An apparatus for removing snow and other accretions from difficult to reach areas of motor vehicles. The apparatus comprises an elongated body having opposing first and second ends. The first end comprises an extension that is angled and laterally flared with respect to the elongated body, and which terminates in a substantially transverse edge. The extension is provided with a pair of sidewalls and a rib that provide rigidity and strength thereto, and whose edges may be used for scraping and chipping. The second end of the apparatus comprises a scoop-shaped body that is substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the elongated body and which terminates in a curved edge. The different configurations and orientations of the first and second ends enable the apparatus to easily remove snow and other accretions from such hard to reach areas as fender wells and mud flaps.

This invention relates generally to devices used to remove snow from vehicles. More particularly, this invention pertains to an apparatus that is configured and arranged to remove accretions of snow from difficult to reach areas of motor vehicles.
In areas that experience winter conditions where temperatures fall below freezing, is not uncommon for snow and frost to accumulate on windows and upwardly facing surfaces of vehicles that are not in some way sheltered from the weather. This can be problematic, because in order to operate a vehicle safe and legal manner, the snow and frost have to be removed. Accumulations of snow can often be removed by using one""s appendages, but this method of snow removal is not particularly efficient, nor is it pleasant especially if one is not properly dressed for the occasion. Frost, on the other hand, is not easily removed by hand, and this has led to the development of specialized devices that are designed to scrape frost from window surfaces (See, for example, U.S. Patents: U.S. Pat. No. D345,640 issued to Galati, Mar. 29, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. D378,322, issued to Young, Mar. 11, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 2,639,454, issued to Dory, May 26, 1953; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,255, issued to Kim, Jul. 25, 2000).
The scrapers of these devices are usually oriented transversely to the body of the device and configured to engage a window surface as the device is moved in sliding contact therealong. Since snow is often associated with frost, these aforementioned devices are often equipped with a snow removal tool such as a brush, to make the device multifunctional. Usually the brush is substantially larger than the scraper so that it may quickly sweep accumulations of snow from a vehicle. Because of the inherently different uses, the scraper and brush are usually positioned so that only one or the other may be used at any one time. Note that the scraper and brush may be located at one end (in opposing relation) or at opposite ends.
In such abovementioned areas, snow often accumulates on the ground and it is also not uncommon for vehicles, upon encountering such accumulations, to experience loss of traction or become stuck. This has led to the development of other devices that are designed to remove snow from around and/or beneath vehicles (See, for example, U.S. Patents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,768, issued to Ewen, Feb. 19, 1991; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,027, issued to Dionne et al., Jan. 23, 1996). These aforementioned devices are designed to be multifunctional and may be used as shovels, traction mats, and signaling devices. Thus, these devices are robustly constructed and sized so that they are able to excavate snow and are capable of supporting the weight of a vehicle as it is driven thereupon.
In these aforementioned areas it is also not uncommon for snow to form accretions on a vehicle. That is, snow is picked-up in the treads of tires and flung, by centrifugal force, onto the interior surfaces of wheel wells and other adjacent undersurfaces of a vehicle. This snow often is a mixture of water, snow, road salts, sand, and other debris. The problem is that when a vehicle is moved into a sheltered area, such as a warm garage, the accretions start to melt. And as they melt, they fall onto the floor of the shelter. As the accretion melts further, the liquefied portion starts to spread out along the floor seeking its own level and this leaves a mess. When the liquefied portion later evaporates, road salts come out of solution and form crystalline deposits on the floor of the shelter. Heavier particles such as sand and dirt tend to drop out of solution early on and do not usually form such concentrations, but nonetheless form deposits.
The problem is that these salts and sands need to be removed because they are detrimental to the floor surface. That is, they can damage the floor surface physically and chemically, and may get introduced into cracks that can lead to additional, internal damage. Moreover, they are generally unsightly. Alternatively, the accretions may only melt enough so that they simply fall to the floor of a shelter, and the floor is cold enough to enable the accretions to freeze thereon. In this situation, the accretions need to be removed because they interfere with the normal operation of the vehicle as it moves into and out of the shelter, and they are also generally unsightly.
Additionally, not all of the snow accretions are able to freely fall away from the vehicle. That is, some of the accretions fall or flow along vehicle surfaces into internal areas that are inaccessible. When this happens, the salts and sand may accumulate in these inaccessible areas where they are periodically re-wetted by additional fluids and liquefied accretion material. This can form highly corrosive environments that oxidize metals at an accelerated rate, and this can easily lead to premature rust-through. Manufactures have attempted to alleviate this problem by providing wheel well liners of rust-resistant materials. These have helped to mitigate the problem of rust-through, though they have not eliminated it completely.
Another problem associated with wheel well accretions it that they may become dislodged while the vehicle is in motion. When this occurs, the accretion falls to the roadbed and into the path of trailing or oncoming traffic. As one may expect, this presents a dangerous situation because an impact with a sufficiently large accretion may cause damage to a vehicle, and avoidance maneuvers may cause the driver of the vehicle to lose control and have an accident.
Yet another problem associated with wheel well accretions is that they may accumulate to such a degree that they interfere with the normal operation of the vehicle, such as turning.
While the abovementioned snow and frost removal devices address the problems of snow and frost accumulating on and about a vehicle, they do not address the problem of snow accretions forming on vehicles, nor would they be suitable for use as wheel well scrapers.
There is a need for a device that is able to remove accretions of snow and other material from hard to reach locations of vehicles. There is also a need for a device that can be used on a variety of differently contoured surfaces. And there is also a need for a device that is lightweight and easily manipulated.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a lightweight, maneuverable, apparatus having a plurality of working edges that are arranged and configured to remove accretions of material that accumulate in areas that are relatively difficult to access, namely wheel wells. The apparatus comprises three main parts, an elongated body, a first end, and a second end.
The elongated body is a somewhat slender shaft that is configured to be grasped and used as a handle. Thus, it will be appreciated that the body is configured to permit maximum efficient use of the first and second ends when the apparatus is being manipulated by a user. The body is in the range of one to four feet in length, but it is understood that other lengths may be used. Preferably, the shaft is hollow along its longitudinal extent to reduce the weight of the body and permit the apparatus to be more easily wielded by the user.
Generally, the first end of the apparatus is laterally flared and angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the elongated body and terminates in a working edge. More specifically, the first end comprises an extension that is laterally flared and angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the elongated body. This extension is provided with sidewalls and a rib that are arranged and configured to maintain the extension at a predetermined angle. Preferably, the predetermined angle is in the range of around sixty to eighty-five degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis of the elongated body. The extension projects beyond the plane of the elongated body a distance sufficient to allow the working edge of the extension to be able to slidingly contact the interior surface(s) of the wheel well as it moves thereacross. As will be appreciated, the working edge is symmetrically arranged relative to the longitudinal axis of the elongated body to enable the apparatus to be worked from different directions with equal facility.
The second end of the apparatus is generally in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the elongated body and comprises a wall that also terminates in a working edge. More particularly, the second end comprises a curved wall that extends from the elongated body in a generally collateral direction and has a working edge that is oriented on a bias with respect to the wall. The wall and its working edge are shaped so that the working edge of the second end is able to slidingly contact the inner surfaces of a wheel well as it moves therealong. As will be appreciated, the particular wall configuration of the apparatus will depend upon the particular surfaces to be cleaned. And, while a curved wall is desirable so that it may be used on a variety of surfaces, it is understood that other wall configurations are possible.
In use, the first end may be used to scrape accretions from the interior of a wheel well by pushing and/or pulling the apparatus transversely across the surface being cleaned. The first end may also be used as a pry-bar or lever to separate accretions from the wheel well surfaces, using the curved transition areas between the extension and the elongated body as pivots for the inner and outer surfaces. The apparatus may also be turned over so that the sidewall edges and the rib edge may be used to fracture or chip away larger accretions using a hammer-like motion.
Both the inner and outer surfaces of the second end may be used to scrape accretions from the interior of a wheel well by selectively turning the apparatus over and pushing the working edge along the surface being cleaned. The second end may also be used to remove accretions in a pushing and twisting motion, similar to removing cores from a larger mass of material. It will be appreciated that the aforementioned methods of use are merely some of the possible different motions that are possible using the apparatus.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that may be used to remove accretions of material from difficult to access areas of vehicles.
Another object of the invention to prevent accretions of snow from being transported into enclosures such as garages.
A feature of the present invention is that it is lightweight and easily manipulated.
Another feature of the invention is that it has two differently configured ends that have differently configured working edges.
Yet another feature of the invention is that accretions of snow may be dislodged from a vehicle by using pushing, levering, hammering, and twisting motions. Still another feature of the present invention is that the working edges at the ends are symmetrically shaped.
An advantage of the present invention is that the symmetrically shaped working edges allow the apparatus to be maneuvered into position from opposing directions.

Apparatus for removing snow from motor vehicles


The invention pertains to a process for examining chemical reactions in the presence of potentially catalytical substances, wherein reactions are triggered in miniaturized reactors with volumes of 0.001 cm3 to 1 cm3 arranged parallel to each other, and the nature and amount of the reaction mixture are analyzed during the reaction time.

