A method of separating an inorganic material, the method comprising in the following order: a contact process of contacting a processing solution with a composite material, the composite material including a first organic substance that is decomposable by the processing solution, a second organic substance that is not decomposable by the processing solution, and an inorganic material; a separation process of separating the processing solution including a decomposition product of the first organic substance, from a recovered product including the inorganic material and the second organic substance; and a thermal treatment process of subjecting the recovered product to a thermal treatment at a temperature that is equal to or greater than a temperature at which the second organic substance is eliminated.

Composite materials of an organic substance such as a resin and an inorganic material such as carbon are used in various fields. Examples of the composite materials include a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) including a resin and carbon fibers, a glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) including a resin and glass fibers, a mold coil including a resin and a metal member, and a motor coil including a varnish and a conductive coil.
In view of a recent increase in the disposal amount of used composite materials, development of a technique of reprocessing and reusing the same has been considered. For example, a method of collecting an inorganic material from a composite material by decomposing a resin in the composite material with a processing solution including a decomposition catalyst and an organic solvent, and separating the resin with the processing solution from the inorganic material, has been proposed as a method of reusing an inorganic material in a composite material including an epoxy resin or a polyester resin and an inorganic material (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 2001-172426 and 2002-194137).

Method of separating inorganic material, method of producing reprocessed material and method of removing organic substance


The invention describes a method for transmitting data packets over a packet switching network with widely varying link speeds. The switches of the network maintain a common time reference (CTR). Each switch along a route from a source to a destination forwards data packets in periodic time frames (TFs) of a plurality of durations that are predefined using the CTR. The time frame duration can be longer than the time duration required for transmitting a data packet, in which case the exact position of a packet in the time interval is not predetermined. In accordance with the present invention, different time frame intervals: TF1, TF2, and so on are used for forwarding over links with different capacities. Employing different time frame intervals is useful in heterogeneous networks with widely varying link speeds, since the number of bytes that can be transmitted during one time frame of one of, for example, 500/125/62.5/12.5 microseconds changes according to the link capacity and various other system parameters and considerations, such as, maximum data packet size. When the transmission of a data packet cannot be completed before the beginning of the next time frame, a time-driven preemption priority can be used in order to ensure the timely transmission of real-time data packet before xe2x80x9cbest effortxe2x80x9d data packets. When the transmission of a data packet cannot be completed in its current time frame the transmission of this data packet can continue in the following time frames.

Not Applicable.
This invention relates to generally to a method and apparatus for transmitting of data on a communications network. More specifically, this invention relates to timely forwarding and delivery of data over the network and to their destination nodes. Consequently, the end-to-end performance parameters, such as, loss, delay and jitter, have either deterministic or probabilistic guarantees.
The proliferation of high-speed communications links, fast processors, and affordable, multimedia-ready personal computers brings about the need for wide area networks that can carry real-time data, like telephony and video. However, the end-to-end transport requirements of real-time multimedia applications present a major challenge that cannot be solved satisfactorily by current networking technologies. Such applications as video teleconferencing, and audio and video group (many-to-many) multicasting generate data at a wide range of bit rates and require predictable, stable performance and strict limits on loss rates, end-to-end delay bounds, and delay variations (xe2x80x9cjitterxe2x80x9d). These characteristics and performance requirements are incompatible with the services that current circuit and packet switching networks can offer.
Circuit-switching networks, which are still the main carrier for real-time traffic, are designed for telephony service and cannot be easily enhanced to support multiple services or carry multimedia traffic. Its synchronous byte switching enables circuit-switching networks to transport data streams at constant rates with little delay or jitter. However, since circuit-switching networks allocate resources exclusively for individual connections, they suffer from low utilization under bursty traffic. Moreover, it is difficult to dynamically allocate circuits of widely different capacities, which makes it a challenge to support multimedia traffic. Finally, the synchronous byte switching of SONET, which embodies the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), requires increasingly more precise clock synchronization as the lines speed increases [John C. Bellamy, xe2x80x9cDigital Network Synchronizationxe2x80x9d, IEEE Communications Magazine, April 1995, pages 70-83].
Packet switching networks like IP (Internet Protocol)xe2x80x94based Internet and Intranets [see, for example, A. Tannebaum, Computer Networks (3rd Ed) Prentice Hall, 1996] and ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) [see, for example, Handel et al., ATM Networks: Concepts, Protocols, and Applications (2nd Ed.) Addison-Wesley, 1994] handle bursty data more efficiently than circuit switching, due to their statistical multiplexing of the packet streams. However, current packet switches and routers operate asynchronously and provide best effort service only, in which end-to-end delay and jitter are neither guaranteed nor bounded. Furthermore, statistical variations of traffic intensity often lead to congestion that results in excessive delays and loss of packets, thereby significantly reducing the fidelity of real-time streams at their points of reception.
Efforts to define advanced services for both IP and ATM have been conducted in two levels: (1) definition of service, and (2) specification of methods for providing different services to different packet streams. The former defines interfaces, data formats, and performance objectives. The latter specifies procedures for processing packets by hosts and switches/routers. The types of services that defined for ATM include constant bit rate (CBR), variable bit rate (VBR) and available bit rate (ABR).
The methods for providing different services under packet switching fall under the general title of Quality of Service (QoS). Prior art in QoS can be divided into two parts: (1) traffic shaping with local timing without deadline scheduling, for example [Demers et al., xe2x80x9cAnalysis and Simulation Of A Fair Queuing Algorithmxe2x80x9d, ACM Computer Communication Review (SIGCOMM""89), pages 3-12, 1989; S. J. Golestani, xe2x80x9cCongestion-Free Communication In High-Speed Packet Networksxe2x80x9d, IEEE Transcripts on Communications, COM-39(12):1802-1812, December 1991; Parekh et al., xe2x80x9cA Generalized Processor Sharing Approach To Flow Controlxe2x80x94The Multiple Node Casexe2x80x9d, ACM Transactions on Networking, 2(2):137-150, 1994], and (2) traffic shaping with deadline scheduling, for example [Ferrari et al., xe2x80x9cA Scheme For Real-Time Channel Establishment In Wide-Area Networksxe2x80x9d, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communication, SAC-8(4):368-379, April 1990]. Both of these approaches rely on manipulation of local queues by each router with little or no coordination with other routers. These approaches have inherent limitations when used to transport real-time streams. When traffic shaping without deadline scheduling is configured to operate at high utilization with no loss, the delay and jitter are inversely proportional to the connection bandwidth, which means that low rate connections may experience large delay and jitter inside the network. In traffic shaping with deadline scheduling the delay and jitter are controlled at the expense of possible congestion and loss.
The real-time transport protocol (RTP) [H. Schultzrinne et. al, xe2x80x9cRTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applicationxe2x80x9ds, IETF Request for Comment RFC1889, January 1996] is a method for encapsulating time-sensitive data packets and attaching to the data time related information like time stamps and packet sequence number. RTP is currently the accepted method for transporting real-time streams over IP internetworks and packet audio/video telephony based on ITU-T H.323.
One approach to an optical network that uses synchronization was introduced in the synchronous optical hypergraph [Y. Ofek, xe2x80x9cThe Topology, Algorithms And Analysis Of A Synchronous Optical Hypergraph Architecturexe2x80x9d, Ph.D. Dissertation, Electrical Engineering Department, University of Illinois at Urbana, Report No. UIUCDCS-R-87-1343, May 1987], which also relates to how to integrate packet telephony using synchronization [Y. Ofek, xe2x80x9cIntegration Of Voice Communication On A Synchronous Optical Hypergraphxe2x80x9d, IEEE INFOCOM""88, 1988]. In the synchronous optical hypergraph, the forwarding is performed over hyper-edges, which are passive optical stars. In [Li et al., xe2x80x9cPseudo-Isochronous Cell Switching In ATM Networksxe2x80x9d, IEEE INFOCOM""94, pages 428-437, 1994; Li et al., xe2x80x9cTime-Driven Priority: Flow Control For Real-Time Heterogeneous Internetworkingxe2x80x9d, IEEE INFOCOM""96, 1996] the synchronous optical hypergraph idea was applied to networks with an arbitrary topology and with point-to-point links. The two papers [Li et al., xe2x80x9cPseudo-Isochronous Cell Switching In ATM Networksxe2x80x9d, IEEE INFOCOM""94, pages 428-437, 1994; Li et al., xe2x80x9cTime-Driven Priority: Flow Control For Real-Time Heterogeneous Internetworkingxe2x80x9d, IEEE INFOCOM""96, 1996] provide an abstract (high level) description of what is called xe2x80x9cRISC-like forwardingxe2x80x9d, in which a packet is forwarded, with little if any details, one hop every time frame in a manner similar to the execution of instructions in a Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) machine.
In accordance with the present invention, a method is disclosed providing virtual pipes that carry real-time traffic over packet switching networks with widely varying link speeds, while guaranteeing end-to-end performance. The method combines the advantages of both circuit and packet switching. It provides for allocation for the exclusive use of predefined connections and for those connections it guarantees loss free transport with low delay and jitter. When predefined connections do not use their allocated resources, other non-reserved data packets can use them without affecting the performance of the predefined connections.
Under the aforementioned prior art methods for providing packet switching services, switches and routers operate asynchronously. The present invention provides real-time services by synchronous methods that utilize a time reference that is common to the switches and end stations comprising a wide area network. The common time reference can be realized by using UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), which is globally available via, for example, GPS (Global Positioning Systemxe2x80x94see, for example: [Peter H. Dana, xe2x80x9cGlobal Positioning System (GPS) Time Dissemination for Real-Time Applicationsxe2x80x9d, Real-Time Systems, 12, pp. 9-40, 1997]. By international agreement, UTC is the same all over the world. UTC is the scientific name for what is commonly called GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), the time at the 0 (root) line of longitude at Greenwich, England. In 1967, an international agreement established the length of a second as the duration of 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the cesium atom. The adoption of the atomic second led to the coordination of clocks around the world and the establishment of UTC in 1972. The Time and Frequency Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) (see http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq) is responsible for coordinating UTC with the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in Paris.
UTC timing is readily available to individual PCs through GPS cards. For example, TrueTime, Inc.""s (Santa Rosa, Calif.) PCI-SG provides precise time, with zero latency, to computers that have PCI extension slots. Another way by which UTC can be provided over a network is by using the Network Time Protocol (NTP) [D. Mills, xe2x80x9cNetwork Time Protocolxe2x80x9d (version 3) IETF RFC 1305]. However, the clock accuracy of NTP is not adequate for inter-switch coordination, on which this invention is based.
In accordance with the present invention, the synchronization requirements are independent of the physical link transmission speed, while in circuit switching the synchronization becomes more and more difficult as the link speed increases.
In accordance with the present invention, timing information is not used for routing, and therefore, in the Internet, for example, the routing is done using IP addresses or an IP tag/label.
In accordance with the present invention, timing information is provided by using a Common Time Reference (CTR) signal, one such source is the above mentioned GPS. CTR is used for the timely forwarding over links with plurality of different time frame intervals: TF1, TF2, and so on. Employing different time frame intervals are useful in heterogeneous networks with widely varying link speeds, as shown in the following table. That is, the number of bytes that can be transmitted during one time frame of, say, 500/125/12.5 microseconds changes according to the link capacity.
In accordance with the present invention, the Internet xe2x80x9cbest effortxe2x80x9d data packet forwarding strategy is integrated into the system. Furthermore, if the transmission of a xe2x80x9cbest effortxe2x80x9d data packet does not complete at the end of a time frame, a real-time data packet can have a novel time-driven non-destructive preemptive priority. This implies that the transmission of a xe2x80x9cbest effortxe2x80x9d data packet is stopped while real-time data packets are transmitted, and will resume after all scheduled real-time data packets have been transmitted. The time-driven preemption method used in this invention is novel since the preemption priority is given at a certain time, which is derived from the common time reference.

