The invention concerns a cationic catalyst system comprising an initiator (I), a catalyst (K) and a cocatalyst (CoK). The cocatalyst (CoK) is an agent releasing the active polymerizing center of its counter anion generated by the reaction between the catalyst (K) and the initiator (I). Said cocatalyst is characterized by the existence of a double bond electron-depleted by an electroattractive group. It is selected, for example, from the group consisting of the following complexing agents including o-chloranyl (3,4,5,6-tetrachloro-1,2-benzoquinone), p-chloranyl (2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone), nitrobenzene, trinitrobenzene, or tetracyanoethylene.

The presence of two adjacent carbon-carbon and carbon-oxygen double bonds confers a very high reactivity on dimethylketene. It is advantageous to selectively direct the opening of one or other of the double bonds in order to promote uniform polymerization of the monomer units (A), resulting in polymers with β-ketone structures (PolyA), or uniform polymerization of the monomer units (B), resulting in polymers with structures of vinyl polyacetal type (PolyB), indeed even in the alternating addition of the (A) and (B) units, resulting in a vinyl polyester (PolyAB).

The first polymerization of DMK was described by H. Staudinger in 1925. He carried out the polymerization at a temperature of −80° C. to 0° C. in the presence of trimethylamine as catalyst. The product obtained was described as an amorphous and noncrystallizable cyclic trimeric compound comprising 3 units of monomer (A) and 2 units of monomer (B).
Patent GB-893 308 discloses the synthesis of a crystalline polymer resulting from the polymerization of (A) and (B) units at a temperature of between −80° C. and −20° C. with aluminum-based catalysts (AlCl2(C2H5), AlCl(C2H5)2, Al(C6H5)Cl2, Al(OC3H7)Br2, AlBr3, AlCl8.O(C2H5)2 or AlEt3), a beryllium-based catalyst (Be(C2H5)2) or a zinc-based catalyst (Zn(C4H9)2).
Patent GB-987 370 relates to an improvement to the preceding patent. It provides a process for the synthesis of PDMK comprising more than 93% by weight of β-ketone unit by carrying out the synthesis in a solvent having a high dielectric constant and in the presence of AlBr3 or of AlCl2Et. The solvents used are nitrobenzene, toluene, dichloromethane, 1,1,1,2-tetrachloroethane and 1,1-dichloroethylene.
The state of the art in the field of the cationic polymerization of dimethylketene (DMK) does not report the use, on the one hand, of an initiator (I) or of a cocatalyst (CoK). The catalyst generally employed is a Lewis acid suspended alone in a solvent or a solvent mixture. In a few cases, the Lewis acid is dissolved in a polar solvent or a mixture of solvents, at least one of which is polar.
However, while these processes using only a Lewis acid as catalyst make it possible to obtain a β-ketone polymer with a high selectivity, the synthetic yields are too low to envisage an industrial operation (yield <65%). This is because, in such systems, two forms of initiation are superimposed:                Initiation due to the reaction between the traces of water and the Lewis acid, releasing an acidic proton, the true initiator of the cationic polymerization of DMK.        Initiation due to the self-dissociation of the Lewis acid, generating two ionic entities with opposite charges by the BIE (Binary Ionogenic Equilibria) mechanism. In this case, a zwitterion entity, which is partly the cause of the formation of the trimers, is generated. The use of polar solvents is then essential to separate the charges and to limit the formation of trimers but these polar solvents (nitrobenzene, nitro derivatives, chloroform), because of their toxicity, restrict large-scale production of these polymers. It is also important to note two additional difficulties in this chemistry: the toxicity of DMK and its propensity to generate explosive peroxides.
The Applicant Company has now found that, depending on the operating conditions for the polymerization of DMK, it is possible to selectively direct the polymerization toward the formation of a polymer of β-ketone structure with very good yields, >65%, and in the presence of conventional inexpensive solvents which do not exhibit the degrees of dangerousness of the solvents mentioned above. Furthermore, for better effectiveness and better reproducibility, the Applicant Company has adopted a position in cationic catalysis requiring a catalyst which is soluble in the solvent used. It has also disposed of the problems of formation of peroxides, in order to make possible safe production of PDMK, and problems of transfer reactions which interfere with the results and bring about the formation of chains of low molecular mass. These various parameters make possible large-scale synthesis of PDMK.

Synthesis method for polydimethylketene by friedel-craft cationic polymerization of dimethylketene


A nitrous-oxide system for an engine includes a nozzle coupled to a nitrous-oxide bottle by a nitrous-oxide line. A nitrous-oxide valve is coupled to the nitrous-oxide line between the nitrous-oxide bottle and the nozzle. A control switch, operatively coupled to the nitrous-oxide valve. A pressure regulator, coupled to the nitrous-oxide line between the nitrous-oxide bottle and the nozzle, and is capable of regulating pressure of the nitrous-oxide to lower than 500 psi. The nozzle can be positioned adjacent a carburetor inlet to force nitrous-oxide into a carburetor throat.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a nitrous-oxide system for a vehicle, namely a vehicle with a gasoline powered internal combustion engine.
2. Related Art
Nitrous-oxide systems (NOS) or nitrous-oxide (N2O) chargers have been developed to increase engine performance. Such systems inject compressed nitrous-oxide into the combustion chamber of an engine during the fuel intake stroke of the combustion chamber piston to provide more oxygen for combustion. More oxygen in the combustion chamber means that more fuel can also be injected during the intake stroke. The increase in fuel and oxygen during the combustion cycle results in greater energy being transferred to the piston which increases the stroke cycle of the piston. The increased stroke cycle of the pistons is then transferred to the cam shaft which ultimately results in an increase in horse power of the engine.
Compressed nitrous-oxide also vaporizes and cools when it is released from the pressure vessel in which it is stored. This provides a cooling effect on the intake air. Reducing the intake air temperature increases the air's density, and provides even more oxygen to the engine. For the engine to operate properly, the nitrous-oxide and fuel mixture ratio must be correct.
Such nitrous-oxide systems have been applied to many types of gasoline internal combustion engines, including high performance racing engines, 8 cylinder, 6 cylinder, 4 cylinder and 2 cylinder engines. These NOS systems are "high" pressure systems that operate with nitrous-oxide pressures at 800-1000 psi. To maintain these pressures, the nitrous-oxide, or the cylinder or bottle holding the nitrous-oxide, must be maintained at 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit. It will be appreciated, however, that snowmobiles are operated in lower temperature environments. If the temperature of the nitrous-oxide is lowered, the mixture of the nitrous-oxide and fuel is improper, lowering efficiency and power.
In addition, such nitrous-oxide systems are often coupled to the engine or vehicle electrical systems, making them difficult to install, and dependent on voltage fluctuations of the engine electrical system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A sheet stacking device includes a support frame, a conveyor and an accumulator at a discharge end of the conveyor, the accumulator having a plurality of elongate fingers, at least one of which includes a rack having teeth along a first side, a rotatable drive shaft extending in a width direction of the conveyor, a gear having teeth mounted on the drive shaft and operatively engaging the rack teeth, and a rotary actuator operably connected to the drive shaft, the rotary actuator rotating said drive shaft in a first and second directions to move an end of the elongate fingers toward and away from the conveyor discharge end of the conveyor. Also a method of operating the device.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention is directed to an apparatus for stacking sheets of material that includes an accumulator and to a method for using the apparatus. More specifically, the present invention is directed to an apparatus for stacking sheets of material that includes an accumulator system with a rotary drive and to a method of using the apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Devices for stacking sheets of material, such as sheets of corrugated material, are well known. One example of a commercially available device is the AGS2000 Rotary Die Cut Stacker made by the assignee of the present invention, A.G. Stacker, Inc., Weyers Cave, Va. Further examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,321,202 to Martin and 3,419,266 to Martin, each of which is expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a conventional apparatus for stacking corrugated blanks. As illustrated therein, a stacking machine 100 typically comprises a layboy section 102 which receives corrugated blanks, such as those produced by a rotary die cut machine 101, and discharges the corrugated blanks onto a transfer conveyor 104. The transfer conveyor 104 receives the blanks and transports them to a main conveyor 106. The main conveyor 106 has an intake end 108 and a discharge end 110. At its intake end 108, the main conveyor 106 is mounted to a base 112 at a pivot point 114 so that the conveyor may be pivoted to raise the discharge end 110 of the conveyor 106. At the discharge end 110 of the conveyor 106, an accumulator section 116 is controllable to selectively receive discharged blanks or to allow the discharged blanks to fall to the ground or another conveyor to form a stack.
In operation, the main conveyor 106 is pivoted about the pivot point 114 to lower the discharge end 110 of the conveyor to an initial position (the position illustrated in FIG. 2). Sheets of material (not illustrated) exit the die cutter 101 and are fed onto the main conveyor 106 at intake end 108, transported along the length of the main conveyor 106 to discharge end 110, and discharged from the main conveyor 106. As they are discharged, the sheets often strike a backstop 118 in the accumulator section 116 that stops the forward momentum of the sheets. The sheets settle down, typically onto a discharge conveyor (not illustrated), to form a stack of sheets (not illustrated). As additional sheets drop onto the top of the stack, the stack grows in height, and main conveyor 106 is pivoted to raise the discharge end 110 to a position higher than the top of the growing stack. FIG. 3 illustrates main conveyor 106 in the raised position.
Once a stack of sheets has reached a desired height, it is removed, and the process of forming an additional stack begins. However, to permit time to remove a finished stack without stopping main conveyor 106, accumulator section 116 is employed. Accumulator section 116 catches or accumulates a small stack of sheets as main conveyor 106 continues to operate so that the completed stack on the discharge conveyor can be removed. When the completed stack is removed, the main conveyor is returned to the lowered position illustrated in FIG. 2, the small stack on the accumulator is dropped onto the transfer conveyor, and additional sheets are added to the top of this new stack.
The accumulator section 116 includes a plurality of catcher elements 120. Catcher elements 120 include a first catching member 122 and a plurality of extending members 124. When the catcher elements 120 are activated, the first catching member 122 is rotated into the position shown in FIG. 2. The extending members 124 are moved from the retracted position shown in FIG. 2 into an extended position where they extend at least partially across the bottom of the accumulator section 116 to catch sheets exiting the main conveyor 106. After the stack below the accumulator section 116 has been removed, the extending members 124 are retracted to drop the partial stack being formed thereon onto a discharge conveyor.
Existing accumulator designs are complex and generally require considerable manufacturing labor. As illustrated in FIG. 4, a conventional accumulator includes an air cylinder 132 having a projecting rod 134 extending perpendicularly to the direction of travel of the main conveyor 106, which rod drives a bar 136. The bar 136 is connected to a gear rack 138 extending transversely across the width of the main conveyor 106. The gear rack 138 engages a plurality of horizontally disposed large pinion gears 140 on pinion shafts 142 which pinion shafts 142 also each support a small pinion gear 144 (the pinions and pinion shafts are enclosed in housings that are not shown). The small pinion gears 144, in turn, engage rack teeth 146 on the sides of the extending members 124 and cause the extending members to extend and retract when the small pinion gears 144 rotate.
The gear ratio between the diameter of the large pinion gears 140 and small pinion gears 144 is selected to allow the eight inch travel of a typical air cylinder rod 134 to move the extending members a distance of about 20 inches. With this arrangement, linear motion must be converted to rotary motion, the rotary motion must be amplified with a selected gear ratio, and the rotary motion must be reconverted to linear motion to operate the accumulator. This arrangement is not only relatively expensive to manufacture, but in addition, the air cylinder may limit the accuracy with which the extending members 124 can be positioned.
There have been other attempts to address the problem of sufficient velocity control and position control in conventional systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,108 to Morgan discloses a flexible curtain which is extended into the stream of sheets. The disclosed flexible curtain system is complex with many moving parts and increases both material and manufacturing costs. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved accumulator system for a sheet stacking device.


