More specifically, the present invention is directed to apparatus and methodologies that take advantage of the movement produced by a body when it changes density in relation to the ambient environment surrounding the body in order to translate such movement into the generation of electricity or torque to move machinery or other processes requiring a driving force. The present invention addresses the need to harness a change in density between two substances to create rotational movement, or torque, that can be harnessed for any number of useful purposes, such as, generation of electricity, movement of pistons, operation of pumps used for any liquid, such as water or petroleum, conveyors, etc. The present invention also takes advantage of the combination of opposed natural forces, such as gravity and hydrostatic pressure, to achieve such movement.

The present invention is directed generally to the creation of movement and/or work to, e.g., generate electricity or torque to move machinery. More specifically, the present invention is directed to apparatus and methodologies that take advantage of the movement produced by a body when it changes density in relation to the ambient environment surrounding the body in order to translate such movement into the generation of electricity or torque to move machinery or other processes requiring a driving force.

Method and apparatus for using density change to create movement


An automated scheduling system schedules audio conferences for an audio conferencing system. The scheduling of an audio conference results in the reservation of audio conferencing resources for a designated time frame. The automated scheduling system identifies what audio conferencing resources are available during the designated time frame and then chooses optimal ones of the audio conferencing resources to achieve load balancing and to prevent overflow of an audio conference between conferencing bridges. A scoring mechanism may be applied to identify the optimal audio conferencing resources for a given audio conference. The automated scheduling system is capable of operating in real-time so that a caller that requests the scheduling of an audio conference may receive confirmation and a phone number to call to participate in the audio conference during a single phone call. The automated scheduling system may also schedule a recurring series of audio conferences that occur at periodic intervals with common participants.

Audio conferencing facilities have become increasingly popular. These facilities provide the necessary resources for callers at different locations to enter and participate in an audio conference. Typically, audio conferencing is performed via a call center that includes agents situated at consoles to facilitate the audio conferencing. The call center may also provide conferencing bridges for facilitating audio conferences.
One of the difficulties faced by conventional audio conferencing systems is the scheduling of audio conferences. The scheduling has typically been manually performed and has been quite cumbersome. The scheduling of the audio conferences is both labor intensive and time consuming. Typically, a party organizing an audio conference must wait a substantial amount of time before receiving a confirmation that the audio conference has been scheduled and a phone number that may be called for participants to enter the audio conference.

Reservation scheduling system for audio conferencing resources


Provided are a SONGS type nonvolatile or flash memory device and related programming/erasing methods. The device has a deep well region of a first conductive type that isolates a well region of a second conductive type from a substrate to enhance programming and erasing operation characteristics. In the erasing method, first electrons are erased by one of Hot Hole Injection (e.g., gate-to-drain Hot Hole Injection) or tunneling in a first step, and second electrons that are not erased in the first step are erased by the other of tunneling (e.g., gate-to-body tunneling) or HHI in a second step. Preferably, a time gap intervenes between the first and second steps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a SONOS (silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon) type non-volatile (e.g., flash) memory device having a deep well region for isolating a well region from a substrate to enhance programming and erasing operation characteristics, and related programming/erasing methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flash memory is non-volatile, which means that it stores data even when power is turned off. While normal EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable read only memory) only allows one location at a time to be erased or written, flash EEPROM can operate at higher effective speeds to read and write to different locations at the same time.
Flash memory is based on floating gate type cells. Recently as device integration has advanced, there has been a strong need to reduce the size of conventional floating gate type cells.
For the above reasons, alternatives to floating gate cells have been widely studied, for example, SONOS, FeRAM, SET, NROM, etc. Among them, the SONOS cell has attracted considerable attention as next-generation cell structure for replacing a stacked floating gate cell structure.
Hereinafter, a conventional SONOS type flash memory device will be described.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional SONOS type flash memory device. Referring to FIG. 1, the SONOS flash memory device, which may be essentially an NMOS transistor, includes a tunnel oxide layer 12, a trap nitride layer 13, a block oxide layer 14, and a gate 15 formed of N+ type polysilicon, all of which are formed on a portion of a substrate 10 and stacked in sequence. Source and drain 11 having implanted N+ type impurities are formed in the substrate 10, adjacent to both sides of the gate 15.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional method for programming a SONOS type flash memory device. Referring to FIG. 2, bias conditions when programming the SONOS device include applying a positive voltage to both the drain 11a and the gate 15, and to ground both the source 11b and the substrate 10. Voltage applied to the gate 15 and the drain 11a creates a vertical and horizontal electric field in a direction of the length of a channel region from the source 11b to the drain 11a. By the electric field, electrons start flowing from the source 11b to the drain 11a. Then, electrons moving along the channel obtain energy enough to jump over the potential barrier of the tunnel oxide layer 12 and to enter the electron trap layer. That is, electrons are in a 'hot' state. Such a phenomenon may happen frequently near the drain 11a, because electrons near the drain 11a obtain relatively greater energy. Hot electrons injected into the trap nitride layer 13 are trapped therein, and therefore the threshold voltage of the SONOS flash memory device is increased.
Such a programming process is called Channel Hot Electron Injection (CHEI). During this process, an area where electrons are caught in the trap nitride layer 13 is indicated by a referential character A in FIG. 2.
In addition to CHEI, Fowler Nordheim Tunneling (F/N tunneling) may be used as programming methods of the SONOS flash memory device. At present, since F/N tunneling requires relatively higher voltage, the CHEI method is much preferred.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional method for erasing a SONOS type flash memory device. Referring to FIG. 3, bias conditions when erasing the SONOS device include applying a positive voltage to the drain 11a and a negative voltage to the gate 15, and to ground or float both the source 11b and the substrate 10.
Under the above bias conditions, a high electric field is created in an overlapped region between the drain 11a and the gate 15, and thereby a depletion region (indicated by a referential character C) is formed near the drain 11a. In the depletion region, electron/hole pairs are produced by band-to-band tunneling. These electrons are drained to an N+ impurity region of the drain 11a. On the other hand, holes are accelerated by a lateral electric field generated in the depletion region and thereby turned into hot holes. These hot holes jump over energy barrier between the tunnel oxide layer 12 and the silicon substrate 10, and are injected into a valence band of the trap nitride layer 13. Injected hot holes are then trapped in a trap level within the trap nitride layer 13, and neutralized by reacting with electrons stored during programming, so cells are erased. Through this erasing process, the threshold voltage of the SONGS flash memory device is decreased.
Such an erasing process is called Hot Hole Injection (HHI). During this process, an area where hot holes are caught in the trap nitride layer 13 is limited to a relatively smaller local part indicated by a referential character B in FIG. 3, so erasing operation generally takes place in a smaller area than the area (A in FIG. 2) receiving hot electrons during programming operation. As a result, electrons may undesirably remain in a non-overlapped part between areas A and B.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional method for reading a SONOS type flash memory device. Referring to FIG. 4, bias conditions when reading the SONOS device include applying a positive reference voltage to the gate 15 and a positive voltage to the source 11b, and to ground both the drain 11a and the substrate 10. Under the above bias conditions, electric current flows or not according to programming/erasing states near the drain 11a, so it is possible to read whether an operating state is programming or erasing. That is, to know whether the cell is a programming state or an erasing state is based on detection of current that flows when a reference voltage is applied to the gate. If the current is above a predefined current, the cell is in an erasing state. If the current is below the predefined current, the cell is in a programming state. Such a reading process is called Reverse Reading.
Unfortunately, the above-discussed conventional SONOS flash memory device may have the following drawbacks.
The conventional SONOS flash memory device uses Channel Hot Electron Injection programming method and Hot Hole Injection erasing method. However, in such programming/erasing methods, hot electron injecting and hot hole injecting may occur at non-coincident places, so electrons injected to locations not being neutralized by hot hole injection may accumulate in the trap layer relatively near to the center of the channel. Accordingly, the programming threshold voltage and the erasing threshold voltage may increase in comparison with the initial threshold voltages.
In addition, during an erasing operation, the non-volatile memory device may be configured to inject a number of hot holes to the trap layer roughly equivalent to the number of stored electrons. However, as discussed above, the area in which such hot holes are injected (e.g., B in FIG. 3) is smaller than the area where hot electrons are injected (e.g., A in FIG. 2). As a result, over repeated cycles of programming and erasing, hot holes may accumulate at an edge region of the trap layer, near the N+ impurity region such as the source or the drain 11a (see FIG. 3). After many cycles of programming and erasing, the accumulated charges and/or holes may adversely affect reading, programming and/or erasing operations, and may shorten the endurance of the memory device.
Endurance means the characteristic that the threshold voltage is not changed significantly or is changed only within a permissible range while the programming/erasing operations of the device are repeated. The conventional SONOS flash memory device may sometimes have a less than ideal endurance characteristic.

