A transfer medium includes a transfer portion having a transfer characteristic capable of separating only a region imparted with ink.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transfer medium applicable for a method of forming an image by transfer, and particularly to a transfer medium effective for liquid ink and a method of forming an image by transfer of ink using the transfer medium. The present invention further concerns a method of forming an image which enables the printing by liquid ink on various printing media, for example, a simple textile printing using a cloth as an image support.
2. Background Art
Printing techniques have been variously proposed and put in practical use. In particular, as information processing techniques have been significantly developed in recent years, printing methods using liquid ink have been widely used as output units of computers, facsimiles and word processors. Of these printing methods, an ink Jet printing method is of a type with non-impact, in which there is little generated noise upon printing. It is further advantageous in enabling high speed printing, and in carrying out printing on a plain paper sheet without any specific fixing process, and therefore, it has been widely used.
The ink jet printing method having the above advantages has been applied for various printing media as well as a plain paper sheet. In particular, the application for textile printing on cloths has been remarked. However, a textile printing apparatus is on the industrial scale, and it is difficult for a user to easily and freely perform the precise printing using the above apparatus.
Such an ink jet type textile printing has been proposed, for example in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. SHO 61-55277. It discloses a cloth used for ink jet printing which contains a compound having no dyeing affinity substantially against a dye to be printed to the cloth in an amount of 0.1 to 50 wt %, and an ink jet printing method using the cloth, thereby preventing bleeding of the ink jet printing. However, this method does not examine the initial feeding ability of the cloth in the general ink jet printer, and therefore, it is practically limited to the industrial textile printing application.
A technique for solving the above problem has been disclosed by the applicant of the present invention in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. SHO 62-53492. In this technique, a broad cloth of 100% cotton is dipped in a solution containing the component of an ink receiving layer and is slightly squeezed, and is then put on a commercial reporting paper sheet, so that the broad cloth of cotton is easily mounted on a printer, thus ensuring the feeding ability of the cloth while preventing the bleeding and blurring of an image. In this method, the cloth after printing is removed from the printer, after which the fixing is performed and the ink receiving layer solution is removed with a neutral detergent, thus forming a printed article by an ink jet printer. With this method, the ink jet textile printing on a non-industrial scale becomes possible using only the solution containing the component of the ink receiving layer, cloth, ink jet printer, and drier; or a plain paper sheet, steam iron and commercial detergent. As for the liquid and the solution containing the component of the ink receiving layer suitable for the cloth, these are not widely commercially available, but can be obtained by ink jet printer manufacturers or the like.
In the above method, since the ink jet printer is of a type wherein a printing medium is manually mounted on a cylindrical platen as a main feeding means, the cloth overlapped on a paper sheet is easily mounted. However, in the recent ink jet printer, a printing medium is mainly automatically mounted to a feeding means; accordingly the mounting described in the above method is not suitable for the feeding means of this automatic mounting type ink jet printer. Moreover, a cloth tends to cause wrinkling, and thereby generates irregularities on the surface to be printed, resulting in the disturbance in a printing image, and the breakage of a printing head. In the above method, therefore, it is very difficult to handle a cloth.
To avoid the difficulty in handling a cloth, there may be considered a method using transfer type textile printing.
This method has been already proposed using thermal transfer printing. It includes the steps of preparing an intermediate transfer medium in which an ink receiving layer separable in a film shape by heating is formed on a base material such as a paper sheet; carrying out printing on the intermediate transfer medium, overlapping the ink receiving layer side of the intermediate transfer medium on a cloth, ironing the laminated body from the base material side for separating the whole ink receiving layer from the supporting body together with a printing image, thereby bonding it to the cloth. In this case, however, the portion except for the printing image, that is, the portion except for a region stuck with ink is transferred and bonded on the cloth, so that the film-like ink receiving layer is present over the whole cloth. This causes a problem that the surface of the cloth is quite different from the original one in quality and feeling.
On the other hand, a method using ink jet printing has been disclosed, for example in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Nos. SHO 53-65483 and SHO 60-76343. In the former, ink jet printing is performed on a transfer sheet constituted of a sheet base coated with transfer varnish, to form an image, and a cloth to be printed is overlapped on the transfer sheet and pressurized at a specified pressure, thus transferring an image on the cloth. In this method, the transfer varnish in a region formed with no image tends to be transferred on the cloth together with the image; or it is difficult for a user to easily remove only the transfer varnish without disturbance of the image by the soaping performed after the transfer.
In the latter, that is, in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. SHO 60-76343, there has been proposed a method of imparting ink containing dye on a smooth surface endless support having no affinity with dye and no permeability for dye, removing solvent, and continuously transferring the dye on a cloth. In this method, only the image portion can be transferred on the cloth; however, the special ink jet printing apparatus has an endless support, and accordingly it is also difficult for a user to easily perform the printing on a cloth using a commercially available ink jet printer.
Thus, there are required a new transfer medium and a new method of forming an image using the transfer medium, which is capable of using the commercially available ink jet printer, being easy in handling, and keeps the quality of the cloth after printing.

Ink transfer medium and image formation using the same


A motion compensation device comprising, a detector to detect a vibration of an imaging device which takes an image, a controller to control a compensation amount of an influence of said vibration based on an output of said detector, said controller increasing said compensation amount according to lapse of shooting time of said imaging device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motion compensation device to operate compensation of image blurring and an optical device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, it has been known that technologies not only compensating blurring motion by hand, but also compensating blurring which occurs when attached with a tripod. As a method for compensating a blurring occurred when attached with a tripod shooting, a technology shown in JP Patent Publication No. 2000-330152 is exemplified.
At the time of shooting with a tripod, a vibration which is different from hand blurring is occurred. In a technology shown in JP Patent Publication No. 2000-330152, memorizing a signal corresponding to blurring which occurs at the time of activating mechanism in a camera, a method for image blurring compensation on the basis of the memorized signal thereof is shown.
For example, although a main component of blurring frequency occurred at the time of tripod shooting is about 10 Hz and so, a high frequency component higher than 50 Hz is included in addition to the main component. There will be a risk for delayed response of lens against the high frequency component.
The present invention has been made due to considering these circumstances, a purpose of the invention is to provide a motion compensation device and an optical device available to compensate an image blurring effectively.

Motion compensation device and photographic device


Acoustic energy is used to control motion in a fluid. According to one embodiment, the invention directs acoustic energy at selected naturally occurring nucleation features to control motion in the fluid. In another embodiment, the invention provides focussed or unfocussed acoustic energy to selectively placed nucleation features to control fluid motion. According to one embodiment, the invention includes an acoustic source, a controller for controlling operation of the acoustic source, and one or more nucleation features located proximate to or in the fluid to be controlled.

Microfluidic devices, including "biochip" arrays, "laboratories on a chip", ultraminiaturized instruments, and the like, have become widely used in research, development, and testing (including diagnostics). Examples include the study of biological-based processes, such as functional genomics ("DNA microarrays"), proteomics, and the like. Often the underlying principle of these reaction devices is an initial binding event between material on a substrate within the device and material in a solution that is exposed to the substrate. Binding events are often diffusion limited and can be enhanced by mixing. Pre- and post-processing such as washing and elution steps can also benefit from mixing in the device. Procedures not necessarily requiring binding, such as electrophoresis and some types of chromatography, are also being implemented on very small devices, often using integrated circuit technology from microelectronics processing. These and other process areas that have been or may be implemented in microfluidic device formats and which may benefit from mixing or enhanced fluid flow include extraction, resuspension, solvation, emulsification, separation, and detection.
It is difficult to actively mix or control fluid flow in small, microfluidic devices. These devices typically have internal dimensions less than about 50 millimeters and flow velocities typically less than about 10 millimeters per second. For these devices, the Reynolds Numbers encountered are typically less than about one (1), so that flow is smooth and non -turbulent. Viscous laminar flow effects dominate and there are no significant inertial effects. Under these conditions, flow streamlines are parallel. In this domain, mass transfer or exchange across the streamlines typically occurs by diffusion. The detrimental effects of having a diffusion-based system on commercial products are numerous, such as but not limited to a constraint on reducing assay times and difficulty in actively controlling intra-assay precision and accuracy.
It is known that acoustic energy, particularly ultrasonic energy, may be used to effect mixing by multiple processes, including temperature, cavitation, and acoustic streaming. For example, acoustic-based mixing has been shown to improve antibody detection and reduce incubation times. However, in the prior art, ultrasonic mixing is performed with a nonfocused transducer operating in the 20,000 to 40,000 Hz range. The transducer contacts the sample fluid directly, which severely limits practical applications, particularly with microfluidic devices. Moreover, when cavitation bubbles formed in older devices collapse, the bubble nucleation, growth and collapse is not directed, nor controlled device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for acoustically controlling liquid solutions in microfluidic devices


Methods and instruments for repairing a damaged acetabular labrum. The arc length of a portion of an acetabular rim proximal to the damaged (torn or broken) region of the acetabular labrum is measured, and a graft, such as a meniscal allograft or a gracilis autograft, is trimmed according to the measurement and secured in the damaged region of the acetabular labrum as a replacement. Various instruments, such as a wheel mounted on an arm, a measuring member with spaced tines, or a hollow arm with a graduated wire, can be used to measure the arc length of the damaged region of the acetabular labrum.

