A pipe lining having at least two material layers, a first elastomeric layer spray applied directly to the inside of a pipe which acts as a hydrophobic, ductile membrane, and a second rigid layer is spray applied to the first layer prior to complete curing of the first layer. One or more additional layers may be applied to the second layer to provide additional abrasion, erosion or chemical resistance to the second layer. An intermediate reinforcing layer may be disposed between the first and second layers. The first layer cures into a closed cell elastomeric foam, such that stress and other forces are not passed from the pipe to the rigid second layer.

This invention relates generally to linings for internal pipe surfaces, and more particularly relates to such linings formed of multiple layers, and even more particularly relates to such linings adapted and adaptable for use in the structural repair or remediation of degraded, damaged or leaking pipes, or such linings adapted and adaptable to improve or upgrade qualities and characteristics of pipes prior to or after use or installation. The invention further relates to methods for applying and forming the lining on the interior of the pipe.
There are many known compositions for internal pipe linings that provide improved properties or may be used to repair degraded or damaged pipes already in use. Many of the known linings are referred to by the acronym SIPP, which stands for sprayed-in-place pipe, and application of the linings typically involves single or multiple passes of equipment applying one or more polymeric material layers to the interior of the pipe. These linings are most closely related to this invention, and comprise linings made from polymers sprayed onto the interior wall of the pipe. There are however numerous problems or drawbacks associated with the known compositions, laminate combinations and methodologies.
One problem in the SIPP market is that thermoset polymeric materials used to create a rigid internal lining are unable to adequately resist cracking caused by exothermic reaction and or radial shrinkage during the curing process. When the polymeric material is applied too thickly in one pass it often has the tendency to crack, as the increased heat from the exotherm can result in embrittlement of the polymer as it gets close to its glass transition temperature Tg. Secondly, there is always some radial and longitudinal shrinkage during curing, and if the polymeric material is adhered directly to the pipe substrate this shrinkage can cause cracking of the polymeric material, especially in situations of high exotherm and mismatch in the coefficient of thermal expansions of different interfacing materials. Furthermore, there is no guarantee of 100% adhesion or precise circumferential thickness with these formulations. If you have thinner material or the material is not fully adhered to the pipe, cracking, delamination or other failure may occur in these areas due to the strain applied while curing or when subjected to internal or external loading.
The laminate system of this invention allows the rigid polymeric layer to move to some extent and will absorb strains caused by external factors, as an elastomeric layer is provided between the inner pipe surface and the rigid internal layer. Thus, the rigid polymeric layer is no longer adhered directly to the actual pipe substrate at any point but rather is adhered to an elastomeric layer, which has the capability to expand and yield to reduce the reaction forces between the rigid liner and the pipe when these strains occur. In other words, the elastomeric lining in this invention allows the rigid liner to be 'suspended' in the host pipe so that the internal and/or external forces or strain are not fully transferred onto the rigid liner but are instead dissipated throughout the elastomeric layer.
A major issue with developing a high modulus polymeric layer for lining pipe has been the need to avoid excessive adhesion to the host pipe. Many polymeric formulations, typically polyureas, polyurea/polyurethane hybrids, polyurethanes, and epoxy systems, have been developed that possess high modulus and strength—flexural, tensile and compressive—in order to provide a rigid tubular member. These formulations, however, have three significant issues. While these materials possess the required rigidity, they are relatively brittle, so unless applied at considerable thickness (which is not cost effective) they cannot survive internal working fluid pressure, transverse shear or overburden. Typically-formulated hybrids are not moisture tolerant due to urethane linkages and are thermosetting, so they radially and longitudinally shrink during the curing process, creating small annuluses or circumferential gaps between the liner and the host pipe. Additionally, these materials may excessively adhere to the pipe wall where there are concave, convex and rough surface profiles that are created in the cleaning process, e.g., from remote abrasive blasting, abrasive pigging, etc., or exist in the inherent profile of the pipe wall, such as at joints and taps, etc. If the liner is too firmly adhered to the pipe, the liner cannot survive a fracture in the pipe. Once fractures or remarkable deformations happen on the pipe where the rigid lining is adhered, the displacements on the pipe will be transferred onto the rigid lining via adhesion bonding, causing the brittle lining material to crack, fracture or tear. Simulation testing has shown that if the adhesion strength between the pipe and rigid lining is above 200-300 psi, a crack on the host pipe which was initiated and propagated by external load will propagate into the rigid lining and cause material failure. Additionally, when the liner is loaded with internal pressure under normal working condition (must meet an MAOP of 150 psi—safety factor of 2—per M28 for a Class IV liner), FEA simulation and lab testing shows the internal pressure will increase the stress on the liner where the cracks are initiated to the point of breaking the lining material. And finally, if an attempt is made to impede adhesion to the host pipe, such as by applying a mold release on the interior of the pipe—the rigid lining will detach from the pipe wall after curing, creating an annulus between liner and pipe into which water and/or effluent will infiltrate. The pipe liner must, per standard, seal at all terminations, service connections and other discontinuities in the pipe. If there is an annulus, even a very small one, caused by lack of adhesion to the host pipe, there is no way to seal for hydrostatic integrity.
Infiltration in any annulus remaining between the liner and the pipe is a true problem in today's pipeline rehabilitation industry when utilizing SIPP, cured-in-place pipe (CIPP), epoxy lining and other rigid, structural thermoset lining methods. The amount of radial shrinkage has been reduced by formulation over the years, yet there is still an inherent shrinkage of at least 1%, which creates an unacceptable annular space between the liner and the host pipe. Unless there are complete and absolute seals at the interface of lateral intrusions (e.g., pipe T's) and liner terminations through adhesion or mechanical methods, hydrostatic infiltration will occur. Any inflow or infiltration is bad as it can simply travel the annulus and leak out through the joints, cracks and/or perforations, which defeats the purpose of using lining correction in the pipe. While loss of drinking water from damaged pipes in a water supply system is to be avoided, liquid loss from industrial pipelines transmitting hazardous materials may be dangerous. More importantly to the structural Class IV liner, if hydrostatic infiltration occurs while the pipe is under internal pressure, the infiltration basically equalizes the pressure in the system—thereby rendering even the most structural liner useless in regard to its resistance to loading.
For potable water applications, the internal pipe lining is required to meet the American Water Works Association (AWWA) standards and in particular the standards set out below. Class IV linings are the strongest structural pipe linings of which the internal pressure and external load resistance capabilities do not rely on the material adhesion on the host pipe and the structural support from the pipe wall. This type of lining possesses the following characteristics:
4.2.4 Class IV Linings.
184.108.40.206 Class IV linings, termed fully structural or structurally independent, possess the following characteristics:                1. The lining has a long-term hoop strength which equal to or greater than the MAOP of the pipe to be rehabilitated. This hoop strength is tested independently from the host pipe.        2. The lining has long-term resistance to external and live loads and the resistance is independent from the host pipe.        3. The lining has a short-term hoop strength which equal to or greater than all short-term loads, such as sustained and surge (vacuum and occasional and recurrent surge) pressures and live loads even if these loads are in excess of the capacity of the host pipe. This hoop strength is tested independently from the host pipe.
18.104.22.168 Class IV linings are sometimes considered to be structurally equivalent to new replacement pipe, although such linings will have markedly different properties in terms of buckling and longitudinal bending resistance than the original host pipe. These linings should be designed with adequate load resistance for all reasonable assumptions of loading conditions independent of the host pipe. By necessity, they will be of smaller internal diameters than the host pipe. However, their design should also consider practical implications to facilitate the continued service objectives of the host pipe such as the ability to provide water to service lines and mains without compromising the hydrostatic integrity of the overall lining system. (See AWWA M28, Chapter 11-3rd ed.)
188.8.131.52 Class IV linings can also be used in circumstances similar to those for Class II and III, but their use is essential for host pipes suffering from generalized external corrosion where the mode of pipe failure has been, or is likely to be, longitudinal cracking. The host pipe suffers full loss of hoop strength because of the longitudinal crack. Other catastrophic modes (e.g. spiral cracks, circumferential cracks, a leadite style joint failure blow-out) can also happen on the pipe wall where more liner structural resistance is required than traditional hole spanning structural resistance.
188.8.131.52 Some available pipe rehabilitation technologies can offer Class II, Class III and even Class IV linings, while a given lining system may be rated as Class IV for MAOP levels up to a threshold value and as a Class II and III system at higher pressures.
18.104.22.168 Additional Design Considerations: In addition to internal pressure loads, linings are also required to sustain external buckling loads during periods when the host pipe is depressurized, as well as transient and cyclic overpressure and/or vacuum loads. Some lining systems (Classes III and IV) can be designed to offer significant inherent resistance to such external loads, while others (Class II) depend solely on adhesion to the host pipe wall. Inherent resistance to external buckling normally varies with increased lining thickness and hence cost. Care should therefore be taken to ensure that such performance requirements are accurately defined.
It is an object of this invention to provide an internal pipe lining composition, laminate and methodology of application that addresses the various problems and shortcomings discussed above, and which meet applicable standards for potable water and other fluid systems.

