An ink for ink jet printers contains an aqueous carrier medium; a colorant that is insoluble in the aqueous carrier; a branched polymer dispersant; and an emulsion polymer additive and is stable, has low viscosity, exhibits excellent print quality, provides excellent smear resistance after drying and has good decap or crusting time.

This invention relates to aqueous inks for ink jet printers, and more particularly, to aqueous ink jet inks containing structured polymer dispersants and emulsion polymer additives to improve smear resistance of the applied ink.
Ink jet printing is a non-impact printing process in which droplets of ink are deposited on a substrate such as paper or transparency film in response to an electronic signal. Low cost and high quality of the output, combined with relatively noise free operation, have made ink jet printers a popular option to other types of printers used with computers. Both dyes and pigments have been used as ink colorants for ink jet printers. The dye-based inks while in general superior in color properties, have several disadvantages as compared to pigment based inks. The dyes are usually water soluble and remain so after drying on the substrate. They are easily redissolved by water spills, and the image smears on contact with felt pen markers. In addition, the dyes exhibit poor light stability relative to pigments and are known to fade even under office lighting. Thus, dye-based inks are often unsuitable for use in applications requiring moisture resistance and greater light stability. The pigments are preferred colorants provided the pigment dispersion can be made resistant to flocculation and settling.
Polymeric additives may be added to the pigmented inks to further improve their resistance to smear/smudge or general handling. However, such additives have a great tendency towards generating problems for the ink jet printing process. The most common ones include 1). aggravating the pigment dispersion stability; 2). building up solids around the nozzle plate resulting in misdirection of the ink drop or complete blockage of the ink delivery; and 3). interfering with the ink drop generation, especially in the bubble formation in a thermal ink jet device.
There exists a need for ink jet inks which have good water resistance and smear fastness. In particular, with inks containing insoluble (i.e., dispersed) colorants, there is a need to maintain the stability of the dispersion and pen reliability while improving water and smear fastness.

Ink jet inks containing branched polymer dispersants and emulsion polymer additives


An intelligent controller of electronic cigarette includes a switch module, a voltage acquisition module coupled to a heating wire, a control module coupled to the switch module and the voltage acquisition module, respectively, a display module electrically connected to an output of the control module, and a battery electrically connected to the switch module, the voltage acquisition module, the control module and the display module, respectively. The control module sends a control signal to the voltage acquisition module to make the voltage acquisition module acquire a terminal voltage of the heating wire. After receiving a signal from the switch module, whether the heating wire of an atomizer is in a short-circuit condition, an open-circuit condition or a normal condition is detected based on the acquired signal, and a detection result is output such that these conditions of the heating wire are observed directly by users.

An electronic cigarette includes a battery, a control circuit, and an atomizer. When a user inhales, a high speed airflow is formed in an airflow sensor which senses the inhaling from the user's mouth to actuate an airflow sensor switch to turn on the airflow sensor switch, and the electronic cigarette enters the working status. A control module of the control circuit can control an execution unit to operate by calculating and measuring. The atomizer can be controlled by the control module, and achieve different degrees of atomization according to degrees of suction from the mouth. The atomizer includes a high frequency oscillation circuit and a heating wire. In the atomizer, a nicotine liquid with high purity can be pressurized by a superfine atomizing pump, then enters into an atomizing chamber to be critically atomized into droplets with sizes of about 0.5-1.5 μm, to be dissipated in forms of aerosols by mixing with the inhaled airflow, and form vapors that simulate a smoke gas and have an appearance similar to smoke, but is actually a fog. The condition for critical atomizing is that a surface tension of the liquid is reduced by heating to a degree that it is easiest for the liquid to be atomized, and a temperature of a normal smoke gas (50-60 degree centigrade) is simulated while the smoke fog is simulated. At the same time, an indicator light at a front section of the electronic cigarette can be illuminated to simulate light of the cigarette tip to indicate that the electronic cigarette is in operation. When the inhaling is halted, the airflow in the sensor disappears, the airflow sensor switch is turned off, the control module of the control circuit stops working, the atomizer stops working, and the indicator light at the front section of the electronic cigarette is turned off.
When an electronic cigarette has been used for a period of time, there may be failures if the nicotine liquid cannot be atomized into vapors. Because the user cannot visually observe where the trouble spot is, the user cannot repair the defect by himself. Thus, the user has to abandon the electronic cigarette or send the electronic cigarette to an after-sale service station of the vendor for overhauling. After checking, it may be determined that the heating wire is in circumstances of short circuit or open circuit. Such minor failure causing the electronic cigarette to malfunction will affect the user's degree of trust in the electronic cigarette.

Intelligent controller and method for electronic cigarette

JOYETECH (CHANGZHOU) ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


A template file defines a video material data, a first still picture material data, a second still picture material data and text data, and a display area for each of the material data. A presentation file defines the template file and a correlation between each of the display areas and each material data. Based on the template file and the presentation file, an information display device combines and displays as a program the video material data, the first still picture material data, the second still picture material data, and the text data in their respective display areas.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information display method, an information display device, and an information delivery and display system that provides information in the form of videos, still pictures, and text.
2) Description of the Related Art
Information delivery and display systems are known in which an information creating device creates information, also referred to as programs, such as a guide to a building and its interiors, various floors of a departmental store and the products available on them, real estate, etc., and provides the created programs to viewers by delivering the programs to information display devices via a network such as the Internet, local area network (LAN), etc. In the conventional information delivery and display system, when the programs are created using the information creating device, a producer has to screen the information to be provided to the viewers program by program, which requires a lot of time and effort.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-316859 discloses an advertisement creating system that includes a sales drawing database, a map database, a sales drawing creating terminal, and a server. In this system, upon receiving a request from the sales drawing creating terminal, the server outputs picture data, floor plan data, layout data of a sales drawing or advertising catalog, and related information. The sales drawing creating terminal creates a sales drawing or an advertising catalog using the data received from the server. The sales drawings and advertising catalogs are then stored in the sales drawing database and made available to user terminals when accessed.
In particular, the information (maps, picture data and floor plan data of the real estate, and related information) and the layout data necessary for creating the sales drawing or advertising catalog of the real estate are stored as databases. When the producer, who in this case is the program creator or creator of the sales drawing/advertising catalog, inputs from the sales drawing creating terminal (i.e., the information creating device) data pertaining to a registration number, name, value, traffic, location, premises, building, limitations, facilities, remarks, main copy, sub-copy, and transaction mode, the server stores the inputted information by correlating them with the registration number. The server retrieves from the map database the map that includes the location and displays the map on the sales drawing creating terminal. If the producer selects the map that is displayed, the selected map is stored by correlating it with the registration number. If the producer selects the layout data from the sales drawing creating device, input information based on the selected layout data is displayed. Using the sales drawing creating device, the producer retrieves the picture data and the floor plan data from the sales drawing database and creates the sales drawing or the advertisement catalog by pasting the picture data and the floor plan data in the spaces of the layout data. The server stores the sales drawing or the advertising catalog with the picture data and the floor plan data on it in the sales drawing database and makes available the sales drawing/advertising catalog stored in the sales drawing database from the user terminal (information display terminal).
In the conventional technology described above, the information necessary for the program (i.e., the sales drawing/advertisement catalog) is stored in the form of a database, and the program is created by retrieving the required information from the database. Consequently, programs can be created easily and cost-effectively. However, while creating a plurality of programs, the process becomes complex, involving inputting program-specific information not present in the database, selecting the layout data, and pasting the information retrieved from the database. In other words, it is costly in terms of effort and time to use the conventional technology for creating a plurality of programs.
Further, in the conventional technology, the program showcasing the finished product, such as the sales drawing or the advertisement catalog with the map, drawing data, and the floor plan data pasted on it, is delivered to the user terminal. As a result, the amount of data for the finished product becomes very large, which results in a delay in delivering the finished product. The amount of data becomes much larger when the program includes video data than when only still picture data is involved, resulting in an inordinate delay in delivering the finished product.

Program display method, program display apparatus, and program delivery and display system


An aluminum-based alloy composition having improved corrosion resistance and high extrudability consists essentially of about 0.1-0.5% by weight of manganese, about 0.05-0.12% by weight of silicon, about 0.10-0.20% by weight of titanium, about 0.15-0.25% by weight of iron and the balance aluminum, wherein the aluminum alloy is essentially copper free. The inventive alloy is useful in automotive applications, in particular, heat exchanger tubing and finstock, and foil packaging. The process provided by the invention uses a high extrusion ratio and produces a product having high corrosion resistance.

