A method for processing a textile fraction, which was produced in the processing of discarded tires, includes:                loosening the textile fraction,        density separation of the loosened textile fraction by the force of gravity and air flow into a heavy material fraction and a light material fraction,        separation of metallic components from the light material fraction contained in the air flow, and        separation of the metal-reduced light material fraction from the air flow.

Discarded tires represent a considerable material flow of a relatively homogeneous type of scrap. Approximately 511,000 t of tires accumulate annually in Germany as discarded tires from the replacement business in the area of repair shop waste disposal and in replacement part retail, approximately 9,000 t of discarded tires are imported, and approximately 65,000 t of discarded tires come from the recycling of discarded vehicles. Thus annually around 585,000 t of tires await further use, recycling or removal in Germany.
Today, a major part of the discarded tires is recycled as energy. Thus, for years, the cement industry has already been using discarded tires as a fuel value-rich secondary raw material for its kilns. Approximately 72,000 t of tires are thus recycled as energy. The second largest utilization of discarded tires is the further use e.g. for retreading, export, use in agriculture or in port facilities. Thus around 120,000 t are kept in the circulation of materials.
Increasingly, however, discarded tires are also processed in order to be fed into an extensive material recycling process.
As the first steps in the processing of discarded tires for the purpose of producing rubber granulate or rubber meal, the main components are broken down by shredding into the fractions of rubber, steel wire and textile crude lint (tire crude lint or textile fraction). These three fractions may then be roughly separated by sorting. There already exist sufficiently developed processes for processing the rubber granulate into marketable high-grade qualities. The textile and steel fractions, by contrast, are so far not processed in an optimized manner and consequently cannot be recycled in an optimized manner. According to the current state of the processing methods, the steel wire fraction still has rubber adhering to it, which has a negative technical and hence also economic effect on metallurgical recycling. Involving the additional payment of waste disposal fees, the textile fraction is hitherto fed into a thermal removal process or a process of recycling as energy. Currently there exist no methods for processing specifically the textile fraction.
In addition there are certain legal prescriptions, which obligate the manufacturers of vehicle tires or of motor vehicles to ensure the environmentally safe recycling or removal of their products. For handling discarded tires from repair shop waste disposal, there are additionally the obligations that automobile manufacturers in this sector have assumed in connection with the legislation regarding the regulation on packaging. The handling of discarded tires from the recycling of discarded vehicles is furthermore covered by the regulation on discarded vehicles, which stipulates that the manufacturers of vehicles must take back discarded vehicles and their parts and feed them into a recycling process. Beginning in 2015, at least 95 percent by weight of a discarded vehicle must be fed into a reuse and recycling process and of this in turn around 85 percent by weight must be fed into a reuse and material recycling process. In discarded tires, the portion of rubber (rubber, fillers, other) may be assessed at approximately 60%, and the portion of reinforcement materials at approximately 40% (17% steel wire, 23% textile).
German Published Patent Application No. 103 57 968 describes a recycling installation and a method for processing (cold shredding) rubber products and steel-rubber composites such as discarded tires of motor vehicles for example. The processing material is first pre-shredded, is embrittled in a downstream cooling zone, is shredded further in an intermediate shredder, and the shredded and portioned processing material is then ground up and torn up using a post-shredder. The steel and the rubber are exposed and selected using a vibrating table having a connected magnetic separator. The textile reinforcement layers exposed following the shredding processes are to be taken out of the shredded processing material using a separating device in the form of an air sifting device, the separating device preferably being arranged in the form of a blower. The separated textile reinforcement layers are subsequently fed into a packaging process in a textile conveyor device.
German Published Patent Application No. 30 39 870 describes a method for separating rubber and metal in discarded tires, which is supposed to separate, in an economically feasible manner, the metal and the rubber so completely that they are reusable. For this purpose, the discarded tire is first shredded and the metal in the shredded tire is heated in an electromagnetic high-frequency field, whereby the boundary layer of the rubber resting against the metal is thermally disintegrated and the metal can then be separated from the rubber.

Method for processing a textile fraction, which was produced in the processing of discarded tires, and installation for implementing the method

Abstract: The foregoing combination allows for such an effective separation of a major part of the non-textile components (rubber and in particular steel wires) from the textile fraction, and thus allows for the production of a “refined” textile fraction, that it is not possible to dispose of the latter or that the latter can only be recycled as energy, but rather that it may be fed into a material recycling process.


The invention, in various embodiments, provides systems, methods and devices relating to processing a sample. Aspects presented herein relate to collecting, stabilizing, pulverizing, fragmenting, and/or analyzing biological and non-biological sample specimens. Before constituents of sample specimens are analyzed, the sample specimens may be fragmented into a plurality of smaller specimens. Such smaller specimens may then be stored, analyzed, or further processed.

A first step in sample analysis typically involves collecting the sample. For example, a first step in a biological analysis such as RNA gene expression profiling or protein biomarker profiling is to collect a particular sample so that its biochemical constituents can be analyzed. However, prior to analysis, a solid sample specimen, typically, is prepared by deconstructing it into a plurality of smaller fragments of the specimen to enable more accurate analysis.
Recently, downstream analytical processing of samples has undergone significant improvements, including with regard to sensitivity, throughput and like. Due to these significant improvements in downstream processes, deficiencies in upstream sample collection and preparation have become more apparent. One upstream processing enhancement has been the ultrasonic systems and methods for treating a sample described in co-pending, co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/777,014, entitled Apparatus and Methods for Controlling Sonic Treatment," the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
A challenge of sample preparation is that the types of samples are diverse. For example, samples may be biological, non-biological or a combination thereof. They may be from animals or plants. Samples may include, without limitation, cells, tissues, organelles, bones, seeds, chemical compounds, minerals, metals, or any other material for which analysis is desired.
Sample preparation is particularly challenging for solid biological samples, such as tissue samples. Physical and/or chemical approaches are often employed to disrupt and homogenize the solid sample for biochemical extraction. While appearing deceptively simple, transitioning a sample of biologically active tissue, for example, on the order of 1 gram, to a plurality of biomolecules that are stabilized and isolated in an appropriate analytical solution is exceedingly complex, very difficult to control, and prone to introduction of errors and/or sample constituent degradation.
Another challenge associated with sample preparation relates to the lability of the target molecules. For some applications, an overriding criterion is to retain the native biochemical environment prior to sample collection and throughout the extraction process, without perturbing the biochemical constituents to be analyzed. For example, RNases are extremely robust and may significantly degrade the mRNA profile of a tissue sample if the RNases are not immediately stabilized (typically thermal or chemical inactivation) at the time of tissue collection and during sample processing or homogenization. Often, to minimize perturbation of the biochemical profile of the sample, the tissue is flash-frozen (e.g., via direct immersion of the sample following procurement in liquid nitrogen) and stored at cryogenic temperatures (e.g., −80° C. or lower), which inhibits degradative processes.
Conventionally, once a sample is stabilized from thermal and/or chemical degradation, it is pulverized in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of about −196° C., for example, using a mortar and pestle. Other pulverizing systems available include a rotor-stator (polytron) and a bead-beater apparatus, which do not operate at cryogenic temperatures. In a typical example, a frozen specimen having a volume of approximately 1 cm3 may be fragmented into a plurality of solid fragments each having a volume of approximately 100 um3 or less.
Prior art approaches for performing such fragmentation suffer from many drawbacks. One such drawback is that liquid nitrogen is difficult and hazardous to work with. Another drawback is that prior art approaches can be slow and tedious. A further drawback is they involve direct contact between the sample and the fragmenting agents. For example, the sample, typically, is not contained during fragmentation causing portions of the sample to be deposited on the fragmenting devices in a non-recoverable manner. This, in turn, causes reduced sample recovery and extensive apparatus cleaning between operating cycles. Also, such deposits cause increased operator exposure to potentially hazardous samples, and/or the sample may be degraded by enzymes, bacteria, fungi, or other external contaminants.
Another challenge to sample preparation is maintaining the sample at an appropriate temperature. A disadvantage of the direct contact prior art devices, particularly the automated prior art devices, is that the sample may become sufficiently heated to cause the sample to degrade. This disadvantage is accentuated by sample fragmentation due to increased thermo-sensitivity resulting from increased surface area. Thawing also makes it difficult to transfer sample particles to a vessel for further processing. Another drawback is that conventional techniques have size range limitations. For example, a high percentage of a 25-mg sample would be lost in a 5-ml bead-beating system, causing unacceptably low sample recovery.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved approach to preparing samples for further analysis.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A records manager manages life cycle phases of records managed by a host application program. The records manager is in communication with the host application program over a network and includes a file plan database, a record management engine and an application program interface. The file plan database includes at least one file plan object, with each file plan object having a life cycle rule. The record management engine is configured to manage life cycle states of the record. The application program interface is in communication with the record management engine and is configured to transmit to the host application program over the network indications of changes in the life cycle phases.

