Methods and systems for controlling processes related to the amount of fluid in a container subjected to externally-excited motions. Fluid level sensor measurements in processing tanks on-board boats are confused by ocean waves and swells. A hydrodynamic model of a fluid in a tank can be constructed using non-linear dynamic model algorithms with inputs such as multi-axis accelerations, fluid viscosity, and apparent level measurements. The model can be used to filter-out boat motion disturbances to obtain a corrected level of the fluid in the tank. The corrected fluid level signal can be further processed using a dynamic model of the tank and associated input and output flow rates in a closed loop observer. The methods and systems are especially advantageous for offshore equipment such as cementing and fracturing ships.

The present application relates to systems and methods for process control, and more particularly to control of processes related to the amount of fluid in a container subject to externally-excited motions, and most especially to control of processes such as storing and blending of fluids and solids when such processes are conducted aboard a waterborne apparatus.
The following paragraphs contain some discussion, which is illuminated by the innovations disclosed in this Application, and any discussion of actual or proposed or possible approaches in these paragraphs does not imply that those approaches are prior art.
Background: Process Control of Fluid Level
Modern hydrocarbon production and processing systems use automated equipment in many aspects of their operations. A key element of such automated operations is the process control system. Such control systems usually include sensors, which in one important function, send a signal back to a process control unit. The signal is usually a communication of a process variable or condition, such as temperature, pressure, fluid or solid flow rate, or fluid level in a container. The process control unit can perform such functions as monitoring the system or unit operations or process variables, making process decisions, energizing and de-energizing equipment, collecting and maintaining data, providing stability to the overall system, and, very importantly, ensuring the system and the unit operations comprising the system operate within desired parameters.
Sensors are often placed at specific locations within a production or processing system to provide information necessary for the control of various unit operations. The role of the sensor includes providing accurate and real-time information about a particular process variable or set of variables such that the process control unit can make decisions based on good and accurate information.
As an example of the needs and challenges in the accurate sensing and control of processes in the production of hydrocarbons, consider the process of "completing" an off-shore hydrocarbon well-bore. Such work is usually managed and done aboard "service ships," including the cementing of the well-bore.
After drilling of an oil or gas well-bore is finished, the well-bore is "cemented" under carefully-controlled conditions. The first step is to run a steel casing into the well-bore, followed by pumping cement into the annulus between the casing and the cylindrical bore-wall comprised of earth, stone, sand, and/or other subterranean substances and formations. In normal primary well cementing, a hydraulic cement composition is pumped down through the casing, and then (through e.g. a cement shoe at the bottom of the string of casing) up into the annulus. The cement sets in the annulus, forming an annular sheath which not only physically supports and positions the pipe string in the well-bore, but also bonds the exterior surfaces of the pipe string to the walls of the well-bore, thereby blocking the undesirable migration of fluids along the well-bore. The successful cementing of a well-bore is affected by many factors, including cement setting time.
Cement setting time is affected by many factors, including weight percent of various components in the mixed cement, such as components which speed or slow the setting time. When mixing the cement prior to pumping the cement down-hole, control of the weight percent level of such time-of-set-regulating components in the final cement mix can be critical to the success of the cementing operation. Too much of, e.g. a cement-set accelerator, can result in setting the cement too quickly and not allowing it to completely fill the annulus. Therefore, the cement as-mixed must be provided within specific cement recipe control parameters. The cement is usually mixed in a blender which receives water, dry cement, dry powders, and/or special additives such as cement-set-time accelerants. Such mixing is often done continuously, rather than by batch. In a continuous mixing system, the blender receives the various material inputs and produces a mixed cement output. Sensors might monitor the flow rate of the water, flow rate of the dry and mixed cement, pressure, viscosity, density, and other measured process variables, and this information can be fed to the process control unit which monitors and then makes decisions to control the cement blending process system. For example, the process control unit might seek to maintain the fluid level in the blender at a constant level. Because the pumping of the cement into the annulus can speed-up, slow down, start, and momentarily stop from time to time, the process control unit will need to adjust the material inputs based on the output being sent down-hole to keep the blender level constant. If the level in the blender goes high as sensed and signaled by a fluid level sensor, the process control system can, for example, either momentarily stop or slow the addition of materials into the blender.
In a typical situation, the blender can be sized to hold only about fifteen seconds of mixed cement demand. Thus, if the process control system makes an under-shoot error, or is too slow in responding to a low level measurement signal from the fluid level gauge in the blender, the blender can possibly run empty, and the pump could suck and pump air into the annulus. In another situation in which a low fluid level is sensed, the process control system might over-shoot the addition of a particular component, such as a cement-set accelerant, and seriously jeopardize the success of the cementing operation, because the cement might set-up before the annulus is completely filled. Modern fluid level control systems for the processing industries have been developed to handle many such under-shoot and over-shoot situations. However, most, if not all, have been developed based on the assumption that, for example, the blending process is not moving, or subject to accelerations and decelerations, as will be encountered if the operation is conducted on a ship on a river, lake, sea, or ocean, where it is subject to wave and/or wind actions. So, for example, when a hydrocarbon production maritime service vessel is conducting the cement blending operation, a wave in the ocean will move the ship, and the blender will move with the ship since it is physically attached to the ship, and the fluid in the blender, or in most containers, for that matter, will "slosh". A significant problem then arises, for example, in the cement blending operation, because the fluid level sensor in the blender can sense a low level when in-fact the blender has the correct amount of mixed cement. For example, the mixed cement might slosh such that the side of the blender where a fluid level sensor is located has a low level and the other side has a high level, at least momentarily. As sloshing continues, the level sensor unknowingly continues to send the changing level signal to the control system, which if not corrected, will begin to make under-shoot and over-shoot errors.
A conventional approach is to average the fluid level signal over some period of time. However, in the case of ocean swells, for example, the time between swells can easily be fifteen to sixty seconds. Thus, if an averaging process control approach is used based on a sixty second running average to "damp" the effect of the ocean swells, the process control system would be tuned so "slowly" as to miss any "true" or actual fluid level deviations caused by process upsets or changes, since, for example, the blender may hold only fifteen seconds of mixed cement. In this instance, "true" or "actual" is used to mean that the level deviation is due to the process and not due to sloshing caused by accelerations of the container. Thus, averaging, damping, or lagging the control system to account for slow-moving ocean swells is not a completely adequate solution to the problem.
Note that a maritime ship, vessel, or apparatus can move in six ways. In this instance, "maritime" refers to waterborne operations conducted on either fresh or salt-water. See FIG. 1A for a depiction of each movement of, for example, a ship 100 with a partially filled container of fluid 100A on it. The ship, and thus the container, can surge (e.g. 104 front to back shifting), heave (e.g. 101 up and down "bobbing"), sway (e.g. 106 side to side shifting), pitch (e.g. 103 front to back rocking), roll (e.g. 102 side to side rolling), and yaw (e.g. 109 rotating about a vertical axis). Each movement can also have a different amplitude, velocity, period, and acceleration or deceleration. For example, rolling of ships up to 30 degrees can occur, and accelerations can approach 0.5 to 1 g. Note that, of course, the motions can be random, variable, or periodic. Because these motions will also affect, for example, the sensed level of fluid in, for example container 100A, the motions can "confuse" a conventional fluid level control system.
Note that other fluid processing operations utilizing fluid level control are also commonly carried-out on-board maritime ships, vessels, or apparatuses, including subterranean reservoir fracturing fluid preparation and well drilling mud operations, as well as simply holding such fluids in tanks, vessels, accumulators, silos, or other such containers. Note also that such ships can vary in size and operate in waters of various degrees of movement. These factors also present the control system with differing and complex control problems.
Control systems to account for the motion of physical objects such as tall buildings in the wind or in an earthquake can use a combination of motion sensors and heavy movable weights. For example, as a building begins to sway in one direction, the motion sensor senses the sway and a process control unit sends a signal to a device to move a heavy weight in an opposite direction in an attempt to counter-act the wind or quake force, and thereby reduce the sway. This technique is commonly referred to as "active motion compensation". One might envision that such a system could be applied to a maritime vessel to stop the six degrees of motion of the vessel itself. However, the size and complexity of the weights or compensating mechanical devices to correct for not just sway, but for the other five motions, represent significant engineering and other kinds of challenges.
One might also envision active motion compensation practiced on the fluid container itself, where the container 100A would be placed on a device or equipped with devices to practice active motion compensation. Again, the size and weight of such containers present engineering and other challenges to account for all six motions. Additionally, the pipes, feeders, pumps, mixers, and other equipment attached to the container or blenders would need to somehow be flexibly connected to the container being moved in response to active motion compensation, which will present additional engineering and other challenges.
Additional information related to compensating for noise in fluid height measurements in containers can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/029,072, entitled "Methods and Systems for Estimating a Nominal Height or Quantity of a Fluid in a Mixing Tank While Reducing Noise," filed on Jan. 4, 2005, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Thus, solving the problem of reliably controlling processes involving fluid level control in containers subjected to externally-excited motions presents challenges, and requires solutions not adequately met by current approaches, and it remains a particular problem in off-shore equipment operations. Finally, there is an increasing need for reduction of uncertainty in the production of petroleum as the value of petroleum continues to rise.

