A bath waste and overflow drain system of the present disclosure may comprise both drain and overflow assemblies. The drain assembly generally includes a drain elbow, drain gasket, drain spud, drain trim, and drain stopper. The drain trim may possess weep channels that urge stagnated water from a periphery of the drain spud and into the drain. The overflow assembly generally includes an overflow elbow, overflow gasket, retaining nut, and overflow faceplate. The overflow faceplate may have bayonet channels that engage with a protrusion of the overflow elbow so as to accommodate variances in tub design when effecting an installation. The system according to an embodiment may also comprise test plugs of the overflow and drain varieties which are, together, operable to permit pressure-related tests of the system prior to completing an installation. The overflow and drain test plugs are simple to manipulate and install/remove with quick-engaging, complementary locking features.

Conventional bath waste and overflow systems are designed to provide fluid drainage from a bathtub, or other liquid-holding tank, and into a drain pipe. Typical systems include both overflow and drain aspects to provide drainage, respectively, from an overflow port and a drain port of the tub, and directing this water (or other fluid medium) out of the bathtub and into a central drainage system (such as a septic system or public sewage disposal system). The overflow aspects of existing systems permit the drainage of water when the water level exceeds a predetermined height in the tub, i.e., to prevent the water from overflowing. The drain aspects of existing systems allow a user to control whether the bathtub will retain water when the drain is sealed off (for example, using a common drain stopper or plug) or to drain the water when the drain is unsealed.
Particularly in new plumbing installations, such as in new construction, a plumber will typically run a pressurized leak test of the plumbing lines before installing the entire bath waste and overflow system in the bathtub. In that respect, plumbers will use conventional means to plug (or otherwise seal) the drain and overflow portions. Traditional pressure test plugs are somewhat crude and require time to install and remove to effectuate a proper pressure test. In most applications, traditional plugs are designed to be fitted with (and thereby sealed to) the bath waste and overflow devices themselves, rather than to the pipes. Thus, the testing requires partial assembly (or even disassembly) of these known drain and overflow devices to run this pressure test, which requires additional time and labor.
Existing waste and overflow systems are bulky and wrought with problems, including time-consuming installations, leaks/failures, rust buildup due to water-pooling near the drain, clogs in the drain, and time-consuming repairs/replacements of the overflow and drain aspects when the same becomes necessary. These problems are exacerbated in large dwellings and multi-unit apartment complexes, where hundreds or thousands of drain/overflow installations must be made at the time of construction/renovation and must be serviced throughout their lifespan. An improved waste and overflow system is desired to address these concerns and provide a plumber (or other user) with a convenient, simple, and aesthetically pleasing system that is quick and easy to install as well as to repair/replace should the need arise. With respect to existing pressure-testing devices and methods, pressure test plugs/seals are crude and time consuming to install and remove before and after the test is complete.

Bath waste and overflow systems and methods of use


Disclosed is a series of N-deacetylthiocolchicine derivatives of formula I

Colchicine and thiocolchicine have been known for some time in the medical practice. Colchicine is used in the therapy of gout and related inflammatories states. 3-O-Diemethylthiocolchicine glucoside is used as miorelaxant in spasticity and muscle pains due to contractures. However, in both cases the use of these compounds is limited due to their high toxicity.
Colchicine and thiocolchicine are also known antiblastic compounds, ie compounds that are able to destabilize the microtubules through interaction with tubuline. The possible use of a number of colchicine- and thiocolchicine-derivatives as antitumor medicaments has been studied. Due to their low therapeutic index none of them has been successful, with the sole exception of demecolchicine, introduced in therapy in the sixties for the treatment of leukemic forms and subsequently replaced by the more effective Vinca alkaloids.
WO 01/6895597 discloses thiocolchicine dimers in which the thiocolchicine residues are liked through a linear aliphatic amido or amido-ureido bridge.

N-deacetylthiocolchicine derivatives, their use and pharmaceutical formulations containing them

Abstract: in which:                    the linker is a bivalent straight or branched C1-C8 alkyl residue, C3-C8 cycloalkyl, a phenylene or heterocyclic C4-C6 ring;            the G1 and G2 junctions, which can be the same or different, are —CO—, —CONH—, —CR2— groups in which R2 is hydrogen or a straight C1-C4 alkyl residue,                        or the G1-linker-G2 group is the —CO— group.

Abstract: The compounds of formula I have antiproliferative, antinflammatory, antiarthritic and antiviral activity.


An HVAC controller may include an upper housing having a front and a back, the back including a center. A lens dial including an engagement portion may be rotatably secured relative to the upper housing. A set point operator may include a first portion that is disposed about the upper housing center as well as a second portion that is adapted to interact with the lens dial engagement portion. A mechanical movement to electrical signal converter such as a potentiometer may be disposed within the HVAC controller such that the first portion of the set point operator communicates with the potentiometer.

HVAC controllers are used widely in dwellings, buildings, and other controlled spaces. In many cases, the HVAC controllers are mounted on a wall or the like to allow for the measurement and control of the temperature, humidity and/or other environmental parameter within the space. HVAC controllers come in a variety of shapes and with a variety of functions. Advanced HVAC controllers have built in electronics, often with solid state sensors, to sense and control various environmental parameters within a space. The user interface of some electronic HVAC controllers includes software controlled buttons and a display.
HVAC controllers often utilize a large number of individual parts, which may complicate the assembly process of the controller. Moreover, it may be expensive to fabricate each part and then assemble a large number of components to form a controller. Therefore, a need remains for improved HVAC controllers.


Control device behavior in error situations where an error response is received from an application is improved. In case a response message received from an application for a communication request is evaluated as an error message by the control device, control of the communication request can be continued on the basis of service-specific data.

FIG. 1 shows a basic architecture of an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).
Devices allowing end users to access network services are called User Equipments (UE). UEs access the IMS network to be able to use services provided by the IMS network. UEs communicate with the IMS network by attaching to a packet switched (PS) network, such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network. The UE may access the IMS network over a radio access network (RAN) or over a fixed line access network, such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) access.
The IMS network comprises Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) proxies which process SIP signaling. SIP is an application-layer control protocol for creating, modifying, and terminating sessions with one or more participants. SIP proxies in the IMS network are called Call State Control Functions (CSCF) and the main features of the CSCF are to perform session control functions, service control functions and address translation functions. Depending on the functionality the CSCF provides, it is called Proxy-CSCF (P-CSCF), Interrogating-CSCF (I-CSCF) or Serving-CSCF (S-CSCF).
For a UE the P-CSCF (not shown) is the first contact point in the IMS network. When the UE registers to the IMS network, a P-CSCF is allocated to the UE. The same P-CSCF remains allocated to the UE during the lifetime of the registration, and all signaling between the UE and the IMS network traverses the P-CSCF. The I-CSCF (not shown) is located at the edge of the administrative (operator) domain, in signaling path between the P-CSCF and the S-CSCF. The I-CSCF routes received requests to a correct destination, typically to an S-CSCF. The S-CSCF implements the session control in the IMS network and acts as SIP registrar. All SIP signaling initiated by or destined to a certain UE traverses the S-CSCF assigned to serve the UE.
A Home Subscriber Server (HSS) or User Mobility Server (UMS) stores all the user related subscription data, such as location information, security information and user profile information defining the services that the user is subscribed to. Subscription data is created into the HSS when an end user obtains an IMS subscription from an IMS service provider. The subscription data is associated with an IMS private user identity (IMPI) of the user. The HSS also maintains information about the S-CSCF allocated to the user. During an IMS registration procedure, the I-CSCF may contact the HSS in order to find out the address of the allocated S-CSCF based on the IMS public user identity (IMPU) and IMS private user identity (IMPI) of the user sending the registration request. Once the correct S-CSCF has been reached, the S-CSCF contacts the HSS over Cx interface to download user profile information that includes a service profile for the user.
Application Servers (AS) may be part of the IMS network or alternatively are so-called third party ASs located outside the IMS network. ASs host and execute services using SIP and may have an interface, called Sh interface, to the HSS to retrieve user specific data needed in service execution. The S-CSCF may forward a SIP request to an AS over an IMS Service Control (ISC) interface. The S-CSCF obtains information about ASs from the above mentioned service profile included in the user profile downloaded from the HSS.
For establishing a session between an inviting UE and an invited UE, an S-CSCF forwards SIP requests towards the invited UE, possible after first giving the session control to an AS for executing a service and after the AS has given the session control back to the S-CSCF. Instead of the invited UE, the request could be terminated to an AS, for example to a voice mail server.
FIG. 2 shows a structure of Filter Criteria that is basically a data structure including user specific service information from which an S-CSCF is able determine when an AS is to be contacted for providing a service to the user. User profiles are stored, in the HSS, per Private User Identity (IMPI) and each user profile may comprise several service profiles associated with a Public User Identity (IMPU). Filter Criteria are included in the service profile of the user profile downloaded from the HSS to the S-CSCF during the IMS registration procedure.
Filter Criteria include a priority field. If the service profile comprises more than one Filter Criteria, the S-CSCF assesses Filter Criteria according to the priority of each Filter Criteria (highest priority is taken first). A Trigger Point comprises one or more service trigger points which define the exact conditions of which have to be fulfilled in order to start a service and a certain AS is to be contacted. Examples of service trigger points are the presence of a specific SIP method (INVITE, OPTIONS, SUBSCRIBE, . . . ), partial or full match on the content of any SIP header or SDP line, presence or absence of any SIP header, and content of Request-URI.
Filter criteria further include the address of an AS (SIP URI) to be contacted if a service is to be started based on fulfilled conditions of one of the service point triggers. A Default Handling parameter of Filter Criteria defines the action to be taken if the AS to be contacted is not available, i.e. cannot be reached. The possible actions in this case are abort or continue the processing of the SIP request. Finally, Filter Criteria could include service information, which is transparent service related information that an S-CSCF may forward to an AS when contacting the AS.
As described above, it may happen that an S-CSCF is not able to contact an AS which is defined in the Filter Criteria to provide the service in question. Possible reasons for unavailability of the AS are, for example, some very fatal problem in the AS or an error in ISC interface configuration. The S-CSCF must then proceed according to Default Handling instructions in the Filter Criteria. However, even if the S-CSCF is able to contact the AS, further problems may occur relating to service execution in the AS. For example, the AS is not necessarily able to provide the service based on the information received from S-CSCF or an AS internal error may occur during the service execution. In these cases, the AS responds to the S-CSCF with a SIP response code indicating that an error has occurred and possible more detailed information about the nature or type of the error. The above mentioned Default Handling parameter neither is examined nor used in these cases, since the AS was actually contacted successfully and the problem occurred only later, during the service execution in the AS.

