A method of cleaning substrates is provided. Prior to, during or prior to and during a cleaning process, fluid is applied to a substrate surface to form a fluid film thereon. Ice crystals are introduced into the fluid film on the substrate surface. The ice crystals have a temperature that is lower than the temperature of the fluid such that the fluid changes the ice crystals into a gaseous state to form a pulse generated in the fluid film. The depth of penetration of the ice crystals into the fluid film is controlled such that the ice crystals do not strike the substrate surface. The substrate surface is cleaned with the pulse.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for cleaning substrates, especially semiconductor wafers, according to which prior to and/or during the cleaning process, a fluid is applied to the substrate.
Such an apparatus is known, for example, from WO 96/10463. With this apparatus, a water film is applied to the substrate surface that is to be cleaned, and simultaneously or subsequently steam is conveyed onto the surface that is to be cleaned in a directed manner via a nozzle. The steam rapidly cools in the water film, whereby small steam bubbles implode and thereby generate a pulse in the water film that loosens the particles from the surface that is to be cleaned.
With this known apparatus, particles that strongly adhere to the surface that is to be cleaned can remain if the pulse is not sufficient to dislodge such particles. Furthermore, the apparatus requires a steam generator that increases the overall size of the apparatus. In addition, the steam comes into contact with metal within the steam generator and in the subsequently arranged components that convey media, so that there exists a danger of contamination of the substrate that is to be cleaned with metal ions.
Reference is also made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,834, which discloses a method for cleaning printed circuit boards. With this method, a thin water film is applied to a side of the circuit board that is to be cleaned. Subsequently, the side of the circuit board that is to be cleaned is bombarded with ice crystals that pass through the water film and strike the circuit board surface in order to clean the same. The water film has the function of diverting electrical charges that occur during the bombardment with ice crystals so that these charges do not damage the printed circuit boards.
Proceeding from the known apparatus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method which, in a straightforward and economical manner, permit a reliable cleaning of substrates without the danger of damaging the same.
The object is inventively realized with a method for cleaning substrates, especially semiconductor wafers, according to which prior to and/or during the cleaning process a fluid is applied to the substrate, and ice crystals are introduced into the fluid located on the substrate, in that the depth of penetration of the ice crystals into the fluid is controlled in order to achieve a precise pulse generation and hence a precise cleaning. By controlling the depth of penetration of the ice crystals, it is furthermore possible to prevent the ice crystals from striking the substrate surface that is to be cleaned and thereby damaging such surface, since prior to striking the surface the ice crystals change into the gaseous state. Due to the large temperature difference between the ice crystals and the fluid, the ice crystals explosively change into the gaseous state. The thereby generated pulse, which is considerably greater than the pulse generated by the implosion of small steam bubbles, dislodges particles from the substrate surface that is to be cleaned. To carry out the inventive method, it is merely necessary to have a fluid feed line as well as a feed line for a gas that is under high pressure, so that the apparatus required for carrying out the method has a small size. In particular, for the cleaning of semiconductor wafers, which is generally effected in clean rooms, it is important to the extent possible to use apparatus having small dimensions, since clean rooms generate considerable cost not only during the manufacture but also during operation. Since it is necessary to provide only a feed line for the fluid and for a gas that is under high pressure, the components that convey the media can be made without metal, so that the danger of contaminating the substrate with metal ions can be precluded. Furthermore, the size and temperature of the ice crystals, and hence the magnitude of the pulse that is generated when the crystals change into the gaseous state, are easy to control, as a result of which on the whole a good control of the cleaning process results.
In order to control the magnitude of the pulse that reaches the surface of the substrate, the thickness of a fluid layer on the substrate and/or the temperature of the fluid are advantageously controlled. As a consequence of the thickness of the fluid layer, the distance between the source of the pulse and the surface of the substrate, and hence the strength of the pulse at the substrate surface, can be set. By controlling the fluid temperature, the intensity of the change of the ice crystals into the gaseous state, and hence the magnitude of the pulse, can be varied.
Pursuant to a further specific embodiment of the present invention, the size and/or temperature of the ice crystals are controlled, both of which determine the force of the pulse that is generated during the change of the ice crystals into the gaseous state.
Pursuant to a preferred specific embodiment of the present invention, the ice crystals are preferably directed at an angle onto the substrate in order to prescribe a direction of cleaning. The ice crystals are advantageously produced in at least one ice nozzle that is directed against the substrate. In so doing, during the cleaning a relative movement is advantageously produced between the ice nozzle and the substrate in order to ensure a cleaning of the entire substrate surface. Pursuant to one specific embodiment, the substrate and/or the ice nozzle is moved linearly. The substrate is advantageously furthermore rotated, so that loosened particles are moved out of the region of the wafer by the centrifugal force that results due to the rotation.
Pursuant to a further specific embodiment of the present invention, the substrate is inclined relative to the horizontal during the cleaning process in order to ensure that the fluid film and the loosened particles constantly flow off.
The fluid is advantageously deionized water, and the ice crystals are preferably CO2, since CO2 sublimates at normal pressures.
The object of the present invention is realized in an apparatus for cleaning substrates, especially semiconductor wafers, that includes a device for applying a fluid to the substrate, by a device for introducing the ice crystals into the fluid. The already aforementioned advantages are achieved with such an apparatus.
The apparatus advantageously has at least one nozzle for applying the fluid, with such nozzle preferably being embodied as a wide slot nozzle having a width that is greater than or the same as the width of the substrate. By using such a wide slot nozzle, it is possible in a straightforward manner to ensure that the entire substrate surface that is to be cleaned is covered with the fluid. The apparatus preferably also has a device for tempering the fluid, as a result of which the already aforementioned advantages are achieved.

Method and apparatus for cleaning substrates


An organic electroluminescence display includes a first substrate with a pixel region formed with an organic electroluminescence element including a first electrode, an organic thin film layer and a second electrode and a non-pixel region formed with a metal wiring for transmitting signals from the exterior to the organic electroluminescence element, a second substrate arranged in a upper side of the first substrate, a frit provided between the first and second substrates, and a first and a second protective films provided as a stacking structure between the metal wiring and the frit, wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are attached to each other through the frit. The metal wirings of the non-pixel region have a first protective film made of a silicon compound formed thereon.

1. Field
The invention relates to an organic electroluminescence display device and a manufacturing method thereof, and more specifically, to an organic electroluminescence display device encapsulated by a frit and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Discussion of the Related Technology
In general, organic electroluminescence display devices comprise a substrate on which a pixel region and a non-pixel region are provided, and a vessel or another substrate arranged to be opposite to the substrate and attached to the substrate by a sealant such as epoxy for its encapsulation.
On the pixel region of the substrate are formed multiple light-emitting elements connected in a matrix form between a scan line and a data line, the light-emitting elements comprising an anode electrode and cathode electrode, and an organic thin film layer formed between the anode electrode and cathode electrode, the organic thin film layer comprising an hole transport layer, an organic light-emitting layer and an electron transport layer.
The light-emitting elements configured as described above are susceptible to oxygen exposure because of they contain organic materials. They are also easily oxidized by moisture in the air since the cathode electrode is made of metal materials and can suffer deterioration to electrical and light-emitting properties. To mitigate the above problems, a powder-type moisture absorbent or a film-type moisture absorbent on a vessel manufactured in the form of a metal material can or cup, or a substrate made of glass, plastic, etc. is provided to take up moisture, oxygen and hydrogen penetrated from the exterior.
However, such a method of coating the powder-type moisture absorbent requires complicated processes and raises cost for materials and the processes. In addition, the method results in an increase of the thickness of the display device and further it is difficult to be applied to an screen light-emitting type. In addition, the method of attaching the film-type moisture absorbent has limited ability to eliminate all the moisture and also has low durability and reliability, thus limiting application in the production in large quantities. The above discussion is simply to describe the general field of organic light emitting displays and is not a discussion of the prior art.
Methods have been employed which encapsulates light-emitting elements by forming side walls with frits to overcome the afore-mentioned problems.
International patent application No. PCT/KR2002/000994 (May 24, 2002) discloses an encapsuation container formed with side walls using a glass frit and a manufacturing method thereof.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/414,794 (Apr. 16, 2003) discloses a glass package encapsulated by attaching a first and a second glass plates through a frit and a manufacturing method thereof.
Korean patent laying-open gazette No. 2001-0084380 (Sep. 6, 2001) discloses a frit frame encapsulation method using a laser.
Korean patent laying-open gazette No. 2002-0051153 (Jun. 28, 2002) discloses a packaging method of encapsulating an upper substrate and a lower substrate with a frit layer using a laser.

