A logical unit number (LUN) cloning technique separates data blocks referenced by a writable virtual disk (vdisk) from data blocks referenced only by a backing store to conserve storage resources of a storage system. The LUN cloning technique separates the writable vdisk data blocks from the backing store during periods of reduced processing activity and in a manner that does not interfere with storage service provided by the system.

A storage system is a computer that provides storage service relating to the organization of information on writable persistent storage devices, such as memories, tapes or disks. The storage system is commonly deployed within a network attached storage (NAS) or storage area network (SAN) environment. A SAN is a high-speed network that enables establishment of direct connections between a storage system, such as an application server, and its storage devices. The SAN may thus be viewed as an extension to a storage bus and, as such, an operating system of the storage system enables access to stored information using block-based access protocols over the "extended bus". In this context, the extended bus is typically embodied as Fibre Channel (FC) or Ethernet media (i.e., network) adapted to operate with block access protocols, such as Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) protocol encapsulation over FC or Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)/Ethernet.
SCSI is a peripheral input/output (I/O) interface with a standard, device independent protocol that allows different peripheral storage devices, such as disks, to attach to the storage system. In SCSI terminology, clients operating in a SAN environment are initiators that initiate requests and commands for data. The storage system is a target configured to respond to the requests issued by the initiators in accordance with a request/response protocol. The SAN clients typically identify and address the stored information in terms of blocks situated within target disks, or logical units thereof (also referred to within the industry as logical unit numbers or luns).
When used within a NAS environment, the storage system may be embodied as a file server including an operating system that implements a file system to logically organize the information as a hierarchical structure of directories and files on, e.g., the disks. Each "on-disk" file may be implemented as a set of data structures, e.g., disk blocks, configured to store information, such as the actual data for the file. The data blocks are typically organized within a volume block number (vbn) space that is maintained by the file system. The file system may also assign each data block in the file a corresponding "file offset" or file block number (fbn). The file system typically assigns sequences of fbns on a per-file basis, whereas vbns are assigned over a larger volume address space. The file system organizes the data blocks within the vbn space as a "logical volume"; each logical volume may be, although is not necessarily, associated with its own file system. A directory, on the other hand, may be implemented as a specially formatted file in which information about other files and directories are stored.
The file server, or filer, of a NAS system may be further configured to operate according to a client/server model of information delivery to thereby allow many client systems (clients) to access shared resources, such as files, stored on the filer. In the client/server model, the client may comprise an application executing on a computer that "connects" to the filer over a computer network, such as a point-to-point link, shared local area network, wide area network or virtual private network implemented over a public network, such as the Internet. The clients typically communicate with the filer by exchanging discrete frames or packets of data according to pre-defined protocols, such as the TCP/IP. NAS systems generally utilize file-based access protocols; therefore, each client may request the services of the filer by issuing file system protocol messages (in the form of packets) to the file system over the network.
A common type of file system is a "write in-place" file system, an example of which is the conventional Berkeley fast file system. In a write in-place file system, the locations of the data structures, such as index nodes (inodes) and data blocks, on disk are typically fixed. An inode is a data structure used to store information, such as metadata, about a file, whereas the data blocks are structures used to store the actual data for the file. The information contained in an inode may include, e.g., ownership of the file, access permission for the file, size of the file, file type and references to locations on disk of the data blocks for the file. The references to the locations of the file data are provided by pointers, which may further reference indirect blocks that, in turn, reference the data blocks, depending upon the quantity of data in the file. Changes to the inodes and data blocks are made "in-place" in accordance with the write in-place file system. If an update to a file extends the quantity of data for the file, an additional data block is allocated and the appropriate inode is updated to reference that data block.
Another type of file system is a write-anywhere file system that does not overwrite data on disks. If a data block on disk is retrieved (read) from disk into memory and "dirtied" with new data, the data block is stored (written) to a new location on disk to thereby optimize write performance. An example of a write-anywhere file system that is configured to operate on a filer is the Write Anywhere File Layout (WAFL™) file system available from Network Appliance, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. The WAFL file system is implemented within a microkernel as part of the overall protocol stack of the filer and associated disk storage. This microkernel is supplied as part of Network Appliance's Data ONTAP™ storage operating system residing on the filer.
The WAFL file system has the capability to generate a snapshot of its active file system. An "active file system" is a file system to which data can be both written and read, or, more generally, an active store that responds to both read and write I/O operations. Further, it should be noted that "snapshot" is a trademark of Network Appliance, Inc. and is used for purposes of this patent to designate a persistent consistency point (CP) image. A persistent consistency point image (PCPI) is a space conservative, point-in-time read-only image of data accessible by name that provides a consistent image of that data at some previous time. More particularly, a PCPI is a point-in-time representation of a storage element, such as an active file system, file or database, stored on a storage device (e.g., on disk) or other persistent memory and having a name or other identifier that distinguishes it from other PCPIs taken at other points in time. A PCPI can also include other information (metadata) about the storage element at the particular point in time for which the image is taken. The terms "PCPI" and "snapshot" may be used interchangeably through out this patent without derogation of Network Appliance's trademark rights.
A file system, such as the WAFL file system, supports multiple snapshots that are generally created on a regular schedule. Each snapshot is a restorable version of the storage element (e.g., the active file system) created at a predetermined point in time and, as noted, is "read-only" accessible and "space-conservative". Space conservative denotes that common parts of the storage element in multiple snaphots share the same file system blocks. Only the differences among these various snapshots require extra storage blocks. The multiple snapshots of a storage element are not independent copies, each consuming disk space; therefore, creation of a snapshot on the WAFL file system is instantaneous, since no entity data needs to be copied. Read-only accessibility denotes that a snapshot cannot be modified because it is closely coupled to a single writable image in the active file system. The closely coupled association between a file in the active file system and the same file in a snapshot obviates the use of multiple "same" files. In the example of a WAFL based file system, snapshots are described in TR3002 File System Design for a NFS File Server Appliance by David Hitz et al., published by Network Appliance, Inc. and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,292 entitled Method for Maintaining Consistent States of a File System and For Creating User-Accessible Read-Only Copies of a File System, by David Hitz et al., each of which is hereby incorporated by reference as though full set forth herein.
Broadly stated, a snapshot is stored on-disk along with the active file system, and is called into a memory of a filer as requested by an operating system. The on-disk organization of the snapshot and the active file system can be understood from the following description of an exemplary file system inode structure 100 shown in FIG. 1. The inode for an inode file 105 contains information describing the inode file associated with the active file system. In this exemplary file system inode structure, the inode for the inode file 105 contains a pointer that references (points to) an inode file indirect block 110. The inode file indirect block 110 contains a set of pointers that reference inodes 117 which, in turn, contain pointers to indirect blocks 119. The indirect blocks 119 include pointers to file data blocks 120A, 120B and 120C. Each of the file data blocks 120(A-C) is capable of storing, e.g., 4 kilobytes (kB) of data. When the file system generates a snapshot of its active file system, a snapshot inode is generated as shown in FIG. 2. The snapshot inode 205 is, in essence, a duplicate copy of the inode for the inode file 105 of the file system 100 that shares common parts, such as inodes and blocks, with the active file system. For example, the exemplary file system structure 200 includes the inode file indirect blocks 110, inodes 117, indirect blocks 119 and file data blocks 120A-C as in FIG. 1
When a user modifies a file data block, the file system writes the new data block to disk and changes the active file system to point to the newly created block. FIG. 3 shows an exemplary inode file system structure 300 after a file data block has been modified. In this example, file data block 120C is modified to file data block 120C′. As a result, the contents of the modified file data block are written to a new location on disk as a function of the exemplary file system. Because of this new location, the indirect block 319 must be rewritten. Due to this changed indirect block 319, the inode 317 must be rewritten. Similarly, the inode file indirect block 310 and the inode for the inode file 305 must be rewritten.
Thus, after a file data block has been modified the snapshot inode 205 contains a pointer to the original inode file indirect block 110 which, in turn, contains pointers through the inode 117 and indirect block 119 to the original file data blocks 120A, 120B and 120C. The newly written indirect block 319 also includes pointers to unmodified file data blocks 120A and 120B. That is, the unmodified data blocks in the file of the active file system are shared with corresponding data blocks in the snapshot file, with only those blocks that have been modified in the active file system being different than those of the snapshot file.
However, the indirect block 319 further contains a pointer to the modified file data block 120C′ representing the new arrangement of the active file system. A new inode for the inode file 305 is established representing the new structure 300. Note that metadata (not shown) stored in any of the snapshotted blocks (e.g., 205, 110, and 120C) protects these blocks from being recycled or overwritten until they are released from all snapshots. Thus, while the active file system inode for the inode file 305 points to new blocks 310, 317, 319, 120A, 120B and 120C′, the old blocks 205, 110 and 120C are retained until the snapshot is fully released.
Snapshots provide a versatile feature that is essential for data recovery operations, such as backup and recovery of storage elements. However, since snapshots are read-only accessible and their contents cannot be modified, their use may be somewhat limited, particularly for operating systems and applications that do not have a notion of a read-only data store (a read-only file system) and that expect to write metadata at any time that the file system is accessible. This limitation may be overcome by using writable read-only snapshot technique as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/412,478 entitled Writable Read Only Snapshots, by Vijayan Rajan. A writable, read-only snapshot comprises a read-only "image" (file) residing in a snapshot and a writable virtual disk (vdisk) residing in the active file system. The writable vdisk is a "shadow" image of the snapshot file and, as such, includes an attribute that specifies the snapshot file to be used as a backing store. According to the technique, a write operation directed to the writable read-only snapshot is "trapped" such that the data associated with the operation is stored on the shadow, vdisk image in the active file system. In other words rather than directly accessing the read-only snapshot image of a lun, a client accesses the writable vdisk image, which provides a translucent view of the underlying read-only snapshot image. The writable vdisk is a sparse file containing only that data written by the client (e.g., an initiator in a SAN) to the read-only snapshot image subsequent to a snapshot operation to a volume underlying the lun (vdisk).
To the client, the data retrieved from the writable, read-only snapshot is always the latest data written. The client "sees" the writable vdisk data first (if it exists) and is served that data, the underlying read-only snapshot image being inaccessible for the range of valid data in the writable vdisk. Read-only data from the underlying snapshot image is delivered to the client when no valid data overlying the range exists in the writable vdisk. The underlying snapshot image is accessible and recoverable via a non-translucent path of directly accessing the snapshot image. By this technique, data integrity of a snapshotted lun or vdisk (as an inviolate backup) is preserved.
The writable read only snapshot technique allows many writable vdisks to be "tied" to a single backing store snapshot file. This backing store file may be quite large consuming substantial storage (disk) space. After a period of time, it may be desirable to delete the backing store and free the disk space it consumes. Yet the backing store may not be deleted as long as it is referenced by at least one writable vdisk, even if that vdisk has totally diverged from the backing store. That is, if the backing store is referenced by a writable vdisk, it cannot be deleted even if every data block in the vdisk has been modified from its original state in the backing store.
Previous solutions to this problem have required taking the writable vdisk offline while the backing store is being released. This is undesirable since it creates downtime visible to client applications served by the filer or storage system and substantially decreases system performance. Other proposed solutions have involved restoring the backing store to the active file system using a technique such as single file snap restore (SFSR) described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/100,948 entitled System and Method for Restoring a Single File from a Snapshot. Yet this is not a desirable solution because the restored snapshot does not contain the contents of modified data blocks, such as modified data block 120C′, and rather reflects an older version of the of data blocks, such as old version 120C. Further any technique involving SFSR would generally render the snapshot inaccessible for the duration of the restore operation.
What is needed is a "zero-downtime" technique to delete a snapshot and free its consumed disk space.