Internal lining for pipe surfaces and method of lining pipes


An object of the invention is to improve a defect caused at the time of starting a midpoint potential generating circuit for use in a semiconductor device. A bias generating circuit supplies a grounding potential as a bias voltage Vbias and sets a midpoint potential of capacitors C1 and C2 to a grounding potential when a supply voltage VDD is lower than a first reference voltage. When the supply voltage VDD is equal to or higher than the first reference voltage, the bias generating circuit supplies the supply voltage VDD as the bias voltage Vbias. When the bias voltage Vbias is equal to or higher than a second reference voltage, the bias generating circuit supplies a voltage obtained by dividing the supply voltage VPP of the booster power supply circuit as the bias voltage Vbias to a node of the capacitors C1 and C2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a midpoint potential generating circuit for use in a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device such as a DRAM (random access memory), a decoupling capacitor is generally disposed between a power wire and a grounding wire in order to suppress a fluctuation of a supply voltage. There has been proposed that the decoupling capacitor is formed of a stack capacitor used in a memory cell of the DRAM.
For example, JP 10-12838A discloses that a plurality of memory cell capacitors are separately disposed to realize an etendue efficient capacity element.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent 3399519 discloses a bias circuit that supplies a bias voltage to a power supply circuit having an array capacitor with a low voltage limit connected in series as a DRAM power supply.
Meanwhile, in the power supply circuit having the stack capacitors connected in series to realize a large capacity, a circuit that provides a constant midpoint potential to nodes of the capacitors is provided in order that a voltage that is applied to the capacitors does not exceed a limit value.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a conventional power supply circuit for a semiconductor device. In FIG. 1, a booster power supply circuit 11 boosts a voltage VDD and generates a supply voltage VPP that is supplied to an internal circuit 12.
Capacitors C1 and C2 are connected in series, the supply voltage VPP is applied to an upper terminal of the capacitor C1, a bias voltage Vbias is applied to a node between the capacitor C1 and the capacitor C2, and a lower terminal of the capacitor C2 is grounded.
An n-channel MOS transistor TR1 and a p-channel MOS transistor TR2 are connected tandem, and a voltage at a node between those transistors TR1 and TR2 is applied to the node of the capacitors C1 and C2 as the bias voltage Vbias.
To a gate of the MOS transistor TR1 is applied a voltage Vrefl developed at a node between resistors R11 and R12 among the resistors R10, R11 and R12 which are connected in series. To a gate of the MOS transistor TR2 is applied a voltage Vrefh developed at a node between the resistors R10 and R11.
Accordingly, when a voltage resulting from adding a threshold voltage Vth of the MOS transistor TR1 to the bias voltage Vbias is lower than a lower limit Vrefl of a voltage that is determined according to the supply voltage VPP outputted from the booster power supply circuit 11 and a resistance ratio of a series resistor consisting of the resistor R10 and the resistor R11 to the resistor R12, the MOS transistor TR1 turns on to charge the capacitor C2.
On the other hand, when a voltage resulting from adding the threshold value Vth of the MOS transistor TR2 to the bias voltage Vbias is higher than an upper limit Vrefh of a voltage that is determined according to a resistance ratio of the resistor R10 to a series resistor consisting of the resistors R11 and R12, the MOS transistor TR2 turns on to discharge the capacitor C2.
The above operation is repeated so that the midpoint potential of the capacitors C1 and C2 is controlled in a range between the upper limit and the lower limit.
FIG. 2 is a circuit that compares the upper limit Vrefh and the lower limit Vrefl of the voltage with the bias voltage Vbias by means of comparators CP1 and CP2 disposed upstream of the MOS transistors TR3 and TR4. In the following description, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by like references, and their description will be omitted.
In FIG. 2, MOS transistors are connected tandem between the power supply VDD and the ground in such a manner that a p-channel MOS transistor TR3 is disposed at an upper position and an n-channel MOS transistor TR4 is disposed at a lower position.
The lower limit Vrefl of the voltage is inputted to an inverting input terminal of the comparator CP1, and the upper limit Vrefh of the voltage is inputted to an inverting input terminal of the capacitor CP2.
Noninverting input terminals of the comparators CP1 and CP2 are inputted with a voltage obtained by dividing the bias voltage Vbias by resistors R20 and R21.
The operation of this circuit is basically identical with the circuit shown in FIG. 1, and the bias voltage Vbias is controlled in such a manner that the voltage divided by the resistors R20 and R21 falls within a range between the upper limit and the lower limit.
In this example, the operation of starting the midpoint potential generating circuit shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. Normally, the resistors R10, R11 and R12 to be used are large in resistance in order to reduce the power consumption during stationary operation. For that reason, the time constant becomes large, and a given period of time is required until the voltages Vrefh and Vrefl determined according to the divided ratio of the resistors R10, R11, and R12 reach design values at the rising time of the supply voltage.
Under the above circumstances, since the gradient of a potential rising curve of the capacitor C2 is higher than the gradients of the rising curves of the voltages Vrefh and Vrefl (period T1) as shown in FIG. 3, the bias voltage Vbias that is a midpoint potential between the capacitors C1 and C2 may be higher than the upper limit Vrefh of the voltage.
When the bias voltage Vbias becomes higher than the upper limit Vrefh, charges in the capacitor C2 are discharged under the control, and the bias voltage Vbias is decreased (period T2).
Thereafter, when the bias voltage Vbias becomes lower than the lower limit Vrefh, the capacitor C2 restarts to be charged.
As described above, because the capacitor C2 is discharged at the rising time of the supply voltage, there arises such a problem that a time is required until the midpoint potential between the capacitors C1 and C2 reaches a desired voltage.
In addition, in the case where the bias voltage Vbias is decreased after the supply voltage VPP has reached a desired value VPPtarget, the booster power supply circuit 11 charges the capacitor C1 so as to rise in the potential of the capacitor C1. Thereafter, when the bias voltage Vbias rises until the midpoint potential between the capacitors C1 and C2 rises, a voltage across the capacitor C2 becomes higher than a normal voltage. As a result, the voltage VPP across the capacitors C1 and C2 is caused to be higher than the desired voltage VPPtarget (period T4).
In the power supply circuit having a high-capacity capacitor, since a leak current is suppressed, the supply voltage VPP is not immediately decreased.
Since the supply voltage VPP across the capacitors C1 and C2 is applied to an internal circuit of the semiconductor device, the reliability of the internal circuit in the semiconductor device is affected by the supply voltage VPP being too higher than the desired value.
In addition, in the conventional circuit shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, since the booster power supply circuit 11 operates from the starting time, the current consumption increases because the boosting operation is conducted from a state where the supply voltage VDD is low. Accordingly, in the case where the booster power supply circuit 11 is used in a device such as a portable terminal device which is driven by a battery, there arises such a problem that the battery voltage decreases, to thereby make the operation of the system defective.