The conventional records management system consists of a database having entries each associated with a respective electronic record. Typically, each entry includes fields which identify the title, author, publication date, subject matter, status and location of the associated record. In addition, each entry may also include a record retention data field which identifies the time period after which the record should be archived to storage, and the time period after which the archived record should be destroyed.
Typically, record management systems have been used to manage libraries of paper or otherwise tangible documents. However, given the proliferation of electronic documents, such as word processing documents, spreadsheet documents, drawing documents and e-mail, attempts have been made to provide software solutions for managing electronic records, including their retention and disposal.
For instance, in 1993 Mutoh (U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,423) described a computer-based information life cycle management system including an information management program, terminals from which a user may issue a processing request, data processing storage spaces for storing information objects having a particular life cycle state, and storage devices which store information associated with the information objects. Stored information includes the owner of each information object, the users allowed to use each information object, the parent/child information object hierarchy for each information object, and the life cycle data for each information object (such as the life cycle states, the conditions or timing for transforming an object between states, and the life cycle state sequence). Disclosed life cycle states include an approved state (where the contents of the object have been approved, but use of the object contents has not yet been allowed), an open state (where use of the object contents is allowed), a seal state (where use of the object contents by anyone other than the owner is prohibited) and an abort state (where the object is deleted).
Upon receipt of a processing request from a terminal, such as a request to define an object, the information management program presents the user with an object list which allows the user to specify the information for the object to be generated, such as the information object hierarchy, the life cycle information, the users and their access privileges. Subsequently, if the information management program receives an access request or a state transform request, the information management program performs the requested operation if the operation is in accordance with the owner/user information and the life cycle information. If the information management program performs a state transform on the information object in response to a state transform request from a terminal, the information management program also performs any necessary life cycle transforms on child information objects or parent information objects, as determined by the parent/child hierarchy for the object, and moves each information object to the storage space associated with its new life cycle state. If the information object has been transformed to the abort state, the information management program also deletes the information object.
In 1995, Johnson (U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,009) described a computer-based information location management system which includes a data filter for processing incoming electronic records, one or more permanent storage devices (eg. a WORM platter) for storage of the records, a database which contains information associated with the records, and a records manager interface. The patentee described a hierarchical filing structure for the records, which included a "cabinet" representing a physical storage location, a "case type" representing a type of the file (eg. contract), a "case" representing a specific instance of the parent case type, a "folder" which represents a logical filing unit within a "case", and a "document" which represents individual documents within a "folder".
The data filter is configured to receive electronic records, including scanned images, word processing files, and voice data. Upon receipt of an electronic record, the data filter verifies that the record header includes the appropriate filing and index data (eg. physical storage location, data/time, retention data). The data filter then attaches a tag which the database uses to track the storage location, and retention data associated with the record. The received record is then "certified", either automatically or via operator intervention, by storing the record in one of the "permanent" storage devices and updating the database with the retention data and the location of the record within the filing structure. In order to facilitate the subsequent deletion of records from the permanent storage, records having similar retention periods are stored on the same physical storage device.
Periodically, a records manager can use the interface to query the database for a list of all records having a date of destruction predating the query date. The records manager can then change the retention data for any of the listed records, and delete any or all of the listed records from the permanent storage. If any of the records are stored offsite, the records manager issues a command to the offsite storage requesting that the specified electronic record(s) be deleted. Upon receipt of confirmation that the specified records have been deleted, the records manager updates the database to reflect the deletion.
Although Mutoh and Johnson describe complete solutions for managing electronic records from inception to deletion, the records must be copied out of the environment in which they were created. Mutoh discloses that this step is necessary to provide efficient data processing of the records, whereas Johnson discloses that this step is necessary to allow a court to assess the knowledge and skill of the individual who stored the records, and thereby rule upon the admissibility of the stored records. As a consequence, both Mutoh and Johnson must implement an access protocol and a corresponding user interface to prevent unauthorized access to the stored records. Since the software environment used to create the records will typically have its own access protocol and its own user interface, these solutions unnecessarily increase the computing resources required.
Further, although Johnson discloses that records can be automatically certified for use by the information management program, automatic certification requires that the records arrive at the data filter already carrying the appropriate filing and index data. Since Johnson discloses that the records are stored in a hierarchical filing structure, users must become familiar with the operation of the information management program to at least supply the requisite filing data. This requirement impedes the adoption of the information management program, particular by users reluctant to learn multiple user interfaces.
Therefore, there remains a long-felt need for a satisfactory management system for managing electronic records.

International Business Machines Corporation


In connection with making cast paving bricks of concrete with rectangular basic shape, sometimes there is performed a finishing treatment of the bricks by “rumbling” where the bricks otherwise organized on pallets or a casting board are transferred to a cylindric drum where these are tumbled with the purpose of achieving a surface with particular appearance. It has appeared that rumbled bricks, for price reasons, are preferred to be delivered in bulk, as a subsequent manually performed pelletizing is a relatively expensive element. Thus there is indicated a sorting unit including a conveyor with a conveyor belt over the surface of which, between a receiving area for the bricks and a delivery area, there are mutually spaced guide bars disposed obliquely in relation to the direction of movement (F) of the conveyor, by which the bricks are guided in a row with the same orientation for subsequent pelletizing by machine.

The present invention concerns a sorting unit for sorting items supplied to the sorting unit in bulk, preferably paving bricks with rectangular basic shape.
The need for special sorting units arises in particular in connection with production facilities for cast paving bricks, where the cast items are subjected to finishing treatment before transporting to stock or to the end user. Under normal circumstances, such cast block bricks may be laid out on the casting board in formation where they may palletised relatively easily after drying without any sorting in advance.
Certain types of paving brick are, however, after hardening of the concrete are subjected to finishing treatment in the form of "rumbling", where the bricks otherwise arrayed on the casting board are transferred to a cylindric rotating drum, and the bricks are applied a kind of mellowness in that they are bumping against each other during the tumbling/rolling, whereby the edges of the brick are slightly blurred, and the surface is imparted a special, slightly worn appearance.
After the above treatment, the said paving bricks will be led out from the drum and are subsequently found in bulk, i.e. in a pile without any special arrangement of the bricks. In some cases, one has subsequently performed palletising of the bricks which is a particularly costly work, as individual bricks are to be handled manually and be laid upon a pallet, inferring that the price for rumbled bricks arranged on pallets is considerably greater than for similar bricks delivered in bulk. The advantage of delivering the bricks on pallets is that these are more easily handled/laid out than if they are only delivered in bulk, where they e.g. are tilted off a lorry upon the ground in a pile, from which they are transported/handled manually to the final laying site.
The need for rumbled paving bricks of concrete laid on pallets before delivery is thus great, but until now the purchasers of said types of paving bricks have refrained from having these delivered in palletised condition to a greater extent due to the somewhat higher delivery price for said bricks. Furthermore, it is to be noted that for the producer/wholesaler of the paving bricks delivered in bulk, it may sometimes be difficult to determine the accurate number of bricks delivered in connection with orders of a given number of square meters when the brick are in bulk. On the part of the producer/provider it is also necessary to be able to deliver the paving bricks in palletised condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,739, Sikorski, discloses an apparatus for unscrambling containers, where a take away conveyor; a shunting bar converging toward said take away conveyor; means for conveying containers to and along the shunting bar toward the take away conveyor; means for vibrating the shunting bar to assure free flow movement of the containers from the bar onto the take away conveyor; and means on the bar for effecting spinning of the containers which contact the bar by being propelled there toward by said conveying means, and wherein said means for effecting spinning comprises a frictional cushioning strip attached to and providing a facing of substantial thickness along the bar. The cushioned bar is mounted as a deflector across the path of side by side progressive speed advancing conveyors to divert containers randomly placed thereon toward single file orientation on a maximum speed take away conveyor. Oscillation of the bar jogs the containers to prevent jamming.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,224, Denker, discloses a conveyor system, which receives products in random order at its inlet end and delivers product in a serial aligned order at its outlet end. The conveyor system comprises first and second endless belt conveyors, which are longitudinally aligned and positioned such that the product exiting the first conveyor is received on the second conveyor. The first conveyor is of a greater width than the second and at the location where they meet is a third endless belt conveyor moving in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal flow direction of the other two. The machine that feeds products to the first conveyor is set at a desired product flow rate in terms of products-per-minute and the speed of the first conveyor is set to handle that capacity. The second belt is driven at a speed equal to or greater than the product-per-minute rate times the product length. As misaligned products flowing on the first conveyor are intercepted by the transversely positioned third conveyor, the products are rotated as they are urged onto the second conveyor so that the length dimension of the products is generally aligned with the second conveyor.

Sorting plant for sorting items fed in bulk


A buckle includes a socket (10), a plug (20) of which tip end part can be inserted into and released from the socket by pressing both sides of the socket by a manual operation. The plug has a base (21) located on a base end of the plug, a pair of lock arms (22) extending to the tip end of the plug from the base, an engaging part (24) provided on the intermediary of the lock arm and engageable with the inside of the socket, a pressing part (25) provided on the intermediary of the lock arm and pressed by the manual operation, and a bridge (30) for connecting the intermediaries of the lock arms.

