A chopper pump with scissoring back cutters and having a housing with an intake opening and an outlet opening, both in fluid communication with an internal chamber, and an impeller assembly positioned within the chamber, is disclosed. Generally speaking, the impeller assembly comprises an impeller attached to a rotatable pump shaft and includes a back shroud. An insert cutter positioned on a surface of the shroud opposite the impeller includes a cutting edge configured for shearing operation, while a stationary back plate having a surface adjacent to and facing the back shroud includes a cutting rib having a cutting edge configured for shearing operation. The insert cutter and cutting rib work jointly to create a cutting action as the impeller in the chamber.

Generally speaking, U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,046 to Vaughan, issued Nov. 3, 1964, discloses a centrifugal pump having an open impeller with radial vanes. The vane edges adjacent to the pump inlet cooperate with sharpened edges of inlet apertures to cut stringy material or chunks entering the pump. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,866 to Vaughan, issued Aug. 10, 1976, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,479 to Dorsch, issued Jun. 27, 1989, disclose centrifugal pumps having impellers with vanes cooperating with inlet apertures to achieve a chopping or slicing action of solid material in a liquid or slurry being pumped. In the case of the pumps of U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,866 to Vaughan and U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,479 to Dorsch, however, semi-open impellers having radial shroud plates are used and external booster propellers may be provided to accelerate flow into the pump. The latter, when used, helps displace chunks of solid matter which become lodged in the inlet apertures and, at least in some instances, cuts solid matter prior to entry into the pump.
Other types of pumps having external cutters rotated with an impeller or propeller are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,714,354 to Farrand, issued Aug. 2, 1955; U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,107 to Peterson, issued Jun. 13, 1967; and French Patent No. 1.323.707, issued Mar. 1, 1962. U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,818 to Sutton, issued May 20, 1969, discloses another type of centrifugal pump having an internal impeller with vanes cooperating with the periphery of an inlet aperture to achieve a slicing action. In the Sutton construction, an outer "chopper member" has blades that wipe across the outer surface of the apertured intake plate to assist in chopping solid material to a size small enough to enter the intake aperture. Similarly, in the construction shown in British Patent No. 1,551,918, published Sep. 5, 1979, external blades sweep across small intake apertures to dislodge or gradually cut solid material clogging an intake aperture. In both the construction shown in the Sutton patent and the construction shown in the British patent, the external member is mounted so as to be moveable axially away from the intake plate if a hard obstruction is encountered.
Other types of pumps designed for pumping liquids or slurries containing solid materials are disclosed in Canadian Patent No. 729,917, issued Mar. 15, 1966; Schlesiger U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,812, issued Sep. 12, 1967; Elliott U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,947, issued Jul. 9, 1985; and Corkill U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,308, issued Mar. 11, 1986.
One of the problems with each of these devices is the occurrence of motor overloading during heavy chopping. Where the chopping is not efficient, the motor power increases causing the motor protection controls to trip the motor offline. When the motor goes offline, the chopping stops and operator intervention is required to place the motor back online. The chopping down-time, of course, detracts from the cost effectiveness of the process.
Another problem relates to excessive wear on the cutting parts over time. Fibrous material, such as hair and the like, tend to accumulate in the cutting area, particularly at the cutting parts. The fibrous material collects grit and sand causing the cutting parts to grind down prematurely. A cutter nut and cutter bar assembly at the pump intake has been used to keep the cutting parts clear of such fiber and debris.
Perhaps the most closely related device for this purpose is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,483 to Dorsch, issued Oct. 24, 1995. The Dorsch '483 patent illustrates a square cutter nut projection (60) in FIG. 12. FIG. 15 of Dorsch '483 better illustrates the cutting operation of the projection (60) as it passes fingers (41). However, such a configuration is not nearly as aggressive as the invention of the present disclosure.
It is therefore desirable to provide a cutter assembly which helps maintain a clear cutting area, reduces cutting part wear and improves chopping efficiency to reduce motor power load and chopping down-time. It also would be desirable to provide a cutter assembly which aggressively reduces the build-up and collection of grit in the cutting area. The disclosed device affords other structural, manufacture and operating efficiencies not seen in prior art devices, as well.


A method for making an electroluminescent marking on an exterior wall of an aircraft, including a step of superpositioning of layers designed or configured to produce the electroluminescent marking on a first face of a flexible backing distinct from the aircraft to obtain a marking tape and a step of affixing the marking tape to the exterior wall of the aircraft. The disclosure herein also concerns a marking tape for the implementing of the method, a marking device obtained from the method, and an aircraft comprising the marking device.

An exterior wall of an aircraft comprises at least one marking such as a registration number for example. According to one embodiment, this marking is electroluminescent to remain visible at night or when weather conditions are not favorable.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,470,388 proposes one solution for making an electroluminescent marking on a backing which may be an exterior wall of an aircraft. According to this document, the marking process involves a first step of depositing a first insulating layer on the exterior wall of the aircraft, a second step of depositing a second layer of conductive paint, a third step of depositing a third electroluminescent layer, a fourth step of putting in place a power supply electrode positioned on the perimeter of the electroluminescent layer, a fifth step of depositing a fourth transparent conductive layer and a sixth step of depositing a fifth protection layer such as a varnish.
These different steps are carried out one after another on the aircraft. Given the time it takes to make and dry these different layers, this marking process has a major impact on the production sequence of an aircraft.
In order to make the marking so affixed luminescent, the second layer of conductive paint and the power supply electrode are connected by a wire network to an electrical control and power supply system positioned inside the aircraft. For this purpose, the exterior wall of the aircraft comprises at least one orifice, generally two orifices, positioned around or near the electroluminescent marking to allow the passage of the wire network. When the marking is affixed to a surface subject to an air flow (such as a wall of the fuselage), the operation of piercing modifies the surface of the aircraft which is subjected to an air flow and degrades the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. Likewise, the presence of a wire network on the surface of the aircraft disturbs the movement of the air flow and the performance of the aircraft.
The present disclosure proposes to remedy the drawbacks of the prior art.

Method for making an electroluminescent marking on an exterior wall of an aircraft, marking tape comprising the electroluminescent marking, and aircraft comprising the electroluminescent marking


An apparatus for measuring the flowability of powder utilizes a container having a bottom wall with an opening therein. The bottom wall may be changed to provide openings of different sizes. The test consists of allowing the powder to flow through successively smaller holes. The smallest hole size through which the powder will freely flow is a measure of its flowability.

