An electronic musical instrument for realizing touch at the time of the manipulating of a manipulator such as a keyboard faithfully reflected on the resulting musical tone. The electronic musical instrument has acceleration pickups respectively attached to keys in the keyboard, and tone synthesizing portions respectively driven on the basis of signals obtained by integrating acceleration detection signals outputted from the acceleration pickups.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument and particularly relates to a keyboard electronic musical instrument.
2. Description of the Related Art
A keyboard is most general as means for manipulating the electronic musical instrument. That is, a keyboard is an excellent manipulating means which can be easily operated by a performer and, at the same time, can be easily matched with expression of a feeling. Heretofore, a keyboard electronic musical instrument in which a detection signal corresponding to touch at the time of the depressing of a key in the keyboard is generated to thereby control the strength of the musical tone, is known.
On the other hand, various tone synthesizers having an electric or software model for physically simulating the tone generating mechanism of a natural musical instrument and using the operation of the model have been proposed. If a detection signal generated by the depression of a key is given to this type tone synthesizer, a keyboard electronic musical instrument suitable for musical performance richer in reality can be provided.
To improve representation as a musical instrument, it is necessary that touch at the time of the performer's depressing of a key is faithfully reflected on the resulting tone. FIG. 41 shows a schematic structure (corresponding to one key) related to the detection of key depression in a conventional keyboard electronic musical instrument. As shown in FIG. 41, two switches SW1 and SW2 for detecting key depression are attached to each key KEY supported by a fulcrum in the keyboard. When the key KEY is depressed to a first depth, the switch SW1 is turned on. When the key KEY is depressed to a second depth which is deeper than the first depth, the switch SW2 is turned on.
When the switches SW1 and SW2 are successively turned on by depressing the key KEY, the time difference between the turning-on of the switch SW1 and the turning-on of the switch SW2 is counted by a time difference detecting circuit DET. A key velocity signal corresponding to the key-depressing velocity of the key KEY is generated on the basis of the count result. Then, the strength of the tone to be generated in the tone generator TG is controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) 1 on the basis the key velocity signal.

Electronic musical instrument which simulates physical interaction of piano string and hammer


A utensil supporting multiple cooking environments for preparing foods is disclosed in one presently preferred embodiment of the present invention as including a cooking grill and a cover member selectively disposed in relation to a base unit comprising one or more cooking compartments. The cooking grill having a cooking surface and a collection reservoir disposed beneath at least a portion of the cooking surface. Formed in the upper cooking surface of the cooking grill are a plurality of openings. Collection channels may also be disposed along the upper cooking surface so as to provide device for feeding run-off liquids through the openings and into the underlying collection reservoir of the cooking grill. Having a dimensional size and shape substantially corresponding to the outer perimeter of the base unit, the cooking grill, when selectively disposed over the internal periphery of the base unit, facilitates a first cooking environment within the base unit. The air generally sealed within the first cooking environment may circulate around the food items retained within the various cooking compartments to provide device for preparing the food items contained therein. The cooking grill supports a second cooking environment for preparing foods, wherein liquids (i.e., water, oil, grease, etc.) may be collected from those food items disposed on or suspended above the upper cooking surface of the cooking grill. Depending upon whether the cover member is selectively positioned in supportable relation to the base unit and over the cooking grill, the second environment may facilitate the preparation of food items by means of grilling, baking, roasting and/or broiling. In addition, water may be introduced into the collection reservoir of the cooking grill to provide device for steaming the food item(s) disposed within the second environment.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to food preparation devices and, more particularly, to novel utensils supporting multiple cooking environments for preparing foods.
2. The Background Art
Cooking utensils have been developed and used throughout the years. Traditionally, cooking utensils facilitate a cooking surface that supports a single cooking, environment for preparing foods (e.g., baking pans, casserole dishes, rice cookers, frying pans, woks, etc.). In addition, those skilled in the art invented cooking utensils having a single cooking surface for preparing foods and for also accommodating additional functional purposes.
For example, those skilled in the art developed combination dish drainer, steamer, roaster and baking pans consisting essentially of a collection pan, a cover and a drainer. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,103,169, the pan generally includes triangular support lugs formed in the corners of its interior periphery so as to provide a shoulder for supporting the drainer therein. The drainer formed having a size and shape adapted to be inserted into the upper portion of the pan. The drainer may consist of a bottom surface formed with transverse corrugations and openings in the bottoms of channels between the ridges formed by the corrugations. A central portion of the bottom of the drainer may be formed with a cross-sectionally inverted V-shaped transversely arranged upwardly extending support that projects above the side walls of the drainer. When the device is used as a dish drainer, dishes to be drained are arranged to bear against and be supported by the inverted cone. A cover may then be positioned over the drainer and the dishes supportably disposed therein. In operation, a suitable amount of water may be poured into the pan and then heated. The steam generated from the water will be caused to thoroughly cleanse the dishes and then the remaining water can be effectively drained from the internal periphery of the collection pan upon completion of the process.
Another prior art combination food preparation device is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,640. As disclosed, the utensil for cooking or baking in a microwave oven generally comprises a partitioned tray and cover held in substantially fixed horizontal alignment by a microwave transparent base. The tray and cover are metallic and provide means for shielding the interior of the tray from microwave energy. Correspondingly, a ferrite layer is formed on the underside of the tray to absorb microwave energy and thereby provide heat which conducts through the tray to the partitioned cooking compartments. To accommodate the cooking or baking process, a plurality of apertures are formed in the cover to facilitate the escape of steam from the interior of the tray.
Although food preparation devices have been found to be generally useful, prior art cooking utensils incorporate several inherent disadvantages in relation to supporting more than a single cooking environment for preparing foods. As will be further appreciated by those skilled in this particular art, economic considerations are significant when dealing with this highly competitive industry, since comparatively numerous cooking components or utensils are needed to support multiple cooking environments for simultaneously preparing foods and, thereby, are frequently found to be commercially impractical in collection. In this regard, even a slight savings in cost by way of reducing the number of cooking utensils needed to simultaneously accommodate multiple cooking environments in a single cooking utensil will substantially increase or enhance its commercial appeal when considering relevant issues of application and/or mass production. Correspondingly, the present invention provides a single utensil capable of supporting multiple cooking environments for preparing foods which overcomes several deficiencies of prior art food preparation devices and resolves several problems left unsolved by the known prior art.

Utensil supporting multiple cooking environments for preparing foods

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This invention relates to a gel formulation for nasal administration of a controlled release formulation of hormones to the systemic circulation and/or to the brain. The special lipophilic or partly lipophilic system of the invention leads to higher bioavailability of the active ingredient caused by sustained serum levels in plasma but also leads to a more favorable serum level profile. The special lipophilic or partly lipophilic system also allows for the modulation of brain functioning. The invention also relates to the nasal administration of steroid hormones for treatment of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) or female arousal disorder.

