An automated teller machine (ATM) (10) includes an input device (16) a card reader (20), a cash dispenser (24), and an output device (18). The ATM is operative to read account information from a card with the card reader and validate a user PIN input through the input device. The ATM is also operative to dispense cash with the cash dispenser and dispense digital content with the output device responsive to user input selections. The ATM is further operative to charge a user fee to an account associated with the card for the dispense of cash and digital content. The digital content may be acquired by the ATM from a digital information source on the Internet or other network. Licensing fees associated with the dispense of the digital files may be transferred to a source or licensing entity associated with the digital content.

Automated transaction machines are known in the prior art. For purposes of this disclosure an automated transaction machine shall include any device which is capable of carrying out transactions including transfers of value. A common type of automated transaction machine is an automated teller machine (ATM). ATMs are typically operative to perform banking transactions such as dispensing cash, transferring value between banking accounts, or accepting deposits. Many ATMs are located in retail or service facilities such as stores, gas stations, restaurants and bars. The owners of these facilities often generate income from the ATMs through service fees on transactions performed with the ATM. For example if a user withdraws an amount of cash from the ATM, the user may be charged a small transaction fee.
If the ATM has only marginal use, the income generated may not be sufficient to justify the expense of maintaining the ATM. For example maintenance and service costs may consume a large portion of the monthly income generated by an ATM which has low transaction volumes. Consequently to enable ATMs to generate additional income there exists a need for an ATM to perform additional income producing activities that do not significantly increase the expense of maintaining the ATM.
Methods for the digital recording of sound are also known in the prior art. Such digital recordings are typically distributed on compact disks (CD) for playback on a CD player. As sound systems have become a standard feature of any new personal computers, digital sound recordings are also being distributed as computer files. Common formats for sound computer files include WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) and MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3). To play such files, computer systems can employ a sound file player application such as the Windows Media Player. Sound file player applications read the digital sound files and output corresponding music through the sound card and speakers of the computer system.
Digital sound recordings may also be copied directly from an audio CD through a process called "ripping." Essentially ripping refers to the reading of the digital information that represents audio on the CD and saving the information in a computer readable sound file. Different formats of sound files have different characteristics. For example WAV files are typically uncompressed digital versions of sampled sound. MP3 files are typically created by compressing a sound sequence into a very small file (about one-twelfth the size of a corresponding WAV file). However, MP3 files are "lossy" meaning that the compression algorithms remove digital information that most people cannot hear or cannot distinguish from other sounds. If a high sampling rate is used to generate the MP3 files, the sound quality is only slightly inferior to that of the original audio file. However, the advantage of the smaller size of the MP3 files is significant. These advantages include the ability to store more hours of sound recordings per amount of space in physical storage mediums such as, for example, hard disks, RAM, and flash memory cards. Also, the smaller size of MP3 files enables them to be downloaded much faster through a network such as the Internet.
Numerous web sites on the Internet offer digital sound files such as MP3 files for downloading to a personal computer. Also as a result of the popularity of digital sound files, portable computer systems have been developed such as the Diamond RIO which are specifically designed to load and play sound recording files.
Unfortunately, the technology associated with creating MP3 files from a CD and downloading MP3 files from web sites has resulted in a significant amount of music piracy and lost revenues for artists and music recording companies. Anyone with a home PC can generate an unlimited number of copies of digital sound files. By placing such pirated files on an Internet web site, unlimited distribution of pirated sound files is possible.
To deter copyright infringement and unrestricted piracy of digital sound recordings, the music industry is promoting an alternative file format for storing digital recordings called SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative). The SDMI specification for sound files offers similar compression characteristics as the MP3 file format; however, SDMI is designed to have built in copyright protection features which limit the playback and duplication of the files. In addition Microsoft has developed an alternative specification for compressing and copyright protecting sound files called Windows Media.
Because MP3 files are already wildly accepted as the de facto standard, it may be very difficult for new file formats to replace MP3. The popularity of MP3 files coupled with unlimited sound file piracy may significantly decrease the revenue that recording labels and artists generate from the sale of music and other forms of audio. Consequently, there exists a need for a system of distributing MP3 files that enables the copyright holder to receive licensing fees for each distribution of an MP3 file.
Distribution of sound recordings from the Internet makes it much easier for an individual artist to reach a mass audience for their work without a recording label. As a result the variety of music that is available over the Internet is exploding. Many of the titles can be downloaded without a fee. Unfortunately much of the music that has no fee is low quality, amateurish, and not very desirable. If the artist is relatively unknown, it is very difficult to get users to download music for a fee. This is because most individuals are hesitant to pay for downloaded MP3 files before being familiar with the artist.
If the music is given away on a no-fee basis or even a low-fee preview basis, it may be difficult to generate any income from the music. Once the MP3 version of the music is downloaded, the MP3 file can be played, copied, and distributed an unlimited number of times without generating income for the artist. Consequently there exists a need for a system that enables individuals to test out songs for a small fee, but does not enable the users to copy or distribute the sound files.
To take advantage of the benefits of playing sound recording files rather than CDs or cassettes, a user must have a PC. Although the cost of a personal computer has dramatically decreased over the last two decades, computers are still significantly more expensive than a CD player. Portable sound file players such as the Diamond RIO are operative to play music independently from a PC; however they still must be connected to a PC at some point to upload a new set of MP3 files. Consequently there exists a need for a new system of distributing sound files that does not require the user to have a computer.
The current methods for delivery of forms of audio, visual, paint and other media may also have drawbacks. Consequently there exists a need for a better way of delivering the content of such media.

System and method for dispensing digital information from an automated transaction machine


A pneumatic vehicle is provided with a chassis, wheels, a compressed air tank, a heat exchanger to heat the compressed air, and an air motor driven by the heated air and connected to at least one wheel. A pneumatic vehicle is provided with a chassis, wheels, a compressed air tank, and an air motor driven by the compressed air and connected to a wheel. The vehicle also has a ventilation system for the passenger compartment, a heat exchanger, and a restrictive solenoid valve for directing ventilation system air to the heat exchanger. A pneumatic vehicle is provided with a chassis, wheels, an aluminum compressed air tank, a carbon filament reinforced plastic layer over the tank, a fiberglass and aramid-fiber layer over the carbon filament reinforced plastic layer, and an air motor driven by the compressed air and connected to at least one wheel.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to pneumatic powertrains for vehicles.
2. Background Art
Henry Ford's Model T Mission Statement: "I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one- and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces."
According to an Australian government report, a life cycle assessment (LCA) "Is a tool for assessing the environmental impacts associated with a product, process or service throughout its life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials through to the processing, transport, use, reuse, recycling and disposal." LCA is commonly known as cradle to grave as it is from the birth of the product right through to its final stage.
There are a number of benefits that can be realized from completing a life cycle assessment (LCA) on a product. According to the Australian government some of these benefits include:                identifying the most efficient options for increasing the environmental performance of a product, and creating a "greener" product that is more desirable to customers;        identifying places in the company where efficiency improvements can be made;        reducing greenhouse emissions;        comparing alternative choices;        identifying the most relevant steps in the manufacturing process related to a given environmental impact;        providing a tool for decision making.
However, LCA is a "new technology" and hence there are some challenges in conducting an LCA. Some of these challenges include (Australian Government):                Lack of a widely accepted methodology for conducting LCA;        Difficulties of defining the scope and boundaries of the LCA;        Confidentiality issues that restrict the availability of relevant data;        Time taken to complete a full LCA.
There are four stages/steps to conducting an LCA as defined by the ISO 14040 standards, these steps are:
1. Goal and Scope Analysis: These are the specifications of the LCA study; it suggests what questions are going to be answered and identifies who the study is for. It also defines the purpose, barriers and limitations of the study. The final part of the scope defines the data required to fulfil the requirements.
2. Inventory Analysis (IA): The inventory analysis is the step where data is gathered, and data from each material and process are qualified and validated. This step can be very difficult because of concerns over revealing proprietary and/or confidential information.
3. Life Cycle Impact Analysis: According to the ISO 14044 impact analysis is the phase of life cycle analysis aimed at understanding and evaluating the magnitude and significance of the potential environmental impacts for a product system throughout the life of the product.
4. Improvement Analysis: An objective of this phase is to improve the environmental performance of the project or process in question. That is to compare all the data and results to see how they can be used to make improvements in the product or manufacturing.

