A method of fabricating a low defect germanium thin film includes preparing a silicon wafer for germanium deposition; forming a germanium film using a two-step CVD process, annealing the germanium thin film using a multiple cycle process; implanting hydrogen ions; depositing and smoothing a layer of tetraethylorthosilicate oxide (TEOS); preparing a counter wafer; bonding the germanium thin film to a counter wafer to form a bonded structure; annealing the bonded structure at a temperature of at least 375° C. to facilitate splitting of the bonded wafer; splitting the bonded structure to expose the germanium thin film; removing any remaining silicon from the germanium thin film surface along with a portion of the germanium thin film defect zone; and incorporating the low-defect germanium thin film into the desired end-product device.

Germanium has much higher electron and hole mobility than silicon, therefore it has been considered to replace silicon for future high speed CMOS devices: Ritenour et al., Epitaxial Strained Germanium p-MOSFETs with HfO2 Gate Dielectric and TaN Gate Electrode, International Electron Devices Meeting Technical Digest, 2003, p 03–433; Chui et al., A Germanium NMOSFET Process Integrating Metal Gate and Improved Hi-k Dielectrics, International Electron Devices Meeting Technical Digest, 2003, p 03–437; Low et al., Germanium MOS: An Evaluation from Carrier Quantization and Tunneling Current, 2003 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest, p 117–118; and Bai et al., Ge MOS Characteristics with CVD HfO2 Gate Dielectrics and TaN Gate Electrode, 2003 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest, p 121. Germanium-on-insulator is particularly desired in order to obtain MOS field-effect transistors with low-leakage current together with high performance: Huang et al., Very Low Defects and High Performance Ge-On-Insulator p-MOSFETs with Al2O3 Gate Dielectrics, 2003 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest, p 119; Takagi, Re-examination of Subband Structure Engineering in Ultra-Short Channel MOSFETs under Ballistic Carrier Transport, 2003 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest, p 115. Pure germanium grown directly on silicon is also the best candidate for near-infrared photodetectors due to its compatibility with silicon technology and its high absorption in the near-infrared up to 1.55 μm. It has potential application in low-cost monolithic transceivers for optical communications: Colace et al., Efficient high-speed near-infrared Ge photodectors integrated on Si substrates, Appl Phys Lett., 2000, 76, 1231; Famà et al., High performance gernanium-on-silicon detectors for optical communications, Appl Phys Lett, 2002, 81, 586; Hartmann et al., Reduced pressure-chemical vapor deposition of Ge thick layers on Si (001) for 1.3–1.55-μm photodetection, Journal of Applied Physics, 2004, 95, 5905; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,831 B1, to Shaheen et al., granted Nov. 11, 2003, for Thermally Stable Crystalline Defect-Free Germanium Bonded to Silicon and Silicon Dioxide. Due to the process compatibility, it is possible to integrate high speed device with germanium-based photodectors for many potential applications.
Shaheen et al. has disclosed a method to form germanium film by bonding germanium wafer on silicon or silicon dioxide. A thinning step is needed to obtain the desired thickness, U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,831 B1, supra. Huang et al., also reported performance of Ge-on-oxide p-MOSFETs, wherein the Ge-on-oxide film was obtained by direct wafer bonding of SiO2/Ge and SiO2/Si wafers and subsequent etch-back of backside Ge. Huang et al., supra. All of these require the use of high quality germanium wafers. However, germanium wafers have poor mechanical and thermal properties, and high quality germanium wafers are still of limited supply.
Nakaharai et al. reported a Ge-condensation technique to fabricate Ge-on-insulator, Nakaharal et al., Characterization of 7-nm-thick strained Ge-on-insulator layer fabricated by Ge-condensation technique, Appl Phys Lett, 2003, 83, 3516, however, only a 7 nm thick germanium layer was formed, and the film was under compressive strain. It is difficult to apply this technique for photodetector application, which requires a thicker film to increase the light absorption.
Liu et al. reported a liquid-phase epitaxy technique to fabricate germanium on insulator, Liu et al., High-quality single-crystal Ge on insulator by liquid-phase epitaxy on Si substrates, Appl Phys Lett, 2004, 84, 2563. This technique requires careful temperature control in order to initiate the recrystallization at the predetermined seeding region.
To avoid the use of bulk germanium wafers, a possible approach is to grow an epitaxial germanium layer on a silicon wafer, followed by transfer the germanium layer to an insulator, glass, or silicon substrate, by a direct wafer bonding technique.
Because of a large lattice mismatch between germanium and silicon, i.e., 4.2%, fabrication of germanium films on silicon having proper flatness and low defect density for high speed devices is difficult. Ritenour et al., supra, reported their work with epitaxial strained germanium p-MOSFET by growing thin germanium layer on thick relaxed SiGe buffer layer. Hofmann et al. were able to grow a 1 μm thick relaxed germanium layer by surfactant-mediated epitaxy on (111) silicon, Hofmann et al., Surfactant-grown low-doped germanium layers on silicon with high electron mobilities, Thin Solid Films, 1998, 321, 125. Luan et al., High-quality Ge epilayers on Si with low threading-dislocation densities, Appl Phys Lett, 1999, 75, 2909, have reported a technique to deposit germanium epilayer on single crystal silicon by first depositing at 350° C. and then at 600° C. This two-step process is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,370 B1, to Hernandez et al., granted Mar. 25, 2003, for Process for obtaining a layer of single-crystal germanium on a substrate of single-crystal silicon, and products obtained. U.S. Pat. No. 6,635,110 B1, to Luan et al., granted Oct. 21, 2003, for Cycle thermal anneal for dislocation reduction, discloses a technique of cycle annealing to reduce the defect density of the germanium film. Using similar techniques, several groups have reported the use of the preceding techniques in fabrication of near-infrared germanium photodetectors: Colace et al., Efficient high-speed near-infrared Ge photodectors integrated on Si substrates, Appl Phys Lett., 2000, 76, 1231; Famà et al., High performance germanium-on-silicon detectors for optical communications, Appl Phys Lett, 2002, 81, 586; and Hartmann et al., Reduced pressure-chemical vapor deposition of Ge thick layers on Si (001) for 1.3–1.55-μm photodetection, Journal of Applied Physics, 2004, 95, 5905.
Cycle annealing reduces defects, which are concentrated near the germanium/silicon interface. However, it is difficult to completely remove this defect zone, because it is at the bottom of the germanium film.

Fabrication of a low defect germanium film by direct wafer bonding


A system for applying a tensile load, the system having: a length of continuous synthetic rope having first and second bitter ends; the continuous synthetic rope being woven with itself to create a sling; the first and second bitter ends of the rope being capable of moving relative to each other and the sling. The system may be configured such that movement of the bitter ends relative to the sling or each other is observable or measurable. Systems may be slings that provide a plurality of wraps of a continuous synthetic rope having loops at opposing ends; the plurality of wraps of continuous synthetic rope having at least three parts and being woven such that the resulting woven sling has at least three picks.

