A polysilicon diaphragm is formed on top of a sacrificial layer deposited upon a semiconductor substrate, where the thickness of the layer is controllable. The sacrificial layer is removed to define a diaphragm cavity, which is sealed with a plug. Electrodes within the surfaces defining the cavity deflect in response to variations in pressure, while providing a very small and minimum parasitic capacitance.

In order to provide for durable, low cost, highly accurate absolute pressure sensors, it is desirable to utilize modern semiconductor processing techniques for machining the critical parts of the sensor, rather than to manufacture the parts separately as taught in the prior art.
Guckel et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,863 discloses the use of a sealed cavity semiconductor pressure transducer employing a flexible, polysilicon deformable diaphragm that is formed over a sacrificial oxide post on a semiconductor substrate. The sacrificial post includes a plurality of weblike appendages extending along the substrate beyond the periphery of the post. After the diaphragm material is conformally deposited on the post, the periphery of the diaphragm material is etched away to reveal the sacrificial oxide. The sacrificial oxide is then etched away beneath the flexible diaphragm in order to define a diaphragm cavity. The holes formed in the circumference of the diaphragm from the web appendages that have been etched away are then sealed in order to form the diaphragm cavity.
The preferred embodiment uses piezoresistive current conducting components that are deposited on the flexible diaphragm. The resistance of these deposited materials will change in proportion to the deformation of the flexible diaphragm as the ambient pressure changes with respect to the pressure sealed within the diaphragm cavity. At column 6, at lines 47-63, mention is also made of using the structure for carrying two plates of a capacitive sensor such that the capacitance will change in response to the deflection of the diaphragm, but no capacitive sensor embodiments or teachings are provided.
In contrast to the prior art, the present invention utilizes a polysilicon diaphragm that is formed on top of a sacrificial oxide that was previously deposited on a silicon substrate, where the thickness of the sacrificial oxide layer is generally equal to the thickness of the diaphragm cavity to be formed. The use of a highly controllable silicon dioxide sacrificial layer on the silicon wafer yields a capacitor having a very small capacitance and minimum parasitic capacitance. The fabrication process does not require the bonding of patterned structures for the diaphragm. The manufacturing process can be controlled such that very low cost sensors can be manufactured without calibration steps.

Capacitive surface micromachine absolute pressure sensor and method for processing


In this process, the fluid is compressed (at 2) in the gaseous state to a pressure called the high pressure, the fluid is precooled on passing through a precooling first stage (3), cooled and liquefied, at least partially, on passing through a cooling second stage (4), at least some of the cooled and expanded fluid is collected in a tank (5) for storing the fluid in a two-phase state and some of the gas phase is sent back via a warming line (7) from the tank through the first and second stages. The precooled fluid is divided into at least two separate streams which are expanded in parallel in the second stage, mainly a first stream intended to supply, at least partly, a first source of refrigeration (at 8), and at least a second stream, one of these streams being partially liquefied separately (at 27) on passing through the second stage (4). The process is applicable to the cooling of superconducting components using helium.

The cooling of the superconducting elements requires the use of fluids at very low temperatures, generally below 5 K, these fluids forming sources of refrigeration placed in heat-exchange relationship with the components.
A fluid having a low boiling point, such as helium, allows such temperatures to be reached inside the storage tank where it is in a liquid/vapour equilibrium state.
Thus, it is possible, for example, to use the liquid phase contained in this tank as the source of refrigeration, by evaporating the liquid phase and optionally warming the gas thus produced.
This vaporization may take place inside the actual tank, the cold source then being isothermal and the corresponding refrigeration plant operating in a so-called refrigerating mode.
The vaporization may also take place outside the tank, after drawing off the liquid phase contained in the latter, the corresponding refrigeration plant then operating in a so-called liquefying mode. In this mode of operation, the gas thus produced is also used as the source of refrigeration, by warming it.
Finally, these two modes of operation may be combined in a mixed mode of operation, in which two sources of refrigeration are provided, namely a first source outside the storage tank and an isothermal second source actually inside this tank.
The production of refrigerating power at the required temperatures entails a high operating cost which corresponds to the compression requirements of the fluid used.

Refrigeration process and plant using a thermal cycle of a fluid having a low boiling point

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


A glove having a body portion of elastomeric material, a plurality of digit portions integrally formed with the body portion and extending outwardly therefrom, and a thumb portion extending outwardly on one edge of the bottom portion. A flexion is formed in the body portion and extends only partially around the root area of the thumb and onto the palm side and the backhand side of the body portion. The flexion is integrally formed with the body portion and has an area projecting outwardly of a surface of a body portion.

Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to elastomeric gloves. More particularly, the present invention relates to such elastomeric gloves that have flexible joint portions formed thereon. More particularly, the present invention relates to universal gloves wherein a flexion mechanism is provided so as to facilitate flexing of the digits after application of the gloves.
The use of gloves is commonplace in medical and industrial practice in order to protect the user""s hands from infectious or irritating agents. These gloves also to help guard against sticking by sharps within the medical environment. Additionally, and furthermore, these gloves are also used for general hygienic purposes. These flexible gloves can be made of latex, vinyl, nitrile, or other elastomeric material. These gloves are often intended for single use in order to prevent contamination.
Disposable gloves are generally available in two (2) types. One is an inexpensive, bulk-packaged xe2x80x9cuniversalxe2x80x9d glove in which one glove can fit either hand. Such universal gloves are typically loose fitting in order to accommodate the unique position of the thumb on each hand. As a result, they fit relatively poorly on either hand. Another common type of disposable glove is the xe2x80x9cdedicatedxe2x80x9d glove. This glove is used for surgery or precision work in which the glove must to fit specifically only the right or the left hand. This is a design that results in a generally tight, well-fitting glove.
Dedicated gloves, although better fitting, are more expensive to manufacture than bulk-packaged universal gloves. Dedicated gloves are dip molded on specially designed right or left formers. This results in a glove fitting only the right or left hand. The gloves must be paired in special packaging. This makes such gloves more expensive to purchase. An additional disadvantage of dedicated gloves is that an entire package of a new pair of gloves must be opened in order replace only a single glove if one glove is damaged or lost.
The relatively inexpensive bulk-packaged universal gloves are made on a single former that is designed to fit either hand fairly well. The ability to form the gloves on a single former makes the gloves less expensive to manufacture, package, purchase, and use. The single former used to manufacture universal gloves has the thumb generally in the same plane as the palm of the hand so that the thumb will fit either hand roughly equally. However, in the human hand, the position of a relaxed thumb will drop below the palm rather than being in the same plane as the palm. In use, the elastomer of gloves made on a universal former pulls the thumb rearward, out of its relaxed position, toward the plane of the palm. Constant exertion of the thumb muscles pulling against the elastomer glove are required in order to grasp objects or manipulate tools. This can quickly resulting in fatigue of the thumb. Although less of a problem, hand fatigue of the fingers can also occur from stretching the glove in order to bend the fingers. Since most health care users must change their gloves many times each day, and must wear gloves nearly all day, fatigue and the cost of the gloves are both considerable problems.
Fatigue and discomfort are not merely undesirable, but could be dangerous to the patient or the health care worker wearing the gloves. Distraction, loss of grip or thumb fatigue can result in a mistake, shaky hands, an inadvertent stick with a sharp (such as a needle), or some other undesirable results. The inadvertent transmission of an infectious agent, for example, could result from a needle stick caused by untimely fatigue that results from ill-fitting gloves.
Dedicated gloves are more comfortable to wear and are less likely to cause fatigue than universal gloves. This is due, in part, to the fact that dedicated gloves are made to custom fit either the right or left hand while in a relaxed position. As a result, less stretching of the elastomer is required. Unfortunately, dedicated gloves must be individually packed in pairs. This will increasing the cost of purchase significantly. Dedicated gloves can even be available in different styles in order to optimize fit. This also adds to the cost of the gloves.
In the past various U.S. Patents have issued relating to formed gloves that allow for finger flexibility. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,036,413, issued on Apr. 7, 1936 to W. Herbruck, describes the shaping of formed gloves. This patent utilizes various bending grooves formed in the elastic material of the glove in general proximity to the joints of the wearer. Although the gloves of this patent add increased flexibility to the digit portions and thumb portion of the elastic glove, it is not particularly related to universal gloves which must be designed to fit both hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,796, issued on Aug. 14, 1984 to Heissenberger et al., teaches a glove formed of rubber or plastic material that has a roll-down beaded edge and contains a structured surface at the cuff region. The structured surface is formed at the outer side or surface of the glove by non-connected raised portions. The structured surface is formed at the inside or inner surface of the glove by mirror-image non-connected recess or depressions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,490 issued on Jun. 28, 1994 to D. Yarbrough, teaches a glove having stress relief areas. In particular, the stress relief areas are located adjacent to the individual joints of the hand, fingers and thumb. These stress relief areas provide additional glove material, such as by ribs or bellows formed of peaks and valleys, which reduce the energy expended to overcome the resistance of the material and, thereby, reduce fatigue. Each of these stress relief areas extends entirely around the particular joint. Additionally, each of the stress relief areas does have sharp peaks and valleys which makes manufacture of the glove more difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,956, issued on Mar. 26, 1996 to Schulkin et al., describes a basketball glove which has a plurality of protruding elements formed across the palm surface of the glove. The finger elements are each open so as to allow individual fingers of the user to extend there through. An elastic material is formed on the backhand side of the glove so as to provide flexibility to the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,816, issued on Aug. 22, 1995 to N. F. Seketa, describes a surgical glove with flexible elements formed at the various joints of the glove. These flexible elements are identified as xe2x80x9cflextubulesxe2x80x9d which can be a bell-shaped curve located on the palmar surface of the glove. An accordion fold and a flextuble are located at each of the joints and extend entirely therearound so as facilitate the movement of the various joints placed within the glove.
Each of these prior art patent describes a particular type of dedicated glove. They are not directed toward universal gloves whereby the thumb portion is placed directly between the plane associated with the palm surface of the glove and the plane associated with the backhand surface of the glove. In none of the cases identified in these prior art patents could the construction be utilized in association with the universal glove. None of the flexible portions identified in these gloves is particularly useful for allowing the glove to be adapted to either hand.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a universal glove that is more easily adapted for use on either hand.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a universal glove that facilitates the flexibility of the digit portions and thumb portion of the universal glove.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a universal glove that provides effective protection to the hands of the user.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a universal glove that flexes more easily than otherwise allowed by the elastomeric material of the glove.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a universal glove which enhances the comfort of wearing the glove and reduces the fatigue associated with the use of such glove.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a universal glove that can be easily manufactured, simply packaged, and be of minimal cost.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a universal glove that will not tear when stripped off of the former or when placed on the hand by the user.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a universal glove that can be inexpensively manufactured on a universal former.
It is an additional advantage to provide a glove that can be easily placed on the hand and will stay in place on the hand.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.
The present invention is a universal glove that comprises a body portion formed of elastomeric material, a plurality of digit portions integrally formed with the body portion and extending outwardly therefrom, a thumb portion extending outwardly on one edge of the body portion and integrally formed with the body portion, and a flexion extending only partially around the root area of the thumb and extending onto the palm side and the backhand side of the body portion. The body portion has an opening at the bottom thereof. The plurality of digit portions are in spaced relationship to each other. A flexion is integrally formed with the body portion and has an area projecting outwardly from a surface of the body portion.
In the present invention, the thumb portion has a bottom adjacent to the opening of the body portion. The flexion is interrupted adjacent to the bottom of this thumb portion. The flexion is interrupted on the palm side and the backhand side of the body portion at the bottom of the thumb portion. The flexion is of an inverted U-shaped cross-section.
The thumb portion has a top adjacent to the plurality of digit portions. The flexion can have a width at the top of the thumb portion that is greater than the width of the flexion at a bottom of the thumb portion. The thumb portion extends from the body portion and a plane extending between the palm side and the backhand side of the body portion. The flexion is curved so as to have a concavity facing this thumb portion.
In the present invention, a first knuckle blister is integrally formed on the body portion adjacent to and below the plurality of digit portions. This first knuckle blister is formed on the palm side of the body portion and projects outwardly of the surface of the body portion. A second knuckle blister is integrally formed on the body portion adjacent to and below the plurality of digit portions on the back hand side of the body portion. This second knuckle blister projects outwardly of the surface from the body portion. The present invention can have bilateral symmetry. Each of the knuckle blisters can have a width at a center of the body portion that is greater than a width of the knuckle blister adjacent to the edges of the body portion.


