The battery cell design includes a battery cell component comprises a current conducting element, that includes at least a portion that is hollow, further component is configured to be located within a battery cell. Another embodiment of the component comprises a first element that defines a first fluid path therein; and a second element that defines a second fluid path, wherein the two fluid paths are in communication with each other, further wherein the battery cell component is configured to conduct electric current. A battery cell and battery cell assembly that uses the component, and a method of cooling a battery assembly is also disclosed. The present invention has been described in terms of specific embodiment(s), and it is recognized that equivalents, alternatives, and modifications, aside from those expressly stated, are possible and within the scope of the appending claims.

The present invention relates generally to battery cells and more particularly to a battery cell design including a battery cell component, a battery cell having the component, a battery pack assembly, and a method of cooling battery cells in the battery pack assembly.
Battery cells, depending on the particular technology employed, have optimal or improved performance in certain temperature ranges. Performance and/or degradation rates worsen when operated outside the temperature ranges. Accordingly, various thermal control systems are employed to aid in getting the battery cell to operate within the temperature range.
One thermal management method used with sodium-based battery cells is employing a system having an electric heater plate located at the top of the battery cells and a series of interstitial air cooling structures or panels. The air-cooling structures or panels are located between the rows of battery cells, which are typically arranged in a cell array (i.e., battery cell assembly). When battery cooling is needed, air is pushed through the duct of the cooling panel, thereby directing air first to the outside casing of the battery cells. Meanwhile, heat transfer is from the core of the cell to the air via the anode compartment; then the cell case steel wall; then the electrical insulation; then the wall of the cooling panel; and, then finally to the air. A disadvantage of this system is the indirect cooling of the core of the cell and the long path for the heat flow from the source to the sink. Additionally, the anode compartment is only partially filled with sodium, which is a good conductor. In fact, under normal operating conditions, the Na level in the anode compartment typically never exceeds about 40% of the available volume at any stage of the charge/discharge cycle. This method is limited in terms of how fast and how effective the cathode will be cooled to keep its temperature in the desired operating ranges under cycling conditions. This method is therefore cumbersome, heavy, expensive, and inefficient.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for improving upon the effectiveness of the various thermal management methodologies for battery cells.

Battery cell design and method of cooling battery cells


According to embodiments of the present invention, an optical device includes a ridge waveguide having the ridge oriented on the waveguide core layer at an angle away from the <110> direction of the (100) plane of (100) Indium Phosphide substrate. The ridge waveguide may be a laser diode, a Mach-Zehnder modulator, or other suitable optical device.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to optical devices and, in particular, to optical waveguides.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In general, optical receivers and transmitters may be used to receive data and/or other information on optical signals. Traditional optical transmitters and receivers have limitations, however. For example, traditional waveguides that may be used to guide optical signals have limitations.

Trapezoidal ridge waveguide oriented away from <110> direction


A clay target launching machine includes a magazine containing a predetermined number of clay targets; a first motor assembly; a throwing arm operatively coupled to the first motor assembly such that actuation of the first motor assembly is translated into pivoting of the throwing arm to launch the clay target; a housing that is pivotable about a base and supports, at least in part, the magazine, the first motor assembly, and the throwing arm; and an automatic trajectory changer assembly including a second motor that is operatively coupled to the housing through a linkage such that rotation of a drive shaft of the second motor is translated into vertical and lateral movement of the housing relative to the base; wherein the first motor assembly operates at a different speed than the second motor.

Trap machines are conventionally used to shoot sporting clays, skeet, and trap. Sporting clays involves shooting clays at various locations which are launched at different velocities and angles, i.e., across the shooter's view, towards the shooter, or away from the shooter. This experience closely resembles actual hunting conditions since the sporting clays can be shot to resemble quail, pheasants, doves, and other game birds, as well as high-flying ducks or geese. Thus, it is more difficult for shooters to become accustomed to the shots as they might for trap or skeet shooting.
Skeet shooting involves shooting clays which are flung into the air at high speed and is meant to simulate the action of bird hunting. In one conventional arrangement, the shooter can be positioned along a semi-circle connecting two launching stations, a high house target and a low house target. The high house target launches the target from a point up to 10 feet above ground, and the low house target launches the target from a point up to 3 feet off above ground.
Trap shooting involves shooting clays which are launched from a single launching location, namely, a trap house positioned at a distance in front of the shooter, at varying angles within a range of 45 degrees to the left or right of a center position from the trap house. The shooter rotates to several different positions relative to the trap house.
Whether for shooting sporting clays, skeet, or trap, a conventional trap machine has a spring-loaded throwing arm for launching the clays. However, conventional trap machines are designed to shoot clays at a single trajectory angle. Even if the conventional trap machine is adapted to allow the user to adjust the trajectory angle, the conventional trap machines are typically manually adjustable and require the user to set the trap machine to the desired trajectory angle. Thus, the operation of such a machine is rather cumbersome and require considerable effort.
Furthermore, conventional trap machines are difficult to maintain. When parts, such as the threads in the connection between the magazine and the housing, become worn due to the vibration of the trap machine when releasing and launching the clays, major components including the main deck must be replaced, and often, the user will replace the entire machine rather than replace the major components of the trap machine.
Conventional trap machines also often break the clays due to excessive vibrations from a lack of rigidity in the structure of the trap machine and mistiming between the release of the clay and the swing of the throwing arm. Conventional trap machines are also typically limited to holding 70 clays in a single stack trap machine.
What has heretofore not been available is a reliable trap machine that automatically changes the trajectory angle, is easy to maintain, is capable of storing more than 70 clays in a single stack, and accurately times the throwing arm with the release of the clay.


In a disk apparatus of contact-start-stop system, a head slider carries out a contact-start-stop operation at a non-specified position taken in the radial direction of a disk-shaped recording medium. This can be achieved by entering a random signal from a random number generator to a means for positioning the head slider in the radial direction of the disk when the recording medium begins to stop rotating. Accordingly, the head slider can be effectively inhibited from adhering to the disk, and the disk becomes unlikely to suffer wear, damage and head crash, and further, many information tracks can be formed on the disk.

A disk apparatus moves a head on a rotating disk-shaped recording medium (hereinafter merely referred to as a disk) in the radial direction of the disk to position at a predetermined track, relative to which the head is scanned to read and write necessary signals. Among such disk apparatus, one using a floating head slider arranged by loading the head on the slider utilizing the principle of a dynamic pressure type pneumatic bearing has been widely used because it allows the clearance between the head and the disk to be held extremely fine and highly accurate. When this floating head slider is used, a so-called contact-start-stop (CSS) system forms an important system in order to simplify and make miniaturized the mechanism of the interior of tile disk apparatus, in which when the disk is not rotating tile slider comes in contact with the disk, as the disk starts to rotate the slider gradually floats up, when the disk is steadily rotating the slider holds a predetermined clearance relative to the disk and as the disk stops rotating the slider touches down on the disk again.
A conventional disk apparatus made according to this CSS system has read and written the information from and on the disk as shown in FIG. 1. That is, the surface of a disk 1 is sectioned into a data area 2 and a CSS area 3 which lies innerer than that, and the information track 4 is previously formed only on the data area 2 while the slider is made to touch down only on the CSS area 4 where no information track is formed to control the position of the slider taken in the radial direction of the disk. This is in order to eliminate the damage of the data area which can be caused by its contact with the slider to prolong the lifetime of the disk. Such a disk apparatus is described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,106.
However, as described above, with the conventional disk apparatus, since the CSS area 3 of the disk 1 intensively and repeatedly comes in contact with the slider, as the number of times of the CSS is increased, a lubricant applied on the surface of the CSS area 3 is removed, and the disk 1 and the slider have often been adhered. Further, since only the CSS area 3 repeatedly comes in contact with the slider, this area has been especially susceptible to the wear and damage leading to the troubles such as head crash or the like. Further, with the conventional disk apparatus, since there is provided the CSS area where no information track is formed, the size of the data area 2 has undergone a limit.


A link unit of a mobile phone operates to establish a connection with one PC selected by the user in a state linkable with a plurality of PCs. The selected one PC checks to see that device information on the mobile phone has been registered in the device itself and operates to establish the connection. After the connection is established in this manner, device link processing is executed between the mobile phone and the one PC.

