An under-counter portable automatic pill-dispensing apparatus includes a double array of storage units for storing pills in bulk, a retriever between the two arrays for retrieving selected storage units, and a pill-dispensing module for unloading pills into a vial. The storage units each include an outer container, a track positioned in a bottom of the outer container, and a hopper movably positioned within the outer container for movement toward and away from the track. The pill-dispensing module includes an oscillator for the track, a pill counter, and a lift for raising and lowering the hopper to control flow of pills. A prescription information station is provided including a computer for receiving patient prescription information, a printer for printing a label for the vial and for applying the label to the vial, bar code scanners for verification, and distributed controllers for operating the various components.

The present invention relates to automated pill-dispensing apparatus, and more particularly relates to a modular compact pill-dispensing apparatus for automated dispensing of pills in retail pharmacy environments.
There is a need to optimize use of pharmacist time, since the time of a pharmacist is expensive. In particular, there is a need to let a pharmacist use his/her expertise without burdening him/her with mundane work such as counting pills and placing them in bottles. Further, it is desirable to reduce the amount of time a pharmacist spends walking around the pharmacy area, not only to reduce wasted time but also to reduce fatigue of the pharmacist as the day progresses.
There is further a need to optimize the density of storage of pills. In many pharmacies, pills are stored in every nook and cranny possible. Also, the logistics of stored pills relative to the customers and to the pharmacist, should preferably be improved. As part of the logistics, it is important to keep in mind the security of pills, the cleanliness, and the ability to keep the areas clean, especially in the retail environment where cleanliness can be a problem.
Another concern is equipment. Any automated equipment must be compact, flexible, and adjustable for optimally handling different types of pills. However, standardized components should preferably be used, including components that are easily serviceable, fixable on site, reliable, robust, durable, low maintenance, simple to operate, low-cost, and that require a relatively lower capital investment. Further, any programmed features must be configured to optimize quality control and efficiency and control of the operation.
There is a need to increase the accuracy and reduce the errors in filling prescriptions. As part of this, there is a need to improve pill handling and accuracy of pills counts. These are difficult problems, because of the difference in sizes and shapes of pills make pill handling difficult. At the same time, different sizes and shapes of pills are required so that a pharmacist (and patient) can recognize wrong pills. Further, pill handling must deal with quality control issues, including the fact that pill counting is a relatively mundane and boring task.
There is a need to provide adjustability and reliability in pill handling equipment. There is a need to be able to adjust for different pills on site without requiring customized specially-ordered equipment or part. There is a need to reliably and accurately drop pills into vials, while still providing the flexibility that will allow pharmacists to still provide the human control required for dispensing medicines critical to the health of patients,
Another issue is security. Any automated equipment should provide good security and resistance to theft and tampering. As part of this software and programming, it is desirable to provide a refill procedure that not only controls refilling and prevents errors in filling storage units with wrong pills, but also that keeps track of pill counts.
Accordingly, an automated apparatus is desired that provides the advantages noted above and that solves the disadvantages.


The invention provides HSV antigens that are useful for the prevention and treatment of HSV infection, including epitopes confirmed to be recognized by T-cells derived from herpetic lesions. T-cells having specificity for antigens of the invention have demonstrated cytotoxic activity against cells loaded with virally-encoded peptide epitopes, and in many cases, against cells infected with HSV. The identification of immunogenic antigens responsible for T-cell specificity provides improved anti-viral therapeutic and prophylactic strategies. Compositions containing antigens or polynucleotides encoding antigens of the invention provide effectively targeted vaccines for prevention and treatment of HSV infection.

HSV-2 infects about 22% of persons in the US. The level of infection is increasing. HSV-2 infection is associated with an increased risk of acquisition of HIV-1 infection, the main cause of AIDS. HSV-2 infection is associated with death or morbidity of infants who are infected in the neonatal period by transit through areas of HSV-2 infection in the cervix or vagina. HSV-2 also causes painful recurrent ulcerations in the genital or rectal areas of some infected persons and as such leads to a very high level of health care utilization and pharmacy costs. There are positive data from a phase III clinical trial showing about 40% efficacy to prevent HSV-2 infection, and about 70% efficacy to prevent HSV-2-induced clinical disease (Stanberry, 2002, N. Engl. J. Med. 347(21):1652-1661. However there was only positive efficacy data in the subset of study participants who were female and who were uninfected with HSV type 1 at the time the study started. A very large phase III confirmatory clinical trial in HSV-1 uninfected women only is currently being planned and will take several years.
Once HSV-2 infection occurs, the virus causes latent infection of the sensory neurons in the ganglia that enervate the area of skin or mucosal infection. Periodically, the virus reactivates from latency in the neurons, travels down their axons, and causes a productive infection of the skin or mucosa in the areas that are enervated by the neuron. Current therapy can decrease this lytic replication in the skin or mucosa. However, current therapy does not remove latent virus from neurons. If the antiviral therapy is not being taken at the time the virus reactivates in the neuron, it will not prevent replication of the virus in the skin or mucosa, and thus is not able to reduce new symptoms or block the chance of shedding of live HSV-2 into the environment and thus transmission of HSV-2. Current therapy can be taken on a continual basis (suppressive therapy), which reduces symptomatic outbreaks and HSV-2 shedding, but as soon as it is stopped, the same underlying pattern of recurrent symptoms and lesions returns.
There remains a need to identify specific epitopes capable of eliciting an effective immune response to HSV infection. Such information can lead to the identification of more effective immunogenic antigens useful for the prevention and treatment of HSV infection.

Antigenic peptide of HSV-2 and methods for using same


An alarm includes a pressure-actuated sensor positional beneath the seat liner of a vehicle child seat. The sensor includes a plastic enclosure positioned thereabout for shielding the sensor from foreign elements. A speaker is coupled to the sensor and is attachable to an outer surface of the child seat. A push button switch is coupled to the sensor and the speaker, and is attachable to a vehicle door. The switch includes a female receptacle and a male plug mateable therewith. The receptacle and plug communicate with the sensor. The sensor generates and transmits a signal when a threshold weight is detected and the vehicle door is ajar. The speaker receives the signal and emits an audible signal and continues to emit the signal until at least one sensor and push bottom switch are reset. A power source is coupled to the speaker.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to alarms and, more particularly, to a vehicle child seat alarm for alerting a driver when a child is left unattended in a vehicle child seat.
2. Prior Art
It seems that every summer there are news reports of children dying due to being left unattended in a closed vehicle. If a baby or young child is (inadvertently or purposefully) left in a vehicle, the child can quickly be in danger of serious heat-related problems. Even if windows are cracked open, the vehicle is parked in the shade, and the outside temperature seems temperate to an adult, the inside temperature of a vehicle can quickly become unbearable to a child trapped therein. Tragically, this often happens when well-meaning, but stressed or busy parents, forget to remove a sleeping infant or toddler from a car.
The use of alerting devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, alerting devices heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of sensing occupants of vehicles are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
One example discloses a child warning system for use with a vehicle's car seat that is capable of providing alerts for such situations as the seat is improperly mounted or the restraint is improperly buckled. Another example discloses a mechanism for monitoring the occupancy of space in a vehicle to determine use of seatbelts and air bags. Yet another prior art example shows a mechanism for sensing the occupancy of passengers and a child seat in a vehicle for use in controlling air bags.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objective and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a child seat alarm for preventing a child from being left inside a motor vehicle once a door of the vehicle has been opened or its engine has been shut off.
Accordingly, a need remains for a vehicle child seat alarm in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a vehicle child seat alarm that is easy to use, gives parents peace of mind, and increases the safety of babies and young children. Such a system reminds the vehicle operator if a child is present in a car seat when the vehicle door is opened and/or the engine is turned off. This advantageously ensures that the person does not unintentionally forget the child in the vehicle, which could lead to serious injury or death of the child.


The present invention is a gaming machine and method for conducting a crap slot game. The gaming machine includes a first display for displaying a slot game outcome and a second display for displaying a player interactive wagering interface. The method includes detecting selection of a first wager amount from a number of displayed wager amounts, detecting selection of a first wager cell from a displayed assemblage of wager cells. Each of the wager cells corresponds to one of a number of winning game outcomes having respective value payout ratios. The method further includes displaying the first wager amount in the first wager cell, displaying the game play outcome of the wagering game on the first display and awarding a value payout to the player if the game play outcome includes the winning game outcome corresponding to the first wager cell.