Aspects of the subject technology relate to systems, methods, and machine-readable media for providing an access point recommendation to a client system. A system may be configured to receive, from a plurality of reporting systems, access point reports for a plurality of access points, each access point report comprising information about an access point, prioritize the plurality of access points based on the access point reports, and provide an access point recommendation to a client system based on the prioritization of the plurality of access points.

The present disclosure generally relates to network services and, in particular, to connecting to access points for networks.
Users that wish to connect to an access point in order to access a network (e.g., the Internet) may be presented with a user interface containing a number of access points to select from, especially when the user is in an area with many detectable access points, such as an airport. The user interface may include the access point name and a signal strength for each access point listed. However, other useful information about the access points and the network provided by the access points that may be helpful to the user making a selection is not available.

Providing access point information to a user


A method of erasing memory cells of a memory device includes programming memory cells if the erasing procedure is suspended. The erasing procedure can include pre-programming, erasing, and soft-programming of memory cells in a selected memory unit. If a suspend command is received, for example to allow for a read operation of memory cells of another unit of memory, the erasing procedure stops the pre-programming, erasing, or soft-programming, and proceeds with programming one or more memory cells of the memory unit that was being erased.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to electronic memory devices, and more particularly, to semiconductor memory devices suitable for use as a memory devices.
2. Related Art
Semiconductor memory devices are well known and commonly found in a variety of electronic devices. Most semiconductor memory devices can be classified as either volatile or nonvolatile. A volatile memory device requires power in order to maintain the stored data, while a nonvolatile memory device can retain stored data even in the absence of power.
A well known type of nonvolatile memory is flash memory. A typical flash memory includes a memory cell array in which memory cells are arranged in rows and columns. Each memory cell includes a floating gate field-effect transistor. The logic state of a memory cell depends on the threshold voltage of the transistor, which in turn depends on the number of electrons in the floating gate of the transistor. Electrons in the floating gate partially cancel the electric field from the control gate, thereby modifying the threshold voltage of the transistor. Thus, the logic state of a flash memory state can be controlled by controlling the number of electrons in the floating gate of the transistor.
A flash memory cell can be programmed and erased in order to write respective logic states to the memory cell. The program and erase operations correspond to write operations for respective logic states, which correspond to respective threshold voltages. For convenience, the threshold voltages will simply be referred to as high and low threshold voltages, with it being understood that the high threshold voltage is relatively higher than the low threshold voltage by some detectable voltage margin. The number of electrons stored in the floating gate of a memory cell transistor can be altered by applying a strong electric field between the control gate and at least one of the source, drain, and substrate of the field-effect transistor in order to remove or accumulate electrons in the floating gate. An "erase" operation can be an operation where electrons are removed from the floating gate, thereby reducing the threshold voltage of the memory cell transistor to the low threshold voltage. A "program" operation can be an operation where electrons are accumulated in the floating gate, thereby increasing the threshold voltage of the memory cell transistor to the high threshold voltage. Since erased and programmed memory cells can be readily distinguished due to the difference in threshold voltages, the erased and programmed memory cells can be used to represent different logic states. For example, an erased memory cell can be representative of a logic state "1," while a programmed memory cell can be representative of a logic state "0."
FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of a conventional erase operation used in a flash memory. In flash memories, blocks of memory cells referred are typically erased together as a group. A block represents a number of memory cells that can be erased simultaneously during an erase operation. A conventional erase operation for erasing a block of memory cells generally includes a pre-program cycle 110, an erase cycle 120, and a soft program cycle 130.
During the pre-program cycle 110, the floating gates of all of the memory cells in a selected block are programmed to have approximately the same amount of electrons so that all of the memory cells in the selected block have approximately the same threshold voltage. The pre-program cycle 110 includes a pre-program process 112 and a pre-program verify process 114. During the pre-program process 112, a pre-program pulse is applied to all of the memory cells in the block. During the pre-program verify process 114, all of the memory cells in the block are checked to verify that their respective threshold voltages are approximately the same after application of the pre-program pulse. If an insufficient number of memory cells have the desired threshold voltage, then the pre-program process 112 is repeated. Otherwise, the operation continues to the erase cycle 120.
During the erase cycle 120, all of the memory cells in the block are erased by applying an erase pulse to the control gates of all the memory cells in the block in order to remove electrons from the floating gates of all the memory cells in the block. The erase cycle 120 includes an erase process 122 and an erase verify process 124. During the erase process 122, an erase pulse is applied to all of the memory cells in the block. During the erase verify process 124, all of the memory cells in the block are checked to verify whether they have been erased. If the number of erased memory cells is sufficient, then the block is regarded as being erased successfully. If the block fails to pass the erase verify process 124, all of the memory cells in the block are erased again by applying another erase pulse. In some systems, a voltage-stepping procedure is employed wherein the voltage is increased for each iteration of the erase cycle 120. In other systems, a time-stepping procedure is employed wherein the pulse width of the erase pulse is increased for each iteration of the erase cycle 120.
Since it is common for threshold voltages of memory cells to vary within any given block, the erase-pulse voltage required for erasing different memory cells can vary. During later iterations of the erase cycle 120, the application of an erase pulse with a relatively larger voltage or longer pulse width can result in over-erasure of some memory cells. An over-erased memory cell can cause other memory cells coupled to the same column as the over-erased memory cell to be regarded as erased cells, even though they may be programmed. Therefore, over-erased cells are typically repaired using the soft program cycle 130.
During the soft program cycle 130, over-erased memory cells in the block are detected and repaired. The soft program cycle 130 includes a soft program process 132 and a soft program verify process 134. During the soft program process 132, all of the memory cells in the block are checked to determine whether any of the memory cells are over-erased. If an over-erased memory cell is detected, it is repaired by applying a soft-program pulse. The soft-program pulse is different from a normal programming pulse in that the wordline and bitline voltages for the soft-program pulse are lower than the wordline and bitline voltages for the normal programming pulse. Also, unlike a programming pulse that is performed for programming a memory cell, a soft-program pulse is performed for erasing an over-erased memory cell. For example, a normal programming pulse can use a wordline voltage of 3.0-4.0V and a bitline voltage of 3.0-4.0V. A soft-program pulse uses a wordline voltage of approximately 2.5V and a bitline voltage of approximately 3.0V. During the soft program verify process 134, all of the memory cells in the block are checked to determine whether any over-erased memory cells remain after the application of the soft-program pulse. If the number of over-erased memory cells in the block is less than or equal to a predetermined number, e.g., zero, the block is regarded as passing the soft program verify process 134. If the block fails to pass soft program verify process 134, soft program process 132 is performed again. The soft program cycle 130 is performed successively until the block passes the soft program verify process 134.
In step 140, if there is another block which needs to be erased, pre-program cycle 110, erase cycle 120, and soft program cycle 130 of the conventional block erase operation are performed in sequence to erase the next block. In this manner, the conventional "soft program" operation is performed to correct over-erased memory cells in all blocks which are erased in the FLASH memory.
When performing the conventional "soft programming" operation, substantial time is required to successfully correct the over-erased memory cells using the conventional soft programming cycle. There is thus a general need in the art for a block erase method for use in a non-volatile memory to reduce the time and/or steps required to erase blocks of the non-volatile memory.

