A rotor and bearing system for a turbomachine. The turbomachine includes a drive shaft, an impeller positioned on the drive shaft, and a turbine positioned on the drive shaft proximate to the impeller. The bearing system comprises one gas journal bearing supporting the drive shaft between the impeller and the turbine. The area between the impeller and the turbine is an area of increased heat along the drive shaft in comparison to other locations along the drive shaft. The section of the drive shaft positioned between impeller and the turbine is also a section of the drive shaft that experiences increased stressed and load in the turbomachine. The inventive bearing machine system positions only one radial bearing in this area of increased stress and load.

The present invention relates to a unique and novel rotor and bearing system for an energy conversion machine, and more specifically to the placement of rotors and bearings within a turbomachine.
A turbomachine is an energy conversion machine. Typically a turbomachine can generate electric power and may include a compressor, turbine, gears, motors, and generators. In general, such a system includes one or more rotors supported on one or more bearings enabling free rotation of the shafts which carry the compressor wheel, turbine blades and permanent magnet rotor, or sleeve.
In high efficiency turbomachines such as those describes in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,752,380 and 5,685,156, the efficiencies of the machines are substantially enhanced by the use of thrust and journal bearings of the compliant foil hydrodynamic fluid film type. Examples of these bearings are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,455 and U.S. Application Publication No. 2002/0054718.
A turbomachine having three journal bearings and one thrust bearing is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,848. The machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,848 is generally designed for kilowatt output (in the 30 KW range) and, for commercial efficiencies, is designed to be small, compact and easily transportable. Such machines have traditionally included journal bearings on either end of the permanent magnet shaft of the turbo generator. The powerhead of these turbomachines includes a compressor and turbine mounted on a shaft supported by a journal bearing and a thrust bearing positioned within the powerhead housing between the compressor and the turbine.
The conventional journal bearing includes stationary metallic foils positioned in close proximity to the rotating shaft. Additionally, the conventional thrust bearing includes a flange sandwiched between thrust bearings which are designed to restrict motion, counteract thrust loads, and dampen the transfer of vibratory thrust. These thrust bearings allow for thrust balancing and axial positioning of the permanent magnet shaft and the powerhead shaft. As such, the prior art positions at least one journal bearing and at least one thrust bearing between the compressor and turbine of the powerhead section.
The size and efficiency of these smaller prior art machines allow both the journal bearing and thrust bearing to be mounted between the compressor and the turbine. This is due to the controllable level of heat generated by the smaller overall design of these conventional systems. The present materials technology can design cost effective metal bearings that withstand the heat levels generated in the combustion chamber that power these smaller turbines. However, even in these smaller systems, the tremendous heat generated in the combustion chamber impacts the longevity of the journal and thrust bearings mounted adjacent the turbine. As such, those journal and thrust bearings can be the first components to fail in these machines because of their exposure to these heat levels.
Also, the configuration of the bearings and rotors in the prior art machines substantially block gas flow from the compressor to the bearings and on to the turbine. As such, without additional gas passages, or channels designed into the prior art machines, proper gas transfer from the compressor to the bearings and the turbine is not accomplished. Additionally, with the use of the gas passages that bypass the bearings, the natural convective cooling activity of the gas flow is not imparted to the bearings. These facts combined with the location of the thrust bearing and journal bearing near the combustion areas in the prior art turbomachines results in high operating temperatures for those prior art bearings. As such, these prior art bearings must be made of more expensive materials that tolerate high temperatures. Even then, these bearings in the prior art systems have a tendency to fail, break down, and malfunction.
It is also known, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,848, to completely support the generator/motor rotor on gas bearings and to provide a flexible coupling between the permanent magnet shaft and the powerhead shaft. The flexible couplings transmit all torque from one rotor to the other, but radial excursions of one rotor generally do not affect the motion of the other rotor.
As discussed above, again as is illustrated in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,848, the powerhead shaft is carried by a journal bearing and a thrust bearing mounted between the compressor and the turbine. In larger machines, for example in a 200 kilowatt machine, the inventors have found that the extreme heat generated in the combustion chamber of the machine will exacerbate problems associated with the thrust bearing directly adjacent the hot section of the machine. The inventors have developed a unique and novel rotor and bearing system which alleviates these problems.

Rotor and bearing system for a turbomachine


A content editing apparatus that edits digital broadcast content that is composed of a plurality of data carousels for realizing pseudo-interaction is provided. An operation reception unit receives identification information and a transmission start time and a transmission end time of each module that constitutes a data carousel from an operator. A control unit stores the received information as module information into a module information storage unit. A data carousel definition unit sorts each transmission start time and transmission end time included in the module information, defines a carousel time period of each data carousel based on the sorted times, and selects modules to be transmitted during each carousel time period.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a content editing apparatus and a content editing method for editing digital broadcast content that is made up of a plurality of data carousels.
(2) Description of Related Art
In recent years, digitalization of broadcast has made not only conventional video and audio delivery but also mass data delivery possible. In digital broadcast, data broadcast involving the mass data delivery has widely been put into practice. Broadcast typically means one-way delivery of video information from broadcast stations without any interaction with receiving terminals. However, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 10-313449 discloses a technique for realizing pseudo-interaction between broadcasters and receivers. According to the technique, video information is repeatedly broadcasted, so that users of reception terminals can manipulate the received video information interactively (such repeated transmission is hereafter referred to as "data carousel").
Conventionally, content producers have been required to define such data carousels. To define the data carousels, the content producers are required not only to understand data to make up the data carousels that constitute broadcast content, but also to be well acquainted with the concept of "data carousel" that is a data transmission method. This gives the content producers substantial burdens.

Content editing apparatus, content editing method, content editing program, and computer-readable storage medium

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor constituent having a semiconductor substrate and a plurality of electrodes for external connection provided under the semiconductor substrate. An under-layer insulating film is provided under and around the semiconductor constituent. A plurality of under-layer wires are provided under the under-layer insulating film and electrically connected to the electrodes for external connection of the semiconductor constituent. An insulating layer is provided around the semiconductor constituent and on the under-layer insulating film. A frame-like insulating substrate is embedded in an upper surface of the insulating layer and positioned around the semiconductor constituent. A plurality of upper-layer wires are provided on the insulating substrate. A base plate on which the semiconductor constituent and the insulating layer are mounted is removed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including a semiconductor constituent, and a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In certain types of conventional semiconductor devices, a plurality of columnar electrodes for external connection are provided under a silicon substrate as disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-223518. Such a conventional semiconductor device has a (Fan-in) constitution in which the electrodes for external connection are provided in the planar area region of a semiconductor constituent, and hence the semiconductor device cannot be applied to a case where the number of the electrodes for external connection to be arranged increases and an arrangement pitch is smaller than a predetermined dimension of, for example, about 0.5 μm.
Moreover, in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-216935, there is disclosed a semiconductor device employing a Fan-out structure where a semiconductor constituent referred to as a chip size package (CSP) is provided on a base plate having a planar size larger than that of the semiconductor constituent and almost all the region of this base plate is the arrangement region of the electrodes for external connection of the semiconductor constituent. In the semiconductor device employing this Fan-out structure, the arrangement region of the electrodes for external connection can be broadened, and hence a sufficient arrangement pitch can be obtained even in a case where the number of the electrodes for external connection to be arranged is large.
In this conventional semiconductor device, there are serious problems that the base plate for mounting the semiconductor constituent thereon is necessary, and this base plate increases the thickness of the whole device.

Semiconductor device including semiconductor constituent and manufacturing method thereof


According to the present invention, a gas tank having a gas-barrier inner shell and an outer shell that is formed so as to cover the inner shell and is made of a pressure-resistant FRP, such outer shell comprising reinforcing fiber bundles (A), a thermosetting resin (B), and an elastomer particles and/or thermoplastic resin particles (C), provided that elastomer particles and/or thermoplastic resin particles (C) that have been dispersed in a thermosetting resin (B) exist in reinforcing fiber bundles (A), is provided. Such gas tank is excellent in strength and heat resistance and has suppressed gas permeability.