Casinos and other gaming establishments often include both gaming machines, for example, slot machines providing slot games and gaming tables providing table games such as craps. As a result, many game play options are available to patrons of the gaming establishments. Interestingly, whether due to human nature, risk tolerance, economics, skills, game familiarity, etc., it has been observed that some patrons consistently prefer gaming machine play while others prefer table game play. Shrewd gaming establishment operators consequently strive to offer a proper balance between entertaining and exciting gaming machines that encourage frequent and extended play, and fast paced gaming tables offering games such as blackjack, roulette, craps, keno, baccarat, etc where wagering amounts per game are often substantial.
As is known, a gaming machine may be configured as a video gaming machine to provide video slots, video poker, video blackjack, video keno, video bingo, video pachinko, video lottery, etc., or as an electro-mechanical machine to provide a spinning reel slots game. As is also known, video gaming machines include at least one video display for displaying video game images (e.g., simulated reel symbol arrays, simulated cards, simulated numbers, etc.) and may additionally include a touch screen to allow player interaction. Mechanical spinning reel slot machines generally do not include a video display and instead, include a main reel display area configured to allow a player to view a reel symbol array provided by stopped mechanical spinning reels. In either case, the popularity of gaming machines with players is often dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the gaming machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the gaming machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing gaming machines and the expectation of winning on each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are more likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the machines. Accordingly, popular game themes and/or secondary or bonus games added to the base games have become common place in an attempt to attract players and provide an additional level of excitement to game play.

Gaming machine having a crap slot game play scheme


A bubble type waterless shampoo composition. 0.1 to 5 wt % of potassium cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen and 0.01 to 2 wt % of palmitoyl oligopeptide as natural surfactants. 0.1 to 7 wt % of cocamidopropyl betaine as an amphoteric ion. 0.01 to 0.8 wt % of a citric acid as an organic acid. 0.1 to 4 wt % of sodium carbonate as inorganic salt. 0.01 to 0.5 wt % of origanum vulgare leaf oil. 0.01 to 0.6 wt % of a gallic acid. 0.01 to 3 wt % of glycerin. The rest of aqua water having a function of a solvent made by refining tap water through distilling or ion-exchange resin ion.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bubble type waterless shampoo composition that is capable of conducting scalp conditioning and scalp care, without having any water, and more particularly, to a bubble type waterless shampoo composition that is capable of being conveniently used for patients before and after operations, the aged, the disabled, and people during outdoor activities who do not have their scalp care for a long period of time, wherein the bubble type waterless shampoo composition is applicable to a pumping type shampoo, a spray type shampoo, a gel type shampoo and the like.
Background of the Related Art
In an industrial society, people's hair becomes dirty by means of dust generated from various pollution and outside stimulus. The dirty hair is cleaned with a shampoo, and in the modern society where the living levels of the peoples are improved, shampooing is done almost everyday, which undesirably causes the damages on the hair.
Generally, a conventional shampoo composition includes base components such as an anionic surfactant having functions of providing a cleaning force and bubbles, a nonionic surfactant having functions of providing solubilization and emulsifying and dispersing effects, a pH control agent, a thickening agent, a preservative and water, and selective additives such as a conditioning agent, a moisturizing agent, perfume and a pigment. Especially, the conventional shampoo composition includes 40 to 50 wt % of the surfactants and 45 to 55 wt % of water.
The conventional shampoo composition has the shape of a paste phase having high viscosity. Accordingly, the conventional shampoo composition is contained in a pumping container from which the content is discharged through pumping.
So as to clean hair, further, water is first applied to hair, and a shampoo is then applied to the hair to generate bubbles through massaging and cleaned with a large quantity of water. Finally, the water remaining on the hair is removed with a dry towel.
In this case, the sanitary and shiny states of the hair become better, but the conventional shampoo composition includes a large amount of synthetic surfactants giving stimulus to skin and hair, which is very dangerous to those people having sensitive skin and hair to cause their skin and hair to be damaged.
Further, the conventional shampoo composition has a shape of the paste phase having high viscosity. When hair cleaning, water is necessarily applied to hair, and the shampoo is then applied to the hair to generate bubbles through massaging and cleaned with a large quantity of water.
Especially, there are the limitations in time and places when those people such as the aged, long-stay patients and patients on the danger list, the social weak like the disabled, mariners, soldiers, mountain-climbers, travelers in remote places, leisure participants enjoying fishing, camping, cycling, motorcycling and the like, and the people living in the places where water is lacking like a desert area and a cold area clean their hair with the conventional shampoo composition. In more detail, the cleaning processes are very inconveniently conducted, and after the generation of the bubbles, the cleaning is done with a large amount of water, so that the above-mentioned peoples have the limitations in the use of the conventional shampoo composition.