Organic electroluminescence display device and manufacturing method thereof


An image processing apparatus includes a setting unit configured to set a number of prints for image data, a storage unit configured to store identification information for identifying an object in association with transmission target information used for transmitting the image data to an external apparatus, and a collation unit configured to collate the identified object from the image data and the identification information. In the image processing apparatus, the setting unit can set the number of prints for the image data according to a difference between a number of the objects in the image data and a number of the transmission target information associated with a number of the identification information that matches the object in the image data as a result of the collation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus capable of appropriately and effectively transmitting image data to an external apparatus, an image processing apparatus control method, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when a user of a digital camera captures an image of a person, the user can record the captured image and print the recorded image of the person with a home printer. Furthermore, the user can previously generate a print instruction file based on a digital print order format (DPOF). The user then records the generated print instruction file on a recording medium such as a memory card. In this case, the user brings the memory card to a photo studio to print an arbitrary number of print copies of a desired image.
When distributing a print product to persons captured in the recorded image, the user sets the number of persons captured in the image as the number of prints and then prints the set number of the images. More specifically, a method for detecting the face of the person captured in the image and setting the number of the detected faces as the number of prints for the image is discussed in each of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-281605, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-214003, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-219329, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-088532.
On the other hand, in recent years, a wireless communication between peripheral devices has been widely utilized. Under these circumstances, users of such a digital camera can transmit and receive image data by utilizing an image transmission system that includes a digital camera having the communication unit and performs a wireless communication with peripheral apparatuses.
When the conventional method for setting the number of prints is applied to the image transmission system, the number of persons captured in the image is set as the number of prints even if an owner of an apparatus to which image data can be transmitted by the image transmission system or a person who has close relationship with the owner is captured in the image.
However, in the case where the user owns the apparatus that can transmit image data by the image transmission system, it may be more convenient for the owner user if image data of the captured image is obtained instead of a print product thereof.
This is because if the user receives the image data of the captured image, the user can edit or print the image at home. When the conventional method for setting the number of prints is simply applied to the image transmission system without considering such circumstances, the image data may be wastefully printed in the number of prints exceeding the number actually desired and necessary.

Image processing apparatus, control method, and storage medium


Escalator steps for loading a wheelchair or the like comprise a set of three serial steps (1), (2), and (3). Steps (1) and (3) are positioned at the front and rear of an intermediate step (2). Step (1) comprises fixed step (10) and floating step (11) and step (3) comprises fixed step (30) and floating step (31). Floating steps 11 and 31 are capable of being separated from fixed steps (1) and (3), respectively. When an escalator is traveling under a normal condition, fixed steps (1) and (3) and floating steps (11) and (31) are integrally coupled to each other for enabling the escalator to operate as a common escalator. When loading a wheelchair on the steps, however, floating step (11) and (31) are coupled with intermediate step (2), whereby intermediate step (2) and floating steps (11) and (31) form a level tread capable of loading the wheelchair.

Various inventions have been made concerning escalator devices for loading a wheelchair or long objects. According to such inventions, however, a level tread is formed with two identical step treads, which are joined to each other using a means such as a fork, jack, screw or the like. Further, when there is enough space to load the wheelchair or the like, a method characterized by inclining a third step tread is adopted. Except in the case of a fixed coupling method, according to a method in which a step tread can be kept in the same state as that of a common step which travels under a normal condition, the structure and operation thereof are complicated and expensive. In addition, according to the fixed coupling method, the structure can be made simple, but travelling under the normal condition is not so comfortable. Besides, the radius of rotation becomes large at the rotating portion. As a result, there is such a disadvantage that the size of the device increases.


A deacidification apparatus and a deacidification process using the apparatus are disclosed. The deacidification apparatus includes a deacidification furnace, of which a furnace upper section, a furnace middle section and a furnace lower section are provided in upper, middle and lower portions respectively, wherein a gas-solid mixture inlet (1), a exhaust outlet (3) and a filtered air port (2) are provided on the furnace upper section, a product outlet (13) is provided on the furnace lower section, the upper portion of the deacidification is mounted with a filter (5) to which the gas-solid mixture inlet (1), the exhaust outlet (2) and the filtered air port (3) are connected, the filtered air port (2) is connected with a gas pulse device and a vacuum device by a three-way connecting device, and the exhaust outlet (3) is connected with atmosphere or connected with the vacuum device.

A pyrogenic oxide is an oxide powder material prepared from the hydrolysis-polycondensation of halide such as silicon tetrachloride, methyl trichlorosilane, titanium tetrachloride and aluminium chloride, used as a raw material at high temperatures. The principle of the hydrolysis-polycondensation is as follows:MClx+H2+O2→M2OxHCl.
It can be known from the above reaction equation that a hydrogen chloride gas is generated during the course of reaction. This gas makes the oxide powder material have strong acidity by adsorbing at its surface and affects its application. Thus it generally needs to remove the acid gas absorbed at the surface of the oxide powder material by deacidifying during the production.
The existing deacidification technology uses a high temperature desorption with assisted deacidification medium way for deacidification, i.e., the acid gas adsorbing at the surface of the oxide powder material can be desorbed at high temperatures by burning, electrical heating or infra-red heating to achieve deacidification. The deacidification apparatus to be used is a vertical or horizontal deacidification furnace which uses internal heating, jacket heating, infra-red heating or the like. As ZL 02149782.6 or ZL 200410051507.6, arranging heating tubes in the deacidification furnace in a crossover manner, heating to 450˜750° C., and supported by a deacidification medium such as hot air, water vapor or the like, for deacidification, the desorbed is discharged together with the deacidification medium. The traditional technology has defects which cannot be overcome by itself. Firstly, the deacidification requires a high temperature that the temperature should remain in 400˜750° C. inside the furnace, which leads to great energy consumption during deacidification. Secondly, the powder material is easy to be discharged with the deacidification medium, so it needs to provide a filter such as bag-type dust remover in the exhaust outlet of the deacidification furnace, but the filter is likely to bring blocking, which causes the pressure of the system to destabilize. Further, the deacidification in traditional technology is inefficient, in order to assure that the acid gas adsorbing at the surface of the powder material can be effectively removed, the height (length) of the deacidification furnace is relatively large to ensure the powder material can stay in the furnace long enough, and sometimes even the second or third deacidification is needed to ensure the PH value of the suspension 4 wt % aqueous solution of the deacidified product is larger than 3.6.
ZL 200810058544.8 uses an infra-red heating way for deacidification. The principle of infra-red heating is that the water and HCL molecules in the powder rotate quickly and rub against each other to generate heat to heat the powder with the action of a microwave alternating electromagnetic field, which requires high water content in the powder that is regularly more than 10%. For a powder material prepared from pyrolysis, the water content is at a low level during production of the powder material, and the powder material forms a branch structure of spherical particles held together loosely, such that the loose structure tends to be collapsed after it is processed at high temperature in high water content, resulted in the collapse of the structure that it is easy to lose the specific features of the superfine powder from pyrolysis such as thickening, thixotropy, extinction and so on. Moreover, the processing efficiency of the microwave heating per apparatus time is relatively low, so it is not good for mass powder deacidification.

Deacidification process and apparatus thereof

GUANGZHOU GBS HIGH-TECH & INDUSTRY CO., LTD.


A method of rapidly heating e.g. a vehicle engine to its operative temperature during cold starting periods. The vehicle engine is in heat exchange relationship with a section of a cooling fluid flow circuit which furthermore includes a sensible heat storage means. The heat carrier is fed into the heat storage means at the beginning of an inoperative period and is re-fed into said fluid flow circuit section in heat exchange relationship with the engine at the beginning of an operative period.