A new and distinct hybrid of Heuchera plant characterized by shiny plum purple colored leaves in spring and summer, older leaves with strongly veiled foliage tinted red purple which gives the plant a silvered look, pink-white flowers on dark peduncles, excellent vigor, and a mounding, compact habit.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Heuchera hybrid and given the cultivar name of 'Plum Royale'. Heuchera is in the family Saxifragaceae. Heuchera 'Plum Royale' originated from a cross between Heuchera 637-2, a proprietary non-commercial hybrid, as the seed parent, and Heuchera 647-8, a proprietary non-commercial hybrid, as, as the pollen parent.
Compared to the seed parent, Heuchera 637-2, the new hybrid is much more vigorous, has flowers that are pink and white rather than green fading red. Compared to the pollen parent, Heuchera 647-8, the new hybrid has shiny plum purple colored leaves rather than dull rose colored leaves.
This new Heuchera is distinguished by:                1. Shiny plum purple colored leaves year in late spring, summer, and fall,        2. older and winter leaves with strongly veiled foliage tinted red purple which gives the plant a silvered look,        3. pink-white flowers on dark peduncles,        4. excellent vigor, and        5. a mounding, compact habit.
This new cultivar has been reproduced only by asexual propagation (tip cuttings and tissue culture). Each of the progeny exhibits identical characteristics to the original plant. Asexual propagation by division and tissue culture using standard micropropagation techniques with terminal and lateral shoots, as done in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may change with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.


A shift drive mechanism in which a special constant-meshing-type multi-speed transmission can be applied to a transmission case of a constant-meshing-type multi-speed transmission of a general type. In a shift drive mechanism of a multi-speed transmission where the transmission is configured such that a control rod is movable in the axial direction on a hollow-shaft center axis of a gear shaft formed in a hollow shape so that an engagement changeover mechanism is driven to perform a gear shift, and a shift pin, which is guided by a shift drum provided near a periphery of the gear shaft, moves the control rod in the axial direction, an intermittent drive mechanism intermittently rotates the shift drum for every position of each gear speed by transmitting the reciprocating rotation of a shift spindle, which is connected to a gear shift operating member, is arranged between the shift spindle and the shift drum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a constant-meshing-type multi-speed transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
In a constant-meshing-type multi-speed transmission where drive gears on a main gear shaft and driven gears on a counter gear shaft are in a constant meshing state for every gear speed, in general, the gear shift is performed in such a manner that, when a shift pedal is operated, a dog clutch is moved in the axial direction so that the meshing of gears which effectively transmit power from a main gear shaft to a counter gear shaft is selected (see JP-A-2008-151275, for example).
In the case of the constant-meshing-type multi-speed transmission of a general type described in JP-A-2008-151275, due to the rotation of a shift spindle driven in response to a shift operation of a shift pedal, a shift drum is rotated by way of an intermittent drive mechanism, a shift fork is axially moved by being guided by a shift guide groove formed on an outer peripheral surface of the shift drum, and the shift fork moves a shifter gear and a shifter provided with a dog clutch mechanism on the main gear shaft and the counter gear shaft in the axial direction thus performing the gear shift.
Accordingly, the relatively large shift fork moving mechanism is interposed between the shift spindle and the counter gear shaft (and the main gear shaft) positioned on a lower side of the transmission and hence, the shift spindle and the counter gear shaft (and the main gear shaft) are largely spaced apart from each other. A transmission case rotatably supports the shift spindle and the counter gear shaft (and the main gear shaft) which are spaced apart from each other in such a manner.
On the other hand, with respect to the constant-meshing-type multi-speed transmission, there has been known a special multi-speed transmission where either the main gear shaft or the counter gear shaft rotatably supports gears in a relatively rotatable manner, and a control rod which moves axially in the inside of the gear shaft selectively operates engaging members arranged in the inside of the gear shaft so as to make a desired gear engage with the gear shaft thus establishing a gear speed. The applicant of this application previously filed the patent application on this special constant-meshing-type multi-speed transmission (see JP-A-2010-78050).
In the case of the special constant-meshing-type multi-speed transmission described in JP-A-2010-78050, a shift drum is provided adjacent to an end portion of the counter gear shaft in which the control rod passes through, and a small shift pin, which engages with the end portion of the control rod, is guided by a shift guide groove formed on the shift drum, and a gear shift is performed by the axial movement of the control rod.
Due to such a constitution, a relatively large shift fork moving mechanism such as one disclosed in JP-A-2008-151275 is unnecessary and hence, the miniaturization and reduction in weight of the multi-speed transmission can be realized.

Shift drive mechanism for multi-speed transmission


Methods of determining asymmetric properties of structures are described. A method includes measuring, for a grating structure, a first signal and a second, different, signal obtained by optical scatterometry. A difference between the first signal and the second signal is then determined. An asymmetric structural parameter of the grating structure is determined based on a calculation using the first signal, the second signal, and the difference.

For the past several years, a rigorous couple wave approach (RCWA) and similar algorithms have been widely used for the study and design of diffraction structures. In the RCWA approach, the profiles of periodic structures are approximated by a given number of sufficiently thin planar grating slabs. Specifically, RCWA involves three main steps, namely, the Fourier expansion of the field inside the grating, calculation of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a constant coefficient matrix that characterizes the diffracted signal, and solution of a linear system deduced from the boundary matching conditions. RCWA divides the problem into three distinct spatial regions: 1) the ambient region supporting the incident plane wave field and a summation over all reflected diffracted orders, 2) the grating structure and underlying non-patterned layers in which the wave field is treated as a superposition of modes associated with each diffracted order, and 3) the substrate containing the transmitted wave field.
The accuracy of the RCWA solution depends, in part, on the number of terms retained in the space-harmonic expansion of the wave fields, with conservation of energy being satisfied in general. The number of terms retained is a function of the number of diffraction orders considered during the calculations. Efficient generation of a simulated diffraction signal for a given hypothetical profile involves selection of the optimal set of diffraction orders at each wavelength for both transverse-magnetic (TM) and/or transverse-electric (TE) components of the diffraction signal. Mathematically, the more diffraction orders selected, the more accurate the simulations. However, the higher the number of diffraction orders, the more computation is required for calculating the simulated diffraction signal. Moreover, the computation time is a nonlinear function of the number of orders used.

