The Smith Purcell effect, in which a beam of electrons passes close to a conducting grating and induces electromagnetic radiation from the grating surface, can be used as a source of THz radiation. A grating composed of negative index metamaterial (NIM) enhances the output of the Smith Purcell source. Of particular interest is the use of a NIM grating in a Smith-Purcell source to provide a tunable coherent CW source of terahertz (THz) radiation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electromagnetic radiation sources, and more specifically to radiation sources based on the Smith-Purcell effect with particular application in the THz regions of the spectrum.
2. Description of the Related Art
THz-frequency radiation, in the frequency region from 0.3 THz to 10 THz, has been relatively unexploited compared to the adjacent radio frequency (RF) and IR spectral bands that lie on either side of it. This is largely because of transmission difficulties due to absorption by atmospheric water vapor but also due to a lack of practical radiation sources and detectors. In recent years there has been a significant growth of interest in applications of this previously underutilized portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the areas of active short range imaging systems, space-based communications, imaging, and spectroscopy.
Prior work by Urata et al. of Dartmouth College (Urata, J., et al., "Superradiant Smith Purcell Emission", PRL 80#3, January 1998), which is hereby incorporated by reference, has established that the classic Smith Purcell effect can be used as a source of radiation in the far infrared (FIR) to terahertz (THz) spectral regions. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the beam 10 from an electron microscope is focused over a properly sized metal diffraction grating 12 thereby producing electromagnetic radiation 14. The wavelength of the radiation is determined from the expression
  λ  =            l                      n                                (                        1          β                -                  sin                                                              θ                    )      where l is the grating period, β≡v/c is the electron velocity v relative to the speed of light c, θ is the angle of emission measured from a direction normal to the surface of the grating, and n is the spectral order. Urata et al. conclude "extensions of this technique promise a new tunable coherent CW source for the difficult to access . . . 30-1000 micron range of the spectrum". As shown in FIG. 2, limited tunability of the emission spectrum 16 can be achieved by varying the voltage, hence velocity of the electron beam. Vermont Photonics (in collaboration with a Dartmouth group) has recently developed a source of THz radiation using this technique.
Subsequent work by Yamaguti et al. (Yamaguti et al., "Photonic crystals versus diffraction gratings in Smith-Purcell radiation", Physical Review B 66, 195202 (2002)) demonstrated that the use of a two-dimensional photonic crystal in place of the one-dimensional diffraction grating created resonant structures of enhanced intensity whose peak heights were an order of magnitude larger than the emission intensity of the one dimensional Bragg diffraction grating. Yamaguti et al. conclude "the results of calculations thus show a possible advantage of photonic crystals over diffraction gratings as converter of the evanescent field from a running charge into propagating waves."
Although Smith-Purcell sources hold great promise for THz sources, further advancements are needed to increase their intensity and efficiency to a point where commercialization is practicable.

Smith-Purcell radiation source using negative-index metamaterial (NIM)


For a seat group arrangement for a passenger cabin of an aircraft it is proposed to realize a temporary enlargement of the circulation area by widening the longitudinal aisle of the aircraft for the entry and exit period. For this purpose, a passenger seat group has a supporting frame which is provided with seat legs for fastening to the aircraft floor. At least one first fixedly secured seat having in each case a seat part and in each case a backrest and a further seat which is movable in the transverse direction and has a seat part and a backrest is provided on the supporting frame. The further seat is connected to the supporting frame via a folding device, and the folding device is configured to realize a change in width of the further seat in relation to the seat legs of the supporting frame.

The disclosure herein relates to a passenger seat group and to a seat group arrangement, in particular in a passenger cabin of an aircraft, with a supporting frame which supports a plurality of seats. The seats are in each case provided with a seat part and a backrest. The supporting frame is provided with seat legs for fastening to a floor of the passenger cabin.
Conventional passenger seats for an aircraft have a supporting frame with at least one seat surface arranged fixedly thereon and with at least one backrest arranged in the region of the rear edge of the seat surface. Passenger seats of this type are conventionally grouped in seat groups in the form of a double seat group or triple seat group and form a seat layout which can be adapted in accordance with customer requirements. The passenger seats preferably form seat rows in the aircraft, wherein two or more passenger seats arranged next to one another can be combined to form a seat group which is supported by a common supporting frame. Armrests are arranged on both sides of the respective seat part. The seat groups are provided as rigid units for installing in the passenger cabins of the aircraft. Different configurations can occur here in accordance with airline requirements, wherein primarily as great a seat capacity as possible is sought, such as in particular for economy class.
In passenger cabins with a high number of seats, a longitudinal aisle of the cabin—also called circulation area—is conventionally provided between the seat rows in order to enable the passengers to enter and exit. A high outlay in terms of time for entry into an aircraft, what is referred to as boarding, is required when the passengers remain standing in the aisle to stow the hand luggage, as a result of which the aisle is blocked. The longitudinal aisle of the cabin is conventionally not wide enough for two airline passengers to move past each other. A further challenge arises even for passenger servicing and when carrying out cleaning work because of the narrow aisles.
This ground time between flights—also called turnaround time—is of crucial importance for the economic efficiency of a commercial aircraft. The circulation area therefore has to be configured such that, despite a high seat occupation in the passenger cabin, the passengers can rapidly enter and exit and the outlay on time for necessary ground work is minimized.
This can be achieved, for example, by a temporary enlargement of the circulation area, i.e. by widening the longitudinal aisle of the aircraft for the entry and exit period and for the ground time. Document DE 195 34 024 A1 discloses a passenger seat group which can be adjusted in width by transverse displacement of seats on a common rail of the supporting frame. By a leaf spring below the outer seat which is directed at least towards the longitudinal aisle of the aircraft, the seat width of the seat can be varied and thus, when the seat is not in use, can shrink because of the spring action of the leaf spring. When the seat is in use, because of the weight force of a passenger sitting on the seat, the spring element is tensioned and therefore the seat cushion is configured in the width intended for passenger use.
WO2014/011320 A1 discloses a seat system with a transversely displaceable seat which can be moved for the entry and exit of the passengers. The width of the longitudinal aisle of the aircraft can therefore also be enlarged here even if no passenger has taken a place in the seat group. In this solution, it is provided that the seat which is directed toward the longitudinal aisle of the aircraft can be displaced over the central seat by transverse displacement. For this purpose, the central seat is arranged lower and offset rearward within the seat group. In the disclosed arrangement, use of the central seat is not possible during the widening of the longitudinal aisle of the aircraft.

Seat group arrangement for a passenger cabin of an aircraft


An airbag ECU includes a voltage detection section that detects a voltage in a power supply supplied to other control units (for example, front passenger seat occupancy sensing ECU). In addition, the airbag ECU includes a timer that measures an elapsed time after the voltage detected by the voltage detection section falls in a preset voltage range and a recording section that records the elapsed time measured by the timer on a memory when a failure of the other control units is detected.

The present invention relates to an airbag control unit.
In the related art, for example, as described in JP-A-2005-041273, vehicle control such as motor vehicle control, that obtains and records a vehicle status (freeze frame data) on a memory when a vehicle failure occurs, is known. The freeze frame data recorded on the memory are used as data for vehicle failure analysis.
In addition, in JP-A-2002-037014, there is an example of a recording of data for vehicle airbag system failure analysis. That is, a control unit of JP-A-2002-037014 periodically obtains and encodes operation conditions for the vehicle airbag system and records the latest encoded data of operation conditions on a non-volatile memory when a failure of the airbag system is detected.
In addition, JP-A-2004-291673 discloses a technology related to a drive recorder.


A strobe signal generation circuit may include: a counter to generate a first source signal and a second source signal by counting an external strobe signal; a delay to generate a first delayed signal and a second delayed signal by delaying the first source signal and the second source signal by a preset time; and a combination unit to generate internal strobe signals by selectively combining the first source signal, the second source signal, the first delayed signal, and the second delayed signal.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments relate to a semiconductor circuit, and more particularly, to a strobe signal generation circuit and a semiconductor apparatus using the same.
2. Related Art
A semiconductor apparatus may receive data and a strobe signal from outside during a write operation, the strobe signal indicating a data input timing.
The semiconductor apparatus, for example, a DDR (Double Data Rate) semiconductor memory may be configured to internally operate in an SDR (Single Data Rate) manner, as the operating speed of the semiconductor memory, that is, the frequency of a clock signal provided from outside increases.
In order for the semiconductor apparatus to operate in the SDR manner, the semiconductor apparatus must internally process the strobe signal provided from outside, and generate an internal strobe signal, that is, a strobe signal divided into even/odd strobe signals.

Strobe signal generation circuit and semiconductor apparatus using the same


A poultry tray for shipping and displaying a dressed poultry. The poultry tray comprises a receptacle including a bottom wall and a peripheral wall having an upper end defining a receptacle opening. The poultry tray also comprises a flap pivotally connected to the receptacle at a rear end thereof. The flap is pivotable between an open configuration wherein the flap extends outwardly from the receptacle opening and a closed configuration wherein the flap covers a section of the receptacle opening and has a distal end detachably secured to the receptacle.

