The invention relates to the combination of the TLG1 glucoamylase from Thermomyces lanuginoses with: (i) the SFA1 alpha-amylase from Saccharomycopsis fibuligera; and/or (ii) the LKA alpha-amylase. The enzyme combinations may be expressed in a host cell (e.g. in Saccharomyces cerevisiae) or provided as an enzyme composition. Methods for making the enzyme combinations of the invention are provided. The invention also relates to a yeast strain which exhibits amylolytic activity and promising fermentative abilities. Processes for producing a fermentation product (in particular alcohol) from starch-containing material are described.

Plant biomass is a carbon-neutral renewable resource and biomass conversion, particularly cellulosic feedstock conversion, is receiving much attention as a cleaner alternative to oil and as a result of its abundance and relatively low cost. The current process of converting starch to bioethanol is well established, but the energy cost is high and, accordingly, the need to develop a more feasible process is evident.
The industrial process of converting starch to bioethanol generally involves four steps which include: (i) extraction of starch from the biomass, (ii) the conversion of the starch to yield fermentable sugars, which are then (iii) fermented to ethanol upon the addition of yeast. In the final step (iv) ethanol is refined and concentrated by distillation. Extraction of starch is accomplished via wet milling or dry milling. Starch may be converted to fermentable sugars via acid hydrolysis or enzymatic hydrolysis (enzyme hydrolysis is now generally used). Enzymatic hydrolysis is initiated when starch is pre-treated to yield a viscous slurry, which is then liquefied by heat treatment and alpha-amylase. The starch is cooked and undergoes saccharification after addition of glucoamylase. Yeast is added after cooling the mixture for fermentation of sugars to ethanol. The process includes large temperature changes (typically in the range of about 32-120° C.) using vast amounts of heating energy which significantly adds to the cost of the process. With the intention to increase net energy yield, the hydrolysis temperature required to generate glucose could be lowered to that of the fermentation step, therefore carrying out saccharification and fermentation simultaneously (SSF). Research groups currently focus on either improving the commercial hydrolysing enzymes applied in the process, or improving microbes producing the hydrolytic enzymes necessary for the process to proceed efficiently.
A raw starch hydrolyzing (RSH) enzyme cocktail, Stargen 001 (Genencor) has been developed, which converts starch into dextrins at low temperatures (<48° C.) and hydrolyses dextrins into sugars during SSF. The cocktail contains an acid-stable alpha-amylase from Aspergillus kawachi and glucoamylase from Aspergillus niger. Using the RSH enzyme saves heating energy as jet cooking is eliminated and less water and fewer chemicals are needed for the process.
To eliminate commercial enzyme purchase costs, SSF has been performed effectively with mixed cultures, where one organism is amylolytic, and the other responsible for ethanol production. The amylolytic organism acts as the saccharifying agent, therefore replacing the addition of commercial saccharifying enzymes. However, in these systems the amylolytic organism utilises most of the soluble starch for growth, which leaves little sugars for the fermentative organism to convert to ethanol.
Generating an amylolytic fermentative organism may address this shortcoming. A more cost-effective procedure where an organism produces sufficient amounts of amylolytic enzymes to sustain growth on raw unmodified starch as sole carbon source for the production of ethanol as product is depicted in FIG. 2. Applying a raw starch utilising yeast in the starch conversion process will have all the benefits from an SSF procedure, such as a lowered heating energy requirement and chemical usage. The added benefit will be elimination of the large cost associated with commercial enzyme purchase. The engineered organism producing amylolytic enzymes and ethanol would be suitable for a Consolidated Bioprocessing (CBP) process. In the long term, generation of ethanol and coproducts employing a CBP process will ensure the production of commodity chemicals and animal feeds in a sustainable manner in a biorefinery environment.
Genetic engineering is used extensively for producing hosts with desired characteristics for the starch industry. Mainly alpha-amylases and glucoamylases are expressed in heterologous hosts to ensure higher enzyme productivity compared to the native host. Expression of thermostable enzymes as well as the ability to produce more than one desirable enzyme in one host enables the generation of more competitive organisms for the industry.
Yeasts displaying glucoamylases (e.g. Kondo et al., 2002) and alpha-amylases have been previously created (Shigechi et al., 2002). However, engineering a host strain to express raw starch hydrolysing enzymes would be even more advantageous. Very few groups have reported results on yeast strains which are able to utilise raw starch as carbon source with initial approaches utilising the Rhizopus oryzae glucoamylase, which is secreted or displayed on the surface of the yeast (Ashikari et al., 1989; Murai et al., 1998). Several different strains have been created where the alpha-amylases from Streptococcus bovis has been combined with the glucoamylase in the hope to better the amylolytic activity and therefore the ethanol productivity of the generated strains (Khaw et al., 2006; Shigechi et al., 2004b). An alpha-amylase preparation from B. licheniformis (Murai et al., 1998) has also been used the source of alpha-amylase activity.
Kim J H et al. (2010) Biotechnol Lett. February 4, developed a strain of S. cerevisiae that produces ethanol directly from starch. Two integrative vectors were constructed to allow the simultaneous multiple integration of the Aspergillus awamori glucoamylase gene (GA1) and the Debaryomyces occidentalis alpha-amylase gene (AMY) and glucoamylase with debranching activity gene (GAM1) into the chromosomes of an industrial strain of S. cerevisiae. Yamakawa et al. (2010) Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. February 24. [Epub ahead of print] demonstrated batch ethanol fermentation from raw using a yeast diploid strain coexpressing the maltose transporter AGT1, alpha-amylase, and glucoamylase.
The present invention aims to provide a beneficial enzyme combination for the hydrolysis of starch for use in alcohol production processes. The invention also describes beneficial yeast strains which may find particular utility in fermentation processes and which may also be engineered to express an enzyme combination of the invention.


A method for programming non-volatile semiconductor memory devices having NAND cell arrays is provided. In a program operation, a pass voltage is applied to unselected word lines, and then a voltage lower than the pass voltage is applied to only the word line which is adjacent to a selected word line and is placed between the selected word line and a reference selection circuit. According to this programming method, the memory device can be programmed without restriction of programming sequence.