An object of the present invention is to provide a buckle of a side-release type or a side-push type, which can avoid breakage of a lock arm due to overextension and sufficiently facilitate a manual operation for decoupling the buckle.
A buckle according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a socket; a plug having a tip end to be inserted to the socket and to be released from the socket by pressing from both sides of the socket, the plug having a base formed on a base end, at least a pair of lock arms extending from the base to the tip end of the plug, an engaging part formed on a part of the lock arm to be engageable with the socket, and a pressing part disposed at a part of the lock arm to be pressed when the socket is released; and a bridge connecting the parts of at least the pair of lock arms.
According to the above arrangement, the bridge restricts overextension of the lock arm to prevent its breakage. Further, since at least the pair of lock arms is connected together, the bridge can be positioned at a sufficiently wide space compared to the conventional buckle at which the bridge is connected to the guide bar, thereby allowing flexible deformation and a smooth operation for decoupling the buckle.
Preferably, in the buckle of the above aspect of the present invention, both ends of the bridge are connected to the lock arms, and a central part of the bridge is located on the side of the tip end of the plug relative to the both ends.
With such configuration, the bridge is so disposed to be close to the tip end as a whole, therefore, the lock arm more securely prevents other material from getting hereinto.
Preferably, in the buckle of the above aspect of the present invention, the both ends of the bridge are located on the side of the base end of the plug relative to the pressing part, and the central part of the bridge is located on the side of the tip end of the plug relative to the pressing part.
With such configuration, the bridge is positioned within an area where a manual operating force is applied onto the pressing parts, so that the bridge can readily receive the operation force thereby realizing smooth operation.
Preferably, in the buckle of the above aspect of the present invention, the bridge is approximately V-shaped bent at the central part.
With such configuration, the V-shaped bending part can induce deformation of the bridge, thereby realizing further smooth operation.
Preferably, in the buckle of the above aspect of the present invention, the center angle of the approximately V-shape is 90 degrees or less.
Accordingly, the angle being 90 degrees or less defines a round configuration which can be readily deformed when the bridge is pressed via the both ends, although the angle being more than 90 degrees defines a linear-like connection between both ends, and it would be more linear as the angle increases. Therefore, smooth operation can be further emphasized.
A buckle according to another aspect of the present invention includes: a socket; a plug having a tip end to be inserted to the socket and to be released from the socket by pressing from both sides of the socket, the plug having a base formed on a base end, at least a pair of lock arms extending from the base to the tip end of the plug, at least one guide bar disposed between the lock arms, an engaging part formed on a part of the lock arm to be engageable with the socket, and a pressing part disposed at a part of the lock arm to be pressed when the socket is released; and a bridge connecting the parts of at least the pair of lock arms and extending around a tip end of the guide bar.
According to the above arrangement, the bridge restricts overextension of the lock arm to prevent its breakage as in the case without the guide bar. Further, since the bridge connects at least the pair of lock arms together, it can be positioned at a sufficiently wide space compared to the conventional buckle at which the bridge is connected to the guide bar, thereby allowing flexible deformation and a smooth operation for decoupling the buckle.
Preferably, in the buckle of the above aspect of the present invention, the tip end of the guide bar is located on the side of the tip end of the plug relative to the both ends of the bridge and the bridge extending around the tip end of the guide bar at the central part thereof.
With such configuration, when the lock arm is overextended, the bridge is flexed and contacts the tip end of the guide bar thereby restricting overextension of the lock arm. At this time, if the tip end of the guide bar is located on the side of the tip end of the plug relative to the both end of the bridge, the bridge can restrict overextension of the lock arm while bending. That is, the bridge is further bent to reduce pressing force under ordinary condition and to restrict overextension of the lock arm in an earlier step of its deformation. Further, an adjustment of the contacting position with the tip end of the guide bar can control the timing to restrict overextension.


A washing method for removing oily soil from an object stained therewith by contacting the object with a non-flammable washing agent composition comprising 0.001 to 30 parts of a fluorine-free absorbent which can absorb and capture oily soil and not less than 70 parts of perfluorocarbon liquid to remove the soil from the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a novel washing agent and a washing method utilized for laundry, dry-cleaning, and washing of electronic parts, circuit substrates, precision machines, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional washing methods, water has been used to remove water-soluble soil effectively in laundry since washing was begun historically. However, garments made of material apt to sustain damages such as shrinkage and loosing their trim appearance resulting from the use of water, such as wool and silk are treated with dry-cleaning. Various washing agents are properly used taking damages given to garments into consideration, for example, perchloroethylene, organic solvents etc. which are effective in removing oily soil are employed for dry-cleaning, and CFC-113 which can retain good feeling or garments, and petroleum solvents are also employed properly. Powder cleaning using powdered corn core, etc. and shampoo cleaning utilizing foams are also known.

Method for washing oily soil from objects


A compiler and compilation method for processing a source program in a programming language in the Scheme/Lisp family into a representation known as continuation-passing style (CPS) before generating object code, with optimization also being involved in the processing. To simplify the code generator and optimization, and to allow the same code generator to be used for both non-loop as well as for loop functions, novel algorithms are described which find in the standard CPS intermediate tree sets of non-continuation lambda expressions with a common continuation, which can then be converted to optimized CPS code that can be processed by the same code generator as non-loop continuation functions.

Several compilation systems for programming languages in the Scheme/Lisp family of programming languages convert a source program into a representation known as continuation-passing style, or CPS, in order to analyze and optimize the program being compiled. CPS represents the program as a particular organization of lambda expressions. CPS representation makes flow-of-control information explicit through the use of continuations. Although continuations are formally functions, they differ from non-continuation lambda expressions (NCLEs) in that they do not themselves have continuation arguments. Except in special cases, NCLEs must be able to "return" to their callers by invoking a continuation argument; typically this is realized by generating a call instruction when invoking the NCLE. Continuation functions, on the other hand, can always be invoked with just a branch instruction.
For an explanation in detail of standard CPS conversion, as well as a description of example algorithms, reference is made to "Rabbit: A Compiler For Scheme" by Steele, published in MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Technical Report 474, May 1978 (especially pp. 56-59); and "Orbit: An Optimizing Compiler For Scheme," by Kranz, YALEU/DCS/RR-632, Feb. 1988 (especially pp. 20-26) available from the Yale University Library, the contents of which publications are herein incorporated by reference. For further background, see also "Compiling With Continuations" by Appel, publ. 1992 by Cambridge University Press.
To summarize briefly, CPS conversion makes continuations explicit by transforming the program to continuation-passing style. Each source language lambda expression is given an additional formal parameter bound to a continuation to be invoked with the result of executing the body. Each call is provided with a corresponding extra argument, the continuation to the call. An intermediate node tree known as the CPS tree is produced.
More specifically, the transformation or conversion consists of adding an extra argument, a continuation, to each combination. Each lambda expression is similarly changed by introducing an extra formal parameter to correspond to the continuation it will be passed. After the transformation, the notions of procedure call and return have been unified; i.e., procedures no longer return. Instead, a procedure does a computation and calls its continuation with the result of the computation as argument.
A typical standard CPS compiler distinguishes between lambda expressions which are continuations and those which are not continuations and processes them differently.
Scheme and related programming languages use recursion in the source language to express iteration. A typical standard CPS compiler detects these "tail recursion loops", and uses a different code generation algorithm for loop functions than for non-loop functions.

System for conversion of loop functions in continuation-passing style


A vacuum cleaner (1) comprises an inlet (13), an outlet, a fan (14) for creating a flow of air through the vacuum cleaner (1) by drawing air to be cleaned through the inlet (13) into the vacuum cleaner (1) and by exhausting air through the outlet outwardly of the vacuum cleaner (1) and a separator (15, 41). The separator (15, 41) is rotatably arranged around an rotation axis (21), for creating, during use, a column of rotating air to separate at least a portion of the airborne particles (10) from the flow of air. The separator (15, 41) includes a number of vanes (25, 44) for the creation of the column of rotating air, wherein each vane (25, 44) is provided with a leading face (26) and a trailing face (27). The leading faces (26) of the vanes (25, 44) are inclined with respect to the rotation axis (21) for conveying the airborne particles (10) at least in an axial direction.

