A method and apparatus for the detection and prevention of pin fraud in a coin operated telephone is disclosed. A circuit detects loss of loop current and triggers the opening of a pair of switches thereby disconnecting the microphone from the phone. The A-relay is also switched to its refund and collect position. As a result, the fraud path through the microphone is disconnected, and the central office can perform all its control functions unimpaired. Thus, the incentives for perpetrating the fraud are eliminated.

Coin operated telephone stations or payphones are interfaced with a central office by a three wire loop circuit, consisting of tip, ring and ground lines. In one type of commonly practiced fraud, known as "pin fraud", the wires in the handset of a payphone are manipulated so that the payphone's coin escrow bucket cannot be activated to collect or refund escrowed coins. In addition, this fraud causes the establishment of the initial rate needed for a local call. As a result, a vandal may make unlimited local calls without depositing any coins.
Furthermore, if customers deposit coins in a "pinned" telephone then these coins will collect in the escrow bucket. After the passage of time, the vandal returns to the pay telephone and reverses the fraud. Since the default mode of the phone is to refund coins sensed in the escrow bucket when no payment is due, the escrow bucket then releases the accumulated coins to the refund chute. The vandal takes the coins, thus defrauding the owner of the pay telephone. Thus, this fraud causes both a loss of revenues to the phone's owner, as well as customer dissatisfaction and ill-will when the customer does not receive a refund that he is entitled to such as when a call to the operator is made or the customer hangs up before the call is connected.
The method used to perpetrate this type of telephone fraud frequently causes damage to the pay telephone itself. The connecting cable and handset are often irreparably damaged by the vandal. This property damage is expensive to fix, both in terms of the costs of parts and labor. Many thousands of payphones, mostly in major cities, are damaged each year by vandals practicing this fraud. It is hoped that removing the incentive to practice this method of defrauding pay telephones will deter vandals from attempting it and thus keep them from damaging the telephones.
In the past, a fuse has been added to the telephone control circuit so that when a pin fraud is attempted the fuse blows. See U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/199,129 filed May 26, 1989 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Firstly, the fuse thwarts the fraud by eliminating the possibility of unlimited free calls. Secondly, if a customer picks up the handset to make a call at a time when the fuse has been blown, he finds that the phone is not operational as no dial tone is heard. In this case, the customer will hopefully follow the operational instructions and not use the phone. Thirdly, and more importantly, if the customer inadvertently deposits coins with the fuse blown, they will be refunded to him, and will not be refunded to the vandal. Consequently, the incentive for performing the fraud is removed. However, the pay telephone is put out of service by the blown fuse and requires a service call to replace the fuse before the phone can be put back in service.
In an alternative prior art approach described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,742, one isolation transformer is used to isolate a receiver speaker element and a second isolation transformer is used to isolate a dynamic microphone. The use of an isolation transformer to isolate a receiver speaker was routinely used long prior to U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,742. See, for example, GTE, Coin Telephone Handbook, Section 476-201100 at p. 25/26, August 1978. Similarly, the use of an isolation transformer to isolate an audio input was also known prior to U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,742. See, for example, the isolation of the auxiliary audio input of FIG. 21 of U.S. application Ser. No. 199,129.
This well known isolation technique of using an isolation transformer cannot be used with a carbon microphone because such a microphone requires a DC bias to operate. Further, the use of an isolation transformer as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,742 requires that the microphone be isolated all the time. For testing the presence or absence of the handset or adjusting the volume of the speaker in the earpiece as taught in U.S. application Ser. No. 199,129, it is desirable to connect and disconnect the microphone at the appropriate times rather than to permanently isolate it.

Method and apparatus for preventing pay telephone fraud and reducing handset vandalism


An electric motor for driving a piston pump assembled thereto is disclosed wherein a load from the piston pump acts radially on an armature shaft of the electric motor. The electric motor is assembled such that the outer ring of a yoke bearing is connected to a yoke, and the outer ring of a first pump housing bearing is press fit to a pump housing. One end of the armature shaft is press fit to the yoke bearing inner ring, and the other end of the armature shaft is press fit to the first pump housing bearing inner ring. Thus, wobbling of the armature shaft in the axial and radial directions is minimized or eliminated.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the art of electric motors. This invention is specifically concerned with electric motors for driving piston pumps used in anti-locking brake devices for vehicles and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, examples of electric motors for driving piston pumps of this type include arrangements wherein the piston is caused to move reciprocally in the radial direction with respect to the armature shaft of the driving motor, e.g., arrangements used for anti-locking brakes. An example of such an arrangement is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined patent Publication No. 2-207184. In this arrangement, bearing of the armature shaft is accomplished by a pair of bearings provided at either side of an eccentric shaft linked to the piston side. The armature shaft is press fit to the inner ring of the pair of bearings. The armature shaft is press fit to the bearings when the shaft is aligned with each of the bearings. In the event that the outer rings of the bearings are press fit to the pump housing side, freedom in the radial direction is lost, and in the case that there is misalignment in both of the bearings, press fitting of the armature shaft cannot be performed for all practical purposes. Accordingly, the bearings are arranged so as to be loosely inserted into the pump housing to ensure freedom in the radial direction, however slight, thus handling misalignment.
However, with such an arrangement, not only does wobbling of the bearings in the radial direction due to receiving the load from the piston moving in the aforementioned radial direction cause noise and deterioration of pump performance, but other parts become necessary in order to prevent the bearings (which have been inserted loosely) from moving in the axial direction, requiring extra parts and complicated assembly. Because it is necessary to provide a space for setting a jig for assembling both bearings in a pump housing separately from a space for piston pump components, the resulting space for piston pump components becomes smaller, which creates a problem in that freedom in layout for the piston pump components in a pump housing is reduced.
In order to deal with such problems, an arrangement has been disclosed in Japanese Unexamined patent Publication No. 7-184344, wherein grooves are provided in the bearing outer ring and the member of the pump housing to which the bearing is to be inserted. Resin material is inserted into the aforementioned grooves so as to restrict movement in the axial and radial direction.
However, with such an arrangement, the endurance of the resin material is problematic, and not only is there the possibility that the bearings may return to the original state of being inserted loosely due to deterioration and the like of the resin over prolonged usage periods, but there is the problem that resin material in the grooves decreases work efficiency.

Electric motor for driving a piston pump and method of assembly


A pump drive motor control apparatus controls a motor used for driving a hydraulic pump. Every time the supply of electricity to the motor is resumed (every time the motor control signal changes from a low level to a high level), the apparatus measures a time which the voltage generated by the motor requires to decrease by a predetermined amount, the time indicating the decreasing speed of the generated voltage. The apparatus normally sets the high-level maintenance time, in which the motor control signal is maintained high, to a base time. When a state in which the measured time is not longer than a reference time is detected a predetermined number of times (3 times) or more, the apparatus determines that the load of the pump is heavy. In such a case, the apparatus increases the average rotational speed of the motor by increasing the high-level maintenance time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pump drive motor control apparatus for controlling the rotational speed of a motor for driving a pump, and more particularly to a pump drive motor control apparatus which controls the rotational speed of a motor through on-off control performed such that supply of electricity to the motor is resumed on the basis of a result of comparison between a predetermined threshold and a voltage which the motor generates during a period in which supply of electricity to the motor is stopped, and such that the supply of electricity is stopped after the supply of electricity is continued for a predetermined period of time.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional pump drive motor control apparatus of such a type is disclosed in, for example, Japanese kohyo (PCT) Patent Publication No. 2002-506406. The disclosed apparatus is applied to a motor for driving a hydraulic pump which pumps brake fluid having discharged to a reservoir as a result of operation of an antilock brake system and supplies the pumped brake fluid to a hydraulic circuit of the antilock brake system. In principle, the apparatus controls the rotational speed of the motor through on-off control performed such that supply of electricity to the motor is resumed when a voltage which the motor generates in accordance with its rotational speed during a period in which supply of electricity to the motor is stopped (i.e., a voltage generated by an induced electromotive force which the motor generates as a result of acting as a generator (hereinafter may be simply referred to as "generated voltage")) becomes equal to or less than a predetermined first threshold, and such that the supply of electricity is stopped after the supply of electricity is continued for a predetermined period of time.
If the reservoir, to which brake fluid is discharged as a result of operation of the antilock brake system, is filled with brake fluid, further discharge of brake fluid from the hydraulic circuit of the antilock brake system to the reservoir becomes impossible, resulting in failure of the antilock brake system to attain brake fluid pressure control (hereinafter, referred to as "ABS control"). Accordingly, by use of the above-mentioned hydraulic pump, brake fluid must be pumped out of the reservoir in order to prevent the brake fluid from filling the reservoir.
The time-average of flow rate at which the hydraulic pump pumps brake fluid out of the reservoir and discharges the brake fluid (hereinafter, may be referred to as "average discharge flow rate" or simply "discharge flow rate") is proportional to the time-average of rotational speed of a motor for driving the hydraulic pump (hereinafter, may be referred to as "average rotational speed" or simply "rotational speed").
Meanwhile, the brake fluid pressure within the hydraulic circuit of the system (accordingly, the discharge pressure or load of the hydraulic pump) serves as a force that lowers the rotational speed of the hydraulic pump (accordingly, the motor). Therefore, the rotational speed of the motor (in particular, the rotational speed during a period in which supply of electricity to the motor is stopped) decreases to a degree that increases with the load imposed on the hydraulic pump.
In other words, as the load imposed on the hydraulic pump increases, the discharge flow rate of the hydraulic pump decreases, thereby making the ABS control easily susceptible to failure. Further, in the case where a large load is imposed on the hydraulic pump, the rotational speed of the motor tends to drop drastically immediately after the resumed supply of electricity to the motor is stopped.
In view of the above, the aforementioned conventional apparatus is designed such that, only during a predetermined short period after the resumed supply of electricity to the motor is stopped, instead of comparing the generated voltage with the first threshold, the apparatus compares the generated voltage with a predetermined second threshold lower than the first threshold, and determines that a large load is imposed on the pump, when the generated voltage is lower than the second threshold. In this case, the conventional apparatus immediately resumes the supply of electricity to the motor, and increases the continuation time during which the supply of electricity is continued. As a result of this operation, the rotational speed (average rotational speed) of the motor having temporarily decreased because of the large load increases, thereby avoiding failure of the ABS control.
However, even in the case where a load is continuously imposed on the hydraulic pump at a level such that the generated voltage does not drop below the second threshold within the predetermined short period after the resumed supply of electricity to the motor is stopped, the quantity of brake fluid stored in the reservoir gradually increases as a result of a continuous decrease in the average rotational speed of the hydraulic pump resulting from the load. As a result, failure of the ABS control may occur. In such a case, the conventional apparatus cannot avoid the failure of the ABS control.