The invention relates to a method of rapidly heating a mass to an operative temperature, which mass is in heat exchange relationship with a section of a heat carrier system containing a flowable heat carrier and including a sensible heat storage means, in particular for rapidly heating a motor vehicle engine during cold starting.
It is well known that many technical processes, for optimal efficiency, require that the apparatus or system for performing such processes attain an operative temperature within a predetermined range. In this connection a heat carrier which may be a fluid or any other flowable matter, e.g. particulate matter circulating in a circuit in heat exchange relationship with such apparatus or system may be used for addition or removal of heat if desired. It has become known to include in such circuit a heat storage means for storing heat energy received from the heat carrier which has been heated to the operative temperature during operation of the apparatus or system. When operation of the apparatus or system has been interrupted and accordingly its temperature has approximated ambient temperature, the heat energy stored in the heat storage means may be used to rapidly heat the apparatus or system totally or partially to the optimal operative temperature. Depending on the type of the respective technical process and the operative temperature required thereby it is possible either to add heat energy when the operative temperature is above ambient temperature or to remove heat energy when the operative temperature is below ambient temperature.
A typical example for a process of the above mentioned type is the operation of an internal combustion engine, for example for automotive vehicles, requiring that the engine or at least essential parts thereof initially are heated to a minimum operative temperature after cold starting of the engine, whereafter an operative temperature is maintained by heat removal via a cooling medium circuit and an heat exchanger included therein until the engine is shut down. It has become known to use the heat energy to be removed from the engine to load a heat storage means which may provide heat energy during an operation period requiring heat, in particular during cold starting to thereby reduce wear, fuel consumption, exhaust gas emissions and noise and to improve cold starting and running characteristics of the engine and to enable early effective operation of the car heating.
It has been proposed to use latent heat storage elements or accumulators as a heat storage means because they are of substantial heat density, which is beneficial in particular in view of the low weight and small space requirements in automotive vehicles. On the other hand latent heat storage elements or accumulators are relatively expensive. Furthermore, heat storage means for storing sensible heat have become known, for example heat storage means which cooperate with liquid heat carriers by storing the usual cooling liquid of automotive vehicle engines. Such heat storage means allow for low costs and short loading and unloading times, however are of substantial weight and volume which makes it impossible or at least very difficult to use them in automotive vehicles.
Such "sensible heat storage means" wherein the heat energy is stored in the heat carrier which itself is stored in the heat storage means transfer their heat to the heat sink or an area to be heated by continuously circulating the heat carrier. From this results a balance temperature of a value between the temperature in the heat storage means and the temperature in the area to be heated at the beginning of an unloading period of the heat storage means, which balance temperature depends on the ratio of the heat active masses of the heat storage means and those of the area to be heated.
Accordingly, the heat energy removed from the heat storage means corresponds to the difference of the temperatures of the heat carrier within the heat storage means before and after the unloading period. In the case of internal combustion engines the temperature of the heat carrier prior to an unloading period results from the maximum admissible temperature, which in modern automotive vehicles normally is about 35.degree. C. and the temperature drop of the heat carrier during the storing period, which temperature drop depends on the duration of the storage period and the heat losses of the heat storage means.
Because a certain minimum amount of heat energy to be transferred to the engine for obtaining a predetermined reduction of emissions is necessary in order to obtain the required increase of temperature of at least the relevant engine parts, it follows that the capacity of the heat storage means if dependent on the difference of temperatures before and after the unloading period. The higher the temperature difference, the lower are the space and weight requirements for the heat storage means.
It is an object of the present invention to improve a method of the above identified type so as to allow for an extremely rapid temperature change of the mass to be heated and to allow for a reduction of space and weight. It is a further object to enable an increase of the usable temperature difference of the heat storage means and to reduce the amount of heat energy to be added in respect of a certain engine operation.
In accordance with the present invention the heat carrier is fed into said heat storage means at the beginning of an inoperative period and is fed into said section of the carrier system no later than at the beginning of an operative period.
Contrary to the prior art the heat carrier system or circuit contains only an amount of the heat carrier that is sufficient to fill the functional area of the apparatus or system, which heat carrier amount is received in the functional area of the heat carrier system or circuit during operative periods, however within the heat storage means during inoperative periods; the remaining area of the heat carrier system or circuit is filled with air or another gas. From this results a substantial weight reduction. Furthermore, the total amount of heat carrier is maintained as closely as possible at the operative temperature by the heat insulation of the heat storage means during the inoperative periods so that it will be only the solid mass which is in heat exchange relationship with the heat carrier during operative periods that will attain a temperature according to ambient temperature during inoperative periods. At the beginning of operative periods the heat carrier is fed from the heat storage means into the functional area and will then transfer the total stored heat energy to the rigid mass in heat relationship with the heat carrier circuit without it being necessary to transfer some of the heat energy--as in the prior art methods--to the heat carrier that had remained in the functional area and attained a temperature approximating the ambient temperature.
A further development of the present invention provides that heat storage losses occurring during heat storing periods are compensated for by at least one latent heat storage element disposed in said heat storage means.
Another further development of the present invention provides that the heat carrier is fed through said heat storage means for loading said latent heat storage element when said mass has reached its operative temperature.
A still further development of the present invention provides that the heat carrier that has been fed into said heat storage means at the beginning of an inoperative period is re-fed into said section of the heat carrier system when said heat storage means has been heated up and/or said latent heat storage element has been loaded, and thereafter the heat carrier after having absorbed heat energy is again fed into said heat storage means.
A more detailed description of the invention will now be given in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Method of rapidly heating a mass to an operative temperature, in particular a vehicle engine during cold starting


Embodiments of the present invention include methods of producing a composite article. A method comprises introducing a first powdered metal grade from a feed shoe into a first portion of a cavity in a die and a second powdered metal grade from the feed shoe into a second portion of the cavity, wherein the first powder metal grade differs from the second powdered metal grade in chemical composition or particle size. Further methods are also provided. Embodiments of the present invention also comprise composite inserts for material removal operations. The composite inserts may comprise a first region and a second region, wherein the first region comprises a first composite material and the second region comprises a second composite material.

Cutting inserts employed for metal machining are commonly fabricated from composite materials due to their attractive combinations of mechanical properties such as strength, toughness, and wear resistance compared to other tool materials such as tool steels and ceramics. Conventional cutting inserts made from composite materials, such as cemented carbides, are based on a "monolithic" construction, i.e., they are fabricated from a single grade of cemented carbide. In this manner, conventional monolithic cutting tools have the same mechanical and chemical properties at all locations throughout the tool.
Cemented carbides materials comprise at least two phases: at least one hard ceramic component and a softer matrix of metallic binder. The hard ceramic component may be, for example, carbides of any carbide forming element, such as titanium, chromium, vanadium, zirconium, hafnium, molybdenum, tantalum, tungsten, and niobium. A common example is tungsten carbide. The binder may be a metal or metal alloy, typically cobalt, nickel, iron or alloys of these metals. The binder "cements" the ceramic component within a matrix interconnected in three dimensions. Cemented carbides may be fabricated by consolidating a powdered metal of at least one powdered ceramic component and at least one powdered binder.
The physical and chemical properties of cemented carbide materials depend in part on the individual components of the metallurgical powders used to produce the material. The properties of the cemented carbide materials are determined by, for example, the chemical composition of the ceramic component, the particle size of the ceramic component, the chemical composition of the binder, and the ratio of binder to ceramic component. By varying the components of the metallurgical powder, tools, such as inserts, including indexable inserts, drills and end mills can be produced with unique properties matched to specific applications.
In applications of machining today's modern metal materials, enriched grades of carbide materials are often desired to achieve the desired quality and productivity requirements. However, cutting inserts fabricated from a monolithic carbide construction using the higher grades of cemented carbides are expensive to fabricate, primarily due to the high material costs. In addition, it is difficult to optimize the composition of the conventional monolithic indexable cutting inserts comprising a single grade of carbide material to meet the different demands of each location in the insert.
Composite rotary tools made of two or more different carbide materials or grades are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,265. At this time, composite carbide cutting inserts are more difficult to manufacture than rotary cutting tools. First, the size of cutting inserts are, typically, much smaller than rotary cutting tools; second, the geometry, in particular cutting edges and chip breaker configurations of today's cutting inserts are complex in nature; and third, a higher dimensional accuracy and better surface quality are required. With cutting inserts, the final product is produced by pressing and sintering product and does not include subsequent grinding operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,952 issued in 1983 presents an innovative idea to make composite cemented carbide tool by first manufacturing a slurry containing a mixture of carbide powder and a liquid vehicle, then creating a layer of the mixture to the green compact of another different carbide through either painting or spraying. Such a composite carbide tool has distinct mechanical properties between the core region and the surface layer. The claimed applications of this method include rock drilling tools, mining tools and indexable cutting inserts for metal machining. However, the slurry-based method can only be applicable to indexable cutting inserts without chip breaker geometry or the chip breaker with very simple geometry. This is because a thick layer of slurry will obviously alter the chip breaker geometry, in particular widely used indexable cutting inserts have intricate chip breaker geometry required to meet the ever-increasing demands for machining a variety of work materials. In addition, the slurry-based method involves a considerable increase in manufacturing operations and production equipment.
For cutting inserts in rotary tool applications, the primary function of the central region is to initially penetrate the work piece and remove most of the material as the hole is being formed, while the primary purpose of the periphery region of the cutting insert is to enlarge and finish the hole. During the cutting process, the cutting speed varies significantly from a center region of the insert to the insert's outer periphery region. The cutting speeds of an inner region, an intermediate region, and a periphery region of an insert are all different and therefore experience different stresses and forms of wear. Obviously, the cutting speeds increase as the distance from the axis of rotation of the tool increases. As such, inserts in rotary cutting tools comprising a monolithic construction are inherently limited in their performance and range of applications.
Drilling inserts and other rotary tools having a monolithic construction will, therefore, not experience uniform wear and/or chipping and cracking at different points ranging from the center to the outside edge of the tool's cutting surface. Also, in drilling casehardened materials, the chisel edge is typically used to penetrate the case, while the remainder of the drill body removes material from the casehardened material's softer core. Therefore, the chisel edge of conventional drilling inserts of monolithic construction used in that application will wear at a much faster rate than the remainder of the cutting edge, resulting in a relatively short service life. In both instances, because of the monolithic construction of conventional cemented carbide drilling inserts, frequent tool changes result in excessive downtime for the machine tool that is being used.
There is a need to develop cutting inserts, optionally comprising modern chip breaker geometry, for metal machining applications and the methods of forming such inserts.

