The invention relates to a process for the production of electrolyte capacitors having a low equivalent series resistance and low residual current, and which comprise a solid electrolyte of conductive polymers and an outer layer comprising conductive polymers applied in the form of a dispersion. Electrolyte capacitors produced by this process and the use of such electrolyte capacitors are also provided.

A commercially available solid electrolyte capacitor as a rule comprises a porous metal electrode, an oxide layer on the metal surface, an electrically conductive solid which is incorporated into the porous structure, an outer electrode (contacting), such as e.g. a silver layer, and further electrical contacts and an encapsulation.
Examples of solid electrolyte capacitors are tantalum, aluminium, niobium and niobium oxide capacitors with charge transfer complexes, or pyrolusite or polymer solid electrolytes. The use of porous bodies has the advantage that because of the high surface area a very high capacitance density, i.e. a high electrical capacitance over a small space, can be achieved.
π-Conjugated polymers are particularly suitable as solid electrolytes because of their high electrical conductivity. π-Conjugated polymers are also called conductive polymers or synthetic metals. They are increasingly gaining economic importance, since polymers have advantages over metals in respect of processability, weight and targeted adjustment of properties by chemical modification. Examples of known π-conjugated polymers are polypyrroles, polythiophenes, polyanilines, polyacetylenes, polyphenylenes and poly(p-phenylene-vinylenes), a particularly important polythiophene which is used industrially being poly-3,4-(ethylene-1,2-dioxy)thiophene, often also called poly(3,4-ethylenedioxytliophene), since it has a very high conductivity in its oxidized form.
Technical development in electronics increasingly requires solid electrolyte capacitors having very low equivalent series resistances (ESR). Reasons for this are, for example, falling logic voltages, a higher integration density and increasing cycle frequencies in integrated circuits. Furthermore, a low ESR also lowers energy consumption, which is particularly advantageous for mobile battery-operated uses. There is therefore the desire to reduce the ESR of solid electrolyte capacitors to as low a value as possible.
European Patent Specification EP-A-340 512 describes the preparation of a solid electrolyte from 3,4-ethylene-1,2-dioxythiophene and the use of its cationic polymer, prepared by oxidative polymerization, as a solid electrolyte in electrolyte capacitors. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), as a substitute for manganese dioxide or charge transfer complexes in solid electrolyte capacitors, lowers the equivalent series resistance of the capacitor due to the higher electrical conductivity, and improves the frequency properties.
In addition to a low ESR, modern solid electrolyte capacitors require a low residual current and a good stability towards external stresses. During the production process in particular, high mechanical stresses arise during the encapsulation of the capacitor anodes, which can greatly increase the residual current of the capacitor anode.
Stability towards such stresses and therefore a low residual current can be achieved above all by an approx. 5-50 μm thick outer layer of conductive polymers on the capacitor anode. Such a layer serves as a mechanical buffer between the capacitor anode and the contacting on the cathode side. This prevents e.g. the silver layer (contacting) from coming into direct contact with the dielectric or damaging this under mechanical stress, and the residual current of the capacitor from increasing as a result. The conductive polymeric outer layer itself should have so-called self-healing properties: relatively minor defects in the dielectric on the outer anode surface which arise in spite of the buffer action are electrically insulated in that the conductivity of the outer layer at the defect is destroyed by the electric current.
The formation of a thick polymeric outer layer by means of an in situ polymerization is very difficult. In this context, the layer formation requires very many coating cycles. Due to the high number of coating cycles, the outer layer becomes very inhomogeneous, in particular the edges of the capacitor anode are often inadequately covered. Japanese Patent Application JP-A 2003-188052 reports that a homogeneous covering of the edges requires expensive coordination of the process parameters. However, this makes the production process very susceptible to malfunctions. An addition of binder materials for faster building up of layers is also difficult, since the binder materials impede the oxidative in situ polymerization. Furthermore, the layer polymerized in situ as a rule has to be freed from residual salts by washing, as a result of which holes arise in the polymer layer.
A dense electrically conductive outer layer with good covering of the edges can be achieved by electrochemical polymerization. However, electrochemical polymerization requires initial deposition of a conductive film on the insulating oxide layer of the capacitor anode and then electrical contacting of this layer for each individual capacitor. This contacting is very expensive in mass production and can damage the oxide layer.
The use of formulations which comprise the powder of a conductive polymer and binder have, because of high contact resistances between the individual powder particles, too high an electrical resistance to render possible production of solid electrolyte capacitors having a low ESR.
In Japanese Patent Applications JP-A 2001-102255 and JP-A 2001-060535, a layer of polyethylenedioxythiophene/polystyrenesulfonic acid (PEDT/PSS), also called polyethylenedioxythiophene/polystyrenesulfonic acid complex or PEDT/PSS complex, is applied directly to the oxide film for protection of the oxide film and better adhesion of the solid electrolyte to the oxide film. The outer layer is then applied to this layer by means of in situ polymerization or by impregnation of the capacitor anode with tetracyanoquinodimethane salt solution. However, this method has the disadvantage that the PEDT/PSS complex does not penetrate into porous anode bodies having small pores. As a result, modern, highly porous anode materials cannot be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,281 describes, in the examples, capacitors having a solid electrolyte of polyethylenedioxythiophene (PEDT) prepared in situ and an outer layer of PEDT/PSS complex. A disadvantage of these capacitors, however, is that they have a high ESR of 130 mΩ and higher.
In the not yet published German Patent Application DE-A-10349112, a polymeric outer layer is produced by application of a dispersion comprising at least one polymeric anion and at least one optionally substituted polyaniline and/or at least one polythiophene having recurring units of the general formula (I), (II) or recurring units of the general formula (I) and (II)
and a binder. Although the covering of the edges can be improved by this process, dense polymeric outer layers cannot be reproduced reliably, however, by this means.
There therefore continues to be a need for an improved process for the production of solid electrolyte capacitors having a low equivalent series resistance (ESR), with which a dense polymeric outer layer can be realized simply and reliably reproduced with good covering of the edges. The object was therefore to provide such a process and the capacitors improved by this means.

Electrolyte capacitors having a polymeric outer layer and process for their production


A fuel cell stack which comprises a plurality of unit fuel cells laminated via separators, and is connected to external resistors each allowing a feeble current to flow to each unit fuel cell, whereby such problems as an open-circuit voltage generation and corrosion that may be caused by fuel gas remaining after operation shutdown can be resolved. A switch is preferably attached in series with an external resistor.

A fuel cell stack has a structure comprising pluralities of stacked fuel cell units (cells) 1, each of which comprises a membrane electrode assembly (electrode structure) 2 constituted by an electrolyte membrane 201 and catalytic electrodes 202 formed on both surfaces thereof, and a pair of separators 4, 4 disposed on both sides of the membrane electrode assembly 2 via a gas diffusion layer (not shown) such as a carbon paper, etc. as shown in FIG. 22. One separator 4 is provided with fuel (hydrogen) gas-flowing grooves on a surface opposing the electrode structure 2, and the other separator 4 is provided with air-flowing grooves on a surface opposing the electrode structure 2. Each separator 4 is also provided on a periphery thereof with a projection terminal 121 serving as a terminal for outputting cell voltage, which is connected to a voltage-measuring apparatus attached to the fuel cell stack. To determine whether or not each fuel cell unit 1 constituting the fuel cell stack is under a normal operation, the voltage of each fuel cell unit 1 is measured by a voltmeter 5 disposed on a lead wire connected to a pair of separators 4, 4 arranged on both sides of each electrode structure 2 (see FIG. 23).
In a fuel cell stack of such a structure, a hydrogen gas and an oxygen gas in the air are reacted to generate electric power. Because the fuel gas remains in the fuel cell stack at the time of operation stop, power generation does not immediately stop but continues in each fuel cell unit while the remaining fuel gas and the air exist, resulting in the generation of an open circuit voltage between a pair of separators 4, 4 disposed on both sides of each electrode structure 2. Thus, working around the fuel cell stack immediately after operation stop might result in short-circuiting or electric shock.
Also, if the fuel cell stack is left to stand in a state in which about 1 V of an open circuit voltage exists per a unit cell, the particle size of a catalyst on a surface of the electrolyte membrane 201 would increase, and members constituting the fuel cell stack, for instance, metal or carbon separators would be corroded. For instance, in the case of a separator made of a metal such as stainless steel, etc., each separator may be formed by as thin a pressed plate as about 0.1 mm to decrease the laminate thickness of the overall fuel cell stack. In such a case, corrosion due to the above open circuit voltage may form penetrating pores in the separator.
On the other hand, in the case of start at such low temperatures as a freezing point or lower, the open circuit voltage becomes extremely high when a gas is introduced. In the case of start at −30° C., for instance, 1.35 V of an open circuit voltage may be generated, because the electrolyte membrane 201 is dry. Once current flows in that state, the electrolyte membrane 201 becomes a water-containing state, resulting in decrease in the open circuit voltage to nearly 1 V.
As described above, because the generation of an extremely high open circuit voltage is inevitable, it is necessary for an electric circuit to have high breakdown voltage to resist such open circuit voltage, resulting in increase in the cost of a fuel cell system accordingly.
To solve the above problem, there is a method of purging a fuel gas remaining in the fuel cell stack after the operation stop by an inert gas. Because a nitrogen gas is usually used as an inert gas, a tank for an inert gas is necessary to carry out this method. In automobiles, etc., however, not only a space for a tank for an inert gas is needed, but also there are problems of controlling the amount of the inert gas stored in the tank and its supply, making the overall fuel cell system complicated. Accordingly, purge with an inert gas is available only in an experiment fuel cell stack, and its practical use is difficult.
There is also a method of connecting resistors to terminals on both sides of the fuel cell stack and causing current to flow therethrough so that a gas remaining in the fuel cell stack is consumed to lower the open circuit voltage. In this case, the resistors are series-connected to pluralities of fuel cell units. However, the amount of the remaining fuel gas is not necessarily the same from one fuel cell unit to another, but often different. Accordingly, when current is caused to flow via the resistors connected to the fuel cell units, a reverse voltage is applied to fuel cell units, in which a fuel gas remains in small amounts and thus is consumed at higher speeds, resulting in the likelihood of damage to the fuel cell units.


