A method of encapsulating an OLED device includes forming an OLED device on a substrate; providing a protective cover surrounding the OLED device and the substrate; providing a first sealing arrangement between the protective cover and top surface of the substrate, to define a first chamber enclosing the OLED device; providing a second sealing arrangement sealed to define a second chamber sealed from and enclosing the first chamber; and providing first desiccant material in the first chamber and providing second desiccant material in the second chamber closer to the bottom surface of the substrate than the top surface.

An organic light-emitting diode device, also called an OLED device, commonly includes a substrate, an anode, a hole-transporting layer made of an organic compound, an organic luminescent layer with suitable dopants, an organic electron-transporting layer, and a cathode. OLED devices are attractive because of their low driving voltage, high luminance, wide-angle viewing, and capability for full-color flat emission displays. Tang et al. described this multilayer OLED device in their U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,769,292 and 4,885,211.
A common problem with OLED displays is sensitivity to moisture. Typical electronic devices require humidity levels in a range of about 2500 to below 5000 parts per million (ppm) to prevent premature degradation of device performance within a specified operating and/or storage life of the device. Control of the environment to this range of humidity levels within a packaged device is typically achieved by encapsulating the device or by sealing the device and a desiccant within a cover. Desiccants such as, for example, molecular sieve materials, silica gel materials, and materials commonly referred to as Drierite materials, are used to maintain the humidity level within the above range. Particular highly moisture-sensitive electronic devices, for example, organic light-emitting devices (OLED) or panels, require humidity control to levels below about 1000 ppm and some require humidity control below even 100 ppm. Such low levels are not achievable with desiccants of silica gel materials and of Drierite materials. Molecular sieve materials can achieve humidity levels below 1000 ppm within an enclosure if dried at a relatively high temperature. However, molecular sieve materials have a relatively low moisture capacity at humidity levels at or below 1000 ppm, requiring large quantities of desiccant when used in the standard methods of the prior art. Because space within the standard enclosure is typically limited to minimize the area and/or depth of the enclosure, low capacity desiccants are typically not used, even when these desiccants have the desirable feature of fast water absorption. In addition, the minimum achievable humidity level of molecular sieve materials is a function of temperature within an enclosure: when using molecular sieve materials in the standard methods of the prior art, moisture absorbed, for example, at room temperature can be released into the enclosure or package during temperature cycling to higher temperature, for example, a temperature of 100° C.
Solid water-absorbing particles currently used within such packaged devices typically include 0.2 to 200 μm particle size powders of metal oxides, alkaline earth metal oxides, sulfates, metal halides, or perchlorates, i.e. materials having relatively low values of equilibrium minimum humidity and high moisture capacity. However, even when finely divided into powders of 0.2 to 200 μm particle size, such materials often chemically absorb moisture relatively slowly compared to the above-mentioned molecular sieve, silica gel, or Drierite materials. Such relatively slow reaction with water vapor can lead to a measurable degree of performance degradation if the rate of moisture permeating through the seal between the device and the cover exceeds the rate of water absorption by the desiccant.
Numerous publications describe methods and/or materials for controlling humidity levels within enclosed or encapsulated electronic devices. Kawami et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,761, has taught the use of a desiccant layer over the organic layers of an OLED display, between the substrate and the top seal. Kawami et al. teach the use of the following desiccants: alkali metal oxides, alkali earth metal oxides, sulfates, metal halides, and perchlorates. Such materials can be deposited in a predetermined shape by such techniques as vacuum vapor deposition, sputtering, or spin-coating. Boroson et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,890, disclose the use of a castable blend of the above desiccants with a suitable binder. However, many desiccating agents can be reactive toward the layers and electrodes of OLED devices, and a number of ways have been proposed to keep the desiccating agents from contacting the OLED components when used inside the same enclosure as the OLED components. Kawami et al., in the '761 patent, have taught that the drying agent is to be coated on the inside surface of an airtight container. Boroson et al., in the '890 patent, use the castable blend to coat the interior surface of an enclosure. The requirement that the desiccating agents of the prior art not be reactive toward the layers and electrodes of OLED devices and the requirement to keep the desiccating agents from contacting the OLED components limits the choices of possible desiccating agents.
The methods of Kawami et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,761 and Boroson et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,890 rely on the seal between the substrate and the enclosure to limit the rate of water permeation and require sufficient volume within the enclosure to hold enough desiccating agent to absorb moisture for the entire lifetime of the device. These limitations can require very wide seals, and thus wide borders beyond the display area, to prevent the rate of moisture permeation from exceeding the rate of moisture absorption by the desiccating agents. Such an arrangement can require large or deep enclosures to hold sufficient quantities of desiccating agent. For top emitting OLED devices in particular, this enclosure size requirement can be a significant issue since most desiccating agents are not transparent, and therefore cannot be located over the emitting areas of the OLED. For top emitting OLED devices, desiccating agents must typically be placed outside the display area, but still inside the enclosure, resulting in large borders beyond the display area. It is desirable to maintain small borders beyond the display area of OLED devices to minimize the size of a given device and to maximize the number of devices produced on a given mother glass substrate during manufacturing.
Tsuruoka et al., in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0110981, have disclosed a series of transparent drying agents which operate by chemisorption and can be used in an OLED display. These are conceived as useful in OLED devices wherein one wishes to allow light emission through a desiccant layer. However, a desiccant—especially a chemisorption desiccant—is designed to change in the presence of moisture. Therefore, it is possible that the properties of the optical path of the device will change during the device lifetime, leading to potential visual changes in the display. This can limit the usefulness of this method.
Selection of solid water-absorbing particles and the method of applying selected particles to an inner portion of a device enclosure prior to sealing the device within or by the enclosure are governed by the type of device to be protected from moisture. For example, highly moisture-sensitive organic light-emitting devices or polymer light-emitting devices require the selection of particular solid water-absorbing particles and methods of application, since organic materials or organic layers are integral constituents of such devices. The presence of organic materials or layers can, for example, preclude the use of certain solvents or fluids in the application of fluid-dispersed solid water-absorbing particles to organic-based devices. Furthermore, a thermal treatment, if required, of a desiccant contained within a sealed device enclosure, needs to be tailored to the constraints imposed by thermal properties of the organic constituents or layers of the device. At any rate, release of solvent vapors during a thermal treatment of a desiccant disposed within a sealed device enclosure must be avoided or minimized if solvent vapors can adversely affect organic constituents of the device.
Shores, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,304,419, 5,401,536, and 5,591,379 discloses moisture gettering compositions and their use for electronic devices. However, many of the desiccants disclosed by Shores will not function effectively with highly moisture-sensitive devices at a humidity level lower than 1000 ppm. Similarly, binders, such as polyethylene disclosed by Shores, which have low moisture absorption rates compared to the absorption rate of the pure selected desiccants, would not function effectively to achieve and to maintain a humidity level below 1000 ppm during a projected operational lifetime of a highly moisture-sensitive device.
Deffeyes, U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,360 describes a desiccating material that is useful as a package insert or on the interior walls of packaging boxes for applications requiring only moderate moisture protection, such as film or cameras. The material includes a desiccant and a resin having a high moisture vapor transmission rate. The desiccants disclosed by Deffeyes are alumina, bauxite, calcium sulfate, clay, silica gel, and zeolite, but Deffeyes does not describe the particle size of any of the desiccants. None of these desiccants, other than zeolite, will function effectively with highly moisture-sensitive devices at a humidity level lower than 1000 ppm, and zeolite has the problem described above of low capacity at humidity levels lower than 1000 ppm. In addition the moisture vapor transmission rate requirement for the resin is not adequately defined since there is no reference to the thickness of the measured resins. A material that transmits 40 grams per 24 hrs per 100 in2 at a thickness of 1 mil would be very different than one that transmits 40 grams per 24 hrs per 100 in2 at a thickness of 100 mils. It is therefore not possible to determine if the moisture vapor transmission rates disclosed by Deffeyes are sufficient for highly moisture-sensitive devices.
Booe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,397, describes a composition used for stabilizing the electrical and electronic properties of electrical and electronic devices. The composition includes alkaline earth oxides in an elastomeric matrix. The desiccants disclosed by Booe are barium oxide, strontium oxide, and calcium oxide. Booe teaches the use of particle sizes less than 80 mesh (177 μm) to minimize the settling of oxides within the suspension. Booe does not teach the impact of particle size on desiccant performance. These desiccants will function effectively with highly moisture-sensitive devices at humidity levels lower than 1000 ppm; however, Booe claims the elastomeric matrix has the property of retarding the fluid absorption rate of the alkaline earth particles. In the examples, the water-absorption rate of the compositions is 5 to 10 times slower than the alkaline earth particles alone. This decrease in absorption rate is disclosed as a desirable feature that improves the handling of the highly reactive alkaline earth oxides. In highly moisture-sensitive devices, however, any decrease in the absorption rate of moisture will increase the likelihood of device degradation, and identification of resins that will increase the absorption rate of moisture would be highly desirable. For highly moisture-sensitive devices, therefore, it is important to determine the minimum allowable water vapor transmission rate of the binders used in combination with effective desiccant materials.
Organic light emitting diode (OLED) devices are moisture-sensitive electronic devices that can benefit from improved methods of providing desiccants and have a need for reduced moisture transmission rate into the device. Attempts at this in the art have been less than satisfactory. Kim et al. in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0127976 A1 teach the use of two sealants surrounding an OLED device. While this can be a way to reduce the likelihood of sealant failure, it is no more effective at reducing moisture transmission rate into the device than would be a single wider sealant. Wang et al. in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0122476 A1 show the use of two seals surrounding an OLED device with a desiccant between the two seals, but no desiccant inside the enclosure that contains the OLED device. This can reduce the moisture transmission rate into the device, but does not protect the OLED device from moisture sealed into the enclosure initially nor from moisture that permeates the inner seal. In addition, Wang et al. require the use of ribs that must be formed between the seals in order to hold the desiccant, adding complexity and expense to the fabrication process. Peng in U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,675 B2 also teaches the use of two seals with a desiccant between them. However, Peng requires the use of a separate sealing ring to hold the desiccant, adding extra steps and complexity to the fabrication process. Peng also fails to provide protection for the OLED devices from moisture that penetrates the interior seal. In addition, the methods of Wang et al. and Peng require wide borders beyond the display area to provide space for the two seals and desiccant.
Rogers, U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,071, describes an OLED device on a transparent substrate over which a cover is provided. The cover is attached to the OLED substrate using inner and outer concentric adhesive rings. A "desiccant and/or an inert fluorocarbon liquid" is provided between the adhesive rings and interior of the inner ring. Rogers does not disclose any particular desiccant materials other than metal salts such as CoCl2. As fluorocarbons, Rogers discloses using various commercially available Fluorinert® materials. Rogers clearly teaches that the desiccant is optional and one need only use the fluorocarbon material. Fluorocarbons are not desiccants—they do not bind water. Rather, the function of the fluorocarbon in Rogers is to act as a water barrier, i.e., provide some resistance to water transmission. This is functionally similar to what the adhesive rings do. Rogers fails to recognize the criticality of including an actual desiccant both between the adhesive rings and within the enclosure containing the OLED device. In this embodiment, the method of Rogers is similar to those of Wang et al. and Peng. With no desiccant within the enclosure containing the OLED device, the OLED device is not protected from moisture sealed initially within the enclosure, nor from moisture that permeates the inner adhesive ring. In addition, the method of Rogers, like those of Wang et al. and Peng, requires wide borders beyond the display area to provide space for the two seals and desiccant.
Boroson, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0022592, describes a method for reducing moisture contamination in a top-emitting OLED device. A top-emitting electroluminescent (EL) unit is formed over the top surface of a substrate, wherein the EL unit produces light that is not emitted through the substrate. First and second protective covers are formed over the top and bottom substrate surfaces, respectively, thereby defining first and second chambers, respectively. A moisture-absorbing material is placed within the second chamber and communication between the first and second chambers is provided whereby moisture in the first or second chambers is absorbed by the moisture-absorbing material. Since the emitted light from the OLED device does not pass through the second chamber that contains the desiccant, the choice of desiccants for preserving the lifetime of top-emitting OLED displays is not limited by optical properties. In addition, the choice of desiccant materials is not limited to materials that remain solid after absorbing water since the desiccant is physically separated from the OLED devices. The method described allows for a top-emitting OLED display with a narrow seal and small borders, potentially allowing a top-emitting OLED display to be the same overall area as a bottom-emitting device of the same display area. In addition, locating the desiccant on the non-emitting side of the substrate allows for an OLED with a large capacity for moisture without increasing the display area to accommodate the desiccant. The method described, however, does not address the problem of high moisture permeation rates that can exceed the rate of moisture absorption by the desiccant. Because the first and second chambers are in direct vapor communication, the seal of the first chamber does not provide any additional resistance to moisture permeation beyond a traditional single seal. To decrease the rate of moisture permeation in this method would require the same wide borders as required in the method of Kawami et al. described above.
Therefore, there still remains the need to reduce moisture transmission rate into highly moisture-sensitive devices, such as OLED devices, in a way that does not add to the size of the border required beyond the display area of an OLED device, and also the need to protect these highly moisture sensitive devices from any moisture that penetrates the protective seals encapsulating these devices.

