A method and device for monitoring a multi-program data stream. The data stream preferably contains digital packets multiplexed from different data and control channels. A service information channel or program guide is available from the data stream to identify the various channels and the associated packets in the data stream. The packet stream analyzer verifies the program guide and the contents of the program guide against the packets found in the packet stream. The semantics and sequencing of packets can also be verified. Verification errors can be recorded and displayed via an interface computer.

The present invention relates in general to the monitoring of digital multi-program transmissions. More particularly, it relates to monitoring multiplexed packet data streams consisting of digitally encoded video, audio, and data.
Advances in video and audio compression technology, integrated circuit technology, and the communications infrastructure have resulted in a new multiplexed broadcast format for efficient delivery of high quality video and audio programming to consumers, as well as the delivery of useful data services. In particular, the advent of high power communication satellites in combination with the multiplexed broadcast format have allowed over 100 channels of digital video to be transmitted directly to a viewer's home.
For example, digital video information in a multiplexed broadcast format may be transmitted in identifiable groups of bytes or packets. The digital video byte stream is chopped up and packaged into fixed-length packets. The packets from several different video sources can be rapidly assembled together (i.e., multiplexed) onto a single carrier frequency. All packets from a single source form a program or service channel. A single carrier frequency can thus receive and transmit a multiplexed packet stream comprising a number of different video program channels.
In a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) transmission system, for example, a typical high-power satellite transponder is capable of transmitting a single carrier signal containing four live-action television channels or up to eight recorded film channels. A modern satellite can carry dozens of transponders to provide over 100 video channels. Each transponder downlinks its multiplexed or multi-program packet stream to a receiver which resolves the multiplexed packet stream into the original video data channels for display. Similar digital multi-program transmission systems are planned for use in other networks, such as cable networks, computer networks, fiber optic networks and the like.
The broadcast and transmission of packetized data, however, requires new monitoring equipment. For example, ordinary broadcast television can typically be monitored by in-studio personnel simply viewing the live broadcast. With the number of program channels available and high bit rates utilized for digital video transmission, a more sophisticated test system is required. The multiplexed nature of the transmission format does not allow direct access to a particular channel in order to monitor the signal. In-studio monitoring of the broadcast picture of over 100 video channels would also require a large staff of personnel. Furthermore, the forward error correction (FEC) supplied with the transmitted signal corrects and hides signal errors until they reach a level serious enough to cause the received video picture to "freeze" or the complete loss of the transmitted picture. Visual monitoring of the video picture therefore provides little warning of a degrading signal condition before a catastrophic failure of picture quality.
The troubleshooting and isolation of faults in the multiplexed transmission system is also more difficult because of the complex nature of the high-speed digital architecture. The digital transmission system performs the digital conversion, compression, encryption, packetizing, multiplexing and transmission of a large number of signals from various sources at extremely high bit rates. High-speed electronic circuits are required to packetize the digital data and supply the necessary transport control information. At high bit transfer rates, timing errors between circuits may cause packets in the packet stream to be lost. The high data rates and digital nature of the packetized signal, however, makes such errors undetectable to the unassisted human eye. All of the video signals are digitally compressed, encrypted, and packetized so that the video signal cannot be viewed to assist in the troubleshooting of faults. The video picture can only be viewed after the digital signal is depacketized, unencrypted, decompressed, and displayed at the receiver.
The packetized transport architecture of the digital multiplexed transmission system also adds a layer of complexity to the system. The packetized transport architecture requires transport system control information to insure proper de-packetization of the packet stream by the receiver. Errors in the transport system control information may cause the receiver to fail to properly reconstruct the digital data stream.
Accordingly, there is a need for an instrument that can monitor and verify the integrity of the packet stream of digital signals transmitted by a digital multiplexed satellite communication system.

Method and apparatus for analyzing digital multi-program transmission packet streams


