A method of corrosion protecting a tube having an end portion extending into a tube receiving hole of a mud drum of a boiler and the tube produced by that method. The end portion of the tube is provided with a corrosion resistant cladding layer which may contain chromium. Laser cladding is used to produce the corrosion resistant cladding layer, which advantageously tapers along a length of the end portion of the tube. The tube may be swaged before or after the cladding is applied and suitable heat treatments may be performed on the bare or clad tube to develop suitable properties in the tube, the cladding, or a tube-cladding interface.

The present invention relates in general to boiler construction methods and arrangements and, in particular, to a new and useful method and apparatus for protecting tubes that are connected to a mud drum.
Industrial power boilers are commonly equipped with a boiler bank having an upper steam drum and a lower mud drum connected to the steam drum by a series of interconnecting steam generating tubes. For additional details of such boiler constructions, the reader is referred to Chapter 1, page 1-8 of Steam/its generation and use, 40th edition, Stultz and Kitto, Eds, Copyright (copyright) 1992, The Babcock and Wilcox Company.
These boiler or steam generating banks (as the structures are also called) suffer from corrosion at the tube-mud drum interface due to OD deposits that occur in this location. There are no methods or arrangements known to the inventor for preventing this corrosion and the only remedy is to replace the corroded tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,524 to Rawers et al. discloses a method for improving the corrosion resistance of a zirconium-based material by laser cladding. A laser beam is scanned across the entire surface of the material to cause surface melting of the material. A rapid selfquenching is provided by the underlying substrate. Homogeneous material formed during solidification of the molten pool improves the corrosion resistance of the material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,631 to Anthony et al. discloses a method for improving the corrosion resistance of a body of zirconium alloy to high pressure and high temperature steam. A scanning laser beam heats a surface region substantially equally, without melting, to a temperature range sufficient to form a barrier layer of corrosion resistant beta-quenched zirconium alloy at the treated surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,686 to Jones discloses a laser welding or cladding method. The main purpose of the laser cladding process is to overlay the surface of a substrate with another material having a different chemistry by melting a thin or thick interfacial layer to produce a metallurgical bond with minimum dilution of the clad layer. Laser surface cladding is a process in which powder or wire of different compositions is delivered into the laser-generated melt pool. The powder or wire is also melted by the laser beam, thereby forming a layer of clad alloy having a desired thickness and a chemistry that is different from that of the substrate. Among the advantages of this technique are the ability to produce novel alloys, minimized clad dilution, reduced alloy material loss, reduced machining, and reduced distortion. Conventional laser welding occurs in the ambient atmosphere, typically using a suitable inert cover gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,426 to Jeantette et al. disclosed a method and system for producing complex-shape objects by laser cladding of materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,396 to Topolski discloses a method for making alloying additions to a weld overlay weld pool. The weld overlay process is well-established and has been in commercial use for many years. Several common welding processes used in weld overlaying include: submerged-arc, conventional or pulsed gas metal arc welding (GMAW), cold or hot wire gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), flux-core arc welding (FCAW), plasma transferred arc (PTA), laser welding, and electron beam welding. Typical applications include the cladding of tubes, pipes, flanges, and fittings with a corrosion-resistant layer. Additionally, the sealing and wear areas of valves and pumps may be clad for wear resistance. In addition to conventional arc welding processes, this reference teaches that laser or electron beam welding can be used to form a weld pool. The weld pool region is typically protected from oxidation by either using a gaseous shield or vacuum. In the process, the filler metal may also conduct the current to establish and maintain the welding arc (consumable electrode) or it may be separately fed (cold wire) into the arc or weld pool. The form of the filler metal can either be a wire, powder, or strip. The composition of the weld pool is a function of the composition of the filler metal and dilution by the metal component. The resultant corrosion or wear-resistant weld overlay clad layer is generally a function of the weld pool""s composition.
One aspect of the present invention is drawn to a method for protecting the ends of steam generating tubes from corrosion at the tube-mud drum interface, a location that is particularly susceptible to corrosion, and the tubes produced by that method. Thus, one aspect of the present invention is drawn to a method of corrosion protecting a tube having an end portion extending into a tube receiving hole of a mud drum of a boiler, comprising: laser cladding a corrosion resistant cladding on an outside diameter of the tube along a length of the end portion of the tube.
Another aspect of the present invention is drawn to a tube having a corrosion resistant end portion for extending into a tube receiving hole of a mud drum of a boiler, comprising: a corrosion resistant laser cladding region on an outside diameter of the tube along a length of the end portion of the tube.
The tapered laser cladding region is provided on the outside diameter (OD) of the tube, prior to installation in the tube receiving hole in the mud drum, and in the area immediately above a hole in the mud drum which receives the tube. The tapered laser cladding region also extends partly into the hole, but does not extend into the rolled area of the tube.
According to the present invention, the alloy or alloy combination of either the tubes or the mud drum is not critical. The required thickness and composition of the cladding itself will depend on the corrosive environment to which the boiler mud drum and steam generating tubes are exposed and the degree to which such corrosion must be avoided. Examples of alloys for the tubes and boiler can be found in the above-identified publication Steam/its generation and use. Any corrosion resistant coating can be used for the tapered corrosion protection, but generally a high chromium content alloy which is either ferritic or nickel based is appropriate. The coating thickness may be on the order of 0.07 inches or less, tapering from a maximum thickness of about 0.10 inch to about 0.05 inch, gradually tapering to a thickness of 0.0 inch at the end of the tapered cladding portion which is within the tube receiving hole in the mud drum.
The thickness of the cladding must be controlled, however, to avoid interference between the clad tube and the drum hole for easy fabrication and attachment of the tubes to the drum. Thick coatings must not protrude into the mud drum, but must taper to allow the tube to be easily inserted into the hole to a depth sufficient for attaching the tube to the mud drum. As such, laser cladding is particularly useful for the present invention in that it is uniquely adapted to place the corrosion resistant cladding onto the tube in a tapered fashion.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific benefits attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.

Tapered corrosion protection of tubes at mud drum location


An apparatus for removing moisture from a hot compressed gas before the gas is delivered to a work tool. The apparatus includes a unitary rigid structure composed of a central core, with a header mounted on each side of the core. The central core includes a recuperator section and an aftercooler section, and the headers define air passages whereby the air passing through the apparatus is first cooled in the recuperator section, further cooled in the aftercooler section, and then reheated in the recuperator section. A water separator is positioned at the location where the gas reaches its lowest temperature, and such that upon reheating, a relatively dry and hot gas may be delivered to the work tool.

This invention relates generally to an apparatus for removing moisture from a hot compressed gas, and more particularly to such an apparatus which is particularly adapted for use with an air compressor which supplies compressed air to a separate work tool, such as a sand blast apparatus, for example.
It has long been recognized that it is desirable to dehumidify hot compressed gas leaving a compressor prior to the compressed air reaching an object of interest, such as a work tool. In this regard, prior dehumidification systems typically employ an aftercooler, which may be cooled by ambient air or a refrigeration system, and a water separator positioned to remove any condensed water from the cooled airstream. However, the use of an aftercooler leaves the possibility of condensation developing in the downstream piping, since the aftercooler typically supplies saturated compressed air at a temperature slightly above the ambient temperature. Therefore, any further cooling will result in further condensation formation, which may interfere with the operation of a downstream work tool or process. For example, in abrasive blasting, such as sand blasting, the presence of moisture in the compressed air flow to the work tool causes the abrasive mixture to clog and cake which reduces the efficiency of the abrasive blasting process.
It also has been proposed, especially with systems having long piping runs, to use a recuperator type heat exchanger to reheat the compressed air after it exits the aftercooler and drops its condensation. The recuperator takes the form of a separate heat exchanger located in conjunction with the aftercooler. This, however, results in a cumbersome configuration having two hoses between the aftercooler and the recuperator. Also, additional piping is required from the compressor to the recuperator and from the recuperator to the work tool being served with the dry compressed air. This known arrangement can become even more unwieldy if the water separator is mounted between the aftercooler outlet and the recuperator. With the required piping and large number of connections, the pressure drop of the compressed air, and the likelihood of leaks, is increased. Further, it is common for users to mismatch the size, flow rates, and power of the aftercooler and the recuperator, and to even reverse their proper order in the system.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present dehumidification systems. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.

