A rapid method for detecting the presence or absence of coliform bacteria in a liquid or liquified dairy sample, for example skimmed milk. A growth medium containing a fluorogenic substrate is combined with the sample and is incubated for a brief period of about 7-9 hours after which a single fluorescence value is measured. Total or thermotolerant coliform bacteria are determined to be present in the sample if the single fluorescent measurement exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

The present invention relates to rapid methods for detecting microorganisms in products for human consumption or use, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to rapid methods for detecting the presence or absence of total coliform bacteria, E. coli or thermotolerant coliform bacteria in milk products.
Protection from deleterious microbial contaminants is a global issue. Each year millions of people throughout the world become ill, and thousands die, from contaminated food and water. Disturbing newspaper headlines and stories of epidemic and endemic diseases have increased public awareness of these problems. Testing for bacteria has thus received increasing attention from consumers and public regulatory bodies. In view of this, there is a growing demand for faster methods of detecting microbial contamination. The constant media attention on severe health risks related to microbial contamination of products consumed by humans is leading to increased consumer awareness and public regulatory pressure regarding the safety and the quality of food, water and pharmaceutical products. In addition, economic forces are urging companies to reduce costs by reducing waste, processing time and stock levels.
Several incidents of food borne bacteria outbreaks have increased consumer awareness regarding the safety of and the exact contents of food products. Recent examples of microbial contamination receiving major public attention include:
The Japanese E. coli outbreak, May 1996. The severe outbreak of infections from the bacterium E. coli 0157:H7 in Osaka, Japan, caused the death of 8 and seriously sickened over 9,000. The source is believed to be radish sprouts from one single supplier. PA1 The Scottish E. coli epidemic, 1996. The E. coli outbreak in Lanarshire, Scotland in 1996, created vast political turmoil and investigation after the deaths of 18 and hundreds affected from contaminated meat. PA1 Norway, summer 1997: Alarmingly high numbers of E. coli bacterium (including a less aggressive type of the 0157 bacterium) was found in 800 tonnes meat from a Norwegian abattoir. This incident could have incurred large casualties. PA1 Hudson Hamburger Contaminants, USA 1997. Twenty-five million pounds of hamburger meat were recalled and destroyed following the detection of pathogenic E. coli in samples of the meat. PA1 (a) combining the original sample with an actuating medium having a fat emulsifying composition and a fluorogenic substrate which when metabolized yields a fluorescent product, preferably 4-methylumbelliferone; PA1 (b) incubating the combined sample and actuating medium mixture at a temperature preferred for incubating total, thermotolerant, or E. coli coliform cells, for a predetermined duration; PA1 (c) adjusting the pH of the incubated combined sample to an alkaline pH and irradiating said sample with a predetermined excitation wavelength of light; PA1 (d) measuring a fluorescence value from the irradiated combined sample; and PA1 (e) concluding that the original sample is contaminated with the specified bacteria when the fluorescence value equals or exceeds a predetermined threshold value which corresponds to a particular concentration value of the fluorescent product.
It is estimated that the industrial market for detection of microbial contaminants was approximately 600 million tests in 1997, amounting to a value of approximately USD 2.5 billion. Of the tests performed annually, the food segment is by far the largest segment, with approximately 310 million tests (53%), followed by the pharmaceutical segment with approximately 200 million tests (32%), the beverage segment with approximately 60 million tests (10%) and finally the environmental segment with approximately 30 million tests (5%). More than 80% of today's testing is performed with slow traditional methods (giving results in 2-3 days), which are laborious and expensive to use. These methods typically use agar plates or standard pour plates (plastic dishes with a nutrient medium), enhancing bacterial growth so that they multiply and their presence can be identified visually as colonies and counted. It is expected that the need for more effective measurements will lead to a significant conversion from slower traditional methods to more rapid and easy to use methods over the next 5 to 10 years. The total market is expected to exceed 800 million tests by 2005, and it is believed that rapid methods will represent 30-40% of the market.
Traditional microbiological methods, which take 18-72 hours to generate results, have led existing regulations to focus on testing of finished products. However, sampling from end product batches for testing does not guarantee that all products in one batch are of good quality. Food processing involves a number of steps and hand-overs (e.g. from the abattoir to the fast food restaurant), giving multiple operations and points for potential microbial carry-over and contamination. The nature of end product testing can therefore not capture every incident of microbial contamination. The ability to rapidly test for contamination at various steps early in a production line would minimize the chances that entire batches of products would have to be destroyed, as is often the case when only end point testing is carried out.
However, with the demand for "just-in-time" deliveries, few companies are able to wait for results of microbial testing. Traditional test methods therefore have value only for historical and documentation purposes. Some producers, however, hold goods until test results are complete, thus raising stock costs. The ability to provide "real time" information for the factories, avoiding contaminated products being shipped, reducing wastage and stocks is therefore desired.
Manufacturers who fail to deliver safe and high quality food products face severe problems, like reduced brand name value, loss or sales, product liability suits and, in worst case, plant closures. The retail industry has increasingly adopted private labels in shelves. The risk of bad publicity and loss of sales in case of "food poisoning" from their branded products, leads retailers to request documentation or testing and implementation of microbial quality control systems from their suppliers. This puts pressure for increased quality control throughout the entire product chain, from delivery of raw materials, through processing, to the end-products.
Over the last 20 years, some new and "easy to use" methods (such as COLILERT and 3M PETRIFILM) have been introduced and have gained approximately 15% of the total market today. These methods are different from the traditional methods in that they have made daily laboratory work easier by reducing many of the practical steps operators take when conducting microbial tests. However, the detection time for these methods, although down from 2-3 days, is still about one day. This is still too long for products that are finished and already shipped to customers. These new tests have therefore not significantly altered how and where companies perform their routine tests.
COLILERT is a 24 hour growth-based method for detection of coliforms/E. coli in drinking water. The product has gained widespread usage in the U.S. PETRIFILM, by 3M, represents another product targeted at making microbiology measurements easier to do for workers. Petrifilm is similar to traditional methods regarding time to results and reading of results but eliminates or minimizes sample and media preparations. This is an advance and makes results much more consistent.
Also, in the last 3-4 years, a new class of rapid tests for microbial contamination has managed to gain a market share of approximately 5%, amounting to 30 million tests. Food processing plants must routinely stop production to clean and sanitize the facility. In many plants this occurs during the night, before the plant begins production in the morning. Plant quality control analysts have been perplexed about how to determine if the plant is properly sanitized.
An effective HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) program is dependent upon access to rapid and easy-to-use sanitation screening tests, especially in early states in the production process.
Healthy animals carry pathogens for humans in their intestines and on their hide and hooves. Slaughter unavoidably disseminates these pathogens to the carcass. Excision is considered the most effective bacterial sampling method, but in red meat processing facilities excision is neither practical nor acceptable. Consequently a more practical, non-destructive, and rapid method for carcass bacterial sampling must be validated. These factors should be accomplished without significantly affecting the total sum of recovered bacteria.
Traditional methods for assaying bacteria on surfaces are based on swabbing the surface followed by either a culture of the swab in a media that supports growth or by rinsing swab in a buffer and plate on agar and incubation for 24-48 hours. Other methods are to use contact plates or petrifilm to press on the surface, and then incubate for 24 to 72 hours. (The disadvantage with the contact plates and petrifilm is that they cannot be used on wet surfaces, and they may leave some of the growth medium on the carcass, enhancing bacterial growth).
To satisfy this need rapid (5 minutes) tests measuring ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a biological molecule which is present in among all living microorganisms, have been developed. The test can determine whether a facility has been properly cleaned and sanitized. It is also a very easy to use test, so it can be incorporated into the job of the cleaning crew and does not have to be performed by laboratory technicians. However, the ATP test does not specifically detect bacterial contamination, only the presence of organic materials which contain ATP.
The purpose of microbial testing is mainly to identify the presence and risk of presence of bacteria dangerous to the human body. In many cases the level of contamination must also be measured, and in certain cases the microbes must be identified. Microbial tests typically cover either one specific bacterium, or a limited spectrum of bacteria. They are also often limited to testing of specific substances (e.g. water, meat, surfaces).
Specific pathogens are difficult and time-consuming to detect, often taking several days. Hence, indicators of the presence of pathogens, such as coliforms are preferred for analysis and monitoring of water and food quality.
Indicator testing for Total Viable Organisms (referred to TVO or TVC) and coliforms are the most widely used tests for routine monitoring of microbial contamination. Microbial testing and technology requirements vary widely across industries.
The environmental industry segment is concerned with the monitoring of water quality in drinking water, and bathing water (e.g., spas and swimming pools) manufacturing process water, and ambient/recreational water. The global market consists of approximately 30 million tests, mainly for coliforms/E. coli in drinking water. Routine testing of drinking water has traditionally been enforced by stringent public regulatory requirements in every country.
The non-alcoholic beverage industry consists of the bottled water, stilled soft drinks, carbonated soft drinks, and beer production segments. The majority of coliform tests in the beverage industry are performed on bottled water. Larger bottled water producers acknowledge that more rapid results would help them reduce stock levels and potential costs related to calling back shipped products.
The food processing industry consists of a number of products, including milk and dairy products, meat, fish agriculture and multiple food manufacturing products, with different regulatory and company requirements for microbial testing. The industry currently demands a range of technologies to accommodate its testing needs, comply with new regulations, enhance food safety and reduce costs associated with laboratory testing, processing times and stock levels.
Standard testing procedures in the milk industry currently include the following:
(1) International Dairy Federation (IDF) 73A:1985, Milk and Milk Products, Enumeration of coliforms--colony count technique and most probable number at 30.degree. C.;
(2) International Standard, ISO, 5541/1 Milk and milk products, Enumeration of coliforms--Part 1: Colony count technique and most probable number at 30.degree. C. First ed. Dec. 1, 1986;
(3) International Standard, ISO, 5541/2 Milk and milk products, Enumeration of coliforms--Part 2: Most probable number at 30.degree. C. First ed. Dec. 1, 1986; and
(4) International Standard, ISO, 11866/3 Milk and milk products, Enumeration presumptive Escherichia coli--Part 3: Colony count technique at 44.degree. C. using membranes. First ed. Feb. 15, 1997.
Unfortunately, these methods generally take at least 48 to 72 hours to obtain results.
The pharmaceutical industry performs approximately 200 million tests annually and requires the highest standard of microbial quality. Pharmaceutical producers are seeking better control of incoming raw materials, processing stages and final products.
The food service industry (such as caterers and fast food restaurants) is pushing suppliers to document quality of delivered products. Today routine bacteria tests are mostly performed at external laboratories. However, there is reason to believe that recent severe incidents of microbial contamination, leading to food-borne disease outbreaks and fatalities have lead the food service industry to reevaluate its quality assurance systems. It is believed that giving caterers the possibility of near-real-time test for specific bacteria indicators like coliforms (as opposed general tests which detect ATP), in the form of a simple instrument test would help companies secure the quality of their sanitation process and incoming products.
As evident from the above, there continues to be a need for methods which will rapidly detect the presence of total coliform bacteria, thermotolerant (including fecal) coliform bacteria or E. coli or pathogenic E. coli 0-157 in samples.


