Non-free flowable, non-dusting molding powders with a bulk density of more than 450 g/l are obtained when a suspension polymer of tetrafluoroethylene with a content of 0.01 to 1% by weight of units of at least one perfluoro(alkyl-vinyl) ether is ground to a particle diameter of 10 to 50 xcexcm and agglomerated in water.

The invention relates to non-free flowable (non-pourable) molding powders of a suspension polymer with units of tetrafluoroethylene and 0.01 to 1% by weight, preferably 0.02 to 0.5% by weight, of units of at least one perfluoro(alkyl-vinyl) ether with an alkyl group of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, preferably n-perfluoropropyl, having a bulk density of at least 450 g/l, obtainable by grinding the primary particles to an average particle diameter d50 of 10 to 50 xcexcm, preferably 15 to 25 xcexcm, in particular is about 20 xcexcm, and reagglomerating these particles in water to give a non-dusting agglomerate having a particle diameter d50 of about 30 to about 100 xcexcm, preferably about 40 to about 90 xcexcm.
The invention furthermore relates to a process for the preparation of a non-free flowable, non-dusting molding powder having a bulk density of at least 450 g/l and an agglomerate diameter d50 of about 30 to about 100 xcexcm preferably about 40 to about 90 xcexcm which comprises grinding a suspension polymer with units of tetrafluoroethylene and 0.01 to 1% by weight of units of at least one perfluoro(alkyl-vinyl) ether with an alkyl group of 1 to 4 carbon atoms to a particle diameter d50 of 10 to 50 xcexcm and agglomerating the particles in water.
The invention furthermore relates to the use of the molding powders according to the invention in compression molding.
As is known, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) can be prepared by aqueous free radical polymerization by two different processes, that is to say suspension and emulsion polymerization. These two processes naturally lead to polymers which differ fundamentally in morphological terms. As a consequence, the two processes also require fundamentally different working up and processing methods.
The emulsion polymers comprise largely regular, spherical latex particles having a diameter of about 100 to 300 nm, which are agglomerated by a precipitation process to give a so-called paste powder having an average particle diameter of 400 to 700 xcexcm. The specific surface area of such paste powders is 10 to 25 m2/g. These paste powders are further processed by the so-called paste extrusion process to give liners, tubes, hoses and tapes. The characteristic of paste extrusion is that shaping is carried out by forming a paste of the paste powder with gasoline (benzine) or other liquids which are water-immiscible but wet PTFE, using a paste extruder at far below the melting point of the PTFE. This shaping extrusion is usually followed by sintering at temperatures significantly above the melting point of the PTFE. PTFE emulsion polymers therefore cannot be processed as thermoplastics because of their exceptionally high melt viscosity of up to a few 100 GPas.
PTFE suspension polymers also cannot be processed as thermoplastics because of their high melt viscosity. Special processing techniques based on the method of metallurgical compaction sintering have therefore been developed. For this compaction sintering, the suspension polymer must be converted into a molding powder which can be employed.
For this purpose, the suspension polymer, which is obtained in coarse, irregularly shaped grains having a diameter of up to 1500 xcexcm is first finely ground to a particle diameter of about 10 to 50 xcexcm, preferably by dry grinding, in particular in an air mill. The ground material is also irregularly shaped. The molding powder thus produced is therefore not free-flowable and cannot be metered adequately for automatic processing by compaction. The bulk density is about 300 to 400 g/l.
This non-free flowable molding powder is chiefly compacted to cylinders or hollow cylinders under pressures of up to about 500 bar. These unsintered preforms (green compacts) are then sintered and commodity articles such as skived films or sealing rings are then produced by mechanical processing. To achieve high-grade final properties, the molding powder must have an adequate deformability during the production of the green compact, so that the primary particles can be packed densely against one another without inclusions of air and the green compact thus has an adequate so-called green strength for further processing.
In addition to being unusable for automatic processing by compaction and the difficulties in reliable filling of molds, the non-free flowable molding powder has the further disadvantage of a low bulk density. This means that larger shaping units are necessary. Another disadvantage is to be seen in the dusting during the production of the green compact. Dusting necessitates greater expenditure on keeping the processing unit clean, since PTFE dust is regarded as toxic, especially in connection with smoking.
There has therefore been no lack of attempts to eliminate the disadvantages mentioned. Thus, processes which render the molding powder free-flowing (pourable) and easier to meter by agglomeration processes have been developed. The known agglomeration processes essentially comprise agglomerating the non-free flowable molding powder to more or less regularly shaped granule grains, the average particle diameter of which is between 100 and 600 xcexcm, by a suitable mechanical treatment in a usually two-phase liquid system (comprising water and a solvent of limited water-miscibility which wets the PTFE, such as gasolines and fluorochlorohydrocarbons). These granule grains are distinguished by a smooth surface and a certain grain stability for their handling and transportation. The free-flowing molding powders thus produced have a high bulk density, usually above 800 g/l, do not dust and accordingly offer considerable advantages over the non-free flowable molding powder.
However, these advantages are at the expense of a significant deterioration in the profile of properties. Thus, the tear strength and dielectric strength are significantly reduced, and the sintered articles have a higher content of voids, that is to say more pores up to so-called xe2x80x9cpinholesxe2x80x9d. The cause of the deterioration in properties is the necessarily poorer compactibility and deformability of the free-flowing powder due to the agglomeration. Thus, for example, the contour lines of the granule grain can be clearly detected in 100 xcexcm thick skived films under a microscope at 20-fold magnification in phase contrast.
The change in properties by granulation of a PTFE molding powder is shown in the following Table 1, the abbreviations here and in the following having the meanings given below:
BD: Bulk density according to DIN 53466 or ISO 12086 in g/l
d50: Average particle diameter in xcexcm, measured with a laser particle measuring instrument from Sympatec (Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany)
TS: Tear strength in N/mm2, according to DIN 53457 or ISO 12086, test specimens: strips 15 mm wide
EB: Elongation at break in %, determined according to DIN 53457 or ISO 12086
DS: Dielectric strength in kV/mm, according to DIN 53481, measurement arrangement ball (diameter 20 mm)/plate (diameter 50 mm)
The deterioration in properties seems inherent to the system, since the particle stability required impedes dense packing of the primary particles and of the granule grains during compaction. This deterioration in properties is also observed during granulation of a molding powder of xe2x80x9cmodifiedxe2x80x9d PTFE, although to a lesser extent. xe2x80x9cModifiedxe2x80x9d PTFE is understood as meaning a polymer which comprises low contents of comonomers, but in which the main property of the PTFE of not being processable as a thermoplastic is retained. The suspension polymers of tetrafluoroethylene employed according to the invention, with 0.01 to 1% by weight of units of at least one perfluoro(alkyl-vinyl) ether are such xe2x80x9cmodifiedxe2x80x9d polytetrafluoroethylenes. One characteristic of the modified suspension polymers is their lower melt viscosity by about one to two orders of magnitude, which enables them to be welded, for example, without auxiliaries. Although the lowered melt viscosity leads to a better coalescence of the primary particles during sintering, the disadvantages of agglomeration inherent to the system cannot yet be overcome, as the following Table 2 shows for a suspension polymer with 0.09% by weight of perfluoro(n-propyl-vinyl) ether.
As can be seen from the skived films, the free-flowable molding powder does not lead to the high profile of properties of the non-free flowable molding powder.
There was therefore the object of developing a molding powder which, although it is non-free flowable, offers processing advantages over the known molding powders, in particular a higher bulk density and dust-free handling during production of the green compacts.
This object is achieved according to the invention by subjecting molding powders of modified suspension PTFE which are known per se to mechanical treatment in the presence of water. Granulating auxiliaries such as organic solvents can be omitted here. Volatile emulsifiers, such as the ammonium salt of perfluorooctanoic acid (perfluorocaproic acid), can be added as auxiliaries, but are not necessary. Regular shaping of the granule grain is consciously omitted here.
Granulation in water as a medium is known for non-modified PTFE from U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,615, a free-flowable product being produced.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,191 relates to a non-free flowable molding powder of modified PTFE which has been produced with relatively large amounts of fluorinated dispersing agent and then ground under wet conditions to a relatively wide particle size distribution. Such products show an onerous dust development during processing. The possibility of agglomeration in water, organic solvents or a mixture thereof is indeed mentioned, but for the purpose of improving the free-flowing.
An increase in the bulk density can indeed also be achieved by grinding the polymers to an average particle diameter of  greater than 50 xcexcm and omitting agglomeration. However, these products also show an onerous dust development. If a product ground to an average particle diameter of  greater than 50 xcexcm is agglomerated in the context of the invention, skived films which are visually inhomogeneous are obtained from these. The mechanical properties are also significantly poorer than in the case of products obtained from molding powders according to the invention.
A non-dusting, non-free flowable molding powder of modified suspension PTFE having a high bulk density thus cannot be prepared by the processes known to date, and neither by modifications of the process according to the invention defined above.

Non-free flowable molding powders of modified polytetrafluoroethylenes


Colloidal synthesis of narrowly disperse, near IR emitting Group IV alloy quantum dots with wide range of Sn compositions via reduction of precursor halides is provided, allowing for less-toxic, earth abundant, and silicon-compatible Group IV alloy quantum dots for application in a broad range of electronic and photonic technologies.