In the automotive industry, aluminum alloys are used extensively for tubing because of the extrudability of the alloys as well as the combination of lightweight and high strength. Alloys for use in the automotive industry, especially for heat exchanger or air conditioning condenser applications, must have excellent strength, corrosion resistance and extrudability.
One example of a prior art aluminum alloy for use in air conditioning condensers is an AA 1000 series aluminum alloy. As a result of the improvements in automotive heat exchangers, condensers were designed with reduced wall thickness to meet the needs of new refrigerants and weight reduction. As such, the AA 1000 series materials, typically having yield stresses of about 1.5 ksi, were replaced with more highly alloyed aluminum alloys such as AA 3102, typically having a yield stress of about 2.5 ksi.
Requirements for more efficient condenser design have created a demand for aluminum alloys with strength similar to the AA 3102 type alloys but with improved corrosion resistance.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,649,087 and 4,828,794 describe the use of a titanium addition to an aluminum-manganese alloy to impart superior corrosion performance. The alloys described in these patents are useful for extrusions with an extrusion ratio (ratio of billet cross-sectional area to the cross-sectional area of the extrusion) less than about 200. When using extrusion ratios higher than 200, for instance a ratio on the order of 500 or more, alloys of the type described in these patents require extremely high extrusion forces to achieve these ratios. As such, these manganese, copper, and titanium containing aluminum alloys are not economical in extrusion applications with high extrusion ratios.
In view of the disadvantages of prior art alloys having superior corrosion resistance but reduced extrudability properties, and industry requirements for small cross-sectional areas and thin wall dimensions for extrusions used in condensers, a need has developed for aluminum alloy compositions having the combination of excellent extrudability and superior corrosion resistance. Excellent extrudability is required to minimize production costs at the extrusion plant, including use of lower extrusion pressures and higher extrusion speeds.
In response to this need, the present invention provides an aluminum alloy composition which exhibits superior corrosion resistance and improved extrudability. The aluminum alloy of the present invention includes controlled amounts of manganese, iron, silicon and titanium. The copper content is limited to greatly improve the extrudability of the alloy and to offset the effect of the titanium alloying component which causes the flow stress of the aluminum alloy to be higher than alloys without the addition of titanium.

High extrudability, high corrosion resistant aluminum-manganese-titanium type aluminum alloy and process for producing same


A balancing mechanism of a machine tool turret includes an accommodation housing and a balancing device. The accommodation housing includes a slide rail located at a side of the accommodation housing, a groove located at an opposing side thereof and connected with the machine tool, a driving screw located in the slide rail along a specific axis, a driving motor located top of the accommodation housing and connected with the driving screw, and a block base located in the slide rail and connected with one end of the driving screw. The balancing device is located aside to the accommodation housing with one end fixedly connected with a top side of the accommodation housing and another end extended along the specific axis perpendicular to an axis of a work piece. In a finite installation space, the balancing mechanism has the way in embedding the accommodation housing without increasing the extra volume.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a balancing mechanism, and more particularly to the balancing mechanism that is embedded on a saddle of a machine tool.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The conventional lathe is a specific machine tool for machining a cylindrical or a round-cross-section work piece. To meet various machining tasks upon the cylindrical work piece, a pneumatic cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder is usually mounted top to a turret at a place between the turret and a saddle of the lathe. Through forcing from the pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder to pull directly the turret at a top thereof so as to match the up-and-down movement of the work piece, the weight of the turret can thus be balanced.
The aforesaid pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder is to provide a cushion device for the lathe. In the art, the like cushion device can be mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic. The mechanical cushion device is mainly consisted of springs with specific resilience against the elastic deformation of the aforesaid suspended combination (the protrusive spindle and the work piece). The hydraulic cushion device is to provide the internal hydraulic oil as a damping matter to buffer the forcing from the suspended combination. The pneumatic cushion device is to provide the internal air as a compressive matter so as thereby to provide damping to reduce the possible impact from the suspended combination.
Nevertheless, to meet various machining patterns of the lathe upon prospective work pieces, the aforesaid cushion device would face a need of extended displacement range. For the cushion device is usually mounted to the top of the bed, i.e. at the almost highest point of the lathe, thus an installation room problem would be induced to contain the movable cushion device at the already high-enough top of the bed. To make worse, the space in a factory for installing the machine tool is usually limited.
Hence, in order to overcome all the aforesaid shortcomings of the conventional structures, an improved cushion device for compensating the deformation of the spindle is definitely welcome to the industry of the machine tools.

Balancing mechanism of machine tool turret


Disclosed are (i) a boron-dipyrrin compound having thienyl groups, (ii) a preparation method thereof and (iii) a chemosensor comprising the boron-dipyrrin compound having thienyl groups. More particularly, the present invention provides a boron-dipyrrin compound having thienyl group, furyl (OC4H3) group or selyl (SeC4H3) group, which is represented by the following formula (1), a preparation method thereof and a chemosensor comprising the above boron-dipyrrin compound having thienyl groups, characterized in that the chemosensor exhibits variations in colors and fluorescent properties caused by reaction of the boron-dipyrrin compound with metal ions, including, but not limited to, Cu2+ and Hg2+:3-(R)-4,4-di(R)-8-(R)-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene   formula (1)                wherein R is any one selected from 2-thienyl group and 3-thienyl group.

This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 2008-12766, filed on Feb. 12, 2008, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to boron-dipyrrin compounds that include thienyl groups, preparation methods thereof and chemosensors comprising the boron-dipyrrin compounds having thienyl groups, more particularly, to a boron-dipyrrin compound having thienyl groups, represented by the following formula (1), a preparation method thereof and a chemosensor comprising the above boron-dipyrrin compound having thienyl groups, characterized in that the chemosensor exhibits variations in colors and fluorescent properties caused by interaction of the boron-dipyrrin compound with metal ions:3-(R)-4,4-di(R)-8-(R)-4-bora-3a,4a-dizaz-s-indacene  formula (1)
wherein R is any one selected from 2-thienyl group, 3-thienyl group, furyl (OC4H3) group and selyl (SeC4H3) group.
2. Description of the Related Art
Boron-dipyrrin compounds having thienyl groups have structural similarities to a material usually known as BODIPY (also known as: boron dipyrrin, BF2-dipyrrin, or 4,4-difluoro-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene). Such species that contain thienyl type groups that give UV-vis spectra that are red shifted, or bathochromically shifted have been represented previously by a patent ("Long wavelength heteroaryl-substituted dipyrrometheneboron difluoride dyes" Haugland, R. P.; Kang, H. C. (Molecular Probes, Inc., USA). U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,782, 1993.)
BODIPY is also previously known to belong to broad class of organic dyeing materials. In general, the dyeing materials have structures modified from a basic compound selected from a group consisting of: anthracene; pyrene; cyclodextrin; calixarene; fluorescein; quinoline; rhodamine; azulene; pyridine; thiazole; thiadiazole; thiophene; cyclam; BODIPY (boron dipyrrin); ferrocene; carbohydrate; peptide, etc. Such materials with superior fluorescence are generally used in biological studies such as, for example, researches for surface-marking bio-masses with the dyeing materials and monitoring biological reactions that give rie to fluorescent reporters.
Dyeing materials with fluorescence mostly have degree of fluorescence (that is, fluorescent level) increased, decreased or eliminated by chemical interactions or reactions, therefore, are often called "chemosensors." Many chemosensors have been developed and/or reported in the related arts, for example, there were recent reports to demonstrate sensors, switches, dosimeters and so on for the cupric ion, Cu2+, and mercuric ion, Hg2+.
Among metal ions, the cupric ion, Cu2+, is broadly distributed in natural resources and have a variety of roles in the ecosystem. Mercury is also naturally discovered in mineral form. However, mercury and mercuric ions Hg2+ which were used in industrial applications and have accumulated in soils and/or water in the form of methyl mercury CH3HgCl with neurotoxicity, are now considered as significant pollutants which threaten the ecological health of the environment. Therefore, it is very important and strongly required to develop novel ionic detection systems to detect both of Cu2+ and Hg2+.
Boron-dipyrrin type substances with Cu2+ and Hg2+ detection abilities have been disclosed in technical documents including, for example: Qi, X. et al., Journal of Organic Chemistry 2006, 71, 2881-2884; Rurack, K. et al., Journal of the American Chemical Society 2000, 122, 968-969; Coskun, A. et al., Organic Letters 2007, 9, 607-609; Yuan, M. et al., Organic Letters 2007, 9, 2313-2316; Moon, S. Y. et al., Journal of Organic Chemistry 2004, 69, 181-183, etc. But, these substances have typical coordinate units in the form of pyridine or crown to detect metal ions.
A simple method for production of the eighth (8) 4,4-difluoro-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene carbon site substituted BF2-dipyrrin was reported by Lindsey et al., (see Lee, C. H. et al, Tetrahedron 1994, 50, 11427-11440 and Littler, B. J. et al., Journal of Organic Chemistry 1999, 64, 1391-1396).
Also, Kee disclosed a method of improving fluorescent level of BF2-dipyrrin while altering the eighth (8) 4,4-difluoro-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene carbon site with different substituents, in Kee, H. L. et al., Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2005, 109, 20433-20443.