Process control architecture with hydrodynamic correction


An endoscope having a control section and a shaft extending from the control section. The shaft comprises an outer cover; a tubular braid member located, at least partially, inside the outer cover; and a support frame located, at least partially, inside the tubular braid member. The support frame comprises a shape memory member which is spiral shaped. The shape memory member is comprised of a superelastic shape memory alloy. A first length of the support frame comprises the shape memory member having a first width and/or thickness a second length of the tubular shape comprises the shape memory member having a different second width and/or thickness such that the support frame has different respective stiffnesses along the first and second lengths.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical instruments and, more particularly, to an endoscope.
2. Prior Art
U.K. Patent Application No.2130885 discloses a flexible distal end portion for an endoscope. The end portion is made from plastic material with vertebrae connected by an elongate member or spine. U.S. Pat. No.5,938,588 discloses an endoscope with wire sheaths made as solid tubes from a superelastic alloy material.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an endoscope is provided having a control section and a shaft extending from the control section. The shaft comprises an outer cover; a tubular braid member located, at least partially, inside the outer cover; and a support frame located, at least partially, inside the tubular braid member. The support frame comprises a shape memory member which is spiral shaped. The shape memory member is comprised of a superelastic shape memory alloy. A first length of the support frame comprises the shape memory member having a first width and a second length of the tubular shape comprises the shape memory member having a different second width such that the support frame has different respective stiffnesses along the first and second lengths.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an endoscope is provided having a control section and a shaft extending from the control section. The shaft comprises a front end member; a rear end member; a support frame connecting the front end member to the rear end member; and a tubular braid member surrounding the support frame. The tubular braid member is comprised of interwoven thread members comprised of superelastic shape memory alloy. The tubular braid member is heat treated to memorize home shapes of the thread members and the tubular braid member is then subsequently elongated and fixedly attached to the front and rear members with the thread members being elastically deformed towards a straightened shape.
In accordance with one method of the present invention, a method of manufacturing an endoscope shaft is provided comprising steps of providing a member comprised of superelastic shape memory alloy; forming the member into a support frame having a general spiral shape, wherein a first length of the support frame has spiral sections which each have a first width measured along an axis of the spiral shape and a second length of the member has spiral sections which each have a second different width measured along the axis of the spiral shape; connecting the support frame to a front end member and a rear end member; and connecting a Lubular shaped braid member to the first and second members over the support frame.

Endoscope shaft with superelastic alloy spiral frame and braid


A laser-based measurement system for accurately quantifying a golfer's stance and club position. The measurement system provides accurate linear and angular measurements. From data gathered by the measurement system, a golf club optimized for the golfer's natural stance may be modeled and evaluated. An adjustable club having adjustability in the fourth and fifth axes provided by spherical joints is provided to model a presumed optimal club. The golfer's performance using the modeled, optimized club may be evaluated. Finally, a fixture is provided for accurately customizing a golf club along all of the six axes.

While golf is a purely recreational endeavor for many, it is serious business for a number of people including professional players and serious amateurs. These people may make large expenditures of time, money, and effort to find one or more golf clubs or putters that work well for them. Every golfer has his favorite putter, for example, used to guide the ball into the hole. Putters come in many sizes and shapes to accommodate the individual tastes and preferences of the sports enthusiast. Putters of the prior art, when modified, have typically been customized in one or perhaps two of six possible dimensions (i.e., axes).
Heretofore, a golfer has had to find a putter he or she liked and then had to change the stance, stroke, or some other aspect of their game to accommodate the nuances of the chosen club.
In golf, putting is a particularly difficult task at best, and sometimes a seemingly impossible feat. Every golfer has experienced those days when the ball just does not fall into the cup. It is at these moments that most golfers wish to have additional help. The fact is, however, that the motion of a golf ball is controlled by Newton's three laws of motion. A properly controlled swing of a golf club results in the desired speed and direction of the ball.
Golfers usually concentrate upon or at least take into account the break and speed of the green when putting. Their attention is focused mainly upon the trajectory or path that the ball is to travel to the cup. The golf club head must strike the ball at a 90° angle to the intended direction of travel thereof. Some golf putters have a line or groove drawn along the center of the top of the club head, in order to provide an indicator that will align the club face with the ball, and point to the direction of the cup. It has long been known that a golfer's head must be aligned with his or her club face to ensure proper direction of the struck ball. Lines, grooves, or other similar devices provide the golfer help in aligning his or her head in the X and Y axes. Such alignment aids have been found to improve a golfer's putting accuracy. Although this can be a useful visual aid, such golf club markings are often prohibited by rules of golf associations, such as the United States Golf Association (USGA).
It has also been found that alignment in the fourth and fifth axes provides further improvement in a golfer's putting accuracy. Fourth, fifth, and sixth axes are defined as rotation axes around the well known X, Y, and Z-axes of the Cartesian coordinate system, respectively. These definitions are especially well known to people skilled in computer aided design (CAD) and the machining arts.
The present invention provides a system and method whereby a golfer's natural and/or preferred stance may be accurately quantified. From this quantification, a custom club or putter may be constructed so that the golfer's stroke is optimized when he or she is in most natural, comfortable position.

System for custom fitting a golf club to a player


The present invention provides computer-controlled electric battery charging systems and methods for charging a battery of a roaming electric vehicle, the system comprising an electric vehicle comprising at least one battery, a master charger vehicle comprising a master battery module and a control system in communication with the at least one electric vehicle and the master charger vehicle to enable the master charger vehicles to reach the electric vehicle, wherein the master battery module is adapted to charge the at least one battery.

Over the last decade, there have been major strides to develop battery-driven electric vehicles for land, sea and air travel. These vehicles are aimed to reduce the pollution from current vehicles, as well as reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
One major limitation of current electric vehicles is that their batteries provide enough power only for short trips of typically less than 100 kilometers. Moreover, current battery charging techniques are slow and time-consuming, increasing both the journey time and the dependency on charging stations.
Another problem is that the power may be used up in traffic jams, air-conditioning and heating of the vehicle and the actual distance travelable by the vehicle without charging may be significantly less than the original estimate. These disadvantages render electric vehicles impractical and uneconomic.
Some attempts to overcome these problems have been published in several published patent applications. A first group of patent applications relates to static charging stations.
US Patent Application Publication No. US2010071979 to Agassi et al., describes an electric vehicle including a battery pack that can be exchanged at a battery exchange station. At the battery exchange station, an at least partially spent battery pack is exchanged for an at least partially charged battery pack. A battery bay is configured to be disposed at an underside of the electric vehicle. The battery bay includes a frame which defines a cavity. The cavity is configured to at least partially receive the battery pack therein. The battery bay comprises at least one latch rotatably pivoted about an axis substantially parallel with a plane formed by the underside of the vehicle. The latch is configured to lift, retain the battery pack at least partially within the cavity.
US Patent Application Publication No. US2009082957, to Agassi et al., discloses an electric vehicle that includes an electric motor that drives one or more wheels of the vehicle and is powered by a battery. The electric vehicle determines a status of a battery of the vehicle and a geographic location of the vehicle. The electric vehicle then identifies at least one battery service station that the vehicle can reach based on the charge status of the battery of the vehicle and the geographic location of the vehicle. The electric vehicle displays the at least one battery service station to a user of the vehicle.
British Patent Application Publication No. GB2460500, to Mayer et al., discloses a system for improved and more efficient recharging of electric cars, by using improved batteries, improved recharger arrangements in electric cars, and infrastructures that are used for recharging electric cars, while also protecting the electric grid from overload. This is done for example by accumulating energy in service stations in special high speed capacitors, such as one or more super capacitors, or one or more molten salt accumulators, or other fast batteries which can be recharged to 80 percent capacity within 5 minutes. These accumulators can be used to recharge cars, since otherwise the service station would need to have a huge capacity power supply to enable such fast recharges. Other variations include efficient methods of recharging the batteries serially, either in the service station (based on a model of fast replacement of batteries at the service station), after automatically sorting the batteries into more or less homogeneous groups, or in the car itself by automatically rerouting the batteries, or some of them, or elements in them, during recharge so that they are recharged more serially than during the normal operation of the car. This enables recharge with fewer rechargers at higher voltages and with less current and fewer problems of heat during recharge. Other improvements include a system wherein when recharging the electric cars, rechargers and central computers in the electrical grid company and in the service provider take into account car-specific parameters in order to optimize the recharging priorities, for example based on the state of their batteries and heuristics or statistics or automatic repeated identification of cars based on a unique digital ID number. The system can take into account also various regular or historical car-specific parameters or patterns or statistics, such as typical arrival and departure times, typical distances traveled, specific needs based on week days, etc. Other features include a system and method for alerting users when a parking and recharging post becomes available or reserving them in advance.
French Patent Application Publication No. FR2872470A1 discloses an automatic self-service station for e.g. electric car, has charging hoists for batteries, jack on loading modules to level plate for displacement perpendicular to plate that rotates to put or remove car battery, and cabinet with a payment desk. The station has two charging hoists for batteries, walls which support the hoists, and a roof. A repair pit has loading modules and a staircase permits maintenance service. A jack on the module levels a plate for a displacement perpendicular to another plate which rotates to put or remove the battery of a car. A cabinet has a control and payment desk placed to the side of a car driver.
All the above publications rely on the electric car being able to reach the service station at a fixed location or having a battery replacement service. Moreover, the aforementioned patent publications rely on complex methods for replacing batteries, which require stocks of partially or fully charged batteries and sophisticated systems for removing the at least partially depleted battery (or batteries) and replacing it/them with at least one at least partially charged battery.
Other systems have been developed to financial systems for billing an electric vehicle user for charging of his car battery or battery pack at stationary service stations.
WO10031687A discloses a method and a device for the location-independent power intake of and/or location-independent power feed by a mobile storage and consumption unit at a stationary electric vehicle charging station. The method comprises at least the steps of producing a first communication link between the storage and consumption unit and the electric vehicle charging station when the mobile storage and consumption unit spatially approaches a stationary electric vehicle charging station, a unique ID number being allocated to the storage and consumption unit and the electric vehicle charging station having an electricity counter with a counter number, transmitting a data packet which contains at least the ID number and the counter number via a second communication link to a billing server, allocating the storage and consumption unit to a power supplier using the ID number and allocating the electricity counter to a distribution network operator using the counter number and using the respective data stored on the billing server, clearing the electric vehicle charging station upon successful allocation on the billing server, supplying power to the storage and consumption unit or feeding power from the storage and consumption unit to the electric vehicle charging station and transmitting the quantity of electricity withdrawn from or fed into the electric vehicle charging station to the billing server via the communication link.
US Patent Application Publication No. US2009312903A to IBM et al., discloses a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program product for managing user preferences associated with charging transactions for electric vehicles. In one embodiment, a set of principals associated with a charging transaction for an electric vehicle is identified in response to receiving a request for a set of preferences from an energy transaction planner. The vehicle preference service is located on the electric vehicle. The set of preferences are retrieved from a plurality of preferences. The set of preferences comprises a subset of preferences for each principal in the set of principals. A preference in the set of preferences specifies a parameter of the charging transaction that is to be minimized, maximized, or optimized. The set of preferences are sent to an energy transaction planner.
US Patent Application Publication No. US2010049737A to IBM et al., discloses a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for managing electric vehicle charging information. In one embodiment, the process receives charging process data. The charging process data may be stored in a data repository and associated with a user to form historical user data. The process then generates a notification in response to detecting a condition for triggering the generation of the notification. The notification comprises a set of recommendations for achieving a set of optimization objectives. In addition, the set of recommendations are derived from at least one of the historical user data and a remote data source. Thereafter, the process presents the notification to a user using a set of notification preferences.
Chinese Patent Application CN201371765 describes an electric vehicle service truck with tools for servicing the vehicle and means for charging the battery of the electric vehicle.
U.S. patent application No. 20110025267 teaches a portable vehicle to recharge an electric car, which is controlled through a central control system, as does U.S. Pat. No. 7,619,319.