Group-IV semiconductors such as germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si) show immense potential in a number of optical technologies including solar energy conversion, photo-detection, chemical sensing, and imaging.1-4 However, indirect energy gaps of crystalline Si (1.1 eV) and Ge (0.67 eV) limit their widespread application in optical devices, significantly decreasing the absorption cross section and emission efficiency.2,3 Thus, a number of different methods, including application of mechanical stress,5 heteroepitaxial growth,6-8 and alloying with tin (Sn),9-11 have been investigated to produce direct gap Group IV semiconductors with promising photophysical properties. Specifically, admixing of α-Sn into crystalline Si and Ge has been shown to decrease the energy of the Γ (direct) valley of conduction band relative to the L (indirect) valley producing direct bandgap Si1−xSnx or Gel1−xSnx alloys.8-12 This transition stems from the expansion of cubic Si and Ge structure induced by α-Sn, the diamond-like structural equivalent to Si and Ge.12 Theoretical and experimental reports suggest an indirect to direct-gap cross over in bulk Ge1−xSnx when Sn composition reaches 6.3-11%.16-15 In addition, incorporation of Sn enhances the electron and hole mobility, making direct-gap Ge1−xSnx alloys promising candidates for high speed optoelectronics.16,17 Unfortunately, the fabrication of homogeneous alloys has proven difficult, because of large discrepancies (˜14-19%) in lattice constants and much higher cohesion energies of Si and Ge compared to that of α-Sn.18 Moreover, the admixture of α-Sn (bandgap (Eg)=0.08 eV) significantly reduces the energy gaps (0.35-0.80 eV for x=15.0-0.00%)19 and promotes the metallic character of direct-gap Ge1−xSnx alloys, eliminating any potential application in visible to near IR optoelectronics.
To promote direct-gap behavior and expand the optical range, quantum confinement effects have been utilized to produce low-dimensional nanostructures of Ge1−xSnx alloys.20-24 Quantum dots (QDs) and nanowires (NWs) of Ge1−xSnx have been reported both at strongly-confined and weakly-confined size regimes that promote wider direct energy gaps from visible to near IR spectrum.17,20-27 The colloidal synthesis of Ge1−xSnx alloy QDs with varying sizes (˜2-23 nm) and Sn compositions (x=0-28%) has been reported.20 The larger Ge1−xSnx alloys (15-23 nm) exhibit minimum or no confinement effects and absorption energy gaps (0.2-0.4 eV) that are red-shifted from bulk Ge, similar to those reported for bulk Ge1−xSnx thin film alloys. In contrast, smaller Ge1−xSnx alloy QDs (˜2-5 nm) show strong confinement effects with composition-tunable absorption onsets and visible PL, exclusively for ultra-small QDs (1.8-2.2 nm).20-23,28 A recent theoretical study suggests that admixture of α-Sn into Ge significantly increases the oscillator strengths, with the potential to produce brightly emissive QDs with high molar absorptivity and photoluminescence (PL) efficiency.28 Nonetheless, size- and composition-dependent PL properties of near IR emitting Ge1−xSnx QDs have not been properly quantified to date, owing in part to high polydispersity of as-synthesized particles and significantly low PL quantum yields.20 More recently, inorganic passivation of Ge1−xSnx QDs has been attempted to produce Ge1−zSnx/CdS core/shell QDs.24 However, resultant alloys exhibit broad-band IR PL with no size (8-13 nm) or composition (x=5-25%) dependent tunability. As such, the synthesis of Ge1−xSnx alloys with enhanced near IR absorption and tunable near IR PL has proven a challenging task to further expand the optical window of direct-gap and silicon-compatible Group IV alloys.

Direct-gap group IV alloy nanocrystals with composition-tunable energy gaps and near-infrared photoluminescence


A tunable capacitor includes a first electrode and a second electrode, each being formed of a conductive material. The tunable capacitor further includes a third electrode between the first electrode and the second electrode, and a dielectric material interposed between the first electrode and the third electrode, and between the second electrode and the third electrode. The third electrode is movable relative to the first electrode and the second electrode by a stepper motor, to adjust and tune a capacitance of the tunable capacitor.

This document describes a tunable capacitor, and more particularly to production of electrical components for electrical circuits, specifically for precision Radio Frequency (RF) applications.
A capacitor is a device for storing electrical energy. The amount of stored energy is defined as a capacitance of the capacitor, which is measured in units of Farads. Some capacitors can be tuned, i.e. having a variable capacitance, but adjustable to a particular capacitance. Such tunable capacitors are sometimes referred as variable capacitors, trimmer-capacitors, or simply "trimmers".
Trimmers come in a variety of sizes and levels of precision. The capacitance of trimmers can be adjusted with a small screwdriver, in which several turns of an adjustment screw can reach a desired end value, allowing for some degree of accuracy. Conventional trimmers include two electrically conductive electrodes separated by a dielectric material, and the distance between the electrodes and/or dielectric material affects the capacitance. To tune a trimmer, the distance between the electrodes or overlapping area of the electrodes is changed, and results in changing the capacitor's capacitance. The following formula governs such changes:
                              C          =                                    ɛ              ·              S                        d                          ,                            (        1        )
where                C—capacitance of the trimmer,        ∈—dielectric constant of dielectric,        S—overlapping area,        d—distance between the electrodes
Conventional trimmers, however, are not very accurate, and have limited range of capacitance value. Further, they do not allow automatic digital control of the capacitance value with high accuracy, as is required for such applications as tunable RF filters.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention provides an image recording method and apparatus and a recording medium therefor. In an aspect of the present invention, when recording the image in a condition where an image recording range in a first direction by the image recorder is a specific range, image processing is applied to the image data using a latest image processing parameter among image processing parameters which are according to positions in the first direction and have been generated on the basis of measurement results of test charts output using the specific range or a wider range than the specific range on the image recorder, and the image recorder is caused to record the image on the recording medium according to the image data after the image processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording method and apparatus and a recording medium, and in particular to a technique of managing parameters used for image processing during image recording on a recording medium based on image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet printer, which is a form of an image recording apparatus, includes a recording head provided with a plurality of ink ejection ports (nozzles), and records an image on a recording medium by controlling an operation of ejecting ink from each of nozzles on the basis of image data as a print object. Each of the nozzles on the recording head varies in recording characteristics (ink ejection characteristics). If an image is formed without addressing the variation, various head characteristics, such as variation in the amount of ejected ink, variation in ink deposition position, and variation in ink concentration between the nozzles, are affected, thereby causing concentration unevenness in an image of a printed matter.
Accordingly, in general, a conventional inkjet printer includes a processing system (concentration unevenness correcting process system) for correcting concentration unevenness to prevent concentration unevenness from occurring. Use of this concentration unevenness correcting process system generates a concentration unevenness correction parameter, which is a concentration unevenness correction value, and performs an image data converting process to which the concentration unevenness correction parameter is applied.
As techniques of correcting concentration unevenness, various methods have been proposed, including, for instance, a method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-082989. An overview of the technique of correcting concentration unevenness disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-082989 is as follows. First, a test chart for measuring concentration for acquiring a concentration converting function for correcting concentration unevenness is output. An image of the output test chart for measuring concentration is read. A recorded concentration is measured. A signal converting function (concentration converting function) for image data is generated for each nozzle on the basis of the measured concentration data. When an image is printed, input image data is corrected on the basis of the concentration converting function, and image recording is controlled on the basis of the corrected image data, thereby forming an image where concentration unevenness is prevented from occurring.