Non-volatile memory device and method for programming/erasing the same


A finger-mounted tool device includes a finger-gripping sleeve formed of a hollow body tube and an abrading member. The hollow body tube is formed of a spirally wrapped progression of a spring material to provide an expanding and gripping nature and is bi-directional in use for fitting securely and comfortably onto any size of a user's finger. The abrading member has an abrasive surface and a backing surface. The backing surface is attached to the body tube.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to finger-mounted devices, and more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved finger-mounted tool device which includes a finger-gripping sleeve formed of a bi-directional spirally wrapped spring tube for receiving a user's finger and for securely maintaining the finger onto the device during continuous use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over the many past years, people have discovered that reducing the cumbersome use of hand-held devices and replacing them with finger-mounted devices allows the user to have more precision in their operation, to be more practical for use in space-confined areas and to be more convenient for traveling purposes. The applications for these finger-mounted devices have varied greatly from teeth cleaning to the removal of residue from encrusted objects.
For example, in regards to the application of teeth cleaning, there are numerous patents known in the art which disclose designs for these finger-mounted devices. Generally, the teeth cleaning finger devices are typically designed to include a brush on the exterior tip of the device and, opposite the tip end, a finger-receiving open-end portion, which allows the device to be mounted onto a finger. Similarly, in regards to the application of removing residue or unwanted material from an object, the finger-mounted device of the prior art, likewise, includes an abrasive material on the exterior tip of the device and, opposite the tip end, a finger-receiving open-end portion, which allows the device to be mounted onto a finger.
However, all of these early prior art designed finger-mounted devices suffered from a major disadvantage wherein the finger would slip out of the device during its operation. In view of this problem, attempts have been made heretofore to develop new implementations so as to reduce finger slippage when the device is in use. For example, one such improvement included a non-slip lining disposed within the device. Another example uses a rubber cushion member which is located at the finger-receiving open-end portion of the device. Although these improvements may have performed adequately so as to keep the finger from accidentally slipping from the device, these improvements did not ensure that the device would be fixedly secured to the finger so that the attached abrading material would remain in a stationary position during use.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that modern finger-mounted devices have been developed and constructed heretofore in the prior art so as to prevent the finger from slipping out of the device while in use. In spite of these efforts in the prior art, it would be still desirable to provide an improved finger-mounted device which would prevent the finger from slipping and maintaining the attached abrading member on the device in a stationary position during operation.
A prior art search directed to the subject matter of this application in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed the following Letters Patent:                U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,157,413        2,167,129        3,643,386        5,327,688        5,765,252        6,584,637        6,808,068
Further, the prior art search also revealed Patent Application Publication Nos. 2003/0088930 dated May 15, 2003 to Abada and 2002/0152538 dated Oct. 24, 2002 to McDevitt et al.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,688 to Norkus issued on Jul. 12, 1994, there is disclosed a digital abrading jacket having a sleeve, which is open at one end and open at the opposite end, sized and shaped to accommodate a human finger or thumb. At the closed end of the sleeve is fastened an elongated panel approximately the same length as the sleeve. The free end of the panel defines a ribbed skirt, which has a rougher surface texture than the remainder of the panel so as to provide a better holding or gripping surface for the fingers or thumb. On the outer surface of the sleeve is a fixed array of abrasive elements.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,252 to Carr issued on Jun. 16, 1998, there is taught a finger brush, which is secured to a finger by an interior surface having non-slip lining or surface character such that the device is maintained on a fingertip and along the length of a finger as a sheath portion is unrolled along the finger into a position of use. The brush device includes a tip portion having a closed end with a plurality of bristles mounted on the exterior surface of the tip portion. In a child version of the device, an anchor ring is used to secure the finger mounted brush to an adjacent finger of a child to prevent accidental removal. This '252 patent also discloses a hand mounted glove which incorporates the principles of the finger brush.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,167,129 to Sleeper issued on Jul. 25, 1939, there is taught a brush which may be mounted on a finger tip. In order to prevent accidental withdrawal of the brush from the finger, the device includes a rubber cushion member located at the open end of the body.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0152538 to McDevitt et al. published on Oct. 24, 2002, discloses a finger glove. This finger glove may be designed with a tapered shape to enhance the ability of the glove to fit onto a finger. Additionally, the finger glove may also be designed to have two open ends so that a finger can be inserted completely therethrough.
The remaining patents, listed above but not specifically discussed, are deemed to be only of general interest and show the state of the art in finger-mounted devices.
None of the prior art discussed above disclosed a finger-mounted tool device like that of the present invention which includes a finger-gripping sleeve formed of a bi-directional spirally wrapped spring tube for receiving a user's finger and for securely maintaining the device onto the finger. The finger-mounted tool device is attached to a backing surface of an abrading member.


A handheld electric tightening tool includes a housing and a sealing arrangement. The sealing arrangement is adapted to seal a first portion of the housing from a second portion of the housing and includes a sealing element and a spring. The sealing element includes a first portion adapted to bear against a shoulder formed in the housing, and a second portion adapted to bear against a portion of an outer surface of a rotating axle of the tool. The spring is adapted to at a first end bear against a shoulder formed in the sealing element and at a second end bear against a supporting element arranged on the axle, such that a force is exerted on the sealing element urging the sealing element against the shoulder formed in the housing.

Electrical power tools for tightening are known to be used in various industries. For example, in the electronics industry tightening tools are used for tightening of small screws. Such tools commonly include a mechanism for facilitating the picking and holding of the, in many cases very small, screws utilized. Examples of such mechanism include various vacuum solutions, where vacuum is provided at a front end of the tool such that the small screws may be sucked into position at a bit or similar.
More particularly, so called vacuum adapters are known where vacuum is provided by means of an auxiliary adapter that attaches to a front end of the tool, where vacuum is commonly provided by means of a separate hose attached to the adapter. One example of such an adapter is shown in document WO2015/069166 by the present applicant. Such devices however, being auxiliary devices as such, add complexity to the system. Further, the hoses needed to provide the necessary vacuum impose additional constraints to the tool and work place and may hence pose an inconvenience to the user.
In order to alleviate some of these problems, tightening tool having internal hoses or channels through which the vacuum may be provided to a front end of the tool have been proposed.
These designs however present various problems associated with the provision of proper sealing between the parts of the tool where vacuum prevails and other parts. Solutions proposed include the use of sealing bearings, where various drawbacks include that the varying pressure (i.e. the vacuum) negatively affects the rubber seals of such bearing thereby decreasing the sealing performance and that the vacuum may cause an undesired removal of grease from the bearings impairing functionality and decreasing the life time of the bearings. Hence, there exists a need for improvements in the field of tightening tools having such internal vacuum arrangements.

Sealing arrangement for a tightening tool


A method for increasing reliability during a read and/or write operation in a disk drive having a head. Data is read from a disk using a head. An amplitude of a signal obtained during reading the data is measured. A degree of variation in the signal amplitude is determined as a function of a position of the head relative to the disk. The head is selectively heated based on the variation in the signal amplitude for inducing protrusion of the head, thereby selectively reducing a fly height of the head for reducing variations of a read signal created by the head during a read operation and/or magnetic fields created by the head during a write operation.