To increase memory capacity, EEPROMs having NAND structured memory cells (hereinafter, referred to as "NAND cell strings") have been developed. Referring to FIG. 1, there are shown two NAND cell strings 102 and 104 connected to bit lines BL1 and BL2, respectively. As shown, a NAND cell string 102 or 104 includes two select transistors Mss and Mgs, and memory cell transistors M1 to Mi whose drain-source paths are connected in series between a source of string select transistor Mss and a drain of ground (or source) select transistor Mgs.
Each of the memory cell transistors M1 through Mi has its drain and source spaced apart by its channel. Further, its floating gate is formed on a tunnel oxide film over the channel and its control gate is formed on an intermediate dielectric film over the floating gate. A drain of the string select transistor Mss is connected to the bit line BL1 or BL2 and a source of the ground select transistor Mgs is connected to a common source line (not shown) which is grounded during either programming or read operation. Gates of string select transistor Mss and ground select transistor Mgs are coupled with a string selection line SSL and a ground selection line GSL, respectively. Gates of memory cell transistors M1 through Mi are connected to word lines WL1 through WLi, respectively.
With the NAND structure described above, since the number of contact holes connected to the bit line per memory cell transistor is reduced, EEPROMs having a high density memory capacity can be accomplished.
A conventional program operation of NAND structured EEPROMs will be described below.
Before programming the memory transistors of a NAND structured EEPROM, an erase operation is normally performed. In this operation, the erasure of memory cell transistors M1 through Mi will be accomplished by applying an erase potential, such as 20 volts, to a semiconductor substrate and applying a reference potential, such as 0 volts (i.e., ground voltage V.sub.SS), to word lines WL1 to WLi. Electrons stored by the floating gates of memory cell transistors M1 to Mi will be extracted by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling (F-N tunneling), and thereby the memory cell transistors M1 to Mi will be changed into depletion mode transistors. It is commonly assumed that erased memory cell transistors store logic "0" data.
After such an erase operation, a program or write operation is performed as illustrated in FIG. 2 which is a timing diagram of a conventional program operation. For example, assume that memory cell transistor M5 is to be programmed. In this operation, with reference to FIG. 2, first, a power supply voltage V.sub.CC and a ground voltage V.sub.SS is applied to the string selection line SSL and ground selection line GSL, respectively. Further, each of the bit lines BL1 and BL2 is supplied with either the ground voltage V.sub.SS (data "0") or the power supply voltage V.sub.CC (data "1") in accordance with the data state to be programmed. It is assumed herein that the bit lines BL1 and BL2 are supplied with power supply voltage V.sub.CC (data "1") and the ground voltage V.sub.SS (data "0"), respectively. Subsequently, a pass voltage V.sub.pass, such as 8 volts, is applied to the word lines WL1-WL4 and WL6-WLi, i.e., unselected word lines except a selected word line WL5, and the semiconductor substrate is supplied with a reference potential, such as ground voltage V.sub.SS. After an elapse of a given time, the word lines WL4 and WL6, adjacent to the selected word line WL5, are applied with a voltage lower than the pass voltage V.sub.pass, for example, ground voltage V.sub.SS. Thereafter, a program voltage V.sub.pgm, such as 18 volts, is applied to the selected word line WL5.
In such a program operation, the string select transistor Mss in the string 102 coupled with bit line BLl of the power supply voltage V.sub.CC will be turned off so that the cell string 102 will be floated. Thus, the source, drain and channel potentials of the selected cell transistor M5 in the string 102 will be boosted up due to the capacitive coupling when the program voltage V.sub.pgm is applied to the control gate of the transistor M5 in the string 102. Namely, the difference between the control gate potential and the source-drain-chanel potential will not be large enough to permit F-N tunneling to occur. So, the selected cell transistor M5 in the string 102 will remain erased.
On the contrary, the source, drain and channel potentials of the selected cell transistor M5 in the string 104 will equal the ground voltage V.sub.SS since the string select transistor Mss in the string 104 coupled to bit line BL2 of the ground voltage V.sub.SS will be turned on, thereby electrons will be trapped and accumulate to the floating gate of the transistor M5 in the string 104 by F-N tunneling when the program voltage V.sub.pgm is applied to the control gate of the transistor M5 in the string 104. The accumulation of a large quantity of trapped electrons on the floating gate causes the effective threshold voltage of the cell transistor M5 in the string 104 to increase (e.g., about 6-7 V). Consequently, the selected cell transistor M5 in the string 104 will be changed into an enhancement mode transistor, that is, the transistor M5 of the string 104 will be programmed. It is assumed in general that a programmed memory cell transistor stores logic "1" data.
In the above-described programming, it is necessary that the unselected cell transistor adjacent to a selected cell transistor and placed between the selected cell transistor and the string select transistor Mss should remain erased in order to induce F-N tunneling. For this reason, the programing should always be performed sequentially, from the cell transistor M1 adjacent to the ground select transistor Mgs toward the cell transistor Mi adjacent to the sting select transistor Mss.

Method of programming non-volatile memory devices having a NAND type cell array


A vehicle ventilation duct includes a duct body, a conduit, a sound absorption chamber, a transmission opening communicating the conduit with the sound absorption chamber, and an air-permeable member closing the transmission opening permeably. The duct body is disposed in a vehicle outer hull, and includes a frame having a ventilation opening opened to the outside of a vehicle and a valve element covering the ventilation opening openably and closably. The conduit is formed integrally with or independently of the duct body, is disposed on a vehicle-passenger-room side of the duct body, is communicated with the ventilation opening of the duct body, and is communicated with the inside of a vehicle passenger room, whereby enabling air inside and outside the vehicle to pass therethrough back and forth. Thus, the ventilation duct lets out air in the vehicle passenger room to the outside of the vehicle or vice versa.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle ventilation duct for letting out air inside a vehicle passenger room to the outside of a vehicle or vice versa.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles are equipped with a ventilation duct for letting out air inside the passenger room to the outside or vice versa, one of ventilating apparatuses. The ventilation duct comprises a ventilation opening which is opened to the outside of a vehicle passenger room and is covered with a valve element opening outward to the vehicle passenger room and closing inward thereto. The ventilation duct communicates the inside of the vehicle passenger room with the outside of the vehicle. When opening or closing a vehicle door, air flows into the vehicle passenger room, and air with the same volume as that of the flowing-in air pushes the valve element to open. The air having pushed the valve element to open is let out to the outside of the vehicle passenger room by way of the ventilation opening.
When the valve element is opened, noises such as road noises, pattern noises and brake noises have come into the vehicle passenger room from the outside of the vehicle by way of the ventilation opening. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 15-182,344, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2001-130,447 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2002-172,927 disclose inventions which were developed in order to reduce the noises.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 15-182,344 discloses a ventilation duct equipped with a resonator. FIG. 11 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the ventilation duct set forth in the publication. As shown in FIG. 11, a ventilation duct 100 comprises a duct body 101, a sheet-shaped valve element 102, and a resonator 103. As depicted with the blank arrow of the drawing, noises come into a resonator chamber 105 of the resonator 103 by way of a minor hole 104. The resonator chamber 105 suppresses an acoustic pressure of around 63 Hz, some of the noises, by the Helmholtz's resonance theory.
The ventilation duct disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 15-182,344, however, suppresses the acoustic pressure in the limited frequency band falling in a relatively narrow range only. Accordingly, in order to suppress acoustic pressures over a relatively wide range, it is required to independently dispose a plurality of resonators whose intended suppressing frequency band differs with each other. Consequently, the ventilation duct 100 has enlarged inevitably.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2001-130,447 discloses an air vent structure with a shielding plate installed in the air outlet passage. The shielding plate has a slant surface for reducing air resistance. The shielding plate shields noises which pass through the air outlet passage so that the air vent structure reduces the noises.
In the air vent structure set forth in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2001-130,447, however, noises which have passed the shielding plate disposed in the air outlet passage are transmitted into a vehicle passenger room as they are. Accordingly, the noises have been transmitted to passengers as annoying noises. Moreover, the air outlet passage is communicated with a ventilation opening which is opened to a vehicle passenger room. Consequently, noises have reached passengers directly from the ventilation opening so that the passengers feel them as louder noises which have not been attenuated at all.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2002-172,927 discloses a ventilation duct in which an air passage opening is formed in the side wall of the air passage and a sound absorption member is disposed on an inner peripheral surface of the air passage. The sound absorption member absorbs noises which transmit in the air passage so that the noises are reduced. Moreover, depending on the positions of the air passage opening formed in the side wall of the air passage, noises do not run into passengers who are sitting in a vehicle passenger room directly. As a result, the level of noises felt by the passengers annoying has fallen.
The ventilation duct set forth in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2002-172,927 suffers from a problem that no sufficient air outlet can be obtained because the size of the air passage opening is limited. That is, the opening magnitude of the air passage opening can be enlarged unless the protrusion of the sound absorbing chamber is expanded. In addition, the flow of air which has come into the sound absorbing chamber through the air passage opening is deflected in the sound absorbing chamber. Accordingly, there arises great air resistance when the air passes through the inside of the sound absorbing chamber. In order to reduce the air resistance, it is required to prolong the distance between the bottom surface of the sound absorbing chamber and the duct body (or to expand the protrusion of the sound absorbing chamber). Note that, however, ventilation ducts are disposed between the exterior of vehicles and the interior. Consequently, the space for disposing ventilation ducts is confined in limited areas. As a result, it is difficult to make the distance longer in certain vehicles.
Thus, it has been difficult for the conventional ventilation ducts to reduce the transmission noises which come into vehicle passenger rooms.


The invention relates to a method for controlling a running time of an absorption refrigerating system of an absorption refrigerator, which absorption refrigerator comprises two differently tempered refrigerator compartments. The method comprises the steps of: monitoring the temperature in a first compartment; activating the refrigerating system when the temperature sensed in the first compartment exceeds a predetermined value; de-activating the refrigerating system when a cut-out temperature is reached; monitoring the time period during which the absorption refrigerating system is turned off; and supplying heat to the first refrigerator compartment, when the time period exceeds a predetermined time period. The invention also relates to a microcontroller, computer program product and to an absorption refrigerator comprising means for performing the inventive method.

