A conformable coating for application to a soil substrate for barrier, adhesive, and planting properties includes a mixture of recycled or virgin materials, including organic fibrous material from wood based material and cotton based material, and gypsum bearing materials to which an effective amount of psyllium and its processes derivatives are added to form a solids mixture, which is diluted with an amount of water sufficient to provide a flowable consistency.

The present invention relates to an aqueous coating using substantial recycled materials and incorporating an effective amount of psyllium seed husks and processing derivatives high in mucilage content. The coating is processed to a flowable form and when applied, by spraying or dispersing, conforms and adheres to intervening contours.
The psyllium format used in the present invention is derived from several members of the plant genus Plantago, preferably P. ovata also referred to as Blond Psyllium. Of particular utility are the constituents derived from the seed husks or hulls, in particulate form, as well as the byproducts from the processing in the form commonly referred to as kha-kha powder or Psyllium industrial dust. Both have a high swell volume of around 20 times, and a swell rate of about 20 ml/g to 65 ml/g and above. As hereinafter used, the term "psyllium husk and byproducts" (PHB) encompasses the high mucilage/swell volume products, alone or in combination, from the Plantago species. Such products are readily commercially available under Harmonized Tariff Number 118.104.22.168 and FDA Product Code 54 I Y R 02.
The coatings of the invention have particular benefit in soil and ground applications, wherein the coating may be used in agricultural applications for controlling unwanted plant growth, terrain applications for limiting erosion, planting applications for supporting or retarding target species growth, and load bearing applications for facilitating vehicle and personnel traffic. The coatings are sprayed or dispersed as thin self leveling coatings to required thickness for the application.
The Plantago species in other roughly processed forms have been proposed for varying soil based applications.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,559, the seeds of Plantago or other sources are processed to a gum, mixed with mulch and applied in wet or dry form to soil surfaces to protect against water and wind erosion, reduce soil moisture loss and enhance seed germination.
The dried and ground plants of the Plantago family have also been proposed for conditioning soils as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,665. Therein, the plant material was tilled into the soil and wetted to substantial depths and thereafter compacted. Suggested applications include ground cover, sports fields, and highway berms and embankments.
A further soil stabilization approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,546 wherein psyllium in an undisclosed formal is dry mixed with plastic fiber and aggregate, and applied to soil contours such as golf bunkers. The applied mixture is wetted and when hardened is claimed to prevent distortion and disfiguration of shape. The psyllium disclosed is said to have a swell volume of 25-45% suggesting a plant based particulate format of the type used in the inventor's above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,665, inasmuch as psyllium husk powder as used in the present invention has a swell volume orders of magnitude greater. The disclosed application rates of the psyllium format are such, that if psyllium husk powder were used, the cost would be prohibitive.
None of the above proposed applications, however, disclose or suggest the use of the psyllium husk and/or byproducts as a conformal coating system and wherein the characteristics may be augmented by select additives to improve upon and extend beneficial uses therefor.


In a route generating system for an autonomous mobile robot, a plurality of nodes are designated within an area of movement of the robot and an edge is defined between a pair of nodes only if a distance from the one node to the other node is less than a threshold value and there is no obstacle on a line drawn between the one point and the other point. Because the route is generated from a collection of pre-defined edges which are free from obstacles and are selected so as to optimize the generated route, the robot is enabled to travel from the current position to the destination in a safe and optimum fashion. Furthermore, the edges are defined by connecting only those nodes that are relatively close to each other, the candidates of the edges for generating a route can be reduced to a small number and this reduces computational loads. Also, because the route can be selected in a relatively intelligent manner so as to optimize a certain criterion, a clumsy appearance in the movement of the robot can be avoided.

An autonomous mobile robot is required to be capable of moving about in an area where various obstacles are placed from a current position to a destination in a smooth manner while avoiding the obstacles. To provide such a capability to a robot, it has been proposed to prepare an obstacle database containing information on the positions of obstacles in a map of a designated area according to visual information obtained by the robot, and program the route for the robot by looking up the database. See Japanese patent laid open publication No. 2003-266345.
However, a designated area may not have any pre-defined passages as is the case with showrooms and performance stages, and it is not easy to designate a route for the robot when only the destination is given. The shortest route from the current position to a destination would be given by a straight path connecting these two points. However, when an obstacle is located on such a path, it has been customary for a robot to slightly change the straight path by coming close to the obstacle and passing around the obstacle in the immediate vicinity. This obviously is not the shortest path for the robot to move from the current position to the destination. Furthermore, the robot would make a clumsy appearance.
It may be conceivable to program the robot so as to make use of the visual information obtained by the robot and make a more intelligent decision. However, it would require a highly complex algorithm and increase the computing load. This would cause a delay in the reaction of the robot and increase the power consumption of the computer. As a mobile robot typically relies on a battery for its power, a large power consumption is highly undesirable.

Route generating system for an autonomous mobile robot


An adjustable lever arm--variable resistance cam assembly employing a cam for producing therefrom a variable resistance force when a constant resistance force is applied thereto and in which the lever arm may be initially positioned at a range of angular positions without thereby affecting the variable resistance force produced by the cam at each particular angular position of the lever arm upon rotation thereof. The adjustable lever arm--variable resistance cam assembly may be employed in a weight lifting machine or device of the type having a rotating lever arm for application of weight lifting force by the user. The assembly allows the user to angularly adjust the initial position of the lever arm in relation to the axis of the cam and, nevertheless, maintain the cam in appropriate relation with the constant resistance force. The variable resistance force produced by the cam will then not vary with respect to positioning of the lever arm as rotated during exercise.

Weight lifting is a popular sport and fitness pastime. The popularity of weight lifting has increased significantly in recent years. Weight lifting can serve a number of purposes, including, for example, body building, toning, strengthening, exercise and rehabilitation. A variety of weight lifting styles and strategies have developed. The particular weight lifting styles and strategies for achieving particular ones of such purposes vary. Generally, such styles and strategies take the form of various weight lifting exercises in which particular lifts are employed using particular muscles of the body. The results achieved through a particular style and strategy in weight lifting is thus varied by the particular exercise procedures and methods pursued.
A wide variety of weight lifting exercise procedures and methods have developed. Weight lifting may be accomplished through so-called "free weights", which consist essentially of a weight, generally attached to some form of handle, which the user grasps and lifts by use of particular muscles of the body. On the other hand, numerous weight lifting machine devices have been designed to further particular weight lifting goals.
Weight lifting machine devices take on a variety of styles, shapes and forms. Such devices are typically designed to further particular muscle development goals sought to be achieved by the user through the use of the devices in weight lifting exercises. Certain of such devices tend to be geared towards use in developing particular muscles or particular sets of muscles of the user's body. For example, a number of such devices are directed to use in developing leg muscles of the user, such as knee extension and leg lift machines.
The various mechanical machine devices designed for use in weight lifting typically provide greater ease of use, more efficient weight lifting exercise, and some degree of versatility over traditional free weights. In addition, such machines, in some instances, enable the user, in some measure, to regulate resistance force during particular exercises and also offer other desirable aspects. Regulation of resistance force is in many circumstances advantageous in that the regulation may be used to emphasize resistance at certain points, critical to desired muscle development, during a particular exercise and to de-emphasize resistance at certain other points during such exercise, critical to limit potential injury to muscles or other parts of the user's body. It is, therefore, very desirable to include a mechanism in a weight lifting machine device which provides a varying resistance force during performance of the weight lifting exercises. A design goal for many designers of weight lifting devices is to provide a mechanism for creating such a variable resistance.
Weight lifting machine devices often also employ a lever arm assembly which operates against a resistance force typically provided by sets of weights or other resistance means. Such a lever arm is generally designed to be moveable by the user when weight lifting force is applied by the user to the arm in sufficient magnitude to overcome the resistance force. Though a variety of configurations for weight lifting machine devices are possible, a typical configuration includes a set of weights positioned for upward vertical movement in response to weight lifting force. Additionally, such a machine typically includes a lever arm assembly for application of weight lifting force by the user. The lever arm is generally rotatably movable within a semicircular range. The weights are connected with the lever arm by a cable or chain linkage, such that angular movement of the lever arm is synchronous with vertical, upward movement of the weights. Various pulleys and levers may also be employed with the cable or chain linkage for translating the force and movement of the lever arm to vertical, upward force operating against the resistance force of the weights causing the weights to move vertically and upward.
A recent trend in design of weight lifting machine devices is to direct the designs to particular exercise uses or particular muscle development goals. Improvements have been made in the particular mechanisms employed in such devices to achieve such goals. As an example, it has been determined that users often do not want the lever arm to move in its typical full range of semicircular movement. Further, it has been determined that users will at times prefer to adjust the initial starting position of the lever arm. Designers have recognized these desires of users and have at times incorporated mechanisms for adjusting the starting position and the range of movement of lever arms in such machines. Additionally, it has been determined that preferred weight lifting conditions dictate a variable resistance, rather than constant resistance, against a lever arm through its range of motion. Such a variable resistance mechanism has been incorporated into a number of weight lifting machines by designers.
The adjustable lever arm-variable resistance cam mechanisms exhibited in the prior art weight lifting machine devices present a number of problems in their use. Such mechanisms are often complex involving an aggregation of numerous gears, pulleys, lever arms, chains, cables, and other elements. Further, such prior art mechanisms have often not provided for a variable resistance that is, at each particular angular point of movement of a lever arm, the same, irregardless of initial positioning of the lever arm or of range of semicircular movement thereof. In the prior art, the variable resistance often differs as a result of varied initial positioning of a lever arm. Such differing variable resistance, due to varied initial positioning, may result, for example, from vertical movement and thus different initial positioning of the weights in response to adjustment of the lever arm to such varied initial positions. In addition to such differing variable resistance, such prior art mechanisms have proven breakable, complicated in assembly, costly, and/or combinations of these and a host of numerous other problems.
The present invention is an adjustable lever arm-variable resistance cam mechanism for use in an exercise machine or other lifting device which overcomes the problems presented by the prior art. In providing for such a mechanism, the invention includes a cam allowing for various adjustment of initial positioning of a lever arm attached thereto, which cam, upon initial positioning of the lever arm, is thereby automatically adjusted to create appropriate variable resistance from a weight set linked thereto in response to forcible movement of the lever arm by the user.