Injuries to the acetabular labrum, a ring of cartilage that surrounds the actebulum, or hip joint, are common. Acetabular labrum injuries may be caused by femoral impingement, such as cam or pincer lesions, hip disclocation, or dysplasia.
When the acetabular labrum is damaged beyond repair, surgeons commonly practice labral resection. More recently, some surgeons have attempted to reconstruct the damaged acetabular labrum with substitute tissue. Prior attempts at labral reconstruction have utilized techniques and materials similar to those which are known for use in ACL repair. However, the ACL has neither the triangular cross-sectional shape nor the mechanical properties of the acetabular labrum, which is formed of cartilage. For this and other reasons, prior attempts at reconstructing the acetabular labrum have not yielded satisfactory results.

Method and instrumentation for acetabular labrum reconstruction


In a power supply system for a linear stator motor, the installed operating means should be utilized in an optimum manner, while the losses due to energy transfer should be maintained as low as possible. For this purpose, the cable route systems should be connected with each other by at least one controllable coupling switch, in such a way that the switching segment in which the vehicle is located at any particular time is always connected with all the cable route systems.

The present invention relates generally to power supply systems and methods, and more particularly to a power supply system and method for a linear stator motor.
DE-B 23 10 812 discloses a power supply system for magnetic suspension vehicles, in which the stator winding of the linear stator motor is divided into several switching segments along the travel path. The switching segments are alternately assigned to a first and a second cable route system. The switching segments and the cable route systems can be switched via switching devices (e.g. contactors) to controllable power supply devices, which are usually arranged in transformer substations. In the switching segments, a revolving field voltage U.sub.p is then induced by the vehicle in each case which supplies a thrust F.about.U.sub.p .times.I, where I is the input current.
This power supply system operates according to the leap frog control method. Here, a differentiation is made between a short route (or secondary) with only one transformer substation, and a long route with more than one substation along the travel path.
In the case of secondary or short routes with two cable route systems, two power supply devices (e.g. converters) are arranged in a single substation. Each converter is arranged in a cable route system. The switching segments are alternately rigidly assigned to one of the two cable route systems, and can be switched on or off via contactors. In each case, the switching segment in which the vehicle is located is switched on and supplied from one of the two converters. When changing switching segments, the converter which was previously inactive becomes active, and supplies the following switching segment.
In the case of long routes with two cable route systems, at least two converters are housed in each of the substations. The switching segment in which the vehicle is located is simultaneously supplied from two converters from adjacent substations. When changing switching segments, the other two (previously shut off) converters of the same substations are activated and supply the following switching segment.
In the previous power supply systems, one of the two converters is therefore not utilized, both for short and for long routes--aside from changes in switching segments. Furthermore, each of the cable route systems are only utilized for approximately 50% of the total operating time.

Power supply system and method for linear stator motor


A CMOS image sensor and a method for fabricating the same is disclosed, to enhance the efficiency in condensing the light by forming a multi-layered micro lens with various materials having different refractive indexes, in which the CMOS image sensor includes a plurality of photosensitive devices on a semiconductor substrate; an insulating interlayer on the plurality of photosensitive devices; a plurality of color filter layers in correspondence with the respective photosensitive devices, to filter the light by respective wavelengths; a first micro-lens layer on an entire surface of the color filter layers, to condense the light; and a plurality of second micro-lens layers on the first micro-lens layer in correspondence with the respective photosensitive devices, wherein the second micro-lens layer has the different refractive index from that of the first micro-lens layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image sensor, and more particularly, to a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensor and a method for fabricating the same, to enhance the efficiency in condensing the light by forming a multi-layered micro lens with various materials having different refractive indexes.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, an image sensor is a semiconductor device for converting an optical image into an electric signal. The image sensor can be broadly categorized into a charge coupled device (CCD) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor.
The CMOS image sensor is provided with a photodiode PD for sensing the light, and a CMOS logic circuit for converting the sensed light to data of electric signals. At this time, as the amount of sensed light increases, photosensitivity of the image sensor improves.
In order to improve the photosensitivity, there is requirement for enhancing a fill factor of occupying a photodiode area in an entire area of the image sensor, or for condensing the light to the photodiode by changing the light-path of the light incident on the remaining areas except the photodiode.
For example, a micro-lens may be provided to condense the light. That is, a convex micro-lens is provided above the photodiode, wherein the convex micro-lens is formed of a material having great transmittance. As a result, the incident light is refracted by the convex micro-lens, whereby it is possible to provide more light to the photodiode. In this case, the light parallel to an optical axis of the micro-lens is refracted by the micro-lens, so that a focus is formed at a predetermined point of the optical axis.
Hereinafter, a related art CMOS image sensor and a method for forming a micro-lens therein will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a related art micro-lens of a CMOS image sensor.
As shown in FIG. 1, a related art CMOS image sensor includes photodiode areas 11, an insulating interlayer 12, a protective layer 13, an R/G/B color filter layer 14, a top-coating layer 15, and a convex micro-lens 16. At this time, at least one photodiode area 11 is formed on a semiconductor substrate (not shown) to generate electric charges dependent on the amount of incident light. Also, the insulating interlayer 12 is formed on an entire surface of the semiconductor substrate (not shown) including the photodiode areas 11, and the protective layer 13 is formed on the insulating interlayer 12. Then, the R/G/B color filter layer 14 is formed on the protective layer 13 so as to transmit the light by respective wavelengths, and the top-coating layer 15 is formed on the R/G/B color filter layer 14. The convex micro-lens 16 having a predetermined curvature is provided on the top-coating layer 15, so as to condense the light passing through the R/G/B color filter layer 14 to the photodiode areas 11.
Although not shown, an optical shielding layer is provided in the insulating interlayer 12, wherein the optical shielding layer prevents the light from being incident to the remaining areas except the photodiode areas 11.
At this time, it is possible to provide a photogate instead of the photodiode.
Herein, the curvature and the height ('A' of FIG. 1) of the convex micro-lens 16 are determined in due consideration of the focus of the condensed light. Also, the micro-lens 16 is generally formed of polymer type resin, which is formed in a sequential process of deposition, patterning, and reflow. That is, the optimal size, curvature and thickness of the micro-lens 16 are determined in due consideration of position and shape of a unit pixel region, thickness of a photosensitive device, and height, position and size of the optical shielding layer.
On fabrication of the related art CMOS image sensor, the micro-lens 16 is a very important component for enhancing the light-condensing efficiency. The micro-lens 16 is provided to condense more light to the photodiode area 11 through the color filter layer 14 when the ambient light is irradiated.
The light incident on the image sensor is condensed by the micro-lens 16, and then is filtered through the color filter layer. After that, the filtered light is incident on the photodiode area 11 provided below the color filter layer 14. At this time, the optical shielding layer prevents the incident light from getting out of the path.
However, the micro-lens of the related art CMOS image sensor has the following disadvantages.
The light parallel to the optical axis of the micro-lens is refracted and transmitted to the photosensitive device being opposite to the micro-lens, thereby operating the device. However, the light being not parallel to the optical axis of the micro-lens is refracted and transmitted to the photosensitive device not to receive the light, whereby the device has misoperation.
Also, the amount of light transmitted to the photosensitive device is varied on the kind and thickness of the lower layer positioned below the micro-lens, whereby the light-condensing efficiency lowers, thereby deteriorating the picture quality.

Complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensor and method for fabricating the same


Techniques for adapting detection schemes used in receivers for receiving radio signals are described. The received signal is processed to determine, for example, an amount of time dispersion present in the radio channel. Based on this determination an appropriate detection scheme is selected for detecting the transmitted symbols. Various techniques for determining the dispersive or non-dispersive nature of the channel are described.