A growing body of evidence suggests a modulatory role of brain-acting compounds, such as neurosteroids (e.g., androgens, progestins) or neurotransmitters in the regulation of disorders influenced by receptors in the brain, such as depression, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, or even loss of libido.
Considerable importance has been placed on the measurement of receptor concentrations in the brain. However, the underlying mechanisms of action are still poorly understood. Much of the confusion about the wide range of effects and side effects is due to various non-genomic actions. Tissues traditionally considered non-targets for clinical action are today found to be vividly regulated by non-genomic mechanisms.
Generally, genomic actions are typically due to compounds binding to intracellular receptors, traveling to the nucleus of the cell, and binding to DNA to initiate expression of various proteins. These various proteins exert a wide range of effects. The compounds may also induce transcription-independent signaling, thus modulating non-genomic responses. These second messenger pathways involve kinase pathways, including ion flux as well as cAMP or lipase. In contrast to the genomic effects, most of the non-genomic effects are immediate.
Thus, the mechanisms mediating the effects of a molecule can be both genomic and non-genomic. The clinical relevance of the genomic effects often is understood. However, there is very little knowledge of the possible differential relevance of a molecule's non-genomic actions in different cell types. It is hypothesized that non-genomic signaling mechanisms might be more of a pharmacological phenomenon. At the very best, these can be influenced by the way a molecule is administered.
Nasal drug delivery offers many advantages that include rapid adsorption due to the abundant presence of capillary vessels in the nose, fast onset of action, avoidance of hepatic first-pass metabolism, utility for chronic medication, and ease of administration. It is also known that, in contrast to large and/or ionized molecules, lipophilic pharmaceutical compounds having a sufficiently low molecular weight generally are readily absorbed by the mucous membrane of the nose. For such drugs, it is possible to obtain pharmacokinetic profiles similar to those obtained after intravenous injection.
However, maintaining constant in vivo therapeutic drug concentrations for an extended period of time has been problematic. The rapid mucociliary clearance of a therapeutic agent from the site of deposition and the presence of enzymes in the nasal cavity (that may cause degradation of the therapeutic agent) result in a short time span available for absorption.
Many efforts have been made in the art in attempt to overcome these limitations. GB 1987000012176 describes the use of bioadhesive microspheres to increase residence time in the nasal cavity. It has also been found that the use of enhancers improves permeability of the nasal membrane and stabilizers prevent drug degradation. PCT/GB98/01147 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,440) describes the use of in situ gelling pectin formulations.
Investigations on the nasal absorption of sexual steroids, which are rather small and lipophilic compounds, have shown that sexual steroids are readily absorbed by the mucous membrane of the nose and are found very quickly in serum. Due to this fact, the short half-life of sexual steroids, and the limited possibilities for formulating nasal application forms with sustained release, the use of sexual steroids in clinical practice has been limited because hormone replacement therapy, in general, is a long-term application.
Several formulations have been proposed for sexual steroid drugs. Testosterone is nearly water-insoluble and somewhat more soluble in vegetable oil. Hussain et al., J. Pharm. Sci. 91(3): 785-789 (2002), concluded that testosterone would be an ideal candidate for nasal administration if its solubility in water could be increased. Hussain et al. proposed using a water-soluble pro-drug, testosterone 17β-N,N-dimethylglycinate, and found serum levels equal to intravenous administration with peak plasma concentrations within twelve minutes (25 mg dose) and twenty minutes (50 mg dose) and elimination half-lives of about fifty-five minutes. It should be noted, however, that this speed is not necessary or desirable because sex hormone replacement is not an emergency therapy.
Ko et al., J. Microencaps., 15(2): 197-205 (1998), proposed the use of charged testosterone submicron O/W emulsion formulations (water/Tween80, soybean oil/Span80) based on the hypothesis that increased absorption is possible upon solubilization of the drug and/or prolongation of the formulation residence time in the nose. Ko et al. found higher relative bioavailability for the positively (55%) and negatively (51%) charged emulsions compared to the neutral one (37%). Tmax was observed in every case at about twenty minutes after administration. However, because Ko et al. did not take blood samples before application, it is not possible to evaluate the differences in the decrease of serum levels, although from a graph it seems that after intravenous application (hydroalcoholic solution) the level shows the longest elimination half time. In practice, however, such an emulsion is not suitable for nasal application because of the droplet size (approximately 430 nm).
The solubility of progesterone in water and oil is somewhat comparable to that of testosterone but investigators have taken different approaches. It has been that progesterone dissolved in almond oil (20 mg/ml) and administered by nasal spray lead to higher bioavailability than that provided by progesterone dissolved in dimethicone or a PEG-based ointment (Fertil Steril 56(1): 139-141 (1991); Maturitas 13(4): 313-317 (1991); Gynecol Endocrinol 6(4): 247-251 (1992); Fertil Steril, 60(6): 1020-1024 (1993); and Maturitas 19(1): 43-52 (1994)).
After nasal application of progesterone in almond oil, Cmax levels were observed after thirty to sixty minutes, decreasing significantly six to eight hours after a single administration. Steege et al., Fertil Steril, 46(4): 727-729 (1986), dissolved progesterone in polyethylene glycol (200 mg/ml) and found Tmax at thirty minutes. The duration of serum levels was at least eight hours but with high variations. When progesterone was formulated in ethanol/propylene glycol/water, however, Tmax was at only 5.5 minutes (Kumar et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 79: 4185-9 (1982)). Provasi et al., Boll. Chim. Farm. 132(10): 402-404 (1993), investigated powder mixtures (co-ground and co-lyophilized progesterone/cyclodextrin) containing progesterone. Provasi et al, found Tmax at within two to five minutes with serum levels decreasing after only twenty minutes.
The results for progesterone described above are quite similar to that found for testosterone and for an already marketed aqueous nasal spray containing estradiol, formulated in cyclodextrin (commercially available as AERODIOL® from Servier Laboratories, France). Maximum plasma levels are reached within ten to thirty minutes and decrease to 10% of the peak value after two hours. Again, this speed is not necessary for sex hormone replacement therapy and is not desirable in view of the short elimination half-life of hormones.
Apart from the "liberation/adsorption" problem shown above in connection with sexual hormones and bioavailability, the focus of research has centered on the crucial liver metabolism and the short half-life of the compounds. However, high protein-binding also presents a problem because only the unbound fraction is biologically active. Approximately 40% of circulating plasma testosterone binds to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG)—2% in men and up to 3% in women remains unbound (free)—and the remainder binds to albumin and other proteins. The fraction bound to albumin dissociates easily and is presumed to be biologically active, whereas the SHBG fraction is not. It should be noted that the amount of SHBG in plasma determines the distribution of testosterone in free and bound forms, whereas free testosterone concentrations determine (limit) the drug's half-life.
Additional research has shown that pharmacokinetics (and the resulting efficacy) may be determined by the route of testosterone administration. Previous research has shown that sublingual application of testosterone undecanoate results in a very fast and high testosterone peak that triggers sexual arousal. Apperloo et al., J Sex Med, 3:541-549 (2006), recently found that a single dose of a vaginally-applied testosterone propionate results in a slower rising and lower testosterone peak that does not trigger sexual arousal. Apperloo ct al. found an acute and prolonged rise in testosterone and free testosterone above physiological levels with a peak at 5.5 hours is not sufficient to influence the female sexual response. Recently, it was hypothesized that some effects of hormones are typically mediated by their neurobiological activity. Thus, these application forms probably lack a sufficient CNS effect. In order to achieve a corresponding efficacy, the therapeutic agent has to cross the blood-brain barrier. The therapeutic agent, however, not only has to cross the blood-brain barrier in a certain concentration, it additionally has to stay in the brain long enough to exert its desired action.
Accordingly, there has remained a need for a sexual hormone drug formulation system that is therapeutically effective when administered to the nose of a patient and is safe, stable and easily manufactured.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Controlled release delivery system for nasal applications and method of treatment


A rubber based composite material having a rubber composition and, adhered thereto, a reinforcing material having a coating film containing a metal or a metal compound capable of reacting with sulfur formed on the surface of the material, characterized in that the oxygen content in the coating film increases toward the reinforcing material in the thickness direction.

Reinforcing materials such as organic fiber codes and steel codes have been widely used hitherto in rubber-based composite materials for use in tire, belt, hose, and the like. In such a case, it is very important that the rubber and the reinforcing material bind to each other firmly, from the viewpoints of the durability and the morphological stability of product. For example, in composite materials of an organic fiber code and a rubber, the organic fiber code is commonly dipped in an resorcin-formaldehyde condensate/latex (RFL) adhesive for improvement in adhesion between the two, while in composite materials of a steel code and a rubber, the steel code is plated in various ways for improvement in adhesion between the two.
In this manner, there are a variety of ways to improve the adhesiveness between a rubber composition and a reinforcing material, and such composite materials higher in adhesiveness should ideally be superior both the initial adhesiveness and the adhesion durability.

Rubber-based composite material and the rubber article using the same


A modeling system that arranges the model in a hierarchical structure of communicating and independently executing object modules controlled by an overall supervisor. Each object represents a component or a system and includes an object controller which communicates with other object modules, an object error checker and an object model. The objects communicate through a database accessible by all objects. The structure of the object module and the hierarchical structure itself are standardized allowing new components or systems to be added by adding a standard object module which includes an object model that is unique to the object being modeled. The controller for an object causes subobjects upon which the object model depends for data to be executed prior to execution of the object model. Such bottom up model traversal insures that models do not execute until all needed data is available. The error check module checks the controller and model modules to make sure they are executing properly. The object model includes a deterministic equation based component aging model, a statistical based component aging model and expert rules that combine the deterministic and statistical model with the knowledge of experts to determine the current state of the object and make recommendations concerning future actions concerning the object. A maintenance module is also included along side the supervisor that allows maintenance actions for the objects to be taken into consideration.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention is a computer-based modeling system designed to improve the overall performance of components and systems that degrade with age. The invention combines expert rules, probabilistic models, and deterministic models to evaluate and predict the effect of component aging on component life extension, operational readiness, maintenance effectiveness, and safety of a system along with evaluating and recommending maintenance and operational actions to improve the overall performance of the modeled system.
2. Description Of The Related Art
Current methods used to obtain, analyze and model complex systems, such as nuclear power plant information, to determine age degradation of the various systems within the complex system are inefficient, time consuming, and many times unreliable. Each component of the plant or complex system is analyzed separately to obtain a numerical indication of its state. The numerical value must then be interpreted by a plant operator to determine the current and potential state of the component. To determine the overall state of the system, each individual component of the system must be analyzed in relation to the other components, for example, the separate parts of a reactor coolant pump must be combined and analyzed together to determine the actual state of the reactor coolant pump. The current methods emphasize the separate components of a system, instead of how and why these components interact.
Many current modeling methods use a deterministic approach which reviews the physical characteristics of a system, for example, temperature, pressure, etc., and evaluates the system solely on the basis of this quantitative information. Other modeling methods use a statistical and probabilistic approach to compare the present state of a component with its past history and to determine what the component and the system might do next. The current modeling methods do not emphasize an heuristic approach to consider the dynamic interaction between the components of a system or between the systems themselves when determining the present and future performance of a plant.

