A pick for a stringed musical instrument includes a first and a second surface. At least one of the first and the second surface has a replica of a fingertip impression for achieving enhanced pick gripability. A process for forming a stringed musical instrument pick includes the steps of forming the pick having first and second gripping surfaces. At least one of the first and second gripping surfaces has a replica of a fingertip impression therein for enhancing gripability of the pick. A pick holder for use in holding a standard pick used for playing a stringed musical instrument is also disclosed. The pick holder includes a first side and a second side connected with and spaced from the first side. A pocket is formed between the first and second sides and includes means for engaging the pick. At least one of the first surface of the first side and the second surface of the second side includes a replica of a fingertip impression for achieving enhanced pick gripability. A process for forming the holder is also disclosed.

This invention is directed to the playing of musical instruments, and more particularly, to an improved pick and/or pick holder for use in playing stringed musical instruments.
While playing musical instruments, musicians frequently exert large amounts of energy and as a result their hands may become oily and sweaty. Because of such oily and sweaty hands, traditional flat picks which are used to play stringed musical instruments may become difficult to hold onto while playing. This is true particularly when the instrument's strings are of a heavier gauge. While attempts in the prior art have been made to improve the gripability of picks, none have been particularly successful.
In the plectrum or pick prior art, those persons skilled in the art are aware that flat shaped picks may be enhanced for gripping by providing the surfaces thereof with a roughened finish. Accordingly, picks may be molded or otherwise formed with front and back surfaces including ridges or otherwise roughened textures. While such grip-enhanced surfaces may improve gripability to some degree, users of these picks still experience the pitfalls of non grip-enhanced picks. That is, since these picks having ridges or otherwise roughened surfaces are not personalized to the pick user, the picks still tend to allow gripability problems.
Another design for increasing the gripability of picks is to form the picks with recesses on one or both sides thereof, in the area of the pick adapted to be grasped by the musicians fingertips. Frequently, these recesses are in the shape of semicircular indents having a constant depth. While these indents improve gripability to some degree, overall grip enhancement is still insufficient since such indents do not conform to all of the various shapes of fingertips among stringed instrument musicians. That is, since the size and shape of fingertips vary from person to person, the semicircular or similarly shaped indents on guitar picks known in the prior art are not sufficient to meet the requirements of every musician. For some musicians the indent may be too large and for others the indent too small. Even if a variety of indent sizes are provided, the shape of the indent still fails to conform to the shape of the players fingertips. The shape is as important as the size since an indent which does not conform to the fingertip in shape will not sufficiently provide enhanced gripability. Accordingly, these prior art, grip-enhanced picks are not sufficient to meet the needs of today's hard working musicians.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,341 discloses a thumb pick for use on the thumb of a musician. This pick includes a thumb engaging means for securely coupling the pick to the thumb, a pick portion for engaging a string and an intermediate portion. While the secure attachment of this pick to the thumb may enhance gripability, the pick does not personally conform to the musician's thumb and the pick becomes attached to the thumb on a more permanent basis than desired for other fingers. Accordingly, with this attachment, freedom is lost in that the pick may not easily be changed, temporarily put-down, or moved in position as many musicians desired, for example, to acquire a different gauge pick or to fingerpick.
Materials and objects formed from these materials which may be formed or conformed in various manners under heated or otherwise chemically activated states are also known in the art. However, none of these materials are known to have been used for forming grip-enhanced stringed instrument picks. Some of these materials and objects formed thereby are discussed in the following prior art patents. The materials and patents fall generally into two categories, (1) moisture-hardening materials and (2) thermal hardening/softening materials.
One moisture-hardening material is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,050 to Kimura et al. disclosing a room temperature fast-curing composition. The composition is a condensation-curing type which comprises diorganopolysiloxane or polyoxyalkylene blocked by hydrolyzable silyl group at both terminal ends of its molecular chain as a base polymer, in which a carbonyl group-containing organic compound and an amino group-containing organic compound, are compounded. This composition is capable of forming water through dehydration condensation between carbonyl and amino groups, simultaneously with curing of the composition by moisture in air. The formation of water offers marked improvements in the fast-curing property of the material and also in the depth curing property of the material.
Another moisture-hardening composition is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,797 to Khalil et al. Accordingly, a one-part moisture curable polyurethane adhesive composition comprises a blend of polyurethane prepolymers and one or more additives which unexpectedly improve the sag resistance and mechanical properties of the formulation. The final adhesive composition retains good stability in the absence of moisture for an extended period between manufacture and application of the adhesive, and has a relatively rapid and consistent cure rate in the presence of atmospheric moisture. The final cured composition exhibits good mechanical properties and generally is unaffected by ambient application and cure conditions.
A thermal-softening composition is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,563 to Huybrechts for forming a remoldable dental article. The article, due to the composition disclosed therein, is capable of daily reheating and remolding for repeated daily customization to the shape of the user. The composition sets at 37.degree. C. and is moldable between 50.degree.-95.degree. C. Another thermal-hardening composition is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,054 to Pasini. This patent discloses a composition which is controlled and program hardened to record dental impressions and which is free of any gel-forming components, peroxide-based catalysts, aromatic compounds and incompatible plasticizers.
In accordance with the known prior art such as the above references, there exists no disclosure of a stringed musical instrument pick or plectrum formed from a moisture or thermal hardening/softening composition so as to form a stringed musical instrument pick having a grip personalized to the fingertips of the musician.
There exists a need, therefore, for a stringed musical instrument pick having the fingertip impressions of the stringed instrument musician formed into the material of the pick for enhancing and personalizing the grip thereof.

Personalized molded fingerprinted pick and pick holder and process


An improved device and method for collecting data used for ultrasonic imaging. The data is gathered over numerous transmit and echo receive cycles, or iterations and combined into a synthetic acquisition representing a complete echo characteristic acquisition. At each iteration, only a portion, or subset, of the echo characteristic is sampled and stored. During the iterations, the portion of the echo characteristic that is measured and sampled is varied by changing the relative sampling instants. That is, the time offset from the transmission to the respective sampling instant is varied. The sample sets representative of the entire echo characteristic are then compiled from the multiple subsets of the ultrasonic transmissions.

Medical imaging is a field dominated by high cost systems that are so complex as to require specialized personnel for operation and the services of experienced physicians for image interpretation. Medical ultrasound, which is considered a low cost modality, utilizes imaging systems costing as much as $250K. These systems are operated by sonographers with several years of training or specialized physicians. This high-tech, high-cost approach works very well for critical diagnostic procedures. However it makes ultrasound impractical for many of the routine tasks for which it would be clinically useful.
The block diagram of a conventional phased array ultrasound system 10 is shown in FIG. 1. A piezoelectric transducer array 12 (or using alternative electrical/ultrasound transduction mechanism—e.g. capacitive micro-machined devices), shown on the left, acts as the interface to the body by converting electrical signals to acoustic pulses and vice versa. Image formation begins when the states of the transmit/receive switches (TX/RX switches 14) are altered to connect the transducer elements to individual transmit generators TX 16. The transmit generators 16 output time varying waveforms with delay and amplitude variations selected to produce a desired acoustic beam. Voltages of up to approximately 150 Volts are applied to the transducer elements. Once transmission is complete, the state of the TX/RX switch 14 is changed to connect the receive circuitry to each element. Incoming voltage echoes are amplified by preamplifiers (preamp 18) and Time Gain Control (TGC 20) circuits to compensate for signal losses associated with diffraction and attenuation. Next, sample and hold circuits (S/H 22) and analog to digital converters (A/D 24) digitize the signals. Finally, the signals are dynamically delayed and summed within one or more custom integrated circuits 26 to yield a single focused Radio Frequency (RF) echo line. This signal forms the basis of one image line.
While conventional beamforming approaches produce high quality images, they also impose significant restrictions on the use of ultrasound. The 40 Msample/s S/H and A/D circuits employed by these systems, and the high data rates they engender, result in high system cost and complexity. A modern state-of-the-art imaging system may cost as much as $250,000 and require weeks or months of user training to produce the highest quality images. Furthermore, while the transducers used by these systems are typically only a few centimeters on a side, the electronics required to form images resides in a box with dimensions on the order of 2′×3′×4′. Thus, while ultrasound systems are certainly portable, they are far from the scale that would allow each clinician to carry one in a pocket.
The applicability of conventional ultrasound is further limited by the typical image format used. Images are produced in what is commonly referred to as a B-Mode format, representing a tomographic slice through the body perpendicular to the skin surface. This image format is non-intuitive and the act of mentally registering the B-Mode image to the patient's anatomy requires significant experience.
Significant reductions in system cost and complexity have occurred over the last five years. Some of the more notable advances have been demonstrated by Sonosite. Its most recent product, which sells for approximately $12,000, produces B-Mode and color flow images using a hand-held system. This system produces good quality images and will certainly broaden the applications for ultrasound in medicine. Unfortunately, the Sonosite architecture and strategy does not appear to be capable of extension to real-time 3D imaging. Furthermore, the B-Mode image format produced by the Sonosite system and all other conventional systems is not intuitive to most first-time ultrasound users. Novice users often have difficulty mapping the image displayed on the screen to the tissue lying beneath the transducer. This most likely results from the distance (a few feet) and orientation differences between the target and image.
Ultrasonic imaging has the potential to be a common component of nearly every medical examination and procedure. But the complexity and expense of the existing ultrasound systems are an impediment to its widespread use. Consequently, an improvement is desired.

