An escape/ladder belt and harness assembly having an improved attachment arrangement and adjustment capabilities. The assembly features a waist belt having a coupling and fastener each featuring at least two slots separated by at least one bar. The fastener being connectable to the coupling to enable the waist belt to fasten around a user. The waist belt being removeably attached to an article worn by the user through a plurality of tabs. At least some of the tabs fastening the coupling and fastener to the article. The waist belt extending around the user and though a tension adjustment buckle so as to allow for waist tension to be set by pulling the free end of the waist belt in an intuitive forward motion that provides for improved tightening around the user.

It is generally understood that firefighters, construction workers and rescue personnel can face some of the most extreme and demanding conditions in performing their duties. In carrying out their work, such personnel will commonly need to be able to access, work on, or escape from areas that are elevated or recessed, or otherwise inaccessible without special equipment. In order to safely access and carry out work in such locations, firefighters, construction workers and rescue personnel commonly rely on a personal safety belt or harness in order to fasten themselves to a ladder or rescue line. Indeed, personal belts and harnesses play such a critical role with respect to safety and operation that they are commonly considered to be standard operating equipment for fire and rescue personnel as well as for certain construction and industrial applications. Such equipment is commonly relied upon to bear the weight of the user and to carry and support gear or tools the user requires for the particular operation.
Typically, rescue personnel in an emergency response situation, will need to get into their equipment quickly. Known belts and harnesses can pose an obstacle in this respect as they are generally an additional piece of equipment that the user has to put on, fasten and adjust. This can sometimes be a time consuming and chaotic process causing the user undue stress and anxiety. In addition, depending on how they were left after their prior use, known belts and harnesses can commonly be twisted, knotted or otherwise in a disordered condition that the user will have to sort out before being able to put on. The additional time needed to sort out a disordered belt or harness can sometimes cost rescue personnel valuable minutes that are critical in responding the particular emergency condition.
In addition, known belts and harnesses are intended to be secured entirely over the user's outer clothing and thus have been known to twist or ride up on the user when the assembly is subjected to a load forces. Such unintended movement can interfere with the user's operations or could cause the user unintended injury or irritation.
Additionally, known belts and harnesses can be difficult to properly adjust by requiring the user to pull the loose end of a belt or strap in a backward or downward direction in which the user does not have sufficient leverage. In some instances, this can cause the belt or harness to not be sufficiently fastened around the user and can pose an extremely dangerous safety condition that could result in the user slipping out of the belt or harness during a particular operation. Maintaining proper tension of the belts and straps is especially important in the event of a head-first escape or bail out. Under such circumstances, belts and harnesses that require the user to reach back or down to tighten a particular strap or belt can become loose.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an easy to use escape/ladder belt and harness assembly that is a user can put on and out of quickly, and that has secure fastening capabilities that will maintain tension in any condition.


An air separator, fuel delivery system and installation set are provided. The air separator includes a vessel defining a hollow interior chamber having an inlet for receiving fuel from a fuel source and an outlet for fluidic communication with an engine. An air-bleed receives and removes a quantity of undesired gas, which is in fluidic communication with a discharge port. Further, a filter media for contact with fuel received and a conduit for delivering fuel passing through the filter media to the outlet. The air separator removes gas from the fuel prior to passage through the outlet to the engine, with the gas passing through the air-bleed. The air bleed includes a fluidic mixing alcove for passage of the gas through the discharge port. The air separator is between the transfer pump and the engine. Finally, installation sets for mounting the air separator to the fuel delivery system.

The subject matter described herein relates generally to an improved air separation system for combustible liquids, petroleum-based and renewable and alternative fuels, especially fuel for diesel and other internal combustion engines.
Combustible fuel and especially diesel, engines typically utilize a fuel injection system to timely inject fuel directly into the cylinder. The injection timing is predetermined by the engine designer, and is based on known facts. Any uncontrolled or outside event or condition that affects the injection timing that is not predetermined or that affects the spray pattern, will cause the engine's efficiency to degrade.
A persistent concern for such engines is the presence of air and vapor within the fuel. Entrained air and vapor in combustible fuel and combustible fuel systems, varies with fuel temperature, barometric pressure and altitude of engine operation, filter plugging, and at the different operating RPM's of the engine. Air and vapor present in combustible, especially diesel, fuel, and especially in varying amounts, are not found to be among the predetermined conditions factored into the injection timing parameters. Among the problems presented by their presence is the degradation of engine efficiency due to the compressibility of air/vapor. In unit injectors, this leads to retarded injection timing, spray pattern disruption and a poor burn, in turn, resulting in reduced power output of the engine, increased fuel consumption and increased exhaust emissions. In "Common Rail" systems, the air/vapor displaces the fuel in the "High Pressure Pump" barrel. This prevents the "High Pressure Pump" from reaching its designed output volume. This in turn prevents the system from maintaining the correct pressure for proper spray patterns and injection rates, degrading engine efficiency.
Air also causes permanent damage to the components of the fuel injection system. Air can displace the fuel or lubricant between the barrel and plunger. This allows metal on metal contact and galling of the components, leading to injector failure. Also, as the plunger begins its injection stroke, the sudden compression causes the air bubble to implode. When the collapsing bubble is adjacent to the barrel wall, the outer wall of fuel of the collapsing bubble impacts the barrel surface with sufficient destructive force to dislodge microscopic particles of metal. This is commonly referred to as "pitting of the barrel", and in time can render the injector useless. "Tip erosion" occurs as the air bubble exits the injector tip. Air, being less viscous than diesel fuel passes through the injector tip more quickly than the fuel. The fuel behind the air bubble suddenly impacts the tip with a force that dislodges microscopic particles of metal. As tip erosion increases the bore size of the ports of the injector tip, a poor spray pattern increasingly results. A decrease of the metal between the ports leads to degradation of the structural integrity of the injector tip, which can eventually lead to the loss of the injector tip and catastrophic engine failure.
The operational deficiencies and inefficiencies of the diesel engine are well known, but commercial implementations of such engines have failed to address this problem.
Applicant has previously provided unique systems and apparatus for removing entrained air from the fuel prior to the fuel's entering into the engine's fuel pump while additionally maintaining a net positive pressure head to the pump inlet, thus reducing pump cavitation and the formation of vapor.
Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,860 discloses a three filter system for removing entrained air from diesel fuel. The device, which feeds fuel to the engine's transfer or fuel pump, was an early pioneer approach for removing entrained air from the fuel.
Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,184 (the "'184 Patent"), a continuation in part of U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,860, discloses a commercial model of the system that efficiently removes the entrained air and addresses pump cavitation. A product incorporating the principals of the '184 Patent has been successfully sold under the trademark, Fuel Preporator®, model numbers FPI and FP1200 by PureFlow Technologies, Inc. This device utilizes a filter to separate entrained air and vapors from the fuel (Ref. Cummins Service Topic 5-135, 1965) and a "Primary" air/vapor discharge port located on the dirty side of the filter to facilitate the removal of the separated air/vapors. Additionally, a second air/vapor discharge port located on the clean side of the filter is used to discharge air/vapors that have been pressure flashed through the filter. The method of air/vapor separation utilized within or on the clean side of the filter media is passive and depends upon flotation of the bubbles to rise to the discharge port.
Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,310 (the "'310 Patent"), brought about a more advanced air/vapor separation system that allowed the device to be substantially reduced in size and to separate air/vapor at much higher fuel flows than earlier models. The first systems, applying the principles of the '310 Patent, were commercially sold as model numbers FP135, FP135A. Much smaller models came about later and were sold under the trademarks AirDog® 80, 100, 150 and AirDog®II 125, 150, 165, and 200 by PureFlow Technologies, Inc.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,892,710 and 7,025,048 are patents pertaining to the FASS fuel air separation system manufactured by DPPI, INC. This system utilizes only the secondary or passive air separation method and discharge port 428 as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,184 prior art patent. And as the U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,184 prior art patent Abstract explains, "As the bubbles are trapped on the (filter) element, they float upwardly for discharge through discharge port (294) (FIG. 8). Bubbles passing through element 94 are swept upwardly for discharge through the outlet side discharge port (428)".
Although the previous devices provided by Applicant have successfully addressed the issue of removing entrained air from fuel and substantially reduced vapors formed through pump cavitation, additional vapors can form after the transfer pump. These vapors may form within the high pressure bypass valve (pressure relief valve) and fuel lines due to pressure drops and high fuel temperatures.
The Clausius-Clapeyron Equation (see FIG. 1) explains the relationship between pressures and temperatures within a closed loop system and the enthalpy of vaporization of a liquid from plots of the natural log of its vapor pressure versus temperature. This allows one to understand that vapors will form within the fuel system itself. While such vapor formation cannot be prevented, the vapors may be substantially removed before they enter the fuel injection system of the engine.
Applicant herein provides an improved, highly efficient and more cost effective device for separating and virtually eliminating such air and vapor from combustible, especially petroleum-based liquids, adapted for high pressure and other fuel systems. The device has improved air discharge means that enhances the collection and removal of unwanted entrained air and vapors without a significant loss of pressure or flow to the engine. Additionally, in preferred embodiments, the device is to be mounted, e.g., fluidically, after the engine's fuel, e.g., fuel transfer pump, thus eliminating the requirement of an additional pump on the device, and before the fuel enters the fuel injection system of the engine, which would remove any additional vapors formed within or after the engine fuel pump.

