The invention relates to an apparatus, a system, a method and a computer program product for receiving a protocol identifier indicating a protocol used in a packet data connection of a user, determining if the user is roaming, and 10 deciding on a control entity to be involved for controlling the packet data connection, depending on the protocol identifier and result of the determination if the user is roaming.

Policy control architecture has been defined by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Policy elements can maintain information on active packet connections of users and about packet gateways via which the packet connections traverse.
In the future, 3GPP mobile networks can interface fixed broadband networks, defined for example by broadband forum (BBF). Policy and charging control is an important and integral part of the interworking. A UE connected to a fixed broadband access can use services that are offered by the 3GPP mobile network, i.e. the user traffic can be routed from the broadband access to the 3GPP packet core network. Both the fixed broadband network and the 3GPP network can have policy control and enforcement functions on the user plane.
Also, A UE connected to a 3GPP access can uses services that are offered by the fixed broadband network, i.e. the user traffic is routed from the 3GPP access to the fixed broadband packet core network. Again, both the 3GPP and fixed broadband network can have policy control and enforcement functions on the user plane.
In one architectural scenario a 3GPP Femto Home Node-B (H(e)NB) can be connected via a fixed broadband access to a 3GPP mobile core network. In this scenario an IP security tunnel is established between the home Node B and the security gateway (SeGW) in the mobile core network. Three different policy control/decision entities may be involved in a user session: Broadband policy control function (BPCF) in the broadband access, visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in the visited mobile network in a roaming case and home PCRF (H-PCRF) in the home mobile network.
Currently it is open how the different policy control entities (e.g. V-PCRF and H-PCRF) can find each other and how the related control sessions (S9, S9*, Gxc) can be established.

Method, apparatus and system for deciding on a control entity for a packet data connection


A downhole tool has a mandrel with slip assemblies positioned thereon above and below a packer element. The slip assemblies are positioned in a manner to anchor the downhole tool in the well. The slip assemblies include a slip ring which has a plurality of slip segments. Each slip segment has inserts disposed in cavities therein. The cavities are oriented such that the longitudinal central axis of each cavity is parallel to the longitudinal central axis of each of the other cavities in the slip segment.

Downhole tools for use in oil and gas wellbores often have drillable components made from metallic or non-metallic materials, such as soft steel, cast iron, engineering grade plastics, and composite materials.
In the drilling or reworking of oil wells, a great variety of downhole tools are used. For example, but not by way of limitation, it is often desirable to seal tubing or other pipe in the casing of the well, such as when it is desired to pump cement or other slurry down the tubing and force the slurry out into a formation. It thus becomes necessary to seal the tubing with respect to the well casing and to prevent the fluid pressure of the slurry from lifting the tubing out of the well. Downhole tools referred to as packers and bridge plugs are designed for these general purposes and are well known in the art of producing oil and gas.
Bridge plugs isolate the portion of the well below the bridge plug from the portion thereabove. Bridge plugs therefore may experience a high differential pressure and must be capable of withstanding the pressure so that the bridge plug seals the well and does not move in the well after it has been set.
Bridge plugs make use of metallic or non-metallic slip segments, or slips, that are initially retained in close proximity to a mandrel but are forced outwardly away from the mandrel of the tool upon the tool being set to engage a casing previously installed within an open wellbore. Upon the tool being positioned at the desired depth, or position, the slips are forced outwardly against the inside of the casing to secure the packer, or bridge plug as the case may be, so that the tool will not move relative to the casing when, for example, operations are being conducted for tests, to stimulate production of the well, or to plug all or a portion of the well.
Cylindrically shaped inserts, or buttons, may be placed in such slip segments, especially when the slip segments are made of a non-metallic material such as plastic composite material, to enhance the ability of the slip segments to engage the well casing. The buttons must be of sufficient hardness to be able to partially penetrate, or bite into, the surface of the well casing which is typically steel. However, especially in the case of downhole tools being constructed of materials that lend themselves to being easily drilled from the wellbore once a given operation involving the tool has been performed, the buttons must not be so hard or so tough to resist drilling or fouling of the cutting surfaces of the drilling bit or milling bit. The orientation of the slip buttons relative to the casing can also be a factor in the gripping ability of the slip segments.
There is a continuing need for slips that will provide increased gripping and holding ability in the well.


A vapor deposition device for fabricating a compound semiconductor has many organometallic gas supply systems, each of which for synthesizing and supplying more than one organometallic gas, a first group of valves connected to the organometallic gas supply systems, and the first group of valves for selecting a specific system from among the organometallic gas supply systems by opening and closing the relevant valve group, an organometallic gas supply line connected to the first valve group, a second group of valves connected to the first group of valves for selecting the next organometallic gas supply system to be used among the organometallic gas supply systems by opening and closing the relevant valve group, a vent line connected to the second valve group, a reaction furnace connected to the organometallic gas supply means for continuously propagating different types of thin-films by means of organometallic gases supplied from the organometallic gas supply line, a microcomputer system for controlling the operation of the first group of valves and the second group of valves.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vapor deposition device for fabricating a compound semiconductor, and, in particular, to a vapor deposition device for fabricating a compound semiconductor wherein an organometallic gas for use in the formation of the next thin film can be immediately provided and supplied to a reaction furnace when different types of thin films are continuously propagated by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using organic metals, and a constant flow can be normally maintained in the reaction furnace during film-forming so that a thin-film with good uniformity can be obtained.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG.1 is a general configuration drawing showing a conventional vapor deposition device for fabricating a compound semiconductor.
In the drawing, the conventional vapor deposition device for fabricating a compound semiconductor comprises a reaction furnace 131; a plurality of bubbler vessels 101 to 105 for storing organic metals used to form various types of films; a plurality of mass flow controllers 111 to 115 for controlling the flow of a carrier gas (for example hydrogen H.sub.2) at a specified rate to the primary side of the bubbler vessels 101 to 105; a mass flow controller 116 (for supplying the carrier gas H.sub.2) for controlling the flow of the carrier gas H.sub.2 for flow compensation; and a plurality of valves 121 to 125 as part of an organometallic gas supply line for forming various films, connected to the secondary side of the bubbler vessels and to the mass flow controller 116.
The operations of the plurality of valves 121 to 125, the mass flow controller 116, and the mass flow controllers 111 to 115 are controlled by a process control unit 150 such as a microcomputer system.
During the formation of a thin-film of a semiconductor, a specified organometallic gas is supplied to the valves 121 to 125 from the secondary side of the bubbler vessels 101 to 105. A plurality of types of synthesized organometallic gases is supplied to the reaction furnace 131 by opening and closing the valves 121 to 125, and the thin film of the semiconductor is formed. For example, when an InGaP thin-film is formed, organic metals TMI (TriMethyl Indium) and TMG (TriMethyl Gallium) are supplied to the reaction furnace 131 through a PH.sub.3 (phosphine) and AsH.sub.3 (arsine) line 141 and the film is formed by the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method.
A multilayer thin-film semiconductor device such as an LED and the like is formed by the MOCVD method with a semiconductor laser for a compound semiconductor (in this case a substrate is a GaAs substrate).
When a multilayer thin-film of a semiconductor is formed by means of a conventional vapor deposition device for fabricating a compound semiconductor, after a certain layer is formed the next film-forming organometallic gas is fed to the reaction furnace 131 by opening and closing the valves 121 to 125 under the control of the process control unit 150.
When the valves are opened the flow to the reaction furnace 131 suddenly becomes excessive and a time delay occurs before the flow rate is stabilized to the specified amount, therefore the uniformity of thickness of the resulting film of a semiconductor is poor.
Also, the total flow within the reaction furnace 131 must normally be uniform during the formation of the thin-film in order for the inner pressure of the reaction furnace 131 to be normally uniform.
Specifically, when the inner pressure of the reaction furnace 131 is not uniform, the formed thin-film lacks uniformity because of variations in the inner pressure.
Therefore, when a certain layer of film is formed the organometallic gas is supplied at a specified flow rate and, in the case where the specified total flow is not provided within the reaction furnace 131, a necessary amount of carrier gas is supplied by the mass flow controller 116 to compensate for the flow rate.
However, when the specified flow rate of the organometallic gas differs from a flow rate at the total film-forming time, the flow rate of the carrier gas H.sub.2 for flow compensation must also be changed.
When the flow rate in the mass flow controller 126 is changed there is a time delay until the value of the change is stable, therefore there is also a time delay until the inner pressure of the reaction furnace 131 is stabilized, therefore the uniformity of the formed film is poor.
In addition, because of the time delay before the amount of the above-mentioned organometallic gas supplied and the flow rate of the carrier gas for flow compensation reach uniform values, the formed films in a semiconductor is poor and the characteristics of the formed semiconductor are poor.
As outlined above, with a conventional vapor deposition device for fabricating a compound semiconductor:
(1) When the valves 121 to 125 are opened, the flow to the reaction furnace 131 suddenly becomes excessive and a time delay occurs before the flow rate is stabilized to the specified amount, therefore the uniformity of the thickness of the resulting film is poor.
(2) When there is a flow rate change in the mass flow controller which provides flow rate compensation, there is a time delay until the value of the change is stable, therefore a time delay is produced until the inner pressure of the reaction furnace becomes stable and the uniformity of the formed film is poor.
(3) Because there is a time delay before the amount of the above-mentioned organometallic gas supplied and the flow rate of the carrier gas for flow compensation reach a uniform flow value, the formed films is poor and the characteristics of the formed semiconductor are poor.