Efficient architecture for 3D and planar ultrasonic imaging—synthetic axial acquisition and method thereof


An omnichannel intelligent negotiation assistant for generating timely, contextual negotiation assistance to a negotiator. The invention includes a semantic term extractor for converting a contract document into a negotiable term sheet. An omnichannel listener captures all negotiation inputs associated with a negotiation event, sequences each negotiation input by time, and analyzes the sentiment of the negotiation inputs in the context of a term sheet. The resulting annotated negotiation input stream is processed by an intervention generator that includes models of the parties and the negotiation itself as well as a referent negotiation model. The intervention generator includes a game theoretic model that, in concert with a trade-off matrix, allows the intervention generator to produce timely contextual interventions to the negotiator that assist in achieving a superior resulting negotiated agreement.

Negotiation is a critical skill in business and in daily life. In business, it is during negotiation where most value is captured or lost. Therefore, it is desirable to be an effective negotiator. But evidence suggests that the disparity between negotiators in their respective negotiation skills is large. Some negotiators are highly skilled, and others are not. While there exists a multitude of courses, books, and other materials to help negotiators to improve and achieve better results from their negotiations, there are no automated or semi-automated tools to help them before, during, and after a negotiation.
The present invention is shown in a schematic view in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is the preferred embodiment and FIG. 2 includes additional features and functions. FIG. 3 shows a simplified view of the primary modules without detail. The invention seeks to address the identified shortcomings by (1) creating a "negotiation platform" that comprises an omnichannel listener (301) for capturing negotiation data and communications that enables the application of AI and machine learning (ML) techniques. These include but are not limited to real-time and time-dependent sentiment analysis during the negotiation as well as the application of game theory to provide the negotiator with timely, context sensitive feedback and assistance that improves the outcome of the negotiation. (2) a semantic term extractor (302) that produces a negotiable term sheet or set of negotiable terms from a document or directly from negotiator communication data, and (3) an intervention generator (303) that produces time and context sensitive assistance to the negotiator during the negotiation to produce an improved outcome. The intervention generator has access to a number of external data sources (304) as well as all the outputs from the omnichannel listener.
The invention disclosed herein is a machine that receives (a) a plurality of communication threads from negotiators, and (optionally) (b) documents pertaining to the negotiation, and (optionally) (c) external information relevant to the negotiation, and produces automated, timely, context sensitive feedback and assistance that improves the outcome of the negotiation.

Omnichannel intelligent negotiation assistant


A multilayer wiring substrate includes a number of insulating layers, each insulating layer including a glass ceramic. A number of internal conductor layers are formed between the insulating layers. Via conductors penetrate through the insulating layers and mutually connect the internal conductor layers in different layer locations. Surface conductor layers are formed on an outer surfaces in a lamination direction of the insulating layers. The insulating layers include outside insulating layers and inside insulating layers. A first aspect ratio representing an oblateness and sphericity of an external filler contained in the outside insulating layers is larger than a second aspect ratio representing an oblateness and sphericity of an internal filler contained in the inside insulating layers. A thermal expansion coefficient of the outside insulating layers is smaller than a thermal expansion coefficient of the inside insulating layers.

In recent years there has been a demand for electronic components used in mobile telephones, wireless LANs and the like, to be made compact and low-profile in order to cope with increasing levels of functionality and reductions in equipment size. In particular with regard to making components low-profile, there is a demand for the material to be used in these components to be a high-strength material capable of being made thin. With regard also to size reductions, high functionality within a confined area has been achieved by mounting ICs and the like directly on a multilayer wiring substrate consisting of glass ceramic or the like. For the mounting of ICs flip-chip-mountings and the like are becoming widely used, from the viewpoint of minimizing the mounting area when ICs are mounted in this way.
In such flip chip mounting, high dimensional accuracy and surface flatness are required more than before for the surface of the multilayer wiring substrate, which is serves as a mounting surface, in order to cope with market trends to reduce the size of the ICs and increase the number of pins.
For multilayer wiring substrates provided with integrated LSIs and various types of electronic components, ceramics or glass ceramics are used as materials in order to meet demands such as those described above and also from the viewpoint of ensuring reliability. Alumina is typically used as the ceramic material. Glass ceramic materials are produced by being by mixing a glass material and a ceramic material known as an aggregate and then by sintering.
Alumina generally has advantages such as high strength and excellent heat resistance, and it thus occupies a large proportion of the ceramics used for the abovementioned multilayer wiring substrates. However, on the other hand, it also has drawbacks in that its dielectric constant is large, and it is therefore likely to cause delays in signal transmission. Moreover, alumina has a high sintering temperature of 1500° C. or more, and thus tungsten (W) or molybdenum (Mo), which have a high melting point and high electrical resistivity, must be used for wiring in the inner layers, and there are thus problems in that the electrical resistance becomes large if the wiring is made extremely fine.
On the other hand, glass ceramic materials have advantages that resolve the problems arising with alumina. Glass ceramic materials are being used more widely in consideration of its advantages of the dielectric constant being low, and further of allowing the use of low-resistance metal materials having a low melting point, such as Cu, Ag or Ag—Pd, as inner layer conductors or surface conductors, or for via conductors to connect the above two conductors.
In general, with glass ceramic multilayer wiring substrates employing glass ceramics it is straightforward to implement inter-layer circuits having a three-dimensional structure, and they thus provide good design flexibility. This is thus becoming a critical technology in the marketplace for high-frequency components, the size of which is reducing while the level of functionality is increasing.
Further, for multilayer wiring substrates having a three-dimensional structure, deformations such as warping and unevenness are likely to occur during the manufacturing process due to the three-dimensional structure. In particular, in areas in the vicinity of connection terminals formed by surface conductors on the surface of a multilayer wiring substrate during flip chip mounting of ICs, a flat surface condition is desirable in order to achieve satisfactory mounting with the IC. If an irregularity is larger than the height of the flip-chip pad on the IC, there is a high probability of mounting failure. Further, it is thought that the cause of such deformation is due to discrepancies between the sintering behaviors of the inner layer conductors or via conductors and the glass ceramic material, and thus matching the sintering behaviors of via conductors and the glass ceramic material is, in particular, a critical technology.
In particular, because via conductors are formed in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface, the flatness of the substrate surface tends to deteriorate as the ratio between the length of the via conductors, in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the wiring substrate, and the thickness of the substrate increases. Naturally, when via conductors which extend in a direction perpendicular to the surface are connected by direct connection, the flatness of the substrate surface deteriorates more as the total length of the via conductors increases. From the viewpoint of increasing the degree of design freedom, it is desirable for via conductors to be connected together directly, and it is thus critical for the sintering behavior of via conductors to be matched.
Further, in some cases via conductors are used not only for electrical wiring but also as a heat conduction path for dissipating heat from ICs. In such cases it is common for the via conductors to be constructed in such a way that they penetrate through the multilayer wiring substrate, and they thus serve to allow heat generated when the IC is operating to escape to the outside through the via conductors. Forming such penetrating via conductors is likely to make the impact of via conductors be felt more readily, and to make deformation more likely to occur. However, in the current situation in which ICs are required to have good heat dissipation characteristics, there is an increasing demand for such structures, and thus controlling the sintering behavior of via conductors and glass ceramics is becoming critical.
With glass ceramic materials, a synergistic effect typically acts during sintering through the combination of a glass material and a ceramic material, and thus the properties of the resulting ceramic multilayer wiring substrate (dielectric constant, loss characteristics, thermal expansion coefficient, sintering temperature, bending strength and the like) can be controlled. Therefore, it is a technological challenge to find the optimal combination and to achieve a stable composition and a structure such that uniform properties can be exhibited at all times.
Further, multilayer wiring substrates employing glass ceramic materials contain glass as a main component, and they thus have the characteristic that they are sensitive to impacts and a crack is easily caused. To overcome this drawback, attempts have been made to improve the strength by formulating ceramic fillers.
Investigations into improvements of each of the problems discussed hereinabove are being made, but in order to realize a multilayer wiring substrate that is exceptionally useful in practice, a significant point to consider is how to solve all of the problems simultaneously.
For example, from the viewpoint of substrate strength, Japanese Patent Kokai 2007-103836 proposes using a tabular alumina filler in order to improve the strength of a glass ceramic multilayer wiring substrate, but adequate substrate strength is not obtained. Accordingly, Japanese Patent Kokai 2010-100517 (U.S. counterpart is published as US 2010/0080981) proposes providing a high-strength multilayer wiring substrate in which the orientation of a ceramic filler is improved by formulating a ceramic filler having a large aspect ratio.
Further, in general it is difficult to obtain a high degree of dimensional accuracy in multilayer wiring substrates produced by sintering, due to variations in the amount of shrinkage during sintering. As a countermeasure to this, it has been proposed to use a sintering technique known as a non-shrink sintering technique in which sintering shrinkage is suppressed.
Further, with multilayer wiring substrates which are sintered using a typical sintering technique, it is known that undulations are likely to occur on the substrate surface, causing a deterioration in the flatness of the multilayer wiring substrate surface, due to the effects of the sintering behavior of inner layer conductors comprising low-resistance metal materials having a low melting point, such as Cu, Ag or Ag—Pd. It has also been proposed to use a sintering technique known as a non-shrink sintering technique, in which sintering shrinkage is suppressed, as one countermeasure to these problems.
For example, Japanese Patent Kokai 2005-26722 proposes a multilayer glass ceramic substrate having improved flatness and dimensional accuracy, employing non-shrink sintering.
Non-shrink sintering techniques have also been confirmed to be effective in suppressing warping of the substrate during sintering, and they are thus being used as very effective techniques for producing multilayer wiring substrates which are required to be low-profile and increased in size.
More specifically, non-shrink sintering techniques predominantly employ a method in which shrinkage in the x-y directions is suppressed by joining a soluble green sheet (shrinkage-suppressing green sheet) of a sintering-resistant material that does not sinter at the sintering temperature of the glass ceramic substrate wiring material to one surface or both surfaces of an unsintered glass ceramic laminated body.
In a processing method employing such a non-shrink sintering technique, in a glass ceramic multilayer wiring substrate manufactured by laminating a plurality of glass ceramic green sheets, multiple via holes are formed in order to connect the inter-layer circuits electrically and the interior of the via holes is filled with an electrically conductive electrode material.
At this time, the via holes consist of electrically conductive metal powder, organic binder and solvent, and thus the volume thereof shrinks during the course of the sintering. The electrically conductive metal powder is designed such that it shrinks to the same extent as the glass ceramic, but with non-shrink sintering the shrinkage-suppressing effect of the shrinkage-suppressing green sheet with respect to the electrically conductive metal powder is poor, and the sintering behavior is likely to differ from that of the glass ceramic. Various types of electrically conductive metal powder have been investigated to deal with this situation, but this remains one problem of non-shrink sintering technology.
In general, with glass ceramics, although shrinkage in the x-y directions is suppressed by means of the soluble green sheet made of a sintering-resistant material, in contrast, shrinkage in the z direction increases. Therefore, in non-shrink sintering, there is a large difference in shrinkage of the glass ceramic compared with the electrically conductive metal in the via hole portions. As a result, after sintering, the via conductors (the via hole portions filled with the electrically conductive metal) are likely to be higher than the height of the glass ceramic, and are likely to protrude to the outside, and, thus, the substrate is likely to become deformed. The degree of deformation tends to increase as the proportion occupied by via conductors increases. Various types of improvements have been considered to deal with this situation. When non-shrink sintering is employed in this way, it becomes more difficult than with ordinary sintering to match the shrinkage behavior of the via conductors, and thus controlling the shrinkage behavior is critical.
As electronic products become more low-profile in their height, there is a need for the glass ceramic substrates used in multilayer wiring substrates to be made even thinner. Further, as circuits become more complicated and finer, the structure of the electrodes is becoming more complicated, and thus an increasing amount of stress also acts on the glass ceramic substrate. Moreover, as mounted components such as ICs become yet more compact, even greater accuracy in alignment for mounting is required, and as a result there is a need for yet further improvements in the dimensional accuracy of multilayer wiring substrates, which serves as a mounting body. Also, in relation to IC mounting, flip chip mounting is becoming more prevalent, and thus multilayer wiring substrates are facing increasing demands in regard to warping and surface flatness. There is thus a demand for a multilayer wiring substrate which has greater strength than the prior art, while having better dimensional accuracy, no warping, and excellent surface flatness.
However, the inventors have found through investigations that in relation to glass ceramic multilayer wiring substrates such as those proposed in the above mentioned Japanese Patent Kokai 2007-103836 and Japanese Patent Kokai 2010-100517, although strength and dimensional accuracy are adequate, the substrate is not satisfactory in terms of warping and surface flatness.
Further, Japanese Patent Kokai 2005-26722 proposes a multilayer glass ceramic substrate with reduced warping of the substrate and improved dimensional accuracy, but a sufficiently high substrate strength cannot be anticipated. Further, even though warping of the substrate can be improved using Japanese Patent Kokai 2005-26722, it is difficult to improve the flatness of the surface using non-shrink sintering techniques alone. This is because when non-shrink sintering techniques are applied to multilayer wiring substrates having via conductors, it is more difficult to match the shrinkage behavior of the via conductors than when ordinary sintering is employed.