In a disk drive, a magnetic recording head is made of read and write elements. The write element is used to record and erase data bits arranged in circular tracks on the disk while the read element plays back a recorded magnetic signal. The magnetic recording head is mounted on a slider which is connected to a suspension arm, the suspension arm urging the slider toward a magnetic storage disk. When the disk is rotated the slider flies above the surface of the disk on a cushion of air which is generated by the rotating disk.
The read element is generally made of a small stripe of multilayer magnetic thin films which have either magnetoresistance (MR) effect or giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect, namely which changes resistance in response to a magnetic field change such as magnetic flux incursions (bits) from magnetic storage disk. Recorded data can be read from a magnetic medium because the external magnetic field from the recorded medium (the signal field) causes a change in the direction of magnetization in the read element, which in turn causes a change in resistance in the read element and a corresponding change in the sensed current or voltage.
FIGS. 1 and 2A–2C illustrate examples of a conventional composite type thin-film magnetic head 10. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the head 10 perpendicular to the plane of the air bearing surface (ABS). FIG. 2A shows the slider 11 flying above the disk 13.
In these figures, the reference numeral 12 denotes a substrate, 15 denotes an undercoating, 20 denotes a lower shield layer of the MR reproducing head part, 21 denotes an upper shield layer of the MR head part, which can also act as a lower pole of an inductive recording head part, 22 denotes a MR layer provided through an insulating layer 23 between the lower shield layer 20 and the upper shield layer 21, 26 denotes a write gap layer, 27 denotes a lower insulating layer deposited on the upper shield layer 21, 28 denotes a coil conductor formed on the lower insulating layer 27, 29 denotes an upper insulating layer deposited so as to cover the coil conductor 28, 30 denotes an upper pole, and 34 denotes a pad that would connect the read or write coil to other components in the drive. In general, there would be a plurality of pads 34 on the slider 11. Note that the pad 34 connects directly to the coil conductor 28. The upper pole 30 is magnetically connected with the lower pole (upper shield layer) 21 at its rear portion so as to constitute a magnetic yoke together with the lower pole 21.
As recording density and data transfer rate have increased over the past a few years, critical dimensions in the recording device such as track width read and write gap and coil size have decreased accordingly. Also, the fly height between the air bearing surface (ABS) 32 and the media have become smaller and smaller. For reference, recording heads with 40 gb/in2 products typically have fly heights of about 12 nanometers. This fly height will continue to decrease in the future. This reduction in head critical dimensions and fly height, while beneficial to magnetic performance, also comes with cost on thermal and mechanic reliability.
The thermal expansion coefficients for the substrate and the various layers of the head differ, so when the head becomes heated during use, some layers will begin to protrude from the ABS. FIG. 2B depicts the head 10 when the write element is not operating, and particularly that the spacing may vary due to recession of various materials and structure due to the ABS fabrication process. FIG. 2C is a detailed diagram of the heat transfer and protrusion profile of the head 10 when the head is active (e.g., when the write coil is energized). One issue with heads is that the write-induced protrusion of the pole and overcoat can cause head-media contact, resulting in errors. This can affect the write head signal to noise ratio with alterations in the magnetic spacing between the head and the media. In older generations of heads, this was not a problem because the head was flying much higher and device size was bigger leading to easier heat dissipation. However, the coil length in modern heads has decreased to accommodate high data rate advancement. Consequently, ohmic heating from write current through coil and eddy current in write pole/yoke and magnetic hysteresis of magnetic materials are confined in a tiny space near the ABS, which typically lead to unacceptable thermal protrusion and drive reliability concerns. As can be seen in FIG. 2C, the top write pole 30 and overcoat protrude from the ABS 32 toward the media 13. The protrusion amount is typically 1–4 nanometers.
There are several factors that limit the reduction in slider flying height. These factors might reasonably be ignored at flying heights of above 20 nanometers, but would become major concerns at flying heights on the order of <10 nanometers. These include variations in the sliders themselves, variations in the structure that supports the sliders, and media surface roughness.
More particularly, normal tolerances in slider fabrication lead to structural variations among the sliders in any given batch. Consequently, the flying heights of sliders in the batch are distributed over a range, although the flying height of each slider individually is substantially constant.
Variations in supporting structures occur primarily in the transducer support arm, the suspension or gimballing structure, slider geometry and load arm. These variations influence the flying height, and the nature of a given slider's reaction to any disturbances, e.g. due to shock or vibration.
Disk roughness also becomes more of a problem at lower slider flying heights. To ensure that the head remains properly aligned with the data tracks, the disks must be securely attached to the spindle. Current practice is to separate the disks in the stack with spacer rings, and position a spacer ring on top of the disk/spacer stack. Then a top ring with several apertures is placed over the top spacer ring. The disks are bolted to the spindle via bolts extending through the apertures in the top ring. Great pressure must be exerted by the bolts on the top ring in order to prevent slippage of the disks in the event that the drive is bumped or uneven thermal expansion breaks the frictional coupling, because once the disks slip, the drive loses its servo and the data is lost.
A major drawback of the current practice is that when the bolts are tightened, the top ring and spacer become deformed due to the uneven pressures exerted by the individual bolts. Disks are typically formed from aluminum or glass. Aluminum is more easily deformed, so any external stress can cause deformations to the disk. Glass, too, will deform under uneven stress patterns. The deformation translates out to the disk, creating an uneven "wavy" disk surface, which is most prominent at the inner diameter of the disk. Any waviness on the disk surface can cause increase in the variation in the magnetic spacing.
Further, it has been found that stresses induced on the top disk in the stack transfer down into some or all of the remaining disks in the stack, causing the remaining disks in the drive to show similar unevenness.
Thus, the clearance between the slider and the disk is limited by the curvature of the disk, which is more pronounced towards the inner diameter due to clamping. To avoid interfering with the disk at the inner diameter, the slider is usually designed to fly higher to compensate for the curvature at the inner diameter of the disk. This curvature then translates into an increase in the magnetic signal variation.
One proposed design of a slider would drag on the disk surface, thereby more precisely fixing a head/disk spacing based on a peak roughness of the disk surface. Any improvement in setting the transducer/recording surface gap, however, would be at the cost of excessive wear to the slider, media recording surface, or both.
What is needed is a way to selectively reduce the spacing variation between the slider and disk surface, thereby reducing read and write signal variations caused by the varying fly height, and allowing the slider to be in close proximity to the media during reading and/or writing for allowing the heads to read and write with reduced track width, bit length and error rate.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Increasing head-disk interface reliability using controlled heating

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


The current disclosure extends to normalizing UPCs so the normalized UPCs can be readily compared against each other and used for item lookups in a local cache. Embodiments of the present disclosure include a UPC cache on a user's mobile device, such as a smartphone. In such embodiments, a UPC that is normalized following processes set forth in the present disclosure may act as a cache key for related product information stored in the cache. By conducting item lookups in a local cache, requests for that data can be served faster than if the data were stored on a remote server.

The Universal Product Code ("UPC") system is a numbering and barcode schema with wide usage to mark and track retail and other products in many parts of the world. For example, many retail products have UPC numbers and corresponding barcodes on their packaging to facilitate scanning and tracking product transport, inventory, sales, and the like. Retailers typically maintain databases of products sold and can conduct item lookups by scanning the UPC of any selected product. The digits of a UPC are systematically encoded in the barcode by varying the widths of black bars and spacing therebetween. The barcode is machine-readable, and typical product packaging carries both numerals and barcodes, such that the packaging can be both human- and machine-readable.
Common numbering standards currently in place for product codes include UPC-A, EAN-13, and UPC-E. The UPC-A standard has 12 numerical digits, with each code uniquely assigned to a product (reference to "UPC" throughout the present disclosure may generally refer to any numbering schema, including but not limited to EAN-13). EAN-13 has 13 digits, and UPC-E has 6 digits. A product number may include a prefix numeral code, a manufacturer/company numeral code, which in some examples comprises three to eight digits, and an item reference numeral code, which in some examples comprises two to six digits.
Some numbering schema additionally includes a final check digit for verification/error detection. The check digit is a number appended at the end of the UPC, and can be used to check that the other digits were input correctly. Generally, a check digit may be calculated by following an established algorithm on the other digits in the code. If the calculated check digit does not match the check digit on the barcode then it may be determined that a numeral was incorrectly scanned and a scan re-attempt can be made.
When a UPC is scanned, there may not be obvious signals regarding which format the scanned UPC adheres to. For example, a scanned barcode may have nine digits. The barcode may represent a UPC comprising 8 normal digits and a check digit. Alternatively, the barcode may comprise 9 normal digits and no check digit. Because of the various numbering schema and uncertainly of the numbering schema used, a false negative error may result. For example, when attempting to convert a 9-numeral UPC (a UPC having 9 numerals and no check digit), if the UPC is incorrectly interpreted as an 8-digit UPC having a 9th check digit, there is a 10% probability that the supposed check digit will resolve even though it is not, in actuality, a check digit. The result could be an incorrect item association with the scanned UPC.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present disclosure.