In recent years, digital wireless communication systems have been used to convey a variety of information between multiple locations. With digital communications, information is translated into a digital or binary form, referred to as bits, for communications purposes. The transmitter maps this bit stream into a modulated symbol stream, which is detected at the digital receiver and mapped back into bits and information.
In digital wireless communications, the radio environment presents many difficulties that impede successful communications, for example, those caused by the many signal paths traversed by radio signals before arriving at a receiver. One difficulty occurs when the multiple signal paths are much different in length. In this case, time dispersion occurs, in which multiple signal images arrive at the receiver antenna at different times, giving rise to signal echoes. This causes intersymbol interference (ISI), where the echoes of one symbol interfere with subsequent symbols.
Time dispersion can be mitigated by using an equalizer. Common forms of equalization are provided by linear equalizers, decision-feedback equalizers, and maximum-likelihood sequence-estimation (MLSE) equalizers. A linear equalizer tries to undo the effects of the channel by filtering the received signal. A decision-feedback equalizer exploits previous symbol detections to cancel out the intersymbol interference from echoes of these previous symbols. Finally, an MLSE equalizer hypothesizes various transmitted symbol sequences and, with a model of the dispersive channel, determines which hypothesis best fits the received data. These equalization techniques are well known to those skilled in the art, and can be found in standard textbooks such as J.G. Proakis, Digital Communications, 2nd ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, 1989. Equalizers are commonly used in TDMA systems , such as D-AMPS and GSM.
Of the three common equalization techniques, MLSE equalization is preferable from a performance point of view. In the MLSE equalizer, all possible transmitted symbol sequences are considered. For each hypothetical sequence, the received signal samples are predicted using a model of the multipath channel. The difference between the predicted received signal samples and the actual received signal samples, referred to as the prediction error, gives an indication of how good a particular hypothesis is. The squared magnitude of the prediction error is used as a metric to evaluate a particular hypothesis. This metric is accumulated for different hypotheses for use in determining which hypotheses are better. This process is efficiently realized using the Viterbi algorithm, which is a form of dynamic programming.
However, under certain operating conditions, signals arriving at a receiver may not create significant levels of intersymbol interference. When ISI is insignificant, or absent, the equalizer actually adds more noise to the detection statistic than it removes, particularly when the channel varies rapidly. Under these conditions, it would be desirable to switch the equalizer off in favor of another detection device, e.g., a differential detector, which may perform better under non-time dispersive conditions. Moreover, an equalizer is relatively complex computationally compared with a differential detector. Thus, periodically switching off the equalizer in favor of a differential detector would save MIPS which, in turn, would reduce battery consumption.
As another example, in direct sequence CDMA systems, RAKE receivers are commonly employed. However, if too many RAKE taps are employed, performance degrades.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a receiver in which an appropriate detection technique could be dynamically identified and implemented, e.g., a detector which uses an appropriate number of channel taps.

System and methods for selecting an appropriate detection technique in a radiocommunication system


Significant amounts of pattern distortion were found to be the result of reflowing borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) and silicon dioxide shrinkage during high temperature junction anneals. In order to remedy this problem, a method for suppressing the pattern distortion by subjecting the wafer coated with BPSG and with silicon dioxide layers to a high temperature anneal before patterning is disclosed. The high temperature anneal densifies the undoped silicon dioxide before patterning, so that shrinkage of the undoped silicon dioxide does not affect the patterning steps.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to the manufacture of integrated circuit (IC) chips and, more specifically, to a method for suppressing pattern distortion associated with the reflow of borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) dielectric layers during the annealing process of subsequent layers.
2. Background Art
In the present era of very large scale integration and ultra large-scale integration, new techniques are continuously being developed to more efficiently utilize the space within semiconductor devices while maintaining or improving present production efficiency, i.e., reducing the number of IC chips that fail because of various mistakes that may occur during the production process.
In the manufacture of IC chips, interconnecting contacts are provided between the active semiconductive material, in which the semiconductor devices are formed, and the interconnect lines. These contacts are typically formed by initially depositing a borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) dielectric layer over the semiconductor devices. The BPSG material is chosen because it is an acceptable insulator that is capable of being flowed over the devices. The flowability of the material is necessary because the devices present a relatively high aspect ratio and all areas between the devices must be filled without the formation of voids. It was noted early on that BPSG, after reflow, filled a higher proportion of voids than other insulative materials.
The contacts and interconnects are formed by using a dual damascene process. A semi-conductor substrate having devices such as field effect transistors, gates and diodes is provided. The BPSG is deposited over the substrate and associated topography, reflowed to fill high aspect ratio features, then planarized with a chemical-mechanical polish (CMP). A low temperature oxide layer is deposited over the BPSG layer and serves as a polish stop during patterning of subsequent metal layers. A masking layer of photoresist is then provided over the oxide and patterned for exposing the underlying oxide in the contact areas. The exposed oxide and BPSG is then etched, forming contact holes. A second masking layer is provided over the oxide and patterned for exposing the underlying oxide in the interconnect areas. The exposed oxide is then etched, forming troughs for the interconnects. Conducting layers such as aluminum or tungsten are deposited over the wafer by non-selective deposition filling the holes and troughs. The conducting layer is then patterned by CMP to simultaneously form interconnects and contacts.
In a similar fashion, junctions are self-aligned with the contacts by performing the implantation step after the contacts have been etched but prior to the deposition of the conducting layer. The implantation typically involves a high energy ion implant and a high temperature anneal.
A problem with this approach is that distortion of the first contact and interconnect levels can occur during the high temperature junction activation anneal, due to shrinkage of the low temperature oxide and reflow of the BPSG. This distortion can lead to misalignment with subsequent contact levels (which can cause opens or shorts) and variations in interconnect resistance.

Method for suppressing pattern distortion associated with BPSG reflow and integrated circuit chip formed thereby

International Business Machines Corporation


A tape-reinforced tubular vascular graft formed of sintered fluoropolymer(s), such as expanded, sintered PTFE. The graft includes a base graft and a reinforcing tape applied thereto. The tape may be spirally wrapped about the graft or spirally wrapped into a tube about a cylindrical mandrel and then applied to the exterior of the graft. Radial shrinkage of the combined base graft and tape, or of the reinforcing tape tube, renders the vascular graft subsequently radially enlargeable by more than 5%, without tearing or breaking of the reinforcement tape layer of the graft. Radially enlargeable grafts of the present invention may be combined with various types of stents or anchoring systems, to form endovascular graft devices which are transluminally insertable and implantable within the lumen of a host blood vessel. Alternatively, radially enlargeable grafts of the present invention may be implanted by way of traditional surgical graft implantation techniques, without any radial enlargement of the graft at the time of implantation, so as to take advantage of the improved strength properties and suture-holding properties of the radially-shrunken tape-reinforced grafts of the present invention.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) has been used for the manufacture of various types of bioprosthetic vascular grafts, including tape-reinforced, tubular grafts of the type frequently utilized to replace or bypass a diseased or injured segment of blood vessel.
The expanded sintered PTFE from which the tubular base graft and the surrounding reinforcement tape are formed typically has a microstructure characterized by the presence of dense areas known as "nodes" interconnected by elongate strands known as "fibrils". The directional orientation of fibrils is largely determined by the direction(s) in which the material was expanded prior to sintering thereof. The diameter and spacing of the fibrils is largely determined by the dynamics (i.e., rate frequency and amount) of the expansion. The porosity of the expanded sintered PTFE material is determined by the size of the spaces which exist between the fibrils, after the expansion step has been completed.
The sintering of the expanded PTFE is accomplished by heating the expanded workpiece to a temperature above the melting point of crystalline PTFE. Typically, this is effected by heating the workpiece to a temperature of 350 deg.-375 deg. C. This sintering process is characterized by a transition of the PTFE polymer from a highly crystalline form to a more amorphus form. Thus, the sintering process is sometimes referred to as "amorphous locking" of the PTFE polymer. The sintering process imparts significantly improved strength to the PTFE polymer matrix, while also causing the polymer matrix to become harder and less stretchable.
In the tape-reinforced PTFE vascular grafts of the prior art, it has been typical for the PTFE reinforcement tape to be wound spirally about the outer surface of the base graft. Such orientation and positioning of the relatively thin, sintered, PTFE reinforcement tape about the outer surface of the base graft substantially precludes or severely limits the amount of radial stretching or radial expansion that the base graft may undergo. Thus, the typical tape-reinforced tubular PTFE vascular graft of the prior art is incapable of undergoing more than a minimal amount (e.g., <5%) of radial stretching or radial expansion without tearing of the surrounding reinforcement tape.
The inability of tape-reinforced PTFE vascular grafts to undergo radial stretching or radial expansion has not interfered with the usual surgical implantation of such grafts because, in the usual surgical graft implantation procedure, the graft is sized-matched to the host blood vessel and is subsequently anastomosed into or onto the host blood vessel. Thus, in traditional surgical implantation procedures, there has been little or no need to effect radial stretching or radial expansion of the graft at the time of implantation.
Recently developed endovascular grafting procedures have, however, created a need for tape-reinforced tubular PTFE vascular grafts which are capable of undergoing significant amounts of radial enlargement (i.e., radial expansion with resultant enlargement of the radial dimension of the graft). In these endovascular grafting procedures, the tubular vascular graft is typically passed through a catheter into the lumen of a deceased blood vessel and, thereafter, is deployed to an open or extended configuration within the lumen of the host blood vessel. The graft is then anchored to the surrounding blood vessel wall, thereby effecting the desired endovascular placement of the graft within the lumen of the existing blood vessel. Thus, because it is necessary to initially compact the graft and pass it through the lumen of a relatively small catheter, and to subsequently radially enlarge the graft to its desired size and configuration, there exists a present need for the development of a tape-reinforced tubular vascular graft which is capable of undergoing in situ radial enlargement within the lumen of an existing blood vessel.

Radially-expandable PTFE tape-reinforced vascular grafts


The present invention relates to a process producing large quantities of liquid product via the cryogenic distillation of air wherein at least a portion of the refrigeration needs of the process is provided by expansion of the feed air. In particular, the present invention is an improved method to meet the liquid nitrogen requirements of the process and comprises elevating the discharge pressure of the nitrogen recycle compressor.

