Disclosed is a vacuum pump exhaust pipe of a chemical vapor deposition apparatus, wherein two ports of the vacuum pump exhaust pipe are respectively connected to a vacuum pump outlet and a scrubber, and anti-sticking inner pipes are installed inside the exhaust pipe and closely contacted with inner walls of the exhaust pipe. The present invention also relates to a vacuum pump of the chemical vapor deposition apparatus. Blockage hardly occurs in the vacuum pump exhaust pipe of the chemical vapor deposition apparatus and the relevant vacuum pump according to the present invention to solve problems of the easily found blockage in the exhaust pipe, wasting the manpower and the time for clearing the exhaust pipe and the effect to the uptime of the chemical vapor deposition apparatus in the prior arts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor manufacture field, and more particularly to a vacuum pump exhaust pipe of a chemical vapor deposition apparatus and a relevant vacuum pump capable of extending the preventive maintenance cycle of the apparatus.
2. Description of Prior Art
A plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition apparatus is in charge of vapor depositions for forming plural thin film layers in a thin film transistor. As shown in FIG. 1, a reaction chamber of the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition apparatus is denoted by 100. A vacuum pump is denoted by 200. A vacuum pump exhaust pipe is denoted by 300. A scrubber is denoted by 400. In the deposition process, the thin film is not merely formed on a surface of a substrate but also on the inner wall of the reaction chamber 100. The non-reacted gases are vented to the scrubber 400 by the vacuum pump 200 for burning process. In the entire chemical vapor deposition process, the usage percentage of the total gases is less then 10% and a large amount of non-reacted gases are vented. As the exhaust gases are vented to the outlet of the vacuum pump 200, the pressure here rises to 600 Pascal and temperature here drops to 100 degree Celsius. The density of O2 rapidly ascends. The components of the exhaust gases can be SiH4, H2, N2, NH3 and etc. The exhaust gases may react with each other or with the inner wall to generate byproduct powders. Such byproduct powders can block the vacuum pump exhaust pipe 300 at the outlet of the vacuum pump 200. Therefore, the vacuum pump exhaust pipe 300 at the outlet of the vacuum pump 200 cannot vent gases fluently and causes alarms to the main apparatus and abandoned products. The procedure of dealing the blockage in the exhaust pipe 300 at the outlet of the vacuum pump 200 is: removing the exhaust pipe 300 at the outlet of the vacuum pump 200 every two weeks. The exhaust pipe 300 is cleaned with water, dried and then re-installed. The whole preventive maintenance needs two men operations and the pipe cleaning procedure for one reaction chamber takes one hour. The manpower and the time are wasted and the uptime of the chemical vapor deposition apparatus is affected.
Consequently, there is a need to provide a vacuum pump exhaust pipe of a chemical vapor deposition apparatus and a relevant vacuum pump to solve the existing problems of prior arts.

Vacuum pump exhaust pipe of chemical vapor deposition apparatus and relevant vacuum pump

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


A printer including a print unit, a supply unit for holding a web of receiving material wound into a roll, a system for unwinding the web and transporting it for printing to the print unit, which supply unit is adapted to carry an elongate member on which the roll is fixed, substantially concentrically, the elongated member being provided at its peripheral edge with a pattern of sensorially perceptible discrete transitions, which pattern is substantially symmetrical with respect to a reference position on the elongated member and extends from this position to the vicinity of the ends of the elongated member.

The present invention relates to a printer comprising a print unit, a supply unit for holding a web of receiving material wound into a roll, and a system for unwinding the web and transporting it for printing to the print unit, which supply unit is adapted to carry an elongated member on which the roll is fixed substantially concentrically. The present invention also relates to a supply unit for holding the receiving material and an elongate member comprising elements for releasable fixing of the receiving material.
In one embodiment of a known printer, a roll of the receiving material is fixed, frequently prior to the placing of the roll in the supply unit, on an elongated member, particularly a cylindrical core, which can be received in bearer elements adapted for this purpose in the supply unit. To unwind the web, the core is rotatably accommodated in the bearer elements. During printing of the receiving material, the required quantity of material is unwound at a time from the roll and the web thus unwound is fed for printing to a print unit, for example an inkjet printhead.
After the web of receiving material has been completely unwound, the core is provided with a new roll of receiving material so that further printing operations, starting from the same position in the supply unit, can take place. Rolls of different widths can be fixed on the core. The advantage of this is that on the basis of one core co-operatively connected to the bearer elements in the supply unit, it is possible to accommodate rolls of different widths in the supply unit. Since rolls of different widths can be fixed on the core, it is advantageous to accurately position such a roll with respect to a reference position on the core. As a result, prior to the unwinding of the web, it is known where the web is situated with respect to the print unit. This simplifies the transport and positioning of the web in the printer.
A known method of positioning the web is placing the roll against a stop, for example a flange, provided on the core. The disadvantage of this method is that the center of the roll does not normally coincide with the center of the printer. To solve this problem it has previously been proposed to position each roll on the core by the use of a movable indication in the supply unit of the printer, the position of such indication corresponding to the width of the roll. This method is complex and prone to faults.

Printer, a supply unit for the printer, and a member for accommodation in the supply unit


A hospital-grade basin holds water for washing patients, and converts easily/quickly for the patient's limb to rest across a portion of the basin. Half-moon shaped openings on opposite sides of the basin wall(s) support the limb at a reduced height with respect to adjacent side wall portions, which serve as a partial shield during wound irrigation. The shaped openings are sealed with hinged doors in a closed position, using a friction fit and/or elastomeric leaf-spring members. In another embodiment, opposing portions of the side wall may instead be formed of an over-molded elastomeric material that conforms to the patient's limb, or may have walls formed like a bellows. A one-time transformable basin has a wall with first and second notches to form first and second tear-away panels, which leave residual areas shaped and positioned on the wall according to first and second portions of a patient's limb.

A basin, particularly at a hospital and other facility that cares for patients, may be used for washing of the patient (i.e. a sponge bath). An example of such a basin is shown, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,450 to Bost, and by U.S. Design Pat. No. D546,943 to Kammer. This type of basin may also be used for carrying fluids, carrying tools, as a hospital admission kit, as a waste bin, or the basin may be further adapted to serve as an emesis basin, as shown by U.S. Pat. Design No. D197,106.
A number of prior art devices have been developed to be more particularly adapted for irrigating a patient's wounds. Several examples of such devices are shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,435 to Kress, U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,257 to O'Geary, U.S. Pat. No. 7,785,303 to Tapadiya, U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2011/0225726 to Dominguez, and U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2012/022210 to Wiggins.
However, none of the prior art basins are adapted to efficiently and effectively serve in both roles. Certain basin embodiments disclosed herein are each adapted to transform to be effectively used for either purpose.

Wash basin being transformable to be particularly adapted for wound irrigation


A paired contact electrical connector system (10) having a pair of mateable connectors (12,14) each with respective contact sets (16,20) therein has been disclosed. More particularly contact set 16 includes a pair of contact elements (24,26) having blades (28) lying on opposite sides of fingers (50) on one connector (12) for being received between and electrically engaging a pair of spaced apart beams (68) on a pair of contact elements (64,66) comprising the other contact set (20) positioned in the other connector (14).

It is well known that in high speed and high frequency applications, the signals traveling through closely spaced signal lines interfere with each other and as a result, degenerate. Solutions to this problem include shielding each signal line and grounding the shielding. U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,751 discloses a method of terminating such a line; i.e., a coaxial cable, to a phono plug. However, this solution does not lend itself to high density applications such as in electronic equipment where interconnected printed circuit boards are employed. In those applications, workers in the field have developed two-piece connector systems wherein shielding plates are provided between adjacent rows of signal contact elements. These connector systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,727 and U.S. Application 07/434,616, filed November 9, 1989. In related work, workers have developed a coaxial contact element for use in the receptacle of the two piece connector systems wherein the signal contact element is nested within the ground contact element to provide a one to one signal-ground ratio. U.S. Application 07/372,403, filed June 26, 1989, discloses this coaxial contact element.
It is now proposed to provide a paired contact electrical connector system wherein the signal and ground contact elements are grouped in contact sets to provide a one to one signal-ground ratio.

Paired contact electrical connector system


The present disclosure provides molecular sensors. The molecular sensors may be flexible or linear and are oligonucleotide-based and have fluorescent groups. The molecular sensors may be used in methods to measure molecular crowding, identify of binding modes of various substrates, pharmaceutical drug screens, and in high-throughput methods.