An optical semiconductor device includes: a waveguide structure including layers grown over a semiconductor substrate, having a width defined by sidewalls formed by etching the layers, and including a wide, a narrow, and an intermediate width portion, formed along a propagation direction; and a diffraction grating formed on the sidewalls of at least one of the wide and narrow width portions of the waveguide structure, the diffraction grating having vertical grooves periodically disposed along the propagation direction and defining a wavelength of propagation light, wherein the narrow width portion is formed in such a manner that a loss of 50% or more is given to a higher order transverse mode. An optical semiconductor device having a vertical diffraction grating is provided which can suppress generation of a higher order transverse mode and an increase in a device resistance.

A) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical semiconductor device having a diffraction grating, and more particularly to an optical semiconductor device having a vertical groove diffraction grating.
B) Description of the Related Art
The following methods are known as a method of forming a diffraction grating of a distributed feedback (DFB) laser or a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser: (1) a regrowth method by which a diffraction grating pattern is formed on the surface of a lower growth layer, and an upper crystal growth layer is regrown on the lower growth layer to form a diffraction grating at the interface of the growth layer; and (2) collective etching method by which a diffraction grating is formed by etching vertical grooves periodically disposed along a waveguide direction on the sidewalls of a waveguide structure, etching starting from the surface of epitaxial stack structure. It is necessary for the regrowth method (1) to perform crystal growth twice, which is likely to increase cost. If the surface of the lower growth layer is made of material which contains Al, the regrowth itself may become not easy. For applications requiring low cost, the collective etching method (2) is preferable in many cases.
Oku et al.: IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 5, No. 3, p. 682, 1999 reports the characteristics of a DBR laser and a DFB laser formed by etching stacked layers including an InGaAs—GaAs strain quantum well active layer to a depth of 700 nm and 800 nm at a pitch of 150 nm, to form a DBR laser and a DFB laser having an oscillation frequency of 980 nm, as compared to the characteristics of a Fabry-Perot type laser.
It can be said that the collective etching method (2) is a simple manufacture method which can form at the same time both a waveguide structure and a diffraction grating by deeply etching a stacked layer structure. However, if the width of the waveguide is made narrow to some extent, a higher order transverse mode becomes likely to oscillate, forming two or more optical intensity peaks along a waveguide width direction. As the waveguide width is narrowed in order to suppress a higher order transverse mode, a device resistance increases.
JP-A-2003-152273 proposes to suppress a higher order transverse mode by giving a loss by covering a diffraction grating with an absorbing material such as GaAs. This method gives a loss also in the fundamental mode, being likely to raise a threshold value and lower an efficiency.
JP-A-2001-133647 proposes to eliminate a higher order mode by forming a diffraction grating on sidewalls of a waveguide structure at a pitch longer than λ/2 and shorter than λ, where λ is a waveguide effective wavelength. This diffraction grating has a function different from the diffraction grating of a DFB laser or DBR laser.

Optical semiconductor device having diffraction grating


A power tool braking system includes a brake movably mounted to a frame of the power tool and a system for automatically moving the brake to a braking position. The brake has a first portion with a braking surface and a second portion. The system for automatically moving the brake to a braking position comprises a throttle of the power tool having a trigger with a section adapted to engage the brake second portion to move the brake to its braking position upon release of the throttle by a user.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to power tools and, more particularly, to a braking system for a power tool.
2. Prior Art
There are various different types of power tools known in the prior art including hedge trimmers, chain saws, lawn mowers, or any type of power equipment. There are also various different types of systems used as brakes in these power tools. Some of these systems are described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,760,685; 3,228,177; 2,480,343; 3,361,165; 3,664,390; and 3,991,864. However, these systems are relatively costly to manufacture and assemble and do not provide a direct operational relationship between a throttle of the power tool and the braking system. Therefore, a need has developed for a braking system that can be manufactured and assembled at a relatively inexpensive cost, but which nonetheless can adequately reduce the time for a driven member, such as a hedge trimmer cutter bar, to stop after a throttle has been released.


In one aspect the present disclosure relates to a sensor for measuring at least one physical or chemical parameter of a cartridge filled with a liquid substance. In a further aspect the disclosure relates to a drug delivery device equipped with such a sensor, wherein the sensor includes a planar flexible foil having a first section and having a second section separated from the first section, at least one measurement electrode located on the flexible foil, wherein the flexible foil is wrappable into a wrapped configuration in which the foil forms at least a first wrap with an inner diameter that is equal to or larger than an outer diameter of the cartridge, wherein in the wrapped configuration the first section and the second section at least partially overlap, at least one fastener located in one of the first and second section and configured to attach to the other one of the first and second sections for keeping the flexible foil in the wrapped configuration.

