A video conferencing system and process is presented that employs a distributed computer network, such as the Internet or a proprietary intranet, to conduct virtual conferences. Each conference has a computer that has access to the network, as well as audio equipment and a video camera for capturing audio and video (A/V) at the conferencee's site. Conducting a conference generally entails each of the conferencee's computers multicasting the A/V data captured at the conferencee's location over the network. At the same time, each conferences subscribes to A/V data multicoated by other conferences participating in the conference. The A/V data received by a conference over the network from the other conferences is rendered and played by the conferencee's computer. In this way, each conference can see and hear the other participating conferences during the conference.

1. Technical Field
The invention is related to video conferencing, and more particularly to a video conferencing system and process that employs a distributed computer network, such as the Internet or a proprietary intranet, to conduct virtual conferences.
2. Background Art
Videoconferencing is an invaluable teaching and business tool that lets people at different locations hear and see each other during the course of a conference. The fact that conference participants can see each other as they speak makes it seem as if they are in the same room. This visual connection between the participants fosters understanding of the topics being discussed in a way that written or verbal communications alone cannot provide. In addition, since the participants do not need to gather at the same physical location, scheduling the conference is much easier, and the cost and lost time associated with traveling to the meeting place is saved. This is especially true if the conferences are separated by large distances, for example in another city or state or even country.
In the past videoconferencing systems typically required the use of an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) connection as this was the only way to provide the dedicated bandwidth needed to ensure high quality video feeds. However, more recently progress has been made in the field Internet-based videoconferencing systems. Granted early attempts were problematic because the video data had to compete for bandwidth with other data flowing across the network, resulting in lost data which caused unreliable connections and substandard video. This problem has been mitigated somewhat with the use of high bandwidth private networks (intranets). These improved results may even be available in the future over high bandwidth public networks, such as proposed by the Internet2 project.
However, even with improved bandwidth, there is still a lack of video conferencing systems and processes designed for connecting people at different locations in a distributed conference on a public computer network or private intranet which provide ease of use, and high quality, low latency audio and video.

Interactive, computer network-based video conferencing system and process


An occlusive, pressure-reducing wound dressing with a multi-layer laminate construction providing one easy-to-apply dressing. The occlusive pressure-reducing dressing includes an occlusive, wound-contacting layer made of a biologically compatible polymer. A pressure-reducing layer is joined at a bottom surface to the occlusive layer. The pressure-reducing layer is comprised of a soft, air-containing material such as a foam or an air-entrapping film which has a top surface shaped to provide a progressive rate of resistance to compressive force applied to the pressure-reducing layer and which allows the pressure-reducing layer to conform to curved body surfaces. The occlusive portion of the dressing therefore provides a moist environment and a barrier against infection while the pressure-reducing portion or component minimizes interaction between the wound and any supporing surface in contact therewith.

The present invention relates to wound dressings and more specifically to those which alleviate pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcers develop in situations in which the skin is in contact over extended periods of time with supporting surfaces such as a mattress. More specifically, it has been shown that any external or internal force applied to bony prominences of greater than 32 mmHg can contribute to capillary shutdown. When capillary flow is interrupted by external pressure, hypoxemia will lead to tissue destruction and tissue death. Increased pressures for a short duration are as harmful to tissue as low pressure for long periods.
Currently, it is common practice to apply a separate occlusive dressing to such wounds and then to augment the dressing with an air bed or other pressure-reducing device. Occlusive dressings by themselves do not alleviate pressure. Pressure-reducing devices alone do not provide the necessary healing environment. Also, pressure-reducing features can, by their size and stiffness, actually increase the pressure on a wound when applied over a curved body surface.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wound dressing which includes both occlusive and pressure-reducing features.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a wound dressing which includes within the pressure-reducing feature the ability to conform to curved body surfaces.
It is yet another object to provide a wound dressing which is easily applied by a health care worker.

Occlusive pressure-reducing wound dressing


A flange of a first pipe and a flange of a second pipe are connected via the flanges. An annular seal groove is formed in the flange surface of the flange. A sealing liquid is poured and placed in the seal groove from a sealing liquid pouring section via a pouring passage. The sealing liquid placed in the seal groove forms a liquid seal structure to improve sealing ability. Further, the sealing liquid is placed also in a discharge passage and a discharge pipe. When gas in the pipes enters the seal groove, the gas can be discharged from a discharge device and detected by a gas sensor to enable the user to take safety measures.

In a thermal power plant or a chemical plant, many pipes are routed and arranged, and many tanks are installed. In this case, one of the pipes and another of the pipes may be connected by flanges for convenience in connecting the pipes. Also, a manhole of a tank and a cover for closing the manhole may be connected by flanges.
FIG. 9 shows a conventional flange connection structure to be applied to piping or a pipe. As shown in the drawing, a flange 2 is formed on one pipe 1, and a flange 4 is formed on another pipe 3. A gasket is interposed between a flange surface of the flange 2 and a flange surface of the flange 4, and the flanges 2 and 4 are fastened by bolts (not shown), whereby the flange surface of the flange 2 and the flange surface of the flange 4 are joined together. By so doing, the pipe 1 and the pipe 4 are coupled together.
If the pipes 1 and 3 are coupled by such a flange connection structure, it suffices to loosen and detach the bolts fastening the flanges 2 and 4, when releasing the pipes 1 and 3 for maintenance, inspection or cleaning. By this measure, the pipes 1 and 3 can be released.
In restoring the pipes 1, 3 to the original state, it is enough to perform the simple work of fastening the flanges 2 and 4 by bolts.
FIG. 10 shows a conventional flange connection structure to be applied to a tank. As shown in the drawing, a flange 12 is formed on a manhole 11 of a tank 10, and a flange 14 is formed on a cover 13. A gasket is interposed between a flange surface of the flange 12 and a flange surface of the flange 14, and the flanges 12 and 14 are fastened by bolts (not shown), whereby the flange surface of the flange 12 and the flange surface of the flange 14 are joined together. By so doing, the manhole 11 is closed by the cover 13.
If the manhole 11 is closed with the cover 13 according to such a flange connection structure, it suffices to loosen and detach the bolts fastening the flanges 12 and 14, when allowing access to the interior of the tank 10 for maintenance, inspection or cleaning. By this measure, the tank 10 can be opened.
In restoring the tank to the original state, it is enough to perform the simple work of fastening the flanges 12 and 14 by the bolts.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-2001-289331


A multi-wavelength light source has a laser region that includes a gain medium with a reflective end facet and two or more diffraction gratings optically connected to a second end facet opposite to the reflective end facet of the gain medium, an optical amplifier configured to amplify a laser beam emitted from the reflecting end facet of the laser region and containing multiple wavelengths, the multiple wavelengths being amplified collectively, an optical demultiplexer configured to demultiplex an amplified laser beam output from the optical amplifier, and output waveguides connected to the optical demultiplexer and configured to output light beams with the multiple wavelengths.

In the field of optical communications, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is employed as a solution of transmitting a large amount of data, in which optical carrier signals of multiple wavelengths are multiplexed in and transmitted by an optical fiber. The 100 Gbps Ethernet (100 GE) of fiber-optic telecommunication standard uses four-wavelength WDM that transmits optical signals with a data rate of 4×25.8 Gbps. In recent years, standardization for transmission capacity over 100 GE has been in progress. One example is 400 Gbps Ethernet (400 GE), which uses a 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) WDM that transmits optical signals using four wavelengths with a data rate of 4×56 Gbaud.
Downsizing and energy saving of WDM optical transceivers are also in progress. For a transmitter optical sub-assembly (TOSA) mounted in a WDM optical transceiver, a technology for densely mounting a plurality of laser diodes (LDs) and collimating lenses, and a technology for downsizing an optical multiplexer/demultiplexer, and other technologies are being developed. With the rise of silicon photonics in recent years, further downsizing and cost reduction are being achieved.
In silicon photonics, the components other than LD, such as an optical modulator, a modulator-driver integrated circuit (IC), optical multiplexers/demultiplexers, photodiodes (PD) for monitoring the output power, etc. are fabricated in a silicon substrate, and the LD is hybrid-integrated onto the substrate. Because an LD cannot be fabricated of an indirect bandgap material such as silicon, it is made of a compound semiconductor with a direct bandgap and mounted on a silicon photonics substrate.
Some multi-wavelength lasers have been proposed for WDM telecommunications. See, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 listed below. There is a demand for a multi-wavelength light source with less power consumption, while preventing the throughput yield from decreasing.