Erase process for use in semiconductor memory device


A light adjuster which is free from occurrence of cloudiness, and can maintain sufficient workability to improve the yield. In the light adjuster, transparent electrically conductive films 102a and 102b are provided on respective surfaces of a pair of PET films 103a and 103b, a liquid crystal layer 101 is interposed between the transparent electrically conductive films 102a and 102b, and the force required for stripping the liquid crystal layer 101 from the transparent electrically conductive films 102a and 102b is in a range of 15 to 50 g/cm.

For example, a light adjuster which is sandwiched between a plurality of glass sheets to control the amount of light transmitted through the glass sheets is usually comprised of a liquid crystal layer, and a pair of sheets (PET films) each having a transparent electrically conductive film formed thereon, which sandwich the liquid crystal layer therebetween.
The liquid crystal layer includes liquid crystal molecules whose orientation is changed by voltage application, and is capable of controlling the amount of light transmitted according to changes in the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules caused by voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer from the pair of transparent electrically conductive films.
In manufacturing the light adjuster, first, the liquid crystal layer is formed on the transparent electrically conductive film of one of the PET films, and then the other PET film having the transparent electrically conductive film is stuck onto the liquid crystal layer thus formed such that the transparent electrically conductive film of the other PET film contacts the formed liquid crystal layer. This sequence of operations is performed in succession, and the light adjuster thus manufactured is in the form of a long sheet.
The light adjuster thus manufactured is used either alone or in the form of a laminated glass in which the light adjuster is sandwiched between a plurality of glass sheets. However, there are various sizes of windows and doors into which the light adjuster is to be fitted either alone or in the form of a laminated glass, and hence the light adjuster used alone or in the form of a laminated glass is required to be in various sizes.
On the other hand, to supply electric power to the transparent electrically conductive films of the light adjuster, the light adjuster is provided with electrode terminal sections connected to the transparent electrically conductive films and having lead wires for receiving electric power supplied from the outside. Generally, in housing the light adjuster or the laminated glass with the light adjuster sandwiched between the glass sheets, for example, terminals of an external power supply which supplies electric power to the lead wires of the electrode terminal sections are disposed inside e.g. a sash which holds the periphery of the light adjuster or the laminated glass in consideration of the appearance of the housed light adjuster or laminated glass, and hence the electrode terminal sections need to be disposed at the periphery of the light adjuster.
For this reason, it is configured such that the liquid crystal layer and transparent electrically conductive films can be peeled or stripped off at arbitrary positions thereof so that the light adjuster in the form of a long sheet can be cut out in a size corresponding to an area for use (such as a windrow or a door), then a part of the liquid crystal layer at a position where the light adjuster is to be housed is removed, and parts of the transparent electrically conductive films at this position can be provided with electrode terminal sections.
In this light adjuster, the force required for stripping the liquid crystal layer off is controlled to be as low as possible, i.e. not greater than 10 g/cm due to requirements for improvement of workability.
However, there is the following problem with the prior art: In fitting a light adjuster alone into a window or a door with the periphery of the light adjuster being supported, a force is concentrated at the periphery of the light adjuster since the periphery is supported, or in manufacturing a laminated glass with a light adjuster sandwiched between a plurality of glass sheets, a force is concentrated at the periphery of the light adjuster due to adhesion of the glass sheets and the light adjuster, and if the force for stripping the light adjuster off is set to be not greater than 10 g/cm due to the above-mentioned requirements for improvement of workability, the transparent electrically conductive films and the liquid crystal layer can exfoliate on the market due to the shortage of the stripping force, and then the portion of the light adjuster where the exfoliation occurs becomes cloudy.
On the other hand, if the force required for stripping off is set to be excessively high, the workability in stripping the liquid crystal layer off is degraded, and partial exfoliation of the transparent electrically conductive films can occur, resulting in a degraded yield.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a light adjuster and a laminated glass which are free from occurrence of cloudiness, and can maintain sufficient workability to improve the yield.


A method and apparatus is disclosed for providing an encoding scheme for a scrolling display comprising a plurality of sequences of bar codes, each sequence of bar codes identifying a corresponding display on a moving scroll, each sequence of bar codes comprising a “start reading” code and an associated data code, the associated data code identifying uniquely the corresponding display.

Images are displayed to the public using various techniques.
For instance, in one embodiment a screen display may be used. While it will be appreciated that such embodiment is remotely controllable, someone skilled in the art will appreciate that it is quite costly to implement and that in some cases, such display may suffer from its surrounding environment.
For instance, it may suffer from climatic parameter variations such as pressure, humidity, dust and temperature and such display requires therefore extra caution. Furthermore, such display may be easily vandalized.
In the case of a display where information has to be updated, such as in the case of gas price display for instance, there is a need for an autonomous display that will be able to properly update a price according to a change. Such update has to be performed quickly to avoid confusion in the public.
A scrolling display is disclosed for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,330. While it will be appreciated that such display uses length markers positioned along the edge of a scroll, the patent discloses that a photo sensor is positioned to detect marks placed along one edge of the scroll. It is further disclosed that two marks are used, a small mark is used to locate the middle of each frame to be viewed except the first and last frame and a longer mark is used to signal the middle of the first and last frame of the chart.
Someone skilled in the art will appreciate that it is not possible to identify a particular frame using such scheme.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,994 discloses a classifying method and apparatus. However, the skilled addressee will appreciate that such embodiment is not suitable for identifying a fast moving scroll.
There is a need for a method and apparatus that will overcome the above-identified drawbacks.

Bar encoding scheme for a scrolling display


Apparatuses for removal of volatile organic compounds in a soil formation include a microporous diffuser for injecting air and gaseous ozone as bubbles into water in the soil formation. The gaseous ozone is present at concentrations to effect removal of volatile organic compounds by the gaseous ozone reacting with the volatile organic compound(s). Injection of air and gaseous ozone is controlled by a timer to allow separation of bubbles by size. In various embodiments, a plurality of microporous diffusers may be controlled by a single timer or each of the plurality of microporous diffusers may be controlled by one of a plurality of timers.