Image recording method and apparatus, and recording medium


An electro-optical device includes: data lines extending in a first direction on a substrate; scanning lines extending in a second direction and intersecting with the data lines; pixel electrodes and thin film transistors disposed corresponding to intersections of the data lines and the scanning lines; storage capacitors electrically connected to the thin film transistors and the pixel electrodes; and a shielding layer disposed between the data lines and the pixel electrodes. One of a pair of electrodes forming the storage capacitor is formed of a multi-layered film containing a low resistance film.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to active-matrix-driven electro-optical devices. More particularly, the invention relates to an electro-optical device in which thin film transistors (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "TFTs") for switching pixels are provided in a laminated structure on a substrate. The invention also relates to a manufacturing method for such an electro-optical device and to an electronic apparatus provided with the electro-optical device as a light valve. The invention also pertains to electrophoretic devices for, for example, electronic paper, EL (electroluminescent) devices, and devices using electron emission elements (field emission display and surface-conduction electron-emitter display).
2. Description of Related Art
In a TFT-active-matrix-driven electro-optical device, when light is incident on a channel region of a pixel-switching TFT provided for each pixel, a light leakage current is generated due to the optical excitation, which changes the characteristics of the TFT. Particularly in an electro-optical device used as a light valve of a projector, since the intensity of incident light is high, it is important to shield the TFT channel region and the areas therearound from the incident light.
Accordingly, the channel region and the areas therearound are shielded by a light-shielding film, which defines the aperture area of each pixel, provided for an opposing substrate, or by data lines formed of a metal film, such as an Al (aluminum) film, disposed on a TFT array substrate and passing over the TFTs. Additionally, a light-shielding film formed of, for example, a high melting-point metal, is sometimes provided at an opposing position under the TFTs on the TFT array substrate.
By providing a light-shielding film under the TFTs as described above, light reflected by the rear surface of the TFT array substrate, or, if a plurality of electro-optical devices are combined via a prism to form one optical system, returning light of, for example, projection light passing through the prism from another electro-optical device can be prevented from being incident on the TFTs of the electro-optical device.
However, the following problems are presented by the above-described related art light-shielding techniques. According to the technique to form a light-shielding film on the opposing substrate or the TFT array substrate, the spacing between the shielding film and the channel region with, for example, a liquid crystal layer, electrodes, and interlayer insulating film therebetween is three-dimensionally considerably large. Thus, light obliquely applied between the shielding film and the channel region cannot be sufficiently shielded. Particularly in a small electro-optical device used as a light valve of a projector, incident light is a beam of light output from a light source and converged by a lens, and contains obliquely incident light components, which cannot be ignored (for example, 10% components tilted from the direction perpendicular to the substrate by 10 to 15 degrees). Therefore, insufficient shielding for the obliquely incident light presents a problem in a practical sense.
Additionally, light applied to the electro-optical device from an area without the light-shielding film is reflected on the top surface of the substrate, or on the top surface of the light-shielding film formed on the top surface of the substrate, or on the bottom surface of the data lines (namely, the internal surface facing the channel region). Then, such reflected light, or multiple reflection light, if such reflected light is further reflected on the top surface of the substrate or the internal surface of the shielding film or the data lines, sometimes reaches the TFT channel region.
In particular, as the definition of electro-optical devices becomes higher or the pixel pitch becomes smaller in response to recent demands for increasing the quality of display images, the intensity of the incident light is increased in order to display brighter images. Accordingly, it becomes more difficult to provide sufficient light-shielding by the above-described related art light-shielding techniques, and thus, flickering occurs due to a change in the TFT transistor characteristics, thereby reducing the quality of display images.
In order to increase the light-shielding characteristic, it seems that the area in which the light-shielding film is formed can be simply increased. If such an area is increased, however, it is difficult to respond to demands for increasing the aperture ratio of each pixel for enhancing the brightness of display images. As stated above, the internal-surface reflection light or the multiple reflection light resulting from the oblique light is generated by the presence of the light-shielding film, that is, the light-shielding film disposed below the TFTs or the light-shielding film formed of, for example, data lines, disposed above the TFTs. In view of this point, an increased area in which the light-shielding film is formed disadvantageously intensifies the internal-surface reflection light or the multiple reflection light.

Electro-optical device and electronic apparatus


A method of automatically generating a markup language message from an application specific interface object, as well as generating an application specific interface object from a markup language message is provided. The method can include receiving an application specific interface object and identifying an object table specified therein. Objects listed in the object table can be automatically identified. The objects can be serialized by representing the objects in the markup language message. The resulting markup language message can be a representation of the application specific interface object.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of application integration, and more particularly, to the generation of application interfaces which support standard and user defined application data objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
When interfacing two or more applications, many different problems can arise. This is especially true in the case where disparate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are interfaced through a middleware system. Importantly, both data issues and application programming interface (API) issues must be resolved before the applications can interact effectively. Oftentimes, API issues arise because ERP system interfaces can be customized to such a large extent to suit the particular business needs of each customer. In addition to API modifications, the underlying data model of many ERP systems also can be modified to suit a customer's specific requirements. Such is the case, for example, with the Ariba™ Buyer procurement application which is part of a comprehensive business-to-business platform available from Ariba, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. Because the Ariba Buyer data model can be modified to meet each customer's specific requirements, the interfaces and associated meta data objects describing those interfaces also are unique.
Further complicating the issue, is that some ERP systems require additional data to properly interface with other applications. For example, if the ERP system is to interface with an accounting application, a data structure referred to as a variant can be defined within the ERP system for storing information which is specific to the accounting application. The accounting variant can hold information that is pertinent to the ERP system, as well as certain information that is specific to the accounting application to be interfaced with the ERP system. The inclusion of such information within an ERP system leads to further customization of the underlying data model and APIs.
Because of the high degree of API and data model customization within ERP systems and applications, developers have turned away from developing a standard integration interface capable of meeting each customer's needs. Instead, developers have embraced several different techniques for interfacing ERP systems and/or applications to messaging middleware. One technique frequently relied upon by developers has been the development of custom coded solutions. Conventional custom coded solutions, however, frequently do not allow for future customization or enhancements to the ERP system without creating new custom code. In consequence, accommodating for customer modifications and variants can be problematic when implementing a custom interface solution.
Another technique for developing integration interfaces has been to capture application meta data in a database repository. As is known to those skilled in the art, meta data can provide a description of an interface to an application, in this case an ERP system interface object. One benefit of the database technique is that all of the ERP system meta data is contained within a central repository. Still, the database technique does have disadvantages. In particular, the use of a database introduces another potential point of failure into a system. Another disadvantage of the database technique is that the overall runtime performance of a system can be decreased due to the frequent calls to the database to access the ERP system meta data necessary for processing events. Finally, the customer needs specific knowledge of the application interface which may require the employment of specialized information technology personnel.

Interfacing objects and markup language messages

International Business Machines Corporation


A surveillance camera apparatus includes a first storage unit for storing a size of pixels configuring a image-sensor, a computation unit for performing a computation using first information, second information, third information, and fourth information to calculate angle information on a plurality of vertex-points, the information stored in the first storage unit being defined as the first information, a focal length of an optical lens being defined as the second information, angle information on an optical axis that passes through a rotation center of the surveillance camera apparatus as the third information, and pixel information corresponding to a plurality of vertex-points that form a region to be masked whose image has been picked up by the image-sensor being defined as the fourth information, and a second storage unit for storing the computation result by the computation unit.

The present invention relates to a surveillance camera that is mounted onto a for-surveillance-camera rotary base capable of performing a pan (i.e., transverse oscillation) rotation and a tilt (i.e., longitudinal oscillation) rotation. Moreover, the surveillance camera is a one which, in order to protect privacy, includes a mask storage unit and a mask display unit for masking only a privacy-protected range photographed in part of an image.
In the surveillance camera, a video camera is fixed onto the for-surveillance-camera rotary base that is freely rotatable in the pan direction and the tilt direction. This surveillance camera is the following system: An external controller unit operates the for-surveillance-camera rotary base, zooming of the camera, and the like, thereby freely changing an image spot to be photographed by the camera. This surveillance system, in general, includes a sequence function for storing a plurality of image spots so as to project in sequence these stored image spots at a constant point-in-time, an alarm function that, if an unusual event happens, causes the camera to instantaneously direct toward that direction, and the like. Here, the alarm function is implemented by setting up a human-sensitive sensor or the like in a surveillance area. When setting up the surveillance system like this in public places such as a street, there exists a problem of dealing with such a spot as a private house that is undesirable to be photographed from the viewpoint of the privacy protection. As a solving method for this problem, there exists a one of masking, with another image, a spot that necessitates the privacy protection. Hereinafter, the explanation will be given below concerning conventional privacy masking methods.
In JP-A-6-181539, the following method has been described: A privacy-protected range is stored in advance by the central angles and the range widths in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Next, if division areas, which result from dividing an image output into M-row and N-column areas, overlap partially with the privacy-protected range, the division areas are masked. In this method, the image output is masked on the M-row and N-column division basis. This eventually masks the portion that need not be masked, thereby lowering the surveillance function. Also, the range to be masked is managed using the angles in the vertical and the horizontal directions. This causes a difference to occur between a rotation displacement of the photograph-target, which, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, is caused by the pan rotation near a location directly below or above the camera's direction, and vertical and horizontal displacements of the mask. As a result, there exists a problem that the mask deviates from the privacy mask.
In JP-A-2001-69494, the following method has been described: The privacy-protected range is stored in advance by the coordinates on the absolute coordinate system, the size thereon, or the like. At the time of displaying the mask, the absolute coordinate system is converted into the picture coordinate system, then causing the mask to be displayed. In this method, a tilt angle at which the camera's direction is directed toward near a location directly below or above the camera-mounted position, the rotation displacement of the photograph-target becomes larger, and accordingly the masking exhibits no significant effect. On account of this, the above-described method has applied no masking near the location directly below or above the camera-mounted position where the rotation displacement becomes larger. Also, when setting up the privacy-protected range, the masking exhibits no significant effect on photograph-targets which, as illustrated in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8C, exist at the picture edges and thus whose images have been distorted. On account of this, the method has set up the privacy-protected range at the picture center.

Pan/tilt/zoom surveillance system and method for dynamically adjusting a user defined image picture mask


Electronic data is securely delivered from an issuer to a recipient, in the form of an encrypted object. Data belonging to the issuer to be delivered is first selected and then encrypted into the object. The object is registered with a transaction archive for tracking the object prior to transmitting the object to the recipient. Upon receipt, the recipient is prompted for an access code. Attempts to enter the access code by the recipient are registered with the transaction archive. The data is displayed to the recipient only after a correct access code has been entered and only after an attempt to enter the access code by the recipient is registered with the transaction archive.