Adjustable lever arm-variable resistance cam assembly


An electric lamp (10) which emits a blue color when energized and which comprises a light transmissive envelope (12) enclosing an electric light source (16) within, said envelope (12) having a surface (11) on which is a coating comprising sulfate precipitated silica, aluminum silicate pigment, and cobalt blue aluminate spinel. The lamp is useful in appliances such as refrigerators.

This invention relates to incandescent lamps and more particularly to low wattage lamps used as appliance lamps. Still more particularly, it relates to lamps useful in refrigerators.
Home appliances such as refrigerators and conventional ovens often are provided with a low wattage lamp to illuminate the interior of the appliance. These lamps, usually in an A15 envelope and usually of about 40 watts, have conventionally been acid etched on the interior surface to diffuse the light and eliminate the shadowing effect that might be caused by a clear bulb. Recently, environmental concerns have arisen because of the acid involved in the etching process.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to obviate the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to enhance appliance lamps.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an appliance lamp that has an environmentally safe coating on the interior surface allowing the spent Lamp to be landfilled.
These objects are accomplished, in one aspect of the invention, by the provision of an electric lamp which emits a blue color when energized and which comprises a light transmissive envelope enclosing an electric light source within, said envelope having a surface on which is a coating comprising sulfate precipitated silica, aluminum silicate pigment, and cobalt blue aluminate spinel
The soft blue color provides a higher color temperature and enhances the lighting appearance of the appliance to the user. The internally powder coated uses an environmentally safe formula that enables the spent lamp to be landfilled.


A craneless MGS vessel and U-tube assembly can be delivered on a winch truck to a drilling site and assembled in a far shorter time and without the need of having a crane and crane operator attend to the movement and placement of the MGS vessel and attached U-tube mud lines to a mud handling system in a drilling rig. The MGS vessel of the present application can be a standard type of MGS vessel well known in the industry. By fabricating this MGS vessel with attached and moveable U-tube connectors for the mud line, the system can be moved and assembled at the drill site without crane intervention.

A typical MGS vessel is a pressure vessel allowing an input of a large volume of drilling fluid comprised of mud and entrained gas, encountered in a high pressure situation commonly referred to as a "kick," resulting when the annular hydrostatic pressure in a well falls below the pressure experienced in the well from the down hole section of the well. The high pressure gas and mud mixture is directed to the surface and pressure is relieved through an initial set of fixtures or chokes, then the mud/gas mixture is directed to the MGS vessel where the mud flows over a series of baffles on the interior of the vessel allowing gas to be released and the mud to be collected in the bottom to be returned to the shell shaker then to the mud pit. Gas is vented off the top of the MGS vessel where is can be captured or flared as required by the volume and quality of the gas experienced. The technology for this type of MGS vessel is old and well known in the art.
The use of the skidless MGS vessels and U-tube mud lines impedes successful rapid set up and completion of drill rig since each portion needs a crane to grab and set the MGS vessel adjacent the shale shaker and mud pit on a modern drill rig and then to move an attachable U-tube line to the MGS vessel when positioned. The present invention relates to an apparatus allowing a U-tube line to be shipped with the MGS vessel then be moved into alignment and connection with a mud handling system (comprised of both the connection to the shale shaker and the mud pit) by hammer unions and pipe swivel joints utilizing self-contained hydraulic power located on the skid with the MGS vessel and U-tube mud line in a manner heretofore unseen by applicant. The hydraulic lift cylinders attached to the MGS vessel and to the U-tube mud line accomplishes all required movement.
This unique adjustable mud outlet line delivery system can be adjusted to provide a liquid seal without the need of further crane operation to move the U-tube mud line for connection to the MGS vessel and the mud handling lines at the mud pit.

Craneless MGS vessel and swivel joint U-tube mud line and method of installation


Compositions comprising a plurality of yeast cells, wherein said plurality of yeast cells are characterized by their ability to normalize the serum level of GPT, AP and/or LDH-5 in a mammal, said ability resulting from their having been cultured in the presence of an alternating electric field having a specific frequency and a specific field strength. Also included are methods of making and using these compositions.

The invention relates to compositions that are beneficial for the liver and useful as dietary supplements. These compositions contain yeast cells obtainable by growth in electromagnetic fields with specific frequencies and field strengths.
There are various types of liver diseases, including acute hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, toxic liver injury, hepatic cancer, cirrhotic liver, fatty liver, portal hypertension, and the like. Liver disease in some patients develops into hepatic cirrhosis or even hepatic cancer after a period of time (A report by the research group on liver diseases, Health and Welfare Ministry, 1979). Prevention, observation, and cure of hepatitis are therefore important for preventing cirrhotic liver and hepatic cancer. In recent years, animal models of hepatitis and hepatic cancers have been developed and their application to the research of liver diseases is ongoing (Mori et al., Hepatic, Cholecyst, Pancresto 19(5):905-910 (1989)).
Rest and diet are principal means for curing acute hepatitis, while various other measures are taken to cure active-type chronic hepatitis, especially hepatitis B. Interferon, adenine arabinoside, and acyclovir have been used to treat hepatitis. However, prolonged use of these drugs causes severe side effects. Development of a treatment that is safe and effective for treating liver diseases is therefore strongly desired.
This invention is based on the discovery that certain yeast cells can be activated by electromagnetic fields having specific frequencies and field strengths to produce substances that are beneficial for the liver. Compositions comprising these activated yeast cells can be used as dietary supplements for improving liver health, e.g., alleviating symptoms of hepatitis, cirrhosis, fatty liver and other liver ailments.
This invention embraces a composition comprising a plurality of yeast cells that have been cultured in an alternating electric field having a frequency in the range of about 18000-18500 MHZ (e.g., 18180-18240 MHz), and a field intensity in the range of about 50 to 500 mV/cm (e.g., 100-450 mV/cm). The yeast cells are cultured in the alternating electric field for a period of time sufficient to substantially increase the capability of said plurality of yeast cells to produce substances beneficial for the liver. For instance, the cultured yeast cells when ingested can normalize the level of serum glutamate-pyruvate Transaminase (GPT), alkaline phosphatase (AP), and/or lactate dehydrogenase 5 (LDH-5) in a mammal.
The term xe2x80x9cnormalizexe2x80x9d means changing the level of abnormally high or low concentrations of subject proteins in a mammal to a substantially normal level.
In one embodiment, the frequency and/or the field strength of the alternating electric field can be altered within the aforementioned ranges during said period of time. In other words, the yeast cells can be exposed to a series of electromagnetic fields. An exemplary period of time is about 40-100 hours (e.g., 50 to 80 hours).
Yeast cells that can be included in this composition can all be obtained from the China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center (xe2x80x9cCGMCCxe2x80x9d), a depository recognized under the Budapest Treaty (China Committee for Culture Collection of Microorganisms, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Haidian, P.O. BOX 2714, Beijing, 100080, China). Useful yeast species include, but are not limited to, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, Saccharomyces chevalieri, Saccharomyces delbrueckii, Saccharomyces exiguous, Saccharomyces fermentati, Saccharomyces logos, Saccharomyces mellis, Saccharomyces oviformis, Saccharomyces rosei, Saccharomyces rouxii, Saccharomyces sake, Saccharomyces uvarum, Saccharomyces willianus, Saccharomyces sp., Schizosaccharomyces octosporus, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Sporobolomyces roseus, Torulopsis candida, Torulopsis famta, Torulopsis globosa, Torulopsis inconspicua, Trichosporon behrendii, Trichosporon capitatum, Trichosporon cutaneum, Wickerhamia fluoresens, Candida arborea, Candida krusei, Candida lambica, Candida lipolytica, Candida parapsilosis, Candida pulcherrima, Candida rugousa, Candida tropicalis, Candida utilis, Crebrothecium ashbyii, Geotrichum candidum, Hansenula anomala, Hansenula arabitolgens, Hansenula jadinii, Hansenula saturnus, Hansenula schneggii, Hansenula subpelliculosa, Kloeckera apiculata, Lipomyces starkeyi, Pichia farinosa, Pichia membranaefaciens, Rhodosporidium toruloides, Rhodotorula glutinis, Rhodotorula minuta, Rhodotorula rubar, Rhodotorula aurantiaca, Saccharomycodes ludwigii, and Saccharomycodes sinenses. For instance, the yeast cells can be of the strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hansen AS2.375, AS2.501, AS2.502, AS2.503, AS2.504, AS2.535, AS2.558, AS2.560, AS2.561, AS2.562, or IFFI1048; or Saccharomyces carlsbergensis Hansen AS2.420, or AS2.444.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Exemplary methods and materials are described below, although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can also be used in the practice or testing of the present invention. All publications and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In case of conflict, the present specification, including definitions, will control. The materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting. Throughout this specification and claims, the word xe2x80x9ccomprise,xe2x80x9d or variations such as xe2x80x9ccomprisesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccomprisingxe2x80x9d will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, and from the claims.

