An ethane or other hydrocarbon feedstock is steam cracked to produce an ethylene stream which is processed in an ethylene plant recovery section to separate an ethane recycle and a polymer grade or chemical grade ethylene product stream. A portion of the ethylene product stream may then be reacted by dimerization to produce a butene stream. These formed butenes and/or butenes recovered from other sources and another portion of the ethylene product stream are reacted by metathesis to produce a propylene stream which is deethanized and separated from heavier hydrocarbons to produce the propylene product. The butene product stream may also be deethanized and is separated from heavier hydrocarbons. The overhead from the metathesis section deethanizer may be recycled to the ethylene plant recovery section. The reflux for the metathesis section deethanizer may be generated from the overhead or may be a portion of the ethylene product stream.

Propylene has grown in importance and it now has the second highest worldwide production rate in the petrochemical industry. Propylene has a variety of downstream uses such as polypropylene and propylene oxide and the demand is expected to grow at rates of 5% to 6% each year. Therefore, new, lower-cost routes to propylene production are of high interest in the petrochemical marketplace. Today the majority of propylene is produced either as a principal byproduct in steam cracking units, which primarily produce ethylene, or as a byproduct from fluid catalytic cracking units, which primarily produce gasoline. Both the steam cracker and the fluid catalytic cracking unit require naphtha as a feedstock to make significant quantities of propylene product although lesser amounts of propylene can be produced by feeding propane or butane to the steam cracking unit. While gasoline demand remains strong, ethylene demand is expected to grow at an annual rate of only 3% to 4%, below the growth rate in propylene. In addition, much of the new steam cracker capacity will be based on using ethane as a feedstock. Using ethane as a feedstock to a steam cracker typically produces only ethylene as a final product. While hydrocarbons heavier than ethylene are present, typically the quantities are too small to warrant recovery and there is essentially no propylene produced. These two factors, the higher growth rate of propylene product demand and the reduced quantity of co-produced propylene from new steam cracker units, have and will manifest themselves in a shortage of the supply of propylene and higher propylene product values.
The primary reason many of the new steam cracking units are using ethane as a feedstock is because ethane is a co-product of natural gas production and has limited value for uses other than as a feedstock to a steam cracker unit. As natural gas demand and production rates grow for supplying electrical power and home heating needs, ethane availability increases beyond its regional demand. Since ethane cannot be readily or economically transported, regional demand is important and where its availability exceeds regional demand, its price is reduced. In many regions, ethane feed costs are 25% to 50% of other steam cracker feedstocks such as propane, butane or naphtha. This gives a large advantage to producing ethylene using low cost ethane feedstock. In addition, energy costs and capital investments for a steam cracker using ethane feedstock are far below the costs for using propane, butane or naphtha as a feedstock.
One commercial operation does produce polymer grade propylene by producing butene from polymer grade ethylene in a dimerization plant and then using the formed butene to react with additional polymer grade ethylene to form the polymer grade propylene in a metathesis plant. However, that operation uses a liquid feedstock which is cracked to produce both ethylene and propylene with the propylene production only being supplemented by the conversion of polymer grade ethylene to propylene. That operation does not involve the cracking of a fresh ethane feedstock to produce ethylene and then using the ethylene in metathesis and dimerization reactions as the only source of propylene. The ability to produce propylene using ethane feedstock is currently not practiced commercially.
The ability to effectively produce propylene using ethane, or mostly ethane, feedstock would significantly lower feedstock costs, energy costs and required capital investment just as it does for the production of ethylene. Providing a route for propylene production from ethane feedstock would also better utilize the available ethane feedstock. As noted above, the only current utilization for the ethane co-produced in natural gas production is to use it as a feedstock for ethylene production which raises concerns about an oversupply of ethylene product and the impact that would have on ethylene pricing and demand. Hence, some producers do not utilize all the available ethane. Providing a route to produce propylene from ethane feedstocks would help ensure that ethane utilization is high in all regions.

Production of propylene from steam cracking of hydrocarbons, particularly ethane


A polymer electrolyte fuel cell is provided comprising: a hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte membrane; an anode and a cathode sandwiching the hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte membrane; an anode side electroconductive separator having a gas channel for supplying a fuel gas to the anode; a cathode side electroconductive separator having a gas channel for supplying an oxidant gas to the cathode; characterized in that the anode and the cathode comprise a gas diffusion layer and a catalyst layer formed on the gas diffusion layer at the side in contact with the hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte membrane, the catalyst layer has catalyst particles and a hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte, and at least either of hydrogen ion conductivity and gas permeability of at least either of the anode and the cathode varies in a thickness direction of the anode or the cathode.

In the electrodes of fuel cells, a fuel gas such as hydrogen and an oxidant gas such as air react electrochemically to generate electricity and heat simultaneously. Owing to the variety of electrolytes with which they are equipped, there are several types of fuel cells.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a structure of conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Polymer electrolyte fuel cells comprise electrolyte membrane-electrode assemblies 5 (MEAs), comprising a hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte membrane 1 and a pair of electrodes 4 sandwiching the membrane. The pair of electrodes comprise an anode and a cathode, wherein a fuel gas is supplied to the anode and an oxidant gas is supplied to the cathode. The polymer-electrolyte membrane, for example, has a —CF2-skeleton and comprises a perfluorocarbon sulfonate having sulfonic acids on the terminal ends of its side chains.
The anode and the cathode comprise a catalyst layer 2 contiguous with the hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte membrane and a gas diffusion layer 3 having gas-permeability and electroconductivity arranged on the outer face of the catalyst layer.
Electroconductive separators 7 for affixing an MEA, and at the same time electrically interconnecting in series neighboring MEAs, are arranged on the outer faces of the MEA. The electroconductive separator has a gas channel 6 for supplying the fuel gas or the oxidant gas to the anode or the cathode, and for conveying a surplus gas and water created by the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. The gas channels can be provided independently of the electroconductive separator, but the gas channel is generally formed by providing ribs or grooves on the surface of the electroconductive separator.
A cooling water channel 8 can be formed on some of the electroconductive separators. For example, electroconductive separators, each having a gas channel on one side thereof and a prescribed groove on the other side thereof, are bonded together with a sealant 10 in such a manner that the side having the gas channel faces outside, thereby the prescribed grooves form a cooling water channel as shown in FIG. 1.
Gaskets 9 are arranged between both peripheries of the electroconductive separators and the MEA, in order to prevent gases from mixing with each other and from leaking outside.
To increase output voltage in procuring power-generating devices, a plurality of unit cells, comprising an MEA and a pair of electroconductive separators having gas channels, are laminated. A fuel gas or an oxidant gas is supplied from the exterior through a manifold to the inlet of the gas channel within each unit cell. Electric current generated through the electrode reactions is then collected to the gas diffusion layers and taken out to the exterior through the electroconductive separators.
During the operation of the cell, for example, oxygen moves from the gas channel to the catalyst layer through the gas diffusion layer in the cathode while hydrogen moves from the gas channel to the catalyst layer through the gas diffusion layer in the anode. Herein, if the contact between the catalyst particles and the hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte in the catalyst layer is insufficient, the reaction area becomes small, leading to deterioration of discharging performance of the cell.
Conversely, water produced through the cell reaction moves from the catalyst layer to the gas channel through the gas diffusion layer to be removed outside of the cell with the surplus gas. If the gas diffusion layer does not have proper gas permeability, the polymer electrolyte membrane cannot be kept wet in a proper degree. If the water content in the polymer electrolyte membrane is decreased, its hydrogen ion conductivity will be lowered. On the other hand, if the water content in the polymer electrolyte membrane is extremely high, condensed water will clog micropores of the gas diffusion layer or gas channels of the electroconductive separators, resulting in considerable degradation of the cell performance. This condition is called "flooding".
Therefore, the contact condition of the catalyst particles with the hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte and the gas permeability in the anode and the cathode considerably affect discharging performance of the fuel cell.
In order to enlarge the reaction area of the anode and the cathode, it is effective that the hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte is included in the catalyst layer (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. Sho 62-61118, U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,984). Likewise, in order to increase gas permeability of the anode and the cathode, it is effective that a water-repellent is included in the catalyst layer (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 5-36418, J. Electroanal. Chem. 197, 195(1986)). Therefore, the catalyst layer generally contains catalyst particles, a hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte and, if necessary, water repellent. Further, carbon powders carrying a platinum-group metal are utilized as the catalyst particles.
Generally, the anode and the cathode are obtained by forming a catalyst layer on one side of the gas diffusion layer. The catalyst layer is usually formed by applying an ink, which comprises catalyst particles, a dispersion of a hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte and an organic solvent such as isopropyl alcohol, onto the gas diffusion layer by using a screen printing method or a transfer printing method. The above-mentioned ink normally contains a pore-producing agent, but the pore-producing agent is to be removed during calcination of the electrode after forming the catalyst layer; thereby, micropores for passing a gas through are formed inside of the catalyst layer. The catalyst layer thus obtained has a constant mixing ratio of the catalyst particles to the hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte in its thickness direction.
Conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cells as mentioned above have following problems.
First, it is considered to be effective that the mixing ratio of catalyst particles to a hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte in a thickness direction of the catalyst layer varies in the thickness direction of the catalyst layer in order for hydrogen ions and electrons in the catalyst layer to move smoothly. It would be theoretically possible to vary the structure of the catalyst layer step by step, by preparing a plurality of inks each having different compositions and applying them over and over using a screen printing method or a transfer printing method, but it is practically very difficult and such a catalyst layer is not yet obtained, let alone seamlessly varying the structure of the catalyst layer by a screen printing method or a transfer printing method.
Conventional production process of anode and cathode has a problem of becoming complicated because it has a calcination process or a washing process for removing a pore-forming agent.
If an ink containing a solvent such as alcohols is screen-printed on a porous conductive base material, the ink is permeated inside the base material or passes through the base material. Accordingly, there is also a problem that a catalyst layer cannot be formed directly on the surface of a porous conductive base material. On the other hand, if an ink is screen-printed on a polymer electrolyte membrane, there are problems such as the polymer electrolyte membrane is swelled with the solvent in the ink and the polymer electrolyte membrane is difficult to be fixed on a device.
If catalyst particles and a water repellent or a carbon powder which is made water repellent are mixed with a dispersion of a polymer electrolyte, a plenty of the polymer electrolyte is adsorbed on the surface of the water repellent or the carbon powder which is made water repellent. Therefore, the contact condition of the polymer electrolyte with the catalyst particles becomes uneven and sufficient reaction area cannot be retained. Further, if a water repellent is added to an ink, catalyst particles are excessively covered with the water repellent, thereby decreasing a reaction area.
Since porous conductive base materials such as carbon paper, carbon cloth and carbon felt are conventionally used as the gas diffusion layer, it is difficult to adjust the porosity of the gas diffusion layer to the appropriate range.
As constant pressure is applied to the unit cells in laminating direction in order to decrease the contact resistance of each part and ensuring the gas sealing property, there is also such a problem that, if porosity of the gas diffusion layer is too large, the gas diffusion layer is crushed at the portion where the electroconductive separator and the gas diffusion layer are in contact and the gas permeability of the gas diffusion layer turns out to be uneven in a plane direction.

