The invention comprises an ink cartridge wherein a pair of electrodes for detecting the depletion of ink from the ink cartridge for an ink jet printer are positioned within a highly compressed portion of a porous member contained within the ink cartridge. The porous member is highly compressed by an ink supply section in an ink chamber. The electrodes are maintained in contact with electrode plates. One electrode may be disposed so as to be exposed to the inside of an ink supply port defined by the ink supply section. One of the electrodes may be formed of a fine mesh, a portion of the filter being embedded within the cartridge and a portion of the filter being positioned outside the cartridge. The detection plate may be formed with microscopic asperities thereon, formed as microscopic holes or grooves, in areas brought into contact with the electrodes. One electrode may be provided which extends through at least two ink chambers, the electrode aiding in determining whether ink has been depleted from any of the at least two ink chambers. The invention also comprises a mounting device for an ink cartridge, comprising an ink cartridge replacement mode setter, an ink suctioner, a determination circuit for detecting existence of ink in the ink supply section and for determining possibility of printing, and a display for displaying the determination result.

This invention relates to an ink cartridge which is loaded into an ink jet printer for printing, a mounting device for retaining the ink cartridge, and detection plates capable of detecting the amount of ink remaining in the ink cartridge, and when this ink has been depleted.
By way of example, an ink detector is shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 3-277558 (known example 1), and depicts conventional means for detecting when the amount of ink in an ink cartridge is reduced below a predetermined level by printing. The ink end detector depicted in known example 1 is formed with a pair of electrodes placed in through holes formed on an inner wall face of an ink tank, which is used for supplying ink to a printer head. The depletion of the ink from the ink tank is determined as a change in the conduction state between the electrodes caused by the lack of ink therebetween, and therefore an increased resistance. Seal members for preventing ink leakage from around the electrodes are inserted in the outer periphery of the electrodes positioned within an ink cartridge.
By way of an additional example, an ink cartridge is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-270001 (known example 2). A first of two electrodes for detecting when the amount of ink remaining in the ink cartridge falls below a predetermined level is disposed in a chamber of the ink cartridge. The second of the two electrodes is disposed in an ink outlet port of the ink cartridge. A porous material is placed in the ink outlet port below the second ink outlet electrode for preventing air from being sucked into the ink cartridge when the ink cartridge is removed from a printer by providing a sufficient capillary force, thereby blocking any flow of bubbles into the ink cartridge.
By way of a further example, an ink end detector is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-262772 (known example 3). In this ink end detector one electrode is placed in an opening of the ink cartridge and the other electrode is placed in the cartridge. As the resistance value between the electrodes changes, the sucking and removing of bubbles in the proximity of an ink supply port is performed.
By way of yet another example, an additional known ink end detector is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 2-198866 (known example 4). In this ink end detector, a mesh electrode is placed so as to cover a portion ink supply port extending into the ink tank from where ink exits the ink cartridge. The mesh electrode covers the inner portion of the ink supply port maintained within the ink tank.
The use of the detectors depicted in known examples 1-3, does not greatly affect the supplying of ink from the ink cartridge to printer means. However, in known examples 1 and 2, since one electrode is placed in the ink supply port, there is some degradation of the detection accuracy of the depletion of ink from the ink tank. Since the distance between the two electrodes is great, the resistance between the electrodes is also great, and as a result, the detection accuracy decreases, and may be affected by environmental changes. The placement of the two electrodes in the ink cartridge, rather than in the ink supply port, reduces this problem. Additionally, as is shown in known example 2, in the ink cartridge with the porous material placed in the ink supply port below the electrode contained therein, foreign material may accumulate on the porous material during use, thereby affecting the detection accuracy. Additionally, the apparatus known example 3 is very complicated and costly.
Additionally, as is depicted in known examples 1 and 2, since one electrode is disposed in an ink reservoir or ink support port, apart from the other electrode in the ink reservoir, porous material positioned between the two electrodes increases the detection resistance value. Thus, the accuracy of detection of the required predetermined change in the resistance value in accordance with ink consumption is reduced. Additionally, it is feared that the detection accuracy may largely vary based on environmental factors, such as temperature. Further, since one of the electrodes is positioned within the ink supply port, the port must be large. However, a cartridge provided with a large number of ink chambers for holding different colors for color printing has limited space. Thus, it becomes difficult to provide adequately large ink supply ports to place the electrode therein.
In known example 4 in which the mesh electrode is disposed so as to cover the inner portion of the ink supply port, the device may inaccurately detect the depletion of ink from the ink tank.
Additionally, in known examples 1 and 2, ink leakage prevention means, comprising a rubber stopper or other seal material, is required to seal the electrode which is disposed in the ink reservoir or ink supply port where the electrode passes through the wall of the ink tank.
In each known example in which one electrode is disposed projecting into the ink reservoir or ink supply port, when ink flows past this electrode, the ink flow is disrupted and bubbles are prone to occur in ink, resulting in unstable and inaccurate detection of the depletion of ink from the ink tank. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide an ink end detector which overcomes these shortcomings of these known detectors.

Ink cartridge for printer having electrodes


A likely value is calculated by a maximum-likelihood method for all coefficients of a relative error correction circuit network model derived by assuming that, for all pairs of two ports selected from among signal line ports related to application or detection of a high frequency signal and non signal line ports other than the signal line ports, there exists a leak signal directly transferred between the ports. A coefficient of a first relative error correction circuit network submodel derived by assuming that, for all pairs of two ports selected only from among signal line ports, there exists a leak signal directly transferred between the ports, and a coefficient for a non signal line port of a second relative error correction circuit network submodel derived by assuming that there exists a signal reflected at a non signal line port are used as initial values.

Conventionally, the electric property of an electric component such as a surface-mount electric component that does not include a coaxial connector has been measured while the electric component is mounted on a measurement jig including a coaxial connector and a coaxial cable connects the measurement jig and a measurement device. In such a measurement, a measurement error is caused by variation in property between individual measurement jigs as well as variation in property between individual coaxial cables and measurement devices.
Measurement of the coaxial cable and the measurement device is performed while the measurement device is connected with a standard having a reference property through the coaxial cable. This allows identification of an error occurring between the head of the coaxial cable connected with the standard and the measurement device.
However, for the measurement jig, it is impossible to accurately identify an error in electric property between a connection terminal in a part at which the electric component is mounted and the coaxial connector for connecting the coaxial cable. It is also difficult to adjust measurement jigs to have identical properties. In particular, it is significantly difficult to adjust measurement jigs to have identical properties over a wide bandwidth.
To solve these problems, what is called a relative error correction method has been disclosed that performs measurement while a correction data acquisition specimen is mounted on a plurality of measurement jigs to previously derive, from variation in measurement values between the measurement jigs, an expression for correcting a relative error between a measurement jig (hereinafter referred to as a "reference jig") and another measurement jig (hereinafter referred to as a "test jig"), and calculates, for the electric property of any given electric component, using the expression from a measurement value (test jig measurement value) measured while the electric component is mounted on the test jig, an estimation value of a measurement value (test jig measurement value) measured while the electric component is mounted on the reference jig.
For example, in a relative error correction method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3558086, a "relative error correction adapter" obtained by deriving, for each port, a scattering matrix obtained by synthesizing a scattering matrix of error of the reference jig and a scattering matrix for removing (canceling) error of the test jig is used as the expression for correcting the relative error between the reference jig and the test jig. The estimation value of the reference jig measurement value of the specimen is calculated by synthesizing the relative error correction adapter with a scattering matrix of the test jig measurement value of an optional specimen. The relative error correction adapter can be calculated from a result of measuring at least three one-port standard specimens with both of the reference jig and the test jig for each port.
The relative error correction method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3558086 employs a relative error correction circuit network model derived by assuming that there exists only a signal line port connected with a signal line related to application or detection of a high frequency signal. Influence of non signal line ports such as GND and power ports other than signal line ports is omitted in the relative error correction circuit network model. However, in reality, any difference exists between non-RF ports included in measurement jigs, and thus such omission is a major factor of a residual error in relative error correction.
To solve such a problem, Japanese Patent No. 4009876 discloses a relative error correction method that measures a non-RF port through the test jig and calculates the estimation value of the reference jig measurement value obtained without measurement of the non-RF port. The number of ports included in a standard specimen to be prepared for connection with RF ports and necessary for performing the relative error correction method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4009876 needs to equal the number of non-RF ports.
In the relative error correction methods disclosed in Patent Japanese Patent No. 3558086 and Japanese Patent No. 4009876, a signal (hereinafter referred to as an "inter-port leakage signal") transferred from a measurement jig not through a DUT but directly between ports within the measurement jig is omitted in the relative error correction circuit network model. However, in reality, any inter-port leakage signal exists in the measurement jig, and thus such omission is a major factor of a residual error in relative error correction.
To solve the above-described problem, Japanese Patent No. 5246172 discloses a relative error correction method that can also correct a difference in the inter-port leakage signal between measurement jigs in measurement of optional N ports equal to or larger than two ports. The number of ports included in a standard specimen to be prepared for the measurement of optional N ports and necessary for performing the relative error correction method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5246172 needs to equal the number, which is at least five, of measurement ports having different properties.