Method of determining an asymmetric property of a structure


A valve timing controller is disclosed that includes first and second rotating elements, and a phase changing mechanism including arm members coupling the first and second rotating elements. The valve timing controller also includes a cam plate and a stopper to restrict rotation of the cam plate. A concave part where the stopper and the cam plate contact. Also, a damper chamber is defined between the concave part and one of the stopper and the cam plate.

There is conventionally known a device equipped with a phase changing mechanism for linking a sprocket rotating in association with a drive shaft to a lever member rotating in association with a driven shaft through a link arm. This kind of a phase changing mechanism is arranged to convert a motion of the link arm into a relative rotational motion of the lever member to the sprocket, thereby changing a relative rotational phase between the drive shaft and the driven shaft.
JP-200548707A, for instance, discloses technology for defining a changing angle of a relative rotational phase in a relative rotational motion of a cam plate (link part) as a lever member. In this technology, two stoppers are provided in a sprocket for restricting a position of the relative rotational phase of the cam plate. At a phase position where the rotational phase of the cam plate is at the most advance angle, the cam plate contacts an advance-side stopper, and on the other hand, at a phase position where the cam plate is at the most retard angle, the cam plate contacts a retard-side stopper. Contact between the stoppers and the cam plate defines a changing angle of the relative rotational phase between the drive shaft and the driven shaft.
The cam plate can collide with the stoppers at relatively high force. For instance, where a predetermined motion of the link arm and the cam plate is created by transmission of a rotational motion by an electric motor, and when power supply to the electric motor is stopped, the stoppers can experience a relatively large collision torque.
In partial response to this problem, an elastic member can be provided at the stopper with which the cam plate collides. As such, it is possible to alleviate the effect of the impact by interposing the elastic member between the cam plate and the stopper. However, since elastic response of the elastic member can change with a magnitude of the impact force, the phase position where the cam plate becomes the most retard angle can shift, which can adversely influence learning of the most retard angle.


A planetary gear device includes a bearing inner cylinder including an internal gear on the inner circumferential side, a bearing fitted on the outer circumference of the bearing inner cylinder, an output shaft outer cylinder fitted on the outer circumference of the bearing, and an output shaft end plate that fixedly supports the planetary carrier and transmits a rotation thereof to the output shaft outer cylinder. A wheel is fitted onto the outer circumference of the output shaft outer cylinder so as to prevent relative rotation. The bearing inner cylinder is fixed to a support frame. A drive motor is fixed coaxially with the planetary gear device on the side of the support frame opposite to the bearing inner cylinder, and a rotation shaft is coupled to the sun gear.

Many railway vehicles include a bogie in which two of an integrated axle having wheels fitted on both sides of the axle are arranged at the front and rear in the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the bogie is supported by a bogie frame. A railway vehicle includes a vehicle body mounted on two bogies arranged at the front and rear in the traveling direction of the vehicle. A motor and a drive device are disposed in the bogie, and the vehicle is driven by rotationally driving the axle.
In recent years, a low-floor lightweight vehicle is used as urban transportation. A mechanism for independently supporting the right and left wheels is adopted to eliminate the axle on which the right and left wheels are mounted in order to lower the vehicle floor. In this mechanism, since the right and left wheels are not connected by the axle, the right and left wheels are configured to rotate independently. Driving of the wheels is performed by the separate right and left motors, and a planetary gear device is used that is small-sized and can increase the speed reduction ratio.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a single wheel travel device of a railway vehicle including a travel device frame mounted to a vehicle body via a connecting rod; a single wheel rotatably supported by an axle box of the travel device frame around a main shaft in a horizontal direction; and an air spring as a shock absorbing device for suspending the vehicle body on the travel device frame. In the single wheel travel device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a disc brake, an axle box including a drive motor, a wheel and a gear device are arranged in this order on the rotation shaft of the wheel.
In an independent wheel drive component of Patent Literature 2, a rotational force of a motor is decelerated by a planetary reduction gears and transmitted to wheels via a transmission member. Penetrating holes are formed in the wheel, and a pin member of the transmitting member penetrates the penetrating hole, and a ring-like vibration insulation member is interposed between the penetrating hole and the pin member. The rotational force from the motor compresses the vibration insulation member and then is transmitted to the wheel. In the independent wheel drive component of Patent Literature 2, the motor, the planetary reduction gears, and the wheel are arranged in this given order on the rotation shaft of the wheel, and the planetary reduction gears is supported by the bogie frame.

Independent wheel drive device and vehicle


An arrangement includes (a) a housing situating an integrated circuit that includes first contacts and (b) a connector. The housing includes a window which exposes at least a portion of the first contacts. The connector includes second contacts disposed at a first end of the connector. The second contacts removably couple to the first contacts. A second end of the connector is coupled to an output device. The connector establishes an electrical connection for an exchange of multimedia data between the integrated circuit and the output device.

A mobile unit may include a variety of different applications that may be used in a variety of different environments. For example, the mobile unit may include an audio functionality. The mobile unit may include a speaker that plays audio data. The mobile unit may also include a port in which a jack of an audio output device such as a headset may be coupled. The headset may enable private listening of the audio data.
There are different types of the audio arrangement including a port of the mobile unit and the jack of the audio output device. A first type includes a classic bayonet type jack to couple the audio output device to the mobile unit. This design enables the bayonet jack to rotate in a mating shell (i.e., port). However, this design also introduces audio noise such as static which results in poor audio quality. A second type includes a pogo pin type interface to eliminate problems associated with the rotation aspect. This design may be more rugged as well. However, this design still utilizes an external mechanical interconnect point that may cause audio issues and associated customer dissatisfaction.


A back-side illumination solid-state imaging apparatus, comprising a light-shielding member including a plurality of openings, and a plurality of pixels corresponding to the plurality of openings, wherein each pixel includes a photoelectric conversion portion, a microlens and an inner lens, the inner lens of a first pixel of an Mth row×an Nth column and the inner lens of a second pixel of an (M+1)th row×an (N+1)th column are separated from each other through a dielectric member, and the dielectric member contacts with part of the light-shielding member between a first opening corresponding to the first pixel and a second opening corresponding to the second pixel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging apparatus, a method for manufacturing the same, and a camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
A back-side illumination solid-state imaging apparatus includes a substrate including a photoelectric conversion portion, an optical system arranged on the back side of the substrate, and a structure arranged on the front side of the substrate and including a wiring layer and an interlayer insulation film.
A light-shielding member having an opening on a photoelectric conversion portion is provided on the back side of the substrate in order to prevent leakage of light between adjacent pixels which causes a color mixture. The light-shielding member can be made of, for example, a light-shielding material such as a metal material. The optical system can include, in addition to a microlens, an inner lens arranged between the photoelectric conversion portion and the microlens to improve light sensitivity. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-135100 describes a back-side illumination solid-state imaging apparatus which uses an inner-layer lens and a light-shielding film.
An example of the arrangement of a back-side illumination solid-state imaging apparatus ID which includes a substrate SUB including photoelectric conversion portions PD, an optical system OP including microlenses ML and inner lenses IL, and a metal pattern PM having openings O will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIG. 1A is a schematic view showing the upper surface of the metal pattern PM of the solid-state imaging apparatus ID. FIG. 1B is a schematic view showing the sectional structure of the solid-state imaging apparatus ID taken along a cut line A-A′.
A lens member which forms each inner lens IL can be provided on the metal pattern PM to cover the metal pattern PM. When light L enters the upper surface of the metal pattern PM from the microlens ML side, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, multiple reflection can occur inside the lens member which forms each inner lens IL. The quality of an image obtained by the solid-state imaging apparatus ID can be deteriorated by entry of the light L owing to the multiple reflection into the photoelectric conversion portion PD.
As shown in FIG. 1A, in the upper surface of the metal pattern PM, a distance D1 between the openings O in a cut line A-A′ direction is larger than a distance D2 between the openings O in a horizontal direction. The influence of the above-described multiple reflection is attributed, for the most part, to multiple reflection which has occurred in the portion of the distance D2.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-272650 discloses a front-side illumination solid-state imaging apparatus. In contrast to a front-side illumination structure, the structure which includes the wiring layer and the interlayer insulation film is not arranged between the substrate and the optical system in a back-side illumination structure. Accordingly, the back-side illumination structure is smaller than the front-side illumination structure in terms of a distance between a metal light-shielding member covering the lens member which forms each inner lens and the substrate including the photoelectric conversion portions, and is susceptible to the light owing to the above-described multiple reflection.

Solid-state imaging apparatus, method for manufacturing the same, and camera


An electric power connection system for a hermetically sealed electric motor having a plurality of electric power terminals substantially encapsulated in an electrically insulative block with the terminals protruding about 3/8 inch from a surface of the block. A generally cylindrical tube of electrically conductive metallic material has at least one end with an inner diameter sized to admit one of the terminals in general sliding engagement with the tube. The tube further has a threaded aperture extending through a sidewall adjacent the at least one end with a set screw threadedly inserted in the threaded aperture and adapted for compressive engagement with the terminal for establishing retention and electrical continuity between the terminal and the tube. An electrical lead is connected to an end of the tube opposite the at least one end for coupling power to the terminal. Preferably, the lead is attached to the tube by crimping of the tube onto the lead.

