An apparatus for shaping plastic preforms into plastic containers may include a conveying device on which a plurality of blowing stations are arranged. Each of the blowing stations encompasses a blow mold, within which a plastic preform can be shaped into a plastic container. The apparatus further includes a clean chamber, within which the plastic preforms can be conveyed. The zone of the conveying device in which the blowing stations are arranged is located in the clean chamber, and at least one additional zone of the conveying device is located outside the clean chamber.

In the field of the beverage-producing industry it is known to use plastics-material containers, these plastics-material containers being produced from plastics-material pre-forms by a shaping procedure, and in particular a blow-moulding procedure. In this case it is customary to provide blow-moulding wheels on which a plurality of blow-moulding stations are arranged, the plastics-material pre-forms being expanded against an inner wall of the corresponding blow mould by being acted upon with compressed air inside these blow-moulding stations.
For many beverages it is necessary in this case for them to be filled under aseptic conditions. In this case it is known that a sterilization process for the aseptic filling begins with the sterilization of the already finished bottles in a clean room provided for this. All the processes taking place beforehand in the prior art, such as the production of the pre-forms, the transportation, the heating and the blow-moulding thereof to form bottles, take place in a non-sterile environment. In this case it is necessary for a relatively large area, namely that of the finished plastics-material bottle, to be sterilized.
It is therefore generally desirable to sterilize, not the plastics-material bottle itself, but rather the plastics-material pre-form, since the latter has a considerably smaller surface. Nevertheless, it is necessary for the containers to be conveyed under sterile conditions after the sterilization thereof, in particular in a continuous manner, at least until they are closed, in order to prevent in this way a further contamination of the containers.
EP 0 794 903 B1 describes a system and a method for the sterile packaging of beverages. In this case a beverage container is formed from a shaped pre-form by blow moulding, then the container is filled with a sterile drink and finally the filled container is filled with a sterilized closure cap. In this case different degrees of sterilization are controlled in various parts of the chamber, the degrees of sterilization being correlated with the degree which is necessary for the method step that is being carried out in the part of the chamber in question.
In this production method the entire production process of the bottle and also the filling and closure process are carried out in a continuous manner under sterile conditions. In this case a complete shaping unit of the containers is arranged in a clean room. This method ensures a high degree of sterilization and cleanness of the containers filled in this way. On the other hand, however, the outlay for the sterilization is relatively high since on the one hand very large rooms have to be kept sterile and on the other hand a plurality of machine parts are also present, namely in the region of the blow-moulding apparatus, which have to be kept sterile.
It may be desirable therefore to reduce the outlay for the sterilization or keeping sterile of a shaping unit or blow-moulding device for containers. Conversely, however, production conditions which are as sterile as possible should be provided for the containers.

Apparatus for shaping plastic preforms, comprising a sterile chamber


A reaction chamber (E) comprises a calender reactor (5) comprising a device (4) for introducing a feedstock; a device (6) for carrying off the treated feedstock; at least two elementary reaction cells (52), not contiguous to one another, each one consisting of an individual feedstock distributor, an individual collector of the treated feedstock, and a catalytic bed, the cells being separated from one another by a channel (51); at least one device (V) for circulating a heat-carrying fluid in each channel (51); at least n partitions (S) for separating the flow of the heat-carrying fluid, n being an integer greater than or equal to 1; and at least n+1 means (T) for heating the heat-carrying fluid. The chamber can be used for performing the catalytic reforming of naphtha under low pressure.

The present invention relates to a reaction chamber comprising a reactor and means adapted for adjusting the amount of heat necessary for the course of the reactions to be carried out within this reactor to the required value at each level of said reactor according, in the case of catalytic reactions, to the activity of the catalyst at the considered level.
The object of the present invention is also the use of said reaction chamber notably for carrying out the catalytic reforming of hydrocarbon cuts, particularly naphthas, under low pressure, in the presence of at least one catalyst. Its object is also the use of said reaction chamber for carrying out the dehydrogenation of a hydrocarbon paraffinic cut and notably the dehydrogenation of propane into propylene. Its object is also the use of said reaction chamber for carrying out the cyclization or dehydrocyclization of alkanes into aromatic compounds. Lastly, its object is also the overall endothermic processes of catalytic reforming, dehydrogenation and dehydrocyclization that are implemented in said reaction chamber.
More precisely, the present invention relates to a reaction chamber which will be described in relation with the embodiment presented in the attached FIGS. 1 to 11 and given by way of illustrative but non limitative examples.

Reaction chamber comprising a calender reactor and means for bedding the flow of a heat-carrying fluid


A method and apparatus is provided for cutting and crimping connecting terminals which are to be fitted in a connector housing installed in an automobile. The device includes a crimping unit and a cutting unit. The crimping unit includes a shaping die, a cover-squeezing-protrusion crimping punch, and a core-squeezing-protrusion crimping punch, and receives a plurality of connecting terminals connected through coupling protrusions to a carrier plate, to crimp the cover squeezing protrusions and the core squeezing protrusion of each connecting terminal respectively over the cover and the core of a covered conductor. The cutting unit includes a cutting die, and a cutting punch, and cuts the coupling protrusions of the connecting terminals. The working surface of the shaping die includes a cover-squeezing-protrusion supporting surface which is made up of a sunk surface which is a depth smaller than the thickness of the cover of the covered conductor, and a curved surface which is arcuately raised to support a predetermined part of the coupling protrusion of the connecting terminal, so that the predetermined part of the coupling protrusion, when cut, forms no sharp end.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for cutting and crimping connecting terminals which are to be fitted in a connector housing installed in an automobile (hereinafter referred to as "a connecting-terminal cutting and crimping device", when applicable), and more particularly to an improvement of a connecting-terminal cutting and crimping device which cuts off a plurality of connecting terminals which are provided like a chain of rings, and crimps predetermined portions of each connecting terminal over a given covered conductor to connect the former to the latter.
2. Description of the Related Art
A plurality of connecting terminals of this type are shown in FIG. 1. The connecting terminals 10 are formed by punching a flat-plate-shaped electrically conductive material. One end portion of each connecting terminal 10 is formed into a connecting portion 12, and the other end portion, namely, its base end portion, includes a pair of core squeezing protrusions 14 which are raised to confront each other, a pair of cover squeezing protrusions 15 which are also raised to confront each other, and an elongated coupling protrusion 17. The connecting terminals 10 are coupled through the coupling protrusions 17 to one edge of a carrier plate 16 in such a manner that they are arranged in parallel at equal intervals. The carrier plate 16 has a plurality of positioning and feeding holes 18 at predetermined positions corresponding to the positions of the connecting terminals 10.
Each of the connecting terminals 10 is fixedly connected to a covered conductor 21 whose cover is removed at one end to expose a core 22. For this purpose, a connecting-terminal cutting and crimping device (a so-called "anvil crimper") which performs the cutting of the coupling protrusion 17 and the crimping of the core squeezing protrusions 14 and the cover squeezing protrusions 15 at the same time, is used as disclosed, for instance by Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 3-152891. That is, with the device, the coupling protrusion 17 is cut to disconnect the connecting terminal 10 from the carrier plate 16, while the pair of core squeezing protrusions 14 and the pair of cover squeezing protrusions 15 are crimped over the covered conductor 21 whose cover has been removed at one end to expose the core 22.
The conventional connecting-terminal cutting and pressing device, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, includes: a lower stationary die assembly including an anvil 31; and an upper movable die assembly including a position confirming punch 41, a cutting punch 51, a cover-squeezing-protrusion crimping punch 61, and a core-squeezing-protrusion crimping punch 71. The anvil 31 is made up of a cutting die 32, and a shaping die 37. The cutting die 32 has a vertical slide groove 33, and a cutting member 34 with a slit 35 which is vertically movable and provided in the groove 33. The carrier plate 16 together with a predetermined part of the coupling protrusion 17 is fixedly inserted into the slit 35. The cutting member 34 is kept urged upwardly by a compression spring 36.
As shown in FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b), the upper surface of the shaping die 37 includes a cover-squeezing-protrusion supporting surface 38 which is set back from the upper surface and extended straightly to support the cover squeezing protrusions 15 and the predetermined part of the coupling protrusion 17, and a core-squeezing-protrusion supporting surface 39 which merges through a sloped supporting surface with the cover-squeezing-protrusion supporting surface 38. The core-squeezing-protrusion supporting surface 39 is used to support the core squeezing protrusions 14.
The position confirming punch 41 has a recess 42 formed in the bottom to detect whether or not the connecting terminal 10 to be placed on the anvil 31 is positioned as required.
The cutting punch 51 has a depressing surface 52 as its bottom. The depressing surface 52 depresses the cutting member 34, so that its cutting end 35a cuts the connecting terminal 10 off the carrier plate 16. The cover-squeezing-protrusion crimping punch 61 has a crimping surface 62 which is used to crimp the cover crimping protrusions 15 over the cover 23 of the covered conductor so that the former 15 are fixedly connected to the latter 23. The core-squeezing-protrusion crimping punch 71 also has a crimping surface 72 which is used to crimp the core squeezing protrusions 14 over the core 22 exposed so that the former 14 are fixedly connected to the latter 22.
With the above-described connecting-terminal cutting and crimping device, the connecting terminal 10 is cut off the carrier plate 16 and connected to the covered conductor 21 as follows:
First, as shown in FIG. 8, the lower stationary die assembly, namely, the anvil 31 is fixedly set, and the upper movable die assembly, namely, the position confirming punch 41, the cutting punch 51, the cover-squeezing-protrusion crimping punch 61, and the core-squeezing-protrusion crimping punch 71 are set at their operation start positions, respectively. Under this condition, the connecting terminal 10 is set on the anvil 31. More specifically, the carrier plate 16 together with the predetermined part of the coupling protrusion 17 of the connecting terminal 10 is inserted into the slit 35 of the cutting member 34, and the cover squeezing protrusions 15 and the core squeezing protrusions 14 are set on the cover-squeezing-protrusion supporting surface 38 and the core-squeezing-protrusion supporting surface 39, respectively, and accordingly the connecting portion 12 of the terminal 10 is confronted with the recess 42 of the position confirming punch 41. Thus, it is determined whether or not the connecting terminal 10 is positioned correctly.
Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the upper movable die assembly is pressed against the lower stationary assembly. In this operation, it is detected with the aid of the recess 42 of the position confirming punch 41 whether or not the connecting terminal 10 is positioned correctly. The following operations are carried out at the same time or substantially at the same time: the cutting member 34 of the cutting die 32 is depressed by the cutting punch 51 through its depressing surface 52; the coupling protrusion 17 is cut with the cutting edge 35a; the cover squeezing protrusions 15 are crimped over the cover of the end portion of the covered conductor 21 by the cover-squeezing-protrusion crimping punch 61 through its crimping surface 62; and the core squeezing protrusions 14 are crimped over the exposed core 22 of the end portion of the covered conductor 21 by the core-squeezing-protrusion crimping punch 71. Thus, the connecting terminal 10 is fixedly connected to the covered conductor 21 by being crimped on the device as shown in FIG. 11.
Thereafter, the upper movable die assembly, namely, the punches 41, 51, 61 and 71 are moved upwardly to the original positions, and the carrier plate 16 held in the slit 35 of the cutting member 34 is shifted with the aid of the positioning and feeding holes 18 until the following connecting terminal comes to the working position. Under this condition, the above-described operations are automatically carried out all over again, to connect the connecting terminal to the covered conductor. And the remaining connecting terminals are also connected to the respective covered conductors in the same manner.
However, the above-described conventional connecting-terminal cutting and crimping device suffers from the following difficulties:
As shown in FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b), the cover-squeezing-protrusion supporting surface 38 of the shaping die 37, which forms a part of the upper surface of the die 37 and supports the cover squeezing protrusions 15 and the predetermined part of the coupling protrusion 17 of the connecting terminal 10, is straight in the horizontal direction. Hence, in the case where the cover squeezing protrusions 15 of the connecting terminal 10 are straight with respect to the coupling protrusion 17, burrs are liable to be formed at the cut end of the coupling protrusion 17. The burrs may damage a rubber plug or the like when the terminal is inserted into the connector housing.
In order to eliminate this difficulty, the following method is employed. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the cover squeezing protrusions 15 are downwardly curved with respect to the cover-squeezing-protrusion supporting surface 38. That is, the cover squeezing protrusions 15 are curved to prevent the formation of burrs at the cut end of the coupling protrusion 17. However, the method gives rise to another problem. That is, in cutting off the connecting terminal, the cover squeezing protrusions 15 thus curved act to raise the coupling protrusion 17, so that the latter 17 becomes unstable in posture. Hence, when the coupling protrusion 17 is cut, its cut end portion 17a is sharpened upwardly as shown in FIG. 11 (hereinafter referred to as "a sharp end portion 17a", when applicable). When the cover squeezing protrusions 15 are crimped over the covered conductor 21, the sharp end portion 17a may bite the surface of the cover 23 of the covered conductor 21, and at worst contacts the core 22 of the covered conductor 21, thus causing troubles such as short-circuiting.