Method of fabricating a compound semiconductor having a plurality of layers using a flow compensation technique


An improved spring/foam cushion is formed of an assembly of an integral foam body sandwiched between two foam caps, and imbedded with individual spring units.

The present invention relates generally to a cushioning assembly comprised of a foam body with individual spring units imbedded within it.
Conventional cushions made from a combination of wire springs and resilient foam, such as are commonly utilized in seat cushions and the like, are typically fabricated by encasing an assembly of individually pocketed and interconnected coil springs in resilient polyurethane foam and then wrapping the foam in either polyester fiber batting or in a plush down wrapping. In particular, the coil springs are normally cylindrical in shape and connected together, either by a system of connecting clips or continuous wire, and foam pieces are glued together to form an outer envelope around the springs. In some spring/foam cushioning assemblies, each spring may be enclosed within an individual nonwoven sock for additional sound dampening of contact between the springs.
Spring/foam cushioning assemblies are desirable because of their ability to integrate the soft cushioning of foam with the resilient support of springs. Use of foam with sufficient compressibility to provide comfortable cushioning, alone, would not provide sufficient support to maintain the foam's integrity against the cushioned body. Hence, spring units are employed to generate a restoring force against the cushioned body once the foam has been compressed a certain amount, thereby supplying support of the cushioned body. Use of springs units alone, on the other hand, is not desirable because of the inability of springs to absorb and retain an impacting force, i.e., foam provides a dampening effect because of its ability to compress and remain compressed. Alternatively, while not exhibiting undue oscillation, use of springs with high spring constants would feel hard and firm, and generally would not be thought of as comfortable.
Spring/foam cushioning assemblies are also desirable because of their ability to maintain their shape after many years of use.


A pharmaceutical solution of taxanes, its preparation method, a composition comprising said solution and its pharmaceutical combination package are disclosed. Said pharmaceutical solution comprises taxanes, a pH regulator and a solvent, wherein the pH regulator is a water-soluble acid.

Taxanes include paclitaxel (trade name: Taxol) and docetaxel (trade name: Taxotem), two types of anti-cancer drugs of taxanes approved by Food & Drug Administration (FDA). They both belong to water-insoluble drugs, which can hardly be dissolved in water (about 4 μg/ml of water-solubility) and only 2%-4% is absorbed after oral administration. Hence, they can only be administrated intravenously. In order to enhance the water-solubility of paclitaxel, available paclitaxel injection is a colorless viscous concentrated solution prepared by a mixed solvent of polyoxyethylene castor oil and anhydrous ethanol in the ratio of 50:50 (v/v). Although the presence of composite solvent enhances the solubility of paclitaxel, a series of side effects are easily induced by the solubilizer, particularly polyoxyethylene castor oil, which is contained in this injection. The side effects of the available paclitaxel preparations after administration are severe: dyspnea, flushing face, palpitation and allergic reaction such as skin rash etc, which brings a lot of potential safety troubles and suffering to the patients. Similarly, there are problems in available docetaxel preparation. The clinical preparation of docetaxel is composed of Tween-80 solution and 13% ethanol solution. Although the addition of normal saline when administrating it to the patients through intravenous drip ameliorates solubility of docetaxel, yet Tween-80, utilized as a solubilizer in this injection, has an effect for hemolysis to some degree. Therefore, the available docetaxel preparation has less drug safety in the clinical application. Considering many drawbacks in available clinical applications, the research works on taxane drugs injection preparations become more and more active.
Fortner et al. (Am. J. Hosp. Pharm. (1975) 32, 582-584)) has reported a new dosage form for water-insoluble drug by dissolving them in a suitable solvent for injection to prepare a pharmaceutical solution, which was followed by adding with emulsion for injection when administrating it to the patients through intravenous drip. This dosage form has been taken more seriously ever since.
In the application entitled "Parenteral paclitaxel in a stable non-toxic formulation" filed by B. S Anderson (Chinese pat. No.: 97196934.5), the solvent of pharmaceutical solution was composed of PEG-400 and dimethylacetamide in the ratio of 3:1, in which the dimethylacetamide, utilized as a solubilizer by helping to enhance drug solubility though, increased effects of the preparation for inducing toxicity and side effect. Therefore, dimethylacetamide utilized as a solubilizer may increase toxicity and side effect for the preparations. Zhou Lianfang et al. (Research progress on the toxicity of dimethylacetamide [J]. China Occupational Medicine, (2009), 36 (1): 66-67) pointed out that dimethylacetamide could cause multiple severe injuries on mice and rats, such as weight loss, atrophy of the retina, change of brain electric wave, as well as a lot of injuries to organs of lung, stomach, liver and kidney etc.
In the application entitled "Pharmaceutical composition containing hardly water soluble medicament" filed by Takeda Koichi et al. (Chinese Appl. No.:200680007345.3), the solvent of pharmaceutical solution was mainly composed of PEG-400 and oleic acid. As indicated by R. C. Roche (Handbook of Pharmaceutical Excipients, original 4th edition: 476), the oleic acid might lead to hemocytocatheresis, namely effect of hemolysis. It is permitted only in non-injected preparations in Britain.
In the application entitled "A concentrated emulsion containing taxane compound and its using method" filed by Hu Yufang (Chinese Appl. No.:200410025522.3), the pharmaceutical solution was prepared into a mixed solvent containing surfactant, such as Tween-80, PVP and lecithin etc. These surfactants have both hemolytic activity and irritation.
Now, the key technology on which is focused mainly is the properties of selected material such as biocompatibility, in vivo tolerance and stability of dosage form. In despite of breakthrough that has been made in researches on some dosage forms, the clinical application is still restricted on account of low drug loading and short stabilization time, therefore making it impossible to reach an effectively therapeutic concentration. In the application developed by the present inventors and entitled "A taxane intravenous infusion preparation and its preparative method" (Chinese Appl. No.: 200810100234.8), no toxic solubilizer was contained, for example polyoxyethylene castor oil, Tween-80, dimethylacetamide, oleic acid and PVP etc, which finally makes its safety and stability improved significantly.
The present invention is a further research based on the Chinese patent application (Pat. Appl. No.: 200810100234.8). It was found that dispersion of emulsion in pharmaceutical solution, within a specific range of pH value, would make stabilization time and appearance better than that could be expected. The stabilization time was prolonged markedly; there was no floating oil on the surface of dispersed solution and the appearance was desirable. Clinically, safety and effectiveness of drugs were further improved. Consequently, the present invention belongs to an improved intravenous infusion preparation of taxanes and preparation method thereof.

Pharmaceutical solution of taxanes comprising pH regulator and preparation method thereof


This invention relates to a flame-resistant spun staple yarns and fabrics and garments comprising these yarns and methods of making the same. The yarns have 25 to 90 parts by weight of a polymeric staple fiber containing a structure derived from a monomer selected from the group consisting of 4,4′diaminodiphenyl sulfone, 3,3′diaminodiphenyl sulfone, and mixtures thereof; and 10 to 75 parts by weight of a textile staple fiber having limiting oxygen index of 21 or greater, based on 100 parts by weight of the polymeric fiber and the textile fiber in the yarn.

Workers that can be exposed to flames, high temperatures, and/or electrical arcs and the like, need protective clothing and articles made from thermally resistant fabrics. Any increase in the effectiveness of these protective articles, or any increase in the comfort or durability of these articles while maintaining protection performance, is welcomed.
A fiber known as polysulfonamide fiber (PSA) is made from a poly (sulfone-amide) polymer and has good thermal resistance due to its aromatic content and also has low modulus, which imparts more flexibility to fabrics made from the fiber; however, the fiber has low tensile break strength. This low tensile strength in fibers has a major impact on the mechanical properties of fabrics made from these fibers, with the most obvious result being a decrease in the durability of the fabrics and articles made from the fabrics. This low durability limits the ability to utilize this comfortable fiber in protective apparel. Therefore what is needed is a way of incorporating PSA into yarns for use in protective apparel that utilizes the benefits of the PSA fiber while compensating for the limitations of the fiber.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Flame resistant spun staple yarns made from blends of fibers derived from diamino diphenyl sulfone and textile fibers and fabrics and garments made therefrom and methods for making same