1. Field of Invention (Technical Field)
The present disclosure relates to apparatuses for remediation of dissolved chlorinated hydrocarbons in aquifer regions by injecting micro-fine bubbles effective for active in situ groundwater remediation for removal of dissolved chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents and dissolved hydrocarbon petroleum products. Remediation of saturated soils may also be obtained by employment of the present apparatuses.
2. Background Prior Art
There is a well recognized need to cleanup subsurface leachate plumes in aquifer regions and contaminated sites including, in particular, dry-cleaning establishments and U.S. Military Air bases. Applicant is aware of prior art devices that have used injection of air to facilitate biodegradation of plumes.
However, an apparatus using micro-fine bubbles including a multi-gas oxidizing agent for the controlled remediation of a site containing poorly biodegradable organics, particularly dissolved chlorinated solvents, has not been shown.
In fact the Federal Agency (EPA, KERR Environmental Laboratory, ADA, Oklahoma) responsible for review of clean-up procedures at Marine Corp Air Base at Yuma, Ariz. has determined that there is no prior reference which discloses the use of the present apparatuses and has ordered independent pilot tests to provide test results confirming the results previously obtained by the present apparatuses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,159, to Billings, shows injection of air into aquifer regions to encourage biodegradation of leachate plumes which contain biodegradable organics together with simultaneous soil vacuum extraction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,943, METHOD FOR TREATMENT OF SOILS CONTAMINATED WITH ORGANIC POLLUTANTS, to Wickramanayake, shows a method for treating soil contaminated by organic compounds where an ozone containing gas is treated with acid to increase the stability of the ozone in the soil environment and the treated ozone is applied to the contaminated soil to decompose the organic compounds.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,008, REMEDIATION APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ORGANIC CONTAMINATION IN SOIL AND GROUNDWATER, to Wilson, provides a method and apparatus for in-situ treatment of soil and groundwater contaminated with organic pollutants. It involves concentration of a reactive solution required to effect treatment of the contaminated area and injecting the reactive solution into one or more injectors that are inserted into the ground. The apparatus is scaled and positioned so as to assure flow and to allow reactive solution to flow through the contaminated area thereby reacting chemically. Preferably, the reactive solution is an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide and metallic salts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,755, UV-ENHANCED OZONE WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM, to Lacrosse, mixes wastewater with ozonated liquid within a multi-stage clarifier system and suspended solids are removed.
Notwithstanding the teachings of the prior art, there has not been shown an apparatus for remediating a site contaminated with poorly biodegradable organics, particularly dissolved chlorinated solvents, with micro-fine bubbles including an encapsulated multi-gas oxidizing agent in a controlled manner. In situ remediation is accomplished using the present instrumentalities by employing microporous diffusers which inject multi-gas bubbles containing an ozone oxidizing agent into aquifer regions to strip and rapidly decompose poorly biodegradable organics or to accelerate biodegradation of leachate plumes which contain biodegradable organics thereby overcoming at least some disadvantages of the prior art.


A device for transport of an apparatus along a conduit or bore hole including a drill string. The device has a body having a coupled upper body portion and a lower body portion movable axially relative to each other. A fluid flow path in the body selectively enables fluid to flow through the body. A first valve system at a first end of the internal fluid flow path 58 is operable by a pressure differential between a region external of the body and the fluid flow path. A second valve system at a second end of the internal fluid flow path is operable by relative movement between the upper body portion and lower body portion. The body has one or more openings downstream of the first valve system through which fluid can flow or fluid pressure can be communicated to the apparatus.

In many mining and civil engineering activities it is necessary to transport an apparatus or tool along a conduit such as a drill string or a borehole. Non limiting examples of such apparatus or tool include: an inner core barrel for a core drill; a greasing tool; and, a data logging system. The conduit or borehole can extend with a positive, neutral or negative gravity gradient. A borehole with a positive gravity gradient is one in which a toe of the borehole is at a vertical depth greater than a collar of the borehole; whereas a borehole with a negative gravity gradient is one where the toe of the hole is vertically above the collar of the hole. A neutral gravity gradient borehole is one that extends horizontally. With reference to the horizontal plane the negative gravity gradient borehole is one that is inclined above the horizontal travelling from the collar to the toe; whereas the positive gravity gradient borehole is one that is inclined below the horizontal travelling from the collar to the toe.
When it is necessary to transport an apparatus down a positive gravity gradient borehole is often possible to rely on gravity to provide the motive force. However when the borehole holds a volume of water or other liquid the speed of transport can be substantially reduced due to the need for the liquid to in effect flow between the outer surface of the descending apparatus and the surface of the borehole.
Of course when transporting an apparatus up a negative gradient borehole one must provide a force which continually acts on the apparatus to transport it toward the toe of the borehole and against the action of gravity. This can be achieved by attaching a plug like adapter to an up hole end of the apparatus and subsequently pumping water into the borehole to push the apparatus up the borehole. However the same plug like adapter is generally not suitable for use with the positive gravity gradient borehole because it reduces fluid bypass when descending and substantially increases the time taken to deliver the apparatus to the toe.

Device for facilitating the transport of an apparatus along an upward or a downward directed conduit or borehole


An antenna (10) includes a radiating element (20) covered with a protective cover having a high dielectric constant polymer gel (15) located therein. The gel has a dielectric constant greater than 5, and is formed by swelling a polymer that has polar functional groups with a solvent that has a high dielectric constant. The gel is covered with a jacket (14) to contain the gel and provide physical protection.

Communication devices, such as portable radios, are undergoing increasing levels of miniaturization. A typical communication device usually includes an antenna used for receiving and transmitting signals. For communication devices operating in the VHF, UHF and sub-microwave radio frequency (RF) ranges, the wavelength of the radio frequency may range between 300 centimeters and 10 centimeters. The communication device requires an antenna of an appropriate length to enable reception or emission of such radio waves. For example, an antenna of simple construction would need to have a conductor having a physical length ranging between 5 and 150 centimeters to accommodate the wavelength of the above-mentioned frequency ranges. For communication devices requiring a compact packaging structure, it might be difficult to accommodate antennas of such lengths. Therefore, it is desirable to have designs which present a physically shorter antenna. There are many prior art approaches for achieving a shorter physical length antenna. These include the use of helically wound antenna elements, loop antenna elements, and other such designs of varying complexity. Oftentimes the antenna element is encased for aesthetics or physical protection, but the casing is known to reduce the performance of the antenna, such as reducing the radiation efficiency of the antenna.
One prior art approach is to coat the antenna with a high dielectric coating. High dielectric constant antenna coatings are desirable because the wavelength of the RF/Microwave radiation decreases as the dielectric constant increases. As a result, increasing the dielectric constant of an antenna reduces the antenna length and shrinks the overall antenna size. In the past, high dielectric constant coatings and substrates for antennae have been achieved through the addition of ceramic to low loss materials. Unfortunately, the addition of ceramic filler to materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene increases the stiffness of the material and reduces the flexibility. Typically, an antenna on a 2-way radio or cellular telephone should be flexible for user comfort and product longevity, so this solution is not desirable in these applications. Therefore the need exists to provide an small antenna for use with a portable communication device which provides an optimal amount of gain and low attenuation for a limited power level, while maintaining flexibility and other desirable physical attributes.


A name identification rule generating method, includes: generating an abstract syntax tree by removing a portion of an input sentence unrelated to a process in analysis of syntax of the input sentence by a computer; setting, in generating the abstract syntax tree, nodes corresponding to a plurality of arguments at the same layer; and generating, in generating the abstract syntax tree, a first character string pattern including a second character string corresponding to a node of the abstract syntax tree where a number of types of terminal symbols on the node is equal to or smaller than a certain multiple of a number of types of processes that call the input sentence.

In a computer system, events may be classified in accordance with visualization of the system. In the system visualization, a relationship (model) of one event occurring as a result of another event may be estimated (modeled), and observed data is matched against the estimated model.
Related art is discussed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 2006-11683 and 2010-67047.

Name identification rule generating apparatus and name identification rule generating method


An improved frictional damper for a rotor blade is positioned inside a cavity in the airfoil section of the blade. The cavity includes an elongated, generally radially-extending opening that divides the airfoil into two sections and an elongated opening transverse to and intersecting the radial opening. A damper placed within the cavity frictionally engages the resulting sections of the airfoil, thereby reducing the vibratory stresses on the blade as a whole.