Measurement error correction method and electric component property measurement device


A pipe joint is provided with a pressing ring, a pipe or a pipe joint body having a containing section, a tightening element, and a packing ring compressed by being pressed by the pressing ring moved by the operation of the tightening element. The packing ring includes a base section fitted and mounted in the containing section at a rear thereof, a seal section contained within the containing section at a front thereof, and a connection section which connects the base section and the seal section and has a cutout groove. When the packing ring positioned by fitting and mounting the base section in the containing section at the rear thereof is subjected to pressing by the pressing ring, the seal section is bent into the cutout groove and is deformed, and compression caused by the deformation creates a sealed state.

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view showing an essential part of a conventional pipe joint. A pipe joint 30 joins a pipe 31 to be joined and a pipe (not shown) to be joined thereto in a water-tight manner. A compressed packing ring 35 seals a space between a pipe joint body 32 fitted over both the pipes to be joined and the pipe 31. A pressing ring 33 is connected to the flange of the pipe joint body 32 by a tightening element 34 including a bolt and a nut. A lock ring 36 which is split at one point in the peripheral direction is contained within the pressing ring 33 on the inner peripheral side thereof. A piece ring 37 is interposed between the lock ring 36 and the packing ring 35.
At the time of piping, from a temporarily mounted state as shown in FIG. 23, the tightening element 34 is operated to move the pressing ring 33 toward the pipe joint body 32, and the packing ring 35 is then press-fitted into a containing section 32a of the pipe joint body 32 by being pressed by the pressing ring 33. As shown in FIG. 24, the packing ring 35 has a seal section 35a that has a circular cross section, a base section 35b that has a rectangular cross section, and a lip section 35c that is projection-shaped. The seal section 35a is press-fitted into the containing section 32a at the rear thereof. The base section 35b is arranged in the containing section 32a at the front thereof. The seal section 35a is larger than the rear of the containing section 32a. The compressed seal section 35a mainly makes contact with the pipe 31.
However, in the pipe joint having such a configuration, the packing ring 35 is compressed while being moved in the pipe axis direction. Therefore, the pipe 31 may be pulled when the packing ring 35 is press-fitted into the containing section 32a. Due to the pull of the pipe 31, in a sealed state shown in FIG. 22, the pipe 31 is dislocated by a distance L from the state of FIG. 23, resulting in changing of an insertion amount. For this reason, when the pipe joint is mounted, it is necessary to set the initial insertion amount to be somewhat smaller by taking the pull of the pipe into account.
A pipe joint described in Patent Document 1 listed below has a packing ring in which the minimum inside diameter at the time of non-pressing is set to be larger than the outside diameter of the pipe to be joined. However, as in the conventional pipe joint, to mount the pipe joint to create the sealed state, the packing ring is required to be compressed while being moved in the pipe axis direction by being pressed by a pressing ring. As a result, the pipe to be joined may also be pulled.
When such pull of the pipe to be joined occurs, the insertion resistance of the pipe to be joined is increased. Therefore, the piping efficiency can be deteriorated. In addition, to increase the piping efficiency, it is greatly advantageous that sealing is enabled by the packing ring while the initial insertion amount of the pipe to be joined is held. Therefore, a method which can prevent the pull of the pipe to be joined has been strongly desired.
In the pipe joint 30 in the temporarily mounted state shown in FIG. 23, the pressing ring 33 is connected to the pipe joint body 32 with a predetermined space, and between the pressing ring 33 and the pipe joint body 32, the packing ring 35, the lock ring 36, and the piece ring 37 are integrally held. From this state, the tightening element 34 is tightened to move the pressing ring 33 toward the pipe joint body 32. Then, as described above, the pressing ring 33 press-fits the packing ring 35 into the containing section 32a of the pipe joint body 32. And, the inner peripheral surface of the lock ring 36 reduced in diameter is engaged with the outer peripheral surface of the pipe 31.
Conventionally, to reduce the number of operations at a piping site, the pipe joint 30 which is previously temporarily mounted in an assembling factory is conveyed to the piping site, and the operator simply tightens the tightening element 34 at the piping site. However, when the tightening element 34 is tightened to accidentally compress the packing ring 35 due to vibration and the like at the time of conveyance, the sealing performance after the piping may be varied, with the result that the insertion of the pipe 31 into the pipe joint body 32 may be inhibited. Therefore, in the temporarily mounted pipe joint 30, it is important to regulate the advancing movement of the pressing ring 33 toward the pipe joint body 32.
Patent Document 2 listed below describes a pipe joint in which a spacer widened in the pipe axis direction is detachably engaged with a bolt which connects a joint body and a pressing ring, so that the advancing movement of the pressing ring toward the joint body can be regulated. However, in the pipe joint, the number of necessary spacers is increased according to the number of bolts, with the result that the number of components is increased. In addition, unpreferably, when the bolt is tightened to move the pressing ring toward the joint body, the detached spacer can be a nuisance to the operator.
Patent Document 3 listed below describes a pipe joint which has an interval regulation member provided between a separation prevention member and an elastic seal material. The interval regulation member regulates the interval between a socket pipe section and a pressing ring until the elastic seal material is brought into a set compression state and is sheared to release the interval regulation when the elastic seal material is brought into the set compression state. However, in the pipe joint, when the pressing ring is tightened and fixed onto the socket pipe section, the interval regulation member is sheared. In a case where the pipe joint is dismounted after the completion of piping due to some circumstances, the pipe joint cannot be reused as is.

Pipe joint, packing ring, and method for mounting pipe joint

Waterworks Technology Development Organization Co., Ltd.


A method comprises heating contaminated liquid, cooling electrolyte and subsequently passing the latter through soluble electrodes provided within an electrocoagulation chamber. Next, mixing the heated contaminated liquid is accomplished above the soluble electrodes with an ascending flow of cooled air containing products of dissolution of the soluble electrodes, followed by separating formed foam and sludge within a settling chamber.. Apparatus having a settling chamber provided with an outlet pipe to discharge purified liquid. Inside the settling chamber, there is disposed an electrocoagulation chamber provided with an inlet pipe to feed contaminated liquid thereinto, and an inlet pipe to feed electrolyte. In the bottom portion of the electrocoagulation chamber, there is disposed a system of soluble electrodes. A heater communicates with the inlet pipe to feed a contaminated liquid, while a condenser communicates with the inlet pipe to feed electrolyte.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the purification of contaminated liquids and more particularly to the methods and apparatus for electrochemical purification of contaminated liquids.
The invention may be employed for purifying a liquid contaminated with organic substances, mechanical suspensions, surfactants, and the like. The invention is particularly useful for purifying liquids contaminated with polymers and petroleum products, such as waste water containing oils and fats.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Of all the prior art methods for purifying contaminated liquids, the widest and ever increasing application have recently found methods of electrochemical purification of liquids, such as electroflotation and electroagulation methods due to their high performance capabilities. Known in the art are methods of electrochemical purification of liquids wherein the process of purification is accomplished either discretely or continuously. The latter methods are considered to be more promising.
In a method disclosed in the description of operation of an apparatus for electrochemical purification of contaminated liquids (USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 407,844), the electrochemical purification of contaminated liquids is accomplished by mixing the latter within an electrocoagulation chamber in the space between and above the electrodes with products of dissolution of the electrodes followed by separating formed foam and sludge from the purified liquid within a settling chamber. An apparatus for practicing the above method (disclosed in the above-mentioned Inventor's Certificate) comprises a settling chamber which houses an electrocoagulation chamber and communicates with the latter, and a system of soluble electrodes disposed in the bottom portion thereof. The electrocoagulation chamber comprises an inlet pipe to feed contaminated liquid, disposed beneath the soluble electrodes, while the settling chamber comprises an outlet pipe to discharge purified liquid. In the course of purification, contaminated liquid containing electrolyzing additives (hydrochloric acid, sodium chloride) passes through the soluble electrodes whereto electric current is applied. This brings about the formation of hydroxides of the soluble electrode metal, which hydroxides coagulate impurities contained in the liquid being purified. From the electrocoagulation chamber, said liquid passes into the settling chamber where foam and sludge separate from the liquid, following which the foam, the sludge, and the purified liquid are discharged separately. When passing through the electrodes, the liquid being purified fouls these, which accelerates passivation of the electrodes and, hence, increases the power consumption and necessitates frequent cleaning of the electrodes, i.e. eventually reduces the efficiency of the apparatus.
Known in the art are a method and an apparatus for electrochemical purification of contaminated liquids (Japanese Pat. No. 52-143,973, published Nov. 30, 1977), characterized in that the electrocoagulation chamber serves only to produce coagulants, for which purpose clean electrolyte is fed thereinto, while liquid purification is accomplished in another chamber whereinto the liquid to be purified is fed and wherein the liquid is mixed with the electrolyte containing coagulants and being fed from the electrocoagulation chamber. While greatly diminishing the fouling of the electrode surfaces, the above process and apparatus considerably less utilize the coagulation and flotation capabilities of the electrodes, since when the electrolyte passes from the electrocoagulation chamber to the settling chamber, the coagulants (hydroxides of the soluble electrode metal) and gas bubbles forming on the soluble electrode surface aggregate, which reduces their specific surface and hence impairs the coagulating and flotating capabilities. The above factors adversely affect the apparatus efficiency. Moreover, to install such an apparatus, larger areas are required than for the apparatus of similar efficiency, disclosed in USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 407,844.
Also known in the art are methods and apparatus for electrochemical purification of liquids, characterized in that contaminated liquid is fed into an electrocoagulation chamber through an inlet pipe disposed above the soluble electrodes, while the clean electrolyte is passed in an ascending flow between the electrodes. Mixing the contaminated liquid with products of dissolution of the electrodes is accomplished only in the space above the electrodes. This method and the apparatus for practicing thereof are characterized in that the purification of liquids is accomplished with essentially no fouling of the electrodes and a lesser deterioration of their coagulation and flotation capabilities. The efficiency of the above described method and apparatus is higher than of those disclosed in Japanese Pat. No. 52-143,973.
For example, a method known from the description of operation of an apparatus for electrochemical purification of contaminated liquids (USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 644,738) comprises mixing contaminated liquid within an electrocoagulation chamber above soluble electrodes with an ascending flow of electrolyte containing products of dissolution of the electrodes, followed by separating formed foam and sludge from the purified liquid within a settling chamber.
The aparatus for practicing the above method (disclosed in the above-mentioned Inventor's Certificate) comprises a settling chamber communicated by means of a recirculation pipe with an electrocoagulation chamber disposed therewithin and provided in a bottom portion thereof with a system of soluble electrodes, an inlet pipe to feed a contaminated liquid into the electrocoagulation chamber, and an outlet pipe to discharge the purified liquid from the settling chamber. The inlet pipe to feed the contaminated liquid into the electrocoagulation chamber is disposed above the soluble electrodes. The inlet pipe should be spaced from the electrodes at such a distance which excludes the possibility of fouling the surfaces of the soluble electrodes in the course of purification. Thus, when the inlet pipe is of a cylindrical configuration, the distance should be of (1 to 7)d, where d is a diameter of the inlet pipe.
The main disadvantage of the above described process consists in that an intensive aggregation of coagulants and gas bubbles occurs within the electrocoagulation chamber between the inlet pipe to feed the contaminated liquid and the soluble electrodes, which aggregation is caused by the turbulization of the electrolyte flows. At the same time, the reduction of the distance between the inlet pipe and the electrodes leads to the fouling of the latter, which fouling is rather undesirable. This disadvantage limits capabilities of both the above described apparatus and the method practiced thereby.

