Techniques for securing displayed data on computing devices are disclosed. One example technique includes upon determining that the computing device is unlocked, capturing and analyzing an image in a field of view of the camera of the computing device to determine whether the image includes a human face. In response to determining that the image includes a human face, the technique includes determining facial attributes of the human face in the image via facial recognition and whether the human face is that of an authorized user of the computing device. In response to determining that the human face is not one of an authorized user of the computing device, the technique includes converting user data on the computing device from an original language to a new language to output on a display of the computing device, thereby securing the displayed user data even when the computing device is unlocked.

Smartphones, laptops, tablet computers, and other types of computing devices typically include certain access control features to protect privacy and security of data on computing devices. For example, a smartphone can be secured with a password, a passcode, a fingerprint, a facial image, or other suitable types of credential. In a locked or secured mode, the smartphone can be display only non-private data, such as a current date, time, weather forecast, etc. An authorized user can unlock the smartphone by providing a valid credential to gain access to private data on the smartphone. Examples of private data can include personal photos, contact information, personal identification information (e.g., social security numbers), health information, or other suitable types of data.

Securing displayed data on computing devices


Exemplary embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein relate to a method of providing a system management command. The method comprises receiving from an authorized requestor information identifying the electronic device and a request to issue a system management command to the electronic device. The method additionally comprises providing, in response to the request, a system management command, information identifying a source of the command as a trusted source and the information identifying the electronic device. Also disclosed are an electronic device and a computer system according to the invention.

Many security features have been introduced for use in electronic devices such as computer systems. Examples of security features include pre-boot authentication, theft deterrent and drive encryption to name just a few examples. The usage of security tokens such as fingerprint sensors, trusted platform modules (TPM) and smart cards is also gaining popularity. These features greatly enhance the security of electronic devices.
However, this increased security sometimes presents problems for authorized service personnel as well as the platform owner. In particular, authorized service personnel may be called upon to perform system management functions that security features have been designed to guard against. For example, an authorized service person may need to flash a system memory device that contains the system basic input-output (BIOS) system to replace corrupted program information. Flashing the BIOS may, however, require a security credential that is no longer available. Security credentials may become unavailable for a number of reasons. A user may forget or maliciously reset a system password. An employee whose fingerprint is needed to access a computer may quit a company or be otherwise unable or unwilling to provide the necessary authentication. In such cases, the rightful platform owner (the enterprise that owns the computer) may be blocked from access to the computer.
As another example, an authorized user may desire to reset a component of an electronic device that has become disabled as a result of a security feature. The component may be disabled as a security measure if, for example, the system experiences an excess number of bad authentication attempts. In addition, a system security device such as a fingerprint reader or TPM may be broken and need to be replaced with new hardware. If an authorized service person does not have access to required security credentials or a system component has become broken or disabled, the authorized person (using authorized person for both authorized service person and platform owner) may be unable to perform a system management function to place the system or component in working order. Moreover, the inability of an authorized user to perform needed management functions may render an otherwise valuable computer system permanently inoperative.

System and method for providing a system management command

HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.


A press roll for treating a material web in a nip formed with an opposing surface is provided. A press shoe extends along the nip and guides a press jacket. Several adjacent force elements disposed along the direction of the roll axis are supported on a stationary carrier. The force elements are preferably each fluid-actuated cylinder/piston units which can bias the press shoe with their movable pistons. The piston of at least one force element and/or an opposing region of the press shoe concentrate support forces in piston edge regions that are disposed opposite one another on different ends of a central piston plane perpendicular to the roll axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a press roll for treating a material web in a nip. More particularly, the present invention relates to a press roll for treating material in a nip that has a press shoe which extends along the nip, a press jacket guided via the press shoe, and adjacent force elements (e.g., cylinder/piston units) disposed along an axis of the press roll and supported on a stationary carrier.
2. Description of Background Information
A prior art press roll of this type is shown, for example, in EP 0 345 501 B1. In this prior art press roll, the manufacturing costs are largely dependent on the desired uniformity of line force distributed laterally along the nip over the material web to be treated (typically a paper or cardboard web). If several individual force elements support the press shoe are with a spacing t therebetween along the direction of the roll axis, then a maximum deflection between the force elements is expressed by the equation: EQU f=c.multidot.P.sub.L .multidot.t.sup.4,
where c represents a constant related to the elastic resilience of the press shoe, P.sub.L represents the line force, and t represents the distance between adjacent force elements along the roll axis.
As can be seen from the above equation, minor variations in spacing t can significantly affect the uniform line force distribution, in that line force is reduced at points at which the press shoe sags. Excessive sag does not provide sufficient compression of the material web guided through the nip; indeed, the line force can drop to zero at the midpoint between force elements.
To eliminate sag points, the press roll shown in EP 0 345 501 B1 0uses two parallel rows of force elements that extend along the roll axis, lateral to the material web. Compared with a single row of force elements, the two-row design halves the distance between individual force elements while using the same total support area. While this reduces maximum deflection by reducing spacing t, it also increases the total number of force elements by a factor of four. However, not only are four smaller force elements more expensive than a single larger force element, the assembly of the larger number of force elements increases production time and associated costs. Further, the use of piston rods in the prior art force elements requires a significant amount of space in the radial direction to hold the force elements.

Press roll with extended press shoe having support forces concentrated in piston edges


In a preferred embodiment of the invention, methods are provided for the production of viral vectors from large viral genomes (greater than 50 kbp) that incorporate nucleic acid insertions by direct in vitro ligation. In another preferred embodiment of this invention, viral vectors are provided from large viral genomes. These viral vectors accommodate nucleic acid inserts by direct in vitro ligation and facilitate the expression of foreign protein in eukaryotic cell systems.

Recombinant DNA technology has made it possible to express genes of one organism within another. The prior art shows that several virus groups, including the papovaviruses, papiluoma viruses, adenoviruses and retroviruses have been employed as eukaryotic molecular cloning and expression vectors. The relatively small sizes of these virus genomes have facilitated the in vitro construction of recombinant DNA molecules. However, these vectors generally exhibit a limited host range, provide severe limitations on the amounts of DNA that can be accommodated and lose their ability to infect subsequent cells upon the insertion of foreign DNA. Genetic engineering using larger viruses, i.e. those having genomes larger than about 50 kbp, such as poxviruses, herpesviruses or baculoviruses, is more difficult because of the large genome size. However, unlike viruses with smaller virus genomes, the larger virus genomes have a greater capacity for accommodating large foreign nucleic acid sequences. Poxviruses are particularly useful because the viruses can infect a wide range of host cells. For poxviruses, such as vaccinia virus, past methods for generating recombinants have employed homologous recombination.
Prior to the present invention, homologous recombination in vivo was used to introduce foreign DNA into the genomes of large DNA viruses such as herpesviruses, poxviruses, and baculoviruses (reviewed by Miller, Bioessays 11: 91-5 (1989); Moss, Science 252: 1662-7 (1991) and Roizman, et al., Science 229: 1208-14 (1985)). Homologous recombination requires a number of genetic manipulations no longer required by the methods disclosed herein. As a first step for practicing homologous recombination, a vector is prepared separate from the viral genome. The vector is preferably a plasmid and in a poxvirus system, the plasmid is modified to contain a poxvirus promoter, sites for insertion of a foreign gene, and poxvirus DNA flanking sequences. A foreign gene is next inserted into the vector to form a chimeric gene and this construct is transfected into cells infected with a poxvirus having sequences complementary to the DNA flanking sequences. The progeny poxviruses are collected and tested for the presence of the foreign gene.
Direct in vitro ligation of DNA, into large eukaryotic viral genomes has not been used. It has heretofore been thought that such ligation techniques are not possible because of the difficulty of working with vector genomes of 50 to 200 kilobase pairs (kbp). With longer DNA molecules there is an increase in the number of times that a particular restriction endonuclease recognition site appears in the molecule and this creates significant problems for vectors created using methods other than homologous recombination. There has been a long felt belief in the scientific community that large genomes of this size are incapable of efficient direct ligation. For example, European Patent Application No. 0 443 335 to Bodemer indicates that the size of the vaccinia genome makes the construction of recombinant genomes by cleavage with restriction endonucleases and subsequent ligation with foreign DNA impossible. Accordingly, homologous recombination methods have been used to insert foreign DNA into viruses having greater than 50 kbp.
There are, however, significant problems associated with homologous recombination. For example, the overall efficiency of homologous recombination is low and the efficiency continues to decline further with increasing insert length. Moreover, the exact site of incorporation of a foreign DNA insert can only be predicted within a given region of the vector genome. The exact site of incorporation varies for each individual recombination event within that given region. For this reason, considerable effort has gone into the development of selection and screening methods. Another potential drawback of homologous recombination protocols is that they generally require an intermediate cloning step followed by propagation of the DNA in bacteria where deletions or rearrangements may occur. Deletions and rearrangements are even more prevalent when the DNA has an unusual structure or is very large. These intermediate plasmid cloning steps make the production of cDNA expression libraries extremely labor intensive.
Recombinant viruses with large genomes, such as vaccinia virus, that have been generated by homologous recombination, have been shown to be useful as vaccines to generate protective immune response against the organisms from which the foreign DNA of the chimeric gene was derived. Some examples of such foreign genes include nucleic acid sequences encoding protein from hepatitis B virus, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis non-A, non-B virus, influenza virus, herpesvirus, cytomegalovirus, adenoviruses, parvoviruses, foot and mouth disease virus, poliovirus, measles virus, rabies virus, coronaviruses, coxsackieviruses and pathogenic bacteria, rickettsia, protozoa, and metazoa.

