A photosensitive material processing device for processing a photosensitive material with a processing liquid while conveying the photosensitive material by a roller pair. A driving device for providing a rotation drive to the roller pair. A drive controlling device that gradually raises voltage of the electric power at the time of starting the rotation drive of the roller pair.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic developing device provided with a preheating section for heating a photosensitive planographic printing plate prior to a developing process. Moreover, it relates to an automatic developing device provided with a pre-water washing section in addition to the preheating section.
Moreover, the present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing device for processing a photosensitive material such as a photosensitive planographic printing plate with a processing liquid while being conveyed by a roller. More specifically, it relates to a roller washing method for eliminating the processing liquid adhered to the roller.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing device for processing a photosensitive material by soaking in a processing liquid. More specifically, it relates to a photosensitive material processing device for circulating a processing liquid by suctioning the processing liquid in a processing vessel and jetting into the processing vessel.
Moreover, the present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing device for processing a photosensitive material while being conveyed by transmitting driving force to a conveying roller for the photosensitive material disposed along the conveying path of the photosensitive material.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing device for processing a photosensitive material such as a photosensitive planographic printing plate with a processing liquid while being conveyed by a roller pair.
Moreover, the present invention relates to a preparation method for a processing liquid for preparing a processing liquid according to the capacity of a processing vessel of the above-mentioned processing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to a photosensitive planographic printing plate comprising a photosensitive layer formed on a supporting body made of an aluminum, or the like, a light receiving part and a light unreceiving part are produced in the photosensitive layer by exposure, and thereafter the unnecessary photosensitive layer is eliminated by performing a developing process with a developing liquid so as to form an image.
Among the photosensitive planographic printing plates, there is a so-called photo polymer plate comprising a photosensitive layer of a photo adhesion layer, a photo polymerization layer, or the like, and further with the surface protection by an overcoat layer. According to the photo polymer plate, the printing resistance is improved by firmly bonding the photo polymerization layer of the light receiving part onto the supporting body via the photo adhesion layer by being heated to a predetermined temperature. Moreover, the overcoat layer covering the photo polymerization layer is water-soluble.
Therefore, according to an automatic developing device for processing the photo polymer plate, a preheating section and a pre-water washing section are provided on the upstream side with respect to the developing section for reliably eliminating the photo polymerization layer of the light unreceiving part at the time of the developing process by eliminating the overcoat layer by brushing the surface of the photo polymer plate while supplying washing water after heating the photo polymer plate prior to the developing process.
The preheating section provided in such an automatic developing device in general heats the photo polymer plate by the radiation heat discharged from a far infrared radiation heater, and by the zone temperature in the preheating section.
The operation of heating the photo polymer plate by the preheating section is controlled by the heating temperature and the heating time. However, in order to heat in a short time, a high zone temperature should be provided. Under a high zone temperature, the rear end portion of the aluminum plate passing through the preheating section is heated to a high temperature due to the heat conduction of the aluminum plate as the supporting body of the photo polymer plate, and the rear end portion easily exceeds the upper limit temperature.
Moreover, the photo polymer plate can easily wrinkle by the thermal expansion at the time of heating, or by nipping by the conveying roller pair while being heated. Furthermore, when dispatching the highly heated plates to the pre-water washing section, adhering water to the heated plate therein results in stains.
When the heating process is attempted with a lowered heating temperature in order to avoid such a problem (first problem), the heating operation needs a longer performing time, and thus the preheating section requires a larger space.
Further, the photo polymer plates have different thermal capacities depending on the supporting body thickness and the plate size. Consequently, the heating temperature needs to be adjusted according to the thickness and the size for heating at appropriate temperature and of an appropriate duration. Therefore this adjustment of the heating temperature complicates the heating process for the photo polymer plate.
Next, among the photosensitive materials, there is a photosensitive planographic printing plate (hereinafter referred to as a "PS plate") comprising a photosensitive layer on a supporting body made of an aluminum or the like. A PS plate processor as a photosensitive material processing device for processing the PS plate comprises a plurality of processing steps such as developing, water washing, desensitizing processes and the like. The PS plate after image-wise exposure is treated in the developing step of processing the PS plate by soaking in a developing liquid, water washing, desensitizing process using a processing liquid, such as a developing step of processing the PS plate by soaking in a developing liquid, a water washing step of applying a water washing process by blowing washing water onto the PS plate, a desensitizing step of performing a desensitizing process by coating a desensitizing process liquid such as a gum liquid onto the surface of the PS plate after the water washing process.
According to the desensitizing process step for the PS plate, a thin film for protecting the plate surface is formed on the front and rear surfaces of the PS plate by coating a gum liquid evenly on the front and rear surfaces of the PS plate while conveying the PS plate by a conveying roller pair disposed outside the stored gum liquid, and squeezing off the excessive gum liquid by the conveying roller pair.
Here, when the gum liquid used for the desensitizing process for the PS plate is adhered to the circumferential surface of the conveying roller pair (roller), problems such as rotation disability of the roller pair, conveyance failure, pollution, damage and the like of the PS plate may occur. Therefore, in the PS plate processor, the circumferential surface of the roller to which the gum liquid adheres is washed with a washing liquid according to a preset schedule such as the time of stopping the drive of the PS plate after finishing the PS plate processes so as to wash off the gum liquid from the roller surface.
Additionally, among the PS plates, there is one having a width of about 1100 mm orthogonal to the conveyance direction. In a PS plate processor for processing such a PS plate, the length along the axis direction of the roller for conveying the PS plate is elongated as well. The elongated roller has difficulty in evenly supplying a washing liquid in the axis. Thus a larger amount of the washing liquid is used for removing the gum liquid from the roller successfully. Consequently, the amount of waste liquid increases as well.
Moreover, among the PS plate processors, there is one using the washing liquid after washing the roller as a diluting liquid for the gum liquid. According to this PS plate processor, a problem exists that the gum liquid can be diluted excessively due to the large amount of the washing liquid for removing the gum liquid from the roller (second problem).
Next, the PS plate is treated in the developing process after the image-wise exposure. According to the PS plate processor for treating the PS plate, the developing process is performed while conveying the PS plate soaked in the developing liquid stored in the developing vessel.
A heater and the like for heating the developing liquid to a predetermined temperature is provided in the developing vessel so as to maintain a temperature range of the optimum processing state of the PS plate. Moreover, according to the PS plate processor, the developing liquid in the developing vessel is agitated by suctioning the developing liquid in the developing vessel and jetting the developing liquid from a spray pipe disposed on one side of the PS plate conveying path in the developing vessel so as to prevent developing irregularity due to the temperature irregularity and the like.
In a submerged spray method where a developing liquid is sprayed from a spray pipe with an axis direction disposed along the PS plate width direction, the developing liquid on one side can not easily be agitated in the direction orthogonal to the axis direction while the developing liquid on the other side of the PS plate can easily be agitated. Due to this, substituting the developing liquid may delay.
Therefore, when an environmental temperature is lower than the developing liquid temperature, the developing liquid temperature will differ at the circumferential rim of the PS plate. Such a temperature difference will lead to a sensitivity difference in the PS plate after the developing process. As a result the finish quality of the PS plate will be deteriorated. For example, the temperature difference of about 0.2° C. causes the sensitivity difference of about 5 to 10%.
In contrast, a lateral jetting method allows jetting a developing liquid in the direction orthogonal to the PS plate conveyance direction from an outer side of the PS plate width direction. As a result the temperature difference in the circumferential rim of the PS plate can be prevented even with a low environmental temperature since substituting the developing liquid can be performed rapidly in the vicinity of the PS plate surface.
However, in the lateral jetting method, difference occurs in the flow rate of jetted developing liquid; one rate in the vicinity of the jetting opening differs from another rate at a position away from the jetting opening. The developing liquid flow rate difference will lead to the difference in the progress of development. That is, the development is promoted in a region with a higher developing liquid flow rate compared with another region with a lower developing liquid flow rate. Consequently, the sensitivity difference will appear locally (third problem).
Next, the PS plate processor as the photosensitive material processing device for processing the PS plate comprises a pair of side plates for laying the PS plate on the conveying roller for conveyance. The pair of side plates is disposed in a processing vessel for storing a processing liquid such as a developing liquid. With the driving force transmitted to the conveying roller, the conveying roller conveys the PS plate.
In such a PS plate processor, the convenience of maintaining the driving system generally leads to disposing a drive shaft along the PS plate conveyance direction and on one end side of the direction orthogonal to the PS plate conveyance direction. The drive shaft transmits the driving force to each conveying roller. Here, by providing a worm gear in the drive shaft and a helical gear in the side plates, and elongating the rotation shaft provided with the helical gear in the direction orthogonal to the PS plate conveyance direction, the driving force is transmitted to the conveying roller.
Here, in the combination of the worm gear and the helical gear, the speed reduction ratio is 4 to 12 times. That is, the worm gear on the driving source side transmits the driving force to the helical gear on the side plate side, reducing the speed.
Furthermore, in the PS plate processor, conveyance failure of the PS plate such as jamming may occur. In this case, removing the jammed PS plate immediately can resume processing of the PS plate.
However, when the so-called jamming as the PS plate conveyance failure occurs, the roller will be locked. At the time, a large torque acts on the helical gear side since the speed reduction ratio is large in the driving system using a combination of the worm gear and the helical gear. As a result, the helical gear or the other gears on the side plate side may be damaged (fourth problem).
Next, a gum liquid used for the desensitizing process of the PS plate includes a component of a gum arabic or the like. When rotating the conveying roller pair is stopped with the gum liquid adhered to the surface of the conveying roller pair and the adhered liquid is left as it is, the component in the gum liquid will precipitate and fix on the circumferential surface of the roller.
Accordingly, if the gum liquid is adhered to the contact part of the rollers comprising the conveying roller pair, the rollers can attach to each other due to the gum liquid. With this attaching state, rotating the conveying roller pair causes a large torque on a gear for transmitting the driving force to the rollers so as to result in breakage of the gear (fifth problem).
The PS plates include conventionally existing commonly used PS plates (conventional), thermal plates, and photo polymer plates. The commonly used PS plates include the positive type and the negative type. And furthermore, each of them has a one side type provided with a photosensitive layer on one surface of the supporting body, and a both side type provided with a photosensitive layer on both surfaces. Moreover, the photo polymer plates are, in general, a one surface type (one side type) and a negative type, but the thermal plates are one surface type (one side type) and both negative type and positive type.
The PS processors include for example, those including a conveying path for the PS plate with conveying roller pairs in a developing vessel, those including a conveying path with conveying rollers and guide plates, and those with brush rollers, depending on the kind of the PS plate to be processed. Moreover, the number of the brush rollers depends on the kind of the PS plate (such as the one side type or the both side type).
That is, among the PS plate processors, despite of a common processing tank such as a developing vessel, there are those including arranging of conveying rollers and brush rollers corresponding to the kind of the PS plates to be processed. Furthermore, modifying the conveying path configuration has been discussed and practiced so as to make the PS plate processor capable of processing different PS plates.
In the PS plate processors, a replenishing liquid is replenished according to the PS plate process amount and for compensating the aging deterioration of the developing liquid as well as the developing liquid in the developing vessel is replaced per certain period. Consequently, the processing performance of the developing liquid is always maintained so as to enable the optimum developing process.
The basic liquid of the developing liquid and the replenishing liquid for replenishment to be introduced into the developing vessel at the time of periodical replacing the developing liquid may be those prepared by diluting a common original liquid with a common diluting ratio. Diluting ratios may be different between the basic liquid and the replenishing liquid. Further, the basic liquid may differ from the replenishing liquid.
In general, a certain amount of the original liquid for the basic liquid is contained in a bottle. When a preparation liquid as the basic liquid for processing the PS plate is newly prepared, the original liquid and the diluting water are preliminarily prepared according to the capacity of the developing vessel and the preparation liquid is supplied to the developing vessel. If the developing vessel capacity changes, the preparation liquid must be prepared according to the changed capacity.
That is, although the original capacity of the developing vessel in the processing tank remains the same, the net capacity of the developing vessel (the storable amount of the developing liquid) depends on the number of the rollers, guide plates, and brush rollers to be disposed inside the developing vessel. Therefore, for the PS plate processors with different developing vessel capacities, it is difficult to commonly use a preparation device for preparing a preset amount of the preparation liquid.
Therefore, a method of preparing the preparation liquid by directly introducing the original liquid and the diluting water into the developing vessel is conceivable.
Here, the PS plate processor is provided with a replenishing mechanism for supplying the original liquid and the water (diluting water) for replenishing the replenishing liquid to the developing vessel. In the replenishing mechanism, the replenishing liquid (the original liquid and the water for dilution) can be supplied accurately to the developing vessel using a bellows pump corresponding to the PS plate processing amount and the time.
When the preparation liquid is prepared in the developing vessel, a large amount of water should be supplied in a short time into the developing vessel with the original liquid preliminarily stored. Accordingly, the water is supplied using a magnet pump, monitoring the liquid level with a float sensor.
However, when a pump with high ejection ability such as a magnet pump makes it difficult to supply an amount of water accurately and appropriately to the original liquid with the liquid level monitored. Moreover, when the diluting ratio of a predetermined amount of the original liquid depends on the kind of the PS plate, the amount of the diluting water to be added to the original liquid must be changed. This hinders versatility of a device for replenishing (sixth problem).

