An integrated Stirling refrigerator is composed of two parts: a compressor and an expander. The compressor is composed of a shell (1), a piston (4), a leaf spring (8), a magnet (9), a coil (10), a bracket (14) and a support shelf (15). The shell (1) of the compressor includes two cylinders (11, 12), one of which is set inside the other to form a compression chamber (3). The piston (4) is connected with the leaf spring (8). The coil (10) is fixed between the inside of the shell (1) and the bracket (14), and the magnet (9) is fixed between the bracket (14) and the support shelf (15), wherein the bracket (14) and the support shelf (15) are respectively connected with the shell (1). The inside of the expander is divided into two chambers by a small piston and a regenerator (7) fixed together, that is, an expansion chamber (6) and a pneumatic chamber, and a cylindrical spring (16) is provided on the bottom of the expander. The center of the compressor is designed as a groove, and the expander is inserted into the groove of the compressor. There is a small hole designed on the bottom of the expander, which is communicated with the compression chamber (3) of the compressor. The Stirling refrigerator has the advantages of compact structure and small volume, and hence it can be widely used.

Sterling cryocoolers are active-type cryocoolers employing inverse sterling circulation. Philips laboratory of Holland manufactured a pragmatic micro sterling circulation cryocooler for the first time in 1954, which could produce 580 W refrigeration capacity at 77 k. Such compactly structured Sterling cryocooler exhibited an attractive potential in industrial and military applications very soon. With improved technological levels and processing techniques, people use a highly efficient cool storing material, a precise clearance sealing technology, a flexible bearing design and advanced electronic technologies so that the Sterling cryocooler becomes very reliable, wearable and adapted for the cooling of low-temperature electronic devices, infrared detectors, superconductive devices and so on, and plays an important role in military and civil equipment such as missile guidance, infrared forward looking and night vision instruments and thermal imager.
Sterling cryocoolers in an early stage integrate a compression portion with an expansion refrigeration portion, and a compression piston and a displacer thereof convert a rotary movement of a motor into a simple harmonic movement of the piston via a crank linkage mechanism. A working medium flows alternately to and fro in the portions such as a compression space, a regenerator and an expansion space, without the mass of a gas changed, which forms a closed-type circulation. There are no valves in the machine for Sterling circulation so that an internal irreversible loss is small, so the machine exhibits a high efficiency, a compact structure, a small size and a light weight. However, the rotary movement of the machine causes a great vibration and a large noise. Except Philips cryocoolers for manufacturing liquid nitrogen and liquid hydrogen, Sterling cryocoolers have been developing in a tendency to miniaturization and longer service life to achieve highly efficient refrigeration in a liquid nitrogen temperature zone. These machines are mainly classified into integral type and separate type from structure so as to meet the requirements of many ground and spatial applications.
In tactical type Sterling cryocooler products in ground application, there are usually two types: a slip-on type and an integrated Dewar cryocooler assembly. Displacers of conventional cryocoolers are mostly disposed in a cylinder of a thin-walled stainless steel tube, a tiny clearance is provided between the displacer and the sleeve wall so as to ensure a contactless movement of the displacer and the cylinder wall, and presence of the sleeve cylinder allows the cryocooler to become an independent closed system. Hence, such structure is called a slip-on structure. A drawback of such slip-on structure is that when a cold finger of the cryocooler is cooled from 300 k to 77 k, a temperature gradient in a range of 300 K-77 K occurs on a sleeve of the displacer, and thermal conductance loss of the wall of the sleeve causes an effective refrigeration capacity of the cold finger to reduce. The integrated Dewar cryocooler assembly (IDCA) refers to a cryocooler assembly integrating a Dewar with a sensor. In view of the drawback of the slip-on structure with a sleeve, an inner cylinder of the Dewar is directly produced as a cylinder sleeve of the displacer, thereby omitting the outer sleeve of the conventional displacer, and obviating the thermal conductance loss of the sleeve wall to increase the effective refrigeration capacity of the sensor. Obviously, the integrated Dewar cryocooler assembly not only improves the thermal efficiency but also makes the system compactly-structured and reduced in size and weight, which is crucial to some applications.


The present invention relates to a band link with a safety device for use in adjusting and fixing a shoulder band or a waist band of various bags or rucksacks wherein after the band is suitably adjusted according to the physique of the user, the locking piece connected at the side of the band link is moved and fixed toward the band-controlling toothed side, so the band is not disengaged and is fixed as it stands even if excessive force or shock is exerted on the band link.

With conventional band links, a user adjusts the length of the band using the band link. However, conventional band links as described above include several disadvantages in that the band is not well secured and may slip from the band link if some shock or force is exerted on the band link after using. Thus, the user is required to inspect the band and the band links. In addition, the thickness of the folded band portion is thicker than that of the controlling piece of the band link or buckle. As a result, the band portion will protrudes above the surface of the band links. An example of a conventional band link partially ameliorating such defects is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Patent Application No. 92-1278 entitled "Band link With A Safety Device." The band link disclosed there includes some of the same inherent defects as other conventional devices in that if the band is inserted in the band link and then locked by a locking piece it may not loosen, but its thickness increases with use of a band-inserting bar in the locking piece. Further, because the locking piece is separately assembled with the band link, the separate pieces may be lost or damaged by mistake in use.


An electric actuator reciprocates an output shaft driven by an electric motor in a linear manner. The actuator has a main body case. A rotating body supported by the case includes a pin rotating body, a gear wheel, and a coil spring. The gear wheel is meshed with a pinion that is fixed to the drive shaft of the electric motor. The rotation of the gear wheel is transmitted to the pin rotating body by the coil spring. The pin rotating body includes a rotary shaft. The rotary shaft has a pair of guide pins provided on its outer surface. A cylindrical cam is fixed to the output shaft, which is supported by the case. The cylindrical cam includes a spiral guided portion defined on its inner surface. The guided portion slides against both guide pins of the rotary shaft. The drive force of the electric motor rotates the rotary shaft by means of the gear wheel and the coil spring. As the rotary shaft is rotated, the output shaft is reciprocated along the rotary shaft with the guided portion guided by both guide pins.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electric actuators having an electric motor and an output shaft driven by the motor. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electric actuator which reciprocates an output shaft in a linear manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, automobile doors are provided with opening mechanisms. Each opening mechanism includes a door lock striker, a latch, and a door handle. When the door is closed, the striker engages the latch and holds the door in a closed state. When the door is in a closed state, manipulation of the handle releases the engagement between the striker and the latch. This enables the opening of the door.
The opening mechanism further includes a locking apparatus. The locking apparatus has an actuating lever, and a lock lever, which is connected to the lever by a coupling mechanism. The lock lever is selectively shifted between a lock position and an unlock position. The actuation lever cooperates with the lock lever and shifts between a lock position and an unlock position. The shifting of the lock lever to the lock position arranges the actuation lever at the lock position and causes the locking apparatus to become operative. This prohibits the releasing of the engagement between the striker and the latch. As a result, the engagement between the striker and the latch is not released even when the door handle is manipulated. In other words, the door is held in a locked state and is prohibited from being opened. Shifting the lock lever to the unlock position arranges the actuation lever at the unlock position and causes the locking apparatus to become inoperative. This allows releasing of the engagement between the striker and the latch. As a result, the engagement between the striker and the latch is released when the door handle is manipulated. In other words, the door is held in an unlocked state in which it may be opened.
Each locking mechanism further includes an electric actuator. Each electric actuator selectively shifts the actuation lever of the locking apparatus between a lock position and an unlock position. There is an existing type of electric actuator that is provided with an electric motor, an output shaft, and a gear mechanism connecting to the motor and the output shaft. Actuation of the motor causes linear reciprocation of the output shaft by means of the gear mechanism. When a lock control switch provided near the driver's seat is turned on, the motor is rotated in a forward direction so as to move the output shaft to the front. The frontward movement shifts the actuation lever to the lock position. When the lock switch is turned off, the rotation of the motor is reversed so as to move the output shaft to the rear. The rearward movement shifts the actuation lever to the unlock position. Accordingly, the output shaft of the electric actuator moves reciprocally in accordance with the movement of the lock lever. Reciprocation of the output shaft of the electric actuator shifts the lock lever between the lock position and the unlock position.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-76963 discloses an example of an electric actuator proposed by the assignee of this application. The electric actuator includes an electric motor and a driven gear, which is driven by the motor. The driven gear is provided with an integral rotary shaft that extends along the axis of the gear. A pair of guide pins project from the outer cylindrical surface of the rotary shaft. A cylindrical output shaft is supported by the rotary shaft. The output shaft moves in the axial direction with respect to the rotary shaft without rotating with respect to the rotary shaft. The output shaft has a guided member that projects from its inner cylindrical surface. The guided member is strip-like and includes a cam surface defined thereon. The guided member slides along each guide pin. The output shaft and the rotary shaft constitute an inverse cam mechanism. Rotation of the rotary shaft slides and moves the guide pins along the cam surface of the guided member. Since it is required for the output shaft to reciprocate along the rotary shaft in a linear manner, the rotary shaft and the output shaft are long.
Abutting surfaces of the guide pins abut against the restricting surface of the guided member when the output shaft is moved to its stroke end position. This restricts the rotation of the rotary shaft and the driven gear. Impact is produced when the rotation of the electric motor is restricted. For each time the rotation of the electric motor is restricted, a relatively large stress is produced at the basal portion of the rotary shaft, or the coupling portion between the rotary shaft and the driven gear. Thus, the rotary shaft must have strength that is sufficient to endure the stress. To satisfy this requirement, it is necessary to either form the rotary shaft from a material having high strength or to enlarge the shaft.
Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication Nos. 2-81880 and 2-81881 discloses another type of electric actuator. This electric actuator includes a drive gear (worm gear) provided on the drive shaft of the electric motor, a driven gear (worm wheel), a pinion, and an inclining arm. The driven gear and the pinion are coaxial. The drive gear and driven gear are meshed with each other. The driven gear rotates the pinion. The inclining arm inclines about a pivot pin. A sector gear is provided at the basal portion of the arm. The sector gear and pinion are meshed with each other. Actuation of the electric motor rotates the pinion by means of the drive gear and the driven gear. The rotation of the pinion moves the sector gear and inclines the inclining arm. When this electric actuator is employed in the locking mechanism, the actuation lever of the locking apparatus is selectively shifted between the lock position and the unlock position in accordance with the inclining of the arm.
The above actuator also produces impact when the rotation of the electric motor is restricted as the movement of the inclining arm becomes restricted. Accordingly, stress may be produced between the sector gear and the pinion. Therefore, this electric actuator has a mechanism to absorb the stress produced between the sector gear and the pinion. The absorbing mechanism includes a spring arranged between the driven gear and the pinion. The rotating force of the driven gear is transmitted to the pinion through the spring. Accordingly, when impact is produced as the rotation of the electric motor is restricted, the impact is absorbed by the spring between the driven gear and the pinion. As a result, the stress produced between the sector gear and the pinion is absorbed.
However, the latter electric actuator, which is provided with the absorbing mechanism, differs from the former electric actuator. Accordingly, the former electric actuator type, which reciprocates the output shaft with the rotary shaft provided on the driven gear, does not include a mechanism to absorb the stress produced in the rotary shaft.