Polymer electrolytic fuel cell and method for producing the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates to a method of creating a design for a semiconductor memory. In an embodiment, a memory compiler for a semiconductor memory has access to a set of leaf cell designs for use by the memory compiler, the leaf cell designs comprising a power management circuit design as a leaf cell for a memory circuit. A user may elect to allow enablement of an ultra low power feature and the memory compiler creates a design which incorporates the power management circuit in a compiled semiconductor memory macro when the user-selectable option is enabled.

Semiconductor memory blocks can be well defined and separated out from a system much more easily than can other components of other semiconductors. Because of the stand-alone nature of memory blocks, many semiconductor memory developers outsource designing memory modules. The modular nature of memory blocks and the demand for embedded memories, as well as the fact that the memory core may utilize new technologies in which the system design team lacks design expertise, have all resulted in the growth of use of memory compilers.
The first published static random access memory (SRAM) compiler, known as RAMGEN, was developed at Texas Instruments® in 1986 and was strictly a layout generator. This tool simply connected previously designed leaf cells into a parameterized static random access memory ("SRAM") configuration that could be fabricated with either a 2.0 or 3.0 μm complementary metal-on-silicone (CMOS) process. Since that time, numerous SRAM compilers have been developed.
Designing for the lowest power requires small cells. Adding peripheral circuits such as self-timed clocking, clock-partitioning, reduced bit-line swing, and array banking circuits may aid in delivery of the lowest possible power. End of cycle shut-off logic and the addition of a memory disable pin may also ensure zero quiescent current regardless of the state of the clock or input pins facilitating very low power consumption when the memory is idle.
As used with memory compilers, a leaf cell is typically defined as a cell that contains a transistor or transistor cell. Except for the memory cell, all leaf cells are typically laid out once the design is complete. Power and feedthroughs are typically included in the leaf cell.

Memory compiler with ultra low power feature and method of use

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A system and method for aggregating subscriber information at a delivery edge is disclosed. The method comprises interfacing a user profile aggregation device (UPAD) at a subscriber location with at least one subscriber database in each of a wired network core and a wireless network core. The wired network core and the wireless network core are operated by a Multi-System network Operator. Profile information can be aggregated at the UPAD about the subscriber from at least one database in the wired network core and the wireless network core. The subscriber's aggregated profile information can be communicated to the MSO.

Multi-System network Operators (MSO) such as AT&T and Verizon offer comprehensive wired and wireless connectivity service packages to users. Their service bundles typically include wired services comprising a Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connection for a home phone line and internet connection as well as television offerings provided through a cable or satellite connection. They often also bundle a wireless plan for wireless communication for voice and data through a wireless network. The bundled services are typically packaged to present attractive options to different target subscriber groups.
The challenge for MSOs in providing bundled services is one of revenue sustenance. MSOs are often compelled to continually expand the number of services that are offered for a fixed price to grow the number of subscribers. In order to increase revenue, MSOs look for ways to add value to their connectivity services to increase their share of the market.
One way to add value is to provide service customization and loyalty programs for customers. These programs can be most effective when the MSO has a good understanding of each client. However, MSOs are often not able to deploy data mining technologies that enable them to gain a good understanding of their clients since all of the information is not located in a single repository for the different services provided in a user's bundle. MSO subscriber information is often spread across different elements on the network in multiple core network domains. While each domain has a view of the subscriber that is specific to its function on the network, such as billing, network access, and so forth, the disparate information makes it difficult to obtain a complete picture of a user.
Building out a common meta-repository that presents a homogenous view of subscribers across the different connectivity services offered is a multiyear effort that MSOs have been working on. This effort is complicated by the fact that there are multitudes of equipment vendors with differing interface protocols combined with the upgrade costs of legacy infrastructures. MSO initiatives are underway at standards organizations such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to address requirements for a homogenous user data repository (UDR).
Despite the MSO's efforts to address the fragmentation of data, it is evident that it will take several years before the MSO's various network cores can evolve to provide the desired level of inter-connectivity needed to gain a desired understanding of a subscriber of bundled services.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended.


A process for producing phosphatidylserine having a long chain unsaturated fatty acid in its side chain. In this process, a natural lecithin containing long chain unsaturated fatty acid side chain is used as the starting material. Using the natural lecithin as a substrate for reaction, phospholipase-D is caused to act on the substrate under the presence of serine, whereby phosphatidylserine having a side chain derived from the long chain unsaturated fatty acid can be easily obtained through a single step reaction.