Liquefied atmospheric gases, including nitrogen, oxygen and argon, are finding increasing uses in industry. Such liquefied atmospheric gases provide cryogenic capabilities for various industrial processes, are more economical to transport in merchant supply and provide ready and economical sources of gaseous product from liquid storage facilities. For instance, liquid nitrogen is increasingly used to freeze food products, to cryogenically embrittle used materials for cleaning or recycle, and as a supply of gaseous nitrogen inerting medium for various industrial processes.
The conventional process for making large quantities of liquid nitrogen and/or liquid oxygen from an air feed is to include an expander scheme with the conventional multiple column distillation system. The expander scheme provides at least a portion of the large amount of refrigeration that is required to remove a large percentage of the air feed as liquid product vis-a-vis a small percentage of the air feed or no percentage of the air feed as liquid product. (As used herein, a "large percentage" of the air feed is defined as at least 15% of the air feed). This inclusion of an expander scheme with the conventional multiple column distillation system is generally referred to in the industry as a liquefier and that is how the term liquefier is used herein.
The most common liquefier probably falls into the category of nitrogen recycle liquefiers. In a nitrogen recycle liquefier, the expander scheme is integrated with the recycling of low pressure column nitrogen overhead such as taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,605,422 and 4,894,076. The nitrogen recycle liquefiers, no matter how many expanders there are, do not try to use the feed air for generating refrigeration before it is fed into the distillation column systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,130 introduces the concept of air recycling. In the air recycle liquefiers, a major fraction of the air streams entering cold box are compressed to pressures higher than that needed for the distillation system. At least a portion of the high pressure air is isentropically expanded to provide the refrigeration needed for liquefaction while another portion is cooled to a temperature below its critical temperature, so that liquid air can be obtained upon expansion of this cold air stream. This cooled and expanded liquid containing air is then fed into the distillation system for separation. A portion of the isentropically expanded, mainly vapor bearing air can also be fed into the distillation system to supplement the vapor feed necessary for the distillation system. Since all the air, including that fed to the distillation system, enters the cold box at pressures significantly higher than that required by the distillation system, the feed air is used for refrigeration generation or condensation before it enters the distillation system. As compared to the nitrogen recycle liquefiers, this reduces the recirculation flow needed for generating the desired refrigeration which translates into (1) less power loss due to pressure drop, (2) less energy degradation due to heat transfer of the recycle streams and (3) less heat exchanger area. A problem with the air recycle liquefier however, is that as the liquid demand (as a percentage of feed air) increases, the fraction of liquid air in the total feed air increases. This will have an adverse effect on the distillation operation since a large fraction of liquid air in the feed air means a reduced vapor flow to the distillation system, so that not enough vapor is rising in the higher pressure column to generate the boilup for the lower pressure column and to generate the liquid nitrogen which is demanded as reflux and as product. This problem can be overcome by vaporizing a portion or all of the liquid air (or some other liquid process stream) via heat exchange against a condensing stream of high pressure nitrogen as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,548. This, however, introduces an extra step, namely condensation of nitrogen and vaporization of the liquid air. Since pressure drops as well as energy degradation are involved in this condensation/vaporization step, it means extra power consumption as well as an extra heat exchanger for the condensation/vaporization.
It is an object of the present invention to improve the energy efficiency of the conventional air recycle liquefier by overcoming the above described problem.

Hybrid air and nitrogen recycle liquefier


A connect and disconnect assembly for connecting and disconnecting a laser diode having leads to a printed circuit board (PCB). The assembly includes a heatsink having a base plate portion and fins extending from and integral with the base plate portion. The heatsink further includes spacer sleeves extending from a side of the base plate portion opposing the fins. The heatsink connects to the printed circuit board by providing mount screws through the heatsink and spacer sleeves which are received in mount holes formed in the PCB. The laser diode connects to the base plate portion of the heatsink. Laser support blocks connect with the heatsink and support opposing sides of the laser diode. Each laser support block is provided with a dielectric gasket. When the heatsink is mounted onto the PCB, the laser diode leads are forced against corresponding pads provided on the PCB for electrically connecting the laser diode to the PCB. The dielectric gaskets provide pressure on the laser diode leads so that they adequately contact their corresponding pads on the PCB, and electrically isolate and insulate the leads to prevent lead frequencies from intermixing. The assembly provides a convenient mechanism for connecting/disconnecting the laser diode and heatsink to/from the PCB. Further, the laser diode and assembly can be easily disconnected from the PCB so that a modified, repaired, and/or updated laser diode or other component can be quickly and easily inserted into the circuit without damaging or destroying the laser diode or the PCB.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the communications field, and, more particularly to an assembly for quickly connecting and disconnecting a laser diode, having a heatsink provided thereon, to a printed circuit board (PCB) used in the communications field.
B. Description of the Related Art
Printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies are used in computers, communications equipment, televisions, and many other products. In a typical PCB assembly, many electrical components are attached to the top and bottom surfaces of a PCB. Since the electronics manufacturing industry is highly competitive, it is important to maximize the throughput of processing PCB assemblies and to attach functional electrical components to the PCBs.
The manufacturing of PCB assemblies involves many processes, one of which is surface mounting components to PCBs. In addition to maximizing the throughput of processing PCB assemblies, it is also becoming important to accurately mount a large number of very small components to the PCB assemblies.
One major problem in mounting components on PCBs and the like is the connect/disconnect function. It is important that various components of the system be removable and/or possible to disconnect so that normal maintenance and testing, as well as changes and updates to the system, can be accomplished. Sometimes components that are permanently mounted onto a PCB (typically via soldering) may be defective. If such permanently-attached components are found to be defective, it is difficult to remove such components for repair without damaging or destroying the component and/or the PCB. Thus, it is essential that such components be easily removed from a PCB, without damaging or destroying the PCB, especially in the case where the component is defective.
One component that is typically permanently fixed (usually via soldering) onto a PCB is a laser diode. A laser diode, also known as an injection laser or diode laser, is a semiconductor device that produces coherent radiation at a center wavelength when current passes through it. Laser diodes are used in, for example, optical fiber systems, compact disc (CD) players, laser printers, remote-control devices, and intrusion detection systems.
Conventionally, a laser diode is provided with a heatsink. A heatsink is nothing more than a piece of metal that dissipates the heat generated by an optical or electronic component. There are three ways an object can dissipate heat: radiation, conduction, and convection.
Radiation, as the name suggests, means that the heat is simply radiated away from the object, through electromagnetic radiation (photon transport). This effect is not bound to gas or other substances surrounding the heatsink. Radiation will even take place in a vacuum. How well an object can radiate heat depends upon the material and the color.
Conduction is the exchange of kinetic energy between molecules. Less energetic (lower temperature) particles gain kinetic energy by colliding with more energetic particles (through physical contact). Since direct contact is required, a heatsink (surrounded by air) cannot get rid of significant amounts of heat using conduction. However, conduction is the effect that is responsible for the heat transfer from the hot component to the heatsink.
Convection is heat transfer by movement of a heated substance (gas or liquid). This means that the heat is transferred to the molecules of the gas (or liquid) surrounding the hot object, and then transported away through movement of molecules. If the gas or liquid around the object is forced into movement (e.g. by a fan blowing air across a heatsink), then this is called forced convection.
In a conventional arrangement as described generally in U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,387, a laser diode connects to a heatsink (usually with solder or screws), the heatsink connects to the PCB (usually with solder or screws), and the leads of the laser diode are soldered to the PCB to electrically couple the laser diode to the PCB. Once a laser diode is electrically coupled to the PCB, it is desirous to test the laser diode to see if it is functional. If the laser diode is defective or nonfunctional, it is further desirable to remove and repair, or remove and replace the defective laser diode. Unfortunately, if the leads of the defective laser diode are permanently soldered to the PCB, it is very difficult to remove the laser diode from the PCB without damaging or destroying the laser diode and/or the PCB.
Thus, there is a significant need in the art to provide a mechanism that temporarily attaches and electrically connects/disconnects a laser diode (or other electrical or optical component), having a heat sink provided thereon, to a PCB.
The present invention solves the problems of the related art by providing an assembly for quickly connecting and disconnecting a laser diode, having a heatsink provided thereon, to a printed circuit board (PCB) used, for example, in the communications field.
In accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention comprises a connect and disconnect assembly for connecting and disconnecting a laser diode having at least one lead to a printed circuit board, including: a heatsink having a base plate portion and a plurality of fins extending from and integral with the base plate portion, the heatsink being connected to the printed circuit board, and the laser diode being connectable to the heatsink; and at least one laser support block interposed between the heatsink and the printed circuit board, wherein a portion of a connection force connecting the heatsink to the printed circuit board is transferred through the at least one laser support block to couple the at least one lead of the laser diode with at least one pad of the printed circuit board.
Further in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention comprises a method of connecting an assembly to a printed circuit board, the assembly including a heatsink having a base plate portion and a plurality of fins extending from and integral with the base plate portion, a laser diode having at least one lead, and at least one laser support block, comprising: connecting the laser diode to the heatsink; interposing the at least one laser support block between the heatsink and the printed circuit board; and connecting the heatsink to the printed circuit board, wherein a portion of a connection force connecting the heatsink to the printed circuit board is transferred through the at least one laser support block to couple the at least one lead of the laser diode with at least one pad of the printed circuit board.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