When capturing data such as pictures and moving images in mobile devices such as mobile phones to information processing devices such as personal computers (hereinafter referred to as "PCs"), users have used memory cards (for example, microSD cards) or dedicated cables so far.
When using a memory card, the user needs to remove the memory card from the mobile device to insert it into the information processing device. Moreover, when using a dedicated cable, the user needs to connect the mobile device and the information processing device with the dedicated cable.
In order to release the user from the above cumbersome operations, a technology for transferring data such as pictures and moving images in a mobile device to an information processing device by a wireless LAN has been developed. The use of a wireless LAN enables the user to easily transfer data without operations such as removing a memory card and connecting a dedicated cable.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-159053    Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-117247
When using a wireless LAN, the user needs to set an SSID (Service Set IDentifier) and an encryption key of an access point used for wireless communication in a device to be a station. If communication by a wireless LAN is one-to-one communication, for example, between an information processing device and a mobile device, which are owned by the user, the user sets an SSID and an encryption key in a device to operate as a station between the information processing device and the mobile device.
For example, for capturing data, such as pictures, stored in one mobile device to a plurality of information processing devices, the user performs on each of the plurality of information processing devices the operation of registering information on the mobile device to enable wireless communication with the mobile device. Additionally, for transmitting the data from the mobile device to the information processing devices (in other words, for capturing the data stored in the mobile device to the information processing devices) in a state where the information on the same mobile device has been registered in the information processing devices in this manner, the mobile device searches the information processing devices to be transmission destinations of data. Consequently, the plurality of information processing devices where the information on the mobile device has been registered responds to the search by the mobile device. Hence, the mobile device is to detect the plurality of information processing devices as a search result. This configuration allows for easy transmission of the same data from the mobile device to all of the plurality of information processing devices. On the other hand, for transmitting the data from the mobile device to a specific information processing device (in other words, for capturing the data stored in the mobile device to a specific information processing device) in a state where information on the mobile device has been registered in the plurality of information processing devices, the plurality of information processing devices responds to the search by the mobile device; accordingly, it is difficult for the mobile device to identify an information processing device that the user wishes to set as a transmission destination of data. Contrary to such a relationship of one mobile device and a plurality of information processing devices, a similar problem arises also in a case where information on a plurality of mobile devices is registered in one information processing device.

Information communication device and system


A method of making a welded joint for constructions of maraging steels consists of making a Y-shaped grooving of edges with a shrink groove in a weld seam root. The junction is assembled by tack weld using a chromium-plated filling wire at a direct polarity current. The welding is carried out by multiple runs of argon-carbon dioxide gas-shielded welding.

A method of gas-shielded welding is known, which is used for protecting melted metal of a weld against the unfavorable effect of atmospheric air (I.I. Gorev "Basics of Producing Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines," Moscow, 1969, page 61).
It is known that welding maraging steels and alloys with a high volumetric effect of polymorphic transformation requires that a number of measures be taken to prevent cracking of welded joints, loss of material strength, etc., which measures are, for example, assembling with tack welds and filling the grooves by multiple-run welding ("Welding Manual," edited by N. A. Akulov, Mashinostroenie publishing house, 1971, v. 4, pp. 3-11, 46-84, 93-127).
A method is known for making a welded joint of constructions, including grooving edges of parts for welding, thus forming a Y-shaped form when the edges of the parts are put together, filling the grooves by electric arc gas-shielded welding (USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 5852927, B 23 K 9/02, published 1977). However, grooving the edges of the part for welding with only a Y-shaped form does not make it possible to obtain a highquality connection, especially in the case of parts made of maraging steels.

Otkrytoe Aktsionernoe Obschestvo "Nauchno-Proizvodstvennoe Obiedinenie "Energomash" Imeni Akademida V.P. Glushko"


The carburetor prevents an air-fuel mixture from becoming excessively lean and prevents a fuel pressure from becoming unstable, thereby making it possible to stably supply a fuel to an engine, in a diaphragm-type carburetor with a pressure regulator. A diaphragm-type carburetor includes a fuel pump using a pulsation pressure generated in a crank chamber of an engine or an intake pipe as a driving force, and a metering chamber having a diaphragm and a lever mechanism and provided with fuel at a desired constant pressure. The diaphragm-type carburetor includes a bubble discharge path connecting the metering chamber to other predetermined discharge portions and with a check valve in each of an inlet side and an outlet side. A bubble removing pump is connected to the bubble discharge path, withdraws the bubble to the bubble discharge path from the metering chamber in conjunction with a closing or opening operation of a throttle shaft by a driver or operator and discharging the withdrawn bubble to the discharge portion in conjunction with an opening or closing operation of the throttle shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to diaphragm-type carburetors preferably for use in general purpose engines and provided with a metering chamber maintaining a desired fuel pressure by a diaphragm and a lever mechanism, and, more particularly, to diaphragm-type carburetors provided with a means for removing a bubble of a fuel vapor introduced to the metering chamber or generated within the metering chamber.
2. Description of Related Art
A diaphragm-type carburetor frequently is used for supplying a fuel to a general purpose engine, particularly, a general purpose engine having a small displacement, and an inner portion of such diaphragm-type carburetors generally is provided with a metering chamber (e.g., a constant pressure chamber) for obtaining a constant fuel pressure which provides a reference for fuel metering by a metering diaphragm and a metering lever mechanism.
Such a metering chamber may be filled only with a liquid fuel to achieve a stability of a pressure. Nevertheless, a fluctuation in a fuel discharge pressure by a fuel pump may be generated due to various factors such as when the temperature of a portion around the fuel pump for delivering the fuel to the metering chamber becomes elevated due to the heat of the engine, the pressure of the fuel increases, the fuel then is fed into a discharger chamber, and the pressure of the fuel decreases, so that fuel vapor is generated within the metering chamber. In particular, a fuel vapor bubble may be generated due to elevated environmental temperatures during summer time so as to create a problem.
If the bubble of the generated fuel vapor is introduced to the metering chamber, and is delivered to an intake passage from a main nozzle or the like, a reduction of engine speed and an engine stoppage may occur due to a lean air-fuel mixture. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09-158806, a technique for suppressing a high negative pressure within a pulse chamber is described in a no load or low load operation region and eliminating an excessive increase of a fuel discharge pressure by connecting an upstream portion of a throttle valve of a carburetor intake passage to a pulse chamber of a fuel pump in a structure which uses a pulsation pressure of an intake pipe as a driving force of the fuel pump.
Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-297702, a means for discharging a fuel vapor stored in an upper portion of a metering chamber of a carburetor is described. The means for discharging fuel vapor is a purge pump which uses a pulsation pressure of an intake pipe as a driving force. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-166444, structure is described for withdrawing and discharging a fuel vapor to an intake passage by opening one end of a bubble evacuating passage to a downstream portion of a fuel inflow control valve of a fuel passage flowing into a metering chamber, opening the other end to a midsection of the fuel passage connected to a main nozzle from the metering chamber, and utilizing a specific gravity difference between the fuel vapor and the fuel to remove the fuel vapor.
Nevertheless, the technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09-158806 may not be applied to a structure using the pulsation pressure of the crank chamber as the driving force of the fuel pump. Further, the technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-297702 and the technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-166444 may not completely eliminate the problem that the fuel vapor is discharged to the intake passage from the upper portion of the metering chamber so as to make the air-fuel mixture excessively lean, and create a risk that the fuel pressure within the metering chamber becomes unstable.


A cathode structure for use in an OLED device having one or more OLED layers includes a thin light-transmissive layer having a top surface and a bottom surface and including silver (Ag) wherein the Ag acts as a conductor for the cathode structure, and a light-transmissive electron-injecting layer disposed in contact with the bottom surface of the thin light-transmissive layer and with an underlying OLED layer. The structure also includes an oxide layer disposed over the thin light-transmissive layer, and a separation layer disposed between the top surface of the thin light-transmissive layer and the oxide layer.

Full color organic electroluminescent (EL), also known as organic light-emitting devices (OLED), have been demonstrated recently as a new type of flat panel display. OLED devices are attractive because of their low driving voltage, high luminance, wide-angle viewing, and capability for full color flat emission displays. In simplest form, an organic EL device is comprised of an anode for hole injection, a cathode for electron injection, and an organic EL medium sandwiched between these electrodes to support charge recombination that yields emission of light. An example of an organic EL device is described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,429. Other examples have been described by Tang et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,769,292, 4,885,211, and 5,550,066. However, in a bottom-emitting type of display where light is emitted downward through the substrate, the overall area that can emit light is limited by the presence on the substrate of thin film transistors (TFT's) and other circuitry, which are opaque. In contrast, top-emitting device structures have significantly higher emission areas than bottom-emitting devices.
Therefore, much work has been done to produce OLED devices, which are top- or surface-emitting. This configuration has the potential to improve display performance compared with bottom-emitting OLEDs by: 1) increasing the aperture ratio, therefore allowing the pixel to operate at a lower current density with improved stability; 2) allowing more complex drive circuitry to enable better control of pixel current, leading to enhanced display performance (uniformity, stability); 3) enabling lower mobility materials, e.g., amorphous silicon, to be considered for TFT fabrication; and 4) allowing schemes for increasing the emission out coupling (increased efficiency) that are not available for the bottom-emitting format. Current designs for top-emitting OLEDs often utilize a reflective metallic anode as the bottom electrode and a semi-reflective metallic cathode as the top electrode. These metallic materials contribute to a microcavity effect within the devices, which can be useful for certain applications. Highly transparent materials, e.g., indium-tin-oxide (ITO), can replace the semi-reflective cathodes; however, these materials are less electrically conductive.
There is a continuing need for improved cathode structures.