A gas flow sensor receives a low-volume gas flow to be measured in a selectively sealed chamber. A flow rate signal is generated using a measuring device in response to the received gas flow. The flow rate signal is converted into a desired format for purposes of storage, control, and/or display.

Conventional devices for accurately measuring (and/or manipulating) various chemical compositions usually maintain an enclosed environment. The enclosed environment helps to ensure that the various chemical compositions are not changed or otherwise affected by the environment. For example, gas chromatography (GC) is a technique used to separate and measure volatile organic compounds. A gas chromatograph typically includes an injector port that is used to introduce a sample into the enclosed environment of the gas chromatograph. The injector port typically includes a septum through which the sample is injected. The septum is typically made of rubber and rubber mixtures containing substances such as silicone, plasticizers, organometallics, and the like, which help the septum to reseal properly. However, the septum degrades over time and with use.
The service life of a GC inlet septum is highly unpredictable under all but the most controlled conditions. Even small septum leaks (e.g., as low as 0.1 ml per minute) allow oxygen to enter the flow path. The introduced oxygen can damage sensitive parts in the GC flow path, including degradation of liner deactivations, degradation of GC column stationary phase, and oxidation of sensitive detector parts (such as mass spectrometer detectors). Further, degradates from liner and column phases often interfere with detection of analytes, foul detectors, and the like. Thus, the intrusion of oxygen (especially through a degraded septum) renders the analysis of the sample less effective, and increases costs and frequency of maintenance of the GC.
A GC septum is replaced in accordance with a chosen maintenance period for the purpose of lowering the chances of intrusion of oxygen into the GC. However, the GC is unavailable for use while the septum is being replaced. The time required to replace a septum is typically from around 30 minutes to around four hours before systems using the GC septum are re-equilibrated. Maintaining the GC septum, then, poses a dilemma: too frequent changes of the septum result in expensive downtime and too infrequent changes of the septum result in intrusion of oxygen with the resulting decrease in the life of oxygen-sensitive flow path parts.


Glass articles and methods for producing glass articles for a portable electronic device are disclosed. Properties of the glass articles, such as cover members, are improved through chemical strengthening, thermoforming, or a combination thereof. The glass articles may include barrier layers to prevent diffusion of ions between glass layers of the glass article, internal compressive stress regions, or a combination thereof.

The cover sheet for a small form factor device, like a handheld electronic device, is typically made of polished glass. While polished glass is readily available and relatively inexpensive, it may be susceptible to damage due to an impact or fall. Additionally, glass sheets are typically flat, which may limit the form factor or shape of the electronic device. In some aspects, the articles, systems, and techniques described herein are directed to glass articles that have been strengthened in conjunction with a thermoforming process used to provide a contoured or curved shape.

Thermoformed cover glass for an electronic device


A silicone-grafted core-shell particle is described wherein the silicone-grafted core-shell particle comprises a core of an inorganic particle and a shell of a grafted poly(dimethylsiloxane) polymer formed from a bi-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) having reactive groups at each terminal end. The silicone-grafted core-shell particles may be dispersed in a polysiloxane polymer matrix and employed as an LED encapsulant.

One of the standard designs of light emitting diodes utilizes a polymer material filled with fluorescent phosphor molded over the blue-light-emitting element (a so-called phosphor-conversion LED or pc-LED). Such design allows efficient mass production of LEDs with low variability in light emission. For this design, a mixture of fluorescent phosphor powders is used to achieve the required spectrum of light. For the polymer matrix, silicone is the first material of choice due to its high optical clarity, thermal stability, and easy processability. A significant drawback of the phosphor-filled polymer design is inefficient thermal transfer from the luminescent particles to the outside environment. Heat produced as a result of the conversion of the shorter-wavelength blue light into a longer-wavelength light, such as yellow light, must be efficiently removed; otherwise the increased operating temperature of the LED will result in reduced light efficacy and premature degradation of the luminescent material.
Heat transfer from the phosphor particles occurs through the layer of the surrounding polymeric matrix, which in general has poor thermal transfer properties. The thermal conductivity of silicones varies between 0.12 and 0.20 watts per meter Kelvin (W/mK) with the overall range for polymers being about 0.1-0.5 W/mK. The most thermally conductive polymeric materials are semicrystalline polymers, which are not suitable for LED encapsulation due to a high degree of light scattering from crystallites. Multiple solutions have been developed to increase thermal conductivity of polymers by the incorporation of metal or ceramic powders. However, due to a large size of the filler particles in conventional blends, such composites are not optically transparent.
Furthermore, in addition to thermal conductivity, the need for flame retardant optical grade polymers is increasing with the rapid expansion of light emitting diodes into the general lighting area. According to the ANSI/UL 8750 standard for LED lighting products, the enclosure (external parts) of the fixture must be designed in a way to ensure protection of the neighboring construction from fire that may result from ignition within the fixture. If polymers are used for the enclosure, a flammability rating of V-1 is required for the LED lenses and 5-VA for all other parts (ANSI/UL 94). Among the optical grade plastics on the market, only special flame retardant polycarbonates meet these criteria. Silicones offer a number of advantages compared to polycarbonates in terms of blending with phosphors and fabricating of components. Therefore, adding flame retardancy to the set of other properties will allow using silicones as encapsulants without having to build an additional protecting enclosure around the LED module.
Typically the flame retardancy of silicones may be improved by incorporation of various inorganic fillers, such as mica, titanium dioxide, carbon black, calcium carbonate, or diatomaceous earth. These fillers reduce the time to ignition as well as act as sources of char to insulate the combustion area from the adjacent areas of material. A significant drawback of the inorganic fillers is the loss of transparency resulting from their addition; therefore they only can be used in the products for which transparency is not important. Another possibility includes the use of salts of platinum and rhodium and oxides of rare earth metals. These additives can improve flame resistance to some extent without compromising transparency. However, their high cost discourages their use in large amounts.
Fumed silica is also known as a filler for silicones, primarily for increasing viscosity and tensile strength and for cost reduction. The surface of the silica particles is typically made hydrophobic by hexamethyldisilazane to improve compatibility with silicones. However, this approach does not provide sufficient compatibility as some loss of transmitted light is possible due to scattering from large aggregated particles.
It has been reported in the literature that star polymers comprised of silica nanoparticles grafted with monoglycidylether-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS-G) showed enhanced thermal stability. Liu et al., Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Star Polymers Having Nanosized Silica Cores, Macromol. Rapid Commun., 25 (2004) 1392-1395. However, it was noted that steric hinderance limited the amount of PDMS-G that was capable of reacting with the silica surface. Moreover, the PDMS-G was terminated with a non-reactive n-butyl group, which would have the disadvantage of limiting crosslinking and densification of the polymer shell.
Thus, it would be an advantage to provide light transmissive silicone materials having increased thermal conductivity or fire retardancy for use with LEDs.