Powder flowability can be defined as the property of the powder to flow evenly from the top to the bottom of the hopper and then to the dosage, compact and crush chamber under the influence of gravity force and other forces. Poorly flowing powders present many difficulties in the pharmaceutical industry both in compressed tablet manufacturing and in capsule filling operations. A free-flowing powder on the other hand offers many advantages which, for instance in case of the manufacture of compressed tablet, can be summarized as follows:
(a) The powder easily flows in the hopper without forming air pockets;
(b) The die cavity is filled more efficiently, and this is reflected in an increase of the mean tablet weight and a decrease of the coefficient of variation, due to lack of low dosing;
(c) As a consequence of the uniform tablet weights and uniform doses of active ingredients, also other parameters of the finished tablets, such as hardness, friability, disintegrating time, dissolution test and plasma levels are reproducible;
(d) Another consequence of the more efficient die cavity filling will be reflected in the uniformity of the compressing power and therefore less wear of the machine;
(e) Since a free-flowing powder also has a good permeability, it will result in an easy ejection of air during the compression and therefore fewer defective tablets due to capping or splitting;
(f) High production rate allowed by the high flow rate of a free-flowing powder.
In view of this, many efforts have been made recently to overcome problems created by poor-flow properties by studying different formulations and applying different manufacturing techniques. At the same time many attempts have been made to establish experimental procedures having practical industrial significance which can really measure or assess the intrinsic flowability of the powder to be incapsulated or compressed. A number of authors identified the powder flowability with the interparticulate friction, of which the "angle of repose" is a manifestation (E. Nelson - J. Am. Pharm. Assoc. Sci. Ed. 44, No. 7, 435-437 (1955)) and at least four practical methods of measuring the angle of repose have been developed which are described and compared by David Train in J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 10, 127T to 135T (1958).
Basically, according to the "angle of repose" method the powdered material is allowed to fall freely through an orifice onto a flat surface to form a conical pile of the deposited material and the angle between the surface of the cone and the horizontal plane is known as the angle of repose. A high angle would indicate a poorly flowing material whereas a low angle would indicate good flow.
Timed delivery through an orifice is an other method often used for evaluating the flowability of materials. A stop watch is usually used to either time a certain weights of powder flowing through the orifice or to close the orifice after a given time so that the powder flowing through in that time period can be weighed.
Even though the angle of repose measurements and the timed delivery technique give results somehow relatable to flow properties of the material, in the best of cases reproducibility is quite poor.
An explanation for the unsuccess of these tests is that the outlined tests did not hit the focal point of the problem. In particular, it is wrong to identify the flowability with the interparticle friction, as though powders were glass or sand balls.
The truth is that the parameters which determine the flowability of the powder are numerous and with contrasting and interdependent influence: granulometric, "fines", unit surface, shape of particles, actual density, apparent density, porosity, air permeability through powder, electrostatic charge, humidity, dwell, cohesion strengths (such as London, hydrogen, etc.)
Ausburger and Shangraw (J. Pharm. Sci, 55, No. 4, 418-423 (1966)), attempted to evaluate and compare the free flowing properties of powders using the weight and weight variation of the finished tablets as the measured parameter. It was felt in fact that the weight variation of both capsules and tablets is directly dependent upon the reproducibility of powder flow into a fixed volume receptable (which may be a tablet die cavity or a capsule shell) and that good precision, which reflects in a higher tablet weight and a lower coefficient of variation, can only be obtained when the powder to be filled has a good flowability. Even though this method can be conveniently used in routine quality control tests, it is tedious, time consuming and not practical at the preliminary product development stage mainly because it requires a large quantity of drug.
A further method for determining the free flow properties of a powder has been described in DEGUSSA Schriftenreihe, Anwendungstechnik Pigmente Nr. 31 (Wolfgang Hanau (Main)) pages 6 to 8 and is based on how the powder runs through sand timer-like funnels with varying orifices. The equipment there described consists of a series of five glass funnels with orifice diameters of 2.5, 5, 8, 12, and 18 mm, and the powder flowability is ranked as outstanding, very good, good, acceptable or poor depending on the diameter of the orifice which the powder can still pass through. This equipment however only gives a rough estimation of the flowability of a powder, and it does not provide reproductive and precise enough results to be relied upon in the pilot or industrial plants.


There is provided a wall mounted card holder for permanently mounting a card or photograph in addition to temporarily holding and displaying other cards, photographs and the like. The holder includes a decorative wood panel backing having a transparent, hard protective coating applied to the front face thereof. The coating is preferably an epoxy resin applied in liquid form which hardens within a preset period of time. A card holder is mounted on the front face of the panel and includes a planar backing plate bonded to the protective layer and a transparent front cover matched to the backing plate and which snaps thereonto. A card or photograph may be permanently embedded into the epoxy after application of the latter to the front face and prior to same setting in order to permanently display the card adjacent the temporarily displayed cards.

There are many devices in the prior art used for displaying cards and photographs. Some of these devices use magnetic retaining members for holding sheets to a magnetic metal backing while other devices include a raised portion located on a backing plate wherein a card is retained against the raised portion using clips and the like. Other card displaying devices employ multiple plastic panels which fit together and when assembled provide holding slots for the cards. It would be advantageous to provide a card display system which provides an aethsetically pleasing display which allows for permanent and temporary display of cards.


A lacing aid which assists in lacing two elements tightly together comprises a first open portion that is easily threaded and engages a lace with reduced friction, and a second portion for frictional restraint of the threaded lace. Such lacing aids of the invention may be formed by bending smooth and stiff but resilient wire to form a first portion providing an opening larger than a lace with smooth inner walls, permitting the lace to slip easily when it is being tightened, and a second lace-restraining portion formed adjacent to the first portion to which a tightened lace may be easily slipped and engaged. An eyelet-connecting structure that may be used to fasten a lacing aid to a substrate element can be formed by two legs projecting from a junction, with one of the legs including a sleeve for rotatably carrying a first portion of the lacing aid and with the distal ends of the legs providing structure, such as a pair of mating fasteners, for fastening the lacing aid to a substrate, one mate being carried by each of the legs. Detent-forming structure adjacent the sleeve can hold the eyelet being carried so it extends upwardly and away from the leg. Such a connecting structure can comprise thin sheet steel bent into a U-shape, with one of the legs of the U being stamped to form notch-like portions and bent adjacent the notch-like portions to form a sleeve sized to engage the first portion of the lacing aid with a snap-fit so the first portion of a lacing aid is captively, but rotatably, carried by the U-shaped clip and can be held in the notch-like portions upwardly away from the connecting structure for easy threading.