A method and an electronic circuit for regenerating an electrical contact are provided in order to remedy the problem of electrical contacts becoming highly resistive over time. Electrical contacts become highly resistive over time, particularly when the contacts are thermally highly stressed and/or exposed to corrosive gases. To remedy this undesired effect and to reestablish the low resistance of the contacts, an electrical regenerating signal is applied to these contacts.

It is known from the related art that thermally highly stressed electrical contacts, particularly if they are additionally exposed to corrosive gases, are prone to oxidation or corrosion. The occurrence of oxidation or corrosion has the disadvantage that the affected electrical contacts lose their originally good conductivity and become highly resistive over time, which is undesirable. The same unwanted effect, for example, is also observed as a result of Braun deposits and/or other deposits on the contacts, or as a result of external inputs into the contacts during the production process.
In view of the above drawbacks, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an electronic circuit for regenerating a highly resistive electrical contact.

Method and electronic circuit for regenerating an electrical contact


An integrated process for oxidizing aromatic and alkyl aromatic compounds to form carbonyl containing reaction products comprising the reaction of quadravalent cerium with a reactant stream containing an aromatic or alkyl aromatic compound and using a high degree of mixing, followed by the electrolytic regeneration of the reduced cerium ion in a cell under near turbulent or turbulent flow conditions at high solution velocities relative to the anode. The preferred cell structure for accomplishing the electrolysis utilizes an turbulence promoting anode arrangement which allows for the anolyte to flow past the anode under the conditions mentioned, and a reduced area cathode whereby the anode and cathode compartments need not be separated by an ion exchange membrane.

This invention relates to the indirect electrosynthesis of carbonyl containing compounds via oxidation of aromatic and alkyl substituted aromatic compounds using ceric ions. More specifically, the invention relates to a faster and more electrically efficient indirect electrochemical process for the production of carbonyl containing compounds such as naphthoquinone from starting materials such as naphthalene, in conjunction with the electrochemical regeneration of the oxidant ion.
An indirect oxidation of organic compounds using ceric ions in aqueous methanesulfonic acid is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,639,298, 4,670,108 and 4,701,245 to Kreh and others. A paper which describes further work in this area is Mediated Electrosynthesis With Cerium (IV) In Methanesulfonic Acid by Spotnitz, et. al., J. Appl. Electrochem 90 (2) 1990, p. 209. These documents detail the advantages of using aqueous solutions of cerium methanesulfonate and methanesulfonic acid to oxidize aromatic and alkyl substituted aromatic compounds to carbonyl containing compounds by contacting the reactant compounds with the ceric methanesulfonate solution. The present invention relates to improvements in the speed and efficiency of the processes described in these documents.
Prior to the work described in the noted prior art, the use of ceric ions for oxidation of such organic compounds was inefficient because of the inability to create relatively concentrated oxidizing solutions which could be electrochemically regenerated. Ceric and cerous sulfate have limited solubility, making the electrochemical regeneration process inefficient.
While the reaction of ceric solutions with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has been known for some time and workers have operated the process from laboratory to pilot plant, no one has taken the process to commercial success. The capital and operating costs of the process have been too unattractive for the investment to be made. These problems stem from the plant size required to operate the process with very dilute solutions, less than 1 molar in ceric ion. Current efficiencies are low and the plant vessels are necessarily large to accommodate such a high volume of electrolyte.
The use of methanesulfonic acid described by Kreh et. al. addressed this problem to some extent, since operating concentrations were raised from 0.1 molar to 5 molar in cerium. This process improved the convenience of the procedure as the working solution was capable of oxidizing much more organic substrate before the regeneration step was required. The penalty incurred was the cost of a more expensive electrolyte and complications in the separation procedure. Additionally, the process of the prior art is not as energy efficient as would be desired. Thus, while the oxidation reactions described in the prior art brought about substantial improvements, there continues to be a need for an oxidizing process which is sufficiently fast and electrochemically efficient enough for commercialization.

Indirect cerium medicated electrosynthesis


A refiner plate has bars integrally formed with the refiner plate base member which have discrete regions of selected physical properties. A material possessing the physical property is deposited in a reservoir in the bar, such as a groove. The reservoir may be positioned in the top of the bar and may be of various shapes. Alternatively, the reservoir with material is positioned on the bar leading or trailing edge. Alternatively, an abrasive surface extends over the entire upper surface of the bar including the leading and trailing edges. The bar may be formed of a white iron alloy which is heat-treated to form a soft matrix with embedded carbide grains. By protecting regions of desired smoothness with a wear-resistant protective coating flow is preserved in selected areas.

