The present invention provides a transparent conductive material with little change in electric resistance under influence of temperature or humidity and a transparent conductive membrane using the same. The transparent conductive material of the present invention includes a resin, a transparent conductive particle, a silica material containing at least either of a silica particle or a precursor of silica particle, and a silane coupling agent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transparent conductive material and a transparent conductor using the same.
2. Related Background Art
A transparent electrode is used for a display device, such as an LCD, a PDP, an organic EL and a touch panel. The transparent electrode is often constituted of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (hereinafter abbreviated as "ITO"). An ITO electrode formed by sputtering deposition has been used as the transparent electrode. Meanwhile, a coating method to prepare an ITO electrode has also drawn attention, because it can impart a property such as high flexibility not attainable by an ITO electrode obtained by a sputtering method. However, conventional transparent ITO electrodes obtained by the coating method has tendency that, when placed in a high temperature and/or high humidity environment, the electric resistance is increased by oxygen or moisture in the atmosphere, which is a cause of reduced reliability.
In this regard, the present inventors have disclosed a transparent conductive material including a transparent conductive particle and a curable compound (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2006-059722, 2006-092869 and 2006-185865), in order to provide a transparent conductor (transparent conductive material) exhibiting little change in electric resistance in a high temperature and/or high humidity environment (hereinafter referred to as "under high temperature and humidity").
With the aforementioned transparent conductive material, an increase in electric resistance due to influence of moisture under high temperature and humidity can be adequately suppressed. However, due to recent expanding applications of a transparent electrode, usability under severer conditions than before (e.g. under an environment of 60° C. and 95% RH or 85° C. and 85% RH) has been demanded. A transparent conductive material has therefore been requested, which can suppress an increase in resistance value under high temperature and humidity more strongly than before.
The present invention has been made under such circumstances, with an object to provide a transparent conductive material with little change in resistance value under influence of temperature or humidity, and a transparent conductive membrane using the same.

Transparent conductive material and transparent conductor


The present invention relates to a method for improving protein yield. The method comprises modifying the value of a set of relevant protein features to fall within an optimal range or to become more close to an optimal value for one or more protein features in the eukaryotic host.

Recent rapid developments in genome and meta-genome sequencing has resulted in a large number of genes which represent a wealth of potentially very interesting proteins. Problems to express these genes at a significant level hamper the exploration of the functionality of the proteins encoded by those genes and as a consequence prevent the potential exploitation of such proteins in an economical feasible way. Since in many cases the discovered genes originate from organism which are less suitable for large scale production or which are rather inaccessible to the present genetic engineering tools, it is highly desired to use well established production hosts for which gene transfer systems and well developed genetic engineering tools are available. In particular eukaryotes such as filamentous fungi and yeasts are widely used as cell factories in the production of proteins, in particular the production of extracellular proteins. Because of a long tradition of utilization several of these species are generally regarded as safe (GRAS), which makes them very interesting for manufacture of products for human use. However, despite substantial improvements, the production levels obtained for heterologous genes are often much lower than observed for homologous genes. Often there is no expression of protein at all.
Various techniques exist to increase levels of protein production. These include application of strong promoters, increase of copy number, optimal Kozak sequence, mRNA stabilizing elements, optimized codon usage (WO2008/000632) and gene. These strategies however generally do not guarantee that proteins can be produced at detectable levels. To date the most successful approach for producing heterologous proteins is to express them as translational fusion with an efficiently secreted homologous protein. Nevertheless production levels still lag significantly behind and in many cases expression levels are problematically low. In general low expression in the fermentation leads to lower yields in the recovery. Even if expression is optimized, the final mature protein product may still result in very low production yields due to large losses in the downstream processing. This may be the case when the expressed protein remains associated with the biomass. This results in high losses or alternatively requires use of costly, and sometimes undesirable use of detergents to solubilise the proteins.

Method for improving the yield of a polypeptide


A dynamic bias supply device for multiple parallel power amplifiers, in which a plurality of parallel power amplifiers including a Doherty amplifier are connected in parallel, is provided. The dynamic bias supply device includes a plurality of switches respectively corresponding to each of the parallel power amplifiers. The dynamic bias supply device is used in a distributed manner as multiple distributed dynamic bias switching circuits for the multiple parallel power amplifiers. Accordingly, performance deterioration is not caused by an additional connection structure, and it is possible to achieve high efficiency and high linearity of the power amplifiers.

1. Technical Field
Example embodiments of the present invention relate in general to devices for providing bias to a base station power amplifier or a terminal power amplifier used for high efficiency and high linearity in radio communications.
2. Related Art
Various circuits and devices for dynamic bias of power amplifiers are known. Such a dynamic bias switching circuit switches dynamic bias to a power amplifier.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a general dynamic bias switching device.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the structure of a device conventionally suggested to supply dynamic bias to a power amplifier. The device provides an input signal to a main path (a limiter 20, a delayer 30, and a main amplifier 40) and a bias path (an envelope signal detector 50, an envelope signal processor/switch unit 60) through a splitter.
In general, an input signal has magnitude and phase information. A splitter 10 splits the input signal into two signals and provides the two signals to a limiter 20 and an envelope signal detector 50, respectively.
In the main path, the limiter 20 extracts a phase signal from the magnitude and phase information included in the input signal, and a delayer 30 synchronizes a switching operation in which a signal to be input to a main amplifier 40 is transferred to the main amplifier 40 by an envelope signal processor/switch unit 60. The processed signal is provided to the main amplifier 40. The main amplifier 40 receives and amplifies the output signal of the delayer 30 to a desired magnitude.
In the bias path, when the input signal is received from the splitter 10, the envelope signal detector 50 detects magnitude and phase signals from the input signal as an envelope signal and provides the envelope signal to the envelope signal processor/switch unit 60. The envelope signal processor/switch unit 60 generates a dynamic signal having an appropriate signal level required for the switching operation in response to the envelope signal provided by the envelope signal detector 50. Also, the envelope signal processor/switch unit 60 applies bias voltage and current to the main amplifier 40 using the dynamic signal (a dynamically variable input magnitude and phase signal). When dynamic bias is supplied as the bias of the main amplifier 40, it is possible to achieve high linearity and high efficiency according to the dynamic bias.
Well-known dynamic bias supply devices include envelope elimination and restoration (EER) and hybrid EER devices. The EER device has the above-described constitution including a limiter. A non-linear amplifier is used as a main amplifier. Unlike the EER device, the hybrid EER device has a structure in which a main amplifier receives and uses an input signal as is without receiving a phase signal. Thus, the hybrid EER device has the constitution of FIG. 1 excluding a limiter. The structure is the same as the path of a main amplifier of an envelope tracking (ET) device, and a main amplifier of the dynamic bias supply device uses EER. For this reason, the structure is referred to as hybrid EER.
The conventional dynamic bias supply device of FIG. 1 can be implemented with an ET or dynamic-bias supply (DBS) device.
The ET and DBS devices each include a splitter, an envelope signal detector, a delayer, an envelope signal processor/switch unit, and a main amplifier. Since the constitution is similar to that of the dynamic bias supply device of FIG. 1, its detailed description will be omitted. The main amplifier uses an input signal as is, and an amplifier of a linear amplifier mode is used as the main amplifier. An envelope signal that is input to the envelope signal detector and converted into an appropriate dynamic level is input to the envelope signal processor/switch unit, and the envelope signal processor/switch unit supplies dynamic bias to the main amplifier using the input signal.
The DBS and ET devices operate in a similar way except that the DBS device does not supply bias according to a variable dynamic level. The DBS device sets an appropriate reference level, and supplies bias using a low output voltage and current level of a main amplifier when a dynamic level is below the reference level and using a high output voltage and current level of the main amplifier when a dynamic level is the reference level or above. In other words, the DBS device has a structure that supplies different bias voltages and currents according to dual or various reference voltage levels.
A Dual dynamic bias supply (DDBS) device is also a well-known dynamic bias supply device. The DDBS device operates in a similar way to the DBS device described above. The DDBS device does not receive an input signal through a splitter and does not detect and use an envelope signal. The DDBS device obtains a magnitude signal alone before a modem implemented by a digital signal processor (DSP) or field programmable gate array (FPGA) modulates the magnitude signal and a phase signal obtained by modulating the input signal into a radio frequency (RF) signal and immediately uses the magnitude signal. Thus, the DDBS device has a simpler structure than the DBS device.
Meanwhile, a power amplifier may consist of one power amplifier or a plurality of power amplifiers. The power amplifier consisting of a plurality of power amplifiers is referred to as multiple parallel power amplifiers.
Since multiple parallel power amplifiers include a plurality of power amplifiers, bias should be supplied to the power amplifiers.
In general, the dynamic bias switching circuit of multiple parallel power amplifiers has a structure in which one dynamic bias circuit is shared by all the multiple parallel power amplifiers.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a dynamic bias supply device for multiple parallel power amplifiers, particularly, parallel two-stage power amplifiers. The structure of the dynamic bias supply device is obtained by modifying the example of the amplifier constitution for achieving high efficiency and high linearity described with reference to FIG. 1 into two stages. An envelope signal processor/switch unit 140 includes an envelope signal processor 142 and a switch 144, and its description has been given with reference to FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, the dynamic bias supply device includes an input network 210 and an output network 230. The input network 210 and the output network 230 include matching circuits for matching the inputs and outputs of the networks and for matching multiple parallel power amplifiers, and an input/output (I/O) matching circuit of the amplifiers.
When the multiple parallel power amplifiers use a single dynamic bias supply device, along with a lines 220 through which bias is supplied from the switch 144, b lines 222, which are unnecessary, are included. When such unnecessary lines cause a mismatch between power amplifiers 224, the mismatch causes performance deterioration, such as a memory effect, non-linearity and efficiency deterioration, and high linearity and high efficiency are deteriorated.
In other words, many constitutions for dynamic bias supply as shown in FIG. 2 have been suggested and announced. However, when each of the constitutions is installed in multiple parallel power amplifiers as a single dynamic bias supply device, the constitution deteriorates high linearity and high efficiency.

