A drive unit for dish washing machines includes a flow channel housing, a filter housing and an arm holder, which are thermally fused to one another to form an integral unit. Consequently, assembly of the drive unit is simplified, leakage of wash water is prevented, and pumping performance is increased. Also, the flow channel housing, the filter housing and the arm holder are concurrently fixed to a pump housing of the drive unit by fixing members. Consequently, the assembly process of the drive unit is simplified, and the coupling force between the components of the drive unit is increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dish washing machine, and more particularly, to a drive unit for dish washing machines that can be easily assembled and is capable of improving wash water filtering performance.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a dish washing machine is a machine that injects wash water to dishes to wash the dishes, and heats the washed dishes to dry the washed dishes. A conventional dish washing machine is illustrated in FIG. 1. The construction of the conventional dish washing machine will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 1.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the conventional dish washing machine comprises: upper and lower injection arms 4 and 5; upper and lower racks 6 and 7; and a drive unit 10, all of which are mounted in a tub 1. To the drive unit 10 are connected upper and lower connection pipes 2 and 3 for pumping out wash water and a drain hose 9 for draining the wash water. The upper and lower connection pipes 2 and 3 are connected to the upper and lower injection arms 4 and 5, respectively. The upper rack 6 is disposed above the upper injection arm 4, and the lower rack 7 is disposed above the lower injection arm 5.
The upper and lower injection arms 4 and 5 are rotatably disposed above the drive unit 10. Each of the upper and lower injection arms 4 and 5 has injection holes for allowing wash water to be injected to the corresponding rack therethrough. In addition, the lower injection arm 5 has injection holes for allowing wash water to be injected therethrough to remove food particles from a filter of the drive unit.
The drive unit 10 will now be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2. The drive unit 10 comprises: a sump 20 for receiving wash water; a heater 30 mounted to the sump 20 for heating wash water; a washing pump mounted to the sump 20 for pumping out wash water; a drain pump mounted to the sump 20 for draining wash water; and filtering device for guiding some of the pumped-out wash water to the upper and lower injection arms 4 and 5 and filtering the remainder of the pumped-out wash water.
The sump 20 has a wash water receiving space 21 for substantially receiving wash water defined therein. Also, the sump 20 has a drain chamber 22, which is partitioned from the wash water receiving space 21. To the outside of the wash water receiving space 21 is mounted a flow channel control device 25. To the flow channel control device 25 a flow channel control valve 26 is connected via a shaft. Also, the sump 20 has a plurality of bosses 29, to which the filtering device is fixed by fixing members.
The washing pump comprises: a washing motor 41 disposed below the sump 20 for generating a driving force; and an impeller 42 mounted in the filtering device for pumping out wash water. The impeller 42 is connected to a shaft of the washing motor 41. The drain pump is mounted to the drain chamber 22 of the sump 20. The drain pump comprises a drain motor 51 and a drain impeller 52.
The filtering device comprises: a pump housing 60 having a space for allowing the impeller 42 to be mounted therein; a filter housing 70 mounted for covering the top of the pump housing 60; and a cover 80 mounted for covering the top of the filter housing 70 and the top of the sump 20. The pump housing 60 is disposed at the lower surface of the filter housing 70. The cover 80 is disposed at the upper surface of the filter housing 70.
The filter housing 70 has a solid waste chamber 75 defined therein. The solid waste chamber 75 has an outlet port 75a, which communicates with the drain chamber 22. The outlet port 75a extends a predetermined length downward from the solid waste chamber 75 such that the outlet port 75a can be inserted into the drain chamber 22.
The cover 80 has a filter 81, which corresponds to the solid waste chamber 75 of the filter housing 70. At the cover, around the filter 81, are formed a plurality of collection holes 82. The collection holes 82 communicate with the sump 20.
The assembly of the drive unit 10 will now be described. At the edge of the pump housing 60 are formed a plurality of bosses 67. At the filter housing 70 are formed a plurality of fixing holes 77, which correspond to the bosses 67 of the pump housing 60, respectively. The fixing holes 77 of the filter housing 70 are arranged along a circumferential part, which is spaced a predetermined distance from the edge of the filter housing 70 toward the center of the filter housing 70. The bosses 67 have fixing holes formed therein, respectively. Consequently, the pump housing 60 is fixed to the filter housing 70 by inserting fixing members B1 into the fixing holes of the bosses 67 of the pump housing 60 through the fixing holes 77 of the filter housing 70, respectively.
At the edge of the filter housing 70 are also formed a plurality of bosses 78, which extend outward from the edge of the filter housing 70. At the cover 80 are formed a plurality of fixing holes 88, which correspond to the bosses 78 of the filter housing 70, respectively. The bosses 78 have fixing holes formed therein, respectively. Consequently, the filter housing 70 is fixed to the cover 80 by inserting fixing members B2 into the fixing holes of the bosses 78 of the filter housing 70 through the fixing holes 88 of the cover 80, respectively.
At the cover 80 are also formed a plurality of fixing holes 89, which correspond to the bosses 29 of the sump 20, respectively. Consequently, the cover 80 is fixed to the sump 20 by inserting fixing members B3 into fixing holes formed in the bosses 29 of the sump 20 through the fixing holes 89 of the cover 80, respectively. Since the cover 80 is supported by the sump 20, the pump housing 60 and the filter housing 70 do not fall. In this way, fixing between the pump housing 60 and the filter housing 70, between the filter housing 70 and the cover 80, and between the cover 80 and the sump 20 is accomplished by means of the fixing members B1, B2 and B3.
The filter housing 70 will now be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the filter housing 70 comprises: a wash water inlet port 72 for allowing wash water pumped out from the impeller 42 to be introduced therethrough; main flow channels 73a and 73b and a sampling flow channel 74 connected to the wash water inlet port 72; and a solid waste chamber 75 connected to the sampling flow channel 74. At the outlet port 75a of the solid waste chamber 75 is mounted an opening/closing valve for allowing wash water and food particles to be discharged from the solid waste chamber 75 to the drain chamber 22 when a draining operation is performed.
At the wash water inlet port 72 of the filter housing 70 is rotatably mounted a flow channel control valve 26 for opening or closing the main flow channels 73a and 73b. The flow channel control valve 26 is connected to the flow channel control device 25, which is mounted to the sump 20, via a shaft. At the edge of the channel control valve 26 is formed an opening/closing rib 26a for opening or closing the main flow channels 73a and 73b.
The operation of the dish washing machine with the above-stated construction will now be described. The dish washing machine successively or selectively performs a preliminary washing operation, a main washing operation, a rinsing operation, a heating and rinsing operation, and a drying operation to wash dishes. Draining operations are performed between the respective operations. Hereinafter, the main washing operation will be described in detail.
When the main washing operation is initiated, the washing motor 41 is rotated, and therefore, the impeller 42 is rotated. The impeller 42 pumps out wash water (containing a detergent) from the sump 20 to the wash water inlet port 72 of the pump housing 60. At this time, the flow channel control device 25 is rotated, and therefore, the flow channel control valve 26 either selectively opens the main flow channels 73a and 73b, as shown in FIG. 5A, or simultaneously opens the main flow channels 73a and 73b, as shown in FIG. 3. As a result, some of the wash water in the wash water inlet port 72 is introduced into the upper injection arm 4 and/or the lower injection arm 5 through the main flow channel 73a and/or the main flow channel 73b, and the remainder of the wash water is introduced into the solid waste chamber 75 through the sampling flow channel 74.
Preferably, the flow channel control valve 26 simultaneously or alternately opens the main flow channels 73a and 73b such that the wash water can be supplied to not only the upper injection arm 4 but also the lower injection arm 5. At this time, some of the wash water is always introduced into the sampling flow channel 74 irrespective of which main flow channel(s) is opened by the flow channel control valve 26.
The wash water introduced into the sampling flow channel 74 is directly guided into the solid waste chamber 75. The wash water guided into the solid waste chamber 75 overflows through the filter 81, which is disposed above the solid waste chamber 75. At this time, the filter 81 filters the wash water such that foreign matter is separated from the wash water.
The filtered wash water and the wash water dropping from the upper and lower injection arms 4 and 5 is introduced again into the sump 20 through the collection holes 82 of the cover 80. In this way, the wash water is filtered. It should be noted that some of the wash water is not filtered for a short period of time, but almost all of the wash water is filtered during the main washing operation.
After the washing operation is completed as described above, a draining operation is initiated. When the draining operation is initiated, the drain pump 51 and 52 are operated. At this time, the wash water and the food particles are introduced into the drain pump 51 and impeller 52 from the sump 20 by a suction force of the drain pump 51 and impeller 52. At the same time, the wash water and the food particles are introduced into the drain pump 51 and impeller 52 from the solid waste chamber 75 through the outlet port 75a, as shown in FIG. 5B. The wash water and the food particles introduced into the drain pump 51 and impeller 52 are drained out of the dish washing machine through the drain hose 9.
However, the conventional dish washing machine has the following problems. First, the pump housing is not supported by the sump. The pump housing is fixed to the lower part of the filter housing. As a result, the fixing operation of the impeller to the shaft of the washing motor is very complicated, and therefore, time required to assemble the drive unit is increased.
Secondly, the assembly of the pump housing and the filter housing is accomplished by fixing members. After that, the assembly of the cover and the sump is accomplished by fixing members. As a result, the assembly of the drive unit is very complicated, and the number of fixing members is considerably increased.
Thirdly, the assembly of the pump housing and the filter housing is accomplished by fixing members, and the assembly of the filter housing and the cover is accomplished by fixing members, which are different from those used to assemble the pump housing and the filter housing. As a result, gaps are created between the pump housing and the filter housing and between the filter housing and the cover if the assembly of the pump housing and the filter housing and/or the assembly of the filter housing and the cover is not secure. Consequently, wash water leaks from the gaps created between the pump housing and the filter housing and between the filter housing and the cover, and therefore, wash water pumping performance is decreased. Furthermore, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the washing pump. Consequently, the size of the dish washing machine is increased, and therefore, the manufacturing costs of the dish washing machine are also increased.
Fourthly, the installation space for the solid waste chamber is seriously restricted due to the various flow channels of the filter housing. Consequently, filtering capacity is reduced, and the degree of freedom for installation of the solid waste chamber is decreased. Fifthly, the bottom surface of the solid waste chamber is horizontally disposed. Consequently, solid waste, such as food particles, remains in the solid waste chamber.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In the manufacture of integrated circuits, damage to transistors caused by ESD is customarily precluded by connecting the gates of the transistors, in an early stage, to a protection diode. If, for example during plasma etching or reactive ion etching, an electric charge is stored on a floating gate, this charge can be removed via the diode before electric breakdown occurs. In a first embodiment of a device in accordance with the invention, the diode is formed in an active region covered by an electrically insulating layer 12. The gate 8, or a poly track 9 connected thereto, projects above this layer and covers only a part of the active region. In the uncovered part of the active region, a cathode or anode is provided so as to be self-aligned relative to the poly track. In another embodiment, the poly track 9 is situated directly next to the region of the diode. The poly track 9 and the surface zone 10 of the protection diode are interconnected by an overlapping metal contact 15. The diode can be manufactured by means of the same process steps as those necessary to manufacture the transistor. In addition, the surface area occupied by the diode can be kept very small.