A capacitive vacuum measuring cell includes first and second ceramic housing bodies (1, 4) joined by an edge seal (3). A thin ceramic membrane (2) is supported between first and second housing bodies (1, 4) by the edge seal (3) at a small distance from the first housing body (1) creating a reference vacuum chamber (25) therebetween. An electrically conductive material (7) coats opposing surfaces of the first housing body (1) and the membrane (2) to form a capacitor. A measurement vacuum chamber (26) is provided between the membrane (2) and the second housing body (4). A port (5) communicates with the second housing body (4) to connect the measurement vacuum chamber (26) of the measuring cell to the medium to be measured. The membrane (2) is made from an Al2O3 slurry that is sintered in a first heating step, cooled, and then reheated to smooth the membrane.

The present invention generally relates to a capacitive vacuum measuring cell.
It is known that pressures or pressure differences can be measured by applying pressure to a thin membrane and measuring its deflection. A known and suitable method for measuring the deflection is to design the membrane arrangement as a variable electrical capacitance where the capacitance change which correlates with the pressure change is evaluated by measurement electronics in the known manner. The capacitance is created by arranging a thin, flexible membrane very close to another surface and by depositing an electrically conductive film on both mutually opposed surfaces or by fabricating them from electrically conductive material. When pressure is applied to the membrane, the deflection changes the distance between the two electrodes which leads to an analyzable capacitance change of the arrangement. Sensors of this type are mass-produced from silicon. The flat basic body, as well as the membrane, often consist entirely of silicon. There are also versions that are made of composite materials such as silicon with a glass substrate. Such sensors can be produced very economically. However, in vacuum applications, pressure sensors of this type are normally usable only for higher pressures in the range of approx. 10−1 mbar to several bar. High resolution at pressures below 10−1 mbar is no longer achievable with silicon. One of the reasons for this is that the silicon surface reacts with the environment, which impairs the sensitive sensor characteristic. Already water vapor that forms part of normal atmospheric air leads to a corresponding reaction on the surfaces. The problem becomes even more serious when the sensor is used in chemically aggressive atmospheres. For this reason, attempts were made to protect such silicon sensors against external influences by passivating the surfaces. Attempts were also made to deposit protective coatings on the surfaces in order to improve the durability and the resistance against chemically aggressive environments as described in DE 41 36 987. Such measures are costly and, in the case of mechanically deformable parts such as membranes, have only limited success, in particular in highly aggressive media such as fluorine, bromic acid and their compounds which are typically used in vacuum etching processes.
For this reason, attempts were made to build vacuum measuring cells entirely from corrosion resistant materials such as Al2O3. A known arrangement of this type is shown in FIG. 1. The vacuum measuring cell consists of a ceramic plate (20) above which a membrane (22) is arranged with a small gap between the two of them and a fusible seal (21) between the ceramic plate (20) and the edge of the membrane. The ceramic plate (20) together with the membrane (22) forms a reference vacuum chamber (25) that is evacuated down during the manufacturing process through a pumping port and which is sealed with a seal (28). The mutually opposed surfaces of the ceramic plate (20) and the membrane (22) inside the reference vacuum chamber (25) are coated with electrically conductive material and connected to insulated external terminals on which the capacitance signal can be evaluated by means of an electronic device (not shown in the illustration). To achieve corrosion resistance, plate (20) and membrane (22) are both made of ceramic material such as Al2O3. This vacuum measuring cell in turn is arranged in a vacuum-tight housing (23) that features a port (24) which is connected to the media to be measured. Via port (24) of the vacuum measuring cell, the resulting measurement vacuum chamber (26) is sealed off against the membrane (22) by means of an elastomer seal (27) so that the pressures to be measured reach only the surface of the membrane (22). For the purpose of sealing, the entire cell is pressed via the ceramic plate (20) and membrane (22) against the elastomer seal (27). Up to now, vacuum measuring cells of this type have been usable only for higher pressures in the range of 0.1 mbar to 100 bar. In addition, this design leads to stress in the materials which, at lower pressures, for example<1 mbar, significantly impairs the reproducibility of measurement results and the resolution. The ceramic membranes (22) used so far have a thickness ranging from 279 μm to 2540 μm. Such designs are not suitable for achieving wide measurement ranges, in particular low pressures of 0.1 mbar to 10−6 mbar. In addition, designs of this type, as disclosed also in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,502, are costly.
The objective of the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantage of the current state of the art. In particular the objective of the present invention is to implement an easy-to-produce, economical vacuum measuring cell that is suitable for measuring pressures from 10−6 mbar to 1000 mbar, in particular from 10−6 mbar to 1 mbar, with an accuracy of better than 1%, preferably better than 0.3% of the measured value. The measurement range can be covered or subdivided into several vacuum measuring cells or membrane versions according to the invention. In addition this vacuum measuring cell shall be corrosion resistant to aggressive media, have a compact design, and be economical to manufacture.

Process for manufacturing a capacitive vacuum measuring cell


Electrode plates acting as a heat sink are arranged to sandwich a power transistor and a diode. Electrode plates at their surfaces opposite cooling elements at a portion opposite power transistor and diode are formed to be smaller in thickness at a portion adjacent to power transistor and diode substantially at the center than at a periphery. Cooling elements are disposed geometrically along electrode plates to sandwich electrode plates.

Conventionally there have been proposed a large number of structures for efficiently cooling semiconductor elements in semiconductor modules. For example, the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation discloses in its published Technology Report No. 2003-504490 a structure having a heat sink immersed in a coolant liquid or similar fluid to cool a power device. This power device includes a power device and a heat sink arranged at opposite surfaces of the power device and immersed in a coolant fluid.
This power device has the heat sink formed in a recessed, curve surface with a plurality of protrusions thereon to have an increased surface area to cool the power device, and also pass the coolant turbulently to more efficiently cool the power device.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-189684 discloses a heat exchange device having radiating fins arranged at a density varied in accordance with how air blown by a fan for cooling distributes in flow rate. This heat exchange device has the radiating fins spaced closer for a high-rate air flow area of a radiator and farther away for a low-rate air flow area of the radiator. This allows the radiator to thereacross have a substantially uniform amount of air passing therethrough to achieve an increased heat exchange rate.
As disclosed in Technology Report No. 2003-504490, however, the structure is intended to more effectively cool the entirety of the power device. It is not intended to enable the power device to have a uniform temperature profile.
In general, a power device is higher in temperature at the center than the periphery. Accordingly, how the device increases in temperature at the center is considered in limiting in amount an electric current passed to the power device. As such, power devices higher in temperature at the center than the periphery cannot exhibit their capabilities sufficiently.
In other words, to allow a power device to sufficiently exhibit its performance, it is important to cool the power device more efficiently and as uniformly as possible.
Furthermore, if the power device does not have a uniform temperature profile, the power device's interior, a material bonding the power device and an electrode together, and the like have stress caused therein and helping them to deteriorate. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-189684 and Technology Report No. 2003-504490 fail to consider such disadvantage.

Heat dissipating fins opposite semiconductor elements


Embodiments of the invention relate to a fluid containment structure for a micro analyzer comprising one or more shelled thermal structures in contact with a thermally isolated component of the analyzer and wherein the shelled thermal structure comprises a conformal film and also comprises three walls of a channel and the thermally isolated component forms the fourth wall.