Pneumatic powertrain for an automotive vehicle


An automotive vehicle electrical system has a normal operation mode and a defog or deice operation mode. In the defog operation mode, a higher output of a generator is applied to a vehicle window heater element. The defog operation mode is prevented from being activated until an engine idling gets stable even when the defog operation mode is selected, so as to improve the engine starting performance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical system for an automotive vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to an automotive vehicle electrical system having a normal operation mode and a defog or deice operation mode. The defog operation mode is prevented from being activated until an engine idling gets stable even when the defog operation mode is selected, so as to improve the engine starting performance.
2. Description of the Background Art
There has been known an automotive vehicle electrical system having a normal operation mode and a defog or deice operation mode, such as described in Japanese Second Patent Publication No. 61-33735 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,619.
In such a known electrical system, however, when an engine starter switch is turned on to start the engine or restart the engine after the engine stall, with a defog mode selection switch being in ON state, a maximum field current is applied to a field winding of a generator to provide a higher output voltage of the generator required in the defog operation mode. Accordingly, a large back electromotive force is generated across stator windings of the generator, which is exerted onto the field winding in a manner to resist the rotation of same which is driven by the vehicle engine. Thus, the engine starting performance is impaired, resulting in the engine stall or in the unstable engine idling just after the engine is started.
Further, since the engine idle speed is controlled higher during the defog operation mode, i.e. while the defog mode selection switch is turned on, the engine idle speed rapidly increases just after the engine is started. This makes a driver feel uneasy about the operation of the engine.

Electrical system for automotive vehicle


A caregiver badge system includes a caregiver badge configured to be worn by a caregiver and having a cavity defined therein. An identification badge is configured to be positioned within the cavity. The identification badge is removable from the caregiver badge. A transceiver is positioned within the caregiver badge and configured to communicate with a positioning system to identify a location of the caregiver. A battery is positioned within the caregiver badge to power the transceiver.

The present disclosure relates to caregiver locating tags or badges, and more particularly to caregiver locating tags or badges having advanced functionality.
Generally, caregiver locating tags or badges are worn by caregivers in a healthcare facility so that other components of a real time locating system (RTLS) can determine the locations of the caregivers within the healthcare facility. The terms "tag(s)" and "badge(s)" are used interchangeably herein. The caregiver locating badge may permit the caregiver to have access to designated areas of the healthcare facility while preventing access to other caregivers who are not authorized to have access to the designated areas. Based on communication with the caregiver locating badge, the RTLS is able to determine that the caregiver has entered a patient's room, for example. Thus, signals from some caregiver badges are used to track the caregiver's whereabouts within a healthcare facility.
Sometimes caregivers are required to wear multiple badges or tags while at work. For example, caregivers may have an employee tag or card with a magnetic strip or other identifying chip and may also have a badge included as part of the RTLS. Having to keep track of multiple badges and tags may introduce inefficiency in the caregiver's work activities if one of the badges becomes lost. Wearing multiple tags on different parts of the caregiver's clothing or body also can be cumbersome since these tend to hang downwardly from the caregiver when the caregiver leans over to attend to a patient, for example.
The work activities of caregivers in healthcare facilities sometimes are interrupted due to having to recharge low batteries of their respective badges. Occasionally, caregiver's may require assistance with a combative or uncooperative patient. Some room stations of nurse call systems have a user input such as a button which is designated for caregivers to call for assistance when under duress. However, in some situations, the caregiver may not be able to reach the room station to place such a call. Accordingly, there is room for improvement in connection with badges used in RTLS's to increase caregiver efficiency and safety.

Caregiver locating tag having advanced functionality


Providing a terminal inserting apparatus which does not give a limitation to an assembled wiring harness thereby, the terminal inserting apparatus includes a jig mounting unit, a housing holding unit, an inserting unit and a jig transporting unit. The jig mounting unit has a plurality of holding jigs. The holding jig has a connector housing. The housing holding unit has one holding jig including the connector housing. The inserting unit inserts the terminal 6 connected with the electric wire into a terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing. The jig transporting unit transports the holding jig from the jig mounting unit to the housing holding unit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a terminal-inserting apparatus for inserting a terminal, connected with an electric wire, into a terminal receiving chamber of a connector housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wiring harness wired in a car as a vehicle is assembled by inserting terminals connected with the electric wire in order into the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing. For inserting the terminal into the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing, usual various terminal-inserting apparatuses 200 (shown in FIG. 38) is applied.
The terminal-inserting apparatus 200 has a main body, a plurality of holding jigs 201 for holding the connector housing, a bar for holding the electric wire and an insertion head for inserting the terminal. The main body is placed on a floor of a factory.
The holding jig 201 is mounted on the main body and simultaneously mounts the connect housing on itself. The plurality of holding jigs 201 is arranged in the straight line. The insertion head removes an electric wire 202 (shown in FIG. 38) from the bar and inserts the terminal connected with the electric wire 202 into the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing.
In the terminal-inserting apparatus 200, the insertion head removes each electric wire 202 from the bar and inserts the terminal jointed with the electric wire 202 into the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing held in the holding jig 201 one by one. Thus, the terminal-inserting apparatus 200 assembles the wiring harness.


A method for transferring a fixed image, such as an electrographically produced toner image, from an initial substrate to a final substrate. The method employs an adhesive-coated film to lift the image from its initial substrate and to secure it to the final substrate. The film remains in place after the transfer is completed and serves to encapsulate and protect the image. Both the initial substrate and the adhesive-coated film are maintained dry during the process and the initial substrate remains intact and may be reused. Variations of the invention are disclosed whereby background or collage pieces may also be adhered to the adhesive coated film before the film is secured to the final substrate to thereby produce collages and special effects.