Dietary supplements beneficial for the liver


In 5G proposals, functionality of the BBU is disaggregated into a DU and a CU that handle BBU functionality according to different functional splits. A significant amount of cloud infrastructure is envisioned to be needed to implement several of the designated splits. An integrated device (e.g., white box) can integrate the functionality of multiple RRU (or NR in 5G) and the functionality of multiple BBU (or DU/CU splits in 5G). By performing a lightweight routing determination at the integrated device, requisite cloud infrastructure can be significantly reduced.

Proposals for 5G next generation wireless standards include many changes from previous architectures such as the architectures of long term evolution and other legacy standards. For example, compliance with 5G relies on a disaggregation of the baseband unit (BBU) utilized in legacy architectures. In that regard, 5G has disaggregated functional aspects of the BBU, splitting the function of the BBU into two parts, referred to as a distributed unit (DU) and a centralized unit (CU). A first part of the functionality remains at the cell site and is handled by the DU. In some instances, the DU could be remotely located and multiple TRPs could connect to it. The virtualized capability is handled by the CU, which is processed elsewhere, typically in a cloud (edge or integrated) or the core network.


A brace plate for bracing concrete column forms includes a flexible base and an extension extending at an angle therefrom. The extension has a slot for receiving a tightening strap and holes to receive fasteners for fastening the brace plate to a brace. In use, a plurality of brace plates are disposed around the circumference of a column form so that the bases conform to the outer surface of the column form. The tightening strap is inserted through each of the brace plates and drawn snugly around the column form. Each brace plate is fastened to its corresponding brace in such a way as to allow relative movement between the brace plate and the brace. Once the braces are secured and the column form is aligned, each brace plate is further fastened to each brace so as to prevent relative movement between each brace plate and its corresponding brace.

In the past, bracing collars were constructed out of lumber and plywood, or molded out of plastic, or fabricated from steel. Typically, the collar rested on the top of the form. Alternatively, the collar fitted loosely around the circumference of the form near the top end of the form. Once the column form was properly aligned, braces were attached to the collar to hold the column form in place.
These known collars were disadvantageous for bracing column forms because they had to be made to fit a particular diameter form. Additionally, they had to be installed at or near the top end of the form so that the length of the braces had to vary depending on the height of the column form. If the collar was installed around the circumference of the form, there would be some play between the column form and the loosely fitting collar, so that correct alignment of the form, and hence that of the resulting concrete column, could not be ensured.

Adjustable bracing system for column forms

Alpha Forming Systems, Division of Elco Concrete Co, Inc


A methodology that provides for control of lot release control in a production environment. The method provides a start-order release system to achieve output maximization and cycle time minimization. This is accomplished using a lot release method that allows for multiple products that have different due dates and different process flows. Linear programming techniques are used to provide optimum start and customer delivery dates and maintain high resource utilization.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to optimization of scheduling and release of foundry fab wafer orders and, more particularly, to a lot release control algorithm in a foundry fab producing multiple products that have different due dates and different process flows.
2. Description of Related Art
In a typical foundry making wafers there are many constraints that affect the efficiency of the process. For optimization of the entire process there must be an attempt to maximize the output of the wafers and minimize the entire cycle from start to finish. There is no systematic optimized order release model that provides this scheduling. With the many variables present in running a wafer fab line, conflicts may result in idle time for the tools and wait time for the product. Even worse, promised delivery dates to customers can be missed when the wafer fab becomes too busy due to conflicts and delays with other processing.
On-time delivery of wafer is also impacted by bottlenecks caused by tool problems. Once tool problems present themselves, all schedules using the malfunctioning tools are delayed. This can cause a ripple effect that has a major impact on the current customer""s wafers and on subsequent orders. Without a good method to factor in these impacts, it becomes difficult to give the customers accurate new completion dates. With optimized order release capability, schedules can more successfully be met with the result of happier and retained customers.
Several methods or systems related to wafer process control are available. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,218 (Natarajan) a conceptual decision analysis tool for production release planning is described. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,570 (Parad) a method for continuous real-time management of heterogeneous interdependent resources is described. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,614 (Yamada) a level-by-level explosion method for material requirements planning is provided. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,639 (Atsumi) an order process control model is described. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,102 (Rush et al.) a Manufacturing Requirements Planning (MRP) system is provided. Finally, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,794 (Howie et al.) a job scheduling system for jobs without special purpose coding is provided.
An optimized order release algorithm could save significant time and money in a number of situations and cut down on missed schedules that could result in a loss of customers.
This invention provides a start order release method to achieve maximum output with a minimum of cycle time, thus saving processing time and money due to the increased efficiencies from the method. The first overall objective is to provide a control model that with a planned step-by-step process optimizes release of work lots in a manufacturing line.
A second, more specific, objective is to provide a set of control algorithms to determine the most optimum control model for production of lots, taking into consideration the start date of processing, the committed due date, theoretical process time, and customers"" needs.
Another specific objective is to provide lower and upper bound constraints to control the processing using linear programming techniques on which the final development of the Start To Build (STB) plan is based.
These objectives are achieved by using a specified lot release algorithm. The algorithm takes into account multiple products that have different due dates plus different process flows. Using the algorithms with linear program techniques, the method of this invention produces more accurate start schedules and high resource utilization while minimizing the number of late orders. This method has been found useful for foundry wafer fab systems to maximize output in wafer production and minimize cycle time in real production environments.

Wafer start order release algorithm in a foundry fab

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


The present disclosure provides systems and methods where an electron focusing device can be combined with a scintillation detector to better focus the electrons generated by a light sensing device. The scintillation detector can include a scintillation crystal that is covered by an inner light-reflecting coating layer where the scintillation crystal may emit photons due to measurement radiation(s). The light sensing device can include a photomultiplier that may receive the photons emitted by the scintillation crystal and convert them into the electrons generated. The electron focusing device can include a metal ring magnet or one or more conducting coils encircling the scintillation crystal that may create a magnetic field so as to focus the electrons generated by the light sensing device.

Scintillation detectors have been employed in the oil and gas industry for well logging. These detectors have used thallium activated sodium iodide crystals that are effective in detecting gamma ray radiations. The crystals are enclosed in tubes or casings to form a crystal package. The crystal package has an optical window at one end of the casing, which permits scintillation light induced by radiation to pass out of the crystal package for measurement by a light sensing device such as a photomultiplier tube coupled to the crystal package. The photomultiplier tube converts the light photons emitted from the crystal into electrical pulses that are shaped and digitized by associated electronics. Therefore, the fraction of the induced scintillation light collected by the photomultiplier should be as large as possible. One reason, which leads to reduce this fraction of light, is the losses at the crystal surface. The uniformity of light collection depends primarily on the conditions, which exist at the interface between the crystal and the enclosing tube. In order to recapture the light that escapes from the surface, the crystal is normally surrounded by a reflector at all surfaces except that at which the photomultiplier tube is mounted. Two types of reflector can be used: a polished metallic surface acting as a specular reflector or a dry powder packed around surfaces of the crystal acting as a diffuse reflector.
The ability to detect gamma rays makes it possible to analyze rock strata surrounding the borehole, as by measuring the gamma rays coming from naturally occurring radioisotopes in downhole shales which bound hydrocarbon reservoirs. A common practice is to make those measurements while drilling (MWD); and for this type of application, the detector must be capable of withstanding high temperatures and also must have high shock resistance. At the same time, there is a need to maintain performance specifications.
A problem associated with MWD applications is that the reflector used in the detector, specular or diffuse, will suffer from those high temperatures and high shocks. When a diffuse reflector as a dry aluminum powder is used, after some shocks it will clog at one end of the crystal package and fail to reflect light at all surfaces. And when a specular reflector as polytetrafluoroethene (PTFE) tape, or any type of foil is used, the inhomogeneities of the crystal edge do not ensure a perfect contact between the crystal and the foil. Air and gas are irremediably trapped in the crystal/foil interface and it does not permit to the foil to act as a perfect specular reflector, reducing a large fraction of light induced by the crystal.
Another problem associated with MWD applications, is that detectors report a higher than an actual count rate if the scintillation crystal package produces vibration induced light pulses. The harsh shock and vibration conditions the detectors encounter during drilling can cause a crystal package to emit spurious light pulses in addition to gamma ray induced light pulses. That is, the detector output will be composed of radiation induced counts and vibration induced counts. Heretofore, the detector electronics could not distinguish the vibration induced counts from the genuine gamma counts, whereby the detector reports a higher than actual count rate. Some prior art solutions use electronic devices to filter out vibration induced counts by discriminating on the basis of the pulse shape and/or the signal decay time. Other solutions, directly applied to the package of the crystal, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,869,836, use an elastomeric material which absorbs shocks and vibration. Commonly, this elastomeric material is associated with a PTFE tape to act as a reflector. This shock absorbing member solves the problem related to high temperatures and high shock resistance, but not to the problem of specular reflector. The present disclosure provides a solution to the aforesaid problem of reflector in the crystal package.