A. Bruni, et al., report that the brain glucose level in mice injected via the caudal vein with phosphatidylserine extracted from bovine brain is increased by about 4 fold the level in the control group (A. Bruni et al., Nature, Vol. 260, pp. 331, 1976).
A. Zanotti et al., also report that the oral administration of phosphatidylserine extracted from bovine brain to aged rats with memory deficits for 12 weeks improved the performance of the aged rats (A. Zanotti et al., Psychopharmacology Berl., Vol. 99, pp. 316, 1989).
Furthermore it is confirmed at a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial for humans the efficacy of phosphatidylserine extracted from bovine brain in improving the memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease and during the aging stage (P. J. Delwaide et al., Acta Neurol. Scand., Vol. 73, pp. 136, 1986; R. R. Engel et al., Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol., Vol. 2, pp. 149, 1992; T. Cenacci et al., Aging Clin. Exp. Res., Vol. 5, pp. 123, 1993).
As has been described above, bovine brain-derived phosphatidylserine having the effect of increasing brain glucose level has an effect of improving the cerebration in rats and humans. Therefore, it is indicated that the degree of the increase in brain glucose level is an important indicator for selecting a substance with the action of improving cerebration.
However, it is believed that in general unsaturated fatty acid is bound to the beta position of phospholipid, and in natural phosphatidylserine, such as that derived from animal brain, more than ninety-two (92) percent of the fatty acid at beta position contains oleic acid (B. F. Szuhaj & G. R. List, "Lecithins", Am. Oil Chem. Soc., U.S.A., pp. 145, 1985).
In phosphatidylserines produced through a transphosphatidylation reaction with phospholipase-D (PLD), a known method of industrially producing phospholipids, most of fatty acid at beta position thereof was the same as that of the starting material, for example, linoleic acid and linolenic acid when using soybean lecithin, or oleic acid and linoleic acid when using yolk lecithin.
Recently, there have been conducted a variety of studies on n-3 and n-6 groups of long chain unsaturated fatty acids, and there have been conducted many laboratory animal experimentations on the physiologic activities of n-3 group long chain unsaturated fatty acids, including the improvement of learning performance. From these background, it may be possible that, if material combining above noted long chain unsaturated fatty acid and phosphatidylserine, such as phosphatidylserine comprising long chain unsaturated fatty acid in its molecule was produced, summation or synergistic effect of both phosphatidylserine and long chain unsaturated fatty acid will be effective and better cerebration improver may be obtained.
However, there is not known among currently available phosphatidylserine one which may be industrially produced with lower cost and comprises a long chain unsaturated fatty acid of n-3 or n-6 (except linoleic acid) group at beta position.
For example, it has been proposed that a phosphatidylserine derivative having a specific fatty acid at beta position of glycerol structure, which may activate proteinkinase-C (PKC) is a material which is a composition of long chain unsaturated fatty acid and phosphatidylserine for the estimation of the summation or synergistic effect as stated above (Japanese Patent-Laid Open No. 6-279311). In this Japanese patent, it is described that the experiment has been conducted in the condition that the phosphatidylserine derived from bovine brain which is effective for the clinical improvement of cerebration is a type of composition of a variety of fatty acids and the efficacy is not yet confirmed when structural fatty acid is specified, and also described that from the experiment conducted as such, specific proteinkinase-C activity has been confirmed if saturated fatty acid (14 to 18 carbon atoms) is at the alpha position and linoleic acid, linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are at the beta position.
For producing phosphatidylserine having such specific structure, a method is disclosed in the above identified Japanese patent that diacyl phospholipids are transformed to liso phospholipids with phospholipase A.sub.2, then the specific phospholipid obtained by combining fatty acid in chemical synthesis arc transformed to phosphatidylserine through transphosphatidylation with phospholipase-D. This method is associated with complex multistage reaction and chemical synthesis so that the phosphatidylserine is not suitable for food stuff and that production cost is higher.
Also reported is that glycerol derivative having specific structure at alpha- and beta position fatty acids has the efficacy of improving learning performance (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-256179). However, this Japanese patent teaches that the primary structure for improvement is rather structural alpha- and beta fatty acids of the glycerol derivative, and the residue at gamma position, or glycerol-3-phosphoryl-X (X means hydroxyl, choline, or ethanolamine group) is not directly concerning to the improvement of the learning performance. Therefore, this glycerol derivative is different from the phosphatidylserine with summation or synergistic effect estimated as stated above in the combination of fatty acids having improvement effect of learning performance.
The producing method of glycerol derivative disclosed in the above noted second Japanese patent is of either separation from natural compound or of chemical synthesis or process with phospholipase-C, and this may not be a preferable method of industrial production for food.

Process for producing phosphatidylserines having long chain unsaturated fatty acid as side chain


A method of moving blocks of pixel data, including window-identifying data, from a source area to a destination area within a frame buffer in a computer graphics system comprises the steps of: reading a block of pixel data from the source area into a pixel cache memory; combining source tiles with destination tiles in the cache; comparing pixel window identifiers read from the frame buffer with a pixel window identifier previously stored in the memory to determine whether the pixel window identifiers read from the frame buffer match the previously stored pixel window identifier; discarding each pixel whose corresponding window identifier does not match the previously stored window identifier; and updating the frame buffer with the pixel data not discarded.

Computer workstations provide system users with powerful tools to support a number of functions. An example of one of the more useful functions which workstations provide is the ability to perform highly detailed graphics simulations for a variety of applications. Graphics simulations are particularly useful for engineers and designers performing computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) tasks.
Modern workstations having graphics capabilities utilize "window" systems to accomplish graphics manipulations. An emerging standard for graphics window systems is the "X" window system developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The X window system is described in K. Akeley and T. Jermoluk, "High-Performance Polygon Rendering", Computer Graphics, 239-246, (August 1988). Modern window systems in graphics workstations must provide high-performance, multiple windows yet maintain a high degree of user interactivity with the workstation. Previously, software solutions for providing increased user interactivity with the window system have been implemented in graphics workstations. However, software solutions which increase user interactivity with the system tend to increase processor work time, thereby increasing the time in which graphics renderings to the screen in the workstation may be accomplished.
A primary function of window systems in graphics workstations is to provide the user with simultaneous access to multiple processes on the workstation. However, each of these processes provides an interface to the user through its own area onto the workstation display. The overall result is an increase in user productivity since the user can manage more than one task at a time with multiple windows. However, each process associated with a window views the workstation resources as if it were the sole owner. Thus, resources such as the processing unit, memory, peripherals and graphics hardware must be shared between these processes in a manner which prevents interprocess conflicts on the workstation.
Typical graphics systems utilize a graphics pipeline which interconnects a "host" processor to the various hardware components of the graphics system and which provides the various graphics commands available to the system. The host processor is interfaced through the graphics pipeline to a "transform engine" which generally comprises a number of parallel floating point processors. The transform engine performs a multitude of system tasks including context management, matrix transformation calculations, light modeling and radiosity computations, and control of vector and polygon rendering hardware.
In graphics systems, some scheme must be implemented to "render" or draw graphics primitives to the system screen. A "graphics primitive" is a basic component of a graphics picture such as, for example, a polygon or vector. All graphics pictures are formed from combinations of these graphics primitives. Many schemes may be utilized to perform graphics primitives rendering. Regardless of the type of graphics rendering scheme utilized by the graphics workstation, the transform engine is essential in managing graphics rendering.
A graphics "frame buffer" is interfaced further down the pipeline from the host processor and transform engine in the graphics window system. A "frame buffer" generally comprises a plurality of video random access memory (VRAM) computer chips which store information concerning pixel activation on the display corresponding to the particular graphics primitives which will be rendered to the screen. Generally, the frame buffer contains all of the data graphics information which will be written onto the windows, and stores this information until the graphics system is prepared to display this information on the workstation's screen. The frame buffer is generally dynamic and is periodically refreshed until the information stored on it is output to the screen.
Computer graphics workstations convert image representations stored in the computer's memory to image representations which are easily understood by humans. The image representations are typically displayed on cathode ray tube (CRT) devices divided into arrays of pixel elements which can be stimulated to emit a range of colored light. The particular color of light that a pixel emits is called its "value". Display devices such as CRTs typically stimulate pixels sequentially in some regular order, such as left to right and top to bottom, and repeat the sequence 50 to 70 times a second to keep the screen refreshed.
Frame buffers in modern graphics workstations may divide pixel value data into a plurality of horizontal strips, with each strip being further subdivided into a plurality of tiles. See, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,709, Randall. Each tile represents a portion of the window to be displayed on the screen, and each tile is further defined by tile descriptors which include memory address locations of data to be displayed in that particular tile. Thus, the tiles generally contain a plurality of pixels, although a tile can be as small as one pixel in width. Each viewing window on the frame buffer may be arbitrarily shaped by combinations of different tiles which may be rectangularly shaped.
Typical graphics window systems are adapted to support block move operations of pixel value data on a frame buffer in order to maximize system performance. These block move operations are usually designed to support basic window primitives including raster texts and icons. Various types of graphics block moves are accomplished on existing frame buffers such as shuffles, and block resizes.
A block of pixel value data may be considered as an entire window, or merely part of a window comprising a set of graphics primitives on the graphics system. Block moves are particularly difficult to handle in a graphics window environment because window offset addresses need to be included in these operations which are typically implemented as screen address relative. In contrast, block move operations inside a window must be window relative so that forcing all block moves within a graphics system to be window relative is neither an adequate nor versatile solution.
Heretofore, block move operations inside a window have not necessarily been window relative, but have always been performed according to frame buffer relative addresses where a window may be located any place within the frame buffer address space. However, many graphics objects or primitives, such as for example fonts, are stored in off-screen memory on the frame buffer and thus these objects are identified exclusively according to frame buffer relative addresses. Furthermore, moving blocks of pixel data between source and destination addresses in prior frame buffer systems is usually accomplished in software through the graphics pipeline which requires the system to make decisions about the particular rendering coordinate system of the window simultaneously as the window traverses the pipeline. Thus, additional processor overhead time is incurred while manipulating graphics primitives according to frame buffer relative addresses which necessarily occurs in parallel with the processing of the graphics application in the pipeline. This is a highly undesirable utilization of a graphics pipeline computer system.
There is a long-felt need in the art for graphics window systems which move blocks of pixel value data between source windows and destination windows within a frame buffer in an efficient manner while minimizing system processor time. Furthermore, there is a need in the art for pixel data block move operations which can be accomplished independently of graphics software commands from a host processor. These needs have not heretofore been solved by prior graphics frame buffer systems.

Method and apparatus for pixel clipping source and destination windows in a graphics system


A system and method for measuring a propagation delay in a point to multipoint network. The system includes a central timing module which provides a timing signal to a plurality of line cards. Each of the line cards includes a local clock that is frequency locked to a 1588 clock and is configured to generate a return timing signal to the central timing module after a predetermined number of clock cycles. The central timing module measures the propagation delay based on the clock cycles of the local clock counted before the return signal is generated and the period of the local clock.