Drug delivery devices for setting and dispensing a single or multiple doses of a liquid medicament are as such well-known in the art. Generally, such devices have substantially a similar purpose as that of an ordinary syringe.
Drug delivery devices such as pen-type injectors have to meet a number of user-specific requirements. For instance, with patient's suffering chronic diseases, such as diabetes, the patient may be physically infirm and may also have impaired vision. Suitable drug delivery devices especially intended for home medication therefore need to be robust in construction and should be easy to use. Furthermore, manipulation and general handling of the device and its components should be intelligible and easy understandable. Such injection devices should provide setting and subsequent dispensing of a dose of a medicament of variable size. Moreover, a dose setting as well as a dose dispensing procedure must be easy to operate and has to be unambiguous.
Typically, such devices comprise a housing or a particular cartridge holder, adapted to receive a cartridge at least partially filled with the medicament to be dispensed. Such devices further comprise a drive mechanism, usually having a displaceable piston rod which is adapted to operably engage with a piston of the cartridge. By means of the drive mechanism and its piston rod, the piston of the cartridge is displaceable in a distal or dispensing direction and may therefore expel a predefined amount of the medicament via a piercing assembly, which is to be releasably coupled with a distal end section of the housing of the drug delivery device.
The medicament to be dispensed by the drug delivery device is provided and contained in a multi-dose cartridge. Such cartridges typically comprise a vitreous barrel sealed in distal direction by means of a pierceable seal and being further sealed in proximal direction by the piston. With reusable drug delivery devices an empty cartridge is replaceable by a new one. In contrast to that, drug delivery devices of disposable type are to be entirely discarded when the medicament in the cartridge has been dispensed or used-up.
It is generally desirable to determine the amount of medicament remaining in a cartridge while the cartridge is arranged inside a drug delivery device. It is generally known in the prior art to implement a capacitive measurement or capacitive determination of a filling level of a cartridge. For this either on the cartridge itself or at the interior of a cartridge holder section of the drug delivery device there are provided at least two electrodes. Since the dielectric properties of the liquid substance inside the cartridge clearly differ from those of other surrounding materials, such like the vitreous material the cartridge is made of the rubber-based material forming the proximal piston of the cartridge, the electrical capacity to be measured between the electrodes located on radially oppositely located sidewall portions of the cartridge correlates with the filling level of the cartridge and/or with the axial position of the piston inside the cartridge.
For instance, document WO 2014/052997 A1 discloses a respective dispensing device having at least one pair of capacitive measurement electrodes that are arranged in the outer region of a medicament container for determining the permittivity of the respective medium in an intermediate region between the measurement electrodes. Furthermore, there is described a shield that is arranged around the container and which surrounds the measurement materials in a sheath-like manner.
In order to conduct a precise measurement of a physical or chemical parameter of the cartridge and in particular for measuring the filling level of the liquid substance contained therein it is necessary to arrange at least one or several measurement electrodes to the outer circumference of the barrel of the cartridge. The correct position of the electrodes relative to the cartridge may be of particular relevance to obtain precise and reliable measurement results. It is generally conceivable to fixedly attach electrodes as well as electronic components of a sensor to the outer circumference of a cartridge but this would remarkably increase the total costs for manufacturing of the cartridge. Document WO 2014/052997 further suggests use of a particular carrier for carrying measurement electrodes. There, the carrier may be part of the drug delivery device. Providing of such an additional carrier requires a substantial redesign of existing drug delivery devices which is to be avoided.
In some aspects, the present disclosure provides a sensor for measuring at least one physical or chemical parameter of a cartridge filled with a liquid substance. The sensor should provide reliable and precise measurement of a desired parameter, in particular of a filling level of the cartridge. Moreover, the sensor should be suitable for implementation into existing drug delivery devices or into existing concepts of drug delivery devices so that use of the sensor inside or with the drug delivery device only requires a minimum of modifications to be made to the drug delivery device. In addition, the sensor should be operable with standardized and commercially distributed cartridges as they are widely known in the art. Consequently, the operation of the sensor for measuring the at least one physical or chemical parameter should avoid and circumvent the necessity of making any modifications to the cartridge.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A laboratory sample distribution system comprising a transport plane in which the transport plane is covered by an electrically conductive material is presented. A laboratory automation system comprising such a laboratory sample distribution system is also presented.

The present disclosure generally relates to a laboratory sample distribution system comprising a transport plane, a number of sample container carriers, a driver configured to move the sample container carriers on the transport plane, and a control device configured to control the movement of the sample container carriers on top of the transport plane by driving the driver such that the sample container carriers move along corresponding transport paths. The present disclosure also relates to a laboratory automation system comprising a number of laboratory stations and a laboratory sample distribution system.
Known laboratory sample distribution systems are typically used in laboratory automation systems in order to transport samples contained in sample containers between different laboratory stations.
However, there is a need for to optimize a laboratory sample distribution system and a laboratory automation system comprising a laboratory sample distribution system.

Laboratory sample distribution system and laboratory automation system


An apparatus applies mesh from a roll to a face of a mine passage. A spindle is adapted for supporting the roll of mesh. An arm supporting the spindle extends in a generally vertical direction and is adapted for rotation about an axis aligned with a direction of elongation of the mine passage such that the spindle traverses a path for applying the mesh from the roll to the face. A mast independent of the arm carries a drill head for drilling into the face of the mine passage. Related methods are also described.

Anchors or "bolts" provide primary support for one or more of the faces of a passage in an underground mine, such as the roof or overburden. In connection with the installation of these bolts, it is often necessary or desired to install a reticulated mesh or grid material along the corresponding face(s). The main role of mesh is to provide passive confinement, especially in locations where poor ground conditions prevail, preventing fragments of rock and coal from falling from the roof and ribs in the spacing between reinforcing bolts.
Under the current approach, this supplemental protection afforded by the grid or mesh is separately applied to the roof and ribs of the mine passage, and oftentimes completed manually as part of the bolting operation. Past proposals have been made in an effort to facilitate the application of grid or mesh through semi-automated approaches, such as by having a roll of mesh or grid in flexible form carried by a mining machine and applied during the advance to form the mine passage.
Despite such advances, any manual approach suffers from being relatively complex in nature, and generally do not obviate the continued need for significant operator involvement. Specifically, an operator must still be involved to a significant extent in helping to initially support and tension the grid material or mesh during installation, and must also take measures to ensure that the proper amount of tension is provided throughout the operation. These requirements for frequent manual intervention increase the man hours and thus limit the practical effectiveness and efficiency of the limited automation provided.
Accordingly, a need is identified for an improved arrangement for use in applying a flexible grid material, or mesh, to a face of a mine passage. As compared with past approaches, the arrangement would be relatively simple in construction and inexpensive to implement. Yet, it would bring a significant level of advancement in terms of the savings in time and cost realized from its use. The result that follows from use of the system would be an overall increase in the efficiency of the mining operation.

Mesh handling apparatus and related methods


A clutch engagement control has a flow regulating valve to control the engagement timing of the clutch. The regulating valve responds to a flow signal to reduce the fluid flow rate through the valve after the clutch apply piston has taken up the clutch free running clearance. The regulating valve has a control area communicating with a venturi between the regulating valve and the apply piston such that a flow rate signal is present at the control area.

Automatic shifting transmissions use fluid operated friction devices, such as clutches and brakes, to establish gear ratios between the vehicle engine and drive wheels. The gear ratios are interchanged (upshifted or downshifted) to extend the usefulness of the engine operating range. During a ratio interchange, it is necessary to control the engagement timing of the on-coming friction device as well as controlling the disengagement point of the off-going friction drive device.
Fluid operated disc type friction devices have a free running clearance. That is, when a device is disengaged, the adjacent plates do not have significant contact to thereby maintain the slip losses of the device at a minimum. Free running clearance affects the engagement timing of the device. The apply piston must be pressurized to move through a distance defined by the free running clearance prior to clutch engagement. The movement should occur as quickly as possible. Thus, a large flow volume is originally required during the engagement process. The flow volume must be rapidly reduced to avoid a harsh apply of the friction device which will affect the ratio interchange.
Engagement timing is generally provided in current transmissions using one of three control methods depending upon the acceptable cost for the transmission. One control system incorporates one-way devices in combination with friction devices. These systems require duplicate arrangements if engine coast braking is to be available. However, the ratio change on and off of one-way devices is known to be quite smooth.
A second of the control systems uses variable pressure control devices, such as pulse-width-modulated valves to control the on-coming and off-going friction devices. These pulse-width-modulated devices require an electronic control module or computer to affect proper control of the variable pressure devices.
The third system uses a fluid accumulator and valve to control the on-coming friction device and a bleed orifice to control the off-going device. The accumulator requires additional space within the transmission housing as well as a valve mechanism that permits the accumulator to be filled when the friction device is engaging and to not interfere with the exhausting of the friction device during disengagement.

Regulating valve for engagement control of friction drive devices


A control device of a general-purpose engine which can continue operation of a working machine even when an operation management unit of the working machine has failed. The control device includes an engine control unit that controls the general-purpose engine based on a command from the operation management unit managing an operating state of the working machine, a communication interface for communicating with an external device; a management program acquisition unit that acquires a management program that is used by the operation management unit to manage the operating state, from the external device through the communication interface and stores the acquired management program in a storage medium, and an operation management substitute unit that manages the operating state of the working machine in place of the operation management unit in accordance with the management program when a failure of operation management unit is detected.

A working machine using a general-purpose engine as a power source, such as a power generator, a pump, an outboard engine, a farm working machine, an earth-moving working machine, a truck, and a snow remover incudes an engine Electronic Control Unit (ECU) for controlling the general-purpose engine and a working machine ECU for entirely controlling the working machine so as to perform operation management of the working machine. When the two ECUs cooperate with each other, the working machine can make operations.
Patent Document 1 discloses a working machine in which when the working machine is in an abnormal state where a target rotation speed of an engine cannot be instructed from a working machine ECU to an engine ECU, the engine ECU performs control to rotate the engine at a predetermined fixed rotation speed, so that the working machine can be prevented from being disabled from working even in the abnormal state.

Control device of general-purpose engine


A trigger control circuit of the kind wherein a load is supplied via a triac with current from an AC voltage supply source under the control of a triac control means in combination with a sensing element. In previous circuits the sensing element is energized by a current from a DC source which is derived by rectification and smoothing of the alternating current of an alternating voltage supply source. These circuits have limitations in integrated circuitry. The sensing element herein is energized by an alternating current to produce a sensed alternating current. The triac control means includes an integration element for producing a control signal which represents of the integral of the difference between a value corresponding to the magnitude of the sensed alternating current and a reference value. The triggering or otherwise of the triac is determined by a latch actuated in response to the magnitude of the control signal relative to one or more threshold levels. The trigger control circuit may be used in thermostats or other sensing devices.