Midpoint potential generating circuit for use in a semiconductor device


A liquid crystal elemental device comprising a pair of substrates arranged in opposed relation to each other through a spacer and a liquid crystal held in a space between the substrates is produced by applying a spacer-forming material onto one of the pair of substrates by an ink-jet system to form the spacer, arranging the pair of substrates in opposed relation to each other with the spacer held therebetween, and enclosing a liquid crystal compound in the space between the pair of substrates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal elemental device production process. The device is suitable for use in color televisions, personal computers and the like. The invention also relates to a liquid crystal elemental device produced by the production process and a substrate which is a constituent member of the liquid crystal elemental device.
2. Related Background Art
With the advancement of personal computers, particularly, portable personal computers in recent years, the demand for color liquid crystal display devices has been increasing. It is, however, necessary to reduce the manufacturing cost of color liquid crystal display devices in order to make their use more widespread.
In a conventional production process of a liquid crystal elemental device, an elemental device for driving a liquid crystal, such as a TFT (thin film transistor), or an optical elemental device for coloring, such as a color filter, is provided on a pair of glass substrates which are transparent insulating substrates, and both transparent electrode and orientation film are then formed on each of the substrates. Spherical or cylindrical particles composed of silica, alumina, a synthetic resin or the like and having a particle diameter of about 3 to 10 xcexcm are then dispersed as a spacer on the whole surface of one of the glass substrates on which the transparent electrode and orientation film have been formed. The pair of glass substrates are superimposed on each other through the spacer thus formed with the transparent electrodes opposed to each other, and a liquid crystal is enclosed in a space between the substrates, thereby producing a liquid crystal elemental device.
However, since a state of transmission/shading varies in effective pixel portions according to display condition, each spacer is observed as a bright point upon shading when the spacer is formed with a colorless, transparent material, or as a black point upon transmission when the spacer is colored black. This has caused problematic display quality deterioration.
In order to solve the above problem, there has been proposed a process in which an orientation film is subjected to an orientation treatment and then coated with a photosensitive polyimide or photoresist to conduct exposure through a mask, thereby forming spacers composed of the polyimide or photoresist at portions other than effective pixel portions as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-173221, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-223922 or the like. According to this process, the spacer can be formed at arbitrary places with an arbitrary density, so that unevenness of cell gap in the liquid crystal elemental device when a liquid crystal is enclosed can be improved. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-94230 describes a process for fixing a spacer comprising beads on a shading layer in a region other than effective pixel portions.
Besides, there have been proposed methods in which a very thick black matrix is used as a spacer (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 63-237032, 3-184022 and 4-122914), in which an overlapped colored resist is used as a spacer (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-82405), and in which a colored pattern is also formed on a black matrix to use it as a spacer (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-237032).
All the methods proposed above are methods making use of photolithography and hence have involved problems in that an expensive exposure apparatus is required, and a production line is elongated due to the introduction of a wet process such as development.
In the above improving methods, it is necessary to directly apply the photosensitive polyimide or photoresist on to an orientation film formed of a polyimide film subjected to an orientation treatment by a rubbing process or the like and remove an unnecessary portion thereof with a solvent or the like after exposure. These steps may markedly contaminate or alter the state of orientation of the oriented film in some cases, and so there is a possibility that the orientation of a liquid crystal injected into a liquid crystal cell may be made uneven.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and provide a process for producing a liquid crystal elemental device free from the influence of a spacer on both effective pixel portions and non-effective pixel portions from the viewpoint of display and excellent in display quality without an increase in cost.
The above object can be achieved by the present invention described below.
According to the present invention, there is thus provided a process for producing a liquid crystal elemental device comprising a pair of substrates arranged in opposed relation to each other through a spacer and a liquid crystal held in a space between the substrates, which comprises the steps of applying a spacer-forming material onto one of the pair of substrates by an ink-jet system to form the spacer, arranging the pair of substrates in opposed relation to each other with the spacer held therebetween, and enclosing a liquid crystal compound in the space between the pair of substrates.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a process for producing a liquid crystal elemental device comprising a pair of substrates arranged in opposed relation to each other through a spacer and a liquid crystal held in a space between the substrates, which comprises the steps of applying a spacer-forming material a plurality of times to be built up onto one of the pair of substrates to form the spacer, arranging the pair of substrates in opposed relation to each other with the spacer held therebetween, and enclosing a liquid crystal compound in the space between the pair of substrates.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a process for producing a liquid crystal elemental device comprising a pair of substrates arranged in opposed relation to each other through a spacer and a liquid crystal held in a space between the substrates, which comprises the steps of applying a spacer-forming material onto one of the pair of substrates to form the spacer, flattening the top of the spacer, arranging the pair of substrates in opposed relation to each other with the spacer held therebetween, and enclosing a liquid crystal compound in the space between the pair of substrates.
According to the present invention, there is still further provided a process for producing a spacer-bearing substrate, which comprises the steps of forming a colored layer on a substrate, and applying a spacer-forming material by an ink-jet system to form a spacer.
According to the present invention, there is yet still further provided a process for producing a spacer-bearing substrate, which comprises the step of applying a spacer-forming material a plurality of times to be built up onto a substrate to form a spacer.
According to the present invention, there is yet still further provided a process for producing a spacer-bearing substrate, which comprises the steps of forming a spacer composed of a spacer-forming material on a substrate and flattening the top of the spacer.

Liquid crystal elemental device, production process thereof and spacer-bearing substrate


An ion source includes an arc chamber housing defining an arc chamber having an extraction aperture, and a wiper assembly comprising a wiper positioned outside the arc chamber in a parked position and configured to be driven from the parked position to operational positions to clean the extraction aperture. A wiper assembly for an ion source includes a wiper configured to be positioned outside an arc chamber of the ion source when in a parked position and driven from the parked position to operational positions to clean an extraction aperture of the ion source.

An ion source is a critical component of an ion implanter. An ion source includes an arc chamber housing defining an arc chamber. The arc chamber housing also has an extraction aperture through which a well defined ion beam is extracted by an extraction electrode assembly positioned proximate the extraction aperture. The ion beam passes through the beam line of the ion implanter and is delivered to a target workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer. The ion source is required to generate a stable, well-defined, uniform ion beam for a variety of different ion species. It is also desirable to operate the ion source in a semiconductor production facility for extended periods of time without the need for maintenance or repair.
In operation, a desired dopant gas is provided to the arc chamber of the ion source. The dopant gas is ionized into a plasma by exposing the dopant gas to energetic electrons. The energetic electrons may be generated in a number of ways. One way to generate electrons is to position a filament proximate a cathode as is done with an indirectly heated cathode (IHC) ion source. The filament is generally sheltered from the plasma in the arc chamber to which the relatively massive cathode is exposed. When heated by the filament, the cathode supplies energetic electrons. A well defined ion beam is extracted through the extraction aperture by a biased extraction electrode assembly positioned proximate the extraction aperture.
Over time, undesirable deposits may form on the extraction aperture. The presence and rate of formation of such deposits may be influenced by the selected dopant gas. For some fluorine containing dopant gases such as boron trifluoride (BF3), germanium tetrafluoride (GeF4), and silicon tetrafluoride (SiF4), undesirable deposits such as tungsten may form on the extraction aperture. For other molecular species, the rate of undesirable deposit formation may be even more severe. For example, for carborane (C2B10H12), undesirable deposits such as carbon and boron may quickly form on the extraction aperture. Such deposits on the extraction aperture can block portions of the ion beam extracted there from.
Such undesirable deposits formed on the extraction aperture may adversely affect beam uniformity, beam current, and ion source lifetime. For example, any beam blockage at the extraction aperture may impact the uniformity of the ion beam extracted there from. These non uniformities may then be transmitted and magnified as the ion beam passes down the beam line to the target workpiece. Such magnification may be exacerbated in ion implanters that provide a "ribbon beam" having an approximately rectangular cross section at a workpiece plane defined by a front surface of the target workpiece. The long dimension of the ribbon beam at the workpiece plane may be at least 10 times greater than the long dimension of the beam extracted from the extraction aperture thus magnifying any blockage issues of the ion beam at the extraction aperture. Beam uniformity problems can contribute to dose uniformity problems at the workpiece plane. Dose uniformity requirements continue to become more stringent as some current specifications require dose uniformity of less than 1% variation at the workpiece plane for ribbon beams. An ion beam with poor beam uniformity due to deposits on the extraction aperture may be improved with tuning techniques that reduce beam current levels. In other words, the beam current of the ion beam extracted from the source would be lowered from desired levels to improve beam uniformity. Lowered beam currents can adversely impact throughput of the associated ion implanter or the number of workpieces processed per time period. Finally, ion source lifetime may be limited by undesirable deposits on the extraction aperture.
Some conventional techniques for removing undesirable deposits in an ion source include introducing particular cleaning gases such as reactive gases into the arc chamber. Although largely effective, such cleaning gas techniques may take 10-60 minutes to complete and, of course, require the cleaning gas and flow control of the same. In addition, the number of molecules in the cleaning gas must be at least as big as the number of atoms to be cleaned. For example, two hours of accumulated deposits might be cleaned in 10 minutes only with a very high flow rate of the cleaning gas. Therefore, the length of time to complete such a cleaning operation adversely impacts throughput.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a technique for cleaning an extraction aperture of an ion source which overcomes the above-described inadequacies and shortcomings.

Cleaning of an extraction aperture of an ion source

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.


A fire fighting foam dispensing system includes a water inlet adapted to receive a flow of water, a first variable speed pump adapted to inject foam concentrate into the flow of water, a second variable speed pump adapted to inject foam concentrate into the flow of water, a foam outlet adapted to discharge fire fighting foam, a measuring apparatus adapted to measure flow rate in at least one of the water inlet and the foam outlet, and a system controller adapted to detect the flow rate from the measuring apparatus, and activate the second variable speed pump only upon the measured flow rate exceeding a predetermined flow rate value.