Electron focusing systems and techniques integrated with a scintillation detector covered with a reflective coating


A method for producing single-phase intermetallic phases, which melt incongruently within a temperature range of 900.degree. to 2,000.degree. K., with a homogeneity range of .ltoreq.10 atom % at room temperature by co-reduction is described. The exothermic reaction of the calciothermal reduction is adjusted by altering the oxide content of the reaction mixture, the composition of which corresponds to the desired single-phase alloy, in such a way that the temperature condition T.sub.m >T.sub.R .gtoreq.0.9 T.sub.m (in .degree. K.) is fulfilled, T.sub.m being the melting temperature of the intermetallic phase and T.sub.R the reaction temperature. The components of the reaction mixture, with the exception of calcium, have an average particle size of .ltoreq.75 .mu.m. The reaction product at the end of the exothermic reaction is tempered at a temperature which is at least 0.7 times the melting temperature T.sub.m of the desired, single-phase alloy, measured in .degree. K., but is less than the melting temperature T.sub.m, during a period sufficient for the diffusion of the components.

The properties of intermetallic compounds are somewhere between those of metals and ceramics. They frequently exhibit interesting application properties of these two classes of materials, such as high hardness, heat resistance, corrosion resistance at high temperatures, superconductivity, permanent magnetism or response to magneto-optical factors. There exist numerous investigations and publications dealing with the possible industrial applicability of intermetallic phases, of which the following publications are named as being representative: Intermetallische Phasen, Autorenkollektiv (Intermetallic Phases, Author Collective), published by VEB Deutscher Verlag fuer Grundstoffindustrie, Leipzig (1977); E. Fitzer in: Warmfeste und korrosionbesstandige Sinterwerkstoffe (Heat- and Corrosion-Resistant Sintered Materials), Metallwerk Plansee, Springer Verlag, Vienna (1956) and Intermetallic Compounds, J. H. Westbrook, J. Wiley & Sons, New York (1967).
Examples of such industrially used intermetallic phases are permanent alloys based on the intermetallic compound SmCo.sub.5 (J. Appl. Phys. 38, 1001 (1967)or high-temperature materials from MoSi.sub.2 (Fitzer, loc. cit.).
In many cases, the efforts to produce intermetallic compounds were finally suspended, partly because the preparation of promising intermetallic compounds failed and partly because products with the desired properties could not be obtained in an industrially usable or reproducible manner because of appreciable difficulties in the production.
Special difficulties arise with the production of intermetallic phases with an incongruent melting point. Incongruently melting intermetallic phases which are industrially important are, for example, Er.sub.3 Co, ErNi.sub.2, Er.sub.3 Ni, Fe.sub.2 Tb, Fe.sub.2 Nd, Nd.sub.3 Ni, Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B, SmCo.sub.5, Sm.sub.2 Co.sub.7, Nb.sub.3 Ge, Nb.sub.3 Sn, Nb.sub.3 Ti, Ni.sub.3 Al, Ti.sub.3 Al and TiAl.
The difficulties of producing single-phase, incongruently melting intermetallic compounds are described below using the intermetallic phases Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B, Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 and .gamma.-TiAl.
1. Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B
The European patent 0 101 552 and the U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,775, to name a few publications, describe NdFeB alloys with exceptional magnetic properties.
The industrially important production methods for NdFeB are:
1. the conventional melt metallurgy with ingot casting, PA1 2. the calciothermal co-reduction and PA1 3. the melt metallurgy with rapid solidification. PA1 1. The Curie point of the intermetallic compound Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B is only T.sub.c =596.degree. K.; at T=423.degree. K., a re-orientation of the aligned spin is observed. With that, the application temperature of ternary NdFeB alloys is limited to about 400.degree. K. PA1 2. The NdFeB magnets, which are available at the present time, have insufficient corrosion resistance which is attributed to the increased formation of an Nd-rich phase. PA1 1. The nano-crystalline alloys also have a deficient heat stability. PA1 2. The isotropic, nano-crystalline powders, because of their isotropy, have comparatively low magnetic properties. PA1 3. The production of nano-crystalline NdFeB alloy powders by melt spinning is a technologically expensive process. PA1 4. The nano-crystalline NdFeB alloys are unsuitable for sintered magnets produced by powder metallurgical means. PA1 as described in J. Less-Common Metals 25, 131 (1971). PA1 thermochemical process; PA1 vacuum induction melting; PA1 skull melting with vacuum arc, plasma arc or electron beam; PA1 rapid solidification from the melt; or PA1 calciothermal co-reduction. PA1 a) adjusting the exothermic reaction of the calciothermal reduction by adjusting the oxide content of the reaction mixture, the composition of which corresponds to the desired single-phase alloy, in such a way that the temperature condition T.sub.m >T.sub.R .gtoreq.0.9 T.sub.m (in .degree. K.) is fulfilled, T.sub.m being the melting temperature of the intermetallic phase and T.sub.R the reaction temperature; PA1 b) use of a reaction mixture, the components of which, with the exception of calcium, have an average particle size of .ltoreq.75 .mu.m; and PA1 c) tempering the reaction product at the end of the exothermic reaction at a temperature, which is at least 0.7 times the melting temperature T.sub.m of the desired, single-phase alloy, measured in .degree. K., but is less than the melting temperature T.sub.m, during a period sufficient for the diffusion of the components.
The conventional melt metallurgy (1) comprises the calciothermal reduction of the NdFe.sub.3 or the fused mass electrolysis to produce Nd metal and the subsequent vacuum inductive melting of the desired NdFeB alloy (K. Ohashi in: Proc. of the Gorham Advanced Materials Institute, Seattle, Wash. (1990); Metal Powder Report, MPR Publishing Services Ltd., Bellstone Shrewbury, Shropshire SY1HU England, 42, 6, 438 (1987)).
For the co-reduction method (2) different oxides are reduced calciothermally and transformed in a diffusion process into an NdFeB alloy. During the reduction and diffusion process, CaO is formed which is separated subsequently by wet chemical means from the NdFeB alloy (Proc. of the 8th Intern. Workshop REPM and their Appl., Dayton, 587 (1985) and Metal Powd. Rept. 42,438 (1987)).
The NdFeB alloys, produced by methods (1) and (2), are used to produce anisotropic sintered magnets by powder metallurgical methods.
The rapid solidification method (3) also starts with the vacuum-inductive melting of a preliminary NdFeB alloy which is then spun by melt spinning (J. Appl. Phys. 53, 2078 (1984)). A nano-crystalline NdFeB alloy with a crystallite size of <400 nm is formed. The nano-crystalline NdFeB alloys have isotropic magnetic properties.
The NdFeB alloys, which are produced by melt metallurgical or co-reduction means and are obtainable commercially, usually have Nd or rare earth metal concentrations of 32 to 36% by weight.
In investigations of the microstructure of magnets of the composition Nd.sub.15 Fe.sub.77 B.sub.8, Nd.sub.14.5 Fe.sub.77.5 B.sub.8 and Nd.sub.16.7 Fe.sub.75.5 B.sub.7.8, the Nd.sub.2 F.sub.14 B and Nd.sub.1.1 Fe.sub.4 B.sub.4 phases, an Nd-rich phase and .alpha.-Fe were detected correspondingly.
The rapidly solidified, nano-crystalline NdFeB alloys usually contain Nd concentrations between 28 and 30% by weight. The spun NdFeB alloys are composed essentially of a two-phase structure of Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B and an Nd-rich grain-boundary compound. Only small proportions of a compound of the composition Nd.sub.2 FeB.sub.3 are present.
A synopsis of the permanent magnet alloys of today and of their applications is given in Proc. of the IEEE, 78, 6, 923 (1990). According to this, the available NdFeB alloys for sintered magnets have a remanence of B.sub.r =10 to 12.8 kG, a coercivity of iH.sub.c =8 to 24 kOe and energy products of (BH).sub.max =25 to 40 MGOe. The isotropic, spun NdFeB alloy powders have a remanence of only 8 to 9 kG, a coercive field strength of iH.sub.c =15 to 17 kOe and an energy product of (BH).sub.max =12 to 14 MGOe. The hot-molded, anisotropic, nano-crystalline alloy powders have clearly better magnetic properties. The remanence is B.sub.r =10 to 12.2 kG, the coercive field strength iH.sub.c =12 to 20 kOe and the energy product (BH).sub.max =22 to 35 MGOe.
The essential disadvantages of melt-metallurgical or co-reduced alloys for sintered NdFeB magnets are:
Magnets of nano-crystalline NdFeB powders have a lesser proportion of the Nd-rich phase. This brings about a corrosion behavior which is better than that of conventional sintered magnets.
The rapidly quenched NdFeB powders have the following summarized disadvantages:
On the other hand, of all the NdFeB alloys, the single-phase, incongruently melting, intermetallic compound Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B has, by far, the highest saturation magnetization and the best possible corrosion behavior.
Koon et al. (J. Appl. Phys. 57, 1, 4091 (1985) investigated the magnetic properties of R.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B single crystals with R=Y, Nd and Tb. The single crystals were produced by means of the Czochralski method (B. N. Das, N. C. Koon: High Performance Permanent Magnet Materials, Proceedings of the Materials Research Society, Anaheim, USA, 96, 41 (1987)).
According to these investigations, Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B has a saturation magnetization at room temperature of 4.pi.M.sub.s =16.2 kG, which corresponds to a maximum, theoretically attainable energy product of (BH).sub.max =65.6 MGOe.
However, it was shown in numerous investigations that single phase Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B does not have any outwardly measurable coercive field strength and only an inadequate sintering behavior. According to these investigations, a non-magnetic phase, such as the Nd-rich phase, is required in the multi-phase NdFeB sintered magnets on one hand, in order to produce a macroscopically measurable coercivity and, on the other, to promote compacting during the manufacture of the magnet by the formation of a liquid phase during the sintering process.
The European patent 0 249 973 discloses that an improvement in the magnetic properties and the corrosion resistance is possible by the separate production of Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B and a non-magnetic sintering aid. To begin with, an NdFeB alloy having the composition Nd.sub.13 Fe.sub.81 B.sub.6 and various sintering aids are melted separately by vacuum induction, milled to an average particle size of 3 .mu.m, mixed in a ball mill, hot pressed isostatically and treated with heat. The two-phase magnet, with the composition of (Nd.sub.13 F.sub.81 B.sub.6).sub.96 Al.sub.4 with B.sub.r =14.9 kG, iH.sub.c =10.1 kOe and (BH).sub.max =49.7 MGOe, has the most advantageous magnetic properties of all the magnets investigated.
The corrosion behavior of different two-phase magnets was investigated in different corrosion tests in the coated and non-coated state and compared with an Nd.sub.14 Fe.sub.80 B.sub.6 sintered magnet which had been produced by conventional powder metallurgical means. For example, the NdFeB magnets were exposed to a corrosive atmosphere with a moisture content of 90% at 60.degree. C. for a period of 100 hours. The conventionally produced Nd.sub.14 Fe.sub.80 B.sub.6 magnet showed signs of corrosive attack already after one hour. On the other hand, the unfavorable two-phase (Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B).sub.89.5 (NdCu.sub.2).sub.10.5 magnet already showed a 10-fold and the most stable (Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B).sub.95 (Nd.sub.30 Fe.sub.40 Al.sub.30).sub.5 a 50-fold higher corrosion resistance.