Many types of packages and containers are known in the art for receiving raw alimentary products (or food products) to be placed therein for transport and/or display to consumers for sale. In many cases, these containers are not specifically designed for a particular type of alimentary product and can receive therein a variety of products such as, for example, red meat, fish, poultry or the like. In such cases, it is known to provide a centrally located raised portion in the bottom wall of the container, such as to create an uplifting of the product and a tighter stretching of the overwrap over the exposed surface thereof, in order to produce an improved aesthetic appearance of the alimentary product.
The above-mentioned containers are however of generic construction and are consequently not designed for uplifting specific portions of a particular product.
Regarding specifically poultry, given the particular shape of the body of fowls, some poultry trays have been developed explicitly to suitably maintain and present dressed poultry to consumers, for example in open refrigerators commonly found in supermarkets. Such containers offer different solutions for preventing shifting of the fowl within the tray and to maintain the legs of the fowl in proper position. In many cases, known solutions to maintain the legs of the fowl in proper position do not provide easy shifting between a closed configuration where the legs are maintained inside the container and an open configuration where the legs are free. Consequently, in many cases, the configuration of a leg support for maintaining the legs of the fowl in proper position does not allow the legs of the fowl to be positioned inside the container and to be maintained therein by the subsequent connection of the leg support with the container.
In view of the above, there is a need for an improved poultry container which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the above-discussed prior art concerns.

Poultry tray and method of packaging poultry using same


Methods and systems that include introducing blowing agent into a hopper of a polymeric foam system.

Polymeric foams include a plurality of voids, also called cells, in a polymer matrix. Polymeric foams are processed using a variety of techniques. For example, polymeric foams can be processed by injecting a physical blowing agent into the polymeric material within an extruder. For instance, many conventional systems inject blowing agent through a blowing agent port in the barrel of the extruder into a fluid stream of polymeric material within the extruder. The blowing agent may be mixed with the polymeric material to form a solution within the extruder. The solution may be, for example, injected into a mold to form an injection molded polymeric foam article. Such conventional systems may require modifications to standard extruder equipment (e.g., to extend length of the barrel to ensure sufficient mixing, to form a blowing agent port, etc.) and/or utilize relatively expensive equipment (e.g., blowing agent mass flow meter) to control the flow and introduction of blowing agent into the extruder.
Other prior art systems have attempted to simplify the design of polymer foam processing systems and reduce their costs. For example, certain systems have introduced physical blowing agent into a hopper of the extruder. Such systems generally have not controlled the amount of blowing agent introduced into the polymeric material. For certain foam processes, such an approach to blowing agent delivery may be adequate. However, in other processes that require relatively precise control over blowing agent delivery, such an approach may not be adequate.
Accordingly, there is a need for new blowing agent introduction techniques that may be used with polymer foam processes.

Blowing agent introduction into hopper of polymer foam processing


For conversion of a first video signal into a second video signal of a different format, a second auxiliary data packet is generated from a header carrying location data for multiplexing a first auxiliary data packet and main data of a first auxiliary data packet in the first video signal, and is multiplexed with the second video signal. For conversion from the second video signal into the first video signal, the first auxiliary data packet is generated from the header and the main data of the second auxiliary data packet, and multiplexed at the location determined by the location data in the first video signal.

For transmission of video signals, a format of non-compressed video signals developed by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) 125M standard. FIG. 5 illustrates a 525/60 TV video signal, in which auxiliary data areas H, D, and V are capable of being multiplexed with auxiliary data. A full line period, except switching points, of video samples 1444 to 1711 is assigned as the auxiliary data area H. A period of video samples 0 to 1439 at lines after effective video area and before the switching point is assigned as the auxiliary data area V. And at lines after the switching point to succeeding effective video area is assigned as the auxiliary data area D.
A format of an auxiliary data packet to be multiplexed in the auxiliary data areas is shown in the SMPTE 291M standard. FIG. 6 illustrates the format of the auxiliary data packet of the SMPTE 291M standard where one word consists of 10 bits. As shown in FIG. 6, the auxiliary data packet includes three words (000h, 3FFh, and 3FFh) of an auxiliary data flag (ADF), one word of a data identification (DID), one word of second data identification (SDID), one word of a data count (DC), 0 to 255 words of a user data word (UDW), and one word of a check sum (CS).
Another format of a compressed video signal is shown in the SMPTE 314M standard. FIG. 7 illustrates a data structure of a 50M mode compressed video signal of the SMPTE 314M standard where hatching areas represents areas capable of being multiplexed with data. In either a digital interface (DIF) block data area in a video auxiliary (VAUX) section or a reserve data are in a video section, the data can be multiplexed. One word consists of 8 bits.
As the location where the auxiliary data packets are multiplexed in a non-compressed video signal is not particularly specified, the auxiliary data packets are hardly restored at their original location during the conversion of the compressed video signal into its non-compressed signal.

Signal processing apparatus and signal processing method for locating a lost position of auxiliary data

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Provided are methods of providing a virtual service that may provide partial real time service to clients of a production computing service that is unavailable. Methods may include generating, based on transaction data corresponding to a production computing service that is available, a production computing service model that includes multiple request types and multiple confidence values that correspond to ones of the request types. Methods may include responding to a request received from a client of the production computing service with a model-generated response to the request in response to the production computing service being unavailable. The production computing service is updated with the request received from the client and the model-generated response responsive to the production computing service being available after being unavailable.

Outages and downtime in production computing services and/or systems may be undesirable to the providers and/or the clients of such services. Parallel production computing services that include substantially all of the functionality of their counterparts may incur significant expenses. For example, the cost of a production computing service may be double based on providing complete redundancy. Additionally, systems that provide hot backup for a production computing service may be beyond the control of clients that rely on the production computing services.

Virtual stand-in computing service for production computing service


One aspect of the present invention relates to a method for transferring a patterned polyelectrolyte multilayer from a first surface, e.g., a PDMS stamp, to a second surface, e.g. fabric or a non-woven material, wherein the patterned polyelectrolyte multilayer on the first surface is brought into contact with the second surface in order to transfer the polyelectrolyte multilayer from the first surface to the second surface. Another aspect of the present invention relates to a stamp comprising a surface coated with a polyelectrolyte multilayer suitable for transfer to a substrate using the aforementioned method of transferring patterned multilayers.