A developing device for developing a latent image formed on an image bearing member by using developer, the developing device including: a developing frame; a developing roller for supplying developer to the latent image to develop the latent image; a developer layer regulating member which regulates a layer thickness of developer on a circumferential surface of the developing roller; and a first surface and a second surface which are provided in the developer layer regulating member along a longitudinal direction of the developer layer regulating member, for positioning the developer layer regulating member with respect to the developing frame, in which a first imaginary plane, which is obtained by extending the first surface imaginarily, and a second imaginary plane, which is obtained by extending the second surface imaginarily, intersect each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing device, a process cartridge, a developer layer regulating member, and a developer layer regulating member attaching method.
2. Related Background Art
In electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine, a laser printer, and a facsimile machine, an electrostatic latent image is formed through selective exposure on an electrophotographic photosensitive drum that is uniformly charged by a charging device. Developer is deposited onto the thus formed electrostatic latent image by a developing device, thus developing the electrostatic latent image as a developer image. The developer image is then transferred to a recording medium, thus forming an image on the recording medium. Then, a cleaning device removes from the electrophotographic photosensitive drum any developer remaining on the surface after the transfer of the developer image, thus leaving the electrophotographic photosensitive drum ready for the next image forming process.
Conventionally, there has been adopted a process cartridge system in which an electrophotographic photosensitive drum and components acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, such as charging means (charging device), developing means (developing device), and cleaning means (cleaning device), are integrated into a single cartridge that is detachably mounted to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as the "image forming apparatus main body"). The cartridge system realizes improved operability, allowing for easy maintenance on the above-described process means by the user himself. For this reason, the cartridge system is now widely adopted for an image forming apparatus main body.
In recent years, there has been increased demand for the miniaturization of an image forming apparatus main body. This also led to growing demand for the miniaturization of a process cartridge.
However, the sizes of components such as a developing roller that carries developer in a developing device, an electrophotographic photosensitive drum that is an image bearing member on which an electrostatic image is formed, etc., depend on the size of desired image formation, which inevitably puts a limit on the miniaturization of those components. This also puts a limit on the miniaturization of members acting on those components, for example, a developer layer regulating member that regulates the thickness of a developer layer on the circumferential surface of a developer roller.
Incidentally, of conventional developer layer regulating members, there is one in which, for example, a positioning portion and a fixing portion are arranged on the same plane as a mounting surface extending in the longitudinal direction parallel to a developing roller (JP H09-171303 A).
However, the regulation width in the longitudinal direction of the developer layer regulating member determines the developing width of the developer roller in accordance with the image formation region on the photosensitive drum. Therefore, there is a limit to the miniaturization of the developing roller.
Further, as to the positioning method for the developer layer regulating member, the surface where the fixation of the developer layer regulating member to the developing container is effected lies on the same plane as the plane parallel to the longitudinal direction of the developing roller. Moreover, a fitting portion for effecting positioning and a screw hole for effecting fixation are arranged in close proximity to each other in the lateral direction crossing the longitudinal direction of the developer layer regulating member. Therefore, there is a limit to achieving miniaturization of the developer layer regulating member through a reduction in the distance between the fitting portion and the screw hole by bringing them closer to each other.

Developing device, process cartridge, developer layer regulating member, and developer layer regulating member attaching method


A service database stores a set of area information and a service program for each individual service. When position information of a mobile station and service selection information are received, the service database is searched to retrieve a service program specified by the service selection information and corresponding area information. When the mobile station is present in the area represented by the area information, the service program is executed to provide a service to the mobile station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for providing services to mobile stations such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), car navigation systems, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have already been techniques to provide information services to mobile stations, such as cellular phones, PDAs, car navigation systems, etc., and to charge them. Among these, techniques to provide a service restricted to a particular area include the following:
(1) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-189360 [Area-Restricted Mobile Communications System]
With this technique, each portable terminal is preallocated to an area where communication is authorized. For example, when the service area of a cellular phone is described as the Kanto area only, communication is authorized only when that phone is in the Kanto area.
(2) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-327097 [Area-Restricted Mobile Station Information Providing System]
This technique relates to an information providing service system for portable terminals which is restricted to a particular small area. With this system, special devices, called sign posts, for providing services are placed at regular intervals in an area, and services are provided from the devices to portable terminals.
However, the above area-restricted service systems have the following problems:
With the system (1), a service area can be set up for each portable terminal, but it is impossible to set up an authorized area for each individual service. That is, it is impossible to, besides an area where a call can be made, set up an area where a particular information service is available, for example, in such a way that, outside a horse racetrack, a call can be made but access to tip information on horse races is prohibited.
With the system (2), since information is published from the sign posts placed at regular intervals, the service area is physically restricted to an area where a sign post is placed. It is therefore impossible to set up freely a service area through the use of software.
Thus, the conventional systems cannot freely set up a mobile station service area for each service.

Area-dependent service system and method for mobile stations


Apparatuses are provided that include a rifle stock. For example, in one embodiment the stock includes an upper portion. The upper portion includes a proximal end and a distal end. A front portion and a rear portion are connected to the proximal end and the distal end of the upper portion, respectively. A bottom portion is connected to the front portion and rear portion. A first sidewall and a second sidewall are connected to the upper portion, the front portion, the rear portion, and the bottom portion. A channel is provided between the first and second sidewall. The upper portion, the front portion, the rear portion, and the bottom portion further define the channel. The first and second sidewalls include openings for accessing a computer device residing in the channel.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to weapon stocks and more specifically to stocks specifically configured to receive a computer device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rifles have stocks. Many of those rifles have adjustable stocks. Stocks are an integral part of the rifle that are typically near the armpit/shoulder of the rifle user.
There are instances when the rifle user needs to view/transmit data (or have access thereto) from/to a computer device while holding the rifle (and other equipment). For example, the data can be a mission update, send/receive pictures, send/receive video, view maps, and/or receive/transmit GPS data.
For the rifle user's safety/efficiency there often needs to be little time that it takes the rifle user to move back and forth between the computer device and obtaining/maintaining a "ready position."
One option is for the rifle user to hold the computer device. However, this approach requires the user to either continually hold the computer device or remove/insert the computer device from/into it's storage location. When utilizing this option, the rifle user can be distracted and looses valuable time acquiring the ready position.
Another approach is to add a separate accessory holder that mounts onto an existing stock. This approach typically requires that the computer device (e.g., phone) have a commercial available off-the-shelf phone case/enclosure inserted into the accessory holder. This approach is unwieldy, overly bulky, and ultimately degrades the user's ability to sight and fire the weapon.
There is a need for a design that eliminates the need for additional bulk and extra pieces to mount/access a computer device. There is a need for a design that is smaller, lighter, and ultimately more integrated with the rifle user experience.