The present invention relates to circuit arrangements of the kind wherein a load is supplied via a triac with current from an alternating voltage supply source under the control of a triac trigger control means in combination with a sensing element. As a rule, the said alternating voltage supply source is formed by an alternating mains voltage source.
Usually the sensing element is sensitive to the effects produced by the load. For example, the sensing element may be a temperature dependent resistance located in proximity to a load in the form of a heating element, in which case variations of the sensing element may be utilised to control triggering of the triac to ensure that the heat produced by the load remains within certain temperature limits. Generally, in known circuit arrangements of the kind to which the invention relates, the sensing element is energized by a current from a direct current source so as to produce a voltage for influencing operation of said triac control means. For instance, circuit arrangements of the kind to which the invention relates are known in which the triac trigger control means form part of an integrated circuit assembly incorporating a direct current supply source which, in operation, is able to be energized by the alternating voltage source. Accordingly, the sensing element is readily able to be energized from the direct current supply source forming a part of the integrated circuit assembly. Known circuit arrangements employing direct current energisation of the said sensing element have the disadvantage that unless battery supplies are available as a direct current source it is necessary to provide a source of direct current by rectification and smoothing of alternating current derived from the alternating voltage supply source. The provision of battery supplies is expensive, likewise the provision of a rectification and smoothing circuit if a direct current source is energized from a mains supply. In instances where the triac trigger control means form a part of an integrated circuit assembly incorporating a direct current supply source energized by the said alternating voltage source, utilization of the incorporated direct current supply source has the limitation that typical incorporated direct current supply sources deliver voltages of less than 12 volts in order to suit the power supply needs of the triac control system. For the energisation of the sensing element from a source of direct current it is preferable for the source to have a terminal voltage significantly larger than 12 volts in order to utilise the available operating range of the sensing element. For example, the resistance of a thermistor employed as a sensing element for an electric cooking appliance may vary by three orders of magnitude over the anticipated cooking range.
With circuit arrangements of the kind to which the invention relates, in practice it may be necessary for the load and the sensing element to be located remotely from the remainder of the circuit arrangement with the consequence that connection leads between the remotely located sensing element and the remainder of the circuit arrangement are susceptible to the pick-up of interference which may impair satisfactory operation of the circuit arrangement when the sensing element is energized from a source of direct current, unless the interference is filtered. Moreover, circuit arrangements of the kind to which the invention relates frequently employ a temperature setting element in addition to a temperature sensing element, which temperature setting element is energized from the same source of direct current so that in the event of the temperature setting element being remotely located, the connection leads thereto are also susceptible to the pick-up of interference unless provision is made for filtering such interference.

System for triac trigger control in combination with a sensing element


A reflector includes a rotor disk rotatably mounted on a bike spoke having two semi-circular blades respectively formed on two surfaces of the rotor disk for driving a rotation of the rotor disk when subjected to a wind force when driving a bike, and having a retroreflective surface and a light-absorptive surface respectively formed on two opposite surfaces of the rotor disk for producing a flashing operation when rotating the disk, thereby providing a dynamic flashing reflector on a bike or the like for traffic warning or interesting purpose.

A conventional reflector Rf may be fixed on a spoke S of a bike wheel W as shown in FIGS. 7, 8, whereby upon a rotation driving of a bike wheel W, the reflector Rf when reflecting an incident light may become an illuminative "ring" as shown in FIG. 8. However, such a conventional bike reflector Rf may still have the following drawbacks:
1. The reflector is generally formed as an arcuate plate secured on the wheel spokes, which can reflect lights, but unable to flash, thereby decreasing warning effect and using interest.
2. Several rivets or screws or other fastening means should be further provided to fix the reflector Rf on the spokes, requiring additional tool for installing such a reflector on a spoke and causing inconvenience therefor.
3. For installing, repairing or maintaining the reflectors, it may require a professional skill as provided in a shop, thereby wasting time and money.

Dynamic flashing reflector rotatably mounted on vehicle wheel

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It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a crystalline semiconductor film comprising the steps of crystallizing with the use of the metal element for promoting the crystallization to control the orientation and irradiating the laser once to form a crystalline semiconductor film having a small crystal grain arranged in a grid pattern at a regular interval.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a crystalline semiconductor film having high crystallinity, to a thin film transistor having the crystalline semiconductor film, and to a semiconductor device having the thin film transistor. The present invention also relates to a crystallizing method for manufacturing the crystalline semiconductor film, the thin film transistor, and the semiconductor device. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a laser irradiation apparatus for providing the crystallizing method.
2. Related Art
Recently, a research has been advanced concerning a sophisticated semiconductor device using a thin film transistor. Particularly in the semiconductor device requiring rapidity and high functionality, it is necessary to obtain a thin film transistor (hereinafter also referred to as TFT) having high mobility.
In order to enhance the crystallinity of the semiconductor film, the crystallization is performed to form a crystalline semiconductor film in such a way that a metal element for promoting the crystallization typified by nickel element (Ni) is added, formed, or coated to the semiconductor film, and then a heat treatment is performed thereto (for example, patent document 1 is referred to).
When the metal element for promoting the crystallization typified by Ni is used in such a crystallizing step, it is possible to obtain the crystalline semiconductor film having a large grain size and to obtain the crystalline semiconductor film in which the grain boundaries are likely to unite, thereby having fewer defects in the grain.
In addition, as the different crystallizing method from the heat treatment, a crystallizing method by a laser irradiation has been studied. The crystallization by the laser irradiation is conventionally performed in such a way that an ultraviolet beam is irradiated in a pulse oscillation to an amorphous or poly-crystalline silicon layer to form a silicon thin film including a group of silicon single crystal grains (patent document 2 is referred to, for example). In the laser crystallization according to the patent document 2, the travel distance of a rectangular ultraviolet beam between the position where it ends to be irradiated and the position where it begins to be irradiated next is set to 40 μm or less and the proportion of the travel distance with respect to the width of the ultraviolet beam measured along the moving direction is set in the range of 0.1 to 5%. The patent document 2 discloses that the silicon single crystal grain to be obtained has the preferred orientation approximately <100> to the surface of the base substance.
It is reported that when the polarized laser light is used in the crystallization, what is called a ridge is formed in the direction perpendicular to the polarization direction by optimizing the condition in the laser irradiation (non-patent document 1 is referred to). The non-patent document 1 describes that the interval between the ridges depends on the wavelength and the irradiation angle of the laser light, which is expressed with λ/(1±sin θ) in p-polarized laser light where λ is the wavelength of the laser light and θ is the irradiation angle of the laser light.
In particular, the non-patent document 1 discloses in FIG. 2A that the first irradiation of the linear pulsed laser forms a linear ridge. Moreover, the non-patent document 1 discloses in FIG. 2B that the second irradiation of the linear pulsed laser light at an angle 90° with respect to the direction of the first laser irradiation forms a grid pattern of the ridge.
The non-patent document 1 reports an experiment where an amorphous silicon film formed over a glass substrate is irradiated with a pulsed Nd: YAG laser in a film-forming chamber of ultra high vacuum in which the temperature is set to be the same as that of the substrate, which is 350° C.
[Patent Document 1]
Unexamined Patent Publication H7-161634 bulletin
[Patent Document 2]
Unexamined Patent Publication H10-41234 bulletin
[Non-patent Document 1]
Written by Y. Nakata, A. Shimoyama, and S. Horita, "AM-LCD 2000", p. 265–268
In the crystallizing method according to patent document 1, many aggregations of pillar crystals (each aggregation is also referred to as a domain) having a large size from 200 to 300 μm are formed. The crystals in one domain have the same crystal orientation. However, the orientation is different in the adjacent domains, and they have a boundary therebetween. When a TFT is manufactured by forming a channel-forming region within one domain, high electrical characteristic can be obtained.
However, the domain is formed at random and it is difficult to manufacture TFT so that the channel-forming region is formed within one domain. Therefore, it becomes difficult to form all the channel-forming regions which are arranged in a pixel portion and a driver circuit portion respectively within one domain.
As a result, although there is an advantage of high mobility when such a crystalline semiconductor film is used as an active layer of a TFT (an island-shaped semiconductor film including a channel-forming region and an impurity region), there is a risk of a small difference, which is the variation, in the characteristic between respective TFTs due to the absence or presence of the boundary between the adjacent domains (the domains having the different orientation) in the channel-forming region or due to the difference of the size of the domain to be formed.
The variation in the electrical characteristic of TFT arranged in the pixel portion or the driver circuit portion causes the variation in the current and the voltage applied to each pixel electrode, which becomes the display unevenness that is visible for the observer.
At present, this variation is acceptable and it does not lead to any problems. In the future, however, when the pixel size is miniaturized further and the more precise image is demanded, this variation is considered to become a serious problem. In the future, as the width of the gate metal becomes narrower, the size of the channel-forming region (channel width) becomes smaller. Therefore, there is a risk that a TFT having a boundary between the domains in the channel-forming region is formed. The characteristic of such a TFT (mobility, S-value, on-current, off-current, and the like) varies compared with that of a TFT having a channel-forming region without any boundaries therein, and therefore this variation is considered to cause the display unevenness.
According to the crystallizing method disclosed in the patent document 2, the travel distance of a rectangular ultraviolet beam from the position where it ends to be irradiated to the position where it begins to be irradiated next is set to 40 μm or less, and the proportion of the travel distance with respect to the width of the ultraviolet beam measured along the moving direction is set in the range of 0.1 to 5%. In the embodiment 1 of the patent document 2, any point in the amorphous silicon layer is irradiated by the pulsed ultraviolet beam 100 times.
In such a crystallizing method, the process takes much time because the laser is irradiated to the silicon layer many times, for example 100 times.
In particular, when the crystalline semiconductor film formed by controlling the orientation with the use of a metal such as Ni is irradiated by the laser many times, it is impossible to maintain its orientation. In other words, when the laser light is irradiated many times under the conditions described in the patent document 2 after forming the crystalline semiconductor film with the orientation controlled using the metal element as shown in the patent document 1, it is impossible to maintain the crystalline semiconductor film with the orientation controlled.
In addition, as shown in the non-patent document 1, the ridge forms a grid pattern only when the second laser irradiation is performed at an angle 90° with respect to the direction of the first laser irradiation under the conditions where the Nd: YAG laser is irradiated in a vacuum film-forming chamber with the substrate temperature set to 350° C. Therefore, in such a method, the laser irradiation takes much time. This means it takes much time to manufacture a semiconductor device or a thin film transistor, and therefore this method is unsuitable for mass production.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device, and laser irradiation apparatus