Laser diode and heatsink quick connect/disconnect assembly


A power amplifier formed by a plurality of pairs of transistors, each pair including a first transistor and a second transistor having each a respective input terminal and a respective output terminal. The output terminals of the first and second transistors of each pair are connected to an output distributed active transformer connected to a differential output of the power amplifier. The input terminals of the first and second transistors of each pair are connected to an input distributed active transformer connected to an input of the power amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distributed active transformer (DAT) amplifier with fully differential power combiner.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Power combiners have particular application in the field of radiofrequency power amplifiers, thanks to the characteristic of in-phase summing the output powers of each individual transistor, maintaining the gain and reducing the voltage thereof at the output terminals.
As is known, in fact, the radiofrequency power amplifier for wireless mobile telecommunications is certainly the most complicated circuit to design using a silicon substrate and using a CMOS compatible process. The reasons for this difficulty are basically two:
1. the breakdown voltages of the gate oxide of the MOS transistor enable rather low RF output powers to be reached; and
2. the quality factor (Q) of the passive elements integrated in the silicon substrate is not suitable for obtaining the high gains and the impedance transformations required by the application specifications of the maximum RF output power.
With the aim of solving the above difficulties, U.S. Pat. No. 6,816,012 and the articles: I. Aoki et al., "Distributed Active Transformer—A new power-combining and impedance-transformation technique", IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 50, No. 1, January 2002; and I. Aoki et al., "Fully Integrated CMOS PA Design using DAT architecture", IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 37, No. 3, March 2002 describe a new architecture of impedance transformer and simultaneous power combiner.
FIG. 1 shows the schematic structure of this amplifier 1, comprising four pairs 2 of transistors 3, 4, of an NMOS type, the transistors 3, 4 of each pair 2 having output terminals (drain) connected to four primaries 10 of a distributed active transformer (DAT) 15, proposed herein. The transistors 3, 4 connected across a same primary 10 form a circuit in push-pull configuration.
The primaries 10 are formed by four slabs, here rectangular, each at 90° with respect to the two adjacent slabs so as to extend approximately like the sides of a square. A secondary 16 of the DAT 15 is formed by a region extending substantially along the sides of a square, inside the primaries 10, and a side thereof (on the right in the drawing) is interrupted approximately in the middle and is connected to a pair of outputs 18, supplying a differential output voltage Vo.
The intermediate taps of the primaries 10 are connected to a supply voltage VDD. The transistors 3, 4 of each pair 2 are connected, via the drain terminals, between pairs of adjacent primaries 10 and receive, on the respective gate terminals (which define respective input terminals), voltages of opposite sign. The common node between the source terminals of the two transistors 3, 4 of each pair is grounded.
Tuning capacitors 7 extend between the drain terminals of each pair 2 of transistors 3, 4.
In the known scheme, the secondary 16 of the transformer combines in series, via magnetic induction, the differential signal of the primaries 10 and sends it to the output 18. The advantages of this known transformer structure are the following:                the inductances with high quality factor Q are provided by metal strips instead of by spiral inductors, typically with low Q in the standard CMOS processes;        the transformer ratio of each individual transformer is very low, in other words the ratio is 1:1, and consequently it is simple to obtain and inherently has low ohmic losses;        the total transformer ratio required for increasing the output power of each single pair of MOS transistors is obtained via the in series combination of the voltage induced magnetically on the secondary 16; in FIG. 1, this ratio is 1:4.
FIG. 2 shows a practical embodiment of the structure object of U.S. Pat. No. 6,816,012 referred to above, in particular in the case of a 2.4-GHz power amplifier having an output power of 1.9 W at a 2 V supply.
As may be noted, the amplifier 1 has a double star structure 20 for biasing the gate terminals of the transistors 3, 4. The double star structure 20 is formed within the secondary 16 in order to contain the ohmic losses as much as possible and consequently reduce the lengths of the metal paths. In detail, the double star structure 20 is formed by a first and a second star regions 20a 20b, formed on two separate metal levels and having each four arms 21a, 21b. The arms 21a of the first star region 20a are connected to the transistors 3, and the arms 21b of the second star region 20b are connected to the transistors 4. In particular, each arm 21a, 21b is connected to a respective transistor 3, 4 via wire connections or further metal levels (represented schematically and designated by 22) that extend under or over the secondary 16. Each star region 20a, 20b further comprises a respective input arm 22a, 22b, connected to an input transformer 25 arranged outside the DAT amplifier 1 and having input terminals receiving a supply voltage Vi and output terminals connected each to a respective input arm 22a, 22b through wire connections or metal lines 26 extending over or under the secondary 16 (and possibly over or under one of the primaries 10).
The gate terminals of the transistors 3, 4 are biased through appropriate biasing regions 28, which are substantially L-shaped, the central tap whereof is a signal virtual ground.
This structure reaches, up to now, the highest power value by using NMOS transistors formed using standard CMOS process, but is not free from disadvantages.
The circular structure of the secondary 16 (which combines the output powers of the pairs of transistors 3, 4) renders in fact very complicated the design of the network needed for connecting the gate terminals of the transistors 3, 4. In fact:                It is difficult to form the network for distributing the RF signal through the double star structure 20 such so as to reduce the parasitic components of resistance, inductance, and capacitance. Therefore, the maximum use frequencies of the DAT 15 and consequently the possible applications are markedly limited;        The input impedance matching network to obtain maximum power transfer to the gate terminals of the transistors 3, 4 is difficult to design in particular for wide frequency bandwidths;        The connection network (double star structure 20) is formed within the secondary 16 of the DAT 15, where the magnetic intensity flux is high. It is consequently very complicated to control coupling between the output and input RF power with consequent problems of stability and oscillation risk; in fact, the star structure is magnetically coupled to the secondary 16 and generates feedback that can cause oscillations;        Extending the double star structure 20 to applications at high frequencies up to the millimetric range becomes impracticable.
The aim of the present invention is thus to provide an amplifier of the DAT type that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.

Distributed active transformer amplifier with differential power combiner


A method for using analytics to define and deliver wrap packages of cards with insight content. The method includes the steps of generating insight content by applying analytics to a set of data, inserting or associating the insight content into one or more content component container(s) included in a set of cards of a wrap package, and generating a wrap descriptor for the wrap package.