Apparatus for removing moisture from a hot compressed gas


A method of manufacturing a fuel cell bipolar plate that improves dimensional accuracy even with viscous material, eliminates the need for large-scale production equipment such as a press to make a pre-formed product, and furthermore, enables manufacturing time for the fuel cell bipolar plate to be reduced. Powdered raw material A containing electrically conductive material and resin is dropped into a filling container so that a top thereof is flat. The powdered raw material A inside the filling container is then heated to form a temporary cast B, the temporary cast B is set in a mold in which a predetermined pattern is formed, and heated and compressed to form a fuel cell bipolar plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a fuel cell bipolar plate, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing that enables a fuel cell bipolar plate having superior dimensional accuracy to be manufactured efficiently.
2. Background of the Invention
A type of fuel cell that generates electric power by the electrochemical reaction of a fuel gas and an oxidizing gas, in particular a solid polymer type fuel cell, shows promise as a clean, renewable power source in a variety of applications. Such a fuel cell is comprised of an ion-conducting electrolyte membrane sandwiched between an anode and a cathode, the anode and cathode each composed of a gas diffusion electrode coated with a catalyst, the outsides of the electrodes being further provided with a bipolar plate. The bipolar plate at the anode supplies hydrogen as the fuel gas to the anode and the bipolar plate at the cathode supplies oxygen as the oxidizing gas to the cathode.
FIGS. 8A and 8B show an example of such a bipolar plate. As shown in the diagrams, a pattern 1a consisting of narrow grooves created by variations in thickness is formed on a planar surface of a fuel cell bipolar plate 1. In order to increase the overall surface area of contact between the gas diffusion electrode and the gas, the grooves meander with a slight pitch over the entire surface of the fuel cell bipolar plate. The groove pattern 1a may be formed on both sides of the fuel cell bipolar plate, as shown in FIG. 1B, or on one side only.
In addition to the configuration described above, there are also fuel cell bipolar plates having other types of structures, in which the projections are arrayed on one or both sides of the bipolar plate and the gaps between the projections used as passages for gas, or in which a combination of projections and the configuration described above is used.
The fuel cell bipolar plate described above requires the following characteristics:
(1) Gas impermeability. The fuel cell bipolar plate must be impermeable to the hydrogen and oxygen gases supplied to the electrodes. Typically, a fuel cell is formed into a cell stack consisting of many individual cell units stacked together, with each cell unit consisting of a central solid polymer-type electrolyte membrane, gas diffusion electrodes on both sides of the electrolyte membrane, and bipolar plates outside both electrodes. Therefore, gas is flowing to at least one side of the fuel cell bipolar plate, and if the bipolar plate were gas-permeable it would degrade the power generating efficiency of the cell or render power generation itself impossible, causing the cell to cease to function as a cell.
(2) Electrical conductivity. Electrical conductivity is essential because the fuel cell bipolar plate acts as an electrode for the fuel cell.
(3) High dimensional accuracy, that is, thickness accuracy. Electric current flows through the contact between the bipolar plate and the anode or cathode, and therefore poor dimensional accuracy decreases the surface area of contact and degrades electrical conductivity. In addition, poor dimensional accuracy may cause gaps to develop between the fuel cell bipolar plate and the anode or cathode, which can result in cracks in the fuel cell bipolar plate if force is applied to the bipolar plate in such a direction as to compress the gaps. Dimensional accuracy is assessed by measuring the thickness of the fuel cell bipolar plate at predetermined measurement points on a single bipolar plate and obtaining a difference d between a maximum thickness Tmax and a minimum thickness Tmin. The smaller the difference d, the better the performance of the fuel cell.
In order to satisfy the above-described requirements, initially the fuel cell bipolar plate was made by machining of a graphite plate. However, machining took time and the resulting bipolar plate was prohibitively expensive.
More recently, a method of manufacturing the fuel cell bipolar plate has been adopted that uses a powdered raw material composed of a mixture of carbon powder and thermosetting synthetic resin powder. This raw material is poured into a bottom half of a mold (hereinafter "bottom mold") of a press machine and covered with a top half of the mold (hereinafter "top mold") thereof, with the press then supplying pressure and heat to form the fuel cell bipolar plate.
However, it is not possible to achieve precise thicknesses for the finished fuel cell bipolar plate with such a method of formation. For example, with the conventional method of formation described above, a difference d described above of 0.2 mm or more has been observed in the dimensional accuracy of a fuel cell bipolar plate of approximately 200 mm a side, which adversely affects the performance of the fuel cell.
In order to solve this problem, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-62858 proposes a powdered raw material dropping device having a dropping part having a plurality of downward-facing dropping ports arranged in a matrix-like formation, a slide plate slidably movable between a position at which all the dropping ports are closed and a position at which all the dropping ports are open, and a base that supports such dropping part and slide plate.
Such a method produces much better dimensional accuracy than hitherto existing methods and can produce a uniform thickness. However, because the raw material drops straight down from the dropping ports, the raw material that is deposited tends to concentrate at the center rather than at the periphery, leading to marked differences in the density of the fuel cell bipolar plate if the raw material is viscous.
In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-85030 proposes a method in which the powdered raw material is preformed into a tablet and the tablet is then dropped into the mold. According to this method, the powdered raw material can be given a uniform consistency by forming it into a tablet. However, this method necessitates applying a heavy load to the tablet and spreading the material to the edges of the mold when forming the tablet. Consequently, if the powdered raw material is viscous, the edges of the table tend to be neglected when casting an article having a large surface area, thus making it difficult to achieve uniformity. Moreover, non-uniformity tends to occur in the dropping of the tablet into the mold as well, which tends to create uneven thickness.
In an effort to ensure uniformity of thickness and quality, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2004-338268 proposes a method that involves dropping powdered raw material inside a hopper into the bottom mold while moving the hopper from one end of the mold to the other so as to supply powdered raw material up to a certain height.
However, such a method has several problems. Once the dropping of the powdered raw material into the bottom mold stops, the top mold descends and pressure is applied to the powdered raw material, and at the same time the mold is heated and the resin contained in the powdered raw material melts or hardens. Therefore, from at least the second time onward the powdered raw material is dropped into a bottom mold that is already rather hot, and as a result the powdered raw material that drops from the hopper first immediately begins to melt or harden, bringing further movement or hardening to a complete halt and making it difficult to obtain dimensionally consistent castings.
In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-77081 proposes a method that involves compressing the powdered raw material into a preliminary casting at low temperature, dropping the preliminary casting into the mold and then compressing and heating it to form the fuel cell bipolar plate.
However, such a method requires a press machine in order to create the preliminary casting. A press is an expensive piece of machinery and its addition turns production facilities into large-scale works, which in turn increases the cost of the fuel cell bipolar plate. Moreover, time is required for the press process that turns the powdered raw material into, a preliminary casting at low temperature. In addition, output is adversely affected by deformation due to spring-back since pressure is applied during preliminary casting, as well as by impurities contaminating the preliminary casting and from damage to the preliminary casting because it is handled directly by hand. Finally, in order to give the finished casting consistently uniform dimensions and density, the preliminary casting itself must be consistently uniform, which is difficult to do.
It should be noted that methods 1-3 described above drop the powdered raw material or the tablet directly into the mold, which takes time and effort and increases the number of steps in the manufacturing process, thereby reducing production efficiency.

Method of manufacturing a fuel cell bipolar plate


A boot and binding allows step-in attachment to a snowboard while supporting the ankle of the user and allowing desired flexibility. The sole includes binding-receiving elements for attaching the boot to the binding on the snowboard. The sole also has toe and heel ends. The sole is formed with a heel counter at the heel end. Tread projects from the sole for traction when the boot is not attached to the snowboard. The strut extends upwardly from the heel counter of the base. The strut extends upwardly from the heel counter of the base. The strut provides aft support to the wearer. The upper is fixedly attached to the sole and is arranged and configured to receive the foot and ankle of the user. The upper has a rearward side adjacent the strut. The upper is more flexible than the strut and the highback. The binding disclosed includes a plate for attachment to the snowboard, a first coupling member to secure the forward end of the boot, and a second coupling member to secure the rearward end of the boot. The coupling members are releasably secured to the boot with at least one arm that extends from the side of the plate. The coupling member that secures the forward end of the boot may include either a set of jaws, a simple hook, or ridges on the sides of the toe portion.