Deterministic, probabilistic and subjective modeling system


A dock leveler assembly for a loading dock is provided having an adjustable ramp, a pivotally mounted lip and a pivotally mounted barrier plate both disposed at front edge portion of the ramp. The pivotal movement of the lip and the barrier plate are coordinated so that, when the lip is in a depending stored position, the barrier plate may be selectively adjusted to assume either an operative upwardly projecting vehicle barrier mode or an inoperative non-projecting mode allowing material handling equipment to load or unload the rear end of a vehicle parked adjacent the loading dock. When the lip is in an operative cantilevered position bridging a gap formed between the ramp front edge portion and the bed of a parked vehicle the barrier plate assumes the inoperative mode allowing material handling equipment to pass over the ramp and the lip onto the bed of the parked vehicle during loading and unloading thereof.

Loading dock leveler assemblies normally embody a hingedly mounted loading ramp or deck which is adjustable between a stored position wherein an exposed surface thereof is substantially coplanar with the dock platform surface and an operative position allowing loading or unloading of the bed of a truck parked adjacent the front wall of the dock. An extension plate or lip is pivotally mounted on the front edge of the ramp and, when in an extended or cantilevered mode, bridges the gap which occurs between the rear end of the truck bed and the front wall of the loading dock.
It has been found, however, that certain safety problems may occur when such dock levelers are used. For example, dock personnel may inadvertently drive or push material handling equipment (e.g., a fork lift truck) off the front edge of the loading dock leveler when there is no vehicle parked adjacent the loading dock and the ramp is in the stored position.
To minimize the risk of such "accidental run offs" dock levelers have heretofore been developed that include various forms of barriers which physically obstruct and thereby prevent movement of material handling vehicles beyond the front edge of the dock leveler. For example, in certain dock levelers the pivot axis of the lip is set back a substantial distance from the rear edge of the lip so that the rear section of the lip between the pivotal axis and the lip rear edge projects above the ramp surface and forms a barrier when the lip is in a depending position with respect to the ramp. In such levelers, however, unless the ramp surface and the exposed surface of the lip are coplanar, when the lip is in an extended cantilevered position, the rear section of the lip still projects angularly upwardly to a varying degree above the loading ramp surface forming a vehicle barrier. This continued projection of the lip rear section may seriously obstruct the loading and unloading operations.
Recognizing this problem, several dock leveler assemblies have heretofore been developed with an automatic barrier which is either coplanar with or slightly below the exposed ramp surface when the lip is in an operative extended cantilevered position or in other positions. Examples of such dock leveler assemblies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,920,598 and 5,040,258, wherein the ramp is pivotally mounted for movement between three positions--a stored first position in which the exposed ramp surface is substantially coplanar with the loading dock platform surface, an upwardly inclined second position, and a declining third position. The front edge portion of the ramp includes a pivotally mounted lip moveable between a stored vertical position and an operative outwardly extending cantilevered position. This lip integrally includes a barrier unit, a portion of which automatically projects above the ramp exposed surface to form a vehicle barrier of optimum height when the extension plate or lip is in the stored vertical position, and which, when the lip is in the outwardly extending cantilevered operative position, automatically retracts below the exposed ramp surface.
While in most circumstances it is desirable to employ an automatic material handling vehicle barrier when the dock leveler assembly is in a stored position, there are certain other circumstances when it may not be desirable to do so because the barrier may interfere with the end loading or unloading of a parked truck by a material handling vehicle. In such circumstances the material must be loaded onto or unloaded from the rear portion of the truck bed and the placement of the material would interfere with the lip if it was in a fully extended position.

Dock leveler with an improved automatic material handling vehicle barrier


A system for measuring the volume of a tank, including an optical device that emits a laser beam adjacent to a surface of the tank, and a magnetic trolley selectively moveable along the surface of the tank and configured to be remotely controlled by an operator. The magnetic trolley has a linear position sensor in communication with the laser beam to determine the position of the magnetic trolley relative to the laser beam as the magnetic trolley moves on the surface of the tank. A data processor communicates with the linear position sensor to calculate the volume of the tank based at least partially on the position data collected by the linear position sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present technology relates to calibration of storage tanks. In particular, the present technology relates to calibration of storage tanks by measuring the horizontal offset of the wall of a tank relative to a vertical laser reference line.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over time, the price of oil and gas products has increased. As a result, the accurate measurement of oil and gas in storage has become increasingly important. Typically, oil and gas can be stored in tanks, many of which are extremely large (e.g., up to about 2,000,000 barrels in volume or more). Accurate knowledge of the volume of such tanks is important so that the owner can maintain accurate information about the amount of oil and gas in the tanks.
There are a number of methods of calibrating, or measuring the volume of these large tanks. For example, one method is to fill the tank, then meter the liquid as the tank is drained to determine the capacity of the tank. This method, however, is very time consuming, and can be very costly because of the size of the tanks. Normally, this method is avoided unless the tank volume cannot be determined geometrically through physical measurement of the tank parameters.
Another method for calibrating tanks is called the optical reference line method (ORLM). The ORLM provides for the calibration of cylindrical tanks by measurement of one reference circumference, followed by determining the remaining circumferences at different elevation levels on the tank. The remaining circumferences are determined by measuring the horizontal offset of the tank wall from a vertical optical reference line. These circumferences are corrected, based on wall thickness, to calculate true internal circumferences, which can then be added to determine the tank volume.
An example of the ORLM method is shown in FIG. 1, in which there is shown a tank 2, a magnetic trolley 4, an optical device 6, and a horizontal graduated scale 8 attached to the trolley 4. The optical device 6 produced an optical ray of light 10 upwardly and parallel to the tank wall 12. The magnetic trolley 4 is typically controlled by an operator 11 positioned on top of the tank 2, that holds a rope 13 attached to the trolley. The operator 11 raises and lowers the trolley 4 on the tank wall 12 by manipulating the rope 13.
To measure the volume of the tank 2, a reference circumference C is first measured. The reference circumference is measured using a master tape (not shown), and is typically measured near the bottom of the tank 2. With the reference circumference known, the trolley 4 can be raised or lowered by the rope 13 to various vertical stations, or predetermined locations, along the tank wall 12. In most systems, the vertical stations are located between the weld seams on the tank. In FIG. 1, two of the vertical stations are indicated by lines V. At each vertical station V, the horizontal offset between the tank wall 12 and the optical ray of light 10 is noted, using the horizontal graduated scale 8. Once a series of measurements have been taken at the vertical stations V, the measurements are repeated with the optical device 6 rotated 180 degrees to verify accuracy. Thereafter the measurements are used to determine the circumference of the tank at each vertical station (using the reference circumference as a reference point), and the volume of the tank can be estimated. Additional factors can also be considered when calculating volume, such as, for example, the temperature of the tank wall 12. This temperature is typically derived based on the temperature inside the tank and the ambient temperature.
While the ORLM method shown in FIG. 1 is better in some ways than filling the tank and metering the fluid, as discussed above, it still has significant problems. For example, measuring the horizontal offset of the trolley 4 from the optical ray 10 at only a few select vertical stations V provides relatively few data points from which tank circumferences can be measured. Although this data can be extrapolated to estimate the volume of the tank, such extrapolations may not always be accurate. In addition, the method of FIG. 1 requires the operator 11 to be positioned on the top of the tank, which can be dangerous. Furthermore, the use of an optical ray 10 and a horizontal graduated scale 8 to measure the horizontal offset of the tank wall 12 lacks the precision necessary to calculate accurate tank volumes. This is because an operator must read the horizontal graduated scale 8 at each horizontal offset, often from a distance.
Another problem with known ORLM methods occurs when the storage tank has a protrusion 15 extending radially outward from the tank wall, which frequently occurs, and which is shown in FIG. 2. In such an instance, the ability of the operator 11 to raise the trolley 4 to the top of the tank 2 is restricted because the rope 13 has to be routed over the protrusion. When this happens, horizontal offset measurements cannot be made at the top of the tank, and in some instances the inaccuracies introduced into the volume calculations by the missing measurements can be great enough to render the ORLM calibration method unreliable.
What is needed therefore, is a tank calibration system that overcomes the disadvantages of known systems.

Enhanced reference line tank calibration method and apparatus


Systems and methods for controlling smart fabrics. In some embodiments, the smart fabrics are attached to vehicle seats, benches, and/or beds. In some embodiments, the smart fabrics enable digital components to be embedded in them and can be configured to modify their physical behavior including changing their color, breathability, stiffness, as well as other properties, depending on the applications the fabric is being utilized for. In order to control these smart fabrics and the different properties of them, smart fabric controllers are provided as well as one or more vehicle controllers that help to give instructions and update the firmware of each of the one or more smart fabric controllers on the vehicle.