In vitro ligation of foreign DNA into large eukaryotic viruses

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


A rotor, used particularly in a rotating tool for machining workpieces, includes a rotor base body with locations, which are formed on the periphery thereof in an interspaced manner and which are suited for fitting the rotor with functional elements. The rotor base body includes a first, radially outer base body element and a second, radially inner base body element. When the rotor is not rotating, a jointing pressure prevails along an encircling joining line, which is formed between both base body elements. The second, radially inner base body element has a higher modulus of elasticity than that of the first, radially outer base body element.

In rotors that rotate at high speed, a radial expansion of the rotor base body that occurs due to the centrifugal force acting represents a limit for the permissible operating speed. Where the geometric dimensions (inside, outside diameter, etc.) are structurally predetermined, this expansion depends on the rigidity of the component parts of the materials used for their manufacture.
In addition to the expansion, the amount of imbalance and the inertial forces placed on a rotor must also be minimised. Light metal materials are therefore frequently used in practice for the base body into which functional elements are inserted.
This is a well-known design principle in tool engineering and is used as a basis, for example, in the manufacture of HSC (High Speed Cutting) milling tools. Thus, use is made in the light metal base body of steel cassettes to which cutters of a hard metal, a PCD (polycrystalline diamonds), etc. are fastened. The inertial forces and imbalance forces can therefore be kept low. However, the overall deformation of the system depends to a large degree on the natural deformation of the light metal base body. The components assembled onto the base body are, in addition to their natural deformation, additionally displaced by the amount of the base body expansion. The overall deformation due to operating conditions is therefore composed of the sum of the base body deformation plus the component deformation.


A method of blow molding an article having at least one layer of thermoplastic material. The method comprises the steps of heating a mold having an inner surface with two or more areas of different surface textures to a first temperature of greater than 55° C. and subsequently feeding a parison into the mold. The parison is then blown against the inner surface of the mold to form an article. The temperature of the mold is subsequently lowered to a second temperature of between 20° C. to about 55° C. and the temperature cycle time (tct) of the mold is less than 250 seconds. Using the two phase heating and cooling process in combination with a mold featuring different surface textures provides a finished article with different visual effects.

Blow molded articles or containers made of thermoplastic materials have been used to package a wide variety of consumer products, such as cosmetics, shampoo, laundry, and food. There are multiple requirements for such containers, particularly if they are required to connote a feeling of quality and prestige to consumers. For aesthetic reasons, it is often desired to impart different surface colours or finishes to different surface areas of a thermoplastic molded article, for example a glossy paint finish may be provided on some parts while a matte finish may be provided on other parts. This is conventionally done using several different methods: 1) masking: parts of the molded article are masked with a covering material (e.g., an adhesive tape) while the unmasked parts are painted, for example with spray paint or powder coating, followed by unmasking, 2) assembly: a finished article may be made in separate parts, the separate parts painted or finished in the desired way, and then the separate parts assembled and glued together. Masking suffers the drawback of being time consuming and expensive to implement as it requires manual manipulation (the painted part must be subsequently unmasked, requiring manual manipulation).
The assembly method is expensive to implement, since the final article must be assembled from component parts and glued together. Adhesive strength or aging resistance is often not sufficient and may compromise the integrity of the finished article. Furthermore, if the finished article is to be in contact with food, beverages, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals, both the thermoplastic material and the glue should be approved by health authorities.
Other techniques have been developed for providing articles exhibiting a combination of properties in simultaneously injecting dissimilar starting materials into the same mold at predetermined positions therein, for example, co-injection as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,483. As the same mold is used for both materials, it is not possible to use the mold to introduce different visual effects. It is thus necessary to rely entirely on the effects generated by different materials (e.g., to produce different textures and/or colours).
Overmolding has also been described and pursued by suppliers in the automative and electronic component industries to manufacture a variety of articles. This enables portions of a part to be made with different colours and/or textures. However, overmolding requires good adhesion between the different layers of material and, as it is difficult to control the thickness of the layers, the final appearance of a part may vary from batch to batch. Furthermore, the cycle time to make an overmolded article is considerably longer than other methods as it requires two distinct molding steps.
The present invention seeks to overcome some of the above described problems by providing an inexpensive and efficient way to introduce different surface finishes to an article.

Article with different textured surfaces


The invention relates to a map bearing a graphic representation of cartographical information, broken down into a large number of elementary areas with which are associated respectively a large number of indexes.. According to the invention, each index includes a group of dots (10) placed on the map in the vicinity of the associated elementary area and forming a specific code for the said area, the indexes as a whole forming a location frame covering the said geographical representation and superimposed thereupon, each group of dots being readable by optical reading means cooperating with a data processing system comprising a data medium addressable by means of the said indexes.

The present invention generally relates to geographical information systems and, more particularly, to maps of the type bearing a graphic representation of cartographic information, broken down into a large number of elementary areas with which are associated respectively a large number of indexes.
At the present time, two different approaches are used in cartography, between which there is generally no interpenetration.
The older approach, consisting in the use of maps bearing a graphic representation, is still very widely used, both in professional applications and in popular applications. The maps give global information that is directly accessible and familiar to all potential users. They remain easy to handle even when produced in large formats, in the order of one square meter. When they are made using modern printing techniques, which have now been thoroughly mastered, very fine lines can be produced on them: many maps available at low prices are produced using polychromy by superimposing frames, each formed by a matrix of dots with a pitch of 100 .mu.m or less (down to 25 .mu.m), and with a dot positioning accuracy of approximately 10 .mu.m.
Counterbalancing these advantages, the conventional graphic representation type map has certain limitations. In particular, the amount of useful information that can be inscribed on a map without detriment to its legibility is limited. This often leads to the greater part of the information being placed in an appendix. The text and graphic information are generally interlinked by means of a simple squaring system, whereof each square is identified, by means of a letter-figure pair or by a number. Such squaring gives only an approximate indication and, in addition, obliges the user to refer to indications provided in the margins of the map (see document FR-A-2 639 452).
The data processing approach to geographical representation has essentially consisted, hitherto, in defining an image, dot by dot, in the form of a table, in a memory. Even if use is made of representational algorithms in a simplified form, the necessary information takes up very large volumes of memory, which can amount to as much as several hundreds of millions of bytes for a single map. In addition, existing visual display devices are very far from offering the same degree of resolution as the conventional graphic maps. A professional quality high resolution monitor displays an image in the form of pixels each of which can be likened to a square with sides of approximately 300 .mu.m.

Map with indexes for a geographical information system and system for applying same


An active noise control device includes: a reference signal source that outputs a reference signal having a correlation with noise; a reference signal input unit configured to receive the reference signal output from the reference signal source; a compressor that compresses the reference signal and outputs a compressed signal of the reference signal when an amplitude of the reference signal received by the reference signal input unit is greater than or equal to a threshold; and an adaptive filter unit configured to generate a canceling signal having a phase opposite to a phase of the compressed signal by multiplying the compressed signal using an adaptive filter having a coefficient that is updated successively. The coefficient of the adaptive filter is updated using a step size parameter for determining an amount of updating the coefficient of the adaptive filter based on a change in the amplitude of the reference signal.

Conventionally, an active noise control device has been known that actively reduces noise by emitting a canceling sound for canceling the noise from a canceling sound source using a reference signal having a correlation with the noise and an error signal based on a residual sound resulting from interference between the noise in a predetermined space and the canceling sound (for example, see Patent Literature (PTL) 1). The active noise control device generates a canceling signal for emitting the canceling sound using an adaptive filter in such a manner that the sum of squares of the error signal is minimized.