The compositions of the different structure components were determined by micro-probe analyses. According to these, the hard magnetic Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B phase (.PHI. phase) has an average composition of 12.5 at % Nd, 81.5 at % Fe and 6 at % B.
According to investigations by Durst et al. (Proc. of the 5th Intern. Symp. of Magn. Anisotropy and Coercivity in RE-Transition Metal Alloys, Bad Soden, FRG, 2, 209 (1987)), a higher temperature stability due to an improved structure morphology is achieved by the two-phase structure of the NdFeB magnet, consisting of the hard magnetic .PHI. phase and a non-magnetic, Nd-rich phase.
Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B (.PHI. phase) is an incongruently melting intermetallic compound with a melting point of 1180.degree. C. At the peritectic melting point, the .PHI. phase decomposes into an Nd-rich melt and .alpha.-Fe which leads to a drastic decrease in the coercive field strength and is therefore to be avoided. Chin et al. (Proc. of the loth Intern. Workshop on Rare Earth Magnets, Kyoto, Japan, 2, 451 (1989)) investigated the .PHI. phase for a possible expansion region. According to this investigation, the .PHI. phase at 750.degree. C. has only one defined composition, but at 1090.degree. C. and 1135.degree. C. a homogeneity range of 0.3 at %.
The stoichiometric .PHI. phase has a composition of 11.8 at % Nd, 82.3 at % Fe and 5.9 at % B.
This leads to the conclusion that the composition, given in the European publication 0 249 973 for the 2-14-1 phase, cannot correspond to the single-phased .PHI.-phase and that proportions of extraneous phases must be present.
For incongruently melting intermetallic phases, production methods based on solid reactions are to be preferred in order to avoid the incomplete peritectic formation of the desired phase which is unavoidable when cooling from the melt.
A manufacturing process for nano-crystalline alloys in the solid phase, which has been known for many years, involves the mechanical alloying of metallic alloy components. Schultz et al. (Proc. of the 5th Intern. Symp. on Magn. Anisotropy and Coercivitity in RE-Transition Metal Alloys, Bad Soden, FRG, 1, 301 (1987) investigated the formation of NdFeB by mechanically alloying the elementary powders and determined the magnetic properties of the nano-crystalline alloying powders prepared. It was observed that there was no formation of the intermetallic Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B phase during the mechanical alloying. Instead, an amorphous mixture of Nd and B is formed as well as crystalline .alpha.-Fe which is alloyed with 4 to 5 at % of Nd. The hard magnetic Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B phase is formed only in a subsequent thermal treatment by solid reaction of the nano-crystalline elementary powder mixture. An isotropic, nano-crystalline NdFeB powder is formed with magnetic properties comparable to those of the known, rapidly chilled alloy powders.
An economically and industrially accessible method for the concerted, exclusive preparation of the intermetallic Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 .sup.B phase is thus not known.
2. Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17
The intermetallic Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 and the compound Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 N.sub.3 obtained from it by nitration have metallurgical and magnetic properties similar to those of the Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B phase.
Knowing the intermetallic Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B phase, intensified research was conducted for new magnetic materials. Emphasis was placed on the different RE.sub.2 TM.sub.17 -intermetallic phases and their nitrogen compounds of the RE.sub.2 TM.sub.17 N.sub.x type, where RE comprises all rare earth metals including yttrium and TM comprises the metals Fe, Ni or Co. Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 N.sub.3 has proven to be particularly promising. For the preparation of the nitride, the synthesis of a single-phase Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17, which was subsequently nitrated at 400.degree. to 500.degree. C., was attempted first.
The objects of the European publication 0 369 097 are, among others, nitrides of the composition RE.sub..alpha. Fe.sub.(100-.alpha.-.beta.-.gamma.) N.sub..beta. H.sub..gamma. with .alpha.=5 to 20 at %, .beta.=5 to 30 at % and .gamma.=0.01 to 10 at %.
Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 is an incongruently melting intermetallic phase with a melting point of 1280.degree. C. At the melting point of Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17, there exists the thermodynamic equilibrium: EQU Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 =.alpha. Fe+Sm-rich melt
In investigating the magnetic properties of Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 N.sub.3-, it was noted by means of the hysteresis curve that residues of .alpha.-Fe are still present. Such presence should be prevented if at all possible.
In order to compensate for the precipitation of .alpha.-Fe, which is unavoidable during the melt metallurgical preparation of Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17, diffusion annealing is required.
The Curie temperature of the 2/17-phase is T.sub.c =130.degree. C. By nitrating Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 and forming Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 N.sub.3-.gamma., the Curie temperature is increased to T.sub.c =470.degree. C. The saturation magnetization of the nitride was determined to be 4.pi.M.sub.s =1.54 T. This corresponds to a theoretically attainable energy product of (BH).sub.max of 59.3 MGOe.
This compound also, like the single-phase Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B, has practically no coercivity. As in the case of Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B, a coercivity can be produced by separating the grains by an intercrystalline, non-magnetic second phase similar to the Nd-rich phase.
A second possibility for obtaining a coercivity is by setting a nano-crystalline structure. Schnitzke et al. (K. Schnitzke, L. Schultz, J. Wecker, M. Katter, submitted to Appl. Phys. Lett.) initially synthesized a nano-crystalline Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 by mechanically alloying the elementary powder. Radiographic analyses of the powder revealed only an amorphous phase and crystalline .alpha.-Fe. The intermetallic Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 phase is formed only during a subsequent heat treatment and was then converted by nitration to the Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 N.sub.3-.gamma. compound.
It is a disadvantage of these synthesis methods that only isotropic Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 N.sub.3-.gamma. alloys can be produced. Industrial production aiming at single phase Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 is thus not yet possible by economic means.
3. .gamma.-TiAl
The areas of turbine manufacture, aircraft manufacture and space technology show a precipitous increase in material research in the field of intermetallic compounds. Alloys based on nickel find the most frequent application. However, the high densities of these alloys prove to be disadvantageous, for instance, in view of the centrifugal forces that arise in the turbines.
Aside from a high hardness and thermal stability, the intermetallic phases usually have a comparatively low density. This is so particularly for the aluminides of titanium. Alloys based on Ti.sub.3 Al (M R S Symp. Proc., Boston, 39, 221 (1985) and Z. Metallkde. 80, 5, 337 (1989)) were the first to be used industrially. However, because of a deficient oxidation resistance, their use is limited to a maximum temperature of 973.degree. K. This contributed to aluminides of titanium with a higher aluminum content being investigated more thoroughly from the point of view of increasing the use temperature. The focus of attention of this research was directed on the aluminide .gamma.-TiAl.
.gamma.-TiAl solidifies through a peritectic reaction, has a melting point of 1480.degree. C. and a homogeneity range of approximately 49 to 56 at % Al at room temperature (A. Hellwig, Dissertation of the University of Dortmund, Dortmund, 1990) and can be synthesized by the following methods:
Further details may be found in JOM, 42, 3, 26 (1990); JOM, 43, 5, 30 (1991); JOM, 42, 3, 16 (1990); Mat. Sci and Eng., 269 (1988) and JOM, 42, 3, 22, 1990).
Skull melting and the rapid solidification from the melt by, for example, melt spinning, have gained special importance for the melting of titanium alloys and aluminides of titanium.
Skull melting in the vacuum arc is a method, which has long been known and accepted as comparatively simple technologically and inexpensive. .gamma.-TiAl solidifies incongruently so that conventional melt metallurgical methods, such as skull melting, do not ensure uniform, chemical homogeneity. By rapidly chilling from the melt, a distinctly better homogeneity of the .gamma.-TiAl and a significantly finer grain are produced which increase the ductility at room temperature appreciably.
It is a disadvantage of the rapid chilling of TiAl from the melt that this method is more complicated technically and therefore more expensive.
Moreover, the metallic starting components of the alloy or the intermetallic phase are required for all melt metallurgical processes. Melting, moreover, is appreciably more difficult for oxygen- and/or nitrogen-affine metals, such as Ti and Al.
In contrast to melt metallurgy, the more stable and more inexpensive oxides TiO.sub.2 and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 can be used as raw materials for the calciothermal co-reduction.
The European patent 0 039 0791 discloses that Ti-Al alloys with a basic composition corresponding to TiAl.sub.6 V.sub.4 (based on % by weight) and different other additives can be produced by calciothermal co-reduction. An alloy powder with a homogeneous grain structure of .alpha.- and .beta.-Ti crystals is formed.
In the Proc. of the 6th World Conference on Titanium, Cannes, France, 2, 895 (1988), the calciothermal preparation of Ti-Al alloys is described and the preparation of a single phase .gamma.-TiAl is reported. As raw material mixture, the mechanically mixed oxides or hydroxides or the calcined oxides were used. The latter were prepared by precipitation from an HCl or H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 solution, annealing in air and grinding to fine powder with a particle diameter of 10 .mu.m. The reducing temperature of the reaction mixture should be between 1173.degree. and 1273.degree. K. and the reducing time should be 19 to about 36 hours.
There is, however, considerable doubt as to whether the method described actually results in the formation of single-phase intermetallic alloys of the composition .gamma.-TiA1. For example, it is known that the reduction reaction between TiO.sub.2, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and Ca is extremely exothermic and spontaneous. Therefore, when the aforementioned oxides are used exclusively, a reducing temperature of 1173.degree. to 1273.degree. K. and reducing times of 1 to 36 hours are improbable. Presumably, the "reducing temperature" is not meant to be the reaction temperature during the exothermic reaction but the furnace temperature. For an incongruently melting, intermetallic compound, it is not sufficient to state the furnace temperature, because the temperature must lie below the melting point of the intermetallic phase at every point in time of the process. The reaction temperature during the exothermic reducing reaction therefore also has a particular importance.
The use of hydroxides as raw materials is likewise improbable. Hydroxides decompose during the reduction process to an oxide and H.sub.2 O. The latter reacts further with Ca to form H.sub.2 and CaO which can lead to an oxyhydrogen gas reaction and, from a safety point of view, makes the implementation of the process with hydroxides as raw materials implausible. Accordingly, this reference is also eliminated as a source that teaches the synthesis of single-phase, incongruently melting compounds of the .gamma.-TiAl type.