The present invention relates to air conditioning systems and, more particularly, to an apparatus and system of connection of electrical power to an electrical drive motor in such systems.
Air conditioning systems generally comprise an evaporator and blower located within an enclosure to be cooled, such as a building, and a compressor and blower located outside the enclosure. Typically, the compressor and its associated blower are exposed to the outside environment, including rain, dust and atmospheric contaminants. The compressor motor is commonly incorporated in the compressor and the entire compressor is hermetically sealed. Electrical power is supplied to the compressor by connection to several spade type male terminals protruding from an encapsulated block on the compressor. Each male terminal typically comprises a round metal pin to which a flat metal plate is welded or brazed. The plate is sized to accept a conventional female wire end connector, attached to a short piece of electrical wire, which female connector is adapted for friction fit and connection to the male terminal.
During servicing of the air conditioning system, it is not unusual for a technician to remove the female electrical connectors from the compressor terminals or to find that the one or more female connectors have separated from the associated male terminals. In reconnecting the electrical power, the metal plate is often found to have deteriorated to such an extent that the conventional female connector will no longer frictional engage the spade type male terminal. Technology for reattaching a metal plate to the metal pin without damaging the encapsulated block is not normally available thus requiring the technician to attempt various types of crimping arrangements to avoid replacing the compressor assembly. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and apparatus for enabling electrical connection to damaged or deteriorated male connectors on an air conditioning compressor assembly.


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device for patterning a semiconductor substrate by photolithography, the semiconductor substrate having a transparent or semitransparent layer having a high transmissivity at an exposure wavelength .lambda., and the transparent or semitransparent layer being formed on an underlying structure with a surface having a high reflectivity at the exposure wavelength .lambda.. The method comprises the steps of: forming a resist layer having a refractive index n.sub.r and a thickness d.sub.r on the transparent or semitransparent layer; forming a top antireflection film having a refractive index n.sub.a and a thickness d.sub.a on the resist layer; selectively exposing the resist layer via the top antireflection film with light having the exposure wavelength .lambda.; removing the top antireflection film; and developing a latent image in the resist layer to form a resist pattern, wherein an optical thickness n.sub.a d.sub.a of the top antireflection film and an optical thickness n.sub.r d.sub.r of the resist layer are selected so that a size change in the resist pattern becomes small even if the thickness of the transparent or semitransparent layer changes. This method provides an excellent size precision in patterning a transparent or semitransparent layer formed on a high reflectivity surface.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including an exposure process of a resist layer covered with a top antireflection coating or film.
b) Description of the Related Art
Highly integrated semiconductor devices have necessarily fine semiconductor elements formed therein. For improving resolution, an exposure wavelength used for photolithography patterning is becoming shorter. If the layer under a resist layer has a high reflectivity, the intensity of exposure light being incident on and reflected from the underlying layer during photolithography becomes high and the intensity of light internally reflected when it reaches the resist layer surface is also not negligible. If there are many kinds of light (incident light, reflected light, multi-reflected light) in a resist layer, this layer is exposed in accordance with the intensity distribution of composite light of all light components.
If an underlying substrate has a step structure, the thickness of a resist layer formed thereon changes so that the phase and intensity of reflected light in the resist layer vary. The distribution of amplitudes of standing waves in the resist layer therefore varies and the precision of resist pattern size lowers.
If the thickness of a resist film changes because of an uneven surface of the underlying substrate, the amplitudes of standing waves in the resist layer varies and the resist pattern precision lowers. In such a case, if reflection at the resist layer surface is reduced, the intensities of standing waves in the resist layer may be made uniform.
Basing upon this concept, techniques of forming an antireflection film on the surface of a resist film have been proposed. Such an antireflection film is called a top antireflection coating or film. For example, the top antireflection film is formed on the surface of a resist layer to a thickness of (.lambda./4n.sub.a) by using material having a refractive index n.sub.a lower than the refractive index n.sub.r of the resist layer. This layer having a thickness of (.lambda./4n.sub.a) is a .lambda./4 plate having an optical length of .lambda./4 in the thickness direction (in this specification, an optical length may also be called an optical thickness). The .lambda./4 plate is used as a single layer antireflection film, and shows the maximum effects of antireflection at n.sub.a =(n.sub.r).sup.1/2.
Studies made by the present inventors indicate that even if a top antireflection film is formed on a resist layer to an optical thickness of .lambda./4 by using material having a refractive index smaller than that of the resist layer, the resist pattern size precision is not necessarily improved, but it may lower in some cases. If the underlying layer of the resist film is a transparent film in particular, the resist pattern size precision becomes likely to be worsened.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device using top antireflection film


A method for laminating a solid polymer electrolyte film. In one of a number of embodiments the method disclosed comprises laminating a layer of a fluid solid polymer electrolyte on a base film or on a thin layer comprising a metal or a metal oxide which is laminated on a base film.

A solid polymer electrolyte (hereinafter referred to as a "SPE") is a polymer substance which exhibits a high ion conductivity in the solid state, and the application thereof to various sensors and fuel cells is anticipated.
Furthermore, the SPE can be applied to a next generation battery, a photoelectric cell or an electrochromic element.
In order to impart high ion conductivity to a SPE, the SPE must have a low glass transition temperature. However, when the glass transition temperature is low, the film strength is lowered which makes the SPE difficult to handle in an industrial environment.
Furthermore, in order to improve the ion conductivity, a method of adding an organic solvent is often used. However, this causes a reduction in strength which makes the SPE even more difficult to handle.
Accordingly, at present, a method of coating a SPE prepolymer directly on an electrode, followed by cross-linking and solidification, is commonly used.
However, the above-described method encounters difficulty in controlling the polymerization degree of the SPE or the thickness of the SPE film, and a homogenous and uniform SPE film can hardly be obtained.
For these reasons, it has been difficult to obtain a SPE film comprising a SPE material having a low glass transition temperature, a high ion conductivity, a homogeneous ion conductivity and a uniform thickness. It has also been difficult to composite a SPE layer by laminating the SPE layer on an electrode such that the layer homogeneously adheres to the electrode to provide good electrical contact between the SPE layer and the electrode.
Since a SPE may have a water-absorbing property depending on the kind of SPE, the atmosphere should be controlled in order to control the water content during the step of compositing the SPE and an electrode.

Method for laminating solid polymer electrolyte film


A thermal insulation composition comprising: aqueous base; one or more primary viscosifier comprising a quantity of clay; and, an amount of one or more polymeric viscosifier comprising sulfonate moiety.

In drilling and production applications where heat is applied, preserved, or recovered, thermal insulation design and efficiency impacts the efficiency of the process. Such applications include, for example, steam injection, arctic drilling, geothermal drilling, and the like. During such operations, wellbores typically are insulated to reduce heat transfer between the tubing, the casing, and the wellbore. Without effective insulation, heat from within the production tubing or transfer piping may thermally expand various components of the well. For example, expansion of the casing could damage the surrounding cement or break the bond between the casing and the cement. The well could collapse, fluid could leak from within the production tubing or transfer piping, and/or the casing could buckle or fail due to thermal stress.
Fluids comprising polymeric viscosifiers have potential for use in thermal insulation compositions. Unfortunately, polymeric viscosifiers tend to flocculate in the presence of temperature fluctuations over time. Eventually, flocculation of the polymeric viscosifiers tends to cause water separation and/or stratification, which renders the separated or stratified fluid less effective as a thermal insulation composition.
U.S. Patent Application 2004/0059054 apparently attempts to solve the foregoing problem using a thermal insulating packer fluid which comprises "at least one water superabsorbent polymer" which is said to be "capable in its dry state of absorbing and retaining a minimum of its own weight in water."
Thermal insulation compositions which comprise polymeric viscosifier(s) and which remain homogeneous when exposed to water and temperature differentials over time are needed.


Methods and systems for protecting the computer network against unauthorized access are disclosed. Information is reported about each network device connected to the network and/or one or more corresponding users. The reported information is correlated to determine if any unauthorized devices are connected to the network. To report the desired information, each device authorized to use the network may be provided with an agent configured to report information about the device to which it corresponds and information about one or more neighboring devices. A “reporting your neighbor” method may be used wherein each network device report its address and the address of its neighbors may be used to determine if any device is not reporting its address. Alternatively, each agent may report information about its device's physical location, e.g., by global positioning satellite (GPS). A door badge system may be used to provide user location information.