Organic thin films continue to attract great interest in the materials science community due to their ease of processing, ease of functionalization, light weight and flexibility. Significant progress has been achieved in the past 10–20 years, presenting the possibility of molecular level control in molecular and macromolecular composite films. The ionic, layer-by-layer assembly technique, introduced by Decher in 1991, is among the most exciting recent developments in this area. Decher, G.; Hong, J.-D. Makromol. Chem., Macromol. Symp. 1991, 46, 321–327; Decher, G.; Hong, J.-D. Ber. Bunsenges. Phys. Chem. 1991, 95, 1430–1434; and Decher, G.; Hong, J. D.; Schmitt, J. Thin Solid Films 1992, 210/211, 831. This approach, which utilizes electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged polyion species to create alternating layers of sequentially adsorbed polyions, provides a simple and elegant means of depositing layer-by-layer sub-nanometer-thick polymer films onto a surface using aqueous solutions. Lvov, Y. M.; Decher, G. Crystallography Reports 1994, 39, 628–647; Ferreira, M.; Rubner, M. F. Macromol. 1995, 28, 7107–7114; and Tsukruk, V. V.; Rinderspacher, F.; Bliznyuk, V. N. Langmuir 1997, 13, 2171–2176. More recently, applications have been extended to electroluminescent LEDs, conducting polymer composites as well as the assembly of proteins and metal nanoparticle systems. Tian, J.; Wu, C. C.; Thompson, M. E.; Sturm, J. C.; Register, R. A.; Marsella, M. J.; Swager, T. M. Adv. Mater. 1995, 7, 395; Baur, J. W.; Kim, S.; Balanda, P. B.; Reynolds, J. R.; Rubner, M. F. Advanced Materials 1998, 10, 1452–1455; Cheung, J. H.; Fou, A. F.; Rubner, M. F. Thin Solid Films 1994, 244, 985–989; Ferreira, M.; Cheung, J. H.; Rubner, M. F. Thin Solid Films 1994, 244, 806–809; Lvov, Y.; Ariga, K.; Ichinose, I.; Kunitake, T. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 6117–6123; and Ariga, K.; Lvov, Y.; Onda, M.; Ichinose, I.; Kunitake, T. Chemistry Letters 1997, 125–126.
Application of organic thin films to integrated optics, microelectronic devices, sensors and optical memory devices requires a means of patterning and controlling the surface architecture. Photolithography is the conventional patterning technique of choice, but lithographic techniques require materials designed to exhibit efficient responses to irradiation with a chemical change, namely crosslinking or degradation; these requirements are not trivial. Finally, light-based lithography can be limited in its application to curved, nonplanar surfaces, such as optical lenses and fibers, and multiple processing steps are required to create three dimensional, multiple level microstructures.
Patterning polymeric thin films in situ through the use of chemically patterned surfaces as templates for ionic multilayer assembly has been presented. Hammond, P. T.; whitesides, G. M. Macromolecules 1995, 28, 7569; Clark, S. L.; Montague, M.; Hammond, P. T. Supramol. Sci. 1997, 4, 141–146; Clark, S. L.; Montague, M. F.; Hammond, P. T. Macromol. 1997, 30, 7237–7244; Clark, S. L.; Hammond, P. T. Adv. Mat. 1998, 10, 1515–1519; Clark, S. L.; Handy, E. S.; Rubner, M. F.; Hammond, P. T. ACS Polym. Prepr. 1998, 39, 1079–1080; Clark, S. L.; Montague, M. F.; Hammond, P. T. ACS Symp. Ser. 1998, 695, 206–219; and Clark, S. L.; Handy, E. S.; Rubner, M. F.; Hammond, P. T. Advanced Materials 1999, 11, 1031–1035. Selective deposition was achieved by introducing alternating regions of two different chemical functionalities on a surface: one which promotes adsorption; and a second which effectively resists adsorption of polyions on the surface. More recent explorations have illustrated that by adjusting the ionic strength, pH and polyion chemical structure, one can tune the interactions between polyions and the surface functional groups, allowing different polyion pairs to be adsorbed on specific regions of the surface based on electrostatic, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions.
One class of thin films is polyelectrolyte multilayers. These relatively inexpensive materials can be used electro-optical, conducting, and luminescent applications; recent developments include new functionalities such as electrochromic thin films, photovoltaics, ionically conducting systems, and even new biologically functional systems for cell templating and drug delivery. For each of these interesting functionalities, new applications in the areas of electro-optic and electronic devices, flexible displays, micropower and sensor applications, it is critical to be able to control the two- and three-dimensional placement of these films on substrates. Methods of patterning polyelectrolyte multilayers in-situ during the adsorption process utilizing chemically patterned surfaces that guide polymer adsorption to specific regions based on selective deposition have been reported. One important advantage to this approach is the fact that it is non-lithographic, thus allowing the creation of low-cost functional devices. Some challenges with this method include the need to tune the selectivity of deposition via processing conditions and polyion composition to achieve high selectivity. More recent approaches have been developed for patterning multilayers, including ink-jet printing via a subtractive mechanism of "erasing" multilayer films, and a range of photolithographic approaches. Many of these methods require the design a photolytic component either within the film or in the underlying layers, and therefore limit the range of polymer films used in the approach, as well as increasing the cost of manufacturing. Hence, a highly selective method for adhering a wide variety of polyelectrolyte films to a substrate would alleviate some of the current limitations.
The fabrication of polyelectrolyte multilayer thin films has received much attention recently as a simple yet versatile technique for assembling various thin film optoelectronic devices and nanostructured thin film coatings (for a review, see: Decher, G. Science 1997, 277, 1232). Since the layer-by-layer process creates nanostructured-controlled polyelectrolyte complexes, which have already exhibited a long research history as biomaterials, several groups have begun to realize the potential of multilayers for biomedical applications, including biosensor and cell encapsulation applications. Michaels, A. S. Ind. Eng. Chem. 1965, 57, 32; Decher, G.; Lehr, B.; Lowack, K.; Lvov, Y.; Schmitt, J. Biosens. Bioelectron. 1994, 9, 677; Caruso, F.; Niikura, K.; Furlong, D. N.; Okahata, Y. Langmuir 1997, 13, 3427; Schneider, S.; Feilen, P. J.; Slotty, V.; Kampfner, D.; Preuss, S.; Berger, S.; Beyer, J.; Pommersheim, R. Biomaterials 2001, 22, 1961. Recently, some groups have investigated more specifically the interactions of multilayers with living cells. Chluba, J.; Voegel, J.-C.; Decher, G.; Erbacher, P.; Schaaf, P.; Ogier, J. Biomacromolecules 2001, 2, 800; Grant, G. G. S.; Koktysh, D. S.; Yun, B.; Matts, R. L.; Kotov, N. A. Biomed. Microdevices 2001, 3, 301; Serizawa, T.; Yamaguchi, M.; Matsuyama, T.; Akashi, M. Biomacromolecules 2000, 1, 306; Elbert, D. L.; Herbert, C. B.; Hubbell, J. A. Langmuir 1999, 15, 5355; Tryoen-Tóth, P.; Vautier, D.; Haikel, Y.; Voegel, J.-C.; Schaaf, P.; Chluba, J.; Ogier, J. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 2002, 60, 657. For instance, it has been shown that melanoma cells could sense and respond to signaling hormone molecules immobilized within polylysine/polyglutamic acid multilayers, that muscle and neuronal precursor cells readily attached to collagen/sulfonated polystyrene (SPS) multilayers, and that, depending on whether chitosan or dextran sulfate was the outermost layer, multilayers assembled from those biopolymers alternately showed either pro- or anticoagulant properties, respectively, with human blood. Chluba, J.; Voegel, J.-C.; Decher, G.; Erbacher, P.; Schaaf, P.; Ogier, J. Biomacromolecules 2001, 2, 800; Grant, G. G. S.; Koktysh, D. S.; Yun, B.; Matts, R. L.; Kotov, N. A. Biomed. Microdevices 2001, 3, 301; Serizawa, T.; Yamaguchi, M.; Matsuyama, T.; Akashi, M. Biomacromolecules 2000, 1, 306. In addition, alginate/polylysine multilayers, when deposited onto otherwise cell-adhesive substrates, such as extracellular matrix (ECM), could render those surfaces cell resistant. Elbert, D. L.; Herbert, C. B.; Hubbell, J. A. Langmuir 1999, 15, 5355. The effect of the outermost surface layer of various multilayer systems on the in vitro response of osteoblasts has recently been investigated, as well. Tryoen-Tóth, P.; Vautier, D.; Haikel, Y.; Voegel, J.-C.; Schaaf, P.; Chluba, J.; Ogier, J. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 2002, 60, 657.
A novel and desirable advancement in this art would be a method to stamp a polyelectrolyte microlayer directly onto other surfaces, particularly plastic substrates and multilayer films, by careful selection of surface chemistry. The motivation for establishing these routes are two-fold. First, the functionalization and subsequent patterning of ionic multilayers and other materials on a broad range of substrates, including polymeric surfaces, without elaborate pretreatment would extend the scope of the application. Second, stamping atop continuous or patterned polymer thin films, followed by subsequent selective adsorption or deposition steps would generate complex multiple level heterostructures. The ability to create multi-level microstructures with layer-by-layer assembly enables the construction of devices such as transistors, diodes, sensors, and other optical and electrical components. The chemical patterning of the top surfaces of multilayer films also brings new opportunities to incorporate other materials onto multilayer films; the use of such chemical patterns to direct materials deposition can lead to the patterning of metal electrodes, the placement of colloidal particles, or the directed deposition of other polymer films atop layer-by-layer functional thin films. Importantly, the ability to create patterned functional chemistry atop a polyelectrolyte surface would enable modification of any surface which can be covered with at least one surface layer of polyion.

Multilayer transfer patterning using polymer-on-polymer stamping


A hand held laser for treating a skin condition includes a housing comprising a first end, a second end and a cavity therein wherein the cavity includes a substantially light reflective surface and wherein the housing comprises at least one fin extending from an exterior surface of the housing. The laser includes a flash lamp having a first axis and being retained within the cavity in a first selected position and a laser rod having a second axis and being retained within the cavity in a second selected position and wherein the first axis and the second axis are substantially parallel to each other, wherein as the flash lamp is pumped the laser rod produces a laser beam for treating the skin condition.

Lasers are being used more frequently in medical treatments to reduce blemishes on a patient's skin. Lasers are useful in removing port wine stains, scars and wrinkles from a patient's skin to improve the patient's appearance. Lasers are also useful in removing unwanted tattoos.
Many of the laser treatments require the laser to be mobile to treat the skin blemish. To accommodate the need to for the laser to be mobile, the size of the lasers are being reduced such that the laser can be housed in a hand held housing. However, the laser must supply enough energy to complete the selected procedure. The small size of the laser coupled with the energy delivery requirements has caused the lasers to have a tendency to heat up over time with use, and require the laser to be shut down to cool to a selected temperature.
Typically, water or another cooling fluid is utilized to remove the heat that is generated as the laser is utilized. However, because of the mobility and energy requirements of the laser, a circulating coolant may not remove a sufficient amount of heat to allow the laser to run continuously for an extended period of time without heating to excessive temperatures.


A process and a device are described for one- or two-sided stripping of protective films from board-shaped objects, whereby the protective film is first raised at the leading edge of the circuit board and guided to a takeup reel via a transport mechanism. To assure that the stripping moment of the protective films on the circuit boards is as slight as possible, provision is made that the edge of the protective film is first scratched with extensible hollow needles and raised with a blast of air and that, in the course of the continuing advance of the circuit board, the protective film is lifted onto plate-shaped guide blades and transported away.

The present invention relates to a process and a device for one- or two-sided stripping of protective films from board-shaped objects or substrates, in particular in the case of copper-masked circuit boards which are coated with continuous protective films.
This general type of process is described in EP 0 236 730 B1, whereby the protective films are first detached and then stripped over an angular sector of 90.degree.. However, with the large angle between the protective film to be stripped and the substrate, it is impossible to avoid disadvantageous forces on the substrate, which forces could exert a negative effect on the surface of the circuit board or the substrate. In the prior art process, a relatively great stripping moment acts on the board-shaped objects such that, in particular, extremely thin circuit boards cannot be separated from the protective film without difficulty.
Yet another process and device of the general type mentioned above are known from DE 37 00 615 A1, whereby a part of the protective film is fused onto a stripping film and likewise stripped at an angle of approximately 90.degree., whereby relatively great stripping moments likewise act disadvantageously on the substrate.
The object of the present invention is to refine a process and a device for one- or two-sided stripping of protective films of the type mentioned in the introduction such that the protective films can be stripped from one or both sides of board-shaped objects simply, reliably, and cost-effectively without the effects of significant stripping moments.