Sungkyunkwan University Foundation for Corporate Collaboration


A method and device for determining a division of a total insulation resistance and of a total system leakage capacitance in an ungrounded power supply system. The basic idea is to determine how the total insulation resistance is divided into partial insulation resistances and how the total system leakage capacitance is divided into partial system leakage capacitances between the active conductors of the ungrounded power supply system from displacement voltages measured between each of the active conductors of the ungrounded power supply system based on values determined in advance for the total insulation resistance and for the total system leakage capacitance of the ungrounded power supply system. By evaluating the displacement voltages in terms of their changes in amplitude, their frequency and their phasing, conclusions can be drawn as to the division of the total insulation resistance and of the total system leakage capacitance between the individual active conductors.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a device for implementing these methods.
When operational, fire and contact safety of electrical installations has to meet higher requirements, the system type of an ungrounded power supply system, which is also referred to as an isolated system (isolé terre—IT) or IT (power supply) system, is employed. In this kind of power supply system, the active parts are separated from the ground potential, i.e. from ground. The advantage of these systems is that in case of an insulation fault, such as a ground fault or a fault to frame, the function of the connected electrical loads is not affected because the ideally infinitely large impedance value between an active conductor of the system and ground prevents the formation of a closed circuit.
With this inherent safety of the ungrounded power supply system, a continuous power supply of the loads supplied by the ungrounded power supply system can be ensured even in the event of a first insulation fault.
Hence, the resistance of the ungrounded power supply system against ground (insulation resistance, in the fault case also referred to as an insulation fault resistance or fault resistance) is continuously monitored because a potential second fault on another active conductor would cause a fault loop, and the fault current flowing in that case in connection with an overcurrent protection device would result in a shutdown of the installation including a stop in operation.
Provided that the state of insulation of the ungrounded power supply system is continuously monitored by an insulation monitoring device, the ungrounded power supply system can continue to operate without a prescribed time limit even if a first fault has occurred.
Insulation monitoring devices are employed to monitor the insulation resistance. Insulation monitoring devices according to product standard IEC 61557-8, which are known from the state of the art, determine the insulation resistance of the entire IT system against ground. The insulation monitoring device is connected between the active conductors on one side and ground on the other side and superimposes a measuring voltage on the system. In the event of an insulation fault, the measuring circuit between the system and ground closes through the insulation fault, leading to a measuring current proportional to the insulation fault. This measuring current causes a corresponding voltage drop at a measuring resistor in the insulation monitoring device, the voltage drop being evaluated by the electronics and triggering an alarm if it exceeds a pre-settable threshold.
Insulation monitoring devices configured according to standards regard ohmic leakages divided symmetrically between all active conductors as insulation faults, just as they do insulation faults that occur asymmetrically, such as insulation faults occurring on a single active conductor.
In addition to determining the total insulation resistance, insulation monitoring devices available on the market offer the functionality of determining the total system leakage capacitance of the ungrounded power supply system against ground. Analogously to the total insulation resistance, which is the ohmic portion of the total system leakage impedance, the total system leakage capacitance constitutes the capacitive portion of the total system leakage impedance against ground. The total system leakage capacitance is the sum of all system leakage capacitances against ground, such as the capacitance per unit length of active conductors or noise suppression capacitors in the connected equipment.
However, there has been no satisfactory solution so far for the task of selectively determining the division of insulation resistance values and system leakage capacitance values for individual active conductors against ground. While the total insulation resistance and the total system leakage capacitance can be determined with the aid of the insulation monitoring devices, the determination of the division of the total insulation resistance and of the total system leakage capacitance between the individual active conductors proves problematic.
In ungrounded pure direct voltage systems, it is possible to draw a conclusion as to the division of the total insulation resistance between the active conductors and against ground by measuring a displacement voltage. Determination of the division of the total system leakage capacitance between the active conductors against ground has not been implemented so far in in insulation monitoring devices according to product standard IEC 61557-8.
In ungrounded single-phase or multi-phase alternating-voltage power supply systems, the division of the total insulation resistance cannot be determined by displacement voltage measurement alone because the displacement voltages also significantly depend on the magnitude and division of the system leakage capacitances between the active conductors against ground.
In ungrounded power supply systems, a symmetrical state of the ungrounded system against ground, a symmetrical load of the conductors and a minimization of protective conductor currents is often aimed at in order to minimize a strain on the electrical insulation and the electrical components against ground. In the majority of cases, this is taken into account during system planning and system set-up.
However, if changes are made to the ungrounded power supply system in the course of system operation or if aging or similar environmental conditions cause a shift in the symmetrical state toward asymmetrical states, early available information on this change is important in order to be able to initiate preventive maintenance measures. As a result of these changes, a symmetrical division of the total insulation resistance and of the total system leakage capacitance between the active conductors cannot be assumed.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to propose a method and a device that are capable of determining the division of both the total insulation resistance and the total system leakage capacitance between the individual active conductors of an ungrounded direct-voltage or alternating-voltage power supply system.
With regard to the division of a total insulation resistance in an ungrounded power supply system comprising active conductors between which a conductor-conductor voltage occurs, this object is attained based on a prior determination of the total insulation resistance by the following method steps: measuring displacement voltages between each of the active conductors and ground, and determining a resistance division factor, which describes the division of the total insulation resistance into partial insulation resistances related to the active conductors, as a function of at least one of the parameters amplitude, frequency, phase of the displacement voltages measured.

Method and device for determining the division of a total insulation resistance and the division of a total system leakage capacitance in an ungrounded power supply system


A personal protection system has a shaft that can be secured into a pair of end bases that mount to a surface of the surroundings of the user. The shaft and bases are configured to appear as a natural part of the surroundings, such as a support bar or rail, when the shaft is stored. The shaft can be removed, and has an end portion adapted to provide a weapon for self defense. For example, the end portion can employ a piercing point, a syringe and needle for injecting a bio-toxin, a canister for spraying a chemical irritant, an appliance for generating an electrical shock, or combinations of these elements. Preferably, the shaft is secured into the bases so as to be usable for support. It is further preferred for the bases to be configured to disguise the fact that the shaft can be removed.

There are a variety of personal protection devices which are currently available which disguise a self-defense device in another object which has separate utility; the disguise is intended to provide the user with the advantage of surprise if attacked, since an aggressor will hopefully assume the user to be unarmed. Examples of such disguised devices are canes/umbrellas and dumbbells. However, these devices are freestanding and the conventional objects that these devices resemble are objects that provide a degree of defense use. Canes, for example, have frequently been used to ward off an aggressor, and the weight and mass of a dumbbell serves as an extension of the hand and makes the hand a more effective fighting tool when gripped. Thus, the advantage of surprise is greatly diminished, since an attacker will appreciate that a cane or dumbbell may be used as an improvised weapon and will plan their attack accordingly.
Furthermore, these devices most likely can only be used as a defense device if they are being carried by the user at the time an aggressor makes their advance. An aggressor would be quick to the thwart a person from moving to and picking up any device which the attacker would appreciate could be used as a defensive aid.
Thus, there is a need for a defensive device which can be concealed in the environment which surrounds the user, readily accessible by the user but the presence of which will not be recognized by an aggressor.