Method and apparatus for electrochemical purification of contaminated liquids


An electromagnetic relay to be mounted on a printed circuit, which has a small space requirement and is not susceptible to shocks is disclosed. It requires neither screw connections nor adjustment of the contacts as it is assembled and consists of only few components of simple shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electromagnetic relay which is preferably intended to be mounted on a printed circuit board and comprises an E-shaped magnetic core, which is provided with an operating coil, and a roof-shaped armature, which is movable into the magnetic field of the core and serves to actuate movable contact springs of contact spring sets and is connected to an armature return spring.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Whereas such relays are known, the known relays of that type have various disadvantages. Most of them are assembled from a large number of components, which often are intricately shaped so that they can be made only with the aid of expensive molds. The contact springs used in the contact spring sets of most relays must be adjusted as they are assembled. In most cases the assembling involves numerous operations, inclusive of screw connections, so that high costs are incurred.
Known relays of the type described first herein before occupy a relatively large area on a printed circuit board on which they are mounted and are often bulky so that when they occupy only a small area the volume of the relay can be accommodated only in a space of considerable height.
Another disadvantage of the known relays resides in their susceptibility to shock so that the contacts may be inadvertently actuated in response to a shock and this will result in trouble.
It is an object of the invention to provide a relay in which these disadvantages of the known relays are avoided and which affords also a high safety against an inadvertent operation of the contacts when the relay is subjected to a shock. Besides, the relay should have a small space requirement, require no screw connections and no adjustment of the contacts as it is assembled and consist of only few components of simple shape so that it can be assembled within short time.

Electromagnetic relay comprising positively guided contacts

International Standard Electric Corporation


A solid-state image pickup apparatus 1A is formed such that M×N (where M<N and M and N are integers greater than or equal to 2) pixels are two-dimensionally arrayed in M rows and N columns, and has a photodetecting section 10A having a rectangular photosensitive surface whose longitudinal direction is the row direction. The solid-state image pickup apparatus 1A is supported rotatably by a rotation controlling section, and the rotation controlling section controls a rotation angle of the solid-state image pickup apparatus 1A such that the longitudinal direction of the photodetecting section 10A is made parallel to a moving direction B of the solid-state image pickup apparatus 1A in one imaging mode of the two imaging modes, and the longitudinal direction of the photodetecting section 10A is made perpendicular to the moving direction B of the solid-state image pickup apparatus 1A in the other imaging mode of the two imaging modes.

In X-ray photography for medical use, in recent years, an X-ray imaging system using an X-ray image pickup apparatus in place of an X-ray sensitive film has been extensively used. Such an X-ray imaging system does not require development like that for an X-ray sensitive film, and is highly convenient in the point that it is possible to confirm an X-ray image in real time or the like, that also has superior points in aspects of data storage quality and data handling facilitation. In X-ray photography for dental diagnosis, also, such an X-ray imaging system has been used in various types of imaging modes, such as panoramic radiography, cephalometrical radiography, and CT scan.
In the case of a dental X-ray image pickup system, in some cases, the shape of an imaging area required for an X-ray image pickup apparatus differs according to various types of imaging modes described above. That is, a longitudinally sufficient width is required for an imaging area used for panoramic radiography or cephalometrical radiography. Further, a laterally sufficient width is required for an imaging area used for CT scan, and a certain measure of width is required therefor in a longitudinal direction as well. However, when a plurality of X-ray image pickup apparatuses meeting these requirements are made available, problems that the X-ray image pickup system is increased in size or it is necessary to exchange an X-ray image pickup apparatus at the time of changing an imaging mode, which takes time and labor, are brought about. Accordingly, it is preferable that one X-ray image pickup apparatus is capable of resolving these requirements for an imaging area.
For example, in Patent Document 1, there is disclosed a dental diagnosis X-ray image pickup apparatus equipped with an X-ray generator and an X-ray detector. In this X-ray image pickup apparatus, an X-ray is radiated via a narrow groove-like slit or a rectangular slit in order to be capable of selectively switching to generate an X-ray narrow slit beam and an X-ray broad beam. An X-ray narrow slit beam is used for panoramic radiography, cephalometrical radiography, or the like, and an X-ray broad beam is used for CT scan or the like. Then, in this Patent Document 1, there is described that both of an X-ray narrow slit beam passing through a narrow groove-like slit and an X-ray broad beam passing through a rectangular slit are taken as images by one solid-state image pickup element.
Further, as a solid-state image pickup apparatus used for such an X-ray image, pickup system for medical use, solid-state image pickup apparatuses using the CMOS technology are known, and a solid-state image pickup apparatus of a passive pixel sensor (PPS: Passive Pixel Sensor) system among those is known. A solid-state image pickup apparatus of a PPS system is equipped with a photodetecting section in which PPS-type pixels including photodiodes for generating charges according to incident light intensities are two-dimensionally arrayed in M rows and N columns, and charges generated in the photodiodes according to light incidence in the respective pixels are accumulated in capacitors in integrating circuits, and voltage values corresponding to the quantities of accumulated charges are output.
Generally, the respective output terminals of M pixels on each column are connected to an input terminal of an integrating circuit provided so as to correspond to the column via a readout wiring provided so as to correspond to the column. Then, the charges generated in the photodiodes in the respective pixels pass through the readout wiring corresponding to the column, and are input to the integrating circuit in series for each row of the first row to the M-th row, and voltage values corresponding to the quantities of charges are output.