Multi-wavelength light source and optical module using the same


A laminated glass having a surface density of at most 12 kg/m2 and comprising a plurality of glass sheets laminated one on another with an interliner provided between the respective adjacent glass sheets, wherein the interliner has an ability to shield infrared rays and an ability to insulate sounds having a frequency of 5,000 Hz.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laminated glass.
2. Discussion of Background
In recent years, it has been desired to reduce the weight of an automobile body to improve the gasoline mileage of the automobile. For the weight reduction, it is necessary to reduce the weights of various components constituting the automobile body, and such weight reduction is required also for a window glass. To reduce the weight of a window glass, it is necessary to either reduce the size of the glass sheet to be used or to reduce its thickness, and in order to reduce the weight without changing the design of the shape of the window glass, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the glass sheet.
However, if the glass sheet is made thin for weight reduction, there will be a problem such that the effect for shielding solar radiation energy by the glass sheet will decrease, and the internal temperature of the automobile will increase, whereby the load for air conditioning will be excessive. The solar radiation transmittance of a glass sheet changes in the order of the second power of the thickness of the glass sheet. Accordingly, if a glass sheet is made thin even slightly, the solar radiation energy passing through the glass sheet sharply increases.
Further, by making the glass sheet thin, the sound-insulating performance of the glass sheet decreases, whereby there will be a problem that sounds outside the car will enter into the car, and the comfortableness in the car will thereby be deteriorated. Generally, a material has a nature that the higher the mass per unit area (the surface density), the higher the sound insulating ability, and the higher the frequency of the sound, the easier the insulation of the sound (mass law). Such a sound insulating ability is evaluated by a sound transmission loss TL (=10xc2x7log10(i/xcfx84)[dB], wherein xcfx84=Et/Ei, wherein Et is the energy of the sound passed through the substance, and Ei is the energy of the sound entered into the substance), and the larger the TL, the better the sound-insulating ability.
On the other hand, in a case where a substance has a flat sheet shape, it may undergo resonance phenomena at a specific frequency, whereby the sound transmission loss tends to be lower than the mass law (coincidence effects). Such a frequency at which the sound transmission loss decreases, is called a coincidence resonance frequency, and it shifts towards a high frequency side when the thickness of the glass sheet is made thin, whereby noises in a high frequency region generated outside of the car tend to enter into the car.
Thus, heretofore, making a glass sheet thin in order to reduce the weight of an automobile, has brought about two problems i.e. decrease in the infrared shielding ability and decrease in the sound insulating ability.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a laminated glass whereby weight reduction can be realized without lowering the infrared shielding ability and the sound insulating ability.
The present invention has been made to solve the above problems and provides a laminated glass having a surface density of at most 12 kg/m2 and comprising a plurality of glass sheets laminated one on another with an interliner provided between the respective adjacent glass sheets, wherein the interliner has an ability to shield infrared rays and an ability to insulate sounds having a frequency of 5,000 Hz.


A light signal transmission system comprises first, second and third terminal stations each having a light transmitter and a light receiver, first and second light transmission paths having one end connected to the first and second terminal stations, respectively, and connectors for connecting the other ends of the first and second light transmission paths to the third terminal station, the connectors being designed that a light signal transmitted from the first terminal station through the first light transmission path is inputted to the third terminal station, a light signal emitted from the third terminal station is inputted to the second terminal station through said second light transmission path, and a light signal emitted from said second terminal station is inputted to the first terminal station through the first and second light transmission paths, without through the third terminal station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light signal transmission system wherein signals are transmitted by means of light by interconnecting a plurality of terminal stations to each other.
2. Related Background Art
Nowadays, a light signal transmission system wherein light signals are coupled between local area networks has widely been popularized. Topology of the light signal transmission system includes a star-shaped arrangement, bus-shaped arrangement, loop-shaped arrangement or the like; among them, the loop-shaped arrangement has widely been used because of having various advantages. As shown in FIG. 1, the loop-shaped arrangement includes an annular signal transmission path obtained by interconnecting a plurality of terminals (stations) 39 through optical fibers 40. The loop-shaped arrangement has a representative advantage that a load of the transmission/reception module is small since the transmission between the terminals can be performed by transmitting the signal between only two points, thus simplifying the construction of the system.
However, in the signal transmission system of the loop-shaped arrangement, since it is necessary to form a closed loop or path by means of the transmission lines, there arises a problem that, when the terminal stations are installed, such a closed loop must previously be considered, thus reducing the freedom or flexibility for installing such terminal stations. This problem will particularly be serious or critical when the network is expanded to obtain the more complex signal transmission path in a limited space in an intelligent building or the like. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when a plurality of stations 39a-39f are installed in order or needed and two adjacent stations are interconnected by means of an optical fiber line 40a, in order to form a closed loop, a return optical fiber line 40b for returning the signal from the last terminal station 39f to the start terminal station 39a must be prepared. Therefore, not only the need of the installation of the stations but also the signal return path must always be considered. Accordingly, while the signal transmission system of the loop-shaped arrangement was excellent in function, it arose a problem that the installation of the terminal stations thereof was limited.


Bacteria that metabolize phenylacetate along a mandelate-to-cis,cis-muconate pathway are disclosed. Bacteria that express the pathway for metabolizing phenylacetate through a mandelate intermediate can be isolated reproducibly by first selecting bacteria that can utilize both L-phenylalanine and mandelate as the sole carbon source and then blocking alternate pathways for the degradation of L-phenylalanine. The activity of selected enzymes along the mandelate-to-cis,cis-muconate pathway can be blocked in these bacteria to effect the accumulation of selected intermediates.

The present invention relates to bacteria that metabolize phenylacetate via a mandelate pathway. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new group of bacteria characterized by an ability to produce valuable compounds, including natural benzaldehyde, mandelate, benzyl alcohol, benzoate and cis,cis-muconic acid, which correspond to various intermediates along the aforesaid pathway.
A major use of benzaldehyde is as an ingredient in natural cherry flavors. An undesirable feature of the known processes for preparing benzaldehyde from products like apricot kernels or reground press cake, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,416,128, is that toxic hydrocyanic acid, along with benzaldehyde, is produced which must be separated completely from the benzaldehyde. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,617,419, and 4,673,766, disclose the production of benzaldehyde from cinnamaldehyde according to a retro-aldol reaction, without production of toxic side products. But the disclosed process requires a source of cinnamaldehyde, which may have to be distilled or extracted prior to reaction.
A living organism that degrades a carbohydrate feedstock, or L-phenylalanine along a catabolic pathway having a benzaldehyde intermediate could provide a source for the production of natural benzaldehyde. Earlier studies have suggested that pathways for the degradation of L-phenylalanine and phenylacetate along a mandelate pathway may occur in certain insects (Towers et al. (1972) Can. J. Zool. 50(7): 1047-1050), micro-algae (Landymore et al. (1978) Phycologia 17(3); 319-328), and fungi (Hockenhull et al. (1952) Biochem. J. 50: 605-609 and Bioprocessing Technology (1987) 9(11): 2-3).
However, it was generally understood heretofore that bacteria could not metabolize phenylacetate via a mandelate pathway, thereby to produce a desired intermediate like benzaldehyde. In this regard, the phrase "mandelate pathway" refers to that series of enzymatic degradations that converts mandelate to cis,cis-muconic acid. Intermediates of the degradation include benzoylformate, benzaldehyde, benzoate and catechol. In accordance with standard terminology, the names used to refer to acid intermediates reflect their actual form in vivo (i.e., in solution), thus mandelic acid is referred to as mandelate.
Such a pathway is known to exist in both Pseudomonas (e.g., Stevenson et al. (1964) Biochem. J. 96: 354-362) and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus NCIB 8250 (e.g., Cook et al. (1975) J. Gen. Microbiol. 91: 325-337), but it is only revealed when the bacteria are provided with feedstock in the form of mandelate or some other intermediate further along the pathway. Mandelate or benzoylformate are not readily available as natural products. These and other intermediates are also too expensive to be of use as feedstocks in a commercial process for subsequent intermediates.
One early study tested the ability of a wide range of aromatic compounds, both metabolizable and nonmetabolizable, to induce enzymes of the mandelate pathway. (Hegeman (1966) J. Bacteriol. 91(3): 1140-1154). Phenylacetate and phenylpyruvate, both possible degradation intermediates of L-phenylalanine, were among the many compounds tested and were shown to induce activities for mandelate dehydrogenase and benzoylformate decarboxylase. But the link which allowed conversion of phenylacetate to mandelate was completely unknown, and available biochemical evidence shows that L-phenylalanine and phenylacetate are not metabolized through catechol to ketoadipate (Wheelis and Stanier (1970) Genetics 66: 245-266).
Consequently, the conversion of phenylacetate to mandelate by bacterial action has been considered infeasible heretofore, even though expression of such a pathway in bacteria could, in principle, enable the accumulation of valuable chemical compounds as intermediates, for example, of microbially mediated L-phenylalanine degradation.