Snowboards have been in use for a number of years, and snowboarding has become a popular winter sports activity. A snowboard is controlled by weight transfer and foot movement, both lateral and longitudinal. Precision edge control is especially important in alpine snowboarding activities where carving, rather than sliding, through the snow is desirable. Therefore, small movements of the snowboarder's feet within the boots can have significant effects on the user's control over the snowboard's movement. However, boot flexibility is also important for many recreational and freestyle snowboarding activities. Despite the widespread acknowledgment of the importance of these two desirable factors of edge control and flexibility, snowboard boots generally do not satisfactorily provide both.
To provide control, mountaineering-type boots have been used, especially in Europe. These boots include a molded plastic, stiff outer shell and a soft inner liner. The boots are mounted on the snowboard using mountaineering or plate bindings. Plate bindings are fastened to the board under the fore and aft portions of the sole of the boot and typically provide both heel and toe bails to secure the boot in place, usually without any safety release mechanism. These boots are stiff enough to provide the desired edge control and stability for carving. However, they are too stiff to allow significant lateral flexibility, a key movement in the sport that is essential for freestyle enthusiasts and desirable for all-around snowboarders. As a result, the mountaineering-type boots feel too constraining to many snowboarders.
Freestyle snowboarding requires more flexibility of the ankle of the snowboarder relative to the board than the mountaineering-type boots allow. Even all-around recreational snowboarding requires some boot flexibility. The stiff mountaineering-type boots offer little lateral flexibility and only marginal fore and aft flexibility. Because of the desire for flexibility, most American snowboarders have opted for an insulated snow boot combined with "soft-shell" bindings. These bindings have rigid bases attached to the board, highback shells, straps to wrap around the boot, and buckles to secure the straps in place. The boots, when removed from the bindings, are standard insulated snow boots or slightly modified snow boots. The flexibility gained from the soft boot and relatively soft binding results in less edge control than a mountaineering-type boot and difficult entry and release. The snowboarder may attempt to gain more edge control by tightening his binding straps around his boots. However, such overtightening may seriously sacrifice comfort. A related problem occurs every time the snowboarder reaches flat terrain, the bottom of the hill, or the chairlift. The snowboarder must unbuckle the straps of at least one binding to scoot along skateboard-style by pushing with the released foot. This may be time consuming and cumbersome, since proper securing and tightening of the binding is difficult. Disembarking from the chairlift with only one boot nonreleasably attached to the snowboard is also hazardous, since the leverage of the board on one ankle or knee could easily cause injury in a fall.
Manufacturers' attempts at providing both edge control and flexibility have centered around plate bindings for use with stiff mountaineering-type boots. Plate bindings offer ease of entry and release no buckles to unsnap or straps to tighten. They may also be made releasable in response to forces placed thereon during use. Plate binding manufacturers have approached the problem of lateral flexibility from several different angles. For example, one type of binding, made by Emery, offers a two-piece plate-one for the heel and the other for the toe. Under each toeplate and heelplate is a half-inch high rubber pad shaped in the form of a rectangle. The rubber ad is supposed to act as a shock absorber and provide side-to-side flex.
Other attempts have used adaptations of Swiss mountaineering bindings. A hard plate is mounted to the board. Two rectangular boxes--at the toe and heel--cradle a spring steel cage. Bails are connected to the cage and act as cantilevers in creating a side-to-side flex. However, such attempts may sacrifice some edge control by making the interface between boot and board too soft in order to achieve the desired lateral flexibility.
In general, the public has not been satisfied with the use of binding plates to solve the flexibility/control dichotomy and the ease of entry and exit problem. Those serious snowboarders who desire to both carve racing turns and "board" freestyle, purchase two boards and two sets of bindings and boots. Those who are simply recreational boarders or cannot afford the two-board luxury, generally settle on one type or the other, and thus sacrifice performance and/or convenience of one type or the other.
The boot and binding of the present invention solves the flexibility/control problem by proceeding in a different direction from past attempts. The invention provides a boot that allows most of the flexibility of the soft shell boot/binding while retaining the advantages of control and ease of entry and release of the mountaineering-type boot/binding arrangement. The invention thus allows greater comfort, convenience, all-around performance, and safety.


A wet etching station and a wet etching method adapted for utilizing the same are provided. The wet etching station includes a bath apparatus containing a chemical etchant, with the bath apparatus having a plurality of cooling lines installed in the lower portion of the bath area, such that the cooling lines can make contact with the chemical etchant. Thus, a large-diameter wafer can uniformly etched.

The present invention relates to a wet etching station and a wet etching method adapted for utilizing the same. More particularly, it relates to a wet etching station and a wet etching method adapted to utilizing the same, which can uniformly etch a large-diameter wafer by taking advantage of differences in wet etching rates caused by an intentional non-uniform temperature distribution in the etching bath.
The high integration of semiconductor devices onto integrated circuits with increased capability requirements has led to smaller individual devices on larger chips. This, combined with the desire to reduce cost and increase productivity yields for semiconductor device fabrication, has promoted the use of large-diameter wafers. Such large-diameter wafers require greater process uniformity controls, since uniformity is a critical consideration when employing the larger wafers in semiconductor devices.
Therefore, it is essential to ensure an adequate process uniformity when handling a large-diameter wafer in a wet etching station. Such uniformity is indispensable to wet etching (or cleaning) in semiconductor device manufacturing. Wet etching generally proceeds with a group of wafers (a "batch") in a single run by contacting the batch with a bath containing a chemical etchant. In such a process, the etching rate is affected to a considerable extent by the temperature of the chemical etchant. Therefore, the chemical etchant is continuously circulated in the bath to keep its temperature uniform throughout the bath with the goal of ultimately obtaining a uniform etch-rate across an entire wafer.
A conventional wet-etching station will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1.
In the prior art, the temperature of a chemical etchant 3 is to be kept uniform in the hope that the surface of a wafer 1 can be uniformly etched by being immersed in a bath 5 for wet-etching, wherein the bath contains a chemical etchant. To maintain such a uniform temperature, the chemical etchant 3 in the bath 5 needs to be constantly circulated by using a pump 7, which is regulated by a constant-temperature controller 9.
In the conventional wet etching station, when the wafer is immersed in the chemical etchant to perform an etching process, the lower portion of the wafer comes into contact with the chemical etchant earlier than the upper portion thereof. Also, when the etched wafer is taken out the upper portion of the wafer is exposed to the air earlier than is the lower portion thereof. Thus, during the wet etching, the lower portion of the wafer is in contact with the chemical etchant longer than any other portion thereof, resulting in that portion being etched longest. Likewise, the upper portion is etched for a correspondingly shorter time than any other portion of the wafer.
As is apparent from the above discussion, the wafer is not etched uniformly in the conventional etching batch process. This problem becomes especially serious when a large-diameter wafer is being produced to provide the high integration demanded for currently used semiconductor devices. As a result, the uniformity of the pattern formation is poor. This leads to variations in characteristics of the semiconductor device depending upon the chip location on the wafer.
Further, the reliability of an insulating layer is degraded because it does not have a uniformity of thickness across the entire wafer.

Wet etching station and a wet etching method adapted for utilizing the same


A method for improving the similarity of the volumes in different audio players is described. First player metrics for one or more Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) instruments may be determined. A digital music file that uses the MIDI protocol may be received. A note parameter or channel parameter may be adjusted for notes in the digital music file based on the first player metrics.

The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) format is used in the creation, communication and/or playback of audio sounds, such as music, speech, tones, alerts, and the like. MIDI is supported in a wide variety of devices. For example, wireless communication devices, such as radiotelephones, may support MIDI files for downloadable sounds such as ringtones or other audio output. Digital music players, such as the "iPod" devices sold by Apple Computer, Inc and the "Zune" devices sold by Microsoft Corporation may also support MIDI file formats. Other devices that support the MIDI format may include various music synthesizers, wireless mobile devices, direct two-way communication devices (sometimes called walkie-talkies), network telephones, personal computers, desktop and laptop computers, workstations, satellite radio devices, intercom devices, radio broadcasting devices, hand-held gaming devices, circuit boards installed in devices, information kiosks, video game consoles, various computerized toys for children, on-board computers used in automobiles, watercraft and aircraft, and a wide variety of other devices.
MIDI files may include information about musical notes to be played on a MIDI player. However, MIDI players may also use player-specific parameters to play MIDI files. Thus, the same MIDI file may have a different volume level when played in two different MIDI players. Therefore, there is a need for techniques for improving the similarity of the output volume between different audio players.

Systems and methods for improving the similarity of the output volume between audio players