A catalyst system comprising a physical mixture of particles of a non-acidic large-pore zeolite containing a platinum-group metal and particles comprising a refractory inorganic oxide which is metal-free is effective for the reforming of a hydrocarbon feedstock. Reforming of paraffinic feedstocks to effect aromatization, particularly of a raffinate from aromatics extraction, provides improved activity in producing gasoline-range products when using the catalyst system of the invention.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved catalyst system and process for the conversion of hydrocarbons, and more specifically for the catalytic reforming of gasoline-range hydrocarbons.
2. General Background
The catalytic reforming of hydrocarbon feedstocks in the gasoline range is an important commercial process, practiced in nearly every significant petroleum refinery in the world to produce aromatic intermediates for the petrochemical industry or gasoline components with high resistance to engine knock. Demand for aromatics is growing more rapidly than the supply of feedstocks for aromatics production. Moreover, the widespread removal of lead antiknock additive from gasoline and the rising demands of high-performance internal-combustion engines are increasing the required knock resistance of the gasoline component as measured by gasoline "octane" number. The catalytic reforming unit therefore must operate more efficiently at higher severity in order to meet these increasing needs for chemical aromatics and gasoline-octane. This trend creates a need for more effective reforming processes and catalysts.
Catalytic reforming generally is applied to a feedstock rich in paraffinic and naphthenic hydrocarbons and is effected through diverse reactions: dehydrogenation of naphthenes to aromatics, dehydrocyclization of paraffins, isomerization of paraffins and naphthenes, dealkylation of alkylaromatics, hydrocracking of paraffins to light hydrocarbons, and formation of coke which is deposited on the catalyst. Increased aromatics and gasoline-octane needs have turned attention to the paraffin-dehydrocyclization reaction, which is less favored kinetically in conventional reforming than formation of aromatics from naphthenes. Catalyst acidity, and particularly Bronsted acidity, has been considered to be adverse to enhanced paraffin aromatization.
The effectiveness of reforming catalysts comprising a non-acidic L-zeolite and a platinum-group metal for dehydrocyclization of paraffins is well known in the art. The use of these reforming catalysts to produce aromatics from paraffinic raffinates as well as naphthas has been disclosed. Nevertheless, commercialization of this dehydrocyclization technology has been slow following an intense and lengthy development period. Catalyst selectivity, stability, and sensitivity to contaminants such as sulfur offer potential for improvement. Increased isomerization of residual paraffins and reduced dealkylation of alkylaromatics are goals within these broader objectives.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,638 (Unmuth et al.) discloses reforming with a catalyst combination comprising a zeolite and a conventional catalyst. Both the zeolite and the conventional catalyst comprise a platinum-group metal and a halide, and thus are acidic. Examples of zeolites are ZSM-5, CaY and TEA-mordenite.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,006 (Kim et al.) discloses a physical particle-form mixture of a first catalyst which is free of zeolite and comprises a noble metal and halogen and a second catalyst comprising a zeolite and non-noble metal free of noble metals. The preferred catalyst components comprise platinum on chlorided alumina and Re, Ga or W on mordenite.
German Democratic Republic patent specification 246 555, assigned to VEB Leuna-Werke "Walter Ulbricht," discloses a catalyst mixture comprising erionite or LZ-40 type, alumina, platinum, and optionally rhenium.
None of the references disclose a physical mixture of a non-acidic large-pore zeolite comprising a platinum-group component and an acidic refractory inorganic oxide having the absence of a platinum-group metal.

Reforming catalyst system with differentiated acid properties


A computer-implemented method and system for pairing one or more source devices with at least one target device are disclosed. The computer implemented method for pairing one or more source devices with at least one target device, the method includes receiving device identifiers for the one or more source devices and the at least one target device; generating pairing resource for at least one of the one or more source devices and the at least one target device; and using the pairing resource to allow authenticated and authorized users to perform a remote operation on the at least one target device from the at least one of the one or more source devices.

Many Internet-of-Things (IoT) Machine-to-Machine (M2M) devices receive commands remotely from mobile devices such as mobile phones or tablets capable of sending remote commands via cellular or other wireless networks. Public and governmental concern is growing over security lapses by network operators, device manufacturers or service providers that allow unauthorized access to and control of such IoT devices. An additional set of security processes built specifically to address this remote operation of IoT devices and implemented by a network operator or service provider may prevent unauthorized remote operation of the IoT devices.

Method and system for pairing wireless mobile device with IoT device


A method is provided for determining and controlling feed water level in a steam generator of a nuclear power plant, whereby the water level sensor is calibrated in terms of the pressure drop across structural components in the feed water path. The water level differential pressure sensor is calibrated so that maximum water level is indicated as the level corresponding to the upper tap level plus the pressure drop across the foregoing structural components at maximum power plant power.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for determining the feed water measurement in a steam generator such as those used in pressurized water reactors and, more particularly, to a method for using a differential-type transmitter to sense the feed water level in a steam generator in a nuclear power plant.
2. Related Art
A typical nuclear steam generator comprises a vertically-oriented shell; a plurality of U-shaped tubes disposed in the shell so as to form a tube bundle; a tube sheet for supporting the tubes at the ends opposite the U-like curvature; a dividing plate that cooperates with the tube sheet forming a primary fluid inlet header at one end of the tube bundle and a primary fluid outlet header at the other end of the tube bundle; a primary fluid inlet nozzle in fluid communication with the primary fluid inlet header; and a primary fluid outlet nozzle in fluid communication with the primary fluid outlet header. The steam generator also comprises a wrapper disposed between the tube bundle and the shell to form an annular chamber adjacent the shell, and a feed water ring disposed above the U-line curvature end of the tube bundle. The primary fluid, having been heated by circulation through the nuclear reactor core, enters the steam generator through the primary fluid inlet nozzle. From the primary fluid inlet nozzle, the primary fluid is conducted through the primary fluid inlet header, through the U-tube bundle, out the primary fluid outlet header and through the primary fluid outlet nozzle to the cold leg of the reactor coolant loop. At the same time, feed water is introduced to the steam generator through the feed water ring. The feed water is conducted down the annular chamber adjacent the shell until the tube sheet near the bottom of the annular chamber causes the feed water to reverse direction, passing in heat transfer relationship with the outside of the U-tubes and up through the inside of the wrapper. While the feed water is circulating in heat exchange relationship with the tube bundle, heat is transferred from the primary fluid in the tubes to the feed water surrounding the tubes causing a portion of the feed water to be converted to steam. The steam then rises and is circulated through a series array of moisture separators, which dries out the steam before the steam is conveyed to steam turbine and condensation equipment, which are respectfully employed to drive a generator to produce electricity and to return the condensed fluid back to the steam generator feed water inlet.
The current steam generator feed water level measurement system is more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,802. The current steam generator feed water level measurement methodology relies on the use of a differential-type transmitter for comparing the steam generator feed water level with a reference leg pressure input. The transmitter responds to a differential of water pressures inputted to it and provides an output representative of the difference between the reference leg pressure and the pressure due to the height of the liquid in the steam generator. This differential is a good correlation to water level when the lower pressure tap, for measuring the water level in the steam generator, is located in a relatively low velocity region of the steam generator, e.g., above the transition section of the steam generator shell. However, if the lower pressure tap is moved to a higher velocity region, e.g., below the transition portion of the shell, an error is introduced due to the effective velocity head of the moving water. In such circumstances, a level measurement penalty must be taken, meaning that the steam generator operating level margin, i.e., a range of permissible water levels, needs to be reduced. However, it is preferable to locate the lower tap in a high velocity region so as to minimize what is known as the shrink/swell phenomenon.
The control of feed water level in the secondary loop of a nuclear steam supply system is exemplary of situations where control is difficult because the system behaves with non-minimum phase dynamics. Non-minimum dynamics is a term used to describe a property of the frequency domain transfer function between plant input function and plant output function. Transport lags or pure-time delay between an input signal and its corresponding output is one form of non-minimum phase behavior. Another form of non-minimum phase behavior is an initial negative response of an output signal before changing sign and approaching its positive asymptote. This type of non-minimum phase behavior is what is often called by operators of such nuclear steam supply systems "shrink/swell behavior".
Changes in reactor power, steam flow, feed water temperature and feed water flow all affect the measured level of secondary loop feed water contained in the steam generator. The feed water level controller's basic task is, therefore, to maintain the secondary side steam generator water level on target and within limits by changing feed water flow to compensate for changes in level produced by the other factors. The main consequence of the long lags and shrink and swell effects is that a controller must anticipate the affects of changes in plant state or control actions on steam generator level, and make compensatory responses before the ultimate affect of the event on steam generator level is manifested in measured level. Accordingly, it is very desirable to minimize the shrink/swell phenomenon by locating the lower pressure tap in a region such that the velocity head will be about 6 in. to 8 in.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,802 teaches a method for compensating for the velocity head effects experienced by the lower tap in high velocity regions by adding compensation during calibration so as to reduce the margin added to the high level trip set point to account for uncertainty in water level. This invention recognizes the need to further compensate the differential-type pressure transmitter signal for the pressure-altering effects of the feed water level caused by certain structural restrictions that impact the feed water pressure experienced at the lower tap, such as the middle deck plate pressure delta.