1. Technical Field
This patent application relates generally to a fire fighting system that utilizes foam to suppress fires. More particularly, this patent application relates to a foam dispensing system that precisely mixes a foam concentrate with water to make fire fighting foam. This patent application also relates to methods of precisely mixing the foam concentrate with the water.
2. Related Art
In order to accurately assess the fire suppressing qualities of fire fighting foam, a known quantity of the foam must be applied to a test fire. Typically, this involves applying a precise mixture of water and foam concentrate to the test fire. Some known foam dispensing systems use devices such as venturis, bladders, and diaphragms to control the mixture of foam concentrate and water. However, these known foam dispensing systems often fail to provide adequate precision in the foam concentrate/water mixture, for example, when variations in pressure and/or flow rate occur. Other known foam dispensing systems use a variable speed pump to inject foam concentrate into the water. However, when the variable speed pump reaches the low end or the high end of its speed range (e.g., in response to changes in flow rate), the pump's accuracy decreases, thereby decreasing the precision of the foam concentrate/water mixture. The inaccuracies in the foam concentrate/water ratio of existing dispensing systems often render it difficult to precisely determine the quantity of foam being applied to the fire. This may not provide a significant problem when fighting real life fires, because any inaccuracy in the ratio of foam concentrate to water can be compensated for by applying more foam to the fire than is necessary to extinguish it (although this can result in wasted foam concentrate).
When the foam is being used in a testing environment, however, it is more important for the foam to comprise a precise mixture of foam concentrate and water. Known foam dispensing systems have often proved insufficient for use in testing environments, due to their inability to provide adequate precision in the foam concentrate/water ratio. Therefore, there remains a need in the art for foam dispensing systems and related methods that overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.

Fire fighting foam dispensing system and related method


The current invention relates to the preparation of an improved cathode active material for non-aqueous lithium electrochemical cell. In particular, the cathode active material comprises ε-phase silver vanadium oxide prepared by using a γ-phase silver vanadium oxide starting material. The reaction of γ-phase SVO with a silver salt produces the novel ε-phase SVO possessing a lower surface area than ε-phase SVO produced from vanadium oxide (V2O5) and a similar silver salt as starting materials. Consequently, the low surface area ε-phase SVO material provides an advantage in greater long-term stability in pulse dischargeable cells.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy. More particularly, this invention relates to the preparation of an improved cathode active material for non-aqueous lithium electrochemical cells, and still more particularly, a cathode active ε-phase silver vanadium oxide (SVO, Ag2V4O11) prepared using a γ-phase silver vanadium oxide (Ag1.2V3O8.1) starting material. The product cathode active material can be used in an implantable electrochemical cell, for example of the type powering a cardiac defibrillator, where the cell may run under a light load for significant periods interrupted from time to time by high rate pulse discharges.
The reaction of γ-phase SVO with a source of silver produces ε-phase SVO that possesses a lower surface area than SVO produced from other vanadium-containing starting materials. The relatively low surface area of this new ε-phase SVO material results in greater long-term stability for the cathode active material in comparison to other forms of SVO with higher specific surfaces areas.
2. Prior Art
The prior art discloses many processes for manufacturing SVO; however, they result in a product with greater surface area than the material prepared by the current invention.
Specifically, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,310,609 and 4,391,729, both to Liang et al., disclose the preparation of silver vanadium oxide by a thermal decomposition reaction of silver nitrate with vanadium oxide conducted under an air atmosphere. This decomposition reaction is further detailed in the publication: Leising, R. A.; Takeuchi, E. S. Chem. Mater. 1993, 5, 738–742, where the synthesis of SVO from silver nitrates and vanadium oxide under an air atmosphere is presented as a function of temperature. In another reference: Leising, R. A.; Takeuchi, E. S. Chem. Mater. 1994, 6, 489–495, the synthesis of SVO from different silver precursor materials (silver nitrate, silver nitrite, silver oxide, silver vanadate, and silver carbonate) is described. The product active materials of this latter publication are consistent with the formation of a mixture of SVO phases prepared under argon, which is not solely ε-phase Ag2V4O11.
Also, the preparation of SVO from silver oxide and vanadium oxide is well documented in the literature. In the publications: Fleury, P.; Kohlmuller, R. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 1966, 262C, 475–477, and Casalot, A.; Pouchard, M. Bull Soc. Chim. Fr. 1967, 3817–3820, the reaction of silver oxide with vanadium oxide is described. Wenda, E. J. Thermal Anal. 1985, 30, 89–887, present the phase diagram of the V2O5—Ag2O system in which the starting materials are heated under oxygen to form SVO, among other materials. Thus, Fleury and Kohlmuller teach that the heat treatment of starting materials under a non-oxidizing atmosphere (such as argon) results in the formation of SVO with a reduced silver content.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,955,218 and 6,130,005, both to Crespi et al., relate to heat-treating silver vanadium oxide materials, for example, γ-phase SVO to form decomposition-produced SVO (dSVO). In these patents, thermal decomposition SVO prepared according to the previously discussed U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,310,609 and 4,391,729 is heated under an air atmosphere at a somewhat lower temperature of 360° C. However, the '218 and '005 patents to Crespi et al. demonstrate that adding a second heat treatment step increases the crystallinity of the resulting active material. The present invention is concerned with the product active material's surface area, and not necessarily its crystallinity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,453 to Crespi teaches a method for making an electrochemical cell containing SVO, in which the cathode active material is prepared by a chemical addition reaction of an admixed 2:1 mole ratio of AgVO3 and V2O5 heated in the range of 300° C. to 700° C. for a period of 5 to 24 hours. Crespi does not discuss γ-phase SVO in the context of this invention. Therefore, this process could not manufacture the ε-phase material described by the current invention.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,733 to Crespi et al. shows a method for synthesizing SVO by using Ago and a vanadium oxide as starting materials. However, the result is not a low surface area ε-phase SVO cathode material, as disclosed in the current invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,497 to Takeuchi et al. teaches cathode materials having the general formula of AgxV2Oy. Suitable materials comprise a β-phase SVO having in the general formula x=0.35 and y=5.18 and a γ-phase SVO having x=0.74 and y=5.37, or a mixture of the phases thereof. Such SVO materials are produced by the thermal decomposition of a silver salt in the presence of vanadium pentoxide. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,729 to Gan et al. shows exemplary alkali metal/solid cathode electrochemical cells in which the cathode may be an SVO of β-, γ- or ε-phase materials. However, none of Gan et al.'s methods are capable of producing a low surface area ε-phase cathode material, as per the current invention.
Therefore, based on the prior art, there is a need to develop a process for the synthesis of mixed metal oxides, including silver vanadium oxide, having a relatively low surface area. An example is a low surface area SVO prepared using a silver-containing compound and γ-phase SVO as starting materials. The product ε-phase SVO is a cathode active material useful for non-aqueous electrochemical cells having enhanced characteristics, including the high pulse capability necessary for use with cardiac defibrillators.

Preparation of copper silver vanadium oxide from γ-phase SVO starting material


A method and system of active power reserve regulation in a wind farm with a communication network having a plurality of wind turbines that provide an active power reserve in order to support eventual power grid contingencies and to deliver an increase of power in case it is needed.

In an electric power grid ("grid") it is necessary to continuously match the power consumption and generation in order to keep the frequency and voltage within the grid within allowed limits. The electric utility continuously monitors both magnitudes and must be able to issue commands to generation units in order to stabilize the electric power grid. This requires power generation units to be able to deliver an increase of power if the Electric Utility demands it, and thus, the generation units must be able to maintain and manage a reserve of active power (also known as real power). More specifically, taking S as the complex power, P as the real or active power and Q as the reactive power, the relationship S=P+iQ is generally satisfied.

Control of active power reserve in a wind-farm


Techniques for creating an output media object based on a first visual representation and a second visual representation are provided. A first visual representation is received. The first visual representation is generated based on first information determined from an input media object. A second visual representation is also received. The second visual representation is generated based on second information determined from the input media object. An output media object is then created based on the first visual representation and a second visual representation. The output media object may then be outputted or played on a device.

The present invention generally relates to decoding and more particularly to methods and apparatus for constructing an output media object based on a visual representation, the visual representation constructed from an input media object.
With the rapid growth of computers, an increasing amount of information is being stored in the form of electronic (or digital) documents. These electronic documents include multimedia documents that store multimedia information. The term "multimedia information" is used to refer to information that may comprise information of one or more types. The one or more types may be in some integrated form. For example, multimedia information may include a combination of text information, graphics information, animation information, sound (audio) information, video information, and the like. Multimedia information is also used to refer to information comprising one or more media objects where the one or more media objects include information of different types. For example, media objects included in multimedia information may comprise text information, graphics information, animation information, sound (audio) information, video information, and the like. An example of media object may be a video that includes time variant information. For example, the video may include a sequence of key frames over a period of time.
Typically, the media object is stored in electronic storage. The media object may then be accessed from the electronic storage when a user wants to play the multimedia information included in the media object. Storing the media object in electronic storage is sometimes not convenient. For example, a device allowing access to the electronic storage may not be available. Also, the electronic storage device may not be portable and thus cannot be easily moved. Accordingly, access to a media object stored on an electronic storage device may not always be possible. Thus, the places a user may play the media object may be restricted. For example, the user may be restricted to only playing a media object on his/her desktop computer because the media object is stored on the computer's hard drive.
A popular display medium is paper. For example, photos are often displayed on paper because of its high resolution, ease of handling, portability, and no power consumption. One attempt at representing multimedia information on paper is printing the multimedia information in flipbooks. Flipbooks include a different piece of multimedia information that is printed on successive pieces of paper. Thus, when the user flips through the papers, the multimedia information appears as if it is being played back.
Flipbooks include many disadvantages. For example, a large amount of paper is used for the construction of these books. Additionally, flipping through a flipbook may also make the multimedia information hard to understand. Further, a flipbook is designed to only represent graphical multimedia information. Thus, information, such as audio, cannot be represented in a flipbook.
Accordingly, improved techniques for representing multimedia information are desired.