Fuel-air separator and improved air bleed system


A person support apparatus, such as a bed, stretcher, cot, or the like, includes a fall detector. The fall detector is adapted to detect when a person associated with the person support apparatus has fallen and to issue a fall alarm. In some embodiments, the person support apparatus also includes an exit detection system that issues an exit alarm when the person exits from the person support apparatus. The fall alarm is given a higher priority than the exit alarm. The fall detector may include a camera, a thermal image sensor, a device worn by the person, or another sensor. The person support apparatus may also, or alternatively, include a timer for measuring how long an occupant remains out of the person support apparatus.

The present disclosure relates to person support apparatuses, such as beds, cots, stretchers, operating tables, chairs, or the like. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to person support apparatuses that include sensors for monitoring the motion of an occupant of the person support apparatus, including motion of the occupant when away from the person support apparatus.

Person support apparatuses with patient mobility monitoring


A resin molding mold in accordance with the present application is a resin molding mold for molding a resin molded product. The resin molding mold includes a molding mold and a mirror-surface coat layer formed on a mold surface of the molding mold. The mirror-surface coat layer is formed by a thermosetting resin having a thermal conductivity in a range from 0.10 W/(mK) or more to 0.99 W/(mK) or less. The thickness of the mirror-surface coat layer is set in a range from 1.0 μm or more to 30 μm or less, and is preferably set to 20 μm or less. The surface of the mirror-surface coat layer is provided with a flat-surface maintaining part formed into a substantially flat surface.

Conventionally, for example, resin molded products serving as interior parts for automobiles, in particular, instrument-panels, garnishes, etc., disposed around windows, need to have a high-quality feeling. Such a resin molded product is formed by preparing a molding mold on which a surface treatment referred to as an embossing process is carried out, and by using the molding mold. Thus, on the surface of the resin molded product, a minute pattern of concavo-convex portions referred to as embossing is formed.
The purpose of forming such embossing lies in that by giving delicate shadows or appropriate luster and touch by the hand onto the surface of a resin molded product, a high-quality feeling is provided from a designing point of view. On the other hand, embossing also has practical purposes, such as making a defective external appearance, such as weld lines, irregularities and the like peculiarly occurred on the product surface in the case of an injection molding by using plastic materials, less conspicuous, and also preventing scratches from occurring on the product surface, or making them less conspicuous.
In this case, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, an embossing product molding mold has been disclosed. In the case of forming embossing on an injection molding mold for an embossing product having a complicated concavo-convex shaped pattern, that is, a so-calling satin embossing pattern, on a metal mold surface, the concavo-convex portions, which are formed by carrying out an etching process on a flat metal mold surface without concavo-convex portions, are formed so as to have concavo-convex intervals in a range from 0.3 to 0.5 mm to which a blast projection material is easily put in a blasting process to be described later so as to adjust its ten-point average roughness (Rz) of the concavo-convex portions in a range from 20 to 40 μm, and next, by carrying out a blasting treatment on the concavo-convex surface by using a beads-state blast projection material under conditions of a particle size of 100 to 200 meshes and a compression pneumatic pressure of 0.2 to 0.4 MPa at the time of blasting, corrosion irregularities due to the etching and under-cuts due to corrosion remaining on the surface of embossing concavo-convex portions are evenly adjusted, and as a finishing treatment, by applying a beads-state blast projection treatment with a particle size of 100 to 200 meshes, selected so as to sufficiently enter the embossing concavo-convex intervals and to allow the blasting traces of the blast projection material to be not so fine or so rough, under a compression pneumatic pressure lower than that of the above-mentioned blasting treatment by the beads-state blasting projection material and higher than 0.2 MPa, fine left-overs of the concavo-convex portions remaining in the inside depths of the concave portions of the embossing concavo-convex portions are eliminated and burrs caused by the blasting traces of the beads-state blast projection material itself are flattened so that the smooth surface of embossing concavo-convex portions only having the traces by the beads-state blast projection material is formed; thus, the above-mentioned Patent Document has disclosed an embossing product molding mold capable of producing an embossing product having high luster and high-quality feeling, which makes a defective external appearance, such as weld lines, irregularities and the like, less conspicuous, and also has a superior scratch-resistant property.


A security envelope for transporting confidential papers or money is disclosed having a high degree of security, being easy to close and seal as well as simple to manufacture. The envelope of the invention is provided with a closure and seal device having a first part extended along one side of the opening thereof, external of the envelope, such part being formed with a series of long pins distributed along its length. The pins pass through both sides of the envelope along a line adjacent to the opening to be received and locked in locking sockets formed in a second part extended along the opening on the other side of the envelope. The two parts of the closure and seal device are preferably hinged together along corresponding londitudinal edges so that when closed, the hinge lies along the opening so as to prevent access to the interior of the envelope through the spaces between the pins.