Eye and eye lifting slings exist in various forms made of metals and synthetics in single element form and in multi part or element form. In metal or wire rope a sling may be formed by utilizing a single length of wire and forming an eye in each end by splicing, swaging, or potting. In synthetic form a sling may be formed similarly by utilizing a single length of rope (of any construction such as 3 strand, single braid, double braid, parallel, plaited, etc.) and forming an eye in each end by splicing, swaging, knotting, potting, etc. Flat synthetic webbing is also widely used to make slings by folding an eye in each end and stitching the bitter end to the standing part of the webbing, thus forming eyes that can be attached between an object to be lifted and to an apparatus designed to exert a lifting force. Synthetic slings are also formed by utilizing a strength element such as a twisted strand of fibers (or braided element) and laying a continuous length in a circular path making multiple laps until a desired combined strength is achieved and then enclosing these strands within a "sock" of suitable cloth type material.
Each of these various types of slings has advantages and disadvantages. The biggest difference between wire based slings versus synthetic slings is weight. For a given lift capacity, the synthetic alternative is 4 to 10 times lighter. Wires' principle advantages are high abrasion resistance, high UV resistance, high temperature tolerance, and cheaper initial cost. Its disadvantages are high weight, stiffness, low corrosion resistance, abrasive to other objects, high conductivity, loss of strength in smaller bend diameters, difficulty of inspection (because of weight) and high recoil and spring-back. Synthetic slings (of high strength fibers such as aramids, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, liquid crystal polymers, etc.) are much lighter to handle, non-corrosive, non-abrasive to other objects, very flexible, easy to store and have better strength retention over small diameter pins and lift hooks, and have low to no conductivity.
The disadvantages of current synthetic slings are higher cost, lower tolerance to high temperatures, difficult to inspect (sleeve enclosed strength fibers), cannot be pushed (as in under objects), lower tolerance to UV degradation, prone to contamination and moisture penetrating to the strength elements, easily cut and bulky. When wire slings are fabricated for higher lifting capacity, a typical method is to use multiple strands or "parts" of a given size of wire. This is primarily done because of the difficulty of bending a larger single wire rope into a manageable eye size and the associated loss of strength when bent too sharply. Typically, the wire is fabricated into a 3 part (or pass) configuration. Then two or three "matched" sets of the 3 part slings are combined to form a 6 or 9 part sling. The current invention is an improvement over this type of multipart sling utilizing synthetic strength elements configured or fabricated in a more efficient product, such that the advantages of wire style and synthetic style slings are embodied while eliminating or minimizing the disadvantages.
What is needed, therefore, are techniques for manufacturing synthetic slings of lower cost and higher performance.


Disclosed is a high-strength spring steel containing C, Si, Mn, Ni, Cr, Mo, V and the like within the specified range, wherein the above components satisfy the following equation: EQU 550-333[C]-34[Mn]-20[Cr]-17[Ni]-11[Mo].gtoreq. 300. where [C, Mn, Cr, Ni, or Mo] represents wt % of each component, and the average diameter of the non-metallic inclusions of oxides is specified. By use of the above steel, there can be obtained a high-strength spring steel having a tensile strength of 200 kgf/mm.sup.2 or more and being excellent in the fatigue characteristic and the sag resistance. Further, in the above steel, each content of C, Si, Ni, and Cr may be added to satisfies the following equation: EQU 50[Si]+25[Ni]+40[Cr]-100[C].gtoreq. 230. where [Si, Ni, Cr or C] represents wt % of each component. Thus the corrosion fatigue characteristic is also improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-strength spring steel used for a valve spring of an internal combustion engine, a suspension spring and the like, and particularly, to a spring steel for manufacturing a high-strength spring having a tensile strength of 200 kgf/mm.sup.2 or more, and satisfying the fatigue life and the sag resistance required as spring characteristics, and further enhancing a corrosion resistance for improving the corrosion fatigue.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The chemical compositions of the spring steels are specified in JIS G3565 to 3567, 4801 and the like. By use of the above spring steels, various springs are manufactured in the steps of: drawing the rolled material to a specified wire diameter, oil-tempering the wire, and spring-forming it (cold-working); or drawing the rolled material, heating and spring-forming the wire, and quenching/tempering it (hot-working). Recently, higher strength steels for springs are being studied to meet the demand for automobiles of less weight.
Concretely, there has been demanded a high-strength spring steel having a tensile strength of 200 kgf/mm.sup.2 or more, in place of the conventional spring steel having the tensile strength (after quenching/tempering) of approximately 160-180 kgf/mm.sup.2. In the conventional spring steel, of course, it is possible to obtain the tensile strength of 200 kgf/mm.sup.2 or more by the heat-treatment; however, in this case, there is arisen such a disadvantage as being lack of the fatigue life and the sag resistance required as the spring characteristics.
Further, as is well known, in the spring steel, the corrosion fatigue as one of the spring characteristics tends to be deteriorated with increase in the tensile strength after quenching/tempering. One of the reason why the corrosion fatigue is deteriorated is as follows: namely, there occurs the pitting-corrosion having a depth of approximately 100 .mu.m on the surface of the spring in use, which becomes the stress concentration source as a starting point for generation of the fatigue crack. Also, it is considered that the notch sensitivity is increased linearly with the high-strengthening. Accordingly, there occurs a fear of generating the breakage or the like for a relatively short period. Particularly, when being used as the parts of an automobile operated in such a high corrosive environment as scattering salt on the road as an antifreezing agent in winter, for example, in North America, the springs have the problem of introducing the corrosion fatigue.


A configurable flip-flop circuit has modifiable connections between its circuit elements that allow it to be modified for primary and secondary uses. For example, the flip-flop circuit can be modified to provide secondary functions of NOR and NAND gates during an implementation of an ECO. At other times, the flip-flop circuit can be used to deliver normal flip-flop functionality. A configurable latch circuit is provided that can be modified to provide an output signal or an inverted output signal. A scan circuit is provided that can provide the functionality of a multiplexer.

The present invention relates generally to digital circuits, and more particularly, to a configurable flip-flop circuit.
The complexity of integrated circuit (IC) design has continually increased over the years. As a result, using computer software to design an IC has become a necessity. Computer aided design (CAD) tools are used to create an IC blueprint, referred to as a layout, which illustrates a logic level design of the IC. To design the layout, a circuit design is simplified into various logic cells and then these logic cells are appropriately combined to generate a circuit that performs the function of the circuit design. A place-and-route CAD program is then used to optimize the circuit design. The place-and-route program re-arranges the logic cells and the corresponding interconnections to define the most suitable routing scheme and channels to connect the logic cells and other circuit elements. The place-and-route program has a library of predefined logic cell types (e.g., NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR, multiplexer, flip-flop, and other combinational logic circuits) to implement the circuit design.
Design is followed by fabrication, where the blueprint (layout) is used to create basic complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistor layers, contact and metal layers in silicon using a combination of semiconductor processes including depositing, masking, etching and so on. The CMOS transistor layers, and the contact and metal layers define the elements and interconnections of the IC and are combined to form a functional IC.
Certain modifications may be needed in the original layout to either delete or add logic elements and interconnections during the fabrication stage. To expedite the modification process, engineering change orders (ECOs) are generated to document the desired modifications. Thereafter, the layout is modified using the place-and-route CAD tool to incorporate the desired changes.
Conventional IC design protocols often provide additional spare logic cells of different types in the layout. These spare logic cells are used to implement the ECOs. However, due to limitations of the IC design software environment, only a predetermined number and types of spare logic cells are included in the layout, which limits the modifications that may be performed to implement the ECOs. Thus, desired functions may have to be removed or the layout process re-initiated with the desired logic cells. However, re-designing the IC and generating a new layout is very costly and time consuming.
Further, even if a desired spare logic cell is available in the layout, the position of the spare logic cell may not be suitable to meet routing and timing closure requirements. The IC designer is required to painstakingly identify alternate routing paths to circumvent the position constraints of the spare logic cells, thereby leading to higher turnaround time for incorporating the ECO.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a solution that provides a high degree of flexibility for implementing ECOs, and simplifies routing and timing closure requirements.


A bathroom tissue dispenser comprising: a bathroom tissue container with a front side, left side, right side, bottom side and a rear side; a mounting device attached to the bathroom tissue container, to facilitate mounting upon a fixed bathroom tissue roll dispenser without requiring any modification to that fixed dispenser; and an opening or a tear away portion located generally on the front side of the bathroom tissue container. This bathroom tissue dispenser can be quickly and easily mounted upon a fixed bathroom tissue dispenser and may replaced with a new one when the bathroom tissue inside is used up. The used dispenser may be discarded or recycled. A bathroom tissue dispenser comprising: a bathroom tissue container with a front side and a rear side; a wall mounting device attached to the bathroom tissue container; and an opening or tear away portion located generally on the front side of the bathroom tissue container. A bathroom tissue dispenser comprising: a bathroom tissue container with a front side, left side, right side, bottom side and a rear side; and a mounting device attached to the bathroom tissue container to facilitate mounting upon a fixed bathroom tissue roll dispenser. All of these bathroom tissue dispensers will most likely, but not necessarily, be prepackaged with bathroom tissue. The bathroom tissue can be a continuous sheet with perforations to facilitate the tearing off of individual sheets, or the bathroom tissue can be individual sheets stacked on top of each other.