Techniques for decoding and reconstructing media objects from a still visual representation


A system for dressing centrifugal clutches has a drum tool with an internal abrasive surface, and a flap tool with abrasive flaps. The drum tool can replace the clutch drum on the clutch driven shaft to dress the clutch shoes, or the flap tool can replace the clutch shoes and mechanism on the clutch drive shaft, which may be the engine crankshaft, to dress the clutch drum. In either case, the tool being used and the component being dressed can accurately simulate the engagement of the clutch shoes and clutch drum in operation, so that the clutch drum and shoes can be accurately dressed to the correct shape, matching each other, for use.

The present invention relates to a system for dressing or blueprinting a centrifugal clutch to match the drum and shoes for better performance.
A typical centrifugal clutch has a drive shaft, rotatable by a power source, on which clutch shoes are mounted, and a driven shaft on which a hollow drum is mounted. The drive shaft of the clutch may be the crankshaft of a motor. The clutch shoes are mounted so that they rotate with the drive shaft, but can move outwards into frictional engagement with the inside of the drum when the drive shaft rotates. The frictional engagement transmits rotational motion and torque from the drive shaft to the driven shaft.
In order to provide the best consistent performance (such as torque transfer) for a centrifugal clutch, it is important to match the shoes to the drum. In one current method, a machinist mounts the clutch (without the drum) in a lathe with the shoes spaced out to the engaged position. The lathe is turned on at a slow speed so that the outside of the shoes can be machined to a desired diameter. The drawback with this method is that, since the drum is not in place the clutch has to be rotated at a slow rate so that the shoes do not fly oil the clutch. This, of course, means a slow dressing process. Also, since the shoes are not under load, they do not rotate to the same position that they normally would be in if they were subjected to a torque load. Some clutches are designed such that the shoes rotate several degrees when under load.
Another method to dress the shoes is to leave the shoes on the hub and hold a piece of emery paper to the outside of the shoe and sand the shoes. This method also has drawbacks since there is no way to make sure the shoes are sanded to the correct radius that is needed to match to the drum. Also, it is not possible to replicate the offset that occurs during loading.
In order to dress a drum and remove high spots, one current method is for the person servicing the drum to hold sandpaper in their hand and sand the inside radius. The obvious problem is that there is no way to make sure that the material is removed in a consistent manner. Another method is to use a drill and a small abrasive sanding roll. The roll is pressed against the drum as the person servicing the drum works their way around the inside of the drum. This produces inconsistent results since variations in the pressure and speed as the person sands results in the removal of different amounts of material.
A need, therefore, exists for improved products and methods for dressing the drum and shoes in a centrifugal clutch.

System for dressing a centrifugal clutch


An adjustable caddy bracket includes a cam level handle, an interior of the cam level handle comprising a pair of cam level handle projections, a circular front plate, the circular front plate including front plate apertures to receive the pair of cam level handle projections, and a circular back plate, the circular back plate including a pair of back plate projections, the pair of back plate projections configured to receive and secure the pair of cam level handle projections through the front plate apertures.

The present invention relates caddies that extend downward along or parallel to a wall and that include shelves for holding accessories, and more particularly to an adjustable caddy bracket.
In general, storage caddies include baskets arranged vertically on a support member extending downward from an upper hook that engages a fixed hanging structure, such as a pipe. The baskets are typically rigidly mounted on the support member.


A vehicle suspension assembly that includes first and second main beams each having a first end operably coupled to a vehicle frame, and a second end having a cavity formed therein, and first and second extension members each having an aperture extending therethrough, wherein the first and second extensions are interference-fit within and extend outwardly from the cavity of the first and second main beams, respectively. The assembly further including a torsion member having apertured first and second ends that receive the first and second extension members therein, and threaded mechanical fasteners extending through the apertures of the first and second extension members and engage nuts that are frictionally engaged by the first and second main beams.

The present invention relates to a vehicle suspension assembly, and in particular to a heavy-duty suspension system with increased load capacity and decreased weight.
Various suspension systems utilizing air springs have been developed for semi-tractor trailers and other heavy vehicles. These systems are typically designed to control the position of the chassis relative to an associated axle and to cushion any movement of the axle with respect to the chassis frame. Although these systems provide excellent chassis control over a wide range of loading conditions, conventional air spring systems typically do not offer acceptable resistance to vehicle roll, as is often experienced when the vehicle turns, nor do they offer acceptable resistance to lateral shifting of the vehicle, such as when the vehicle accelerates or decelerates.
While specialized components have been added to air spring systems to reduce roll and lateral shift, many of these components add significant weight and cost to the associated suspension system without greatly reducing the roll and lateral shift. Specifically, these designs typically incorporate single-piece trailing arms that require materials meeting torsional and sheer strength requirements, but that also may be tapped and threaded as required. Further, many of these components include complicated designs that are not only expensive to manufacture, but are also difficult to install or replace should damage to the component or related equipment occur. One particular assembly includes stabilizing the related suspension system by securing a torsional beam between a pair of trailing arms by bolts that extend through the torsional beam and into threaded apertures located in the ends of the beams. This particular assembly requires large securing bolts adapted to withstand significant torsional and sheering forces, and further requires the replacement or retapping of a trailing arm should the threads within the bolt receiving aperture become damaged or worn.
There is a need for a lightweight and inexpensive air spring suspension system that resists roll and lateral shift, will not significantly impact the ride-cushioning characteristics of such suspension system, provides relative increase of structural integrity, and that can further be maintained and repaired quickly and cost effective.


A snowmobile straddle seat assembly designed to accommodate one, two or three riders. The seat may have a continuous surface including three seating positions thereon or it may include separate seat portions where the separate seat portions may be selectively removed to provide storage space and a variety of seat configurations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the overall design and construction of a snowmobile, and more particularly to a design of a snowmobile with a modular seat assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional two-up snowmobiles share one of two common seat constructions: the seat is either formed as a one-piece structure having the driver and first passenger seating positions on a continuous surface, or, as is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,124, the first passenger seating position is situated on a removable seat portion placed behind a separate front seat portion including the driver seat position.
After-market removable first passenger seat portions are also available for one-up snowmobiles. Although one-up snowmobiles have no particular position to accept a removable first passenger seat portion, these after-market seats are simply strapped to the rear of the snowmobile in such a manner to allow the first passenger to safely sit behind the driver.
While the positioning of the driver and passenger on the conventional snowmobile is entirely adequate for enjoying the sport of snowmobiling, a desire has developed for a snowmobile that may comfortably accommodate two passengers in addition to the driver (3-up rider positioning). Consequently, a need as developed for a new and improved modular seat for snowmobiles which can be used in a one-up, two-up, and three-up configuration.


A method and apparatus, for supplying high-pressure mixed gas of a low-vapor-pressure first gas as an active gas and a high-vapor-pressure second gas, are arranged to reduce an amount of the first gas discarded. The mixed gas in a high-pressure state is supplied from a mixing container to a use point. Upon reduction of pressure in the mixing container to a setpoint as a result of supply to the use point, a predetermined amount of the first gas is charged into a replenishment container connected to the mixing container by a replenishment line having a replenishment valve, and which is evacuated. As the second gas is charged into the replenishment container charged with the first gas, the replenishment valve is opened such that the first gas in the replenishment container is forced out by the second gas, thereby charging the mixing container with the mixed gas in the high-pressure condition.

As a process of manufacturing a semiconductor, a liquid crystal, an MEMS or a solar cell for example, a process is known in which a mixed gas prepared by mixing a low-vapor-pressure gas such as hydrogen fluoride (HF), chlorine trifluoride (ClF3) or boron trichloride (BCl3) provided as an active gas and a high-vapor-pressure gas such as argon (Ar), helium (He) or nitrogen (N2) provided as a diluting gas is used in a film forming step, an etching step for removing silicon, tungsten, aluminum or the like, or a cleaning step, and in which the interior of a manufacturing apparatus is evacuated with a vacuum pump to be in a low-pressure state and plasma etching is thereafter performed by introducing the mixed gas (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
An apparatus using a booster pump, a compressor or the like for mixing a low-vapor-pressure gas and a high-vapor-pressure gas is also known (see, for example, Patent Literature 2).
Further, an apparatus is known in which a mixing container is charged with a mixed gas in a high-pressure state prepared by mixing a low-vapor-pressure gas provided as an active gas and a high-vapor-pressure gas provided as a diluting gas and the mixed gas is supplied in the high-pressure state from this mixing container to a use point and is ejected in the high-pressure state at the use point while being adiabatically expanded to generate a reactive cluster, thereby processing a surface of a semiconductor for example (see, for example, Patent Literature 3).