House trailers are a popular choice for recreation and holiday activity enabling people to travel around and at the same time have a familiar and comfortable housing environment. Many trailers comprise most of modern conveniences, such as for example a shower, dishwasher, cooking means and refrigerator.
A suitable choice of refrigerator for mobile use, for example in such recreation vehicles or in sailing boats, is an absorption refrigerator. An absorption refrigerator usually comprises a freezer compartment maintaining a temperature at approximately −18° C. and a fresh food compartment or refrigerator compartment maintaining a temperature at approximately +5° C. Briefly, an absorption refrigerator comprises an absorption refrigerating system including a condenser, a heater, an evaporator and an absorption vessel. In the evaporator a refrigeration medium, usually ammonia gas, flows from an upstream end to a downstream end. The evaporator comprises a first tube section arranged to absorb heat from the freezer compartment and a second tube section arranged to absorb heat from the fresh food compartment, thereby lowering the temperature within the compartments.

Method for use in controlling an absorption refrigerating system, and an absorption refrigerator


A sizing composition including water, a polyvinylpyrrolidone film former, a silane coupling agent, a lubricant, and a surfactant is provided. The polyvinylpyrrolidone film former constitutes from 30 wt. % to 50 wt. % of the dry solids of the sizing composition. Wet use chopped strand glass fibers for use in reinforcing gypsum board are also provided. The wet use chopped strand glass fibers include chopped glass fibers having the sizing composition applied thereto. The sizing composition improves fiber bundle integrity, fiber flow rate, fiber flow rate consistency, and dispersibility of the wet use chopped strand glass fibers in a gypsum matrix or slurry.

Wall boards formed of a gypsum core sandwiched between facing layers are commonly used in the construction industry as internal walls and ceilings for both residential and commercial buildings. Facing materials advantageously contribute flexibility, nail pull resistance, and impact strength to the materials forming the gypsum core. In addition, the facing material can provide a durable surface and other desirable properties (e.g., a decorative surface) to the gypsum board. The gypsum core typically contains gypsum and other components such as reinforcing fibers, water resistant chemicals, binders, accelerants, and low-density fillers.
Glass fibers are commonly used in the production of gypsum wall boards to improve mechanical strength, such as flexural strength and impact strength. The individual glass filaments are typically bundled in large numbers to form a fiber which is packaged to form a roving. The roving, in turn, may be employed in many forms. For example, the glass fibers may be used in chopped form and incorporated into a gypsum matrix or they may be assembled into woven or non-woven fabrics or mats and utilized as the facing material. The glass fibers may be formed by drawing molten glass into filaments through a bushing or orifice plate and applying an aqueous sizing composition containing lubricants, coupling agents, and film formers. The sizing composition provides protection to the fibers from interfilament abrasion and promotes compatibility between the glass fibers and the matrix in which the glass fibers are to be used. After the sizing composition is applied, the wet fibers may be gathered into one or more strands, chopped, and collected as wet chopped fiber strands.
These wet chopped fibers may be deposited into a gypsum slurry to serve as reinforcement for a gypsum board formed from the gypsum slurry. However, conventional chopped glass fibers often fail to flow or disperse well in a gypsum slurry. Additionally, conventionally sized glass fibers do not feed well through conventional feeding apparatuses for delivering the chopped glass fibers to the gypsum slurry. As a result, manufacturers are forced to employ a high or increased feeding rate in order to achieve the minimum amount of required glass fibers. Employing a high feed rate can cause an unnecessarily high amount of glass fibers to be present in the final gypsum board. In other instances, conventionally sized glass fibers cannot be fed at high target feed rates, for example 14-20 lbs/min, which can result in less glass fibers being fed into the gypsum slurry than desired.
Furthermore, inconsistent fiber flow rates during feeding can cause an uneven distribution of fiber in the gypsum slurry. For example, a target fiber flow rate may be set during feeding, but due to non-uniform fiber bundle size, fiber defects, or fiber build up during feeding, an inconsistent fiber flow can occur. An uneven distribution of fibers can cause weakness and/or failure of the gypsum board.
Wet chopped fibers used in manufacturing gypsum board may also have a tendency to build up or clump in the feeding system after extended feeding runs. The buildup of fibers can require stoppages in the gypsum board processing line so that the fiber buildup can be removed, which reduces efficiency.