Weapon stock integrated network user equipment holder

The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Army


A thumb alignment grip guide is provided for attachment to a golf club handle. The thumb guide acts as a stop or barrier for preventing movement of the golfer's thumb during the golf swing, and allows a golfer to correctly grip the handle at the proper angular location with the lower hand for an accurate golf swing to have the club face contact the ball at the proper angle. The golfer grabs the handle and aligns and presses his or her thumb of the lower hand on the grip against the thumb guide. In one embodiment, the thumb barrier can be pivoted out of the way against the handle or removed when not in use.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the game of golf and more particularly to a golf club guide which allows a golfer to grip a respective golf club in the same spot each time for an improved golf swing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In playing the game of golf, having a proper and consistent golf swing is essential to prevent hooking or slicing of the golf ball during the golf swing. To aide a golfer during his swing several guides have been designed in the past. U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,426 to Cox shows a golf club guide which attaches to a golf club shaft and provides an abutment which continuously engages the user's trailing forearm during both the backswing and follow-through positions, in order to maintain operative alignment between the golf club and the user's trailing arm as the golf club is swung through the backswing and follow-through positions. Cox discloses a device which prevents wrist movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,734 to Allsop shows a projecting contact member attached to a tennis racket and having a rounded outer end adapted to fit comfortably into the "V" between the thumb and index finger of a player. In use, the rigid handle position of the tennis racket is loosely held in the player's hand. The thumb and first finger locate around the contact member. As the hand of the player is rotated, the contact member is carried with the thumb and finger to a desired angular position, using indicia on the racket and/or the sensation of a ball engaging detent as a guide. As seen in FIG. 8 of Allsop, the contact member or block consumes a relatively large cross-sectional area of the top surface of the tennis racket in order to allow the contact member to comfortably fit into the "V" between the thumb and index finger of a player.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,326 to Kokes shows a pad or closed cell foam rubber material or the like which is fixed to a golf club grip in a position to be held by the lower hand of the golfer. The pad is adapted to absorb energy from the lower hand during a golf swing to prevent overpowering of the club by the lower hand. The pad includes a layer of closed cell foam rubber and a pressure sensitive adhesive to affix the pad to the golf club grip.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,158 to Kuykendall shows a golf putter comprising a putter blade or head having a forwardly-angled striking face to impart immediate overspin to the ball being struck. The putter includes a relatively large square handle or grip for enabling alignment of the palm head with the projected line of ball travel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,458 to Proctor, Jr. shows a pivot member at the upper end of a golf club shaft, which is biased outwardly by a compression spring and is adapted to be squeezed by the uppermost hand of the user and moved against the fixed semicylindrical portion of the shaft to provide a generally cylindrical grip portion. If the gripping force exerted by the golfer's hand is not sufficient to compress the spring and force the pivoted member against the shaft, an awkward and uncomfortable grip portion is provided which prevents the golfer from swinging the club in the proper manner.
What is needed in the art is a device or apparatus for resting the outside portion of a golfer's thumb while the golfer is gripping the golf club in order for the golfer's hands to be aligned with the golf club head, thus allowing the golf club head to hit the golf ball at the same angle each time. It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings that the present invention is directed.


An ear wax barrier for an in-the-ear or in-the-canal type hearing aid device positioned at least in part between a receiver output port and a shell acoustic output port includes a substantially cylindrical housing having a barbed portion for press-fitting the barrier into position. The barrier may include a screen and/or a plurality of undulations, such as a thread internal thereto for providing wax accumulation sites to retard the migration of wax into the hearing aid. The barrier is more easily inserted than removed.