Multi-fluid detection and analysis may be automated via affordable, in-situ, ultra-sensitive micro sensors and analyzers, such as a micro gas chromatograph. A large portion or all of a micro gas chromatograph (GC) may be integrated on a chip with conventional semiconductor processes or micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) techniques. GC-MEMS sensors may include concentrator and separator components to enhance the detection of gases and vapors at low concentrations. Such detection is often difficult due to limitations in the sensitivity of detector devices and measurement instruments. The process of detecting various constituents within a gas sample at low concentrations can be greatly enhanced if the constituents can be concentrated prior to detection.
The current method for making a GC-MEMS requires significant power consumption to heat the active surface as well as any passive surfaces in close proximity. Gas containment in the system is normally accomplished using silicon or some other film attached to the silicon as containment. Theses surfaces act as a heat sink and require significant amounts of power to maintain the thermally isolated component of the device at a given temperature.

Conformal film micro-channels for a fluidic micro analyzer


A fixing apparatus of an image forming apparatus with high productivity for heavy paper is provided that prevents an abnormal temperature rise of a heated material after a continuous printing operation of heavy paper ends. If the value of a temperature sensor that is provided in a non-passing region of the heated material is equal to or greater than a predetermined value at the end of the continuous printing, the cooling device of a pressure member is operated before the apparatus is put into a standby state, so that the heating member is rotated while the pressure member presses the heating member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image forming apparatuses by the electrophotographic technique, and mote particularly, to image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, printers, and facsimile machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional image forming apparatus by the electrophotographic method, a fixing apparatus of a paired heat roller type with a heating roller and a pressure roller is normally employed. Also, a fixing apparatus with seamless belts as a heating member and a pressure member has been known.
In such a fixing apparatus that melts toner with heat generated by a heating member, heat is required for melting the toner. Accordingly, a large quantity of heat is necessary to increase the number of recording sheets on which fixing is performed in unit time (i.e., the productivity). As the basis weight of the recording material to be used is large, the quantity of heat required for fixing an image on the recording material increases. As a result, an even larger quantity of heat is required.
In a case where a full-color image is fixed as an output image, a large quantity of heat is required, as the amount of toner to be fixed is larger than the amount of toner required for mono-color printing, and the toner needs to be melted for a glossier image.
With an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, there is a demand for full-color image output with a productivity of 50 ppm or higher on heavy paper of a basis weight of 100 g/m2. In a case where an output is made on heavy paper with a high productivity, a large quantity of heat is necessary.
As the electric power that is used to meet the above demand increases, the quantity of heat accumulated on the heating roller increases. Especially, in a full-color fixing apparatus that needs to have an elastic layer covering the heating roller, the elastic layer serves as a heat insulating layer. Accordingly, the quantity of heat accumulated on the heating roller further increases, resulting in a high temperature of the core metal.
When a printing operation ends while the core metal of the heating roller is at a high temperature, the quantity of heat to be absorbed by the recording material suddenly loses a place to escape. As a result, the heat accumulated on the core metal increases the temperature of the entire roller, and an abnormal temperature rise is caused on the surface of the heating roller. With such an abnormal temperature rise, the following problems are observed.
That is, the first problem is that the toner to be originally fixed on the recording material is offset on the surface of the fixing roller, because the fixing operation is performed while the temperature of the fixing roller is very high. As a result, a defective image with a hot offset is caused, as the offset toner adheres to a recording material to be transferred to the fixing apparatus next.
So as to avoid the first problem, the printing operation may be prohibited and the apparatus may be put into a standby state until the temperature of the surface of the fixing roller drops to a predetermined temperature. However, because of the large capacity of heat, the waiting period might last for several minutes, which is undesirable in terms of usability. This is the second problem.
So as to eliminate the above problems, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-102104 discloses a method by which the printing temperature control for the fixing apparatus is suspended before the fixing on the last page is completed, and the heating operation is then suspended or moved on to a rotation temperature control process. More specifically, in a case where the printer engine cannot recognize the number of pages formed by the image data, whether the operation should be performed is determined from the existence of data at the start of image formation at the first development station. If the number of pages in a job can be recognized, the timing of the operation is determined in advance based on the number of pages through reverse calculation started from the end of the fixing.
However, there are the following problems with the image forming apparatus of the above described prior art.
The technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-102104 is effective for a fixing apparatus with a heating roller with a small quantity of heat and high thermal responsiveness. However, since a large-diameter heating roller is employed in a fixing apparatus that needs to exhibit a high productivity with heavy paper, the heat capacity is high and the thermal responsiveness is poor. As a result, a sufficient effect cannot be expected.
So as to secure fixability and glossiness on heavy paper in a belt-type fixing apparatus suitable for achieving a wide nip, the temperature of the pressure pad provided in the belt for preventing slippage of the belt is preferably maintained at a low temperature. Therefore, in a standby state in which printing is not performed, the pressure pad as well as the belt should preferably be separated from the heating roller.
However, after the belt is separated from the heating roller, the heat cannot escape from the heating roller to the belt. As a result, an abnormal temperature rise is caused in the heating roller for the above described reasons.


The present invention relates to novel metal chelates, exemplified as technetium-99m or rhenium chelates, and to the process of preparing such metal chelates from corresponding ligands. These ligands and their corresponding metal chelates are synthesized to have a cysteinylethylene (EC) structure, a monothiourea (MTU) structure, or a dithiourea (DTU) structure. The present invention further relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising a metal chelate, for example, a .sup.99m Tc-chelate, to the use of the composition for renal imaging and examination of renal function, and to a kit for preparing such a composition prior to use.