Desiccant sealing arrangement for OLED devices


An object of the present invention is to provide a process for producing microspheres that are solid microparticles or liquid microparticles for use as an emulsion employed in the food industry, production of medicine and cosmetic etc. or an emulsion for DDS (drug delivery system). The object is attained by a process for producing a microsphere including: separating a disperse phase from a continuous phase by a substrate 1 having a through-hole 7; and extruding the disperse phase into the continuous phase through the through-hole 7, in which the substrate having the through-hole 7 with a width of 0.5 to 500 μm, a depth of 10 μm to 6000 μm and a ratio of the width to the depth of the through-hole 7 of 1 to 1/30 is a metal substrate.

There has been hitherto known a technique of turning a two-phase system such as a system of an aqueous phase and an organic phase a stable state of which is a separated state in thermodynamic terms, into an emulsion that is a metastable state through emulsification.
As a typical example of emulsifying methods, there have been well known an emulsifying method using a mixer, colloid mill, homogenizer, or the like and a dispersing method using ultrasonic as described in "Emulsion Industry" published by Asakura Publishing Co., Ltd. (1971).
The typical emulsion production process is disadvantageous in that disperse-phase particles (microspheres) in a continuous phase largely vary in particle size from one another. To that end, there have been proposed a filtering method using a polycarbonate membrane, a repeatedly filtering method using a PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) membrane, and a method of supplying a target material to a continuous phase through a porous glass membrane having uniform pores to thereby produce a homogeneous emulsion (see Patent Document 1).
The filtering method using a polycarbonate membrane or PTFE membrane has a problem in that an emulsion cannot be produced beyond a pore size of a membrane and emulsion particles smaller than the pore size cannot be fractionated in principle. Therefore, this method is unsuitable especially for production of an emulsion having a large particle size.
Further, in the method using a porous glass membrane having uniform pores, if an average pore size of the membrane is small, a pore size distribution is small, so a homogeneous emulsion can be produced. However, if the average pore size is large, the pore size distribution becomes large, making it difficult to produce a homogeneous emulsion.
To solve the above problems, there has been proposed a process for producing a microsphere, which separates a disperse phase from a continuous phase by a partition having through-holes and applies to the disperse phase a pressure larger than that applied to the continuous phase to thereby extrude the disperse phase into the continuous phase to obtain microspheres, in which shear force is nonuniformly applied to the disperse phase extruded into the continuous phase through the through-holes to complete the microspheres (see Patent Document 2).
However, a substrate prepared by subjecting a silicon substrate to wet or dry etching based on the semiconductor microfabrication technique proposed in the specification and embodiments of the above publications is not impractical because 1) the substrate tends to get damages when in use or washing, 2) the silicon substrate costs high, and 3) through-hole width accuracy is low.
Assuming that a through-hole is formed in a silicon substrate, a substrate having the thickness of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm is generally used. As the number of through-holes (through-hole area) is increased, mechanical strength is considerably lowered. As a result, there is a fear that the substrate is broken at the time of producing a microsphere. Thus, this processing method is not practical.
In addition, it is highly possible that the substrate is broken upon ultrasonic cleaning for reuse, for example.
The wet etching is not a precise process because high through-hole width accuracy is not secured depending on the progress of under etching below a masking material.
In contrast to wet etching, dry etching is a technique developed out of a pattern forming process of a silicon semiconductor. The application of dry etching to various electronic components with various kinds of plasma sources or a compound semiconductor has been under study. However, this process excels in microfabrication property, but an etching rate is as low as 500 to 2,000 nm/min. Thus, in the case of processing a target material with the shaping depth of, for example, 0.1 mm, a process time not Less than 50 minutes is required, so this process is not a low-cost process with high productivity.
Since the etching rate is low, reducing a substrate thickness to form a through-hole increases the possibility of breakage when in use or cleaning.
Another production process as a possible solution to the above problems is a laser processing technique. However, a general carbon dioxide laser widely used for cutting a metal or resin material or forming a through-hole has as large a laser spot size as 500 μm and thus is unsuitable for formation of small through-holes under present circumstances. In addition, there is a problem in that a process depth decreases as the spot size is more reduced with a condenser lens.
If a YAG laser having the minimum laser spot size of 30 to 50 μm is selected, the minimum possible through-hole diameter of 50 to 100 μm is realized, but laser power and directivity are low, so the upper limit of the process depth is 10 to 50 μm. Under present circumstances, the YAG laser is applied to formation of a printed wiring board or the like (see Patent Document 3).
To attain both of a small laser spot size and large process depth, laser pulse irradiation has been known. In particular, a femtosecond laser realizes the process depth of 50 μm or more with the minimum through-hole diameter of 10 to 50 μm. However, a process using the femtosecond laser is disadvantageous in that a femtosecond laser oscillator has not yet come into widespread use on an industrial scale. In addition, the oscillator is as expensive as about 100,000,000 yen per oscillator, which increases a production cost of a metal substrate having a through-hole. Moreover, as the number of through-holes of a metal substrate increases, a requisite processing period increases, and a price of a device for scanning a large area increases. Thus, its efficiency would be lowered on practical side as well.
Another production process as a possible solution to the above problems is a precision machining technique employing a precision cutting tool. However, the minimum possible bit diameter of the precision cutting tool is Φ100 μm, so it is impossible to form a through-hole with a diameter smaller than the bit diameter. In addition, machining is executed on the hole basis. Thus, it takes several hours to form several tens of thousands to several hundreds of thousand of through-holes, and its cost increases. Further, in the case of processing a large area of Φ4 inches or more (diameter of 100 mm), the precision cutting tool is worn out, resulting in a high cost.
[Patent Document 1]
    Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2-95433[Patent Document 2]    Japanese Patent No. 3511238[Patent Document 3]    Japanese Patent No. 2773710