An apparatus (100) includes: an outer shell (211); an inner vessel (212) disposed within the outer shell; a cold head (260) having a first stage (261) disposed within the outer shell, and having a second stage (262) for contacting an interior of the inner vessel; a vent (215) extending from the interior of the inner vessel to the exterior of the outer shell; first and second heat exchangers (302a, 302b); a first thermal shield (213) disposed between the inner vessel and the outer shell; and a second thermal shield (214) disposed between the inner vessel and the first thermal shield. The first thermal shield is thermally connected to the first stage of the cold head and the first heat exchanger and is thermally isolated from the inner vessel and outer shell. The second thermal shield is thermally connected to the second heat exchanger and is thermally isolated from the inner vessel, outer shell, first thermal shield, and cold head.

Superconducting magnet systems are used in a variety of contexts, including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To realize superconductivity, a magnet is maintained in a cryogenic environment at a temperature near absolute zero. Typically, the magnet system includes one or more electrically conductive coils operating as one or more magnets and which are disposed in a cryostat and cooled by a cryogenic fluid such as liquid helium to maintain superconductivity. The cryogenic fluid is in turn cooled by a refrigeration unit which includes a compressor which drives a cooling unit or "cold head" in order to maintain the temperature in the cryostat to be near absolute zero so that the conditions for the magnet's superconductivity persist.
However, during transportation of the cryostat, for example, the refrigeration system is typically not powered. In that case, the temperature of the cryogenic fluid within the cryostat will begin to rise. If power is not supplied to the refrigeration system for an extended period, such as may be the case during transport, this will eventually cause some or all of the cryogenic fluid to evaporate and be lost, for example through a vent or pressure relieve valve that is typically included in the superconducting magnet system. Indeed if the transportation time is too long, then the entire inventory of liquid helium can be lost. A cryostat with a high rate of helium loss can present difficult logistical challenges, because the transportation times must be managed carefully so that the helium inventory is not fully depleted resulting in a warm helium vessel upon arrival, which can be a complex and expensive issue to resolve at the destination site.
Furthermore, it is possible after system installation that the refrigeration system may become non-operational, for example due to a malfunction of the compressor, or due to a loss of AC Mains power for operating the compressor, thereby shutting down refrigeration of the superconducting magnet system. When power is no longer supplied to the compressor and the cold head ceases to cool the cryogenic fluid, conditions within the cryostat degrade and the temperature of the magnet will begin to rise. At a certain point, if power is not reapplied to restore cooling of the magnet's environment, then the magnet's temperature will rise to reach the so-called critical temperature where the magnet will "quench" and convert its magnetic energy to heat energy, thereby heating the cryogenic fluid within the cryostat. This, again, may cause some or all of the cryogenic fluid to evaporate and be lost through the vent or pressure relieve valve. Furthermore, the heat may damage the magnet and/or other components of the apparatus.
In that case, once power is restored, to return the magnet to superconducting operation may require replacing the lost cryogenic fluid within the cryostat, then cooling the magnet back down to below the critical temperature, connecting leads to the magnet to reapply current from an external power supply to the magnet so as to regenerate the magnetic field, and then disconnecting the magnet from the external power supply again. Furthermore, if heat from the quench caused the magnet or other components to be damaged, they may need to be repaired or replaced.
This recovery process can be expensive and time-consuming. Typically a trained technician must be dispatched to the facility (e.g., a medical center or hospital) where the superconducting magnet system is located and new cryogenic fluid (e.g. liquid helium), which may be quite costly, must be supplied to the cryostat to make up for what was lost during the quench.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a cryostat which may exhibit a reduced rate of loss of the cryogenic material (e.g., helium) in the case of a loss of refrigeration due to transport, power loss, or malfunction.
In one aspect of the present invention, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus comprises: a patient table configured to hold a patient; a superconducting electrically conductive coil configured to produce a magnetic field when an electrical current is passed therethrough; gradient coils configured to at least partially surround a portion of the patient for which the MRI apparatus generates an image; a radio frequency (RF) coil configured to apply an RF signal to the portion of a patient and to alter an alignment of the magnetic field; a sensor configured to detect changes in the magnetic field caused by the radio frequency signal and the patient; an outer shell; an inner vessel disposed within the outer shell, the inner vessel having disposed therein the superconducting electrically conductive coil and being configured to have a cryogenic fluid disposed therein; a cold head having: a first cooling stage which is disposed within the outer shell and which is configured to provide cooling to a first temperature, and having a second cooling stage which is disposed within the outer shell and which is configured to contact the cryogenic fluid within the inner vessel and cool the cryogenic fluid to a second temperature which is less than the first temperature; a vent extending from an interior of the inner vessel to an exterior of the outer shell, the vent having associated therewith a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger; a first thermal shield disposed between the inner vessel and the outer shell, the first thermal shield being thermally connected to the second cooling stage of the cold head and further being thermally connected to the first heat exchanger and being thermally isolated from the inner vessel and outer shell, wherein a first vacuum space is defined between the first thermal shield and the outer shell; a second thermal shield disposed between the inner vessel and the first thermal shield, the second thermal shield being thermally connected to the second heat exchanger and being thermally isolated from the inner vessel, the outer shell, the first thermal shield, and the cold head, wherein a second vacuum space is defined between the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield, and a third vacuum space is defined between the first thermal shield and the inner vessel; and a plurality of thermally isolating support elements configured to attach the inner vessel, the outer shell, the first thermal shield, and the second thermal shield to each other.
In some embodiments, the plurality of thermally isolating support elements are made of one selected from Kevlar, s-glass/epoxy, G-10, carbon fiber/epoxy, and alumina.
In some embodiments, the plurality of thermally isolating support elements further comprise: at least one first thermally isolating support element physically connecting the inner vessel, the second thermal shield, and the outer shell to each other; and at least one second thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield to each other, wherein the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield are both thermally attached to the at least one first thermally isolating support element.
In some embodiments, the plurality of thermally isolating support elements further comprise: at least one first thermally isolating support element physically connecting the inner vessel, the first thermal shield, and the outer shell to each other; and at least one second thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield to each other, wherein the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield are both thermally attached to the at least one first thermally isolating support element.
In some embodiments, the plurality of thermally isolating support elements further comprise: at least one first thermally isolating support element physically connecting the inner vessel, the first thermal shield, and the outer shell to each other; and at least one second thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and inner vessel to each other, wherein the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield are both thermally attached to the at least one first thermally isolating support element.
In some embodiments, the cold head is welded to the outer shell.
In some embodiments, the inner vessel has the cryogenic fluid disposed therein as liquid helium.
In some versions of these embodiments, a helium gas passes through the vent from the inner vessel to outside of the outer shell after a period of time when the cold head is not powered.
In some embodiments, the first temperature is in a range of 35° K to 75° K, and the second temperature is below 5° K.
In some embodiments, the plurality of thermally isolating support elements includes at least one flexible support element.
In another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus comprises: an outer shell; an inner vessel disposed within the outer shell, the inner vessel having disposed therein an electrically conductive coil; a cold head having a first cooling stage disposed within the outer shell, and having a second cooling stage disposed within the outer shell and configured to contact an interior space inside the inner vessel; a vent extending from the interior of the inner vessel to an exterior of the outer shell, the vent having associated therewith a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger; a first thermal shield disposed between the inner vessel and the outer shell, the first thermal shield being thermally connected to the second cooling stage of the cold head and further being thermally connected to the first heat exchanger and being thermally isolated from the inner vessel and outer shell; and a second thermal shield disposed between the inner vessel and the first thermal shield, the second thermal shield being thermally connected to the second heat exchanger and being thermally isolated from the inner vessel, the outer shell, the first thermal shield, and the cold head.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: at least one first thermally isolating support element physically connecting the inner vessel, the second thermal shield, and the outer shell to each other; and at least one second thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield to each other.
In some versions of these embodiments, the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield are both thermally attached to the at least one first thermally isolating support element.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: at least one first thermally isolating support element physically connecting the inner vessel, the first thermal shield, and the outer shell to each other; and at least one second thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield to each other.
In some versions of these embodiments, the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield are both thermally attached to the at least one first thermally isolating support element.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: at least one first thermally isolating support element physically connecting the inner vessel, the first thermal shield, and the outer shell to each other; and at least one second thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and inner vessel to each other.
In some versions of these embodiments, the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield are both thermally attached to the at least one first thermally isolating support element.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: at least one first thermally isolating support element physically connecting the inner vessel and the second thermal shield to each other; at least one second thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield to each other; and at least one third thermally isolating support element physically connecting the second thermal shield and the outer shell to each other.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: at least one first thermally isolating support element physically connecting the inner vessel and the first thermal shield to each other; at least one second thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and the second thermal shield to each other; and at least one third thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and the outer shell to each other.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: at least one first thermally isolating support element physically connecting the inner vessel and the first thermal shield to each other; at least one second thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and the inner vessel to each other; and at least one third thermally isolating support element physically connecting the first thermal shield and the outer shell to each other.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus and cryostat for MRI apparatus