Active noise control device, vehicle, and active noise control method

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


An automatic cleaning apparatus cleans wafers one at a time without the necessity for transporting the wafers in a carrier such as a wafer cassette or basket. After a manufacturing step such as a polishing step, the wafers are carried to a loader assembly in a horizontal orientation under the influence of flowing liquid. The wafers are then individually erected into a vertical orientation by being first stopped by stopper pins which stand vertically on a wafer receiving plate of a suction arm including a suction nozzle which firmly holds the wafers while the arm is pivotally rotated until the wafer is positioned into a vertical orientation. The vertical orientation thus achieved allows the wafer to be gripped by a wafer gripping portion of a transportation robot including grooved gripping arms operated by a mechanism which limits the force applied to the wafer. Cleaning baths include an arrangement for supporting wafers in a near vertical orientation and nozzles which direct cleaning liquids in a direction tending to prevent floating of the wafers. A brush cleaning bath provides for simultaneous cleaning of both sides of the wafer with rotatory brushes, during which the wafer is supported vertically and made to move circumferentially by rollers while periodic vertical motion between the wafer-supporting rollers and the brushes is achieved with a drive motor and ball screw. A drying bath using infrared light completes the cleaning procedure before the wafers are loaded into an unloader assembly into which wafer cassettes are set.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically cleaning semiconductor wafers in a one-by-one manner (single wafer transfer system), including a wafer erection assembly, a brush cleaning bath, a plurality of wafer cleaning baths adapted to clean one wafer at a time by having each wafer steeped (e.g. soaked thoroughly) in a generally vertical orientation in the cleaning liquid, and a wafer handling apparatus consisting of a robot arm.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the semiconductor device manufacturing technology, the impurities adhering to the surfaces of the semiconductor wafers are known to adversely affect the properties of the resulting semiconductor devices.
Therefore, a cleaning step is included in the semiconductor wafer manufacturing process. In the cleaning step, the wafers are cleaned in various methods which are classified broadly into two groups: mechanical cleaning methods and chemical cleaning methods.
The mechanical cleaning methods include the brushing method wherein the impurities adhering to the wafer surfaces are directly brushed off by means of appropriate brushes, the flushing method wherein the impurities are removed from the wafer surfaces as pressurized fluid from an injection nozzle is applied to the wafer locally or entirely, the ultrasonic cleaning method wherein the wafers are submerged in a liquid and the impurities are vibrated to detach from the wafer surfaces as ultrasonic waves are applied to the wafers.
The chemical cleaning methods include the methods wherein the impurities adhering to the surfaces of the wafers are removed as they are chemically dissolved by various chemicals and enzymes. There are other cases wherein a chemical cleaning method is combined with a mechanical cleaning method.


The present invention is a safety shield assembly having a shield and a collar for connecting the shield to a fluid handling device whereby the shield may be pivoted with respect to the collar. Preferably, the safety shield assembly may be used with a needle assembly, an intravenous infusion set a syringe, a catheter or other fluid handling devices or assemblies that contain piercing elements. The shield includes a clip with a plurality of cannula finger locks for preventing re-exposure of the used needle.

Disposable medical devices having piercing elements for administering a medication or withdrawing a fluid, such as hypodermic needles, blood collecting needles, fluid handling needles and assemblies thereof, require safe and convenient handling. The piercing elements include, for example, pointed needle cannula or blunt ended cannula.
Safe and convenient handling of disposable medical devices is recognized by those in the medical arts so as to minimize exposure to blood borne pathogens. Safe and convenient handling of disposable medical devices results in the disposal of the medical devices intact.
As a result of this recognition, numerous devices have been developed for shielding needles after use. Many of these devices are somewhat complex and costly. In addition, many of these devices are cumbersome to use in performing procedures. Furthermore, some of the devices are so specific that they preclude use of the device in certain procedures or with certain devices and/or assemblies. For example, some devices employ very short thin needle cannulas. A shield designed to lock near the distal end of one needle cannula might not engage a much shorter needle cannula. Additionally, a shield designed to lock with a wider gauge needle cannula might be more likely to generate a spray upon engaging a much narrower needle cannula. Furthermore, it may be desirable to reduce the force required to effect shielding without reducing the audible and tactile indications of complete shielding.
Therefore, there exists a need for a safety shield assembly: (i) that is manufactured easily; (ii) that is applicable to many devices; (iii) that is simple to use with one hand; (iv) that can be disposed of safely; (v) that does not interfere with normal practices of needle use; (vi) that has tactile features whereby the user may be deterred from contacting the needle, the user may easily orient the needle with the patient and easily actuate and engage the shield assembly; (vii) that has visual features whereby the user may be deterred from contacting the needle, the user may easily orient the needle with the patient and easily actuate and engage the shield assembly; (viii) that is not bulky; (ix) that includes means for minimizing exposure to the user of residual fluid leaking from the needle; and (x) provides minimal exposure to the user because the needle shield is immediately initiated by the user after the needle is withdrawn from the patient's vein.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A fluid handling apparatus, particularly a vacuum pump, has as a first stage a high volumetric displacement rate scroll pump of multiple nested interacting pairs of fixed and movable spiral-shaped blades supported in a housing between an inlet and an outlet. Each adjacent blade pair closes one inter-blade pocket in each cycle of operation. For very low base pressure vacuum applications, the adjacent blades extend about two revolutions to produce plural pockets in series. A second scroll pump mounted in the housing has its inlet fed directly from the first scroll outlet. The second scroll has a single pair of co-acting fixed and movable blades with multiple revolutions. A central drive shaft rotating in main bearings has an eccentric portion coupled to a plate that carries the movable blades of both scroll pumps. Synchronization cranks constrain the plate to orbit, not rotate. A purge gas flows over the crank bearings to sweep away and/or dilute corrosive fluids. It exhausts within the pump to the inter-stage pressure at the second stage inlet without adversely affecting the pump inlet pressure. Another purge gas flow sweeps corrosive gases from the main bearings, preferably formed as two sets of angular contact ball bearings aligned axially and oriented back-to-back.