Process and device for one- or two-sided stripping of protective films

Anger Electronic Ges.m.b.H. EMCO Innovations Center


An adjustable head support for use with a child ranging in size from a small infant to a toddler. A soft pliable body structure has a main body portion and an upper portion, and a pair of flanking openings provided on opposite sides between the main body portion and the upper portion. A pair of fastener elements is located on the main body portion adjacent a different one of a pair of flanking openings. The upper portion has a cushion element permanently arranged along the periphery and terminating in a pair of ends. Each end has a fastener engagement member adapted to be secured by a corresponding one of the fastener elements. A plurality of supplemental fastener elements is arranged on the upper portion inboard of the cushion element, and a supplemental cushion element having mating fastener elements removably attached to the upper portion inboard of the cushion element.

This invention relates to head supports in general, and more particularly pertains to a head support for use with swings, strollers, conventional car seats and infant carrier/car seats.
The need for a head support for infants and toddlers is well established in the prior art. In general, several different types of head support designs are known which share a common purpose in providing support for the head of a premature baby, an infant or a toddler when the infant or toddler is installed in a conventional car seat, a combination infant carrier/car seat, a swing, a stroller or other devices used to transport infants and toddlers. Some head supports are designed and dimensioned to be suitable for use with only infants; others are designed and dimensioned to be suitable for use only with toddlers. Still others represent attempts to provide a head support suitable for use with both infants and toddlers.
The first two types of head support, while useful, have limited utility specific to the size of the child, and are not designed for a premature baby. Thus, a head support designed for use with an infant cannot be used safely with a toddler and vice-versa. This often requires the purchase of two different head supports by a parent over an approximate four-year span, which is uneconomical. Head supports which have been designed for use with both infants and toddlers typically contain separate add-on components to expand the dimensions of the support, several individually adjustable elements in order to provide the dimensional adjustments, or both. Ideally, a head support designed for both infants and toddlers, as well as premature babies, should be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and exceedingly simple to install and adjust to the size of the child.


The movement (10) includes at least one display ring (12, 14) which is rotatably mounted on a bottom plate (16) and which carries markings that will appear in a display zone (22). The ring (12, 14) is fitted with an inner peripheral toothing (24, 26) which cooperates with drive means (20) and which cooperates with a jumper spring (32, 34). The jumper spring (32, 34) is drawn towards the radial abutment position by an elastic return element (40, 42). A holding plate (48) is secured on the bottom plate (16) so as to retain the jumper spring (32, 34) axially. The holding plate (48) is secured on the bottom plate (16) by a bayonet type assembly. The holding plate (48) includes at least one winding member (58) which cooperates with the stop device (32, 34) during the pivoting of the holding plate (48) from the non fixed angular position thereof to the fixed angular position thereof, so as to arm the associated elastic return element (40, 42).

The invention concerns more specifically a movement for a timepiece comprising at least one display ring which is rotatably mounted about an axis on bottom a plate and which carries, on the top surface thereof, markings provided in order to appear in a display zone, wherein the ring is fitted with an inner peripheral toothing which cooperates with drive means such that the markings carried by the ring pass into the display zone, and which cooperates with a jumper spring effect stop device, mounted on the bottom plate, able to stop the ring in a determined angular position by abutting radially against the inner toothing, the stop device being drawn towards its radial abutting position by an elastic return element, and wherein a holding plate is secured to the bottom plate so as to retain the stop device axially.
The assembly operations for this type of movement can cause problems, in particular when the holding plate is being secured to the bottom plate. Indeed, the jumper spring and its elastic return element are to be held in position on the bottom plate, in the loaded or wound state, via the holding plate that covers them. Consequently, once the jumper spring and its elastic return element have been mounted, the elastic return element can easily be ejected following a bump or vibration, before the holding plate is completely in place, which complicates assembly operations.
In order to overcome this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,289 proposes mounting the jumper spring and the elastic return element on the bottom plate prior to the display ring, consequently in the net state and arranging notches in one end of the holding plate so as to allow the display ring to be mounted on the bottom plate after the holding plate has been secured.
It is an object of the present invention to propose an alternative solution to the aforementioned technical problem, while simplifying the assembly operations compared to the solution proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,289.

Watch movement including a display ring holding plate


A mounting assembly (10) for a vehicle interior rearview mirror (12) of the automatic dimming type includes a vehicle mount (14) having a rearwardly projecting first ball portion (22), a tube (32) having a first end that receives the first ball portion and a second end including a rearwardly projecting second ball portion (38) fixed with respect to the tube and having a wire hole (40) therethrough, a ball clamp (44) within the tube for engaging the first ball portion (22), a helical spring (46) for biasing the ball clamp to a clamping relationship with the first ball portion, and a mirror socket (48) for receiving and clamping the second ball portion. The tube (32) of the mounting assembly and the first ball portion (38) are unitary in one embodiment, while another embodiment has the tube (32') and second ball portion (38') provided with flanges (52) and (54) that are biased into engagement with each other by the helical spring (46). The ball clamp (44) has circumferentially spaced seat portions (56) that seat the helical spring (46), clamping portions (58) respectively aligned with the seat portions (56), and a wire conduit (60) extending substantially to the hole (40) in the second ball portion (38).

For the last 30 years or so, one common mounting assembly for vehicle interior rearview mirrors has been a tubular dual ball and spring construction such as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,616 Bousch et al. With that construction, a spring biases vehicle-mounted and mirror-mounted balls into engagement with opposite ends of a tube, and the mirror can be adjusted by rotation of each of the two balls. It is usually desirable to adjust the mirror at the mirror-mounted ball; however the same spring biases both balls and as such both will rotate at the same level of force unless there are different clamp members or ball clamp members of the same construction but made of materials having different coefficients of friction. Other dual ball mounts of this type are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,646,210 Skogler et al., 5,327,288 Wellington et al., and 5,521,760 DeYoung et al.
Vehicle interior rearview mirrors of the automatic dimming type are conventionally about twice as heavy as standard rearview mirrors and, as such, it is desirable for the mirror ball to be located closer to the center of gravity of the mirror in order to facilitate its adjustment. See, U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,354 Desmond et al. which has a three ball mount wherein two balls are located within a tube with one adjacent the vehicle and the other adjacent the mirror and with the mirror ball having a third ball that is received by a mirror housing socket to provide mounting thereof. Thus, this mounting assembly has three locations of rotatable adjustment as opposed to the two locations of adjustment with a dual ball type of mounting assembly as described above.
Vehicle interior rearview mirrors have also previously included ball connections having balls with holes through which electrical wires can pass such as disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,414,223 DeVirgilis and 5,308,247 Dyrdek.
Other vehicle interior rearview mirrors are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,614,412 Cohen and 4,822,140 Mittelhauser.

Mounting assembly for vehicle interior automatic dimming rearview mirror


This invention relates to a boring tool having a cutting insert. The insert has a chip breaker with a base that extends from the secondary cutting edge to the primary cutting edge. The primary cutting edge, which is also referred to below as the major cutting edge, thereby runs diagonally with respect to the insert surface or top face of the indexable insert toward the chip breaker base of the chip breaker. The secondary cutting edge, which is also referred to as the minor cutting edge below and is advantageously straight, descends toward the major cutting edge, as a result of which a wiper geometry is realized on the minor cutting edge. Therefore the major cutting edge and the minor cutting edge preferably form a closed triangle with the chip breaker base.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to an insert with an insert surface and insert side faces, and with a primary cutting edge that adjoins a secondary cutting edge via a corner cutting edge. This application further relates to a boring tool or drilling tool, such as a boring tool or drilling tool with precision adjustment, with such an insert.
2. Background Information
A boring tool, such as a precision boring tool, generally has a fine adjustment device with which an insert that is generally detachably mounted on the tool head can be adjusted in the radial direction, relative to the tool axis, to various bore diameters for the purpose of turning or boring. In that regard, the inserts or cutting inserts that have been used up to now are frequently realized in the form of indexable inserts. An indexable insert has an insert surface and, opposite it, an additional insert face or base surface as well as insert side faces that connect with the insert surface. In the case of a square or rhombic insert, the insert comprises four insert side faces. In the vicinity of an index corner, which can also be realized in the form of a corner cutting edge, adjacent to the corner cutting edge is a primary cutting edge and a secondary cutting edge of the insert.

Boring tool and a cutting insert therefor


A spectro photometer deflects a measuring beam off its original axis to pass through a long sample, and returns the measuring beam to its final direction after passing through the sample. The sample is guided along a path which is clear of a reference beam of the spectro photometer. This arrangement permits double-beam measurement of long samples, with good signal-to-noise ratio. Deflection is accomplished using a plurality of mirrors.