With the ever-increasing popularity of the Internet, more and more personal computers are connected to larger networks. Recently, Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) have been developed that connect computers to a network via one or more Wireless Access Points (WAP) distributed throughout a network site. Devices such as laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDA's) and even cellular phones may connect to the network via radiofrequency, microwave, or other electromagnetic signals without any physical connection, such as a wire, cable or optical fiber, between the device and the WAP. Such WLANs have a lot advantages over conventional LANs associated with this wireless connectivity feature. For example, a wireless local area network (WLAN) can provide network access in situations where the wires, cables or optical fibers associated with a conventional LAN inhibit the mobility of devices and users. At the same time, this enhanced connectivity brings a new series of network security issues. The biggest concern is that as the traditional barrier of entry to the enterprise is no longer a barrier to the wireless signals. Network administrators are thus extremely worried about what's going on in their LAN due to the connection of wireless devices to an existing LAN. The same concern exists for large enterprise networks as each individual could bring his own network device and connect to the existing local area network (LAN) without the permission of network administrators.
Thus there is a need in the art for methods for regulating access and maintaining security of local area networks (LANs) and corresponding systems for implementing such methods.

Distributed network monitoring system and method


A protection circuit for the prevention of program interruptions of electrical equipment controlled on the basis of program step clocks, by too frequent occurrences of non-maskable interrupt signals. This protection circuit comprises a controllable interrupt signal passage circuit which, depending on an output signal of a control signal source, can be controlled to a state permitting the passage of the non-maskable interrupt signal or to a state blocking said signal. The control signal source comprises a clock counter with overflow resetting function, by means of which program step clock pulses can be counted starting from a predetermined initial counting value until a predetermined overflow counting value is reached. The control signal source comprises furthermore an interrupt signal counter the counting value of which can be increased by each non-maskable interrupt event and decreased each time the overflow counting value of the clock counter is reached. The control signal source additionally comprises an evaluation logic circuit for evaluating the counts of the two counters and for issuing a control signal bringing the interrupt signal passage circuit to the blocking state thereof as long as the interrupt signal counter has a predeterminable blocking enable counting value. Finally, the control signal source comprises a status control register in which evaluation determination signals determining the evaluation behavior of the evaluation logic circuit for predetermining the overflow counting value and the blocking enable counting value as well as status signals for the status indication at least with respect to the protection circuit can be stored.

There are maskable and non-maskable interrupt signals. Non-maskable interrupt signals have the highest priority and are authorized to interrupt the execution of maskable interrupt routines to achieve an immediate start of the non-maskable interrupt routine. It is known from JP 3-229 332 A in: Patent Abstracts of Japan, Section P, No. 1296, Vol. 16, No. 9, page 90, to dispose in a signal path between a circuit component delivering a non-maskable interrupt signal and a CPU responsive thereto, a controllable interrupt signal passage circuit which, in response to an output signal of a control signal source, can be controlled to a state permitting passage of the non-maskable interrupt signal or a state blocking the non-maskable interrupt signal. To this end, there is provided an AND circuit, with one input thereof being fed with the non-maskable interrupt signal and with the other input thereof being connected to an output of a flipflop adapted to be fed with a control signal determining the switching state of the flip-flop. Depending on the switching state of the flipflop, the non-maskable interrupt signal is thus either allowed to pass to the CPU or blocked. The control signal blocking such passage is supplied to the flipflop during loading of a starting program. As long as the control signal controls for passage of the non-maskable interrupt signal, the non-maskable interrupt signal reaches the CPU.
Too frequent occurrence of non-maskable interrupt signals, for example due to interferences on the circuit board on which there is a line for non-maskable interrupt signals, can result in erroneous behavior of the program-controlled system. When mainly the non-maskable interrupt routine is active, there is probably too little calculating power left for other tasks of complex systems.

Protection circuit for program-controlled electrical equipment


A composite electronic component includes: a first electronic component including a ceramic body having a main surface caused to face a circuit board at a time of mounting and first and second end surfaces orthogonal to the main surface, and a first external electrode and a second external electrode respectively provided to the first end surface and the second end surface and respectively extending from the first end surface and the second end surface to the main surface; and a second electronic component including a functional film provided to the main surface, and a first electrode film and a second electrode film provided to both end portions of the functional film separately from the first external electrode and the second external electrode, the second electronic component being configured to fit within a thickness of each of the first external electrode and the second external electrode from the main surface.

The present invention relates to a composite electronic component, a composite electronic component package, a circuit board, and a method of producing a composite electronic component.
There is known a circuit board on which a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs) are mounted and which is capable of achieving various functions. Other than the ICs, various components are also mounted on the circuit board. For example, the circuit board includes a passive element such as a capacitor or a resistive element in the vicinity of each IC so as to improve the quality of a signal transmitted and received between the ICs.
For example, in a small circuit board as used in a wearable device, a small component, an embedded component, and the like are used to improve a mounting density. However, along with recent trends of microminiaturization of the circuit board, it has become more and more difficult to ensure a mount space for mounting necessary components.
As a technique capable of saving a mount space, a composite electronic component that integrates a plurality of electronic components is known. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2016-195236 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses a composite electronic component in which a resistive element is provided on the upper surface of a capacitor element. In this composite electronic component, first and second external electrodes are provided to both the end portions of the capacitor element, and first and second connection electrodes are provided to both the end portions of the resistive element.
In the composite electronic component described in Patent Document 1, the side surfaces of the capacitor element are provided with third and fourth external electrodes for connecting the first and second connection electrodes of the resistive element to the lower surface of the capacitor element. With this configuration, mounting of the composite electronic component is enabled by connecting the four external electrodes to a circuit board on the lower surface of the capacitor element.

Composite electronic component, composite electronic component package, circuit board, and method of producing a composite electronic component


An improved process for the preparation of intermediate (V) through the elimination of a molecule of water from intermediate (IV) is described.

Eplerenone is a synthetic steroid with pharmacological activity as an aldosterone antagonist, whose excess in the human body is related to chronic pathological conditions including hypertension. This is not the first synthetic molecule with anti-aldosterone activity used in drug preparation but, unlike its predecessors, among which the most important is certainly spironolactone, it has a reduced hormonal activity. This characteristic leads to a decrease in undesired side effects on the endocrine system.
Eplerenone is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,332 of 1985.
The transformation object of the present application, the elimination of a molecule of water from intermediate (IV) to intermediate (V) depicted below
is described in WO 03/082895, in WO 98/25948 through the formation of reactive intermediates of hydroxyl in position 11 to be eliminated later on, and in WO 97/21720.
As can be easily checked in the experimental descriptions given in said patent applications, however, such reactions appear complex, burdened by the formation of considerable amounts of by-products.
Some of the examples of these documents provide no indication regarding yield and quality.
The reaction from intermediate (IV) to intermediate (V) is instead critical to the yield and the quality of the final eplerenone obtainable by oxidation of intermediate (V).
Therefore, the need to carry out the transformation from intermediate (IV) to intermediate (V) with a simple reaction, characterized by high yields and easily implemented on an industrial scale is felt.

Process for the preparation of 7 α-(methoxycarbonyl)-3-OXO-17alpha-pregn-4,9(11)-dien-21,17-carbolactone, a useful intermediate for the synthesis of molecules with pharmacological activity

Abstract: Intermediate (V) is a key molecule for the synthesis of eplerenone, a synthetic steroid with pharmacological activity used in the treatment of chronic pathological conditions, including hypertension.


A rotational micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) having a piezo-resistor sensor is provided. The rotational MEMS device includes a pair of torsion springs that support a stage, four resistors, at least one of the resistors being formed along a center axis of the torsion springs, and electrical signal cables connected to the four resistors, wherein at least one of the torsion springs is formed in a <100> direction on an n-type silicon substrate having a (100) plane, and the resistors formed on the at least one of the torsion springs are formed in a <110> group direction.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to a rotational micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device having a piezo-resistor sensor and, more particularly, to a rotational MEMS device having a piezo-resistor rotation sensor on a torsion spring of an axis of rotation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A micro optical scanner includes a driving comb electrode formed on a stage and a fixed comb electrode formed on a fixing unit for driving the stage. In a structure in which the driving comb electrode and the fixed comb electrode are vertically formed, a rotation angle of the stage may be measured based on the change of the overlapping region between the driving comb electrode and the fixed comb electrode.
However, the rotation angle measured using a capacity of the vertical comb structure is not accurate due to an etching tolerance of the comb electrodes. Therefore, there is a need to develop a sensor that can correctly measure a rotation angle of a stage.

Rotational MEMS device having piezo-resistor sensor


In magnetic disk structure having a high density, positioning errors (generally referred to as "flutter error") occur due to fluctuation (i.e., flutter) of a magnetic disk. As a result reading precision deteriorates. This is a significant problem in realizing a large capacity providing magnetic disk apparatus. This can be resolved by magnetic apparatus such that a suspension which holds a slider having a magnetic head at one end and which is attached to a supporting arm at the other end is inclined so that an interval between the suspension and the magnetic disk is small on the inner rim side and is large on the outer rim side with this arrangement the occurrence of the positioning error due to the fluctuation of a deformation of the magnetic disk is reduced, thereby enabling a high density recording of the magnetic disk.