Disc refiners are utilized in papermaking to prepare wood fibers to be made into paper on a papermaking machine. Disc refiners are generally divided into two types: those for refining high consistency stocks containing 18 to 60 percent fiber by weight; and those for refining low consistency stocks having two to five percent fiber by weight. High consistency refiners produce mechanical and semi-mechanical pulp or furnish from undigested wood chips and semi-digested wood chips. These refiners break down the wood chips and clumps of wood fibers into individual fibers from which paper is formed.
Processing of fibers in a low consistency refiner may be performed on both chemically and mechanically refined pulps, and in particular may be used sequentially with a high consistency refiner to further process the fibers after they have been separated in the high consistency disk refiner. In operation, a low consistency disc refiner is generally considered to exert a type of abrasive action upon individual fibers in the pulp mass so that the outermost layers of the individual cigar-shaped fibers are frayed. This fraying of the fibers, which is considered to increase the freeness of the fibers, facilitates the bonding of the fibers when they are made into paper.
Paper fibers are relatively slender, tube-like structural components made up of a number of concentric layers. Each of these layers (called "lamellae") consists of finer structural components (called "fibrils") which are helically wound and bound to one another to form the cylindrical lamellae. The lamellae are in turn bound to each other, thus forming a composite which has distinct bending and torsional rigidity characteristics. A relatively hard outer sheath (called the "primary wall") encases the lamellae. The primary wall is often partially removed during the pulping process. The raw fibers are relatively stiff and have relatively low surface area when the primary wall is intact, and thus exhibit poor bond formation and limited strength in the paper formed with raw fibers.
It is generally accepted that it is the purpose of a pulp stock refiner to partially remove the primary wall and break the bonds between the fibrils of the outer layers to yield a frayed surface, thereby increasing the surface area of the fiber multi-fold.
Disc refiners typically consist of a pattern of raised bars interspaced with grooves. Paper fibers contained in a water stock are caused to flow between opposed refiner discs which are rotating with respect to each other. As the stock flows radially outwardly across the refiner plates, the fibers are forced to flow over the bars. The fiber treating action is thought to take place there, between the closely spaced bars on opposed discs. It is known that sharp bar edges promote fiber stapling and fibrillation due to fiber-to-fiber action. To achieve this, an advantageous method of fabricating bars which wear sharp has been utilized in the construction of refiner plates such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,592 to Wasikowski. It is also known that dull bar edges result in fiber cutting by fiber-to-bar action. Fiber cutting is undesirable because it results in paper of weaker strength and renders a certain portion of the fibers too small to be retained on the screen on which the paper is formed, thus increasing waste.
The preferred action in refining paper fibers is fibrillation. Fibrillation is the breaking down of the primary wall and partially releasing the fibrils of the outer layer to yield the frayed surface, which increases the surface area of the fiber multi-fold. Improved fibrillation with minimal fiber damage has been theorized as possible if a refiner bar having a rough or abrasion resistant edge is used. The rough or abrasion resistant edge, which resists dulling during operation, holds the fibers longer while the sharpness of the rough surface acts to gently abrade the fibers. A rough or abrasion resistant edge is difficult to obtain without affecting all of the surrounding surfaces. If all of the surrounding surfaces are treated, fiber flow through the refiner may be impaired by the loss of open area in the grooves between the refiner bars as well as by the added friction of the abrasive material. Treatment of the entire groove and treatment of the bar surface have been accomplished by surface modification techniques but the edge has not been isolated.
Both theory and logic suggests that work is being done to wood fibers passing through a refiner principally as the fibers pass over the outermost surface of the bars. Thus, it is desirable to retain the fibers on the outermost surface and to build up a fiber pad thereon to promote refining. One way to retain fibers on the outermost surface of refiner bars is to make the surface rough. The roughness creates numerous edges to hold the fibers so that they may be refined.
There are many ways of depositing a rough surface or other coating on a refining plate bar, but these have all involved adding thin layers of material on top of the bars after they have been finished because the bar surfaces must be ground to obtain flatness and bar depth requirements. Thus, the problem associated with depositing a rough surface or other coating on the outermost surface of the refiner bars is that, on the one hand, it can affect the flatness of the bars, which interferes with the ability to run opposed discs closely spaced; and on the other hand, there is a tendency of the relatively thinly deposited layer to rapidly wear away during operation in a refiner.
What are needed are techniques for creating localized areas of surface roughness which resist wearing away.

Refiner disc with localized surface roughness


Methods and apparatus for verifying that an electronic device has been disabled are disclosed. An exemplary electronic device includes a communications interface, a secure memory, storing a secret key, and a cryptographic circuit configured to calculate a verification token from the secret key, using a first cryptographic operation. The cryptographic circuit is further configured to calculate an identification token from the verification token, using a second cryptographic operation. The cryptographic circuit is further configured to output the identification token in response to a first command received via the communications interface. The verification token is output to the communications interface only if a predetermined functionality of the electronic device has been disabled. The electronic device may further comprise a disabling circuit configured to disable the predetermined functionality in response to a disable command.

The present invention generally relates to electronic devices, and particularly relates to the use of cryptographic processing to verify that an electronic device has been disabled.
As marketplaces and regulatory regimes become more sensitive to the environmental impacts of the disposal of consumer products, mobile phone manufacturers and other makers of electronic devices are increasingly likely to have an economic stake in how their products are processed upon disposal. Regulations and/or market forces may require, for instance, that these manufacturers recycle components from devices that are no longer wanted.
In many situations, disposal, recycling, and other end-of-life handling of products is likely to be contracted to companies unrelated to the manufacturers. In a typical business model, these contracted companies may charge the device manufacturer on a per-device basis for processing discarded products. Especially in the mobile phone industry, where various "grey" markets have flourished from time to time, such a business model may encourage fraud, where a manufacturer is charged for handling of devices that were not actually processed or that were diverted to uses not authorized by the producer.
To counter such fraud, a manufacturer might require that the contracted company disposing the products provide a list of device-specific serial numbers, such as the International Mobile Equipment Identifiers (IMEI) used with mobile phones, corresponding to the disposed products. The phone producer may then validate the submitted identifiers against a list of produced units before authorizing payment to the contractor. However, this process does not prove that the devices were actually taken out of service.

Secure end-of-life handling of electronic devices


A knife comprises an elongated handle, a blade attached to and extending longitudinally from an end of the handle, and a shell-slitting tine attached to the blade adjacent a tip portion of the blade. A first longitudinal edge of the blade is generally blunt and a second edge of the blade is specifically configured for severing objects. A slot extends between the shell-slitting tine and the blade from a tip end of the blade toward the handle. The slot extends generally parallel with a centerline reference axis of the blade and is positioned between the centerline reference axis of the blade and the first one of said longitudinal edges. At least a portion of an edge of the shell-slitting tine defined by the slot is sharpened and the tip end of the shell-slitting tine is substantially even with the tip end of the blade.

Typically shellfish (i.e., also known generally as a crustaceans) food items such as crab legs and lobster tails and claws are commonly boiled in their shell and served while still in their shell. This form of preparation and serving requires the person eating these shellfish food items to break open the shell in order to extract the shellfish meat for consumption. The heat does not significantly change the characteristics of the shell and a special utensil is often required to open (e.g., slit open, break open, cut open, etc) the shell.
There have been various different tools and utensils designed for this purpose. However, these known utensils are known to have one or more limitations. Examples of such limitation include, but are not limited to, damaging shellfish meat while opening the shell, being awkward to use and being a utensil that only provides the functionality of opening a shellfish shell. U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,904 to LaSalle discloses a utensil for opening shellfish shells, which exhibits the limitation of use only as a utensil for opening shellfish shells. U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,103 to Taurinskas discloses a crab leg knife that serves the function of opening a shellfish shell, which exhibits the limitation of use only as a utensil for opening shellfish shells. U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,961 to Mueller discloses a fork that serves two purposes (i.e., one being opening shellfish shells and the other being standard fork functionality), which exhibits the limitations of its configuration resulting in meat of the shellfish being damaged while opening the shell and being somewhat awkward to use due to a protruding portions of the utensil (i.e., a fork tine) pushing into the shellfish shell while opening the shell. U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,306 to Hopkins discloses a knife for opening crab legs and other such shellfish shells, which exhibits the limitation of use only as a utensil for opening shellfish shells. U.S. Pat. No. 2,822,845 to Medlin discloses a modified butcher knife with a slot at the tip portion. However, the slot of Medlin does not form a second blade. Further, the knife of Medlin is configured to be used in conjunction with another device that provides a pivot point within the slot to allow greater force to be applied by a primary knife edge of the knife. U.S. Pat. No. 1,843,223 to Hasseler discloses a knife having a blade with a slot in the blade. The slot of Hassler is set back towards a middle of the blade and is designed specifically for skinning animals and is limited in its usefulness for opening a shellfish shell. U.S. Pat. No. 720,202 to White discloses a knife with a slot in the tip portion of the utensil that may be used for opening shellfish shells. The slot is configured such that an elongated pointed prong is formed, which is useful for puncturing a surface of an item for enabling use as a can opener. Although the elongated pointed prong is appropriate for the purposes intended by White, the elongated pointed prong would hinder its use as a common dinner knife in so far as a dinner knife is used to apply spreads and the elongated pointed prong would interfere with that function in a conventional manner.
A skilled person will appreciate that, besides utensils configured for cutting or slitting a shellfish shell, there are other types of utensils intended to ease the removal of meat from within a shellfish shell (e.g., a nutcracker style shell opening utensil). With such a nutcracker-style utensil, the shell is placed between two levers and pressure is applied on each lever to crush the shellfish shell and break it open. However, often this type of utensil crushes the meat, and causes it to sliver. Also, the shellfish shell is broken open only at the general area where the pressure is applied, and so meat is often still trapped in other portions of the shellfish shell.
Therefore, a utensil configured for opening shellfish shells in a manner that overcomes shortcomings associated with conventional utensils used for and/or intended for opening shellfish shells would be useful and advantageous.