Automatic developing device, roller washing method, photosensitive material processing device, and preparation method for processing liquid


An adaptive volume controlled radiotelephone system includes a microphone, a loudspeaker, a transceiver, and an adaptive volume control. The microphone generates an output electrical audio signal in response to sound, and the loudspeaker produces sound in response to an input electrical audio signal. The transceiver is responsive to the microphone and transmits radiotelephone communications to a remote party and receives radiotelephone communications from the remote party to generate the input electrical audio signal. The adaptive volume control is responsive to the output electrical audio signal and selects an amplitude of the sound produced by the loudspeaker so that the amplitude of the sound produced by the loudspeaker increases as the amplitude of the sound received at the microphone increases and decreases as the amplitude of the sound received at the microphone decreases.

For reasons of safety and convenience, cellular radiotelephones often provide hands-free operation. By using a loudspeaker and external microphone, the driver of an automobile may engage in telephone conversations without having to take his hands from the steering wheel. A conventional hands-free system is illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown, a radiotelephone 130 is connected to a remote loudspeaker 110 and a microphone 120 located within an automobile (represented by the box 100). Often, the volume of the loudspeaker 110 must be turned up quite loud for the driver to be able to hear the caller over ambient noise such as the noise of the engine, wind and road. Radiotelephones 130 still commonly use a moving coil loudspeaker 110. In fact, radiotelephones often have the loudspeaker placed in the handset of the radiotelephone, thereby restricting the size of the loudspeaker 110 to the space available in the handset.
FIG. 2 represents a cross-sectional schematic view of a moving coil loudspeaker. A flexible edge suspension 220 and a flexible center suspension 230 freely suspend a diaphragm element 270 in an open frame housing 290. The diaphragm 270 is nominally conical in shape. The diaphragm 270 is mechanically coupled to a voice coil 240 which is situated around a permanent magnet 280. Electrical audio signals (i.e., alternating currents of varying frequency and amplitude) are coupled to the coil 240 via a pair of wires 250.
The alternating currents of the electrical audio signals coupled to the coil 240 give rise to magnetic fields oriented either parallel or antiparallel to the magnetic field of the permanent magnet 280. The orientation of the magnetic fields depends upon the direction of current flow through the coil 240. The magnetic fields created by the alternating currents in the coil 240 establish either forces of attraction or repulsion with respect to the magnetic field of the permanent magnet 280. Because of the mechanical coupling between the coil 240 and the diaphragm 270 and the freedom of movement of the diaphragm in the plane parallel to the forces created by parallel or anti-parallel magnetic fields (i.e. perpendicular to plane 215), changes in the direction and amplitude of the current generated by the electrical audio signal are translated into axial dislocations of the diaphragm 270.
Pressure waves generated by the axial dislocation of the diaphragm 270 propagate in the air as sound waves. For a given frequency, larger dislocations are associated with greater levels of volume. The magnitude of the sound pressure level, or volume, is directly related to the magnitude of the dislocation 210 of the diaphragm element 270 with regard to plane 215. To increase the volume of the sound (i.e., sound pressure levels) emanating from a dynamic loudspeaker such as that illustrated in FIG. 2, one simply increases the amplitude of the drive signal to the electrical contacts 250 which results in an increased deflection 210 of the diaphragm 270.
To faithfully reproduce sound, the loudspeaker 200 should have a relatively flat frequency response. In other words, over the loudspeaker's range of operating frequencies, electrical signals of the same amplitude should produce the same sound pressure level irrespective of the frequency of the signal. FIG. 3 illustrates a number of frequency responses for loudspeakers. The solid line 310 of FIG. 3 represents the ideal flat frequency response for a loudspeaker.
Unfortunately, physical realities give the loudspeaker 200 less than ideal frequency characteristics. Because of factors such as size and materials, most loudspeakers (especially low-cost versions) have sound reproduction characteristics that are a relatively strong function of frequency. The dotted line 320 of FIG. 3 shows an example of conventional loudspeaker characteristics. FIG. 3 also shows the resonant frequency 330 of the loudspeaker. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the resonant frequency 330 is the frequency at which the loudspeaker produces maximum sound pressure levels for a given input signal level.
As seen in FIG. 2, the diaphragm 270 is physically constrained with regard to the absolute magnitude 210 of dislocation. Overload or clipping of the loudspeaker occurs when the amplitude of the drive signal applied to the electrical terminals 250 would require the diaphragm 270 to move beyond the physical limitation of the suspensions 220, 230 or the open frame housing 290 of the loudspeaker. FIG. 4 illustrates that applying a fixed gain to a loudspeaker having the loudspeaker characteristic 410 shown by the dotted line results in the response shown at 420. From FIG. 4 it can be seen that loudspeaker overload will often first occur at the resonant frequency 330 of the loudspeaker. Loudspeaker overload occurs when the response exceeds the clipping level 400 as seen in FIG. 4. While illustrated as a linear function in FIG. 4 for purposes of illustration, the clipping level 400 is actually a highly non-linear and frequency dependent effect. Loudspeaker overload causes distortion of signals near the resonant frequency and produces harmonic overtones which interfere with audio signals at higher frequencies.
Use of a loudspeaker in a radiotelephone apparatus magnifies the phenomena of overload because the loudspeaker primarily reproduces human speech. As shown in FIG. 5, the power density spectrum for human speech has a definite bias for lower frequencies. Most of the energy of human speech lies at or near 500 Hz, however, the higher frequencies (i.e., 1000-3000 Hz), which are associated with the lower amplitude levels, provide most of the intelligibility. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the power density in human speech often closely matches the resonant frequency of the conventional loudspeaker used in a radiotelephone handset. For example, for loudspeakers of the type conventionally used within radiotelephone handsets, a resonant frequency of near 600 Hz is common. Therefore, volume levels which would not produce overload when reproducing music or other audio signals may result in overload when reproducing human speech.
Loudspeaker overload generates harmonic overtones in the higher frequencies where the intelligibility information of human speech exists. Overload causes wide-band distortion at high volumes which combines with the informational higher frequencies of the audio signal, thereby making it difficult to understand the speech. When overload occurs, increasing the amplitude of the audio signal does not increase the intelligibility of the speech carried in the audio signal. Thus, for example, the driver of an automobile faces a situation where turning up the volume to overcome the ambient noise of the automobile results in an unintelligible, albeit audible, garble.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,393 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Volume and Intelligibility Control for a Loudspeaker," to Rasmusson and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discusses selectively compressing the signal supplied to a loudspeaker based upon the volume setting for the sound level to be produced by the loudspeaker. This improves the intelligibility of human speech produced by a loudspeaker at high volume levels. Compression of the signal to the loudspeaker prevents the loudspeaker from overloading, and the level of compression may be adjusted based on the volume setting.
The loudspeaker of this radiotelephone, however, may still reproduce speech which is difficult to understand if the level of background noise in the vicinity of the telephone is variable. For example, when a loudspeaker radiotelephone is used in an automobile, the level of background noise changes as the speed changes, as the wind changes, as a window is rolled up or down, as other vehicles pass by, etc. As the background noise increases, the speech reproduced by the loudspeaker may get swamped out. On the other hand, the loudspeaker may be too loud when the background noise subsides. While the near-end user can compensate by manually adjusting the volume of the loudspeaker, this may be difficult or even unsafe when driving.
Accordingly, there continues to exist a need in the art for a loudspeaker cellular radiotelephone which compensates for variations in the level of background noise in the vicinity of the telephone.