Method for calibrating steam generator water level measurement


An imprint apparatus comprises a scope which observes a mark formed in each shot of a substrate and a mark formed on a mold and a controller. The controller performs observation by the scope, detects an amount of displacement of the shot with respect to the mold based on the observation result, and, if the detected displacement amount falls outside an allowable range, executes at least one of remeasuring a baseline amount and reexecuting a global alignment process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus, and a pattern transfer method using the imprint apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Imprint technique makes it possible to transfer nanoscale micropatterns, and is beginning to be put into practical use as one nanolithography technique for the mass-production of magnetic recording media and semiconductor devices. In the imprint technique, a mold having a micropattern is used as an original to form the micropattern on a substrate such as a silicon wafer or glass plate by using an apparatus such as an electron-beam exposure apparatus. The micropattern is formed by coating the substrate with a resin (dispensing a resin on the substrate), and curing the resin while the pattern of the mold is pressed against the substrate with the resin being sandwiched between them. Imprint techniques presently put into practical use are the heat cycle method and photo-curing method. The heat cycle method forms a pattern by increasing the fluidity of a thermoplastic resin by heating the resin to a temperature greater than or equal to the glass-transition temperature, pressing a mold against a substrate with the resin having a high fluidity being sandwiched between them, and releasing the mold from the resin after cooling. The photo-curing method forms a pattern by pressing a mold against a substrate with an ultraviolet-curing resin being sandwiched between them, curing the resin by irradiating it with ultraviolet light in this state, and releasing the mold from the cured resin. In the heat cycle method, the transfer time increases due to temperature control, and the dimensional accuracy decreases due to temperature changes. However, the photo-curing method has no such problems. Presently, therefore, the photo-curing method is advantageous in the mass-production of nanoscale semiconductor devices.
Various imprint apparatuses have been implemented in accordance with resin curing methods and applications. As an apparatus for mass-producing semiconductor devices and the like, an apparatus using step and flash imprint lithography (SFIL) is effective. An imprint apparatus fitted for SFIL is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4185941. This imprint apparatus includes a substrate stage, a resin coating mechanism, an imprint head, a light irradiation system, and a mechanism for detecting a positioning mark. To perform measurement for aligning a substrate with a mold, the imprint apparatus as described above adopts a so-called die-by-die method in which marks formed on the substrate and mold are optically simultaneously observed for each shot when pressing the mold against the substrate, and a resin is cured by correcting the displacement amount.
In the die-by-die method, however, the overlay accuracy changes from one shot to another, so the product performance must be confirmed. This makes it necessary to test the product performance for all shots in a post-process. Also, performing alignment for each shot takes a long time, and decreases the productivity. Accordingly, the global alignment method is currently most frequently used. In this method, marks of several typical shots are measured, and statistical processing is performed based on the measurements, thereby molding all shots by using the same index. Since the global alignment method performs molding by using the same index, the quality of all shots of a substrate can be determined by conducting a sampling test on a few shots in a post-process. This increases the productivity. Furthermore, in the global alignment method, a substrate is fed under a mold and pressed based on measurement results. Therefore, it is necessary to stably and accurately detect the relative positions (a so-called baseline amount) of the mold and a detection system for observing the substrate. The accuracy is normally ensured by measuring the baseline amount every predetermined time.

Imprint apparatus and pattern transfer method


A classification system executing on one or more computer systems includes a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory includes a discovery engine configured to navigate through non-volatile memory storage to discover an identity and location of one or more files in one or more computer storage systems by tracing the one or more files from file system mount points through file system objects and to disk objects. A classifier is configured to classify the one or more the files into a classification category. The one or more files are associated with the classification category and stored in at least one data structure. The one or more files are classified using an installed storage driver method. Methods are also provided.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to discovery, migration, and transformation processes of server and storage systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for rapid and accurate classification of computer storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer technology evolves at an extremely rapid rate. According to the often cited Moore's law, every two years the capacity of a memory chip doubles, and the number of processors on a processor chip double. A similar "law" applies to computer storage. Unfortunately, the benefits associated with this phenomenal growth of computer and storage technology cannot easily be integrated into a running Information Technology (IT) center, or, data center, which must continue to handle "live" processing requests (e.g., banking transactions, production machinery controlling, weather monitoring, or searches) while IT equipment and programs are being updated and serviced. Data centers cannot be easily shut down since their activities are needed to keep businesses, etc. running. Modernizing an IT center is a delicate process with many intricacies that require not only an understanding of the underlying configurations of the broader system but must also take into account the dependencies among operating programs (i.e. processes).
The complexities of managing a data center result from many contributing factors. For example, as a data center grows with demand, bottlenecks and competition for resources occur. Piecemeal patches must be quickly administered to resolve pressing problems. Given that the staff, charged with managing the center, is not constant, details of the center that are documented may not be documented in the same way. Moreover, software needs to be updated continuously to maintain compliance with new versions of software and new standards, which are continuously changing.
It is important, therefore, to be able to characterize both the software and hardware associated with the infrastructure of a data center quickly with the assistance of automated tools. Considering that fresh data is being generated second by second, and thus new storage must frequently be provisioned, by the center's staff, to preserve a growing heap of data, it is particularly important to be able understand upon what type of hardware that data is being stored, especially when the center is being modified or refurbished.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for the classification of storage

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A white light-emitting organic electroluminescent element is disclosed, containing a substrate having thereon: an anode; a cathode; and a plurality of light emitting layers between the anode and the cathode, wherein the plurality of light emitting layers contains: a first light emitting layer which emits a light having a predetermined wavelength; a second light emitting layer which is located at a nearer position to the anode than the first light emitting layer and emits a light having a complementary color to the light having the predetermined wavelength; and a third light emitting layer which is located at a nearer position to the cathode than the first light emitting layer and emits the light having the complementary color to the light having the predetermined wavelength.