This invention relates to rotor blades and specifically to the mechanical damping of vibratory energy in the blades of rotor assemblies during operation.
Rotor assemblies are used in a variety of turbo-machines, such as turbines, compressors and the like. Regardless of the application, rotor assemblies generally include a disk mounted on a rotating shaft with a plurality of blades extending radially outward around the circumference of the disk. Rotor blades typically consist of a root portion in contact with the disk and an airfoil portion extending radially therefrom. Flow of the working fluid, i.e. air for jet engines, across the airfoil portion imparts a force upon the blades and results in rotation of the shaft. Blades may be manufactured as an integral component of the disk (blisk-type blades) or as separate components (mechanically attached blades). Mechanically attached blades are generally secured to the disk by the interlocking engagement of a dovetail root portion of the blade with a complementary dovetail slot in the disk, thereby preventing separation of the blade from the disk during operation.
During operation, fluid forces induce vibratory stresses on the blades, resulting in high cycle fatigue and potential failure of the blades. Dampers, commonly frictional dampers, are utilized to reduce the magnitude of these dynamic stresses, thereby increasing operational life of the blades.
Many conventional frictional damper designs are known. Blade-to-blade frictional dampers, located in the space between circumferentially adjacent blades, often near the blade root or the blade tip, are common. Blade-to-blade dampers are held in place by any of various known retaining means, such as a damper chamber or tip shroud. This prevents the damper from separating from its adjacent blades, but also allows some movement of the damper during operation for frictional damping. During operation, centrifugal forces urge the damper into frictional contact with its adjacent blades. This contact reduces the relative motion between the adjacent blades, thereby reducing the vibratory stresses on the blades during operation. Frictional damping is effective at any frequency so long as there exists relative motion between the damper and the blade. Exemplary blade-to-blade dampers are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,784 entitled xe2x80x9cBlade Damperxe2x80x9d issued to Mueller et al. on Jul. 13, 1993; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,668 entitled xe2x80x9cDevice for Damping Blade Vibrations in Turbo-Machinesxe2x80x9d issued to Novacek on Feb. 2, 1988, incorporated herein by reference.
Blade-to-ground frictional dampers are also well known in the art. Blade-to-ground dampers are placed between the turbine blade and an object secured to the disk. Frictional contact of the damper between the blade and the relatively stationary object similarly reduces the vibratory stresses on the blade. An exemplary blade-to-ground damper is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,890 entitled xe2x80x9cDevice for Damping Vibrations in Turbomachinery Bladesxe2x80x9d issued to Roberts on Oct. 1, 1991, incorporated herein by reference.
Also known in the art are internal dampers that are placed within a cavity inside the blade. These dampers similarly reduce vibratory stresses on the blade through frictional contact with an inner surface of the blade. Exemplary internal blade dampers are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,343 entitled xe2x80x9cAirfoil Vibration Damping Devicexe2x80x9d issued to Kraft et al. on Oct. 13, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,321 entitled xe2x80x9cDamping Means for Hollow Stator Vane Airfoilsxe2x80x9d issued to Rimkunas et al. on Apr. 18, 1995; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,999,669 entitled xe2x80x9cDamping Apparatusxe2x80x9d issued to McGinnis on Sep. 12, 1961, all incorporated herein by reference.
Conventional frictional dampers suffer from several disadvantages. For example, dampers placed between blades are often difficult to install and remove. Also, many dampers placed between blades require the addition of a shroud or some other means to retain the damper during operation, which increases the weight of the blade. This increases the stresses experienced by the blade and can reduce operational life. Further, blade-to-blade and blade-to-ground frictional dampers are exposed to the harsh, corrosive environment of the working fluid. Damper corrosion compromises the effectiveness of the damper. Severe damper corrosion may allow the damper to break away from its retaining means, potentially damaging downstream components.
It is therefore desirable to develop a damper that is located outside the path of the working fluid that is easy to install and does not significantly increase the weight of the blade. Although internal dampers are located outside the path of the working fluid and most do not add significant weight to the blade, existing rotor blades, particularly blisk blades, may not be easily retrofitted with conventional internal damper designs. Also, installation and removal of conventional internal damper designs is difficult. Further, the relative motion between the blade and most internal dampers is generally minimal, limiting the effectiveness of the internal dampers.
In order to provide improved mechanical damping of rotor blade vibrations, the present invention provides a split-blade frictional damper that is positioned in a cavity defined by the body of the airfoil portion of the blade. The cavity has a generally radial elongated opening that extends entirely through the circumferential dimension of the airfoil and from the tip of the airfoil radially inward a specified distance, such as more than fifty percent of the height of the body. The elongated radial opening generally lies in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rotor assembly but may be offset from this plane. This radial opening divides the airfoil portion of the blade into two distinct airfoil sections, each capable of motion relative to the other section. The cavity also may include an elongated opening transverse to and intersecting the radial opening, generally above the midpoint of the elongated radial opening. Typically, the elongated transverse opening lies in a plane parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotor assembly but may be offset from this plane. The transverse opening may, but need not, extend entirely through the circumferential dimension of the airfoil.
When the airfoil sections vibrate relative to one another, the frictional contact of the damper with the airfoil sections reduces this vibration and hence the stress on the blade as a whole. Thus, the portion of the damper in the elongated transverse opening has sufficient surface area to provide adequate frictional damping. The cross section of the damper is complementary with the cross section of the cavity thereby preventing passage of the working fluid through the cavity. Flow of the working fluid through the cavity reduces the flow across the surface of the blade and, therefore, the efficiency of the blade.


Evaluation method of evaluating a diagnosing function for a variable valve mechanism of an engine valve in which a desired value used for feedback-control of the variable valve mechanism is subjected to a low-pass filter processing so as to produce a state such that a response delay of the variable valve mechanism is generated, and a transient response of the variable valve mechanism is diagnosed in this state. As a result, if it is not determined that a response delay is generated, it is determined that the diagnosing function is abnormal. An evaluation apparatus for carrying out the method is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for evaluating a diagnosing function to diagnose a transient response of a variable valve mechanism adapted for changing operating characteristics of an engine valve.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-073794 discloses a technique in which a deviation between a desired value and an actual value of the operating characteristics of the engine valve is calculated, and when a state where the deviation exceeds a determination value continues for a time period which is equal to or more than a predetermined period of time, an occurrence of response delay in the variable valve mechanism is diagnosed.
If the diagnosing processing normally functions, it is possible to alert a driver to the abnormal condition that the response delay is increased. However, if the diagnosis processing does not function normally, the engine is operated in a state where the large response delay is generated, and the performance of the engine at the time of acceleration thereof accompanying switching of desired operating characteristics of the engine is deteriorated.

Evaluation method of diagnostic function for variable valve mechanism and evaluation apparatus for variable valve mechanism


An apparatus and a method of mounting a standard size power generating unit (30) to any one of several different sized railroad cars utilizes different sized interface blocks (28) to mate the unit to the bearing adapter blocks (14) of the cars. The axle (32) of the car includes a projection (18) extending from an end (16) thereof and the power generating unit (30) includes a frame (50) and a rotor arranged for rotation in the frame for generating the power. A drive shaft (74) is attached to the rotor and includes a follower (78) for engaging the projection (18) so that when the axle is rotated about the axis (44), the projection engages the follower and thereby rotates the rotor. The interface block (28) is disposed between the frame (50) and the bearing adapter block (14), a first surface (54) of the interface block being attached to the bearing adapter block (14) and the frame (50) being attached to a second surface (56) of the interface block opposite the first surface.

Electrical energy is sometimes generated by attaching a generator or alternator to the frame of a vehicle and coupling the rotor of the device to the axle of the vehicle. As the vehicle axle rotates the device rotor also rotates thereby generating the desired electrical energy. Such power generating devices are used in the railroad industry and take many different forms. A serious objection to most of these devices is that they are coupled to the railroad car axle in such a way that the bearing end cap of the axle must be either temporarily removed, modified, and replaced or a different end cap must be substituted. The reason that this is undesirable is that this disturbs the axle bearing when removing the bearing end cap and requires the skill of a workman that is specifically trained in this procedure. Such skilled workmen are normally only found in central work shops necessitating sending each railroad car that is to be retrofitted with one of these power generating devices to the central work shop for installation. Additionally, the special bearing end caps must be stocked by the railroad yards, thereby introducing additional inventory problems. It is, therefore, desirable to couple the power generating device to the railroad car without disturbing the bearing end cap so that the installation can be accomplished in the field by a less skilled workman. The power generating device is secured to the truck or carriage of the railroad car by means of bolts which are threaded into the bearing adapter block of the vehicle. The rotor of the power generating device has a drive shaft that is in alignment with the vehicle axle. A drive coupling is attached to the end of the bearing end cap in driving engagement with the rotor of the power generating device. As the vehicle axle rotates the coupling rotates the rotor. There are several different sized railroad car carriages, or trucks, which include bearing adapter blocks which are different sizes and different distances from their respective axle ends. Each different sized carriage requires a power generating unit that is made to fit that specific carriage.
What is needed is an interface block that will receive a standard sized electrical power device such as a power generating unit, but will mount to any of the different sized bearing adapter blocks of the different sized carriages, thereby permitting the use of a single power generating unit on any of a variety of railroad cars having different sized carriages.

Apparatus and method for mounting a generator to the axle of a railroad car


An apparatus for recording an image onto a sheet medium (12) has an entrance nip (14) for transporting the sheet medium (12) into an image recording section (20). A write head (56) records onto a portion of the sheet medium (12) between the entrance nip (14) and exit nip (24). The exit nip (24) is formed by a drive roller (26) paired with a corresponding exit pressure roller (28). A motor (60) provides rotary motion to either the entrance drive roller (16) or the exit drive roller (26). A coupling apparatus (54) has a coupling roller (36) and a loading mechanism providing a loading force to nest the coupling roller (36) into continuous rotational contact against the entrance and exit drive rollers (16,26), whereby rotation is transferred between the exit drive roller (26) and the entrance drive roller (16).