Boron-dipyrrin compounds comprising thienyl groups, preparation method thereof and chemosensor comprising the same

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology


An image forming unit includes a first unit and a second unit. The first unit includes a first engagement portion and a rotatably supported image bearing body. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the image bearing body. A second unit includes a second engagement portion and a rotatably supported developer material bearing body. The developer bearing body develops the electrostatic latent image with a developer material into a developer image. The second unit is coupled to the first unit such that the first engagement portion engages the second engagement portion. A plurality of urging members that are mounted in a vicinity of one end of an axis of rotation of developer material bearing body, and urge the first unit and the second unit in directions such that the image bearing body and the developer material bearing body are urged against each other.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming unit and an image forming apparatus that incorporates the image forming unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrophotographic image forming apparatus are known which include at least one image forming unit detachably mounted on the main body of the apparatus. The image forming unit includes, for example, a photoconductive drum on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a charging roller that charges the photoconductive drum, a developing roller that develops the electrostatic latent image with toner, a supplying roller that supplies the toner to the developing roller, and a cleaning mechanism that cleans the surface of the photoconductive drum. These structural elements are assembled as an integral unit, and are driven in rotation during printing.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-48018 discloses a developing unit that includes a photoconductor rotatably supported on first side frames, a developing roller rotatably supported on second side frames, and springs that are mounted on the first side frames and urges the photoconductor and the developing roller against each other.
In other words, the image forming unit according to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-48018 includes a first unit on which an image bearing body carrying an electrostatic latent image thereon is rotatably supported, a second unit on which a developer holding body that develops an electrostatic latent image is rotatably supported, and an urging member that is mounted on each longitudinal end portion of either the first unit or the second unit, the urging member urging one of the first unit and second unit against the other of the first unit and the second unit. A single urging member disposed on each longitudinal end portion of either the first unit or the second unit is not sufficient to urge the image bearing body and the developing body uniformly along their lengths.

Image forming unit and image forming apparatus that incorporates the image forming unit


A solid-state imaging device including a number of pixels, each of which having a photoelectric converting portion, and which are arranged one-dimensionally or in a two-dimensional matrix. The solid-state imaging device includes a peripheral wiring portion with a multilayer structure provided around at least part of the photoelectric converting portion in each of the number of pixels and a light-shielding interlayer connecting material connecting layers of the multilayer structure to each other at least part of the peripheral wiring portion. The light-shielding interlayer connecting material is capable of reflecting or absorbing visible light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device and an electronic device including the solid-state imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Solid-state imaging devices are widely used as image input devices for various types of electronic devices such as digital still cameras, digital single-lens reflex cameras, digital video cameras, and portable terminals.
A solid-state imaging device includes a number of pixels (picture cells) arranged in a two-dimensional matrix such as an array. The pixel has at least a photodiode as a photodetecting portion to convert light into electrons and a transfer portion. The transfer portion in a CCD (charge-coupled device) solid-state imaging device has a vertical transfer portion and a horizontal transfer portion formed by CCD elements, for example. The transfer portion in a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) solid-state imaging device (CMOS image sensor) has an amplifier circuit portion to convert electrons from the photodiode into voltage and amplify and transfer the voltage, for example.
A number of pixels are adjacent to each other in the solid-state imaging device. Therefore, part of light incident on a photodiode of a pixel may be mixed in an adjacent pixel (crosstalk).
Crosstalk occurs due to modulation (such as reflection, diffraction, or scattering) of part of incident light. Such occurrence of crosstalk between pixels affects an output, that is, resulting image data. Specifically, bright spots may be generated in an image that should be black, for example, so that image data intended may not be accurately obtained.
Such occurrence of crosstalk will be described referring to, as an example, a case where the aforementioned modulation is reflection.
FIG. 1 shows a pixel configuration of a solid-state imaging device of the related art.
In a solid-state imaging device 101 of the related art, part of light (L1′ in the figure) incident on a photodiode 117 of a pixel 101a (cell size x′) is reflected by a surface of a semiconductor substrate including the photodiode 117 and is leaked to an adjacent pixel. Therefore, it is difficult to prevent crosstalk from occurring between pixels in every solid-state imaging device having a photodiode, including any of CCD/CMOS solid-state imaging devices.
There has been proposed a method of providing an antireflective film on a substrate surface as a measure for the problem. However, this method is known to have other problems such as a change in spectral characteristics.
Further, incident light may be reflected by a member around the photodiode before reaching the photodiode (L2′ in the figure). For example, the solid-state imaging device 101 has a peripheral wiring portion 114 with a multilayer structure provided around the photodiode. Accordingly, incident light is repeatedly reflected by wiring layers of the peripheral wiring portion 114 (a first wiring layer 111, a second wiring layer 112, and a third wiring layer 113 shown in FIG. 1) and is leaked to and mixed in an adjacent pixel in a route different from that of the light (L1′) reflected by the substrate surface.
As a method of preventing such crosstalk due to repeated reflection, there has been proposed a method of separately providing a light-shielding wall between pixels. However, this method is complicated because it may be necessary to carry out a separate process of forming the wall. Further, if such a wall is provided, pixel area increases, thereby preventing a reduction in size of the device (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-277404).

Solid-state imaging device and electronic device


A connector assembly comprising includes a housing with a wall and a plurality of connector units. The wall includes a plurality of openings having the same size and shape. Each of the connector units has a base plate, electrical connectors mounted in and projecting from the base plate, a hollow shroud surrounding the electrical connectors and extending away from the base plate, and a skirt surrounding the shroud. The skirt projects radially outwardly from the base plate. All of the skirts have the same outer peripheral size and shape. The shrouds may have a variety of different outer peripheral shapes and sizes corresponding to unique connector functions. Each of the skirts sealingly engage with a portion of the wall surrounding a corresponding opening. Each opening is surrounded by a groove, and each skirt overlaps and covers a corresponding one of the grooves.

The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly.
Electronic controllers used in agricultural, off road vehicle and/or automotive applications are often designed with custom integrated electrical connector features which allow the controller to mate directly with standard, high volume production sealed vehicle wire harness connectors. Staked blades and/or pins are often mounted directly to the printed circuit board in close proximity to the enclosure so that features in the enclosure provide direct support, sealing surfaces and latching means for vehicle wiring harness connectors. For connector integrity, tight manufacturing tolerances are required to make sure that the blades/pins in the circuit board will accurately line up with the integrated connector openings in the electronic controller enclosure. The design requirements for these integrated connector features in the predominately die cast aluminum enclosures can result in high tooling costs. Since customers often demand similar controllers with unique connection requirements, the enclosure designs cannot be reused or standardized to take advantage of high volume production economies of scale.
One such connector assembly is described in published U.S. patent application No. U.S. 2003/01624221. This connector assembly includes a housing which has openings or receptacles which receive header connectors. However, different size header connectors are mounted in corresponding different size receptacles. Thus, different housings would be required for connector assemblies having different sizes and arrangements of header connectors. It is desired to have a connector assembly which permits the use of a standardized housing.

Flexible electrical connector/housing assembly


A tube connection consisting of a nipple structure and a sleeve member in which the nipple structure includes a tube-receiving portion provided, starting from an abutment surface with a substantially cylindrical section and an outwardly flaring clamping surface. The sleeve member is provided with a first internal section of substantially cylindrical shape followed in the direction toward the free end of the tube-receiving portion with an outwardly flaring clamping surface, whereby the internal diameter of the cylindrical section of the sleeve member is only slightly larger than the maximum diameter of the tube-receiving nipple portion. In one embodiment, the nipple structure and sleeve member are provided with complementary locking means to enable locking of the sleeve member in the clamping position by axial movement in the direction of the free end of the tube-receiving nipple portion and subsequent rotation of the sleeve member into predetermined locking position. In another embodiment, a separate locking insert is used. In still another embodiment, the tube-receiving nipple portion is provided with two enlarged portions of increasing diametric dimension toward the free end of the nipple portion.

Connections for hoses and tubes of the most varied type are known in the prior art. Many of these connections utilize clamps which can be tightened in a number of ways. For example, they may be tightened by a plastically deformable, so-called "Oetiker" ear as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,614,304; 2,847,742; 3,082,498 and 4,299,012. Other types of clamps utilize a screw-type tightening mechanism or toggle-type tightening mechanism as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,475,793 and 4,521,950. Other clamps rely on the threaded engagement between a nipple member and a sleeve surrounding the same, as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,399,790; 2,865,094 or 3,870,349. However, the prior art clamps are not particularly suitable for flexible, stretchable hoses or tubes, such as silicon tubes which have very smooth, external surfaces and are highly stretchable. Added thereto is the problem of the small size of such tubes as are used for intravenous feeding, particularly in connection with drip chambers. Attempts to fasten such hoses onto nipple structures by means of clamps have not proved successful to date. Coupling devices with clamping surfaces are also known in the prior art, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,208,067; 4,790,569 and 4,923,226. However, they usually involve double-frusto conical surfaces which require a radial fastening band or the like to hold together and tighten up arcuate sections. Quick disconnect pipe couplings with interlocking action by bayonet-type arrangements involving relative rotation are also known in the prior art, as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 699,366 and 3,583,667. However, these devices are, for the most part, complicated in structure and unsuitable as coupling devices for small diameter tubes with great stretchability and flexibility and with slippery outer surfaces. Furthermore, they do not satisfy the requirement for ease of connection and disconnection as required in hospital environments.