This invention relates to authoring and delivering wrap packages of cards, and more particularly, to using analytics to define custom content to be included in a wrap package of cards prior to delivery.
The above-listed non-prior art related applications describe a new media content type, referred to as "wrap packages". The terms "wrap" or "package" are interchangeably used herein to refer to wrap packages.
A wrap package is a collection of cards that are each selectively authored to include (i) one or more types of media content such as text, images, photos, video, etc., (ii) application functionality and/or (iii) e-commerce related services. The cards in a wrap are also typically authored to define one or more linear sequence(s) when consumed. With wrap packages, an author thus has the ability to select media content, combined with application-like and website functionality, and combine them all into an elegant, card-based, narrative. As a result, the author can create compelling stories using media, interwoven with interactive functionality and/or e-commerce services. Wrap packages are, therefore, ideal, but not necessarily limited to, delivering a unique, interactive, "book-like", experience over the mobile web, which previously has been not possible.
The cards of wrap packages are navigation metaphors. Each card can be authored to group related information that can be easily consumed within a user interface experience by swipe (or other simple gesture) navigation from card-to-card.
Cards have a visual representation intended to evoke similarities to their physical counterparts. They have a fixed portrait aspect ratio that makes them ideally suited to current mobile computing devices as well as easy to scale up to and arrange to fit other display form factors, such as provided on laptop and desktop computers as well as smart TVs. The physical card metaphor can also extend to the interactive behavior of cards in a wrap, as the user can use gestures that evoke the "flipping" of cards in a deck or bound booklet to navigate between them.
In addition, each card in a wrap has defined content that is displayed in a predefined layout. In general, the cards in a wrap have the same size and aspect ratio. The aspect ratio is preferably device independent and is preferably maintained regardless of device orientation and/or display window size.
Cards are like containers for holding and distributing media content, such as text, images, photos, audio, video and the like. In addition, cards may also contain or hold executable objects that provide or enable real-time features, such as application functionality (i.e., the ability to schedule appointments, engage in online chats or conversations) and support e-commerce related services (i.e., the ability to purchase goods and/or services). The multimedia content and/or interactive services contained by any given card can be determined entirely in advance or as late as the moment the wrap is consumed by the end-user. Such media content and executable objects are sometimes referred to herein as card "assets."
Cards, however, can differ from their physical counter-parts in ways that provide for unique presentations of content or the aforementioned application functionality and/or e-commerce services. For example, a gallery card provides the ability to present an expanded amount of content in a vertically stacked orientation such that the overall length (i.e., the number of cards or in a horizontal sequence) of the wrap is not affected by the amount of content in the wrap. This aids in navigation since the user can flip to the previous or next card regardless of their current position in the gallery.
Wrap packages are delivered and rendered in a browser as a sharable and savable message. Wrap packages thus provides an app-like user experience that is delivered as a live, interactive, message from a cloud-based platform, using for example, the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. A wrap is thus a portable container of multimedia content, and interactive services, designed for ease of delivery, exchange, and consumption.
Wrap packages are also consumable anywhere, meaning they have the ability to be resolved and displayed on just about any type of device (mobile phones, laptops, tablets, wearable computing devices such as smart watches, desktop computers, smart TVs, etc.), regardless of the platform (e.g., iOS, Android, Microsoft, etc.). Wrap packages are thus platform and device independent. Wraps do not have to be written for any specific platform, such as iOS or Android, or for any specific device or class of devices (e.g. smart phones, tablets, desktops, etc.).
Wrap packages are thus a mobile-first marketing and commerce platform that ideally provides a beautiful world of storytelling in bite-size moments that get and hold attention. In addition, the unique characteristics of (i) authoring once and running on almost any device, regardless of the operating system or the type and (ii) the ability to easily distribute wrap packages similar to messages, together are a powerful construct that potentially can make the use of wrap packages near universal.
By creating wrap packages, businesses and other organizations can simply and cheaply create, distribute, and manage storytelling mobile web user experiences, app like functionality and e-commerce, all in the context of wrap packages delivered directly to consumers. Where businesses used to have to build destinations (websites) or use monolithic systems (apps), they can now provide consumers, particularly mobile device users, with a user experience that delivers the content they want combined with a complementary palette of functions and/or e-commerce related services.
Wrap packages thus solves a number of current problem with the mobile web. Unlike web sites, wrap packages are easy to consume on mobile devices and offer the opportunity to create compelling narratives and user experiences. In addition, the ability to incorporate app-like functionality into wraps provides a multi-function app-like experience, without having to develop an app, be in an app, download an app, or open several apps.
The uniqueness of wrap packages creates opportunities for business and other organizations alike to innovate and improve marketing efforts, customer support, and user experiences in ways previously not possible, because an enabling interface and platform did not exist. Wrap packages can thus potentially define the next generation interactive web paradigm, particularly for mobile, although for desktop and other types of devices as well.
Data analytics is the science of examining raw data for the purpose of discovering insights, conclusions and/or meaningful patterns. Analytics typically relies on the simultaneous application of statistics, computer programming and operations research to quantify some desired measure of performance. In many industries, data analytics is used to allow companies and organization to make better business decisions. For example, many businesses and organizations commonly apply analytics to business data, to describe, predict, and improve business performance. Specific areas within analytics include predictive analytics, enterprise decision management, retail analytics, store assortment and stock-keeping unit optimization, market optimization, market mix modeling, and web analytics, sales force sizing and optimization, price and promotion modeling, predictive science, credit risk analysis and fraud analytics.
In the above-mentioned non-prior art U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/170,438, an authoring tool for the authoring of wrap packages is described. With this tool, one or more authors can manually create wrap packages. During the course of one or more authoring sessions, author(s) may author a set of cards of a wrap package by (a) selecting a card type among a plurality of different card types, (b) selecting a card template from one or more card templates of the selected card type, (c) authoring a new card by copying and modifying the selected card template of the selected card type, (d) repeating steps (a) through (c) for authoring a plurality of cards of the wrap package and (f) defining one or more sequence order(s) for rendering the plurality of cards in the wrap package.
Although the above-referenced authoring tool is a powerful tool that enables the creation of beautiful, graphic-intensive wrap packages with embedded application functionality and/or e-commerce services, the process is labor intensive since the authoring is manual. The authoring tool thus has limited application in certain circumstances, such as in situations where it is desirable to create and distribute a large number of wrap packages, each with custom content. A system and method for automatically authoring and delivering wrap packages of cards with custom content to target individuals is therefore needed.

Authoring and delivering wrap packages of cards with custom content to target individuals


Methods are provided for making a citrus plant that is capable of producing fruit with increased levels of anthocyanins in the fruit when compared to a citrus fruit from a wild-type or control plant. Such methods involve increasing the expression of Ruby, an R2R3 Myb transcription factor, in a citrus plant, particularly in the fruit of a citrus plant. Further provided are citrus plants, citrus fruit, and citrus plant cells made by such methods, nucleic acid molecules and expression cassettes comprising nucleotide sequences that encode Ruby, and the Ruby proteins encoded thereby.

In addition to their striking color, blood oranges are believed to have significant health-promoting properties, combining the high content of vitamin C, carotenoids and fiber of common blond oranges with the health-promoting properties of anthocyanin pigments (de Pascual-Theresa et al., 2010; Paradez-Lopez et al., 2010; Davies, 2007; Prior and Wu, 2006). The high anthocyanin content of blood oranges underpins their high antioxidant activity (Proteggente et al., 2011; Kelebek et al., 2008; Jayaprakasha and Patl, 2007; Rapisada et al., 1999). Consumption of blood orange juice has been shown to reduce oxidative stress in diabetic patients (Bottina et al., 2002), protect DNA against oxidative damage (Guarnieri et al., 2007; Riso et al., 2005) and may reduce cardiovascular risk factors more generally, as demonstrated for other high-anthocyanin foods (de Pascual-Theresa et al., 2010; Paradez-Lopez et al., 2010; Toufektsian et al., 2008). Recently, blood orange juice has been shown to limit the development of adipocytes and weight gain in mice and to confer resistance to obesity compared to blond orange juice or water (Titta et al., 2010). In a mouse model of obesity, blood orange juice consumption rescued almost completely the transcriptional reprogramming induced by a high fat diet.
Despite increasing consumer interest in their high nutritional quality, blood oranges do not have a global market, largely due to a lack of dependability of color development. All blood orange varieties require strong day-night thermal clines for intense color formation in fruit flesh, and varieties such as Moro, with the potential for high pigmentation, are strongly dependent on the prevailing climatic conditions during fruit ripening for full colour development. Post-harvest storage of fruit in the cold enhances pigmentation, but this is an expensive measure to ensure high levels of pigmentation, and can increase post-harvest losses (Crifò et al., 2011; Latado et al., 2008; Rapisada et al., 1999). The dependency of anthocyanin accumulation on environment means that the most reliable blood orange production, on a commercial scale, is limited to Italy, specifically to the Sicilian area around Mount Etna (Zarba and Pulvirenti, 2006) where it remains highly seasonal. Although blood oranges are grown in other countries, in some years entire harvests are lost due to non-optimal conditions during ripening of fruit, and when they are cultivated in Brazil or Florida (the largest producers of oranges worldwide), coloration is generally weak or absent and unreliable (Latado et al., 2008; Hodgson, 1967). To ensure a stable supply of blood oranges, improved oranges trees which can produce blood oranges with reliably high levels of anthocyanins under a variety of environmental conditions, are desired.
Anthocyanins are natural pigments found typically in red, purple and blue fruit and flowers (Winkel-Shirley, 2001). Many varieties of blood orange have been derived from old Italian varieties such as Doppio Sanguigno and include more recently-derived varieties such as Tarocco and Moro, which generally have higher levels of anthocyanin pigmentation of their fruit (FIG. 1). The history of these varieties is debated although authoritative texts suggest three independent derivations: one Italian/Sicilian from Doppio Sanguigno/Maltaise Sanguine, a second in Spain from Doblefina and a third from Shamouti Orange referred to as Shamouti Blood or Palestinian Blood Jaffa Orange (Hodgson, 1967). In the mid-19th century it was believed that blood oranges arose by bud mutation in the Mediterranean region following the introduction of sweet orange in the 16th century (Holmes, 1924). More recently it was suggested that blood oranges originated much earlier in Asia (Hodgson, 1967; Chapot, 1963). The blood orange was first documented in Italy in 'Hesperides' by Ferrari (1646), a Jesuit scholar who wrote of an orange with purple-colored flesh that tasted strangely like a grape (Ferrari, 1646). Ferrari suggested that the blood orange was brought to Sicily by a Genoese missionary after a long journey which started in China. However, claims of Chinese poems referring to scarlet/red oranges, dating from the Tang period to more recent times, are probably based on mistranslation of the term 'orange' and likely refer to mandarins which never accumulate anthocyanins. Some definitively red oranges are portrayed in a picture by Bartolomeo Bimbi, a Florentine artist who painted the Medici Citrus collections early in the 18th century.