Silicone-grafted core-shell particles, polymer matrix, and LED containing same


The present disclosure generally relates to a computer circuit board having an integrated voltage regulator assembly that may include a heat sink and at least one voltage regulator module board. The heat sink may have a metal plate with at least one recess in which the voltage regulator module board may be attached. The voltage regulator module board is electrically coupled to a semiconductor package and the heat sink is thermally coupled to the semiconductor package. The computer circuit board is used in high-performance computing devices including computer workstations and computer servers.

With continued miniaturization, the optimized placement of the various modules supporting a central processing unit (CPU) package or a system-on-chip (SOC) package is important for providing efficient and improved performance. For high-end performance desktops and workstations, there are challenges in meeting the desired load line and short loop inductance to deliver high current/power to their CPU packages.
A voltage regulator (VR) is used to regulate voltage levels to provide a steady, fixed output voltage that remains constant for any changes in an input voltage or load conditions. The VR acts as a direct current (DC)-to-DC power converter which steps down voltage (while stepping up current) from its input (supply) to its output (load). It also acts as a buffer for protecting components from damage. There numerous types of regulators (e.g., linear, switching, etc.), and switching VRs are widely used for semiconductor applications. The VRs are typically "buck converters."
A switching VR rapidly switches a series device on and off. The switch's duty cycle sets the amount of charge transferred to the load. Switching regulators are efficient because the series element is either fully conducting or switched off and it dissipates almost no power. An advantage of using a switching VR as a power supply is the capability to work at higher power efficiency.
The VRs may have relatively complex designs that require significant space for their various sub-components, including a heat sink. Most high-end motherboards have an elongated heat sink near the CPU socket. The heat sink is for cooling the Voltage regulator module section, or to be more specific, to cool the MOSFETs and inductors, which can get very hot; for example, peak temperatures can range from 80° C. to 100° C., and in cases of high-end graphic cards, temperatures can be even more extreme at up to 120° C.
In considering design layouts, when the voltage regulator modules are positioned further from the CPU or SOC package, it may result in a higher loop inductance, which requires more decoupling capacitors, a higher loop resistance, which may cause power delivery to be less efficient, and a higher current draw from the nearest voltage regulator modules, which may damage the voltage regulator modules due to overclocking.

Integrated voltage regulator for high performance devices


Nonlinearly optically active monomer species comprising at least two carbon-carbon activated double bonds, i.e., the polymerization of which is facilitated by the presence of an electron attracting function, and a non-centrosymmetric system of pi (.pi.) conjugated bonds bearing at least one electron attracting group on one terminal thereof and at least one electron donor group on the other terminal, are readily (co)polymerized and optionally oriented and crosslinked into shaped articles well adopted for the manufacture of a variety of electrooptical devices; such monomer species can have, for example, the following structural formula (I): ##STR1##

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel chemical compounds and to the production of nonlinearly optically active organic materials therefrom.
This invention especially relates to high molecular weight organic polymeric materials having a high concentration in recurring structural units that are hyperpolarizable or nonlinearly optically active.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous materials exhibiting nonlinear optical activity are known to this art. Among such materials, the organics typically comprise a polymerizable matrix, in which a hyperpolarizable organic compound is dissolved or incorporated. However, these materials present certain disadvantages, principally by reason of the solubility and compatibility of the organic compound in the matrix.
Furthermore, in such systems, also designated "guest/host" systems, a certain mobility of the hyperpolarizable compounds always remains. Thus, the orientation of the molecules effected by the exposure of the material to an electric field will disappear upon aging, causing a reduction in the nonlinear optical activity thereof.
Polycondensed organic materials containing hyperpolarizable groups grafted onto the principal backbone chain of the polymer via hydrocarbon moieties of varying length, are also known to this art.
As in the aforementioned systems of the "guest/host" type, there remains a certain residual mobility of the hyperpolarizable species, ultimately resulting in a reduction in the nonlinear optical activity upon aging of the material.
Lastly, high molecular weight organic materials are also known to this art, prepared by the polycondensation of a monomer comprising reactive functions borne by a hyperpolarizable group, with a monomer comprising conjugated functions.
Thus, if the reactive functions are hydroxyl radicals, the conjugated monomer may be a diisocyanate.
In such materials, the hyperpolarizable group constitutes a portion of the principal backbone chain or skeleton of the polymer. Consequently, the residual mobility of these groups is significantly reduced, as it requires a mobility of the polymer chain. However, the latter is not zero and it is observed that following the orientation stage under the influence of an electric field, there is a slow return towards disorder, thereby resulting in a gradual loss of the nonlinear (square) optical activity.
For example, published Japanese application No. 88/175,837 describes compounds of this type comprising recurring structural units of the following formulae: ##STR2## wherein L represents a hyperpolarizable group.
It will be appreciated that for a compound to exhibit square nonlinear optical activity, it is also necessary that it be well capable of being oriented under the influence of an electrical field and that it retain this orientation.
Materials exhibiting nonlinear optical activity are generally used in the form of films in optical or optoelectrical devices; these films must be as uniform as possible and have small thicknesses (a few tens of microns, 10.sup.-2 to 10.sup.-1 mm).
The materials described above present the additional major disadvantage of being weakly film-forming and poorly soluble in the solvents typically used to prepare films, such as dichloromethane, dimethylformamide (DMF), N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), chloroform, cyclohexanone, methylisobutylketone.

Optionally oriented, monomeric and polymeric nonlinearly optically active materials and derivatives thereof


An automotive air conditioner comprises a refrigerating unit including a compressor, for carrying out a refrigerating cycle, and a temperature regulator for setting the temperature of air to be blown into the passenger compartment of an automobile. The rotating speed of the compressor, hence the flow rate of the refrigerant, is regulated by controlling an inverter for controlling an electric motor for driving the compressor according to a temperature set by the temperature regulator. The automatic air conditioner is suitable for use on an electric motorcar.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automotive air conditioner and, more particularly, to an automotive air conditioner suitable for use on an automobile that has no heat source like a heat engine, such as an electric motorcar.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring to FIG. 18, a conventional automotive air conditioner is provided with a blower 2 disposed within a duct 1 to generate air flow through the duct 1. The air flowing through the duct 1 is cooled by an evaporator 3 to provide cool air. The cool air is heated by a heater core 4, which uses hot water as its heating medium, disposed downstream of, as after the evaporator 3, with respect to the flowing direction of the cool air. The mixing ratio of air that flows through the heater core 4 and air that bypasses the heater core 4 is regulated by an air mix damper 5 disposed near the heater core 4 to mix the air heated by the heater core 4 and the air bypassed the heater core 4 properly to provide air of a desired temperature.
This automotive air conditioner necessarily needs hot water, such as hot engine cooling water to heat air by the heater core 4. Accordingly, the automotive air conditioner is unable to reheat air properly when used on an automobile not having any hot water source, such as an electric motorcar, and hence it is difficult for the automotive air conditioner to control the temperature of the air to be blown into the passenger compartment properly.
Another conventional automotive air conditioner controls the temperature of air to be blown through an evaporator and a duct into the passenger compartment for cooling operation by interrupting the operation of a compressor instead of using the heater core 4. However, since the compressor of this automotive air conditioner is driven by the engine of the automobile, the interruption of the operation of the compressor changes the load on the engine sharply, sacrificing the comfort of the passengers.
A third conventional automotive air conditioner controls the temperature of air cooled by the evaporator 3 by varying the discharge capacity of the compressor in addition to the interruption of operation of the compressor. However, the operating speed of the compressor cannot be controlled independently of the operating speed of the engine because the compressor is driven by the engine.
The compressor of a domestic air conditioner, for instance, is controlled for constant operation. The domestic air conditioner is installed rarely so that cool air is blown directly toward the human body and hence the domestic air conditioner does not control the temperature of cool air to be blown into the room. A domestic air conditioner provided with an inverter or the like for controlling the operating speed of the compressor detects thermal load on the basis of the difference between the room temperature and a set temperature and controls the operating speed of the compressor according to the thermal load.


The present invention provides an inspection apparatus and an inspection method, capable of, when supplying an inspection signal to a circuit wiring, eliminating any need for a pin to be brought into contact with the circuit wiring and detecting any defects including an invisible microscopic defect. An inspection apparatus A for inspecting a circuit wiring of a circuit board 100 comprises a conductive member 1 adapted to be disposed on the side of one of surfaces of the circuit board 100 and to be supplied with an inspection signal, a signal source 2 for supplying the inspection signal to the conductive member 1, a sensor unit 3 including a plurality of cells 3a to be disposed the opposed to the conductive member 1 on the side of the other surface of the circuit board 100, and a computer 5 for acquiring each signal appearing at the cells 3a in response to the inspection signal supplied to the conductive member 1.