Connection for flexible and stretchable tubes, especially silicon tubes

Hans Oetiker AG Maschinen- und Apparatefabrik


A document editing device includes: a data set storage unit that stores a plurality of data sets, each including a character string, an attribute of the character string, and a font size for the attribute; a threshold value storage unit that stores a threshold value indicating an acceptable range for a ratio between font sizes for at least two of a plurality of attributes stored in the data set storage unit; a ratio calculation unit that calculates the ratio between the font sizes for at least two of the plurality of attributes stored in the data set storage unit; and a resize unit that changes the font sizes for at least two of the plurality of attributes so as to cause the ratio between the font sizes for at least two of the plurality of attributes to fall within an acceptable range if the ratio calculated by the ratio calculation unit is outside [SN1]the acceptable range indicated by the threshold value stored in the threshold value storage unit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technique for automatically adjusting a layout in a document production system.
2. Related Art
CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) is an example of a known technique for adjusting a layout in a system for producing a document which includes texts or character strings (cf. "CSS Specifications", searched Apr. 3, 2006 on the Internet at URL: http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/#specs). Using CSS, character strings can be classified into plural attributes such as "title", "subtitle", "body", etc. Also using CSS, different font sizes can be set for character strings with different attributes, respectively.
The CSS affords two methods for determining a font size: (1) determining a font size on the basis of a size ratio relative to a reference font (hereinafter, font size determination with perfect interaction); and (2) determining a font size on the basis of an absolute value (hereinafter, font size determination without interaction). In the method of font size determination with perfect interaction, a font size is determined on the basis of a font size ratio relative to a font size of a reference attribute. For example, if the reference attribute is "body", the font sizes for "title" and "subtitle" are determined in terms of a magnification ratio in relation to the font size for "body". When the font size for "body" is set, the font sizes for "title" and "subtitle" are automatically determined in relation to the font size for "body". In the other method of font size determination without interaction, font sizes for different attributes are respectively set as absolute values which are independent from one another.
According to the method of font size determination with perfect interaction, each time a font size for an attribute is changed, font sizes for all the other attributes are inevitably changed at the same time. Consequently, a problem occurs, in that processing becomes complex. Inversely, the method of font size determination without interaction gives rise to another problem, that of a user having to set manually the font sizes for all attributes in order to maintain a balance in font sizes between attributes.

Document editing device, program, and storage medium


In accordance with the present invention, a silicon device fabricated on a (100) silicon substrate is provided with a (111) slant surface and an electrical contact comprising epitaxial low Schottky barrier silicide is formed on the (111) surface. For example, low resistance rare earth silicide contacts on V-groove surfaces are provided for the source and drain contacts of a field effect transistor. The resulting high quality contact permits downward scaling of the source and drain junction depths. As another example, rare earth silicide Schottky contacts are epitaxially grown on V-groove surfaces to provide low voltage rectifiers having both low power dissipation under forward bias and low reverse-bias leakage current.

Much of today's integrated circuit technology involves the fabrication of semiconductor devices on (100) silicon substrates. Complex circuits made up of thousands of transistors, rectifiers, capacitors and resistors can be formed on a tiny area of the substrate to perform a vast variety of complex electronic functions.
Electrical contacts--both ohmic and rectifying--are fundamental to integrated circuits. High quality ohmic contacts are needed to permit further reduction in contact size, and high quality Schottky (rectifying) contacts are needed for low power dissipation rectifiers.

Semiconductor devices using epitaxial silicides on (111) surfaces etched in (100) silicon substrates


Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for avoiding name collision for the advanced configuration and power interface (ACPI) control methods. Accordingly, a method embodiment of the present invention comprises, obtaining a ACPI control method reserved name, obtaining a unique first argument, and associating the first argument with the reserved name to form a unique identifier for said specific control method, such that name collisions are avoided by preventing use of a same identifier for different specific control methods.

The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification is the primary mechanism for providing system configuration information for many of the newer computer systems. ACPI is neither a software specification nor a hardware specification. ACPI is instead an interface specification. ACPI defines the primary runtime interfaces between the operating system (OS) software and the system firmware/hardware on most of the modem computers, especially ×86 and Itanium processors. The ACPI specification was developed to establish common industry interfaces, enabling robust operating system directed/controlled device and system configuration and power management. Additionally, ACPI is the key element in Operating System directed configuration and Power Management (OSPM). OSPM is a model of power and system management in which the OS plays a central role and uses global information to optimize system behavior at any given time.
ACPI promotes the concepts of power management and energy conservation by transitioning unused devices into lower power states. ACPI also provides the means for an orderly transition from the legacy system (where most hardware system management is done by the ROM BIOS) to the more modern ACPI based systems, while allowing both systems to coexist.
For the reasons stated above, ACPI based computer systems are becoming increasingly popular and system developers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are in a race to include ever increasing value added features in their products using the ACPI standards.
When designing ACPI based devices and systems, developers must follow the ACPI standards and tools. The ACPI tool kit includes the use of hardware registers implemented on the motherboard, Basic Input Output Software (BIOS) interfaces such as system configuration tables, device enumeration and configuration tools, and executable function interfaces also referred to as control methods.
ACPI control methods are the ACPI objects that system firmware presents to the OS to invoke and evaluate the system and devices status, at runtime. In other words, a control method is a definition of how the OS can perform a certain hardware task, such reading a temperature of a thermal zone on a motherboard. In ACPI, by convention, a control method name is limited to only four characters. Conventionally, there have only been two categories of names for a control method. The first category is the reserved names. These names are referred to as reserved names because their usage is reserved by the ACPI specification. Since reserved names are actually owned by the ACPI Special Interest Group (SIG), permission for their use must be obtained from the SIG group. The reserved name convention dictates that each reserved name starts with the underscore character "_" followed by three characters each of which could be a capital letter (for a total of 26 characters), or a number from 0–9.
The other category of names for a control method is the non-reserved names. As with the reserved names, the non-reserved names can only have four characters, each of which may be one of 26 letters, A–Z, or 10 numbers, 0–9. The total number of permutations of the non-reserved names is thus thirty-six to the power of 4 (364).
There are many problems associated with the current ACPI naming convention. In the case of reserved names, ACPI SIG has to register these names as referring to a designated control method. But ACPI SIG is not always in session and, thus, consideration of new reserved names can only happen whenever the SIG committee meets to update the ACPI specification. Additionally, in most cases the request for a reserved name must disclose the reasons for its need. This disclosure may violate trade secrets and raise other confidentiality issues.
Another problem with obtaining reserved names from SIG is related to the fact that SIG's focus is toward the baseline features of the standard. As a result, the SIG's responsibility does not typically extend to the value added features many developers may be pursuing.
Yet another issue with ACPI reserved name convention is that because it is limited to three characters, there is a limited number of names that are available for use as a reserved name. This problem is aggravated by the fact that, in most cases, there is a desire to select reserved names that have some meaningful relation to the function of the control method to which they are referring. Thus the real combination of meaningful reserved names is really less than the limited number of possible permutations the characters allow.
Non-reserved names carry many of the same problems. The valid non-reserved names are limited to a combination of four characters. However, the number of practical permutations is significantly less when one considers the constraints of trying to create acronyms that have a meaningful relationship to a designated control method.
Additionally, due to the nature of the interface evolution as, it is impossible that any one person or organization would have visibility into all the control methods being created.
Furthermore, although the non-reserved names do not need the SIG committee's approval, since there is typically no established communication among the entities that create these new control methods, there exists a real possibility of name collision under the current ACPI infrastructure.
Name collision refers to the occurrence where different entities use the same name for control methods that perform different functions.
In ACPI, a definition block contains information about hardware implementation and configuration details, including data and control methods. A device manufacturer can provide one or more definition blocks in the ACPI tables. In each system, all the definition blocks along with their contents (including the control method names) are placed in a hierarchical tree structure, referred to as an ACPI namespace.
As part of a definition block, a control method may be used to characterize various properties and functionalities of a device. If a device manufacturer designed a device that provides vendor specific value-add features but is otherwise compatible with a generic type of device, ACPI uses _HID object to identify the value-add aspect, while also uses _CID object to identify the compatibility with the generic type. Both _HID and _CID objects live in the same scope used to describe this device in the ACPI name space. All control methods for this device are also in this scope The problem of control method name collision is even more apparent in this case.
The control methods associated with the _HID object are designed and defined by the device manufacturer, while the control methods associated with the _CID object are defined for the generic device type, usually by a standards group. The two definition bodies may happen to choose a name for completely different functions. This name collision is even more likely since, in selecting a control method name, most designers choose names that are meaningful acronyms for the control method. Because all the control methods are listed under the same scope in the ACPI name space for a particular system, name collision becomes a real and increasingly likely possibility.
As previously discussed, currently, there are two approaches to address the name collision problem. The first approach is to use a reserved name to refer to a control method. However, obtaining permission to use a reserved name to exclusively refer to a designated control method requires the authorization of the ACPI SIG committee. As mentioned before, the committee is not always in session, the numbers of reserved names are limited and the request for a reserved name may require the divulgence of trade secrets.
The second approach in using non reserved names is problematic, because it involves using the name and relying on chance that no name collision occurs.
Therefore, alternative mechanisms are needed to refer to control methods used under the ACPI specification that avoid the problem of name collision.

Avoiding name collision for the ACPI control methods

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A device for the loading of bottled fluid with no spillage consists of a valve body and a base plate coupled to the valve body in a vertically slidable manner. The valve body consists of a body, an integrated cap handle, a bottle seal and a pair of hinge brackets. The base plate consists of a body, a set of bottle stabilization posts and a pair of hinge brackets which, being coupled to the valve body through a pair of clamp levers, converts the sliding movements between the base plate and the valve body into rotations of the clamp levers to permit or prohibit the flow of fluid from the bottle regardless of its orientation while simultaneously unlocking or locking the device onto the bottle.