The present invention relates to spectro photometers and, more specifically, to an accessory device for use with a spectro photometer to measure the optical characteristics of long, solid materials shaped like a film or plate.
Spectro photometers are employed to measured the spectral transmittance or absorbance ratio of liquid and solid materials at varying wavelengths. The chemical and other characteristics of the materials are inferred from the measured spectrum for qualitative or quantitative analysis of the materials.
A holding apparatus holds the sample or container in a stable position during analysis. Liquid samples are generally held in a standardized container such as, for example, a test tube. Thus, a single holder design suffices to hold most liquid specimens during measurement. Solid materials present a different problem since they occur in different shapes and sizes which must be accommodated by a holder for holding the samples in place in the spectro photometer.
Unlike liquid media, which can be transferred into any common liquid medium container and placed within the optical path of the spectro photometer for analysis, the need for an apparatus to hold solids has prompted the development of several sample holders of different shapes and sizes, including spheres, plates, and rods.
A particular problem, to which the present invention is addressed, is holding long thin, flexible materials such as photographic film or magnetic tape. Also of relevance to the present invention is apparatus for holding glassware used in reflective mirrors for photocopiers. These samples are analyzed by spectro photometers to insure that the chemicals which coat the samples are uniformly distributed. The optical characteristics of these materials are calculated as a function of the distance from an emitted beam as the sample is moved through the optical path of the incident beam. Due to the relatively small size of a typical spectro photometer, however, there is very little space available for a sample holder or its sample.
Prior art spectro photometers employ two parallel beams of light: a measuring beam and a reference beam. Conventionally, both beams are split from the same light source. The measuring beam passes through the sample whose optical properties are being measured while the reference beam passes through a reference sample with known chemical characteristics. After the measuring beam emerges from the sample, the beams are compared for changes in intensity and wavelength. The use of two beams in this manner is termed "double beam measurement". The presence of the reference beam permits cancelling out changes in the received measuring beam due to systematic changes in source brightness.
A difficulty emerges when using double beam measurement for analyzing long, flat, solid samples. The geometry of a conventional spectro photometer is such that, when performing measurements on, a long object such as, for example, a glass rod, the rod intercepts the reference beam, as well as the measuring beam. As a result of this problem, when measuring long solid objects, only the measuring beam can be used in the analysis. The reference beam is turned off, blocked or ignored. This so-called "single beam measurement" is not as accurate as double beam measurement, since the source brightness of light sources of spectro photometers are subject to an inherent drift with power supply voltage and lamp age which is normally compensated for by the reference beam.
When analyzing a flat sample of film, the flexibility of the material allows it to be fed through the spectro photometer on a bent path which avoids interference with the reference beam. In one prior-art device, the film is fed into the spectro photometer through an inlet above the optical bath of the measuring beam. A film guide directs the film through the optical path of the measuring beam and sends it on a skewed path to an outlet. The inlet and outlet are separated by an offset distance large enough to prevent the film from crossing the optical path of the measuring beam twice, yet small enough to keep the film out of the path of the reference beam. Since the reference beam is unaffected, double beam measurement can be used.
Achieving double beam measurement for film in this manner is not without its disadvantages. First, the presence of the equipment which feeds and winds the film above the sample chamber makes it difficult to access the chamber through a simple cover. Second, the curved shape of the film guide make it difficult and expensive to produce. Also, the area of the film measured by the spectro photometer is not ideal.
The above prior-art device also suffers from a decrease in signal-to-noise ratio. Before reaching the film, the measuring beam must pass through a beam diaphragm to increase the resolution of the spectro photometer measurements. The opening in the diaphragm is rectangular in shape, and the base must extend the width of the film. The base in the horizontal plane is thus much longer than the side in the vertical plane. The measuring beam, however, is rectangular in shape with the base in the horizontal plane much smaller than the side in the vertical plane. The result is two overlapping rectangles at right angles to each other wherein a major part of the measuring beam is blocked by the diaphragm, resulting in a corresponding degradation in signal-to-noise ratio.


Fire, arm, and disarm signals are typically transmitted to electronic detonators via signal transmission lines. Traditionally, such signal transmission lines include wires wherein one end of each wire is soldered directly to printed circuit boards and/or other signal processing components retained within the shell of a detonator. Other ‘modular’ blasting apparatuses of the prior art provide means to connect signal transmission lines to detonators in the field. Signal transmission line/detonator contacts are susceptible to disruption, particularly when the signal transmission lines are subject to inadvertent tugging or tensile forces at the blast site. The present application discloses an electrical connector that enables secure connection between a signal transmission line and any detonator adapted to receive and optionally process electrical signals from the signal transmission line. Specifically, the electrical connector can be affixed to the signal input end of a detonator, and includes at least one bridge element to provide electrical contact between a signal transmission line, and internal electrical component(s) of the detonator.

Blasting operations frequently trigger a series of explosions in an exact order, with precise timing. For this purpose, blasting apparatuses can employ electronic detonators that may be initiated to fire in response to electrical signals transferred thereto by signal transmission lines. Typically, electronic detonators are positioned as desired to form a blasting array, each being connected to a blasting machine. The blasting machine may communicate directly with a single detonator or multiple detonators in the array via selected signal transmission lines (including for example trunk lines and/or branch lines or by wireless communications means). Communication signals may include, but are not limited to, ARM, DISARM, and FIRE signals, and may also include security code information such as firing codes to prevent inadvertent or illicit detonator initiation.
Safety and reliability are paramount for any blasting apparatus, and efficient detonator initiation is an important factor in this regard. Detonators that fail to initiate result in unexploded charges at the blast site, with inevitable safety concerns. Moreover, the reliable initiation of detonators is imperative to ensure that the required blasting pattern is properly effected.
Electronic detonators typically comprise an elongated, often cylindrical casing. At one end of the casing is a percussion-actuation end comprising a flat, shaped or hemispherical surface. Adjacent the surface is positioned a base charge. The signal transmission line enters the detonator casing at a signal input end of the detonator usually opposite the percussion-actuation end. The detonator casing may also house various components required for proper signal processing and detonator control. For example, such components may include, but are not limited to, one or more printed circuit boards, means for signal processing, means for storing detonator firing code information, and means for arming, disarming and initiating firing of the base charge.
Signal transmission lines may transmit signals between a blasting machine and one or more detonators via electrical communication. Alternatively, signal transmission lines may extend from components of a wireless detonator assembly (e.g. a wireless signal transmission or receiving means) to the main detonator unit, thereby to transmit electronic signals to or from the detonator and other wireless assembly components. In any event, signal transmission lines generally include two (or more) wires in juxtaposition. Each wire must be connected to the detonator for proper operation thereof. Moreover, each signal transmission line is preferably suited for two-way communication between the blasting machine and the detonator. In this way, the status of individual detonators as well as firing codes and logging information, can be monitored by an associated blasting machine.
Traditionally, the wires of the signal transmission lines are soldered directly to circuit elements of signal processing means retained within the detonator shell. Such signal processing means may include, but are not limited to, printed circuit boards (PCBs), which may be involved in receipt, analysis, processing or relay of the incoming signal(s). In this way, the wires from the signal transmission line enter into the detonator shell at the signal input end of the detonator.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,659 issued Jul. 11, 2000, discloses an electronic explosives initiating connector which includes a firing element which has a designed no-fire voltage and an operating circuit which operates at any voltage in a range of voltages that straddles the no-fire voltage. The connector pertains to an electronic detonator including a housing for containing the primary explosive and other components for detonator operation. The detonator includes a header and an integrated circuit, which together function to process incoming signals from a signal transmission line. The housing is crimped at one end to a crimp plug. Electrical leads extend from the integrated circuit through the crimp plug and to the exterior of the detonator to form the signal transmission line. The presence of the crimp plug in the detonator system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,659 acts as a seal to protect the components inside the housing against the ingress of moisture and dirt.
Whilst simple to manufacture, such 'traditional' detonator-to-signal transmission line connections present several disadvantages. One particular disadvantage lies in that the wires from the signal transmission line must be properly installed (e.g. by soldering) to the internal components of the detonator in the factory production line setting, and the detonator/signal transmission line assemblies must be shipped accordingly. It is noteworthy that each detonator may be selected from a variety of detonators (for example each having different delay periods or security functions), and each signal transmission line may comprise a desired length. As a result, a large number of possible detonator/signal transmission line combinations are possible, thereby increasing the costs and logistics of product transportation and storage of a range of commercial products.
In another disadvantage, the wires of the signal transmission line are soldered directly onto the printed circuit board or related components of the detonator initiation system. For this reason, the wire/detonator connection can be prone to breakage particularly if tensile or tugging forces are applied to the signal transmission line. Such forces may impose directly on the wire/detonator connection at the printed circuit board. The resulting disruption or breakage of the corresponding contacts can result in detonator failure in the field, with inevitable safety concerns.
To overcome at least some of the disadvantages of the prior art, "modular" detonator systems have been developed that include, for example, plug and socket means or junction boxes to allow positive attachment of signal transmission lines to detonators at the blasting site. In this way, the detonators (including the base charges) can be shipped to a customer and conveyed to the blasting site separately from the signal transmission lines. This results in improved safety and logistics of transporting and handling the components of the blasting apparatus.
For example, related U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,712 (issued Feb. 28, 1995), U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,591 (issued Dec. 17, 1996), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,164 (issued Jan. 21, 1997) disclose a detonator assembly for use with a booster charge. The assembly includes an electrical detonator and two electrical leads of equal length. One end of each lead is connected to the electrical detonator, and the other end of each lead is connected to a connector. The connector capable of maintaining the ends of the two electrical leads in non-conductive condition, and this allows the splicing of an additional leg wire thereto without the use of stripping or crimping tools. In this way, the desired length of wire can be spliced to the detonator assembly in the field. Moreover, the detonators may be conveniently packaged for transportation and storage.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,655,289 issued Dec. 2, 2003 discloses trigger units for initiating pyrotechnic elements, which usually consist of a switch and control unit, ignition means and an ignition charge body. The invention pertains to the use of a switch and control unit surrounded by a first shell, wherein the first shell is connected to a second shell, which contains the ignition charge body. The design is suited to efficient automatic assembly. In specific embodiments, the patent discloses a plug and socket system for the attachment of signal transmission lines to detonators. The detonator may include a percussion-actuation end and a plug located at the opposite end from the percussion-actuation end. The plug includes pins extend from the detonator, and which include connections to the printed circuit board. Importantly, the pins are adapted for engagement with a corresponding plug socket located at the end of a signal transmission line.
The safety of blasting apparatuses, and in particular electronic blasting apparatuses, is of paramount importance. There remains a continual need to develop electronic blasting apparatuses that include features that improve both reliability and safety. This need especially extends to the integrity of the blasting network, and communication between the components of the network. Most particularly, the connections between the signal transmission lines and the detonators encompass a key feature of the blasting network. Poor or weak connections can result in a failure to initiate specific detonators or groups of detonators within a blasting network, with deleterious effects upon the blasting sequence and the overall blasting event.


