 gp
|35,000 gp
|53,000 gp
|79,000 gp
|44,000 gp
|67,000 gp
|100,000 gp
|55,000 gp
|84,000 gp
|125,000 gp
|69,000 gp
|104,000 gp
|155,000 gp
|85,000 gp
|127,000 gp
|190,000 gp
|102,000 gp
|155,000 gp
|230,000 gp
|125,000 gp
|185,000 gp
|275,000 gp
|150,000 gp
|220,000 gp
|330,000 gp
|175,000 gp
|260,000 gp
|390,000 gp
|205,000 gp
|305,000 gp
|460,000 gp
|240,000 gp
|360,000 gp
|540,000 gp
|280,000 gp
|420,000 gp
|630,000 gp
Making Ordinary Treasures Special
Treasure needn't be mechanically unique to have an interesting backstory or serve as the catalyst for an adventure. Standard items can be made unique without changing their mechanics by adding flavorful descriptions or backstories. Alternatively, making an item intelligent or cursed, combining two items into one, or adding an unusual power to an existing item are all perfectly good changes that can make items more memorable.
Consider the following suggestions for making the mundane exciting in your campaign.
Family Relic: Similar to providing a historical background for an item, creating a story that directly connects the item to one or more player characters in the game allows a GM to spin a fascinating story—possibly one that is directly connected to a story feat. For example, the tapestry that once hung over the throne of a PC's grandfather's castle may be the proof the group needs to recover to convince the land's subjects of that character's right to rule.
Haunted: A restless spirit haunts the item. This lingering spirit might be something that evokes sympathy from the PCs, such as a young child who died in a tragic way or a grandmother who was killed by her family so they could gain her fortune. Such spirits may be benevolent, allowing the characters to use the item without complication, but appearing upon the item's use, reminding the party of the object's brutal history and asking them to help grant the spirit peace. Alternatively, a nasty spirit could inhabit the item, in which case each use might require a battle of wills. In this case, the party might then seek the means to exorcise the spirit so that they could gain unfettered use of the item's powers.
Historical Significance: An item doesn't need to be magical to be valuable. A mundane sword wielded by a famous war hero or a suit of leather armor crafted by artisans of a long-lost civilization could provide adventure hooks involving the historical figures or cultures associated with the item. Historians and collectors alike would prize such items simply to study or own, and may send PCs on adventures to retrieve them. Bards in particular may be interested in tracking down such pieces, as the recovery could earn the lore masters prestige as procurers of museum-worthy items.
Intelligent: Give an item a spark of intelligence to make it more intriguing. Certainly the player characters are used to intelligent weapons, but what about an intelligent folding boat? Once an item is imbued with intelligence, its use can no longer be taken for granted, instead requiring a diplomatic encounter or battle of wills. Can the PCs convince the boat to unfold? If so, can they then persuade or cajole it to allow them aboard to make their journey? Using an intelligent item can prove problematic if the PCs don't appease it in some way—and woe to the adventurer to whom it takes a disliking.
Named: When you name an item, many players automatically think of it as something special. Proper names pique interest, and you may find players asking to research the named item at various libraries and taking notes about the discovered references. Admittedly, a name may just be a trick to interest the party in a relatively simple ring of protection +2, but referring to it as the ring of the High Priest Boraz certainly makes the item more intriguing in the story. Your players will think fondly on their efforts to recover the item—even if it's no different from any other magical ring.
Adventure Prerequisite: Sometimes, finding an item is necessary before a larger adventure can commence. Though required, such an item may have no further importance beyond being necessary to achieve another goal. For example, suppose the PCs need to find the key to an otherwise impenetrable vault. The key, they learn, isn't a traditional key, but rather a +1 longsword lost somewhere in the jungle. The search for the sword thus becomes part of a larger campaign.