A projection system having a controller and a plurality of reflective SLMs operatively coupled to the controller to receive image data from the controller. The reflective SLMs arc aligned in series to receive light form a light source and to reflect imaging light correlated to the image data.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,753 to Poradish, et al., discusses a system where the images of two SLMs are projected onto a screen. The two images are the same size and are fully overlapped. In this arrangement there is a one to one correspondence between the pixels of each SLM. The Poradish patent makes reference primarily to the use of this parallel SLM technique for the improvement in light output and mitigation of color artifacts produced by the use of a field sequential color system that usually employs a color filter wheel and a single SLM.
Poradish does mention the use of parallel SLM devices for the mitigation of gray level contouring artifacts or increasing the dynamic range of the display, but the patent does not teach a method by which this may be accomplished.
When SLM based projection systems are to be used for a cinematic presentation, it is desirable for the image quality of the system to approach that of the film based projection systems commonly in use. This requires that the system has a high spatial resolution and that the system possesses a wide dynamic range. While film based systems easily produce contrast ranges of 1000:1 or greater, SLM based systems such as those based on DMDs are typically limited to contrast ranges of 500:1 or less.
In particular SLM devices have a finite black level. That is, the minimum displayed intensity in the off state for any SLM is greater than zero. In circumstances found in motion picture theatres this minimum black level is often found to be too high and the "gray" image visible when the picture is "black" is distracting and serves to emphasize that the system is different from a film based projection system.
SLM devices consist of a number of separately addressable picture elements or pixels in a x-y array. Different types of SLMs employ different methods for achieving a gray scale intensity control for each pixel. Some devices employ a continuously varying analog signal (such as reflective liquid crystal devices) while DMD devices employ pulse width modulation of pixel sized mirrors that switch between only two states, "on" and "off".
A DMD is essentially an array of microscopic-sized mirrors on a computer chip. A post that allows the mirror to tilt supports each mirror. The chip includes electronic circuitry for moving each mirror between on and off positions using an electrostatic field. When the DMD mirror is in the on position light is reflected from the DMD onto a screen or other image plane. When the DMD is off the light is reflected to a "light dump" and does not reach the screen or image plane.
The mirrors are individually addressable so that which mirror is on and which is off at any given time determines the image. A memory cell associated with each mirror stores a bit of data that determines the on or off state of the address signal. Each mirror is addressed with a signal that indicates whether or not the mirror is to be on or off and therefore whether or not light is to be reflected to the image plane or screen.
A grayscale is obtained through a technique called binary pulse width modulation (PWM).
Under PWM, a frame interval T is divided into n time durations of
      1                  2        n            -      1        ,                2                  2        n            -      1        ,            …                                ,                                                  2                      n            -            1                                                2            n                    -          1                                        ,each represents a bit in a n-bit binary word x={bnbn−1bn−2 . . . b1}. As a result, the value of binary word x is represented by y, the time duration when the mirror is on, and y can be calculated by:
      T    x    =      yT    =                  T                  i          =          1                n                                                b            i                                          2                          i              -              1                                                            2            n                    -          1                    The shortest time duration
  T            2      n        -    1  represents the least significant bit (LSB) of the binary word, and it is called the LSB time, expressed as:
      T    LSB    =            T                        2          n                -        1              .
The LSB time is mainly limited by the mechanical switching time of a DMD chip. Typically, the LSB time is about 20 μsec. Therefore, the bit-depth, or the number of bits in a binary word representing the intensity of each pixel in the image formed by the DMD, is limited by both the LSB time and the frame rate. For a frame rate of 24 fps, the maximum bit-depth that a DMD can support is n=11.
Each single micro mirror on a DMD chip is a reflective device, and the total amount of output light for a binary word x is proportional to the "on-time" Tx if the optical switching time can be ignored. In fact, the optical switching time of a DMD is around 2 μs, which is about one-tenth of the LSB time, and can be neglected in the following analysis. If the input binary word x is simply encoded to be linear to scene brightness, then a DMD chip can be considered a linear device with respect to brightness.
A simplified cross section of a single DMD mirror array is shown in FIG. 1. Assume the incident light from a light source is L The light from this source falls on the mirror array, and when a mirror is in the on state the light is reflected by the mirror with an optical pixel efficiency of α<1. The output pixel brightness P can be calculated by:P=(αy+δ)L=αyL+Ldark
The second item Ldark=δL represents the "dark level" of a DMD. This corresponds to the light reflected by a pixel of the array when the associated mirror is in the off state. This dark level is the combined result of light diffraction from mirror edges, reflection from the underlying substrate and scattering from the mirror surface, particularly around the dimple formed at the support post location. This combined effect is modeled by a factor δ and is typically:
  δ  ⪡      1                  2        n            -      1      The "dark level" determines the contrast ratio of a DMD device. It can be reduced by architectural improvement to the DMD pixels, but it may not be completed eliminated.
The simplest implementation of a PWM scheme makes the period of the most significant bit ½ of the total frame time. The period of the next most significant bit is ½ of this or ¼ of the total and so on.
At certain bit transitions, such as for example in an 8 bit system where the msb switches off, and the remaining bits switch on, that is the displayed code value switches from 1000000 binary to 01111111 binary, the temporal position of the associated light reflected by a pixel making this code transition changes from the first half of the frame interval to the second half. As a result temporal artifacts are produced that are found to be problematic when displaying moving images.
These artifacts can be reduced by avoiding such transitions, and by spreading the time that a bit is on during the frame more uniformly throughout the frame duration. This is obtained for example by dividing the most significant bit into say 4 separate parts, making four equal on-off transitions for the bit during the frame time, yielding the same intensity, but splitting the on time into four parts equally spaced throughout the frame duration. Additional complexity may be introduced to further smooth the transitions that occur during a gray scale ramp and to avoid the creation of low frequencies that are more noticeable as flicker in the image.
Where full-color images are required, three DMDs may be used, one for each primary color (RGB). The light from the DMDs converges so that the viewer perceives color. Another technique is to use a single DMD and a so-called "color wheel" having sections in the primary colors so that light incident on the DMD is sequentially colored RGB. The viewer's eye then integrates the sequential images into a continuous color image.
Other types of SLMs may be similarly arranged to obtain color images.


An electrical connection device for supplying power to a bushing that delivers filaments, especially glass filaments. The device includes a connection jaw clamp and an electrical connection piece with no protective sheath and including a flexible body, having one end that is connected to the jaw clamp and a free opposite end.

Conventionally, a fiberizing installation comprises a glass flow block, which receives molten glass coming from a feeder connected to the furnace in which the glass is melted, a bushing block and a bushing. The bushing is fitted at the bottom with a plate provided with a multitude of holes from which the molten glass flows, to be drawn into a multiplicity of filaments.
These filaments, the diameter of which may vary from 5 to 33 μm, are collected into at least one sheet that converges on an assembling device in order to form at least one strand, and, for example, to be wound up. Depending on its use, the strand may also be chopped, (to form chopped strands) or thrown onto a belt (to form continuous strand mats).
The products obtained are used mainly in various reinforcing applications.
The bushing is manufactured from an alloy of platinum and rhodium, which materials are electrically conducting and resistant over time to very high temperatures. This bushing is heated by Joule heating so as to maintain, at a certain temperature, around 1100 to 1400° C., the glass that it contains so that it remains in the molten state, so as to be drawn from the holes in the bottom of the bushing. The bushing is heated using an electrical transformer by the connection of two terminals, each located on each of the opposed sides of the bushing, to electrical connection elements external to the bushing.
The bushing terminals are attached by welding them to the side walls of the bushing. They project so as to be connected to the external connection elements.
These external connection elements are each in the form of a jaw clamp made of electrically conducting material, advantageously copper, which, by means of its two cheeks, clamps a bushing terminal, the jaw clamp being connected to a fixed busbar that is connected to the electrical transformer.
The jaw clamp is therefore a piece that is suspended after the connection terminal of the bushing and mechanically fastened by clamping it using a bolt passing through the cheeks of the jaw clamp.
The connection between the fixed busbar and the jaw clamp is itself provided by simple contact of a portion of the jaw clamp against the busbar, the latter being maintained at the desired height by any appropriate system for fastening onto a fixed element of the surroundings of the bushing, advantageously against the wall of the fiberizing booth.
The improvements made in recent years, such as the increased surface area of the bushing bottom, so as to have more filament-delivering holes, the cooling systems in the bottom of the bushing, and the mechanical reinforcement of the bushing have, on the one hand, created the need to be able to install in succession, in the same fiberizing position, bushings of different lengths and heights, and have, on the other hand, considerably increased the mass of the combination of the bushing and its peripheral equipment. Furthermore, the installing of these bulky bushings and this heavy equipment has made it more difficult for the various members to be accurately adjusted with respect to one another. Finally, the increased surface area of the bushing bottom and the increase in output from the bushing have meant that the electrical power delivered to the bushing in order to heat it has had to be increased. Consequently, the electrical conduction cross section of the jaw clamp had to be increased, which further increased the mass suspended beneath the bushing. The increase in size of these bushings has also resulted in a larger expansion of the bushing bottom, resulting in the generation of mechanical stresses in the terminals, in the bottom and in the actual body of the bushing.

Electrical connection device for bushing which supplies filaments, such as glass filaments


A prime mover is shown which can be used in supplying power for a variety of roles in industrial applications, including oil and gas well operations, such as the prime mover which is used to operate a pump jack at a well site. It includes an internal combustion engine having an output shaft, the engine being cooled by engine oil supplied from an oil reservoir to the engine and circulated by an oil pump. A housing framework encloses the engine and supports an associated jack shaft bearing assembly, and includes a base, a hood and a plurality of upright supports which extend upwardly from the base in the direction of the hood. One or more of the uprights is a specially designed compartment having a plurality of opposing sides which define an initially open interior space, the interior space comprising an integral oil reservoir for storing and supplying oil to the engine during normal engine operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved design for a prime mover of the type used in supplying power for a variety of roles in industrial applications, including oil and gas well operations, such as the prime mover which is used to operate a pump jack at a well site, or which is used to operate an injection well.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Oil and gas well production operations require a variety of different power sources for such things as running gas compressors, running of injection wells, or operating the pump jack present at the well site. Pump jacks are widely used at the present time at the surface of an oil well to reciprocate lift pumps, located downhole in the well, for lifting subsurface fluids to the surface of the well. A lift pump usually includes a tubular barrel and a cooperating plunger assembly which reciprocates within the barrel. The plunger assembly is attached to a rod string which extends to the surface of the well and by which the plunger assembly may be reciprocated by the pump jack.
A typical pump jack may comprise a supporting post and a walking beam, having a head end and a tail end, pivotally connected to the post to allow for rocking of the beam about a horizontal pivot axis between one position, in which the head end is up and the tail end is down, and another position in which the head end is down and the tail end is up. It is the head end which is normally connected to the upper end of a vertical pump rod string, at the lower end of which is the lift pump. The walking beam is typically connected to one end of an arm, the opposite end of which connected to a drive assembly. The drive assembly provides the motive force to rock the beam about its horizontal pivot axis to reciprocate and produce a predetermined number and rate of up and down strokes of the pump rod string. The drive assembly typically includes a rotating power device which will be referred to in the discussion which follows as a "prime mover." The prime mover is typically either an electric motor or a gas combustion engine and is typically connected by sheaves and belts to a power transmission assembly, e.g. a gear box, whereby rotation of the prime mover's output shaft is translated to a longitudinal force on the arm for rocking of the beam. Pump jacks of this type are well known in the oil and gas industry, having been used for many years. Examples of such pump jacks may be seen in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,238,966; 4,454,778; 4,492,126; 4,723,452 and 4,743,172, among others.
The present invention deals with the prime mover component which is used for such tasks as operating the pump jack in the manner previously described. Despite advances which have been made over the years in the design of prime movers of the type under consideration, a need continues to exist for further improvements.
It would be particularly advantageous to provide such a prime mover which could be run on common oil field fuels, including natural gas, propane, or methane, and which offered an improved design for maximizing production and increasing labor efficiency of the device when used in oil field and industrial pumping operations.
Additionally, one particular area in need of improvement in many of the existing prime mover designs is the oil supply system of the unit. It would be particularly advantageous to provide a prime mover with one or more oil reservoirs for storing and supplying oil to the engine of the prime mover. Increasing the volume of oil available would extend the time period between required oil changes. It would also keep the engine cooler during normal operation, thereby extending the engine life.
It would also be advantageous to provide the aforesaid oil reservoirs for the engine of the prime mover with the reservoirs being integrated into the design of the housing framework of the prime mover itself, rather than being externally located. This would result in a simplified design which would provide economy of manufacture.


Provided herein are nucleic acid-cleaving catalytic nucleic acid probes, biosensors and lateral flow biosensor devices and methods and kits of using the probes, biosensors and lateral flow biosensor devices for detecting an analyte present on or generated from a microorganism in a test sample, including Helicobacter pylori and methods for determining whether a subject has a Helicobacter pylori infection.

Infections by pathogenic bacteria are a major threat to public health as they cause many costly outbreaks around the world each year [1]. Among bacterial pathogens, Helicobacter pylori (HP) is particularly important, as more than 50% of the world population is infected by this pathogen [2]. HP is a gram-negative microaerophilic fastidious human pathogen that colonizes in the human stomach. HP is strongly related to gastric carcinoma and is responsible for ˜80% of gastric ulcers and ˜95% of duodenal ulcers [3]. Moreover, this pathogen has been considered as an emerging superbug due to increased reports of drug resistant strains of HP [4]. Therefore, accurate diagnosis of HP is critical to managing gastrointestinal health.
Several techniques have been developed for the detection of HP, which can be categorized into invasive and non-invasive tests [3c, 4a, 5]. Invasive tests include endoscopic biopsy-based histology, followed by a rapid urease test and molecular PCR. This diagnostic option is not suitable for routine applications due to high cost and long test time. Among the non-invasive tests, the Urea Breath Test (UBT) and the stool antigen test are commonly used. UBT relies on the production of urease by HP in the stomach. A solution of urea labeled with 13C (or 14C) is ingested by the patient, and the urease produced by HP in the stomach hydrolyses the isotopically labeled urea to generate 13CO2 (or 14CO2) in exhaled breath, which can be collected and analyzed using analytical instrumentation. Although the test is noninvasive and quite sensitive, the results are not always reliable as there are other bacteria that produce urease as well [6]. The stool antigen based biochemical tests, such as the antibody based lateral flow device (LFD) and dipstick tests, although simple enough for point-of-care applications, suffer from poor specificity and sensitivity, with a limit of detection of ˜107 cfu/mL [7]. Reliable detection of pathogenic bacteria in complex biological samples using simple assays or devices remains a major challenge. Therefore, there is still a significant demand for simple HP tests that are more sensitive and accurate.


A mixed positive electrode active material is used. The mixed positive electrode active material is obtained by mixing a layered oxide whose initial charge-discharge efficiency when lithium metal is used for a counter electrode is less than 100% (hereinafter referred to as a first layered oxide) and a layered oxide whose initial charge-discharge efficiency is 100% or more (hereinafter referred to as a second layered oxide). Examples of the first layered oxide include Li1+aMnxCoyNizO2. A sodium oxide such as LiANaBMnXCoYNiZO2 other than a layered compound from which lithium is previously extracted by acid treatment or the like can be used as the second layered oxide whose initial charge-discharge efficiency is 100% or more. A layered oxide obtained by replacing (ion exchange) sodium in the foregoing LiANaBMnXCoYNiZO2 with lithium can be also used as the second layered oxide.

Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries employing nonaqueous electrolytes are widely utilized today as secondary batteries with high energy density. In a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, for example, transfer of lithium ions between a positive electrode and a negative electrode causes charges and discharges.
In general, a lithium transition metal composite oxide having a layered structure such as lithium-nickel oxide (LiNiO2), lithium-cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), or LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 is employed as the positive electrode, and a carbon material capable of storing and releasing lithium, a lithium metal, a lithium alloy or the like is employed as the negative electrode in such a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery.
The nonaqueous electrolyte produced by dissolving electrolyte salt such as lithium tetrafluoroborate (LiBF4) or lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) in an organic solvent such as ethylene carbonate or diethyl carbonate is used.
While such nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries have recently been used as power sources for mobile equipment and so on, it is desired to develop nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries capable of providing higher energy density with increasing power consumption due to expansion in functionality of the mobile equipment.
Increased capacity of positive electrode materials is required to obtain nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries with high energy density; therefore, there have recently been more interest in layered compounds as the positive electrode materials. Positive electrode active materials such as Li2MnO3 and Li1.2Mn0.6Ni0.2O2 that is a solid solution of Li2MnO3 have been studied in order to obtain the positive electrode materials with increased capacity.
Meanwhile, it is known that a sodium transition metal oxide, which is a layered compound, is relatively easy to be synthesized, while many of lithium transition metal oxides, which are layered compounds, are difficult to be synthesized (see Patent Document 1, for example). Particularly, Na0.7CoO2 and NaCo1/2Mn1/2O2 subjected to ion exchange of sodium for lithium can be utilized as the positive electrode active materials for lithium ion batteries.
Therefore, studies on a synthesis method of a sodium transition metal oxide and an ion exchange method, which is a chemical technique, have recently been active.
[Patent Document 1] JP 2002-220231 A

Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery and method of manufacturing the same


Whole structures of mammalian analogues of occludin, a constituent protein of the tight junction (TJ), are provided. Genes for human, canine and mouse occludins were analyzed with the PCR technique on the basis of the coding sequence seen around the gene for neuronal apoptosis inhibitory protein. With antibodies prepared, the occludins have been confirmed to be constituent proteins of the TJ by immunofluorescent cell staining.

This is the U.S. national stage application under 35 U.S.C. 371 of PCT Application No. PCT/JP97/00665, filed Mar. 5, 1997.
The present invention relates to an amino acid sequence of membrane protein occludin in a tight junction (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cthe TJxe2x80x9d) of a human, a dog and a mouse, and a DNA for encoding the amino acid sequence.
In multicellular animals, the information on cellular adhesion between adjacent cells is deeply concerned with the regulation and maintenance of vital phenomena such as cellular proliferation and differentiation, inflammation and cancer metastasis. Intercellular adhesion molecules which take part in the adhesion of the cells frequently assemble together on the surfaces of these cells to form a specifically differentiated membrane region for the adhesion. Particularly, intercellular adhesion molecules such as cadherins are known to be firmly bound to cytoskeleton in the cytoplasmic domain of epithelial cells. Such membrane regions are called intercellular adhesion apparatus and chiefly classified into the following four structures: gap junction (GJ), adherens junction (AJ), desmosome and tight junction (TJ).
These adhesion apparatus has first been identified under an electron microscope, and as a result of the investigation and research of constituent proteins, the importance of their physiological and pathological significance has become the focus of increased interest. The proteins that are called the so-called adhesion molecules specifically exist in these adhesion apparatus, and the adhesion molecules of the AJ are cadherins and various kinds of cadherins such as N-cadherin and P-cadherin have been identified so far [Takeichi, M. et al., xe2x80x9cSciencesxe2x80x9d, Vol. 251, p. 1451-1455, (1991)]. As adhesion molecules of the desmosome, desmoglein and desmocollin are known, and according to recent studies, it has been elucidated that their structures are similar to those of the cadherins [Buxton, R. S. et al., xe2x80x9cJ. Cell Biol.xe2x80x9d, Vol. 121, p. 481-484, (1993)]. The adhesion molecules of the GJ are called connexin, and it is known that connexin holds transmembrane domains at four different sites and both of its N-terminal and C-terminal protrude on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane.
The TJ is an intercellular adhesion apparatus peculiar to epithelial cells and endothelial cells, where the cell membranes of contiguous cells are seen completely tightly apposed. The TJ surrounds individual cells and functions as a barrier to block or regulate permeation of water-soluble molecules between the luminal and basement membrane sides of a cell layer. It has also been described to act as a fence partitioning the cell membrane into apical and basolateral sides in order to maintain the polar distribution of such membrane proteins as ion channels and pumps as well as lipids in the cell membrane [Schneeberger, E. E. et al., xe2x80x9cAm. J. Physiol.xe2x80x9d, Vol. 262, P. L647-L661, (1992)]. Owing to these functions of the TJ, milieus consisting of different fluid compositions are formed on the opposite sides of a cell layer, so that the polarity of the cell layer is maintained; hence the TJ can be said to be a fundamental structure of vital importance to multicellular organisms.
However, analysis of the molecular structure of the TJ has been less progressing, compared to other adhesion apparatus. In fact, it has constituted a serious drawback to the pursuit of molecular biological research on the TJ that the TJ adhesion molecule itself has not been identified yet.
The present inventors have established a method for isolation of AJ from rat liver, and have identified many proteins such as radixin and ZO-1 from this isolated AJ [Tsukita, Sh. et al., xe2x80x9cCurr. Opin. Cell Biol.xe2x80x9d, Vol. 4, P. 834-839, (1992)]. From research on ZO-1 and histologic findings for the AJ and the TJ, it can be presumed that the proteins in the AJ also contain a protein of the TJ. In view of this, the present inventors have isolated AJ from chick liver, prepared a monoclonal antibody against the AJ as the antigen, and carried out structural analysis of the TJ-constituting protein using the antibody specifically reacting with the TJ. As a result, the present inventor has been successful in the structural analysis of a novel constituent protein dissimilar to known proteins, and designated the protein as occludin [Furuse, M. et al., xe2x80x9cJ. Cell Biol.xe2x80x9d, Vol. 123, p. 1777-1788, (1993)].
This chick occludin is a 56 KDa protein composed of 504 amino acids, characterized conspicuously by transmembrane domains at four sites in the half of its N-terminus, with both the N- and C-terminals facing the cytoplasm and with two extracelluar loops.
From subsequent studies, occludin was inferred to be an important factor in the analysis of physiological function of the TJ at the cellular level as well as at the whole body level, and drew much attention of investigators.
No further study has progressed, nevertheless, since the said protein has its origin in the chicken species greatly remote from humans. Thus, structural analysis of occludin of human origin has been expected for the sake of elucidation of the physiological function and medical analysis of the TJ. There is as yet no report of success in the elucidation of human occludin despite worldwide competition in research for this purpose in this field.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide amino acid sequences of human, canine and mouse occludins and the DNAs encoding them.
In their report on the gene for human neuronal apoptosis inhibitory protein (NAIP), Roy et al. documented occurrence of a DNA fragment possessing a base sequence analogous to the C-terminal region of chick occludin in NAIP gene deletion mutants [Roy, N. et al., xe2x80x9cCellxe2x80x9d, Vol. 80, p. 167-178, (1995)]. To ascertain whether the said sequence actually encoded a part of the human analogue of occludin or not, the present inventor selected primers out of the base sequence analogous to that of chick occludin and made a scrupulous screening with a cDNA library of human intestinal epithelial cell strain T84 as a template for PCR. The present inventor has thus succeeded in the analysis of the whole structure of human occludin. Further, the inventor has completed analyses of mouse and canine occludins, prepared anti-occludin monoclonal antibodies, and verified with histologic staining that the occludins were transmembrane type TJ proteins.


Systems and methods for transaction authorization management based on user-defined account restrictions are provided. A financial services device may receive a transaction approval policy including one or more parameters defining account access restrictions. The financial services device may receive attempted purchases from a purchase device and determine, based on the transaction approval policy, whether to authorize or decline the attempted purchases. The financial services device may also be capable of notifying an account-holder about the attempted purchases and receive instructions from the account-holder whether to authorize or decline the attempted purchase.

Account-holders affiliated with financial institutions have limited control over the kinds of transactions that are allowed, restricted, or otherwise flagged for approval. For instance, account-holders have minimal ability to control day-to-day account access by children or spouses who might want to use the account to make purchases. This can be particularly problematic where account numbers are frequently saved on devices, such as gaming consoles or in application stores on mobile phones, and can be used for purchases with just a click of a button. For example, account-holders may have no way to detect if a child playing a game on a gaming console makes a lot of in-game purchases in a small amount of time until the bill comes later or the account-holder otherwise checks their account. While financial institutions commonly have anti-fraud protocol in place to notify account-holders of suspicious purchases, the types of purchases flagged by anti-fraud protocol are determined by the financial institution with minimal input, if any at all, from the account-holder.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods for managing transaction authorization. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to this and other considerations.

Microtransaction detection and authorization systems and methods


The present invention relates to a cutter (1) for a base cut assembly (11) applied to a sugar-cane harvesting machine (100). The base cut assembly (11) comprises a support rod (2), which is provided with a substantially C-shaped geometric profile, this support rod (2) being associated to an axle (3) of the base cut assembly (1) simultaneously in its first portion and second portion (21; 29).

Related Field
The present invention relates to a base cut assembly applied to a sugar-cane harvesting machine.
Description of Related Art
Mechanization in sugar-cane harvesting has been employed in the agricultural field in the past few decades as an alternative to manual harvesting. Besides the fact that manual harvesting constitutes a dangerous work for the life of an agricultural worker, the efficiency of this type of harvesting is inferior to that of mechanized harvesting.
With a view to achieving rapidity and efficiency in handling the harvested cane, sugar-cane harvesting machines have been developed for simultaneously cutting and processing the cut sugar-cane. These machines comprise various elements, such as: tip-cutter, helical lift, row-divider, tumbling roller, base cut assembly, lifting rollers, conveying rollers, cutting rollers, elevators, husk extractors (among other components), which have specific functions in sugar-cane processing, from harvest to transport and transfer, the vehicle that follows this machine during the harvesting.
An important component on the harvesting machine is the base cut assembly, the function of which is to receive the bundles of sugar-cane after the latter have been inclined by the tumbling roller of the machine. The base cut assembly is a mechanism that is arranged flush with the ground, emerging from the machine floor toward the plantation ground. The base cut assembly should cut as close to the ground as possible, so as to prevent waste of unharvested cane left on the ground. However, the base cut assembly may also not allow its cutting elements (its metallic blades) to come touch the plantation ground, because, if it does to, its blades may wear off or even break due to the abrasion which they undergo in contact with the particulate present in the soil.
The base cut assembly is connected—either directly or indirectly—to a vertical actuator, which is configured for promoting alteration in height of this component with respect to the soil. The control over vertical movement, that is, control of the height of this mechanism, is carried out in the command cabin of the harvester. When the machine operator notices an obstacle ahead of the harvesting machine (for example, a stone or a termite-hill), he activates an electronic command for raising the base cut assembly temporarily.
The prior-art base cut assembly is composed by two cutters, which rotate flush with the ground, cutting the bundles of sugar-cane at the plant base, before they penetrate into the harvesting machine. Each base cut assembly rotates inside a bearing, the function of which is to anchor the cutter axle to a raising roller table. This association between the base cut and the raising roller table may be viewed in document BR MU8600817-0 of Dácio Helene Junior.
An alternative configuration consists of the solution proposed in document BR PI1107149-4 of Deere & Company. In this prior-art configuration, the base cut assembly is fixed to a structure called "main frame", a movable structure that is arranged between the chassis and the operation cabin of the machine.
One of the problems of prior-art base cut assemblies is that their technology makes it very difficult for the harvester operator to control the height of the base cut disc. This is because from the operation cabin of the machine it is not possible to see all the unevenness of the ground. Besides, it is unfeasible to suggest that this operator should go through an entire plantation with his hands on the height control of the base cut disc, actuating this height control at every minor alteration present in the soil of this plantation. This causes this base cut assemblies now to leave unharvested cane in the plantation (wasting crop material) now to bump their blades with the plantation soil upon encountering unevenness in the plantation soil, damaging these elements and blunting their cutting edges.
Besides this disadvantage, the prior-art base cut assemblies are anchored onto the harvesting machine by means of bearings provided with a robust, resistant and heavy structure. These bearings are necessarily robust because they support the axle by contact with only one of its ends and the central part of the axle, leaving much of this piece free from contact with the bearing structure. When, for instance, a stone present in the soil hits the base cut disc, the force of this collision is multiplied by the whole extension of the free axle until it dissipates under the robustness of the bearing at the other axle end. By the low of linear moment, the larger the axle area exposed out of the bearing (that is, the longer the moment arm) the more resistant and heavier this bearing must be. Hence the robustness and high weight always present on the prior-art bearings.
However, the weight of an element comprised by an agricultural machine implies directly two drawbacks: increase in the total weight of the machine and the increase of its total manufacture cost. The latter is due to the fact that the heavier the component the more raw-material is employed to manufacture it.
It is also known that the total weight of an agricultural machine interferes directly with the compaction of the soil of a plantation. When this compaction occurs routinely, it may damage the plant routs and decrease the number of harvests capable of being carried out in the same plantation.
Thus, the prior art does not comprise a base cut assembly that is light, inexpensive, and is still capable of adapting to harvesting on uneven grounds, preventing waste of unharvested sugar-cane and damage to the metallic blades by accidental collision of this element with the plantation soil.

Marchesan Implementos e Máquinas Agrícolas Tatú S.A.


A pulp dryer screen assembly includes a rectangular screen, a rectangular frame having four interconnected, elongated frame members and four support members, each support member being adjacent a frame member and aligned therewith. The screen has a taut inner portion and surrounding edge portions clamped between the frame members and adjacent support members. The inner portion of the screen has a pulp fiber collecting surface which has an upstream side with respect to air flow and extends along a plane. The frame and support members are entirely on a downstream side of the plane opposite the upstream side. Preferably the frame members are square tubes, and the support members have orthogonal Z-sections for small screens, and at least two orthogonal W-sections for large screens. The screen is tightened within the frame by drawing opposite support members away from each other to clamp edge portions of the screen between the support members and the frame. The support members are then connected to the frame.

The invention relates to a pulp dryer screen assembly and a method for tightly mounting the screen on a frame.
Wood pulp is conventionally produced in a continuous web which is subsequently dried in a pulp dryer. In one type of dryer the web or pulp sheet is carried through the dryer between hot air streams which are discharged from blow boxes above and below the web. The air blown onto the web is heated, typically by steam heating coils having finned surfaces. The air picks up wood pulp fibers in the process which would tend to accumulate on the finned surfaces thereby appreciably reducing their efficiency.
For this reason, filtering screens are conventionally placed over the face of steam heating coils to collect the fibers and avoid clogging the coils. A large number of screens is required, and sometimes several hundred screens can be required for a dryer. The most common type of screen is rectangular and is placed over a rectangular perimeter frame. One type of conventional screen assembly employs a perimeter frame of square tubing. The screen is fitted over two sides of the frame and at both the ends. An angle section clamps the screen against the sides and the ends of the screen. Rivets or screws are typically used to secure the angle section to the frame itself. It may be appreciated that a pronounced inner edge occurs about the frame where the angle section fits over the flat surface of the screen.
Eventually such screens become clogged with fibers from the pulp which are desirably removed to improve efficiency of the dryer. This is usually done by vacuuming the screens at least daily. A heavy-duty vacuum cleaner is employed and the nozzle of the cleaner is brushed over the screens to remove the fibers. During this vacuuming operation, the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner brushes over the pronounced inner edge of the angle sections which overlie the screens. This often causes the nozzle to snag the angle sections, sometimes unseating the screens when the operator attempts to unsnag the nozzle from the screens. The screens sometimes fall off the hot coils and have to be retrieved and rehung. Often the screens are not retrieved and rehung while the dryer is in operation due to the undesirability of exposing persons to the very hot atmosphere in the dryer (e.g. 212.degree. F. or 100.degree. c. at the access door). Thus the screens may remain off of the coils for days or weeks until the dryer is cooled during breaks in production.
Repeated snagging can often bend the angle sections, thus increasing the likelihood of snagging again in future. Furthermore, abrasion between the nozzle and the screens sharpens the nozzle which catches the angle sections, leading to damage to the screens during the vacuuming operation. Broken areas of the screens around the frame lead to corresponding areas on the coils which accumulate pulp fibers. The wear and tear on screens due to the cleaning operation and dislodging of the screens to loosen on their frames.
The screens are conventionally provided with crossbars extending between frame members to support the frame members against deflection due to screen tension. The cross bars are conventionally straight and rest close to the backs of the screens. The tension in the screens often decreases rapidly and the resulting slackened screen can bend over the crossbars and frame members. This slackness also leads to additional screen wear and breakage of the screens adjacent the crossbars and frame edges during the vacuuming operation. Eventually, many of the frames become twisted and do not seal against the mounting frames provided adjacent to the coils. A poor seal permits wood fibres to pass edges of the screens and this also causes the fins of the coils to become clogged with wood fibers.
A pulp drier is the only machine in a pulp mill that has to be continuously cleaned during operation of the mill, to enable the mill to continue to operate. The work has to be done manually in high heat and high humidity conditions. It is important that the screens can be quickly cleaned, because the operators are subjected to heat fatigue, and are required to have rest periods between relatively short work periods.
Therefore, there is a significant demand for a screen which is easier to vacuum and which remains taut during the cleaning operation. It would also be desirable to produce a frame which is rigid enough and holds the screen taut. Loose screens are more difficult to clean because fine fibres tend to tangle between loose weaves of the screen, which increases the time required to clean the screen. Furthermore, a simple means of securing the screen to adjacent framework is desirable, so as to reduce the risk of the screen falling off the supports during cleaning.

Pulp dryer screen assembly and method for tightening the screen thereof


An integrated circuit device having both an array of logic circuits and an array of embedded DRAM circuits is provided using a process that avoids some of the most significant processing challenges for embedded DRAM integration. Transfer FETs and wiring lines are provided for the embedded DRAM circuits and FETs are provided for the logic portions of the device in an initial phase of the process. The gate electrodes and source/drain regions of the logic FETs are subjected to a salicide process at this initial phase and a thick planarized oxide layer is provided over both the embedded DRAM regions and the logic circuit regions. Capacitors and logic interconnects are next formed using common etching, titanium nitride deposition and tungsten deposition steps. Contact vias are formed to expose each of the source drain regions of the DRAM transfer FETs and to expose select conductors within the logic circuits. A titanium nitride layer is deposited over the device and within the various contact vias through the planarized oxide layer. A capacitor dielectric layer is provided over the device and then the capacitor dielectric layer is selectively removed from at least the contact vias that become bit line contacts and logic interconnects. A layer of tungsten is deposited and patterned to provide upper capacitor electrodes and to complete the bit line contacts and logic interconnects. This first level tungsten layer also can provide bit line wiring. The 1/2 V.sub.cc potential for the upper capacitor electrodes can be provided to the circuit using a level of interconnect wiring also used by the logic circuits.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to the formation of integrated circuit devices that incorporate both an array of memory cells and an array of logic circuits on a single chip or substrate in a process flow sharing processing steps in common between the formation of the memory array and the logic array. Other aspects of the invention relate to an integrated circuit incorporating embedded memory dedicated to logic circuits formed on the chip with the memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
For some data processing applications, it has become desirable to provide integrated circuit devices that incorporate on the same chip both arrays of memory cells and arrays of high speed logic circuits like those typically used in microprocessors or digital signal processors. It might, for example, be desirable to provide an array of dynamic random access memory cells within the integrated circuit device to provide dedicated, comparatively high speed access to a significant amount of data storage for the logic circuits of the integrated circuit device. Applications that could benefit from the provision of such embedded DRAM include logic circuits that process large amounts of data, such as graphics processors. Use of embedded memory might also reduce the number of pins or input/output terminals required by the integrated circuit device. Providing both high speed logic circuits and embedded DRAM on the same chip requires that certain aspects of the process flow used for making the chip be dedicated to the formation of logic circuits and that other aspects be dedicated to the formation of memory cells. FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a portion of a process flow that might be used to provide embedded DRAM on an integrated circuit device that includes high speed logic circuits.
FIG. 1 illustrates at an intermediate processing stage an integrated circuit device that will include embedded DRAM and an array of logic circuits. On the left side of the illustrated device is an exemplary DRAM cell and on the right side of the illustrated device is an exemplary logic FET that makes up part of a logic circuit. Other circuitry for performing input/output (I/O) functions for the integrated circuit device would typically be included, but is not shown here. The embedded DRAM cell, when complete, will include a transfer or pass field effect transistor (FET) coupled to a charge storage capacitor. The transfer FET acts as a switch for selectively coupling the lower electrode of the charge storage capacitor to a bit line so that charges, representative of data, can either be read from or stored to the charge storage capacitor. The embedded DRAM and logic circuits of the integrated circuit device are formed on a single silicon substrate 10, which typically has at least a surface layer of P-type material. Device isolation regions 12 are provided as necessary across the surface of the device. The illustrated device isolation regions 12 may be field oxide regions formed in a modified local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) process or may be shallow trench isolation (STI) devices consisting of trenches filled with oxide by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The illustrated cross section of the embedded DRAM cell includes a section through a transfer FET 14 and through an adjacent wiring line structure 16. The wiring line structure 16 is typically an extension of the gate electrode structures for adjacent DRAM cells and so has an almost identical structure to the illustrated gate electrode structure. The gate electrode structure includes a gate electrode 20 including at least a lower layer of doped polysilicon provided on gate oxide layer 18. Most typically, the wiring line conductor 22 also includes at least a lower layer of doped polysilicon formed on the field oxide isolation region 12. A capping oxide layer 24 is provided early in processing to protect the gate electrode 20 and wiring line conductor 22. Oxide spacer structures 26 are provided on either side of the gate electrode and wiring lines, typically by CVD silicon oxide deposition followed by an etch back process. Oxide spacer structures 26 provide lateral protection to the gate electrode and wiring line during processing and might also be used in the formation of lightly doped drain (LDD) structures for the source and drain regions of the transfer FETs. Source/drain regions 28 are formed by self-aligned ion implantation of N-type dopants on either side of the gate electrode 20 to complete the transfer FET 14.
Portions of the logic circuitry, schematically illustrated on the right of FIGS. 1-4, are formed nearly contemporaneously with the formation of the transfer FETs of the DRAM array. Depending on design choices, some processing steps may be shared between the embedded DRAM and logic formation processes or wholly distinct processes might be used for forming the DRAM and logic circuits. The exemplary FET 30 of the logic circuit is formed on a gate oxide layer 32 and includes a polysilicon gate electrode 34. It is generally preferred to not provide a silicide layer over the polysilicon gate electrode layer 34 at the illustrated stage of the manufacturing process. Instead, self-aligned silicide ("salicide") process is used to complete the FETs of the logic circuit at a later stage in the manufacturing process. Oxide spacers 38 are formed on either side of the gate electrode 34 and are typically used in defining an LDD structure for the source/drain regions 40 of the logic FETs.
After formation of the FETs for the DRAM array and the logic array, it is typical to provide a thick oxide layer 42 over the entire substrate 10. The oxide layer is deposited to a sufficient thickness to both cover the various device structures and to provide a sufficient thickness for the planarization of the oxide layer 42. Planarization of the oxide layer 42 is important to improve the process latitude for the photolithography and etching steps used to form the lower electrode of the charge storage capacitor. After provision of the planarized oxide layer, a via 44 is formed through the planarized oxide layer to expose the source/drain region 28 to which the charge storage capacitor of the illustrated DRAM cell will be connected. Doped polysilicon is provided within via 44 to form a vertical interconnect 46 between the source/drain region 28 and the lower electrode 48 of the charge storage capacitor. The lower electrode 48 of the charge storage capacitor is typically formed from several layers of doped polysilicon. For the design rules typically used in modem processes, it is important to provide a three dimensional crown or fin capacitor structure for the lower electrode 48 so that it has sufficient surface area to provide a sufficient level of charge storage for the capacitor. Such a crown or fin structure is necessary to ensure that the charge storage capacitor of the DRAM cell stores a sufficiently large charge to facilitate data reading and writing operations as well as to ensure that the stored charge remains on the charge storage capacitor for an acceptable amount of time without requiring a refresh operation. Formation of the charge storage capacitor continues by providing a capacitor dielectric 50 consisting of the three layer oxide/nitride/oxide structure known as ONO over the lower capacitor electrode 48. An upper electrode 52 is formed by providing another layer of doped polysilicon which is patterned in a manner conventional to DRAM arrays. The completed charge storage capacitor is shown in FIG. 2.
After completion of the charge storage capacitor, a mask such as photoresist mask 54 is provided over the FIG. 2 device to cover the embedded DRAM array and to expose the oxide layer 42 over the array of logic circuitry. Etching is performed to remove the thick oxide layer 42 from above the logic circuitry, resulting in the structure shown in FIG. 3. Processing continues on the logic FET 30 to form a silicide layer 66 over the gate electrode 34 and silicide layers 68 over the source/drain regions 40, as shown in FIG. 4. The silicide layers 66, 68 reduce the resistivity and contact resistance of the gate electrode and the source/drain regions. Typically, the silicide layers are formed in a self-aligned silicide ("salicide") process in which a layer of a refractory metal such as titanium is deposited over the exposed polysilicon gate electrode and the exposed silicon source/drain regions. An initial anneal is performed to convert a portion of the deposited metal layer to a metal silicide. An etch is performed to remove unreacted metal and then a second anneal is performed to achieve a low resistivity for the metal silicide layers 66, 68 on the gate electrode 34 and source/drain regions 40. Processing continues to provide a typically multi-layer interconnect structure dedicated to the logic circuitry (not shown). Further processing completes the integrated circuit device which includes both logic circuitry and embedded DRAM circuitry.
To date, providing embedded DRAM for the logic circuits of an integrated circuit device to enhance the performance of the logic circuits and the device as a whole has been an expensive process which exhibits undesirably low yields for the desired integrated circuit device. It is accordingly desirable to provide a better process for forming embedded DRAM integrated circuit devices.


An optical system for digital microscopy having at least one lens, at least one telescope of the Kepler type and tube optics, wherein an aperture is arranged between the telescope and the tube optics, which aperture is imaged by means of the telescope at the rear focal point of the lens and the following conditions are met simultaneously:                A light conductance value (L) of the lens is ≧1.4,        A light conductance value (L) of the telescope is ≧0.35,        A light conductance value (L) of the tube optics is ≧0.35,                    wherein the equation for the light conductance value (L) isL=A(tan ξ,)                        where A is the pupil diameter and ξ is the angle of gradient of the pencil of light rays in infinite space, and wherein the microscope magnification (Γ) of the telescope is in the range −⅓≦Γ≦−3.

One of the main features of a digital microscope is the rapid and problem-free creation of digital images and surface models of macro- and microscopic structures. On the one hand, these lead to a better understanding and a better documentation of the sample in the case of a qualitative evaluation. On the other hand, valuable information about the surface properties or the wear thereof can be obtained by a quantification of the surface.
Digital microscopes intentionally do not have the view typical of conventional microscopes. This permits a completely new type of instrument design. In particular, there is enough room for complicated post-enlargement equipment, which is not the case in traditional microscopy.
These powerful post-enlargements have, among other things, resulted in a significant reduction in the need for tedious and uneconomical lens changes. The known digital microscopes available on the market manage with only a few lenses. Post-enlargement is often performed by using complicated zoom systems. Unfortunately, these devices only have low light conduction values, which is why they have only limited suitability for modern techniques in fluorescence microscopy, for example. This situation is complicated further by the fact that infinite space is limited in most cases.


A surface mount electrical connector for mounting to a substrate comprising a housing and a contact carried by the housing, the contact comprising a retention section held by the housing and a tine configured for mounting to a surface of the substrate wherein the tine extends from the retention section and wherein the tine lies inside an outer contour line of the housing is disclosed. A method of connecting a surface mount electrical connector to a substrate comprising the steps of providing a housing carrying a contact, the contact having a tine within a projected footprint of the housing on the substrate, attaching the housing to the substrate, inserting a jig into an opening of the housing, and bending the tine toward the substrate is disclosed.

Various types of surface mount electrical connectors are known. As an example, a memory card connector device that comprises a contact block, having contacts held therein, provided in the rear portion of the connector body, and a slider that moves within the connector body in the forward-backward directions according to an insertion/removal operation of a card is known as described, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-207168 (FIGS. 5, 6). The contact block used in the connector device comprises a heart cam groove, which collaborates with a lock metal that moves therein to form what is known as the push-push connector. In the connector device, the tines of the contacts are protruding externally from the connector body so as to be surface mounted on a circuit board.
Recently, electronic devices, such as digital cameras, personal computers, and the like, have been made compact, and along with this, it is customary that electrical/electronic components incorporated in electronic devices are densely surface mounted on a circuit board. In order to densely surface mount electrical/electronic components, there has been a demand that the electrical/electronic components be made small so as to occupy small areas on the circuit board. This also allows the circuit board itself to be made compact.
In such a surface mount electrical connector, it is customary that the tines of contacts protrude externally from the connector and are soldered to the circuit board, as in the connector device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-207168. Tines are disposed so as to have the same gap with respect to the circuit board. Generally, the gap is not greater than 0.1 mm. The gap between each tine and circuit board, however, may be increased due to warpage of a housing to which the contacts are attached. For example, too large of a gap causes improper soldering, and thereby a defective product is produced. In order to avoid this, and in order to obtain coplanarity of the tines with respect to the circuit board, the gap between each tine and the circuit board is detected, and if the gap is greater than a predetermined value, the tine is pressed toward the circuit board using a jig so that the gap falls within a predetermined range. Therefore, it is convenient for detecting the coplanarity and verification of proper soldering, if the tines are protruding externally from the connector holding the contacts. Further, the protrusion of the tines may facilitate correction of the coplanarity. The protrusion of the tines, however, poses a problem that the area of the circuit board occupied by the connector is increased.
The present invention has been developed in view of the circumstances described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a compact surface mount electrical connector which requires a small area on the circuit board, yet allows tine coplanarity adjustment.