Process for producing microsphere with use of metal substrate having through-hole

National Agriculture and Food Research Organization


An automatic speed and distance control apparatus responsive to detected signals and operator induced signals for automatically controlling the speed of an automotive vehicle and its distance with respect to objects in its path of movement. A flexible control scheme is provided, which permits a driver to intervene in the operation of the system when he or she wishes to accelerate in preparation for a passing maneuver. Upon interruption of the operation by a vehicle driver, the control apparatus is interrupted for a predetermined period of time and thereafter resuming automatic control function.

Methods and apparatus for controlling the speed of a vehicle and its distance to objects present in the path of its movement are known. Not only may the speed of a vehicle be controlled automatically by means thereof, but also a safety distance may be set between the vehicle and another vehicle ahead of it, especially for travelling in a convoy. It has been found, however, that the known methods and apparatus are not sufficiently adaptable to respond appropriately to all travel conditions. For instance, a driver may want to accelerate his vehicle while still in its current driving lane when preparing for passing another vehicle, even if this results in reducing the safety distance between his own and the vehicle to be passed. Such action is not possible with known systems.

Method and apparatus for controlling the speed of a vehicle and its spacing from a preceding vehicle


Disclosed is an improved surfactant waterflooding enhanced oil recovery process employing a fluid containing as substantial in the only anionic surfactant, an ethoxylated and sulfated or ethoxylated and sulfonated surfactant. The degree of ethoxylation of the surfactant is determined by determining the degree of ethoxylation which produces the first inflection point in the electrical conductivity of a fluid as the degree of ethoxylation is increased from a value below that which causes solubility of the fluid in the aqueous environment in which it is tested to a value slightly greater than borderline solubility. Optimum results are obtained if the average degree of ethoxylation of the ethoxylated and sulfated or ethoxylated and sulfonated surfactant is from n-0.2 to n+0.1 and preferably from n-0.15 to n+0.05, where n is the degree of ethoxylation corresponding to the first inflection point in electrical conductivity.

The normal sequence for recovering petroleum from subterranean petroleum deposits ordinarily comprises a first phase, referred to as primary recovery, in which petroleum is recovered by pumping or permitting the petroleum to flow to the surface of the earth through wells penetrating the formation and in fluid communication therewith, utilizing natural energy within the petroleum reservoir. Once this phase is completed, a secondary production phase is frequently applied, in which water is injected into the formation via an injection well in communication therewith, which displaces petroleum through the formation to another, remotely located well from which it flows to the surface of the earth. While waterflooding recovers an additional quantity of oil economically, water does not displace petroleum efficiently, since water and oil are immiscible and the interfacial tension between water and oil in quite high. Accordingly, as much as 70 percent of the oil originally present in the formation is commonly left even after completion of waterflooding operations.
The use of surfactant waterflooding has been discussed in many prior art references, and numerous field trials have been undertaken employing surfactant-containing fluids. Petroleum sulfonates and other simple organic sulfonate anionic surfactants may be employed in very low salinity formations, but many petroleum formations contain water whose salinity exceeds the level in which petroleum sulfonates may be employed advantageously.
Prior art references suggest the use of surfactants which are both ethoxylated and sulfated or ethoxylated and sulfonated in high salinity environments. Numerous references suggest the injection of a complex mixture of simple anionic surfactants such as petroleum sulfonate and more soluble surfactants such as ethoxylated and sulfated or ethoxylated and sulfonated surfactants. While laboratory tests indicate such complex mixtures effectively displace petroleum in the presence of high salinity water, field application has frequently been disappointing for a number of reasons. One reason for failure of the multi surfactant-containing fluids is related to the different rates of adsorption of the disimilar surfactants from the aqueous fluid as the fluid passes through the subterranean earth formation. Since optimum performance of a multi component surfactant system is achieved only when the various surfactant species are present in a critical ratio, differential adsorption necessarily changes the ratio of the surfactants and therefore renders the fluid less effective or completely ineffective for low surface tension displacement of petroleum. The use of essentially single surfactant fluids, in which the surfactant is an ethoxylated and sulfated or ethoxylated and sulfonated surfactant is also suggested in the prior art, but it has heretofore been difficult to compound a fluid containing substantially only one surfactant which is effective under high salinity conditions for recovering oil from subterranean deposits thereof.
In view of the serious current shortage of petroleum and shortcomings of the prior art techniques, it can be appreciated that there is a significant need for a surfactant waterflooding oil recovery method employing a fluid containing essentially a single surfactant species which efficiently displaces oil from subterranean deposit thereof.

Surfactant waterflooding enhanced oil recovery process


An oil cooler includes a heat exchanging core 40 which includes a stack of heat exchanging plates 40. Each of the heat exchanging plates 40 includes a first set of openings 61 and 62 and a second set of openings 65, 66 and 67. The openings 65, 66 and 67 in the second set construct rows which are spaced along the width W of the plates 40. The openings between the first and second sets are alternately arranged along a direction of the width W of the plates. The openings 61 and 62 in the first set are symmetrical about a central axis X--X, while the openings 65, 66 or 67 in each row are asymmetric about the axis X--X. The stack of the plates 40 is such that the plates are alternately reversed, so that the symmetrical openings 61 and 62 are in communication with each other in the stack to created a first passageways 63 and 64 in the direction transverse to the plane of the plates 40 for the water, and so that the asymmetrical openings 65, 66 and 67 are in communication with each other in the stack to created a second passageways 68, 69 and 70 in the direction parallel to the plane of the plates. The plates 40 are provided with partitions 220 and 222 for dividing the second passageways into the groups 68, 69 and 70 for different oils.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchanging device adapted to be, for example, used for an oil cooler using engine cooling water for cooling different kinds of oils, for various lubrication and other operational purposes in an automobile, such as engine oil, transmission oil and power steering oil.
2. Description of Related Art
In an automobile, various kinds of oils, such as engine oil, transmission oil, and power steering oil are used. Various types of oil coolers have been used for obtaining exclusive cooling of these oils, which causes spaces occupied thereby to increase irrespective of a limited available space in an engine compartment of an automobile, on one hand, and the increased cost due to the necessity for additional parts well as additional assembling steps, on the other hand.
In order to obviate these problems, a Japanese Un-Examined Utility Model Publication No. 64-8513 discloses an oil cooler which includes a pair of cooling units arranged in a side-by-side relationship for separately cooling different kinds of oils, while an engine cooling water is commonly used as a cooling medium for both of the cooling units. Each unit has a stack of heat exchanging plates, between adjacent water passageways for a flow of cooling water and oil passageways for flows of oils are alternately created. A separation plate is arranged between the adjacent water passageways of the first and second cooling units for separating the flows of the two kinds of oils. A cooling fin is arranged in each of the oil passageways. This prior art is, however, defective in that its construction is complicated in view of a necessity of special parts, such as a partition wall for separating the water passageways between the first and second heat exchanging units.


A blow-by gas reduction device includes: a gas return pipe, one end of which is connected to an engine and the other end of which is connected to an intake pipe, to return a blow-by gas in the engine to an intake side; an oil separator that is connected to the gas return pipe; an oil return pipe that is connected to the oil separator and is disposed with an inclination so as to return the oil to an inside of the engine; and a check valve that is provided in the oil return pipe, wherein the oil return pipe between the oil separator and the check valve is formed such that that the oil return pipe located at the check valve side is located at a lower side everywhere as compared with the oil return pipe located at the oil separator side.

A blow-by gas reduction device mounted in a vehicle includes an oil separator and is configured such that the oil separator separates oil from a blow-by gas, and then the blow-by gas is returned to an intake side. The oil separated by the oil separator is returned into a crankcase of an engine through an oil return pipe.