There has been a long felt need for an envelope that may be closed and sealed in a totally tamper-proof manner, that can be opened and closed again without leaving clear traces of violation. One example is the handling and transport of money. Every time the money passes from one person to another, even within the same banking establishment, it has to be counted. Otherwise the eventual loss of part of the money cannot be attributed to any given event. The solution to this problem would obviously be the closure of the counted money in a sack or envelope that can be sealed and the opening thereof only at the final destination. However, in view of the enormous volume of money that is handled daily, not only security is required. It is also essential that the closure and sealing system be simple to handle and operate. A combination between a high degree of security and simplicity of operation is therefore essential for such solution to be put into practice.
A plastic envelope for the transport of money or confidential documents is already known, which is closed by means of an adhesive which supposedly prevents the re-opening of the envelope without visably adulterating the material thereof. Although such a product is undisputably easy to close, unfortunately it is relatively simple to soften the adhesive with solvent, open the envelope and then close it again, it being sufficient to evaporate the solvent for the adhesive to return to it original condition without leaving any visible sign of violation.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a new solution to the problem whereby, by means of an equally simple operation, money or confidential documents may be placed and sealed within a totally tamper-proof envelope so that there is no necessity to check the contents of the envelope, at the intermediate phases of its transport, but rather only at its final destination.
According to the present invention an envelope with closure and seal means comprises an envelope having first and second opposed planar sides and a closure and seal device having a first part extended substantially along said opening externally of the first side, the first part being formed with a series of locking pins distributed along and normal to its length, each pin passing through a corresponding pair of orifices, one on each said side of the envelope. The closure and seal device also has a second part formed with a corresponding series of locking socket formations for the pins and adapted to be placed externally of said second side of the envelope, substantially along the opening, for the reception and locking of the pins in a closed and sealed configuration of the envelope. Means are also provided along the whole length of and folded over said opening in the closed and sealed configuration and thus maintained by the locking of the pins in the socket formations.
When a very high degree of security is desired for the transport of money, the pilfer-proof characteristic of the seals may be ensured when the socket formations include internal locking teeth engagable behind the heads formed on the pins and, furthermore, in the closed and sealed configuration, there is no access to said teeth from the outside. This may conveniently be obtained when the external part of each socket formation, in such configuration, presents an axial opening substantially filled by the head of the respective locking pin.
The two parts of the closure and seal device may be molded from plastic material as a single piece and hinged together along corresponding logitudinal edges, the hinge region being extended along the opening of the envelope and comprising the means folded over the opening in the closed and sealed configuration.
Alternatively, or even in addition, the first side of the envelope may include a part or flap extended beyond the opening of the envelope, it being formed along its free transverse edge with a series of orifices so that such flap may be doubled over the opening of the envelope and penetrated by the pins before they are locked in the socket formations, thus defining said means folded over the opening in the closed and sealed configuration.
According to a further aspect of the present invention a closure and seal device having the features mentioned above is provided at such end of its first part with a foldable tongue and a catch formation spaced therefrom to catch and hold a free end of the surface of the first part. This not only fixes the device to the envelope but also, especially when the tongues are extended longitudinally away from the ends of the first part to be doubled back over it, prevents any possibility of access to the interior of the envelope from the ends of its transverse opening.
When, in one embodiment, the device is modular, the tongues will be provided only on the outer ends of the first and last modules, to be joined to the adjacent module with at least one of the pins of one of the modules passing through an orifice on the other module.


Parts to be cleaned, degreased, or having paint stripped therefrom, by a solvent such as a halogenated hydrocarbon are lowered into and lifted out of a tank via an enclosure disposed above the tank. A pair of doors at the top opening and a second pair of doors at the bottom opening of the enclosure allow isolation of the enclosure from the tank below and from the outside environment above. Parts are lowered into the enclosure with the top doors open and the bottom doors closed. They are then further lowered into the tank for cleaning, degreasing or paint stripping with the top doors closed and the bottom doors open. After cleaning, degreasing or paint stripping, the parts are lifted back into the enclosure and the bottom doors are closed. With both pairs of doors closed, air contaminated with solvent vapor is conveyed from the enclosure to a system for recovering solvent vapor and recovering liquid solvent, such as a refrigerated condenser with a separator, a carbon adsorption system, or an absorption/stripping system using an inert solvent medium such as a hydrocarbon fraction having a boiling point substantially higher than that of the solvent. When the air in the enclosure is solvent-free, the parts are lifted out of the enclosure. No solvent vapors are discharged to atmosphere.

1. Field of Invention
This invention refers to apparatus and a method for reducing the loss of solvent vapors to the atmosphere. More specifically, it refers to apparatus and a process for capturing and recovering for re-use most of the volatile solvent vapors which otherwise would be discharged to the atmosphere from cleaning, degreasing or paint stripping equipment in which the soiled parts to be cleaned or stripped of paint are immersed in liquid solvents, sprayed with liquid solvents, or suspended in solvent vapor for degreasing.
2. Description of Prior Art
Certain volatile halogenated hydrocarbon solvents have outstanding properties for dry-cleaning of fabrics, degreasing of metal parts and electronic circuit boards, and stripping of paints. Examples of such solvents are methylene chloride; 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane (chlorofluorocarbon 113, or CFC 113); 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA, or methyl chloroform); trichloroethylene; and tetrachloroethylene (perchlorethylene). In addition to their excellent cleaning, degreasing and paint stripping properties, these solvents have the great advantage over hydrocarbon, ester, ether and ketone solvents of being non-flammable. These solvents are frequently used in combination with minor amounts of other components added to enhance chemical stability.
The methods used for achieving a high degree of cleanliness in fabrics, metal parts, circuit boards, etc. (hereafter referred to as parts) include immersion of the parts to be cleaned in liquid solvent, spraying of the parts with liquid solvent while they are suspended in air or solvent vapor, or vapor degreasing. A combination of these cleaning techniques is sometimes used. In immersion cleaning, the parts to be cleaned are lowered into a tank containing a bath of liquid solvent and then raised above the liquid level to allow solvent adhering to the parts to drip back into the pool of liquid solvent at the bottom of the tank. Paint stripping is often carried out in this fashion also. In spray cleaning, liquid solvent is pumped through a pipe with connected spray nozzles, and the spray of liquid solvent is directed onto the parts to be cleaned. In vapor degreasing, the liquid solvent at the bottom of the tank is maintained at its boiling point by suitable heating means, e.g. a steam-heated pipe coil or an electrical resistance heating element, and there is provided a layer of solvent vapor in which the parts to be cleaned are suspended. Solvent vapor condenses on the surfaces of the parts until they reach the temperature of the vapor, and the solvent condensate drains by gravity into the pool of liquid solvent at the bottom of the tank. The rinsing action of the condensing solvent thoroughly cleans the surfaces of the parts.
The impurities removed from the parts, such as oil, grease, tar, resins, gums, and pigments from stripped paints, accumulate in the solvent at the bottom of the tank, and when the impurities level has built up to the point where effective cleaning ceases, the impurities-laden solvent is removed from the tank and most of the solvent is recovered by distillation for re-use.
In conventional cleaning, degreasing and paint stripping facilities using open-top tanks, large amounts of solvent vapors are discharged to the atmosphere. In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that halogenated solvent vapors represent a potential health and environmental threat. Chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents pose a potential health threat to humans and animals through inhalation, skin contact and ingestion via contaminated water. Chlorofluorocarbons discharged into the atmosphere and accumulating in the stratosphere are believed to be responsible for depletion of the protective ozone layer which screens out much solar and cosmic ultraviolet radiation. Trichloroethane, too, is believed to have appreciable ozone depletion potential. Furthermore, volatile halogenated solvent vapors are believed to contribute to global warming due to the "greenhouse effect" caused primarily by the buildup of the carbon dioxide concentration in the Earth's atmosphere, which is feared to cause major climatic disruptions on our planet in the next century.
One approach for dealing with these health and environmental threats is to develop non-hazardous, non-toxic solvent substitutes for the halogenated solvents. Another approach is to develop partially halogenated chlorofluorocarbons whose vapors decompose in the lower atmosphere and which pose no threat to the ozone layer; whether such materials pose a health or greenhouse threat must also be determined. These approaches involve years of costly research and development and the investment in costly new equipment.
Another approach for dealing with the health and environmental problems caused by halogenated solvent vapors is to find means and methods for reducing the discharge of such vapors so the atmosphere to a minimum. Much progress has been made in this respect. In the prior art, dry cleaning solvent vapor is captured on charcoal filters, which are regenerated with steam or hot water; upon cooling, liquid solvent is recovered for re-use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,363 describes improved methods for carrying out such solvent recovery.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,101,340 and 4,844,743 teach a method whereby, following spray cleaning of parts with liquid solvent in a tank, solvent vapor contained in the air inside the tank may be removed by circulation of this air in a closed circuit through means for condensing and separating such vapors for re-use, whereby the amount of solvent vapor escaping to the atmosphere when the tank is opened for removal of the cleaned parts is substantially reduced.
In vapor degreasing apparatus, methods of reducing the discharge of solvent vapors include the installation of covers on normally open-top degreasing tanks; the installation of water-cooled or refrigerant-cooled pipe coils around the inside periphery of the tank to limit the extent of the solvent vapor layer; and the provision of a "freeboard zone," i.e. an enclosed space above the coils in which a solvent vapor/air mixture, which is heavier than pure air, settles down rather than spill over the top of the tank into the environment while parts are being lowered into and lifted out of the degreasing tank. In addition, workers are instructed to lower the parts to be cleaned into the tank slowly and to raise them slowly after cleaning so as to minimize turbulence, which causes the escape of solvent vapors via the top opening of the tank to the environment.
Despite these measures and precautions, tremendous amounts of solvent vapors continue to be discharged into the atmosphere daily at innumerable cleaning, degreasing and paint stripping installations. For example, vapor degreasers using trichloroethane typically lose 50-90 percent of the solvent used to the atmosphere. There is an urgent need therefore to provide apparatus and methods for reducing, if not eliminating, such solvent pollution of the air.
It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus, and a method of employing it, by which the discharge of solvent vapors from cleaning, degreasing and paint stripping equipment to the atmosphere is greatly reduced--to 1-2 percent of the solvent used. A further object of this invention is to enable manufactures to continue using halogenated solvents for cleaning, degreasing and paint stripping with minimal discharge of solvent vapors to the atmosphere. An advantage of this invention is that halogenated solvents can continue to be used without adverse health and environmental impact. A further advantage is that existing cleaning, degreasing, and paint stripping equipment can be retrofitted to achieve a large reduction in solvent vapor emissions to the atmosphere.