The present invention relates to a magnetic disk apparatus and, more particularly, to a magnetic disk apparatus of a large capacity in which a recording density in a radial direction is increased.
Typical examples of a magnetic disk apparatus and a magnetic head suspension which have been hitherto put into practical use are disclosed in JP-A-55-22296. In the foregoing prior art, the suspension consists of a loading arm and a gimbal. A slider on which a magnetic head is mounted is fixed to the gimbal by adhering or the like. A projection called a dimple is provided for the gimbal or a front edge portion of the loading arm, and the slider can be freely rotated in an outer direction of a disk surface by setting a top of the dimple as a supporting point. The loading arm has a spring portion on the side of a supporting arm so that the slider can trace the disk surface, thereby allowing a flexible structure to be provided in the vertical direction of a disk surface. In order to apply a predetermined load to the slider, the spring portion of the loading arm is bent along the width direction and is attached thereto, so that the loading arm and disk surface are set to an almost parallel state to thereby apply a load to the slider.
In the magnetic disk apparatus of a disk diameter of, particularly, 5.25" or less, in order to miniaturize a size of the apparatus and reduce an inertial mass upon accessing, there is ordinarily used an in-line system for arranging the supporting arm and suspension in line and positioning the supporting arm onto a predetermined track by rotating.
In the magnetic disk apparatus, in order to realize a large capacity, the number of tracks in the radial direction increases year after year and positioning precision becomes ever more important in accordance with the increase. However, a positioning error (hereinbelow, referred to as a flutter error) due to deflection fluctuation (hereinbelow, referred to as flutter) in the disk, tends to occur with the increase in the number of tracks. This creates a problem that an adverse influence is exerted on positioning precision.
A mechanism of the flutter error will now be described hereinbelow with reference to a low fluctuation mode having no circular segment which is an actual problem.
When flutter occurs, a deflection as a displacement in the disk surface outer direction and a deflection angle in the radial direction of the disk surface simultaneously occur. When the disk is curved on the slider side by the deflection angle, tracks on the disk surface are deviated on the inner peripheral side. For example, in the prior art as mentioned above, the suspension is flexible in the vertical direction of the disk in a still state and is rigid in the radial direction. Therefore, the top of the dimple moves on a line in the vertical direction of the disk in the still state. Since the slider rotates at the top of the dimple as a center, a read/write gap (hereinbelow, referred to as a gap) of the magnetic head located on the disk surface side of the slider is deviated on the outer peripheral side when the disk is curved on the slider side. As for the above-mentioned phenomenon, when the disk is curved on the side opposite to the slider as well, the deviations of the tracks and gap occur in the similar mechanism, though the directions to be deviated are opposite. That is, when the disk is curved on the slider side, the tracks are deviated on the inner peripheral side and the gap is curved on the outer peripheral side. When the disk is curved on the side opposite to the slider, the tracks are curved on the outer peripheral side and the gap is deviated on the inner peripheral side. The sum of the deviations of the tracks and gap appear as a flutter error.
As seen in Seo et al., "Analysis of Head Positioning Error Caused by Disk Surface Flutter", Integrated National Convention of The Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers of Japan, 1984 or Gill Bouchard et al., "Non-Repeatable Flutter of Magnetic Recording Disks", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Sept., 1986, a generation mechanism of the flutter error has been known but an effective solving method has not previously been proposed.


A self-tapping screw consists of a head and a threaded shank which is provided with a blade, a first threaded portion contiguous to the blade, and a second threaded portion contiguous to the head and greater in length, tooth pitch and tooth depth than the first threaded portion. The self-tapping screw is fastened onto a corrugated board such that the blade and the first threaded portion are securely embedded in a girder, and that the second threaded portion is securely embedded in an insulation layer located between the corrugated board and the girder.

The conventional self-tapping screws are commonly used for fastening the metal corrugated boards to the roof of a structure or to a metal girder of the side walls of the structure. The tooth pitch and the tooth depth of the conventional self-tapping screws are kept relatively small so as to avert the damage or destruction of the advancing spiral ridge of the conical shank of the conventional self-tapping screw at the time when the conventional self-tapping screws is fastened onto a metal girder.
In order to prevent the room temperature from rising excessively, the metal corrugated boards and the horizontal metal girders of the structure are provided therebetween with an insulating layer of the polyurethane (PU) foam material or glass fiber cotton material. The conventional self-tapping screws do not engage well with the insulating layer described above.

Self-tapping screw for fastening a metal corrugated board

Shin Her Tsun, Shin Shyh Hsiang, Tai-Nan Hsien


An analysis for determining a characteristic cycle time of a sample. Active elements in the sample are excited with sufficient intensity and duration larger than the characteristic cycle time that at least some of the active elements are re-excited to an excited state substantially immediately following relaxation to a ground state, detecting quanta emitted by the active elements in the sample to obtain a detected signal, and analyzing the detected signal to derive the characteristic cycle time. The number of active elements in the sample and the intensity of the excitation are such that quanta are detected in a stream in which individual quanta are distinguishable from each other.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the analysis of a sample, and particularly though not exclusively to fluorescence analysis.
2. Related Art
Fluorescence analysis is an important experimental tool for both chemists and biologists, and is of particular interest to pharmaceutical researchers.
A known method of analysing fluorescence comprises exciting a sample of many hundreds of fluorophores with an intense pulse of light from a laser. The intensity of fluorescence emitted by the sample at a given delay following excitation is detected. The sample is excited again, and the intensity of fluorescence emitted by the sample at a different delay following excitation is detected. A series of measurements at various delays are made, and the fluorescence intensity is plotted as a function of the delay, to provide a distribution of fluorescence intensity over time. An upper state lifetime characteristic of the fluorophores comprising the sample may be derived from the gradient of the intensity distribution (for example, by fitting an exponential decay curve to the distribution).
Various other methods of measuring characteristic fluorophore lifetimes are known, and in each case the phase shift or demodulation of a detected signal compared to an excitation signal must be measured (see for example J R Lacowitz, Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Plenum Press, New York & London). However, present methods require comparatively lengthy averaging processes, which are unsuited to modern high speed processing of many measurements (for example in high throughput screening, or imaging).
A further limitation of the above method is that it requires a sample of many hundreds of fluorophores and high intensity illumination. A sample of the order of 100 fluorophores will not provide sufficient signal to noise to allow the measurement of fluorescence. The method cannot therefore be used to measure effects caused by a single fluorophore or a sample containing a small number of fluorophores or a sample that optically quenches rapidly. Furthermore, the method requires the use of pulsed laser sources and gated detectors to measure time domain fluorescence parameters such as decay rate.
A further known technique, known as number fluctuation spectroscopy may be used to determine the diffusion coefficients of particles in a fluid. Number fluctuation spectroscopy comprises illuminating a specified volume of fluid which particles will diffuse into and out of, and detecting light scattered by the particles when they are within the specified volume. An auto-correlation of the detected scattered light with itself will yield a characteristic frequency which is a function of the diffusion rate of the particles within the fluid. Number fluctuation spectroscopy may be used to determine a particle mean diffusion coefficient and thus may be used to determine a particle size.
WO96/27798 describes a technique known as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, which may be considered to be a variant of number fluctuation spectroscopy. The technique is used when there are other scattering particles in the fluid which are not required to contribute to the detected signal. The particles of interest are made to fluoresce, and the fluorescent light is spectrally separated from the scattered light so that only the diffusion of the particles of interest is measured. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy allows the determination of a diffusion coefficient, but does not provide the measurement of fluorescent lifetimes.

Analysis of a sample to determine its characteristic cycle time


A device for transferring binary data between a time-division multiplex and a RAM includes circuitry for assigning, for each time slot of the multiplex, a logical channel number. This enables two HDLC controllers, respectively for transmission and reception, to be shared between all the channels of the multiplex.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for exchanging binary data between a multiplex of several time slots and a memory. For the present invention, "multiplex" means a transmission by time-division multiplex (TDM).
The present invention more specifically applies to such a device for transferring binary data between a multiplex of thirty-two time slots TS and a memory.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Such a device is to be found, for example, on boards, called subscriber boards, of switch centers of a telecommunication network. These subscriber boards are especially meant for branching different transmissions which arrive on one or several incoming multiplexes towards one or several outgoing multiplexes. The data relative to the transmissions as well as the information required for their processing (for example, the transmission mode, the destination, etc.) thus only transit through these subscriber boards. A subscriber board includes a RAM for temporarily storing the digital information and, if necessary, the binary data relative to the transmissions. The subscriber board also includes a microprocessor for, in particular, controlling the exchanges between the different board components and, in particular, the acoesses to the memory. A transfer device to which the present invention applies can also be found, for example, in the sender-receiver of a group switching center of a telephone network.
The transmissions which transit through the subscriber boards can be of different types, that is, correspond to different rates and be coded according to different frames. All these transmissions are associated with digital information which enable the identification of all of their characteristics (type of transmission, destination, etc.) to ensure their adequate routing. A transmission channel includes, according to the transmission rate, one or several time slots TS of the multiplex. For example, on a multiplex with thirty-two time slots TS where each time slot TS contains an eight-bit word, a channel at 2.048 Mbits/s or thirty-two channels at 64 Kbits/s or, further, two-hundred and fifty-six channels at 8 Kbits/s can be formed. In practice, two of the thirty-two time slots TS of the multiplex are reserved, one for the synchronizing of the multiplex and the other for the transfer of a signaling relative to the thirty other time slots TS.
In conventional devices for binary data transfer between the multiplex and the memory, each time slot TS is associated with a High Level Data Link Controller (HDLC), and a Direct Memory Access Controller (DMAC). The function of these controllers is to enable processing of the information relative to the transmissions and to transfer them, for example, from an incoming multiplex to an outgoing multiplex, and conversely.
For example, for a multiplex of thirty-two time slots TS, thirty-two HDLCs and thirty-two DMACs are used, each time slot TS being associated with one HDLC and one DMAC. For example, in the presence of a transmission at 2 Mbits/s, all controllers are used for a same transmission channel occupying all the time slots TS of the multiplex. Conversely, for transmissions at 64 Kbits/s, one HDLC and one DMAC are assigned to each transmission channel. The bits transmitted by the HDLCs are multiplexed by time-division on a frame of the multiplex. The bits transmitted by an HDLC are always positioned in the same time slot TS of each frame of the multiplex.
The microprocessor has the function, in particular, to organize the exchanges between the different controllers and the RAM to enable the data transfer.