A fiber-type wavelength converting device comprises a nonlinear optical crystal core; and a glass cladding surrounding the core that produces a second harmonic utilizing Cherenkov radiation. An exit end face of the cladding is flat, and an exit end face of the core has asperities. The exit end face of the core is formed inside with respect to the exit end face of the cladding, and particles may be filled in a recess portion composed of a bottom surface of the exit end face of the core and side surface of an inner wall of the cladding. The cladding has an outer diameter of at least 1 mm to prevent breakage of device upon polishing and grinding. A thin film may be formed on an input end face of the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fiber-type wavelength converting device that produces a second harmonic output light generated by Cherenkov radiation. More particularly, the fiber-type device includes a nonlinear optical crystal core and a cylindrical cladding of a glass-like material. The generated second harmonic signal has a high signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Nonlinear optical effects are phenomena wherein light that is incident upon a certain medium produces polarization proportional to quadratic or high terms of the intensity of the electric field of the light. These phenomena cause such events as the generation of second harmonic waves.
Devices having media capable of generating nonlinear optic effects in incident light are called "nonlinear optical devices". Inorganic materials such as KH.sub.2 PO.sub.4 and LiNbO.sub.3 are commercially available as nonlinear optical devices. Recently, much attention has been focused on organic materials, such as 2-methyl-4-nitrileaniline (MNA), due to their high nonlinear optical constants.
Nonlinear optical devices used to generate harmonics are designed as an optical integrated circuit made of a substrate with a lightguide formed thereon through which light propagates. The lightguide is covered with an overlay. In order to "pick up" the second harmonic generated in the lightguide, a waveguide path must be constructed to accommodate the phase velocity of the second harmonic propagating therethrough. That is, the waveguide path must be phase-matched with the second harmonic. The simplest way to do is to use Cherenkov radiation.
The principle of Cherenkov radiation is illustrated in FIG. 1. Light propagating through lightguide 111 generates a second harmonic at point A that is launched into both a substrate 121 and an overly 131 at an angle .theta.. If the equiphase plane of the generated second harmonic agrees with that of the second harmonic that is generated in the direction of angle .theta. at point B after a period of time, then a second harmonic is launched at point C in the direction of angle .theta.. Phase matching is automatically attained when the following condition is satisfied: EQU n.sub.s (2.omega.)>n.sub.G (.omega.)>n.sub.s (.omega.)
where n.sub.s (.omega.) is the refractive index of the substrate with respect to the fundamental wave, n.sub.G (.omega.) is the effective refractive index of the lightguide with respect to the fundamental wave, and n.sub.s (2.omega.) is the refractive index of the substrate with respect to the second harmonic wave.
It is further known that the Cherenkov radiation can be realized not only by a harmonic generating device in an optical integrated circuit, but also by an axially symmetric fiber-type wavelength converting device, the core of which is made of an organic material having a large nonlinear optical constant.
Depicted in FIG. 2 is a fiber-type wavelength converting device 9 including a core 10 constructed of an organic nonlinear optical crystal with a second-order nonlinear optical effect and a cladding 11 typically made of glass. Cladding 11 does not have any second-order nonlinear optical properties. In order to launch a second harmonic from the core into the cladding as shown by arrow 12, the following condition need be satisfied; EQU n.sub.cl (2.omega.)>n.sub.co (.omega.)>n.sub.cl (.omega.)
where n.sub.cl (2.omega.) is the refractive index of cladding 11 with respect to the second harmonic, n.sub.co (.omega.) is the refractive index of the core 10 with respect to the fundamental wave L1, and n.sub.cl (.omega.) is the refractive index of the cladding 11 with respect to the fundamental wave L1.
Since the second harmonic that is generated is launched from cladding 11 at a given divergence angle, the second harmonic beam emerging from end 9a of fiber-type device 9 produces an annular pattern as shown by 14. The fundamental wave is launched from the core at a small angle of divergence and produces a circular pattern indicated by 13.
The fiber-type device 9 is formed into a desired length by cutting the cladding and the core using a fiber cutter. However, the end face 9a is usually not cut flat as shown in FIGS. 3(a), 3(b) and 3(c). Hence, the emerging second harmonic wave is distorted.
In order to rectify this problem, it is possible for one to attempt to grind and polish the cut end surface 9a. However, in the current state of the art, the outside diameter of cladding 11 can not be greater than 300-500 .mu.m. Due to insufficient strength, many of the fine fibers will be broken during grinding and polishing, thereby decreasing the fiber yield.
An alternative to the polishing and grinding process is to fix fiber 9 within a ferrule using an adhesive and to grind and polish fiber 9 before cutting. If the entrance end face of the fiber is ground and polished, the nonlinear optical crystal core will collapse, thereby making admission of laser light, the usual source of the fundamental wave, impossible. Thus, the exit end face must be ground and polished with the entrance end being cut. This approach has been problematic since it has been difficult to cut the fiber to a desired length of about several millimeters with the fiber device being fixed within the ferrule.
It is also known in the art to use the fibers described above in an apparatus developed so as to be capable to reading information from pits on an optical disk. FIG. 4 illustrates a typical arrangement for such a use. A light beam issues from semiconductor laser 81 and is focused to a point by passing through collimator lens 82 and focusing lens 83. The light beam is focused to a point on a fiber-type wavelength converting device 84. At the exit end of device 84, the fundamental wave emerges from the core while the second harmonic emerges from the cladding. The apparatus under consideration utilizes the second harmonic that emerges from the cladding. The second harmonic, which issues at a predetermined angle of divergence, passes through conical prism 85 so that the entire second harmonic is collimated. The collimated beams pass through a polarizing beam splitter 86 and the optical path of the beams is then bent by mirror 87. The beams then pass through quarterwave plate 88 and focusing lens 89 focuses the beams to be incident on optical disk 90.
Light that is reflected from a pit on disk 90 is again collimated by focusing lens 89. The reflected light passes through quarter waveplate 88 and is reflected by mirror 87. The reflected beams optical paths are further bent by polarizing beam splitter 86. Lens 91 focuses the beam so as to have it incident an photodetector 92.
Although the fundamental wave issuing from the exit end of the core of fiber-type wavelength converting device 84 is also incident on conical prism 85, the fundamental wave is not collimated by prism 85 as prism 85 is designed so as to collimate only the wavefronts of the second harmonic as these form through a given angle of divergence. Even if the fundamental wave passes through polarizing beam splitter 86, mirror 87, quarter waveplate 88 and focusing lens 89, it is not focused to a point on disk 9.theta.. Rather, the fundamental wave will illuminate a certain measurable area on disk 90 indicated by dashed line 93 in FIG. 4. The fundamental wave reflected from disk 90 is focused by lens 91 and directed into photodetector 92 like the second harmonic.
In order to increase the S/N ratio of the signal detected by photodetector 92 in the above-described apparatus, it is desirable to improve the intensity ratio of the second harmonic to the fundamental wave detected by photodetector 92. To do this, it has been common to insert wavelength filter along the optical path. However, to select the second harmonic by sole use of wavelength filters, a plurality of filters need be superposed on one another and the intensity of the inherently weak second harmonic is further reduced. Further, extra space is required for such wavelength filters.
Noting that the S/N ratio of the signal detected at photodetector 92 is approximately equal to the ratio of the intensity of the second harmonic to the fundamental at pits of disk 90, it is clear that to improve the S/N ratio at detector 92, it is theoretically possible to increase the intensity of the second harmonic at pits on disk 90, and to decrease the intensity of the fundamental over the area defined by dashed line 93. However, this is much more difficult to accomplish in practice than in theory.
The ratio of the second harmonic exiting fiber-type device 84 to the power of semiconductor laser 81 ("percent conversion to harmonic") is determined by the construction of fiber-type device 84. The light that emerges therefrom is condensed by conical prism 85, thus the quantity of the second harmonic on the surface of the optical disk 90 will be constant if a spot smaller in diameter than each pit on the disk is produced. Accordingly, one practical way to enhance the S/N ratio of the signal detected by photodetector 92 is to lower the illumination intensity of the fundamental wave of the surface of disk 90.
In order to lower the illumination intensity of the fundamental wave on the surface of the optical disk 90, it is advantageous to ensure that the angle of divergence of the fundamental beam emerging from fiber-type device 84 is increased as much as possible, thereby diffusing the beam as much as possible. It is possible to increase the angle of divergence by providing a greater difference in refractive index between the core and the cladding with respect to the fundamental wave. However, the fundamental wave is spherical and always contains a beam that emanates at a angle of divergence coincident with that of the second harmonic. Since this beam has coherent wavefronts, it is converged to twice as large spot as is the second harmonic wave before returning to the photodetector. This makes it impossible to achieve a significant improvement in the S/N ratio.
Further, in the above fiber-type device 84, the organic nonlinear optical crystal of the core 10 sublimates or changes its quality at the end of the device at which the optical crystal contacts an ambient gas such as air. Thus, the device has such disadvantages that wavelength conversion efficiency and input coupling efficiency of the fundamental wave are remarkably decreased and its optical loss increases, as a time lapses.
In order to solve the problems, Japanese patent application laid-open Nos. 79032/1990 and 79033/1990 disclose a method in which a thin film is formed on both ends of a fiber by a spin coat method etc. However, in case that the thin film is formed on the exit end face by the method, it is difficult to make the film thickness uniform. Accordingly, the method has a problem that aberration occurs on the wavefront of the second harmonic.