Method for producing single-phase, incongruently melting intermetallic phases


A slab module includes a stone slab having a thickness of 3-10 mm. A reinforcing plate includes a first side fixed to a rear side of the stone slab. The reinforcing plate has an area corresponding to an area of the stone slab. A base is made of a rigid material and includes a coupling face on a top side thereof. The coupling face is fixed to a second side of the reinforcing plate. A plurality of posts is provided below the coupling face, with a compartment formed between the posts for receiving a wire.

The present invention relates to a slab module for a raised floor and, more particularly, to a light, easy-to-install slab module for construction of a raised floor.
Stone slabs for a floor generally have a thickness of 18-30 mm and are fixed to the ground through wet-type processing. The natural grain of the stone slabs provides enhanced quality. However, it is difficult to remove the stone slabs fixed to the ground and difficult to install wires below the stone slabs. In addition to difficulties in installation, use of the stone slabs in offices and exhibition sites is not easy.
FIG. 9 shows a raised floor for assemblage maneuverability and easy wiring. The raised floor includes a plurality of slabs 1′ supported by a plurality of posts 2 and spaced from the ground. Wires can be mounted below the slabs 1′. The slabs 1′ and the posts 2′ can easily be detached to provide enhanced assemblage application. The slabs 1′ are generally made of wood or metal. Although stone slabs can be mounted on top of posts 2′, the stone slabs could break at central areas not supported by the posts 2′. If the thickness of the stone slabs is increased to be more than 20 mm, the weighty stone slabs are not easy to handle and are expensive and not eco-friendly.


The present invention provides a decoding system and method for an optical disk for receiving and decoding data from the disk. The present invention does not need to increase the clock frequency and the bus width of the decoding system, it can effectively decrease the access times to the data buffer and the system response time by changing the structure of the conventional decoding system, in this way the present invention increases the parallel process capability and the speed of the decoding, thus, it can become a high speed DVD.