Long duration flights (and even some short flights), ground transportation trips, and long-term seating can be quite uncomfortable for some passengers and patrons who have to sit in a confined space for an extended period of time. The personal comfort of some passengers can be quite poor depending on their body conditioning, the temperature of the cabin or compartment in which they are seated, and other environmental factors that are beyond their control. Many passengers want the ability to control the comfort and other properties of their seats such that their flights, trips, and other experiences are more enjoyable.
Smart fabrics, also known as electronic textiles, smart garments, smart clothing, or smart textiles are fabrics that enable digital components such as miniature computers, light emitting diodes, sensors, and other electronics to be embedded in them. These fabrics can be configured to modify their physical behavior including changing their color, breathability, stiffness, as well as other properties, depending on the applications for which the fabric is being utilized.
Given their properties and ability to make seats more comfortable, smart fabrics are an ideal addition to aircraft, other vehicle seats, and other structures to improve passenger comfort and the overall enjoyment of the trip. With that being said, there is a need for an efficient solution for controlling the smart fabrics, whether they be attached to structures in aircraft, spacecraft, ground vehicles, or non-vehicles.

Systems, methods, and devices for controlling smart fabrics in aircraft


An object of the present invention is to solve a problem of separation and recovery of catalysts present in an alkali metal catalytic method currently often used, a problem of excess consumption of a catalyst by a free fatty acid in a raw material, and other problems, and to solve a problem of the presence of a large excess amount of alcohol in a conventional supercritical methanol method, and to provide a method for producing a fatty acid alkyl ester composition in a reaction system containing water and free fatty acid present. The present invention has attained the above-mentioned object by provided a method for producing a fatty acid alkyl ester composition using fats and oils containing a fatty acid glyceride and/or fatty acid, wherein alcohol and/or water is allowed to co-exist with the above-mentioned fats and oils and the reaction is conducted under conditions of a temperature of 100° C. to 370° C. and a pressure of 1 to 100 MPa.

It has been long known that a fatty acid alkyl ester is obtained by transesterification of an alkyl alcohol with a mono-glyceride, di-glyceride and tri-glyceride (these are generically called fatty acid glyceride) which are main components of vegetable oils, animal fats and used fats and oils of them (for example, "Organic Chemistry Handbook," Gihodo Publication, 1988, pp. 1407 to 1409). Furthermore, various investigations have been made on a technology of producing a fatty acid alkyl ester which can be used as a diesel fuel from fats and oils, utilizing this reaction.
As a method for industrially producing a fatty ester from a fatty acid glyceride, there are long known methods in which a fatty acid glyceride is once hydrolyzed to be converted into a fatty acid, then, in the presence of an acid catalyst or enzyme catalyst, the fatty acid is further subjected to a dehydration reaction (esterification reaction) with alcohols under an anhydrous condition to be converted into a fatty acid alkyl ester, however, these are scarcely used as an industrial production method due to low reaction rate. Currently, in industrially often used methods, a fatty tri-glyceride is subjected to a transesterification under an anhydrous condition in the presence of an alkali metal catalyst under normal pressure at ambient temperature or temperatures near the boiling point of an alcohol with shorter alkyl chain. However, since, in this reaction, an alkali metal catalyst is dissolved in the reaction solution, there is a problem that the alkali metal catalyst is dissolved in a solution of the product and separation and recovery thereof are difficult.
Further, waste oils and the like often contain water, consequently, removal of water in a raw material is inevitable as a pre-treatment, in use of the above-mentioned alkali metal catalyst method. It is general that natural fats and oils contain a free fatty acid, and the content of a free fatty acid differs depending on the origin of a raw material and its treatment method. For example, a waste edible oil contains 3% or more of fatty acids and palm oil from an oil pressing process contains 5% or more of fatty acids. When an alkali metal catalyst is used under a condition of inclusion of a large amount of free fatty acids, an alkali soap becomes a by-product and an alkali metal catalyst in an excess amount is necessary, alternatively, there occurs a problem that separation of a fatty acid ester layer and a glycerin layer is difficult due to a by-product alkali soap, and the like. Because of these reasons, when a transesterification of a fatty acid glyceride is conducted in the presence of an alkali metal catalyst, a pre-treatment process is necessary for removing a free fatty acid.
From the standpoint of avoiding such a problem, for example, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. S61-14044 discloses also a method of converting into an ester of a free fatty acid with the aid of an acid catalyst, as a pre-treatment process. In this method, a free fatty acid is converted into an ester as a pre-treatment for conducting a transesterification of a fatty acid glyceride in the presence of an alkali metal catalyst, however, there is a problem that removal of an acid catalyst is necessary before performing the next transesterification of a fatty acid glyceride and when an acid catalyst remains, it is neutralized, consequently, the use amount of an alkali metal catalyst increases corresponding to the neutralization amount.
As a method for producing a fatty ester not requiring the above-mentioned pre-treatment process, there are also suggested methods using a solid acid catalyst (for example, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. H6-313188). However, an acid catalyst has a critical defect that the reactivity thereof for a transesterification of fats and oils is lower as compared with that of an alkali metal catalyst, and there is a problem that a large amount of catalyst is necessary in a transesterification using an acid catalyst.
On the other hand, there are recently also suggested so-called supercritical methanol methods in which a transesterification of fats and oils is conducted under supercritical conditions for alcohol without using a catalyst (for example, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-204392, 2000-109883). However, in the supercritical methanol method, there is a disadvantage that a large excess amount of alcohol should be present and higher temperatures of 300° C. or more are necessary, for efficient progress of a transesterification. Further, in this method, an effect of the presence of water in the reaction system has not been confirmed.
The present invention has been made notifying such conditions, and an object thereof is to solve a problem of separation and recovery of catalysts present in an alkali metal catalytic method currently often used, a problem of excess consumption of a catalyst by a free fatty acid in a raw material, and a problem of decrease in transesterification due to water in a raw material and to solve a problem of the presence of a large excess amount of alcohol in a conventional supercritical methanol method, and the present invention provides a method for producing a fatty acid alkyl ester, that is effective for conversion into a fatty acid alkyl ester from raw material oils which cannot be treated by conventional technologies such as a dark oil containing a free fatty acid as a main component discharged particularly from a purification process in an oil production factory, and a waste edible oil having a high free fatty acid content and/or water content, and the like.

Method for producing fatty acid alkyl ester composition


An imaging lens consists of negative first lens having a concave image-side surface, positive second lens, negative third lens, positive fourth lens, positive fifth lens having a convex image-side surface, and negative sixth lens, which are in this order from an object side. In the imaging lens, all of the lenses constituting the lens system are single lenses, which are not cemented lenses, and a stop is arranged closer to the object side than an image-side surface of the fourth lens is arranged. When a refractive index of a material of the third lens for d-line is Nd3, the following formula (1-1) is satisfied:Nd3<1.65  (1-1).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging lens and an imaging apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to an imaging lens appropriate for use in an in-vehicle camera, a camera for a mobile terminal, a surveillance camera, or the like using an imaging device, such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). Further, the present invention relates to an imaging apparatus including the imaging lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the size of an imaging device, such as a CCD and a CMOS, became very small, and the resolution of the imaging device became very high. Consequently, the size of the body of imaging equipment including such an imaging device became small. Therefore, reduction in the size of an imaging lens to be mounted on the imaging equipment is also needed in addition to high optical performance of the imaging lens. Meanwhile, lenses mounted on an in-vehicle camera, a surveillance camera and the like need to be structurable at low cost in addition to being small-sized. Further, the lenses need to have small F-numbers so that photography is possible even in low illumination conditions, and to achieve a wide angle of view and high performance. Further, excellent environment-resistance is required in some cases.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11 (1999)-142730 (Patent Document 1) discloses a lens system usable in a camera on which a small-size CCD is mounted. The lens system consists of five lenses or six lenses, and uses a plastic aspheric lens.


A centering apparatus for bi-directionally pivotable hopper doors. The apparatus is coupled between a frame of a hopper car and a bell crank of a hopper door. The apparatus includes a housing with a piston extending from one end. An end of the piston within the housing includes a piston head. A pair of coil springs are disposed within the housing on opposite sides of the piston head and counteract one another to bias the piston head toward the center of the housing and thus bias the hopper door toward a closed state. In a second configuration the apparatus includes a double-acting actuator with a pair of independent piston assemblies. An actuation system coupled to the actuator maintains the actuator and an associated hopper door in a closed position in a normal state and returns the hopper door to the closed position upon a failure in the system.