The invention relates to a process for the study of chemical reactions in the presence of potentially catalytic substances, in which the reactions are carried out in parallel in reactors. The invention further relates to an apparatus, in particular for carrying out this process, the apparatus having a plurality of parallel-connected reactors which are provided with feedlines and discharge lines.
Processes and apparatuses of said type are known and are used, inter alia, in the search for catalysts for the heterogeneous or homogeneous catalysis of industrial chemical processes.
However, most recently, novel techniques have made it posible to prepare substances in a great number, which could be potential catalysts for a multiplicity of chemical processes (P. G. Schultz et al., Science 1995, 1738). The study of this multiplicity of potential catalysts is scarcely possible any longer using the conventional series screening processes, since these screening processes are limited with respect to throughput and analytical resolution, as well as in reproducibility. Frequently, for pure activity screening, integral effects such as heating of the catalyst etc. are used completely inadequately without direct product mixture analysis or efficiency analysis. Furthermore, optimizing the conditions of catalyst activation and process procedure make special requirements of quantitative analytical processes and of the reproducibility of the reaction conditions.
The object underlying the invention was therefore to develop an inexpensive process or an inexpensive apparatus by which a multiplicity of chemical reactions can be studied in a short time and thus reproducible, qualitative and quantitative data can be obtained with respect to the composition of the different reaction mixtures and reaction products.
This object is achieved by a process of the type mentioned at the outset, which is characterized in that the reactions are carried out in miniaturized reactors and the reaction mixture or the reaction products are analyzed with respect to nature and amount during the reaction period.
The object is further achieved by an apparatus of said type, which is characterized in that the reactors are miniaturized, at a volume from the range from 0.001 cm3 to 1 cm3.
The invention thus relates to a process for the study of chemical reactions in the presence of potentially catalytic substances, in which the reactions are carried out in parallel in reactors, characterized in that the reactions are carried out in miniaturized reactors and the reaction mixture is analyzed with respect to nature and amount during the reaction period.
The invention further relates to an apparatus, in particular for carrying out this process, the apparatus having a plurality of parallel-connected reactors which are provided with feedlines and discharge lines, characterized in that the reactors are miniaturized, at a volume from the range from 0.001 cm3 to 1 cm3.
Particular embodiments or developments of the invention result from the corresponding subclaims. Individual or a plurality of individual features mentioned in the claims can also each themselves represent solutions of the invention, and the features within the claim categories can also be combined as desired.
A particular embodiment of the process according to the invention is characterized in that the reaction starting materials are fed continuously to the reactors and the reaction products are discharged continuously from the reactors. However, the batch mode of operation is equally possible.
A further particular embodiment is characterized in that use is made of starting materials which are at least in part labeled with isotopes, preferably with deuterium (2H) or heavy oxygen (18O) or heavy carbon (13C) or mixtures thereof. These generate characteristic spectral shifts in rotation-vibration spectra, which, in addition to labeling the reaction pathway, owing to starting material mixed variants, can lead to novel interesting reactions or reaction products and relatively small by-product contents can be contrasted systematically.
Individual reactors or reactors combined to form groups can also be fed with different starting material mixtures, in order to reveal or detect any synergies present in this manner using the methods of combinatory chemistry.
The starting material mixtures, reaction mixtures or product mixtures can be analyzed with respect to nature and amount of the substances present at any time points of the course of the reaction by spectroscopic analysis, preferably by infrared spectroscopy (IR), particularly preferably by Fourier IR spectroscopy. Other spectroscopic methods, such as laser spectroscopy or UV spectroscopy, are equally suitable for the study. The process can be carried out at differing temperatures and pressures, at temperatures of the range from xe2x88x9250xc2x0 C. up to and including 600xc2x0 C., preferably from room temperature to 500xc2x0 C., or at various pressures, at absolute pressures from 10xe2x88x923 to 103 bar, preferably from 10xe2x88x922 to 200 bar. The data obtained can then be supplied to a comprehensive parametric and data analysis.
The invention is further characterized in that the reactions can be carried out in the presence of a heterogeneous or homogeneous catalyst and in that it is possible to screen the catalytic activity (ie. product detection) and selectivity (main product distribution) of catalyst amounts less than 10 mg, preferably less than 1 mg, in a reactor.
In a particular embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, a plurality of miniaturized reactors separated from one another can be disposed in a block. The volume of these reactors can be in the range from 0.001 cm3 to 1 cm3, preferably from 0.01 cm3 to 0.5 cm3, particularly preferably from 0.05 cm3 to 0.2 cm3. In a further preferred embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, the reactors are disposed as a square or rectangular pattern in a metal block, which can be parallelepipedal or cubic. The metal block can be provided with heating block elements or cooling elements and can be fitted with a temperature sensor in the vicinity of each reactor. This makes monitored and reproducible temperature control possible. For example, by this means, a defined temperature gradient can be set over the metal block. The reactors are advantageously disposed in a plane which is parallel to a surface of the parallelepiped. Advantageously, at least some of the feedlines and discharge lines of the individual reactors are perpendicular to this plane. They can be designed as through-holes in the metal block. The reactors can be designed as boreholes. The number of reactors in one block can be greater than 20, preferably greater than 40, particularly preferably greater than 100, very particularly preferably greater than 200. Using these reactors, under defined reaction conditions, a small amount of potential catalysts (also termed samples below) can be brought into contact and reacted in parallel, ie. simultaneously, with starting material or starting material mixtures in liquid and/or gaseous form batchwise or continuously. Automation of the apparatus according to the invention is possible, in particular charging the reactors with catalysts can proceed automatically, preferably by a laboratory robot or a pipetting machine.
In a further preferred embodiment, the miniaturized reactors are designed in the metal block as 4 mm bore holes and disposed in such a manner that differing starting material and inert gases can flow through them through 2.5 mm capillary bore holes. The gases then pass into a spacer, preferably a distancing plate, which is mounted on the metal block and in which the bore holes of the metal block continue. The arrangement of metal block and spacer is provided with a customary cuvette bore hole in which the gases can be analyzed by spectroscopy. For this purpose, the bore hole is sealed at both ends with a transparent window. If infrared spectroscopy is to be used for analysis, use is preferably made of windows of 1-1-1 silicon, NaCl, KBr, Ge, ZnSe or KSR5. For the analysis, a collimated analytical beam, in the case of IR spectroscopy an infrared beam, is decoupled from an interferometer, preferably without a mirror, and directed through a dry-gas-flushed space through the cuvette bore hole onto a detector situated behind. The cuvette bore hole can be, for example, 5 mm thick. By choosing a suitable thick spacer, the length of the cuvette bore hole can be chosen between a few cm (1-10) and several 10 s of cm (10-50), depending on the reaction conditions and reaction type. To record the spectra, the analytical beam can be directed through all cuvette bore holes successively by a deflection apparatus. However, a plurality of beams or a plurality of analyzers can also be used, so that simultaneous recording of spectra is possible with a plurality of reactors. However, equally, the block containing the reactors can be moved by motion devices, for example stepper motors, in such a manner that all cuvette bore holes are brought successively into the beam path of the spectrometer. Suitable materials for block and spacer are preferably the customary corrosion-resistant metallic materials familiar to those skilled in the art, particularly aluminum or steel, preferably stable to rust and/or acid and/or high temperature.
A further embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention which is particularly suitable for homogeneous catalysis is characterized in that, in the case of at least one reactor having a volume which is preferably less than 200 xcexcl, an ATR crystal (attenuated total reflection spectroscopy, preferably conically pointed, preferably made of ZnSe or KSR5 or diamond) makes possible spectroscopic contact with the reaction mixture for differing solvents and reaction conditions and pressures up to 200 bar. In this case, the analytical beam is focused onto the ATR crystal.
The advantages of the process according to the invention and the apparatus according to the invention are essentially that a multiplicity of reactions can be carried out rapidly, inexpensively and reproducibly under virtually identical conditions and with comparatively small amounts of substance and sample and, in the course of this, can simultaneously be studied spectroscopically. It thus offers the opportunity of using the opportunities discussed in connection with combinatorial chemistry (K. Burgess et al., Ang. Chem. 1996, 108, 2, 192, incorporated by reference into the application) for industrial catalyst screening. By choosing identical samples and differing other reaction conditions such as temperature, pressure, starting material composition, a parallel reaction optimization can be carded out.
To analyze the data obtained, advantageously, a data matrix is prepared in such a manner that all selectable and documentable reaction conditions (starting material partial pressures, starting material composition, temperature, flow or flow rate, total pressure, sample composition, sample lattice parameters and all base points of the spectra) are given according to reaction conditions, ie. for each reactor, as columns of the matrix. This matrix can be subjected to a factor analysis (E. R. Malinowski et al., Factor Analysis in Chemistry, Wiley, New York, 1980, incorporated by reference into the application), by calculating the covariance matrix, the eigenvalues, the abstract eigenvectors, the loadings and the coefficients of the multidimensional regression, and preferably outputing them as files. A (pre)normalization of the data can also be selected by the mean xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d and standard deviations xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d, which can avoid base line effects or absolute effects. This permits the prediction of differing variables from calibration data sets (eg. quantitative CO2 contents at different temperatures), determination of the dependence of parameters in spectral ranges to optimization of the analysis, generation of different distance matrices from the output data (for example the similarity of catalysts with respect to selected variables and properties) and direct feedback of the catalyst composition to a laboratory robot synthesizer which mixes a set of new catalyst samples and synthesizes them xe2x80x9cautomaticallyxe2x80x9d by sintering or calcining on a robot line.
An embodiment of the process according to the invention and a development of the apparatus according to the invention are described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, without the intention of restricting the invention in any manner.