Numerous methods and patents are known which relate to the transfer and fixing of toner images and in some cases the encapsulation of those images as part of a process of electrography. One of those patents, U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,303 discloses a method for the development, transfer, encapsulation and fixing of a partially dried liquid toner image in an electrographic process. This method can be utilized only within an electrographic process under precise, limited conditions and cannot be employed to transfer and/or encapsulate, dried fixed images.
Other known processes by which words, symbols or art work can be transferred are limited to existing or predetermined symbols, words or other images and/or are extremely tedious and impractical. An example of a previous image transfer method utilizes so called dry transfer images. Basically these consist of individual letters and/or symbols with an adhesive backing which must be individually removed from a sheet containing many such letters or symbols and placed in the order and position desired. In order to produce a variety of signs, labels or the like, it is necessary to maintain large quantities of redundant characters and often a particular letter or symbol is not in stock even though a great quantity of materials are in inventory. Combinations of letters and symbols are also available but they must necessarily be limited in choice and number. The above products are usually available only in black or a very limited choice of colors. In addition, the work is tedious and the quality of the finished product depends on the skill of the person performing the work.
Another prior art system for transferring images is a wet process designed to transfer existing images from clay-coated papers. In that process an adhesive transfer film is applied to the image to be released and the assembly soaked in water. The softened paper is disintegrated to remove it from the adhesive film leaving the image on the film which can then be adhered to a new substrate to position and encapsulate the image. Problems with this technique are the time-consuming and messy operations of first soaking the complex in water for several minutes, then physically destroying the substrate by rubbing it off in pieces from the image-carrying transfer film. Finally, the debris must be cleaned up and the transfer film allowed to dry before it can be applied to a surface.
On the other hand the present invention requires no inventory of pre-formed symbols, can be used with virtually any form of image, and can be employed to produce composites, combinations and alternative forms, can create images in a variety of colors and may be employed without destroying or damaging the original. Another important advantage of the present invention over prior methods is that the original substrate sheet remains intact after images have been removed for transfer. This means that standard size sheets, such as loose-leaf sheets in a ring binder, can be used to inventory and selectively dispense images such as address labels without being cut up or otherwise destroyed in the transfer process. Unlike the wet process, the present invention does not expose the adhesive coating of the transfer film to water or to the abrasive action of direct rubbing to remove substrate particles.
This invention is applicable to any fixed image which is in a form that can be separated from the substrate on which it is carried or which can be reproduced in a form that can be separated from its substrate. Toner images which have been produced by electrography are desirable because they produce an excellent image when transferred and because of the great flexibility of the image which can be produced. It is possible also, when the original image is not separable from its substrate, or when it is desirable to preserve it, to produce an intermediate toner image by electrography from the original and then transfer and encapsulate the toner image as disclosed herein. Electrographically produced images also have the advantage of being duplicable in almost any number from a single original without destroying or harming the original, of being produced in black and white or color images and of being produced from a wide variety of two or even three dimensional images in a form which can be readily transferred in accordance with this invention. Electrography also provides a means of combining preexisting images into a composite or modified image which can then be utilized in the present process.
In the method of this invention it is desirable that an image to be transferred from one substrate to another be carried initially on a substrate from which it is readily separable. For this reason also electrographically produced images are desirable because they can be produced on image-releasing sheets from which they can be easily lifted by a transfer medium for transfer to a final substrate and encapsulation. Various paints, marking inks and other marking materials are available and suitable to produce a transferable image. It is possible also to add three dimensional objects which may be employed to produce collages.
The substrate from which the image is to be taken is preferably a material which will readily release the image to a transfer medium or laminator described below, which is employed to separate the image from its initial substrate and to transfer it to the final substrate. The transfer medium also serves as the laminator or encapsulating material, attaching the image to the final substrate and providing a protective cover over it. This transfer medium is preferably an adhesive material or a material provided with an adhesive coating which will adhere to the image to be transferred but which will separate readily from the initial substrate. For effective image transfer, the bond between the image and the adhesive on the transfer film must be stronger than the bond between the image and the initial substrate. The transfer medium should also be highly transparent and have good abrasion resistance and other characteristics which make it suitable for encapsulating the image in its position on the final substrate.
Xerographically produced toner images are good examples of the type of image suitable for transfer by the method disclosed. It is preferable that the toner image produced in the xerographic process for transfer according to this invention be produced on a suitable image-releasing sheet, several types of which are readily available. Smooth polyester films or similar products are suitable image-releasing substrates. A suitable transfer medium may be found among any of various transparent adhesive films or tapes. Those which have an adhesive that will readily adhere to a variety of surfaces, but which are removable without destroying the film or adhesive coating or the original image releasing substrate are preferable. As indicated above, the film should also have the desired transparency and abrasion resistance which will make it a good laminator.
The target image or image to be transferred and encapsulated is painted, printed or copied or otherwise applied by machine or manually to an image-releasing substrate. The adhesive side of an adhesive film or tape is applied over the image and lightly burnished to insure adhesion of the image to the adhesive coating on the film. The adhesive film with the image adhered to it is then lifted from the image-releasing substrate, separating the image from the substrate. The adhesive film and image are moved into position over the surface of the final substrate and the film is applied to the surface with the image in the desired position. The adhesive film is pressed onto the final substrate encapsulating the image in its desired position.
It is preferable that the transfer image remain physically discrete when formed on the releasing substrate, meaning that it is not absorbed or otherwise permanently bonded with the initial substrate and can be separated from the substrate by use of an adhesive film as herein described. One advantage of this invention is that images which have little cohesive integrity apart from the substrate which hold them are reserved intact when separated from their substrate by the transfer film. Of course, these properties will be affected in part by the ease with which the image can be released from the substrate. A fixed toner image has suitable characteristics, but images comprised of paint, resins, plastics or other materials may also be used. Furthermore, the images may be produced by typing, printing or electrography or may be manually drawn or printed or produced by any other means. This makes the process extremely versatile.
It can be seen that the method is applicable to a wide variety of images of various types produced by a wide variety of methods including machine or manual drawing and permits the transfer of these images to a wide variety of surfaces. In addition to the great versatility of the system, it is found that encapsulation of an image with a transparent film produces visual enhancement of the image as well as protection from abrasion and other damage.
It is an object of this invention to provide a method of transferring an image from an initial substrate to a desired final substrate.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a method employing known and readily available materials and means.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a method of transferring an image from an initial substrate to another substrate which method is extremely versatile and suitable for use with a wide variety of types and forms of images.
These and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The process by which the image to be transferred is created is not a part of this invention nor is this invention limited by the process by which such image was formed.