The present invention relates generally to synchronization of clocks and, more particularly, to synchronization of clocks within a network node or element, for example within a chassis including multiple line cards.
It may be advantageous for devices in a networked system to have a common time base. The common time base may be used, for example, to trigger coordinated measurement instances in a network of sensors or to coordinate actions of controllers in an industrial system. In addition to sensors and controllers, the system may include computers and communication devices, such as routers. The electronics industry has developed several standard protocols for use in synchronizing clocks, for example, the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) of IEEE 1588. PTP includes sending timing-related messages between nodes in a communication network.
Errors and inaccuracies may result from unaccounted for delays in distributing a local clock signal within a node, however. That is, a local clock or a pulse synchronizing local clocks distributed from a central module to modules within the node may encounter different delays in transmission to different modules within the node, which may result in different modules of a node having a module dependent timestamp offset that is difficult to compensate for. Accounting for module dependent variations may be difficult, particularly if delays may vary over time or if modules include varying numbers of internal buffers buffering the local clock or synchronizing pulse.

Delay measurement in a point to multipoint system


A method and an apparatus for growing a thin film onto a substrate by the ALD process. The apparatus comprises a reaction chamber into which the substrate can be disposed; a plurality of inlet channels communicating with said reaction chamber, said inlet channels being suited for feeding the reactants employed in a thin-film growth process in the form of vapor-phase pulses into said reaction chamber; at least one outlet channel communicating with said reaction chamber, said outlet channel being suited for the outflow of reaction products and excess amounts of reactants from said reaction space; and a pre-reaction chamber arranged immediately upstream of the reaction chamber, said pre-reaction chamber forming a first reaction zone, in which the reactants of successive vapor-phase pulses can be reacted with each other in the vapor phase to form a solid product, whereas said reaction chamber forming a second reaction zone can be operated under conditions conducive to ALD growth of a thin film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the production of thin films. In particular, the invention concerns a method of growing a thin film onto a substrate, in which method the substrate is placed in a reaction chamber and it is subjected to surface reactions of a plurality of vapour-phase reactants according to the ALD method to form a thin film. The invention also concerns apparatus for implementing the method.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, thin films are grown out using vacuum evaporation deposition, Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and other similar vacuum deposition techniques, different variants of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) (including low-pressure and metallo-organic CVD and plasma-enhanced CVD) or, alternatively, the above-mentioned deposition process based on alternate surface reactions, known in the art as the Atomic Layer Deposition, in the following abbreviated ALD, formerly also called Atomic Layer Epitaxy or "ALE". Equipment for the ALD process is supplied under the name ALCVD™ by ASM Microchemistry Oy, Espoo, Finland. In the MBE and CVD processes, besides other variables, the thin film growth rate is also affected by the concentrations of the starting material inflows. To achieve a uniform surface smoothness of the thin films manufactured using these methods, the concentrations and reactivities of the starting materials must be kept equal on one side of the substrate. If the different starting materials are allowed to mix with each other prior to reaching the substrate surface as is the case in the CVD method, the possibility of mutual reactions between the reagents is always imminent. Herein arises a risk of microparticle formation already in the infeed lines of the gaseous reactants. Such microparticles generally have a deteriorating effect on the quality of the deposited thin film. However, the occurrence of premature reactions in MBE and CVD reactors can be avoided, e.g., by heating the reactants not earlier than only at the substrates. In addition to heating, the desired reaction can be initiated with the help of, e.g., plasma or other similar activating means.
In MBE and CVD processes, the growth rate of thin films is primarily adjusted by controlling the inflow rates of starting materials impinging on the substrate. By contrast, the thin film growth rate in the ALD process is controlled by the substrate surface properties, rather than by the concentrations or other qualities of the starting material inflows. In the ALD process, the only prerequisite is that the starting material is provided in a sufficient concentration for film growth on the substrate.
The ALD method is described, e.g., in FI Patents Nos. 52,359 and 57,975 as well as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,058,430 and 4,389,973. Also in FI Patents Nos. 97,730, 97,731 and 100,409 are disclosed some apparatus constructions suited for implementing the method. Equipment for thin film deposition are further described in publications Material Science Report 4(7), 1989, p. 261, and Tyhjiötekniikka (title in English: Vacuum Techniques), ISBN 951-794-422-5, pp. 253–261.
In the ALD method, atoms or molecules sweep over the substrates thus continuously impinging on their surface so that a fully saturated molecular layer is formed thereon. Thus, typically, an ALD method comprises the steps of:                feeding vapour-phase reactants into an reaction chamber in the form of vapour-phase pulses repeatedly and alternately; and        causing said vapour-phase reactants to react with the surface of the substrate to form a thin film compound on the substrate.
According to the conventional techniques known from FI Patent Specification No. 57,975, the saturation step is followed by a protective gas pulse forming a diffusion barrier that sweeps away the excess starting material and the gaseous reaction products from the substrate. The successive pulses of different starting materials and the protective gas pulses forming diffusion barriers that separate the successive starting materials pulses from each other accomplish the growth of the thin film at a rate controlled by the surface chemistry properties of the different materials. To the function of the process it is irrelevant whether they are the gases or the substrates that are kept in motion, but rather, it is imperative that the different starting materials of the successive reaction steps are separated from each other and arranged to impinge on the substrate alternately.
Even if the above-described arrangement is rather reliable, it has some disadvantages. For instance, the cross sections and shapes of piping in practical reactor constructions vary between, e.g., the inlet manifold and the substrates, whereby the thickness and shape of the diffusion barrier become difficult to control and the starting materials may become carried over into contact with each other. The diffusion wall may also become destroyed in the nozzles feeding the vapor-phase reactant to the substrates, in gas mixers or at other discontinuity points of the piping. The laminarity of gas inflow may also become disturbed by a too tight bend in the piping.
Intermixing of starting materials in flow systems cannot be prevented simply by keeping the gas volumes apart from each other, because mixing may also occur due to adherence of molecules from a starting material pulse on the apparatus walls or discontinuities thereof, wherefrom the molecules may then gain access with the molecules of the successive starting material pulse.
As a solution to the above problems we have earlier designed an ALD process and apparatus wherein each starting material pulse is individually driven through the piping and reaction space of the apparatus isolated from the other pulses (U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,590). According to that invention, the gas volume of the reaction space is purged between two successive vapor-phase pulses essentially entirely, which means a purging efficiency of at least 99%, advantageously 99.99%. All the reacting gas, in practice the entire gas volume filled with the vapor-phase reactant, is purged from the reaction chamber between the successive pulses. Thus, the reactant pulses of different starting materials remain isolated from each other, whereby no mixing of the reactants can occur.
The above-mentioned process is quite efficient. However, there still exists a need of alternative solutions to the intermixing problem. This relates to situations in which the purging/evacuation process is not available or when it is desired further to reduce the concentration of the residues of the previous pulse before feeding the following one into the reaction chamber.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus of growing a thin film onto a substrate


A machine is provided for piercing a taphole for a shaft furnace for applying the piercing rod method. The machine comprises a mounting, with a support for supporting the rod at the front of the mounting, a sliding support for supporting the rod at the rear of the mounting and a clamp, mounted in a sliding manner on the mounting and designed for gripping the rod at any place between the front support and the rear support. A travel multiplier is connected between a jack and the clamp so that the clamp may be moved. Means for controlling the jack make it possible to move the clamp in a to-and-fro motion between a position (B) at the front of the mounting and a position (A) which is located at a distance L from the position (B).