Process and facility for examining chemical reactions in miniaturized reactors arranged parallel to each other

Aventis Research and Technologies GmbH and Co KG


The present invention provides adiabatic plug flow reactors suitable for the production of chlorinated and/or fluorinated propene and higher alkenes from the reaction of chlorinated and/or fluorinated alkanes and chlorinated and/or fluorinated alkenes. The reactors comprise one or more designs that minimize the production of by-products at a desired conversion.

Tubular reactors are ubiquitous in the manufacture of commodity chemicals, in particular in processes wherein continuous operation is desired or required. The ideal flow condition in a tubular reactor is 'plug flow', and under such ideal conditions, the residence time in the reactor is the same for all elements of fluid and there is typically a uniform velocity profile across the radius of the reactor. Product mixing is also ideally limited to material the same age, i.e. mixing occurs in the radial direction only. That is, as the plug flows through the reactor, the plug components are perfectly mixed in the radial direction, with mixing in the axial direction being nonexistent.
While in practice, ideal plug flow does not occur, maintaining reasonably good plug flow (such that the flow profile closely resembles plug flow velocity profile) through tubular reactors provides significant benefits. For one, plug flow provides greater separation between reacted and unreacted material than non plug flow. This is desirable for processes where reaction rate is affected by reactant concentration. And, good plug flow permits precise control of residence time, which can be critical in processes where conversion and/or selectivity are sensitive to the same.
Many factors can impact the ability to provide plug flow conditions approximating ideal. For example, substantial mixing in the axial direction can reduce the quality of plug flow, as can wall friction and diffusion, etc. The effects of many of these can be mitigated by increasing the fluid velocity and/or reactor channel length. Achieving the right combination of residence time, efficient mixing and good plug flow can result in tubular reactors that are hundreds of meters long. Reactors of such length can then present additional difficulties in temperature control and heat transfer characteristics.
It would thus be desirable to provide a tubular reactor capable of approximating plug flow, while yet also providing optimal, e.g., residence time, heat transfer characteristics, temperature control and mixing.

Adiabatic plug flow reactors and processes incorporating the same


Various embodiments of a hearing assistance device and a method of forming such device are disclosed. The hearing assistance device can provide sound to an ear of a patient. The device includes a housing adapted to be worn on or behind the ear, hearing assistance components enclosed in the housing, and an earmold adapted to be worn in the ear. The device further includes a sound tube adapted to transmit sound from the housing to the earmold, and an earhook adapted to connect the housing to the sound tube. The earmold and the sound tube are printed three dimensionally (3D) as one piece that is custom fit for the patient using a computer-aided design software (CAD) model. Further, a first end of the sound tube is integral with the earmold.

Hearing assistance devices, such as hearing aids, can be used to assist patients suffering hearing loss by transmitting amplified sounds to one or both ear canals. In one example, a hearing aid can be worn in and/or around a patient's ear. Hearing aids can be small and of appropriate form-factor to be unobtrusive and comfortable for the patient to wear. A behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid can utilize tubing (i.e., a sound tube) to interface an earhook of the behind-the-ear portion with an earmold worn in the patient's ear. Traditional earmold tubing is attached using a secondary process including inserting, via friction fit, a silicone hollow tube through a sound hole formed in the earmold. This traditional tubing tends to age and wear, becoming yellow and brittle. Replacing the tubing can be problematic, as it can be difficult to ensure proper tube direction and length for a particular patient.

Hearing assistance device and method of forming same


In an apparatus for controlling operation of an autonomously navigating utility vehicle equipped with a prime mover to travel about a working area delineated by a boundary wire laid thereat in order to perform work autonomously, there are provided with a working region establishing unit that divides the working area into multiple regions by an imaginary boundary line designated by an operator and establishes a preferential working region in the working area, and a travel controlling unit that controls operation of the prime mover to make the vehicle travel autonomously in the preferential working region, discriminates whether the vehicle has reached the imaginary boundary line based on a detected vehicle position detector, and when the vehicle has reached the imaginary boundary line, controlling operation of the prime mover to make the vehicle turn toward inside of the preferential working region.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a control apparatus for an autonomously navigating utility vehicle that autonomously navigates and performs lawn mowing and/or other tasks in a working area.
Description of Related Art
Among conventional control apparatuses for such an autonomously navigating utility vehicle are known control apparatuses that enable a working area delineated by a boundary wire to be divided into multiple areas (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2013-164743, for example). The control apparatus described in this reference enables the working area to be divided into multiple regions by folding back the boundary wire at arbitrary positions spaced at predetermined intervals to form fold regions and prohibiting the utility vehicle from passing through the fold regions when traveling to carry out work.
However, division of the working area is not easy with the control apparatus of the reference because the division of the working area into multiple regions requires the boundary wire to be folded back.

Control apparatus for autonomously navigating utility vehicle


A door trim for a vehicle includes a front trim, a rear trim, and at least one trim component. The front trim is to be arranged closer to the front of the vehicle. The rear trim is to be arranged closer to a rear of the vehicle. The at least one trim component is mounted to the front trim and the rear trim so as to extend from the front trim to the rear trim across a boundary between the front trim and the rear trim.

A door trim mounted to a door of a vehicle disclosed in JP-A-H09-118131 Japanese Published Patent Application to Tsutumi Hisashi is known. The door trim includes a front trim and a rear trim provided as separate parts. Functional parts of the door are concentrated on the front trim. Because the door trim is divided into the front trim and the rear trim, sizes of forming dies can be reduced and the front trim can be used for a three-door vehicle or a five-door vehicle.
In comparison to a door trim provided as a single part, the rigidity of the door trim having the above configuration around a boundary between the front trim and the rear trim may decrease. The rigidity of the door trim around the boundary between the front trim and the rear trim needs to be increased without additional parts for reinforcement of the door trim.


A process to obtain a level top surface topography, for a semiconductor chip comprised with high step height, DRAM crown shaped capacitor structures, as well as comprised with lower step height, peripheral logic devices, has been developed. The process features the use of selective vapor HF procedures, removing insulator layers only from regions located between individual DRAM crown shaped storage node structures. The polysilicon layer, used for the upper plate structure, fills the space between individual crown shaped storage node structures, allowing a level top surface topography for the semiconductor chip to be realized, featuring an upper plate structure, as the top surface of the DRAM region, while the peripheral, logic device region, at the same level as the top of the DRAM crown shaped capacitor structures, is encased in insulator layers.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods used to fabricate semiconductor devices, and more specifically to a method used to achieve global planarization for integrated circuits comprised with dynamic random access memory, (DRAM), devices, and with logic devices.
(2) Description of Prior Art
Integration of memory devices, such as DRAM devices, with logic devices, on the same semiconductor chip, have resulted in enhanced performance, as well as cost reductions, for the specific semiconductor chip formed with both type devices, when compared to counterpart combinations of semiconductor chips, each comprised with either only memory or only logic devices. In addition, the performance of DRAM devices has been enhanced via the use of crown shaped capacitor structures, resulting in increased capacitor surface area, thus supplying increased capacitance and signal. However the high step height of the DRAM, crown shaped capacitor, located in a memory cell array, adjacent to peripheral regions comprised with lower step height, logic devices, can lead to difficulties when attempting to globally cover these devices with insulator.
This invention will describe a novel procedure for obtaining global planarization for semiconductor chips comprised with both type devices, resulting in a smooth top surface topography for passivating insulator layers which overlay both DRAM devices, comprised with crown shaped capacitor structures, and logic devices, comprised with metal interconnect structures, less demanding in step height than the crown shaped capacitor structures, of the DRAM devices. This is accomplished using a series of selective HF vapor etch procedures. After formation of the crown shaped storage node structures, in storage node openings formed in a thick borophosphosilicate glass, (BPSG), layer, a thin, chemically vapor deposited, silicon oxide layer, formed using tetraethylorthosilicate, (TEOS), as a source, is used to cover the crown shaped storage node structures, as well as covering all regions of the top surface of the BPSG layer, including the region between crown capacitor shapes. A photoresist shape is formed overlying non-crown shaped structures, followed by a first HF vapor etch procedure, selectively removing the TEOS formed, silicon oxide layer from the crown capacitor shapes, as well as from the BPSG layer, located between the crown shaped structures. A second HF vapor etch is then used to remove the BPSG layer from between crown shaped structures, using either the photoresist shape as a mask, or removing the photoresist shape, and using the thin TEOS formed, silicon oxide layer, as an etch mask. The use of the TEOS formed silicon oxide layer, and the selective HF vapor etch, do not rely on the photoresist shape, which can be damaged during a conventional wet etch, BPSG removal procedure, to protect insulator layers overlying non-DRAM regions. Subsequent formation of polysilicon upper plate structures, fill the space between the crown shaped structures, resulting in a smooth top surface topography for a semiconductor device, comprised with high step height, DRAM devices, and with less severe step height, logic devices.
Prior art, such as Kleinhenz et al, in US. Pat. No. 5,876,879, as well as Man, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,233, describe methods of selectively etching insulator layers, using HF vapor etching. These prior arts however, do not describe the novel series of procedures, photoresist masking, TEOS formed silicon oxide masking, and the selective HF vapor etch, used in this invention, to obtain global planarization for semiconductor chips comprised with varying step height structures.