A method for preparing a functional particulate organic material, including providing a suspension of a particulate organic material having an acid group on a surface thereof; reacting a metal cation with tri- or more-valence with the acid group; and reacting at least one of an organic acid and an organic acid salt with the metal cation. A toner prepared by the method mentioned above. An image forming method including developing a latent image with the toner; transferring the toner image on a receiving material optionally via an intermediate transfer medium, and fixing the toner image on the receiving material. A process cartridge including a developer container containing a developer including the toner mentioned above, and at least one of an image bearing member; a charger; a developing device; and a cleaner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for preparing a functional particulate organic material for use in toners used for developing an electrostatic latent image formed by an image forming method such as electrophotography, electrostatic recording and electrostatic printing; paints, colorants, fluidity improving agents, spacers, preservation stabilizers, cosmetics, and fluorescent labels. In addition, the present invention also relates to a toner using the functional particulate organic material. Further, the present invention relates to an image forming method and an image forming apparatus (including a process cartridge) using the toner.
2. Discussion of the Background
Particulate organic materials have been used for various fields. For example, particulate organic materials can be used as toners and developers for use in electrophotographic image forming fields. In addition, particulate organic materials can also be used as fluidity improving agents, charge controlling agents, carriers and photoconductive powders, and intermediate materials therefor.
Electrophotographic developer is used for image forming methods such as electrophotography, electrostatic recording and electrostatic printing, which typically include the following processes:    (1) an electrostatic latent image formed on an image bearing member such as photoreceptors is developed with a developer including a toner to form a toner image on the image bearing member (developing process);    (2) the toner image is transferred on a receiving material such as receiving papers (transfer process); and    (3) the toner image is fixed on the receiving material upon application of heat and/or pressure, or the like (fixing process).
Dry developers are broadly classified into two-component developers which are typically constituted of a dry toner and a carrier, and magnetic or non-magnetic one-component developers which are typically constituted of a toner and which do not include a carrier.
Electrophotographic dry toners for which particulate organic materials are used are typically prepared by the following manufacturing method:    (1) a toner constituent mixture including a colorant, a binder resin (e.g., styrene resins and polyester resins) and optional additive is kneaded upon application of heat thereto (kneading process); and    (2) after being cooled, the kneaded mixture is pulverized to prepare toner particles.
It is attempted to decrease the particle diameter of toner in order to produce high quality toner images. The toner particles prepared by the pulverization method mentioned above have irregular forms, and therefore the toner particles can be further pulverized in image forming apparatus due to stresses applied to the toner particles by developing rollers, toner supplying rollers, toner layer thickness controlling blades and frictional charge applying blades of the image forming apparatus. As a result, super fine toner particles are produced and/or a fluidity improving agent located on the surface of the toner particles is embedded into the toner particles, resulting in deterioration of image qualities.
In addition, since the pulverized toners have irregular forms, the toners have poor fluidity and therefore a large amount of fluidity improving agent has to be included therein. Further, the toners have low packing ability (i.e., the amount of a toner contained in a container is relatively small), and thereby the toner bottle becomes large in size. Therefore, it becomes difficult to design a compact image forming apparatus. Namely, the advantage of the toner (i.e., small particle diameter) is not effectively exploited. Further, when a toner is prepared by a pulverization method, the particle diameter of the toner is limited (namely a toner having a very small particle diameter cannot be produced by a pulverization method).
Recently, color images are popularly produced in offices. Color image forming apparatus have a complex structure and use a complex image transfer device because plural toner images have to be transferred on proper positions of a receiving material. When a pulverized toner is used for such color image forming apparatus, a problem such that the transferred toner images have omissions due to poor transferability of the toner used occurs. In attempting to avoid this problem by increasing the amount of toner adhered to the electrostatic latent images, another problem in that the toner consumption increases occurs.
Therefore a need exists for enhancement of toner image transfer efficiency, which results in production of high quality images and reduction of toner consumption (i.e., reduction of running costs). When a toner having an excellent transfer efficiency is used, it becomes unnecessary to use a cleaning device, and thereby the image forming apparatus can be miniaturized and the manufacturing costs of the apparatus can be reduced. In addition, the image forming apparatus produces no waste toner. In attempting to solve the problems specific to the toners having irregular forms, various spherical toners and various methods for producing spherical toners have been proposed.
For example, suspension polymerization methods and emulsion polymerization/aggregation methods in which particles are prepared by emulsion polymerization, followed by aggregation of the emulsified particles have been investigated. In addition, polymer solution emulsifying methods which utilize a technique of reducing the volume of toner particles have been proposed. Specifically, the methods include the following steps:    (1) a toner constituent is dissolved or dispersed in a volatile solvent such as organic solvents having a low boiling point;    (2) the solution or dispersion is dispersed in an aqueous medium including a dispersant to form an emulsion; and    (3) the volatile solvent is removed from the emulsion to prepare a dispersion including toner particles.
This method is disclosed in, for example, published unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. (hereinafter JP-A) 07-152202.
This method has the following advantages over the suspension polymerization methods and emulsion polymerization/aggregation methods:    (1) a variety of resins can be used as the binder resin of the toner; and    (2) particularly, polyester resins which are suitable for toners for full color image forming because the resins have good transparency and the resultant toner images have smooth surface can be used as the binder resin.
However, the method has a drawback in that the dispersant used strongly adheres to the surface of the resultant toner particles to such an extent as not to be removed therefrom even when the toner particles are subjected to a washing treatment, and thereby the charge properties of the toner greatly depend on the properties of the dispersant used. Namely, the resultant toner particles have low charge quantity and low charge rising speed, while the charge properties seriously change depending on the environmental humidity.
A modified polymer solution emulsion method is disclosed in JP-A 11-149179 in which a low molecular weight resin is used to reduce the viscosity of the polymer solution or dispersion, to easily perform the emulsification, and the low molecular weight resin is then polymerized in the particles of the emulsion to improve the fixability of the resultant toner. In this method, the functional groups of the resin to be polymerized and the groups of a compound to be reacted with the resin largely influence the charge properties of the resultant toner particles. In particular, when an isocyanate compound is used to be reacted with the resin, the charge properties of the resultant toner change depending on the charge properties of the resultant urea bonding or urethane bonding of the reaction product (i.e., the polymerized resin).
In order to modify the property of the surface of a particulate organic material, mechanical methods such as hybridization and mechano-fusion methods, chemical methods using a coupling agent such as silane coupling agents and titanium coupling agents and the methods disclosed in JP-As 2001-343786 and 11-84726 have been proposed.
The mechanical methods such as hybridization and mechano-fusion methods can produce considerable modification effect, but the particulate organic material to be treated receives large impact force and heat energy. In general, particulate organic materials cause a morphologic alteration. Therefore, when such mechanical methods are used, the desired function can be imparted to the material but other properties of the resultant toner tend to seriously change. Specifically, when the impact force and heat energy applied to the toner particles is reduced so that the material does not cause morphologic alteration, the effect of the surface modification is weakened. In contrast, when the impact force and heat energy is increased to sufficiently perform the surface modification, the organic material causes morphologic alteration. In addition, the apparatus used for the mechanical methods are large in size and expensive, and thereby the manufacturing costs of the toner are increased.
The chemical surface modification methods typically use a coupling agent such as silane coupling agents and titanium coupling agents. JP-As 2001-343786 and 11-84726 have disclosed such chemical methods. However, it is hard for the methods to impart a desired property to a particulate organic material. In particular, there are narrow options for the coupling agents.
Specifically, JP-A 2001-343786 discloses the following method:    (1) a metal compound of an aromatic oxycarboxylic acid, a colorant, a material having a low softening point and a polar resin are dispersed in a monomer;    (2) the mixture is polymerized in an aqueous medium to produce a particulate organic material while the pH of the system is controlled so as to be from 4.5 to 9.0 by adding a metal compound of an aromatic oxycarboxylic acid which can be dissolved in an aqueous alkali solution with pH of from 9 to 13 (first polymerization process);    (3) the polymerization is continued while the pH of the system is adjusted so as to be 9 to 13 (second polymerization process); and    (4) the reaction product in the dispersion is treated with an acid treatment using an acid with pH of from 1.0 to 2.5 to deposit the metal compound of the aromatic oxycarboxylic acid on the surface of the particulate organic material.
However, the metal compound is present on the surface of the resultant particulate material while released from the surface, namely, the surface modifying agent is not fixed on the surface of the particulate material.
JP-A 11-84726 discloses the following surface modification method:    (1) an aqueous solution of boric acid or a metal salt thereof is added to a coagulated emulsion including a colorant at a temperature in the range of from about 30 to about 95° C.; and    (2) the pH of the resultant reaction mixture is controlled so as to be from about 9 to 12 by adding a base followed by addition of salicylic acid or catechol thereto to chemically modify the surface of aggregated particles of the emulsion.
However, only zinc is exemplified as the metal of the metal salt in JP-A 11-84726, and the reaction temperature is relatively high (85° C.). Since the zinc of zinc sulfate described in JP-A 11-84726 is divalent, the zinc ion makes a coordinate bond while having four coordinate valence. Therefore, only one molecule of salicylic acid or catechol can be bonded to the zinc ion. As a result of the present inventors' study, it is found that when a divalent metal such as Zn is used, i.e., only one molecule of an organic acid is bonded thereto, the surface modification effect cannot be produced. In addition, since salicylic acid is added to the reaction mixture at an alkali region (i.e., at a pH of from 9 to 12), the reaction has to be performed at a high temperature in the range of from 30 to 95° C. In addition, the pH is maintained until the reaction is completed, and thereby a problem in that the metal compound is not perfectly reacted occurs. The reaction is performed at a high temperature (85° C.) in Example in JP-A 11-84726, the reaction product causes serious morphologic alteration, which is a big problem.
Namely, when this technique is applied to a toner having a low glass transition temperature to improve the low temperature fixability, a problem which occurs is that it becomes impossible to perform the reaction or it takes long time until the reaction is completed if the reaction temperature is relatively low.
Because of these reasons, a need exists for a simple surface treatment method by which a variety of surface modifying agents can be firmly fixed on the surface of organic particles to impart a desired function to the particles without causing problems such as morphologic alteration due to heat and mechanical shock.