Hopper cars are common in the rail industry and come with a variety of discharge-door styles that may be configured for a particular type of material carried by the hopper car and/or a dumping procedure to be used for removing the material from the hopper car. One style of hopper door, referred to herein as a transverse-pivot discharge door, enables discharging or dumping of material from within the hopper to an outboard side of the underlying rails or to an inboard position between the rails. One exemplary embodiment of a transverse-pivot discharge door is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,916 to Murray.
Typically, a transverse-pivot discharge door is positioned beneath a longitudinally extending, generally rectangular discharge opening in a bottom surface of a hopper in a hopper car. The hopper door includes a top surface that is sized and configured to obstruct a flow of material from the hopper through the discharge opening. Side surfaces of the hopper door extend downwardly away from opposing transverse edges of the top surface. The discharge door may be pivoted about a longitudinally extending axis to move the top surface transversely and at least partially out of alignment with the discharge opening to allow material to flow through the discharge opening and into contact with a respective one of the side surfaces. The side surface directs the material transversely toward the outboard side of underlying rails on which the hopper car is positioned. The hopper door can be pivoted in an opposite direction to release and direct the material to the inboard area beneath the hopper car and between the rails.
A system of actuators, such as hydraulic actuators, is coupled to the discharge door to provide pivotal movement thereof. The actuators may be actuated to pivot the hopper door toward the outboard or inboard sides and between open (or partially open) and closed positions.
Proper detection and tracking of the open/closed state of the discharge door is important for determining an amount of material that has been discharged as well as for ensuring the discharge door is closed when such a state is desired. The position of the hopper door may be detected by the actuating system, such as by detecting positions of pistons of the actuators although such is often difficult to accurately accomplish. Further, in the instance of a failure in the actuation system the system may not provide a proper or reliable fail-safe mechanism to ensure closure of the discharge door.
Sensors may be associated with the hopper door to detect open/closed states thereof. However, sensors in such systems suffer from faulty readings, lost calibration, and damage due to the harsh and dirty conditions to which they are exposed. These sensors are thus often not sufficiently reliable for detecting and ensuring proper closure of the hopper door.

Centering apparatus for hopper car doors


A method of producing pressed metal sheet parts in an integrated process to prepare blanks of non-uniform thickness includes the steps of heating a steel sheet blank in heating equipment to the austenite region of the steel of the sheet steel blank in question, then forming the blank into a flat semi-finished product of non-uniform thickness in forming equipment, then immediately thereafter, without any further hearting of the semi-finished product, deep drawing the semi-finished product in deep drawing equipment into a final spatially shaped part. The method may further include cooling down the final spatially shaped part either during the drawing step or immediately after the deep drawing step in a manner which causes the final spatially shaped part to develop hardening microstructure, which imparts high strength to the final shaped part with non-uniform wall thickness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention falls in the area of heat treatment and thermomechanical treatment of certain products, in particular deep-drawn sheet metal parts.
2. Description of the Related Art
Spatially shaped parts from metal sheet are typically produced by deep drawing. This procedure is characterized in that a metal sheet with a suitable easy-to-deform microstructure is held by a blank holder and shaped and drawn over the edge of a female drawing die by a male punch. The shape of the product is governed by the shape of the tools. The cold forming process causes the material to work harden. The higher the yield strength of the feedstock, the greater is the springback effect. Springback causes problems with production precision and repeatability. This is why a new hot drawing process was recently developed, which includes hot drawing and press hardening. This process involves processing of metal sheet where the blank is heated to the austenite region, drawn in austenitic condition and, thanks to rapid heat transfer to the female drawing die, cools down between the tools in such a way that hardening microstructure, most often martensite, is obtained in the formed part. This leads to smaller dimensional variation resulting from springback. The typical material used in this application is 22MnB4, the strength of which is about 1,500 MPa after quenching.
It is in particular the safety components in automotive industry which require the highest possible value of the product of strength and elongation in order for the components to be able to absorb as large as possible amount of the impact energy by deforming at high flow stress and without premature instability and fracture failure. These requirements are met in part through suitable engineering design of the components and by the use of metal sheets of dissimilar thickness. Feedstock of this type can be made by welding together sheets of dissimilar thickness, the so-called tailored blanks, or by rolling sheets to obtain variable thickness along the length of the strip. Such sheets are used as blanks for both cold and hot deep drawing. In order to improve the state of the art while keeping or even reducing the resulting weight, the properties of materials need to be improved in a comprehensive manner: particularly enhancing the strength and seeking methods for improving elongation.

Method of production of pressed sheet parts with integrated preparation of blanks of non-uniform thickness


A system and method to allow telephone subscribers to schedule calls for future placement on a telephone network using a telephone interface. In an illustrative implementation, a telephone subscriber part of an AIN telephone network is offered a call scheduling service whereby the subscriber may schedule future placed calls according to various parameters (e.g. telephone number(s) to call, the time of the scheduled call, and the frequency of the call, i.e. every day, month, week, or year) by inputting parameters using a telephone interface of a telephone station that is connected to the AIN telephone network. In operation, a participating user would connect to the service switch point (SSP) of the AIN telephone network using his/her telephone station. The SSP communicates this request to a service control point (SCP) having an administrative application and a call scheduling application. The SCP verifies that the requesting party is a subscriber to the call scheduling service and cooperates with a service node (SN) to prompt the participating user to input information indicative of the desired scheduled calls. The call schedule information is stored in a SCP cooperating database. When the scheduled time for a scheduled call arrives, the SCP cooperates with the SN to notify the participating user (e.g. by calling the subscriber's listed telephone) that the time for the scheduled call has arrived. If prompted by the participating user, the SCP proceeds to cooperate with the SN to place the scheduled call.

In conventional telephone networks, parties place telephone calls on a regular basis, often, according to a predefined or predetermined schedule. In such cases, the party placing these repetitive calls is relegated to keeping an independent schedule to remind him/herself to place the calls and, moreover has to physically place the call at the scheduled time. As such, the calling party expends valuable time and resources in tracking and performing these scheduled calls. The burden of maintaining and following schedule can lead to missed calls that can spell disaster in certain critical situations. Moreover, tracking, scheduling, and placing these periodic and important phone calls takes up the party's time which could otherwise be used for other purposes.
In recent years, a number of new telephone service features have been provided by an AIN. The AIN evolved out of a need to increase the capabilities of the telephone network architecture in order to meet the growing needs of telephone customers or users. The AIN architecture generally comprises two networks, a data messaging network and a trunked communications network. The trunked communications network handles voice and data communications between dispersed network locations, whereas the data messaging network is provided for controlling operations of the trunked communications network.
While the AIN architecture has been used to provide numerous services to telephone customers, there is presently no telephone system that allows parties to schedule phone calls with the telephone network such that the party may schedule a call by inputting the date and time of the call with the telephone network in advance, whereby the telephone network and the telephone network may remind the party of the schedule and place the call according to the inputted call information.
From the foregoing it is appreciated that there exists a need for a system and methods to allow parties to schedule telephone calls using a telephone interface. By having this ability, the drawbacks of the prior art are overcome.

Call scheduling on a telephone network using a telephony interface

BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation


A magnetic storage device is provided which has significantly reduced power consumption. The magnetic storage device includes: a yoke which is arranged so as to cover part of a line extending in an arbitrary direction; and a magneto-resistive element which is arranged near the line and is capable of writing information using a field occurring from the line. The magnetic storage device is set to satisfy the equation Iw≦a·R+b, where Iw is the write current necessary for the line, R is the magnetoresistance of the yoke, a (mA·H)=7.5E−11, and b (mA)=0.1.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a magnetic storage device which stores information in magneto-resistive elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory) has been receiving attention recently as a storage device for use in information processors such as computers and communication apparatuses. MRAM stores data by means of magnetism. Since the direction of magnetization can be maintained without use of any electrical means, it is possible to avoid any loss of information upon power-down as happens with DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and SRAM (Static RAM), or other volatile memories. When compared with conventional nonvolatile storing means such as flash EEPROM and hard disk units, MRAM is superior in terms of access speed, reliability, power consumption, and the like. It can thus be said that MRAM is capable of replacing all the functions of volatile memories such as DRAM and SRAM and those of nonvolatile storing means such as flash EEPROM and hard disk units (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 3466470).
Consider, for example, the case of developing information equipment that targets so-called ubiquitous computing in which information processing is available regardless of location. A requirement of such ubiquitous computing includes a storage device that is capable of high speed processing with reduced power consumption and that can also avoid loss of information, even upon power-down. MRAM has the potential to meet both of these requirements, and is expected to be adopted by many information apparatuses in the future.
In particular, for tablets, portable information terminals, and the like that are intended to be carried about daily, it is often difficult to secure sufficient power supply. Thus, in order to perform a great deal of information processing in severe use environments, even MRAM of low power consumption requires a further reduction in power consumption during information processing.
Among examples of technologies intended to advance the power savings of MRAM are magnetic storage devices described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2000-90658 and 2004-128430. These magnetic storage devices include, in each of their storage areas (memory cells), a bit line, a word line arranged orthogonal to the bit line, a tunneling magneto-resistive (TMR) element arranged at the intersection between the bit line and the word line, and the like. These magnetic storage devices further include a yoke (field control layer) which is arranged near each TMR element so as to surround the bit line and the word line of the same. The yoke is made of a ferromagnetic body having high permeability, and functions to reduce the occurrence of flux leakage from the bit line or the word line, thereby concentrating the flux into the TMR element. This makes it possible to produce a field necessary for inverting the magnetization of the TMR element, even at low power consumption.
It should be appreciated that a TMR element includes: a first magnetic layer (magnetic sensing layer) whose direction of magnetization changes with an external field; a second magnetic layer having a fixed direction of magnetization; and a nonmagnetic insulating layer interposed between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer. This TMR element stores binary data by controlling the direction of magnetization of the first magnetic layer so that the direction of magnetization is parallel or antiparallel with the direction of magnetization of the second magnetic layer.
The smaller the size of the TMR elements used in magnetic storage devices, the greater the effect of the diamagnetic fields occurring inside, and thus the stronger the write fields must be made. Consequently, a contradiction arises because the write currents must be increased if greater integration of the magnetic storage devices is intended. It is generally noted that magnetic storage devices are difficult to miniaturize and difficult to enhance the recoding density thereof.