The present invention relates to a machine for piercing a taphole for a shaft furnace. More particularly, this invention relates to a machine for the lost rod method used for piercing a taphole for a shaft furnace used in the production of steel. The lost rod method comprises blocking the taphole with taphole clay. Before the taphole clay has fully hardened, a metal rod is driven into and through this clay to a desired distance into the shaft furnace. At the appropriate time, the metal rod is extracted to open the taphole.
The machine of the present invention comprises a mounting which has a support for the piercing rod at the front end. A rear support which can move slidably on the mounting is provided with coupling means for the rear end of the piercing rod. A clamp is provided which is slidable on the mounting and is designed to grip the piercing rod at any place between the front support and the rear support.
The prior art machines used previously to the present invention for this lost rod method are substantially conventional drilling apparatuses (i.e., drilling apparatuses designed for working with a drill bit). These conventional drilling machines have undergone appropriate adaptations and modifications to make them suitable for use in the lost rod method.
The main working members of these drilling machines is comprised of a chuck, a coupling clamp for the piercing rod, and a bi-directional pneumatic hammer. It will be appreciated that a high powered pneumatic hammer is required to deliver the large forces necessary for the insertion and extraction of the lost piercing rod.
In most cases, the above machines do preserve the possibility of being able to use a drilling apparatus with a bit. This feature is desirable in the cases where a taphole must be reformed or the taphole's location must be changed. Also, it is desirable to be able to work with a conventional bit if for some reason or another, the lost rod method cannot be used.
However, a powerful, large pneumatic hammer, as is used on these machines, is not without considerable drawbacks. One major drawback is that the pneumatic hammer exerts considerable amount of stresses and vibrations on the equipment. As a result, in particular, the rod-coupling clamp is subjected to rapid wear. Another major drawback is that the pneumatic hammer is extremely noisy, and very often cannot conform to ever-stricter standard aimed at reducing the noise level in an industrial environment.
The patent application EP-0-379-018 corresponding to U.S. application Ser. No. 462,415 filed Jan. 9, 1990, all the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, provides an excellent method for extracting the piercing rod from a shaft furnace. This method relies on the action of a silent hydraulic jack to extract the piercing rod in several phases by means of a to-and-fro motion of a clamp acted upon by this silent hydraulic jack. This eliminates the need of a bi-directional pneumatic hammer since the pneumatic hammer is no longer required for use in the extraction of the piercing rod. The pneumatic hammer is still, however, required for efficient and rapid installation of the piercing rod.
The disadvantages of the pneumatic hammer, previously discussed, makes it desirable to eliminate the percussion of the pneumatic hammer during the insertion phase of the piercing rod into the taphole. It is possible to subject the working member to a much more powerful driving means to advance the working member coupled to the piercing rod along the mounting in the direction of the taphole without vibrations into the semi-hardened sealing clay. Unfortunately, because of the length of the piercing rod, a too strong driving force can cause the piercing rod to buckle and could then be permanently blocked in a position which would not allow the piercing rod to be further driven into or extracted from the rapidly hardening taphole clay.
A better solution to the foregoing problem as discussed above, is suggested in the Luxembourg patent application LU-87-915, filed on Apr. 3, 1991, corresponding to U.S. application Ser. No. 862,487 filed Apr. 2, 1992, all the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This patent application comprises a bi-directional clamp whose reciprocating to-and-fro motion, produced by a hydraulic jack at the front of the mounting, is used both for the insertion and for the extraction of the piercing rod. The U.S. Ser. No. 862,487 does make it possible to eliminate the noisy and clamp-damaging pneumatic hammer. A disadvantage of the machine described in U.S. Ser. No. 862,487 is that the bi-directional clamp and the means which actuate the bi-directional clamp always operate in the front region of the mounting. However, this region is a zone which is at risk of being splashed when the molten jet stream escapes from the taphole after extraction of the rod.
The problem of damage due to splashing in the preceding paragraph is resolved in Luxembourg patent application LU-88-029, filed Oct. 31, 1992, corresponding to U.S. application Ser. No. 968,984 filed Oct. 30, 1992, all the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This machine basically comprises two jacks. The first jack is mounted in a sliding manner on the mounting in such a way that the first jack can move along the mounting when urged by the second jack. The piercing rod is no longer extracted by a reciprocating to-and-fro motion of the clamp, but by a continuous withdrawal motion of the clamp under the combined action of the two hydraulic jacks. The clamp is cleared from the splash zone at the front of the mounting before the molten jet stream escapes from the taphole. A further advantage is that the extraction of the piercing rod is much speedier, since the extraction is carried out by a continuous movement compared to intermittent movement involved in the to-and-fro movement by the clamp previously used.
The above-mentioned U.S. application Ser. No. 968,984 only is involved in the extraction of the piercing rod. The piercing rod is inserted in the same manner as depicted in U.S. application Ser. No. 862,487. The clamp used in inserting the piercing rod under the U.S. application Ser. No. 862,487 patent is acted upon with a reciprocating to-and-fro motion under the action of the first jack, after the first jack has been advanced into the operative position by the second jack.
The method for extraction of the piercing rod provided in U.S. application Ser. No. 968,484 provides satisfactory operation. A drawback of U.S. application Ser. No. 968,984 is that there is a considerable increase in the overall length of the machine. This is not desirable and can interfere with operations because of the lack of available space around the shaft furnace. In addition, the superposition of two jacks results in considerable lever arms in transmission of the forces, resulting in very significant contact pressures at the sliding members.

Machine for piercing a taphole for a shaft furnace


A hairpiece toy which allows children to easily ornament their own hair therewith includes a braid ornament hair portion having a braid of artificial hairs sewn on a surface of a backing cloth with a clip sewn on the reverse face thereof, and a ribbon ornament portion having a ribbon formed in a butterfly-shaped configuration and sewn on the surface of the backing cloth.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hairpiece toy for adornment of child's hair.
2. Description of the Background Art
For attractive adornment of child's hair, it has been common to braid child's hair or to tie child's hair with a rubber band with an ornament.
However, person's hair is mostly in a position difficult to view with his or her own eyes, and a person must have considerable skills to arrange such hair into a uniformly fixed braid. It is, therefore, not easy for small children to attach such ornaments to their hair.


A wireless communication device employs a method for receiving a message stream on a control channel. According to one embodiment, the wireless communication device receives a message on the control channel. The wireless communication devices attempts to decode the message and, if the message is successfully decoded, adds bits of the successfully decoded message to a message attributes list. Some time thereafter, the wireless communication device attempts to decode a subsequent message received on the control channel and, if an error is detected during decoding of the subsequent message, replaces bits in the subsequent message with bits from the message attributes list to produce a modified message. The wireless device then attempts to decode the modified message.

1. Field
The present disclosure is directed to a method and apparatus for decoding a received message with a priori information. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to decoding a message received on a control channel based on attributes from previous message streams.
2. Description of Related Art
Presently, wireless wide area networks can include Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, cellular networks, and many other wireless wide area networks. These networks use traffic channels for transmitting and receiving data, such as voice data to and from a user using a mobile terminal, such as a cellular phone. These networks also use control channels for transmitting and receiving control signals. The control channels, which may be associated with a specific user traffic, or more generally may be mapped onto a dedicated physical layer resource, may typically be used to transfer control information from the network to a mobile terminal or to report measurement information from the mobile terminal to the network. For example, a GSM network can use a Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH) to transmit control signals. The SACCH has a low bit rate, is associated uniquely with a specific mobile terminal, and is transmitted periodically with a relatively large time between transmissions. The SACCH can transmit specific control information and messages related to higher protocols, such as neighbor cell information, to a mobile terminal. A connection quality, such as a channel quality, of the mobile terminal with the network can be based on the signal quality of a control channel.
In some networks, including Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) networks, measures of control channel quality, including control channel bit or code block error rates, are often used to determine the fundamental quality of the communication link and to determine whether a link should be maintained or otherwise terminated on the basis of inadequate performance. Unfortunately, since the information transmission rate, modulation type, and error control coding methods applicable respectively to control channels and traffic channels may not be well matched, observation of control channel performance may not always be a useful guide to the performance of a companion traffic channel. For example, for a given ratio of desired signal to interfering signal plus noise ratio, the control channel bit or block error rate may significantly exceed that of an associated traffic channel. If, as in the case of the GSM traffic channel and associated control channel, the quality metric controlling maintenance of the radio channel is based on the control channel block error rate, the radio link may be terminated, either by the network or by the mobile station, even though the block error rate of the traffic channel meets the desired quality of service.
Thus, the channel quality of the control channel may not always accurately reflect the channel quality of a traffic channel. Therefore, if the control channel experiences poor channel quality, a link or call may be terminated, even though a mobile terminal is receiving a good traffic signal and the user is experiencing good communication.
Accordingly, there is a need for improving the decoding of a message received on a channel.

Method for decoding a received control channel message with a priori information


A calibration system and method for calibrating a medical sensor (16) that monitors chemical blood gases. A calibrator (12) is used in connection with a tray (14) in which the medical sensor is stored in a sterile environment, both before and during the calibration process. The medical sensor is immersed in a liquid (30) in a tonometry chamber (28) defined in the tray and covered by a membrane (120/122) that is permeable to gas, but impermeable to bacteria. During the calibration process, the tray is inserted into the calibrator, bringing a heated platen (26) into contact with the tonometry chamber, so that the liquid can be heated to a calibration temperature substantially equal to the temperature at which the medical sensor will subsequently be used. A first calibration gas is then bubbled through the liquid until a saturated condition is achieved. Once the temperature of the liquid is increased to the desired calibration temperature, as determined by a temperature sensor on the medical sensor, data for a first calibration point is taken. A second calibration gas is then bubbled through the liquid until saturation is achieved, yielding data for a second calibration point, for each of the chemical blood gas parameters. The calibration data is processed to determine calibration coefficients that will be applied to the medical sensor.