A premixing burner has a swirl generator with at least two burner shells (1) which jointly enclose an axia conically widening swirl space and delimit tangential air inlet slits (3) through which combustion supply air passes into the swirl space in which an axially propagating swirl flow is formed, and with fuel injection devices at least partially along the tangentially running air inlet slits (3). The fuel injection devices include a fuel line (6) separate from the burner shell (1) and which is firmly attached to the burner shell (1) so as to be longitudinally movable with respect to the burner shell (1) and releasable perpendicularly to the surface of the burner shell (1). In the burner shell (1), orifices (4) are provided, into which issue fuel injectors (7) which are provided along the fuel line (6) and which project beyond the circumferential edge of the fuel line (6).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a premixing burner for generating an ignitable fuel/air mixture, with a swirl generator which provides at least two burner shells which complement one another to form a throughflow body and which jointly enclose an axially conically widening swirl space and delimit with respect to one another, in the axial longitudinal extent of the cone, tangential air inlet slits, through which combustion supply air passes into the swirl space in which an axially propagating swirl flow is formed, and with means for the injection of fuel, with are provided at least partially along the tangentially running air inlet slits.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Premixing burners of the abovementioned generic type are known from a multiplicity of previous publications, such as, for example, EP 0 210 462 A1 and EP 0 321 809 B1, to name only a few. Premixing burners of this type are based on the general active principle of generating, within a mostly conically designed swirl generator providing at least two part conical shells assembled with a correspondingly mutual overlap, a swirl flow of a fuel/air mixture and which is ignited within a combustion chamber following the premixing burner in the flow direction, so as to form a premixing flame which is spatially as stable as possible.
For swirl generation, the part conical shells overlapping with one another enclose, along the burner axis, tangential air inlet slits, through which air passes radially into the swirl space delimited by the part conical shells, so as to impart a swirl flow propagating along the burner axis. The part conical shells, mostly with double-walled design, provide for the supply of fuel, in the region along the air inlet slits, at least one internal fuel supply duct, through which is supplied in each case gaseous fuel which emerges via fuel nozzle orifices into the region of the air inlet slits. For this purpose, the fuel orifices are provided, distributed, in the region of the burner shell wall facing the air inlet slit, in order thereby, even in the region of the air inlet slit, to ensure effective intermixing, as uniform as possible, between the gaseous fuel and the inflowing supply air.
In addition to the double-walled design of the part conical shells delimiting the swirl space, it is also known to use part conical shells which are themselves formed simply from single-walled flat materials for air deflection. Premixing burners of this type provide in each case, along the onflow edge of the part conical shells, an attachment in the form of a pipeline, through which gaseous fuel is fed into the combustion supply air along the tangential extent of the air inlet slit through bores provided correspondingly in the pipeline. For this purpose, the pipeline is connected fixedly to the onflow edge of the part conical shell in the manner of a soldered or welded joint.
For reasons of operating reliability which must always be ensured, the supply of gaseous fuel for further feed along the fuel orifices into the area of the air inlet slits normally takes place at gas temperatures in range of between 20° C. and 30° C. On the other hand, as a consequence of operation, temperatures of between 300° C. and 350° C. prevail on account of the radiation temperatures prevailing in the region of the air inlet slits. It is clear that all those part conical shell surfaces delimiting the air inlet regions have body temperatures in the range of the above radiation temperatures. On the other hand, the part conical shell regions are cooled directly around the fuel orifices by the cool gas stream. Owing to these temperature differences, high thermal gradients occur in the region of the fuel orifices and lead to cracks within the material regions surrounding the fuel orifices. This results in irreversible structural weakenings which may possibly lead to a total loss of at least the affected part conical shell. Moreover, the risk of local flashbacks into the duct regions of the fuel supply increases in cracked fuel orifices, and, as a consequence, even the operating reliability of a premixing burner weakened in this way is ultimately called into question.

Premixing burner for generating an ignitable fuel/air mixture


The present invention provides a method of treatment for cancer in a subject comprising the administration of a prodrug, wherein the subject is colonised with an obligate anaerobic microorganism capable of expressing a polypeptide having nitroreductase activity, wherein the polypeptide exhibits preferential reduction of CB1954 to a 4-hydroxylamine (4HX) derivative instead of a 2-hydroxylamine derivative; and is capable of reducing CB1954 to the 4HX derivative with a Km of less than 30 micromolar. The present invention further provides an isolated polypeptide, nucleic acids encoding said polypeptide, vectors and host cells comprising said nucleic acids and vectors and uses of the above in treating solid tumours.

Biotechnology potentially offers unconventional routes to new cancer therapies, and research in this area has focused on using viruses as vectors to deliver therapeutic genes to tumours. Unfortunately, serious issues with the safety of viral vectors have been encountered (1, 2) and only recently has a virus system showing good specificity and tumour infiltration been described (3). Several types of bacteria have also been investigated as delivery vectors, and as therapeutics in their own right (4). Spores of some species of Clostridium, which are strictly anaerobic bacteria, naturally target tumours with high specificity following intravenous administration, because the dormant spores can germinate and grow only in the hypoxic cores of solid tumours (5-7) which are difficult to target using viral vectors (8, 9). The growing bacteria secrete proteases inside the tumour, rapidly digesting the tumour mass. This approach is especially interesting because it directly targets the hypoxic cells in poorly vascular regions which tend to be refractory to conventional treatments. Any Clostridium cells entering normal tissue from a colonized tumour would be poisoned by oxygen and die. Stringent spacial containment by oxygen is an excellent safety feature absent from treatments using aerobic bacteria (10, 11).
Augmentation of the anti-tumour effect of Clostridium strains has been sought by genetically modifying them to express therapeutic proteins, mainly enzymes which sensitize the tumour to certain chemotherapeutic agents (13-17). The 'prodrug' CB1954 (5-(aziridin-1-yl)-2,4-dinitrobenzamide) shown in FIG. 1 is an attractive candidate because its clinical safety has been demonstrated (18) and a 10,000-fold increase in toxicity is achieved upon its activation by a suitable nitroreductase (NTR) enzyme to the 4-hydroxylamine (4HX) derivative (5-(aziridin-1-yl)-4-hydroxylamino-2-nitrobenzamide) which is a DNA cross-linking agent (19).


The present invention provides a cutting tool assembly having a tool shank with an elongated hole extending axially through the tool shank. An elongated support bar having threaded bore at its forward end is retained in the elongated hole. A cutting head having a forward cutting portion and a rear threaded portion is retained in the support bar with its rear threaded portion threadingly engaged with the threaded bore in the forward end of the support bar.