Composite cutting inserts and methods of making the same


A nasal pillow system for treating sleep apnea is disclosed that may include a nasal pillow. The pillow has a cavity wall that defines a cavity, and two nasal interface structures connected to and extending away from the cavity wall. The nasal interface structures are in fluid communication with the cavity. Each nasal interface structure includes a conical nasal interface, a cylindrical trunk structure connected to conical nasal interface, and an annular relief pocket connected to the cylindrical trunk structure and to the cavity wall. The connection between the annular relief pocket and the cavity wall defines substantially a plane, and a first portion of the annular relief pocket extends away from the plane while a second portion extends towards the plane.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common medical disorder that can be quite serious. It has been reported that approximately one in twenty-two Americans (about 12,000,000 people) suffer from OSA, and many cases go undiagnosed. Chronic fatigue has long been recognized as the hallmark of OSA, but more recently, large clinical studies have shown strong links between OSA and strokes and between OSA and death.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which the flow of air pauses or decreases during breathing while one is asleep, because the airway has become narrowed, blocked, or floppy. A pause in breathing is called an apnea episode, while a decrease in airflow during breathing is called a hypopnea episode. Almost everyone has brief apnea or hypopnea episodes while they sleep. In OSA, however, apnea episodes occur more frequently and last longer than in the general population. OSA has become an increasingly costly medical condition in recent years, as the disorder is more prevalent in obese people, and obesity has become significantly more prevalent. Unfortunately, the currently available options for treating OSA are not ideal.
A person with OSA usually begins snoring heavily soon after falling asleep. Often, the snoring gets louder. The snoring is then interrupted by a long silent period, during which there is no breathing. This is followed by a loud snort and a gasp as the person attempts to breathe. This pattern repeats. Many people wake up unrefreshed in the morning and feel sleepy or drowsy throughout the day. This is called excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). People with sleep apnea may act grumpy or irritable, be forgetful, fall asleep while working, reading, or watching TV, feel sleepy or even fall asleep while driving, or have hard-to-treat headaches. OSA sufferers may also experience depression that becomes worse, hyperactive behavior (especially in children), or leg swelling (if severe).
The most widely used therapy for OSA is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP). A CPAP system typically consists of a mask fitting in or over the nose or nose and mouth, an air pressurizing console (or blower) and a hose connecting the two (typically a six-foot long hose with a 20 mm diameter bore). CPAP works by pressurizing the upper airway throughout the breathing cycle, essentially inflating the airway to keep it open and thus creating what is sometimes referred to as a "pneumatic splint." This flow is set at a pressure that has been predetermined through medical testing to be appropriate to create a pneumatic splint in the patient's airway. This prevents airway collapse and allows the patient to breathe without obstruction.
Typically, air flow for CPAP ranges from 100-200 L/min at a corresponding pressure range of 4-20 CM-H2O. This high flow rate makes breathing feel quite uncomfortable for many patients and requires a large and cumbersome hose measuring about 22 mm (˜0.86″) in diameter. Additionally, the high required flow rates of CPAP often cause discomfort during exhalation due to increased resistance, as well as nasal dryness, dry mouth, ear pain, rhinitis, abdominal bloating and/or headaches. Typically, a patient requires a humidification machine to prevent some of the side effects of the high flow rate.
Because of these shortcomings, the overwhelming problem of CPAP is poor patient compliance, with over half of all patients who try CPAP stop using it. Patients dislike the side effects mentioned above, as well as having to wear an uncomfortable, claustrophobic mask, being tethered to a pressurizing console, the noise of the console, traveling with a bulky device, and a loss of personal space in bed.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have improved systems, devices and methods for treating OSA and snoring. Ideally, such systems, devices and methods would be less cumbersome than currently available CPAP systems, to improve patient compliance. Also ideally, such systems, devices and methods would provide some of the advantages of an expiratory pneumatic splint. At least some of these objectives were met by the embodiments described in references listed above and incorporated herein by reference.
While these references are an important improvement over the state of the art, it would be advantageous to improve upon these systems by making the system simpler and more compact in design, simpler to use, and more robust.

Apparatus, systems, and methods for improved treatment of obstructive sleep apnea


A germicidal lamp is disclosed. The lamp's tube has a single stem and may be installed in the lamp's fixture without touching the tube's envelope. The fixture includes a mounting mechanism and a damping mechanism which ease installation and render the tube less susceptible to adverse forces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to germicidal lamps, and more particularly the invention relates to such devices used in air and surface sterilization.
2. Description of Related Art
Germicidal lamps have been known for quite a while. Typically, a germicidal lamp has two primary parts, a tube and a base (or fixture). The tube is typically a long, thin sealed hollow cylinder containing a discrete amount of inert gas and liquid mercury. These tubes are made in standard sizes and power capabilities, and have standardized outputs. Standard tubes are made by General Electric (G25 T8 and G36 T6), Sylvania and others. These standard tubes have lengths of 18 or 36 inches.
The fixture of a germicidal lamp is designed such that the tube may be easily installed and removed, while holding the tube firmly during other times. The fixture typically also incorporates a ballast. The ballast is an electrical component that converts a standard power input (e.g., 117 V, 1 A 60 Hz AC household current) to a form appropriate to the tube. Typically germicidal lamps use the same standard magnetic ballasts as used by fluorescent lamps. These ballasts deliver electricity of 400 V, 420 mA and 60 Hz to the tube.
Germicidal lamps typically are available in standard form factors. The standard tubes described above fit into a standard base, which is 18 or 36 inches long. The ballast is disposed at one end of the fixture inside a casing, and the fixture has sockets at either end to provide mechanical support for the tube and electrical contacts. The typical fixture is a shiny metal such as aluminum or steel.
Germicidal tubes differ significantly from electric discharge devices used in ultraviolet gas spectroscopy (VUV tubes). Germicidal tubes are low pressure and emit ultraviolet light at the primary and secondary emission lines of mercury--254 nm and 187 nm. In contrast, VUV tubes are high pressure tubes, operate at very high temperatures and emit light at different spectra.
Typical germicidal lamps create ozone. Along with mercury's primary emission at 254 nm, there is a second, but frequently large amount of radiation at 187 nm. This secondary emission results in ozone creation. In the typical application of a germicidal lamps, this ozone is desirable as a germicide.
One common use of germicidal lamps is in water treatment. In water treatment, ozone is generally considered very desirable. However, the ozone in these water treatment systems is very controlled. The ultraviolet tubes are typically enclosed in quartz glass sleeves which restrict air flow, thereby elevating ambient temperatures. This is necessary because the water would otherwise draw away heat from the tube, shutting down the tube.
Although it has long been known that germicidal lamps may be used for air sterilization, their actual implementation has been fairly limited. One reason for this is the ozone creation already discussed. Ozone is harmful to humans, and is a known carcinogen.
Another reason that germicidal lamps have not been use for air sterilization has been skin-effect cooling. According to several publications, a germicidal tube operates best at temperatures well above room temperature, and include heaters to vaporize the liquid mercury.
In skin-effect cooling, air moving across the outside of a tube reduces the normal operating temperature. As the temperature drops, the mercury vapor pressure drops, leading to a drop in ultraviolet output. It is known that if the ambient temperature drops below 72.degree. F. or air is blown over the tube, ultraviolet output of standard germicidal tubes drops at an extremely rapid rate--as much as a 75% depreciation of output at approximately 58.degree. F. Furthermore, the tubes age quicker at low temperatures.
Because of skin-effect cooling, 2 to 4 times as many standard germicidal lamps must be used in low temperature applications to maintain output, and the tubes must be replaced more often--every 2500 hours. The high cost of extra tubes and the maintenance costs have limited the practicality of germicidal lamps.
There have been numerous attempts to use standard germicidal lamps in operating rooms and hospitals. However, higher output tubes used in these applications produce large amounts of ozone, which as mentioned, is undesirable. This limits their applicability. Furthermore, the germicidal lamps have been used in the upper reaches of rooms, thus limiting their utility.
Despite the clear benefits of germicidal lamps, problems such as ozone, depressed output in low temperatures and short tube life have prevented their use in all but highly specialized applications. One area which has long sought to use germicidal lamps is the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry. HVAC systems typically comprise fans, ducts and valves for moving air where needed. An HVAC system may also include a cooling plant and a heating plant for, respectively, cooling and heating the air. In most systems, air is drawn in, filtered, cooled or heated, humidified, and then delivered to a room. Air is also drawn from the room for recirculation through the HVAC system. The HVAC industry has adapted standards for the rate of air exchange in a room, as well as standards for introduction of fresh air into an otherwise closed HVAC system.
Although numerous companies have attempted to provide germicidal lamps for HVAC, the standard germicidal lamps have been unsatisfactory. Typically, a standard germicidal lamp is installed in the HVAC system or in a room where the air is still or warm.
Typical germicidal lamps cannot operate in the harsh environments of HVAC systems. HVAC systems typically are used for controlling the temperature, humidity and comfort of the air in various spaces. Such spaces include offices, living spaces, commercial spaces, industrial spaces, and the interior of vehicles such as cars, buses, planes and ships. The HVAC systems necessarily deliver air which has a temperature, humidity and flow rate which are deleterious to germicidal lamp operation, and the frequent changes of temperature, humidity and flow rate further destabilize these standard germicidal lamps.
More recently, the HVAC industry has also focused on indoor air quality (IAQ). In addition to temperature, humidity and comfort, IAQ addresses the components of air and how the air's components may be controlled to enhance comfort, health and other needs. Often, the goal of HVAC systems is to provide especially clean air, be it for semiconductor or pharmaceutical processing facilities or hospitals and homes.
One reason that fresh air is introduced is because of the existence and growth of molds, spores, bacteria and viruses in the HVAC system. However, introducing fresh air and increasing air exchange rates requires bigger ducts, more powerful fans, more powerful heating and cooling plants, and a lot more power to operate these.
Where it is attempted to install standard germicidal lamps in an HVAC system, installation requires human access to the interior of the duct and typically requires the cutting of an access door or a large opening for the fixture. Furthermore, standard 18" or 36" germicidal lamps are either too large or too small for HVAC ducts. Use of these lamps results in either poor UV coverage of the target area, or the use of any lamps with over-coverage. With over-coverage, installation, usage and maintenance costs rise. To provide adequate ultraviolet dose with low output lamps, bulky and expensive racks have been proposed. Yet, these racks nonetheless require significant engineering and manufacturing efforts.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a germicidal lamp suited for use in HVAC systems. Such a germicidal lamp would be easy to install and service, and be able to operate for long periods within the HVAC system and not generate appreciable amounts of ozone. These objects and others are provided by the of the present invention.