Oxygen scavenging barrier polyamide compositions exhibiting high oxygen scavenging capability as well as good coinjection stretch blow moldability characteristics suitable for making multilayer PET bottles with good clarity and delamination resistance are claimed in this invention. The polyamide compositions of this invention comprise a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst. The multilayer PET bottles, made with the polyamide compositions of this invention as the barrier layer, are suitable for extended shelf-life packaging of oxygen-sensitive food and beverage products such as beer and juices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polyamide compositions. More particularly, the invention relates to oxygen barrier polyamide compositions exhibiting high oxygen scavenging capability as well as good coinjection stretch blow moldability with polyethylene terephthalate (PET), to enable the fabrication of clear, high barrier multilayer PET bottles for long shelf-life packaging applications. Such containers are useful for packaging a variety of oxygen-sensitive food and beverage products such as beer, juices and condiments as well as certain pharmaceutical and health care products.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known in the art to provide polyamide based packaging articles such as films, bottles, containers, and the like, which are useful for food packaging. Many such articles are made of multiple layers of different plastics in order to achieve the desired barrier properties. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,055,355 and 5,547,765 teach laminates of polyamides and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers which have good oxygen barrier properties.
In order to enhance freshness preservation, it is a standard practice to package food and beverage products within a packaging structure composed of laminated sheets of two or more plastics. Such packaging structures generally include a barrier plastic layer which has a low permeability to oxygen. The packaging structure can be thin, in which case it is wrapped around the item being packaged, or it can be thick enough to form a shaped container body such as a bottle.
It is known in the art to include an oxygen scavenger in the packaging structure. An oxygen scavenger reacts with oxygen that is trapped in the package or that permeates from outside of the package. This is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,536,409 and 4,702,966. U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,409 describes cylindrical containers formed from such packaging plastics.
Various types of oxygen scavengers have been proposed for this purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,409 recommends potassium sulfite as an oxygen scavenger. U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,875 discloses the use of unsaturated hydrocarbons as oxygen scavengers in packaging films. It is known in the art that ascorbic acid derivatives as well as sulfites, bisulfites, phenolics, and the like can be oxidized by molecular oxygen, and can thus serve as an oxygen scavenging material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,362 discloses the use of ascorbate compounds in containers as oxygen scavengers. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,202,052 and 5,364,555 describe polymeric material carriers containing oxygen scavenging material. These polymeric carriers for the oxygen scavenging material include polyolefins, polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyurethanes, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,021,515, 5,049,624 and 5,639,815 disclose packaging materials and processes therefor which utilize a polymer composition which is capable of scavenging oxygen. Such compositions include an oxidizable organic polymer component, preferably a polyamides such as nylon MXD6, and a metal oxidation promoter, such as a cobalt compound. These compositions can be used with PET, for example.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,833 describes the use of a composition comprising an ethylenically unsaturated hydrocarbon oxygen scavenger which is incorporated into a film layer, and used for making packaging for oxygen sensitive products. The oxygen scavenger is catalyzed by a transition metal catalyst and a chloride, acetate, stearate, palmitate, 2-ethylhexanoate, neodecanoate or naphthenate counterion. Preferred metal salts are selected from cobalt (II) 2-ethylhexanoate and cobalt (II) neodecanoate. Because water deactivates the oxygen scavenger composition, the composition can only be used for packaging for dry materials.
Despite these advances in the art, there still remains a need for a barrier polymer material which can provide high oxygen scavenging capability in order to reduce the oxygen permeation into a container. There also is a particular need for oxygen scavenging polymeric materials which meet the processing requirements for coinjection molding and reheat stretch blow molding with PET to permit the fabrication of transparent multilayer barrier PET bottles. For the latter requirement, the material must be (a) melt processable at high temperatures of up to 280xc2x0 C. without degradation, (b) slow to crystallize, like PET, during injection molding such that the molded preform is sufficiently amorphous to permit subsequent reheat, stretch-blow molding into an oriented bottle and (c) low in crystallinity to give a barrier layer with high clarity and delamination-resistance (good adhesion) to PET layer.
The invention provides a polyamide composition which comprises:
a) a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70;
b) at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and
c) at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst.
The invention further provides an oxygen barrier film comprising a layer of a polyamide composition which comprises:
a) a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70;
b) at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and
c) at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst.
The invention still further provides a multilayer article which comprises:
a) a polyamide composition layer comprising a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst; and
b) a thermoplastic polymer layer on one or both sides of the polyamide composition layer.
The invention still further provides a shaped article which comprises a polyamide composition comprising:
a) a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70;
b) at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and
c) at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst.
The invention still further provides a process for producing a polyamide composition which comprises:
a) melting a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70;
b) blending the molten polyamide blend with at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst to thereby form a mixture; and
c) cooling the mixture.
The invention still further provides a process for producing an oxygen barrier film which comprises:
a) melting a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70;
b) blending the molten polyamide blend with at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst to thereby form a mixture;
c) extruding, casting or blowing the mixture into a film; and
d) cooling the film.
The invention still further provides a process for producing an oxygen barrier polyamide film which comprises:
a) melting a composition which comprises a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst;
b) extruding, casting or blowing the composition into a film; and
c) cooling the film.
The invention still further provides a process for producing a multilayer article which comprises:
a) melting a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst to thereby form a mixture;
b) separately melting a thermoplastic polymer composition;
c) coextruding, casting, blowing, thermoforming, blow molding or coinjecting the mixture and thermoplastic polymer composition into a multilayer article; and
d) cooling the article.
The invention still further provides a process for producing a multilayer article which comprises:
a) melting a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst to thereby form a mixture;
b) separately melting a thermoplastic polymer composition;
c) coinjecting molding the mixture and thermoplastic polymer composition into a multilayer preform;
d) reheating the perform; and
e) blow molding the perform into a multilayer article.
The invention still further provides a multilayer article formed by a process comprising:
a) melting a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst to thereby form a mixture;
b) separately melting a thermoplastic polymer composition;
c) coinjecting molding the mixture and thermoplastic polymer composition into a multilayer preform;
d) reheating the perform; and
e) blow molding the perform into a multilayer article.
This invention provides a barrier polymer material which can provide high oxygen scavenging capability in order to reduce the oxygen permeation into the container. This invention further provides oxygen scavenging polymeric materials which meet the processability requirements for coinjection moldability and reheat stretch blow moldability with PET to permit the fabrication of transparent multilayer barrier PET bottles. The polyamide compositions of this invention are suitable for coinjection stretch-blow molding with PET, to thereby form a multilayered film which serves as a barrier layer suitable for bottles for extended shelf-life packaging of oxygen-sensitive food and beverage products.

Oxygen scavenging polyamide compositions suitable for pet bottle applications


In one aspect of the present invention, a system for a downhole string comprises a fluid path defined by a bore formed within a tubular component. A reciprocating valve is located within a wall of the bore hydraulically connecting the bore with a fluid passage. The valve comprises a substantially cylindrical shaped housing. First and second ports are disposed on a circumference of the housing, and a fluid pathway is disposed intermediate the first and second ports. The valve comprises an axially slidable spool disposed within and coaxial with the housing and comprises a blocker. The blocker is configured to slide axially so to block and unblock the fluid pathway to control a flow from the bore to the fluid passage. The valve comprises a plurality of seals. Each seal is disposed opposite of the blocker causing pressure to be equally applied to the blocker and the plurality of seals.

The present invention relates to the field of downhole tools used in oil, gas, geothermal, and horizontal drilling. Moreover, the present invention relates to systems used to actuate such downhole tools. Many such actuation systems include at least one valve. The prior art discloses valves used in downhole actuation systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,905 to Barr, which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses a modulated bias unit, for use in a steerable rotary drilling system, of the kind including at least one hydraulic actuator, at the periphery of the unit, having a movable thrust member which is hydraulically displaceable outwardly for engagement with the formation of the borehole being drilled, and a control valve operable to bring the actuator alternately into and out of communication with a source of fluid under pressure. The control valve is operable between a first position where it permits the control valve to pass a maximum supply of fluid under pressure to the hydraulic actuator, and a second position where it prevents the control valve from passing said maximum supply of fluid under pressure to the hydraulic actuator. The control valve may include two relatively rotatable parts comprising a first part having an inlet aperture in communication with said source of fluid under pressure and a second part having at least one outlet aperture in communication with said hydraulic actuator. The said inlet aperture, in use, is brought successively into and out of communication with said outlet aperture on relative rotation between said valve parts. The said control valve may be a disc valve wherein said relatively rotatable parts comprise two contiguous coaxial discs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,386 to Magee, which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses a hydraulic servovalve controlled electrically through electromagnetic means. Electrical currents applied to force motors determine the relative position, displaceable control assembly within the valve. Displacive movement of the control assembly changes, in reciprocal proportion, the inlet and outlet flow-metering clearances in each of the chambers of this open-passage type valve. The position of the control assembly determines the inlet and outlet flows within, and, therefore, the net flow through, each chamber. Moreover, since the chambers are each connected (either directly, or through a flow-impeding orifice) to one of the control ports, the position of the control assembly thereby determines the control flow delivered by the valve. Generally, both hydrostatic and hydrodynamic forces within the valve are balanced against corresponding forces, all acting upon the control assembly. However, any internal unbalanced hydrodynamic forces—which arise in proportion to control flow—are compensated by opposing hydrostatic forces, creating a naturally stable servovalve over a wide range of operating conditions.