Connecting terminal cutting and crimping method and apparatus


Disclosed herein is a transmitting apparatus for both wireless charging and short range communication. According to an embodiment, the transmitting apparatus for both wireless charging and short range communication includes a power transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit power to a power receiver, a communication transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit information to a communication receiver, and a controller configured to control the transmitting apparatus to be selectively switched between a first mode in which the power transmitter is enabled and the communication transmitter is disabled and a second mode in which the communication transmitter is enabled and the power transmitter is disabled. The controller may switch to the first mode when the power receiver is sensed, and may switch to the second mode when the communication receiver is sensed. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a power receiver or a communication receiver is sensed and then a power transmitter or a communication transmitter corresponding thereto is selectively operated so that a communication error that occurs when the power transmitter and the communication transmitter are simultaneously operated is prevented and an unnecessary waste of power is reduced.

Among short range communication technologies, near field communication (NFC) is a technology for transmitting and receiving various wireless data over a short distance of within 10 cm using a frequency of 13.56 MHz. Meanwhile, wireless power transmission methods include a magnetic induction type method and a magnetic resonance type method. Particularly, a resonance type wireless power transmission method that complies with the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) standard uses a frequency of 6.78 MHz for transmitting power. Accordingly, when NFC type communication and resonance type wireless power transmission are simultaneously performed, a communication error may occur due to mutual interference caused by a harmonic wave component (a component that is n times greater than a fundamental wave) generated in a frequency band used when NFC type communication and resonance type wireless power transmission are performed.

Transmitting apparatus for both wireless charging and short range communication


A magnetic circuit and an optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus employing the magnetic circuit, having: a magnet with first and second magnetic portions adjacent to each other and opposite in polarity, and third and fourth magnetic portions surrounding the first and second magnetic portions, respectively, and have opposite polarities to the first and second magnetic portions, respectively; and at least one of a tracking coil unit or a focus coil unit. The tracking coil unit has first through third tracking coils arranged in a tracking direction so that each tracking coil interacts with two of the first through fourth magnetic portions. The focus coil unit has first through fourth focus coils, two of which are disposed in a focus direction to interact with the first and third magnetic portions, and the remaining two of which are disposed in the focus direction to interact with second and fourth magnetic portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and more particularly, to a high-sensitivity magnetic circuit and an optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus employing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus employs an optical pickup to perform non-contact recording and/or reproducing of information on an optical disc, which is an optical information storage medium, while moving in a radial direction of the optical disc.
An optical pickup needs an actuator that drives an objective lens in tracking, focus, and/or tilt directions, so that a beam emitted by a light source is focused to a spot at the proper position on an optical disc. Here, driving the objective lens in a tracking direction means controlling movement of the objective lens in a radial direction of the optical disc, so that a beam spot is positioned at a center of a track.
A typical optical pickup actuator includes a bobbin mounted movably on a base, a suspension that supports the bobbin so that the bobbin is movable with respect to the base, and a pair of magnetic circuits disposed opposite each other on the bobbin and the base, respectively.
An optical pickup actuator basically performs two-axis control in the tracking direction and the focus direction. There is increasing demand for a high-density, small-size, and light-weight optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus.
To achieve high density, an optical pickup actuator needs to perform three- or four-axis control, including tilt control, in addition to two-axis control.
In recent years, a numerical aperture (NA) of an objective lens has increased and the wavelength of a light source has decreased for realization of high-density optical storage devices, which decreases a tilt margin of an optical pickup actuator. To compensate for this, there is a need for an optical pickup actuator designed to perform three- or four-axis control, including tilt control, in addition to tracking and focusing control. Three-axis control means control in focus, tracking, and radial tilt directions, and four-axis control means control in focus, tracking, radial tilt, and tangential tilt directions. Whether the optical pickup actuator can perform two-axis, three-axis, or four-axis control is determined by the structure of a magnetic circuit.
Furthermore, to meet the increasing demand for high speed, there is a need for an optical pickup actuator with improved sensitivity. High-density optical information storage media currently under development, some of which are already commercially available, such as Blu-ray discs (BDs), require an optical pickup actuator with even higher sensitivity than required by CDs or DVDs. For example, a four-speed optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus for BDs needs an optical pickup actuator that is at least as sensitive as an optical pickup actuator of a 16-speed optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus for recordable DVDs.
However, the highest sensitivity available in an optical pickup actuator at present is comparable to that required for 16-speed recordable DVDs. One of the biggest problems encountered in realizing high-speed BDs is that the sensitivity of an optical pickup actuator must also be increased.
Thus, to realize a higher-speed optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus for BDs and/or DVDs, a novel optical pickup actuator with improved sensitivity is highly desirable.
FIG. 4 schematically shows an example of a conventional magnetic circuit that can be used for a 52-speed CD-ROM. FIG. 5 shows another example of a conventional magnetic circuit that can be applied to a 16-speed DVD-ROM. For better visualization, the focus coil is not shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in which horizontal and vertical directions are tracking and focus directions, respectively.
The conventional magnetic circuit of FIG. 4 includes a unipolar magnet 131 and a pair of tracking coils 140. In this magnetic circuit, only about a fourth of the tracking coils 140 is used for tracking control. It is known that the magnetic circuit constructed as shown in FIG. 4 offers tracking sensitivity of about 40-50 μm/V. Here, V means volt.
The conventional magnetic circuit of FIG. 5 includes a magnet 231 having first and second magnetic portions 233 and 235 magnetized with opposite polarities, and a tracking coil 240 that interacts with the magnet 231. In this magnetic circuit, about a half of the tracking coil 240 is used for tracking control. It is known that the magnetic circuit constructed as shown in FIG. 5 offers tracking sensitivity of about 60-70 μm/V.
As shown in FIG. 5, it is impossible to utilize the tracking coil more efficiently by using more than two sides of the tracking coil 240 for tracking control. Thus, tracking sensitivity can only be improved by increasing the number of tracking coils.

Optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus having a high-sensitivity magnetic circuit


Systems, devices, and methods for outputting an alert on a mobile device to indicate the use of a weak hash function are disclosed herein. In one example embodiment, the method comprises receiving data (e.g. from a server) that identifies at least one first hash function, identifying a hash digest generated using a second hash function, determining if the second hash function is weak using the received data, and outputting an alert indicating that the second hash function is weak if it is determined that the second hash function is weak.

A hash function is generally a transformation that takes an input and returns a fixed-size string or number, which is called the hash value. A hash value may also be referred to as a message digest, a hash digest, or more simply as a hash, for example. A hash is generally substantially smaller than the input itself, and may be regarded as a "digital fingerprint" of the input.
Depending on the application, it may be desirable that a hash be generated by a formula or algorithm (referred to generally herein as a hash function) in such a way that it is extremely unlikely that some other input will produce the same hash. Hash functions with this property may be suitable for a variety of computational purposes, including cryptography. For example, hash functions may be employed to generate hash digests that are used in the production of digital signatures. Such digital signatures may be utilized in a variety of applications for authentication purposes in the processing of messages. For example, "messages" in this context may include, without limitation, electronic mail messages, certificate data, or messages transmitted between computing devices in accordance with a cryptographic protocol.

Systems, devices, and methods for outputting alerts to indicate the use of a weak hash function


A pick-up tool is disclosed for picking up, moving, and releasing a variety of objects through the use of a single hand. A spring wire, formed into a crossing loop, is drawn through a bearing with the ends of the loop grasping the object in a pincers action. The loop is attached to a guide that slides along a shaft. A cord, attached to the guide, is pulled by the action of a rod that is rotatably disposed in a handle attached at an oblique angle to the shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to tools for picking up objects, and more particularly concerns tools which are capable of picking up a wide variety of small and medium size objects, such as are commonly encountered during building and yard maintenance and litter removal, and which may be operated with the efforts of a single hand.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The array of tools that may be used to pick-up litter and other objects ranges from basic tools such as a stick with a nail in the end to more complex devices having a number of moving parts, often with an actuable jaw. Pick-up tools without moving parts may be inexpensive and simple to produce, and also lightweight and therefore suitable for extended use of without fatigue. However, such simple tools frequently require the use two hands, that is, a first hand uses the tool to pick-up an object, while the second hand must be used to remove the object from the tool. Such a two-handed procedure is both awkward and inefficient, and may require the use of gloves. Complex devices having actuable jaws may eliminate the need to use a second hand, by using the first hand to open the jaw, releasing the object. Unfortunately, complex pick-up tools may be difficult to use for extended periods of time due to their weight and operator fatigue. In addition, complex devices may be expensive to produce and hard to service.
A number of pick-up tools are presently available, for instance, the devices of U.S. Pat. Nos. 572,564, 1,703,112, 3,467,116, 3,576,342, and 4,575,143.
Despite the availability of such devices, there exists a need in the art for a pick-up tool that is capable of picking up, moving, and releasing a wide variety of objects, through the use of a single hand, yet is inexpensive, lightweight, and easy to use for extended periods of time.


An Integrated Dewar Detector Assembly (IDDA) is presented. The IDDA comprises: a cold finger base; an elongated Dewar envelope having a proximal end associated with the cold finger base and a distal end comprising an optical window; an elongated tubular cold finger located inside said elongated Dewar envelope and having a proximal end at the cold finger base and a distal end for carrying a detector so as to expose the detector to incoming radiation through said optical window; an internal front support member extending from an inner surface of the Dewar envelope at its distal end to the distal end of the cold finger; and at least one wideband dynamic vibration absorber assembly located outside the Dewar envelope and attached to at least one location on an exterior surface of the Dewar envelope, said dynamic vibration absorber thereby attenuating vibration of the cold finger and the detector.

References considered to be relevant as background to the presently disclosed subject matter are listed below:    1. Y. Ikuta, Y. Suzuki, K. Kanao and N. Watanabe, Development of a long-life Stirling cryocooler, Proceedings of the 11th International Cryocooler Conference, Keystone, Colo., 2000.    2. Filis A., Pundak N., Zur Y., Broyde R. and Barak M., "Cryocoolers for infrared missile warning systems", Proc. SPIE 7660, 76602L (2010).    3. Ben Nun U., Sanchez J. P. and Lei X., "Ruggedized integrated detector cooler assembly", US Patent 2012/0079838 A1 (2012)    4. Gallagher B. W., Blionas C., Nicolosi J. A. and Barbara R., "Closed cycle gas cryogenically cooled radiation detector", U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,816 A, (1998)    5. Li Ran, et al, "Annular supporting structure of inner tube thin-wall portion of micro metal dewar", China Patent CN 203203713 U (2013)    6. Nesher O., Pivnik I., Ilan E., Calalhorra Z., Koifman A., Vaserman I., Schlesinger J. O., Gazit R., Hirsh I., "High resolution 1280×1024, 15 μm pitch compact InSb IR detector with on-chip ADC", Proc. SPIE 7298, 7298 3K (2009)    7. Chen Chang, "Infrared detector cantilever Dewar soft support structure", China Patent CN201130058 Y (2007)    8. Ho V., Veprik A., Babitsky V., "Ruggedizing printed circuit boards using a wideband dynamic absorber", Shock and Vibration, 10(3), 195-210 (2001)
Acknowledgement of the above references herein is not to be inferred as meaning that these are in any way relevant to the patentability of the presently disclosed subject matter.

Ruggedized dewar unit for integrated Dewar detector assembly

SEMI CONDUCTOR DEVICES—AN ELBIT SYSTEMS-RAFAEL PARTNERSHIP


A security scanner includes a scanner configured to transmit a scanning beam toward a target and detect a returned beam. The security scanner also includes a processing circuit configured to receive a characteristic of the target to be scanned, determine an allowable dosage based on the characteristic, adjust a parameter of the scanning beam based on the allowable dosage, and cause the parameter to be used in the scanning of the target.

Security scanning systems (e.g., airport scanning devices, checkpoint scanning devices, and other security scanning devices) are used to determine whether a target (e.g., person, animal, etc.) possesses contraband substances. Contraband substances may include materials, weapons, currency, or other products that may be illegal or may pose a risk to other individuals. Targets may attempt to conceal contraband substances beneath a layer of clothing or internally within a body cavity or a digestive tract. Scanning systems are intended to identify those individuals who possess contraband substances before such individuals engage in air travel, pass through a checkpoint, or cause harm to others.
Traditional systems for scanning individuals include metal detectors. Metal detectors operate by generating electromagnetic fields that interact with metallic objects. Sensors within the metal detector provide feedback to an alarm that indicates the presence of a metallic object. However, these systems may not detect all types of contraband and may lack the resolution needed to effectively provide comprehensive screening.
Other systems for scanning individuals include x-ray sources or wave generators. Systems employing non-radioactive wave generators (e.g., millimeter wave scanners) may not consider specific attributes of the target when scanning. Such a lack of consideration may impact the accuracy or efficiency of the scanning device. In other systems employing an x-ray source, a dosage may be applied without considering the unique characteristics of the person. Because traditional x-ray systems do not tailor the scan to the unique attributes of the person, such systems may cause the person to receive an inappropriate dose of radiation. By way of example, the risks associated with a pregnant woman receiving a particular dose of radiation may be greater than those associated with a man receiving the same dose. Such risks may include the risk of exposing the unborn child to an elevated dosage of radiation, among others.


Disclosed are examples of methods and systems for cutting up a reinforced concrete mass, in which a drilling tool is provided. In various embodiments, the drilling tool comprises: a drill tube carrying a cutter member; a device for causing the drill tube to vibrate, the device comprising a vibration generator for generating longitudinal vibration in the drill tube; a device for injecting a drilling fluid at the distal end of the drill tube; and a device for moving the drill tube along its longitudinal direction. In the disclosed methods and systems, the reinforced concrete mass is cut up by drilling at least one hole with the help of the drill tool by causing the drill tube to vibrate while injecting the drilling fluid into the mass from the distal end of the drill tube.