An apparatus for tinting a soft contact lens which is received in a fixture including an inlet and an outlet for directing predetermined fluids therethrough for engagement with predetermined surfaces of the contact lens. The apparatus comprises a carrier for carrying the fixture in a predetermined orientation; a guide arrangement for defining a predetermined path of travel; a motive assembly for propelling the carrier along the predetermined path; and a plurality of fluid application stations arranged along the path, each fluid application station including a fluid release member. The guide track and the motive assembly cooperate for aligning the inlet of the fixture with each fluid release member sequentially as the carrier travels along the predetermined path, for delivering a quantity of fluid to the fixture and the contact lens therein. A method for tinting soft contact lenses comprises the steps of mounting a contact lens to a fixture including an inlet and an outlet for directing predetermined fluids therethrough for engagement with predetermined surfaces of the contact lens; mounting the fixture to a carrier in a predetermined orientation; guiding the carrier along a predetermined path of travel; arranging a plurality of fluid application stations along the predetermined path, each fluid application station including a fluid release member; and further moving the carrier as it moves along said path in a direction for aligning the inlet of the fixture with each of the fluid release members, sequentially for delivering a quantity of fluid to the inlet.

This invention is directed generally to the tinting or coloration of contact lenses for human eyes, and more particularly to a novel apparatus for carrying out such tinting.
In recent years, the so-called "soft" contact lenses have met with widespread acceptance. Such soft contact lenses are manufactured from a hydrophilic plastic material; that is, they can absorb and retain water, and become soft and pliable upon absorption of water. They are therefore relatively comfortable for the user to wear and can be worn for relatively long periods of time.
Tinted or colored soft contact lenses have additional advantages or attractions to many contact lens wearers. For example, tinted lenses may be desired for cosmetic reasons by patients. Such cosmetic improvement may be particularly advantageous in the case where the patient's eyes have been discolored or disfigured by illness or accident. Such tinted lenses may also be advantageously used by patients with diplopia to make the eyes appear more normal. Similarly, such tinted lenses may provide albino and aniridic patients with improved general ocular and facial appearances. Tinted lenses may also be utilized to reduce light transmission and enhance visual comfort in the presence of high light levels.
A number of methods of coloring the central areas of contact lenses have been suggested, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,421 to Foley, Jr. However, the tinting or coloration of contact lenses is not a simple task. In this regard, it is important that the tinted or colored lens provide a natural appearance in the wearer's eye. Thus, the tinted lens should preferably have a clear central area, a colored intermediate area and a clear outer area so that the colored portion will not cover the sclera of the eye. However, in cases where it is desired to further reduce light transmission, the central portion may be colored or tinted as well. Generally then, it is desirable to be able to provide the lens with a circular and preferably annular tinted area surrounded by clear, untinted lens material, so as to generally correspond to the normal appearance of the eye.
In manufacturing such a tinted lens, several problems can arise with respect to mounting the lens on a tinting fixture. U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,390 to Richard Rabenau and Jeffery Allen Ryder discloses one particularly advantageous such tinting fixture. The tinting fixture disclosed in this patent advantageously alleviates problems associated with handling of the lens during tinting or coloration thereof. Advantageously, this fixture readily centers and mounts the lens thereupon automatically to obtain the desired ring-like or annular pattern of tinting, while maintaining relatively sharp borders or edges intermediate tinted and untinted portions of the lens. In this regard, it will be appreciated that maintaining a clearly defined area of coloration is important since even slight fuzziness or running of dye colors into uncolored areas of the lens will be immediately apparent. Such fuzziness or tint runs will necessitate the rejection of the finished lens product.
Heretofore the process of tinting lenses was carried out exclusively in lens manufacturing facilities utilizing relatively complex, expensive and sophisticated equipment. Moreover, operation of this equipment required relatively skilled, highly trained technicians or operators.
Such tinting of lenses generally involves placement of the lens on a fixture as discussed above, and thereafter applying a predetermined amount of heat energy to the lens to enhance the setting or fixing of the dye thereupon. Thereafter a number of operations must be carried out in sequence, including, after initially applying a suitable dye thereto, allowing a period of time to allow the dye to set. This dye is applied to the interior surface of the lens and allowed to permeate during the ensuing period into the pores of the material. Thereafter, several additional chemical agents must be utilized in sequence to complete the dyeing or tinting process.
Initially, following application of the dye and the setting or initial drying period, a sodium nitrite solution, preferably of 5% concentration, is applied to the lens. Immediately thereafter, a dilute sulfuric acid solution also of substantially 5% concentration is applied. In response to application of the sulfuric acid, which acts as an oxydizing agent, the water soluble dye precipitates and becomes a water in soluble salt entrapped within the polymer matrix of the lens. Finally, a sodium bicarbonate solution also of substantially 5% concentration is applied to neutralize the sulfuric acid previously applied during the oxidation phase or process. Following the addition of the sodium bicarbonate solution, the lens may be removed from the fixture, cleaned with a suitable cleaner and subjected to a heat disinfection cycle prior to dispensing to the patient.
As mentioned previously, such a process has heretofore required relatively complex and expensive equipment, as well as extensive handling of the contact lenses and/or fixtures by skilled, trained personnel, during the tinting process. Hence, such tinting has heretofore been carried out primarily by contact lens manufacturers having the proper equipment and trained personnel to complete the tinting process. Accordingly, patients wishing tinted contact lenses must initially be fitted for lenses by a qualified eye care specialist, and thereafter lenses of the desired color must be ordered from the lens manufacturer.
Hence, the patient must wait for some period of time to receive the desired tinted lenses. However, many eye care specialists may desire to dispense tinted lenses directly to the patient, thus more quickly achieving the desired vision correction and desired cosmetic improvement during but a single office visit. However, heretofore such immediate dispensing of tinted lenses has not been possible.

Apparatus for tinting soft contact lenses


The object of the present invention is to provide a solid-state imaging device making it possible to downsize an imaging unit and further decrease the diameter of the front end of an electronic endoscope. A bonding pad (25) provided in the outer periphery of a solid-state imaging chip (18) and a bonding pad (26) provided in a vertical substrate (20a) combined with the back of the solid-state imaging chip (18) are connected with each other by connection means (29) constituted of a film with a wiring pattern formed, a horizontal substrate (20b) is combined with the back of the substrate (20a), electronic components (19) are mounted on the stepped surface of the substrate (20b) retreating from the substrate (20a) and a signal cable (30) is connected to a terminal portion (27) formed at an end of the stepped surface of the substrate (20b) so that the substrates (20a) and (20b) and electronic components (19) mounted on the substrate (20b), and terminal portion (27) of the signal cable are set in the projection area of the solid-state imaging chip (18).

The present application claims priority to Japanese Application No. P11-002094 filed Jan. 7, 1999, which application is incorporated herein by reference to the extent permitted by law.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device to be applied to an electronic endoscope or the like, particularly to a solid-state imaging device constituted so that a circuit board and electronic components mounted on the circuit board can be set in the projection area of a not-packaged solid-state imaging chip including a CCD and thereby, a solid-state imaging unit can be downsized and thus, the outside diameter of the front end of the electronic endoscope can be decreased.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various types of electronic endoscopes respectively using a solid-state imaging chip such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) as an imaging means and the like are proposed, of which the solid-state imaging chip is embedded in the front end of a tube inserted into the body of an endoscope. Therefore, a thinner and shorter tube front end is preferable in order to ease the pain of a patient. However, in order to decrease the tube in diameter and length, how the solid-state imaging chip can be downsized has been an important technical problem.
A conventional endoscope using a solid-state imaging chip is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,607,542 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 313970/1988). FIG. 1 shows a composition of one example of the endoscope. Electronic components 41 and 42 are mounted on one plane (upper plane) and the other plane (lower plane) of a horizontally-set circuit board shown by symbol 40. A not-packaged solid-state imaging chip 43 is perpendicularly combined with one plane of the front end of the circuit board 40 separately from the electronic component 41. Moreover, an end of the circuit board 40 and a not-illustrated bonding pad provided in the front surface of the solid-state imaging chip 43 are electrically connected with each other by a bonding wire 44. Furthermore, a signal cable 45 is connected to the rear end of the circuit board 40.
Meanwhile, the front surface of the solid-state imaging chip 43 is airtightly covered with a cover glass 46 and optical lenses 48, 49, and 50 supported by a lens barrel 47 are arranged in front of the cover glass 46 so as to oppose the optical axis of the solid-state imaging chip 43. Moreover, the above-mentioned respective components are covered with a sheath 51 and the space in the sheath 51 is filled with a molding material 52.
With the endoscope constituted as mentioned above, however, because the end surface of the circuit board 40 is connected with the solid-state imaging chip 43 by the bonding wire 44, a space for bonding is required in the outside-diameter direction of the solid-state imaging chip 43. Therefore, it cannot be avoided that the outside diameter of the front end of the endoscope increases by a value equivalent to the size of the space and this prevents the diameter from decreasing.
The present invention is implemented to solve the above problems and its object is to provide a solid-state imaging device capable of downsizing an imaging unit and thereby, further decreasing the diameter at the front end of an endoscope.
The present invention provides a solid-state imaging device comprising:
a not-packaged solid-state imaging chip;
a circuit board which is combined with the plane on the opposite side of the imaging plane of the solid-state imaging chip and on which electronic components are mounted; and
a connection means constituted of a film on which a wiring pattern for electrically connecting a bonding pad provided in the outer peripheral portion of the imaging plane of the solid-state imaging chip with a bonding pad provided in the circuit board is formed; wherein
the electronic components are mounted on the stepped portion of the circuit board formed lower than the outline of said solid-state imaging chip and a signal cable is connected to an end of said stepped portion so that said electronic components mounted on said circuit board and the terminal portion of the cable are arranged in the projection area of said solid-state imaging chip.
Moreover, the present invention provides another solid-state imaging device comprising:
a not-packaged solid-state imaging chip;
a circuit board which is combined with the plane on the opposite side of the imaging plane of the solid-state imaging chip and on which electronic components are mounted; and
a connection means constituted of a bonding wire for electrically connecting a bonding pad provided in the outer peripheral portion of the imaging plane of said solid-state imaging chip with a bonding pad provided in the circuit board; wherein
said electronic components are mounted on the stepped portion of the circuit board formed lower than the outline of said solid-state imaging chip and a signal cable is connected to an end of said stepped portion so that said electronic components mounted on said circuit board and the terminal portion of the cable are arranged in the projection area of said solid-state imaging chip.