Utensil configured for opening shellfish shell and method for providing same


An electrophotographic photosensitive body has a charge generating layer and a charge transporting layer on a conductive substrate. The charge transporting layer contains a zinc carboxylate compound expressed by the following General Formula (I): EQU (Ar--COO.sup.-)(R--COO.sup.-)Zn.sup.2+ [I]. wherein:. Ar is a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group and PA1 R is a substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl group. A method for the manufacture of the electrophotographic photosensitive body is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive body used for electrophotographic printers, copiers, and facsimile machines as well as to a manufacturing method for this photosensitive body. In particular, the present invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive body that is highly stable due to an improved additive for a charge-transporting layer, containing a charge-transporting material; and to a corresponding manufacturing method.
An electrophotographic photosensitive body must be capable of holding surface charges in a dark place and of generating or transporting these charges when exposed to light. Single-layer photosensitive bodies have all these functions in a single layer. Laminated photosensitive bodies are made up of a stack of laminated layers, each having separate functions. These laminated layers include a layer mainly contributing to the generation of charges and a layer mainly contributing to the retention of surface charges in a dark place and the transportation of charges on reception of light.
Image formation based on an electrophotographic process using such an electrophotographic photosensitive body uses, for example, the Carlson process. Image formation based on this process charges a photosensitive body in a dark place by means of corona discharge, forms an electrostatic latent image such as characters from a manuscript or a picture on the surface of the charged photosensitive body, develops the electrostatic latent image using toner, and transfers and fixes the developed toner image onto a support such as paper. After the toner image has been transferred, the photosensitive body is subjected to static charge erasing, residual-toner removal, and static recharge in preparation for reuse.
Conventional photosensitive materials for electrophotographic photosensitive bodies described above include either inorganic or organic photoconductive materials. The inorganic or organic photoconductive materials are diffused in a binder resin. The organic photoconductive material may be deposited by vacuum-evaporation or sublimation. Examples of inorganic photoconductive material include selenium, selenium alloys, zinc oxide, or cadmium sulfide. Examples of organic photoconductive materials include poly-N-vinylcarbazole; 9,10-anthracenediolepolyester; hydrazone; stilbene; butadiene; benzidine; phthalocyanine; or a bis azo compound.
It is also known that various additives are added as required to improve electrophotographic characteristics. For example, a salt composed of only a metal ion and an aromatic carboxylic acid is known as an additive for a charge transporting layer. This is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 3-78753.
A zinc salt composed of only an aliphatic carboxylic acid is also known and described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 4-296867. Furthermore, the addition of a zinc salt composed of two or more types of aliphatic carboxylic acids is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 4-296867 despite an absence of descriptions of embodiments. As described above, various additives used to improve the electrophotographic characteristics of an electrophotographic photosensitive body have been examined, but their long-term stability, especially the stability of the residual potential during repeated use, has not been sufficiently improved. That is, the effect of an additive such as a zinc salt composed of an aromatic or aliphatic carboxylic acid in contributing to the stability of an electrophotographic photosensitive body and a coating liquid is insufficient, and its effects on stability have not been clarified.

Electrophotographic photosensitive body and method of manufacturing same


The invention relates to a dynamic pressure probe for universal use, which enables different types of mounting of the connection lines without complex adapters and/or round arches. The dynamic pressure probe comprises a probe head inside of which channels run, which lead to the part of the probe that, during a measurement, is located in the medium to be measured, and which lead to adapters mounted on the probe head, said probe head having a rectangular cross-section. The axes of the channels are located on the diagonals that run between two corners of the probe head, and the channels can be reached from two outer surfaces of the probe head via transversal boreholes.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dynamic pressure probe in which channels run in a pressure tube. These channels end respectively in one or more openings. In order to measure the differential pressure of a flowing medium, the pressure tube is positioned in the flowing medium such that the openings of one channel are directed upstream, and the openings of the other channel are directed downstream.
At the other end of the pressure tube, the channels continue in a headpiece of square or rectangular cross section.
Dynamic pressure probes are used in order to detect the flow rate of gas, steam or liquid.
2. Prior Art
Such a dynamic pressure probe is known from EP 0198197 B1.
The connecting line of the channel axes is perpendicular to a pair of the outer surfaces, and runs parallel to the other pair of the outer surfaces of the headpiece. Located in the headpiece are bores that respectively meet a channel from an opposite side. Elements adjoining screwed glands are fastened on the headpiece. These elements are, for example, condensate vessels or tube bends.
Arranged downstream of these elements is in each case a channel of sensors that measure the pressure.
It is disadvantageous in the known dynamic pressure probe that there is a need to fit additional adapters and/or tube bends between the headpiece of the probe and the sensors, depending on mounting position and/or the course of the connecting lines.
When measuring liquids, it is necessary for the static pressure bearing on the sensors to be equal. This static pressure arises from the standing liquid column in the adapters and/or round bends and/or other connecting lines.
When measuring steam, it is necessary for the condensate to be able to flow off again from the dynamic pressure tube.
The measurements of the different media can be carried out on lines running horizontally or vertically, from which there result a multiplicity of mounting possibilities.
For each way of mounting both channels, it is necessary in the prior art to lay the adapters and/or round bends and/or other connecting lines in a fashion accurately adapted to one another, such that the liquid column is of the same height for both sensors.

Dynamic pressure probe with adapters fitted on the probe head

Systec Controls Mess-und Regelungstechnik GmbH


An improved wear resistant bump contact is produced by the inclusion of small particles of hard materials in the conductive material of the contact bump, preferably by co-deposition at the time of electroplating of the bump bulk material. Desirable attributes of the small particles of hard material include small particle size, hardness greater than the hardness of the bulk material of the contact bump, compatibility with the plating conditions, and electrical conductivity. Nitride, borides, suicides, carbides are typical interstitial compounds suitable for use in satisfying these desirable attributes. In one preferred example, a nickel bulk material and silicon carbide particles are utilized. In one variation, the bump of metal-particle co-deposited material is coated by a thin cap layer of noble, non-oxidizing metal to prevent electrical erosion by arcing as contact is made and broken from the pad. Rhodium and ruthenium are suitable metals and can be electrodeposited over the composite bump structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the manufacturing and testing of integrated circuits. More particularly, the present invention relates to electrical contacts on probe elements such as on membrane probe cards used in integrated circuit testing.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated circuit chips are formed using fabrication processes which build many chips on wafers, which are for example 6 or 8 inches in diameter or larger. While the chips are still on the wafer in as-formed positions, a membrane probe can be used to electrically sense the performance of the circuits on the chips. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,977 entitled MEMBRANE PROBE CONTACT BUMP COMPLIANCY SYSTEM invented by Huff; U.S. Pat. No. 4, 980,673 entitled FORCE DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR IMPROVED PRECISION MEMBRANE PROBE invented by Huff et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,383 entitled MEMBRANE PROBE WITH AUTOMATIC CONTACT SCRUB ACTION invented by Huff et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,920 entitled SELF-LEVELING MEMBRANE PROBE invented by Huff et al. In accordance with this technology, costs savings are possible through early identification of faulty circuits before they are separated from the wafer, and thereafter assembled into chip packages.
Good electrical contact between the probe contacts and chip contacts, often called pads, is essential for accurate evaluation. The contacts of chips on the wafer are formed typically of aluminum or combinations of aluminum with other metals, and have a natural skin of hard aluminum oxide, or other natural hard skin caused by oxidation or other reactions with the environment. Wear of the probe contacts occurs as a result of repeated contact with the hard aluminum oxide skin, resulting in a degradation of the accuracy of the measurements over time.
In the prior art, the probe elements are formed with a contact bump technology usually based on nickel sulfamate plating to build up bump contacts. However the nickel deposit as a result of this plating technique is too soft for extended use, for example beyond about fifty thousand to one hundred thousand touchdowns. With such extended use, the contour of the nickel bump frequently develops an undesirable flattened area.
One prior art technique for improving the performance of the contact bumps involves creating a rough textured surface on the bump. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,999 entitled METHOD FOR FABRICATING A PENETRATION LIMITED CONTACT HAVING A ROUGH TEXTURED SURFACE invented by Farnworth. However, the roughening of the surface as described in the Farnworth patent does not overcome the problems of the softness of the nickel bump, while it may improve the ability to penetrate the hard skin on the contact pad.
Also, examination of the tips of worn nickel bump contacts at high magnification (scanning electron microscope) indicates that the soft nickel contact surface tends to accumulate aluminum oxide. The embedded aluminum oxide ultimately degrades performance by increasing the bump to pad contact resistance. Increased friction and mechanical resistance to sliding are also associated with contact wear and aluminum oxide pickup.
Accordingly, there is a need for a technique for extending the lifetime of the contact bumps used in membrane probe cards and in other testing situations where the contacts are required to make many thousands of contacts over their useful life.

Composite electrical contact structure and method for manufacturing the same


The present invention is a pressure adsorber vessel that employs a radial adsorbent bed with a variable perforated flow distributor to provide an effective uniform fluid flow though the adsorbent bed.