Multilayered cathode structures having silver for OLED devices


A de-pellicle tool for removing a pellicle from a reticle during the formation of circuit patterns on substrates in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The de-pellicle tool of the present invention comprises a support frame on which is mounted the reticle and the pellicle supported on the reticle. A pair of handle-actuated lift pins on opposite sides of the support frame are extended into respective pin openings in the pellicle frame, after which the handles are pushed downwardly to raise the lift pins and lift the pellicle frame from the reticle. Accordingly, no moving parts contact the reticle during the pellicle-removing procedure, preventing scratching or other damage to the reticle.

The present invention relates to tools for removing a pellicle from a reticle or mask on a semiconductor wafer substrate in the fabrication of semiconductor integrated circuits. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new and improved de-pellicle tool which is capable of removing a pellicle from a mask without touching the mask.
The fabrication of various solid state devices requires the use of planar substrates, or semiconductor wafers, on which integrated circuits are fabricated. The final number, or yield, of functional integrated circuits on a wafer at the end of the IC fabrication process is of utmost importance to semiconductor manufacturers, and increasing the yield of circuits on the wafer is the main goal of semiconductor fabrication. After packaging, the circuits on the wafers are tested, wherein non-functional dies are marked using an inking process and the functional dies on the wafer are separated and sold. IC fabricators increase the yield of dies on a wafer by exploiting economies of scale. Over 1000 dies may be formed on a single wafer which measures from six to twelve inches in diameter.
Various processing steps are used to fabricate integrated circuits on a semiconductor wafer. These steps include deposition of a conducting layer on the silicon wafer substrate; formation of a photoresist or other mask such as titanium oxide or silicon oxide, in the form of the desired metal interconnection pattern, using standard lithographic or photolithographic techniques; subjecting the wafer substrate to a dry etching process to remove the conducting layer from the areas not covered by the mask, thereby etching the conducting layer in the form of the masked pattern on the substrate; removing or stripping the mask layer from the substrate typically using reactive plasma and chlorine gas, thereby exposing the top surface of the conductive interconnect layer; and cooling and drying the wafer substrate by applying water and nitrogen gas to the wafer substrate.
Photoresist materials are coated onto the surface of a wafer by dispensing a photoresist fluid typically on the center of the wafer as the wafer rotates at high speeds within a stationary bowl or coater cup. The coater cup catches excess fluids and particles ejected from the rotating wafer during application of the photoresist. The photoresist fluid dispensed onto the center of the wafer is spread outwardly toward the edges of the wafer by surface tension generated by the centrifugal force of the rotating wafer. This facilitates uniform application of the liquid photoresist on the entire surface of the wafer.
Spin coating of photoresist on wafers is carried out in an automated track system using wafer handling equipment which transport the wafers between the various photolithography operation stations, such as vapor prime resist spin coat, develop, baking and chilling stations. Robotic handling of the wafers minimizes particle generation and wafer damage. Automated wafer tracks enable various processing operations to be carried out simultaneously. Two types of automated track systems widely used in the industry are the TEL (Tokyo Electron Limited) track and the SVG (Silicon Valley Group) track.
The numerous processing steps outlined above are used to cumulatively apply multiple electrically conductive and insulative layers on the wafer and pattern the layers to form the circuits. The final yield of functional circuits on the wafer depends on proper application of each layer during the process steps. Proper application of those layers depends, in turn, on coating the material in a uniform spread over the surface of the wafer in an economical and efficient manner.
During the photolithography step of semiconductor production, light energy is applied through a reticle mask onto the photoresist material previously deposited on the wafer to define circuit patterns which will be etched in a subsequent processing step to define the circuits on the wafer. Because these circuit patterns on the photoresist represent a two-dimensional configuration of the circuit to be fabricated on the wafer, minimization of particle generation and uniform application of the photoresist material to the wafer are very important. By minimizing or eliminating particle generation during photoresist application, the resolution of the circuit patterns, as well as circuit pattern density, is increased.
Reticles must remain meticulously clean for the creation of perfect images during its many exposures to pattern a circuit pattern on a substrate. The reticle may be easily damaged such as by dropping of the reticle, the formation of scratches on the reticle surface, electrostatic discharge (ESD), and particles. ESD can cause discharge of a small current through the chromium lines on the surface of the reticle, melting a circuit line and destroying the circuit pattern.
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-section of a reticle 10, having a mask material layer 12 and a chrome pattern 14 provided in the form of the desired circuit configuration on the mask material 12. During a lithography process, an optically-transparent pellicle film 16, which may be covered on both surfaces with antireflective coatings 18, is typically positioned about 5-10 mm above the reticle 10 to prevent airborne particles 20 from falling on the reticle 10 and thus, damaging the reticle 10 and causing an imaging defect.
As shown in FIG. 2, the pellicle film 16 is tightly stretched on a sealed frame 17 which is supported on the surface of the reticle 10. After the exposure, the pellicle frame 17 is removed from the underlying reticle 10 typically by operation of a conventional, manual de-pellicle tool 24. The conventional de-pellicle tool 24 includes an elongated handle 25 on the end of which is provided a head 26 mounted on rollers 27. A lift pin 28 extends forwardly from the head 26. Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 2-2B, the pellicle frame 17 is initially raised from the surface of the reticle 10 by resting the rollers 27 on the peripheral surface portion of the reticle 10 and inserting the lift pin 28 into a pin opening 22 extending into the pellicle frame 17. Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the rollers 27 act as a fulcrum as the handle 25 is lowered to raise the pin lift pin 28 in the pin opening 22 and partially lift the frame 17 from the reticle 10. Finally, the pellicle frame 17 is typically manually grasped and completely removed from the reticle 10.
One of the problems associated with use of the conventional, hand-operated de-pellicle tool 24 to remove the pellicle frame 17 from the reticle 10 is that the rollers 27 frequently scratch the surface of the reticle 10 as the tool 24 is moved forwardly to insert the lift pin 28 into the pin opening 22. Accordingly, a device is needed for raising a pellicle from a reticle without scratching and otherwise damaging the reticle.
An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved de-pellicle tool for removing a pellicle film from a reticle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved de-pellicle tool which prevents scratching or other damage to a reticle during the removal of a pellicle film from the reticle.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a de-pellicle tool which requires minimal contact of the tool with a reticle for the removal of a pellicle frame and pellicle film from the reticle.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved de-pellicle tool which utilizes multiple lift pins to simultaneously lift a pellicle frame completely from the surface of a reticle.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a de-pellicle tool which facilitates ease in removing a pellicle frame from a reticle.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a de-pellicle tool which facilitates quick, easy, low-risk and efficient removal of a pellicle frame from a reticle.
In accordance with these and other objects and advantages, the present invention is generally directed to a de-pellicle tool for removing a pellicle from a reticle during the formation of circuit patterns on substrates in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The de-pellicle tool of the present invention comprises a support frame on which is mounted the reticle and the pellicle supported on the reticle. A pair of handle-actuated lift pins on opposite sides of the support frame are extended into respective pin openings in the pellicle frame, after which the handles are pushed downwardly to raise the lift pins and lift the pellicle frame from the reticle. Accordingly, no moving parts contact the reticle during the pellicle-removing procedure, preventing scratching or other damage to the reticle.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd


A coupling comprises a pair of clutch end members, a clutch centre member disposed between the clutch end members, and an actuator coupled to one of the end members. Each end member includes concentric V-grooves disposed on a respective face thereof. The centre member is axially movable between the end members, and includes a pair of opposing surfaces. One of the opposing surfaces includes concentric V-grooves configured to mesh with the V-grooves of one of the end members. Another of the opposing surfaces includes concentric V-grooves configured to mesh with the V-grooves of another of the end members. The actuator is configured to couple the end members and the centre member together by urging the V-grooves of the end members into engagement with the V-grooves of the centre member.