Real-time system and method for tracking, locating and recharging electric vehicles in transit


An apparatus and method for controlling yarn coatings such as sizing are provided which includes nuclear radiation detectors which measure the attenuated radiation through processed yarn. Before and after radiation measurements are signaled to a computer which is programmed to generate a signal which controls squeeze rollers that adjust, according to specific size requirements. A second embodiment of the invention is provided for processing tire cord webs and utilizes digital line scan cameras in conjunction with the radiation detector sensors. Line scan cameras provide an opacity measure to determine yarn count and maintain an accurate density measurement even as lateral shifts in the web during processing occur.

1. Field of The Invention
The invention herein pertains to application and control of coatings to yarn, yarn webs and the like in continuous processes. The method and apparatus described herein are particularly useful in the field of textile yarn coatings and in preparing cord webs for vehicle tire manufacturing.
2. Description Of The Prior Art And Objectives Of The Invention
Various types of coatings such as sizing are applied to textile yarns and must be carefully monitored during application. Weaving and other subsequent operations are greatly influenced by the amount of starch or other sizing components on the yarn. Also, the efficiency by which the fabric is woven severely affects the ultimate fabric cost. Thus, too little or too much sizing applied can affect both the convenience and economics of later processing operations while excess amounts of sizing result in higher chemical costs during manufacturing. As a result, various instruments have been developed in the past for controlling the sizing applied to yarn during continuous yarn processing procedures. Both off-line and on-line instruments have been used for measuring weight, elongation of yarn (stretch), and moisture (retention) in an effort to better control the coatings applied. While such prior art devices have met with limited success, they have not permitted coating applications generally to only vary in the single digit percentage range. With increased competition from foreign textile manufacturers who produce goods with relatively low labor costs, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide a method and apparatus for controlling the coating of yarn which will insure a uniform application over an extended run and the most accurate amount of coating pick-up.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a method to control the coating of yarn in order to achieve a greater efficiency in weaving and subsequent yarn operations.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide apparatus for controlling the coating of yarn which includes a moisture monitor and elongation measure for more greater accuracy.
It is also another objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for controlling the coating of tire cord webs during on-line processing without the necessity of stopping the web for measurements or for equipment adjustment purposes.
It is yet still another objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for coating yarn which includes the use of nuclear density sensors, digital cameras for opacity measurements, moisture detectors, encoders for the measurement of yarn elongation and microprocessor circuitry for sizing application equipment control.
Various other advantages and benefits of the present invention will become apparent as the details of the invention are presented below.

Method and apparatus for controlling yarn coatings


A frequency locked loop in a microcontroller integrated circuit has a precision digital feedback control loop. The frequency locked loop performs a clock multiplication function such that an inexpensive and low frequency external crystal is usable both to clock a processor of the microcontroller with a higher frequency and low-jitter clock signal and to clock a real time clock of the microcontroller with a low frequency time base that is a power of two multiple of one hertz. In one embodiment, the digital feedback control loop includes a ramp generator, a digital filter, and a loop divider. The ramp generator is controlled to output steeper and steeper ramps as the frequency locking process proceeds toward frequency lock. Ramp slope dithering is used to increase resolution. A preset value that presets the loop divider is changed to adjust the phase of a feedback signal with respect to a reference input signal.

In electronics applications it is common to generate a desired clock signal at a frequency that is referenced to the frequency of a reference signal generated by a MRO (master reference oscillator). Phase locked loop (PLL) oscillators may be used for this purpose if there is a coherent phase relationship between the clock signal and the reference signal. Sometimes, however, the clock signal generator may be of a class wherein the clock signal must be synchronized to an incoherent stimulus, and then frequency locked oscillators may be used. There is a need for high performance frequency locked oscillators that can be embodied cheaply such as by using a semiconductor chip and a minimum of other component(s). Phase and/or frequency locked oscillator designs often include filters that have relatively long time constants. Thus, there is a further need for filters having long time constants, and that can be embodied cheaply, for example, by using a semiconductor chip and a minimum of other component(s).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Modulating ramp angle in a digital frequency locked loop


A circuit arrangement for generating a reference current and also an oscillator circuit having the circuit arrangement are disclosed the arrangement includes a capacitance connected to an input of a voltage-controlled current source. Two amplifiers having different drive capabilities, between which a switching can be effected, are provided to drive the capacitance. An LC oscillator can be fed with the reference current in a current-controlled manner and at the same time in a particularly low-noise manner.

Oscillators having an oscillating frequency that can be set over a wide range are normally realized as LC oscillators. In this case, the frequency of the resonant circuit is determined by at least one capacitance and at least one inductance. The oscillating frequency results here from the reciprocal of the product of 2π and the root of the LC product.
In order to adjust the oscillating frequency usually the inductance is constant but the capacitance is made adjustable. Varactor diodes in which the junction capacitance is dependent on an applied DC voltage potential are normally used as adjustable capacitances.
One important area of application for such LC oscillators is mobile radio devices that require radio frequency carrier oscillations in order to perform frequency conversions from radio frequencies to baseband and vice versa.
In order to compensate for losses in the LC resonant circuits, the latter are usually deattenuated by means of a so-called negative impedance. By way of example, cross-coupled MOS field-effect transistors that are fed with a reference current are provided for this purpose. The reference current that feeds an LC oscillator is subject to stringent requirements with regard to its phase noise. With regard to the phase noise, reference-current-fed LC oscillators are very sensitive to the interference and noise inflows in the reference current.
The document Y. Seong-Mo and K. O. Kenneth, Demonstration of a Switched Resonator Concept in Dual-Band Monolithic CMOS LC-Tuned VCO, IEEE 2001 Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, pp. 205–208, IEEE/CiCC 2001, ISBN 0-7803-6591-7, specifies a reference-current-fed LC oscillator as described above.
The described problem area of reducing the phase noise of a reference current source is reduced in the case of an LC oscillator in the document P. Andreani and H. Sjöland, A 2.2 GHz CMOS VCO with Inductive Degeneration Noise Suppression, IEEE 2001 Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, pp. 197–200, IEEE CICC 2001, ISBN 0-7803-6591-7, by virtue of the fact that LC filter structures are provided in series with the current source. However, filters of this type are complicated to realize.