Global planarization process for high step DRAM devices via use of HF vapor etching

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation


Method for collecting information from other radio transmitters and/or receivers for the purpose of coordinating and controlling the interference between transmitters and receivers. The method comprises discovering other radio transmitters and receivers in a network. Peer-to-peer communication is used over the Internet when determining relevant neighboring nodes for own communication and performing resource management for the set of radio transmitters and receivers.

The part of the radio frequency spectrum suitable for mobile and wireless services is limited and already occupied by other services in most countries. First came radio, then television, and then the mobile networks which have a growing demand for more bandwidth. Fixed Internet connections via for instance optical fibers provide plenty of capacity. Users expect wireless networks to offer the same. This is however a dilemma due to sharing of the capacity of cells comprised in the wireless network. In order to solve this dilemma, it is necessary to make smaller cells and more of them so every user can have access to the entire bandwidth of the operator without sharing it with other users. The consequence is that there will be multiple wireless networks with even shorter range than today.
Because the use of radio spectrum is auctioned by national governments it has become clear that a license for access to spectrum is a valuable resource of great importance to the entire community. This is because access to the Internet is of great national importance for the whole community with respect to settlements, infrastructure and industry. It is further not satisfactory when TV signals takes up much of the most attractive part of the spectrum without using it fully. As a consequence, major research programs all over the world have been initiated to find solutions on how the radio spectrum can be better utilized.
The lack of radio spectrum combined with a growing need for even more spectrum makes it essential to find new ways to use the spectrum. This is further emphasized by the fact that a network of radio devices connected to the Internet will in many cases consist of thousands to tens of thousands of nodes distributed over large areas, even countries. With this vast amount of different radios it is important to be able to find other radio devices to communicate with and also radio devices to coordinate traffic with.
New ways of using the radio spectrum is the subject of standardization within ETSI RRS, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.19, 3GPP, IEEE DySPAN and IETF. Much of this work is about how the new radio networks can share the spectrum currently used by TV signals. In the EU Seventh Framework Program FP7, there are several programs that work with co-existence between the TV and a better utilization of the dynamic spectrum. The following projects running in FP7 address new ways of using the radio spectrum: "Quality of Service and Mobility driven cognitive radio systems (QoSMOS)", "Cognitive radio systems for the efficient sharing of TV white spaces In the European context (COGEU)", "Spectrum and energy efficiency through multi-band cognitive radio (S acre)", "Opportunistic networks and cognitive Management Systems for Efficient Application Provision in the Future Internet (OneFIT), and COST-TERRA.
In the United States DARPA and National Science Foundation has funded several programs on this topic. The White Spaces Coalition group plans to deliver high speed internet access to United States consumers via existing "white space" in unused television frequencies between 54 MHz and 698 MHz (TV Channels 2-51). The group includes Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, Intel, Philips, Earthlink, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
Many publications support the IEEE 802.22 standard in which new WiMAX like radio networks can be established which can coexist with TV's sharing the same band, by being sufficiently far away. This is done by measuring the presence of TV transmission as described in for example US 2010/0075704 A1 or detection of other radio nodes as described in US 2010/0097952 A1. Local transmission at all radio sites can however not be detected. This is described as the "hidden node problem".
The article: N. Ahmed, D. Hadaller, and S. Keshav, "Guess: gossiping updates for efficient spectrum sensing," in Proceedings of the 1st international workshop on Decentralized resource sharing in mobile computing and networking, MobiShare '06, (New York, N.Y., USA), pp. 12-17, ACM, 2006, is based on distributing spectral sensing between multiple nodes as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,738,890, US 2007/0253394 A1, and sharing information by a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol in which spectrum sensing information by neighbor nodes for the purpose of resolving the "hidden node problem" and determine if TV transmission is present or not. This approach is different from the present invention in that it is based on effectively sharing spectral sensing information, not discovering other nodes over the Internet.
Several other patent publications like for instance US 2010/0136997 A1 use P2P in a different way than in the present invention. In the present invention P2P refers to communication between end nodes over the Internet forming a logical network or overlay. In US 2010/0136997 A1 P2P is used when there is direct communication between mobile units without using a base station like in Qualcomm proprietary technology FlashLinq which is built into its radios that allows devices to automatically discover thousands of other FlashLinq enabled devices within 1 kilometer and share a broadband connection with them. The difference between this technique and that of the present invention, is that FlashLinq uses radio, while the present invention uses Internet. FlashLinq provides direct radio connectivity between mobile terminals (user equipment) while the present invention provide communication through radios connected to Internet. Another technology is Wi-Fi Direct, which establish direct point to point links by Wi-Fi radio and therefore not related for the present invention.
Related US patent publications use dedicated control channels rather than Internet to coordinate the use of radio resources, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 7,894,821, US 2008/0089306 A1, US 2010/0075704 A1. These claims are limited to be used within networks composed of specific nodes which is quite different from the method used in the present invention which only require a generic application running on any radio node with Internet connectivity.
The use of a transmitted beacon is a good way to determine the path loss between a transmitter and a receiver. This parameter is also commonly used for resource allocation. Beacon measurements can also be used as a method to determine which radio nodes are relevant for resource allocation as described in US 2006/0286934 A1. This is an alternative solution, but it is quite different from the method of the present invention, which determines the most relevant nodes for which coordination is performed, using the Internet and location information.
Prior art does not provide an efficient solution to the problem of efficient sharing of the TV spectrum with regards to solving the "hidden node problem" without the use of central databases which do not scale as the traffic increases.
The present invention defines a method for improved allocation of all available network resources by discovering radio nodes such as routers and wireless base stations for mobile systems, like femtocells connected to Internet. The method allows the sharing of a radio spectrum with radio nodes like TVs. By using this method, "the hidden node problem" which occurs when a transmitter disturbs a local receiver without being aware of its presence will be avoided.
The inventive method uses Internet to find the most relevant transmitters and receivers to exchange information and coordinate resources within their area to achieve an optimal utilization of the radio spectrum. The method is suitable to be implemented as a computer program performing the inventive method when run on a processor executing the different steps of the method. The processor used for this can be one that is included in small base stations. The method requires little additional use of the Internet capacity.

Large-scale peer-to-peer discovery mechanism for frequency allocation


A method, system and computer program product for partitioning the binary image of a software program, and partially removing code bits to create an encrypted software key, to increase software security. The software program's binary image is partitioned along a random segment length or a byte/nibble segment length, and the code bits removed, and stored, along with their positional data in a software key. The software key is encrypted and is separately distributed from the inoperable binary image to the end user. The encrypted key is stored on a secure remote server. When the end user properly authenticates with the developer's remote servers, the encrypted security key is downloaded from the secure remote server and is locally decrypted. The removed code bits are reinserted into the fractioned binary image utilizing the positional location information. The binary image is then operable to complete execution of the software program.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to computer software and in particular to an improved method for protecting computer software.
2. Description of the Related Art
Within the last decade, the utilization of computers in homes and offices has become extensively widespread. However, the increasing use of computers has resulted in unauthorized use and copying of computer software, which unfortunately causes software developers to lose substantial revenue. Although unauthorized copying of computer software is a violation of the law, the widespread availability of pirated software and difficulties in enforcing against such piracy have resulted in increasing use of pirated software.
Software piracy is one of the most problematic issues facing software developers. Developers are hurt by loss in revenue, and consumers are hurt by the possibility of using software that is cracked, possibly causing a breach in the security of their computer system. Current solutions to software piracy involve use of serial numbers or the use of a verification code to validate software that has been legally purchased. However, serial numbers and verification codes may be easily cracked utilizing decompilers.
Dongles, or hardware keys, are an alternative method of security utilized to authenticate software. Software developers use dongles as a form of software copy prevention. Dongles are distributed with legally purchased software and allow computer systems to run the software when the hardware key is installed. Dongles may be expensive and generally inconvenient to the end user. A solution is needed that is transparent to the end user and easy to implement by software developers.