Bubble type waterless shampoo composition


Isolation between the heavily-doped active regions of an active pixel sensor cell is provided by utilizing a series of isolation regions which have a doping concentration that is approximately equal to the doping concentration of a low-density drain (LDD) region. A first isolation region of the series, which has the same conductivity type as the active regions, is formed to adjoin a first active region. A second isolation region of the series, which has the opposite conductivity type as the active regions, is formed to adjoin the first isolation region. A third isolation region, which has the same conductivity type as the active regions, is formed to adjoin the second isolation region and a second active region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to active pixel sensor cells and, more particularly, to an active pixel sensor cell that minimizes leakage current.
2. Description of the Related Art
Charge-coupled devices (CCDs) have been the mainstay of conventional imaging circuits for converting a pixel of light energy into an electrical signal that represents the intensity of the light energy. In general, CCDs utilize a photogate to convert the light energy into an electrical charge, and a series of electrodes to transfer the charge collected at the photogate to an output sense node.
Although CCDs have many strengths, which include a high sensitivity and fill-factor, CCDs also suffer from a number of weaknesses. Most notable among these weaknesses, which include limited readout rates and dynamic range limitations, is the difficulty in integrating CCDs with CMOS-based microprocessors.
To overcome the limitations of CCD-based imaging circuits, more recent imaging circuits use active pixel sensor cells to convert a pixel of light energy into an electrical signal. With active pixel sensor cells, a conventional photodiode is typically combined with a number of active transistors which, in addition to forming an electrical signal, provide amplification, readout control, and reset control.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram that illustrates a conventional CMOS active pixel sensor cell 10. As shown in FIG. 1, cell 10 includes a photodiode 12, a reset transistor 14, whose source is connected to photodiode 12, a source-follower transistor 16, whose gate is connected to photodiode 12, and a row-select transistor 18, whose drain is connected in series to the source of source-follower transistor 16.
Operation of active pixel sensor cell 10 is performed in three steps: a reset step, where cell 10 is reset from the previous integration cycle; an image integration step, where the light energy is collected and converted into an electrical signal; and a signal readout step, where the signal is read out.
As shown in FIG. 1, during the reset step, the gate of reset transistor 14 is briefly pulsed with a reset voltage V.sub.R (5 volts). The reset voltage V.sub.R turns on reset transistor 14 which pulls up the voltage on photodiode 12 and the gate of source-follower transistor 16 to an initial transfer voltage.
The initial transfer voltage placed on the gate of source-follower transistor 16 also defines an initial intermediate voltage on the source of source-follower transistor 16 which is one threshold voltage drop less than the initial transfer voltage.
Immediately after the gate of reset transistor 14 has been pulsed, the gate of row-select transistor 18 is pulsed with a row-select voltage V.sub.RS. The row-select voltage V.sub.RS on the gate of row-select transistor 18 causes the initial intermediate voltage on the source of source-follower transistor 16 to appear on the source of row-select transistor 18 as an initial integration voltage which, in turn, is read out and stored by an imaging system.
During integration, light energy, in the form of photons, strikes photodiode 12, thereby creating a number of electron-hole pairs. Photodiode 12 is designed to limit recombination between the newly formed electron-hole pairs.
As a result, the photogenerated holes are attracted to the ground terminal of photodiode 12, while the photogenerated electrons are attracted to the positive terminal of photodiode 12 where each additional electron reduces the voltage on photodiode 12.
Thus, at the end of the integration step, the potential on photodiode 12 and the gate of source-follower transistor 16 will have been reduced to a final transfer voltage where the amount of the reduction represents the intensity of the received light energy. As above, the final transfer voltage on the gate of source-follower transistor 16 defines a final intermediate voltage on the source of source-follower transistor 16.
Following the image integration period, the final intermediate voltage on the source of source-follower transistor 16 is then read out as a final integration voltage by again pulsing the gate of row-select transistor 18 with the row-select voltage V.sub.RS. As a result, a collected voltage which represents the total charge collected by cell 10 can be determined by subtracting the final integration voltage from the initial integration voltage.
FIG. 2 shows a plan view that illustrates a substrate level layout 100 of cell 10 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, cell 10 of layout 100 is formed on a substrate 110 that includes an isolation region 112 defined by an outer wall portion 120 that encloses a plurality of active regions within substrate 110, and a protruding wall portion 122 that extends inward from the outer wall portion 120.
The protruding wall portion 122, in turn, divides the plurality of active regions into a first active region 130 on one side of wall portion 122, and second, third, and fourth active regions 132, 134, and 136 on an opposite side of wall portion 122. The first active region 130 of substrate 110 is doped with an n-type material to form an n+ photodiode 140, while the second, third, and fourth active regions 132, 134, and 136 are doped with an n-type material to form n+ source and drain regions for the transistors of cell 10.
Specifically, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, active region 132 functions as the source of select transistor 18, active region 134 functions as the source of sense transistor 16 and the drain of select transistor 18, and active region 136 functions as the drains for reset transistor 14 and sense transistor 16.
In addition, the second and third active regions 132 and 134 are separated by a select channel region 142, the third and fourth active regions 134 and 136 are separated by a sense channel region 144, and the first and fourth active regions 130 and 136 are separated by a reset channel region 146 defined between an end of the protruding wall portion 122 and the outer wall portion 120.
Further, isolation is provided by forming a field oxide region FOX in isolation region 112 of substrate 110. As shown, field oxide region FOX includes the well-known bird's beak 113 that results from the lateral expansion of the oxide during fabrication.
One problem with cell 10, however, is that cell 10 suffers from a leakage current which is most pronounced in the region where the active area contacts the bird's beak 113 of field oxide region FOX.
The leakage current in the bird's beak region is widely believed to be caused by lattice defects that occur during the formation of field oxide region FOX. These lattice defects create mid-band energy states that allow electrons from thermally-generated electron-hole pairs to more readily transition from the valence band to the conduction band. Once in the conduction band, these electrons contribute to the total photogenerated electrons, thereby adding an error term.
FIG. 4 shows a plan view of a substrate level layout 200 of cell 10 of FIG. 1 that illustrates a first technique for reducing the leakage current in the bird's beak region of field oxide region FOX. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 4. As shown, layout 200 is structurally similar to layout 100 of FIG. 2 and, as a result, utilizes the same reference numerals to designate the structures which are common to both layouts.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, layout 200 principally differs from layout 100 in that isolation is provided by a p+ region 145, which is positioned between surface regions 147 of substrate 110 in isolation region 112, in lieu of the field oxide region FOX of layout 100.
Although p+ region 145 provides satisfactory isolation, surface regions 147 of substrate 110 are also sources of a significant leakage current that results from defects at the substrate surface. These defects are typically caused by interface states that result from the use of an overlying layer of oxide.
In addition, surface regions 147 can not be eliminated by expanding the width of p+ region 145 to contact adjoining active regions (such as regions 130 and 132 in FIG. 5) because the resulting p+/n+ junction results in a strong electric field that also leads to a large leakage current.
FIG. 6 shows a plan view of a substrate level layout 300 of cell 10 of FIG. 1 that illustrates a second technique for reducing the leakage current in the bird's beak region of field oxide region FOX. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 6. As shown, layout 300 is structurally similar to layout 100 of FIG. 2 and, as a result, utilizes the same reference numerals to designate the structures which are common to both layouts.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, layout 300 principally differs from layout 100 in that isolation is provided by a polysilicon (poly) electrode 116, which is formed on a oxide layer 115 over isolation region 112, in lieu of the field oxide region FOX.
Specifically, isolation is provided by applying a negative voltage to poly electrode 116 which, in turn, causes holes to accumulate at the surface of isolation region 112. Although this approach, which is the subject of the '566 application, significantly reduces the leakage current, it is frequently a nuisance to provide a negative voltage. In addition, as discussed in the '191 application, single-poly implementations require more surface area, while double-poly implementations are more complex.
Thus, there is a need for an isolation technique that substantially reduces the leakage current without requiring the provision of a negative voltage.

Method of making active pixel sensor cell that minimizes leakage current


An apparatus for measuring the azimuth of a tube having a bore axis includes a centering mandrel having a longitudinal axis; a flexible member for defining a bore axis projection of the bore axis; a tensioner fixed to one end of the flexible member, and a pair of adjusters connected to the tensioner, the adjusters for moving the tensioner along a respective pair of axes that are perpendicular to the bore axis projection, the axes of the adjusters being mutually perpendicular.

The invention relates in general to measuring devices and in particular to devices for measuring azimuth.
Verifying the pointing accuracy of an artillery cannon, mortar tube, or other equipment in an engineering environment has been and continues to be a problem. A theodolite has been used to measure the azimuth of an artillery cannon, mortar tube, or other equipment. U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,626 issued on Jul. 6, 1993 to Bowers discloses another arrangement for measuring the azimuth of a tube.
Shortcomings of these approaches are the inability to quantify or calibrate the apparatus and to establish or remove bias from the measurement. Additionally, the use of an optical instrument, such as a theodolite, to align to a projection of a tube axis is a subjective process and highly dependent upon the skill of the theodolite operator.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A method for cleaning a glass substrate before photoresist coating, which method can remove oxide compounds and organic residues from the surface of a metal layer of the glass substrate, comprises the steps of firstly providing an alkaline developer in a concentration of between 0.35% and 0.45%; later immersing the metal film of the glass substrate in the alkaline developer; then rinsing the metal film of the glass substrate after immersed with clean water; and lastly having the surface of the metal film of the glass substrate in a dry treatment.

With rapid advancement of the fabrication technology of thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs), the LCD is largely applied in various electronic products such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a notebook computer, a digital camera, a video camera, and a mobile phone due to the fact it has advantages of smaller size, lighter weight, lower power consumption and low radiation. Moreover, since manufacturers aggressively invest in research & development and employ large-scale fabricating equipment, the quality of the LCD is unceasingly improved and the price thereof is continuously decreased. That promptly broadens the applied fields of the LCD.
Referring to FIG. 1, it shows a sectional view of a thin film transistor formed on a glass substrate in the prior art. The manufacturing process for the thin film transistor includes firstly forming a gate metal film on the glass substrate 10, wherein the gate metal film is made of aluminum or aluminum alloy material and is formed by sputtering deposition; then performing a first photo engraving process (PEP) for the gate metal film to define a gate structure 12 and metal line structures (not shown); subsequently covering the surface of the above-mentioned structures with an insulating layer 14 by a CVD process; sequentially forming a semiconductor layer 16 and a doped semiconductor layer 18 above the gate structure 12; afterwards, performing a second PEP for the semiconductor layer 16 and the doped semiconductor layer 18; subsequently forming a source/drain metal film on the doped semiconductor layer 18 and the insulating layer 14, wherein the source/drain metal film is a composite metal film made of a tri-layer metal molybdenum/aluminum/molybdenum and is formed by a CVD process; then performing a third PEP to respectively define a source structure and a drain structure 20 on the metal film and thus to define the thin film transistor on the surface of the glass substrate.
A cleaning procedure is further included in the steps of the above-mentioned process, especially the cleaning procedure performed before a photoresist is coated on the metal film of the glass substrate during the first and third PEPs. The cleaning procedure is used to remove particles of oxides and organics remained on the surface of the metal film so that coated photoresist patterns will not result in defects or disconnections. Furthermore, the organic residuals also reduce the adhesion of the photoresist to result in peeling. Hence, to the fabrication process of the THT-LCD, the cleaning process is one of the most important factors for process yield.
Referring to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of a conventional scrubber before the glass substrate is coated with the photoresist, a scrubber 21 of the fifth generation TFT-LCD is exemplified. During cleaning the glass substrate 22, a delivering band 23 is used to transport the glass substrate 22 to a rinse unit 24. Three clean water nozzles 25 mounted on the top of the delivering band 23 at the rinse unit 24 are used to rinse out the glass substrate 22. After completion of rinsing, the glass substrate 22 is transported out by the delivering band 23. The rinsed glass substrate 22 is under a dry treatment with an air scraper 26. The clean water nozzles 25 are respectively connected to a deionized water supply source 27 with pipelines and rinse the glass substrate 22 in a manner of high pressure spraying in combination with a mega sonic wave. Moreover, a recycling pipeline 28 further disposed below the rinse unit 24 can recycle excess deionized water from the clean water nozzles 25 during the glass substrate 22 is rinsed.
However, the conventional scrubber and the cleaning method thereof cannot remove the organics and oxides on the surface of the metal film of the glass substrate and the formed photoresist patterns still have defects, disconnections and peelings. Therefore, those skilled in the art of photoelectric related industries endeavor to research and develop processes as well as to improve equipment so as to provide a method which can remove the organic and oxide residuals from the surface of the metal film of the glass substrate and solve the problems of the prior art.