Scheduling with different time intervals


An inflatable sports ball has a body with a multiplicity of discrete panels joined together at seams along respective adjacent edges by stitching, preferably machine stitching, to define a volume, and an inflatable bladder disposed within the volume, with a valve extending through an aperture defined in the body outer surface. Each ball panel is formed of a multi-layer laminate consisting of an outer layer of synthetic polymeric material, an intermediate layer of expanded synthetic polymeric material and a woven fabric, and an inner layer of woven fabric. A method for manufacturing an inflatable sports ball using a stitching machine to join pairs of panels at a seam along respective adjacent edges is also described.

Inflatable sports balls, such as soccer balls, volley balls, hand balls consist of an outer body in the form of a sphere and an inflatable bladder disposed therein. Sports balls of this type are often formed by joining discrete panels together, e.g. by stitching, along their respective adjacent edges. Shishido et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,781 suggests use of a sewing or stitching machine to join the panels together.
To enhance durability, and to resist enlargement of the ball over time, e.g. due to action of the compressed air contained within the bladder, a sports ball may have a wound core, i.e., an inflatable bladder covered with windings of thread, e.g. nylon yarn.

Inflatable stitched sports ball and method of making same

5/F, Knutsford Commercial Bldg., 4 Knutsford Terrace


A display system is disclosed having a casing, a drawer and a stopping mechanism. The drawer is inserted into the casing and a hidden section of the drawer is alternately hidden from view and then displayed when the system transitions between retracted and extended positions respectively. The drawer may optionally include an insert that is displayed when the display is in the extended position. In one aspect, the stopping mechanism may be a flexible membrane attached to the inside of the casing and the drawer back. Alternatively, the casing may include a crossbar section disposed within said drawer where fasteners within said drawer prevent drawer extension beyond the crossbar thereby providing the stopping mechanism. Functionally, the display system may serve as a greeting card where images on the casing and drawer are drawn apart on drawer extraction to reveal extended images on the hidden section and the insert.

The disclosure relates generally to an insertion-based, casing and drawer display system that may function as a greeting card. In one particular aspect, an initially hidden insert may also be included to carry and present a supplemental card, separate from the body of the card.
Existing greeting cards generally serve their communication purposes by delivering a message, whether textual or graphical, in a non-continuous manner. In one time-honored design, the card consists of a cover and an interior and the card is opened along a common fold between them. The opening of this card provides two distinct visual planes that are experienced separately, i.e. they cannot be experienced within the same visual plane. In another historical design, the card consists of a multi-fold construction such that it opens in an accordion-like fashion. In this design, the opening of the card attempts to present the cover and interior in the same visual plane by revealing one or more interstitial images joining the cover and interior images. However, the visual experience of opening this card is not smooth since the eye is distracted by its unfolding in three-dimensional space.
Within the card industry, countless other variations in the construction and function of cards have been provided to accommodate card image transformations, including pop-up cars and window flaps. In addition, cards with sliding portions have been devised, such as that in U.S. Pat. No. 1,898,308 to Miller. In Miller's design a separate moveable card portion containing a first image is superimposed on the surface of the card having a second image and affixed thereto with a slot-and-tab arrangement. A pulling tab attached to the moveable card portion is pulled to simulate the movement of the first image against the second image as the moveable card portion slides across the card front as guided by the tab in the slot. In another design, provided in U.S. Pat. No. 1,699,383 to Taylor, a similar tab-and-slot arrangement is provided. In Taylor's design, a first image in a first card portion is replaced with a second image in a second card portion as guided by the tab-and-slot upon pulling a tab. In yet another design, provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,707,757 to Crowell, a cascading image is accomplished with a series of card portions. Each of the series of card sections are connected, in a hook-and-ladder fashion, to the previous card section such that pulling the first card section results in the second section being pulled out and its image revealed, which in turn pulls out and reveals the third card section and image, etc. Again, as with previous designs, a tab-and-slot mechanism is used to guide the card extension.
None of these previous designs, however, present a card image transformation in which an integrated final image is continuously presented in a singular, visual perception plane so as to provide a visually smooth experience. Further, none of the heretofore known card designs possess an independently removable, separately secured content, hidden within the card and revealed upon the opening thereof.

Method and apparatus for card image transformation and content securing


Disclosed are a zirconium alloy for a nuclear fuel cladding having a good oxidation resistance in reactor accident conditions, a zirconium alloy nuclear fuel cladding prepared by using thereof and a method of preparing the same. The zirconium alloy includes 1.0 to 1.2 wt % of niobium (Nb); at least one element selected from tin (Sn), iron (Fe) and chromium (Cr); 0.02 to 0.1 wt % of copper (Cu); 0.1 to 0.15 wt % of oxygen (O); 0.008 to 0.012 wt % of silicon (Si) and a remaining amount of zirconium (Zr). The amount of Sn is 0.1 to 0.3 wt %, the amount of Fe is 0.3 to 0.8 wt %, and the amount of Cr is 0.1 to 0.3 wt %. A good oxidation resistance of the nuclear fuel cladding may be confirmed under accident conditions as well as normal operating conditions of a reactor, thereby improving economic efficiency and safety.

