A portable battery jump start unit of the type having a portable housing containing a battery to which cables carrying battery clamps are permanently connected. The clamps are stored on rectangular posts on the sides of the housing, with flat areas on the jaw ends of the clamps held against the flat sides of the posts to prevent rotation. An end plate on each post prevents the clamps from slipping off. A storage compartment for a battery charger has slots in its bottom panel to receive electrical prongs of the charger body to hold the charger body in place when stored.

Battery jumper cables are commonly used to jump start automobiles and other vehicles having batteries that are discharged. A booster battery, typically one on another vehicle, is positioned in the vicinity of the discharged battery to allow use of the jumper cables to bypass the discharged battery and start the disabled vehicle. Once the vehicle has been started, its battery is charged to its normal voltage level by a generator or alternator carried on the vehicle.
Among the disadvantages of jump starting vehicles in this manner is the need for another vehicle having a properly charged battery. If the disabled vehicle is in an isolated location or if another vehicle is not readily available for some other reason, this procedure can involve considerable delay. Even then, it is necessary for space to be available close enough to the discharged battery for the second vehicle to be positioned where the cables can be extended between the two batteries. It is not unusual for the cables to be attached improperly to the battery terminals, and such improper connections can cause damage to the battery or electrical system of one or both vehicles.
In recognition of these and other problems, self-contained jump start units have been developed. On these devices, a booster battery is contained inside of a housing and is equipped with cables and battery clamps that are connected to the battery terminals, either permanently, removably, or through a switch. A vehicle with a discharged battery can be started by connecting the clamps of the jump start unit to the battery terminals of the disabled vehicle and using the booster battery to bypass the discharged battery.
In recent years, portable jump start units that can be carried by hand from place to place have been available in addition to larger wheel mounted units. The portable device is only slightly larger than a modern automotive battery and can be conveniently carried on a vehicle so that it is available in the event of a problem with the normal vehicle battery. It is also easy to position the jump start unit close to the discharged battery in situations where limited space is available. An example of a portable jump start unit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,292.
A problem with the portable jump start units that have been proposed in the past is the way in which the battery clamps are stored when they are not being used. The clamps are often connected permanently to the battery terminals, and they are always "live" (although units with switches have been available). Therefore, the clamps should be stored so that they are protected from being inadvertently contacted by other objects or by the other clamp of the jump start unit. Units such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,292 not only fail to secure the clamps in a secure and stable position when they are not being used, but they actually allow the clamps to turn about a round pin against which the jaws of the clamp are closed.
Another problem has been that the clamp handles or other parts of the clamps can project (due to rotation or otherwise) beyond the plane of the front or back of the housing. Consequently, if the unit is lying on a conductive surface, the only thing preventing a short circuit is insulation on the clamps, which can be worn away or otherwise lose its insulative effect.
Battery chargers are usually provided with the jump starter so that the booster battery can be maintained in a fully charged condition. The battery charger normally has a body containing a transformer that can be plugged into an electrical outlet. A plug carried on a cord extending from the charger body can be inserted into a jack on the jump starter housing in order to make charging current available to the battery contained in the housing.
If the battery charger is to be available when needed, it must be stored with the jump start unit. Portable units that have been available in the past and have provided for storage of the battery charger have stored the charger either in a simple cavity, where it can fall out, or loosely in a storage compartment, where it can rattle around unduly and fall out when the compartment is opened.

Battery jump starter with jaw securing means


Techniques for determining and displaying error messages including a cause of an error generated because two types are not members of the same nest are disclosed. The system detects, at runtime, an instruction in a first type that attempts to access a private member of a second type. The system evaluates one or more nestmate criteria to determine whether the first type and the second type are within a same nest. A nest host corresponding to the nest specifies each nest member of the nest, and each nest member specifies an association with the nest. Responsive to determining that a particular nestmate criterion is not met, the system determines that the first type and the second type are not within the same nest and records or displays data identifying the particular nestmate criterion that has not been met, and throws an access error.

In object-oriented programming, a class can traditionally constrain access to its members by declaring them as private. Only code in the class itself can access the class's private members, that is, read or write a private field, or invoke a private method. In addition, some object-oriented programming languages allow the members of a class to themselves be classes, not just fields and methods. A class that is a member of another class is called a "nested" class; it may be declared private like any other member. A private nested class (and its members) may only be accessed by code in the "enclosing" class that declares it as a member, and by code in other nested classes of that enclosing class. In some environments, the family of nested classes that are all declared as members of the same enclosing class are referred to as a "nest". Access from one class in the nest to another class in the nest is achieved by having each class record, statically, the nest to which the class belongs. However, classes can be produced independently of each other, and thus become out of sync. In particular, a class may record that it belongs to a nest while other classes in the nest believe that it does not. When the class tries to access a private member in one of those other classes, the system will disallow the access and throw an exception.
It is typically unclear to the user why the exception is being thrown. That is, there are myriad reasons that such an exception may be thrown, and this is compounded by a large number of classes. A developer can only remedy the exception if he or she can reconstruct the access attempt, which relies on being able to answer these questions.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.


Methods, systems, and computer-readable mediums containing programmed instructions are disclosed for detecting an intrusion in a communications network. Data packets processed by a transport layer of a network protocol associated with the communications network are scanned using signatures from a repository of the signatures. A determination is made if the scanned data packets are malicious. One or more actions are taken if any data packets are determined to be malicious. Methods, systems, and computer-readable mediums containing programmed instructions are also disclosed for preventing an intrusion in a communications network.

Communications network security generally and computer network security in particular are frequently the objects of sophisticated attacks by unauthorised intruders, including hackers. Intruders to such networks are increasingly skilled at exploiting network weaknesses to gain access and unauthorized privileges, making it difficult to detect and trace such attacks. Moreover, security threats such as viruses and worms do not need human supervision and are capable of replicating and travelling to other networked systems. Such intrusions can damage computer systems and adversely affect vital interests of entities associated with the affected network.
Existing Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) are unsuitable for deployment on every host in a network due to problems that are inherent in the architecture of such NIDS. NIDS use promiscuous mode capture and analysis, which induces significant overhead on the system and are vulnerable to insertion and evasion attacks.
Ptacek, Thomas H., and Newsham, Timothy N., "Insertion, Evasion and Denial of Service: Eluding Network Intrusion Detection", (http://secinf.net/info/ids/idspaper/idspaper.html), describe further details, including network intrusion detection.

Host-based network intrusion detection systems

International Business Machines Corporation


Two embodiments of a guard are provided for protecting a padlock securing stanchion levers in their door locking position. An opening in the front wall of the guard permits its use with padlocks having long shackles as well as those with regular length shackles while retaining the compactness not normally retained for the extended length of the shackles. The preferred construction lock guard has a pitched roof and a pair of legs on its laterally outer sides extending downwardly behind the stanchion lever at laterally opposite sides of the stanchion latching mechanism that increase stability, rigidity of the housing and protection of the latches.

Thieves who break into moving vans, tractor trailers and other cargo containers use a variety of tools such as sledge hammers, acetylene cutting torches, saws, grinders and the like. The bolt cutter is a favored tool of burglars for cutting padlocks because of its portability and reduced time, light and sound generation; thus there is a need to protect padlocks used on containers, moving vans, semi-trailers, truck trailer units and storage facilities. Tractor trailers with twin rear doors are secured by a pair of vertical stanchions, at least one of which has a locking handle or lever, which is normally secured by padlock to prevent rotation of the stanchion, thus maintaining the doors in a locked condition. It is also desirable to provide protection for padlocks securing similar operating levers of doors of containers or storage facilities. It is desirable to keep the lock guard relatively small to make it more difficult for thieves to access the lock. Additionally, it is important to some container owners, due to the high value or sensitivity of their loads, to shield the retainer catch and pivoted locking latch because those components can be cut to gain entry while leaving the lock untouched.

Lock guard for long shackle padlock over handle


The present invention is directed to a phosphoric ester of 2,3-dihydroxypropyl cellulose or 3-(2,3-dihydroxypropoxy)-2-hydroxypropyl cellulose, the cellulose having optionally undergone partial carbamidation, and to a metal absorbent employing the ester, and to a metal-absorbing apparatus employing the metal adsorbent.