Abstract: In the present invention made in view of the above object, a ridge forms a grid pattern on a surface of the crystalline semiconductor film in such a way that a crystalline semiconductor film is formed by adding the metal element for promoting the crystallization to the amorphous semiconductor film and the pulsed laser whose polarization direction is controlled is irradiated thereto. As the means for controlling the polarization direction, a half-wave plate or a mirror is used.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A method for controlling an optical drive to record data onto a disc. The optical recorder has a pick up head for emitting laser onto the disc to record data onto the disc. The method includes adjusting a write power and a write strategy of the optical drive according to a linear velocity of the disc when passing by the pick up head.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling an optical drive to write data, more specifically, a method of adjusting a write-in strategy and a write-in power according to a linear velocity of an optical disc operating on the optical drive.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the rapid development of computer technology, most data can be transformed into digital form for convenience of transmitting and storing.
In order to help users store data more conveniently, various data storage devices, such as CD recorders, are being introduced. A CD-R drive, due to a low price, small volume, and large capacity of a disc, can record data onto the CD, letting the user store data more easily.
The conventional CD-R drive rotates at a zone constant linear velocity (ZCLV). When a pickup head of the CD-R drive is passing through different zones of a disc, for keeping a constant linear velocity, the angular velocity of the operating CD-R drive also changes so as to accurately record the data on the disc. In addition, a fixed-angular-velocity-operated CD-R drive does not need to frequently adjust the motor turns, and has also become a widely used drive in recent years.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a schematic diagram of the CD-R drive 10 recording data onto an optical disc 20. The disc 20 has a spiral track 22 covered by a photoresist layer from the center outward. The drive 10 comprises a pickup head 12. While the drive 10 writes data onto the disc 20, the pickup head 12 makes the photoresist layer of the track 22 on the disc 20 be intermittently exposed to an on-and-off laser according to the data. The exposed photoresist layer of the track 22 will cause pits to form. On the contrary, the unexposed photoresist layer will be kept as lands. Reflections of the pits and the lands are not similar, in this way, the different data (for example, the digital "0" or "1") can be represented by the pits and the lands respectively, and stored in the disc 20. While reading the data stored in the disc 20, the drive 10 can receives reflecting laser from the disc 20 to read the data stored in the disc 20.
The extended length of the pit and the land represent the times of the particular repetition bit in disc 20, a length for continuing representative data. For example, if the pit represents bit "1", the three repetition bits "1 1 1" is represented by longer extended pits. As above-mentioned, when the disc 20 passes through the pickup head 12, the pickup head 12 will apply energy onto the disc 20 with a laser so as to write data onto the disc 20. Both the applied energy (that is, the laser power) and the applied time of the energy can affect the extended length of the pits and further affect the precision of the written data on the disc 20.
Please refer to FIG. 2, which shows a relation plot of an amount of exposure of the photoresist layer against the fragment position relative to the pickup head 12 while the disc 20 is rotating. When the drive 10 is going to write data into the disc 20, the pickup head 12 begins to emit a laser while passing through the fragment of p0. At this moment, the received energy of the disc 20 is not enough to form a pit. As the disc 20 is rotating, the pickup head 12 constantly supplies energy onto the disc 20. While the fragment of p1 is passing through the pickup head 12, a temperature of the photoresist layer of the fragment reaches a threshold temperature Eth and a pit is formed. While passing through the fragment of p2, the pickup head 12 stops emitting a laser and the temperature of the disc 20 decreases gradually. While the pickup head 12 is passing through the p3, the temperature of the photoresist layer is lower than threshold temperature Eth and a pit is no longer formed. In other words, a real extended length of the pit is from position p1 to p3. From FIG. 2, a length from p0 to p1 is obviously different from a length from p2 to p3, that is, if a pit intends to be formed from p1 to p3, the pickup head 12 of the drive 10 must begin/stop emitting a laser while passing through the position p0 and p2 respectively. In addition, the energy applied from the pickup head 12 affects the formed pit as well. For instance, the larger energy the pickup head 12 applies to the disc 20, the closer to the initial position, where the pickup head 12 begins to apply energy, the reaching threshold temperature Eth position of the photoresist layer is. Generally speaking, while writing data into the disc 20, the drive 10 can determine a position and a length of a pit, i.e. the position of p1 and p3, according to the data. As to the position where the pickup head 12 actually applies energy, i.e. the position of p0 and p2, are determined by a specific write-in strategy along with an optimal write-in power based on the position p1 and p3. Because the data within the disc 20 has direct relation to the extended length of the pit, an over-length or an under-length of the pit is incapable of correctly recording data onto the disc 20.
Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is an enlarged plot according to a dotted line section of the disc 20 shown in FIG. 1. For a rewritable disc 20, its track 22 can be divided into two kinds of tracks, one is a data track 26 for use to record data, and the other is a wobble track 28 for use to record relative information of each frame on the disc 20. The data track 26 is an arc along the disc 20 and around the center of the disc 20, like the track 22. Because FIG. 3 is an enlarged plot of a tiny part of the arc track, the data track 26 shown in FIG. 3 is a straight line. However, the wobble track 28 is not only an arc along the disc 20 and around the center of the disc 20, from a view of FIG. 3, but also appears as crawl-shaped with small amplitude along the track 22. The pickup head 12 of the drive 10 can receive reflected light from the wobble track 28 and forms a wobble signal. The drive 10 can detect which part of data on the disc 20 is being read by the pickup head 12 based on the wobble signal.
According to the orange book regulating the specification of the disc 20, while the emitted laser power from the pickup head 12 has optimal power, the reflected signal measured by the pickup head 12 is an AC coupled high frequency (HF) signal with a perfect symmetrical amplitude. Please refer to FIG. 4 which shows a waveform of the HF signal reflected from the disc 20 while the pickup head 12 of the drive 10 writes data onto the disc 20 based on an optimal write-in power, where the horizontal axis represents time, the vertical axis represents amplitude, and the place marked as level dc represents a corresponding amplitude of a long-term average of the waveform. If a laser is reflected from a pit, the HF signal shows an upper amplitude A1 over the level dc. If a laser is reflected from a land, the HF signal shows a lower amplitude A2 below the level dc. A measurement amplitude parameter β=(A1−A2)/(A1+A2) is for use to compare the A1 and A2. During writing data into the disc 20, the drive 10 will encode the data, resulting in a total extended length of pits equaling to a total extended length of lands. In other words, a total spent time of the laser reflecting from pits and a total spent time of the laser reflecting from lands are the same, which causes a long-term average level dc of the reflected HF signal to be exactly in the middle of the upper amplitude A1 and the lower amplitude A2, that is β=0. If the laser power emitted from the pickup head 12 is lower than the optimal power or if the laser-emitting time is too short, either causes the insufficient extended pits, which makes the waveform of the HF signal move downward and causes A1 to be less than A2, leading to β<0. On the contrary, if the laser power emitted from the pickup head 12 is higher than the optimal power or if the laser-emitting time is too long, either forms an over-length of an extended pit, which makes the waveform of the HF signal move upward and causes A1 to be more than A2, leading to β>0. In other words, β represents an amount of the pits matching an amount of the lands during encoding. When β does not equal to 0, it means either the length of the pit or that of the land is incorrect, resulting in errors during encoding. Besides β, a signal jitter in the duration of data-reading also can be used to judge a correction of data-writing. If there is something wrong when the disc 20 is written, even identical bits, the last time of signal-reading (that is, the extended length of the pits or the lands), are not the same, which increases the signal jitter.
Please again refer to FIG. 1. The drive 10 further includes an absolute time in pregroove decoder (ATIP decoder) 14 for decoding the absolute time code acquired from pickup head 12 and an eight-to fourteen modulator (EFM) 16 for modulating the data into EFM data. The drive 10 includes a table 18, which shows write-in strategies corresponding to write-in powers. The drive 10 adjusts the write-in strategy and the write-in power based on both a time code and the table 18. The drive 10 can be a constant-angular-velocity-operated drive. While the drive 10 rotates the disc 20, the rotation angular velocity of the drive 10 stays constant. Due to the fixed angular velocity of the drive 10, when the drive 10 is operating, a linear velocity of an inner orbit of the disc 20 is smaller, but a linear velocity of an outer orbit of the disc 20 is larger. If intending to write data into the inner orbit of the disc 20, due to a smaller linear velocity of an inner orbit, the pickup head 12 has enough time to emit a laser exposing the photoresist layers on the inner orbits, therefore the emitted laser power from the pickup head 12 is not too large. On the other hand, if intending to write data into the outer orbit of the disc 20, due to a larger linear velocity of an outer orbit, the pickup head 12 has to augment the laser power or increase the heating time so that the photoresist layer on the outer orbit of the disc 20 can complete exposure in a predetermined time. As a result, the write-in strategy and the write-in power have to be adjusted adequately along with the process of data-writing.
Please refer to FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of distribution frames along the disc 20. FIG. 6 is a relation plot showing the linear velocity of the rotating disc 20 against the record time of the drive 10 while the pickup head 10 is passing through the disc 20. FIG. 7 is a relation diagram showing the value of β against time. The track for recording data on the disc 20 can be divided into a plurality of frames, each having identical data capacity. In CD-R/CD-RW, a linear length of each frame (an arc along the track) is identical. Two frames FA and FB are marked in FIG. 5, where the inner frame FA is from Fa0 to Fa1 and the outer frame FB is from Fb0 to Fb1. In the prior art, the drive 10 adjusts the laser power emitted from the pickup head 12 according to the frames, that is, the emitted laser powers from the pickup head 12 are the same in an identical frame. The emitted laser powers from the pickup head 12 changes as a change of frames.
As a curve 50 shows in FIG. 6, while the pickup head 12 is moving from the inner part of the disc 20 outward, the linear velocity of the disc 20 skipping the pickup head 12 is increasing. On the other hand, even though the linear length of each frame is identical, the spread angle of the center of the disc 20 corresponding to the frame distributed in the inner disc 20 (like frame FA) is also larger and each point within the frame corresponding to the radius of the center of the disc 20 has a larger difference. As inner frame FA shows in FIG. 5, the radius from the center to the start point of Fa0 is different from that from the center to the end point of Fa1. Relatively, the spread angle of the center of the disc 20 corresponding to the frame FB distributed in the outer disc 20 is smaller, and the radius from the center to the point Fb0 and Fb1 are almost the same. That the radius from each point to the center has a larger difference means while the pickup head 12 passes through different points within the frame FA, the linear velocity changes more greatly. As shown in FIG. 6, where an interval between the time t0 and t1 represents the spent time of the pickup head 12 passing through the inner frame FA, an interval of the time t5 and t6 represents the spent time between the pickup head 12 passing through the outer frame FB. Despite the change of the linear velocity among different points within the inner frame of the disc 20 being larger, the write-in strategy and the write-in power are adjusted according to the frames in prior art, resulting in the same write-in strategy and the write-in power are used to write data into the inner frame. In this way, the linear velocity at the end fragment of the inner frame is faster than that at the start fragment of the inner frame during writing data into the inner frame. For the end fragment of the frame, the write-in strategy and the write-in power adapted to the start fragment of the frame can cause a lack of absorption energy, which leads to too short a length of the pits. Similarly, for the start fragment of the frame, the write-in strategy and the write-in power adapted to the end fragment of the frame can cause over-absorption energy, which leads to too long a length of the pits. From FIG. 7, while the pickup head 12 writes data into the end of the inner orbit, the absolute value of β being maximum, that is, the laser power emitted from the pickup head 12 at this moment is most far from the optimal power, meaning that the pickup head 12 is prone to generate errors at this position of the disc 20.
While writing data into the outer frame of the disc 20, owing to little linear velocity change at each position of the outer frame, the pickup head 12 is unable to make mistakes, even when writing data into a sequence of two or three frames with the same write-in strategy and the write-in power. From FIG. 7, β is approximate to 0 when the pickup head 12 writes data into the outer orbit of the disc 20. As a result, it is not necessary to store too many write-in strategies and the write-in powers in the table 18 in prior art.
In addition to the above defect, a change of the drive 10 operation speed makes the table 18 useless. For example, the table 18 adapted to the two-times drive is not suitable for the four-times drive. Even at the same frame, while the operation speed of the drive changes, the linear velocity of the pickup head passing the frame changes, and the corresponding write-in strategy and the write-in power also change. In this way, arising from a promotion of the drive operation speed, the conventional drives have to test new write-in strategies and write-in powers again, resulting in a wasted time and a cost increase of the drive development.