An image processing apparatus includes an input unit for inputting multivalue data for each pixel, a resolution conversion unit for generating multivalue data of one pixel corresponding to each block comprising one or a plurality of adjacent pixels of the input multivalue data in order to output multivalue data having a pixel density corresponding to a printing pixel density of a printing unit to the printing unit, and an assigning unit for assigning a magnification ratio of an output image. The resolution conversion unit changes the number of pixels of input image data constituting one block in accordance with the magnification ratio assigned by the assigning unit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing characters formed by a host computer or the like, or an image read by a scanner, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus which can be advantageously used when printing dot data by an electrophotographic method, such as a laser-beam printer or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
When image data read by an image scanner (image reading device) or the like are printed by a laser-beam printer, the procedure of converting the image data into the pixel (picture element) density of the printing apparatus is shown in FIG. 8.
In FIG. 8, the data shown at the left are transmitted from a host computer or the like with a pixel density of 300 dpi (dots per inch), each square representing one pixel. A numeral (for example, 46) indicated in each square, or section, represents the density of that pixel. In the present case, pure black=the highest density is represented by 255, and pure white=the lowest density is represented by 0. A numeral representing a density will be hereinafter termed a gradation number.
The input data received from the scanner or the like via a host computer are first stored in an image memory within the printing apparatus. In order to convert the input data having the pixel density of 300 dpi into a printing pixel density of 150 dpi, pixel density conversion of 4:1 (area ratio) is first performed, as shown in the center of FIG. 8.
In FIG. 8, a numeral 48 indicated in section 211 is the average of the gradation numbers indicated in sections 201, 202, 203 and 204. Subsequently, when performing printing with magnification of 2, data after pixel density conversion are simply magnified by 2.
As described above, in the conventional apparatus, if the pixel density of input data is greater than the printing pixel density of the printing apparatus, the pixel density of input data is converted so as to coincide with the printing pixel density. When magnified printing is performed at the instruction of the operator, printing is performed using image data after the conversion of the pixel density. Hence, the conventional apparatus has the disadvantage that the picture quality of the magnified printed image is inferior to the picture quality of the input data.
In order to solve the above-described problem, a method of performing interpolation using a pixel having a density equal to the average of the densities of adjacent pixels when magnifying image data after resolution conversion may be considered, but deterioration in picture quality, such as undefined edge portions and the like, cannot be avoided.


A restrictor for relieving the symptoms of erectile dysfunction by applying pressure to the corpora cavernosa. The restrictor includes a visual gauge for signaling a purchaser of adequate fit and/or potential overuse. The restrictor includes a surface treatment that changes temperature with color. The restrictor may be a rigid metal ring having a thermochromic surface treatment, such as a layer of liquid crystals covered with transparent glass or plastic. The restrictor may also be a flexible band wrapped in or made from a material dyed with a leuco dye or a dye including microencapsulated liquid crystals in suspension. The color change indicated by the thermochromic surface treatment indicates adequate fit and/or potential overuse.

The invention relates generally to devices for safely alleviating erectile dysfunction. In particular, the invention relates to a device secured around the penis to restrict blood flow out of the penis while providing a visual cue for signaling the level of restriction.
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a medical condition for which millions of American men seek treatment every year. According to the National Institutes of Health, between 15 million and 30 million men suffer from ED, which is loosely defined as the repeated inability to get or keep an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse. The wide range of the estimate of sufferers stems from the rather vague definition, as ED can be a total inability to achieve erection, an inconsistent ability to do so, or a tendency to sustain only brief erections. Under normal conditions, an erection is achieved when blood flows into the penis and fills the corpora cavernosa, large cylindrical tissue structures which run the length of the penis and, when filled with blood, cause the penis to become rigid and erect. The corpora cavernosa are surrounded by the tunicae, elastic sheaths which expand with the corpora cavernosa and apply pressure to the veins which would normally drain the blood from the corpora cavernosa. In some cases, the cause of ED is linked to an inability to provide sufficient blood flow to the penis to fill the corpora cavernosa and achieve an erection. In other situations, the tunicae are not able to press against the blood-draining veins with sufficient force to maintain the erection.
While many of those afflicted with ED are older, with approximately half of the sufferers believed to be over the age of 65, ED is a condition which can affect men at any age, as the causes of ED are extremely varied. Damage to nerves, arteries, smooth muscles, and fibrous tissues from disease is the most common cause of ED. These diseases, such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis, and vascular disease, account for about 70 percent of ED cases. In addition, many common medicines including blood pressure drugs, antihistamines, and antidepressants can result in ED. Certain risky lifestyle choices, such as smoking, being overweight, and avoiding exercise, may also contribute to ED. It is also believed that psychological factors, such as stress, anxiety, depression, and fear of sexual failure, cause approximately 10 to 20 percent of ED cases.
Many methods for alleviating ED are known. For example, surgical treatment options exist. However, these surgeries are radical and invasive, as they involve implanting inflatable members into the penis. These members can be inflated by pumping fluid into the members when sexual intercourse is desired. Due to the cost, side effects, and invasive nature of the surgery, the surgical option is not considered viable by many men, especially those who suffer from a more mild form of the condition.
The pharmaceutical industry has also produced many options for ED sufferers. These drug remedies may be pills or liquids taken orally, such as phosphodiesterase inhibitors which increase blood flow to the penis. Viagra®, Levitra®, and Cialis® are popular phosphodiesterase inhibitors. While popular, these drugs are not suitable for many men, including patients also suffering from heart disease. As the majority of ED sufferers are older men who frequently also have heart disease, oral ED drugs may not be suitable for the majority of ED sufferers. Furthermore, even if an ED sufferer is physically capable of taking the oral drugs, they may not wish to do so, as the drugs can take up to one hour to be effective or can cause priapism, a painful and persistent erection caused by over-constriction of the corpora cavernosa-draining veins.
Other drug options include injecting drugs directly into the penis. Drugs such as papaverine hydrochloride, phentolamine, and alprostadil widen blood vessels to allow more blood to flow into the penis. While these erections are achieved nearly instantaneously, these drugs can cause undesirable side effects, including priapism and scarring. Furthermore, many men may be extremely reluctant to insert a needle into the sensitive skin of the penis.
Mechanical devices are also available for producing and/or maintaining erections. These devices include large, cumbersome vacuum pumps for drawing blood into the penis and restrictors which hold blood in the penis by applying pressure to the subcutaneous veins which drain the penis of blood. Especially for those who suffer from the more mild forms of ED, restrictors are a very popular option. Such restrictors include continuous rigid rings, adjustable straps, or the like. Restrictors are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,548 (rubber tubing looped around the base of the penis), U.S. Patent Pub. US 2003/0009082 (an adjustable gold ring through which the penis is inserted), U.S. Patent Pub. US 2004/0242957 (an adjustable rigid band encircling a portion of the base of the penis), and U.S. Patent Pub. US 2005/0277907 (joined elastic rings worn around the scrotum and the base of the penis).
While effective in treating ED, especially for mild ED, restrictors also pose certain risks, mostly related to trapping blood within the penis for extended periods of time and over-restricting the vessels of the penis. The Food and Drug Administration has suggested guidelines for using restrictors, also called constriction rings, which include only wearing the restrictor for thirty (30) minutes or less per use, waiting at least an hour between uses, cleaning the restrictor thoroughly between uses, and carefully selecting the properly sized restrictor.
Selecting the properly sized restrictor is extremely critical to effective and safe usage of a restrictor, especially if the restrictor chosen is a rigid continuous ring. If the restrictor is too loose, then the restrictor will not be effective in relieving the symptoms of ED. If the restrictor is too tight, then serious consequences such as permanently damaging the penis, may occur.
Currently, sizing of restrictors is performed by trained personnel, a situation that many in need of restrictors find too embarrassing to endure. As a consequence, many men either deny themselves the restrictors or take the chance that the one they purchase will fit appropriately. Therefore, a need exists for a purchaser of a restrictor to size a restrictor privately. Furthermore, no restrictors currently available include a signal or gauge to let a user know if the restrictor has reached an unsafe level of restriction. Therefore, a need exists for a gauge to signal a user of a restrictor of a potentially hazardous condition.