The invention relates to a semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor body which is provided at a surface with a MOS transistor having a gate which is electrically insulated from an underlying channel region by an intermediate gate dielectric, and, in a neighboring region of a first conductivity type, a surface zone of a second, opposite conductivity type is formed which is conductively connected to the gate and which forms a protection diode with the adjacent region of the semiconductor body, via which protection diode electric charge is removed from the gate before the gate dielectric is damaged as a result of electrostatic discharge.
Such a device is known, inter alia, from the patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,908.
In the manufacture of CMOS and BICMOS type integrated circuits, it is customary to grow, in a first phase of the process, the thin gate oxide having a specific thickness of, for example, 10 nm, whereafter the gates, customarily of doped polycrystalline silicon, are provided thereon, and subsequently the source and drain zones of the transistors are formed in the semiconductor body. In a next phase, the whole structure is provided with a dielectric layer, for example an oxide layer, whereafter the wiring in the form of one or more metal layers is formed in order to connect the different components of the circuit to each other and to bonding pads enabling external connections to be made. As the dimensions are becoming smaller and smaller (sub-micron) and the number of components as well as the complexity of the circuits are increasing continuously, the number of metal layers tends to increase and amounts to at least four in current circuits.
During the wiring process, connections can be made which are electrically floating until they are connected again by the last wiring layer. In the meantime, however, electric charge caused, for example, by plasma etching, may accumulate on these floating connections. If one of these connections is coupled to the polygate of a transistor, the charge may leak to the substrate via the thin gate oxide, whereby it may exceed a maximum value and, thus, cause irreparable damage to the gate oxide.
To preclude premature breakdown of the gate oxide, said patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,908 already proposes to connect the polygate to a diode formed in the semiconductor body. If, during the production process, electric charge is stored on the electrically floating gate, this charge can be removed via the diode before causing damage to the gate oxide.
Since the number of transistors may be very large, it is important that the dimensions of the diode are as small as possible so as to preclude that the surface of the circuit becomes too large. In addition, it is important that the diode should be compatible with the rest of the circuit and, preferably, can be manufactured with the same process steps as the transistors. In the known device, the connection between the diode and the polygate takes the form of a CS contact in which the poly is directly deposited, at the location of the diode, on the locally exposed surface of the semiconductor body. In the manufacture of this device, the gate oxide grown is provided with a thin polylayer which serves to protect said gate oxide. A window which defines the position of the diode is subsequently provided in this polylayer and the underlying gate oxide. Next, a second polysilicon layer is deposited which contacts the silicon body at the location of the window. By means of a doping step, the polylayer is provided with an n-type doping, and, simultaneously, the protection diode is formed at the location of the CS contact in the semiconductor body. In a subsequent series of process steps, the poly is provided with a pattern, whereafter the source and drain zones of the transistors are formed in a customary manner. The process includes process steps, such as the provision of the first, protective polylayer and the provision of the window at the location of the diode, which process steps are required only in connection with the diode and add to the complexity of the production process.


Provided are: a method for producing a polymer composition containing a modified chlorinated polyolefin, which exhibits excellent production stability; and a coating material which contains a polymer composition containing a modified chlorinated polyolefin. According to the present invention, a polymer composition containing a modified chlorinated polyolefin is obtained by copolymerizing polymerizable monomers including (b) a chlorinated polyolefin having an allyloxy group and (c) one or more compounds selected from among (meth)acrylic acid esters, (meth)acrylic acids and styrene in the coexistence of (a) a compound having an allyloxy group and a hydroxyl group.