The VPSA and PSA processes employ a selective adsorbent to remove at least one component of a gas from a gas mixture. Both processes employ four basic process steps: adsorption, depressurization, purge and repressurization. PSA and VPSA processes are well known and are widely used to selectively separate air components, i.e. oxygen and nitrogen.
The design of the adsorber vessel is critical to efficient operation of an air separation system. Improvements in the design of the adsorber vessel contribute to lower power consumption, lower capital cost and increased plant capacity.
VPSA vessels are typically designed as axial flow adsorbers which have limited applicability when plant capacity requirements yield a vessel diameter larger than 4–5 meters, thereby exceeding economical shipment limits. This results in an expensive and difficult requirement to field assemble the axial flow vessels. Such large diameter vessels also have inherently large void volume percentages in the upper and lower head spaces, and present flow distribution difficulties as a result of the large cross-section. As a result, the economics of large scale VPSA systems (i.e., >80 tons per day) are compromised when axial flow, vessel designs are employed.
VPSA system operation is adversely affected by bed pressure drop and void volume within the vessel. Bed pressure drop represents a substantial source of inefficiency in a VPSA process. Large gas flows into and out of the adsorbers are required, due to the relatively low operating pressures and recovery of these systems. This large gas flow results in high superficial gas velocities across the bed, creating an unwanted pressure drop, and contributing to a loss in efficiency. Such bed pressure drop losses typically comprise 10–15% of the power consumption.
In an axial flow bed, if the adsorber bed cross-section is increased by enlarging the diameter and lowering the superficial velocity, larger adsorbent inventories are required. This increases capital cost in order to improve power consumption, resulting in little gain in overall economics.
Void spaces in an adsorption vessel also create losses in a VPSA system. The volume of gas left in a lower head space is pressurized and depressurized during the cycle, ultimately resulting in air blow-down losses. Similarly, the volume of gas left in an upper head space, which is enriched in oxygen after the product make step, is subsequently evacuated in the waste step and acts as an inefficient oxygen purge. This inefficient use of oxygen purge gas results in a lowering of the overall process efficiency.
Advanced VPSA cycles employ powerful adsorbents with a relatively short cycle, and the blow-down losses and top head oxygen purge losses can become quite large.
The use of advanced adsorbents and cycles drives VPSA process design towards reduced bed length. The advanced adsorbents typically can operate efficiently with a lower transfer length, hence a vessel design that readily accommodates this feature is attractive. The use of shorter bed lengths with axial vessels is possible, but when large size plants are desired, the diameter of the vessel becomes prohibitively large.
In the modern PSA technology due to increased demand for higher product throughputs, the ratio of bed length to bed frontal area becomes smaller and adsorbent beds go through faster cycles. For the case of a radial bed, increasing the bed height relative to bed length, in this way making the bed taller, is one way to achieve higher product flow. Nowadays, the beds are also being designed with little end space to minimize the unit cost and to increase the efficiency. In such challenging conditions, uniform flow distribution in the adsorbent bed is essential for optimum bed performance since it allows the use of all available separation surfaces in the vessel.
Adsorption vessels are used to capture and reduce the contaminants of chemical components such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, oxygen, water, and hydrocarbons of the feed stream to ppm levels. This is carried out by adsorbing gases on different adsorbents such as alumina, carbon, zeolite, and molecular sieves. The adsorbent is contained in vessel and is alternated between adsorption and purge steps. A vessel has generally the bed at the middle of the vessel, and has two distributors, one on the feed side of the bed and the other on the product side of the bed. Flow maldistribution in adsorption vessels can cause early breakthrough, loss of efficiency, sieve movement and local bed fluidzation. To prevent these problems, uniform flow distribution in an adsorbent bed is essential.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,226 relates, in general, to apparatus for providing uniform fluid flow in vessels having packing materials or particulates and, in particular, to apparatus for providing uniform gas flow in pressure swing adsorption vessels.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,242 relates to a vessel for use in a pressure swing adsorption gas separation process includes an enclosing wall which defines an enclosed space having a top region and a bottom region. An annular adsorbent bed is positioned within the enclosed space and has a porous outer wall, a porous inner wall and adsorbent material positioned between the walls. The porous outer wall is separated from the enclosing wall to create a gas feed channel therebetween, and the porous inner wall surrounds an inner tank whose wall surface is separated from the porous inner wall and creates a product flow channel therebetween. A gas feed/distribution baffle structure is positioned in the bottom region of the vessel and in fluid communication with the gas feed channel to provide a gas feed thereto. The gas feed enters the gas feed channel and the adsorbent bed via the porous outer wall and in a direction generally radially towards the inner porous wall and product flow channel. A product outlet is positioned in the bottom region and in fluid communication with the product flow channel, for collecting product gas passing thereinto via the porous inner wall from the adsorbent bed. A flexible membrane extends between the porous outer wall and the porous inner wall, at the upper extremities thereof, and is pressurized so as to bear upon the upper surface of the adsorbent material to prevent fluidization during the flow.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,427 relates to equipment, for example of the PSA type, comprising gas circulation elements for passing the gas horizontally through an adsorbent, which comprise, on at least one vertical side of the adsorbent, a gas distribution volume comprising a first subvolume adjacent to the adsorbent, and a second subvolume separated from the first subvolume by a wall provided with passages having cross-sections and/or a distribution which are selected so as to reduce the variations in a local flow rate along the adsorbent. The equipment is particularly useful in separating gases from air.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,129 relates to apparatus and method to improve flow of fluid through an annular bed in a radial flow treatment vessel. An elongated annular baffle is disposed in the reactor adjacent the bed to impart generally U-shaped flow to the fluid either prior to entering or after it exits the bed thus achieving an overall serpentine or reverse U-shaped flow pattern as the fluid proceeds from an entry port to an exit port in the reactor. Means are provided in the baffle to permit minor amounts of fluid to bypass the generally U-shaped flow path in order to correct fluid flow maldistribution through the bed that is attributed to frictional pressure drop in the flow channels adjacent to the bed. A vessel can be operated with fluid flow through the vessel in either direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,094 relates to a radial flow catalytic reactor in which a gravity supported centerpipe is restrained from vertical upward movement due to thermal cycling of the catalyst and the reactor internals by forming the centerpipe to have uniform vertical and radial permeability in a frustoconical configuration. Gravity effect of the catalyst particles forming the bed act along the tapered side of the centerpipe. Additionally improved permeability to radial flow through the uniformly packed catalyst bed, independently of radial resistance to flow through the reactor due to pressure gradient between top and bottom of the vessel is achieved by compensation for differences in radial distance to the centerpipe from the upper portion to the lower portion of the catalyst bed by changes in the permeability of the tapered conical surface of the centerpipe. Uniformity of radial flow through the catalyst bed is assured by forming the conical portion of the centerpipe from rigid screen material so that reaction "dead" spots do not develop adjacent to the centerpipe.
There is a genuine need to find a better way to engender a uniform velocity across the entire section of the process vessels having packing materials or particles. The enhancement of fluid distribution, i.e., improved uniformity, allows for the use of all the available reaction or separation surface area in the process vessels, thereby efficiently increasing the yield of the desired product.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved radial bed adsorbent vessel capable of achieving an effective uniform flow of gas through the adsorbent bed therein.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved VPSA vessel capable of achieving substantial uniform velocity of gas through the bed of the vessel.
With these and other objects in mind, the invention is hereinafter described in detail, the novel features thereof being particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Radial bed flow distributor for radial pressure adsorber vessel


The invention relates to methods and compositions for identifying and/or selecting maize plants that have newly conferred resistance or enhanced resistance to, or are susceptible to, a Fijivirus, particularly Mal de Rio Cuarto Virus (MRCV) and/or Maize Rough Dwarf Virus (MRDV). The methods use molecular genetic markers to identify, select, and/or construct resistant plants or to identify and counter-select susceptible plants. Maize plants that display newly conferred resistance or enhanced resistance to a Fijivirus (or an infection or disease caused by the virus) that are generated by the methods of the invention are also a feature of the invention.

The disease caused by Mal de Rio Cuarto Virus (MRCV) is a major corn disease in Argentina, accounting for yield losses of greater than 70% in years of severe outbreak (Rodriguez P E et al. (1998) Plant Dis. 82:149-52). The disease is a member of Serogroup 2 of Fijivirus, which includes other viruses such as maize rough dwarf virus, rice black streaked dwarf virus, and pangola stunt virus (Uyeda I & Milne R G (1995) Semin. Virol. 6:85-88). The main vector for MRCV is Delphacodes kuscheli, but other Delphacodes species, such as D. haywardi and D. tigrinus, and Toya propinqua have been shown to carry the virus. The virus does not appear to be transmitted to progeny via seeds. Distéfano at al., Arch. Viral. 147:1699-1709 (2002), analyzed the MRCV sequence and proposed that it is a new Fijivirus species related to MRDV (Maize Rough Dwarf Virus). MRDV is found in several European countries (e.g., the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden) and in China, while MRCV has been also detected in Uruguay (Omaghi J. A., Beviacqua J. E., Aguirrezabala D. A., March G. J. and Lenardón S. L. 1999. Detection of Mal de Rio Cuarto virus in Uruguay. Fitopatologia Brasileira 24: 471).
MRCV infection causes abnormal maize development and significantly reduces crop yields. The susceptible phenotype includes stunting, shortening of internodes, multiple ears with scattered grain, deformed tassel with no anthers, presence of small enations in the back of the leaves, reduced roots, cut and reduced leaves. Plants symptoms depend on phenological stage of the plant, plant genotype, and environment (Lenardón et al., "Virus del Mal de Rio Cuarto en maiz", in Proyecto de Investigaciones en Fitovirologia (Lenardón ed.), 2:10 (1999). Most severe symptoms occur when infected at the coleoptile—first leaf stage.
In the severe MRCV outbreak of 1996-1997, over 300,000 hectares of maize in Argentina were affected, resulting in losses totaling approximately $120 million. Increased populations of Delphacodes kuscheli in 2006 apparently led to a reoccurrence of the viral disease in Argentinean corn plants, which significantly affected the 2007 harvesting. Susceptible genotypes were strongly affected by MRCV at the endemic region (Córdoba Province) and moderately affected at other maize regions.
The development of molecular genetic markers has facilitated mapping and selection of agriculturally important traits in maize, and QTL for resistance to Mal de Rio Cuarto virus in maize have been identified. Microsatellite markers on maize chromosomes 1 and 8 were found to be linked to QTL for resistance to Mal de Rio Cuarto disease (DiRenzo et al. (2004) J. Agricultural Science 142:289-295), and another major QTL conferring resistance of corn to a Fijivirus was identified on chromosome 2 (WO2009/058335). In addition, QTL conferring resistance to Mal de Rio Cuarto Virus in maize were mapped to the short and long arms of chromosome 1, and chromosomes 4, 8, and 10 (Kreff et al. (2006) Journal of Basic and Applied Genetics 17:41-50).
Selection through the use of molecular markers associated with resistance to MRCV infection has the advantage of permitting at least some selection based solely on the genetic composition of the progeny. Moreover, resistance to MRCV infection can be determined very early on in the plant life cycle, even as early as the seed stage. The increased rate of selection that can be obtained through the use of molecular markers associated with the resistance trait means that plant breeding for resistance to MRCV infection can occur more rapidly, thereby generating commercially acceptable resistant plants in a relatively short amount of time. Thus, it is desirable to provide compositions and methods for identifying and selecting maize plants with enhanced resistance to MRCV infection. These plants can be used in breeding programs to generate high-yielding hybrids with resistance to MRCV infection.