This invention relates generally to cutting tool assemblies for metal cutting machining having a replaceable cutting head, and more particularly to cutting tool assemblies having an elongated shank for rotary cutting operations.
Cutting tool assemblies having an elongated shank for rotary cutting operations have long been known. It has been proposed in EP 0 298 937 B1, to provide a cutting tool comprising a cutting body and a shaft that supports the cutting body. The cutting body is detachably connected to a locking screw via hook-shaped means. The hooked-shaped means transfers axial forces between the cutting body and the locking screw. Both the cutting body and the locking screw are provided with hook shaped means. Both of the hooked shaped means are provided with recesses and tongues. The recesses and tongues cooperate to permanently transfer rotational movement between the locking means and the cutting body. The locking screw is provided with an externally threaded portion that is connected to an internally threaded recess provided in the shaft. The threads are designed as right hand threads for right hand cutting tools and as left hand threads for left hand cutting tools. The locking screw is movable in the axial direction by relative rotation of the externally threaded portion with respect to the internally threaded recess. The shaft is provided with a conical seat and the cutting body is provided with a circumferential conical portion that is received in the conical seat of the shaft. The cutting body can be inserted in or removed from the conical seat by displacing the locking screw from its innermost position to an intermediate position.
The prior art cutting tool described above suffers from two basic disadvantages. First, to insert or remove the cutting body from the shaft the locking screw has to be displaced from its innermost position to an intermediate position. Second, the cutting body cannot be used in any other type of tool since it is formed with hook-shaped member and therefore it requires the presence of a locking screw having a mating hook-shaped member for coupling it to the shaft.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cutting tool assembly that substantially overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a cutting tool assembly comprising:
a tool shank having a forward end, a rear end and a longitudinal axis A passing through the forward and rear ends, an elongated hole extending axially from the forward end of the tool shank, adjacent the forward end of the tool shank the elongated hole having a conical portion, the tool shank having a first coupling member adjacent the rear end thereof;
an elongated support bar having a forward end and a rear end, with a threaded bore extending axially rearwardly from the forward end thereof, the elongated support bar having a conical portion rearward of the forward end thereof, the elongated support bar having a second coupling member adjacent the rear end thereof, the elongated support bar being removably retained in the elongated hole of the tool shank with the first coupling member coupled to the second coupling member and with at least a section of the conical portion of the elongated support bar being in abutment with the conical portion of the elongated hole; and
a cutting head having a forward cutting portion and a rear threaded portion; the rear threaded portion of the cutting head being threadingly engaged with the threaded bore in the forward end of the elongated support bar.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, the elongated hole has a threaded portion adjacent the rear end thereof and wherein the elongated support bar has an externally threaded portion adjacent the rear end thereof and wherein the elongated support bar is removably retained in the elongated hole of the tool shank with the externally threaded portion of the elongated support bar threadingly engaged with the threaded portion of the elongated hole, the threaded portion of the elongated hole forming the first coupling member and the externally threaded portion of the elongated support bar forming the second coupling member.
In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, the tool shank has a threaded through bore passing through a section of the tool shank, the threaded through bore extending from a side opening in the tool shank to the elongated hole, the elongated support bar being removably retained in the elongated hole of the tool shank by a securing screw threadingly retained in the threaded through bore, the securing screw engaging a locking recess formed in the elongated support bar, the securing screw forming the first coupling member and the locking recess of the elongated support bar forming the second coupling member.
In accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention, the cutting tool assembly further comprises a coupling bar generally cylindrically shaped at least a portion of which has an externally threaded surface and having an axially extending through bore with an internally threaded portion, wherein the elongated hole has a threaded portion adjacent the rear end of the tool shank and wherein the elongated support bar has an externally threaded portion adjacent the rear end thereof and wherein the coupling bar is removably retained in the elongated hole of the tool shank adjacent the rear end thereof with the externally threaded surface of the coupling bar threadingly engaged with the threaded portion of the elongated hole and the elongated support bar is removably retained in the elongated hole with the externally threaded portion of the elongated support bar threadingly engaged with the internally threaded portion of the coupling bar, the internally threaded portion of the coupling bar forming the first coupling member and the externally threaded portion of the elongated support bar forming the second coupling member.
In accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention, the cutting tool assembly further comprises a cylindrical sleeve having a non-threaded external cylindrical surface and an axially extending threaded through bore and wherein the elongated hole in the tool shank has a cylindrically shaped rear portion in which the cylindrical sleeve is mounted and wherein the elongated support bar is removably retained in the elongated hole with the externally threaded portion of the elongated support bar in threaded engagement with the threaded through bore in the cylindrical sleeve, the threaded through bore in the cylindrical sleeve forming the first coupling member and the externally threaded portion of the elongated support bar forming the second coupling member.
In accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention, the cutting tool assembly further comprises a cylindrical sleeve having a non-threaded external cylindrical surface and an axially extending threaded through bore and wherein the elongated hole in the tool shank has a cylindrically shaped rear portion in which the cylindrical sleeve is mounted and wherein the cutting tool assembly further comprises a coupling bar generally cylindrically shaped, at least a portion having an externally threaded surface and having an axially extending through bore with an internally threaded portion, and the coupling bar is removably retained in the cylindrical sleeve with the externally threaded surface of the coupling bar in threaded engagement with the threaded through bore of the cylindrical sleeve and the elongated support bar is removably retained in the elongated hole of the tool shank with the externally threaded portion of the support bar in threaded engagement with the internally threaded portion of the coupling bar, the internally threaded portion of the coupling bar forming the first coupling member and the externally threaded portion of the elongated support bar forming the second coupling member.
If desired, the elongated support bar is provided with a coolant channel for conducting a coolant fluid, the coolant channel extending axially from the rear end to the forward end of the elongated support bar, and the cutting head is provided with a coolant channel extending through the rear threaded portion thereof and exiting the cutting head at exit openings formed in the forward cutting portion thereof.
If desired, the tool shank of the fourth or fifth embodiments of the present invention is made of cemented carbide.
Typically, the cylindrical sleeve is mounted in the tool shank by heat shrink-fit techniques.
Further typically, the cylindrical sleeve is mounted in the tool shank by soldering.


Embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and protocols for a media management application to be used by a supervisor to monitor, manage, and control what a subject is watching, listening to, or interacting with on a media delivery device. A media interaction application executes on a media delivery device and is configured to collect media interaction data based on tracked user interactions with media content on the media delivery device. A remote media management application executes on a portable electronic device and is configured to monitor the media interaction data and further configured to issue media management instructions to the media interaction application. A communications broker executes on a first network server and is configured to provide secure communications between the media interaction application and the remote media management application. A media interaction analysis application executes on a second network server and is configured to receive the media interaction data from the media interaction application, to transform the media interaction data into summary media interaction data, and to provide the summary media interaction data to the remote media management application. The media interaction application is further configured to transmit the media interaction data to the remote media management application via the communications broker. The remote media management application is further configured to issue the media management instructions to the media interaction application via the communications broker. And the media interaction analysis application is further configured to receive the media interaction data via the communications broker.

Digital content is consumed across a highly diverse range of platforms and devices. This poses a challenge for persons in a supervisory role aiming to discover and monitor specific content being delivered to such devices, as well as to gain insight into the nature and quality of a given subject's interactions with that content. It can be difficult, for example, for a parent to discover the extent to which a child may be using digital content delivery devices and especially to monitor which content a child may be viewing. Additionally, because some content maybe interactive and/or educational, a parent, instructor, or supervisor may wish to receive reports (both summary reports and real-time reports) about how well a child, student, or employee is performing or has performed while interacting with delivered content. There is therefore a need for a system and protocol to provide remote supervisory observation, interaction, and management of the delivery of media content on digital content-delivery devices.

System and protocol for remote supervisory parental observation, interaction, and management of media content on digital content-delivery devices


A retractable sheath for a hypodermic needle is shown for preventing accidental needle pricks. The sheath automatically extends to cover the needle and retracts to expose the needle without having to touch the sheath or activate any locking or release mechanisms. A barrel is mounted on the hypodermic needle or syringe with the needle projecting axially therefrom. A telescoping sheath is mounted in or over the barrel to extend and retract respectively to cover and uncover the needle. A cam and cam follower co-operatively formed in the barrel and sheath prevents the sheath from retracting by an accidental force on the sheath but allows the sheath to be cocked, so that a second deliberate force on the sheath allows the sheath to retract allowing the needle to be inserted into the skin. The cam has a first segment which allows the cam follower to slide longitudinally permitting the sheath to retract, a second segment which blocks the cam follower preventing retraction of the sheath, and an intermediate segment that moves the cam follower from the blocked position to the ready or cocked position, so that a subsequent force on the sheath allows it to retract automatically and then return to the blocked position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hypodermic needles, and in particular, to sheathing devices which cover the needle to prevent accidental needle pricks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that many very serious diseases, such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Hepatitis can be spread or transmitted by blood or other human or animal bodily fluids. It is a major concern to health care workers who administer medications using hypodermic needles or syringes that the needles, after use on a patient, may accidentally stick or prick the health care worker transmitting a disease from the patient to the health care worker. This can happen, for example, when the patient pulls back suddenly upon insertion or removal of the needle, or when the needles or syringes are being handled for disposal or left protruding from a trash container.
In order to prevent such accidental needle sticks or pricks, many inventions have been made which provide a sheath covering the needle. In some cases, the sheath has to be manually removed or replaced over the needle. This is totally unacceptable, because it is very easy to stab or stick oneself in the hand trying to remove or replace the sheath. In other cases, the sheath is slidably mounted on the syringe to uncover and cover the needle. Bias means are often employed to urge the sheath into the extended or covering position. While this is an improvement over a manually removable sheath, in almost all cases, some type of locking or latching mechanism is employed to retain the sheath either in the retracted or extended position, and this locking mechanism again must be manually actuated with the hand or fingers exposing the hand to accidental pricks while manipulating the mechanism. Further, if the sheath is locked in the retracted position exposing the needle, there is no protection at all to the health care worker from accidental pricks caused by a patient suddenly pulling back or moving violently.

Retractable sheath for hypodermic needle


In one embodiment, a method for converting a smartcard into a virtual media in a transit system is provided. The method includes reading data from a smartcard. The data includes product information related to a transit product stored on the smartcard. The data is communicated to a smartcard management system such that the smartcard management system may create a record of the smartcard. The data is also communicated to a ticket management system. An indication of the creation of an account from the ticket management system is received. The account includes a unique account identifier and the data. An input from a contactless media is received. The input includes an identifier of the contactless media. The identifier is communicated to an authorization service. A token created by the authorization service is received. The token is associated with the identifier. The token is communicated to the ticket management system.

In a busy smart-card enabled transport authority, there may be millions of passengers with season tickets and stored value loaded on their smartcards. Many transit authorities are switching to contactless media. When a transit authority decides to switch to contactless credit cards, it must provide those millions of passengers with a system to switch to the new ticketing media. It is expensive for transit operators to manage multiple ticket media schemes: magnetic, barcode, smartcard, payment cards, and the like. Thus, migrating passengers to a single media can be beneficial. Helping passengers transfer their existing transit products from an old media to a new one is normally a time consuming process that requires staff assistance. The amount of time and cost necessary to complete this transition can be very large.
Additionally, transit passengers may carry multiple forms of contactless media. For example, many passengers may carry a transit smartcard as well as a contactless credit card. When both cards are in close proximity, such as when in a passenger's wallet, signals from the cards clash, preventing the user from gaining access to the transit system. Thus, users having both a smartcard and a contactless media must remove the desired card from their wallet, adding to the boarding time. Embodiments of the invention may provide solutions to these and other problems.