In recent years, gas tanks (gas cylinders) that store hydrogen or natural gas serving as fuel for electric power generation have been used in automobiles, houses, transport machinery, and the like.
For instance, polymer electrolyte fuel cells have been gaining attention as a power source for automobiles. When such fuel cells are used for electric power generation, an electrochemical reaction is induced by supplying a gas fuel (e.g., hydrogen gas) to a gas diffusion electrode layer provided on one side of each fuel cell and supplying an oxidant gas (e.g., air containing oxygen) to a gas diffusion electrode layer provided on the other side. Upon such electric power generation, nontoxic water is exclusively produced. Thus, the above fuel cells have been gaining attention from viewpoints of environmental influences and use efficiency.
In order to continuously supply a gas fuel such as hydrogen gas to an automobile equipped with the above fuel cells, a gas fuel is stored in an in-vehicle gas tank. Examples of in-vehicle hydrogen gas tanks that have been examined include a gas tank that stores compressed hydrogen and a hydrogen-storing gas tank that stores hydrogen in a state of absorption in metal hydride (MH).
Among them, a CFRP (carbon fiber-reinforced plastic) tank has been examined to be used as an in-vehicle gas tank that stores compressed hydrogen. A CFRP tank is structured such that a liner layer (inner shell) that maintains airtight properties of the tank is formed inside a layer (outer shell: fiber-reinforced layer) comprising a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP material). Such CFRP tank has strength greater than that of a tank made of a usual type of plastic and is excellent in pressure resistance, so that it is preferably used as a gas fuel tank.
In addition, a known method for producing a CFRP tank involves a technique for producing a CFRP tank by winding a CFRP material in a carbon fiber filament form around a liner layer that is formed in a container form (filament winding method). Since carbon fibers have strength and rigidity in the fiber direction, the strength of a tank can be improved by winding a CFRP material in the manner described above.
Meanwhile, for fuel storage purposes, a pressure-resistant tank is mounted in an automobile for which a liquefied gas such as high-pressure gas (natural gas) or propane is used as fuel. In general, commercially available and widely used pressure-resistant tanks are made of metals such as steel and aluminium. However, metal-made pressure-resistant tanks are thick and heavy. Thus, in addition to poor workability and characteristics that cause danger, great energy is required for transport of such tanks, resulting in an automobile mileage decrease. This is disadvantageous. Further, the calorific value per unit weight of gas fuel is almost half that of gasoline. Thus, in order to extend the distance that a gas automobile can run without fuel supply to an extent comparable to the case of a commercially available gasoline-fueled automobile, it is necessary to supply a gas fuel with a weight greater than that of gasoline, which is problematic.
Thus, in order to achieve weight reduction, a gas tank having an aluminium- or plastic-made inner shell and an outer shell that covers the inner shell and is made of pressure-resistant FRP (fiber-reinforced plastic) has been developed. Such gas tank is essentially made of plastic and thus is much lighter in weight than a metal-made gas tank. Therefore, it is expected that mileage can be improved with the use of the above gas tank as a natural gas tank for automobiles. However, the weight of the outer shell accounts for the most of the weight of a tank. Accordingly, a tank comprising an outer shell having a minimized weight is preferable because such tank is lighter in weight than other tanks. Also, with the use of such tank, in addition to the improvement in mileage, reduction in wear-and-tear expenses for abrasion of tires and brake shoes, laborsaving handling of cylinders, and reduction in accidents can be expected.
However, FRP is more fragile than metals, and thus it might experience generation of cracks and the like when receiving great impact force from the outside. Crack propagation might result in sharp reduction in the pressure resistance and the strength of an FRP-made outer shell. In addition, even when there is slight damage to appearance, cracks and damages in reinforcing fibers are extended due to repetitive application of impact force, which might result in reduction in pressure resistance and strength.
Thus, JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 8-219386 A (1996) discloses a gas tank having a gas-barrier inner shell and an outer shell that is formed so as to cover the inner shell and is made of a pressure-resistant FRP, such outer shell comprising reinforcing fiber bundles [A], a hardened material made of a thermosetting resin [B], and an elastomer and/or thermoplastic resin [C], provided that the elastomer and/or thermoplastic resin [C] is localized on the outer circumference of the reinforcing fiber bundle [A] in a cutting section of the outer shell. Such gas tank has been realized in order to impart toughness to the FRP-made outer shell, to maintain the high-pressure resistance, and to suppress propagation of cracks and damages in reinforcing fibers so as to improve impact resistance and fatigue resistance. The gas tank disclosed in JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 8-219386 A (1996) is based on technology for realization of a CNG pressure container. According to such technology, the toughness of a matrix resin is improved in a manner such that crack extension in FRP induced by an impact is prevented on the assumption that an impact is applied to FRP and that an impact is repeatedly applied to FRP. As a means of improving toughness, a thermoplastic elastomer is used. The desired strength can be obtained particularly with the use of a polyester or polyamide elastomer among thermoplastic elastomers.
However, in the case of a gas tank disclosed in JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 8-219386 A (1996), an elastomer and/or thermoplastic resin [C] is localized on the outer circumferences of reinforcing fiber bundles [A], resulting in the following problems.
(1) Delamination occurs due to poor compatibility between a thermosetting resin serving as a base resin containing a thermoplastic elastomer and fibers. This is because a thermoplastic elastomer is not sufficiently dispersed but is localized in a base resin due to a difference between a thermoplastic resin used as an elastomer and a thermosetting resin used as a base resin, so that stable properties cannot be obtained.(2) The use of a thermoplastic elastomer results in poor impregnation of fibers with such elastomer upon filament winding (FW) molding of a high-pressure tank. This is because introduction of a thermoplastic elastomer results in increased viscosity of a resin used for FW, leading to poor impregnation of fibers with such elastomer.(3) Addition of a thermoplastic elastomer results in a decreased glass transition point (Tg) of a CFRP matrix itself. Accordingly, the heat resistance decreases. In addition, the acceptable heat resistance of a tank used as a container is not specifically described. The glass transition temperature of an elastomer component is generally low and thus the heat resistance originally imparted to a base resin cannot be maintained. Further, high-temperature cycle tests are carried out as environmental tests for a container. Thus, it is necessary to describe the acceptable heat resistance of a matrix resin.(4) Introduction of a thermoplastic elastomer is carried out as a means of preventing fractures such as cracks in a container. Thus, crack prevention in a high-pressure container made of CFRP is not intended to suppress gas permeability by, for example, isolating a gas leaking from a liner.

Gas tank and method for producing the same


An endoscopic surgical system has, in a hospital, multiple operating rooms A to J having anesthesia-apparatus related systems. Each of the anesthesia-apparatus related systems is connected to a hospital network managed by a server through a communication circuit. The anesthesia-apparatus related system is connected to an endoscopic system through a cable so as to communicate with each other interactively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscopic surgical system for remotely supporting surgery.
2. Related Art Statement
Recently, an endoscopic apparatus is widely used. The endoscopic apparatus may be used for observing organs within a body cavity by inserting a long and narrow insert portion into the body cavity and/or for performing different kinds of treatments and procedures by using a treating device being inserted into a treating-device insert channel as needed.
An endoscopic surgical system using the endoscope is used in an equipment system having various data/images in an operating room.
For example, according to a conventional technology as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-276540, information such as medical treatment information of patients and operational information for endoscopic image surgical apparatus can be stored.
In such a conventional endoscopic surgical system, anesthesia-related apparatus and endoscope-related apparatus need to hold a large amount of data and become more complicated. In the conventional endoscopic surgical system, an anesthesia-related apparatus and an endoscope-related apparatus are connected to a network separately and may transfer, for example, data independently.

Surgery support system for endoscopic surgery


A low carbon microalloyed steel, comprising in weight % about: 0.05-0.30 C; 0.5-1.5 Mn; 0.04 max S; 0.025 max P; 1.0 max Si; 0.5-2.0 Ni; 0.05-0.30 V; 0-2.0 Cu; up to 0.0250 N; up to 0.2 Cb; up to 0.3 Cr; up to about 0.15 Mo; up to about 0.05 Al; balance Fe and minor additions and impurities. The steel has a carbon equivalent value, C.E., ranging between 0.3-0.65, calculated by the formula: C.E.=C+Mn+Si+Cu+Ni+Cr+Mo+V+Cb 6 15 5.

The present invention relates generally to the metallurgy of steel and, more particularly, to low carbon microalloyed steel compositions. It is common practice to use conventional microalloyed steels in various applications for bars and tubular products. However, there are needs for stronger and tougher microalloyed steels in a number of different applications such as, for example, in communication towers and hub assemblies.


An information processing apparatus includes a processor configured to: determine whether a state of a user that views a virtual space is a predetermined state, based on state information indicating the state of the user and condition information for determining that the user is in the predetermined state; and start collection of log information upon determining that the state of the user is the predetermined state.

For the purpose of improving the quality of virtual reality (VR) content in a virtual space, it has recently been desired to understand the degree of user's attention to an object or area disposed in the virtual space.
As a technology to understand the degree of the user's attention, for example, a technology has been known that acquires the viewpoint or position of the user in the virtual space as log information and displays an image indicating the viewpoint of the user, a heat map indicating a history of movement of the user, or the like by superposition thereof on the VR content for visualization.
Related techniques are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2017-68851.
With the conventional technology, the object or area to which the user has turned his/her eyes within the virtual space may be determined from the acquired log information. However, it is difficult to determine whether the user has turned his/her eyes to the object or area in curiosity or for no special reason. With the conventional technology, the position where the user has stayed may be detected from the log information. However, it is difficult to determine whether the user has stayed in the position on purpose or for no special reason.
With the conventional technology, it is difficult to acquire log information when the degree of the user's attention is increased in the virtual space.

Log information collection method and information processing apparatus


An apparatus, method and computer program product is disclosed. The apparatus may comprise means for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals using a radio system coupled to an external antenna via an additional combiner or diplexer, means for receiving one or more reference signals usable for measurement of passive intermodulation from one or more nodes provided in a signal path external to the radio system, a first one of said nodes being associated with a signal path between the additional combiner or diplexer and the external antenna, and means for performing passive intermodulation cancellation based on the received one or more reference signals, including a first reference signal from the first node.