Nip-fed sheet media transport systems using paired rollers are widely used in various printing applications. In a nip-fed system, a drive roller is pressed against a backing roller to form a nip and provides drive motion at the nip. A nip-fed transport can be engineered to perform with a suitable degree of accuracy in devices such as printers and office copiers. However, conventional nip-fed media transport mechanisms do not provide sufficient precision for imaging applications that require high resolution. For example, many types of medical imaging apparatus print onto a sheet of recording medium at resolutions well exceeding 600 dots per inch. For such devices, a sheet media transport must provide extremely accurate motion when moving the sheet through the image recording mechanism. This problem becomes even more pronounced with full-sheet imaging, in which little or no margin is to be provided at the leading or trailing edges of a sheet. As is well appreciated by those skilled in media transport arts, the dynamics of handling and urging a sheet of recording medium through a printing mechanism can be much more complex at the leading and trailing edges that along more central portions of the sheet.
Dual nip apparatus provide advantages where it is necessary to provide more precise motion control for sheet media. By using two pairs of rollers in series along the transport path, a more stable sheet media transport is provided, since the motion of the medium is controlled through at least one nip at any point during the image recording process. FIG. 1 shows, in schematic form, a conventional dual nip transport apparatus 10 as used for a sheet of recording medium 12. In the travel path, medium 12 is fed through an entrance nip 14 formed between an entrance drive roller 16 and a pressure roller 18, then through an exit nip 24 formed between an exit drive roller 26 and a pressure roller 28. Image data is recorded by a printhead 56 onto medium 12 in an imaging area 20 between entrance nip 14 and exit nip 24, typically using a laser or other source of electromagnetic radiation. In order to provide uniform speed with dual nip media transport apparatus 10, it is necessary to couple the speed of entrance drive roller 16 at entrance nip 14 with the speed of exit drive roller 26 at exit nip 24. The conventional method for coupling entrance and exit drive rollers 16 and 26 is using a belt 22, as shown in FIG. 1.
While the use of belt 22 for synchronizing entrance and exit drive rollers 16 and 26 works well in many applications, the precision afforded by this arrangement falls short of what is needed for high resolution imaging. Problems such as disturbance of uniform velocity or flutter cause variation in the transport velocity of medium 12, particularly during leading-edge and trailing-edge handling intervals in which medium 12 is gripped only at entrance nip 14 or exit nip 24. Other problems related to compliance and tracking render the use of belt 22 as an unsatisfactory solution, particularly for media such as film that is generally thicker and more rigid than paper media or for sheet media that can vary in thickness. Furthermore, belt 22 is a wear item that may require replacement and whose performance can be degraded by age, usage, and dust or dirt.
Thus, it can be seen that there is a need for a transport mechanism that provides precision handling of single sheet media at a constant transport speed, allowing full sheet imaging from leading to trailing edge.

Sheet recording apparatus with dual nip transport


A separator and an electrochemical device including the same. The separator includes an adhesive layer including first adhesive resin particles having an average particle diameter corresponding to 0.8-3 times of an average particle diameter of the inorganic particles and second adhesive resin particles having an average particle diameter corresponding to 0.2-0.6 times of the average particle diameter of the inorganic particles, wherein the first adhesive resin particles are present in an amount of 30-90 wt % based on a total weight of the first adhesive resin particles and the second adhesive resin particles. The separator shows improved adhesion to an electrode and provides an electrochemical device with decreased increment in resistance after lamination with an electrode.

Recently, energy storage technology has been given increased attention. Efforts into research and development for electrochemical devices have been actualized more and more, as the application of energy storage technology has been extended to energy for cellular phones, camcorders, notebook PC and electric vehicles. In this context, electrochemical devices have been spotlighted. Among such electrochemical devices, development of rechargeable secondary batteries has been of focus. More recently, active studies have been conducted about designing a novel electrode and battery in order to improve the capacity density and specific energy in developing such batteries.
Among commercially available secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries developed in the early 1990's have been spotlighted, since they have a higher operating voltage and significantly higher energy density as compared to conventional batteries, such as Ni—MH, Ni—Cd and sulfuric acid-lead batteries using an aqueous electrolyte.
Although such electrochemical devices have been produced from many production companies, the safety characteristics thereof show different signs. Evaluation and securement of the safety of such electrochemical devices are very important. The most important consideration is that electrochemical devices should not damage users upon their malfunction. For this purpose, safety standards strictly control ignition and smoke emission in electrochemical devices. With regard to safety characteristics of electrochemical devices, there is great concern about explosion when an electrochemical device is overheated to cause thermal runaway or perforation of a separator. Particularly, a polyolefin-based porous substrate used conventionally as a separator for an electrochemical device shows a severe heat shrinking behavior at a temperature of 100° C. or higher due to its material property and a characteristic during its manufacturing process, including orientation, thereby causing a short-circuit between a cathode and an anode.
To solve the above-mentioned safety problem of an electrochemical device, there has been suggested a separator having a porous organic/inorganic coating layer formed by coating a mixture of an excessive amount of inorganic particles with a binder polymer onto at least one surface of a porous polymer substrate having pores. In addition, an adhesive layer has been introduced onto the porous organic/inorganic coating layer in order to increase the adhesion between a separator and an electrode.
However, the adhesive layer according to the related art merely uses adhesive resin particles having a uniform diameter, and thus the adhesive resin particles are accumulated homogeneously in the adhesive layer to cause high resistance of the separator. On the other hand, when reducing the coating amount of adhesive resin particles to reduce resistance, the adhesion between a separator and an electrode is decreased undesirably.

Separator and electrochemical device containing the same


Alzheimer's disease and immune deficiency disorders may be effectively treated by administering a .DELTA.5-Androstene-3.beta.-ol-17-one having a C.sub.7 substituent selected from the group consisting of oxo, hydroxy and groups convertible thereto by hydrolysis.by administering a therapeutic amount of a .DELTA.5-Androstene-3.beta.-ol-17-one having a C.sub.7 substituent selected from the group consisting of oxo, hydroxy and groups convertible thereto by hydrolysis.

Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative brain disease characterized by the loss of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex. The disease is the leading cause of presenile dementia. Among the deleterious effects are speech disturbances, severe short term memory loss and disorientation. The disease results in a progressive loss of the mental facilities.
Despite years of extensive research, investigators have yet to understand the cause of the disease and have to date been unable to find an effective treatment. However, it is generally thought that the disease is associated with a deficiency of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
Accordingly, a substantial need exists for a therapeutic agent effective for retarding the deleterious effects of Alzheimer's disease.

Modulation of immune system with .DELTA.5-androstenes


Downhole tools and methods for producing hydrocarbons from a wellbore. A downhole tool can include a body having a bore formed therethrough and at least one end adapted to threadably engage one or more tubulars. A sliding sleeve, adapted to move between a first position and a second position within the body, can be at least partially disposed within the body. A valve assembly including a valve member having an arcuate cross section wherein the valve member is adapted to pivot between an open and closed position within the body can be disposed within the body. A valve seat, having an arcuate cross-section adapted to provide a fluid tight seal with the valve member assembly can be disposed within the body.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to downhole tools and methods for using same. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a full bore flapper valve for a downhole tool and methods for using same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wellbore typically penetrates multiple hydrocarbon bearing intervals, each requiring independent perforation and fracturing prior to being placed into production. Multiple plugs are often employed to isolate the individual hydrocarbon bearing intervals, thereby permitting the independent treatment of each interval with minimal impact to other intervals within the wellbore. This has been accomplished using one or more bridge plugs to isolate one or more lower intervals, thereby permitting the treatment of the one or more intervals above the plug. This process is repeated until all of the desired intervals have been treated. After treatment of each hydrocarbon bearing interval, the bridge plugs between the intervals are removed, typically by drilling and/or milling, permitting hydrocarbons to flow bi-directionally within the casing, preferably up-hole to the surface for recovery and collection. The repeated setting and removal of plugs within the wellbore is a time consuming and costly process that requiring multiple run-ins to place and remove the one or more downhole plugs and/or tools.
Plugs with check valves can eliminate the need to drill or mill conventional bridge plugs within the casing string, thereby minimizing the number of run-ins required and permitting more rapid production after perforating and fracing a hydrocarbon bearing interval. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,427,071; 4,433,702; 4,531,587; 5,310,005; 6,196,261; 6,289,926; and 6,394,187 provide additional information on such plugs. Check valves, while minimizing run-in and run-out of tools into the casing string, have several drawbacks. First, the installation of check valves places one or more multi-piece assemblies downhole; these assemblies are prone to fouling by production fluids, potential mechanical failure due to damage from the passage of downhole tools, and/or chemical attack from routine wellbore operations. Second, the use of a check valve requires a complimentary valve seat disposed within the wellbore, proximate to the check valve. Constraints within the casing string often require the valve seat to have a smaller diameter or bore than the adjoining casing string, thereby limiting the passage of tools through the check valve and increasing the pressure drop through the tool.
There is a need, therefore, for a check-valve isolation tool permitting the isolation of one or more hydrocarbon bearing intervals, while minimizing the pressure drop through the tool and providing the maximum available open diameter for the passage of downhole tools.