Many molecular species (small molecules and proteins) bind to DNA and in doing so modify DNA structure. These structural changes are often part of the normal cellular function, but are sometimes aberrant modifications due to endogenous and exogenous factors and can lead to mutations or cell replication defects. Taking advantage of these mechanisms, drugs that bind and alter DNA are also often used in cancer treatments or as antibiotics to stop cell proliferation.
The induced change in DNA structure upon complexing with the drug prevents polymerase and other DNA binding proteins from functioning properly. DNA synthesis and transcription are consequently impaired leading to cancer cell death, for example. A class of these drugs—intercalators—wedge between the DNA bases resulting in DNA extension and deformation. Another class of drugs—groove binders—attach to the DNA double helix grooves and modify its surface and interfere with protein-DNA interactions.
There is a need for a sensor and/or method that allows for the rapid and direct detection of DNA conformational changes, which is compatible with living cells to study molecule-DNA interaction and in pharmaceutical screens for novel drugs that target DNA.


An illuminated splash guard includes a matrix of light emitting diodes (LED) arranged in a preconfigured matrix to direct a desired signal rearwardly of the splash guard organization. The light emitting diodes are arranged within the direct current circuit of an associated vehicle and may optionally be of a plug-in arrangement or in a modified aspect of the invention, include a snap-on illumination member containing a series of the light emitting diodes throughout, wherein the member is in turn mechanically associated with the direct current circuit of the vehicle. A further modification of the invention includes a translucent illumination member secured to the flexible mud flap member, wherein the translucent member includes a fiber optic cable including a series of spaced light emitting diode members arranged at terminal and juncture portions of the translucent member to effect illumination thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to vehicular accessory structure, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved illuminated splash guard wherein a predetermined and desired message is mounted on a forward face of a flexible splash guard to direct the message rearwardly thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various vehicular structures in association with splash guards are known in the prior art, and the use of light emitting diodes have been utilized in arrangements to effect directing of a message. Examples of the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,586 to Chiang including a decorative matrix of light bulbs with an electric circuit including a plurality of oscillators producing pulses, with a comparator for comparing pulses of the two oscillators and a decoder actuated by the comparator, wherein random output signals are directed by the decoding means for lighting the bulbs randomly as if the light set were twinkling randomly.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,689,948 to Rothman sets forth a license plate holder including a framework mounting a series of lights thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,158 to Mitten provides a rectangular frame wherein the bulbs are pressed into the framework and are retained within the framework by a groove arrangement to electrically associate the bulbs with an electrical circuit within the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,860 to Spiteri provides a marker light assembly for use by tractor-trailers and the like, wherein by use of the diode circuitry utilized in the lights include an increased light factor in their use.
As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a new and improved illuminated splash guard wherein the same addresses both the problems of ease of use, as well as effectiveness in construction in permitting the use of a matrix of lights on a flexible splash guard for use with vehicles and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for drone based network optimization are provided. An inductive-capacitive circuit may include a first branch including a first energy storage element. The inductive-capacitive circuit may also include a second branch including a second energy storage element and a third energy storage element. In addition, the inductive-capacitive circuit may include a third branch including a fourth energy storage element and a fifth energy storage element, and a power source supplying a current through the first branch, the second branch, and the third branch. Further, the first branch, the second branch, and the third branch may be connected to at least one common node of the inductive-capacitive circuit.

Capacitive power transfer (CPT) has been proposed for various applications including, for example, electric vehicle charging applications. In CPT, there is generally no direct contact between the source and load plates, where the power is transferred through the electric field of the involved coupling capacitors, as illustrated in FIG. 1. As also illustrated in FIG. 1, the circuit may be fed from a conventional two-level single-phase voltage source inverter, where it can be controlled to generate AC voltage with a desired frequency (f).
A drawback of CPT is that the coupling capacitance is in the range of nF (for short separating distances) or pF (for relatively long distances). Therefore, with AC sources of low frequency, the capacitive reactance of the coupling capacitors becomes high, and the load voltage is correspondingly insignificant.
Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2 of a conventional method to compensate the effect of the coupling capacitor in CPT, external inductors may be connected in series with the coupling capacitances (series compensation). The inductive value may be selected such that it resonates with the capacitance at the fundamental frequency (f). In the method illustrated in FIG. 2, the maximum load power that can be extracted depends on the value of Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) of the employed inductors (r), where in case of resistive load, the maximum power condition occurs when the load resistance equals (2r). The amount of maximum power equals (V2/2r), where V is the root mean square value of the AC source voltage. In view of the drawbacks described above, there is a need, therefore, to provide an inductive-capacitive network for CPT applications with enhanced power capability.

Inductive-capacitive network circuit for capacitive power transfer


A planar light-emitting device enabling more precise local dimming has a plurality of light-emitting units each including a lightguide plate and a plurality of light sources disposed successively in the lateral width direction of the light-entrance surface and adjacently facing a light-entrance surface of the lightguide plate to emit light into the lightguide plate through the light-entrance surface. The light sources are divided into a plurality of groups successively arranged in the width direction, each group including at least one light source. The lightguide plates of the light-emitting units are mutually adjacently disposed with their light-exiting surfaces being flush with each other. The planar light-emitting device has a light source output control unit that controls the outputs of the light sources for each group.

Liquid crystal display apparatuses for image display are widely used as large-sized displays of flat-screen televisions and monitors, etc. The liquid crystal display apparatuses employ a backlight unit that applies light to a liquid crystal display panel from the rear or lower side to enhance the luminance of the display screen.
The backlight unit has a lightguide plate and a light-emitting diode (LED) or other light source disposed to face a part of the peripheral side surface of the lightguide plate. The lightguide plate guides light from the light source through it and emits the guided light toward the liquid crystal display panel from the whole of a light-exiting surface of the lightguide plate that faces the display panel.
Recently, as liquid crystal television systems increase in size, there has been an increased demand for further reduction in weight and thickness of lightguide plates used in them. In this regard, as the thickness of a lightguide plate is reduced, it becomes more likely that color irregularity and luminance unevenness will occur on the light-exiting surface of the lightguide plate. If injection molding is employed as a method of producing a large-sized lightguide plate, it is difficult to fill the resin material throughout the molding tool for the large lightguide plate. It is necessary in order to solve this problem to increase the injection pressure, which, however, will cause an increase in the cost of equipment.
Under these circumstances, there has been proposed a backlight unit comprising a plurality of light-emitting units having respective lightguide plates arranged lengthwise and widthwise and a plurality of LEDs provided for each lightguide plate to emit light into it (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-293339). In this backlight unit, the LEDs are driven for each light-emitting unit to perform local dimming. More specifically, the outputs of the light-emitting units constituting the backlight unit are controlled for each light-emitting unit on the basis of image data input to the liquid crystal display panel to control the output (brightness) for each light-emitting unit, thus reducing the power consumption and improving the contrast of the liquid crystal display screen and the moving picture performance, for example.
There has also been proposed a liquid crystal display apparatus having a liquid crystal display panel that displays an image signal input to it and a backlight unit having a plurality of light-emitting units comprising RGB light-emitting diodes, which are arranged lengthwise and widthwise. The image signal is divided into blocks corresponding to the size of each light-emitting unit. The luminance and image data of each block are analyzed, and the luminance of each light-emitting unit is set based on the result of the analysis (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-90076). That is, this liquid crystal display apparatus also controls the luminance for each light-emitting unit to perform local dimming for improving the image quality (contrast and color reproduction range) and reducing the power consumption in the same way as the liquid crystal display apparatus disclosed in the above-described Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-293339 and so forth.
The above-described conventional techniques, however, still have the following problems to be solved.
With the conventional techniques, the luminance is controlled for each light-emitting unit; therefore, it is difficult to perform control for a screen area smaller than the light-emitting unit and hence difficult to effect more precise local dimming. In addition, it is likely that there will be a large difference in luminance at the boundary between the light-emitting units.

Planar light-emitting device and liquid crystal display apparatus


The present invention provides a method for controlling a process parameter for fabricating a semiconductor wafer. In one embodiment, the method includes forming a test substrate using a given process parameter, determining a flatband voltage of the test substrate, and modifying the given process parameter to cause the flatband voltage to approach zero. The process parameter that is modified to cause the flatband voltage to approach zero may vary. The flatband may be determined by a non-contact method, which uses a kelvin probe to measure the flatband voltage and a corona source to deposit a charge on the test substrate.