Many offices, stores, factories and homes are equipped with drinking water dispensers for their members. While some dispensers are plumbed permanently to a tap water supply, other employ a user replaceable supply, such as an inverted water bottle removably mounted on top of the dispenser. Examples of the design of such dispensers are U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,603 issued Oct. 1972 to Radcliffe and U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,349 issued May 1987 to Johansen.
One of the primary difficulties with such prior art dispenser systems employing an inverted bottle lies in the procedure of user replacement of a used bottle. At this time, a nearby full bottle has to be substituted in its place. Typically the bottles are of 5 gallon capacity and therefore very heavy. This means that, after the user removes the used bottle and opens the cap of the full bottle, the user would have to lift the full bottle and, in one very quick movement, invert it and insert its neck accurately into the intake opening on top of the dispenser and maneuver the body of the bottle into vertical position for normal operation. Any less than good execution of this exceptionally demanding procedure will result in excessive water spillage plus possible personal injury. In any case, the current procedure always wastes some water through unavoidable spillage, in addition to being dangerous to the user.
Two prior patents taught the idea of, upon loading of the full container, piercing an otherwise sealing member of the container thus establishing either the flow of one single fluid or the simultaneous flow of two different fluids from the supply bottle. The piercing element being a permanent part of the dispenser. These are U.S. Pat. No. 1,248,704 issued Oct. 1916 to Pogue and U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,775 issued June 1987 to Zolnierczyk, et al. But the implementation of these methods would require the modification of the existing dispensers and bottles which is undesirable. One earlier patent application (Emily M. Tsao, filed February 1992, patent pending) taught the idea of, upon loading of the full container, opening up a ball valve under the weight of the full container through a linear to rotational movement conversion mechanism. Although this invention does achieve the objective of nonspill loading without any modification of the existing dispensers and bottles, a different, simpler design concept was conceived later to achieve the same functionality.

Non-spill loading device for the loading of bottled fluid into a dispenser


In "C" dolly systems, it is conventional to provide a resistance to steer of approximately 0.3 G in order to improve the steering thereof particularly in an evasive action and to decrease the tendency of high speed off tracking. The higher this resistance to steer, the better the high speed off tracking characteristics are. However, high resistance although relatively satisfactory at high speeds, at relatively low speeds below approximately 30 miles an hour, results in the creation of severe and undue stresses and forces in the dolly and hitch structures particularly during relatively tight turning maneuvers. The present invention comprises a two phase control system. The speed of the vehicle is sensed continuously and when the speed is below approximately 30 mph (approximately 50 kph) the steering axle of the dolly is free to steer under the control of the axle steering dampening system but above 30 mph (50 kph), the axle is locked thus giving the maximum resistance to steer. It is desirable that a signal generated by the control system holds the locking mechanism out of engagement below approximately 30 mph and allows it to lock when the signal is removed at above approximately 30 mph thus providing a fail-safe feature. It is also desirable that the system does not reengage until the speed drops approximately 5 mph below the cut-out speed in order to prevent rapid cycling when travelling at approximately the cut-out speed.

When a "C" dolly is used in conjunction with the standard "A" train vehicle configuration it creates a new configuration called a "C" train which has one less point of articulation in the vertical plane than an "A" train. As a result, this is a much more stable and controllable configuration.
As a result of testing, it has been demonstrated that the amount of resistance to steer due to side forces on a dolly of this type is extremely critical at high speeds. When the vehicle is in an evasive maneuver, a dolly with a relatively small amount of resistance to steer, due to side forces, will contribute to high speed off tracking of the rear vehicle (possibly intruding into a lane of oncoming traffic). The higher the resistance to steer, the better are the high speed off-tracking characteristics of the complete "C" train configuration. Ideally, the dolly steering should be locked at high speeds so that it becomes a fixed axle. Steering is not required at higher speeds since speeds over approximately 30 mph (50 kph) do not normally include relatively sharp or violent turning maneuvers. These usually occur at relatively low speeds.
The industry has attempted to develop a dolly with a resistance to steer of approximately 0.3 G. This means that if there is approximately 20,000 pounds of load on the tires at ground level, the axle could not steer more than one degree off centre in either direction when a force equivalent to approximately 6,000 pounds was applied to the tires perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the dolly and "C" train configuration. Although this criterion greatly improves the high speed off-tracking characteristics of the "C" train unit, it also results in a high resistance to steer at low speeds (for example below 30 mph) which creates severe and undue stresses and forces in the dolly and its structure, particularly during tight turning maneuvers. It has been noted that in such situations, the forces are so high that the tires are nearly being forced off the rims of the "C" dolly.

Steering control systems for "C" dollies and the like


Picture data into small-area blocks, which are then shuffled. The shuffled picture data is then subjected to orthogonal transform. A total-frequency-range activity of transform coefficients is calculated on a block-by-block basis and accumulated over a slice. A high-frequency-range activity of the transform coefficients is calculated on a block-and-block basis and accumulated over the slice. Selection is made between a block quantization step which is calculated from the total-frequency-range activity of a block and a slice quantization step which is calculated adaptively from the total-frequency-range activity accumulation value of the slice. A quantization step to be used in actual quantization is determined by using the sum of the selected quantization step and a difference quantization step.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a picture coding apparatus and, more specifically, to a picture coding apparatus which compresses moving pictures or still pictures to less than a predetermined code amount.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 11 shows the configuration of a conventional picture coding apparatus. In this apparatus, a frame picture is divided into non-overlapping blocks of (8 pixels).times.(8 lines) and variable-length coding is performed by orthogonal-transforming each block while a control is so made that the one-frame code amount falls within a target code amount. As for the orthogonal transform, the two-dimensional discrete cosine transform (DCT) is generally used.
Referring to FIG. 11, a digital video input signal is input to a block conversion circuit 61 via an input terminal 1. The block conversion circuit 61 writes the signal into an internal memory (not shown) in the field order, and outputs a one-frame signal to a DCT circuit 3 on an 8-pixel/8-line block basis by properly controlling the memory once the one-frame signal is stored in the memory.
The DCT circuit 3 DCT-transforms the signal of an 8-pixel/8-line block basis that is supplied from the block transform circuit 61, and outputs resulting DCT coefficients to a frame memory 76 and four quantization circuits 62-65.
The four quantization circuits quantize the DCT coefficients by using respective quantization tables 66-69 and different quantization steps, and output quantized coefficients to respective variable-length code amount accumulation circuits 70-73.
Each of the variable-length code amount accumulation circuits 70-73 accumulates the corresponding set of quantized coefficients, i.e., the code amount of the variable-length coding over one frame, and outputs an accumulated code amount to a quantization characteristic function calculation circuit 74.
The quantization characteristic function calculation circuit 74 calculates a code amount characteristic function indicating the characteristic of an input picture based on two sets of an accumulated code amount and a quantization step in which the two accumulated code amounts are closest to the target code amount, and outputs the calculated function to a quantization step calculation circuit 75.
The quantization step calculating circuit 75 predicts, by using the code amount characteristic function, a quantization step which would make the code amount smaller than the target code amount, and outputs the predicted quantization step to a quantization circuit 9 which is used for actual quantization.
The quantization circuit 9 quantizes DCT coefficients as delayed by a frame memory 76 by using a quantization table 13 and the received quantization step, and outputs quantized coefficients to a variable-length coding circuit (VLC circuit) 11.
The VLC circuit 11 performs variable-length coding such as run-length coding and/or Huffman coding, and outputs coded data.
An example of the above picture coding scheme is described in detail in M. Enari and M. Kashida, "`HDTV codec` for 60-140 Mbps," Video Information, January 1992, pp. 51-58.
In the above-described conventional picture coding apparatus, control is so made as to code a one-frame picture to produce a code amount that is smaller than the target code amount by analyzing one-frame data by means of a plurality of quantizers and code amount accumulation circuits.
However, because 4 to 8 quantizers and variable-length code amount accumulation circuits need to be operated in parallel to obtain reproduction of high quality picture, the above conventional scheme is disadvantageous in that not only the circuit scale is increased but also an input picture needs to be delayed for a data analyzing period during which the quantization, the code amount accumulation, and the quantization step prediction are performed. Thus, the conventional scheme has a problem that it is very difficult to reduce the power consumption, size, and weight.


An electrostatic protection circuit that affords protection without effecting transfer of an ordinary output signal includes an output terminal; a ground terminal; a first N-channel transistor having its drain and source connected between the output terminal and the ground terminal GND; a first electrostatic protection element connecting the output terminal and the ground terminal; and a second electrostatic protection element connected the drain and gate of the first N-channel transistor. The second N-channel transistor is connected to the gate of the first N-channel transistor. The gate potential of the first N-channel transistor rises and the gate-to-drain voltage of the first N-channel transistor is limited to a value below a prescribed value by a current that flows into the second electrostatic protection element owing to application of static electricity to the output terminal, and resistance of the second N-channel transistor, which is the ON state, as seen from the gate of the first N-channel transistor.