Method for preparing functional particulate organic material, toner using the functional particulate organic material, and image forming method and apparatus using the toner


A non-electrical stringed instrument sound effects device includes a crosspiece, having a string interface, and a strapping system that is configured to removably fasten the crosspiece, including the string interface, around a plucking or strumming hand of a player of the stringed musical instrument. A method of creating a sound effect using the device includes attaching the device to a plucking or strumming hand of a player of a stringed musical instrument such that the strapping system extends around the hand and the crosspiece is disposed adjacent the outside of the hand, positioning the hand in a conventional plucking or strumming position such that the string interface of the crosspiece extends across at least one of the strings, and manipulating the string interface of the crosspiece against the strings while plucking or strumming to achieve a desired sound effect without use of electrical power.

1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates generally to stringed musical instruments and in particular to non-electrical devices and methods for producing sound effects on stringed instruments.
2. Background
Throughout history musicians have utilized special effects to dynamically alter the sound of an instrument creating unique musical notes and listening environments. For example, electric guitars are often used in conjunction with foot effects pedals (sometimes called "stomp boxes"), which the guitarist presses with his or her foot to change the characteristics of the sounds produced by the guitar. Tremolo, delay, echo, distortion, fuzz, overdrive, and wah-wah are a few examples of the different sound effects, which may be applied by such an effects pedal or unit. In addition to electric guitars, effects pedals and units may also be employed by other types of musical instruments connected to an amplifier, such as acoustic guitars, bass guitars, pianos, keyboards, pipe organs, drums, harps, and the like.
One particularly recognizable musical effect is the "wah-wah effect" that is typically created with a wah-wah pedal on an electrical guitar. The wah-wah effect is a type of spectral glide, which is a music-composition concept, consisting of a modification of the vowel quality of a musical tone. The wah-wah effect became wildly popular in the 1960s and 1970s by such players as Jimmy Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Currently, the wah-wah effect is generated by musicians through electrical signal processing devices often controlled by a foot pedal thus requiring the use of electrical instruments or the connection of a musical instrument to an electric amplifier. This setup requires musicians to purchase and travel with additional equipment, which is both expensive and burdensome. A related effect is a "delay" effect, which has similar problems.
There is therefore a need in the field for non-electrical devices and methods capable of generating wah-wah, delay, and other effects for use with stringed instruments such as the acoustic guitar

Non-electrical devices and methods for producing wah-wah and other effects with stringed instruments


An intake silencer device is described herein. The intake silencer device includes an outer housing and a plurality of sequential arranged expansion chambers separated by walls. The intake silencer device further includes an inner tube positioned in each of the sequential chambers, each of the inner tubes including an opening providing fluidic communication between an interior of the tube and the corresponding expansion chamber, a size of the openings increasing in size sequentially in a downstream direction.

Engine intake systems may generate noise which may be transmitted through various components in the intake system to a vehicle cabin. The vehicle operation and/or passengers may find this noise displeasing. Consequently, customer satisfaction may be decreased. For example, a turbocharger compressor may generate noises during operation, which may be transmitted to the vehicle cabin. Other intake system components, such as a throttle, may also generate noises, further decreasing customer satisfaction. Specifically, the noises may resonate through various intake conduits and be transferred through various medium to the vehicle cabin.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,842 discloses a multi-chamber resonator box for a vehicle air intake system. The resonator box is configured to reduce the audible frequencies generated in the intake system. The Inventors have recognized several drawbacks with the multi-chamber resonator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,842. For instance, the resonator box may still generate audible frequencies due to the position and geometry of the expansion chambers in the resonator. Furthermore, the resonator box disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,842 may increase losses in the intake system due to the geometry of the inlet and outlet ports. Consequently, combustion efficiency may be decreased, negatively impacting engine performance.
The inventors herein have recognized the above issues and developed an intake silencer device. The intake silencer device includes an outer housing and a plurality of sequentially arranged expansion chambers separated by walls. The intake silencer device further includes an inner tube positioned in each of the sequential chambers, each of the inner tubes including an opening providing fluidic communication between an interior of the tube and the corresponding expansion chamber, a size of the openings increasing in size sequentially in a downstream direction.
The sequential arrangement of openings increasing in size in a downstream direction enables a range of frequencies to be attenuated by the silencer device. Consequently, noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) in the intake system is decreased. In one example, the outer housing may be cylindrical in geometry. The cylindrical geometry of the outer housing enables the housing to be easily and inexpensively manufactured if desired. Moreover, the cylindrical shape increases the durability of the silencer device, when compared to other shapes. Furthermore, the cylindrical shape of the device enables a desired compactness to be achieved for packaging the silencer device in the intake system, if desired.
Therefore, the technical results achieved via the silencer device include reducing noise generation in the intake system, increasing the compactness of the intake system, and decreasing the manufacturing costs of the intake system. As a result, customer satisfaction is increased.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure. Additionally, the above issues have been recognized by the inventors herein, and are not admitted to be known.


A computer implemented method for self-administrated testing of eyeglasses, the method comprising computer performed steps, the steps comprising: analyzing at least one image of a predefined pattern reflected from at least one lens of a pair of eyeglasses of a user, and identifying a property of the lens based on the analyzing.

The present invention relates to testing eyeglasses and, more particularly, but not exclusively to an apparatus and method for self-administrated testing of eyeglasses.
In recent years, visual health and protection from harmful light accounts for a growing share of the research and innovation efforts by manufacturers of lenses for use in eyewear.
Indeed, today, lenses may be manufactured with an enormous variety of properties such as filters or protective layers for protection against UV (Ultraviolet) light, HEV (High-Energy Visible) light, other features, etc.
However, the tools currently available for detecting the presence of properties such as filters or layers on lenses are limited to professional equipment which is usually adapted for use in an industrial setting (say by a QA Engineer or an optical technician), and is not readily available for most eyeglasses wearers.
Further, the professional equipment often requires complex operation by a professional worker, particularly in as far as analyzing measurements taken using such tools is concerned.
Consequently, with the growing variety of filters and layers that may be applied to lenses in use on eyewear like sunglasses or other eyeglasses, a person who purchases eyeglasses has to rely on information received from a seller or manufacturer (if available).
The person has no way to independently find out or verify the presence of features such as specific filers or protective layers on the lenses installed on the eyeglasses purchased by the person.

Self-administrated testing of eyeglasses


A purpose of the present invention is to provide a lithium ion secondary battery in which an increase in internal resistance is suppressed and a halogenated cyclic anhydride is used as an electrolyte additive. The lithium ion secondary battery according to the present invention comprises a positive electrode and an electrolyte solution, wherein a porous layer comprising an insulating filler is formed on the positive electrode, and the electrolyte solution comprises 0.005 to 10 weight % of a halogenated cyclic acid anhydride.

Lithium ion secondary batteries are used in various applications. Accordingly, there is a demand for a lithium ion secondary battery that has high energy density and good life characteristics. One method for improving the life characteristics is to add an additive to the electrolyte solution to form a SEI film on the electrode. This is considered to be because the SEI film suppresses decomposition of the electrolyte solution on an electrode surface. In order to further improve life characteristics, halogenated cyclic acid anhydrides have been studied as additives. Patent Document 1 discloses that the capacity retention rate of a battery can be improved by using a fluorinated cyclic acid anhydride as an additive.

Lithium ion secondary battery including porous insulating layer formed on positive electrode and electrolyte solution having halogenated cyclic acid anhydride