A sintered body where alumina is dispersed in a zirconia matrix in which yttria has been doped to form a solid solution can be obtained by compacting a mixed powder comprising zirconia or yttria-stabilized zirconia and yttrium-aluminum complex oxide and sintering the resulting compacted body. This sintered body comprises a fine zirconia matrix in which fine alumina particles are dispersed to strengthen it and is excellent in flexural strength and fracture toughness and has a practically effective oxygen ionic conductivity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a zirconia-based sintered body excellent in mechanical properties and having practically effective oxygen ionic conductivity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cubic zirconia stabilized with yttria has an excellent oxygen ionic conductivity at high temperatures and has been noticed as functional ceramics such as solid electrolytes for fuel cells and oxygen sensors. However, since the stabilized cubic zirconia is mechanically very brittle, it lacks reliability in practical use and besides is difficult to form into large or thin products.
On the other hand, stabilized tetragonal zirconia is a sintered body obtained by stabilizing at room temperature the tetragonal crystal phase stable at high temperatures and is excellent in strength and toughness at room temperature. This is because when the stabilized tetragonal zirconia undergoes stress resulting in cracks, phase transformation of the tetragonal crystal to monoclinic crystal is brought about by the stress field at the head of the cracks and growth of the cracks is inhibited due to volume expansion caused by the phase transformation. However, since the tetragonal crystal becomes stable at high temperatures, the transformation to monoclinic crystal occurs with difficulty and mechanical properties greatly deteriorate.
Furthermore, oxygen ionic conductivity of the stabilized tetragonal zirconia is inferior to that of the stabilized cubic zirconia. Therefore, in order that zirconia can be practically used as an oxygen ionic conductor, strength and toughness of the cubic zirconia must be enhanced. There have been studied some methods for enhancing the toughness of ceramics and one effective method is the particle-dispersion-strengthening method. This method attains the strenghening by dispersing second phase particles in a matrix and the most important is that the particles to be dispersed are finely and uniformly dispersed.
Improvement of mechanical properties by the particle-dispersion-strengthening method with addition of alumina to zirconia has been practised for tetragonal zirconia. For example, T. Shimada et al ["Advances in Ceramics", Vol. 24, Page 397 (1988)] have produced a composite by mill-mixing alumina with tetragonal zirconia in which 2-3 mol % of Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 is doped to form a solid solution. As a result, a flexural strength of about 1000 MPa and a fracture toughness (K.sub.1c) of 5-6 MPam.sup.1/2 were obtained by adding alumina in an amount of 10-20% by weight. Furthermore, K. Tsukuma et al have reported that the strength can be improved to 2400 MPa by the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) ["J. of American Ceram. Soc.", Vol. 68, C-4 (1985)]. However, these are tetragonal zirconias and hence are unsuitable as oxygen ionic conductors. With reference to cubic zirconia, too, E. J. Esper et al have reported that strengthening can be attained by mill-mixing under vibration alumina with cubic zirconia in which 7.5 mol % of Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 is doped to form a solid solution ["Advances in Ceramics", Vol. 12, Page 528 (1984)]. However, in this case, the particle size of zirconia in the sintered body is large, namely, 1-5 .mu.m and besides, dispersion of alumina is ununiform.
According to these methods, zirconia powders and alumina powders are merely mechanically mixed and sintered and the products are inferior in uniformity of dispersion of the particles in the matrix of sintered body and are also unsatisfactory as oxygen ionic conductors. Thus, the object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a zirconia-based sintered body in which alumina particles are uniformly dispersed and which is excellent in mechanical properties and has practically effective oxygen ionic conductivity.

Method for producing zirconia-based sintered body


The present invention is directed to a computer controlled apparatus for perfusing, cooling, and warming a biological organ. The apparatus includes a programmable computer, selectively addressable arterial perfusate reservoirs having inputs and outputs in a recirculating fluid flow path, a main pump in the recirculating flow path for recirculating the fluid in said path, an organ pump that withdraws fluid from the recirculating fluid flow path and provides it to one or more organs in an organ flow path for subsequent return to the recirculating fluid flow path or discard, a temperature-controlled cabinet housing most components of the apparatus, and improvements that permit organ perfusion at temperatures below -10.degree. C., immersion cooling of the organ to allow organ temperature reduction to below -40.degree. C. to -140.degree. C., immersion warming of the organ, and elimination of stagnant fluid in the organ flow path by means of an organ bypass valve. The apparatus may be simplified to be used exclusively for cooling on the one hand or for warming on the other. Cooling is normally accompanied by the introduction of cryoprotective agents at sub-zero temperatures, and warming is normally accompanied by the partial or complete removal of these agents.