System for a downhole string with a downhole valve


A method for wrapping groups of products with stretch film comprises the following steps: forming groups of products having a front and a longitudinal dimension following a line of feed; winding a stretch film unrolled from a first roll around a plurality of stretching rods positioned inside a film wrapping area and along the product group line of feed; forming a first tubular portion of stretch film; stretching the portion of film by moving the plurality of stretching rods to create an access area, whose transversal dimension is larger than the front, for a single group of products moving along the feed line; releasing the film portion to allow the portion to shrink and thus wrap over the group of products and thus wrapping it; expelling the wrapped package thus obtained onto the feed line.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for wrapping groups of products with stretch film, where the grouped products are bottles with bases of different shapesxe2x80x94for example, circular, square or rectangularxe2x80x94or even containers made of metal (including parallelepiped shaped containers).
In conventional production lines where the production process includes the wrapping of groups of plastic bottles (to which the present description will hereinafter refer, although the invention may also be applied to other types of product or container), the final wrapping over the groups of bottles usually consists of a sheet of heat-shrink material.
In some cases and for some types of products, these lines may, however, be very expensive for the manufacturer because they have numerous operating units, such as product collating units (especially in the case of continuous lines), and film feed and heating units, all of which require a high number of control devices and accessory parts, not to mention the high cost of the heat shrink film itself. Another limiting factor on production lines of this kind is the fact that some products cannot be heated beyond certain limits, which means that heat shrink wrapping solutions are not feasible.
The teachings of prior art also include more economical wrapping solutions adopted instead of heat shrink wrapping methods and machines, but providing standards of quality that are at least as high as those provided by heat shrink wrapping solutions.
One of these alternative solutions is described in patent IT 1.285.827, in the name of the same Applicant as the present. In this solution, a tubular portion of stretch film, that is to say, elastically extensible film, is used in a method where the portion of film is fed by a film feed station and then stretched transversally by a plurality of rods. In this way, the size of the tubular portion of film is enlarged so that its transversal dimension is increased from a minimum size to a size greater than the front of the groups of products. The rods then align the film with the line of product feed so as to enable a single group of products to move into the stretched tube of film. The rods, moving in synchrony with the feed motion of the groups of products, then release the tube of film allowing it to shrink to its former size in such a way that it envelops the package.
This wrapping method is extremely practical, fast and economical compared to heat shrink wrapping methods and its use is currently preferred for many type of productsxe2x80x94whether bottles or other containersxe2x80x94to be wrapped with film.
Consequently, the demand for stretch wrapping has increased considerably. This has been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the need to change some of the steps in the stretch wrapping process and the structure of stretch wrapping equipment which, at present, is cumbersome and takes up a large amount of factory space.
Starting from the wrapping method briefly described above and through continual research and development, the Applicant has invented a new method for wrapping groups of products with stretch film. The new method is extremely fast and provides a very strong, high-quality end package.
The invention also has for an object to provide an apparatus that implements this method and that is compact, fast and very reasonably priced.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for wrapping groups of products with stretch film comprising the following steps: forming groups of products having a front and a longitudinal dimension that follows a line of feed; winding a stretch film unrolled from a first roll around first means for preforming the wrapping, positioned inside a film wrapping area and along the product group line of feed; forming a first tubular portion of stretch film; stretching the portion of film by moving the first preforming means to create an access area for a single group of products moving along the feed line, the transversal dimension of the access area being larger than the front of the group of products; releasing the portion of stretch film to allow the film to shrink to its former size over the group of products and thus wrapping it; expelling the wrapped package thus obtained onto the feed line.

Method for wrapping groups of products with stretch film


A connector for connecting internal circuitry of a bar code scanner to a connector plug. One end of a contact assembly is used together with a scanner chassis to form a receptacle for receiving the plug. The other end of the contact assembly connects with the internal circuitry. The contact assembly includes a plurality of wires with a ground wire that is bent to contact a scanner casing upon insertion of the contact assembly into the scanner casing. Two or more of the wires have lateral protrusions extending toward each other to provide points at which arcing is most likely in the event of an increased surge of current. One of the wires with the protrusions is also the wire that is bent outward so that any arcing is grounded to the scanner casing.

Virtually anyone who has been in a grocery store, a department store, or any other type of business within the last ten years has seen the ubiquitous bar code scanners. Bar code scanners come in basically two types: stationary bar code scanners and hand-held scanners. Both types of scanners operate in basically the same way. Light reflected off of the bar is converted into an electrical signal indicative of the distance between each bar of the bar code. The electrical signal is sent to a processor where it is decoded by comparing it with a known signal indicative of a known bar code.
Although the processor may be contained within the hand-held scanner, it is often the case that the electrical signal must be sent to a processor that is remote from the scanner. To insure that the signal is accurately sent to the remote processor, it is important that the connection to the circuit inside the scanner be a secure one. This can be accomplished is by welding connecting wires directly to the circuit board with the other end of the wires connected directly to the processor. While this might provide a secure connection, the permanence of the connection provides problems of its own. It is often useful to disconnect the bar code scanner from the processor for repair or replacement of the scanner. It may also be useful to use the same scanner with several processors, or to use several scanners with one processor. This requires that the scanner be easily disconnected from the processor without having to re-solder or re-splice the connection.
Prior art scanners suffer the additional problem that they are relatively complicated to assemble. This complication requires the scanners to be assembled by hand. Such hand labor adds time, human error and high labor costs to the assembly, resulting in an expensive product. The cost of the product can be greatly reduced if the components can be assembled by automation.
Given the small confines of a pen-sized scanner, it is unavoidable that the connecting wires used in the circuit are very closely spaced. When wires are so closely spaced a surge of electricity in one wire can cause arcing between wires. Such arcing can cause the scanner to be shorted out and damaged beyond repair.


An illumination apparatus which uses laser light emitted by a light source is provided. The illumination apparatus includes a housing which is tubular, internally includes an optical path for the laser light, and includes a first end surface having an opening through which the laser light passing through the optical path is released. A light emitter is opposed to the opening, receives the laser light released through the opening, converts the laser light into light having a different wavelength of a predetermined color, and emits the light. A cap is removably attached to a first end portion of the housing and through which the light emitted by the light emitter is released. A shutter opens the optical path when the cap is attached to the housing and closes the optical path when the cap is detached from the housing.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an illumination apparatus which uses laser light emitted by a light source.
2. Description of the Related Art
An illumination apparatus is conventionally known which emits light by exciting a phosphor using laser light as excitation light, so that the phosphor converts the laser light into light of a desired color (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-295319, for example). With such an illumination apparatus, a light source of the laser light and the phosphor are housed in a housing.

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A pixel structure including scan lines, data lines, and sub-pixels is provided. The scan and data lines are disposed on the substrate. The sub-pixels include switch devices, contact pattern layer, color filter pattern layers, and pixel electrodes. The switch devices are electrically connected to one scan line and one data line respectively. The contact pattern layer and the color filter pattern layer are disposed on the substrate and the switch devices. The contact pattern layer covers part of two adjacent switch devices. At least two color filter pattern layers include a patterned opening respectively, and the contact pattern layer is disposed in the patterned opening. The pixel electrodes are disposed on the color filter pattern layer, the contact pattern layer, and the switch device. At least one pixel electrode is partially disposed between the color filter pattern layer and the corresponding switch device while electrically connected to the switch device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a pixel structure, in particular, to a pixel structure that a contact pattern layer is shared between two adjacent sub-pixels.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) liquid crystal display is a mainstream design of consumer product development recently, of which main application is a small and medium size liquid crystal display with high degree of integration and high definition. However, the display with high definition has higher pixel density. Thus, the size of each sub-pixel is also reduced relatively. Since the size of sub-pixel is smaller, the process difficulty of the contact window between the pixel electrode and the drain electrode in the sub-pixel is also increased. Furthermore, when the desired size of the contact window is smaller than the process limitation, the contact window cannot be formed, such that the pixel electrode cannot electrically connect to the drain electrode successfully that causing the liquid crystal molecules cannot be driven by the pixel electrode correctly. In this situation, the sub-pixel will not display normally, thus the display quality is deteriorated.


A method of communication with a non-GEO constellation of satellites, includes providing an Earth-based terminal configured for communication with a satellite constellation, and establishing communication between the Earth-based terminal and a non-GEO constellation of satellites, the non-GEO constellation of satellites including a first plurality of satellites orbiting at a first inclination, wherein each of the satellites in the first plurality of satellites is in a discrete planar orbit to form a first snake of satellites, the first snake of satellites including adjacent satellites in adjacent orbits having adjacent RAAN (Right Ascension of the Ascending Node), wherein the Earth-based terminal is positioned and configured for continuous communication with at least one satellite from the non-GEO constellation of satellites.