In-the-ear and in-the-canal type hearing aids have become accepted by the hearing impaired public for their small size, ease of use and relative comfort, as compared to older style hearing aids. Many of the in-the-ear and in-the-canal type devices include a shell which is designed to fit in the ear or ear canal of the user.
The shell may hold the electronic circuitry, a microphone, and a receiver. The microphone receives sound signals from outside of the device and responsively creates an electronic signal. The signal may be sent to an amplifying circuit which supplies a signal to the receiver. The receiver in turn, provides audio output to the ear.
Typically, in the in-the-ear and in-the-canal type devices, sound travels from an output port of the receiver, through a sound channel, and out of the device through an acoustical output port in the hearing aid shell. The sound may then travel through the user's ear and cause the tympanic membrane to vibrate.
The ears secrete a substance known as cerumen or ear wax. While ear wax cleans the internal structure of the ear, it also tends to flow into the sound channel and receiver of a hearing aid located in the ear. Ear wax which migrates into a hearing aid can degrade the effectiveness of the device and can eventually cause the device to fail.
A number of barrier products are presently available to prevent or reduce the migration of ear wax into a hearing aid. One such barrier design uses a fine mesh screen in the sound channel between the receiver and acoustical output port of the shell. While such a barrier reduces the migration of ear wax into the hearing aid, it suffers from the possibility of becoming clogged with wax.
More recently, barrier systems have been introduced which include a housing which threadedly interconnects the output port of the receiver and the acoustic port of the shell. The housing threads into a portion of the shell. The housing has an interior surface which includes projections extending inwardly thereof, creating a tortuous path for solid or semi-liquid ear wax migrating therethrough.
Such devices are disclosed in Weiss, U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,689, entitled "Ear Wax Barrier For A Hearing Aid" and Weiss et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,488, entitled "Ear Wax Barrier And Acoustic Attenuator For A Hearing Aid," both of which patents are commonly assigned herewith, and both of which patents are hereby incorporated by reference.
In the devices disclosed in the Weiss and Weiss et al. patents, the barrier is incorporated into a housing, which has projections extending inward of the housing. The barrier is then threaded into the hearing aid shell. This design was a significant improvement over devices prior thereto.
Nevertheless, threading the barrier to the hearing aid requires additional mechanical components or alteration of the shell to effect the attachment.
Thus, there continues to be a need for hearing aid ear wax barriers which are easily inserted and removed without additional mechanical components and/or shell alterations. Preferably, such barriers would also provide an effective configuration for preventing the migration of ear wax into the hearing aid.


Disclosed herein is a semiconductor memory device including floating body cells. The semiconductor memory device includes memory cell active regions formed on a Silicon-On Isolator (SOI) semiconductor substrate, a plurality of floating body cell transistors formed in the memory cell active regions, and “inactive transistors” for providing cell isolation that are formed between the plurality of floating body cell transistors. Here, the inactive transistors for providing cell isolation are controlled so that they always are in an OFF state while the semiconductor memory device is operating.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a semiconductor memory device, and, more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device is using floating body cells.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the introduction of a large-scale integration semiconductor device manufacturing process, the most difficult technical problem in the manufacture of DRAM, in which a unit memory cell is formed of one transistor and one capacitor, is to maintain a sufficient data retention time while improving a short channel effect and to fabricate a capacitor having a sufficient capacitance while minimizing dielectric leakage in a narrow area. In particular, the manufacture of a capacitor capable of ensuring reliability while satisfying capacitance necessary for the operation of DRAM has reached the limit of its technology. This technology has drawbacks in terms of process. To solve this problem, active research has been conducted into 1T-DRAM with a memory cell formed of one transistor using the floating body effect of a transistor, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 20070058427 A1.
Meanwhile, in the case of the existing 1T-1C DRAM device, charges are stored in the capacitor. In contrast, a Floating Body Cell (FBC) adopted as the memory cell of 1T-DRAM is used as memory using the change in the threshold voltage (VT) occurring when charges are stored in the body of a transistor. For example, when the transistor operates, impact ionization occurs and, at the same time, holes are created in the floating body. The threshold voltage of the transistor changes depending on whether the created holes are stored or not. This effect is referred to as the "floating body effect." Data "1" or "0" is read based on the change in the is transistor current depending on the change in the threshold voltage. In order to store charges, that is, holes in the floating body, a channel region must be floated. For this purpose, a semiconductor substrate having a Silicon-On Isolator (SOI) structure also known as a "Silicon-On-Insulator" structure, in which an insulating layer is buried is generally used.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are a circuit diagram and a layout diagram of the cell array of a semiconductor memory device using FBCs as memory cells. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate that in a memory cell array in which source lines SLl−1 and SLl+1 are used in common and there are separately formed bit lines BL0 and BL1, one dummy line 3 is formed between memory cells. In this case, the cell area is 6F2. In the case where the minimum area 6F2 is used in order to construct the memory cell array, two word lines WLn and WLn+1 are arranged in each active region 1, and respective active regions 1 are spaced apart from each other at a distance D, which is half the pitch of the word lines, in order to avoid data interference between the cells.
In this case, the dummy line 3 is used as a barrier when landing plug contacts are formed after a gate forming process, or is inserted in order to maintain the uniformity of gate patterning. However, in the case where the memory cell array is formed as described above, it is difficult to form the patterns of the active regions because the distance D between the active regions is narrow as shown in FIG. 1B. That is, if the ratio of the long-axis distance L of the active region 1 in a longitudinal direction to the inter-axis distance D is small (typically, L:D=2:1), Depth-of-Focus (DOF) margin in the photolithography process drastically decreases, so that the active regions 1 may not be separated from and may come into contact with is each other. This problem is more pronounced in the case where a process technology, in particular, a 100 nm or less than 100 nm process technology, is used. Although this problem may be solved by using a dual exposure process or a dual patterning process which uses a mask twice, the manufacturing process becomes complicated and the manufacturing cost increases.