Plastic materials are currently being used in a variety of different industrial fields, among which polyolefin-based resins such as polypropylene resins, being materials with numerous excellent properties and low cost, are widely used as base materials for molded articles and films. However, because polyolefin-based base materials have low polarity, their adhesion is inferior for coating films formed during coating, and therefore when coating onto plastic substrates such as polyolefins, a composition containing a modified chlorinated polyolefin such as an acryl-modified chlorinated polyolefin is used as a coating material or primer in order to achieve both adhesion with polyolefin-based base materials and compatibility with other resin components that are used in combination.
Conventional methods for obtaining compositions containing such modified chlorinated polyolefins have been disclosed, such as methods in which a hydroxyl-containing polymerizable unsaturated monomer is reacted with a chlorinated polyolefin that has an acid anhydride group, to introduce a polymerizable unsaturated group, and the polymerizable unsaturated monomer is polymerized with the polymerizable unsaturated group (PTL 1 and PTL 2).
However, this prior art has been problematic because the production stability is sometimes inadequate.
PTL 3 describes, as a method for improving production stability, a method for producing a modified chlorinated polyolefin resin composition in which a chlorinated polyolefin that has an acid anhydride group is modified using a hydroxyl group-containing (meth)acrylic acid ester and an alcohol, and a polymerizable vinyl-based monomer is copolymerized in an organic solvent in the presence of the obtained esterified chlorinated polyolefin. However, modified chlorinated polyolefin resin compositions obtained by this production method have sometimes had insufficient curability in compositions used in combination with crosslinking agents that are reactive with hydroxyl groups. In addition, the production stability has sometimes been insufficient with this production method as well.

Polymer composition containing modified chlorinated polyolefin and method for producing same


Stations in standby mode in a wireless local area network (WLAN) become disassociated with their access point. In the event traffic is intended for the station in standby mode, a wakeup message needs to be communicated to the station. Typically, a wakeup message could be broadcast on a broadcast or multicast address, and when the station checks for broadcasts, the station can determine whether it needs to wake up. However, in a protected network, a disassociated station cannot decrypt messages from the access point without reassociating. However, the cost of reassociating in time and power can be significant, so reassociating should not be performed unless the station needs to wake up, leading to a vicious cycle as the station does not know it must wake up unless it can decrypt the message. To address this issue, in one embodiment the access points do not encrypt messages on a select multicast address, whereby messages such as wakeup message can be transmitted. In another embodiment, the messages are still encrypted. However, the identification of which station must wake up is encoded as the length of the encrypted payload. These methods allow a general message of communicating to disassociated stations in a protected WLAN environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to wireless communications and more particularly relates to systems and methods for communicating with stations in standby mode in an encrypted environment.
2. Background Information
Among other things, FIG. 1 illustrates a typical network configuration for communicating data between stations via an access point in a wireless local area network (WLAN) or 802.11-based network. As illustrated in the non-limiting example of FIG. 1, a network 140 may be coupled to access points 130 and 132. In some embodiments, the network 140 may be the Internet, for example, and can be connected to an external computer such as central computer 150. Access point 130 can be configured to provide wireless communications to various wireless devices or stations 110, 120, 124. Furthermore, access point 132 can be configured to provide wireless communications to various wireless devices or stations 112, 114 and 116. Depending on the particular configuration, stations 110, 112, 114, 116, 120, and 124 may be a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and/or other device configured for wirelessly sending and/or receiving data. Furthermore, access points 130 and 132 may be configured to provide a variety of wireless communications services, including but not limited to: Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) services, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) services, and wireless session initiation protocol (SIP) services. Furthermore, the stations 110, 120, 124 may be configured for WIFI communications (including, but not limited to 802.11, 802.11b, 802.11a/b, 802.11g, and/or 802.11n).
Access point 130, for example, periodically broadcasts a beacon frame to various stations at a beacon period. The beacon frame is used by an access point to announce its presence and to relay information. For example, if station 110 is a laptop and is powered up or is transported to a location within range of access point 130, station 110 listens for a beacon frame from all access points in its range. Each access point within range transmits a beacon frame and depending on the system, the user at station 110 can select which access point to use, thereby making an association between station 110 and the access point.
In order to save power, stations can be put into standby mode or a deep sleep mode. Also, for the purposes of this disclosure the term "sleep mode" will be taken to mean an operating state entered by a computing device either upon initiation by a user or after expiration of a period of sufficient inactivity in which the amount of power supplied to the device is reduced as compared to the amount supplied during normal operation.
Due in part to the dynamic technology dependent nature of today's workplace, network administrators must constantly perform functions requiring access of individual network nodes from the administrator's computer. These functions can include configuring new nodes, updating and installing software, adding network printers, scanning for viruses, and file back-ups to name a few. Typically, many of these administrative functions are scheduled for execution after normal business hours so as to minimize interference with user applications during the work day. However, during these after hour times, individual computers on the LAN may be in one of a variety of power conserving modes, also known as sleep modes. Typically, the power conserving modes cause the display to be put in a low power state, the hard drive to be spun down and even the microprocessor to reduce its clock frequency or to be shut down completely. In the case where the computers are actually stations on a WLAN, the antenna and the radio frequency (RF) circuitry are shutdown or put into a power saving inactive mode. Having the computers powered down can make it difficult if not impossible to schedule and implement after hours network events. If the administrator has to physically turn on each machine, the efficiencies of centralized network administration are lost.
In another set of circumstances, if the wireless station has enabled a phone function perhaps in a voice over IP (VoIP) setting, the station may need to wake up to receive the call.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/995,188, filed Nov. 24, 2004, entitled "Systems and Methods for Wireless Wake-On-LAN for Wireless LAN Devices," a wakeup data sequence is broadcast by an access point to all stations. Each station periodically wakes up and receives the wakeup data sequence, if present. The wakeup data sequence identifies which stations need to wake up. If a station receives the wakeup data sequence, but is not identified, it returns to standby mode.
When a station goes into standby mode, it is disassociated with the access point. In a protected environment, such as when Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is used, the frame body of all data frames from the access point is encrypted. Because a station in standby mode is disassociated, it cannot decrypt data frames from the access point. The station will not be able to decrypt the body of a wakeup data sequence as broadcast by the access point. So even if the station were able to determine that there was a wakeup data sequence broadcast by the access point, the station could not decode the frame body and hence would not know which stations need to wake up. Accordingly, various needs exist in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Systems and methods for communicating to a disassociated station in a protected network


A failure detection protocol is applied so that failure detection requests for the same aggregated link can be processed even when the failure detection requests differ among routing protocols. The failure detection protocol is executed for each of the physical links that form an aggregated link, and a notification is sent to a higher-level application (for example, a routing protocol), which is a requesting source of a communication line failure monitoring request, with a discrimination between a case in which the communication of the aggregated link in its entirety fails and a case in which some physical links of the aggregated link fail.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for applying a failure detection protocol to an aggregated link using a communication protocol in the transport layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
The official standard for link aggregation is described in IEEE802.3ad. According to the technology described in IEEE802.3ad, the capacities of multiple physical links can be combined into one logical link to increase the bandwidth. The aggregated link is made to appear to the layers equal to or higher than the network layer of the OSI reference model, such as IPv4 or IPv6, as one MAC.
The standardization work of BFD (Bidirectional Forwarding Detection) is carried out by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) for creating a routing-protocol-independent protocol for detecting a communication failure between next-hops (see Bidirectional Forwarding Detection, draft-ietf-bfd-base-5, June, 2006 and BFD for IPv4 and IPv6 (single hop), draft-ietf-bfd-v4v6-1hop-5 June, 2006). BFD uses UDP to send and receive packet regularly between systems and, if packets are not received for a predetermined time, determines that a communication line failure has occurred. Usually, BDF performs the failure monitoring of a communication line based on a request from a routing protocol. When a failure monitoring request is generated for the same data protocol path from multiple routing protocols, BDF performs the monitoring in a single BFD session.