Method and apparatus for adaptive volume control for a radiotelephone


A hybrid drive of a motor vehicle has an internal combustion engine, an electric machine, and a transmission. The transmission is a multi-stage shifting transmission including two subtransmissions, each of which has a separate input shaft and a common output shaft. The first input shaft of a first subtransmission can be coupled and decoupled to the internal combustion engine. The second input shaft of a second subtransmission is rigidly coupled to the electric machine. Both input shafts can be coupled selectively to the common output shaft via form-locking shift elements. The first input shaft can be attached to multiple clutches in such a way that when a first friction-locking or form-locking clutch and a second friction-locking clutch connected in series are both engaged, the internal combustion engine is coupled to the first input shaft and to the first subtransmission.

The invention relates to a hybrid drive for a motor vehicle. Moreover, the invention relates to methods for operating a hybrid drive of this type.
DE 198 50 549 A1 disclosed a hybrid drive for a motor vehicle, wherein the hybrid drive comprises an internal combustion engine, an electric machine and a transmission designed as a double clutch transmission. The double clutch transmission of the hybrid drive disclosed in DE 198 50 549 A1 has two subtransmissions, each of which has a separate input shaft and a common output shaft, wherein, according to this prior art, a friction-locking clutch is allocated to each input shaft, for coupling the internal combustion engine to the respective input shaft of the respective subtransmission. The subtransmissions of the double clutch transmission according to DE 198 50 549 A1 has form-locking shift elements, by means of which the two input shafts can be selectively coupled to the common output shaft. An electric machine is coupled to at least one input shaft of at least one subtransmission.
Based on this, the present embodiments of the invention address the objective of creating a novel hybrid drive for a motor vehicle and methods for operating a hybrid drive of this type.

Hybrid drive of a motor vehicle and method for operating same


The present application provides a cutlery dispenser for dispensing a number of cutlery utensils. The cutlery dispenser may include a housing, a front cover enclosing the housing, a dispensing wedge, and a dispensing trough positioned on the front cover. The dispensing wedge angles a leading cutlery utensil into the dispensing trough for dispensing therethrough.

Restaurants and other types of retail outlets often provide cutlery utensils in open self-serve dispensing bins. Consumers may retrieve a fork, a spoon, a knife, a spork, and the like directly therefrom. Such open dispensing bins, however, may have at least the appearance of being somewhat unhygienic in that the cutlery utensils may not be enclosed or wrapped. Consumers may react negatively in that the remaining utensils thus may be touched or otherwise contacted while a selected utensil is being removed from the dispensing bin.
To address these concerns relating to the cutlery utensils, enclosed cutlery dispensers have been used. The cutlery utensils may be placed in a utensil compartment and may be dispensed one at a time on command. Generally described, these dispensers may operate via gravity or via a dispensing lever, a rotating belt, and/or other types of dispensing mechanisms. The mechanics of these dispensing mechanisms, however, may be complex and hence may be subject to malfunction. Further, these dispensers typically may be somewhat bulky and may occupy a significant footprint on an already crowded countertop and the like.
There is thus a desire for an improved dispenser for cutlery utensils and the like. Preferably such an improved dispenser may be easy and hygienic to load and to dispense the cutlery utensils therefrom with a reduced overall footprint and simplified dispensing mechanics.


In the storage controller of the present invention, different difference bitmaps are used for predetermined sections respectively, whereby the difference between the primary volume and the base volume is managed for each section, and the data are protected efficiently. The difference between the primary volume and the base volume is managed by using the difference bitmaps that are different for the respective sections. The journal data after a lapse of the targeted protection period are written to the base volume and then discarded. At the time of recovery, the difference bitmaps are merged to create a new difference bitmap, and the difference is copied from the base volume to the primary volume. Thereafter, the journal data up to the designated restoration point are written to the primary volume.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage controller, a control method of the storage controller, and an information processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various organizations such as a company, medical institution, government organization, and education institution use a storage controller in order to efficiently manage a large amount of data that increases on a daily basis. A storage controller stores important data such as sales data, customer data and research data, thus it is necessary to prepare for loss of data caused by human errors. Hedges against the loss of data include a method for creating a backup of a volume on a regular basis.
However, creating a backup and restoring data require a long time. Also, since data can be restored only when a backup is created, a data backup is not convenient. Therefore, as another hedge, there is known a first conventional technology in which a snapshot of a volume is created and journal data is acquired every time when the volume is updated, to manage the journal data (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-18738). However, in this conventional technology as well, it is necessary to create a snapshot, and there is room for improvement in terms of convenience.
Therefore, there is also known a second conventional technology that allows restoration of data at any given point in time by using journal data (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0028022).
The second conventional technology uses a data volume to be protected, a secondary volume to which a storage content of the protected data volume at some point in time is copied, and a journal volume that stores journal data. In the second conventional technology, at the time of restoration, data is copied from the secondary volume to the data volume to match the storage content of the data volume to storage content of the secondary volume. Next, in the second conventional technology, the journal data up until a specified time point is read out from the journal volume, and then written to the data volume. Therefore, according to the second conventional technology, data can be restored at any give point in time in increments of an update unit (in units of journal data).
However, when the capacity of the journal volume is fixed, the journal volume will eventually be filled with journal data, thus it is difficult to extend the period in which restoration can be performed. In the case of a configuration in which the capacity of the journal volume can be expanded, three is a risk that most of the storage capacity that the storage controller has is consumed in management of the journal data.

Storage controller, control method of the same, and information processing system


The winding machine of the invention includes two parallel wound web roll support rollers which are spaced apart and on which the roll being wound is supported. The gap between the support rollers and below the supported wound roll is to be pressurized. A pressure chamber is defined by the support rollers, the wound roll above, and from below by a cross member which bridges over the distance between the support rollers and closes the bottom of the gap. End walls close the ends of the chamber. The cross member is movable between a sealing position where it is in contact with, or at least is sealed with, the two support rollers and bridges the gap between them to an open position where it opens the gap between the support rollers. The cross member is movable either down out of the gap, laterally out of the gap, or a combination of both, by reciprocating swinging, or oblique movement, and the like. The cross member has at least one passage which connects the pressure chamber with a source of compressed air through an intermediate conduit. An elongate transverse distributing pipe arranged at a distance from the cross member has a pressure connection through the conduit leading to the cross member.

The present invention relates to a winding machine for winding a traveling web of paper.
Numerous designs of such machines are known. EP 0 496 863 B1 discloses a double support roller winding machine having the possibility of relieving the weight of the rolls of paper produced by compressed air. For this purpose, a pressure chamber is formed which is limited by the outer surface of the two support rollers that support the wound roll, by the outer surface of the resultant roll of paper, by displaceable end walls which are arranged at the respective end regions of the support rollers, as well as by a blow box which extends parallel to the support rollers and lies with greater or lesser sealing action against the outer surfaces of the support rollers. The blow box can be moved away from the support rollers in order, for instance, to remove pieces of paper after a paper jam or in order to swing a cutting knife from below into the slot between the support rollers during a change of rolls.
A machine in accordance with that reference may compensate for the weight of the paper roll or rolls themselves by the pressure in the pressure chamber. However, this has disadvantages. The blow box requires a relatively large amount of space since it generally extends to below the lowest points of the two support rollers. If the blow box is to be swung away from the two support rollers, space is also required for this. Since the blow box can, in general, be moved away only in a downward direction, and since a lift device necessary for this purpose usually acts on the bottom of the blow box, a correspondingly large amount of space must be provided below the machine. But this place frequently lacks space.