Circuit arrangement for generating a reference current and oscillator circuit having the circuit arrangement


A first image and a second image are obtained by sensing an image of a moving object from two different viewpoints using a first imaging device and a second imaging device. A plurality of feature points are detected from the first image. A disparity distribution representing a disparity for each feature point is obtained by performing stereo image processing using the first image and the second image. A threshold is determined for disparities in the disparity distribution. A feature point having a disparity exceeding the threshold in the disparity distribution is classified as an intra-moving-object feature point. An image area of the moving object in the first image is detected by using the intra-moving-object feature point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method which perform stereo image processing for a plurality of images obtained by image-sensing a moving object from different points and detect the moving object on the image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various kinds of research and development have been conducted concerning the visual processing systems of moving robots which follow persons. When a moving robot moves to follow a moving object such as a person, the visual processing system senses the object image first, and then measures its 3D position by image processing. The robot calculates a controlled variable or the like for a driving system for movement in accordance with the measurement result.
Conventionally, there have been known a person detection technique based on background subtraction which has been used for monitoring systems and the like and a technique of recognizing the head of a person by image processing. These techniques may be applied to the visual processing systems of moving robots.
As a robot moves, however, a large change in background image occurs. The background subtraction method is not therefore suitable for the visual processing systems of moving robots. In addition, the head portion of an object is not always present in the visual range of the robot depending on the positional relationship with the person, the presence of an obstacle, or the like, and hence the person's head recognition technique is not effective either.
Furthermore, in consideration of the activities of a moving robot in a human living space, it is necessary for the robot to realize high-speed processing by reducing data to be processed and be robust against environmental changes.
Note that as person detection techniques independent of scene changes, techniques using distance images and interframe differences are disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Nos. 2004-299025 and 2004-301607.

Stereo image processing to detect moving objects


The invention relates generally to novel small molecule BRD4 modulators for HIV, the preparation thereof as well as the use thereof.

Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV) causes persistent and latent infection, posing a major obstacle for eradication of the virus (1-4). While anti-retroviral therapy (ART) is highly effective in controlling HIV replication and reducing viremia, it cannot eradicate the virus and manifests significant limitations. Low levels of HIV replication continuously occur in ART-suppressed individuals and the latent reservoir is capable of rapidly producing infectious virus when ART is discontinued (2, 5). The effects of residual HIV infection remain evident even under ART, including a range of metabolic, immunologic, and neurologic co-morbidities (6). In addition, ART treatment requires life-long administration to achieve sustained viral suppression. With the expanded usage of ART, HIV has become more drug resistant, which also erodes the efficacy of ART (1). Due to these limitations, new treatment paradigm that aims to target latent HIV reservoirs for eradication or cure is urgently needed.
A current strategy for HIV eradication involves reactivation of latent HIV from latent reservoirs so that the latently infected cells can be eliminated by direct cytopathic effect or immune-mediated destruction ("shock and kill" approach) (7-10). However, this strategy has so far produced less convincing results and has faced significant challenges (11-13). Current latency reversing agents (LRAs) manifest limited in vivo efficacy and cannot thoroughly wake up HIV in some "deep" non-inducible latent reservoirs (12). Alternative approaches aiming to transcriptionally repress HIV provirus to induce an aviremic state in the absence of ART, called "functional cure", have gained substantial interest and been a focus of research (reviewed in (13, 14). Integrated HIV proviral transcription in infected cells undergo multiple layers of epigenetic regulation (15, 16). It has been suggested that cellular epigenetic machinery involved in HIV transcriptional regulation can be promising targets for modulation to repress or silencing HIV provirus. However, to this end, while substantial work has been conducted to understand epigenetic mechanisms underlying HIV transcriptional regulation (15-17)), effective approaches for targeting these mechanisms to repress HIV provirus remain limited.
The Bromodomain and Extra-Terminal Domain (BET) protein family member BRD4 is an important epigenetic regulator that localizes to DNA via binding acetylated histones and participates in the control of cellular and integrated HIV gene transcription through multiple functional activities (18-21). BRD4 has been shown to repress HIV transcription by competing with HIV Tat for cellular active p-TEFb/CDK9 (20). Inhibition of BET/BRD4 by the pan-BET inhibitor, JQ1, can relieve such competition between BRD4 and Tat and therefore reactivate latent HIV (19, 20). Given the roles of BET/BRD4 in HIV transcriptional regulation, there has been interested in identifying novel modulatory agents that can selectively target BET/BRD4 to modulate HIV transcriptional activation or repression. After screening a novel class of small-molecule modulators of BRD4 designed and synthesized in house (reviewed in (22)), the inventors surprisingly discovered report identification of a novel lead compound, named ZL0580, that selectively targets BRD4 but intriguingly induces a functional impact on HIV transcription distinct from JQ1. Instead of activating HIV, compound ZL0580, an exemplary embodiment of the invention, can suppress HIV transcription and viral replication. Functional analysis shows that this compound can potently suppress HIV in various cellular models, including transformed cell line (J-Lat cells), and human primary PBMCs (both in vitro and ex vivo HIV-infected models). The inventors found that unlike JQ1 which binds to multiple BET proteins, ZL0580 is highly specific to BRD4, but not to other BET proteins. CRISPR/Cas9 knockout experiments show that BRD4 functionally mediates the HIV suppressive effect of the lead compound ZL0580. Mechanistically, it was discovered that ZL0580 suppresses HIV by inhibiting Tat transactivation and HIV transcription elongation, including reduced p-TEFb/CDK9 binding to Tat, reduced cellular ELL2 expression and decreased RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) activation.
This background information is provided for the purpose of making information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should it be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.

Small molecule BRD4 modulators for HIV epigenetic regulation

The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System


This invention is directed to an irregular in shape thru-hull fitting with specifically an internal seacock which is below the normal waterline of a marine vessel and this invention provides an exterior plug to stop leakage and/or allow for maintenance of the interior hull valve, piping, and/or associated tubing without necessitating the need to haul out the vessel. The seacock plug includes a flexible tubing assembly; o-ring flange assembly, flexible beveled gasket, and compression lead screw with T-handle that forms a watertight seal around the irregular interior shape hull fitting.

The present invention, a marine vessel thru hull seacock plug, applies to irregular in shape thru-hull fittings connected to a hull valve, commonly called a seacock, which is below the normal waterline of a marine vessel. These thru hull fittings are formed typically with at least two internal ridges used for assembly that make them unsuitable for the application of a circular plug as shown in FIG. 2. The present invention prevents water intrusion by the application of an externally-applied (water-side) plug device which allows for the water-borne removal of the seacock or the emergency stoppage of flooding in the specific case of seacock failure.
Related art is replete with the solution to plugging a perfectly round hole consisting primarily of circular plugs. These plugs can be applied either internally or externally as the thru-hull is not equipped with an internal isolation valve, commonly called a seacock, for their intended above waterline use. Examples of circular plugs are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,390,007; 5,184,698; 4,930,657; 3,812,810; 3,295,712; 2,978,138; and 1,446,812 while a screw-type permanent plug is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,547. Non-plugging, but protective caps are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 7,210,423. None of these are suitable for the plugging of an irregular hole as this present invention addresses.
Marine vessels have below water line penetrations, called thru hulls that allow for the flow of seawater (or fresh water for inland use) from outside of the hull to the inside of the hull. These fittings normally have an isolation valve on the inside of the vessel, commonly called a seacock, and then are connected to various types of pipes and/or hoses to direct water for myriad uses such as engine cooling and head flushing. The thru hull external fitting is circular in nature but typically has two 180° apart and raised sections (called fins in this work) that allow for a special tool to hold the fixture secure while assembling the complete device, typically with a threaded nut on the interior of the hull. These raised sections or fins make the hole unsuitable for normal round plugs because these two fins prevent the smooth and continuous formation of a watertight seal.
The round hull drain plugs are ubiquitous in the marine industry and provide a smooth circular flexible tubing, typically rubber, gasket material that works well with correspondingly smooth circular thru hull fittings. These do not work in typical below waterline thru hull/seacock fittings and as such maintenance of the internal valves, piping and associated hoses require the haul out of marine vessels to a dry dock or other such out of water configuration. This haul out is costly and can only be accomplished at special facilities for vessels that are not normally transported on trailers. In addition, the failure of a seacock could lead to loss of the vessel if the flooding could not be stopped. This invention would typically apply to power boats of greater than 10 meters in length and nearly all fixed-keel sailboats.

Apparatus for plugging a seacock externally


Wireless communication between a user equipment (UE) and a base station may occur on unlicensed spectrum. When wirelessly communicating on unlicensed spectrum, there is an expectation that there may be interference from others devices also transmitting on the same resources in the unlicensed spectrum. Systems and methods are therefore disclosed that aim to facilitate wireless communication in unlicensed spectrum. In some embodiments, systems and method are disclosed that are directed to the transmission of uplink control information (UCI) in unlicensed spectrum. The UCI may be or include hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback. The HARQ feedback may correspond to a downlink data transmission that was also sent on unlicensed spectrum.