Currently known metal adsorbents include a material having a functional group which adsorbs metal ions and which is chemically bonded to a carrier and a low-molecular-weight compound having such a functional group, which compound is enclosed by a carrier so as to prevent elution of the compound. Examples of such metal-adsorbing functional groups include a carboxyl group, a sulfonate group an amino group, an imino group, a thiol group, and a phosphoric group. Such metal-adsorbing functional groups exhibit preference to metal species which are readily adsorbed. For example, the sulfonate group predominantly adsorbs monovalent metal ions such as potassium and sodium, whereas the carboxyl group and the phosphoric group can adsorb a wide variety of metal ions, including calcium and magnesium. The amino, imino, and thiol groups are reported to adsorb heavy metal ions well. Thus, the metal-adsorbing functional group is appropriately selected in consideration of a target metal species to be adsorbed. Regarding the carrier, a variety of species are employed, and examples include vinyl resins such as styrene resin and acrylic resin, and natural materials such as cellulose (powder, fiber, and gel), chitin, chitosan, and wool. In a typical production process of metal adsorbents, a metal-adsorbing functional group is introduced into a polymerizable monomer, and then the monomer is polymerized, from the viewpoint of easiness of synthesis and uniformity of the products. The thus-produced polymers are known to be ion-exchange resin and chelate resin. In another production process, a metal-adsorbing functional group is chemically introduced into a natural material such as cellulose or wool from the viewpoint of low material and production costs.
Meanwhile, metal adsorption performance of metal adsorbents varies depending not only on the chemical structure of the material that constitutes the adsorbents but on the product form thereof also. Generally, resin-based materials are molded into beads by virtue of the moldability thereof. However, such beads products have problems in relation to water treatment efficiency in that a large number of functional groups are confined inside the beads; that rates of diffusion of metal ions and a regenerating agent into the resin decrease due to the hydrophobicity of resin; and that the minimum adsorption level increases.
The mode of employing a metal adsorbent is also limited by its product form. For example, in the case of removal of metals contained in water, a metal adsorbent which is produced through graft polymerization of a resin material or a material chopped into small pieces with a metal-adsorbing functional group can be employed by feeding the metal adsorbent into water so as to adsorb metals and recovering the metal adsorbent through centrifugation or filtration. Alternatively, the above metal adsorbent is employed in a column. When the particle size of the above metal adsorbent is small, high-speed and high-efficiency filtration is impeded, which is not suited for treatment of a large amount of water.
When treatment for removing or recovering metals, particularly softening of water, removal of hazardous metals from industrial wastewater, removal of hazardous metals from polluted soil, or recovery of useful metals, is performed, the volume- and the area-to-be-treated becomes large, and thus a large amount of metal adsorbent is required Thus, preferably, the metal adsorbent for the above uses exhibits high adsorption performance and is inexpensive and regenerative
The phosphoric group, serving as a metal-adsorbing functional group, has the following characteristic features: 1) one single phosphoric group can adsorb a divalent metal ion, thereby attaining high metal adsorption performance, 2) the phosphoric group readily releases a hydrogen ion in an acidic pH region, whereby metals contained in a solution can be adsorbed within a wide pH range; and 3) the minimum metal ion adsorption level is low. Cellulose, serving as a carrier, has the following characteristic features: 1) the fibrous structure of cellulose provides high rigidity; 2) a large number of functional groups are exposed to the fiber surface; and 3) high processability.
In consideration of the above characteristic features, metal adsorbents including a carrier made of natural material and a phosphoric ester group have drawn attention. Hitherto, there have been known such products and techniques in relation thereto including cellulose phosphoric ester for use in removal of heavy metals and radioactive metals (Patent Document 1); cellulose phosphoric ester having high mechanical strength produced by employing sulfur powder in the production of the ester (Patent Document 2): phosphoric, acetic, or benzoic esters of cellulose and starch for use in removal of heavy metals from water (Patent Document 3), and a filter made of cellulose having a carbamide group and a phosphoric ester group for use in removal of hardening components and heavy metals from drinking water (Patent Documents 3 and 4) However, these products are not satisfactory in terms of metal adsorption performance and economy. Therefore, keen demand has arisen for a low-cost metal adsorbent which exhibits higher metal adsorption performance, higher rate of reaction with metals, higher mechanical strength, higher processability, higher adaptability, higher reusability, etc.    Patent Document 1: Russian Patent No. 2096082 C1    Patent Document 2: WO 99/28372    Patent Document 3: German Patent Application Laid-Open No. 19859746 A    Patent Document 4: Japanese kohyo Patent Publication No. 2003-500199

Phosphoric ester of cellulose derivative and metal adsorbent comprising the same

Abstract: The cellulose derivative phosphoric ester serves as a metal adsorbent which exhibits high metal adsorption performance and metal adsorption rate per unit weight; has high mechanical strength; effectively soften water or a similar liquid; removes heavy metals from wastewater or a similar liquid at remarkably high efficiency; has excellent processability and can be formed into a variety of shapes and thus is applicable within a wide range; and can readily be reutilized.


Small particle size catalysts having an average particle size of less than 20 or 10 microns, which agglomerate when contacted with a hydrocarbon liquid, are easily dispersed in the hydrocarbon liquid by first forming a mixture comprising the catalyst particles and one or more non-acidic, liquid polar oxygenates, such as an alcohol, ketone, ester, ether or mixture thereof. The mixture is contacted with the hydrocarbon liquid in which the particles then readily disperse. This process is useful for adding fresh or regenerated small particle size catalyst to catalytic hydroprocessing process slurries, including a reactive Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis slurry. One to four carbon atom alcohols are preferred oxygenates for use with a Fischer-Tropsch slurry.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to adding and dispersing small catalyst particles in a hydrocarbon liquid. More particularly the invention relates to a process for adding and dispersing a small particle size Fischer-Tropsch catalyst in a hydrocarbon slurry in a Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis reactor, by forming a mixture of the particles and a liquid, non-acidic, polar oxygenate, preferably a one to four carbon atom alcohol, and adding the mixture to the slurry.

Small catalyst particle addition to slurry reactor


System, methods, and apparatus for verifying microcircuit designs by interleaving between random and formal simulation techniques to identify input traces useful for driving designs under test into sequences of device states. In a method aspect the invention provides process for beginning random simulation of a sequence of states of a microcircuit design by inputting a sequence of random input vectors to a design under test model in order to obtain a sequence of random simulation states; monitoring a simulation coverage progress metric to determine a preference for switching from random simulation to formal methods of simulating states in the design under test; beginning formal simulation of states in the design under test and monitoring a formal coverage progress metric to determine a preference for resuming random simulation of states of said microcircuit design; and resuming random simulation. Preferably the process of interleaving simulation methods continues until an input vector suitable for driving the design under test model into each of a set of previously-identified goal states has been obtained.

The invention relates to systems and methods for verifying the design of digital microcircuits. Such digital microcircuits are now commonplace, and are used in a wide variety of applications, from desktop computers to television controls and common appliances to controllers for machinery, sophisticated weapons systems, and supercomputers. The digital microcircuit design to be tested shall be referred to as the design under test (DUT).
More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods applied to a high-level DUT model with the purpose of generating test data that, when applied to a simulation of the DUT, achieves high levels of DUT coverage and therefore has a high likelihood of finding any errors in the DUT.
One known approach has been the use of random input generators to provide input sequences to randomly "drive" the DUT model through the "state space" of possible input and internal register combinations, in the hope of feeding the model a sufficient variety of input combinations to make it possible to identify any errors in the design of DUT. Such methods provide for relatively deep penetration of the space of possible states, but do not provide acceptably broad coverage. This difficulty is aggravated by the observed tendency of even sophisticated random input generators to provide identical or very similar input sequences, or otherwise produce identical or similar DUT register states, on a repeated basis.
Other attempts have involved the use of exhaustive formal search methods. Such methods provide potentially complete coverage of the state space, but for even moderately complex DUTs the state space is so large that time and resource limits preclude the exclusive use of such methods from being effective.
The effect of prior art analysis methods are shown schematically in FIG. 1a. State space 20, which represents in two-dimensional form the space of possible input and register states of the DUT, comprises a plurality of goal states 11 and a start state 10, which typically represents the reset state for the DUT. Trace 15 represents the path through the state space followed by the DUT model in being driven by randomly-generated inputs. Trace 15 wanders relatively deeply through the state space, but without breadth and without apparent direction, and loops back over itself or near to itself at points 23. Trace 15 has intersected two goal states 13 and missed many others. Step traces 31 represent state sequences simulated in the DUT by means of formal methods. Traces 31 have covered a relatively broad but shallow region of the state space, and have located both goal states 13 located within the coverage region.
In speaking of circuit verification by computer simulation, it is useful to define several terms. A goal or coverage state is any state which is desired to be reached under test conditions to provide adequate coverage of the DUT. Typically there exist a number of tasks a circuit is designed to do, and a number of things that are recognized as undesirable for the circuit to do—that is, there exist a number of circuit states which it is desirable or undesirable for the circuit to assume. Usually a set or record of such desirable and undesirable states is maintained and used as a basis for coverage measurement and for analysis of the quality of testing. While most generally a goal state completely defines the complete register contents of the DUT, a goal state definition may specify only a subset of the register bits, and therefore specifies a boolean hyper-cube of specific states.
A formal simulation method is any method used to systematically—as opposed to randomly—simulate different states of a DUT. In particular, formal simulation methods include formal reachability methods. Formal reachability methods, in the context of this application, include any exhaustive or other mathematical techniques for finding input assignments for causing a state machine, or a state machine model, to transition from a starting state to some other state. Examples of formal simulation methods include symbolic simulation and SAT bounded model checking techniques, as disclosed herein.