Such a vacuum cleaner is known from U.S. 2004/0068826 A1. By the vacuum cleaner disclosed in U.S. 2004/0068826 A1 air with airborne particulates and water droplets are being moved from the air inlet opening to the separator. The separator includes a cup shaped body having a bottom and a wall, further defined by a plurality of vanes extending upwardly from the bottom to an open top. The vanes comprise a curved flow surface for increased particulate separation and reductions in aerodynamic losses. The vanes extend longitudinally with respect to a body and are generally tapered radially relative to a rotation axis of the separator like an air foil. The curved flow surface extends along the length of each of the vanes. The separator comprises vanes to force the air and the airborne particulates to rotate about the rotation axis of the separator. Due to centrifugal forces the airborne particulates will be moved away from the vanes. The longitudinally extending vanes define a plurality of longitudinal gaps or openings, formed there between. Fluid and particulates are drawn into the exterior of the separator via the gaps. As the particulates are drawn in, the separator, which is being rotated at a relatively high angular velocity, applies a centrifugal force to the particulates and to the air and water. The particulates are forced outwardly of the separator body where they can be expelled back into a water bath. Cleaned air is then exhausted from the separator through an outlet.
EP 1219223 A2 discloses a liquid-assisted suction cleaner with a separator rotating at high speed, of a truncated-cone shaped structure formed of a number of radial helical vanes, slightly concave externally, whose width and thickness decrease from a thick ring, forming the greater base, to the smaller base with a flat bottom, said vanes being held firm by an internal ring, said separator being preferably constructed in one single piece of plastic material, balanced by adjustment, in the die used to mould it, of the depth of cavities made in the thick ring and in the bottom, a coat of epoxy paint being applied inside and outside to prevent formation of humid areas that would lead to variations in dimensions that in turn would be the cause of vibrations.
EP 0890335 A1 discloses separator unit for liquid bath vacuum cleaners used for separating from the introduced air the particles of dirt and/or dust sucked with drops of water, the separator unit comprising at least a hollow body shaped like a truncated cone assembled on the drive shaft of the intake assembly of the vacuum cleaner, the hollow body including laterally a plurality of longitudinal slits to discharge the introduced particles of dirt/dust and/or drops of liquid, the separator unit comprising a disk-shaped supporting element axially holed and keyed onto the drive shaft, the supporting element being coupled with the hollow body by means of a peripheral edge with a tooth to couple with the upper edge of the hollow body, the supporting element including a plurality of radial apertures for the passage of the ingested air and a plurality of discharge slits made radially on the portion of the peripheral edge which defines the tooth.
U.S. 2004/098958 A1 discloses a separator for a wet vacuum cleaner has a bottom and a sidewall connected to the bottom. The sidewall has lamellas delimiting slots, wherein through the slots an air/gas flow enters an interior of the separator, delimited by the bottom and the sidewall, wherein the air/gas flow contains dirt/dust particles and/or water droplets. The lamellas each have at least one radial outer widened section, extending in a rotational direction of the separator, and at least one remaining lamella section, wherein the at least one radial outer widened section and the at least one remaining lamella section delimit together a turbulence chamber, respectively. In view of today's requirements in the field of sustainability there is a call for low-energy or energy-saving devices. As a result of this there is a continuous ambition to improve on the energy consumption of domestic appliances such as vacuum cleaners.


A flexible touch substrate and a touch device including the flexible touch substrate are provided. The flexible touch substrate includes a plurality of sides. Each of at least one of the plurality of sides has notches at its both ends. Each of the notches has two edges whose extension directions cross each other, and the two edges of each of the notches have a same length.

With the development of science and technology, flexible touch devices have come into human life. Currently, the touch function of each of the touch devices is usually provided on a light exit surface (e.g., the surface on which information is displayed by the touch device when it is operating normally) only. Therefore, it is desirable to increase a touch region of a touch device such that a user can interact with the touch device more agilely and more conveniently.

Flexible touch substrate and touch device that have reduced parasitic capacitance between different signal lines

HEFEI XINSHENG OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A roll-on/roll-off, aircraft-borne sensor pod deployment system having an operator station and a sensor pallet system and method of using same. The operator station has a base platform, a shelter box mounted on the base platform for accommodating a human operator, and a computer installed inside the shelter box. The sensor pallet system has a base platform, a linear system mounted on the base platform, a rotational system mounted on the linear system, a mechanical arm attached to the rotational system, a sensor pod attached to the mechanical arm, and an electrical control system that provides power to the deployment system and controls movements of the sensor pallet system. In operation, the sensor pod can be retracted into a compact, stowing position, or extended out an opening in the aircraft for an unobstructed field of view. The deployment system optionally includes an apparatus and method for sealing the aircraft opening.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sensor deployment systems, and in particular, to an aircraft-borne system for deploying a sensor pod with an unobstructed field of view.
2. Description of the Related Art
The technology of aerial sensors has become an increasingly popular field of research and development for military and civilian aircraft. Aerial sensor platforms have always experienced limitations in terms of their field of view with respect to a ground target. The positioning (side doors, rear cargo ramps, sensor pods attached to plane structures, etc.) of a sensor platform on the plane can severely limit the field of view capabilities of the sensors on the sensor platform. Data collected from such sensors is therefore limited.
For example, one or more sensors may be placed on a simple boom and extended straight out the rear cargo ramp of an aircraft such as a C-130. The field of view of such boom-extended sensors is limited by the body of the aircraft. Such sensors may not be able to collect data from areas in front of the aircraft. Additionally, the use of boom-extended sensors can be problematic at high altitudes. At flight levels above a ceiling of 10,000 feet, it is necessary to seal the cargo holds of aircraft such as C-130s in order to maintain proper air pressure for the safety and comfort of the crew and operators, and thereby achieve full mission support capabilities for reconnaissance and/or data collection needs. However, the boom itself, power cords, and data cords prevent the rear cargo door and ramp from fully closing while the sensors are deployed outside the rear of the aircraft. Furthermore, sensors placed on the end of a boom may not have the required stability for precision data collection, nor would the sensors be protected from weather and high drag forces experienced during flight.
Other considerations applicable to the use of aircraft-borne sensors are the space and resources available in the aircraft and the ease with which the sensor system is loaded and unloaded from the aircraft. The only resources aboard a C-130 aircraft immediately useful without modification to the aircraft for remote sensing applications are electrical power and communication connectors accessible from the cargo bay. A sensor deployment system used on a C-130 aircraft must therefore not only conform to the dimensional and weight limits imposed by the C-130 aircraft design and operation, but must also conform to the electrical limits likewise imposed by the C-130 aircraft design and operation. Military aircraft such as the C-130 require the use of "standard" pallets as a base platform for transporting cargo to prevent damage to the floor of the aircraft and for ease and speed of loading and unloading the aircraft. For this purpose, a standard 463L Systems Cargo Pallet is used on C-130 aircraft by the United States Armed Forces. To ease and speed the loading and unloading of the C-130 aircraft, these pallets are loaded into C-130 aircraft by means of a series of roller systems on the floor of the rear cargo ramp and on the floor inside the C-130 fuselage. A sensor system used on a C-130 aircraft therefore preferably is compatible with the floor and roller systems on a C-130 aircraft.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a robust, roll-on/roll-off system for deploying sensors out of the rear cargo door of an aircraft such that the sensors remain stable and protected, with an unobstructed field of view. There is also a need for a system for sealing the cargo hold of an aircraft where the rear cargo doors are partially opened to accommodate the aforementioned sensor deployment system.


The present invention aims at providing structural materials having a resistance to degradation by neutron irradiation, causing no SCC in an environment of light-water reactors even after subjecting the materials to neutron irradiation of approximately at least 1.times.10.sup.22 n/cm.sup.2 (E>1 MeV), and having thermal expansion coefficients approximately similar to that of structural materials. The high nickel austenitic stainless steels of the present invention having a resistance to degradation by neutron irradiation can be produced by subjecting stainless steels having compositions (by weight %) of 0.005 to 0.08% of carbon, at most 0.3% of Mn, at most 0.2% of (Si+P+S), 25 to 40% of Ni, 25 to 40% of Cr, at most 3% of Mo or at most 5% of (Mo+W), at most 0.3% of Nb+Ta, at most 0.3% of Ti, at most 0.001% of B and the balance of Fe to a solution-annealing treatment at a temperature of 1000 to 1150.degree. C.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to high nickel austenitic stainless steels having an excellent resistance to degradation by neutron irradiation, which are used as structural materials for nuclear power plants of light-water reactors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Up to the present time, it has been known that when austenitic stainless steels such as SUS 304, 316, etc., having been used as structural materials for nuclear power plants of light-water reactors, are used for a long time and subjected to neutron irradiation of at least 1.times.10.sup.21 n/cm.sup.2 (E>1 MeV), Cr depletes and Ni, Si, P, S, etc. enrich, at crystal grain boundaries, resuiting in tendency of causing stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in the presence of a high load stress in an environment of light-water reactors. This is called "irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking" (IASCC). It has eagerly been desired to develop materials with low IASCC susceptibility, but such low IASCC susceptibility materials (excellent resistance to degradation by neutron irradiation) have not been developed yet.
Austenitic stainless steels such as SUS 304, 316, etc., have been used as structural materials for nuclear power plants of light-water reactors, but when these materials are subjected to neutron irradiation of at least 1.times.10.sup.21 n/cm.sup.2 (E>1 MeV) by using for a long time, change of concentrations of elements further proceeds, which do not or hardly occurs before using. That is, it is known that when Cr depletes and Ni, Si, P, S, etc. enrich at crystal grain boundaries (which will hereinafter be referred to as "radiation induced segregation") and there is a high load stress or residual stress, the stress corrosion cracking (irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking, IASCC) tends to occur in the high temperature and pressure water of a neutron irradiation environment in light-water. Furthermore, it is known that the presence of oxygen in a large amount in high temperature and pressure water accelerates generation of IASCC.
Thus, the inventors have made various studies on properties of stainless steels and as a result of comparison of the inventors' calculation results on the change quantity of concentrations of Cr and Ni at crystal grain boundaries, based on S. Dumbill and W. Hanks' measured values of the crystal grain boundary segregation of neutron irradiated materials (Sixth International Symposium on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems-Water Reactors, 1993, p. 521) with the inventors' accumulated SCC test results of neutron-irradiated SUS 304, 316, etc., it is found that the above described IASCC occurs when, at grain boundaries after neutron irradiation, the amount of Cr is at most 15% and the amount of Ni is at least 20%, as shown in FIG. 2, in which slant line part shows an occurrence zone of SCC.
The inventors have considered that such a phenomenon of occurrence of IASCC is due to the fact that concentrations of elements at crystal grain boundaries are similar to a composition of Alloy 600 (NCF 600 of JIS). Namely, IASCC is considered to be probably due to the fact that compositions at crystal grain boundaries get low Cr and high Ni by the neutron irradiation thereby approaching the composition of Alloy 600 (non-irradiated material) and resulting in stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC: primary water stress corrosion cracking) in water at a high temperature and pressure which often takes place in Alloy 600. At the present time, however, the mechanism of occurrence of PWSCC in Alloy 600 has not been elucidated.
The inventors have made studies based on the above described knowledge and reached the present invention by specifying a composition of a suitable material and simultaneously, combining it with a heat treatment and post working method for rendering optimum a crystal form in an alloy.
That is to say, present invention aims at providing structural materials having a resistance to degradation by the neutron irradiation, resulting in no SCC in environments of light-water reactors (in high temperature and pressure water or in high temperature and pressure water saturated with oxygen) even after subjecting the materials to neutron irradiation of approximately at least 1.times.10.sup.22 n/cm.sup.2 (E>1 MeV). This corresponds to the quantity of maximum neutron irradiation received up to the end of the plant life of light-water reactors and having a thermal expansion coefficient approximately similar to that of SUS 304, 316, etc.