The present invention relates to a viscosity measurement device. According to one aspect of the present invention, provided is a viscosity measurement device comprising: a housing which has an inlet port, an outlet port and a measurement space positioned between the inlet port and the outlet port; a magnetic body arranged in the measurement space; an electromagnet for moving the magnetic body; a position measurement part for measuring the position of the magnetic body; a flow rate measurement part for measuring the flow rate of fluid which flows in the measurement space; and a control part for measuring the viscosity of the fluid on the basis of the strength of a magnetic field generated by the electromagnet and the shear strain rate of the fluid which passes through the measurement space.

Generally, in processes of preparing materials in a liquid state such as polymer preparing processes, viscosities of intermediate products and viscosities of reactants in a reactor are important information for managing reaction conversion rates and product qualities.
Furthermore, viscosities of polymer solutions or suspensions, and the like vary depending on shear strain rates acting on fluids. However, since the conventionally used online viscometers can measure only viscosities of specific shear strain rates, they have a limit difficult to accurately measure rheological characteristics of fluids.


The present invention is directed to a method for clamping a wafer to an electrostatic chuck using a single-phase square wave AC clamping voltage. The method comprises determining a single-phase square wave clamping voltage for the electrostatic chuck, wherein the determination is based, at least in part, on an inertial response time of the wafer. The wafer is placed on the electrostatic chuck, wherein a gap between the electrostatic chuck and the wafer is defined. The determined single-phase square wave clamping voltage is then applied, wherein the wafer is generally clamped to the electrostatic chuck within a predetermined distance, while an amount of electrostatic charge is generally not allowed to accumulate, thereby enabling a fast de-clamping of the wafer.

Electrostatic chucks (ESCs) have been utilized in plasma-based or vacuum-based semiconductor processes such as etching, CVD, and ion implantation, etc. for a long time. Capabilities of the ESCs, including non-edge exclusion and wafer temperature control, have proven to be quite valuable in processing semiconductor substrates or wafers, such as silicon wafers. A typical ESC, for example, comprises a dielectric layer positioned over a conductive electrode, wherein the semiconductor wafer is placed on a surface of the ESC (e.g., the wafer is place on a surface of the dielectric layer). During semiconductor processing (e.g., plasma processing), a clamping voltage is typically applied between the wafer and the electrode, wherein the wafer is clamped against the chuck surface by electrostatic forces. Furthermore, the wafer can be cooled by introducing a gas, such as helium, and applying backpressure between the wafer and dielectric layer. A temperature of the wafer can then be controlled by adjusting the backpressure between the wafer and the dielectric layer.
Declamping or un-sticking the wafer from the chuck surface, however, is a concern in many ESC applications. For example, after the clamping voltage is turned off, the wafer typically "sticks" to the chuck surface for a considerable amount of time, wherein the wafer cannot be removed by typical wafer lifting mechanisms (e.g., pins extending through the ESC which are operable to lift the wafer from the surface of the dielectric layer). This wafer declamping problem can reduce the throughput of the process. It is believed that the wafer-declamping problem occurs when residual charges induced by the clamping voltage remain on the dielectric layer or on a surface of the wafer, therein leading to an undesirable electric field and clamping force. According to a charge migration model, residual charges are caused by charge migration and accumulation during clamping, wherein the charges accumulate at the dielectric surface and/or wafer backside (e.g., when the wafer surface comprises an insulating layer).
An RC time constant, for example, can be used to characterize the charge/discharge times which correspond to an amount of time typically required to respectively clamp or de-clamp the wafer. This time constant is determined by the product of a volume resistance of the dielectric layer and a gap capacitance between the wafer and dielectric surfaces, i.e.,                     RC        =                                            R              die                                                  C              gap                                =                                    ρ                                            (                dielectric                )                                                                ɛ              0                                                  ɛ              r                                                                  d                                                  (                  dielectric                  )                                            gap                                                          (        1        )            where Rdie is the resistance of the dielectric layer, Cgap is the capacitance of the gap between the wafer and the chuck surface, ρ(dielectric) is the volume resistivity of the dielectric layer, ∈0 is the free space permittivity, ∈r is the dielectric constant of the gap, d(dielectric) is the thickness of the dielectric layer, and gap is the distance between the dielectric and wafer surfaces. For example, for a typical flat-plate ESC, if we assume that ρ(dielectric)=1015 Ω−cm, ∈0=8.85×10−14 F/cm, ∈r=1, d(dielectric)=0.2 mm, and gap=3 μm, we find RC=5900 seconds. This is a fairly long charging/discharging time, meaning that if clamping is longer than 5900 seconds, the declamping time will also last approximately 5900 seconds.
A variety of techniques have been previously disclosed for reducing wafer de-clamping problems encountered in the use of ESCs. For example, one conventional technique involves applying a reversal voltage before the wafer is removed from the ESC, therein eliminating a residual attractive force. This reversal voltage, however, is typically 1.5 to 2 times higher than the clamping voltage, and the de-clamping time is still typically quite large. Another conventional technique involves providing a low-frequency sinusoidal AC voltage in order to produce sine wave fields of controlled amplitude and phase. Such low-frequency sinusoidal AC voltages, however, typically provide low clamping forces, as well as fairly long residual clamping times.
Other conventional techniques for de-clamping the wafer include determining a value of an opposite polarity DC drive voltage to be applied to the electrodes in order to cancel the holding effects of the residual electrostatic charge, and thus enable a release of the wafer. Typically, however, this technique involves quite complicated timing circuits, and do not appear to be optimized for wafer inertial effects, backpressure from a cooling gas, or an overall RC time constant of the electrostatic chuck.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a clamping and declamping system and method which are optimized for wafer inertial effects, as well as for physical and electrical properties of an electrostatic chuck.

Clamping and de-clamping semiconductor wafers on an electrostatic chuck using wafer inertial confinement by applying a single-phase square wave AC clamping voltage


A squirting toy is comprised of a cylindrical housing and a piston that slides within to force water into or out of the housing via a hole therein. The housing is encased within a shell creating a water impervious volume sufficient for the toy to float in water. The shell is soft, so that the gun is not a safety hazard when left floating in a swimming pool. Handles associated with one or both actuating portions of the squirting toy are provided for gripping and operating the squirting toy more effectively.

Squirt guns are well known in many forms in the prior art. Numerous squirt guns and squirting toys are made and have been made over the years for use by persons while swimming in or standing adjacent to a swimming pool, which are adapted to quickly take in water from the swimming pool for squirting. One such toy is called Water Stix™ and is sold by Hearthsong Inc. This toy, representative of many such squirting toys, is basically comprised of a housing having a nozzle at its squirting end. A piston, which includes a graspable handle, is adapted to slide within the housing so that, when the nozzle end of the housing is submerged in the pool and the piston is pulled backwards, water is drawn into the housing through the nozzle. And when the piston is subsequently forced forwardly, that water is forced from the housing, through the nozzle, towards a target, in a powerful stream.
Additionally, many squirt guns of the prior art are constructed in a manner that entraps air and thereby inadvertently enables those guns to partially float in water. The degree of such buoyancy is relative to the amount of water that has been taken into the gun and the longevity of such buoyancy is relative to the to the amount of air leakage from the housing.
There are also floating toy "swimming noodles" in the prior art, which are made of resilient floating closed-cell polymer foam. These toys are used to provide buoyancy to the user while swimming. Because these toys are often left floating in the pool when not in use, their softness eliminates the safety threat that they would otherwise pose.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved squirting toy that floats fully atop the surface of the water, whether filled with or empty of water.
It is a further object to provide a soft squirting toy that is safer that squirting toys of the prior art.
It is a further object to provide a squirting toy that is both buoyant and soft.
It is a further object to provide such a squirting toy that has a similar appearance to a "swimming noodle".
In a preferred embodiment, the floating, squirting toy comprises a housing having a chamber, the chamber having a variable volume defined by a first chamber end, a second chamber end and a interior surface, a hole through the housing adjacent the first chamber end allows communication between the chamber and the outside environment; a piston disposed adjacent the second chamber end, the piston being sealingly engaged with the chamber interior surface and adapted for longitudinal movement within the housing to vary the volume of the chamber; a shaft attached to the piston and having a portion extending out of the housing, the shaft portion extending out of the housing having a first handle attached thereto; an outer shell disposed over the housing, the shell creating a water impervious volume imparting a buoyancy sufficient to keep the toy afloat in water; and a second handle attached to one of either the shell or the housing. The toy is adapted to inhale water through the hole while the hole is submerged during the expansion of the chamber using the handles, and the toy being adapted to exhale the water through the hole during the contraction of the chamber using the handles. The outer shell may be chosen from one of a transparent, translucent material or a polymeric foam. The cross-sectional shape over a substantial portion of the outer shell may be chosen from at least one of round, polygonal, elliptical, oval, fanciful animal-like and some combination of shapes including generally polygonal with rounded sides.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent upon a review of the following description and drawings of the invention, including the preferred embodiment thereof.