Preventing execution of software without a dynamically generated key

International Business Machines Corporation


A bustdart-free tailoring process for a fitted-waist dress having armpits, made of a woven cloth having warp and weft yarns, and designed so as to eliminate cutting of the back piece, is performed by steam-warming and wet-treating a predetermined area of the woven cloth to make the warp and waft yarns more flexible for subsequent realignment thereof, setting a pre-arranged point within the predetermined area to serve as curvature centroid, stretch-ironing bilaterally and outwardly from a line connecting a preselected point with a preselected armpit point along curvature paths conforming with said curvature centroid, thereafter heat-treating the warp and weft yarns within the predetermined area so as to re-align the yarns toward the prearranged point, and one-way permanent-pressing at least a pre-arranged area of the cloth towards the preselected point so as to let at least a preselected portion of the cloth form a preselected curvature. The process also provides for eliminating the cutting of the back waist portion.

A bust dart-free tailoring process to eliminate back cutting for a dress with fitted waist, and more particularly a one-piece dress tailoring process to provide proper curvature on the bust and the back waist portion to fit a human body without letting the cloth grain to be twisted or destroyed due to a dart arranging or cutting process.
Regular dress tailoring methods are mainly adopted from the papers issued by Japan or some other countries. However, the dress for women's wear should provide a bust dart to form a fitting curvature and should be cut to reduce the waist to fit a human body. This tailoring method requires dart and cutting and is not applicable with a striped fabric, checkered or patterned cloth since the pattern of the cloth will be distorted.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the problems of regular tailoring methods.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a tailoring process so that a dress made according to the present tailoring process can provide a proper curvature on the bust and the back waist portion to fit a human body and the entire beauty of the grain of the cloth used will not be destroyed due to dart arranging or cutting.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dress tailoring process to upgrade dress tailoring technique, to let the dress made according to the present invention be more attractive while worn, and to increase the added value:

Bustdart-free tailoring process for a fitted-waist dress to eliminate cutting of its backpiece


A semiconductor device for measuring IR radiation comprising: at least one sensor pixel; at least one reference pixel shielded from said IR radiation comprising a heater; a controller adapted for: measuring a responsivity by applying power to the heater, while not heating the sensor pixel; measuring a first output signal of an unheated pixel and a first reference output signal of the heated pixel, obtaining the responsivity as a function of a measure of the applied power to the heater and of the difference between the first output signal and the first reference output signal; applying a period of cooling down until the temperature of the reference pixel and the sensor pixel are substantially the same; generating the output signal indicative of the IR radiation, based on the difference between the sensor and the reference output signal, by converting this difference using the responsivity.

Thermal IR sensors and methods of measuring IR radiation by means of semiconductor circuits, in particular by making use of MEMS structure suspended in a cavity, and comprising a temperature sensor, are well known in the art.
Most IR sensors transfer an incoming IR signal into a temperature increase of a thermally isolated structure (referred to herein as "absorber") arranged for absorbing the IR radiation. The absorber is typically a so called membrane or diaphragm suspended in a sealed cavity by means of a suspension structure (e.g. long and thin beams). It's noted that the absorber feature is not limited to a dedicated absorbing layer, but is seen as the general feature of the detector to collect IR radiation by means of absorption. The more IR-power the isolated structure receives, the higher the temperature of the absorber will be with respect to the bulk (substrate and cap). For each amount of IR radiation, there is an equilibrium temperature at which the heating-up due to the incident IR power equals the heat loss from the absorber to the surrounding substrate and cap via heat conduction, heat convection and heat radiation. The temperature increase of the absorber is thus an indication of the amount of incident IR radiation, and is typically measured by means of a resistor with a high temperature dependence (bolometer) or by means of a series of thermocouples (thermopile). In this document the heat absorber with temperature sensor is referred to as a "pixel".
For good sensitivity of the pixel, the temperature output signal would preferably be as large as possible for a given amount of IR-radiation power. The sensitivity of such a pixel is determined by three physically different gain factors: The first factor is determined by transmission, absorption and reflection of the IR light through the lid or cap onto the absorber. The second gain factor is determined by the thermal heat resistance between the absorber and the bulk of the device. This second factor especially depends on the heat resistance through the suspension structure (e.g. beams) of the thermally isolated structure and the heat resistance through the surrounding gas. The third factor is determined by the thermometer which is typically a resistor with high temperature dependence or a series of thermocouples (thermopile).
The stability and linearity of such a sensor clearly depends on the stability and linearity of the different gain factors, and often compromises have to be made between signal amplification and amplification stability. One of the most difficult parameters to control is the heat conduction from the absorber through the gas that surrounds the absorber.
The problem is that the sensitivity of infrared detectors can change over time due a potential change over time of the heat conduction from the absorber through the gas that surrounds the absorber. This could be induced by e.g. any small outgassing process, any small hermeticity leakage or any small permeability which would result in a change of the internal system pressure. This would finally lead to an error in the output signal.


A method and apparatus for inspecting a semiconductor device in which failure occurence conditions on a whole wafer are estimated by calculating the statistic of potential contrasts in pattern sections from sampled images to implement higher throughput, and defective conditions of a process are detected at an early stage with the help of time series data of the estimate result.

This invention relates to technique for inspecting a semiconductor device; and, more particularly, the invention relates to a wafer inspection method and apparatus suitable for control of defective conditions which occur in the fabricating processes carried out in a semiconductor device production line.
In a semiconductor device, a conduction failure of contact holes leads to fatal defects, including characteristic failures, and has a significant impact on the yield of the semiconductor device. Such a failure is often caused by changes in production requirements or defective operation of manufacturing equipment and often results in the production of a large amount of defective units. Such defective conditions in process are controlled, in general, by periodically checking for changes in pattern geometries with a critical dimension measurement SEM. However, the evaluation of pattern geometries alone cannot directly identify the conducting state of contact parts.
On the other hand, JP-A No. 2000-58608 discloses a method of detecting conduction failures by using the brightness of contact parts as well as pattern geometries. This method utilizes a feature of an electron microscope image. The charge-up amount of a pattern produced by irradiation of electron beams thereon varies depending on the conducting states of contact parts and shows a contrast between normal parts and defective parts on a secondary electron image to be detected. With such a method, it is possible to inspect electrical characteristics that cannot be checked by a visual check of the external view.
In recent years, a wafer inspection apparatus using SEM images has also come to be utilized, as disclosed in JP-A Nos. 1993-258703 and 2000-208085, and efficient defect inspection has became possible. This kind of apparatus utilizes the repeatability of the same patterns containing devices such as cells and chips within the conductor traces and compares images of these patterns to detect defects.
As stated above, a method using SEM images has come into widespread usage as a means of detecting electrical conduction failures of contact windows. However, this method requires a considerably long tine to obtain an SEM image with a high signal-to-noise ratio and high resolution; in this regard, it takes a few hours to tens of hours to perform inspection of a whole wafer. Therefore, the in-line usage of this method is difficult. In addition, an inspection method involving comparison of images has a drawback in that, when there is a quantity occurrence of defects, images of the defects are compared with each other, making an accurate defect inspection difficult.
In addition, all of these inspection methods are intended for defect inspection, so they cannot predict the occurrence of electrical conduction failures. However, since failures caused by changes in production requirements and defective conditions of manufacturing equipment can suddenly be encountered in a large amount and on a massive scale and invite too many wafers with defects at the time of the occurrence, it is desirable to detect changes in processes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for inspecting a semiconductor device


In a vinyl lined metal tank, the manway or other opening includes a sealed vertical flanged collar that creates a space in the manway between the metal portion of the manway and the vinyl liner. A port extends from the periphery of the flange into communication with the created space. A vacuum maintained within the created space prevents the collapse of the vinyl liner while the tank is empty.

This invention relates to the method by which a vacuum may be maintained between the interior of a storage tank and an interior flexible liner to prevent the collapse of the interior flexible liner as the fuel is removed from the storage tank.
The containment of liquids, slurries and other non-solid substances is currently provided by storage tanks. These storage tanks have been built of steel or similar metals in order to provide strength, but have also been built of durable plastics. Many of the storage tanks, particularly those for storing fuels, such as gasoline, heating oil and such, have been installed underground. Other storage tanks have been installed above ground or partially below the surface. Storage tanks are also used for the transport of fluids such as on railroad tank cars, trucks, watercraft and other transportation vehicles.
For a variety of reasons, it has been advantageous to install flexible liners internally within the storage tanks. These flexible liners provide a safety feature, preventing the escape of the stored fluid from the storage tank in the event that stresses, damage or corrosion cause a leak in the storage tank. Where the fuel contained is toxic or otherwise potentially harmful to the environment about the storage tank, the addition of an internal flexible liner has been an effective means of prevention of potential contamination. The presence of an internal flexible liner also serves to prevent the contamination of the stored fluid from external sources, such as ground water in underground tanks which might develop a crack or hole over time, or rainwater and other contaminants which might seep into above ground tanks if similarly damaged.
Many existing storage tanks, particularly underground fuel storage tanks, have been retrofitted with internal flexible liners to prevent ground contamination by potential leaks of the fuel. The flexible liner, whether installed in underground fuel storage tanks or other storage tanks, is typically maintained in place while the storage tank is empty, or only partially full, by means of negative pressure between the external wall of the flexible liner and the internal wall surface of the storage tank. Proper maintenance of the negative pressure or vacuum is not easy.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved method for establishing and maintaining the negative pressure or vacuum between the inner wall surface of the solid storage tank and the outer wall surface of the flexible liner, both during installation or replacement of the flexible liner and while the flexible liner is installed.