For example, radionuclide studies of the kidney provide a simple noninvasive method of evaluating both total and individual renal function. Radioactively-labeled compounds are utilized for the examinations of patients, for example, to ascertain the shape and function of internal organs and to evaluate the presence and location of pathological processes in the body. For this purpose, a composition comprising the radiopharmaceutical is administered to the patient, for example, in the form of an injectable liquid. By means of suitable detection apparatus, e.g., a gamma camera, images can be obtained of, for example, the organ or the pathological process in which the radioactive compound [radiopharmaceutical] has been incorporated, by recording the emitted radiation.
Compounds which are generally used as radiopharmaceutical agents include inter alia iodine-131 (.sup.131 I), .sup.131 I-orthohippurate (OIH), .sup.125 I-iothalamate, and technetium-99m (.sup.99m Tc) chelates [Eshima et al. (1992) Sem. Nucl. Med. 22: 61-73; Verbruggen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,511 (1989); Nosco et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,6501]. To date, one of the most successful agents is considered to be .sup.99m Tc mercaptoacetyltriglycine (.sup.99m TC MAG3). However, although considered to be the renal imaging agent of choice [Cosgriff et al. (1992) Nucl. Med. Comm. 13: 580-585; Verbruggen et al. (1992) J. Nucl. Med. 33: 551-557], .sup.99 Tc MAG3 is still not considered to be an ideal renal imaging agent because there are problems associated with its use. For example, the plasma-protein binding of .sup.99m Tc MAG3 is very high [Taylor et al. (1987) Radiology 162: 365-370; Bubeck et al. (1990) J. Nucl. Med. 31: 1285-1293], the clearance of .sup.99m Tc MAG3 is only 50-60% that of OIH and it does not provide a direct measurement of effective renal plasma flow. Furthermore, a small percentage of .sup.99m Tc MAG3 is transported into the small intestine via the hepatobiliary system in normal volunteers; this percentage increases in patients with renal failure and can lead to problems in image interpretation [Taylor et al. (1987) Contr. Nephrol. 56: 38-46; Taylor et al. (1988) J. Nucl. Med. 29: 616-622; and Dogan et al. (1988) J. Nucl. Med. 29: 616-622]. Increased hepatobiliary activity can also occur with suboptimal kit preparation [Shattuck et al. (1994) J. Nucl. Med. 35: 349-355]. These limitations have prompted a continued need for improved renal imaging agents.
The promising results of .sup.99m Tc MAG3, a triamide mercaptide (N.sub.3 S) compound, led to the synthesis of a number of structural variations of the MAG3 molecule, including replacement of the mercaptoacetyl moiety or one of the three glycines with a variety of natural occurring amino acids. Many of these ligands, labeled with .sup.99m Tc, were tested in mice. The most promising agents were tested in one or two baboons and a few volunteers. In general, these substitutions resulted in products which were inferior to .sup.99m Tc MAG3 or resulted in diastereomers with one diastereomer comparable and the other considerably inferior [e.g., mercaptoacetylglycylalanylglycine (MAGAG) [Verbruggen (1988) J. Nucl. Med. 29: 909]to .sup.99m Tc MAG3. Diastereomeric radiopharmaceuticals with markedly different biokinetics require HPLC purification and are not practical for routine clinical use.
Additional N.sub.3 S ligands were synthesized in order to evaluate the effect of different terminal amino acids and the form of the anionic group on the renal elimination of the compound. .sup.99m Tc mercaptoacetylglycylglycyl-L-alanine (.sup.99m Tc MAG2-Ala), and both complexes of .sup.99m Tc mercaptoacetylglycylglycyl-L-asparagine (.sup.99m Tc MAG2-Asn) and .sup.99m Tc mercaptoacetylglycylglycyl-L-glutamine (.sup.99m Tc MAG2-Gin) were shown to provide promising characteristics as imaging agents [Eshima et al. (1987) J. Nucl. Med. 28: 1180-1186]. Another promising N.sub.3 S type metal chelate, .sup.99m Tc mercaptoacetyl-glycylglycyl-taurine, was found to be inferior to .sup.99m Tc MAG3 in dogs.
It was observed [Verbruggen et al. (1990) In Technetium and rhenium in chemistry and nuclear medicine 3, (Nicolini M., Bandoli G., and Mazzi U. eds) Verona: Cortina International, pp. 445-452] that the polar metabolite, .sup.99m Tc L,L-ethylenedicysteine (.sup.99m Tc LL-EC), of the brain agent, .sup.99m Tc-L,L-ethylenedicysteine diethylester, was rapidly and efficiently excreted into the urine in mice; this observation led to the evaluation of .sup.99m Tc LL-EC as a renal imaging agent. Studies in mice and baboons showed that the pharmacokinetic properties of .sup.99m Tc LL-EC more closely approached those of OIH than the properties of MAG3 and also suggested that LL-EC was superior to the enantiomer .sup.99m Tc DD-EC [Verbruggen et al. (1992) supra; Van Nerom et al. (1990) J. Nucl. Med. 31: 806; Van Nerom et al. (1994) In Radionuclides in nephrology, Blue Bell, Pa.: Field & Wood Medical Periodicals, pp. 13-20].
An ideal, improved .sup.99m Tc complex would be expected to possess a renal clearance that exceeds the clearance of .sup.99m Tc MAG3 by almost 100% in order to approach the clearance of OIH. Such an ideal metal complex could even exceed the clearance of OIH, since the clearance of OIH is only 83% of the clearance of p-aminohippuric acid (PAH), the gold standard for effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) [Bubeck et al. (1990) J. Nucl. Med. 31: 1285-1293]. Not only would a second generation agent provide a better measure of ERPF, the higher clearance would be expected to result in an improved kidney to background ratio and more rapid excretion than MAG3; these features would be expected to result in improved diagnostic studies particularly in neonates, patients with azotemia and patients with suspected obstruction just as the higher clearance of MAG3 compared to DTPA significantly enhanced the diagnostic utility of radionuclide renography in these patient populations.
Thus, there exists a need for a suitable composition for examining renal function comprising a labeled metal chelate which is readily available and easily prepared prior to use, especially in critical circumstances, e.g., in particular for kidney transplantation patients, accident victims and patients after large vascular operations.
There also exists a need for a suitable composition for examining renal function comprising a labeled metal chelate which shows specificity for the organ under examination, e.g., kidney.
There exists a need for a suitable composition for examining renal function, which comprises a labeled metal chelate that does not constitute a serious radiation burden for the patient and that does not have to be administered to the patient only in restricted doses, and which, consequently, does not result in obtaining insufficient information to obtain statistically reliable images of the renal function.
There exists a need for a suitable composition for examining the renal function which comprises a labeled metal chelate that does not present the problem of restricted availability due to too short a half-life and thus precluding the thorough and accurate completion of a renal examination with the metal chelate radionuclide as imaging agent.
There exists a need for a suitable composition for examining the renal function comprising a labeled metal chelate that is capable of being prepared prior to use from a kit formulation in order to maximize the life and stability of the renal imaging composition. The general availability of a ready-to-use labeled product suitable for organ imaging is precluded by the relatively short half-life of radionuclides used in the preparation of imaging agents. Thus, it is desirable to provide an easy and simple procedure for the preparation of a labeled metal chelate just prior to use and conveniently at the place of use. Preferably, it is desirable to provide a kit comprising reaction components necessary for - situ labeling of a ligand precursor, thereby enabling the preparation of a corresponding metal chelate prior to its use as an imaging agent.

Metal chelates as pharmaceutical imaging agents, processes of making such and uses thereof


A new approach has been developed to combine mid-range and high frequency sound into the throat of a horn designed for sound reinforcement. An acoustic low pass filter element is interposed between the lower frequency passage and the higher frequency passage, so that a smooth combination of the two frequency bands is achieved at the entrance to the horn bell. Thus, each frequency band has nearly identical dispersion, and the two sources have equal delay.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the design of acoustic horns for use in a speaker system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the design of acoustic speaker systems, typically a combination of speakers is provided to optimize the performance of the speaker system in the low frequency ranges, mid-frequency ranges, and high frequency ranges. Thus, a conventional "three-way" speaker system will have individual speaker components addressing these three frequency ranges.
Several prior art attempts have been made to create a single speaker that produces sounds in multiple frequency ranges. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,456 issued to Heinz discloses a multiple driver single horn speaker. In Heinz, the high frequency and low frequency sound take parallel paths into the horn. However, the configuration of the Heinz loud speaker produces interference between the various frequencies as well as irregularities in the sound produced from the horn.
U.S. patent application publication Ser. No. 2002/0014369 by Engebretson discloses a multiple driver sound system. The Engebretson publication also fails to cure the interference and the irregularities between the frequencies because of the failure of the frequencies to promulgate through the same horn section.
Other attempts to solve these problems have resulted in sound drivers being placed coaxially. This topology has been used in an attempt to achieve a more uniform pattern control in a more compact system. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,283,606 and 4,619,342 both issued to Buck disclose a low frequency transducer and a high frequency transducer having coaxial acoustic centers. These prior art arrangements still suffer from three basic problems. First of all, the high frequency horn shadows the mid frequency sound, causing the response irregularities. Second, the unequal time delay between the two frequencies causes frequency response problems unless there is a specific delay correction applied. Finally, the directional coverage pattern produced from these prior art devices has significant peaks and dips at and near the crossover frequency at locations off the acoustical axis.
Thus, there is a continuing need in the art for an improved speaker system which would permit higher and lower frequencies sources to utilize a common horn.


This invention relates to a method to make an article comprising the steps of combining a semi-amorphous polymer having a heat of fusion of less than 70 J/g with a plasticizer and optionally one or more additives, to produce a polymer concentrate, combining the polymer concentrate with one or more final materials to produce an article precursor; and forming the article at least partially from the article precursor, wherein the polymer concentrate preferably shows no visible phase separation as demonstrated by the polymer concentrate having no visually detectable loss of the plasticizer after a portion of the polymer concentrate is aged on an absorbent surface for 24 hours at 25° C. An article produced by the method is also disclosed.