The present invention relates to the field of dismantling structures, in particular dismantling containment buildings of a nuclear power station.
Traditionally, containment buildings of nuclear power stations are constituted by masses of reinforced concrete that are of considerable thickness. Certain masses may present lengths of concrete for drilling lying in the range 0.5 meters (m) to 30 m.
The term mass of "reinforced concrete" is used herein to designate a structure made of any kind of reinforced concrete, including metallic aggregate concrete, barytes concrete, or indeed prestressed concrete.
A specific feature of reinforced concrete is that it contains numerous reinforcing components, usually made of metal, such as prestress cables, steel bars, or any other metal reinforcement. Reinforced concrete thus presents high density. It is also very strong, presenting a breaking stress of the order of 40 megapascals (MPa) or more.
Operations of dismantling or destructuring a nuclear installation, including dismantling containment buildings of the installation, are thus generally lengthy and complex to undertake since they involve, cutting up reinforced concrete masses that are not only very thick but also very strong.
Among existing technologies, such as that described in DE 195 06 722, the use of diamond coring is known: a drill tube having a distal end fitted with an open cutter member is set into rotation in order to take a core out from the mass. After cores have beer, extracted, the portions of the mass situated between, the boreholes are cut up, e.g. by diamond wire sawing.
Such a method presents several drawbacks. In particular, it presents low efficiency and limited performance. In addition, it requires large quantities of water to be used to lubricate and cool the cutter member. Another drawback is that in the event of the cutter member losing teeth inside the borehole, it becomes very difficult, if not impossible, to continue drilling because of the hardness of the teeth of the critter member, which can neither be drilled nor destroyed.

Method and an installation for cutting up a mass of reinforced concrete


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for optimizing resource allocation are provided. One of the methods includes: processing a plurality of first objective functions in parallel to determine a plurality of allocation plans, wherein each of the allocation plans corresponds to allocating zero or more of a plurality of resources associated with a platform to a user, and the plurality of first objective functions share one or more dual multipliers; determining a plurality of profits and costs for the platform in parallel based on the plurality of the allocation plans; aggregating the calculated profits and costs using parallel reduction; updating the one or more dual multipliers based on the aggregated costs to determine whether an exit condition is satisfied; if the exit condition is not satisfied, repeating the processing the plurality of the first objective functions based on the updated dual multipliers.

E-commerce platforms make resource allocation decisions frequently (e.g., daily, hourly, or even in near real-time). These resource allocation problems are usually approached by solving knapsack problems (KPs), which have been tractable only at a relatively small scale. Optimizing resource allocation decisions at a large scale has been an open technical challenge.

System and method for optimizing resource allocation using GPU


An improved lavatory cleanser dispensing device that is height-adjustable and capable of quantitatively dispensing cleanser is composed of a fixing member and a shell. The fixing member includes a hanging portion at a top side thereof to be hung on a toilet water tank and a plurality of locating portions formed at a bottom section thereof and in top-down arrangement. The shell includes at least one chamber inside, a plurality of inlets and outlets running therethrough to enable the chamber to communicate with outside, and at lease one positioning portion detachably mounted on the locating portions of the fixing members.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lavatory cleanser dispensing devices, and more particularly to a lavatory cleanser dispensing device that is height-adjustable and capable of quantitatively dispensing cleanser.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 7, a conventional lavatory cleanser dispensing device 90 that the lavatory cleanser and aromatic agent can be dissolved in water to be a dilution and then which releases the dilution quantitatively by the difference of liquid level. This lavatory cleanser dispensing device is composed of a fixing member 91 and a shell 93. The fixing member 91 includes a hanging portion 92 at a top end thereof for hooking a top edge of a toilet water tank and faces a bottom side of the toilet water tank at a bottom end thereof. The shell 93 is mounted to a bottom section of the fixing member 91 and includes a chamber 94 inside for containing solid lavatory cleanser. The shell 93 is provided with three rectangular inlets 95 formed at a top side thereof and three circular outlets 96 formed at a front side thereof; all of the inlets 95 and outlets 96 run through the chamber 94 for communication between the chamber 94 and outside. When the lavatory cleanser dispensing device 90 is mounted inside the toilet water tank, the inlets 95 are positioned above the outlets 96. When the water tank is filled with water, the water flows into the chamber 94 via the inlets 95 and the outlets 96 to dissolve the lavatory cleanser as the dilution, and then the dilution is quantitatively released out of the shell 93 via the outlets 96 after the user flushes the toilet.
However, there are many commercially available toilet water tanks of different sizes. When the aforementioned lavatory cleanser dispensing device 90 is mounted on a small toilet water tank that is less high than the cleanser dispensing device 90, the shell 93 is positioned at a bottom side of the water tank to incur that the hanging portion 92 of the fixing member 91 fails to be securely located on the water tank.


Methods are provided for isolating segments of a horizontal wellbore drilled through an unconsolidated formation and treating the well to control rates of fluid flow into selected segments of the wellbore. The methods include screen segments separated by blank pipe segments to provide isolation outside the tubulars upon collapse of the surrounding formation around the blank pipe segments.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of treating a well which has been drilled through an unconsolidated formation in a substantially horizontal direction. In particular, methods are provided for effective flow isolation of selected segments in the substantially horizontal portion of the wellbore by the use of screens and blank pipe and for treating the well to control flow rate of fluids into selected segments of the wellbore.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years it has become common to drill wells which penetrate the earth in a substantially vertical direction to a selected depth and then deviate from vertical to reach a direction which is substantially horizontal or which is substantially along the bedding planes of the formation being penetrated. The horizontal portion of such wells may extend for as much as hundreds of feet in the same formation. Such horizontal wells are advantageous for producing hydrocarbons from unconsolidated or consolidated formations. Particular advantages may accrue in thin formations, heterogeneous formations, formations having natural fractures in the vertical direction, and in formations where water or gas coning limits the production rate of oil. A horizontal well will normally allow production at a higher rate than a vertical well in the same formation.
A serious limitation of horizontal wells has been the means for "completing" the well. Such completion means preferably allow for controlling or altering the pattern of flow of hydrocarbons and water from selected portions of the wellbore. Some horizontal wells have been drilled and produced from the open hole. This method of production can be practiced in formations where the rock is sufficiently strong for the wellbore to remain open with production, but an open hole provides limited means to alter the pattern of flow from selected portions of the wellbore. In most wells, it is very desirable to be able to alter the pattern of fluid entry into the well. When the horizontal well is drilled through consolidated rock, the casing of the well may be cemented in place and then perforated, which provides a completion means for selectively altering the pattern of fluid entry into the well. When the horizontal well is drilled through unconsolidated rock, a liner made up of pipe containing narrow slots to allow flow into the wellbore (a "slotted liner") or a screen liner is commonly placed in the well. The screen has openings small enough to prevent flow of grains from the formation through the liner and into the wellbore. With the slotted liner or screen liner in the wellbore, it is not possible with conventional methods to control flow rate into the wellbore at different locations along the liner.
The method of cemented and perforated casing or liner is not a suitable method for completing horizontal wells in unconsolidated formations, because the grains of formation rock will flow through the perforations and into the liner, where they will accumulate and retard or prevent flow from the well. An inside-casing screen and gravel pack can be used, but this usually causes an excessively high resistance to flow into the well, does not allow for isolation or control of flow patterns along the wellbore and is an expensive method of completion.
A variety of techniques used in completing horizontal wells have been summarized in the paper "An Overview of Horizontal Well Completion Technology." (SPE Paper No. 17582, Society of Petroleum Engineers, 1988) One of the techniques discussed in this paper is the possible use of uncemented liners having predrilled holes in segments of the liner, these segments being separated by "blank sections." "Blank" sections or "blank" pipe refers to pipe having no holes. The possible collapse of the formation around the blank sections to provide isolation of the predrilled segments is discussed. The method would not be suitable in an unconsolidated or poorly consolidated formation, however, as the grains of the formation could enter the liner through the predrilled holes.
Equipment has been developed which is designed to prevent flow of fluids outside a liner pipe or casing in horizontal wells. A method for completing a horizontal well by employing this equipment, called an "external casing packer," is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,117. This method employs a casing string composed of alternating casing subs and external casing packer subs. The method provides for isolation of discreet segments of the casing string to allow for localized production and remedial treatments in the horizontal portion of the wellbore.
To determine the need for selectively controlling the influx of fluids into a wellbore, flowmeters to measure the flow rate of fluids in a wellbore along the length of the wellbore are available in industry. Also available to be employed with the flowmeter or alone are logging instruments (based on measurements of density or dielectric constant, for example) to determine the relative amounts of gas, water and oil in the flowing stream in the wellbore. In a horizontal well, these flowmeters and logging instruments to determine relative amounts of different fluids may be placed in the well on rigid tubing which can push the instrument along the horizontal portion of the wellbore.
There is a continuing need for an inexpensive method to complete horizontal wells drilled into unconsolidated or poorly consolidated formations so as to allow selective production of fluids from the wells and selective treatment to increase or decrease flow rate from selected segments along the horizontal wellbore.


An electromagnetic motor includes a stator assembly having a stator body with at least one pole, a primary coil associated with the stator body and electrically interconnected with a power supply such that electric current is the primary coil creates a magnetic field in the pole, a secondary coil associated with the stator body and magnetically coupled with the body and primary coil, and a permanent magnet armature positioned so that there is a working air gap between the armature and the pole. Termination of current flow to the primary coil results in a collapsing magnetic field that induces an electric current in the secondary coil to reverse the magnetic polarity at the stator pole, and thereby reverse magnetic attractive propulsion force in the armature.