A port control apparatus for restricting access to ports of an electronic device is disclosed. The port control apparatus comprises a housing constructed to lockingly attach to an exterior surface of the device to form an enclosure that houses the ports. Formed in the housing is at least one aperture each dimensioned to prevent passage of a connector adapted to mate with an associated port while permitting passage of cable bodies integral with any connector mated with an associated port.

Computing equipment is prevalent in today's personal and business environments. Businesses and individuals rely on the security and integrity of their equipment to ensure continued productivity. However, computers and other types of electronic devices are vulnerable to theft and tampering. Beyond the device itself, there are typically various valuable peripherals attached to computers which are also vulnerable.
For computers and other equipment containing electronic data, the primary value in the device is often the value of the data itself, and not the hardware. Unsecured access to the input output ports of such devices provides an opportunity to remove or copy electronic data stored in the device. For example, Universal Serial Bus (USB) and other ports can be easily and quickly accessed to extract electronic information using disk on keys, flash drives and USB drives. Oftentimes there are no readily visible signs that such a theft or tampering has occurred.

Controlling access to ports of an electronic device

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A tire pressure monitoring apparatus, for mounting on a vehicle wheel that is configured to have a tire mounted thereon and that has a first opening, includes a tire monitor for sensing pressure in the tire. The tire monitor includes a housing having a spherical surface and a second opening that extends through the spherical surface. A tire valve stem is configured to extend through the first and second openings, and the valve stem has a threaded portion. The apparatus further includes a threaded fastener that is engageable with the threaded portion of the valve stem for attaching together the tire monitor and the valve stem. The fastener has a spherical surface that is engageable with the spherical surface of the housing when the fastener is engaged with the threaded portion of the valve stem.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an attachment mechanism for a tire monitoring system.
2. Background Art
Tire monitoring systems are designed to monitor a tire parameter, such as tire pressure, and may be configured to be attached to a vehicle wheel. Examples of prior attachment mechanisms for use with tire monitoring systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,844,131 and 6,055,855.

Attachment mechanism for a tire monitoring system


The method of fabricating a stone-hard, mold-free, scented and decorative bead includes the steps of drying flower petals, finely chopping the dried petals, simmering the finely chopped petals, cooking off excess fluid from the simmered petals and straining to form a pulp, spreading the pulp and placing in a food dehydrator on low setting to form a dried pulp, milling the dried pulp m a flour mill on highest/finest setting to form a petal powder, mixing the petal powder with gum arabic solution and either flower oil or olive oil to form a clay composition, using either a form or hand rolling the clay composition to form a bead, piercing the bead with a pin, rotating the bead on the pin to form a dned bead, removing the dried bead from the pin to form a pierced bead, determining if a smoother surface is desired, if so buffing with final finish sandpaper, and determining if a shiny bead is desired, if so touching lightly petroleum jelly onto the pierced bead and wiping off to shine.

A. The Field of the Invention.
The embodiments of the present invention relate to a scented bead and similar article, and more particularly, the embodiments of the present invention relate to a stone-hard, mold-free, scented, and decorative bead and similar article, such as, but not limited to, jewelry, rosaries, bookmarks, etc., and method of fabrication.
B. The Description of the Prior Art.
Numerous innovations for scented articles have been provided in the prior art, which will be described below in chronological order to show advancement in the art, and which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention in that they do not teach a stone-hard, mold-free, scented, and decorative bead and similar article, and method of fabrication.
(1) The U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,156 to Murray et al.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,156 issued to Murray et al. on Apr. 26, 1977 in U.S. class 424 and subclass 76 teaches fragrance releasing crystal beads that gradually release a fragrance under anhydrous conditions and provide a rapid release of fragrance when wetted. The beads include a water-soluble particulate carrier, e.g., prilled urea, coated with a finely divided highly absorptive inorganic matrix containing the fragrance. The beads optionally include emollients, bacteriostats, and the like and can be used for pleasingly perfumed sachets, as bath beads, or as agents for the control of malodors in pet litter. The particulate beads may be conspicuously colored so that their color substantially disappears as they are dissolved, giving a visual indication of the need for replenishment.
(2) The U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,602 to Coffey et al.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,602 issued to Coffey et al. on Oct. 6, 1981 in U.S. class 428 and subclass 28 teaches a fragrant ornament, such as a jewelry piece, that includes a mixture of a major amount of a natural botanical plant material, essential oils, and a minor amount of a fluorocarbon resin binder. A method for formulating and molding the ornament is also taught.
(3) The U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,182 to Lee et al.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,182 issued to Lee et al. on May 31, 1994 in U.S. class 222 and subclass 78 teaches a toy in the form of jewelry has a water compartment, a pump or an atomizer, and a source of a perfume scent, which is released when sprayed with water. The source of the scent is, preferably, a simulated jewel containing a bead of scent releasing material. The simulated jewel may be replaced when the scent is exhausted.
(4) The U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,260 B1 to Lutz.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,260 B1 issued to Lutz on Mar. 19, 2002 in U.S. class 63 and subclass 1.11 teaches a scented friendship bracelet kit containing several ornamental beads, a plurality of polymer pellets impregnated with a fragrance, a mesh fabric bundled about the beads and pellets, and a tie string holding the fabric bundle together. The kit is provided as a bundle and can be used as an air freshener.
(5) The U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,984 B1 to Russo et al.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,984 B1 issued to Russo et al. on May 7, 2002 in U.S. class 63 and subclass 1.15 teaches a rechargeable article of jewelry that dispenses perfumed vapors, and has a chamber formed from housing members. The housing members are made of a material containing the perfumed vapors in the chamber and allows for releasing them into the atmosphere. A nugget of unglazed ceramic material is provided in the chamber and is of a size less than the chamber so that it is free to move inside the chamber and allow air to pass around the nugget. The chamber has apertures therein through which an aromatic liquid, such as perfume, can be deposited on and absorbed by the nugget. The apertures also allow air to circulate around the nugget and generate perfumed vapors that may exit the chamber through the apertures. The nugget is larger than any of the apertures so the nugget is retained in the chamber. A method of making scented jewelry is also taught.
(6) The United States patent application Publication Number US 2006/0010914 A1 to Costanzo.
The United States patent application Publication Number US 2006/0010914 A1 published to Costanzo on Jan. 19, 2006 in U.S. class 63 and subclass 36 teaches a high-end fashion decorative natural flora ornament including at least one attachment apparatus and at least one flora that is attached to the attachment apparatus, and the attachment apparatus is fixedly or detachably attachable to a person or to the accouterments of a person, such as a purse, suitcase, or the like. The flora may be a live flower, a dried flower, a grass, an artificial flower, or the like. The attachment apparatus may be an earring made from natural plant material that may be wood, grass, or the like. Alternatively, the earring may be made from a solid material, such as glass, ceramic, paper, plastic, or metal. The metal may be silver, sterling silver, gold, platinum, an alloy, or the like. Alternatively, the attachment apparatus may be a bracelet, necklace, hair apparatus, body-pierced ornament, a clip, such as a tie clip or broach, cufflinks, or a buckle, such as a purse or belt buckle.
(7) The United States patent application Publication Number US 2007/0006614 A1 to Martz.
The United States patent application Publication Number US 2007/0006614 A1 published to Martz on Jan. 11, 2007 in U.S. class 63 and subclass 15 teaches a fragrant decorative jewelry accessory including an infusion of fragrantly volatile molecules into the accessory, and an adhesive on the underside of the accessory intended to removably attach the accessory. Fragrance may be infused on the accessory by soaking an absorbent material with the fragrantly volatile molecules, through a printing technique, through attaching encapsulated fragrance molecules onto the accessory, or through the attachment of an fragrance layer onto the accessory. The fragrant decorative accessory can be removably attached to clothing, a bra strap, a choker, or a hair accessory.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for scented articles have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the embodiments of the present invention as heretofore described, namely, a stone-hard, mold-free, scented, and decorative bead and similar article, and method of fabrication.

Stone-hard, mold-free, scented, and decorative bead and similar article, and method of fabrication


A sheet feeder of the present invention allows a sheet feed cassette having a small capacity and a sheet feed cassette having a large capacity to be installed to a sheet feed unit by making not only members for connection between each sheet feed cassette and the sheet feed unit but also their positional relationship in common.