Passive Intermodulation (PIM) is a well-known telecommunications issue. It is caused if multiple signals are transmitted through a non-linear system. A non-linear system may be a system comprising active components, but it may also occur in passive components, e.g. due to aging antennas, corroded or loose connectors, cables, connectors, combiners and filters, e.g. passive duplex filters. Due to PIM, intermodulation products (IMPs) may occur at frequencies f corresponding to kafa+kbfb+kcfc+ . . . , wherein fa, fb, fc, . . . are the frequencies of the plural signals, and ka, kb, kc, . . . are integer coefficients (positive, negative, or 0). The sum ka+kb+kc+, . . . is denoted as the order of the IMP, denoted as IMP3, IMP5, IMP7 etc. for IMP of 3rd, 5th, and 7th order, respectively. The amplitude of the IMPs may decrease with increasing order of the IMPs. IMP3 is typically most relevant because it is located close to the input signal and has relatively high amplitude.
To mitigate the effects of PIM, PIM cancellation (PIMC) techniques can be employed which may involve deriving an estimate of the PIM which is then cancelled from the received signal. This may involve estimating a PIM signal or model and using said PIM signal or model to subtract or filter out the PIM from the received signal to leave substantially the required signal.


A corrosion inhibitor dispensing apparatus has a housing with a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet. A first body within the housing comprises a cathodic corrosion inhibitor. A second body within the housing comprises an anodic corrosion inhibitor.

The invention relates to corrosion inhibiting additives. More particularly, the invention relates to dispensing anodic/cathodic inhibitor combinations.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,678-B1 and US pre-grant publication 20040262580-A1 disclose the use of combinations of cathodic corrosion inhibitors and anodic corrosion inhibitors. Other forms of corrosion inhibitors are also known. WO2004106246-A2 discloses inhibitors and a number of dispensing devices for water systems. US pre-grant publication 20050019236-A1 discloses devices for introducing additives to lubrication systems.

Corrosion inhibitor dispensing apparatus and methods


A method for repairing an insulating glass unit and apparatus to facilitate such repair. A bore is drilled through a frame encasing an insulating glass unit to expose the peripheral spacer of the unit, and a hole is drilled through a wall of the spacer to enable air to enter the space between the panes. The hole in the spacer is then sealed, for example, with a rivet, and the bore in the frame is then filled and sealed as well.

Insulating glass units are formed generally of a pair of glass panes that are generally parallel to one another and that have a spacer running between them at their peripheries. Spacers, commonly of metal, are adhered by means of a sealant to the glass panes, the sealant desirably forming a gas-tight seal to thus prevent air or other gas from entering or leaving the space between the panes. Insulating glass units are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,377,473 and 5,439,716.
To improve the insulating capacity of such glass units, the between-pane space may be filled with argon or other gas that has a coefficient of thermal conductivity less than that of air. Commonly, the between-pane space is filled with argon to a pressure that is approximately atmospheric, although pressure adjustments may be made in connection with the elevation of the geographic locale where the insulating glass unit is to be installed. The periphery of an insulating glass unit is encased in a frame which may be of wood or other material, and the wooden frame in turn may have a weather-resistant plastic coating.
Over a period of time, argon may slowly leak from the between-pane space to the atmosphere. This occurs at a rate greater than the permeation of oxygen or nitrogen into the between-pane space, with the result that the pressure in the between-pane space is reduced below atmospheric pressure. The resulting pressure differential causes the panes to cup inwardly, and the panes can eventually touch near their centers, with consequent loss of insulating value. In some cases, the cupping of the panes is so great as to cause one or the other of the panes to shatter. When failure occurs, the window units necessarily have to be replaced, and this can be extremely expensive in that the failed window unit must be removed, replaced, and reinstalled on a unit-by-unit basis.
When transported to geographic locations of higher elevation and hence reduced atmospheric pressure, the panes of insulating glass units may bulge outwardly under the pressure differential across the panes, and this also causes distortion of the panes and may lead to ultimate glass breakage.
It would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus to enable insulating glass units that bulge or that have become cupped to be repaired without requiring them to be removed from the frames within which they are encased, and without requiring them to be removed from the buildings in which they are installed.


The system includes an interior garment, such as a short mesh pant, which fits inside the firefighter pant and over his station wear. The safety harness is removably fixed to the short pant through the harness belt and the short pant harness combination is removably attached to the firefighter pant.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for integrating a safety harness into a fire fighting protective garment. More specifically, this invention relates to a mesh, preferably fire-resistant, that will hold in place a safety harness between the inner lining fabric of the firefighter protective trouser and the station wear pant of the firefighter thereby eliminating the need for openings in the liner or outer shell of the garment. More particularly, the invention will permit the integration of a wide range of commercially available safety harnesses into the firefighter garment. As well, the invention is concerned with permitting the easy inspection and adjustment of the alignment and tightness of the harness without having to separate the garment liner from the outer shell.
(b) Description of Prior Art
A firefighter protective garment is usually a coat, a pant or one-piece coverall consisting of three or more functional layers of fire-resistant materials. The various layers are normally the following:
the outer shell which provides protection against puncture, cuts, abrasion, and heat;
the moisture barrierxe2x80x94consisting usually of a woven or non-woven substrate to which a fire resistant semi-permeable polymer is coated or laminatedxe2x80x94which provides resistance to penetration by liquids and blood-borne pathogens while facilitating the transmission of metabolic heat away from the body of the firefighter;
the thermal barrierxe2x80x94usually consisting of an insulating layer of batting or non-woven fabric quilted or laminated to a woven face clothxe2x80x94which provides the bulk of the resistance to the transmission of heat from the external environment to the body of the firefighter.
A common configuration and orientation of these layers in a firefighter garment is as follows:
The outermost layer is the outer shell fabric. Moving inwards, the next functional layer is the moisture barrier, orientated with the substrate towards the outer shell and the polymer towards the inside. The next functional layer is the thermal barrier, orientated with the thicker and softer insulating layer facing the moisture barrier film and the face cloth towards the body of the firefighter.
Fire fighting protective pants are equipped with suspenders that pass over the shoulders of the wearer.
There is an increasing demand by firefighters to be able to wear a life safety harness while performing fire fighting duties. Industry has responded by making available a variety of harness designs. There are two main types of safety harness used in the fire service:
A Class II life safety harness that fastens around waist and around thighs or under buttocks;
A Class III life safety harness that fastens around waist and around thighs or under buttocks, and over shoulders.
Because the majority of safety harnesses does not employ heat or flame resistant materials, these harnesses cannot be worn on the outside of a firefighter""s protective clothing. A firefighter may wear the harness over his station wear pants before donning his firefighter protective clothing. However, to don first the harness, then the protective garment would increase unacceptably the emergency response time of the firefighter. Therefore, the firefighter would like to be able to don his harness and his protective garment simultaneously.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard 1971, Standard on Protective Ensemble for Structural Fire Fighting, dictates the design and performance requirements for boots, helmets, gloves, trousers and coats intended for structural fire fighting. NFPA 1983, Standard on Fire Service Life Safety Rope and System Components, sets performance requirements for ropes and harnesses used in the fire service.
However, neither standard provides guidance as to how a safety harness may be integrated or used with a structural fire fighting garment. As a result, manufacturers of structural fire fighting clothing have been adapting their products as they see fit to receive such safety harnesses.
The most common approach has been to incorporate the safety harness between the outer shell and the liner of the protective trouser. The parts of the harness to which a rope could eventually be attached pass through slits or openings in either the outer shell fabric or the liner of the garment.
A disadvantage to this design is that a garment with slits or openings located for one particular brand of harness may not be able to accommodate another brand of harness whose straps do not fall in exactly the same place.
A further disadvantage is that the moisture barrier, which is usually the layer immediately inside the outer shell fabric, is the most fragile element of the protective garment. As a consequence, the straps and hardware of the harness can damage the moisture barrier through pressure and friction.
And yet another disadvantage is that there is only a thin layer of outer shell fabric between the harness and the fire fighting environment. Now, many of the components of commercially available harnesses melt at temperatures below the 500xc2x0 F. minimum requirement that must be met by all the other components of the firefighter garment. Furthermore, even at temperatures as low as 300xc2x0 F.xe2x80x94temperatures which are frequently encountered in the fire fighting environmentxe2x80x94the straps or webbing material of the harness will suffer some loss of tensile strength. As a consequence, this design has the distinct disadvantage of compromising the integrity and performance of the safety harness.
One common design of harness integration involves first donning the pant liner. Then, the firefighter pulls on the harness and adjusts the leg and waist straps. And last, the firefighter pulls on the outer shell of the pant and attaches it to the liner, with critical straps passing through specially constructed openings between the outer shell and liner. Thereafter, whenever the firefighter is called to respond to an emergency he dons the entire pant with harness already in place.
A disadvantage of this system, with the harness components sandwiched between the liner and the outer shell, is that the firefighter cannot readily adjust the fit of the harness, straighten a twisted strap or inspect the harness for damage without separating the liner from the outer shell.
A further disadvantage is that firefighter cannot readily remove the harness from the garment, even if the emergency to which he is responding does not require him to have the protection afforded by a safety harness. As consequence, the firefighter is at all times encumbered by the weight and bulk of the safety harness.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of harness integration that readily permits both the integration and removal of a safety harness.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a harness integration system, which is itself easily attachable and detachable from the garment.
It is an object of this invention to protect the safety harness from the heat that may be encountered in the fire fighting environment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a harness integration system that interfaces with a variety of safety harnesses.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a harness integration system that meets the thermal performance requirements of NFPA 1971.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of harness integration that removes the need to secure the harness in place via openings in the different layers of the garment, or by the use of fabric loops.
It is another object of the present invention to permit easy inspection, adjustment or alignment of the safety harness when it is integrated in the garment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a liner integration system that is lightweight yet strong.
It is another object of the present invention to reduce wear and damage to the moisture barrier of the liner by permitting the harness to be worn directly on the station wear pant instead of it being placed between the liner and outer shell of the fire fighter protective trouser.
The above and other objects of the invention may be achieved by providing a fire fighting protective garment adapted to be worn with a firefighter safety harness, the garment comprising a firefighter pant, which includes a waist portion, the protective garment also comprising an interior garment to be disposed inside the firefighter pant and over a station wear pant, and downwardly extending from the waist portion of the firefighter pant, means for removably fixing the safety harness to the interior garment, and means for removably attaching the interior garment to the waist portion of the firefighter pant.
The interior garment is preferably made of a material that does not restrict transmission of perspiration or metabolic heat away from the body of the wearer. For example, the interior garment may designed as a short pant and it may be made of a fire-resistant material, such as a fire-resistant mesh.
The safety harness is preferably made of strapping material including a belt portion, and is normally fixed to the interior garment through the belt portion.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is thus provided a mesh pant which is made of a material that is preferably fire-resistant to be attached to, yet easily removable from, the innermost layer of the firefighter protective garment. This mesh will retain the harness in place yet permit rapid and easy adjustment of the harnesses straps and buckles.
The mesh, in accordance with the nature of meshes, will not restrict the transmission of perspiration or metabolic heat away from the body of the wearer.
The present invention also relates to a firefighter garment comprising an outer shell, a moisture barrier and a thermal barrier, wherein an integration method is provided for removably attaching a safety harness to the firefighter garment without securing it between the outer shell and the liner and without providing slits and openings therein.
In a preferred embodiment, the invention permits the integration of a Class II or Class III life safety harness into the protective pant of the firefighter ensemble.
According to yet another preferred embodiment, the shoulder straps of a Class III harness replace the suspenders of the firefighter pant thereby keeping the pants in place while reducing the combined weight and bulk of the firefighter garment and harness.