Service error handling in a communications network


A card connector (100) includes an insulative housing (1) and a number of contacts (2) retained in the insulative housing. The insulative housing defines a receiving space (10), a front-and-rear direction, and a left-and-right direction perpendicular to the front-and-rear direction. Each contact includes a soldering portion (23), two retaining portions (24), and a curved portion (25) connecting between the two retaining portions. The curved portion includes a contacting portion (251) arching upwardly to protrude into the receiving space and two flexible portions (252) integrally formed at two opposite ends of the contacting portion. The two flexible portions are centrosymmetry with respect to the contacting portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a card connector, and more particularly to a card connector preventing scrapping to card inserted therein.
2. Description of Related Arts
U.S. Pat. No. 7,967,640, Japan Patent Publication No. 2011165560, China Patent Publication No. 103050806, and Taiwan Pat. No. M472339 each disclose an electrical card connector comprising a plurality of elastic terminals. Each elastic terminal has a contacting portion and a pair of flexible arms arching upwardly and backwardly extending to be connected with each other at the contacting portion. The flexible arms are symmetrically positioned at two sides of the contacting portion along a card's insertion/ejection direction. U.S. Pat. No. 7,913,914 issued on Mar. 29, 2011 discloses a contact having an inclined portion substantially U-shaped with two ends forming the legs thereof.
A card connector preventing scrapping to the card when the card is ejected is desired.

Card connector preventing scrapping to card inserted therein


A thermally sensitive recording medium containing a thermally sensitive recording medium providing an undercoating layer containing a pigment and a binder as main components and a thermally sensitive recording layer containing a colorless or pale colored basic leuco dye and a color developing agent, which reacts with said basic leuco dye, as main components on a substrate, wherein the undercoating layer contains carboxymethyl cellulose having an etherification degree of from 0.55 to 0.75 and hydroxyethyl cellulose from the view point of high effectiveness.

In general, a thermally sensitive recording medium is prepared by the following process. That is, after a colorless or pale colored basic leuco dye and an organic color developing agent are respectively ground to fine particles, these particles are mixed together with additives such as a binder, a filler, a sensitizer and a slipping agent or others to obtain a coating, then the obtained coating is coated on a substrate such as a paper, a synthetic paper, a film or a plastic. The thermally sensitive recording medium develops color by an instant chemical reaction caused by heating with a thermal head, a hot stamp, a thermal pen or a laser beam. Usually, a thermally sensitive recording medium is broadly applied for a facsimile use, a terminal printer of a computer, an automatic bending machine for tickets and a recorder of a measuring instrument. Recently, along with the diversification or high qualification of a recording apparatus, high speed printing and high speed image formation are becoming possible, accordingly, more excellent quality is required to the recording sensitivity of thermally sensitive recording medium. Further, along with the diversification of usage, a recorded image of high quality is required at a whole range from lower density to higher density.
As a method to satisfy these requirement, the technique to improve the smoothness of the surface of thermally sensitive recording layer using a super calender or others is ordinary carried out, however, a sufficient high quality image can not be obtained. It is well known that the coating uniformity of the undercoating layer is important for the formation of a high quality image, for example, the improvement of the smoothness of the undercoating layer by using a super calendar is well known. Further, in Patent Document 1, for the purpose of providing a thermally sensitive recording medium having an excellent reproducibility of dot, the technique to accumulate the first intermediate layer and the second intermediate layer between a substrate and a thermally sensitive layer by order, and to adjust the OKEN smoothness of the first intermediate layer to 700 seconds or more and the density of the second intermediate layer to 0.1 or less is disclosed.
In the meanwhile, for the purpose of obtaining a highly sensitive thermally sensitive recording sheet, for example in Patent Document 2, there is a disclosure that two or more intermediate layers are provided between a substrate and a color developing layer and the uppermost layer contains from 0.3 wt % to 3 wt % of carboxymethyl cellulose and/or hydroxyethyl cellulose to pigment.
Patent Document 1: JPA 2000-108518 publication
Patent Document 2: JPA H4-348989 publication
However, by the method using a super calender, the porous property of the under coating layer is hurt and the adiabatic property is lost by calender pressure and the sensitivity is deteriorated. The method of accumulating plural intermediate layers is not advantageous from the view point of industrial production because the process becomes complicated. Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a thermally sensitive recording medium which does not cause the above mentioned problems, has excellent recording sensitivity and can obtain a recorded image of a high quality.


A method and apparatus for a roof that takes the pressure from wind in extreme weather events off of the eaves and roof of a building thereby allowing the roof to stay intact and increasing the likelihood that the building will not collapse under the influence of the weather event. The apparatus of the instant invention allows the airflow from the wind to continue on its natural path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of roofing systems, and more particularly toward a roofing system that is resistant to high winds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During weather events, such as high winds, hurricanes and tornadoes, the roofs on structures are at risk of being blown off and causing the dwelling to collapse. Typically during such weather events, the windows and doors are boarded up to keep them secure, but it actually causes the wind to run up the side of the walls, hitting the eaves and putting pressure on the roof. The constant pulsating of the wind eventually rips off the roof or portions of the roof which in turn can cause the walls to collapse.
It is the object of the instant invention to provide a roofing system and apparatus that will take the pressure from the wind in such events off of the eaves and roof thereby allowing the roof to stay intact. This increases the chances of the building remaining intact during the weather event.


An apparatus for forming a column of spaced articles has a supply belt and a downstream-adjoining removal belt. The article transfer location between the two belts is formed by belt-supporting end rollers, one defining the downstream end of the supply belt and the other defining the upstream end of the removal belt. The two rollers together define an article transfer location. The two belt-supporting end rollers are mounted on a first carriage which is movable parallel to the conveying direction and which is attached to the upper reach of an endless flexible element. A second carriage is secured to the lower reach of the flexible element. On the second carriage there are mounted two deflecting rollers about which the supply belt and the removal belt are trained, respectively. The endless flexible element is supported by end rollers and is driven by a motor connected to a regulator. There is further provided a sensor which applies a signal to the regulator each time an article situated on the supply belt passes by the sensor. The regulator varies the speed and direction of motion of the flexible element in response to the sensor signal for shifting the article transfer location and thus changing the distance between a leading article on the supply belt and a trailing article on the removal belt so that, as a result, the articles will be spaced at predetermined distances from one another on the removal belt.