Over the past 10 years, improvements have been made in the precision manufacture of automatic transmission components. However, the planetary gear-sets and multi-disc/plate couplings of conventional automotive transmissions have undergone little conceptual change since their first introduction in the 1930's.
No-load losses (built-in parasitic losses) in conventional automotive transmissions having three or more planetary gear sets vary between 15,000 and 20,000 watts. Since 70% of all vehicle use requires 20 to 25 hp for highway driving, a parasitic no-load loss of 20,000 watts (at 25 hp) indicates a transmission efficiency of only about 50%. Therefore, although some improvements have been made in automotive transmissions, there has been little improvement in the efficiency of vehicle drive-lines.


Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to generate reference signatures from streaming media through the collection of metadata, generation of audio signatures, and association of the metadata with the generated audio signatures. The disclosure consists of a media monitor that collects metadata and generates audio signatures at a household and a central processing facility that generates reference signatures therefrom.

Internet access to media has become widespread. Media is now frequently streamed to consumers via streaming services such as, Hulu®, HBO GO®, and others. Streaming enables media to be delivered to and presented by a wide variety of media devices, such as laptop computers, desktop computers, personal tablets, smart TVs, Apple TVs®, Roku® media players, Boxee™ media players, Sony PlayStations®, Microsoft® Xboxes®, Apple iPads®, etc.

Methods and apparatus to generate reference signatures from streaming media


A thermal microactuator is provided that can be deflected in multiple positions. The actuator has a hot arm and a cold arm coupled together at their distal ends suspended above a reference plane of a substrate. A potential difference is applied across the hot arm so that a current circulates through the hot arm but not the cold arm.

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have recently been developed as alternatives for conventional electromechanical devices such as relays, actuators, valves and sensors. MEMS devices are potentially low cost devices due to the use of microelectronic fabrication techniques. New functionality may also be provided because MEMS devices can be much smaller than conventional electromechanical devices.
Many applications of MEMS technology use MEMS actuators. For example, many sensors, valves and positioners use actuators for movement.
MEMS devices have relied upon various techniques to provide the force necessary to cause the desired motion within the microstructures. For example, cantilevers have been employed to transmit mechanical force in order to rotate micromachined springs and gears. In addition, some micromotors are driven by electromagnetic fields, while other micromachined structures are activated by piezoelectric or electrostatic forces. Recently, MEMS devices that are actuated by the controlled thermal expansion of an actuator or other MEMS components have been developed.
There are two fundamental techniques for electro-thermal actuation. One technique uses a bimorph structure, i.e., a cantilever beam made of two different materials, and the other uses two arms, or beams, of varying cross-sectional area connected at a distal end as shown in FIG. 1. When current is passed in the two arms, the arms elongate to different lengths because of their different cross-sections and thus deflect the distal end of the actuator in one direction as shown in FIG. 2. With reference to FIG. 1, the actuator 10 has a hot arm 12 which is the thinner arm and a cold arm 14. The terms hot and cold are used in a relative sense. As shown by the arrow, because the hot arm 12 is smaller in cross-section than the cold arm 14, it has a higher resistance and thus heats up and expands more to cause the distal end 16 of the actuator to bend in one direction. Thermally actuated MEMS devices that rely on thermal expansion of the actuator have recently been developed to provide for actuation in-plane, i.e., displacement along a plane generally parallel to the surface of the microelectronic substrate.
Notwithstanding the MEMS actuators that have previously been proposed, a number of existing and contemplated MEMS systems, such as relays, actuators, valves and sensors require more sophisticated actuators that provide useful forces and displacements while consuming reasonable amounts of power in an efficient manner. Since it is desirable that the resulting MEMS systems be fabricated with batch processing, it is also preferred that the microelectronic fabrication techniques for manufacturing the resulting MEMS systems be affordable, repeatable and reliable.
It is desirable to provide an actuator that increases and improves the displacement produced by thermal actuation techniques. In addition, it is desirable to provide an actuator that can be deflected in multiple directions.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a microelectromechanical structure. The structure includes a substrate, a first beam, a second beam and a connector. The substrate defines a reference plane. The first beam has a proximal end and a distal end. The proximal end of the first beam is coupled to the substrate wherein the first beam extends in a first plane parallel with the reference plane. The first beam includes three layers including a dielectric layer sandwiched between two conductive layers. The second beam also has a proximate and a distal end. The proximal end of the second beam is coupled to the substrate wherein the second beam extends in the first plane parallel with the reference plane. The connector defines a distal end of the structure and couples the distal end of the first beam to the distal end of the second beam. A potential difference is applied between the two conductive layers of the first beam so that current flows into one conductive layer and out the other conductive layer and no potential difference is applied across the second beam.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a microelectromechanical structure. The structure includes a substrate and an actuator. The substrate defines a reference plane. The actuator has a portion thereof suspended above the reference plane of the substrate. The actuator includes a hot arm having a distal end, the hot arm is made of three layers including a dielectric layer sandwiched between two conductive layers and a cold arm having a distal end which is coupled to the distal end of the hot arm. A potential difference is applied across the hot arm so that a current circulates through the conductive layers of the hot arm to cause the hot arm to expand and move the distal ends of the hot and cold arms towards the contact located on the substrate.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a microelectromechanical device. The device includes a substrate, a first beam, a second beam and a connector. The substrate defines a reference plane. The first beam has a proximal and a distal end. The proximal end of the first beam is coupled to the substrate wherein the first beam extends in a plane parallel with the reference plane. The first beam is formed by a three layer structure having a dielectric layer sandwiched between two conductive layers. The second beam has a proximal and a distal end. The proximal end of the second beam is coupled to the substrate wherein the second beam extends in a plane parallel with the reference plane. The second beam is formed by a three layer structure having a dielectric layer sandwiched between two conductive layers. The connector couples the distal end of the first beam to the distal end of the second beam. A potential difference is applied across the first beam and no potential difference is applied across the second beam, thereby causing greater thermal expansion in the first beam resulting in deflection of the distal ends of the first and second beams.
For a further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention, as well as the preferred mode of use, reference should be made to the following detailed description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the following drawings, like reference numerals designate like or similar parts throughout the drawings.

Thermal micro-actuator based on selective electrical excitation


A computer manufacturing system is disclosed. The computer manufacturing system comprises a system under test (SUT), the SUT including a network adapter and a boot loader for loading the appropriate operating system. The SUT further includes a station for receiving customer orders for the SUT, the station including a sequencer. The sequencer obtains a boot selection file for the SUT from a directory. The SUT further retrieves and parses the boot selection file to obtain the operating system image to load and boot until the SUT is configured with the appropriate date. A system and method in accordance with the present invention provides a means for a computer being manufactured (hereinafter called a system under test, or SUT) to boot an operating system without the need for any local media. In addition, it allows the SUT to boot any one of several operating systems as required, depending on the tools being run during that portion of the process. The system in accordance with the present invention allows the operating system to be specified as an attribute of a manufacturing operation. The system in accordance with the present invention can switch between operating systems as required by the operations to be performed as specified by the appropriate personnel.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional architecture 10 for manufacturing a computer system. The conventional architecture 10 includes a Level 2 server 12. There is one level 2 server per physical line. The level 2 server 12 receives information for manufacturing a particular system under test (SUT). The level 2 server functions as an image repository and a legacy code repository. The level 2 server 12 is coupled to an Ethernet switch 13. The Ethernet switch 13 provides access to a plurality of level 1 servers. The level 1 server 14 includes a Windows-based server, a PXE Server (DOS only), and a DHCP Server. The level 1 server 14 is capable of preloading the appropriate image on each of a plurality of SUTs 18.
Traditional computer manufacturing processes such as those illustrated in FIG. 1 rely on two things. First, they rely on local media to boot an SUT in the "manufacturing environment," that is a pre-boot environment. At this point, the SUT has no operating system, minimal resources and minimal capabilities. The media could be an internal or external diskette, CD-ROM, or a USB memory device. Secondly, they rely on booting one particular operating system that the manufacturing process tools are standardized on. For example, the manufacturing process may be DOS-based or Linux-based. Once the OS is booted, additional process data can be obtained from the boot device, a network connection, or an HDD that was preloaded prior to machine assembly. If more than one operating system is required, the operator is required to "change media" and re-boot. Managing different boot media requires boot media creation, labeling, wear management, and level control. Using local boot media also presumes that this media exists on all products or that a slave device such as a USB diskette drive can be inserted and removed from the process as necessary.
Software services exist that are written to the particular standards, such as the Intel PXE standard. These services provide a way for a known MAC address to be bound to an image based on tables that are set up in advance of the boot event. Alternatively, the service can be configured such that all machines of a given architecture get the same boot image. However, this does not provide a way to specify what image a particular SUT gets when the MAC address is unknown until runtime. In addition, there is no mechanism for selecting an image from a set of images based on where an SUT is within the process.
In addition, there are many "server dense" architectures such as the BladeCenter system manufactured by IBM Corporation. In such an architecture a single SUT includes up to 14 separate processing units therein. Typically, each of the processing units requires different operating system configurations. There is no simple solution to specify images for each of the different processing units.
Competitors, particularly those that do small volumes, may choose to handle manufacturing requirements manually using highly-trained operators. However, the lack of automation would reduce quality due to human error. A high-volume manufacturer will find a manual process unacceptable.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for overcoming the above-identified problem. The present invention addresses such a need.