Simulation-based functional verification of microcircuit designs


An Fe-based amorphous alloy of the present invention has a composition represented by formula (Fe100-a-b-c-d-eCraPbCcBdSie (a, b, c, d, and e are in terms of at %), where 0 at %≦a≦1.9 at %, 1.7 at %≦b≦8.0 at %, 0 at %≦e≦1.0 at %, an Fe content (100-a-b-c-d-e) is 77 at % or more, 19 at %≦b+c+d+e≦21.1 at %, 0.08≦b/(b+c+d)≦0.43, 0.06≦c/(c+d)≦0.87, and the Fe-based amorphous alloy has a glass transition temperature (Tg).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an Fe-based amorphous alloy applied to, for example, dust cores of transformers and choke coils for power supplies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dust cores used in booster circuits of hybrid vehicles and the like, and reactors, transformers, and choke coils used in power generation and transformer stations are produced by powder compaction of Fe-based amorphous alloy powder and binders. A metallic glass having good soft magnetic properties can be used as the Fe-based amorphous alloy.
However, in the related art, there were no Fe—Cr—P—C—B—Si-system Fe-based amorphous capable of exhibiting a high saturation magnetic flux density Bs (in particular, about 1.5 T or higher) while exhibiting a glass transition temperature (Tg).
US2012/0092111, U.S. Pat. No. 7,132,019, Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 7-93204, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-10668 disclose compositions of Fe—Cr—P—C—B—Si-based soft magnetic alloys but do not disclose an Fe—Cr—P—C—B—Si-based soft magnetic alloy capable of exhibiting a high saturation magnetic flux density Bs of about 1.5 T or higher while exhibiting a glass transition temperature (Tg).

Fe-based amorphous alloy and dust core made using Fe-based amorphous alloy powder


A wire bonding apparatus in fabricating, for example, semiconductor devices including a bonding arm that is vertically and horizontally movable and has a capillary through which a bonding wire is passed. The bonding arm is provided with a piezoelectric element which transmits a vibration to the capillary via its electric strain effect or magnetic strain effect so that the capillary performs wire bonding. With the use of the piezoelectric element that is provided near the capillary, vibrational energy loss can be minimal, and the frequency and amplitude of the vibration can be changed during each bonding operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire bonding apparatus used for, for example, semiconductor manufacturing.
2. Prior Art
In conventional wire bonding apparatuses, a bonding arm is attached to a bonding head (which is driven in the X and Y directions by an XY table) either directly or via a lifter arm. The bonding arm can move upward and downward or swing, and a capillary through which a bonding wire is passed is attached to the front end of the bonding arm. A vibrator that transmits a vibration to the bonding arm is mounted to the rear end of the bonding arm or on the bonding head side. When the wire or a ball formed at the tip end of the wire is bonded to a workpiece, the vibrator and the bonding arm are caused to resonate at an appropriate resonance frequency.
In this prior art, the attachment of the bonding arm to the bonding head or the lifter arm is limited to the node (vibrational node) of the bonding arm. In addition, there are restrictions on the shape, length, etc., of the bonding arm when obtaining a desired resonance. Thus, there are problems in terms of design and quality control. Moreover, since the vibration of the vibrator is transmitted from the rear side of the bonding arm to the capillary which is at the front end of the bonding arm, the conversion efficiency of the vibrational energy is poor. In addition, since the resonance frequency shifts due to fluctuations in the load when bonding is performed, a frequency tracking circuit must be installed to track the resonance frequency.


A bin for use in a security checkpoint can include a receptacle surface, sidewalls, a lip provided on the sidewalls, and a geometrical marker. The geometrical marker is radiographically, visually, and tactilely detectable on the lip of one side of the bin. The geometrical marker includes a plurality of tag elements.

Many security programs, including those performed at airport security checkpoints, conduct radiographic scans of objects. The objective in performing these scans is to determine the presence of forbidden items, such as firearms or other weapons. Often, radiographic scans rely on receptacles, such as divestiture bins, in which individuals place their belongings, such as bags or suitcases. Although the radiographic images provide an easy way to detect a possible forbidden item inside a particular receptacle, they do not reveal features about the exterior of the receptacle that would allow an individual viewing the physical receptacles to easily identify a particular receptacle and match it to its radiographic image. This can be particularly challenging when many similar objects, such as carry-on suitcases, are passed through a security point, and where there is a time displacement from when the radiographic images are produced to when security personnel can access the receptacles that pass through the radiographic scan. Thus, it is not possible to efficiently or reliably correlate a radiographic image of a receptacle/bin to the corresponding physical receptacle/bin.

Markers to identify bins at security checkpoints

The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Homeland Security


A free flowing silicone powder having a primary particle size in the range of 0.1-200 nm and an aggregate size of 10 nm to 200 microns which is a product formed by spray drying an organic solvent dispersion of an organosiloxane hydrolyzate having triorganosiloxy units and tetrasiloxy units.

The present invention relates to free flowing silicone resin powder having a primary particle size in the range of about 0.1-200 nm and an aggregate size in the range of about 10 nm to 200 microns. More particularly, the present invention relates to the spray drying of an organic solvent dispersion of an organosiloxane hydrolyzate comprising chemically combined triorganosiloxy units and tetrasiloxy units to form a free-flowing silicone resin powder useful in making heat curable organopolysiloxane compositions.
A method for making silicone resin powder is shown by Wolfgruber et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,484. Aqueous colloidal suspensions of resinous copolymer are spray dried to produce silicone resin powders having an average particle diameter of 10 to 150 nm. Although the spray dried powders of Wolfgruber et al can be utilized in a variety of applications as fillers, the powder still contains the emulsifying agent used in the preparation of the resinous copolymer as an impurity.
As taught by Wolfgruber et al, the silicone resin powder made by spray drying aqueous resinous copolymer can be used in plastics as a substitute for finely divided silica which has been rendered hydrophobic. However, it has been found that the aqueous spray dried powder made in accordance with the method of Wolfgruber et al having triorganosiloxy units chemically combined with tetrasiloxy units is incompatible with silicone fluids.
Attempts therefore to utilize the spray dried resinous copolymer powder made by the procedure of Wolfgruber et al to produce heat curable silicone compositions, such as pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) shown by Murakami et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,297 have been unsuccessful. It would be desirable therefore to provide a procedure for making finely divided silicone resin powder which is dispersible with silicone fluids and useful for making heat curable silicone compositions.