System for integrating a harness into a fire fighting protective garment


A back and internal organ supportive belt that can be installed in a chair or a seat, including the driver's seat of a vehicle or the operator's seat of a piece of equipment, to provide support to internal organs, and to the musculoskeletal system of the driver or operator. The back and internal organ supportive belt includes an inelastic support structure with upper and lower sections; belts and straps for fastening the belt to a seat, and for strapping the driver/operator into the supportive belt; vertically extendable foam lordotic support pads; an inflatable bladder for applying vertical extension and lumbar vertebrae distraction; and a pad for providing heat and/or vibration for the driver's or operator's further comfort.

Certain driving environments and heavy equipment environments subject the driver of a vehicle or the operator of equipment to extremes of vibration and vertical and lateral forces, that impede the ability of the driver or operator to function effectively. These exposures can be lengthy, involving many hours, entire working shifts, and are often encountered day after day. In addition, consistent, repetitive, and lengthy exposure to the vibrational forces can cause discomfort, and can stress or injure the musculoskeletal structures and internal organs of the driver/operator. Repetitive exposure over days, months, and years can cause cumulative damage to the spine and to the internal organs of the driver/operator. Prolonged sitting alone, without the additional stresses of vibration, increases the pressure on the lower lumbar spine by as much as 10 times due to the mechanics of the body. In the majority of lumbar spine disease conditions, patients report increased pain and/or loss of function associated with prolonged sitting. For these reasons, an appropriate and effective support belt is desirable.


A plane figure presents statistics relating to data items. The plane figure includes multiple wedges which categorize a set of data items into base subsets of data items. A ring with a ring radius is displayed, and the ring radius represents a measure for at least one base subset. A corresponding wedge has a wedge radius which differs from the ring radius in proportion to a difference between the measure for that base subset and a measure for a subsidiary subset of that base subset. For example, the subsidiary subset may relate to data items for a predetermined timeframe. Boundaries, such as dividing lines, may be displayed within one or more wedges to define areas that represent additional subsets of data items. In another embodiment, a presentation space include first, second, and third groups of objects, with lines displayed between certain objects to represent flows of information between those objects.

An enormous amount of information now resides in data processing systems around the world. A single large business organization, for example, typically retains millions of documents in various computer systems. In recent years, data mining systems have been developed to help extract kernels of knowledge from large collections of data. Many of those data mining systems provide important advantages in the field of data analysis. Some data mining systems also provide tools for presenting the results of statistical analyses.
For example, one well-known format that may be used to present statistical results is the pie chart. In a conventional pie chart, wedges are presented within a circle or "pie" to represent measures associated with different categories. For instance, a pie chart for government spending includes wedges for different governmental programs, such as military, social security, etc. The wedge for each program occupies a portion of the pie that corresponds to the amount spent by that program, relative to the total amount spent. Thus, a pie chart depicts statistical results involving two parameters, the category parameter and the measure parameter. In the given example, the values for the category parameter are military, social security, etc., and the values for the measure parameter are the amounts spent in each category. In the given example, the wedges thus depict a categorization of spending according to program.
Pie charts are effective for communicating statistical results that are limited to two parameters. However, standard pie charts are not designed to present results that include different values for three or more parameters. For instance, with reference to the above example, if a user is interested in understanding how government spending has changed over time, it is necessary to add a third parameter to the analysis: a time parameter. Furthermore, since a standard pie chart accommodates only two parameters, a separate pie chart must be used for each different year in the analysis. A presentation with a number of pie charts can reveal relatively large changes over time, which show up as noticeable differences between the charts. More subtle changes, however, are not readily apparent. Moreover, as the number of charts to be presented within a given presentation space increases, the size of each chart must decrease, which further reduces the ability to convey any but the most obvious of changes. Furthermore, statistical analyses frequently involve more than three parameters. For example, data mining systems may generate statistics containing summary information for many different parameters or dimensions.
In addition, much of the information that is currently stored in data processing systems relates to information that has traveled from one place or person to another place or person. When studying such information, users may gain valuable insights by considering the flow patterns for the information. For example, it is useful to know which people or departments in an organization have been communicating with which other departments or people. It is also useful to compare different parts of an organization with respect to information flow. Yet additional insight could be obtained through consideration of message content, along with statistics regarding message flow. However, such statistics are difficult to assimilate through direct study, and conventional data presentation facilities lack effective means for presenting summaries of such data.

System and method for presenting statistics


A plasma process apparatus having a plasma chamber with in situ monitoring, a monitoring method, and a method for in situ cleaning a plasma chamber. The apparatus includes a sampling manifold which induces flow of a sample gas from a plasma chamber through the manifold. A gas analyzer analyzes the sample gas flowing through the sampling manifold. The in situ monitoring method monitors an initial gas to establish background levels, and bakes the apparatus to reduce contaminants, if necessary. The monitoring method then monitors a process reaction and, after unloading a wafer and discharging a waste gas, monitors an in situ cleaning reaction. Monitoring involves inducing flow of a gas from the plasma chamber through the sampling manifold, and then analyzing the gas in the manifold with a gas analyzer. The cleaning method includes using a mixture of sulfur hexafluoride and chlorine to clean the plasma chamber after etching a polysilicon layer.