In manufacturing processes of a circuit board, after forming a circuit wiring (electrically conductive pattern) on a board, it is required to inspect the presence of defects, such as disconnection or short-circuit, in the circuit wiring.
As for such an inspection technique, a contact type inspection technique has heretofore been known in which a circuit wiring was subjected to a continuity check or the like by bringing two separate pins into contact with the opposed ends of the circuit wiring to apply an inspection signal (electric signal) from one of the two pins to the circuit wiring ant then receive the inspection signal through the other pin.
However, recent progressive densification in the conductive pattern makes it difficult to assure a sufficient space for bringing the pins into contact with the circuit wiring accurately and simultaneously. Thus, a non-contact type inspection method has been proposed in which the inspection signal was received at the receiving end without using any pin and contacting the circuit wiring.
In this non-contact type inspection technique, any potential disconnection or the like in a circuit wiring is inspected by bringing a pin into contact with one of the ends of the circuit wiring subject to inspection with placing a sensor close to the other end of the circuit wiring, and then supplying a temporally variable inspection signal to the pin to detect a signal appearing at the sensor through a capacitance interposed between the circuit wiring and the sensor.
This technique can achieve the inspection by bringing a pin into contact with only one end of the circuit wiring. Thus, in particular, this technique advantageously makes it possible to inspect a fine circuit wiring.
However, in any conventional inspection techniques, it is essential to bring at least one pin into contact with a circuit wiring to supply an inspection signal. This means that such techniques are unavailable if a circuit wiring is so fine as to preclude the pin from bringing into contact therewith. Further, extremely fine conductive objects such as fragments of a conductive pattern attached on a circuit board as dusts during manufacturing processes of the circuit board or the like cannot be practically inspected by such techniques because such objects cannot be visually distinguished.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an inspection apparatus and inspection method capable of eliminating the need for any pin to be brought into contact with a circuit wiring when supplying an inspection signal to the circuit wiring and capable of detecting any invisible microscopic defects.


In a dead axle wheel assembly having a hub and bearings mounted on a threaded spindle and held there by lock nuts to rotatably support a vehicle wheel, a safety lock comprising a sleeve, closed at an outer end and open at an inner end, the sleeve of a size, when in position secured to the spindle, to sit on and cover the outer end of the spindle with the sleeve's inner end spaced from it the lock nuts, and a device associated with the closed end of the sleeve to secure the sleeve to the other end of the spindle, whereby, when in position on the spindle, the inner end of the sleeve is located to obstruct the lock nuts, if they become loosened, to keep them from disassociating from the spindle. This safety lock provides a simple but effective construction for maintaining the integrity of a dead axle wheel assembly.

The present invention relates to a safety lock for securing the original lock nuts, hub and wheel bearings to the spindle of a dead axle trailer wheel or a dead axle tractor wheel in the event that they become loose.
These wheels have an inherent problem of coming off. The causes of this vary from poor maintenance, unsecured bearing locks, loss of oil causing bearing failure, and extreme loads causing bearing failure. In most cases, the falling off of the wheel is caused by a failed bearing or lock nuts, the lock nuts then unscrewing leaving nothing to hold the wheel on the spindle. Because of the nature of the thread on the outer end of the spindle, on which the lock nuts are fastened, the left side unscrews in forward motion and the right side unscrews during backing up.
In a reported accident resulting from bearing failure in Miami, Fla., on scene investigators concluded that the lack of maintenance, specifically proper lubrication, caused the wheel bearing to seize. They determined that the lack of grease on the wheel bearing, together with accumulated rust on the spindle and outside bearing, resulted in the following sequence:
a. The bearing progressively seized and overheated.
b. The bearing fused with the retaining washer and retaining lock nut.
c. This fused assembly started to rotate according to the forward wheel motion.
d. The lock tab on the retainer washer broke.
e. The cotter pin sheared off.
f. The fused assembly started to unscrew progressively until the complete wheel assembly became loose.
Of general background interest is Canadian Patent Application Serial No. 2,204,573 published Jun. 6, 1997, which describes and illustrates a plate secured to a hub, which bears against a portion of a wheel rim secured to the hub to prevent that rim from becoming unintentionally disassociated from the hub. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,045,005, Whitacre; 3,523,709, Heggy et al; 3,623,761, Nadheray; 3,697,119, Van Wierst et al and 3,741,603, McLean, Jr. all describe and illustrate locking plates for axle end caps of railroad bearings, these locking plates bolted to the ends of their corresponding axles and bearing against the inner races of the bearings or associated wear rings for railway rolling stock.


A lighting laminated glazing includes a first transparent glazing and a second glazing; an intermediate thermoplastic material layer; an electrically conductive layer between the first and second glazings; a capacitive touch sensitive device including a touch sensitive structure formed in the electrically conductive coating, having a ground electrode and a touch electrode having a touch sensitive area; a light emitting diode on the electrically conductive layer to indicate the touch sensitive area, the diode having a light emitting surface facing the touch sensitive area, and having a first and a second terminal electrically connected to, respectively, the ground electrode and the touch sensitive area; and a lighting device controlled by the touch sensitive device, the lighting device including a lighting element distinct from the diode, the lighting element being disposed between the first and the second glazing.

Nowadays, glazing which integrates a switch device, in the form of a touch sensitive device, are being developed. The touch sensitive device enables to control a functional element.
The touch sensitive device is formed by an arrangement of two coupled electrodes arranged on the same layer or on different layers. In the case for example of a capacitive touch sensitive device, when it is approached by a human finger, the capacitance between the two coupled electrodes changes. The capacitance change is measured by a circuit arrangement and when a threshold value is exceeded, a switching signal is triggered.
As described in WO2015/162107A1, a light source such as a light emitting diode is indicating the position of the touch sensitive device. However, there are significant drawbacks, such as alignment problems during the manufacturing process of the glazing.

Lighting laminated glazing with a capacitive touch sensitive device and a light emitting diode and the manufacturing


The invention relates to methods for delivering polysaccharides by a pulmonary route to achieve local and systemic therapeutic effects. The polysaccharides may be formulated or unformulated and in some instances have an extremely fast absorption rate.

Recent advances in medicine have produced several alternative modes of drug delivery. Drugs which were previously only available in injectable forms, are now available in less invasive forms such as oral tablets or capsules, sustained release devices, and transdermal patches. Many of these advances, however, have occurred with protein based or small molecule drugs. Delivery of polysaccharides for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes is still associated with some problems.
Oral delivery of drugs is often preferred. The rapid metabolism of polysaccharides in the gastrointestinal tract, however, has prohibited their oral administration. Pulmonary delivery of drugs has also been proposed to be a preferred route of drug administration because of the large surface area of blood vessels in alveoli. The thin barrier between the rich capillary bed and the air coupled with the very high blood flow rate makes alveoli of lungs one of the most desirable drug delivery sites. Pulmonary delivery of protein based drugs has been quite successful. Investigators, however, have been trying for over 30 years to administer polysaccharides such as heparin by pulmonary delivery, with much less success. For instance, delivering heparin by conventional liquid aerosol spray or instillation only received limited success due to its poor penetration to the deep lung and resultant poor pharmacokinetics performance. An exceedingly high dose of heparin is required to generate meaningful pharmacological effects when inhaled as liquid heparin.
Natural polysaccharides such as heparin are polydisperse mixtures containing a large number of chains having different molecular weights (MWs) and as such the pharmacokinetics of these compounds are complicated. The anticoagulant response of heparin, for instance, increases disproportionately in intensity and duration as the dose increases. As a result, anticoagulant effect of heparin often has to be closely monitored to minimize the occurrence of potentially dangerous hemorrhage, which is the most common and major side effect of heparin. Since heparin is not a single chemical entity and its disposition is determined by a number of pathophysiologic factors, its pharmacokinetic parameters vary substantially among different individuals and thus require dose adjustment for each specific individual. The frequency of side effects is associated with the routes of administration. The risk is higher in intermittent (14.2%) and continuous (6.8%) infusion than the subcutaneous route (4.1%).