Free flowing silicone resin powder and method for making


A magnetic memory is composed of: a magnetoresistance element including a free magnetic layer; a first interconnection extending in a first direction obliquely to an easy axis of the free magnetic layer; a second interconnection extending in a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction; and a write circuit writing data into the free magnetic layer through developing a first write current on the first interconnection, and then developing a second write current on the second interconnection with the first write current turned on. The free magnetic layer includes: first to N-th ferromagnetic layers and first to (N−1)-th non-magnetic layers with N being equal to or more than 4, the i-th non-magnetic layer being disposed between the i-th and (i+1)-th ferromagnetic layers with i being any of natural numbers equal to or less than N−1. The free magnetic layer is designed so that antiferromagnetic coupling(s) between the j-th and (j+1)-th ferromagnetic layers is stronger than that between the first and second ferromagnetic layers, j being any of integers ranging from 2 to N−2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to magnetic memories, more particularly to magnetic memories incorporating synthetic antiferromagnet free layers that are composed of multiple ferromagnetic layers separated by non-magnetic layers.
2. Description of the Related Art
The magnetic memory (MRAM) is one of the promising non-volatile semiconductor storage devices. A memory cell of the magnetic memory is typically composed of a magnetoresistance element including a fixed magnetic layer and a free magnetic layer separated by a spacer layer; data is stored as the direction of the magnetization of the free magnetic layer. Reading data from a memory cell is achieved on the basis of the change in the resistance of the magnetoresistance element resulting from the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect or the Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect. A thin insulating layer is used as the spacer layer for a magnetic memory based on the TMR effect, while a thin non-magnetic layer is used for a magnetic memory based on the GMR effect.
One of the issues of magnetic memories is selectivity of memory cells during write operations. A typical magnetic memory achieves writing data into a selected memory cell through developing write currents on selected word and bit lines associated with the selected memory cell. Ideally, data is not written into a half-selected memory cell associated with only one, not both of the selected word and bit lines; however, data may be undesirably written into a half-selected memory cell through variances of the magnetic fields for inversing the magnetization of the free magnetic layer within the memory cell. Avoiding such undesirable data write operations is one of the important issues for developing a commercially-available magnetic memory.
In order to improve the selectivity of memory cells, Savtchenku et al. discloses a technique that adopts synthetic antiferromagnets for free magnetic layers in U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,906; it should be noted that the synthetic antiferromagnet designates a stacked structure composed of two or more ferromagnetic layers separated by one or more intermediate non-magnetic layers, designed so that two adjacent ferromagnetic layers are antiferromagnetically coupled through exchange interaction. Those skilled in the art would appreciate that the antiferromagnetic coupling based on the exchange interaction is achieved by appropriately selecting the thickness and/or the material of the intermediate non-magnetic layer.
An advantage of the use of a synthetic antiferromagnet for a free magnetic layer is that the synthetic antiferromagnet is stable against the external magnetic field. This result from the fact that total magnetic moment of the synthetic antiferromagnet is ideally allowed to be zero; although the term "synthetic antiferromagnet" may generally mean to that which has a certain resultant magnetic moment, the term "synthetic antiferromagnet" in this specification is intended to include that whose the total magnetic moment is zero.
The stability of the synthetic antiferromagnet against the external magnetic field may seem to cause difficulty in data write operations into the free magnetic layer; however, such difficulty is resolved by a special data write operation, referred to as toggle writing, hereinafter, as disclosed by Savtchenku et al.
FIG. 1 is a section view illustrating the structure of an MRAM memory array adapted to toggle writing disclosed by Savtchenku et al., and FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating the structure of the MRAM memory array. As shown in FIG. 1, the MRAM memory array is composed of a word line 101, a bit line 102, and a memory cell 103 connected between the word line 101 and the bit line 102; those skilled in the art would understand that FIG. 1 partially illustrates the structure of the MRAM memory array, which incorporates a plurality of word lines, bit lines, and memory cells. The memory cell 103 incorporates a fixed magnetic layer 104, a free magnetic layer 105, and a tunnel barrier layer 106 disposed therebetween. The fixed magnetic layer 104 and the free magnetic layer 105 is each composed of a synthetic antiferromagnet; the fixed magnetic layer 104 is formed of a pair of ferromagnetic layers 111 and 112 separated by a non-magnetic layer 113, and the free magnetic layer is formed of a pair of ferromagnetic layers 114 and 115 separated by a non-magnetic layer 116. Hereinafter, magnetizations of the ferromagnetic layers 114 and 115 are denoted by symbols M1, and M2, respectively, and a resultant magnetization of the free magnetic layer 105 is referred to as a symbol MR.
As shown in FIG. 2, the easy axes of the ferromagnetic layers 114 and 115 are directed at an angle of 45° with respect to the word and bit lines 101 and 102. The magnetization M1 of the ferromagnetic layer 114 is directed antiparallel to the magnetization M2 of the ferromagnetic layer 115. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a procedure of the toggle writing disclosed by Savtchenku et al. As shown in FIG. 2, an x-y coordinate system is defined for easy understanding in the following. The x-axis is defined along the word line 101, while the y-axis is defined along the bit line 102.
Referring to FIG. 3, the toggle writing operation begins with developing a current IWL directed in the positive x-direction on the word line 101 at a time t1. As shown in FIG. 4, the current IWL induces a magnetic field HWL in the positive y-direction, and the developed magnetic field HWL slightly rotates the magnetizations M1 and M2 of the ferromagnetic layers 114 and 115 toward the positive y-direction. The rotation angles of the magnetizations M1 and M2 are determined so that the resultant magnetization MR is directed in parallel with the +y direction.
As shown in FIG. 3, this is followed by developing a current IBL directed in the +y direction on the bit line 102 at a time t2. As shown in FIG. 4, developing the current IBL results in developing a synthetic magnetic field HWL+HBL directed at an angle of 45° with respect to the x and y axes. The synthetic magnetic field HWL+HBL rotates the magnetizations M1 and M2 in a clockwise direction so that the resultant magnetization MR thereof is directed in parallel with the synthetic magnetic field HWL+HBL.
The current IWL on the word line 101 is then terminated at a time t3. The termination of the current IWL results in only the magnetic field HBL, directed in the positive x-direction, is effected on the ferromagnetic layers 114 and 115. The magnetic field HBL further rotates the magnetizations M1 and M2 so that the resultant magnetization MR thereof is directed in parallel with the magnetic HBL.
Finally, the current IBL on the bit line 102 is then terminated at a time t4. The termination of the current IBL removes the magnetic field from the magnetizations M1 and M2, allowing the magnetizations M1 and M2 to be directed in parallel with the easy axes. As a result, the magnetizations M1 and M2 are reversed into the opposite directions to the original directions thereof. It should be noted that the toggle writing reverses the magnetizations M1 and M2, independently of the original directions thereof.
For the practical application, it is important to reduce the magnetic field necessary for reversing the magnetizations within the free magnetic layer 105 (which may be referred to as the spin-flop field, hereinafter), that is, the current level of the write currents developed on the word and bit lines 101 and 102.
Engel discloses a technique for reducing the current level necessary for "toggling" the magnetizations within the synthetic antiferromagnet, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,446. As shown in FIG. 5, the Engel's magnetic memory is composed of a free magnetic layer 105 which includes a synthetic antiferromagnet 114 formed of ferromagnetic layers 114a and 114b separated by a non-magnetic layer 114c; a synthetic antiferromagnet 115 formed of ferromagnetic layers 115a and 115b separated by a non-magnetic layer 115c, and a non-magnetic layer 116 disposed between the synthetic antiferromagnets 114 and 115.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,906 disclosed that there are no upper limits of magnetic fields for achieving the toggle writing, an inventors' study has proved that there are upper limits of magnetic fields for successfully achieving the toggle writing. More specifically, the magnetizations of the ferromagnetic layers within the free magnetic layer are aligned in the same direction, when excessively large magnetic fields are applied to the free magnetic layer along the word and bit lines; directing the magnetizations within the free magnetic layer in the same direction causes uncertainty of the directions of the magnetizations after the removal of the magnetic fields, unsuccessfully completing the toggle writing. Improvement in the stability of the toggle writing requires increasing the upper limits of magnetic fields for successfully achieving the toggle writing.
There is a need for increasing the upper limits of magnetic fields for successfully achieving the toggle writing, and thereby improving the operation range of the magnetic memory.

Magnetic memory adopting synthetic antiferromagnet as free magnetic layer


A square tubular steel frame extends between inner and outer concrete footing form walls and prevents the inner and outer form walls from bowing inwardly and causing an undesirable narrow footing width, or bowing outwardly and causing a form blowout. The steel frame is adjustable in width to accommodate the narrowest to the widest footings. A lower bracket supports the bottom of the form, and is adjustable in height. Each end of the frame is replaceable to accommodate a single form thickness, or to accommodate overlapping forms. The frame is reusable, easy to set up, and simple to take down and move to the next job, and is safe to use.

The present invention relates to the masonry field, especially to the art of laying up forms in which concrete footings are poured. Forms for concrete footings are set up with an inner and outer wall and are usually made of dimensional lumber or heavy plywood panels, or may even be manufactured aluminum panels. The inner and outer walls confine the liquid concrete and give it its final shape and dimension. Depending on the type of structure being set on these footings, the inner and outer walls may be spaced apart 12 inches, 16 inches, 24 inches or wider. Problems occur when the concrete confined between the inner and outer walls exerts a force on the forms pushing them apart until they collapse under the force resulting in what's known as a blowout. Blowouts not only cause loss of money to the contractor due to the loss of the concrete that escapes the forms, but much labor is needed to clean up the blowout and to reset the forms.
Another problem that is encountered when pouring the footings is that the top edges of the forms sometimes tend to curve inward toward each other due to the forces pushing outwardly at the bottom edges of the forms. This can result in an upper surface of the footing being too narrow to pass inspection. If this happens, the entire footing must be redone to get the proper width to meet local building codes.
Efforts have been made to correct these undesirable situations. A typical approach is to nail wooden spacers across the top of wooden forms, and to drive support stakes alongside the forms and to nail the forms to the stakes. While this approach can be effective in some circumstances, the wooden spacers are generally not reusable, are not adjustable, and do not have the strength required for large forms with a large width. Driving stakes into the ground is labor intensive, and can result in injuries due to missing the stakes with the sledge hammer and striking ones hands. Further, wooden spacers and supporting stakes cannot be used on aluminum forms at all. Another approach is to use metal clips that clip between the upper edges of the inner and outer form walls. Again, these clips do not have the necessary strength for large forms and they are not adjustable.

Form frame for concrete footings having means to prevent relative movement between the form boards and the ground surface


An exhaust gas purification system which feeds hydrocarbon by a post-injection under preset conditions to an upstream side of an exhaust gas purification device positioned on the exhaust path of an internal combustion engine, restoring the purifying capacity of the device or purifying the exhaust gas of the device. Under hydrocarbon feed conditions, if a combination of the exhaust gas temperature and exhaust gas flowrate or intake flowrate during control is deemed to be in a misfire region in which hydrocarbon which is fed to the exhaust path no longer combusts in the exhaust gas purification unit, the feed of hydrocarbon is stopped. As a result, it is possible to prevent deposit of hydrocarbon on catalysts or other exhaust gas purification units of the device, making it possible to constantly maintain the temperature of the unit in a controllable state.