This invention relates to an apparatus for forming a column of articles, particularly chocolate bars. The apparatus includes an endless supply belt on which the individual, serially arranged articles are advanced and an endless removal belt which is arranged immediately at the downstream (discharge) end of the supply belt for taking over the articles from the supply conveyor belt and advancing them to a further processing station (such as a packing machine). The supply belt and the removal belt are both variable in their effective conveying lengths and, at the beginning and the end of the entire article-advancing track they are supported by stationarily arranged end rollers. There are provided belt deflecting elements which form the article transfer arrangement between the supply belt and the removal belt. The belt deflecting elements are mounted on a carriage which is displaceable back and forth parallel to the conveying direction and further, the supply belt and the removal belt are each guided by a respective deflecting roller movable back and forth parallel to the conveying direction.
A known apparatus of the above-outlined type is disclosed, for example, in German Offenlegungsschrift (application published without examination) 27 11 039. This publication shows a circulating, endless supply belt and a circulating, endless removal belt which, at the opposite ends of the conveyor path, are supported and guided by stationary end rollers. At the transfer location between the two belts the latter are guided on first deflecting rollers which are mounted on a carriage that is movable back and forth parallel to the article conveying direction. Further, on the carriage there are mounted second deflecting rollers at a distance from the first deflecting rollers. The carriage is reciprocated by a continuously rotating cam disc. In this manner, from the uniformly spaced articles positioned on the supply belt there are formed, on the removal belt, article groups which are advanced to a packing machine. Due to the fact that the second deflecting rollers must have a relatively large distance from one another which has an order of magnitude that is approximately one-half of the entire conveying track, the maximum carriage stroke is necessarily relatively small.
German Patent No. 3,630,791 discloses an apparatus which can form a uniform row of articles from articles arranged at random distances. This apparatus requires at least three conveyor belts which have at least two transitional portions movable back and forth parallel to the conveying direction as well as an arrangement which cyclically turns on and off the three belts. A control of such an apparatus is complicated and expensive and the conveyor output is limited because of the cyclical off-periods.

Conveyor for forming a column of uniformly spaced articles


In some instances, a person may need monitoring. The monitoring may be based on age, or on other factors such as abilities and functionality. The monitoring may enable a supervising person to remotely receive updates regarding the subject person. The supervising person may enter in various biometric parameters to monitor. The supervising person may alternatively and/or additionally set other factors to monitor such as time of day, location, activity level, and the like. The monitoring may provide peace of mind to a supervising person to ensure the subject person is safe. In some embodiments, the supervising person may set various alarm thresholds. The alarm thresholds may trigger an alert to the supervising person. In alternative embodiments, if the subject person is a grown person without a supervising person in the same vicinity, a security and/or automation system may act as the supervising adult.

The present disclosure, for example, relates to security and/or automation systems, and more particularly to monitoring subject personnel based on various biometric parameters.
Security and automation systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication and functional features such as monitoring, communication, notification, and/or others. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with a user through a communication connection or a system management action.
Often times, people want to know their loved ones are safe. The loved one may be vulnerable and have health concerns. For example, a parent may want to monitor a child, an adult may wish to monitor a special needs child, an adult with a disability and/or disease may require remote monitoring.


An oxygen tank holder of a suitable fabric material includes a pouch for holding an oxygen tank, and which pouch is strapped at its upper and lower ends to the back of a wheelchair. The straps are adjustable to accommodate various size wheelchairs and so that the pouch can be displaced away from the center of the wheelchair to avoid interfering with the back of the user of the chair, as is desireable.

This invention relates to an oxygen tank holder for use with wheelchairs and, more particularly, to an oxygen tank holder of the type described which is of a suitable fabric material so as to be collapsible and which is supported by the wheelchair handle supports and the bottom frame of the chair.
Patients suffering from respiratory ailments are often wheelchair bound for mobility purposes and must have oxygen readily available. It is thus imperative that an oxygen tank be coupled to the wheelchair so as to be moveable therewith.
The present inventor is aware of the following prior art of interest: U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,648 (U.S. Class 297/188) issued to Steichen on Jul. 22, 1980; U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,903 (U.S. Class 280/289) issued to Bowermaster on Mar. 26, 1985; U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,420 (U.S. Class 224/275) issued to Kulic on Sep. 29, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,206 (U.S. Class 280/289) issued to Pryor on Feb. 14, 1984; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,344 (U.S. Class 297/189) issued to Baumann on Jul. 20, 1976.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,648 relates to a wheelchair having a rigid support frame for supporting an oxygen tank thereon. The support frame includes a holding device having a hollow cylinder with an open top end and a bottom closed end. The cylinder includes a mounting bracket for releasably attaching the cylinder to the spaced upwardly extending pins on the wheelchair frame conventionally used to mount detachable foot rests.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,903 relates to a device for detachably coupling a wheelchair oxygen tank cart to a wheelchair such that the cart and the chair are transportable together as a unit without the need of a separate operator for the cart.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,420 relates to a device for detachably coupling a rigid oxygen tank carrier to a wheelchair, wherein the device fits between the downwardly directed support arms of the chair with the carrier being made in different lengths, depending on the size of the chair.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,206 teaches an accessory carrier for oxygen bottles, intravenous containers and other medical accessories and to this extent includes a lower vertically extending post for detachable attachment to the back of the wheelchair so as to permit folding of the chair and further including an upper elongated vertical post for supporting additional accessories.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,344 teaches an oxygen tank holding device for ready attachment to a wheelchair. The device is collapsible to the extent that it includes a tank receiving basket and a pair of struts detachably supported on the wheelchair and pivotally connected to the sides of the basket. Flexible cable means are provided to maintain the basket in a vertical position when the device is in an operative position on the wheelchair.
The device of the present invention features a fabric pouch for holding an oxygen tank, and which pouch is strapped at its top and bottom to the back of a wheelchair. Accordingly, the present invention differs structurally from the prior art as aforenoted.

Oxygen tank holder for use with wheelchairs


Provided is a catalyst article for simultaneously remediating the nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter, and gaseous hydrocarbons present in diesel engine exhaust streams. The catalyst article has a soot filter coated with a material effective in the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) of NOx by a reductant, e.g., ammonia.