The film coating apparatus comprising a mounting table for holding an LCD substrate substantially horizontally, a nozzle having a slit-form liquid discharge port extending from one end to the other end of the substrate, coating solution supply mechanism for supplying a resist solution to the nozzle, and moving means for moving the nozzle in parallel to the substrate in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the liquid discharge port in such a manner that the liquid discharge port keeps a constant clearance with the substrate. The nozzle comprises an entrance for introducing the resist solution from the resist solution supply mechanism, a liquid storage portion communicating with the entrance and the liquid discharge port, for temporarily storing the resist solution introduced through the entrance and sending the coating solution to the liquid discharge port, and film-thickness control means provided on both peripheral regions of the liquid discharge port, for reducing a pressure of the coating solution discharged from the both peripheral regions of the liquid discharge port. The film-thickness control means controls the pressure of the resist solution discharged from the both peripheral regions to be substantially equal to that from the middle region, thereby forming the resist coating film having a uniform thickness on the substrate.

The present invention relates to a film coating apparatus for coating a resist film on a substrate such as an LCD substrate and a semiconductor substrate.
In liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing processes, a photolithography technique is employed. In the photolithographic technique, a resist is first coated on a glass substrate and a predetermined pattern is then formed on the coated resist by exposing the resist to light followed by developing it. In this manner, a resist film having the predetermined pattern is formed on the surface of the glass substrate. If the resist pattern is further subjected to a film formation process and an etching process, a circuit formed of a semiconductor layer, an insulating layer and an electrode layer can be formed on the substrate in a predetermined pattern.
For example, U.S. Ser. No. 08/914,819 (filed on Aug. 20, 1997) discloses a resist coating apparatus for an LCD substrate having a slit nozzle. The conventional apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1, has a nozzle 1 having a linear slit-form discharge port 2. A passage 1a communicates with a resist solution supply source (not shown) and a liquid storage portion 1c of the nozzle 1 through an entrance 1b. The liquid storage portion 1c communicates with a slit-form discharge port 2. While a resist solution 3 is being discharged from the slit nozzle 1 in the form of a band, the nozzle 1 is moved along an LCD substrate from one side to the opposite side in a scanning manner, thereby coating the resist on the substrate.
In the nozzle 1 of the conventional apparatus, however, pressure P2 applied to the peripheral regions of the slit-form discharge port 2 tends to be higher than pressure p1 applied to the middle region thereof, with the result that the amount of the resist solution discharged from the peripheral regions is increased compared to that from the middle region. Consequently, the resist solution discharged from the peripheral regions becomes thicker than that from the middle region, as shown in FIG. 2. Furthermore, since the viscosity of the resist solution is influenced by the variance in discharge pressure of the resist solution, the resist solution discharged from both peripheral regions of the discharge port 2 becomes thick. Consequently, the resist film 4 formed an LCD substrate G is thick at the both lateral sides as shown in FIG. 3. As a whole, the resist film is formed with a non-uniform thickness, with the result that the product yield decreases.
In addition, when the film is formed by coating the resist solution discharged from the nozzle 1 on the LCD substrate, other factors such as ambient temperature and static electricity have effects on the resist film formation. Also for this reason, the resultant resist film becomes non-uniform.


A multiprocessor system may include multiple processors and multiple caches associated with the processors. The system may employ a memory snarfing technique to reduce writes to the system (or main) memory. Cache-ownership capable agents, e.g., agents with write-back caches, may snarf the data (obtain the cache line) if the required cache line is in a valid state in the agent's cache.

A multiprocessor system may include two or more computer processors which may work together on a single program. Each processor may have its own cache memory which is separate from the larger system (or main) memory. A cache memory may be a portion of memory made of high-speed static random access memory (SRAM). Many programs may access the same data or instructions repeatedly. By keeping as much of this information as possible in the cache, the system may avoid accessing the slower system memory.
Cache coherency protocols may be employed to manage the caches of a multiprocessor system to prevent data from being lost or overwritten before the data is transferred from a cache to the system memory or from a cache to another cache. For example, in a system employing a snooping protocol, such as the MSI protocol, caches on the bus may monitor (or snoop) the bus to determine if they have a copy of the block of data requested on the bus. The caches may modify the state of a memory block they contain in a cache line from, e.g., modified (M) or dirty, shared (S), or invalid (I), in response to read or write operations taken by other caches on the bus.

Power/performance optimized cache using memory write prevention through write snarfing


A user or a provider of an IHS (Information Handling System) may prefer to disable, on a temporary or permanent basis, hardware components of the IHS. For instance, a user may prefer to prevent all microphone inputs through disabling of the microphone device of the IHS. Disabling hardware components via the operating system of IHS is cumbersome, especially for temporary hardware configurations. Embodiments provide the capability for securely managing certain hardware components of an IHS without reliance on the operating system of an IHS, while providing assurances that a hardware component is actually disabled. Embodiments assure disabling of a hardware component by providing the ability to terminate power to the component, where the power is terminated based on commands transmitted by a trusted resource via an out-of-band signal pathway to the hardware component.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an Information Handling System (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, global communications, etc. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
IHSs may include a wide variety of hardware components. An operating system utilized by an IHS may provide support for configuration of these hardware components. However, such capabilities are not suitable for supporting temporary configuration of hardware components and are subject to the security vulnerabilities of the operating system and the applications running in the operating system. In certain scenarios, a user of an IHS may prefer to disable certain hardware components of an IHS, such as a microphone or camera, with assurances that the component is disabled at the hardware level.

Authorization control for hardware management


A compatibilized silica for incorporation into natural and synthetic polymers in latex form or dry blending operations is described. Said compatibilized silica is formed by the reaction of precipitated or fumed silica with organosilicon coupling compounds in aqueous suspension. Polymer-silica reinforced masterbatches are prepared by addition of the compatibilized silica slurry to natural and synthetic polymer latices. Also described is a process for preparing the compatibilized silica.