An apparatus for a home appliance with a closing door (1) housing a hook (6) which holds a pin (7) which is affixed to a frame in order to lock the door in a closed position. The door opens to the front (9) and is normally closed by a small shutter (10) which is on a slider (11) which slides towards the inside of the door (1) along runner guides (12, 13) to unlatch the hook (6) from the pin (7) by an activating lever (15). The latter's fulcrum is at a point adjacent to the front surface of the door and extends inside the port itself with a free end (19) which works with an inclined plane (17) of the slider (11).

The present invention refers to an apparatus, specifically, a home appliance, with an access door which can be closed by means of a locking mechanism that can be activated through a front opening of the door to unhook the door itself.
Home appliances, especially dishwashers, are known, in which a front door is normally closed by a shutter-like door. The door is hinged in such a way as to be able to rotate when a hand is inserted to access the locking mechanism. Such a solution is advantageous from the hygienic and aesthetic point of view but presents the problem that one's fingers can easily get stuck between the shutter and the locking mechanism. In any case, the locking mechanism is unwieldy.
The aim of the present invention is to supply an apparatus, specifically for home appliances, with a door having a closing mechanism which can be activated in a particularly easy and exact way by means of an opening in the door which is normally closed.
According to the invention, such an objective is obtained in an apparatus, specifically for a home appliance, with a door which incorporates the characteristics described in the attached claims.


A knob assembly includes a front panel, a knob located at a front panel of an appliance and configured to rotate based on operation by a user, a valve shaft that is coupled to the knob and that extends through the front panel, a valve connected to the valve shaft and configured to control supply of gas to the appliance, and a knob sensor configured to detect a rotational position of the valve shaft. The valve shaft is configured to control the valve to adjust a flow rate of gas based on rotation of the valve shaft.

A cooking appliance can be classified variously, for example, according to the kind of fuel, a heat source, a form, etc., and may be one of home appliances for cooking food.
For example, the cooking appliance may be classified into an open type and a closed type depending on the form of a space where food is placed.
A closed type cooking appliance is a cooking appliance that closes the space where food is placed and cooks food by heating a closed space. For example, an oven, a microwave oven, etc. may belong to the closed type cooking appliance.
An open type cooking appliance is a cooking appliance that cooks food by heating a food item or a food container in an open space. For example, a cooktop, a hob, etc. may belong to the open the cooking appliance.
In some examples, the closed type cooking appliance and the open type cooking appliance may be installed in a single product, and a composite cooking appliance is proposed in which a plurality of heat sources are combined to cook various types of food or a plurality of items of food.
For example, in the composite cooking appliance, the open type cooking appliance may be arranged on the upper side of the closed type cooking appliance. The open cooking appliance may include a plurality of heaters or burners to enable cooking of a plurality items of food at the same time.
One example of the open type cooking appliance is a gas range that uses gas as a fuel. A gas range is a device that cooks food using a flame generated by burning gas.
There are various ways for a user to control an intensity of the flame of the cooking appliance. For example, a method of controlling firepower by adjusting the amount of rotation of a knob by using the knob rotating around a predetermined adjustment shaft are mostly used.
In some examples, the cooking appliance using gas may include a structure in which the amount of opening and closing of the valve of supplying gas is controlled according to the amount of rotation of the knob. In some cases, for safety, a gas valve may rotate with the knob only when the knob is pressed and rotated.
In some examples, the closed type cooking appliance may be used for a long time cooking, and may include a timer for setting a cooking time. In other examples, the open type cooking appliance may include a timer having a cooking time alarm function in order to improve a user convenience.
A knob ring that surrounds the knob is also used to control other functions than the intensity of the flame. The knob ring can be rotated independently of the knob. In addition, the knob ring is arranged around the knob to enhance the aesthetics of the product.
However, in this structure, because the knob and the knob ring which are arranged coaxial rotate independently of each other, and because the knob and the knob ring control different functions, the structure is complicated and assembling them is not easy.


A new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant named ‘SMHPS’ is disclosed, characterized by lace-cap inflorescences with bright pinkish-red sepals in late summer to fall. Plants have dwarf habits, dark green foliage, and strong, upright stems. The new variety is a Hydrangea, typically produced as an outdoor ornamental plant.

The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor, at a commercial nursery in Grand Haven, Mich. The objective of the breeding program was to produce new Hydrangea varieties with dwarf habits, good health and vigor, and attractive blooms. The open-pollination resulting in the new variety was made during 2007.
The seed parent cannot be identified, as it is from bulked seed from early flowering selections of unnamed, unpatented dwarf Hydrangea paniculata varieties. The pollen parent cannot be identified as this new selection resulted from an open-pollination.
The new variety was found and selected by the inventor in 2011 at the same nursery in Grand Haven, Mich.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar 'SMHPS' was first performed during 2011 in Grand Haven, Mich., by softwood cuttings. Through subsequent propagation, multiple additional generations have been reproduced, having shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.


A stabilizing assembly includes a retaining device settled between a drawable carrier and a cabinet body for preventing the drawable carrier from swinging in sliding. The retaining device includes two rails fixed to two opposite laterals of the drawable carrier. Each of the rails has a rack. Two gears engaging with the racks are connected by a rod and rotate simultaneously. Two bushes connected to two ends of the rod are received in supporting seats that are fixed on the cabinet body or the drawable carrier and allowed to shift vertically. Two stop portions, as a stop unit, each extending from the rail toward a side of the rod opposite to another side of the rod facing the rack on the rail, are closely adjacent to the retained portions so that the bushes are retained and stopped by the stop unit, and disengagement between the racks and the gears is prevented.

Generally, between a cabinet body and a drawer installed therein, there are drawer slides composed of sliding rails and sliding guides for easy and smooth slide of the drawer inward or outward the cabinet body. However, since sliding rails and sliding guides are usually assembled with intervals of considerable width therebetween, when a pulling or pushing force is exerted on any point of the drawer except the center of the facade of the drawer, the drawer slides bias, leading to abnormal operation and thus wear of the drawer, eventually reducing the service life of the drawer.
For remedying this problem, the inventor of the present invention proposed an invention that has been filed in China as China Patent Application No. CN200910008402. Therein, in addition to drawer slides that guide a drawable carrier to slide in or out a cabinet body, the prior art device, at two laterals of the drawable carrier, has row holes (functioning as two lateral racks) or fixed components formed with row holes that are aligned along the sliding direction of the drawable carrier, and has an engaging assembly that includes a rod having two ends equipped with gears, wherein the gears engage with the corresponding row holes on the bottom of the drawable carrier, and the rod is supported by two seats fixed to the cabinet body, which seats each has a spring to prop up the rod, so that the upward pushing force the springs exert on the rod ensures proper engagement between the gears at the to ends of the rod and the row holes.
By the technical means of the prior art-device, when the drawable carrier is drawn or pushed to slide, even if the force exerting point is not right at the center of the facade of the drawable carrier, the limitation provided by the mutually engaging gears and the row holes, which ensures the gears to move along the row holes without derailment, maintains the sliding direction of the drawable carrier without deviation. However, when the drawable carrier, especially in the case where the drawable carrier is a large drawer, is drawn or pushed at one of its lateral edge of its facade furthest from the center and thus received an extremely transversely unbalanced force, the gears are liable to escape from the row holes, causing the drawable carrier to seriously slant to one side and become aberrant. Such aberration not only brings about sliding noise, but also leads to accelerative wear of the gears and the row holes, or, even forces the two side gears to jump out of the row holes, incurring damage to the structural components.