Single ended germicidal lamp for HVAC systems


An apparatus and method of a gateway selecting transmission channels of a cluster of a wireless mesh network is disclosed. The cluster includes the gateway and a plurality of access nodes. The method includes the gateway cycling through a plurality of available transmission channels, evaluating channel each of the available transmission channels, and selecting a cluster transmission channel based on the channel evaluations. An apparatus and method of a node within a wireless mesh network selecting a transmission channel is also disclosed. The method includes the node cycling through a plurality of available transmission channels, measuring a persistence of successfully received routing packets from upstream devices at each of the available transmission channels, evaluating noise of each of the available transmission channels, and selecting one of the available transmission channels based on the persistence of successfully received routing packets and the noise.

Wireless mesh networks are gaining popularity because wireless infrastructures are typically easier and less expensive to deploy than wired networks. However, wireless infrastructures can be susceptible to environmental conditions and self-interference.
FIG. 1 shows a wireless mesh network that includes gateways 120, 122, 124 connecting client devices 150, 152 to a wired network 110 through access nodes 130, 132, 134, 140, 142. The connections between the gateways 120, 122, 124 and the access nodes 130, 132, 134, 140, 142 can be wireless. Additionally, the connection between the access nodes 130, 132, 134, 140, 142 and the clients 150, 152 can be wireless. The wired network 110 can be connected to the internet 100.
The access nodes and gateways communicate with each other over wireless links. Therefore, the access nodes and gateways typically suffer from self-interference. That is, the access nodes and gateways tend to be somewhat proximate to each other, and typically, can receive at least some transmission signal energy (unintended) from each other. The unintended signal energy interferes with the intended transmission signals, resulting in self-interference.
Wireless networks are also susceptible to interference due to signals generated by electronic devices that are not associated with the networks. The types of interference signals can vary over time as the electronic devices are turned on and off, and relocated.
It is desirable reduce network susceptibility to interference, and self-interference between nodes of the wireless mesh network.


Embodiments of the present invention enable an interface for sharing resources between applications. An indicator can be used to identify resources that are selectable. Additionally, indicators can identify locations of the page that can accept resources and a function to be performed when a resource is dragged into a section of a page corresponding to a web application. By utilizing, these functions, an interface is created that allows a user to select a graphical representation of a resource in a first application and cause the resource to be associated with a second application by dragging the graphical representation of the resource to the second application or otherwise selecting the second application.

Historically, web portals, which are centralized web locations that provide access to content and applications, have served the needs of end users accessing a remote site that provides them with content. Additionally, the applications provided have been relatively straightforward informational applications such as stock tickers, weather information feeds or search windows. Over the past three to four years, web portals have been utilized for more complicated tasks, and have begun to integrate the types of functionality that has historically been associated with local desktop applications. In order to address these new usage scenarios for portals, developers have sought to provide portals that can easily be accessed by multiple users. Some environments enable users to develop custom desktops or homepages providing access to multiple applications.
However, the interoperability between these applications is often limited, making it difficult for a user to utilize content or resources associated with one application in another application. Often resources must be saved to a central file system in one application and then accessed separately from another application, without any easy means for moving or copying the resources.
What is needed are improved methods and mechanisms for sharing resources between applications in a web portal environment to enable portals to provide collaborative applications that could be utilized by multiple users.

System and method for sharing resources between web applications


An audio and video plug is provided, comprising a male audio plug having at least one audio signal plug contact and one audio ground plug contact, the plug being characterized by a substantially cylindrical video ground plug contact located radially outward said male audio plug, and being electrically insulated from said male audio plug, and at least one video signal plug contact being located inward of said video ground plug contact, and being electrically insulated from said video ground plug contact. Further an audio and video socket is provided, comprising a female audio socket having at least one audio signal socket contact and one audio ground socket contact, and a video signal socket contact being electrically insulated from said female audio socket, the socket being characterized by at least one video ground socket contact located radially outward said female audio socket, and being electrically insulated from said female audio socket and said video signal socket contact.

Portable devices like mp3 players, game decks, laptops, notebooks, PDAs, cellular phones and the like usually comprise at least one output socket for connecting a headset. Digital cameras sometimes comprise a TV-out socket for putting out a video signal for display on a TV set. Future portable devices, particularly game decks like the Nokia® N-Gage, will be able to put out both audio and video signals. These game decks can then be used like non-portable video game consoles when being connected to a standard TV set and outputting the game graphics therewith. As the processing power of such portable devices, PDAs, smartphones and the like also more and more enables video playback functions it is desirable to output the video signal on a bigger screen than the internal one, to watch videos on a suitably big display.
Presently available are various plug types for audio or video signals, like the common 3.5 mm stereo plug, cinch type plugs, S-VHS plugs and many others. As the mere size of the plugs and particularly of their corresponding sockets in the electronic device has a great, if not decisive impact on the size of the electronic device, it is desirable to provide plug/socket connection systems being as small as possible. Also the number of plugs/sockets should correspondingly be kept as low as possible. The available size of a device will in the first place be used to place control elements, displays and the like. It is therefore undesirable to be forced to sacrifice a large part of the outer surface of a device to provide big and numerous connection sockets. Also it is desirable to have only a limited amount of standard plugs/sockets rather than the present vast variety of different, partially proprietary, connectors.
Thus a trend is to integrate as many functions as possible into one plug. There are two main drawbacks with this solution. On the one hand the resulting plugs will often not be compatible to standard plugs, i.e. be proprietary because of contacts being relocated compared to the standard arrangement, thus prohibiting a use with standard equipment and different devices. On the other hand a very strict integration, e.g. using only one ground connection for different signals (audio/video), and the fact that contacts/conductors will be located very close to one another, will lead to a decrease in signal quality and electrical problems (interferences, ground loops).
A solution being not satisfying for small electronic devices would be using two different dedicated connectors for audio and video, for example a combination of 3.5 mm stereo plug for audio and a 2.5 mm video plug for the video signals. The drawbacks of such a solution should be obvious.
While the 3.5 mm stereo audio plug has become a quasi standard for pure audio signals there is no comparatively small single plug available for both audio and video signals providing suitable shielding of the video signals; existing connectors like the SCART connector are not suitable for small electronic devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,960 describes as prior art a 3.5 mm audio plug wherein an additional contact is provided to transfer video signals. This video transmit plug is not compatible to conventional plugs, as the contact for the right stereo channel is displaced and instead the contact usually used for right audio is used for video signals. Further, as such a plug does not provide any shielding means the video signal is exposed to disturbances and video quality will be reduced, also because only a common audio and video ground is used. In this application a kind of active "plug-in" detection based on different impedances is described in order to detect the kind of the plug.
From the aforementioned it is apparent that there is a need for a compact single plug and socket for audio and video signals being small in footprint while also providing for a good electrical signal quality, and preferably being compatible to existing equipment and the standard 3.5 mm audio plug/socket, respectively. Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide such a plug that is suitable for small portable electronic devices.