High-nickel austenitic stainless steel resistant to degradation by neutron irradiation


A control apparatus retards ignition timing of the engine, and increases an amount of a fuel supplied to the engine based on a retard amount of the ignition timing, by calculating a maximum engine intake air amount at which an exhaust system temperature can be maintained at or below a predetermined upper limit temperature by increasing the amount of the fuel supplied to the engine without causing a misfire of the engine, and limiting an engine intake air amount to a value no greater than the maximum engine intake air amount.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a control apparatus and control method for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to a control apparatus and control method for an internal combustion engine in which an octane value of a fuel being used is changed.
2. Description of Related Art
In a typical gasoline engine, knocking is more likely to occur as an octane value of a fuel becomes lower. When a low-octane fuel is used in the gasoline engine, ignition timing is usually retarded compared to the ignition timing at which optimal performance can be obtained if a standard-octane fuel is used. The ignition timing is retarded by an amount based on the octane value of the low-octane fuel so as to prevent occurrence of knocking.
However, as the ignition timing is retarded, an exhaust gas temperature increases in the gasoline engine. Therefore, when the ignition timing is retarded in order to prevent occurrence of knocking as described above, the temperature of components of an exhaust system may excessively increase due to an increase in the exhaust gas temperature during high-load operation or the like, which may lead to a decrease in the effective lifetime of the components of the exhaust system.
Thus, the temperature of the exhaust system is maintained at or below a predetermined temperature (for example, an upper limit temperature at or below which reliability of the components of the exhaust system can be maintained) by increasing an amount of the fuel injected to the engine such that an air-fuel ratio is reduced (i.e., the air-fuel ratio is made rich) in an engine operating region in which the exhaust gas temperature increases.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-50081 discloses an example of an engine in which the exhaust system temperature is controlled by increasing the fuel injection amount as described above.
In the engine disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-50081, since the fuel injection amount is increased based on the octane value of a fuel, in an engine operating region in which overheating of an exhaust system needs to be prevented, it is possible to increase the fuel injection amount by an appropriate amount even when the octane value of the fuel is changed. Thus, it is possible to prevent a decrease in fuel efficiency due to overheating of the exhaust system or an excessive increase in the fuel injection amount.
Meanwhile, in the engine disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-50081, since the amount by which the fuel injection amount is increased is decided based on the octane value of the fuel, the fuel injection amount needs to be increased by a larger amount as the degree of the increase in the exhaust system temperature due to retard of the ignition timing becomes larger, when the octane value of the fuel becomes lower.
However, in the case where the fuel injection amount is increased by a larger amount in order to suppress the increase in the exhaust system temperature as the octane value of the fuel is lower, an air-fuel mixture in a combustion chamber may become excessively rich and a misfire limit may be reached. This is particularly possible in an operating state where the exhaust gas temperature becomes high and a low-octane fuel is used.
For example, a fuel supply device may supply at least two fuels having greatly different octane values, such as a high-octane gasoline having an extremely high octane value and a low-octane gasoline having an extremely low octane value, in a given proportion, and the proportion may be changed according to an engine operating condition or the like so that the octane value of the entire fuel supplied to the engine can be changed according to the engine operating condition or the like while the engine is operated. In this case, the octane value of the fuel being used varies within a large range.
Accordingly, in the case where the increase in the exhaust system temperature is suppressed by increasing the fuel injection amount during the high-load operation or the like and when the octane value is lowest, the fuel injection amount needs to be increased by a large amount, which may lead to occurrence of a misfire in a combustion chamber due to a rich air-fuel ratio.

Control apparatus and control method for internal combustion engine


A roofing membrane has a quantity of water-retaining particles fixed in the upper surface of the membrane. A fleece web affixed to the membrane surface in a quilt-like manner may provide zones of selectable size for holding the particles in place. By varying the amount of the absorber particles, the water-retaining capacity of the roofing membrane may be varied to the particular intended use, such as on a flat roof or a sloped roof.

It is known that absorber particles e.g. hydrophilic acrylamide polymers, are added to soil for the purpose of water retention in sandy soils, in order to reduce the quantity or water which sinks to a level beyond the reach of roots.
Similarly for retention, suitable gel granulates are added to various substrates used for grass covering of roofs to ensure sufficient water supply for the plants despite a relatively small volume of substrate (e.g. EP 369062).
However, freely mixing absorbers into vegetation substrates does not allow fixing of the absorber particles at a defined level in the substrate layer. Because the absorber particles wander, they become irregularly distributed in the substrate which has a negative effect on the retention capacity. Simultaneously, the volume alteration resulting from the absorption of water results in repeated shifting of the substrate particles within the vegetation structure and thus causes damage to the capillary root system. The shifting of the absorber particles can also impair the local stability of the vegetation substrate.


A photoresist composition capable of forming a pattern in which a footing phenomenon is suppressed while being highly sensitive during formation of a fine pattern on a metal surface substrate, and capable of producing a photoresist film that is excellent in chemical stability, and a photoresist film using the photoresist composition.

Photofabrication has become mainstream in a microfabrication technology, and packaging technology continues to change into a process for manufacturing high density packages.
In particular, with the increase of semiconductor input/output terminals, the use of flip chips has expanded and FOWLP (Fan-Out Wafer Level Packaging) technology is being introduced. Further the TSV (Through Silicon Via) process enabling direct connection between chips has expanded for the purpose of minimizing signal delay. In this regard, the demand for bumps has increased and the technical development of bump photoresists forming the same is considered to be very important.
In the case of a bump photoresist, (i) the sensitivity and resolution in a thick film ranging from 10 to 100 micrometers should be excellent, (ii) metal bumps should be formed through a plating process, such that pattern performance such as straightness, residue, footing, and notching properties should be good, and (iii) resistance to a plating solution should be excellent.
Accordingly, a chemically amplified photoresist is used in order to increase the sensitivity and resolution in a thick film. Generally, the above photoresist composition includes (a) a resin which is dissociated by an acid to increase its solubility in an alkali developing solution, (b) a photosensitive acid generator (photoacid generator), and (c) an acid diffusion control agent.
In the process of manufacturing bumps, bumps are formed by a method in which a photoresist hole pattern is first prepared through a lithographic process, and then a metal is filled inside the hole patterns through the plating process. Therefore, since a substrate having a metal surface such as Al, Cu, W, or the like is used as a base material for plating, the photoresist forms a pattern on a metal surface.
However, in the case of a photoresist obtained from a conventional chemically amplified photoresist composition, on the silicon or silicon oxide substrate, a vertical pattern can be formed in which the lower (substrate surface side) pattern and the upper (photoresist surface side) pattern have the same size. However, on the substrate having a metal surface, the substrate is not completely developed during pattern formation due to an interaction between an acid generated from the acid generator and the metal substrate, or the footing phenomenon occurs in the bottom of the pattern, and thereby there is a limitation in that it is difficult to obtain a vertical pattern of which the top and the bottom have the same CD.
To solve these problems, a method of adding a corrosion inhibitor to a photoresist composition has been proposed, but there are problems that manufacturing productivity of the resist composition is lowered, such as through solubility of the corrosion inhibitor being poor, the corrosion inhibitor being hardly dissolved, or the stirring time being prolonged, and further that the corrosion inhibitor contained in the resist pattern is dissolved in the plating solution during the plating process after the resist pattern is formed, thereby contaminating the plating solution.
In view of the above, there is a demand to develop a novel photoresist composition capable of forming a pattern which has no problems of non-development or residues, and remarkably reduces the footing phenomenon or does not cause any footing phenomenon, when forming patterns on the metal substrate.