As a light emitting type electronic display device, available are electroluminescent displays (hereinafter referred to as ELD). ELD constituting elements include inorganic electroluminescent elements (hereinafter also referred to as inorganic EL elements) and organic electroluminescent elements (hereinafter also referred to as organic EL). The inorganic EL elements have been employed as a flat type light source, and high alternating-current voltage is needed to drive them.
On the other hand, the organic electroluminescent elements emit light (fluorescence and phosphorescence) as follows. They are constituted in such a manner that a light emitting layer, which incorporates light emitting compounds, is sandwiched between a cathode and an anode, and electrons and positive holes are injected into the light emitting layer, wherein excitons are generated via their recombination, and when the resulting excitons are deactivated, light is emitted. In view of capability of light emission at a few to several ten volts, wide viewing angle due to a self light emitting type, high visibility, and space saving and portability due to a complete thin layer type solid element, organic electroluminescent elements have received attention.
Further, in recent years, in the organic electroluminescent elements, development of luminescent materials which enable preparation of organic electroluminescent element of a higher phosphorescence luminance has been diligently carried out (refer, for example, to Patent Documents 1 and 2). In conventional luminescent materials, light is emitted from an excited singlet and is called as fluorescence. Since the formation ratio of singlet excitons to triplet excitons is 1:3, the formation probability of light emitting excited species is 25%. On the other hand, in the case of luminescent materials utilizing the light emitted from the excited triplet and is called as phosphorescence, the upper limit of the internal quantum efficiency reaches 100% via internal conversion from the singlet excitons to the triplet excitons, whereby, compared to the case of fluorescence emitting materials, the maximum light emitting efficiency becomes, in principle, four times as great.
Further, the major feature of organic electroluminescent elements is in the form of a surface light source differing from conventionally employed main light sources such as a light emitting diode or a cold-cathode tube. Possible applications, which utilize the above characteristic, include light sources for lighting and backlight of various displays. It is appropriate to employ them as a backlight of liquid crystal full color displays, of which demand is markedly increasing over recent years.
When organic electroluminescent elements are employed as the above lighting source or the display backlight, they are employed as a light source which realizes white or electric bulb color (hereinafter together referred to as white). In order to realize white light emission employing organic electroluminescent elements, there available are: a method which realizes white via color mixture by regulating a plurality of light emitting materials differing in their emitted light wavelength in a single element; a method which realizes white in such a manner that for example, three colors of blue, green, and red are separately painted and they are simultaneously emitted while being mixed; and a method which realize white employing color conversion dyes (for example, a combination of a blue light emitting material and a color conversion fluorescent dye).
However, when consideration is made based on various demands such as lower cost, higher productivity, or more convenient driving methods which are demanded for the backlight, the method which realizes white via color mixture by regulating a plurality of light emitting materials which differ in emitted light wavelengths in a single element, is useful for these applications, and in recent years, research and development of the same have been increasingly conducted.
The method which realizes white based on the above method will further be detailed. There are listed: a method which realize white in such a manner that two different color light emitting materials, such as a blue light emitting material and a yellow light emitting material which result in a complementary color and the colors are mixed, and a method which realizes white in such a manner that light emitting materials of three color of blue, green, and red are employed and the colors are mixed. For example, disclosed is a method in which doping is carried out employing three phosphors, blue, green and red, as a light emitting material (for example, Patent documents 2 and 3).
Further, there is a system in which in organic electroluminescent elements which result in white light emission, each of the layers which differ in emitted light color is not in the form of an individual layer, but at least two color light emitting materials are made to coexist in a single layer, and two color lights are emitted via an energy transfer from a light emitting dopant with high light emitting energy to a light emitting dopant with a relatively low efficiency. The above method is one of the promising methods to prepare white light emitting organic EL elements since via them, it is possible to reduce the number of organic layers and to decrease the employed amount of light emitting materials. An organic electric field light emitting element is disclosed which is characterized in that a red light emitting layer and a blue light emitting layer are sequentially arranged from the anode, and the red light emitting layer incorporates at least one green color light emitting dopant (refer, for example, to Patent Document 4).
In view of color rendering and the color reproduction range, it is preferable that in electroluminescent elements which realize white light emission, at least three color light emitting materials are combined. However, since blending at least three types of light emitting materials into a single layer results in energy transfer to longer wavelength light emitting materials at a low energy level, it is very difficult to regulate the mixing ratio of these light emitting materials, resulting in fluctuations of the resulting performance. Consequently, it is typical that layers which differ in emitted light color are laminated.
However, when light emitting layers, which differ in emitted light color, are laminated, a problem occurs in which when the electric current density of driving electric current varies, a light emitting central position a in the light emitting layer is shifted, whereby emitted light color varies. Specifically, when the light emitting center is located near the interface of the laminated light emitting layer, the light emitting center occasionally shifts into a different color light emitting layer. In view of color rendering and color reproduction, the above shift has been a problem to overcome. An organic electroluminescent element is disclosed, which is capable of retarding the change of emitted light chromaticity by doping the organic light emitting layer, on one side adjacent to the specified organic light emitting layer, with auxiliary light emitting compounds which emit light of a color which is similar to that of the basic light emitting compounds in the above specified organic light emitting layer (for example, Patent Document 5). However, when the above method is employed, the shift of the above light emitting center is permitted only in one direction. Due to that, it becomes necessary to control the carrier conveyance of the host material to increase the restriction of materials and it becomes difficult to simultaneously realize targeted electric power efficiency and targeted light emitting life time.
In either case, it was found that by employing the above methods, when white light emission was achieved, in view of compatibility of the targeted electric power efficiency and stability of chromaticity during driving, no satisfaction was realized. Though, depending on usage, in white light emitting devices, it is commonly demanded that the resulting white chromaticity is stable during driving and for the change of driving electric current. For example, when employed as a lighting source for illumination or a backlight of a liquid crystal display, readily visible changes such that white changes toward blue or red direction significantly degrade commercial value, however high the light emitting efficiency may be. Consequently, it has been demanded to overcome the above drawbacks.                (Patent Document 1) U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,147        (Patent Document 2) Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter referred to as JP-A) No. 6-207170        (Patent Document 3) JP-A No. 2004-235168        (Patent Document 4) WO No. 2004/077886        (Patent Document 5) JP-A No. 2004-6165        (Non-Patent Document 1) M. A. Baldo et al., Nature, Volume 395, pages 151-154 (1998)        (Non-Patent Document 2) M. A. Baldo et al., Nature, Volume 403, No. 17, pages 750-753 (2000)

White light emitting organic electroluminescent element and lighting device


A method for simulating bonus awards in a finite award pool system is disclosed. The finite award pool comprises a plurality of primary awards and at least one simulated bonus award, where at least one of the primary awards indicate further entitlement to one of the simulated bonus awards. The simulated bonus awards may not be selected as a primary award per se, but constitute a portion of the actual primary award when combined with the primary award associated therewith. Additionally, the present arrangement allows simulation of more complex bonus award in finite pool systems by providing multiple or nested bonus level selections from either primary prizes or bonus prizes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to finite pool bonus awards. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and system for providing simulated bonus awards in a finite pool award arrangement.
2. The Prior Art
Finite pool award systems are known in the field of gaming and lottery. Unlike random-based games such as slot machines, for example, wherein the outcome of the game is based primarily on random events, finite pool awards (or fixed-pool awards) are based primarily on a draw from a finite distribution of outcomes or results.
Common forms of finite pool games include pull-tab and scratch-off lottery tickets. These tickets are arranged into finite sets called "deals," "decks" or "draws". Each finite set has a predetermined number of tickets at various prize levels. Therefore the total price of the deck is known (since the tickets are sold for a uniform amount) and the total value of the prizes is known, so the seller of the tickets knows the total profit to be made on the sale of the deck. These decks of tickets are manufactured and printed at a central location, and put into a form usable by standard dispensing machines, typically in rolls or stacks. These rolls are then physically distributed from the central location to each vending site for dispensing. Tickets are dispensed by clerks or vending machines to customers, who peel open a layer hiding the prize contents to reveal what their winning value is, if any. Winning tickets are redeemable for the value of the win. Examples of such implementations are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,290,033 entitled "GAMING MACHINE AND COUPONS" to Bittner, et al. and 5,348,299 entitled "ELECTRONIC GAMING APPARATUS" to Clapper, Jr.
In addition to the paper version of pull-tab games described above, electronic versions of pull-tab games have also been implemented. Under this electronic arrangement, the finite sets ("decks") are generated electronically and stored on a central server. One or more player terminals are then networked to the central server. Players, who wish to play a pull-tab game under this arrangement, may purchase, reveal, and redeem the electronic pull-tabs from the player terminals. When a player at a player terminal makes a purchase, an electronic pull-tab or "game element" is communicated from the server to the player terminal. The electronic pull-tab is displayed to the player on the player terminal and is removed from the "deck" by the central server to indicate that the pull-tab has been played. The presentation of the pull-tab to the player may be provided in various forms (such as poker hands, slot symbols, keno symbols, etc.) to mimic the presentation of other games of chance (e.g., random-based games, such as video poker, slot machines, video keno, etc.) although in reality the game is that of a finite pool award, namely pull-tab games.
Various arrangements have been further developed to further increase player participation in electronic forms of finite pool award games. One such technique is generally referred to as "reverse-mapping" and is described in copending U.S. Application "Lottery System Having Reverse-Mapped Game Set" Ser. No. 09/450,821, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in entirety. Unlike prior art lottery systems which provide both the outcome symbols and the win amount to the player terminal for each pull-tab game drawn from the central server, the reverse-mapping method only provides the win amount; the player terminal, after receiving the win amount, is then able to generate the outcome symbols from the win amount; the outcome symbols are then presented to the player. This arrangement provides the advantage of allowing the player terminals to generate one of a plurality of game outcomes symbols to the player, thereby increasing game diversity and player appeal. This arrangement also allows different game formats on player terminals to share the same finite prize pool maintained on a single server.
Another disadvantage of systems of the prior art results from legal restrictions on "bonus" awards. Some jurisdictions effectively limit the use of bonus or secondary event awards, by requiring that such awards not be counted in determining the net payout of a gaming device. These rules tend to limit the flexibility available to the designer of a game. The reverse-mapped system of copending U.S. Application entitled "Lottery System Having Reverse-Mapped Game Set" Ser. No. 09/450,821 describes an approach with provides more flexibility, and can be more easily tailored to comply with local regulations while still providing a varied and entertaining game, through the use of bonus and secondary event simulations that are reverse-mapped from pre-determined award outcomes. The payouts to the player are not true "bonus" awards but only simulated bonus awards using a single draw for the finite pool. Under this arrangement, the central server provides pre-determined award outcomes (game elements) which may indicate that a portion of the award is to be paid as a "bonus" simulation. If the selected game set element is coded or is otherwise determined to be applied as a bonus award, a portion of the winnings may be paid to the player in the form of a bonus award, rather than as part of the primary base pay. Each portion (base pay and secondary pay) can then be reversed-mapped by the player terminal to provide a symbolic display for each pay (e.g., a slot display for the base pay and a secondary game screen for the secondary pay). For example, a predetermined award amount of $1000 can be paid to the player either through a base pay of $1000 (no bonus pay) or a base pay of $100 plus a secondary bonus pay of $900.
Unfortunately, as games of chance (e.g., slot machines) have become more complex including numerous payline arrangements and multiple bonus levels, the number of possible win combinations (base pay+bonus win) has likewise grown. Simulating these complex games on a finite pool award system becomes unpractical (e.g., memory, processor, and other limitations) due to the increased number of win combinations that need to be represented in a finite pool. With the limited memory and processing power of the lottery player terminals, complex paylines and bonus levels could not be practically represented using the reverse-mapping technique described above.