Typically bathroom tissue is dispensed in rolls. Roll dispensers are usually permanently installed in bathrooms using a removeable spindle. In order to replace a bathroom tissue roll, the spindle must be removed from the roll dispenser, the old roll of bathroom tissue removed from the spindle, the new roll of bathroom tissue threaded onto the spindle, and the spindle and bathroom tissue roll reinstalled in the roll dispenser. Many times the roll dispenser is located adjacent to a toilet, or other object, making access to the roll dispenser difficult, thereby making the replacement of tissue rolls in the roll dispenser an arduous task, especially for older users and handicapped users. The width of typical bathroom tissue rolls is unsatisfactory to many people who would prefer wider bathroom tissue which would be easier to use and more effective. The amount of bathroom tissue that can fit on a typical roll is limited and many people would like a bathroom tissue dispenser that can hold a larger quantity of tissue so as to reduce the frequency with which it has to be replaced.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a bathroom tissue dispenser that overcomes the above listed and other disadvantages.


Provided herein is an improved apparatus, method and system for providing a modular LED circuit assembly. Specifically, examples of the present invention include a modular LED circuit which may be scaled and used in a wide variety of form factors. One example of the present invention may provide an apparatus for supporting a light-emitting diode which includes an LED circuit board including a first major surface and a second major surface. The first major surface may include a first contact pad and a second contact pad, where each of the first contact pad and the second contact pad are configured to receive a respective connector from the LED. The second major surface of the LED circuit board may include a first area, a second area, and a third area, where a substrate is attached to the LED circuit board across the third area.

Electric light sources exist in a variety of form factors from residential or commercial light fixtures to hand-held flashlights. Conventional incandescent light bulbs have given way to more efficient fluorescent light bulbs and compact florescent light (CFL) bulbs to provide substantially similar light while consuming less power. While a florescent light is more efficient than an equivalently bright incandescent light, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are more efficient still at producing an equivalent light.
LEDs were initially relatively expensive as compared to incandescent or florescent lights, and were not suitable for many applications. Additionally, low intensity and limited color options for LEDs limited their usefulness. Recent developments in the field of LEDs have caused LED light sources to become ubiquitous replacements or supplements to conventional light sources. Further, LEDs may be packaged in considerably smaller form factors than equivalently bright incandescent lights or florescent lights. However, LEDs may be susceptible to overheating, leading to premature failure.

Apparatus, method and system for a modular light-emitting diode circuit assembly

Zweibruder Optoelectronics GmbH & Co. KG


A method for managing authorization to access Internet services. A session object is created when a user logs onto a web site. The session object includes authorization-privilege information for N services. The user selects the service desired from the web site, at which point the server checks the session object. If the session object does not include authorization to access the selected service, the server consults a directory service. If the user is authorized according to the directory service, authorization-to-access information is incorporated into the session object. When authorization is conditional, a listener object is created within the session object. The listener object registers with a broadcast object and receives information germane to conditions of authorization. The listener object analyzes the information according to conditions of authorization, and terminates access to the selected service when conditions of authorization are not satisfied.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Application Service Providers (ASPs) offer a variety of services through the World Wide Web. As a matter of business practice, access to these services may be controlled to admit only users who meet certain qualifications or who have established themselves as paying customers. In general, controlling access has two aspects—authentication and authorization. Authentication is the process of verifying a user's identity, and is typically satisfied when the user proffers an account identifier such as a "USERID" and password. Authorization is the process of verifying that the user, once properly authenticated, has privilege to access a particular service.
It is important to note that authorization decisions are binary. The binary nature of authorization—a user is either authorized to access a particular service, or not—constrains the service provider's options. Rather than have all authorization decisions be binary decisions, a service provider might prefer instead to authorize a particular user to access a selected service under certain conditions, and yet deny the same user authorization to access the same service when conditions change. For example, a service provider might make authorization to access a particular Internet service dependent upon time of day, granting around-the-clock authorization to access the service only to users who agree to a premium billing rate, and granting other users authorization to access the service only at certain times of the day.
In principle, a condition of authorization such as time-of-day dependence might be imposed by adding a parameter to a user's directory services profile, and checking this parameter before granting authorization to access a selected service. For example, a particular user's directory services profile might show that the user has authorization to access a chat room between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM. When such a user selected the chat room service, the current time of day would be compared with the conditions of authorization in the user's directory services profile, and authorization to access the chat room would be either granted or denied depending on the outcome of the comparison.
A significant problem arises, however, when a user's authorization to access a service needs to be revoked mid-course through a session rather than denied at the beginning of the session. For example, the user mentioned above would be authorized to access the chat room at 7:25 PM. At 8:00 PM, however, the user's access to the chat room should be revoked or terminated. Notwithstanding, revoking access is easier said than done. When a service provider supports hundreds of thousands of users, considerations of processing efficiency become paramount—with today's technology, it is not practical to periodically poll hundreds of thousands of session objects and variables to maintain globally correct access information and access authorizations.
Thus, there is a need for a way of controlling authorization to access Internet services that empowers service providers to manage session objects efficiently and dynamically to grant, deny, and terminate-mid-course access authorizations for members of large populations of users, wherein a service provider does not incur the processing burden of periodically polling a large set of session objects and access-control variables.

Dynamic control of authorization to access internet services

International Business Machines Corporation


A rod guide 10 for positioning on a sucker rod includes a sleeve-shaped guide body 12 and two or more spiraling vanes 14, 16 each extending radially outward from the sleeve-shaped body, with each vane spiraling about the body and defining a flow path between circumferentially spaced vanes. Each vane has a forward portion 24 spiraling in a forward direction, and a backward portion 26 spiraling in a backward direction rotatably opposite the forward direction. The rod guide may be used for either reciprocating rod or rotating rod applications.

Various types of rod guides and scrapers have been devised to remove wax, paraffin, and other debris from the interior wall of production tubing. Most rod guides include a sleeve-shaped body for positioning over the sucker rod and one or more vanes projecting radially from the body, with one or more vanes being relatively straight (parallel to the axis of the rod), slanted (inclined at an angle relative to the axis of the rod), or helical (spiraling relative to the axis of the rod). The spacing between the vanes, or between a slanted or spiraling single vane, serves as a flow path for passing production fluid past the rod guide.
Most rod guides today are manufactured from a plastic material. Rod guides may be secured in various ways to the sucker rod. In one application, the rod guide is molded onto the sucker rod, and is thus rigid with the sucker rod due to the molding process.
For many applications, a rod guide provided with spiraling vanes is preferred over a straight or slanted vane guide, since more of the circumference of the tubing may be cleaned by a single spiraling guide compared to a single straight-vane guide in a reciprocating rod application. Spiraling rod guides do, however, cause high fluid drag forces to fluid passing by the rod guide and to the surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,254 discloses a helical rod guide for use with a progressing cavity pump rod. The helical guide may employ either one or two lead vanes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,754 discloses a helical scraper for a reciprocating sucker rod. Each of two vanes extends 180°about the body, with the ends of a flow channel between the vanes being parallel to the body of the sucker rod. U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,311 discloses a method of retarding sand buildup by employing helical vanes which are affixed to connective rods by shrink couplings. Other patents of interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,660,534, 5,941,312, 6,065,537, 6,290,475, and 6,484,882, and Canadian Patents 2,260,710 and 2,291,394.
The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, and an improved rod guide and method of molding a rod guide are hereinafter disclosed.

Method of forming and securing a rod guide on a sucker rod


A client device is configured to communicate with an access point over a wireless network, exchanging data with the access point over a selected communication channel. The client device stores an identifier of the selected communication channel. After the wireless connection to the access point has ended, the client device initiates a process to reconnect to the access point over the selected communication channel using the stored identifier.

Wireless access points enable computing devices to communicate with other devices in a network. A computing device can send data to an access point for transmission over the network or receive data from the access point that originated from another device in the network. The access point and computing device may communicate with one another via a plurality of communication channels, each of which represents a logical coupling between the access point and the computing device and specifies a range of frequencies for signals transmitted to or from the devices. The access point and computing device switch between communication channels in response to dynamic conditions, including varying traffic on the channels and changing distances between the access point and device.
Current protocols used by computing devices to connect to and communication with wireless access points are power-intensive. For example, when connecting to an access point, a computing device may send one or more probes to the access point over each of multiple channels. Each of these probes consumes power at the computing device. For low-power devices, such as those operating on a battery without a dedicated power line, connecting to an access point by standard methods can consume excessive power and reduce the amount of time each battery charge will last.