In some wireless communication systems, user equipments (UEs) wirelessly communicate with a base station to send data to the base station and/or receive data from the base station. A wireless communication from a UE to a base station is referred to as an uplink communication. A wireless communication from a base station to a UE is referred to as a downlink communication.
Resources are required to perform uplink and downlink communications. For example, a base station may wirelessly transmit data, such as a transport block (TB), to a UE in a downlink transmission at a particular frequency and over a particular duration of time. The frequency and time duration used are examples of resources.
Wireless communication between a UE and a base station may occur on licensed spectrum, on unlicensed spectrum, or on both. Licensed spectrum refers to frequency bands that are licensed for use for wireless communications. A company licensing a particular frequency band has the right to wirelessly communicate using that frequency band in a given geographic area. Unlicensed spectrum refers to frequency bands that are not licensed for use for wireless communications, and that are free to use by anybody in compliance with the regional spectrum regulations. Therefore, the unlicensed spectrum is a shared spectrum. When wirelessly communicating on unlicensed spectrum, there is an expectation that there may be interference from other devices also transmitting on the same resources in the unlicensed spectrum. Therefore, a device operating on unlicensed spectrum, i.e., operating with shared spectrum access, may use a listen before talk (LBT) protocol in which the device first listens to the wireless channel to determine the availability of the channel before sending a transmission. LBT is thus a channel access procedure.
It is desired to provide systems and methods that improve the reliability of wireless communication, and particularly uplink wireless communication, in unlicensed spectrum. Improving the reliability of wireless communication in unlicensed spectrum may better allow for mobile operators to at least partially offload their continuously increasing traffic load to the available unlicensed spectrum resources, e.g. using a unified/integrated carrier-type air interface.

Systems and methods for transmission of uplink control information over multiple carriers in unlicensed spectrum


The cylinder includes a core and a coating covering most of the core. The core is made from a heat-resistant or insulating material. The core has inner and outer side walls and opposing first and second ends. The outer side wall is further away from a central longitudinal axis of the cylinder than the inner wall. The first end is configured to contact an edge ring that supports a semiconductor substrate. The coating is substantially opaque to infrared radiation, and covers all external surfaces of the core except for the first end. The core is preferably made from quartz or ceramics, while the coating is preferably made from a polysilicon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor processing, and more particularly, to a support cylinder used in a thermal processing chamber, such as a Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) chamber.
2. Description of Related Art
The integrated circuit (IC) market is continually demanding greater memory capacity, faster switching speeds, and smaller feature sizes. One of the major steps the industry has taken to address these demands is to change from batch processing multiple substrates, such as silicon wafers, in large furnaces to processing single substrates in small reaction chambers.
Today, engineers continually strive to increase the throughput of semiconductor substrates while increasing semiconductor yield. The semiconductor substrates referred to herein typically include semiconductor wafers for ultra-large scale integrated (ULSI) circuits.
Generally, there are four basic processes performed in such reaction chambers, namely layering, patterning, doping, and thermal processing. Thermal processing refers to several different processes, including rapid thermal processing (RTP), rapid thermal annealing (RTA), rapid thermal cleaning (RTC), rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD), rapid thermal oxidation (RTO), and rapid thermal nitridation (RTN).
In one RTP process, wafers are loaded into a processing chamber at a temperature of several hundred ° C. in a nitrogen (N2) gas ambient atmosphere. The temperature of the wafer is ramped to reaction conditions, typically at a temperature in the range of about 850° C. to 1200° C. The temperature is raised using a large number of heat sources, such as tungsten halogen lamps, which radiatively heat the wafer. Reactive gases may be introduced before, during, or after the temperature ramp. For example, oxygen may be introduced for growth of silicon dioxide (SiO2).
The uniformity of the thermal process over the surface of the semiconductor substrate during thermal processing is critical to producing uniform semiconductor devices. For example, in the particular application of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) gate dielectric formation by RTO or RTN, thickness, growth temperature, and uniformity of the gate dielectrics are critical parameters that influence the overall device performance and semiconductor yield. Currently, CMOS devices are being made with dielectric layers that are only 60-80 Å (10−10 m) thick and for which thickness uniformity must be held within a few percent. This level of uniformity requires that temperature variations across the substrate during high temperature processing cannot exceed a few degrees Celsius (° C.). Therefore, techniques that minimize temperature non-uniformity are very important.
Temperature uniformity provides uniform process variables over the substrate (e.g., layer thickness, resistivity, and etch depth) for various process steps including film deposition, oxide growth and etching. In addition, temperature uniformity in the substrate is necessary to prevent thermal stress-induced wafer damage, such as warpage, defect generation, and slip. This type of damage is caused by thermal gradients which are minimized by temperature uniformity. The wafer often cannot tolerate even small temperature differentials during high temperature processing. For example, if the temperature differential is allowed to rise above 1-2° C./cm at 1200° C., the resulting stress is likely to cause slip in the silicon crystal. The resulting slip planes will destroy any devices through which they pass. To achieve that level of temperature uniformity, reliable real-time, multi-point temperature measurements are necessary for closed-loop temperature control.
One way of achieving temperature uniformity is by rotating the substrate during processing. This removes the temperature dependence along the azimuthal degree-of-freedom. Because the central axis of the substrate, perpendicular to wafer's surface, is collinear with the axis of rotation 128, all points along any annulus of the wafer (at any arbitrary radius) are exposed to the same amount of illumination. By providing a number of pyrometers and a feedback system, even the remaining radial temperature dependence can be substantially removed, and acceptable temperature uniformity achieved and maintained across the entire substrate.
One example of a type of mechanical rotation system in use today is shown in FIG. 1. This type of system is similar to those used and sold by APPLIED MATERIALS, Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.A. Certain details of such systems are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,336, entitled "Rapid Thermal Heating Apparatus and Method", issued Oct. 13, 1992, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and incorporated herein by reference. In this type of mechanical rotation system, the substrate support is rotatably mounted on a bearing assembly that is, in turn, coupled to a vacuum-sealed drive assembly. For example, FIG. 1 depicts a partial cross-sectional view of such a system 100. A wafer 102 is placed on an edge ring 104, which is in turn friction-fit on a cylinder 106. The cylinder 106 sits on a ledge of an upper bearing race 108 which is magnetic. The upper bearing race 108 is disposed within well 110 and is supported on a number of ball bearings 121 (only one of which is shown), relative to a lower bearing race 118. The lower bearing race 118 is mounted on a chamber bottom 120. A water-cooled reflector 124 is positioned on the chamber bottom 120 as part of a temperature measuring system. The temperature measuring system relies on a black body or reflector cavity 122 formed between the reflector 124, the wafer 102, the edge ring 104 and the cylinder 106 to accurately measure the temperature of the wafer 102. Further details of such a black body or reflector cavity can be found in Applicants' U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,174,080; 6,007,241; 6,406,179; 6,374,150; 6,226,453; or 6,183,130, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. The temperature measuring system typically includes a number of pyrometers embedded in the chamber bottom 120.
A magnet 114 is located adjacent the portion of chamber bottom 120 opposite the upper magnetic bearing race 108. The magnet 114 is mounted on a motor-driven magnet ring 116. The magnet 114 is magnetically coupled to the magnetic bearing race 108 through the chamber bottom 120. By mechanically revolving the magnet 114 about the central axis 128, the upper bearing race 108 may be made to rotate as it is magnetically coupled to the magnet 114. In particular, torque is transferred to upper bearing race 108 from the motor-driven magnet ring 116. This rotation of the upper bearing race 108 results in the desired rotation of the wafer 102, which is coupled to the upper bearing race through the cylinder 106 and edge ring 104.
Recent advances have led to a magnetically levitated system to avoid particle generation caused by the contact between the ball bearings 121 and the races as well as from the use of lubrication for the bearing system. Such a magnetically levitated system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,106 to Tietz et al., which is also incorporated herein by reference.
As mentioned above, precise temperature measurement by the temperature measurement system is a critical process parameter. Therefore, it is important to thermally isolate the temperature measurement system and the upper bearing race 108 from radiation generated by the heat source (not shown). Accordingly, the support cylinder 106 is typically made from ceramic or quartz materials due to their excellent thermal insulation properties. One range of values of conductivity that has been found appropriate is about 1.5 to about 2.5 (J-kg-m)/(m2-sec-° C.). In addition, ceramic and quartz are thermally stable and inert to chemicals typically used in thermal processing.
However, these materials (ceramics and quartz) are transparent to infrared radiation produced by the heat source. Accordingly, without an opaque covering, infrared radiation would pass through the support cylinder and interfere with the highly sensitive temperature measurements being taken by the temperature measurement system. Therefore, the support cylinder is usually coated with a material that is opaque to infrared radiation, such as a polysilicon.
A chemical deposition process, such as Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is typically used to coat the cylinder with the polysilicon. This CVD process is typically performed in a CVD reaction chamber, otherwise known as a bell jar chamber, that includes a heat source. A number of support pins, typically three, are placed on top of the heat source. The cylinder is then placed onto the pins, face down, i.e., the top of the support cylinder, proximate the cylinder makes contact with the support pins. The CVD chamber is then sealed and a gas from which the polysilicon is formed, is pumped into the reaction chamber. The chamber is heated and a layer of polysilicon is subsequently formed on the support cylinder, as is well understood in the art. The deposition rate of the polysilicon onto the support cylinder is about 2.3 μm/min at 1100° C.
This process worked relatively well for support cylinders used for 200 mm semiconductor wafers. However, as the industry has moved to 300 mm semiconductor wafers, several drawbacks have been encountered with the existing cylinder and its method of manufacture.
One such drawback is a non-uniform layer of silicon being applied to the cylinder. Because of the large size or volume of the 300 mm support cylinder, and the good heat insulation properties of the cylinder, it is difficult to uniformly heat the cylinder within the CVD chamber. Indeed, there is a lack of understanding on how to uniformly heat quartz. Heating a thin (˜0.3″), tall (1″) quartz cylinder (OD 13″) to a uniform temperature using a 1D heat source (such as the susceptor) is difficult, so is the ability to uniformly coat the cylinder since the process is temperature dependent. This non-uniform heating of the support cylinder results in a non-uniform layer of polysilicon being formed on the surface of the support cylinder, as shown in an exaggerated cross-sectional view of the cylinder in FIG. 2A. This non-uniform layer of polysilicon may compromise the infrared opacity of the cylinder. Indeed, some areas 204 of the cylinder may have thick polysilicon layer, while other areas 202 have no polysilicon layer at all. As mentioned above, if the cylinder were to allow infrared radiation to penetrate the reflector cavity 122 (FIG. 1), false temperature measurements may be taken leading to imprecise temperature control and ultimately defective semiconductor devices and low semiconductor yield.
Another drawback is cracking of the polysilicon layer, as shown in FIG. 2B, which is a second exaggerated cross-sectional view of the support cylinder. Quartz and polysilicon have different coefficients of thermal expansion, and, therefore, heat and cool at different rates. The coefficients of thermal expansion of quartz and polysilicon are 0.5 vs. 3.8, room temperature to 1000 C, (ppm/° C.) or (10^−6 in/in/° C.).
When the current polysilicon layer cools at a different rate to that of the quartz, it forms cracks 206 in the polysilicon 204. To the naked eye, these cracks 206 in the polysilicon cause a snakeskin like appearance on the surface of the cylinder. Cylinders having this snakeskin like appearance are immediately rejected as defective parts. Accordingly, the cost of producing acceptable cylinders is high.
Another drawback of this non-uniform heating of the support cylinder is that exaggerated growth of the polysilicon may occur at some point of the support cylinder and not at others. This exaggerated growth typically takes the form of dendrites, protrusions, or nodules, as shown in a third exaggerated cross-sectional view of the support cylinder shown in FIG. 2C. As the edge ring 104 (FIG. 1) rests on the cylinder, the dendrites or nodules 208 may cause the edge ring to sit or rest improperly, i.e., not flush, on top of the support cylinder. This may lead to instability of the edge ring on the cylinder and/or nonsymmetrical or eccentric rotation of the wafer. In addition, the formation of the dendrites may affect the height of the wafer from the heat source or lamps. This may negatively impact the temperature that each point on the wafer is exposed to and/or the temperature measurements taken by the pyrometers 126 (FIG. 1). In addition, the dendrites or nodules, may compromise the reflector cavity 122 (FIG. 1) by allowing stray infrared radiation to pass between the edge ring 104 (FIG. 1) and the support cylinder 106 (FIG. 1). In other words, the dendrites may cause an imprecise fit between the cylinder and the edge ring, and/or compromise the thermal isolation of the edge ring from the cylinder. These drawbacks could ultimately lead to defective semiconductor devices and low semiconductor yield.
Accordingly, a cylinder that is opaque to infrared radiation, is easy to manufacture, has a uniform polysilicon layer, is free of dendrites and/or nodules, and does not have a polysilicon layer that cracks, would be highly desirable.