Apparatus and method for cleaning a glass substrate before photoresist coating


The invention comprises a method for controlling quality in a piping system, including a valve and a piping structure coupled to the valve. The method comprises the following: pressurize the piping structure with a gas at greater than sea-level pressure; seal the gas in the piping structure with the valve; determine whether the gas stays within the piping structure; determine that gas leaks from the piping structure; and identify the location of a leak from the piping structure. The invention further comprises a method for identifying a component. The method comprises the following: indicate identification information on a tag regarding the piping structure; and attach the tag to the piping structure.

Field of the Invention: The invention relates generally to quality control for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Specifically, the invention relates to providing a pressure tested portable piping system and a method for identifying worn or damaged parts of the system.
Completed piping systems contain a number of pipes connected together with reducing trees, adaptors, unions, elbows, etc. and connected to strainers, a variety of valves, nipples, reducing tees, screens, etc. The piping systems are typically assembled at a job site and then installed in buildings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a prior art piping structure. Piping structure 10 includes pipe 12 connected to circuit balancing valve 14. Pipe 16 connects to pipe 18 through union 20. Reducing tee 22 includes flush bushing 24 and pressure/test port 26. Pipe 28 connects to union 30. Elbow 32 connects to pipe 34. Reducing tee 36 has outlet 38 that may connect to a hot water coil (not shown). Flush bushing 40 connects to nipple 42, which connects to ball valve 44. Piping structure 10 may be used as part of a HVAC system in a building, for example.
After the HVAC system is complete, the system is activated and tested. One problem with the prior art is that this results in many hours of problem-solving and leak-hunting. There are leaky joints, broken valves, damaged pipes, leaky coils and improperly assembled components that must be tracked down, incurring further expense on a project. Once a faulty component is found it must be identified, ordered and replaced, taking up time and delaying completion of the project. Furthermore, years after a project is complete a building manager will have to track down broken components that need identification and replacement.
What is needed is a method and system for improving quality control in HVAC systems, reducing the number of hours spent in tracking down leaks and broken components, and decreasing the amount of time required to replace an improperly functioning component.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for controlling quality and tracking parts for repair and replacement of a piping system


A device for automatically correcting the elevation angle of at least one vehicle headlight during changes in the attitude of said vehicle, the device being of the type comprising at least two lighting sensors integrated in the headlight and constrained to move therewith, the two sensors being disposed to detect the brightness of the road in the field of illumination of the headlight in two different directions at two predetermined angles relative to a reference direction of said headlight, an actuator suitable for varying the angle of inclination of the headlight relative to the vehicle, and processor means suitable for generating an actuator control signal as a function of the signals delivered by the sensors which are essentially proportional to the quantity of light that each of them receives. According to the invention, the processor means comprise gain servo-control means controlled by the signal provided by the first sensor, said gain servo-control means controlling the gain of a variable gain circuit receiving the signal from the second sensor, in such a manner that said gain increases with decreasing signal from the second sensor.

Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,267 in the name of the Applicant discloses a correction device which is mainly constituted by at least two photoelectric cells secured to the reflector of a headlight, the cells looking at the road at two different distances ahead of the vehicle. The variations in the brightness of the road illuminated by the headlight in the two directions along which the respective cells look are used in processing means for the purpose of correcting the elevation of the headlights as a function of variations in the attitude of the vehicle. In one embodiment, the processing means mathematically divide values of the instantaneous currents passing through the cells, and the result of the division is compared with a threshold value.
Nevertheless, such a prior art device suffers from the drawback of being extremely sensitive to changes in the nature of the road surface, in the transparency of the headlight glass, in the feed voltage to the lamp, and also in weather conditions (rain that makes the road surface shiny, fog, etc.).
More precisely, the above parameters co-operate to impart random multiplying coefficients to the brightness as measured by each cell; in practice a prior art corrector as defined above works properly only under perfect conditions concerning road surface, glass cleanliness, weather, etc.

Automatic corrector of headlight elevation during changes in the attitude of a vehicle


A catch device of a lengthwise adjustment mechanism of a motor vehicle seat comprises a first pair of rails and a second pair of rails, each having a bottom rail and a seat rail. A first detent ledge is associated with the bottom rail and comprises first detent openings and first detent webs. A first stopper unit is disposed in proximity to the first detent ledge and cooperates therewith, comprises two stopper teeth for engaging the first detent openings independently of one another and for disengaging therefrom together and is associated with the seat rail of the first pair of rails. A second detent ledge is associated with the bottom rail of the second pair of rails and comprises second detent openings and second detent webs. A second stopper unit is disposed in proximity to the second detent ledge and cooperates therewith, comprises a stopper means for engaging and disengaging the second detent openings and is associated with the seat rail of the second pair of rails. An actuation unit has a hand lever and comprises actuator means through which the hand lever is connected to the two stopper units for common actuation of the stopper units. The second stopper unit has only one stopper means, which is a coherent part and is either in or out of engagement with at least one second detent opening.

The invention relates to a catch device of a lengthwise adjustment mechanism of a motor vehicle seat. Such a catch device is also called locking device and is known in prior art from EP 408 932 B1. The first stopper unit thereby has more than one stopper tooth, each stopper tooth being biased in the detent position by an elastic means. All the stopper teeth can come free via a common disengagement device. This stopper unit has the advantage that at least one stopper tooth always engages a first detent opening, irrespective of the relative position between the first stopper unit and the first detent ledge. This allows achieving a safety lock in any case. Such a safety lock does not always provide a zero clearance fit. In order to achieve a zero clearance lock, at least one additional stopper tooth must engage. Such type catch devices are also known from EP 1 316 466 A1, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,189,957 and 5,782,138.
In the catch device of the type mentioned herein above, the two stopper units are built identically, each being configured as described in conjunction with the first stopper unit. Such type stopper units mostly work continuously, they are referred to as multiple pin locks and have proved markedly efficient, although they are more complex than the stopper units having but one stopper means, which is actuated as a whole during engaging and disengaging. The latter stopper means need but one single elastic means, which biases them into the stop position. The provisions for disengagement are also simpler; the stopper means can be connected directly, without slip coupling, to the actuation lever.
A catch device of a motor vehicle seat is a security-relevant part. If a catch device is not locked or if it is locked incorrectly, the occupant may be seriously injured in the event of an accident. This applies in particular to safety belts fastened on the seat. On the usually used three-point seat belt, there is provided a latch lock system that is located on the inboard side of the front seat and is connected to the vehicle seat, for example to the seat rail.
The purpose of the invention is to keep as far as possible the advantages of the continuous stopper units described in the catch device described herein above while reducing expense and costs of a catch device.
In view thereof, the object of the invention is to develop the catch device of the type mentioned herein above in such a manner that the dependability of the catch is largely preserved, with the catch device however being of simpler construction, needing less parts and being low in cost as well.

Catch device of a lengthwise adjustment mechanism of a motor vehicle seat with two pairs of rails


In one aspect, composite particles are described herein. A composite particle comprises a substrate, composite metallic or metal oxide nanoparticles supported by the substrate and an amphiphilic or hydrophilic component associated with the substrate, wherein the composite metallic or metal oxide nanoparticles comprise iron and at least one additional transition metal.

Eleven billion tons of contaminated industrial waste are generated each year. Concurrently, the public and government place a high priority on providing clean, uncontaminated water for consumption and quality of life. In addition, there is continued interest to address contaminated soils, sediments, and air quality, all of which can be affected by water contaminants. Therefore, there is a large market for water treatment and groundwater remediation with associated treatments or management of soil, sediments, and air quality. The current United States remediation market alone is estimated to be worth 60 billion dollars.
A variety of strategies exist to facilitate groundwater cleanup. Some involve pumping water out of the aquifer and treating it above ground, while other strategies, called in situ technologies, focus on treating contaminants "as they lie" in the subsurface. In situ technologies remediate groundwater by introducing chemicals to the subsurface that degrade contaminants or stimulate biological degradation of the contaminants. Zero valent iron has been a focus of remediation research because of the ability to reduce and degrade a variety of organic contaminants and heavy metals. However, current zero valent iron technologies have issues and limitations, including their stability and ability to move within the aquifer matrix in the subsurface. Due to extremely high reactivity, zero valent iron particles will quickly react with a wide variety of compounds in groundwater, forming larger oxides that are less reactive and less mobile in the matrix.