An additional data transmission channel is provided between the north bridge chip and the system memory when the graphic accelerator is integrated into the north bridge chip. The additional data transmission channel can be similar to the existent data transmission channel between the north bridge chip and the system memory for providing extensive data transmission bandwidth. Alternatively, the additional data transmission channel can be specific to the communication between the graphic accelerator in the north bridge chip and the frame buffer in the system memory.

Please refer to FIGS. 1A and 1B that are schematic diagrams showing conventional personal computer structures. The core circuit of each of the computer structures comprises a microprocessor 10, a north bridge chip 11 and a south bridge chip 12. A system memory 13 communicates with the north bridge chip 11 via a memory bus. In FIG. 1A, a graphics chip separate from the north bridge chip is shown. The graphics chip is incorporated in a graphics card 14. The graphics card 14 is connected to the north bridge chip 11 via a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) or AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus, and comprises a graphics accelerator 141 and a local memory 142 specifically connected to and provided for the graphics accelerator 141. Alternatively, in the computer structure of FIG. 1B, the graphics accelerator 141 is integrated into the north bridge chip 11. Therefore, the local memory 142 is not present any longer, and in stead, a specified memory block 131 is defined in the system memory 13, which is referred to as an AGP memory, to perform the function of the local memory 142. The graphics accelerator 141 thus shares the memory bus between the north bridge chip 11 and the system memory 13 to communicate with the AGP memory 131.
The memory bus between the system memory 13 and the north bridge chip 11 is generally uni-channel structured, and has a data bandwidth of 64 bits. Such data transmission bandwidth, however, has been beyond practical requirement due to the significantly increasing data transmission quantity between the system memory 13 and the north bridge chip 11. The situation is even serious on the condition that the data transmission bandwidth of the memory bus has to be shared by the graphics accelerator 141 for accessing the AGP memory 131.

Core logic chip conducting multi-channel data transmission


In an electric oil pump device including a drive power source and a gear device through which a vehicle drive force of the drive power source is transmitted, the electric oil pump device delivering a lubricant oil to the gear device, and generating a hydraulic pressure for controlling the gear device, a pump portion for delivering the lubricant oil, a motor portion for operating the pump portion, and a driver portion for controlling an operation of the motor portion are included. The pump portion, motor portion and driver portion are formed integrally with each other, or the driver portion is disposed adjacent to the motor portion. The pump portion and a part or an entirety of the motor portion are disposed within a space defined by an oil pan and a casing accommodating the gear device, and the driver portion is disposed outside the casing and the oil pan.

There is known an electric oil pump device including a pump portion for delivering a pressurized lubricant oil, a motor portion for operating the pump portion, and a driver portion for controlling an operation of the motor portion. The electric oil pump is disposed within an oil pan in which the lubricant oil is stored. U.S. Pat. No. 8,694,214 (U.S. Pat. No. 8,694,214 B2) discloses an example of such a vehicular electric oil pump device.
Where the electric oil pump device in which the driver portion for controlling the operation of the motor portion is assembled integrally with the pump portion and the motor portion is disposed within the oil pan, the electric oil pump device is exposed to heat of the lubricant oil within the oil pan. Where semiconductor elements and other electronic components incorporated in the driver portion have low degrees of heat resistance, the electric oil pump device has a risk of operating failure. This risk can be reduced by providing the driver portion with the electronic components having high degrees of heat resistance. However, the use of these highly heat-resistant electronic components results in a rise of a cost of manufacture of the electric oil pump device. Where the electric oil pump device is installed in an outside space outside the oil pan and a casing in which the gear device is accommodated, on the other hand, it is difficult to secure the outside space in which an entirety of the electric oil pump device can be installed. Further, the provision of this outside space is undesirable to meet a need for space saving of the vehicle.


The present invention provides a printed wiring board in which there is no positional deviation between a blind via hole and a land and which enables high-density wiring design to be easily achieved. Provided is a method of manufacturing a printed wiring board in which wiring pattern forming layers are connected by a blind via hole, which includes the steps of forming a wiring pattern by etching at least metal foil laminated on a surface of an insulating layer and forming a land having a window portion in a portion where a blind via hole is to be formed; irradiating the window portion with a laser beam having a diameter larger than the diameter of the window portion but smaller than the diameter of the land, thereby making a nonthrough hole for forming the blind via hole; and forming a blind via hole by forming a plating on the nonthrough hole and the land.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed wiring board and a method of manufacturing the printed wiring board and, more particularly, to a printed wiring board having a fine wiring pattern of high-density wiring design and a method of manufacturing the printed wiring board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods of forming a circuit in a printed wiring board are divided into the subtractive method which involves forming an etching resist pattern on metal foil, such as copper foil, and forming a wiring pattern by etching the part of metal foil not covered by the etching resist pattern; and the additive method which involves forming a plating resist of a pattern reverse to a circuit and forming a wiring circuit by depositing a plating on an opening of this plating resist.
Because the manufacturing steps in the subtractive method are easier than in the additive method, it is possible to manufacture circuits at very low cost. However, in the plating and an electrolytic plating to the whole insulating substrate when forming through-holes and blind-via-holes etc. and, therefore, the thickness of the conductor layer (metal foil plus a plating) to be etched becomes very large. Therefore, it was difficult to form a good circuit. Particularly, the subtractive method was not suitable for the formation of a fine wiring pattern having pattern line/pattern space of not more than 75 μm/75 μm.
In contrast, the additive method, which is favorable for the formation of a fine wiring pattern, requires that a wiring pattern be formed by depositing a plating on an insulating layer and, therefore, compared to a case as in the subtractive method where an insulating substrate in which metal foil has been laminated on an insulating layer is processed, the additive method had problems such that the adhesion of the wiring pattern is poor.
Furthermore, in terms of the design of printed wiring patterns, wiring patterns are formed nonuniformly in the plane of the substrate and, therefore, when wiring patterns are formed by selective plating as in the additive method, currents are concentrated more than necessary in portions of coarse wiring patterns and variations in the thickness of the wiring pattern become large, resulting in problems such that it is difficult to ensure impedance matching.
To solve such problems, the present inventors have invented a method of manufacturing a printed wiring board of a construction as shown in FIGS. 6(a) to 6(c) (FIGS. 6(a) to 6(c) show a condition without a positional deviation in the laser beam machining and exposure steps), and the patent application of this invention has already been released to the public (refer to JP-A-2004-319994).
FIGS. 6(a) to 6(c) show an example in which buildup wiring layers are formed on an inner-layer core substrate, which is not shown. First, as shown in FIG. 6(a), an insulating layer 1 and metal foil 2, such as copper foil, are laminated in this order on a layer on which a lower-layer wiring pattern 3 is formed, which is formed in an inner layer (for example, resin-including copper foil is laminated). Subsequently, a nonthrough hole 7 which reaches the lower-layer wiring pattern 3 is made by laser irradiation (refer to FIG. 6(b)).
Next, after desmear treatment of the nonthrough hole 7 is performed, as shown in FIG. 6(c), a barrier metal layer 6 (for example, Ni—B and Ni—P) is formed by substitutional nonelectrolytic plating treatment on the area of the surface of the lower-layer wiring pattern 3 uncovered by the metal foil 2 and the nonthrough hole 7.
Next, a nonelectrolytic plating (for example, a nonelectrolytic copper plating), which is not shown, was formed on the whole area of an outer layer including the nonthrough hole 7. Subsequently, by performing electrolytic plating treatment (for example, electrolytic copper plating treatment using a plating liquid for filled vias), a plating 8 is filled in the nonthrough hole 7 and the plating 8 is deposited also on the outer layer (refer to FIG. 6(d)).
Next, as shown in FIG. 6(e), after the pattern formation of a blind via hole 10 and its land portion (hereinafter referred to as a "plating land 8a,"), as shown in FIG. 6(f), the barrier metal layer 6 exposed to the outer layer is removed by etching and subsequently, circuit is formed on the exposed metal foil 2, whereby a printed wiring board Pa of FIG. 6(g), on the outer layer of which an upper-layer wiring pattern 4 is formed is obtained.
Because a plating is deposited also on the outer layer when a plating is filled in a blind via hole as described above, compared to a case where a plating is deposited only in the formation portion of blind via hole, the blind via hole can be filled with the plating in a more stable manner (and it is possible to eliminate variations in the amount of deposited plating caused by either coarse or dense condition of the area on which the plating is deposited) and by forming the wiring pattern by etching the metal foil which has been laminated on an insulating layer, it is also possible to ensure the adhesion of the wiring pattern to the insulating layer. Furthermore, it is possible to keep the thickness constant because the metal foil is protected by the barrier metal layer and, therefore, a fine wiring pattern (equivalent to the upper-layer wiring pattern 4 in the figure) can be easily formed.
However, in the above-described construction, processing involves three steps in total, i.e., laser beam machining when the nonthrough hole 7 is made, and the exposure steps in the formation of the plating land 8a and the metal foil land 2a (the outermost land obtained by performing the circuit formation of the metal foil 2 shown in FIG. 6(g)). Therefore, when all alignment accuracy is considered, the land diameter (equivalent to the above-described metal foil land 2a) becomes considerably large, thereby impairing high-density wiring design (this applies also to a manufacturing method which involves etching a window portion for laser beam machining in metal foil beforehand and then making a nonthrough hole).
Simply, because laser beam machining is performed directly from above the metal foil 2, in terms of the machining accuracy of a laser beam machine, a positional deviation occurs in the range of about 20 μm one side (40 μm in diameter) or so from the reference point and, therefore, in a case where the plating land 8a is formed by etching the plating 8 later, it is necessary to consider the above-described amount of positional deviation.
More specifically, FIG. 7(a) is a plan view which shows the nonthrough hole 7 made in the step of FIG. 6(b) as viewed from above and if it is supposed that the nonthrough hole 7 is in the reference position, then it follows that a positional deviation occurs in the range indicated by a dotted line (in the range in which the diameter is 40 μm larger than the diameter L1 of the nonthrough hole 7).
Therefore, in order to form the plating land 8a so that the nonthrough hole 7 does not run off the plating land 8a, when the exposure accuracy during the formation of an etching resist pattern, which is not shown, (for example, a positional deviation in the range of about 20 μm one side (40 μm in diameter) from the reference point) is also considered, as shown in FIG. 7(b) (a plan view obtained when FIG. 6(e) is viewed from above), it is necessary to form the plating land 8a with a diameter L2 which is larger than the diameter of the nonthrough hole 7 by 40 μm one side (diameter 80 μm) and hence it was necessary to set the diameter L3 of the outermost metal foil land 2a at a very large value. Incidentally, FIG. 7(c) (a plan view obtained when FIG. 6(g) is viewed from above) shows a case where the plating land 8a is formed so that the plating land 8a does not run off the metal foil land 2a and also in this case, the exposure accuracy must be considered. Therefore, the diameter L3 of the metal foil land 2a becomes larger than the diameter of the nonthrough hole 7 by 80 μm one side (160 μm in diameter).
The present invention has been made to solve the above problem and has as its object the provision of a printed wiring board having a fine wiring pattern in which high-density wiring design is aimed at by eliminating a positional deviation between a blind via hole and a land, and a method of manufacturing this printed wiring board.