1 . Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to zirconium alloys for a nuclear fuel cladding having a superior oxidation resistance in a reactor accident conditions, zirconium alloy nuclear fuel claddings prepared by using thereof and methods of preparing the same, and more particularly, to zirconium alloys for a nuclear fuel cladding having a superior oxidation resistance in urgent accident conditions including an earthquake and a tsunami, and zirconium alloy nuclear fuel claddings prepared by using thereof and methods of preparing the same.
2 . Description of the Related Art
As nuclear fuel used in a nuclear power plant for power production in operation, a zirconium alloy for a nuclear fuel cladding is used Nowadays, a zirconium alloy such as Zircaloy-4, Zircaloy-2, ZIRLO, M5, etc. is used as the nuclear fuel cladding. However, Zircaloy-4 commonly used as the nuclear fuel cladding in a power plant from 1960s are recently replaced with a novel alloy such as ZIRLO, M5, etc. The novel alloy including ZIRLO and M5 has a good corrosion resistance in a normally operating reactor when comparing with the commonly used Zircaloy-4 and contributes to the improvement of the performance of the nuclear fuel. Through the improvement of the corrosion resistance of the nuclear fuel cladding, the nuclear fuel may be used safely for an extended time period, thereby improving the economic efficiency of a nuclear power generation.
The improvement of the corrosion resistance, which is the most important characteristic of the nuclear fuel cladding under development, may be accomplished by appropriately combining alloying elements along with a manufacturing method. Particularly, the corrosion resistance of the nuclear fuel cladding may be remarkably increased by using niobium (Nb) as a main element among the alloy elements of the zirconium alloy, when comparing with Zircaloy-4 alloy. However, the zirconium alloy including the niobium may have quite different phase transition properties from Zircaloy-4 alloy. Thus, the development on a manufacturing technology according to the change of the alloy elements is also necessary at the same time.
Technology on improving the corrosion resistance of the zirconium alloy through the adjustment of the alloy elements and the control of a heat treatment are disclosed as follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,161A discloses a method of preparing a zirconium alloy nuclear fuel cladding including 0.2 to 1.7 wt % of tin, 0.18 to 0.6 wt % of iron, 0.07 to 0.4 wt % of chromium and 0.05 to 1.0 wt % of niobium.
JP 8067954A discloses a method of preparing a zirconium alloy nuclear fuel cladding including 0.4 to 1.7 wt % of tin, 0.25 to 0.75 wt % of iron, 0.05 to 0.3 wt % of chromium, 0 to 0.1 wt % of nickel and 0 to 1.0 wt % of niobium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,023A discloses a method of preparing a zirconium alloy including 0.5 to 2.0 wt % of niobium, 0 to 1.5 wt % of tin, and 0.25 wt % of at least one element selected from the group consisting of iron, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, copper, nickel, and tungsten.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,959A discloses a zirconium alloy for a nuclear fuel cladding including 0.5 to 3.25 wt % of niobium and 0.3 to 1.8 wt % of tin.
Operating conditions of a reactor have been continuously changed to a direction of increasing the economic efficiency of a nuclear power generation. As the operating conditions for increasing the economic efficiency of the nuclear power generation, a power uprate, a load follow, an ultra high burnup, an ultra long cycle operation, etc. have been known. Under such operating conditions, even the recently used novel alloy claddings in place of Zricaloy-4 may be expected to hardly maintain integrity for a long time. Accordingly, the development on the cladding maintaining a good performance under severe operating conditions may be an essential factor of the improvement of the economic efficiency in a nuclear power generation.
In addition, among the necessary performance of the cladding, safety under an emergency condition in the event of an accident becomes important more and more.
When a cooling function of a nuclear reactor is malfunctioning in an accident due to a natural disaster such as an earthquake, tsunami, etc. or by a man made hazard, the cladding may be exposed to a high temperature and may be rapidly oxidized, thereby generating hydrogen having a risk of an explosion. The hydrogen explosion generated in a power plant is required to be prevented without fail because the explosion may induce a disaster accompanying the leakage of radioactive substances. Thus, the nuclear fuel cladding is required to have a good oxidation resistance at a high temperature even when exposed to an accident condition. When the nuclear fuel cladding has a good oxidation resistance at a high temperature even in an accident, time for managing may be increased before the hydrogen explosion, and the safety of the nuclear power generation may be remarkably improved. However, the development on the nuclear fuel cladding until now has been conducted for mainly improving the economic efficiency under a normal operation without considering the safety in an accident condition greatly. Thus, the preparation on confirming the safety in an accident condition is urgently in need.
Accordingly, the present inventors have studied on a zirconium alloy nuclear fuel cladding by which the economic efficiency of the nuclear power generation may be increased and the safety in an accident condition also may be improved, and have developed a zirconium alloy having a good oxidation resistance under a normal operating condition of a reactor as well as under an emergency condition of an accident generation.

Zirconium alloys for a nuclear fuel cladding having a superior oxidation resistance in a reactor accident condition, zirconium alloy nuclear fuel claddings prepared by using thereof and methods of preparing the same


The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the generation, manipulation and detection of plasmon, and/or solitons, both linear and non linear, in semi-conductor heterostructures. The apparatus includes a galium arsonide substrate, a two-dimensional electron gas well (2-DEG) (160) form thereon and a thin layer of Aluminum galium arsonide (AlGaAs) placed thereover. Launcher (130) and receiver lines (132, 134, 136) are formed on the AlGaAs layer. Each of the launcher (130) and receiver lines (132, 134, 136) includes coplanar waveguides which preferably consist of two to three metal lines. One line is interconnected with a photoconductive switch (120) and can be pulsed. The other line or lines are grounded. Pulsing the line forms an electric field which can be detected. Between the launcher and (130) and the receiver (140), the plasmon can be modulated by one or more additional gates line extending over the 2-DEG.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the generation, manipulation and detection of plasmons in semi-conductor heterostructures, and more particularly to solitons and plasmons that can be utilized as a medium for signal transport, amplification and processing at high frequencies.
2. Related Art
In the past, surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology has been used to generate surface acoustic waves in the megahertz frequency range. This technology includes a launcher comprising a plurality of inter-digitated teeth and a receiver, positioned some distance away from the launcher, which likewise contains a plurality of inter-digitated teeth. By applying a signal to the inter-digitated teeth, a compression or surface wave is launched on the material and the wave moves throughout the material. The wave is a function of the frequency of the voltage applied between the inter-digitated teeth. The voltage applied between the inter-digitated teeth launches the surface wave on the material which moves across the material and the wave travels to the receiving set of inter-digitated teeth where it develops a voltage across that set of inter-digitated teeth. When more than two sets of inter-digitated teeth are used, one can be used to excite a surface wave which travels to the second set of inter-digitated teeth which modulates the signal which modulated signal can then be received by the third set of inter-digitated teeth.
What is needed, and has not heretofore been developed, is a method and apparatus for increasing the frequency of a surface wave from the megahertz range to the terahertz range while reducing the scale of the surface wave to a single electron layer. The applications of such a device would include a source of Terahertz radiation for Terahertz frequency range spectroscopy, signal processing and sensing.
Much attention has been focused on the collective excitation spectrum of low-dimensional semiconductor systems. Interest has been driven both by the search for novel behavior from bulk semiconductor systems, and by the challenge to fabricate and probe devices based on these low-dimensional structures. Collective excitations have been studied extensively both experimentally and theoretically, using linearized hydrodynamic models and quantum many-body formulations. The results from these models yield similar behavior in the .omega.,k regime, where k<k.sub.F, the Fermi wave vector. Thusfar in the literature, there has been no treatment of the non-linear behavior of these collective excitations in low-dimensional systems. Furthermore, the non-linear regime has not been experimentally accessible due to the weak coupling schemes used for excitation, including prism and grating couplers.
Previous efforts in this area are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,233 to Rosner, et al., discloses a method of manufacturing a single electron component in silicon MOS technique with at least two gate levels. The first gate level is made up of fine layers having dimensions <100 nanometers with the surface and side walls of the gate level provided with an insulating layer. The second gate level covers the fine components of the first gate level in at least the region of the active zone. The location and dimensions of nodes or potential barriers of the single electron component are defined by the fine structures of the first gate level.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,018 to Ogawa, et al., discloses a logic device on the nanometer scale providing multiple logic levels made up of asymmetrically coupled quantum point contacts and a coupling region between gate electrodes. The quantum mechanical carrier wave function within the region is a spatially asymmetric wave. By changing the energy level, the conductance of the device can be switched between multiple stable conductance levels. The device can be utilized to provide a multi-level output switched in response to terahertz pulses provided by an array of optical detectors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,034 to Allam et al., discloses a nonlinear optical device which employs a GaAs, AlGaAs well configuration which laterally confines a two-dimensional electron gas to produce laterally asymmetric quantum dot structures which can be controlled by bias potentials applied to alter the lateral extent of the well. This controls the assymetry of the well and affects the non-linear optical characteristic in response to incident radiation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,517, to Mariani, discloses a coplanar wave guide wherein the ground planes taper directly into the outer bus bars of the SAW transducer and the center conductor of the coplanar waveguide feeds directly to the "hot" center electrode structure of the SAW transducer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,232 to del Alamo, et al., discloses a quantum field effect directional coupler. The device is comprised of two quantum waveguides closely spaced apart. An adjacent gate electrode is provided over the space between the waveguides. The probability density between the wave guides is controlled by a voltage applied to the gate electrode, which controls coherent electron tunneling between wave guides. The design allows for several couplers to be connected in order to perform multi-tasking operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,788 to Jannson, et al., discloses a high speed surface plasmon wave modulator. The modulator employs a polymer glass material and super fast electro-optic controlling medium for modulating laser light at ultra high frequencies. The modulator may be configured in a planar format by complying a guided light wave with a surface plasmon wave generated at the interface of a metal electrode and an electro-optic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,427 to Reed, et al., discloses a process for the fabrication of quantum well devices, where the quantum-wells are configured as small islands of GaAs in AlGaAs matrices. The dimensions of such well devices are on the nanometer scale. These wells are fabricated by growing an n- on n+ epitaxial GaAs structure, which is then etched to an e-beam defined pattern twice, and AlGaAs is epitaxially regrown each time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,621 to Reed discloses quantum-coupled devices where there are at least two closely situated well devices. The bias between the two closely situated wells can be adjusted in order to align the energy levels of the two wells so that tunneling will occur very rapidly, on the angstrom scale. Whereas conversely, when energy levels are not aligned, tunneling will be greatly reduced. The invention further provides for the output from these quantum well devices to be coupled to macroscopic contacts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,329 to Dingle, et al., discloses a technique for the synthesis of single crystal super lattices of semiconductor alloys, particularly with the fabrication of periodic structures of GaAs and AlAs. The patent further describes possible uses of the invention for waveguides, heterostructure lasers and x-ray reflectors.
None of these efforts, taken either alone or in combination, teach or suggest all of the elements of the present invention, nor disclose all of the benefits thereof.