The present invention relates to an emission treatment system having an oxidation catalyst upstream of a soot filter coated with a material effective in the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) of NOx by a reductant, e.g., ammonia. In one embodiment, the system provides an effective method of simultaneously remediating the nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter, and gaseous hydrocarbons present in diesel engine exhaust streams.
Diesel engine exhaust is a heterogeneous mixture which contains not only gaseous emissions such as carbon monoxide ("CO"), unburned hydrocarbons ("HC") and nitrogen oxides ("NOx"), but also condensed phase materials (liquids and solids) which constitute the so-called particulates or particulate matter. Often, catalyst compositions and substrates on which the compositions are disposed are provided in diesel engine exhaust systems to convert certain or all of these exhaust components to innocuous components. For example, diesel exhaust systems can contain one or more of a diesel oxidation catalyst, a soot filter and a catalyst for the reduction of NOx.
Oxidation catalysts that contain platinum group metals, base metals and combinations thereof are known to facilitate the treatment of diesel engine exhaust by promoting the conversion of both HC and CO gaseous pollutants and some proportion of the particulate matter through oxidation of these pollutants to carbon dioxide and water. Such catalysts have generally been contained in units called diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC's), which are placed in the exhaust of diesel engines to treat the exhaust before it vents to the atmosphere. In addition to the conversions of gaseous HC, CO and particulate matter, oxidation catalysts that contain platinum group metals (which are typically dispersed on a refractory oxide support) also promote the oxidation of nitric oxide (NO) to NO2.
The total particulate matter emissions of diesel exhaust are comprised of three main components. One component is the solid, dry, solid carbonaceous fraction or soot fraction. This dry carbonaceous matter contributes to the visible soot emissions commonly associated with diesel exhaust. A second component of the particulate matter is the soluble organic fraction ("SOF"). The soluble organic fraction is sometimes referred to as the volatile organic fraction ("VOF"), which terminology will be used herein. The VOF can exist in diesel exhaust either as a vapor or as an aerosol (fine droplets of liquid condensate) depending on the temperature of the diesel exhaust. It is generally present as condensed liquids at the standard particulate collection temperature of 52° C. in diluted exhaust, as prescribed by a standard measurement test, such as the U.S. Heavy Duty Transient Federal Test Procedure. These liquids arise from two sources: (1) lubricating oil swept from the cylinder walls of the engine each time the pistons go up and down; and (2) unburned or partially burned diesel fuel.
The third component of the particulate matter is the so-called sulfate fraction. The sulfate fraction is formed from small quantities of sulfur components present in the diesel fuel. Small proportions of SO3 are formed during combustion of the diesel, which in turn combines rapidly with water in the exhaust to form sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid collects as a condensed phase with the particulates as an aerosol, or is adsorbed onto the other particulate components, and thereby adds to the mass of TPM.
One key aftertreatment technology in use for high particulate matter reduction is the diesel particulate filter. There are many known filter structures that are effective in removing particulate matter from diesel exhaust, such as honeycomb wall flow filters, wound or packed fiber filters, open cell foams, sintered metal filters, etc. However, ceramic wall flow filters, described below, receive the most attention. These filters are capable of removing over 90% of the particulate material from diesel exhaust. The filter is a physical structure for removing particles from exhaust, and the accumulating particles will increase the back pressure from the filter on the engine. Thus, the accumulating particles have to be continuously or periodically burned out of the filter to maintain an acceptable back pressure. Unfortunately, the carbon soot particles require temperatures in excess of 500° C. to burn under oxygen rich (lean) exhaust conditions. This temperature is higher than what is typically present in diesel exhaust.
Provisions are generally introduced to lower the soot burning temperature in order to provide for passive regeneration of the filter. The presence of a catalyst promotes soot combustion, thereby regenerating the filters at temperatures accessible within the diesel engine's exhaust under realistic duty cycles. In this way a catalyzed soot filter (CSF) or catalyzed diesel particulate filter (CDPF) is effective in providing for >80% particulate matter reduction along with passive burning of the accumulating soot, and thereby promoting filter regeneration.
Future emissions standards adopted throughout the world will also address NOx reductions from diesel exhaust. A proven NOx abatement technology applied to stationary sources with lean exhaust conditions is Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). In this process, NOx is reduced with ammonia (NH3) to nitrogen (N2) over a catalyst typically composed of base metals. The technology is capable of NOx reduction greater than 90%, and thus it represents one of the best approaches for achieving aggressive NOx reduction goals. SCR is under development for mobile applications, with urea (typically present in an aqueous solution) as the source of ammonia. SCR provides efficient conversions of NOx as long as the exhaust temperature is within the active temperature range of the catalyst.
While separate substrates each containing catalysts to address discrete components of the exhaust can be provided in an exhaust system, use of fewer substrates is desirable to reduce the overall size of the system, to ease the assembly of the system, and to reduce the overall cost of the system. One approach to achieve this goal is to coat the soot filter with a catalyst composition effective for the conversion of NOx to innocuous components. With this approach, the catalyzed soot filter assumes two catalyst functions: removal of the particulate component of the exhaust stream and conversion of the NOx component of the exhaust stream to N2.
Coated soot filters that can achieve NOx reduction goals require a sufficient loading of SCR catalyst composition on the soot filter. The gradual loss of the catalytic effectiveness of the compositions that occurs over time through exposure to certain deleterious components of the exhaust stream augments the need for higher catalyst loadings of the SCR catalyst composition. However, preparation of coated wall flow soot filters with higher catalyst loadings can lead to unacceptably high back pressure within the exhaust system. Coating techniques that allow higher catalyst loadings on the wall flow filter, yet still allow the filter to maintain flow characteristics that achieve acceptable back pressures are therefore desirable.
An additional aspect for consideration in coating the wall flow filter is the selection of the appropriate SCR catalyst composition. First, the catalyst composition must be durable so that it maintains its SCR catalytic activity even after prolonged exposure to higher temperatures that are characteristic of filter regeneration. For example, combustion of the soot fraction of the particulate matter often leads to temperatures above 700° C. Such temperatures render many commonly used SCR catalyst compositions such as mixed oxides of vanadium and titanium less catalytically effective. Second, the SCR catalyst compositions preferably have a wide enough operating temperature range so that they can accommodate the variable temperature ranges over which the vehicle operates. Temperatures below 300° C. are typically encountered, for example, at conditions of low load, or at startup. The SCR catalyst compositions are preferably capable of catalyzing the reduction of the NOx component of the exhaust to achieve NOx reduction goals, even at lower exhaust temperatures.
The prior art contains descriptions of the use of SCR catalyst compositions, soot filters and combinations thereof for the abatement of both the NOx and particulate components of diesel exhaust. These references are described below.
Japanese Kokai 3-130522, for example, discloses the treatment of diesel exhaust gases characterized by use of an ammonia injector and porous ceramic filter having a denitration catalyst within the pores. The filter is installed in the wake of the diesel engine exhaust. The ceramic porous filter comprises an upstream fine pore path layer, and a downstream side course ceramic particle layer on which the denitration catalyst was supported. The fine layer can support a platinum or palladium or other hydrocarbon combustion catalyst. The diesel exhaust gas containing unburned carbon flows through the porous ceramic filter and the carbon particles are filtered onto the surface. The gas containing nitric oxides and the ammonia passes through the denitration catalyst containing side of the filter and the nitric oxides are reduced to nitrogen and water. The oxidation catalyst on the upstream side causes the particulate component to burn off catalytically.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,776 discloses an oxidation catalyst, an SCR catalyst downstream and adjacent to the SCR catalyst, and a reductant source introduced to the exhaust stream between the oxidation catalyst and the SCR catalyst. Providing a higher feed containing a high proportion of NO2 to NO to the SCR reactor is said to allow the use of lower temperatures and higher space velocities than is possible with a feed of NO.
WO 99/39809 discloses a system for treating combustion exhaust gas containing NOx and particulates that has an oxidation catalyst effective to convert at least a portion of the NO in the NOx to NO2, a particulate trap, a source of reductant fluid and an SCR catalyst. The particulate trap is downstream of the oxidation catalyst; the reductant fluid source is downstream of the particulate trap; and the SCR catalyst is downstream of the reductant fluid source. Reductant fluids disclosed include ammonia, urea, ammonium carbamate and hydrocarbons (e.g., diesel fuel).
A catalytic wall flow filter for an exhaust system of a combustion engine is described in WO 01/12320. The wall flow filter has channels that are in honeycomb arrangement, where some of the channels are blocked at the upstream end and some of the channels that are unblocked at the upstream end are blocked at the downstream end. An oxidation catalyst is disposed on a gas impermeable zone at an upstream end of channels that are blocked at the downstream end. The filter has a gas permeable filter zone that is downstream of the oxidation catalyst that is for trapping soot. The oxidation catalyst is described to be capable (when in an exhaust system) of generating NO2 from NO to combust the trapped soot continuously at temperatures below 400° C. The oxidation catalyst preferably includes a platinum group metal. Exhaust streams containing NO are initially passed over the oxidation catalyst to convert NO to NO2 prior to filtering to remove soot. The exhaust gas then containing NO2 is used to combust the soot trapped on the filter.
In some embodiments of the wall flow filter described in WO 01/12320 the downstream channels of the soot filter contain a catalyst for a NOx absorber and an SCR catalyst downstream of the NOx absorber. The SCR catalyst can be a copper-based material, platinum, a mixed oxide of vanadium and titania or a zeolite, or mixtures of two or more thereof.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Catalyzed SCR filter and emission treatment system


A yarn quality assurance method and a yarn processing machine set up for implementing the method according to the invention is proposed comprising at least one feeding spool receiver 24, 30 set up to receive respectively at least one feeding spool 20, 29 from which yarns can be taken off, and a multifilament yarn manufacturing unit 5 to which yarns are supplied from the feeding spools 20, 29 via thread runs with respectively one thread tension. According to the invention, a thread tension regulating module 25 with a thread tension sensor is arranged in at least one controlled thread run 1 between the relevant feeding spool receiver 24 and the multifilament yarn manufacturing unit 5, wherein the thread tension regulating module 25 is set up to derive a control value from a thread tension measured by the thread tension sensor and to keep the thread tension constant in a predetermined thread tension range.