Conventional dc electromagnetic motors are energized by application of electrical current to stator coils, which creates a magnetic field that forces an armature to move from a rest position. When the current to the primary coils of the electromagnetic motor is terminated, a collapsing magnetic field is momentarily created. Where it is desired to return the armature to its original position after the electric current is terminated, a mechanical spring may be utilized for such a purpose. In any event, energy of the collapsing field is essentially wasted.
It is an object of this invention to provide an electromagnetic motor that employs the collapsing field caused by termination of stator coil current to move the armature to another position. It is a further object to provide electromagnetic motors that are of relatively simple and economical design, manufacture and assembly.
An electromagnetic motor in accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention includes a stator assembly having a stator body with at least one pole, a primary coil associated with the stator body and electrically interconnected with a power supply such that electric current in the primary coil creates a magnetic field in the pole, a secondary coil associated with the stator body and magnetically coupled with the body and primary coil, and a permanent magnet armature positioned so that there is a working air gap between the armature and the pole. In accordance with one important aspect of the invention, termination of current flow to the primary coil results in a collapsing magnetic field that induces an electric current in the secondary coil to reverse the magnetic polarity at the stator pole, and thereby reverse magnetic attractive/propulsion force on the armature. An important advantage is that the armature is positively moved by magnetic forces when current is terminated in the primary coil, resulting in a more efficient motor while reducing or eliminating any need for a return spring.
The stator assembly in one embodiment of the invention comprises first and second stator bodies that are in spaced mirror symmetrical relationship. The first stator body has a pair of poles aligned with a pair of poles of the second stator body, and first and second primary coils are respectively disposed on the stator bodies. First and second secondary coils are respectively disposed on the stator bodies and electromagnetically coupled to the associated stator bodies and primary coils, and a rectifier is electrically connected to each secondary coil. When the electric current is terminated to the primary coils, a consequent collapsing magnetic field induces an electric current in the secondary coils, and this current is directed by the rectifier to reverse the polarities on the stator poles, which results in moving the armature to another position. This reduces the energy needed to move the armature to the opposite position.
The stator assembly in a second embodiment of the invention includes an annular stator body having four orthogonally spaced poles. Four primary coils are disposed around respective poles, and four secondary coils are disposed around respective poles and electromagnetically coupled to the stator body and the associated primary coils. Each secondary coil is connected to a rectifier to direct the induced electric current in a direction to reverse the polarity in the pole on which the secondary coil is disposed. In this second embodiment, when the current is terminated to a primary coil, the consequent collapsing magnetic field induces an current in the associated secondary coil that reverses the polarity in the respective pole and provides added energy to assist in moving the armature.
Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent in the following description and claims, in which the invention is described together with details to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the same, all in connection with the best modes presently contemplated for practicing the invention.

Electromagnetic motor with secondary stator coils


A single handheld brush includes an elongated body, first and second ends and an interior. The interior embodies a cavity, wherein, in use, fluid may be stored. The first end includes a brush head mounted on a brush base portion having a first face and a second face and a passage that runs through the brush base portion and is open at both ends, and the second end includes a scraping tool. The brush also has a flow path running from the cavity, to an aperture in the brush base portion, such that fluid in the cavity may flow along the flow path and be expelled from the aperture, and a valve closure located adjacent the first end. The valve may be moved from an open position wherein the flow path is open, to a closed position wherein the flow path is shut and vice versa.

The closest prior art known to the applicant are brushes for cleaning shoes which have a standard brush configuration with a gripping portion, a bristle holding portion and a cluster of bristles. When cleaning fluid is required with the use of these brushes the fluid must be applied to an item of footwear, or to the brush bristles, prior to use of the brush. Often, the fluid must also be reapplied to the shoe or brush during use for effective cleaning which increases the time it takes to clean the shoe. This can also lead to an inadequate or excessive amount of fluid being applied which affects the economy of the operation.
A further disadvantage of the prior art is that several pieces of equipment must be carried where a brush and fluid are required. The number of required components is further increased where a scraper is required for removing excess dirt from a shoe prior to cleaning with a brush. This is particularly disadvantageous where a brush, fluid and scraper are required whilst on an outing such as a parent taking their child to a park. There are often a large number of items a parent must carry when on an outing with their child, and the requirement for several more in order to clean shoes is not a welcome one. Moreover, a device which offers an intuitive means of cleaning footwear would be especially advantageous, particularly where a child can use the brush without the risk of spilling cleaning fluid.
In sporting environments, where the performance of the sports boot—for example a football boot—is contingent on its cleanness and its being free from mud—in order, for example, that the studs be exposed along their full length, rather than caked in mud—there is a problem in that the provision of a compact and comprehensive personal cleaning system is not readily available. There is a need for a tool to be provided which is to hand for ex tempore cleaning.
It is amongst the objects of the invention to attempt a solution to least the above problems.


For use with a ring spinning apparatus, a drawing frame is described, which comprises two delivery rollers, which define between them an exit nip for a drawn fibrous roving and one of which defines on its air-permeable peripheral surface a deflecting path for the fibrous roving being delivered and a suction zone, which extends along the deflecting path between the exit nip and a pressure, applying roller, which is peripherally spaced from said nip, and the suction zone comprises two juxtaposed and laterally spaced apart branch suction zones, and a blast nozzle is disposed between said branch suction zones and is operable to direct an air blast against the suction-free area which is disposed between the branch zones, whereby the drawn fibrous roving is divided into two branch rovings. The two branch suction zones merge in the suction zone upstream of the pressure-applying roller into a peripherally extending common suction zone portion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a drawing frame for a ring spinning apparatus, which drawing frame comprises two delivery rollers, which define between them an exit nip for a drawn fibrous roving and one of which defines on its air-permeable peripheral surface a deflecting path for the fibrous roving being delivered and a suction zone, which extends along the deflecting path between the exit nip and a pressure-applying roller, which is peripherally spaced from said nip, and said suction zone comprises two juxtaposed and laterally spaced apart branch suction zones, and a blast nozzle is disposed between said branch suction zones and is operable to direct an air blast against the suction-free area which is disposed between said branch suction zones, whereby the drawn fibrous roving is divided into two branch rovings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is desired to supply the ring spinning apparatus with a narrow drawn sliver which substantially conforms to the cross-section of the yarn which is to be made. For that purpose it is known from Austrian Patent Specification 391,328 to provide a suction zone on the air-permable peripheral surface of one of the two delivery rollers of the drawing frame downstream of the exit nip and to provide at least on one side of said suction zone a blast nozzle for directing an air blast transversely to the suction zone. When the drawn fibrous roving is held against a lateral displacement in the exit nip defined by the delivery rollers of the drawing frame and in a guiding gap which is defined by a succeeding pressure-applying roller the suction stream and the air blast cooperate to bundle the roving and to form a comparatively narrow sliver. The narrow sliver which leaves the guiding gap that is defined by the pressure-applying roller facilitates the twisting of the fibers by the revolving traveler of the ring spinning apparatus because there is no longer a need to converge laterally spaced apart fibers of a wider sliver in a distinctly triangular zone to form a roving which is circular in cross-section. The twisting conditions will be the more favorable the smaller is the size of that spinning triangle, particularly because the roving has only a very low strength at the spinning triangle in which the roving has not yet been twisted.
To eliminate the need for an expensive making of bundled rovings for ring spinning operations it is also known from Austrian Patent Specification 395 865 to divide a drawn roving into two branch rovings in an arrangement in which the suction zone on the periphery of one delivery roller of the drawing frame is divided into two laterally spaced apart branch suction zones and a blast nozzle is directed toward a suction-free area existing on the periphery of the delivery roller between said branch suction zones. As a result, the suction streams and the air blast cooperate to urge the fibers of the drawn roving apart and thus to form two branch rovings ant each branch roving will be bundled at the same time because the air blast has a distinct component of flow which is transverse to the branch rovings. This will result in a desirable decrease of the size of the spinning triangle which succeeds the guide gap defined between one delivery rollers and the pressure-applying roller adjacent to each branch roving.

Drawing frame for a ring spinning apparatus


A heat-developable light-sensitive material is disclosed. The material comprises a paper support and provided thereon, a subbing layer containing at least two hydrophobic polymers different from each other in chemical composition, and a light-sensitive layer containing a hydrophilic binder, a light-sensitive silver halide emulsion, a dye-providing substance and a reducing agent in that order. The subbing layer is provided on the paper support by coating a solution containing the hydrophobic polymers dissolved in a solvent, at least one of said polymers being substantially insoluble in the solvent independently.