Sizing composition for wet use chopped strand glass fibers


An interbody fusion device in one embodiment includes a tapered body defining a hollow interior for receiving bone graft or bone substitute material. The body defines exterior threads which are interrupted over portions of the outer surface of the device. The fusion device defines truncated side walls so that on end view the body takes on a cylindrical form. The side walls are provided with vascularization openings, and the body wall device includes opposite bone ingrowth slots extending through the interrupted thread portion of the body. In another embodiment, the tapered body is solid and formed of a porous biocompatible material having sufficient structural integrity to maintain the intradiscal space and normal curvature. The material is preferably a porous tantalum having fully interconnected pores to facilitate complete bone tissue ingrowth into the implant. An implant driver is provided which engages the truncated side walls to complete the cylindrical form of the implant at the root diameter of the interrupted threads, to thereby facilitate threaded insertion of the implant to the intra-discal space between adjacent vertebrae. Methods for posterior and anterior insertion of the fusion device are also disclosed.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/518,981, filed Mar. 3, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,206, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/489,317, filed Jan. 21, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,655, issued Apr. 23, 2002, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/209,602, filed Dec. 11, 1998, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/157,735, filed Sep. 21, 1998, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/111,197, filed Jul. 7, 1998, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/882,611, filed Jun. 25, 1997, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/835,306, filed Apr. 7, 1997, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/413,353, filed Mar. 30, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,909, issued Sep. 23, 1997, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/411,017, filed Mar. 27, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,919, issued Jul. 21, 1998.
The number of spinal surgeries to correct the causes of low back pain has steadily increased over the last several years. Most often, low back pain originates from damage or defects in the spinal disc between adjacent vertebrae. The disc can be herniated or can be suffering from a variety of degenerative conditions, so that in either case the anatomical function of the spinal disc is disrupted. The most prevalent surgical treatment for these types of conditions has been to fuse the two vertebrae surrounding the affected disc. In most cases, the entire disc will be removed, except for the annulus, by way of a discectomy procedure. Since the damaged disc material has been removed, something must be positioned within the intra-discal space, otherwise the space may collapse resulting in damage to the nerves extending along the spinal column.
In order to prevent this disc space collapse, the intra-discal space is filled with bone or a bone substitute in order to fuse the two adjacent vertebrae together. In early techniques, bone material was simply disposed between the adjacent vertebrae, typically at the posterior aspect of the vertebrae, and the spinal column was stabilized by way of a plate or a rod spanning the affected vertebrae. With this technique once fusion occurred the hardware used to maintain the stability of the segment became superfluous. Moreover, the surgical procedures necessary to implant a rod or plate to stabilize the level during fusion were frequently lengthy and involved.
It was therefore determined that a more optimum solution to the stabilization of an excised disc space is to fuse the vertebrae between their respective end plates, most optimally without the need for anterior or posterior plating. There have been an extensive number of attempts to develop an acceptable intra-discal implant that could be used to replace a damaged disc and yet maintain the stability of the disc interspace between the adjacent vertebrae, at least until complete arthrodesis is achieved. These "interbody fusion devices" have taken many forms. For example, one of the more prevalent designs takes the form of a cylindrical implant. These types of implants are represented by the patents to Bagby, U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,269; Brantigan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,915; Ray, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,961,740 and 5,055,104; and Michelson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,247. In these cylindrical implants, the exterior portion of the cylinder can be threaded to facilitate insertion of the interbody fusion device, as represented by the Ray, Brantigan and Michelson patents. In the alternative, some of the fusion implants are designed to be pounded into the intra-discal space and the vertebral end plates. These types of devices are represented by the patents to Brantigan, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,743,256; 4,834,757 and 5,192,327.
In each of the above listed patents, the transverse cross section of the implant is constant throughout its length and is typically in the form of a right circular cylinder. Other implants have been developed for interbody fusion that do not have a constant cross section. For instance, the patent to McKenna, U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,469 shows a hemispherical implant with elongated protuberances that project into the vertebral end plate. The patent to Kuntz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,469, shows a bullet shaped prosthesis configured to optimize a friction fit between the prosthesis and the adjacent vertebral bodies. Finally, the implant of Bagby, U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,848 is in the form of a sphere which is preferably positioned between the centrums of the adjacent vertebrae.
Interbody fusion devices can be generally divided into two basic categories, namely solid implants and implants that are designed to permit bone ingrowth Solid implants are represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,878,915; 4,743,256; 4,349,921 and 4,714,469. The remaining patents discussed above include some aspect that permits bone to grow across the implant. It has been found that devices that promote natural bone ingrowth achieve a more rapid and stable arthrodesis. The device depicted in the Michelson patent is representative of this type of hollow implant which is typically filled with autologous bone prior to insertion into the intra-discal space. This implant includes a plurality of circular apertures which communicate with the hollow interior of the implant, thereby providing a path for tissue growth between the vertebral end plates and the bone or bone substitute within the implant. In preparing the intra-discal space, the end plates are preferably reduced to bleeding bone to facilitate this tissue ingrowth. During fusion, the metal structure provided by the Michelson implant helps maintain the patency and stability of the motion segment to be fused. In addition, once arthrodesis occurs, the implant itself serves as a sort of anchor for the solid bony mass.
A number of difficulties still remain with the many interbody fusion devices currently available. While it is recognized that hollow implants that permit bone ingrowth into bone or bone substitute within the implant is an optimum technique for achieving fusion, most of the prior art devices have difficulty in achieving this fusion, at least without the aid of some additional stabilizing device, such as a rod or plate. Moreover, some of these devices are not structurally strong enough to support the heavy loads and bending moments applied at the most frequently fused vertebral levels, namely those in the lower lumbar spine.
There has been a need for providing an interbody fusion device that optimizes the bone ingrowth capabilities but is still strong enough to support the spine segment until arthrodesis occurs. It has been found by the present inventors that openings into a hollow implant for bone ingrowth play an important role in avoiding stress shielding of the autologous bone impacted within the implant. In other words, if the ingrowth openings are improperly sized or configured, the autologous bone will not endure the loading that is typically found to be necessary to ensure rapid and complete fusion. In this instance, the bone impacted within the implant may resorb or evolve into simply fibrous tissue, rather than a bony fusion mass, which leads to a generally unstable construction. On the other hand, the bone ingrowth openings must not be so extensive that the cage provides insufficient support to avoid subsidence into the adjacent vertebrae.
Another problem that is not addressed by the above prior devices concerns maintaining or restoring the normal anatomy of the fused spinal segment. Naturally, once the disc is removed, the normal lordotic or kyphotic curvature of the spine is eliminated. With the prior devices, the need to restore this curvature is neglected. For example, in one type of commercial device, the BAK device of SpineTech, as represented by the patent to Bagby, U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,269, the adjacent vertebral bodies are reamed with a cylindrical reamer that fits the particular implant. In some cases, the normal curvature is established prior to reaming and then the implant inserted. This type of construct is illustrated in FIG. 1 which reveals the depth of penetration of the cylindrical implant into the generally healthy vertebrae adjacent the instrumented discal space. However, this over-reaming of the posterior portion is generally not well accepted because of the removal of load bearing bone of the vertebrae, and because it is typically difficult to ream through the posterior portion of the lower lumbar segment where the lordosis is greatest. In most cases using implants of this type, no effort is made to restore the lordotic curvature, so that the cylindrical implant is likely to cause a kyphotic deformity as the vertebra settles around the implant. This phenomenon can often lead to revision surgeries because the spine becomes imbalanced.
In view of these limitations of the prior devices, there remains a need for an interbody fusion device that can optimize bone ingrowth while still maintaining its strength and stability. There is further a need for such an implant that is capable of maintaining or restoring the normal spinal anatomy at the instrumented segment. This implant must be strong enough to support and withstand the heavy loads generated on the spine at the instrumented level, while remaining stable throughout the duration.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Interbody fusion device and method for restoration of normal spinal anatomy


A two-step 3D Radon inversion processor for processing Radon data on a set of vertically oriented co-axial .phi.-planes that partition Radon space, wherein each of the .phi.-planes is sampled during the processing so as to have its own independent local Radon origin. In accordance with further principles of the present invention, a 3D Radon data generator generates Radon data on a set of vertically oriented co-axial .phi.-planes that partition Radon space, wherein each of the .phi.-planes is sampled so as to have its own independent local Radon origin, and a two-step 3D Radon inversion processor independently processes each of the .phi.-planes. Any shift of the local Radon origins with respect to a global coordinate system is compensated for during the 3D Radon inversion processing. Compensation for the origin shift may be made during or after a first step of the Radon inversion processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to Radon inversion processing, and more specifically to two-step Radon inversion processing where Radon data is sampled into .phi.-planes sample grids having independent local Radon origins. The invention is particularly useful in computed tomographic (CT) imaging apparatus that performs three-dimensional (3D) image reconstruction.
2. Description of the Background Art
Recently a system employing cone beam geometry has been developed for three-dimensional (3D) computed tomographic (CT) imaging that includes a cone beam x-ray source and a 2D area detector. An object to be imaged is scanned, preferably over a 360.degree. angular range and along its length, by any one of various methods wherein the position of the area detector is fixed relative to the source, and relative rotational and translational movement between the source and object provides the scanning (irradiation of the object by radiation energy). The cone beam approach for 3D CT has the potential to achieve 3D imaging in both medical and industrial applications with improved speed, as well as improved dose utilization when compared with conventional 3D CT apparatus (i.e., a stack of slices approach obtained using parallel or fan beam x-rays).
As a result of the relative movement of the cone beam source to a plurality of source positions (i.e., "views") along the scan path, the detector acquires a corresponding plurality of sets of cone beam projected measurement data (referred to hereinafter as measurement data), each set of measurement data being representative of x-ray attenuation caused by the object at a respective one of the source positions. After acquisition, the measurement data is processed for reconstructing a 3D image of the object.
As compared with the processing required for reconstructing an image when using an x-ray source supplying parallel or fan beams, the processing of the measurement data acquired when using a cone beam source is computationally much more complex. This is because when using a parallel or fan beam source, the measurement data is already directly representative of a 2D Radon transform of a cross-section of the object. However, this is not the case when using a cone beam source. Processing of the measurement data acquired using a cone beam source comprises:
1) conversion of the measurement data to Radon derivative data. This may be accomplished using the techniques described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,183 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING CONE BEAM X-RAY PROJECTION DATA TO PLANAR INTEGRAL AND RECONSTRUCTING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) IMAGE OF AN OBJECT issued Oct. 26, 1993, hereby incorporated by reference,
2) conversion of the Radon derivative data to Radon data at polar grid points using, for example, the technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,776 entitled TOMOGRAPHY WITH GENERATION OF RADON DATA ON POLAR GRID POINTS issued Aug. 8, 1995, also hereby incorporated by reference, and
3) performing an inverse 3D Radon transformation of the Radon data using known techniques, such as those described in detail in the forenoted U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,183 for reconstructing image data that, when applied to a display, provides a view of the 3D CT image of the object.
Although the theory for exactly reconstructing an image using cone beam measurement data is generally known, such as from the U.S. patents noted above, a practical implementation of the processing turns out to be quite problematic. Not only is the amount of measurement data to be processed very large and rapidly acquired in accordance with a timing that is mainly determined by the geometry of the scan path, but the calculations required on the acquired data are quite complex. For example, if one decides to reconstruct an object with 200.times.200.times.200=8.10.sup.6 voxels (voxel=volume element of the object), for good quality one needs to obtain the object's 3-D Radon transform with a multiple amount (e.g., 4) of Radon samples, i.e., 32.10.sup.6 samples, and then perform the Radon inversion. The most computationally expensive part of the object reconstruction is the calculation of the Radon derivative data (step 1 noted above). As noted in the above U.S. patents, as well as in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,666 entitled HELICAL AND CIRCLE SCAN REGION OF INTEREST COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY issued Oct. 31, 1995, hereby incorporated by reference, for calculating the value of the Radon data at a given Radon sample point, it is typically necessary to process the measurement data acquired from several source positions, with the measurement data from each source position developing a contribution to the final value for that sample point by way of data combination. Thus one needs to calculate about 100.10.sup.6 line integral derivatives. Each line integral derivative requires the calculation of 200.10.sup.6 single line integrals, since one uses the difference between two closely spaced line integrals to calculate a single line integral derivative. However, before one can perform these line integral derivative calculations, one has to compute for each Radon sample which source positions will provide the measurement data that must be processed, and determine the lines on the measurement data along which the integration must be performed. These latter determinations involve highly nonlinear calculations and are therefore computationally costly. In order to compute the contributing source positions, one has to intersect the source scanning path with the Radon integration plane as explained in the forenoted U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,666. When using a spiral scan path, this requires the solution of transcendental equations, which are computationally expensive. Furthermore, in addition to determining the lines on the measurement data along which the integration must be performed, one also has to calculate the appropriate end points of those lines for data combination purposes and region-of-interest masking. The complexity of these above-noted calculations leads to severe bottlenecks in processing of the measurement data, so as to prevent rapid and efficient image reconstruction.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/940,924 entitled A PRE-CALCULATED HITLIST FOR REDUCING RUN-TIME PROCESSING OF AN EXACT CONE BEAM RECONSTRUCTION ALGORITHM, filed contemporaneously herewith, a method and apparatus is described in which before operation of a cone beam imaging apparatus for acquiring and processing of measurement data to reconstruct an image of an object, information required for processing of the acquired measurement data is pre-calculated and stored. The pre-calculated information is then used during the imaging operation of the cone beam apparatus for processing of the acquired measurement data to reconstruct an image of the object. The pre-calculated image reconstruction information is organized into what is referred to as a "hitlist". In general, the hitlist contains processing information that is determined primarily by geometric parameters of the imaging apparatus that are already predetermined during its imaging operation, such as the pitch and other parameters of the source/detector scan path, the object dimensions, the detector resolution, and a desired sampling of the scan path and the Radon space. The hitlist includes processing information indicating the correspondence between points in Radon space and the source positions that contribute thereto, parameters that define the line integrals that need to be calculated in the measurement data acquired at each of the source positions, as well as other information useful for image reconstruction processing.
Although calculation of the hitlist information is computationally expensive, since the information in the hitlist must be calculated anyway in order to process each set of the acquired measurement data during imaging operation of the apparatus, its pre-calculation provides a very significant speed-up of the run-time (image) processing of the measurement data and results in a greatly improved efficiency in the implementation of the image reconstruction algorithm. However, as described in more detail in the forenoted U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/940,924, since hitlist information is required for each of the many points in Radon space that define the objects region of support, the size of the hitlist is actually quite large. For example, as previously noted, approximately 100.times.10.sup.6 line integral derivative calculation are required. If the image reconstruction processing information stored in the hitlist comprises 24 bytes to describe the processing for determining each Radon point, then 2.4 Gbytes of memory is required.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/940,489 entitled A REDUCTION OF HITLIST SIZE IN A SPIRAL CONE BEAM CT BY USE OF LOCAL RADON ORIGINS, filed contemporaneously herewith, a method and apparatus is described in which a symmetry is induced in the reconstruction processing so that reconstruction processing information contained in the hitlist and calculated on less than all of a set of vertically oriented co-axial .phi.-planes that partition the Radon space, is re-used for calculating Radon data for other ones of the .phi.-planes that partition the Radon space. The induced symmetry establishes a correspondence between the points in Radon space and the source positions, thereby allowing re-use of the reconstruction information calculated on only one of the .phi.-planes. In accordance with that invention, this is accomplished by establishing on each of successive ones of the .phi.-planes an independent local Radon origin. The Radon origin for each of the successive .phi.-planes are shifted an amount corresponding to an amount of z-axis shift that a projection of the spiral scan path experiences from its position in the immediately prior one of the successive .phi.-planes.
The present invention is directed to a method of processing Radon data having such independent Radon origins.