A chemical blood gas sensor (a preferred embodiment being referred to as a HEMOMETRIX.TM. sensor) has been developed for monitoring pCO.sub.2, pO.sub.2, and pH in a patient's vascular system. The sensor is disposed at the distal end of an optical fiber and is introduced into a patient's blood stream through a preinserted catheter. To facilitate ease of use and handling of the HEMOMETRIX.TM. sensor, it is packaged in a sterile environment during storage and shipment from the manufacturer to the point of use. This sterile environment comprises a flat tray having a plurality of compartments that hold various components of the sensor and of a delivery device that is connected to the catheter for introduction of the sensor into the patient's bloodstream. The tray is covered with a gas permeable sheet of TYVEK.TM. that resists penetration by bacteria, but allows sterilization of the package and its contents by exposure to ethylene oxide (ETO) gas. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,863,016 and 5,111,836, owned by the same assignee as the present case, disclose details of the packaging and other related aspects. The disclosure and drawings of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,863,016 and 5,111,836 are hereby specifically incorporated herein by reference, since many of the components and configuration of the package for the sensor that are disclosed therein directly relate to the present invention.
At the time that the HEMOMETRIX.TM. sensor is packaged, a tonometry chamber in which the sensor is disposed is filled with a buffered hydration solution from a pouch connected to the chamber by plastic tubing, immersing the sensor in the hydration solution. After the tonometry chamber is filled, a "guillotine" valve provided in the tray is actuated, severing and sealing the line, so that the pouch can be discarded. The tray is then sealed in a gas impermeable wrap and remains sealed until the HEMOMETRIX.TM. sensor is to be calibrated, just prior to the sensor's use.
Since it is important to maintain the HEMOMETRIX.TM. sensor and its associated apparatus in a sterile environment, a calibration method and apparatus for calibrating the sensor while it is in the tray and covered by the gas permeable sheet are required. Furthermore, although it is possible to calibrate the sensor at ambient temperature and then apply temperature corrections to the readings of blood gas values obtained with the sensor at the substantially higher temperature of its use in vivo, the results are not entirely satisfactory. Much more accurate measurements can be obtained with the HEMOMETRIX.TM. sensor by calibrating at a plurality of calibration points made at a calibration temperature that is substantially equal to the temperature at which the sensor will actually be used, i.e., at the temperature of the patient's blood, 37.degree. C. Before the sensor is calibrated, it must be immersed in a calibration solution to obtain a first calibration point. Ideally, the calibration solution should then be chemically modified to obtain a second calibration point, to improve the accuracy with which it subsequently monitors the blood gases and pH. No prior art calibration device or method provides the facility to calibrate an in vivo blood gas sensor at the temperature it will be used in the patient and at a plurality of calibration points, while maintaining the sensor in its sterile environment.

Calibration system and method for calibrating a blood gas sensor


Disclosed herein is a pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheet comprising a shrink substrate and, superimposed on one side thereof, an energy radiation curable pressure sensitive adhesive layer and, superimposed on the other side thereof, a removable pressure sensitive adhesive layer composed of an adhesive having a modulus of elasticity at 120° C. of 5×105 Pa or less.

In recent years, the spread of IC cards is being promoted, and accordingly the reduction of the thickness thereof is demanded. Thus, it is now needed to reduce the thickness of semiconductor chips from the conventional about 350 μm to 50–100 μm or less.
It is common practice to grind a wafer back after the formation of a circuit pattern on a wafer surface. The grinding of the wafer back is performed while a pressure sensitive adhesive sheet is stuck to the circuit surface to thereby protect the circuit surface and fix the wafer. Pressure sensitive adhesive sheets comprising a soft substrate coated with a pressure sensitive adhesive are commonly employed in this use. However, in these pressure sensitive adhesive sheets based on a soft substrate, the tension applied at the adhesion is stored as a residual stress. When the wafer has a large diameter or is ground to an extremely small thickness, the residual stress of the pressure sensitive adhesive sheet surpasses the strength of the wafer with the result that the wafer is warped by the force exerted to cancel the residual stress. Further, after the grinding, the brittleness of the wafer, when supported by a soft substrate, has caused wafer breakage during the carrying of the wafer. Therefore, a method comprising fixing the wafer on a hard material such as a quartz plate or an acrylic plate and grinding the wafer is being studied.
In order to cut a hard brittle material such as a printer head, a glass/epoxy substrate, a glass or a ceramic into small chips, the cutting is performed after fixing the hard brittle material on a hard support material. Pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheets are used for fixing such a cut piece on a hard support material. However, it is extremely difficult to separate the two hard materials mutually stuck with the conventional pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheet from each other. When a very brittle material such as a wafer is used, it has been unfeasible to be free from damaging thereof.
Therefore, there is a demand for the development of a pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheet suitable for fixing any of semiconductor wafers and the above-mentioned various cut pieces on a hard material.
Moreover, in the processing of semiconductor wafers, a surface protective sheet and a pressure sensitive adhesive sheet for fixing a wafer are required during the back grinding and the dicing, respectively. This has been burdensome from the viewpoint of process control. Further, the brittleness of the wafer has caused wafer breakage during the carrying of the wafer between the above process steps.
Therefore, there is also a demand for the development of a process enabling performing a sequence of process steps including the above wafer back grinding, dicing and carrying in the same configuration, enabling facilitating process control and enabling preventing wafer breakage.
The present invention has been made in view of the above state of the prior art. The present invention provides a pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheet which enables efficiently processing a work piece with high precision, in particular a pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheet suitable to a process capable of producing IC chips of high thickness precision with high yield by reducing warpage and minimizing carrying breakage in the grinding of extremely thin or large diameter silicon wafers and capable of performing back grinding and dicing in the same configuration. In addition, the present invention provides a process of producing semiconductors of high reliability in which use is made of the above pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheet.

Pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheet and method of use thereof

Abstract: The pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheet according to the invention enables efficiently processing a work piece with high precision. In particular the pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheet is suitable to a process capable of producing IC chips of high thickness precision with high yield by reducing warp and minimizing carrying breakage in the grinding of extremely thin or large diameter silicon wafers and capable of performing back grinding and dicing in the same configuration. Further, the invention provides a process of producing semiconductors of high reliability in which the above pressure sensitive adhesive double coated sheet is used.


A cooling fan comprising a housing, an electric motor, a blade assembly, and a first motor control circuit board. The housing is operable to connect to a computer chassis that supports an electronic component. An electric motor is fixably mounted within a volume formed by an inner surface of the housing. A blade assembly is rotatably mounted to the electric motor. A first motor control circuit board is coupled to the electric motor and is disposed externally to the volume formed by the inner surface of said housing.

Computer systems include numerous electrical components that draw electrical current to perform their intended functions. For example, a computer's microprocessor or central processing unit ("CPU") requires electrical current to perform many functions such as controlling the overall operations of the computer system and performing various numerical calculations. Generally, any electrical device through which electrical current flows produces heat. The amount of heat any one device generates generally is a function of the amount of current flowing through the device.
Typically, an electrical device is designed to operate correctly within a predetermined temperature range. If the temperature exceeds the predetermined range (i.e., the device becomes too hot), the device may not function correctly, thereby potentially degrading the overall performance of the computer system. Thus, many computer systems include cooling systems to regulate the temperature of their electrical components. One type of cooling system is a forced air system that relies on one or more cooling fans to blow air over the electronic components in order to cool the components.
The cubic feet per minute ("CFM") of air that can be moved across an electric device is an important factor in how much heat can be removed from the device. Thus, the capacity of a cooling fan is a critical factor in selecting an air mover for use in a cooling application. The CFM that a cooling fan can produce is governed a number of factors including: the total area of the blades generating the airflow, the free area provided for airflow through the fan, the design of the blades, and the power generated by the electric motor.
Miniature brushless DC electric motors are used to power many cooling fans used in electronic cooling applications. These electric motors utilize a cylindrical windings section with magnets disposed inside or outside the cylinder. As electrical current flows through the windings, the magnets rotate about the axis of the motor. A variety of electrical circuitry and components are used to facilitate the operation of the motor by managing the current supplied to the cylindrical windings. Common to all brushless DC motors is commutation circuitry that directs the supply of current to the windings. In standard brushless DC fans, commutation circuitry is mounted within the fan housing.
In many computer cooling applications, the size of a cooling fan is constrained by the chassis supporting the computer system. Limiting the size of a cooling fan often limits the performance of the fan because the power generated by an electric motor is partially dependent on the size of the motor. Therefore, as the size of the motor decreases, so does the power that can be generated by the motor.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A metal pipe and method of forming the same with an integrally formed liner for use in corrosive and abrasive environments is disclosed. The liner is comprised of a relatively thick high density polyethylene which is thermally bonded to the metal pipe. An intermediate co-extruded polymer layer of ethylene acrylic acid and a polyethylene/ethylene acrylic acid blend is applied to the metal pipe facilitate thermal bonding. The intermediate layer is applied to the sheet metal in a pre-treatment process prior to roll forming ribs into the sheet metal. The polyethylene liner is applied after the ribs are formed To provide a smooth, hydraulically efficient surface which is resistent to the corrosive action of sulfuric acid and the like encountered in sanitary applications, as well as abrasion caused by the flow of water-born debris such as dirt and gravel as is encountered in culvert applications. Various means for further securing the polyethylene layer to the metal pipe surface are disclosed.