Bacteria that metabolize phenylacetate through mandelate


A diagnostic method for color stability in an image printing system includes printing a test pattern onto output media; measuring, during the printing of the test pattern, an image of the test pattern on an image transfer surface using one or more image transfer surface sensors to obtain one or more image transfer surface signals; measuring a printed image of the test pattern on the output media using a printed image sensor to obtain a printed image signal; calculating correlation functions for the one or more image transfer surface signals and the printed image signal; and analyzing the correlation functions for the one or more image transfer surface signals and the printed image signal to identify a subsystem in the image printing system that causes variations in color within the plurality of prints of the test pattern.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a method and a system for color stability in an image printing system.
2. Description of Related Art
An electrophotographic, or xerographic, image printing system employs an image transfer surface, such as a photoreceptor drum or belt, which is charged to a substantially uniform potential so as to sensitize the surface thereof. The charged portion of the image transfer surface is then exposed to a light image of an original document being reproduced. Exposure of the charged image transfer surface selectively discharges the charge thereon in the irradiated areas to record an electrostatic latent image on the image transfer surface corresponding to the image contained within the original document. The location of the electrical charge forming the latent image is usually optically controlled. More specifically, in a digital xerographic system, the formation of the latent image is controlled by a raster output scanning device, usually a laser or LED source.
After the electrostatic latent image is recorded on the image transfer surface, the latent image is developed by bringing a developer material into contact therewith. Generally, the electrostatic latent image is developed with dry developer material comprising carrier granules having toner particles adhering triboelectrically thereto. However, a liquid developer material may be used as well. The toner particles are attracted to the latent image, forming a visible powder image on the image transfer surface. After the electrostatic latent image is developed with the toner particles, the toner powder image is transferred to an output media, such as sheets, paper or other substrate sheets, using pressure and heat to fuse the toner image to the output media to form a print.
The image printing system generally has two important dimensions: a process (or a slow scan) direction and a cross-process (or a fast scan) direction. The direction in which an image transfer surface moves is referred to as the process (or the slow scan) direction, and the direction perpendicular to the process (or the slow scan) direction is referred to as the cross-process (or the fast scan) direction.
The image printing systems may produce color prints using a plurality of stations. Each station has a charging device for charging the image transfer surface, an exposing device for selectively illuminating the charged portions of the image transfer surface to record an electrostatic latent image thereon, and a developer unit for developing the electrostatic latent image with toner particles. Each developer unit deposits different color toner particles on the respective electrostatic latent image. The images are developed, at least partially in superimposed registration with one another, to form a multi-color toner powder image. The resultant multi-color powder image is subsequently transferred to an output media. The transferred multicolor image is then permanently fused to the output media forming the color print.
Color stability continues to be a major print quality issue for the image printing systems. Colors may vary within a page, from page-to-page, from job-to-job, from day-to-day, and from machine-to-machine. Further, determining root causes of color stability problems can be a trial and error procedure for customers and service engineers. Both customers and service engineers often replace many parts of the image printing system searching for the fix to a color stability problem because it can be difficult to determine the root causes of the color stability problem. Because the color stability problems are difficult to isolate, many parts of the image printing system that come back from the field do not exhibit the color stability problem that they were replaced to fix. This results in wastage and additional run cost for the image printing system.
An additional problem that arises is that color stability noises can be both structured and unstructured. The most prominent structured noise is process direction banding, while unstructured noises are those that exhibit statistical independence (are "random").
Banding generally refers to periodic defects on an image caused by a one-dimensional density variation in the process (slow scan) direction. Bands can result due to many different types of variations within components and/or subsystems, such as roll run out (variations in roll or drum diameter) in a developer roll or photoreceptor drum, wobble in the polygon mirror of the laser raster optical scanner (ROS), and the like. Various sources of banding exist in the image printing system and the frequencies of these sources may be known based on the mechanical design of the image printing system.
Distinguishing between the two types of noises (i.e., structured and unstructured) is important because the solution approach to each type of these color stability noises is quite different. For example, banding from multiple simultaneous sources can appear to be unstructured (chaotic), while actually being deterministic.

Method for color stability diagnostics based on correlation analysis


A thin film electronic device fabrication process includes providing an electronic device on a substrate, a first reactant gaseous material, a second reactant gaseous material, an inert gaseous material; and a delivery head through which the reactant gaseous materials and the inert gaseous material are simultaneously directed toward the electronic device and the substrate. One or more of the reactant gaseous materials and the inert gaseous material flows through the delivery head. The flow of the one or more of the reactant gaseous materials and the inert gaseous material generates a pressure to create a gas fluid bearing that maintains a substantially uniform distance between the delivery head and the substrate. Relative motion between the delivery head and the substrate causes the second reactant gaseous material to react with at least a portion of the electronic device and the substrate that has been treated with the first reactant gaseous material.