Plasma processing has become an integral part of the fabrication of integrated circuits since it offers advantages in terms of directionality, low temperature and process convenience. However, plasma processing also offers increased damage potential because of surface charging of floating gates in MOS devices. With the continued increase in gate oxide thickness to improve device performance, this type of damage is becoming more of a concern. The damage can degrade all of the electrical properties of a gate oxide, which include the fixed oxide charge density, the interface state density, the flatband voltage, the leakage current and the various breakdown related parameters.
Evidence is mounting that the primary cause of oxide damage during plasma etching is charge buildup on the conductors. Plasma nonuniformity across the wafer surface plays a major role in this damage. For example, plasma nonuniformity produces electron and ion currents that do not balance locally and can generate oxide damage. These plasma inconsistencies are caused by hardware (e.g., poor electrode design, nonuniform and/or time-varying magnetic fields) or by a poor choice of process conditions (e.g., use of highly electronegative gas, choosing flows and pressures that lead to unstable plasmas). Additional causes include transient surge currents produced by gas chemistry changes at endpoint and changes in plasma exciting power or coupling capacitor discharges. Etch rate uniformity does not necessarily correlate with plasma uniformity or oxide damage. For instance, a pure Cl.sub.2 plasma caused less damage than a plasma containing a mixture of Cl.sub.2 and SF.sub.6 even though the pure Cl.sub.2 plasma produced about twice the etch rate nonuniformity as the plasma with a Cl.sub.2 /SF.sub.6 mixture.
There are three main current components at the surface of a wafer placed in an RF plasma. While at 13.56 MHZ, the largest is the RF displacement current; this is usually of secondary importance in surface charging because of the low impedance presented by the oxide. Next, there is positive ion flux that is responsible for anisotropic etching. The flux average is nearly constant with time and depends linearly on the local plasma density. The final component, electron flux, flows briefly in every RF cycle to balance the ions lost from the central plasma region. In a uniform plasma, the ion and electron conduction currents locally balance each other over the RF conduction cycle. Charging is not a problem and the surface potential stays close to that of the substrate.
The situation for a nonuniform plasma differs significantly. Ion and electron currents do not have to balance locally through the RF cycle, although there is a net balance over the electrode as a whole. For example, the electron current can be higher than ion current where the plasma potential is at a minimum; where the potential is a maximum, the opposite is true. Also, where excess ion current occurs, the imbalance (e.g., net current flux to the wafer) causes wafer surface charging and results in increased voltage across the gate and decreased voltage across the sheath. The charge buildup continues until the currents balance or the oxide begins to conduct. This feedback mechanism is caused by the exponential dependence of electron current on sheath voltage.
The VLSI industry is focusing on solutions to process-induced plasma damage in product devices. Such damage is caused by cumulative net charge deposition on wafers during plasma processing, where unbalanced plasma charges up the gate dielectric to a level exceeding the dielectric breakdown field. Because of the charge collected by the long conductive gate polysilicon chain in VLSI devices, a seemingly low plasma charging can become multiplied by a ratio factor when discharging through the gate insulator. The ratio factor, called the antenna ratio, is the gate poly area to gate dielectric area.
For the 0.25-0.35 micrometer feature devices, the circuit poly antenna ratio can range from 5:1 to 50:1. The implication is that with a floating gate poly, the case of most in-process product devices prior to first metal, the device gate oxide can experience electrical breakdown during plasma charging more easily than one without, by five to 50 times. Because there is no breakdown current limiter, such dielectric zapping is destructive, leading to device poly to substrate leakage, and device yield is degraded. In the case where the plasma charging buildup may not yet reach the breakdown but goes beyond half the breakdown, the tunneling current is sufficient to damage the oxide-silicon electronic structure that introduces excessive interface states if not properly annealed. Devices with interface damage drift with time. Thus the device reliability is at stake.
Plasma-induced charging damage characterization using test structures requires fast-turn-around between a questionably plasma step and electrical testing to be most useful. MOS capacitor structures provide cheaper and faster fabrication than transistors and also can be pretested to insure their calibration. The C-V measurement is regarded as one of the most sensitive techniques for plasma damage in many cases. However, C-V measurements are slow, sensitive to noise and difficult to automate. Charge-to breakdown Q.sub.bd is another option, but it requires long times to breakdown at low gate currents. Accelerated Q.sub.bd measurements use larger injecting currents but lowers this measurement sensitivity. Recently, a new voltage time (V-t) method was proposed which uses low constant current stressing and measures the biased voltage change with time (dV/dt). It was found that dV/dt is related to the initial electron trapping rate (IETR), which is proportional to pre-existing damage. So far, there has been no comparison of the sensitivity of the different methods or their limitations. So, it is necessary to establish basic understanding of these issues for future industry standards of damage testing. To determine whether the device has been damaged by fabrication charge build-up, manufacturers have incorporated antenna structures into the semiconductor devices. These structures may be employed to test the device and determine whether charge damage has occurred in the device during the fabrication process.
Unfortunately, however, the antenna structure suffers from certain disadvantages. For example, the antenna structure size is typically directly proportional to its damage sensitivity. Therefore, to obtain a reading on a very small charge, a larger antenna ratio (poly/oxide areas) structure is required. In many cases, these larger antenna structures are necessary because the charge damage that often occurs in the device is very small.
Moreover, these antenna structures are unable to isolate the specific device layers that are damaged, when multi-layer chips are involved. Thus, it is not possible to determine what part of the process has caused the charge damage, and due to the complexity of fabrication of the antenna structure, time delays and corresponding overall costs involved, frequent testing during the fabrication process is typically prohibitive.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a cost effective way to determine process-induced damage and direct the adjustment of the appropriate process parameters on a frequent basis.

Non-contact method for monitoring and controlling plasma charging damage in a semiconductor device


The present disclosure provides a substrate, a manufacturing method thereof, and a transparent display device. The substrate comprising: a plurality of pixel units, at least a part of which includes a light-emitting area and a transparent area, and the light-emitting area includes a thin-film transistor; a light blocking member disposed in the light-emitting area and configured to block light that is directed to the thin-film transistor through the transparent area.

At present, display devices are appearing in the display market and the daily life of the public in an increasingly diverse and novel form, such as the liquid crystal display (LCD) devices that are developing towards ultra-high resolution display, the small and medium-sized organic light-emitting display (OLED) devices that are widely used in mobile devices such as mobile phones and Pads, the large-sized OLED display devices that are increasingly mature for television (TV), and novel display technologies such as transparent display devices. Among them, the transparent display device has obtained a good user experience and has broad Market prospects.

Substrate, manufacturing method thereof and transparent display device


A system is provided for monitoring one or more depth associated parameters of an object submerged in water. A first set of alarm devices are mounted in the system's housing such that they are accessible from the exterior thereof. The first set of alarm devices, defined by an audio generator, a tactile generator, and a light, are initiated in accordance with a predetermined initiation scheme when at least one of the monitored parameters does not satisfy predetermined threshold criteria associated therewith. A second set of alarm devices are tethered to the system's housing for remote positioning with respect thereto. The second set of alarm devices utilize the same types of alarm devices as the first set of alarm devices and are also initiated in accordance with the predetermined initiation scheme.

Compressed gas divers, free divers, and persons that deploy equipment or subjects that operate in hyperbaric environments, need to be aware of depth because of the physiological and physical risks associated with elevated gas partial pressures in the hyperbaric environment. Compressed gas divers must constantly monitor both time and depth in order to avoid conditions such as Arterial Gas Embolism, Pulmonary Oxygen Toxicity, and other related physiological conditions. Free divers may want to know when they have reached a target depth and record their depth-time profile for purposes of improving their performance. Dive tenders, equipment operators, scientists, and researchers similarly want to be able to monitor and/or log the depth-time profiles of their tethered or un-tethered divers, equipment, or other subjects of study.
Often times, environmental conditions (e.g., low or no visibility) and/or an excessive amount of task requirements (i.e., on the divers, surface operators, etc.) make it exceedingly difficult to properly monitor depth and time using conventional gauge/timer displays. On the other hand, if the gauges are properly monitored, task efficiency typically suffers as attention shifts back and forth between tasks at hand and the gauges. As a result, the diver, equipment, and task completion suffer from increased risks of injury, damage, and failure, respectively.

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


Fluorinated metal-organic frameworks (“FMOFs”) are capable of adsorbing and desorbing gases and molecules. The FMOFs can be arranged in a variety of configurations and have internal hollow channels and cavities. In the FMOFs, hydrogen atoms have been substituted completely or partially with fluorine atoms or fluorinated groups in each linking organic ligand. The FMOFs have high densities, leading to an enhanced volumetric capacity for gas storage.