Method and apparatus for modulation of guided plasmons

The Trustees of the Stevens Institute of Technology


In a touch sensor unit, a bracket body is provided with a first protruding portion which is disposed on a vehicle interior side of a base portion, a gap portion is provided between the first protruding portion and the base portion, the height from the bracket body to the distal end of the first protruding portion is smaller than the height from the bracket body to the sensor portion. Therefore, when the sensor portion and the base portion are elastically deformed by contact with a blockage, the elastically deformed sensor portion and base portion enter the gap portion, thereby preventing the sensor portion and the base portion from being pressed against the corner portion of the bracket without increasing the rigidity of the sensor portion and the base portion.

Conventionally, an automatic opening and closing apparatus provided for vehicle such as automotive vehicle has: an opening and closing element which opens and closes an opening portion; an electric motor which drives the opening and closing element; and an operation switch which turns on or off the electric motor. When an operator operates the operation switch, the electric motor is driven so as to open or close the opening and closing element, and the automatic opening and closing apparatus drives the opening and closing element on the basis of not only operation of the operation switch but also other operation conditions.
For example, the automatic opening and closing apparatus uses a touch sensor unit to detect that a blockage is caught between the opening portion and the opening and closing element. The touch sensor unit is fixed to the opening portion or the opening and closing element, and configured to detect the contact with a blockage. Additionally, the automatic opening and closing apparatus opens the opening and closing element under closing operation, or stops the opening and closing element under closing operation on the spot, regardless of the operation of the operation switch, on the basis of a detection signal input from the touch sensor unit.
Patent Document 1 discloses one example of a touch sensor unit which is used for such an automatic opening and closing apparatus. A foreign object detection sensor (touch sensor unit) disclosed in Patent Document 1 has an elongated string-like sensor portion and an elongated holding member which internally holds the sensor portion. The holding member has: a housing portion in which the sensor portion is housed; and a wide attaching portion for attaching the sensor portion to a bracket. The holding member is positioned with respect to the bracket by abutment of an abutment surface of the attaching portion on a positioning surface of the bracket.


Individual segments (38, 39) are slid over a divided yarn strip (22) with a dividing device (35) and connected together on both sides (63). By this means separate separating elements (23, 29) are formed.

The invention relates to a method and a device for yarn division on a warping machine. A method and a device of this type serve to wind several groups of warp yarns onto the warping drum. The yarn division can additionally serve to create yarn crossings, which later facilitate further working, for example the tieing together of warp yarn ends. When sizing the warp yarns, the yarn division can also ensure that the warp yarns can be guided through the size bath with sufficient separation from one another.
The insertion of separating elements between divided yarn strips is in many cases still carried out manually Methods and devices to carry out this process automatically are known, however. For example, according to CA-A-662 368, a dividing cord is pulled through the consecutively wound up warp strip rows on the drum, with the aid of a steel heald shaft. After each warp strip is completely wound, the steel heald shaft, and with it the attached dividing cord, is pulled further by one warp strip width, with the aid of a special device. The disadvantage of this method is that individual demarkation of the individual strips is not possible because the dividing cord is lead through all the warp strips of the warping drum at the same time A further disadvantage exists, in that with increasing winding radius, the pressure of the windings increases, so that the dividing cord can only be pulled with a large application of force, with the associated risk of yarn damage.
This process is therefore only employed for short warps, where relatively short warp lengths are wound up.
A further automatic method has been made known, for example, through JP-B-62-2055. According to this method two parallel tubes are pushed over the opened yarn strip, whereby the tubes in the engaged position are connected by a firmly fixed tube bend which incorporates a slot in its inner radius. Through either compressed air or a vacuum, a separating yarn is subsequently introduced into one tube, lead around through the tube bend, and back down the other tube, so that a yarn loop can be formed, which is automatically tieable after the two tubes are withdrawn. With this method even individual warp strips can be separated. Naturally, this method is extremely difficult to manipulate, since deflection of the separating yarn through 180 degrees and the formation of the loop is very prone to malfunction.

Method and device for yarn division on a warping machine


An extendable fiber optic cable includes an inner tubular core, a viscous l received in the tubular core, a plurality of optical fibers suspended in the gel, reinforcing fibers which are braided around the inner core, and an elastomeric outer cover which is received over the reinforcing fibers. The cable is first formed in a straight configuration and then formed into a plurality of coiled segments wherein adjacent coiled segments are wound in alternating directions, i.e. clockwise, counterclockwise, clockwise, etc. Straight segments of wire are provided between the coiled segments wherein the cable is stretchable up to 50% of its relaxed length. The alternating coil segments prevent the cable from twisting and transmitting torque forces to the optical fibers.

(1) Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to extendable fiber optic cables, and more particularly to a torque-balanced extendable fiber optic cable.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the art that fiber optic transmission cables are utilized in towed array sonar systems to transmit data from an underwater sonar sensor to a ship or other vehicle while the sensor is towed through the water by the ship or vehicle. It has been found that when the fiber optic cable is towed through the water, the cable is subjected to very high tensile forces which stretch the optical fibers located within the cable, and tend to degrade the quality of transmission through these optic fibers. In this regard, extendable or stretchable fiber optic cable designs have heretofore been known in the art. These extendable cables are operative for decreasing the tensile forces applied to the optical fibers in order to increase the quality of transmission.
The U.S. patents to Nowak U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,878; Jachimowicz U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,302; van der Hock U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,088; Holland et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,964; and Taketani et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,030 disclose cable structures which represent the closest prior art to the subject invention of which the applicant is aware. The patent to Nowak discloses a fiber optic transmission line having helically wound optical fibers which are positioned lengthwise within a flexible tubing. The fibers are separated from each other and suspended within the flexible tubing by means of a semi-liquid gel which lubricates and insulates the fibers from the cable structure.
The patent to Jachimowicz discloses a flexible fiber optic cable in which optic fibers are formed into an elongated strip and then the strip is coiled into a helix to allow bending and stretching motion without disruption of the optical transmission.
The patent to van der Hock discloses a flexible optical fiber transmission cable wherein a plurality of fibers extend therethrough in alternating left and right hand helixes.
The patent to Holland et al discloses a fiber optic cable assembly which is helically wound about a mandrel and heat set to retain its coil shape. The resulting coil shape provides a stretchable optical cable assembly.
The patent to Taketani et al discloses another method of molding a fiber optic transmission cable into a coil.
These prior art cable constructions are known to have several disadvantages. Firstly, the prior art cable constructions only allow a minimal degree of stretching before optical transmission is compromised. Further, although the prior art coiled cable structures are known to reduce axial or tensile stresses on the optical fibers, they also increase twisting or torque stresses to the optic fibers.

Torque-balanced extendable fiber optic cable

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A memory image can be captured by generating metadata indicative of a state of volatile memory and/or byte-addressable PMEM at a particular time during execution of a process by an application. This memory image can be persisted without copying the in-memory data into a separate persistent storage by storing the metadata and safekeeping the in-memory data in the volatile memory and/or PMEM. Metadata associated with multiple time-evolved memory images captured can be stored and managed using a linked index scheme. A linked index scheme can be configured in various ways including a full index and a difference-only index. The memory images can be used for various purposes including suspending and later resuming execution of the application process, restoring a failed application to a previous point in time, cloning an application, and recovering an application process to a most recent state in an application log.

The computer industry continues to develop and refine solid-state storage devices and media, moving closer and closer to achieving memory-class storage. In the past several years the access latency of affordable storage devices has dramatically decreased and is expected to continue to decrease in coming years. At the same time, advances in networking technology have led to increases in bandwidth with commensurate decreases in latency. Further, the emergence of standardized remote direct memory access (RDMA) functionality, allowing computers in a network to exchange data in main memory without involving the processor, cache or the operating system, has led to improvements in communication efficiency and further reduced latency.
These faster computing infrastructures demand new data architecture where both memory-speed data access and disk-like high storage density are strongly desired at the same time. Such new data architecture can bring significant performance improvements to computing tasks whose working data set sizes exceed dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) capacity, and where highly frequent data movements between DRAM and lower storage tiers, such as solid-state drive (SSD) and hard disk drive (HDD), are therefore required.
To reduce the possible access latency between DRAM and lower-level memory devices, operating system support of emerging persistent memory (PMEM) technology has created mechanisms for a user-space application to have direct access (DAX) to PMEM media (i.e., without the access being performed by operating system software). PMEM generally refers to solid-state byte-addressable memory devices that reside on a memory bus of a given system. Being on the memory bus allows PMEM to have similar speed and latency to DRAM while enjoying the benefit of the non-volatility of SSDs and HDDs. Examples of existing solutions from providing DAX to PMEM include "NOVA," "Strata," "Octopus," "Hotpot," and "FluidMem."