Polyolefins are widely used in a number of everyday articles, machines, consumer goods, and the like. Polyolefins are relatively inexpensive to produce and are capable of providing a number of useful functions. Polyolefins may be formed into various shapes, films, laminates, and the like. Polyolefins may be coated on, or co-extruded with various substrates. Polyolefins may also be combined with other materials to form a structure having a plurality of layers, each layer having a specific purpose. Laminates, for example, may comprise a plurality of layers, such as a configurationally rigid core layer, an outer liquid-tight layer, an oxygen gas barrier such as a mid-layer of aluminum foil, and/or other layers depending on application needs.
However, polyolefins may have relatively high glass transition temperatures. This may render various polyolefins brittle, inflexible, and thus unsuitable for particular uses, particularly uses at lower temperatures. Many applications of polyolefins would benefit from a polyolefin having useful properties over a wide range of temperatures, and under a variety of conditions. Such useful properties may include both high and low temperatures performance in the areas of impact strength, toughness, flexibility, and the like. One way in which such properties may be obtained is by the addition of plasticizers to polyolefins.
Examples of the addition of plasticizers to polyolefins may be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,960,820, 4,132,698, 3,201,364, and in WO 02/31044, WO 01/18109, and EP 0 300 689. These and other references are directed to the addition of functionalized plasticizers to polyolefins. Examples of functionalized plasticizers include mineral oils containing aromatic groups. These exampled fail to provide improvements in impact strength, transparency, and other properties of polyolefins. Other references which are directed to the addition of plasticizers to polyolefins include EP 0 448 259, EP 1 028 145, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,073,782, and 3,415,925.
It would be desirable to utilize compounds such as paraffins to plasticize polyolefins. However, such an approach is taught to be counter to producing improved polyolefins (See e.g., Chemical Additives for Plastics Industry 107-116 (Radian Corp., Noyes Data Corporation, NJ 1987); and WO 01/18109 A1.)
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/716,306, filed Feb. 19, 2004 is directed to a plasticized polyolefin composition comprising one or more polyolefins and one or more non-functionalized plasticizers. The plasticized polyolefins produced are reported to comprise improved softness, better flexibility (lower flexural modulus), a depressed glass transitions temperature, and/or improved impact strength when compared to plasticized polyolefins known in the art.
However, a need remains for facile incorporation of plasticizers into polyolefins. Plasticizers are often liquids. On the other hand, polyolefins are typically formulated, compounded, and/or combined as solids or partially molten semi-solids in extruders, mixers, kneaders, and the like. Such processes are not readily amenable to addition of liquids. Addition of liquids to an extruder, for example, may require utilization of metering pumps and extruder configurations in opposite to those useful to produce polyolefin articles of commerce. Accordingly, there remains a need for a method by which plasticizers may be incorporated into polyolefin compositions wherein the plasticizers are in a solid form that is flowable.

Method to make an article comprising polymer concentrate


The high-pressure discharge lamp lighting device of the invention includes a lighting circuit for supplying an alternating current to a high-pressure discharge lamp to cause lighting, the high-pressure discharge lamp having an arc tube in which a halogen material is enclosed and a pair of electrodes is disposed, and each electrode having a protuberance at a tip thereof. A frequency of the alternating current varies without dependency on operating data that varies as a lighting time of the high-pressure discharge lamp elapses.

Among high-pressure discharge lamps, the high-pressure mercury lamp, which is used as a light source in projector-type image display devices such as liquid crystal projectors and the like, has in recent years been attracting particular attention (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H4-303592).
Generally, the high-pressure mercury lamp has a pair of opposing electrodes disposed inside an arc tube enclosing a halogen material, an inert gas, and mercury. A high-pressure discharge lamp lighting device applies a predetermined high voltage pulse to the high-pressure discharge lamp to give dielectric breakdown between the electrodes, and subsequently causes an alternating current of a predetermined frequency to flow thereby causing the lamp to light.
The life of such high-pressure mercury lamps is of the order of 2000 hours to 3000 hours.
Liquid crystal projectors in the past were used mainly in school classrooms, conference rooms, and the like, but in recent years have become increasingly popular with ordinary households.
Liquid crystal projectors use as their light source what is, with discharge being caused in the short gap between the electrodes to generate light, essentially a point light source. Consequently, image stability is strongly influenced by discharge stability. For this reason, lamp constructions and lighting methods for ensuring discharge stability in discharge lamps, such as the constructions and methods described below, have been in use for some time.
The high-pressure mercury lamps currently in use in liquid crystal projectors generally include, besides mercury, a halogen material as one of the enclosed materials. This is because the halogen cycle of the enclosed halogen material prevents the occurrence of lamp blackening due to the electrode ingredient tungsten evaporating during lighting. This halogen cycle operation is very effective in the prevention of lamp blackening. However, as the cycle continues, tungsten transferred to the tips of the electrodes via the cycle accumulates thereon, forming protuberances. The growth of such protuberances can be controlled by varying the frequency of the supplied alternating current, a method disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2001-312997 and in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2003-338394. Using this method, stability in the luminance when the lamp is dispatched is achieved by shortening the distance between the electrodes through the formation of suitable protuberances to make a point light source.
Further, growth of the protuberances during the first 100 to 500 hours or thereabouts of the life can be suppressed by varying the frequency of the supplied AC current, a method which is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2003-338394. Using this method, the excessive growth of the protuberances generated in the first 100 to 500 hours or thereabouts of the life can be suppressed, and stability in intensity is achieved. The method involves detecting a discharge voltage and, with the voltage variation as a reference, performing feedback control to restore the tips of the electrodes.

High-pressure discharge lamp lighting device


A pulse oximeter method and apparatus which provides (1) a notch filter at a distance between a modulation frequency and a common multiple of commonly used power line frequencies (50, 60, 100 and 120) and also (2) a demodulation frequency greater than a highest pulse rate of a person and lower than any harmonic of 50, 60, 100 or 120 Hz, to filter ambient light interference, while choosing an optimum demodulation frequency that avoids interference from the notch filter or from harmonics of the line interference. Also, ambient light for any low frequency interference, such as power line interference, is measured both before and after each of the light emitter wavelengths and the average of the ambient light is then subtracted from the detected signal.

The present invention relates to oximeters, and in particular to techniques for ambient light cancellation in pulse oximeters.
Pulse oximetry is typically used to measure various blood flow characteristics including, but not limited to, the blood-oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in arterial blood, the volume of individual blood pulsations supplying the tissue, and the rate of blood pulsations corresponding to each heartbeat of a patient. Measurement of these characteristics has been accomplished by use of a non-invasive sensor which scatters light through a portion of the patient's tissue-where blood perfuses the tissue, and photoelectrically senses the absorption of light in such tissue. The amount of light absorbed is then used to calculate the amount of blood constituent being measured.
The light scattered through the tissue is selected to be of one or more wavelengths that are absorbed by the blood in an amount representative of the amount of the blood constituent present in the blood. The amount of transmitted light scattered through the tissue will vary in accordance with the changing amount of blood constituent in the tissue and the related light absorption. For measuring blood oxygen level, such sensors have typically been provided with a light source that is adapted to generate light of at least two different wavelengths, and with photodetectors sensitive to both of those wavelengths, in accordance with known techniques for measuring blood oxygen saturation.
Known non-invasive sensors include devices that are secured to a portion of the body, such as a finger, an ear or the scalp. In animals and humans, the tissue of these body portions is perfused with blood and the tissue surface is readily accessible to the sensor.
One problem with oximeter measurements is that in addition to receiving the light that was directed at the tissue, ambient light is also detected by the photodetector. Attempts can be made to block out ambient light, but some amount of ambient light will typically be detected. One particular concern is the light at the power line frequency of fluorescent or other lights, which is 60 Hz in the United States and 50 Hz in Europe and other countries.
Since a single photodetector is typically used, the light of different wavelengths, such as red and infrared, is time multiplexed. The detected signal must be demultiplexed. The demultiplexing frequency must be high enough so that it is much larger than the pulse rate. However, choosing a demultiplexing frequency is also impacted by the ambient light interference. One issue is the aliasing of harmonics of the AC power line frequency. U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,355 discusses a technique of altering the demultiplexing frequency depending upon the amount of ambient interference detected at each frequency.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,213 discusses subtracting a dark signal (detected ambient light) from the detected light signal. This is accomplished by leaving both the red and infrared light emitters off, in between turning them on, so that a "dark" signal supposedly composed of the ambient light present can be detected. This can then be subtracted from the desired signal. Other examples of patents dealing with the ambient light issue are U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,385,471, 5,846,190 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,195.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,501 discusses using a notch filter to filter out line frequency. However, the sampling rate is described as being set to twice the fundamental frequency of the power line interference, leaving higher harmonics of the power line interference as a problem, and it is unclear how the interference can be filtered without filtering the modulation frequency. Another example of a notch filter being used is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,486, which uses a notch filter for the EKG signal.


A physiological sensor is located within the airway of the subject's body, such as for measuring barometric pressure and communicating this value to a blood pressure or other monitoring device, which can derive gauge pressure using the barometric pressure and a measured absolute pressure within the body. The physiological sensor may also detect one or more other physiological parameters such as air flow, sound, or a chemical property. It may be anchored within the airway with the ability to communicate wirelessly to one or more other medical devices, such as an implanted cardiac function management device. Methods of use are also described.