This invention pertains to fluorinated metal-organic frameworks having internal channels and cavities in a variety of configurations that are capable of adsorbing and desorbing gases and molecules. This invention also pertains to gas storage in fluorinated metal organic frameworks, and more particularly to hydrogen storage.
Crystalline porous materials, either with an inorganic or a metal-organic framework ("MOF"), can be used in a range of applications. These include size- and shape-selective catalysis, separations, gas storage, ion-exchange, sensors, and optoelectronics. In particular, stable MOFs with permanent highly-porous channels or cavities have been explored as effective, economic, and safe on-board vehicular gas (hydrogen or methane) storage materials for fuel-cell-driven automobiles. Extensive efforts have been devoted to the rational design and construction of new MOFs with zeolite-like, well-defined, stable and extra large micro or meso pore size channels exhibiting higher or selective gas affinity properties. Pioneered by Yaghi et al., a vast number of organic ligands with a variety of donor groups and over 40 metal cations have been explored in MOF construction (Yaghi, et al. 1995). A few reports on MOFs utilizing non-fluorinated metal triazolates have appeared recently. (Yang, et al. 2004; Zhang, et al. 2004, 2005; Ouellette 2006).
High volumetric capacity is a very significant property for gas storage applications. The U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") has established a multi-stage target for hydrogen storage capacity in materials, including those materials intended for fuel cell applications. The DOE's 2010 targets for a hydrogen-storage system are an energy density of 7.2 MJ/kg and 5.4 MJ/L. Energy density refers to the amount of usable energy that can be derived from the fuel system. The figures include the weight and size of the container and other fuel-delivery components not just the fuel. The 2010 values work out to be 6 wt % of hydrogen and 45 kg of hydrogen per cubic meter. For 2015, the DOE is calling for fuel systems with 9 wt % of hydrogen and 81 kg of hydrogen per cubic meter, which is greater than the density of liquid hydrogen (approximately 70 kg/m3 at 20 K and 1 atm). Particularly for H2 storage in automobiles, the volumetric capacity is arguably more important than the gravimetric capacity because smaller heavy cylinders are easier to accommodate in vehicles than larger cylinders even if the latter were lighter than the former. Due to their high porosity, the best metal-organic frameworks known to date have very low densities (e.g., 0.43, 0.51, and 0.62) (Yaghi, et al. 2006; Long, et al. 2006). Therefore, their volumetric densities are always lower than the gravimetric densities.
In attempts to meet the DOE targets, nanostructured carbon materials (e.g. carbon nanotubes, graphite nanofibers, activated carbon, and graphite) and porous metal-organic frameworks have become of interest to researchers as potential hydrogen adsorbents. However, it has been shown that nanostructured carbons have slow uptake, exhibit irreversible adsorption, and contain reduced transition metals as impurities. Meanwhile, the known MOFs have low volumetric H2 uptake due to their low densities and weak affinity to hydrogen molecules. In addition, the porous nature and high surface areas of metal-organic frameworks give rise to rather weak H2 adsorption energies (˜5 kJ/mol). This is why cryogenic temperatures are usually required to observe significant H2 uptake.
What is needed, therefore, is a MOF that is stable and capable of adsorbing a high volume of gases at higher temperature.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Fluorinated metal-organic frameworks for gas storage


A device and method for cleaning up spilled oil and other liquids that are relatively less dense than water, that have spilled on the water or are borne on water or an other relatively dense liquid, and for separating oil and other liquids that are relatively less dense than water, from water or an other relatively dense liquids including an oil/water separation column having a lower end forming a bottom opening oriented substantially parallel to the surface of the body of water in fluid communication with the water and spilled oil, an air pump in airtight engagement with, and proximate the upper end of the oil/water separation column and adapted to draw water and the spilled oil into the oil/water separation column; and an oil pump in liquid tight engagement with and proximate the upper end of the oil/water separation column and adapted to draw the spilled oil from the oil/water separation column.

The clean up of, for example, spilled oil (in the context of the description and claims provided herein, oil may be understood to mean crude oil, bunker C fuel oil, diesel fuel, jet fuel, gasoline, kerosene, vegetable and/or corn oil, and other liquids known to a person skilled in the art, all of which are hereinafter referred to as "oil" in the present description and for the purposes of the description and claims provided herein, the word "oil" is used herein to refer to each of these substances, unless specifically indicated otherwise) from fresh water, or sea water is an important issue in the context of the modern offshore oil drilling and exploration operations, oil rig operations and oil transportation, storage and handling activities, including the transportation of oil in oil tankers, shipping vessels, oil tank cars, oil tank trailers, oil pipelines and oil tanks which travel by way of, or travel over, or are proximate to fresh water or sea water. The spillage of oil on water may result in a very hazardous circumstance, and may result in a very serious environmental and ecological disaster. In order to minimize the effect of a spill, it is desirous to clean up the oil as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
It is desirable to provide a device and method which may be utilized to quickly and thoroughly clean up an oil spill, and which may be readily transported from one location to another as needed.

Device and method for cleaning up spilled oil and other liquids


Method for producing a hollow shaft endoprosthesis, in particular a hip joint prosthesis, comprising the following stages:. Producing two half-tubings, which may be connected together to form the shape of the shaft of the prosthesis, whereby they touch in the region of two welding seams substantially running in a longitudinal direction, by moulding or forging, PA1 welding together both moulded or forged half-tubings in the region of the welding seams.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a hollow shaft endoprosthesis, in particular a hip joint prosthesis.
Hollow shaft endoprostheses have until now, usually been cast-moulded out of metal alloys. This processing method can only be used for a certain number of materials. The most widely used cast-mouldable materials for making prostheses shafts are a cobalt-chrome-molybdenum cast alloy and 316-cast steel. A disadvantage is that these materials have a low resistance to fatigue, so that fatigue fractures can occur due to large bending stress fluctuations. Other materials, such as the chrome-nickel-molybedenum-titanium wrought alloy, the cobalt-chrome-nickel-molybedenum-titanium wrought alloy and the titan-aluminum-vanadium wrought alloy were only used to produce solid prostheses in the past. It is not economical to produce hollow shafts by machining a solid bit.


A check valve is made of a resilient body wound in a ring form and is located in an annular flow passage. A displacement limiter includes: a limiter main body that is located on an outer side of the check valve and is configured to limit displacement of the check valve in a diameter increasing direction of the check valve; and a limiter flow passage that communicates between one side and the other side of the limiter main body in an axial direction to enable hydraulic oil to flow between the one side and the other side of the limiter main body through the limiter flow passage.

Previously, there is known a fluid control valve that includes a check valve made of a resilient body shaped in a ring form. In one previously proposed fluid control valve, the check valve is installed in an annular flow passage which is located on an outer side of a tubular valve piston and is shaped in an annular form. When a diameter of the check valve is increased to place the check valve in a valve opening state, the check valve enables flow of fluid from an inside of the valve piston to the annular flow passage. In contrast, when the diameter of the check valve is decreased to place the check valve in a valve closing state, the check valve limits flow of the fluid from the annular flow passage to the inside of the valve piston.

Fluid control valve, and valve timing adjusting device employing same


An axial flow fan assembly includes a plurality of fan blades surrounded by a shroud. The shroud includes an annular first wall which extends radially outwardly, an annular second wall which extends axially and radially outwardly, and an annular third wall which joins the first wall to the second wall. The third wall has a curved cross sectional shape, and has a minimum diameter part which is positioned approximately half-way between the upstream and downstream edges of the fan blades. There is a desired relationship between the radius of curvature of the third wall and the diameter of the fan. There is a desired relationship between the height of the first wall and the diameter of the fan. The fan blades have an upstream edge which is upstream with respect to the first wall.

Rotating engine mounted cooling fans are used to push air through the radiator of an engine cooling system. Normally, a fan shroud is mounted around such a fan. Typical pushing fan assemblies include a flat plate box shroud which is simple to manufacture and is common in low volume applications. Such a shroud design does not allow the design to match a shroud to a fan for a given application or maximize fan efficiency. It has been determined that for a pushing fan application with high static pressure, the relationship between the inlet shroud geometry and the fan is critical to fan performance. It desired to maximize the fan efficiency and air flow for a given fan speed and system restriction in such a fan/shroud assembly. In agriculture applications where fan diameters range from 550 millimeters to 1100 millimeters, ideal inlet conditions are not achievable in the space available. By designing a complex three dimensional fan shroud with specific inlet and outlet shapes, the efficiency of the fan/shroud/cooling system can be enhanced.


Embodiments are provided for syncing multiple electronic devices for collective audio playback. According to certain aspects, a master device connects (218) to a slave device via a wireless connection. The master device calculates (224) a network latency via a series of network latency pings with the slave device and sends (225) the network latency to the slave device. Further, the master devices sends (232) a portion of an audio file as well as a timing instruction including a system time to the slave device. The master device initiates (234) playback of the portion of the audio file and the slave devices initiates (236) playback of the portion of the audio file according to the timing instruction and a calculated system clock offset value.

Various known electronic devices support audio playback through audio components such as external speakers. For example, a user may use speakers for audio playback in situations in which the user does not have or does not wish to use headphones or earbuds. In some cases, respective users of multiple electronic devices may wish to collectively listen to a song via the respective speakers of their multiple electronic devices. The resulting combined audio from the multiple speakers may be louder than audio output from a single speaker and therefore may provide a better listening experience for the users.
Existing techniques for syncing and playing audio from multiple speakers result in inaccurate setup and, accordingly, out-of-sync audio playback. In particular, the existing techniques do not account for various timing offsets, latency buffering, and re-connecting attempts. Additionally, the existing techniques do not adequately handle packets of audio data to facilitate the audio playback from the multiple devices. Accordingly, there is an opportunity to implement embodiments for syncing multiple electronic devices such that audio playback from the multiple electronic devices is synchronized. Additionally, there is an opportunity to implement embodiments for exchanging data parameters among multiple electronic devices to initiate audio playback and accurately synchronize the audio playback based on the data parameters.