Photoresist composition and photoresist film using the same


A robotic system for fueling or charging a vehicle having a vehicle connector, the robotic system including a robotic arm having a plurality of sequentially arranged articulated links and at least one group of operating cables extending from a proximal end of the arm to terminate at a control link, for controlling the position of that link, the cables each having a path comprising a passage in each successive more proximal link for closely receiving the cable, a flexible conduit operably connected with the robotic arm for delivering a fluid or an electrical current, respectively, to a vehicle, the conduit being connected to a source at a first end and a delivery connector at a second end, and a control system for operating the robotic arm and the hose or cable, wherein the control system directs the robotic arm to engage the vehicle connector with the delivery connector and, upon engagement of the vehicle connector and delivery connector, the control system relaxes the robotic arm to an under-constrained condition.

Many vehicles in use today operate on a finite energy source such as a fossil fuel or an electrical charge stored on board the vehicle. As such, these vehicles require periodic replenishment of their stored supply of fuel or electrical charge.
Replenishment typically requires parking the vehicle in proximity to a source of fuel or electric current for a predetermined amount of time sufficient to replenish the vehicle's energy source. Replenishment also typically requires establishing a connection between a receptacle in or on the vehicle and a conduit capable of delivering fuel or electrical current to the vehicle. This is typically a manual process requiring human intervention, as well as some familiarity with both the vehicle and with the available replenishment equipment.
The replenishment operation can give rise to certain hazards, such as a loss of connectivity and spillage or fluid or electrical arcing, incorrect selection of fueling or charging equipment, and inadvertent movement of the vehicle during replenishment.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved systems and methods of fueling and charging vehicles which deliver enhanced safety, reliability, and ease of use.

Robotic systems and methods for vehicle fueling and charging


A safety device for motor vehicles is provided having a sensor system for locating objects in the area in front of the vehicle and at least in the lateral surroundings of the vehicle, a prediction unit for detecting a risk of collision with an object coming from the side, a detection unit for detecting an area in front of the vehicle which is clear of potential collision objects, and a control unit which is configured to suppress braking of the host vehicle when a risk of collision with an object coming from the side is detected and when the area in front of the vehicle is recognized as being clear if this would presumably make a collision with the object coming from the side avoidable. A method for intervening in the longitudinal guidance of a motor vehicle is also provided.

There are conventional collision warning devices, which assist the driver in driving the motor vehicle to contribute toward reducing the risk of accidents. Such collision warning devices are part of a driver assistance system, for example, including a positioning system in the form of an angle-resolving radar sensor, for example, with which distances, relative velocities and azimuths of objects located in front of the vehicle may be measured. On the basis of these data and the dynamic data of the vehicle, the collision warning device then detects that a collision is imminent, for example, and may calculate in particular a time after which the collision would occur if the dynamic status of the vehicle were not altered. If this time is below a certain threshold value, a warning signal is output and then converted to an acoustic warning signal for the driver, for example, or an autonomous emergency braking is triggered to prevent the collision or at least reduce the consequences of same.
German Patent Application No. DE 10 2007 024 391 A1 describes one such collision warning device, which also includes a warning function for an imminent collision with a guide rail at the edge of the lane.


An improved planarization process for a trench dielectric is presented. A shallow trench isolation structure is formed into the semiconductor substrate. A thin oxide layer is grown upon the trench floor and upon the trench sidewalls, and then a trench dielectric, preferably TEOS deposited using a chemical-vapor deposition CVD process, is deposited into the trench dielectric and upon the semiconductor substrate. The upper surface of the trench dielectric conforms to the underlying contour defined by the shallow trench and the semiconductor substrate. Subsequent device formation requires a substantially planar semiconductor. Conventionally, a combination of masking and etching are used, prior to chemical-mechanical polishing ("CMP"), to aid the planarization process. The extra steps add cost and unnecessary complexity to the process. An alternative planarization process is proposed which uses hydrogen silsequioxane-based flowable oxide ("HSQ"). The HSQ is spin-on deposited upon the conformal trench dielectric in liquid form. After deposition the HSQ is heated which causes it to reflow and produce a substantially planar upper surface. The reflow parameters (such as temperature and time) are chosen so that the HSQ has a polish rate which is approximately equal to the polish rate of the trench dielectric. A chemical-mechanical polish ("CMP") is then used to entirely remove the HSQ layer and a portion of the trench dielectric exterior to the shallow trenches. Since the HSQ is polished at the same rate as the trench dielectric, the upper surface of the trench dielectric after the polish is substantially planar and approximately at the same level as the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of semiconductor processing and, more particularly, to an improved method of planarizing a shallow trench dielectric using a combination of a spin-on deposited flowable oxide and a chemical-mechanical polish.
2. Description of Relevant Art
The fabrication of an integrated circuit involves placing numerous devices on a single semiconductor substrate. Isolation structures are needed to electrically isolate one device from another. Isolation structures define the field regions of the semiconductor substrate and the device areas define the active regions. The devices are interconnected with conducting lines running over the isolation structures.
A popular isolation technology used in integrated circuits involves the process of locally oxidizing silicon. Local oxidation of silicon, or LOCOS process, involves oxidizing field regions between device active regions. The oxide grown in field regions is termed field oxide. Field oxide is grown during the initial stages of integrated circuit fabrication before the gate conductor and source/drain regions are formed in active areas. By growing a thick field oxide in isolation (or field) regions pre-implanted with a channel-stop dopant, LOCOS processing serves to prevent the establishment of parasitic channels in the field regions.
While LOCOS has remained a popular isolation technology, there are several problems inherent to LOCOS. First, a growing field oxide extends entirely across the field region and laterally as a bird's-beak structure. In many instances, the bird's-beak structure can unacceptably encroach into the device active area. Second, the pre-implanted channel-stop dopant often redistributes during the high temperatures associated with field oxide growth. Redistribution of channel-stop dopant primarily affects the active area periphery causing problems known as narrow-width effects. Third, the thickness of field oxide causes large elevational disparities across the semiconductor topography between field and active regions. Topological disparities cause planarity problems which become severe as circuit critical dimensions shrink. Lastly, thermal oxide growth is significantly thinner in small field (i.e., field areas of small lateral dimension) regions relative to large field regions. In small field regions, a phenomenon known as field-oxide-thinning effect may therefore occur.
Many of the problems associated with LOCOS technology are alleviated by an isolation technique known as shallow trench isolation ("STI"). Despite advances made to decrease bird's-beak, channel-stop encroachment and non-planarity, it appears that LOCOS technology is still inadequate for deep submicron technologies. The shallow trench process, herein "trench process", is better suited for isolating densely spaced active devices having field regions less than, e.g., 3.0-5.0 .mu.m in the lateral dimension. Narrow width STIs may be used to isolate densely spaced devices and larger width STIs may be used to isolate devices that are spaced further apart.
The trench process involves the steps of etching a silicon substrate surface to a relatively shallow depth, e.g., between 0.2 to 0.5 microns, and then filling the shallow trench with a deposited dielectric (referred to henceforth as "trench dielectric"). Some trench processes include an interim step of growing oxide on the trench walls prior to filling the trench with the dielectric. The trench dielectric may comprise decomposed tetra-ethyl-ortho-silicate ("TEOS") deposited using a chemical-vapor deposition ("CVD") process. CVD may, for example, be performed at approximately 400-600.degree. C. in an atmospheric pressure or low pressure chamber.
An exemplary STI structure is shown in FIG. 1. Semiconductor substrate 10 is shown having STI-associated trenches 12 and 14 placed therein. Deposited trench dielectric 16 conforms to the contour of the underlying structure defined by shallow trenches 12 and 14. As a result, upper surface 18 of trench dielectric 16 is lower in the field regions above trench isolation areas compared to the active regions. Furthermore, upper surface 18 is lower over large-width shallow trench 12 compared to upper surface 18 over small-width shallow trench 14. Subsequent device formation requires a substantially planar semiconductor topography. The various depositions and patterning associated with device formation are more easily and more accurately accomplished on a pre-existing planar surface. Loss of planarity can impact manufacturing yield. Exemplary problems include poor adhesion to underlying materials, step coverage problems, and depth of focus problems. A polishing step is thus required, prior to any device formation, to planarize the upper surface of trench dielectric 18 and bring it to a level approximately equal to the level of the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate. However, applying the polishing step at this point in the process would result in upper surface 18 over large-width shallow trench 12 to be below upper surface 20 of semiconductor substrate 10. To avoid this, an additional masking and etching step is generally required.
Referring now to FIG. 2, photoresist layer 22 is deposited upon the semiconductor substrate and then patterned in such a way as to cover trench dielectric 16 over large-width shallow trench 12. The remaining exposed portion of trench dielectric 16 is then etched using an anisotropic plasma etch. Trench dielectric 16 is etched to a level approximately equal to or lower than the level of upper surface 18 of trench dielectric 16 above large-width shallow trench 12. Isolated protrusions 24 and 26 remain extending upwards from the remainder of upper surface 18. After the etch process, photoresist 22 is removed and a chemical-mechanical polish ("CMP") is applied to the wafer as shown in FIG. 3. A CMP process combines a mechanical polishing pad with chemical abrasion. Raised areas contact the polishing pad to a greater extent than recessed areas. As a result, elevated features, like protrusions 24 and 26, are removed faster without correspondingly thinning flat areas. CMP is typically a "dirty" procedure mainly due to the slurry particles used during the process. After the CMP process, upper surface 18 of trench dielectric 16 is substantially planar.
The additional masking and etching steps are costly and decrease overall throughput. Furthermore, these extra processing steps add unnecessary complexity to the process increasing the possibility of error and contamination. It would thus be desirable to derive an alternative process which eliminates the need for the additional masking and etching steps in order to achieve substantially global planarization.

