An dispensing system suitable for lifting and dispensing ice through the refrigerator compartment door of a bottom-mount refrigerator or lifting and dispensing ice from an undercounter ice maker to a dispenser on the countertop.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an ice making and dispensing system. In one aspect, the invention relates to a bottom-mount refrigerator comprising a freezer-mounted ice maker and an ice cube lifter for delivering ice cubes to a dispenser mounted in the refrigerator compartment door. In another aspect, the invention relates to an under-the-counter ice maker having an ice cube lifter for delivering ice cubes to above-the-counter dispenser outlet.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's household refrigerator market, there are three basic configurations to choose from: a bottom-mount refrigerator in which the refrigerated compartment is located above the freezer compartment, a top-mount refrigerator in which the freezer compartment is located above the refrigerated compartment, and a side-by-side refrigerator in which the refrigerated compartment and freezer compartment extend the entire height of the refrigerator.
Of these three configurations, the bottom-mount configuration is considered by many consumers to have the most convenient configuration since most consumers access the refrigerated compartment of a refrigerator far more frequently than the freezer compartment. The upper position of the refrigerated compartment in a bottom-mount configuration positions the majority of the contents of the refrigerated compartment at the standing height of the consumer, negating the need for the consumer to stoop or bend over to see or select items. Therefore, a combination refrigerator with the freezer on the bottom provides the user with the greatest convenience by providing the maximum fresh food compartment space at eye-level and within easy reach.
One of the most desired accessories for a household refrigerator is a through-the-door ice and water dispenser. A through-the-door ice and water dispenser is desirable because it greatly simplifies the process of retrieving ice cubes, i.e. it eliminates opening the door, removing the ice storage container, separating and scooping ice cubes, and pouring the ice cubes into a glass. The feature also is viewed as an energy saver, since the freezer door is not opened as often.
However, of these three configurations, typically only the side-by-side configuration offers a through-the-door ice and water system. The side-by-side configuration is best suited for through-the-door ice dispensing because the freezer door extends the height of the refrigerator cabinet, which permits the ice dispenser to be located in the freezer door at a height convenient for the user. In contrast, the top-mount and bottom-mount refrigerators have freezer door locations that would place the ice dispenser either too high or too low for convenient use by the consumer. In particular, locating the ice dispenser in a bottom-mount refrigerator involves two problems that must be overcome. First, if ice is made and/or stored in the refrigerated compartment, it will melt if not insulated from and chilled independently of the refrigerated compartment. Second, if ice is made and/or stored in the freezer compartment, it must be transported upwardly for dispensing through the ice and water dispenser.
With current ice making and dispensing technology, it has not been possible for a consumer to have the most convenient refrigerator configuration with the most desired accessory. In other words, bottom-mount refrigerators have not been available with through-the-door ice and water dispensing. Thus, it would be desirable to have an ice making and dispensing system that can be used to dispense the ice through the refrigerated compartment door of a bottom-mount refrigerator to provide the consumer with both the bottom-mount configuration and the through-the-door ice and water dispensing functionality.
Undercounter ice makers are a desirable addition to kitchens and entertainment centers in homes. However, undercounter ice makers for home use have not been available with dispensers for dispensing ice at the countertop level.


A cell controller controls the operation of a transport robot to keep a substrate belonging to a succeeding lot carried into a heating part in the fourth transport cycle from being transported out of the heating part in the next or fifth transport cycle, thereby preventing interference between the transport of substrates belonging to the succeeding lot and the transport of substrates belonging to a preceding lot. If interference is likely to occur between the transport of the substrates belonging to the succeeding lot and the transport of the substrates belonging to the preceding lot, the cell controller causes the substrates belonging to the succeeding lot not to be transported but to remain in processing units. This allows the transport of the substrates belonging to the succeeding lot in consideration of only the next transport cycle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on substrates (or wafers) including a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk and the like.
2. Description of the Background Art
There has been proposed a substrate processing method known as a "flex flow" which is capable of efficiently successively processing a plurality of lots different in transport sequence (or process flow) in a substrate processing apparatus for performing a series of processes on substrates by transporting the substrates to a plurality of processing units.
The conventional flex flow technique reduces time loss by connecting the processes of successive lots A and B different in transport sequence to each other without interruption under conditions of no interference between the process of the lot A loaded earlier and the process of the lot B loaded later if there is a processing unit (e.g., a heating processing unit) the use of which is shared between the lots A and B. An example of the conventional flex flow technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-283094 (1995). A lot loaded earlier is referred to hereinafter as a "preceding lot," and a lot loaded immediately subsequently to the preceding lot is referred to hereinafter as a "succeeding lot."
A typical substrate processing apparatus comprises an indexer for carrying a substrate into and out of a cassette. A substrate transfer position is established in the indexer, and a substrate in a cassette is placed in the transfer position. A transport robot for transporting a substrate to processing units receives the substrate in the transfer position, circulates among the processing units while carrying substrates into and out of each processing unit and transporting a substrate to the next processing unit, and then returns to the transfer position again. The conventional flex flow technique controls the timing of the transport of substrates from a cassette to the transfer position to control the timing of the transfer of the substrates from the cassette to the transport robot, thereby processing the successive lots A and B without interruption. The substrate transport control in the conventional flex flow is described with reference to FIG. 14.
FIG. 14 shows an example of substrate transport cycles in the conventional flex flow. The reference characters "ID," "HP," "CP," and "SC" designate an indexer, a heating processing unit, a cooling processing unit, and a resist coating processing unit, respectively. The term "transport cycle" refers to a cycle of operation during which the transport robot starting from the substrate transfer position in the indexer circulates among the processing units and then returns to the substrate transfer position again.
Substrates A1 to A6 belonging to the preceding lot A are subjected to a series of processes by following a transport sequence such that each substrate is carried out of the indexer, transported to the heating processing unit, the cooling processing unit, the resist coating processing unit in the order named, and then carried into the indexer. Substrates B1 to B4 belonging to the succeeding lot B are subjected to only a heating process by following a transport sequence such that each substrate is carried out of the indexer, transported to the heating processing unit, and then carried into the indexer.
In the second transport cycle (denoted as "2") as shown in FIG. 14, the transport robot receives the substrate A5 belonging to the preceding lot A placed in the transfer position in the indexer, and transports the substrate A5 to the heating processing unit. Because the substrate A4 is present in the heating processing unit at this time, the substrate A5 is carried into the heating processing unit after the substrate A4 is carried out of the heating processing unit. The transport robot transports the substrate A4 carried out of the heating processing unit to the cooling processing unit, and changes places between the substrate A3 present in the cooling processing unit and the substrates A4 transported by the transport robot. Next, the transport robot transports the substrate A3 carried out of the cooling processing unit to the resist coating processing unit, and changes places between the substrate A2 present in the resist coating processing unit and the substrate A3 transported by the transport robot. Then, the transport robot places the substrate A2 carried out of the resist coating processing unit in the transfer position in the indexer. After receiving the substrate A2 subjected to a series of processes, the indexer stores the substrate A2 into a cassette. Then, the indexer takes the last substrate A6 belonging to the preceding lot out of the cassette to place the substrate A6 in the transfer position.
In the third transport cycle (denoted as "3" in FIG. 14), the transport robot receives the substrate A6 placed in the transfer position in the indexer, transports the substrate A6 to the heating processing unit, and changes places between the substrate A6 and the substrate A5 present in the heating processing unit. The transport robot transports the substrate A5 carried out of the heating processing unit to the cooling processing unit, and changes places between the substrate A5 and the substrate A4 present in the cooling processing unit. Then, the transport robot transports the substrate A4 carried out of the cooling processing unit to the resist coating processing unit, and changes places between the substrate A4 and the substrate A3 present in the resist coating processing unit. Next, the transport robot places the substrate A3 carried out of the resist coating processing unit in the transfer position in the indexer. After receiving the processed substrate A3, the indexer stores the substrate A3 into the cassette.
Thereafter, the indexer unconditionally takes a substrate out of the cassette and places the substrate in the transfer position if the substrate belongs to the same lot as its preceding substrate. However, the substrate to be processed next is a substrate belonging to the succeeding lot B different in transport sequence from the preceding lot A. This creates a possibility that transferring the first substrate B1 belonging to the lot B subsequently to the substrate A6 to the transport robot causes interference between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrates belonging to the lot A in the subsequence transport cycles. To prevent the interference, a controller (referred to hereinafter as a "transport controller") for controlling the transport of the substrates in the substrate processing apparatus performs the virtual transport of the first substrate B1 belonging to the lot B to judge whether or not the interference between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrates belonging to the preceding lot A occurs before the completion of all transport of the substrate B1 in a previously determined transport sequence. Based on the result of the judgment, the transport controller controls the actual transport of the substrates.
In this example, if the assumption is made that the substrate B1 is placed subsequently to the substrate A6 in the transfer position, the transport robot receives the substrate B1 and transports the substrate B1 to the heating processing unit in the fourth transport cycle (denoted as "4" in FIG. 14). Because no substrates belonging to the preceding lot A are transported to the heating processing unit in the fourth transport cycle, no interference occurs between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrates belonging to the preceding lot A. Further virtual transport of the substrate B1 results in the transport of the substrate B1 into the indexer in the fifth transport cycle (denoted as "5" in FIG. 14). In the fifth transport cycle, the interference occurs between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrate A5 belonging to the preceding lot A because the substrate A5 is transported into the indexer.
The transport controller performs the above-mentioned virtual transport therein to judge whether or not the interference occurs between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrates belonging to the preceding lot A. In the above-mentioned example, because the virtual transport of the substrate B1 subsequent to the substrate A6 results in the interference in the fifth transport cycle, the transport controller causes the indexer to stop taking the substrate B1 out of the cassette, and executes the actual fourth transport cycle.
In the actual fourth transport cycle, the transport robot, which can receive no substrate from the indexer, transports no substrate to the heating processing unit, but takes the substrate A6 out of the heating processing unit and transports the substrate A6 to the cooling processing unit. The transport robot changes places between the substrate A6 and the substrate A5 present in the cooling processing unit, and transports the substrate A5 to the resist coating processing unit. Then, the transport robot changes places between the substrate A5 and the substrate A4 present in the resist coating processing unit, and transports the substrate A4 to the indexer. After receiving the substrate A4, the indexer stores the substrate A4 into the cassette.
Prior to the start of the fifth transport cycle, the transport controller performs the virtual transport of the substrate B1 belonging to the lot B again to judge whether or not the interference between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrates belonging to the preceding lot A occurs before the completion of all transport of the substrate B1. In this step, if the assumption is made that the substrate B1 is taken out of the cassette and placed in the transfer position, the transport robot receives the substrate B1 and transports the substrate B1 to the heating processing unit in the fifth transport cycle. Because no substrates belonging to the preceding lot A are transported to the heating processing unit in the fifth transport cycle, no interference occurs between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrates belonging to the preceding lot A. Further virtual transport of the substrate B1 results in the transport of the substrate B1 into the indexer in the sixth transport cycle (denoted as "6" in FIG. 14). In the sixth transport cycle, the interference occurs between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrate A6 belonging to the preceding lot A because the substrate A6 is transported into the indexer. Therefore, the transport controller causes the indexer to stop taking the substrate B1 out of the cassette again, and executes the actual fifth transport cycle.
In the actual fifth transport cycle, after the substrate A5 taken out of the resist coating processing unit is carried into the indexer, the indexer stores the substrate A5 into the cassette. In this step, the transport controller performs the virtual transport of the substrate B1 belonging to the succeeding lot B again to judge whether or not the interference occurs between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrates belonging to the preceding lot A. In this example, if the assumption is made that the substrate B1 is taken out of the cassette and placed in the transfer position, the substrate B1 is transported to the heating processing unit in the sixth transport cycle. Because no substrates belonging to the preceding lot A are transported to the heating processing unit in the sixth transport cycle, no interference occurs between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrates belonging to the preceding lot A. Further virtual transport of the substrate B1 results in the transport of the substrate B1 into the indexer in the seventh transport cycle (denoted as "7" in FIG. 14). In the seventh transport cycle, no substrates belonging to the preceding lot A are transported to the indexer, because the last substrate A6 belonging to the preceding lot A is carried into the indexer in the sixth transport cycle. Therefore, no interference occurs between the transport of the substrate B1 and the transport of the substrate A6.
In this manner, if the virtual transport of the substrate B1 to the final destination results in no interference between the transport of the substrate B1 and the substrates belonging to the preceding lot A, the transport controller allows the indexer to take out the substrate B1, and executes the actual sixth transport cycle.
In the sixth transport cycle, the transport robot receives the substrate B1 from the transfer position and transports the substrate B1 to the heating processing unit. Next, the transport robot moves to the resist coating processing unit in which the last substrate A6 belonging to the preceding lot A is present, takes the substrate A6 out of the resist coating processing unit, and carries the substrate A6 into the indexer. The indexer stores the substrate A6 into the cassette. Then, the indexer takes the next substrate B2 out of the cassette and places the substrate B2 in the transfer position.
In the seventh transport cycle, the transport robot receives the substrate B2 from the indexer and transports the substrate B2 to the heating processing unit. Then, the transport robot changes places between the substrate B2 and the substrates B1 present in the heating processing unit, and carries the substrate B1 into the indexer. The indexer stores the substrate B1 into the cassette, and takes the substrate B3 out of the cassette. Thereafter, a similar operation is repeated.
As described above, the conventional substrate processing apparatus controls the timing of the transfer of the substrates to the transport robot to achieve the flex flow. For the actual transport of the first substrate belonging to the succeeding lot, it is necessary to consider the transport cycles required until the completion of all transport of the first substrate belonging to the succeeding lot. This increases the complexity of the substrate transport control in the substrate processing apparatus, thereby to make the substrate processing apparatus more likely to malfunction.