Simulated bonus method in finite-pool award system


A liquid level detection apparatus includes an outer tube of substantially constant diameter. A magnetostrictive wire is supported within the outer tube. An electrical circuit is mounted within the outer tube and is electrically connected to a pickup coupled to the magnetostrictive wire.

Field of the Invention
The present relates, in general, to magnetostrictive position transducers.
The phenomenon of magnetostriction has been widely employed in linear distance and position measuring devices. A magnet located near or around a magnetostrictive wire marks the location to be measured. Such devices can operate with either mechanical or electrical excitation. When an acoustical/mechanical strain propagating along the wire reaches the area of influence of the magnet, an electrical signal is generated in the wire. Conversely, when an electrical signal propagating along the wire reaches the area of influence of the magnet, a torsional strain is generated in the wire.
Such linear position detectors using a magnet mounted in a float have been utilized as liquid level detectors to provide an indication of a level of liquid within a tank, such as an underground tank. The position of the magnet, and hence, the liquid level, is determined as a function of the time required for a torsional disturbance to propagate from one end of the wire through the area of influence of the magnet, in the case of mechanical excitation, or from the position of the magnet to a sensing apparatus located at one end of the wire in the case of electrical excitation.
Other types of magnetostrictive position measuring devices utilize a reflective termination at the foot end of the magnetostrictive wire. Such devices measure the difference between the propagation times of a pulse from the magnet position to the foot of the wire and reflected back to the head of the device and a pulse traveling on the wire directly from the magnet to the head.
As shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,839,590; 5,017,867; 5,050,430; and 5,253,521, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention, such magnetostrictive devices include an elongated, small diameter tube, typically made of stainless steel, on which a movable magnet is mounted for providing an indication of a liquid level. An enlarged head and cap are mounted on one end of the tube, typically above the liquid level and enclose electronic components, such as terminal connections and a signal conditioning circuit used to supply or output signals to and from the magnetostrictive wire in the tube. As shown in these prior art patents, the head has a considerably larger diameter than the diameter of the elongated tube extending through the tank.
Fluid tanks, such as underground gasoline or fuel tanks, are typically provided with one or more risers or hollow conduits mounted on a top surface of the tank and extending upward to an upper end which is located at ground level. One riser is usually employed for filling the tank and typically will have a diameter of approximately four inches. A second smaller riser, such as a two inch diameter riser, may also be provided as a vent.
Existing tanks which are buried underground and which were not provided with the expectation of using liquid level detection within the tank, typically will not have a large riser or a riser dedicated to liquid level detection. Thus, where it is desirable to provide liquid level detection to such existing underground tanks, previously devised magnetostrictive positioning measuring devices having an enlarged head cannot fit within the fill nozzle of the existing riser on such tanks or will completely fill the interior of the riser thereby preventing the insertion of a fuel nozzle into the riser. The only recourse in such situations is to dig up the existing tank and add a riser specifically for a liquid level detection apparatus.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a liquid level or position detection apparatus which can be easily mounted in tanks or vessels having small diameter risers. It would also be desirable to provide a liquid level or position detection apparatus which can be easily mounted in existing underground tanks without the need for digging up the tank. It would also be desirable to provide a liquid level detection apparatus in which all of the components of the apparatus are contained within a single, small diameter tube which is extendable into the tank. It would also be desirable to provide a liquid level or position detection apparatus which can be easily mounted on all configurations of sight glasses mounted externally on liquid tanks.

Self-contained liquid level detection apparatus with substantially constant cross-section outer tube

Patroit Sensors and Controls Corporation


Provided is an image capturing apparatus that not only prevents excitation light from leaking into RGB but also corrects a difference of focal points between visible light and IR and corrects levels of visible light and IR without having a complicated structure. An image capturing apparatus 10 includes a light irradiation unit 12 that irradiates an object including a fluorescent material with excitation light and illuminating light, a four-color separation unit 16 that separates light incident upon a lens 14 into R, G, B, and IR, an image sensor 18 that performs photoelectric conversion on each separated light, a picture signal output unit 20 that generates a picture signal from an electrical signal obtained by the photoelectric conversion, a picture display 22 that displays a picture based on the picture signal, a bandpass filter 24 that does not transmit light near a wavelength band of the excitation light, and a correction filter 26. The correction filter 26 includes a circular visible light cutting region 30 that cuts visible light out of the incident light, a circular IR cutting region 28 that cuts IR out of the incident light, and a dummy glass 32 having a predetermined thickness.

In the related art, there are known an image capturing apparatus including a four-color separation prism and an imaging system including an endoscope. In other words, when taking a picture, those known technique employs a separation prism that separates light incident upon a lens into R/G/B components and an IR component.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an endoscope including a four-color separation prism provided with a blue color separation prism, a red color separation prism, a green color separation prism, and an IR separation prism. The blue color separation prism, the red color separation prism, and the green color separation prism separate light from an affected area into a blue component, a red component, and a green component, respectively. The IR separation prism separates light from the affected area into an IR component. The endoscope disclosed in Patent Literature 1 also includes a blue image sensor that is installed in the blue color separation prism and converts the separated blue component into an electrical signal, a red image sensor that is installed in the red color separation prism and converts the separated red component into an electrical signal, a green image sensor that is installed in the green color separation prism and converts the separated green component into an electrical signal, an IR image sensor that is installed in the IR separation prism and converts the separated IR component into an electrical signal, and a signal output unit that outputs an RGB signal and an IR signal from each converted electrical signal. The IR separation prism is placed closer to an object than the blue color separation prism, the red color separation prism, and the green color separation prism with respect to incident light from the affected area, and the IR separation prism transmits light of the blue component, the red component, and the green component.
Patent Literature 2 discloses an image capturing apparatus provided with a color separation prism including a dichroic film that separates light within the visible-light wavelength band and light within the emitted-light wavelength band, a fluorescence image capturing device that is disposed at the back of the color separation prism and forms an image with light within the emitted-light wavelength band separated by the dichroic film, a visible light image capturing device that is disposed at the back of the color separation prism and forms an image with light within the visible-light wavelength band separated by the dichroic film, a bandpass filter that is disposed between the color separation prism and the fluorescence image capturing device and has an incident surface perpendicular to an optical axis. In this image capturing apparatus, the fluorescence image capturing device and the visible light image capturing device are arranged in such a manner that a difference in length between a light path for emitted light that forms an image in the fluorescence image capturing device through the color separation prism and a light path for visible light that forms an image in the visible light image capturing device through the color separation prism corresponds to a shift between a position of fluorescence image and a position of visible light image caused by an imaging lens mounted in front of the color separation prism.
Furthermore, in this image capturing apparatus, the fluorescence image capturing device and the visible light image capturing device are fixed or arranged to make a distance between the devices variable so as to correspond to the difference in length of the light paths. With such a structure, the image capturing apparatus adjusts a difference of focal points between RGB within the visible-light wavelength band and IR within the emitted-light wavelength band.


Provided herein are neuropeptide-2 receptor agonists of the formula (I):Y—R1—R2—X—R3—R4—R5—R6—R7—R8—R9—R10—R11—R12—R13—R14—NH2,   (I)as well as pharmaceutically acceptable salts, derivatives and fragments thereof, wherein the substituents are as those disclosed in the specification. These compounds, and the pharmaceutical compositions containing them, are useful for the treatment of diseases such as, for example, obesity.