Semiconductor memory device including cell isolation structure using inactive transistors


A ratchet-free and gear-free one-to-one mechanism for setting a dose in a syringe device comprising a dose setting member adapted to be rotated along a piston rod with a threaded outer surface so as to set a dose to be ejected.

When drugs are to be injected into the human body, it is often essential that the dose to be injected is set with a high precision, as a too high or too small dose can have undesirable consequences. At the same time, it should be easy for the patient to set the dose, especially as many patients have poor dexterity. Thus, it is desirable to provide a syringe device wherein the dose is set with a gear mechanism, such that a relative large displacement of a dose setting member results in a relatively small increase or decrease of the set dose.
One such system is known from WO 99/38554, wherein the dose is set by manually rotating an injection button, whereby the button is screwed outwards from the housing. In its movement outwards, the injection button will draw the dose scale drum with it. When the injection button is pressed the movement of this button is transformed into a rotation of the piston rod. The piston rod has an external thread mating an internal thread of a central bore in a wall closing the housing. The threads are designed so that rotation of the piston rod will drive the rod into an ampoule.
Another system is known from WO 2004/028598, which discloses an injection device comprising threaded drive rod in engagement with threads of a rear section of a container holding housing. A lock nut is arranged on the drive rod so as to be slidable but rotationally fixed in relation to the drive rod. A spring is arranged between an end surface of the lock nut and an interior ledge of a dose nut, which comprises a second section having threads on its inner surface in engagement with the threaded drive rod. The force from the spring between the lock nut and the dose nut urges the dose nut away from the lock nut.
Further systems may be seen in US 2002/120235, U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,242, WO 99/38554, WO 94/22507, EP 0 338 806 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,318.
In the treatment of certain decreases, e.g. diabetes, patients must perform injections of a drug, such as insulin, on a daily basis. However, such injections can be painful due to the penetration of the needle through the patient's skin and possibly other tissue. Accordingly, syringe devices with thin needles have been developed. However, a small cross-section in the needle, i.e. a narrow passage for the drug, requires a large injecting force. Patients suffering from poor dexterity may not always be able to bring about a large injecting force, or may not feel comfortable providing the required injecting force.
It is thus an object of preferred embodiments of the present invention to provide a syringe device, wherein the injection mechanism does not add to the resistance in the drug ejection system, i.e. in which there is as little resistance in the injection mechanism as possible. Furthermore, it is an object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a syringe device making it easy for the patient to set a dose with a high precision, even if the patient's dexterity is poor.
A further object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide an injection assisting system for providing an injection force for assisting an operator in performing an injection.
Additionally, it is an object of a preferred embodiment to provide a syringe device, wherein the piston may be locked for movement in a direction opposite to direction of injection, such that air is not sucked into the drug reservoir by drawing the piston backwardly. Yet another object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide a syringe device wherein it is possible to decrease a set dose prior to injection, in case a too high dose has been set by mistake.
Furthermore, it is an object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a syringe device which provides a tactile feedback to the user of the progress of an injection process.

Abstract: During dose setting the piston rod is locked such that rotational movement of the dose setting member does not result in rotational movement of the piston rod.

Abstract: During dose ejection the piston rod and the dose setting member are locked in relation to each other such that translational movement of the dose setting member causes relative rotational and translational movement of the piston rod.


A coated cutting tool that has a rake face and a flank face with a cutting edge at the juncture of the rake and flanks faces, a substrate, and a coating bonded to the substrate. The coating has a coating scheme that includes a layer of a Group IVB metal-aluminum alloy applied by physical vapor deposition, and a layer of alumina applied by physical vapor deposition to the layer of the Group IVB metal-aluminum alloy.