Methods are provided that include a method of reducing fluid loss in a subterranean formation comprising placing a lost circulation composition comprising a base fluid and a swellable elastomer in at least a portion of a subterranean formation comprising a lost circulation zone; allowing the swellable elastomer to at least partially swell upon contact with a fluid; and allowing the lost circulation composition to at least partially reduce the loss of fluid to the subterranean formation. Additional methods are also provided.

The present invention relates to the treatment of subterranean formations. More particularly, the present invention relates to compositions and methods utilizing swellable elastomers in subterranean operations.
In subterranean operations, there may be several instances where it may be desirable to control or prevent the passage of fluid through a portion of a subterranean formation, control or prevent the production of an undesirable fluid through a well bore, and/or isolate specific areas in a well bore or zones in a subterranean formation. However, in many instances, it may be problematic to do these things for a variety of reasons.
A variety of methods have been employed in an attempt to address the above mentioned problems. For example, improved cement compositions have been used in cementing operations in an effort to prevent, inter alia, the failure of the cement and/or the formation of voids, cracks, fractures, holes and/or channels that may form in the cement. In addition, several remedial cementing methods have been developed. For example, one type of remedial cementing is commonly referred to as "squeeze cementing," and usually involves a method of preventing undesirable movement of oil, gas, or water through small holes or cracks in pipes disposed in the well bore; or annular spaces between the cement sheath and the pipe or walls of the well bore in permeable zones or fractures in subterranean formations by squeezing hydraulic sealant compositions, such as cement, therein which harden and form impermeable plugs.
Additionally, spacer fluids have been utilized to, inter alia, enhance drilling fluid and filter cake removal from the walls of a well bore. It is thought that inadequate removal of a filter cake from the walls of a well bore may result in a lack of a competent seal between the cement sheath and the well bore. Spacer fluids may be used to displace one fluid, such as a drilling fluid, in a well bore before entry into the well bore of another fluid, such as a cement composition. Among other things, a spacer fluid may be used not only to enhance drilling fluid and filter cake removal from the walls of well bores, but also to enhance solids removal during drilling operations, enhance displacement efficiency, and/or to physically separate chemically incompatible fluids. For example, in primary cementing, the cement composition may be separated from the drilling fluid and partially dehydrated drilling fluid may be removed from the walls of the well bore by placing a spacer fluid into the well bore between the drilling fluid and the cement composition.
Also, several methods have been utilized in an effort to prevent fluid loss and/or the undesirable production of water. For example, to prevent fluid loss and/or the undesirable production of water, additives commonly may be included in the treatment fluids. Examples of commonly used additives include, but are not limited to, gelling agents, such as hydroxyethylcellulose and xanthan. In addition, compounds referred to as relative permeability modifiers ("RPMs") have been utilized to decrease the production of undesirable water. One example of a commonly used RPM includes polyacrylamide. These conventional methods commonly work at the well bore and/or formation face, however, in some instances formation damage may occur. Additionally, the use of crosslinked fluids may impact fracture geometry, for example, creating wider, shorter fractures.
Swellable elastomers have heretofore been utilized in some subterranean operations, for example, zonal isolation methods. Swellable elastomers usually include materials that swell upon contact with a particular fluid. In some methods, these swellable elastomers are used in conjunction with packers that are placed in the annulus of a well bore. The packer is contacted with a specific fluid so that the swellable elastomer present in the packer expands to seal the annular space. While this method of sealing an annular space has generally been effective, a need still exists for other methods directed to preventing the undesirable passage of fluids.

Swellable elastomers and associated methods


A pair of foldable compact glasses comprises two frames for retraining two lenses therein and each provided with a hinge device at the outer sides thereof, two temples respectively pivoting to the hinge devices, and a bridge device connecting the two frames. The bridge device can be folded about the normal axes of the frames such that the glasses can be subsequently received within a rigid container after folding.

There exist various foldable compact glasses that can be received within such containers as glasses bags, for easy carriage as that disclosed in ROC (Taiwan) Patent Publication No. 282840. However, the dimension of such foldable compact glasses still has a relatively large thickness, which bulges the pocket, in which the glasses are carried by users after folding, and thus causes inconvenience. There also exist other foldable compact glasses having a bridge provided with a hinged structure that can be folded about the normal axes of the frames. However, such a design is readily to be folded in wear without imparting any force due to its unstable structure and thus causes inconvenience to users.
Another disadvantage of the foldable compact glasses lies in that the small folded volume thereof is easily neglected by the users thereby causing damages thereto by careless squeezes.
The present invention is thus designed to provide a pair of foldable compact glasses in light of the forgoing disadvantages, which glasses are characterized by a bridge device connecting two frames, which bridge device can be pivotally folded about the normal axes of the frames or fixed to its expanded state, such that the glasses can be received within a rigid container after folding thereby preventing the glasses from and increasing protection thereof against accidental occurrences of squeezes and damages.