A method of making a semiconductor device with a shallow (on the order of 50 nm) PN junction depth includes the steps of forming, on a region of a semiconductor substrate in which an impurity diffusion region having the shallow PN junction depth is to be formed, a selectively grown silicon layer (raised layer) containing a substance such as carbon which easily combines with point defects in the semiconductor substrate or a substance such as nitrogen which prevents an impurity providing an electrical conductivity from diffusing, ion-implanting an impurity of one conductivity type into the selectively grown silicon layer, and forming the diffusion region by activating the implanted impurity of one conductivity type and diffusing the impurity of one conductivity type into the semiconductor substrate, by means of heat treatment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fabrication method of a semiconductor device formed on a semiconductor substrate and more particularly to a MOS type field effect transistor (FET) having its source/drain regions raised higher than a surface of the semiconductor substrate.
2. Related Art
Down-sizing of a MOS type FET which is a main constitutional element of a high integration density semiconductor integrated circuit is being enhanced with the increase in integration density. It is said that, with a gate length of such MOS type FET being in the order of 0.1 .mu.m, junction depth of a source/drain difflusion layer should be made in the order of 50 nm. In such a down-sized MOS type FET, problems related to the short-channel effects and/or the punch-through are becoming serious.
A source/drain region having a small junction depth is usually formed by ion implantation. The simplest method of forming a shallow diffusion layer by ion implantation is to reduce the acceleration energy of ions to thereby shorten the penetration depth (projection range) of ions during ion implantation. However, when the acceleration energy is reduced, the amount of ion current during ion implantation is reduced, resulting in a problem that the method becomes unsuitable for mass-production.
Further, it may be considered to restrict diffusion of impurity by lowering a temperature of thermal treatment for activation of implanted ions. However, it is well known that boron which is a P-type impurity tends to be recombined with point defects in a silicon substrate resulting in defect enhanced diffusion. Therefore, even when the thermal treatment temperature is reduced, it is impossible to suppress the diffusion depth to a small value.
In order to make up for the problem of defect enhanced diffusion, a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) for performing heat treatment within a short time has been proposed. However, it is known that, even with RTA, a practical junction depth of the diffusion layer is 80 to 100 nm, which is still larger than 50 nm at which the influences of the short-channel effects and the punch-through can be suppressed. Further, even with RTA, the diffusion of boron impurities is predominantly by the aforementioned defect enhanced diffusion. It has been known that the defect enhanced diffusion is influenced by the ramp-up rate during the rapid heating process. Thus, there is a further problem that precise control of the junction depth among different wafers is difficult due to the variation in the ramp up rate from wafer to wafer.
Further, in the conventional ion implantation, when the junction depth of a diffusion layer is made small, there may be a problem that resistance of the diffusion layer and contact resistance to a wiring are increased.
In order to solve these problems, a fabrication method of a MOS type FET having an elevated (or raised) diffusion layer has been proposed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H2-222153, in which a silicon layer is selectively formed on a diffusion layer of a silicon substrate. The proposed fabrication method of a MOS type FET having a raised diffusion layer structure will be described with reference to FIG. 4(a) to FIG. 4(c).
First, as shown in FIG. 4(a), an element separating oxide film 2 is formed on a silicon substrate 1A by partial oxidation of a surface of the substrate. A well region 1B is formed by introducing an impurity into the substrate 1A up to several microns deep by ion implantation and activating the impurity ion by the rapid thermal annealing RTA) at about 850.degree. C. Then, a gate oxide film 3 having thickness in the order of 5 nm is formed on a surface of the well region 1B and a boron containing polysilicon layer 200 nm thick is deposited on the gate oxide film 3. The polysilicon layer later forms a gate electrode. Then, an oxide film 50 nm thick is deposited thereon and a gate electrode 4 is formed by patterning the polysilicon layer with using the oxide film as a mask. Thereafter, a nitride film 20 nm thick is deposited on the well region and a sidewall 5 is formed by removing the nitride film other than that adjacent a gate sidewall portion by plasma etching.
Then, after a native oxide film on a portion of the well region in which a source/drain region is to be formed is removed by processing the wafer in hydrofluoric acid vapor, the wafer is set in a low pressure CVD device without exposing it to atmosphere and an epitaxial silicon layer 6A is selectively grown on only the surface of the well region in which silicon is exposed and the source/drain region is to be formed (FIG. 4(b). This selective epitaxy is performed at about 800.degree. C. by flowing a gas mixture of dichlorosilane (SiCl.sub.2 H.sub.2) as a material gas, hydrogen (H.sub.2) as a carrier gas with hydrogen chloride gas. Thus, it is possible to grow the silicon layer 6A on only the silicon surface without formation of silicon film on the silicon oxide film. During the selective epitaxial growth of the silicon layer, a formation of silicon layer on a surface of the gate electrode 4 in which polysilicon is exposed can be prevented by covering the surface of the gate electrode 4 with an oxide film 6C. The oxide film 6C is removed thereafter. Depending on the selective growing condition, there may be a case where a silicon layer is not grown in the vicinity of the sidewall 5 and a facet 7 which prevents the selectively grown silicon layer from contacting with the sidewall 5 is formed. In such a case, in order to bury the facet 7, a second sidewall 8 of such materials as silicon nitride is formed as shown in FIG. 4(b).
Then, in order to prevent contamination of the wafer due to ion implantation, an oxide film about 5 nm thick (not shown) is formed on the surface of the gate electrode 4 and a surface of an ion implantation region which is the surface of the silicon layer 6A by thermal oxidation. Thereafter, impurity ions are introduced into the region in which the source/drain is to be formed, by ion implantation. The ion implantation is performed using BF.sub.2 with injection energy of 10 to 20 keV when the conductivity type of the source/drain region is to be P type, or by using As (arsenic) with injection energy of 40 to 60 keV when the conductivity type thereof is to be N type. The impurity implanted is activated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at a temperature in the order of 1,000.degree. C. and diffuses throughout the gate electrode 4 and into the well region 1B in which the source/drain region is to be formed, resulting in source and drain regions 9.
Then, after the oxide film (not shown) for preventing the contamination due to ion implantation is removed, a titanium (Ti) layer 40 nm thick is formed by sputtering and a titanium silicide (TiSi.sub.2) film having a relatively high resistance is formed on the silicon layer 6 and the gate electrode 4 by RTA at about 700.degree. C. The titanium layer on the oxide film is not silicified during the heat treatment by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) and remains as it is. After titanium is selectively etched away leaving only titanium silicide, the high resistance titanium silicide film (TiSi.sub.2) is converted into low resistance titanium silicide films 10A and 10B through phase transfer by RTA at about 850.degree. C.
Further, an interlayer film 11 of such insulating material as silicon oxide is deposited on the wafer by a low temperature growth method such as plasma CVD, contact holes 12 are opened in the interlayer film 11 and an aluminum wiring 13 is formed through the contact holes, resulting in a MOS type FET as shown in FIG. 4(c).
In the case of a MOS type FET, the junction depth Xj of source/drain diffusion regions 9, which influences the electric characteristics of the transistor, is measured from a surface of a silicon substrate thereof. In a case of MOS type FET having the raised source/drain structure, ion implantation is performed from the surface of the raised layer 6A of the source/drain region, so that it is possible to reduce the junction depth Xj by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the raised layer 6A. Therefore, the raised source/drain structure is suitable for obtaining a MOS type FET having small junction depth.
In more detail, when an RTA condition under which a conventional MOS type FET having no raised structure and having junction depth Xj of 100 nm can be formed is applied to a MOS type FET having 60 nm-raised structure, the junction depth Xj can be made in the order of 40 nm. Therefore, it is possible to easily obtain a down-sized MOS type FET having junction depth Xj of 0.1 .mu.m. Another merit of this raised structure resides in that sheet resistance of the source/drain region and contact resistance can be reduced by an amount corresponding to the extra thickness of the raised layer.
On the other hand, as mentioned previously, it is impossible to prevent the influence of defect enhanced diffusion of boron and to prevent a wafer to wafer variation in diffusion depth, even when rapid thermal annealing is used. In order to prevent the influence of the defect enhanced diffusion of boron and to prevent a variation of diffusion depth, a simultaneous injection of boron and carbon and a subsequent heat treatment have been studied. Since carbon has a stronger tendency to combine with excess point defects in a silicon substrate than boron, it is possible to reduce combination of boron with point defects in silicon to thereby reduce defect enhanced diffusion of boron.
In the case where carbon is implanted simultaneously with implantation of boron, there is a problem that junction leakage increases due to residual defects formed during carbon implantation since carbon distribution has an edge close to a PN junction.
Moreover, surface concentration of carbon needs to be in the order of 10.sup.19 atoms/cm.sup.3. In such a case, a concentration distribution 26B of implanted boron is controlled to be shallower than a concentration distribution 26C of implanted carbon, as shown in FIG. 5. Thereafter, boron is diffused by heat treatment, resulting in a source/drain region. Since, in such a case, a precise control of concentration distribution of carbon is difficult and defect enhanced diffusion of boron extends outside the concentration distribution of carbon when the latter is narrow, there is a problem that a variation of junction depth Xj occurs and it is impossible to make the junction depth Xj sufficiently small.