The process of signing for a conventional sealed package being delivered is simple and has been in place for years through the Post Office and more recently through courier services. The process simply involves taking an item, putting it in a package and delivering it to its destination. The recipient then signs for the item and the signature is reported back to the sender. It exists in the real world, yet there is no effective or comparable system in the fast paced world of the internet. The problem is large, virtually every company in the world stores confidential data on its computer systems. Email delivers billions of messages around the world in an instant. Yet only a small fraction of this information is protected and an even smaller amount of this data is traceable.

System and method for secure electronic data delivery


A device for packaging and applying a product may include: a receptacle containing the product; a support that defines a housing configured to pass the product emanating from the receptacle and includes dispersed magnetic particles; and an applicator member retained in the housing.

The present invention relates to devices for packaging and applying a cosmetic product, for example, a makeup or a care product.
The term "cosmetic product" as used in the context of the present invention means a product as defined in Council Directive 93/35/EEC of Jun. 14, 1993, that amends Council Directive 76/768/EEC.
European patent application EP-A2-1 314 373 describes a device for packaging and applying a product, the device comprising a ball that is rotatably mounted in a housing, the ball including at least one substance that is capable of exerting an action on the product. In particular, the product may be exposed to a magnetic field generated by the ball during application. Such exposure may, for example, be intended to endow the product, after the product has been packaged, with properties that the product does not possess at the time the product is packaged.

Packaging and applicator device comprising a support and a distribution member, and a method of applying a product with such a device


Rather than using separate sample rate offset and phase offset estimation algorithms for coarse timing synchronization and fine timing synchronization of a receiver timing, respectively, one phase error algorithm can be used for both the coarse and fine timing synchronization. In order to perform coarse timing synchronization the phase error indications sampled over a sampling period are used to form an error vector, and a Fourier transform can then be applied to the error vector. An analysis of the Fourier transform of the error vector can be used to determine a frequency component identifying an offset between the receiver frequency and the signal frequency. The frequency of the receiver timing can then be adjusted in accordance with the identified offset, thereby performing the coarse timing synchronization. Once the coarse timing synchronization has been applied, the same phase error algorithm may be used, without the Fourier transform, to implement the fine timing synchronization.

Data signals which have been transmitted from a transmitter can be received at a receiver. The data signal is transmitted at a carrier frequency and may contain digital data in the form of data symbols. The data signals may be wireless signals such as radio signals transmitted through a wireless channel, or wired signals transmitted on a wired channel, such as using a coaxial cable.
A receiver operates at a baseband frequency. In order to correctly receive a digital data signal, the data signal is downmixed from the carrier frequency to the baseband frequency. In order to do this, the receiver determines the carrier timing (i.e. the carrier frequency and phase) of the waveform of the received data signal. As well as determining the carrier frequency and phase, the timing of the data symbols is determined so that the receiver can sample the data symbols at the correct frequency and phase (i.e. at the correct timing) in order to faithfully reproduce the transmitted data symbols.
The receiver uses a receiver carrier timing which it can adjust to match (or "lock onto") the carrier timing of the data signal. Similarly, the receiver uses a receiver symbol timing which it can adjust to match (or "lock onto") the symbol timing of the data signal. In order to adjust the receiver timing (where the "receiver timing" is e.g. the receiver carrier timing and/or the receiver symbol timing), the receiver determines an indication of a phase error between the receiver timing and the signal timing (where the "signal timing" is e.g. the data signal carrier timing and/or the data signal symbol timing), and then adjusts the receiver timing based on the determined phase error indication to thereby reduce the error. This can be performed iteratively to bring the receiver timing closely in synchronisation with the signal timing. There are phase error algorithms which determine phase error indications (or "error metrics") for carrier and symbol phase offsets by sampling the data signal in accordance with the receiver timing and measuring a phase error for individual samples. However, when such phase error algorithms (which measure errors for individual samples) are used in the presence of noise or channel distortion, the phase error indications that are determined may be unreliable due to the noise and/or channel distortion. To address this issue, the phase error indications can be averaged over an averaging period including many samples in order to achieve a more stable and accurate phase error indication. The average phase error indications can then be passed to Phase-Locked Loops (PLLs) controlling the receiver's local oscillators and sample timing hardware to match the receiver carrier and symbol timing to the signal carrier and symbol timing of the incoming data signal.
For the case of symbol timing, any error (referred to herein as "sample rate offset") between the rate (i.e. frequency) at which the receiver samples the received signal and the rate at which the data symbols occur in the data signal will cause the sample points to slip (or "drift") relative to ideal sample points. As the timing of the receiver sampling varies relative to the ideal sample timing (according to the signal symbol timing), the phase error will vary over the averaging period. Averaging the varying phase error indications over the averaging period will reduce the accuracy of the phase error measurement if the phase error has varied significantly over the averaging period. There is a limit to how much the phase error measurements can vary over the averaging period before the phase error measurements stop being useful for matching the receiver timing to the signal timing. If the offset in the sample timing used by the receiver relative to the signal symbol timing varies by more than a fraction of a symbol period over the averaging period, then the average phase error indication determined by the phase error algorithm may cease to be a reliable measure with which to correctly adjust the receiver symbol timing, and signal acquisition may fail at the receiver. A similar limit applies for adjusting the receiver carrier timing to match the signal carrier timing, where the phase error indications determined by a phase error algorithm may become meaningless if the phase error changes significantly over an averaging period.
Therefore, the phase error algorithms described above are used for performing fine timing synchronisation once a low symbol and/or carrier rate offset has been achieved. In order to achieve a low symbol and carrier rate offset, other methods are initially used to perform coarse timing synchronisation to achieve sufficiently low symbol and carrier rate offsets such that the phase error algorithms described above can be applied for the fine timing synchronisation. Therefore the receiver implements two phase error algorithms (one to perform coarse timing synchronisation and one to perform fine timing synchronisation) and implements a procedure to handover between the two algorithms.

Using a single phase error algorithm for coarse and fine signal timing synchronisation


An electrical storage cell is provided comprising a container (2) carrying an electrode plate group (9) comprising alternating positive and negative electrodes flanking electrolyte-impregnated separators, a current output terminal (7) passing through a wall (5) of the container, and an internal connection part (20) electrically connecting the electrodes of one polarity to the terminal passing through a wall of the container, in which the internal connection part is of copper with at least one copper/nickel co-laminated portion (25, 26), eliminating the need for supplementary welding parts employed for welding the copper internal connection.

The present invention relates to an electrical connection between a current output terminal and the electrodes of one polarity of an electrode plate group in an electrical storage cell.
An electrochemical cell or storage cell (these two terms being equivalent, the term storage cell will be used hereinafter) is a device for producing electricity in which chemical energy is converted into electrical energy. The chemical energy is constituted by electrochemically active compounds deposited on at least one face of electrodes arranged in the storage cell. The electrical energy is produced by electrochemical reactions during discharge of the storage cell. The electrodes, arranged in a container, are electrically connected to current output terminals to provide electrical continuity between the electrodes and an electrical consumer with which the storage cell is associated. The positive and negative current output terminals can be secured either onto the walls of opposing sides of the container of the storage cell, or onto the wall of a same side of the container.
FIG. 1 shows a sealed cylindrical storage cell of a known type.
Storage cell 1 comprises an electrode plate group 9 comprising alternating positive and negative electrodes flanking electrolyte-impregnated separators. Typically, each electrode is made up by a metal current collector also called a foil, carrying on at least one face thereof, the electrochemically active matter. The electrode plate group 9 is arranged in a sealed container 2 having a cylindrical wall closed off by a base 3 at one end thereof and covered at the other end by a lid 5 which carries the current output terminals 6 and 7. A first current output terminal, in the example the positive terminals 6, is generally welded onto the lid. A second current output terminal, in the example the negative terminal 7, passes through the lid; it is generally secured onto the latter by crimping, with seals 8 electrically insulating the negative current output terminal 7 from the lid 5.
The current output terminals 6, 7 provide electrical continuity between the electrodes and the external application with which the storage cell is associated. There exist several ways of electrically connecting the electrodes of a given polarity to one of the current output terminals on the container. One possible solution consists in employing a flat connection applied onto the collectors of the electrodes having the same polarity. This known solution is illustrated on FIG. 1; a flat connection 11 connects the positive electrodes of electrode plate group 9 together, and a conducting shaped part 12 connects this flat connection 11 to the bottom wall 3 of the container, the walls of the container being electrically conducting with the lid 5 and the positive terminal 6 welded onto the lid. Similarly, a flat connection 13 connects the negative electrodes of electrode plate group 9 together, and an elongated tab 14 connects this flat connection 13 to the negative current output terminal 7. Elongated tab 14 can form at least one bend in order to impart an elastic effect to the electrical connection between the negative electrodes and the negative current output terminal, and which compensates for variation in height of electrode plate groups from one storage cell to another.
Typically, the electrical connection to the terminal passing through a wall of the container—in the example of FIG. 1 this is the negative terminal—is assembled in the following way. Flat connection 13 is welded onto the collectors of the electrodes of a given polarity after which the elongated tab 14 is welded onto the flat connection 13 and onto the lower portion of the terminal 7 passing through a wall of the container. The elongated tab 14 is then bent inside the storage cell while the container 2 is being closed by the lid 5. An internal connection of this type is notably disclosed in European patent applications EP-A-1,102,337 or EP-A-1,596,449.
For high power applications, it is necessary to provide for heavy currents through the connections of the storage cell, for example currents greater than 100 amps. The choice will then fall on materials of high conductivity such as copper or aluminum to provide the connections. Typically, the negative electrode straps are of copper and the positive electrode straps are of aluminum for reasons of compatibility with the active matter, notably for lithium-ion type storage batteries. Thus, in lithium ion technology, the positive terminal is generally connected to the container of aluminum and the negative terminal is generally a terminal passing through a wall of the container and of copper. Copper is also generally chosen for flat connection 13 and elongated tab 14 to ensure good conduction of heavy currents and compatibility with the negative terminal of copper. It should be noted that flat connection 13 and elongated tab 14 may be one and the same part with a suitable shape which is directly welded onto the collectors of the electrodes that are folded as disclosed in European patent application EP-A-1,596,449.
The internal connection part (single part or elongated tab 14 welded to a flat connection 13) needs to be welded to the collectors of the negative electrodes of copper and then to the foot of the terminal 7 passing through a wall of the container. With lithium ion technology, the welds are typically performed by laser. Now, laser welding is not effective on copper as the laser beam is naturally reflected by copper. To get around this phenomenon, it is known to employ a nickel plate that is inserted between the copper and the laser beam in order to as it were "cheat" the laser and get it to transmit the laser heat energy to the copper to be welded. Welding the internal connection part consequently necessitates three parts: the actual connection part, a nickel welding plate to be placed against the portion to be welded to the collectors and a nickel welding plate to be placed on the portion to be welded at the foot of the terminal passing through a wall of the container.
It is also known, notably from European patent application EP-A-1,596,4496, to employ an internal connection part of nickel-plated copper. The nickel coating, several microns thick, is applied to prevent any oxidation of the copper part, and is not thick enough to sink the laser energy during welding. Supplementary parts for welding in nickel should always be employed with a connection part in nickel-plated copper.
FIG. 2 shows such an internal connection according to the prior art.
FIG. 2 shows diagrammatically the upper portion of an electrode plate group 9 to which an internal connection part 20 has been welded. It will be noticed in FIG. 2 that connection part 20 is covered by a nickel plate 21 over the portion which was welded to electrode plate group 9. The free end of this internal connection 20 is designed to electrically connect the foot of the terminal passing through the lid of the container when the electrode plate group will be introduced into the container (not illustrated). It will be also noticed in FIG. 2 that connection part 20 is covered by another nickel plate 22 over the portion which is to be welded to the foot of the terminal passing through a wall of the container. FIG. 2 also shows an exploded view of the three parts: internal connection part 20 and the two welding plates 21, 22.
Managing these three parts simultaneously complicates the manufacturing procedure for the storage cell, and represents a cost. Further, the nickel plates of around 0.5 mm thickness then remain inside the cell, although their only purpose is the welding of the internal connection. Now, the goal is to provide cells which are even more compact and lightweight; one consequently seeks to eliminate any part which plays no role in the operation of the cell.
There is consequently a need for a simplified internal electrical connection part which allows welding without the use of supplementary parts while still preserving low resistance to ensure passage of heavy currents.