Metal pipe of both corrugated and spiral rib design is widely used for drainage, culverts and other similar fluid conduits. Although susceptible to abrasion, steel pipe is preferred over concrete pipe and the like due to its comparatively high strength and low weight. These characteristics render metal pipe relatively inexpensive to manufacture, ship and handle while permitting its use in applications requiring it to support substantial soil overburden. Further, in recent years a particular spiral ribbed steel pipe has been introduced by W. E. Hall Co., of Newport Beach, Calif., the assignee of the subject application, that possesses hydraulic efficiency comparable to more costly concrete pipe as well as possesses superior structural capabilities for prolonged use in buried storm drain applications.
Since metal pipe is susceptible to corrosion, its use has heretofore been restricted primarily to culvert and storm drain applications. In sanitary applications, i.e. sewer systems, corrosion causing sulfuric acid is formed from hydrogen sulfide generated by waste products. Such waste products and/or acid renders the use of steel pipe in sanitary applications impractical since it rapidly deteriorates in the corrosive environment. As such, much heavier and more expensive concrete, lined concrete and/or vitreous clay pipe has traditionally been utilized for sanitary applications. Thus, although metal pipe is generally preferred because of its high strength and relatively low weight and cost, metal pipe has heretofore not been widely used in sanitary applications due to its susceptibility to corrosion.
In recognition of these deficiencies, prior art attempts to allow the use of concrete pipe as opposed to vitreous clay pipe for large size sewer applications while reducing the susceptibility to corrosion of concrete pipe have included: the installation of a thick corrosive-resistant plastic liner, and/or forming the inside of a concrete pipe with additional sacrificial concrete in the crown portion of the pipe.
Such prior art corrosion-resistant liners typically comprise plastic inserts sized to be received within each concrete pipe section. Such liners are commonly cast within each pipe section. Subsequently after the pipe sections have been laid in place, adjacent liners are bonded together with the intention of forming a seal to prevent corrosive fluids and gases from contacting the concrete pipe. Although such prior art concrete pipe/plastic liner solutions have proven generally suitable for large size sewer applications, the inherent high cost of such solutions has posed a severe impediment in construction products. Further the useful life of such prior art sacrificial concrete pipe solutions is finite, which requires widespread rehabilitation over time thereby mandating tremendous expense in down line rehabilitation costs.
In recognition of the general inability of metal pipe and concrete pipe for sewer applications, in recent years plastic pipe has been introduced into the marketplace. Although such plastic pipe withstands degradation caused by the corrosive environment found in sewer applications, its use has heretofore been primarily limited to small size sewer applications. In this regard, the structural integrity of plastic pipe is extremely limited such that in large size applications, the sidewall of such plastic pipe must be fabricated extremely thick or profiled to enable such plastic pipe to withstand compressive forces exerted in burial applications. Due to the high cost of such plastic material, the use of such plastic pipe in large scale sewer applications has been economically unfeasible. Therefore, in view of the specific factors encountered in large scale sanitary sewer applications, nearly all such applications have utilized costly concrete pipe having a sacrificial wall formed therein which significantly decay over prolonged use and thus will require costly rehabilitation and/or replacement over time.
In contrast to the waste product and/or acid environment encountered in sanitary applications, metal pipe utilized for burial storm drain applications additionally encounters substantial problems associated with its operational environment. In relation to burial storm drain applications, wherein metal pipe is the primary material candidate, long term exposure of the exterior of the metal pipe within the burial environment serves to corrode the exterior of the pipe while water and debris flowing through the interior of the metal pipe degrades the pipe through abrasion.
In an effort to prevent such corrosion effects, the interior of metal pipe has been lined with concrete in the hopes that a thicker lining would be more abrasion resistant and thereby resist deterioration and corrosion. However, there fails to exist any fail-safe means for anchoring concrete to the interior wall of metal pipe. Consequently, pieces of the concrete lining inevitably become detached from the pipe. When combined with the continual abrading action occurring therein, this quickly destroys the protective concrete layer. Additionally, concrete is susceptible to cracking and chipping as a result of mishandling, earth movement, and thermal stress. Such cracking and chipping results in corrosion of the steel surface in the vicinity of the chip or crack.
An alternative prior art approach to solving the corrosion and abrasion deficiencies of metal pipe for storm drain applications has been to fabricate the metal pipe from plastic laminated steel sheet material. One such prior art product is known as Black-Klad.TM., a product of Inland Steel Company of Chicago, Ill. Prior to rolling the steel sheet into a pipe section, one surface, i.e. that surface which forms the inner pipe surface, is laminated with a polymer material such as a polyethylene compound. The thickness of such lamination is limited to approximately 0.010 inch and is intended to resist degradation caused by corrosion and abrasion. However due to the comparatively thin thickness layer of plastic laminant, the laminant tends to wear through due to abrasion from sand, rocks, etc. and thereby expose the metal surface below. Further, during the pipe formation process, the thin laminant oftentimes is damaged due to metal cold roll forming procedures.
Attempts to apply thicker laminations to such prior art products have heretofore resulted in greater blistering and separation of the polymer compound from the metal pipe particularly when the pipe is exposed to flow applications. As such, the application of a protective polymer layer to metal pipe has heretofore been rendered ineffective.
Therefore because the prior art interior lining of metal pipes have proven susceptible to abrasion and corrosion, and since abrasion resistant inert linings such as those constructed of concrete or an inert polymer material have failed to remain effectively anchored to the metal pipe walls, metal pipe has heretofore been unacceptable for use in sanitary applications such as sewer drains.
As such, there exists a substantial need in the art for a sufficiently thick coating or lining which may be securely applied to metal surfaces to maintain the integrity thereof when the metal pipe is placed in a corrosive environment and to remain thereon without blistering during the pipe formation process. Further, there exists a substantial need in the art for an improved metal pipe with an inert protective lining constructed of a polymer material such as polyethylene which would resist the attack of sulfuric acid as well as resist other forms of corrosion encountered in sewer application.

Method of fabricating a metal pipe with an integrally formed liner


The present invention is related to a fixing device for fusing and fixing an unfixed toner image on a recording sheet. In the fixing device, a heating member such as rollers and endless belts and the like, is heated to a fixing temperature. An endless belt is provided opposite the heating member and is pressed against the heating member by a pressure member provided inside the endless belt. The heating member is driven in rotation in a transport direction of the recording sheet and the endless belt is driven in conjunction with the rotation of the heating member. The recording sheet bearing a toner image passes between the heating member and the endless belt while in this state, and the toner image is heated by the heating member so as to be fused onto the recording sheet under the pressure produced between the heating member and endless belt while the recording sheet is transported therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing device and fixing method, and more specifically relates to a fixing device and fixing method for thermally fixing a toner image on a recording sheet in image forming apparatuses of the electrophotographic type such as copiers, printers, facsimile machines and the like.
1. Description of the Related Art
In image forming apparatuses of the electrophotographic type such as copiers, printers, facsimile machines and the like, normally a toner image maintained on a recording material (paper sheet) is transported between a heating member and a backup member arranged opposite said heating member, and said toner image is heated while under application of pressure so as to fuse said toner image on said recording sheet. The aforesaid heating member and backup member are endless type members such as rollers and belts capable of rotational movement so as to transport a recording sheet, and are often endless type members such as roller or belts which grip and transport a recording sheet therebetween as the pressure-applying member presses against the heating member.
In the fixing process, electric power is supplied to a heating unit and the surface temperature of a heating member is elevated to a predetermined temperature required to fuse a toner image on a recording sheet, and it is advantageous from a user perspective that the heating time required for the temperature elevation from the initial application of electric current until said predetermined temperature is attained (i.e., so-called "warm-up time") is as short as possible.
To such an end various proposals have been made to reduce the warm-up time as much as possible, e.g., Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. HEI 61-130973 discloses as the aforesaid pressure member an endless belt looped around two rollers and which makes pressure contact with a heating roller. The use of an endless belt allows for a compact heating roller and the setting of suitable fixing pressure and nip between said heating roller and a suitable endless belt to assure fixing, and further allows for a smaller heating capacity due to the more compact heating roller, thereby reducing the warm-up time.
Japanese Utility Model Application No. HEI 4-52770 discloses a pressure member comprising a contact pressure sheet which presses against a heating roller. The use of this contact pressure sheet provides for reduced heating capacity and thus reduces the warm-up time.
On the other hand, the aforesaid endless belt which makes pressure contact with the heating roller disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. HEI 61-130973 is disadvantageous inasmuch as heat from the heating roller is captured by the two rollers around which the endless belt is looped, thereby increasing the warm-up time.
Furthermore, the contact pressure sheet disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application No. HEI 4-52770 is disadvantageous in terms of the transportability of the recording sheet because the surface of the contact pressure sheet does not move in conjunction with the recording sheet but rather is stationary at a fixed position, and due to the difficulty of maintaining balanced pressure application on bilateral sides of said contact pressure sheet, thereby causing slipping of the recording sheet and skewing of the recording sheet due to unbalanced pressure application on bilateral sides of said sheet, and ultimately causing image drift. Thus this arrangement is disadvantageous in terms of recording sheet transportability and quality of the obtained image.