The present invention relates to a plasma process apparatus with in situ monitoring, a method for monitoring using the apparatus, and a method for cleaning a chamber used in the apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to in situ monitoring a plasma chamber using a sampling manifold connected to the chamber and a gas analyzer connected to the manifold, and includes a method for in situ monitoring a plasma process and a method for cleaning the plasma chamber after etching. In addition, the present invention relates to an optimized in situ cleaning method for removing residues inside a plasma chamber after etching polysilicon.
Generally, semiconductor device fabrication processes are carried out in processing chambers in which specific processing conditions, such as temperature and pressure, are preset and processing environments are created. In particular, a plasma process, such as a plasma etching process and a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process, generates many by-products. These by-products react with gas, photoresist, or other materials present inside the processing chamber to create polymer materials. The polymer becomes attached to the wafer surface and the inside surfaces of the processing chamber, causing the processing parameters to deviate from the pre-set values, and generating particles. Particles cause wafer defects which result in a decrease in the productive yield of a semiconductor fabrication facility.
In order to reduce defects, preventive maintenance (PM) for the processing chamber is carried out on a certain schedule. Because the equipment can not be operated during PM, productivity is also reduced by frequent PM.
FIG. 1 shows the PM process for the conventional processing chamber. Equipment for a specific process of semiconductor fabrication, with a chamber requiring PM, is removed from operation, is powered off, has its vacuum released, and is allowed to cool down. When the processing chamber is sufficiently cooled down, the components of the processing chamber are disassembled. In the case of chambers used in plasma processes, the surfaces of each of the disassembled components are wet-etched to remove the by-products of plasma processing. The wet-etch normally uses chemicals in the hydrogen fluoride (HF) series in order to remove the polysilicon film or silicon nitride film. Then, after re-assembling the components, a vacuum pump is again operated to reestablish a vacuum, the power is turned on, and the equipment is brought on line. Test wafers are then loaded into the processing chamber of the equipment, and an aging process ensues. After aging, the test wafers are examined during Process Recertification, in order to check whether the processing chamber is ready for operational use.
However, the PM method described has some drawbacks. The method is expensive, wastes energy and takes a long time (over 24 hours).
In order to overcome the time problem, a plasma etch can be carried out using nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), or carbon tetrafluoride (CF4) instead of the wet etch. Alternatively, Thermal Shock Technology is employed to remove, by means of thermal stress, the films formed inside the chamber. In another alternative, a dry etch is performed using chlorine trifluoride (ClF3), or bromine pentafluoride (BrF5). Even with this alternative, the removal, the disassembly and the assembly are still required thereby resulting in the same economic losses and power waste.
In situ cleaning, without disassembly and assembly, for the processing chamber using dry etch gas has been introduced. However, it is difficult to measure the cleaning reaction precisely as it is being carried out and to determine the most efficient cleaning conditions. Thus, proper utilization of the in situ cleaning function is difficult, and optical utilization is unlikely.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus and methods which substantially overcomes one or more problems due to the limitations and the disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for performing a plasma process with in situ monitoring, including performing a plasma etch process for the formation of polysilicon storage electrodes on a semiconductor wafer.
It is another object to provide an in situ cleaning process for a plasma chamber of the apparatus after the plasma etch process.
It is another object to optimize an in situ cleaning process based on results from monitoring a cleaning process in a plasma chamber.
To achieve these and other objects and advantages in accordance with the present invention, a plasma process apparatus with in situ monitoring includes a plasma chamber and a process gas supply in flow communication with the plasma chamber, for supplying a process gas to the plasma chamber. A waste gas discharge assembly is in flow communication with the plasma chamber for removing a waste gas resulting from a process performed in the plasma chamber, and includes a discharge pump. A sampling manifold is in flow communication with the plasma chamber. A sampling pump, in flow communication with the sampling manifold, induces flow of a sample gas from the plasma chamber through the manifold. A gas analyzer in flow communication with the manifold analyzes the sample gas flowing through the sampling manifold.
In another aspect of the present invention, the gas analyzer is a Residual Gas Analyzer-Quadropole Mass Spectrometer (RGA-QMS).
In another aspect of the present invention, an in situ monitoring method includes monitoring an initial gas in the plasma chamber, including inducing flow of the initial gas into the sampling manifold and analyzing the initial gas with the gas analyzer to measure background amounts of constituents. If the background amounts of the constituents exceed a contamination level, the plasma chamber and sampling manifold are baked to cause outgassing, and, after baking, the initial gas is again analyzed with the gas analyzer. A wafer is processed in the plasma chamber by supplying a process gas from the gas supply and a process reaction gas is produced. A process reaction is monitored by inducing flow of a process sample gas (which may include the process gas, the process reaction gas, or both) from the plasma chamber into the sampling manifold and analyzing the process sample gas with the gas analyzer. After the wafer is processed, it is unloaded, and a waste gas from the plasma chamber is discharged using the waste gas discharge assembly. The plasma chamber undergoes in situ cleaning in which a cleaning gas is supplied from the gas supply to the plasma chamber and a cleaning reaction gas is produced. A cleaning reaction is monitored by inducing flow of a cleaning sample gas (which may include the cleaning gas, the cleaning reaction gas, or both) from the plasma chamber into the sampling manifold and analyzing the cleaning sample gas with the gas analyzer.
In another aspect of the invention, an in situ cleaning method includes unloading the wafer after performing plasma etching of a polysilicon layer on a wafer in a plasma chamber. A cleaning gas is supplied from the gas supply to the plasma chamber at a set cleaning pressure and a set cleaning temperature. The cleaning gas includes a mixture of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas and chlorine (Cl2) gas. The cleaning gas is supplied to separate, from inside the plasma chamber, a residue from the plasma process. The residue separated from the plasma chamber is then pumped out of the plasma chamber.
In another aspect of the invention, the cleaning method determines an optimized end point for the cleaning process. The cleaning pressure and cleaning temperature are reset to different values, after determining a cleaning process end point. Then a combination of the cleaning temperature and the cleaning pressure associated with a minimum cleaning process end point is identified. Then the next wafer is plasma etched, and thus the process is repeated. After several repetitions, the combination provides conditions for optimal cleaning.
Therefore, according to the present invention, a plasma etch process for the formation of polysilicon storage electrodes of semiconductor capacitors is monitored using the sampling manifold and the gas analyzer, and the cleaning process is also precisely monitored in situ in the process chamber, thereby allowing the recipe for the cleaning process to be optimized and improving the efficiency of semiconductor manufacturing using the plasma chamber.

Plasma process apparatus with in situ monitoring, monitoring method, and in situ residue cleaning


Full-automatic microelectronic printer comprising a printing platform, a control component, a feeding component, a camera component, a machine vision device, an ink droplet observation device, and a CAD/CAM system. The printing platform comprises a four-axis linkage system, a printing worktable, a base, a protective housing, an automatic ink cartridge turning device, and an automatic cleaning device; the feeding component comprises a switching control device, an ink cartridge, and an auxiliary processing component; the control component comprises a core control integrated circuit board, a plurality of drive control circuit boards, and a control module interface. The feeding component switches the ink cartridges and the auxiliary processing components to the printing platform in response to the control component which drives the ink cartridges and auxiliary processing components to print, and the protective housing removes fine particles and gas odors. CAD/CAM system assists in designing, generating, and sending instruction to the control component, printing platform, and feeding component to operate and realize full-automatic multi-layer printing.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an additive manufacturing technology characterized in that a three-dimensional model designed by a computer modeling software is layered into a multi-layer two-dimensional section by a slicing software, and a printer is used for forming materials layer by layer via multi-layer printing to manufacture a three-dimensional part. Common three-dimensional printing techniques include Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM); Dispensing, Coating, Stereolithography Appearance (SLA); Three Dimensional Printing (3DP); and the like. Generally, a three-dimensional printer only applies one of the printing techniques but never produces a product by combining different techniques and advantages. On the other hand, in the field of flexible semiconductor manufacturing, the printing of carbon-based or organic semiconductor microelectronic products is required to have varieties of materials and printing processes so that the existing microelectronic printers cannot meet the requirements of flexible semiconductor device manufacturing.
Print Full Electronic Technology refers to a process where ink solutions of nano-materials and carbon-based or organic semiconductor materials are used to form multi-layer conductive traces and patterns on a substrate (without a copper foil) or an entire multi-layer printed circuit board by using a variety of printing processes such as rapid, efficient, and flexible Digital Printing inkjet Technology, Dispensing and Coating.
Previously, electronic systems have been produced by purchasing various devices fabricated in large semiconductor factories, followed by fabricating the corresponding boards through PCB process, and finally mounting individual devices onto the PCB to form a usable system. Now with the development of new materials such as nano-materials and organic semiconductors, device manufacturing no longer requires high-temperature, vacuum, and other conditions that only large factories can afford, and the devices can be fabricated in an inexpensive and simple way, which uses full ink solution processing and printing in an indoor environment.
Current market-oriented microelectronic printers generally include components such as manually replaceable ink cartridges, movable three-axis platforms, printheads, ink drop viewing, surface adsorption and heating devices, but are unable to achieve full automatic multi-layer alignment and automatic ink cartridge replacement, thereby resulting in the inability to fully automatically print more than one layer of any device, such as transistors, organic light emitting diodes, and the like, and the incapability to fabricate electronic systems based on such devices.


A pull-on disposable wearing article has a first waist region and a second waist region. The first waist region is elastically stretch- and contractible in the transverse direction. The second waist region is formed with a pair of finger-grip zones which are non-stretchable in the transverse direction and an elastically stretch- and contractible middle zone. The finger-grip zones respectively have a dimension in a range of 10 to 100 mm as measured in the transverse direction and extend from a peripheral edge of the waist-hole to peripheral edges of the respective leg-holes, along a pair of bonded zones where transversely opposite side edges of the waist regions are bonded together. The middle zone extends between the finger-grip zones is elastically stretch- and contractible in the transverse direction.