Provided are: an adhesive that offers high adhesiveness to bond and secure an adherend even in a high-temperature environment, as long as securing is necessary. The adherend can be removed without failure and without adhesive residue once securing becomes unnecessary; and a method for processing an adherend using the adhesive. The adhesive according to the present invention contains a multivalent vinyl ether compound (A) and at least one of a compound (B) and a compound (C). The compound (B) is represented by Formula (b). The compound (C) includes two or more constitutional units each represented by Formula (c). Formulae (b) and (c) are expressed as follows:

Semiconductor chips are more and more reduced in size and thickness and are more and more three-dimensionally integrated so as to achieve reduced size and weight, higher functions, minimized power consumption, and any other advantages. The semiconductor chips as above are produced by patterning circuits on a wafer, backgrinding the patterned wafer to thin the wafer, and dicing the thinned wafer. The wafer after thinning is very fragile and is susceptible to failure (breakage) upon processing such as grinding and dicing and upon transportation. To eliminate or minimize this, the wafer is processed and transported while being temporarily secured typically to a supporting substrate and being protected.
A waxy adhesive has been used for the wafer temporary securing (Patent Literature (PTL) 1). The waxy adhesive, however, has a low softening point or melting point and flows to fail to secure the wafer upon a high-temperature process performed typically when film deposition in patterning is performed via vapor deposition and when the wafer is transferred from the temporary-securing substrate to a wafer for integration. Another known adhesive is a heat-sensitive adhesive including a pressure-sensitive adhesive and a side-chain crystalline polymer (PTL 2 and PTL 3). Disadvantageously, however, this adhesive also flows and fails to secure the wafer in a high-temperature process. Yet another known adhesive is an adhesive that is cured, shrunk, and deformed by the irradiation typically with an ultraviolet ray, and the adherend is thereby removed. Unfortunately, however, this adhesive applies stress to the wafer upon removal and causes warping and/or fracture of the wafer.


A system and method for encoding zero and one bits for transmission, including generating a first signal from a non-linear chaotic system to represent the one bit, with the signal's embedded vectors being within the non-linear system's attractor set, and generating a second signal from the non-linear system to represent the zero bit, with the signal's embedded vectors being outside the non-linear system's attractor set. The second signal encoding the zero bit can be generated by adding together two chaotic signals arising from the non-linear system initialized with different initial conditions, and weighting the second signal to have approximately the same energy as the first signal. One suitable chaotic systems is a Lorenz system. Systems and methods for decoding a transmitted stream of signals compare a detection statistic of the received stream of signals to a threshold value that depends on the chaotic system.

1. Field of the Invention
This application is related to the field of digital communications, and more particularly, to the field of secure digital communications.
2. Description of Related Art
Digital communications entails encoding a particular message onto carrier analog signals with different properties, and, at the receiving end, decoding the message based on the properties of the received signal.
Phase shift keying and frequency shift keying are digital signaling techniques discussed in R. N. McDonough & A. D. Whalen, Detection of Signals in Noise, 2nd ed., 1995. These techniques, however, can allow an eavesdropper to relatively easily decode the message. Spread spectrum techniques such as frequency hopping can be used to increase the privacy of the communications link. However, even these messages can be exposed using time-frequency signal analysis methods such as short time Fourier transform, Wigner-Ville distribution, and Wavelet transforms. Particle filtering methods described in N. D. Sidropoulos et al., "Tracking a frequency hopped signal using particle filtering", ICASSP 2006 Proceedings, pp. 25-28 can be used to automatically track the frequency of a signal.
The relatively weak security of common methods can be attributed to the reliance of most modern communication protocols on the theory of linear vector spaces. For example, commonly used carrier analog signals s(t) can be analyzed using a linear decomposition
      s              (      t      )        ≈            ∑              k        =        1            ∞                                            c        k                                    φ          k                                  (          t          )                    where Φ(t), k=1, . . . , ∞ form a complete representation of the space of finite energy functions. These functions can be, for example, simple sinusoids of differing frequency and phase, Gabor atoms, Wavelets, etc. Signal detection and demodulation can be done by computing the coefficients ck of the linear expansion and noting that these are different messages.
Several communications protocols use chaos. One of these protocols is described in S. Hayes et al., "Communication with chaos", Physical Review Letters, vol. 70, pp. 3031-3034, 1993. This protocol depends on chaotic synchronization. Another protocol, described in Y. Hwang et al., "Physical-layer secrecy AWGN via a class of chaotic DS/SS systems: analysis and design", IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, Vol. 52, pp. 2637-2649, 2004, depends on the knowledge and ability to implement initial conditions exactly. These complications can make implementation difficult.