Method and apparatus for relieving erectile dysfunction


Provided herein are techniques for identification of viable and nonviable cells in a cell culture that include measuring a resonance impedance spectral response of at least one resonator in proximity to the cell culture and correlating the measured response to the concentration of viable cells in cell culture and/or the concentration of nonviable cells in cell culture.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to cells grown in cell culture and distinguishing between viable and nonviable cells in cell culture in real time.
The self-replicating nature of biological systems may be harnessed to produce materials of interest by growing individual cells or organisms that produce such materials and purifying the desired products from the cell culture. For example, certain drugs or compounds may be produced by cells, either as a natural metabolic product of the cells or via engineered cells, such as cells engineered to produce recombinant proteins. These cells may be grown in large scale reactors to produce high quality biopharmaceuticals. In such reactors, the manufacturing parameters are monitored using in-line sensors and off-line (i.e., not in-line but in the laboratory, not connected to the reactors) analytical systems. Monitoring of critical manufacturing parameters may be performed upstream (before the bioreactor), in the bioreactor, and downstream (after the bioreactor). Parameters that are typically continuously monitored include parameters that influence growth conditions, such as temperature, solution conductivity, pressure, pH, glucose concentration, dissolved oxygen, and viable cell mass, and are monitored in a similar manner in both single-use and in conventional stainless steel manufacturing systems. Other parameters, such as cell viability, lactate, glutamine, osmolality, pyruvate, amino acids, product purity, and trace elements are typically not measured in-line, because of difficulties of measurements using existing sensors. Instead, these parameters are typically measured "off line" by extracting samples from the reactors and further analyzing these samples outside of the reactor using laboratory analytical instruments.

Methods for assessing cell culture fluid by impedance spectra


An arrangement is provided for a roller conveyor for efficiently accommodating two-way pallets. The arrangement includes a interim parking station in proximity to the initial and/or final end region of the roller conveyor. The interim parking station includes a parking surface characterized by a pair of spaced apart recesses to receive the forks of a forklift device. Thus, a two-way pallet can be picked up at a remote location by a forklift device in the conventional manner with the forks of the forklift device passing into spaces between adjacent scantlings of the pallet. The forklift device can then deposit the two-way pallet onto the scantlings. The same forklift device or a separate forklift device passing into spaces between adjacent scantlings of the pallet. The forklift device can then deposit the two-way pallet onto the scantlings. The same forklift device or a separate forklift device can then approach the interim parking station with the forks of the forklift device aligned parallel to the recesses in the parking surface of the interim parking station. The forks can be inserted into these recesses and beneath the bottom surface of the pallet to enable the two-way pallet to be transferred.

The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for feeding a two-way pallet onto a roller path in which the two-way pallet is fed by means of forklift devices onto the roller path, transported by the roller path, and removed from the roller path by means of forklift devices.
The transportation of stackable goods is effected to a large extent on pallets. The pallets most frequently used are American or Australian standard pallets which are used primarily in the United States of America, Australia and the Far East. On the Continent, on the other hand, European pool pallets, so-called Euro pallets are used. Said pallets have a rectangular or square base surface. The essential difference between the U.S./Australian pallets and Euro pallets is that the Euro pallets, deposited on a continuous surface such as, for instance, the loading surface of a truck or the floor of a warehouse, can be gripped on all four sides by the forks of a forklift device and lifted for transportation. For this reason, the Euro pallet is also known as a four-way pallet. The U.S./Australian pallet, on the other hand, can be gripped and lifted for transportation by the forks of a forklift device only from two opposite directions, for which reason it is also known as a two-way pallet. This is based on the different construction of said pallets.
The U.S./Australian pallets, as well as the Euro pallet, consist of wood.
A Euro pallet, viewed from its standing surface up to the loading surface, is developed in the manner that the lowermost layer, serving as standing surface, consists of three elongated bottom boards arranged spaced apart and parallel to each other. Three blocks which are arranged on these bottom boards, spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the boards. The first as well as the last block terminate flush with the beginning and end respectively of the individual bottom boards, while the remaining block is arranged in the center. The width of the boards and the width of the individual blocks are the same. On the top of the blocks, elongated intermediate boards are again arranged parallel to and spaced from each other, they extending over the corresponding blocks and their starting and stopping ends terminating flush with the outer blocks. The longitudinal axes of the intermediate boards extend perpendicular to the longitudinal axes in the same direction as the bottom boards. As a general rule, the Euro pallets are gripped by a forklift device in the manner that the forks of the forklift device extend in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the bottom and top boards. The forks of the forklift device then engage for the transporting away of the Euro pallet into the spaces left by the blocks and bottom boards. If necessary, the Euro pallet, due to the space between the individual blocks, can, to be sure, also be gripped and transported away from a standing surface from the adjacent sides, i.e. 90.degree. away. The forks of the forklift device then engage into the spaces formed between the bottom boards, the blocks and the intermediate as well as top boards.
In the U.S./Australian pallet, elongated bottom boards, also arranged spaced from and parallel to each other, are present as standing surface. As compared with the Euro pallet, the space between the bottom boards is very much smaller, but it may also vary. Continuous scantlings are arranged on the bottom boards, extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axes. The scantlings extend parallel to each other and are spaced apart. As loading surface, elongated top boards extending parallel to and spaced from each other are placed on the top side of the continuous scantlings. The top boards have their longitudinal axes extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the bottom boards. For removal by a forklift device, the forks are introduced into the space formed by the top boards, bottom boards and scantlings. The forks then necessarily point with their longitudinal axes in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the scantlings and thus perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the bottom and top boards. Since the transporting away of the U.S./Australian pallet is thus possible only from two directions, the U.S./Australian pallet is also known as a two-way pallet.
Upon the transporting of two-way pallets on roller paths, for instance in a conveyor storage in which, as a general rule, several roller paths are arranged in a plane alongside of each other, the development of the two-way pallet is a definite disadvantage. Lateral charging of the pallets onto roller paths is generally not possible due to considerations of space as well as reasons of safety and due to the lateral limitation of the roller path. If a two-way pallet is placed onto the roller path in direction of conveyance, the longitudinal axes of the bottom boards necessarily extend perpendicular to the direction of travel of the roller path, i.e. in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the individual rollers of the roller path. The bottom boards of the two-way pallet accordingly have their longitudinal axes transverse to the direction of transport of the roller path. When using roller paths with continuous individual roller, i.e. rollers which extend over the entire width of the roller path, considerable difficulties result upon the transport due to the necessary alignment of the bottom boards parallel to said rollers. Even in the event that the bottom boards have still not warped or loosened in part or were from the start uneven or curved, the longitudinal axes of the bottom boards become caught in the spaces present between the individual rollers of the roller path and prevent or impede the further transport. Since, in the course of time, the bottom boards are subject to warping and loosening of the scantlings, the transport on the roller path is even more impeded. In this connection, it is not rare that individual two-way pallets can no longer be conveyed at all on the roller path or, even worse, remain stuck on the roller path during the course of the transport and block the further transport of the adjacent pallets.
This disadvantage, which has been known for a long time, has been overcome up to now by using for the transport of two-way pallets roller paths which, as seen over the width of the roller path, have individual rollers which are shorter than the roller path and are arranged with their gaps shifted, with respect to each other. In this way, there is prevented the formation, seen over the width of the roller path, of a continuous space between the rollers in which the bottom boards could become stuck. Such a construction of a roller path due to the plurality of rollers as compared with a roller path having rollers which are continuous over the entire width of the roller path, is however very much more expensive already in the expense for the individual rollers and the corresponding supporting elements than a roller path with continuous rollers. Furthermore, roller paths developed in this manner are considerably more expensive to install and maintain than roller paths with continuous individual rollers.

Method for feeding a two-way pallet onto a roller path


A system is provided that implements a point-in-time query. The system selects a point-in-time query type from one or more point-in-time query types. The system further retrieves metadata that includes structured query language information based on the selected point-in-time query type. The system further creates a point-in-time query for a data source based on the retrieved metadata, where the point-in-time query is a query that is based on a date and/or time. The system further compiles the point-in-time query. The system further executes the point-in-time query on the data source; where the executing of the point-in-time query creates a case series.