Cryopreservation (that is, preservation at very low temperatures) of organs would allow organ banks to be established for transplant surgeons in much the same way blood banks serve the medical community today. The main difficulty with cryopreservation is that it requires the perfusion of organs with high concentrations of cryoprotective agents (water soluble organic molecules that minimize or prevent freezing injury during cooling to very low temperatures). No fully suitable equipment or process has been developed to date for carrying out this perfusion process. This has prevented the establishment of viable organ banks that could potentially save lives.
Devices and methods for perfusing organs with cryoprotectant have been described in the literature since the early 1970's. See, Pegg, D. E., Banking of Cells, Tissues, and Organs at Low Temperatures, Current Trends in Cryobiology, A. U. Smith, Editor, Plenum Press, New York, 1970: pp. 153-180, but particularly pages 175-177; and Pegg, D. E., Perfusion of Rabbit Kidneys with Cryoprotective Agents, Cryobiology 9:411-419, 1972).
In the apparatus initially described by Pegg, two perfusion circuits operated simultaneously, one with and one without cryoprotectant. Cryoprotectant was introduced and removed by abruptly switching from the cryoprotectant-free circuit to the cryoprotectant-containing circuit, then back again. The pressure was controlled by undescribed techniques, and data was fed into a data logger which provided a paper tape output which was processed by a programmable desk-top Wang calculator. The experimental results were poor. The equipment and technique described were considered inadequate by Pegg and his colleagues, who later modified them considerably.
In 1973, G. J. Sherwood and J. R. Flower, in: Organ Preservation (D. E. Pegg, editor, Churchill Livingstone, London, 1973, pp. 152-174), described four potential perfusion systems, none of which are known to have been built. The first system consisted of a family of reservoirs connected directly to the organ via a multiway valve, changes being made in steps simply by switching from one reservoir to another.
The second system created changes in concentration by metering flow from a diluent reservoir and from a cryoprotectant concentrate reservoir into a mixing chamber and then to the kidney. No separate pump for controlling flow to the kidney was included. Total flow was controlled by the output of the metering pumps used for mixing. A heat exchanger was used before rather than after the filter, and there was an absence of any arterial sensing. As will become readily apparent below, the only similarity between this system and the present invention was the use of two concentration sensors, one in the arterial line and one in the venous line of the kidney. Organ flow rate was forced to vary in order to minimize A-V concentration differences. The sensing of concentration before and after the kidney in the circuit is analogous to but substantially inferior to the use of a refractometer and a differential refractometer in the present invention. The present inventor's experience has shown that the use of a differential refractometer is necessary for its greater sensitivity. The concept of controlling organ A-V gradient by controlling organ flow is distinctly inferior to the system of the present invention.
The third system described by Sherwood et al. also lacked a kidney perfusion pump, relying on a "backpressure control valve" to recirculate perfusate from the filter in such a way as to maintain the desired perfusion pressure to the kidney. As with the second Sherwood system, the heat exchanger is proximal to the filter and no bubble trap is present. The perfusate reservoir's concentration is controlled by metered addition of cryoprotectant or diluent as in the second Sherwood system, and if flow from the organ is not recirculated, major problems arise in maintaining and controlling perfusate volume and concentration. None of these features is desirable.
The fourth system was noted by Pegg in an appendix to the main paper. In this system, perfusate is drained by gravity directly from the mixing reservoir to the kidney through a heat exchanger, re-entering the reservoir after passing through the kidney. Concentration is sensed also by directly and separately pumping liquid from the reservoir to the refractometer and back.
Modifications and additional details were reported in 1977 (Pegg, D. E., and Wusteman, M. T., Perfusion of Rabbit Kidneys with Glycerol Solutions at 5.degree. C.). The apparatus used one mixing reservoir and one reservoir for adding glycerol concentrate or glycerol-free perfusate to the mixing reservoir to control concentration. The volume of the mixing reservoir was held constant during perfusion, necessitating an exponentially increasing rate of diluent addition during cryoprotectant washout to maintain a linear rate of concentration change. The constant mixing reservoir volume and the presence of only a single delivery reservoir also made it impossible to abruptly change perfusate concentration. All components of the circuit other than the kidney and a pre-kidney heat exchanger were located on a lab bench at ambient temperature, with the reservoir being thermostatted at a constant 30.degree. C. The kidney and the heat exchanger were located in a styrofoam box whose internal temperature was not controlled. Despite this lack of control of the air temperature surrounding the kidney, only the arterial temperature but not the venous temperature or even the kidney surface temperature was measured. The use of a styrofoam box also did not allow for perfusion under sterile conditions. The only possible way of measuring organ flow rate was by switching off the effluent recirculation pump and manually recording the time required for a given volume of fluid to accumulate in the effluent reservoir, since there was no perfusion pump which specifically supplied the organ, unlike the present invention. Pressure was controlled, not on the basis of kidney resistance, but on the basis of the combined resistance of the kidney and a manually adjustable bypass valve used to allow rapid circulation of perfusate through the heat exchanger and back to the mixing reservoir. The pressure sensor was located at the arterial cannula, creating a fluid dead space requiring manual cleaning and potentially introducing undesired addition of unmixed dead space fluid into the arterial canmula. Pressure control was achieved by means of a specially-fabricated pressure control unit whose electrical circuit was described in an earlier paper (D. E. Pegg and C. J. Green, Renal Preservation by Hypothermic Perfusion. 1. The importance of pressure-control, Cryobiology 10:56-66, 1973). Arterial concentration but not venous concentration was measured. No computer control or monitoring was used. Concentration was controlled by feeding the output of the recording refractometer into a "process controller" for comparison to the output of a linear voltage ramp generator and appropriate adjustment of concentrate or diluent flow rate. Glycerol concentrations were measured manually at 5 minute intervals at both the mixing reservoir and the arterial sample port: evidently, the refractometer was not used to send a measurable signal to a recording device. Temperature and flow were recorded manually at 5 minute intervals. Arterial pressure and kidney weight were recorded as pen traces on a strip chart recorder. None of these features is desirable.
Further refinements were reported by Jacobsen, I. A., Pegg, D. E., Wusteman, M. C., and Robinson, S. M., Transplantation of Rabbit Kidneys Perfused with Glycerol Solutions at 10.degree. C., Cryobiology 15:18-26, 1978. A bubble trap was added, the sample port on the kidney bypass was eliminated (concentration was measured at the distal end of the bypass line instead), and temperature was recorded as a trace on a strip chart recorder rather than manually every 5 minutes. Additionally, these authors reported that bypass concentration lagged reservoir concentration by 5 min (v. 3 min or less for arterial concentration in the present invention) and that terminal cryoprotectant concentration could not be brought to less than 70 mM after adding 5 liters of diluent to the mixing reservoir (v. near-zero terminal concentrations in the present invention using less than 3 liters of diluent and using peak cryoprotectant concentrations approximately twice those of Jacobsen et al.).
A variation on the system was also reported the same year by Jacobsen (Jacobsen, I. A., Distribution and Removal of Glycerol by Vascular Albumin Perfusion in Rabbit Kidneys, Cryobiology 15:302-311, 1978). Jacobsen measured but did not report air temperatures surrounding the kidney during perfusion. He reduced the mixing reservoir volume to 70 ml, which was a small fraction of the 400 ml total volume of the circuit. No electronic-output refractometer appears to have been used to directly sense glycerol concentration and control addition and washout. Instead, the calculated values of concentrate or diluent flow rate were drawn on paper with India ink and read by a Leeds and Northrup Trendtrak Programmer which then controlled the concentrate/diluent pump. Despite the low circuit volume, the minimum concentration of cryoprotectant which could be achieved was about 100 mM.
Additional alterations of the same system were reported by Armitage et al. in 1981 (W. J. Armitage, G. Matthes, and D. E. Pegg, Seleno-dl-methionine Reduces Freezing Injury in Hearts Protected with Ethanediol, Cryobiology 18:370-377, 1981). Essentially, the entire perfusion circuit previously used was placed into a refrigerated cabinet. Instead of a voltage ramp controller, a cam-follower was used. Again, however, it was necessary to calculate the required rates of addition of glycerol or diluent using theoretical equations in order to cut the cam properly, an approach which may introduce errors in the actual achievement of the desired concentration-time histories. Finally, a modification was made in which an additional reservoir was added to the circuit. This reservoir was apparently accessed by manual stopcocks (the mode of switching to and from this reservoir was not clearly explained), and use of the new reservoir was at the expense of being able to filter the perfusate or send it through a bubble trap. The new reservoir was not used to change cryoprotectant concentration; rather, it was used to change the ionic composition of the medium after the cryoprotectant had been added. The volume of the mixing reservoir was set at 500 ml, allowing a final cryoprotectant concentration of 40 mM to be achieved.
The circuits described above represent the current state of the art of cryoprotectant perfusion by others known to the present inventor.
An approach to organ preservation at cryogenic temperatures previously described by the present inventor involved vitrifying rather than freezing organs during cooling. Vitrification, or solidification without freezing, can be brought about in living systems by replacing large fractions of water in these systems with cryoprotective agents (also known as cryoprotectants) whose presence inhibits crystallization. Means of circumventing toxicity of concentrations up to the 8.4M concentration required for vitrification at atmospheric pressure have been described in a pending patent application by this inventor. What is lacking is a device that automates certain new steps necessary for such high concentrations to be tolerated.
Organ preservation at cryogenic temperatures would permit wastage of valuable human organs to be considerably reduced and would facilitate better matching of donor and recipient, a factor which continues to be important despite the many recent advances in controlling rejection. See, Terasaki, et al., in Clinical Transplants, 1992 (P. I. Terasaki; and J. M. Cecka, eds.), UCLA Tissue Typing Laboratory, 1993, pp. 501-512. A recent approach to the induction of tolerance to transplanted organs may require more time for the host immune system to be "re-educated" to accept the graft as "self", than will be available without being able to cryopreserve the cadaver organ See, Posselt, A. M., et al., Science 249:1293-1295 (1990); Remuzzi, G., et al., The Lancet 337:750-752 (1991).
One major limitation in organ cryopreservation studies has been the lack of suitable equipment for controlling perfusion parameters such as cryoprotectant concentration-time history, pressure, and temperature. Previously described standard perfusion machines are not designed for this application and are unable to meet the requirements addressed here.
The present inventor has described apparatus that overcame all of the deficiencies of the above previously known apparatus and methods. However, certain new procedures introduced by the present inventor and others have required modifications to that apparatus to add genuinely new capabilities.