Method and apparatus for secure digital communications using chaotic signals

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


A trawling system for catching shrimp which includes a trawler, an outrigger carried by the trawler, an onboard suction pump, a trawl device that is adapted to be dragged along the bottom of a body of water behind the trawler, and a conduit connected from the onboard suction pump to a suction pocket of a net forming part of the trawl device for continuously delivering shrimp from the trawl device to the trawler. The trawl device includes two elongated trawl beams which are joined together at adjacent ends by a hinge connection to form an angle. Each trawl beam is composed of at least a pair of spaced-apart end strut plates, rods extending between the strut plates, a depressor hydrofoil beam for urging the entire trawl device toward the seabed as it is towed through the water, a net which has a suction pocket for collecting shrimp, skids for sliding on the seabed, and an open space adjacent the suction pocket of the net for allowing non-targeted species to escape.

The United States shrimp fishing industry is facing serious economic and environmental problems. Rising costs of shrimp caught by shrimp fishers is making it difficult for this industry to compete with imported shrimp, most of which is raised in ponds. Also, increasing environmental regulations, especially those aimed at reducing the mortality of non-targeted species, is negatively affecting the shrimping industry. The environmental problem relating to non-targeted species arises from the large quantities of non-targeted species of fin fish, as well as turtles, which are caught together with shrimp when using presently available trawling apparatus and often returned dead to the sea. Much of this catch, termed bycatch, is made up of juveniles of commercially valuable species, which are thus wasted. Regulatory actions to reduce this waste problem are rapidly increasing.
Most shrimp are caught by otter trawls towed behind trawlers. The otter trawl was introduced to the shrimp fishing industry in 1912 and has undergone few changes since its inception. Basically, the otter trawl is a large funnel made of mesh netting. Extending from the mouth of the funnel are two mesh extensions, one on either side, that are designed to guide shrimp into the mouth of the net. At the narrow rear end of the net is located the collecting bag, called a codend.
Although the otter trawl was a dramatic advancement to the shrimp fishing industry, nevertheless it has always been troubled with numerous disadvantages: for example, high drag, which increases fuel consumption of the trawler as well as limits towing speed, with the consequent reduction in the amount of area which can be covered per unit of time; difficulty in maintaining the net on the sea bottom at higher speeds (which can be partially corrected by using heavier otter doors, but at the expense of increased drag); the necessity for periodically hauling in the net, emptying it, and recasting it; the need to employ a separate net to determine the presence or absence of shrimp in the water through which the otter net is being drawn; the liability of shrimp and non-targeted species being dead when hauled in; and the difficulty for non-targeted species (bycatch) to escape. As to this last shortcoming, a great effort has been made to solve this problem through the inclusion of turtle exclusion devices (TED) and bycatch reduction devices (BRD), but limited success has been attained. At present, even the most sophisticated otter trawl still suffers from the aforementioned deficiencies because of the inherent limitations of its basic concept.
The solution, then, is to provide a new trawling system and trawl device which will catch more shrimp and kill less bycatch, thus resulting in cost economies and reducing the negative impact on the environment.

Trawling system and trawl device for shrimp


A hydrogen filling system includes: a hydrogen tank that is filled with hydrogen; a determination unit that determines whether to fill hydrogen into the hydrogen tank; and a temperature regulating unit that regulates a temperature of the hydrogen tank, wherein, when the determination unit determines to fill hydrogen into the hydrogen tank, the temperature regulating unit starts cooling the hydrogen tank before filling of hydrogen into the hydrogen tank is started.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hydrogen filling system and a hydrogen filling method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a fuel cell receives attention as a power source that is excellent in operation efficiency and environmental performance. For example, a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell generates electric power by an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen supplied to an anode electrode as fuel gas and air supplied to a cathode electrode as oxidant gas. Hydrogen gas is supplied from a hydrogen tank, filled with hydrogen gas, to the fuel cell, and a compressor is driven to supply air in the atmosphere to the fuel cell.
The hydrogen tank is filled with hydrogen gas in a hydrogen supply facility called a hydrogen station. For example, the hydrogen station includes a hydrogen gas cylinder bundle and a dispenser. The hydrogen gas cylinder bundle is a plurality of gas cylinders. The dispenser fills hydrogen, supplied from the hydrogen gas cylinder bundle, into the hydrogen tank. The dispenser is coupled to a filling port connected to the hydrogen tank, and fills hydrogen gas into the hydrogen tank by a pressure difference between the hydrogen gas cylinder bundle and the hydrogen tank.
When a hydrogen tank having a hydrogen storage alloy is filled with hydrogen, there is a technique for filling hydrogen into the hydrogen tank while cooling the hydrogen storage alloy in order to facilitate occlusion of hydrogen by the hydrogen storage alloy (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-281243 (JP-A-2004-281243). There is also a technique for filling hydrogen gas while cooling a fuel tank (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-40390 (JP-A-2007-40390)). There is also a technique for filling hydrogen; stored in a hydrogen storage source, into a hydrogen tank while cooling the hydrogen by an endothermic reaction that occurs at the time of releasing hydrogen from the hydrogen storage alloy (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-303625 (JP-A-2007-303625)).
In the existing art, in order to facilitate filling of hydrogen into the hydrogen tank, the hydrogen storage alloy or the hydrogen tank is cooled. However, when a vehicle arrives at a hydrogen station and then cooling of the hydrogen storage alloy or the hydrogen tank is started, the hydrogen storage alloy or the hydrogen tank is not sufficiently cooled immediately after the start of filling of hydrogen into the hydrogen tank. Thus, it takes time to complete filling of hydrogen into the hydrogen tank from the start of filling of hydrogen into the hydrogen tank.

Hydrogen filling system and hydrogen filling method


An ion beam machining and observation method relevant to a technique of cross sectional observation of an electronic component, through which a sample is machined by using an ion beam and a charged particle beam processor capable of reducing the time it takes to fill up a processed hole with a high degree of flatness at the filled area. The observation device is capable of switching the kind of gas ion beam used for machining a sample with the kind of a gas ion beam used for observing the sample. To implement the switch between the kind of a gas ion beam used for sample machining and the kind of a gas ion beam used for sample observation, at least two gas introduction systems are used, each system having a gas cylinder, a gas tube, a gas volume control valve, and a stop valve.

The present invention relates to an inspection and analysis technique for use in an electronic component such as semiconductor devices including a semiconductor memory, a microprocessor, a semiconductor laser, etc., and as a magnetic head; and, more particularly, to a technique of machining (or processing) and observation of the cross section of a sample by an ion beam.
High manufacturing yield is an important requisite for the manufacture of electronic components, such as semiconductor devices, e.g., semiconductor memories typically represented as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), microprocessors and semiconductor lasers, and magnetic heads. This is because a fall of the product yield is directly linked to lower corporate profits. Therefore, early detection of and countermeasures to deal with defects, foreign matter and poor machining are indeed major issues to be resolved.
For example, electronic component manufacturing plants have put much effort on discovery of defects by careful inspection, and analysis of their causes. In actual electronic component manufacturing processes using wafers, the wafers in the course of machining are examined, the cause of abnormalities such as defects and foreign matter in circuit patterns is investigated, and methods to deal with them are considered.
Typically, high resolution scanning electron microscope (hereinafter abbreviated as SEM) is used to observe an abnormal spot on a sample. A composite FIB (Focused Ion Beam)-SEM is also currently used. The FIB-SEM machine irradiates FIB to form a square hole into a desired spot, and allows one to observe its cross section by SEM.
For instance, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-150990 discloses a square hole for the observation and analysis of a defect or a foreign matter, in which an aperture is formed by using an FIB in the vicinity of an abnormal spot in a sample and cross section of the square hole is observed by SEM.
Moreover, International Patent Application Publication No. WO99/05506 discloses a technique for extracting a micro sample for TEM observation from a bulk sample by using an FIB and a probe.
Also, one example of ion beam processor related techniques in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-062039 discloses that reactive gas cylinders of plural kinds of gases are connected to an ionization chamber through valves, such that a reactive gas corresponding to the material of a layer to be processed of a sample is switched and supplied when a reactive etching process is executed locally in an ion beam irradiation unit.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-40129 discloses a technique for filling up a processed hole of a wafer from which a micro sample is extracted and returning the wafer to the production line.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ion source, ion beam processing/observation apparatus, charged particle beam apparatus, and method for observing cross section of sample


A composite gasket for sealing, lightning strike protection and EMI shielding is provided. The gasket has a resilient conductive mesh sheet embedded with an elastomer gel layer. The conductive mesh is corrugated to provide a series of repeating waveforms, providing the gasket with a lower deflection force, better corrosion resistance, protection against lightning strikes and a higher EMI shielding capability. A second elastomer can be used around the edge portions of the gasket for improved abrasion resistance and increased tensile strength. A fiberglass sheet can be incorporated in the mesh for added reinforcement and support. The gaskets of the invention can be used on external aircraft components, such as external aircraft antenna mounts.