The present invention relates to a pull-on disposable wearing article such as disposable diaper, disposable training pants or the like.
It is well known to use pull-on wearing articles having a waist-hole and a pair of leg-holes, for example, as disposable diapers, training pants or diaper covers. It is also well known to make such wearing articles using woven or nonwoven fabrics and to attach elastic members in a stretched state to the articles along respective peripheral edges of the waist-hole and the leg-holes so that the articles may be put on a wearer's body with improved fit.
A pull-on disposable diaper disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1992-166150 (Reference 1) as an example of such a wearing article includes, in addition to elastic members extending along peripheral edges of a waist-hole and leg-holes, elastic members attached in a stretched state to the article so as to extend across an absorbent pad and to make a full circle around the wearer's waist.
A disposable brief disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1992-289201 (Reference 2) as another example of the foregoing wearing article includes a plurality of elastic members cooperating one with another to describe a loop extending around the wearer's waist.
A disposable diaper disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application (Based On Translated Version) Publication No. 1996-507699 (Reference 3) comprises a chassis having a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch region, and a pair of panels attached to the chassis each going half around the waist region and defining a waist-hole's peripheral edge and leg-holes' peripheral edges wherein the panels are elastically contractible in a waist-surrounding direction.
A pull-on disposable wearing article disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1991-224559 (Reference 4) comprises an elastically stretchable topsheet formed from a nonwoven fabric, an elastically stretchable backsheet formed from a nonwoven fabric and elastic members extending along side edges of a crotch region and long respective upper ends of front and rear waist regions.
In a disposable pants disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1993-15552 (Reference 5), a front waist region is formed from a transversely stretchable elastic sheet and a rear waist region is formed from a substantially inelastic sheet wherein the front waist region in a contracted state has a transverse dimension smaller than a transverse dimension of the rear waist region.
When a mother intends to put a pull-on diaper on her baby or when a care giver intends to put a pull-on diaper, for example, on a bedridden patient, mother or caregiver, in front of the baby or the bedridden patient, usually inserts both hands into the waist-hole of the diaper and grips transversely opposite side edges with the fingers to broaden the waist-hole. However, when a mother or caregiver intends to pull up the diaper after the wearer's legs have been let through the leg-holes, a peripheral edge of the waist-hole may get stuck on the wearer's buttock, preventing the diaper from being smoothly pulled up.
In the case of the diaper including the elastic member attached in a stretched state to the peripheral edge of the waist-hole, for example, as disclosed in References 1 and 2, portions of the waist-hole's peripheral edge is elastically stretched in the vicinity of portions gripped with the fingers when a mother or caregiver attempts to pull up the diaper getting stuck on the buttock. The peripheral edge of the waist-hole locally stretched in this manner may prevent the diaper from being smoothly pulled up.
In the diaper disclosed in Reference 3, transversely opposite lateral zones of the waist-hole are defined by the elastic panels. In this case also, when a mother or caregiver inserts both hands into the waist-hole of the diaper and grips transversely opposite lateral zones with the fingers to broaden the waist-hole and to pull up the diaper, the panels are elastically stretched in the vicinity of the portions gripped by the fingers, whether the diaper gets stuck on the wearer's buttock or not. Therefore, it may be difficult for a mother or caregiver to pull up the diaper smoothly.
Of the wearing article disposed in Reference 4, the front and rear waist regions are formed by the elastically stretchable top—and backsheets and these waist regions are provided along respective ends with the waist surrounding elastic members, respectively. For this reason, when it is intended to pull up the wearing article with the transversely opposite lateral zones of the waist-hole gripped by the fingers, the front and rear waist regions are stretched in the vicinity of the portions gripped by the fingers, possibly preventing the wearing article from being smoothly pulled up.
Of the disposable pants disclosed in Reference 5, the front waist region is formed from the transversely elastic sheet while the rear waist region is formed from the inelastic sheet and the front waist region has its transverse dimension smaller than the transverse dimension the rear waist region has. However, the elastic member comprising a plurality of elastic threads is attached in a stretched state to the waist-hole so as to make a full circle along the waist-hole. For this reason, when it is intended to pull up the pants by gripping the transversely opposite lateral zones of the waist-hole by the fingers, the lateral zones gripped by the fingers are elastically stretched as the peripheral edge of the waist-hole gets stuck on the wearer's buttock. Consequentially, it may be difficult for a mother or caregiver to pull up the pants smoothly.
All the known wearing articles including diapers are of pull-on and similar one to another in that the waist-hole is provided with the elastic member running a full circle along the peripheral edge thereof and when it is intended to pull up the wearing article, such elastic member may cause the wearing article to be stretched in the vicinity of the portions gripped by the fingers and thereby make it difficult to pull up the wearing article smoothly.


A toner for developing electrostatic image which has a reduced residual amount of a decomposed product of a polymerization initiator remaining in the toner upon production (mainly an ether component) and an unreacted polymerizable monomer (mainly styrene), less odor produced upon fixing so as to avoid deteriorating surrounding environment, an excellent shelf stability at high temperature upon storing or anti-blocking property, and an excellent printing durability under both N/N environment and H/H environment upon printing is provided. A toner for developing electrostatic image comprising a colored resin particle which is obtained by polymerizing a polymerizable monomer composition containing a polymerizable monomer, a colorant and a charge control resin in an aqueous dispersion medium in the presence of a polymerization initiator, wherein the charge control resin is a quaternary ammonium base containing copolymer having a glass transition temperature “Tg” in the range from 70 to 100° C.; the polymerization initiator is an organic peroxide; and each residual amount of an ether component and styrene remaining in the toner for developing electrostatic image is respectively less than 500 ppm and less than 50 ppm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner for developing electrostatic image used for development of a latent image of electrostatics in an electrophotography, an electrostatic recording method, an electrostatic printing process or the like. Particularly, the present invention relates to a toner for developing electrostatic image which has less odor produced upon fixing so as to avoid deteriorating surrounding environment and excellent printing durability. Hereinafter, "a toner for developing electrostatic image" may be simply referred to as "a toner".
2. Description of the Related Art
Image-forming devices such as an electrophotographic device, an electrostatic recording device, an electrostatic printing device and so on are applied to a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, a complex machine thereof and so on. A method to form a desired image by developing a latent image of electrostatics formed on a photosensitive member with a toner for developing electrostatic image is widely used.
For example, an electrophotographic device using an electrophotography uniformly charges a surface of a photosensitive member generally formed of a photoconductive material with any means used generally, then, a latent image of electrostatics is formed on the photosensitive member. Next, the latent image of electrostatics is developed with the use of a toner. After transferring an image of the toner on a transferring material such as paper or the like, the image is fixed by a method such as heating or the like. Thus, a copy is obtained.
Conventionally, a toner produced by a pulverization method, which is a toner (pulverized toner) obtained by mixing and kneading a binder resin obtained by polymerizing a polymerizable monomer, a colorant and so on followed by pulverizing and classifying, has been generally used. However, the pulverization method has problems of decrease in yield, large energy consumption in pulverization and so on, particularly when producing a toner with a small particle diameter. In order to solve these problems, a toner produced by a polymerization method, a polymerized toner, has been proposed. The polymerized toner are likely to be small in diameter, have uniform form and have narrow size distribution, thus is excellent in printing performance in comparison with pulverized toner.
As a method of producing the polymerized toner, there may be a suspension polymerization method, an emulsion agglomeration method, a dispersion polymerization method and so on. For example, in the suspension polymerization method, firstly, a polymerizable monomer, a colorant, and if required, other additives are mixed to prepare a polymerizable monomer composition, and the polymerizable monomer composition is dispersed in an aqueous dispersion medium containing a dispersion stabilizer followed by agitation with a high-speed agitator or the like to form droplets of the polymerizable monomer composition. Next, the polymerizable monomer composition formed as the droplets is polymerized in the presence of a polymerization initiator followed by washing, filtering, dehydrating and drying, thus, colored resin particles are obtained. Further, the colored resin particles are mixed with an external additive such as an inorganic fine particle or the like to obtain a polymerized toner. If required, the polymerized toner is mixed with a carrier to obtain a two-component developer.
In the above production process of the polymerized toner, some additives added as required disturb polymerization reaction of the polymerizable monomer. An unreacted polymerizable monomer remaining in the toner has been a problem. Also, besides the unreacted polymerizable monomer, it has been a problem that a decomposed product of a polymerization initiator is obtained as a by-product by polymerization using the polymerization initiator and remains in the toner.
If the unreacted polymerizable monomer and the decomposed product of the polymerization initiator remain in the toner, volatiles derived from the unreacted polymerizable monomer and the decomposed product of the polymerization initiator volatilize by heating upon fixing and odor is produced so that surrounding environment is deteriorated. Further, the toners become fusible each other upon storing the toner resulting in blocking, thus causing decrease in shelf stability of the toner and adverse effect on printing performance of the toner.
With respect to the above problem, production of odor upon fixing has been tried to be diminished. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2000-321809 suggests a method of producing a toner including a process of stripping treatment under reduced pressure (removal of unreacted polymerizable monomer) with a dispersion liquid containing a colored resin particle after suspension polymerization and discloses t-butylperoxy-2-ethylhexanoate (product name: PERBUTYL O; manufactured by NOF Corporation) as a polymerization initiator.
JP-A No. 2001-117272 suggests a method of producing a toner including a process of stripping treatment under reduced pressure (removal of unreacted polymerizable monomer) and a specific agitation condition with a dispersion liquid containing a colored resin particle after suspension polymerization and discloses t-butylperoxy-isobutylate (product name: PERBUTYL IB; manufactured by NOF Corporation) as a polymerization initiator.
JP-A No. 2000-3076 suggests a method of producing a resin for toner obtained by copolymerizing styrene and (meth) acrylic acid ester using a polymerization initiator and discloses a group consisting of dicinnamoylperoxide and tertiary alkylperoxycinnamate having 4 to 8 carbons as a polymerization initiator.
JP-A No. 2000-321809 and JP-A No. 2001-117272 focus attention on the odor derived from an unreacted polymerizable monomer and try to reduce a residual amount of the unreacted polymerizable monomer remaining in a toner by a stripping treatment under reduced pressure. However, JP-A No. 2000-321809 and JP-A No. 2001-117272 do not focus attention on the odor derived from the decomposed product of the polymerization initiator and do not sufficiently solve the problem of odor. Also, a toner disclosed in JP-A No. 2000-3076 is a pulverized toner obtained by a pulverization method. Since a production process of the toner includes mixing and kneading at high temperature, a residual amount of an unreacted polymerizable monomer remaining in the toner is relatively small, thus odor derived from an unreacted polymerizable monomer produced is considered to be small. However, JP-A No. 2000-3076 does not try to diminish the decomposed product of the polymerization initiator used and the problem of odor is not sufficiently solved. Also, the remaining decomposed product of the polymerization initiator not only produces the odor but also has effect on flowability and charging performance of toner, which causes decrease in printing durability of toner.
In addition to the problem of odor produced upon fixing, a toner is required to be excellent in printing durability so that the toner does not decline printing performance even in continuous printing of plural prints under a severe environment for using a toner such as a high temperature and humidity since use of toner in the area of high temperature and humidity is increasing in recent years. Also, a toner which is excellent in shelf stability at high temperature is required so that toners are not likely to be fusible each other even the toner is left or stored at high temperature.
As there has been such request, it has been necessary to design a toner in which change of charge amount due to environmental changes is small and which can keep a stable charge amount over time and such a toner has been discussed.
For example, JP-A No. Hei. 11 (1999)-15192 discloses a method of producing a toner wherein a polymerizable monomer is subject to suspension polymerization in a suspension medium containing a colorant and an inorganic dispersant in the presence of a quaternary ammonium base containing copolymer comprising a repeating structural unit derived from vinyl aromatic hydrocarbon, a repeating structural unit derived from (meth)acrylate and a repeating structural unit derived from quaternary ammonium base containing (meth)acrylate.
JP-A No. 11 (1999)-15192 is considered to be capable of obtaining a toner which is less likely to be fusible with other toners, can keep a stable charge amount over time to some extent and has shelf stability and printing durability been improved. However, in order to attain high-level requirement of recent years, it is considered that further study is necessary.
An object of the present invention is to provide a toner for developing electrostatic image which has a reduced residual amount of a decomposed product of a polymerization initiator remaining in the toner upon production (mainly an ether component) and an unreacted polymerizable monomer (mainly styrene), less odor produced upon fixing so as to avoid deteriorating surrounding environment, excellent shelf stability at high temperature upon storing or anti-blocking property, and excellent printing durability under both N/N environment and H/H environment upon printing.