A watch exterior part is formed of cemented carbide or stellite alloy, and has a three-dimensionally curved as-sintered surface or a small hole with an as-sintered interior peripheral surface, or has a three-dimensionally curved polished surface obtained by polishing an as-sintered surface. The watch exterior part is manufactured by a method in which organic binder is milled into a material powder, and a molded body obtained by injection molding is subjected to a binder removing process and then sintered. By the manufacturing method, a watch exterior part formed of cemented carbide or stellite alloy has a high strength and a complicated configuration such as a three-dimensional curved surface and a small hole, without applying secondary machining operations such as discharge operations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to watch exterior parts having complicated shapes and formed of cemented carbide or stellite alloy and further relates to manufacturing methods thereof.
2. Description of the Background Art
Recently, hard materials which are damage resistant and have excellent durability have come into use for watch exterior parts such as watch frames, watch band pieces and the like. Especially, there is a tendency that cemented carbides including WC, TaC, TiC and so forth, or stellite alloys containing Co--Cr--W, for example, are widely used.
Such cemented carbides or stellite alloys have a texture in which hard particles such as carbide, nitride or carbonitride of W, Ta, Ti, Cr, for example, are bonded with metal of the iron group such as Co, Fe, Ni and the like, and are manufactured by conventionally well-known powder metallurgy. That is, they are manufactured by a method of mixing WC powder, TaC powder, Co powder, Ni powder etc. according to a predetermined alloy composition, molding the material powder of mixed alloy composition by pressing the powder, and sintering the obtained molded bodies.
However, since molded bodies are obtained by pressing in the above-described normal powder metallurgy method there have been problems such as limitation of the shapes of manufactured products and dimensional precision, for example. That is, products having shapes that can be formed in one axis direction only can be manufactured by die compaction. Even if the CIP (Cold Isostatic Press) technique capable of forming three-dimensional shapes is used, excellent precision cannot be expected because the products are molded inside rubber molds. Accordingly, watch exterior parts have been conventionally obtained by manufacturing sintered bodies having simple shapes by the normal powder metallurgy method, performing secondary machining operations on the sintered bodies to realize complicated shapes such as various kinds of watch frames and watch band pieces having three dimensional curved surfaces and small holes, and performing surface finishing by polishing in order to improve the decorativeness of portions such as surfaces of exterior parts as needed.
However, because cemented carbide and stellite alloys are extremely difficult to be machined, they can be machined only by grinding with diamond grinding stones or by performing discharge machining as a secondary operation. Particularly, discharge machining operation have been essential in forming three-dimensional curved surfaces on inner surfaces of watch frames and interior surfaces of small holes for provision of stems, and the like. However, if sintered bodies of cemented carbide or stellites alloys are subjected to a discharge process, the corresponding processed surfaces are embrittled over a depth of approximately 5 through 100 .mu.m due to the removal, oxidation or the like of metallic constituents. Such embrittlement decreases the material strength, which is likely to cause minor cracking, chipping or breaking of the processed surface due to external impacts leading to breakage of the entirety of a watch exterior part.
Accordingly, watch exterior parts formed of cemented carbide or alloy corresponding to stellite have been conventionally made with simple shapes to reduce the need for discharge machining operations as much as possible. Alternatively, the thickness of such parts has been designed to be larger than needed in order to maintain the strength of the parts after a discharge operation. Therefore conventional methods have disadvantages such as the limitations of designs of watch frames and watch bands, and the increase in the total weight of a watch, for example.

Watch exterior parts and manufacturing method thereof


A catheter includes a tubular inner layer, a reinforcement body disposed around the outer periphery of the inner layer, a protective layer covering the outer periphery of an end of the reinforcement body, and an outer layer covering at least the outer periphery of the protective layer. The protective layer covers the outer periphery of at least one end of reinforcement body, and the end of the reinforcement body covered with the protective layer is buried deeper in a side of the inner layer relative to a portion of the reinforcement body not covered with protective layer. The reinforcement body is prevented from lifting away from the inner layer when the catheter is bent even without increasing the outer diameter of the reinforcement body.

The disclosed embodiments relate to a medical device. Specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to a catheter and a balloon catheter.
A conventional catheter is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-100829. The catheter comprises an elongated tubular main body including an inner layer, a coil layer (a reinforcement body) formed with a wire material wound around the outer periphery of the inner layer, and an outer layer covering the coil body.
Further, Japanese Patent No. 3659664 describes a medical tube comprising an inner layer, a reinforcement layer adhered to the outside of the inner layer, and an outer layer adhered to the outside of the reinforcement layer. The reinforcement layer is a coil layer having a first coil and a second coil.
However, the catheter according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-100829 and the medical tube according to Japanese Patent No. 3659664 described above have the following problem: a reinforcement body formed of a coil tends to experience springback after bending, wherein the bend is partially released and an end of the coil "lifts" away from the inner layer.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-249812 attempts to solve the above problem. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-249812 describes an outer catheter comprising an inner layer, an outer layer, and an intermediate layer (a reinforcement body) that is formed of a linear object and sandwiched between the inner layer and the outer layer, wherein a distal end of the intermediate layer is covered with a contrasting ring (a protective layer).
However, in the case of the outer catheter according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-249812, the outer diameter of the catheter is disadvantageously larger at the distal end of the intermediate layer because the contrasting ring is thick.


Provided is a method for producing vascular endothelial cells from pluripotent stem cells, the method comprising the following steps (i) to (iii): (i) a step of culturing pluripotent stem cells in a culture medium comprising a BMP, on a culture vessel coated with a first matrix, to produce mesodermal progenitor cells; (ii) a step of dissociating the resulting cells into single cells; and (iii) a step of culturing the resulting cells in a culture medium comprising VEGF, on a culture vessel coated with a second matrix selected from the group consisting of laminin-411 or a fragment thereof, laminin-511 or a fragment thereof, Matrigel, type IV collagen and fibronectin.

Mammalian blood vessels are composed of three layers: the adventitia, media and intima, and the intima is covered with a layer of vascular endothelial cells. The vascular endothelial cells release various types of vasoactive substances to control the contraction and expansion of blood vessels, and also protect blood vessels by preventing the adhesion and aggregation of platelets.
Examples of diseases in which vascular endothelial cells are involved include arteriosclerosis that begins with a decrease in the function of endothelial cells present in vascular intima. Endothelial dysfunction, namely, the loss of endothelial function, induces vascular diseases, such as for example, atherosclerosis. Vascular endothelial cells and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been suggested to be useful for therapeutic applications, and cases have been reported in which a revascularization therapy of transplanting autologous EPCs to patients with severe ischemic diseases including coronary artery diseases and lower limb ischemic diseases (such as Buerger's disease, obstructive arteriosclerosis, etc.) was performed to obtain favorable results (Non-patent Documents 1 and 2). The above described effect of improving ischemia has been confirmed to be dependent on the number of EPCs administered, and thus it is important to obtain and administer a larger amount of EPCs. However, the number and the function of EPCs obtained from autologous blood or bone marrow fluid of the patients are often decreased, and in such cases, a sufficient therapeutic effect cannot be obtained.
On the other hand, cells with pluripotency have hitherto been reported, such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) which can be obtained by introducing undifferentiated cell-specific genes into embryonic stem cells (ES cells) or somatic cells (Patent Documents 1 and 2). These cells are drawing attention as useful materials, since they can be grown indefinitely, and there is a possibility that vascular endothelial cells for use in transplantation therapy can be obtained by applying a differential stimulus to these cells.
So far, a method for inducing the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into endothelial cells (Patent Document 3), and methods for inducing the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into mesodermal cells have been examined (Patent Document 4, Non-patent Document 3 and Non-patent Document 4). However, no method has been reported to date which allows the induction to highly functional vascular endothelial cells from pluripotent stem cells at a high efficiency.

Method for inducing vascular endothelial cells


A smokeless and scorchless grill pan comprising a food plate, an oil pan placed under the food plate, and a lower pan placed under the oil pan for burning a fire to heat the oil pan and the air in a hollow space between the oil pan and the food plate, the oil pan having a bottom corrugated with a plurality of holes for heated air to flow through and two opposite recesses near a circumferential edge, the food plate also corrugated and having a plurality of oil holes for oil coming out of food placed on the food plate to flow through down to drop on the oil pan and then flow into the two opposite recesses of the oil pan.