Communication satellites receive and transmit radio signals from and to the surface of Earth for the purpose of providing communication services. In conventional satellite technology, only a few locations on Earth were in view of a satellite at any given time to transmit and/or receive signals to and/or from a satellite. In more modern satellite technology, it is desirable for every place on Earth be provided communication services at all times, a capability which may be referred to as universal or global coverage. In addition to global coverage, some locations on Earth, such as densely populated areas, require more communication capacity than others.
For global coverage, communication systems may employ non-geostationary satellites. Geostationary satellites orbit the equator with an orbital period of exactly one day (flying at an altitude of approximately 35,786 km above mean sea level). Therefore, geostationary satellites remain in the same area of the sky as viewed from a specific location on Earth. In contrast, non-geostationary satellites typically operate in low- or mid-Earth orbit and do not remain stationary relative to a specific location on Earth.
Satellite constellations are needed with improved global coverage and improved communication capacity. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to fulfilling these need and other needs.


Provides are a control device for a three-phase synchronous motor in which a position detection accuracy of a rotor can be improved when one three-phase synchronous motor is driven by a plurality of inverters, and an electric power steering device using the same. A control device for a three-phase synchronous motor includes: a three-phase synchronous motor including a first three-phase winding and a second three-phase winding; a first inverter connected to the first three-phase winding; a second inverter connected to the second three-phase winding; a first control device that controls the first inverter on the basis of a rotor position of the three-phase synchronous motor; and a second control device that controls the second inverter on the basis of the rotor position of the three-phase synchronous motor. The first control device estimates the rotor position on a basis of a neutral point potential of the first three-phase winding and a neutral point potential of the second three-phase winding.

Small and highly efficient three-phase synchronous motors (permanent magnet synchronous motors) are widely used in various fields such as industry, home appliances, and automobiles. In particular, in the field of automobile equipment such as an electric power steering device, a permanent magnet synchronous motor excellent in miniaturization and high efficiency is frequently used.
In a permanent magnet synchronous motor, in general, a rotation position of a rotor provided with a magnet is detected by a magnetic detection element such as a Hall IC, and on the basis of the detection result, an armature coil on the stator side is sequentially excited to rotate the rotor. In addition, by using a resolver, an encoder, a GMR sensor (GMR: Giant Magneto Resistivity effect), or the like which is a precise rotation position detector, it is possible to drive with sinusoidal current and reduce vibration and noise of torque ripple or the like. In recent years, rotation position sensorless control that controls the rotational speed and torque of the motor without providing this rotation position sensor has become widespread.
By putting the rotation position sensorless control into practical use, it is possible to reduce the cost (the cost of the sensor itself, the cost of the sensor wiring, and the like) of the position sensor and the size of the device. Further, since the sensor is not required, there is an advantage that the motor can be controlled in a poor environment for the sensor.
Currently, a method of directly detecting the induced voltage (speed electromotive voltage) generated by the rotation of the rotor provided with a magnet and driving the permanent magnet synchronous motor as rotor position information, a position estimation method of estimating and calculating the rotor position from a mathematical model of the target motor, or the like is adopted as a rotation position sensorless control of the permanent magnet synchronous motor.
These rotation position sensorless controls also have many problems. A problem often described generally is a position detection method when the rotational speed of the motor is low. Most rotation position sensorless control currently in practical use is based on an induced voltage (speed electromotive voltage) generated by the rotation of the permanent magnet synchronous motor. Therefore, in a stop and low speed range where the induced voltage is small, the sensitivity is lowered, and the position information may be buried in noise. As a solution to this problem, techniques described in PTLs 1 to 4 are known.
In the technique described in PTL 1, a radio-frequency current is applied to a permanent magnet synchronous motor, and a rotor position is detected from a current harmonic generated at that time and a mathematical model of the permanent magnet synchronous motor. In this technique, position detection is possible by using the current harmonic generated by the saliency of the rotor of the permanent magnet synchronous motor.
The technique described in PTL 2 is based on a 120-degree energization method that selects and energizes two phases among the three-phase stator windings of the permanent magnet synchronous motor, and the position of the rotor is detected on the basis of an electromotive voltage (the electromotive force due to the inductance imbalance rather than the electromotive force associated with the speed) generated in a non-energized phase. In this technique, since an electromotive voltage generated according to a position is used, the position information can be acquired even in a complete stop state.
In the techniques described in PTLs 3 and 4, the "neutral point potential" that is the potential of the connection point of the three-phase stator winding is detected to obtain the position information. At that time, by detecting the neutral point potential in synchronization with the PWM (pulse width modulation) wave of the inverter, as in the technique of PTL 2, the electromotive voltage due to inductance imbalance can be detected, and as a result, the position information of the rotor can be obtained. Furthermore, with the technique of PTL 3, it is possible to make the drive waveform an ideal sinusoidal current.
Among the techniques of PTLs 1 to 4, the techniques of PTLs 3 and 4 are useful as a position detection unit during the low rotational speed of the motor which is one of the problems of the rotation position sensorless control.
Furthermore, if the combination of a permanent magnet synchronous motor winding and an inverter connected in a one-to-one manner is one system, and the number of systems made of combinations of windings and inverters is two or more for one permanent magnet synchronous motor, although one system fails, another system can continue to operate. However, even in a drive system of a multi-system permanent magnet synchronous motor, it is necessary to obtain the position information of the rotor of the permanent magnet synchronous motor for each system.

Control device for three-phase synchronous motor and electric power steering device using the same


A computer system and method for performing property inspections. Digital media is received in a computer vision image analysis system from one or more user devices via a network and a determination is made regarding an environment type associated with the received digital media. One or more objects are determined that are located in the determined environment and which are present in the received digital media. A determination is made regarding an absence of objects in the received digital media contingent upon the determined environment type based upon a set of rules.

When an insurance provider offers insurance for a home or business, they are taking on the risk that any damage or liability associated with that property can be offset by premium payments made by property owners. In order to create a good balance between offering competitive prices and managing risk, an insurance provider may wish to assess the relative risk of each potential insurable property. Then, properties with lower risk may be offered lower premiums while higher-risk properties are offered higher premiums to compensate for the higher risk. An inspection of the property to be insured is essential to determine the risk.
Property inspection historically required a trained professional to physically travel to a property to conduct a comprehensive property assessment while documenting important details in a report or a series of reports. This process has proven inefficient and requires training of professional as well as travel time and expenses for transportation and inspection labor. In some scenarios, property inspections are not performed at all (e.g., sight unseen), thus insurance providers and other parties expose themselves to an unnecessary level of risk.