Battery efficient wireless network connection and registration for a low-power device


An image generation apparatus 200 includes a distortion information storage section 234 that stores, as distortion information, information for deforming and distorting an image, and a distortion rendering section 232 that renders a distorted image by rasterization processing using the distortion information without generating a non-distorted image in a memory. The distortion rendering section 232 renders the distorted image by executing the rasterization processing on a distorted triangle obtained by transforming a triangle to be rasterized on the basis of the distortion information such that the processing is executed upward and downward from positions of vertices of the distorted triangle.

Systems with improved realistic sensations have been developed in which a three-dimensional video is displayed on a head-mounted display and in which a three-dimensional video corresponding to a line-of-sight direction is displayed when a user on which the head-mounted display is mounted rotates the head. Utilization of the head-mounted display allows enhancement of a sense of immersion into the video and improvement of operability of applications such as games.
The head-mounted display employs an optical lens with a high curvature to cause a video with a wide field of view to be displayed in front of and around the eyes of the user and is configured such that the user gazes into a display panel via the lens. However, the use of the high-curvature lens causes the video to be distorted due to distortion aberration. Thus, to allow the video to be correctly viewed through the high-curvature lens, the head-mounted display is configured as follows: distortion correction is performed on a rendered image in advance, the image subjected to the distortion correction is transmitted to the head-mounted display, and the image is displayed on the display panel and can be normally viewed by the user through the high-curvature lens.

Image generation apparatus and image generation method


This invention relates to a seal plate system adapted to fit between axially adjacent turbine blades and turbine vanes to seal a rim cavity. The seal plate system may be formed from a seal plate supported by a plurality of extended disk lugs extending from a disk. The seal plate system may also include one or more extended disk lug receiving cavities adapted to receive protrusions extending from the disc. One or more ribs may extend from the seal plate for increasing the structural integrity of the seal plate.

In a conventional gas turbine engine, a rotor assembly is formed from a plurality of axially spaced rows of turbine blades separated by rows of stationary turbine vanes supported by framework proximate to the shell of the turbine engine. Adjacent rows of turbine blades may be separated by mini discs or other components to maintain the appropriate position of the turbine blades relative to each other. Due to the hot temperatures encountered by the turbine blades during normal turbine engine operation, conventional turbine blades typically include internal cooling systems and film cooling systems that receive cooling fluids from internal channels within the rotor assembly. Cooling fluids may be supplied to the turbine blades from rotor assemblies.
In conventional rotor assemblies, turbine vanes are sealed to the rotor assembly with a plurality of seal plates positioned axially between a row of turbine blades and a row of turbine vanes. The seal plates are supported in position with arms extending from the turbine blades. Because of the high temperature environment in which the seal plates are placed, seal plates are susceptible to buckling and other deformations. Thus, a need exists for an improved seal plate system.

Seal plate for turbine rotor assembly between turbine blade and turbine vane


A multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay that targets nine tetranucleotide short tandem repeat (STR) markers in the mouse genome. Unique profiles were obtained from seventy-two mouse samples that were used to determine the allele distribution for each STR marker. Correlations between allele fragment length and repeat number were determined with DNA Sanger sequencing. Genotypes for L929 and NIH3T3 cell lines were shown to be stable with increasing passage numbers as there were no significant differences in fragment length with samples of low passage when compared to high passage samples. In order to detect cell line contaminants, primers for two human STR markers were incorporated into the multiplex assay to facilitate detection of human and African green monkey DNA. This multiplex assay is the first of its kind to provide a unique STR profile for each individual mouse sample and can be used to authenticate mouse cell lines.

Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates to cell lines and mouse strains, more particularly, to mouse cell line authentication.
Description of Related Art
Cell line authentication is becoming increasingly important. For example, cell line authentication is now required by some journals prior to publication. In some cases, cell line authentication may be mandatory before receiving funding from some granting agencies.
The Federal Drug Administration has also instituted a requirement for the authentication of cell lines used to produce pharmaceuticals. Methods are currently in place for authenticating human cell lines using multiplex PCR assays that target short tandem repeat (STR) markers in the human genome and are capable of generating a unique individual genotypic profile. Cell repositories may now genotype their human cell lines using at least eight human STR markers including a marker for amelogenin, the sex identification locus.
Large databases of STR profiles may be used to confirm genotypes of human cell lines. These databases may also be used to provide a record of previously misidentified or cross-contaminated human cell lines. The American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) website maintains an updated list of misidentified human cell lines. Although there are successful methods in place for human cell line authentication, methods for nonhuman cell lines are not well established.
Mouse cell lines are commonly used to study human genes and disease. Mouse cells may also be used in the biomanufacturing of recombinant proteins and may also function as feeder cells for embryonic stem cells.
In the prior art, there are a number of techniques used to identify mouse cell lines or mouse strains, including but not limited to microsatellite markers (simple sequence length polymorphism (SSLP) or STR markers), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and species-specific primers. One of the most commonly used laboratory strains is the Mus musculus domesticus strain. This strain may be difficult to genotype due to many shared alleles as a result of extensive breeding.
There have been published reports of multiplexing mouse SSLPs post-PCR by pooling the amplified products to distinguish between different strains of inbred mice. However, most of the microsatellite markers that have been used for these purposes are dinucleotide in nature, mainly CA repeats, which may result in noisy stutter and have relatively high mutation frequencies when compared to tetranucleotide repeats. The reduced stutter associated with tetranucleotide repeats may allow for easier interpretation of single and mixed profiles.
There is a need for mouse cell line authentication based on tetranucleotide repeats, as opposed to microsatellite markers that are dinucleotide in nature.
Current methods may lack the resolution to differentiate between individual mice of the same subspecies. SNPs may be well-conserved between inbred mice of the same strain. Thus, it may be difficult to differentiate between interstrain mice using this method. Even an extensive array containing over 600,000 mouse SNPs may still be unable to identify individual mice within the same subspecies.
Species-specific primers may be used to determine the origin of species for cell lines. However, species-specific primers may lack specificity to identify at the individual level.
For human cell lines, practices have been adopted that are currently used to identify such cells. These practices are based on the detection of short tandem repeat (STR) markers. However, for the large volume of research that is performed using nonhuman cell lines (mouse, hamster, monkey, etc.), there are no STR marker assays that are able to uniquely and unequivocally identify a particular cell line.
There is further a need for a mouse cell line authentication assay that uniquely identifies cell lines at the individual level.

The United States of America, as Represented by the Secretary of Commerce


Projection display systems for light valves such as liquid crystal display panels, and in particular to the use of color component rotators, such as retardation filters, to provide for improved projection display architectures.