Winding machine for winding a traveling web of paper


A polyphasic pressurized homogenizer for removing substances, particularly contaminants from a gas environment, the homogenizer having a pressurized gas stream drawing gas from the gas environment and a pressurized liquid stream from a liquid source with the homogenizer having a mixing chamber for mixing the gas stream and liquid stream and a contact conduit with a venturi passage connected to the mixing chamber for homogenizing the gas and liquid mixture with the contact conduit discharging the homogenized mixture into a receiver where the substance originally in the gas is entrained in the liquid and separated from the gas.

This invention relates to a polyphasic, pressurized homogenizer, which is a dynamic liquid and gas contact system for removing substances from the gas. The substances in the gas may be in solid, gas or vapor form. The liquid and gas contact system primarily functions as dynamic removal and recovery system for extracting a variety of substances from a gas stream for disposal or reuse depending on the nature of the application and the substance recovered.
When used as a pollution control system, the recovered substances are stripped from the gas, typically air, and entrained in the liquid. Depending on the toxicity of the recovered substance and the nature of the liquid used, most typically water, the extracted substance is disposed with the liquid in an ordinary waste water stream. Alternately, the substance removed from the gas may be separated from the liquid for specialized disposal. The liquid stripped from the recovered substance is generally suitable for recycling in the removal and recovery system.
When used as a stage in a material processing circuit, the removed and recovered substances may be concentrated and separated from the liquid for reintroduction into the processing stream.
The invented polyphasic, pressurized homogenizer is related to gas liquid contact systems where a gas stream is brought into intimate contact with a liquid stream to entrain in the liquid a gaseous, droplet or particulate substance carried in the gas stream. Countercurrent contact towers and liquid spray scrubbers are typical of this type of removal and recovery system.
In the invented gas and liquid contact system, a discharge nozzle directs a relatively high velocity stream of liquid into a confluent stream of gas having a substantially concurrent direction of flow as the liquid. The turbulent intermix of gas and liquid is homogenized in a pressurized mix chamber, with additional stripping occurring under the abrupt reduced pressure of a connected venturi. The accelerated combined flow from the venturi is expanded into a retention chamber to prolong the intimate contact and homogenization before ejection into a recovery chamber having a liquid reservoir.
Preferably, the retention chamber comprises a conduit segment in alignment with the venturi, and the recovery chamber comprises a tank with a reserve quantity of liquid. The liquid may comprise a solvent, specifically selected for removal of a particular substance in the gas stream, or a common liquid, such as water, that simply provides a carrier stream for particulate substances removed from the gas stream. It is to be understood that the gas stream initially carries the substance or substances to be removed, and may comprise a multiple gas mixture, a gas and droplet mixture, including vapors, or a gas and particulate mixture.
As noted, the polyphasic pressurized homogenizer of this invention is adapted for use in the home, commercial establishment or industry. For example, in home use, the system may comprise an air purifier to remove dust, smoke and airborne gases such as radon from the household air for disposal. The system is preferably used in conjunction with a blower system with or without pre-filtration of the gas stream. In a commercial establishment, the system can also be used as an air purifier, particularly in isolated environments such as paint spray rooms where rapid removal of airborne droplets and gaseous solvents is desired. In an industrial setting the system can be used to recover substances in a processing stage, for example, to recover comminution products that are airborne.
These and other uses of the invented system will become apparent on consideration of the features of the invention that provide for dynamic homogenization of a gas stream and a liquid stream, where substances are to be removed from the gas stream and entrained in the liquid stream.


Nano-constructs comprising nanoshells and methods of using the nano-constructs for treating or ameliorating a medical condition are provided.

Modulated drug delivery allows the release profiles of therapeutic agents to be manipulated to match the physiological requirements of the patient. This type of controlled delivery system is useful for treating diseases that affect the homeostatic functions of the body, such as diabetes mellitus. Insulin therapy for diabetes requires a low baseline release of the drug, with peaks after the ingestion of food (O. B. Crofford Ann. Rev. Med. 46:267-279 (1995); F. R. Kaufmnan Pediatr. Rev. 18:383-392 (1997); and F. Ginsberg-Fellner Pediatr. Rev. 11:239-247 (1990)).
Various methods of accomplishing modulated in vivo drug delivery have been described in the literature and are currently in use or undergoing investigation. Mechanical pumps are one type of device that is commonly employed. Another method that has been examined is the use of ultrasound for rupturing tuned microcapsules or "blasting off" a layer of material from a drug-containing polymer matrix to alter drug release. That method requires use of rigid, hydrophobic polymers that are generally incompatible with proteins and other hydrophilic macromolecular drugs. Other potential problems with the routine implementation of such ultrasound techniques may exist, such as rupture of cells at high levels of insonation power, or concern about the long term safety of repetitive exposure of body tissues to ultrasonic energy.
Other methods involving sequestration of various therapeutic agents by a polymer matrix material have been examined. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,043 (Hubbell et al.) describes certain biodegradable hydrogels as carriers for biologically active materials such as hormones, enzymes, antibiotics, antineoplastic agents, and cell suspensions. Delivery of the sequestered drug depends on the in vivo degradation characteristics of the carrier.
Certain temperature sensitive hydrophilic polymer gels, or hydrogels, have been described. When the temperature of the polymer is raised above its lower critical (or consolute) solution temperature (LCST), the hydrogel undergoes a reversible phase transition that results in the collapse of the hydrogel structure (A. S. Hoffman et al. J. Contr. Rel.4:213-222 (1986); and L. C. Dong et al. J. Contr. Rel. 4:223-227 (1986)). The hydrogel collapse forces soluble materials held within the hydrogel matrix to be expelled into the surrounding solution (R. Yoshida et al. J. Biomater. Sci. Polymer Edn. 6:585-598 (1994). An impediment in the development of temperature-sensitive materials into clinically useful modulated drug delivery devices has been the lack of satisfactory means for altering the temperature of the implanted device. Ideally, the temperature change should be localized to the device to avoid damage to surrounding tissue, but the temperature change also must be rapid in order to control the conformational changes in the polymer and the drug delivery profile. Other means of altering the temperature have been proposed and are being investigated, such as heating pads, non-targeted light, RF induction heating, and exothermic chemical reactions. Other proposed techniques for controlled drug release include the application of alternating magnetic fields to certain polymers with embedded magnetic particles to effect modulation of drug delivery. Iontopheresis has also been investigated.
None of the presently available methods or devices offer a satisfactory way of obtaining localized heating to accomplish controlled, thermally actuated drug release from an implantable device while adequately avoiding potential damage to the surrounding body tissue.
The embodiments described below address the above-identified problems.


The present invention provides a laminated glass. Each single glass sheet has a thickness of 1.5 to 3.2 mm and is subjected to a bending process. At least one of the glass sheets is a semi-tempered glass sheet, which is also called a heat-strengthened glass sheet. The heat-strengthened glass sheet has a plane residual stress distribution where the plane residual stress is a compressive stress at an edge of a peripheral portion of the glass sheet. The plane residual stress changes monotonically from the compressive stress at the edge of the peripheral portion to a tensile stress in a central portion of the glass sheet substantially throughout the peripheral portion of the single glass sheet.