A method for manufacturing a MOSFET includes the steps of: preparing a substrate made of silicon carbide; forming a drain electrode making ohmic contact with the substrate; and forming a backside pad electrode on and in contact with the drain electrode. The drain electrode formed in the step of forming the drain electrode is made of an alloy containing Ti and Si. Further, the backside pad electrode formed is maintained at a temperature of 300° C. or smaller until completion of the MOSFET. Accordingly, the manufacturing process can be efficient while achieving excellent adhesion between the electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, more particularly, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device so as to provide an efficient manufacturing process while achieving excellent adhesion between electrodes.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, in order to achieve high breakdown voltage, low loss, and the like in semiconductor devices, silicon carbide has begun to be adopted as a material for a semiconductor device. Silicon carbide is a wide band gap semiconductor having a band gap larger than that of silicon, which has been conventionally widely used as a material for semiconductor devices. Hence, by adopting silicon carbide as a material for a semiconductor device, the semiconductor device can have a high breakdown voltage, reduced on-resistance, and the like. Further, the semiconductor device thus adopting silicon carbide as its material has characteristics less deteriorated even under a high temperature environment than those of a semiconductor device adopting silicon as its material, advantageously.
An exemplary semiconductor device adopting silicon carbide as its material is a semiconductor device, such as a MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor), for conducting and interrupting a current by controlling appearance/disappearance of an inversion layer in a channel region based on a predetermined threshold voltage. The MOSFET is structured such that an oxide film, electrodes, and the like are formed on a substrate having an active region formed by introduction of a desired impurity or the like. In order to improve reliability of the device, excellent electric contact between the substrate and each electrode as well as high adhesion between the electrodes are required.
In a process of manufacturing such a MOSFET, the substrate having the active region formed therein is grinded, polished, or etched to be thinned to a desired thickness. Thereafter, onto the grinded surface, a contact electrode made of, for example, Ni is formed (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 7,547,578). The contact electrode reacts with Si constituting the substrate as a result of annealing or the like employing, for example, laser irradiation and is accordingly silicided, thereby making ohmic contact with the substrate. In the case where such a Ni-based electrode is employed as the contact electrode, excellent electric contact can be achieved between the substrate and the electrode. However, when annealing the electrode, deposition of amorphous carbon and formation of irregularities take place on a surface of the electrode. This leads to deteriorated adhesion with a pad electrode to be formed on the contact electrode, with the result that reliability of the device is decreased, disadvantageously (for example, see Zhe Chuan Feng, Jian H. Zhao, "Silicon carbide: materials, processing, and devices", Volume 20, Taylor & Francis Books, Inc, 2004, pp. 203-280).
Regarding durability of the MOSFET, there is the following problem. That is, due to long-term use, an intermetallic compound having a high resistance may be formed between the contact electrode and the pad electrode to result in a difficulty in stably operating the MOSFET. To address this, for example, study has been conducted with regard to improvement of a metal material constituting the contact electrode and the pad electrode (for example, see Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-272766).
Further, in the process of manufacturing the MOSFET, heating treatment (sintering) may be performed after the formation of the pad electrode, in order to suppress detachment or the like of the pad electrode due to the deteriorated adhesion between the contact electrode and the pad electrode. Specifically, in the process of manufacturing the semiconductor device such as the MOSFET, the heating treatment is performed after the formation of the pad electrode in order to suppress device yield from being decreased due to the detachment or the like of the pad electrode. This makes it difficult to achieve an efficient manufacturing process, disadvantageously.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device


A compound having the formula (I):

Liver injury can be caused by many factors, such as alcohol, drugs, and viruses. In modern society, due to excessive mental stress, drinking, smoking and environmental pollution and other reasons, people are faced with a variety of liver diseases, such as spurious cirrhosis, fatty liver, toxic liver disease and acute and chronic viral hepatitis.
Researchers have explored the mechanism of liver injury in many ways. Hepatoprotective drugs, such as membrane protectants, anti-lipid peroxidants, and anti-immune reagents, have been developed, but the efficacy is still unsatisfactory, and its potential toxic and side effects have limited clinical application. Therefore, there is a need to develop new and effective hepatoprotective drugs.

Silibinin 3,3′-thiodipropionic acid ester with hepatoprotective activity and a method of preparing the same

Abstract: A compound having the formula (I):

Abstract: is disclosed. A method of preparing the compound of formula (I) is also disclosed.

SHAANXI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A method is provided for producing an organic EL device, capable of producing an organic EL device having a long light emission life, an organic EL device produced by the production method, and a planar light source, a lightening system and a display device each having the organic EL device. Included is a method for producing an organic electroluminescence device including a first electrode; a second electrode; and an organic layer including an organic compound provided between the first and second electrodes. The organic layer is formed by a method including an organic thin film forming step of forming, by coating, an organic thin film including an organic compound on a surface of a layer on which the organic layer is formed, under low-humidity; and an organic thin film storing step of storing the organic thin film obtained by the organic thin film forming step, under high-humidity.

In recent years, an organic EL display (hereinafter, referred to as an "organic EL display") using an organic electroluminescence device (hereinafter, referred to as an "organic EL device") has received attention. An organic EL device that is used in an organic EL display includes an anode, a cathode and a light emitting layer placed between the anode and the cathode, wherein light is emitted as a hole and an electron injected from the anode and the cathode, respectively, are combined in the light emitting layer.
An organic EL device has the advantage that a production process is simple, and an organic layer such as a light emitting layer or the like can be formed by a coating method with which the area of a device is easily increased. Specifically, an organic layer can be formed using a solution including an organic compound contained in the organic layer, and an organic solvent. As for a method for forming an organic layer of an organic EL device, there have been proposed a method for producing an organic EL device, wherein concentration of moisture in an atmosphere for forming a light emitting layer is 1000 ppm or less (Patent Document 1), and a method for producing an organic EL device, wherein an organic layer is prepared by a wet process in an inert gas atmosphere having a moisture content of 10 ppm or less and an oxygen concentration of 10 ppm or less (Patent Document 2).

Method for producing electroluminescence device


A reel for use with flaccid material, such as cables, conduits or the like, includes flanges that are connected together by an adjustable hub. The hub is formed of a plurality of crossbeams that are releasably connected to the flanges whereby the reel can be disassembled for shipping and/or storage and re-assembled in a wide variety of configurations to have a variety of hub dimensions and a variety of compartments.

The present invention relates to the general art of winding, tensioning and guiding, and to the particular field of coil holders and supports such as a spool or core.
It is conventional practice in the winding, tensioning and guiding art to ship elongate materials, such as cable, wire, flaccid conduits, or the like wound on reels. A purchaser or user then unwinds the material from the reel.
The basic structure of a reel in this art includes a hub and two end flanges with the material being wound around the hub and stored in a compartment defined between the flanges. The material is dispensed from the reel by being unwound from the hub.
In some cases, the reel can be returned to the manufacturer for re-use. However, in some situations, the reel is so large that it is not economical to ship the empty reel back. In such situations, the empty reel presents a problem. It cannot be simply left at the site; however, shipping the empty reel anywhere presents an expense and a problem.
An example of this problem is associated with the placement of fiber optic cables. In this situation, large hollow conduits are first placed, and then fiber optic cables are then inserted into the hollow cables. As is known in the art, such cable placement can extend for great distances, perhaps many miles. Several miles of conduit will require many large reels. From the above discussion, it will be appreciated that the disposal of reels associated with this procedure can present a significant problem.
Therefore, there is a need for a reel that can accommodate large amounts of material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure.
Still further, many overall projects require several different sizes of material. The different sizes can include not only different outer perimeters for the materials, but different lengths as well. The different lengths of material can be used for runs that are of different lengths from a main, overall, long run of the material.
Therefore, there is a need for a reel that can accommodate large amounts of different size material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure.
Still further, many large reels can be expensive to manufacture. Therefore, it will be most cost effective to use a reel in as many different situations as possible.
Therefore, there is a need for a reel that can accommodate large amounts of material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure and which is adaptable to a wide variety of requirements and uses.
Still further, reels must be stored between uses. Large reels will require large amounts of storage area. This can be expensive and is not efficient.
Therefore, there is a need for a reel that can accommodate large amounts of material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure and which can be efficiently stored when not in use.
While the art contains many example of reels suitable for storing flaccid material, such as fiber optic cable conduits, these known reels are not easy to dispose of after use. Furthermore, these known reels are not amendable to efficient modification to meet changed requirements. The reel, once manufactured, can be used only for storing and/or dispensing material that is within a narrow range of sizes. Known reels are also quite difficult to store efficiently as they are often quite large and/or heavy and bulky.
Therefore, known reels are not only inefficient to store and dispose of, they are not cost effective.
Still further, many known reels are job specific in that a reel is manufactured for a particular use and/or material, and is not easily changed to satisfy other requirements. As such, these reels are not cost efficient.
Therefore, there is a need for a reel that can accommodate large amounts of material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure, and which can be easily set up and modified for a wide variety of different needs.
Still further, the component parts of many known reels are welded together to form the reel. This makes assembly and disassembly very difficult.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide a reel that can accommodate large amounts of material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure.
It is another object of the present invention to a reel that can accommodate large amounts of different size material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a reel that can accommodate large amounts of material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure and which is adaptable to a wide variety of requirements.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a reel that can accommodate large amounts of material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure and which can be efficiently stored when not in use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a reel that can accommodate large amounts of material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure and which is formed of a number of identical parts which can be easily assembled to form a wide variety of different reels that can satisfy a wide range of different requirements.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a reel that can accommodate large amounts of material and can be efficiently removed from a site upon completion of a material dispensing procedure and which is formed of a number of parts which can be easily assembled and disassembled and combined in a number of different ways to provide a number of different configurations.
These, and other, objects are achieved by knockdown reel that includes at least two flanges releasably coupled together by a changeable hub. The hub is adjustable to define different outer perimetric hub dimensions as well as to accommodate more than two flanges for defining a number of compartments.
The reel of the present invention can be disassembled between uses so it can be efficiently shipped to or from a desired location as well as efficiently stored.
Still further, the adjustable nature of the reel permits it to efficiently accommodate a wide variety of material sizes, shapes and other characteristics and requirements. This makes the reel very cost effective.
Since the reel is formed of a number of interchangeable parts, it can be reconfigured for a particular job without requiring special manufacturing of special parts. This further increases the cost-efficiency of the reel. The reel is very easily assembled and disassembled and does not require welding or the like to assemble. Therefore, set up and knockdown are easily carried out.