Method and system for allowing a system under test (SUT) to boot a plurality of operating systems without a need for local media


A method of obtaining a service from a second cloud domain, the method being performed by a first cloud domain, includes identifying the second cloud domain which provides the service from among a plurality of cloud domains by analyzing metadata parameters of the plurality of cloud domains, receiving an indication of data which is requested by the second cloud domain to perform the service, and transmitting the requested data along with metadata corresponding to the requested data to the second cloud domain.

Apparatuses, methods, systems, and computer program products consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to cloud computing, and more particularly, to enabling secure inter-cloud data transfer using metadata orchestrators.
Recently, cloud computing technology has been developed as a useful way for individuals and businesses to store and transfer data across networks, such as the Internet. In the cloud environments, protection and security of data is of prime importance for data owners. Data owners often wish to transfer their data to other cloud systems in order to use the services provided by the other cloud systems. However, when data owned by a data owner is transferred to a cloud domain which is not under the control of the data owner, the data owner loses at least some control over the transferred data.
A significant development impacting the cloud computing environment relates to regulations and guidelines governing the classification of data for security purposes. For example, certain U.S. laws implement a system for expressing the security category, SC, of an information system. Additionally, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has also provided certain guidelines which map various information types to security categories and which indicate appropriate security controls for the information types. However, since data owners typically lose at least some control of data when the data is transferred to other cloud systems, complying with these regulations and guidelines poses a challenge.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for secure ways of transferring data between cloud systems. Additionally, there is a need in the art for data owners transferring data in the cloud computing environment to comply with regulations and guidelines.


A method of identifying data items by wave blocks, each wave block comprising a set of unique features distinguishable from the unique features of other wave blocks. The unique features of the wave blocks are extracted and stored. A plurality of wave tags are defined, each comprising a set wave blocks. A mapping of the set of wave blocks to each wave tag is stored. A request for a wave tag to identify a data item is received and a wave tag is assigned to the data item. The wave tag is broadcasted and is captured by a capturing device, which extracts the unique features of the wave blocks. The wave tag is identified by comparing the extracted features of the wave blocks with the stored features of the plurality of wave blocks. The data item is identified from the mapping of the data item to the wave tag.

Machine-readable labels are used to identify information about an item. One method for representing items is using an optical label such as a one-dimensional barcode or a matrix barcode such as Quick Response (QR) code. An optical label includes an optically readable code that may be read with an image input device such as a camera. The image may then be processed to identify the information contained in the optical label.
For example, an image of a QR code may be taken by a camera. The size of the code matrix may then be obtained based on the two-dimensional code that is read out. The coordinates of data cells in the code matrix may then be successively obtained and a judgement of '0', '1' (light, dark) content of the data cells may be made. Each of the data cells may then be converted into character information to identify the optical label's information.

Synthetic standardized wave identifiers for representing and classifying entities


In an array of charge injection device (CID) detectors, integer amplification is incorporated into each respective detector of the array. The amplifier for each CID detector in the array performs multiple nondestructive readouts. This provides a gain of N amplification of the signal charge in that detector wherein the signal charge is accurately replicated in a separate charge storage well defined by a magnitude capacitor coupled to the detector. Thus, at the end of the readout process, this separate well contains charge equal to N times the signal charge, N being the number of nondestructive readout cycles in the readout process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to amplifiers for solid state photodetectors and imagers, and more particularly to a technique for achieving integer gain for analog charge packets. The technique employs multiple non-destructive readout (NDRO) and summation of analog charge packets to provide an amplifier-per-detector in single detectors and in one and two dimensional arrays of detectors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional low noise amplifiers are used with optical and infrared detectors for image sensing in many applications. Multiple metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) amplifiers have been incorporated into very large charge injection device (CID) sensors, as illustrated for example in G. J. Michon U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,038, issued Feb. 21, 1989 and assigned to the instant assignee. The Michon patent is hereby incorporated by reference. Extremely low loss non-destructive readout (NDRO) of CID image sensors has been demonstrated, with a loss of less than one electron per readout, during continuous NDRO of a stored image. See, for example, "CID Image Sensing" by G. J. Michon and H. K. Burke, Chapter 2, "Charge Coupled Devices", D. F. Barbe (ed), Topics in Applied Physics, Vol. 38, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, N.Y. (1980).
This technique has been used with CID sensors at Kitt Peak National Observatory to produce very wide dynamic range astronomical images as reported by R. S. Akins, C. R. Lynds and R. E. Nelson in "Astronomical Applications of Charge Injection Devices", Low Light Level Devices, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, Vol. 78 (1976) , pp. 65-71. In addition, E. R. Fossum and R. C. Barker, in "A Linear and Compact Charge-Coupled Charge Differencer/Replicator", IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. ED-31, No. 12, Dec. 1984, pp. 1784-1789, describe a charge-coupled circuit for creating a charge packet equal to the difference of two input charge packets.
Optical, infrared, X-ray, and a host of other detectors are performance limited by noise introduced subsequent to the detection process. Amplification at the detection site, prior to the introduction of Johnson noise from conductors, conventional amplifiers and switching noise, would offer significant performance improvements. Arrays of detectors with multiple channels also suffer from variations in offset and gain between the various channels. A charge amplification technique with precise, integer gain that could be used at each of an array of detectors would also offer significant performance improvements against offset and gain variations.

Charge amplifier with precise, integer gain


A system, method and apparatus for performing a constraint base shortest path computation (CSPF) in a manner excluding those nodes indicated as having failed an ERO expansion, the indication being provided via an error code within an RSVP path message associated with setup of an alternate LSP.

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) enables efficient delivery of a wide variety of differentiated, end-to-end services. Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) traffic engineering (TE) provides a mechanism for selecting efficient paths across an MPLS network based on bandwidth considerations and administrative rules. Each label switching router maintains a TE link state database with a current network topology. Once a path is computed, TE is used to maintain a forwarding state along that path.
As described in more detail in various Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comment (RFC), such as RFC4726 and RFC5151, an Area Border Router (ABR) is a router located between several areas in a hierarchical Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) network. ABRs maintain topology information from multiple areas. In the case of Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) Inter-Domain TE-LSPs of type Contiguous LSP each Area Border Router (ABR) triggers a path computation (also referred to as an ERO expansion), before forwarding the RSVP Path message downstream. Thus, each ABR is responsible for calculating TE constrained path for its successive TE-Domain(s) or Area(s). Every such ABR that triggers path a computation for its TE-Domain can have multiple equal-cost paths and has to choose one of them.
In the case of a LSP setup spanning multiple TE domains or areas, it is possible for an ingress Label Edge Routers (LER) or subsequent ABR node doing an ERO expansion to have available to it multiple un-equal cost paths to reach a next ABR or a destination of the LSP. If a given node fails ERO expansion and the node happens to be associated with the best path to reach the destination, the LSP setup may fail until the network re-converges, which may not happen for an extended period of time. Further, this LSP setup failure may occur even though an alternate path exists since the LSP setup process may never use the alternate path if it is deemed to be non-optimal.

System, method and apparatus for signaling and responding to ERO expansion failure in inter-domain TE LSP


An optical mounting system using interconnected annuli that support optical elements is made more accurate by forming raised engagement surfaces around the periphery of the annuli to confront and engage each other in a mounting plane perpendicular to the concentric axis of the annuli. The raised engagement surfaces are preferably formed as concentric ridge rings spaced radially inside and outside a row of screw holes used for interconnecting the annuli. The raised engagement surfaces are also preferably continuous around the peripheries of the annuli so they can be ground accurately flat and provide interannuli mounting surfaces that are resistant to deformation.

Ways of mounting optical elements within annular mounting rings and ways of stacking the rings to assemble a lens having a plurality of precisely mounted elements are explained in the parent application. This invention involves improvements in the annuli used in such a mounting system. It recognizes and provides a solution for a source of error occurring in the annuli as originally conceived and, by reducing such error, makes annulus mounted optical elements more accurate and improves the precision of lenses assembled by stacked annuli.