In the domain of health sciences, such as drug safety, a "case series" is a list of adverse event cases. An "adverse event case" or "case" is a data record of a particular incident of an adverse event occurring in a patient. Each adverse event case can have a unique identifier. In health science in general, a case series can also be identified as a "patient list," or "subject list."
Many drug safety systems can produce and consume case series, where a "drug safety system" is a system that stores drug safety data, and where drug safety data includes data related to the safety of one or more drugs, such as one or more adverse event cases. Typically, inside these systems, an executable process produces a case series and passes it to one or more executable processes which operate on it. In a common scenario, an executable process that executes a query on a data source, such as a drug safety system, can produce a case series and pass it to an executable process that executes a report. In this scenario, the case series is the result of the executable process that executes the query on the data source. In other words, a list of cases that comprise the case series is a list of cases that matches the conditions specified in the query that is executed by the executable process on the data source. The report can be the desired output format of the case series, and the report can be executed by an executable process. The case series can typically contain at least the unique identifier (typically identified as a "case identifier") for each case, and may also contain additional case data or metadata that represent the adverse event cases in the case series. The data fields in the case series do not necessarily have to be the same as the data fields specified in the query or in the report. The data fields in the case series can typically be fixed while the report data fields can be changed depending on the desired output format.
Further, it can be required by the relevant industry to have a mechanism where a user can retrieve one or more case series using a point-in-time query. A "point-in-time query" is a query that is executed against data stored within a data source, based on a specified period of time (such as a date and/or time). For example, a data source, such as a drug safety system, can contain multiple revisions of data, such as a case that is a part of a case series, where different revisions are associated with its own specified period of time. A point-in-time query can be executed on the data source (e.g., a drug safety system), where the point-in-time query can return revisions of data (e.g., one or more cases that are part of a case series), that were stored in the data source as of a specified date (e.g., one month prior to the current date). Thus, the point-in-time query can return revisions of one or more cases as of the specified date. A point-in-time query generally requires more resources than a "standard" (i.e., current time) query, and thus, is generally significantly slower than a standard query. Thus, known drug safety systems typically will not provide support for point-in-time queries, or will only embed logic for a specific point-in-time query algorithm into one or more "canned" reports or data views. Such drug safety systems do not provide a flexible solution that supports different kinds of point-in-time query algorithms, and do not provide results based on different analysis needs.


The improved fuel injection valve assembly includes a valve body adapted for mounting in a cylinder head of a reciprocating gas engine including a valve seat sealing between the cylinder head and the valve body; a valve stem with a frustoconical end portion sealingly engaging the valve seat with stem threads at the opposite end for a tappet nut; a spring biasing the frustoconical end portion into sealing engagement with the valve seat; a stem piston guiding the valve stem within the valve body; an annular seal sealing the annulus between the valve body and the stem piston; an oil permeable bushing with a lubricating fluid reservoir positioned between the stem piston and the valve body; a rocker arm pivotally mounted on a rocker arm support mounted on the cylinder head; a push rod engaging one end of the rocker arm; and a tappet button positioned on the opposite end of the rocker arm. This improved fuel injection valve assembly allows lateral removal of the tappet button from the rocker arm to allow the rocker arm to pivot to a first position allowing disconnection of the push rod from the rocker arm which allows the rocker arm to pivot to a second position allowing the fuel injection valve to be serviced in place or removed from the cylinder head for replacement without removing the rocker arm or rocker arm support.

This invention relates generally to a fuel injection valve assembly for use in a reciprocating natural gas engine and more particularly to an improved fuel injection valve which allows servicing of the valve without removal of the rocker arm and improved service life for the valve.
In the operation of reciprocating engines that operate by internal combustion of gaseous fuels as natural gas, fuel injection valves are critical to smooth operation of the engine. Typically, each cylinder of such a reciprocating engine has a fuel injection valve communicating therewith, the operation of the fuel injection valve necessary for smooth, efficient operation of the engine.
These fuel injection valve assemblies require periodic repair and maintenance due to such problems as deterioration of valve stem packing. This type of injection valve often is not enclosed within a protective rocker cover and is therefore exposed to outside airborne particles of dirt and grit. Sometimes these particles will work down the fuel injection valve's exposed surfaces into the sealing surfaces and will either damage the seal or score the outside surface of the stem piston, creating a leak passage. These repairs are costly and time-consuming and require the removal of the entire valve assembly, including rocker arm, from the engine. This removal of the rocker arm and complete valve assembly increases the amount of engine downtime and requires the technician doing the repair to handle large, heavy components such as the rocker arms. The improved fuel injection valve of the present invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art and provides a fuel injection valve which prevents premature damage to seal and wear surfaces and allows repair of the fuel injection valve to be effected without requiring removal of the rocker arms or the entire fuel injection valve assembly.
An example of a prior fuel injection valve is the T. Z. Fisher U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,756 which shows a fuel injection valve with exposed spring and seal surfaces exposed to airborne dirt and grit.

Gaseous fuel injection valve and actuator


Feature sequences are extracted, as individual letters separated by spaces, from a digital representation of a proper name in a first language to obtain a first orthographic feature sequence set; and from a digital representation of a proper name in a second language to obtain a second orthographic feature sequence set. The first and second orthographic feature sequence sets (a transliteration pair) are compared to determine a similarity score, based on a similarity model including a plurality of conditional probabilities of known orthographic feature sequences in the first language given known orthographic feature sequences in the second language and a plurality of conditional probabilities of known orthographic feature sequences in the second language given known orthographic feature sequences in the first language. Based on at least one threshold value, it is determined whether the transliteration pair belong to an identical actual proper name.

Transliteration is the process of proper name translation based on pronunciation. It is an important process in many multilingual natural language tasks. A common and essential component of transliteration approaches is a verification mechanism that tests if the two names in different languages are translations of each other. Although many systems have transliteration generation (recognition) as a component, stand-alone verification is relatively new.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An ATM layer device for interfacing between a physical layer device and an ATM switch, which includes means for prepending and postpending of switch routing information to cells destined to enter the switch and for removing such information from cells having left the switch

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a telecommunications concept defined by standards established by the American National Standard for Telecommunications (ANSI) and the International Telephone and Telegraph Consultative Committee (CCITT), a predecessor standards committee to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), for carriage of a complete range of user traffic, including voice, data and video signals on any User-to-Network Interface (UNI) and to facilitate multi-media networking between high speed devices such as workstations, super computers, routers or bridges. The user network interface converts from one protocol, such as SONET, DS-3, to another such as ATM in going between, in this case, telephone communication lines and an ATM system such as a LAN. In this case, the telephone communications protocol and the ATM system employed at the User Network Interface are called the physical layers and the UNI is called the physical layer device. The physical layer is the lowest level of communication between networks or within a network. The physical layer also communicates with the next highest layer, the ATM layer. Thus, in considering a system consisting of a central office and a network, the physical layer would include the transmission lines or physical medium along which the information travels from central office to the network and back. Alternately, the physical layer within a network could be the physical medium which carries information to and from a given station and interfaces with the next higher layer, which is an ATM layer, for that station. Information would then go to and from the ATM layer, to and from an adaptation layer device and then to and from an end user.
ATM switches are required in order to direct ATM cells between end users, between end users in one ATM network and those in another or from end users in one network through a public network to those in another network. On each side of an ATM switch there is an ATM layer device which performs various functions such as cell identification, translation, policing, monitoring and management.
A cell bus operating according to specifications known by the acronym UTOPIA is widely employed on physical devices in view of its simplicity. The UTOPIA specification provides 53 bytes of 8 bit wide bytes or 16 bit wide words with 27 words per cell.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a single ATM layer device which performs all of the functions required in interfacing between an ATM physical layer device and an ATM switch. It is a further object of the invention to utilize a standard UTOPIA cell bus interface in the connection between the physical layer device and the ATM switch core.