The present disclosure relates to a method and an apparatus for decomposing a phenolic by-product generated in a bisphenol A preparation process, the method including: a step (S10) of feeding the phenolic by-product to a multistage reactive distillation column; a step (S20) of separating the phenolic by-product into an upper discharge stream containing an active component, a side discharge stream containing acetophenone, and a bottom discharge stream containing tar by the multistage reactive distillation column; and a step (S30) of mixing the side discharge stream discharged from the multistage reactive distillation column and the bottom discharge stream discharged from the multistage reactive distillation column to form a mixed discharge stream.

Bisphenol A is prepared by performing a condensation reaction of phenol and acetone in the presence of an acid catalyst and then a separation and purification process. A phenolic by-product is generated in such a bisphenol A preparation process, and the phenolic by-product contains an active component such as phenol, cumene, or alpha-methylstyrene, thus a phenolic by-product decomposition process for recovering the active component has been performed. The decomposition process is performed using a decomposition apparatus in which a reactor and a distillation tower are separated from each other, or a reactor and a distillation tower are integrated with each other. This will be described with reference to the drawing as follows.
FIG. 3 illustrates a decomposition process performed by a decomposition apparatus in which a reactor 100 and a distillation tower 200 are separated, a by-product added to the reactor 100 is thermally cracked, tar contained in the by-product is discharged through a bottom portion of the reactor 100, and residual components are discharged through an upper portion of the reactor 100 and added to the distillation tower 200. Next, a reduced-pressure distillation is performed in the distillation tower 200, acetophenone and residual by-products are discharged through a bottom portion of the distillation tower 200, and an active component and a light component are discharged through an upper portion of the distillation tower 200, such that the active component is recovered. Such a decomposition process may increase a recovery rate of the active component, but has problems in that an installation space for equipment is required and a consumption rate of thermal energy is high due to a decomposition process and a reduced-pressure distillation process that are separately performed.
Unlike the decomposition process illustrated in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 illustrates a decomposition process performed by a decomposition apparatus including a reactor 300 in which a distillation tower is integrated, a by-product added to the reactor 300 is subjected to thermal cracking and pressure distillation, tar, acetophenone, and residual by-products contained in the by-product are discharged through a bottom portion of the reactor 300, and an active component and a light component are discharged through an upper portion of the reactor 300, such that the active component is recovered. Such a decomposition process may reduce an installation space for equipment and may reduce a consumption rate of thermal energy, but has problems in that a polymerization phenomenon (for example, dimerization reaction or polymerization reaction of alpha-methylstyrene) of the active component in the pressure distillation process occurs, and thus a recovery rate of the active component is reduced.
Accordingly, a decomposition process and a decomposition apparatus that are capable of efficiently recovering an active component from a phenolic by-product generated in a bisphenol A preparation process have been required.

Method and apparatus for decomposing phenolic by-product


A streamlined, dynamic definition of a customized user interface that presents content from a variety of service providers or sources can be provided. A server can retrieve a list of underlying business object nodes required for presentation of an organization-specific user interface corresponding to an organization from which a call for an instance of the organization-specific user interface is received at the server. A portal business object that matches a structure of the organization-specific user interface can be created that includes one portal business object node corresponding to each user interface element of a structure of the organization-specific user interface. Access to the portal business object can be provided for a user interface model that creates the organization-specific user interface by calling the underlying business object nodes according to the portal business object. Related articles, systems, and the like are disclosed as well.

Various organizations make use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software architectures to provide an integrated, computer-based system for management of internal and external resources, such as for example tangible assets, financial resources, materials, customer relationships, and human resources. In general, an ERP software architecture is designed to facilitate the flow of information between business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside service providers, stakeholders, and the like. Such architectures often include one or more centralized databases accessible by a core software platform that consolidates business operations, including but not limited to those provided by third party vendors, into a uniform and organization-wide system environment. The core software platform can reside on a centralized server or alternatively be distributed across modular hardware and software units that provide "services" and communicate on a local area network or over a network, such as for example the Internet, a wide area network, a local area network, or the like.
As part of the installation process of the core software platform on computing hardware owned or operated by the organization, one or more customized features, configurations, business processes, or the like may be added to the default, preprogrammed features such that the core software platform is configured for maximum compatibility with the organization's business processes, data, and the like. The core software platform of an ERP software architecture can be provided as a standalone, customized software installation that runs on one or more processors that are under the control of the organization or, alternatively, provided via a software as a service (SaaS) delivery over a network such as the internet. In an instance in which ERP functionality is provided via SaaS delivery, the ERP system architecture can be hosted on computing hardware such as servers and data repositories that are maintained remotely from the organization's location and accessed by authorized users at the organization via a thin client, such as for example a web browser, over a network.
In a software delivery configuration in which services provided to each of multiple organizations are hosted on a dedicated system that is accessible only to that organization, the software installation at the dedicated system can be customized and configured in a manner similar to the above-described example of a standalone, customized software installation running locally on the organization's hardware. However, to make more efficient use of computing resources of the SaaS provider and to provide important performance redundancies and better reliability, it can be advantageous to host multiple tenants on a single system that includes multiple servers and that maintains data for all of the multiple tenants in a secure manner while also providing customized solutions that are tailored to each tenant's business processes.

Simplified business object model for a user interface


A silver halide photographic light-sensitive material have at least one silver halide emulsion layer on a support, wherein at least one of the silver halide emulsion layers comprises an emulsion subjected to chemical sensitization with a selenium compound and spectral sensitization with at least one type of a methine compound represented by Formula (I) below: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 represents --(CH.sub.2).sub.r --CONHSO.sub.2 --R.sub.3, --(CH.sub.2).sub.s --SO.sub.2 NHCO--R.sup.4, --(CH.sub.2).sub.t --CONHCO--R.sup.5, or --(CH.sub.2).sub.u --SO.sub.2 NHSO.sub.2 --R.sup.6 ; R.sup.3, R.sup.4, R.sup.5, and R.sup.6 each represent an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, or an amino group; R.sup.2 has the same meaning as R.sup.1 or represents an alkyl group; Z.sup.1 and Z.sup.2 each represent a nonmetal atom group required to form a 5- or 6-membered heterocyclic ring; each of L.sub.1, L.sub.2, and L.sub.3 represents a methine group; X.sub.1 represents anion; r, s, t, and u each represent an integer from 1 to 5; each of p and q represents 0 or 1; m represents 0, 1, or 2; and k represents a number required to adjust the charge in the molecule to 0.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material with a high sensitivity and a high storage stability.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common practice to perform chemical sensitization using various chemical substances for silver halide emulsions for use in silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials in order to obtain, e.g., desired sensitivities and gradations. Representative known examples of the sensitization are sulfur sensitization, selenium sensitization, noble metal sensitization such as gold sensitization, reduction sensitization, and various sensitization methods using combinations of these sensitization methods.
Among these sensitization methods, the selenium sensitization has attracted attention as a sensitization method suitable for increasing the sensitivity of a silver halide emulsion because its sensitizing effect is larger than that of the sulfur sensitization normally performed in this field of art. Methods of the selenium sensitization are disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,574,944, 1,602,592, 1,623,499, 3,297,446, 3,297,447, 3,320,069, 3,408,196, 3,408,197, 3,442,653, 3,420,670, and 3,591,385, French Patents 2,693,038 and 2,093,209, JP-B-52-34491 ("JP-B" means Published Examined Japanese Patent Application), JP-B-52-34492, JP-B-53-295, JP-B-57-22090, JP-A-59-180536 ("JP-A" means Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application), JP-A-59-181337, JP-A-59-187338, JP-A-59-192241, JP-A-60-150046, JP-A-60-151637, JP-A-61-246738, JP-A-3-4221, JP-A-3-148648, JP-A-1-250950, JP-A-1-254441, JP-A-2-34090, JP-A-2-110558, JP-A-2-130976, JP-A-2-139183, JP-A-2-229300, British Patents 255,846 and 861,984, and H. E. Spencer et al., Journal of Photographic Science, Vol. 31, pages 158 to 169 (1983).
The selenium sensitization, however, has a problem of a significant increase in fog during storage from the manufacture to the use of a light-sensitive material, although it generally has a great sensitizing effect.
A method of solving this problem of the selenium sensitization is disclosed in, e.g., EP0122125A1, in which it is assumed that the above drawback is improved by performing the selenium sensitization together with spectral sensitization using a certain kind of a cyanine dye for a monodisperse silver halide emulsion. However, this method is still unsatisfactory to eliminate the above problem.