A semiconductor integrated circuit device (IC) composed of MOS transistors, etc., requires ESD resistance with respect to surge voltage and surge current impressed upon an external terminal (input/output pad) of the semiconductor integrated circuit device owing to electrostatic discharge. In general, therefore, an electrostatic protection circuit is connected to the external terminal. One such electrostatic protection circuit uses a protection terminal that relies upon a grounded-gate NMOS transistor.
With the progress that has been made in producing more miniscule semiconductor integrated circuit devices in recent years, resistance of the internal transistors to electrostatic discharge is of greater importance. Some examples of such an electrostatic protection circuit are disclosed in Non-Patent Documents 1-2 and Patent Document 1, respectively.
[Non-Patent Document 1] AJITH AMERASEKERA, "ESD in Silicon Integrated Circuits", Second Edition, WILEY, 2002, p. 117-118
[Non-Patent Document 2] IEEE Reliability Physics Symposium 1987, Page 169 to 173
[Patent Document 1] US2005/0231866A1


A pressure relief valve for use with flexible containers holding coffee, especially ground coffee, is disclosed. The valve incorporates a unique two piece structural arrangement that requires a low level of precision compared to similar valves. The valve comprises a valve body including a valve chamber having a resilient diaphragm located therein for opening and closing the valve. A set of valve retainers formed integral with the valve body ensure that the diaphragm remains within the valve chamber. A viscous liquid helps ensure an air-tight seal and also acts to retain the diaphragm against a valve seat within the valve chamber. Inlet slots are sized and shaped to effectively prevent coffee grounds from entering the valve without need of a filter or filter paper.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to check valves or safety relief valves for use with flexible containers for use with coffee. Relief valves allow excess pressure in a container to be relieved while not allowing outside air into the container.
2. Description of Related art
Fresh roasted coffee gives off carbon dioxide (CO2) for an average of twenty-two (22) days after roasting. A relief valve is required when using flexible containers to store and transport freshly roasted coffee due to the pressure build up of the CO2 within the container. Without a relief valve flexible containers have been known to burst due to the gas pressure buildup. Use of relief valves allows a coffee roaster to package coffee immediately after roasting instead of having to store the coffee for three to five (3-5) days.
Relief valves have to function whether whole bean or ground coffee is placed in the flexible containers. In the case of ground coffee, small grains of coffee can cause a relief valve to stop functioning which in turn causes the container to inflate with CO2 and potentially burst. A simple, economical, relief valve is the object of the present invention.
Various forms of relief valves have been used with some success. One such valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,015, issued Dec. 13, 1993 to Hans Blaser. This valve utilizes a valve body having a carrier plate with a lateral edge flange with a central shallow recess for receiving a flexible diaphragm and a clamping member with jaws that is held in place by an inside rim of the recess. The diaphragm is made of a very thin soft plastic such as a polyester film. A silicone oil is used between the diaphragm and a valve seat within the recess. The silicone oil is used to help ensure a secure seal.
Another such valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,467, issued on Jul. 27, 1971 to Luigi Goglio. The valve disclosed therein includes a hollow body which is provided with a passage and is formed of a base member ultrasonically welded to a bag and a hollow member forming a cover. The cover has a centrally disposed projection with which a flexible resilient disc is pressed against the passage in the base member. When there is excess CO2(gas) pressure in the container, the disc is lifted away from the base member at the opening and CO2 can flow through the passage to be discharged through the opening in the cover. One draw back of such a valve is that when the valve is manufactured the parts must be assembled in a particular manner keeping the parts centered in relation to each other. Such precise alignment of various parts, where a distinction must be made between top and bottom on some parts, requires additional mechanisms on packaging machines which add to the cost of manufacturing such bags.
Another valve design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,427 issued on Mar. 26, 1974 to Luigi Goglio. This patent discloses an improved valve in which a conical abutment is placed in the region of the passage opening and a viscous intermediate layer is added between the valve member and valve seat. Although this provides a better distinction between the open and the closed positions of the valve, the above-mentioned drawbacks continue to exist.
There remains several problems with the valve designs noted above. First, they require three or more parts that must be assembled. In addition, they each use a filter that must be attached to the side of the valve facing or in contact with the contents of the container, such as ground coffee. Each valve requires a certain degree of precision in forming the parts in order for them to fit together and work properly. The proceeding problems increase the cost and reliability of the valves.

Relief valve for use with hermetically sealed flexible container


A guidewire replacement device having a proximal shaft section, a distal shaft section and a flexible intermediate shaft section which facilitate the articulation of the distal shaft section with respect to the proximal shaft section. The intermediate shaft section has as aperture for the egress or exit of an in-place guidewire during a guidewire exchange. The proximal end of an in-place guidewire is inserted through the distal guidewire port in the distal end of the distal shaft section, through the distal section and out the aperture in the intermediate shaft section. The exchange device is advanced through the inner lumen of a guiding catheter over the in-place guidewire until the distal end of the exchange device extends through the proximal guidewire port of a rapid exchange type intraluminal catheter. Once the guidewire exchange device is properly placed, the in-place guidewire can then be withdrawn from the patient. The replacement guidewire can then be advanced through the inner lumen of the proximal shaft section, the guidewire passageway of the intermediate section, the inner lumen of the distal section into the guidewire receiving inner lumen of the intraluminal catheter. The guidewire exchange device may then be removed from the patient.

This invention generally relates to intravascular procedures, such as percutaneous transaluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), and particularly to the exchange of guidewires during such procedures.
In typical PTCA procedures, a dilatation catheter is advanced over a guidewire, which is slidably disposed within an inner lumen of the dilatation catheter, into the patient's coronary artery until the balloon on the distal extremity of the dilatation catheter is properly positioned across the lesion to be dilated. Once properly positioned across the lesion, the flexible, relatively inelastic balloon on the dilatation catheter is inflated to a predetermined size with radiopaque liquid at relatively high pressures (e.g., generally 4-20 atmospheres or more) to dilate the stenosed region of the diseased artery. One or more inflations of the balloon may be required to complete the dilatation of the stenosis. After the last dilatation, the balloon is deflated so that the dilatation catheter can be removed from the dilated stenosis and blood flow can resume through the dilated artery.
One significant improvement in dilatation catheters has been the introduction of rapid exchange type dilatation catheters. These catheters have a short guidewire receiving sleeve or inner lumen extending through the distal portion of the catheter which extend from a distal guidewire port in the distal end of the catheter to a proximal guidewire port spaced proximal to the proximal end of the dilatation balloon. The proximal guidewire port is usually located at least about 10 cm and usually not more than about 50 cm from the distal guidewire port. A slit is preferably provided in the catheter wall in fluid communication with the guidewire receiving inner lumen which extends from the second guidewire port, preferably to a location proximal to the proximal end of the inflatable balloon to aid in the removal of the catheter from a guidewire upon withdrawal of the catheter from the patient. The structure of the catheter allows for the rapid exchange of the catheter without the need for the use of an exchange wire or adding a guidewire extension to the proximal end of the guidewire. The design of this catheter has been widely praised by the medical profession and has met with much commercial success in the market place because of its unique design. The rapid exchange type dilatation catheters of the assignee of the present invention, Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., have had a significant impact in the market for rapid exchange type dilatation catheters. Such products include dilatation catheters sold under the trademarks ALPHA, STREAK and ELIPSE.
Rapid exchange type dilatation catheters are described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,548 (Yock), U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,273 (Yock), U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,085 (Yock), U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,395 (Yock), U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,982 (Horzewski et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,725 (Leopold) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,505 (Leopold) which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
However, there is one significant inconvenience with the use of rapid exchange type dilatation catheter systems, namely, the inability to remove a guidewire already in place within a patient's vasculature during an angioplasty procedure without losing access to the vascular location. There has been no convenient way in which a replacement guidewire might be advanced through the vasculature and into the short guidewire receiving inner lumen in the distal extremity of a rapid exchange type dilatation catheter. These instances occur when there is a need to replace an in-place guidewire with another guidewire having a different structure, e.g. from a floppy-type design with a separate shaping ribbon to an intermediate or standard with a core wire which extends to the distal tip of the guidewire. The need to withdraw an in-place guidewire also occurs when the distal tip of the in-place guidewire needs to be reshaped to change the angle of attach to a branch coronary artery.
What has been needed and heretofore unavailable is a convenient means to withdraw an in-place guidewire from a rapid exchange type dilatation catheter and either replace the in-place guidewire with another guidewire or to reposition the in-place guidewire within the rapid exchange type dilatation catheter. The present invention satisfies these and other needs.