Method and apparatus for supplying mixed gas


A searching apparatus includes a memory that stores a plurality of records, and a processor that executed a procedure, the procedure including searching a first record group, which is a part of a plurality of records, for a record satisfying a first search condition, and, in case of a second search condition being received during the searching, further searching a second record group, which is another part of the plurality of records, for a record satisfying either the first search condition and the second search condition.

A (transaction) searching technique of a database system is available. In the searching technique, a searching operation is performed in response to a plurality of search requests in the database system. Data are successively read from a database, and the searching operation is performed on each of successively read data in response to the plurality of search requests.
An exclusive control method of database is executed by performing a search operation and an update operation in a mixed fashion. The search operation is performed by referencing data only. The update operation is performed by generating a new version to data. In a technique contemplated in the exclusive control method, a version management table is arranged to manage multiple versions of data.
One system contemplated includes a database server serving as a front end responsive to a query to a database, and a plurality of database manipulation servers manipulating the database. The front end database server is connected to the database operation server via a network. The front end database server analyzes a query to the database including a plurality of database manipulation sentences including a structured query language (SQL) sentence. The database manipulation server determines at least one database manipulation sentence that is executed in response to one start request, and then partitions the sentences into groups. The database manipulation sentences in groups are then transferred to the database manipulation server at a time. The plurality of transferred database manipulation sentences are then started in response to a single start request.
If a transaction search is performed, a new search request may arrive at the database with the transaction search being in progress. The execution of the new search request is forced to wait until the end of the transaction search process. In this case, the waiting time for the new search request may be extended to time the transaction search process takes if the time is the longest. For example, if a new search request arrives at the database immediately subsequent to the start of the transaction search process, a response of an operation to the new search request may take about twice the time of the transaction search process. If a new search request arrives at the database immediately prior to the end of the transaction search process, a response of an operation to the new search request may take about the time of the transaction search process. The response of the operation depends on the timing of the arrival of the search request, and varies within a range of twice the time of the transaction search process. The same is true of an update request.

Searching method, searching apparatus, and recording medium of searching program


A label transfer device 10 having drive roller 26 and pinch roller 28 for advancing label tape 30, positioning a label attached to label tape 30 adjacent to stripping edge 24 of slidable stripping plate 18 and holding said label fixed in that position while stripping plate 18 is retracted from a first position to a second position so as to strip the label from label tape 30. Vacuum pick up head 38 is provided for attachment to the stationary label prior to the movement of stripping plate 18 so as to ensure positive attachment to prior to label stripping and thus eliminating label transfer skips.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a label transfer device for stripping labels from a label tape prior to placement upon a product, and more particularly to a label transfer device wherein the label tape is held in a fixed position, a movable transfer arm is positioned and attaches to the label prior to its being removed from the label tape, and the stripping plate moves instead of the label tape as the label is stripped from the tape.
2. Background Art
In today's commercial labeling applications, labels are typically provided in rolls, wherein the individual labels are pre-printed on one surface and provided with an adhesive on the opposite surface. The labels are pre-positioned on a label tape, ribbon, or webbing, sometimes called a release liner, for example, waxed paper ribbon, to which the label will adhere with a relatively low adhesive force so that the label can be easily peeled from the ribbon prior to placement on a package or product. Typically, the label material is paper or a plastic such as nylon, polypropylene, polyester or a polyamide, the label tape or ribbon is waxed paper or plastic and the adhesive is selected for its adhesion characteristics both for holding on the product or packaging and for a relatively low adhesion to the release liner or label tape.
Labels are peeled from the release liner or label tape by use of a process which is common to any type of label removal, whether it be by machine or by hand. In the consumer market, blank labels usually accompany blank, unrecorded audio or video tape cassettes. These labels are initially affixed to a label tape or backing which has a waxed or plastic surface. In order to remove the label, the backing is bent away from the more rigid label so as to form a small radius shear line between the rigid label and the more pliable backing. The label can then be peeled off along the shear line by pulling the backing and the label away from each other.
In commercial applications, the same concept is used to remove labels from a release liner or label tape. FIGS. 1A and 1B demonstrate the prior art process in conceptual format. In FIG. 1A there is shown a flat stripping plate and stripping roller. The labels and tape are passed over the top surface of the stripping plate and then over and around a stripping edge of the stripping plate and then around the stripping roller. The label, being relatively rigid, or inflexible, is attached to the more flexible label tape. The adhesive force of the glue on the label, holding the label to the tape, is less than the force necessary to bend the rigid label around the stripping edge radius, and as a result the label, as shown in FIG. 1A, peels off extending out from the stripping plate as the more pliable label tape bends around the stripping edge of the stripping plate, thereby separating the label from the label tape.
The problem is that the label, although being fairly rigid, is still flexible, and in the case of long, thin labels, for example, uniform product bar code labels, will bend or twist under their own weight as they are stripped off of the label tape as is shown in FIG. 1B.
A pick up head or transfer device, typically a pick up head which draws a vacuum to suck and hold the label up against a vacuum screen, is provided to capture the label as it is being stripped off the label tape. The vacuum head is typically part of a mechanical system which, and once it has captured the label, is used to reposition it for placement upon the product or packaging.
The prior art can generally be described as having all of its mechanical pieces stationary relative to each other with a moving label tape which passes over the stationary stripping plate, down around the stripping edge with the labels being stripped off and extending out away from the tape into a position where, hopefully, they can be captured by the vacuum head. It is not the most reliable of systems, especially if it is being used in conjunction with bar code labels which are long, thin and flexible. There will be vacuum head capture misses which will result in label skips unless the production line is temporarily shut down to correct the problem.
To minimize these problems, the prior art has normally oriented the stripping plate such that there is a gravity assist to the free swinging labels that are being stripped off the tape. As a result, a label is vertically oriented at the time that the vacuum head attaches itself to the label, thus requiring the mechanical or robotic arm to rotate from a vertical orientation to capture the label, to a horizontal orientation for placement of the label on a horizontally oriented product or package surface.
Another problem with the prior art, particularly with long, thin labels, such as bar code labels, is label curling as the label is being stripped from the webbing or tape. This is shown in prior art FIG. 1B. To minimize curling, prior art labels are thicker than would necessarily be required if they could be removed from the label tape without curling. Thinner labels are less expensive, and as a general rule, there is a trade off in the prior art between the curling of thinner labels and the expense of thicker labels. This usually results in a compromise wherein some pickup and placement misses due to label curling are permitted to occur in order to save the expense of the more expensive, thicker and stiffer labels.
Another problem with the prior art is that every label must be stripped from the label tape and picked up by the vacuum head. Ideally a label transfer machine such as disclosed in the present invention is capable of sensing defective labels and skipping them, allowing them to remain on the scrap label tape.
Accordingly, what is needed is a label transfer device wherein the pick up head positively attaches to the label prior to its being stripped from the label tape so as to eliminate curling and bending of stripped labels as the label tape passes over and bends around the stripping edge of the stripping plate, thus enabling the use of thinner, more flexible labels. Another object of the present invention is a positive attachment between the vacuum head and the label prior to its being stripped such that the stripping action is not gravity dependent, but rather can be accomplished in any orientation, including upside down, wherein the label is stripped from underneath the label tape, so that the placement or robotic mechanism need not always operate in both a vertical and horizontal orientation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sensor capable of sensing defective labels and a control mechanism for skipping them on the tape, allowing them to remain with the scrap label tape. A final object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum head pick up of the label prior to its being stripped from the label tape so that the pickup is more accurate, resulting in more accurate label placement on the product or packaging materials.