For many years, laces have been used to help secure footwear, such as boots, shoes, skates and the like, onto the feet of the user. A typical boot includes first and second instep flaps that extend up the sides of the boot and are separated by a space. Usually, the flaps extend from a point close to the toe of the boot and extend rearwardly to the front surface of the ankle portion of the boot. Each of the first and second instep flaps includes or carries a series of eyelets adjacent the space between them. A single lace is generally interwoven into the eyelets. By threading a lace through the eyelets and pulling on the ends of the lace, the eyelets and the instep flaps can be pulled together in the space between them to thus tighten the flaps, and hence the boot, around the foot of a user. After the flaps are tightened, the ends of the lace are tied together to hold the boot on the foot of the user.
When the user wishes to remove his boot, the lace ends are untied, and the lace can be loosened, permitting loosening of the instep flaps, that is, increasing the space between the first and second flaps. This increased space between and the first and second flaps loosens the boot, thus permitting the user to remove it from his foot. One difficulty with footwear lacing systems, is that it is often difficult to tighten the footwear by pulling the flaps together with the lace and to maintain a tightened condition.
In many applications, it is desirable, if not essential, to secure a boot snugly onto the foot of a user. Two examples of such applications are with ice skates (including figure, speed and hockey skates) and roller skates (both regular and in-line). With ice skates and roller skates, it is essential to have the boot of the ice skate fastened tightly around the ankle, so that the boot can provide ankle support to the user. This ankle support is necessary in order to ensure good skating performance. Additionally, in certain other applications, it is also essential to fasten a boot about a user's ankle tightly in order to give the user proper ankle support. Further, certain users, as a matter of individual preference, prefer to wear boots which are snugly secure to their feet, to provide appropriate ankle support.
Several known methods exist for tightly lacing a boot onto a foot. Typically, a boot lace is tightened by having the user start with one pair of the lower eyelets of the instep flaps of the boot and, using two hands (or fingers), to grip the lace adjacent a pair of eyelets and to pull the pair of eyelets toward with the lace to tighten the instep flaps at the particular pair of eyelets. The same procedure is then repeated with the next eyelet "up the boot" in the rearward direction while trying to maintain the tightened condition of the first pair of eyelets. This procedure is repeated again and again until the lace has been used to tighten each pair of eyelets. Upon reaching the last pair of eyelets the user then attempts to quickly tie the ends of the lace together and preserve the tightness of the lacing, before the instep flaps have had a chance to move apart through slippage between the lace and the eyelets.
This method has some drawbacks. First, it is difficult to pull the laces tightly at the eyelets. In addition, as the user attempts to tighten each pair of eyelets with the lace, the lace can slip in one or more pairs of eyelets that were tightened earlier, permitting the instep flaps to move apart and the boot to thus become relatively loosened. There is no structure known presently which permits one to pull the lace at a particular eyelet, and then to prevent the lace from slipping or retreating backwardly, other than for the user to maintain his or her grip on the lace.
In addition to the method described above, various other methods have been attempted for tightening laces. For example, some people use a mechanical "pick" or "puller" to gain a better mechanical advantage on a lace, and thus be able to pull it tighter. Even with this system, however, when force pressure is released on the particular portion of the lace being pulled, the lace can slip or retreat back in an eyelet to a relatively looser portion.
Another difficulty which often faces one trying to tighten one's boot laces is the frictional resistance on the movement of the lace caused by the frictional engagement between the lace and the tongue, especially in the region where the lace becomes sandwiched between the eyelet-containing instep flaps of the shoe and the tongue.


An aluminum baking form is provided with internal and external coatings of aluminum oxide which are of black coloration and which contain metals other than aluminum and serve as infrared transmitters or collectors. The metal incorporated in the aluminum oxide layer is preferably tin or silver or both.

It is known to provide cooking utensils, especially baking dishes, trays, forms and the like with various coatings for different purposes, e.g. as non-stick coatings, as heat absorbers or transmitters, and as thermal conductors.
For the purposes of this discussion of the background of the invention and for the subsequent discussion of the invention itself, the term "baking form" will be used to describe any utensils having a recess in which a comestible may be baked. Typical of such "baking forms" are pie pans, cake pans, ring pans and the like.
The term "aluminum" as used herein to refer to baking forms and like utensils and as it will be used hereinafter in connection with the discussion of the invention, is intended to include all conventional aluminum alloys which have been hitherto used for the production of baking utensils and existing alloys suitable for use in baking utensils whether or not they have been so used heretofore.
Baking utensils, especially baking forms of the type described, are generally fabricated from sheet aluminum by deep drawing. The sheet material has also been constituted of aluminum sheet or strip heretofore. The only requisite has been that the metal from which the baking form was drawn have deep-drawing qualities.
As long as the baking form is constituted of steel sheet, it is necessary to provide corrosion protection against rusting of the inner and outer surfaces.
To this end, anticorrosion coatings are applied internally and externally and it has been found that tin coating (to produce tin plate) or, more recently, coatings or polytetrafluoroethylene are satisfactory for this purpose.
Coatings of polytetrafluoroethylene, however, suffer from poor adhesion to the substrate and reduce the heat transfer rather than improve the same. As a result, it is difficult to brown the comestibles which are subject to baking. Browning thus either never occurs or is effected only at high baking temperatures which may be detrimental to the coating.
The heat transfer is primarily by heat conduction and experience has shown that infrared radiation is scarcely capable of being passed through the walls of the baking form.
The "browning" of the baked material is, however, effected principally by the infrared radiation.
The foregoing applies to baking forms which consist of aluminum sheet provided internally and externally with colorless aluminum-oxide coatings and/or with polytetrafluoroethylene.
It has been found to be possible, in prior work in this field, to improve the heat transfer of the baking forms to the comestible material to be baked by forming the baking utensil from copper sheet. In fact, baking utensils have also been formed from steel sheet provided with a brownish coating. Neither technique has been fully successful because of the problem of corrosion. The latter techniques have never influenced the aluminum-sheet technology in dealing with aluminum baking utensils and, as far as I am aware, there has been no fully successful attempt to improve the heat transfer of aluminum-sheet baking utensils to the comestible product.

Method of making a baking form for improved browning of baked goods


A process control system which is controlling a continuous process produces an output product having a first grade. The process control system performs quality checks at predetermined times on the output product for verifying predetermined parameters of the output product of the first grade are within predetermined limits. A method for dynamically monitoring the continuous process (without shutting down the process) when the grade of the output product is changed to a second grade having second predetermined limits, comprises the steps of initiating new setpoints for the continuous process to produce an output product having the second grade. The predetermined parameters of the output product is verified by the process control system to be within second predetermined limits of the second grade. When the predetermined parameters of the output product fall outside the second predetermined limits, an alarm is indicated, and the output product divert to a bypass path.

The present invention relates to a process control system, and more particularly, to a method for dynamically varying the monitoring process when the grade of the product being produced by the process control system is changed without shutting down the process control system.
In current systems, the quality control scheme is disrupted every time a grade/brand change is made on a production line of a process being controlled by the process control system. The process is stopped, the system reinitialized and/or adjusted for the change in the grade/brand, and the system started again. This results in less precise statistical control during the start-up portion of each production run, when the process is likely to be least stable and require the most adjustment.
The method of the present invention makes the change in grade/brand without shutting down the system thereby providing the same level of statistical precision in monitoring the first sample in the production run of the newly selected grade/brand as is available for a well-established running continuous process.

Method of continuous monitoring of process variables of varying grades of a product within a process control system