Guidewire replacement device with flexible intermediate section


One embodiment is directed to a tool to cut and strip a radiating coaxial cable. The tool comprises first and second jaws, a linkage that couples the first jaw to the second jaw, a cutting blade, and a stripping blade. The tool is configured to position at least a portion of the cutting blade to cut and sever the cable at a first point along the cable when the tool is rotated around the cable while the first jaw and the second jaw are closed around the cable. The tool is configured to position at least a portion of the stripping blade to cut the jacket of the cable, without severing the cable, at a second point along the cable when the tool is rotated around the cable while the first jaw and the second jaw are closed around the cable. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Radiating coaxial cables are commonly used to radiate radio-frequency (RF) signals in confined areas such tunnels. A radiating coaxial cable functions as a continuous distributed antenna. Slots are precisely formed in the outer conductor of the coaxial cable to enable the cable to be used to emit and receive RF signals.
An RF connector is typically installed on each end of a radiating coaxial cable. The installation of each RF connector needs to be done with a high degree of care in order to reduce passive intermodulation (PIM), which can cause distortion of the RF signals communicated via the cable. It can be difficult to install RF connectors on the ends of radiating coaxial cables with sufficiently low and stable PIM performance to comply with the specifications needed for deployments in harsh environments such as tunnels.
Typically, RF connectors are installed on the ends of a radiating coaxial cable by first cutting off an end of the cable using a hand saw. Cutting the cable with a hand saw can result in burrs or chips from the cable, as well as dirt, being introduced into the inner conductor of the cable, which can increase PIM. As a result, the cut end of the cable is cleaned with a brush. Properly cleaning the cut end of the cable with a brush can be time-consuming and difficult.
After cutting the cable, the outer insulating jacket near the cut end is stripped using a knife to peel the outer insulating jacket off the cable. This process is dangerous and typically requires a skilled technician to perform properly. The stripping process can result in deep cuts in the outer conductor of the cable, which can cause increase PIM and decrease the reliability of the overall system.

Cutting and stripping tool for radio frequency (RF) radiating coaxial cable


A pin puller, comprising a spring, a clamp, and a handle, which is used to pull the pins on the sliding tandem of a semitrailer. The pin puller may also be provided with a guard and a wire which has a flag on one end. When the pins are pulled, the flag will stick out so that the driver can see the flag emerge beyond the side of the semitrailer.

Truck semi-trailers are equipped with a sliding tandem frame which is slid to adjust the weight distribution of the cargo inside the semi-trailer. At the point on the semitrailer where the tandem wheels slide back and forth, there are four pins inside. These pins fit through openings in the flange-like frame on the side of the trailer box and extend to openings in the tandem frame. A handle is positioned underneath the pins and extending toward the outside of the trailer. The pins come in when the handle is pulled and the trailer frame slides on the tandem frame. In order for the tandem frame to slide, the holes must be lined up and the pins pulled out. If the pins are not lined up into the holes of the frame, the pins will stick and be hard to pull out. In this case, the semitrailer must be rocked back and forth until the pins line up. Usually the pins are pulled manually and generally two people are needed to do the job. The only known prior art device for pulling pins is a mule, which is air-operated and permanently affixed.
The present invention is a pin puller which has a spring which attaches to the aforementioned frame handle, a clamp which fits onto the edge of the trailer, and a handle which tightens the clamp. The object of the invention is to provide an easier method for pulling the pins, applying pressure on the pins so that when the tandem is rocked, the pins will line up more readily.


Disclosed are red shade yellow compositions characterized by the formula: ##STR1## wherein X is a lower alkyl or a --COOR.sub.1 group; wherein R.sub.1 is a hydrogen or lower alkyl group; each Y is independently a lower alkyl, lower alkyloxy or halogen group; a is 0, 1, or 2; and M is a divalent metal. Also disclosed is a process for preparing red shade yellow pigment compositions prepared by initially a diazonium component comprised of one or more aromatic amines wherein at least one of said amines is a 1-sulfo-2-naphthylamine; and thereafter coupling the diazonium component with a coupling component comprised of a pyrazolone coupler to form a dye, and metallizing said dye with at least one divalent metal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel laked azo pigments, processes for their preparation and to paint, plastic and ink compositions containing such pigments.
2. Description of Related Art
Metal salts of individual azo compounds containing a pyrazolone moiety containing two sulfo groups are known in the art as pigments.
For example, German Patent 2,616,981 describes metal salts of pyrazolone azo dyes which are obtained by coupling diazotized 2-amino-4, 5-dichlorobenzene-1-sulfonic acid with 1-(sulfoaryl)-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone compounds and subsequent laking with metal salts.
Japanese Patent 62,166,359 describes electrophotographic toners that contain monoazo pigments of the formula ##STR2## X=Cl or SO.sub.3.sup.- ; m=1 or 2; M=Mg, Ca or Ba; n=1 or 2 When X is Cl, then m is 1 and n is 2, and when X is SO.sub.3.sup.-, then m is 2 and n is 1,
U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,411 describes ##STR3## wherein R is CH.sub.3 or COO.sup.- ; X is Cl, CH.sub.3,CH.sub.3 O, C.sub.2 H.sub.5 O C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CONH, NH.sub.2 CONH, C.sub.6 H.sub.5 CONH, CH.sub.3 SO.sub.2 NH, CH.sub.3 CONH, or hydrogen; Y is hydrogen, Cl, or CH.sub.3 ; Z is hydrogen or Cl, n is 0, 1 or 2; Me.sup.+ is one equivalent of a cation selected from the group consisting of NH.sub.4.sup.+, Li.sup.+, K.sup.+, Na.sup.+, 1/2 Sr.sup.2+, 1/2 Mn.sup.2+, 1/2 Ni.sup.2+, 1/2 Ba.sup.2+, 1/2 Mg.sup.2+ and 1/2 Ca.sup.2+ ; with the provision that if R is COO.sup.-, the additional equivalent charge is compensated by a further equivalent of said or another cation.
European Patent 0,126,405(German Patent 33,180,373) also describes laked pyrazolone azo pigments of the formula ##STR4## wherein D is tri or tetrasubstituted phenyl ring; R is CH.sub.3 or COO.sup.- ; X is Cl, Br, CH.sub.3, CH.sub.3 O, C.sub.2 H.sub.5 O CH.sub.3 CONH, SO.sub.2 NH.sub.2, SO.sub.3.sup.- ; Y is Cl, Br, CH.sub.3 or SO.sub.3.sup.- ; Z is Cl, Br or CH.sub.3.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,517 relates to a yellow monoazo pigment which is obtained by diazotization of 2-amino-4-chloro-5-methylbenzene-1-sulfonic acid, coupling of the diazonium compound with 1-(3'-sulfophenyl)-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone and subsequent laking of the coupling product to the calcium salt.
International Application WO 96/22334 describes an azo pyrazolone compound of formula ##STR5## in the form of a salt and its use as a pigment.
There is a desire, however, to obtain pigments having redder shades of yellow with high heat stability and ease of preparation as well as reduced cost. There is a need for these yellow pigments to show improved performance in one or more of the following properties: color strength, resistance to polar solvents and lightfastness.

Heat stable laked monoazo pigment compositions


A resetable memory is described that includes a memory without reset capability having a data output coupled to a first input of a first multiplexer. A second input of the first multiplexer has a reset value input. A channel select for the first multiplexer is coupled to a resetable storage cell output that indicates whether a storage cell within the memory without reset capability has been written to after a reset or has not been written to after a reset.

FIG. 1 shows a memory unit 101. The memory unit 101 may be viewed as having a plurality of storage cells (or simply, "cells"). Associated with each cell is a unique address that provides access to the location of a particular storage cell. Each storage cell has the capacity to store "n" bits (where n is an integer greater than or equal to one). The n bits may be collectively referred to as a word of data.
Often, a memory unit 101 is written to by: 1) providing a word of data (i.e., "n" bits of data as seen in FIG. 1) to be written into the memory unit 101 on a data bus (such as input data bus 103 observed in FIG. 1); 2) providing an address (e.g., on address bus 102) that defines which storage cell will store the word of data; and 3) presenting a signal to the memory unit that effectively indicates the word of data on the data bus is to be written into the memory unit (such activating the write enable (WE) control line 104 of FIG. 1). Alternatively, the write could be time based as in a shift register, or it could be a mix of address and time based write.
Often, a memory unit 101 is read from by: 1) providing an address (e.g., on address bus 102) that defines which cell a word of data will be read from; and 2) presenting a signal to the memory unit that effectively indicates a word of data is to be read from the memory unit (such as activating the read enable (RE) control line 130 of FIG. 1). The word of data is presented at the data output bus 106. In embodiments alternative to that observed in FIG. 1, the data in and data out buses 103, 106 may be combined to form a bi-directional bus. Also, in various alternate embodiments, one of the enable lines 104, 130 may be eliminated so that a single line is used to toggle the memory unit between being in a writable state and being in a readable state. Alternatively, it could be time based as in a shift register, or a mix of address and time based read. A commercial example that uses a mix of address and time based read/write is the Xilinx Virtex SRL primitive that is written into like a shift register and is read from like a RAM.
The memory unit 101 of FIG. 1 can be used to implement a number of storage related devices such as a random access memory (RAM), a first-in-first-out (FIFO) queue (e.g., by appropriately controlling the address values of the memory unit 101 such that a FIFO queue is emulated with the memory unit 101), a content addressable memory (CAM), a shift register, etc. A problem with memory units (as they are offered to designers who wish to employ them in their circuit designs), however, is that they do not have a reset function. A reset function effectively "clears" the memory unit's cell word values to some "reset" value (e.g., a n wide value of "0"); and, often, the integration of circuitry for resetting the cell word values of the memory unit 101 is too expensive and/or complicated to implement. For example, according to one approach, in order to implement a resetable memory, each n wide storage cell is implemented with resetable flip-flops that are individually accessed via complicated multiplexing and control circuitry. Here, the use of resetable flip-flops to implement each n wide storage cell (as well as the complicated multiplexing and control circuitry) can result in a resetable memory unit having noticeably slower performance (and that consumes more silicon surface area) than a memory unit that does not have resetable storage cells.