Mounting system for optical annulus in lens assembly


A new and distinct Chrysanthemum plant cultivar is disclosed, characterized by large decorative type inflorescences, consistent flowering response to short days, blooming consistently after 49 days of short day length, white ray florets with a creamy yellow center, free branching habit, and a consistent natural season flowering habit during the first week of September.

The new cultivar 'PPP TRI WH05' is a product of a cross between the female parent 'Rome' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,032) and the male parent 'GEDI TWO PAD' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,501). The new cultivar was discovered and selected by Dirk Pieters in September 2003 in Oostnieuwkerke, Belgium.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar 'PPP TRI WH05' by terminal cuttings and tissue culture was performed in Oostnieuwkerke, Belgium and Oxnard, Calif., and has shown that the unique features of this new cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type on successive generations.

Chrysanthemum plant named ‘PPP TRI WH05’


A power transmission apparatus for a vehicle which includes a first and a second planetary gear set to transmit power to a driven wheel. A ring gear of the first planetary gear set is coupled to the driven wheel. A carrier of the first planetary gear set is coupled to a ring gear of the second planetary gear set. A carrier and a sun gear of the second planetary gear set are so linked as to have signs of power which are opposite each other. A sign of speed of the ring gear of the second planetary gear set is reversed under the condition that the a sign of speed of a motor-generator is fixed, thereby reversing the sign of speed of the carrier of the first planetary gear set, which eliminate the circulation of power between the sun gear and the carrier of the first planetary gear set.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a power transmission device for a vehicle which is equipped with a plurality of power split rotors which work to split an output power or torque between a power source such as an electric rotating machine (e.g., a dynamo-electric machine) or an internal combustion engine and a driven wheel of the vehicle and are designed to rotate in conjunction with each other and a power transmission control system for such a power transmission device.
2. Background Art
Japanese Patent First Publication No. 2006-308039 discloses a power transmission device to be installed in an automotive vehicle. The power transmission device is equipped with a first and a second planetary gear set and a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The power transmission device also includes a low-speed clutch and a high-speed clutch which alter mechanical connections between the first and second planetary gear sets. When the vehicle is running at low speeds, the low-speed clutch is engaged, while the high-speed clutch is disengaged to establish a geared neutral which typically enables the speed of an output shaft of a planetary gear set to be brought to zero (0) while an input shaft is rotating. The geared neutral is achieved under the condition that two of rotors of the planetary gear set other than one connected mechanically to the output shaft are opposite in sign of power to each other. However, such a condition will result in circulation of power between the two of the rotors, thus resulting in a decrease in efficiency of use of rotational energy in the power transmission device. When the vehicle is running at high speeds, the low-speed clutch is disengaged, while the high-speed clutch is engaged to decrease the magnitude of torque exerted on the CVT below that exerted on the input shaft, thereby improving the efficiency of transmission of power in the CVT.
The above structure of the power transmission device, however, needs to switch the operation states of the high- and low-speed clutches in order to change a power circulation mode in which the circulation of power occurs and a non power circulation mode in which the circulation of power does not occur.

Vehicle power transmission device and control system for power transmission


A shield, when coupled to a tracker device that is worn by an individual, reduces interfering signals originating from the human body that can adversely impact the detection of signals transmitted by the tracker device. The shield can include multiple layers of components. Specifically, the shield includes a base component that is attached to an adhesive element on the first side of the base and covered by a removable backing. Furthermore, the base, through a second side of the base, is attached to a first non-conductive element, which is further coupled to a second non-conductive element. Each of the non-conductive elements attenuates interfering signals that originate from the human body and therefore, enables the detection of signals transmitted by the patient tracking system. For example, in view of the reduced interference signals, a RF signal transmitted by the patient tracking system can be detected at remote distances.

The disclosure generally relates to the field of medical devices, and more specifically to a shield of a patient tracking system that reduces conductive signal interference originating from a human body.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems can be used in many ways for locating and identifying objects. RFID systems are particularly useful in product-related and service-related industries for tracking large numbers of objects are being processed, inventoried, or handled. In such applications, an RFID tag is usually attached to individual items, or to their packages or containers. A conventional RFID system typically includes at least one RFID transmitter (e.g., RFID tag), at least one RFID Reader (or interchangeably referred to as interrogator), and at least one controller or server. The readers inventory the tags and forward the data to the server or controller.
One major limitation of RFID transmitters is the effect of the human body on an RFID transmitter. Since the human body is electrically conductive, the human body can interfere with the signal emitted by a RFID transmitter. Thus, when an RFID transmitter is close to the human body, RFID reader must be brought into proximity (e.g., several feet) of a RF transmitter in order to communicate with the RFID transmitter. A variety of different insulators have been used with RFID transmitters to decrease the effect of conductive materials on the transmitters. However, many of those apparatus and systems are bulky and expensive. As a result, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus to more effectively and efficiently use RFID transmitters in the medical field, and particularly for use when monitoring patients.

Patient tracking system for monitoring patient data


A nozzle tip for producing glass fibers has a pair of long-side walls and a pair of short-side walls, each of the long-side walls and the short-side walls containing platinum or a platinum alloy, and a nozzle orifice for discharging the glass melt, the nozzle orifice being formed by the long-side walls and the short-side walls. The nozzle orifice has a flat hole shape in horizontal cross-section. Each of the long-side walls has a cut-out on a discharge side of the glass melt, a width of the cut-out being 10-55% of a length of a longitudinal center axis of the flat hole shape of the nozzle orifice. The pair of long-side walls has a symmetrical shape about the center axis of the nozzle orifice. This nozzle tip makes it possible to efficiently produce glass fibers having a desired cross-sectional shape.

Non-circular glass fibers, such as those with a flat shape in cross-section, are widely used as a filler material, due to their possibility to expect the strength improvement in complexation with resins, etc. as compared with normal glass fibers with a circular cross-section, and due to their possibility to prevent warping of complexation products with resins. This is considered, because non-circular glass fibers themselves are easily stacked, resin flowability is improved in the case of shaping by mixing with resin, and glass fiber dispersibility is excellent even if the glass fiber content is high. Although the process for producing non-circular glass fibers is similar to the process for producing circular glass fibers, it becomes necessary to have a special structure in a nozzle tip for drawing glass melts in the form of glass fibers in order to make a non-circular cross-section.
For example, Patent Publications 1 and 2 disclose nozzle tips for producing glass fibers with a flat shape in cross-section, and each nozzle tip is provided with a cut-out at a tip portion on a long-side wall side of a nozzle wall formed of long-side walls and short-side walls. For producing glass fibers with a flat shape in cross-section, it is necessary to draw and discharge a glass melt out of nozzle tips with a flat shape in cross-section of an end portion that discharges the glass melt, thereby quenching and fiberizing the glass melt. When fiberizing the glass melt, the glass melt tends to become round, since the glass melt is high in surface tension. Taking countermeasures against this is the point to produce glass fibers with a flat shape in cross-section.
For example, in Patent Publication 1, a tip end on one side of long-side walls of a nozzle, in which an end portion to discharge glass melt has an oval cross-section, is equipped with a cut-out. With this, while a side free from the cut-out structure keeps the temperature of the glass melt to maintain the shape of the flowing glass melt, viscosity of the glass melt on a side equipped with the cut-out structure is increased, thereby taking countermeasures against the force that the glass becomes round. Furthermore, in Patent Publication 2, nozzles each equipped with a cut-out on one side of long-side walls of the nozzle are inserted into a plate in a manner that the cut-outs are opposed to each other. Furthermore, in Patent Publication 3, one side or both sides of long-side walls of a flat-shape nozzle are provided with a broad cut-out(s). Through the cut-out, cooling gas increases viscosity of the glass melt on the long-side in the nozzle.

Nozzle tip for producing glass fibers and method for producing glass fibers


Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to monitor media presentations are disclosed. An example method includes extracting first network packet parameters from a first network packet received at a media device when retrieving a first encrypted web page, storing the first network packet parameters in association with identifying information for the first encrypted web page, extracting second network packet parameters from a second network packet received at the media device from an unknown encrypted web page, when the extension does not collect identifying information for the unknown encrypted web page, comparing the second network packet parameters to the first network packet parameters, and identifying the unknown encrypted web page as the first encrypted web page when the comparison of the second network packet parameters to the first network packet parameters has a similarity above a threshold.