An exposure mask having phase shifting films of a predetermined thickness composed of a material transparent to the wavelength of exposure light and formed on a substrate transparent to such wavelength for causing a desired phase shift, wherein the phase shifting films are so patterned as to principally have arrangement of repeated patterns. Relative to the rule width L of the repeated patterns projected onto a work member to be exposed, a pattern having a rule width of 2 L/m is formed, in which m (.ltoreq.1) is a size reduction magnification in the use of a reduced-size projection exposer. The exposure mask is adapted for use in producing a diffraction grating as well. The mask is easily manufacturable without the necessity of any intricate process such as a positioned exposure, hence minimizing the number of required steps in manufacture while achieving a further fine work with an enhanced resolution higher than the known value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure mask which is utilizable for forming a desired pattern by an exposure in manufacture of an electronic component such as a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the technical field to execute an exposure by the use of an exposure mask, the processing dimensions tend to be further finer year after year. For example, in the use of an exposure mask for forming a desired pattern in manufacture of a semiconductor device, the patterning based on such exposure is required to be dimensionally more minute in conformity with miniaturization of the device to be manufactured.
In an exemplary case of a semiconductor integrated circuit, the required processing dimensions are gradually miniaturized from year to year and, in the latest technical developments and studies, the dimensional requisite is fundamentally smaller than 0.5 micron. For realizing such extremely fine work, some designs are in progress to attain a higher numerical aperture and a shorter wavelength with regard to an exposer as well as to obtain an improved resist material, and considerable effects have been achieved. In such technical circumstances, some attempts are currently carried out to accomplish extremely fine work beyond the threshold resolution by devising an improved exposure mask (reticle) employed for pattern transfer. Of such technical development, a phase shifting method is now attracting particular attention (as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 58 (1983)-173744; and Marc D. Levenson et al., "Improving Resolution in Photolithography on Electron Devices", Vol. ED-29, No. 12, December 1982, pp. 1828-1836).
The conventional phase shifting method known heretofore will now be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Here, an explanation of the above technique will be given with regard to an exemplary case of forming a line-and-space pattern. In an ordinary mask, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), light shielding portions 2 are formed by the use of a light shielding material such as chromium on a transparent substrate 1 of quartz or the like, and an arrangement of repeated line-and-space patterns is formed to produce an exposure mask. The intensity distribution of the light transmitted through such exposure mask is represented by a curve A1 in FIG. 3 (a), wherein the intensity is zero in the light shielding portion 2 while the light is transmitted through the other portions (light transmitting portions 21, 22). Viewing one light transmitting portion 21 as an example, the intensity of the light transmitted therethrough and irradiated to a work member to be exposed is so distributed as represented by a curve A2 in FIG. 3 (a), wherein hill-like maximums are existent at the feet on both sides due to the diffraction of the light and so forth. The light passed through the light transmitting portion 22 is represented by a one-dot chain line. When the light rays obtained through the individual transmitting portions 21, 22 are mutually combined, the light intensity distribution is deprived of its sharpness as indicated by a curve A3 to consequently blur the image due to diffraction of the light, hence a sharp exposure fails to be provided. In contrast therewith, if the phase shifting films 3 are provided on the light shielding portions 21, 22 of the repeated patterns either alternately as shown in FIG. 3 (b) or in a manner illustrated in FIG. 2, any blur of the image resulting from diffraction of the light is eliminated by inversion of the phase to eventually achieve transfer of a sharp image, thereby improving the resolution and the focusing allowance. More specifically, when a phase shifting film 3 is formed on one light transmitting portion 21 as shown in FIG. 3 (b) in such a manner as to cause a phase shift of 180.degree. for example, the light passed through the phase shifting film 3 is inverted as represented by a curve B1. Meanwhile the light obtained through the adjacent light transmitting portion 22 is not passed through the phase shifting film 3, so that none of such phase inversion is induced. Therefore, on the work member to be exposed, the mutually phase-inverted light rays cancel each other in the position B2 at the foot of the light intensity distribution, whereby the distribution of the light irradiated to the work member is rendered ideally sharp as represented by a curve B3 in FIG. 3 (b).
In the example mentioned, the greatest advantage is attainable by causing a 180.degree. inversion of the phase to ensure-the above-described effect. However, for realizing such a satisfactory result, it is necessary for the phase shifting film to have a sufficient thickness ##EQU1## (where n denotes the refractive index of the phase shifting film, and .lambda. denotes the wavelength of the exposure light).
In the process of forming a pattern by an exposure, it is customary that a member used for reduced-size projection is termed a reticle, and a member for life-size projection is termed a mask; or a member corresponding to an original sheet is termed a reticle, and a member obtained by duplicating such a reticle is termed a mask. In the present invention, any of the masks and reticles classified by such various definitions is termed a mask in general.
In the phase shifting exposure mask mentioned above, there is the necessity of forming both a light shielding portion 2 and a phase shifting portion 3, and moreover exact mutual positioning is required in the step of forming them, whereby some complication is unavoidable in manufacture of the exposure mask. Namely, in the conventional technique, there is needed a complicated process of executing a second positioned EB (electron beam) exposure for the mask where a light shielding portion has already been formed by a first EB exposure and etching. For this purpose, a positioning mark must be previously formed at the time of the first EB exposure, thereby inducing intricacy in the mask manufacturing process.


A fuzzy hardware system includes a sampling circuit which carries out sampling of a first membership function in generate a fuzzy set consisting of a plurality of singletons, and an arithmetic circuit which carries out arithmetic processes in accordance with supplied signals each having either characteristic of a pulse width and a number of pulses corresponding to a size of the singletons. In the arithmetic circuit, minimum and maximum arithmetic processes are carried out by AND and OR gates. Such arithmetic processes are carried out by either process of serial, parallel and combinations of serial and parallel.

Fuzzy systems are used to control apparatus such as air conditioners by fuzzy control. In the fuzzy system, fuzzy deductions are carried out in which a deduction rule is defined if adequate results can be obtained by fact information having fuzzy borders. Such fuzzy systems for fuzzy control are classified to two groups, one is controlled by software and the other is controlled by hardware. The fuzzy system controlled by hardware has an advantage in that arithmetic processes are carried out in a higher speed compared with that controlled by software. The fuzzy system controlled by hardware is then classified to analog and digital types.
A conventional analog fuzzy hardware system includes a minimum arithmetic circuit (defined as a MIN arithmetic circuit hereinafter), a maximum arithmetic circuit (defined as a MAX arithmetic circuit hereinafter) and a truncation gate circuit. The MIN arithmetic circuit supplies a data signal having a minimum value selected from a plurality of input data signals. The MAX arithmetic circuit supplies a data signal having a maximum value selected therefrom. The truncation gate circuit carries out a head-cut (.alpha.-cut) process in which a plurality of input signals are cut to have predetermined values if the input signals are over the predetermined value.
A conventional digital fuzzy hardware system includes a basic block consisting of first and second MIN arithmetic circuits each having two input terminals, a MAX circuit and a 3-bit shift register. In the digital fuzzy hardware system, a membership function is used for fuzzy process. The membership function which is a fuzzy set is sampled to provide a plurality of singletons which form a vector. Each singleton is represented by 4-bit binary word consisting of "0" or "1" to represent the grade. The data consisting of the plurality of the 4-bit binary words are processed serially, so that number of stages of the basic blocks are used. In each basic block, first and second clocks which have different phases are used.
In operation, fuzzy word Ai which is the data of the previous stage and the fuzzy word A' which represents the fact information are supplied as every 4-bit word (element) to the first MIN arithmetic circuit in which the elements of the two fuzzy words Ai and A' are compared by serial process in synchronizing with the first clock, and the smaller one is supplied to the MAX arithmetic circuit. In the MAX arithmetic circuit, the supplied element is compared with the one supplied from the 3-bit shift register, and the larger one is supplied to the 3-bit shift register. In the 3-bit register, the supplied element is shifted in turn, and then is supplied to both the MAX arithmetic circuit and the second MIN arithmetic circuit. In the second MIN arithmetic circuit, the supplied element is compared with a corresponding element of a fuzzy word Bi, and the smaller one is supplied as an output. Thus, one deduction process completes by carrying out these processes explained above for 256 clock cycles.
In this example, sixteen deduction processes are carried out simultaneously at sixteen fuzzy deduction engines corresponding to the basic block, respectively. Then, MAX arithmetic process of the results of the sixteen deductions is carried out to be integrated. The MAX arithmetic process thereof is carried out by the MAX arithmetic circuit having two input terminals, so that the results of the sixteen deductions B.sub.1 ', B.sub.2 ', B.sub.3 ', . . . B.sub.16 ' are passed through four stages of MAX trees to obtain the integrated results of the MAX arithmetic process. Accordingly, the final deduction results B' is supplied serially from the output terminal of the MAX tree.
According to the conventional fuzzy hardware system, however, there are disadvantages as explained below. In the conventional analog fuzzy hardware system, the power consumption thereof is large, because many constant current sources are used therein. Such a large power consumption as well as heat generation in elements composing the system may become obstacles to increase of degree of integration. On the other hand, in the conventional digital fuzzy hardware system, the MIN or MAX arithmetic circuit in the basic block has only two input terminals, so that many stages of basic blocks are required. Consequently, the system scale may become large, and it is difficult to combine serial and parallel processes in response to the system scale.