Audio and video plug and socket having integrated video contact


In a glove having finger covering parts, a finger covering part corresponding to at least one finger selected from the third finger (middle finger), the fourth finger (ring finger), and the fifth finger (little finger) is configured by arranging protective members (2a to 2e) on anterior and posterior sides of the same, and arranging stretchable members (4a to 6a) on both lateral sides of the same. An inner perimeter of each finger covering part is substantially equal to an outer perimeter of the finger corresponding thereto. The stretchable members on the lateral sides of each finger have stretching forces such that a stretching force of the stretchable member on the lateral side on the first finger (thumb) side is higher than a stretching force of the stretchable member on the other lateral side on the fifth finger (little finger) side. When the glove is bent from an opened state to a gripping state, the finger covering part is bent with a twist at a gripping angle toward the first finger (thumb) side. Thus, a glove is provided that is capable of following changes in shape caused by a gripping action of a hand, providing both of the feeling of fitting and the feeling of support, and having a high-level protection function and a high-level of mobility function.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glove suitable principally for sports such as golf, baseball, and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In a sport such as golf, baseball, or the like that involves the gripping of a club or a bat, gloves are used principally for protecting the hands. When a hand assumes a state of gripping a club or a bat from an opened state, the shape of the hand changes significantly. Particularly, the back of the hand has significant changes in shape in the vicinities of the proximal phalanxes and the middle phalanxes. Therefore, if gloves are formed with a non-stretchable material such as leather, the glove is too stiff to provide a feeling of fitting, and the feeling when it is put on is impaired also. In contrast, in the case where gloves are formed exclusively with a mesh material or a stretchable material, a feeling of looseness is provided when it is put on, though good stretchability is obtained. Regarding the middle finger, the ring finger, and the little finger, it has been found that the axes of joints thereof are twisted in an action of gripping something, thereby causing a displacement between the glove and the hand. This causes seam lines to be shifted to between a gripped thing and the hand, and as a result discomfort is caused.
To solve these problems, a glove has been proposed in which a stretchable member is arranged in a gusset portion (lateral portion) on the thumb side of each finger covering part so as to eliminate the twisting upon gripping (Patent Document 1). This proposal eliminates the twisting by using a stretchable fabric on one side (on the thumb side) of each finger covering part, but another problem arises in that the finger covering parts do not fit to the fingers, while the control of a twist angle and the magnitude of the same is difficult.
As another proposal, a glove has been proposed in which each gore is cut in a shape bent toward the palm side so that the finger covering part is bent toward the palm side preliminarily (Patent Document 2). This proposal has a problem that the glove fits to the hand when the fingers are bent in a gripping state, but does not fit when the fingers are stretched out, and further, the glove is not capable of following a twist.
As described above, in the prior art, there is a problem that a glove cannot follow complicated three-dimensional changes in the shape of the hand and fingers.
[Patent Document 1] JP 3031396 U
[Patent Document 2] JP 4(1992)-136265 A


An avalanche photodiode (APD) device, in particular, a lateral separate absorption charge multiplication (SACM) APD device, and a method for its fabrication is provided. The APD device comprises a first contact region and a second contact region formed in a semiconductor layer. Further, the APD device comprises an absorption region formed on the semiconductor layer, wherein the absorption region is at least partly formed on a first region of the semiconductor layer, wherein the first region is arranged between the first contact region and the second contact region. The APD device further includes a charge region formed in the semiconductor layer between the first region and the second contact region, and an amplification region formed in the semiconductor layer between the charge region and the second contact region. At least the absorption region is curved on the semiconductor layer.

In the above-given technical field of APD devices (e.g., used as photodetectors for optical communication, light sensing, or quantum communication), receiver sensitivity and operating data rates are crucial requirements for performance, as they determine the power consumption of the optical communication link. APD devices can have great potential to enable these requirements, thus realizing sensitive receivers which allow for high operating data rates.
APD devices are typically realized in two device architectures. The first device architecture is a standard pin form, and is also referred to as pin-APD device. The second device architecture is a p+/p−/n+ form, which is also referred to as SACM APD device. In the standard pin APD devices, a light absorption and a multiplication of carriers due to the avalanche effect occur in an intrinsic region of the diode. However, in SACM APD devices, an absorption region and a multiplication region of the diode are separated by a charge region (e.g., the p− doped region of the p+/p−/n+ diode). While standard pin APD devices have the potential for low operating voltages, SACM APD devices have a higher sensitivity and can operate at higher speeds. Thus, SACM APD devices are more attractive for optical interconnections, optical communication, local optical quantum computing, quantum communication, terahertz communication, terahertz imaging, or sensing.
Two parameters that influence receiver sensitivity are the dark current of the APD device and the gain-bandwidth product. To be precise, an APD device with low dark current, high gain, and high bandwidth would be ideal. However, surface illuminated and waveguide integrated avalanche photodiodes, always have a tradeoff between the dark current and the bandwidth. Devices with lower dark current also have lower bandwidth (for a fixed gain). This tradeoff between dark current and bandwidth can be a bottleneck for scaling the device performance for future system targets.
Therefore, new device concepts for SACM APD devices, which allow for a lower dark current while at the same time increasing (or at least not decreasing) the bandwidth are desired.

Avalanche photodiode device with a curved absorption region


A rectifier bridges assembly for use with an automotive alternator includes a base plate conductively mounted to a ground and providing a negative heat sink, and an overlying finned positive heat sink structure having a surface area at least twice that of the base plate, which adjoins the base plate to cooperatively define a chamber therebetween. When utilized in connection with a standard 3-phase type AC electrical generator, three stator connection terminals are provided that each include an upper portion which extends through the positive heat sink structure in a non-conductive relation, and a lower portion disposed within the chamber and supported therein by a thermo-conductive, nonelectrically-conductive epoxy. Three diodes disposed within the chamber extend between the baseplate and respective ones of the stator connection terminals. Three additional diodes are disposed within the chamber between the respective stator connection terminals and the overlying positive heat sink structure. A stub is formed with the positive heat sink structure to which current output leads are attached. A voltage regulator lead wire extends through the positive heat sink structure to a selected one of the stator connection terminals.

This invention relates generally to rectifier bridges assemblies utilized with, for example, an automotive alternator. More specifically, the present invention relates to a rectifier bridges assembly having redesigned heat sinks and which eliminate the use of a connection plug between the rectifier bridges assembly and the current output leads to a battery.
A rectifier bridges assembly, commonly called a rectifier, is one of the components parts of an alternator assembly forming a portion of the electrical charging system in an automobile. The basic role of the charging system is to replenish the charge of a battery with electricity generated by the alternator. The electrical current generated by the alternator is an alternating current (AC), while the electrical current preserved in the battery is a direct current (DC). The alternating current must be converted to a direct current so that the battery can be charged. This conversion is called rectification, and is the specific function of a rectifier bridges assembly.
The alternator used in a typical automobile is a three-phase type of alternating current (AC) electrical generator. The electricity generated by each phase must be rectified by one rectifier bridge. Each rectifier bridge consists of two diodes and, thus, three rectifier bridges are required for one alternator. Therefore, a typical rectifier bridges assembly consists of three rectifier bridges with six diodes. Three of the six diodes are connected to a ground, and the other three diodes are connected for DC output charging to the battery.
During the rectification process, tremendous amounts of heat are generated by converting the alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). The heat must be dissipated as quickly and efficiently as possible, or the diodes may be ruined within a relatively short period of time. Therefore, the rectifier bridges are normally soldered onto heat sinks of good heat-conductive materials. Usually a portion of the ground provides a negative heat sink, and some structure associated with the DC output charging to battery provides a positive heat sink that is conductively and terminally isolated from the ground.
Rectifier bridges assemblies are normally assembled as an integrated part of an alternator assembly. The electrical current output of the alternator to the battery greatly depends on the capacity of the rectifier bridges assembly to rectify the alternating current to a direct current. However, the rectification ability of the rectifier bridges assembly with the diodes at a set power level depends heavily on the heat disbursing ability of the heat sinks utilized. The faster heat can be disbursed from the rectifier bridges assembly, the cooler the rectifier can operate. The rectifier also has a longer life and a greater rectification capacity. Hence, the capacity of the heat sink(s) should be a major concern in the design of a rectifier bridges assembly.
Most rectifier bridges assemblies used in automobiles have two heat sinks, one for the negative side and the other for the positive. This, however, is not always the case. For example, in the rectifier bridges assembly used on Ford Motor Company's 2 G alternators, all six diodes are soldered onto only one heat sink within an area not greater than 3.6 square inches. This particular design, which is common in the industry, tends to have a very poor heat disbursing capacity. Besides the small heat sink area, the current output leads are connected with a socket and plug and are both constructed of a plastic housing. Electrical arcing occurs between the terminals of the socket and plug due to constant vibration while the alternator is working. The poor heat disbursing capacity of such rectifiers makes them fail much easier and prematurely, and the electrical arching inherent in the socket and plug design burns or corrodes the connection terminals.
Accordingly, there has been a need for a novel rectifier bridges assembly that overcomes the above-noted problems in prior art designs by utilizing two separate heat sinks and by eliminating the use of socket and plug connections to make the design electrically arching-free. Such a novel rectifier bridges assembly must be adapted for use with standard alternator assemblies and have a design that may be manufactured cost effectively. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.