The present invention relates to gaskets for use in sealing, lightning strike protection and EMI shielding applications, and particularly for aircraft related applications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a resilient crimped electrically-conductive mesh sheet encapsulated with a polymeric elastomer gel polymer for use in shielding and protecting external aircraft components which generate or receive electromagnetic radiation, as well as protecting internal computer systems, avionics and instrumentation.
In general, electronic components are sources of electromagnetic (EM) radiation. Electronic components, for example, transmitters, transceivers, microcontrollers, microprocessors and the like radiate a portion of the electric signals propagating through a device as EM radiation. The EM radiation generated in this way is sometimes referred to as EM noise. Higher operating frequency ranges of the electronic components leads to the EM noise that primarily comprise radio frequency (RF) radiation. This RF radiation is normally referred to as RF noise. As may be used herein, EM noise and RF noise are used merely to refer to EM radiations emitted from an electronic device. Moreover, EM noise and RF noise, unless otherwise stated, may be used interchangeably throughout the specification. EM radiation may also be emitted from electronic devices in close proximity to each other (EMI, or electromagnetic interference).
Electronic devices have been conventionally shielded to impede the emission of EM noise. Specifically, the electronic devices can be enclosed in a shield. The shield may be made of various materials, for example, metal sheets, plastic composites, conductive polymer sprays, metal filled epoxy pastes and the like. The shield absorbs EM radiation thereby impeding the emission of EM noise from an assembly of the electronic devices and the shield.
Composite gaskets generally comprising a metal core material enclosed or encapsulated within a resilient polymeric material are well known in the art. Such gaskets have sufficient structural integrity to be useful in sealing components in corrosive and high performance environments, such as for pressure vessels, automotive engines and aircraft. Examples of such gaskets include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,230,290; 4,865,905; 5,791,654; 5,929,138; 6,357,764; 6,454,267; 6,530,577; 6,695,320; and 6,719,293. Composite gaskets may also include EMI shielding capabilities, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,477,267; 3,126,440; and 4,900,877. The disclosure of each of these patents is incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
Many of the gaskets described in the aforementioned patents may not be acceptable for high performance applications, typically aircraft applications, where a variety of performance characteristics may be required in harsh working environments. For example, in addition to EMI shielding and sealing, electrical bonding of components and protection against corrosion may be a necessity.
Conventional gaskets typically have electrical contact only at the edge portion of the gasket. Most such gaskets involve a woven flat wire mesh buried within the body of the elastomer not near the surface. When the gasket is cut to size, the wire mesh is exposed at the edge of the gasket and bent up near the surface. Since the electrical contact of these gaskets and the sealed components is at the edge portion of the gasket, a caulk must be applied at the edge of the gasket to protect the wire mesh from corrosion while maintaining the electrical bonding and EMI shielding. The application and curing of the caulk requires several hours of application and curing time, increasing down time of the aircraft, for instance. When a gasket is replaced, the old caulk must first be removed, and the removal procedure can result in scratches to the protective coating of the aircraft, requiring a repainting of the aircraft surface, thereby expanding the scope and duration of the repair. In addition, most caulking compounds have a limited shelf life which can create inventory obsolescence and increase associated costs.
In addition to the aforementioned applications, conductive gaskets can also be used for aircraft protection against lightning strikes. Estimates show that a typical commercial airliner averages one lightning hit per year. Generally, the first contact with lightning is through the nose, wingtip or antenna, with the lightning exiting through an extremity such as the tail. Lightning strikes can adversely impact the onboard avionics, such as computers and flight instruments. The problem can be exacerbated on modern aircraft which typically employ composite materials in place of aluminum for cost and weight reduction. These composites tend to be poor electrical conductors and are susceptible to damage in the event of a lightning strike.
One way to dissipate the effect of lightning strikes is to dissipate the charge build up through the use of static dissipaters. An aircraft antenna can function as a static dissipater if property insulated from the aircraft frame. The present sealing and EMI shielding gasket can also function as an effective lightning strike dissipation element when used in combination with external avionics components such as aircraft antenna mounts. The conductive elements of the gasket can function to dissipate the static charge build up on aircraft lightning strike zones.
Accordingly, it be advantageous to have a commercial product with a greater deflection range, requiring the application of less closure force, fewer attachment bolts, and thinner mating flanges. Thinner flanges and fewer bolts lead to reduced weight which is important for aircraft applications. Additionally, a gasket with a greater deflection range would be able to provide environmental sealing between mating surfaces which may have a substantial lack of conformity for protection against environmental leakage.
It will be appreciated that there is a need for an improved composite gasket design, particularly in aircraft applications, that would provide for improved sealing, lightning strike protection and EMI shielding, while necessitating fewer overall repair and maintenance problems.

Encapsulated expanded crimped metal mesh for sealing, EMI shielding and lightning strike applications


A portable particulate spreader comprising a container having a closed end, an open end and a storage chamber for holding particulate matter therein is disclosed. A first handle is attached to a side of the container proximate the closed end. A second handle is attached, preferably pivotally, to the same side, approximately midway between the closed end and the open end, allowing a person to conveniently grasp the spreader in either a vertical position for carrying or a horizontal position for use. An impeller at the open end disperses the particulate outwardly and downwardly from the spreader.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices which distribute small particulate materials, such as chemicals, fertilizers, seed, herbicides, and the like. More particularly, the invention comprises a spreader which, by virtue of its novel design, is lighter than those developed previously.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over the years, numerous variations of the basic hand held particulate dispenser have been set forth with varying degrees of success.
U.S. Pat. No. 95,241, issued to John S. Lewis on Sep. 28, 1869, presents a SEED PLANTER, a simple hand held seed spreader having a plurality of separate compartments along its length, each compartment having a aperture for releasing seeds. Seed distribution is caused by agitation of the spreader by shaking. By contrast, the present invention distributes particulate from a single hopper by a rotary dispersing mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 160,733, issued to Alexander Walker on Mar. 9, 1875, discloses a SEED SOWER, a cylindrical tube having a wire mesh cap through which seed is dispersed by shaking. Again, by contrast, the present invention distributes particulate from a hopper by a rotary dispersing mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,551,877, issued to Leslie G. Henning on Sep. 1, 1925, presents a DRY POWDER DUSTER AND METHOD OF FORMING DUST CLOUDS. Powdered insecticide, or similar material, contained in a hopper is fed by a hand crank powered worm drive into a duct below. A series of fan blades, driven by the same hand crank, incrementally introduce air into the powder so as to diffuse the powder and disperse it on the flow of air. The present invention, conversely, feeds particulate from the hopper by gravity and distributes the particulate by a rotary dispersing mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,707,068, issued to Willis N. Williamson on Apr. 26, 1955, presents a POISON DISPENSER of a design quite similar to a caulking gun. A poison is mixed in the chamber of the dispenser and discharged through a nozzle by the squeezing of a trigger mechanism which aligns a port in the face of the dispenser and the nozzle opening. Feed of the poison through the nozzle is by gravity. WILLIAMSON provides no means of dispersing the poison at a distance away from the nozzle, as does the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,954, issued to Benjamin Malbe on Nov. 30, 1965, discloses a LATHER GENERATOR AND DISPENSER, in which a battery operated motor is mounted on a shaving mug having a spout for generating and dispensing shaving lather. A first blade proximate the bottom of the mug agitates a soap solution to generate a lather while a second, higher blade propels the lather upward toward the spout. In contradistinction, the present invention provides no agitation of the particulate within the hopper nor any vertical propulsion of the particulate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,225, issued to Mario Manni on Nov. 23, 1976, teaches a PORTABLE SPREADER FOR PARTICULATE MATERIAL. A rotary platform having vanes radiating from its center serves as a lateral impeller to disperse particulate dropped onto the platform from a hopper above the platform and through an aperture at the front of the spreader. In contrast, the present invention has no rotary platform, but rather, a fan type blade which disperses particulate both laterally and downwardly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,377, issued to Antoine J. Bouchard on Jul. 7, 1987, presents a DISPENSER FOR PARTICULATE MATTER, in which a powdered substance is introduced into an air stream from a manipulable pouch, quite similar to discharging the contents of a vacuum cleaner bag through the discharge chute of a vacuum cleaner. By contrast, the present invention relies on gravity and physical propulsion to disperse heavier particulate rather than air flow to disperse a powder.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,119,993, and 5,409,166, issued to Rudolph M. Gunzel, Jr., et al., on Jun. 9, 1992, and Apr. 25, 1995, respectively, set forth a PORTABLE PARTICULATE MATERIAL SPREADER and BATTERY-POWERED PARTICULATE SPREADER, respectively. In each case, particulate matter is dispersed from a container into a blower mechanism from which the particulate is dispersed by air pressure. Again, the present invention relies on gravity and physical propulsion to disperse heavier particulate, rather than air flow to disperse a powder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,598, issued to Steve P. Courtney, et al., on Jun. 23, 1992, sets forth PORTABLE SPREADING DEVICES in which a particulate is dispensed from a hopper onto a rotating impeller plate below for dispersing in a rotary manner. An impeller within the hopper agitates the particulate within the hopper to facilitate the particulate dropping onto the impeller. In contrast, the present invention does not rely on an agitator to feed particulate to the impeller, nor a plate type impeller, but rather a fan blade type impeller.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
The present invention is a portable particulate spreader consisting of a container having a venturi shaped throat and a pair of handles so that a person can grasp the handles with both hands for operation of the spreader. An electrically driven impeller disperses the particulate outwardly and downwardly from the spreader.
Accordingly, a principal object of the invention is to provide a portable particulate spreader which will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.
It is another object of the invention to provide a portable particulate spreader that will quickly dispense particulate evenly over large areas, thus enabling a person to spread the particulate efficiently.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a portable particulate spreader which will reduce the cost associated with spreading of particulate matter.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a portable particulate spreader which is simple and easy to use.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a portable particulate spreader which is easy to clean after use.
It is again an object of the invention to provide a portable particulate spreader that is economical to manufacture and therefore economical to purchase.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.