The invention relates to a yarn quality assurance method when manufacturing a multifilament yarn and a yarn processing machine for implementing the yarn quality assurance method. The yarn quality assurance method comprises the process steps of taking off at least one thread from respectively one feeding spool and supplying the yarn via a run of thread into a multifilament yarn manufacturing unit, wherein the yarns are held at a thread tension. The yarn quality assurance method is suitable in principle for use in any multifilament yarn manufacturing method e.g., in draw-winding or weaving, but especially for use in texturing methods, especially false twist texturing methods and/or air covering methods.
Machines with an air-covering nozzle (air-covering machine) are used to process filament yarns together permanently to form a multi-component yarn (air-covering yarn) by means of an air jet (interlacing jet). In this case, at least one covering thread (fancy yarn) is joined to a core thread as components. The aim of this process is to achieve joining knots in the multi-component yarn which are as uniform as possible and thus join the components together whereby the multifilament yarn produced has good mechanical and structural elasticity. An example of an air-covering yarn is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,519 B1. The core thread generally comprises an elastomer-containing highly elastic yarn, e.g. Lycra®. The covering threads can comprise various fancy yarns. The yarns, that is the covering threads and the core thread are supplied via feeder rolls e.g. godet rolls, to an air-covering nozzle. After the multi-component yarn has passed through the air-covering nozzle, the multi-component yarn is taken up by a spool onto which said multi-component yarn is wound.
In this case, the elastic yarn is unwound from a feeding spool positively and tangentially, with the aid of special feeder rolls (tangential take-off). In order to execute this operation, at least one additional drive is required. In order to tangentially unwind the feeding spool of the elastic yarn, said spool is positioned with its axis parallel to the axes of the feeder rolls used for the unwinding. When the feeding spool is empty, the complete manufacturing process must be stopped so that the feeding spool can be replaced. In order to interrupt the production process only as briefly as possible when the feeding spool needs to be changed, e.g., when the current feeding spool is used up, complex systems have been developed for changing the feeding spool automatically. Such a system is disclosed for example in WO 2004/035446. For tangential take-off a distinction is made between two variants. In free-running tangential take-off the feeding spool sits on a freely rotating tube without is own drive. Freely-rotating take-off can only be used at low process speeds. In driven tangential take-off the rotation of the feeding spool is driven via supporting rollers. This driven tangential take-off can be used for high production speeds with elastic yarns.
The covering threads can be produced, for example using a known yarn processing machine for processing filament yarns with an air-texturing nozzle (air-texturing machine). The manufacture of the covering threads and the processing. e.g. using an air-texturing nozzle, is usually carried out by a single machine. Such an air-texturing machine is disclosed in DE 39 09 516 A1. Air-texturing machines are used to permanently crimp smooth structureless filament yarns. In this case, a plurality of feed yarns (core threads) can be processed with fancy yarns of different tradition to form a textured yarn. In this process the filament yarns are uniformly crimped and if necessary arranged around the feed yarns. The covering threads can comprise various fancy threads. The filament yarns, that is the covering threads and the core threads, are supplied to an air-texturing nozzle via feeder rolls, e.g. godet rolls. After the yarns have passed through the air-texturing nozzle, the product fancy yarn consisting of a plurality of components (multi-component yarn) is taken off from a spool onto which the multi-component yarn is wound. Before the spooling the multi-component yarn can be stretched again, fixed, shrunk and/or finished.
It is further known to manufacture the covering threads using a yarn processing machine for implementing the false twist texturing method. This method is known as torsion crimping. In this case, the filament yarn is given a so-called false twist by a false twist spindle between two pairs of cylinders, namely feeder rolls and take-off rollers, and this false twist is fixed in its capillary threads by heating the filament yarn using its thermoplastic properties. After cooling the latent torsional forces have an effect and result in crimping of the product fancy yarn.
For this purpose, the multifilament yarn (thread) is generally unwound from a spool, passed through first feeder rolls, then heated in a heater (primary heater), cooled on a cooling rail, passed through a false twist spindle and second feeder rolls arranged thereafter, and so-called take-off feeder rolls before being finally wound onto a yarn spool. The false twist spindle is used to highly twist the multifilament yarn temporarily in one working process, i.e., to produce a twist of the multifilament yarn or the individual filament yarns by transferring an axial torque to the filament yarns. This temporary twist (torque state) is designated as false twist (FD). As a result of the twisting, a rotation back pressure is formed which extends back into the heater (twist zone) whereby it is possible for the torque state of the filament yarn to be thermally fixed by heating and cooling before the false twist spindle. After the false twist spindle, the twisting is then released again. As a result of the thermal fixing accomplished in the torque state, the yarn has the desired crimped structure.
Very high production speeds can be achieved by using a friction false twist spindle as the false twist spindle. In these false twist spindles the filament yarn is indirectly driven using friction surfaces. As a result of the smaller diameter of the thread compared to the spindle, i.e., to a disk of a disk friction unit, for example, a high transmission ratio is achieved between the revolution of the disk and the twisting of the filament yarn. A triaxial disk friction unit is especially suitable for this purpose. Thus, predominantly friction false twist spindles, especially triaxial disk friction units and also so-called nip twisters which transfer a torque to the filament yarns by means of crossed belts are used as false twist spindles. Such a disk friction unit is disclosed in DE 3743708 A1 for example. A nip twister is disclosed in JP 06184848. The imparting of twist by means of friction makes it possible to achieve very high rotation speeds and therefore also high production speeds. If the friction relationships between the filament yarns and the false twist spindle vary, that is if process fluctuations or instabilities occur, this then results in a non-uniform yarn structure or defects in the yarn and thus in loss of quality in the yarn produced. Such defects or disturbances can, for example, result from disturbances in the spinning mill, from non-uniform application or non-uniform adjustment of the spinning preparation on the thread surface, from temperature fluctuations during texturing or from contamination e.g. in the heater and/or in the cooling rail. The disturbances can bring about a so-called ballooning of the yarn which occurs particularly at high rotation speeds and the high thread tensions associated therewith. Ballooning of the yarn results in an uncontrolled run of thread and fluctuations in the thread tension. As a result, the thread can, for example, jump over the disk surface of the false twist spindle. This twist slippage leads to a twist deficit inside the twist zone, i.e., the twist density, that is the number of twists per unit length of filament yarn fluctuates. The thread to be processed can thus pass in sections through the false twist spindle without twisting. This results in short closed yarn sections, so-called "tight spots" and long non-uniformly textured yarn sections which is called surging. During surging the thread tension increases abruptly whereby the equilibrium of forces in the false twist spindle is destroyed. Zones are formed in the thread without twist. In addition, the stretching values fluctuate and the dyeing is unsatisfactory.
Texturing speeds of over 300 m/min can be achieved with friction false twist spindles. The lengths of the heating and cooling zones in the texturing zone are adapted to these texturing speeds in order to ensure sufficient thermal fixing of the crimping. If the total length of the texturing zone is 5–6 m, the phenomenon of surging occurs particularly frequently in conjunction with the friction false twist spindles which operate by force locking. In force-locking false twist spindles according to the prior art, the twist density produced cannot be controlled very exactly, and this results in process-technology production limitation of the surging and therefore ballooning of the thread in the twist zone with associated thread tension fluctuations which in turn results in twist fluctuations. The stability limit of the process is influenced on the one hand by the geometry of the texturing zone, e.g., its length, deflection points, thread support etc. and on the other hand by the quality of the feed material, e.g., its uniformity, preparation etc. that is by process fluctuations which occur.
Another factor which limits the production speed in false twist texturing processes is the unwinding speed of the yarns, e.g. a partially oriented multifilament yarn (POY), from the feeding spool. Higher unwinding speeds result in stronger variations of the yarn tension (thread tension) in the area of the run of thread after the feeding spool (unwinding region). This follows from the properties of the known "balloon" formed by the yarn during unwinding.
A false twist texturing process always with unwinding a POY yarn from a feeding spool. The yarn is taken off from the feeding spool by the rotating movement of a take-off roll (feeder rolls). The take-off roll usually comprises a main roll driven by a motor and a passive separating roll which defines the defines the geometry of windings of the yarn around the main roll. In order to avoid variations of thread tension in the unwinding region, it is known to exert a pressing force on the main roll by means of a nip roller, that is another roller. The yarn is thereby clamped between the main roller and the further roller, with the result that the yarn is supplied to the texturing process at the tangential speed of the main roller. Various pre-tensioning systems arranged between the feeding spool and the feeder rolls are further known to increase and stabilise the thread tension of the yarn during take-off from the feeding spool.
The variations of the thread tension, e.g. of the POY yarn taken off from the feeding spool, essentially have the following causes:                Since the diameter of the feeding spool decreases with time as a result of the unwinding of the thread, the geometry of the "balloon" formed by the yarn movements along the spool axis varies accordingly which influences the thread tension.        As a result of increasing the production speed and thus the unwinding speed of the yarn from the feeding spool, centrifugal forces acting on the yarn in the "balloon" increase, which increases the thread tension. These problems appear particularly severely especially with polyamide (PA) yarns.
In the known devices for avoiding fluctuations of thread tension during texturing processes, the thread tension of the yarn can only be regulated before the start of the manufacturing process. This is not sufficient to avoid the variations of the thread tension during the manufacturing process which have been described.
The document CH 691 386 A discloses a device and a method for texturing a running thread. The tension of the thread entering into a texturing nozzle is detected and the twisting effect in the texturing nozzle is accordingly controlled.
It is further known from EP 0 875 479 A1 to measure and regulate the thread tension of individual yarns during yarn conditioning methods associated with winding processes, e.g., oiling, dyeing or stretching of yarns. In this case, the thread tension of a yarn is measured in its thread run after a conditioning device and the thread tension of the controlled yarn is kept constant before its spooling, that is at the end of the conditioning process, in a predetermined range of thread tension by means of a thread tension regulating module according to a control value derived from the measured thread tension. The thread tension regulating module comprises a brake and a controllable feeder roll by which means the thread tension is regulated by braking and/or accelerating the thread speed of the yarn.
It is the object of the invention to provide a yarn quality assurance method which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art and in particular, makes it possible to achieve a high process speed with minimal downtimes of the yarn processing machine.