Method for fabricating a field effect transistor having elevated source/drain regions


An image forming apparatus that reduces a time period during which no image is formed due to a margin in leading end portion, by calculating the margin in leading end portion from position information of an image and moving forward output timing of a /TOP signal according to the margin in leading end portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to image forming and, more particularly, to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer of, for example, an electrophotographic method or an electrostatic storage method.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a color image is formed, an image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic method analyzes print information from an external apparatus, such as a computer, to rasterize image information contained in the print information into image information of each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Then, after a preparatory operation for image formation is performed based on the image information obtained from the image rasterization, the image forming apparatus successively forms a toner image on a photosensitive drum by toner of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, and performs a multi-layer transfer of the toner images to an intermediate transfer body or a recording medium.
Thus, the time until an image is formed is affected by the time necessary for the preparatory operation for image formation. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-175514 discusses a method for reducing the time necessary for the preparatory operation by controlling the timing to start the preparatory operation.
However, after the preparatory operation is performed, the timing for image formation is set to be able to start the image formation from a front end of the recording medium with reference to the size of a recording medium so that the image formation may be started from anywhere in the recording medium. Thus, there is an issue that if the sizes of recording media are the same, the time necessary for image formation barely changes regardless of whether an image is formed only in a front-end portion of the recording medium or an image is formed only in a backend portion of the recording medium.


The present disclosure relates to methods for using benzoxaborole compounds in combination with preservative gases, such as carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide, as an antimicrobial that synergistically controls pathogens of agricultural crops.

Benzoxaborole is a drug known to be effective in treating eukaryotic fungal and parasitic infections. For example, benzoxaborole is used to treat fungal conditions affecting the toenails and fingernails of humans, such as Onychomycosis. Benzoxaborole is also known to be an effective treatment of Human African Trypanosomiasis, commonly called African Sleeping Sickness, which is caused by T. brucei parasites that infect thousands of people annually in sub-Saharan Africa.
One mechanism by which benzoxaborole has been shown to exhibit antimicrobial effects is by blocking or inhibiting protein synthesis in fungi. Benzoxaborole has also been shown to block fungal cytoplasmic leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LeuRS) to exhibit antimicrobial effects. Additional mechanisms of action by which benzoxaborole acts as an antibacterial, an antifungal, or an antimicrobial are not yet understood.
Benzoxaborole has also been shown to have antimicrobial effects in plants. For example, a benzoxaborole compound was proven to be effective as a volatile plant fungicide. The present disclosure describes methods of using benzoxaborole compounds combined with preservative gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), to inhibit plant pathogens. More specifically, the present disclosure provides methods of using benzoxaboroles combined with CO2 or SO2 to provide synergistic antimicrobial protection to plants and plant parts that is advantageous to other previously described antimicrobial treatments of plants.

Synergistic methods of using benzoxaborole compounds and preservative gases as an antimicrobial for crops


Embodiments disclosed herein describe systems and methods for a hanging device including slides configured to align the hanging device at desired positions with the frame and on a wall. Embodiments may be configured to be aligned with a frame in both horizontal and vertical directions.

Field of the Disclosure
Examples of the present disclosure are related to systems and methods for a device configured to be utilized to hang a device. More particularly, embodiments relate to a frame hanging device with integrated hangers, wherein the frame hanging device includes slides to align the integrated hangers for the frame at desired vertical and horizontal positions.
Background
It is extremely difficult to hang a framed picture or item at a desired position on a wall. When hanging a framed picture or item on a wall, it is an arduous task to determine the correct placement of the nails or hanging devices in relation to the frame to produce a proper orientation. As a result, hung frames typically rest askew from the desired position, are not located in a desired position, etc. Accordingly, one must reposition the nails or hanging devices and start over. This may lead to holes being positioned within the wall.
Accordingly, needs exist for more effective and efficient systems and methods for a frame hanging device including slides configured to align the integrated hangers at desired positions on a wall.

Systems and methods for a frame hanging device


Pruning unwanted file content from an image backup. In one example embodiment, a method of pruning unwanted file content from an image backup includes identifying files to be excluded from a base image backup of a source storage, identifying a set of all allocated blocks in the source storage at a first point in time by accessing a file system block allocation map (FSBAM), pruning the set of all allocated blocks to exclude the allocated blocks that correspond to content of the files to be excluded, backing up the pruned set of allocated blocks, and not backing up the excluded allocated blocks, in the base image backup, and restoring the base image backup to a restore storage, the restoring including pruning FSM of a file system of the restore storage to modify metadata associated with the files to be excluded prior to exposing the file system to any user.

A storage is computer-readable media capable of storing data in blocks. Storages face a myriad of threats to the data they store and to their smooth and continuous operation. In order to mitigate these threats, a backup of the data in a storage may be created at a particular point in time to enable the restoration of the data at some future time. Such a restoration may become desirable, for example, if the storage experiences corruption of its stored data, if the storage becomes unavailable, or if a user wishes to create a second identical storage.
A storage is typically logically divided into a finite number of fixed-length blocks. A storage also typically includes a file system which tracks the locations of blocks that are allocated to each file that is stored in the storage as well as the locations of allocated blocks which are used by the file system for its own internal on-storage structures. The file system may also track free blocks that are neither allocated to any file nor allocated to any file system on-storage structure. The file system generally tracks allocated and/or free blocks using a specialized on-storage structure stored in the file system metadata (FSM), referred to herein as a file system block allocation map (FSBAM).
Various techniques exist for backing up a source storage. One common technique involves backing up individual files stored in the source storage on a per-file basis. This technique is often referred to as file backup. File backup uses the file system of the source storage as a starting point and performs a backup by writing the files to a backup storage. Using this approach, individual files are backed up if they have been modified since the previous backup. File backup may be useful for finding and restoring a few lost or corrupted files. However, file backup may also include significant overhead in the form of bandwidth and logical overhead because file backup requires the tracking and storing of information about where each file exists within the file system of the source storage and the backup storage.
Another common technique for backing up a source storage ignores the locations of individual files stored in the source storage and instead simply backs up all allocated blocks stored in the source storage. This technique is often referred to as image backup because the backup generally contains or represents an image, or copy, of the entire allocated contents of the source storage. Using this approach, individual allocated blocks are backed up if they have been modified since the previous backup. Because image backup backs up all allocated blocks of the source storage, image backup backs up both the blocks that make up the files stored in the source storage as well as the blocks that make up the file system on-storage structures such as the FSM. Also, because image backup backs up all allocated blocks rather than individual files, this approach does not generally need to be aware of the file system on-storage data structures or the files stored in the source storage, beyond utilizing the FSBAM in order to only back up allocated blocks since free blocks are not generally backed up.
An image backup can be relatively fast compared to file backup because reliance on the file system is minimized. Further, the use of snapshot technology during an image backup may enable an image backup to capture the data stored in a source storage at a particular point in time without interrupting other processes, thus avoiding downtime of the source storage.
One common problem encountered when backing up a source storage using image backup or managing image backups is the potential for the inclusion of unwanted files in the backups. For example, a very large digital movie file may initially be stored in a source storage. At the time of a backup of the source storage, or at a subsequent time of a collapse of backups into a synthetic backup that includes the movie file, a user may wish to delete the movie file in order to save space in the backup(s) of the source storage. However, image backup and collapse methods do not generally allow individual files to be deleted from a backup, and the content of the unwanted file must therefore be needlessly retained in the backup. Retaining unwanted file content in a backup may increase the overall size requirements of a backup storage where the backup is stored, increase the bandwidth overhead of transporting the backup, increase the processing time associated with collapsing the backup into a synthetic backup, and increase the processing time associated with restoring the backup.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.