Device for binary data transfer between a time-division multiplex and a memory


A sensor particularly for a valve actuator or choke for oil and gas production detects the position of an object that moves along a linear path. The sensor includes a holder with input and output fiber optic tubes extending into the holder. The ends of the fiber optic tubes locate adjacent the moving object. The moving object has a reflecting portion which will reflect light back when located in registry with the fiber optic tubes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to sensors for indicating the open and closed position of an object, and in particular to a sensor using fiber optics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In subsea and surface well systems, a need exists for determining the position of a moving object. For example, in a valve or a choke, a closure member, such as a gate, moves between open and closed positions. In some cases, the indication must be transmitted from the subsea well to readout equipment at the surface.
Prior art devices using proximity sensors will detect the fully closed position and the fully open position. The proximity sensor may be a Hall Effect sensor or a limit switch. These sensors need a supply of electrical power. This requires wiring and connectors, which can be troublesome particularly in a subsea environment. Also, they don't indicate whether the moving object is in an intermediate position between the open and closed position. Knowing the precise intermediate position would be advantageous in some instances, particularly with chokes, which are a type of valve for controlling flow rate.


This invention relates to asphalt compositions. More specifically, this invention relates to asphalt binder compositions including asphalt, elemental sulfur and polyethylene wax, and methods of making the same. In some aspects, the invention provides a sulfur wax asphalt binder composition that includes a base asphalt having viscoelastic properties, an elemental sulfur, and a polyethylene wax. The polyethylene wax is combined with the base asphalt and the elemental sulfur to create the sulfur wax asphalt binder composition. The polyethylene wax is present in the sulfur wax asphalt binder composition in an amount effective to increase the viscoelastic properties as compared to the viscoelastic properties of the base asphalt.

As modern commerce depends on reliable and cost-effective methods for delivering products from suppliers to users, the availability of durable and reliable highways, roads and other support surfaces for vehicles is vital for sustaining a modern economy. To provide better support surfaces, highways, roads, and sidewalks are commonly paved with a layer or mat of asphaltic concrete that is laid over the surface of the sub-base. Asphalt is preferred over cement to pour roads because it is less expensive and very durable. Asphalt can also be poured at night, which allows major roads to be shut down at the least busy of times for maintenance. Relative to road noise, asphalt is also quieter than cement, making it the better choice for roads.
Asphalt concrete is essentially a mixture of bitumen, as binder, with aggregate, in particular filler, sand, and stones. There are many different types of asphalts available and their characteristics can vary quite significantly. The design of asphalt mix for bituminous paving application is a complex process of selecting and proportioning materials to obtain the desired properties in the finished construction while minimize undesirable characteristics.
In evaluating and adjusting mix design, the aggregate gradation and the binder content in the final mix is balanced between the stability and durability requirements for the intended use. The final goal of mix design is to achieve a balance among all of the desired properties. Binders and various polymers have been investigated for reaching similar goals, and other modifications have been studied.
Unsaturated thermoplastic elastomers like styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) block copolymers are polymers used for asphalt modification. They enhance the elastic recovery capacities of asphalt and, therefore, its resistance to permanent deformations. However, unsaturated elastomeric polymers are quite expensive and are subjected to degradation when exposed to atmospheric agents and mechanical stress. Due to their fragility, they are typically used as virgin polymers. This can result in a significant cost increase for the product. While SBS is recognized for performance benefits, research has focused on most cost effective modifiers in exchange for sacrificing superior performance. In addition, many virgin polymers were used before in the modification of asphalt including polyethylene. However, these polymers are expensive in comparison with industrial wastes such as polyethylene wax.
Olefinic polymers also have been investigated for use as modifiers. They are available in large quantities with different mechanical properties and at low cost. Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) are plastomers that have also been used. They bring a high rigidity (i.e., lack of elasticity, resistance to bending) to the product and significantly reduce deformations under traffic load. Due to their non-polar nature, PE and PP suffer from the drawback that they are almost completely immiscible with asphalt, and are thus limited in use. PE has a melting point in the range 110°-140° C. depending on the type of PE. PP has a higher melting point. The higher melting temperatures limit the complete mixing of the polyolefin with asphalt where the typical mixing temperatures are in the range 140°-160° C.
Conventional asphalts often do not retain sufficient elasticity in use and also exhibit a plasticity range which is too narrow for use in many modern applications such as road construction. The characteristics of road asphalts can be improved by incorporating into them an elastomeric-type polymer. There exists a wide variety of polymers that can be mixed with asphalt. Of these, SBS is a commonly used polymer in asphalt modification. The modified asphalts thus obtained are commonly referred to variously as bitumen/polymer binders or asphalt/polymer mixes. There is a need for a modification to hotmix asphalt concrete mixes that would increase the resistance to permanent deformation while maintaining or increasing the modulus of the mix at intermediate temperatures without affecting the binder properties significantly.
The bituminous binders, including of the bitumen/polymer type, which are employed at the present time in road applications, often do not have the optimum characteristics at low enough polymer concentrations to consistently meet the increasing structural and workability requirements imposed on roadway structures and their construction. In order to achieve a given level of modified asphalt performance, various polymers are added at some prescribed concentration. Current practice is to add the desired level of a single polymer, sometimes along with a reactant which promotes cross-linking of the polymer molecules until the desired asphalt properties are met. This reactant typically is sulfur in a form suitable for reacting.
Sulfur, especially "free" or "elemental" sulfur, is an abundant and inexpensive material. Elemental sulfur is a byproduct of non-sweet natural gas and petroleum processing. Sources of free sulfur include petroleum refineries and gas sweetening plants. Because of the quantity of sulfur extracted from natural gas and petroleum, many sulfur producers consider elemental sulfur a waste product.
Others have attempted to use waste sulfur as an expander or filler for asphalt binders, but only with limited success. These efforts have only been successful in incorporating a small amount of sulfur into the asphalt binder, typically only up to a few percent of the total composition.
Those skilled in the art understand that sulfur forms hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas, which is toxic to humans, starting at around 150° C. At and above that temperature, free sulfur in hydrocarbon environments dehydrogenates hydrocarbons and forms hydrogen sulfide. Heating sulfur to high temperatures in the presence of oxygen forms sulfur dioxide, which is noxious to humans and is an air pollutant. It is desirable to find a combination of asphalt materials that are workable at temperatures below 150° C. for worker comfort and safety as well as being more to the environment.
It is also desirable to find commercial uses for elemental sulfur. Incorporating sulfur into commercial products can transform what many consider a potential "waste" product into a product that has practical value.
When added to bitumen at 140° C., sulfur is finely dispersed in bitumen as uniformly small particles; coagulation and settlement of sulfur particles become noticeable after a few hours. Therefore, the sulfur extended asphalt (SEA) mixtures can be produced directly in the mixing plant just before the laying of the asphalt mixture. One major concern in handling sulfur-asphalt mix is the fear of the evolution of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) during production and laying. This problem can be ameliorated by adding carbon or ash to sulfur. H2S evolution starts at temperatures higher than 150° C., so that the application at temperatures up to 150° C. avoids pollution and safety problems. However, H2S evolution starts well below 150° C., i.e. about 130° C., which is undesirable from an environmental perspective. Moreover, below 120° C., neither the reaction of the asphalt and sulfur nor the cross-linking of the SBS/sulfur blend could take place.
Besides performance and environmental issues associated with many types of asphalt modifiers, many of the polymers that are used to modify asphalt compositions are expensive and can be difficult to obtain in remote areas of the world.
A need exists for asphalt compositions with improved properties and reduced environmental and economic impact.