Media providers and/or other entities such as, for example, advertising companies, broadcast networks, etc. are often interested in the viewing, listening, and/or media behavior of audience members and/or the public in general. To monitor this behavior, an audience measurement company may enlist panelists (e.g., persons agreeing to be monitored) to cooperate in an audience measurement study. The media usage and/or exposure habits of these panelists as well as demographic data about the panelists is collected and used to statistically determine the size and demographics of a larger audience of interest.
In recent years, security of online communications has increased in importance due to privacy concerns, financial data concerns, etc. One method of providing security to online transactions is the use of encryption. In particular, encrypted online communication protocols (e.g., hypertext transport secure (HTTPS)) have grown in popularity. Such protocols provide end-to-end encryption to prevent a third party from intercepting and observing the contents of communications.
To monitor encrypted media communications, audience measurement entities often employ tools that interact with media presentation applications that reveal information about the media. For example, an extension may be added to a web browser to gather information about webpages and/or other media and to report the gathered information to a panelist meter executing on the same media presentation device (e.g., computer) as the web browser. Because the extension executes within the browser, the extension has access to the decrypted contents of encrypted media (e.g., media transferred using HTTPS).
The figures are not to scale. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and apparatus to identify media distributed via a network


A method of converting biological material into energy resources includes transmitting biological material to a pulsed electric field (PEF) station, and applying a PEF to the biological material within a treatment zone in the PEF station to generate treated biological material. The method also includes transmitting the treated biological material to a biogenerator, and processing the treated biological material in the biogenerator to produce an energy resource. A converter may carry out this process, and may include the PEF station and the biogenerator.

This patent is directed to a method and apparatus for converting biological materials into energy resources, and, in particular, to a method and apparatus using pulsed electric fields to release intracellular materials from biological materials in a method and apparatus for converting the biological materials into energy resources.
Significant energy potential exists in biological materials, including biological wastes such as municipal and industrial wastes. It has been estimated that the animal waste produced on an annual basis in the United States has an energy value equivalent to 21 billion gallons of gasoline. Elsewhere, researchers have stated that the organic content of human wastewaters produced in the United States has an annual energy value equivalent to 0.11 quadrillion BTUs, with an estimated annual monetary value of $2 billion. See Logan, Extracting Hydrogen and Electricity from Renewable Resources, Envtl. Sci. and Tech., vol. 41, pp. 161-167 (2004), hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Researchers have also stated that animal wastewaters produced in the United States have an annual energy potential equivalent to 0.3 quadrillion BTUs. See Logan, above. By comparison, the total annual electricity generation of the United States is only 13 quadrillion BTUs. It is further believed that significant energy potential exists in industrial wastes and wastewaters, including those produced by pulp and paper processing and by food processing.
Various technologies, including methanogenesis, biohydrogen production using fermentative processes, and direct electricity production using biofuel cells or microbial fuel cells, have been demonstrated to be capable of producing energy resources from wastes and wastewaters. However, the efficiencies of the energy generation using these technologies, both in terms of rate and net units generated, remain problematic. For example, while researchers have estimated that hydrogen production from wastewater has the greatest potential for economical production of biohydrogen from renewable resources, fermentative technologies used to produce hydrogen from wastewater have been found to capture only 15% of the available organic energy. See Logan, above. This represents less than half of the estimated conversion efficiency of 33%.

Method of and apparatus for converting biological materials into energy resources


An electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a surface layer including a particular charge-transporting substance and a particular polyester resin having a particular repeating structural unit. The content of the particular repeating structural unit is 30% by mass or more based on the total mass of the polyester resin included in the surface layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive member and to a process cartridge and an electrophotographic apparatus that include the electrophotographic photosensitive member.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic photosensitive member including an organic photoconductive material is the most widely used electrophotographic photosensitive member installed in electrophotographic apparatuses.
In an electrophotographic process, the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member installed in an electrophotographic apparatus is brought into contact with various members such as a developer, a charging member, a cleaning blade, paper, and a transfer member (hereafter, also referred to as "contact members and the like"). Therefore, the electrophotographic photosensitive member becomes abraded and thus damaged due to the contact with these contact members and the like, which may cause degradation of image quality. Thus, a surface layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is required to have an enhanced mechanical strength.
In order to enhance the mechanical strength of the surface layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member, a method in which the mechanical strength of a resin constituting the surface layer is increased has been proposed. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 10-20514 and 2006-53549 disclose that the mechanical strength of the surface layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member may be enhanced when the surface layer includes a particular polyester resin.
As a result of studies, the inventors of the present invention have found that the use of the polyester resin that are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 10-20514 and 2006-53549 and the charge-transporting substance having a particular structure enhance the mechanical strength of the surface layer, but on the other hand, may cause degradation of image quality when the electrophotographic photosensitive member is used repeatedly in a high-temperature, high-humidity environment and thus there is still room for further improvement.

Electrophotographic photosensitive member, process cartridge, and electrophotographic apparatus


An apparatus, and an associated method, for facilitating alert handling at a communication device provides for selection at the communication device of the manner by which terminating communications at the communication device are handled. A terminating communication is detected at a receive part of the communication device, and an indication of its reception is displayed. Together with the displayed indication of the terminating communication, an actuation key is provided to permit selection of alert handling of the terminating communication and subsequent terminating communications.

Cellular communication systems are used by many through which to communicate. Typically, wireless devices, referred to as mobile stations, are operated by users to send and to receive information pursuant to a communication service. Communications made by way of a cellular communication system advantageously obviate the need to maintain wire line connections to carry out the communications. As a radio connection, provided by way of a radio air interface, is utilized, communications are possible by way of a wireless device as long as the wireless device is positioned within coverage range of system infrastructure forming a network part of a cellular communication system. The networks of various cellular communication systems have been installed over significant portions of the populated area of the world.
While early-generation, cellular communication systems provided primarily for voice communication services and only limited data service, successor generation systems have provided for increasingly data-intensive, data communication services. Wireless devices operable in such successor-generation, cellular communication systems are generally constructed to provide for both voice communication services and data communication services. Communication services provided by way of a wireless device oftentimes include, in addition to the voice communication services, multimedia communication services, messaging services, such as e-mail messaging, instant messaging, and the like.
Wireless devices used in cellular and other analogous, communication systems are typically of dimensions permitting easy carriage by a user. And, users oftentimes carry the wireless devices. A user is able, thereby, to have a wireless device readily available to receive terminating communications and to initiate communications that are to be terminated elsewhere. Thereby, a user to whom a communication is directed, such as a call placed to the user, is not dependent upon the user being at a particular location but, rather, merely depends upon the user carrying the wireless device and being positioned within the coverage area of a cellular communication network. The user is thereby more readily more accessible to others who needs to make and receive communications.
As many may appreciate, however, there may be some situations in which the user of the wireless device may not be able to, or may not desire to, accept an incoming communication. The user is typically alerted to a terminating communication by the annunciation of a ringtone, or other alert, which is generated in human perceptible form. If the user elects not to accept the terminating communication, the user must take steps to stop the alert. Typically, a key or sequence of keys, is actuated by the user to elect not to accept the terminating communication. In a terminating voice call, election by the user not to accept the call typically routes the call to a voice mail service. And, while the user is also generally permitted to change alert operations at the device, such change requires more than insignificant attention on the part of the user. For example, in conventional practice, the user would be required to locate the appropriate user-interface input or screen at which the change options would be entered, which is sometimes available only subsequent to entry of a password. Multiple steps are typically required, therefore, to change the device alert options.
Wireless devices also typically provide a pre-set selection to not be alerted to terminating communications. Such selection is typically made by user entry of the selection by way of one or more keys of the wireless device.
Existing alert mechanisms and methods therefore are less than optimal. An improvement to the existing art would be beneficial.
It is in light of this background information related to communication devices that the significant improvements of the present disclosure have evolved.

Apparatus, and associated method, for selecting terminating communication notification handling at a communication device


An operation management system capable of simultaneously detecting and managing, in a computer distributed processing environment, employs physical location information about locations where computers are located and logical location information of software programs running on the computers. Physical location information of a network connection device, such as a network switch, is described in a master data library or the like in advance, and is created as configuration items and discovered by a software dependency discovery unit. Configuration items stored in a configuration management database are associated with the configuration items for the physical location information. Preferably, the physical location information is configured as structured data. This makes it possible to establish hierarchical associations between configuration items for the physical location information.