Cosmetic Variation: Who says every rod of rulership, cloak of the mountebank, or flying carpet has to look exactly the same? Where's the fun in that? Sure, the item works the same as the other ones, but making a small variation, even if just a minor or superficial change, opens a tremendous host of possibilities for making treasure more wondrous. Artisans take pride in their work, so infuse items with some of their creators' personalities! For example, a quirky, insect-loving mage may have created a feather token whose "bird" looks like a fly, mosquito, or pesky flying termite— there's no reason it has to specifically look like a bird.
Valuable Material: To make a fairly mundane item more prized, alter the materials used to craft it. For example, a rope of entanglement could be coveted because it's made of spun gold, or was woven from the thick locks of a golden-haired azata or the mane of a unicorn, rather than from the usual hemp fibers.
Building a Treasure Hoard
While it's often enough to simply tell your players they've found 5,000 gp in gems and 10,000 gp in jewelry, it's generally more interesting to give details. Giving treasure a personality can not only help the verisimilitude of your game, but can sometimes trigger new adventures. The information below can help you randomly determine types of additional treasure—suggested values are given for many of the objects, but feel free to assign values to the objects as you see fit. It's easiest to place the expensive items first—if you wish, you can even randomly roll magic items, using the tables in Magic Items, to determine what sort of items are present in the hoard. Once you've consumed a sizable portion of the hoard's value, the remainder can simply be loose coins or non-magical treasure with values arbitrarily assigned as you see fit.
Coins: Coins in a treasure hoard can consist of copper, silver, gold, and platinum pieces—silver and gold are the most common, but you can divide the coinage as you wish. Coins and their value relative to each other are described at the start of Equipment.
Gems: Although you can assign any value to a gemstone, some are inherently more valuable than others. Use the value categories below (and their associated gemstones) as guidelines when assigning values to gemstones.
Low-Quality Gems (10 gp): agates; azurite; blue quartz; hematite; lapis lazuli; malachite; obsidian; rhodochrosite; tigereye; turquoise; freshwater (irregular) pearl
Semi-Precious Gems (50 gp): bloodstone; carnelian; chalcedony; chrysoprase; citrine; jasper; moonstone; onyx; peridot; rock crystal (clear quartz); sard; sardonyx; rose, smoky, or star rose quartz; zircon
Medium Quality Gemstones (100 gp): amber; amethyst; chrysoberyl; coral; red or brown-green garnet; jade; jet; white, golden, pink, or silver pearl; red, red-brown, or deep green spinel; tourmaline
High Quality Gemstones (500 gp): alexandrite; aquamarine; violet garnet; black pearl; deep blue spinel; golden yellow topaz
Jewels (1,000 gp): emerald; white, black, or fire opal; blue sapphire; fiery yellow or rich purple corundum; blue or black star sapphire
Grand Jewels (5,000 gp or more): clearest bright green emerald; diamond; jacinth; ruby
Non-magical Treasures: This expansive category includes jewelry, fine clothing, trade goods, alchemical items, masterwork objects, and more. Unlike gemstones, many of these objects have set values, but you can always increase an object's value by having it be bejeweled or of particularly fine craftsmanship. This increase in cost doesn't grant additional abilities—a gem-encrusted masterwork cold iron scimitar worth 40,000 gp functions the same as a typical masterwork cold iron scimitar worth the base price of 330 gp. Listed below are numerous examples of several types of nonmagical treasures, along with typical values.
Fine Artwork (100 gp or more): Although some artwork is composed of precious materials, the value of most paintings, sculptures, works of literature, fine clothing, and the like come from their skill and craftsmanship. Artwork is often bulky or cumbersome to move and fragile to boot, making salvage an adventure in and of itself.
Jewelry, Minor (50 gp): This category includes relatively small pieces of jewelry crafted from materials like brass, bronze, copper, ivory, or even exotic woods, sometimes set with tiny or flawed low-quality gems. Minor jewelry includes rings, bracelets, and earrings.