Yarn quality assurance method and yarn processing machine


A method of embossing thermoplastic sheet by continuously advancing thermoplastic sheet through an embossing nip defined by a rotating embossing roll with an engraved surface at elevated embossing temperature and an opposite fixed rigid concave member and pneumatically forcing the sheet against the engraved surface while within and continuously passing through the nip.

This invention relates to an embossing process for imparting a textured surface to heat shapable thermoplastic sheet.
Systems are well established for passing thermally softened thermoplastic sheet through a nip formed by a rotating metal embossing roll having an engraved surface pattern and an opposing rubber-faced backup roll to press the sheet by rubber compression against the embossing roll and imprint the sheet with the pattern. At commercial line speeds the residence time of the sheet against the engraved surface in these systems is relatively short.
Polyvinyl butyral (PVB) sheet for laminated safety glass is representative of sheet provided with a textured surface in processes of the type described. Note, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,103 to Hoagland et al for disclosure of such a system in the Examples. The rough, textured surface provides channels between glass layers and the PVB sheet for air removal during formation of the layered safety glass which then is conventionally removed by melting the surface smooth during elevated temperature laminating. At commercially economical sheet line processing speeds, it is difficult in the embossing nip to impart a rough surface to such sheet which is sufficiently deep and permanent to accommodate deairing during glass laminating. Moreover, significant compression of the rubber of the backup roll operating at elevated temperature encountered in the embossing nip causes relatively rapid deterioration of the rubber after short operating intervals.
It would be desirable to provide an embossing process for heat shapable thermoplastic sheet which avoids or minimizes problems encountered in prior art embossing systems.


Concepts for creating a mock for an integration flow are presented. One example comprises analyzing a response to each of a plurality of requests from an integration flow and determining whether or not an identifying property of each of the plurality of requests is present in the response. The method then comprises, responsive to determining that the identifying property is present in the response, generating a mock with an associated matcher based on the plurality of requests.

Traditional integration flows are used to connect multiple systems together. Testing the integration logic of an integration flow typically relies on every connected system associated with the flow being available, which often requires a high complexity in preparing the testing and may be difficult to achieve. In order to mitigate the reliance on every system being available, software mocking can be used.
Traditional software mocking, or "mocking," is a well-known technique for eliminating dependence on actual services when testing integration logic of an integration flow. A mock simulates the behavior of a real method/object in controlled ways. The mock often comprises associated matchers, which are simulations of exact values (i.e., data) used by the mock. A software developer is typically responsible for constructing the mock and ensuring it remains current (i.e., ensuring that the mock actually reflects the current system it is meant to imitate).
Integration flows typically contain messages travelling through the flow, with each message comprising requests and/or replies. Each request and/or reply may include request and/or reply identifier (IDs), created either by the integration flow engine itself or by underlying transports, that require the mock to handle transient data that is of no interest to an application within the integration flow but does cause variation. Despite the values not being of any use to the applications, the integration flow may depend on the reply containing correlation data from the request.

International Business Machines Corporation


Apparatus and methods are disclosed for performing highly precise mark detection by obtaining a large signal as a result of the efficient capture of secondary electrons (SEs) emitted from a surface of a specimen. A charged-particle beam is directed at a location (e.g., a mark) on the specimen (e.g., reticle or wafer). SEs emitted from the location are detected using one or more secondary-electron collectors or detectors. To guide the SEs toward the secondary-electron collectors or detectors, a magnetic flux is created that extends radially outward in the vicinity of the surface of the specimen. E.g., an objective lens is situated above the specimen adjacent the specimen surface, and an electromagnetic lens is placed below the specimen adjacent the lower surface of the specimen. The magnetic fields produced by these lenses can be mutually repulsive to form a resultant magnetic flux near the upper surface of the specimen that extends radially outward parallel with the upper surface of the specimen. Thus, electrons can escape only radially outward parallel to the sample surface to the secondary-electron collectors or detectors. The apparatus provides a stable charged-particle beam without charging because the SE collector or detector removes SEs from the vicinity of the optical axis.

Traditionally, in the production of semiconductor integrated circuits and displays, a pattern as defined by a mask is exposed onto an area ("die") of a sensitive substrate (termed herein generally a "wafer"). Normally, multiple such exposures are made at each die on the wafer, each exposure being made using a different mask. Such multiple exposures place extreme demands on the ability of the apparatus to align the die and mask very accurately.
Alignment prior to exposure is normally achieved by scanning or otherwise irradiating an electron beam on a mark formed on the mask and/or on the surface of the wafer. Electrons in the beam (i.e., "primary electrons") that are reflected, scattered, and/or produced as secondary electrons ("SEs") propagating from the mark are detected to determine whether the mark(s) are properly aligned. For example, marks on the mask are conventionally detected by detecting electrons reflected from certain features of the mark when the electron beam strikes the mark. Marks as used on wafers normally comprise grooves each having walls and a bottom. When the electron beam strikes the mark, primary electrons that have penetrated into the wafer are scattered within the thickness dimension of the wafer. Scattered electrons that pass through the walls of the grooves provide strong detection signals. Electrons reflected from the bottoms of the grooves provide relatively weak detection signals since the trajectory of such electrons is impeded by the groove walls. Such signal differences are measured and analyzed to determine the relative position of the mark.
Mark detection by reflected electrons as described above tends to produce signals having low-contrast and poor resolution. First, the detector used in such schemes can detect only reflected electrons that propagate to an area within the field of view of the detector, which tends to be limited. Second, the electrons that reflect from the mark normally represent no more than about 50% of the primary electrons impinging upon the mark. Third, if the mark is relatively thin or otherwise has an elevation that is not much different from the surrounding surface, irradiating the mark with an electron beam having a high accelerating voltage results in little interaction between the primary electrons and the mark.
Scanning-type imaging apparatus such as scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) do not exploit reflected primary electrons as described above, but rather produce an image of a region on a specimen by detecting SEs generated by the interaction of irradiating primary electrons impinging upon the region. SEM techniques have been used for detecting alignment marks and other features (e.g., contact holes) on a wafer. For example, an electron beam having a high accelerating voltage is directed at the bottom of a contact hole. Electrons are reflected from the bottom of the hole and propagate upward at an angle through a resist layer on the surface of the wafer. SEs produced when the reflected electrons pass through the surface of the resist are detected. (See Japanese Laid-Open Patent Document no. 5-290786 (1993)).
Conventional image production by detecting SEs also poses problems. First, the primary-electron beam must be directed diagonally (i.e., at a substantial angle of incidence) at the specimen, which cannot be accomplished in lithographic apparatus in which the electron beam normally has a zero incidence angle relative to the mask and substrate. Second, an electrical field generated by the secondary-electron (SE) detector to attract SEs to the detector can adversely affect impingement of the primary electrons on the mark. These problems degrade detection accuracy and cause a decreased signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. Another problem is that SEs around the optical axis generate beam instability caused by charging, as discussed in Kato et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 35:6429-6434 (1996).

Apparatus for detecting or collecting secondary electrons, charged-particle beam exposure apparatus comprising same, and related methods


A semiconductor device including an active pattern having a channel recess portion, and a method of fabricating the same, are disclosed. In one embodiment, the semiconductor device includes an active pattern including first active regions and a second active region interposed between the first active regions. The active pattern protrudes above a surface of a semiconductor substrate and includes a channel recess portion above the second active region and between the first active regions. A device isolation layer surrounds the active pattern and has a groove exposing side walls of the recessed second active region. A distance between opposing side walls of the first active regions exposed by the channel recess portion is greater than a distance between side walls of the groove. A gate pattern is located in the channel recess portion and extends along the groove.

1. Field of Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to a semiconductor device having a channel recess portion and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A field effect transistor includes an active region, a gate electrode extending perpendicular to the active region, and source and drain regions formed in the active region at either side of the gate electrode. The active region formed under the gate electrode, between the source region and the drain region, acts as a passage through which charges move when the field effect transistor is turned on. The active region is defined as a channel region.
As the integration of semiconductor devices is increased, the width of the active region and the width of the gate electrode are decreased. A decrease in the width of the gate electrode results in a decrease in the length of the channel region, and thus a short channel effect, such as a drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) phenomenon, a hot carrier effect, and a punch through effect, occur. In addition, a decrease in the width of the active region results in a decrease in the width of the channel region, and thus a threshold voltage of a transistor is increased, which is called a narrow width effect.