Systems and methods for syncronizing multiple electronic devices


A filter for filtering the lubricating oil in an internal combustion engine. The filter comprises a housing (10) having an unfiltered oil inlet and a filtered oil outlet. A filter element (16) is disposed in the housing (10). A cover (13) is provided with a safety element (20) which effectively prevents the housing (10) from being closed by the cover (13) if the filter element (16) is missing. The safety element is a tipping member affixed to the housing or the cover and which tips under the force of gravity into a blocking position when the filter element is missing.

The invention relates to a filter, in particular for filtering the lubricating oil in an internal combustion engine.
An oil filter for the cleaning of lubricating oil in the internal combustion engines of motor vehicles is known from the European patent document 03 14 915. This is comprised of a filter housing that is at least approximately upright with a cover which can be screwed onto it; further it includes an annular oil filter cartridge inserted in the filter housing, to which the contaminated oil is conveyed. On the bottomfloor of the oil filter housing, there is a bottom discharge valve which opens up a dischargechannel when the cover is opened and the oil filter cartridge is removed. The valve comprises two springs and a valve plate and is constructed in such a way that even with the oil filter cartridge missing, it closes anyway because of the increasing oil pressure, so that a supply of oil to the motor is also assured when no filter cartridge is inserted.
One disadvantage is, however, that when the filter insert is missing, the unfiltered oil reaches the areas to be lubricated and results in damage to the bearings. The motor can be used without an oil filter cartridge for a short time in emergency operation, however it will not be apparent that no oil filter cartridge is present.

Filter with safety element for filtering engine oil


The present invention relates to methods of determining if a subject has an increased risk of suffering from memory impairment. The methods comprise analyzing the gene expression profile from peripheral blood leukocytes taken from the subject and comparing the value of the subject's gene expression profile with the value of a normal gene expression profile. A change in the value of the subject's gene expression profile, above or below normal values is indicative that the subject has an increased risk of suffering from memory impairment compared to a normal individual.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of determining if a subject has an increased risk of suffering from memory impairment. The methods comprise analyzing the gene expression profile from peripheral blood leukocytes taken from the subject and comparing the value of the subject's gene expression profile with the value of a normal gene expression profile. A change in the value of the subject's gene expression profile, above or below normal values is indicative that the subject has an increased risk of suffering from memory impairment compared to a normal individual.
Background of the Invention
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a progressive dementia that insidiously and inexorably robs older adults of their memory and other cognitive abilities. The prevalence of AD is expected to double every 20 years from 35.6 million individuals worldwide in 2010 to 115 million affected individuals by 2050. There is no cure and current therapies are unable to slow progression of the disease.
Early detection of the at-risk population (preclinical), or those in the initial symptomatic stages (prodromal, or mild cognitive impairment, MCI) of AD, may present opportunities for more successful therapeutic intervention, or even disease prevention by interdicting the neuropathological cascade that is ultimately characterized by the deposition of extracellular β-amyloid (Aβ) and accumulation of intracellular fibrils of hyperphosphorylated microtubule associated protein tau (MAPT or tau) within the brain. Biomarkers for early disease, including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tau and Aβ levels, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the recent use of brain positron emission tomography (PET) amyloid imaging, are of limited use as widespread screening tools since they provide diagnostic options that are either invasive (i.e., require lumbar puncture), time-consuming (i.e., several hours in a scanner for most comprehensive imaging protocols), or expensive, or have been primarily validated in comparisons between normal subjects and those with the disease. No current blood-based biomarkers can detect incipient dementia with the required sensitivity and specificity during the preclinical stages. Continued interest in blood-based biomarkers remains because these specimens are obtained using minimally invasive, rapid, and relatively inexpensive methods. With recent technological advances in 'omics' technologies and systems biology analytic approaches, the comprehensive bioinformatic analyses of blood-based biomarkers may not only yield improved accuracy in predicting those at risk, but may also provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms and pathobiological networks involved in AD and possibly herald the development of new therapeutic strategies.
The preclinical interval resulting in MCI or AD is known to be variable, multifactorial, and extends for at least 7-10 years prior to the emergence of clinical signs (prodromal or manifest disease). In the absence of accurate and easily obtained biomarkers, multimodal neurocognitive testing remains the most accurate, standardized, and widely used pre-mortem screening method to determine the presence or absence of clinical MCI or AD. The utility of strict cognitive assessment for preclinical stages of MCI or AD is limited, however, as this approach is not only time-consuming but is expected, by definition, to be normal in preclinical subjects. Neuropsychological testing is able to quantitatively delineate specific brain alterations from normal, such as memory, attention, language, visuoperceptual, and executive functions, which are typically not affected in individuals during the preclinical stages. Thus, information obtained from multiple diagnostic studies will probably be most useful in defining the MCI/AD preclinical stages, including neuropsychological testing and some form(s) of biomarker(s). While CSF and neuroimaging have been used to define preclinical MCI/AD to date, their clinical utility as screening tools for asymptomatic individuals is not established.


It is assumed that at least one of the plurality of nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device (hereinafter, referred to as a first memory device) in a low power consumption state in which error check processing and refresh processing cannot be performed. A storage apparatus releases a low power consumption state of a first memory device at a timing according to a lapsed time after the first memory device is in the low power consumption state and an estimated ambient temperature of the first memory device at the lapsed time. When the low power consumption state is released, the first memory device executes the error check processing and the refresh processing.

Conventionally, a storage apparatus has a storage device having a nonvolatile storage medium, such as a magnetic disk and an optical disk, which can be randomly accessed. Recently, the storage apparatus including a plurality of small-sized disk drives has been becoming popular.
In recent years, with the progress of the semiconductor technology, a batch erasable nonvolatile semiconductor memory has been developed. Examples of such a nonvolatile semiconductor memory include a flash memory. Hereinafter, a storage device using a flash memory as a storage medium is referred to as a "flash memory device", and a storage apparatus having a flash memory device is referred to as a "flash storage apparatus".
Compared with the storage apparatus having the plurality of small-sized disk drives, it is considered that the flash storage apparatus can further save power, provide a faster access time, and the like.
However, if a long time passes after data is written into the flash memory, a data error is gradually increased and thus there is a possibility that the data error cannot be corrected even by an error correction code. Therefore, if a predetermined time passes after data is written into a certain area in the flash memory, the flash memory device reads data from the area, and if there is an error in the data, the data error is corrected and then the data is moved to (written into) another area in the flash memory. This prevents data from being lost. Such processing is called "refresh processing".
It has been known that the data error in the flash memory increases rapidly as a frequency of rewriting data into the memory area increases. On the other hand, PTL 1 discloses a method of performing refresh processing at timing according to a degree of progress of a frequency of rewriting data in the flash memory.

Storage apparatus and memory device control method


A coolant diverter system and method of controlling coolant flow are provided. The coolant diverter system includes a coolant diverter body having a coolant inlet opening, a driveline retarder outlet opening and a bypass outlet opening. The coolant diverter system also includes a valve positioned in the coolant diverter body. The valve is configured in a first valve orientation to fluidly couple the coolant inlet opening to the driveline retarder outlet opening in isolation from the bypass outlet opening. The valve is configured in a second valve orientation to fluidly couple the coolant inlet opening to the driveline retarder outlet opening and the bypass outlet opening. The coolant diverter system also includes a valve controller configured to place the valve in the first valve orientation in response to activation of a driveline retarder coupled to the driveline retarder outlet opening for braking.

Vehicles propelled by internal combustion engines generally include cooling systems having an external circuit that allows engine coolant to flow through a vehicle radiator to manage the heat loads of the engine. Certain vehicles, such as large or heavy duty vehicles are fitted with driveline retarders. The driveline retarder is used to assist with braking and slowing the vehicle and in this implementation produce a significant amount of heat. The driveline retarder typically includes a heat exchanger to dissipate the heat generated during operation and thereby maintain the driveline retarder at a safe operating temperature. Vehicles equipped with a driveline retarder generally include a coolant circuit where the engine coolant is routed through the heat exchanger of the driveline retarder and then on to the vehicle radiator and internal combustion engine. While this coolant circuit may dissipate the coolant heat loads of the engine and of the driveline retarder, the added restriction of the driveline retarder heat exchanger and negatively impacts the cooling capability of the vehicle. While water pump speeds may be increased to compensate for the increased coolant system restrictions, increased water pump speeds lead to increased water pump parasitics that result in reduced engine efficiency.