This invention relates in general to fluid handling apparatus, and in particular to a dry, scroll-type, two-stage, positive displacement, vacuum pump useful in general roughing pump applications.
The general operating principles of scroll pumps are described in 1905 U.S. Pat. No. 801,182 to Creux. A movable spiral blade (sometimes termed a "wrap" or "wall") orbits with respect to a fixed spiral blade within a housing. The configuration of the blades and their relative motion traps one or more volumes or "pockets" of a fluid between the blades and moves the fluid through the pump. Creux describes using the energy of steam to drive the blades to produce a rotary power output. Most applications, however, apply a rotary power to pump a fluid through the device. Oil lubricated scroll pumps are widely used as refrigerant compressors. Other applications include expanders (operating in reverse from a compressor), and vacuum pumps. To date, scroll-type pumps have not been widely adopted for use as vacuum pumps.
Scroll pumps must satisfy a number of often competing design objectives. Blades must be configured to interact with each other so that their relative motion defines the pockets that transport, and often compress, the fluid held in the pockets. The blades must therefore move relative to each other, yet also seal. In vacuum pumping, the vacuum level achievable by the pump is often limited by the tendency of high pressure gas at the outlet to flow backwards toward the lower pressure inlet region. The effectiveness and durability of the blade seals, both tip seals along their spiral edges and clearance seals between fixed and movable blades, are important determinants of performance and reliability.
Friction in the drive, blade motion, and seals, as well as the compression of the working fluid, produce wear and heat. It is necessary to cool the apparatus. A wide variety of techniques are known. They include air cooling, flows of refrigerants, and flows or sprays of a lubricant which acts as a heat sink and transfer medium as well as a lubricant. Oil lubrication is the most common technique. Lubrication can also aid in sealing the movable component acting on the working fluid. However, when oil or other lubricants are used in vacuum pumps, as the pressure falls to low levels, the vapor pressure of the lubricant itself contributes lubricant to the gas which, to some degree, offsets the action of the pump. Vaporized lubricant can also flow back into the system being evacuated to contaminate the system with molecules of the lubricant.
Further, in vacuum pumping it is desirable to have a high volumetric displacement rate of gas from the vacuum region, e.g., to pump out quickly a mass spectrometer or a compartment of a machine where semiconductor devices are fabricated. In general, scroll designs for vacuum pumping produce little or no compression. But scroll pumps solely optimized for high displacement rates are often not well suited for operating across a large pressure differential, e.g., between a few milliTorr at the inlet and atmosphere, 760 Torr, at the outlet, and vice versa. To support a large pressure differential, it is known to use a blade pair with multiple revolutions which produce multiple blade surface-to-blade surface clearance seals that block a back flow of the fluid from the high pressure at the outlet. However, the through put, or displacement capacity, of such a pump is limited.
A seemingly straightforward solution to increasing displacement is to increase the maximum inter-blade spacing so each pocket has a larger volume. For a constant scroll wall thickness this spacing is set by the crank radius. Therefore displacement can, in theory, be increased merely by increasing the crank radius. However, a larger radius has various disadvantages such as an increase in seal velocity and attendant wear, an increase in the radial forces acting on the crank, and an increase in steady state power consumption which relates to seal velocity and friction. A larger crank radius also increases the diameter of the plate and therefore the overall dimensions of the pump. Also, for a given plate diameter, a large crank radius results in fewer revolutions, fewer clearance seals in series and, therefore, more back leakage. The seemingly simple solution of increasing the crank radius is therefore contraindicated by size, wear, and frictional heating considerations.
To increase pump capacity, it is also known to operate multiple scrolls in parallel as done by Iwata Air Compressor Corporation in its model ISP-500 dry scroll vacuum pump. This is a single stage roughing pump using two parallel, back-to-back scroll sets that each have blades with an angular extent of more than four revolutions. While this pump has a displacement rate of 20 cubic feet per minute (CFM) at its inlet, its pumping speed drops off markedly below 100 milliTorr, presumably due to back leakage through the pump from its outlet to its inlet. This is a quite significant problem in some applications, e.g., in some helium leak detectors, where the roughing pump inlet pressure must reach less than 20 milliTorr before the leak test can begin. Another problem is that this pump can achieve a base pressure of only 5 milliTorr, whereas, by way of comparison, a commercial two stage rotary, oil-lubricated roughing pump can produce base pressures of 0.5 milliTorr. Yet another problem is that this model Iwata pump uses about 20 feet of tip seal material. Wear of this amount of tip seal produces significant debris which can contaminate the system being evacuated. This amount of sealing material also adversely affects power requirements.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,809 to Vulliez discloses a two stage, scroll-type vacuum pump. The device is cooled, but not lubricated, by recirculating, pumped oil. This vacuum pump has an internal bellows and internal oil-carrying passages to isolate the scroll surfaces open to the working fluid from the oil cooling circuit. A drive at one off-center eccentric bearing propels a movable plate or plates. A two stage embodiment is shown, but it uses two movable plates. While Vulliez uses two stages with a nested first stage, the volumetric displacement rates of the stages are required to be equal (column 9, line 54). This arrangement limits the effective volumetric displacement rate attainable by the pump as a combined two stage unit. An in-built electric fan is disclosed as a possible cooling device, but it is auxiliary to the oil cooling circuit.
One recent scroll pump design combines scroll pumps in series to achieve improved operating results. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,047 to Shibamoto discloses a two stage, scroll-type, oil-lubricated refrigerant compressor. Shibamoto radially separates the inlet of the second stage from the outlet of the first stage. While Shibamoto discloses a two-stage pump, it is not suited for operation as a vacuum pump because it requires a dynamic, oil-lubricated seal at the outer edge of the orbiting second stage scroll to control back leakage of the gas. Also, oil coolant and lubricant is injected onto the moving parts in low and intermediate pressure zones, collected, and recirculated.
For extremely low pressure applications such as evacuating a spectrometer tube used in helium leak detectors, known scroll pumps are not operated alone. It is conventional to use a turbo pump in series with the scroll pump. This combination of pumps, scroll and turbo pumps, can produce the desired pressure levels in a commercially acceptable period of time, but this solution is expensive since a turbo pump typically costs several thousand U.S. dollars.
Still another design problem is how to synchronize the movement of the movable blades to produce the orbital motion while at the same time 1) resisting the substantial axial forces produced by the large pressure differentials within the pump, 2) avoiding contamination of the vessel being evacuated by lubricants or wear debris, and 3) avoiding corrosion of bearings within the pump by condensed water, water vapor or corrosive gases such as those used in semiconductor processing.
It is known to use idler cranks mounted between a housing and an orbiting plate. While known cranks are sturdy and comparatively inexpensive, they are not readily protected from corrosive process gases and they are not well-suited to bear a substantial axial load.
It is also known to use a purge gas, e.g., a flow of a dried inert gas such as nitrogen, to carry away and/or dilute corrosive gases and fluids that could attack the bearings. Water will corrode 52100 bearing steel commonly used for bearing races and balls. Ceramic balls and races avoid the problems but they are very costly and more susceptible to destruction when subjected to mechanical shocks or when they wear. A stainless steel such as type 440C is more tolerant of water, but the "aggressive" gases commonly used in semiconductor processing will attack it, as well as 52100 steel.
However, the implementation of purge gas flows in vacuum scroll pumps has been difficult. Heretofore purge gas flows been used mainly in connection with pumps other than scroll pumps, such as screw pumps, roots pumps, and claw pumps. For example, the commercial Iwata ISP series scroll pumps use idler cranks. They operate in a region that is at the pump intake pressure. If one were to flush these idlers with a purge gas, the pump would have to evacuate the purge gas as well as the gas in the system being evacuated. To adequately protect the idler cranks, the purge gas would thus significantly raise the pump inlet pressure.
It is also known to use elastomeric seals to block contaminants and corrosive gases from bearings and to hold lubricants against escape to the regions being pumped. Such seals are particularly common as shaft seals on main crankshaft bearings. The problem is that hot water or water vapor and corrosive gases leak under the seals over time due to pressure differentials that arise within the pump in its ordinary operation. These differentials are due to thermal transients and to changes in the pump inlet pressure, e.g., when a chamber to be evacuated is at atmospheric pressure and it is valved to an operating pump. Thermal transients are produced whenever the pump warms or cools. The gas pressure in trapped spaces around the bearings will rise or fall. Over time, the pressure differential across the seal equilibriates, causing a mass transport past the seal which can include water, water vapor or other corrosive gases.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a positive displacement, scroll-type, fluid handling device that has a high volumetric displacement rate at the inlet and which, when used as a vacuum pump, operates steady state between a milliTorr vacuum and atmosphere with a good control over fluid back leakage and with a purge gas flow over its bearings.
Another principal object of this invention is to provide these advantages while at the same time controlling bearing corrosion and lubricant leakage.
Another object is to provide a fluid handling device with the foregoing advantages that can operate with conventional idler cranks to provide synchronization.
A further object is to provide a fluid handling device with the foregoing advantages operated as a vacuum pump which can produce ultimate base pressures suitable for use in extremely low pressure applications such as directly evacuating the spectrometer tube in a helium leak detector.
Still another object is to provide a fluid handling apparatus with the foregoing advantages which uses only air cooling.
Another object is to provide a fluid handling device with the foregoing advantages that has a comparatively low cost of manufacture and good durability.

High displacement rate,scroll-type, fluid handling apparatus


A press for thermoforming a thermoformable sheet material for obtaining at least one thermomolded object, which has a support base; a pair of female molds supported for rotation around a rotation axis on the support base, diametrically opposite with respect to the rotation axis, drive means for the pair of female molds, comprising a rotary motion source designed to drive a power drive shaft and transmission means designed to transmit the motion from the power drive shaft to the pair of female molds, whereby between power drive shaft and female mold pair there is an angular displacement ratio of an angle greater than 360°, preferably 405°/180°, in order to make the female mold pair complete a sequence of 180° angular travels, thereby angularly and sequentially move each female mold into a molding position, and into a discharge position.

At the state of the art, various types of thermoforming presses have already been proposed, which are equipped with mutually engageable and disengageable male and female molds with mutual frontal opening-closing movement for the extraction of the thermoformed objects cut (i.e. severed from the foil) in the mold, after opening the molds and for feeding new sheet material between them. This is carried out with male and female molds that can be frontally brought close together-moved away from each other, or it can be carried out with a female mold that can move laterally to-and-fro (rectilinear movement or shuttle system) with respect to the male mold after the opening of the molds, or with female mold that can be moved angularly back-and-forth by about 75-90° (tilting movement) with respect to the male mold. In any case, the male mold can carry out a linear opening-closing movement, whereas the female mold is moved between a molding position in which it is situated at the male mold and is ready to receive the latter with the interposition of thermoformable sheet material, in order to carry out an operation of thermoforming of the sheet and cutting of the object or mold of objects in the female mold due to the action of the male mold—and an extraction or discharge position, in which the female mold is removed from the male mold and the thermoformed object or mold of thermoformed objects is extracted from the female mold and removed. The object or mold of objects must be cut off or separated from the foil via cutting off or cutting inside the female mold or outside the mold after the extraction from the female mold.
The abovementioned technical solutions (shuttle system or tilting movement system) provide that the thermoformed object or mold of thermoformed objects must be separated from the foil inside the female thermoforming mold, so as to be able to proceed first with the extraction from the mold and then to the subsequent stacking of the objects themselves. Other technical solutions are known, according to which the thermoformed objects are extracted from the mold while they are still fully or partly attached to the scrap of the foil and are later separated from the scrap outside the mold. The separation techniques outside the mold are not applicable to the present invention, however.
In the Dutch patent NL-1 004 852, a method and a press are disclosed for obtaining bowl covers starting from sheet material with the use of a male mold and two female molds with a single forming seat, which are arranged opposite each other (possibly supported by an intermediate mold-holder) and designed to rotate step-by-step, each time through 180°. In such a manner, the female molds (termed counter-molds in the above patent) are angularly moved in sequence between a molding position close to and opposite the male mold and a position of extraction of the molded object (bowl cover) far from and diametrically opposite the male mold. A suitable extractor device penetrates into the female mold situated in extraction position, in order to engage and extract the bowl cover molded therein, whereas at the same time in the other female mold, a molding operation is carried out for obtaining another bowl cover, and so forth.
More particularly, the patent NL-1 004 852 provides that the sheet material be already cut before being fed between the male and female molds by lateral belt conveyor means, until it is positioned centered with respect to the molds. The sheet is then completely "taken off" via sliding on the lateral belts due to the action of the male mold during the mold closing step. Since it is already cut-to-size, the entire sheet is used for being shaped as a bowl cover. No operation of shearing or separating of the bowl cover from the scrap is required. The function of the molds is exclusively that of forming the sheet, and therefore the structure of the molds, which must support and resist the closing forces of the same, does not have to be very strong—it can have small bulk and height limited to the size of the bowl cover to be obtained; hence, it does not require high non-deformability characteristics under stress, necessary for ensuring high-precision coupling between the cutting elements inside the molds.
However, this is a solution with extremely low productivity, for a series of reasons. First of all, molds are provided with a single forming impression. Secondly, considering the torsion moments required in order to angularly move the female molds, the coupling between motion source (electric motor) and load, which in the patent NL-1 004 852 is illustrated to be direct, requires employing a very large electric motor capable of developing torques of considerable size in the acceleration and deceleration steps; this is necessary in order to overcome the inertia of the sum of the masses (both of the molds and of the rotor of the motor), and also involves undesired phenomena due to the "over-shunting" effect which even in the most sophisticated control systems still manifests itself at the stop arrival positions of the female molds. Thirdly, after a thermoforming operation, in order to be able to carry out a subsequent feed of a sheet to be thermoformed, it is necessary to wait for the rotating molds to complete their angular displacement, which involves a considerable delay in the cycle time.
According to the versions of thermoforming machines with the highest productivity currently available on the market, which use the technique of thermoforming and shearing in the mold, at most 40 molding cycles per minute are obtained when objects are thermoformed/sheared in the mold which require an active or closure time interval of the molds of about 450 msec. These speed values are obtainable with thermoforming presses having width ranging between 740 and 780 mm and thickness of the female molds ranging between 420 and 480 mm, i.e. with so-called "average-size" molds. On the other hand, there is the increasing need to be able to arrange thermoforming presses suitable for ensuring decidedly much higher productivity levels.