The present invention relates to an exhaust gas purification system and an exhaust gas purification method which make it possible to prevent an unburned hydrocarbon from being adsorbed into an exhaust gas purification unit, such as a diesel particulate filter ("DPF") or a catalyst, for purifying exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine and maintain the temperature of the exhaust gas purification unit always in a controllable state.
An exhaust gas purification system for an internal combustion engine, such as a diesel engine, mounted on a vehicle is provided with a device using a DPF unit for removing particulate matter (PM) in exhaust gas, or an exhaust gas purification device including a lean NOx trap catalyst (LNT catalyst) unit in which a NOx storage reduction catalyst, a selective reduction catalyst (SCR), or the like is supported for removing nitrogen oxides (NOx) by reduction in a lean atmosphere.
For the DPF unit, the following method for recovering a PM collection ability is employed. Specifically, when a PM collection limit is approached, forced regeneration is performed in which the temperature of the exhaust gas is raised to combust and remove PM collected in the DPF unit. Thus, the PM deposited in the DPF unit is combusted and removed. For raising the temperature of the exhaust gas in the forced regeneration, post injection is performed by in-cylinder fuel injection after a piston passes a top dead center, and unburned fuel injected by the post injection is fed into an exhaust passage, or hydrocarbons (HC), which are unburned fuel, are fed into an exhaust passage by injecting fuel directly into the exhaust path from a fuel injection device provided in the exhaust passage. The hydrocarbons are oxidized in an oxidation catalyst unit of the exhaust gas purification device, and the exhaust gas whose temperature is raised by the heat of the oxidation is sent to the DPF unit. Thus, the temperatures of the DPF unit and the PM collected in the DPF unit are raised to be not lower than a temperature at which the PM can be combusted. In this manner, PM is combusted and removed.
Meanwhile, for the exhaust gas purification unit using a NOx storage reduction catalyst, the following method is employed. Specifically, in a rich control for recovering a NOx storage ability, post injection or direct fuel injection into an exhaust passage is employed, and hydrocarbons are combusted in an oxidation catalyst unit or the like to consume oxygen in the exhaust gas and raise the temperature of the exhaust gas. Then, the exhaust gas is fed to the NOx storage reduction catalyst to convert the surface state of the NOx storage reduction catalyst to a rich and high-temperature state. Thus, NOx occluded in the NOx storage reduction catalyst is released, and also the released NOx is reduced by a catalytic action.
In addition, for an exhaust gas purification unit using a hydrocarbon selective reduction catalyst (HC-SCR catalyst) for removing NOx, the following method is employed. Specifically, hydrocarbons such as fuel are injected to an upstream side of the hydrocarbon selective reduction catalyst by direct fuel injection into an exhaust passage, and the hydrocarbons are used as a reducing agent to reduce NOx in the exhaust gas by a selective reduction catalyst.
As described above, in some exhaust gas purification methods for exhaust gas purification systems provided with exhaust gas purification devices for purifying exhaust gas, hydrocarbons, which are fuel for internal combustion engines such as light oil, are fed to the upstream side of the exhaust gas purification devices, which are provided with an oxidation catalyst unit, a DPF unit, or a lean NOx catalyst unit in which a NOx storage reduction catalyst, a hydrocarbon selective reduction catalyst, or the like is supported, under predetermined hydrocarbon feed conditions preset respectively for the exhaust gas purification units at their respective timings and in their respective feed amounts.
However, there is a problem that when hydrocarbons are added in a case where the exhaust gas temperature is not higher than the activation start temperature (light-off temperature) of hydrocarbons in each of the exhaust gas purification units, the hydrocarbons are not combusted on the catalyst, but adsorbed into the catalyst.
Moreover, by way of many experiments, the present inventors have found that, even in a case where the exhaust gas temperature is near the activation start temperature and hydrocarbons are being combusted, if the flow rate of the exhaust gas increases because of acceleration of the vehicle on which an internal combustion engine is mounted or the like, the flame of the combustion is blown out and a misfiring phenomenon occurs in some cases.
It is also found that the HC-poisoned catalyst due to adsorption of the unburned hydrocarbons undergoes a phenomenon in which when a state where hydrocarbons are not combusted is shifted to a state where the exhaust gas temperature rises to a temperature not lower than the activation start temperature, the hydrocarbons are combusted at once and the state becomes uncontrollable. In this state, the temperature of the catalyst rises abnormally, causing degradation of the catalyst or dissolution loss of the DPF. In addition, this phenomenon may also occur in a desulfurization control of a lean NOx trap catalyst (LNT catalyst).
In this respect, as described in Japanese patent application Kokai publication No. 2011-153591 (Patent Document 1), an exhaust gas treatment method and device for an internal combustion engine are proposed in order to prevent abnormal combustion in a DPF filter occurring in an exhaust gas treatment device provided with a pre-stage oxidation catalyst and a DPF filter in a exhaust gas passage of an internal combustion engine when the state of the internal combustion engine changes from a high-load state to a low-load state. Specifically, in the method and device, when operation which may cause abnormal combustion in the DPF is detected, an intake air throttle valve is fully opened to increase the exhaust gas flow rate. Thus, the DPF filter device is cooled by taking heat away by sensible heat of the exhaust gas, and the oxygen concentration around the DPF filter is lowered by continuing late post injection, so that abnormal combustion of PM collected in the DPF filter is suppressed.
In this case, the abnormal combustion of PM collected by the DPF filter is suppressed, which is different from the above-described abnormal combustion of hydrocarbons. However, the above-described abnormal combustion of hydrocarbons is highly likely to cause abnormal combustion of PM collected in a DPF filter. This indicates the importance of suppression of the abnormal combustion in an exhaust gas purification unit.

Exhaust gas purification system and exhaust gas purification method


A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode (1) containing lithium cobalt oxide as a positive electrode active material, a negative electrode (2) containing molybdenum dioxide as a negative electrode active material, and a non-aqueous electrolyte. The mass ratio of the negative electrode active material to the positive electrode active material is within the range of from 0.725 to 0.480. The conductive agent of the negative electrode consists of a carbon material having a lattice constant C0 along a stacking direction of from 6.7 Å to 6.8 Å, as determined by X-ray diffraction, or the negative electrode contains no conductive agent made of carbon material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries. More particularly, the invention relates to a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising a positive electrode employing lithium cobalt oxide as the positive electrode active material, a negative electrode employing molybdenum dioxide as the negative electrode active material, and a non-aqueous electrolyte, and the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is characterized in that it is capable of preventing the battery performance from degrading and of obtaining a sufficient battery capacity even when the battery is continuously charged with a very small current while being kept at a constant voltage for a long period of time.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, which employs a non-aqueous electrolyte solution and has a high electromotive force, has been widely used as a new type of secondary battery that achieves high power and high energy density.
This type of non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery has been used as a power source for backing up memory data in mobile devices, in addition to use in a primary power source of mobile devices. In recent years, power sources for memory backup have been demanded to have higher energy densities as primary power sources in mobile devices tend to have higher energy densities.
The positive electrode active materials commonly used for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries are lithium-transition metal composite oxides such as lithium cobalt oxide, lithium nickel oxide, and lithium manganese oxide having a spinel structure. The negative electrode active materials commonly used therefor include lithium metal, lithium alloys, carbon materials capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium ions, lithium titanium oxides, and molybdenum oxides.
In recent years, a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery of the type described above has been proposed, which employs LiCoO2 or LiNiO2 as the positive electrode active material, and molybdenum oxide or iron sulfide as the negative electrode active material to prevent considerable deterioration in battery performance because of the heat used in reflow soldering (see Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-243454, for example).
When the above-described non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is used as a power source for memory backup with a working voltage of about 3.0 V, it is necessary that the battery be charged with a very small current of about 1 μA to 5 μA while being kept at a constant voltage of about 3.0 V for a long period of time.
In the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery used as a power source for memory backup with a working voltage of about 3.0 V, a problem with using lithium manganese oxide having a spinel structure as the positive electrode active material is that because of its low specific capacity, the battery capacity cannot be high, and the storage performance is also poor. A problem with using LiCO1/3N1/3Mn1/3O2, LiNiO2, and the like as the positive electrode active material is that the working voltage becomes lower than that obtained with lithium cobalt oxide LiCoO2, so a sufficient capacity cannot be obtained when the battery is used with a working voltage of about 3.0 V.
In the case that the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery employing lithium cobalt oxide LiCoO2 as the positive electrode active material is used as a power source for memory backup with a working voltage of about 3.0 V, it is possible to use lithium titanium oxide Li4Ti5O12 or a molybdenum oxide, such as MoO2.5 and molybdenum dioxide MoO2, as the negative electrode active material.
A problem with using Li4Ti5O12 as the negative electrode active material is that the filling density is poorer than the molybdenum oxides, and a high battery capacity will not be attained. A problem with using a molybdenum oxide having a high oxidation number such as MoO2.5 is that the working voltage becomes higher than when using molybdenum dioxide MoO2, so that a sufficient capacity cannot be obtained.
For these reasons, in order to obtain a sufficient capacity when using a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery as a power source for memory backup with a working voltage of about 3.0 V, it is believed preferable that the positive electrode active material be lithium cobalt oxide LiCoO2 and the negative electrode active material be molybdenum dioxide MoO2.
Nevertheless, when the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery employing lithium cobalt oxide LiCoO2 as the positive electrode active material and molybdenum dioxide MoO2 as the negative electrode active material is used as a power source for memory backup with a working voltage of about 3.0 V, the battery performance considerably degrades.
The reason is as follows. In the case that a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery that has a positive electrode employing lithium cobalt oxide as the positive electrode active material and a negative electrode employing a carbon material as the negative electrode active material is used as the main power source of an ordinary portable device, the negative electrode is charged to about 0.1 V versus lithium metal during charge. Consequently, a surface film with good ionic conductivity forms on the surface of the carbon material of the negative electrode. This surface film keeps the negative electrode and the non-aqueous electrolyte solution from reacting with each other, making it possible to prevent decomposition of the non-aqueous electrolyte solution and destruction of the structure of the negative electrode.
In contrast, when the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is used as a power source for memory backup with a working voltage of about 3.0 V, the positive electrode active material, lithium cobalt oxide, cannot yield a sufficient specific capacity unless it is charged at 4.0 V or higher versus lithium metal, and if the potential of lithium cobalt oxide becomes 4.2 V or higher versus lithium metal, decomposition of the non-aqueous electrolyte solution becomes considerable at the positive electrode. For this reason, the negative electrode can be charged only to about 1.0 V versus lithium metal, and the surface film will not be formed on the negative electrode surface.
Generally, a carbon material such as carbon black is added to the negative electrode as a conductive agent in order to enhance the conductivity in the negative electrode. However, as described above, because the surface film with good ionic conductivity does not form on the negative electrode surface, the carbon material used as the conductive agent in the negative electrode reacts with the non-aqueous electrolyte solution, causing decomposition of the non-aqueous electrolyte solution and destruction of the structure of the negative electrode. Thus, the battery performance is degraded.

Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery


A transfer apparatus for rod-shaped articles, such as cigarettes, comprising a housing rotatably mounted to a fixed main shaft with a plurality of cooperating crank arms and article holders rotatably mounted to the housing by crank arm shafts and holder shafts. The crank arms and article holders are rotated in response to rotation of the housing by means of a plurality of endless toothed belts cooperating between toothed pulleys on the main shaft and the crank arm shafts and a plurality of endless toothed belts cooperating between toothed pulleys on the main shaft and on the holder shafts.

In the production of rod-shaped articles such as cigarettes, the articles come from a rod maker either as individual articles or as a continuous rod which is cut or otherwise separated into individual articles of a desired length. Such rod-shaped articles are aligned initially in a serial, end-to-end file. However, for the purpose of further processing and/or packaging, it is desirable to align the rod-shaped articles in a file of parallel rows.
This function has typically been performed by an apparatus which includes a conveyor for conveying a rod-shaped product or rod-shaped articles, a knife or other device for cutting the product into discrete rod-shaped articles if the product is not already separated into discrete rod-shaped articles at the maker, a rotary "spider mechanism" having a plurality of crank arms attached thereto, each crank arm having a holder for picking up an individual rod-shaped article from the serial end-to-end file and for moving the article to a position to be released to a rotary drum which forms the articles into a file of parallel rows. Such a transfer apparatus is well-known and conventional in the cigarette making art and is manufactured by, among others, Hauni-Werke Korber & Co. KG of Hamburg, Germany. Exemplary of such conventional transfer apparatus are the apparatus shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,051,947; 4,408,621; and 4,465,083.
The spider mechanism is a complex device in that, in order to transfer rod-shaped articles from a moving end-to-end or serial file to a file of parallel rows, the pickup devices or article holders move parallel to and at essentially the same speed as the serial file to remove each individual article from the file in succession. Each holder is then rotated to a position where the lateral holder speed is essentially zero so that the article can be transferred to a rotary drum to convert the serial file along one axis to a file of parallel rows each parallel to the serial file axis. The holders are typically maintained essentially parallel to the serial file axis throughout their travel and follow an orbital or elliptical path in response to the combined rotation of the spider mechanism housing housing and the crank arms relative to the spider mechanism. The spider mechanism can also be operated in the reverse direction to convert a file of parallel rows to an end-to-end or serial file.
One typical spider mechanism is disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,947 to Schumacher et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. That patent illustrates a spider mechanism in which a plurality of holders and crank arms are rotatably mounted to a rotatable housing for counterrotation relative to the housing. In order to coordinate the relative motion of the housing, holders and crank arms, a planetary gear assembly is required. Because gearing is used, the gears must be lubricated and seals must be provided at the rotational interfaces between the holders and the crank arms and between the crank arms and the rotatable housing. The seals are prone to wear and ultimately to failure or leakage. Since there may be six to eight or more crank arm and holder combinations with as many as four seals for each combination, the number of individual seals subject to leakage can multiply rapidly. The consequence of such failure or leakage is that lubricant contaminates the rod-shaped articles being processed by the transfer device. This results in either costly sorting to eliminate the contaminated articles from the uncontaminated articles or, in the case of cigarette articles, disposal of the entire batch. In addition, the replacement of seals in the spider mechanism involves a time consuming disassembly and reassembly process.

Transfer apparatus for cigarettes and other rod-shaped articles


Palatable compositions are disclosed which are useful as salt substitutes comprising calcium ascorbate as the major component in combination with minor constituents including sodium chloride, sodium ascorbate, free ascorbic acid and potassium chloride. The palatable compositions are characterized by an appealing salt-like taste and have a pH in aqueous solution preferably in the range of about 4 to about 5.

The overconsumption of sodium chloride has been blamed for a wide range of human ailments including high blood pressure, coronary disease and heart attacks. Indeed, medical research has shown that a reduction in the amount of sodium salt intake can be accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the blood pressure of hypertensive patients. Thus, great emphasis has been placed on low "salt" diets in which most, if not all, the sources of sodium chloride salt are eliminated. Many products abound in which the major constituent of the low "salt" formulation or salt substitute is potassium chloride or sodium iodide.
For example, "a sodium-free yet saline tasting composition of matter" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,968,566. Potassium chloride contributes about seventy percent by weight of the compositions described in particular examples of this patent, although the claimed composition can comprise from about forty to about ninety parts potassium chloride. Calcium ascorbate is only a minor constituent of the compositions disclosed in this patent. Language reciting a limitation of "from about four to about fifteen parts" of ascorbate (either as calcium ascorbate or as free ascorbic acid) appears as a specific element of the claims of this patent. Such a high proportion of potassium chloride, such as that disclosed in this patent, renders the resulting composition inherently susceptible to the bitter after taste of potassium chloride.
Vitamin C and its salts, including calcium ascorbate, are, of course, quite old in the art and have been utilized most commonly as stabilizers or preservatives, as well as in vitamin supplements. Vitamin C has also been the subject of inventions relating to various granulation methods. For instance, Canadian Patent Number 846,155 discloses a method of granulating ascorbic acid with an alkali metal chloride. More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,310 discloses granulation products of calcium ascorbate which also contains a number of solid organic acids, including citric acid and ascorbic acid. The pH of the granulated product of this patent is preferably in the range of 5.5 to 7.0, and the product, thus, is described as being "prevented from being colored."
There, thus, remains a need for a dietary low "salt" substitute that possesses substantially all the desirable olfactory characteristics of conventional table salt, while significantly lowering the intake of sodium chloride. The discovery of such a palatable composition that is, in addition, able to provide nutritional amounts of calcium and Vitamin C would be a significant achievement.


A method for solution polymerizing ethylene wherein an ethane purge stream is separated, subjected to high efficiency cryogenic distillation, and a side cut from that distillation recycled to the polymerization process while the overhead and bottoms from that distillation are removed from the polymerization process.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the solution polymerization of ethylene. More particularly, this invention relates to the recovery of ethylene for recycle purposes from such a process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, polyethylene has been formed by polymerizing ethylene while dissolved in a solvent such as hexane. The resulting single liquid phase solvent solution (solution or single phase solution) also contains a polymerization catalyst. The polymerization reaction is carried out in the single liquid phase containing at least ethylene and catalyst dissolved in a solvent. Optionally, one or more co-monomers can be present. For sake of clarity and brevity, this invention will be described in respect of polymerizing ethylene alone to form linear high density polyethylene (HDPE). However, one or more co-monomers can be employed in the practice of this invention.
The polymerization of the ethylene monomer is carried out using a series of stirred reactors followed by a tubular (plug flow) reactor. The plug flow reactor is employed upstream of an adsorber to accomplish product uniformity with a uniform residence time distribution for the reactants in that reactor. By "plug flow," what is meant is substantially uniform fluid velocity distribution across a transverse cross-section of a reactor, and maintenance of that flow as that fluid passes longitudinally through the reactor from its entrance to its exit. This gives all portions of that process fluid essentially uniform residence time in the reactor.
Downstream of the last (plug flow) reactor a catalyst deactivator is injected into the solution, and the resulting mixture introduced into an adsorption pressure vessel which adsorbs various compounds and decomposition components from the single phase solution. The polymerization reaction is carried out at an elevated temperature of from about 150 to about 280 degrees Centigrade (C) at a pressure of from about 2,000 to about 4,000 psig. The adsorption step of this process is also carried out in this high pressure range.
The adsorbent material used in this pressure vessel is typically a particulate material. These particles adsorb from the single phase liquid solution catalyst, various catalyst moieties, and by-products (residue) from the decomposition of the catalyst deactivator. The adsorbent is typically activated alumina particles such as alumina spheres about 1.7 millimeters in diameter.
The HDPE process must be carried out in a single phase solution. If two phases (a polymer rich phase and a separate solution rich phase) is allowed to form in the reaction zone or in the adsorption zone, a phenomenon known in the art as "frosting" or "two-phasing" occurs wherein solid polymer forms and separates out from the single phase solution. Although two-phasing is desired downstream of the reactors and adsorbers, it is not desirable in the interior of the reactors and adsorbers because solid polymer that comes out of solution and deposits in the equipment in those zones.
Process conditions such as temperature, pressure, and mass composition of the single phase solution stream can determine whether the stream will stay in the single phase or move toward two-phasing. For example, an elevated ethane content can induce two-phasing. If two-phasing is allowed to continue unchecked, the reactors, adsorbers, and/or associated equipment in which the two-phasing occurs will eventually plug up with solid polyethylene deposits thereby requiring shutdown of the plant, and clean up of at least the affected equipment, a costly event in terms of lost production and clean-up expenses.
Downstream of the adsorption step two-phasing is deliberately induced in a separation unit. This is accomplished by way of a series of de-pressurization steps to form the desired, at this point in the process, formation of distinct polymer rich and solution rich phases. In this separation step, the polymer rich phase is physically separated from the solvent rich phase. The separated polymer rich phase is processed further to provide the desired polyethylene product of the process.
The separated solvent rich phase is processed to remove impurities and to separate solvent from un-reacted ethylene so that the recovered, separate solvent and un-reacted ethylene streams can be recycled to and reused in the afore described ethylene polymerization process.
Ethane is one of the impurities formed in the foregoing polymerization process. This impurity, in part by way of the ethylene recycle stream, tends to build up in concentration in the fluid circulating in the polymerization process, and, if allowed to build up to a substantial extent, will cause polyethylene prematurely to come out of the single phase solution and cause undesired polymer plugging problems upstream of the aforesaid separation unit.
To prevent undesired build up of ethane in the polymerization process, a purge stream has heretofore been taken from the ethylene recycle stream upstream of the last step employed to remove impurities from that recycle stream before it is returned as feed to the polymerization process. In order to keep the ethane content of the polymerization process below a level where solid polyethylene prematurely separates out from the single phase solution, a purge steam of substantial volume was removed from the process. A substantial amount of un-reacted ethylene was lost with this purge stream.
It is desirable to minimize the amount of purge stream taken from the polymerization process while still maintaining the ethane content in the overall polymerization process at a level below that at which solid polyethylene forms and comes out of the single phase solution upstream of the separation step. It is also desirable to minimize the amount of ethylene lost from the polymerization process, and to improve the purity of the un-reacted ethylene that is recovered and recycled to the polymerization process. This invention accomplishes all of these desirables at the same time.