Method for controlling an optical drive to record data


Inhalation therapy is not only used for the treatment of respiratory tract diseases, but also increasingly for administering other medicinal substances. In this kind of therapy, the substance is made available to the patient for inhalation in the form of a liquid vapor having very small droplet diameters (ca. 1 to 5 um) and is transported together with the inhaled air into the respiratory tracts. The inventive atomizer consists of a cylindrical atomizing space with two openings for respectively supplying and withdrawing the liquid vapor, the openings being arranged in such a manner that a spiral vortex is formed which extends about the longitidunal axis of the atomizing space.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an atomizer particularly for use in devices for inhalation therapy.
2. Related Art
Inhalation therapy is not only used for treating respiratory tract diseases but also, to an increasing extent, for administering other medicinal active substances. In this kind of therapy, the substance is offered to the patient for inhalation in the form of a vaporized liquid with a very small droplet diameter (less than 5 um) and is transported together with the breath into the respiratory tracts. For the reliable intake of this active substance, it is required that the vaporized liquid, and the active substance carried with it, is transported by the flow of breath far into the respiratory tracts without it depositing prematurely in the mouth and throat area. Only the transport into the deep respiratory tracts ensures an effective absorption of the active substance via the surface of the lungs. Furthermore, a synchronous coordination between the inhalation act and the generation, or making available, of the vaporized liquid is always required with the aim of providing a sufficient and simultaneously ascertainable quantity of the vaporized liquid for the dosage during the breathing act. In view of both of these requirements, it has been already recognized, in the use of dosing-aerosols, that a stream of vaporized liquid generated by means of spray diffuser, introduced into the inhaled air stream by the breathing act, is introduced in too strong a bundled manner into the mouth and throat area so that the desired transport into the deep respiratory tracts is not achieved. Stilling chambers, in the form, for example, of an extended mouthpiece between the atomizing location and the inhalation location, were therefore suggested which should lead to a distribution and deceleration of the vaporized liquid and enable an uncoordinated inhalation after the resulting atomization. In these, in the broadest sense cylindrically shaped stilling chambers, the liquid vapor enters into the hollow space of the stilling chamber at one front end and, due to the cross-sectional enlargement at the transition from the feed connection to the inside of the stilling chamber, an uncontrolled turbulance and, as a whole, a deceleration of the liquid droplets occurs in the stream flow. The vaporized liquid is drawn off in the breathing-in phase of the inhalation act at the opposing front end of the stilling chamber. However, as a rule in such systems, a single draw of breath does not suffice to draw the entire aerosol volume out of the stilling chamber.
In order that a sufficient quantity of the vaporized liquid is provided for the inhalation step, the hollow space of the stilling chamber must be relatively large so that dead spaces can arise in which the vaporized liquid can completely come to rest during the uncontrolled turbulence occuring in the available volume. During the atomization, these regions low in interchange are only filled with fresh aerosol following a large time-lag and are only emptied with difficulty again during inhalation. About 3 to 5 breaths are required for complete evacuation. On account of the long sojourn time in these regions, the droplets can settle on the walls of the stilling chamber. Therefore, the stilling and the homogenization of the vaporized liquid in such systems is insufficient. A further disadvantage is the large volume required which is difficult to handle for the patient in particular, in transportable inhalation devices.
An inhalation vessel of plastic is known from the German utility model G 89 08 273 which has a specialized shape in order to reduce the dimensions. The oblong main body of the stilling chamber, which at its one end, has a connecting piece for the supply of the vaporized liquid and at its other end, a withdrawal piece, consists as a whole of an amphora-like shape in which a short transition region connects with the connecting piece to enable the elliptical section of the connecting part to change over into a circular shape and from there to make up the shape of the main body in the form of a continuously increasing circular cross-section until it approaches the size of the withdrawal part again through a constantly decreasing circular cross-section after reaching a largest diameter. Thus, the cross-section of this known stilling chamber increases continously in the direction of the aerosol stream beginning with the diameter of the connecting part, and then decreases to the cross-section of the withdrawal part shortly before reaching this. However, this known inhalation vessel is actually also a very large structure in which a homogenization and deceleration of the vaporized liquid together with the simultaneous provision of a sufficient volume is achieved only with the limitation regarding its total size and thus, the ease of handling in favor of the functional purpose.
An inhalation vessel is also known which has a cylindrical atomizing space at the one front side of which a spray diffuser is centrally provided. The opposing front end of the cylindrical space has a central T-piece as a connecting element for the withdrawal part via which the inhalation ensues. In order to influence the air stream in the cylindrical space with regard to a homogenization and stilling of the vaporized liquid, a calotte, almost completely closing the cylindrical space towards the top, is provided which consists of an opening provided in its central region for the T-piece. In the peripheral region of the calotte, air flowing in from the top is guided along the outer walls of the cylindrical hollow body so that a mixing-through of the air with the vaporized liquid entering from the bottom is achieved.