Silver halide photographic light-sensitive material


In a reclining sensor of a webbing take-up device, when a case turns together with a seat back that tilts towards the seat rear, rotation of a pulley is restricted by a pressing tab of an operation plate. Accordingly, when relative rotation of the pulley occurs with respect to the case, a wire is pulled out from another end of a tube, turning a sensor housing of an acceleration sensor. The wire pulled out from the other end of the tube is wound up onto a winding portion that is an outer peripheral portion of the pulley that rotates. Since the pulley that pulls the wire merely rotates about its center of rotation, the inside of the case is sufficient as long as rotation range of the pulley is secured, enabling a reduction in size of the case.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a webbing take-up device configuring a vehicle seat belt device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2000-52921 (Patent Document 1) discloses a webbing take-up (referred to as a seat belt retractor in Patent Document 1) device provided inside a seat back of a vehicle seat that has what is referred to as a reclining mechanism. The webbing take-up device is provided with an acceleration sensor for actuating a locking mechanism when the vehicle decelerates suddenly, and a sensor case thereof is capable of turning with respect to a frame of the webbing take-up device for example.
A one end of a cable is anchored to the sensor case through a wheel, and the sensor case turns due to the cable moving in the cable length direction. The other end of the cable is anchored to a rack, and the rack slides when a pinion is rotated as integrally with the seat back by the seat back tilting. The cable is thereby moved in the cable length direction towards the one end side or the other end side. Accordingly, the sensor case is maintained substantially horizontally according to the seat back angle of tilt.
In the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, due to the rack sliding in a straight line, a case for housing the rack becomes bulky since consideration needs to be given to the movable (slide) range of the rack.

KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOKAI RIKA DENKI SEISAKUSHO


The present invention relates to new hydrogels with improved mechanical properties and methods of their preparation. The hydrogels are formed from hydrophilic polymers having function hydroxyl groups and have low elasticity modulus typically less than about 10 kPa, a tensile strength above 1 Mpa, an elongation above 50% which makes suitable as medical implants, in particular intraocular lenses. The hydrogels are prepared by a crosslinking method with a comparatively low concentration of hydrophilic polymer of a sufficiently high molecular weight dissolved in a good solvent.

Hydrogels have found numerous applications in medical technology, for examples in implants or as drug delivery devices. A drawback with conventional hydrogels, such as polyHEMA (hydroxyethylmethacrylate), is their brittleness due to their low tensile strength in swollen state, which is about 0.5 MPa. This characteristic is especially problematic during surgical intervention when an implant made from a hydrogel material shall be inserted into the body often with complex manipulations, as is the case when a hydrogel intraocular lens (IOL) shall be positioned in the capsular bag of the eye through a small incision. Another drawback for the application of conventional hydrogels as medical implants is their high elasticity modulus. In the technique of replacing the natural lens of the eye with a hydrogel IOL, their high modulus prevents the implant from being accommodatable under the influence of the compressing and relaxing forces exerted by the ciliary muscles. It is also prerequisite in an ophthalmic application that the refractive index should be sufficiently high. This implies that the swollen network should contain a sufficient amount of water. Obviously there is a demand for new hydrogel materials that can overcome the mentioned disadvantages.
It is the object of the present invention to provide for hydrogels, which at a high water content have suitably high tensile strength and sufficiently low elasticity modulus to improve their usefulness as medical implants.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a method of preparing such hydrogels.

Hydrogels and methods for their production


Bi-direction spring clutch apparatus for a reducing worm gear drive is disclosed. The bi-directional spring clutch apparatus includes a worm gear drive comprised of a worm and an output shaft rotatably mounted in a housing. A worm gear is rotatably mounted coaxially about the output shaft so that its teeth mesh with the threads of the worm. The worm gear includes two coaxial extensions which are also rotatably mounted coaxially about the output shaft but which are rotatably fixed relative to the worm gear. Located adjacent to each of the coaxial extensions of the worm gear are two torque transfer bushings. These are of the same outside diameter as the coaxial extensions, but are rotatably fixed relative to the output shaft. Stretched over each of the torque transfer bushing/coaxial extension pairs is a wound spring, each of the same hand of winding, and each having sufficient revolutions to result in self-locking of the torque transfer bushing/coaxial extension pairs. The end of each spring is bent radially outward to form a tang which projects through notches located in a cylindrically shaped control sleeve rotatably mounted coaxially about each spring. The control sleeves have a radial flange into which are machined radially spaced notches. By rotationally controlling the control sleeves, the wound springs can be permitted to lock up the torque transfer bushing/coaxial extension pairs or they can be prevented from doing so regardless of whether torque is being applied to the worm or to the output shaft.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a spring clutch apparatus for a drive mechanism and more particularly, to a bi-directional spring clutch apparatus for a reducing worm gear drive.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In shiftable or reversing gear drives, such as are used in overhead conveyor systems, the driving element is typically engaged and disengaged from the driven element by a mechanically operated, dog-type clutching mechanism which is controlled by an external lever. Although this provides for positive engagement and disengagement, it also frequently results in jerky or uneven starts and stops. Likewise, in order to engage or disengage such mechanisms under load, significant loads on the control lever are often required. This contributes to imprecise movements as well as wear and tear on all parts of the device or machinery to which the drive is connected.
In overhead and other conveyor type drives, particularly those designed for integration into automated or semi-automated manufacturing facilities, there is a need for a clutching mechanism for such drives which is bi-directional and is easily and efficiently engaged and disengaged under load. There is also a need for a clutching mechanism which operates smoothly and precisely while handling heavy loads.
In certain types of drive mechanisms, spring clutches have been used advantageously to engage or disengage a drive element and a driven element with less jerkyness and less effort, particularly when engaged or disengaged under load. A description of the basic operation of spring clutches is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,765. An example of a drive mechanism employing a spring clutch of this nature is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,742,126. In this example, a plurality of springs are arranged in series in such a way that they begin to transmit torque after slippage, the amount of slippage differing from the first spring to the last, thus allowing the clutch to take up its full torque in smaller increments. French Pat. No. 755,404 shows a simple, single direction spring clutch mechanism used in connection with a worm gear drive.
Likewise, spring clutch mechanisms have been successfully used with bi-directional drives as well. A description of the basic operation of bi-directional spring clutches is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,432. In this description, however, only one spring is used.
Application of bi-directional spring clutches to drive mechanisms of various types is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,364,286, 3,361,235, 3,321,986 and 3,304,793. Japanese Pat. No. 53-13049 is also illustrative. U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,286 shows a bi-directional spring clutch used as a braking mechanism in connection with a pair of epicyclic gear trains. U.S. Pat. No. 3,361,235 shows a bi-directional spring clutch which permits transmission of torque from an input shaft to output shaft, regardless of the direction of rotation of the input shaft, but which prevents transmission of torque from the output shaft to the input shaft. U.S. Pat. No. 3,321,986 shows spring clutches as used in a bi-directional transmission. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,304,793 shows a bi-directional spring clutch which permits transmission of torque by an input shaft which is driven in either direction of rotation or selectively prevents transmission of torque by the input shaft when a single tang, one from each spring, is interrupted by a stop. Japanese Pat. No. 53-13049 shows a similar arrangement using four (4) springs. This mechanism is also capable of transmitting torque in both directions or not transmitting torque at all, depending on whether a single tang, one on each spring, is engaged by a stop mechanism.

Bi-directional spring clutch for reducing worm gear drive


The present invention provides a catalyst capable of producing an epoxy compound in high yield and improving the utilization efficiency of the oxidizing agent as well as a method of producing an epoxy compound using that catalyst.