This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7 119(a) of Taiwan Patent Application No. 089126859, titled xe2x80x9cDecoding System and Method in an Optical Disk Storage Device,xe2x80x9d filed on Dec. 15, 2000.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a decoding system and method, and more particularly to a decoding system and method in an optical storage device with high decoding speed by decreasing the access times to a data buffer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring now to FIG. 1, it is a block diagram of a conventional decoding system in a DVD storage device. As shown in FIG. 1, a demodulator 102 reads the data stored in the disk 100 for converting 16 bit code words into 8 bit data symbols. Then, the demodulator 102 generates an ECC (Error Correction Code) block 107 and transmits the ECC block 107 to a data buffer 106 through a bus 104. The ECC block 107 comprises main data 108, a PO (parity of outer-code) 110 and a PI (parity of inner-code) 112. Main data 108 appended with the PO 110 forms an outer-code of RS (Reed Solomon), and main data 108 appended with the PO 110 and the PI 112 forms an inner-code of RS. ECC decoder 114 reads the ECC block 107 from the data buffer 106 to perform the error correction decoding along the PI direction (i.e. X direction) and PO direction (i.e. Y direction) of the ECC block 107 in turn. Then, the ECC decoder 114 writes the corrected part of the ECC block 107 into the data buffer 106. The de-scrambler and EDC (Error Detection Code) check 116 reads the corrected main data 108 stored in the data buffer 106 for de-scrambling the main data 108 and checking whether errors in the main data 108 are corrected. When the host needs the main data 108, an ATAPI (Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface) 118 reads the main data 108 in the data buffer 106, then de-scrambles and transmits the main data 108 to the host.
Referring to FIG. 2, it illustrates a flow chart of the conventional decoding system accessing to the data buffer in a DVD storage device. At a step 201, after performing demodulation, a demodulator 102 writes an ECC block 107 into a data buffer 106. Next, at a step 202, an ECC decoder 114 reads the ECC block 107 of the PI direction to perform the error correction decoding, then writes the corrected part of the ECC block 107 into the data buffer 106. Continuing the step 202, it flows to a step 203, the ECC decoder 114 reads the ECC block 107 of the PO direction to perform the error correction decoding, then writes the corrected part of the ECC block 107 into the data buffer 106. After finishing the step 203, the system can repeat the steps 202 and 203 to enhance the error correction capability according to the setting of the system. Then at a step 204, the de-scrambler and EDC check 116 reads the corrected main data 108 stored in the data buffer 106 for de-scrambling the main data 108 and checking whether errors in the main data 108 are corrected. When the host needs the main data 108, at a step 205, an ATAPI 118 reads the main data 108 stored in the data buffer 106, then de-scrambles and transmits the main data 108 to the host. In the preceding prior art, each module of the decoding system needs to run the above-mentioned steps in turn to finish the decoding process in a DVD storage device.
Referring now to FIG. 3, it illustrates a flow chart of decoding RS code in a conventional ECC decoder. At a stage 301, original code words in the data buffer 106 enter the stage of syndrome generation, wherein the ECC decoder 114 calculates the PI syndrome or the PO syndrome. Next, at a stage 302, the ECC decoder 114 calculates the xe2x80x9cerasure location polynomialxe2x80x9d according to the known erasure location, then calculates the xe2x80x9cForney""s modified syndrome polynomialxe2x80x9d and gets the initial value of the next stage according to the calculated syndromes and erasure location polynomial. Continuing the stage 302, at a stage 303, the ECC decoder 114 calculates the xe2x80x9cerror-erasure locator polynomialxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cerror erasure evaluator polynomialxe2x80x9d according to the initial value produced by the previous stage 302. Then, at a stage 304, a Chien search unit finds the error locations and error magnitudes. Finally, at a stage 305, the ECC decoder 114 corrects the errors in the original code words to get the correct code words and writes them into the data buffer 106.
According to FIG. 1, when the conventional decoding system performs the decoding process, each module of the system needs to access to the data buffer. If each module of the decoding system can access to the data buffer synchronously, the system can increase the decoding speed to become a high speed DVD. However, according to FIGS. 2 and 3 the ECC decoder 114 in the conventional decoding system must access to the data buffer when it performs the error correction decoding along the PI and PO directions of the ECC block each time, thereby it takes a lot of time and limits the speed of the entire DVD system for many accesses to the data buffer. Now there are several solutions for the above bottleneck: enhancing the clock frequency of the decoding system, increasing the bus width of the decoding system, and decreasing the access times to the data buffer, etc.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a decoding system and method for an optical disk for decreasing the access times to the data buffer. In this way, it can enhance the parallel processing capability of the decoding system and increase the decoding speed to become a high speed DVD.
In one embodiment, a demodulator performs the demodulation and transfers the generated ECC block to an ECC decoder. Then, the ECC decoder writes the main data into a data buffer and calculates the PI syndrome and the PO syndrome. Then, the ECC decoder performs the error correction decoding along the PI and PO directions of the ECC block, and writes the corrected part of the main data into the data buffer. After the ECC decoder finishes the error correction decoding of the ECC block, a de-scrambler and EDC check reads the main data stored in the data buffer to de-scramble the main data and checks whether errors are corrected. After finishing the preceding processes, the main data is transferred to the host through an ATAPI when the host needs data.
In anther embodiment, a demodulator performs the demodulation and transfers the generated ECC block to a syndrome generator, and the syndrome generator writes the main data into the data buffer and calculates the PI syndrome and the PO syndrome. Then, the syndrome generator writes the calculated syndromes into two separate rooms. After the syndrome generator finishes receiving the entire ECC block, the syndromes will then transfer to another two rooms. In this way, the ECC decoder can read the syndromes immediately, and finish the error correction decoding of the main data stored in the data buffer before receiving the next ECC block. Then, the de-scrambler and EDC check reads the main data stored in the data buffer to de-scramble the main data and check whether errors are corrected. After finishing the preceding processes, the main data is transferred to the host through an ATAPI when the host needs data.
In another embodiment, a demodulator performs the demodulation and transfers the generated ECC block to the ECC decoder. Then, the ECC decoder writes the main data into the data buffer, meanwhile a first de-scrambler and EDC check de-scrambles the main data and checks whether errors are corrected, and the ECC decoder calculates the PI syndrome and the PO syndrome and writes the calculation results into two memories. Afterward, the ECC decoder performs the error correction decoding along the PI and PO directions of the ECC block in turn. Then, a second de-scrambler and EDC check de-scrambles the main data, which EDC checking is not finished yet and checks again whether errors are corrected. When the host needs the main data, an ATAPI reads the main data stored in the data buffer, then de-scrambles and transmits the main data to the host.
The foregoing is a brief description of some deficiencies in the prior art and advantages of this invention. Other features, advantages and embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, accompanying drawings and appended claims.

Decoding system and method in an optical disk storage device


A method to improve the external light efficiency of light emitting diodes, the method comprising etching an external surface of an n-type layer of the light emitting diode to form surface texturing, the surface texturing reducing internal light reflection to increase light output. A corresponding light emitting diode is also disclosed.

Ga—N-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been intensively studied and developed in recent years. High efficiency, high power, GaN-based LEDs have attracted interest for applications such as displays, traffic signals, back lighting for mobile/cellular telephones and similar apparatus, and white light sources. Reducing cost and improving light output efficiency are important factors to enable such GaN LEDs to succeed in the mainstream lighting market.
In general, the internal quantum efficiency (ηi) for GaN-based LEDs is significantly less than 100% due to crystal quality and epitaxial layer structure. A typical (ηi) can reach about 70 to 80%. Further improvement has proven difficult to achieve. The external quantum efficiency (ηext) is still much lower than internal quantum efficiency. This is because the light extraction efficiency of conventional GaN-based LEDs is limited by total internal light reflection, which occurs at the semiconductor-air interface due to the high refractive index of GaN (n≈12.5) compared to air (n=1). The critical angle for the light generated in the active region is only about 23°. Most of the light generated is repeatedly reflected into the substrate and eventually absorbed. Assuming that light emitted from sidewalls and the bottom is neglected, only a small fraction (4%) can be extracted from the surface.
Conventional GaN-based LEDs grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) use a nonconductive sapphire substrate. The epitaxial layers on the sapphire substrate consists of usually a light-generating layer (active region) sandwiched between a relatively thick n-type doped GaN layer and relatively thin p-type doped GaN layer. The n-type GaN layer is formed by a stack of multiple layers (undoped or doped to n-type semiconductor made of GaN related materials like GaN, AlGaN, or InGaN, or AlGaInN, etc.) on the sapphire, while the p-type GaN layer is formed by a stack of multiple layers (undoped or doped to p-type semiconductor made of GaN related materials like GaN, AlGaN, or InGaN, or AlGaInN, etc.) away from the sapphire. The top p-GaN surface epitaxial layer is Ga-Polar which is often used as light extraction surface. The poor thermal conductivity of the sapphire substrate, and the relatively high current densities, combine to degrade the device performance due to excessive heating from the active layer during operation. At the same time, the relatively thin p-GaN layer (usually less than 0.5 micrometer) and the high resisitivity of p-GaN, is highly sensitive to plasma damaging and is difficult to use for dry surface texturing. Furthermore, Ga-polar GaN is chemically inert and is more difficult to wet etch than N-polar GaN. The other side of the active region, i.e., the n-GaN layer of the active region is usually much thicker (2 to 5 micrometers thick) than the p-type GaN layer, and is ideal for making surface texturing due to its thickness. However, this part is below the active region and on the sapphire. It is not able to be surface textured unless the sapphire is removed.
To address these problems, vertical laser liftoff of GaN LEDs and other methods have been developed to detach the sapphire from the GaN epitaxial films grown on it. Flip-chip or other bonding technologies have also been developed to attach the GaN films to a new substrate with good thermal conductivity. Different surface roughening techniques on exposed LED N-polar n-GaN surface have also been developed, including ICP plasma etching and wet etching.
The formation of micro-lenses on an output surface of a light emitting diode has been proposed. However, in the main it is not possible as the active region is close to the light emitting surface on the p-type GaN layer and the forming of the micro-lenses or surface roughing may damage the active region.

External light efficiency of light emitting diodes


A receiving device within a digital electronic system includes a sampling unit, a voter block, and a local clock phase adjustment unit. The sampling unit samples an input line at three points in time at intervals of one half of a bit period. The sampling unit delivers the values obtained in the sampling process to the voter block. The voter block determines whether to deliver an up or a down vote to the local clock phase adjustment unit. The voter block communicates with the local clock phase adjustment unit via up and down control signals. The local clock phase adjustment unit determines whether the local clock phase should be adjusted, and if so, whether to advance or delay the local clock phase. If certain meta-stable conditions are observed by the voter block, the voter block will vote in one direction in order to push the system out of the meta-stable condition.

Many digital electronic systems, including computer systems, include more than a single device. The multiple devices within a system may be coupled to each other by way of interconnects. One type of interconnect may be based on serial data delivery from a transmitting device to a receiving device.
The purpose of an interconnect is to transport data reliably from one point to another. For reliable re-construction of data, the timing reference, i.e. clock edge positions, used by the receiving device should resemble the timing references used at the transmitting device.
One of the most commonly used receiver architectures for high-speed serial data transmission is based on recovering a clock embedded in the received data by tracking the phase of that received data. High data rates mean the receiving devices need to operate within shrinking timing windows and therefore requiring accurate phase tracking.