Semiconductor fabrication employing a flowable oxide to enhance planarization in a shallow trench isolation process


A method of enabling roaming of a mobile internet-access terminal from a first to a second internet access network each of which has a home agent for routing internet datagrams between networks. The method comprises de-registering the mobile terminal from said first network and registering it with said second network and allocating to the mobile terminal a new internet address in said second network. This new internet address is transmitted to the first network""s home agent which registers that address as a care-of-address or co-located care-of-address for the mobile host. Datagrams addressed to the new internet address are sent directly to the mobile host via the second network""s home agent. Datagrams addressed to a previous internet address of the mobile terminal in said first network are forwarded from that network""s home agent to the mobile host, via the second network""s home agent.

The present invention relates to mobile internet protocol and in particular to a mobile internet protocol which provides for the mobility of mobile internet access hosts between two or more internet access networks.
Corporate users have traditionally accessed the internet from a fixed location within a Local Area Network (LAN), a user""s LAN often being referred to as his xe2x80x9chomexe2x80x9d network (HN). The user interface to the internet is typically a personal computer (the xe2x80x9chostxe2x80x9d). As is illustrated in FIG. 1, the home network is connected to an internet service provider which routes internet data, so-called xe2x80x9cdatagramsxe2x80x9d, between the home network and the internet, the internet in turn comprising other routers and service providers which route data to and from other xe2x80x9cforeignxe2x80x9d networks (FN).
In order to be able to transmit and receive datagrams to and from the internet, a host requires an internet address. A corporate home network is typically allocated a set of internet addresses by a national authority and the home network can assign these either fixedly or dynamically to hosts attached to the home network (using for example the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol DHCP). The allocated set of internet addresses comprise a common prefix portion which identifies the home network, whilst a suffix portion identifies the destination host. When a datagram is received by a home network, a router (R) of the home network polls the attached hosts to determine which host corresponds to the internet address conveyed with the datagram. The datagram is then forwarded by the router to the identified host.
With the recent rapid advances in mobile communication technology, and in particular of wireless technologies, there has come a desire to gain internet access from mobile hosts or terminals, for example a laptop computer coupled to a cellular telephone. At present, this is available via certain digital telephone networks (e.g. GSM). As with conventional fixed line internet access, a mobile host may have a fixedly or dynamically assigned internet address, allocated by a service provider who is usually the cellular telephone network operator. In the case of mobile internet access, a communication channel between the mobile host and the network is reserved for the duration of the call. Internet data destined for the mobile host is received by the network and is sent to the host over the reserved channel.
This system works satisfactorily whilst a mobile host remains within one homogeneous network. However, it does not provide for xe2x80x9croamingxe2x80x9d between different types of networks or between networks operated by different operators. When a mobile host xe2x80x9cde-registersxe2x80x9d with one network and registers with a new network, there is no mechanism for forwarding internet datagrams, addressed to the old network, to the new network as the communication channel between the mobile host and the old network no longer exists. It is therefore necessary to open a new communication channel between the mobile host and the new network. All datagrams addressed to the old network and not yet received by the mobile host are lost as a result of this channel change.
The desire for roaming is likely to increase in the near future as the provision of corporate wireless LANs becomes commonplace. A corporate user will have the opportunity to make wireless voice and data calls from a mobile terminal via the corporate LAN whilst he is inside the coverage area of that LAN. When the user leaves that area, he will then be able to connect to a digital cellular telephone network. In addition, so-called xe2x80x9chot-spotxe2x80x9d LANs are likely to be provided in areas where high data capacity is required, e.g. airports, shopping centres. In all probability, hot-spot LANs will be operated by the cellular network operators although they may of course be operated by the property owners themselves.
A mobile internet access protocol which provides for roaming is currently being standardised by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). This protocol is known as RFC2002. A mobile internet protocol is also described in EP556012. These protocols make use of a xe2x80x9chome agentxe2x80x9d, located in a mobile host""s home network, to keep track of the host when it leaves the home network. A mobile host is fixedly allocated an internet address corresponding to the home network.
When a mobile host is registered to its home network, the functionality of the network""s home agent is off for that host (i.e. the host is xe2x80x9cderegisteredxe2x80x9d with the home agent) so that the home agent does not alter the flow of datagrams from the internet to the network""s router and the mobile host (as indicated by reference numeral 1 in FIG. 2). When the mobile host leaves its home network and contacts a foreign network (FN), the host is registered with a foreign agent (FA) of that network. The foreign agent then transmits to the mobile host an internet address of the foreign agent, and the mobile host in turn transmits the received internet address to the home network""s home agent, together with a registration instruction. The home agent registers the new status of the mobile host and records the newly allocated internet address as a xe2x80x9ccare-of-addressxe2x80x9d for the host. Whenever the mobile host registers with a new foreign network, a new care-of-address is sent to the home network""s home agent to replace the previously registered care-of-address.
It will be appreciated that, as a mobile host has a fixed internet address allocated to it, datagrams destined for the host will always be sent to the home network. If a mobile host has an active internet connection when it passes from its home network to a foreign network, and a datagram destined for the host subsequently arrives at the home network, the home agent determines that the mobile host is registered with a foreign agent and forwards the datagrams to the registered care-of-address. A communication channel will have been reserved between the mobile host and the foreign agent, and the redirected datagram can be sent to the mobile host over this channel. Similarly, if a mobile host initiates a new internet access when registered with a foreign network, the host continues to use its allocated internet address. The home agent has already received the care-of-address and can again forward datagrams destined for the mobile host to the foreign agent for transfer to the host.
In some cases, the foreign network may dynamically assign an internet address to a visiting mobile host, e.g. if the foreign network does not have a foreign agent. This address is sent to the mobile host which in turn sends it to the home network""s home agent as a care-of-address. Rather than just merely redirecting datagrams to the care-of-address, the home agent actually replaces the old internet address contained in the datagram with the co-located care-of-address before retransmitting the datagram. This particular form of care-of-address which identifies the mobile host as the end point for the redirected datagrams, rather than a foreign agent, is known as a xe2x80x9cco-located care-of-addressxe2x80x9d. It is noted however, that when the mobile host is accessing the internet via the foreign network, it still uses its fixedly allocated internet address. It will therefore be appreciated that regardless of whether the home agent receives a care-of-address or a co-located care-of-address all datagrams directed to a mobile host pass through the home network""s home agent (as indicated by reference numeral 2 in FIG. 2).
Where a cellular telephone operator operates a number of different networks, e.g. GSM and hot-spot LANs, in order to bill a subscriber using the roaming facility, the operator must collect details, e.g. call duration, location, from the foreign agents of each of the operated networks. This is necessary because internet data is not routed through any central facility of the operator but is rather routed through the home network""s home agent to which the operator does not have access. Collecting this information for billing purposes is complex and time consuming.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate or at least mitigate the above noted problem of the currently proposed mobile internet protocol.
This and other objects are achieved by providing a home agent in a foreign network, in addition to the home agent in the home network.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of enabling roaming of a mobile host from a first to a second internet access network each of which has a home agent for routing internet datagrams between networks, the method comprising:
de-registering the mobile host from said first network and registering it with said second network;
assigning to the mobile host a new internet address in said second network;
transmitting said new internet address to the first network""s home agent, and registering that transmitted address at the first network""s home agent as a care-of-address or co-located care-of-address for the mobile host,
wherein datagrams addressed to said new internet address are sent directly to the mobile host via the second network""s home agent, and datagrams addressed to an internet address previously assigned to the mobile host in said first network are forwarded, using said registered care-of-address or co-located care-of-address, from that network""s home agent to the mobile host via the second network""s home agent.
Preferably, the method set out above is performed in reverse when the mobile host roams from the second network to the first network, so that datagrams sent to an old address in the second network are forwarded to the mobile host in the first network.
The present invention may be applied to provide mobility for a mobile host between a corporate local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), and a cellular telephone network. The corporate LAN or WAN may be a fixed line network or a wireless network. The cellular telephone network may comprise, for example, a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network. The cellular telephone network may alternatively, or in addition, comprise one or more subnetworks, i.e. wireless LANs or WANs (known as xe2x80x9chot-spotxe2x80x9d LANs or WANs). As the cellular telephone network has a single home agent through which all internet datagrams are routed when the mobile host is registered to the cellular network, the network operator can collect all internet call data for a mobile host from its own home agent. There is thus no need to obtain such information from the home agent of the corporate network or from a number of foreign agents associated with the different GSM and hot-spot LAN/WAN networks. When the mobile host is registered with the corporate network however, all new internet connections are made using the corporate network""s home agent as home internet address. This typically presents a more cost effective option for the subscriber.
An advantage of embodiments of the present invention is that the transmission route from a source host to the destination mobile host may be shortened when the mobile host is visiting a foreign network, as compared to prior proposals. This is because datagrams do not necessarily have to be routed via the mobile host""s home network but instead can be sent directly to the foreign network.
It will be appreciated that the mobile host comprises an access point to the internet. The user interface may be a personal computer, e.g. a laptop computer, coupled to the access point. In order to allow the user interface to connect to the access point, the user interface may be connected to a cellular telephone. Alternatively, the user interface may be a computer or personal digital assistant incorporating a cellular telephone.
The new internet address in the second network assigned to the mobile host may be an internet address allocated to the second network""s home agent. In this case the address is a care-of-address. Alternatively, the internet address may be an address dynamically assigned to the mobile host, in which case the address is a co-located care-of-address.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for enabling roaming of a mobile host from a first to a second internet access network, the apparatus comprising:
second network control means for registering the mobile host to the second network and for transmitting to the mobile host a new internet address in the second network to replace any internet address previously allocated to the host;
transmission means for transmitting said new internet address from the mobile host to the home agent in the first network;
first network control means for registering said transmitted address at the first network""s home agent as a care-of-address or colocated care-of-address for the mobile host; and
datagram routing means in said first network for forwarding datagrams received at said first network and destined for the mobile host to the mobile host via the second network""s home agent.