A recording medium driving device which records information in or reproduces information from the recording medium, includes a device body in which a recording medium is inserted and from which the recording medium is removed, a conveying mechanism that conveys the recording medium in a loading direction and an eject direction, a mounting section on which the recording medium is mounted, a conveyance arm that moves according to movement of the recording medium in the loading direction and the eject direction and conveys the recording medium, and a driving mechanism that has a driving source for imparting a driving force for moving the conveyance arm. The conveyance arm includes a contact section that brought into contact with the recording medium and an urging member that urges the contact section in the eject direction of the recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive device that records information signal in an optical disk and/or reproduces information signal from the optical disk, and, more particularly to a disk drive device of a so-called slot-in type that directly inserts an optical disk into a device body.
2. Description of the Related Art
As optical disks, optical disks such as a CD (Compact Disk), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), and a BD (Blue-ray Disk) and optical magnetic disks such as an MO (Magneto optical disk) and an MD (Mini Disk) have been widely known. Various disk drive devices corresponding to these disks, disk cartridges, and the like have appeared in the market.
As types of the disk drive devices, for example, there are a type for opening a lid and a door provided in a housing and directly mounting a disk on a turntable seen from the lid or the door opened, a type for placing a disk on a disk tray, which is push into and pulled out of a housing in a horizontal direction, to automatically mount the disk on a turntable in the inside of the housing when the disk tray is pulled into the housing, and a type for directly mounting a disk on a turntable provided on a disk tray. However, in all the types, an operator needs to perform operation for opening and closing the lid or the door, pushing the disk tray into and pulling the disk tray out of the housing, and mounting the disk on the turntable.
On the other hand, there is a disk drive device of a so-called slot-in type in which an optical disk is automatically mounted on a turntable simply by inserting the optical disk from a disk inserting and ejecting opening provided on a front surface of a housing. The disk drive device of the slot-in type includes a pair of guide rollers opposed to each other that nip the optical disk inserted from the disk inserting and ejecting opening. The disk drive device performs, by rotating the pair of guide rollers in opposite directions, respectively, a loading operation for pulling the optical disk inserted from the disk inserting and ejecting opening into the inside of the housing and an eject operation for ejecting the optical disk to the outside of the housing from the disk inserting and ejecting opening.
In a mobile device such as a notebook-type personal computer mounted with a disk drive device, a further reduction in size, weight, and thickness is demanded. Therefore, there is also an increasing demand for a reduction in size, weight, and thickness of the disk drive device. In such circumstances, as the disk drive device of the slot-in type, there is proposed a disk drive device in which a contact section brought into contact with an outer periphery of an optical disk inserted from a disk inserting and ejecting opening of a front panel is provided at a front end of the disk drive device and plural rotational arms, base ends of which are rotatably supported, are arranged. The disk drive device performs, while rotating these rotational arms in a plane parallel to the optical disk, a loading operation for pulling the optical disk into the inside of a housing and an eject operation for ejecting the optical disk to the outside of the housing from the disk inserting and ejecting opening (see, for example, JP-A-2002-117604 and JP-A-2005-100595). Among disk drive devices that are reduced in thickness, for an ultra-thin disk drive device mounted on a notebook-type personal computer and the like, thickness of 12.7 mm is set as a standard size. Moreover, a disk drive device with thickness reduced to 9.5 mm, which is equivalent to thickness of a hard disk drive (HDD) unit, is also proposed.
In such a disk drive device, in performing the disk loading operation and the eject operation while rotating the plural rotational arms in the plane parallel to the optical disk, it is necessary to prevent the rotational arms from colliding against a turntable of a disk mounting section that rotatably holds the optical disk and an engaging projection provided in the turntable and inserted through and engaged with a center hole of the optical disk.
However, in the disk drive device reduced in thickness, it is difficult to set an area of rotation of the rotational arms high because thickness of the housing is increased. Thus, it is necessary to rotate the rotational arms at minimum height for preventing the rotational arms from colliding against the disk mounting section. In a disk drive device mounted on a portable electronic apparatus, rotational arms are driven even in a state in which the electronic apparatus is not placed in a stable place. Thus, it is likely that the rotational arms are swung to collide against a disk mounting section.
Further, in the disk drive device described above that has the plural rotational arms arranged therein and performs the disk loading operation and the eject operation while rotating the rotational arms in the plane parallel to the disk, the disk drive device ejects the optical disk by rotating the rotational arms with an urging member such as a torsion coil spring that urges rotation in an ejecting direction of the optical disk. In ejecting the optical disk to the outside of the device body, it is necessary that an opening formed in the center of the optical disk should be exposed to the outside and the optical disk should be set stationary in a position where the optical disk is prevented from dropping because of an own weight of the optical disk. The optical disk is set stationary in such a position because a user can grip the opening and the sides of the optical disk and handle the optical disk without touching a signal recording surface.
However, in the disk drive device, since a driving force for ejection of the optical disk is only a force of spring elasticity, variation tends to occur in the stationary position of the optical disk ejected to the outside of the apparatus. Variation in the stationary position of the optical disk may be caused by a change in an elastic force due to an aged deterioration in the urging member. Moreover, in the disk inserting/removing hole through which the optical disk is inserted or ejected, a panel curtain made of non-woven fabric may be provided in order to stabilize the stationary position of the optical disk and remove dust and the like adhering to the signal recording surface of the optical disk. However, when there is variation in a quality of the panel curtain, it is difficult to stabilize the stationary position of the optical disk.
There is also proposed a disk drive device that includes a motor and a link mechanism for transmitting a driving force of the motor to rotational arms in order to stabilize a stationary position of an optical disk and stabilizes the stationary position of the optical disk by controlling rotation of the rotational arms at the time of ejection using the motor and the link mechanism. However, in such a disk drive device, when the optical disk is ejected to the outside of a device body, a force in a direction opposite to a driving direction of the motor and the link mechanism may act on the optical disk. This is because there is an obstacle such as a book or a part of a body of a user on a conveyance area of the optical disk or the optical disk is pushed back in an insertion direction by the user who suddenly decides to stop ejection of the optical disk. In such a case, excessive loads are applied to the rotational arms, the motor, and the link mechanism. Besides, it is likely that the optical disk is broken by conflicting forces, that is, a driving force in an ejection direction by the rotational arms and a force acting in an opposite direction.


A sheet of material and package made using the sheet of material. The sheet of material having an having an outer diffuse layer and an inner light piping layer adjacent the diffuse layer. The sheet transmits light to the outer surface of the outer diffuse layer. The outer diffuse layer has a specular area formed thereon through which light from the light piping layer can exit in a substantially non-diffuse manner from the outer surface of the outer diffuse layer.

When designing a package, one of the most important features is the package's ability to attract the attention of the shopper. Since most products are displayed on the retailer's shelf, the package must be able to catch the eye of the potential buyer by distinguishing your product's package from the others. This is usually accomplished by using a colorful label or a colorful and unique packaging material.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,823 discloses a package wrap for decoratively covering a container having sidewalls. A flexible thin sheet of polymeric material is adapted to be shrink-wrapped onto the exterior walls of the container. An illuminating device is positioned between the flexible thin polymeric sheet and the exterior of the container so that when the polymeric sheet is shrink-wrapped onto the container the illuminating device will be held securely in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,530 discloses an illuminated sign where the edge of the sign is illuminated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,514 (Toshima et al.) describes a light-diffusing element comprising a light diffusion layer including acrylic resin and spherical particles of polymethyl methacrylate on a transparent support. Whereas this film would diffuse the light efficiently, the polymers used have high glass transmission temperatures and would therefore be difficult to melt the spherical particles completely to create areas of specular transmission. When illuminated these not completely melted lenses would diffuse a portion of the light lowering the brightness of the printed, more specular areas and thus lowering contrast of the overhead illuminated image.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,419 (Stephenson et al.) describes a thermal printing system where the amount of gloss on a media can be altered. The method uses heat to change the surface properties of gelatin, which has many disadvantages. Gelatin cannot achieve high roughness averages, thereby having a low distinction between the matte and glossy areas of the media. This small distinction between the matte and glossy states leads to a low signal to noise ratio and when illuminated, creates lower contrast ratios. Gelatin also is very delicate, scratch prone, and self-healing, and so it tends to flow over time thus changing its surface roughness and other properties with time especially in high humidity and heat, and is dissolved if placed in water. Also, gelatin has a native yellow color, is expensive, and is tacky, sticking to other sheets and itself. It would be desirable to use a material that had no coloration, is more stable in environmental conditions, and could have a higher surface roughness.
When businesses advertise, they use colorfully lighted signs to attract the attention of customers. It would be very advantageous to be able to have individual packages light up in a similar fashion to a colorfully lighted sign. The problem is the ease adding this feature to existing packages. One can add illuminated devices and miniature lights to the package but these require power sources and are relatively expensive. These are also fragile and susceptible to damage.
Another technique used to illuminate products such as liquids in translucent bottles is to place these on a lighted shelf and use the transmissive properties of the light and the bottle to illuminate the product.
The problem with existing packaging is that it is not easily and inexpensively illuminated other than shinning a light directly on the package, which does nothing to distinguish it from its neighbor. The same is true for placing bottled products on a lighted shelf.
To solve the problems of the prior art what is need is a packaging material that can pipe light from a lighted surface to selectively illuminate portions of a package. Using light diffusing elements that are flattened with exposure to heat and/or pressure, a high contrast image can be obtained where the printed areas (flattened light diffusing elements) are bright and the non-imaged areas are dark. This increased contrast between the printed and non-printed areas allows portion of the package containing the printed material to be brightly illuminated. Not only can the imaged areas be bright, but they can also be colored producing projected images of text, images, shapes, and pictures with many colors on a darker background.


An emergency lighting system has emergency light units operable by DC power and connected to a source of AC and DC power by the same conduit system. Power to the conduit system may be switched from AC to DC in the event of a power failure and a load relay module in the conduit system adjacent the light units senses the change to DC current and switches from an Ac load output to a DC load output to supply DC power to the emergency light units. The system will generally include both exit signs operable by both AC and DC power and emergency light units operable only by DC power.