According to the present invention, ceramics which are prepared by calcining a composition comprising raw ceramic materials and a microorganism and/or culture fluid thereof, wherein the microorganisms is capable of producing an antioxidation material. The ceramic of the present invention possesses a variety of activities of, for instance, improving the soil, decomposing sewage or sludge, and deodorizing an unpleasant odor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a functional ceramic having a wide variety of biological activities and a process for preparing the same.
2. Related Art
Ceramics possessing biological activities are known in the art.
For instance, functional ceramics provided with activities by controlling the internal physical structure, by calcining with materials having catalytic functions, or by adsorbing microbes or catalysts into the pores of porous ceramics have been proposed.
However, most of the conventional functional ceramics, in general, have a single activity to be aimed. Further, the activity is sometimes insufficient and may be lost with the passage of time. Particularly, the ceramics provided with the activity by adsorbing microorganisms or catalysis, further improvements are desired in some points. For instance, in the ceramics the density of microorganisms may vary with the lapse of time. Moreover, the activity of ceramics may not be stable, unless environmental conditions, such as pH or temperature are maintained constant.

Process for preparing functional ceramics


A capacitor useful with semiconductor devices and a method for forming such a capacitor is provided. The capacitor comprises a contact formed in a layer of an insulating material of a semiconductor device; a first electrode formed on the layer of insulating material, the first electrode contacting the contact and having a nodular shape; a layer of a dielectric material formed on the first electrode; and a second electrode formed on the layer of the dielectric material. Desirably, the dielectric layer of the capacitor is formed from a high dielectric constant material. In another embodiment, the capacitor includes a layer of a barrier material positioned between the contact and the first electrode.

Advancements in semiconductor manufacture have led to increases in the density and miniaturization of microelectronic circuits. As an example, the manufacture of 1 Gb DRAMs is now possible and 4 Gb prototypes are currently being developed. A key requirement for achieving such high device packing density is the formation of suitable storage capacitors.
With increased packing density of memory cells, however, the area available for storage capacitors (i.e. storage nodes) has decreased. This has necessitated the development of storage capacitors having an increased capacitance. In general, storage capacitors can be formed as stacked structures or as trench structures. The present invention is directed in part to stacked structures and in another part to a combination stacked-trench structure.
Typically, a thin film stacked storage capacitor includes a lower electrode, an upper electrode, and a dielectric layer which is sandwiched between the electrodes. This capacitor structure is stacked on an insulating layer of a substrate. The insulating layer is typically formed from materials such as SiO.sub.2 and Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 that are compatible with a silicon process. The lower electrode of the capacitor is connected to a field effect transistor (FET) formed on the substrate. A polycrystalline silicon layer has been used as the lower electrode of a capacitor. Such a polysilicon layer is sometimes referred to as a polysilicon or silicon electrode.
One way to increase the capacity of this type of capacitor is to use a dielectric layer formed with a high dielectric constant material. These high dielectric constant materials include inorganic non-metallic oxides in the paraelectric or ferro electric phase such as BaSrTiO.sub.3 (BST), BaTiO.sub.3, SrTiO.sub.3, PbZrO.sub.3 and others. Such high dielectric constant materials have a dielectric constant greater than 100. This is an order of magnitude larger than traditional dielectric materials, such as SiO.sub.2 and Si.sub.3 N.sub.4, which have dielectric constants less than 10.
A problem with high capacitance capacitors is that generally high dielectric constant films cannot be formed directly over a polysilicon electrode. This is because an interface layer of silicon dioxide forms between the dielectric film and the polysilicon electrode. Such an interface layer reduces the effective dielectric constant of the dielectric material and defeats its purpose. For this reason, the lower electrode structure is typically formed as a stack comprising a barrier layer formed on the polysilicon electrode and a lower electrode formed on the barrier layer.
The barrier layer is typically formed from a conductive material, such as tantalum (Ta), titanium nitride (TiN), or tungsten nitride (WN). Such a barrier layer, in addition to preventing oxidation of the polysilicon electrode, also functions to prevent silicon diffusion into the lower electrode. Such silicon diffusion increases the resistivity of the lower electrode and could lead to the formation of a thin layer of SiO.sub.2 layer on top of the lower electrode.
Another problem associated with the use of high dielectric constant films is that these films must be deposited at relatively high temperatures (e.g. 600.degree. C. to 700.degree. C.). Because of the high process temperatures that are required, the lower electrode of such a capacitor is typically formed of a high melting point, non-oxidizing metal such as platinum, palladium or rhodium or of a conducting oxide such as ruthenium oxide, iridium oxide, osmium oxide or rhodium oxide. A non-oxidizing material is required for the lower electrode because a traditional electrode material such as aluminum, titanium, nichrome or copper will oxidize at the high temperatures, increasing the resistivity of the electrode.
A prior art stacked capacitor 10 employing a high dielectric constant dielectric film 26 is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a semiconductor substrate 12 includes a FET (not shown) formed with a pair of insulated gate electrodes 14 and 16. An insulating layer 18 is formed over the FET and gate electrodes 14 and 16. The capacitor 10 is stacked on the insulating layer 18. A polysilicon plug 20 is formed in a contact hole formed through the insulating layer 18 to the source or drain region 30 of the FET.
The capacitor 10 includes a lower electrode 22 having a rectangular cross section, an upper electrode 24 and a dielectric film 26 formed between the lower electrode 22 and the upper electrode 24. The capacitor 10 also includes a barrier layer 28 formed between the lower electrode 22 and the polysilicon plug 20.
Such a capacitor is subject to several limitations. First, the dielectric layer 26 must be formed over the stepped surface contour provided by the stack formed by the lower electrode 22 and the barrier layer 28. Poor step coverage of the dielectric material 28 over the lower electrode 22 promotes charge leakage at the corners of the dielectric material 26 in the completed capacitor structure. To prevent this leakage, an insulating material such as silicon dioxide is sometimes deposited over the outside corners of the dielectric film 26.
Second, the sidewalls 34 and 36 of the barrier layer 28 are exposed to oxidation during deposition of the dielectric film 26. Accordingly, the high temperatures encountered during the dielectric deposition process will cause the sidewalls of the barrier layer 28 to oxidize. Such an oxide increases the contact resistance of the barrier layer 28. Further, with an oxide formed on the sidewalls 34 and 36 of the barrier layer 28, the lower electrode 22 will not adhere as well to the barrier layer 28 which results in the lower electrode 22 separating from the barrier layer 28.
Third, if the barrier layer 28 does not completely overlap the polysilicon plug 20, then the surface of the polysilicon plug will oxidize during the deposition of the dielectric material 26. A critical alignment of the barrier layer 28 and the polysilicon plug 20 is required.
A solution to these problems is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,138 to Sandhu et al. This patent teaches the use of spacers positioned at each end of the lower electrode-barrier layer stack to prevent oxidation of the sidewalls of the barrier layer during deposition of the dielectric film. These spacers also provide a smooth topography for the deposition of the dielectric film. This provides the completed capacitor with a smooth topography which prevents the current leakage which occurs through sharp corners of the dielectric layer. Finally, the spacers provide a larger area for protection of the polysilicon plug from oxidation. However, the process described by Sandhu et al. requires additional processing steps and time to form the spacers.
For these reasons, a need exists in the art for a capacitor which is not subject to the limitations of the prior art. Particularly, a need exists in the art for a capacitor and a method for making a capacitor which has step coverage which eliminates charge leakage. A need also exists for a capacitor and a method for making a capacitor which prevents oxidation of the sidewalls of the lower electrode and the barrier layer. Another need exists for a capacitor and a method for making a capacitor which provide for proper placement of the lower electrode and barrier layer over the polysilicon plug. Finally, a need exists in the art for a method of making such a capacitor which will quickly and efficiently address the current needs in the art.