Atomizer particularly for use in devices for inhalation therapy


According to one embodiment, a private branch exchange includes a receiver which receives caller ID information divided into a plurality of packets, the caller ID information specifying a caller side telephone set, when receiving an incoming call, a measurement unit which measures an elapsed time after the receiver has received the packets, a reset unit which resets the elapsed time measured by the measurement unit when the receiver receives the packets, and a transmitter which transmits the packets received by the receiver to a private telephone set on an incoming call side, as caller ID information, when the elapsed time measured by the measurement unit exceeds a specified time.

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a private branch exchange (hereinafter referred to as PBX) and a telephone switching system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a PBX capable of displaying caller ID information such as a caller telephone number onto a display of a private telephone set housed in the PBX has been proposed.
It is disclosed by, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication KOKAI No. H10-174134.
This PBX receives caller ID information indicating a caller telephone number on a public switched telephone network (PSTN) side to a PBX on an incoming call side, then, displays the caller ID information onto a display of the PBX on the incoming call side.
In caller ID information is usually communicated in a packet form in which the caller ID information is divided into some items thereof and can be included a caller name, a calling date and time, a caller telephone number non notice reason, caller telephone number expansion information, etc., other than the caller telephone number.
Such a PBX to treat the caller ID information generally determines whether or not it has received whole items of the caller ID information from a PSTN depending on the fact whether or not a specified time has already elapsed from a start of a reception of the caller ID information. That is, the PBX transmits the caller ID information to a telephone set on the incoming call side after a specified time from a reception of a packet of the first caller ID information. However, as mentioned above, since it is possible for the caller ID information to include a variety of items of information other than the caller telephone number, a data quantity becomes large sometime. Therefore, the PBX has to set the specified time being a threshold longer and the transmission of the caller ID information to the telephone set on the incoming call side delays even when the caller ID information is small in quantity. In contrast, if the threshold is set smaller, the caller ID information having a large data quantity cannot be received up to its end.

Private branch exchange and telephone switching system


Novel pharmaceutical compositions of uridine 5'-triphosphate (UTP) for use in promoting increased mucociliary clearance of retained mucous secretions of the human airways, middle/inner ears or sinuses are disclosed. Novel Formulation I comprises UTP and aqueous solution having a therapeutic concentration between 5 and 45 mg/mL, a controlled tonicity within the range of 250 to 100 mOsM, a pH between 7.0 and 7.5, and is sterile. The pH-adjusted composition is capable of long-term storage in the refrigerated state with a shelf life of up to 30 months. Formulation I may be delivered therapeutically either in a nebulized form or in a liquid form. Novel Formulation II comprises UTP in an aqueous solution or suspension having a therapeutic concentration approaching the limit of UTP's solubility at ambient temperature. This high concentration allows delivery of a therapeutic amount of UTP in very small volumes (50 to 100 .mu.L) suitable for administration via portable hand-held devices such as metered dose inhalers. Formulation II has extended shelf life without the need for refrigeration after being dispensed to the patient.

Mucociliary clearance is an important defense mechanism of the human airways and middle/inner ear tract. Coordinated beats of cilia in the airways and ears propel the mucous layer toward the pharynx, carrying along with it microorganisms and other particles captured in the mucus. Normal function of this system depends on the frequency and coordination of ciliary beating and the properties of the mucus itself.
It has been discovered that extracellular nucleoside triphosphates, especially UTP, modulate mucociliary clearance. Specifically, UTP stimulates ciliary beat frequency (D. Drutz, et al., Drug Development Research, 377(3), 185, (1996)), increases hydration of the mucous layer on the luminal surface of the airway (R. Boucher, et al., Adenosine and Adenine Nucleotides: From Molecular Biology to Integrative Physiology, p. 525-32 "Mechanisms and Therapeutic Actions of Uridine Triphosphates in the Lung" (L. Belardinelli, et al. ed., Alumwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 1995)), and increases mucin release from goblet cells and submucosal glands (M. I. Lethem, et al., Nucleotide regulation of goblet cells in human airway epithelial explants: normal exocytosis in cystic fibrosis. Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., 1993; 9:315-322. In addition, UTP and other nucleotides have been shown to stimulate the release of surfactant phospholipids from type II alveolar cells (S. Rooney, et al., Progr. Respir. Res., 27, 84-91 (1994); L. Gobran, et al., Am. J. Physiol., 267, L625-33 (1994). It has been postulated that UTP is effective in the treatment of cystic fibrosis and other airway diseases involving retained mucous secretions as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,498 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,116. It has also been demonstrated that UTP is safe and improves cough clearance in PCD patients (P. Noone, et al., Am. J. Resp. Crit Care Med A530, (1996)). Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Durham, N.C.) studies have demonstrated that UTP helps induce a sputum sample by hydrating mucous secretions and stimulating ciliary beat frequency for diagnostic analysis, such as cytopathology for lung cancer or acid-fast bacillus for tuberculosis. It is likelly that UTP decreases the risk of retained secretions in patients who are immobilized or receiving mechanical ventilation, thereby preventing pneumonia, including ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
A UTP formulation under the tradename Uteplex.RTM., with a pH of 9.0, has been marketed in France by Wyeth for the treatment of lower backpain. The French biotechnology company Synthelabo has developed a formulation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) under the tradename rhinATP.TM. for the treatment of nasal mucous fluid congestion. Belgium Patent No. 597,360, issued Dec. 14, 1960, entitled "Novel Therapeutic Composition Usable as a Muscle and Nerve Stimulant", describes a formulation of UTP used in various myopathies and in nerve stimulation therapy.
With the prospect of increasing clinical uses of UTP on the horizon, the need for more biocompatible and less temperature sensitive formulations has emerged.
Formulation I of the present invention differs from prior art nucleotide pharmaceutical formulations in that it is sterilized by filtration rather than by heat, it has a controlled tonicity within the osmolarity range of 250 to 1000 mOsM, most preferably approximately 300 mOsM, and it is pH-adjusted to give values in the range of 6.5 to 8.5, preferably 6.5 to 8.0 and most preferably 7.0 to 7.5. An unexpected property of the present invention is that the Formulation I is capable of extended shelf-life if kept properly refrigerated. This novel UTP Formulation I is compatible for use in a commercially available nebulizer (e.g., jet nebulizers, ultrasonic nebulizers, etc.) which facilitate their administration in the clinical setting. The liquid UTP Formulation I of the present invention may be delivered to the airways of a patient via inhalation of a nebulized form or it may be delivered to the nose, eye, sinuses or middle/inner ears by means of nasal, eye or ear drops. In either the nebulized or liquefied forms, an effective amount of UTP contacts the affected site directly.
Formulation II of the present invention differs from prior art nucleotide formulations in that it is particularly well-suited for administration via small, portable hand-held devices that are capable of efficiently generating fine respirable aqueous based aerosols from small pre-measured volumes or metering a small volume from a liquid reservoir prior to administration. Suitable devices for the administration of Formulation II include, but are not limited to, those currently in development by the Aradigm Corporation (Hayward, Calif.) as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,646 by Aerogen, formerly Fluid Propulsion Technology as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,740, and by the Technology Partnership (Hertfordshire, UK) as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,179. In addition, small volume topical delivery metered pump based systems, such as that patented by Bespak plc, UK disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,131, may be used to deliver Formulation II of the present invention via the nose or ear.