A method and system for electronically facilitating loan closing transactions that include sub-transactions involving third parties. The method and system provide functionality to quickly and easily order a sub-transaction and bill the respective party, or pay for the sub-transaction directly from various payment systems. An interactive closing document updates automatically as different services and sub-transactions are ordered. Designated parties to the transaction make and approve changes and updates to the interactive document as sub-transactions are completed and billed. The interactive document receives information from the earlier stages of the loan or mortgage transaction, and incorporates the information into the interactive closing document. Upon approval by all parties, at the closing of the transaction, the interactive closing document is generated as a hard copy for signature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for managing financial transactions that require goods or services from multiple vendors and, in particular, to methods and systems for facilitating real estate closing transactions.
2. Background of the Technology
There exist in the art paper-based methods and systems for completing real estate closing transactions, but these systems are usually inefficient, and are bound by the limitations of traditional paper-based systems. Some computer-implemented systems for managing real estate closing transactions are known, but these systems typically do not possess the functionality required to seamlessly manage all the steps that comprise the closing of a financial transaction. Many financial institutions and other vendors rely on existing accounts payable systems to manage closing transactions, which is inefficient. Moreover, existing computer-implemented systems for managing real estate closing transactions typically suffer from the disadvantage of difficult and cumbersome integration of the various payment methods utilized by different parties to the transaction. For example, in current systems, it is difficult to integrate payments by paper check, direct deposit, and electronic transfers, among others.
Furthermore, a real estate closing transaction must normally be accomplished within a limited time-frame. Speed and efficiency are key features of any computer-implemented system for management of real estate closing transactions. Currently, real estate closing transactions involve completion of standard settlement forms, such as the HUD-1 published by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, or other similar forms. (The HUD-1 is a standard form that is available from a variety of public sources.) Parties to any federally supported mortgage must present an executed HUD-1 document to complete the closing transaction.
A typical accounts payable system, however, cannot easily transfer transaction information into a HUD-1 form, and the information must instead be completed manually, adding time and costs to the transaction. For example, the financial institution must either generate the HUD-1, or outsource the HUD-1 generation to a document preparation company, which would normally convert the handwritten HUD-1 document into electronic form, such as in PDF (Portable Document Format) or TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format. The converted document is transmitted to the broker, who makes additional changes/updates (e.g., electronically or manually), and returns the document to the financial institution. The financial institution (e.g., through the document preparation company) re-generates the HUD-1, and transmits it to the title company, which also makes changes/updates to the HUD-1. This process is repeated until all parties have reviewed, modified, and approved the final document. If one party to the transaction does not approve the changes made by another party, the party that proposed the changes must be notified, and a new copy of the document circulated. Finally, once all of the changes are entered, accepted, and finalized, the financial institution (e.g., through the document preparation company) prepares the final HUD-1 for use during the closing transaction, thus bringing to completion this labor-intensive, cumbersome, and costly process.
Systems and methods for completing closing transactions over the telephone are also known, but they require additional advance scheduling to ensure that all parties are available for telephone conferences at the same time, and thus provide, at best, only a marginal increase in overall efficiency.
For the purposes of this application, "financial institutions" include banks, investment companies, real estate lenders, investment and holding companies, and any commercial entity engaged in the business of financing loans or mortgages. "Brokers" include brokerages, real estate agents, corporate land purchasers, and any commercial entity, individual or otherwise, engaged in the business of buying and selling real property. "Potential borrower" or "borrower" and "potential customer" or "customer" are used interchangeably herein to describe any person seeking to acquire a mortgage or loan (e.g., by employing the services of a broker or financial institution). "Closing" and "closing transaction" refer to the set of transactions commonly associated with "closing" on a real estate transaction, that is, completing all the paperwork and necessary steps to finalize the transaction of exchanging property for value.
Sub-transactions define the parameters of the transaction or otherwise bring the underlying transaction to completion. Sub-transactions include transactions between the end users of the system (e.g., brokers, financial institutions and potential borrowers) and vendors, such as inspection companies or closing companies that have service agreements with end users or other involved parties
There is an unmet need in the art for methods and systems for the efficient management of loan closing transactions.
There is a further need in the art for methods and systems that provide the capability of integrating individual party requirements with respect to payment methods and timing.
There is a further need in the art for methods and systems that provide interactive updatable computerized standardized settlement forms, such as the HUD-1, or other similar forms.
There is a further unmet need in the art for methods and systems that seamlessly integrate all processes involved in a real estate closing transaction, including creation and circulation of all documents and forms involved among all parties to the transaction.


The invention relates to an illumination system (10, 12), to a remote phosphor layer (30; 32, 34), to a scattering layer (32), to a luminaire (100), to a display device (300) and to a method of at least partially correcting a light emission characteristic of at least one light source (22) in the illumination system. The illumination system comprises an array of light sources (20) and a remote phosphor layer and/or a scattering layer arranged between the array of light sources and a light output window (40) for emitting the light from the light sources. At least one light source of the array of light sources comprises a light emission characteristic different from the other light sources of the array of light sources. The luminescent material (52, 54) is distributed across the remote phosphor layer and/or the scattering structures (52) and/or scattering material (52) are distributed across the scattering layer for compensating at least partially the difference in light emission characteristic of the at least one light source.

Illumination systems comprising a plurality of light sources and a remote phosphor arrangement are known per se. They are used, inter alia, in a luminaire for general lighting purposes, for example, for office lighting, for shop lighting or, for example, for in-home general lighting purposes. These illumination systems are also used in backlighting systems and display devices comprising backlighting systems.
A remote phosphor arrangement comprises luminescent material which absorbs part of the light emitted by a light source of the array of light sources and converts the absorbed light into light of a different color. When the luminescent material is arranged at a distance from the light source or light sources, a so called remote phosphor arrangement is obtained. Benefits when using the remote phosphor configuration are well known and include that the conversion efficiency and the life-time of the luminescent material are improved and that the range of luminescent materials to choose from is improved.
Such an illumination system is, for example, known from the patent application US 2006/0268537 in which a phosphor film that has a fluorescent characteristic is disclosed. In a specific embodiment of this US application a phosphor film is disclosed which is arranged remote from three light sources which are arranged in parallel. The phosphor material is arranged in areas in which the concentration of phosphor particles increased with a distance from the center of the light source. In general a phosphor has higher wavelength conversion efficiency and a larger number of converted light components as the irradiation light increases. Therefore, by increasing the concentration of the phosphor in a portion father away from the luminance center of the light source, a uniform color distribution can be generated.
A disadvantage of the known illumination system is that the uniformity of the illumination system may still be insufficient.

Illumination system with remote phosphor layer and/or scattering layer

Abstract: The effect of the illumination system according to the invention is that the deviation of the at least one light source can be compensated, and as such, binning of light sources may be omitted.


An LCD assembly structure of a meter for automobile includes a liquid crystal plate; a liquid-crystal plate accommodating recess formed in a liquid crystal holder; a bottom-wall elastic pressing piece configured to bias a back surface of the liquid crystal plate from the bottom wall in a direction of separation; corner fixing pieces configured to extend outward parallel to a front surface of the liquid crystal holder at a pair of corners adjoining the liquid-crystal plate accommodating recess, and abut against a front surface of the liquid crystal plate; extension pieces configured to extend outward parallel to the holder front surface of the liquid crystal holder at a pair of corners opposite to the corner fixing pieces, and abut against the front surface of the liquid crystal plate; and first elastic pressing pieces configured to press and bias one edge face of the liquid crystal plate toward the extension pieces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LCD assembly structure of a meter for automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are times when a meter for automobile has a liquid crystal plate (LCD) installed therein for the purpose of displaying a variety of information such as the running distance (for example, see JIII Journal of Technical Disclosure No. 2008-505292 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2012-27185).
As illustrated in FIG. 6, in a conventional liquid crystal holder 501, a liquid-crystal plate accommodating recess 503 is formed. On a peripheral wall 505 of the liquid-crystal plate accommodating recess 503, a plurality of elastic locking nails 507 are disposed in a protruding manner. A liquid crystal plate 509 has a brightness enhancement film (BEF) 511, a black rim seal member 513, and a light guiding plate 515 disposed on the undersurface side in a laminated manner; and is integrated into the liquid-crystal plate accommodating recess 503. Upon being integrated, the liquid crystal plate 509 is positioned using an X-direction positioning unit 517 and a Y-direction positioning unit 519. The elastic locking nails 507 are used to lock a liquid crystal plate front surface 521. Because of that, the movement of the liquid crystal plate 509 is locked in the direction of rising from the liquid crystal holder 501. In the liquid crystal holder 501, a wiring board housing space 523 is formed. A wiring board 525 is housed in the wiring board housing space 523 and is fixed using wiring board fixing nails 527. The liquid crystal plate 509 includes a base portion 529, and a flat cable (FPC) 531 is connected to the base portion 529. The flat cable 531 is connected to the wiring board 525, as well as is connected to a wiring board connector 533 via the circuitry of the wiring board 525.
In the abovementioned conventional LCD assembly structure of a meter for automobile, in order to prevent the rising of the liquid crystal plate 509 from the liquid-crystal plate accommodating recess 503, the elastic locking nails 507 are used. Hence, as illustrated in FIG. 7, there is a limitation on the extent of reducing a fixed-portion protruding dimension D on the upper side of the liquid crystal plate front surface 521. As far as the elastic locking nails 507 are concerned, nail portions 535 go on becoming thinner toward the leading ends. For that reason, if the fixed-portion protruding dimension D is reduced, there occurs a decline in the locking strength thereby leading to a decrease in the reliability of the fixing structure. Moreover, during the assembly of the liquid crystal plate 509, the nail portions 535 need to temporarily withdraw to the outside of the outer shape of the liquid crystal plate 509. In order to make it happen, it is necessary to provide a bending space on the back surface side opposite to the nail portions 535.
Thus, in the conventional LCD assembly structure in which the elastic locking nails 507 are used, it is necessary to provide the height dimension for the purpose of fixing the liquid crystal plate 509 and to provide a bending space for the purpose of holding the elastic locking nails 507. That is, it is necessary to provide a certain amount of assembly space that is larger than the outer shape of the liquid crystal plate 509.