Nowadays, fry pans or grill irons are made of an one-layer metal plate or net, and a heat source heats up the plater or the net, and food placed thereon may directly receive the fire or the heat from the heated plate so that the food may easily and often heated up excessively and be scorched. In addition, oil coming out of the food may directly fall down through the net into the fire to burn up, giving out smoke or explosive sounds as to endanger persons around and to smear the environment. Meat fried in a fry pan may be fried together with the oil coming out of its own, losing fried good smell and containing too much oil as well.

5F, No. 52, Lane 286 Section 1, Cheng Kou S. Road


A multilamp photoflash unit which includes an elongated housing, a circuit board located within a longitudinal channel within the housing, and several (e.g. six) electrically-activated flashlamps. The flashlamps utilize preformed lead-in wires which are clamped to peripheral side walls of the circuit board's insulative strip members to both secure the lamps in a linear orientation and to electrically connect portions of the lead-in wires to selected areas of the board's lamp-firing circuitry.

In the more recent multilamp units such as the "flip-flash" devices, it has become common practice to utilize a printed circuit board (PCB) and to connect the lead-in wires from the unit's flashlamps to lamp-firing circuitry located on one of the PCB's surfaces. Heretofore, these connections have been accomplished primarily by using one of three methods. A first involves simply soldering the ends of the lead-in wires to the respective circuit paths or terminals. Understandably, this method requires added material as well as precisioned alignment between wires and terminals immediately prior to connection. A second technique involves use of added conductive components such as eyelets, rivets, etc. which are inserted in holes in the PCB and the lead-in wires inserted therein. After insertion, the eyelets are crimped and bent to the desired configuration. An example of this method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,578 (Herman). This method has also proven disadvantageous due to the need for the described added parts as well as the requirement for precise eyelet and lead-in wire alignment during eyelet positioning and crimping, respectively. Understandably, these latter steps are also time-consuming and thus not readily adaptable to an industry which demands high production rates.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,798 (Bechard et al), a third technique for connecting lead-in wires to circuitry on a PCB has been to embed the wires within the PCB's substrate such that portions thereof physically contact the circuitry either on a bottom surface or by impression across an upper (top) surface. One problem of such a method has been the ready possibility of faulty connections due primarily to inadequate substrate deformation. Such a technique fails to readily lend itself to manufacture of a miniaturized, final product because of the need for relatively large spaces on the substrate for securement of each lamp.
It is believed therefore that a multilamp photoflash unit which provides for sound, effective connection between the unit's PCB circuitry and lamp lead-in wires without the several disadvantages cited above would constitute a significant advancement in the art. As will be described, an added feature of the connection means of the instant invention is the positive securement and a alignment of the unit's lamps in relation to the PCB component.

Photoflash unit utilizing circuit board having flashlamps clamped thereto


An illumination control system includes lighting apparatuses connected to a communications line and a number of functional units of plural kinds functioning to detect information from ambient environments of the lighting apparatuses. Each lighting apparatus includes a lamp, an illumination circuit, a communication unit, a control unit, and a unit attaching part to which the functional unit is detachably attached. Each lighting apparatus belongs to one or more of plural groups corresponding to the functional units, the groups being operated based on information detected by the respective functional units. A functional unit having a detecting function corresponding to an operation of each group is attached to each unit attaching part of at least one lighting apparatus of each group, and each communication unit of the at least one lighting apparatus sends the control signal including information detected by the corresponding functional unit to another lighting apparatus in the same group.

Conventionally, there is known an illumination control system that includes a plurality of lighting apparatuses, an illuminance detecting unit for detecting illuminance on surroundings provided by the lighting apparatuses, and a control unit for turn-on control of the lighting apparatuses based on data inputted from the illuminance detecting unit at regular intervals (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. H8-250285). In such illumination control systems, the control unit controls the turn-on state of the lighting apparatuses such that the average illuminance on a surface illuminated is kept almost constant regardless of time.
However, in the conventional technique described in the Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. H8-250285, the lighting apparatuses are controlled by only one specific kind of detection information detected by the illuminance detecting unit. Further, in the Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. H8-250285, no information about whether to control the lighting apparatuses individually or collectively is disclosed, and it is not possible to set only a part of the lighting apparatuses as a target to be controlled. As such, it is difficult to have a degree of freedom related to system setup.


When a signal path in a signal outputting device is changed, the signal outputting device indicates signal path change information representing the change in the signal path to a signal inputting device. Based on the signal path change information, the signal inputting device adaptively changes a signal path between the signal outputting device and the signal inputting device. The signal inputting device can know the signal path in the signal outputting device easier than heretofore, and can simply change the signal path between the signal outputting device and the signal inputting device.

The present invention relates to a signal processing system, a signal outputting device, a signal inputting device, and a communication control method, and more particularly to a system for adaptively changing signal paths between a signal outputting device (hereinafter referred to as "source") and a signal inputting device (hereinafter referred to as "sink"), which are connected to a network.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for establishing, releasing, and changing signal paths under AV/C Connection and Compatibility Management to transmit signals through isochronous connections specified according to IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) 61883-1 for sending and receiving isochronous signals between a source and a sink specified according to IEEE (Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers) 1394.
There have been developed AV (audiovisual) devices capable of transmitting information between a source and a sink via a network using a digital serial bus according to the IEEE 1394.
For operating the network, there are available two modes, i.e., an isochronous transfer mode for transmitting real-time data, and an asynchronous transfer mode for reliably transmitting a control command, etc.
For transmitting real-time data, it is necessary to establish a logic connection as a signal path between a source and a sink.
As the control command, a predetermined command, i.e., an AV/C Command Transaction set (hereinafter referred to as "AV/C command"), is transmitted to control an AV device connected to the network.
Plugs are present at the opposite ends of logic connections. Those plugs include Subunit Plugs for transmitting signals in devices, Plug Control Registers (hereinafter referred to as "PCR") for inputting and outputting digital signals between devices, and External Plugs for inputting and outputting analog signals between devices.
The Subunit Plugs include a Subunit Source Plug for outputting signals and a Subunit Destination Plug for inputting signals. The PCR include an oPCR (Output Plug Control Register) for outputting signals and an iPCR (Input Plug Control Register) for inputting signals. The External Plugs include an External Output Plug for outputting signals and an External Input Plug for inputting signals.
The logic connections include an intra-device connection and an inter-device connection. The intra-device connection indicates a signal path present in each device, and the inter-device connection indicates a signal path present between a source and a sink.
The inter-device connection is available in two types. One type of the inter-device connection is a Point-to-Point connection (hereinafter referred to as "PtoP connection") connecting one oPCR and one iPCR with one isochronous channel.
The other type of the inter-device connection includes a Broadcast out connection (hereinafter referred to as "Bout connection") connecting one oPCR to one isochronous channel and a Broadcast in connection (hereinafter referred to as "Bin connection") connecting one iPCR to one isochronous channel. These two connections are referred to as a Broadcast connection. A procedure for establishing and releasing a logic connection is described in IEC61883-1.
Establishing one inter-device connection requires an isochronous channel (hereinafter referred to as "channel") and an isochronous band (hereinafter referred to as "band"). They are collectively referred to as an isochronous resource (hereinafter referred to as "resource").
For establishing a logic connection, there is specified a command set called AV/C Connection and Compatibility Management (hereinafter referred to as "CCM") as a scheme for transmitting information for appropriately establishing a logic connection by using a control command between a source and a sink.
A scheme for establishing the signal path of a logic connection using the CCM will be described below. An intra-device connection can be established by using a SIGNAL SOURCE command prescribed according to the CCM, and an inter-device connection can be established by using an INPUT SELECT command prescribed according to the CCM.
For the INPUT SELECT command, there are defined four sub functions including CONNECT, PATH CHANGE, SELECT, and DISCONNECT. When the INPUT SELECT command is to be sent, it is necessary to specify one of these sub functions. An example in which a sink acknowledges the INPUT SELECT command (returns an accepted response) will be described below.
The sink that has received CONNECT establishes an inter-device connection with a specified source. A sink that has received PATH CHANGE basically operates in the same manner as the CONNECT sub function, but can deny the establishment of an inter-device connection (returns a rejected response) if a specified source is not selected. A sink that has received SELECT selects a specified source, and can determine whether to establish an inter-device connection or not. A sink that has received DISCONNECT breaks a specified inter-device connection.
According to the CCM, a source sends the INPUT SELECT command to a sink for thereby transmitting information of the source to the sink, and the sink establishes an inter-device connection to the source using the information. To carry out such a process, it is necessary to enable the source to store information of the sink to which the INPUT SELECT command is to be sent. According to the CCM, an OUTPUT PRESET command is available for performing such a function. The INPUT SELECT command is used to enable the sink to store information of the source. Alternatively, an external controller may control the sink to store information of the source or control the source to store information of the sink.
According to the present invention, based on the basic concept of the CCM, an intra-device connection is established by the device itself, and an inter-device connection is established by a sink. However, an intra-device connection may be controlled from outside of the device using the SIGNAL SOURCE command.
For establishing an inter-device connection using the CCM, if a source wants to change an output signal from a digital signal to an analog signal, then the source sends the INPUT SELECT command to a sink. The sink uses information given by the received INPUT SELECT command to change the inter-device connection from a digital connection to an analog connection. The same process is carried out to change the signal path from analog to digital.
In the conventional process using the CCM, for changing the signal path from digital to analog or changing the signal path from analog to digital, the source sends the PATH CHANGE sub function of the INPUT SELECT command to the sink to indicate the signal path change to the sink.
There is a situation in which one of AV devices connected to a network is simultaneously inputting and outputting signals and is directly outputting a signal, which is being inputted from an external circuit. In such a situation, resources are wastefully used because one channel and one band are required for each of the signal input and the signal output.
The CCM introduces a virtual output and a concept called a monitor connection in order to prevent resources from being used excessively. Specifically, if a device that is simultaneously inputting and outputting signals is regarded as a source, then when a signal communicating with the source inspects an oPCR of the source with a status command of the SIGNAL SOURCE, the source returns a virtual output representing the inspected result as a response to the sink. Having received the inspected result, the sink does not establish a PtoP connection between its own iPCR and the oPCR of the source, but establishes a Bin connection to a channel inputted by the source. The form of such a logic connection is referred to as a monitor connection.
For making the above monitor connection in the conventional process using the CCM, it has been customary for the sink to periodically inspect the oPCR of the source using the status command of the SIGNAL SOURCE.
According to another process of making a monitor connection, the sink registers a notify function in the source using a notify command of the SIGNAL SOURCE, and when the status of the oPCR of the source is changed, the sink is notified of the change in the status of the oPCR using the notify function.
In the conventional process using the CCM, the sink that needs to make a monitor connection is required to periodically inspect the oPCR of the source using the status command of the SIGNAL SOURCE or register itself in the source using the notify command of the SIGNAL SOURCE.
If the sink periodically inspects the oPCR of the source using the status command of the SIGNAL SOURCE, then the sink needs to send the status command periodically to know the latest status of the oPCR of the source. The periodical transmission of the status command gives rise to problems in that the traffic on the 1394 bus becomes busy and the source, which receives the command, suffers a burden.
If the sink registers the notify function in the source using the notify command of the SIGNAL SOURCE, then since the sink does not need to send a command periodically to the source, the process is more advantageous than if the sink periodically inspects the oPCR of the source using the status command of the SIGNAL SOURCE. According to this process, however, when the source issues a notify message after the sink has registered the notify function in the source, the registration is canceled, requiring the sink to register the notify function again in the source. When the bus is reset, the registration is also canceled, requiring the sink to register the notify function again in the source.
In addition, as there is no way of canceling the notify function, no solution is available when the notification based on the notify function is no longer necessary. Furthermore, since the notify function is registered with priority given to a subsequent registration, if there are two sinks that register the notify function in a single source, then the sink that has registered the notify function in the source earlier has its registered notify function overwritten by the sink that registers the notify function in the source later, and cannot receive a notify message from the source.