Printed wiring board and method of manufacturing the same


An apparatus in an automatic sheet feeder for a printer, a copy machine, or the like that prevents a corner of a sheet of feed paper from being turned down or "dog-eared" when that sheet of feed paper is being advanced from a stack of the feed paper. The apparatus includes a resilient finger engaging the forward edge of the sheet of feed paper. The resilient finger deflects slightly when the sheet of feed paper is urged forward such that the corner of the sheet of feed paper advances past the finger without folding or becoming dog-eared and the sheet of feed paper is separated from the stack of paper. In a preferred embodiment, the resilient finger is pivotally secured to a cassette for holding the stack of paper, and the finger is biased to engage the top most sheet of the stack of feed paper.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic sheet feeding apparatus applied to a printer, a copy machine and a printing equipment having the similar function as such, and more particularly to an apparatus capable of preventing a corner of a sheet of feed paper from being turned down.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a printing equipment is furnished with an automatic sheet feeder for automatically feeding sheets of paper and a sheet supply device for preventing overlapping feed of supplied sheets of paper.
Typically, the sheet supply device is constructed such that a finger for deterring leading edges of stacked sheets of paper are fixedly installed to both leading edges of a cassette which stores by being loaded with the sheets of paper. Thus, the sheet of paper supplied by a pickup roller is deterred to be held by the finger, thereby solely feeding the sheet of paper at the top of the stacked sheets of paper. The conventional sheet supply device can slightly accomplish the purpose of supplying a single sheet of paper by the fixedly-installed finger. However, the finger is fixedly installed to be disadvantageous in that the corner of the sheet deterred by the finger is folded, i.e. dog-ear occurs. Additionally, the conventional finger structure is for simply preventing the overlapping feed by the binding force of the supplied sheet of paper and the finger. Thus, if the binding force is intensified, the sheet of paper is jammed to cause a misfeeding which inhibits the paper feeding. The misfeeding more frequently appears as the thicker sheet of paper is supplied. In order to solve this problem, a sheet supply device capable of moving the finger has been suggested, which will be described with reference to accompanying drawings as below.
As shown in FIG. 1, a shaft 203 is formed to project from one side of a cassette 100, and an orifice 201 inserted with shaft 203 is formed in the body of a finger 200. Then, a return spring 205 is flexibly installed to the rear end of the body.
According to the conventional sheet supply device constructed as above, a sheet of paper fed by a pickup roller 101 is caught at the leading edges of finger 200 to bend the upper corner thereof. Thereafter, the leading edge of the paper pushes finger 200 by the bending motion, and orifice 201 formed in the body of finger 200 is guided by shaft 203 to advance finger 200. Then, stacked sheets of paper 102 is supplied one by one, and advanced finger 200 returns to the original position by return spring 205, thereby preparing the succeeding operation.
However, the conventional sheet supply device involves drawbacks that so much resistance is imposed upon the advancing and retreating motions of finger 200 to impede a smooth operation. Also, finger 200 is formed of an iron substance identical to those of typical fingers to retain no intrinsic elasticity with the consequence of making it impossible to perfectly solve the problem of the turning down the corner of a sheet of feed paper.

Apparatus for preventing a sheet of dog-eared feed paper for a printing equipment


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprises preparing a working film to be processed, forming an adhesion improving region on the working film for increasing an adhesion between the working film and a mask material containing carbon, forming the mask material on the working film, forming a resist pattern on the mask material, the mask material having a higher etching resistance for the working film than the resist pattern, transferring the pattern of the resist pattern onto the mask material, and etching the working film by using the mask material as a mask.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, particularly, to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising a step of forming a pattern on a working film to be processed by using a mask material and a resist pattern.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, a series of process steps comprising a step of depositing a film to be processed on a silicon wafer and q step of patterning the deposited film in a desired pattern are repeatedly carried out. In patterning the deposited film, a resist film is formed by depositing a photosensitive substance, which is generally called a resist, on the deposited film, followed by exposing a predetermined region of the resist film to light. Then, the light-exposed portion or the unexposed portion of the resist film is removed by a developing treatment so as to form a resist pattern. Further, the film to be processed is subjected to a dry etching with the resist pattern used as a mask so as to obtain a pattern of a desired shape.
An ultraviolet light such as a KrF excimer laser or an ArF excimer laser is used as the light source in the light exposure process in view of the throughput. However, since the required resolution has been rendered smaller than the wavelength of the exposing light in accordance with miniaturization of the LSI, the latitudes in the light exposure process such as the exposure latitude and the focus latitude have become insufficient.
In order to make up for these process margins, it is effective to decrease the thickness of the resist film for improving the resolution. In this case, however, a new problem is generated that it is impossible to ensure the thickness of the resist film required for the etching of the film to be processed.
To overcome the problems pointed out above, a pattern transfer process is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 2001-272797 and Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 2002-305187. To be more specific, it is proposed that a mask material and a resist film, which are resistant to etching, are formed successively on the film to be processed, followed by applying a light exposure treatment and, then, a developing treatment to the resist film so as to form a resist pattern. Further, the film to be processed is patterned by using as an etching mask a mask material pattern obtained by transferring the pattern of the resist pattern to the mask material.
According to the method proposed in the prior art quoted above, it is possible to pattern the film to be processed with a high accuracy even if the thickness of the resist film is decreased such that the resist pattern disappears during the etching process because the mask material pattern is resistant to the etching during the etching process of the film to be processed.
It is desirable for the mask material to be provided by a material that can be formed into a film by a coating method because the process cost is low. It is also desirable for the mask material film to be peeled easily with oxygen ashing. An organic material containing a large number of carbon atoms, which is unlikely to be sputtered and resistant to the etching, is used as such a mask material.
However, in the case of using an organic material, particularly, an organic material having a high carbon content, the mask material pattern is ruptured during the etching process of the film to be processed, with the result that it is difficult to transfer the pattern of the resist pattern onto the film to be processed.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device


A nuclear radiation detector is disclosed. The detector includes a housing including therein: a scintillator; and a multi-pixel optical sensor positioned, relative to the scintillator, to receive photons emitted by the scintillator in response to interactions with nuclear radiation. The housing isolates the scintillator and the multi-pixel optical sensor from external light. The detector includes one or more processors operably connectable to the multi-pixel optical sensor; and one or more data stores coupled to the processors having instructions stored thereon which cause the processors to perform operations. The operations include: responsive to the multi-pixel optical sensor detecting photons emitted by the scintillator, receiving, from the multi-pixel optical sensor, data signals indicating 1) spatial locations of individual pixels that detected the photons and 2) temporal data indicating when the detections occurred; and generating, from the data signals, a spatially and temporally resolved image of radiation incident on the scintillator.