This invention relates to an improved process for the manufacture of silica-filled masterbatches of natural and synthetic rubber and thermoplastic polymers, particularly to those polymers prepared by emulsion polymerization processes, and to an improved process for the uniform incorporation of a compatibilized silica slurry into such polymers at the latex stage. This invention further relates to the compatibilized silica obtained from the compatibilized silica slurry process and polymer compositions containing this compatibilized silica.
Silica and carbon black have been commonly used as reinforcing agents and/or fillers in rubber and thermoplastic polymers. A number of techniques have been developed to incorporate such reinforcing agents and fillers into the polymer compositions, including both wet and dry blending processes. The incorporation of such silica and carbon black as reinforcing agents and/or fillers is far more complex than might otherwise appear. One problem in wet blending of silica with latices of such polymers arises from the fact that the hydrophilic silica has a tendency to associate with the aqueous phase and not blend uniformly with the hydrophobic polymer. Use cannot be made of the hydrophobic fumed silicas because these have been treated to eliminate most of the hydrophilic, reactive sites and consequently cannot be dispersable in water. The relatively high cost of the hydrophobic fumed silicas also prohibit their use in many dry blending applications.
To overcome the problems associated with the hydrophilic nature of the silica, U.S. Pat. No. 3,317,458 proposed a process whereby an aqueous solution of silicic acid was treated so as to precipitate silica directly onto the surface of an aqueous carbon black in paste form. One significant limitation of this technique is that the surface of the carbon black is altered thus obviating the utility of the many surface, structure characteristics of specialty carbon blacks available to the skilled compounder in designing filled, reinforced polymers for specific end uses.
Attempts have been made to use cationic emulsifiers in an effort to distribute such fillers and/or reinforcing agents in polymeric latices; notably among them are quaternary alkylated ammonium halides, German Patent No. 1,188,797. It has been found, however, that such quaternary ammonium compounds have a tendency to react with the carbon black, dispersing it into the aqueous phase; that limiting the ability to blend carbon black with the polymeric components in the latex. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,113 never dry silica is treated with oleophilic quaternary ammonium compounds to blend with an aqueous dispersion of an elastomer containing an anionic dispersing agent. In addition to the problem referenced above with carbon black dispersion, unfortunately, such techniques require specific coagulating agents.
Perhaps the most commonly employed practice, used commercially, is the technique of dry blending either silica, carbon black or both of them into rubber and thermoplastic polymers in a high-shear milling operation. That practice has many limitations. Notable among them include the tendency of the filler particles to agglomerate to each other, resulting in nonuniform dispersion of the filler throughout the polymer constituting the continuous phase. Another problem commonly experienced in such high-shear milling operations is the tendency of the polymers to degrade during milling. That necessitates the use of higher molecular weight polymers, which sometimes require the incorporation of various types of processing aids to facilitate mixing and dispersion of the filler particles into the polymer constituting the continuous phase. The cost associated with the use of such processing aids also increases the manufacturing cost of the polymeric compound or article. The use of processing aids has the further disadvantage in that such processing aids may have a negative effect on the cure or end use of the polymer. And, in addition, dry blending techniques adds additional processing costs, in part due to the accompanied excessive equipment wear by the abrasive fillers.
To improve dispersion of the silica during dry mixing, it has been proposed that such compounding operations employ a silica which has been treated with an organosilane coupling agent having dual functionality. Representative of such coupling agents are those well known compounds that include both an organic group such as an amino alkyl or a mercaptoalkyl group bonded directly to the silicon atom along with a readily hydrolyzable group, such as an alkoxy group as represented by a methoxy group or an ethoxy group likewise bonded directly to the silicon atom. In those systems, it is generally recognized that the alkoxy group hydrolyzes in the presence of moisture typically found on the surface of the silica to form the corresponding silanol which reacts with or condenses in the presence of the silica surface to bond the silicon atom to the silica surface. The organic groups likewise attached to the silicon atom are thus available for chemical reaction with the polymer matrix during vulcanization. As a result, the polymer matrix may become chemically bonded by means of the coupling agent to the silica surface during cure or vulcanization of the polymer. Problems associated with the use of such silanes during compounding are unpleasant odors, premature curing, and/or scorching.
In an effort to overcome the problems associated with the use of silane coupling agents, it has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,897 to employ phenoxy acidic acid along with a methylene donor in place of the conventional organosilanes. The foregoing patent suggests that the use of such a system provides improved physical properties and reduced viscosity of the melt during compounding.
Various other attempts have been made to overcome the problems associated with wet blending such fillers and/or reinforcing agents with polymer latices. For example, it has been proposed, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,055,956 and 3,767,605 to add carbon black in the form of a slurry directly to an emulsion polymerization process of rubber polymer, at the latex stage, followed by coagulation and recovery of a rubber-carbon black masterbatch. Such processes work well with carbon black but fail to incorporate substantial amounts of fine particle silica. U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,329 proposes a process for dispersing carbon black and like fillers into concentrated rubber latices by the use of a low molecular weight conjugated diene/carboxylic acid polymer in the form of an alkali metal salt dissolved in water as the dispersing aid or dispersing latex.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,657 describes mixtures of silica and synthetic polymers prepared by treating a polymer latex with a dispersion of silica and an alkyl trimethyl ammonium halide in water. Not only does the quaternary ammonium halide disrupt the blending of carbon black, the process requires the slow addition of the silica dispersion to prevent premature coagulation. Other elaborate techniques as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,734 where a partitioning agent in the form of a blend of precipitated silica and hydrophobic fumed silica are incorporated into a concentrated polymer latex have been suggested. The silica adsorbs the water, and the resulting solid mixture is dried with removal of the hydrophobic fumed silica to form a free flowing blend of polymer particles coated with precipitated silica. That process is limited to relatively small scale batch system and requires recovery and recycle of the hydrophobic fumed silica. That process fails to incorporate into the polymer the more desirable hydrophobic fumed silica.
Such processes with concentrated latex, as those skilled in the art can readily appreciate, involve complex procedures not only blending the silica with the polymer latex, but also in effecting its recovery when excess silica or carbon black must be employed. Another limitation of such processes is that recovery of the filled polymer directly from the latex stage without filtration and like treatment steps used to remove byproducts from the emulsion polymerization can have deleterious effects on the end use properties of the polymer thus recovered. Such problems can be seen in French Patent Nos. 2,558,008 and 2,558,874. In the first, the addition to a rubber latex of precipitated silica effects coagulation of the rubber polymer. In the second, a stable latex of derivatized silica and a carboxylated butadiene rubber is prepared to add to natural or synthetic elastomer latices. The derivatization of the silica is accomplished by treatment with polyamines, polyethylene amines or nonionic polyoxyethylene. Such free agents are wholly incompatible with typical coagulation techniques used in the recovery of the emulsion process polymers.
Thus, there is a need to provide a simple and less expensive technique for the uniform incorporation of silica fillers alone or with other reinforcing agents, particularly carbon blacks, into natural and synthetic polymers which do not require the use of complex processing aids.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a process for the incorporation of silica into a natural or synthetic polymer at the latex stage which overcomes the foregoing disadvantages.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a process for the incorporation of silica alone or with carbon blacks into natural and synthetic polymers at the latex stage which is simple and inexpensive and can be used to incorporate the silica without causing premature coagulation of the latex.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a process for the incorporation of silica reinforcing agent alone or with other fillers, particularly carbon blacks, into natural and synthetic polymers in which the silica can be substantially uniformly dispersed and can compatibilize or react with the polymer matrix during processing for end use.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a wet process for treating precipitated or fumed silica with a coupling agent whereby it becomes compatible with the natural or synthetic polymer phase of a polymer latex.
It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a dry silica, compatible with natural and synthetic polymers, having an organic coating chemically bonded as clusters on its surface.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from the following description of the invention.

Compatibilized silica and polymer silica-reinforced masterbatch containing same


A method of forming an exposure mask pattern providing edge division points P at edges of a design pattern (1) by predetermined intervals and correcting edge positions for each divided edge portion, wherein, for the design pattern (1), rectangular patterns (10) and (11) are formed having pairs of facing long sides and facing short sides in the design pattern (1). The rectangular patterns (10) and (11) are formed at portions having widths W1a and W2a of the long sides in the design pattern (1) within a predetermined interval W0, so that W1a≦W0 and W2a≦W0. Next, at each of the rectangular patterns (10) and (11), new edge division points P (P1) are given along each of the facing long sides at predetermined intervals t from start points P0 sharing a short side. Due to this, the exposure mask pattern used for lithography can be simplified and the precision of formation of a transfer pattern can be improved.