The present invention relates to a sheet feeder used for an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or an electronic copying machine.
With an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or an electronic copying machine, cut sheets are set in a sheet containing unit such as a sheet feed cassette or sheet feed tray (hereinafter referred to as "sheet feed cassette"), and the sheet feed cassette is installed in a sheet feeder of the image forming apparatus, so that sheets can be fed one by one using a sheet feed member such as a sheet feed roller arranged in a sheet feed section of the sheet feeder.
In response to a recently increasing demand for using laser printers as printers for word processors and personal computers, an attempt has been made to meet a need for minimizing trouble of sheet shortage by setting a large number of frequently used sheets in the printers. However, such a conventional image forming apparatus requires replenishment of sheets in the course of printing a large number of sheets because the apparatus uses only sheet feed cassettes having a predetermined capacity.
To overcome the problem, sheet feeders capable of receiving not only sheet feed cassettes having a standard capacity but also sheet feed cassettes having a large capacity are proposed in, e.g., Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publications Nos. 8954/1985 and 59264/1985. Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 230164/1985 discloses an image recording apparatus that designs a sheet feed section as a single sheet feed unit and allows as many sheet feed units to be added to the apparatus body unit as are required.
However, the above-described apparatuses disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publications Nos. 8954/1985 and 59264/1985 have such a structure that a sheet feed cassette is installed to the bottom of the apparatus body. This makes the operation of installing and removing the sheet feed cassette more difficult than the type in which the sheet feed cassette is installed from the side of the apparatus body. In addition, when the sheet feed cassette is replaced with that having a large capacity, the apparatuses additionally require the operations of adjusting the height of a member supporting the apparatus body and replacing such member itself.
Further, an apparatus proposed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 230164/1985 can use only sheet feed cassettes having a predetermined capacity (e.g., 250 sheets). Therefore, when a large number of sheets are printed, a new sheet feed cassette must be selected every time the sheets in a sheet feed cassette run out, making the operation troublesome. Still further, the apparatus requires a sheet feed section for each sheet feed cassette, making the apparatus not only mechanically complicated but also economically disadvantageous.

Sheet feeder for an image forming apparatus


A game is played by building a tower of bricks in multiple levels, and players alternately removing a brick from one level and adding it to the top of the tower to build new levels, until collapse of the tower occurs. Bricks of a variety of different types are provided with each type having different physical characteristics, such as shape, size, surface configuration and/or coefficient of friction. At least two adjacent layers of the initial tower are formed from bricks of different types.

Tower building games are known in which a number of rectangular bricks are arranged in layers to form a tower, with the orientation of the rectangular bricks alternating from one layer to the next to provide frictional coupling between layers and adjacent bricks in the same layer. During a typical play scenario, the height of the tower is increased by removing bricks from one or more lower layers to build successive upper layers. A brick is a key brick if it is directly under the center of gravity of the bricks above it and is (or will be) the only brick in a given layer, or if it is one of two remaining bricks on either side of the center of gravity of the bricks above it. The game ends if the tower collapses because a key brick has been removed, or if the tower becomes unstable or is knocked over during the attempted removal of any brick. Since there may be slight variations in the thickness of the individual bricks or the tower may not be exactly vertical, the weight of the upper layers may not be evenly distributed on all bricks of a given layer. Accordingly, even a brick which is not a key brick may be supporting much of the weight of the tower in which case one or more bricks in adjacent layers will be dragged out of position by friction when the weight-supporting brick is removed. Thus, it is conventional to permit players to test for loose bricks before deciding which brick to remove, but to restrict players to the use of a single hand while removing bricks. An example of such a game using precisely manufactured polished wooden bricks is sold under the trademark JENGA by the Milton Bradley Company.
A known variant marketed in Canada under the trademark JENGA ULTIMATE utilizes more than one color of rectangular brick, with the different colors randomly distributed throughout the original tower. A die is rolled to determine what color brick must be removed during the next round of play, thereby adding an element of chance to the game's outcome.
Although the described games use bricks having length to width ratio of about 3:1, whereby three bricks may be initially arranged in a compact square layer having three contiguous bricks, similar tower building games are known in which somewhat narrower rectangular blocks are initially spaced apart horizontally. Other known variants use plastic rectangular bricks.


An air pump head comprises a housing, a rotating member, a locating member, two leakproof rings, an elastic body, an opening member, a pressing member, and an end jacket. The housing is provided therein with a first receiving space and a second receiving space. The rotating member is disposed in the first receiving space and is fastened at one end thereof with the cylinder of the air pump. The body of the rotating member has a cam section corresponding in location to the second receiving space and further has an air duct in communication with the cam section. Two leakproof elements are attached to both ends of the rotating member to seal off the first receiving space. The elastic body is disposed in the second receiving space for engaging a tire air valve. The opening member and the pressing member are disposed in the second receiving space such that the opening member is connected with the elastic body and that the pressing member and the opening member are lapped together. The end jacket is fastened to the outer end of the second receiving space to ensure that the elastic body, the opening member and the pressing member are held securely in the second receiving space.

As shown in FIG. 13, a bicycle air pump head of the prior art comprises a cylindrical body 51 having a neck 511 for connecting with a tubular member (not shown in the drawing) and a receiving space 512 of cylindrical construction, a pressing member 52 pivoted to the upper portion of the cylindrical body 51 by a pivoting pin 521 and provided with two pressing surfaces 522 and 523. The vertical distance S1 between the pressing surface 522 and the pivoting pin 521 is smaller than the vertical distance S2 between the pressing surface 523 and the pivoting pin 521. The air pump head further comprises a support member 53, a leakproof ring 54, an urging member 55, an elastic body 56, and an end jacket 57. The support member 53 is received in the receiving space 512 and under the pressing member 52 and provided in the lower side thereof with a cut 531. The leakproof ring 54 is fitted over the support member 53 for preventing the air from leaking from the upper portion of the cylindrical body 51. The urging member 55 is disposed under the support member 53 and provided with a through hole 551 in communication with the neck 511 and with a protruded column 552 for use in moving away the closing valve (not shown in the drawing) of the tire air valve. The elastic body 56 is disposed under the urging member 55. The end jacket 57 is fastened to the bottom of the cylindrical body 51 for locking the support member 53, the urging member 55 and the elastic body 56 in the receiving space 512 of the cylindrical body 51. In operation, the center slot 561 of the elastic body 56 is caused to engage a tire air valve before the pressing member 52 is moved upwards, as shown in FIG. 14, with the pressing surface 523 exerting a pressure on the support member 53. As a result, the distance S2 between the pressing surface 523 and the pivoting pin 521 becomes longer, thereby resulting in the support member 53 to cause the urging member 55 to move downwards a distance equal to S2-S1, so as to exert a pressure on the elastic body 56. As the elastic body 56 is caused to deform, the inner diameter of the center slot 561 becomes narrower. The center slot 561 of the elastic body 56 is therefore caused to hold securely the tire air valve to facilitate the air pumping.
As described above, the pressing member 52 must be pressed and turned to cause the elastic body 56 to engage the tire air valve. Such an action can hamper the pumping action. In addition, the end jacket 57 is often provided with a dust-protecting cover. However, the dust can be still caused to enter the pump head through the lower portion of the pressing member 52.

Air pump head capable of engaging tire air valve in twist-locking manner


A magnetic recording media containing a lubricant which is a cyclic phosphazene completely substituted with fluorinated phenoxy substituents and m-perfluoroalkylphenoxy substituents, in ratios ranging from 1:1 to 1:5 is disclosed. The recording media and lubricant are particularly useful for advanced, high density magnetic recording media.

Magnetic recording media such as high density rigid disks, ultra high density floppy disks, digital audio tapes and video tapes can be read by a magnetic recording head as the recording media moves past the recording head. The recording head is in very close proximity to the recording media and frequently contacts the recording media. Such contact causes wear of the thin layer of magnetic material on the recording media and shortens the useful life of the recording media. Older technology media types such as standard audio, VHS video and standard floppy disks experience wear problems due to unsuitable lubricants. These problems included increased friction, scratching and adhesion. Such problems are addressed by the new, more efficient internal and boundary lubricant systems of the present invention. The lubricant of the present invention is designed to be used with the more advanced forms of magnetic recording media mentioned above.
Another important characteristic of a phosphazene lubricant for magnetic media is solvent compatibility of the lubricant. The lubricant must be dissolvable in solvents such as tetrahydrofuran and acetone. The lubricant must also be stable in the presence of water and base.
Lubricants for magnetic media are known in the art, but such lubricants are limited to those for more mature counter-parts of the magnetic media such as standard audio, VHS video and standard floppy disks. Furthermore, these lubricants do not demonstrate solvent compatibility with a wide range of organic solvents and are not stable in water and base. Examples of such lubricants are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,548 to Lum, issued on Sep. 23, 1986, which discloses a magnetic recording media containing a normally liquid phosphazene lubricant, e.g. low molecular weight linear or cyclic polyfluoroalkoxy phosphazene mixtures. Such fluoroalkoxy substituted phosphazenes as recited in the Lum reference do not exhibit the stability of the present invention in bases and water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,634 to Meredith discloses a flame retardant composition for a polymer including a halogen substituted hexakis-(substituted phenoxy) cyclotriphosphazene in the polymer. The halogenated phenoxy substituent utilizes either bromine or chlorine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,843 to Carr et al. discloses a cyclic phosphazene based functional fluid which exhibits fire resistance, fluidity and compatibility with engine seal compositions. The phosphazene is substituted with at least one alkoxy moiety and three different moieties which may include a fluorinated phenoxy moiety or a fluoroalkylphenoxy moiety among various other compounds.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,291,865 to Kuber et al. discloses cyclic polymeric phosphonitrilate compositions substituted with a first substituent which is a polyfluoroalkoxy compound and a second substituent which may include a halogenated lower alkyl-substituted phenoxy or a halogen substituted phenoxy.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,330 to Nichols, discloses a polymeric phosphonitrile substituted with a meta-trifluoromethoxyphenoxy substituent and a phenoxy substituent. The composition is useful as a working fluid, a high temperature lubricant and a plasticizer.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a solvent compatible, magnetic recording media lubricant, including a cyclic phosphazene completely substituted with fluorinated phenoxy moieties. An additional object of the invention is to provide a lubricant which is stable in bases and water and at high temperatures.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide high density, state of the art recording media, such as high density rigid disks, ultra high density floppy disks, digital audio tape, 8 mm video tape and super VHS tape including a lubricant which may be used as an internal or boundary lubricant system to minimize wear and improve overall performance.