Method and apparatus for resetable memory and design approach for same


A lubricating oil composition having improved antiwear, antioxidancy and fuel economy properties which comprises a lubricating oil basestock and an alkoxylated amine salt of a dihydrocarbyldithiophosphoric acid of the formula ##STR1## where R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are each independently hydrocarbyl groups having from to 30 carbon atoms, R.sup.3 is a hydrocarbyl group of 2 to 22 carbon atoms, x and y are each independently integers from 1 to 15 with the proviso that the sum of x+y is from 2 to 20.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lubricant composition containing an alkoxylated amine salt of a dihydrocarbyldithiophosphoric acid and its use to improve fuel economy in an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to protect internal combustion engines from wear, engine lubricating oils have been provided with antiwear and antioxidant additives. The primary oil additive for the past 40 years for providing antiwear and antioxidant properties has been zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,431 discloses a lubricating oil additive composition containing dihydrocarbyl hydrogen dithiophosphates and a sulfur-free of hydrocarbyl dihydrogen phosphates and dihydrocarbyl hydrogen phosphates, said composition being at least 50% neutralized by a hydrocarbyl amine having 10 to 30 carbons in said hydrocarbyl group. U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,790 discloses an extreme-pressure lubricating oil containing (1) hydrated potassium borate, (2) an antiwear agent selected from (a) ZDDP, (b) an ester, an amide or an amine salt of a dihydrocarbyl dithiophosphoric acid or (c) a zinc alkyl aryl sulfonate and (3) an oil-soluble organic sulfur compound.
Oil additive packages containing ZDDP have environmental drawbacks. ZDDP adds to engine deposits which can lead to increased oil consumption and emissions. Moreover, ZDDP is not ash-free. Various ashless oil additive packages have been developed recently due to such environmental concerns.
It would be desirable to have a lubricating oil additive which provides excellent antioxidant antiwear, fuel economy and environmentally beneficial (less fuel, i.e., less exhaust emissions) properties.

Lubricant composition containing alkoxylated amine salt of a dihydrocarbyldithiophosphoric acid


A distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant named xe2x80x98Seikimoraxe2x80x99, characterized by its uniformly mounded and outwardly spreading plant habit; freely branching growth habit; freely flowering habit; and orange-colored ray florets and dark purple-tipped disc florets.

Osteospermum ecklonis cultivar Seikimora.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Seikimoraxe2x80x99.
The new Osteospermum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Gunma-den, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Osteospermum cultivars with interesting floret colors.
The new Osteospermum was discovered as a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Osteospermum ecklonis cultivar Seikilrem, U.S. Plant Patent application filed concurrently.
The new Osteospermum was discovered and selected by the Inventor in April, 1996, as a single flowering plant within a population of plants of the parent cultivar in a controlled environment in Gunma-den, Japan.
Asexual reproduction of the new Osteospermum by terminal vegetative cuttings was first conducted in Gunma-den, Japan on Jun. 1, 1996. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Seikimora has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Seikimoraxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Seikimoraxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Osteospermum:
1. Compact, mounded and outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Freely branching growth habit.
3. Freely flowering habit.
4. Orange-colored ray florets and dark purple-tipped disc florets.
Plants of the new Osteospermum differ primarily from plants of the parent, the cultivar Seikilrem, in ray floret coloration.
Plants of the new Osteospermum can be compared to plants of the cultivar Akope, disclosed in U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/722,804. However, plants of the new Osteospermum are not as vigorous and have smaller inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Akope. In addition, plants of the new Osteospermum and the cultivar Akope differ in floret coloration.


A method of producing a piezoelectric ceramic thick film on a substrate, said method comprising:                providing a piezoelectric ceramic material in powder form; forming a liquid mixture by mixing the powdered material with a liquid phase precursor of a metal oxide of low-melting point, said precursor being adapted to decompose, upon subsequent annealing, into the metal oxide; drying the liquid mixture to form a precipitate; milling the precipitate to form a powdered precipitate; adding an organic carrier to the powdered precipitate; further milling the precipitate to form a paste; depositing a layer of the paste, as a wet film, onto the substrate; and annealing the layered substrate at a temperature and for a time sufficient to cause transformation of the paste into the thick film.

A number of materials are known to exhibit a piezoelectric effect, being the generation of electricity under mechanical stress. Conversely, such materials may undergo a degree of physical deformation when subjected to an electrical field. These piezoelectric manifestations are utilised in a number of "piezoelectric" devices which generate either an electrical signal caused by pressure (used as sensors) or deformation by exposure to an electrical field (used as actuators). This piezoelectric effect is the result of the anisotropy of the crystalline structure (eg. Quartz, ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics).
Ferroelectric ceramics, such as PZT, are now used in diverse technological applications where the unique piezoelectric (and ferroelectric) properties of these materials can be exploited. Piezoelectric devices have been made by forming PZT thin films on a substrate where the film thickness typically ranges from about 0.1 to 1.0 μm. These devices have use in microelectronic and micro-systems applications.
Piezoelectric devices have also been made of bulk piezoelectric ceramics. The bulk piezoelectric ceramics are formed by the sintering of discrete ceramic particles without a substrate.
There has, over recent years, been an increasing interest in piezoelectric ceramic thick film technology in relation to applications that combine device performance requirements approaching those of bulk piezoelectrics but with the miniature size scale required for use in microelectronic packages. The term "thick film" in the present context means a film having a thickness of between about 10 μm and 100 μm.
Thick layers of piezoelectric ceramic material are advantageous in that larger actuating forces, or (in the case of the reverse effect) larger sensing signals, may be generated (when compared to thin-film devices).
It is perceived that piezoelectric ceramic (eg PZT) thick films will have applications in various devices including chemical sensors, torque and pressure sensors, pyroelectric arrays, buzzers, micro-pumps, high frequency ultrasonic transducers, mass microbalances, microactuators, microtransducers, micro-accelerometers, micro-strain gauges and micro-resonators.
Various technologies are relatively well known for the formation of thin film piezoelectric ceramics and bulk ceramics. However, the integration of piezoelectric ceramic thick films into micro-electronic packages poses a number of technical difficulties relating primarily to processing and integration compatibility with the underlying substrate.
In recent years, it has been discovered that the deposition of piezoelectric ceramic powders (in paste form), by printing the paste onto the substrate, followed by annealing (ie firing), is an efficient method to form a piezoelectric thick film of about 10 μm to 100 μm on a substrate. This annealing step is done so as to sinter the particles together to form a cohesive film with suitable electrical and mechanical properties.
However, the processing temperature for sintering piezoelectric ceramic, such as PZT, is as high as 1,200° C. (for several hours). Temperatures of this magnitude are not compatible with many of the substrates, including electroded silicon. This is because at such elevated temperatures, lead diffuses into the bottom electrode and silicon substrate, and thus the substrate is damaged. Accordingly, in the formulation of piezoelectric ceramic thick films on silicon substrates, the maximum allowable firing (annealing) temperature is between about 900° C. and about 1,000° C.
Certain sintering aids for PZT and other piezoelectric ceramic thick films have been developed. Sintering aids for PZT which have been developed are generally low-melting metal oxide powders. The addition of these metal oxide powders relies, at least in part, on liquid-phase sintering for densification of the ceramic. The presence of such metal oxide powder enables sintering to occur at lower temperatures. The chosen metal oxide powder is typically added to the PZT powder through mechanical mixing and this is followed by the further addition of an organic carrier (or vehicle). The powders and the organic carrier are well mixed to form a paste. This paste is then, typically, screen-printed onto the substrate as a wet film. This wet film is then dried and the layered substrate then undergoes annealing at temperatures of between about 800° C. and 1,000° C. The above sintering aids (eg metal oxide powders) help to keep the annealing temperature at a level which inhibits (or reduces) diffusion of lead into the silicon substrate, and reduces the damage of the bottom electrode and the substrate.
However, the mechanical mixing method of the piezoelectric ceramic powder with the metal oxide powder, which is added as the sintering aid, results in a significant lack of homogeneity in the distribution of the metal oxide powder throughout the PZT powder in the as-deposited film. In turn, this lack of homogeneity results in a non-uniform distribution of the liquid-phase of the added sintering aids in the sintering process. This adversely affects the stability of the resultant thick film and the piezoelectric properties of the film. In comparison with bulk ceramic, this problem is particularly serious for the thick film in which a high sintering temperature and long sintering time are not allowed in order to minimise the damage of the bottom electrode and the substrate.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed towards a method of producing a piezoelectric thick film on a substrate with improved uniform distribution of the glass-bonding phase in the piezoelectric ceramic materials and, therefore, having more reliable piezoelectric performance.
Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like, which has been included in the present specification, is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.

Method to produce a reliable piezoelectric thick film on a substrate

Agency for Science, Technology and Research