Two-step radon inversion processing for .phi.-planes having local radon origins


A system and method monitor the progress of a meal and provide course menus in synchronization with the monitored progress of the meal. The system includes a menu application for retrieving course menus and sending them to a patron communicator located at a table in a restaurant. The patron communicator displays the course menu for viewing by the patrons seated at a table. When an attendant receives orders from the patrons, an attendant service indicator is activated to provide an attendant service signal to the patron communicator. The attendant service signal is provided to the menu application so the meal status may be updated and the next course menu corresponding to the updated meal status retrieved. The menu application may insert advertising in the course menus. The advertisements may also include special offers and discounts generated from food supply data so that dishes prepared with food approaching freshness expiration dates may be timely offered. In an alternative embodiment, the patron communicators may receive selection data for identifying menu items for an order so attendants may limit their presence at a table to the delivery of the ordered food.

Dining experiences may be coarsely divided into two classes. In the first class, a patron orders all the components of a meal for one or more persons at a single opportunity. The patron then pays for the accumulated total, the staff prepares and provides the ordered components at a delivery point for pick-up by the patron or delivery to the patron, and the patron then leaves with the meal or consumes it on the premises. This type of dining experience is typically called fast food dining. As the moniker denotes, this type of dining is directed to prompt specification of meal components, immediate payment, relatively quick production and, usually, non-leisurely consumption of the food. The menus for such an experience is typically comprised of an illuminated and illustrated display of the various meal components and/or meal combinations available for the eating establishment with their prices. To enhance the speed of food ordering and production, the menu items change infrequently and menus for different meals of the day, such as the breakfast menu and lunch menu, are displayed simultaneously with a notice of the times at which the different meal types are available. The standard menu items and limited selections help ensure the dining experience comports well with its identification as "fast food."
A second type of dining experience is more leisurely and typically requires more staff for the dining experience. This type of dining experience begins with one or more dining guests being greeted by a restaurant facilities manager. The facilities manager inquires about the size of the dining party and any special considerations required for their seating, such as environmental matters (smoking or non-smoking) and the need for a special arrangement or views available from the various seating locations. After confirming an appropriate seating location is available for the party, the facilities manager seats the dining party, distributes menus, and notifies the serving personnel of the need to provide water and other complementary meal items, such as bread, to the table.
Shortly after the service of the complementary meal accompaniments, the server attends to the table to answer questions that diners may have and to receive the dining party's orders for drinks. The meal then continues with the server bringing an ordered course, distributing the items, and receiving the party's orders for the next course. If the party has time constraints that require a more expeditiously served meal, they may order more than one course at a time. However, the tempo of the dining experience is typically measured by several food service, next course ordering intervals until all of the courses for the meal have been ordered, served, and consumed. After confirming satisfactory completion of the meal, the server then presents the bill for the meal and returns to retrieve the payment before presenting the receipt for the termination of the establishment's service for the meal.
This second type of dining experience is more labor intensive as the pace of the meal is more or less dictated by the decisions of the dining party to place their orders of subsequent courses and the time the party members take to consume each course. Sometimes, the dining experience is interrupted by the server making appearances to receive orders for a subsequent course before the party is ready to order. The party may be involved in intense conversation or debating the relative merits of menu items. In upscale restaurants, the patrons may be deliberating the selection of a wine that properly complements the various foods being ordered by the party members. The appearance of the server during these periods of intense conversation or deliberations may not be well received by the patrons. On the other hand, a server may perceive a dining party's desire to be undisturbed and become unavailable when the party has a question that requires information from the server. Seeking to obtain the server's attention may then become problematic and frustrate the overall dining experience for the patrons. Thus, there is a delicate balance in a sever being available for orders or answering questions to enhance the dining experience and the restaurant's interest in processing a dining party as efficiently as possible so the table may be made available for another seating.
Many food items in restaurants providing meals that are more leisurely consumed meals than fast food meals, do not retain freshness for extended periods of time or spoil easily. Consequently, the restaurant management prefers to serve these items before they pass the point of optimal flavor or appearance and have to be discarded. To encourage consumption of these items, establishments offer specials on dishes prepared with these items to diners. However, restaurants that use printed menus either have to print an addendum for each menu or, to avoid the cost of printing an addendum, they have the servers orally announce these specials to patrons at the presentation of the menus. Frequently, patrons forget these oral announcements and only consider the standard items from the printed menu for their dining choices.
To address issues related to restaurant management, previously known systems have used been proposed that allow patrons to order menu items for various courses to facilitate their service to the patrons. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,263 is directed to a system that permits patrons to order all of the items for various meal courses and it then calculates preparation times for the items so the meal progresses in accordance with the calculated timing patterns. While such a system reduces the need for a server to take all of the various orders for the meal courses and efficiently times the preparation and delivery of the food to the table, it hardly accounts for the dining patron's desires. Some people who eat at such establishments are seeking an unhurried meal or, at the least, enjoying a meal at a pace that does not require them to consume food at a rate that conforms to the kitchen's rate of production. Systems that require a patron to order an entire meal at a single time address the restaurant's goal of processing as many patrons as possible but they may leave the patrons feeling that their dining experience was akin to a production line pace. Repeat business, an important component of restaurant stability and profitability, is not as likely in establishments using such systems.
In an attempt to provide more timely notice of specials related to oversupply of food items in a kitchen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,268 discloses a system and method for printing menus for patrons upon their time of arrival. Alternatively, the menu may be displayed on a monitor to facilitate timely notification of specials. However, the system of this patent still requires a server to take an order and the order for the entire meal is taken once during the dining experience.
What is needed is a system and method for taking orders from patrons seeking a leisurely dining experience that allows the patrons to place orders without having to have a server present at the table.
What is needed is a system and method for taking orders from patrons in a restaurant that facilitates timely interaction between patrons and servers for information requests or ancillary condiment or complementary food item service.
What is needed is a system and method for taking orders from patrons that enables patrons to participate in the scheduling of the preparation and delivery of their orders.
What is needed is a system and method for displaying food specials in a manner that more closely coincides with their interest in a particular course of a meal.