Thermoforming press and thermoforming process


The present invention is generally related to electrolytes containing anion receptor additives to enhance the power capability of lithium-ion batteries. The anion receptor of the present invention is a Lewis acid that can help to dissolve LiF in the passivation films of lithium-ion batteries. Accordingly, one aspect the invention provides electrolytes comprising a lithium salt; a polar aprotic solvent; and an anion receptor additive; and wherein the electrolyte solution is substantially non-aqueous. Further there are provided electrochemical devices employing the electrolyte and methods of making the electrolyte.

Anion receptors are used as additives to non-aqueous electrolytes in lithium ion batteries to improve conductivity. Past research has been carried out on reducing the ion-pairing in non-aqueous electrolytes to enhance the conductivity of such solutions. The goal was to find ligands that could coordinate with either cations or anions, and hence increase the cation-anion distance and decrease the ion-pairing. Research on this issue has been summarized in a review article by F. P. Schidtchen et al., Chem. Rev., 97, 1609 (1997).
Recent research has focused on providing neutral compounds as anion receptors for non-aqueous electrolytes. More specifically, in the field of lithium-ion batteries, an anion receptor is expected to form a complex with the anion of a lithium salt, and hence increase the transference number of lithium ions, to improve the conductivity of the electrolyte. A number of patents have disclosed various boron compounds suitable for this use, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,432 to Angell et al., and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,352,198 and 6,022,643 to Lee et al. To improve the conductivity of the non-aqueous electrolyte, anion receptors are typically used at concentrations much greater than 0.1 molar (M), such as 0.5-1.0 M, so that they essentially function as a co-solvent to dissolve LiF and form new LiF salt-based electrolytes.
While previous work has demonstrated the capability of anion receptors to improve the conductivity of non-aqueous battery electrolytes, drawbacks to the use of anion receptors have not been widely recognized. As demonstrated herein, the conductivity gain of the electrolyte can be quickly offset by the impedance increase over the passivation films if high concentrations of anion receptors are employed. For example, a lithium-ion cell with 5 weight percent (wt %) tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane in the electrolyte (corresponding to a concentration of 0.1 M), has a higher overall impedance than the same cell without the additive. Hence, even though high concentrations of anion receptors improve the conductivity by dissolving LiF, impedance is also increased, leading to inferior cell performance as compared to electrolytes that lack anion receptors. Accordingly, new electrolyte solutions that retain good conductivity and low impedance are highly desirable.

Non-aqueous electrolytes for lithium ion batteries


The product is a specially designed pet food and water dish that would allow the pet owner to feed their pet without having to bend over to refill or pick up the feed dish. It is comprised of a fabricated molded double bowl food dish. A removable cylindrical handle attaches to center rear of the dish perpendicular to the base of the dish and extends upward. The handle has a soft grip to facilitate in lifting the dish to the counter, sink, table or the like and back to the floor.

This invention relates to a pet food and water dish.
Current pet dishes, on the market, sit on the floor and require the person filling or cleaning the dish to bend down to retrieve or replace the dish.
Nowhere in the known prior art is there a feeding system that emphasizes the stated advantages of this proposed invention, namely, for the care and comfort of the pet owner.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a pet feeding system that can be raised, lowered and manipulated by a simple action of the pet feeders arm and hand.