Methods and products related to pulmonary delivery of polysaccharides


A rotational power servo toolpost includes a plurality of rotational tool holders, which can freely rotate 360 degrees, to cut a workpiece from various angles. The rotational power servo toolpost has a turret base, a turret, tool holders mounted on a side surface of the turret and having a variety of needed tools, a tool-holder-rotating device, and a tool-rotating device. When the tool holder with the needed tool rotates along with the turret to the preset area, a servo motor of the tool-holder-rotating device drives the related members to freely rotate the tool holder around 360 degrees according to the machining requirements. The tool-driving device then drives the tool, thereby cutting the workpiece from various angles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a toolpost of a lathe, and in particular to a rotational power servo toolpost that includes a plurality of tool holders, which can freely rotate 360 degrees to machine a workpiece from various angles.
2. The Prior Arts
CNC lathe is a powerful machine to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, or drilling with precision. The CNC lathe uses a variety of cutting tools, such as a lathe tool, a milling cutter, a thread cutter, etc to cut the workpiece, and a computer controller reads instructions and drives the machine tools to fabricate components by the selective removal of metal or other materials.
During machining, a variety of cutting tools cut a workpiece, so it needs to change tools frequently to carry out machining. Therefore, a turret, which includes a plurality of tool holders holding a range of tools and is driven to rotate by a motor, is developed. When one of the tools finishes cutting, the turret rotates to a preset angle so that another tool moves into the work area to continue the work. The motor driven turret can rotate to change working tools as needed at any time, thereby improving working efficiency. However, the conventional turret has a disadvantage that the tool holders are fixed on the turret. Although the turret rotates to a preset location, the tool holder that holds the tool is fixed on the turret and can not rotate. Therefore, the tools can cut the workpiece only from one direction. That is to say, the cutting range of the tool is limited, which greatly reduces the practicability and the convenience of the machine. Therefore, a toolpost comprising a turret, a plurality of tool holders pivotally mounted on a side surface of the turret, and a rotating mechanism to rotate the tool holders can increase the cutting range, thereby improving the conventional turret.


A multiple disk clutch device for arrangement in a drivetrain of a motor vehicle between a drive unit and a transmission, includes at least an inner and an outer disk clutch arrangement that are radially staggered and associated with a transmission input shaft of the transmission. Each of the plural clutch disk arrangements includes a set of disks, the set of disks have an outer disk associated with an outer disk carrier and an inner disk associated with an inner disk carrier. The outer disks are operable to mutually engage the inner disks in a driving arrangement. Each of the plural disk sets includes at least one disk having a lining and at least one disk being unlined where one of the inner and outer disks of the inner and the outer disk clutch arrangements of the plural disk clutch arrangements is the lined disk.

Dual clutch devices or multiple disk clutch devices are disclosed in the following U.S. patent documents: (a) U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,026 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,675; (b) U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,059; (c) U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,074 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,675; (d) U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,026; (e) U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,578; (f) U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,149; (g) U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,074, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in the disclosure of the present application. Further, in this connection reference is made to a clutch device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,690.
Disk clutch arrangements of the type mentioned above are generally wet clutch devices. As a rule, this type of wet clutch device has slotted lining disks and counter-disks without lining which are manufactured from steel, for example. Torque is introduced into the disk set, e.g., via the profile of an outer disk carrier in the outer disks, passes into the respective clutch arrangement to the inner disks and is conducted from there to the inner disk carrier, assuming a normal flow of force from the drive unit to the transmission. Alternatively, the clutch device can also be designed in such a way that the torque is conducted from inside to outside for this standard operating state.
In the designs of a wet dual clutch disclosed in the patent documents cited above, the lining disks of a radial outer clutch arrangement (outer clutch, for short) are associated with the outer disk carrier and the end disks of this "outer clutch" which define the disk set axially are formed by outer disks which are accordingly constructed with a lining on only one side. An advantage of this arrangement consists in that the lining disks with their slots are associated with the input side of the clutch device, that is, are driven directly by the drive unit, so that a conveying action is exerted on the cooling fluid, particularly cooling oil, when the transmission input shaft is stationary and the drive unit (engine) and, consequently, the outer disk carrier are rotating. This conveying action relies primarily on centrifugal force and reinforces the cooling of the clutch arrangement. On the other hand, a different allocation was chosen for the disks of the radial inner clutch arrangement (inner clutch, for short), wherein the outer disks associated with the input side are constructed without linings and the inner disks associated with the output side are constructed as lining-carrying disks.
It has been shown that while the ideas upon which the designs in these patent applications are based need not be revised, a high degree of stability is achieved in the clutch arrangement without such an allocation of the outer disks and inner disks for the radial outer clutch arrangement. That is, it has been shown that a sufficient cooling effect is achieved in the disk set even with out lined disks coupled on the drive side, so that there is no risk of "burning" the clutch arrangement at least for normal continuous and peak-load demands.

Double or multiple disk coupling device and disk arrangement therefor


A battery characteristic detecting method according to the invention includes a first step in which constant current discharge from a battery is performed at a predetermined current value, and a voltage during constant current discharge is measured; a second step in which overpotential for mass transfer control in the battery or resistance for the mass transfer control in the battery is calculated based on the voltage measured in the first step; and a third step in which a determination that a characteristic change has occurred in the battery is made, when the overpotential for the mass transfer control in the battery or the resistance for the mass transfer control in the battery calculated in the second step is larger than a predetermined threshold value.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a battery characteristic detecting method and a battery characteristic detecting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
If a characteristic change, e.g., a memory effect and degradation, occurs in a battery serving as an electric power source, the ability of the battery is limited. It is therefore important to detect a characteristic change in the battery. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-42895 discloses a method for detecting internal resistance in a battery, and detecting whether a memory effect or degradation has occurred in the battery based on the internal resistance. In this method, linear regression of current/voltage characteristics, which are obtained when the battery is being charged/discharged, is performed, and the internal resistance is obtained based on the gradient of the line.
Another method for accurately and easily detecting a degraded condition and estimation of capacity of a sealed lead-acid battery is known from JP 8-222279 A. In this method, an internal resistance of a sealed lead-acid battery is detected and a voltage ΔV in a difference between the variation in the discharge voltage, the variation indicating a difference between the discharge voltage before discharging and the discharge voltage when a prescribed time has elapsed since the start of the discharge, and the product of internal resistance and the prescribed electric current are found. A present battery capacity is estimated from the correlative relationship between the internal resistance and battery capacity in the voltage variation ΔV.
From EP 0 887 654 A2, methods for detecting a working condition of non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries are known, which allow easy and accurate determination of the degree of the degradation and remaining capacity of a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery by a simple test irrespective of the past charging and discharging history of the battery. In these methods, the degree of degradation of battery is quantitatively determined on the basis of the voltage value in charging or discharging at a constant current, or from an equation with that voltage value as variable.
From JP 2000-121710, a battery control device for back up power supply and a method for diagnosing the deterioration of a secondary battery are known, wherein a battery pack is connected to an equipment body and drives the equipment body with the output of an assembly battery. A battery voltage detection means detects the output voltage of the assembly battery and a single battery for composing it.
Also, a temperature detection means detects the temperature of the assembly battery in the single battery for composing it by a thermistor. A control part operates a charge control means based on information that is detected by a voltage detection means and a temperature detection means and further sends a control signal to the equipment body via a communication means. The control part reports the obtained information to the user of equipment by a reporting means as needed. As the reporting means, for example, a liquid crystal display for displaying information and an LSD, a speaker for generating an alarm sound, and a vibrator for generating vibration are used.
Still another method for detecting a battery pack condition is known from JP 09-113588, wherein this method includes the steps of measuring impedance by a pack battery as a whole when electricity is conducted to the entire battery pack in which a plurality of single batteries are connected to one another in series, determining the life end of the pack battery when this impedance indicates prescribed impedance or higher set on the basis of a reference which is set by using the case that one single battery is in a deteriorated state and all the remaining single batteries are in brand new states in which the capacity of the pack battery is lowest against the identical impedance in a relationship between the previously obtained impedance of the pack battery and a capacity range and determining the normal condition of the pack battery when this impedance is within the prescribed impedance.
JP 5-281 309 A discloses another method and device for detecting deterioration of a lead battery. According to the device of JP 5-281 309 A, a resistor is connected to a sealed lead battery through a switch. When the battery is made to discharge by closing the switch by ≦1 msec. Then, by measuring the difference between the battery voltage before discharge and the battery voltage in a stable state after the discharge and utilizing a strong correlation between the voltage difference and the battery capacity, the capacity of the battery is found from the voltage difference and, when the capacity is lower than a prescribed value, it is determined that the battery is deteriorated. Since the testing time is set at 1 msec, no spark due to the completion of discharge is generated and the safety can be improved even when a tester is disconnected from the battery by mistake.
Under normal use of the battery, however, there are not many chances that a large current flows when the battery is being charged/discharged. Therefore, according to the above-mentioned method, when data is collected in a short time only a small amount of data concerning a region, where a large current flows when the battery is being charged/discharged, can be obtained. Accordingly, the obtainable data are likely to be concentrated around the origin point (the point at which a voltage is "0V" and a current value is "0A"). If linear regression is performed using the data concentrated around the origin point, an internal resistance value cannot be obtained with high accuracy. As a result, it is difficult to detect a memory effect accurately.

Method and device for monitoring deterioration of battery


A carbonaceous feed pyrolysis apparatus is provided including two or more hot particle fluidized beds, and one or more positive displacement apparatus for the transfer of hot particles between two or more of the beds, wherein one or more of the fluidized beds contains a combustion zone. A bio-oil production process is also provided, including pyrolysis of a carbonaceous bio-mass using two or more fluidized beds, including a first combustion zone carried out in one or more combustion fluidized beds in which a particulate material is fluidized and heated, and a second pyrolysis zone carried out in one or more pyrolysis fluidized beds in which the hot particles heated in the combustion zone are used for pyrolysis of the bio-mass.