System and method for synchronizing restaurant menu display with progress through a meal


A method is disclosed for forming a filter cartridge which includes the steps of providing a cylindrical filter element having a plurality of radially extending longitudinal pleats, engaging an outer periphery of the cylindrical filter element along a substantial portion of the length thereof, and simultaneously moving the plurality of radially extending longitudinal pleats into a laid-over spiraled configuration along the entire length of the cylindrical filter element to form a spiral pleated filter element. An apparatus is also disclosed for effectuating the disclosed method.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention is related to fluid filtration devices, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for forming a spiral pleated filter cartridge.
2. Background of the Related Art
Cylindrical filter elements having radially extending longitudinal pleats are well known in the art and have been employed for many years to filter a wide range of fluids. Typically, because of the radial geometry of the pleats, there is a significant degree of spacing between adjacent pleat surfaces. Spiral pleated filter elements, which are also well known in the art, are designed so that adjacent pleats are laid-over upon one another so as to more effectively occupy the spacing between adjacent pleat surfaces, and thereby utilize more of the surface area of the filter material. Early examples of spiral pleated filters are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,395,449, 2,401,222 and 2,420,414 to Briggs and U.S. Pat. No. 2,801,001 to Bowers.
A more recent example of a spiral pleated filter element having laid-over pleats is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,543,047 and 5,690,765 to Stoyell et al. the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. The Stoyell et al. filter element comprises a three-layer composite of a filter medium, an upstream drainage layer disposed on the upstream surface of the filter medium, and a downstream drainage layer disposed on the downstream surface of the filter medium. The drainage layers are in the form of an extruded polymeric mesh oriented and configured so that opposing surfaces of adjacent pleats are in intimate contact with one another over a substantial portion of the length of the filter element.
The Stoyell et al. patents also disclose a method of forming a cylindrical filter element having radially extending pleats into a filter element having a plurality of laid-over pleats by placing the filter element over a cylindrical core disposed on a chuck, and thereafter placing a tubular member having an inner diameter which corresponds to the desired outer diameter of the laid-over filter element on the upper end of the filter element and pressing it downwards. As the tubular member moves downward, the pleats of the filter element are progressively laid-over against one another. When the entire length of the tubular member has been fit over the filter element, the tubular member, the core and the filter element are removed from the chuck and disposed on a second chuck. A cylindrical cage having an inner diameter corresponding to the desired outer diameter of the laid-over filter element is then placed on top of the tubular member and pressed downward until it completely displaces the tubular member from the filter element. The assembly, comprising the core, the laid over filter element and the cage are then removed from the second chuck and end caps are installed on both ends thereof.
The method disclosed in the Stoyell et al. patents is extremely labor intensive and the filters formed thereby are subject to random imperfection caused by manual misalignment of the various elements of the assembly. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide an apparatus and method for more efficiently and precisely forming a spiral pleated filter element.

Apparatus and method for forming spiral pleated filter cartridges


A cow magnet is provided having two magnets and a metal plate inside of a nontoxic cover. The non-toxic cover is preferably a plastic cover having a hollow interior, a cylindrical exterior, and two rounded ends. The two magnets a preferably constructed of ceramic materials. The metal plate is positioned between the two magnets to concentrate the magnetic field produced by the two magnets.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to bovine health, and more specifically relates to the prevention of hardware disease in cattle.
2. Background Art
Cows feed by rapidly swallowing food, such as grass or hay, and later regurgitating the food and chewing it more thoroughly, a process known as "chewing cud". This process of rapidly swallowing food and leaving the chewing to later probably served cows well in years long past, when the need to rapidly consume grass before a predator happened by was more acute. The initial, highly vulnerable feeding could be quickly concluded, while the more time consuming chewing could be done in a position of relative safety with the head up and alert.
Unfortunately, that which was once an asset to bovines has become a liability. In today's typical farm or ranch environment, predators may exist, but they no longer pose a grave threat to most cattle. On the other hand, the typical bovine feeding process now presents health risks to the cattle themselves. Because the initial feeding is done rapidly, a cow will often ingest materials other than its intended food. If the material ingested is metal, the cow's health may be in jeopardy due to internal injuries the metal might inflict. Ideally, no metal objects would be available for ingestion, but the reality is that even the most stringent efforts to prevent metal from entering cattle foodstuffs (such as hay, silage, and grain) or cattle pastures cannot entirely prevent the ingestion of metal fragments by cattle.
Because a cow will inevitably ingest metal objects, steps should be taken to preserve a cow's health from the results of metal ingestion, which is known as "hardware disease". Hardware disease refers to the variety of detrimental effects that can occur to a cow that has ingested metal. While metal scraps in a cow's stomach can cause harm, the greatest harm tends to occur when the metal scraps pass from the cow's first stomach and into later stomachs and its intestines. Because it is generally impractical to remove metal scraps from a cow's stomach, the focus of hardware disease prevention has been to retain pieces of metal in a cow's first stomach, rather than allowing them to pass on to the cow's later stomachs and intestines where the greatest harm can occur.
To this end, a variety of "cow magnets" have been developed. In general, a cow magnet is a magnet placed in a cow's stomach so that metal fragments will attach to it and be prevented from passing on to the cow's intestines. In constructing such a device, several factors must be considered. First, the magnet must create a magnetic field sufficiently strong to attract and capture substantially all of the metal scraps found in a cow's stomach. Second, the magnet must be non-toxic so that it does it harm the cow's health. Third, the magnet must be able to withstand the corrosive environment of the cow's stomach for many years, as it likely will never be removed. Fourth, the magnet must be dimensioned such that it is not likely to pass from the cow's stomach to the intestines. Fifth, the magnet should be designed so as to be easily introduced through a cow's throat and into its stomach. Sixth, the magnet should be inexpensive to construct, so as to allow its widespread use as a preventative measure. Seventh, the magnet should be configured such that the metal fragments will gather in a manner that poses the least risk of damage to the cow's stomach.
While many devices have attempted to adequately account for these factors, none have successfully done so. The need exists, therefor, for a durable yet non-toxic cow magnet possessing a relatively strong magnetic field that may be easily introduced into the stomach but that cannot pass into a cow's intestines, which safely collects metal fragments while being inexpensive to construct.


Provided is a method of designing a device, comprising the steps of determining a disposing process for each component of the device, the disposing process being selectable from a melting process, a shredding process and a renovating process, and designing a connecting part for joining two of the components of the device that would be determined to be disposed by different disposing processes in the determining step so as to be easily separated from each other. Thereby, the amount of work for dismantling the device and separating the components can be substantially reduced, and the component parts can be disposed simultaneously in most part.