Obesity is widely recognized as a serious health problem for developed countries, and has reached epidemic status in the United States. According to recent studies, more than 50% of the U.S. population is considered overweight, with more than 25% diagnosed as clinically obese and at considerable risk for heart disease, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), hypertension, and certain cancers. This epidemic presents a significant burden on the health care system as projected obesity treatment costs of more than $70 billion annually are expected in the U.S. alone. Strategies for treating obesity include reduction of food intake and enhancing the expenditure of energy.
Neuropeptide Y (NPY), a 36 amino acid peptide neurotransmitter, is a member of the pancreatic polypeptide class of neurotransmitters/neurohormones which has been shown to be present in both the periphery and central nervous system. NPY is one of the most potent orexogenic agents known and has been shown to play a major role in the regulation of food intake in animals, including humans.
Five neuropeptide Y receptors (NPY), the Y1-, Y2-, Y3-, Y4, and Y5- and Y6-subtypes, have been cloned, which belong to the rhodopsin-like G-protein-coupled, 7-transmembrane helix-spanning receptors (GPCR). The NPY Y2 receptor (Y2R) is a 381 amino-acid which inhibits the activation of adenyl cyclase via Gi while having low homology with other known NPY receptors. There is a high degree of conservation between rat and human Y2 receptor with 98% amino acid identity.
The Y2R receptor is widely distributed within the central nervous system in both rodents and humans. In the hypothalamus, Y2 mRNA is localized in the arcuate nucleus, preoptic nucleus, and dorsomedial nucleus. In the human brain, Y2R is the predominant Y receptor subtype. Within the arcuate nuclease, over 80% of the NPY neurons co-express Y2R mRNA. Application of a Y2-selective agonist has been shown to reduce the release of NPY from hypothalamic slices in vitro, whereas the Y2 non-peptide antagonist BIIE0246 increases NPY release. These findings support the role of Y2R as a presynaptic autoreceptor that regulates the NPY release and hence may be involved in the regulation of feeding. (Poter, E. K., et al. Eur. J. Pharmac. 267, 253-262 (1994)).
Peptide YY3-36 (PYY3-36) is a 33 amino acid linear peptide having specific neuropeptide Y2 (NPY2R) agonist activity. It has been demonstrated that Intra-arcuate (IC) or Intra-peritoneal (IP) injection of PYY3-36 reduced feeding in rats and, as a chronic treatment, reduced body weight gain. Intra-venous (IV) infusion (0.8 pmol/kg/min) for 90 min of PYY3-36 reduced food intake in obese and normal human subjects 33% over 24 hours. These finding suggest that the PYY system may be a therapeutic target for the treatment of obesity. (Bloom, S. et al, Nature Vol. 418, 8 Aug. 2002, P. 650-654). Further, a Cys2-(D)Cys27-cyclized version of PYY, in which residues 5-24 were replaced by a methylene-chain of 5 to 8 carbons in length, showed activation of the intestinal PYY receptor, as evidenced by reduced current across voltage-clamped mucosal preparations of rat jejunum. (Krstenansky, et al. in Peptides, Proceedings of the Twelfth American Peptide Symposium. J. Smith and J. Rivier Editors, ESCOM. Leiden Page 136-137).
Further, covalent modification of proteins with poly(ethylene glycol) or poly (ethylene oxide) (both referred to as PEG), was demonstrated with superoxide dismutase (Somack, R, et al., (1991) Free Rad Res Commun 12-13:553-562; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,283,317 and 5,468,478) and for other types of proteins, e.g., cytokines (Saifer, M G P, et al., (1997) Polym Preprints 38:576-577; Sherman, M R, et al., (1997) in J M Harris, et al., (Eds.), Poly(ethylene glycol) Chemistry and Biological Applications. ACS Symposium Series 680 (pp. 155-169) Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society).
A need exists, however, for novel engineered analogs of PYY having significantly lower molecular weight, while possessing equal or better potency, pharmacokinetic properties and pharmacological properties as existing Y2R agonists. A need also exists for pegylated analogs of PYY in order to, for example, increase peptide half-life and reduce immunogenicity in subjects in need of such agonists.

Neuropeptide-2 receptor (Y-2R) agonists and uses thereof


A workpiece spray-painting device having at least two painting booths arranged on the conveying track of the workpieces, with each booth being designed in two separate parts that may be separated from each other. A spraying device for coating the workpieces is movable on a track between the booths when the booth parts are separated from each other so that the spray device may be positioned in one or the other of the booths.

The invention relates to an appliance for the spray coating of workpieces with paint, which has at least two coating booths, arrange on a conveying track for the workpieces, and a spray device. Such a spray-coating appliance is suitable particularly for electrostatic powder coating.
The principle of electrostatic powder coating is employed primarily for the lacquering of sheet-metal and finished parts, since it is particularly economical and environmentally friendly. Furthermore, high throughput quantities of material to be lacquered can be achieved with powder-coating systems.
In conventional powder-coating systems, however, as in lacquering systems working according to other paint-coating methods, problems arise when the colour is changed. In particular, in order to achieve a homogeneous and uniform coating along with a high throughput of material to be lacquered, a concentrated paint-powder jet is directed onto the workpiece to be lacquered, but only some of the paint powder adheres to the workpiece, whereas the remaining paint powder settles in the system.
The known coating systems therefore have a suction-extraction device., in order to return the paint-powder excess into the paint-powder circuit. However, paint-powder particles always remain adhering particularly to the coating-booth walls and, in the event of a change of colour, cause colour mixing and consequently an impurity. In order to avoid this, the coating booth has to be cleaned whenever the colour is changed. This therefore always gives rise to costly standstill times in the coating system.
Moreover, particularly in an electrostatic powder-coating system, a relatively great amount of time is needed for cleaning during a colour change, since the paint-powder particles, by virtue of their electrical charge, often adhere firmly to the coating booths.
In order to allow a rapid colour change in powder-coating systems, powder-coating systems possessing a plurality of coating booths for different colours, so that one booth can always be cleaned alternately for the colour change, are already being used. CH 668 008 A5 describes such a powder-coating system having two coating booths which are arranged parallel to one another and are supplied by means of a switch via a common conveying track. However, this system is very costly, since two complete coating booths, each provided with a spray device, are necessary.


The invention relates to a method for detecting and eliminating SCR breach operations by a second party within the memory space allocated to a first party, in a multi-tasking system, which comprises: (a) pre-recording by the first party within a knowledge base the structure and/or behavior of an SCR stack; (b) implanting within the SCR stack a dedicated SCR for reporting on the structure and/or behavior of said SCR stack when the SCR stack is activated; (c) when the SCR stack is activated, comparing the data reported by the dedicated SCR with the pre-recorded stack structure and/or behavior; (d) whenever non-matching in the structure and/or behavior is found, ceasing the activity of the activated stack, and alerting.

Modern operating systems are actually a modular collection of building blocks rather than one monolithic object. This form of architecture enables an Operation System (OS) manufacturer to build and distribute new facilities (or new versions for existing facilities) with relative ease. It also enables third party programmers to add new capabilities to a basic operating system without accessing its source code, by means of well-defined extension interfaces.
In particular, the Input/Output (I/O) architecture of a conventional operating system is multi-layered, scaleable and extensible, i.e., each packet of I/O data travels along a chain of layers, wherein the layers are organized so that applications that are being executed by the OS at the system of a user are divided into separate functional components that interact in some sequential and hierarchical way, with each layer in the chain usually having an interface only to the layer above it and the layer below it. Some of the layers are those provided with the original software package of the OS, some are updates, others are additional layers not present in the original software package, and finally, some are actually built by third party suppliers (including original parts of the original software package that were subcontracted).
Operating systems usually make a distinction between a privileged mode and non-privileged mode regarding the ability of a process to call 'privileged' services. The notion of multi-layered architecture and underlying extension mechanisms apply to both modes, but the implementation may differ significantly.
A Privileged mode (so-called "Kernel-mode") is the essential core of any OS, which provides basic services for other parts of the OS. Typically, the Kernel-mode is the part of the OS that resides in the memory of the computer at all times during its operation, and provides basic services. It is the part of the OS which is closest to the machine level and may directly activate the hardware of such a computerized system, or interface with another software layer which drives a hardware. Due to performance considerations, kernel-mode processes typically share the system's physical memory space without an extra mapping of their non-privileged mode relatives. A kernel-mode process can be seen as a server to many non-privileged mode processes, which is vulnerable to possible low-level breaches. A process of a non-privileged mode (so-called "user-mode") can call system services that are not privileged.
In particular, user-mode multi-layer extension mechanisms are quite vulnerable to memory-space breaches. These enabling mechanisms are relatively well documented, and a dedicated programmer having access to the interfaces of these extension mechanisms is generally able to implement them in quite a short time. Some well known books in the field of general Operating Systems, particularly Windows™ OS provide relevant information regarding this subject.
From now on, and unless otherwise stated, the following text will refer to user-mode.
The building blocks of standard applications, such as a word processor, an Internet browser etc., are code modules, usually divided into program modules and/or into Shared Code Resources (SCRs). Examples for such SCRs are the Dynamic Link Library (DLL), which are included in the Windows OS of Microsoft. Furthermore, each application may use several SCRs on the same session. Generally, SCRs are grouped in stacks, wherein each stack contains several SCRs, sometimes a dozen or more SCRs are grouped together in one stack. The SCRs are organized in each stack in a chain-like manner. Normally, whenever a service from a specific SCR is requested by a user application, the request travels along the whole relevant stack, however, the user application has no clue about the specific SCRs that actually serve it along the way.
Moreover, when an extension is needed to one of the OS services, for example, encrypting certain I/O data packets, an insertion of an SCR into the relevant stack chain should do. Of course that SCR has to comply with a given interface and be good mannered, the least it should do is to dispatch incoming calls to the next SCR in the chain.
In a typical case, an extender, which might be, for example, a specific process, requests from the OS to insert an SCR into a specific extensible chain. If all goes well, the SCR is inserted as a new "layer", and starts receiving relevant calls as if it was an original part of the stack, and of the OS. From this point on, until this new SCR is appropriately removed from the chain, the newly installed SCR is mapped into the address space of any application that happen to use that relevant stack.
Due to resource-economy considerations, a reasonable multitasking operating system would load just a single copy of a given SCR into the physical memory, and then map it to the virtual address space of each process that might need it. More particularly, each 'instance' of the SCR is mapped to the appropriate process context. Unfortunately, there is more than one way to share memory between the SCR's 'instances'.
Combining the aforementioned factors that compromise the requirement for separation between memory spaces of different processes, there is an opportunity for offenders to abuse the inherent mechanisms of the operating system. In fact, this provides a possible way for one process to break into the memory space of another process.
An offender that has managed to break into the memory space of another process has a choice of options. Amongst other threats, the offender may read or manipulate I/O, it might change the behavior of the invaded application, or it may send information from one process to another process.
One of the most serious aspects of memory-space breaches is the ability of the offender to take the identity of the invaded process. This makes life harder for auditing tools and intrusion-detection systems, and makes the search for accountability more difficult.
In general, memory-space breaching seems as an appropriate technique for an invader, whose goal is not mere vandalizing of an invaded site. Sophisticated contamination of the victim's valued information resources would be a possible goal. Altering the behavior of unaware information-security systems through their user-mode components is another goal, so is eavesdropping or stealing information, to mention just a few.
For example, a ubiquitous OS like MS Windows™ (Microsoft Corporation, USA) gives a program the ability to order the OS to extend, on the fly, SCR stacks, wherein each SCR provides a particular level of functionality. In many cases this goes on without alerting the user of this OS. The extension is done by adding at least one SCR to the chain, wherein this SCR may serve more than one application or process concurrently.
There are several mechanisms in the OS that might be extended by additional SCRs. The following are examples for some well known in the art of such mechanisms:    (i) windows-messages that may be hooked;    (ii) video and audio Compressor/De-Compressor (codecs);    (iii) Windows Open Services Architecture (WOSA) stacks, which is a collective term for a variety of programming interfaces from Microsoft designed to provide application interoperability across the Windows environment. An example for WOSA is the Windows Socket (Winsock), which is a Windows interface to a communications protocol over the Internet; and    (iv) There are more WOSA mechanisms like ODBC and MAPI. Furthermore, there is the infrastructure for the 'Component Services' of Windows. This list is by no means a complete list of all the vulnerable service chains in a modern OS, but only a list of examples.
The art has not yet provided satisfactory protection means for detecting and/or preventing such inter-process memory breaches in multitasking OS.
It is an object of the present invention to improve the security in multi-users and multitasking systems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and system for detecting an illegal action of penetrating a memory space of one process by another process.
It is further object of the present invention to provide a method and system for detecting a process that initiates such penetrating action.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method and system for freezing the action of the invader and/or the invaded processes, and alerting on such illegal action.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Sensor for detecting and eliminating inter-process memory breaches in multitasking operating systems