Provided is a mounting structure of an open/close valve in a sealed body, wherein the open/close valve 2 mounted in the sealed body comprising soft resin sheets and allowing air to be filled therein is stuck on one sheet constituting the expansion part 12 of the sealed body and is not stuck on the other sheet. Even when the expansion part 12 is filled with air, the open/close valve 2 is always fitted closely to the sheet constituting the expansion part 12, whereby the open/close valve 2 may not wrinkle and air may not leak through an air passage of the open/close valve 2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting structure of an open/close valve in a sealed body used for a cushioning material and the like and a device for manufacturing a sealed body with the open/close valve.
2. Description of the Background Art
There have been types of a sealed body with a cushioning effect by filling air therein, being used as a cushioning material and the like. For example, they are "Sealed bag for fluid" by Japanese Utility Model Application Laid Open No. H01-164142, and "Cushioning material sheet," which is a product of an apparatus published under WO95/18008.
These bags are something like a sealed bag 101, as shown in FIG. 7, that includes an expansion part 102 expanding with air filled therein, and an open/close valve 103 communicating the inside of the expansion part 102 and the outside of the sealed bag 101. These are made of soft resin sheets and sectioned by a bonded portion 104 by way of heat-sealing or the like.
The open/close valve 103 forms a flat air passage 103a in a manner sandwiched by the opposite sheets. As shown in FIG. 7(A), when the sheets are separated, the air passage 103a is left opened so that air may flow therethrough. On the contrary, as shown in FIG. 7(B), when the sheets are fitted closely each other, the air passage 103a is closed and air will not flow therethrough.
Herein, as for fixing of said open/close valve 103 to the expansion part 102 in the above-described sealed bag 101, it is usually done only by the bonded part 104 to seal the expansion part 102 and the open/close valve 103. That is, only both sides of the air passage 103a in the open/close valve 103 are fixed to the expansion part 102, while an intermediate part of the valve 103 is not fixed to anywhere.
And, with the expansion part 102 not filled with air, as shown in FIG. 7(D), the sheets of the expansion part 102 and the ones of the open/close valve 103 are respectively laid one on top of another.
On contrary, with the expansion part 102 filled with air, the sheets of the expansion part 102 remain arched, as shown in FIG. 7(E). Thus, as for an interval between the bonded part 104 becomes shorter compared to a situation prior to air-filling, whereby the open/close valve 103 becomes loose, having wrinkles there. Since this causes crumples on the open/close valve 103, the air passage 103a may be left open at its crumpled portion, through which the air in the expansion part 102 leaks to the outside of the sealed body 101.
In view of the above-mentioned problem, the present invention provides an open/close valve which can avoid air leakage even when the expansion part is filled with air.

Mounting structure of an open/close valve in a sealed body


This invention discloses novel piperidine tetrazole compounds which are selective antagonists of EAA receptors particularly the NMDA receptors. The invention also provides formulations of the preferred compounds and for methods of using the compounds to treat various disorders associated with neuronal excitotoxicity.

In the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), the transmission of nerve impulses is controlled by the interaction action between a neurotransmitter and a surface receptor. Neurotransmitters, such as L-glutamate and L-aspartate, are released by the sending neurons and travel across the synapse where they interact with the surface receptor of the receiving neuron. Such neurotransmitters are referred to as excitatory amino acids (EAA's) because they mediate the major excitatory pathways in the CNS. Likewise, the surface receptors that respond to EAA's are generally referred to as EAA receptors.
EAA receptors are of two principle classes; the "lionotropic" receptors which are directly coupled to the cell membrane adjacent to the cation channel openings; and the "metabotropic" receptors which are G-proteins coupled to multiple second messenger systems which produce enhanced phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis, activation of phospholipase D, changes in cAMP formation and changes in ion channel function.
Ionotropic receptors are subclassed into at least three major groups, based upon their sensitivity to a selective agonist. The three major groups are generally referred to as the N-methyl-D aspartate (NMDA) group; the .alpha.-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxazole-4 propionic acid (AMPA) group; and the kainic acid (KA) group.
EAA's and their receptors play an important role in a variety of physiological processes, such as long-term potentiation (LTP), synaptic plasticity, motor control, respiration, cardiovascular regulation and sensory perception.
Excessive or inappropriate stimulation of EAA receptors generally leads to neuronal cell damage or cell death by excitotoxicity. Excitotoxicity has been suggested as the major cause of neuronal degeneration in a number of CNS diseases and conditions, such as Alzheimer's Disease, Huntington's Chorea, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), cerebral ischemia and many other related neurodegenerative diseases.
It has been suggested that the blocking actions of antagonist compounds can abate the cell death caused by excitotoxicity. Selective antagonists which block the action of certain types or subtypes of EAA receptors have been synthesized and tested in the part, particularly at the NMDA receptors. Prior examples of NMDA selective antagonists are described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,678 issued Nov. 6, 1990 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,957, issued Feb. 8, 1994. Selective antagonists could be particularly useful in individuals who demonstrate receptor selective excitotoxicity.


A magnetically actuated visual display board comprises a grid array of open ended chambers. Display configurations in each chamber utilize a magnetically responsive sliding element to move a display loop to alternate between two different display surfaces to create a desired visual array. A magnetic rod passing a chamber moves the sliding element within the chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to magnetically actuated visual display boards wherein magnetic attraction is used to form characters and then to erase said characters and particularly to a magnetically actuated visual display board comprising a large box containing a grid array of chambers, magnetic rods which slide inside the chambers, at least one display opening in each chamber, a band of paper surrounding each magnetic rod which is attached to the chamber floor on first end and attached to the magnetic rod on a second end, and at least two different color squares on the paper strip; when a wand-like magnetic writing stylus passes in front of the chamber containing a magnetic rod with the wrapped band of paper it pulls the magnetic rod forward to make one color square on the paper appear in the chamber opening to create an array of similar color squares to form alphanumeric characters, symbols, images, or any other desired visual array, and when the magnetic writing stylus passes in back of the chamber containing the wrapped magnetic rod or the magnetic writing stylus is turned around to reverse the polarity, the rod is pulled or pushed backward, respectively, to make a different color square on the paper appear in the front chamber opening to erase the array of similar color squares and make all the squares match the background color.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Magnetic drawing or writing boards are popular with young children. These toys consist of a screen in a housing containing a magnetic material such as iron powder or a fluid with suspended magnetic particles. A stylus having a magnetic tip is drawn across the screen causing the magnetic powder or particles to be drawn up against the underside of the screen to draw figures or practice writing. It is possible that a child can break the housing, the fluid or powder can leak from the toy.
Most writing boards, such as chalkboards or whiteboards, require expendable writing elements (chalk and markers, respectively) which must be replaced. Both present problems with the chalk dust and marker colors rubbing off on hands and clothing. Further the dust from the chalkboard becoming airborne is a breathing hazard and prevents usage of chalkboards in rooms with computers or other electronic equipment. Prior art devices have not adequately solved the problem of providing a writing surface which is highly visible and reusable without the need for replaceable writing implements and is relatively inexpensive and usable in any location without the need for electric power or expensive circuitry.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,751, issued Sep. 17, 1963 to McDonald, claims a chalkless, magnetic type writing board. The writing board consists of a substantially rigid opaque sheet of material spaced from a backing sheet to define therebetween a chamber. The chamber confines a plurality of metallic pins slidably mounted in apertures located in the backing sheet. The pins are of a color contrasting the opaque sheet. Markings appear on the opaque sheet by drawing a magnetic stylus over the outer surface of the sheet, thereby attracting the pins to the interior surface of the sheet. Erasure is accomplished by passing a mechanical vibrator over the opaque sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,294, issued Jul. 25, 2000 to Mak, describes a drawing board that has a body and a generally transparent screen on the body. The screen has front and rear sides and contains a viscous opaque liquid and iron dust in the liquid. A pen that has a magnetic tip is used to draw on the screen. A magnetic eraser is movable within the body between a rest position away from the rear side of the screen and an operating position against that rear side for operation to move, through magnetic attraction, the iron dust away from the front side of the screen such that the iron dust becomes invisible on the screen. A spring biases the eraser towards the rest position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,453, issued Feb. 11, 1969 to Dingwall, describes a magnetic display device that has a multiplicity of magnetic cylinders. The magnetic cylinders have contrastingly colored end faces, disposed one each in cylindrical pockets formed in a laminar display board. The display board has a transparent cover and magnetized laminations, both of which rotate to selectively expose a contrasting surface to view when a magnetized writing stylus is moved over the display surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,518,664, issued Jun. 30, 1970 to Taylor, shows magnetically actuable pivotally mounted visual elements that have two alternative positions that are controlled in accord with the directions of two resultant exterior magnetic fields, which are alternatively applicable. Each resultant field results from the resolution of one sense of a reversible magnetic field and of a non-reversing bias field.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,110, issued Apr. 3, 1973 to Meyerson, shows a visual display device with a multi-apertured front side. The apertures are the forward ends of a plurality of passages in the visual display board in which a plurality of respective movable members cause a character to be displayed responsive to the positions of the movable members.
US Patent Application #20050079479, published Apr. 14, 2005 by Chen, indicates a container assembly including a container body, a magnetic display panel on the container body, a magnetic pen, and a magnetic eraser. The magnetic display panel is mounted on an outer wall surface of the container body, and has a rear side confronting the container body and an opposite front side. The magnetic display panel has a multi-cellular configuration, and includes a cell array and a dispersion contained in the cell array. The dispersion contains magnetic particles. The magnetic pen is used to move the magnetic particles in the cell array to the front side of the magnetic display panel so as to form an image thereat. The magnetic eraser is used to move the magnetic particles in the cell array to the rear side of the magnetic display panel so as to erase the image formed by the magnetic particles at the front side of the magnetic display panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,945, issued Dec. 4, 2001 to Williams, III, depicts a magnetic writing board that provides a thin, lightweight, durable writing board, which has an internal array of closely arranged magnet assemblies. The magnetic writing board is operated to contemporaneously create a display, which may be transferred to a computer for the modification thereof. The image may then be redisplayed, printed, stored, and/or remotely displayed such as at a computer monitor. A portion or all of an image may be completely and immediately erased. The magnetic writing board includes a grid disposed behind a display surface and a plurality of display elements, one each disposed within each cell defined by the grid. Each grid cell receives a masking agent to obscure the contrasting color of at least the forward edge of the display element when the display element is in the back position. The magnet assemblies are each oriented with their magnetic poles in the same direction, with the positive and negative poles being oriented to face either the front or back of the magnetic writing board. A writing and erasing implement includes a pair of oppositely disposed magnets, one being disposed at each end. The writing end of the implement has a magnetic pole opposite to the forward facing pole of the magnet assemblies, causing the magnet assemblies directly in front of the writing end of the implement to be attracted toward the display surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,084, issued Dec. 26, 1995 to Itkis, puts forth a magnetic bingo board that has a transparent bingo card, which overlays a magnetic indicator board. The bingo numbers on the card are marked with a magnetic wand that darkens the area of the magnetic indicator board immediately underneath the bingo number. All marks are erased at the start of new bingo game by an eraser magnet sliding inside of the indicator board. The indicator board incorporates a microprocessor that optically tracks all cards being played by reading data marks on the transparent bingo board.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,589,601, issued Mar. 18, 1952 to Burnett, is for a magnetic slate that has a transparent cover and a shallow box, which are sealed tightly against moisture. Located inside the box are small pellets made of magnetic material and overlying the magnetic material pellets is a layer of non-magnetic elements. The magnetic pellets may be raised with a magnetic stylus above the non-magnetic layer to form words. To erase the words or markings, the magnetic slate is held level and shaken, thereby causing the magnetic pellets to fall below the layer of non-magnetic material.
Two U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,982,334 issued Sep. 28, 1976 and 3,938,263 issued Feb. 17, 1976 to Tate, show a device adapted to provide a visual display under the influence of an exterior magnetic field, which comprises a plurality of rotatable, multi-colored, non-magnetically interactive, permanently magnetized micro magnets disposed in a cavity within a body. The body has a transparent surface and a plurality of relatively small compartments within the cavity. The device has a sheet containing micro magnets between the thin cavity of the front and rear surfaces of the sheet where the relatively even dispersion of the micro magnets in the sheet is maintained by such compartments whose barriers minimize displacement so that physical pressure exerted on the sheet, such as by a twist or flex, does not substantially alter the even dispersion of the micro magnets. In an embodiment, the visual display device is a sheet, preferably a substantially transparent or invisible polymer sheet, containing relatively small compartments therein which have cellular and/or structural barriers which prevent substantial displacement therefrom by holding in such compartments rotatable micro-magnets which are surrounded with a suspension or carrier fluid which allows such rotation. In the preferred embodiment the suspension or carrier fluid is thixotropic.
Two U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,101,587 issued Apr. 7, 1992 and 5,125,176 issued Jun. 30, 1992 to Toraby-Payhan, claim a numeral display device having at least one visible face. Each segment of the device has a transparent outer pane and a spaced, parallel inner pane forming a pocket, a first portion of the pocket being aligned with and visible through an opening in the face. A flexible film is received in each pocket. A mechanism is provided to insert and withdraw each film from the first portion of each pocket so that each segment will either contrast with or match the face. In an alternate embodiment the film has a front edge to which is affixed a metal strip so that movement of a magnet exterior to said face will cause said film to be slidably inserted or withdrawn from said first portion of said pocket.
What is needed is a safe magnetically actuated visual display surface which is highly visible and reusable without the need for replaceable writing implements and is relatively inexpensive and usable in any location without the need for electric power or expensive circuitry.