Signal processing system, signal outputting device, signal inputting device, and communication control method


A copolymer including ethylene units and units of one or more C3-10 alpha-olefins. The copolymer has a number average molecular weight of less than 5,000 g/mol, as measured by GPC. The ethylene content of the copolymer is less than 80 mol %. At least 70% of molecules of the copolymer have an unsaturated group, and at least 70% of said unsaturated groups are located in a terminal vinylidene group or a tri-substituted isomer of a terminal vinylidene group. The copolymer has a crossover temperature of −20° C. or lower and/or a certain ethylene run length. Also disclosed are a method for making the copolymer and polyolefins plasticized with 1-40 wt % of the copolymer.

The present invention relates to poly(alpha-olefin) plasticizers and plasticized polymers comprising such poly(alpha-olefin) plasticizers.
Polyolefins are used for making a wide variety of products. However, one drawback of some polyolefins is their relatively high glass transition temperature (Tg). Polypropylene homopolymers and copolymers are particularly problematic in this respect. This high Tg may result in materials that are difficult to process and which may be brittle, especially at low temperatures. Also, for many products, high molecular weight polyolefins are required to provide the desired polymer properties. High molecular weight polyolefins can be even more difficult to process, due to their high melt viscosities.
As a result, there is a need to provide polymers with good processability that are also able to maintain their advantageous properties over time when exposed to a wide temperature range.
One important property for such polymers is low-temperature toughness which should be improved while still providing a polymer that maintains its properties upon exposure to elevated temperatures over time.
Addition of a plasticizer to a polyolefin is known to improve properties such as impact strength and processability. Such plasticizers are often used to lower the Tg of the polymer. Lowering the Tg of the polymer can improve the processability and low temperature impact toughness of the polymer and reduce the tendency of the polymer to become brittle at low temperatures. In order to achieve this combination of advantages, the plasticizer should have the ability to maintain its viscosity at low temperature. Some plasticizers have a tendency to crystallize or form structure in the plasticizer at low temperatures leading to an undesirable increase in viscosity of the plasticizer. This may result in an adverse impact on the low temperature impact toughness of a polymer plasticized with this plasticizer by causing the polymer to become brittle.
Many plasticized polymers also suffer from problems such as blooming or diffusion of plasticizer to the surface of the polymer, or even volatilization of the plasticizer from the polymer, each resulting in long-term deterioration of polymer properties. As a result, plasticizers are sought which have a relatively low pour point and thus can impart the advantageous lowering of the Tg of the polymer discussed above while at the same time ensuring that the polymer retains its advantageous properties over time, particularly when exposed to high temperatures. In order to achieve this, the volatility or tendency of the plasticizer to diffuse to the surface of the polymer must be balanced with the lowering of the Tg of the polymer. One way to reduce the volatility of the plasticizer is to increase its number average molecular weight. However, increasing the number average molecular weight can have an adverse influence on the Tg of the plasticized polymer and the processability of the polymer.
Plasticizers having lower number-average molecular weights (Mn) tend to be better at lowering the Tg of the polymer since the Tg of the polymer tends to be inversely proportional to the Mn of the plasticizer. However, as the number-average molecular weight (Mn) of the plasticizer decreases, the plasticization durability of the properties imparted by the plasticizer to the polymer is adversely affected, especially when exposed to high temperatures. This is at least partially due to the increased tendency of the plasticizer to migrate to the surface of the polymer and/or volatilize. Thus, improved plasticizers are sought that have the ability to lower the Tg of a polymer without lowering the number average molecular weight of the plasticizer.
Another key aspect for selection of an appropriate plasticizer is the chemical compatibility of the plasticizer with the polymer. To achieve this goal, it is desirable to employ plasticizers that are chemically similar to the polymer that is being plasticized. This will enhance the chemical compatibility between the plasticizer and the polymer. For this purpose, polyalphaolefins (PAOs) have been proposed for use as polyolefin plasticizers.
Such PAOs are typically oligomers of olefins having five or more carbon atoms. In some cases, such oligomers with five or more carbon atoms may be copolymerized with ethylene to C4 olefins to reduce the pour point of the plasticizer. US 2004/054040 and WO 2004/014997 disclose PAO plasticizers having a weight average molecular weight (Mw) in the range of 100 to 20,000 g/mol. and a kinematic viscosity at 100° C. (KV100) of 0.1 to 3,000 cSt.
US 2004/106723 and WO 2004/014998 disclose plasticizers having a KV100 of 10 cSt or more and a viscosity index (VI) of 100 or more. These plasticizers include oligomers of C5 to C14 olefins. U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,537 discloses PAO plasticizers having a kinematic viscosity at 38° C. of about 2 to 6 cSt. WO 98/044041, WO 2002/018487 and WO 2003/048252 disclose PAO plasticizers having a KV100 of about 4 to 8 cSt.
WO 2009/020706 discloses plasticizers that are regularly branched PAO oligomers of one or more C2-C20 alpha-olefins having a KV100 of 3 to 3,000 cSt, a branching irregularity index ('BII') of 0.40 or less, and a molar-average carbon number (CLAO) of 6 to 14. Preferably, the regularly branched PAOs have a Mw/Mn of less than 2.3. Polyolefins plasticized with the regularly branched PAOs are said to have a reduced volatility as measured by thermogravimetric analysis, compared to comparable polyolefin compositions plasticized with conventional PAOs, or a reduced glass transition temperature (Tg) of the composition compared to comparable polyolefin compositions plasticized with conventional PAOs.
PAO plasticizers are typically prepared by olefin isomerization which results in oligomers having a variety of different structures caused by, for example, irregular branching. According to the present invention, it has now been found that PAOs having certain characteristics indicative of their structure can provide an improved combination of plasticization efficiency and plasticization durability of the properties imparted by the plasticizers when used in polyolefins.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Microstructure-controlled copolymers of ethylene and C