Thin film materials are utilized in a variety of applications. Examples include research and development and production applications, particularly in the fields of compound semiconductor, displays, LED, optical components, and ophthalmic devices. Thin film materials are also used to create custom coatings and patterned substrates for sensors, flat panel displays, micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS), microcircuits, biomedical devices, optical instruments, microwave communications, integrated circuits, and microelectronics in general.
An optical coating is a thin layer of material placed on the device or optical component such as for example, a lens, a display or a sensor, which changes the way light rays are reflected and transmitted. One type is the high-reflector coating used to produce mirrors which reflect greater than 99% of the incident light. Another type of optical coating is an antireflection coating, which reduces unwanted reflections from surfaces, and is commonly used on spectacle and photographic lenses. Multiple layer anti-reflection coatings, such as for example, a double layer anti-reflection coating consisting of SiN, or SiN and SiO2, can be used for high efficiency solar cells, as described by Wright et al. (Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells, 79, 2003). This type of optical coating blocks the ultraviolet light while transmitting visible light.
Complex optical coatings exhibit high reflection over some range of wavelengths, and anti-reflection over another range, allowing the production of dichroic thin-film optical filters, such as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,859,323 (Gasloli et al.).
An interference filter is an optical filter that reflects one or more spectral bands and transmits others, while maintaining a nearly zero coefficient of absorption for all wavelengths of interest. Such optical filters consist of multiple layers of coatings (usually dielectric or metallic layers) on a substrate, which have different refractive indices and whose spectral properties are the result of wavelength interference effects that take place between the incident and reflected light of different wavelengths at the thin film boundaries.
Interference filters can be used a color filters and in arrays, as color filter arrays to modify and control composition of reflected and transmitted light for displays, optical waveguides, optical switches, light sensors in the back of the cameras, etc. An example of such a multilayer thin film color filter is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,321 (Bradley), which is incorporated herein by reference. In electronic devices, color filters are organized as color filter arrays (CFA). In sensors such as those used in cameras, the CFA is used in front of a panchromatic sensor to allow the detection of colored signals. The CFAs are usually an array of red, green and blue areas laid down in a pattern. A common array used in digital cameras is the Bayer pattern array. The resolution of each color is reduced by as little as possible through the use of a 2×2 cell, and, of the three colors, green is the one chosen to be sensed twice in each cell as it is the one to which the eye is most sensitive.
Similar arrays can be used in displays, wherein the CFA is placed in register in front of white light pixels to allow the viewing of color information. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,697 (Vollmann et al.) describes arrays for liquid crystal displays (LCD) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0123133 (Winters) describes an array for an OLED device.
The arrays can be made in many ways, including ink-jetting colored inks, using photolithography to pattern different colored materials in a desired fashion, etc. Color filter arrays can also be constructed as patterns of interference (or dichroic) filters. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,662 (Hanrahan) describes a method of using the photolithography technique, where two different photoresist material layers are deposited, exposed and developed to pattern the substrate for subsequent deposition of the dielectric layers, followed by removing unwanted material using a lift off process.
A method of creating a dielectric interference filter system for an LCD display and a CCD array is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,342,970 (Sperger et al.). According to the method, different filter elements are prepared using substrate coating, masking via, for example, lithography process, plasma etching and lift off techniques.
Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are a technology for flat-panel displays and area illumination lamps. The technology relies upon thin-film layers of organic materials coated upon a substrate. OLED devices generally can have two formats known as small-molecule devices such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,292 (Ham et al.) and polymer OLED devices such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,190 (Friend et al.). Either type of OLED device may include, in sequence, an anode, an organic EL element, and a cathode. The organic EL element disposed between the anode and the cathode commonly includes an organic hole-transporting layer (HTL), an emissive layer (EL) and an organic electron-transporting layer (ETL). Holes and electrons recombine and emit light in the EL layer. Tang et al. (Applied Physics Letter, 913 (1987), Journal of Applied Physics, 65, 3610 (1989) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,292) demonstrated highly efficient OLEDs using such a layer structure. Since then, numerous OLEDs with alternative layer structures, including polymeric materials, have been disclosed and device performance has been improved. However, the materials comprising the organic EL element are sensitive and, in particular, are easily destroyed by moisture and high temperatures (for example greater than 140 degrees C.).
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display devices typically require humidity levels below about 1000 parts per million (ppm) to prevent premature degradation of device performance within a specified operating and/or storage life of the device. Control of the environment to this range of humidity levels within a packaged device is typically achieved by encapsulating the device with an encapsulating layer and/or by sealing the device, and/or providing a desiccant within a cover. Desiccants such as, for example, metal oxides, alkaline earth metal oxides, sulfates, metal halides, and perchlorates are used to maintain the humidity level below the above-specified level. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,890 (Boroson et al.) describing desiccant materials for moisture-sensitive electronic devices. Such desiccating materials are typically located around the periphery of an OLED device or over the OLED device itself.
In alternative approaches, an OLED device is encapsulated using thin multilayer coatings of moisture-resistant material. For example, layers of inorganic materials such as metals or metal oxides separated by layers of an organic polymer may be used. Such coatings have been described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,268,695 (Affinito), U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,645 (Graff et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,522,067 (Graff et al.), and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0246811 (Winters et al.), the latter reference hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Such encapsulating layers may be deposited by various techniques, including atomic layer deposition (ALD). One such atomic layer deposition apparatus is further described in WO 01/82390 (Ghosh et al.) describes the use of first and second thin-film encapsulation layers made of different materials wherein one of the thin-film layers is deposited at 50 nm using atomic layer deposition discussed below. According to this disclosure, a separate protective layer is also employed, e.g., parylene. Such thin multi-layer coatings typically attempt to provide a moisture permeation rate of less than 5×10−6 g/m2/day to adequately protect the OLED materials. In contrast, typically polymeric materials have a moisture permeation rate of approximately 0.1 gm/m2/day and cannot adequately protect the OLED materials without additional moisture blocking layers. With the addition of inorganic moisture blocking layers, 0.01 g/m2/day may be achieved and it has been reported that the use of relatively thick polymer smoothing layers with inorganic layers may provide the needed protection. Thick inorganic layers, for example 5 microns or more of ITO or ZnSe, applied by conventional deposition techniques such as sputtering or vacuum evaporation may also provide adequate protection, but thinner conventionally coated layers may only provide protection of 0.01 gm/m2/day. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0099356 (Park et al.) similarly describes a method for thin film encapsulation of flat panel displays using atomic layer deposition.
WO 04/105149 (Carcia et al.) describes gas permeation barriers that can be deposited on plastic or glass substrates by atomic layer deposition. Atomic layer deposition is also known as atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) or atomic layer CVD (ALCVD), and reference to ALD herein is intended to refer to all such equivalent processes. The use of the ALD coatings can reduce permeation by many orders of magnitude at thicknesses of tens of nanometers with low concentrations of coating defects. These thin coatings preserve the flexibility and transparency of the plastic substrate. Such articles are useful in container, electrical, and electronic applications. However, such protective layers also cause additional problems with light trapping in the layers since they may be of lower index than the light-emitting organic layers.
Although the requirement for the barrier layer of an OLED display has not been elucidated completely, Park et al. (Park et al., Ultrathin Film Encapsulation of an OLED by ALD, Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, 8 (2), H21-H23, 2005) mention that the barrier properties of water transmission rate less than 10−6 g/m2/day and oxygen transmission rate less than 10−5 cc/m2/day may be considered as sufficient.
In general, it has been found that multilayer combinations of specifically inorganic dielectrics layers and polymer layers can be more than three orders of magnitude less permeable to water and oxygen than an inorganic single layer, presumably due the increased lag time of permeation (G. L. Graff et al., Mechanisms of Vapor Permeation through Multilayer Barrier Films: Lag Time Versus Equilibrium Permeation, J. Appl. Physics, Vol. 96, No. 4, 2004, pp. 1840-1849). Barriers with alternating inorganic/organic layers with as many as 12 individual layers reportedly approach the performance needed by OLEDs (M. S. Weaver et al., Applied Physics Letter 81, 2929, 2002). As a result, many existing thin film encapsulation technologies focus of creating multilayers of thin film, mostly, organic/inorganic combinations, though purely inorganic or organic encapsulations are also known. Where the inorganic material is involved, the deposition of a high barrier inorganic layer is considered to be the most important technology in the entire encapsulation process, since the permeation through the encapsulation layer is mostly controlled by the defects in inorganic film.
While multiple layers provide better protection for OLED displays, thicker layers diminish transparency and as a result brightness and color saturation of the display.
Therefore, there exists a need for developing processes and methods for thin film deposition of encapsulation and barrier layers with advantageous optical properties.
Among the techniques widely used for thin-film deposition is chemical vapor deposition (CVD) that uses chemically reactive molecules that react in a reaction chamber to deposit a desired film on a substrate. Molecular precursors useful for CVD applications comprise elemental (atomic) constituents of the film to be deposited and typically also include additional elements. CVD precursors are volatile molecules that are delivered, in a gaseous phase, to a chamber in order to react at the substrate, forming the thin film thereon. The chemical reaction deposits a thin film with a desired film thickness.
Common to most CVD techniques is the need for application of a well-controlled flux of one or more molecular precursors into the CVD reactor. A substrate is kept at a well-controlled temperature under controlled pressure conditions to promote chemical reaction between these molecular precursors, concurrent with efficient removal of byproducts. Obtaining optimum CVD performance requires the ability to achieve and sustain steady-state conditions of gas flow, temperature, and pressure throughout the process, and the ability to minimize or eliminate transients.
Especially in the field of semiconductors, integrated circuits, and other electronic devices, there is a demand for thin films, especially higher quality, denser films, with superior conformal coating properties, beyond the achievable limits of conventional CVD techniques, especially thin films that can be manufactured at lower temperatures.
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an alternative film deposition technology that can provide improved thickness resolution and conformal capabilities, compared to its CVD predecessor. The ALD process segments the conventional thin-film deposition process of conventional CVD into single atomic-layer deposition steps. Advantageously, ALD steps are self-terminating and can deposit one atomic layer when conducted up to or beyond self-termination exposure times. An atomic layer typically ranges from about 0.1 to about 0.5 molecular monolayers, with typical dimensions on the order of no more than a few Angstroms. In ALD, deposition of an atomic layer is the outcome of a chemical reaction between a reactive molecular precursor and the substrate. In each separate ALD reaction-deposition step, the net reaction deposits the desired atomic layer and substantially eliminates "extra" atoms originally included in the molecular precursor. In its most pure form, ALD involves the adsorption and reaction of each of the precursors in the absence of the other precursor or precursors of the reaction. In practice, in any system it is difficult to avoid some direct reaction of the different precursors leading to a small amount of chemical vapor deposition reaction. The goal of any system claiming to perform ALD is to obtain device performance and attributes commensurate with an ALD system while recognizing that a small amount of CVD reaction can be tolerated.
In ALD applications, typically two molecular precursors are introduced into the ALD reactor in separate stages. For example, a metal precursor molecule, MLx, comprises a metal element, M that is bonded to an atomic or molecular ligand, L. For example, M could be, but would not be restricted to, Al, W, Ta, Si, Zn, etc. The metal precursor reacts with the substrate when the substrate surface is prepared to react directly with the molecular precursor. For example, the substrate surface typically is prepared to include hydrogen-containing ligands, AH or the like, that are reactive with the metal precursor. Sulfur (S), oxygen (O), and Nitrogen (N) are some typical A species. The gaseous metal precursor molecule effectively reacts with all of the ligands on the substrate surface, resulting in deposition of a single atomic layer of the metal:substrate-AH+MLx→substrate-AMLx-1+HL  (1)where HL is a reaction by-product. During the reaction, the initial surface ligands, AH, are consumed, and the surface becomes covered with L ligands, which cannot further react with metal precursor MLd. Therefore, the reaction self-terminates when all of the initial AH ligands on the surface are replaced with AMLx-1 species. The reaction stage is typically followed by an inert-gas purge stage that eliminates the excess metal precursor from the chamber prior to the separate introduction of a second reactant gaseous precursor material.