An apparatus for placing pouches in retail-ready cartons includes pouch placer having an elevator assembly having paddles for receiving pouches provided by a first conveyor, and lifting the pouches, and a first robot arm for retrieving a pouch from a paddle of the elevator assembly and placing it in a retail-ready carton.

In the early days of retailing, a retailer would receive a large box of goods from a manufacturer. Inside the box were retail units of some product. The retailer would then perform an operation called "restocking the shelves." This would involve taking the individual retail units from the box and placing them neatly on the shelves to create an attractive display. The box, however, would remain in a back room, invisible to retail customers.
One difficulty with this system is an obvious one. It is tedious to restock the shelves one retail unit at a time.
Another, more pernicious, difficulty arises from the fact that the mere presence of a retail unit on the shelf, particularly one with an eye-catching design, calls attention to itself and stimulates sales. As more people buy, the number of units decreases, and hence the commercial impression of the retail units decreases. This creates a negative feedback loop in which as the rate of sales of retail units increases, the commercial impression created by the aggregate of retail units decreases.
In modern retailing, a retailer again receives a large box of goods from a manufacturer. However, inside the box are several smaller cartons, often called "retail-ready packages." These cartons typically have an attractive design printed on them, and a perforation that can be torn away to reveal the individual retail units available for purchase. To re-stock shelves, the retailer simply tears the carton carefully at the perforation and places the entire carton on the shelf. This simplifies re-stocking considerably, since it is no longer necessary to carefully arrange the retail units on a shelf. In addition, even if all retail units have been sold, the carton remains and continues to create a commercial impression.
A difficulty in retail-ready packaging is that the retail units must be placed in the carton in a neat and attractive way.
Certain kinds of retail units are rigid and have a well-defined size and shape. Examples are boxes, cans, bottles, shrink-wrapped items, such as diapers or paper towels, cartons, such as milk cartons, and plastic containers, such as those used for yogurt. For these retail units, it is known to use a robot to pick individual retail units off a conveyor and place them in a retail-ready carton.
However, there is one common type of retail unit that lacks these properties: the pouch. Pouches, such as those used to package chips and nuts, are deformable, and tend not to have a uniform shape. This causes great difficulty for robots. As a result, it is not uncommon to fill retail-ready cartons by hand.

Retail-ready packaging of pouched product


A simplified nut having a substitute "thread" in the form of an edged flat which can receive a threaded member. The flat or flats are swedged from material preferably in sheet form surrounding a smooth bore opening in which the flat(s) entirely extend. The edges of the flat(s) may be circular or helical, continuous or discontinuous. The device and its forming method eliminates separate handling and cleanup associated with conventional thread forming methods.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 904,460 filed Sept. 8, 1986 and entitled IMPROVED EARRING CONSTRUCTION and now U. S. Pat. No. 4,756,168 issued Jul. 12, 1988 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 189,299 filed May 2, 1988 which in turn is a division of said aforementioned application.
This invention relates to a simplified nut construction and the method of forming such. The term nut as hereinafter used means not only devices which receive a threaded member, but any device, article, etc. which is provided with an opening adapted to receive a threaded member in the manner of the present invention.
Providing conventional threads in a nut is costly, time consuming and requires specialized tooling. In addition and especially when the nut is part of a larger article, i.e., the nut is a threaded opening in an article such as an electrical wiring box, the necessity of brushing or otherwise removing both the chips, etc. formed from the cutting process and oil or other cutting fluids utilized is bothersome and costly as well. Forming threads by cutting also involves a separate operation requiring additional handling of the article. It would thus be desirable to be able to form a nut without incurring metal chips, dust, etc. or utilizing cutting fluids that require a cleaning step and to be able to form such a nut construction without requiring further article handling other than those necessitated by its overall character.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a nut within an overall article and its formation method that does not require added handling steps in its formation.
Another object of the invention is to provide a nut either separately or within an overall article and its method of formation that does not require the normal cleanup procedures associated with metal cutting.
These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by a nut having a generally flat body with a circular smooth bore opening extending therethrough, said opening having at least one flat chordally extending across the inner periphery of said opening and entirely within the thickness of said opening, said flat having a generally V-shaped running edge, said edge forming a tooth for engagement with the threads of a screw adapted to be received in said opening, said edge extending up to but not exceeding one complete revolution with said opening.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawing.

Method of forming a device including an integrally formed nut


A dequantization block is provided for performing dequantization calculations on a block of encoded video signal data using a modified standard quantization matrix. The modified standard quantization matrix is a product of a standard quantization matrix and a diagonal cosine matrix. The dequantization block receives a modified standard quantization matrix, the modified standard quantization matrix being a product of a standard quantization matrix corresponding to the encoded video data stream and a diagonal cosine matrix. In addition the dequantization block receives a scale representing a compression ratio of the encoded video data stream and non-zero IDCT coefficient matrix corresponding to a block of the encoded video data. The dequantization block then multiplies the scale, the non-zero IDCT coefficient matrix and the modified standard quantization matrix. An IDCT block is provided for performing IDCT calculations on each block processed by the dequantization block. The IDCT block then performs IDCT column and row calculations on the dequantization video signal data using a pipelining technique.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for operating a video decoder at an increased rate of speed. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for performing dequantization and Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform (IDCT) on video signal data in a video decoder at a rate of speed compatible with a 30 frames per second motion picture quality.
2. The Background Art
Graphics and video processing are operation intensive. At the same time, highspeed processing is particularly important in the areas of video processing, image compression and decompression. Furthermore, with the growth of the xe2x80x9cmulti-mediaxe2x80x9d desktop, it is imperative that computer systems accommodate high-speed graphics, video processing, and image compression/decompression to execute multimedia applications. Accordingly, it would be desirable if a video decoder were designed to maintain a speed compatible with a 30 frames per second motion picture quality.
Video decoding includes the steps of dequantization, IDCT, motion compensation, and color space conversion. Each picture, or frame, processed by the video decoder comprises a plurality of macroblocks, each of which further comprise a plurality of blocks of encoded video signal data. Dequantization is performed on each block of encoded video signal data, and produces an 8xc3x978 matrix corresponding to each block. Since IDCT typically includes multiplication of each of these 64 dequantization values by a cosine matrix, the IDCT process is particularly time-consuming, and a bottleneck of the speed of the decoder.
The speed of the decoder is limited by the speed of the IDCT process. Typically, as many as 10 multiplications are required to complete one IDCT row or column calculation. For a resolution of 640xc3x97480, the number of blocks in each frame to be processed for a 4:2:0 format is 7200. Thus, the total number of calculations required to process one frame is 10*(8+8)*7200=1,152,000. Clearly, the number of calculations performed during the IDCT process substantially limits the speed of the decoder.
According to current standards, it would be desirable to maintain the quality of the decoder at 30 frames per second as required for the motion picture quality. Therefore, it would be beneficial if the speed of the IDCT process could be increased, thereby speeding up the decoding process. A need exists in the prior art for a method for performing the IDCT calculations at an increased rate of speed through reducing the number of IDCT calculations required.
The present invention provides an improved method and apparatus for performing dequantization and IDCT calculations in an MPEG-II decoder. A dequantization block is provided for performing dequantization calculations on a block of encoded video signal data using a modified standard quantization matrix. The modified standard quantization matrix is a product of a standard quantization matrix and a diagonal cosine matrix. An IDCT block is provided for performing IDCT calculations on each block processed by the dequantization block. Through combination of the standard quantization and diagonal cosine matrices prior to the IDCT process, the number of operations required during the IDCT process is substantially reduced.
The dequantization block receives a modified standard quantization matrix, the modified standard quantization matrix being a product of a standard quantization matrix corresponding to the encoded video data stream and a diagonal cosine matrix. In addition the dequantization block receives a scale representing a compression ratio of the encoded video data stream and a non-zero IDCT coefficient matrix corresponding to a block of the encoded video data. The dequantization block then multiplies the scale, the non-zero IDCT coefficient matrix and the modified standard quantization matrix to produce dequantization video signal data.
The IDCT block receives each block of processed data from the dequantization block. The IDCT block then performs IDCT row and column calculations on the dequantization video signal data according to a set of IDCT butterfly operations.
The present invention includes a dequantization block and an IDCT block which operate in parallel to maximize the speed of the MPEG-II decoder. Through the movement of multiplication of a cosine matrix typically performed during the IDCT process to the prior dequantization step, the remaining steps in the IDCT process are recombined to reduce the total number of operations required by the IDCT block. As a result, the total number of operations performed during decoding is substantially reduced, and the speed of the decoding process is correspondingly increased.