Composite zero valent iron nanoparticles and applications thereof

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS


An ink jet type recording apparatus comprises a connection member which has a passage for leading ink to a recording head from an ink cartridge. In the passage, a valve member having a magnetic body is provided. A rotation member has a permanent magnet and is rotatable between a first position and a second position. When the rotation member is located in the first position, an attraction that can move the valve member in an opening direction of the passage acts between the magnet and magnetic body, and hence, the valve member opens the passage. When the rotation member is located in the second position, the attraction that can move the valve member does not act between the magnet and magnetic body, and hence, the valve member closes the passage.

The present invention relates to a valve device and a liquid ejection apparatus.
Up to now, an ink jet type recording apparatus has been widely used as a liquid ejection apparatus which ejects a fluid toward a target. In detail, this ink jet type recording apparatus comprises a carriage, a recording head mounted in this carriage, and an ink cartridge that stores the ink, which is a fluid. Printing is performed on a recording medium by ejecting ink supplied to a recording head from the ink cartridge from a nozzle formed in this recording head with the carriage moving relatively to the recording media, such as paper.
As such an ink jet type recording apparatus, there is an "off-carriage" type where an ink cartridge is not mounted in the carriage so as to decrease the load on the carriage or to miniaturize or thin an apparatus. In this off-carriage type of ink jet type recording apparatus, ink in an ink cartridge is supplied to the recording head through a flexible ink supply tube.
Generally, when replacing an ink cartridge etc., the ink cartridge is removed from an ink supply tube. Nevertheless, in a detached state, since an ink passage from the ink supply tube to the recording head is opened to the air, there is a possibility that the ink which remains in the ink passage will leak to the outside from the ink passage, and dry.
It is then conceivable to provide a valve device in the middle of the ink passage etc., to prevent leakage of the ink from the ink passage and drying of the ink by closing the valve device at the time of replacing the ink cartridge, and etc.
A valve device applicable as the valve device as described above is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-81162. The valve device disclosed in this publication comprises a valve body having an ink passage, and a valve member. The valve body has a valve seat which is located in the ink passage. The ink passage is opened and closed by the valve member abutting on and separating from the valve seat. The valve body comprises a film-like member which can be elastically deformed along a movement direction for ink, and the valve member is fixed to this film-like member.
The valve body is formed of a magnetic material which has a high magnetic permeability, and an excitation coil is wound around the valve body. The valve member is made of a magnetic material or a permanent magnet. In connection with the excitation coil being excited or de-excited, the valve member separates from or abuts on the valve seat, and hence, the ink passage is opened and closed thereby.
The valve device in the above-mentioned publication is constructed by an electromagnetic actuator which drives the valve member by using the excitation coil provided around the valve body. The adoption of such an electromagnetic actuator causes complication and upsizing of the valve device. In addition, since the valve member cannot be driven while an ink jet type recording apparatus is not powered, it is inferior in the degree of freedom for driving of the valve member. Furthermore, in order to achieve electromagnetic driving, it is necessary to form the valve body, which functions as a core of the excitation coil, with a magnetic material, and hence, a material which can be used as the valve body is limited. This becomes a cause for limiting the degree of freedom in the design of the valve device.
On the other hand, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-263960 discloses a valve device which can decrease the noise at the time of opening and closing the valve member. The valve device disclosed in this Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-263960, as well as the valve device disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-81162, is also constructed by an electromagnetic actuator. Therefore, also when the valve device in this Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-263960 is applied to an ink jet type recording apparatus, the same problem as the valve device in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-81162 arises.

Valve device provided in a passage forming member


A double gate transistor comprises a substrate (105, 905) and first and second electrically insulating layers (110, 910), (120, 920). The first and second electrically insulating layers form a fin (130, 930). A first gate dielectric (140,940) is at a first side (131, 931) of the fin and a second gate dielectric (150, 950) is at a second side (132, 932) of the fin. A first metal region (160, 960) is adjacent to the first gate dielectric and has a first surface (161, 961), and a second metal region (170, 970) is adjacent to the second gate dielectric and has a second surface (171, 971). The first electrically insulating layer has a third surface (111, 911), the second electrically insulating layer has a fourth surface (121, 921), and the first surface and the second surface lie between the third and fourth surfaces.

Transistors are foundational devices of the semiconductor industry. One type of transistor, the field effect transistor (FET), has among its components gate, source, and drain terminals. A voltage applied between the gate and the source terminals generates an electric field that creates an "inversion channel" though which current can flow. Such current flow may be controlled by varying the magnitude of the applied voltage.
Many configurations and fabrication methods have been devised for transistor gate terminals (as well as for other transistor components). One such configuration is what is frequently called a double gate transistor, in which a transistor has two gates instead of a single gate. Another such configuration is a gate in which a film having a high dielectric constant replaces a conventional gate oxide material for the purpose of overcoming some of the problems arising from such conventional gate oxide materials as they are increasingly thinned as a result of advancing technology and customer demand. Underlying all such attempts to advance the art of transistor gate formation and configuration is a desire to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Accordingly, a efficient and effective double gate transistor and a corresponding fabrication method would represent a welcome advance in the art.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments of the invention. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements.
The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Similarly, if a method is described herein as comprising a series of steps, the order of such steps as presented herein is not necessarily the only order in which such steps may be performed, and certain of the stated steps may possibly be omitted and/or certain other steps not described herein may possibly be added to the method. Furthermore, the terms "comprise," "include," "have," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.
The terms "left," "right," "front," "back," "top," "bottom," "over," "under," and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. The term "coupled," as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical or non-electrical manner.

Double gate transistor, method of manufacturing same, and system containing same


An ocean current energy converter is disclosed which, by positioning upon an ocean floor, harnesses and converts energy stemming from wave, tide, and current propagation into useful electrical power. The ocean current energy converter comprises a pair of support legs which are secured to a rotating canister which comprises a plurality of fins disposed about an outer periphery of said rotating canister. Wave motion acting upon the fins of the rotating canister causes said canister to rotate, thus driving a power generating source contained therein, and producing electrical energy.

The invention relates to an ocean current energy converter. More particularly, the invention relates to an ocean current energy converter apparatus which harnesses and utilizes the changing hydrodynamics of an ocean current or wave motion.
It has been well known for some time that aquatic environments such as lakes, rivers, streams and such possess valuable energy potentials. Typically, energy is harnessed from rivers and similar narrow current-flowing waterways by installing a hydraulically driven turbine, connected to a power generating source, at a particular location. The number of suitable locations at which such installation is possible is of course limited, as the number of heavy flowing rivers and similar narrow waterways are also limited. In addition, the installation of these types of applications also generally requires that the turbines be installed at or near the surface of the body of water, thus again limiting the number of potential locations at which such installation may take place. A device is needed which can harness the large, untapped reservoir of energy found in ocean currents, thus providing a vast number of possible site-locations for installation of such a device.
In addition to the requirement that these traditional application be installed at stringent, site-specific locations which are limited in number, another problem is inherent in their use. These devices must usually be permanently installed at a particular location, incapable of being moved or adjusted in response to ecological changes around them. Indeed, water levels and currents vary greatly upon rivers and narrow current-flowing waterways, sometimes necessitating that the hydro-electric devices installed thereat be adjusted or relocated. No devices currently exist which are capable of being removed from a particular location or adjusted thereat.
Furthermore, these traditional devices fail to allow for modular system installations. In other words, only a fixed number of apparatus are usually capable of being installed at a particular location. If a greater power output is desired from a specific site location, it is usually not possible for further hydro-electric apparatus to be installed thereat with any ease. There does not exist presently any hydro-electric apparatus which are capable of being installed in a variable number, such that particular units may be added to or removed from the site system as required (i.e. in response to increases or decreases in system usage requirements).
While these traditional units discussed above may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.