A sheet glass, what is called "safety sheet glass", is used for a window glass of an automobile and the like. "Safety sheet glass" generally refers to two types of glass, i.e., a tempered glass (air-cooling tempered glass) and a laminated glass. In addition, these types of sheet glass usually are subjected to a bending process due to design necessities.
A laminated glass is commonly used for a windshield of an automobile. The Japanese Law as well as many other countries stipulates that a laminated glass should be used in a passenger car. The window glass for a windshield is generally attached to the body frame with an adhesive or a gasket.
Use of the laminated glass as a side window glass of an automobile has been suggested to improve its security against break-in and its soundproofing properties.
The laminated glass is composed of a plurality of single glass sheets, generally having a thickness of about 1.5 to 3.2 mm, that have been annealed, so that it is relatively thin. Therefore, the glass sheet may be broken by an impact to the edge of the glass sheet during handling in the production of the laminated glass or the assembly of it into an automobile or the like.
For a side window glass or a rear window glass of automobiles, a tempered glass is widely used. Although the side window glass is fixed to the body frame in some cases, it is mostly used in the form of a slide mechanism that allows a vertical movement, a hinged revolving mechanism, or a double-sliding mechanism using a rail, for the purpose of opening the window. In some types of automobiles, a glass sheet that moves up and down by a slide mechanism or a glass sheet hatch using a hinge is used for the rear window glass as well.
In particular, for the side window glass for a hinged door, the door may be opened and closed with the window glass partly open. In this case, the window glass is not entirely supported by the window frame, so that the window glass is susceptible to impacts at the time of opening and, especially, closing the door. The front door glass is particularly susceptible to impacts, because it is large and the front door is more frequently opened and closed. The front door glass in a hard-top car with no window frame is even more susceptible to impacts.
The above-mentioned (air-cooled) tempered glass poses no problem concerning its strength. However, when a laminated glass is to be used for a side window glass or the like, strength is a factor that has to be considered.
On the other hand, light weight has been increasingly demanded for parts in view of the fuel efficiency of automobiles. Single thin glass sheets are attached to each other to form a laminated glass for use as a windshield. In this case, as described above, although the glass sheet adheres to the body frame, again, strength is a factor that has to be considered.
It is possible to first obtain single glass sheets that are completely tempered and then to form a laminated glass using them (so-called "tempered-and-laminated glass"). In this case, the problem concerning strength is eliminated. However, if by any chance a tempered-and-laminated glass suffers stress of such magnitude that it cannot withstand, the tempered-and-laminated glass that has broken entirely to be divided into small pieces causes the problem that the visibility for the passengers is lost. Furthermore, when a glass sheet is thin, it may be impossible to temper it enough.
Therefore, in order to overcome the problem of losing visibility and to form a laminated glass with no problem concerning strength, it has been proposed to use semi-tempered single glass sheets. In this case, the problem concerning strength is not eliminated perfectly, although the problem of losing visibility when the sheet is fractured can be eliminated.
In this specification, so-called "semi-tempered glass sheets" are referred to as heat-strengthened glass sheets. A heat-strengthened glass sheet is a glass sheet obtained by subjecting a glass sheet to a heat treatment to form a compressive stress layer of a suitable size in the surface of the glass sheet, so that the breaking strength increases, and that the way it breaks is similar to that of the non-tempered glass sheet. See Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) R 3222-1990 for details, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. However, the invention is not limited to the thickness of the glass sheet exemplified in JIS R 3222-1990.
Now, regarding the above-mentioned laminated glass or a curved sheet glass, a variety of glass sheets have been proposed and produced. For example, a technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Published Japanese translations of PCT international publication for patent application; "Tokuhyo-Hei") No. 8-506564 will be described below.
"An apparatus and a method for controlling stress in a laminated glass for automobiles" of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Tokuhyo-Hei) No. 8-506564 disclosed a glass sheet "having an edge compression with the maximum at an edge of a glass sheet and decreasing from the edge toward an inner portion of the glass sheet, and having a net tension value and the maximum tension value at the inner peripheral portion (of the glass sheet)". Furthermore, in the glass sheet, "the maximum of the edge compression is larger than 300 kg/cm.sup.2 " and "the tension value is smaller than 60 kg/cm.sup.2 ".
The method for producing such a glass sheet includes the steps of "supporting a glass sheet on an annealing ring, cooling the glass sheet on the annealing ring so as to generate a permanent stress on the glass sheet, and insulating a peripheral portion of the glass sheet during cooling so as to maintain a temperature of the peripheral portion at a higher temperature than a strain point when the stress becomes permanent in the glass sheet" (see FIG. 7 in this specification).
According to FIG. 4 of this publication (FIG. 8 of this specification), in the distribution of the stress of the glass sheet according to the invention of Tokuhyo-Hei No. 8-506564, the compressive stress changes into tensile stress when moving away from the edge of the glass sheet toward an inner portion, and the tensile stress has a peak around 30 mm to 40 mm away from the edge. Thereafter, the stress becomes zero.
In other words, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Tokuhyo-Hei) No. 8-506564 shows the stress distribution of single glass sheets constituting a laminated glass in which the plane residual tensile stress has a peak.
Furthermore, as a result, according to the above-mentioned stress distribution of single glass sheets constituting a laminated glass, an annular plane residual tensile stress region is present in an inner portion along the peripheral portion of the glass sheet. The method for producing the glass sheet is a method utilizing a cooling method using an annealing ring.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Tokkai-Hei) No. 4-231361 discloses "a window glass for automobiles" (see FIG. 9 of this specification). The window glass for automobiles disclosed in this publication is "produced from a complex glass sheet 201 formed of two thermally tempered single glass sheets 202 and 203 that are interconnected using a thermoplastic intermediate layer 204, particularly intended for a side window glass that is adjustable vertically, each of the two glass sheets having a thickness of 2.0 to 3.0 mm", "wherein a tensile stress at the center is between 54 and 76 MN/m.sup.2 in an edge region 205 of the glass sheet when the thickness of the single glass sheet is 2.0 mm, . . . a tensile stress at the center is between 38 and 60 MN/m.sup.2 in a central region 206 of the glass sheet when the thickness of the single glass sheet is 2 mm".
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Tokkai-Hei) No. 4-231361 refers to the tensile stress at the center of the glass sheet (i.e., the residual stress of the central layer of the glass sheet) as described above, but it does not directly refer to a plane residual stress.
However, the tensile stress at the center of the glass sheet is described, and there are explanations that "an edge region that is tempered more strongly", "because the strength of the edge region increases" or "the tempering of the edge region of the window glass is greater" or the like. These explanations result in the inference about the plane residual stress distribution of the glass sheet according to Japanese Patent Application Publication (Tokkai-Hei) No. 4-231361 that the stress in "the edge region" and the stress in "a visible region" are different.
Furthermore, there is the teaching that "in order to generate a higher and desired tensile stress in the edge region, it is necessary to ensure a larger release of heat in the edge region of the single glass sheet".
In other words, it is inferred that in a cooling method for obtaining the single glass sheet disclosed in Tokkai-Hei No. 4-231361, the cooling condition is not uniform in the area including the peripheral portion and the central portion of the glass sheet.
As a result, in the stress distribution of the single glass sheets constituting the laminated glass, an annular plane residual tensile stress region called "the edge region" in an inner portion along the peripheral portion of the glass sheet is present.
Japanese Patent Publication (Tokko-Sho) No. 63-17777 disclosed the following technique as "a method for producing a laminated glass", specifically a method for producing a curved and laminated glass. The method includes the steps of "laying two glass sheets each having a thickness of 1.5 mm to 3.2 mm on top of each other on a bending member so as to shape accordingly", "cooling the glass sheets at an annealing temperature between 450.degree. C. to 550.degree. C. at a cooling rate of 90.degree. C./min. to 150/min, so as to generate a plane compressive stress of 250 kg/cm.sup.2 to 500 kg/cm.sup.2 in a region not more than 1.5 cm apart from the edge of the glass sheets". A laminated glass is constituted by the thus produced glass sheets.
Japanese Patent Publication (Tokko-Hei) No. 6-29148 discloses "a method for thermally treating a glass sheet" comprising the steps of supporting "an edge peripheral portion of a glass sheet to be heated by a receiving ring frame" to be subjected to annealing, so as to generate a plane compressive stress of 50 kg/cm.sup.2 to 500 kg/cm.sup.2 in the edge peripheral portion of the glass sheet.


A rotating inflatable ornament has a main chamber, a bottom chamber, a blower, a rotating chamber, a rotating device and a joint tube. The bottom chamber is attached to the main chamber. The blower is mounted in the bottom chamber and fills the bottom chamber with air. The rotating chamber is mounted in the main chamber and has a main air tube and multiple inflatable adornments. The main air tube communicates with the bottom chamber. The rotating device is attached rotatably to the main chamber. The joint tube has an outer tube, an inner tube and a motor. The outer tube is attached to the bottom chamber. The inner tube is mounted rotatably in the outer tube and is attached to the main air tube. The motor rotates the rotating chamber to give a lively impression.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inflatable ornament, especially to a rotating inflatable ornament.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Very large ornaments are often used in department stores, shopping malls and expositions to advertise or attract a crowd. To be stowed easily, the ornaments are often inflatable. When the inflatable ornaments are exhibited, the inflatable ornaments are inflated. When the inflatable ornaments are stowed, the inflatable ornaments are deflated. However, conventional inflatable ornaments are static. Therefore, the conventional inflatable ornaments do not give lively impressions.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a rotating inflatable ornament to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A phase shift mask manufacturing method comprises the steps of processing a light-shielding layer over a transparent substrate into a predetermined light-shielding pattern, forming a resist film on the predetermined light-shielding pattern, performing writing on the resist film based on writing data and developing the resist film, thereby forming a resist pattern, and etching an underlying layer using the predetermined light-shielding pattern and the resist pattern as a mask, thereby forming recesses, that serve as phase shift portions, in the underlying layer. The writing data includes a portion where pattern data corresponding to at least the two recesses adjacent to each other through a light-shielding portion in the predetermined light-shielding pattern are combined into one pattern data.