Semiconductor device including active pattern with channel recess, and method of fabricating the same


An image forming apparatus which forms an image on a recording sheet includes a housing having an exhaust outlet and an image forming unit disposed in the housing and configured to form an image on a recording sheet. A duct in the housing may have an inlet at a first end in the housing, and communicate with the exhaust outlet at a second end in the housing. The image forming apparatus includes an exhaust fan disposed between the exhaust outlet and the duct, and being configured to cause air entering the duct from the inlet to go toward the exhaust outlet; a first filter disposed in the duct to cover the inlet and being configured to remove dust suspended in the air, and a second filter disposed in the duct downstream from the first filter in a direction of airflow and being configured to remove dust suspended in the air.

A known electrophotographic image forming apparatus is designed to form an image on a recording sheet by transferring a developer image formed on a developing device, e.g. a photosensitive drum, onto the recording sheet and fixing the transferred image on the recording sheet by heat.
In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a great amount of heat is generated by an image forming device including the fixing device and the developing device. Thus, to prevent a temperature of the image forming device from excessively rising, the image forming apparatus includes an exhaust fan configured to discharge hot air from the apparatus.
The image forming apparatus also includes a permeable filter in an exhaust duct for discharging hot air. The permeable filter is configured to prevent dust suspended in air, e.g. developer particles and paper dust, from being discharged along with the hot air.
The permeable filter is configured to remove dust by filtering the air.
To sufficiently remove dust from the hot air, which is discharged from the apparatus, by using a permeable filter, the permeable filter needs to be made of a tight woven fiber such that minute air passages formed in the permeable filter can be decreased in size. However, if the capability of removing dust is improved in this manner, ventilation resistance at which the air passes through the permeable filter will increase.
When the ventilation resistance increases, the amount of air passing through the permeable filter may decrease, a sufficient amount of hot air may not be discharged, and the temperature in the image forming device may excessively rise.
Such problems may be solved with an exhaust fan having a high ventilation capability. However, to increase the ventilation capability, some measures may be taken, e.g., the exhaust fan may be increased in size or a rotational speed of the exhaust fan may be increased.
However, if a larger-sized exhaust fan is used, the image forming apparatus tends to become larger in size. If the rotational speed of the exhaust fan is increased, noise produced by the exhaust fan may become high.

Image forming apparatus having duct and exhaust outlet


The present invention relates to a data acquisition of measurement data together with further data specifying the operation during a measurement. For this purpose, I/Q measurement data are obtained and the steps for operating a measurement device during the measurement are monitored. A metadata package is generated, which includes the obtained I/Q measurement data along with the monitored steps of operating the measurement device.

Although applicable in principle to any measurement system, the present invention and its underlying problem will be hereinafter described with a user support for a radio frequency measurement device.
The operation of modern measuring instruments is becoming more and more complex. Usually, a user may start a measurement and review the results after finishing the measurement. In some situations, a user may be not satisfied with the results. In this case, the user may ask an expert for further support in order to improve the operation of the measurement device and get better measurement results. For this purpose, the user may provide the expert with the measurement results and further information with regard to the configuration of the measurement procedure. In this connection, the user may manually specify the circumstances of the measurement procedure and the operational tasks, which are performed in order to obtain the measurement results.
However, manually specifying the circumstances how the measurement is performed may be a time-consuming and annoying task. Further to this, the user may not remember all operational steps, which are performed or make some failures in specifying the measurement procedure.
Against this background, a problem addressed by the present invention is how to obtain a precise dataset specifying a measurement task. A further problem addressed by the present invention is assisting a user by specifying a dataset related to a measurement task, in particular to perform an automated assembling of measurement related information.

Method and system for acquiring a measurement related dataset


The invention relates to a method for spatially resolving the enlargement and fine adjustment of precious metal nanoparticles according to size on a substrate surface and to the nanoparticle arrangements and nanostructured substrate surfaces thereby produced and to the use thereof. The invention particularly relates to a method for spatially resolving the enlargement of precious metal nanoparticles present on a substrate, comprising the following steps: a) providing a substrate coated by precious metal nanoparticles, b) optionally functionalizing the substrate by means of an agent which supports the adhesion of the precious metal nanoparticles to the substrate, c) contacting the substrate with a precious metal salt solution, d) UV irradiating the substrate in contact with the precious metal salt solution, thus creating a reduction of the precious metal salt and a currentless deposition of elementary precious metal on the precious metal nanoparticles and corresponding growth of the precious metal nanoparticles in the irradiated regions of the substrate, and e) optionally using a mask in order to create localized growth of the precious metal nanoparticles in predetermined regions of the substrate.

The present invention concerns a method for spatially resolving the enlargement and fine adjustment of precious metal nanoparticles according to size on a substrate surface and the nanoparticle arrangements and nanostructured substrate surfaces so produced, and the use thereof.
In recent years, nanostructures and especially ordered structures of precious metal nanoparticles on substrate surfaces have found great interest for a number of applications in different fields. For example, gold nanoparticles can be employed in biochemical sensors (Dyckman and Bogatyrev (2007), Russian Chemical Reviews 76(2), 181-194) and as etching masks to make biomimetic surfaces and interfaces (Lohmüller et al. (2008), NANO LETTERS 8 (5): 1429-1433).
For many of these applications it would be very desirable to adjust the size of these nanoparticles locally and in the nanometer scale on macroscopic substrates with the greatest possible precision. For example, more linker molecules and thus also more desired target molecules could be bound to larger nanoparticles and this capability could be used to produce concentration gradients of a given antigen on a substrate. Thus, e.g., concentration-sensitive biochips could be produced in easy fashion. A fine adjustment of the particle size with high spatial resolution would also be very advantageous for the aforementioned use as etching masks. Such a fine adjustment would make possible, for example, the production of complex nano-optical elements such as Fresnel lenses and zone plates. Ordered areas of precious metal nanoparticles with given diameters could also be used to advantage in new transistors (Sato et al. (1997), American Institute of Physics 82(2), 696-702) or for fluorescence quenching (Fan et al. (2003), PNAS, 100 (1), 6297-6301).
The size of precious metal nanoparticles, especially gold nanoparticles, can basically be adjusted before the deposition on the substrate surface, e.g., by using metal colloids (Kimling et al. (2006), J. Phys. Chem. B., 110, 15700-15707), or after the deposition, e.g., by currentless deposition using a reducing agent (Hrapovic et al. (2007), Langmuir 19:3958-3965). However, in these methods described in the prior art, only a limited size adjustment is possible and most importantly no spatially resolved adjustment of the nanoparticle size.
In German patent application DE 10 2007 017 032 and the corresponding international application PCT/EP2008/0071981 methods are described for the creating of interparticle distance and particle size gradients in gold nanoparticle arrangements that were produced by means of micellar block copolymer nanolithography (BCML). In these methods, particle size gradients are created either by currentless deposition from a solution containing elemental gold, as above, but under variation of the rate at which a substrate surface covered with nanoparticles is pulled out from this solution, or by irradiation with a lateral intensity-modulated light field.
But these methods are not fully satisfactory or suitable for all applications, since it is hard to create several regions with greatly different mean diameters of the nanoparticle and high spatial resolution alongside each other.
A main problem of the present invention was thus to provide improved methods for spatially resolving the enlargement and fine adjustment of precious metal nanoparticles on a substrate surface according to size, by which even very sharp particle size gradients or nanoparticle arrangements containing several regions with greatly differing mean diameters of the nanoparticles and high spatial resolution alongside each other can be produced in an easy and efficient manner. A related problem was to provide the corresponding nanoparticle arrangements and nanostructured substrate surfaces. Yet another problem was to provide the nanoparticle arrangements and nanostructured substrate surfaces produced according to the invention for various applications that thus far were not considered on account of the inadequate or impossible fine adjustment of precious metal nanoparticle arrangements on a substrate surface according to size.
Now, according to the invention, it has been found that the aforementioned main problem can be solved by the method according to the invention, wherein a substrate coated with (preferably fixed) precious metal nanoparticles is contacted with a precious metal salt solution and a localized and controlled enlargement of the nanoparticles in certain given regions is brought about by UV irradiation of these regions. The above-mentioned additional problems are solved by providing the nanoparticle arrangements and nanostructured substrate surfaces and by the use according to the present invention.

Method for spatially resolved enlargement of nanoparticles on a substrate surface

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften e.V.


The portable electronic device, preferably a wristwatch, includes a radiofrequency signal receiver for receiving, in particular, GPS signals via an antenna, a magnetic compass, a microprocessor data processing unit for processing data provided by the receiver and the compass, and storage means in which almanac and ephemeredes data relating to satellites is stored. The compass is arranged for provide an orientation signal to the data processing device. In this manner, the unit can control means for indicating a direction to indicate a preferred orientation for searching for satellites visible to the user in a reading position of the watch. These indicating means can be formed by the time indicating hands moved above a watch dial. The preferred orientation is calculated by the processing unit on the basis of the almanac and ephemeredes data, time data and the orientation signal.