Stabilizing assembly of drawable carrier


The invention relates to a contact unit and to a method for steering electric arcs on a contact unit, in particular for supplying vehicles with power via an overhead wire (20), the contact unit comprising a sliding contact device (19), the sliding contact device having a contact strip support (21) and a contact strip (22) disposed thereon, the contact unit having a steering device (24) for electric arcs (25) which is disposed on the contact unit, the steering device being provided with a magnet (30).

Contact units that have sliding contact devices comprising a contact strip and a contact strip support are used to supply rail-bound vehicles and also vehicles not rail-bound, but driven by electric motors, with power. Said sliding contact devices are pressed against a traction current line or overhead wire by means of a pressure device or a positioning device of the contact unit, such as a pantograph or a linkage, contact pressure force being generated. In this way, a sliding contact is formed, which allows the vehicle to be supplied with power during travel or during a stop of the vehicle.
The substantial aspect is that the sliding contact between the contact strip and the overhead wire is securely maintained as continuously as possible even during dynamic driving of vehicles of this kind. However, uninterrupted contact between the contact strip and the overhead wire cannot always be ensured. In particular when hoarfrost, ice or other adhesions form on the overhead wire, brief separation between the contact strip and the overhead wire cannot be avoided. Because of these instances of separation, among other things, electrical flashover or formation of an electric arc between the overhead wire and the contact strip support or even the positioning device can observed periodically, which can result in damage to the sliding contact device or to components of the positioning device. Electric arcs can even form as soon as the contact strip merely comes into contact with the overhead wire. Increased humidity in the area between the sliding contact device and the overhead wire also contributes to the formation of electric arcs. Especially the contact strip support, which is typically made of metal, can be severely damaged by electric arcs, which makes shortened inspection and replacement intervals necessary.
The contact strip support is commonly formed by an aluminum profile having a U-shaped seat for the contact strip made of a carbon material impregnated with metal, of hard coal, of graphite or of a metal alloy. The contact strip can be glued to the aluminum profile or be clamped to the U-shaped seat in a form-fitting manner by bending or flanging of legs of the U-shaped seat. The contact strip support can also be a so-called auxiliary support, which is installed on a rocker of a pantograph or a linkage. When an electric arc forms between the overhead wire and the contact strip support, heat is introduced into the contact strip support and into the contact strip, which may cause the material of the contact strip support to melt, evaporate or come off. Hence, if electric arcs are formed repeatedly, the contact strip support might be consumed in places, causing it to be weakened or even destroyed.
EP 2 746 091 B1 discloses a sliding contact device which is supposed to prevent formation of electric arcs between a contact strip support and an overhead wire. In particular, a flow channel is formed on the contact strip support, said flow channel allowing targeted steering of an air flow during travel of the vehicle in such a manner that an electric arc is deflected from the contact strip support to the contact strip. Disadvantageously, however, electric arcs will still flash over between the overhead wire and the contact strip support during standstill or even at low speeds of the vehicle for lack of air flow. In this situation, it is no longer possible to reliably prevent such a flashover by means of an established air flow. Moreover, it is desirable for the positioning device of a contact unit to be protected from electric arc flashover as well.

Contact unit for supplying vehicles with power and related method


A utility lighter having a housing and a spark generator operable to generate a spark generally adjacent an exit opening of the housing. Movement of a trigger from its inoperative position to its operative position in a normal mode of operation of the lighter operates the spark generator to generate a spark. A disabling mechanism is positionable relative to the housing between a first position corresponding to a disabled mode of operation of the lighter in which the lighter is ineffective to generate a spark and a second position corresponding to the normal mode of operation of the lighter. The trigger is movable between its inoperative and operative positions in both the disabled mode and the normal mode of the lighter. In the disabled mode of the lighter the disabling mechanism is adapted to disable the trigger from operating the spark generator in the operative position of the trigger.

This invention relates generally to a utility lighter and more particularly to a utility lighter having a disabling mechanism that inhibits undesired igniting of the lighter, such as by small children.
Conventional utility lighters typically have a handle, an elongate barrel extending from the handle, a fuel container in the handle containing combustible fuel, a piezoelectric unit for generating a spark to ignite the combustible fuel and a trigger for controlling operation of the lighter to generate a flame that is exhausted from an open end of the barrel away from the handle. These lighters have become increasingly popular for home use, such as in lighting fires, grills, candles, stoves and other items due to the ease of use of the lighter and the fact that the elongate barrel extending outward from the handle allows the operator to direct the flame into hard to reach areas and to remain at a relatively safe distance from the flame generated by the lighter and from the item at which the flame is directed. However, safety concerns have arisen as utility lighters have become more accessible to small children who are unfamiliar with the dangers associated with the misuse of such lighters.
As a result, various devices have recently been incorporated into utility lighters to resist undesired igniting of the lighters by small children. For example, one common type of device blocks the trigger against operative movement until the device has been sufficiently manipulated to remove the structure blocking the trigger against movement, thereby allowing a normal lighting operation to occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,763 discloses another type of utility lighter having a device in which the trigger is movable through its full range of motion even when the lighter is prevented from generating a flame. Allowing full movement of the trigger without generating a flame more realistically simulates normal operation of the lighter so that a younger child is likely to assume the lighter is simply broken and no longer wants to play with the lighter. In normal operation, depressing the trigger activates a fuel-release lever to open a valve for releasing fuel from the fuel container and also depresses the piezoelectric unit to generate a spark for igniting the fuel. To prevent a flame from being generated, the device positions the trigger and the release lever out of operative alignment with each other so that fuel cannot be released from the fuel container even when the trigger is depressed.
However, such a utility lighter still has a number of drawbacks. For example, when the trigger is depressed, the piezoelectric unit is still operated by the trigger to generate a spark even though no fuel is released from the fuel container. There is a risk that such a spark could ignite combustible fuel or other flammables from an external source, such as a gas can or a gas operated grill, stove, fireplace or other gas operated device. Also, the piezoelectric unit is generally limited in the number of electrical charges that it can generate. Thus, each depression of the trigger decreases the useful lifetime of the piezoelectric unit, i.e., the remaining number of electrical charges that can be generated by the unit, even if a flame is not ignited. Such a disadvantage is of concern for utility lighters of the re-usable type wherein the fuel container may be refilled with additional fuel to continue use of the lighter.
Among the several objects and features of the present invention may be noted the provision of a utility lighter which inhibits undesired igniting of the lighter, such as by small children; the provision of such a utility lighter which inhibits undesired igniting of flammable materials external of the lighter; the provision of such a utility lighter which can increase the life of a spark generator of the lighter; and the provision of such a utility lighter which is easy to use.
In general, a utility lighter of the present invention comprises a housing and a spark generator operable to generate a spark generally adjacent an exit opening of the housing. A trigger is movable relative to the housing between an inoperative position and an operative position. Movement of the trigger to its operative position in a normal mode of operation of the lighter operates the spark generator to generate a spark. A disabling mechanism is positionable in a first position corresponding to a disabled mode of operation of the lighter and a second position corresponding to the normal mode of operation of the lighter. The trigger is movable between its inoperative and operative positions in both the disabled mode and the normal mode of the lighter. In the disabled mode of the lighter the disabling mechanism is adapted to disable the trigger from operating the spark generator in the operative position of the trigger.
In another embodiment, a utility lighter of the present invention generally comprises a housing and a fuel container generally disposed in the housing for containing a combustible fuel. A sealing valve is in fluid communication with the fuel container and movable between a closed, sealing position in which the fuel container is sealed against fuel release and an open position in which fuel is released from the fuel container for delivery toward the exit opening of the housing. A valve lever is movable relative to the housing and is operatively connected to the sealing valve whereby movement of the lever effects movement of the sealing valve between its closed and open positions. A spark generator is operable to generate a spark generally adjacent an exit opening of the housing and has an actuating mechanism movable relative to the housing to a discharge position in which the spark generator generates a spark. A trigger is movable relative to the housing between an inoperative position and an operative position, movement of the trigger to its operative position in a normal mode of operation of the lighter effecting movement of the valve lever to move the sealing valve to its open position and operating the spark generator to generate a spark to thereby ignite the fuel to generate a flame at the exit opening of the housing. A disabling mechanism is positionable in a first position corresponding to a disabled mode of operation of the lighter and a second position corresponding to the normal mode of operation of the lighter. The trigger is movable between its inoperative and operative positions in both the disabled mode and the normal mode of the lighter. In the disabled mode of the lighter, the disabling mechanism is adapted to disable the trigger from operating the spark generator in the operative position of the trigger.
Other objects and features of the present invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

Utility lighter with disabling mechanism

Louis J. Christen and Company, Inc. 8810 Vidal Rd., SW.