Electrical connection for a storage cell


The present invention is directed to a method of forming a polymer coating on a substrate. The method comprising the steps of providing in an evacuated reaction chamber a substrate having a surface to be coated; and providing a first source of polymer forming material and a second source of radicals. According to the invention the first source and the second source are separated from each other and from the reaction chamber, and the polymer forming material as well as the radicals are, at least temporarily, conducted contemporaneously but spatially separated to the substrate's surface, so that a reaction of the polymer forming material with the radicals is avoided before they reach the substrate's surface. Further, the present invention is directed to a device for carrying out the method according to the invention.

In general it is known to prepare polymers in a liquid solution. However, such methods require in many cases the use of expensive, corrosive or toxic solvents. Further, often undesired or uncontrollable reactions take place in such a solution. Finally, after polymer formation in the liquid solution, a film or coating has to still be formed which normally requires multiple further time-consuming cleaning and deposition steps.
Another known method allowing a direct deposition of polymer films is the method of chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
One type of CVD is the method of vapor deposition polymerization (VDP). According to VDP a condensation reaction is initiated between two monomers at a surface of a substrate without using any initiator or oxidizing agent. In particular, monomers are volatilized at the surface of a temperature controlled substrate. Such a method allows polymerization of monomers which are not soluble in solvents and offers to some degree a control of generated chain lengths. However, according to the VDP it is difficult to control the monomers' concentration and their flux to the surface of the sample to be coated. In particular, there is a competition between an adsorption on the sample's surface and the formation of long polymer chains, wherein adsorption is preferred at low temperatures and the formation of long polymer chains is preferred at rather high temperatures. This is only one of the reasons for the difficulty in controlling the composition of copolymers according to this method.
Another known polymerization method is the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). This technique has mainly been used for the deposition of inorganic films at relatively low temperatures and with a high deposition rate. Unfortunately, monomers injected into the plasma chamber are ionized or fragmentized by the plasma due to electrons, ions or radicals in the plasma. Further, such plasma polymers are often irregular and have rather short chain lengths. Moreover, they are frequently cross-linked and randomly terminated. Plasma polymerization leads to a random poly-recombination of radicals and fragments of monomers. A known innovation in the field of plasma polymerization is the use of the pulsed-plasma mode. In that case, short plasma pulses (of a few microseconds) can activate molecules, produce radicals and initiate the polymerization reaction. After the pulse, the residual radicals initiate a purely chemical radical chain reaction during the plasma-off period (typically tens of microseconds). In that case, a more chemically-regular product is expected but the chain propagation during chemical polymerization is restricted by the low probability of attaching a new monomer to the radical at the growing chain-end. Moreover, the deactivation of chain propagation is expected under the usual vacuum conditions (e.g. about 10 Pa) due to the recombination of neighboring radicals. This leads to a significant loss of active radical sites during the plasma-off period. Plasma is thus re-ignited to reproduce fresh initiating radicals. The resulting polymer films have a structure and composition closer to their counterparts produced by radical polymerization in liquid phase but show repeatable irregularities induced by the plasma-on period. Such issues should be circumvented.
Another known method for depositing polymer coatings is the initiator chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). This method is based on a thermal decomposition of an initiator into free radicals assisting in initiating the polymerization of co-injected monomers. Typically the iCVD uses a network of heated filaments (e.g. between 200° C. and 550° C.) such that the initiator molecule is pyrolyzed into radicals capable of initiating a polymerization reaction. Then the radicals diffuse together with the monomers to a carrier substrate. Unfortunately, pyrolysis may also result in the degradation of monomers and is difficult to control. Moreover, pyrolysis of initiator material may result in further undesired ions or agents which may deteriorate the quality of the produced polymer and impede the control of polymer formation. Further, the amount of radicals and monomers reaching a substrate's surface is difficult to control. In other iCVD methods it is possible that initiators are activated by UV radiation (photo initiator CVD). However, all known iCVD methods do not allow for sufficient control of the polymerization reaction. In particular, free radicals recombine uncontrollably before deposition.
Finally, the method of oxydant chemical vapor deposition (oCVD) is known in the state of the art. In particular, a monomer reacts with an oxidant species. The oCVD uses a spontaneous reaction between the oxidant and the monomer with any energetical initiation (e.g. thermal or optical). However, the oxidants have a very low volatility and their injection into the vapor phase is a difficult problem requiring very specific reactor types.
As indicated above, known methods involve several disadvantages. In summary, they often do not allow for a satisfying control of chain lengths of formed polymers. Another issue is the degradation of polymers and/or polymer forming material which can result in the loss of the desired functional properties of the produced polymer coating. In particular, some of the above methods utilize a plasma within the reaction chamber which results in the degradation of sensitive polymers or precursors, i.e. in particular of organic material.
Moreover, it is not always possible to sufficiently control the concentration of polymer forming material in relation to initiators, thus rendering the control of layer thicknesses and chain lengths difficult.
Other methods involve multiple serial coating steps and are thus time consuming, rendering these methods rather uninteresting for mass production purposes.
The technical problem is to provide an advanced method of forming polymer coatings on substrates.
In particular, the method should allow for an improved control of polymer chain lengths, cross linking and or coating thickness.
Further, the method should be fast, easy to implement or cost-effective.
Another object of the invention is to overcome at least one of the above mentioned disadvantages.

Controlled radical assisted polymerization

Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)


A method, apparatus and system related to zero configuration communication between a browser and a networked media device are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of a client device includes constraining an executable environment in a security sandbox, executing a sandboxed application in the executable environment using a processor and a memory, and automatically instantiating a connection between the sandboxed application and a sandbox reachable service of a networked media device. The method may include processing an identification data associated with the sandbox reachable service sharing a public address with the client device. The method may also include determining a private address pair of the sandbox reachable service based on the identification data. Further, the method may include establishing a communication session between the sandboxed application and the sandbox reachable service using a cross-site scripting technique of the security sandbox or appending a header of a hypertext transfer protocol.