Japanese patent laid open (kokai) publication No. 11-348855 discloses a method of recycling discarded automobiles by transporting each automobile with a loop-type carrier suspended from a hanger, removing components from the automobile while the automobile is transported among different work stations at low speed, sorting the components into those that can be recycled and those that cannot be recycled, storing them in corresponding bins, and pressing and shredding those that cannot be recycled.
However, considerations for recycling are mostly absent in the presently adopted vehicle structures. For instance, components are often made by inseparably combining different materials such as metallic material and plastic material. Therefore, when disposing an automobile, the weight of the waste material that cannot be recycled and is required to be disposed of by landfill or the like typically amounts to about 25% of that of the automobile itself.
The method proposed in the aforementioned Japanese patent publication is no more than an introduction of a flow process into the work of disassembling discarded automobiles in place of pure manual work, and failed to meet the social need to more efficiently utilize resources and reduce waste material.


An image forming apparatus in which dry developing processing section which carries out a developing processing which makes visible a latent image which has been recorded on a photosensitive material by laminating to each other the photosensitive material on which the latent image has been recorded and a processing material containing a processing agent and carrying out a heat-processing thereon; a data generating section which picks up the image which has been developed and generates digital image data; an exposing section which exposes a heat developing photosensitive material on the basis of the digital image data so that a latent image corresponding to the digital image data is recorded; and a heat developing transfer section which carries out a developing processing which makes visible a latent image which has been recorded on a heat developing photosensitive material by laminating to each other the heat developing photosensitive material which has been exposed and the image receiving material and carrying out a heat-processing thereon, and a transfer processing which transfers the image which has been developed onto the image receiving material, are housed in one casing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus which effects a dry processing by using a photosensitive material which has been photographed and to which a dry processing is applicable so as to make hard copies.
Conventionally, in a film developing machine, a photographic film which has been photographed is sequentially dipped into processing solutions comprising a developing solution, a fixing solution, a washing solution and the like which are reserved in respective processing solution tanks so that a latent image which is recorded on a photographic film is made distinct (wet developing). Thereafter, a print processing is effected on a printing paper in a printer which is equipped independently of the film developing machine. Further, after the print processing, a paper developing machine is used so that the printing paper is dipped into processing solutions in respective processing solution tanks, and a developing processing is effected (wet developing). Moreover, a machine in which a printer and a paper developing machine are formed integrally with each other is named a so-called "minilab" (a small business that develops film and makes prints quickly) which is used for shops on a small scale.
In the image forming apparatus which is structured as described above, because the film developing machine and the printer are equipped separately from each other, manual work must be done by an operator in order to pick up photographic film, which has been subjected to a developing processing, from a film developing machine and load the photographic on a printer. Therefore, in order to reduce the amount of the manual work by the operator, a method in which the film developing machine and the printer are formed integrally with each other has been thought of. In this case, because a photographic film and a printing paper must be conveyed in a state in which they intersect orthogonally to each other, there arises a problem that the image forming apparatus must be made large, so that the above-described integration of the film developing machine and the printer has not yet been realized. If the integration has been realized, it does not pay.