Systems, devices, methods, and program products for enhancing structure walkthroughs are disclosed. In various embodiments, a method includes: monitoring a current location of an interested party (IP) device utilizing data collected by the IP device during a walkthrough of a structure having a structure representative (SR); detecting, based on the current location of the IP device, when the IP device is brought into proximity of a first SR-marked location included in a plurality of structure SR-marked locations; and in response to detecting that the IP device has been brought into proximity of the first SR-marked location, (i) identifying a first SR-created message corresponding to the first SR-marked location and contained in a location-referenced message set; and (ii) generating or causing generation of an SR message notification on the IP device, the SR message notification presenting or offering to present the first SR-created message to the interested party.

When considering entering into an agreement pertaining to the occupancy or ownership of a residential, business, or commercial structure, an interested party often conducts an in-person tour or "walkthrough" of the structure prior to taking steps in furtherance of the agreement. Traditionally, a structure walkthrough is conducted in the presence of a third party. The third party may be, for example, a real estate agent, a landlord, a building manager, or the structure owner, depending on whether the structure is offered for sale, lease, or rent. To initiate the structure walkthrough, the third party may grant the interested party physical access to the structure utilizing, for example, keys in possession of the third party or stored within a lockbox secured to the structure's exterior. Alternatively, the third party may interact with a keyless entry system, if installed at an entry point of the structure, to grant the interested party structure access. As the walkthrough progresses, the third party may escort the interested party through the interior of the structure, perhaps while offering bits of information pertaining to the structure itself, the structure's surroundings, recent sales figures or rental rates of comparable structures in the vicinity, and similar topics. Upon conclusion of the walkthrough, the third party may lock the front door or otherwise resecure the structure's entry point or entry points after ensuring that the interested party has vacated the structure.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the example and non-limiting embodiments of the invention described in the subsequent Detailed Description. It should further be understood that features or elements appearing in the accompanying figures are not necessarily drawn to scale unless otherwise stated.

Systems, devices, methods, and program products enhancing structure walkthroughs


A washing apparatus for washing a probe which is transferred substantially horizontally in a plane during a washing process includes a washing body having a wall structure defining an inner hollow portion, a feed water unit provided for the wall structure of the washing body for feeding water in the inner hollow portion, slits formed in the wall structure of the washing body so as to communicate with the inner hollow portion of the washing body, and at least a first waterway channel having one end connected to a bottom portion of at least one of the slits and a second, free end, wherein the waterway channel is disposed on a level substantially corresponding to a transfer route of a tip of the probe and has a shape so as to substantially correspond with the transfer route of the probe. The waterway channel is formed so that the tip of the probe is most deeply dipped at a portion near the one end of the waterway channel connected to the slit of the washing body and then is separated from the waterway channel at a portion near the free end of the waterway during the horizontal transfer of the probe. The probe washing apparatus can be utilized particularly for a random access type automatic analysis system for washing the probe after suction of a sample or reagent into the probe before reaching a reaction tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a probe washing unit and an automatic analysis system, particularly of a random access type, provided with the probe washing unit.
2. Discussion of the Background
In a usual random access type automatic analysis system, when a sample in a sample container such as sample tube accommodated in a sampler, for example, is sucked and discharged into a reaction tube by utilizing a slender dispensation, i.e. sample probe, the sample usually in a liquid state adheres to the outer surface of the tip end of the probe at the time of suction and may be dropped into the reaction tube together with the sample inside the probe to be weighed at the time of discharge, thus deteriorating the sample dispensing precision as well as the measurement precision.
In order to obviate such defects, the sample adhering to the outer surface of the tip portion of the probe is removed by wiping the same or dipping the same into a clean liquid such as pure water.
In the wiping method, the tip portion of the probe is held by a wiper having a liquid absorbing property and moving the probe upward. On the other hand, in the dipping method, the dispensation probe is dropped in a washing unit during the analyzing process after sucking the sample and the sample adhering to the outer surface of the probe tip is diffused by washing water in the washing unit and then wiped.
Furthermore, when dispensing a sample and a reagent in the automatic analysis system, the inside and outside of the dispensation probe are washed in the washing unit after the sample and the reagent are dispensed. However, since a drop of the washing water is typically attached to the probe after the washing, the drop is wiped off and likely removed as in the case of the above mentioned wiping method.
However, in the wiping method, since various samples are treated by the wiper one after another, these become stained and cause contamination of the samples. In particular, the recent type of an automatic analysis system operates with a high degree of sensitivity, and hence, that with the normal value being several tens, for example, in AFP (Anti-Feto-Protain) the measurement becoming several thousands according to the condition of a patient, if the sample is sucked from the patient, thus bringing about a problem of a minute contamination of the samples.
On the other hand, in the dipping method, even if a high-speed operation of the automatic analysis system is realized, too much time is required for the vertical motion of the dispensation probe in the washing unit during the horizontal transfer of the dispensation probe, and, hence, there still remains a disadvantage of not coping with the high-speed operation. Now, therefore, in order to cope with the high-speed operation, a proposal has been made such that the dispensation probe the washed with flushing water with its tip, i.e. front, portion kept at a transfer height at a flushing position. However, in this method, since the flushing water is applied to the dispensation probe for washing the same, the probe will be transferred to the next vessel position with a drop of water being attached to the probe tip after the stopping of the water feed. As a result, the drop of water having attached to the probe tip is scattered or the drop is mixed into the sample or reagent, thus causing a disadvantage such as providing inferior data precision or degraded and denatured reagent and sample.

Probe washing unit and automatic analysis system having probe washing unit


Foods and beverages having decreased digestive and absorptive properties characterized in containing 40 weight % or more all saturated acyl chain triglyceride consisting only of stearic acid and/or palmitic acid as an oil component. The all saturated acyl chain triglyceride consisting only or stearic acid and/or palmitic acid contained in the foods and beverages is not digested and absorbed in the bodies, so that calories may be decreased substantially.

In recent years, the increase of patients suffered from geriatric diseases with the increase of the intake of oil has been given attention, and it has become considered that there is a strong relation between the oil intake and the crisis rates of arterial sclerosis, mammary cancer and colon cancer. Thus, the trend that the oil intake is kept at a distance is extended, and the oil substitutes utilizing polysaccharide and proteins are researched actively under present conditions. However, the popularity of oil is high so that it is very difficult to substantially decrease the oil intake in one's food life under the present circumstances. Further, the foods intended to essentially control the oil intake oils with paying attention to the digestive and absorptive properties of oils, have not developed yet.
It has been known that the digestive and absorptive properties of fats depend greatly on physical and chemical characteristics thereof, i.e., such as melting point and constituent fatty acid species. For example, the higher the melting point of an oil, the lower the digestibility and absorbability become, and the longer the carbon length of a saturated fatty acid, the lower the digestibility and absorbability become. Further, it has been known that the digestive and absorptive properties vary with the differences of the position and the combination of the fatty acids bonded to glycerol. For example, it has been reported that palmitic acid being saturated fatty acid, accelerates the absorptions of free fatty acids, in particular saturated fatty acids, since not only triglyceride bonded to 2-position is more excellent in digestive and absorptive properties than a triglyceride bonded to 1,3-position, but 2-palmitic monoglyceride produced in the process of digestion is excellent in emulsifying characters. On the other hand, it has been known that as the digestive and absorptive properties of stearic acid, the digestive and absorptive properties vary with the fatty acid constituting triglyceride. It has been reported, as the results of experiments using rats, that for example chemically synthesized tristearin is hardly digested or absorbed, but if one more two of the stearic acids within it are replaced by monounsaturated fatty acids, the stearic acid is almost absorbed. Further, it has been known that although triglycerides consisting of stearic acid and palmitic acid have very low digestive and absorptive properties, the digestive and absorptive properties are increased when it is ingested with the same amount of another liquid oil (Hashim et al., Am.J.Clin.Nutr., 31:S273-276, 1978). Therefore, it was unknown whether the digestive and absorptive properties may be decreased or not when the triglyceride consisting of stearic acid and palmitic acid is mixed with another oil and ingested.
The present inventors, in view of the above problems, have investigated repeatedly with paying attention to an all saturated acyl chain triglyceride consisting only of stearic acid and/or palmitic acid, and found that these triglycerides are hardly digested or absorbed. Further, the present inventors found that, even if an oil component containing these triglyceride is emulsified and added to foods and beverages or it is mixed with another oil components and emulsified and added to foods and beverages, yet the original oil mouth feel is kept, these triglyceride are hardly digested or absorbed. Thus the inventors completed the present invention. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide foods and beverages having digestive and absorptive properties which are decreased by blending a certain amount of all saturated acyl chain triglyceride consisting only of stearic acid and/or palmitic acid as an oil component. As a raw material for foods containing all saturated acyl chain triglyceride consisting only of stearic acid and/or palmitic acid, hardened oil is exemplified. As the past examples of the usages of the hardened oil in foods, the usage of the oil as a physical properties modifier for mayonnaise having low-temperature resistance (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No.62-25340), the usage of the oil as a physical properties modifier for liquid shortening (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No.Hei 3-12853), the usage of the oil in frozen tempura (Japanese Examine Patent Publication No.63-60977), the usage of the oil for low-temperature resistant edible oil and the like have been known. However, the usage of the hardened oil in foods and beverages which are intended to decrease the digestive and absorptive properties. As examples of the usages of the hardened oils as low-calorie oils. W/O emulsion for cooking (Japanese Un-Examined Patent Publication No.Hei 1-187052) has been known. However, in the publication, the physical properties are improved and the oil content of the emulsion may be decreased by adding the hardened oil, and as the results, the oil intake is decreased to attain the low-calorie. In addition, as low-calorie oils, the low-calorie oil (Japanese Un-Examined Patent Publication No.Hei 1-252248) and the oil for animal feeds (Japanese Un-Examined Patent Publication No.Hei 1-85040) and the like have been known, but all of them are concerned in the usage of triglyceride consisting of saturated fatty acid having 20 or more carbon atoms, and do not decrease the digestive and absorptive properties utilizing the character of the all saturated acyl chain triglyceride consisting only of stearic acid and/or palmitic acid.