A printing device includes at least one printing engine that comprises customer replaceable units. At least one engine controller is operatively connected to the printing engine, and the engine controller uses software to control operations of the printing engine. At least one non-volatile memory is operatively connected to the engine controller. The non-volatile memory stores values used by the engine controller to control operations of the printing engine. Additionally, at least one adapter card is operatively connected to the non-volatile memory and to the customer replaceable units. The customer replaceable units each comprise a memory unit. The adapter card reads incoming print jobs before the print jobs are delivered to the controller and the adapter card accumulates and stores statistics relating to print jobs within the memory unit of the customer replaceable units. The adapter card passes the incoming print jobs to the controller in an unaltered manner.

Embodiments herein generally relate to electrophotographic printers and copiers or reproduction machines, and more particularly, concerns an adapter card that can communicate with customer replaceable units.
Many recent advances in printing focus on better integration of control systems with the hardware and materials to improve run cost and other functionally important topics (FITs). Many of the concepts and proposals being developed require some level of software integration to gain the full run cost or other FIT benefits. While there is some input to the control software for a manufacturer's developed products, for outsourced or acquired products, the "hooks" into the software to implement advanced technology concepts are lacking, and getting outsource vendors to provide the appropriate taps into the machine control is sometimes difficult. Some of these concepts could benefit the current machine population in the field greatly, but would require a costly and nearly unfeasible software upgrade to implement. In such instances, a manufacturer would likely have very little control of the system software, but would want to inject value-add technologies to improve the performance and robustness of these base engines.
This disclosure outlines a method of obtaining the required control "hooks" in an outsourced print controller that enables concepts being developed to improve run cost and other FITs in current and future acquired engines. Most print engines support some form of external updates of their non-volatile memory (NVM)—through a front panel user interface, service interface, TCP/IP connection, print job submission interface, etc. By adding a low cost electronic module to the engine that communicates with the customer replaceable unit memory, often through RFID interface, and the machine control unit (MCU), embodiments herein make it possible to affect machine operation solely through adjustment of the machine's non-volatile memory.
Embodiments herein take advantage of the standard interfaces normally provided by the machine control unit to enable implementation of technology concepts without requiring changes to the system software of the engine. In addition, the embodiments herein enable manufacturing to modify machine settings on a cartridge by cartridge basis to enable improvements that are developed during the machine's life cycle, without requiring a service engineer to make any software upgrades or unscheduled maintenance, and without requiring any special "hooks" within the machine's engine control software.
More specifically embodiments herein comprise a printing device that includes at least one printing engine that comprises customer replaceable units. At least one engine controller is operatively connected to the printing engine, and the engine controller uses software to control operations of the printing engine.
At least one non-volatile memory is operatively connected to the engine controller. The non-volatile memory stores values used by the engine controller to control operations of the printing engine. Additionally, at least one adapter card is operatively connected to the non-volatile memory and to the customer replaceable units. The customer replaceable units each comprise a memory unit.
The adapter card reads incoming print jobs before the print jobs are delivered to the controller and the adapter card accumulates and stores statistics relating to print jobs within the memory unit of the customer replaceable units. The statistics can comprise, for example, area coverage on a page-by-page basis, localized pixel counts (in both dimensions), maximum number of layers used per page, area coverage spread (concentrated in one region versus across the entire page) per page, media type, job lengths, machine usage as a function of time of day, etc. The adapter card passes the incoming print jobs to the controller in an unaltered manner.
In another embodiment, the non-volatile memory stores values used by the engine controller to control operations of the printing engine. The adapter card reads these values from the non-volatile memory and the adapter card stores the values within the memory unit of the customer replaceable units.
In a different embodiment, the non-volatile memory stores values used by the engine controller to control operations of the printing engine and the adapter card stores data. The adapter card uses the data to alter the values within the non-volatile memory by bypassing the engine controller when communicating with the non-volatile memory.
The adapter card comprises a physically separate device from the engine controller. More specifically, the adapter card can comprise, for example, a printed circuit board, at least one logic unit mounted on the printed circuit board, wiring within the printed circuit board connected to the logic unit, and connection terminals on the printed circuit board connected to the wiring. The connection terminals can be operatively connected to the non-volatile memory.
The adapter card can be connected to the non-volatile memory through one of the following interfaces: TCP/IP based web server interface; front panel keyboard wedge interface; service interface; direct hardwired connection; etc. Further, the adapter card comprises an item designed to be installed in the printing device after the printing device is in post production, customer service. This also covers the case of sourcing a third party engine, then adding the adapter card to enable delivery of value-add solutions without the update of the existing engine controller or system software.
These and other features are described in, or are apparent from, the following detailed description.

Mutualistic engine controller having customer replaceable unit communication


A flash memory device and a method of manufacturing the same, the flash memory device includes isolation layers formed in an isolation region of a semiconductor substrate, an auxiliary oxide layer formed on edge portions of an active region of the semiconductor substrate and on protruded sidewalls of the isolation layers, a tunnel oxide layer formed on the auxiliary oxide layer of the edge portions of the active region and at a central portion of the active region, and a first polysilicon layer for a floating gate formed on the tunnel oxide layer.

The invention relates, in general, to flash memory devices and, more particularly, to a flash memory device and a method of manufacturing the same, in which degradation of the characteristics of a tunnel oxide layer can be prevented.
As the level of integration of semiconductor devices increases, it becomes difficult to align floating gates and isolation layers in the process of manufacturing a flash memory device. Thus, the floating gates are aligned using a Self Aligned Floating Gate (SAFG) process. The SAFG process is a process of forming a polysilicon layer for a floating gate in a semiconductor substrate, using an etch process to sequentially etch the polysilicon layer and the semiconductor substrate, thus forming trenches, and burying the trenches with insulating material, thus patterning the polysilicon layer while forming isolation layers.
In the existing method, however, at the time of the process of forming the tunnel oxide layer, the thickness at the top corners of the tunnel oxide layer, which is formed in the active region, becomes thinner than that at the central portion of the tunnel oxide layer. This phenomenon causes degradation in the characteristics of the tunnel oxide layer, and affecting the characteristics of a program/erase cycle.

Flash memory device and method of manufacturing the same


Chlorine dioxide is produced at high conversion rates from aqueous sodium chlorite solution by electrochemical oxidation in an undivided electrochemical cell. The cell utilizes an anode of high surface area through which the aqueous sodium chlorite solution flows into an interelectrode gap between the anode and a cathode. Water or acidified water is fed into the interelectrode gap to function as catholyte and also to dilute the electrolyzed sodium chlorite solution to provide an aqueous solution of chlorine dioxide exiting from the electrochemical cell.