Magnetically actuated visual display board


The invention provides a vinyl ether group-containing copolymer, preparation process and use thereof. The copolymer comprises of the structural units represented by the following general formulae I, II and III, wherein, R1 is O or HN, R2 is an alkyl group with a carbon atom number of 1-4, cyclohexyl or a group represented by the following general formula IV (m represents a positive integer of 1-3), n is a positive integer of 1-4, the molar numbers of the structural units represented by the general formulae I, II and III are x, y and z, respectively, and x:y:z=3-8:1-4:1-5, the weight average molecular weight of the copolymer is 5000-20000. A color light blocking agent added with the copolymer can increase sensitivity. Furthermore, the copolymer has solubility in an alkaline solution, and thus, the color light blocking agent added with the copolymer has a superior developing property.

A color light blocking agent is mainly consisted of a pigment disperse liquid, an alkali soluble film-forming resin, a multi-functional monomer and a photo-initiator (see Chinese Patent Application CN101613276A). The methacrylic resin is a film-forming resin generally used in a color light blocking agent, and has high transparency and resolution. There are double bonds in a certain proportion on the side chain of the methacrylic resin, and thus, a polymerization under the action of a radical polymerization initiator may happen among the polymer chains, or a cross-linking reaction with small molecules may happen. Generally, the double bonds introduced are methacrylic double bonds and the polymerization thus happened is a radical polymerization. However, the radical polymerization is apt to be interfered by the polymerization inhibition of oxygen, resulting in the decreased sensitivity and poor developing property of the color light blocking agent sometimes.

Vinyl ether group-containing copolymer, preparation process and use thereof


A cylindrical grinding apparatus grinding a side face of a cylindrical ingot, having a centering means of at least three rollers and an arm holding the rollers. The cylindrical ingot is placed on a table longitudinally, its end faces being held vertically with a pair of clamps. Afterward, the centering means moves backward and forward against the ingot horizontally to bring the rollers into pressure contact with the side face of the ingot while the ingot is rotated about a central axis with a rotation means, and thereafter the ingot is ground with the grinding wheel. The cylindrical grinding apparatus and the method for grinding enable improvement of grinding processing efficiency of the ingot.

A single crystal ingot produced by using the CZ method and the like has a cylindrical body portion and cone-shaped end portions (a top portion and a tail portion). These cone-shaped end portions are cut away by an inner diameter slicer, an outer diameter slicer, a band saw or the like in a step of cutting into a block so that the cylindrical body portion is separated from them. The body portion is further cut into a plurality of blocks as needed. Thereafter, each of the ingot blocks is sliced into many silicon wafers with a wire saw and the like after its outer circumferential surface is subjected to grinding processing so as to have a predetermined diameter.
A cylindrical grinding apparatus is the most general as a grinding apparatus for grinding the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical ingot.
FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of an example of a conventionally general cylindrical grinding apparatus.
This cylindrical grinding apparatus 101 has clamps 102, 102′ for holding an ingot 105, a rotation means 104 for driving to rotate the ingot 105, a grindstone 103 for grinding the ingot 105 and the like. The apparatus is constructed such that while rotation driving force is transmitted from the clamps 102, 102′ to the ingot 105 to rotate the ingot about a central axis, the so-called traverse movement is made in such a manner that a rotating disklike grindstone 103 is fed toward the ingot 105 in the direction of a rotating axis of the grindstone and simultaneously in the direction of a rotating axis of clamps 102, 102′ so that an outer circumferential surface of the ingot 105 is ground.
In the cylindrical grinding apparatus 101, end faces of the ingot 105 are held in a horizontal direction. That is, the ingot is held in such a manner that a rotating axis of the ingot 105 is aligned with the horizontal direction. As described above, the grindstone 103 is fed toward a side of the ingot 105 in the direction of a rotating axis of the grindstone 103 and simultaneously in the direction of the rotating axis of clamps 102, 102′. Therefore, in the case where the rotating axis of the ingot 105 is not aligned with the rotating axis of clamps 102, 102′, the ingot cannot be ground to a cylindrical form and further an excessive grinding stock removal occurs. Thus, centering of the ingot is essential before grinding.
With regard to this centering, there is disclosed a cylindrical grinding apparatus in which sectional shapes at many points in the direction of a workpiece axis are measured, a polishing center is calculated by operation based on the measurement result, positional difference between the calculated polishing center and a rotation center of the workpiece is adjusted with a driving portion adjusting a workpiece position (See Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. H2-131849).
There is also disclosed an external diameter grinder for grinding a workpiece with holding both end faces of the workpiece by a fix rod, the grinder which is constructed to equalize a radius of the workpiece with a vertical distance from an extensional center line of the fix rod to a workpiece contact portion of a workpiece placement portion in condition where the workpiece is placed on the workpiece placement portion (See Japanese Utility Model Laid-open (Kokai) No. H6-63266).
However, even though the foregoing grinding apparatus is used, for the purpose of performing the centering precisely, a method of finally hitting the workpiece with a plastic hammer and the like by a skilled worker and of performing a final visual centering step is adopted in the present condition. The centering can be thus performed precisely, whereas much time is needed for steps before the start of grinding the ingot. This contributes grinding processing efficiency to lower.

Cylindrical grinding apparatus and method for grinding