A heat-developing process in which development is carried out by heating is a known technique, examples of which include those for obtaining black-and-white and color images. Transfer-type heat-developable light-sensitive materials, in which an image obtained by heat development is transferred onto an image receiving layer, are also well known.
The transfer-type heat-developable light-sensitive material is classified into two: one comprising a light-sensitive material having an image-receiving layer capable of receiving silver or dyes, and the other comprised of a light-sensitive material alone, which is used together with a separate image-receiving member having an image-receiving layer capable of receiving silver or dyes.
In an image forming method which uses the above heat-developable light-sensitive material, if desired to obtain a more stable or clearer image, a developed image is preferably transferred from the light-sensitive material onto an image-receiving material. In this instance, preferably the heat-developable light-sensitive material and the image-receiving material are formed by coating appropriate light-sensitive layers and image-receiving layer, respectively, on different supports. The heat-developable light-sensitive material is imagewise exposed, heated for developing to form or release a diffusible dye image or a silver image in the light-sensitive layer thereof, and then is superposed upon the image-receiving material and, if necessary, pressed and heated for forming a diffused dye image or a silver image; or alternatively, the imagewise exposed heat-developable light-sensitive material is superposed upon the image-receiving material, and then subjected to heat/pressure treatment for developing simultaneously with transfer of a diffusible dye or silver image onto the image-receiving layer, whereby a clear and well preservable image can be obtained.
One problem of such heat-developing methods is expensiveness due to the need of two supports for the image formation. When a conventional support such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) support is used, the support, when heated, tends to cause an image distortion due to lowering of its stiffness or heat contraction or, when transported at the time of heat development, tends to cause a jamming trouble. For this reason, an attempt has hitherto been made to use paper as the support for heat-developable light-sensitive materials as described in JP O.P.I. No. 248148/1989.
The use of paper as the support for heat-developable light-sensitive materials has some major problems.
A first problem is that a paper support is hygroscopic, and the hygroscopicity of paper largely varies depending on the storage conditions, particularly humidity, of heat-developable light-sensitive materials to thus not only change the photographic characteristics but also largely affect the curl characteristic of the heat-developable light-sensitive material. As a result, the heat-developable light-sensitive material takes various curl forms combined with other factors such as the wind curl formed when stored in roll form, and tends to generate problems of causing jamming trouble of the light-sensitive material when transported through an exposure device, heat-developing device or transfer device; a failure in superposing a heat-developable light-sensitive material upon an image-receiving material, allowing their transport to be in a crooked state; and a registering failure when they are to be registered correctly.
A second problem is that, when heat developing is made without supply of moisture from the outside, the paper support is left extremely dried, which can cause the heat-developable light-sensitive material to be badly curled while staying in the heat developing device. The heat-developable light-sensitive material is normally designed so as to cause little or no curl and so as to obtain a proper curl balance at normal temperature. Under this condition, paper retains usually a water content of about 4% to 8%. Where most of its water content is evaporated by heating, the paper support becomes badly curled to tend to cause an uneven developing or a failure in contacting the heat-developable light-sensitive material with the image-receiving material inside the heat developing device.
A third problem is that, when heat developing is made with a small amount of water supplied from the outside, the paper support absorbs a considerable amount of moisture, so that the stiffness of the heat-developable light-sensitive material is largely lowered to cause a jamming trouble or break of the light-sensitive material.
A fourth problem is that some of the chemicals added to the heat-developable light-sensitive material are diffused into its paper support during coating its photographic layer, during its storage or during its heat-developing time. Such the problem occurs particularly when the additives used are relatively hydrophilic and relatively low-molecular compounds, and further is liable to occur when the photographic layer is formed by coating an aqueous coating liquid or when the light-sensitive material is stored under high humidity conditions (e.g., at a relative humidity of not less than 60%). This problem tends to occur also when its coating is made in the presence of a relatively high hydrophilic solvent or a thermal solvent, and when heat development is carried out in the presence of a relatively high hydrophilic solvent or a thermal solvent.
As a result, necessary additives that should be present at the time of heat developing become unable to be sufficiently present, thus making it difficult to obtain satisfactory photographic characteristics.
Especially, the above fourth problem significantly affects photographic characteristics, so that it is essential, particularly for a heat-developable light-sensitive material containing hydrophilic photographic additives, to take measures for preventing diffusible additives from permeating into the paper support. Accordingly, in the heat development of a heat-developable light-sensitive material having a paper support, there is a proposal for providing a hydrophobic polymer layer between the paper support and the light-sensitive layer.
JP O.P.I. No. 38934/1988 discloses the use of a low-hygroscopic support of which the light-sensitive layer-provided side's cup hygroscopicity specified in JIS-P-8140 is not more than 3 g/m.sup.2, and also discloses that a hydrophobic resin is coated preferably in an amount of 1 to 30 g per m.sup.2 of the paper support of a light-sensitive material to thereby prevent transfer unevenness of a formed image.
JP O.P.I. No. 314539/1988 discloses a heat-developable light-sensitive material having a low-hygroscopic paper support of which the light-sensitive layer side's cup hygroscopicity specified in JIS-P-8140 is not more than 1 g/m.sup.2, the paper support having thereon a hydrocarbon resin-containing layer to reduce transfer unevenness and prevent the degradation of sharpness. To be concrete, a hydrocarbon resin-containing layer are provided in an amount of 2 g to 20 g per m.sup.2 on the paper support and on the layer is coated a heat-developable light-sensitive layer to form a heat-developable light-sensitive material.
Where a heat-developable light-sensitive material is prepared using such a support, the use of the hydrophobic resin, because of its water-impermeability, is a useful solution of the above fourth problem. However, it has been found that this alone is not effective to solve the first to third problems and, where on the hydrophobic resin layer is provided hydrophilic binder-containing light-sensitive layers or other photographic layers, the resin layer may rather increase the deterioration of the curl of the heat-developable light-sensitive material at room temperature or at the time of heat developing unless the hydrophilic binder's amount is confined within certain limits.
Also, it has been found that, when a resin as described in the above O.P.I. publications is used, the diffusible dye or dye precursor resulted from heat development is relatively prone to permeate into the resin layer.
JP O.P.I. No. 179937/1989 discloses a light-sensitive material having hollow spherical thermoplastic resin particles-and binder-containing layer between its paper support and its light-sensitive layer, and the light-sensitive material is preferably subjected to heat development. The above binder is preferably a hydrophobic binder, and preferably used in an amount of 5 g to 20 g per m.sup.2 of the light-sensitive material. It discloses that by using a heat-developable light-sensitive material having such the paper support there can be obtained a high-resolution transfer image free of transfer unevenness. However, in a heat-developable light-sensitive material having a hydrophilic binder on its light-sensitive layer side, even the technique in the above disclosure has not attained any effective solution means to the curl at room temperature or at the time of heat development.
JP O.P.I. No. 248148/1989 discloses a light-sensitive material comprising a castcoat paper support having thereon a hydrophobic polymer-containing layer, on which is provided a light-sensitive layer. The light-sensitive material is preferably used as a heat-developable light-sensitive material and capable of forming an image with still further reduced transfer unevenness. However, even when such a heat-developable light-sensitive material is used, similarly to the aforementioned prior art, the curl at room temperature or at the time of heat development is not always sufficiently controllable.
Further, in the techniques described in the above patent publications, the hydrophobic polymer layer is provided between the paper support and the hydrophilic binder-containing light-sensitive layer, but in this instance it is necessary to secure the adhesion between the paper support and the hydrophobic polymer layer and between the hydrophobic polymer layer and the light-sensitive layer. Particularly in a method in which a heat-developable light-sensitive material and/or an image-receiving material are heated to be molten to form an image or in a method in which immediately before heat development water or other relatively high hydrophilic solvent is supplied to a heat-developable light-sensitive material and/or an image-receiving material to thereafter make dye transfer, there occurs the disadvantage that the adhesion strength between the light-sensitive layer and the paper support tends to be lowered, resulting in peeling of the light-sensitive layer.