This invention relates to a pattern forming method and, in particular, relates to a pattern forming method that processes a coating layer over a substrate into a predetermined pattern by partly removing the coating layer and then forms a recess in an underlying layer below the coating layer at its portion corresponding to at least a portion of a region where the coating layer is removed.
This invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a phase shift mask for use in transferring a fine pattern of an LSI or the like by the use of a projection exposure apparatus.
Following higher integration and circuit pattern miniaturization in large-scale integrated circuits (LSIs), phase shift masks have been proposed and put to practical use as a super-resolution technique in the photolithography.
There have been proposed various types of phase shift masks, such as Levenson type, edge emphasizing type, auxiliary pattern type, chromeless type, and halftone type. For example, the Levenson type phase shift mask has a light-shielding pattern formed by a metal film such as a chromium film, or the like on a transparent substrate. The Levenson type phase shift mask is configured such that, in the case where light-shielding portions and light-transmitting portions are alternately arranged like a line-and-space pattern, the phases of transmitted lights through the light-transmitting portions adjacent to each other via each light-shielding portion are shifted by 180 degrees. Because of the shift in phase between the transmitted lights through the light-transmitting portions, a reduction in resolution due to interference between diffracted lights can be prevented to thereby achieve an improvement in resolution of the line-and-space pattern.
In such a phase shift mask, an optical path length difference of [λ(2m−1)/2] (m is a natural number) is generated between transmitted lights, each having a wavelength λ, through the light-transmitting portions adjacent to each other via the light-shielding portion, thereby causing the phase difference of 180 degrees between the transmitted lights. In order to generate such an optical path length difference, a difference d between the thicknesses of the transparent substrate at the light-transmitting portions adjacent to each other via the light-shielding portion should satisfy [d=λ(2m−1)/2n] where n represents a refractive index of the transparent substrate.
In order to generate the difference between the thicknesses of the transparent substrate at the adjacent light-transmitting portions in the phase shift mask, a transparent thin film is coated on the transparent substrate at one of the light-transmitting portions to thereby increase the thickness or the transparent substrate is etched at one of the light-transmitting portions to thereby reduce the thickness. That is, in the shifter coated type (convex type) phase shift mask, the transparent substrate is covered with the transparent thin film (shifter) having the thickness d (=λ(2m−1)/2n) at the phase shift portion.
On the other hand, in the etching type phase shift mask in which the transparent substrate is etched, the transparent substrate is etched by the depth d (=λ(2m−1)/2n) at the phase shift portion. The light-transmitting portion not coated with the transparent thin film or etched serves as a non-phase-shift portion. Note that in the case where the adjacent light-transmitting portions have a shallow etched portion and a deep etched portion, respectively, the shallow etched portion serves as a non-phase-shift portion.
Further, as a phase shift mask for forming an isolated pattern such as contact holes, the auxiliary pattern type phase shift mask has been proposed as described in Japanese Patent (JP-B) No. 2710967 (Patent Document 1).
FIGS. 1A to 1C show the structures of auxiliary pattern type phase shift masks, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view of the auxiliary pattern type phase shift mask (the plan view is the same for both masks) and FIGS. 1B and 1C respectively show sections, each taken along a chain line A-A in FIG. 1A, in terms of two examples.
In FIGS. 1A to 1C, each auxiliary pattern type phase shift mask comprises a transparent substrate 101 and a light-shielding layer 102 formed thereon, wherein the light-shielding layer 102 is formed with a main opening portion (contact hole) 103 and a plurality of auxiliary opening portions 104 located at peripheral portions of the main opening portion 103. It is configured such that light having passed through the main opening portion 103 and light having passed through each auxiliary opening portion 104 have a phase difference of approximately 180 degrees. For this purpose, in the example shown in FIG. 1B, the transparent substrate 101 has an etched portion 105 etched to a predetermined depth in a region corresponding to the main opening portion 103. On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 1C, the transparent substrate 101 has etched portions 105, each etched to a predetermined depth, in regions corresponding to the auxiliary opening portions 104, respectively. The auxiliary opening portions 104 are formed at predetermined positions and each have a fine line width so that the light having passed through each auxiliary opening portion 104 does not resolve a resist on a substrate to which a pattern is transferred.
FIGS. 2A to 2G are process diagrams showing a conventional phase shift mask manufacturing method.
For manufacturing an auxiliary pattern type phase shift mask like that shown in FIG. 1C, a light-shielding layer 102 and a first resist film 106 are first formed on a transparent substrate 101 in the order named as shown in FIG. 2A. Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, the first resist film 106 is written with a pattern corresponding to a main opening portion 103 and a plurality of auxiliary opening portions 104 by the use of, for example, an electron-beam writing apparatus and then developed, thereby forming a first resist pattern 107. Then, the light-shielding layer 102 is etched using the first resist pattern 107 as a mask, thereby forming a light-shielding layer pattern 108 having the main opening portion 103 and the auxiliary opening portions 104. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2C, the remaining first resist pattern 107 is stripped.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2D, a second resist film 109 is formed on the light-shielding layer pattern 108. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2E, the second resist film 109 is written with a pattern corresponding to the auxiliary opening portions 104 by the use of, for example, the electron-beam writing apparatus and then developed, thereby forming a second resist pattern 110. Then, the transparent substrate 101 is etched using the second resist pattern 110 as a mask, thereby forming etched portions 105 as shown in FIG. 2F. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2G, the remaining second resist pattern 110 is stripped, thereby completing an auxiliary pattern type phase shift mask.
In the manufacturing method shown in FIGS. 2A to 2G, the transparent substrate 101 is etched in regions corresponding to the auxiliary opening portions 104. However, the same manufacturing method is also applied to the case where the transparent substrate 101 is etched in a region corresponding to the main opening portion 103. That is, in FIG. 2E, the second resist film 109 is written with a pattern corresponding to the main opening portion 103 and then developed, thereby forming a second resist pattern. Subsequently, the transparent substrate 101 is etched using this second resist pattern as a mask, thereby forming an etched portion 105 like that shown in FIG. 1B.
Following the miniaturization and higher integration of LSIs in recent years, pattern data amounts for manufacturing phase shift masks have been increasing. Particularly, in each of the auxiliary pattern type phase shift masks as described above, since four auxiliary opening portions are required with respect to one main opening portion (contact hole) as shown in FIG. 1A, the pattern data amount increases four times.
When the pattern data amount increases, a long time is required for data processing and, further, a long time is also required for writing on a resist film. Particularly, in recent years, since the electron-beam writing method has shifted from the raster scan type to the vector scan type for improving the pattern accuracy, an increase in pattern data amount directly leads to an increase in the number of figures to be written, thus directly leading to an increase in writing time. Accordingly, it is desired to reduce the pattern data amount as much as possible, thereby minimizing the writing time.
Further, since an auxiliary opening pattern that is not resolved on a substrate to which a pattern is transferred is arranged around a main opening portion (contact hole), there arises a problem in mask fabrication due to limitation to a layout manner or occurrence of an irregular layout depending on design of an LSI.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, there is a case where a pattern layout is required in which a plurality of combinations each having a main opening portion 103 and auxiliary opening portions 104 are arranged so that some of the auxiliary opening portions 104 are adjacent to each other. That is, the main opening portions 103 are respectively arranged at portions corresponding to four corners of a diamond shape and four auxiliary opening portions 104 are arranged around each main opening portion 103. Therefore, some of the auxiliary opening portions 104 must be arranged adjacent to each other. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4A, a positive-type resist film 109 is formed on a light-shielding layer pattern 108, then, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 4B, the positive-type resist film 109 is written with a pattern corresponding to the auxiliary opening portions 104 by the use of an electron-beam writing apparatus and then developed, thereby forming a resist pattern 110. In this case, a region surrounded on all sides by openings corresponding to the auxiliary opening portions 104 is generated in the resist pattern 110. Accordingly, the resist pattern 110 has an extremely thin portion and, therefore, as shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D, there is a possibility that this portion falls down during development to cover, for example, one of the auxiliary opening portions 104. If, in this manner, the part of the resist pattern 110 falls down to close the opening portion, a transparent substrate 101 is not etched at the closed portion as shown in FIGS. 4D and 4E, resulting in occurrence of a defect.

Pattern forming method and phase shift mask manufacturing method


A hip prosthesis is disclosed which employs a number of cement spacers located on the surface of the stem of the prosthesis immediately below a collar which makes direct and parallel contact with calcar bone when a stem of the prosthesis is seated in medullary canal of the patient. The collar is constructed to provide even stress distribution to the bone.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hip prosthesis and more particularly to the femoral component of a hip prosthesis. The prosthesis of the present is the type that is cemented in position in the medullary canal of the femur. The hip of the present invention employs spacers to accurately position the prosthesis in the medullary canal to create a cement mantle of optimal thickness and to ensure neutral positioning of the prosthesis in the medullary canal. The prosthesis may also be provided with a collar that will optimally contact the calcar when implanted.
2. Prior Art
Total hip prosthesis have been in use for some time. These prosthesis generally comprise a femoral component which includes a stem or shaft, a neck and a spherical ball mounted on the neck. The ball is positioned into the second major component of the prosthesis which is an acetabular cup. The acetabular cup generally made from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene and includes a spherical opening to receive and contain the ball of the femoral component The normal movement of the leg is facilitated by the ball of the femur freely moving in the spherical cavity of the acetabular cup.
Some femoral components of hip prosthesis include a collar which is below the neck of the prosthesis and which is in contact with the bone in the femur. The particular configuration of the collar in prior art prosthesis has considerable variation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,004, U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,324 and DES. 280,020 disclose hip prosthesis with a collar or flange which is somewhat elliptical in shape and has a greatest width at the lateral portion of the collar.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,124, U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,277, U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,865 and DES. 254,987 disclose collars which are essentially round
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,795,472 and 4,871,369 disclose hip prosthesis that have a collar that extends medially from the stem.