An x-ray apparatus has an x-ray source and an x-ray receiver, the x-ray source being adjustable relative to a subject and emitting x-rays in the direction toward the x-ray receiver during the course of radiological exposures of the subject. The x-ray apparatus has an arrangement in the beam path of the x-rays for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-ray beam, and this arrangement is dynamically adjustable during radiological exposures of the subject for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-rays.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an x-ray apparatus of the type having an x-ray source and an x-ray receiver, the x-ray source being adjustable relative to a subject and emitting x-rays in a direction toward the x-ray receiver during the course of radiological exposures of the subject, and having an arrangement in the beam path of the x-rays for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-ray. The invention is also directed to a method for influencing x-rays in the beam path.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When producing x-ray images of a subject, there is a basic desire to present the region of the subject of interest for the examination with very good quality in the x-ray image, i.e. with little image noise. The subject under examination is therefore charged with such an x-ray dose that a good signal-to-noise ratio is established, i.e. the image noise is relatively low in the image region representing the region of interest. Particularly in the medical application of x-rays, for example the production of x-ray images of relatively small tissue regions of diagnostic interest such as the heart or vessels, it is disadvantageous that the tissue that surrounds the tissue of interest and is diagnostically less relevant or irrelevant and the presentation of which with poorer quality could be tolerated is likewise exposed to the high x-ray dose in the image registration.
In order to reduce the radiation stress for the tissue surrounding the tissue of interest, for example, it is known from computed tomography to employ wedge filters that usually influence an x-ray beam emanating from an x-ray source such that the intensity of the x-rays of the x-ray beam incident on the central x-ray detectors of the x-ray receiver is higher than the intensity of the x-rays that strike the outer x-ray detectors of the x-ray receiver, since these x-rays are already attenuated by the wedge filter before passing through the subject. When, accordingly, the tissue of interest of a subject under examination is placed in the rotational center of the computed tomography apparatus, a comparatively low radiation stress occurs for the tissue surrounding the tissue of interest as a result of the effect of the wedge filter. The wedge filters employed are usually adapted to the absorption profile of a homogeneous, circular phantom. The intensity profile of the x-rays that can be generated with such a wedge filter, accordingly, is relatively well-adapted to the absorption profile of the phantom, but is only well-adapted to the absorption profile of different body slices of a patient or different patients in exceptional cases.
Another procedure for reducing the radiation stress on the tissue surrounding the tissue of interest is to employ a collimator allocated to the x-ray source having a central radiation window that is smaller in size, so that, for example given x-ray imaging with a computed tomography apparatus, the tissue of interest is imaged in a circular slice whose center coincides with the rotational center of the computed tomography apparatus. This procedure, however, allows only the diameter of the circular slice exhibiting the tissue of interest to be set, and also requires that the tissue of interest in an examination be placed as exactly as possible in the rotational center of the x-ray system.
An object of the present invention is to provide an x-ray system of the type initially described wherein the generation of a qualitatively high-grade x-ray image of a region of interest of a subject is simplified and involves less radiation stress for the region surrounding the region of interest of the subject. It is also based on an object of the present invention to provide a method for reducing the radiation stress in imaging with x-rays for a region surrounding a region of interest in a subject.
The object is inventively achieved by an x-ray apparatus having an x-ray source and an x-ray receiver, the x-ray source being adjustable relative to a subject and emitting x-rays in the direction toward the x-ray receiver during the course of radiological exposures of the subject, and having an arrangement in the beam path of the x-rays for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-ray, wherein the arrangement can be dynamically set for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-rays during radiological exposures of the subject. Such dynamic, i.e. automatically variable, setting of the arrangement allows the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-rays emanating from the x-ray source in the direction of the subject to be readily adapted in the context various, successive radiological exposures of the subject, for example due to adjustments of the x-ray source relative to the subject under examination which result in different positions of the focus of the x-ray source relative to a region of interest in the subject, so that the region of the subject surrounding the region of interest is charged with no radiation or with only slight x-radiation. Given a rotational adjustment of the x-ray source relative to the subject, the region of interest thereby need not necessarily be located in the rotational center of the x-ray source, so that the image registration is in turn simplified due to the elimination of tedious alignment processes of the subject and of the x-ray system relative to one another. The adjustments of the arrangement for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-radiation dependent on the respective conditions for different radiological exposures of a subject preferably ensues by a control unit allocated to the arrangement.
In an embodiment of the invention the arrangement for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-rays is a collimator allocated to the x-ray source and exhibiting a radiation window, with the size of the radiation window being dynamically adjustable. In a version of this embodiment, the size of the radiation window of the collimator can be varied by elements of the collimator that are movable relative to one another. By an appropriate adjustment of the elements, accordingly, not only the shape of the x-ray beam, i.e. its beam cross-section, but also the position of the radiation window of the collimator can be set relative to the focus of the x-ray source, and thus relative to the path of the x-rays. In this way, the path of the x-rays can be influenced such that, independently of the position of the focus relative to a subject under examination, essentially only the region of interest of the subject is transirradiated. The x-rays that strike the material of the collimator are significantly attenuated in comparison the x-rays passing through the radiation window of the collimator that can be dynamically adjusted in terms of its size, shape and position, are even completely absorbed by the material of the collimator, so that the x-ray dose with which the region of a subject surrounding a region of interest is charged is significantly lower than the x-ray dose that charges the region of interest.
In a version of the this embodiment that the elements of the collimator move along a circular path whose center of curvature preferably lies in the focus of the x-ray source. This version is advantageous because, given a constant thickness of the material of the adjustable elements of the collimator, the possibilities of variation arising from the adjustment of the elements in the absorption profile of the collimator are minimized since the x-rays travel essentially the same distance when traversing the elements. By providing elements that are nearly circularly curved to emulate the curvature of the circular path, this allows, for selected settings of the elements of the collimator and intensities of the x-rays, determination and storage of only a few absorption profiles of the collimator required for the imaging. These profiles need only be subjected to simple shift operations for changing (adjusting) the absorption profile of the collimator corresponding to the actual setting of the elements given an x-ray exposure. Planar or differently shaped elements can be employed instead of circularly curved elements, but these should be moved along the circular path given settings of the elements modifying the size of the radiation window for minimizing the variation possibilities in the absorption profile of the collimator. Otherwise, the absorption profiles of the collimator vary greatly given different settings of the elements, since the path length of the x-rays through the collimator material or the adjustable elements thereof is a function of the distance of the elements from the focus of the x-ray source. In this case, respective absorption tables must be produced for various settings of the elements, since the absorption profiles required for the reconstruction of x-ray images cannot be determined with simple shift operations of a few, identified absorption profiles.
In an embodiment of the invention the arrangement for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-rays include at least one wedge filter allocated to the x-ray source and having elements that are movable relative to one another, these elements in one version of the invention moving on a circular path like the elements of the collimator for minimizing the variation possibilities in the absorption profile of the wedge filter. The shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-rays emanating from the x-ray source also can be influenced with the adjustable elements of the wedge filter so that a diagnostically less relevant region surrounding a region of diagnostic interest is charged with a comparatively low x-ray dose.
A further embodiment of the invention has a measuring arrangement for acquiring the setting of the arrangement for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-rays. In another embodiment of the invention, the arrangement for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-rays can effect a significant, detectable boost in the intensity profile of the x-rays. In a version of this embodiment, the significant detectable change in the intensity profile of the x-rays is produced by thinning the material and/or thickening the material of arrangement for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-rays. Such a thinning of material can, for example, be in the form of a slot, and the thickening of material can be in the form of a ridge. The measuring arrangement as well as the structure that effects the detectable change in the intensity profile serve the purposexe2x80x94in every x-ray exposure for the current setting of the arrangement for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-radiationxe2x80x94of determining the absorption profile that is required for the reconstruction of images from the absorption tables that have been (preferably) determined preceding subject measurements and have been stored.
The inventive method for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-ray beam with an inventively fashioned x-ray apparatus includes setting of the beam influencing arrangement on the basis of a function determined before a subject measurement (exposure) dependent on the positions to be assumed by the x-ray source during the subject measurement. The setting of the arrangement preferably ensues with a control that sets the arrangement for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile during the subject measurement according to the function determined offline, i.e. before a subject measurement. For a computed tomography apparatus, the setting of the arrangement and thus the modulation of the x-rays is, for example, a function of the rotational angle of the x-ray source around the rotational center of the computed tomography apparatus.
The object of the invention is also achieved in a method for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile of the x-rays of an inventively fashioned x-ray apparatus, wherein the influencing of the shape and/or of the intensity profile of the x-rays ensues on the basis of radiation attenuation values determined during a subject measurement, i.e. online. In this case, the radiation attenuation values determined with a data measuring system are made available to the control unit that calculates and initiates the setting of the arrangement for influencing the shape and/or the intensity profile on the basis of the radiation attenuation values.

Method and apparatus for influencing X-rays in a beam path


Parameters which are related to the rate at which particulate matter accumulates and is reburnt, are monitored and the time at which a regeneration is required and/or the length of time a regeneration should be induced, are derived based on the same. The temperature at the inlet and outlet of a trap in which particulate matter is accumulated are monitored and measures such as throttling the induction and exhaust are implement in addition to energizing a heater disposed immediately upstream of the trap as required in order to elevate the trap temperature and to induce and maintain the reburning during a trap regeneration. The pressure differential across the trap can be used to determine the amount of incombustible matter (ash) which has accumulated in the trap and to modify the regeneration timing. When the temperature of the exhaust gases cannot be raised sufficiently, a by-pass is opened to attenuate cooling of the trap by the low temperature gases.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an internal combustion engine exhaust system and more specifically to an exhaust gas purifying device for reducing particulate matter emissions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows an exhaust system which is disclosed in JP-A-58-51235 and which includes a trap for removing particulate matter (e.g. minute carbon particles) from the exhaust gases before they are released into the ambient atmosphere.
In this prior proposed arrangement the particulate matter which is contained in the gases exhausted from the combustion chambers of an internal combustion engine 1 into an exhaust conduit 2, are collected in a trap 3. This trap includes a hear resistant filter element (not shown in this figure) which separates the particulate matter from the gases content of the engine exhaust.
The engine includes an induction passage 5 in which a butterfly type throttle valve 6 is disposed. A lever 7 is connected to the shaft of the valve 6 and operatively connected with a diaphragm type vacuum motor 8 by way of a link 8a.
A solenoid valve 9 which controls communication between a vacuum pump 10 and a vacuum chamber 8b of the vacuum motor 8 is operatively connected with a control unit 15. This latter mentioned unit is connected with a fuel injection pump 11 and arranged to receive a load indicative signal produced by a load sensor 1 3 and an engine speed sensor 13. In this instance both of the sensors are associated with the pump 11 as shown. The control unit 15 is also connected with an induction pressure sensor 14 in a manner to receive a signal indicative thereof.
The control unit 15 is arranged to determine the timing with which the trap 3 should be regenerated based on either time or distance travelled. Upon such a determination being made, the control unit determines if the engine is operating in a predetermined engine speed/load range by selectively sampling the outputs above mentioned sensors.
Given that the engine is operating in the predetermined speed/load range, the control unit issues a signal to the solenoid which induces the throttle valve to partially close. The degree to which the throttle valve is closed and induction is throttled is feedback controlled based on the output of the induction pressure sensor 14. This feedback control is such as to adjust the duty cycle of the solenoid driver signal in a manner to establish an essentially constant negative induction pressure in the induction manifold downstream of the throttle valve 6.
When the amount of air which is inducted into the engine is reduced in this manner, the temperature of the exhaust gases is increased, the temperature of the trap rises and the particulate matter collected in the trap 3 is induced to combust (viz., undergo re-burning). With this arrangement the regeneration is conducted for either a predetermined time or distance.
However, this arrangement has suffered from the drawback that trap is regeneration sometimes does not proceed as expected.
One reason for this comes in that the rate of particulate accumulation varies markedly with the manner in which the driver operates the engine, the altitude, engine load, engine and ambient temperature, fuel pump settings, age of the engine, etc. Accordingly, if the regeneration is induced at regular intervals (based on either time or distance) it sometimes occurs that an abnormally large amount of particulate matter accumulates between regeneration.
This leads to a serious problem that the amount of accumulated particulate matter sometimes exceeds a critical level. Accordingly, during a regeneration, overly intense combustion tends to occur. This raises the temperature of the trap beyond its thermal limits and induces a damaging melt-down or like.
In the event that the frequency of the regenerations is increased to ensure that a critical amount combustible matter cannot accumulate, the frequent arbitrary closing of the throttle valve deteriorates both engine performance and fuel economy.
Further reasons for the unstable trap regeneration come in that during a regeneration, the exhaust gas temperature varies with the ambient air pressure and other driving conditions, and as a result of the reduced air induction which raises the exhaust temperature, the amount of particulate which is contained in the exhaust gases increases. Accordingly, if the exhaust gas temperature is not raised to the levels expected, the regeneration efficiency drops off and it sometimes occurs that the amount of accumulation during the re-generation, at least in part, replaces that actually being combusted and the amount of combustible particulate matter retained in the trap 3 immediately following the termination of the regeneration can be substantial and/or essentially the same as initially contained therein.
This also leads to the problem that the amount of accumulated particulate matter sometimes exceeds a critical level and results in the above mentioned damagingly intense combustion.
In view of the above, it has also been proposed to monitor the pressure differential which exists across the trap and to trigger the regeneration upon a given back pressure developing. However, it has been found that the accumulation of incombustible matter such as metal oxides (resulting from the combustion of additive containing lubricants etc) in the trap render this technique of determining the amount of combustible particulate matter unreliable.