Apparatus and method for reducing solvent vapor losses


An improved memory organization system is described. The stored data is specially transformed so that a data bus can carry either a row or column vector of data equally well. The improved memory organization is contained in a computer system, where a computer processor is coupled to memory devices by a bus interface unit and a multiplex address bus to access vectors of data. The memory devices are enabled by the bus interface unit and a decoder which operate in combination to allow during each fetch that no more than one storage device per section of the data bus be enabled. Once a vector is fetched, it is sent through the data bus to the bus interface's barrel shifter where the data is properly transformed from its physical positioning to its logical positioning. The aligned vector is then sent to the computer processor. This invention is particularly well suited for manipulating pixel information. Slight variations on the present invention make it useful for both bit plane and packed pixel selectability. Other slight variations allow for arrays having three for more logical dimensions.

1. Field of the Invention.
The field of the invention is that of bus architectures for electronic digital information storage, comprising an addressing and retrieval apparatus thereof. Specifically, the present invention is a bus architecture for an array of memory devices.
2. Prior Art.
Computer memories are typically addressed in a linear addressing mode. In linear addressing each memory element is referred to by a unique number. This is sometimes referred to as a linear array. Each memory address typically referenced some n number of bits-originally n being 8 bits or 1 byte, later 16-bits or one word, or even 32-bits which is referred to as a word or a long word. A bus connects the memories with a processor. The processor accesses memory by supplying an address to a bus controller, which fetches the desired data.
For graphics applications, a variation is made upon the linear array. This variation is often referred to as bit mapped graphics. Each atomic position in the graphical display is called a "pixel," and each pixel has a unique address. A piece of pixel data can be any length ranging from one bit to sixteen bits to any finite number. A one bit pixel typically indicates light or dark on the display. A three or four bit pixel typically represents a color for the corresponding position on the display.
In bit map graphics the addressing space is referred to by row and column indexes. A typical CRT display is a 640 pixel by 400 pixel array, with a black and white pixel being represented as one bit and a color pixel as three bits. Under these methods the individual memory locations are referenced by their position on the X Y coordinate grid. However, the implementation of the (X, Y) coordinate is a simple linear combination to produce the actual linear address. By being constrained to such linear addressing modes, many graphical operations proved to be quite time consuming and difficult.
For example, reading row or column vectors is a common graphical operation. It is often the case that multiple accesses are needed as well as complicated sorting algorithms after the fetching of the data. With a 640.times.400 array of bytes where one byte equals one pixel, a 32-bit bus accesses a vector comprising four contiguous bytes in one fetch. Depending on the organization of the arrays that either allowed for quick retrieval of a 4 byte row or column vector. However, it would take four fetches to obtain a 4 byte vector of the other dimension, as well as extra calculation to determine the physical addresses.
With a 640.times.400 pixel array, there are 256,000 pixels that must be updated in 0.1 seconds or less. It is expedient to modify as many pixels as possible in one bus cycle. In fact, with a typical 480 ns bus cycle time it is not possible to modify that many pixels in 0.1 seconds if one pixel at a time. Therefore, as many pixels as can fit on a bus cycle are typically character display processed at once.
Regardless of the streamlining and optimization involved, in order to get one bus vector of data it is still necessary for multiple fetches in the case of nonaligned data. For example, if a computer with a 16-bit bus addressed its memory on 16-bit boundary lines but had 8-bit pixels, two fetches are required to retrieve a two pixel vector that lay across boundary lines. That is, the first pixel is the least significant byte of the lower address and the second pixel is the most significant byte of the higher address. The first fetch retrieves one address and stores the relevant pixel, then the second fetch retrieves the other address and stores the relevant pixel.
The prior art methods of addressing generally are limited to horizontal vectors and none took optimum advantage of the fast pagemode of DRAMs. With only horizontal vectors being accessible, a multiple number of accesses are needed to produce column vectors along with much complicated processing of the information retrieved thereof.
In graphics processing it is common to process small rectangular areas, since these correspond to characters. However, where there are non-aligned boundaries of the rectangular areas and the size of the rectangles does not fit exactly with the linear address arrays, then problems are further compounded. The multiple fetches necessary, to access a vertical vector, are multiplied by the additional dimension of the region.
An example of a Prior Art DRAM Array is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,646, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
What is lacking is a device that could take advantage of the properties of DRAMs which consist of the ability for fast access along columns as well as rows. One object of the present invention is to provide for a device which can fully utilize the efficient properties of CMOS DRAMs and other such logical memory devices. Another object of the invention is to provide for higher dimensional arrays which will allow for access of vectors along any dimension with equal ease.