Computer controlled cryoprotectant perfusion apparatus


A power supply device for a hybrid or electric motor vehicle, in particular a passenger vehicle or a motorcycle, includes a plurality of electrochemical storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors. The electrochemical storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors have a casing surface and, in an axial direction, a base surface and a cover surface which are connected by the casing surface, and each include electrodes. Adjacent to the casing surface of at least one of the storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors, a heat-conducting cooling apparatus is disposed which, although electrically insulated from the at least one storage cell and/or double-layer capacitor, is in thermal contact with a first circumferential section of the casing surface and dissipates the heat energy introduced by the casing surfaces of the at least one storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor.

The invention relates to a device for supplying power to a motor vehicle, in particular a passenger vehicle or a motorcycle, and includes a plurality of electrochemical storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors. The storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors include a casing surface and, in the axial direction, a base surface and a cover surface, which are connected by the casing surface and each include electrodes.
Electrochemical storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors in operation can reach considerable temperatures so that cooling is necessary. The cooling of electrochemical storage cells is done from the outside. If a sufficient cooling cannot be ensured with sufficient certainty, then defects can quickly arise which cannot be reconciled economically with the requirements for service lifetime when used in automobiles.
It is thus the object of the present invention to provide a device for supplying power to a motor vehicle, in particular for the temporary driving of the motor vehicle by an electric motor, in which, through a cooling apparatus, sufficient cooling can be ensured with great certainty.
This object is achieved according to the invention by a device for supplying power to a motor vehicle, in particular a passenger vehicle or a motorcycle. The device includes a plurality of electrochemical storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors, the electrochemical storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors include a casing surface and, in an axial direction, a base surface and a cover surface, which base and cover surfaces are connected by the casing surface and each include electrodes. Adjacent to the casing surface of at least one of the storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors, a heat-conducting cooling apparatus is disposed which, although electrically insulated from the at least one storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor, is in thermal contact with a first circumferential section of the casing surfaces and dissipates heat energy introduced by the casing surfaces of the at least one storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor. Advantageous further developments are described herein.
In an advantageous manner the heat can thus be dissipated in the radial direction of the storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor immediately at its point of origin when used in an automobile. The complexity of the construction is relatively low. Moreover, the device according to the invention is distinguished by a high service lifetime. The cooling apparatus's radial arrangement, in particular due to its large attachable surface, enables good thermal attachment of the storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor to the cooling apparatus. Moreover, a simple, modular design is made possible in which many identical parts can be used.
The electrochemical storage cells are preferably lithium-based battery cells or nickel-metal hybrid batteries, which are distinguished by a high storage capacity with low volume. The storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors each include a circular, prismatic, rectangular, square, oval, or obovate cross section. In accordance with requirements, modules consisting of several storage cells and/or the double-layer capacitors can thus be formed which have a high packing density.
In a development of the invention, it is provided that between each of the two storage cells and/or the double-layer capacitors a carrier made of electrically insulating material, in particular PP, is disposed in such a manner that it abuts a second circumferential section of the casing surface of each of the two storage cells and/or the double-layer capacitors. The carrier can optionally be formed of a heat-conducting material, for example, filled silicone. Expediently a respective storage cell and/or a respective double-layer capacitor is in contact along its entire circumference either with the cooling apparatus or with the carrier. Due to this there is, along with good cooling, the advantage of a mechanically loadable seating of the storage cells and/or the double-layer capacitors. If the elasticity of the carrier can be adjusted, then there is furthermore a compensation of tolerance by the carrier.
In a further development, the cooling apparatus includes a heat-conducting half shell which has a surface shape complementary to the casing surface of the at least one storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor and is in thermal contact with the at least one storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor. Due to the heat-conducting half shell's surface shape complementary to the storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor, outstanding cooling is possible. At the same time, the storage cells and/or the double-layer capacitors are fixed in addition by the shape of the half shells.
In particular, the heat-conducting half shell extends (in the axial direction) over a length of the casing surface, specifically a length which corresponds at least to the length of an active part of the storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor. The active part of a storage cell is also called a "winding" or a "jelly roll." Thereby, the reliability of the cooling is greatly increased.
According to a further development, the heat-conducting half shell is thermally coupled (in the radial direction) over a circumferential arc of preferably 150° to 180° with a respective casing surface. According to this development, an outstanding fixation of the storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor with maximum heat dissipation is ensured.
In a further form of embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the heat-conducting half shell is thermally connected to a cooling wall of the cooling apparatus, where the heat-conducting half shell is disposed between the cooling wall and the at least one storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor. The cooling apparatus of the device according to the invention is thus formed in two parts. In immediate thermal contact with the storage cells and/or the double-layer capacitors to be cooled are the half shells, which in turn dissipate the heat at a cooling wall. The two-part configuration of the cooling apparatus enables a constructively simple, in particular modular, design according to which the half shells can be adapted, with thermal optimization, to the shape of the storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors. Also, the transfer of heat to the cooling wall can be done with optimization, and in particular for a large number of storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors, in a simple manner.
The cooling wall can, in particular, include cooling ducts through which or around which there flows a heat-dissipating medium, in particular a coolant such as R 134a, carbon dioxide R 744, water, or air. Thereby, the dissipation of heat can always be ensured in a reliable and sufficient manner even with short-term peak loads of the storage cell. The cooling ducts can, for example, be integrated into a circuit of an air conditioning system of the motor vehicle.
The cooling wall can furthermore be enclosed by thermal insulation. For example, the cooling wall is provided with a preferably electrically operated air conditioning device which dissipates the heat energy and which preferably works according to the vaporizer process or Peltier process. Thereby, the device can be cooled reliably with little effort and substantially unaffected by the ambient temperature at the actual location at which the device according to the invention is disposed in the vehicle.
Expediently, the heat-conducting half shell and/or the cooling wall can be formed from aluminum, copper, a filled silicone, or another material which conducts heat well.
In another expedient development, it is provided that, between the heat-conducting half shell and the casing surfaces of the at least one storage cell and/or the double-layer capacitor, an insulating layer is disposed. The insulating layer serves to ensure electrical insulation of the half shell consisting of electrically conducting material with respect to the casing surfaces of the storage cell(s) and/or double-layer capacitor(s). The insulating layer can, for example, be formed from filled silicone, an epoxy resin, or another plastic, such as polyurethane, polyimide, or polyacrylate. The material strength of the insulating layer depends on tolerances of the storage cell and the voltage level of the device. Expediently, the layer thickness will be between 01. mm and 1 mm. The thermal conductivity is typically λ=0.5 to 5 W/(K m).
According to a further advantageous development, between the heat-conducting half shell and the cooling wall a heat-conducting paste, a heat-conducting foil, or a heat-conducting coating is provided. This provides for a defined heat transfer. Moreover, it is possible to prevent, at the transition surface, air pockets which can lead to local overheating and thus possibly to a defect in the device. The heat-conducting paste, the heat-conducting foil, or the heat-conducting coating is preferably electrically insulating and, in addition, compensates manufacturing tolerances for the clearance or fills clearances up. Thereby, good thermal contact is achieved even with the customary manufacturing tolerances and in case of vibrations. A heat-conducting foil includes preferably silicone with wax and/or ceramics as a filler or a mixture of various heat-conducting substrates and can include multi-layer coatings.
In an extension of the invention, it is provided that the carrier is provided with one or more cavities in areas which cannot assume a holding function. The one or more cavities can serve for active cooling with a coolant medium conducted through there or for passive cooling by heat convection. Furthermore, a reduction in weight is achieved.
It is furthermore provided that the heat-conducting half shell for forming defined surfaces for transferring heat to the cooling wall includes one or more cavities in the area of each of the two storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors disposed one over the other. Along with a reduction in weight, the cavities serve essentially to optimize the heat-conducting half shell's surfaces for heat transfer to the cooling wall such that a predefined force to which the arrangement must be exposed in order to ensure a certain contact pressure and in order to ensure the required cooling is not exceeded. The smaller the heat transfer surface is chosen, the lower it is possible to set the force with which the cooling wall must be pressed against the half shell. The size of the heat transfer surfaces, and thus the size of the cavities, are thus to be chosen as a function of the force to be applied. Expediently, the heat transfer surface is formed to be as small as possible so that the necessary force can be kept small.
It is furthermore provided that the plurality of storage cells in a module are connected in series and/or in parallel, where one module is formed of storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors disposed in vertical stacks of adjacent pairs, where a common carrier and at least one common heat-conducting half shell is provided for the storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors disposed in a vertical stack in groups of two.
According to a further development there is, between the cooling wall and the heat-conducting half shell, a plane in which the transfer of heat occurs and which is disposed obliquely in relation to the direction of gravity so that the module, in particular the heat-conducting half shell, is pressed by the force of gravity onto the cooling wall. By applying a defined force in the direction of gravity, the necessary force between the half shell and the cooling wall can be set. Should it be necessary in addition, a device can be provided which amplifies the force prevailing between the half shell and the cooling wall in the direction of the force.
In an extension of the invention, it is provided that at least one of the electrodes disposed in each of the storage cells and/or double-layer capacitors (in the so-called winding) consists of metal and is provided to a large extent over its entire surface with a metal layer. The metal electrode or the metal layer, in particular a metal foil, is connected in an electrically conducting manner via a connecting element to a terminal provided outside of the storage cell or outside of the double-layer capacitor. Along with this it is provided for further improvement of the cooling that a heat-conducting cooling plate, which is in thermal contact with a plurality of the terminals of the storage cells or the double-layer capacitors, dissipates the heat energy introduced by the metal electrodes or the metal layers of the electrodes to the terminal via the connecting element. According to this development, the radial cooling of the storage cells and/or the double-layer capacitors is supported by axial cooling.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Heat-dissipating device for supplying power to a hybrid or electric motor vehicle