The method of forming a plug of a semiconductor device includes sequentially forming a conductive film and an insulation film over a semiconductor substrate having a high density region and a low density region. The high density region has a greater number of structures formed thereover than the low density region. Next, a first CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) process, in which slurry for removing insulating film is used, is performed to selectively remove the insulating film and expose a top surface of the conductive film. Then a second CMP process, in which slurry for removing conductive film is used, is performed to selectively remove the conductive film and the insulating film and expose structures in the high density region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for fabricating a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a method for forming a plug of a semiconductor device that improves characteristic of the semiconductor device and its structure.
2. Background of the Related Art
Generally, a poly plug is formed using polysilicon in a DRAM and a logic device. Recently, with the reduction of the design rule, a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is used to form a poly plug, instead of an etch back process.
Two methods for forming a poly plug using CMP process have been suggested.
One method is to form a poly plug using the CMP process after contact etching.
The other is a method for forming a line poly plug by depositing polysilicon and then etching it by the CMP process. In this method, the CMP process may be performed to form a line poly plug directly after a later process is performed on a wordline pattern and polysilicon is deposited thereon. In this case, a height difference of a plug may occur due to a density difference of a lower structure (gate pattern). To minimize such height difference, after forming polysilicon, polysilicon in a portion where lower pattern density is high may partially be removed by an etching process and then a plug is formed by the CMP process.
The first related art method for forming a plug of a semiconductor device will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this method, a poly plug is formed within a contact hole using the CMP process.
FIGS. 1a to 1f are sectional views showing the first related art method for forming a plug of a semiconductor device.
As shown in FIG. 1a, a first polysilicon film 11 and a cap insulating film 12 for a wordline are sequentially formed on a semiconductor substrate 10 in which a cell region and a peripheral region are defined.
The first polysilicon film 11 and the cap insulating film 12 are selectively removed to densely form the wordline in the cell region and sparsely form the wordline in the peripheral region.
An insulating film 13 is formed on an entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 10 including the cap insulating film 12. A first photoresist (not shown) is then deposited on the insulating film 13 and patterned to expose the cell region only.
Insulating film spacers 13a are formed at both sides of the cap insulating film 12 and the first polysilicon film 11 by performing etch-back process in the exposed cell region, and the first photoresist is removed.
As shown in FIGS. 1b and 1c, an inter layer dielectric (ILD) film 14 is formed on the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 10 and then planarized by the CMP process.
As shown in FIG. 1d, a second photoresist (not shown) is deposited on the entire surface and then patterned by exposure and developing processes to define a contact region.
The ILD film 14 is selectively removed using the patterned photoresist as a mask to partially expose the surface of the semiconductor substrate 10. Thus, a contact hole 15 is formed and the second photoresist is removed.
As shown in FIGS. 1e and 1f, a second polysilicon film 16 is formed on the entire surface including the contact hole 15, and the CMP process is performed using the ILD film 14 as an end point to form a poly plug 16a within the contact hole 15. The poly plug 16a electrically connects an upper structure with the semiconductor substrate.
The second method for forming a poly plug by an etching process after forming a polysilicon line of a damascene structure will now be described.
FIGS. 2a to 2c are sectional views showing the second related art method for forming a plug of a semiconductor device.
As shown in FIG. 2a, a first polysilicon film 21 and a cap insulating film 22 for a wordline are sequentially formed on a semiconductor substrate 20 in which a cell region and a peripheral region are defined.
The first polysilicon film 21 and the cap insulating film 22 are selectively removed to densely form the wordline in the cell region and sparsely form the wordline in the peripheral region.
An insulating film 23 is formed on an entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 20. A photoresist (not shown) is then deposited on the insulating film 23 and patterned to expose the cell region only.
Insulating film spacers 23a are formed at both sides of the cap insulating film 22 and the first polysilicon film 21 by performing etch-back process in the exposed cell region, and the photoresist is removed.
As shown in FIGS. 2b and 2c, a second polysilicon film 24 is formed on the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 20, and the CMP process is performed using the cap insulating film 22 as an end point to form a poly plug 24a in a space between the insulating film spacers 23a of the cell region and around the wordline of the peripheral region.
At this time, it is difficult for the end point to be detected during the CMP process due to density difference of the wordline pattern in the cell region and the peripheral region. For this reason, the first polysilicon film 21 and the poly plug 24a in the peripheral region are damaged, thereby generating a step difference between the poly plug 24a of the cell region and the poly plug 24a of the peripheral region.
To solve the above problem according to the second related art method for forming a plug of a semiconductor device, the third related art method for forming a plug of a semiconductor device will be described with reference to FIGS. 3a to 3d.
FIGS. 3a to 3d are sectional views showing the third related art method for forming a plug of a semiconductor device.
As shown in FIG. 3a, a first polysilicon film 31 and a cap insulating film 32 for a wordline are sequentially formed on a semiconductor substrate 30 in which a cell region and a peripheral region are defined.
The first polysilicon film 31 and the cap insulating film 32 are selectively removed to densely form the wordline in the cell region and sparsely form the wordline in the peripheral region.
An insulating film 33 is formed on an entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 30 in which the wordline is formed. A photoresist (not shown) is then deposited on the insulating film 33 and patterned to expose the cell region only.
Insulating film spacers 33a are formed at both sides of the cap insulating film 32 and the first polysilicon film 31 by performing etch-back process in the exposed cell region, and the photoresist is removed.
As shown in FIGS. 3b and 3c, a second polysilicon film 34 is formed on the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 30. A photoresist (not shown) is then deposited on the entire surface and patterned by exposure and developing processes.
The second polysilicon film 34 on the wordline densely formed in the cell region is removed using the patterned photoresist as a mask, and the photoresist is removed.
As shown in FIG. 3d, the CMP process is performed using the cap insulating film 32 as an end point to form a poly plug 34a in a space around both the insulating film spacers 33a of the cell region and the wordline of the peripheral region.
However, the aforementioned related art methods for forming a plug of a semiconductor device have several problems.
First, the CMP process of polysilicon causes a height difference of the poly plug due to pattern density of the lower structure (wordline pattern).
The third related art method to solve the first problem has a problem in ensuring a process margin according to the formation of polysilicon and the etch-back process. The third related art method also has a problem in detecting the end point essentially required in the CMP process.
Furthermore, in the third related art method, a photolithography process is additionally performed to minimize the height difference of the poly plug. Thus, the process becomes more complicated and costly.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method for forming a plug of a semiconductor device that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for forming a plug of a semiconductor device in which a height difference due to a density difference of a lower structure is reduced when forming a plug by CMP, so as to improve characteristic of the device and its structure.
Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a method for forming a plug of a semiconductor device according to the present invention includes the steps of: forming a plurality of wordlines over a semiconductor substrate in which a cell region and a peripheral region are defined; forming a cap insulating film on the respective wordlines; forming a first insulating film over the semiconductor substrate including the cap insulating film; forming first insulating film spacers at both sides of the wordlines formed in the cell region; sequentially forming a conductive film and a second insulating film over the semiconductor substrate; selectively removing the second insulating film to expose a top surface of the conductive film; and selectively removing the conductive film and the second insulating film to expose a surface of the cap insulating film in the cell region.
These and other advantages are also achieved by providing a method of forming a plug of a semiconductor device, comprising sequentially forming a conductive film and an insulation film over a semiconductor substrate having a high density region and a low density region, the high density region have a greater number of structures formed thereover than the low density region; performing a first CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) process, in which slurry for removing insulating film is used, to selectively remove the insulating film and expose a top surface of the conductive film; and performing a second CMP process, in which slurry for removing conductive film is used, to selectively remove the conductive film and the insulating film and expose structures in the high density region.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Method for forming plug of semiconductor device

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


The grain size of magnesium alloys is effectively refined and made smaller by the addition of a small amount of titanium. The effect of the reduction of grain size is often an improvement in the strength and processability of a cast magnesium alloy. Often less than about 0.1% by weight of titanium need be used. It may be preferred to incorporate the titanium with another alloying constituent (such as aluminum) for addition to a melt of a magnesium base alloy.

Individual crystals in the microstructure of a solidified metal alloy are referred to as grains. Grain refinement is a very important technique for improving the mechanical properties of metallic components because grain size affects grain boundary strengthening. It is also well known that finer grain structure in direct-chill cast alloy billets can increase the maximum extrusion speed and hence reduce the cost of extruded products. Furthermore, finer grain sizes will improve the quality of alloy billets and castings due to a reduction in size of defects such as hot cracking and microporosity. Grain refining can also result in finer and more uniform distribution of intermetallic particles in the as-cast material which will increase the efficiency of subsequent homogenizing treatment and reduce heat treating time. The effect of grain refining is particularly significant in magnesium alloys.
Aluminum, manganese, and zinc are common alloying elements for magnesium-based alloys. Aluminum in amounts up to about ten percent by weight is used in many magnesium alloys. Many grain-refining techniques have been developed for melts of Mg—Al alloy systems, such as superheating, carbon addition, agitation, and additions of particles such as Al4C3, AIN, SiC, TiC, CaC2 and solute elements such as B, C, Ce, La, Nd, Sr, and Y. Among these techniques, addition of carbon-containing agents to the melt offers more practical advantages because they require lower operating temperatures and their grain-refining effect is slower to fade. However, adding carbon-containing agents such as C2Cl6 or CCl4 have environmental concerns due to the emission of chlorine. Also, grain refiners like C2Cl6 are not very effective in heavy solidified sections.
The commercial magnesium alloy, AZ31 (Mg-3% Al-1% Zn, concentrations in weight percent) offers a good combination of mechanical properties, castability, and extrudability for automotive vehicle components and other articles of manufacture. But there remains a need for an improved method of treating melts of such aluminum-containing magnesium-base alloys to control and reduce the grain size in the solidified product.


A method for controlling the cardiac rhythm of a wearer of a dual-chamber pacemaker. A post-atrial atrial refractory period (PAARP) is defined. Any depolarization of the atrium that occurs during the PAARP is defined as pathological. An atrial-ventricular delay is not triggered in response to a pathological depolarization.

In a known manner, there are memorized in the known pacemakers intended for controlling the heart, two values of frequencies for the stimulation of the ventricle. One value is the basic frequency or the minimum frequency of stimulation, and the other value is the maximum frequency beyond which it is hazardous to stimulate the ventricle. When the pacemaker detects an increase in atrial activity, it stimulates the ventricle at a frequency approaching the atrium frequency, however, without exceeding the maximum set frequency.
The first problem which arises in known cardiac pacemakers is the difficulty in distinguishing a physiological acceleration of the atrial rhythm from a pathological acceleration.
A second problem which arises in presence of an acceleration of the atrium beyond the maximum frequency is to appreciate the duration during which the heart is stimulated at a fast frequency, before switching to slow-down or fall back mode towards a basic frequency.
The third problem during this slowing-down procedure is the dissociation between depolarization at the atrial stage and depolarization at the ventricular stage.
In existing pacemakers, these problems are solved in an imperfect manner. U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,810, for instance describes a pacemaker in which the stimulation procedure in the known 2/1 mode (a ratio of two atrial depolarizations to one ventricular depolarization) takes place as soon as the depolarization frequency of the atrium reaches the reference frequency, and depolarizations of the atrium which occur at a frequency exceeding a programmed reference frequency are systematically ignored. Besides this, the described pacemaker uses a fall-back procedure, that is, a procedure for slowing down the rhythm of stimulation of the ventricle, independently of the atrium rhythm.
There is, however, a continuing need for improved pacemaker devices and methods of cardiac activity signal processing for controlling cardiac rhythm particularly in the presence of atrial extrasystoles.