The present invention relates to projection display systems for light valves such as liquid crystal display panels, and in particular to the use of color component rotators, such as retardation filters, to provide for improved projection display architectures.
Projection systems for reflective liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are generally characterized by their complexity and large size relative to the systems implemented for transmissive LCDs. FIG. 1A discloses a prior art configuration for a transmissive LCD projector, while FIG. 1B shows a prior art reflective LCD projector for comparison. Dichroic filters DF1 and DF2 separate the red, green, and blue color components. The reflective LCDs require a polarizing beamsplitter (PBS) to be placed in front of each LCD in order to reflect light toward the reflective LCD, and then to transmit the modulated light. These components add complexity to the system and require the use of a larger distribution and recombination optical system to divide the light into the three color channels (i.e. the optical paths traveled by the three color components such as red, green, and blue).
An alternative system for reflective LCDs divides the illumination into the three color channels and recombines the output distributions into a smaller and less complex system. The basic configuration is shown in FIG. 2. However, the illumination input to this system must have a very specific distribution of color components and polarizations in which two of the color components (green and blue) are polarized in one direction, and the other color component (red) is polarized orthogonally to the other two. In order to produce that combination of color components and polarizations, a complicated prefiltering system is needed.
One such system is shown in FIG. 2, and indicates that considerable complexity is added back to the system in order to implement the prefiltering. In the system shown in FIG. 2, only one-half of the light is used, since the unwanted polarization state of each color component is simply discarded. In order to increase brightness of the system, a more complex prefiltering system is required that recycles the polarized light.
Various architectures have been proposed for projection display systems. Ledebuhr, U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,301, and Ledebuhr, U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,649, both describe projection systems for liquid crystal light valve (LCLV). The LCLV is an optically addressed reflective LC modulator and the systems described in these patents show optics to split a light source into separate colors paths and then individually illuminate and project the three LCLV devices. Both of these systems use only one-half of the illumination light since the unwanted polarization state is initially discarded. Ledebuhr, U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,301, uses a complicated color separating system to direct the color components to the LCLVs. Ledebuhr, U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,649 uses simpler but more numerous elements resulting in a large projection system.
Doany, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,486, and Dove, U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,060, both describe architectures that use Philips type prisms to control the three separate color channels. Doany, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,486, uses a single PBS prism to control the light into and out of all three LCIs) and a Philips prism to both split up and recombine the color channels. This arrangement appears simple, but the control of color in a Philips prism for p-polarization on the input and s-polarization on the output is extremely difficult, and no successful implementation of this type of system exists. Dove, U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,060, places a P13S prism in front of each LCD and uses the Philips prism only to recombine the color channels. This requires a second optical arrangement to split up the color distributions and leads to a larger, more complicated system overall.
Ooi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,860, uses an offset illumination and projection scheme. The system does not use a PBS prism, but instead relies on the offset to separate the input and output light distributions. The color splitting and recombination is accomplished by tilted dichroics that perform essentially the same as the dichroics in a Philips prism, with the same polarization related problems.
Hattori et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,819, and Ueda, U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,961, both describe minor variations of the typical reflective LCD projector of FIG. 1B. These systems use a crossed dichroic prism to recombine light from the three LCDs and a separate crossed dichroic arrangement to perform the color splitting from the illumination system.
Sharp, U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,384, describes techniques for making waveband-specific retardation filters. This patent also describes a single panel LCD projector using the retardation filters in an active color shutter to gate the three colors onto the LCD for color field sequential projection.
Nevertheless, there remains a need for a bright projection display system, preferably for reflective LCD panels that utilize a small architecture. What is therefore desired is a projection display that is as small as or smaller than conventional projection displays, is capable of utilizing reflective LCD panels, uses readily available optical elements that perform well, uses conventional polarization converters, and provides good contrast without sacrificing brightness.


This invention discloses a novel design for increasing the surface area of a stacked capacitor used in DRAM devices. The upper and lower plates of the capacitor comprises of several concave structures. The concave structures are first produces on an LS-SOG layer using focused ion beam lithography, which is then mapped to the lower plate of the capacitor. A dielectric layer is deposited, after which an upper plate is formed. The concave structures increases the plate area, thereby increasing charge storage capacity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method of fabricating semiconductor memory cells having stacked capacitors, and more particularly to a method of fabricating stacked capacitor DRAM devices having concave structures.
2. Background of the Invention
A DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) cell is a semiconductor memory device typically comprising one access transistor and one capacitor, in which one bit of data is stored in a cell by using an electric charge. One terminal of the capacitor is connected to the source of the access transistor. Another terminal of the capacitor is connected to a reference voltage. The transistor gate electrode is connected to external connection lines, e.g., bit lines or word lines.
Advances in computer applications have increased the demand for higher capacity memory chips. Decreasing the size of the memory cells allows more memory cells to be packed into an integrated circuit. A capacitor comprises of a lower conducting plate, a dielectric layer, and an upper conducting plate. The capacitance is proportional to the surface area of the conducting plates and the dielectric layer. As the area of the memory cell is decreased, the capacitance of the capacitors tends to decrease also, lowering the performance of the memory cells.
In order to increase the density of memory cells, stacked capacitors have been proposed. Stacked capacitors are made by partially stacking the storage capacitor on top of the access transistor and on top of the bit/word line, thereby effectively reducing the area used for each memory cell. Methods for further increasing the capacitance of the stacked capacitor include increasing the surface area of the capacitor plates and increasing the dielectric constant of the capacitor insulating layer.
Various methods have been proposed to increase the surface area of the electrodes of the capacitors. Because of the small size of the capacitors, it is difficult to use lithography methods to form small corrugations due to light diffraction effects. One method that has been proposed is to use ring shaped, or bathtub shaped capacitors, utilizing the side walls of the ring shape structure to increase the surface area of the capacitor plates. FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a stacked capacitor DRAM cell. The capacitor has a ring shape, or bathtub shape, structure with rising side walls. The side walls increase the surface area of the dielectric layer, thereby increasing the capacitor capacitance. These capacitors are fabricated using complex procedures, including a plurality of deposition, patterning, and etch-back processes. As the dimensions of the DRAM devices are further decreased, however, even this ring shaped configuration can not provide sufficient capacitance.
Recently, a method of using focused ion beam (FIB) lithography on ladder silicone spin-on glass (LS-SOG) has been proposed. The LS-SOG acts as a positive photoresist of FIB, which is patterned by exposure to ion radiation, and etched back by buffered hydrofluoric acid (BHF). (Reference: K. Suzuki, et al., JPn., J. Appl. Phys., vol. 35, P.6517, 1996). The ion-irradiated part of the LS-SOG is etched away by BHF, and a "U-shaped" cross section structure is formed in the unirradiated region due to the special property intrinsic to the LS-SOG. The smallest dimension available by the focused ion beam lithography is about 0.1 micron.

Method of fabricating DRAM cell with capacitor having multiple concave structure


An image sensing system includes an image sensor and a black clamping circuit which reside on the same substrate. Particular embodiments use common components for both imaging and black clamping, and digital control of an analog black clamp function.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to digital imaging devices, and particularly to on-chip black normalization for digital imaging devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital imaging has become popular in recent years, including digital cameras, digital camcorders and high definition televisions (HDTVs). Most digital imaging systems use an image sensor that converts visible light into an analog or digital signal. Many image sensor applications, especially video applications, require a signal level to represent the absence of visible light (the color black). The signal level that corresponds to black needs to be stable over varying temperatures and illumination conditions so that the image sensor delivers consistent color quality.
Black normalization, or black clamping, is a process used by imaging systems to maintain an accurate black reference over time. Some of the sensor's pixels are masked to generate a signal that corresponds to black. This signal is used to update and maintain a black reference for the overall sensor.
Black normalization is more important for video or HDTV applications because it has to be performed almost instantaneously and continuously. It is less critical for still photography applications because normalization of all colors can be accomplished at some time after the image has been captured.
An image sensor currently used by many imaging systems is a charge-coupled device (CCD). Black clamping in CCD imaging systems has been accomplished separate from the image sensing chip, as shown in STMicroelectronics' data sheet STV0502. Therefore, CCD imaging systems occupy a relatively large amount of space on a circuit board and are expensive to manufacture. As shown in the same data sheet, black clamping is done with analog components, which are difficult to control and are limited in the calculations that can be performed during the normalization process.
Another type of image sensor employs CMOS sensing elements. CMOS sensors use a fixed black reference or are used in applications that do not need a continuously updated, accurate black reference.