The present invention relates to emergency lighting systems, and, more particularly, to such systems permitting the use of existing wiring within the building to provide DC power to the units in such systems.
Emergency lighting systems are widely employed to illuminate buildings and to identify exits during interruptions of power supply. In many buildings (particularly of high rise construction), there is a central DC power supply consisting of a 120V DC charger and battery bank. A number of incandescent lighting heads are located throughout the building to provide an emergency lighting system to illuminate pathways for exit purposes when there is a power failure.
Some exit signs contain batteries to operate the lamp in the event of failure of the AC power which is powering the lamp. The AC power supply is charging the battery to keep it up to strength, but, over a period of time, the battery may deteriorate and render the unit ineffective in the event of failure. Moreover, decaying batteries will occasionally leak so as to cause deterioration of the entire sign unit. Thus, there has been a trend to power the exit signs from a central DC power source in the event of power failure or continuously.
In many large installations, there are two separate pairs of wires feeding lighting units in the emerging lighting system. AC power is normally supplied to the lamps of the exit signs through one pair of wires. DC power can be supplied to the DC lamps of the exit signs through the second set of wires from a battery bank and the emergency lighting heads are also supplied power thereby.
So long as there is AC power, a pair of contacts are normally closed in the AC circuit to provide power to the AC pair, and, in the event of a power failure, these contacts open and a pair of contacts in the DC circuit are closed to supply DC power through the DC line. Normally, the AC power source is also charging the battery bank. Such a system is illustrated in FIG. 1.
Although such a pair of two wire circuits may be readily installed in new construction, it is far more difficult to do so in existing buildings without incurring great cost. This type of installation increases the cost of a system because of the need to have a second set of wires to carry the different power supplies. This requirement increases the cost of new construction but presents a far more significant problem in existing buildings because conduits must be run throughout the building. Such conduits typically can be installed only with extensive drilling through concrete floors and walls with attendant high cost. In addition, exposed conduits are aesthetically displeasing and often unacceptable. A second problem is that many exit signs utilize fluorescent lamps which will not operate with an emergency DC power supply, and therefore require installation of a set of exit signs that can operate under AC and DC power. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel emergency lighting system that enables the use of a single pair of wires to provide both AC and DC power to the light units and thereby reduce the cost and aesthetic impact of providing a separate DC power system.
It is also an object to provide such a system which will accommodate both fluorescent and incandescent lamp loads.
Another object is to provide such a system which will operate the heads of emergency light units only in the event of power failure.
A further object is to provide a novel relay for use in such system to switch between AC and DC.

Emergency lighting system with a DC sensing load relay


A coupling device attaches to a surgical resecting instrument with a motorized shaft for rotating surgical implements. The device houses a primary shaft which can be directly attached to the motorized shaft, and a secondary shaft which can be attached to the primary shaft through a hexagonally-shaped drive attachment with a bore. The primary shaft has several apertures with balls that engage an annular recess in the shank of a first implement to restrict its axial movement. The primary shaft also has a torque shoulder for engaging a torque shoulder on the first implement. If the first implement is removed, the secondary shaft can be installed to receive a second implement with a diameter smaller than that of the first implement. The secondary shaft also has several apertures with balls that engage an annular recess in a second implement shaft to restrict axial movement. The secondary shaft has axially spaced apart torque shoulders for engaging a torque shoulder on the second implement.

Surgical instruments that utilize shafted implements driven by high speed motors for the dissection of bone and tissue are common in the art. These instruments are capable of driving implements of a specific diameter. However, not all implements have the same diameter. For example, some implements have a shank or shaft with a 1/8 inch diameter, while other implements have a shaft with a 3/32 inch diameter. When a surgeon needs to change to an implement with a diameter of a different size than he is currently using, he must use a different surgical instrument to do so. This procedure wastes time during surgery and adds unnecessary cost to the equipment needed. What is needed is a surgical instrument that is capable of handling implements of different sizes with relative ease.


A method of fabricating a metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor is provided. This method is devised particularly to reduce the level of degradation to the MOS transistor caused by hot carriers. In the fabrication process, a plasma treatment is applied to the wafer to as to cause the forming of a thin layer of silicon nitride on the wafer which covers the gate and the lightly-doped diffusion (LDD) regions on the source/drain regions of the MOS transistor. This thin layer of silicon nitride acts as a barrier which prevents hot carriers from crossing the gate dielectric layer, such that the degradation of the MOS transistor due to hot carriers crossing the gate dielectric layer can be greatly minimized.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) devices, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating a metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor with reduced level of degradation caused by hot carriers.
2. Description of Related Art
In designing MOS transistors, if the channel between the source/drain regions is reduced in size, the depletion regions in the source/drain regions will be overlapped with the channel, which effectively further reduces the size of the channel. In an enhancement mode MOS transistor, for example, if the bias applied thereto is fixed, the foregoing effect will cause the transversal electric field across the channel to be increased. As a consequence of this, the electrons in the channel will gain energy from the increased electric field. Therefore, the electrons near the junction between the channel and the drain region will be higher in energy than the electrons elsewhere that are in thermal equilibrium. These electrons are thus customarily referred to as "hot electrons". In proton-type MOS transistors, the energized protons are called "hot protons". Generically, these two kinds of carriers are both referred to as "hot carriers".
Since the hot carriers near the drain region gain an energy higher than the energy gap in the MOS transistor, the covalent electrons near the drain regions will be hit by these hot carriers and thereby raise in energy level to the conduction band. As a result, more electron-hole pairs will be produced. In conclusion, if the channel in the MOS transistor is shortened, the number of carriers in the channel near the drain region will be increased. This phenomenon is customarily referred to as "carrier multiplication".
These electrons that are additionally produced due to carrier multiplication will be attracted to the drain region, thus increasing the current in the drain region. In addition, part of these electrons can penetrate into the gate dielectric layer, thus causing the generation of more holes.
One part of these holes will flow to the substrate, thus causing a current flow in the substrate; and the other part of the same will be captured by the source region, thus causing an enhancement to the NPN junction that will cause the generation of more hot electrons. This increased level of carrier multiplication will cause the adverse effect of electrical breakdown in the MOS transistor, which means a degradation to the performance and characteristics of the MOS transistor.
One solution to reduce the level of carrier multiplication is to form a lightly doped diffusion (LDD) region in the source/drain regions near the channel, which is doped with a less concentration of impurities than the source/drain regions so as to reduce the intensity of the electric field across the channel. A conventional method for forming an LDD region in a MOS transistor is described in the following with reference to FIGS. 1A through 1C.
Referring first to FIG. 1A, in the foremost step, a semiconductor substrate, such as a silicon substrate 10, is prepared. The silicon substrate 10 is then subjected to local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) so as to form at least a pair of field oxide layers 12 thereon, which defines an active region on the silicon substrate 10. Thereafter, a gate dielectric layer 14 and a polysilicon gate layer 16 are successively formed over the active region, which two layers in combination form a gate (14, 16) for the MOS transistor.
Referring further to FIG. 1B, in the subsequent step, a pair of LDD regions 18 is formed on the silicon substrate 10 by diffusing an impurity semiconductor with a low concentration into the regions on either side of the gate (14, 16).
Referring finally to FIG. 1C, in the subsequent step, a layer of a dielectric material, such as silicon dioxide, is formed on the sidewall of the gate (14, 16), which serves as a spacer 19 for the gate (14, 16). Thereafter, a pair of source/drain regions 20 are formed on the silicon substrate 10 by doping the same type of impurity semiconductor with a high concentration (i.e., the same impurity semiconductor that is used earlier to form the LDD regions 18 but here is applied with a higher concentration) into the LDD regions 18. At the same time during this process, the polysilicon gate layer 16 is also doped, such that the conductivity thereof is increased.
One major drawback to the foregoing method, however, is that the gate dielectric layer 14 could be easily get damaged during the process of doping the impurity semiconductor into the wafer to form the heavily doped regions that serve as the source/drain regions. Moreover, although the provision of the LDD regions in the source/drain regions can reduce the hot carrier effect, there are still a small number of hot carriers that will be accelerated by the electric field across the channel, which causes a high current in the channel that will then cause an electrical breakdown in the MOS transistor. Some of these hot carriers will even cross the gate dielectric layer 14 to the polysilicon gate layer 16 and thereby be trapped in the gate dielectric layer 14. The trapped carriers will cause a change in the amount of electric charges in the gate dielectric layer 14, thus altering the threshold voltage (V.sub.t) of the MOS transistor. The characteristics and performance of the MOS transistor thus could be degraded.

Method of fabricating metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors with reduced level of degradation caused by hot carriers


The present invention discloses ophthalmic and otic compositions of facially amphiphilic antimicrobial polymers and oligomers and their uses, including their use in methods for treating and preventing ophthalmic infections and otic infections in humans and animals.