Method and apparatus for performing MPEG II dequantization and IDCT


An electronic device is disclosed. In addition, various embodiments identified through the specification are available. An electronic device disclosed in the disclosure includes a connector that is connected to a docking device, a first interface module supporting a display port protocol, a second interface module supporting a UFS protocol, a third interface module supporting a USB protocol, a switch located between the connector and the first interface module and the second interface module, a processor that controls the switch, and a memory electrically connected to the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to control the switch such that the first interface module is connected to the connector, receive a first signal requesting a change of an interface module from the docking device through the third interface module, and control the switch such that the second interface module is connected to the connector.

A docking device may perform an interface function that transmits data between a portable device, such as a mobile phone or a tablet PC, and a display device (e.g., a TV or a desktop computer). For example, the docking device may convert video data transmitted from the portable device into a format supported by the display device.

Apparatus and method for performing data transmission with docking device by using USB interface


A device for generating hydrogen gas, treated water, and metal-containing nanoparticles. The device includes a vessel containing an electrolyte solution having a preferably iron anode and a preferably copper cathode. A renewable energy source is connected to the anode and the cathode. A valve for disbursing the hydrogen is connected to the hydrogen chamber.

Many rural agricultural areas around the world lack access to an electric power grid or clean water supply.
Renewable energy is non-polluting and can be generated using known technologies including photovoltaic (PV) panels and wind turbines. Unfortunately, the sun sets and the wind does not always blow. As a result, the main drawback of renewable electricity is that it cannot be easily and efficiently stored without batteries. Storage of renewable energy in batteries is costly, however, and disposal of old batteries can result in toxic heavy metal contamination. Furthermore, pumped hydraulic storage into large reservoirs is inconvenient and not cost effective at the household to village level.
Electrolysis of water is another common energy storage approach that stores generated electricity as hydrogen gas. Unfortunately, conventional water electrolysis is inefficient due to high over-potential as demonstrated by Equation 100 below, necessitating expensive electrode catalysts, such as the precious metal platinum (Pt).Cathode 110H+(aq)+2e−→H2(g)(E0=0.00 V vs. SHE)Anode H2O(l)→½O2(g)+H+(aq)+2e−(E0=1.23 V vs. SHE)Overall H2O→H2+½O2(E0=−1.23 V vs. SHE)In addition to being an energy intensive process, conventional water electrolysis does not provide benefits beyond H2 formation (i.e., disinfecting water or upscaling waste metals). The release of O2 from the anode during water electrolysis may also be a liability for some applications. For example, when using H2 to promote strictly anaerobic biological processes, such as the cultivation of certain microbes. Furthermore, mixtures of H2 and O2 are explosive.
Recently, progress has been made in alkaline electrolyte systems, which feature reduced over-potentials, using less costly nickel electrodes. However, these systems require the use of a strong alkaline electrolyte such as potassium hydroxide (KOH). Strong bases contribute to cost and may not be readily and/or safely available in small-scale settings seeking to store renewable energy.
Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) such as Nafion® represent another costly component that adds complexity to another leading type of acid electrolyte electrolyzers. Again, most existing electrolyzers generally do not produce useful products in addition to hydrogen. Indeed, the goal of most electrolysis researchers has traditionally been to minimize or eliminate wasteful electrode corrosion. This is one reason that Pt, which has a very low reactivity, is often used in electrolyzers.
Accordingly, there is a need for a low cost and efficient system for storing renewable energy as hydrogen that does not require costly membranes or metals but rather works well with inexpensive, easily identifiable scrap metals such as copper, zinc, or iron. Furthermore, such a system should provide for useful, additional applications such as disinfection of waterborne pathogens and synthesis of useful, nanomaterials of greater value than the starting electrode metals.

Energy storage system for metal upcycling


Aspects of the present disclosure involve a method for optimizing an extension of an optical network to provide service to one or more new customers. The method considers the location of existing network nodes as well as a metropolitan environment where the new customer is located (e.g., the geographical location of streets where fiber may be routed to a customer). Aspects of the present disclosure further employ one of various linear programming models, such as a 1-Layer Model, a 3-Layer Model, a 5-Layer Model and a Dual Path Model to generate cost effective solutions to extend the existing optical network to provide service to the new customers.

Building a network or adding to a network within a metropolitan area is a complicated and expensive endeavor. Construction of such a network typically involves trenching streets, physically laying the fiber in the trenches, and then resurfacing the impacted streets, among other things. In some estimates, this expense is considerable and may be as much as hundreds of thousands of dollar per city block. Often, particularly with networks relying on fiber-optic cabling, building such a network requires carefully planning where it is possible to lay fiber and then working closely with local governments and businesses that will be impacted when construction of the fiber network commences. The task is complicated as the network design must account for the locations where it is possible to build the network, must include physical connections to various customers located in buildings within the metropolitan area, and may also require redundant physical connections to those customers. It is with these issues in mind, as well as others, that various aspects of the present disclosure were developed.


A picket and rail fence and method for constructing the fence using a plurality of pickets with side indentions at locations where the pickets will attach to the rails, rails with open bottoms to allow for flexibility in the angle of incidence between the rails and the pickets, and sliding lock bars with ridges that slide into the rails between the side of the rail and the pickets. The ridges engage the indentions in the pickets to movably secure the pickets to the rails. The rails are provided with upwardly oriented bottom lips along their length that serve to prevent the pickets from moving in a vertical plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rails and serve to retain the sliding lock bars within the rails.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fence and method for making same. The fence is a rail and picket fence with a rail that is open of the bottom side to allow a greater amount of flexibility of the angle between the rail and pickets. The rails and pickets are held together with a sliding lock bar with a single ridge that engages an indention provided in the pickets specifically for the purpose of securing them together while still allowing flexibility in the angle of intersection between the rail and pickets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current rail and picket fences are limited in the angle of intersection of the rails and pickets because they employ rails that are constructed of tubular stock and that tubular stock is then provided with openings in both its top surface and its bottom surface to receive each picket. Thus, because there are two openings in each rail associated with each picket, the size of those openings limits how large the deviation from a perpendicular orientation can be created between the rails and the vertical pickets when constructing the fence.
Another problem with current fences of this type is that normally each picket must be individually secured by welding or other means to each rail, thereby causing the construction of these picket and rail fences to be extremely labor intensive and expensive, thereby limiting the use and market for these types of fences.
The present invention addresses both of these problems by providing a fence that is constructed with rails that are open of the bottom side to allow a greater amount of flexibility of the angle between the rail and pickets. The rails are provided with upwardly oriented bottom lips that prevent the pickets from moving out of a vertical plane that coincides with the longitudinal axis of the rails. These upwardly oriented bottom lips retain a sliding lock bar that inserts from the end of the rail after the pickets have been inserted into picket openings provided in the top surface of the rail. Each picket is provided with an indention in its side so that when the sliding lock bar is inserted into the rail, a single ridge provided along the length of the sliding lock bar engages the indentions in each of the pickets, thereby moveably securing the pickets to the rail. The sliding lock bar is held in place internally within the rail by one upwardly orient bottom lip, an interior side wall of the rail adjacent to that bottom lip, and interior top wall of the rail, and the notched pickets. Because each picket is provided with only one notch per rail and because the sliding lock bar is provided with only a single ridge to engage the associated notches in the pickets, the pickets are free to move in a plane that coincides with or includes the longitudinal axis of the rail, with the movement of the pickets limited only by the top opening in the rails and the ability of the sliding lock bars to move within their associated rails. This flexibility in the angle of intersection of the bars and rails is possible because the rails do not have a bottom surface and associated bottom picket openings in that bottom surface that can severely limit the movement of the pickets in a plane that coincides with the longitudinal axis of the rails.
Because of the flexibility of the angle of intersection, the present invention can be employed in uneven and hilly terrain without any modifications to the fence components. Because the fence rails and pickets are secured together with sliding lock bars, creating a fence with the present invention is fast and easy and can be done by unskilled workmen or even a homeowner.
Also, because the components, i.e. the rails, pickets, and sliding lock bars, are prefabricated in the shop and do not require customization at the installation site, the components are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and can be sold at lumber yards and home improvement stores for installation by the general consumer, thus greatly increasing the market for these types of fences.
Because of the way the sliding lock bar secures the pickets and rails together as a unit, fences constructed according to the present invention are as strong or stronger than currently available custom built picket and rail fences. Also fences of the present invention are attractive, being almost indistinguishable in appearance from custom built picket and rail fences that cost much more.
An added benefit from this invention is that, because the pickets and rails are secured together without welding, they can be finished, such as by powder coating or plating, in the shop prior to shipment and do not require touch up painting after the fence is constructed. Another benefit from this invention is that the open bottom of the rails allows moisture to escape more easily from the rails and therefore results in less damage to the rails over time.
The present invention is a method for constructing a picket and rail fence using pickets with side indentions, rails with open bottoms, and sliding lock bars that secure the pickets to the rails. After pickets have been inserted through each picket opening provided in the top of each rail, a sliding lock bar is inserted into the rail so that the bar is positioned between the side of the pickets and the rail. As the sliding lock bar is thus inserted in the rail, a single ridge provided along the length of each sliding lock bar engages the indentations in the pickets to thereby secure the pickets to the rail. The rails are provided with upwardly oriented bottom lips along their length that serve to prevent the pickets from moving in a vertical plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rails and serve to retain the sliding lock bars within the rails.