Vector selectable coordinate-addressable DRAM array

FSS 518;521;200 MS File;255.1 MS File;900 MS File;955 MS File


A hearing aid comprising an automatic gain control arrangement which provides an output signal of substantially constant average level. The automatic gain control arrangement has a slow control generator which provides a relatively slow release time and adapts the gain to the average level of the input signal, and a fast generator which provides a relatively fast release time to allow impulsive sounds or transient signals to be accommodated. When a sufficiently loud impulsive sound is received, the fast generator takes control of the gain to avoid discomfort or overloading. The automatic gain control arrangement limits the dynamic range for sound pressure levels above a threshold, such as 60 dB SPL.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hearing aids, and more particularly, to a hearing aid for delivering acoustic signals of a substantially constant average signal level to persons with moderate to severe hearing loss.
Hearing aids are apparatuses, normally electronic, for amplifying sound and supplying it to the ear of a person whose hearing is impaired. A microphone or other transducer converts sounds, particularly speech, or other signals into an electrical signal which is then amplified and supplied to an earphone inserted in the outer ear of the patient.
It is very common for a hearing impaired person to find that a hearing aid helps him to understand speech from one person in a quiet room but is useless if others are talking at the same time. The reason for this is that a patient who has reduced sensitivity of hearing, perhaps due to sensori neural deafness, usually has other deficiencies as well which are not normally measured.
The parameters important for speech understanding, particularly in noise, include:
Sensitivity: if the average hearing loss at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz is less than 35 dB a patient can manage well unaided in quiet situations. If the loss is greater, he will benefit from amplification of the weaker speech components;
Recruitment: this is common, particularly with sensori neural deafness, which accounts for 80% of all deafness. The threshold of hearing is elevated. Below it the patient hears nothing. Above it the patient hears with the intensity of a normal ear so that sounds are either inaudible or loud;
Frequency discrimination: a healthy ear can detect a 1% change in frequency of a tone. A bad ear may only detect a 20% change, or even hear noise rather than a tone;
Frequency selectivity: the peripheral auditory system analyzes the incoming complex sounds of speech into their component frequencies by what are called auditory filters. If the ability to do this is impaired, speech recognition, particularly in noise, becomes very difficult. Understanding speech depends on comparing moment to moment changes in the spectrum of the speech sound;
Temporal discrimination: normal ears can perceive gaps in speech as small as 3 mS. Impaired ears may not perceive gaps of 10 mS. For speech recognition small gaps must be recognised. Noise makes matters worse by filling in the gaps; and
Temporal masking: if a weak sound follows after a loud sound it may not be heard. This effect is often worse with impaired ears and causes weak consonants after loud vowels to be lost. Noise makes matters worse by masking weak consonants even further.
Not all these difficulties may be present in any particular patient, but a patient with an audiogram showing reduced sensitivity often has deficiences in some of these parameters as well.
A peculiarity of speech is that the vowels are loud and of low frequency and consonants are weak and of high frequency. Another peculiarity of speech is that most of the information is in the consonants.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, which is a graph of sound level against frequency, shows the threshold of hearing (THL) and the threshold of discomfort of a sensori-neural deaf patient. The threshold of discomfort is the same as for normal hearing whereas the threshold of hearing is raised compared with a normal THL. The temporal and frequency parameters which are needed to perceive speech tend to be better above an area which is labelled area of distortion, so that speech should be presented to the patient in the area above the area of distortion.
FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings, which is a graph of sound level against frequency, shows the long term spectral distribution of ordinary quiet speech as the area between chain dotted lines to ensure that all components are heard by the patient, the speech envelope should be processed so that it fits between the broken lines. This means that high frequencies should be amplified more than low frequencies and that the dynamic range, particularly at high frequencies, should be reduced. Low frequencies must be prevented from becoming too loud or they will mask high frequencies.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
One previous but unsuccessful way of trying to achieve this is to provide a tone control to make the amplification greater at high frequencies, and then use automatic volume control (AVC) to reduce the dynamic range. This does not work because all the energy in speech is in the low pitched vowels and most of the information is in the weak high pitched consonants. AVC causes amplifier gain to drop when a loud vowel occurs so that a following weak consonant is suppressed and is not heard.
FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings is a block circuit diagram of another known hearing aid of the type disclosed in EP 0077688. Signals from a microphone A1 are supplied to another amplifier A2. The amplifier A2 has conventional AVC which only operates at high speech levels above 70 dB SPL and is used to prevent very loud speech from overloading the system. The attack and release time constants are 2 milliseconds (mS) and 300 mS, respectively. The speech signal is then split into an upper frequency band above 1500 Hz and a lower band below 1500 Hz by high pass and low pass filters A3 and A4, respectively. The degree of compression needed by the patient is set in amplifier A5 for high frequencies to suit his dynamic range. Low frequency vowels do not go through this channel. The amplifier A5 limits the dynamic range of the signals with attack and release time constants of 2 mS and 10 mS, respectively. Similarly, the appropriate compression is set in a limiting amplifier A6 for low frequencies having attack and release time constants of 2 mS and 30 mS, respectively. More compression than necessary is used here so that loud sounds do not mask high frequencies. A mixer A7 combines the outputs of the amplifiers A5 and A6 and supplied the combined signal to a power amplifier A8 whose gain is adjusted to suit the threshold of discomfort of the patient. A receiver or earphone A9 delivers speech to the patient's ear.
In such a hearing aid, the amplifier A2 starts compressing or limiting at a fairly high threshold. Also, a relatively simple AVC system is used with attack and release time constants which are a compromise between conflicting requirements. Namely, first of all the input AGC amplifier should present all speech signals to the rest of the hearing aid at the same average level. Otherwise, the high frequency AGC channel will recover between speech peaks when high intensity speech is presented to the microphone and the hearing aid will sound noisy. Secondly the input AVC amplifier should extract the true average value of the incoming speech. The hearing aid shown in FIG. 3 uses input AVC with an attack time of 2 mS, so that the patient is protected against loud noises like a bang of a door, and a 300 mS release time to 90% of full sensitivity. To extract a real average, the release time should be much longer, for instance about 5 S, but then the bang of a door would disable the aid for an obtrusive time.

National Research Development Corporation


Provided is a method of providing a slide show. The method includes determining whether a first image to be displayed is an image photographed in a continuous photographing mode, when the first image is an image photographed in the continuous photographing mode, displaying the first image for a first time interval, and when the first image is not an image photographed in the continuous photographing mode, displaying the first image for a second time interval, wherein the first time interval and the second time interval are different from each other. The first time interval may be shorter than the second time interval.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a slide show displaying a plurality of images, and a computer readable storage medium having recorded thereon a computer program for providing the slide show.
Many electronic apparatuses having an image displaying function also have a slide show function. The slide show function sequentially displays a plurality of slide show objects, such as images or slides. The slide show function displays a following slide show object according to an input from a user or automatically displays the following slide show object after a predetermined time. Since the slide show function requires relatively little input from the user compared to when the user generally browses image files, the user is able to conveniently browse many images by using the slide show function.
Also, many digital photographing apparatuses also have a continuous photographing mode. In the continuous photographing mode, digital photographing apparatuses continuously photograph a subject a predetermined number of times at uniform time intervals. By using the continuous photographing mode, the user is able to vividly photograph the subject in motion.

Method of and apparatus for providing a slide show, and computer readable storage medium having recorded thereon a computer program for providing a slide show


A sliding board, in particular a ski, includes a running surface, steel edges, an upper cup, a premanufactured core and at least one interface element connected to the sliding-board body by anchoring elements, for the arrangement of at least one binding element on the upper side of the sliding board. The anchoring elements have a head section held on the interface element or connected to the interface element, and have a shaft extending through an opening in the upper cup into the inside of the sliding board. In order to reduce installation operations on the finished sliding board, the interface element has been connected to the core during the building of the sliding board by at least one of the anchoring elements.

A sliding board with a profile-rail system is known from the EP 1 161 972 A1, which system consists of at least one rail extending in longitudinal direction of the sliding board, which rail is connected to the sliding-board body through at least one attached peg or peg section via a peg connection or peg anchoring. According to a preferred embodiment the profile rail is fastened in bores fittingly provided on the sliding-board body, into which bores expanding pegs are inserted and into the center bores of which bolts are pressed or driven while expanding. Thus the fastening of the profile rails occurs on the finished sliding board and replaces merely the otherwise common screw fastening. In order to make available a sliding board with an already premounted profile-rail system, it is therefore necessary to carry out fastening and installation operations on the finished sliding board.


An image projection module within a housing is operative for causing selected pixels in a raster pattern to be illuminated to produce an image at different image planes of VGA quality. A movable component on the housing causes the image to be formed at a selected image plane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to projecting two-dimensional images at different image planes, especially using single mode laser sources.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is generally known to project a two-dimensional image on a screen based on a pair of scan mirrors which oscillate in mutually orthogonal directions to scan a laser beam over a raster pattern. However, the known image projection systems project an image of limited resolution, typically less than a fourth of video-graphics-array (VGA) quality of 640×480 pixels, and at a single image plane. As such, the known projection systems have limited versatility.

Image projection at different image planes


Devices and methods are disclosed for achieving hemostasis in patients who have received skin-penetrating wounds to the body in regions such as the shoulder, pelvis, neck, or groin, where standard bandages are difficult to apply and where large blood vessels exist which can hemorrhage severely. Such haemostatic packing devices and methods are especially useful in the emergency, trauma surgery, or military setting. The devices utilize packing pillows that are held in place by rigid structures that can cause the packing pillows to be brought into the wounds and be held in place while the packing pillows are inflated to fill the wounds, prevent bleeding, and tamponade hemorrhaging large blood vessels exposed therein.