The second molecular precursor then is used to restore the surface reactivity of the substrate towards the metal precursor. This is done, for example, by removing the L ligands and redepositing AH ligands. In this case, the second precursor typically comprises the desired (usually nonmetallic) element A (i.e., O, N, S), and hydrogen (i.e., H2O, NH3, H2S). The next reaction is as follows:substrate-A-ML+AHY→substrate-A-M-AH+HL  (2)This converts the surface back to its AH-covered state. (Here, for the sake of simplicity, the chemical reactions are not balanced.) The desired additional element, A, is incorporated into the film and the undesired ligands, L, are eliminated as volatile by-products. Once again, the reaction consumes the reactive sites (this time, the L terminated sites) and self-terminates when the reactive sites on the substrate are entirely depleted. The second molecular precursor then is removed from the deposition chamber by flowing inert purge-gas in a second purge stage.
In summary, then, the basic ALD process requires alternating, in sequence, the flux of chemicals to the substrate. The representative ALD process, as discussed above, is a cycle having four different operational stages:
1. MLx reaction;
2. MLx purge;
3. AHy reaction; and
4. AHy purge, and then back to stage 1.
This repeated sequence of alternating surface reactions and precursor-removal that restores the substrate surface to its initial reactive state, with intervening purge operations, is a typical ALD deposition cycle. A key feature of ALD operation is the restoration of the substrate to its initial surface chemistry condition. Using this repeated set of steps, a film can be layered onto the substrate in equal metered layers that are all alike in chemical kinetics, deposition per cycle, composition, and thickness.
ALD can be used as a fabrication step for forming a number of types of thin-film electronic devices, including semiconductor devices and supporting electronic components such as resistors and capacitors, insulators, bus lines and other conductive structures. ALD is particularly suited for forming thin layers of metal oxides in the components of electronic devices. General classes of functional materials that can be deposited with ALD include conductors, dielectrics or insulators, and semiconductors.
Conductors can be any useful conductive material. For example, the conductors may comprise transparent materials such as indium-tin oxide (ITO), doped zinc oxide ZnO, SnO2, or In2O3. The thickness of the conductor may vary, and according to particular examples it can range from about 50 to about 1000 nm.
Examples of useful semiconducting materials are compound semiconductors such as gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, cadmium sulfide, intrinsic zinc oxide, and zinc sulfide.
A dielectric material electrically insulates various portions of a patterned circuit. A dielectric layer may also be referred to as an insulator or insulating layer. Specific examples of materials useful as dielectrics include strontiates, tantalates, titanates, zirconates, aluminum oxides, silicon oxides, tantalum oxides, hafnium oxides, titanium oxides, zinc selenide, and zinc sulfide. In addition, alloys, combinations, and multilayers of these examples can be used as dielectrics. Of these materials, aluminum oxides are preferred.
A dielectric structure layer may comprise two or more layers having different dielectric constants. Such insulators are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,970 (Dimitrakopoulos et al.) hereby incorporated by reference and copending U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0214154 (Yang et al.), hereby incorporated by reference. Dielectric materials typically exhibit a band-gap of greater than about 5 eV. The thickness of a useful dielectric layer may vary, and according to particular examples it can range from about 10 to about 300 nm.
A number of device structures can be made with the functional layers described above. A resistor can be fabricated by selecting a conducting material with moderate to poor conductivity. A capacitor can be made by placing a dielectric between two conductors. A diode can be made by placing two semiconductors of complementary carrier type between two conducting electrodes. There may also be disposed between the semiconductors of complementary carrier type a semiconductor region that is intrinsic, indicating that that region has low numbers of free charge carriers. A diode may also be constructed by placing a single semiconductor between two conductors, where one of the conductor/semiconductors interfaces produces a Schottky barrier that impedes current flow strongly in one direction. A transistor may be made by placing upon a conductor (the gate) an insulating layer followed by a semiconducting layer. If two or more additional conductor electrodes (source and drain) are placed spaced apart in contact with the top semiconductor layer, a transistor can be formed. Any of the above devices can be created in various configurations as long as the necessary interfaces are created.
In typical applications of a thin film transistor, the need is for a switch that can control the flow of current through the device. As such, it is desired that when the switch is turned on, a high current can flow through the device. The extent of current flow is related to the semiconductor charge carrier mobility. When the device is turned off, it is desirable that the current flow be very small. This is related to the charge carrier concentration. Furthermore, it is generally preferable that visible light have little or no influence on thin-film transistor response. In order for this to be true, the semiconductor band gap must be sufficiently large (>3 eV) so that exposure to visible light does not cause an inter-band transition. A material that is capable of yielding a high mobility, low carrier concentration, and high band gap is ZnO. Furthermore, for high-volume manufacture onto a moving web, it is highly desirable that chemistries used in the process be both inexpensive and of low toxicity, which can be satisfied by the use of ZnO and the majority of its precursors.
Self-saturating surface reactions make ALD relatively insensitive to transport non-uniformities, which might otherwise impair surface uniformity, due to engineering tolerances and the limitations of the flow system or related to surface topography (that is, deposition into three dimensional, high aspect ratio structures). As a general rule, a non-uniform flux of chemicals in a reactive process generally results in different completion times over different portions of the surface area. However, with ALD, each of the reactions is allowed to complete on the entire substrate surface. Thus, differences in completion kinetics impose no penalty on uniformity. This is because the areas that are first to complete the reaction self-terminate the reaction; other areas are able to continue until the full treated surface undergoes the intended reaction.
Typically, an ALD process deposits about 0.1-0.2 nm of a film in a single ALD cycle (with one cycle having numbered steps 1 through 4 as listed earlier). A useful and economically feasible cycle time must be achieved in order to provide a uniform film thickness in a range of about from 3 nm to 30 nm for many or most semiconductor applications, and even thicker films for other applications. According to industry throughput standards, substrates are preferably processed within 2 minutes to 3 minutes, which means that ALD cycle times must be in a range from about 0.6 seconds to about 6 seconds.
ALD offers considerable promise for providing a controlled level of highly uniform thin film deposition. However, in spite of its inherent technical capabilities and advantages, a number of technical hurdles still remain. One important consideration relates to the number of cycles needed. Because of its repeated reactant and purge cycles, effective use of ALD has required an apparatus that is capable of abruptly changing the flux of chemicals from MLx to AHy, along with quickly performing purge cycles. Conventional ALD systems are designed to rapidly cycle the different gaseous substances onto the substrate in the needed sequence. However, it is difficult to obtain a reliable scheme for introducing the needed series of gaseous formulations into a chamber at the needed speeds and without some unwanted mixing. Furthermore, an ALD apparatus must be able to execute this rapid sequencing efficiently and reliably for many cycles in order to allow cost-effective coating of many substrates.
In an effort to minimize the time that an ALD reaction needs to reach self-termination, at any given reaction temperature, one approach has been to maximize the flux of chemicals flowing into the ALD reactor, using so-called "pulsing" systems. In order to maximize the flux of chemicals into the ALD reactor, it is advantageous to introduce the molecular precursors into the ALD reactor with minimum dilution of inert gas and at high pressures. However, these measures work against the need to achieve short cycle times and the rapid removal of these molecular precursors from the ALD reactor. Rapid removal in turn dictates that gas residence time in the ALD reactor be minimized. Gas residence times, τ, are proportional to the volume of the reactor, V, the pressure, P, in the ALD reactor, and the inverse of the flow, Q, that is:τ=VP/Q  (3)
In a typical ALD chamber the volume (V) and pressure (P) are dictated independently by the mechanical and pumping constraints, leading to difficulty in precisely controlling the residence time to low values. Accordingly, lowering pressure (P) in the ALD reactor facilitates low gas residence times and increases the speed of removal (purge) of chemical precursor from the ALD reactor. In contrast, minimizing the ALD reaction time requires maximizing the flux of chemical precursors into the ALD reactor through the use of a high pressure within the ALD reactor. In addition, both gas residence time and chemical usage efficiency are inversely proportional to the flow. Thus, while lowering flow can increase efficiency, it also increases gas residence time.
Existing ALD approaches have been compromised with the trade-off between the need to shorten reaction times with improved chemical utilization efficiency, and, on the other hand, the need to minimize purge-gas residence and chemical removal times. One approach to overcome the inherent limitations of "pulsed" delivery of gaseous material is to provide each reactant gas continuously and to move the substrate through each gas in succession. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,821,563 (Yudovsky) describes a processing chamber, under vacuum, having separate gas ports for precursor and purge gases, alternating with vacuum pump ports between each gas port. Each gas port directs its stream of gas vertically downward toward a substrate. The separate gas flows are separated by walls or partitions, with vacuum pumps for evacuating gas on both sides of each gas stream. A lower portion of each partition extends close to the substrate, for example, about 0.5 mm or greater from the substrate surface. In this manner, the lower portions of the partitions are separated from the substrate surface by a distance sufficient to allow the gas streams to flow around the lower portions toward the vacuum ports after the gas streams react with the substrate surface.
A rotary turntable or other transport device is provided for holding one or more substrate wafers. With this arrangement, the substrate is shuttled beneath the different gas streams, effecting ALD deposition thereby. In one embodiment, the substrate is moved in a linear path through a chamber, in which the substrate is passed back and forth a number of times.
Another approach using continuous gas flow is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,022 (Suntola et al.). A gas flow array is provided with alternating source gas openings, carrier gas openings, and vacuum exhaust openings. Reciprocating motion of the substrate over the array effects ALD deposition, again, without the need for pulsed operation. In the embodiment of FIGS. 13 and 14, in particular, sequential interactions between a substrate surface and reactive vapors are made by a reciprocating motion of the substrate over a fixed array of source openings. Diffusion barriers are formed by having a carrier gas opening between exhaust openings. Suntola et al. '022 state that operation with such an embodiment is possible even at atmospheric pressure, although little or no details of the process, or examples, are provided.
While systems such as those described in the '563 Yudovsky and '022 Suntola et al. disclosures may avoid some of the difficulties inherent to pulsed gas approaches, these systems have other drawbacks. Neither the gas flow delivery unit of the '563 Yudovsky disclosure nor the gas flow array of the '022 Suntola et al. disclosure can be used in closer proximity to the substrate than about 0.5 mm. Neither of the gas flow delivery apparatus disclosed in the '563 Yudovsky and '022 Suntola et al. patents are arranged for possible use with a moving web surface, such as could be used as a flexible substrate for forming electronic circuits, light sensors, or displays, for example. The complex arrangements of both the gas flow delivery unit of the '563 Yudovsky disclosure and the gas flow array of the '022 Suntola et al. disclosure, each providing both gas flow and vacuum, make these solutions difficult to implement and costly to scale and limit their potential usability to deposition applications onto a moving substrate of limited dimensions. Moreover, it would be very difficult to maintain a uniform vacuum at different points in an array and to maintain synchronous gas flow and vacuum at complementary pressures, thus compromising the uniformity of gas flux that is provided to the substrate surface.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0084610 (Selitser) discloses an atmospheric pressure atomic layer chemical vapor deposition process. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0084610 states that extraordinary increases in reaction rates are obtained by changing the operating pressure to atmospheric pressure, which will involve orders of magnitude increase in the concentration of reactants, with consequent enhancement of surface reactant rates. The embodiments of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0084610 involve separate chambers for each stage of the process, although FIG. 10 in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0084610 shows an embodiment in which chamber walls are removed. A series of separated injectors are spaced around a rotating circular substrate holder track. Each injector incorporates independently operated reactant, purging, and exhaust gas manifolds and controls and acts as one complete mono-layer deposition and reactant purge cycle for each substrate as is passes there under in the process. Little or no specific details of the gas injectors or manifolds are described by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0084610, although they state that spacing of the injectors is selected so that cross-contamination from adjacent injectors is prevented by purging gas flows and exhaust manifolds incorporate in each injector.
In view of the above, it can be seen that there is a need for developing processes and methods for thin film material deposition including ALD deposition method and apparatus that can provide improved characteristics to allow for more precise control over density, thickness, composition of the thin film material layers, and therefore their bather and optical properties.