The invention concerns a coated cutting tool. More specifically, the invention pertains to a coated cutting tool wherein the coating scheme for the cutting tool includes a layer of a Group IVB metal-aluminum alloy applied by physical vapor deposition (PVD) and a layer of alumina applied by PVD to the layer of the Group IVB-aluminum alloy.
Alumina as a bulk material exhibits high oxidation resistance, high chemical stability, high hardness and good wear resistance. Alumina thus has desirable properties for use in material removal, e.g., metal removal, applications. Notwithstanding these desirable properties, the use of alumina cutting tools has certain drawbacks due to the low toughness and poor formability of alumina. To improve the cutting performance, some manufacturers have included additives such as chromium oxide, magnesium oxide, titanium oxide, nickel oxide and refractory metal carbides to the alumina-based cutting tool. The presence of these additives has resulted in alumina cutting tools with improved performance properties.
Another way to overcome the disadvantages of alumina and yet still achieve the beneficial properties thereof is to coat tougher and more readily formed cutting tool substrates with an alumina coating via physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques. The end result of this process is an alumina-coated cutting tool.
While alumina-coated cutting tools achieve certain performance levels, there have been drawbacks with these tools. In this regard, the following documents concern the application of an amorphous alumina coating to a substrate.
The article by Knotek et al. entitled "Sputtered hard materials based on titanium and aluminum for wear protection", International Pulvermet. Tagung., DDR, Dresden (1985), pp. 181-196, mentions the PVD (magnetron sputtering) application of separate coatings of alumina, TiN and TiAlN. The article states that these coatings have equivalent, or in the case of TiAlN better, performance than CVD coatings.
The Sumomogi et al article entitled "Adhesion Evaluation of RF-Sputtered Aluminum Oxide and Titanium Carbide Thick Films Grown on Carbide Tools", Thin Solid Films, 79 (1981), pp. 91-100, discusses the PVD application of alumina coatings on cemented carbide tools (ISO P20).
The Shinzato et al. article entitled "Internal Stress in Sputter-Deposited Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 Films", Thin Solid Films, 97 (1982), pp. 333-337, mentions the application of an alumina coating to cemented carbide (ISO P20), high speed steel, and Corning Pyrex glass substrates via either a conventional r.f. apparatus or a planar magnetron r.f. apparatus.
The Kazama et al. article entitled "Alumina Films Prepared by Ion Plating" alumina on a WC cutting tool!, mentions the application of an alumina coating via ion plating to a WC substrate to from an alpha-alumina coating.
Japanese Patent Application S54-2982 to Murayama et al. addresses the use of the ion plating method to apply an alumina (or alumina and TiC) coating to a substrate. Practical Example II concerns the alumina coating on a cutting tool (ISO P30 alloy).
One drawback of alumina coated cutting tools pertains to the lack of adequate adhesion between the substrate and the alumina coating or layer. One way to improve the adhesion of the alumina coating is to provide an intermediate layer or layers. The following documents discuss the use of an intermediate layer.
In Ramos et al., "Adhesion improvement of RF-sputtered alumina coatings as determined by the scratch test", Jour. Adhesion Sci. Technol., Vol. 7, No. 8, pp. 801-811 (1993), the authors looked at the use of a titanium or a titanium nitride intermediate layer between a high speed steel substrate (AISI M2) and an alumina coating applied via RF-sputtering. The overall conclusion was that the presence of a titanium or titanium nitride intermediate layer improves the adhesion of the alumina coating to the high speed steel substrate.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-120667 to Doi et al. mentions in the context of a cutting tool the PVD application of an intermediate layer of alumina over a base layer of TiC. The outer layer is TiN. This patent also mentions a six-layer coating scheme including alumina as the outer layer with TiC, alumina, TiCO as the intermediate layers using a plasma CVD device. Example No. 3 of this patent comprises an eight layer scheme in which the outer layer is alumina and the intermediate layers include TiC, alumina, TiCO and TiCN.
Japanese Patent Application No. H4-308075 to Matsuda et al. discusses the application by ion plating of an alumina coating to a substrate. The alumina may be applied directly to the surface of the substrate. The alumina may also be applied to an intermediate layer previously formed on the substrate. The intermediate layer may be titanium, titanium carbide or titanium nitride.


The present invention provides a method of producing water-containing chocolates in which an aqueous component and a fat and oil composition containing tri-saturated fatty acid glyceride crystals dispersed in a fat or oil whose melting point is at or below body temperature are added to and emulsified with a chocolate mass.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to water-containing chocolates, and more specifically to a method for producing water-containing chocolates which, even when moisture is added thereto, are not noticeably gritty due to the coagulation of the solid contents thereof, do not have an abrupt increase in viscosity, and have a desirable flavor.
2. Background Information
There are a variety of water-containing chocolates in the prior art, from those which contain a small amount of moisture to those which contain a large amount of moisture. For example, a method of producing water-containing chocolates has been proposed (Japanese unexamined patent application publication S60-27339) in which a standard chocolate is molded not by adding substances thereto having a high water content, such as cream, milk, or the like, but rather by using a specific lipophilic emulsifier to produce a water-in-oil emulsion in which the fat in these high water content substances is emulsified. This emulsion is then added to the chocolate as an aqueous component. However, specialized equipment is needed to prepare a water-in-oil emulsion, the method is complex because the number of steps in the production process is increased, and thus is disadvantageous from an economic point of view.
In addition, a method has also been proposed in which an aqueous component is added as is to chocolate (Japanese unexamined patent application publications 556-28131 and H03-164137). This type of method is not widely used because the aqueous component is limited to liquid sugar, condensed cream, or the like.
Another typical water-containing chocolate product is a ganache, which is produced by mixing a chocolate mass with cream. This is an extremely delicious food product that melts in the mouth and in which the rich flavor of cream and chocolate spread within the mouth when eaten. It is used as an ingredient in high quality confections. This type of ganache is prepared by first heating and melting chocolate, and then mixing heat sterilized cream therewith. However, this emulsion is extremely unstable, will separate when used, is difficult to work with due to abrupt increases in viscosity, and it is difficult to reproduce a ganache that has favorable physical characteristics.