Genetic loci associated with resistance of corn to fijivirus


A technique for developing an inspection program for a circuit board to be run on an AOI system includes determining a characteristic, such as average gray level, of each window of the circuit board. The positions of the windows are varied slightly to simulate expected errors in the placement of the windows relative to the circuit board. After varying the positions of the windows, the characteristic of each window is determined again. Different values of the characteristic corresponding to slightly different positions are compared for each window. Values that substantially change for a window indicate a strong sensitivity to position. These windows may be reported to a programmer for corrective action.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to automatic optical inspection systems and methods, and, more particularly, to techniques for reducing the time required to develop reliable inspection programs, particularly those deployed across large numbers of inspection machines.
2. Description of Related Art
Manufacturers of electronic equipment use automatic optical inspection (AOI) to verify the correct construction of circuit board assemblies. FIG. 1 shows a typical AOI system 100 in conceptual form. A circuit board 110 or other assembly is placed securely on a surface, such as an inspection table 112. A camera 114 is suspended above the inspection table 112 from a gantry 116, which moves the camera 114 in increments along X and Y-axes. A processor 118 controls the movement of the gantry via a control line 120 and acquires images from the camera via a data line 122. The AOI system 100 inspects the locations of features on the circuit board 110 with respect to an origin 126, which is generally located at a comer of the circuit board. Circuit boards may also include visual guideposts, called "fiducials," which the inspection system can use to determine position. An example of an AOI system is the Teradyne Optima 7300 post-reflow inspection machine.
During operation of the AOI system 100, the gantry 116 moves the camera 114 over the circuit board 110. The camera 114 scans the circuit board and acquires images. The processor 118 performs calculations on the acquired images.
Often, more than one camera is used for viewing the circuit board from different vantage points. Sometimes the camera(s) move and the circuit board remains stationary. Other times, the circuit board moves and the camera(s) remain stationary.
The techniques of image analysis used in AOI machines are generally based on small regions of interest in a field of view called "inspection windows" or simply "windows." Each window is used to inspect a particular feature of a component on a circuit board. Some windows are used for detecting the bodies of components or their edges. Others are used for evaluating the quantity or quality of solder in the solder joints that connect the components' terminals to the circuit board. Each window is generally defined in terms of its location, shape, size, the type of algorithm used, the camera and kind of lighting used, and other details.
FIG. 2 shows a typical field of view ("FOV"). The FOV 200 includes an array of pixels 210 and various inspection windows 212. A typical FOV is about 2 cm on each side. A typical inspection window is a rectangle or ellipse anywhere from about 1/50 to ⅕ of a millimeter or more in either of its dimensions. For ease of illustration, the relative sizes of the FOV, pixels, and windows shown in FIG. 2 have been greatly distorted.
AOI systems generally evaluate windows by performing simple algorithms. These may include, for example, algorithms for computing average brightness (i.e., gray level) or variance in gray level. AOI systems may also perform more complex algorithms, such as those for identifying features within a window.
AOI machines are usually installed in production lines. The installation or debugging of inspection programs is therefore generally done under tight time constraints. If a machine is tied up debugging an inspection program, an entire assembly line may be stopped, causing large costs to be incurred. The principal consumer of time in debugging an inspection program is evaluating the windows for their ability to discriminate good boards from bad.
A typical inspection program examines about 10,000 windows, and some of the windows are very sensitive to position. Some windows are sensitive by intent, e.g., a programmer may wish to use a window to reject a component that is only slightly misplaced. We have recognized, however, that other windows are unintentionally sensitive. For instance, a window may be located close to, or partly on, a bright printed legend or label on the circuit board. Another window may contain a bright spot at the edge of the window in an otherwise dark field. A very slight error in placement of the window from one board to the next, or from one system to the next, may cause a large shift in the value returned by the algorithm that tests such a window.
One source of error in the placement of windows arises from quantization. The lighting, placement of the camera(s) are controlled digitally, and images recorded by the camera(s) are stored in digital form. It is a well known that the last bit of any digitized representation has an error of at least +/−½ the value of the least significant bit for that quantity.
Another source of errors is speed. Servo placement is never exact. One can reduce the errors in servo placement if one is willing to wait a longer time for the servo position loops to close, but speed is of the essence in AOI applications, so a band of uncertainty is generally accepted.
Other variations occur between systems. These variations arise because machines cannot be reproduced exactly, but are instead built and calibrated within manufacturing tolerances.
Many production facilities have multiple lines that manufacture the same product. Such is the case in the personal computer, consumer electronics, and automotive electronics industries, where production volumes are generally too high to be sustained by a single production line. In such multiple-line installations, it is important that the AOI machines all use the same inspection program.
It is often difficult to make an inspection program that is repeatable and consistent when deployed across many AOI machines. Even when two machines are identical within their normal manufacturing tolerances, they may still be different enough to cause a sensitive window to read differently. If the differences are large enough, a circuit board that passes on one machine will fail on another.


A method for call admission control in a fast dynamic channel allocation wireless communication system begins by requesting that a call be admitted. System measurement results are obtained and timeslot sequences are generated by determining a figure of merit for each timeslot. A code set is determined and an attempt is made to assign a code set to a timeslot sequence, wherein each successful assignment is considered to be a solution. The solution having the lowest weighted total interference signal code power is selected, and codes are allocated for the selected solution. The physical resource allocation information is recorded and a response to the call admission request is issued.

An important problem in the operation of a wireless communication system is how to efficiently use the available bandwidth to provide good service to as many customers as possible. It is known that radio resource management (RRM) is responsible for utilizing the air interface resources in order to guarantee quality of service (QoS), to maintain the planned coverage area, and to offer high capacity.
Call admission control (CAC) is a part of RRM, and accepts or rejects a request to establish a radio access bearer in the radio access network. Whenever there is a call coming, the RRM CAC entity in the controlling radio network controller (C-RNC) should check whether there are sufficient physical resources to meet the request of the call. If so, the RRM CAC entity will allocate the resources for the call; otherwise it will reject or queue the request. It is desirable to provide a method for implementing a F-DCA CAC procedure for optimizing allocation of physical resources.

Method for implementing fast dynamic channel allocation (F-DCA) call admission control in radio resource management


An assembly has a tracheal tube and an adaptor having a connecting tube insertable in the tracheal tube and a connecting piece connectable with a resuscitation tube. The adaptor has at least one clamping member adapted to press a part of the tracheal tube located on the connecting tube from outside and yielding during mounting the tracheal tube so as to secure the tracheal tube against removal from the connecting tube. The clamping member is formed so that prior to pushing of the tracheal tube onto the connecting tube the clamping member has a smaller radial spacing from the connecting tube than a wall thickness of the tracheal tube.