A conduit connection joint is formed to connect a tube and a fitting body in fixed fluid tight relation. The joint is made by compressing the tube in a bore in the fitting body so as to cause formation of at least two beads in the tube during the engagement of the tube to the bore wall. A retaining ridge may be formed in the fitting body to further hold the fitting body and tube in engaged relation.

This invention relates to conduit connectors. Specifically, this invention relates to a joint for connecting a tube and a fitting body and the method of forming the joint.
Many types of conduit couplings are known in the prior art. One category of conduit couplings includes tube fittings which are used to join a tube or similar conduit and a fitting body.
One variety of tube fittings includes compression fittings. Such fittings involve the use of ferrules, nuts and other component pieces for holding a tube in fluid tight connection with a fitting body. Tube fittings of this variety have drawbacks in that they include several components. Such multiple components add to the cost of the fitting. In addition, the assembly of such fittings requires several steps. The completion of these steps takes time which further adds to the cost of using such connectors. The use of several components and a multi-step assembly process also increases the chance of defects which can result in leakage or other types of failure.
Stake type fittings are also known in the prior art. Such fittings have the advantage of being low in cost and may be assembled at high production rates. Examples of prior art stake type tube fittings are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,930,928, 3,977,710, 4,200,314, 4,262,942, 4,330,144 and 4,450,618, all of which are owned by the assignee of the present invention.
While the prior art stake type tube fittings perform well, there is always a desire to improve fitting performance, increase production rates and to reduce cost.
Thus, there exists a need for a joint connection for joining a tube and a fitting body that is lower in cost, more resistant to leakage, is more rapidly assembled and has greater resistance to unwanted disassembly due to applied forces.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a joint for connecting a tube and a fitting body.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a joint for connecting a tube and a fitting body that is a stake type joint.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a joint for connecting a tube and a fitting body that may be assembled quickly and with automated equipment.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a joint for connecting a tube and a fitting body that is fluid tight and which provides greater resistance to leakage at higher pressures.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a joint for connecting a tube and a fitting body that is lower in cost to produce and assemble.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a joint for connecting a tube and a fitting body that provides greater resistance to unwanted disassembly and breakdown.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a joint for connecting a tube and a fitting body that may be configured in a manner that is tailored to the particular operating requirements of the system in which it is used.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for forming a joint connecting a tube and a fitting body.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for connecting a tube and a fitting body that may be carried out at high production rates using automated equipment.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for connecting a tube and a fitting body that results in a joint that has increased resistance to leakage, increased resistance to unwanted disassembly and breakdown, and which may be configured in a manner that is tailored to the particular operating requirements of the system in which the joint is used.
Further objects of the present invention will be made apparent in the following Best Modes for Carrying Out Invention and the appended claims.
The foregoing objects are accomplished in a preferred embodiment of the invention by a joint which connects a tube and a fitting body. The joint is manufactured by a process which includes the step of axially extending a hollow tube into a bore in a fitting body. The bore in the fitting body is bounded by a generally annular bore wall. The bore wall includes a generally axially extending bead formation area. The bead formation area is radially disposed outwardly from the tube when the tube is first extended into the bore.
The process of forming the joint further involves engaging an inward end of the tube against a stop face supported on the fitting body in the bore. Thereafter, the tube is compressed axially inward. The compression of the tube in engagement with the stop face causes the sequential formation of at least two outwardly extending beads in the tube. The beads extend outwardly and engage the bore wall in the bead formation area. The engagement of the beads with the bore wall provides a fluid tight joint.
In one form of the invention, after formation of the beads within the bore a tool is axially extended through the fitting opening. The tool operates to axially compress the beads as well as to expand the bead material outwardly into stronger interference engagement with the bore wall. The tool is then withdrawn leaving a joint which is resistant to leakage as well as highly resistant to unwanted disassembly due to internal pressure or external axial or torsional forces.
In another form of the invention the tool which is extended into the bore to compress and radially expand the beads also forms a retaining ridge in the fitting body adjacent to the bore opening. The retaining ridge engages the compressed bead material to resist separation of the joint.
In another form of the invention the bore wall though generally annular, includes a plurality of axially extending serrations. The serrations engage the beads and provide added resistance to rotational movement of the tube relative to the fitting body.
Other forms of the invention include annular seals and other sealing structures which operatively extend between the tube and the bore to resist fluid leakage. Such seals may include combinations of annular o-rings, disc seals and sealing materials which are formed in place. The sealing structures are tailored to enable the joint to satisfactorily operate under various temperature and pressure conditions.


An apparatus and method for optically monitoring the output of an effusion cell during the MBE process where resonant radiation is guided through an optical radiation guide across the output orifice of the effusion cell to determine the atomic flux according to the concentration and absorbance of the resonant radiation at the output orifice of the effusion cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the use of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) formation of semiconductor layers. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method of monitoring the atomic flux from an effusion cell during MBE.
2. Description of the Related Art
MBE is a versatile technique for depositing single crystal semiconducting, insulating, and metallic materials used in fabricating state-of-the-art electronic and opto-electronic devices. The advantages of MBE over other growth techniques include the ability to produce high purity materials with controlled composition, layer thickness, dopant concentrations, and structure. MBE growth is achieved by directing the output of effusion cells onto a heated substrate in an ultra-high vacuum chamber. The effusion cell's output consists of atoms and molecules of the desired growth and doping constituents to be deposited.
Practitioners of MBE have long sought real-time control of the growth rates and composition of the deposited material. Although MBE offers the potential for growth of device structures with atomic layer precision, current "dead-reckoning" methods employed for controlling the effusion cell fluxes place limitations on the extent to which the desired composition, thickness and layer uniformity can be achieved. Real-time monitoring and control of these parameters hold the keys to achieving higher accuracy in attaining target growth structures and improved run-to-run reproducibility. Current generation MBE machines rely on pre-growth calibrations such as ion gauge flux measurements or RHEED oscillations to determine proper flux conditions. These methods are time-consuming, provide no real-time feedback, and are only marginally accurate when growing demanding structures. These problems add directly to device manufacturing costs.
A superior technique for in situ measurement of the flux of atomic species from an MBE effusion cell is known as optical flux monitoring (OFM). OFM detects changes in transmitted light intensity due to absorption by the atoms emitted from an MBE effusion cell. The technique has been employed in MBE to measure the flux of aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), and indium (In) in real-time. Investigators at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) have used OFM in a feedback-controlled system for growth of AlAs/GaAs quarterwave layers for distributed Bragg reflectors, as described in "Real-time Control of Molecular Beam Epitaxy by Optical-Based Flux Monitoring," by S. A. Chalmers and K. P. Killeen, in App. Phy. Lett. 63, 3131 (1993).
In the OFM technique developed at SNL, a feedback-stabilized hollow cathode lamp is used as a light source. The resonant radiation generated by the hollow cathode lamp is focused with a quartz lens onto the end of a sending fiber optic cable where it is divided into a reference beam and a signal beam. The signal beam is passed through the atomic beam to be measured. The signal beam enters the MBE chamber through heated optical ports (to prevent deposition of material on the window) and is directed parallel to, and a few centimeters above the surface of the substrate, to measure the flux of atoms reaching the substrate. After the signal beam exits the chamber, it is re-focused onto a second receiving fiber optic cable where it is measured by a detector. A separate detector measures the reference beam, and a computer calculates the flux level based on the ratio of the signal beam to the reference beam.
Another commercial OFM product, "ATOMICAS", manufactured by Intelligent Sensor Technology, Inc., was developed to eliminate problems due to transmission changes in the OFM optical system that are not due to flux changes of the atomic beam. This problem causes baseline instability that has plagued earlier attempts of MBE flux monitors that failed to use heated optical ports. In the "ATOMICAS" approach, optical radiation from a second source that is not absorbed by the atomic beam is passed through the signal and reference optical paths. The second optical radiation source consists of a xenon flash lamp with a broadband spectral output overlapping the spectral region of the emission from hollow cathode lamp. With this second radiation, the transmission changes of the OFM optical system are monitored in real-time. This information is used to calibrate the atomic flux measurements.
The above-described OFM techniques have several disadvantages. In both techniques, the atomic flux is measured near the substrate surface. This geometry is not optimal for several reasons. The foremost problem is that the transmitted light intensity is affected by atoms reflected or desorbed from the substrate surface. Monitoring of the atomic flux at close proximity to the substrate allows double counting of atoms if they have non-unity sticking coefficients. Also, the atomic flux is not monitored continuously. In the existing OFM approaches, there is no signal when the effusion cell shutter is closed. This necessitates "dead-reckoning" based upon effusion cell temperature data to infer initial flux conditions after the shutter is opened. An additional shortcoming of the existing OFM detection geometry is that, due to the divergent nature of the effusive source, the OFM signal is measured just above the substrate, where the number of atoms crossing the optical path is lowest. Finally, implementing OFM on existing MBE machines with the current geometry requires substantial re-working of the vacuum chamber and cryo-panels.