Knockdown, changeable reel system and method


A learning-type movement control apparatus that learns the movement of an operation control device, predicts the movement thereof, and drives it so as to automatically move. The apparatus comprises an operation control device having a predetermined portion that is displaced according to a force exerted in an arbitrary direction, outputs the amount of the displacement at least as one-dimensional position-representing information, receives a feedback signal carrying information generated by adding displacement information to the position-representing information, and drives the predetermined portion according to a direction and a displacement that are based on the feedback signal. The apparatus also includes a learning section that receives the position-representing information and performs learning of the movement of the operation control device. The apparatus further includes a predicting section that performs prediction of a displacement of the operation control device according to the position-representing information the learning result of the learning section, and generates the feedback signal by adding the displacement information to the position-representing information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a learning-type movement control apparatus that has functions of learning force-input time series patterns and performing force feedback based on the learning, wherein a force-input section and a control system interactively function.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for implementing the functions in the aforementioned learning-type movement control apparatus.
Still furthermore, the present invention relates to a distribution medium for a computer-readable program that allows an information processor to execute the aforementioned method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an operation control device, such as a joystick or a steering wheel, is used by a user to move a predetermined portion of a movable object. The object may be a transportation means, such as a four-wheel vehicle, a two-wheel vehicle, or an aircraft; or the object may be a cursor on the screen of an information processor. To move the object as the user desires, the user must operate the operation control device to issue operation commands to the object. To issue the operation commands, the user must exert predetermined forces on the operation control device in directions along which the user wishes to move the object. Namely, the user must determine options, such as the direction and the distance of the movement of the object.
In the conventional device as described above, when the above is considered on the side of the object to be moved, the operation command must be issued each time the user attempts to operate the operation control device, such as the steering wheel or the joystick. For the user to operate the object to meet his or her desire, and even when substantially the same movement is performed, the user must intermittently or continually operate the operation control device. That is, since the conventional device has no learning function in the operation control device, even to repeat a movement, the user must perform complicated and time-consuming operations with the operation control device. This is disadvantageous.
The present invention is made under the above-described circumstances. Accordingly, objects thereof are to provide:
a learning-type movement control apparatus that has the functions of learning the movement of an operation control device, predicting the movement thereof, and driving it to automatically move;
a method implementing the functions of the aforementioned learning-type movement control apparatus; and
a medium for distributing a computer-readable program that allows an information processor to execute the aforementioned method.
To achieve the aforementioned objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, a learning-type movement control apparatus comprises an operation control device, a learning section, and a predicting section. The operation control device has a predetermined portion that is displaced according to a force exerted in an arbitrary direction. The operation control device outputs the amount of the displacement at least as one-dimensional position-representing information, receives a feedback signal carrying information generated by adding displacement information to the position-representing information, and drives the predetermined portion according to a direction and a displacement that are based on the feedback signal. The learning section receives the position-representing information, which is input in time series from the operation control device, and performs learning of the movement of the operation control device. The predicting section performs prediction of a displacement of the operation control device according to the position-representing information that is input in time series from the operation control device and a result of the learning by the learning section, and generates the feedback signal by adding the displacement information to the position-representing information, and outputs the feedback signal to the operation control device.
The learning section and the predicting section may be included in a recurrent neural network that comprises an input layer, a hidden layer, and an output layer. The recurrent neural network may be of a type that performs feedback from the output layer to the input layer. In addition, the learning section may be arranged to perform the learning of the movement of the predetermined portion of the operation control device according to an error propagation method.
According to another aspect of the invention, a learning-type movement control method comprises three processing steps. A first step performs learning of a pattern of a time-series force input to an operation control device by using a recurrent neural network. A second step performs prediction of information regarding movement of a predetermined portion of the operation control device by using the recurrent neural network according to a result of the learning. A third step drives the operation control device to move according to the information regarding the movement, which has been obtained as a result of the prediction.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a distribution medium for distributing a computer-readable program that allows an information-processing unit to execute processing which comprises three steps is provided. A first step performs learning of a pattern of a time-series force input to an operation control device by using a recurrent neural network. A second step performs prediction of information regarding movement of a predetermined portion of the operation control device by using the recurrent neural network according to a result of the learning. A third step drives the operation control device to move according to the information regarding the movement, which has been obtained as a result of the prediction.
Thus, according to the present invention, for example, a user exerts a desired force on the operation control device in a desired direction. The operation control device is thereby operated so as to perform the movement desired by the user. According to the exerted force and the direction thereof, the predetermined portion of the operation control device is displaced. The amount of the displacement is separated into two-dimensional position-representing information items (x, y). Then, the position-representing information items (x, y) are output in time series to the learning section and the predicting section.
The learning section receives the position-representing information items (x, y), and performs, for example, learning of movements of the operation control device a predetermined number of times. It learns the movements according to, for example, an error propagation method.
According to the position-representing information items (x, y) and a result of the learning by the learning section, the predicting section performs prediction of a position the operation control device at a subsequent time. Then, the predicting section adds displacement information items to the position-representing information items (x, y), thereby generates a feedback signal, and outputs it to the operation control device.
Having received the feedback signal from the predicting section, and according to directions and displacements specified by the feedback signal, the predetermined portion of the operation control device is driven in either the positive direction or the negative direction of each of the x and y directions.
The above-described operations are iterated, and during the iteration, the movement of the operation control device is incrementally learned by the learning section and is predicted by the predicting section. This allows the predetermined portion of the operation control device to operate according to the prediction without a force being exerted by the user.
In the above state, that is, when the predetermined portion of the operation control device operates according to only the instruction given by the feedback signal, the user can exert a desired force in a desired direction on the operation control device. Accordingly, the position-representing information items (x, y) regarding the movement at the particular time are output in time series.
Then, according to the interaction of the learning section, the predicting section, and the driving section, the new movement is learned. The result of the learning allows prediction information to be provided. According to the prediction information, without a force being exerted by the user, the predetermined portion of the operation control device becomes enabled to implement the new movement.
Thus, the present invention is advantageous in that it provides a practically effective system in which, without complicated operations being performed, the movement of the operation control device is learned, and the movement is thereby predicted to allow the operation control device to automatically move.

Learning-type movement control apparatus, method therefor, and distribution medium therefor