Pharmaceutical compositions of uridine triphosphate


A screen saver for a wireless terminal, such as a mobile telephone, calendar or the like. The screen saver derives information from the applications of the terminal and shows calendar items, to-do-items, mails/SMS'es/MMS'es, and other items to the user during the idle state of the terminal. The user may define which information is shown or not shown. New applications added may subscribe to the screen saver and there through show information on the screen saver.

Hitherto, screen savers have been pre-defined images or e.g. an image or a piece of music stored in a folder in which the screen saver is instructed to retrieve the image or sound. Predefined animations and so-called flash-files are also known to be used by screensavers.
In EP 0 733 983, a screen saver is described where information is received from a service node and shown on the monitor. This node collects a large amount of information and provides information to a number of users. The type of information and the formatting thereof takes place in accordance with personal settings for each user. However, all information in this screen saver is derived from outside the computer and relates to applications not performed on the computer.

Apparatus and a method for providing information to a user


A method of forming a hardmask for defining shallow trench isolation regions in a semiconductor substrate layer includes the steps of: depositing a hardmask layer over the semiconductor substrate layer; depositing and patterning a first photoresist layer over the hardmask layer; etching the hardmask layer after patterning the first photoresist layer to form an interim hardmask layer having at least one line feature; depositing and patterning a second photoresist layer over the interim hardmask layer; and forming a hardmask, the forming step including etching the interim hardmask layer after patterning the second photoresist layer to define a line end of the at least one line feature.

It is desirable to make transistors as small as possible so that more can be put on a given size integrated circuit die. This allows ever more complex circuits to be made and more economically as linewidths decrease.
Designers have encountered difficulties as linewidths and design rules have shrunken to the sub-100 nanometer (nm) region, such as to the 45-nanometer and 22-nanometer generations. For example, it has become increasingly more difficult to meet line end shortening targets and thus line end bias (LE)-to-line side bias (LS) ratio targets for hardmasks that are used in etch processes to define shallow trench isolation (STI) regions that frame the active areas in the semiconductor substrate.
The traditional method of defining shallow trench isolation regions in a semiconductor substrate is described in connection with FIGS. 1A-1D. FIG. 1A is a side view of a portion of a semiconductor wafer during processing. A blanket layer of hardmask material 20 is formed over the semiconductor substrate 10. A layer of photoresist material is then deposited over the blanket layer of hardmask material 20, exposed to a patterned light source, and developed to form a patterned photoresist layer 30 for defining active regions and isolation regions surrounding the active regions (i.e., the OD region).
FIG. 1B is a top view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1B. As shown in FIG. 1B, the patterned photoresist layer 30 generally define lines having line side widths "a" and that are separated by a line end distance "b."
FIG. 1C is a top down view of the structure after etching the hardmask layer 20 through the patterned photoresist layer 30 and subsequent etching of the semiconductor substrate 10 through the etched hardmask layer 20a to form etched substrate 10a. FIG. 1C shows that the individual line features formed in the etched hardmask layer 20a, as defined by the patterned photoresist layer 30, have line side widths "c" that differ from the line side widths "a" of the corresponding features of the developed, patterned photoresist layer 30. More specifically, the line side widths "c" of the features of the etched hardmask layer 20a are less than the widths "a" of the corresponding features of the patterned photoresist layer 30. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, the distance "d" between the line ends of the features of the etched hardmask layer 20a is greater than the distance "b" defined by the patterned photoresist layer 30. These distances "b" and "d" are typically taken at the bottom of the features.
FIG. 1D is a side view of the structure of FIG. 1C. As can be seen in FIG. 1D, the portions of the semiconductor substrate protected by the etched hardmask layer 20a form active regions 50 in the etched semiconductor substrate 10a. The unprotected areas of the semiconductor substrate have been etched to form trenches 40 for forming shallow trench isolations, i.e., the oxide-defined (OD) area.
The line end (LE) critical dimension bias difference, defined as "d"−"b", and the lines side (LS) critical dimension bias difference, defined as "a"−"c", are of critical importance in the design of the device. For newer technology generations, e.g., 22 nm design generations, the LE/LS ratio target is less than 1. That is, the target calls for less difference in the line end (LE) shortening than in the line side (LS) shortening. These new generations also call for closer spacing between lines ends and thus tighter tolerances on line end (LE) shortening. For example, the 22 nm generation has a LE shortening target difference of less than 5 nm. Meeting these targets is critical, for example, to ensure proper location of subsequently formed contacts to the device region. Excessive shortening of the line ends of hardmask can result in contacts being formed to the OD region rather than to the device region.
It has proven difficult to meet the targets of these newer generations with the prior art method described above in connection with FIGS. 1A-1D. Further, regardless of whether the illustrated prior art method could meet these targets, the prior art method also suffers from design rule difficulties in so much as the single photolithography/single etch approach to defining both the line side and line end features of the hardmask makes it difficult to adapt the fabrication processes to multiple mask designs, such as mask designs from the same or different customers.
Improved techniques for forming hardmasks for defining the STI-defined regions are desired.

Dual etch method of defining active area in semiconductor device

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


The present invention is directed toward an improved catheter introducer needle capable of introducing a catheter into a body at a deflection angle in the range of 40-75xc2x0 from the axis of the needle. This invention provides for a continuous perineural placement of a catheter. The present invention is also directed toward an introducer needle/catheter system comprising the needle of the present invention and a catheter extending through the needle such that it extends out beyond the tip of the needle at an angle of deflection in the range of 30-75xc2x0 from the axis defined by the catheter within the main channel of the needle. This invention is useful in delivering pharmacological agents, such as local anesthetics, to nerves in various regions of the body including, but not limited to, the arms and shoulders.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed toward an improved catheter introducer needle for continuous perineural infusion allowing the introduction of a catheter into a body at a deflection angle in the range of 30-75xc2x0 from the axis of the needle. This invention provides for a continuous perineural placement of a catheter. The present invention is also directed toward an introducer needle/catheter system comprising the needle of the present invention and a catheter extending through the needle such that it extends out beyond the tip of the needle at an angle of deflection in the range of 30-75xc2x0 from the axis defined by the catheter within the main channel of the needle. This invention is useful in delivering pharmacological agents, such as local anesthetics, to nerves in various regions of the body including, but not limited to, the neck, arms, shoulders, back, thigh and legs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Needles are used in the prior art to place catheters into the body. Prior art introducer needles allow a catheter to be displaced at an angle of either 0xc2x0 or 90xc2x0 to the longitudinal axis of the needle, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, respectively. The 90xc2x0 displacement is achieved with prior art needles, such as the tuhoy needle, used for epidural applications.
The angular displacement of catheters which are implanted using prior art introducer needles are greatly inappropriate in view of the common geometric relationships between the tip of the introducer needle and the position of various nerves within the body of a patient. The term xe2x80x9cpatient,xe2x80x9d as used herein, encompasses human beings and animals. Very few nerves within a patient""s body are displaced parallel or perpendicular to the surface of the body. It is ideal for the portion of the catheter which extends beyond the introducer needle to be in substantially parallel alignment with the nerve which one desires to treat by injection of drugs through the catheter. The closer the catheter is aligned with the nerve, the greater is the efficiency of drug delivery through the catheter to treat the nerve. For most nerves in the body which are not displaced parallel or perpendicular to the surface of the body, prior art introducer needles do not position a catheter in closer alignment with those nerves, as shown in FIG. 3A.
Many drugs which are delivered for anesthesia purposes are toxic. The inefficiency of prior art introducer needles results in increased probability of patient toxicity poisoning resulting from the dispersion of drugs which are not delivered directly to the nerve to be treated.
The present invention is directed to an improved catheter introducer needle which is capable of more closely aligning a catheter with a nerve inside a body than prior art introducer needles. The needle of the present invention results in increased efficiency of drug delivery to a nerve, thereby reducing the volume of drugs which must be delivered. This reduction in drug dosage reduces the probability of patient toxicity poisoning. The present invention is particularly well suited to home health care applications where reducing the volume of toxic drugs delivered to the patient is highly desirable.
The introducer needle of the present invention comprises a tubular body comprising an exterior surface, an interior surface, a first end region, and a second end region. The introducer needle further comprises a channel extending the length of the body to define a channel axis and a first opening located in the first end region contiguous with the channel. The introducer needle may be connected to a tubing.
The introducer needle further comprises a second opening located in the second end region of the body contiguous with the channel. The second opening is positioned such that a flexible catheter extending through the channel and the second opening is deflected at an angle in the range of 30-75xc2x0 from the channel axis.
The present invention is also directed toward an introducer needle/catheter system comprising an introducer needle as described above and further comprising a flexible catheter extending through the channel, first opening and second opening of the body such that the portion of the catheter that extends beyond the second opening is displaced at an angle in the range of 30-75xc2x0 with respect to the portion of the catheter in the channel.

Introducer needle for continuous perineural catheter placement

The Board of Regents of the University Texas System