Apparatus and method for optical-based flux monitoring of an effusion cell adjacent the output orifice


This disclosure includes methods for designing a simplified Integrated Computational Element (ICE) and for optimizing a selection of a combination of ICE designs. A method for fabricating a simplified ICE having one or more film layers includes predicting an optimal thickness of each of the one or more film layers of the simplified ICE using a neural network. A method for recalibrating the fabricated ICE elements for system implementation is also disclosed. The disclosure also includes the simplified ICE designed by and the ICE combination selected by the disclosed methods. The disclosure also includes an information handling system with machine-readable instructions to perform the methods disclosed herein.

This disclosure relates to fluid analysis in or near a hydrocarbon wellbore.
Optical sensors implemented with a variety of Integrated Computational Elements (ICEs) have found increased applications in identifying physical and chemical properties of diverse subsurface and surface fluids. ICEs typically have multiple high and low refractive index film layers deposited on a substrate material, which function as multi-band filters in multivariate optical computing systems for linear and nonlinear calibration analyses.
Typical ICE designs often have a large number of film layers (i.e., more than five) in order to achieve performance adjustability. However, optimizing the layered structure with many films of different thicknesses often requires high computational power and intensity in the simulation analysis and fabricability study stages. Manufacturing ICEs with many film layers may also have a negative impact on quality control and cost reduction.
It is desirable to minimize the number of film layers in an ICE in order to reduce the cost associated with its design and fabrication without sacrificing quality performance. Additionally, it is desirable to use two or more ICEs in combination to overcome limitations inherent in using a single ICE. Quality control may be performed to prevent ICE performance degradation during fabrication, and post-manufacturing calibration may be applied to enhance the implementation of the system.
The disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the disclosure being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Optical sensor optimization and system implementation with simplified layer structure


An above-ground storage system, especially for use with hazardous materials is disclosed. The system includes a first inner tank and a second outer tank. An air-operated diaphragm pump is used to fill the tank. In order to prevent overfilling of the tank and, therefore environmental contamination, a valve is installed in the air supply line to the air pump. The valve is operated by a float within the tank. When the float becomes submerged in liquid the valve is closed by an arm connected to the float.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of liquid storage systems. In particular, the present invention provides a greatly improved method and apparatus for storing waste oil products above the ground.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years significant levels of concern have been raised over the use of below-ground liquid storage vessels such as tanks. Such vessels have in the past been used to store a wide variety of materials including gasoline, waste oil, and a myriad of other chemicals. Problems arise when the vessel begins to leak due to corrosion and the like and allows a stream of material to leak into the surrounding soil without detection over a long period of time. After entering the soil, these materials percolate downward into, for example, ground water supplies. This represents a clear environmental danger. Equipping underground vessels to be environmentally safe is extremely expensive. Monitoring and repair of underground vessels is also expensive and complex.
As a consequence, above-ground storage vessels are becoming more frequently used. By using an above-ground storage tank it is possible to more closely monitor leaks, primarily because the tank is fully visible. Further, the tank is less likely to leak in the first instance because it may be maintained with paint and the like.
In the prior art, a single-walled above-ground tank is placed in a "containment" area. Typically, the containment area is a mound of soil, a concrete floor and walls, or other similar type of area which forms a wall (or "berm"). There are, however, a number of problems associated with the use of these above-ground storage systems. Initially the "system" is almost by definition not portable because large volumes of soil must be moved to form the berm, or concrete must be poured to form the berm. Further, in the event of a leak, the material within the tank is widely exposed, creating the likelihood of release of air contaminants and the likelihood of injury to passers-by. They further are not totally impervious to leakage (unless frequently treated with a sealant) due to their porous nature. Another problem with prior systems is that the open and uncovered berms are subject to being filled with rain water and other trash debris. Mixed with product spillage into the secondary containment, this water and debris is considered "contaminated" and must be disposed of accordingly.
It is clear that an improved method and apparatus for the storage of waste oil and other contaminants is needed.


For a power tool having a reciprocating drive mechanism, an improved one-piece scotch yoke having a curved track design which substantially eliminates the contact pressure between the yoke and guides created in conventional straight track designs by the couple on the reciprocating yoke shaft imposed by the non-collinear blade and crank loads. The radius of curvature of the yoke track is preferably equal to the distance from the shaft bearing to the crank pin at its mid-stroke position where the velocity of the yoke is greatest.