Method of producing water-containing chocolates


The disclosed invention relates to a heating apparatus having a PCB-type heater capable of allowing the temperature of Ringer's solution or blood which is introduced into a blood vessel, when transfusing a blood thereto, to be equal to that of the human body to thereby provide an accurate resistance value. The present invention comprises 1. A heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention comprises a body including a first connecting portion having a tube which is connected to the first connection portion and receives a fluid supplied from an instillation room, a path having the shape of a spiral screw thread to enable the fluid to flow and a second connecting portion for supplying the fluid flowing through the path to an injection syringe; an inner cover inserted into the body and fixedly attached thereto in a prescribed adhesive manner for preventing the fluid from flowing out; a middle cover for closely fixing the body and the inner cover against each other; a PCB-type heater inserted into the inside of the top and bottom surfaces of the middle cover for heating the fluid flowing through the path so that the fluid is maintained at a prescribed temperature; a bottom case having a box portion to receive the body having the heater and the middle cover coupled thereto; and a upper case coupled to the bottom case.

Typically, a method of dosing a patient with a chemical material which is useful to him/her includes taking medicine and injecting it. A method of injecting medicine into the patient includes a hypodermic injection, an intra-muscular injection, intravenous injection and so on. Among them, the intravenous injection is applied when injecting into a blood vessel for a long time. For example, the intravenous injection is used when supporting a blood or giving an injection of Ringer's solution to a patient and generally uses an intravenous drip set.
The Ringers solution is usually kept at a low temperature in order to prevent from being decomposed or producing an alien substance, and a blood and the like are usually kept in cold environment in order to prevent any noxious eutrophication of an organic matter prior to giving a blood transfusion to patient. Generally, the temperature of Ringer's solution and blood is in a circumstance of 20° C. or less when injecting to a human body. Accordingly, when Ringer's solution or blood is injected to a human body, the temperature thereof also rises since the temperature of human body is generally 37°. In this case, the energy that the temperature of Ringer's solution or blood is required to rise to human body is supplied by the patient's risen metabolic rate. Since this thermal load is never feeble compared to the normal metabolic rate, it drops human body's temperature and excites a cooling point of skin. As a result, under such a situation, any injection of Ringer's solution or giving of a blood transfusion to patient may cause a cold pain to the patient and even make the lives of the patient very dangerous.
In order to solve such problems, a Korean Patent No. 130926 discloses a method and apparatus for medicine for allowing the temperature of Ringer's solution or blood to be equal to that of human body prior to injecting Ringer's solution or blood to the patient.
According to the above Patent No. 130926, a tube is fixed to the upper portion of a panel in order to adjust the temperature of Ringer's solution and a first cover is placed on the upper portion of the panel. The first cover is fixed to a vertical member by means of a hinge, and a locking device is installed on a horizontal member opposed to the vertical member having the hinge attached thereto. The first cover is attached with a second cover having a built-in insulation on the upper portion thereof. Therefore, the tube is built-in within a rectangular-shape barrel as a whole and is heated by a heating means within a rectangular barrel.
Since the tube within the rectangular-shape barrel is short in the length thereof, a heating apparatus for medicine which should heat at a low temperature of 41.5° or less is substantially difficult to rise the short tube in length to a desired temperature and control a desired temperature. Further, when using a high-temperature heating apparatus which would cause harmful effects, a very fine electronic control system for controlling the high-temperature heating apparatus should be applied, resulting in the complexity of the heating apparatus and a high cost of production thereof.
Also, a heating apparatus using a conventional Ni—Cr heating resistor is designed to wind a surface of a circular-shaped heating resistor with a tube such as Ringer's solution, cover the surface with a lid and then lock by means of a locking device. However, this structure has a troublesome and complexity since the heating resistor should be wound with the tube whenever using it. Further, the use of Ni—Cr heating resistor causes the size of the heating apparatus to be large and the weight reaches more than 20 Kg, resulting in a very heavy expense of the heating apparatus.

Warming apparatus with heater produced by PCB


An embodiment provides a method for measuring zinc and copper in an aqueous sample, including: reducing an aqueous sample containing an amount of zinc and an amount of copper with a reducing agent; buffering the reduced aqueous sample; chelating the amount of copper in the buffered aqueous sample with a copper(I) chelating agent; measuring the amount of copper in the aqueous sample by measuring a first change in intensity of the absorbance of the copper chelated aqueous sample; chelating the amount of zinc in the buffered aqueous sample with a zinc(II) chelating agent; and measuring the amount of zinc in the aqueous sample by measuring a second change in intensity of the absorbance of the zinc chelated aqueous sample. Other aspects are described and claimed.