Capacitor and method for forming the same


A method for measuring the speed of sound in a tissue such as bone. First, the transducer covers of a pair of transducer units are pressed together under a predetermined pressure, ultrasound is transmitted and received, and the time taken by the ultrasound to travel from one to the other of the transducers is measured. Next, the tissue is held between the pair of transducer units under the same predetermined pressure, ultrasound is transmitted and received, the time taken for the ultrasound to travel from one to the other of the transducers is measured, and the distance between the two transducers is measured. The speed of sound in the tissue is then computed based on the propagation time of ultrasound when the transducer units are directly pressed together, the propagation time of ultrasound and the distance between the transducers when the tissue is held between the pair of transducer units. By this method, an accurate value for the speed of sound in the tissue unaffected by changes in the properties of the acoustic matching material filling the transducer covers, can be computed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tissue assessment apparatus for assessing the state of tissue such as bone using ultrasound, and in particular, to measurement of the speed of ultrasound propagated in tissue.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a tissue measurement apparatus using ultrasound, ultrasound is transmitted to a part of an organism (e.g. the heel), and the ultrasound which has passed through or been reflected by the organism is received. Based on a signal obtained from the received ultrasound, the speed of sound in the tissue or the degree of attenuation of the ultrasound by the tissue is computed as an indicator of the state of the tissue. An example of such an apparatus is a bone assessment apparatus used to examine for example the heel bone or calcaneous. In addition to tissue assessment apparatuses using only ultrasound, moreover, other apparatuses using both ultrasound and X rays have been proposed.
It is however known that when a tissue assessment is performed by means of ultrasound, it is impossible to obtain a precise measurement or assessment of speed or attenuation of ultrasound when an air layer is present in the path from the transmitting ultrasound transducer to the receiving ultrasound transducer. This is due to the fact that the ultrasound is reflected or attenuated by the air layer. In order to eliminate the air layer which interferes with ultrasonic examinations, therefore, the sample (tissue) and ultrasonic transducers were conventionally immersed in a measuring bath containing an acoustic matching material such as water, and predetermined measurements were carried out by transmitting and receiving the ultrasound through this material.
However, in the method where the sample was immersed in an acoustic matching material, the subject occasionally experienced discomfort, and it was difficult to ensure that the procedure of measurement was hygienic.
In Japanese Patent Application No. HEI-6-7010 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. HEI-7-204205), the Applicant proposes a tissue assessment apparatus which resolves these problems. In this apparatus, the front of the ultrasonic transducer is covered with a cover (or membrane) that can deform, the cover is filled with an acoustic matching material, and the cover is brought in contact with the sample. In other words, the sample is gripped between two ultrasonic transducers facing each other, and the propagation time of the ultrasound between the both transducers is measured. The propagation speed of the ultrasound in the sample, i.e. in the tissue, is then found by dividing the distance between the transducers by this propagation time. According to this method, the deformable cover easily comes into contact with the surface of the sample, so no air layer is present between the transducers and the sample.
In this art, however, a problem arises in that when the surrounding conditions, in particular the temperature or air pressure change during a measurement, the properties of the acoustic matching material also change and give rise to errors in measured values.
In this art, the distance used to compute speed of sound in the sample tissue comprises the thickness of the acoustic matching material, and the time used to compute speed of sound in the sample tissue comprises the time required for ultrasound to propagate through the acoustic matching material. Hence even for the same sample, if the properties of the matching material change due to a change in the measuring conditions, the value of speed of sound obtained may be different. Further, if there is an error in the speed of sound, there is a possibility of an error arising in other assessment values computed from the speed of sound.
When for example castor oil is used as the acoustic matching material and the temperature of the oil changes by 1.degree. C. in the vicinity of room temperature, the speed of sound in the oil changes by approx. 3 m/s. Therefore, when for example the thickness of castor oil is approx. 4 cm and the thickness of the sample is approx. 6 cm in the aforesaid apparatus, and the oil temperature changes by 1.degree. C., an error of about 1.2 m/s arises in the measured result for the speed of sound in the sample.
If an air cell becomes mixed with the acoustic matching material in the cover of the aforesaid apparatus, further problems arise. In this case, when the atmospheric pressure of the measuring environment changes, the air cell expands or contracts. The deformation of the cover pressing on the sample therefore changes due to the atmospheric pressure, and the average thickness of the acoustic matching material changes as a result. This leads to errors in the measured value of the speed of sound.
The thickness of the acoustic matching material also changes if the material leaks out of the cover due to long periods of use.
The part of the cover in contact with the tissue has excellent transparency to ultrasound and is formed of a thin film such as a polyurethane sheet which is highly flexible. When used for long periods however, the flexibility of the cover changes, so the degree to which the cover is deformed changes even when pressed against the sample by the same pressure. This also causes the thickness of the acoustic matching material to vary, and leads to errors in the measured result for the speed of sound.
In general, the speed of sound in the acoustic matching material and in the sample tissue are not the same, hence when the average thickness of the material changed due to a variation of environmental conditions, long periods of use or a change in the flexibility of the cover in the aforesaid technique, there was a risk that a different result would be obtained for the speed of sound even if the same sample were measured.

Method for measuring speed of sound in tissue and tissue assessment apparatus


A portable solar heater combines a self-contained hot air and heat storage system having a collector area with adjustable reflectors in a unit that can be moved from room to room as needed. The heater has fans for circulation of the solar heater air and provides both direct and indirect heat transfer to the ambient room air.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to solar heaters utilizing solar heated air and a heat exchanger and storage combination.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Prior art devices of this type have used a variety of different arrangements. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,412,728, 4,100,914 and 4,112,919.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,728 a solar heater is disclosed that uses a double wall heat collector and power air exchanger with a storage medium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,914 is a solar energy collector that is positioned outside the building with a plurality of opaque corrugated metal tubes for use as heat collectors.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,919 a window mounted solar heater unit has a number of open end tubes within a transparent enclosure.
Applicant's device is a portable self-contained heater that provides a large baffled collector with a finned tubular heat exchanger which passes through a storage container filled with a heat retaining medium.


The invention provides apparatus and methods for washing a wellbore ahead of an expansion swedge and radially expanding a sand-control screen jacket in a subterranean well. The methods and apparatus can be used in either the bottom-up or top-down direction and can accomplish borehole washing and screen expansion in a single trip.

The present inventions relate to an apparatus and methods for washing a borehole in a subterranean wells and for expansion of a radially expandable sand-control screen in the borehole.
The control of the movement of sand and gravel into a wellbore has been the subject of much importance in the oil production industry. The introduction of sand materials into the well commonly causes problems including, plugged formations or well tubings, and erosion of tubing and equipment. There have therefore been numerous attempts to prevent the introduction of sand and gravel into the production stream. One sand control method includes the placement of a radially expandable screen assembly in the borehole.
Another problem in the art is the flow resistance often encountered at the wall of the hole, commonly referred to as the xe2x80x9cskin factorxe2x80x9d. The skin factor at the wall of the wellbore must often be reduced before a sand-control screen assembly is installed in the formation. It is known in the art to reduce skin factor by washing the wellbore with a fluid chosen for well and formation conditions. Washing procedures also function to flush loose sand, cuttings and other debris from the borehole. The washing is performed in a trip downhole separate from the one or more trips needed for installing and expanding the screen jacket assembly. Each trip downhole requires additional time and expense.
Due to the aforementioned problems, a need exists for improved apparatus and methods for reducing skin factor in a wellbore and expanding a radially expandable sand-control screen jacket assembly in the well.
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for washing a subterranean well borehole and radially expanding a screen assembly therein. The apparatus comprises a radially expandable screen assembly, a washing assembly adjacent the screen assembly for washing the borehole annular space, and an expansion assembly for radially expanding the screen assembly. The washing assembly can include a washing assembly housing having a wall defining an interior passage, a wash port through the housing wall for providing fluid communication between the interior passage of the washing assembly and the borehole annular space, and a flow control element affixed to the washing assembly housing for substantially preventing fluid flow along the screen annular space. The apparatus can include a force generator, preferably hydraulically powered by the washing fluid, for operating the expansion assembly. The expansion assembly can include a radially expandable swedge. The method of expanding the screen may be in the downhole or uphole direction.
The apparatus can further comprise a return flow passage providing fluid communication between an area of the borehole downhole from the expansion assembly to an area of the borehole uphole from the expansion assembly. The return flow passage can include closeable return ports, and a relief valve.

Method and apparatus for washing a borehole ahead of screen expansion


An automatic drilling apparatus having a tool body, a motive device connected to the tool body, and a drill bit connected to the tool body. The apparatus also includes a setting tool connected to the body, at least one sensor disposed on the tool body, and a computer disposed in the tool body, wherein the computer is configured to actuate the motive device, the drill bit, the setting tool, and the at least one sensor.

A producing well extracts oil and/or natural gas from one or more subsurface reservoirs of hydrocarbons. The development of a producing well includes drilling a borehole into the subsurface ground, casing the drilled borehole or leaving the borehole uncased, and completing the borehole to enable production.
After drilling a well for hydrocarbons, it may be necessary to perforate the walls of the well to facilitate flow of hydrocarbons into the well. Wells require perforation because the drilling process causes damage to the formation immediately adjacent to the well. This damage reduces or eliminates the pores through which the oil or gas would otherwise flow. Perforating the well creates a channel through the damage to undamaged portions of the formation. The hydrocarbons flow through the formation pores into the perforation channels and through the perforation channels into the well itself.
Traditional methods of perforating the well (both casing and the formation) involved lowering tools that contain explosive materials into the well adjacent to the hydrocarbon bearing formation. Discharge of the explosive would either propel a projectile through the casing and into the formation or, in the case of shaped charges, directly create a channel with explosive force. Such devices and methods are well known in the art.
In vertical wells, gravity may be used to lower the perforating device into position with wireline being used to hold the device against gravity and retrieve the device after discharge. For lateral wells, which may be horizontal or nearly horizontal, gravity may only be used to lower the perforating device with wireline to a point where the friction of the device against the well bore overcomes the gravitational force. The perforating device must then be either pushed or pulled along the lateral portion of the well until the device reaches the desired location.
Along with perforating the formation, packers may be used to isolate a section of the well for selective production and/or other downhole operations. A packer is a common downhole tool used in both the drilling and completion of a well. A packer typically has a sealing element, a holding or setting device, and a fluid passageway. Packers may be, but are not limited to, pneumatically or hydraulically expandable, swellable through use of a fluid, or expanded through fluid diffusion. Additionally, packers may seal through an elastomeric element that is solid and expands outwards under axial compression or tension. Production packers are used in completions to isolate an annulus between the casing or liner and the production tubing; and also between the open hole and a wellbore section. By creating a seal in the annulus, production control is achieved and tasks such as testing, fluid injection, perforation, treatment, and zonal isolation can be accomplished.
Expandable packers may be used for different sealing and partitioning purposes in boreholes. Typically, an annular packer is connected to a pipe, such as a production or injection pipe, which is run into the borehole, after which, the annular packer is expanded against the formation wall or against a casing. Smaller packers may also be used within smaller tubulars within a wellbore to achieve desired sealing and partitioning.