A communication may be established between a client device (e.g., a laptop, a tablet device, a data processing) and a media device (e.g., a television, a projection device, a multidimensional visual emersion system, a console). For example, a user of the client device may need to read a manual to understand a protocol to configure the media device into a networked media device (the media device registered in a communication network). The user may not understand the protocol. As such, the user may consume significant customer support time in configuring the media device. Alternatively, the user may need to expend financial resources to request assistance from a network administrator to assist the user in configuring the media device. This may be cost prohibitive for the user.
Furthermore, the user may need to associate the media device with the client device. The user may need a code that uniquely identifies the media device. The user may be unable to locate the code that uniquely identifies the media device. Even still, the user may need to create an account to register a communication session between the client device and the media device. This may be time consuming and difficult. As a result, the user may give up and not associate the client device and the media device. Therefore, a revenue opportunity may be missed because an interested party (e.g., a distribution carrier, a set top box operator, a search engine, an advertiser, the user etc.) may be unable to access behavioral data associated with use of the media. In addition, the user may be inconvenienced when a programming on the media device and the client device remain independent of each other.

Zero configuration communication between a browser and a networked media device


A semiconductor-type hydrocarbon sensor includes an oxide semiconductor, an outer electrode formed on an outside surface of the oxide semiconductor, an inner electrode formed on an inside surface of the oxide semiconductor, and a zeolite layer constructed of zeolite carrying at least one metal selected from the group consisting of platinum and copper. Small molecular weight hydrocarbons enter pores of the zeolite layer and are oxidized so that the small molecular weight hydrocarbons cannot reach the oxide semiconductor. Large molecular weight hydrocarbons cannot enter the small pores of the zeolite layer and, instead, pass through grain boundaries of zeolite particles of the zeolite layer to reach the oxide semiconductor. As a result, the large molecular weight hydrocarbons are selectively detected by the semiconductor-type hydrocarbon sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor-type hydrocarbon sensor which can selectively detect large molecular weight hydrocarbons (HC).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lean burn engines, which are defined as engines conducting fuel combustion at lean air-fuel ratios, are known for improving fuel economy and suppressing exhaust of carbon dioxide. Since nitrogen oxides (NOx) cannot be reduced by a three-way catalyst in the lean burn engines, a zeolite catalyst which can reduce NOx even under oxidizing conditions (lean air-fuel ratio conditions) has been developed.
The zeolite catalyst needs hydrocarbons to reduce NOx. Further, the NOx purification rate of the zeolite catalyst is affected by not only the amount of hydrocarbons to be supplied but also the kinds of the hydrocarbons. More particularly, the NOx purification rate of the zeolite catalyst is affected by whether the hydrocarbon molecular weight is large (for example, the number of carbon atoms included in the HC molecule is equal to or greater than six) or small (for example, the number of carbon atoms included in the HC molecule is equal to or smaller than five). For example, methane, which has only one carbon atom in each molecule, has little effect in purifying NOx. Further, the relatively small molecular weight hydrocarbons are effective in purifying NOx at relatively low temperatures, and the relatively large molecular weight hydrocarbons are effective in purifying NOx at relatively high temperatures.
To use the zeolite catalyst effectively in an exhaust conduit of a lean burn engine to purify NOx, it is necessary to install a hydrocabon sensor for detecting the amount of HC included in the exhaust gas and to feed back the output of the sensor to control the amount of HC included in the exhaust gas.
As an example of such hydrocarbon sensors, a semiconductor-type hydrocarbon sensor is known from the publication: "Chemical Sensors" edited by Tetsurou Mizoyama and published by Koudansha on Mar. 1, 1982. The prior art semiconductor-type hydrocarbon sensor includes an insulation base, paired electrodes, and a metal oxide (oxide semiconductor) provided between the paired electrodes. In such a sensor, the HC concentration of the exhaust gas is detected by measuring a change in the electrical resistance of the oxide semiconductor.
However, the prior art semiconductor-type hydrocarbon sensor detects only the total amount of hydrocarbons and cannot detect the kinds of the hydrocarbons. As discussed above, since NOx purification by the zeolite catalyst is affected by not only the amount of hydrocarbons but also the kinds of the hydrocarbons, it is desirable to develop a semiconductor-type hydrocarbon sensor capable of also determining the kinds of hydrocarbons.
Further, there is a close relationship between combustion of an engine and the kinds of hydrocarbons included in the exhaust gas from the engine. For example, when the combustion is slow, the amount of large molecular weight hydrocarbons (for example, toluene, iso-octane) increases. This phenomenon is strongly seen at low engine speeds and when exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is being conducted. Therefore, if a semiconductor-type hydrocarbon sensor capable of detecting even the kinds of hydrocarbons can be developed, such a sensor can be used for controlling conventional engines, too.


A method for separating cells is presented. The method provides a flow through fractional cell sorting process that is based on the application of a magnetic force to cells having a range of magnetic labeling densities. Magnetically labeled cells are introduced into a flow channel. The cells are continuously fractionated into flow streams based on magnetic susceptibility by subjecting the cells in the flow channel to a magnetic field. The fractionated cells are recovered based on their response to the magnetic field. Methods employing dipole fractional sorters and quadrapole annular sorters are also presented.

Generally, cell sorting devices separate cell populations of interest from a suspension and/or other types of cells. The principal method of operation of early cell sorting devices relied on a cell's physical parameters to distinguish that cell from a suspension and/or other types of cells. Examples of bulk cell sorting techniques include filtration, which is based on cell size, and centrifugation, which is based on cell density. These techniques are effective as long as the cell population of interest is significantly different, with respect to size or density, from the suspension and/or the other cells in the population (i.e. a separation of red blood cells from blood.) However, when the cell population of interest does not differ significantly in size or density, the filtration and centrifugation techniques are ineffectual.
In attempting to address this problem, a technique was developed which did not rely on cell size or density differences relative to the suspension and/or the other cells in the population. This technique was based on the presence of a tagging element which was attached to the surface of the cell. This tagging technique has evolved to become a significant analytical tool in basic biological studies, applied biological studies, in the clinical diagnosis of diseases and the rapidly developing cell-based therapies in the treatment of diseases.
One application of this tagging technique is known as Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (hereinafter FACS). In the FACS technique, an antibody-fluorescent label conjugate is used to tag a specific cell surface marker. The primary mode of operation of a FACS sorter is binary in nature, that is, it determines whether a cell has the threshold number of fluorescent labels (i.e. positive sorting) or it does not have the threshold number of fluorescent labels (i.e. negative sorting). This determination is made by passing cells, single file, through a device which can determine whether each cell includes the parameter of interest (e.g. fluorescence). The binary separation is determined by the setting of a threshold or "gate" (also sometimes called a trigger.) While the value of this "gate" or trigger is adjustable (i.e. quantitatively), the sorting process is still binary based on the threshold setting.
Furthermore, the rate of cell separation is relatively slow due to the fact that FACS sorters operate by examining a single cell at a time. Generally, a FACS sorter can provide a cell sorting rate of 10.sup.3 cells/second. Higher cell sorting rates are possible, however, these higher sorting rates may damage some cells. Still further, FACS sorters are relatively expensive and thus, most laboratory facilities are equipped with a limited number sorters.
Another technique employing cell tagging as a basis for separation is known as High Gradient Magnetic Separation (hereinafter HGMS). The concept of sorting materials based on their magnetic responsiveness was first introduced in the industrial and mining arts. These methods relied on the intrinsic magnetic properties of the sorted material (generally, iron (i.e. magnetic) from non-iron parts (i.e. non-magnetic) as a basis of operation. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,056,426 issued to Frantz, "Magnetic Separation Method and Means," in 1936.
More particularly, in HGMS, a heterogeneous cell population, which includes a cell sub-population having magnetic cell tags, is passed through a magnetic field. As the heterogeneous cell population passes through the magnetic field, the cell sub-population labeled with the magnetic cell tags, becomes magnetically responsive to the applied magnetic field. That is, the cell sub-population including the magnetic tags will be subjected to a magnetic force which will cause the cells to be either attracted to (in the typical case), or repelled from, the magnetic field's source. Typically, the cell sub-population having the magnetic tags is attracted to the source of the magnetic field and collected by adhering to the magnetic source itself, or adhering to a cell collector device situated near the magnetic source. Therefore, the primary mode of the HGMS is also binary in nature, that is, it determines whether a cell has the magnetic tags or not.
The HGMS system, however, also has several drawbacks. Firstly, the cell sub-population of interest can be physically damaged during the HGMS process because of their forced magnetic massing at the collector device. Secondly, because the HGMS process sorts cells on the same fundamental principle as the FACS system, the HGMS method is also binary in nature. That is, both the FACS and HGMS systems separate cells based on the presence or absence of a parameter of interest (i.e. fluorescence and magnetic responsiveness, respectively).
While binary separation techniques are important, there is a desire in the biological sciences to fractionate cells in an "analog" fashion, that is, to sort cells based on the amount of tags bound to the cell. As mentioned above, binary cell sorting methods sort cells based on the presence or absence of a parameter of interest (i.e. magnetic responsiveness). Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for sorting cells based on the amount of tags bound to the cell.