Enhancing properties of sulfur extended asphalt using polyethylene wax

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals


A containers/vehicles inspection system with adjustable radiation X-ray angle relates to the technical field of radiation inspection. The present invention comprises a detector arm rack equipped with detectors, a second collimator, a pulling device, and an accelerator rack with the accelerator. X-ray produced by the accelerator is right opposite to the calibrator, the first collimator and the second collimator all of which are arranged in order, wherein, said accelerator rack is further composed of a horizontal regulation mechanism for moving the base forward and afterward horizontally, a vertical regulation mechanism for moving the bending framework up and down vertically, a rotary regulation mechanism for rotating the cantilever, a pitching regulation mechanism for driving the accelerator to make pinching movement, as well as a framework formed by a base, a vertical arm, a bending framework and a cantilever. Compared with the prior arts, the present invention is advantageous in reasonable structural design, convenient use and high imaging quality, especially satisfactory effect of focused inspection to some suspicious areas. So it is the necessary equipment for inspecting the Customs goods.

The container/vehicles inspection system is one of the inspection equipment urgently necessary in the Customs and harbors. At present, the containers in the harbors at home and abroad have been checked through the unpacking inspection or by obtaining images through radiation, with long unpacking and inspection, low daily inspection quantity and high inspection cost. For obtaining images through the radiation, the large scale container/vehicle inspection system with the accelerator or Cobalt 60 as radiation source has been developed and manufactured at home and abroad, such as the large scale container/vehicle inspection systems manufactured by Haiman Corporation, Germany and British Airspace Corporation. The above inspection systems are devised as follows. A radiation source which is stationary and produces high energy x-ray and array detectors which receive x-ray passing through the container are mounted in an inspection passage which is capable of shielding radiation beams. A vehicle carrying the container is pulled by a special pulling device so as to pass by the inspection passage. When the container passes the container while the x-ray beams are radiated thereon, the x-ray has transmitted through the container incident on the detectors. As a result, the density distribution of the objects contained in the container is presented according to the variation of the intensity of the x-ray. Then, the intensity of the x-ray is converted into a corresponding gray degree of an image so that a perspective view of the objects contained in the container can be obtained. In such imaging system, the radiation source is fixed, and it is difficult to meet inspection requirements of the container trucks with different height because the height of the container trucks to be inspected varies randomly and the stationary radiation source cannot take any suspicious area as the imaging emphasis; although the computer can amplify and highlight any suspicious area of the image during the imaging, it is difficult for the amplified image to help the inspectors to make correct judgment as the target point cannot aim at the suspicious area. Therefore, existing container/vehicle inspection systems with stationary radiation source cannot fulfill the task for some suspicious articles or goods. In present technology, there is a kind of container inspection system which is of the movable one. This system has a relatively complex pulling device that can pull radiation source, detector and collimator, etc., to reciprocate along the tracks. But such simplex movement results in large moving distance of radiation source when the target point of radiation source aims at the bottom of the container, and thus increasing the land occupation area of whole system. In one word, the existing container inspection system above-mentioned has such disadvantages as large land occupation area of the project and difficulty to make focused inspection to the suspicious area.

Containers/vehicle inspection system with adjustable radiation x-ray angle


The invention provides exemplary devices, systems and methods for mixing of fluids, such as biological fluids. One exemplary device comprises is particularly adapted for holding at least one cartridge having a chamber containing a biological fluid, with the chamber having a generally planar face. The device comprises a rotatable body having a rotational axis. The rotatable body includes at least one mounting element which is adapted to mount the rotatable body such that the face of the chamber is generally perpendicular to the rotational axis.

This invention relates generally to the field of mixing, and in particular to the mixing of fluids. In one particular aspect, the invention relates to the mixing of biological fluids within a chamber which is disposed within a heated environment.
Methods for using arrays of polymers to identify receptors with specific affinities for one of the polymers in the array are known. For example, one method uses immobilized antibodies to analyze binding to peptide ligands or vice-versa. Another type of method uses immobilized oligonucleotides to analyze hybridization to a target nucleic acid. For instance, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/624,312, filed Mar. 26, 1996, the complete disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, describes apparatus and methods for carrying out repeated hybridizations of a target nucleic acid to an array of nucleic acid probes. Such polymer arrays are described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,854 and published PCT Application Nos. WO90/15070 and WO92/10092, the complete disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference. These polymer arrays are nucleic acid arrays which include a plurality of different polynucleotides coupled to a substrate in different known locations.
In one exemplary arrangement, such arrays are packaged within a housing, like those described in, e.g., pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/624,312, previously incorporated by reference, Ser. No. 08/485,452, filed Jun. 7, 1995, and Ser. No. 08/528,173, filed Sep. 19, 1995, and published PCT Application No. WO95/33846. The disclosures of all of these references are herein incorporated by reference. In brief, such a housing typically includes a body having a reaction cavity or hybridization chamber. The array or substrate is mounted over the cavity on the body such that the front side of the array substrate, e.g., the side upon which the polynucleotides are situated, is in fluid communication with the cavity. The cartridge includes inlet and outlet ports to allow various fluids to be introduced into and removed from the hybridization chamber.
During hybridization, it is often desirable to provide an efficient and effective way to mix the fluids within the chamber. This can be challenging since the chamber is typically in a temperature controlled environment, such as in an oven. Additionally, in at least one embodiment, the interior of the chamber is narrow, and it can be difficult to mix or agitate the fluid when within the chamber.
Hence, it would be desirable to provide devices, systems and methods to facilitate the mixing of fluids which are held within a hybridization chamber to improve the hybridization process. Such devices, systems and methods should be cost effective, easy to use, and be compatible with the constraints of the hybridization process. In particular, it would be desirable if mixing of the fluid could be facilitated while the chamber is within a temperature controlled environment, such as an oven.

Methods for mixing fluid in a rotating container


A method of producing a semiconductor disk represented by a composition formula [(Bi0.5Na0.5)x(Ba1−yRy)1−x]TiO3, in which R is at least one element of La, Dy, Eu, Gd and Y and x and y each satisfy 0≦x≦0.14, and 0.002≦y≦0.02 includes carrying out a sintering in an inert gas atmosphere with an oxygen concentration of 9 ppm to 1% and wherein a treatment at an elevated temperature in an oxidizing atmosphere after the sintering is not carried out.

Conventionally, as a material showing a positive PCTR, there has been proposed a composition constituted by adding various semiconductor forming elements to BaTiO3. These compositions are provided with Curie temperature of around 120° C., and therefore, it is necessary to shift the Curie temperature in accordance with the application.
For example, although it has been proposed to shift Curie temperature by adding SrTiO3 to BaTiO3, in this case, the Curie temperature is shifted only in a negative direction and is not shifted in a positive direction. Currently, only PbTiO3 is known as an additive element for shifting Curie temperature in a positive direction. However, PbTiO3 includes an element for bringing about environmental contamination, and therefore, in recent years, a material in which PbTiO3 is not employed has been desired.
In BaTiO3 semiconductor porcelain, with an object of preventing a reduction in a resistance temperature coefficient by Pb substitution, as well as reducing a voltage dependency and promoting a productivity and a reliability, there has been proposed a method of producing a BaTiO3 semiconductor porcelain in which a composition, obtained by adding one or more kinds of any of Nb, Ta and a rare earth element to a composition in which x in Ba1-2X(BiNa)xTiO3 where a portion of Ba of BaTiO3 is substituted by Ba—Na is controlled to a range of 0<x<0.15, is sintered in nitrogen, and thereafter subjected to a heat treatment in an oxidizing atmosphere (see Patent Reference 1).
Patent Reference 1: JP-A-56-169301
In the case in which a valence control of the composition is carried out in a system in which a portion of Ba is substituted by Bi—Na, when a trivalent positive ion is added as a semiconductor forming element, the effect of semiconductor formation is reduced by the presence of monovalent Na ion, and the resistivity at room temperature is increased. Although, in Patent Reference 1, as an embodiment, there has been disclosed a composition constituted by adding 0.1 mol % of Nd2O3 to Ba1-2x(BiNa)TiO3 (0<x≦0.15) as a semiconductor element, the additive amount of Nd2O3 cannot realize semiconductor formation sufficient for PTC application.
In the above-described material, the resistance value thereof is conceived to be caused by Schottky barrier of a grain boundary. As means of controlling the Schottky barrier, oxidation/deoxidation treatment of a grain boundary has been proposed, and it is reported that a high PTC property can be achieved by a material generally subjected to oxidizing treatment in oxygen (see Nonpatent Reference 1). Further, it has been also reported that a treatment rate in the heat treatment also influences on a property (see Nonpatent Reference 2) to pose a problem that the heat treatment of the material becomes very complicated.
Nonpatent Reference 1: Titabari Kenkyukai Shiryo XVII-95-659 (1968)
Nonpatent Reference 2: J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 48, 81 (1965)
Further, according to the heat treatment, there poses a problem that, although the effect by the heat treatment can act uniformly to an inner portion of the material when the shape of the material is a comparatively small, in the case of a comparatively large shape (thick shape) applied in the application such as a PTC heater, it is difficult to provide a PTC property uniform to the inner portion of the material.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of producing semiconductor porcelain composition