Jewelry, Normal (100–500 gp): Most jewelry is made of silver, gold, jade, or coral, often ornamented with semi-precious or even medium-quality gemstones. Normal jewelry includes all types of minor jewelry plus armbands, necklaces, and brooches.
Jewelry, Precious (500 gp or more): Truly precious jewelry is crafted from gold, mithral, platinum, or similar rare metals. Such objects include normal jewelry types plus crowns, scepters, pendants, and other large items.
Masterwork Tools (100–300 gp): This category includes masterwork weapons, armor, and skill kits—see Equipment for more details and costs for these items.
Mundane Gear (up to 1,000 gp): There are many valuable items of mundane or alchemical nature detailed in Equipment that can be utilized as treasure. Most of the alchemical items are portable and valuable, but other objects like locks, holy symbols, spyglasses, fine wine, or fine clothing work well as interesting bits of treasure. Trade goods can even serve as treasure—10 pounds of saffron, for example, is worth 150 gp.
Treasure Maps and Other Intelligence (variable): Items like treasure maps, deeds to ships and homes, lists of informants or guard rosters, passwords, and the like can also make fun items of treasure—you can set the value of such items at any amount you wish, and often they can serve double-duty as adventure seeds.
Magic Items: Of course, the discovery of a magic item is the true prize for any adventurer. You should take care with the placement of magic items in a hoard—it's generally more satisfying for many players to find a magic item rather than purchase it, so there's no crime in placing items that happen to be those your players can use! An extensive list of magic items (and their costs) is given in Magic Items.
Although you should generally place items with careful consideration of their likely effects on your campaign, it can be fun and save time to generate magic items in a treasure hoard randomly. You can "purchase" random die rolls of magic items for a treasure hoard at the following prices, subtracting the indicated amount from your treasure budget and then rolling on the appropriate column on Table: Random Magic Item Generation in Magic Items to determine what item is in the treasure hoard. Take care with this approach, though! It's easy, through the luck (or unluck) of the dice to bloat your game with too much treasure or deprive it of the same. Random magic item placement should always be tempered with good common sense by the GM.
|Magic Item Category
|Average Value
|Minor Item
|1,000 gp
|Medium Item
|10,000 gp
|Major Item
|40,000 gp


text:
Police log - April 9, 2013
The police log is supplied by the Washington County Communications Center
An arrest is merely an accusation. All suspects should be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law
Total — NA
Treatment — NA
Male section — NA
Female section — NA
Work release — NA
Holding — NA
Special needs – NA
Contract inmates — NA
Lacey Jane (Magner) Bohlen, 28, of Washington, was arrested Monday afternoon in the 300 block of North Marion Avenue in Washington for fifth-degree theft.
Lacey Jane Magner, 28, of Washington, was arrested Monday afternoon in the 200 block of East Third Street in Washington for driving under suspension and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.
Traffic other
A vehicle was reported left in a stall in the 300 block of North Marion Avenue in Washington Monday afternoon and the description did not match the license number. The vehicle was towed.
Sexual assault
A subject reported Tuesday morning being sexually assaulted in the City of Riverside. The incident was documented.
Drug/narcotics violation
Officers reported being out on a vehicle stop in the 100 block of South Sixth Street in Kalona. Charges are pending for possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia.
Animal complaint
A bat was reported flying on the second floor of the library in the 100 block of West Washington Street in Washington Monday afternoon. Officers were unable to locate.
A loose dog was reported Monday afternoon in the 700 block of 10th Avenue in Wellman.
A lot of yelling and banging was reported coming from an apartment in the 200 block of East 15th Street in Washington, a caller reported Monday afternoon. Officers responded. Everything was quiet on arrival.
All other offenses
A caller reported Monday afternoon losing her purse in the 300 block of East Washington Street in Washington. The incident was documented.
Family offense non violent
A loud scream was reported Monday evening in the 400 block of East Madison Street in Washington. Officers responded.
Welfare check
A welfare check was requested Monday evening on a subject in the 1300 block of East Third Street in Washington. Officers responded. The subject was fine.