System and method for optimizing the integration of engines and vehicle driveline retarders


An image forming apparatus includes; an exposure unit configured to perform, based on the image data, first exposure for a photosensitive member and second exposure for the photosensitive member exposed by the first exposure; a determination unit configured to determine a type of the image to be formed based on image data; and a control unit configured to control the exposure unit such that a difference in an exposure amount between the first exposure and the second exposure performed based on the image data when the type of the image is a character is larger than the difference in the exposure amount between the first exposure and the second exposure performed based on the image data when the type of the image is a picture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine which performs image formation using electrophotographic method or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-294005 discloses an image forming apparatus that scans a photosensitive member at once by a plurality of light beams using a VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) including a plurality of light sources to speed up image formation.
In the image forming apparatus that scans using a plurality of light beams, stripes are generated in the scan direction in which the light beams scan the photosensitive member due to the variation between the elements or the nonuniform scan line intervals. To suppress the degradation in image quality, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-109680 discloses an image forming apparatus that performs so-called multiple exposure in which the surface of a photosensitive member is exposed a plurality of times based on the same image data.
The multiple exposure makes it possible to suppress the degradation in image quality caused when the photosensitive member is scanned by a plurality of light beams. However, since the spot position of overlaid light beams may shift, the latent image may blur, and the image sharpness may lower. This leads to degradation in quality of a character image which particularly needs to be reproduced sharply.

Image forming apparatus for performing exposure a plurality of times


A motor driving device provided with a decelerator according to the present invention is so structured that a motor rotational shaft 6a and an output rotational shaft 9 are coaxially disposed within a casing 1 thereof, and planetary gears 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 connect the two rotational shafts 6a and 9.. According to the present invention, a special wall disposed between the motor rotational shaft 6a and the output rotational shaft 9 and for supporting the two rotational shafts 6a and 9 becomes needless to be provided for the casing 1. As a result, the overall length of the casing 1 can be reduced and the shape of the casing 1 can be simplified. Furthermore, the power of the electric motor 6 can be effectively transmitted to the output rotational shaft 9 by the planetary gear decelerating device so that the driving device can output large torque.

The present invention relates to a motor driving device provided with a decelerator which is called, for example, "Geared Motor".
In electric vehicles, if a motor is provided for the wheels respectively, the driving torque for the wheel can be independently controlled, causing an effective control at the time of performing a small turn or preventing slippage. Therefore, a study upon electric vehicles whose four wheels are independently driven has been progressed, resulting a various disclosures.
Hitherto, an electric vehicle such as fork-lift or golf-cart employes a wheel motor disposed to each wheel as driving means. Such wheel motor generally employs a motor integrally provided with a gear decelerating device. The reason for such employment lies in that a high efficiency and high speed type motor can be used as a low speed and large torque type motor by combining such motor and decelerator. In a usual electric vehicles, the wheels thereof are rotated at the number of revolution of substantially 1000 rpm, while a motor arranged to be rotated at 2000 rpm is employed by the above-described type of vehicles.
As a usual type of the motor which is integrally provided with the above-described type of gear decelerating device, a motor of the type is known which is constituted in such a manner that the electric motor and the gear decelerating device are formed as individual units and the thus-formed units are integrally coupled to each other. In such structure, the gear decelerating device is structured so as to realize several stepped deceleration by using an external gear thereof.
In electric vehicles, the wheels thereof tend to move vertically due to uneveness of the road or the wheels can be turned (steered) laterally when the vehicles are driven. Therefore, in a case where a motor driving device is respectively provided for the wheels, the motor driving device needs to be arranged not to be interfered with the wheels when the wheels are moved or turned as described above. As a result, the space for providing the motor driving device is involved to be limited. That is, the reduction of the size of the motor driving device is necessary. In order to satisfy such necessity, the size of the motor needs to be reduced as much as possible.
However, in the conventional motor which is integrally provided with the gear deceleration device, the electric motor and the decelerating device respectively comprises a heavy casing since the same are independently formed as units. Furthermore, the casing for the decelerating device cannot b reduced to a satisfactory size since it needs to accommodate a multiplicity of external gears. In addition, in such external geared decelerating device, since two gears are secured in the axial direction to one rotational shaft, the overall length thereof involves to be lengthened. Therefore, there is a limit to reduce the overall body size of the motor.
To this end, a structure can be considered to be employed which is constituted in such a manner that the electric motor and the gear decelerating device are accommodated within a casing. However, in the conventional motor which is integrally provided with the gear decelerating device, the rotational shaft for the motor and the rotational shaft for each of the decelerating steps are individually supported by a pair of bearings. In order to support these bearings, an wall for supporting the bearings needs to be provided in addition to the outer wall of the casing. Therefore, the shape of the casing can be complicated, and the overall length cannot be shortened to a satisfactory size. In addition, a problem arises that such bearings cause mechanical loss which can lead to a fact that the output torque is reduced.

Motor driving device provided with decelerator and electric vehicle


An apparatus and method to seat a tire on a rim are described. Protrusions and a handle on the apparatus allow a user to brace the protrusions against the rim to prevent blow back when air is vented into the gap between the tire and the rim to seat the tire bead. The air is vented through a plurality of holes in the apparatus and the flow of the air into the apparatus is controlled by positioning a bridge handle of a flow control valve situated between the apparatus and a tank of air.

A challenge associated with changing a tubeless tire is the difficulty associated with establishing the initial seal between the bead of the tire and the bead-seating surface of the rim on which the tire is to be mounted. This difficulty results from the fact that, when a tire is uninflated, the open space or gap between its bead and the bead-seating surface of the rim is often so large that seating is prevented by the leakage of air therethrough. At the same time that the gap renders the tire unable to hold air, the inability of the tire to hold air prevents it from expanding so as to reduce the size of the gap. This problem is more apparent in the case of heavy truck tires, particularly radial truck tires, because the stiffness of such tires makes them resistant to forces that tend to reduce the gap sufficiently for seating to occur.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a seating apparatus and method to address at least these issues.

Apparatus and method for sealing tubeless tires


Vehicles or ships each carry a magnetic force line sensor, a GPS position detector, and a data transmitter and travel within an observation area transmitting magnetic field data and position data to an earthquake prediction center. A telluric current induction field estimation unit of the earthquake prediction center estimates telluric current induction fields based on the received observation data. A telluric current estimation unit estimates telluric currents based on the results of estimating the telluric current induction fields. A telluric current induction field intensity change pattern generation unit generates patterns indicating the change over time of the intensity of telluric current induction fields. An earthquake prediction unit analyzes the state of distribution of the telluric currents and the patterns of change in the intensities of the telluric current induction fields and estimates a seismofocal zone, seismic intensity, and time of occurrence of a seismic event.

The Japanese archipelago is situated on volcanic chains, and the occurrence of a massive earthquake disaster is therefore a major concern in the oceans to the east, southeast and south, not to mention throughout the archipelago. To protect the lives and property of citizens from earthquake disasters, more suitable measures must be taken not only for systems for recovery following an earthquake, but for earthquake prediction, and for this purpose, the establishment of a low-cost, and moreover, highly accurate and effective earthquake prediction technology is urgently required.
From ancient times, many examples of precursors of impending earthquakes have been reported, such as the agitated behavior of catfish or the increased activity of rats. In addition, several days before the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake and Fire of January 1995, local amateur radio operators observed radio-wave abnormalities, and a phenomenon known as an "earthquake cloud" was witnessed by many people.
It is believed that the occurrence of such radio-wave abnormalities and "earthquake clouds" result from some form of influence of telluric currents that are in turn generated by the piezoelectric effect resulting from the collision of tectonic plates.
The prediction of earthquakes by observing the amount of rotation of a permanent magnet that is suspended from a thread has been disclosed (for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-258353).
However, the prediction of earthquakes with high accuracy by observing changes in telluric current would necessitate the establishment of a large number of closely-spaced observation facilities over an extensive observation area. As an example, earthquake prediction in the eastern seaboard region of Japan would require an observation system covering several hundred kilometers square.
With the current financial difficulties faced by national and municipal governments, such an establishment of a large number of observation facilities would be a tremendous burden, and the costs for maintaining and operating the observation system would render the realization of such a system highly problematic.

Earthquake prediction method and system thereof


A GPON module comprises a housing and a circuit board disposed in the housing. The circuit board further includes ground lines that substantially isolate regions of the circuit board, an electro-optical interface for converting an inbound optical signal to an electrical signal and processing circuitry that is arranged to provide an electrical RF signal to an RF interface. The RF interface comprises a three-pin RF connector exposed from the housing, wherein the RF connector is coupled directly to the circuit board, and two of the three pins are coupled to ground.