The present invention relates to a catalyst for producing an epoxy compound and a method of producing an epoxy compound using the same. More particularly, it relates to a catalyst for producing an epoxy compound by catalytically oxidizing a compound having at least one ethylenic double bond with an oxidizing agent and to a method of producing an epoxy compound using said catalyst.
Epoxy compounds (epoxides) are compounds useful as intermediates or raw materials for the production of various industrial products. As actual examples of the production of industrial products using epoxy compounds as intermediates, there may be mentioned the conversion of ethylene oxide into ethylene glycol or polyethylene glycol, and the formation of polyether polyols such as polypropylene polyethers by alkoxylation of alcohols with propylene oxide. The thus-produced industrial products are consumed in large amounts in the production of polyurethanes and synthetic elastomers.
Epoxy compounds also serve as important intermediates for the production of alkylene glycols, such as propylene glycol and dipropylene glycol, and alkanolamines, which are among important industrial products as raw materials of solvents and surfactants.
As a method of synthesizing epoxy compounds, there may be mentioned, the epoxidation reaction of compounds having an ethylenic double bond, for example olefins, and this is one of commercially important chemical conversion methods. In this synthetic method, epoxy compounds are synthesized by adding one oxygen atom to the carbonxe2x80x94carbon double bond and, for producing ethylene oxide from ethylene, for instance, the method using a silver catalyst is well known and, for producing propylene oxide from propylene, the chlorohydrin method or the Halcon process using an organic hydroperoxide is well known. These methods have been put to practical use on commercially. However, the chlorohydrin method, for instance, has the problem of generation of a low concentration hydrogen chloride vapor.
In such epoxidation reaction, an olefin is converted to an epoxy compound using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizing agent, and the use, as catalysts, of heteropolyoxometalates having a structure such that there is a heteroatom at the center with polyatoms coordinated to the heteroatom each via an oxygen atom is now studied. As for heteropolyoxometalates which are used as catalysts, it is known that ones having a defectivee structure lacking in an atom or atoms which should normally occur in the crystal structure and containing a metal element, namely ones resulting from substitution of polyatom with other metal element show catalytic activity.
Regarding such metal-containing heteropolyoxometalates, the following studies are carried out.
As an example of the use of one defective type heteropolyoxometalates as catalysts, J. Mol. Catal., A: Chemical, 108 (1996), p. 135-143 discloses an example of epoxidation of cyclohexene with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a Cr-substituted one defective Keggin-structure heteropolytungstate [PW11O39]7xe2x88x92 catalyst, and J. Mol. Catal., A: Chemical, 117 (1997), p. 389-396 discloses a method of synthesizing the epoxide from cyclohexene and hydrogen peroxide using Fe(III), Cr(III), Ru(IV), Ti(IV) and V(IV) complexes of one defective type [PW11O39]7xe2x88x92 as catalysts. However, even when these catalysts are used, the epoxide namely epoxycyclohexane yield was low.
As an example of the use of two defective type heteropolyoxometalates as catalysts, there is the following disclosure. Thus, J. Catal., 182 (1999), p. 285-288 discloses an example of the epoxidation reaction of olefins such as cyclooctene and 2-octene with hydrogen peroxide using, as catalysts, two defective Keggin-structure silicotungstate species respectively substituted by the cations Fe, Mn and Cu. However, in spite of the olefin being cyclooctene, the catalytic activities are low. In particular when the proportion of hydrogen peroxide relative to the olefin becomes high, the utilization efficiency of hydrogen peroxide decreases markedly.
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 117, p. 681 discloses Ti- or V-substituted two defective type catalysts K7[PTi2W10O40] and H5[PV2Mo10O39]. However, in the reactions using such Ti- or V-substituted catalysts containing phosphorus as the heteroatom, the epoxidiation activity was very low.
J. Mol. Catal., A: Chemical, 114 (1996), p. 237-245, and 142 (1999), p. 61-76 respectively disclose a method of epoxidizing cyclooctene with hydrogen peroxide using Ti-substituted one defective and two defective type heteropolyacids [PTiW11O40]5xe2x88x92 and [PTi2W10O40]7xe2x88x92 catalysts. However, the productivity of the epoxide was low.
Further, as an example of the use of lanthanoid-containing defective type heteropolyoxometalates as catalysts, Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn, 66 (1993), p. 2790-2796 discloses a heteropolytungstolanthanate anion catalyst represented by (M(Ce,Nd,Sm)W10O36;LnW10). In this case, the anion has the Weakley structure, and the lanthanoids(III) are coordinated to the polyacid W5O18. However, there is no olefin oxidation example.
Kidorui, 30 (1997), p. 288-289 discloses an epoxidation reaction of allyl alcohols by oxidation with hydrogen peroxide using a Weakley-structure heteropolyacid containing rare earth elements with lanthanoid elements(III) as core elements. The structure of this polyacid is not the so-called Keggin structure. Further, Kidorui, 16 (1990), p. 46-47 discloses the synthesis of a tetravalent terbium-substituted one defective type heteropolyacid [PW11O39]7xe2x88x92.
Polyhedron, 15 (1996), p. 3493-3500 discloses an example of the epoxidation reaction of cyclooctene with hydrogen peroxide using, as catalysts, lanthanoid-containing Weakley-structure heteropolyacids, namely [LnW10O36]9xe2x88x92 and [Ln{PW11O39}2]11xe2x88x92, or lanthanoid polyoxotungstate. The productivity of the epoxide is fairly high. However, there is no disclosure concerning polyoxometallates having the two defective type Keggin structure.
Indian J. Chem., 37A (1998), p. 816-819 discloses a Ln(La,Pr,Nd,Sm,Gd) metal-substituted one defective Keggin-structure heteropolyacid, [Ln(PW11O39)2]. However, there is no olefin epoxidation example.
Radiochemistry, 41 (1999), p. 1-23 discloses one defective type Keggin-structure and one defective Dawson-structure polyoxometallates as lanthanoid polyoxometallates. However, there is no example disclosed of the two defective type.
In the above study examples, the investigations concerning the application of heteropolyoxometalates to the epoxidation reaction remain insufficient. Thus, when heteropolyoxometalates are applied to the epoxidation reaction, their catalytic activity and the utilization efficiency of the oxidizing agent are insufficient, so that there is room for contrivance for rendering them suited as catalysts for the epoxidation reaction of olefins and the like, which is a method of producing commercially important epoxy compounds.
It is an object of the present invention, which has been made in view of the above-mentioned state of the art, to provide a catalyst capable of producing an epoxy compound in high yield and improving the utilization efficiency of the oxidizing agent on the occasion of catalytically oxidizing a compound having at least one ethylenic double bond with an oxidizing agent such as hydrogen peroxide to produce the corresponding epoxy compound, as well as a method of producing an epoxy compound using that catalyst.
The present inventors made various investigations in search of catalysts for producing an epoxy compound by oxidizing a compound having at least one ethylenic double bond with an oxidizing agent and, as a result, noticed that heteropolyoxometalates are useful commercially and found that
(1) a catalyst which comprising a polyatom-containing heteropolyoxometalate anion (A1) having two defective and/or three defective structure sites and containing a silicon atom as a heteroatom, and a specific element (E1),
(2) a catalyst which comprising a heteropolyoxometalate anion (A2) containing phosphorus as a heteroatom and molybdenum and/or tungsten as a polyatom and having two defective and/or three defective structure sites, and a specific element (E2), and
(3) a catalyst which comprising a heteropolyoxometalate anion (A3) containing phosphorus as a heteroatom and tungsten as a polyatom and having two defective and/or three defective structure sites, and a specific element (E3) are suited for use in the above oxidation reaction to produce an epoxy compound in high yield while improving the utilization efficiency of the oxidizing agent. They also found that such heteropolyoxometalate anions, when they are Keggin-structure heteropolyoxometalate anions having a specific structure, can produce their effects as catalysts in the above epoxidation reaction to more satisfactory extent. So, they have now completed the present invention.
Thus, the present invention provides a catalyst for producing an epoxy compound by oxidizing a compound having at least one ethylenic double bond with an oxidizing agent,
which comprises a polyatom-containing heteropolyoxometalate anion (A1) having two defective and/or three defective structure sites and containing silicon as a heteroatom, and
an element (E1) being at least one element selected from the group consisting of vanadium, tantalum, niobium, antimony, bismuth, chromium, molybdenum, selenium, tellurium, rhenium, cobalt, nickel, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, platinum, iridium, silver, gold, zinc, aluminum, gallium, indium, scandium, yttrium, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, germanium, tin and lanthanoids, and being different from the polyatom.
The invention also provides a catalyst for producing an epoxy compound by oxidizing a compound having at least one ethylenic double bond with an oxidizing agent,
which comprises a heteropolyoxometalate-anion (A2) containing phosphorus as a heteroatom and molybdenum and/or tungsten as a polyatom and having two defective and/or three defective structure sites and
an element (E2) being at least one element selected from the group consisting of elements of the fourth to sixth periods of group IIIa, elements of the fourth to sixth periods of groups VIa to VIII, elements of the fourth to sixth periods of groups Ib to IIb, elements of the third to sixth periods of group IIIb, and elements of the fourth to sixth periods of groups IVb to Vb of the periodic table, and being different from the polyatom.
The present invention further provides a catalyst for producing an epoxy compound by oxidizing a compound having at least one ethylenic double bond with an oxidizing agent,
which comprises a heteropolyoxometalate anion (A3) containing phosphorus as a heteroatom and tungsten as a polyatom and having two defective and/or three defective structure sites, and
an element (E3) being at least one element selected from the group consisting of elements of the fourth to sixth periods of group Va.
The invention is also directed to a method of producing an epoxy compound by oxidizing a compound having at least one ethylenic double bond with an oxidizing agent,
wherein said method of producing the epoxy compound comprises using one of the above-mentioned catalysts.
In the following, the present invention is described in detail.