Bayeriche Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


The present invention provides a device and a method for producing a magnetic recording medium having a lubricant membrane with a uniform thickness on a surface. The device for producing the magnetic recording medium includes: a hanger device that is inserted into the central hole of the magnetic recording medium and supports the magnetic recording medium in a hanging state; and a raising and lowering device that raises and lowers one of the hanging device and an immersion tank with respect to the other thereof. The hanger device includes a support plate of which an upper end comes into contact with an inner circumference of the magnetic recording medium and a liquid-cutting plate which extends from a lower end of the support plate and is distant by a space along the inner circumference of the magnetic recording medium from the inner circumference of the magnetic recording medium.

In recent years, improvement in recording density has been remarkable in the field of magnetic recording media used in hard disk drives (HDD). In recent years, the recording density has continuously increased at the astonishing rate of about 1.5 times per year. This improvement in the recording density is supported by a variety of technologies. One of the key technologies is a control technology of slide characteristics between a magnetic head and a magnetic recording medium.
For example, since a CSS (Contact, Start, and Stop) type, called a Winchester type, in which basic operations of contact sliding-floating-contact sliding are performed from start to stop of a magnetic head has become a main technology of hard disk drives, the contact sliding of the magnetic head on a magnetic recording medium cannot be avoided.
For this reason, resolving problems with tribology between a magnetic head and a magnetic recording medium has been the main technical issue up to the present. Thus, efforts to improve a protective film laminated on a magnetic film of a magnetic recording medium have continued, and abrasion resistance and slide resistance on the surface of the magnetic recording medium are the main areas of improvement in reliability of the magnetic recording medium.
Protective layers made of various materials in magnetic recording media have been suggested. However, carbon films have mainly been utilized from the overall viewpoint of film formation properties, durability, and the like. Further, the hardness, density, coefficient of kinetic friction, and the like of the carbon films are significantly reflected on the CSS characteristics or corrosion resistance of magnetic recording media. Therefore, the hardness, density, coefficient of kinetic friction, and the like of the carbon films are very important.
However, the durability of the magnetic recording media is not sufficiently ensured merely by forming the protective film. Therefore, a lubricant membrane is formed on the surface of the protective film. The main roles of the lubricant membrane are to prevent a protective film or the like of a magnetic recording medium from being in direct contact with the atmosphere in order to improve corrosion resistance, to prevent a magnetic head slider from coming into direct contact with the protective film when the magnetic head slider accidentally comes into contact with a data surface of the magnetic recording medium, and to considerably reduce the frictional force of the magnetic head slider that slides on the magnetic recording medium.
Here, the thickness of a lubricant membrane formed on the surface of a magnetic recording medium is precisely managed within a unit of sub-nm. Therefore, as a method of forming a lubricant membrane, a so-called dipping method of immersing a magnetic recording medium into an immersion tank that has a liquid lubricant and then raising the magnetic recording medium from the immersion tank so that a lubricant membrane with a uniform thickness is formed on the surface of the magnetic recording medium has been widely used in the past (for example, see Patent Literature 1). In this dipping method, batch processing is generally used in terms of mass production. Therefore, collective processing is performed by immersing a plurality of magnetic recording media arranged in parallel into an immersion tank.
[Patent Document 1] Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 6-150307

Method for producing and device for producing magnetic recording medium


A system that facilitates one or more of querying and updating a multi-dimensional structure comprises a component that receives a statement in a declarative language relating to a typed object associated with a multi-dimensional structure. A conversion component analyzes context associated with the statement and automatically converts the object to a disparate type as a function of the analysis. For example, an execution engine can comprise the conversion component, and the execution engine can be an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) engine.

The evolution of computers with respect to memory storage expansion and processing capabilities has enabled massive amounts of data to be accumulated and analyzed by complex and intelligent algorithms. For instance, given an accumulation of data, algorithms can analyze such data and locate patterns therein. These patterns can then be extrapolated from the data, persisted as content of data mining model(s), and applied within a desired context. With the evolution of computers from simple number-crunching machines to sophisticated devices, services can be provided that range from video/music presentation and customization to data trending and analysis.
Accordingly, tasks that at one time required skilled mathematicians to perform complex operations by hand can now be automated through utilization of computers. In a simplistic example, many individuals, rather than utilizing a skilled accountant to compute their tax liability, simply enter a series of numbers into a computer application and are provided customized tax forms from such application. Furthermore, in a web-related application, the tax forms can be automatically delivered to a government processing service. Thus, by way of utilizing designed algorithms, data can be manipulated to produce a desired result.
As complexity between relationships in data increases, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to generate an output as desired by a user. For instance, multiple relationships can exist between data, and there can be a significant number of manners by which to review and analyze such data. To obtain a desired output from the data, one must have substantial knowledge of content and structure of such data and thereafter generate a complex query to receive this data in a desired manner. Furthermore, if the data must be manipulated to obtain a desirable output, the user must have an ability to generate algorithms necessary to make the required manipulations or outsource the task to a skilled professional. Thus, expert computer programmers and/or data analyzers are typically needed to properly query a database and apply algorithms to results of these queries. Moreover, if data and/or relationships therebetween are significantly altered, the expert programmers and/or data analyzers may have to reconfigure a database query and algorithms to manipulate data returned therefrom. Furthermore, if a user or entity desires a disparate output (e.g., desires to modify data analyzed and/or modify data output), then the expert must be summoned yet again to make necessary modifications. Due to complexity and number of relationships between data, these tasks can require a substantial amount of time, even with respect to one of utmost skill. Accordingly, cost, both in monetary terms and in terms of time, can become significant to a user and/or entity, particularly in a business setting, where data must be analyzed and manipulated to create a desired output.
Conventional systems and methodologies for altering data and extracting data from multi-dimensional structures often require use of relatively lengthy statements, where each type of object analyzed needs to be precisely specified. Accordingly, a user must have substantial knowledge of structure of the multi-dimensional structure. Furthermore, the length of the statements provides opportunities for users to incorrectly enter such statements, resulting in user frustration. Another deficiency associated with conventional systems relates to aggregating data with respect to a plurality of sets. Due to possible difficulties with such aggregation, conventional systems/methodologies do not enable users to aggregate data over multiple sets.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a system and/or methodology that provides additional functionality with respect to database systems.


The present disclosure provides a method for forming an integrated circuit (IC) structure. The method includes providing a metal gate (MG), an etch stop layer (ESL) formed on the MG, and a dielectric layer formed on the ESL. The method further includes etching the ESL and the dielectric layer to form a trench. A surface of the MG exposed in the trench is oxidized to form a first oxide layer on the MG. The method further includes removing the first oxide layer using a H3PO4 solution.