Magnetic recording media a comprising magnetic particles binder and (fluorinated phenoxy)(3-perfluoroalkylphenoxy)-cyclic phosphazene lubricant


The invention relates to a film deck (100) for feeding and returning developed photographic films of various types from an insertion station (3, 12) to a processing station (BA) of a mini-lab (ML); with the film deck being intended in particular for APS films and 35 mm films. A rapid and reliable adjustment of the film deck to the various film types to be processed is achieved by providing a first carrier plate (10) with means for film insertion (3, 12) film guidance (2), film transport (4) and film-specific processing (5, 6, 7) of the various film types, and a second carrier plate (20) with means (22, 23, 24, 25) for active film drive of the various film types for transporting them from the insertion device (10) to the processing station (BA), and means (11, 22) for connecting and detaching the first carrier plate (10) to/from the second carrier plate (20).

There are numerous prior art disclosures that pertain to insertion devices for film decks and mini-labs. Among these prior art devices is European patent application 0 770 917 A1, which shows a device for the processing of photographic films within a film insertion station that is designed such that both an APS (Advanced Photo System) film and a 35 mm film can be processed. To that end, European patent application 0 770 917 A1 illustrates film edge guides designed as setting means, which are adjustable to the respective film width by two actuating rods connected to a motor. To prevent incorrect insertions, extensive scanning means are needed to set the film transport and setting means to the film type inserted, such as APS film or 35 mm film. Furthermore, it is necessary to use so-called copy plates for setting a copier (mini-lab) to the film size currently being processed and for which the device is used. This makes the overall design of the device complicated and also prone to wear and faults because of the incorporation of setting and scanning means.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be readily apparent that there remains a need in the art for a design that educes the resulting complexity of the resulting device.


A profiler manager may attach and detach profilers from a running application. A profiler may be detached through a two step process where the profiler is sealed from communicating with the running application, then an evacuation step where the application is able to complete any responses that are pending. While the profiler is in the evacuation phase, another profiler may be attached to the application. Messages to the evacuating profiler may be captured and directed to the proper profiler.

Profilers are performance analysis tools that may be used to monitor the performance of a program or application when running. A profiler may assist a developer by collecting many different runtime statistics and other information about the application. Profilers may use a wide variety of techniques for collect data, including hardware interrupts, code instrumentation or modification, operating system interfaces, and performance counters.
Code instrumentation is a mechanism by which a profiler may make modifications to the application code to, among other things, send data to the profiler. In some embodiments, a virtual machine or other managed environment may be used to compile an application or portion of an application at the time the application is run. Such a compilation may be known as just in time compiling.
Different profilers may have different capabilities. Some profilers may monitor many statistics or variables and produce a heavy computational burden on a system. Other profilers may monitor a few data points and have a lighter burden on the system, which may affect application performance.


A lock for fire-escape door provided with an actuating member having an integrally formed tongue to block the retraction of a main latch from a protruded position provides higher security to the lock. The lock includes: a housing; a pivotable main latch and a pivotable auxiliary latch which are urged by springs to protrude outside of the housing; and an actuating member adapted to keep the main latch protruded out of the housing and operable with a push plate to release the main latch from being kept protruded. The auxiliary latch has a side projection which stops the actuating member at a first position where the auxiliary latch is protruded and the tongue is so disposed to be accommodated by an inner recess of the main latch such that the main latch is free to retract from the protruded position; the same side projection also stops the actuating member at a second position where the auxiliary latch is retracted and the main latch is protruded. At that second stop position a tongue of the actuating member is disposed immediately behind the main latch to block the retraction of the main latch from the protruded position.

The present invention relates to an exit door lock and more particularly to an emergency fire-escape door lock.
Exits which are normally kept closed and locked in a building must be provided with a lock capable of being rapidly unlocked from the inside in case there is a fire or other emergency in the building. There are many kinds of locks available in the market for such purpose; these locks, however, suffer from the following disadvantages:
1) Although the lock can rapidly be unlocked from indoors, it can also easily be picked from the outside by a thief using a tool, or the lock will automatically become unlocked if the exit door is subjected to a relatively large impact force so as to cause the latch of the lock to disengage from the door strike plate by shock; the lock is thus not very effective in maintaining security.
2) Although some locks are designed such that their locking members have additional protection, most of them still have such disadvantages as: a relatively large number of parts; a complicated structure; a relatively high cost; a relatively difficult assembling procedure; and a low reliability.


A method optimizes the performance of multiple communication links in a data telecommunication system that has two or more remote units and a central unit. Each remote is coupled to the central unit through a communication link. A Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) value is measured for each communication link at the central unit. The transmission power level of the remote unit with the highest SNR value is adjusted to reduce interference between adjacent communication links. The transmission power level of all remote units is then increased to overcome noise in the communication links.

High speed data connections that operate over wiring where other active connections are also operating in adjacent wiring may introduce interference, also known as cross-talk interference, into the adjacent wiring. This cross-talk interference can impact the quality of connections existing over the adjacent wiring reducing the distance over which the connection can operate and/or increasing the incidence of data errors over such connections.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional telecommunication system. Remote network elements 102 communicate with a central network element 104, such as a hub, switch, router or access multiplexer, over wired communications links 106 of varying lengths. A remote network element 102 may be a modem, a network interface device, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a router, and the like. Communication links 106 are subject to cross-talk interference from signals active over adjacent communication links coupled from remote network elements 102 to central network element 104. Other sources of noise or interference include transient signals resulting from electromagnetic signals created by other devices including motors, lights, radios, or other devices. Noise and interfering signals from a variety of sources combine to produce complex signals at each end of the communications links, at remote network elements 102 and central network element 104. These complex signals combine with the desired signals transmitted over communications links 106. The remote and central network elements 102 and 104 must be able to recover the desired signal in the presence of this interference. In addition, the strength of the desired signals and the interfering signals is affected by the attenuation of communications links 106. The amount of coupling between the communications links 106 also depends on parameters including the length, the degree of adjacency (closeness) over variable distances and the electrical characteristics of the communications links.106.
A variety of methods have been proposed for minimizing the level of interference in adjacent wiring. An example of such methods is a known power back-off technique used to control the uplink power level in DSL transmissions. Such power back-off techniques attempt to select an appropriate power level for the remote terminal transmitter power. Algorithms used to implement such techniques typically attempt to characterize the quality of the connection based on an analysis of the signal level received from the central network element equipment located at the origin of the connection.
For example, a central network element supporting more than one data connection, for example 10 connections, may use the power back-off algorithm to minimize the level of interference. Each of the 10 remote terminal devices will analyze the power level received from the central network element independently and will select a transmission power level. Because of differences in attenuation at different frequencies (for example, the transmission from the remote terminal device to the central network element may be at a different frequency) the remote terminal devices will in some instances select a transmission power level that is sub-optimal in reference to the ideal power level that would maximize the performance of all data connections to the central network element.
The sub-optimal results could include reduced signal quality on adjacent data connections due to some remote terminal devices transmitting at greater power levels than required. Another result could include remote terminals transmitting with a lower power level than the level that would maximize reliability of all data connections to the central network element device.
Algorithms that operate in the manner described above do not select optimal power levels for data connections that are operating in the middle of the dynamic range of the connection. These algorithms tend to select transmit power levels that are too low to optimize the performance over the data connections operating in the middle of the service range for the selected connection method by selecting the minimum required power to establish the connection. In addition, the independent calculation of power levels by each remote terminal may create a sub-optimal balance of signal levels at the central network element. Furthermore, the introduction of additional loss onto the data connection, particularly loss that is dependent on frequency, may cause the remote terminal to select power levels that further impact the performance of adjacent connections.
A need therefore exists for a method for optimizing the performance of a collection of multiple adjacent data connections by cooperatively selecting transmission power levels to meet specified performance criteria. In particular, the method should allow data connections operating on adjacent wiring connections to select mutually optimal transmitter power levels, therefore improving the performance of the overall communications system.

Method and apparatus for optimizing data connection performance