Exhaust gas purifying device for an internal combustion engine


A printing head including a plurality of impact printing wires constituting a dot matrix and a plurality of actuators for respectively and selectively driving the printing wires. Each actuator is constituted of a movable member to which the printing wire corresponding thereto is connected, a base member, a piezoelectric device mounted on the base member, and first and second leaf springs. The first leaf spring is connected between the movable member and the piezoelectric device, and the second leaf spring is connected between the movable member and the base member in parallel relationship to the first leaf spring. Each of the first and second leaf springs has a shape such that it is narrowest at the central portion thereof and is gradually widened toward the opposite ends thereof. Owing to this shape, a stress generating at the opposite ends of each leaf spring can be reduced to thereby prevent breakage of each leaf spring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing head of a wire-dot impact printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a high-speed printing capability of a wire-dot impact printer has been accompanied by the use of a laminated piezoelectric device for driving of printing wires provided in a printing head. The laminated piezoelectric device includes a plurality of internal electrodes and a pair of external electrodes for connecting the internal electrodes, and it is driven at a high voltage under severe conditions to therefore require a high reliability.
A wire-dot impact printer employing such a piezoelectric device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,994, for example, issued Apr. 9, 1991 to Akio Yano. A printing head of the wire-dot impact printer described in this patent is constituted of a frame, a plurality of impact printing wires constituting a wire-dot matrix, and a plurality of actuators for respectively and selectively driving the impact printing wires.
Each actuator is constituted of a displacement enlarging mechanism, a laminated piezoelectric device, a base for connecting the displacement enlarging mechanism to the laminated piezoelectric device, and a movable block fixed to one end of the piezoelectric device. The displacement enlarging mechanism is constituted of an armature and a pair of leaf springs disposed in parallel relationship to each other for supporting one end portion of the armature. The piezoelectric device is fixed at its other end to the base. One of the leaf springs is connected between the armature and the movable block, and the other leaf spring is connected between the armature and the base. The impact printing wire is fixed to the other end portion of the armature.
In printing, a driving voltage is applied to the piezoelectric device to generate a strain of tens of .mu.m in the piezoelectric device and thereby push the movable block. As a result, the armature is swung about a lower end portion thereof by a bimetal effect of the pair of leaf springs, and the displacement of the movable block is therefore enlarged to project the printing wire in an amount of hundreds of .mu.m. Then, the printing wire is impacted against a platen through an ink ribbon and a printing paper to form a dot print on the printing paper.
FIG. 1 shows a shape and a stress distribution of each leaf spring 2 used in the prior art printing head. As apparent from FIG. 1, the shape of the leaf spring 2 is rectangular, and the distribution of a stress generating in the leaf spring 2 in operating the piezoelectric device is such that the stress is very high at the opposite ends of the leaf spring 2 and it is low at the central portion of the leaf spring 2. As mentioned above, one of the leaf springs is fixed at its opposite ends to the armature and the movable block, and the other leaf spring is fixed at its opposite ends to the armature and the base. Accordingly, when the piezoelectric device is driven, the stress generating at the opposite ends of each leaf spring becomes very high to cause a defect that each leaf spring is broken at the fixed portions. The breakage of the leaf springs occurs at the fixed portions to the movable block and the base more frequently than at the fixed portions to the armature.

Printing head of wire-dot impact printer


A system for delivering one of a good and service to a customer in a retail environment includes a computer located at an order station. The computer is configured to receive an order for the one good and service. The system includes a first image capture device in communication with the computer. The first image capture device captures a first image of a customer ordering the one good and service in response to the order being submitted. The system further includes a wearable computer peripheral device configured to acquire the first image from the first image capture device and electronically display the first image to a user tasked with delivering the one good and service while carrying the second wearable computer peripheral device. In this manner, an identity of the customer can be compared against the first image upon a delivery of the one good and service.

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for delivering goods and services using a wearable computer peripheral device in communication with an order station. The disclosure finds application in restaurant and retail environments. However, it is appreciated that the present exemplary embodiments are also amenable to other like applications in commerce.
Certain business environments, such as fast food or drive-in restaurants and markets with counter service, are set up to provide goods and/or services (hereinafter "goods/services") quickly. Generally, these businesses employ a person at an order station located at the counter or window. Other businesses use kiosks to receive the orders by enabling a customer to input selections on an interactive interface. As a consequence of both these business models, the persons preparing and/or delivering the goods/services can lose track of customers and/or mix up the orders during busy periods. Certain businesses attempt to avoid this problem by providing the customer with a ticket and/or order number, which can be announced over an intercom when the order is ready. This approach usually entails these businesses to check the ticket to verify that the good/service was paid for by the customer before it relinquishes the item(s). The process of printing and checking tickets leads to an unnecessary waste of employee time and resources. Other businesses perform a different perfunctory form of managing the delivery of orders, such as writing the customer's name and/or instructions on the item to avoid mixing up orders. When the order is completed, it can be announced to the customer in the same manner described above or it can be set on the counter for the customer to identify and grab at-will. One problem with this approach, inter alia, is that a crowd of customers tend to linger within earshot of the counter where the good/service can be picked up. Certain restaurant and business environments avoid this occurrence by providing waiting regions and/or minimal (e.g., table) service at a location removed from the counter while providing its customers with pager devices. The customers are notified that the good/service is ready when the pager vibrates. One undesired consequence of using pagers is that germs can be passed between multiple employees and customers.
An alternative, passive method and system is desired for the delivery of goods/services, and more particularly, one that avoids the hassles of printing tickets, writing on items, announcing pick-ups, spreading of germs, and crowding at pick-up stations, etc. The present disclosure contemplates using head mountable computers for the delivery of the goods/services. One known prototype of a head mountable computer is Google Glass®, a wearable computer peripheral worn on the head for mobile devices that remotely access and transmit data. FIG. 1 shows the wearable computer in the PRIOR ART mounted on regular spectacle frames, where it displays video and data, such as navigational directions in the form of semi-transparent overlays and communications through e-mail and Skype® services, etc. The Google Glass® shown in FIG. 1 operates by providing the user with a monitor in an upper right portion of his/her visual field. The wearable computer can also include an accelerometer—to track subtle head movements and orientation—and a camera to capture images and videos. A software development kit enables the wearable computer to develop a number of different computer applications.
A method and system is desired for configuring a wearable computer peripheral device for enabling a delivery of goods/services in certain business environments.

Using head mountable displays to provide real-time assistance to employees in a retail environment


A time indicator comprising a first reservoir (13), a migration medium (11) and activating means for bringing liquid from the first reservoir (13) in contact with the migration medium (11) so that after activation the liquid migrates through the migration medium (11) producing a colour change therein. The activating means comprises a second reservoir (16) connected between the first reservoir (13) and the migration medium (11) whereby after activation the liquid travels relatively rapidly from the first reservoir (13) to the second reservoir (16) and then migrates relatively slowly along the length of the migration medium (11) over time.

The present invention relates to an indicator for showing the product lifetime of the item to which said indicator is attached. More particularly the present invention relates to an indicator which, on activation by applying pressure, measures elapsed time and displays visual indications relating to the product lifetime of the item to which it is attached.
The need to monitor the lifetime of food and drug products is well known, especially where such products deteriorate rapidly after manufacturing or opening. Milk-based products deteriorate rapidly from the time of manufacture, and many types of long-life products (such a canned produce) need to be disposed of within days of opening. Thus, a typical home environment needs a means of monitoring the freshness of the products in the refrigerator. In particular, in situations in which a can is opened or a foodstuff prepared but not consumed immediately in its entirety, the remains will often be placed in a container in the refrigerator. In the absence of a simple aid to show the consumer how long any such container has been in the refrigerator, the danger exists that said remains will deteriorate and pose a health risk. Alternatively, being unaware of how long this package has been in the refrigerator, the over-cautious consumer may dispose of the contents before this becomes necessary. In either case, the need for a simple, inexpensive and reliable indicator or tag for such containers in the refrigerator is clear.
A number of means to accomplish this objective are well known in the art. Co-pending application WO 01/26993, describes a cap containing an integral lifetime indicator where the first opening of the cap causes the activation of the lifetime indicator. However, this approach does not assist the consumer who is preparing a container of "left-overs" within the consumer's premises. Similarly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,292,916; 5,053,339; 5,446,705 and 5,633,835 describe colour changing devices for monitoring the shelf-life of perishable products. These devices are initiated by physically bringing into contact reactive layers so that a chemical reaction between them will start, and this action can only conveniently be performed at the time of initial manufacturing. While this approach is suitable for monitoring the degradation of foodstuffs throughout the entire distribution chain, they are unsuitable for user activation and application within the home environment. Further prior art addresses issues associated with applying such devices during the manufacturing and packaging processes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,223 describes a process for attaching timing indicators to packaging, including the step of setting the timer's clock at the exact time of production. Thus the above prior art devices require special manufacturing steps at the production-end of the packaging and filling processes, rather than the end-user affixation and activation of a lifetime indicator at the time of use or of storage as envisaged in the current invention. Similarly, time-temperature indicators (TTIs) also address the task of monitoring the entire distribution chain, rather than providing an end-user solution. A number of liquid migration technologies are known in the art, but these typically rely either on the rapid wicking of paper and are thus good for time ranges in the minutes to hours range, or require complex fabrication of the migration media from materials such as gelatine or other gels in order to provide for slower migration, and are thus both complex and expensive to produce.