A mount for supporting a silicon v-groove array that contains delicate opal fibers. Optical fibers are arranged in a planar silicon v-groove array to form a focal plane array, which is connected to a first L-bracket. The focal plane array and the first L-bracket combination are attached to a second L-bracket via a shock/vibration isolation pad. The second L-bracket includes an extended cylinder which is threaded so that a strain relief can be screwed directly into the second L-bracket and the fibers extending out the first L-bracket can be fed through the second L-bracket and directly into a monocoil. The second L-bracket also includes space to attach front, side and top covers over the focal plane array. In a related method, the silicon v-groove array is epoxied to the first L-bracket. After preparation of the focal plane array, e.g. polishing of the fibers, is completed, the focal plane array/first bracket combination is connected to the second L-bracket, with the pad therebetween. The covers are then attached to the L-bracket.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to orienting delicate optical fibers and, more particularly, to a mount used in a fiber optic detector system for supporting, protecting, and providing strain relief for an array of optical fibers, and a method for manufacturing the mount.
2. Background Art
A fiber optic detector system is capable of detecting light intensity and modulation. At a first end of the system, small tightly packed optical fibers are arranged linearly and horizontally in a frame known as a silicon v-groove array. The silicon v-groove array with the fibers therein is known as a focal plane array.
Silicon v-groove arrays are common in many optoelectronic architectures. These arrays are delicate and mounting thereof is a critical issue in system design.
Light enters the small diameter, arrayed fibers and travels therethrough to a first half of an optical fiber connector. The light then enters a corresponding number of larger diameter fibers located in a second half of the connector, and travels to an amplifying detector at a second end of the system.
The detector includes a plurality of detector cards, each having a plurality of detector cans mounted on a PC board or similar mount. The larger fibers are pigtailed into the detector cans and are precisely positioned over a photodiode. The detector gives off a voltage representative of the light intensity and modulation received at the first end of the system, thereby allowing the user to measure these parameters.
Such a system usually is used in a laboratory tool that is handled roughly. Although the silicon v-groove array allows for precise alignment of optical fibers, it is too fragile to be subjected to the stresses of a laboratory environment. Daily movement, contact, dust, etc., can damage the system, especially the focal plane array.
In addition, there is a specific sequence of steps necessary for manufacturing the focal plane array, i.e. placing the optical fibers into the respective v-grooves, and processing the fibers, e.g. cutting and polishing the fibers. These techniques are well known. See for example, Bendow B. and Mitra S. S., Fiber Optics, Plenum Press, New York, 1979, pp. 450-454, or Personick S. D., Fiber Optics: Technology and Applications, Plenum Press, New York, 1985, pp. 39-40. In addition, fiber optic cable vendors often recommended how to prepare the ends of a fiber. There are many commercial cutting tools, polishing wheels, and accessories available, to perform these steps. Such processing, however, is time consuming, increases costs and frustrates efforts to create an easy to use mount for the focal plane array.

Focal plane array mount for a fiber optic detector system and related method of assembly

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


An example protective device for an alarm system includes a first connection interface configured to couple communicatively to a command module via a first communications bus, a second connection interface configured to couple communicatively to a communications module via a second communications bus, and a third connection interface configured to couple communicatively to one or more sensors or input devices via a third communications bus. The protective device is configured to receive, from a control module via the first communications bus, a first electrical signal corresponding to a command addressing the communications module. In response, the protective device transmits the first electrical signal to the communications module via the second communications bus. The protective device is also configured to detect a fault condition with respect to the third communication bus. In response, the protective device electrically isolates the first and second communications buses from the third communications bus.

Alarm systems are often used to warn users of dangerous conditions. For example, in response to dangers such as smoke, fire, carbon monoxide, or security breaches, an alarm system can notify users through auditory and/or visual warnings. Thus, the user is alerted to the situation, and can take an appropriate course of action in response.
In some cases, an alarm system can communicate with a remote entity (e.g., an emergency responder or a central station that dispatches emergency responders) via a communications module (e.g., a digital alarm communicator transmitter, or DACT). As an example, an alarm system can include a communications module that establishes a connection via wired telephone line, a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) connection, or a cellular connection.
In many cases, each of the components of an alarm system are connected via a common data bus. For example, an alarm system can include a control panel, a communications module, one or more sensors, and one or more keypads, each interconnected via a common data bus. Use of a common data bus provides a single point of failure. For example, localized damage at one of the components (e.g., due to fire or tampering by an intruder at one of the keypads or sensors) can damage the common data bus, resulting in total disruption of communications between each of the components. As a result, the alarm system may be unable to communicate with the remote entity, despite that fact that its communications module remains intact.


A predistortion circuit for an optical communications system includes a main path and a predistortion path for an RF modulating signal which are independently level adjusted and impedance matched to a laser diode. The distortion path includes a distortion generator which generates a distortion signal which is substantially the same as the distortion generated by the modulation of the transmission system. The distortion path further includes an in phase adjustment leg for overall amplitude adjustment and amplitude adjustment as a function of frequency and a quadrature adjustment leg for phase adjustment as a function of frequency. Temperature compensation is provided to the adjustment networks to stabilize the gain elements of each for ambient temperature changes.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains generally to the linearization of nonlinear optical transmission systems by the generation of a compensation signal and is more particularly directed to method and apparatus for compensating the nonlinearities of an optical transmission system comprising at least one of a semiconductor laser, an optical amplifier, and an optical fiber communications link by the generation of a predistortion signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Optical communications systems which include a semiconductor laser, an optical fiber communication link, and an optical receiver are well known in the art. These communications systems are adapted to carry a wide range of information including voice, video, and data.
The typical optical communications system includes a laser transmitter which converts an RF information signal from an electrical signal to an optical signal. The optical signal is then carried over an optical fiber communications link where it is converted back to an electrical signal by a photodetector of an optical receiver. The transmission scheme may be analog or digital and the modulation scheme amplitude, phase, or frequency, or any combination of the above.
One of the most advantageous optical communications systems from the viewpoint of simplicity and bandwidth considerations is an analog scheme where the optical intensity of a semiconductor laser is amplitude modulated. The optical transmission system, including the semiconductor laser, optionally an optical amplifier, and optical fiber communications link, is required to transduce the electrical information signal linearly into an optical signal and to transmit the optical signal linearly over the optical fiber communication link. In general, the distortions caused by the transmission system cause the system to operate in less than the optimum manner. Increasingly, this type of optical communications system is playing an important role in the delivery of high quality signals in all types of CATV architectures.
Distortion in optical transmission systems can originate from several different sources. One of the primary sources is the electrical to optical transducer, a laser diode in most systems. Another contributor is the optical communications link and, more recently, any optical amplifier in the optical link. Some of these sources produce similar distortion signals which may even cancel others, but usually each distortion has its own unique characteristics and should be compensated for independently.
A laser diode generally exhibits at least three different types of identifiable distortion. The first type is generally at that caused by the non-linearities of its LI (light intensity as a function of electrical current) transfer function. In general, the non-linearity of the LI transfer function is similar to the function y=x.sup.2. The non-linearity may be superlinear (L increases at increasing rates for increases in I), or it may be sublinear (L increases at decreasing rates for increases in I). The next type of laser diode distortion is mainly second order and higher intermodulation products. This type of distortion can be corrected by generating a distortion signal which is generally similar (sum and difference beats of the carrier frequencies) with a similar amplitude but opposite phase. Another characteristic distortion of the laser diode is where the amplitude and phase of the modulating signal is distorted as a function of frequency changes. To correct for such a distortion, a compensation signal which varies in amplitude and phase as a function of frequency is advantageous.
The distortion generated by an optical link is generally caused by phase and amplitude dispersion. Generally, phase dispersion causes the different modulating frequencies of an optical signal to be phase shifted different amounts. Dispersion is also a function of the length of the optical link and generates different amplitudes for the modulating frequencies. Present optical communications systems use a 1330 nm. optical wavelength signal to minimize phase dispersion. However, newer systems that operate at a 1550 nm. optical wavelength are capable of minimizing amplitude signal losses but with effect of increasing phase dispersion. It would be advantageous to compensate for the increased phase dispersion of the 1550 nm. system while maintaining its lower optical loss. Optical amplifiers, particularly Erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA), allow greater lengths of the optical fibers to be used without the loss of optical signal amplitude, but produce their own distortion in the form of a amplitude versus frequency characteristic.
A compensation signal to compensate for distortion in the optical link and any optical amplifier should have an amplitude versus frequency characteristic and the ability to apply it at different phases of the signal. Advantageously, the amplitude versus frequency characteristic should be independent of any amplitude versus frequency compensation signal for the laser diode as the distortion characteristic which is generated by each respective element is considerably different.