Ethylene recovery from a polymerization process


A conductive winding assembly combining a bent conduction sheet member and a covering member is provided. The bent conduction sheet member has a channel. The covering member includes a connection part, a first lateral plate, a second lateral plate, and a hollow part. A first groove is arranged between the first lateral plate and the connection part. A second groove is arranged between the second lateral plate and the connection part. The bent conduction sheet member is inserted into the covering member through the first groove and the second groove, and the connection part is inserted into the channel. The bent conduction sheet member is partially accommodated within the hollow part, and the bent conduction sheet member is partially exposed outside the covering member through the hollow part.

A transformer is a magnetic device that transfers electric energy from one circuit to another circuit through coils in order to regulate the voltage to a desired range for powering an electronic device. Moreover, the use of the transformer may increase or decrease the voltage of the AC power, change impedance, stabilize voltages and isolate circuits.
Conventionally, the transformer includes at least one winding coil assembly, a magnetic core assembly and a bobbin. Moreover, the transformer may further comprise a covering member for sheltering the winding coil assembly in order to increase the creepage distance of the winding coil assembly and the insulating efficacy of the transformer.
Nowadays, the transformer in the industrial power supply apparatus is designed for withstanding large current. As known, the winding coil assembly of the conventional transformer is usually composed of enameled wires, and the conventional transformer has no heat-dissipating mechanism. After the transformer has been used for a certain time period, heat is readily accumulated within the transformer and winding loss of the winding coil assembly is increased. Under this circumstance, the temperature of the overall transformer is increased, and the performance of the transformer is deteriorated.
For solving the above drawbacks, some transformers use copper sheets as the winding coil assemblies in replace of enameled wires. Consequently, the winding loss and the temperature are effectively reduced. That is, the transformer includes copper sheets, a magnetic core assembly and a bobbin. However, due to the assembling tolerance, the copper sheets are readily rocked and aren't easy to be positioned. Moreover, since the winding coil assembly is encapsulated by the covering member, the heat-dissipating efficacy is also unsatisfied.
Therefore, there is a need of providing a bent conduction sheet member, a covering member and a conductive winding assembly combining the covering member and the bent conduction sheet member in order to eliminate the above drawbacks.

Bent conduction sheet member, covering member and conductive winding assembly combining same


The invention provides a fiber cloth inspecting method for inspecting a fiber cloth regarding sparse density, filament break, various kinds of mark, fabric runs, break, weaving validation, and dyeing uniformity. The method includes following steps: scanning the fiber cloth by a scanning light beam; retrieving a light pattern generated by the scanning; generating an inspecting result information according to the light pattern in relation to the fiber cloth; and analyzing the fiber cloth regarding sparse density, filament break, various kinds of mark, fabric runs, break, weaving validation, and dyeing uniformity according to the inspecting result information.

Fibre cloth is widely used in modern life. The fibre cloth is applied to various objects, such as clothes, a cover of equipment shell, and architectural materials. And the quality of these objects is relative to the property of the fibre cloth, such as the strength and the stiffness of the fibre cloth. In view of this, the inspection of fibre cloth is therefor so important in order to choose the fibre cloth with good quality.
Traditional fibre cloth inspecting method includes tensile strength testing, tensile rigidity testing, tensile elastic testing, flexural strength testing, and deformation testing, etc. Since these traditional methods could not be processed without destroying the material of fibre cloth itself, it thus leads to the fact that it only allows a portion of fibre cloth to be tested rather than the whole fibre cloth to be test, and that portion of fibre cloth should not be a portion of fibre cloth that is to be processed in the following procedures. Moreover, the result of these traditional methods can only be taken as a reference report while producing real product of fibre cloth. In addition, in the process that fibre is manufactured to become fibre cloth, the process will affect the quality of the fibre cloth, so the reference report generated by the above traditional methods is rather doubtful.

TAIWAN POWER TESTING TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A a cabinet with a sliding drawer, including: a housing; two opposing outer slides attached to inner surfaces of opposite sides of the housing; two inner slides attached to the sliding drawer and disposed in and telescopingly engaging the outer slides; and two first rollers contacting the inner slides and having their axes attached to the sides of the housing, with the axes of the first rollers spaced below a lower edge of the outer slide. Further, a cabinet with a sliding drawer, including: a housing having opposite side panels and front and rear ends; two opposing slide mechanisms attached to inner surfaces of the side panels and to sides of the sliding drawer; and the slide mechanisms being downwardly sloped from the front end of the housing toward the rear of the housing a degree sufficient to compensate for sagging from horizontal the sliding drawer may experience when extended from the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cabinets generally and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to novel cabinet and sliding drawer with improved roller construction, improved manufacturability, and a drawer that remains essentially horizontal when fully extended from the cabinet.
2. Background Art
Cabinets with one or more drawers are universally used for the storage and ready accessibility of a wide variety of materials, small parts and business papers being common examples of such materials.
Some such cabinets and drawers are constructed with telescoping two- or three-piece drawer slides, with one of the slides being attached to the drawer and another of the slides being attached to the inside of the cabinet, such a drawer slide assembly being employed on either side of the drawer. In may cases, the slides have one or more wheels, or rollers, disposed between adjacent ones of the slides, the roller(s) being mounted inside the smaller of the slides. This greatly reduces the sliding friction between the slides, but the diameter of the roller is necessarily limited and, therefore, the reduction in sliding friction is limited to the capabilities of a roller having a given diameter. The width of the slides in which the rollers are mounted is somewhat narrow, leading to instability and the tendency for the roller and its corresponding slide to become disengaged.
Cabinet drawer slides are typically horizontally attached to the drawer and to the inside of the cabinet. This arrangement results in the outer end of the drawer dropping somewhat downwardly when the drawer is fully or nearly fully withdrawn from the cabinet, due to the weight of the drawer and because the slides have a certain amount of "play" therebetween as a result of wear or intentional design clearances, the latter being required so that the slides move freely.
Cabinets are typically constructed of metal, with an outer housing having side, rear, top, and bottom walls formed or permanently attached together, sometimes with front rails or a front wall extending between the side walls, separate members being welded together. Slides are usually spot welded to the inside surfaces of the side walls. If an error or defect in one of the members is discovered during manufacture or at final inspection, the entire work to that point must usually be discarded.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved drawer slide for a cabinet in which the slide has at least one roller having a diameter which can be greater than the internal height of the smaller slide and a width which can be greater than the width of the slide in which it would conventionally be mounted.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved cabinet and drawer with which the drawer is substantially horizontal when fully or nearly fully withdrawn from the cabinet.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide an improved cabinet and drawer slide construction that reduces the amount of material that must be discarded due to defects.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved cabinet in which the foregoing features are economically manufactured.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features, elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.

Cabinet and sliding drawer having improved features


A polymer electrolyte includes a heat-treated polymerization product of a polyurethane-based compound and a polyethylene(meth)acrylic acid, wherein the polyurethane-based compound is produced by polymerizing a diisocyanate-based compound, a phosphoric acid-based polyol, and a chain extender. The polymer electrolyte has a high ionic conductivity at high temperatures without causing deformation of an electrolyte membrane. The polymer electrolyte membrane can be inexpensively and simply manufactured, and the thickness of the membrane can be easily controlled. In addition, a large amount of phosphoric acid can be impregnated into the polymer electrolyte. A fuel cell that is operative at a temperature of 100° C. or higher under non-humidified conditions and has improved energy generating efficiency can be prepared by employing the polymer electrolyte membrane.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relates to a polymer electrolyte. More particularly, aspects of the present invention relate to a polymer electrolyte having excellent ionic conductivity at high temperatures and that does not cause deformation of an electrolyte membrane, a method of preparing the same, and a fuel cell using the polymer electrolyte.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, ionic conductors, which are materials in which ions, such as, for example, protons, move when a voltage is applied, are widely known. Ionic conductors are used in electrochemical devices such as batteries, electrochemical sensors, or the like.
Fuel cells contain an ionic conductor, and, in terms of energy generating efficiency, system efficiency, long-term durability of constituent members, require a proton conductor that stably exhibits excellent proton conductivity for a long time at an operating temperature of 100 to 300° C. under non-humidified conditions or low-humidified conditions, such as a relative humidity of 50% or less.
Solid polymer-type fuel cells that meet this requirement have been developed. However, a solid polymer-type fuel cell that includes a perfluorocarbonsulfonic membrane as an electrolyte membrane has a disadvantage of insufficient energy generating efficiency at an operating temperature in the range of 100 to 300° C. under a relative humidity of 50% or less.
Further, there are fuel cells that include an electrolyte membrane having a substance that triggers proton conductivity, fuel cells that use a silica diffusion membrane, fuel cells that use an inorganic-organic composite membrane, fuel cells that use a phosphoric acid-doped graft membrane, and fuel cells that use an ionic liquid composite membrane.
In addition, a solid polymer electrolyte membrane formed of polybenzimidazole doped with a strong acid, such as a phosphoric acid or the like, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,436.
However, such solid polymer electrolyte membranes described above cannot stably exhibit energy generating efficiency for a long time at high temperatures. In particular, long term stability is insufficient at a high operation temperature of 100 to 300° C. under non-humidified conditions or in a relative humidity of 50% or less.