Fiber optic technology has been recognized for its high bandwidth capacity over longer distances, enhanced overall network reliability and service quality. Fiber to the premises ("FTTP"), as opposed to fiber to the node ("FTTN") or fiber to the curb ("FTTC") delivery, enables service providers to deliver substantial bandwidth and a wide range of applications directly to business and residential subscribers. For example, FTTP can accommodate the so-called "triple-play" bundle of services, e.g., high-speed Internet access and networking, multiple telephone lines and high-definition and interactive video applications.
Utilizing FTTP, however, involves equipping each subscriber premises with the ability to receive an optical signal and convert it into a signal compatible with pre-existing wiring in the premises (e.g., twisted pair and coaxial). For bi-directional communication with the network, the premises should be equipped with the ability to convert outbound signals into optical signals. In some cases, these abilities are implemented with a passive optical network ("PON"), with each premises having a dedicated optical network unit ("ONU") for transceiving optical and electrical signals. In some instances, the ONU for a given subscriber is mounted outdoors.
Generally speaking, a PON is a point-to-multipoint fiber to the premises network architecture in which unpowered optical splitters are used to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple (e.g., 32) premises. A PON can include an optical line termination ("OLT") at the service provider's central office and a PON module for each end user. Some currently implemented PONs employ the ITU-T G.983 standard, sometimes called "BPON" or "broadband PON." BPON includes support for wavelength division multiplexing, dynamic and higher upstream bandwidth allocation, and survivability. It also includes a standard management interface, called OMCI, between the OLT and PON module, enabling mixed-vendor networks. BPON supports bit rates of about 622 Mbits/second downstream and about 155 Mbits/second upstream. The next generation standard is ITU-T G.984, sometimes called "GPON" or "gigabit PON." Compared to BPON, GPON supports higher rates (2,488 Mbits/second downstream and 1,244 Mbits/second upstream), enhanced security, and choice of Layer 2 protocol (e.g., ATM, GEM, Ethernet).
Certain electro-optical transceiving functions are performed by a PON module (or "transceiver module") that is disposed inside the ONU. The PON module will vary with the type of PON with which it is associated (e.g., BPON module, GPON module, etc.). In some cases, the module includes a bulk optic WDM module that separates the wavelengths of the incoming optical signal. Each of the wavelengths is then manipulated accordingly. The continuous downstream data (e.g., 1490 nm) is filtered and amplified by a limiter amplifier IC. The burst upstream data originating from the premises is converted to an optical signal (e.g., at 1310 nm) and is controlled by a burst mode laser driver IC. This IC, along with other control circuitry, controls the laser to meet the requirements of the protocol (e.g., depending on whether the network is BPON or GPON).
The downstream video broadcast streams (e.g., 1550 nm) are manipulated by video receiver circuitry which transmits them through the premises via a 75-ohm coaxial cable. Normally, the interface for connecting the PON module to the coaxial cable consists of an interface cable extending from a circuit board within the PON module housing and coupling to a second circuit board at the subscriber location (e.g., within the ONU). This interface cable is expensive and complicates manufacturing and installation (due, e.g., to its bulk and inflexibility). Also, the large, inflexible and heavy interface cable may place excessive strain on the PON circuit board during transport, installation and use. The strain can be focused at the point at which the interface is coupled (e.g., soldered) to the PON circuit board, which may result in failure of the coupling.


A analog-to-digital converter includes: an analog signal input, a reference voltage source, a portion for the combined processing of the analog signal and reference voltage, and a coding portion for supplying a digital output signal which is a function of the results of this processing. The processing portion includes at least one level of processing operators suitable for carrying out a non-linear calculation from their inputs; the coding portion include one level of output operators, each having as many inputs as there are outputs in the last level of operators in the processing portion. The transfer functions of the processing operators and output operators are chosen so as to allow an optimum analog-to-digital conversion over a given range of input signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns analog-to-digital converters.
Certain applications require rapid analog-to-digital converters. This is the case particularly in medical imaging and in television, and more particularly in high definition television.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The analog-to-digital converters which are currently the fastest are known as "flash" converters, which are discussed further hereinafter. These converters are based on specialized circuits which are difficult to manufacture and are consequently expensive.


The present invention is directed to foams produced from sulfone polymers and mixtures of sulfone polymers with various non-sulfone polymers. These foams are produced using aqueous blowing agents comprising water as the only blowing agent, or mixtures of water with another blowing agent material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the production of sulfone polymer foams, and more particularly to a process employing aqueous blowing agents for the production of low density polysulfone, polyarylsulfone and polyethersulfone foams, and foams of blends of sulfone polymers with other foamable polymers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sulfone polymeric materials are known for their useful characteristics as engineering thermoplastics for high temperature applications. Foams from these materials have been made with difficulty since the high temperatures necessary to produce a flowable gel from sulfone polymeric materials causes problems with the usual blowing agents.
One approach to the manufacture of polysulfone foams has been to use volatile organic solvents such as methylene chloride to form flowable compositions which can be foamed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,352 discloses a method using this and related organic liquids as solvents and plasticizers and, ultimately, as blowing agents for the manufacture of polysulfone foams.
Another problem in the art associated with solvent type blowing agents is adhesion to various substrates, including those of the processing equipment. The use of various solvents improves mold fill, but this aggravates the adhesion problem. An approach to this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,1798,540, which employed a very small amount of water in conjunction with a blend of various resins, including polysulfones, and normally liquid organic solvents to form a non-tacky hydrogel dough.
All processes for the production of foams which employ CFC's and related halogenated solvents and blowing agents are under scrutiny today in hopes that the halogenated materials used therein can be eliminated, reduced, or replaced by other materials with lesser environmental impact.
Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an improved process for the production of foams of sulfone polymers which overcomes the processing problems mentioned above, including high temperature.
Another objective of the present invention is to lessen the environmental impact of the manufacture of sulfone polymer foams through the use of blowing agents with reduced or zero halogen content.

Sulfone polymer foam produced with aqueous blowing agent


Playthings, such as dolls (10, 12), figures or toy animals (22) are provided. The playthings are provided singly or in pairs. The playthings have limbs, such as arms, or other appendages such as tails or trunks, extending from their bodies, the limbs or appendages being provided with connection elements, such as magnets (14), for removably attaching limbs together to simulate "hand holding" or to attach to metal surfaces or to "pick up" metal objects. In alternative embodiments the magnets are arranged so that they will repel each other so that certain limbs or appendages will not attach to each other. In another embodiment the playthings can be manipulated by the thumb and fingers, such as in the form of recesses (44) provided in the clothes or by strings (38), such as in the form of a marionette (46).

Magnets have been used in toys for their ability to attract or attach to metal objects. Magnets have also been utilized in the hands of dolls to attract objects, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,696,553 and 3,731,427. However, these dolls are not able to hold each other's hands or their own hands, to provide new aspects of play or instruction with such dolls. It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide playthings, which can be in the form of dolls, figures, plush animals, or any other suitable form, having hands or feet or other limbs or appendages provided with magnets or other attachment means to accomplish such actions as hand-holding, as well as holding onto other objects or surfaces.


A prosthesis system including a ventilated shell, and a substantially compliant, ventilated spacer element that defines a first surface having a frictional feature. The spacer element is arranged to secure to an internal surface of the shell. The prosthesis system also includes a connector that is secured to a distal end of the shell, and a retainer supported by the connector so as to extend into a cavity formed by the shell.

Existing prosthetic sockets on residual limbs tend to be bulky and cumbersome to wear. They may also be difficult to don and make the residual limb uncomfortable when worn due to a lack of ventilation. Moreover, most prosthetic sockets are permanently formed, thereby not accounting for swelling of a residual limb. These sockets also require time to be constructed, and there are very few socket options for new amputees prior to receiving a socket after surgery.
It is desirable to provide a simplified and compact prosthesis system that overcomes the drawbacks over known prosthesis systems. Further, it is desirable to provide a prosthesis system that can be worn temporarily and adjusted accordingly.


A system for providing mechanical ventilation support to a patient and includes a mechanical ventilator. A breathing circuit is pneumatically connected between the mechanical ventilator and a patient connection. An inspiratory check valve is disposed within an inspiratory limb of the breathing circuit. A fresh gas manifold provides fresh gas to the breathing circuit for delivery to the patient. A fresh gas valve is disposed between the fresh gas manifold and the breathing circuit. The fresh gas valve is operable between a first position which directs fresh gas upstream of the inspiratory check valve and a second position that directs fresh gas downstream of the inspiratory check valve. A digital signal processor operates the fresh gas valve selectively between the first position and the second position. A method of ventilating a patient includes introducing a flow of fresh gas into an inspiratory limb of the breathing circuit. A ventilatory support value is sensed with at least one sensor disposed within the breathing circuit. An operational condition of the breathing circuit is identified with a digital signal processor. A fresh gas valve is operated with the digital processor between a first position that directs fresh gas to the inspiratory limb upstream from the inspiratory check valve and a second position that directs the fresh gas downstream from the inspiratory check valve.

The present disclosure relates to the field of mechanical ventilation for patients undergoing general anesthesia. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a system and method for controlling the introduction of fresh gas into a breathing circuit.
Mechanical ventilation support is a common therapeutic technique that is provided to a patient that is either too weak from sedation or muscle paralysis to complete a respiratory cycle without external assistance. Artificial ventilation is provided to patient's experiencing total pulmonary failure and is unable to initiate a respiratory cycle under their own power. Ventilatory assistance is provided to patient's that can initiate spontaneous breathing, but benefit from the external control of the volume duration, and inhaled concentrations provided with ventilatory assistance.
Previous mechanical ventilation systems vented expired gases away from the patient and each breath included only fresh gas. Modern mechanical ventilation systems recycle at least a portion of the expired gases from the patient by processing the expired gases and returning them to the patient in a later respiratory cycle. These, low-flow mechanical ventilation systems seek to maximize the use of medical gases delivered to the patient.