Catalyst for producing epoxy compounds and method of producing epoxy compounds using the same

Abstract: A catalyst for producing an epoxy compound by oxidizing a compound having at least one ethylenic double bond with an oxidizing agent,

Abstract: comprising a polyatom-containing heteropolyoxometalate anion (A1) having two defective and/or three defective structure sites and containing silicon as the heteroatom, and


A high voltage electric disconnect switch having a rotatable switch blade in operative arrangement with a rotatable high voltage electrical insulator. A rotating bearing assembly in operative supporting arrangement with a rotatable shaft. The bearing assembly containing corrodible ball bearing assemblies including associated corrodible ball bearing races. The rotatable insulator is operatively mounted to the rotatable shaft. The rotatable shaft has a lower rotatable shaft portion contacting the corrodible ball bearing assemblies housed within a sealed housing of the bearing assembly. An air permeable hydrophobic membrane mounted in a membrane assembly is mounted in an aperture of the housing to eliminate condensing humidity within the housing, thereby preventing corrosion of the corrodible ball bearings and races, freezing water, and lubrication degradation by keeping the surfaces dry to prevent switch failure.

The present invention relates generally to a disconnect switch for high voltage electrical applications, and in particular, to such a high voltage disconnect switch having a bearing assembly for supporting a rotating high voltage insulator. Such a high voltage disconnect switch has one or more rotating switch blades where each switch blade is caused to rotate by a respective rotating high voltage insulator. Such a bearing assembly includes ball bearings or rollers and/or races comprised of corrodible or non-corrodible material for engaging a rotatable shaft of the rotating high voltage insulator. Typically, such existing bearing assemblies have, for example, ball bearings or rollers that ride in inner and outer races that are contained within a switch bearing housing. The rotatable shaft supporting and extending coaxially from the rotating high voltage insulator is operatively arranged; and partially housed within the switch bearing housing.
Non-corrodible ball bearings or rollers and associated races for such bearing assemblies have been developed over the years, made of non-corrodible material such as ceramic or beryllium copper or 300 series stainless steel in attempt to prevent corrosion within the switch bearing housing due to condensation occurring within the housing. Non-corrodible bearings were developed in an attempt to overcome the corrosion problem with corrodible ball bearings or rollers and associated races. However, such non-corrodible are typically not hard enough to prevent indentations of the balls into the races.
Typically, steel ball bearings or rollers and/or races of such bearing assemblies used in the electrical power utility industry are made of corrodible steel, such as 51200 & 440C. It is has long been known in the electrical power utility industry, that existing bearing assembly designs cannot eliminate condensing humidity, i.e., water, and, therefore, do not protect such corrodible ball bearings from corrosion due to condensation occurring within the switch bearing housing in outdoor use which may result in failure of the high voltage switch. Therefore, existing steel ball bearing systems are typically housed within a switch bearing housing chamber of the bearing assembly that is packed with grease to prevent corrosion of the corrodible steel ball bearings or rollers and/or their associated corrodible steel races.
The seals of such a sealed system of the existing bearing assemblies, whether comprised of non-corrodible or corrodible components are subjected to air pressure differentials that allow water to leak through the seals of an enclosing switch bearing housing into the housing chamber. It has been found that the invasive water then becomes trapped inside the housing chamber and may result in freezing of the water in the winter preventing rotation of the switch insulator. Also, in the case of bearing assemblies with corrodible components, trapped water is detrimental to protecting against corrosion and contamination of, for example, steel ball bearings and their associated steel races. Also, in the case of existing bearing assemblies comprising corrodible components any packed grease after a period of time turns to sludge due to the water infiltration and therefore the grease no longer adheres to the metal surfaces and does not prevent any corrosion.
An example of such an existing bearing system used with a high voltage disconnect vertical break switch is disclosed in Bulletin DB-A06BH09, entitled "Type V2-CA Aluminum Vertical Break Switch 115-230 kV, 600-3000 A, by Cleaveland/Price Inc., the present assignee, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as though fully set forth. Although this bearing system uses an individually sealed ball bearing assembly for carrying the rotating insulator, it has been found problematic because of the potential for trapped water within the bearing assembly housing. The ball bearing assembly of this bearing system is contained in a chamber enclosing air within a sealed grease packed housing. Even though the housing is sealed it is still susceptible to corrosion of the steel ball bearings and steel races because of condensing humidity resulting in trapped water. The corrosion of the bearings causes the bearings to seize up to the point that the switch will not open or close, which has been an industry wide problem.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to develop a bearing system for a high voltage disconnect switch having rotating insulators that eliminates the problems of ball bearings or rollers and associated races, freezing due to trapped water, having their lubricant destroyed by trapped water, and in the case of corrodible components eliminating the corrosion problem of the prior art corrodible components.

High voltage switch with condensation preventing bearing assembly and method therefor


The invention provides a method for fabricating ultra-shallow lightly doped source and drain regions. A screen oxide layer is formed on a substrate having a gate thereon. Impurity ions are implanted into-the substrate through the screen oxide layer to form lightly doped source and drain regions adjacent to the gate. A post-implant anneal is performed on the lightly doped source and drain regions using a rapid thermal anneal in a nitrogen containing atmosphere. The nitrogen anneal injects vacancies into the lightly doped source and drain regions reducing diffusion which is dependent on intersticial ions and increasing the activation ratio by dissolving impurity ion complexes.

1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fabrication of semiconductor devices and more particularly to the fabrication of lightly doped source and drain regions for low resistance, ultra-shallow junctions.
2) Description of the Prior Art
As microelectronic device dimensions decrease, the need to produce ultra-shallow (<60 nm) junctions with low resistance becomes essential. However, conventional ion implantation and annealing processes present several obstacles to formation of ultra-shallow lightly doped source and drain regions necessary for acheiving ultra-shallow junctions with low resistance.
One method of forming ultra-shallow lightly doped source and drain regions is to form a screen oxide layer, implant impurity ions through the screen oxide layer, then perform an anneal to drive in the impurity ions. The disadvantage of this process is that it is susceptible to oxygen enhanced diffusion (OED). OED causes "B" ions to diffuse deeper into the silicon substrate when a screen oxide is used even though the implant depth is shallower than without a screen oxide.
Another process used to form lightly doped source and drain regions is to perform an ion implant and pure N.sub.2 drive in without using a screen oxide. This process does not suffer from OED. However, surface dopant loss occurs during the post implant anneal to drive in the impurity ions. Also, due to reduced gate oxide thicknesses associated with reduced scale devices, the lack of a screen oxide can cause gate oxide integrity degradation due to implantation damage.
An alternate approach is to form a screen oxide, perform impurity ion implantation, strip the screen oxide, then anneal to drive in the impurity ions. Since the screen oxide is removed prior to anneal, this process also suffers from surface dopant loss. Although the screen oxide prevents gate oxide degradation due to implantation damage, oxide stipping can also degrade the gate oxide integrity.
The importance of overcoming the various deficiencies noted above is evidenced by the extensive technological development directed to the subject, as documented by the relevant patent and technical literature. The closest and apparently more relevant technical developments in the patent literature can be gleaned by considering the following patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,529 (Guldi) discloses forming a source and drain region using a screen oxide or screen oxynitride blocking layer and an NH.sub.3 anneal after ion implantation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,854 (Yoo) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,699 (Tsui) teach standard LDD anneals.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,411 (Gardner et al.) shows a nitridation process to produce reliable oxides.
The following technical literature also provide information on relevant technical developments.
Privitera et al., Role of Surface and of Dopant Impurity Interactions on the Electrical Activation of B implant in Crystalline Si, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 72, No. 23, 8 June 1998, pp. 3011 to 3013, teaches that while transient enhanced diffusion (TED) decreases at lower implant energy (typical of LDD), activation ratio also decreases as at lower implant energy.
Chao et al., Spicies and Dose Dependence of I/I Damage Induced Transient Enhanced Diffusion, Journal of Applied Physics 79(5), Mar. 1, 1996, pp. 2352 to 2363, discloses implant species dependance of diffusion due to point defect and dopant impurity interactions, particularly dopant clustering. However, species dependance of diffusion is less significant for lower doses.
L. H. Zhang et al., Transient Enhanced Diffusion without {311} Defects in Low Energy B+ Implantation, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 67, No. 14, Oct. 2, 1995, pp. 2025 to 2027, discloses that for low energy (4 KeV) low dose (10.sup.14 cm.sup.-2) TED diffusion occurs independent of anneal temperature, and apparently without 311 defects.
Segawa et al., A 0.18 .mu.m Ti-Salicided p-MOSFET with Shallow Junctions Fabricated by Rapid Thermal Processing in an NH.sub.3 Ambient, IEDM 96, pp. 443 to 446, discloses that nitrogen ions diffuse into the substrate at the projected range of B+ implantation for source/drain regions during rapid thermal processing in an NH.sub.3 atmosphere, suppressing boron diffusion.
Downey et al., RTP Requirements for Annealing Ultra-Shallow Junctions, Varian--Report No. 298, teaches that while BF.sub.2 shows dopant loss at lower temperature than B (950.degree. C. vs. 1050.degree.) that BF.sub.2 is preferable for shallow junctions reducing the junction depth by 428 .ANG. compared to B.

Method for fabricating an ultra-shallow junction with low resistance using a rapid thermal anneal in ammonia to increase activation ratio and reduce diffusion of lightly doped source and drain regions

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company