A system and method for detecting pulmonary embolisms in a subject's vasculature are provided. In some aspects, the method includes acquiring a set of images representing a vasculature of the subject, and analyzing the set of images to identify pulmonary embolism candidates associated with the vasculature. The method also includes generating, for identified pulmonary embolism candidates, image patches based on a vessel-aligned image representation, and applying a set of convolutional neural networks to the generated image patches to identify pulmonary embolisms. The method further includes generating a report indicating identified pulmonary embolisms.

The present disclosure relates, generally, to systems and method for processing optical images. More particularly, the disclosure relates to automatic detection of pulmonary embolisms using images.
Pulmonary embolisms ("PEs") are blood clots that travels from the legs, or other parts of the body, to the lungs. In the lungs, blood clots can block central, lobar, segmental, or sub-segmental pulmonary arteries, depending on its size. If left undiagnosed, PEs lead to a mortality rate of up to 30%. However, with early diagnosis and treatment, the mortality rate can be reduced to less than 11%.
The primary imaging technique utilized for PE diagnosis is computed tomography pulmonary angiogram ("CTPA"). In CTPA, an embolus appears as a dark region surrounded by the brighter vessel lumen. Interpreting a CTPA dataset demands a radiologist to carefully trace each branch of the pulmonary vasculature for any suspected PEs. However, with a large number of arteries to be tracked and complexity of the images, PE diagnosis often requires extensive reading time whose accuracy depends on a clinician's experience, attention span, eye fatigue, as well as sensitivity to the visual characteristics of different PEs.
Computer-aided detection ("CAD") can play a major role in helping clinicians diagnose PEs. In particular, recent clinical studies have shown that CAD systems can increase sensitivity to identifying PEs. However, despite a demonstrated utility, existing CAD technologies still produce relatively high false positives in order to achieve clinically acceptable PE sensitivity. Such high number of false positives, generated by CAD systems, prolong the reading time of CTPA studies because each PE candidate must be examined by a radiologist.
Therefore, in light of the above, there is a clear need for improved systems and methods for detecting pulmonary embolisms that can achieve higher sensitivity at a clinically acceptable false positive range.

System and method for automatic pulmonary embolism detection

Arizona Board of Regents on Behalf of Arizona State University


A system and method for fabricating an electrical circuit in which a digital control image (46) is generated by non-uniformly modifying (44) a representation of an electrical circuit (40), such that an electrical circuit pattern (72) recorded on a substrate (12) using the digital control image (46) precisely fits an already formed electrical circuit portion (62).

A laser direct imaging (LDI) system suitable for recording electrical circuit pattern portions on photosensitive layers of electrical circuit substrates is commercially available from Orbotech Ltd. of Yavne Israel under the name DP-100™.
Among the problems which arise during the manufacture of multi-layered printed circuit boards is that an electrical circuit pattern portion that is recorded on a substrate layer needs to have precise dimensions and needs to be precisely aligned on the substrate layer so that it can be readily combined with electrical circuit pattern portions formed on other substrate layers. The following copending U.S. patent applications describe various systems and methodologies that may be helpful in ensuring that electrical circuit pattern portions recorded on printed circuit board substrates have requisite dimensions and alignment: Ser. Nos. 09/708,160, 09/792,498 and 10/045,651. These are incorporated by reference for their useful background teachings in this regard.
In the manufacture of multi-layered printed circuit boards, a plurality of independent electrical circuit pattern portions are formed on an electrical circuit substrate. Typically, each of the independent pattern portions will be incorporated into a different electrical circuit device. According to one method of printed circuit board manufacture, several substrate layers, each containing an appropriate arrangement of electrical circuit portions, are combined to form a printed circuit board. According to another method of printed circuit board manufacture, several layers of an electrical circuit are built up in sequential layer formation steps on the same electrical circuit substrate core.
During manufacture, process errors and handling can result, inter alia, in a change of dimension, change of shape or change in location, relative to an absolute dimension, shape or location, of the electrical circuit substrate. Such changes may affect one or more electrical circuit portions already formed on the substrate, thus requiring suitable adaptation of subsequently formed electrical circuit portions.

System and method for manufacturing printed circuit boards employing non-uniformly modified images


The present invention features a portable branding iron system. The system includes a handle with a handle connector, a built-in rechargeable battery, a heating coil, and a controller. A backing plate is removably connected to the handle via a threaded rod. A patterned metal, such as raised letters or logo, and an optional rotatory numbers are removably disposed on the backing plate. A power switch is disposed on the handle to turn ON or OFF the branding iron. A heat sensor is disposed on the handle connector and sends the temperature signal to the controller to power on one of a plurality of a temperature indicator LEDs.

Branding or marking of livestock is a common practice to indicate ownership for ranchers. It entailed burning a mark on livestock using a hot iron. Most branding irons are fire or gas heated, and thus inconvenient for the ranchers to portably carry on. Moreover, most branding irons have fixed heating metal and the ranchers would have to carry on multiple irons if different marks are needed. Therefore, there is a need for a portable branding iron with the capacity for a variable marks.
Any feature or combination of features described herein are included within the scope of the present invention provided that the features included in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description and claims.


Example methods and apparatus for configuring an antenna are disclosed. One method includes determining a communication status of each of a plurality of communications modules in a terminal device. An antenna use priority of each communications module is determined based on the communication status of the communications module. An antenna for each communications module is configured based on the antenna use priority of the communications module.

A multiple-input multiple-output (Multiple Input Multiple Output, "MIMO" for short) technology mainly improves data throughput experience of a user by using hardware conditions such as a plurality of antennas (for example, four antennas) and a plurality of radio frequency channels (for example, four receive channels) in combination with a chip baseband algorithm. Performance of the MIMO mainly depends on antenna performance, including antenna efficiency (Antenna Efficiency) of each antenna, an antenna efficiency difference (Antenna Imbalance), an antenna correlation (Envelope Correlation Coefficient, "ECC" for short), and antenna isolation (Antenna Isolation). The antenna performance mainly depends on an antenna space of a mobile phone. However, because the antenna space of the mobile phone is limited, it is very difficult to implement multiple-antenna MIMO of different communications modules on the mobile phone terminal.
Currently, a method for implementing multiple-antenna MIMO of different communications modules mainly includes an antenna frequency division mode and an antenna time division mode. Using an LTE communications module and a wireless fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, "WiFi" for short) communications module as an example, the frequency division mode refers to performing, by using a filter, filtering processing on an LTE signal and a WiFi signal that are received by an antenna, leading the WiFi signal obtained after the filtering into a WiFi radio frequency branch, and leading a signal obtained after the WiFi signal is filtered out into an LTE radio frequency branch. In this solution, the filter adds an additional radio frequency insertion loss to each radio frequency branch, affecting both LTE service quality and WiFi service quality. The time division mode refers to controlling an antenna to switch between the different communications modules by using a single pole, double throw switch. Still using the LTE communications module and the WiFi communications module as an example, the time division mode is controlling the antenna to switch between the LTE communications module and the WiFi communications module by using a single pole, double throw switch. Control logic of the single pole, double throw switch is giving priority to the LTE communications module, and use of the antenna by the WiFi communications module is always in a low priority. To be specific, when an LTE service occurs, the antenna is switched to a cellular network communications chip by using the single pole, double throw switch, and the antenna is occupied by the LTE service. In this case, a WiFi service cannot use the antenna. If a user is using the WIFI service in this case, use experience of the user is severely affected.

Antenna configuration method, terminal device, and antenna circuit