Thin film electronic device fabrication process


A reusable dispensing package is provided for dispensing medication in the form of tablets, pills, capsules or the like, in a predetermined sequence, the package includes a hinged container into which is placed a disposable blister pack containing the medicament, the container having a spring-loaded button or a plunger attached thereto which is moved around the cover of the dispenser and when depressed releases a tablet or pill from the blister.

Medication in solid form such as tablets, pills, capsules or the like are sometimes dispensed to patients in dispensers having blister packages therein which include individually sealed blisters or compartments designed to hold a single dose of medication. Such packages permit the handling of only a single dose of medicine at a time and minimize the risk of contamination of the tablet, pill or capsule. Other dispensers do not include blister packages. Such dispensers are exemplified by various forms.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,971,683, issued Feb. 14, 1961, discloses a dispenser which in one form is circular and includes a number of compartments for tablets or pills. An outlet opening or aperture is included in a portion of the dispenser and as the dispenser is rotated, a pill is dispensed through the opening as each compartment is positioned over the opening. In another form, the pills are retained in compartments which are in line in a sheet and as the sheet is moved to place the compartments in line with an outlet opening, the pills are dispensed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,199,489, issued Aug. 10, 1965, discloses a container for medicament in the form of pills and which are to be administered at specific intervals. The pills are retained in a circular configuration and are dispensed by pressing out through an easily tearable foil.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,649, issued May 24, 1983, discloses a medicament dispensing package including a blister pack and cover and an outer shell wherein the blister pack has multiple pockets for receiving medicament, and the outer shell has means for sealing the cover around the pocket of the blister pack. The package is reusable and the blister pack is disposable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,991, issued Apr. 28, 1987, discloses a dispenser for storing and signaling the time for taking drugs. The dispenser includes an electrical push button which acts on the blister pockets in the direction of ejection. Each blister pocket has a corresponding electrical push button.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,788, issued Apr. 7, 1970, discloses a three component package including a press through packet or blister pack, a tray to support the packet and an outer sheath to protect the packet and tray.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,171, issued Dec. 28, 1971, discloses a tablet dispenser including a parallel series of columns of tablets. The number of columns being equal to the number of medicament doses to be dispensed within a specified time period.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,866, issued Mar. 6, 1990, discloses a device for dispensing pills in successive order. The pills are retained in a single row in the desired successive order and a pill ejector is arranged for incremental movement in one direction along the dispenser. When the pill ejector is adjacent to a pill, a bendable member is displaced to push the pill out of a blister type package and through an opening in the rear of the dispenser.