The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. However, these advances have increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed.
In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component or line that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling-down also produces a relatively high power dissipation value, which may be addressed by using low power dissipation devices such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices. CMOS devices have typically been formed with a gate oxide and polysilicon gate electrode. There has been a desire to replace the gate oxide and polysilicon gate electrode with a high-k gate dielectric and metal gate electrode to improve device performance as feature sizes continue to decrease.
Accordingly, an improved method for fabricating a semiconductor device including a metal gate is desired.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


An apparatus (10) for shielding a spacecraft component (18) against space environment radiation is provided. The apparatus comprises a first layer (12) to provide primary radiation attenuation and a second layer (16) to provide primary and secondary radiation attenuation. The apparatus (10) reduces primary and secondary radiation incidence on the component (18) relative to prior art, single layer radiation shields.

Components on orbiting spacecraft may be exposed to potentially damaging space environment radiation from a number of sources, including solar particle events, trapped proton radiation, cosmic rays and secondary radiation generated due to interaction of incident primary radiation with spacecraft borne materials. A primary source of such radiation is solar particle events such as solar flares which can result in significant proton fluence at orbital altitudes. Particularly if unabated, this proton fluence can have a harmful effect on spacecraft components such as semi-conductor devices due to various nuclear and atomic processes. In particular, solar proton fluence and associated secondary radiation can damage and impair the operation of optical systems such as imaging instruments which incorporate charge-coupled devices. It is therefore desirable to shield spacecraft components against such space environment radiation.
The particular materials and amounts of materials which can be used in shielding spacecraft components are limited by practical considerations. A principal design consideration is mass limitation. As is well-known, the total mass of a spacecraft affects the propulsion requirements for inserting the spacecraft into orbit and maneuvering. It is thus desirable to minimize spacecraft mass, including shielding components, in order to reduce propellant requirements, extend mission duration, and/or increase payload. In this regard, it is customary to compare shielding materials on a weight per unit (e.g., gm/cm.sup.2) basis. Other considerations include ease of construction and the suitability of a particular material for use in a space environment. For example, shielding materials typically must be easily machinable, have low outgassing properties, and have correct thermal properties, e.g., a low coefficient of thermal expansion.
Heretofore, shields have generally been designed to reduce incident primary radiation levels and associated ionization damage. Accordingly, spacecraft component shielding has commonly been constructed from either aluminum or tantalum, each of which has primary proton radiation attenuation characteristics which are fairly well-known. Thus, to achieve a desired level of primary proton radiation attenuation, designers have provided an aluminum or tantalum shield of appropriate thickness within mass, dimensional, and other constraints. In this regard, the shield thickness has ordinarily been selected to attenuate primary radiation to a level thought sufficient to ensure device performance over the mission duration. Aluminum has been preferred for many applications because it is readily available and lightweight. Tantalum, which is a relatively dense material, has generally been used where the shielding has been subject to volumetric constraints.

Radiation shielding for spacecraft components


The present invention provides provide a dosage form that prevents misuse of the medicament contained within. The dosage form contains an inactivating substance in combination with the medicament, wherein the two substances are separated by a permeable or semi-permeable partition. The partition becomes impermeable upon activation by a medical professional, thereby effectively sequestering the inactivating substance from the medicament and allowing for the intended administration of the medicament to the patient. Unless activated, however, the inactivating substance and medicament remain commingled in the dosage form, and any attempt to dispense the medicament before activation will result in the release of inactivated medicament.

Approximately 90% of all drugs used to produce a systemic effect are administered via the oral route. Of those administered orally, tablets are preferred for a variety of reasons. For example, tablets are unit dose forms that offer the greatest uniformity of content, in a light and compact package. In addition, tablets are relatively simple and inexpensive to produce, package, and ship. Tablets also offer the greatest ease of swallowing, especially when coated, they easily lend themselves to certain special-release profile products, such as enteric or delayed-release products, and they have the best combined properties of chemical, mechanical, and microbiological stability of all oral dosage forms. For at least these reasons, a wide variety of medications are currently available in tablet form. However, oral dosage forms are not free from abuse, especially certain analgesics that are capable of rapid pain relief with a simultaneous euphoric effect.
Enteric coatings have been used to modify drug release in oral dosage forms. Enteric coatings are designed to remain intact in the stomach, but will dissolve and release the contents of the dosage form in the small intestine. The coatings are generally used to delay the release of drugs that are inactivated by the stomach contents or that may irritate the gastric mucosa, thereby causing nausea or bleeding. The action of enteric coatings results from a difference in composition of the gastric and intestinal environments with respect to pH and the presence of endogenous enzymes. Most enteric coatings are formulated to remain intact in the low pH of the stomach, but readily dissolve when the pH rises to about 4–5. The most effective enteric polymers are poly acids having a pKa of 3–5. See Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy, 19th Ed., Ed. Alfonso R. Gennaro, et al., Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (1995), p. 1653 et seq. However, enteric coatings have not been used to deter abuse and provide a tamper resistant dosage form.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,277 to Rubsamen, et al., relates to a method of controlling access to a drug that is administered by an intrapulmonary delivery device having an electronic lock and key mechanism. Access to the drug in the device is limited to the intended user by providing that user with a uniquely coded, machine readable key that matches the code on the device lock. Contacting the lock and key signals a controlling means within the device to permit use of the device. However, Rubsamen does not address the unique problems posed by abuse of oral dosage forms.
Therefore, a need exists for an oral dosage form that delivers medication when taken as directed, but when abused, the normal delivery mechanism is circumvented or interrupted to prevent abuse by an unintended user.


A method for producing a three-dimensional molded object includes forming a solidified layer, calculating a laser power, calculating a scanning speed, calculating a beam diameter, and determining that the solidified layer is poor when the laser power is outside a first reference range related to the laser power, the scanning speed is outside a second reference range related to the scanning speed, or the beam diameter is outside a third reference range related to the beam diameter.

There are various lamination molding methods. For example, powder bed fusion is a method to produce a desired three-dimensional molded object by repeating formation of a material layer made of a material powder and formation of a solidified layer by irradiation of the material layer with a laser beam. When forming the solidified layer, the laser beam having a desired laser power is adjusted to a desired beam diameter and is scanned on a predetermined irradiation region of the material layer at a desired scanning speed. It should be noted that in the specification, the beam diameter means the diameter of the laser beam on a molding surface, that is, an upper surface of the material layer.
Lamination molding apparatuses have been used not only to manufacture prototypes but also to manufacture end use products, such as dies and molds, medical parts, and aerospace parts. For this reason, lamination molding apparatuses capable of manufacturing high-quality molded objects are being requested.
U.S. Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0228987 discloses a method of periodically irradiating a reference support with a laser beam to obtain laser power and confirming whether there is a variation in a laser power.

Method for producing three-dimensional object using movable lens with control of laser power, scan speed and beam diameter


A microfluidic surface processing system includes a microfluidic probe head having a processing fluid circuit configured to dispense a surface processing fluid from a processing fluid aperture thereof; a linkage mechanism, configured to apply a force to or modulate a force applied to the microfluidic probe head towards a surface to be processed; and a lifting fluid circuit integral with the microfluidic probe head and distinct from the processing fluid circuit, the lifting fluid circuit designed for dispensing a lifting fluid from a lifting fluid aperture thereof, with pressure such as to counter the force applied or modulated by the linkage mechanism, at the level of the surface.

The invention relates in general to the field of microfluidic surface processing devices and in particular to distance-to-surface control systems for such devices.
Microfluidics generally refers to microfabricated devices, which are used for moving, sampling, mixing, analyzing and dosing liquids. Prominent features thereof originate from the peculiar behavior that liquids exhibit at the micrometer length scale. Flow of liquids in microfluidics is typically laminar. Volumes well below one nanoliter can be reached by fabricating structures with lateral dimensions in the micrometer range. Reactions that are limited at large scales (by diffusion of reactants) can be accelerated. Finally, parallel streams of liquids can possibly be accurately and reproducibility controlled, allowing for chemical reactions and gradients to be made at liquid/liquid and liquid/solid interfaces. Microfluidics are accordingly used for various applications in life sciences. Many microfluidic devices have user chip interfaces and closed flowpaths. Closed flowpaths facilitate the integration of functional elements (e.g. heaters, mixers, pumps, UV detector, valves, etc.) into one device while minimizing problems related to leaks and evaporation.
Devising systems and methods for controlling and regulating the distance of microfluidic surface processing devices to the processed surface is particularly challenging: distance control in the tens and hundred of micrometer scale is required. This is even more difficult in the context of life-sciences since the surfaces are most often immersed in liquids. The surfaces may also exhibit strong variations in the topography, composition, and may not be flat even in the macroscopic world.
The known distance control systems/methods require external control systems, as well as, in some cases, pressure regulation. For example, it is known to use a beam deflection system, using a laser and photodetector to measure the beam position. A feedback loop keeps a preset amplitude constant by adjusting the piezo-length in z direction. It is, however, difficult to focus the laser in a liquid environment, and with a liquid air interface. In other, simpler approaches, an operator visually observes the sample and makes changes accordingly. In such cases the operator is the "control" system; this approach obviously suffers from a slow time response; the precision achieved is likely questionable. Still other approaches rely on a priori calibrations. Such calibrations are however specific to particular surface topographies and are time consuming. In addition, some liquid-surface interactions will not be easy, or even not possible, to visualize.
Still other approaches consist of controlling the distance of devices under liquid using current or voltage measurements with a closed-loop system. However, such approaches require a Faraday cage and are not suitable for longer distances in the tens of micrometers, as currents needed for longer distances would cause undesired heating of the system.
There is accordingly a need for simple, yet precise distance control systems and methods for microfluidic surface processing devices.