The invention provides an energy transfer apparatus having an energy transfer chamber (optionally bounded by an energy transfer tube) in which rotating flow is established. Preferably, the apparatus has a cold-fluid-discharge end and a hot-fluid-discharge end. Also provided are methods of using such apparatuses.

FIG. 1 of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0150643 shows a vortex tube. Vortex tubes have been used in some commercial applications, such as spot cooling. However, their use has been limited. This is because vortex tubes have not been able to produce cold fluid efficiently enough to gain widespread commercial acceptance.
The energy transfer tube disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0150643 fixes the efficiency problems that have plagued vortex tubes. The inventor has now surprisingly discovered, through extensive experimentation, that superior performance can be achieved by providing an energy transfer tube with multiple fluid flow generators. The multiple fluid flow generators are provided to create multiple fluid flows inside the tube. More will be said of this later.


A pipe joint comprising a pressing nut into which a flexible pipe is inserted, a joint body into which the pressing nut is partially inserted, a resilient means unlocked when pushed by a tip end of the flexible pipe, a sealing member, a retainer engaging the flexible pipe, and an engaging mechanism keeping the pressing nut at a predetermined position in the joint body; the engaging mechanism comprising a stop ring, an annular groove formed on an outer surface of the pressing nut for receiving the stop ring, pluralities of engaging grooves formed on an inner surface of the joint body for receiving the stop ring and communicating with each other; the stop ring engaging both of the annular groove and the first engaging groove before the connection of the flexible pipe is completed; and when the flexible pipe is pulled after completing the connection, the stop ring moving from the first engaging groove to the second engaging groove to draw the pressing nut from the joint body, so that the normal connection of the flexible pipe can be confirmed.

Flexible pipes having corrugated metal pipes coated with resins such as soft vinyl chloride, etc. are used for piping for town gas, etc., and from the aspect of easy operation, one-touch-connectible pipe joints are widely used for the connection of flexible pipes. For pipe joints of this type, sealing between flexible pipes and pipe joints should be kept stably for a long period of time, and the normal connection of flexible pipes to pipe joints should be able to be confirmed. Further, an operation manager should be able to confirm the connection of flexible pipes.
JP 2003-56776 A discloses a flexible pipe joint comprising a means (disk spring) performing a click action in cooperation with a corrugated pipe, when a corrugated flexible pipe is inserted to a predetermined position. However, because the click action is sensed by a worker only temporarily, an operation manager cannot determine from the appearance of the pipe joint after connection whether or not a normal operation has been conducted.
Japanese Patent 3538090 discloses a pipe joint comprising a joint body having a cylindrical guide and a hole, a transparent or translucent protection cover attached to the hole, a nut threaded to the joint body, and a ring, a pipe made of a resin such as polyethylene, etc. being attached to the cylindrical guide with the ring disposed between the nut and the guide, the nut being rotated to cause the ring to push the outer surface of the pipe, so that a tip end portion of the pipe attached to the guide can be observed through the hole by the naked eye. In this pipe joint, however, a worker or an operation manager cannot confirm in a narrow, dark connecting site whether or not a normal connection has been conducted.
JP 2004-28112 A discloses a pipe joint comprising in a joint body, a seal packing closely adhered to a flexible pipe, a locking ring slidably attached to and detached from one end of the seal packing, and a slidable ring having an identification pin and engageable with the locking ring; when a tapered surface of the locking ring abuts a tapered surface of the joint body, the diameter of the locking ring is reduced, so that the identification pin in the sliding ring released from the locking ring projects from the joint body. Because the joint body should have a longitudinal hole for introducing the identification pin for confirming the connection of a flexible pipe, this pipe joint is expensive. Also, because the packing is pressed by the flexible pipe to expand longitudinally, its sealing pressure is likely to decrease.
JP 2009-8219 A discloses a pipe joint comprising in a joint body, a movable piece, a sealing member, a packing having a thick portion and a thin portion, and a compression ring for pressing the thin portion of the packing to reduce its diameter. When a flexible pipe is inserted into the joint body to a predetermined position, the movable piece is detached, so that a sound or a reaction can be sensed. Though this pipe joint can keep good sealing, an operation manager cannot confirm from the appearance of the pipe joint after connection whether or not a normal operation has been conducted.


The nailing machine with safety mechanism is located between fastener and nailing part of nailing machine. The safety mechanism includes an adjustable shelf, which shifts recurrently within a limited range. The first end of adjustable shelf is linked to the fastener, and second end extends towards nailing part. One side of retainer is normally protruded from exterior of nailing part, and the other side extends towards adjustable shelf. The revolving controller is provided with a pin joint and a revolving end. The revolving end will limit and fix simultaneously adjustable shelf and retainer, or, in the case of second swinging angle, the revolving end will release adjustable shelf and retainer. When an idle nailing machine is firstly withheld by a fastener, the adjustable shelf will shift outwards, and then drive revolving end of revolving controller to separate from the adjustable shelf.

The nailing machine, known as a nailing tool, is used to hammer the nails into workpieces. In order to avoid accidental discharge of nailing machine prior to contact of workpieces, most of existing nailing machines are equipped with a safety mechanism, which is available with many models of limited common grounds. In brief, the safety mechanism generally refers to a movable component mounted between a trigger and ejaculator of a nailing machine. The inner side of a movable component is limited at a trigger arm between the trigger and starting switch, while the exterior of movable component overpasses the ejaculator. The operating principle is that, if the trigger is pressed accidentally prior to nailing machine's contact with workpieces, the driving force will be discharged via trigger arm and movable component, making it impossible to brake the starting switch for nailing action, since the exterior of movable component in a suspended state isn't blocked. To the contrary, the exterior of the movable component is to be blocked and fixed when nailing machine contacts the workpieces. So, when the operator presses the trigger, the trigger arm will be activated simultaneously to press smoothly the starting switch for nailing action. However, the typical nailing machine's safety mechanism will yield the following problems during practical applications.
If the trigger is activated accidentally in the case of idle state of ejaculator (i.e. without contact with workpieces), and the exterior of safety mechanism outside of ejaculator touches any object, a slight recession will probably trigger the starting switch to activate a nailing work. Even if the exterior of ejaculator touches accidentally any object (e.g. electric wire and human body, etc.) when the user moves nailing machine, an unintentional nailing work will likely occur. It can thus be seen that, a nailing machine is a handheld device of strong lethality, and poses some potential risks in the worksite in some special circumstances. Therefore, particular attention shall be paid to the safety factors in the course of mechanical design. The aforementioned show that the safety mechanism of typical nailing machine cannot yet satisfy the overall requirement.
Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art nailing machine with a safety mechanism, it would be advancement in the art to provide an improved one of higher safety.
To this end, the inventors have provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products.


An object is to provide a structure of a transistor which has a channel formation region formed using an oxide semiconductor and a positive threshold voltage value, which enables a so-called normally-on switching element. The transistor includes an oxide semiconductor stack in which at least a first oxide semiconductor layer and a second oxide semiconductor layer with different energy gaps are stacked and a region containing oxygen in excess of its stoichiometric composition ratio is provided.