The present invention relates to an adaptor with a tracheal tube.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an adaptor with tracheal tube, which has a connecting tube insertable in the tracheal tube and the connecting piece connectable to a resuscitation tube.
For the resuscitation of patients endotracheal tubes are connected via an adaptor to the resuscitation tubes leading to resuscitors or respirators. Therefore the adaptors form the connecting piece between an individual adapted endotracheal tube and the resuscitation tubes. As a function of the patient, the internal diameter of the endotracheal tubes can vary between 2 and 10 mm. There is often also a need of not only adapting the endotracheal tube diameter to the patient, but also its length. Thus, prior to intubation, the treating doctor or surgeon often has to cut the endotracheal tube to a desired length and then connect it to the adaptor.
Adaptors are known having a connecting tube on which the endotracheal tube is engaged. This connecting tube passes into a connecting piece to which the resuscitation tubes are connected. The connecting piece generally has an internal diameter of at least 10 mm. The connecting tube can have a conical outer wall, which passes in a very flat or shallow manner towards the mouth. On pushing on the endotracheal tube, the latter widens in accordance with the conical configuration of the connecting tube. This is intended to provide a good grip of the endotracheal tube on the connecting tube. However, disconnection problems occur with these known adaptors. As a result of saliva and the heat present in the oral cavity, the already soft material endotracheal tube becomes so soft that it can be detached from the adaptor connecting tube. It is therefore necessary to constantly check the correct seating of the endotracheal tube, because otherwise there is a risk of disconnection between the tube and the adaptor.


A dielectric filter includes a pair of transverse electric (TE).sub.10 -mode resonators connected in series. Each resonator has a conductor formed on substantially the entire surface of a dielectric body. On the connection surfaces of the resonators are formed grooves, respectively. On the inner surfaces of the grooves, central gaps are formed in the conductors. The pair of resonators are connected at their connection surfaces to combine the grooves to form a coupling-adjustment hole having an axis parallel to the interface between the resonators. The gaps combine to form a coupling window. The groove form a coupling-adjustment hole, through which the coupling window is accessible for being adjusted. The coupling window electromagnetically couples the pair of resonators.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dielectric filters and dielectric duplexers, and in particular, to a dielectric filter and a dielectric duplexer for use in a microwave or milliwave-band communication apparatus or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 14, a known conventional dielectric filter 30 is formed by connecting in series transverse electric (TE).sub.10 -mode dielectric resonators 31a and 31b. Conductors 33a and 33b are formed on substantially the entire surfaces of rectangular parallelepiped dielectric bodies 36a and 36b, except that on the connection surfaces of the resonators 31a and 31b, rectangular coupling windows 32a and 32b having no the conductors are respectively formed. Connecting the resonators 31a and 31b causes the coupling windows 32a and 32b to correspond to each other, and the resonators 31a and 31b are inductively or capacitively coupled via the coupling windows 32a and 32b. In this arrangement, the connection surfaces of the resonators 31a and 31b are not exposed to the outside of the dielectric filter 30. At ends of the resonators 31a and 31b are formed input/output electrodes 34a and 34b which are isolated from the conductors 33a and 33b. The resonators 31a and 31b are also provided with external coupling holes 35a and 35b. The central frequency of the dielectric filter 30 is determined by dimensions in the length direction (x direction denoted by an arrow in FIG. 12) and the width direction (y direction denoted by an arrow in FIG. 12) of the resonators 31a and 31b. In addition, other characteristics (the electromagnetic coupling amount, pass-band width, etc. between the resonators 31a and 31b) of the dielectric filter 30 are determined by the sizes of the coupling windows 32a and 32b and so forth.
In general, when the characteristics of a dielectric filter are to be adjusted, characteristics such as the pass-band width are measured, with a plurality of resonators connected to one another, and then the adjustment is performed by changing the sizes of the coupling windows 32a and 32b and so forth in accordance with the measured results. However, with the conventional dielectric filter 30, when the resonators 31a and 31b are connected to each other, the coupling windows 32a and 32b are not exposed at the outer surfaces of the dielectric filter 30. Accordingly, in order to expose the connection surfaces of the resonators 31a and 31b on which the coupling windows 32a and 32b are formed, it is necessary to separate the resonators 31a and 31b. In addition, after performing an adjustment by using a cutting tool like a router to cut the conductors 33a and 33b peripheral to the coupling windows 32a and 32b to change the sizes of the coupling windows 32a and 32b and so forth, the resonators 31a and 31b must be connected again. Accordingly, the adjustment operation is complicated. Also, after changing the sizes of the coupling windows 32a and 32b and so forth, it is difficult to restore the connection between the resonators 31a and 31b with preferable reproducibility, which causes a problem in the stability of the characteristic adjustment.

Dielectric filter and dielectric duplexer


An information processor includes a power-saver which switches a display memory to a power-saving state that causes image data to be lost and restores the display memory from the power-saving state. A storage area stores a predetermined activation condition and an activation routine mechanism activates a predetermined routine when the activation condition is satisfied. A routine termination mechanism ends the routine and an image data re-creation mechanism executes re-creation of the image data on the display memory when the routine is terminated. Provided are: an activation condition rewriting mechanism which rewrites the activation condition stored in the storage area so that the routine is activated when the display memory is switched to or restored from the power-saving state; and an activation condition restoration mechanism which restores the rewritten activation condition to the original condition after the routine is activated.

The present invention relates a power-saving method utilizing a function of a program such as a screen saver, a power-saving program and an information processor to which they can be applied.
Since power consumed by a graphics chip in a personal computer has been increasing recently, there have been introduced techniques for suppressing power consumed by a VRAM, a graphics memory, by reducing the frequency of clocks to be supplied or by stopping power supply as a part of power management (see patent document 1, for example). Such power-saving techniques for a VRAM is traditionally used for switching to a power-saving mode via suspend or hibernation.
In the case of switching to a power-saving mode via suspend or hibernation, the display condition of a monitor must be restored to the original condition before the switching to the power-saving mode when the mode is restored from the power-saving mode to a normal mode. Accordingly, the context of the VRAM is generally stored before switching, and after restoration to the normal mode, the context is recovered to the original condition before switching to the power-saving mode, based on the stored context. However, when the OS itself supports power management, the OS performs initialization of and image data re-creation on the VRAM when the VRAM is restored to the normal mode, and therefore storage of the context of the VRAM and restoration thereof based on the stored data are not required. In the case where an OS does not support power management as Windows®1 (registered trademark) NT 4.0, storage and recovery of the context of a VRAM are performed. The Windows mark is owned by the Microsoft Corporation.
On the contrary, in the case of an OS supporting power management such as Windows® (registered trademark) XP/2000/Me/98, there is provided a screen off timer function for powering off the monitor when a personal computer is left for a preset period of time. This function stops display of a LCD panel or an external CRT via an interface such as APM (Advanced Power Management), ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) and DPMS (Display Power Management System) if there is no input from a keyboard or a mouse during a preset period of time, so that power consumption of the entire system can be saved.
(Patent Document 1)
Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-298536
According to the prior-art techniques described above, however, when storing and recovering the context of a VRAM, area and time for storing the context is required. Especially when using a hibernation technique, it is necessary to store the context of a VRAM in a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk. These days, the size of VRAM is increasing, and the data transfer rate for storage cannot be ignored. For example, in order to store the context of a VRAM with 64 MB in a hard disk, time of more than thirty seconds is required. Since the VRAM cannot be used during this time period, and the process progress condition cannot be displayed.
In a power-saving mode with a screen off timer, even when the monitor is powered off and display is unnecessary, supply of power or clocks to a VRAM is still continued.
A purpose of the present invention is to make a power-saving mode via suspend or hibernation available without necessity of storing contents of a VRAM and performing recovery based on the stored data even when an OS does not support power management, in consideration of the above problems of the prior-art technique. It is another purpose to enable supply of clocks or power to VRAM to be easily stopped without necessity of storing contents of a VRAM and performing recovery based on the stored data, when display on the monitor is unnecessary.

Method of terminating a screen saver and re-creating image data of a display memory upon power restoration from an idle state


An alternate cigarette is in a form of cigar or cigarette with a moisture content of 12-13%, which is prepared from a composition comprising a herb medicinal mixture of Artemisia vulgaris Linne, Morus bombycis Koidzumi, Ziziphus jujuba Miller, Polygala tenuifolia Willdenow, Asiasarum heterotropoides var. seoulense F. Maekawa, Eugenia caryophyllata Thunberg, Cnidium officinale Makino, Evodia officinalis Dode and Thuja orientalis Linne powders and Arisaema amurense Max var. Serratum Nakai, Angelica koreana Maximowicz and Brassica juncea Cosson extracts, in combination with 1-10 wt % of starch syrup and 0.1-1 wt % of glycerol on the basis of the weight of the herb medicinal mixture. With the alternate cigarette, a smoker can be restrained from smoking, get rid of tension and stress and relieve himself or herself from the smoking motives, such as psychological tone, anxiousness, wrath, melancholy, etc, while feeling a smoking sense and not experiencing medical effects including cough remedy and discharge of phlegm.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a novel smoking favorite which is harmless and, more particularly, to a non-toxic alternate cigarette with which a smoking sense and abstinence from smoking can be effected.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Nicotiana tabacum, an annual grass which belongs to a tobacco genus of an eggplant family, is cultivated to use its leaves.
Generally, tobacco leaves are known to contain such harmful ingredients as nicotine and tar at an amount of 1-8%. Particularly, as many as about 4,000 chemicals are present in the smoke of tobacco and it is well known that smoking is a main cause of various diseases including lung cancer and coronary artery disorder. The bad effect of smoking was examined since 1930s and is now found to be mainly attributed to the carcinogen (tar) and the toxicant (nicotine). In fact, it is reported that the attack rate with lung cancer increases as a smoking population increases and non-smokers suffer from the smoke from smokers.
Nicotine, a colorless, volatile liquid alkaloid, is so fatally poisonous and it stimulates the nerve tissues, such as cerebral nerve, cerebellum and affects vertebra leading to paralysis. Recently, with an increasing interest in carcinogenesis, many researchers have reported that nicotine could cause carcinomas in lung, larynx and esophagus.