Microfluidic surface processing systems with self-regulated distance-to surface control

International Business Machines Corporation


The present disclosure describes methods and systems for an automatic device discovery and connection protocol via a multi-device experience server. The server may register user devices and associate them with a local network. Upon receiving a request from a media device on the local network, the server may trigger a user device to automatically discover and connect to the media device, increasing speed of discovery and connections, reducing required user control and direction, and enhancing connectivity and communications between the devices, providing new channels for interaction.

Smart TV technology allows a user to stream content from the internet to a large screen device such as a TV, game console, over-the-top device, or set-top box. Smart TV devices provide advertisers with opportunities to deliver advertising, shopping cart models, or other interactive content to users via the streaming content. However, the functional limitations of a Smart TV prevent the user from fully experiencing these interactive content features. For example, an advertiser may want to deliver clickable content that redirects the user to a website. However, many Smart TVs either have simple browsers that are missing interactive content plugins (e.g., Flash, Java, Silverlight, or other NPAPI plugins) or lack a browser altogether. Smart TVs also store a minimal amount of user data making personalization of content more difficult.
Screen casting allows a smaller-screen device, such as a notebook, laptop, desktop, tablet, or smartphone, to wirelessly project or "cast" its screen onto a larger-screen device, such as a Smart TV, game console, set-top box, or other media device, or control playback on the larger-screen device of other media. A user may manually initiate a discovery procedure on the smaller-screen device, so that it may discover the larger-screen device, initiate a connection between the two devices, and begin the casting session.

Reverse discovery and pairing of client devices to a media device


To provide a multistage compressor including an injection circuit, which can continue high-efficiency and high-capacity operations even if the injection circuit is turned on/off in accordance with operating conditions. A multistage compressor includes a high stage side compressing mechanism suctioning the intermediate pressure refrigerant gas compressed with a low stage side compressing mechanism to perform two-stage compression, and an injection circuit for injecting an intermediate pressure refrigerant into the intermediate pressure refrigerant gas suctioned to the high stage side compressing mechanism, the high stage side compressing mechanism including a capacity control mechanism for bypassing a refrigerant gas that is being compressed to a suction side, the injection circuit including an on/off mechanism for performing on/off control of refrigerant injection, and the capacity control mechanism and the on/off mechanism being operated in conjunction with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multistage compressor having a low stage side compressing mechanism and a high stage side compressing mechanism incorporated in a housing.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-024086, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Hitherto, various types of multistage compressors used in an air conditioner have been proposed. To give an example thereof, there has been known a multistage compressor that includes a low stage side rotary compressing mechanism below an electric motor provided at the center of a closed housing and functions to inject a gas compressed with the mechanism into the closed housing to supply the gas as an intermediate pressure gas to a high stage side scroll compressing mechanism provided above the electric motor to compress the gas in two stages (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-87074, for instance).
Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-54975 discloses a multistage compressor that includes electric motor, low stage side and high stage side rotary compressing mechanisms provided in a closed housing and functions to inject an intermediate pressure gas compressed with the low stage side rotary compressing mechanism to a second sealed chamber provided in the closed housing as well as inject an intermediate pressure gas extracted from a refrigerant circuit side to the second sealed chamber to supply the intermediate pressure injection gas and the intermediate gas compressed with the low stage side rotary compressing mechanism to the high stage side rotary compressing mechanism to compress the gases in two stages.
Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-152839 discloses a multistage compressor that uses an R410A refrigerant to supply an intermediate gas compressed with a low stage side rotary compressing element to a high stage side rotary compressing element through a gas pipe and in addition, inject an intermediate gas extracted from a refrigerant circuit side to the gas pipe to compress the gases in two stages. In this compressor, a displacement volume ratio between the low stage side compressing element and the high stage side compressing element is 1:0.65 to 1:0.85.
Furthermore, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-73976 discloses a multistage compressor that injects a part of a CO2 refrigerant gas compressed with a low stage side rotary compressing element to a closed housing and supplies the intermediate pressure CO2 refrigerant gas and the remaining intermediate pressure CO2 refrigerant gas to a high stage side rotary compressing element through a gas pipe to compress the gases in two stages. In this compressor, a capacity ratio between the low stage side compressing element and the high stage side compressing element is 1:0.56 to 1:0.8.
The above two-stage compressors provided with the gas injection circuit as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2000-54975 and 2006-152839 can enhance efficiency and capacity of the two-stage compressor owing to an economizer effect of gas injection. However, during a mild-weather season with a low air-conditioning load, the spring or autumn, a high capacity is not necessarily required. To that end, an on/off valve may be provided to a gas injection circuit and closed to turn off the gas injection circuit if an applied load is low. In this case, as in the two-stage compressors as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 5-87074 and 2001-73976, the compressor functions as a two-stage compressor provided with no gas injection circuit.
However, as understood from the above publications, in the two-stage compressor, an optimum compression ratio between a low stage side compressing element and a high stage side compressing element varies depending on whether a gas injection circuit is provided. Therefore, in a two-stage compressor including a gas injection circuit, if an on/off valve is provided to the gas injection circuit turn on/off the gas injection circuit, a compression ratio between a low stage side and a high stage side is changed, and a preset optimum compression ratio is lost to decrease efficiency and capacity.
This phenomenon might occur also in the case of using a liquid injection circuit that injects an intermediate pressure liquid refrigerant in place of the gas injection circuit.


An pinion gear includes a shaft having an input end, an output end and an intermediate portion being disposed therebetween. The input end includes a spline portion for directly securing the pinion gear to a drive shaft. The output end includes gear teeth for meshing engagement with a ring gear of a drive gear assembly. The intermediate portion includes a surface for mounting a bearing for supporting the pinion gear during use.

1. Field of the Invention
A pinion gear for transmitting rotary motion to a drive assembly for an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) is provided wherein the pinion gear is spline coupled directly to a drive shaft.
2. Description of Background Art
Hithertofore, pinion gears have been provided for all-terrain vehicles wherein a collar is positioned on the input side of the pinion gear for providing a spline to couple the pinion gear to the drive shaft. This arrangement requires a threaded section to be formed in an end portion of the input side of the pinion gear so as to permit a nut to retain the collar relative thereto. A conventional pinion gear for an all-terrain vehicle is expensive to construct in view of the multiple parts that are required and the machining to secure the parts relative to each other.
It is difficult to service a pinion gear of a conventional all-terrain vehicle due to the complicated arrangement which requires disconnecting the threaded nut and the collar during repairs.

Pinion gear with splined coupling directly to a drive shaft


A method of using a photosensor as an encoder and a trigger in a production apparatus includes imaging natural surface features of a target, generating data frames of the surface features using the photosensor, processing the data frames to detect movement of the target, and triggering otherwise dormant production components once a movement of the target is detected.

Image printing devices require precise measurements of internal moving parts and image receiving mediums in order to produce accurate images. Optical encoders have traditionally been employed to monitor the moving parts of image printing devices assuring correct placement of an image being formed on an image receiving medium. An optical encoder is a device that detects and measures movement (either linear or rotary) through the use of one or more photosensor elements. In order to measure the movement of a selected device, a reference object is formed having a known repetitive pattern of reflective and non-reflective regions that can be detected by the photosensor elements. When there is relative motion between the reference object and the photosensor elements, the repetitive pattern passes through an illuminated area and the light is modulated by the reflective and non-reflective regions. This modulated light is detected by the photosensor elements at a rate proportional to the rate of relative motion between the encoder and the reference object.
The above-mentioned method has traditionally been used to detect and measure the position of print heads in ink-jet image forming devices. An encoder assembly would be secured to a print head while a patterned strip is placed on a stationary object near the path of the print head. When the print head moved relative to the patterned strip, the repetitive pattern would modulate light that could subsequently be detected by photosensor elements at a rate proportional to the rate of linear movement of the print head. The photosensor elements, in turn, would output a signal indicative of the linear movement of the print head which could then be used to control the linear rate or position of the print head.
The traditional use of patterned targets requires strict adherence to encoder specifications in order to assure proper encoder accuracy. Moreover, numerous manufacturing steps and multiple parts are required for proper encoder use within an image forming device increasing the cost and difficulty of manufacturing.

Methods and means for using a photosensor as an encoder and a trigger

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.