The present invention is directed to novel bicyclic compounds, their derivatives, pharmaceutically acceptable salts, solvates and hydrates thereof. The compounds and compositions of the present invention have protein kinases inhibitory activities and are useful for the treatment of protein kinases mediated diseases and conditions. Novel bicyclic compounds disclosed herein include quinazolines shown in Formula I (X═N).

Protein kinases represent a large family of enzymes, which catalyze the phosphorylation of target protein substrates. The phosphorylation is usually a transfer reaction of a phosphate group from ATP to the protein substrate. Common points of attachment for the phosphate group to the protein substrate include, for example, a tyrosine, serine or threonine residue. Due to their activity in numerous cellular processes, protein kinases have emerged as important therapeutic targets.
Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) plays a key role in promoting B cell proliferation and survival through participation in the B cell receptor (BCR) signaling pathway and represents a promising new drug target. Targeted therapies that suppress BCR signaling have emerged as promising agents in the treatment of several B cell malignancies. To this end, attempts have been made to identify small molecules which act as Btk inhibitors. For example, patent U.S. Pat. No. 7,982,036 describes 4,6-disubstituted pyrimidine compounds as useful kinase inhibitors targeting the Tec kinase family. The disclosed compounds include Btk inhibitors. Another class of Btk inhibitors has been disclosed in patent U.S. Pat. No. 8,088,781.
Thus, the compounds that can inhibit protein kinases such as Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) activity are highly desired.

Bicyclic compounds as kinases inhibitors


In a method for stabilizing a two-wheeled vehicle during cornering, a drifting of the rear wheel or an understeering of the front wheel is inferred on the basis of measured values including the actual steering angle, and the two-wheeled vehicle is stabilized by altering the torque at the front wheel and/or the rear wheel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for stabilizing a two-wheeled vehicle during cornering.
2. Description of the Related Art
For a motorcycle to be able to travel stably through a curve, the velocity of the two-wheeled vehicle, the angle of inclination, and the steering angle must be adapted to the actual curve radius. A velocity that has not been adapted or an incorrect steering angle can lead to a critical driving situation where the two-wheeled vehicle oversteers or understeers, thus the rear wheel begins to drift, respectively the front wheel overshoots the curve. Inherent to such situations is a high hazard potential.

Method for stabilizing a two-wheeled vehicle during cornering


On/off solenoid ball valves of the invention comprise at least one inlet port; at least one pressure control outlet port; at least one exhaust port; at least one check valve positioned between the pressure control outlet port and the exhaust port; and at least one bypass orifice positioned to allow inlet fluid flow to the pressure control outlet port irrespective of whether the valve is in the “on” or “off” position. Because of their ability to provide unique and controlled flows, valves of the invention are able to be used in applications previously off limits to on/off solenoid ball valves.

The present disclosure relates to solenoid ball valves and bypass orifices thereof
Many different types of valves are used to control a variety of fluids and in a variety of ways. Depending on the application, fluid flow is controlled in one or more manners. Pulse-width-modulated, on/off, and variable pressure are a few coined manners of controlling fluid flow known to those of skill in the art. To assist in control of fluid flow, solenoid (i.e., electrically actuated) valves that include electrical systems are often used due to their ability to efficiently and effectively control fluid flow in a variety of ways.
Specifically, on/off solenoid valves are used in many applications. For example, solenoid valves are useful in controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid in, for example, drive train systems of motor vehicles. A drive train system is that which transfers power from the engine to the wheels. It includes the clutch or torque converter, the transmission, differential, ring and pinion gears, axles, and where applicable drive shaft(s) and transfer case, universal and/or CV-joints. Within the drive train system, individual components can operate using a solenoid valve. During operation, an electronic controller provides an electrical signal to the solenoid valve, which then provides a corresponding pressure signal to a pressure actuator for effecting a desired movement of an associated component.
Generally, solenoid valves typically include at least a supply port (also referred to as an "inlet port") and a pressure control output port, which provide respective fluid flow to and from a valve's housing for operation of an external component in fluid communication therewith. The internal valve mechanics of solenoid valves vary widely within the valve housing.
One type of on/off solenoid valve comprises a ball valve having an inlet port, a pressure control outlet port, and an exhaust port through which fluid is discharged to a sump or is returned to rejoin the fluid supply. Such valves provide electrical control of a fluid pressure by controlling the flow of fluid from the inlet port to a valving chamber within the valve housing in an on/off manner. The valving chamber in these valves is in operable communication with the pressure control outlet port.
A desired pressure at the pressure control outlet port is generated by controlling the amount of fluid bleed to the exhaust port in relation to the fluid exiting the valving chamber via the pressure control outlet port. Conventionally, in ball valves of the on/off type, particularly those with controlled fluid flow between the pressure control outlet port and exhaust port (e.g., by placement of a flow control valve, such as a check valve, therebetween), pressure is generated at the pressure control outlet port only when the valve is in an "on" position. This occurs because the inlet port is only open for fluid flow to the valving chamber when in the "on" position.
Implicitly, ball valves include a ball disposed in the valving chamber, whereby the ball moves with respect to a valve seat that's adjacent to the inlet port. The ball moves via an operating rod mechanism disposed between the ball and a solenoid armature operating in response to an electric signal. In this arrangement, two electrical states are typically used—one for opening the valve, and one for closing the valve. Ball valves can provide many advantages over standard solenoid valves, some of which include, for example, higher permissible flow rates, lower resistance to flow resulting in a lower pressure drop across a valve, higher permissible pressure ratings, compatibility with a wide range of media, no minimum pressure requirements (differential pressure), and smoother operation (reducing water hammer). However, there is a continuing need for maximizing and improving the advantages offered by ball valves.
Although ball valves often provide smoother operation than other types of solenoid valves, there is a need to eliminate or, at a minimum, reduce turbulence within the valving chamber of such valves during operation. It is known that the presence of turbulence within solenoid valving chambers is a contributing factor in variable valve performance. As can be appreciated, reliable and predictable performance is highly desirable. Thus, on/off solenoid ball valves with improved reliability and performance are desired.
In addition, the ability to extend the applicable range of on/off solenoid ball valves is also desired. Conventional use of on/off solenoid ball valves is limited in certain applications. One such application is that requiring maintenance of a minimum pressure at the pressure control outlet port, irrespective of whether the valve is in the "on" or "off" position. Generally, those desiring this type of operation have been forced to utilize valves other than on/off solenoid ball valves for that purpose.
When using other types of valves, pressure may be generated at the pressure control outlet port during all positions of operation. For example, due to their design, spool valves inherently allow fluid leakage to the pressure control outlet port at all positions of operation. However, adequate control of this fluid leakage to obtain desired pressure levels at the pressure control outlet port has challenged those in the art. Therefore, alternative valves are desired. Due to the many benefits offered by solenoid ball valves, it would be highly desirable to utilize improved solenoid ball valves with enhanced applicability.


An organic electroluminescent device which includes a cathode, an organic emitting layer which includes a quinoline derivative and a quinacridone or quinazoline compound, an organic positive hole transport layer, and an anode, laminated in sequence, has a high emission efficiency and a high color purity of light emitted from the EL device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electroluminescent (EL) device having an emitting layer made of an emitting substance, which utilizes an electroluminescence phenomenon that the emitting substance emits light by applying an electric current to the emitting layer. More particularly, it is concerned with an organic EL device in which the emitting layer is made of an organic emitting substance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As such type of EL devices, there have been known a device having two layers each made of an organic compound, as shown in FIG. 1, in which an organic fluorescent film or emitting layer 3 and an organic positive-hole transport layer 4 are arranged between a metal electrode or cathode 1 and a transparent electrode or anode 2, the two layers being layered on each other. There have been also known an EL device of three-layer structure, as shown in FIG. 2, in which an organic electron transport layer 5, an organic fluorescent film 3 and an organic positive-hole transport layer 4, are arranged between a metal electrode 1 and a transparent electrode 2. The organic positive-hole transport layer 4 herein has a function to facilitate the injection of positive holes from an anode as well as another function to block electrons, while the organic electron transport layer 5 has a function to facilitate the injection of electrons from a cathode.
In these EL devices where a glass substrate 6 is arranged outside the transparent electrode 2, excitons are generated from the recombination of the electrons injected from the metal electrode 1 with the positive holes injected to the organic fluorescent film 3 from the transparent electrode 2. At the stage where the excitons are inactivated through radiation, they emit light radiating toward outside through the transparent electrode 2 and the glass substrate 6 (the Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 59-194393).
As is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 264692/1988, there have been also known stably emitting el devices comprising a fluorescent film formed from an organic host material and a fluorescent guest material.
It is however expected to develop an EL device capable of emission at a further high luminance, although the conventional EL devices with such aforementioned composition comprising organic compounds can emit light at a lower voltage.