In the process of producing a semiconductor device, ion implantation and pattern etching are performed using resist patterns as a mask.
However, it is known that a resist pattern obtained by lithography and a transfer pattern formed by an etching after that suffer from variations in dimensional precision due to process conditions, the density of arrangement of patterns, underlayer conditions, and other various factors. This variation in dimensional precision becomes a factor causing short-circuits between patterns, disconnection, and other defects.
Therefore, in recent years, for obtaining a transfer pattern closer to a design pattern, so-called "optical proximity effect correction" (hereinafter referring to as "OPC") has been performed to correct the design pattern to obtain a mask pattern for exposure (that is, "exposure mask pattern"). From this, model-base OPC is a method, as shown in FIG. 11, of giving edges of a design pattern 1, shown by a broken line in the figure, edge division points P, performing simulation of light intensity using the centers between edge division points P as evaluation points, automatically determining amounts of correction for the edge positions between the edge division points P based on the obtained simulation results, and thereby forming the exposure mask pattern 3.
The shape of the exposure mask pattern 3 given by the above model-base OPC is determined by an interval t between the edge division points P. If the interval t is large, the correction becomes that much rougher, and therefore improvement of the precision of the transfer pattern obtained by lithography using the exposure mask pattern is difficult. As opposed to this, if the interval t between the edge division points P is small, the exposure mask pattern 3 ends up becoming complicated, production becomes difficult, and the production cost of the mask increases. Further, due to the occurrence of fine patterns, defect inspections become impossible and sometimes fabrication of a mask guaranteed against defects becomes impossible. Therefore, in model-base OPC, the interval t between the edge division points P is set so as to secure the shape precision of a transfer pattern and to enable fabrication of a mask guaranteed against defects.
Further, when giving edge division points P to a design pattern 1, as shown in FIG. 12, using the vertexes P0 of the design pattern 1 as start points, edge division points P are successively given in accordance with the set interval t.
However, when using the vertexes of a design pattern as start points and successively giving edge division points, the interval between the position of a start point and an edge division point may result in "deviation" in the positions of the edge division points at facing edge portions. For example, in the L-shaped design pattern 1 shown in FIG. 12, if using the vertexes of the design pattern 1 as the start points P0, setting the interval t, and successively giving edge division points P, as long as the interval t does not match with the line widths W1 and W2 of the design pattern 1, as illustrated, "deviation" will occur at the positions of the edge division points P at facing edge portions.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, the edge portions of the exposure mask pattern 3 obtained by correction of the design pattern 1 become shifted in a step manner between facing edge portions. Therefore, despite setting the interval t between the edge division points P as explained above, the exposure mask pattern 3 becomes complicated, formation of the exposure mask pattern 3 becomes difficult, the mask cost increases, and fabrication of a mask guaranteed against defects becomes difficult.
Further, when using an exposure mask pattern 3 formed in this way to fabricate an exposure mask, the data of the exposure mask pattern 3 (so-called "mask data") is divided into individual rectangular portions. Therefore, the exposure mask pattern 3 is divided by division lines 7 provided perpendicularly from the edge division points P to the edges, if necessary, and electron beam lithography is performed using each divided pattern 9 portion as a shot area.
However, when forming an exposure mask pattern 3 having "deviation" at the edge portions as mentioned above with rectangular divided patterns 9, divided patterns 9 that have sides smaller than the interval t between the edge division points P are formed. Therefore, despite the interval t of the edge division points P being set as explained above, the number of the divided patterns 9 increases. This becomes a factor inviting an increase of the number of the shots in exposure when producing a mask and deterioration of the TAT (turn-around time).

Method of forming exposure mask pattern, exposure mask pattern, and method of producing semiconductor device


A display screen arrangement is disclosed herein. The arrangement includes, but is not limited to a concealable feature adapted to be mounted to an interior surface of a vehicle. The arrangement further includes, but is not limited to, a display screen that is adapted to be mounted to the interior surface of the vehicle proximate the concealable feature. The display screen has a first end and a second end and is configured to move between a retracted position and a deployed position. The first end and the second end are disposed in a first position relative to one another when the display screen is in the deployed position and the first end and the second end are disposed in a second position relative to one another when the display screen is in the retracted position and/or when the display screen transitions between the deployed position and the retracted position.

The presence of display screens, touch screens, and the like have become commonplace in modern vehicles. Such screens provide drivers and vehicle occupants with a means to receive information and with a means to exercise control over various vehicle components, in addition to facilitating other activities.
Despite their utility, some vehicle owners may find the presence of such screens in the vehicle interior to be aesthetically displeasing. Additionally, the display screen has traditionally been statically mounted in a vehicle's instrument panel and therefore consumes surface area that could be used for other purposes.
To address aesthetic and packaging considerations, some vehicle manufacturers have mounted movable display screens in their vehicle's interiors. In some examples, the display screen may be mounted on a rail or a track and may slide (translate) out to protrude from an instrument panel when the display screen is needed and may slide in and retract to a concealed position within the instrument panel when the display screen is not needed. In other examples, complicated mechanisms are used to permit the display to rotate in and out of a viewing position. For example, Japanese patent JP10217804, issued to Nissan Motor Company discloses a monitor that is housed in an instrument panel and that can be selectively rotated into position when desired. While this solution addresses the aesthetic concerns some vehicle owners have, it does not address the concerns which arise out of a display screen's consumption of packaging space. As is clear from the figures of JP10217804, the display screen and the mechanism that allows it to move between a stowed position and a display position is considerable, leaving virtually no room behind the display screen for the placement of a storage bin or other user accessible element.
Other manufacturers have gone in a different direction and have pivotally mounted their display screens in the vehicle's interior in a position directly over another feature such as a storage bin. To access the storage bin, a vehicle occupant need only pivot the display screen out of the way. While this addresses the packaging space issue that typically arises when a display screen is included in a vehicle interior, it does not address the aesthetic issues caused by the presence of a continuously visible display screen in a vehicle interior.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a display screen in a vehicle interior that addressed both the above described aesthetic concerns as well as the above described package space concerns. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Display screen arrangement and method of assembly


A water softening system includes apparatus that recycles a substantial percentage of the solution used for regenerating the system. This system conventionally includes a brine tank and a softening tank through which hard water from a source passes during normal operation. During a regeneration mode, the solution of sodium or potassium ions in the brine tank passes through the softening tank acquiring hardness ions, and then through a nanofilter that passes a much higher proportion of the sodium or potassium ions than the hardness ions from a high pressure side to a low pressure side. The hardness ions flow from the upstream end of the nanofilter through an outlet and into a drain. The liquid passing through the nanofilter contains salt that returns to the brine tank for reuse. Concentration of sodium or potassium ions may be tested during a fast rinse portion of the regeneration cycle.

Among industrialized nations of the world, there is a growing concern for, and emphasis on, environmentally responsible practices. For example, more and more governments and communities are interested in minimizing the kinds and quantities of chemicals that are deposited into water systems, including wastewater systems. A common form of wastewater pollution is the alkali metals such as sodium and potassium discharged into sewers or septic systems during typical regeneration processes of water softeners.
For the last fifty years or so, water softening has become widely used in those regions where water supplies contain high concentrations of calcium and magnesium, and are therefore considered "hard". Utilizing a sodium or potassium ion exchange process, resin-based water softeners are installed on water lines, particularly those leading into residences, to soften most if not all of the water used inside such homes. As a water supply passes through ion exchange resins inside a water softener, the calcium and magnesium ions bond to the resins and are removed from the water flow.
Periodically, these ion exchange resins must be regenerated by removing the hardness ions on the resins. Typically this regeneration is accomplished utilizing by washing the resins with an aqueous solution of alkali metal salts such as sodium or potassium chloride. The term "regenerant" in this application means "a liquid suitable for causing sodium or potassium to replace hardness ions on the surface of the softening resin."
In a typical regeneration process, the regenerant is slowly pumped through the resin bed. Through a chemical exchange process, the calcium and magnesium ions which were adsorbed onto the resin during the softening process are stripped off the resins and replaced with sodium or potassium ions. At the conclusion of this process, the "spent" solution containing both the hardness ions and the regenerant is discharged into the sewer or septic system. It is this discharge that has serious long-term effects on the environment, as the regenerant salinity, total dissolved solids, and/or chloride cause corrosion in the sewage system, and contaminate the planet's fresh water supplies.
Presently, because this pollution problem has defied resolution by economically acceptable means, some communities are resorting to banning or limiting water softening in homes. For example, on Oct. 12, 2009, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law, a bill giving local California water agencies the authority to restrict or even to ban the use of water softeners using on-site salt-based regeneration.
Scientific studies such as one conducted by Santa Clarita, Calif. are finding that regenerant discharged from water softeners is a significant source of water pollution. This finding supports prohibitions of, or restrictions on, current commercially available water softening systems. Consequently, removing the alkali salts from the spent regenerant before the solution is discharged has become an immediate and real concern both for communities that want soft water and for water softener manufacturers.