A liquid crystal display (LCD) device including upper and lower substrates facing each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween, upper and lower polarization plates positioned on outer surfaces of the upper and lower substrates, respectively, and a beam steering film positioned on the upper polarization plate and including a plurality of curved-lenses formed on a surface of the beam steering film facing the upper polarization plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device having a multi-domain structure implemented with a beam steering film.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Research has been conducted on various planar panel display devices such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, a plasma display panel (PDP), an electroluminescent display device (ELD) and a vacuum fluorescent display device (VFD). Of these devices, the LCD device is used mostly in mobile image display devices such as a notebook computer, because the LCD device has excellent image quality characteristics, is light weight and compact, and has low power consumption characteristics. In addition, the LCD device is also used as a TV monitor or Computer monitor.
In addition, the LCD device displays an image by adjusting the birefringence of a liquid crystal layer interposed between two polarization plates, and by changing the transmittance according to the birefringence. Further, the LCD device is designed to provide an optimal condition with respect to light transmitted in a normal direction of a screen. Thus, the LCD device does not provide an optimal viewing condition when looking at the LCD device from a skewed viewing angle.
In addition, commercialized LCD modes including a twisted nematic (TN) mode, an in-plane switching (IPS) mode, a multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA) mode, an optically compensated bend (OCB) mode, a fringe-field switching (FFS) mode and an electrically controlled birefringence (ECB) mode use rod-like liquid crystals. However, the viewing condition at an angle is even worse for rod-like crystals because of an asymmetry of the birefringence. The poor viewing condition includes a deterioration in contrast and luminance, a color shift, a gray inversion phenomenon, etc.
Turning now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, which are overviews illustrating a concept of the above-mentioned TN mode. As shown in FIG. 1A, the liquid crystals in the TN mode are maintained horizontal to an alignment layer when the power is turned off. Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, when the power is turned on, the liquid crystals around the center of the liquid crystal layer are aligned vertical to the alignment layer in response to an electric field. In addition, a TFT LCD device includes a normally white mode, which is a display mode using an Off-state as white and an On-state as black.
Also, even though the LCD is advantageous because it has a high transmittance and is easy to produce, the TN mode is disadvantageous because of the gray inversion phenomenon that occurs at upper and lower viewing angles. In more detail, the gray inversion phenomenon is a phenomenon where an image looks brighter at a darker gray scale than at a brighter gray scale. In the TN mode, the gray inversion phenomenon makes an image look bright at an upper viewing angle and look dark at a lower viewing angle.
Further, the gray inversion phenomenon is worse at a lower viewing angle, which deteriorates a screen quality of the TN mode LCD and also limits the utility of the TN mode LCD. FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the gray inversion phenomenon according to upper and lower viewing angles of the TN mode LCD device. Also, the most significant cause of the gray inversion phenomenon is a variation in refractivity according to the viewing angles.
In more detail, and as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the TN mode exhibits a small variation (dΔn⊥≈dΔn1≈dΔn2) of the refractivity according to the viewing angles in the Off-state, and a significant variation (dΔn⊥≠dΔn1≠dΔn2) of the refractivity according to the viewing angles in the On-state. The variation occurs because in the On-state an average director of the liquid crystals is slanted in the upper and lower directions, causing the light passing through the liquid crystals to experience an actual birefringence property (effective dΔn) which changes according to the viewing angles. Further, this phenomenon is more significant in the upper and lower directions.
In more detail, and as shown in FIG. 4, dΔn of a dark gray scale becomes greater than dΔn of a bright gray scale at a lower viewing angle below an apex where Δn of the average director of the liquid crystals theoretically becomes zero (0). Further, dΔn of the dark gray scale becomes greater than dΔn of the bright gray scale at an upper viewing angle above an apex where Δn of the average director theoretically becomes the maximum value. This phenomenon is exhibited as a gray inversion on a screen of a liquid crystal panel. In addition, the reference numerals 30 and 31 indicate upper and lower substrates, respectively, and the reference numeral 40 indicates a liquid crystal panel in FIGS. 3A to 4.
One method to overcome the gray inversion phenomenon is to dispose two or more domains of liquid crystals in a single pixel with a primary viewing angle of the liquid crystals of one domain being directed opposite to that of the liquid crystals of the other domain, thereby compensating the domains with each other. This method uses the counterbalancing asymmetry of the viewing angles so the asymmetric viewing angles are provided in opposite directions.
For example, FIGS. 5A, 5B and 6 illustrate multiple domains in the TN mode LCD device. As shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B and 6, a user senses a mixed light passing through a first domain and a second domain. In other words, because the user senses an average value of dΔn of the first domain and dΔn of the second domain, it is possible to compensate the optical asymmetry. Further, the reference numerals 50 and 51 in FIGS. 5A, 5B and 6 correspond to upper and lower substrates.
Thus, in the TN mode, a multi-domain including two domains in the upper and lower directions is mainly effective, because the asymmetry of the viewing angles occurs mainly in the upper and lower directions. Further, the asymmetry of the viewing angels and the gray inversion phenomenon are less in the right and left directions compared with the upper and lower directions because of a self compensation of the TN mode and a wide viewing angle in the right and left directions.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when using four domains (first to fourth domains) in upper, lower, right and left directions, one would expect to have an even more uniform improvement of the viewing angles in the four directions than the multi-domain effect in the right and left directions. However, the multi-domain has not been commercialized because a rubbing process must be performed differently for each domain. Furthermore, a wide view film used to widening the viewing angle cannot be applied to the TN mode.
In addition, the VA mode is used as a wide viewing angle mode to thereby solve the problem related to the viewing angle using the multi-domain. However, even in a four domain VA mode such as a multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA), a pattern-domain vertical alignment (PVA), etc, the viewing angle characteristic is not perfect. In particular, FIG. 8 illustrates that for a VA mode LCD, the gray characteristics are changed according to the viewing angles such that a gray scale in the front side is different from a gray scale at a skewed angle.
A pixel division driving method (S-PVA) has been suggested to improve this problem, but the method still does not completely solve the problem. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the optical characteristics at a skewed angle are also significantly deteriorated compared to the front side in terms of luminance and contrast of the MVA.
In addition, the IPS mode and the FFS mode exhibit the best viewing angle characteristics among the modes used in commercialized LCD devices, and thus exhibit the least variation in optical characteristics according to the viewing angles. However, these modes still exhibit a deterioration in the luminance at the skewed angle. In particular, and as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the IPS mode uses a multi-domain to solve a color shift problem according to the viewing angles. The reference numerals 100 and 110 correspond to common electrodes, and the reference numerals 101 and 111 correspond to pixel electrodes in FIGS. 10 and 11. However, the multi-domain implemented in the IPS mode does not solve the problem of color shift in a black state. Rather, the IPS mode must use an expensive compensation film to solve this problem.
For example, FIG. 12 shows a contrast of the IPS mode free from the compensation film according to the viewing angles. As shown, the optical characteristics are deteriorated at the skewed angle compared with those in the front side.
In summary, the related art liquid crystal display device has the following problems. The TN, VA and IPS modes have a deteriorated contrast and luminance, and a color shift and/or gray inversion phenomenon at skewed angles. Further, it is difficult to commercialize the method of using a multi-domain because of the complex production and costs related to the multi-domain method.


A new form of trace sampling system which is configured to be employed in-line with a conventional conveyor-based imaging scanner, removing the need for a manual sampling substrate to be used with a mass spectrometry detection or mobility spectra detection system. The system is designed to enable rapid sampling without the need for the use of an external sampling medium such as a swab. Manifolds present within a chamber of the conveyor present evaporators and air heaters oriented towards objects to be sampled. The evaporators, via radiation, convey the sample vapor via a vacuum to a detector to analyze the vapor for selected variables.

Detection systems, such as those conventionally used by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at airport screening stations, are known to provide a great and relatively fast means by which explosive materials and/or elicit substances can be detected, such as on a person or within luggage. An assortment of detection systems are presently available on the market, with a vast majority of them employing a form of mobility spectrometry to facilitate the detection of target substances. All of these systems require a sample medium, such as a swab, which must be manually used to collect sample particles for detection as input for the detector.
Ideally, there would be a device on the market which is configured to sample vapors from items' surfaces and their surrounding atmosphere. Available trace detectors on the market require the use of a swab via a manual sampling operation. Presently, it is known that the use of a swab, as required by these systems, is a laborious manual operation which makes the process more cumbersome, as well as adds inherent delays to the process. If there were a way in which a detector could be instituted into the conveyor itself which could remove the need for the manual swabbing process, the detection process could be expedited and be less cumbersome to use. Additionally, if such a system could be implemented, the trace detection on items could be made to be automatic and continuous, removing the need for reset time between each sampling process.
Thus, there is a need for a new form of sampling system capable of deriving a sample directly from an item without necessitating manual sample collection via a swab by a person. Such a system is preferably configured to employ a sophisticated heater and evaporator system which is capable of uniformly heating and causing surface evaporation from the screened item, as well as the surrounding air to create sample vapors which may then be routed to a mass spectrometry detector and/or mobility spectra detector. Such a system preferably employs a synchronized heating of air conventionally, as well as radiation to obtain evaporation sufficient for detection within seconds. Additionally, such a system is preferably configured to operate in an automatic and continuous fashion.