An improved support structure for an upper press member that broadens the bending capabilities of a conventional press bending apparatus. The support structure is carried on the upper platen frame of the bending apparatus and is adapted for providing reciprocating movement between the upper press member and the upper platen frame. The support structure comprises a base plate which is attached to the platen frame and a subplate which is adapted for supporting the upper press member. Fluid activated cylinders are mounted on the base plate, with the free end of their piston rods affixed in a supporting manner to the subplate whereby actuation of the cylinders will provide relative movement between the subplate and base plate and therefor the upper press member and the platen frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the production of curved glass sheets, and more particularly to an improved method of and apparatus for bending glass sheets to a relatively deep curvature.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Curved or bent glass sheets are commonly employed as glazing closures for automobiles and the like. The configuration of the glazing closure, that is, the size, shape and curvature, is dictated by the opening in which the unit is to be installed and the overall design of the automotive vehicle. As will be readily apparent, with the many different designs and body styles of automotive vehicles in production at any one time, it is necessary to produce many different styles of glazing closures. The curvature, or bend, of the glazing closures can vary from a simple, shallow curvature to a relatively deep, compound curvature.
It has recently been proposed to use glass to form the satellite dishes employed in the telecommunication industry for receiving and focussing broadcast microwave radiation. The dish can be produced from a sheet of clear or colored glass that is provided with an appropriate metal oxide coating which reflects microwave radiation. The glass sheet may be bent to the necessary dish form on a conventional press bending apparatus utilized to produce the automotive glazing closures and may be either tempered or annealed, as desired.
In a preferred method of producing the automotive glazing closures and satellite dishes in the large quantities required for efficient production, flat sheets of glass are typically heated to their softening temperature in a suitable heat treating furnace. The softened sheets are thereafter pressed to the desired curvature between complemental shaping surfaces. The curved or bent sheets are then either rapidly chilled so as to develop a desired degree of temper or are gradually cooled in a controlled manner within the annealing range of glass. These operations are generally carried out in successive steps while the sheets of glass are being substantially continuously advanced by conveyor along a horizontal path including, in succession, a heating area, a bending area, and a tempering or annealing area wherein the residual heat in the sheet following bending can be utilized for the final heat treating or tempering operation.
The aforementioned complemental shaping surfaces are formed on opposed press members, each mounted on a supporting platen. The press members and their respective platens are normally located one above and one below the horizontal path of movement of the advancing glass sheets to receive the sheets therebetween, and are relatively movable toward and away from each other for pressing the sheets to the desired shape. A hydraulic cylinder is generally employed for raising the lower platen and press member upwardly to engage and lift a heated glass sheet from the conveyor system, out of the horizontal path, and press it against the shaping surface of the opposed or upper press member. The lower platen is then lowered to deposit the bent sheet upon the conveyor system for advancement into and through an adjacent tempering or annealing section. The conveyer system is typically comprised of a plurality of longitudinally spaced rolls which provide suitable support for the heat softened glass sheet as it is conveyed through the bending area. Alternatively, the upper press member may be of the vacuum-type to support the sheet after bending as the lower press member is retracted and a carrier ring is moved into position to receive the sheet and advance it into the appropriate cooling section.
As heretofore mentioned, the upper and lower press members are mounted on their respective platens and are relatively movable toward and away from each other to bend the sheets to the desired shape. A hydraulic cylinder is generally employed for raising and lowering the lower platen during the pressing cycle, while a screw jack system or the like, is utilized for adjusting the elevation of the upper platen and associated press member relative to the lower press member. The upper press member generally is set at a predetermined elevation for the particular part being run and the lower press member is activated to lift the sheet from the conveyor and press it against the stationary upper press member. The elevation at which the upper press member is set is determined by several factors including the stroke of the hydraulic cylinder of the lower platen and the curvature and thickness of the glass sheet being run. To properly position the upper press member, the lower press member first is raised to an elevation above the supporting surface of the conveyor. The jack system associated with the upper platen is then manipulated to position the shaping surface of the upper press member at a distance from the lower shaping surface representative of the thickness of glass sheet to be bent.
While the above-described apparatus has been successful for bending glass sheets to satisfy most present day requirements, the trend to aerodynamic styling in the automotive industry has resulted in glazing closures with more pronounced curvatures and complex shapes. The relatively deep curvatures of some of these closures are becoming increasingly more difficult and, in some instances, impossible to form on conventional bending apparatus.
On conventional apparatus, the glass sheets are generally formed to a concave curvature as viewed in elevation, and the degree of curvature has a determining effect as to the elevation or vertical position at which the sheets are pressed. The deeper the curvature of the sheet, the farther the lower press member is required to travel to lift the sheet from the conveyor to a position thereabove for pressing against the upper press member. Since the upper press member is fixed at this elevation, it must not be in a position to interfere with the glass sheets entering and leaving the press area. Due to the stroke limitation of the lower hydraulic cylinder and structural obstructions on the lower press member, it is oftentimes impossible when bending deeply curved sheets to establish the fixed position of the upper press member at an elevation that does not interfere with the travel of the glass sheet. The problem is further complicated when employing a shuttle carrier system for removing the curved sheet after bending. In this instance, a vacuum male mold is used to support the sheet after bending, and sufficient space must be provided between the conveyor and the supported sheet to permit entry of the carrier ring.
Of course, it is conceivable to utilize the existing upper screw jack system for maneuvering the platen frame in a reciprocating manner to alternately move the upper press member from a position that permits unobstructed conveyance of the glass sheet to the preselected position for pressing the glass sheet. While the system is capable of functioning properly in this manner on a production basis, the maneuvering of the entire platen frame assembly with the press member during each bending cycle would substantially reduce the speed of the operation, adversely affecting productivity.
While these problems are evident when bending automotive glazing closures having relatively deep curvatures as discussed above, they also are encountered when bending other deeply curved glass products such as architectural glazing and the heretofore mentioned glass satellite dish.