Time indicator and method of manufacturing same


Short channel MOS semiconductor devices are produced by implanting impurity ions through gate electrode and gate oxide layers, before patterning the gate electrode, using a composite mask of silicon oxide and silicon nitride, to form a shallow channel region in the substrate for adjusting the threshold voltage and a deeper well region for preventing punch through. In another embodiment, impurity ions are implanted to form lightly doped and heavily doped source/drain regions in a single ion implantation step using a thermally grown oxide region having bird's beaks as a mask. Self-aligned lightly doped regions are formed under the bird's beaks.

The increasing demand for higher densification and miniaturization impose corresponding demands to produce semiconductor devices with design requirements within the sub-micron range. Various types of lightly doped drain (LDD) transistors having shallow junctions and short channel thresholds have evolved in an attempt to satisfy such demands for miniaturization. A conventional structure having a shallow LDD junction is depicted in FIG. 1 and exhibits favorable short channel threshold and drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) properties. The conventional structure depicted in FIG. 1 comprises substrate 10 with a shallow p-type doping region 12 extending across the gate and a shallow p-type well 14 beneath the shallow doping region 12. The lateral extent of p-type well 14 is not defined as it extends beyond the locality of the depicted transistor and may serve as a common p-type well for several transistors.
With continued reference to FIG. 1, gate oxide 16 is formed on semiconductor surface 10, and gate polysilicon layer 18 is formed on gate oxide 16. LDD regions 20 are typically formed by ion implantation using the gate electrode as a mask for self-alignment. The extension of LDD regions 20 under gate oxide 16 occurs during subsequent thermal diffusion steps. Heavily doped regions 21 are typically formed by ion implantation masked by gate electrode 18 and sidewall spacer 23 which is typically formed by depositing an oxide layer and anisotropically etching to leave a fillet of material on the sidewalls of polysilicon gate electrode 18. The amount of shallow doping 12 is established by the thickness of the gate oxide 18 to achieve a desired channel threshold. The deeper channel doping region 14 is determined by punch-through considerations.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,778, a method is disclosed for producing a CMOS semiconductor device with a shallow channel. The method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,106 departs from the methodology of U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,778 by forming the source/drain region at a controlled distance spaced apart from the shallow channel implant.
There exists a need for efficient, simplified methodology to produce short channel MOS devices, particularly short channel CMOS devices having sub-micron dimensions with increased drive current, improved short channel characteristics and self-aligned lightly doped source/drain regions.

Method of manufacturing short channel MOS devices


A powertrain has an electrically variable hybrid transmission having an electro-hydraulic control system, plurality of electrical power units, and a plurality of torque transmitting mechanisms selectively engageable by the electro-hydraulic control system to provide four forward speed ranges, a neutral condition, an electric low and high speed mode, and an electrically variable low and high speed mode. Additionally, the electrically variable hybrid transmission provides a parallel reverse mode and a series reverse mode. The present invention provides an improved electro-hydraulic control system having a multiplexed electronic transmission range selection (ETRS) and reverse dog clutch system for an electrically variable hybrid transmission. The multiplexed control system of the present invention allows effective control of both the ETRS system and reverse dog clutch system using only one solenoid valve.

Multi-speed power transmissions, particularly those using planetary gear arrangements, require a hydraulic system to provide controlled engagement and disengagement, on a desired schedule, of the clutches and brakes or torque transmitting mechanisms that operate to establish the ratios within the planetary gear arrangement.
These control systems have evolved from substantially pure hydraulic control systems, wherein hydraulic devices, produce all of the control signals to electro-hydraulic control systems, wherein an electronic control unit produces a number of the control signals. The electronic control unit emits electrical control signals to solenoid valves, which then issue controlled hydraulic signals to the various operating valves within the transmission control.
With many of the early pure hydraulic and first generation electro-hydraulic control systems, the power transmission utilized a number of freewheel or one-way devices which smooth the shifting or ratio interchange of the transmission during both upshifting and downshifting of the transmission. This relieves the hydraulic control system from providing for the control of overlap between the torque transmitting mechanism that was coming on and the torque transmitting mechanism that was going off. If this overlap is excessive, the driver feels a shudder in the drivetrain, and if the overlap is too little, the driver experiences engine flare or a sense of coasting. The freewheel device prevents this feeling by quickly engaging when the torque imposed thereon is reversed from a freewheeling state to a transmitting state.
The advent of electro-hydraulic devices gave rise to what is known as clutch-to-clutch shift arrangements to reduce the complexity of the transmission and the control. These electro-hydraulic control mechanisms are generally perceived to reduce cost and reduce the space required for the control mechanism.
In addition, with the advent of more sophisticated control mechanisms, the power transmissions have advanced from two-speed or three-speed transmissions to five-speed and six-speed transmissions. In at least one presently available six-speed transmission, just five friction devices are employed to provide six forward speeds, neutral condition, and a reverse speed. Such a gear arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,927 issued to Polak on Jan. 31, 1978. The use of the planetary gearset shown in the Polak patent has given rise to a number of electro-hydraulic control mechanisms, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,506, issued to Long et al. on Feb. 11, 1997. The torque capacity of a torque transmitting mechanism (on-coming or off-going) involved in a shift may be conveniently controlled by the combination of an electrically activated solenoid valve and a pressure regulator valve or trim valve, as disclosed, for example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,244 to Long et al., issued on Jun. 15, 1999, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and incorporated herein by reference. In a typical system, the solenoid valve is activated by pulse-width-modulation (PWM) at a controlled duty cycle to develop a pilot pressure for the pressure regulator valve or trim valve, which in turn, supplies fluid pressure to the torque transmitting mechanisms in proportion to the solenoid duty cycle.
Additionally, an electrically variable hybrid transmission has been proposed to improve fuel economy and reduce exhaust emissions. The electrically variable hybrid transmission splits mechanical power between an input shaft and an output shaft into a mechanical power path and an electrical power path by means of differential gearing. The mechanical power path may include clutches and additional gears. The electrical power path may employ two electrical power units, or motor/generator assemblies, each of which may operate as a motor or a generator. With an electrical storage system, such as a battery, the electrically variable hybrid transmission can be incorporated into a propulsion system for a hybrid electric vehicle. The operation of such an electrically variable hybrid transmission is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,208 to Holmes et al., issued on Apr. 22, 2003 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The hybrid propulsion system uses an electrical power source as well as an engine power source. The electrical power source is connected with the motor/generator units through an electronic control unit, which distributes the electrical power as required. The electronic control unit also has connections with the engine and vehicle to determine the operating characteristics, or operating demand, so that the motor/generator assemblies are operated properly as either a motor or a generator. When operating as a generator, the motor/generator assembly accepts power from either the vehicle or the engine and stores power in the battery, or provides that power to operate another electrical device or another motor/generator assembly.
There are two main hybrid vehicle architectures—the parallel hybrid and the series hybrid. The hybrid electric vehicle with a parallel configuration has a direct mechanical connection between the hybrid propulsion system and the drive wheels of the vehicle. In contrast, the hybrid electric vehicle with a series configuration uses an engine mounted generator to produce electricity for the batteries and/or the electric motor. The series hybrid electric vehicle has no mechanical connection between the hybrid propulsion system and the drive wheels. Some hybrid propulsion systems may selectively operate in either a parallel or a series configuration by employing a clutching mechanism, such as a dog clutch.
Additionally, modern control systems allow "shift by wire" range shift capability. Another name for this technology is electronic transmission range selection, or ETRS. The ETRS systems dispense with much of the mechanical interconnections found in mechanically actuated transmissions, thereby simplifying the transmission architecture. The additional functionality provided by an electrically variable hybrid transmission requires creative methods of control architecture to reduce cost, complexity, and weight, while increasing reliability.

Multiplexed control system and method for an electrically variable hybrid transmission