Alternate cigarette and method for preparing the same

130-10 Chungdam-Dong, Kamgnam-Ku, Seoul 135-100


The present invention relates to an individual vehicle usable in a manual or a motorized version, in particular a wheelchair or a tricycle, including a chassis (1) provided at the rear with two bearings designed to receive removable wheels (2). According to the invention, this vehicle is able to be equipped with a self-contained propulsion unit (12) comprising driving wheels (13), a structure (14) for rotationally driving the driving wheels, a support suitable for supporting the bearings when the removable wheels (2) are removed, a locking device suitable for cooperating with a retaining device (11) provided on the chassis (1) when the bearings rest on the support, and a control (17) for moving the locking device between an active and an inactive position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an individual vehicle usable in manual or motorized versions, in particular a wheelchair or a tricycle, including a chassis provided at its rear with two bearings designed to receive removable wheels.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The choice of a wheelchair can depend on the nature of the user's handicap, on the activities that he or she practices and on the environment. A person having little activity outside the home may thus choose a wheelchair without a motor, whereas someone who wishes to travel over long distances may chose a motorized wheelchair.
Motorized wheelchairs require no physical effort on the part of their users and can thus be used very easily by severely handicapped persons. However, as they are bulky, it is often difficult to use them in a confined space such as a dwelling. They are, furthermore, difficult to transport and expensive.

Individual vehicle usable in a manual or a motorized version, in particular a wheelchair or a tricycle

Etablissements Poirier (Societe Anonyme)


An automated method of disinfecting door handles of units such as disinfecting apparatus. Disinfecting occurs in response to a predetermined function or state, such as the termination of a cleansing operation in a disinfecting apparatus, established time intervals, or a set number of manipulations of the door handle. The door handle may be disinfected by physically moving the handle into the disinfecting apparatus chamber. Alternatively, the handle may be sprayed or impregnated with a disinfecting solution. As another alternative, the door handle may be covered with a sterile, protective film. As a final alternative, the door handle may be disinfected by thermal convection.

It has become apparent in hospitals, clinics, laboratories, doctor's offices, and the like that door handles are cleaned quite irregularly only and, therefore, present a constant source of contamination, germs, bacteria, and the like. Specifically, it was found that when loading disinfecting apparatus, washers, sterilizing equipment, and the like the handle of the apparatus becomes contaminated and on removal of the disinfected, asepticized, or sterilized articles germs are transmitted from the door handle by the hands of the user to the disinfected articles. To avoid such problems, so far the handle had to be decontaminated manually prior to each removal from the disinfecting apparatus and, as experience tells us, often that was not done. It is also known to overcome the above mentioned difficulty by providing a door without a handle and opening or closing it by levers which are foot-operated. Yet the corrresponding structures are expensive and they do not prevent the operator from touching, almost automatically, the outside of the door which usually is contaminated.

Method of automatically disinfecting door handles of disinfecting units


Ion implantation equipment is modified so as to provide filament reflectors to a filament inside of an arc chamber, and to remove the electrical insulators for the filament outside of the arc chamber and providing a means of shielding, thereby reducing the formation of a conductive layer on said insulators and greatly extending the lifetime and reducing downtime of the equipment. The efficiency of the equipment is further enhanced by means of an interchangeable liner for the arc chamber that increases the wall temperature of the arc chamber and thus the electron temperature. The use of tungsten parts inside the arc chamber, obtained either by making the arc chamber itself or portions thereof of tungsten, particularly the front plate having the exit aperture for the ion beam, or by inserting a removable tungsten liner therein, decreases contamination of the ion beam. Serviceability of the arc chamber is improved by means of a unitary clamp that separately grips both the filament and filament reflectors. This clamp can also advantageously be made of tungsten.

In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, various regions of a semiconductor wafer are modified by diffusing or implanting positive or negative ions (dopants), such as boron, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony and the like, into the body of the wafer to produce regions having varying conductivity. As the size of semiconductor devices becomes smaller, as in the manufacture of LSI and VLSI devices, the devices and interconnections between them are set closer together. This results in more efficient use of the wafer and increased speed of operation of the devices, but concomitantly requires more precision in the placement of the conductivity modifiers. Improvements in the equipment used to carry out the doping have also been made.
Diffusion, which involves depositing conductivity modifying ions on the surface of a wafer and driving them into the body of the wafer with heat, has limitations in establishing tight control of geometries because the diffusion process drives ions into a wafer both laterally and perpendicularly. Thus ion implantation, which can drive ions into a wafer in an anisotropic manner, has become the doping method of choice for the manufacture of modern devices.
Various ion implanters are known, using several types of ion sources. An ion beam of a preselected chemical species is generated by means of a current applied to a filament within an ion source chamber, also fitted with a power supply, ion precursor gas feeds and controls. The ions are extracted through an aperture in the ion source chamber by means of a potential between the source chamber, which is positive, and extraction means. Allied acceleration systems, a magnetic analysis stage that separates the desired ions from unwanted ions on the basis of mass and focuses the ion beam, and a post acceleration stage that ensures delivery of the required ions at the required beam current level to the target or substrate wafer to be implanted, complete the system. The size and intensity of the generated ion beam can be tailored by system design and operating conditions; for example, the current applied to the filament can be varied to regulate the intensity of the ion beam emitted from the ion source chamber. State of the art ion implantation systems have been described by Plumb et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,200 and by Aitken in U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,589, both incorporated herein by reference.
The most common type of ion source used commercially is known as a Freeman source. In the Freeman source, the filament, or cathode, is a straight rod that can be made of tungsten or tungsten alloy, or other known source material such as iridium, that is passed into an arc chamber whose walls are the anode.
The arc chamber itself is fitted with an exit aperture, with means for feeding in the desired gaseous ion precursors for the desired ions; with vacuum means; with means for heating the cathode to about 2000.degree. K. up to about 2800.degree. K. so that it will emit electrons; with a magnet that applies a magnetic field parallel to the filament to increase the electron path length; and with a power supply connected from the filament to the arc chamber.
When power is fed to the filament, the filament temperature increases until it emits electrons that bombard the precursor gas molecules, breaking up the gas molecules so that a plasma is formed containing the electrons and various ions. The ions are emitted from the source chamber through the exit aperture and selectively passed to the target.
The filament is insulated with electrical insulators that also act to support the filament. The insulators are made of high temperature ceramic materials, such as alumina or boron nitride, that will withstand high temperatures and the corrosive atmosphere generated by precursor gas species such as BF.sub.3 or SiF.sub.4, and fragments thereof. The insulators, it turns out, severely limit the lifetime of the ion source. Although the exact number and type of ions that are generated in the source chamber are not known with certainty, various ions generated in the chamber can react both with the graphite or molybdenum walls of the chamber and with other ions in the chamber to form reaction products that deposit on the surface of the insulator, forming a conductive coating. For example, when BF.sub.3 is fed to the source chamber, chemical reactions with carbon from the graphite chamber walls and fluorine produce various carbon-fluoride species, such as CF and CF.sub.2, which further react to form a fine dust that coats the insulator. Conductive compounds may also be generated from other parts of the source chamber. Even a very thin conductive coating short circuits the arc supply and interferes with the stability of the ion beam emitted from the source chamber, eventually rendering it unusable. At this point the chamber must be cleaned and the insulators and filament reconditioned or replaced. This is the most common and most frequent cause of downtime for ion implanters.
Some prior art workers have made suggestions to prevent formation of this conductive coating on the insulators. For example, it is known to change the geometry of the electrical insulators in an arc chamber to reduce formation of the coating, but this does not greatly extend the lifetime of the unit. Others have suggested shields for the insulators to protect them from forming a conductive coating; however, the shields themselves add instabilities to the system. A cleaning discharge to etch off the coating inside the chamber has also been tried, but with mixed success since still other ions are formed during etching that can introduce other instabilities and undesired ions within the chamber.
Thus a method of reducing or eliminating the formation of a conductive coating on the filament insulators, thereby extending the time between the need for servicing the arc chamber and reducing down time for the ion implanter, would be highly desirable; further, reducing contamination of the ion beam and improving the ionization efficiency would all contribute to the economies of ion implantation.

Ion implantation apparatus having increased source lifetime