A rubber composition having high adhesiveness to a metal, high modulus, high set resistance and high heat resistance, comprising raw material rubber, 2,4-dimercapto-6-substituted-1,3,5-triazine and a polymer having epoxy groups crosslinkable with the raw material rubber; a process for producing the rubber composition exhibiting adhesion stability, by controlling temperature of mixing step when crosslinking the rubber composition with an organic crosslinking agent; and a hose having excellent heat resistance and sufficient modulus and compression set resistance, wherein an inner tube and/or outer cover comprise the rubber composition and a reinforcing layer comprises brass-plated steel wires. Further, a compounding agent having good handling property comprising triallyl isocyanurate or the like supported on silica (solidified product), obtained by heat treating a mixture of triallyl isocyanurate or the like and silica, and a rubber composition having high modulus while maintaining high heat resistance, containing the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rubber composition having high adhesiveness to a metal, high modulus, high compression set resistance and high heat resistance, which enables the production of rubber/metal composite products to be used in the fields that require heat resistance and oil resistance. The present invention further relates to the composition can be suitably used for the products such as hoses, belts, tires, rolls and mold goods, and a producing method thereof. The present invention also relates to a hose having excellent adhesiveness between an inner tube and the like comprising the rubber composition and a reinforcing layer and excellent heat resistance. The present invention further relates to a rubber compounding agent that is easy-handling and improves heat resistance and modulus of a rubber, and a rubber composition containing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, many rubber products such as hoses, belts, tires, rolls and mold goods come to be used under high temperature and high pressure and also together with an oil heated for a long time, and deterioration of rubber products under such conditions always brings significant problems. If deterioration of rubber products is remarkable, very much time and labor are needed for maintenance or replacement of such deteriorated rubber products. Sometimes deterioration of rubber products may cause a large accident.
Conventional polymers that can be durable to continuous use under such high temperature (about 120-150xc2x0 C.) environment are acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber (NBR), ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber (EPM), ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer rubber (EPDM), acrylic rubber (ACM), ethylene-acrylic acid ester copolymer rubber (AEM), ethylene-acrylic acid ester-vinyl acetate copolymer rubber (ER), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer rubber (EVM), chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber (CSM), chlorinated polyethylene rubber (CM) and hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber (HNBR) obtained by hydrogenating a conjugated diene portion of acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber (NBR).
In general, in rubber compositions, it is known that an organic peroxide-crosslinked rubber composition using an organic peroxide has excellent heat resistance as compared with a sulfur-vulcanized rubber composition using sulfur in vulcanization.
However, the organic peroxide-crosslinked rubber composition does not generally contain sulfur that reacts with a metal for adhesion. As a result, such an organic peroxide-crosslinked rubber composition has poor adhesiveness to a metal surface and does not adhere to a brass that is plated on a metal surface. Therefore, rubber products composed of a combination of such an organic peroxide-crosslinked rubber composition and a metal such as a brass-plated steel plate have defects in that separation occurs at the interface between a rubber layer and a plated layer, resulting in breakage of the goods.
Diene rubber widely used in rubber products have excellent adhesiveness to a metal but do not have excellent heat resistance if sulfur in an ordinary amount is used as a crosslinking agent and an adhesive promoter is also compounded for improving adhesiveness to a metal. Further, where an adhesive promoter is not compounded, the amount of sulfur compounded is decreased that the ordinarily used amount and a vulcanization accelerator such as a sulfur donor is used together, for the purpose of improving heat resistance, heat resistance is improved but adhesiveness to a metal is decreased, resulting in impairing adhesiveness. Also, if an organic peroxide is used as a crosslinking agent for the improvement of heat resistance, heat resistance is excellent but adhesiveness to a metal is poor.
On the other hand, non-diene rubbers have excellent heat resistance and hence are used in various uses. However, non-diene rubber is difficult for vulcanization with sulfur, and it is necessary to crosslink with an organic peroxide or the like. In other words, since sulfur giving good adhesiveness to a metal cannot be used as a crosslinking agent, it is extremely difficult to directly adhere non-diene rubber to a metal. Various proposals have been made on formulation for developing adhesiveness. For example, JP-A-55-125155 describes that a polymer composition comprising an organic peroxide-crosslinkable polymer, organic peroxide, an epoxy resin and 2,4-dimercapto-6-R-1,3,5-triazine has a good adhesiveness to brass. From the results of our investigation and the contents of description in examples of the JP-A, it is presumed that the good adhesiveness is due to utilization of a reaction of chlorine in a chlorine-containing polymer such as chlorinated polyethylene with 2,4-dimercapto-6-R-1,3,5-triazine, a reaction of 2,4-dimercapto-6-R-1,3,5-triazine with an epoxy resin and a reaction of 2,4-dimercapto-6-R-1,3,5-triazine with copper in brass. However, since a reaction for adhesion does not occur in the case of chlorine-free polymers, there is a defect that such an adhesiveness does not sufficiently satisfy the adhesiveness in the level presently required.
For example, wires used as a reinforcing material of rubber hoses are generally high carbon steel wires, and in many cases, the wires are plated with brass to improve adhesiveness to a rubber.
However, where hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber (HNBR) or ethylene-acrylic acid ester copolymer rubber (AEM) such as ethylene-methyl acrylate copolymer rubber, having excellent heat resistance are used as, for example, an inner tube of a hose, those rubber are non-diene rubber which do not have unsaturated bonds in the main chain or side chains, and therefore sulfur cannot be used as a crosslinking agent. As a result, the non-diene rubber does not adhere to a reinforcing layer comprising reinforcing steel wires plated with brass.
Thus, regardless of diene rubber or non-diene rubber, rubber is demanded to overcome the above-described problems and to satisfy both adhesiveness to a metal and heat resistance.
Further, from the point of light-weight of rubber compositions, demand for high rigidity of rubber compositions is increasing, and rubber compositions having high modulus are demanded. There are various techniques to improve modulus of rubber compositions but on the other hand, there is disadvantage of impairing other physical properties, particularly heat resistance. Thus, it is necessary to optimize the physical properties in every rubber composition while balancing the physical properties.
Crosslinking aids have conventionally be used in rubber compositions crosslinked with organic peroxide to improve modulus (ex. stress at 100% elongation). Bifunctional or multifunctional polymerizable monomers are generally used as the crosslinking aids. Of those, triallyl isocyanurate (TAIC) and triallyl cyanurate (TAC) are known as having high efficiency of co-crosslinking and particularly high effect to improve modulus. However, triallyl isocyanurate has a melting point in the vicinity of 25xc2x0 C. and triallyl cyanurate has a melting point in the vicinity of 27xc2x0 C. Therefore, there are the disadvantages that those compounds are liquid if temperature is high, which are difficult to mix with a solid material, and those compounds are solid if temperature is low, which are also difficult to mix with a solid material, thus handling properties are poor. It is thus desired to overcome those problems.
Further, where TAIC and/or TAC and silica are used together, handling properties not only TAIC and/or TAC but also silica become problem in many cases. Specifically, since silica has a strong hydrophilicity, there is the problem that it is difficult for silica to be uniformly dispersed in the case of mixing with a hydrophobic material, and there is also the problem that silica is scattered in air in working because of the bulkiness thereof.
On the other hand, there are many cases that organic peroxide-crosslinkable rubber compositions, particularly organic peroxide-crosslinkable rubber compositions comprising a polymer in which the main chain is a methylene chain, as the main component of a raw material rubber are used for rubber compositions requiring high heat resistance.
However, if TAIC and/or TAC are used in large amount in the rubber compositions comprising a polymer in which the main chain is a methylene chain, as the main component of a raw material rubber in order to impart high modulus, those do not contribute to co-crosslinking, thereby increasing the proportion of the self-curable rubber components. As a result, the inherent heat resistance of rubber compositions is impaired and in addition, breakage strength such as tear strength or tensile strength deteriorates. Thus, it was practically impossible to make modulus remarkably high by adding a large amount of TAIC and/or TAC.
Therefore, a compounding agent for rubber that does not impair heat resistance and can realize high modulus is desired regarding the organic peroxide-crosslinkable rubber compositions comprising a polymer in which the main chain is a methylene chain, as the main component of a raw material rubber.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a rubber composition that has high adhesiveness to a metal (brass), high modulus, high compression set resistance and high heat resistance and due to those properties, can suitably be used in composite products of a rubber and a metal, such as hoses, belts, tires, rolls and molded products.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for producing the rubber composition that exhibits adhesion stability of the rubber composition.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a hose having excellent heat resistance, durability and the like in which a reinforcing layer comprises a reinforcing steel wire plated with brass and the rubber composition is used as an inner tube material that adhesiveness between the inner tube and the reinforcing layer is excellent and heat resistance, modulus and compression set resistance are particularly good.
Further object of the present invention is to provide TAIC and/or TAC supported on silica, used in a compounding agent for a rubber, having good handling properties, and a compounding agent for a rubber, comprising the same.
Still further object of the present invention is to provide a rubber composition having improved modulus while maintaining high heat resistance by using the compounding agent in an organic peroxide-crosslinkable non-diene raw material rubber composition, particularly a rubber composition containing a polymer having a methylene chain as the main chain.
According a first embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a rubber composition comprising:
(1) 100 parts by mass of a raw material rubber, with the exception of a copolymer rubber having an iodine value of 15 or less, having in a polymer chain 10 to 45% by mass of a unit portion from an unsaturated nitrile (Y portion; VCN), 0 to 5% by mass of a unit portion from a conjugated diene (Z portion; Cxe2x95x90C) and 90 to 50% by mass of a unit portion obtained by hydrogenating a unit portion from a unit portion from an ethylenically unsaturated monomer other than the unsaturated nitrile and/or a unit portion of the conjugated diene (X portion; Cxe2x80x94C);
(2) 0.1 to 15 parts by mass of 2,4-dimercapto-6-substituted-1,3,5-triazine represented by the following formula 1:
xe2x80x83wherein R represents a group selected from the group consisting of mercapto group, alkoxyl group, monoalkylamino group, diaklylamino group, monocycloalkylamino group, dicycloalkylamino group and N-alkyl-N-arylamino group; and
(3) 1 to 100 parts by mass of a polymer having epoxy groups crosslinkable with the raw material rubber.
Preferred embodiments in the first embodiment are as follows.
Preferred rubber composition of the present invention is an organic peroxide-crosslinkable raw material rubber, with the exception of a copolymer rubber having an iodine value of 15 or less, having in a polymer chain 10 to 45% by mass of a unit portion from an unsaturated nitrile (Y portion; VCN), 0 to 5% by mass of a unit portion from a conjugated diene (Z portion; Cxe2x95x90C) and 90 to 50% by mass of a unit portion obtained by hydrogenating a unit portion from a unit portion from an ethylenically unsaturated monomer other than the unsaturated nitrile and/or a unit portion of the conjugated diene (X portion; Cxe2x80x94C), and the polymer having epoxy groups is an organic peroxide-crosslinkable polymer.
Preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the organic peroxide-crosslinkable raw material rubber is a diene rubber.
Preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the organic peroxide-crosslinkable raw material rubber is a non-diene rubber, with the exception of a copolymer rubber having an iodine value of 15 or less, having in a polymer chain 10 to 45% by mass of a unit portion from an unsaturated nitrile (Y portion; VCN), 0 to 5% by mass of a unit portion from a conjugated diene (Z portion; Cxe2x95x90C) and 90 to 50% by mass of a unit portion obtained by hydrogenating a unit portion from a unit portion from an ethylenically unsaturated monomer other than the unsaturated nitrile and/or a unit portion of the conjugated diene (X portion; Cxe2x80x94C).
Preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the organic peroxide-crosslinkable raw material rubber is at least one member selected from the group consisting of ethylene-acrylic acid ester copolymer rubber, ethylene-acrylic acid ester-vinyl acetate copolymer rubber and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer rubber.
Preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the organic peroxide-crosslinkable raw material rubber is selected from the group consisting of ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber and/or ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer rubber.
Preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the organic peroxide-crosslinkable raw material rubber is selected from the group consisting of chlorinated polyethylene rubber and/or chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber.
Preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the diene rubber is acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber.
Preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the raw material rubber is a sulfur-crosslinkable raw material rubber, and the polymer having epoxy groups is a sulfur-crosslinkable polymer.
Preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the raw material rubber an d the polymer having epoxy groups are a raw material rubber having epoxy groups.
Further preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the raw material rubber having epoxy groups is acrylic rubber containing a monomer having epoxy groups as a copolymerizable component.
Further preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the rubber composition further comprises 0.1 to 30 parts by mass of at least one member selected from the group consisting of triallyl isocyanurate and triallyl cyanurate.
Further preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the rubber composition further comprises 1 to 50 parts by mass of silica.
According to a second embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a process for producing a rubber composition comprising:
(1) 100 parts by mass of an organic peroxide-crosslinkable raw material rubber;
(2) 0.1 to 15 parts by mass of 2,4-dimercapto-6-substituted-1,3,5-triazine represented by the following formula 1:
xe2x80x83wherein R represents a group selected from the group consisting of mercapto group, alkoxyl group, monoalkylamino group, diaklylamino group, monocycloalkylamino group, dicycloalkylamino group and N-alkyl-N-arylamino group; and
(3) 1 to 100 parts by mass of a polymer having organic peroxide-crosslinkable epoxy groups; and
(4) 1 to 10 parts by mass of organic peroxide, which comprises maintaining a temperature of a mixture at 140xc2x0 C. or lower through the overall steps of from mixing the raw material rubber with at least one of the remaining components to mixing all the components.
Preferred embodiment in the second embodiment is as follows.
Preferred process for producing the rubber composition of the present invention is that temperature of the mixture in the steps after addition of the 2,4-dimercapto-6-substituted-1,3,5-triazine is 100xc2x0 C. or lower.
According to a third embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a hose comprising a rubber composition which comprises:
(1) 100 parts by mass of an organic peroxide-crosslinkable raw material rubber;
(2) 0.1 to 15 parts by mass of 2,4-dimercapto-6-substituted-1,3,5-triazine represented by the following formula 1:
xe2x80x83wherein R represents a group selected from the group consisting of mercapto group, alkoxyl group, monoalkylamino group, diaklylamino group, monocycloalkylamino group, dicycloalkylamino group and N-alkyl-N-arylamino group; and
(3) 1 to 100 parts by mass of a polymer having organic peroxide-crosslinkable epoxy groups; and
(4) 1 to 10 parts by mass of an organic peroxide.
Preferred embodiments in the third embodiment are as follows.
Preferred hose of the present invention is that the raw material rubber in the rubber composition forming the inner tube and/or outer cover is a copolymer rubber having an iodine value of 15 or less, having in a polymer chain 10 to 45% by mass of a unit portion from an unsaturated nitrile (Y portion; VCN), 0 to 5% by mass of a unit portion from a conjugated diene (Z portion; Cxe2x95x90C) and 90 to 50% by mass of a unit portion obtained by hydrogenating a unit portion from a unit portion from an ethylenically unsaturated monomer other than the unsaturated nitrile and/or a unit portion of the conjugated diene (X portion; Cxe2x80x94C).
Preferred hose of the present invention is that the raw material rubber in the rubber composition forming the inner tube and/or outer cover is ethylene-acrylic acid ester copolymer rubber (AEM).
Preferred hose of the present invention is that the inner tube comprises a rubber composition containing the HNBR, and the outer cover comprises a rubber composition containing the AEM.
According to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, there is provided triallyl isocyanurate and/or triallyl cyanurate supported on silica, comprising 30 to 80% by mass of isocyanurate and/or cyanurate and/or their oligomers and 70 to 20% by mass of silica, the isocyanurate and/or cyanurate is obtained by heat treating triallyl isocyanurate and/or triallyl isocyanurate in the presence of silica.
According to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a compounding agent for a rubber, comprising the triallyl isocyanuarate and/or triallyl cyanurate supported on silica.
According to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a rubber composition comprising:
(1) 100 parts by mass of an organic peroxide-crosslinkable raw material rubber;
(4) 1 to 10 parts by mass of an organic peroxide; and
(5) 0.5 to 100 parts by mass of the compounding agent for a rubber.
Preferred embodiment in the sixth embodiment is as follows.
Preferred rubber composition of the present invention is that the raw material rubber mixed with the compounding agent for a rubber is a polymer in which the main chain is a methylene chain.