The present invention is concerned with the electrolytic production of chlorine dioxide from chlorite ions. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electrochemical process and an electrolytic cell structure used to manufacture a high purity aqueous chlorine dioxide solution from a dilute aqueous alkali metal chlorite solution.
It is known to produce chlorine dioxide electrolytically by electro-oxidation of chlorite ions according to the following reaction:
ClO2xe2x88x92ClO2+exe2x88x92xe2x80x83xe2x80x83[1]
U.S. Pat. No. 2,163,793 describes an electrochemical chlorine dioxide generating process in which an aqueous solution of alkali metal chlorite and alkali metal chloride is electrolyzed in an electrolytic cell equipped with a porous diaphragm separating the anode and the cathode compartments.
Similar divided electrochemical cells equipped with various types of separators were also employed in numerous other patented processes for electro-oxidation of chlorite ions to chlorine dioxide.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,717,237 discloses a method for producing chlorine dioxide by electrolysis of chlorite in the presence of water-soluble alkali metal sulfate, for example, sodium sulfate.
Japanese Patent Publication 56-158883 published Dec. 7, 1981, (U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,856) describes an electrolytic process for producing chlorine dioxide by oxidation of chlorite in which the electrolyzed solution, at a pH of 2 or less, is fed to a stripping tank where air is introduced to recover the chlorine dioxide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,008 describes an electrolytic process for chlorine dioxide production in which the sodium chlorite concentration of the solution leaving the anode compartment is monitored by means of a spectrophotometric measurement.
Published PCT International Patent Application No. WO 91/09158 and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,465 disclose a method of producing chlorine dioxide from alkali metal chlorite in an ion-exchange compartment of a multi-compartment cell in which hydrogen ions generated in the anode compartment enter the ion-exchange compartment through a cation-exchange membrane, causing chlorite ion disproportionation resulting in the formation of chlorine dioxide.
PCT Published International Patent Application No. WO 94/26670 discloses a method of producing chlorine dioxide from sodium chlorite in which the gaseous product along with water vapor is removed from the electrolyzed solution by means of a microporous, hydrophobic gas membrane.
By removing water at the rate of its input to the anolyte, a continuous, environmentally innocuous operation with no undesired effluent can be effected.
While all the above mentioned patents and patent applications require the recirculation of the electrolyzed solution, PCT Published International Patent Application No. WO 91/09990 and related U.S. patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,041,196; 5,084,149; 5,158,658; 5,298,280 and 5,294,319) teach an electrochemical process for producing chlorine dioxide from a dilute alkali metal chlorite solution in a single pass mode, i.e., with no recirculation of the anolyte, using a porous, high surface area anode. The product solution, in addition to chlorine dioxide, may also contain unconverted chlorite as well as undesired by-products resulting from inefficiencies, such as chlorate ions or chlorine.
An improved single pass operation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,688 in which the chlorite containing feed solution is pre-acidified prior to its entering the anode compartment of the electrochemical cell.
While the overall performance parameters, i.e., chemical efficiency and product purity, of the above described single pass processes for the electro-oxidation of chlorite ion to chlorine dioxide are generally satisfactory, the complexity of the divided electrochemical cell creates serious operational problems, such as membrane failure and/or anolyte by-pass, as well as negatively affecting the process economics. High sensitivity of the cation-exchange membranes towards certain impurities, primarily hardness, imposes additional requirements on the feed purity, thus further increasing the overall cost of the chlorine dioxide production by the single-pass process.
Recently, after the priority date of this application, U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,281 was issued, describing the concept of chlorine dioxide generation in an undivided electrochemical cell. According to this patent, chlorite conversions of up to 90% can be achieved in a single pass when operating an undivided electrochemical cell with buffered electrolyte having a pH below 10 and preferably in the pH range 8 to 9. Such conversions are considered to be unsatisfactory in commercial operations.
Commercially-acceptable conversion values are typically well above 90% and preferably close to 100%, corresponding to a complete utilization of the reactant. The cost of the reactant sodium chlorite constitutes the main cost of the entire operation.
There is a need, therefore, to develop a electrolytic chlorine dioxide generation process based on a single pass mode with no recirculation of the anolyte wherein the electrochemical cell does not exhibit the above-described deficiencies of the electrolysers known in the art.
Surprisingly, it has been found that electro-oxidation of chlorite ions to chlorine dioxide can be carried out with satisfactory efficiency and with conversions of close to 100% in an undivided electrochemical cell. This finding is completely unexpected, since it was always assumed in the prior art that the presence of a separator in the electrochemical cell is absolutely necessary in order to prevent the occurrence of the decomposition of the product of the anodic reaction, i.e., chlorine dioxide, at the cathode and to ensure the substantially complete utilization of the chlorite reactant.
It is well known that, under cathodic conditions, chlorine dioxide readily undergoes reduction to chlorite ions:
ClO2+exe2x88x92ClO2xe2x88x92xe2x80x83xe2x80x83[2]
which is a reverse reaction to that occurring at the anode (reaction [1]). In addition, it was always assumed that the presence of a separator in the electrochemical cell is beneficial, since it enables the possibility to co-generate sodium hydroxide in the cathodic compartment of a divided cell, thus making the process particularly useful for applications utilizing both ClO2 and NaOH, for example, pulp bleaching. Moreover, it was assumed in the prior art that, in the absence of a separator, the products generated at the anode (ClO2) and the cathode (NaOH) would interact with each other according to the following reaction:
2ClO2+2NaOHNaClO3+NaClO2+H2Oxe2x80x83xe2x80x83[3]
resulting in a significant ClO2 yield loss as well as the formation of a highly undesired by-product, sodium chlorate (NaClO3).
According to the present invention, it was found that the lack of a physical barrier separating the cathodic and anodic compartments of an electrochemical cell does not necessarily preclude the possibility of achieving an effective conversion of chlorite ions to chlorine dioxide and that chlorine dioxide can be produced in a single pass in an undivided electrochemical cell.
Accordingly, in one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process for the oxidation of chlorite ions to chlorine dioxide in an undivided electrochemical cell operated in single pass, comprising:
(1) passing an aqueous alkali metal chlorite solution through a high surface area anode structure into the interelectrode gap zone between the anode and a cathode;
(2) passing water or an aqueous acidic solution along the cathode structure within the interelectrode zone;
(3) applying sufficient electric current between the anode and the cathode in order to oxidize substantially all the chlorite ions in said aqueous alkali metal chlorite solution to chlorine dioxide;
(4) withdrawing an aqueous solution of chlorine dioxide from the electrochemical cell, optionally into a water stream.

Electrolytic process for the production of chlorine dioxide


A system, method, and computer program for validating a rule set for applicable checks of a part, comprising querying a validation rule set; correlating a part data to said validation rule set; comparing a part against said part data; and whereby said part is approved at an event, and appropriate means and computer-readable instructions.

It is widely accepted practice to apply design data quality checks during product development that are automatically enforced based upon product functionality and industry standard and/or government regulations. For example, in assembly design, a dataset must pass workflow processes at a sequence of status check points to be released at a major milestone event. One of the verifications that is performed during each workflow process is to verify that the target dataset has passed a number of validation checks. For example, dataset A is targeted to be released at major event 1, if it must pass each list of validation checks at status 0, 1, 2, 3 and so on. The list of validation checkers that are verified at each status check point may be the same with different rules which means that the same checker could be optional, that is must run but result status can be ignored, at the beginning and becomes mandated, that is must run and pass status is required, from certain status check point and on. Different types of datasets may be subject to different checks. Throughout the product development process, design data may be classified in various disciplines and subject to different quality checks at different points of time. Missing any one check could potentially cause quality issues later on.
What is needed is a system and method for validating a rule set for applicable checks of a part where parameters are verified for a checker even though the check result is passed knowing that the lists of validation checks are different from commodity to commodity.

System and method for rule set validation

Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc.


Some implementations provide tactile output for enabling a device to interact physically with a user. For instance, the device may include a first portion having a display and a touch surface. The first portion may connect to a second portion by one or more connection elements that permit relative movement between the first portion and the second portion. One or more tactile output components in the second portion may impart relative movement in the first portion in one or more directions. For example, the one or more tactile output components may oscillate the touch surface in one or more directions within a plane of the touch surface to provide the tactile output, while the connection elements restrict movement of the touch surface in a direction normal to the touch surface.

People commonly use electronic devices for consumption of digital media content, such as images, movies, music, electronic books (eBooks), audio books, and so forth. Examples of such electronic devices may include eBook reader devices, cellular telephones, tablet computers, portable media players, netbooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like. However, user interfaces for such electronic devices traditionally engage a limited number of human senses. For instance, users are able to view images presented on displays and hear sounds generated by speakers, but tactile or haptic output has typically been limited to simple shakes or buzzes. As digital content continues to increase in popularity, and as electronic devices for consuming digital content become more and more common, providing ways to enhance the user experience continues to be a priority.

Providing tactile output and interaction


A method of treating solid hazardous wastes containing unacceptable levels of leachable metals such as lead, cadmium and zinc includes mixing the solid waste with a buffering agent selected from the group consisting of magnesium oxide, magnesium hydroxide, reactive calcium carbonates and reactive magnesium carbonates, and with an additional agent which is an acid or salt containing an anion that forms substantially nonleachable forms of the metals, which additional agent is selected from the group consisting of triple superphosphate, ammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, phosphoric acid, boric acid and metallic iron so that under both acidic and nonacidic leaching conditions the metals in the mixture will be converted to substantially nonleachable forms.