An embodiment includes an apparatus and method of distributing gases within a catalytic converter assembly. Gases flow through at least one inlet into a housing and out of the housing through at least one outlet. A substrate is disposed at least partially between at least one of the at least one inlet and at least one of the at least one outlet. The mass flow rate of the gases across at least one surface of a deflector are substantially equalized as the gases flow through at least one of the at least one inlet into the housing and out of the housing through at least one of the at least one outlet.

Aftertreatment devices like catalytic converter assemblies are widely known and available for use with diesel engines. Often, a unique catalytic converter assembly may be required for use with each original equipment manufacturer because each original equipment manufacturer utilizes a unique chassis. These assemblies include aftertreatment devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,401 to Hinderks.
Many assemblies have a housing and a catalyst coated substrate retained inside of the housing. The housing typically includes an inlet for permitting exhaust gases to enter the housing wherein they pass through the substrate and exit out through an outlet. The housing typically protects the catalyst coated substrate and directs exhaust gases to flow through the catalyst coated substrate. The catalyst's purpose is to catalyze chemical reactions with exhaust gases in order to reduce emissions content. The catalyst materials are typically coated on a flow-through honeycomb-type substrate. The substrate provides an opportunity for exhaust gases to interact with the catalyst and may be of any of a number of known materials such as a cordierite ceramic material or a metal foil material. However, it should be appreciated that the specific choice of materials and type of substrate is determined by the specific emissions performance desired and is dependent upon the particular engine used in combination with the catalyst.
As exhaust gases flow past a catalyst coated substrate a phenomenon known as plugging may occur. Plugging is when certain portions of the exhaust gases accumulate on the catalyst. Over time, the accumulation can continue to build up to the extent that flow of exhaust gases across portions of a catalytic coated substrate may be precluded. Therefore, it may be desirable to fairly evenly distribute the flow of exhaust gases across the catalyst coated substrate.
Additionally, it is desirable to pass as hot of exhaust gases as possible across catalyst coated substrates in order to utilize the additional heat during the catalytic reduction process. Hotter exhaust gases are also less likely to cause as much plugging as cooler exhaust gases. Therefore, it may be beneficial to mount the catalytic converter assembly directly to the exhaust manifold of an engine, thereby reducing heat lost by exhaust gases prior to flowing across the catalyst coated substrate. Mounting the catalytic converter assembly directly to the exhaust manifold also facilitates using the same converter assembly for many different original equipment manufacturers.
However, known assemblies fail to bring exhaust gases into a housing, turn the exhaust gases quickly, balance flow variances and evenly distribute flow of exhaust gases across the catalyst coated substrate in a manner which achieves optimal emissions reduction. Prior systems use complex control systems or rely on precise port sizing and geometric relationships to achieve distribution of the exhaust gases across the catalyst coated substrate. When used over engines with multiple ratings and having multiple operating conditions the many various components, intricacies of the structural members, and complexity of the exhaust gas flows may increase manufacturing and design costs as well as increase maintenance and other owning and operating costs.


The liquid treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes a substrate holder configured to horizontally hold a substrate, and a top plate configured to be rotatable and to cover the substrate held by the substrate holder from above so as to define a treatment space. In the treatment space, a chemical liquid is supplied by a chemical liquid nozzle onto the substrate, and an atmosphere replacement gas is supplied by a replacement nozzle into the treatment space. The replacement nozzle is supported by a replacement nozzle support arm configured to be horizontally moved between an advanced position at which the replacement nozzle support arm is advanced into the treatment space and a retracted position at which the replacement nozzle support arm is retracted outside from the treatment space. The replacement nozzle is configured to discharge, above the substrate, the atmosphere replacement gas upward.

In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a resist film having a predetermined pattern is formed on a process target film which is formed on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to also as "wafer"), and the process target film is subjected to a treatment such as etching or ion implantation using the resist film as a mask. After the treatment, the unnecessary resist film is removed from the wafer.
An SPM treatment is typically used as a method for removing the resist film. The SPM treatment is performed by supplying the resist film with an SPM solution (Sulfuric Acid Hydrogen Peroxide Mixture) obtained by mixing sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide solution.
In the SPM treatment, the SPM solution of a high temperature is generally discharged toward a wafer. Thus, the SPM solution may evaporate to generate fume. There is a possibility that the fume might diffuse in a wide area of a chamber of a resist removal apparatus to contaminate an inner wall of the chamber and components therein so that a wafer contamination causative agent is generated.
In order to prevent that the fume diffuses in a wide area of the chamber to contaminate the inner wall of the chamber and the components therein, JP2007-35866A proposes a resist removal apparatus including: a spin chuck configured to hold a wafer, a shield wall surrounding a circumference of the wafer held by the spin chuck, the shield wall having an opening above the wafer; a shield plate disposed above the shield wall; and a nozzle configured to be inserted from a lateral side through a gap between the shield wall and the shield plate so as to discharge an SPM solution toward the wafer. According to the resist removal apparatus described in JP2007-35866A, the shield wall and the shield plate can prevent fume from diffusing in a wide area in the chamber.

Liquid treatment apparatus and liquid treatment method


The dual frequency RF identification device comprises an HF antenna for receiving an HF electromagnetic field, an HF interface, an UHF antenna for receiving an UHF electromagnetic field, an UHF interface, non-volatile memory means formed by a first non-volatile memory and a second non-volatile memory. The first non-volatile memory can be in an active state without the second non-volatile memory being powered and consumes substantially more power than this second non-volatile memory. The first non-volatile memory comprises all data needed for a device configuration allowing this device to carry out at least a communication mode of an UHF protocol, this communication mode having access to the first non-volatile memory but not to the second non-volatile memory. The first non-volatile memory further comprises all attributes needed for a configuration of this communication mode.

The international patent application WO 2011/159171 describes a passive RFID device with an UHF interface comprising an UHF antenna and a dual frequency LF-HF Interface comprising a LF antenna and a HF antenna. The dual frequency LF-HF Interface carries out a IP-X protocol in which only a LF demodulator and a HF modulator is used. It is to be noted that the dual frequency LF-HF interlace is intended to communicate with a single dual frequency reader. The passive RFID device further comprises a UHF rectifier and a LF rectifier which can both generate a power supply for this device. More particularly, a decision circuit is provided for selecting either the LF rectifier or the UHF rectifier as power generator depending on which one delivers the largest signal.
The passive RFID device further comprises a controller formed by a UHF logic unit, a IP-X logic unit and a single shared non-volatile memory (EEPROM). The device is arranged for detecting which kind of readers is present and for responding accordingly. More particularly, depending on which energy source is present and the strength of that energy source, the controller select either the UHF logic unit or the IP-X logic unit or both and executes respectively a UHF protocol, a IP-X protocol or both. According to the document WO 2011/159171, it is an important aspect that the same data be delivered to both UHF and dual frequency readers. For this purpose, a single EEPROM memory is used by each protocol and fully shared between the UHF logic unit and the IP-X logic unit. In order to allow such a full sharing of the single EEPROM memory, a different mapping is provided for both protocols.
This prior art RFID device has some drawback, a major one being the fact that the sensitivity of the UHF interface is relatively low due to the fact that there is a single non-volatile memory (also named NVM in the following text) which is accessed by both interfaces. Indeed, the whole EEPROM memory is powered when one or the other interface carries out its corresponding protocol. This is a problem because the IP-X protocol or more generally a LF or HF protocol needs a relatively big non-volatile memory which consumes a relative high power. The activation of such a big NVM and the access to this memory is power hungry, so that the power level needed for carrying out the UHF protocol is much higher than in a UHF system formed by a UHF transponder and a UHF reader. As a consequence, the distance of communication for a UHF communication in the system proposed by WO 2011/159171 is shorter than the corresponding distance of the mentioned UHF system.