System and method for providing mechanical ventilation support to a patient


A television system is disclosed including sections for limiting peak white drive to a display device (e.g., of the direct view of projection type) while maintaining relatively high subjective image contrast and brightness. Specifically, the system includes an automatic contrast control section for controlling the amplitude of the luminance signal in response to the peak value of a luminance-representative image component signal preceded by a "white-stretch" control section for emphasizing mid-range luminance components relative to high-range luminance components as a function of the average value of the luminance-representative image component. In this way, spot blooming and display driver saturation can be minimized while providing subjectively sharp, bright pictures.

In television systems, it is known to reduce one or both of the contrast and brightness of a reproduced image in order to inhibit "white-spot blooming" due to excessive electron beam currents of the cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, as well as to inhibit CRT drive and phosphor amplifier saturation which tend to limit slewrate. This may be accomplished by directly sensing the beam current and, in response, generating a control signal for the contrast and/or brightness control sections of the system. The control signal may also be generated by detecting a characteristic of a video signal coupled to the cathode ray tube. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,643 entitled "Apparatus Responsive To Plural Color Video Signals For Amplitude Limiting The Video Signals To Assist Beam Current Limiting", issued to W. E. Harlan, discloses combining the three color signals coupled to the cathode ray tube and detecting the average of the white-going peak of resulting signal above a predetermined threshold to generate a contrast control signal.

Dynamic video system including automatic contrast and "white-stretch" processing sections


Methods and improved process flows are provided herein for forming self-aligned contacts using spin-on silicon carbide (SiC). More specifically, the disclosed methods and process flows form self-aligned contacts by using spin-on SiC as a cap layer for at least one other structure, instead of depositing a SiC layer via plasma vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), etc. The other structure may be a source and drain contact made through the use of a trench conductor. By utilizing spin-on SiC as a cap layer material, the disclosed methods and process flows avoid problems that typically occur when SiC is deposited, for example by CVD, and subsequently planarized. As such, the disclosed methods and process flows improve upon conventional methods and process flows for forming self-aligned contacts by reducing defectivity and improving yield.

The present disclosure relates to the processing of substrates. In particular, it provides a method of etching self-aligned contacts on substrates.
Substrate processing typically involves a series of manufacturing techniques related to the formation, patterning and removal of a number of layers of material on a substrate. As device linewidths continue to shrink, various individual processing steps require associated improvements. For example, as device sizes shrink, layer thicknesses shrink, and aspect ratios increase, the etch selectivity between one layer and another layer may need to increase accordingly. At times, as device criteria continue to shrink, improvements to an individual processing step may not be sufficient to meet the desired device criteria. Thus, the integration of the overall process flow of the individual process steps also may be modified to provide a repeatable, stable process flow which satisfies shrinking device criteria.
One process integration technique utilized to satisfy demanding design criteria is the formation of self-aligned structures. The use of such self-aligned structures allows the formation of structures that may be smaller than the normal lithography or etch tolerances and allows tighter layer-to-layer alignment tolerances. Thus, as is known in the art, a variety of self-aligned techniques may be utilized to form structures.
One exemplary self-aligned structure is a self-aligned contact. Self-aligned contacts may be utilized at a variety of points in a process integration flow. For example, self-aligned contacts have been known to be used for the formation of contacts to the gates of a semiconductor transistor. Self-aligned contacts may also be utilized for the formation of contacts to the source and drain regions of a transistor. Other self-aligned structures are known and it will be recognized that the structures described above are merely exemplary.
When forming self-aligned contacts to a transistor gate, differing cap materials are typically provided on the tops of the transistor gates and other structures (such as, for example, on top of conductors that are used for trench and source and drain regions). The differing cap materials provide different etch characteristics, so that the etch of the gate contact is selective to the other structures, and vice-versa. The other structures may include conductors at trench and source/drain regions. One known cap material utilized for on the conductors in source and drain contact regions is a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) silicon carbide (SiC) material. When CVD SiC is used as the cap material for source and drain contacts, silicon nitride (SiN) may be used as the gate cap.
As tolerances and thicknesses become more demanding, processes that use CVD SiC as a cap material for trench contacts have become unsatisfactory for self-aligned contacts. For example, the contact filling property of CVD SiC is not ideal and often leads to void formation. In addition, the planarization process (e.g., chemical mechanical polishing, (CMP)) used to remove excess CVD SiC to form caps for trench contacts is difficult, and often leads to further defects.
It would be desirable to provide an improved self-aligned gate contact process flow.

Methods for forming self-aligned contacts using spin-on silicon carbide


A method for determining if one audio signal is derived from another audio signal or if two audio signals are derived from the same audio signal compares reduced-information characterizations of said audio signals, wherein said characterizations are based on auditory scene analysis. The comparison removes from the characterisations or minimizes in the characterisations the effect of temporal shift or delay on the audio signals (5-1), calculates a measure of similarity (5-2), and compares the measure of similarity against a threshold. In one alternative, the effect of temporal shift or delay is removed or minimized by cross-correlating the two characterizations. In another alternative, the effect of temporal shift or delay is removed or minimized by transforming the characterizations into a domain that is independent of temporal delay effects, such as the frequency domain. In both cases, a measure of similarity is calculated by calculating a coefficient of correlation.

The division of sounds into units perceived as separate is sometimes referred to as "auditory event analysis" or "auditory scene analysis" ("ASA"). An extensive discussion of auditory scene analysis is set forth by Albert S. Bregman in his book Auditory Scene Analysis—The Perceptual Organization of Sound, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1991, Fourth printing, 2001, Second MIT Press paperback edition. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,776 to Bhadkamkar, et al, Dec. 14, 1999 cites publications dating back to 1976 as "prior art work related to sound separation by auditory scene analysis." However, the Bhadkamkar, et al patent discourages the practical use of auditory scene analysis, concluding that "[t]techniques involving auditory scene analysis, although interesting from a scientific point of view as models of human auditory processing, are currently far too computationally demanding and specialized to be considered practical techniques for sound separation until fundamental progress is made."
Bregman notes in one passage that "[w]e hear discrete units when the sound changes abruptly in timbre, pitch, loudness, or (to a lesser extent) location in space." (Auditory Scene Analysis—The Perceptual Organization of Sound, supra at page 469). Bregman also discusses the perception of multiple simultaneous sound streams when, for example, they are separated in frequency.
There are many different methods for extracting characteristics or features from audio. Provided the features or characteristics are suitably defined, their extraction can be performed using automated processes. For example "ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11" (MPEG) is currently standardizing a variety of audio descriptors as part of the MPEG-7 standard. A common shortcoming of such methods is that they ignore ASA. Such methods seek to measure, periodically, certain "classical" signal processing parameters such as pitch, amplitude, power, harmonic structure and spectral flatness. Such parameters, while providing useful information, do not analyze and characterize audio signals into elements perceived as separate according to human cognition.
Auditory scene analysis attempts to characterize audio signals in a manner similar to human perception by identifying elements that are separate according to human cognition. By developing such methods, one can implement automated processes that accurately perform tasks that heretofore would have required human assistance.
The identification of separately perceived elements would allow the unique identification of an audio signal using substantially less information than the full signal itself. Compact and unique identifications based on auditory events may be employed, for example, to identify a signal that is copied from another signal (or is copied from the same original signal as another signal).

Comparing audio using characterizations based on auditory events

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


A pick-up truck with multi-position tailgate including a tailgate is coupled with respect to an open outer end of the bed of the pick-up truck. The tailgate has a pair of protrusions extending outwardly from opposing ends thereof for removably engaging a pair of apertures of the open outer to facilitate a hinged coupling with the pick-up truck. The tailgate has a pair of tabs extending outwardly of the opposing ends. The pair of tabs each have an elongated bracket extending outwardly therefrom. A pair of side tracks are secured to the opposed side walls of the bed of the pick-up truck. The pair of side tracks slidably receive free ends of the elongated brackets of the tailgate whereby the tailgate can be moved into a raised orientation.

The present invention relates to a pick-up truck with multi-position tailgate and more particularly pertains to a multi-position tailgate that allows better performance including air deflection.
The use of pick-up trucks is known in the prior art. More specifically, pick-up trucks heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of hauling various items are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,213 to Deaver discloses a spoiler, attachable to the tailgate of a pickup truck to improve the aerodynamics of the vehicle and to protect the tailgate from damage. U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,636 to Buck discloses a spoiler attachable to the tailgate of a pickup truck for aerodynamic benefit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,843 to Crossman discloses a pickup truck air deflector fitted to the cab of the vehicle.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objective and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a pick-up truck with multi-position tailgate for allowing for better performance including air deflection.
In this respect, the pick-up truck with multi-position tailgate according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing for better performance including air deflection.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved pick-up truck with multi-position tailgate which can be used for allowing for better performance including air deflection. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

Pick-up truck with multi-position tailgate