LCD assembly structure of meter for automobile


A non-radiation hardened N-channel transistor used in a power switching circuit functioning in a high-ionizing, radiation-dose environment. The circuit including at least one non-radiation hardened N-channel MOSFET switching transistors, the transistor having a gate, drain and a source. The circuit also includes a stored voltage source. The stored voltage source is in series with the gate of the at least one non-radiation hardened N channel MOSFET switching transistors. A high impedance bleeder resistor is connected to the stored voltage source for returning the positive terminal of the stored voltage source to the channel MOSFET source terminal.

A preferred semiconductor device for power control is the insulated gate FET (Field Effect Transistor) because of its high power gain. FETs used for power switching use are usually enhancement mode types. This means that they are normally non-conducting. When a gate voltage above a threshold is applied, the FET becomes conducting. FETs are available in two gate polarities; N channel and P channel.
Power switching circuits designed for general purpose use are usually constructed with N channel FETs because, for any given die size transistor, the N channel FET has a lower on resistance than a correspondingly sized P channel FET would have.
Present art for radiation hardened power switching circuits use specially designed radiation hardened N-channel FETs for power switching functions. The principal benefit of these radiation hardened N-channel FETs parts is that the gate threshold voltage doesn't change much after being exposed to radiation. However, these parts have limited sources of supply, are expensive and may have long lead times, leading to higher prices and longer delivery times for the radiation tolerant circuits that incorporate these types of parts.
If conventional non-radiation hardened N Channels FETs are used in switching applications where radiation is present, the function tends to fail at relatively low radiation levels because the gate threshold voltage of the N channel FET shifts more negatively with accumulated radiation dose, and ultimately falls close to zero. At this point, the N channel FET conducts current with little or no gate voltage applied. Therefore, the part is difficult to control, since, after a certain amount of accumulated ionizing radiation, the FET drain to source channel will be conducting with no applied power.

Method and apparatus for implementing a radiation hardened N-channel transistor with the use of non-radiation hardened transistors


A method and apparatus for enabling a service provider to map a subscriber service address to a specific Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and then provides an association between the subscriber's out of area phone number and the correct PSAP are disclosed. When the subscriber places an emergency call, such as an E911 call, the network performs a database lookup obtaining the corresponding PSAP associated with the subscriber's service address and routes the call to that PSAP accordingly.

VoIP service providers often provide their subscribers the ability to connect to network services from anywhere in the world via broadband IP access. For a variety of reasons, a subscriber sometimes desires to have a telephone number that is not within the local calling area of their service address. For example, a New Jersey resident can obtain a telephone number with an area code for California. VoIP service providers find it challenging to provide these out of area subscribers with the same level of safety associated with E911 services that depend on the service address and the phone number of a subscriber to belong to the same local calling area. E911 is an emergency response service that allows emergency personnel at a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to respond to the emergency call and receive the location of a caller placing the emergency call and the calling party phone number. A PSAP is an emergency response center that is responsible for answering E911 calls for emergency assistance from police, fire and ambulance services.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for supporting out of area phone number for emergency, e.g., E911, services in a packet network, e.g., a VoIP network.

Method and apparatus for supporting out of area phone number for emergency services


A routing loop detection program that controls a computer to be operated as equipment including a counter that counts the number of packets whose IP header includes the hop number for each of all the possible hop numbers when a packet capture device connected to a network acquires all packets captured within a predetermined period, a discriminator that discriminates whether a flat portion or a sawtooth portion exists in a histogram based on the number of packets for the respective hop numbers counted by the counter, and an output portion that notifies a sign of occurrence of routing loop when the discriminator discriminated that the histogram has the flat portion or the sawtooth portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a routing loop detection program that controls a computer to be operated as equipment for detecting routing loop and to routing loop detection method realized by a computer on which such a routing loop detection program is running.
2. Prior Art
As well known, IP (Internet Protocol) contained in TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) suite is widely used as a Network layer protocol in the Internet, intranets, etc.
At least one IP address is given to the computer that has a communication function according to IP for individually identifying the computer from other computers.
When this kind of computer transmits data in the Network layer in the OSI (Open System Interconnection) reference model, the computer divides transmitting data into small data blocks called "packet" (it is also called "datagram") in which a source IP address, a destination IP address and other information are included as a header information, and transmit the packet to a computer of the destination.
In general, this kind of computers are not directly connected to each other, they are connected through a plurality of computers that relay a packet specially. The relay specialty computer is called a router. IP addresses are also given to these routers, respectively.
Each router has a routing table that associates a destination IP address of a packet with IP addresses of other routers or computers that relay the packet. Receiving a packet from other routers or computers, the router selects the next router or computer to which the packet is transmitted and transmits the packet. Consequently, a packet is sent from the source computer to the destination computer through some routers in sequence.
Moreover, when a router receives a packet from another router or computer, the router decrements the residual hop number recorded on the predetermined field (a lifetime field in the IP version 4, a hop limit field in the IP version 6) of the IP header of the packet by one, increments the value in a checksum field by one as a result of the checksum calculation only for the IP version 4, and transmits the packet to the next router or computer. Furthermore, each router also discards packets whose residual hop number becomes zero and informs discard of the packet to the computer of the source IP address according to ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol).
In general, the network that can perform packet communication according to IP in the Network layer by such a router and a computer is called an IP network.
Incidentally, routing loop is one of the network troubles caused in the IP network. The routing loop is a phenomenon in which a packet repeatedly travels among some routers and does not reach the destination.
In many cases, the routing loop is caused by various setup errors, troubles of hardware such as a router or other troubles. However, if the routing loop occurred in the predetermined router group is caused by the setting error of a router located outside the management area of the administrator who manages the router group, the administrator cannot resolve the routing loop because the administrator cannot check and change the setting of the router located outside the management area.
Then, it becomes important to quickly discover the router group that causes the routing loop in order to suppress the damage to the administrator suffering from the routing loop.
Conventionally, the following three methods were known to discover such routing loop.
The first method uses the routing table. That is, the first method finds out combinations of entry records that form loops one after another by checking the routing tables of all routers in the management area. An advantage of the first method is that a combination of routers forming a loop can be certainly detected.
The second method uses a traceroute. That is, the second method makes a computer having traceroute function connect to a router in the management area and makes the computer sequentially transmit investigating packets whose residual hop numbers are different one by one to another computer in the management area. If packets with time-exceeded message (the ICMP header whose type field is "11" is added to the IP header) are repeatedly received from the same router group located on the path to the destination address, the second method judges that routing loop occurs in that router group. An advantage of the second method is that routing loop caused in any path within the management area can be detected.
The third method uses a packet capture. That is, the third method inserts a computer that has a packet capturing function among the routers in the management area to supervise all the packets that pass through the routers. See "Routing Loop Detection" on page 3 of chapter 4 of "Detection and Analysis of Routing Loops in Packet Traces" by Urs Hengartner, Sue Moon, Richard Mortier, and Christophe Diot, whose URL is "http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/People/uhengart/imw02.pdf" that could be browsed on Jun. 9, 2003.
According to the third method, the computer extracts packets whose contents are identical with the exception of the residual hop number (and checksum value in the case of the IP version 4) in the IP header. When the residual hop numbers (and the checksum number) of the extracted packets vary in arithmetic series, the computer judges that routing loop is caused. An advantage of the third method is that routing loop can be immediately detected.
However, since the first method requires the manual work for checking the combinations of the entry records, it takes much time to find the routing loop. Moreover, since the usual routing table includes many entry numbers (100 pieces, for example), the time and effort for finding routing loop increase as the number of the routers in the management area increases. Therefore, the first method lacks immediacy and scale extendibility.
Further, the second method mentioned above may not detect routing loop in the following case. Some mistakes in a routing table may occur the phenomenon where only the packet from a certain source IP address causes routing loop and the other packets do not cause routing loop. In such a case, routing loop may not be detected by the second method, even if investigating packets are supplied to the path. Moreover, since the second method requires a great number of investigating packets, the load given to the network traffic becomes greater as the investigation period becomes shorter. The load may cause a new network trouble. Therefore, the second method lacks certainty and immediacy.
Furthermore, although the third method can detect routing loop caused between the routers that straddle the packet capture, it cannot detect routing loop caused between the routers that do not straddle the packet capture. When the communication speed between routers increases, the number of packets that is acquired by the packet capture becomes too large to be caught up by the computer, which interferes with the application of the computer to large-scale and high-speed management area like iDC (internet Data Center) or ISP (Internet Service Provider). Therefore, the third method lacks certainty and scale extendibility.

Routing loop detection program and routing loop detection method