As recently as the early 1990's, surgical operations for trauma were directed at the anatomic repair of all injuries at time of the initial operation. It was observed during these exercises that many patients became hypothermic, acidotic, and coagulopathic. Patients showing these three signs often died. Death often occurred in the operating room due to exsanguinations, or postoperatively, due to the complications of prolonged shock and massive transfusion to replace blood lost as a result of the trauma.
One of the most notable developments in the recent evolution of surgery has been the introduction of the concept of staged laparotomy to overcome the deficiencies of the repair all-at-once approach. This new strategy of staged laparotomy, employing new tactics that have been termed damage control, is now used in 10% to 20% of all trauma laparotomies.
This damage control strategy opens the way for a variety of new devices and methods for a) control of hemorrhage from solid organs or viscera, b) control of hemorrhage from peripheral wounds and peripheral vascular lacerations, and c) control of contents spillage from hollow viscera. Although there are procedures for controlling these injuries, none of these procedures utilize optimal devices or tactics in their execution. Each area offers technological opportunities to improve the devices and procedures for applying those devices.
There are situations, especially in the battlefield, where soldiers are placed at risk for penetrating injuries from bombs and projectiles. Soldiers are often equipped with body armor. However, this body armor generally protects the torso but not the arms, legs, and neck in the region where body flexibility is required. Thus, soldiers often incur injuries to the region just adjacent to the body armor, wherein such injuries are difficult to treat, hemorrhage significantly, and represent a real risk of loss of life, exsanguination cardiac arrest, or cerebrovascular dysfunction.
There are no devices, available today, which can be used to reliably treat injuries to individuals in the groin, shoulder, neck or other region immediately adjacent to the torso. New devices, procedures and methods are needed to support the strategy of damage control in patients who have experienced massive bodily injury in these regions. Such devices and procedures are particularly important in the emergency, military, and trauma care setting.


Disclosed is an improved process for the preparation of branched polyethylene terephthalate and co-polyethylene terephthalate, having high melt viscosities. The process comprises carrying out the polymerization of the branched polyethylene terephthalate in intimate admixture with a small amount of isophthalic acid. Polyethylene terephthalate with high melt viscosities are obtained and are free from inhomogeneities.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has many valuable characteristics including toughness, solvent resistance, high-gloss, and the like. Articles may be fabricated from PET by a number of well known techniques including injection molding, extrusion and the like depending on the shape of the desired product. Certain techniques, in particular, blow molding and extrusion, require the molten polyethylene terephthalate have a suitably high melt viscosity, in excess of 10,000 poises, to prevent collapse or blow outs in the molten preformed state. It is well known that high melt viscosities can be achieved much easier if small amounts of a tri or higher functional ester-forming branching component is included in the polyester. Furthermore, it is still easier if the branched copolyester is subjected to solid state polymerization.
It has now been discovered that branched polyethylene terephthalate of high melt viscosity can be obtained if a small amount of isophthalic acid is intimately blended with the branched copolyester before solid stating. Consequently, the polymer melts are free from inhomogeneities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,738 issued to General Electric discloses a process by which high melt viscosity polyesters are prepared by a two-step process involving incorporating a branching agent in a melt phase polyester and polymerizing to a melt viscosity less than 3,000 poises. Next, blending the melt phase polyester with up to 5 weight percent or an aromatic polycarbonate by extrusion, and solid stating the blend to a melt viscosity suitable for extrusion blow molding, usually greater than 10,000 poises.
Another patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,707) discloses preparing a linear (no-branching agent) polyester precursor having a relatively low melt viscosity which can be handled on conventional polyester melt phase equipment. The melt phase precursor is blended with up to 3 mole percent branching agent by melt blending. The blend polyester-branching agent is further reacted to reach the desired, usually greater than 10,000 poises, melt strength suitable for the required end use.

Preparation of branched polyethylene terephthalate


An injector has a body that defines a high-pressure passage for passing high-pressure fuel to an injection hole inside, a needle that is accommodated in the body and that opens and closes the injection hole, an electric actuator that causes the needle to perform the opening and closing action, a lead wire that is arranged in a lead wire insertion hole formed in the body and that supplies an electric power to the electric actuator, and a fuel pressure sensor that is fixed to the body and that senses pressure of the high-pressure fuel. An outlet hole, via which the lead wire extends from the lead wire insertion hole to an outside of the body, is located at a position closer to the injection hole than the fuel pressure sensor is.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an injector that is mounted to an internal combustion engine and that injects fuel from an injection hole, the fuel being used for combustion.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a conventional injector is constructed by accommodating a needle for opening and closing an injection hole, an electric actuator for causing the needle to perform the opening-closing action and the like in a body, in which a high-pressure passage for passing high-pressure fuel to the injection hole is formed. Generally, a lead wire for supplying electricity to the electric actuator is arranged in a lead wire insertion hole formed in the body, and an outlet hole, via which the lead wire extends from the insertion hole to an outside of the body, is formed in an end face of the body opposite from the injection hole side (refer to Patent document 1: JP-A-2007-278139).
For accurate control of output torque and an emission state of the internal combustion engine, it is important to accurately control an injection state of fuel injected from the injector such as injection start timing and an injection quantity of the fuel. Therefore, a technology described in Patent document 2 (JP-A-2008-144749) mounts a fuel pressure sensor to a body and senses fuel pressure, which fluctuates in connection with injection, thereby sensing an actual injection state. For example, actual injection start timing is sensed by sensing timing when the fuel pressure starts decreasing in connection with an injection start, and an actual injection quantity is sensed by sensing the magnitude of the decrease of the fuel pressure.
However, Patent document 2 does not describe details of a mounting structure of the fuel pressure sensor. The inventors of the present invention examined a structure for mounting a fuel pressure sensor 50x to a body 4x described in Patent document 1 as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D and FIGS. 6A to 6D.
In this case, an outlet hole 47cx is formed in an end face of the body 4x on a side opposite from an injection hole. Therefore, in order to prevent interference between a lead wire insertion hole 47cx extending toward the outlet hole 47cx and the fuel pressure sensor 50x, a mounting space of the fuel pressure sensor 50x is restrained. Or, in order to prevent the interference, it is required to enlarge the size of the body 4x and to newly provide the mounting space of the fuel pressure sensor 50x.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Integrated circuit (IC) strata including one or more transistor and one or more semiconductor diode. A transistor may include one or more non-planar semiconductor bodies in which there is a channel region while the diode also includes one or more non-planar semiconductor bodies in which there is a p-type region, an n-type region, or both. One IC stratum may be only hundreds of nanometers in thickness and include both front-side and back-side interconnect levels. The front-side interconnect level is disposed over a front side of one or more of the non-planar semiconductor bodies and is coupled to at least one terminal of the transistor. The back-side interconnect level is disposed over a back side of one or more of the non-planar semiconductor bodies and is coupled to at least one terminal of the semiconductor diode.

Transistor cell density in integrated circuits (ICs) continues to increase. With the shrinking transistor cell footprint, vertical orientations are becoming popular. For example, non-planar transistors (e.g., finFET) employ a semiconductor body (e.g., fin) having vertically-oriented sidewalls.
Often an IC includes semiconductor diodes (e.g., P-type/N-type, or p-n, junctions), some of which need to have large current carrying capability (e.g., an ESD protection diode). Historically, such semiconductor diodes have incorporated planar doped wells within a bulk semiconductor. Bulk semiconductor regions are becoming less available as the density of non-planar semiconductor bodies increases. Even if density were to be sacrificed, the integration of planar semiconductor diode regions and non-planar semiconductor transistor regions is difficult. Efforts to employ non-planar semiconductor bodies for the alternate purpose of diode fabrication have thus far been lacking, for example displaying poor current carrying capabilities that are too low for many applications, such as ESD protection diode.
Diode architectures, and techniques for manufacturing such diodes, that are compatible with non-planar semiconductor bodies and advances in vertical device integration are therefore advantageous.

Semiconductor diodes employing back-side semiconductor or metal


A modular manifold includes master modules and possibly also slave modules which each provide a respective terminal unit with a relatively constant rate of water flow at a modulated supply water temperature.