Polymer electrolyte, method of preparing the same, and fuel cell using the polymer electrolyte


An adjustable amount of liquid is reproducibly withdrawn from a container having a pre-chamber in free flow communication with the interior of the container. The pre-chamber is initially filled with an amount of liquid from the container and is in communication with a measuring chamber. The measuring chamber has an adjustably pre-set volume and is in communication with a closeable outlet. Thus, after the amount to be withdrawn from the measuring chamber has been adjusted, discharge of the preset volume is effected through the outlet without the necessity of additional manipulations such as shaking the container or separating the dosage metering part from the container to effect the discharge of a precise amount of liquid.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and a process for the reproducible withdrawal of an adjustable, amount of a liquid or an active substance from a container such as a glass vial.
A dosage metering apparatus includes a pre-chamber in free flow communication with the interior of a container, the pre-chamber being initially filled with an amount of liquid from the container and in communication with a measuring chamber. The measuring chamber has a pre-defined but adjustable volume and is in communication with a closeable outlet, so that after the amount to be withdrawn from the measuring chamber has been adjusted, it is not necessary for the user to perform any additional manipulations, such as shaking the container or separating the dosage metering apparatus from the container, to affect the discharge of a precise amount of liquid from the container.
2. Prior Art
In many fields of application it is necessary to repeatedly withdraw a precise dosage of a liquid pharmaceutical preparation or active medication substance from within a container. This is commonly achieved by pouring the contents of the container into a receptacle having a measuring scale marked on it. However, this method of metering a dosage amount is imprecise because it relies upon the careful manipulation of the container by the user.
One solution is to provide the container or vial containing the liquid with a head or cap mechanism inserted in the neck of the vial which provides for the displaceable accession of air into the interior of the vial causing the liquid to flow from within the vial as countable drops. While devices of this type precisely meter a dosage amount, they fail to provide for rapid discharge of the liquid from the container. As a result of the slow manner in which liquid flows from the interior of the vial, i.e. by countable drops, the user often shakes the vial in an attempt to accelerate the discharge of liquid. Shaking the vial results in an incorrect dosage being discharged from the vial due to the liquid being supplied in such a fast drop sequence that it is difficult to accurately count the drops.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,839-Kong shows seven different embodiments of a dosing apparatus which provides for the precise, repeated withdrawal of an adjustable dosage of liquid from a container such as a glass vial. FIG. 6 of Kong shows a cup-shaped container (cup-shaped housing) having cylindrical walls, which via a cylindrical attachment means having adjustable attachment arms which can be pushed onto a plurality of differently sized container necks. Two volumes A and B are formed in the cup by an overflow edge of a substantially cylindrical accordion-like sleeve mounted on the bottom of the cup-shaped container. The accordion-like sleeve allows the upper edge in the cup-shaped attachable container to be shifted such that the volumes of A and B change in opposite directions. A flat snap cover closes the top end of the cup-shaped container and can be opened, so that after removing the container and the attachment means from the bottle neck the liquid amount dosed in the dosage space B by the adjusted level of the overflow edge of the accordion-like sleeve can be poured out or emptied. This requires the user to carefully remove the container and attachment means in order to avoid spillage.


Methods for specifying the layout of a MALDI sample plate are provided. In general, the methods involve creating a file containing sample plate layout parameters that describe the layout of a MALDI sample plate, and storing the file on a computer readable medium prior to placement of the MALDI sample plate into a MALDI ion source. In many embodiments, the file includes information about the size or shape of the sample plate, or information about the size, shape or position of a sample on the sample plate. In many embodiments, a MALDI sample plate is placed in a MALDI ion source and a stored layout file for the sample plate is accessed and used to position an area of the sample plate in a laser beam. The subject methods, kits and apparatus find use in a variety of different mass spectrometry applications.

During the past decade, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) has proven to be a valuable tool in the analysis of a variety of molecules, e.g., biomolecules such as proteins and other organic molecules, and has application in a wide variety of fields such as genomics and proteomics. In many cases, MALDI ion sources are integrated with an analytical device, e.g., a mass spectrometer, for studying the MALDI ionized analyte. Mass spectrometers are instruments that measure and analyze ions by their mass and charge. For the most part, time-of-flight mass spectrometers ("TOF-MS") are used for this purpose, but other mass spectrometers may be used as well, such as an ion cyclotron resonance spectrometer (e.g., a Fourier transform ion cyclotron mass resonance spectrometer), ion trap mass spectrometers (e.g., a high-frequency quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer), and hybrid instruments (e.g., a quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometer, QqTOF).
Generally, MALDI ion sources vaporize and ionize non-volatile biological analytes from a solid phase directly into a gaseous phase. To accomplish this, analytes are suspended or dissolved in a matrix of generally a small organic compound which co-crystallizes with the analyte. A sample containing the analyte/matrix mixture is applied to a suitable support, e.g., a sample plate, which is then loaded into an ion source for performing MALDI. It is thought that the presence of the matrix enables the analyte to be ionized without being degraded, solving a problem of other methods. Accordingly, MALDI enables the detection of intact molecules as large as 1,000 kDaltons, and is particularly suitable for the analysis of biological samples such as proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids, which may range in size from 1 kDa to about 1000 kDa.
A laser beam serves as the desorption and ionization source in MALDI. Once a sample is loaded into the MALDI ion source, a laser is used to vaporize the analyte. In the vaporization process, the matrix in the sample absorbs some of the laser light energy causing part of the illuminated matrix to vaporize. The resultant vapor cloud of matrix carries some of the analyte with it so that the analyte may be analyzed. The matrix molecules absorb most of the incident laser energy, thus minimizing analyte damage and ion fragmentation. Samples may be ionized by a MALDI ion source at atmospheric pressure (AP) or in a vacuum.
Once the molecules of the analyte are vaporized and ionized, they are usually analyzed. As mentioned above, this may be accomplished by the use of a mass spectrometer. Accordingly, the vaporized ions are transferred electrostatically and/or pneumatically into a mass analyzer, for example a TOF-MS flight tube, where they are separated. Following separation of the ions, they are then directed to a detector so that the ions are individually detected. Depending on the nature of the analyzer and how it separates the ions, mass spectrometers fall into different categories. In the case of a TOF-MS for example, separation and detection is based on the mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios of the ions. In TOF-MS, detection of the ions at the end of the time-of-flight tube is based on their flight times, which are proportional to the square root of their m/z.
As such, in general, MALDI involves the generation of ions from analytes in a sample, first by embedding the analytes into a matrix to form crystals and then irradiating the analytes with a laser beam, usually a UV light beam, generated by a suitable laser.
In response to the ever increasing interest in the application of MALDI to a wide range of analytical problems, MALDI sample plate formats, including the size and geometry of the plates themselves and the sizes, geometries and positioning of spots within the plates, are ever-changing. For example, in order to increase detection limits, the concentration of a given analyte in a sample may be increased by decreasing the volume of a sample. Spotting samples of smaller volumes onto a MALDI sample plate leads to a sample plate with smaller spots. Also, as more and more samples are analyzed, samples are spotted onto sample plates at higher densities. In fact, in many MALDI methods, a sample plate must be in a high vacuum before ionization is performed. Since a high vacuum takes a significant amount of time to establish in a MALDI ion source, the throughput of such a MALDI ion source is typically proportional to the density of samples spotted on a sample plate. Also, in addition to the ever-changing densities and sizes of spots on a sample plate, sample plates are variable in their size and geometries, and individual samples may vary in their size, shape and position on a single sample plate.
Current MALDI ion sources typically accommodate little variability of sample plate format, and are usually pre-set to ionize samples from a single MALDI plate type, e.g. a single sample plate, a 24-sample plate, or a 96-sample plate.
Accordingly, a need exists for MALDI sources and methods that accommodate sample plates of different sizes and geometries, and samples of variable sizes, shapes and positions on a sample plate. Of particular interest are methods and apparatus that allow a user to configure a MALDI ion source to ionize a sample at a particular position on a sample plate. The present invention meets this, and other, needs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

User customizable plate handling for MALDI mass spectrometry