The present invention relates to power tools, and in particular to power tools having reciprocating drive mechanisms. Since jig saws are the most common type of power tool having a reciprocating drive mechanism, the present invention will be discussed in this connection. However, it is to be understood that the present invention has general applicability to any power tool that utilizes a reciprocating drive mechanism of the scotch yoke type.
Jig saws of the general type to which the present invention pertains typically comprise an electric motor which drives a reciprocating saw blade drive mechanism of the scotch yoke type. More particularly, the motor shaft is mechanically coupled to a crank plate having an eccentrically located crank pin that is drivingly disposed within the slot or "track" of a reciprocating yoke member. The yoke member is then generally coupled to the saw blade carrier. In all known prior art designs, the configuration of the yoke track is straight, perpendicular to the shaft of the yoke, with the length of the track equal to the diameter of the circle traced by the crank pin.
Although certainly functional, the disadvantage of the straight track design is that it creates a couple on the shaft of the yoke, the moment of which is greatest at the mid-stroke of the yoke where the velocity of the yoke is greatest. Consequently, since the bearing load factor is directly related to the product of pressure and velocity, it can be seen that the straight track design actually generates excessive bearing load since both factors are at a maximum at the same points during the stroke. Thus, a substantial side load is imposed on the yoke guide which causes increased friction and consequent heat buildup in the tool.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a scotch yoke design having a track configuration that minimizes the side load forces imposed on the yoke guides and thereby substantially eliminate the friction and heat generation normally associated with the yoke guides. In general, this is accomplished by fashioning the yoke with a curved track to eliminate the couple on the yoke shaft which results from the straight track configuration. In addition, as will subsequently be described in greater detail, the radius of curvature of the yoke track is selected in the peferred embodiment to be substantially equal to the distance between the crank pin and the center or the lower shaft bearing when the yoke is at its midstroke position so that the yoke guide load is perfectly balanced when the velocity of the reciprocating yoke is greatest.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment which makes reference to the following set of drawings in which :


A process for preparing a target for use in production of a thin metal oxide film that comprises molding an amorphous powder of organic metal chelate complexes to obtain the target. The process also includes mixing metallic materials with an organic chelating agent so as to give a predetermined metal composition to prepare a transparent aqueous solution of organic metal chelate complexes. The process also includes spray-drying the aqueous solution to obtain an amorphous powder of the organic metal chelate complexes.

The present invention relates to a target having a satisfactorily controllable composition, with which a thin metal oxide film having a proper composition can be efficiently produced by laser deposition method, process for producing the target, and process for forming the thin metal oxide film by using the target.
One of the most general methods for producing a metal oxide is a solid-phase method, in which solid-phase raw materials such as carbonate and oxide are mixed so as to give a desired metal oxide composition rate and then sintered to obtain a metal oxide. In the method, however, the obtained metal oxide obviously has a heterogeneous phase microscopically, since solid phases of the respective materials are mixed with each other to be sintered. In particular, in case of synthesizing a multi-element oxide which requires starting materials having a highly homogeneity, it is inevitable that the obtained metal oxide composition shift undesirably due to generation of a different phase. In order to obtain a homogeneous starting material, it is necessary to be synthesized through a homogeneous system from a starting raw material. As such a method, known have been liquid-phase methods based on chemical processes such as a sol-gel method and a coprecipitation method.
According to these conventional liquid-phase methods, however, it is not easy to avoid the essential problem of the heterogeneous system. The reason is as follows. Even if the starting solution is homogeneous, each kind of metal compound therein has its own hydrolysis rate and solubility product etc. The various hydrolysis rates and solubility products inevitably make this system heterogeneous in the following steps of, for example, hydrolysis, neutralization and precipitation, although the obtained powder included in the system is a fine powder. To solve the above problem, proposed has been a method including forming a metal complex between a metal ion and polycarboxylic acid, e.g., citric acid, in an aqueous phase, and then adding polyhydric alcohol, e.g., ethylene glycol, as a crosslinking agent for an ester polymerization to obtain a gel complex polymer.
In this method, however, a part of the metal may separate from the metal complex in the ester polymerization step and this may result in the segregation. In addition, in case of using the obtained complex polymer as a starting material, the product obtained by sintering the gel complex polymer needs to be pulverized finely. It is pointed out that the pulverization step may results in problems such as raising the manufacturing cost and complicating the work procedure.
Besides these, various methods for synthesizing a starting material have been proposed. But any of the methods is not suitable for versatile use because of the high manufacturing cost and complicated operation.
A method for synthesizing ceramics from metal chelate complexes has been developed recently. This method is remarkable because of its possibility of suppressing the undesirable metal composition shift. In this method, however, an appropriate means for mixing solid-phase metal chelate complexes homogeneously at a molecular level has not been found. Thus, the method does not sufficiently make use of the advantage of the metal chelate complexes.
In addition, in any of the conventional methods for producing a metal oxide powder that are practically used currently, it is almost impossible to control, for example, the particle shape and particle size of the obtained powder.
On the other hand, as a method for producing a thin film of multi-element metal oxide, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) has been known. In CVD, a raw material is caused to react in a gaseous-phase state and the objective compound is separated out in a solid-phase state. In PVD, a solid raw material (target) is vaporized by the injection of physical energy to rearrange the vaporized material into a thin oxide film on a substrate. Of these, CVD has a drawback that a different phase is likely to be separated during the intermediate reaction due to various vapor pressures of respective kinds of raw materials. For this reason, when CVD is applied to the method of producing a multi-element metal oxide, it is considered to be difficult to control the composition of the obtained metal oxide. On the other hand, sputtering, which is a typical PVD process, is for versatile use, while it has a drawback that the compositional control is considerably difficult to be made in case of using a compound target. This is because the use of an identical compound target for a long period of time may change the composition of the target.
In order to improve the problem of the compositional control, developed has been a laser deposition method (laser abrasion) in which a target is clustered by a laser irradiation to rearrange the compounds contained in the target on a substrate. However, strong laser energy has been needed for clustering the conventional targets, since they have strong bonds such as ionic and covalent bonds. Additionally, large agglomerated molecules (droplet) of the target material may drop on the substrate, resulting in a problem that a heterogeneous thin film (i.e., a thin film having a rough surface) is obtained.
In order to solve the problem, it has been tried to provide a cloison between the target and the substrate to suppress the deposit of such a droplet on the substrate. Using the cloison, however, is only a physical means and it cannot be said a fundamental solution. In addition, the obtained thin film according to PVD is originally no better than a thin film in which the compounds in the target are rearranged. Thus, the thin oxide film quality depends on the target quality. It is therefore necessary to prepare a high-quality target. But, it is difficult to synthesize a high-quality homogeneous bulk of multi-element metal oxide to be used as the target. The synthesis also needs a lot of time and effort, and thereby the synthesis step may be the rate-determining step, resulting in a disadvantageously high cost.
The present invention is intended to overcome the aforementioned conventional problems. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a target having homogeneity at a molecular level in any component system. The target can be used for a speedily, low-energy and low-cost production of a high-quality thin metal oxide film, especially thin film of multi-element metal oxide, having a proper-controlled composition and a satisfactory surface smoothness. It is another object of the invention to provide a method for producing the above-mentioned target easily. A further object of the invention is to provide a method for effectively forming the above-mentioned thin metal oxide film having a proper-controlled composition with using the target.
According to the present invention, the target for forming a thin metal oxide film, which can achieve the aforementioned objects, the target for forming a thin metal oxide film, which can achieve the aforementioned objects, is distinctively obtained by molding an amorphous powder of organic metal chelate complexes into the shape of a tablet. The preferable method for producing such a target is as follows. Metallic materials are mixed with an organic chelating agent so as to give a predetermined metal composition, to prepare a transparent aqueous solution of organic metal chelate complexes. The aqueous solution is then spray-dried to obtain an amorphous powder of the organic metal chelate complexes in which the complexes are mixed with each other at a molecular level, followed by the press molding to shape into a tablet.
As the organic chelating agent in this case, preferably used may be an amino-carboxylic acid chelating agent which is not thermally decomposed at 200xc2x0 C. or less. In addition, the chelating agent with at least stoichiometric quantity of a total of respective metallic material is preferably mixed with the metallic materials so as to allow all of the metallic materials for forming complexes completely, to obtain a transparent aqueous solution. Moreover, when the metallic materials contain the metal which is easy to be oxidized by air to be a metal oxide or a higher-valence metal ion, a reducing agent and/or an antioxidant may be added to the aqueous solution of the organic metal chelate complexes to prevent oxidation of the metal ions in the solution. For example, when the metallic materials contain titanium, a reducing agent may be effectively added to stabilize titanium (III).
When the laser deposition method is applied to the production of a thin film by the use of the above-mentioned target, a composition of the obtained thin metal oxide film is easily controllable in any composition system. And also, by such a method, a thin metal oxide film having a satisfactory surface smoothness without a defect can be obtained speedily with lower energy and lower cost.
Accordingly, this method is, in a high degree of efficiency, applicable to the formation of a high-temperature superconductive thin film of multi-element metal oxide such as thin films of YBa2Cu3O7-xcex4 and SrTiO3.