Phase/frequency detector for tracking receivers


An object of the present invention is to provide a medicine wrapping machine which wraps each administered amount of a medicine in a medicine wrapping sheet, and enables easy opening even by an aged person or a child. The medicine wrapping machine uses a belt-shaped medicine wrapping sheet, and forms a plurality of divided wrapping bags continuous in a state of containing medicines therein and separated at the time of taking the medicines to wrap the medicines. A raw material of the medicine wrapping sheet is a belt-shaped transparent composite plastic sheet which includes a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet or a biaxially oriented polypropylene sheet, and a minute flaw is formed on the polyethylene terephthalate sheet or the biaxially oriented polypropylene sheet.

The present invention relates to a medicine wrapping machine for wrapping each administered amount of a medicine prepared based on doctor's prescription in a medicine wrapping sheet at a hospital or a pharmacy, a medicine wrapping sheet and a divided wrapping bag used for the same.
Conventionally, in the case of administering a medicine prepared in accordance with a prescription to a patient, a medicine necessary for one administration has been divided and wrapped in the same divided wrapping bag by an automatic medicine wrapping machine or the like to be administered so that necessity of the patient to combine different medicines to take each time can be eliminated (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8 (1996)-11805).
As a material of the medicine wrapping bag, a wrapping sheet (glassine paper) which is easily handled by the automatic medicine wrapping machine, high in internal visibility to be easily prepared and monitored, high in openness (easy opening) of the dividing and wrapping sheet etc., and recently a wrapping sheet such as polyethylene laminate cellophane paper or polyethylene laminate glassine paper have generally been used.
However, since cellophane or the like is expensive, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate or the like which can be brought into contact with foods and whose safety has been verified has recently been used as a material of the medicine wrapping bag.
However, if the divided wrapping bag is manufactured by using polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate or the like as a raw material, while handleability, and easy preparation and monitoring at the time of medicine dividing and wrapping are not inferior at all compared with the case of using conventional glassine paper, cellophane paper or the like, it is difficult for an aged person or a child to tell in what position and how the divided wrapping bag is opened when he opens the divided wrapping bag to take the medicine. Thus, there has been a problem in its handleability.

Medicine wrapping machine, medicine wrapping sheet, and divided wrapping bag


An array of electro-actuated fluid dispensers (200, 465, 500, 670) for metering out liquid reagents includes a support member (230); and a plurality of discrete electro-actuated fluid-dispensing die (220, 460) disposed on the support member (230), each of the die (220, 460) being configured to receive a supply of fluid (130, 300, 447, 454, 456, 665) being deposited thereon and dispense the fluid (130, 300, 447, 454, 456, 665) as needed for assay testing.

Conducting chemical reactions and using chemical reactions with a further measurement step in an assay is a practice widely used in biological, pharmaceutical, and chemical research as well as in vitro diagnostics. Billions of reactions and assays are performed annually. In a chemical reaction, two or more fluidic components are reacted to produce at least a third component. A fluidic component may be a reagent, such as a sample or a chemical. In an assay test, a chemical reaction among two or more fluidic components is used to determine any resulting activity, such as a concentration. Modern biological and pharmaceutical research frequently includes numerous assays for specific biological activities in cells or isolated biochemicals in order to discover novel biological targets for disease, new medicines directed to those targets, biological indications of a diseased or healthy condition, or other chemicals valuable in the agrochemical, foodstuffs, cosmetics, and other industries.
In drug discovery, for example, a sizeable number of assays (up to 1.5 million experiments per day in a single laboratory, for example) are prepared by combining two or more components. The assays may each contain a sample of a distinctive, unique chemical compound. These samples are tested to determine if any of the compounds they contain exert an effect or particular biological activity. Promising compounds are identified for further pursuit as potential therapeutic agents.
The fluidic components of the assay sample can be very expensive, unique, dangerous and/or in very limited supply. For efficiency and higher throughput, substantial attention has been devoted to reducing the sample volume of assays while advancing the ability of assays to discriminate small changes in biological activity. The combination and manipulation of these fluidic components rely on extreme accuracy and precision in dispensing small volumes of these fluids into reaction wells.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An apparatus for a three-level DC/AC converter, in which the width of output pulse having the same polarity as the fundamental wave of the converter output phase voltage is adjusted depending upon the DC component of a differential voltage between two DC voltages in a dipolar modulation system of the converter. Whereby, the imbalance of DC components between the two DC voltages is easily and effectively suppressed.

This invention relates to an apparatus for controlling a power converter which converts a DC voltage fed from a DC voltage dividing capacitors that are connected in series into an AC phase voltage having positive, zero and negative three potentials.
When a load such as an induction motor is to be driven by a pulse-width modulation invertor, it is desired that the AC output voltage of the invertor contains harmonic components as little as possible.
To satisfy this requirement, there has been proposed an invertor called a three-level invertor.
Such an invertor has been proposed in, for example, "A Novel Approach to the Generation and Optimization of Three-Level PWM Wave Forms" (PESC '88 Record, April 1988), pp. 1255-1262 (hereinafter referred to as literature 1). This literature 1 proposes a dipolar modulation system which alternatingly outputs positive and negative pulse voltages via zero voltage as a modulation system suited for improving the wave forms and for controlling very small voltages of the three-level invertor. voltage utilization factor decreases since very small voltages are controlled by using pulses having a polarity opposite to the fundamental wave of the output phase voltage. This literature 1 further describes a control system which features a high voltage utilization factor, i.e., describes the shifting toward a unipolar modulation system which outputs a plurality of pulse voltages having only the same polarity as the fundamental wave of the output phase voltage.
On the other hand, problems inherent in the three-level invertor will be represented by such phenomena as imbalance in the capacitances of the capacitors that are connected in series to divide a DC voltage into two, and imbalance in the DC components between the divided two DC voltages caused by DC components of a current flowing into and out of a point at which the capacitors are connected in series due to variance in the output pulses from the invertor. Technologies which suppress this imbalance have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 101969/1990 and in "Balancing of DC Input Capacitor Voltages of an NPC Invertor" (Material of the Society of Study, Japanese Association of Electric Engineering, Society for Studying Semiconductor Power Conversion, SPC-91-37, 1991/6), pp. 111-120 (hereinafter referred to as literature 2).
According to the technology for suppressing imbalance of DC components between the two DC voltages disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 101969/1990, the amplitudes of two modulated waves of sinusoidal shapes are changed in the dipolar modulation system of the literature 1 . As will be described later, however, this technology causes the shifting amount (bias amount) to be changed, too. To bring the change back, the shifting amount must be adjusted again in the latter stage of control, causing the control operation to become complex.
According to the technology of suppressing the imbalance of DC components between the two DC voltages disclosed in the literature 2, a signal corresponding to a DC component of a differential voltage between the two DC voltages is superposed on an invertor voltage instruction in the unipolar modulation system of the literature 1.
Now, when the above-mentioned three-level invertor is adapted to an electric car, the output voltage is continuously controlled from zero through up to near a possible maximum voltage. Therefore, it becomes necessary to shift the modulation system (modulation mode) from the dipolar modulation system (modulation mode) into the unipolar modulation system (modulation mode).
Here, however, the circuit constitution and control operation become complex if the above-mentioned technologies for suppressing the imbalance of DC components between the two DC voltages are adapted depending upon the modulation systems.

Power converter for converting DC voltage into AC phase voltage having three levels of positive, zero and negative voltage


Weed-trimmer outboard motor attachment has a lower shaft housing with a proximal coupling to correspondingly mate and engage a distal mid-shaft coupling of an upper part of a motorized weed-trimming device having a motor and a shaft that rotate a number of rotations per minute when operating; a distal termination thereto, which includes a propeller; and a rotation speed reduction unit to reduce a number of rotations of the propeller in relation to the number of rotations of the motor of the motorized weed-trimming device. The attachment can be assembled with the weed-trimming device to provide an outboard motor. A mount for mounting the weed-trimmer outboard motor to a boat can be provided as well.

Dompierre et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,489 B1, discloses a weed-trimmer adapted with a screw or water wheel. See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,179,805; 4,505,040; 4,604,067; 4,752,256; 4,976,637; 5,083,948 and 5,405,277—over all of which, the Dompierre et al. issued patent claims distinguished. The Dompierre et al. invention includes a lower shaft housing with a proximal coupling to correspondingly mate and engage a distal mid-shaft coupling of an upper part of a motorized weed-trimming device, and a distal termination, say, a propeller, thereto. It significantly increases the versatility of many weed-trimmers and provides many benefits for homeowners and captains of small vessels.
As good as it is, however, the Dompierre et al. invention is not without any drawback. For instance, it could cause premature burning out of a weed-trimmer motor. Also, a mount it can employ can include a swivel that may not always hold the assembly to the boat without attention of the operator.
It would be desirable to ameliorate if not solve the foregoing problems. It would be desirable to provide a weed-trimmer outboard motor adaptor and assembly with improved performance. It would be desirable to provide the art with an alternative.