Food and beverages having decreased digestive and absorptive properties and method of preparing the same


In a retail self-checkout system, a customer places an item to be purchased into an itemization area. The system identifies the item by using an item detector/scanner or, alternatively, through a customer input at a touchscreen display or other suitable device. The system then determines whether the item satisfies predetermined security criteria to ensure that the item in the itemization area is in fact the identified item. If the item satisfies the security criteria, the system deactivates a security tag affixed to the item to be purchase. If the item fails to satisfy the security criteria, an alarm summons store personnel to provide human intervention in the self-checkout process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to improvements in retail checkout terminals, and more particularly to advantageous aspects of an apparatus and method for deactivating electronic article surveillance in a retail self-checkout terminal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is becoming increasingly common for purchasers of consumer goods to pay for the goods without the need for a human cashier. For example, motorists frequently purchase gasoline at self-service stations by inserting a credit card directly into a card reader on the pumping station. Such operation has a number of advantages. First, this arrangement saves on the number of persons required to maintain and run a business establishment. Second, it decreases the incidence of employee mistake or dishonesty. Third, the customer perceives that it decreases the amount of time required to complete a typical transaction.
It would be desirable to extend the self-checkout concept to include general retail merchandise. However, in such an environment, there would be an increased concern about theft and errors in the checkout process. In present retail security systems, it is known to affix an electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag onto a retail item which triggers an alarm at the store exit if the tag is not deactivated. However, currently used security systems cannot be used in a self-checkout system because the current systems require a human cashier to ensure that the item has been properly paid for before the EAS tag is deactivated. Thus, there is a need for a security system that can be used in conjunction with a self-checkout terminal.
The present invention advantageously provides a retail self-checkout system and improvements thereto, as described in greater detail below. In a system according to the present invention, the items to be purchased are placed into an itemization area. An item detector detects the presence of the item in the itemization area, and a security checking system determines whether the item satisfies predetermined security criteria. If the item satisfies the security criteria, a deactivator deactivates an EAS security tag affixed on the item to be purchased.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Apparatus and method for deactivating electronic article surveillance in a retail self-checkout terminal


An electronic device comprises a semiconductor die, a layer stack disposed on the semiconductor die and comprising one or more functional layers, wherein the layer stack comprises a protection layer which is an outermost functional layer of the layer stack, and a sacrificial layer disposed on the protection layer, wherein the sacrificial layer comprises a material which decomposes or becomes volatile at a temperature between 100° and 400° C.

For fabricating electronic devices, very often semiconductor dies, semiconductor substrates or semiconductor wafers have to be mounted onto carriers like, for example, leadframes. The two most prominent methods nowadays employed in the semiconductor industry are soldering and sintering. The present disclosure relates to the sintering method in general. Sintering is known to have significant advantages over classical soldering processes in terms of the thermal and mechanical performance of the products.

Sintering method using a sacrificial layer on the backside metallization of a semiconductor die


A lens array, includes: a clear substrate; and a plurality of plastic lens substrates each of which includes a plurality of lenses and which are arranged on at least one of surfaces of the clear substrate.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a lens array used in a line head, a line head for scanning a surface-to-be-scanned of a latent image carrier with light, and an image forming apparatus using the line head.
2. Related Art
A line head which scans light across a surface-to-be-scanned of a photosensitive member which is a latent image carrier to form a latent image is used as a light source for an electrophotographic printer which is an image forming apparatus. Among proposed as an LED (light emitting diode) print head which is a line head is one described in JP-A-2-4546 which uses a light emitting element group (that is, what is referred to as an "LED array chip" in JP-A-2-4546) which is formed by an arrangement of a plurality of LEDs which are light emitting elements. In JP-A-2-4546, one imaging lens focuses a plurality of luminous dot images on a photosensitive member. Known as a manufacturing method of a microlens array which is an imaging lens corresponding to an LED array chip includes a method of forming a mold by photolithography and electroforming and forming lenses on a glass substrate using a photoresist (JP-A-2005-276849). Also known is a method of forming microlens arrays on the both surfaces of a glass substrate (JP-A-6-208006).

Lens array, a line head and an image forming apparatus using the line head


A method may comprise generating a first electronic model of a workpiece to be manufactured using an injection-molding process. The first electronic model may then be analyzed and the workpiece in the first electronic model may then be selectively distorted according to the analysis. A second electronic model of the distorted workpiece may then be generated. The workpiece may then be injection-molded within a mold generated using the second electronic model. Thereafter, the workpiece may be cooled such that the injection-molded workpiece gradually assumes the shape or substantially the shape of the workpiece in the first electronic model.

Injection molding processes are widely used to produce low cost and relatively complex parts. One of the benefits of injection molding is its ability to produce high volumes of the same parts. However, the injection molding process requires that the design of a workpiece (part) follow very specific guidelines in order to achieve defect free manufacturability. The injection molding process imposes certain constrains on the manufacturing process such as uniform wall thickness, round corners, draft angles, and the like.