Rubber composition containing rubber, mercapto-triazine and epoxy grafter polymer


A fiber-reinforced plastic product comprises a first member which is formed by pressing from a sheet molding compound made of an unsaturated polyester resin and having a first portion which should be reinforced and a second portion having an area adjacent to the first portion, a second member made of a uni directional sheet molding compound made of the unsaturated polyester resin, including a bundle of glass fibers which is continuously formed so as to be arranged in the same direction, and overlayed on the first portion by the press formation, and a concave portion formed in the area. Thereby, the second member is prevented from expanding along the first member during the press formation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fiber-reinforced plastic product which is formed from a sheet molding compound, and especially relates to a fiber-reinforced plastic product comprising a bundle of glass fibers which is continuously formed so as to be arranged in the same direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional fiber-reinforced plastic product related to the present invention is disclosed in Japanese utility model application laid-open publication No. 3(1991)-7027 published without examination on Jan. 23, 1991. In this prior art, a fiber-reinforced plastic product used as a sun-roof housing is formed by pressing from a sheet molding compound (hereinafter referred to as SMC) made of an unsaturated polyester resin including a predetermined additive. Further, a uni directional sheet molding compound (hereinafter referred to as UD-SMC) made of the unsaturated polyester resin is formed by pressing on both surfaces of a portion of the sun-roof housing which should be reinforced. The UD-SMC includes a bundle of glass fibers which is continuously formed so as to be arranged in the same direction. The portion of the sun-roof housing which is located near a window opening formed at a front side of the sun-roof housing is tried to be strengthened by overlaying the UD-SMC on the SMC.
However, in the foregoing sun-roof housing, the UD-SMC is expanded in the lengthwise direction of the sun-roof housing during the press formation thereof, so that the thickness of the UD-SMC is reduced after the press formation. Therefore, it is difficult to assure the strength of the portion of the sun-roof housing which should be reinforced.