Mobile internet protocol for mobility of access hosts between networks


An adjustable snowboard boot binding comprising a base disc, a main body, a top disc and one or more levers. The base disc is mounted to the top of a snowboard. The main body is sandwiched between the top disc and the base disc. The lever is hand-manipulable, allowing the snowboarder to adjust the angle of the boot binding with respect to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard without the need for tools. With the lever in the open position, the main body of the boot binding is free to rotate about an axis normal to the snowboard. With the lever in the closed position, the main body is rigid, allowing the snowboarder to maneuver the snowboard when riding.

This invention relates, generally, to a snowboard boot binding. More particularly, it relates to a snowboard boot binding that can be adjusted angularly both quickly and easily without the need for a tool, and can be adjusted while the rider's boot is still in the binding.
The sport of snowboarding has been practiced now for numerous years and has gained tremendous popularity across the country and throughout the world. As with skiing, a snowboarder wears snowboarding boots that are firmly held into boot bindings. The bindings are rigidly attached to the board to allow the user to properly maneuver the board when riding. Unlike conventional skiing, however, the snowboarder places both feet onto a single board, one in front of the other, and stands at an angle to the direction of travel.
A snowboarder will often desire to change the angle of the front and/or back foot with respect to the longitudinal axis of the board. Different angular foot positions are desired for speed, slalom, free-style or acrobatics. Depending on the snow or weather conditions, the person's skill level, or the particular attitude of a given snowboarder, the position of each foot can change numerous times during a single outing.
In the case of a skateboard or surfboard, changing foot positions is easy-just pick up a foot and move it. With a snowboard, however, the rider's feet are rigidly mounted into the bindings, preventing any such movement.

Angularly adjustable snowboard boot binding


It is in the object of the present invention to improve current deposition processes and devices for the fabrication of multilayer systems to better control the energy contribution at different stages of the deposition. This is achieved by depositing films by sputtering in a scheme providing for thermalized particles. One can get thermalized particles by choosing the working gas pressure and the distance between target and substrate to result in a mean free path of particles smaller than the distance between target and substrate or to result in a product of pressure and distance being larger than 2.0 cmPa.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes for the deposition or etching of films on substrates, especially on the fabrication of multilayer systems.
The present invention also relates to devices for the deposition or etching of films on substrates, especially for the fabrication of multilayer systems in particular such devices comprising a substrate holder and at least one deposition source with target.
2. Description of the Related Art
Reflecting multilayer structures for the reflection of short wavelength electromagnetic rays are used e.g. in semiconductor lithography. They are used especially in the extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray wavelength range. The extreme ultraviolet wavelength range (EUV) is the transition range between the ultraviolet and the soft x-ray range and generally comprises the wavelengths from approximately 16 nm to approximately 10 nm. The soft x-ray range generally comprises the wavelength from approximately 10 nm to 1 nm. For example, in EUV lithography wavelengths of approximately 13 nm are, in particular, used.
The simplest multilayer systems consist of alternating layers of two different materials, i.e. an absorbing and a reflecting material. More sophisticated multilayer systems can consist of more than two materials, the layer thickness and thickness ratios being constant or varying over the multilayer depth and/or plane. The principle of operation of multilayer systems is that the intensity of radiation which is reflected at different boundaries is increased by constructive interference if the layer period is made to match the wavelength of the incident radiation.
For the EUV range, mostly multilayer systems based on alternating layers of molybdenum and silicon are used. Theoretically, such systems can reflect up to 75% at near normal incidence of an incident wavelength of 13.5 nm. To the current state, practically achievable reflectivity using different deposition methods reaches 69.5 to 0.70.0% due to imperfections in layer manufacturing. The main limiting factors are the formation of interfacial roughness, intermixing of adjacent layers, contamination of layers, thickness errors and deviation of the density of deposited materials from bulk densities.
Mo/Si multilayers with a state-of-the-art performance have so far been fabricated by electron beam evaporation and magnetron sputtering.
Electron beam evaporation is a technique based on heating material in a crucible by a focused beam of high energy electrons. Electron beam evaporation features a low kinetic energy atomic flux (approximately 0.1 eV) and, especially when combined with ion assistance and/or post deposition polishing, it allows to selectively control the energy contribution at every stage of the film growth. Thus, the amount and the moment of applying additional energy to the layer system is controlled independently and allows selective optimization during the different stages of the layer growth. The particles have energies around 10−2-1 eV and only a small number of ions is produced in evaporant materials by electron bombardment.
Sputtering is a technique based on the ejection of target material by bombardment with energetic rare-gas ions, produced in a discharge or by a separate ion source. The gas used is also called working gas. The magnetron sputtering was developed in order to increase the sputter rate, where the magnetic field is used to trap electrons near the target surface, resulting in an increased ionization efficiency of the working gas (e.g. argon or krypton) and an increased amount of ionized particles bombarding the target. An essential feature of the sputter process is that it allows a particle flux of which the composition is identical to the target materials, i.e. compound materials like e.g. B4C are not dissociated in the creation of the particle flux, as is the case in most other deposition processes. Magnetron sputtering can thus be used for a wide range of materials and offers good control of the lateral profile of the films. In addition, magnetron sources exist in technical realizations that are compatible with the demands of ultrahigh vacuum systems.
To improve the quality of the deposited layer with respect to roughness and stability, the deposition can be ion assisted, i.e. the deposited layer is bombarded simultaneously with ions, or the layer surface can be etched by ion bombardment after deposition. For these methods, additional ion sources are used besides the physical sources supplied by e.g. electron evaporation or sputtering.

Processes and device for the deposition of films on substrates


A vacuum bag attachment assembly for a vacuum cleaner includes a locking handle movably connected to the vacuum cleaner and movable between first and second positions. An opening in the handle receives a fitting of a vacuum bag. When the locking handle is in the first position, an outer shell of the vacuum cleaner is prevented from closing. When the locking handle is in the second position, the outer shell of the vacuum cleaner is closable.

Flow-through motor-style vacuum cleaners generally use an outer housing. The housing may be a partly porous bag because the air flow is being pushed into the vacuum bag. The housing is closeable, and typically uses a zipper or other suitable fastening means to access a vacuum bag (or filter bag) housed therein for removal and replacement of the vacuum bag. The vacuum bag is typically a disposable bag that collects dust and dirt during operation of the vacuum cleaner, and is disposed of when full and replaced with a new bag.
Because the vacuum bag is disposable, it must be economical to produce. The vacuum bag should also be sufficiently durable to permit it to be installed and removed without damage. It should also provide a connecting and sealing structure for connecting the vacuum bag to the dirt-laden discharge of the vacuum cleaner that is easily installed and provides a reliable seal.
A user of the vacuum cleaner may dispose of the vacuum bag, which is the primary filter, and forget to replace it with a new vacuum bag. The vacuum cleaner will still operate, but the collected dust and debris will be discharged into the housing. This results in unwanted dust and debris in the outer housing and can damage the housing as well as other parts of the vacuum cleaner. Additionally, the dust and debris may exit the housing and be returned to the environment from which it was collected. Accordingly, a need exists for a device that warns a user that a vacuum bag has not been properly installed.
Locking mechanisms for vacuum bags currently exist. However, indication of the absence of a vacuum bag is not made until just prior to attempting to operate the vacuum cleaner. Accordingly, a need exists for a visual indication visible from a distance that a vacuum bag has not been properly installed.