Safe disposal of hazardous waste is an increasing societal problem. Once a hazardous waste is generated, disposal and treatment of the waste is heavily regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency because of the potentially serious consequences of improper disposal or treatment.
Foundries typically generate large quantities of solid waste which is collected as baghouse dust. These wastes often contain leachable heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium and zinc. If the levels of leachable heavy metals are high, the wastes are classified as hazardous wastes by U.S. EPA or the state regulatory agencies.
Disposal of hazardous wastes containing high levels of leachable heavy metals, such as lead or cadmium, is expensive. In addition to the business cost of completing paperwork associated with the regulation of hazardous waste, tipping fees are usually more than $150 per ton. Transportation costs are also high since hazardous waste must often be transported some distance for disposal in approved facilities. These costs will undoubtedly increase with the U.S. EPA prohibition on land disposal of untreated hazardous waste beginning on May 8, 1990. Therefore, a method of treating hazardous waste to render it nonhazardous could result in tremendous cost savings for generators of hazardous waste, such as foundries.
Solid wastes are classified as hazardous by U.S. EPA for a number of reasons. Certain wastes are classified as hazardous because they contain chemicals which are listed by U.S. EPA as hazardous. Other wastes are classified as hazardous because of characteristics of the waste. These characteristics include ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and Extraction Procedure (EP) Toxicity.
Extraction Procedure Toxicity is determined using the Extraction Procedure Toxicity Test (EP Toxicity Test) contained in 40 C.F.R. Part 261, Appendix II, (1989), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. In the near future, the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) will replace the EP Toxicity Test. The EP Toxicity Test and TCLP determine whether a solid waste has unacceptable levels of hazardous substances, such as heavy metals, which can be leached from the waste by infiltrating water. Wastes containing leachable lead and cadmium are currently classified as EP Toxic Waste if the level of cadmium extracted in an EP Toxicity test is above 1.0 mg/L or if the level of lead extracted is above 5.0 mg/L. The upcoming ban on disposal of untreated hazardous waste will require that wastes that are hazardous for lead and/or cadmium leaching not be land disposed without treatment. Some states, notably Michigan, also classify wastes which leach high levels of zinc as hazardous.
The EP Toxicity Test and TCLP are designed to simulate a worst-case leaching situation. These leaching conditions would typically be found in the interior of an actively degrading municipal landfill. In such landfills, the leaching medium is slightly acidic, with a pH of about 5. Additionally, the leaching medium is heavily buffered by volatile organic acids (e.g., acetic acid) produced by the facultative anaerobic degradation of organic matter.
In fact, many industrial wastes are not disposed of under acidic conditions. The actual leaching conditions experienced by these wastes in an industrial landfill may be quite different from the worst-case situation simulated by the EP Toxicity and TCLP tests. In general, high volume hazardous waste, such as foundry baghouse dust, is disposed of in a situation where it is not exposed to a heavily buffered acidic leachate, but rather to unbuffered waters such as rain.
Tests are available which simulate the more typical disposal situation for hazardous wastes such as foundry waste. These tests utilize a relatively unbuffered solution, e.g., deionized water, to provide a better simulation of leaching as it actually occurs in the environment. Examples of nonacidic or not heavily buffered acidic leach tests, commonly referred to as water leach tests, include the Indiana Water Leach Test, which is also called the EP Water Test (Indiana Administrative Code Title 329, Article 2, Solid Waste Management Rule 9); the U.S. EPA Multiple Extraction Procedure (U.S. EPA, 1986, Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Volume 1C, Method 1320); the American Society of Testing Materials Test (ATSM Standards, method D3987-85); the American Foundrymans Society Leach Test (Ham, R. K., W. C. Boyle and T. P. Kunes, J. Env. Eng. Div. Amer. Soc. Civil Eng., 107 EEL, pp. 155-170, 1981); and the University of Wisconsin SLT Test (Ham, R. K., M. A. Anderson, R. Stegmann and R. R. Stanforth, EPA 600/2-79/109, 1979).
For wastes that are not disposed of in acidic environments, two separate leach tests need to be run to determine whether the waste is hazardous according to regulatory standards, and to determine whether the waste could pose an actual environmental risk when exposed to nonacidic leachate in a disposal facility. The EP Toxicity Test or TCLP test will define the regulatory status of the waste. A water leach test will provide an indication of the actual leaching potential of the waste in the environment.
It is important to utilize both types of tests because lead and zinc are amphoteric metals. Therefore, at alkaline pH values, lead will solubilize and may leach from waste at concentrations that exceed the drinking water standards (maximum contaminant levels) established under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Lead levels may even exceed the hazardous waste standards at alkaline pH values. Because zinc is also an amphoteric metal, it would be expected that zinc could also leach from waste at alkaline PH values, at levels of environmental concern. It should be noted that cadmium is not an amphoteric metal except at extremely high pH and leaching of cadmium from treated waste under nonacidic leaching conditions has not been observed.
These considerations are important because one method that has been used for treating hazardous wastes containing leachable metals is the addition of alkaline materials to control the pH of the EP Toxicity test so that the metals will not be extracted at levels above the hazardous waste standards when the waste is analyzed using the EP Toxicity Test or TCLP test. A number of alkaline additives have been used which chemically react with metals in the waste and control the leaching test pH. (See, for example, Hickock, E. A., and Associates. 1984, "Foundry Waste Stabilization: Laboratory Testing and Conceptual Equipment Design", Report to Participating Foundry Groups, 47 pages; California Cast Metals Association, 1989, "Detoxifying Foundry Sand", Report to Members; Nagle, D.L., R. R. Stanforth, P. E. Duranceau and T. P. Kunes, 1983, AFS Transactions, Vol. 91, pp. 715-720; Turpin, P. D., T. R. Stolzenburg, W. A. Stephens, and T. P. Kunes, 1985, AFS Transactions, Vol. 93, pp. 737-740; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,640 issued Dec. 26, 1989 to Stanforth).
Hazardous wastes containing leachable metals that are treated with alkaline additives currently meet regulatory standards for land disposal. However, the tests used for regulatory purposes, the EP Toxicity Test and TCLP, do not necessarily simulate actual environmental conditions. Consequently, it is possible to treat a waste with chemical additives to reduce leaching of metals such as lead and cadmium in the EP Toxicity Test and TCLP to render it nonhazardous from a regulatory standpoint, while at the same time increasing the pH to the point where lead is solubilized when a water leach test is run. For wastes containing zinc, it would also be expected that zinc could leach at levels of environmental concern. Since the water leach test simulates common disposal conditions in the environment, this indicates that it is possible to create an environmental problem in the process of solving a regulatory problem.
The data in Table 1 show the problem with present treatment methods which reduce leaching of lead and cadmium when a treated waste is analyzed using an acidic leach test such as the EP Toxicity Test or TCLP, but simultaneously increase leaching of lead when treated waste is analyzed using a water leach test. Note that some of the additives, particularly cement, are commonly thought to chemically bind up heavy metals (U.S. EPA (1989), "Stabilization of CERCLA and RCRA Wastes", publication EPA 1625/6-89/022, Cincinnati, Ohio). As shown in Table 1, the binding was not sufficient to immobilize the metals at alkaline pH values.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ TREATMENT OF EP TOXIC WASTES WITH ALKALINE ADDITIVES: EP TOXICITY AND WATER LEACH TEST RESULTS EP Toxicity Test EP Water Test Final Cd Pb Final Cd Pb Sample pH mg/L pH mg/L ______________________________________ 1. 5.6 8.8 79 Not Tested Untreated Treated with Cement +20% 7.2 3.0 12 11.5 <0.005 12 +30% 9.4 <0.005 0.3 11.9 <0.005 26 2. 5.0 9.8 85.1 9.8 0.0034 0.022 Untreated Treated with 9.7 0.029 0.3 10.8 0.0003 1.3 Magnesium Oxide +7.5% 3. 5.1 9.2 9.7 6.5 6.8 3.4 Untreated Treated with Calcium Oxide +4% 6.9 -- 11.0 11.9 -- 16.0 +6% 8.9 0.23 0.3 12.1 <0.01 5.5 +8% 9.7 0.04 0.4 12.4 <0.01 8.8 +10% 10.0 0.02 0.3 12.4 <0.01 8.6 +12% 11.0 0.01 2.4 12.5 <0.01 8.6 EP Toxicity 1.0 5.0 Test Standards Drinking Water 0.01 0.05 Standards (MCLs) ______________________________________
There are single compound additives that can be used to control leaching in both an EP Toxicity Test and a water leach test, that are not covered by this invention disclosure, for example, reactive calcium carbonate and reactive magnesium carbonate as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,640, which is incorporated herein by reference. However, a problem with reactive calcium carbonate is that it is less effective at preventing the leaching of lead and cadmium, if the solid waste contains high levels of zinc, because zinc interferes with the conversion of lead and cadmium to carbonate salts.

Method for reduction of heavy metal leaching from hazardous waste under acidic and nonacidic conditions


A method and apparatus for reverse accumulation of folded documents. The apparatus includes: a device for feeding folded documents seriatim along a path of travel; an entrance deck adjacent and downstream of the feeding device for receiving the folded documents from the feeding device, the entrance deck forming an angle with the path of travel between 5 and 10 degrees; an accumulation deck extending downwardly from the entrance deck, the accumulation deck forming an angle between 25 and 35 degrees with respect to the entrance deck; a curved deflector situated above the entrance deck for guiding the folded documents onto the entrance deck; a pair of pinch roller situated downstream of the accumulation deck for receiving a plurality of folded documents in the same order as the folded documents are fed by the feeding device, wherein the length of the accumulation deck is between 75% and 85% of the length of the folded documents; the means for cylically driving the pinch rollers to feed an accumulation of folded documents away from the pinch rollers.

The instant invention relates to a method and apparatus for accumulating documents, and more particularly to such a method and apparatus in which the documents being accumulated are not flat sheets but rather are folded sheets of paper.
Accumulating devices are frequently used in line with other paper handling equipment, such as folders and bursters, as a means of assembling a plurality of sheets of paper into a particular, desired packet prior to further processing, which may include additional collating, folding and inserting. For further background, reference can be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,143,981 and 4,640,506.
When documents are fed from a burster or a folder and accumulated for further processing, typically the first sheet to emerge from the burster or folder becomes the bottom sheet of a stack, and each subsequent sheet is laid on top of the preceding sheet; in other words, the usual method of accumulating documents results in the documents being stacked in an opposite order in which they are fed. There is ample prior art which discloses devices for accumulating documents in the same order in which they are fed, which the art refers to as reverse accumulation.
When the documents being accumulated are not single sheets but instead are folded, the currently available accumulators are only able to accumulate the folded documents by placing each succeeding folded sheet seriatim over each preceding folded sheet, so that the normal accumulation is in opposite order from the order of feeding. There are many applications in which it is desirable to accumulate folded documents in the same order in which they are fed, which the art refers to as reverse accumulation. Accordingly, the instant invention provides a method and apparatus for reverse accumulating a plurality of folded documents.