Dispenser pack for the successive dispensing of a drug


Devices and methods for multiple-dose injection of a liquid, e.g., a leak detection dye or a compressor lubricant, into a closed system, e.g., a refrigeration system, are disclosed. Fluid flow through the closed system is used to flush the liquid into the system.

Refrigeration systems, including mobile units and stationary units, require servicing from time to time. Refrigeration system servicing often involves the introduction of a fluorescent, leak detection dye into the system. Servicing similarly can involve the introduction of a liquid compressor lubricant, e.g., a mineral oil, a polyol ester, or a polyalkylene glycol. These liquids are introduced into refrigerant systems by means of devices commonly called "dye injectors" (or "oil injectors"). Although various dye injectors have been used, they can be generally classified into two types, i.e., flush-through-type and injection-type.
The feature that distinguishes conventional flush-through injectors is that refrigerant flow supplies the force that moves (flushes) the liquid dye from the injector into the refrigeration system. Conventional flush-through injectors are single-application devices. This means that the injector must be opened and refilled with dye, for each dose of dye injected. An additional limitation is that the dose per injection is fixed at the capacity of the dye chamber, which must be filled completely, to avoid introducing air into the refrigeration system.
The feature that distinguishes conventional injector-type devices is that the concentrated liquid dye is displaced from the injector by a mechanical pushing mechanism, instead of refrigerant flow. In other words, the fluid does not flow through the injector. This type of design is analogous to a caulking gun or a drug syringe. Conventional injectors allows multiple injections. However, unless the injector output hose remains filled with dye, it must be purged of air each time the injector is connected to a refrigeration system. With this type of device, a small amount of dye often remains at the point of attachment between the injector and the refrigeration system.


The disclosure provides a device and method used to produce a tubular structure made of a refractory metal compound. In particular, the disclosure provides a device and method used to produce a tubular structure made of a refractory metal compound by reacting a green tubular structure made of a refractory metal with at least one reactive gas.

High quality single crystals, such as aluminum nitride or zinc oxide, are produced using various high temperature crystal growth techniques. Many of these growth techniques involve heating reactants used to form the crystals at high temperatures for extended time periods. As such, the materials used to construct high-temperature components such as furnace or crucible walls in the reactors used for high temperature crystal growth may be subjected to temperatures in excess of 2000° C. in the presence of reactive gases or plasma. Desired characteristics for these materials may include resistance to outgassing, sublimation, or chemical reactions with crystal growth reactants at high temperatures, ease of fabrication into a variety of shapes, and economic viability for mass production. The materials used in the fabrication of existing high-temperature components may typically possess only one or two of these desired characteristics.
Some materials that may be resistant to chemical attack at elevated temperatures may also be difficult and expensive to machine or shape. For example, tantalum carbide (TaC) is extremely resistant to chemical attack at elevated temperatures and may be produced using two different methods. TaC may be produced from Ta metal by a direct carbonization process, but the relatively low diffusivity of carbon reactants through the tantalum metal produces only a surface coating of TaC. In order to achieve the full conversion of a Ta structure to TaC by direct carbonization, a process time on the order of weeks may be necessary. A TaC component fabricated as a sintered-pressed TaC powder reduces the fabrication costs, but the possible shapes produced by the powder sintering are inherently limited by the process. In addition to fabrication costs, tantalum is relatively expensive compared to tungsten or other high-temperature materials.
There exists a need for an economical method of producing high-temperature components, such as furnace or crucible walls, using affordable materials that are highly resistant to degradation or other chemical reactions at high temperatures. In particular, a need exists in the art for a method of producing high-temperature components by converting a component formed from a relatively easily machined or shaped refractory metal material into a high-temperature component by reacting the refractory metal with one or more reactive gases to form a non-reactive, refractory metal compound that is stable at high temperatures.

Device and method for producing a tubular refractory metal compound structure


A stairway forming system includes a plurality of stacked, elongate stair riser form carriers, the carriers being longitudinally displaceable relative to one another. An anchoring unit anchors at least a lowermost riser form carrier in position relative to a substrate. A positioning assembly is attached to at least one of the riser form carriers and cooperates with the remaining riser form carriers for displacing the carriers in unison relative to one other to adopt a staggered operative configuration approximating an angle of the stairway to be formed.

In the construction of multi-storey buildings one of the most time consuming and difficult construction jobs is the manufacture of stairs between floors. Stair forming systems generally rely on skilled tradespeople to construct formwork before concrete stairs can be poured. It will be appreciated that, in the fabrication of a stairway, the angle of the stairway has to be accurately set and the depth of the treads and the height of the risers of the stairs has to be accurately maintained. This necessitates very careful placing of formwork to form the stairway.
The use of skilled tradespeople increases the cost of the project. Often, where the skilled tradesperson is an independent contractor, there may be delays due to the amount of work the tradesperson has at that time. In certain circumstances, such delays to a project can render the project manager liable for penalties.


A golf ball is disclosed that provides a softer feel, resilient core for decreased spin rate. The golf ball has a dual-layered core surrounded by a dual-layered cover. The volume of the inner layer of the dual layer core is at least about 70% of the total volume of the inner core layer and the outer core layer. The inner core has a diameter from about 1.25 inches up to about 1.55 inches. The outer core has a diameter from about 1.55 inches up to about 1.62 inches. The compression of the dual core is from about 60 to about 100. The outer core layer is constructed from materials that provide for a Shore C hardness of at least about 80. The dual-layer cover includes an inner layer having a Shore D hardness of at least about 60 and a thickness of about 0.015 inches to about 0.055 inches. The outer core layer has a Shore D hardness of about 62 or less and a thickness less than about 0.035 inches.