Methods for increasing the anthocyanin content of citrus fruit


An imprinting press and cooking apparatus for a dough product includes an imprinting station with respective opposed lower press and upper imprinting plates and rotating plate or endless belt conveyors adjacent the imprinting station for moving the dough product which has been pressed and imprinted through a cooking or baking phase. Heat sources are disposed adjacent the imprinting station and the conveyors for preheating the dough product for release from the printing station and for cooking the dough product, respectively. A pressure air slide is disposed between conveyor stages for transferring the dough product from one conveyor stage to another. Pressure air is supplied to the air slide through a conduit and into a chamber for flow through a perforated plate which supports the dough product for movement along the slide.

Many Mexican restaurants are proud of their names and would imprint that name on the tortillas they serve if they could. Unfortunately, there has never been a device which could imprint the name onto the surface of such flat bread products.
The imprinting of bakery products typically involves the utilization of a mold in which the bakery product batter dough is poured and cooked. The batter conforms to the mold during cooking and keeps its shape thereafter. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,358,452 to Garstang shows an circular design for a waffle iron allows designs to be made in a waffle. The waffle iron has a recessed patterned surface on the bottom and a top surface bearing a pattern or design to be cooked into the waffle. Both the top and the bottom plates are electrically heated. In operation, waffle batter is poured into the iron, the iron is then closed and activated. The waffle batter is formed and cooked at the same time and then removed from the iron.
A second example of the prior art is found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,791,960 to Pietropinto, which discloses a device for making cookies and edible articles such as waffles or wheat cakes. This device is formed by a heated upper plate and an adjustable lower plate. The upper plates bears the design to be imprinted on the waffle. The lower plate or "dough receiving pocket" is an adjustable cavity which allows the thickness of the waffle to be varied. Both the upper and lower plates are hinged together and electrically heated. In operation, waffle dough or cookie dough is placed between the plates, which are then closed, forming and cooking the batter or dough placed between the plates.
The present invention deals with pressing, imprinting and cooking tortilla dough, pizza dough or pita bread dough, all essentially flat bread products. Dough for such flat bread products has distinctively different characteristics from waffle batter or cookie dough. Cooking a flat bread product generally, requires two steps. The first step involves pressing a piece of dough into a flat disk on a set of heated plates. The second step requires that the flat disk of dough be placed on a grill to complete cooking on both sides. Additionally, during the cooking process, the bread dough rises, creating patterns in the surface of the bread product as well as air pockets and other irregularities. The rising of the dough during cooking makes a single step of pressing, imprinting and cooking impossible.
There are several examples of presses and baking machines for flat bread products in the prior art; however, none of these machines imprint a design on the bread products. The closest prior art was invented by the present applicant. The first was U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,025 disclosing a tortilla press and oven unit. This machine presses and forms tortillas and then delivers them to a plurality of roasting oven disks. The tortilla is initially pressed between a set of heated press plates, then it is transferred to a first oven disk to partially cook the tortilla. It is then transferred to a second and third disk, being flipped over in between, to complete cooking of the bread product. The device is complex, and does not have the ability to imprint the bread products as they are pressed and cooked. Additionally, the slide used to flip the bread product often causes the bread product to stick and jam the machine.
A second example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,813 to the applicant. In this invention an improved synchronized press and method for forming bakery products is disclosed. A single heated plate is pressed downward against a heated parallel rotating disk and synchronized to match the motion of the rotating disk. This movement presses a dough ball into a flat bread product which is then cooked on several rotating disks. No method of printing is disclosed. Also, the method disclosed to flip the tortilla and transfer it from one disk to another is the same as that used in other prior art patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,025 and so it has the same sticking problems.
A need exists for a press which can imprint a design on a flat bread product using at least two separate steps, imprinting and cooking. Moreover, a need exists for an imprinting press in combination with rotating cooking disks to aid in the convenience and compactness of a cooking unit. Finally, a need exists for an improvement to the prior art to aid in the transfer of a tortilla from one rotating cooking disk to the next.

Device for pressing, imprinting and cooking flat bread products


A bulk product melt system including a portable support platform positionable with respect to a bulk product source vessel. A water heating system is positioned with respect to the support platform and includes a water tank, which contains a volume of water heated to a selected process water temperature. A water flowmeter in control communication with the water tank monitors a water flowmeter rate of the heated water from the water tank. A mixing eductor in fluidic communication with the water tank receives the heated water at a controlled water flowmeter rate from the water tank. The portable bulk product melt system also includes a bulk product mixing system that is positioned with respect to the portable support platform and includes a bulk product receiver having an inlet portion in fluidic communication with an outlet of the bulk product source vessel and an outlet portion in fluidic communication with the mixing eductor. The bulk product receiver receives bulk product from the bulk product source vessel and discharges the bulk product into the mixing eductor through a continuous weigher. Within the mixing eductor, the bulk product is mixed with the heated water to produce a melted product mixture. The melted product mixture is discharged from the mixing eductor into an inlet of the bulk product source vessel in discharge communication with the mixing eductor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a portable bulk product melt system and, more specifically, to a portable bulk product melt system having a bulk product mixing system which receives a bulk product from a bulk product source vessel, wherein the bulk product is offloaded then treated to form a melted product mixture and then discharged back into the bulk product source vessel.
2. Description of Prior Art
Many conventional bulk product melt systems require bulk product to be deliver in a container, such as a truck tanker, railroad car tank, or temporary storage tank, to a factory or off-site building having a mixing station or system. The bulk product is transferred into the mixing station or system and mixed with various ingredients or materials to produce or process a mixture. The mixture is than transferred into a second container, such as a second truck tanker or second railroad car tank, for storage and/or transporting the mixture to another location. This process may include costly and unnecessary movement and handling of the bulk product.
Therefore, there exists a need for a portable bulk product melt system that is transportable to and positionable with respect to a bulk product source.
There exists a need for a portable bulk product melt system that can process a bulk product received from a bulk product source vessel into a treated product mixture and discharge the treated product mixture back into the bulk product source vessel.


A system and method provide efficient, secure and highly reliable authentication for transaction processing and/or access control applications in which only biometric input is required from the user. A Personal Digital Key stores a biometric profile that comprises a representation of physical or behavioral characteristics that are uniquely associated with an individual that owns and carries the PDK. The PDK wirelessly transmits the biometric profile over a secure wireless transaction to a Reader for use in a biometric authentication process. The Reader compares the received biometric profile to a biometric input acquired at the point of transaction in order to determine if the transaction should be authorized.

1. Field of Art
The invention generally relates to electronic authentication, and more specifically, to secure authentication using biometric verification.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optimizing sales transactions and providing secure access to physical and/or digital assets are challenges faced by many businesses and organizations. Ensuring these processes are safe, efficient and simple is important to merchants, providers, users and consumers alike. Conventionally, technologies such as magnetic cards (e.g., credit cards, debit cards, ATM cards, and employee badges) have been used in attempt to address these needs. More recently, various contactless cards or tokens requiring placement near compatible readers have been used.
Each of these technologies, however, has inherent problems in providing secure transaction processing and access control. In particular, the conventional technologies fail to sufficiently ensure that individuals attempting to perform a transaction are associated with the access device and are authorized to do so. Conventional attempts to address this issue include requiring users to provide Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) or passwords in conjunction with account numbers. While in some instances, these options have helped to combat fraudulent activity, these solutions add unwanted complexity and delay to transactions. With the growing need to memorize various PINs and passwords, individuals tend to repeatedly use the same, simple phrase to protect many items, or worse, keep the written phrases in their purse/wallet or next to their computer. Thus, the use of PINs and passwords are often defeated.
A technology better suited to address the issue of authenticating users is biometrics. In biometric authentication, physical and/or behavioral characteristics of an individual are analyzed to uniquely identify the individual. For example, biometric characteristics can include fingerprint, retinal, iris, face, palm, DNA, voice or signature characteristics that can each be uniquely associated with the individual. However, traditional biometric authentication solutions also suffer from significant problems. First, traditional biometric authentication techniques typically expose the participating parties to serious liabilities, risks and inefficiencies. Conventional biometric authentication techniques nearly always require users to release personal, private and unchangeable data to a controlling-entity (e.g., a merchant or business authority) or to a third-party relied upon by the controlling-entity. This exposes an individual's personal biometric information to the possibility of theft and fraudulent use. Further, controlling entities must either assume the risks and liabilities of storing this data, or trust the data to a third-party's care.
Second, conventional biometric authentication techniques generally require an individual to submit biometric information (e.g., a fingerprint, retinal scan, facial scan, or signature) for storage in a database that can then be later used for comparison with biometric data acquired at the point of transaction. This "enrollment" process is time-consuming, risky, error-prone and considered intrusive by many individuals. Further, the enrollment process must be repeated for each individual for every intended use. For example, a user may need to enroll for biometric authentication with his/her company (e.g., for secure access to facilities or digital files), and separately enroll with various merchants using biometric authentication for transactions. Thus, the individual has to spend significant time completing each separate enrollment, and additionally must trust each entity with his/her personal biometric information. For these reasons alone many individuals do not even consider these options.
The above-defined issues represent serious roadblocks to the widespread deployment and acceptance of conventional biometric authentication options. Unless the identified deficiencies are addressed, the full potential of biometric solutions will never be realized. Therefore, a new technology is needed that provides highly reliable, safe and efficient secure authentication for transaction-processing and/or access control. Moreover, the new technology should allow for a simple and efficient enrollment process that does not put an individual's highly personal information at risk of identity theft or other fraudulent use.