Bacterial drug resistance is a significant current health problem throughout the world. Multiple drug resistance is being commonly seen in a number of human pathogens (see, e.g., Hiramatsu et al., J. Antimicrob. Chemother., 1998, 40, 311-313 and Montecalvo et al., Antimicro. Agents Chemother., 1994, 38, 1363-1367, and the incidence of drug-resistant hospital infections is growing at a rapid rate. For example, in some U.S. hospitals, nosocomial pathogens, such as E. faecium and Acinetobacter species, have acquired multiple resistance determinants and are virtually untreatable with current antimicrobial agents. Bacterial resistance has now reached epidemic proportions and has been attributed to a variety of abuses of antibiotic treatments, including overuse (Monroe et al., Curr. Opin. Microbiol., 2000, 3, 496-501), inappropriate dosing at sub-therapeutic levels (Guillemot et al., JAMA, 1998, 279, 365-370), and misuse as antimicrobial growth promoters in animal food (Lathers, J. Clin. Pharmacol., 2002, 42, 587-600). Moreover, the threat of bio-terrorism has provided a further impetus to develop novel classes of antibiotics, particularly ones against which it will be difficult to develop resistant bacterial strains.
The pharmaceutical scientific community is responding to this challenge by focusing on the development of new antibiotic drugs. Much of this work, however, is directed to synthesizing analogs of known drugs, such as cephalosporins and quinolones, that, while potentially useful for a short time, will inevitably also encounter bacterial drug resistance and become ineffective. Thus, therapeutically effective antimicrobial drugs that act by novel mechanisms would provide an economic as well as a human health benefit.
A series of nonpeptidic mimics of the natural antimicrobial peptides have been developed that are polymers, oligomers and small molecules comprised of non-natural building blocks. See, Tew et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2002, 99, 5110-5116; Arnt et al., J. Polym. Sci., Part A, 2004, 42, 3860-3864; and Liu et al., Angew Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., 2004, 43, 1158-1162. Many of these compounds are significantly smaller and easier to prepare than the natural antimicrobial peptides and peptidic mimetics, with the shortest of these oligomers having molecular weights typical of small molecule drugs. They have the same mechanism of action as magainin, are highly potent and have a broad spectrum of activity, killing gram-positive, gram-negative and antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Relative to the antimicrobial peptides, the non-peptidic mimetics are significantly less toxic towards human erythrocytes, much less expensive to prepare, and more stable.
See, for example, U.S. Published Patent Appl. Nos. US 2006-0041023 A1, US 2004-0202639 A1, US 2005-0287108 A1, and US 2006-0024264 A1, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,173,102.
There is a great need for improved compositions and methods of treatment based on the use of antimicrobials that are more effective than existing agents against key ophthalmic and otic pathogens, and less prone to the development of resistance by those pathogens. In particular, there is a great need for effective compositions and methods for the treatment of otic infections, especially bacterial infections. The use of oral antibacterials to treat otic infections in children has limited efficacy and creates a serious risk of pathogen resistance to the orally administered antibacterial agent.
Thus, a need remains for improved ophthalmic and otic antimicrobial compositions, in particular, for broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents useful for the treatment of ophthalmic and otic infections that are not prone to the development of resistance by ophthalmic and/or otic pathogens and that are effective in the treatment of ophthalmic and otic pathogens that have already developed resistance to existing antimicrobial agents.

Arylamide compounds and compositions and uses thereof


A synthetic ground cover system for erosion control to be placed atop the ground, including a synthetic grass which comprises a composite of one or more geo-textiles tufted with synthetic yarns. The synthetic ground cover also includes a sand/soil infill ballast applied to the synthetic grass and a binding agent applied to the sand/soil infill to stabilize the sand/soil infill against high velocity water shear forces.

The prior art discloses systems for erosion protection that typically take the form of a combination of synthetic mat and natural grass. Additionally, the prior art generally requires multiple anchors to resist wind uplift and erosion forces on the synthetic mat. Thus, the industry continues to search for improved erosion protection systems which are effective, economical and meet the various local, state and federal environmental laws, rules and guidelines for these systems.
Artificial grass has been extensively used in sport arenas (playing fields) as well as along airport runways and in general landscaping. A primary consideration of artificial turf playing fields is the ability of the field to drain. Examples of prior art in synthetic grass drainage are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,876,745; 6,858,272; 6,877,932 and 6,946,181. However, these artificial grasses are generally only suitable for field playing surfaces where the ground is substantially flat and the concern is only with the ability to improve field playing conditions.
The drainage use in the prior art of artificial turf deals principally with slow infiltration of flat surfaces to avoid inundation of the field, and such drainage use generally cannot handle the very large and rapid run-off that would occur on very large and steep sideslopes of natural or man-made ground topography, such as landfills, stockpiles, berms, embankments, levees, drainage channels, mine tailing piles, etc.

Synthetic ground cover system with binding infill for erosion control


A combine harvester has a straw chopper attached to a rear hood behind the rear edge of the sieve assembly with a chaff guide system to bypass the chaff in front of the chopper and a straw guide system to bypass the straw above the chopper and over the tailboard. The chopper has a housing with a feed opening into which straw and/or chaff can be fed depending upon the positions of the chaff guide system and the straw guide system. A chopping assembly mounted in the housing discharges through a discharge opening through onto the tailboard having a plurality of guide fins for spreading. The housing bottom wall has a pivotal adjustment portion to allow chaff entering the feed opening and engaging the chopping assembly to discharge from the housing at a discharge position different from the discharge opening for spreading with supplementary spreading fins.

Combine development in recent years have put greater demands on the straw choppers and chaff spreaders. The main reasons are that larger combines and wider cutting widths are creating higher flows of straw and chaff; wider cutting widths create more demanding spreading widths; reduced tilling practices have put more demand on even spreading of both straw and chaff and that plant breeding has resulted in tougher straw, higher yields and more residue.
Farmers are demanding straw and chaff spreading systems that will allow them to adjust or operate the combine to select one of the following options, depending upon the requirements at that time:
Spread the straw and chaff evenly over the entire cutting widths of the combine which are now up to 42 feet;
Windrow the straw and chaff together to be bailed at a later date;
Windrow only the straw and spread the chaff; or
Spread the straw and collect the chaff to be used at a later date
Current methods to spread chaff are costly and require additional horsepower and components, that is chaff spinners or fans to boost chaff into chopper.
Some current combines spread chaff through the straw chopper when straw is spread, however when straw is windrowed over the chopper's tailboard the fins are lowered and a wide spread of the chaff is not possible due to the orientation of the fins directing the chaff into the ground
Rekord in a publication now WO Patent Application Publication No. 03/071857 describing their Combi system provides an arrangement in which the chaff spinner can be directed to either spread laterally so as to separate from the straw or it can be set to boost the chaff into the straw chopper or the windrowed straw.
Rekord in a publication describing their Rekord Plus system provides an arrangement in which the chaff spinners are mounted under the straw chopper and the output of the spinners utilize the chopper's tailboard for disbursement of the chaff
New Holland in a publication describing their CX Combine provides an arrangement in which the chaff is blown into the straw chopper when the straw is windrowed over the tailboard.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,022 (VOEHM) issued Aug. 19, 1980 to Gebr. Eicher GmbH discloses a straw chopper and spreader of the type having a rotating rotor with flail blades rotating about a horizontal axis over a floor of the chopper where fins are attached to the floor of the chopper housing at a position adjacent discharge opening. These fins are used in replaced for fins on a tailboard which are now more commonly used.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,142 (Bischoff) issued Dec. 18, 2001 to Deer and Company discloses a chopper of the same general type which has a floor panel at the discharge opening which can be adjusted in angle around a pivot axis parallel to the rotor axis and lying in the curvature of the floor so the discharge opening can be moved upwardly and downwardly. This panel is linked by a coupling to a tailboard carrying spreading fins so that an adjustment of one effects adjustment of the other.
US Application 2002/0086722 published Jul. 4, 2002 by Claas discloses an arrangement in which there is provided a straw and chaff chopper and distributor formed by a rotor rotating about a horizontal axis where the chopper includes as part of the structure a tailboard attached thereto. The tailboard can be tilted downwardly and guides inside the harvester activated so that straw is feed over the top of the tailboard for swathing. At the same time the pivotal movement of the tailboard is combined with a pivotal movement of the chopper housing so that the chopper discharges at the required angle to the tail board since the housing is pivoted with the tailboard.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,038 (PERSSON) issued Dec. 2, 2003 to Rekordverken discloses a chaff spinner formed by a pair of rotors behind the sieve which can be rotated to position where the chaff is blown into a chopper behind the chaff spinner to be spread with the straw.

Combine harvester with ready adjustment of discharge positions of straw and chaff


An apparatus for installing a plastic blind fastener in a remote hard-to-reach location comprising an adapter formed to hold a fastener and manipulatable by a conventional hand-operated fastener tool. The adapter includes a bowden cable operatively connected between an actuator at one end and bushings at the other. Squeezing the tool handles applies opposed forces on the bushings which are transmitted through the cable to a fastener in the actuator causing it to spread outwardly to secure adjacent structure thereto.

The present invention relates generally to tools for installing plastic blind fasteners, and more particularly to an adapter suitable for use with a hand tool for installing plastic blind fasteners in areas of limited access.
Plastic blind fasteners or rivets abound in many industrial and commercial products. They are especially useful for securing a panel to a frame member or for mounting a component to a panel where only one side of the panel is accessible during assembly. A typical fastener, preferably of permanently deformable plastic, includes a slotted sleeve with a collar at one end and a shaft extending from the other end through the collar to a head. When securing a component to a panel, the sleeve is slidably inserted through aligned holes in the component and panel with the slots extending beyond the relatively inaccessible or "blind" side of the panel. An outward pull on the head, opposed by an equal force on the collar, causes the sleeve portions between the slots to deform radially against the blind side of the panel and tighten the component against the collar. Barbs around the shaft engage the collar to prevent retraction.
Special tools are well-known for installing such blind fasteners. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,309 discloses a tool, hand-operated like pliers, in which opposed claws are placed between the head on the extended end of the shaft and the collar of the fastener. When the handles are squeezed together the claws spread the head and collar apart. For some hard-to-reach fastening locations the claws are located on the distal end of a long rigid tube and are manipulated by handles removably attached to the other end. Such tools are satisfactory for installing fasteners in products having only a few hard-to-reach locations, but they lack the versatility and practicability needed in products with fasteners required at many different locations of limited access. This is because the length and bend of the tube is fixed. A multiplicity of variously configured interchangeable tubes would be needed to reach different hard-to-reach areas. This increases tool inventory, as well as fastener installation time necessary for interchanging the tools, and may significantly affect manufacturing costs of a product.