Support mechanism for a glass sheet press bending mold


A method for etching an object having a portion to be etched on the surface thereof, comprising a step of immersing said object in an electrolyte solution such that said object serves as a negative electrode; a step of arranging a counter electrode having a pattern corresponding to a desired etching pattern to be formed at said portion to be etched of said object in said electrolyte solution so as to maintain a predetermined interval between said counter electrode and said object, and a step of applying a direct current or a pulse current between said object and said counter electrode to etch said portion to be etched of said object into a pattern corresponding to said pattern of said counter electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved etching method, a process for producing a semiconductor element using said etching method, and an etching apparatus suitable for practicing said etching method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved etching method which is simple and excels in selective etching precision and which enables to etching an object to be etched into a desirable state with no or very slight damage at the non-etched region or layer thereof. The present invention also relates to a process for producing a semiconductor element based on said etching method, which comprises a small number of steps and enables efficient production of semiconductor element by way of a fast etching, treatment, at a reduced production cost. By this method a transparent and electrically conductive film of a photovoltaic element as the semiconductor element can be patterned in a desirable state while repairing defects, such as short circuit defects of the photovoltaic element. The present invention further relates to an etching apparatus suitable for practicing the above method and process.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, etching techniques have been widely used during the production of various semiconductor elements used in photovoltaic elements including solar cell elements, photodiodes, and the like. For instance, in the production of photodiodes and ICs (integrated circuits), the etching technique has been used in patterning or removing an electrode comprising a metal electrically conductive film or transparent and electrically conductive film, a base member or a semiconductor layer. Further, in the production of semiconductor elements such as solar cell elements, the etching technique has been used in patterning or removing an electrode comprising a transparent and electrically conductive film or a semiconductor layer. Besides these, patterning by way of etching a transparent and electrically conductive film has been used in the production of displays such as liquid crystal panels and the like.
Particularly, in the production of an amorphous silicon solar cell, there is known a manner of forming a transparent and electrically conductive film on a light transmissive insulating substrate, etching said transparent and electrically conductive film to have a desired pattern suitable for a solar cell, forming an amorphous silicon semiconductor layer as a photoelectric conversion layer on the patterned transparent and electrically conductive film, and forming a back side electrode thereon. Besides this, there is also known a manner of forming an amorphous silicon semiconductor layer as a photoelectric conversion layer on a metal substrate, forming a transparent and electrically conductive film on said semiconductor layer, etching said transparent and electrically conductive film into a desired pattern, and forming a grid electrode as a collecting electrode on the patterned transparent and electrically conductive film. The latter is advantageous in that the resultant solar cell with the metal substrate can be readily processed into a configuration having a bent portion, and electrochemical treatment for repairing a defective portion can be easily conducted because the substrate of the solar cell is comprised of a metal, and continuous film formation can be conducted.
A chemical etching method of selectively etching a transparent and electrically conductive film formed on a substrate to have a desired pattern in the production of a solar cell is known (see, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 108779/1980 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,530). Herein, such chemical etching method will be described.
In a first step, a photoresist (comprising a printing ink or resin) is formed on a transparent and electrically conductive film formed on a substrate by means of printing technique such as silk screen printing or flexographic printing or a spinner, and the photoresist is subjected to light exposure with a desired pattern, followed by subjecting to development, whereby forming a desired positive resist pattern. In a second step, a negative portion (excluding the positive resist pattern) comprising an exposed portion of the transparent and electrically conductive film is etched with an etching solution containing ferric chloride or nitric acid so that a portion of the transparent and electrically conductive film situated under the positive resist pattern remains. In this case, the negative portion may be removed by means of dry etching such as plasma etching so that the portion of the transparent and electrically conductive film situated under the positive resist pattern remains. In a third step, the positive resist pattern (comprising a cured photoresist pattern) remaining on the transparent and electrically conductive film is removed by eluting it with a releaser, peeling it, or manner of subjecting it to dry processing by plasma ashing, to thereby form a desired pattern of the transparent and electrically conductive film.
There is also known an electrochemical etching method of etching a transparent and electrically conductive film used in liquid crystal display or EL elements, wherein a transparent and electrically conductive film is formed on a substrate, a resist pattern is contacted with the surface of the transparent and electrically conductive film, the resultant is immersed in an electrolyte solution comprising an aqueous solution of HCl, followed by energization with an electric current, whereby an exposed portion of the transparent and electrically conductive film which is not covered by the resist pattern is patterned (see, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 290900/1987).
Incidentally, in the case of a thin film solar cell such as an amorphous silicon solar cell, there is sometimes a problem in that the output of the voltage and electric current is markedly decreased due to short circuit defects created during the formation of its semiconductor layer. Such short circuit defects are usually created in the case where defects such as pinholes of electrically connecting the upper and lower electrodes to the semiconductor layer are present. There is a tendency that such short circuit defects increase as the size of the solar cell is enlarged.
In view of this, in the case where a large area solar cell is continuously fabricated, for instance, by way of the so-called roll-to-roll process, after the formation of the semiconductor layer or transparent and electrically conductive film, it is necessary to eliminate the short circuit defects which are possibly present therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,918 discloses a method of removing short circuit defects created during the fabrication process of a solar cell. This method is to burn out the short circuit defects present in the solar cell by applying a reverse bias voltage of sufficient magnitude which is less than the breakdown voltage of the solar cell. Besides this, U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,970 discloses a method of passivating short circuit defects in a solar cell by applying a reverse bias voltage to the solar cell in an electrolyte solution to remove a transparent and electrically conductive film composed of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide.) or the like present at the peripheries of the short circuit defects whereby passivating the short circuit current current paths.
In general, in the case of fabricating a large sized solar cell, there is often employed a manner of patterning the transparent and conductive film to have a desired size by subjecting the transparent and conductive film to etching treatment, removing the short circuit defects, and forming a collecting electrode. In accordance with this method, it is possible to fabricate a large area thin film solar cell having a high performance.
Now, any of the conventional patterning processes by way of the etching treatment is problematic in that it involves a variety of steps, i.e., the formation of a positive resist pattern using a photoresist, exposure, development, etching, resist removal, and the like, and they have such problems as will be described below.
For the conventional chemical etching process, there are problems such that because the etching treatment is conducted in an electrolyte solution, the expansion or removal of a resist is liable to occur and therefore, it is difficult to attain precise etching. In addition, it is necessary to precisely control not only the temperature for the etching solution but also the period of time during which the etching treatment is conducted.
For the conventional dry etching process, although it is possible to attain the patterning at a high precision, there are problems such that the treatment speed is slow and the throughput of the apparatus used is low, resulting in increased production cost, and in addition, since a strong oxidant is used, specific handling steps are necessary for it and also the waste liquid.
For the conventional plasma ashing process, although it is free of environmental pollution because no solution is used, there is a problem in that it cannot be employed for all the resists.
For the conventional electrochemical etching process, although it is advantageous in that the temperature of the etching solution need not be as precisely controlled as in the case of the foregoing chemical etching process, there are drawbacks such that to obtain a desired etched pattern, a given resist pattern is necessary to be in close-contact with the surface of a transparent and electrically conductive film formed on a substrate, no patterning can be conducted without the presence of a photoresist, and the step of forming a pattern is essential.
In the case of patterning a transparent and electrically conductive film formed on a stacked body comprising a plurality of thin film layers being stacked as a semiconductor layer for a photovoltaic element or the like by means of the conventional chemical or electrochemical etching process, there are such problems as will be described in the following. That is, when the treatment period of time with the etching solution is long, negative influences are liable to effect to the stacked body; and when the control of the temperature of the etching solution is not sufficiently conducted, defectively etched portions are liable to occur, resulting in electrical shorts or shunts the resulting photovoltaic element. In the etching process using the resist, there are also problems. When resist separation occurs during the etching process, overetching often occurs to unnecessarily etch a portion, resulting in exterior defects for a photovoltaic element and/or in making the resulting photovoltaic element to have inferior characteristics; and in this case, there is a tendency of damaging a region or layer which is not to be etched.
In the patterning process by the etching treatment by way of in the fabrication of a solar cell, patterning is usually conducted through a photoresist or the like by means of the chemical etching process, dry etching process, or electrolytic etching. And in any case, a variety of steps, i.e., close-contact of a photoresist pattern to a solar cell substrate, etching, removal of the photoresist, rinsing, washing, drying, and the like are necessary. And after the completion of these steps, a further step of removing short circuit defects possibly present in the solar cell substrate is often conducted.
In accordance with the roll-to-roll process, it is possible to continuously form a semiconductor layer, a transparent, electrically conductive film and the like. However, in practice, it is difficult to make the etching process and the short circuit defects-removing process so that they can be continuously conducted. And the etching steps involve a variety of treatment steps as above described. Therefore, even in the case where the roll-to-roll process is employed, there are problems such that it is difficult to attain the fabrication of a defect-free solar cell at a high yield and with a reduced production cost. In addition to this, because the etching process and the short circuit defects-removing process are separately conducted, in the case of mass-producing a solar cell, there is an increased possibility in that physical defects will arise.
Therefore, there is an increased demand for making an improvement in the conventional process for fabricating a solar cell so that the etching process and the short circuit defects-removing process can be continuously conducted.
Incidentally, the patterning in accordance with conventional etching process using an etching apparatus is conducted, for example, in the manner shown in FIG. 1(a) through FIG. 1(h). Particularly, first, on a transparent and electrically conductive film 202 formed on a metal substrate 201 (see, FIG. 1(a)), a resist 204 is formed using a coating device 203 (see, FIG. 1(b)), followed by drying using a drier (not shown). Thereafter, a mask pattern 205 is arranged on the resist 204, followed by subjecting the resultant to light exposure using a light filter 206 (see, FIG. 1(c)). Successively, development is conducted in a vessel 207 containing a developer (see, FIG. 1(d)). After the development treatment, washing is conducted in a washing and rinsing vessel 208 (see, FIG. 1(e)), followed by drying. Thereafter, the body is subjected to etching treatment in an etching vessel 209 containing an etching solution (see, FIG. 1(f)), followed by removing the resist in a resist removing vessel 210, and successively followed by washing and then drying (see, FIG. 1(g)), where the transparent and electrically conductive film 202 on the metal substrate 201 is patterned as shown in FIG. 1(g). FIG. 1(h) is a schematic slant view illustrating a product having a desired pattern thus obtained.
In the above photolithography patterning process comprising the foregoing numerous steps, these steps are extremely difficult to combine, and the respective instruments in which the respective steps are conducted are also extremely difficult to integrate. If some of these steps could be designed so that they can be conducted in the same instrument, the instrument is unavoidably large. Hence, it is extremely difficult to realize such a system that these numerous steps can be continuously conducted to complete the patterning process within a short period of time.
This situation is more or less the same also in the fabrication of a solar cell. Particularly, the etching process in the fabrication of a solar cell involves numerous steps similar to those described in the above, and these numerous steps and the respective instruments in which the respective steps are conducted are extremely difficult to combine. Therefore, it is necessary to use separate instruments to conduct each step. In addition, it is extremely difficult to realize an apparatus which is capable of conducting both the etching process involving the numerous steps and the short circuit defects-removing process in the apparatus. If the etching process and the short circuit defects-removing process could be designed so that they can be conducted in one apparatus, the apparatus is unavoidably large. Hence, it is extremely difficult to realize such a system that the etching process and the short circuit defects-removing process can be continuously conducted within a short period of time.

Etching method and process for producing a semiconductor element using said etching method


The present invention relates to a method for monitoring an ignition system, wherein the ignition system comprises a charge coil (L1) for charging the ignition system, a primary coil (L4) and a secondary coil (L5), said primary and secondary coils (L4, L5) being arranged to generate a voltage for spark generation, and a control unit (M1), characterized in the steps a) providing a separate coil (L3) adjacent to at least one of the charge coil (L1), the primary coil (L4) and the secondary coil (L5) b) using the control unit (M1) to monitor a magnetic flux at the separate coil (L3), and c) using information regarding said magnetic flux as input for controlling at least one property of an operation of the ignition system. The invention also relates to a control system for an ignition system.

Within the field of ignition systems, a high and reliable performance is generally required in order to supply ignition to a combustion engine in a cost and energy efficient manner.
A problem, however, lies in gathering information regarding the performance of the system, since any attempt at measuring properties such as the magnetic flux at the charge coil or trig coil of a conventional system will suffer from disturbances due to the spark generation, among other things. In the event that the charge coil is periodically short-circuited in order to enhance the charging of a charge capacitor, such as is shown by SE0600752-0, for instance, this process also generates a high level of disturbances in the magnetic flux in the ignition system. It is therefore difficult to gather enough information to successfully monitor and control the ignition system, and as a result sparks can be generated at an unsuitable position or direction, such as during high compression in the engine, for instance. Also, external systems involving sensors or the like that expect to detect a spark from the ignition system will suffer from these disturbances, resulting in a decreased performance or even damages to the systems. For ignition systems that use a double pole bridge flywheel, the problems can be especially serious, since the risk for generating a spark at the wrong time based on incorrect information is increased, compared to systems using a single pole bridge flywheel.
There is therefore clearly a need for an ignition control system that can monitor and control the performance of the ignition system and eliminate the risk of undesirable spark generation without interference from the normal ignition system functions.

Ignition system control method and system