Method for magnetically separating cells into fractionated flow streams


The copper-indium-gallium (CuInGa) alloy is in particular to be used for the production of sputter targets, tubular cathodes and similar coating material sources. It has a phase corresponding to a Cu5Zn8 prototype phase in which the lattice sites of the zinc atoms (Zn) are occupied by gallium atoms (gallium-substituted Cu5Zn8 phase) and in which indium is simultaneously introduced into the elementary cell or phase, making up a proportion of up to 26 wt %.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a coating material based on a copper-indium-gallium (CuInGa) alloy, in particular for the production of sputter targets, tubular cathodes and similar coating material sources.
2. Background Art
The production of a CuInGa alloy by ingot metallurgy is in principle known from DE 698 35 851 T2. The composition of the alloy mentioned there substantially equals those of the invention disclosed in the following. EP 0 308 201 A1 relates to a sputter target to be used in the production process of magneto-optical recording media. Correspondingly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,636 B2 discloses PVD targets and methods of producing them. However, neither of the two disclosures teaches the use of a CuInGa alloy as a coating material.
Field of application is the production of thin-film solar cells with a semiconductor layer consisting of CuInGaSe2 or CuInGaS2 (common abbreviation CIGS). In this process, an electrically conducting CuInGa layer of the desired composition is deposited, e.g. in a vacuum deposition or sputtering process, onto a molybdenum-coated substrate (KNS glass) In a next process step, the layer is selenized or sulphited in a Se- or S-containing atmosphere so as to preserve its semiconducting properties. The CIGS layer is part of a layer system, made up of a layer package, of a thin-film solar cell.
Deposition of the CuInGa layer has so far been carried out by co-evaporation of elementary evaporation sources (Cu, In, Ga separately) or by vapour deposition of alternating layers of binary master alloys from the Cu—In—Ga system. With these processes, however, constant results with regard to the composition of the layers can hardly be obtained over a longer period of time. One problem is for example a lack of Cu during the use of these methods or a non-uniform distribution of the elements used.
Moreover, several steps are often required for depositing the CIG layer since it is impossible to deposit all three elements by sputtering. The melting point of Ga, for example, is 30° C., which inevitably causes the Ga-metal to melt and drip off during the coating process.
Due to the semiconducting properties of this metal, the electrical conductivity is very low. This, in turn, causes the gallium metal to heat up until the molten phase is reached. Consequently, the coating process is disrupted.
The current state of the art allows for sputter targets, both planar and in the shape of a tubular cathode, to be developed by using the three components Cu, In and Ga in order to create the semiconducting CIGS layers; these sputter targets, however, possess a plurality of infavourable material properties and very poor sputtering and layer properties due to an inappropriate conduction of heat during the production of the ternary coating material.
The following are current methods of depositing the CIGS layer onto different substrates:                When the individual elements are vapour deposited simultaneously, both with and without selenium, at different vapour deposition rates and subsequent tempering, the layer reacts to form a semiconducting chalcopyrite structure.        Vapour deposition (Ga)/sputter deposition (In/Cu) of individual layers with subsequent tempering (and selenization), also by using binary metal targets (CuGa+In or CuIn+Ga) of different compositions.        Sputter deposition of the oxide compounds of the three metals with sub-sequent reduction in, for example, H2 to obtain a layer of pure metal.        Layer deposition based on the Se-containing compounds In2Se3, Ga2Se3, In/Ga2Se3 and Cu2Se.        Magnetron sputtering of the direct semiconducting compound materials CuInSe2 or CuInS2. The efficiency of the solar cells thus obtained is too low.        Further methods involving electroplating or screen printing processes for the deposition of the individual layers are still being tested.
A sputter target incorporating the three elements Cu, in and Ga at the desired proportion has not been successfully used in any of the above "conventional" methods of production.
The most common method of producing the CIGS layer on an industrial scale is co-sputtering of targets consisting of CuGa (65-80 wt % of Cu) and In. Selenization occurs in a subsequent tempering step at 500° C. in a Se-containing atmosphere (duration approx. 3 min.).
The advantages of the developed CuInGa targets having the desired compositions lie in the fact that a single sputter target is used in the coating process. This results in higher process stabilities and exactly definable stoichiometries, cost reduction and recyclability of the residual coating materials as well as a necessary high melting temperature of the alloy, especially with regard to the element gallium.

Coating material based on a copper-indium-gallium alloy, in particular for the production of sputter targets, tubular cathodes and the like


An apparatus for collapsing and folding an upright container to a compact stackable configuration, the container having a bottom wall, peripheral side wall with at least upper, lower and intermediate annular stepped portions in the peripheral side wall, and a top wall having a discharge opening therein, includes tooling for supporting and holding the container in an upright position; a first forming element for engaging and exerting a downward force on the intermediate annular stepped portion of the peripheral side wall and for effecting the formation of a first folded portion in the peripheral side wall; and a second forming element for engaging and exerting a downward force on the top wall for effecting the formation of a second folded portion in the peripheral side wall, substantially concentric with and radially adjacent the first folded portion.