Fast pyrolysis of bio-mass involves rapidly heating solid bio-mass to a temperature of 400° C. to 600° C. in reducing conditions so that it forms an oil. This is typically done in a fluidized bed, where approximately 60% of the original biomass can be recovered as oil. The pyrolysis is endothermic in nature, and the energy required is typically obtained by heating the fluidized bed indirectly, using electrical heating elements.
The source of heat for heating the fluidised bed is sand which is heated using electrical heating elements to provide the energy for the endothermic reaction. Electrical energy is continuously required in order to maintain the pyrolysis reaction.
In order to reduce the electrical energy demand, char produced by the pyrolysis of the bio-mass is recycled as a fuel to the pyrolysis reaction where it is combusted to provide some of the energy required to maintain the pyrolysis temperature, however, this is done at the expense of the char being lost.
The inventors have thus identified a need for a more efficient pyrolysis apparatus for the pyrolysis of bio-mass while reducing the need for an external energy source and possibly allowing for some or all of the char thus produced to be retained for alternative use rather than as a fuel to the pyrolysis.

Fluidised bed pyrolysis apparatus and method

The United States, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


The disclosure relates to a coating composition for forming a coating film on a granular fertilizer in order to delay the release of plant nutrient elements therefrom. The coating composition includes an oil-modified alkyd resin and an unsaturated oil containing a conjugated double bond. The granular fertilizer can be coated with the coating composition without using an organic solvent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a coating composition for forming a coating film on a granular fertilizer in order to delay the release of plant nutrient elements therefrom and a method of coating a granular fertilizer with such a coating film.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Inorganic synthetic fertilizers are generally water-soluble, and thus readily available to plants. Thus, it is difficult to maintain the effect of the fertilizers for a relatively long period due to the loss of nutrients of the fertilizers through leaching, soil erosion, denitrification or the like. Furthermore, due to too ready availability of the fertilizers, crops tend to be damaged when a soil solution containing a relatively large amount of dissolved nutrients is brought into contact with the crop roots. Therefore, slow-release fertilizers have been proposed to slow down the rate of release of nutrients from the fertilizers. For this purpose, for example, it has been proposed to coat granular fertilizers with organic or inorganic films. Majority of the films are organic ones which are made of resin or the like. An organic solvent is generally used in the process to coat a granular fertilizer with an organic film. However, the use of organic solvents is not desirable from the environmental point of view because they are toxic and inflammable.
There is a proposed method of producing a granular fertilizer coated with a resin film without using an organic solvent. In this method, granules of the fertilizer are coated with an aqueous dispersion of a resin, and then the coated granules are dried to form the resin film on the granular fertilizer. However, the resin film on the granular fertilizer has the following drawbacks.
It is inferior in strength and gas permeability. Blocking, i.e. undesirable adhesion of the resin film, tends to occur. Furthermore, it is necessary to spend relatively much time and energy to dry the aqueous resin film because latent heat of vaporization of water is relatively large.

Coating composition and method of coating granular fertilizer with same


A battery saving radio paging signal transmitting and receiving system includes an exchange for receiving a call request from a given terminal. I response to the call request, the exchange transmits a call message to a radio paging transmitter to enable communication with a radio paging receiver. The radio paging transmitter receives and encodes the call message to generate a call signal, and determines whether a subscriber corresponding to the radio paging receiver is a local area service subscriber or a wide area service subscriber based on a radio paging number provided in the call message. The radio paging transmitter initially transmits the call signal in a non-inverted state when the subscriber is a local area service subscriber, and initially transmits the call signal in an inverted state when the subscriber is a wide area service subscriber. The radio paging receiver adjusts an operating power source to activate one of a batch mode and an idle mode in accordance with the inversion and non-inversion of the call signal received from the radio paging transmitter.

The present invention relates to a radio paging signal transmitting and receiving system, and more particularly, to a radio paging signal transmitting and receiving system capable of saving battery power.
A radio paging receiver is often provided with a battery saving circuit for periodically, rather than continuously, supplying electrical power to a radio frequency circuit in order to reduce the consumption of electrical power provided from a battery. One example of this type of art is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 1992-2739 by the same applicant as the present invention, and assigned to Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd.
Since battery consumption in the radio paging receiver is an important issue, various battery saving circuits have been applied to the radio paging receiver. U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,975 issued to Romero et al., for example, discloses a method and apparatus for saving battery power during the preamble of a paging signal in a selective call receiver. This is achieved through a processor that provides signals to a battery saving circuit to activate and deactivate receiver circuitry during reception of the preamble signal in response to detection of a portion of the preamble signal.
Another exemplar of contemporary art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,756 issued to DeLuca et al. discloses a radio paging receiver that receives information on a radio carrier and switches portions of the receiver on and off at a rate greater than the bandwidth of the information, thereby reducing the amount of power consumed by the receiver.
While these contemporary approaches to conserving power in a radio paging receiver possess merit in their own right, I believe that an improved system can be contemplated that incorporates power saving features into a radio paging transmitter, and accordingly seeks to maximize the conservation of battery power.

Battery saving radio paging signal transmitting and receiving system


There is disclosed an expandable centraliser for locating a body within a borehole, and a method of centralising tubing in a borehole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a centraliser. In particular, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to an expandable centraliser for locating a body within a borehole.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the oil and gas exploration and production industry, a borehole is drilled from surface to a desired depth and sections of tubular casing are coupled together, run into the borehole and cemented in position.
Typically, the well is drilled to a first depth and certain physical parameters checked, before the first section of well is lined with a casing string which extends from a wellhead and which is made up from sections of tubular casing coupled together. The well is then drilled to a greater depth, and a smaller diameter casing string is located extending from the wellhead within the first casing string and the unlined well section, and cemented in place. This procedure is continued until a final section of the borehole is lined with a tubular liner string extending from the bottom of the deepest casing string, to gain access to hydrocarbon bearing formations.
The casing and liner strings must be centralised within the open borehole to allow fluid circulation between the outer surface of the tubing string and the borehole, such that cement used to seal and fix the string into position can flow up the annulus defined between the borehole wall and the tubing string. This is achieved by locating centralisers at intervals along the strings.
Current centralisers include solid and sprung/wicker centralisers. Solid centralisers define a section of increased outer diameter on the respective tubing string and typically include spiral (helical) or straight (axial) bypass slots for fluid circulation. Sprung or wicker centralises include sprung wicker arms or strips spaced around the outer diameter of the tubing.
Recent developments in the industry include the use of expandable tubing, which offers a number of advantages over conventional downhole tubing. Proposals include running expandable tubing into a borehole in an unexpanded configuration and then expanding the tubing downhole. However, conventional centralisers cannot be expanded and cannot be used with expandable tubing.
It is amongst the objects of embodiments of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least one of the foregoing disadvantages.

Abstract: In an embodiment of the invention, an expandable centraliser (10) is disclosed, the centraliser (10) comprising a deformable body (12), and at least one abutment portion in the form of a shoulder (14) on the body (12), the shoulder (14) adapted to be urged radially outwardly on deformation of the body (12), to centralise tubing (28) coupled to the centraliser (10) within a borehole (15).


The present invention (1) includes a multi-focal plane display with two or more at least partially overlapping screens (2, 3) with a first order optical retarder (5) interposed therebetween. The invention removes the undersirable presence of colored interference fringes while also providing a means of addressing the polarization incompatibility between adjacent LCD display screens (2, 3).