The radiofrequency signal receiver of the electronic device can be used for example in a satellite navigation system of the GLONASS or GALILEO or GPS type.
The radiofrequency signal receiver of the electronic device can be of the GPS type, wherein the radiofrequency signal reception and shaping means generate intermediate signals, which are frequency converted for a correlation stage. This correlation stage is composed of several correlation channels for receiving the intermediate signals in order to correlate them with carrier frequency and specific code replicas from satellites to be sought and tracked. Preferably, the receiver can include a larger number of correlation channels than the number of visible satellites for the electronic device worn by a user situated on the Earth.
In the case of a GPS system, any radiofrequency signal receiver can receive GPS signals from satellites in orbit. The ground distance between the receiver and a visible satellite can be between 20,000 km, when one of the satellites is at the zenith, and 26,000 km, when one of the satellites is on a tangent point to the Earth's surface, i.e. on the horizon.
Currently, 30 satellites are placed in orbit at a distance close to 20,200 km above the surface of the Earth on 6 orbital planes each inclined by 55° in relation to the equator. The time taken by a satellite to complete one rotation in obit in order to return to the same point above the Earth is around 12 hours. The distribution of the satellites in orbit allows a terrestrial GPS receiver to receive GPS signals for example from at least four visible satellites in order to determine its position, speed and the local time for example. The GPS message from the GPS signals contains ephemeredes and almanac data used in particular for calculating the X, Y and Z position, speed and local time.
All of this known ephemeredes and almanac data is stored in the storage means of the portable electronic device. Thus, using an approximate known position of the receiver, it is possible to configure said receiver to search and track satellites that should be visible at the moment of search.
In the case of a navigation system, the use of a compass in addition to the radiofrequency signal receiver is known in order to provide the user of the portable device with information regarding the target to be reached.
In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,477 can be cited, which discloses a watch provided with a GPS receiver, and a magnetic compass. In this watch, the coordinate points of a geographical target to be reached have to be entered and stored. In order to facilitate the operations for calculating the direction to be followed, the compass provides data relating mainly to geographical north. After processing the GPS signals and the data from the compass, a display device of the watch indicates the direction to be followed to reach the desired target.
In this case the compass is used only for the watch to give information to the user in relation to the direction to take in order to get to the geographical place to reach.
International Patent Application No. WO 92/21990 discloses a portable electronic device as a navigation system direction indicator. In order to do this, the device includes a GPS receiver, and a magnetic compass. The GPS receiver and compass generate signals that are processed by a processing unit in order to provided a direction signal. A display screen of the portable device displays an arrow indicating the direction to be followed in order to reach a selected geographical target.
The magnetic compass of this portable electronic device has no functions other than providing information to the processing unit to enable it to display the direction of the geographical place to be reached.
Since the electronic device of the present invention is worn on a user's wrist, the user's body can form an obstacle to reception of radiofrequency signals from certain visible satellites when the device is in the reading position. This can constitute a drawback if many of the visible satellites to be sought are hidden by the user's body.
It is thus a main object of the invention to provide a portable electronic device provided with a radiofrequency receiver and a compass to assist said receiver in order to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.

Portable electronic device with radiofrequency signal receiver and method for determining the position of the same


A thermal management system for a power and fiber splice enclosure that includes a housing including electrical components is provided. The thermal management system includes a solar shield disposed external to the housing and covering at least a major portion of the housing. The thermal management system includes a vent disposed in the housing for venting hot air from the enclosure. The thermal management system includes a condenser thermally coupled to a heat conducting component of the enclosure for cooling at least the heat conducting component.

In many information and communication technology systems, network-connected electronic devices are deployed in locations where a local electric power source is not available. With the proliferation of the Internet of Things ("IoT"), autonomous driving, fifth generation ("5G") cellular service, and the like, it is anticipated that network-connected electronic devices will increasingly be deployed at locations that lack a conventional electric power source.
Electric power may be provided to such remote network-connected electronic devices in numerous ways. One technology for delivering power to such remote network-connected electronic devices is power-plus-fiber cables. Power-plus-fiber cables are a type of composite power-data cable that includes both power conductors and optical fibers within a common cable jacket. Data/power grids are being deployed that have enclosures for power and fiber optic cables. Such data/power grids may route both power cables and fiber optic cables to these enclosures to enable one or more tap offs (e.g., drops) for power connections and also one or more tap offs for fiber data connections for communications devices, such as cellular radios. The enclosure may also function as a pass-through port so that a plurality of nodes may be coupled together in a "daisy chain" manner.

Heat management systems for enclosures for power and optical fiber networks


A variable accuracy biosignal detector includes a biosignal detector for detecting a biosignal such as a pulse wave from a living body and supplies the detected signal to a biosignal analog-to-digital converter. The analog-to-digital converter converts the biosignal to digital biosignal data values and stores the data in a memory. An input switch generates a start signal. In response to the start signal, a timing signal generating circuit generates a timing signal used as a sampling signal for driving the analog-to-digital converter and changes the sampling frequency of the analog-to-digital converter progressively on a time series basis. A biosignal calculating circuit performs frequency domain analysis when the number of stored digital biosignal data values reaches a predetermined value. By progressively reducing the sampling frequency of the analog-to-digital converter, measured results can be quickly displayed, while the accuracy of the displayed results is progressively increased.

The present invention relates to a biosignal display apparatus for detecting a biosignal such as a pulse wave and displaying a detection result.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the operation of a conventional biosignal display apparatus. A biosignal detecting means 300 detects and amplifies a biosignal such as a pulse wave. A signal converting means 301 performs, at predetermined intervals, analog-to-digital conversion on the biosignal as amplified by the biosignal detecting means 300. A calculation means 302 stores the biosignal as converted by the signal converting means 301, and performs a fast Fourier transform upon storage of 2.sup.n data. A display the means 303 displays calculation results of the calculation means 302.
The above type of biosignal display apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei. 1-27534, for instance.
It is generally known to subject a biosignal such as a pulse wave to a fast Fourier transform in analyzing it in the frequency domain. Low-frequency components make up a large part of a biosignal detected from a living body. For example, if frequency-domain analysis is conducted to perform calculation on the interval of a pulse wave, a spectrum will range from 0.5 to 4 Hz. It takes 16 seconds to acquire, for instance, 128 data values that are necessary for frequency-domain analysis by performing analog-to-digital conversion at intervals corresponding to 8 Hz according to the sampling theorem. A calculation resolution of about 3.75 pulses per minute is obtained by performing a general fast Fourier transform under the above condition.
As described above, it takes an excessive time to perform a frequency-domain calculation, with high accuracy, on a biosignal such as a pulse wave using a frequency-domain analyzing technique, and the display of calculation results is delayed. As a result such an apparatus is not convenient to use.


A system for backing up data includes a first computer configured to access a first storage device and a second computer configured to access a second storage device. In particular, the first storage device includes data to be backed up and the second storage device includes a snapshot of the data to be backed up. This system also includes a communications pathway between the first and second computers; and a backup application on the second computer which can backup the snapshot in response to a backup request initiated by the first computer.

Data backup is important to the operation of computer systems, so that important data can be recovered even after system failure or power outage. Standard data backup approaches perform full data backups on a periodic basis. This means copying primary data to a backup storage device located either locally or remotely from the computer system on which the primary data resides.
One type of data backup uses mirroring to back up data. In a mirroring process, a duplicate copy of the primary data is created on a storage device coupled to the computer system on which the primary data resides, either directly or via data transmission networks. When changes are made to the primary data, the changes are mirrored or reflected on the duplicate copy. When the mirroring process obtains a complete mirror copy of the data, the mirroring process is terminated. This mirrored data provides a "snapshot" of the original data at some particular time. A backup copy is then produced based on the snapshot obtained quickly during the mirroring process. The period between the start of the mirroring process to the end of obtaining a complete backup copy is called a backup window.
A computer or server's performance, however, will be affected by the mirroring and backup process during the backup window because numerous commands need to communicate back and forth with a storage controller coupled to the storage device. In addition, the server's access to the data being mirrored and backed up may be affected during the period when the same data is being mirrored and backed up. Thus, system administrators may prefer to utilize additional servers to perform the backup process while the primary server continues to perform its intended function. These additional servers access the snapshot information and ensure it is backed-up appropriately. Thus, the primary server, for example an online transaction system, is not required to use its resources to actually perform the backup of the data to some other storage medium.
The identification, provisioning and configuration of these additional or secondary servers are performed manually and are time consuming and error-prone. In particular, a secondary server must be configured so that it has access to the storage device where the snapshot is stored. Therefore, there is a need for an easy and automatic system to transport snapshots between servers so as to facilitate backing-up data.

System and method to transport data snapshots