Water softener using nanofiltration to reclaim a portion of the regenerating solution


A system is disclosed for handling, storing, transporting and dispensing cryogenic fluids, liquid natural gas, compressed natural gas, and their equivalents. A fuel injection system is disclosed for directly injecting LNG into an engine's combustion chamber. Such systems include a railroad system in which a container of fuel is carried on a flat car behind a locomotive and the, e.g. liquid natural gas, is conveyed to the locomotive with appropriate valves, conduits, pumps, and controls. In one aspect a fuel fluid, liquid, or vapor is injected into an intake (e.g., an air intake) of an engine. In one aspect a fueling station has been invented for providing services of dispensing LNG and/or CNG for engines.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to natural gas fuel systems, including liquefied natural gas ("LNG") systems, compressed natural gas ("CNG") systems; gasoline and diesel fuel systems; and their equivalents; and, in one aspect, to handling, storing, moving, and dispensing such fuels and other hazardous materials. In certain particular aspects this invention is related to: internal tank valves; a method for direct injection of LNG into an engine combustion chamber; and container-type supported tanks with a supporting framework.
2. Description of Related Art
In response to air pollution, and other environmental damage, and health problems resulting from the use of gasoline, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") and diesel fuel in engines, LNG and CNG have been used as alternative fuels and engines have been developed which effectively utilize these cleaner burning fuels. Railroads, trucking and automobile fleets and maritime businesses are considering the conversion of their current engines so that they can use LNG or CNG. The prior art discloses tanks made of standard steel lined with up to a quarter of an inch of stainless steel or other corrosion-resistant and/or cold temperature-resistant material such as invar, titanium, monel, aluminum, or nickel steel.
In existing engines which use LNG as a fuel, the LNG is vaporized in a heat exchanger before it is combusted--either injected under high pressure (e.g. 2000 psig) into a combustion chamber or cylinder; or injected under low pressure into a carburetor. Certain existing systems for transporting and dispensing fuels such as gasoline and diesel and other hazardous liquids consist of railroad tank cars and over-the-highway tank trucks. Most such tanks have external valves which are easily damaged in accidents causing leaks and spills. There has long been a need for container type tanks with efficient and effective internal valves to provide a safer means of transportation of such liquids.
There has long been a need for an effective alternative fuel system. There has long been a need for such a system for efficiently handling, storing, transporting, dispensing and injecting fuels such as LNG and CNG. There has long been a need for safe and effective internal valves useful with containers of such fuels. There has long been a need for a system which provides convenient access to such fuels at a plurality of locations, including but not limited to remote locations and use with vehicles, trucks, railroads, ships and barges. There has long been a need for supported tanks with suitable frame supports for supporting and moving containers of such fuels.


The disclosure provides a composition for suppressing inflammation comprising at least one substance that disrupts a stem-loop structure in the 3′ untranslated region of a Regnase-1 mRNA, wherein the stem-loop structure is at least one stem-loop structure selected from a first stem-loop structure formed in a region corresponding to positions 231 to 245 of SEQ ID NO: 1 and a second stem-loop structure formed in a region corresponding to positions 424 to 442 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

Inflammation is involved in many diseases and plays an important role especially in septic shock and autoimmune diseases. Therapies for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a severe symptom of septic shock, are poorly available, except for steroid therapy. Recently developed therapies for autoimmune diseases include, for example, use of methotrexate, an immunosuppressant, for treating chronic rheumatoid arthritis, and antibody therapies targeting cytokines such as TNF, IL-6 receptors, and IL-1 receptors. However, some patients do no respond to anti-cytokine antibodies and antibody therapies are not effective to many autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus. Although type I interferon is known to be effective to multiple sclerosis, the efficacy is insufficient.
Regnase-1, also called Reg1, Zc3h12a, or Mcpip1, is a ribonuclease that suppresses excessive immune responses in the innate immune system by degrading mRNAs encoding molecules involved in inflammation induction and proinflammatory cytokines, e.g., interleukin (IL)-6, in immune cells such as macrophages and dendritic cells. Regnase-1 also suppresses excessive T cell activation in the acquired immune system by degrading mRNAs encoding molecules involved in the T cell activation.
Regnase-1 recognizes a stem-loop structure in the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of a translationally active target mRNA and degrades the mRNA (Non-Patent Literature 1). It is also known that Regnase-1 mRNAs have one stem-loop structure and are recognized and degraded by Regnase-1 itself (Non-Patent Literature 2).

Composition for suppressing inflammation


A method is provided for reducing engine idling time in a hybrid vehicle that includes a vehicle accessory and a hybrid powertrain having an engine, a generator operatively coupled to the engine, and an energy source. The method includes selectively powering the vehicle accessory using the energy source while the engine is not running, monitoring the energy source state of charge, selectively starting the engine when the energy source state of charge is less than or equal to a predetermined minimum state of charge, operating the engine driven generator to recharge the energy source to a predetermined maximum state of charge, and turning off the engine when the energy source state of charge is greater than or equal to the predetermined maximum state of charge. A hybrid electric vehicle power delivery system is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a hybrid powertrain system and to a method of operating a hybrid powertrain system to reduce the idling time of an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
The motor vehicle industry is actively working to develop alternative powertrain systems in an effort to improve vehicle fuel economy and reduce the level of pollutants exhausted into the air by conventional powertrain systems equipped with internal combustion engines. Significant development efforts have been directed to electric and fuel-cell vehicles. Unfortunately, these alternative powertrain systems currently suffer from several limitations and, for all practical purposes, are still under development. However, "hybrid" vehicles, which typically include an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, offer a compromise between traditional internal combustion engine powered vehicles and full electric powered vehicles.
Heightened by government recommendations, pending and considered legislation, record high crude oil prices, and environmental concerns, reduction in diesel engine idling is becoming a significant target in efforts to reduce fuel consumption and emissions from heavy-duty trucks and other diesel-powered commercial vehicles. Heavy-duty truck operators, for example, typically idle their vehicle engines to heat or cool in their cab, warm their engine block after cold starts, or power auxiliary and hotel electrical loads. While fuel savings and air quality are the core motivators in reducing engine idling, noise emissions, engine wear and maintenance are also contributing factors.
A variety of manufacturers are developing and promoting remote systems designed to allow vehicle operators and fleets to reduce idling time. Once such system requires trucks to be equipped with electrical connection points that are connectable to remote electrification systems that provide electric power to drive a range of systems, including cab heating/cooling and electrical distribution systems. While these systems permit a vehicle operator to operate vehicle components without running the engine, use of these systems is limited due to cost and unavailability.

Hybrid electric powertrain with anti-idle function


A filter assembly is provided for collecting samples in a fluid environment, the assembly utilizing a laminar convective flow to cause the flow of a preservative/fixative and a filtrate through a filter. A substantially concave dead space around the filter is flushed free of the preservative and the differential in density of the preservative and filtrate causes the more dense fluid to collect in the reservoir and preserve the collected specimen.