The benefits of multi-layered viewing screens, in particular those utilising the technology described in the co-pending patent application Ser. Nos. NZ314566, NZ328074, NZ329130, PCT/NZ/98/00098 and PCT/NZ/99/00021 are gaining increasingly widespread recognition and acceptance due to their enhanced capabilities compared to conventional single focal plane displays.
The manner in which human beings process visual information has been the subject of extensive and prolonged research in an attempt to understand this complex process. The term preattentive processing has been coined to denote the act of the subconscious mind in analysing and processing visual information which has not become the focus of the viewer's conscious awareness.
When viewing a large number of visual elements, certain variations or properties in the visual characteristics of elements can lead to rapid detection by preattentive processing. This is significantly faster than requiring a user to individually scan each element, scrutinising for the presence of the said properties. Exactly what properties lend themselves to preattentive processing has in itself been the subject of substantial research. Colour, shape, three-dimensional visual clues, orientation, movement and depth have all been investigated to discern the germane visual features that trigger effective preattentive processing. Researchers such as Triesman [1985] conducted experiments using target and boundary detection in an attempt to classify preattentive features. Preattentive target detection was tested by determining whether a target element was present or absent within a field of background distractor elements. Boundary detection involves attempting to detect the boundary formed by a group of target elements with a unique visual feature set within distractors. It maybe readily visualised for example that a red circle would be immediately discernible set amongst a number of blue circles. Equally, a circle would be readily detectable if set amongst a number of square shaped distractors. In order to test for preattentiveness, the number of distractors as seen is varied and if the search time required to identify the targets remains constant, irrespective of the number of distractors, the search is said to be preattentive. Similar search time limitations are used to classify boundary detection searches as preattentive.
A widespread threshold time used to classify preattentiveness is 200-250 msec as this only allows the user opportunity for a single 'look' at a scene. This timeframe is insufficient for a human to consciously decide to look at a different portion of the scene. Search tasks such as those stated above maybe accomplished in less than 200 msec, thus suggesting that the information in the display is being processed in parallel unattendedly or pre-attentively.
However, if the target is composed of a conjunction of unique features, i.e. a conjoin search, then research shows that these may not be detected preattentively. Using the above examples, if a target is comprised for example, of a red circle set within distractors including blue circles and red squares, it is not possible to detect the red circle preattentively as all the distractors include one of the two unique features of the target.
Whilst the above example is based on a relatively simple visual scene, Enns and Rensink [1990] identified that targets given the appearance of being three dimensional objects can also be detected preattentively. Thus, for example a target represented by a perspective view of a cube shaded to indicate illumination from above would be preattentively detectable amongst a plurality of distractor cubes shaded to imply illumination from a different direction. This illustrates an important principle in that the relatively complex, high-level concept of perceived three dimensionality may be processed preattentively by the sub-conscious mind. In comparison, if the constituent elements of the above described cubes are re-orientated to remove the apparent three dimensionality, subjects cannot preattentively detect targets which have been inverted for example. Additional experimentation by Brown et al [1992] confirm that it is the three dimensional orientation characteristic which is preattentively detected. Nakaymyama and Silverman [1986] showed that motion and depth were preattentive characteristics and that furthermore, stereoscopic depth could be used to overcome the effects of conjoin. This reinforced the work done by Enns Rensink in suggesting that high-level information is conceptually being processed by the low-level visual system of the user. To test the effects of depth, subjects were tasked with detecting targets of different binocular disparity relative to the distractors. Results showed a constant response time irrespective of the increase in distractor numbers.
These experiments were followed by conjoin tasks whereby blue distractors were placed on a front plane whilst red distractors were located on a rear plane and the target was either red on the front plane or blue on the rear plane for stereo colour (SC) conjoin tests, whilst stereo and motion (SM) trials utilised distractors on the front plane moving up or on the back plane moving down with a target on either the front plane moving down or on the back plane moving up.
Results showed the response time for SC and SM trials were constant and below the 250 msec threshold regardless of the number of distractors. The trials involved conjoin as the target did not possess a feature unique to all the distractors. However, it appeared the observers were able to search each plane preattentively in turn without interference from distractors in another plane.
This research was further reinforced by Melton and Scharff [1998] in a series of experiments in which a search task consisting of locating an intermediate-sized target amongst large and small distractors tested the serial nature of the search whereby the target was embedded in the same plane as the distractors and the preattentive nature of the search whereby the target was placed in a separate depth plane to the distractors.
The relative influence of the total number of distractors present (regardless of their depth) verses the number of distractors present solely in the depth plane of the target was also investigated. The results showed a number of interesting features including the significant modification of the response time resulting from the target presence or absence. In the target absence trials, the reaction times of all the subjects displayed a direct correspondence to the number of distractors whilst the target present trials did not display any such dependency. Furthermore, it was found that the reaction times in instances where distractors were spread across multiple depths were faster than for distractors located in a single depth plane.
Consequently, the use of a plurality of depth/focal planes as a means of displaying information can enhance preattentive processing with enhanced reaction/assimilation times.
There are two main types of Liquid Crystal Displays used in computer monitors, passive matrix and active matrix. Passive-matrix Liquid Crystal Displays use a simple grid to supply the charge to a particular pixel on the display. Creating the grid starts with two glass layers called substrates. One substrate is given columns and the other is given rows made from a transparent conductive material. This is usually indium tin oxide. The rows or columns are connected to integrated circuits that control when a charge is sent down a particular column or row. The liquid crystal material is sandwiched between the two glass substrates, and a polarizing film is added to the outer side of each substrate.
A pixel is defined as the smallest resolvable area of an image, either on a screen or stored in memory. Each pixel in a monochrome image has its own brightness, from 0 for black to the maximum value (e.g. 255 for an eight-bit pixel) for white. In a colour image, each pixel has its own brightness and colour, usually represented as a triple of red, green and blue intensities. To turn on a pixel, the integrated circuit sends a charge down the correct column of one substrate and a ground activated on the correct row of the other. The row and column intersect at the designated pixel and that delivers the voltage to untwist the liquid crystals at that pixel.
The passive matrix system has significant drawbacks, notably slow response time and imprecise voltage control. Response time refers to the Liquid Crystal Displays ability to refresh the image displayed. Imprecise voltage control hinders the passive matrix's ability to influence only one pixel at a time. When voltage is applied to untwist one pixel, the pixels around it also partially untwist, which makes images appear fuzzy and lacking in contrast.
Active-matrix Liquid Crystal Displays depend on thin film transistors (TFT). Thin film transistors are tiny switching transistors and capacitors. They are arranged in a matrix on a glass substrate. To address a particular pixel, the proper row is switched on, and then a charge is sent down the correct column. Since all of the other rows that the column intersects are turned off, only the capacitor at the designated pixel receives a charge. The capacitor is able to hold the charge until the next refresh cycle. And if the amount of voltage supplied to the crystal is carefully controlled, it can be made to untwist only enough to allow some light through. By doing this in very exact, very small increments, Liquid Crystal Displays can create a grey scale. Most displays today offer 256 levels of brightness per pixel.
A Liquid Crystal Display that can show colours must have three subpixels with red, green and blue colour filters to create each colour pixel. Through the careful control and variation of the voltage applied, the intensity of each subpixel can range over 256 shades. Combining the subpixel produces a possible palette of 16.8 million colours (256 shades of red×256 shades of green×256 shades of blue).
Liquid Crystal Displays employ several variations of liquid crystal technology, including super twisted nematics, dual scan twisted nematics, ferroelectric liquid crystal and surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal. They can be lit using ambient light in which case they are termed as reflective, backlit and termed Tran missive, or a combination of backlit and reflective and called transflective. There are also emissive technologies such as Organic Light Emitting Diodes, and technologies which project an image directly onto the back of the retina which are addressed in the same manner as Liquid Crystal Displays. These devices are described hereafter as LCD panels.
In the case of a display comprising two or more overlapping parallel LCD panels, an inherent characteristic of using conventionally constructed LCD screens is that the polarisation of the light emanating from the front of the rearward screen is mis-aligned with the orientation of rear polariser of the front screen.
Known techniques to overcome this drawback have to date involved the use of retarder films located between the two liquid crystal displays.
Optical retarders, also known as retardation plates, wave plates and phase shifters, may be considered as polarisation form converters with close to a 100% efficiency. A retarder may be simply defined as a transmisive material having two principle axes, slow and fast, which resolves the incident beam into two orthogonally polarised components parallel to the slow and fast axes without appreciable alteration of the of the intensity or degree of polarisation. The component parallel to the slow axis is retarded with respect to the beam component parallel to the fast axis. The two components are then reconstructed to form a single emergent beam with a specific polarisation form. The degree of retardance/retardation denoting the extent to which the slow component is retarded relative to the fast component is generally expressed in terms of                a) linear displacement—the difference in the optical path length between the wave fronts of the two components, expressed in nanometers (nm);        b) fractional wavelength—the optical path length difference expressed as a fraction of a given wavelength, obtained by dividing linear displacement values by a particular phase angle value or wavelength by 2π, e.g 280 nm/560 nm=½ wave retarder; and        c) phase angle—the phase difference between the wave fronts of the two component beams, expressed in degrees eg 90°, 180° or radians, ½π, π.
It can be thus seen that:δ=Γ/λ.2πwhere δ=the phase angle                Γ=the linear displacement        λ=the wavelength        Γ/λ=is the fractional wavelength.
If the thickness of the retarder produces a linear displacement less than the wavelength, the retarder produces a phase angle of less than π and is said to be of the first order. If the resultant phase angle is between π and 2π then the retarder is said to be of the second order, if between 2π and 3π it is a third order retarder and so forth. The mean wavelength of the visible spectrum (560 nm) is used as the reference wavelength for optical retarders.
Correspondingly, a retarder may be employed as a polarisation form converter to rotate the output polarised light from the rear most liquid crystal display of a multi-screened LCD unit through the required angle to align with the polarisation plane of the rear surface of the front liquid crystal display. Polyesters such as polycarbonate are known retarders with a low intrinsic cost, though they are difficult to produce with sufficient chromatic uniformity to avoid the appearance of coloured 'rainbow-like' interference patterns when viewed between crossed polarisers. This is due (at least in part) to the thickness to which such sheets of polycarbonate are available, which result in second or higher order retarders.
In second, third or higher order retarders, the different wavelengths of the spectrum constituents of white light are retarded to by the same linear displacement, but by different phase angles such that pronounced coloured interference fringes result.
There are further complications with the manufacture of such multi-focal plane LCD displays. The fine regular structures formed by the coloured filters and black pixel matrix on the alignment layers of each liquid crystal display produce a specific pattern in the light transmitted which, when combined with the corresponding pattern created by the second liquid crystal display, causes an interference effect—i.e. moiré interference, degrading the resulting image seen by the viewer.
In order to eliminate these interference effects, a diffuser is inserted between the two liquid crystal displays. This may take the form of an individual layer/sheet or alternatively be formed by the application of a particular pattern or structure to the surface of the retarder. Chemical etching is a relatively cheap means of applying the required pattern, though in practice it has been found deficient for producing acceptable results in combination with a polyester or polyester retarder.
Alternatives to chemical etching include embossing, impressing or calendering of the said pattern by a holographically-recorded master onto the surface of the polyester retarder, forming a random, non-periodic surface structure. These randomised structures may be considered as a plurality of micro lenslets diffusing incident light to eliminate moiré interference and colour defraction. This method is however significantly more expensive than conventional methods such as chemical etching. Further alternatives include specifically engineered retarder films with no diffusive capability but these are also costly and have chromatic uniformity problems.
It is also possible to assemble the front liquid crystal display panel with the polarising plane of the rearward surface aligned with that of the front surface of the rear-most liquid crystal display. Unfortunately, this involves a large non-refundable engineering cost as it cannot be accommodated in the manufacture of conventional LCD units and thus requires production as custom units. In practice it is not possible to rotate the polarisers on the forward display panel without changing the rubbing axis on the glass as the contrast ratio of the image would deteriorate. However, there would be no physical indication of the rubbed orientation of an LCD mother glass (as the process literally involves rubbing the polyimide layer on the glass with a rotating velvet cloth) without labelling and this would cause significant disruption to the manufacturing process.
By contrast, use of a retarder enables the requisite polarization orientation change to be discerned by examining the polarization/glass finish to aclimate the retarder adhesive. This is clearly visible by the unaided eye and is one of the last production stages, thus reducing potential risk.
It is also possible to utilise a third party (i.e., not the original manufacturer) to realign the respective polarising screens though this is also expensive and runs the risk of damaging the display panels. Damage can occur during numerous steps in such a third party procedure, including any or all of the following;
1. removing the LCD panel from its surround:—possible damage to TAB drivers or the glass;
2. removing the polarizer:—heating of the polariser is required to reduce its adhesion and can damage the glass, damage individual pixels from excessive pressure, and the liquid crystals may be overheated;
3. misalignment of the new polariser;
4. replacing the panel in the original packaging—again causing possible damage to tab boards or the glass; and
5. electrical static damage at any point of the procedure.
Furthermore, some or all of the interstitial optical elements located between the display layers (i.e. the LCD panels) may change the optical path length of light incident on the second (or successive) screen having passed through the first display. This alteration in path length leads to chromatic aberrations that require correction to ensure a clear display image.
Interstitial elements which may introduce such optical path length changes include:                Air;        nitrogen, or any other inert gas;        a selective diffusion layer;        Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal;        Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal;        Liquid Crystal between random homogeneous alignment layers;        Acrylic, Polycarbonate, Polyester;        Glass;        Antireflective coating;        Optical cement;        Diffusive film;        Holographic diffusion film; and        any other filter for removing moiré interference
Thus, there is the combined need to cost-effectively re-align the polarisation between successive LCD panels, whilst avoid chromatic aberrations such as coloured interference fringes present with the use of existing retarder such as polycarbonate.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
It is acknowledged that the term 'comprise' may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term 'comprise' shall have an inclusive meaning—i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term 'comprised' or 'comprising' is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.