Dual frequency HF-UHF identification device, in particular of the passive type


A floating point unit (FPU) is described which processes normalized binary numbers. All multiply, add, and subtract calculations are performed using the format (A*B)+C or (A*B)-C. The operation A*B is performed in parallel with the alignment of C to the product of A*B. An output of the multiplier and the aligned operand C are applied to a carry save adder, whose output is then applied to a carry propagate adder to generate the result A*B.+-.C. The output of the carry save adder is also applied to a combined leading one anticipator (LOA) and leading zero anticipator (LZA). The output of the carry propogate adder is provided to a post normalizer. The output of the combined LOA/LZA is applied to the input of a multiplexer, with the control input of the multiplexer being connected to the most significant bit of the adder output, where this most significant bit indicates whether the result is positive or negative. The output of the multiplexer will thus reflect the leading zero count, if the output of the adder is a positive number, or the leading one count, if the output of the adder is a negative number. The resulting count is then used to normalize the result of A*B.+-.C.

Arithmetic processing circuitry for binary numbers typically employs floating point arithmetic in accordance with the IEEE 754 standard. Floating point arithmetic, used in addition, multiplication, and division, first normalizes the binary numbers to be added, multiplied, or divided by shifting the binary numbers until, for a positive number, the first non-zero digit (i.e., 1) is immediately to the left of the radix point such that the mantissa part of the binary numbers is greater than or equal to one and less than two. A negative binary number will have leading ones. Thus, to normalize a negative number, the number must be shifted so that the first zero is immediately to the left of the radix point.
For multiplication, the normalized binary numbers are then multiplied and their exponents added. For division, the normalized binary numbers are divided and their exponents subtracted. For addition and subtraction, the normalized numbers must be shifted (i.e., aligned) so that their exponents are equal, then the numbers are added or subtracted.
To normalize a binary number, the number of leading zeros (for a positive number) or leading ones (for a negative number) must be quickly determined so that the number of shifts of the binary number can be quickly performed for the next arithmetic operation. Ideally, the leading one count or leading zero count is performed in parallel with the arithmetic operation so that shifting can be performed immediately after the arithmetic operation.
What is needed is a very fast arithmetic processing circuit for generating a binary number, calculating the number of leading ones or zeroes in the number, and then shifting the number to produce a normalized binary result for a next floating point arithmetic operation.

Combined leading one and leading zero anticipator


A method performed by a computer system determines propagation relationships of Trojan horse files. A current Trojan horse file is stored into a corresponding current level of a propagation relationship tree. A condition of the current Trojan horse file or of the propagation relationship tree is assessed. The following steps are repeated until the condition is satisfied: search Trojan horse files for a parent, child or sibling relative to the current Trojan horse file, identify one of the Trojan horse files as the current Trojan horse file, and store the current Trojan horse file into a corresponding current level of the propagation relationship tree. When the condition is satisfied, the propagation relationship tree is displayed. The storing of the current Trojan horse file may include storing an identifier of the current Trojan horse file, which may include data abstraction output, and/or a downloading address of the current Trojan horse file.

With the development of Internet technology, more and more Trojan horse programs are spread in networks. Trojan horse programs, usually called Trojan horses, are a kind of malicious code, which may hide in a computer and may be controlled by an external user to steal information or control authority of the computer. Most Trojan horse programs have malicious intentions and cause harm, for example, by occupying system resources, decreasing the efficiency of the computer, endangering information security of the computer (such as stealing a QQ account, a game account or even a bank account), and utilizing the computer as a tool to attack other devices, and so on.
Typically, a relationship between a Trojan horse file stored in a matrix and a Trojan horse file stored in a child of the Trojan horse, including the downloading addresses of the Trojan horse files may be obtained by manual analysis and running of a virtual machine. Md5s output, which may include an abstract data type, produced by processing of the matrix and the child may be stored in conjunction with the downloading address for the Trojan horse file for later query.

Method and device for determining propagation relationship of Trojan horse  files

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


The use of complex lipids, especially lecithin, as additives to stabilize water-soluble pharmaceutical preparations of digestive enzyme mixtures containing lipases and proteases, especially pancreatin-containing digestive enzyme mixtures, which are suitable for preparing aqueous solutions for continuous introduction into the gastrointestinal tract by means of a tube, against a decrease in lipolytic activity under the influence of moisture.

The present invention relates to the use of complex lipids as additives stabilizing against a decrease in lipolytic activity under the influence of moisture to water-soluble pharmaceutical preparations of digestive enzyme mixtures which contain protease/lipase mixtures, in particular pancreatin, and which are suitable for preparing aqueous solutions for continuous introduction into the gastrointestinal tract by means of tubes. The invention furthermore relates to water-soluble pharmaceutical preparations of digestive enzyme mixtures containing lipases and proteases, especially of pancreatin-containing digestive enzyme mixtures, which are stabilized by complex lipids against a decrease in lipolytic activity under the influence of moisture, and which are suitable for preparing aqueous solutions which can be introduced into the gastrointestinal tract of mammals or humans by means of a tube.
A deficiency of digestive enzymes may occur in mammals, especially humans, for example caused by a pathological change in the pancreas resulting from chronic pancreatitis, digestive insufficiency after stomach operations, hepatic or biliary disorders. It is already known that deficiency manifestations of these types can be treated by administration of non-endogenous pancreatin-containing digestive enzyme mixtures such as, for example, pancreatic enzymes, especially pancreatin, which may optionally also contain added lipases. The pancreatic enzymes are normally administered orally in the form of solid preparations. In order for the administered enzyme mixtures taken orally not to undergo unwanted irreversible denaturation in the stomach by gastric acid and proteolytic enzymes, such as pepsin, present therein, it is necessary to provide the enzyme mixtures with a coating resistant to gastric fluid. A coating of this type permits the intact enzyme mixtures to pass through the stomach to their site of action, the duodenum, where the protective layer is degraded by the neutral to slightly alkaline conditions prevailing therein, and the enzymes are released. Like the endogenous pancreatic enzymes of the healthy person, the orally administered enzymes are able to display their enzymatic effects, in particular amylolytic, lipolytic and proteolytic activities, there.
Solid pancreatin formulations of this type which can be coated with a film resistant to gastric fluid and are in the form of micropellets are described, for example, in Bodecker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,462 (=DE 4,227,385), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
For patients with digestive insufficiency, in particular patients confined to bed with prolonged digestive insufficiency such as, for example, chronic pancreatic insufficiency, it would be desirable to administer non-endogenous digestive enzymes also over a lengthy period in liquid form, for example by continuous administration by means of a tube, in place of solid dosage forms.
It has not heretofore been possible to provide liquid dosage forms of pancreatin-containing digestive enzyme mixtures, in particular of pancreatin, because liquid aqueous preparations of such enzyme mixtures are not stable over a lengthy period. It has been found, in particular, that the activity of the lipases present in the mixture decreases rapidly in the presence of water due to proteolytic attack by the proteases which are likewise present in the mixture, such as trypsin or chymotrypsin. Thus, there may be substantial loss of lipase activity in aqueous pancreatin preparations within a very short time depending on the external conditions (temperature, pH).
In order to be suitable for continuous introduction into the gastrointestinal tract by administration by means of a tube, aqueous solutions of digestive enzyme mixtures containing lipases and proteases, in particular of pancreatin-containing digestive enzyme mixtures, must be stable for a period of several hours, for example 8 hours. In particular, no particles blocking the tube must be produced or present in the solutions. An essential requirement for solutions of this type is that an activity of all the digestive enzymes present therein which is as high and as constant as possible is maintained throughout the administration period. It is furthermore necessary for solutions suitable for continuous gastrointestinal administration that they are free of microbe growth, that is to say can be provided for example preserved against microbe growth, preferably sterile.

Method of stabilizing pharmaceutical preparations comprising digestive enzyme mixtures


An apparatus for containing and dispensing material includes a container enclosing a quantity of the material and a discharge unit operably associated with the container. The discharge unit comprises an entry port, a rotational assembly, an impeller, and an exit port. The rotational assembly includes a rotatable plate that retracts away from the entry port when the plate and the impeller are rotating. The plate remains in an abutting relationship with the entry port when not rotating.

There is a continuing need for improvements in apparatus that may be placed unattended at a location for an extended period of time and provide feed or other material for a given duration, including improvements in controlling the flow and quantity of material being dispensed while protecting the material from environmental elements. These and other improvements are met by the embodiments described herein.