Sample collection and handling in a fluid environment is of course the subject of a variety of reports. Marine research typically requires continuous information on the marine food chain which may generally consist of (1) aquatic bacteria and protists, (2) phytoplankton (3) zooplankton and (4) fish as well as higher forms, crustaceans, reptiles, marine mammals, etc., where each may become a food source for the next in ascending order. Bacteria, protists, phytoplankton and zooplankton may be measured in oceans and studied for their dependence and effect on fisheries and environmental health. Information may be required on their abundance and vertical and horizontal distributions in continental shelf waters, deep oceans and inland waters. Acquiring the data accurately, continuously and with wide spatial coverage remains an on-going problem.
It can be noted that the U.S. Coast Guard, for purposes of operationally defining relevant classes of organisms (from the perspective of invasive species in shipping ballast water) is as follows: zooplankton—organisms that are ≧50 μm in minimum dimension; phytoplankton/protozoa—organism that are <50 μm and ≧10 μm; bacteria—organisms <10 μm in minimum dimension (this operational group will also include many of the smaller phototrophic phytoplankton and blue-green bacteria).
Accordingly, a need exists for a method and apparatus that may automate the collection of samples for critical assays, including enumeration, phylogenetic identity, molecular and metabolic functioning and viability of the various microbial, phytoplankton and zooplankton components of the food chain. More particularly, the method may comprise automated in situ rate studies involving tracer incubations and sample preservation.


A chip arrangement comprising a first chip having at least one first signal interface with first coupling elements arranged along a first line in a first number density and at least one second chip with at least one second signal interface with second coupling elements arranged along a second line in a second number density,                where the first and second coupling elements permit contactless signal transmission between the first and second signal interfaces,        where the two chips are so arranged relative to each other that coupling elements of the first and second signal interfaces can contactlessly transmit signals with each other,        where the longitudinal extent of at least one of the signal interfaces along the line associated therewith is greater than the length of the overlap of the two longitudinal extents,        and where one of the signal interfaces has a greater number density of coupling elements than the other.

1. Technical Field
The invention pertains to the field of connecting technology of electronic units. More particularly, the invention concerns a chip arrangement, a coupling component for contactless signal transmission between a first and a second chip, a chip for use in a chip arrangement, a wafer having a plurality of chip portions and a method of contactlessly coupling a first and a second chip together.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The demands on the connecting technology of electronic units are increasing due to rising clock rates. An example involving a very high level of significance is the communication between a processor and a main memory in computers. The interface between the processor and the main memory forms the essential bottleneck in terms of the growth of the computing power of the system. In the foreseeable future 64 bit processors with a clock rate of about 5 GHz are to be expected. They could service an interface to a main memory with a data rate of up to 320 Gbit/s.
One solution for the management of such high data rates would be to increase the internal cache memory of the processor to such an extent that at least during the execution of a thread there is always sufficient memory space available, in particular a block for interrelated code of usual size. It is thought that in this respect in the near future this will involve interconnected segments of some 10 B. A large internal cache will not be optimum in terms of surface area because of the technological demands for memories on a chip with a CPU. In addition the area of the memory considerably reduces the output of the processor overall.
An alternative solution involves providing a sufficiently powerful data path to external fast memory, for example in the form of SRAM (static random access memory). U.S. Pat. No. 6,496,889 B1 discloses a chip arrangement in which signals are sent from a first chip to a second chip by means of a capacitive coupling by way of a high-speed databus. For that purpose the housing in which the first and the second chip respectively is disposed is provided at the housing bottom with coupling elements in the form of metallically conductive strips. The housing is fitted on to a substrate which has a capacitively coupleable databus. The substrate also has metallic strips for coupling the signal in and out at the interfaces to the first and second chips. That enables a plurality of IC components to be arranged on the substrate and coupled together.
A disadvantage with the solution known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,496,889 B1 is coupling of the chips by way of a signal substrate which serves at the same time as a carrier for the chips and as a databus. That technology entails additional costs for production of the carrier. More specifically the signal substrate itself makes relatively high demands on the level of manufacturing accuracy so that it has to be manufactured with a technology which is close to the level of semiconductor technology. The price in relation to area of such a signal substrate is therefore relatively high.
The document K Kanda, D D Antono, K Ishida, H Kawaguchi, T Kuroda and T Sakurai, '1.27-Gbps/pin, 3 mW/pin Wireless Superconnect (WSC) Interface Scheme, 'IEEE ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers, February 2003 pages 186-187 discloses a chip arrangement in which chips are arranged in mutually superposed relationship. A first chip has coupling surfaces which are distributed over the entire surface of its underside and a second chip has coupling surfaces which are distributed over the entire surface of its top side, these being referred to as mini-pads. The mini-pads are approximately square with a side length of 20 μm. Their mutual spacing is also 20 μM. The chips are so arranged relative to each other that a capacitive coupling is afforded between mutually associated mini-pads. For that purpose the chips are laid one upon the other in such a way that mutually associated coupling surfaces lie one upon the other. To produce the capacitive coupling the associated pads are arranged at a spacing of between 1 and 2 μm relative to each other. The surface of the mini-pads is provided with an oxide layer. In that way it is possible to dispense with further structures for protecting against electrostatic discharge (ESD). Thus the capacitance of a pair of pads is reduced, which improves signal transmission. A data rate of 1.27 Gbit/s per pad with 3 mW power loss was achieved.
A disadvantage of the previously known chip arrangements is the difficulty of implementing exact positioning of the chips relative to each other. Inaccuracies in manufacture and a rise in temperature of a chip in operation also result in errors in the position of the mini-pads relative to each other.
It is precisely for processors however that the thermal load-carrying capability must be very high. In order to guarantee an adequate coupling effect that entails high minimum values in regard to the size of the electrodes. Large electrodes limit the data rate due to capacitive loading of the signal path and a reduction in the number of possible data paths.
In addition relatively large pads occupy a large part of the available chip area for contactless coupling. That means that the mechanical structure of the chip in the housing is dominated by contactless coupling. Particularly in relation to processors a large proportion of the chip area is as a rule required for conventional connections and for cooling. Therefore the provision for example of an additional contactless coupling with the main memory chip is not compatible with the conventional area requirements. Contactless coupling in addition to conventional connecting processes for signal transmission cannot therefore be used in the processor area.
In actual fact further previously known solutions therefore provide using capacitive coupling as a complete replacement for previous connecting procedures. See in that respect D B Salzman, T F Knight, 'Capacitively Coupled Multichip Modules', Proceedings of the 1994 International Conference on Multichip Modules, April 1994, pages 487-494, or D Salzman, T Knight, 'Capacitive coupling solves the known good die problem', Proceedings of the 1994 Multi-Chip Module Conference, 1994, pages 95-100, or D B Salzman, T F Knight, 'Manufacturability of capacitively coupled multichip modules', IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology, Part B: Advanced Packaging, Vol 18, No 2, May 1995, pages 277-281, or D Salzman, T Knight, P Franzon, 'Application of capacitive coupling to switch fabrics', Proceedings of the 1995 Multi-Chip Module Conference, 1995, pages 195-199, or S Mick, J Wilson and P Franzon, '4 Gbps High-Density AC Coupled Interconnection', IEEE 2002 CICC Digest of Technical Papers, May 2002, or K Kanda, D D Antono, K Ishida, H Kawaguchi, T Kuroda and T Sakurai, '1.27-Gbps/pin, 3 mW/pin Wireless Superconnect (WSC) Interface Scheme', IEEE ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers, February 2003, pages 186-187.

Apparatus for contactlessly coupling chips

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