Embodiments of the present invention provide a system for dynamic utilization of alternative resources based on token association. The system is typically configured for receiving a request from a user to generate a generic token for a digital wallet located on a mobile device of the user, generating the generic token and associating one or more resource credentials of the user with the generic token, transmitting the generic token to the mobile device of the user and storing the generic token in the digital wallet, receiving an interaction request from an authorization network to route an interaction, and routing the interaction to complete the interaction by selecting at least one resource credential from the one or more resource credentials associated with the generic token and transmitting the at least one resource credential to the authorization network.

The present invention relates to associating a token with alternative resources of a user and completing interactions by dynamically utilizing the alternative resources based on token association.
Sending notifications to users requires large quantities of data storage and large amounts of processing capacity. When an entity sends targeted notifications to users, there is a greater likelihood that the users actually take an action associated with the notification, and it reduces the amount of data storage and processing capacity required when compared to non-targeted notification. By sending notifications to a subset of users from a plurality of users (excluding other users), an entity reduce the data and storage and processing capacity without affecting the actions taken on such notifications. Therefore, there is a need for a system to more accurately and efficiently provide notifications.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Dynamic utilization of alternative resources based on token association


A vibration damper with an adjustable damping force may comprise an inner cylinder having at least one working chamber, an outer cylinder that surrounds the inner cylinder, and at least one damping valve element that in terms of flow is connected via a flow connection to the working chamber. An adapter sleeve may guide the flow connection, with the adapter sleeve being inserted in the inner cylinder on an internal circumference of the inner cylinder. The flow connection may be guided into the damping valve element by way of a flow opening that is configured in a wall of the inner cylinder.

In a triple-tube vibration damper having an adjustable damping valve element which is attached externally to the outer cylinder, a difficulty often lies in fluidically linking the damping valve element to the inner cylinder. To this end, DE 10 2005 053 394 A1 shows a tubular port which surrounds the inner cylinder and to which the damping valve element is connected, for example. DE 10 2017 222 232 A1 achieves the linking of the damping valve element to the inner cylinder by way of a separate adapter sleeve which in terms of length extends the inner cylinder downwards in the axial direction and which, conjointly with the tubular piece of the inner cylinder, by way of the base valve is braced in relation to the outer cylinder. Both solutions require a very precise fit in production and subsequently accurate assembling of the components.
Thus a need exists for a vibration damper having a damping valve element, in which the damping valve element is linked to the inner cylinder in such a manner that less stringent tolerances in terms of production and fit are sufficient.

Vibration damper having an adjustable damping force


Polypeptide of a growth factor receptor family, having a specific sequence and presenting all or part of the following properties: it encourages and/or is involved in the proliferation and/or differentiation of hematopoietic cell lines when obtained from the MPLV retrovirus; it is capable of acting as a hematopoietic growth factor receptor; it is recognized by antibodies directed against it. Polypeptides similar to the above. Applications in the diagnosis of the expression of said ligand polypeptide.

Myeloproliferative diseases are diseases in which hematpoietic stem cells exhibit an impairment in their differentiation capacity and/or an impairment of their dependence on a specific growth factor.
Blood cells derive from a small number of stem cells capable of self-renewal which generate progenitor cells irreversibly committed to the production of one or a few hematopoietic lines. Precise control of each step of differentiation is necessary in order to ensure a stable level of the different specialized cells as well as to provide a precise response to stimulations caused by stress. The controls are usually due to the effect of interactions between cells, either resulting from contact with the hematopoietic micro-environment or from the release of specific cytokines. The breakdown of the control systems leads either to cytopenias or to an uncontrolled cellular proliferation which may affect one or more lines depending on the nature of the lesion. The proliferation of several hematopoietic lines may lead to a myeloproliferative disease. Such diseases can be induced by retroviruses carrying oncogenes such as the retrovirus MPLV, an abbreviation for "myeloproliferative leukemia virus" which is a retrovirus defective with respect to its replication.
It is known that the murine retrovirus MPLV causes a severe hematological disorder in adult mice of most strains, characterized by a dramatic proliferation and a differentiation of several hematopoietic lines. The most acute aspect of this disease is the suppression of the in vitro dependence on growth factors for most of the hematopoietic progenitor cells. The natural MPLV isolate has been described as being a complex of two viral entities: a murine virus F-MuLV (Friend replication competent ecotropic murine leukemia virus) and a virus defective with respect to its replication now designated by the term MPLV. The pseudotyping of the defective particles with other ecotropic or amphotropic MuLV viruses enables the initial disease to be reproduced. It has been shown that the proviral DNA of MPLV and the DNA of F-MuLV are structurally similar except in the envelope region.
The inventors have now identified a sequence of cellular origin transduced in the rearranged gene of the MPLV envelope and which proves to be conserved in the mammalian genome.
The identification of this sequence has enabled its importance in phenomena which have similarities with a myeloproliferative disease to be demonstrated.

Methods for detection of molecules with affinity for MPL polypeptides

Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (Inserm)


A recumbent step exercise machine including a frame, a seat supported from the frame, and a drive mechanism supported from the frame. The drive mechanism includes a first and a second pedal, at least one axle shaft, at least one clutch, a speed increaser, and a brake. The first and the second pedal assemblies are each linked to at least one shaft by a linkage assembly. Each of the shafts are drivingly engaged to at least one clutch. The linkage assemblies act as levers that translate the reciprocating motion of the pedal assemblies into rotational motion of the shaft. Each linkage assembly extends downwardly from the shaft to which it is drivingly engaged and terminates with the pedal assembly. A first and a second arm mechanism may be linked through the linkage assembly to the first and second pedal assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to exercise equipment. More specifically, the present invention relates to the field of stair climbing, or stepper, exercise machines.
2. Background of the Invention
Many different designs of equipment exist for the purpose of physical exercise and physical therapy. One such type, stair climbing machines, or steppers, simulate climbing stairs or steps. With such machine designs know in the industry, the user typically places his or her feet on a pair of pedals and begins to alternately raise his or her legs as if he or she were climbing a flight of stairs. The pedals respond by raising and applying a load resistance which the user must overcome to lower the pedal. The amount of resistance is determined by the weight and/or fitness level of the user. Steppers are known to provide a superior low impact workout for therapy, rehabilitation or cardiovascular conditioning for the amount of time spent by the user on the machine.
One problem with stair climbing machines known in the art is that such steppers require the user to be standing in order to operate the machines. This limitation restricts usage to those who are physically capable of standing during exercise and are thus less than optimal for physical therapy and rehabilitation use. A need, therefore exists for a stepper type exercise device which can be operated in a seated position by those who are unable to stand.
Alternatively, people who are less fit have been know to find stair climbing machines to be too difficult to operate for extended periods of time. In such cases, workouts tend to be shortened, thereby also reducing the aerobic benefit of the workout. A need, therefore, also exists for a stepper type exercise device which allows users who are less physically fit to achieve a sustained cardiovascular workout.
A related limitation is that since the user is in a standing position, the user can effectively use his or her body weight alone to overcome the resistance required to lower the pedal. In this manner, the aerobic benefit of the workout is reduced. As a result, a need exists for a stepper type exercise device which is not responsive to the weight of the user.