text:
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Responsible energy production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska could help with economic recovery, a Republican lawmaker said.
U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said tapping into hydrocarbon resources on less than 3 percent of the 20 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska could provide a boost to the U.S. economy.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are at least 5.7 billion barrels of technically recoverable crude oil and natural gas liquids within the so-called 1002 Area of ANWR.
Republican lawmakers, following U.S. President Barack Obama's speech Thursday outlining his jobs proposal, said the plan had a few shortcomings, notably in domestic energy production.
"Faced with record deficits, near double-digit unemployment and high gasoline prices, lawmakers should not take any job-creating options off the table," Hastings said in a statement on ANWR drilling.
The U.S. Energy Information Agency says total production from ANWR would represent, at most, around 1 percent of the total world oil consumption.
Hasting's committee considers ANWR proposals during a session Wednesday.


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Czech TV will premiere an hour-long version of a new film on the history and legends of Prague's old Jewish quarter on March 28. The full 90-minute movie with be screened at Prague's Evald cinema on April 24, 25 and 26.
Called Pátá čtvrť: zmizelé město pražské (Fifth District: The Disappeared City of Prague), the film (at least from the trailers) mixes animation, fantasy, live action and music to tell both the history of the Fifth District and the tales and legends that grew up around it.
The film was written and directed by Joseph Císařovský, with story and screenplay by David Jan Novotny.
You can see three trailers from the film HERE. What do you think about them? Let us know with a comment!


text:
Maxim to buy Teridian for $315 million
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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Moving into a new and emerging market, Maxim Integrated Products Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Teridian Semiconductor Corp. for approximately $315 million in cash.
The acquisition positions Maxim (Sunnyvale, Calif.) in the smart meter chip market. Teridian is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Irvine, Calif. It is a chip supplier to three of the top four major meter manufacturers in the U.S. and to over 50 meter manufacturers globally.
In 2005, private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, in partnership with the semiconductor management team of TDK, acquired the Irvine, Calif.-based company from TDK-USA, a subsidiary of the Japan-based TDK Corp., for an undisclosed amount. The mixed-signal semiconductor supplier, TDK Semiconductor Corp., changed its name to Teridian Semiconductor at the time.
Maxim will build on Teridian's market position to accelerate sales of Maxim's existing power management, real-time clock, and interface products, as well as security IP, which are all required in smart meters.
Smart meter units using both system-on-a-chip (SoC_ and multi-chip solutions are estimated to grow 10 percent annually through 2014. Maxim projects its serviceable available market (SAM) for the energy measurement portion of smart meters to reach $380 million by 2014.
Beside smart meters, Maxim and others are seeing strong demand in analog. There are still select shortages and extended lead times in the analog arena. And demand looks strong--at least until the third quarter.
''Recent checks on Maxim suggest 1Q revenues are tracking toward the high end of its guidance range of $500-$520 million (up 6-to-10 percent QOQ) and two points above Street estimates,'' according to a recent report from FBR. ''For 2Q, Maxim could guide revenues to $520-$540 million (up 0-to-4 percent sequentially), slight upside versus the Street estimate of $528 million.
Maxim has been on a buying spree as well. In 2008, Maxim entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Mobilygen Inc., a developer of H.264 video compression chips.
In January of 2009, Maxim acquired Innova Card (La Ciotat, France), fabless semiconductor company specializing in the design and development of secure solutions for terminals, for an undisclosed sum.
Also in 2009, Maxim acquired Zilog Inc.'s secure transaction product line. This features the Zatara 32-bit, ARM-based microcontroller family for use in payment terminals.
Last last year, analog chip maker Maxim has sold some RFID intellectual-property (IP) to Intelleflex Corp. In return, Maxim received an equity position in Intelleflex (Santa Clara, Calif.), a developer of RFID products. In total, seven engineers from Maxim will be joining Intelleflex.