Conventional golf balls have primarily two functional components: the core and the cover. One purpose of the core is to be the "spring" of the ball or the principal source of resiliency, and the core may be either solid or wound. The primary purpose of the cover is to protect the core. Multi-layer solid balls include multi-layer core constructions, multi-layer cover constructions and combinations thereof. In a golf ball with a multi-layer core, the principal source of resiliency is the multi-layer core. In a golf ball with a multi-layer cover and single-layer core, the principal source of resiliency is the single-layer core.
Two-layer solid balls are made with a single, solid core. This single core is typically constructed from a cross-linked rubber, for example polybutadiene, and is encased by a single layer of hard cover material. Increasing the cross-link density of this core material increases the resiliency of the core. As the resiliency increases, however, the compression may also increase, resulting in a stiffer ball and increasing the spin rate of the ball. Spin rate is an important characteristic of golf balls for both skilled and recreational golfers.
Higher spin rates, although allowing a more skilled player to maximize control of the golf ball, because golf balls to have severely parabolic trajectories and adversely affect driving distance for less skilled players. For the lower skill level players, slicing and hooking the ball are constant obstacles. When a club head strikes a ball improperly, an unintentional side spin is often imparted to the ball, which sends the ball off its intended course. The side spin reduces a player's control over the ball, as well as the direct-line distance the ball will travel. A golf ball that spins less tends not to drift off-line erratically if the ball is not hit squarely with the club face. A low spin ball will not cure the hook or slice, but will reduce the adverse effects of the side spin. Hence, recreational players typically prefer a golf ball that exhibits low spin rate.
In general, the spin rate of golf balls is the end result of many construction variables including the distribution of the density or specific gravity within the golf ball and the relative compression among the various layers in multi-layer golf balls.
Varying materials, density or specific gravity among the various layers of a golf ball controls the spin rate of the golf ball. In one instance, weight from the outer layers of the golf ball is redistributed to the inner layers to decrease the moment of inertia of the golf ball, thereby increasing the spin rate. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,964 discloses a golf ball with a reduced moment of inertia having an inner core with specific gravity of at least 1.50 and a diameter of less than 32 mm and an intermediate layer of lower specific gravity between the inner core and the cover. U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,126 discloses a ball with a dense inner core having a specific gravity of at least 1.25 encapsulated by a lower density syntactic foam composition. U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,838 discloses another golf ball with a dense inner core having a diameter in the range of 15-25 mm with a specific gravity of 1.2 to 4.0 and an outer layer with a specific gravity of 0.1 to 3.0 less than the specific gravity of the inner core. U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,285 discloses another golf ball with reduced moment of inertia by reducing the specific gravity of an outer core to 0.2 to 1.0.
The total weight of a golf ball has to conform to weight limits set by the United States Golf Association ("USGA"). Although the total weight of the golf ball is controlled, the distribution of weight within the ball can vary. Redistributing the weight or mass of the golf ball either toward the center of the ball or toward the outer surface of the ball changes the dynamic characteristics of the ball at impact and in flight. Specifically, if the density is shifted or redistributed toward the center of the ball, the moment of inertia of the golf ball is reduced, and the initial spin rate of the ball as it leaves the golf club increases as a result of lower resistance from the ball's moment of inertia. Conversely, if the density is shifted or redistributed toward the outer surface of the ball, the moment of inertia is increased, and the initial spin rate of the ball as it leaves the golf club would decrease as a result of the higher resistance from the golf ball's moment of inertia.
The redistribution of weight within the golf ball is typically accomplished by adding fillers to one or more of the core or cover layers of the golf ball. Conventional fillers include the high specific gravity fillers, such as metal or metal alloy powders, metal oxide, metal searates, particulates, and carbonaceous materials and low specific gravity fillers, such as hollow spheres, microspheres and foamed particles. However, the addition of fillers may adversely interfere with the resiliency of the polymers used in golf balls and thereby the coefficient of restitution of the golf balls.
Current dual core golf ball compositions include a stiffening agent in the outer core layer surrounding the inner core. The resulting core has an increased compression. Harder cores, however, produce higher spin rates. Hence, a need remains for a golf ball having a low compression core and increased initial speed.


The present invention extends to the compound of formula I:

Mast cell mediated inflammatory conditions, in particular asthma, are a growing public health concern. Asthma is frequently characterized by progressive development of hyper-responsiveness of the trachea and bronchi to both immunospecific allergens and generalized chemical or physical stimuli, which lead to the onset of chronic inflammation. Leukocytes containing IgE receptors, notably mast cells and basophils, are present in the epithelium and underlying smooth muscle tissues of bronchi. These leukocytes initially become activated by the binding of specific inhaled antigens to the IgE receptors and then release a number of chemical mediators. For example, degranulation of mast cells leads to the release of proteoglycans, peroxidase, arylsulfatase B, chymase, and tryptase, which results in bronchiole constriction.
Tryptase is stored in the mast cell secretory granules and is the major secretory protease of human mast cells. Tryptase has been implicated in a variety of biological processes, including degradation of vasodilating and bronchorelaxing neuropeptides (Caughey, et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 1988, 244, pages 133-137; Franconi, et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 1988, 248, pages 947-951; and Tam, et al., Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., 1990, 3, pages 27-32) and modulation of bronchial responsiveness to histamine (Sekizawa, et al., J. Clin. Invest., 1989, 83, pages 175-179).
As a result, tryptase inhibitors may be useful as anti-inflammatory agents (K Rice, P. A. Sprengler, Current Opinion in Drug Discovery and Development, 1999, 2(5), pages 463-474) particularly in the treatment of chronic asthma (M. Q. Zhang, H. Timmerman, Mediators Inflamm., 1997, 112, pages 311-317), and may also be useful in treating or preventing allergic rhinitis (S. J. Wilson et al, Clin. Exp. Allergy, 1998, 28, pages 220-227), inflammatory bowel disease (S. C. Bischoff et al, Histopathology, 1996, 28, pages 1-13), psoriasis (A. Naukkarinen et al, Arch. Dermatol. Res., 1993, 285, pages 341-346), conjunctivitis (A. A. Irani et al, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol., 1990, 86, pages 34-40), atopic dermatitis (A. Jarvikallio et al, Br. J. Dermatol., 1997, 136, pages 871-877), rheumatoid arthritis (L. C. Tetlow et al, Ann. Rheum. Dis., 1998, 54, pages 549-555), osteoarthritis (M. G. Buckley et al, J. Pathol., 1998, 186, pages 67-74), gouty arthritis, rheumatoid spondylitis, and diseases of joint cartilage destruction.
In addition, tryptase has been shown to be a potent mitogen for fibroblasts, suggesting its involvement in the pulmonary fibrosis in asthma and interstitial lung diseases (Ruoss et al., J. Clin. Invest., 1991, 88, pages 493-499).
Therefore, tryptase inhibitors may be useful in treating or preventing fibrotic conditions (J. A. Cairns and A. F. Walls, J. Clin. Invest., 1997, 99, pages 1313-1321) for example, fibrosis, sceleroderma, pulmonary fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, myocardial fibrosis, neurofibromas and hypertrophic scars.
Additionally, tryptase inhibitors may be useful in treating or preventing myocardial infarction, stroke, angina and other consequences of atherosclerotic plaque rupture (M. Jeziorska et al, J. Pathol., 1997, 182, pages 115-122).
Tryptase has also been discovered to activate prostromelysin that in turn activates collagenase, thereby initiating the destruction of cartilage and periodontal connective tissue, respectively.
Therefore, tryptase inhibitors could be useful in the treatment or prevention of arthritis, periodontal disease, diabetic retinopathy, and tumor growth (W. J. Beil et al, Exp. Hematol., (1998) 26, pages 158-169). Also, tryptase inhibitors may be useful in the treatment of anaphylaxis (L. B. Schwarz et al, J. Clin. Invest., 1995, 96, pages 2702-2710), multiple sclerosis (M. Steinhoff et al, Nat. Med. (N. Y.), 2000, 6(2), pages 151-158), peptic ulcers and syncytial viral infections.
Substituted arylmethylamines, represented as the compounds of formula (A), their preparation, pharmaceutical compositions containing these compounds, and their pharmaceutical use in the treatment of disease states capable of being modulated by the inhibition of tryptase are reported in pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/843,126. Encompassed within the generic disclosure of the compounds of formula (A) of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/843,126, is the compound of the present invention, formula I. However, the compound of formula I is not specifically disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/843,126.

Accordingly, what is needed is a novel and useful compound having particularly valuable pharmaceutical properties, in its ability to inhibit tryptase. Such a compound should readily have a utility in treating a patient suffering from conditions that can be ameliorated by the administration of an inhibitor of tryptase, e.g., mast cell mediated inflammatory conditions, inflammation, and diseases or disorders related to the degradation of vasodilating and bronchorelaxing neuropeptides.

[4-(5-aminomethyl-2-fluoro-phenyl)-piperidin-1-yl]-(4-bromo-3-methyl-5-propoxy-thiophen-2-yl)-methanone hydrochloride as an inhibitor of mast cell tryptase

Abstract: or a prodrug, pharmaceutically acceptable salt, or solvate of said compound.

Abstract: Furthermore, the present invention is directed to a pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically effective amount of the compound of formula I, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

Abstract: Furthermore, the present invention is directed to the use of a compound of formula I as an inhibitor of tryptase, comprising introducing the compound into a composition comprising tryptase. In addition, the present invention is directed to the use of a compound of formula I for treating a patient suffering from, or subject to, a physiological condition in need of amelioration of an inhibitor of tryptase comprising administering to the patient a therapeutically effective amount of the compound of claim 1

Abstract: The present invention is directed also to the preparation of a compound of formula I.