Hydronic heating systems mix hot water from a source thereof, such as a boiler, with cooler water returning from terminal units in order to regulate the temperature of supply water flowing to the terminal units. Many such systems have been proposed and some are in commercial use. However, because of difficulties arising from the fact that different terminal units and different zones of a building normally require difficult supply water temperatures, a need still exists for a hydronic heating system which achieves such requirements in an improved manner.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved hydronic heating system for buildings.

Manifolds for use in water heat distribution systems


Embodiments of the present invention include a folding shelf intended for attachment to a door having a mail slot. The shelf is pivotably attached below the mail slot by a support and moved from its storage position to its operative position by a chain attached to the door by a fastener. The chain is attached to the shelf near that part of the shelf that is distal from the door. Using embodiments of the present invention, items inserted through the door are retained on the shelf rather than fall to the floor, and the door remains functional when the shelf is in the operative position.

Mail delivery is a service generally taken for granted by most individuals, with some form of mail receptacle located on a property, residence or place of business. These receptacles range from the standard rural delivery box, to individual mail boxes in a residential complex, hand delivery by mail carrier, or in many instances, delivery through a slot in a door, which is generally the front door. After mail is inserted through the door slot, the mail usually falls to the floor. If the delivery has occurred while an individual has left the premises, the delivered mail may block entrance to the location, and after entry, usually requires the individual to bend over and retrieve the items. These activities are not generally a problem for healthy individuals, individuals who are disabled, or have difficulties with balance or bending, find picking up the mail can be a difficult task.
One approach to address this problem has been positioning a box beneath the mail slot to catch the items delivered. This does not solve the problem, because one still has to bend over to reach the box and remove its contents. Placement of a small table or snack tray beneath the mail slot can prevent mail from falling to the floor, provided that the table is positioned properly, but also requires the table to be moved back and forth when using the door to exit or enter the location.
Embodiments of the present invention comprise a folding shelf that is mounted to a door that contains a slot for inserting mail or other items therethrough, such that the items, after insertion, are retained in the tray. The tray can be moved from a storage position where it may rest against the door to its operative position, beneath the mail slot and extending from the door, in a generally perpendicular manner, and is retained in that position either by means of a support, such as a bracket underneath the tray, or held by a chain or similar means, to move the tray to and from its operative position.


Apparatus and process for measuring the variation of directional emittance of surfaces at various temperatures using a radiometric infrared imaging system. A surface test sample is coated onto a copper target plate provided with selective heating within the desired incremental temperature range to be tested and positioned onto a precision rotator to present selected inclination angles of the sample relative to the fixed positioned and optically aligned infrared imager. A thermal insulator holder maintains the target plate on the precision rotator. A screen display of the temperature obtained by the infrared imager, and inclination readings are provided with computer calculations of directional emittance being performed automatically according to equations provided to convert selected incremental target temperatures and inclination angles to relative target directional emittance values. The directional emittance of flat black lacquer and an epoxy resin measurements obtained are in agreement with the predictions of the electromagnetic theory and with directional emittance data inferred from directional reflectance measurements made on a spectrophotometer.

The use of different materials in high temperature environments is required in a variety of aerospace, nuclear reactors, solar energy and other applications. Thermal analysis is an important tool in selecting and testing various materials for this use and radiometric measurements are an essential part of a complete thermal analysis of a material. Commercially available infrared imaging systems are frequently employed for performing radiometric measurements. For absolute radiometric analysis, knowledge of the radiant properties of the surface under investigation is required. For opaque materials, the knowledge of surface emittance is sufficient, because the reflectance can be inferred from the emittance using Kirchhoff's law. In general, the emittance of a surface is a function of wavelength, temperature, direction and surface conditions, such as roughness, oxide layers, physical and chemical contamination and, in the case of dielectric materials, the grain structure.
When specifying emittance, the wavelength and direction at which emittance is obtained needs to be specified. Monochromatic or spectral emittance is used to indicate emittance at a certain wavelength, while total emittance implies emittance integrated over all wavelengths. Directional emittance implies emittance in a specific direction, while hemispherical emittance implies emittance integrated over the entire hemispherical space. The monochromatic hemispherical emittance is the ratio of the hemispherical emittance of the surface to the hemispherical emittance of a black body at the same wavelength and temperature. The monochromatic hemispherical emittance decreases with increasing wavelength for metals, and generally increases with increasing wavelength for electric nonconductors. For metals, the monochromatic hemispherical emittance increases with increasing temperature and is approximately proportional to the square root of the absolute temperature.
For electric nonconductors, the variation of monochromatic hemispherical emittance with temperature is not very clear, but there is evidence that the emittance varies very slowly with temperature. The total hemispherical emittance is obtained by integrating over all wavelengths from zero to infinity. The directional angular emittance is defined as the ratio of emitted intensity in a specific direction to the intensity of black body radiation at the same temperature. The distribution of emittance for most surfaces is generally dependent upon the inclination angle and the angle of rotation, while for isotropic surfaces, emittance only varies with inclination angle. A diffuse surface is defined as a surface whose emittance is uniform in all angular directions. A black body is a diffuse emitter of radiant energy. Two additional qualifiers are needed for reflectance. A diffusely reflecting surface reflects a single incident ray over all angles with uniform intensity. A specular reflector reflects a single incident ray as a single ray at a reflection angle equal to the incidence angle. A surface generally behaves specularly when the surface roughness is very small compared to the wavelength of incident radiation.
There are extensive tabulations of total hemispherical and total normal emittance data in the literature but there are some discrepancies between published data mainly due to variations in surface conditions. Also, the majority of published data give total emittance, while for radiometry using bandwidth limited infrared imagers, the emittance needs to be integrated over the bandwidth of the infrared imager. To complicate matters further, most infrared imagers do not have a uniform spectral response throughout their system before being integrated over the desired bandwidth. Therefore, for accurate radiometric work, it is necessary to measure the spectral hemispherical emittance of the surface under investigation in the bandwidth of the infrared imager, then weigh the data with respect to the relative spectral response of the imager. The data is then integrated over the bandwidth of the imager. The relative spectral response of the imager may be measured with a spectroradiometer/monochromater system or may be supplied by the Infrared Imager manufacturer.
Some applications require infrared imaging of targets with surface curvature. If the purpose of the measurements is to obtain an average surface temperature, then the hemispherical emittance will be sufficient. But if detailed surface temperature variations on curved surfaces are required, then the directional variation of emittance for the surface material is needed. Experimental data for variation of directional radiation properties are limited but the electromagnetic theory provides the approximate variation of the directional emittance of metals and electric nonconductors under special conditions. Since most applications of radiometric infrared imaging in aerospace research involves targets with surface curvature, a simple measurement technique for accurately measuring the variation of directional emittance of surfaces using infrared imaging systems would prove a valuable research tool.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for measuring the variation of directional emittance of a surface using infrared imaging system.
Another object of the present invention is a process for measuring the variation of directional emittance of a surface at various temperatures with an infrared imaging system.
A further object of the present invention is a process of measuring the directional emittance of flat surfaces at various angles to simulate curvatured target surfaces.

Directional emittance surface measurement system and process


By using a nucleating solution having a low concentration of PdCl.sub.2 at an increased temperature, contact holes can be nucleated in a selective manner and, subsequently, metallized in an electroless bath, said contact holes being etched by means of plasma etching in dielectric layers of VLSI devices having a silicon semiconductor body.