Radiation detectors are used to detect nuclear radiation including neutron radiation and gamma radiation. One exemplary type of radiation detector employs a scintillator. The scintillator includes a material that emits photons in response to interactions with incident nuclear radiation. The emitted photons are proportional to the amount of radiation present in a given area, but generally do not indicate directionality of the sensed radiation.


An electrical cable comprises a central conductor core protected by an intermediate sealing sheath of insulating material. The intermediate sheath is surrounded by armoring and the armoring by an outer sealing sheath of insulating material. The cable includes an electrical joint in its central core. The outer and intermediate sheaths and the armoring are cut and removed over the joint. The cable further comprises an over-molding forming a sleeve around the joint and extending over the outer sheath on either side of the joint. The armoring and the outer sheath are cut and removed over a portion of length greater than the portion over which the intermediate sheath is removed, thereby defining, on either side of the joint, a shoulder and a step between the intermediate sheath and the outer sheath. The over-molding engages snugly over the shoulders and the steps to form a watertight seal therewith.

Undersea measurement cables are used in particular for measuring temperature or pressure, e.g. at different depths under water. In general, they are carried and towed by boats or submarines. Reference is made more particularly below to a particular measurement cable called a "bathythermal" cable, but this example is not limiting.
A bathythermal cable is fitted with thermistors and is intended to measure temperature in a liquid medium, and more particularly the sea, and at depths which, at present, may be as much as about 120 meters (m).
At the surface, a bathythermal cable includes a drifting buoy connecting a main cable having a plurality of thermistors mounted thereon to an electrical device for receiving and processing information provided by the thermistors. The cable may have up to 10 thermistors. More precisely, the main cable comprises a central core constituted by a plurality of conductors and covered by a first sealing insulating sheath referred to as the "intermediate" sheath. Armoring is disposed around the intermediate sheath, e.g. in the form of steel braid or strip, serving to protect the intermediate sheath against possible puncturing and to provide the mechanical strength of the cable, said armoring being itself protected by a second sealing insulating sheath referred to as the "outer" sheath. Each of the thermistors is electrically connected to the main cable. To do this, the central core of the main cable is stripped over a portion of cable of appropriate length for making the connection. To perform this operation, all three layers of protection (outer sheath, armoring, intermediate sheath) are cut on either side of the portion to be stripped, such that the ends of the three layers of protection lie in common sections on either side thereof. All three layers of protection cut in this way are then removed over the portion to be stripped. Thereafter, one of the conductors of the core is cut in order to be bonded to the terminals of the thermistor to be connected. Each thermistor is connected in this way to a separate conductor of the central core. Sealing is provided at the connection between a thermistor and the main cable by means of locally over-molding insulating material that constitutes a sleeve extending around the thermistor and over the ends of the outer sheaths on either side of the thermistor.
The end of the bathythermal cable opposite to its end connected to the buoy has a pressure sensor. The cable may also possibly include a strength member which is disposed eccentrically or which is centered relative to the main cable (in which case the conductors of the central core are disposed around the strength member).
It is clear that like any electrical measuring apparatus that is immersed in a liquid, a bathythermal cable must be perfectly liquid-tight both at its ends and longitudinally, and above all where the over-molding is performed.
Unfortunately, in particular when used in hot seas, the outer sheath and the over-molding run the risk of being torn, e.g. by shark bites. Under other conditions, the sealing of the bathythermal cable may be broken by catching on sharp rocks or on boat anchors, in particular.
Thus, when the outer sheath is punctured, water infiltrates into the armoring, runs along the armoring since it is difficult to achieve perfect contact between the metal of the armoring and the insulating material of the outer sheath, and then reaches the thermistors by running along the connections between the over-molding and the protective sheaths. This leads to the electrical system being degraded, in particular by giving rise to short circuits, thus making measurement impossible.
Similar problems are observed at joints between two cables such as the main cable described above. The method of connecting one such cable to another is similar to that of connecting the above main cable to an electronic component: all three layers of protection are cut and removed from the ends of the cables to be connected together such that the ends of all three protective layers lie in the same section, then the cores are connected together, after which over-molding re-establishes sealing over the assembly. Here again, as in a measurement cable, given that sealing is not guaranteed in the contact zone between the metal armoring and the insulating outer sheath, water can flow therebetween until it reaches the interface between the over-molding and the end section of the three layers of protection, after which it can reach the central core and degrade the electrical connections.
The object of the present invention is thus to provide an undersea electric cable and an undersea measurement cable capable of preventing water from penetrating to their conductive cores.

Undersea electric cable and an undersea measurement cable


There is provided a semiconductor device, in which characteristics of the semiconductor device are improved by thinning a gate insulating film and a leak current can be reduced, and a manufacturing method thereof. An aluminum film which is a metal film is formed over a polycrystalline semiconductor film, and plasma oxidizing treatment is performed to the aluminum film, whereby an aluminum oxide film is formed by oxidizing the aluminum film, and a silicon oxide film is formed between the polycrystalline semiconductor film and the aluminum oxide film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display device, an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag, a light emitting device, and an electronic device. In particular, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device in which characteristics of the semiconductor device are improved by thinning a gate insulating film and a leak current can be reduced, a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display device, an RFID tag, a light emitting device, and an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a semiconductor device is miniaturized, a thickness of a gate insulating film is thinned by scaling law. In a conventional semiconductor device formed over a single crystal silicon substrate, a tunnel current is generated when a gate insulating film is thin. In order to overcome an increase of the tunnel current, an insulating film having a high dielectric constant such as a hafnium oxide film or an aluminum oxide film tends to be employed for a gate insulating film so as to have a thin equivalent oxide thickness while keeping a substantial thickness of the gate insulating film. A tunnel current is particularly generated in a thickness of 2 nm or less.
However, when an insulating film having a high dielectric constant is used for a gate insulating film, interface state density cannot be reduced. Therefore, there is proposed a method by which interface state density is reduced by forming a silicon nitride film in an interface with a single crystal silicon substrate, that is, a method by which interface state density is reduced by using a film formed of an aluminum oxide film stacked over a silicon nitride film for a gate insulating film.
More in detail, an amorphous silicon oxide film is formed over a surface of a single crystal silicon substrate, and an aluminum film is formed over the amorphous silicon oxide film. Thereafter, by heat treatment, an aluminum oxide film is formed over the single crystal silicon substrate. Then, by a microwave low temperature plasma nitriding method, a silicon nitride film is formed between the surface of the single crystal silicon substrate and the aluminum oxide film. Accordingly, a gate insulating film that is a stacked film of the silicon nitride film and the aluminum oxide film is formed over the single crystal silicon substrate (see Reference 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No: 2005-86023).
In a semiconductor device formed over a glass substrate, as shown in FIG. 28A, a base insulating film 11 including two layers is formed over a glass substrate 10, and an amorphous silicon film 12 is formed over the base insulating film 11. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 28B, the amorphous silicon film 12 is irradiated with laser light to form a crystalline silicon film 13, and a gate insulating film (not illustrated) formed of a silicon oxide film or the like may be formed over the surface of the crystalline silicon film 13. The surface of the crystalline silicon crystallized by a laser has the surface roughness (unevenness on the surface) that is significantly large as compared with single crystal silicon. Therefore, a current leak path such as a tunnel current tends to be generated in a portion with a thin thickness of a gate insulating film, which is formed of a silicon oxide film (or a silicon oxynitride film) having a thickness of approximately 5 nm by a plasma CVD (chemical vapor deposition) method or a plasma oxidizing method. The current leak path is easily generated when a silicon oxide film becomes thin, which is formed on the top or in a concave portion of unevenness on the crystalline silicon film surface shown in FIG. 28B. In other words, when a gate insulating film is thinned, a tunnel current due to unevenness on a crystalline silicon film surface is increased.
In addition, in the conventional semiconductor device formed over the single crystal silicon substrate as described above, a stacked film in which an aluminum oxide film is stacked over a silicon nitride film is used as a gate insulating film; therefore, the silicon nitride film is in contact with the silicon surface. In this structure, transistor characteristics such as a threshold value or a hysteresis are lowered as compared with a structure in which a silicon oxide film is in contact with a silicon surface. In other words, in consideration of the transistor characteristics, it is desirable that a silicon oxide film be in contact with a silicon surface.

Semiconductor device, manufacturing method thereof, liquid crystal display device, RFID tag, light emitting device, and electronic device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd