A process for desizing and cleaning fabrics and garments which produces a substantially desized fabric or garment while holding the dye that is removed from the garment in suspension in the bath is disclosed. The process includes the steps of immersing the woven fabric or garments in an aqueous bath containing from about 1.0% to about 8.0% owg of a desizing agent and maintaining the fabric in the desizing bath for a time sufficient to desize the goods while minimizing the removal of dye present in the goods. The desizing agent includes from about 1.0% to about 100% by weight of the desizing agent of a clay and up to about 10% by weight of the desizing agent of at least one surfactant.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for desizing and cleaning dyed textile fabrics and garments. More particularly, this invention relates to a process for treating woven fabrics and garments using a desizing agent containing a material for physically removing sizing, loose color and other impurities from the goods.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
One of the most widely produced fabrics is cotton denim used to make "blue jeans" and other garments. Denim fabric is made from yarns in which the warp yarn has been dyed with indigo and/or sulfur dye.
Cotton denim fabric often contains a starch size. Removing the size typically involves soaking the fabric in a bath containing an enzyme which converts the insoluble starch to soluble sugars or dextrins. Normally desizing removes a great amount of indigo and significantly changes the cast of the shade. After the size is solubilized it is necessary to remove the soluble material before subjecting the goods to the next step. If the soluble material is not removed it may be reprecipitated in the next step or inhibit action of the chemicals that are used in subsequent steps. Streaking of the denim fabric during desizing, is the number one problem to be overcome during desizing. A second problem is to hold the dye that is removed from the garment in suspension in the desizing bath to eliminate staining of the fabrics and the garments and the need for rinsing after desizing.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a process for desizing dyed woven textiles in which the sizing is substantially eliminated with minimal removal of the dye present in the garment. An additional object is to provide a process which produces a substantially desized garment while holding the dye that is removed from the garment in suspension in the desizing bath. A further object of the present invention is to provide a process that removes size in a uniform manner that prevents streaks and cracks from forming on the garment being treated.

Process for desizing and cleaning woven fabrics and garments


A method for removing nodule defects is disclosed. The nodule defects may be formed on a non-selected portion of a semiconductor structure during formation of a semiconductor region on a selected portion of the semiconductor structure. A plasma having a higher selectivity to etch the nodule defects relative to the semiconductor region may be used to selectively remove the nodule defects on the non-selected portion.

In a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, a selective epitaxial growth process may be used for, e.g., re-growing source/drain regions in recesses of an OD region (oxide definition region, i.e., a region where a source, a drain, and a channel of a semiconductor device are formed). However, in such a selective epitaxial growth process, some ball-like particles may undesirably grow on the non-selected regions, such as spacers or other regions including oxides, nitrides, or other dielectric materials. Such ball-like particles may be referred to as nodule defects. Serious nodule defects may block subsequent processes, and may adversely affect yield of the semiconductor device.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor structure with reduced nodule defects

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.


A thin film deposition device and a method of depositing thin film materials are disclosed. In one aspect, the thin film deposition device includes a deposition chamber configured to accommodate a substrate and a first chamber plate placed in the deposition chamber and configured to mount the substrate on a first surface thereof. The thin film deposition device also includes a second chamber plate placed in the deposition chamber on the opposite side of the first chamber plate with reference to the substrate. A plurality of recesses are formed on a surface of the second chamber plate facing the first surface of the first chamber plate such that gas flow is formed through the respective recesses.

Field
The described technology generally relates to a thin film deposition device and method of depositing thin film materials.
Description of the Related Technology
A thin film manufacturing process, such as a thin film encapsulation of an organic light emitting device, generally uses a deposition process that generates steam from a deposition source for adsorption of the steam to the substrate surface.
Recently, atomic layer deposition (ALD), which can more uniformly and precisely form a thin film, has become the preferred deposition process for many applications. In ALD, a precursor is first adsorbed to the surface of a substrate and then a reactant is supplied and an atomic layer is formed from the chemical reaction between the precursor and the reactant.
Among generally used atomic layer deposition processes, one of these is a traveling wave-type atomic layer deposition process. Here, a substrate and a deposition mask are aligned in an atomic layer deposition chamber, steam from a deposition source is injected into the chamber, and the steam is controlled to be adsorbed to the surface of the substrate while being moved through an outlet. However, in this process, a large mother substrate is generally used to improve productivity, and thus when steam is injected into a large-sized deposition chamber (sufficiently large to have the mother substrate), flow of the injected steam cannot be controlled. As a result, uniformity of the atomic layer deposited to the substrate may be degraded.
When ALD process time is extended so as to reduce the incidence of non-uniformities, a tact time (i.e., maximum process time) is inevitably extended, thereby reducing productivity. Further, steam flows through a gap between the deposition mask and the substrate, thereby causing deposition failure.
When a spatial-type ALD process is used, developed to improve deposition speed, different steam nozzles are alternately arranged above the substrate and deposition can be promptly performed while the substrate slides below the nozzle. However, a vapor cross current can occur between adjacent gas nozzles, and thus, foreign particles may lodge on the substrate, thereby causing deposition failure.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only to enhance the understanding of the background of the invention, and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Thin film deposition device and method of depositing thin film using thereof


The disclosure pertains to various embodiments of zippers with a tear flange for use in a reclosable flexible package or bag. A line of weakness can be introduced into the tear flange by application of a peel seal polymer resin or of a foaming agent. The disclosure includes further embodiments wherein lines of weakness are introduced into the flange of zippers in reclosable packages or bags.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to reclosable packages wherein tear strips are provided within the flanges of the reclosable zippers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Previous designs of easy-opening reclosable packages have typically included tear features such as laser scoring, perforation, tear beads or similar structures formed on the package film or by separate addition of an element. However, this prior art did not provide a tearing feature through direct modification of the zipper flange at the top of the package, particularly those including multiple-track self-locking zippers. Similarly, some previous designs of reclosable packages did not provide a full combination of reduced manufacturing costs, increased hermeticity and reliable ease of opening.


A reverse sensor lubrication system in a toroidal type continuously variable transmission is disclosed. The transmission includes a forward/backward mode switching mechanism, a toroidal type power transmission unit powered by the switching mechanism, a power transmission shaft driven by an output cone disc of the power transmission unit, a transmission output shaft driven by the power transmission shaft through a gear unit interposed therebetween, a speed change control valve switching means which selectively actuates a forward movement speed change control valve and a backward movement speed change control valve, a reverse sensor which is mounted on the power transmission shaft to cause the switching means to actuate the backward movement speed change control valve when the power transmission shaft is rotated in a backward direction, and a hydraulic circuit which controls operation of the transmission. The reverse sensor lubrication system comprises a first block which, when the power transmission shaft is rotated in a forward direction, lubricates the reverse sensor by using a fluid splashed by the gear unit; and a second block which, when the power transmission shaft is rotated in the backward direction, lubricates the reverse sensor by using a pressurized fluid provided by an oil pump installed in the hydraulic circuit.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a toroidal type continuously variable transmission, and more particularly to a system for lubricating a reverse sensor of such transmission.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
As is known, a toroidal type continuously variable transmission has a toroidal power transmission unit which generally comprises input and output cone discs which are coaxially arranged and power rollers which are interposed between the input and output cone discs.
For ease of description, the toroidal type continuously variable transmission will be referred to as torocoidal-type CVT hereinafter.
As a conventional torocoidal-type CVT which exhibits a powerful transmission of torque, Japanese Patent First Provisional Publication 2-163562 shows a dual cavity type which has two viz., front and rear toroidal power transmission units coaxially mounted therein and parallelly arranged in a power train. In the transmission of this publication, output cone discs of the front and rear units are integrally connected in a back-to-back connection manner and rotate freely about a main shaft in a transmission case, and input cone discs of the units are coaxially arranged to face the respective output cone discs and rotate together with the main shaft. By inputting a torque to the input disc of the front unit, rotation of both the input discs of the front and rear units is carried out. During this, a loading cam on the main shaft applies the input disc of the front unit with a biasing force in accordance with the transmission torque, so that the two input discs of the units are biased toward the respective output discs. With this, each power roller is compressed between the associated input and output discs by a force according to the transmission torque, so that power transmission between the associated input and output discs of each power transmission unit is carried out. That is, each power roller is frictionally engaged at diametrically opposed ends with the associated input and output discs. In operation, rotation of each input disc is transmitted to the associated power rollers and the rotation of each power roller is transmitted to the associated output disc. When, under this operation, an angle of each power roller relative to the main shaft is changed, a so-called power transmission ratio between the input and output discs of each power transmission unit is continuously changed. In the transmission, there is also employed a forward/backward mode switching mechanism by which the transmission can take forward and backward modes selectively. When, due to the work of the switching mechanism, the transmission takes the backward (or reverse) mode, a reverse sensor senses the reverse rotation transmission condition of the power transmission units and operates a switching device for forward/reverse speed change control valves. With this, the speed change control of the transmission is carried out by the reverse speed change control valve.
In the above-mentioned dual cavity type torocoidal-type CVT, output rotation of the transmission is taken out from a position between the two power transmission units. The output rotation is transmitted to a countershaft which is arranged offset and in parallel with the main shaft of the transmission. The rotation of the countershaft is then transmitted through a gear unit to a transmission output shaft which is coaxially arranged behind the rear power transmission unit. The reverse sensor is mounted to a leading end of the countershaft, which is remote from the gear unit.
When, in operation, the countershaft is rotated in a forward direction to move an associated motor vehicle forward, that is, when the transmission assumes a forward mode, a one-way clutch operates to disconnect the reverse sensor from the countershaft. While, when the countershaft is rotated in a backward direction to move the vehicle backward, that is, when the transmission assumes a backward mode, the one-way clutch operates to connect the reverse sensor with the countershaft. With this connection, the reverse sensor is driven by the countershaft and actuates the forward/backward mode switching mechanism in the above-mentioned manner.
Accordingly, there is a need of lubricating the reverse sensor particularly when the reverse sensor is driven by the countershaft. Japanese Patent First Provisional Publications 7-301300 and 7-293653 show measures for such lubrication. In the measure of 7-301300 publication, a so-called "oil splashing effect" of the gear unit on the countershaft is practically used. That is, the lubrication oil splashed by the gear unit on the countershaft is led to and reserved in a recessed high portion in the transmission, and the oil is naturally led to the reverse sensor through an axially extending oil passage formed in the countershaft. In the measure of 7-293653 publication, a force feed means is employed for enforcedly feeding the reverse sensor with lubrication oil through the axially extending oil passage of the countershaft. However, due to their inherent construction, the measures of these publications have failed to exhibit a satisfied result in lubricating the reverse sensor. That is, in the former measure, it is difficult to obtain a satisfied oil splashing effect in both a case wherein the countershaft is rotated in the forward direction and a cases wherein the countershaft is rotated in the backward direction. When the oil splashing effect is not effectively made, the recessed high portion in the transmission fails to reserve a satisfied amount of oil, which tends to cause poor lubrication of the reverse sensor. In the latter measure, due to the nature of the force feed means, a larger amount of oil is enforcedly led to the reverse sensor even when the sensor needs only a smaller amount of oil like in the case wherein the countershaft is rotated in the forward direction.

System for lubricating reverse sensor of toroidal type continuously variable transmission


Methods, devices, and systems for predicting an optical acuity measure of an optical system of an eye. An optical acuity measure can be predicted by determining a point spread function based on a wavefront measurement of an eye, convolving a resolution target with the point spread function to produce an image, and predicting the optical acuity measure of the optical system of the eye based on the image.

This invention relates to optical system analysis, and in particular provides methods and systems for evaluating an optical acuity measure of an individual's eye.
The visual acuity of the eye can be affected by many factors. For example, visual acuity can be affected by objective factors such as the optical characteristics of the cornea and lens, as well as subjective factors such as light absorption and detection in the retina, and neural processing in the brain. Traditionally, measuring visual acuity of the human eye has involved methods using eye charts. The test results from such methods, however, can be subjective in nature as they involve the human brain's interpretation of vision, and therefore may not be representative of the quality of the eye's optics.
It would be desirable to have improved methods and systems that provide accurate and objective prediction and evaluation of an individual's visual acuity.

Systems and methods for prediction of objective visual acuity based on wavefront measurements


A scroll compressor and methods of assembling the scroll compressor are disclosed. The scroll compressor includes a frame aligned about a longitudinal axis of the scroll compressor, the frame including a plurality of extensions extending radially from the longitudinal axis, the plurality of extensions including axially extending frame interlock mechanisms. A fixed scroll support is aligned about the longitudinal axis, the fixed scroll support including a plurality of extensions extending radially from the longitudinal axis, the plurality of extensions including axially extending fixed scroll support interlock mechanisms configured to engage the frame interlock mechanisms upon radial rotation. A fixed scroll wrap is integral with or attached to the fixed scroll support.

Scroll machines generally include a class of positive fluid displacement apparatuses which use orbiting involute spiral wraps formed on facing parallel plates to compress, expand, or pump a fluid. Scroll machines specifically are directed to scroll-type apparatuses wherein radially compliant means permit actual moving line contact between the flank surfaces of intermeshing wrap elements. Scroll compressors may use several bolts to connect a fixed scroll to an upper main frame of the scroll compressor. The fixed scroll bolts add material cost to the bill of materials, require holes to be drilled and tapped in the scroll and frame, and require cycle time to install on the assembly line. Additionally, use of fixed scroll bolts increase the overall diameter of the compressor due to the diameter of the individual bolts and the minimum required wall thickness adjacent to the bolt holes. Although many designs for scroll machines exist, improved designs and assembly methods to enable easier and faster assembly while reducing costs and quantity of components are desirable.


An electrochemical water gas shift system for removing low level carbon monoxide from hydrogen stream. The system including an electrolyzer having a porous anode for absorbing carbon monoxide from a hydrogen stream as a feed stream for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell for generating an electrical energy, a small portion of electricity generated by the fuel cell is applied to the electrolyzer to convert carbon monoxide adsorbed in the porous anode to carbon dioxide and hydrogen via an electrochemical gas shift reaction without oxygen or air input. In an embodiment, the system includes a first electrolyzer operating as a CO adsorber and a second electrolyzer connected in parallel with the first electrolyzer operating as a CO remover. Two electrolyzers can be operated alternatively as CO adsorber and CO remover.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is one of the most common impurities in hydrogen (H2) streams that have a great negative impact on the performance and durability of polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM). Just 10 ppm of CO in H2 fuel stream can cause degradation in the performance and durability of fuel cells. The on-board removal of low level CO from H2 rich stream to less than 10 ppm is a challenging task. The current available technologies are precluded from applicability because of their high cost, poor selectivity, and elevated temperature and pressure requirements. In addition, these technologies suffer from significant H2 loss.
H2 is generally generated from hydrocarbons, natural gas, or methanol via steam methane (CH4) reformation (SMR) (H2O+CH4═CO+3H2) followed by a water gas shift (WGS) reaction (H2O+CO═CO2+H2). The gas effluent contains approximately 2.0 vol. % CO in excess H2. This low concentration of CO in the H2 outlet stream from WGS can not be avoided and a deep removal process is required. Apparatus, system and processes for eliminating the CO in the H2 fuel stream are beneficial in increasing the performance and durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.
Present technologies for on board CO removal can be separated into off-fuel cell approach and on-fuel cell approach. The former removes CO from the H2 fuel in advance of the fuel cell apparatus, while the latter process is integrated within the fuel cell. In the off-fuel cell CO removal, the goal is to maximize the adsorption of CO on the catalyst surface. However, in the on-fuel cell CO removal, the objective is to minimize the CO adsorption on the fuel cell anode-catalyst.
The prior art technologies for the on-board removal of CO for automotive applications have limitations. Considering a 100 horsepower (75 kW) automobile powered by H2, under the assumption that an H2 fuel cell is operated at 0.75 V with a 50% overall efficiency, the electrical current required from the fuel cell can be calculated as 200 kA. Based on Faraday's Law, theoretical (or minimum) H2 flow rate required for a PEM fuel cell to generate 1 A current can be calculated for both anode and cathode reactions as:
Based on an anode hydrogen oxidation reaction: H2=2H++2e−, one mole of H2 makes 2 equivalents (n=2 eq./mole). Therefore, a 1 A (1 A=1 coulomb/sec) current is produced by an H2 flow (at standard conditions):1 Coulomb/sec×60 sec/min×22,414 ml/mole/(96,458/eq.×2 eq./mole)=6.97 mL/min.200 kA requires an H2 flow of: 200×1000×6.97 mL/min/(1000 mL/L)=1394 L/min.
If the calculation is based on a cathode reaction: 4H++O2+4e−=2H2O, n=4 eq./mole, then 1 A current requires:1 Coulomb/sec×60 sec/min×22,414 ml/mole/(96,458/eq.×4 eq./mole)=6.97/2 mL/min.
So 200 kA current requires: 6.97/2×200/2=1394/2 L/min.
It should be pointed out that the above flow rate (1394/2 L/min) represents minimum O2 flow that is equal to 2 times of H2 based on the reaction: 2H2+O2=2H2O. So the theoretical H2 flow rate should be:2×O2 flow rate=2×(1394/2)=1394L/min.
Assuming CO removal residence time is 10 seconds; the reactor volume can be calculated as 232.4 L. If the reaction rate could be reduced to 0.1 second, the reactor volume could be reduced to 2.3 L.
In order to have a better understanding of the challenges and the principles for the removal of low concentration CO in an H2 stream, some analyses and discussions are needed.
Off-fuel cell CO removal methods include Pd-based membrane purification, water gas shift (WGS) reaction, catalytic methanation, and catalytic preferential CO oxidation as follows:CO+H2O═CO2+H2(Water Gas Shift Reaction)  (1)CO+3H2═CH4+H2O(CO methanation)  (2)CO+O2═CO2(Preferential Oxidation)  (3)
Pd-based membrane purification method is expensive and requires both high operating temperature and a high-pressure differential. Therefore, it is not suitable for on board applications. Thermocatalytic WGS processes, including high temperature and low temperature WGS reactions, are suitable for treatment of different CO concentrations. The low temperature WGS is normally operated at temperatures as high as 200° C. to ensure a reasonable reaction rate, and therefore can not be used for on-board applications based on the temperature requirement. Catalytic CO methanation is the hydrogenation of CO on supported metal catalysts in H2 fuel. The advantages of the methanation process are that it avoids the introduction of O2 or air to the fuel cell system, and the generated methane (CH4) gas does not deactivate the fuel cell anode catalyst. However, its disadvantages are the consumption of H2 and the requirement of high temperature. The CO preferential oxidation process uses less than 2 percent of air by volume mixed with the H2 fuel stream and fed into a metal-based catalyst. This catalyst preferentially adsorbs CO, which then reacts with O2 to form CO2. The typical metal catalysts for the oxidation of CO are alumina-supported Pt-group metal catalysts and metal oxide-supported gold (Au) catalysts. In this oxidation process, part of H2 is oxidized to produce water resulting in a fuel loss. A great effort has been devoted to reduce the temperature to lower than 80° C. for the preferential process in order to be applicable in an H2 PEM fuel cell system. Some important advances of prior art catalytic preferential CO oxidation are summarized below.
Fenton et al. reported an approximately 100% CO conversion with an Ir/COOx-Al2O3/carbon catalyst at an O2/CO ratio of 1.5 in a humidified H2 environment and a temperature near 75° C. as described in C. He, H. R. Kunz, and J. M. Fenton, Selective Oxidation of CO in Hydrogen Under Fuel Cell Operating Conditions, J. Electrochem. Soc., 148(10) (2001), pp. A1116-A1124. They also showed that Co—Ru/C catalysts are very effective for CO methanation. Muradov and co-workers investigated the catalytic activity of a wide range of carbon-based materials and examined their structural and surface properties as described in N. Muradov, F. Smith, and A. T-Raissi, Catalytic Activity of Carbons for Methane Decomposition Reaction, Catal. Today, 102-103 (2006), pp. 225-233. Chen and co-workers reported a 100% conversion of CO oxidation using 7% CuO/CeO2 catalysts in an H2 rich environment (H2/CO/O2/He=50/1/1/48) at 87-147° C. as described in Y. Chen, B. Liaw, and H. Chen, Selective Oxidation of Co in Excess Hydrogen Over CuO/CexZr1-xO2 Catalysts, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 31 (2006), pp. 427-435. Furthermore, the partial substitution of the Ce lattice with Zr+4(7% CuO/Ce0.9Zr0.1O2) resulted in 100% CO conversion at approximately 77° C. Zhou et al. showed that CO conversion in excess H2 can reach up to approximately 99.5% at a temperature range between 130-150° C. in the presence of Co—Ni supported activated carbon (AC) catalysts as described in G. Zhou, Y. Jiang, H. Xie, and F. Qiu, Non-noble Metal Catalyst for the Carbon Monoxide Selective Oxidation in Excess Hydrogen, Chem. Eng. J., 109 (2005) pp. 141-145. Goerke reported a 95% selective oxidation of CO in micro-channeled reactors using Ru/ZrO2 catalysts at 150° C. and average residence time of 14 ms as described in O. Goerke, P. Pfeifer, and K. Schubert, Water Gas Shift Reaction and Selective Oxidation of CO in Micro reactors, Appl. Catal. A: General, 263 (2004) pp. 11-18.
However, it is should be noted that it is difficult for any of these three methods to completely remove CO because, fundamentally, the ppm level of CO is thermodynamically stable in an H2 stream at ambient conditions. To remove low concentration CO from an H2 fuel stream requires a two-step process in order to overcome these thermodynamic obstacles. The first step is the preferential adsorption of CO on metal-based catalysts to increase the CO concentration locally because CO has a higher catalytic adsorption capability than H2. The second step is the thermochemical conversion of CO to CO2 (Reaction 2) or CH4 (Reaction 3). The two-step process can be described in Reactions 4 and 5 or Reactions 4 and 6.H2+CO(ppm)+M(catalyst)=H2+M-CO(preferential adsorption)  (4)M-CO+O2═CO2+M(CO selective oxidation)  (5)M-CO+3H2═CH4+H2O+M(CO methanation)  (6)
Note that Reaction 4 is favored at low temperatures to ensure the adsorption rates, whereas CO oxidation and methanation require a higher temperature to enhance reaction kinetics. Therefore, there exists a contradictory condition favoring both CO adsorption and the CO reaction kinetics. On the other hand, it is essential to recognize that for the on-board removal of CO the reaction temperatures can not exceed the fuel cell optimal operating temperature of 80° C. If the reaction temperature is at 80° C. or below, the low reaction rates for Reactions 5 or 6 would require large reactor volume or complicated reactor configurations to compensate the slow reaction rate.
Low-level CO in an H2 stream can also be removed on fuel cell anodes. The advantage of on-fuel cell CO treatment is that no additional processing is required. Three fundamental technologies have been reported for on-fuel cell applications: high temperature process, air- or O2 bleeding, and anode catalyst alloying.
In the high temperature process Fenton and co-workers showed that CO adsorption on fuel cell anode catalysts was reduced at temperatures higher than 100° C., thereby alleviating the CO poisoning effects. This is due to the fact that CO adsorption on a Pt catalyst exhibits high negative standard entropy. However, increasing the PEM fuel cell operating temperature might have some adverse impacts on fuel cell performance. Firstly, higher operating temperature greatly increases the resistance of the Nafion® membrane, resulting in a reduction of fuel cell performance. In order to maintain the membrane's low resistance a 100% relative humidity is preferred. When temperature is above 100° C., maintaining high humidity for a PEM fuel cell requires a system pressure greater than 1 atm, which again reduces the efficiency of the fuel cell. Secondly, operating a PEM fuel cell at temperature greater than 100° C. will enhance the aggregation rate of Pt particles as well as the Pt dissolution in the fuel cell electrocatalyst layer, both of which decrease the performance of the cell. Finally, above 100° C. PEM fuel cells suffer a higher rate of membrane degradation, shortening their long-term stability.
In the approach of air or O2 bleeding, air or O2 is introduced into the H2 stream feed to the anode of a PEM fuel cell to oxidize CO adsorbed on the anode catalyst. This technology has been extensively reported and the results have shown some alleviation of the deleterious effect of CO in the H2 stream. However, since the H2 combustion limit is only 5% of O2 in the H2 stream, a malfunction of the O2 inlet flow could result in very undesirable consequences. Also, as indicated in literature, air-bleeding technology is only effective at a very low CO level (i.e. less than 50 ppm) and at low H2 flow rates. As discussed previously, a hydrogen-powered vehicle requires a very high H2 flow rate (minimum 1394 L/min for a 75 kW vehicle). Therefore, air-bleeding technology is unlikely to be suitable for on-board CO removal in a PEM fuel cell system.
For the anode catalyst alloying approach, considerable efforts have been made to develop CO tolerant electrocatalysts. It has been found that adding Ru, Rh or Ir catalysts to the Pt anode reduces CO poisoning, but it can not fundamentally eliminate CO poisoning. Other alloys such as Pt—Sn and Pt—Mo have been investigated. Still, the Pt—Ru alloys are the most promising candidates and have attracted the most attention. Furthermore, at an 80° C. fuel cell operating temperature the Pt alloy method is unable to completely resolve the CO poisoning issue.
What is needed is a process for removing low level CO to improve the performance of PEM fuel cell to the level of a pure H2 stream.

Electrochemical method for the removal of PPM levels of carbon monoxide from hydrogen for a fuel cell

University of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


An electronic apparatus is placed on an installation surface during use, and ensures comfortable use for users. The electronic apparatus includes a housing and a fan. The housing accommodates an electronic component, and includes a bottom face to be placed on the installation surface during use, and a front face standing from the bottom face to define a front edge of the housing, and facing the user during use. The fan is provided inside the housing to exhaust air out of the housing. The housing further includes an exhaust opening pointing in an obliquely upward and sideward direction, and the air from the fan is exhausted through the exhaust opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus to be placed on an installation surface during use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most electronic apparatuses, such as personal computers, have, inside a housing, a fan for exhausting air out of the housing for heat radiation because electronic components contained in the housing generate heat. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 4-48693 (FIG. 5) and 4-284519 (FIG. 5) disclose notebook personal computers in which a main housing containing electronic components such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) is pivotally connected to a display housing having a liquid crystal display panel so as to be placed on the display housing. The notebook computers are used in a state in which the main housing is placed on an installation surface and the display housing is opened to slightly tilt rearward remote from a front user. The personal computer disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-48693 includes a fan for exhausting air out of the main housing, and two exhaust openings through which the air from the fan is exhausted. Air passing through one of the exhaust openings is exhausted obliquely upward and toward the user, and the other exhaust opening points in the horizontal direction. In contrast, the personal computer disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-284519 includes an exhaust opening pointing obliquely upward and rearward.
In the notebook personal computer disclosed in the former publication, air exhausted from one of the exhaust openings hits the user, and a comfortable operating environment cannot be ensured. Moreover, air exhausted from the other exhaust opening hits the installation surface, and produces wind noise. This also damages the operating environment. In the notebook personal computer disclosed in the latter publication, air exhausted from the exhaust opening pointing rearward hits not only the opened display housing, but also a wall disposed behind the notebook personal computer. This produces wind noise that annoys the user.
Wind noise is also produced when the velocity of air increases at the exhaust opening.
In addition, when sound produced inside the main housing, for example, noise of fan driving, is transmitted to the user, the operating environment is also damaged.


The notion of global signals (e.g., global set/reset and global tristate) is of significance to programmable logic user throughout the design process. Regardless of whether the HDL designer explicitly describes the use of a global signal, they are present in the implemented device since they are an integral part of the initialization and start-up process. This may lead to mismatches between the Register Transfer Level (RTL) simulation and the timing simulation. While a methodology for verifying the functionality of global signals is available for schematic design entry, none exists for HDL design tools. A verification method for HDL designers is disclosed providing access to all the functionality relating to global networks currently available to the schematic designers and allowing reuse of the testbench without losing HDL code portability.

Hardware Description Language (HDL) is a text-based approach to digital logic design through behavioral or structural description of design elements intended for combination and implementation on (1) a field programmable device as in an FPGA or CPLD, (2) a mask programmable device as in a hardwired PGA or ASIC, (3) a system formed from selected electronic hardware components, or (4) any other electronic devices. The HDL-based design methodology requires the user to describe the behavior of a system which may then be simulated (a process referred to as Register Transfer Level (RTL) simulation) to determine whether it will function as desired. The design is then synthesized to create a logical netlist that can be implemented within a particular Programmable Logic Device (PLD) or a particular PLD vendor's device group.
Assuming that neither the synthesis or the design implementation processes alter the behavior of the design, RTL simulation provides the designer with insight into the functionality and behavior of the implemented device before the costly and time consuming synthesis and design implementation processes take place. If accurate, RTL simulation represents a quick and efficient means of validating a design's (and ultimately, a programmed device's) behavior.
However, any assumption that neither the synthesis process or the design implementation process will alter the behavior of a design is, with available HDL tools and simulation methodologies, incorrect. Many device specific features cannot be accurately simulated at the RTL level with available tools. For example, devices such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs) available from Xilinx, Inc., the assignee of the present invention, introduce into the implemented design global signals that a) unconditionally set or reset all of the design's sequential elements (the "global reset" (GR) or "global set/reset" (GSR) network), and b) tristate all of the device's--and therefore all of the design's--output drivers (the "global tristate" (GTS) network). These signals are used by the device's internal configuration controller during initialization and effectively determine a) the device's power-on state, and b) the device's initial interactions with its host system. The GSR 2 and GTS 4 networks on a programmable device 6 are illustrated in FIG. 1.
At the instant power is applied to a PLD, the device will undergo a "wake-up" initialization process that may be as simple as a mere power stabilization time-out, or as complex as reconfiguration over a microprocessor bus. In all cases, a period of time will pass while the device is not performing the function intended by the designer, but is instead executing any required initialization processes before it can assume the user's function. Once these processes are completed, the device switches over to the user's programmed function and user operation begins, as illustrated in the timing diagram of FIG. 2.
The transition from the initialization phase to the user operation phase is known as "start-up" 7 in FIG. 2, and different device families offer a variety of means for controlling the start-up process. For example, while a device is initializing it will typically tristate (electrically isolate) all pins that are not used during the initialization process. This prevents any interaction with the surrounding circuitry before the device assumes its programmed function. The precise moment during start-up when the device activates its input/output (I/O) circuitry and starts to interact with its surrounding circuitry may be critical, and so the ability to control this event is one of several start-up options that are available to the user.
"Start-up" blocks for the global networks on devices produced by Xilinx, Inc., the assignee of the present invention, are illustrated in FIG. 3. An example of usage of STARTUP EX. 1 from FIG. 3 is illustrated in FIG. 4. The start-up block provides the user access to the various functions that are available during the start-up phase of the device's operation, including the global reset and the global tristate signals. The start-up block is a small cell--usually fairly well hidden in one corner of the chip, as shown in FIG. 3--whose pins are accessible via special extensions to the device's general purpose interconnect. Attaching a signal to the GSR/GR or GTS pins of the start-up block introduces that signal to the appropriate global network on the device, as illustrated in FIG. 4.
Globally tristating the I/Os of a device for initialization purposes is achieved by the device's initialization controller asserting a signal known as "global tristate" --an internal signal connected to the output drivers in every I/O cell. Globally tristating overrides any other signal that might be driving an output and causes the output driver to go tristate.
In a similar fashion, a signal known as "global reset" (or "global set/reset" in some architectures) is asserted by the initialization controller during initialization and released during the start-up phase. The function of the global reset signal is to asynchronously hold the registers and latches within the device in the initial states desired by the designer. In the same way that global tristate can be released at the specific instant chosen by the designer, the global reset signal can be released at any time during start-up. Without such a global reset signal, the initial contents of the registers and latches in a programmable device could not be controlled, and designers would be limited to building designs that are insensitive to initial conditions.
In addition to providing a programmable device with a means of initializing itself without inadvertently interacting with the surrounding circuitry and of placing its registers and latches in the initial states required by the designer, the global networks for forwarding these signals remain available once the device has assumed its post-initialization function. For example, if the designer requires the ability to reset a system back to its initial state, the designer can access the global reset signal so that it may be asserted during user operation. In most FPGA and CPLD architectures, the device's internal global reset and global tristate signals are made available to the user so that they may be asserted by signals that come from off-chip, or signals that are generated by user logic within the chip. For example, a reset switch somewhere on a piece of equipment might be used to reset the system back to a known initial state. Different device architectures impose slightly different restrictions on how these two global signals can be used, but essentially, the same functions that are used by the device's internal initialization controller can be accessed by the designer.
Some global signal networks are especially useful in that the reset state of each register or latch is programmable. That is, the user may choose the state that each individual register will assume on assertion of the device's global reset signal. However, as a result of the way in which this selection mechanism is implemented on the silicon in some devices, the user's choice of a register's initial state may dictate the role of that register's asynchronous control pin. For example, if a register is assigned an initial state of High, then the register's asynchronous control input becomes an asynchronous set, and if a register is assigned an initial state of Low, then the register's asynchronous control input becomes an asynchronous clear. Conversely, if a designer requires a register with an asynchronous set input then the register will have an initial state of High, and if a designer requires a register with an asynchronous clear input then the register will have an initial state of Low, as illustrated in FIG. 5.
Thus, in simulating global networks, one must consider the myriad effects accommodating global signals will have on synthesis accuracy. Since global networks which are pre-routed are not made available to most synthesis tools, these tools will not synthesize the correct logical netlist that results in the use of the target device's global networks. Instead, most synthesis tools will interpret the RTL description literally and introduce additional logic into the design with which to implement the desired reset network. Without specific instructions to use the device's global networks, the design implementation tools will be forced to consume general purpose logic and interconnect resources to build functions that the silicon already provides, resulting in inefficient implementation and decreased device utility.
It is therefore paramount that an HDL-based specification of a user methodology relating to the use of global signals not result in designs that are implemented inefficiently (by replicating functionality already present on the target device.) Further, since the capabilities of different synthesis tools vary in terms of their ability to synthesize designs that make use of global resources, a thorough solution should also be insensitive to an individual tool's strengths and weaknesses in this area. Finally, a thorough solution should not compromise the HDL code's portability between different synthesis tools, and different PLD and/or ASIC vendors'products.
These challenges have been dealt with for schematic-based design tools, but remain unaddressed for HDL-based systems. For example, the schematic-based simulation mode for a register or latch differs from that of an AND gate in that it contains a reference to a global reset signal. Similarly, the schematic-based simulation model for an output buffer will contain a reference to a global tristate signal. However, none of these signals will be present on the cell's list of pins when the initial design is entered schematically. Instead, these signals are given "global" status, indicating to the simulator that these signals should be considered to be connected together. The result is that as far as the simulator is concerned, there are two signals in the design that correspond with the global reset and global tristate signals on the target device and designers can simulate these signals as they might any other. In the schematic design environment, these implied connections between all registers, latches and output buffers are understood by the simulator and require no action on the part of the designer.
If the user of a schematic-based system wants to attach a signal to a device's global reset or global tristate network, then the STARTUP cell is added to the design with the appropriate signals attached to its GSR/GR and GTS pins. The schematic-based simulator's simulation model for the STARTUP block is simply a pair of wires from the two pins (GSR/GR and GTS) to the simulator's two global nets, as illustrated in FIG. 6.
The simulation model for the schematic STARTUP block is behaviorally null. Instead, the signals for the global networks of GSR/GR and GTS pins are forced by the simulator's stimulus tool directly and not by a model's output signal. Further, the design implementation tools recognize the schematic STARTUP block as a genuine function on the device silicon and will route the user's signals through the general purpose interconnect to the appropriate access points on the silicon. Thus, with schematic-based tools, the netlist that's written out by the design tool will contain only the details of the user signals that drive the STARTUP block's GSR/GR and GTS pins. The global simulation signals will not be written out into the netlist, and the design implementation tools will not attempt to implement them by routing them through general purpose interconnect. Under these circumstances, the design should simulate and behave identically, as a result of the advantages of the schematic design environment over the available HDL design environment.
All of the functions relating to global networks are required by the HDL designer. However, there is currently no support for global networks in HDL design environments. One complication is the fact that when implemented, a design will be subject to the effects of the target device's global signals regardless of whether their effect was described in the HDL. While this may seem a trivial difference, the repercussions are significant. Whenever the designer describes a sequential function in HDL, every aspect of that function must be explicitly described in the code in order to be sure that no ambiguity arises about the types of flip-flops that should be synthesized. It is therefore impossible to define the initial states of sequential elements within the language limitations imposed by most synthesis tools.
Since the definition of a sequential element's initial, or power-on, state is of some importance, some synthesis tools invite the user to issue commands (in the synthesis tool's own command syntax) with which to assign initial states to sequential elements. However, this is unsatisfactory since such assignments would be made outside of the designer's HDL code, and the code by itself would no longer be intrinsically complete. Such measures also impact a design's portability between synthesis tools since although the HDL code would remain standard, the means of assigning initial states to sequential elements would not.
As stated above and illustrated in FIG. 5, on Xilinx, Inc. FPGAs and CPLDs if registers and latches are required to have an asynchronous clear input, their initial state is Low, and similarly, if they are required to have an asynchronous set input, their initial state is High. However, even provided this assumption, it is still possible to write ambiguous HDL from the simulation and synthesis standpoints. Though these problems can be mitigated somewhat by assigning the registers initial values, there remains a significant chasm between the synthesis and simulation worlds for HDL-based designs since these initial values are ignored for synthesis. The risk of a design's simulated behavior and its real behavior differing is very high and must be accepted unless a design methodology is provided which eliminates the risk.
As can be seen in FIG. 7, once the automated place and route tools have implemented a design, they can write out an HDL netlist that describes the physical implementation of the design and a Standard Delay Format (SDF) data file that describes the design's timing. With these two sources of data, the simulator can be made to model the device's genuine behavior very accurately. However, in order to accurately model the device's initialization behavior, the netlist that's written out by the tools must include a description of the device's global reset and global tristate networks. The presence of these signals in the netlist permits the designer to a) simulate the device's power-on or reconfiguration behavior, and b) simulate the effect of the user asserting either of these signals from an external port or internal logic.
Most HDLs (including VHDL) require the declaration of ports for all signals in a module which are to be monitored, stimulated or otherwise accessed. Inclusion of the global reset and global tristate nets in the back-annotation netlist is the user's means of initializing the simulation, so it is therefore necessary to add ports to the back-annotation netlist through which the user may access these global signals. However, the addition of these ports makes the pre- and post-implementation versions of the design different and the user's original test vectors (or testbench) will no longer be applicable to both versions of the design (since the port lists for the two versions of the design are different, the "socket" in the testbench will only match one of them, so the testbench is only applicable to one version of the design).
This fact alone is enough to rule out the use of available HDL-based tools in many existing design environments, since the only means the designer has to confidently establish whether the implemented design works as intended is through the consistent application of test vectors. To require that the designer keep two versions of the test vectors (regardless of how trivial the differences are) in order to test pre- and post-implementation versions of a design is unrealistic and generates considerable discomfort (and therefore diminished use) among the user community.
There is therefore considerable need in the art for a design tool and method of accurately simulating HDL-based designs in a manner which will take into account the various global signal networks utilized by available programmable devices without burdening the user with otherwise unnecessary limitations.

Method and system for HDL global signal simulation and verification


A tilt-sensitive viewfinder indicates the area of an object plane within view of the camera using a visible signal projected from the camera. A direction sensor determines the camera orientation and modifies the visible signal as the camera orientation changes. Changes in appearance of the visible signal reflect changes in the camera field of view. Data from the direction sensor describing camera orientation may be stored in a data storage device and may be associated with data describing the captured image. The stored camera orientation data improves processing of captured images by providing information about angular components of the captured images.

1. Field of Art
The present invention generally relates to the field of image capture devices, and more specifically, to a camera with a tilt-sensitive projected viewfinder.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent technological advancements have created smaller and cheaper camera designs. This has resulted in cameras being embedded in devices such as cell phones, personal digital assistants and tablet computers. However, existing camera designs use optical or electronic viewfinders to indicate the area of the target within view of the camera.
Existing optical or electronic viewfinders outline the area within view of the camera as the relative orientation of the camera and the area to be photographed change. Some current viewfinders also adjust the contents of the viewfinder as the focal length of the camera changes because of changes in the camera zoom setting. However, using optical or electronic viewfinders places a lower limit on camera size by requiring the camera to remain large enough to house the viewfinder.
Thus, from the above, there is a need for an alternative viewfinder design capable of indicating the area to be photographed. This alternative viewfinder may also illustrate changes in the area within view of the camera as the camera orientation relative to the area to be photographed changes or changes in the focal length of the camera.

Tilt-sensitive camera projected viewfinder


A surface light source apparatus capable of keeping a high in-plane brightness uniformity and a high light utilization efficiency without increasing the size of a frame, and also to provide a display apparatus including the surface light source apparatus. The surface light source apparatus includes a point light source, and a light guide plate having a hole formed near first side surface that is one side surface thereof, the hole being formed at a position where the point light source is to be arranged. The first side surface of the light guide plate has, in a portion thereof near the hole, a prism having a saw-toothed shape in a cross-section thereof parallel to a front surface of the light guide plate.

In a conventional surface light source apparatus, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a hole is formed in a light guide plate, and an LED is arranged in the middle of the hole. This configuration enables a light of the LED to be efficiently incident on the light guide plate, thus improving the brightness of a display surface.

Surface light source apparatus and display apparatus using same


A dry powder inhaler may include at least one air inlet, at least one air outlet, an air channel between said air inlet and outlet, and at least one medicament reservoir. The inhaler may include a dosage mechanism for arranging at least one dose of a medicament from said medicament reservoir between the air channel and the air outlet such that said at least one dose may be delivered upon inhalation at said air outlet. The dosage mechanism may include a dose disc with at least one cavity, wherein the dose disc may be rotatable between a dose collecting position, in which the cavity may be positioned in the medicament reservoir, and a dose administering position, in which the cavity may lie underneath the air channel. The inhaler may also include a floor disc abutting the dose disc underneath the cavity to form a bottom of the cavity for radial emptying of the medicament from the cavity during inhalation. Alternatively, the inhaler may include a floor disc abutting the dose disc underneath the cavity to form a bottom of the cavity and support the medicament in the cavity, wherein said dose disc may rotate in relation to the floor disc when the dose disc is rotated between the dose collecting position and the dose administering position to grind any residual medicament in the cavity.

Inhalers have been widely used in the pharmaceutical field for treatment of respiratory and/or other diseases. Numerous drugs, medications and other substances are inhaled into the lungs using the inhalers for rapid absorption of the drug etc. in the blood stream and for local action in the lung.
Inhaled drugs fall into two main categories, one being in the form of liquids, including suspensions, and the other being powders. The choice of liquids or powders depends on the characteristics of the drugs, medications, etc. to be inhaled.
The most common type of inhaler is the pressurized metered-dose inhaler. In this type of inhaler medication is most commonly stored in solution in a pressurized canister that contains a propellant, although it may also be a suspension. The canister is attached to a plastic, hand-operated actuator. On activation, the metered-dose inhaler releases a fixed dose of medication in aerosol form.
Another kind of inhaler is a nebulizer, which supplies medication as an aerosol created from an aqueous formulation.
The kind referred to herein is yet another type, in the form of a dry powder inhaler. A dry powder inhaler releases a pre-metered, capsuled, dose or a device-metered dose of powdered medication that is inhaled through the inhaler. Inhalers with a device-metered dose of powdered medication are normally inhalers with a medication reservoir containing powdered medication, from which metered doses are withdrawn through the use of different dose metering arrangements, said doses then being inhaled.
Dry powder inhalers need to deliver a particle size that is predominantly below 5 microns, and preferably between 1 micron and 3.3 microns, for maximum effectiveness. However, such small particles are often very cohesive due to high surface energy. Agglomeration may be worsened by moisture and/or when the medication comprises more than one active substance, since the different active substances may have such properties as to form agglomerations with each other or with pharmaceutical carriers etc. Agglomeration of small particles is a problem which results in the active particles leaving the inhaler as large agglomerates.
EP0237507 discloses a powder inhaler with a device metered dose, comprising a medicament chamber, a dosing mechanism, and a flow path from an air inlet to an air/medicament outlet. Deflectors are arranged in the flow path to increase deaggregation of medicament. However, this device is limited to medicaments having one active substance or active substances that are compatible with each other during storage. Additionally, medicament will accumulate at the deflectors thus decreasing uniformity of the dosage.
An additional problem of prior art inhalers is that they are either suitable for micronized formulations or carrier based formulations never both or combinations of these.
In view of these drawbacks and limitations of the prior art, what is needed is a dry powder inhaler device in which effective and satisfactory dispersion of the dry powder is obtained, which inhaler can administer medicament comprising substances which are incompatible in a mixture, and an inhaler with increased deaggregation and a more uniform dosage, in which inhaler there is no risk of multiple dosing, as well as an inhaler which is robust and suitable for both micronized formulations and/or carrier based formulations.