Rectifier bridges assembly having improved heat dispersing characteristics and an arcing-free design


An image reading apparatus is provided which includes a cold-cathode tube for irradiating a linearly extending image reading section, and a plurality of light receiving elements for receiving light reflected at the image reading section. The cold-cathode tube is provided with a first end portion, a second end portion, and an intermediate portion arranged between the first end portion and the second end portion. At least one of the first and the second end portions extends in a direction differing from another direction in which the intermediate portion extends. The image reading apparatus is also provided with a suitable number of shield members for preventing relatively weak image signals supplied by the light reading elements from being adversely influenced by electrical noises.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus incorporated in a facsimile machine, a scanner and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, a conventional image reading apparatus includes a light source for irradiating a document brought to an image reading section, and a plurality of light receiving elements mounted on a printed circuit board. The light receiving elements are arranged to receive light reflected at the image reading section and output image signals (which are relatively weak) in accordance with the received light. These image signals are sent to a predetermined position via a wiring pattern formed on the printed circuit board. The light source and the printed circuit board are accommodated in a suitable container.
The conventional image reading apparatus have been found disadvantageous in the following points.
It is assumed that a cold-cathode tube is used for the light source of the image reading apparatus. For actuating the cold-cathode tube, high-voltage and high-frequency driving power needs to be supplied to the cold-cathode tube. To this end, typically, use is made of an inverter connected to the cold-cathode tube via a connection cable.
In the above arrangement, due to the use of the high-voltage and high-frequency driving power, electrical noises may be generated at the inverter or the connection cable or the cold-cathode tube. The occurrence of electrical noises is unfavorable since the electrical noises tend to adversely influence the relatively weak image signals supplied by the light receiving elements.
The above problem may seem to be solved by using a light-emitting diode (which does not need high-voltage and high-frequency driving power) for the light source instead of the cold-cathode tube. However, when the image reading apparatus is incorporated in e.g. a facsimile machine, electrical noises may well be generated at some of the components or elements contained in the facsimile machine.
Turning back to an instance where a cold-cathode tube is used for the light source, the conventional image reading apparatus also suffers from the following problem.
As shown in FIG. 22 of the accompanying drawings, a conventional cold-cathode tube has an elongated, straight configuration. Specifically, the conventional cold-cathode tube has two longitudinal ends 39 and an intermediate portion 3e located between the ends 39. As illustrated, the cold-cathode tube has a length which is generally equal to the width L1 of a document 90 to be read out. Such an arrangement has the following disadvantage.
Reference is now made to FIG. 23 which shows the relationship between relative luminosity of the conventional cold-cathode tube and longitudinal positions of the cold-cathode tube. As can be seen, the relative luminosity at the ends 39 of the cold-cathode tube (indicated by reference character C) is unduly smaller by about 20-30% than that in the intermediate portion 3e. Thus, when the length of the cold-cathode tube is equal to the width L1 of the document (FIG. 22), the cold-cathode tube will fail to properly irradiate the end portions of the document corresponding in position to the ends 39 of the cold-cathode tube.
In order to overcome the above problem, an arrangement shown in FIG. 24 may be adopted. According to the illustrated arrangement, the length L2 of the cold-cathode tube is rendered greater than the width L1 of the document 90. In this manner, every portion of the document 90 can be irradiated with an equal amount of light emitted from the intermediate portion of the cold-cathode tube.
However, with the arrangement shown in FIG. 24, the ends 38 of the cold-cathode tube are located outside of the document 90 as viewed in the primary scanning direction. Clearly, this arrangement is disadvantageous since the size of the image reading apparatus is unfavorably made larger due to the increased length of the cold-cathode tube.
Further, a certain amount of light is emitted from the ends 38 of the cold-cathode tube. However, in the arrangement shown in FIG. 24, the light from the ends 38 will simply be wasted without being used to irradiate the document 90.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus which eliminates or reduces the above-described problems.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reading apparatus comprising:
a cold-cathode tube for irradiating a linearly extending image reading section, the cold-cathode tube including a first end portion, a second end portion, and an intermediate portion arranged between the first end portion and the second end portion; and
a plurality of light receiving elements for receiving light reflected at the image reading section;
wherein at least one of the first and the second end portions extends in a direction differing from another direction in which the intermediate portion extends.
With such an arrangement, a document to be read out is advantageously irradiated since the first or second end portion extends from the intermediate portion at a certain angle (90 degrees for example). Further, with the above arrangement, the longitudinal dimension of the cold-cathode tube can be reduced. Thus, the image reading apparatus incorporating the cold-cathode tube can be reduced in size.
According to a preferred embodiment, each of the first and the second end portions extends in a direction differing from said another direction.
The image reading apparatus further comprises a lens array for focusing the reflected light onto the light receiving elements, wherein the lens array is disposed in a region defined by the first end portion, the second end portion and the intermediate portion.
With such an arrangement, the lens array and the cold-cathode tube are compactly held in place.
The image reading apparatus may further comprise an inverter for supplying power to the cold-cathode tube, wherein the lens array is disposed between the inverter and the intermediate portion.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cold-cathode tube for irradiating an image reading section of an image reading apparatus comprising:
a first end portion provided with an electrode;
a second end portion provided with another electrode; and
an intermediate portion arranged between the first end portion and the second end portion;
wherein at least one of the first and the second end portions extends in a direction differing from another direction in which the intermediate portion extends.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reading apparatus comprising:
a light source for irradiating an image reading section;
a plurality of light receiving elements for receiving light reflected at the image reading section;
a printed circuit board having an upper surface for mounting the light receiving elements and a lower surface opposite to the upper surface;
a container for accommodating the light source and the printed circuit board;
an outer shield member which is grounded and externally attached to the container; and
an inner shield member which is accommodated in the container and electrically connected to the outer shield member.
With such an arrangement, electrical noises can be shielded by the outer and the inner shield members, so that the relatively weak image signals supplied from the light receiving elements will not be adversely influenced by the noises.
The light source may comprise a cold-cathode tube, the inner shield member being arranged between the cold-cathode tube and the printed circuit board.
According to a preferred embodiment, the image reading apparatus further comprises a reflector for supporting the cold-cathode tube, wherein the inner shield member defines a groove for accommodating the reflector.
The container may be formed with a first hollow portion for accommodating the inner shield member.
The image reading apparatus may further comprise a light-guiding member for leading light from the light source to the image reading section, and a reflector for supporting the light-guiding member.
The light source may comprise a light-emitting diode mounted on the upper surface of the printed circuit board.
The light-guiding member may include a plurality of side surfaces arranged to totally reflect light propagating through the light-guiding member.
The light-guiding member may also include a light-emitting surface for allowing the propagating light to leave the light-guiding member.
Preferably, the outer shield member is arranged to cover the lower surface of the printed circuit board.
The outer shield member may have an upwardly open, box-like configuration.
The container may be formed with a second hollow portion for accommodating the printed circuit board, the outer shield member being arranged to come into contact with the lower surface of the printed circuit board so that the printed circuit board is kept within the second hollow portion.
The printed circuit board may be provided with an electrode for grounding, the inner shield member being electrically connected to the electrode for grounding, the outer shield member being electrically connected to the inner shield member.
The inner shield member may be formed with a first terminal projecting from the inner shield member, the first terminal being elastically pressed against the electrode for grounding.
The outer shield member may be formed with a second terminal projecting from the outer shield member, the second terminal being elastically pressed against the inner shield member.
The inner shield member may be provided with an auxiliary portion extending externally of the container, the auxiliary portion being held in contact with the outer shield member.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the detailed description of preferred embodiments given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.


There is provided a sample container comprising a retainer for retaining a sample; and a radiofrequency identifier comprising an antenna for transmitting or receiving radiofrequency energy; an integrated circuit chip connecting with said antenna; and a carrier for the radiofrequency identifier; wherein the radiofrequency identifier is on the carrier and the carrier connects to the retainer.