This invention relates generally to plastic bottle or container constructions, and particularly to thin walled bottles or containers which are collapsible and foldable, as well as to a process and apparatus for collapsing such bottles or containers.
In the container industry, there are a number of known applications for relatively thin, flexible bottles or containers, some of the more well known of which relate to the shipment and retail sale of beverages such as milk, water, juice, etc., as well as liquid or powdered cleaners, detergents and the like.
It is often the case that such containers must be shipped over considerable distances to distributors who fill and then ship the filled containers to retail concerns. During the initial shipment to distributors, the empty containers, for example one gallon containers, take up so much space that, from a volume standpoint, the manufacturer is shipping mostly air.
At the same time, there is great concern in the environmental arena for plastic materials which for the most part are not biodegradable, and which therefore pose significant disposal problems, particularly in light of the ever expanding utilization of plastics in virtually every area of technology. The problem is especially acute in the container industry.
This invention seeks to alleviate both of the above described concerns by:
1) providing a plastic bottle or container construction which requires approximately one half of the plastic currently used in most plastic containers, particularly those which typically carry milk, water, juice, detergents (liquid or powder) and other liquids and/or particulates; and
2) shaping the containers in such a way as to facilitate collapse and folding to a compact size which results in a four or more to one increase in shipping capacity.
For purposes of this invention, the term "container" refers to plastic containers or bottles having shapes as disclosed herein. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a thin walled plastic container is manufactured by an extrusion or injection blow molding process, incorporating a thin walled construction which permits the normally self-supporting container to be collapsed and a portion or portions concentrically folded to provide a compact, nestable and/or stackable container for efficient shipment.
The container side wall in a preferred embodiment is provided with peripheral, vertically spaced steps or shoulders which facilitate axial collapse and subsequent concentric folding of portions of the side wall to provide a collapsed and folded container article with at least four "layers" of side wall arranged in a zig-zag or S-shaped configuration, in generally surrounding relationship to tapered shoulder and narrow neck portions of the container.
The container side wall may also be formed originally with one or more steps, or with a smooth, tapered or even straight peripheral side wall and nevertheless collapsed and folded as will be explained further herein.
A plurality of containers collapsed and folded in the manner described above may be arranged in the form of a stack for easy and efficient shipment.
There is also disclosed for eventual use with the preferred embodiment of the invention a relatively rigid open-topped pitcher for receiving and holding the plastic container. The pitcher is formed with interior beads and/or steps about its periphery, which are designed to engage the corresponding steps or shoulders on the container side wall to thereby hold the container in place during pouring.
An exemplary embodiment of an apparatus utilized to carry out the collapsing and folding operation includes a container holder and reciprocable fluid actuated tool members which act in sequence to form first and second folded portions of the container. More specifically, one exemplary embodiment of the apparatus includes a container holder device, opposing elements of which are reciprocable between open and closed positions, and adapted to hold or support a container during a collapsing and folding operation. The holder is mounted on a supporting surface provided with an opening through which an associated container may be brought into position. The supporting surface is also provided with one or more stops for limiting downward movement of a container-engaging tool element as described in greater detail below.
The apparatus also includes a tool frame comprising a stationary platen supported on a plurality of columns in vertical alignment with the container holder -device. The stationary platen mounts a main double acting cylinder assembly. A lower piston rod portion (which is of tubular construction) extends through the stationary platen and is secured to an inner container-engaging pusher member. An outer container engaging pusher member or sleeve is concentrically located relative to the inner pusher member and is held in resilient spaced relationship thereto by guide bars and a pair of side cylinder assemblies, the cylinders of which are secured to the inner pusher member and the piston rods of which are secured to the outer pusher member.
The inner pusher member includes a movable upper platen provided with a substantially cylindrical lower portion having a tapered annular surface which is adapted to engage the tapered shoulder portion of the container.
The outer pusher member or sleeve includes a movable lower platen provided with an annular skirt portion movable in telescoping relationship with the cylindrical lower portion of the inner pusher member. The lower edge of the depending skirt portion is adapted to engage the container sidewall as further described herein.
The lower movable platen is adapted to engage the one or more stops provided on the supporting surface to limit downward movement of the outer pusher member, while the lower movable platen itself serves as a stop to limit the relative downward movement of the inner pusher member and its associated upper movable platen.
An upper tubular piston rod portion of the main double acting cylinder is fixedly secured at its distal end to a lower horizontal element of an open rectangular frame. A top cylinder assembly is fixedly secured to an upper horizontal element of the open rectangular frame, with the piston of the top cylinder extending through the upper frame element and connected to an upper side of a pancake cylinder assembly, so that the pancake cylinder assembly is reciprocable within the open rectangular frame, independent of the main cylinder. The lower side of the pancake cylinder assembly mounts an air adaptor manifold (including an air inlet and an outlet) which in turn is connected to an air tube which extends downwardly through the tubular main piston and through the stationary, upper and lower platens to a recessed area within the center of the inner pusher member. At the same time, the pancake cylinder has a small diameter rod attached to (or integral with) its own piston rod which extends downwardly through and below the lower end of the air tube.
The lower end of the tube is fixed to an upper washer or bushing and the lower end of the rod is fixed to a lower washer or bushing. Between the two washers or bushings, there is located a resilient, expandable plug, shaped and sized to fit within the discharge opening of a container. The lower bushing also is provided with apertures for introducing air from the air tube to the interior of the container, and for exhausting air from the container during the collapsing and folding operation.
The operation of the above described apparatus is explained briefly below, and in more detail further herein.
Initially, a series of containers may be fed, one at a time, on a conveyor or the like structure to a location beneath an aperture provided within the supporting surface of a work table. At this location, lateral movement of the containers may be halted and the main cylinder assembly actuated to move the inner and outer pusher members to their downwardmost position, along with the open rectangular frame and associated pancake cylinder and top cylinder. Once the components are in their fully lowered position, the top cylinder is actuated to extend the pancake cylinder and tube and rod members to a loading position where the resilient plug is located below the work table. In a fully automated system, the downward movement of the plug would terminate with the plug located in the discharge opening of the container. In a semi-automatic system, the container may be loaded manually onto the plug. The pancake cylinder itself is then actuated to retract the rod, thereby pulling the lower bushing upwardly relative to the upper bushing to thereby force the resilient plug to expand radially outwardly to simultaneously grip the container and seal the discharge opening thereof. Thereafter, the top cylinder is retracted to draw the container upwardly into the aperture provided in the work table, and the main cylinder is then actuated to draw the inner and outer pusher members, along with the plug and attached container, upwardly so that all components are in their upwardmost position and the container is situated immediately above the supporting surface.
The container holder device is then closed to provide support for the container and to hold the latter in precise alignment during the collapsing and folding operation. In this position, the lower edge of the outer pusher member is located closely adjacent or in engagement with, an intermediate one of the three annular steps on the container side wall.
Air at very low pressure is then introduced into the interior of the container through the tube extending from the resilient plug to the air manifold at the pancake cylinder assembly. This insures that the container will be in a normal fully blown condition with no creases or wrinkles which might otherwise interfere with the collapsing/folding operation.
The air manifold is then opened to permit the controlled escape of air from the container as the deforming operation commences. At this time, the main cylinder is actuated to move the inner and outer pusher members downwardly while the pair of side cylinders maintain a predetermined distance between the upper and lower movable platens of the inner and outer pusher members, respectively. In other words, the side cylinders act as springs, biasing the inner and outer pushers apart. In a preferred embodiment, the outer pusher member engages and pushes downwardly on the intermediate step on the peripheral wall of the container and initiates a first fold which is completed when the lower movable platen abuts the limit stops provided on the supporting surface of the work table. Continued downward movement of the lower piston portion of the main cylinder overcomes the side cylinder forces tending to keep the upper and lower platens apart, so that the inner pusher member engages the shoulder portion of the container, pushing it downwardly to initiate a second folded portion in the peripheral side wall of the container, radially inward and adjacent the first folded portion. This second folded portion is completed when the upper movable platen abuts the lower movable platen.
If desired, the collapsing/folding operation may be terminated at this stage and, upon opening (or retraction) of the container holder and extension of the top cylinder piston, the container is pushed downwardly away from the inner and outer pusher members, and the pancake cylinder may again be actuated to extend the rod and lower bushing downwardly, thereby causing the resilient plug to contract, enabling the completed container to be removed from the apparatus.
In an alternative arrangement, upon completion of the first and second folds by the inner and outer pusher members, and prior to the extension of the pancake cylinder piston, the top cylinder may be actuated to partially extend its piston to thereby push the resilient plug downwardly, thereby also pushing the discharge portion of the container downwardly within the confines of the first and second folds so that the discharge opening does not extend above the uppermost edge of the folded portions. Following opening of the container holder, further extension of the top cylinder and extension of the pancake cylinder rod-.would then enable removal of the container in the manner described above.
Thus, in one aspect, the present invention relates to a collapsed thin wall container for facilitating compact shipment of a plurality of such containers comprising a bottom wall, a peripheral side wall extending from said bottom wall, a tapered shoulder section extending from the peripheral side wall, and a reduced diameter neck portion including a discharge opening extending from the tapered shoulder section, and the peripheral side wall including at least one portion folded outwardly and upwardly to form a first concentric folded portion extending upwardly at least to the tapered shoulder section.
In another aspect, the present invention relates to a stack of containers of the type described above.
In a related aspect, the present invention relates to a thin walled normally self-supporting flexible container of unitary construction having a bottom wall, a peripheral side wall, and a top wall which may include a tapered shoulder section and a reduced diameter neck portion provided with a discharge opening, the improvement comprising a plurality of vertically spaced annular steps formed in the side wall, each step causing the peripheral side wall portion immediately above the step to have a smaller diameter than the peripheral side wall portion immediately below the step, the steps adapted to permit the container to be collapsed and folded to a compact configuration wherein a pair of concentric folded peripheral side wall portions lie radially adjacent each other and adjacent the tapered shoulder and reduced neck portions of the container.
In another aspect, the present invention relates to an apparatus for collapsing and folding an upright container comprising, broadly, means for supporting and holding the container in an upright position; first forming means for engaging and exerting a downward force on the intermediate annular stepped portion for effecting the formation of a first folded portion; and second forming means..for engaging and exerting a downward force on the tapered shoulder portion for effecting the formation of a second folded portion.
Finally, the present invention relates to a method of forming a collapsed and folded container broadly comprising the steps of:
a) providing a normally self-supporting, flexible container of unitary construction and having a bottom wall, a peripheral side wall extending from the bottom wall and a top wall which may include a tapered shoulder section extending from the peripheral side wall, and a reduced diameter neck portion extending from the tapered shoulder portion and including a discharge opening;
b) forming a first folded portion by pushing a first portion of the peripheral side wall downwardly toward the bottom wall; and
c) forming a second folded portion by pushing the tapered shoulder section downwardly toward the bottom wall after the completion of step b).
It will be understood that the container itself may have a different shape than that described above. For example, the container top wall may be flat, with a smaller or larger discharge opening therein. In this case, the described method and apparatus would be modified accordingly.
From the above, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides significant benefits in terms of shipping and storage capacity and efficiency while, at the same time, provides for substantial savings in the amount of plastic used in the manufacture of plastic containers, the latter having a further beneficial effect in the matter of waste disposal.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.

Apparatus for forming a collapsible container


A method of preparing cabergoline Form I, comprising forming a solvate including cabergoline and 4-fluorotoluene or 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and obtaining cabergoline Form I from the solvate. Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for preparing cabergoline Form I comprising dissolving cabergoline in 4-fluorotoluene or 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and recovering the cabergoline Form 1 polymorph. Cabergoline Form I can then be obtained from the solution, suitably by direct crystallization of Form I or by recovery of a solvate which can be converted to Form I.

Cabergoline is an ergoline derivative with formula 1 ((6-allylergolin-8β-yl)-carbonyl)-1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylurea. It is known for treatment of a number of diseases, including CNS disorders, reversible obstructive airways disease, prolactin inhibition, for controlling intra-ocular pressure and for treating glaucoma.
A number of different forms of cabergoline are known and, by way of example, PCT patent publication no. WO 01/72747 describes cabergoline Form II and PCT patent publication no. WO 01/72746 describes cabergoline Form VII.
Preparation of cabergoline Form I is described in PCT patent publication nos. WO 01/70740, WO 03/078392 and WO 03/078433. PCT patent publication no. WO 01/70740 teaches the preparation of crystalline Form I cabergoline from a solvent comprising a toluene/diethylether mixture whereas PCT patent publication nos. WO 03/078392 and WO 03/078433 teach crystalline cabergoline Form I that is obtained by drying a solvate of cabergoline and toluene.
Pending UK Patent Application No. GB 0409785-3 teaches a process for preparing cabergoline Form 1 in high yield and purity and with desirable particle size distribution using ethylbenzene optionally in conjunction with an antisolvent such as n-heptane. GB 0409785-3 further describes a cabergoline ethylbenzene solvate.
A series of cabergoline polymorphs are described in PCT patent publication no. WO 2004/101510.
It is desired in the present invention to prepare crystalline cabergoline of Form I having high purity. It is also desired to prepare cabergoline having a particle size (following crystallization) which is relatively small and which requires no or relatively little milling to obtain the particle size desired in the eventual pharmaceutical product. Milling and other such processing is undesirable as it tends to lead to conversion of pure polymorphic forms of cabergoline into polymorphic mixtures. One problem with the methods described. in PCT patent publication no. WO 03/078433, for example, is that crystals of cabergoline Form I are obtained with a relatively large particle size.
It is also desired to provide a process for preparation of cabergoline in which conversion of an intermediate solvate to the final cabergoline Form I product is quick and efficient. A difficulty with known processes for this conversion is that protracted drying periods are required to remove the solvent from the solvate—in excess of 48 hours—for the methods set forth in PCT patent publication no. WO 03/078433.