Physiological conditions of a subject can provide useful information about the subject's health status, such as to a physician or other caregiver. Devices may be implanted within a patient's body for monitoring certain physiological conditions. For example, a vascularly implantable pressure sensor can be used to measure blood pressure, however, the resulting measurement provides only an absolute pressure value of the immediate anatomical environment, which does not take into account ambient barometric pressure external to the body. Such a vascularly implantable pressure sensor is typically not capable of communicating gauge pressure because it is isolated from the ambient pressure external to the body.


An adjustable arm-rest for vehicles has a fixed part and a movable part, hinged so as to move between a lowered angular position and a raised angular position; and a system for adjusting the inclination of said movable part between the lowered position and the raised position. The adjusting system has a freewheeling bearing which allows the movable part to rotate only from the lowered position to the raised position, and releasing means which enable the movable part to move from the raised position to the lowered position.

The present invention relates to an arm-rest adjustable in inclination, in particular for vehicles.
As is known many vehicles are provided with arm-rests adjustable in inclination.
An example of a traditional adjustable arm-rest is shown in FIGS. 32 and 33, which respectively show a perspective and a front view of the load-bearing frame.
In general, an arm-rest adjustable in inclination is provided with a load-bearing frame comprising a fixed part F, which is attached to the vehicle, and a movable part M, which is hinged to the fixed part F along a rotation axis X and defines by means of upholstery (not shown in the figures) the plane of the arm-rest.
The inclination of the plane of the arm-rest is adjusted by rotating properly the movable part M in relation to the fixed part F, between a lowered position (as shown in FIG. A), which generally corresponds with the movable part positioned horizontally, and a raised position (not shown), which generally corresponds with the movable part positioned vertically.
To such purpose, adjustable arm-rests traditionally have adjustment systems comprising a ratchet device. The latter is framed so as to allow the rotation of the movable part in steps upwards only and to keep the movable part in the position reached in the upward rotary movement.
More in detail, as one may observe in FIG. 34 (relative to a cross-section view along the plane C-C shown in the front view of FIG. 33), the ratchet device comprises a toothed portion D made on the movable part M and a pawl L, hinged to the fixed part and kept constantly engaged to the toothed portion D by an elastic element (not visible in FIGS. 32, 33 and 34). The pawl L may only disengage itself from the toothed portion D when the movable part M is rotated upwards.
During this movement, in fact, the movable part M itself contrasts the effect of the elastic element, disengaging the pawl L from the toothed wheel D.
The rotation downwards of the movable part M requires, on the contrary, that the ratchet device be deactivated.
To such purpose the system for adjusting the arm-rest comprises proper releasing means of the pawl (not shown in the attached figures), normally activable on command by the user by means of suitable levers.
A first limit of the adjustable arm-rests described above lies in the impossibility of fine adjustment of the inclination. The ratchet device enables adjustment (in steps) at predefined positions, the number of which is substantially equivalent to the number of teeth in the toothed portions. Once the excursion angle has been fixed (between the maximum and minimum inclination) for reasons of construction and solidity, it is not possible to increase the number of teeth. This significantly limits the adjustment possibilities, thereby making the arm-rest not always adaptable to the user's needs, to the detriment of perceived comfort.
A second limit is the noise of the system for adjusting the arm-rest. The steps of the ratchet device produce noises which may be annoying, giving the idea of malfunctioning and poor product quality.
A third limit is associated with the risk that the ratchet device, on account of wear or construction defects of the toothed portions, may not function correctly. It may happen in fact that in some adjustment positions, the movable part of the arm-rest does not remain stable, or that the movable part suddenly falls downwards. The blocking of the movable part on the fixed part is in fact entrusted to the engagement of toothed portions of limited extension.

Arm-rest adjustable in inclination, in particular for vehicles


An example operation may include one or more of parking a transport in an initial space, determining an average time of an event attended by at least one occupant associated with the transport, moving the transport to at least one other space when an elapsed time of the event is less than the average time and when the at least one other space is available and closer to an event location than the initial space, and moving the transport to a final space when the event is completed, and the final space is a location of a device associated with the at least one occupant.

Vehicles or transports, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, planes, trains, etc., generally provide transportation needs to occupants and/or goods in a variety of ways. Functions related to transports may be identified and utilized by various computing devices, such as a smartphone or a computer.
Parking transports has always required time to identify optimal parking spaces which are close to a particular venue of interest to the transport passengers. As congestion increases the ability to identify optimal parking spaces decreases.
Autonomous transports which are operated without drivers can make parking easier since the transport could drop the passengers off at one location and park in another location. However, the ability to coordinate such parking procedures requires various information regarding where the passengers are going, when they are finished, and what preferences and privileges are available to those utilizing the nearby parking spaces.

Parking monitoring and assistance for transports


A continuous authentication system and related methods are provided. The system detects requests to perform user actions. A security value is associated with each user action. The system determines a subsequent session security level in response to an adjustment to a session security level by a security value of a requested user action. The requested user action is permitted and the session security level is adjusted based on the security value of the requested user action in response to a determination by the system that the subsequent session security level is greater than or equal to a threshold session security level. A user authentication challenge is caused (e.g., prompted) in response to a determination by the system that the subsequent session security level is less than the threshold session security level. The requested user action is permitted and the session security level is adjusted based on the security value of the requested user action in response to a successful user authentication challenge. The requested user action is rejected in response to an unsuccessful user authentication challenge.

Authentication systems are common parts of consumer and enterprise computing devices. Authentication systems may attempt to re-authenticate users after an initial authentication to ensure the user has not changed. Some common approaches are to re-authenticate a user after a threshold period of time since a previous successful authentication or in response to certainty types of actions. Although partly effective, these approaches are not able to all types of detect unauthorized access or are not able to detect unauthorized access before data has been exposed to unauthorized users or systems. For this and other reasons, there is a need for improved authentication systems.

Continuous authentication system and related methods


A data quality assessment and monitoring tool addresses inconsistency in large data sets from differing sources, determining data quality attributes such as completeness, conformity, validity, and accuracy. Flexible taxonomies and rollup strategies accommodate diverse business unit needs across a complex enterprise, and provides insight into individual entities' performance. An exemplary tool comprises a data importer for importing data from a data lake; a rules manager for generating rules and rule sets; a scoring engine for generating data quality scores; a job manager; a data profiler for running data assessment tasks and collating the data quality scores for a plurality of hierarchical data entity units; a hierarchical scoring aggregator for aggregating sets of data quality scores into a plurality of first tier aggregate data quality scores and to further aggregate the first tier aggregate data quality scores into one or more second tier aggregate data quality scores; and a reporting component.

In enterprise operations that generate and consume large quantities of data from widely-varying sources, data quality can become a significant factor in operational efficiency. However, different uses of the data can be affected in different ways; certain use cases may result in worse adverse effects than others. In a complex enterprise operation, various diverse business unit needs can drive disparate use cases. Unfortunately, this situation can render many data quality determinations subjective, reducing relevance and usefulness to some business unit needs, and negatively impacting enterprise efficiency.

Continuous data quality assessment and monitoring for big data


An input element includes: a first electrode and a second electrode that face each other; and an intermediate layer disposed between the first and the second electrodes and made of rubber or a rubber composition, the rubber or rubber composition containing siloxane. The intermediate layer is made of rubber or a rubber composition, the rubber or rubber composition containing siloxane that has a silicon atom bound to three to four oxygen atoms. The intermediate layer has concentration profiles such that, while oxygen increases from one side to the other side of a thickness direction thereof and has a maximal value, carbon decreases from the one side to the other side thereof and has a minimal value.

Known input elements for inputting to an electronic apparatus such as a personal computer, a tablet display device, or a smartphone include an input element that detects a position with touch (contact) made by a finger, a pen, or the like.
For example, a technique (for example, Patent Literature 1) has been proposed that employs a base material formed of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and interposed between a pair of conductive layers and thereby detects a position and a pressing force by detecting current generated from a position to which a force is applied.