Toner for developing electrostatic image and method of producing the same


Provided is a method and apparatus to adaptively set a threshold for signal demodulation. The apparatus and the method include adaptively setting a threshold to demodulate a currently received symbol based on the demodulation value of a previously received symbol based on a comparison value. The comparison value is obtained by comparing a number of previously received symbols having a demodulation value of “0” and a number of currently received symbols having a demodulation value of “1”.

1. Field
The following description relates to a method and apparatus to adaptively set a threshold for signal demodulation.
2. Description of Related Art
A sensor network is rapidly becoming widespread based on fast improvement and commercialization of wireless network technology. Wireless network technology standardization is being actively conducted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) through, for example, IEEE 802.15.4, which is a standard that specifies a physical layer and media access control for low-rate wireless personal area networks (LR-WPANs). In particular, standardization of Bluetooth and ZigBee is also being performed.
A wireless sensor device may be applied to various fields, for example, home security, medicine, mobile healthcare, chemical and biological defect monitoring, breakdown and damage diagnosis for machinery, environmental monitoring, sensing information associated with natural disasters, intelligent logistics management, real-time security, and remote observation.
Various wireless sensor networks and local area networks (LANs) require compact-sized sensors. Also, for a durable operation of a number of sensors, it is advantageous for wireless sensors to consume less power and have low complexity requirements.
In particular, in a wireless body area network (WBAN), a sensor to be attached to a human body needs to have low power and low complexity requirements. When attached to a human body, the sensor communicates wirelessly with an adjacent mobile device or a sensor of another human body.
Recently, to improve a performance of a super-low power analog circuit, research on stable demodulation of a received signal has increased.