Method and apparatus for reverse accumulation of folded documents


A base portion of a spindle motor includes a base portion through hole passing therethrough from an upper surface to a lower surface thereof. Coils include a lead wire drawn out from above the upper surface downwardly from the lower surface through the base portion through hole. A circuit board includes a land portion to which the lead wire is connected. The spindle motor includes an insulation sheet portion configured to cover at least a portion of the base portion through hole and with which the lead wire is arranged to be in contact. A thickness of the insulation sheet portion is greater than a thickness of the land portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spindle motor and a disk drive apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disk drive apparatus, such as, for example, a hard disk drive, includes a spindle motor arranged to rotate a recording disk. A base of a spindle motor described in JP-A 2012-151940 includes a base draw-out hole. A lead wire from a coil passes through the base draw-out hole. The lead wire is soldered to a wiring member arranged on a lower surface of the base.
If the lead wire obliquely passes through the base draw-out hole, the lead wire is brought into contact with a hole edge of the base draw-out hole as illustrated in FIG. 3 of JP-A 2012-151940. If the lead wire is brought into contact with the hole edge, an insulating coating of the lead wire may be damaged. Damage to the coating of the lead wire may lead to defective insulation due to a portion of the coating being stripped off. Moreover, the lead wire, with a portion of the coating being stripped off, and the base may become electrically connected with each other, and a short circuit may occur.


A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes a step of forming a TiN film 2 on an underlying film 1; a step of coating a photoresist film on the TiN film 2, and exposing and developing the photoresist film; a step of etching the TiN film 2 using the photoresist film 4a as a mask, by using an etching apparatus that etches an Al alloy film; a step of introducing a mixed gas containing O2 gas and N2 gas adjacent to the photoresist film, and plasmatizing the gas to thereby ash the photoresist film, and a step of introducing H2O gas adjacent to the TiN film, and plasmatizing the gas to thereby ash foreign matters on the TiN film.

Applicant hereby claims priority in and incorporates by reference in its entirety Japanese Application No. 2001-194936 (P), filed Jun. 27, 2001.
The present invention relates to an ashing apparatus, an ashing method and a method for manufacturing semiconductor devices, which can reduce foreign matters that may remain on a body to be processed.
FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view to describe a conventional method for manufacturing a semiconductor device.
First, a TiN film 102 is formed by sputtering on an underlying film 101. A variety of films can be used for the underlying film 101; for example, a film having a stacked layered structure composed of a TiN film as an underlying layer and an Al alloy film as an upper layer may be used. Next, a BARC 103 that functions as an anti-reflection coating is formed on the TiN film 102. Then, a photoresist film is coated on the BARC 103, and the photoresist film is exposed and developed to thereby form a resist pattern 104a on the BARC 103.
Then, the BARC 103 is dry-etched using the resist pattern 104a as a mask. Next, the TiN film 102 is dry-etched using the resist pattern 104a as a mask.
Next, the underlying film 101 composed of the Al alloy film and TiN film is successively etched. Then, the wafer is removed from the etching apparatus into the atmosphere, and the wafer is introduced in the chamber of the ashing apparatus to thereby remove the resist pattern 104a and the BARC 103 by ashing.
In the conventional method for manufacturing semiconductor devices described above, an etching of the Al alloy film and an etching of the TiN film are conducted in the same etching apparatus. For this reason, products (Alxe2x80x94Cl) generated upon etching the Al alloy film by a Cl containing gas remain in the etching chamber, and there are occasions that the products 105 may remain on the wafer (on underlying film 101) when the TiN film 102 is etched, as shown in FIG. 7. The residual products 105 may react with water in the atmosphere and may grow as foreign matters. These foreign matters become the source of undesirable particles.
FIGS. 8(a)-(c) show cross-sectional views illustrating another conventional method for manufacturing semiconductor devices.
First, as shown in FIG. 8(a), a TiN film 102 is formed by sputtering on an underlying film 101. Next, a BARC 103 that functions as an anti-reflection coating is formed on the TiN film 102. Then, a photoresist film is coated on the BARC 103, and the photoresist film is exposed and developed to thereby form a resist pattern 104a on the BARC 103.
Then, as shown in FIG. 8(b), the BARC 103 is dry-etched using the resist pattern 104a as a mask. Next, the TiN film 102 is dry-etched using the resist pattern 104s as a mask.
Next, the wafer is transferred from the etching apparatus into the ashing chamber, to thereby remove the resist pattern 104a and the BARC 103 by ashing. In this instance, the temperature of the stage in the ashing chamber on which the wafer is mounted is at a high temperature of about 250xc2x0 C. In this ashing process, after the wafer is placed on the stage at a high temperature, the wafer is maintained on the stage for about 15 seconds-30 seconds to adjust and stabilize the pressure inside the chamber.
In the other conventional method for manufacturing semiconductor devices described above, the time for adjusting and stabilizing the pressure is relatively long, such that there are occasions that the BARC 103 hardens. For this reason, even if the resist pattern 104a and the BARC 103 are removed by ashing, BARC residues 106 may remain as ashing residues on the TiN film 102. As a result, the reliability of the semiconductor device is lowered.
Embodiments relate to an ashing apparatus that ashes a photoresist film on a body in which a conducting film has been etched using the photoresist film as a mask, the apparatus including an ashing chamber and a stage for mounting a body to be processed disposed in the ashing chamber. The apparatus also includes a gas introduction system that introduces an ashing gas adjacent to a body to be processed mounted on the stage, and a plasma system that forms a plasma in at least one ashing gas introduced by the gas introduction system, wherein an ashing gas includes H2O gas.
Embodiments also relate to an ashing method that ashes a photoresist film on a body to be processed in which a TiN film is etched using the photoresist film as a mask, the method including disposing a body to be processed in an ashing chamber. The method also includes a first step of introducing a first ashing adjacent to the body to be processed, and forming a plasma in the first ashing gas and ashing the photoresist film. The method also includes a second step of introducing H2O gas adjacent to the body to be processed, and forming a plasma in the gas and ashing foreign matter, if present, on the body to be processed.
Embodiments also relate to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method including a first step of forming a TiN film on an underlying film. The method also includes a second step of coating a photoresist film on the TiN film, and exposing and developing the photoresist film. The method also includes a third step of etching the TiN film using the photoresist film as a mask, by using an etching apparatus that etches an Al alloy film. The method also includes a fourth step of introducing a mixed gas containing O2 gas and N2 gas adjacent to the photoresist film, and forming a plasma in the gas and ashing the photoresist film. The method also includes a fifth step of introducing H2O gas adjacent to the TiN film, and forming a plasma in the gas and ashing foreign matter, if present, on the TiN film.
Embodiments also relate to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method including a first step of forming a TiN film on an underlying film, and a second step of forming a BARC on the TiN film. The method also includes a third step of coating a photoresist film on the BARC, and exposing and developing the photoresist film. The method also includes a fourth step of etching the BARC and the TiN film using the photoresist film as a mask, by using an etching apparatus that etches an Al alloy film. The method also includes a fifth step of introducing a mixed gas containing O2 gas and N2 gas adjacent to the photoresist film, and forming a plasma in the gas and ashing the photoresist film and the BARC. The method also includes a sixth step of introducing H2O gas adjacent to the TiN film, and forming a plasma in the gas and ashing foreign matter, if present, on the TiN film.
Embodiments also relate to an ashing method that ashes a photoresist film on a body to be processed in which a conducting layer has been etched using the photoresist film as a mask, the method including disposing a body to be processed in an ashing chamber. The method also includes introducing a first gas into the chamber, forming a plasma in the first gas and ashing the photoresist film. The method also includes introducing a second gas comprising H2O gas into the chamber, forming a plasma in the second gas and ashing foreign matter, if present, on the body to be processed. The first gas and the second gas have different compositions.