Single step transaction authentication using proximity and biometric input


A system for locating a lost pet includes: a tag configured to be worn on the pet; a handheld device configured to be connected with the tag wirelessly; a remote server configured to store information that corresponds to the pet wearing the tag; and an application installed on the handheld device and configured to provide a user interface and establish a connection with the remote server. The tag includes wireless communication means and a unique identification code for distinguishing the tag among a plurality of tags, and is configured to broadcast the unique identification code wirelessly. The handheld device is configured to establish a connection with the tag within a predetermined range, receive the broadcasted unique identification code from the tag, and trigger a predetermined routine if the connection with the tag is terminated. A method for locating a lost pet is also provided.

A pet is an animal kept for a person's company. Pets form a much closer bond with humans than animals that are kept for various reasons, such as livestock, working animals or sport animals. For the above reason, pets are precious to their owners. Every pet owner would agree that losing their beloved pet is one of the worst things that can happen to them. Aside from deaths due to inevitable aging or deceases, pets running away is another major cause for the owners losing their beloved ones. It became a great concern for the pet owners to prevent the mentioned dreadful situation from happening. Typically, one would think of using a global position system (GPS) device on the pet for tracking of the same. However, GPS modules are generally expensive and power consuming. Such devices cannot stay activated for days or even hours after the pet ran away. Moreover, in the real life situation that a pet is lost, there is very limited man power which may participate in recovering the lost pet. In order to prevent pets from running away and assist in retrieving lost pets, a pet locating system and method which can be reliably and efficiently engaged are desired by every pet owner.

System for locating a lost pet and method thereof


A latex antistatic adhesive comprising an emulsion of polymerized microdrops dispersed in an aqueous medium, having an average diameter less than about 0.1 .mu.m, and a glass transition temperature (Tg) of from about -120.degree. C. to about 25.degree. C., wherein the polymerized microdrops are derived from emulsion microdrops of reactive monomers, said adhesive including at least one (meth)acrylic monomer, at least one polar monomer, at least one reactive oligomer and at least 1% of a lithium salt.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to antistatic water-based, latex pressure sensitive adhesives using inherently low tribocharging adhesive polymers to provide protection for sensitive electronic devices. Low tribocharging adhesive tapes for use in microfabrication processes are provided.
2. Description of the Art
The use of acrylic polymers as pressure sensitive adhesives is well known in the art. Early preparation of acrylic adhesive compositions relied on solution polymerization techniques using significant quantities of organic solvents. Current trends demand severe reduction in solvent usage for the benefit of the environment and also to curtail costs incurred with expensive solvents.
Alternative methods to solution polymerization include suspension and emulsion polymerization. Both may be used to provide copolymer pressure sensitive adhesives. In emulsion polymerization a reaction occurs in micelles or emulsion microdrops suspended in aqueous medium. Any heat generated in the microdrops or micelles is quickly moderated by the effect of the heat capacity of the surrounding water phase. Emulsion polymerization proceeds with better control of exothermic reactions, and the resulting adhesive composition is non-flammable as the aqueous medium is the dominant component.
Offsetting these advantages is the energy required to evaporate water from the coated latex adhesives. The heat required is about five times the quantity typically used for a comparable solution adhesive. Less water in the adhesive would reduce the heat requirement. A reduction in water is likely, however, to lead to undesirable thickening of the emulsion. Ideally, a high solids, low viscosity emulsion will provide a variety of benefits. Unfortunately, sensitivity to moisture is a serious problem. Latex adhesives contain surfactant materials that attract water. Once affected by water, the adhesive may become cloudy, losing both adhesion and shear strength. A means to eliminate moisture sensitivity would yield superior adhesives for applications involving exposure to quantities of water, especially pressurized jets of water typically used in microfabrication processes.
European published application EP 0554832A discloses a water-based, high solids, moisture insensitive, latex pressure sensitive adhesive which has low coating viscosity as well as high shear, high compliance and controlled adhesion build-up. Suitable for a wide range of applications, this adhesive composition is however, not suitable for use with sensitive electronic devices that are subject to damage by electrostatic discharge. Use of antistatic adhesives in microfabrication processes reduces the incidence of electrostatic charge build-up followed by discharge in the proximity of sensitive electronic devices. Such discharge is known to damage devices rendering them useless for their intended function which adds to the failure rate and associated costs.
Microcircuit fabrication processes use pressure sensitive adhesive products at various stages of manufacture. With advances in miniaturization, circuit components became more susceptible to damage by electrostatic discharge. Therefore any source of electrostatic discharge, in the microcircuit fabrication process, could result in faulty microdevices. In wafer dicing operations, the required combination of tape characteristics includes good adhesion, water resistance, clean removability and lack of static discharge, a combination not easy to achieve.
Adhesive polymers have traditionally been a source of static charge. U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,405, incorporated herein by reference, was the first to disclose non-tribocharging, pressure sensitive adhesives wherein the adhesive polymer itself, in microparticulate form, is conductive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,107 extends the application of antistatic microparticulate adhesives to operations that convert semiconductor wafers, supporting multiple integrated circuit chips, into individual chips. No evidence exists in the prior art for inherently low-tribocharging latex adhesive compositions.
A number of methods are known for preparing antistatic adhesive compositions by adding conductive moieties to conventional adhesive formulations. Antistatic species may be introduced as conductive materials such as electrically conductive metal or carbon particles. Compositions of this type are disclosed in various references including EP 0276691A, EP 0518722A, U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,962, EP 0422919A, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,104,985, 4,749,612 and 4,548,862.
The addition of ionic materials to reduce generation of static charge is also known. Suitable materials of this type include ion conducting species such as those disclosed in Japanese patents JP 61,272,279 and JP 63,012,681.
Adhesive tapes of the present invention extend the scope of the antistatic adhesive concept to a broader range of adhesives. They provide latex adhesives which, coated on suitable substrates, prevent build up of static charge during use in microfabrication operations and similar situations requiring freedom from electrostatic discharge. Although disclosures in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,405 suggest that latex formation is undesirable to the preparation of antistatic adhesives, the current inventors discovered adhesive latex compositions that fully satisfy requirements. The effect is so pronounced that tapes of the current invention are essentially non-tribocharging, even at low humidities.
Further, adhesive formulations of the invention and tapes made therewith exhibit transparency. In certain embodiments, optical clarity is exhibited.
Further, adhesives formulations of the invention can be designed with a variety of adhesion levels, depending on what is desirable for the specific application. For microfabrication applications, low adhesion is usually desirable, e.g., less than about 22N/100 mm. For some applications, adhesion values as low as 3.5N/100 mm are desired.
Latex adhesives differ from microparticulate adhesives, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,405, in the characteristics of the adhesive layers produced by coating the adhesives on suitable substrates. Typical latex compositions form uniform layers when polymerized microdrops coalesce, as water evaporates from the coating, during drying. Microparticles, on the other hand, do not possess sufficient fluid character for interparticulate coalescence. As a result, microparticle coatings contain individual particles which tend to cause relative surface roughness and opacity when compared to the transparent, planar-surfaced latex adhesive coatings.

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


An air filter bank may include a housing configured to be coupled to an exterior of an air vehicle. The housing may have an air intake at a forward end and an air exit at an aft end and defining an air path therebetween. The air filter bank may further include at least one air filter positioned within the housing along the air path. The air filter may be configured to remove pollutants entrained in a volume of air entering the air intake and impinging on the filter surfaces prior to exiting the air exit.

Air pollution is a significant problem for many major cities. For example, air pollution is responsible for many health conditions in humans including pulmonary irritations, heart disease, and lung cancer. Air pollution can include noxious gasses, liquids, and particulates that enter the atmosphere. Smog is a common form of air pollution and is caused by particulates in the air that act as nucleation centers for water molecules that become large enough to scatter light. Smog can also include oxides of sulfur and nitrogen from the exhaust emissions of motor vehicles.
Current methods for reducing air pollution are directed toward reducing or minimizing sources of air pollution. For example, air quality standards have been enacted setting upper limits on the concentration of certain types of pollutants. Legislation has also been enacted setting standards for minimum levels of fuel efficiency for motor vehicles. Taxes are imposed on manufacturers of new motor vehicles that fail to meet fuel efficiency standards. Environmental agencies have also set limits on emissions from factories, power plants, and other industrial facilities.
Unfortunately, current methods do not address the removal of existing pollutants from the atmosphere. In this regard, smog-producing particulates can remain suspended in the air for a relatively long period of time due to their very small size. Although suspended particulates may eventually be washed to the ground during a precipitation event, certain geographic areas may go for months without rainfall. Furthermore, certain pollutants that are washed to the ground may be harmful to plants and animals.
As can be seen, there exists a need in the art for a system and method for actively removing pollutants from the atmosphere.

Airborne system and method for removing pollutants from a volume of air