Method and apparatus for adaptively setting threshold for signal demodulation


This invention relates to novel mammalian excitatory amino acid transporter proteins and genes encoding such proteins. The invention is directed towards the isolation, characterization and use of human excitatory amino acid transporter proteins for pharmacological screening of analogues, agonists, antagonists, inhibitors, modulators and facilitators of excitatory amino acid transport in a variety of tissues, particularly neuronal tissues. This invention provides isolated nucleic acid encoding a novel excitatory amino acid transporter subtype that is specifically expressed in retina. Also provided are recombinant expression constructs capable of expressing this novel transporter in transformed prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and also provides such transformed cell cultures producing the novel human transporter. Purified transporter protein and membranes comprising the transporter protein are also provided. The invention provides methods of screening compounds in vitro for transporter binding properties using said preparations of protein and membranes from transformed cell cultures, as well as from amphibian oocytes expressing the human transporter protein provided herein.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to amino transporters from mammalian species and the genes corresponding to such transporters. Specifically, the invention relates to the isolation, cloning and sequencing of complementary DNA (cDNA) copies of messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding a novel human amino acid transporter gene. The invention also relates to the construction of recombinant expression constructs comprising such cDNAs from a novel human amino acid transporter gene of the invention, said recombinant expression constructs being capable of expressing amino acid transporter protein in cultures of transformed prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells as well as in amphibian oocytes. Production of the transporter protein of the invention in such cultures and oocytes is also provided. The invention relates to the use of cultures of such transformed cells to produce homogeneous compositions of the novel transporter protein. The invention also provides cultures of such cells and oocytes expressing transporter protein for the characterization of novel and useful drugs. Antibodies against and epitopes of the transporter protein are also provided by the invention.
2. Background of the Invention
The approximately 20 naturally-occurring amino acids are the basic building blocks for protein biosynthesis. Certain amino acids, such as glutamate and glycine, as well as amino acid derivatives such as .gamma.-aminobutyric acid (GABA), epinephrine and norepinephrine, and histamine, are also used as signaling molecules in higher organism such as man. For these reasons, specialized trans-membrane transporter proteins have evolved in all organisms to recover or scavenge extracellular amino acids (see Christensen, 1990, Physiol. Rev. 70: 43-77 for review).
These transporter proteins play a particularly important role in uptake of extracellular amino acids in the vertebrate brain and peripheral motor and sensory tissues (see Nicholls & Attwell, 1990, TiPS 11: 462-468). Amino acids that function as neurotransmitters must be scavenged form the synaptic cleft between neurons to enable continuous repetitive synaptic transmission. More importantly, it has been found that high extracellular concentrations of certain amino acids (including glutamate and cysteine) can cause neuronal cell death. High exti-acellular amino acid concentrations are associated with a number of pathological conditions, including ischemia, anoxia and hypoglycemia, as well as chronic illnesses such as Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS: see Pines et al., 1992 Nature 360: 464-467).
Glutamate is one example of such amino acid. Glutamate is an excitalory neurotransmitter (i.e., excitatory neurons use glutamate as a neurotransmitter). When present in excess (>about 300 .mu.M; Bouvier et al., 1992, Nature 360: 471-474; Nicholls & Attwell, ibid., >5 .mu.M for 5 min.; Choi et al., 1987, J. Neurosci. 7: 357-358), extracellular glutamate causes neuronal cell death. Glutamate transporters play a pivotal role in maintaining non-toxic extracellular concentrations of glutamate in the brain. During anoxic conditions (such as occur during ischemia), the amount of extracellular glutamate in the brain rises dramatically. This is in part due to the fact that, under anoxic conditions, glutamate transporters work in reverse, thereby increasing rather that decreasing the amount of extracellular glutamate found in the brain. The resulting high extracellular concentration of glutamate causes neuron death, with extremely deleterious consequences for motor and other brain functions, resulting in stroke and other instances of organic brain dysfunction.
This important role for amino acid transporters in maintaining brain homeostasis of extracellular amino acid concentrations has provided the impetus for the search for an development of compounds to modulate and control transporter function. However, conventional screening methods require the use of animal brain slices in binding assays as a first step. This is suboptimal for a number of reasons, including interference in the binding assay by non-specific binding of heterologous (i.e., non-transporter) cell surface proteins expressed by brain cells in such slices; differential binding by cells other than neuronal cells present in the brain slice, such as glial cells or blood cells; and the possibility that putative drug binding behavior in animal brain cells will differ from the binding behavior in human brain cells in subtle but critical ways. These same limitations arise in the use of animal-derived sensory tissue, particularly retina, to study the effects of transporter function in these tissues. The ability to synthesize human transporter molecules in vitro would provide an efficient and economical means for rational drug design and rapid screening of potentially useful compounds.
Amino acid transporters are known in the art, and some of these proteins have been isolated biochemically and their corresponding genes have been recently cloned using genetic engineering means.
Christensen et al., 1967, J. Biol. Chem. 242: 5237-5246 report the discovery of a neutral amino acid transporter (termed the ACS transporter) in Erlich ascites tumor cells.
Makowske & Christensen, 1982, J. Biol Chem. 257: 14635-14638 provide a biochemical characterization of hepatic amino acid transport.
Kanner & Schuldiner, 1987, CRC Crit. Rev. Biochem. 22: 1-38 provide a review of the biochemistry of neurotransmitters.
Olney et al., 1990 Science 248: 596-599 disclose that the amino acid cysteine is a neurotoxin when present in excess extracellularly.
Wallace et al., 1990, J. Bacteriol. 172: 3214-3220 report the cloning and sequencing of a glutamate/aspartate transporter gene termed gltP from Escherichia coli strain K12.
Kim et al., 1991, Nature 352: 725-728 report the discovery that a cationic amino acid transporter is the cell surface target for infection by ecotropic retroviruses in mice.
Wang et al., 1991, Nature 352: 729-731 report the discovery that a cationic amino acid transporter is the cell surface target for infection by ecotropic retroviruses in mice.
Maenz et al., 1992, J. Biol Chem. 267: 8330-8335 report that the ASC transporter acts in a electrochemically neutral manner so that sodium ion co-transport occurs without disrupting the normal membrane potential of the cells expressing the transporter.
Engelke et al., 1992, J. Bacteriol. 171: 5551-5560 report cloning of a dicarboxylate carrier from Rhizobium meliloti.
Guastella et al., 1992, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89: 7189-7193 disclose the cloning of a sodium ion and chloride ion-dependent glycine transporter from a glioma cell line that is expressed in the rat forebrain and cerebellum.
Kavanaugh et al., 1992, J. Biol Chem. 267: 22007-22009 report that biochemical characterization of a rat brain GABA transporter expressed in vitro in Xenopus laevis oocytes.
Storck et al., 1992, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89: 10955-10959 disclose the cloning and sequencing of a sodium ion-dependent glutamate/aspartate transporter from rat brain termed GLAST1.
Bouvier et al., ibid., disclose the biochemical characterization of a glial cell-derived glutamate transporter.
Pines et al., ibid., report the cloning and sequencing of a glial cell glutamate transporter from rat brain termed GLT-1.
Kanai & Hediger, 1992, Nature 360: 467-471 disclose the cloning and sequence of a sodium ion-dependent neutral amino acid transporter of the A type that is homologous to a sodium-ion dependent glucose transporter.
Arriza et al., 1994, J. Neurosci. 14: 5559-5569 disclose genes for three novel glutamate transporters.
Nicholls & Attwell, ibid., review the role of amino acids and amino acid transporters in normal and pathological brain functions.
In humans, the sodium-dependent glutamate uptake transporters include 4 known subtypes, termed EAAT1 through EAAT3, that are expressed in neurons in the brain, as disclosed in co-owned and co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 08/140,729, filed Oct. 23, 1993, low U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,782, issued Aug. 19, 1997, and EAAT4, that are expressed in neurons in the cerebellum, as disclosed in co-owned and co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 08/663,808, filed Jun. 14, 1996, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated by reference herein. The transport of glutamate is driven by the co-transport of sodium ions and counter-transport of potassium ions down their electrochemical gradients across mammalian cell membranes, and may also involve co-transport of a proton. In addition, glutamate transport is also associated with uncoupled, passive efflux of chloride ions, the relative magnitude of such efflux varying with EAAT subtype. For EAAT1 through EAAT3, the magnitude of the chloride conductance is similar or smaller than the electrogenic transport current; for EAAT4, on the other hand, the (current generated in experimental systems using Xenopus laevis oocytes is almost entirely due to chloride ion flux.
A chloride ion current associated with glutamate transporter activity has also been observed in retina, specifically retinal cone and rod photoreceptor cells and bipolar cells. As in central nervous system tissues, glutamate transport may play an important role in several neurological diseases that occur in the eye. Excessive levels of glutamate are neurotoxic and may be responsible for damage to retinal neurons due to glaucoma (Dreyer et al., 1996, Arch. Ophthalmol. 114: 299-305) and retinal ischemia (Honda, 1996, Nippon Ganka Gakkat Zasshi 100: 937-955), as well as retinopathy associated with premature birth, hypertension and diabetes (Kalloniatis, 1995, J. Amer. Optom. Assoc. 66: 750-757). Up-regulation of glutamate transport could be neuroprotective by lowering extracellular levels of glutamate in retina; pharmacological regulation of glutamate transporters has been demonstrated in frog oocytes (Zerangue et al., 1995, J. Biol. Chem. 270: 6433-6435) and native cells (Kataoka et al., 1997, J. Neurosci. 17: 7017-7024). Thus, there is a need in the art to determine the basis of the chloride ion current in retinal tissues and to determine whether the activity of a EAAT transporter is involved, in order to develop retinal protective agents for a variety of diseases and disorders.

Excitatory amino acid transporter gene and uses


A fault indicator for indicating the occurrence of a rapid pressure surge within a housing of an electrical device has: a barrel capable of being mounted in an aperture of the housing; an actuating mechanism having a chamber with at least one orifice communicating between interior and exterior surfaces of the chamber within the housing and an actuating member movable in response to a pressure differential between the interior and exterior surfaces of the chamber; a plunger within the bore of the barrel biased outwardly in the barrel and normally retained in an armed position by the actuating member; and a radial seal disposed between the plunger and the barrel. When the pressure differential exceeds a positive threshold value, the actuating member is moved and thereby permits the plunger to move outwardly into a triggered position. The radial seal may be a dual-lip seal.

Electrical power distribution grids use electrical components, such as transformers, capacitors, and reactors. Potentially dangerous conditions can be created in such devices when aging or operating stresses cause the insulation system to fail. A short circuit within such a device can release a large amount of energy within a fraction of a second. In the worst case the device can explode due to rapid internal pressure buildup from the vaporization of insulating oil and the decomposition of the oil vapor into combustible or volatile gases.
Nearly all pole mounted distribution transformers are protected by a cutout which includes an expulsion fuse, current limiting fuse, or some other fast acting protective device. Such cutouts can minimize damage by disconnecting a faulty device from its source of electric energy so as to interrupt arc current in the event of an overload or internal fault. Service personnel can also use cutouts as manual switches for energizing or disconnecting particular circuits. If there is an overload in the system and the cutout operates, then service personnel can easily spot the open cutout and know that the transformer disconnected by the open cutout is out of service. If the fault is downstream of the transformer then, once that fault has been corrected, it is a simple matter for service personnel to re-fuse the cutout to re-energize the circuit. Similar types of protective fuses are also used in voltage regulators, and also in pad-mount transformers, where, for example, a bay-o-net fuse or current limiting fuse may be provided.
If the fault is in the transformer then closing the cutout before the transformer has been repaired will likely produce arcing within the transformer. A device that has failed once is certain to fail again if it is re-energized before the internal damage caused by the arcing has been corrected. Arcing can leave carbonized paths within the device and may impair the mechanical integrity of the device's housing, or "tank". This increases the risk that the device will fail catastrophically if it is re-energized. In extreme cases the transformer may explode. This could cause property damage and serious injury to service personnel and any members of the public who happen to be close by. To avoid this possibility service personnel must perform careful inspections and take special precautionary measures before attempting to re-energize any electrical apparatus found disconnected from the power system by its protective device.
Unfortunately, an internal fault can occur in a device without leaving any obvious visible cues that the fault has occurred in that device. Unless service personnel can tell that a particular device has failed they may reapply power to the device without detecting that the electrical device has failed. This may cause catastrophic failure of the electrical device, as noted above.
It is known that there is a transient or rapid surge in pressure inside oil-filled electrical devices, such as transformers or voltage regulators, when the devices suffer from an internal arcing fault. This happens because arcing produces a marked increase in temperature which vaporizes some of the oil. Some electrical devices are filled with electrically insulating gases such as SF6. In such gas-filled devices arcing causes pressure surges in the gas. It is desirable to provide a device capable of detecting such transient pressure surges.
Space is at a premium inside the housing of a typical electrical device. This is especially the case in the top portion of the electrical device. A pressure relief valve and an internal fault indicator should both be in the air space at the top of the housing. In typical electrical devices, power leads also enter the housing through the upper air space region.
Additionally, it is important that the interior of a transformer or voltage regulator remain sealed from the outside atmosphere at all times during transportation and normal usage. The electrically insulating fluid or gas used inside such transformers may pose an environmental concern if permitted to leak from the device.
Documents of interest relating to indicators for detecting a transient pressure surge in an electrical device include U.S. Pat. No. 6,812,713 to Cuk et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,429,662 to Cuk et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,078 to Cuk, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
In view of the foregoing, there remains a need for an internal fault indicator that can be readily installed and used with an electrical component with a minimum risk of being incorrectly installed or deployed, and further which remains sealed at all times during normal transportation and use of the electrical device, including after deployment of the indicator.

Internal fault indicator for electrical equipment