Method and apparatus for controlling a dual-chamber pacemaker in response to physiological and pathological atrial events


An opposed-piston engine system equipped for full hybrid compressed-air/combustion includes capacity for storing air compressed by the engine during a combustion mode of operation. The hybrid opposed-piston engine system includes a control mechanization for operating the opposed-piston engine in a combustion mode by provision of fuel, in a compressed-air mode by provision of stored compressed air, and in a combustion mode supplemented by provision of stored compressed air. A method of operating a hybrid vehicle equipped with an opposed-piston engine includes storing air compressed by the engine during a combustion mode of operation and operating in the vehicle a compressed-air mode by provision of stored compressed air.

When compared with four-stroke engines, ported, two-stroke, opposed-piston internal combustion engines have acknowledged advantages of specific output, power density, and power-to-weight ratio. For these and other reasons, after almost a century of limited use, increasing attention is being given to the utilization of opposed-piston engines for motive power in a wide variety of modern vehicles.
Per FIG. 1 an opposed-piston, two-stroke engine 8 includes at least one cylinder 10 with a bore 12 and longitudinally displaced intake and exhaust ports 14 and 16 machined or formed in the cylinder, near respective ends thereof. Each of the intake and exhaust ports includes one or more circumferential arrays of openings in which adjacent openings are separated by a solid portion of the cylinder wall (also called a "bridge"). In some descriptions, each opening is referred to as a "port"; however, the construction of a circumferential array of such "ports" is no different than the port constructions in FIG. 1. Fuel injection nozzles 17 are secured in threaded holes that open through the sidewall of the cylinder. Two pistons 20, 22 are disposed in the bore 12 with their end surfaces 20e, 22e in opposition to each other. For convenience, the piston 20 is referred to as the "intake" piston because of its proximity to the intake port 14. Similarly, the piston 22 is referred to as the "exhaust" piston because of its proximity to the exhaust port 16. Preferably, but not necessarily, the intake piston 20 and all other intake pistons are coupled to a crankshaft 30 disposed along one side of the engine 8, and the exhaust piston 22 and all other exhaust pistons are coupled to a crankshaft 32 disposed along the opposite side of the engine 8. A gear train (not shown) couples the crankshafts and includes an output shaft that provides motive power to drive a vehicle. Other representative opposed-piston engine constructions are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,683,040; 2,031,318; 8,485,161 B2; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,539,918 B2.
During operation of a two-stroke, opposed-piston engine, such as the engine 8 of FIG. 1, pairs of pistons move in opposition in the bores of ported cylinders such as the cylinder 10. In a compression stroke, as two opposed pistons move toward each other in a cylinder bore, a combustion chamber is formed in the bore, between the end surfaces of the pistons. Fuel is injected directly into the volume of the combustion chamber when the pistons are at or near respective top center ("TC") locations in the bore. The fuel is injected through fuel injector nozzles mounted on the sidewall of the cylinder. The fuel mixes with air admitted into the bore. As the air-fuel mixture is compressed between the piston end surfaces, the compressed air reaches a temperature that causes the fuel to ignite. Combustion follows. Combustion timing is frequently referenced to "minimum volume" of the combustion chamber, which occurs when the piston end surfaces are in closest mutual proximity. In some instances injection occurs at or near minimum volume; in other instances, injection may occur before minimum volume. In any case, in response to combustion the pistons reverse direction and undergo a power stroke. During the power stroke, the pistons move away from each other toward bottom center ("BC") locations in the bore. As the pistons reciprocate between top and bottom center locations they open and close ports formed in respective intake and exhaust locations of the cylinder in timed sequences that control the flow of air into, and exhaust from, the cylinder.
The related applications describe recent improvements to opposed-piston engines which incorporate compression-release functionality into construction and operation of the engines. In this regard, compression release functionality involves the release of compressed air from a cylinder other than through its exhaust port and in the absence of combustion. One example is compression-release braking. Compression-release braking is a particularly useful feature for vehicles such as medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks because it uses engine operations to slow vehicle speed instead of (or in addition to) friction brakes. The designs for compression-release braking for opposed-piston engines involve the exhaustion of compressed air from between the piston end surfaces while fuel injection is suppressed. Work performed in transporting and compressing the air is not returned to the crankshafts, thereby slowing the engine, which slows the vehicle. The compressed air is released by way of a valve acting through the side of the cylinder at a location between the intake and exhaust ports of the cylinder. As taught in U.S. Pat. No. 8,746,190 B1, the released compressed air can be stored in an accumulator and released therefrom to supplement work performed by various engine components during normal engine operation.
As the designs for opposed-piston internal combustion engines advance and lead to improved performance with engine configurations, the returns of investment will begin to diminish. It is therefore useful and desirable to consider hybridization of opposed-piston engine systems by incorporation of stored energy that can be activated during engine operation to supplement the work enabled by internal combustion alone, which will introduce a new factor to increase the engine's efficiency. The rewards of such hybridization would be increased to the extent that the stored energy could be replenished by the engine during operation.
One hybrid engine system that has been proposed for vehicle use may be described as an air/gasoline hybrid in which compressed air is generated and stored during unassisted gasoline operation and then released to assist gasoline operation of the engine or to power the engine solely with air. (Hybrid Air An innovative petrol full-hybrid solution PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN Press Release Jan. 22, 2013). It would be beneficial in terms of improved performance to consider the hybridization of opposed-piston engine systems by combining pneumatic and combustion capabilities to power the engines.
The compression-release braking constructions and the air storage and release capability described in related U.S. Pat. No. 8,746,190 B1 are combined to enable valve-controlled operation for transporting stored compressed air from an accumulator into a channel through which air is provided to the intake ports of the opposed-piston engine. The provision of compressed air may, for example, supplement work performed by a supercharger during normal combustion operation, thereby improving fuel consumption. This engine system performs as a mild hybrid with two modes of operation: combined compressed-air/combustion and combustion alone. However, without the capability of operating the engine in a compressed-air-only mode, the full hybrid potential is unrealized.


An array substrate includes a substrate; scan lines and data lines arranged on the substrate and intersecting one another to define sub-pixels, each of which includes a pixel electrode including strip-like electrodes whose long axes of a same row are parallel to one another. Extension lines of long axes of strip-like electrodes in sub-pixels in any two adjacent rows intersect one another. The touch electrode is electrically connected to at least one touch signal line. Each touch signal line includes straight-line portions and fold-line portions. Two adjacent straight-line portions are connected by one fold-line portion. Any straight-line portion is parallel to long axes of strip-like electrodes in sub-pixels in a same row. Extension lines of fold-line portions intersect long axes of strip-like electrodes. Orthographic projections of fold-line portions on the substrate overlap orthographic projections of scan lines on the substrate. Fold-line portions are not perpendicular to scan lines.

In the field of liquid crystal display technologies, an in-plane switching (IPS) technique and a fringe field switching (FFS) technique are two commonly used wide viewing angle liquid crystal display techniques, characterized in that pixel electrodes and common electrodes are arranged in a same substrate such that liquid crystal molecules deflect in a plane parallel to the substrate so as to improve transmittance of a liquid crystal layer. Particularly, in the field of built-in touch based liquid crystal display technology, a major technical trend is to use a mutual capacitance mode or a self-capacitance mode using the IPS technique or FFS technique to divide the common electrodes into touch modules for time division touch.
As high power consumption of portable smart devices has become a significant problem, there is an urgent need to produce products with low power consumption, high transmittance and substantially consistent color. The industry has begun to explore a kind of display device which has favorable power consumption, bright color and built-in touch. However, there are some areas in the display device in which the severe trace mura and failure touch readily occur.

XIAMEN TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


An article of apparel includes a base layer and an auxetic layer. The base layer includes a four way stretch material. The auxetic layer is coupled to the base layer and includes an auxetic structure defining a repeating pattern of voids. The base layer is exposed by at least one void of the auxetic layer.

Many garments and other articles of apparel are designed to fit closely to the human body. When designing an article of apparel for a close fit to the human body, different body shapes and sizes must be considered. Different individuals within a particular garment size will have different body shapes and sizes. For example, two individuals wearing the same shoe size may have very differently shaped heels. As another example, two individuals wearing the same shirt size may have very different chest to abdomen dimensions. These variable measurements between similarly sized individuals makes proper design of closely fitting garments difficult.
In addition to accounting for different body measurements for different individuals within a size, various contours of the human body must also be considered when designing closely fitting articles of apparel. These contours of the human body often include various double curvature surfaces. Spheroids, bowls, and saddle-backs are all examples of surfaces having double curvatures. If a garment is not properly sized for a particular wearer, the wearer may experience undesirable tightness or looseness at various locations. Such an improper fit may result in discomfort, excessive wear, or bending or creasing of the garment at the poorly fitting locations.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a garment or other article of apparel capable of conforming to various body shapes within a given size range. It would also be desirable to provide a garment or other article of apparel that is capable of conforming to various double curvatures on the human body. In addition, it would be desirable for such a garment or article of apparel to be relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Article of apparel including auxetic layer coupled to elastic layer