The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising a dielectric layer in which contact holes are etched, after which electrically conductive plugs are formed in said contact holes by means of an electroless metallization bath, said plugs contacting a silicon-containing semiconductor material.
Semiconductor devices, in particular integrated circuits (ICs), comprise a large number of transistors and other components (capacitors, resistors) which are interconnected electrically. Metal-oxide semiconductor-field effect transistors (MOSFETs) are used on a large scale in VLSI (very large scale integration) devices. In this application, the source and drain regions of a silicon substrate are provided with metal contact plugs which are formed in etched contact holes in a thin SiO.sub.2 layer on the silicon substrate. By means of an aluminum conductor pattern which is provided by means of vacuum evaporation or sputtering the metal plugs and, hence, the individual transistors are interconnected. As the dimensions become smaller (submicron technology) sputtering or vacuum evaporation of, for example, aluminum is unsuitable for the metallization of contact holes. A suitable method is formed by electroless metallization, in which metal is selectively separated from an aqueous solution of metal ions and a reducing agent and deposited into the contact holes.
Such a method is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,349. In the method described in patent specification, this substrates containing titanium silicide, tantalum silicide or cobalt silicide are coated with a dielectric layer. Holes are etched in the dielectric layer which are subsequently metallized in an electroless nickel or cobalt bath so as to form contact plugs. As stated in the said Patent Specification, said method is not suitable for the metallization of a silicon substrate because of the poor adhesion of nickel or cobalt to silicon.

Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device


A method for optimizing operation of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communications network. The method, performed at a network function (NF), comprises: transmitting along the network at least one rule of at least one policy that governs how the UE exchanges packets along the network and that contains information conditioned on at least one information element, such that: if the information conditioned on the at least one information element is contained in the at least one rule and the UE does not satisfy the information contained in the at least one rule, the UE is precluded from exchanging packets in accordance with the at least one rule; if the information conditioned on the at least one information element is contained in the at least one rule and the UE satisfies the information contained in the at least one rule, the UE exchanges packets in accordance with any constraints contained in the at least one rule; and if there is no information in the at least one rule corresponding to the at least one information element, the UE exchanges packets in accordance with any constraints contained in the at least one rule.

Network slicing is a capability intended to bring network resource utilization efficiency, deployment flexibility and support fast growing over-the-top (OTT) applications and services. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is incurring considerable effort to develop comprehensive network slice-related standards in various working groups, including without limitation, the SA2 (architecture) working group, which is responsible for overall system architecture. The 3GPP SA2 Working Group is working on specification of the 5G Core (5GC) architecture, including network slicing as a feature. Its Technical Specification (TS) TS-503 defines the Policy and Charging Control Framework for the 5G System.
One mechanism that is being proposed in support of the Policy and Charging Control Framework is a Network Data Analytics function (NWDAF), such as is discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/898,444 filed Feb. 17, 2018 by DAO, Ngoc Dung et al. and entitled "System and Method of Network Policy Optimization", which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. The NWDAF is proposed for use to optimize the operation of 5G networks such as traffic routing, mobility management, interaction with control plane (CP) functions (CPFs) including without limitation, the session management function (SMF) 92 (FIG. 2), the policy and control function (PCF) 201 (FIG. 2), the access and mobility management function (AMF) 90 (FIG. 2), the network repository function (NRF) 98 (FIG. 2) and/or operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) functions and/or third party functions. However, this mechanism does not completely address how operation of a user equipment (UE) 52 (FIG. 1) may be impacted.
The PCF 201 may manage and/or optimize one or more policies that govern UE operation, including without limitation, a policy that allows the UE 52 to select one or multiple routes over which to send and/or receive data, including without limitation, a UE route selection policy (URSP), a policy that allows the UE 52 to discover and/or select an appropriate access network (AN), including without limitation, an access network discovery & selection policy (ANDSP), a policy that allows the UE 52 to send a large amount of data to an application server (AS) in the data network 88 (DN), including without limitation, a UE background data transfer policy (UBDTP), a policy that allows the UE 52 to select one or more specific routes over which to send data of multiple quality of service (QoS) flows of a common protocol data unit (PDU) session and/or data of a QoS flow to the AS, including without limitation, an access traffic steering, switching and splitting (ATSSS) policy, a quality of service (QoS) policy that allows the UE 52 to send and/or receive data packets with predefined QoS parameters and/or a policy that allows the UE 52 to send and/or receive data with a specific charging rate and/or consumption limit, including without limitation, a spending policy.
The URSP may govern how a UE 52 to determine how to route outgoing traffic, such as, without limitation, by establishing a new PDU session, routing to an established PDU session, off-loading to a non-3GPP AN outside a PDU session and/or to select a network slice identified by one or more single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI, collectively NSSAI).
The ANDSP may govern how a UE 52 to select non-3GPP ANs and/or decide how to route traffic between a selected 3GPP AN and a non-3GPP AN.
The UBDTP is intended to govern how a UE 52 may send background data gathered by the UE to an AS. Background data is data that is sent to the AS but has little or no urgency, so that the background data is not necessarily sent immediately. On the other hand, the volume of background data could potentially be very large
One non-limiting example of background data is in the context of vehicle to network (V2X) UEs 52. Such V2X UEs 52 may collect sensor data for fault diagnostics and/or vehicle-mounted camera photos of road conditions that may be used to build a 2D or 3D map of the roads.
The UBDTP is based on the proposition that the background data may be sent by the UE 52 when the network load is low.
Conventionally, an application function (AF) 104 (FIG. 3) may negotiate with the network to identify a time window and a location during which background data may be transferred. In such an approach, the AF 104 may use a proprietary solution to send the time window to the UE 52. Such a solution may involve a considerable signalling and network load to convey this information to the UE 52.
Alternatively, it has been proposed that the network could interact directly with the UE 52 in order to communicate the UBDTP to the UE 52. Such a proposal is promising but lacks information on mechanisms that govern how the UE 52 would select a network slice, and/or radio access technology (RAT), and/or access network (AN) and what packet filter would be used for QoS support. Further, at present, there is no method that allows the mobile network to enforce the UBDTP.
The ATSSS policy governs how a UE 52 can use multiple ANs to establish a PDU session. The AN may be a non-3GPP AN such as, without limitation, a Wi-Fi AN or a fixed AN and/or a 3GPP AN such as, without limitation, a 4G and/or 5G radio AN (RAN or (R)AN) 84 (FIG. 2). When a PDU session is allowed to send PDUs across multiple ANs, a packet handling entity in a UE 52 could select a specific AN to send uplink (UL) packets of one or a multiple of QoS flows. In some examples, the packet handling entity could send a certain percentage of packets to one AN and another percentage of packets to another AN.
The QoS policy may comprise one or more QoS flows and supports QoS flows that involve a guaranteed flow bit rate (GBR), those that do not involve a GBR and/or reflective QoS. A QoS flow represents the finest granularity of QoS differentiation within a PDU session and is associated with a QoS flow identifier (QFI). User plane (UP) 106 traffic having a common QFI within a PDU session receives the same traffic forwarding (including without limitation, scheduling and/or admission threshold) treatment, which is understood and named as service.
A QoS flow is characterized by three elements, namely:    a QoS profile provided by an SMF 92 to the AN 84 via the AMF 90;    one or more QoS rules provided by the SMF 92 to the UE 52 via the AMF 90 and/or derived by the UE 52 using reflective QoS control; and    information enabling classification, bandwidth enforcement and marking of UP traffic conveyed by the SMF 92 to a UP function (UPF) 86 (FIG. 3), including without limitation:            one or more UL packet detection rules (PDRs) provided by the SMF 92 containing a UL packet filter set of the service data flow (SDF) template,        one or more downlink (DL) PDRs containing the DL packet filter set of the SDF template and/or a reflective QoS indication,        a PDR precedence value for each UL and/or DL PDR that may, in some examples be set to a precedence value of a policy and charging control (PCC) rule;        QoS-related rules, and        corresponding packet marking information, including without limitation, the QFI and/or a transport level packet marking value, which may in some examples be a differentiated services code point (DSCP) value of an outer IP header.
In 5G networks, a (typically non-GBR) QoS flow associated with a default QoS rule is established for a PDU session and remains established throughout the lifetime of the PDU session to provide connectivity to the UE 52.
Accordingly, there may be a need for mechanisms to optimize operation of a UE 52 in wireless communication networks, including without limitation, in a background data transfer policy, that is not subject to one or more limitations of the prior art.
This background is intended to provide information that may be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.

Optimizing user equipment operation by conditioning multiple policies on information elements