Apparatus for directionally discharging feed


A post-etch treatment system is described for removing photoresist and etch residue formed during an etching process. For example, the etch residue can include halogen containing material. The post-etch treatment system comprises a vacuum chamber, a radical generation system coupled to the vacuum chamber, a radical gas distribution system coupled to the radical generation system and configured to distribute reactive radicals above a substrate, and a high temperature pedestal coupled to the vacuum chamber and configured to support the substrate. The high temperature pedestal comprises a scored upper surface configured to minimize substrate slippage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for treating a substrate, and more particularly to a post-etch treatment system for reduced damage treatment of a substrate following an etching process.
2. Description of Related Art
During semiconductor processing, a (dry) plasma etch process can be utilized to remove or etch material along fine lines or within vias or contacts patterned on a silicon substrate. The plasma etch process generally involves positioning a semiconductor substrate with an overlying patterned, protective mask layer, for example a photoresist layer, in a processing chamber. Once the substrate is positioned within the chamber, an ionizable, dissociative gas mixture is introduced within the chamber at a pre-specified flow rate, while a vacuum pump is throttled to achieve an ambient process pressure. Thereafter, a plasma is formed when a fraction of the gas species present are ionized by electrons heated via the transfer of radio frequency (RF) power either inductively or capacitively, or via microwave power using, for example, electron cyclotron resonance (ECR). Moreover, the heated electrons serve to dissociate some species of the ambient gas species and create reactant specie(s) suitable for the exposed surface etch chemistry. Once the plasma is formed, selected surfaces of the substrate are etched by the plasma. The process is adjusted to achieve appropriate conditions, including an appropriate concentration of desirable reactant and ion populations to etch various features (e.g., trenches, vias, contacts, etc.) in the selected regions of the substrate. Such substrate materials where etching is required include silicon dioxide (SiO2), low dielectric constant (i.e., low-k) dielectric materials, poly-silicon, and silicon nitride. Once the pattern is transferred from the patterned mask layer to the underlying layer, using, for example, dry plasma etching, the remaining layer of photoresist, and post-etch residues, are removed via an ashing (or stripping) process. For instance, in conventional ashing processes, the substrate having the remaining photoresist layer is exposed to an oxygen plasma formed from the introduction of diatomic oxygen (O2) and ionization/dissociation thereof. However, formation of plasma in close proximity with the substrate can lead to uncontrolled exposure to high energy charged particles (e.g., energetic electrons, etc.) and electro-magnetic (EM) radiation (e.g., ultraviolet (UV) radiation), which may cause damage to underlying layers and/or structures that is unacceptable to the device manufacturers.

Post-etch treatment system for removing residue on a substrate


The present disclosure relates to a wired/wireless integrated power reception system provided in a vehicle, the wireless/wireless integrated power reception system including: a wired power reception apparatus configured to receive power from a transformer in a wired power receiving mode; a relay unit, which upon detecting reception of wireless power from a wireless power transmission pad, is configured to switch to a wireless power receiving mode; and a wireless power reception pad configured to receive power by magnetic coupling in the wireless power receiving mode.

In continued research on electronic devices, studies are also conducted on a wireless charging system for providing electric power to the electronic devices. Many companies are committed to research and development of the wireless charging system of electric cars.
A wired charging system of electric cars has been commercialized and widely used. It is predicted that such wired charging system will be gradually changed to a wireless charging system. In an environment where the wired charging system is used in combination with the wireless charging system, there is a need for a wired/wireless integrated power reception system which may be implemented at a minimum cost and may allow wired and wireless charging systems to perform operations without affecting each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,381,821 discloses a wired/wireless charging apparatus of an electric car. However, the wired/wireless charging apparatus has a problem in that mutual impedance occurs when the wired and wireless charging systems are combined at a high-frequency AC terminal. That is, there is a problem in that when the respective wired and wireless chargers operate, interference of operation may occur due to mutual impedance. For example, when a wired charger operates, an output control range of the wired charger is reduced due to impedance of a resonant tank and a wireless charging pad, thereby causing a reduction in efficiency.

Wired/wireless integrated power reception system


Techniques and systems for routing and information collection for telephone calls are described. Upon initiation of a revenue generating call, a data management module creates a call interaction record, including a unique call identifier and information generated by an exchange originating the call. Call accounting information such as user identification and billing account information are collected from the user by presenting audible queries from the user and receiving voice responses. The voice responses are matched to stored information, which is stored in the call interaction record. If a voice response does not unambiguously identify the requested information, further queries may be presented to elicit more refined responses or request responses for recording and later playback. Routing information is then collected, again through audible queries and voice responses, and stored. Upon completion of the call, the call interaction record is closed and stored for later retrieval and analysis.

Many organizations, for example law firms and business consultants, realize substantial portions of their revenue through conversations with clients, in which a professional speaks with a client to gather information or to render advice. Many conversations are conducted by telephone, with the time a professional spends on the call being tracked so that the time can be billed to the appropriate client and task. In typical prior art systems, tracking of calls may be the responsibility of a telephone user, who makes manual time entries noting the duration of a call and the client account to which the call relates. Making such manual entries is inconvenient, and it is likely that calls will occur for which the time spent on the call will not be properly accounted for. If time spent on a call is properly accounted for and billed, the call contributes to revenue. Failure to collect billing and accounting data for a call diminishes revenue.
Various prior art systems for the tracking of calls employ greater or less degrees of automation in order to assist in accounting for the time spent on the calls. Such systems may simply display the duration of the call for the caller to aid manual entry of call data. Other systems allow the caller to enter a caller identification when making a call, as well as a billing account identifier. Such entries are typically made manually using a telephone keypad. Billing account identifiers may be relatively complex, for example consisting of two relatively long numbers, one identifying a client and a second identifying a particular project being conducted for the client. A number of deficiencies exist in such approaches. A caller may work on a number of different tasks during a single call, each task requiring the use of a different task identifier for proper billing. Many callers may find manual entry of task identifiers inconvenient, and thus may sometimes fail to enter correct billing information. In addition, many call tracking systems that require manual input of identification information do not provide any way to verify that the correct information has been entered. A nonexistent billing account number may therefore be entered, resulting in the expenditure of time and effort to correct the error. If the correct billing account number cannot be ascertained, the revenue for the call may be lost. Moreover, systems that track identifiers for outgoing calls do not typically track the data for incoming calls. There exists, therefore, a need for techniques for collecting needed data relating to revenue generating calls in ways that are convenient for a user and help to insure consistent and correct accounting for the calls.

Methods and apparatus for routing and accounting of revenue generating calls using natural language voice recognition


An image processor which provides a color space conversion characteristic suitable for an image includes a transfer unit which transfers digital color image data representing a desired image input by an image input unit and having a color space depending on the image input unit, and extraction unit which extracts a color space conversion characteristic used to convert the color space depending on the image input unit into another color space. The transfer unit transfers the digital color image data having the color space depending on the image input unit and the color space conversion characteristic.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method associated with color matching processing for digital color image data and transfer of a profile used for color matching processing.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, along with the development of digital coding techniques, methods of compressing/coding image data and transmitting the image data as digital data have been established to enable transmission of high-quality video data obtained by, e.g., a video camera. In a multimedia system having a host computer as a core equipment, extensive studies of a color matching system (to be referred to as a CMS hereinafter) for matching the color appearances between input image data and output devices have been made. In ColorSync of Apple computer Inc., which is one of the frameworks of representative CMSs, the device dependent color space of an input device is converted into an independent color space, thereby realizing common CMS processing. For this conversion processing, data (profile) representing the device dependent color space conversion characteristic is prepared in the host computer in units of devices, so that the color space is converted in accordance with the conversion characteristic which is automatically or manually selected in conversion processing.
FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing the relationship between an image transmission technique and a CMS in the prior art. On the transmission side, digital image data is input from a terminal 1601. An error correction coding circuit 1602 adds parity data for correcting data errors on the transmission line to the digital image data. The digital image data to be sent to the transmission line is subjected to packeting and modulation by a transmission line coding circuit 1603, and transmitted from a terminal 1604. In a host computer 1605 on the reception side, a transmission line decoding circuit 1607 decodes the transmission data supplied from a terminal 1606 and extracts a data block from the transmission packet. The data is subjected to transmission line error correction processing by an error correction circuit 1608 and output from a terminal 1609 as digital image data. Color space characteristic data for CMS processing is prepared in advance as a permanent data file 1610 in the host computer. Therefore, the color space characteristic data does not dynamically reflect the characteristic of the transmitted digital image data.
In the conventional system, when, e.g., a flatbed scanner is directly connected to the host computer, and the characteristic of the input device itself does not change, the effect of CMS processing can be expected by using the conversion characteristic data stored in the host computer. However, assume that a signal whose characteristic in the actual read process cannot be specified, like compressed and coded digital image data and, particularly video camera image data largely depending on the adjustment state in a pickup operation, is digitally coded, transmitted, and subjected to CMS processing. In this case, only with the conversion characteristic data prepared in the host computer, no sufficient effect can be expected. In addition, erroneous conversion is undesirably performed in accordance with an unsuitable characteristic.


Embodiments of methods for producing a trimodal polymer in a solution polymerization process comprise three solution polymerization reactors organized in parallel or in series.

Polyethylene is one of the most common plastics and may be used in a variety ways depending on the structure of the polymer, for example, bags/liners, caps/closures, hygiene films, industrial injection molding, etc. It has been estimated that approximately 80 million tons of polyethylene is produced each year. In order to meet demand as well as provide new polymer structures with useful properties, it is necessary to provide new polymer processing systems and methods.
Particularly useful polyethylene structures are multimodal ethylene-based polymers, e.g., trimodal polymers, because they may combine the processability of resin with a balance of desirable properties such as strength, barrier properties, etc. However, the production of multimodal ethylene-based polymers is still challenging and problematic as gelling, especially for the high molecular weight component, process control, and other issues may arise. Accordingly, there is a continual need for improved processes for making multimodal ethylene-based polymers.

Multimodal ethylene-based polymer processing systems and methods