A conveyor belt scraper blade adapted for use in cleaning the surface of a conveyor belt. The scraper blade includes a resilient arm member extending between a lower base portion and an upper end portion. The arm member is adapted to pivot about an axis extending through the base portion. A scraping block is attached to the upper end portion of the arm member. The scraping block includes a front surface and a rear surface. The front surface extends between an upper scraping edge adapted to contact the surface of the conveyor belt and a spaced apart lower edge. The front surface is adapted to form an obtuse scraping angle with the surface of the conveyor belt. A restraining member extends substantially from the scraping edge to the arm member. The restraining member substantially prevents movement of the scraping edge with respect to the front surface and controls the amplitude of vibration of the scraper blade during use.

The present invention is directed to a scraper blade for use in a conveyor belt cleaner mechanism for the removal of adherent material from a conveyor belt, and in particular, to a scraper blade which includes a structure adapted to control or eliminate the amplitude of vibration of the scraper blade during use when the face of the blade is located at a right angle or an obtuse cleaning angle relative to the conveyor belt.
Scraper blades are used in conveyor belt cleaning mechanisms to remove material which adheres to the belt surface after the material has passed the material discharge point of the conveyor. The cleaning angle of a scraper blade, which is the angle between the surface of the conveyor belt and the face of the scraper blade which faces the oncoming belt, may be an acute angle of less than 90.degree., a right angle of 90.degree., or an obtuse angle of greater than 90.degree.. As used hereinafter, "obtuse angle" shall include a right angle of 90.degree..
Scraper blades that operate at an acute cleaning angle tend to trap material between the belt surface and the scraper blade as the direction of movement of the adherent material must change by greater than 90.degree. during removal. This action is often referred to as "scraping". A scraper blade operating at an acute cleaning angle may also separate from the belt surface due to an accumulation of trapped material between the blade and the conveyor belt, a condition known as "planing."
A scraper blade that operates at an obtuse cleaning angle is more efficient in removing adherent material from the belt as adherent material does not become trapped between the blade and the belt and as adherent material can be removed with a smaller change in the direction of travel of the adherent material than with a scraper blade having an acute cleaning angle. This action is often referred to as "peeling".
While an obtuse cleaning angle is preferable over an acute cleaning angle, and a resiliently mounted blade is preferable to a rigidly mounted blade, resiliently mounted scraper blades having an obtuse cleaning angle are subject to destructive and cleaning efficiency reducing vibration at the scraping edge of the scraper blade. When a scraper blade is engaged against the belt surface, a rotational moment is created in the scraper blade by the drag of the belt over the edge of the scraper blade. When pressed against a conveyor belt, with a predetermined force to generate a predetermined cleaning pressure, a resiliently mounted scraper blade having an acute cleaning angle will rotate in a direction away from the belt surface, thus reducing the drag force created by the belt. This results in a comparatively small rotation and consequently only a small change in orientation from the scraper blade's natural orientation, thus producing a relatively stable and constant relationship between the blade and the belt surface with little or no resulting scraper blade vibration.
A resiliently mounted scraper blade having an obtuse cleaning angle, and applied against the belt with the same predetermined cleaning pressure will rotate in a direction toward the belt surface, causing a reaction in the blade supporting mechanism which moves in a direction away from the belt surface thereby reducing the drag force, which immediately causes the resiliently mounted blade to snap back to its natural orientation allowing the blade support mechanism to rotate towards the belt surface and resume the predetermined cleaning pressure which causes the same cycle of action and reaction to begin all over again. This unstable fluctuating relationship between the blade and the belt surface is seen as vibration of the scraping edge of the scraper blade relative to the belt surface, which is undesirable.
Scraper blades having an obtuse cleaning angle have previously been used as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,500. Ribs and other devices have been used to strengthen the base of a scraper blade, but such reinforcements control vibration of the scraping edge by increasing rigidity, thus reducing resiliency, and thereby increasing the risk of damage to the conveyor belt and the belt cleaning device.


A door ajar detection system is provided. The door ajar detection system may be incorporated in a refrigerator to provide a warning when a door is left in an open position, or to prevent a false door-closed detection. The system utilizes like magnetic poles of magnets positioned opposite to each other to push one or more doors in a refrigerator into a full open position such that a door ajar detection assembly may provide an accurate reading. A latch assembly may be provided to hold the one or more doors in a closed position against the force of the like magnetic poles.

A door ajar detection feature helps ensure a door is kept in a closed position in an apparatus where an open door could result in the degradation or loss of contents within the apparatus, such as a refrigerator. In a refrigerator, for example, a closed door helps ensure that food is preserved and energy is conserved. When a door is ajar, the comingling of warmer air into the cooled interior can raise the interior temperature. Temperatures higher than about 44 degrees can result in rapid food spoilage as well as additional energy expenditure to re-cool the interior. In some cases, however, a door may be left only slightly ajar such that the door may appear closed and a door ajar detection feature will not register the door as being open.


A roller for deflecting or guiding a metal strip to be coated in a metal melt bath may include bearing journals disposed coaxially with one another for rotationally supporting the roller. To obtain a high coating quality while hot-dip coating the metal strip, in particular steel strip, and to increase the service life of such a roller, each bearing journal may comprise a plurality of axially spaced annular elevations that have or are formed from a plain-bearing coating. The roller may comprise a steel roller shell, and each bearing journal may include a substantially cylindrical or circular-disk-shaped connecting steel portion that extends radially in the direction of the roller shell. At least one of the connecting portions may comprise a passage opening at an end face of the roller shell. The passage may be closed by means of a gas-permeable plug element comprised of ceramic material.

In the hot-dip coating of metal strip, in particular steel strip, the strip to be coated is fed through the molten metal by means of a deflection roller arranged in the melt bath. In addition, the portion of the strip emerging from the melt bath is usually guided by guide rollers (so-called "stabirollers", bottom rollers, stabilizing rollers or passline rollers) likewise arranged in the melt bath, in order to ensure a substantially vertical and oscillation-free passage of the strip through a gap defined by wiper nozzles. The wiper nozzles serve to wipe excess coating material from the strip and to regulate the layer thickness of the coating material adhering to the strip.
The defection rollers and guide rollers used in hot-dip coating units in the state of the art are designed as solid rollers, open shell rollers or closed hollow rollers.
Closed hollow rollers are still used today, but can only be operated with costly ventilation or venting systems, since with the closed roller cavity the high temperatures in the melt bath can lead to very high internal temperatures and even explosive failure of the roller, especially in the event of unwanted fluid inclusions in the roller cavity.
Since the deflection and guide rollers in the melt bath are not normally provided with their own drive, but are turned by the movement of the strip wrapping around them, the use of solid rollers is problematical, particularly in the hot-dip coating of thin strips. The high weight of solid rollers makes it harder for the strip to turn the rollers, particularly in the case of thin strips, which can lead to relative movements (slip) between the strip and the roller. This can cause scratches and other coating defects, which reduce the coating quality.
Shell rollers usually comprise a hollow cylindrical shell tube, which at both ends is connected to the bearing journals by spoke-like webs or openings, for example end plates having bored holes. Melt bath rollers in the form of shell rollers have the advantage that they are easier to turn than heavy solid rollers, and in contrast to the closed hollow rollers do not have an enclosed cavity, in which a critical internal pressure can occur. The end-face openings create a pumping effect, however, as the shell rollers rotate, giving rise to a turbulent material flow of molten metal in the area of the spoke-like webs and openings of the end plates, which leads to a very considerable material abrasion (wear) in the area of the webs and end plates. For this reason the service life of shell rollers used in hot-dip coating units is relatively low.
Common to the said design types of deflection and guide rollers is the fact that their pivot bearings usually take the form of plain bearings, wherein the bearing journals of the rollers (and those of the outer bearings receiving the bearing journals) are subject to severe wear influences. The high degree of wear of the bearing journals, typically made from steel, is mainly caused by the high bearing forces and the aggressive nature of the molten metal.

Roller for deflecting or guiding a metal strip, which is to be coated, in a metal melt bath