With the spread of the Internet, web applications, and lower-cost and higher-performance computer hardware in recent years, more and more systems have been developed in a distributed network environment. That is, instead of centralizing all data and programs into a single, large, and expensive mainframe computer as was previously the case, many inexpensive computers are connected through a network to form a system. Although each of such inexpensive computers cannot compete with a mainframe computer in terms of throughput and reliability, it is possible to ensure data security by sharing the same data among a plurality of computers. This is because even if a failure occurs in one computer, the shared data can be provided by another computer. Moreover, by carrying out processing by a plurality of computers in a parallel and distributed manner, high throughput that is comparable to that of a large mainframe computer can be achieved by the entire distributed system.
However, in a distributed processing environment where processing is performed in parallel by a plurality of computers that are geographically and logically distributed, it is difficult to implement a system change associated with a system failure, extension, or the like. Since each of computers constituting the distributed processing environment is typically less reliable than a mainframe computer, it is more likely that any of the computers will fail at some point. As described above, a failure of one of the plurality of computers does not immediately affect the operation of the entire system. However, eventually the failed computer needs to be replaced or repaired as soon as possible.
However, in a distributed processing environment, due to its geographically and logically distributed features, it is not necessarily easy to locate the physical location of such a failed computer or determine how the failure of the computer affects logical dependencies between processes performed by software programs.
Besides failures, a change of system configuration also occurs frequently. For example, assume that a company has launched a website. The company has estimated a load on the website on the basis of the predicted volume of traffic and has built a web server with desired performance. However, it often happens that the server goes down, since the website gathers unexpected popularity and is accessed by far more visitors than expected. To cope with such a situation, the server may simply be replaced with one with greater capacity. Other possible solutions include use of failover clustering in which processing is passed to another server with an identical configuration upon failure of one server, and use of load distribution clustering in which a mechanism of a round robin or load balancer is used. However, in any case, geographical and logical relationships between components of the distributed processing environment may be greatly changed and thus, it may take considerable effort to reconfigure the existing system as an integrated system. Moreover, it is possible that the system resulting from the reconfiguration may not operate properly. In fact, some statistics show that 85 percent of system failures are caused by system changes.
Thus, operational costs in a distributed processing environment have been increasing. Since a distributed network system having a size exceeding a certain level is not manageable by human intervention alone, it is necessary to use an appropriate management system. This involves system management costs and operational costs (including personnel costs), which are said to be as much as 70 percent of the total IT costs.
Exemplary concepts of operation management tools for use for such purposes include a concept of a Configuration Management Database (CMDB) compiled by the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) (British government's trademark). This is a system which collects information about logical dependencies or interactions between components of a distributed network, such as information about the configuration of each of computers connected to each other, information about applications running on the computers, configuration information about a network-attached storage (NAS) connected to the computers, and configuration information about a storage area network (SAN) directly connected to the network. The collected data may be passed to a graphical user interface (GUI) display tool, in which connections between a web server (e.g., Apache), an application server (e.g., WebSphere (IBM's trademark)), and a database system (e.g., DB2 (IBM's trademark)) are represented by blocks and links therebetween.
A product called Change and Configuration Management Database (CCMDB) provided by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) implements the CMDB and is, at the same time, capable of managing configuration changes. The CCMDB uses a secure shell (SSH) to automatically and remotely execute a necessary command and collect data. These functions are described in PCT publications Nos. WO2004/010246, WO2004/010292, WO2004/010293, and WO2004/010298.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-13372 discloses a technique for managing facility information and location information of a device together, using a unique number of a network node as a key. With this technique, a physical connection configuration of network nodes to be managed is stored in a physical database, logical operation information resulting from monitoring of the network nodes is stored in a logical database, and current operation information and physical operation information retrieved from the physical and logical databases with respect to a specific network node are displayed on a display unit.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-292906 relates to a system for managing asset information and discloses a technique in which a physical identifier for identifying an asset and a logical identifier (e.g., Internet protocol (IP) address) corresponding to the physical identifier are stored, a physical identifier corresponding to an entered logical identifier is retrieved, and asset information corresponding to the retrieved physical identifier is output.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-79350 discloses a technique in which a media access control (MAC) address of a network card attached to a computer is associated with the computer's main body and stored in a database, and the location of the computer's main body is displayed on a layout screen such that the computer can be tracked even when it is moved.
With the conventional techniques described above, it is possible to provide information about dependencies between software programs running in a distributed processing environment. It is also possible to provide a method for managing, using unique physical information such as an MAC address, physical location information of a computer for running software programs.
With such a scheme of the conventional techniques described above, it is possible to detect dependencies between logical objects, such as software programs, to create link information, and possible to identify physical location information on the basis of a MAC address. However, with the scheme of the conventional techniques described above, it is not possible to properly associate a software program with hardware on which the software program is running. In fact, the CMDB framework is designed such that information about the physical location of hardware is abstracted as much as possible, and that the location of a computer and a software program running on the computer are rather not to be detected.
In practice, however, if an air conditioner in Room B on the first floor of Building A fails and the room temperature becomes too high for computers to operate, or if a power failure occurs in an area where computers are located, it is necessary to locate software programs running on such computers and thus affected by such a problem.
However, it is difficult for the conventional scheme to automatically detect software programs running on a computer in a particular area, since the physical location of hardware is abstracted. It may be possible to detect such software programs by obtaining, using a function of a network, a MAC address of a network card attached to a computer on which the software programs are running. In this case, it is necessary to manually refer to a hardware master data library using the obtained MAC address as a clue. This requires a visual check involving a heavy human workload.

Information processing system, operation management method for computer systems, and program in a distributed network environment


A device for use in monitoring a swab method, the device includes a first substrate substantially adjacent a second substrate, the first substrate and the second substrate having disposed therebetween a test material.

Various tests are available that can be used to assess the cleanliness of a surface. Such tests include those based on the detection of ATP using the firefly luciferase reaction, tests based on the detection of protein using colorimetry, tests based on the detection of micro-organisms using microbiological culture techniques, and tests based on detection of micro-organisms using immunochemical techniques. Surfaces can be sampled using either a swab device, or by direct contact with an agar medium.
Although the above tests are useful in the detection of a contaminated surface, they are typically prone to errors. These errors may be due to the performance of the measurement apparatus (a light detection device, such as a luminometer, colour detection by human assessor, or test result interpretation by human assessor).
It is also believed that errors may be due to variations in the assay conditions, for example being caused by assay temperature. Errors may also be due to the detection "reagents" used in the test systems, including firefly luciferase reagents for ATP, colorimetric reagents for protein detection, microbiological media for bacteriological analysis etc. For example, abused or badly stored reagents can give rise to false-positive or false-negative results.
Errors may also arise due to differences in sampling procedure. For example, "swabs" are often used for sample collection in such hygiene assays. These can give rise to variation due to the presence or absence of extraction agents and/or surface active components.
Furthermore, errors can arise due to differences in operator technique during the performance of the assay itself. Although this may be due to an error on the part of the operator, it is more common that the variance in performance is a result of subtle differences in technique.
All of the above sources of potential error ultimately lead to a reduction in confidence in the validity of such test results. In the case of safety critical applications there are significant consequences if a set of invalid results are generated.
There are a number of different methods for dealing with the inherent variability of surface hygiene tests. Such methods include:
1. Use of chemical standards (such as the use of solutions of ATP to calibrate ATP tests) (Jago, P H, Stanfield, G, Simpson, W J & Hammond, J R M 1989. In ATP Bioluminescence: Rapid Methods in Microbiology, Society of Applied Microbiology Technical Series, Vol. 26, Stanley P E et al [eds] pp 53-61). These can be applied in two ways. In the external calibration technique, the test response is compared to that obtained in the presence of known concentrations of the analyte. In the internal calibration technique, a known amount of analyte is added to the test after measurement of the sample signal. The ratio of the signal from the test sample to that of the standard can be used to calculate the amount of analyte present in the sample.
2. Use of a light sensitive derivative of the analyte to assure test performance. This is the basis of the PhotoQuant® technique for assay calibration (Method for calibrating chemical assays, PCT/GB95/00794);
3. Use of low level light emitting devices to assure the performance of instrumentation, or use of coloured cards to act as an aid to the judgment (by eye) of calorimetric tests etc. For example, radioactive material employing a scintillant are employed in the Biolink light standards (Leaback, D H, Easy-to-use light standards as aids to luminometry, Szalay, AA et al [Eds], pp 33-37, Bioluminescence of the VII International Symposium on Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence, John Wiley & Son, Chichester 1993).
Whilst these methods are useful in some circumstances, there are a number of limitations. All of the approaches identified above are limited by the fact that they do not respond to differences in operator swab technique. Faulty sampling techniques (which may include failure to swab the required area, or failure to apply sufficient pressure during the swabbing process) can lead to low results (or even negative results).

Device for use in monitoring a swab technique