A method of forming an insulating layer including preparing a substrate and depositing an insulating layer on the substrate such that density of a top portion of the insulating layer is different from that of a bottom portion of the insulating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a method of forming an insulating layer to control the step profile of a hole therethrough and a method of fabricating a thin film transistor using the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As an information society develops, so increases the demand for information displays. Recently, many efforts have been made to research and develop various flat display panels, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), a electroluminescent display (ELD), a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), and the like. Due to the characteristics or advantages of a high quality color image, low weight, compact size, and low power consumption, an LCD is typically used instead of a cathode ray tube (CRT) for an image display of a moving picture. For example, an LCD can be utilized in devices that receive video or broadcast signals, such as televisions, computer monitors, and the like. An LCD can have high resolution, high brightness, a wide screen, as well as the characteristics of low weight, compactness, and low power consumption so as to be a general purpose display.
Such a general purpose LCD device includes a liquid crystal panel displaying an image and a driving unit for applying a driving signal to the liquid crystal panel. First and second glass substrates are bonded to each other so as to leave a predetermined space therebetween and a liquid crystal layer is injected between the first and second glass substrates to form the liquid crystal panel. Formed on the first glass substrate or TFT array substrate are a plurality of gate lines arranged in one direction to leave a predetermined interval between each other. A plurality of data lines are arranged on the first glass substrate in a direction vertical to the gate lines to leave a predetermined interval between each other. A plurality of pixel electrodes formed like a matrix are positioned in pixel areas defined between the gate and data lines, respectively. A plurality of thin film transistors switched by signals from the gate lines to transfer signals of the data lines to the pixel electrodes are also positioned respectively in the pixels areas. Formed on the second glass substrate or color filter substrate are a black matrix layer for preventing light leakage from areas other than the pixel areas, an RIG/B color filter layer for realizing colors, and a common electrode for realizing an image together with the pixel electrodes. In the case of a horizontal electric field type liquid crystal display device, the common electrode is formed on the first glass substrate.
The above-constituted first and second substrates are separated from each other by spacers, and bonded to each other through a sealant. Liquid crystal is then injected between the first and second substrates. The thin film transistor of the liquid crystal display device is mainly used as a switching device. A semiconductor layer of the thin film transistor is formed of amorphous silicon, which enables the fabrication of small-scaled TFT-LCD. However, amorphous silicon has a low mobility, which adversely affects the operation of a wide-screen TFT-LCD. Therefore, many efforts have been made to research and develop a polysilicon thin film transistor (TFT) using a polysilicon layer having an excellent mobility as a semiconductor layer. Such a polysilicon TFT facilitates both the fabrication and operation of a wide-screen TFT-LCD, and enables the integration of a driving integrated circuit (IC) on a TFT array substrate to provide for high integrity and reduced costs of manufacturing.
In general, a polysilicon layer can be formed by two methods. The first method is depositing polysilicon directly on a substrate. The second method is to deposit amorphous silicon on a substrate and then crystallize the deposited amorphous silicon into polysilicon.
A polysilicon TFT includes a gate electrode separated from an active layer by an insulating layer. Source/drain electrodes contact the active layer through the insulating layer, which separates the active layer from the gate electrode. The insulating layer is mainly formed of an inorganic insulating layer, such as silicon nitride (SiNx) or silicon oxide (SiOx). The inorganic insulating layer has excellent handling characteristics, a high insulation withstanding voltage and high metal adhesion.
A method of forming an insulating layer and a method of forming polysilicon TFT using the same insulating layer according to related art are explained in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2A–2F. A cross-sectional view for explaining a method of forming an insulating layer hole 9 in an insulating layer 6 according to related art is shown in FIG. 1. An insulating layer 6, as shown in FIG. 1, is deposited uniformly on a glass substrate 1 at 300˜400° C. by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), or sputtering using silane (SiH4) gas. The insulating layer 6 formed on the glass substrate 1 is an inorganic insulating layer, such as silicon nitride (SiNx) or silicon oxide (SiOx). Then, a photoresist 2 is coated on the insulating layer and patterned via exposure and development to form a photoresist hole 7 in the photoresist 2 for defining a hole in the insulating layer 6. A portion of the insulating layer 6 is removed selectively by a wet etch using the patterned photoresist 2 as a mask to form a insulating layer hole 9 in the insulating layer 6 and thus expose a portion of the glass substrate 1 commensurate with the photoresist hole 7 in the photoresist 2.
As shown in FIG. 1, when the insulating layer 6 is removed by wet etch, more of the upper portion of the insulating layer 6 is removed than a lower portion of the insulating layer 6 such that the insulating layer hole 9 has a poor step profile, which is much wider at the top of the contact hole than at the bottom of the insulating layer hole 9 and is not very sharp. The step profile, as shown in FIG. 1, is not very sharp since the side 9a of the insulating layer hole travels a distance L along the substrate 1 from the top edge of the insulating layer hole 9 to a bottom edge of the insulating layer hole 9 that is much greater than the thickness T of the insulating layer 6. A step profile of the insulating layer hole is sharper as L/T gets closer to 0. The poor step profile, as shown in FIG. 1, can occur because the wet etch is active for a longer period on the upper portion of the insulating layer since etching proceeds through the upper portion of the insulating layer to the lower portion of the insulating layer.
The same poor step profile, as shown in FIG. 1, can also be a result of or further exacerbated by an insulating layer 6 formed of SiOx having poor adhesion to the photoresist 2 such that the etchant penetrates between the insulating layer 6 and photoresist 2. Thus, the etch rate of the upper portion of the insulating layer 6, particularly at the upper edge of the insulating layer hole 9 will be accelerated because of the proximity of both a side surface and a top surface being etched. Hence, the step profile of the insulating layer hole 9 will have rounded top edges and/or long step profile, as shown in FIG. 1.
FIGS. 2A to 2F illustrate cross-sectional views of forming a polysilicon thin film transistor according to related art. The amorphous silicon (—Si) is deposited on an entire surface of a glass substrate 11 to form an amorphous silicon layer. Annealing is carried out using an excimer laser to crystallize the amorphous silicon layer into a polysilicon layer. The polysilicon layer is then patterned selectively to form an active layer 13, as shown in FIG. 2A. Subsequently, a first insulating layer 14 is formed on an entire surface including the active layer 13 by depositing an inorganic insulating layer such as silicon nitride (SiNx) or silicon oxide (SiOx) at 300˜400° C. by PECVD, LPCVD, sputtering, or the like using silane (SiH4) gas.
Referring to FIG. 2B, an electrically conductive material such as Al, Al alloy, or the like is deposited on an entire surface including the first insulating layer 14, and then patterned selectively by photolithography to form a gate electrode 15 on a predetermined portion over the active layer 13. Subsequently, n-type or p-type impurity ions are implanted in the active layer 13 using the gate electrode 15 as a mask. The impurity ions implanted in portions of the active layer 13 corresponding to both sides of the gate electrode 15 become source/drain regions 13a and 13c, and the remaining portion of the active layer 13 blocked by the gate electrode 15 to have no impurity ions implanted therein becomes a channel region 13b.
As shown in FIG. 2C, a second insulating layer 16 is formed by depositing an inorganic insulating layer such as silicon nitride, silicon oxide, or the like on an entire surface including the gate electrode 15. The second insulating layer 16 can be deposited by the same depositing method as for the first insulating layer 14. Then, a photoresist 12 is coated on an entire surface including the second insulating layer 16. Subsequently, the photoresist 12 is patterned by exposure and development to define a contact areas 17 with holes in the photoresist 12, as shown in FIG. 2D.
Referring to FIG. 2E, the second and first insulating layers 16 and 14 are selectively removed to form contact holes 19 that expose predetermined surfaces of the source/drain regions 13a and 13c, respectively, using the patterned photoresist 12 as a mask. In this instance, the etching process for forming the contact holes 19 is a process of removing a portion of the insulating layer 16, defined as a contact area 17 by the photoresist 12, using a chemical solution. An etching process using a chemical solution is called a wet etch as opposed to a process using plasma, which is called a dry etch. The wet etch is classified into a dipping and spraying. The dipping method is carried out in such a manner that a substrate is dipped into a solution bath filled with a chemical solution. The spray method is carried out in such a manner that a chemical solution is sprayed on a substrate.
Subsequently, a metal layer is deposited on a glass substrate 11 including the contact holes 19, regardless of which etching method is used. Photo and etching processes are then carried out to form source and drain electrodes 18a and 18c connected to the source and drain regions 13a and 13c, respectively. The source and drain electrodes 18a and 18c are isolated electrically from the gate electrode 15 by the second insulating layer 16. Thus, the polysilicon thin film transistor using polysilicon as a semiconductor layer in the related art is completed by the above-explained process, as shown in FIG. 2F.
A liquid crystal display device can include the polysilicon thin film transistor described above on the first substrate as the switching device of a pixel. As also described in the foregoing explanation, the first and second insulating layers 14 and 16 are selectively etched by wet etch. The wet etch is an isotropic etching process using a chemical solution so that equipment costs are reduced and the productivity is increased. However, the rectangular dimensions or step profile of an etched contact hole is degraded. For example, referring again to FIG. 2E, a chemical reaction occurs rapidly when the chemical solution flows in, whereby the second insulating layer 16 beneath the photoresist 12 is etched to a diameter significantly beyond the designed specification or contact area 17 defined by the photoresist while the first insulating layer 14 is under-etched. Hence, the rectangular dimensions or step profile of the contact hole through the first and second insulating layers are degraded.
Thus, a poor step profile or large diameters for each of the contact holes to a polysilicon thin film transistor increases the size of the TFT, as well as decreases the space for a pixel electrode. A decrease in the size of a pixel or increase in the size of a TFT reduces the resolution of the LCD panel. Therefore, it is important to increase the sharpness of a step profile for each of the contact holes to TFT.
In order to overcome the problem of contact holes with poor step profiles, dry etch using plasma has been introduced. The dry etch, which is anisotropic, has the advantage of step profile control and the disadvantage of etching the photoresist such that the pattern is affected. Another method include the steps of carrying out wet etch and then etching an under-etched portion with a dry etch to equalize the etch selectivity ratio between the first and second insulating layers. However, such a method needs an additional step, which increases process costs as well as requires two completely different types of processing equipment.

Method of forming insulating layer and method of fabricating thin film transistor using the same


A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device includes a step of defining an element region by etching a semiconductor substrate using a first dielectric film as a mask, a step of reducing the first dielectric film by isotropic etching, a step of forming a side wall on a side surface of the reduced first dielectric film, a step of removing the first dielectric film, and a step of forming a trench in the element region by etching using the side wall as a mask to form a plurality of fin portions at the element region.

This invention relates to a semiconductor device, in particular, to a semiconductor device having a plurality of fin diffused regions at a channel portion and to a manufacturing method thereof.
A related semiconductor device employing a multi channel fin structure is manufactured by the following steps.
At first, a hard mask is formed on a substrate and then it is patterned into a shape corresponding to an active region by photolithography.
Next, the substrate is etched by use of the patterned hard mask to define the active region.
Subsequently, the hard mask is reduced (or minified) by means of isotropic etching.
Then, a first dielectric film is formed to fill an element isolation region and embed the hard mask.
Next, the first dielectric film is planarized and polished using chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) while a surface of the hard mask is used as a planarization end point.
Next, the first dielectric film and the hard mask are patterned to form a dummy gate pattern by photolithography.
Then, a second dielectric film is formed to embed the dummy gate pattern. The second dielectric film is planarized using the CMP while the surface of the hard mask is used as a planarization end point.
After the hard mask is selectively removed, the substrate is etched using the first and the second dielectric films as a mask to form a central trench.
Next, the first and the second dielectric films are partly removed to align a surface position of them with a bottom position of the central trench.
Subsequently, a gate film and a gate conductive layer are formed. The gate conductive layer is patterned by the photolithography to form a gate electrode.
As mentioned above, the related semiconductor device employing the multi channel fin structure is manufactured. Such a method is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-13521.
On the other hand, it is known as another related method to form a multi channel fin structure by use of side walls. Such a method is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-196617.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method of the same


The present disclosure relates to a sensor arrangement (1) for analyzing substances in a material, comprising a substrate (2), a first reception area (5) for receiving a first material, an electronic component sensor (3), a test area (4) that is in contact with the electronic component sensor (3), and a control device (10). The first reception area (5) and the test area (4) are arranged on the substrate (2). The control device (10) is configured for controlling the first reception area (5) and/or the test area (4) to move a portion of the first material from the first reception area (5) into the test area (4). Further, the present disclosure relates to a method for operating such a sensor arrangement (1).

Known from the state of the art are electrical methods for examining fluidic microsystems. Thus, what is for example known from DE 10 2015 219 023 B3 is an impedance method. Challenges with known sensor arrangements and methods include the time and materials needed to accurately calibrate the sensors. This may be particularly challenging when the sensors are configured to analyze biological substances and/or when the sensors do not have a linear response behavior.

Sensor arrangement for analyzing substances in a material and method for operating such a sensor arrangement