Ashing apparatus, ashing methods, and methods for manufacturing semiconductor devices


A method and an apparatus capable of efficiently producing an epitaxial layer grown at one time on a multiplicity of substrates with uniform thickness and quality are disclosed, in which a sealable growth chamber filled in a solution used to achieve liquid-phase epitaxial growth and holding therein at least one row of thin plate-like substrate is turned about the horizontal axis. The growth chamber is tilted or overturned so that the solution in the growth chamber is stirred homogeneously and the effect of gravity on the solution is excluded. A solution chamber for holding therein the solution is connected with the growth chamber via a gate valve. After the liquid-phase epitaxial growth, the growth chamber is overturned and then the gate valve is opened so that the solution in the growth chamber returns to the solution chamber. Thus, reuse of the solution is possible.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for liquid-phase epitaxial growth to obtain thin epitaxial layers grown on a plurality of thin plate-like substrates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The liquid-phase epitaxial growth method is a process for precipitating and growing the solute in a super-saturated solution on a substrate which is brought into contact with the supersaturated solution. For industrial purposes, this method is used mainly for the production of light emitting diodes (LEDs), in which instance molten metals are used as a solvent to form a thin semiconductor layer with a desired impurity concentration on a semiconductor substrate. There are known several techniques used to carry out the liquid-phase epitaxial growth method for producing LEDs.
FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings shows one such known technique generally known as a tipping method in which a solution S used for the liquid-phase epitaxial growth is held at a lower portion of a reaction tube 2 with a space H defined at an upper portion of the reaction tube 2. A substrate holder 4 is disposed in the space H and a semiconductor substrate W is held horizontally on an upper surface of the substrate holder 4. The reaction tube 2 is turned through an angle of 180 degrees around its axis so that an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate W is directed downward and immersed in the solution S, as shown in FIG. 8. Due to contact between the solution S and the semiconductor substrate W, a thin epitaxial layer is grown on the semiconductor substrate W. However, since the semiconductor substrate W while being in contact with the solution is held parallel to the surface of the solution, only a limited number of semiconductor substrates W can be received at one time in the reaction chamber. This method is, therefore, not suited for mass production.
FIGS. 9 and 10 show two other known methods in which substrates W are held vertically within a substrate holder 6 and a solution S falls down by gravity along the surface of the substrates W. In the method shown in FIG. 9, a horizontal partition plate 8 is pulled outward to allow the solution S to fall down along the surface of the substrates W. Upon expiration of a predetermined period of time, the solution S is removed from the substrate holder 6. The method shown in FIG. 10 is a modification of the method shown in FIG. 9 and includes an upper horizontal partition plate 8a which is moved forward to allow the solution S to fall down along outside surface of the substrates W. When a predetermined period of time is expired, a lower horizontal partition plate 8b is forced forward to allow the solution S to fall down into a solution tank 10, thereby separating the substrates W and the solution S. These known methods are able to process an increased number of substrates W at one time within the substrate holder 6. However, due to the difference in specific gravity between an upper portion and a lower portion of the solution S, the solute tends to exhaust at the lower portion of the solution S so that the thickness and impurity concentration of epitaxial growth layers vary between an upper portion and a lower portion of each individual substrate W. In addition, the solution S dropped from the substrates W cannot be used again.

Apparatus for liquid-phase epitaxial growth


In the fuel cell vehicle provided with the motor and configured to drive the motor with power of at least one of the fuel cell 1 and the battery, the fuel cell having a DC voltage of less than 60 V is disposed in the rear portion of the vehicle and the battery is disposed in the front relative to the fuel cell.

In an electric vehicle using a motor as a driving source, a range extender hybrid vehicle mounted with an engine for power generation and a fuel tank for engine is known. For example, JP2011-143871A discloses a vehicle structure in which an engine and a fuel tank are mounted in a lower portion of a rear seat arrangement portion.


A chlorine gas generating candle in a vented container which serves as a portable means to generate heated chlorine gas for killing insects, bacteria, viruses and other dangerous biological agents. The device has application in sanitizing dwellings, swimming pools and the like, and is effective in case of accidental release and/or biological attack. The chlorine gas generating candle disinfects an enclosed space with a quantity of heated chlorine gas. The chlorine gas generator is a self contained unit including an igniter which can be activated to initiate a self propagating burn of the entire candle and a resultant distribution of toxic chlorine gas. The use of one or a plurality of chlorine generators described in this application can provide any desired concentration of the killing gas. The chlorine gas generating candle can be safely and easily transported and does not require a source of power to operate.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the production of chlorine gas for the destruction of undesirable organisms by burning a candle which produces chlorine gas in a self propagating exothermic reaction.
2. Description of the Background
Chemicals having the capacity to disinfect and sanitize are widely used in applications as pesticides to eliminate existing organisms and as a preventative treatment to avoid growth or infestation of unwanted organisms. Chlorine is useful in many such applications because of the broad variety of organisms which can be killed by the introduction of chlorine into their environment. Chlorine can successfully destroy biological warfare agents, including viruses, such as equine encephalomyelitis; bacteria, such as those which cause plague, anthrax and tularemia; and fungi, such as coccidioidomycosis; as well as toxic products expressed by such microorganisms, for example, the botulism toxin expressed by the common Clostridium botulinium bacterium. Chlorine gas can be introduced to liquids such as water and it is often used in this fashion to disinfect swimming pools and to prevent the growth of algae in water cooled systems. Chlorine gas can be delivered to the atmosphere to disinfect a closed space by raising the concentration of chlorine, in the air, to a toxic level.
Chlorine is highly toxic, so its use in the form of the liquified gas (commonly sold in steel cylinders holding 75 pounds or more) presents a significant hazard. For this reason, chlorine is also sold in the form of a concentrated solution of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl, sometimes called "liquid chlorine" or swimming pool bleach) or as the solid calcium hypochlorite (CaOCl.sub.2, "solid chlorine" or bleaching powder). These substances, which are quite costly relative to liquified chlorine gas, usually contain, respectively, excess sodium hydroxide or calcium oxide. Chlorine in this form is safe to handle but it is adapted for use by introducing it to a liquid.
Another alternative to the use of liquified chlorine gas is to generate chlorine on site by the electrolysis of a concentrated aqueous solution of sodium chloride (NaCl or salt) in a two-compartment electrolytic cell. The production of chlorine electrochemically in large chlorine/caustic plants using complex cells which keep the products from the anode separate from the products of the cathode is a well known art (see Kirk-Othmer's Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Third Edition, volume 1, pages 799-865 and volume 8, pages 662-695). Electrolysis is an effective way of producing chlorine gas but the aqueous solution must be prepared and a power source is required to initiate the necessary reaction.
A closed space can be disinfected or pests within the space can be eliminated by filling the space with a toxic gas for a period of time long enough to kill the insect. This method is effective for killing; however, this method generally requires several hours to be effective. Typical of these is the method disclosed by Forbes in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,329, in which insects, e.g., termites, are killed by applying a heated gas, such as heated air, to wooden surfaces until the building surfaces are heated to a temperature about 120° F. to 135° F. However, this method, using the described temperatures, is not effective for other organisms such as fungi, and toxic molds, bacteria and viruses. Additionally, this type of work must be done in remote locations where a power source is often not available. The availability of heated chlorine gas would enhance the effectiveness as to other organisms but known methods of generating chlorine gas are not conducive to use in a portable system. The bottled pressurized chlorine gas is dangerous to transport and the apparatus for producing chlorine by electrolysis is cumbersome and requires power.
There remains a need for a more portable means to generate heated chlorine gas, which can be safely and easily transported and which does not require a source of power to operate. A number of prior art patents employ solid chemical candles used to produce oxygen to be breathed in an emergency situation. These generally establish a self propagating exothermic reaction to generate the oxygen. Metal powder is the preferred fuel. Iron, manganese, cobalt, copper and nickel are disclosed as fuel, see Zhang, U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,896 and Kshirsagar, U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,583. Copper oxide and nickel oxides are disclosed as catalysts, see Zhang, U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,896. Chlorates and perchlorates of sodium, lithium and potassium are disclosed as sources of oxygen, see Zhang, U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,896. These prior art patents also vary the composition of layers of pyrotechnic material to alter the product and the rate of production. The concept of the solid chemical candle has advantages which are equally well-suited for generating chlorine gas in the present context. It would be greatly advantageous to adapt the existing concept to provide a solid chemical candle for the production of heated chlorine gas. This would provide a convenient and cost-effective device that can be conveniently stored and quickly carried to the location where it is most needed in case of germ warfare, terrorist attacks in areas that are difficult to reach, etc.

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


There is provided an image processing device including: a data storage unit that stores object identification data for identifying an object operable by a user and feature data indicating a feature of appearance of each object; an environment map storage unit that stores an environment map representing a position of one or more objects existing in a real space and generated based on an input image obtained by imaging the real space using an imaging device and the feature data stored in the data storage unit; and a selecting unit that selects at least one object recognized as being operable based on the object identification data, out of the objects included in the environment map stored in the environment map storage unit, as a candidate object being a possible operation target by a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device, an object selection method and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
The number of electronic devices which users should operate at home or office is increasing year by year. Further, the functions of one electronic device are becoming increasingly diversified. Accordingly, a burden on a user who operates such electronic devices is getting heavier. In light of this, techniques for enabling the operation of a plurality of electronic devices with use of one remote control device have been developed. However, in order to achieve integration of remote control functions into one device, it is required to provide a means of identifying which device a user intends to operate when there are a plurality of remotely operable devices to be controlled in the environment where the user is located.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-345024 proposes a remote control device that recognizes a remote control target device and details of control from a speech of a user by employing speech recognition technology.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Image processing device, object selection method and program