There is a continued need within research and development organisations, particularly in the chemical and biological fields, to be able to identify individual samples undergoing preparation or analysis. In the pharmaceutical industry, these samples generally take the form of clinical, biological or chemical samples. The growing trend towards automation of sample preparation and assay within the pharmaceutical industry to satisfy new drug discovery, evaluation and clinical trial programmes, greatly increase the needs to identify unique samples accurately and rapidly.
Clinical trial studies, such as metabolism and toxicity studies, are used to aid development of potential drug candidates. These studies must comply with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and other regulatory requirements to satisfy national authorities where registration of the new drug is sought. In many cases, additional compliance requirements, such as Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), must also be satisfied.
The processing, storing and handling of sample data, particularly of clinical trials samples, requires careful control to ensure data quality and security. It is now common practice within the pharmaceutical industry to attach textual and/or bar coded labels to clinical trial samples to identify them via a unique bar coded identifier. Whilst the use of bar codes has greatly improved the speed and accuracy of sample identification compared to sample identification based solely on visual text recognition, such processes are still time consuming and prone to errors. Considerable time is required to scan, and often re-scan, individual bar coded samples into databases, prior to any sample preparation or assay. The 'line of sight' also imposes restrictions on the speed and accuracy of reading. These restrictions on readability often lead to samples being manually entered into databases, thereby introducing more errors and time delays into the process.
The Applicants have now devised a method for identifying and recording samples which address the aforementioned problems associated with conventional, bar coded techniques. The method involves the attachment of a RFID tag to a sample container, the RFID tag having a memory structure which allows for large amounts of information to be stored thereon. The memory structure can be arranged such that parts of the memory are read-only, other parts are read/write and further parts are encrypted and password protectable. Transfer of information to or from the memory is readily achievable by the use of a reader that is typically remote from the sample container. The use of such readers thus eliminates the 'line of sight' requirement described above for barcodes and minimises the need for any manual handling. In further aspects, the reader can be arranged to simultaneously read and write to the memory of multiple RFID tags on multiple sample containers. The invention may be used alone or in combination with existing identification systems, such as barcode and textual identifiers.
A principal advantage of the present invention is the ability to store many types of information in different parts of the memory structure of the RFID tag. The information could, for example, include clinical trial compliance information written to the memory at various time points in the trial process, thereby providing a detailed and readily accessible sample history of the clinical trial sample. The information could also include a unique serial number stored in encrypted form or in a password protectable part of the memory that uniquely identifies the sample container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,136 describes an interactive prescription compliance and life safety system which provides remote and on site verification of procedures related to the health status of a patient, including the taking of medicines. One element of this system is the use of a RFID tag attached to a vial containing a drug prescribed by a medical practitioner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,657 describes an automatic prescription dispensing and packaging system whereby empty prescription bottles are labelled and loaded in assigned locations in a carrier. The carriers are identified by use of a RFID tag and associated reader.

Sample container with radiofrequency identifier tag


A method and a system for determining an orthodontic treatment for a subject are provided. The method comprises: acquiring a raw 3D representation of an arch form of the subject comprising a 3D mesh having a plurality of vertices further comprising: constrained vertices associated with a defined portion; unconstrained vertices initially associated with an undefined portion; generating a set of confirmed constrained vertices, including the constrained vertices, for providing the augmented 3D representation of the given tooth by: iteratively, for a given constrained vertex, identifying at least one associated unconstrained vertex which is adjacent to the given constrained vertex in the 3D mesh, and based on an angular difference between associated normal vectors, identifying the at least one associated unconstrained vertex either to be a constrained vertex or an unconstrained vertex; causing display of the augmented 3D representation of the given tooth based on the set of confirmed constrained vertices.

Orthodontic treatment plans for treating malocclusion disorders of a subject (or for assessing efficacy of an already ongoing one), typically use various anthropometric parameters associated with a subject's skull, such as those associated with a subject's teeth (including crown portions and root portions thereof), and a subject's gingiva. Such parameters may be, for example, obtained or otherwise, determined through analyzing corresponding image data.
For example, by applying intra-oral scanning techniques, 3D models of the crown portions of the subject's teeth may be obtained, and some of the anthropometric parameters associated therewith may be used for devising an orthodontic treatment. Broadly speaking, these parameters, for a given tooth, may include, for example, overall dimensions of a crown portion thereof, a number of cusps, and certain other anatomical features associated therewith, such as data indicative of lobes, developmental grooves, a marginal ridge, and the like. When planning the orthodontic treatment, such parameters may be used, for example, to determine a center of resistance (CR) point associated with the given tooth, which may further enable to model movements of the crown portion of the given tooth relative to crown portions of other of the subject's teeth to avoid collisions therewith, as an example. In another aspect, the parameters associated with the crown portion and determined, based on a 3D model thereof, may be used for generating a 3D model of the given tooth that may further be used for a more detailed analysis of tooth movements of the given tooth in the course of the orthodontic treatment.
However, the intra-oral scanning techniques may have specific drawbacks that may not allow generating an accurate 3D model of the crown portion. For example, an intra-oral scanner may be incapable of receiving all amount of light reflected off the crown portion while capturing an image thereof. This may result in generating, in the 3D model of the crown portion, certain image artefacts (also referred to herein as "digital garbage" or "undesired portions" of the 3D model), that is, portions of the 3D model of the crown portion forming no part of the actual configuration of the crown portion of the given tooth nor of other anatomical structures of the subjects, such as the subject's gingiva. For example, these image artefacts may typically be found in portions of the 3D model of the crown portions associated with interdental spaces.
The 3D model including such image artefacts may thus be referred to as a "raw 3D model" of the crown portion as inaccurately representing the crown portion of the given tooth. Consequently, the raw 3D model of the crown portion may not provide reliable input data for determining the orthodontic treatment for the subject as the parameters associated with the crown portion determined based thereon, as well as the 3D model of the given tooth generated based thereon may hence be considerably skewed. This may affect predictability and efficacy of the planned orthodontic treatment.
Certain prior art approaches have been proposed to tackle the above-identified technical problem, which are directed to automatic segmentation of 3D models of crown portions from a 3D model of a subject's arch form.
United States Patent Application Publication No.: 2005/0089213-A1 filed on Oct. 25, 2004, assigned to Technest Holdings Inc., and entitled "Method and Apparatus for Three-Dimensional Modeling via an Image Mosaic System" discloses an imaging method and system for 3D modeling of a 3D surface forms a mosaic from multiple uncalibrated 3D images, without relying on camera position data to merge the 3D images. The system forms the 3D model by merging two 3D images to form a mosaiced image, merging the mosaiced image with another 3D image, and repeating the merging process with new 3D images one by one until the 3D model is complete. The images are aligned in a common coordinate system via spatial transformation.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,335,251-B2 issued on Jul. 2, 2019, assigned to 3M Innovative Properties Co, and entitled "Orthodontic Digital Setups" discloses Methods for recognizing a virtual tooth surface, defining a virtual tooth coordinate system, and simulating a collision between virtual teeth. Methods include receiving input data specifying a point on the rendered surface model associated with a tooth, deriving a perimeter on the surface model of the tooth based on the input data, and analyzing the surface model along a plurality of paths outwardly extending from points on the perimeter along the three-dimensional surface to produce gingival margin data. Methods also include receiving point input data that defines a point on the virtual tooth, receiving axis input data that defines first and second axes associated with the virtual tooth, computing a substantially normal vector for a portion of the tooth surface surrounding the point, and computing a coordinate system based on the axis input and the computed vector. Methods also include receiving permissible movement input data directed to permissible movement of a first virtual tooth, simulating, in three dimensional space, bringing the first virtual tooth into contact with a second virtual tooth while constraining movement of the first virtual tooth based on the permissible movement input data, and displaying data resulting from the simulation.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,740,476-B2 issued on Jun. 22, 2010, assigned to Orametrix Inc., and entitled "Method and Workstation for Generating Virtual Tooth Models from Three-Dimensional Tooth Data" discloses a method for taking a three-dimensional virtual model of the dentition and associated anatomical structures of a patient and isolating individual teeth from the rest of the anatomical structure, e.g. gums, to thereby produce individual, virtual three-dimensional tooth objects. The individual tooth objects can be displayed on the display of an orthodontic workstation and moved independently from each other, and thereby form the basis of planning treatment for the patient. The individual, virtual three-dimensional tooth objects are created by comparing the virtual model of the dentition to virtual, three-dimensional template teeth that are stored in memory in a process described in detail herein. The template teeth can include roots as well as crowns. The template teeth can be stored objects acquired from some external source or alternatively developed from a database of patient scans. Virtual three-dimensional brackets are also stored in the memory of the workstation. The virtual brackets can be placed on the virtual teeth and moved relative to the teeth as needed in a preliminary step in treatment planning.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,027,642-B2 issued on Apr. 11, 2006, assigned to Orametrix Inc., and entitled "Methods for Registration of Three-Dimensional Frames to Create Three-Dimensional Virtual Models of Objects" discloses a method and system for constructing a virtual three-dimensional model of an object using a data processing system, and at least one machine-readable memory accessible to the data processing system. A set of at least two digital three-dimensional frames of portions of the object are obtained from a scanner or other source comprising a set of point coordinates in a three dimensional coordinate system providing differing information of the surface of the object. The frames provide a substantial overlap of the represented portions of the surface of the object, but do not coincide exactly. Data representing the set of frames are stored in the memory and processed by the data processing system so as to register the frames relative to each other to thereby produce a three-dimensional virtual representation of the portion of the surface of the object covered by the set of frames.

Systems and methods for planning an orthodontic treatment