In recent years, semiconductor devices have been developed to be used as an LSI, a CPU, or a memory. A CPU is an aggregation of semiconductor elements each provided with an electrode which is a connection terminal, which includes a semiconductor integrated circuit (including at least a transistor and a memory) separated from a semiconductor wafer.
A semiconductor circuit (IC chip) of an LSI, a CPU, or a memory is mounted on a circuit board, for example, a printed wiring board, to be used as one of components of a variety of electronic devices.
A technique for manufacturing a transistor by using an oxide semiconductor film for a channel formation region, or the like has been attracting attention. Examples of such a transistor include a transistor in which zinc oxide (ZnO) is used as an oxide semiconductor film and a transistor in which InGaO3(ZnO)m is used as an oxide semiconductor film. A technique for manufacturing such a transistor including an oxide semiconductor film over a light-transmitting substrate and applying it to a switching element or the like of an image display device is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A thermoplastic elastomer barrier layer is disclosed. The thermoplastic elastomer barrier layer may be grafted to a substrate for preventing contaminants from permeating through the substrate or for preventing contaminants, which may permeate through the substrate, from permeating beyond the substrate. The thermoplastic elastomer barrier layer is grafted to the substrate by a thermal grafting process.

Silicon rubber keypads are used in a variety of electronic products ranging from telephones to calculators. Manufacturers of these products typically want to extend the life of these products for as long as possible. This is particularly desirable for widely known manufacturers having a reputation for providing highly reliable products.
Unfortunately, the use of silicon rubber keypads in electronic products can result in the premature failure of the electronic products. For example, a cellular telephone is typically constructed with a printed circuit board and a mating silicon rubber keypad. The printed circuit board will typically have a plurality of electrically conductive contacts formed on its mating surface, and the silicon rubber keypad will typically have a corresponding plurality of electrically conductive contacts associated with its mating surface. In operation, a user of the cellular telephone will use his/her fingers to apply pressure to the silicon rubber keypad so as to cause electrical connections to be made between corresponding electrically conductive contacts.
Over time, the silicon rubber keypad usually comes into contact with contaminants such as creams, lotions, and oils. These contaminants may come directly from the fingers of the user or from some other source. Regardless of where they originate, these contaminants may permeate through the silicon rubber keypad and cause corrosion and connection problems with the electrically conductive contacts. This permeation is usually aided by the application of pressure to the silicon rubber keypad.
In view of the foregoing, it would obviously be beneficial to provide a means for preventing contaminants from permeating through the silicon rubber keypad or for preventing contaminants, which may permeate through the silicon rubber keypad, from permeating beyond the silicon rubber keypad so as to prevent corrosion and connection problems with the electrically conductive contacts. In broader terms, it would be beneficial to provide a means for preventing contaminants from permeating through or beyond any type of substrate material which would otherwise allow such contaminant permeation to occur.

Grafted thermoplastic elastomer barrier layer


Disclosed is a voltage switch circuit of a semiconductor device. The subject voltage switch circuit can be used to apply voltage to a semiconductor memory device control circuit. The voltage switch circuit according to an embodiment includes five transistors and a capacitor. An output terminal of the subject circuit outputs VSS when VDD is applied to an input terminal, and outputs a boosted operating voltage when VSS is applied to the input terminal.

Recently, semiconductor memory devices are being extensively used. For example, one representative semiconductor memory device is an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) capable of writing, reading and erasing data by applying differentiated control voltage.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram schematically illustrating elements of a semiconductor device control circuit, and FIG. 2 is a data table illustrating voltage for each applied mode for controlling the semiconductor device.
Referring to FIG. 1, a semiconductor memory device, i.e. an EEPROM 10, has three voltage control terminals CG. RBL and TG for data writing, reading and erasing operations. The voltage control terminal TG connects to a first transistor 20, the voltage control terminal RBL connects to a second transistor 30, and the voltage control terminal CG connects to a third transistor 40.
The transistors 20, 30 and 40 are typically NMOS (n-channel metal oxide semiconductors) transistors, and selectively transfer an external signal to the semiconductor memory device 10 in order to perform writing, reading and erasing operations.
Control terminals (e.g. gates) of the transistors 20, 30 and 40 are connected with a first external terminal 50 to receive an operating voltage. The first transistor 20 connected with the voltage control terminal TG of the EEPROM 10 is also connected to a second external terminal 60.
Further, the second transistor 30 connected with the voltage control terminal RBL of the EEPROM 10 is also connected to a third external terminal 70, and the third transistor 40 connected with the voltage control terminal CG is also connected to a fourth external terminal 80.
As shown in FIG. 2, in order to write data in the EEPROM 10, a voltage of about 12V is applied to the fourth external terminal 80. The applied voltage is input to the voltage control terminal CG through a switching operation of the third transistor 40.
Further, in order to erase data from the EEPROM 10, a voltage of about 12V is applied to the second external terminal 60. The applied voltage is input to the voltage control terminal TG through a switching operation of the first transistor 20.
Further, in order to read data from the EEPROM 10, voltage of about 2V is applied to the third external terminal 70 and voltage of about 3.3V is applied to the fourth external terminal 80. The applied voltages 2V and 3.3V are input to the voltage control terminals RBL and CG through the second and third transistors 30 and 40, respectively.
However, the first and third transistors 20 and 40 cannot switch the voltage of 12V to the voltage control terminals TG and CG before receiving operating voltage of 12V or more through the first external terminal 50.
At this time, a threshold voltage VT exists in the first and third transistors 20 and 40. Thus, the operating voltage applied through the first external terminal 50 must be greater than "12V+VT".
For this reason, the semiconductor device control circuit requires an additional voltage generator for supplying voltage of "12V+VT" or more. This is often accomplished through a regulator or a voltage switch circuit using a clock signal.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram schematically illustrating elements of a voltage switch circuit according to a related art that may be connected with the semiconductor device control circuit of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating signals of the voltage switch circuit of FIG. 3.
Referring to FIG. 3, the voltage switch circuit includes seven transistors a first transistor 125, a second transistor 130, a third transistor 135, a fourth transistor 140, a fifth transistor 145, a sixth transistor 146 and a seventh transistor 147. In addition, the voltage switch circuit includes four external terminals: a first external terminal 105, a second external terminal 120, a third external terminal 110, and a fourth external terminal 115.
The first external terminal 105 of the voltage switch circuit may be connected to the first external terminal 50 of the semiconductor device control circuit of FIG. 1. The fourth to seventh transistors 140, 145, 146 and 147 connect to the first external terminal 105 of the voltage switch circuit through a Zener diode 155.
The Zener diode 155 and the fourth to seventh transistors 140, 145, 146 and 147 constitute a circuit for generating the voltage of "12V+VT" or more by boosting the input voltage.
The second external terminal 120 of the voltage switch circuit receives an enable signal. The second external terminal 120 connects to the source of first transistor 125. The drain of the first transistor 125 is connected between the first external terminal 105 and the Zener diode 155 at a node N1.
The node N1 is connected to the drain of the second transistor 130. The gate of the second transistor 130 is connected to the third external terminal 110 through a capacitor 150. The third external terminal 110 receives a clock signal.
The source of the second transistor 130 is connected to the source of the third transistor 135. The drain of the third transistor 135 is connected to the fourth external terminal 115 to which an operating voltage VPP is applied.
In addition, the gate of the second transistor 130 connects to the sources of both the third transistor 135 and the second transistor 130 at a node N2. Further, the gate of the third transistor 135 is connected to the node N1.
Hereinafter, an operation of the voltage switch circuit having the construction as described above will be briefly described.
First, if VSS (often a ground or 0V signal) is input through the second external terminal 120 as an enable signal, the first transistor 125, which receives the VSS through a conduction terminal (its source) and receives VDD through a control terminal (gate) thereof, is turned on. Thus, the VSS is transferred to the first external terminal 105 through the drain of the first transistor 125.
In such a case, the semiconductor device control circuit does not receive a voltage of "12V+VT" or more.
Second, if the VDD voltage is input through the second external terminal 120, the first transistor 125 is turned off, and one terminal of the capacitor 150 continuously receives the VDD and the VSS voltage values according to a boosting clock signal input through the third external terminal 110.
Thus, voltage of the node N2 is boosted.
The voltage boosted in the node N2 is applied to the control terminal (gate) of the second transistor 130. Then, as the second transistor 130 operates (is on), high voltage current flows in the first external terminal 105.
The high voltage current is identical to the sum of breakdown voltage of the Zener diode 155 and threshold voltages of the fourth to seventh transistors 140, 145, 146 and 147. Thus, the voltage of "12V+VT" or more can be supplied to the semiconductor device control circuit.
Referring to FIG. 4, the clock signal shown in graph "A" is input to the third external terminal 110. The graph "A" appears as a solid block between VSS and VDD voltage values because of the frequency of the clock signal. The VDD and VSS enable signal shown in graph "B" are periodically input through the second external terminal 120.
Referring to graph "C", if the VSS is input, low voltage is generated and transferred to the first external terminal 105. This corresponds to the first operation as described above.
In graph "C", when the VDD is input, the high voltage, i.e. the voltage of "12V+VT" or more, is generated and transferred to the first external terminal 105. This corresponds to the second operation as described above.
Since the voltage switch circuit as described above requires a plurality of devices, the size and area of the circuit is increased and a limitation exists in the minimization of the chip size.
Further, since the current of high voltage generated in the voltage switch circuit is affected by the breakdown voltage of the Zener diode 155 and the threshold voltages of the transistors 140, 145, 146 and 147, controlling a voltage numerical value may be difficult. Furthermore, since the high voltage current is sensitive to peripheral conditions such as temperature, the voltage may not be stably generated.

Voltage switch circuit of semiconductor device