Injection molding part with “zero draft” design and manufacturing methodologies


A color image forming apparatus having a revolving type developing unit detachably installed therein. The revolving type developing unit includes a plurality of different color developing devices each having a developing roller therein. Each of the developing rollers is movably mounted on the developing device so that a gap between each of the developing rollers and a periphery of a photoconductive drum which is to be formed when the revolving type developing unit is set in the color image forming apparatus is enabled to be adjusted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, etc., and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a revolving type developing apparatus rotatably supported in the image forming apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Background
An image forming apparatus is known which includes a revolving type developing apparatus with a plurality of developing units having developing devices around a rotary shaft. The developing devices are rotated by rotation of the rotary shaft so as to move an arbitrary developing device to a developing station adjacent to a latent image carrier in order to develop the latent image formed on the latent image carrier by the developing device.
A revolving type developing apparatus is also known which includes a rotary developing unit rotatably arranged close to a photo-conductive drum as a latent image carrier having a plurality of developing devices. In such a device, a rotary toner container unit having a plurality of toner containers corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of developing devices is arranged coaxially on one end of the rotary developing unit, and a toner conveying device connects each toner container and each developing device as shown in, for example, Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. 62-251772, Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. 63-78170, and Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. 63-41164.
In the above Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. 63-78170, a rotary developing unit supporting mechanism is disclosed for rotatably supporting a wall of one end of both end portions of a developing unit in a direction of a rotary shaft with a rotatable supporting roller which is in contact with its circumferential surface in order to support the rotary developing unit in the apparatus and for rotatably supporting the other end wall on a pin fixed to a center of it in a positioning hole on a side plate.
In addition, in order to enhance workability of maintenance such as exchanging developer in a developing device, an image forming apparatus is disclosed to have a constitution in which a photo-conductive drum as a latent image carrier and working devices such as a normal developing apparatus are supported by a unit supporter which is held to be pulled out of a body of the image forming apparatus (hereinafter, simply referred to as an apparatus body). Such a technology is shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-58035, Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-37392, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-34070, Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-54392 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-50268, etc.
One drawback in such background devices is that a revolving type developing apparatus, however, is grasped by an apparatus body for fixing in order to assure its rigidity and precision, which leads to extremely deteriorated maintainability around the developing unit. Furthermore, in an image forming apparatus having this constitution, the revolving type developing apparatus and the apparatus body cannot be individually assembled due to the grasped fixing method of the revolving type developing apparatus to be fixed to the apparatus body, which causes a serious problem in assembly properties in a mass production line.
Although there is also an image forming apparatus in which only a revolving type developing apparatus is removable from an apparatus body, in this type of image forming apparatus a number of components of the revolving type developing apparatus is increased, which expands a tolerance generated by building-up of the components from a stage of its photo-conductive drum to the revolving type developing apparatus, and therefore it becomes hard to assure a precision of a developing gap between a developing roller of a developing device in a developing unit of the revolving type developing apparatus and the photo-conductive drum, and as a result a stable image quality cannot be obtained. In addition, in this constitution, the revolving type developing apparatus removed from the apparatus body is put on a floor before its maintenance work is started, which deteriorates stability and workability of the revolving type developing apparatus during the work, since the revolving type developing apparatus is a rotary body and the revolving type developing apparatus is attached or removed to or from the apparatus body in side directions which forces a user to work in an unnatural posture with poor workability.
As a further drawback in the image forming apparatus having the above unit support structure, various problems are generated when freely rotating the revolving type developing apparatus as the revolving type developing apparatus supported by the unit supporter.
For example, if a user pulls out the revolving type developing apparatus supported by the unit supporter and then tries to start a maintenance work such as mounting or removing each developing device in the rotary developing unit in this state, the revolving type developing apparatus freely rotates since it is separated from a driving input in the side of the apparatus body. This causes a problem in that it is hard to perform the maintenance work, which thereby deteriorates working efficiency.
Furthermore, if the revolving type developing apparatus rocks due to vibrations during transportation with the unit support housed in the apparatus body, the following problems may arise. For example, if the image forming apparatus has a drive transmission mechanism which drives a rotary member, such as, for example, a developing roller in the revolving type developing apparatus, by means of mating gears between the apparatus body and the revolving type developing apparatus and it is transported with the gears mated to each other, the revolving type developing apparatus rocks around a rotary shaft due to vibrations during the transportation. This may cause rotations in forward and reverse directions of members for stirring and conveying developer in each developing device of the revolving type developing apparatus and of the developing roller, and as a result toner may leak outside through a gap between an opening edge for an exposure of the developing roller in a developing device case and a surface of the developing roller (if 2-component developer is used, carrier and toner may leak) or the toner may scatter.
In addition, if the revolving type developing apparatus has a rotary toner container device and the apparatus body is transported with toner contained in each toner container of the rotary toner container device, the toner in each toner container may flow out and move into each developing device via the toner conveying device. The toner may then leak outside through the gap between the opening edge for the exposure of the developing roller in the developing device case and the surface of the developing roller, or the toner may scatter.

PC drum integrated revolving type developing unit with pull-out supporter


A vertical cavity surface emitting laser, VCSEL, and detector combination includes a plurality of VCSEL diodes (14, 16a) monolithically integrated on a substrate (12) A forwardly biased lasing VCSEL diode (14) emits light in a vertical axial direction (26) and in a horizontal lateral direction (44). A laterally adjacent detector VSCEL diode (16a), which is unbiased or is reverse biased, receives the lateral light from the lasing VCSEL diode (14) and generates detector output current, which provides feedback (50) control of the forward biasing circuit (24) for the lasing VCSEL diode (14). The combination also provides an electrical-optical-electrical transducer and isolator.

The invention relates to a vertical cavity surface emitting laser, VCSEL.
A VCSEL is an injection diode laser where the laser oscillation and output occur normal to the pn junction plane, "Surface Emitting Semiconductor Lasers", Kenichi Iga et al, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. 24, No. 9, September 1988, pp. 1845-1854 and "GaAs Vertical-Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers Fabricated by Reactive Ion Etching", Kent D. Choquette et al, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 3, No. 10, October 1991, pp. 859-862. Desirable properties include low divergence circular output, single longitudinal mode operation, and high two-dimensional packing density for arrays, which makes VCSELs attractive for applications such as optical recording, communications, and computing.
Most applications of semiconductor lasers require dynamic stabilization and control of the light output, which in turn requires a feedback circuit from a detector to the forward biasing circuit controlling laser injection. It is known to provide a separate light detector for monitoring the laser light output, and providing a feedback connection from the detector to the circuit forward biasing the VCSEL diode. It is also known to monolithically integrate a photodiode on either the top or the bottom of the VCSEL such that the axially vertically emitted light impinges the photodiode, and the latter provides the feedback signal, "Monolithic Integration of Photodetector With Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser", G. Hasnain et al, Electronics Letters, Vol. 27, No. 18, Aug. 29, 1991, pp. 1630-1632. While the monolithic integration of the laser and detector should result in lower packaging cost, it has been found that the structure is too complex and costly to manufacture.
The present invention provides an integrated VCSEL and detector combination which is particularly simple and cost effective. Lateral horizontally emitted light from the VCSEL diode is monitored as an indication of the axially vertically emitted light. One or more of the VCSEL diodes on the substrate is used as a detector. The remaining VCSEL diodes are forward biased in normal manner for laser injection, and emit light vertically axially and horizontally laterally. The lateral light impinges the detector diode to cause current flow therein, which current is monitored, to provide a feedback signal for controlling the forward biasing circuit for the lasing diodes. The invention enables the noted detection for feedback control in a monolithic integrated structure, without a separate detector, and without special or additional crystal growth and processing steps otherwise required for a vertically integrated detector. The invention enables the existing structure of a VCSEL to be used.
The invention also provides an electrical-optical-electrical transducer wherein electric current in the forward biasing circuit for the lasing diodes stimulates laser light emitted horizontally laterally which in turn impinges a laterally adjacent non-lasing VCSEL diode to cause current flow therein.

Feedback mechanism for vertical cavity surface emitting lasers


Improved die for use in the manufacture of self drilling screws comprising a forwardly disposed work face provided with cavity for forming the point and flute section of the screw, a recess proximate to the cavity for receiving a portion of the flash material produced during forging and a planar bumper area terminating in a top edge proximate to the cavity.

The present invention relates to an improved die for use in the manufacture of self-drilling screws, and, in particular, to a die that produces a forged blank having an endchip that may be removed in one piece during the thread-rolling process.
Screws and fasteners having the capability for drilling a pilot hole and forming threads in the workpiece without the need to predrill are well known. Such screws and the dies by which they are made are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,395,603; 3,517,542; and 4,836,730.
The procedure used to manufacture self-drilling screws according to these patents is to impression forge a blank using a pair of matching dies to form the point and flute section of the screw. The forged blank is then thread-rolled to form the threaded section. Dies used in the forging process generally consist of a rectangular body having a work face with a conical recess therein. The work face of each die is orientated so as to align in face to face abutment with the work face of the matching die. In this way, the conical recess of each die act in conjunction to define a space for a screw blank to be inserted and forged therein. Jigs are often used in the forging process to secure the dies in place, as disclosed in my prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,540.
Although many of the fasteners disclosed in the prior art have had commercial success, there have been areas recognized that are subject to improvement. For instance, it has been found that during the forging process described, some of the blank material flows outward of the forging cavity forming an endchip. The endchip consists of a flash of material that is left around and just below the head of the self-drilling screw.
In conventional die designs the endchip created consists of a series of brittle fragments that during the thread-rolling process fracture in multiple pieces leaving a portion of the endchip in the flute section of the screw. This results in a screw having diminished drilling performance. As a result, the screw may be difficult to install or can fail completely during installation.
The endchips created by traditional dies can also create problems in post forming processes. If the screw is heat treated the endchips can fall off and clog the furnace; or if the screw is plated the endchip can dislodge during the plating process and attach to recesses in the head portion of the screw causing problems in the installation of the screw.
It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide an improved die design for use in the manufacture of self tapping screws. Specifically, it is the object of the present invention to provide a die design that produces a workpiece having an endchip that can be rolled off in one piece during the thread-rolling process, thereby producing a screw having improved surface finish and drilling performance. An additional object is to provide a die that will reduce costs and downtime associated with post-forming processes.
The foregoing objects and numerous advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following disclosure.