A resist pattern formed so as to expose a wafer edge region is used to expose an edge surface region of an Si support substrate by dry etching. Next, a conductive layer constituted as wirings by subsequent patterning is formed by sputtering.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and particularly to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, which reduces the influence of electrical charges stored in a wafer by sputtering or dry etching or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a wiring process subsequent to formation of a gate, there is generally a fear that when heat treatment is done at a high temperature, aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), tungsten (W) or the like used as a wiring material is oxidized due to oxidizing atmosphere or an interlayer insulating film. Thus, only a temperature of 400° C. or less is applied to prevent such oxidation. A wafer is often subjected to a plasma atmosphere to perform etching at the processing temperature of such about 400° C. and deposit an insulating film while embeddability is being maintained. Also the wafer is subjected to a plasma atmosphere even at sputtering of a metal. In these plasma atmospheres, accelerated ions or electrons collide with the wafer so that electrical charges are injected into the wafer.
There is a low possibility that since a majority of electrical charges injected into the wafer flow into a support substrate if the wafer is of a normal bulk wafer, a device will charge up. Since, however, an SOI (Silicon On Insulator) wafer has a buried oxide film (BOX (Buried Oxide) oxide film) formed between a support substrate and an SOI layer on the surface of the wafer, the charges that have flown from the wafer will produce a concentration of electric field at an insulative weak point of an element or device, thus degrading reliability and breaking down an insulating film.
In the conventional semiconductor process, a gate insulating film has been thinned with miniaturization. A gate electrode per se is isolated from a silicon (Si) substrate with a gate insulating film interposed therebetween. When the charges caused by the plasma atmosphere are stored upon etching, there is a fear that the thin gate insulating film is broken down. Therefore, an apparatus used in gate etching and sidewall (Side Wall) etching is designed to such a mechanism that the charges become hard to flow into the wafer. Since high-temperature heat treatment is enabled if polysilicon is used as a gate material, the deposition of an interlayer insulating film using an LP-CVD (Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition) apparatus (deposition temperature: 700° C. to 800° C.) or the like free of plasma damage and excellent in embeddability is common.
As a method for preventing damage due to charge up caused upon formation of Al wiring, for example, a conventional document has proposed a method for forming a wiring pattern across a grid line after an exposed portion has been provided in a silicon substrate on the grid line, thereby to form a current path that leads to the substrate.
There have also been proposed several methods such as a method for providing a conductive path between an SOI layer and an Si support substrate isolated by a BOX oxide film in the SOI wafer to thereby control a substrate potential. A patent document 2 has proposed a method for forming a substrate contact in a buried oxide film that insulates an SOI layer and an Si support substrate from each other. A method for forming a short-circuit conductor for bringing an Si support substrate and an SOI layer into conduction in the neighborhood of a scribe-intended region has been proposed by a patent document 3. A patent document 4 has proposed a method for cutting a scribe line to thereby bring an Si support substrate and an SOI layer disposed above a buried oxide film.
LP-CVD free of a fear of charging damage is principally used in the deposition of an interlayer insulating film in a transistor forming process. On the other hand, an AP-CVD (Atomospheric Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition) apparatus capable of performing deposition at a relatively low temperature, begins to be developed in recent years. However, the preset apparatus involves a problem about embeddability. Dry etching is mainstream upon gate etching. An apparatus is used which makes it hard to store electrical charges in a thin gate insulating film.
However, charging damage caused by a process is not so taken into consideration at metal sputtering for a wiring process subsequent to the formation of a transistor and dry etching.
FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing, by a sectional partly cut area, the manner in which electrical charges are stored by deposition of a metal layer by sputtering in a wiring process employed in a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using an SOI wafer 200. In the drawing, the left end corresponds to a wafer edge 222. A semiconductor element is not formed in a wafer edge region 224 corresponding to a peripheral region extending to about 5 mm in the direction (right direction here) of the center of the wafer as viewed from the wafer edge. A region near the wafer center from the wafer edge region 224 corresponds to a device forming region 226, where various devices are formed.
Here, the SOI wafer 200 comprises an Si support substrate 202, a BOX oxide film 204 and an SOI layer 206. The Si support substrate 202 and the SOI layer 206 are insulated from each other by the BOX oxide film 204 used as a buried oxide film. Individual devices formed in the SOI wafer 200 are separated from one another by device-to-device isolation regions 208. A detailed description thereof is omitted in FIG. 6, and a gate insulating film 210 and a gate electrode 212 are shown in FIG. 6. An interlayer insulating film 214 is deposited on the upper side of the SOI wafer 200 formed with the devices. A contact 216 for connecting to an upper wiring is formed over the gate electrode 212.
A conductive layer 218 to be subsequently formed as each wiring by patterning is deposited on the upper surfaces of the interlayer insulating film 214 and the contact 216. At this time, electrical charges (indicated by arrows as the injection 220 of the charges by sputtering in the drawing) on the wafer surface produced during sputtering are in danger of being stored in the corresponding device through the contact 216. These electrical charges will degrade insulative weak points and cause dielectric breakdown. Since the electrical charges stored in the device are isolated by the buried oxide film, there are no places to allow the charges to escape, and there is a possibility that stress greater than an assumed electric field will be applied, thus degrading reliability of each device.
The device formed according to such a process results in an unstable yield due to the occurrence of a leak current by dielectric breakdown and fluctuations in transistor characteristics.
Thus, the present invention aims to reduce storage of electrical charges by metal sputtering or dry etching, which occurs due to an insulating layer being buried in between as in an SOI wafer, thereby to prevent a reduction in device's yield due to charge up.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device