Process for preparing a target for use in the production of a thin metal oxide film


In one embodiment, a method includes, by a computing device, receiving a plurality of inputs for a convolution layer of a convolutional neural network, the convolution layer having one or more input channels and one or more output channels, wherein the inputs are received via the input channels, generating, by convolving the inputs with one or more two-dimensional filters, a plurality of intermediate values, and generating, by convolving the intermediate values with one or more one-dimensional filters, a plurality of outputs, wherein the one-dimensional filters receive the intermediate values from the two-dimensional filters via intermediate channels. The method may provide the outputs to a subsequent layer of the convolutional neural network via the output channels. Each of the two dimensions of the two-dimensional filter may correspond to a spatial dimension, and the one dimension of the one-dimensional filter may correspond to a temporal dimension.

In machine learning, a convolutional neural network (CNN) is a class of deep, feedforward artificial neural networks, which may be applied to analyzing visual imagery. The neuron connectivity pattern in a CNN is based on the organization of the visual cortex. Neurons may respond to input in a restricted region of space known as the receptive field. Receptive fields may partially overlap, over-covering the entire visual field. Neuron response may be approximated mathematically by a convolution operation. A CNN may include an input and an output layer, as well as multiple hidden layers. The hidden layers of a CNN may include convolutional layers, pooling layers, fully connected layers and normalization layers. Convolutional layers may apply a convolution operation to the input, passing the result to the next layer. The convolution models the response of an individual neuron to visual input. Each convolutional neuron may process data only for its receptive field.
The term "convolution" in neural networks may refer to a cross-correlation operation in which a filter, which may be represented as a matrix, is applied to input data, e.g., an image, which may also be represented as a matrix, using a sliding-window dot-product. For example, a filter matrix, analogous to a receptive field in a larger visual field, may be moved across an input matrix in a sequence of steps. A dot-product operation between the input matrix and the filter matrix may be performed at each step to generate a numeric value. The numeric value may then be stored in an output matrix. The filter matrix may be moved by a distance of one position, e.g., to the next adjacent element in a particular direction at each step, or by a larger distance, e.g., two or more positions. The distance by which the filter matrix is moved is referred to as the stride of the convolution. The network may learn the filters, unlike traditional algorithms, in which filter values may be determined by hand.
Although fully-connected feedforward neural networks can be used to learn features as well as classify data, the number of neurons used for image processing in a feedforward network is large because each pixel in an image may be a variable, and the number of weights for each neuron in a fully-connected network may be based on the size of the image, which may result in thousands of parameters. The convolution operation reduces the number of parameters. For example, regardless of image size, using the sliding-window filter to tile regions of size 6×6, each with the same shared weights, may involve 36 learnable parameters. CNNs may thus be deeper and have fewer parameters than fully-connected networks.

Video analysis using convolutional networks


Described herein are compositions comprising shortened fibers of poly-N-acetylglucosamine and/or a derivative thereof (“sNAG nanofibers”) and anti-bacterial applications of such compositions. The sNAG nanofibers may be formulated into compositions for the prevention and/or treatment of bacterial infections and diseases associated with such infections. Regimens employing such compositions are also described.

Currently, antibiotics are a standard therapy for bacterial infections. However, some individuals have an allergic reaction to certain antibiotics, others suffer from side effects associated with antibiotics, and the continued use of antibiotics often leads to a reduction in their efficacy. In addition, antibiotic therapy often leads to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Accordingly, there is a continuing need for new anti-bacterial agents that are effective in fighting infection without generating resistance or reducing the efficacy overtime. There is a need for non-antibiotic anti-bacterial agents that can be used in clinical settings, e.g., in the treatment of infectious diseases of the skin, digestive and respiratory tract, and in wound treatment.
Wound infection is one type of bacterial infection. Wound infection is a major complication, especially in patients with chronic disease such as diabetes or during immunosuppression. Such patients have disruptions in appropriate inflammatory responses, including the migration and recruitment of neutrophils and macrophages, which predisposes them to increased infection (Singer, A. J. and R. A. Clark, 1999, N Engl J Med 341(10): 738-46). In addition, bacterial infection can lead to impairment of wound healing and sepsis. Given the ineffectiveness of many current antibiotic treatments and the increased prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria such as MRSA (Methycillin-resistant S. aureus), new clinical treatments are in high demand.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Anti-bacterial applications of poly-N-acetylglucosamine nanofibers


A first, "known good" reference off-chip driver circuit actuated by an initial logic program (IPL) input signal has an output lead connected as one of the inputs to a comparator circuit for providing a reference off-chip driver output signal. A second off-chip driver circuit including a plurality of "n" separate driver circuit paths connected to input signal and produces output signals connected to a common node to provide output driver signals to the common node. The common node is connected to the second input of the comparator circuit for comparison with the reference off-chip driver output signal from the first off-chip driver circuit to determine the operating state of the second off-chip driver circuit with respect to the operating state of the first off-chip driver circuit.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuits, and more particularly to input/output driver circuits for integrated circuits.
2. Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,623 issued Aug. 8, 1989 to Flaherty entitled OUTPUT BUFFER HAVING PROGRAMMABLE DRIVE CIRCUIT discloses an output buffer circuit for providing selected output driving characteristics. A plurality of input terminals receive control and data signals and are connected to an output terminal through a plurality of interconnected driver transistors. Drive selector circuitry is responsive to control signals to selectively vary the connections of the driver transistors to the output terminal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,450 issued Oct. 6, 1992 to Ruetz entitled PROGRAMMABLE OUTPUT DRIVE CIRCUIT discloses a programmable output driver circuit having multiple drive capabilities for optimizing noise margins at different frequencies. The circuit includes a plurality of signal paths in parallel, each comprising a driver unit having a pull-down and pull-up transistor. During operation, selected signal paths are disabled to reduce noise at lower frequencies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,782 issued Jan. 23, 1996 to Chan entitled TRANSMISSION LINE OUTPUT DRIVER discloses a push-pull output driver circuit that includes a pair of low current output circuits connected in parallel with a pair of high current series connected devices. In response to a pulse transition at the driver circuit input, one of the high current devices is turned on to change the state of the output signal. When the output signal has reached a steady state, a low current device is turned on and the high current device is turned off such that the low current maintains the output signal state.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,977 issued Mar. 12, 1996 to Pickup entitled OUTPUT DRIVER HAVING PROCESS, VOLTAGE AND TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION FOR DELAY AND RISETIME discloses a chip wherein the effects of Process, supply Voltage and Temperature (PVT) variables are minimized by a table of predrive gain used to compensate for the effect of the PVT variables.

International Business Machines Corporation