A method of flip-chip mounting a semiconductor chip can carry out bonding at normal temperature and improves the positional accuracy of bonding. The method of flip-chip bonding a semiconductor chip 52 includes a step of providing a hardening trigger that is not heat to insulating adhesive 51 either before the semiconductor chip 52 is mounted on the substrate 50 or during bonding; and a step of bonding the bumps of the semiconductor chip to the pads of the substrate 50 by pressure welding or metal combining while hardening of the insulating adhesive 51 is progressing due to provision of the hardening trigger.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of flip-chip mounting a semiconductor chip that bonds a semiconductor chip to a substrate at low temperature and a mounting apparatus that uses the same method.
2. Related Art
Among typical methods of flip-chip mounting a semiconductor chip to a substrate, there is a method that bonds a semiconductor chip onto a substrate by applying a thermosetting resin to the substrate, positioning and disposing the semiconductor chip on the substrate from above the thermosetting resin, and applying pressure to the semiconductor chip using a bonding tool while applying heat to thermoset the thermosetting resin. There is also a method that bonds the semiconductor chip to the substrate more strongly by having the bonding tool also apply ultrasonic vibration to the semiconductor chip to combine metal parts using ultrasound.
When ultrasonic bonding is carried out, there is also a method that fills, after the semiconductor chip has been bonded using ultrasound, a space between the semiconductor chip and the substrate with thermosetting resin (post-filling with underfill resin) and then applies heat to set the thermosetting resin. When this method is used, during the bonding of the semiconductor chip to the substrate using ultrasound, ultrasonic bonding is carried out while the ambient temperature is heated to a substantially equal temperature to the heating temperature (around 150° C.) of the thermosetting resin. In this way, heating is also carried out during bonding using ultrasound firstly to increase the bonding force, and also to make the thermal contraction that occurs between the members during ultrasonic bonding and the thermal contraction that occurs due to the thermal effect of the thermosetting resin as equal as possible and thereby prevent detachment of the bonded parts.
Each of the conventional methods of bonding a semiconductor chip described above requires a heating step, so that there is the problem that large-scale equipment is needed. Also, since the coefficients of thermal expansion of the semiconductor chip and the substrate are different, there is a further problem that positional displacement can easily occur between both parts, thereby reducing the positional accuracy of the bonding of the semiconductor chip.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-308145 discloses a method of mounting that places a semiconductor chip with bumps on a substrate with pads onto which an underfill adhesive has been applied and applies heat and ultrasonic vibration using a bonding tool to bond the bumps and pads, wherein during the application of heat and ultrasound, UV rays are irradiated to harden a surrounding part of the adhesive that has been pressed outward between the semiconductor chip and the substrate.
However, in the above method of mounting, although the surrounding part of the adhesive is hardened by irradiation with UV rays, the UV rays do not reach the adhesive between the semiconductor chip and the substrate which remains unhardened, resulting in the problem that a step that completely hardens the adhesive by applying heat has to be carried out at an appropriate time afterwards.
Patent Document 1
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-308145
As described above, there have been the problems of a heating device being required in each of the conventional methods of mounting, resulting in an increase in the scale of the equipment, and of reduced positional accuracy for the mounting.

Method for flip-chip mounting utilizing a delay curing-type adhesive with two-part hardening resin


A guideway for a vehicle includes a plurality of circular support rings spaced apart along a desired path of travel. The rings are mounted to a surface of the earth and braced against movement. A load bearing surface extends through the respective rings for accommodating the major load of the vehicle. Two roller wheel guide plates extend through the rings, and are spaced apart and mounted on an inner circumference of the rings for guiding the vehicle through rolling engagement with corresponding guide wheels mounted on the vehicle.

The present invention relates to the field of rapid transit systems, and more particularly to a guideway for a high speed rail transportation system.
With the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, there is a renewed national interest in developing high speed, energy efficient, environmental sound, and cost effective rail transportation systems. The present invention is directed toward achieving these objectives.
One problem with prior attempts to develop high speed trains is that at higher speeds, the trains must slow down to travel along a curved track. Another problem with such prior attempts to is that the theoretical top speed of the train, along even straight track, cannot be reached because existing track is utilized that is structurally not capable of supporting the higher speeds. A further problem is that the cost to develop and implement new technology required for high speed trains has been exorbitant.

Ring guideway for rapid rail transit system


The present invention relates to a pre-moistened wipe for treating a surface, said pre-moistened wipe comprising: (a) a substrate; wherein said substrate is substantially free of a binder or latex material and said; and (b) a composition applied to said substrate, said composition having (i) a pH of about 7 or less and comprising (ii) at least about one surfactant; and (iii) a polymeric biguanide.

Wipes for treating surfaces are typically pre-moistened, disposable towelettes which may be utilised in a variety of applications both domestic and industrial and perform a variety of functions. Pre-moistened wipes are typically used to wipe surfaces both animate and inanimate, and may provide numerous benefits such as cleaning, cleansing, and disinfecting. Pre-moistened wipes incorporating a cleaning composition are already known in the art. For example, WO 89/05114 discloses disposable, pre-moistened wipes for hard surface cleaning, which are impregnated with a liquid composition. Pre-moistened wipes can also be found in the form of laminates. In one such embodiment, the laminates include a floor sheet attached to a reservoir, as described in WO 2000-2000US26401, incorporated herein by reference.
One particular application for pre-moistened wipes is treating hard surfaces, such as, kitchen and bathroom surfaces, eyeglasses, and surfaces that require cleaning in industry for example surfaces of machinery or automobiles.
A commonly known problem in treating hard surfaces is the formation of films and/or streaks on surfaces treated therewith. Indeed, after the treatment of a hard surface with a pre-moistened wipe, the formation of visible residues (streaks) and/or shine reducing films after drying can often be observed.
Furthermore, the addition of an antimicrobial agent, to compositions intended to wipe and clean surfaces, increases the tendency of filming/streaking on said hard. The filming/streaking is particularly problematic when treating glossy surfaces, such as porcelain, chrome and other shiny metallic surfaces, tiles etc.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a pre-moistened wipe composition that shows a disinfecting or antimicrobial benefit and a filming/streaking performance benefit (low or substantially no formation of streak- and/or film-formation).
It has now been found that the above objectives can be met by a pre-moistened wipe for treating a surface, said pre-moistened wipe comprising: (a) a substrate; wherein said substrate is substantially free of a binder or latex; and (b) an aqueous composition applied to said substrate said composition having (i) a pH of about 7 or less and comprising (ii) at least one surfactant; and (iii) a polymeric biguanide.
It is an advantage of the compositions of this invention that judicious choice of surfactant and pH can result in an enhancement of tile gloss, either relative to clean untreated tiles, or tiles treated with a base composition that lacks the antimicrobial agent.
It is another advantage of the invention that the preferred selection of a substrate comprising at least about 20% synthetic fibers can be used to provide improved cleaning properties over a range of soils, including greasy stains and soap scum.
It is yet another advantage of the compositions of this invention that the pre-moistened wipes can optionally be attached to a cleaning implement such as a unit comprising a pole and a mop head.
Additionally, the antimicrobial compositions herein can be used to treat shiny and matt hard-surfaces made of a variety of materials like glazed and non-glazed ceramic tiles, vinyl, no-wax vinyl, linoleum, melamine, glass, plastics, plastified wood.

Pre-moistened wipe comprising polymeric biguanide for treating a surface


A first mold is provided having a first molding surface including a flat primary surface area, a plurality of spaced leg areas within the primary surface area, and a plurality of pin holes in the primary surface area positioned between the leg areas; and a second mold is provided having a second molding surface including a flat primary surface area, a plurality of leg areas in the primary surface area corresponding to the leg areas in the primary surface area of the first molding surface, and a plurality of spaced knitting surfaces relieved from the general plain of the primary surface area, positioned between the leg areas, and corresponding to respective pin holes in the primary surface area of the first molding surface. A first plastic sheet is thermoformed to the first molding surface to conform the first plastic sheet to the primary surface area and the leg areas of the first molding surface and position the sheet in overlying relation to the pin holes. A second plastic sheet is thermoformed to the second molding surface to conform the second plastic sheet to the primary surface area, the leg areas, and the knitting areas of the second molding surface. The molds are brought together to bring respective knitting surfaces of the second molding surface into proximity with respective pin holes in the first molding surface and the molds are thereafter pressed together to force plastic material into and fill the pin holes in the first molding surface.

This invention relates to shipping and storage pallets and more particularly to plastic pallets embodying a twin sheet construction.
Pallets have traditionally been formed of wood. Wood pallets, however, have many disadvantages. For example, they are subject to breakage and thus are not reusable over an extended period of time. Wood pallets also take up a considerable amount of valuable floor space in the warehouse when they are not in use. In an effort to solve some of the problems associated with wood pallets, plastic pallets have been developed and employed with some degree of success. In one generally successful form of plastic pallet design upper and lower plastic sheets are formed in separate molding operations and the two sheets are then selectively fused or knitted together in a suitable press to form a reinforced double wall or "twin sheet" structure. These twin sheet plastic pallets, although more durable than the wooden pallets that they replace, tend to have a relatively slippery platform surface so that articles placed on the pallet tend to inadvertently slide off of the pallet or inadvertently shift their position on the pallet surface.

Method of forming non-skid plastic pallet