This application relates generally to measuring zinc and copper in aqueous or liquid samples.
Ensuring water quality is critical in a number of industries such as pharmaceuticals and other manufacturing fields. Additionally, ensuring water quality is critical to the health and well-being of humans, animals, and plants which are reliant on the water for survival. Metals such as copper and zinc may be measured and monitored. Too much copper or zinc in water can be harmful to humans or animals. For example, Copper and zinc may have long-term health effects and may cause the water to be less desirable to consumers or facilities. Copper or zinc may be present from natural or human activities such as manufacturing. Measurement and mitigation of copper and zinc may result in higher costs of water treatment. Therefore, detecting the presence and concentration of copper and/or zinc in water or other liquid solutions is vital.


A process automation system includes terminals for operating and monitoring purposes, automation devices for executing control functions, and a host computer. Communication between the terminals and the automation devices is exclusively established via the host computer. The host computer may be installed remotely, in a computing center.

In process automation systems, operating and monitoring equipment performs the operation and monitoring of processes in control technology, as well as archiving and documenting the process values generated and process messages from subordinate automation systems. In order for a process to be monitored and optionally operated simultaneously by multiple operators, client-server concepts are used today, where the server, also known as the host station or host computer, performs all the computing, and the clients, also known as terminals, are responsible only for graphic output and permit operator input and change of displays by using a mouse and keyboard. At the host station there is a process bus which establishes the connection with the automation equipment and a terminal bus which establishes the physical connection with the terminals. The host station and terminals are usually located in the control room or adjacent rooms.
Increasingly complex processes and automation systems make the highest demands on the host station with regard to computing power and memory capacity. Security requirements and regulations governing complete documentation of the production of a batch, for example, often require installation of another redundant system. This plus the care and maintenance of the equipment mean increased financial expenditures for plant operators.
The object of the present invention is to reduce the hardware.
One advantage of the automation system according to the present invention is that the required computing power can be supplied by a host computer outside the control room of the automated plant, in particular in a central computer center, so the plant operator need not have his own host computer (host station), thus eliminating the acquisition costs, care and maintenance for the plant operator. In particular, the possibility of simultaneous operation of multiple automation systems by the host computer makes it possible to design the latter as a supercomputer with an especially large computing power and memory, thereby increasing the benefit for each individual automation system. Almost all relevant data can be stored in the main computer, and all important process information can be archived to an almost unlimited extent and made available to the plant operator. Another advantage is the possibility of a redundant design of the automation system, which can be implemented, with regard to the host computer, invisibly to the plant manufacturer in the computer center.


The present disclosure relates to a method performed by a connectivity service platform (2) in a communication network (1). The method comprises storing a fall-back policy. The method also comprises sending a policy message comprising information about the fall-back policy to a radio device (5) comprising an eUICC (6). The method also comprises detecting an event relating to a first subscription of the radio device with a first network operator (7) for a wireless network connection. The method also comprises sending an event message comprising information about the detected event to the radio device via the wireless network connection of the first subscription. The method also comprises determining that the detected event implies that the radio device will lose the network connection of the first subscription. The method also comprises falling back in accordance with the stored fall-back policy, thereby enabling the connectivity service platform to communicate with the radio device via a network connection of a second subscription of the radio device instead of the first subscription.

Unlike a traditional UICC Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card used in a consumer device, e.g. a mobile phone, all eUICC that are deployed in e.g. Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solutions and embedded into the M2M device cannot easily be accessed by human intervention to switch the SIM card manually during the device life cycle. According to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Association (GSMA) eUICC standard (GSMA "Remote Provisioning Architecture for Embedded UICC" DRAFT 1.39 29th April 2013) and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) eUICC Standard (EXALTED "Expanding LTE for Devices" FP7 Contract Number: 258512, Feb. 29, 2012), all eUICC shall be delivered with a pre-installed provisioning subscription for remote provisioning/bootstrapping purpose (i.e. a provisioning/bootstrapping operator provides initial bootstrapping connectivity for eUICC in order to enable late binding feature i.e. to remotely provision the 1st eUICC operational subscription to the eUICC when the device (e.g. a car) comprising the eUICC is shipped from initial manufacturer country to the destination country (1st operational subscription could be provided by the local operator from the destination country), and then later to change the eUICC active operational subscription from the current operator subscription to an new operator (due to the location being changed to another country, or changed operator subscription) during the device/eUICC long life cycle (15-20 years), in order to avoid high roaming fee and/or single operator lock-in situation during the device long life cycle e.g. in the automotive industry or for smart metering/security cameras etc.
However, eUICC connectivity may be lost permanently during subscription management lifecycle through operations such as enable/disable/activate/pause/deactivate/terminate/etc. In such cases the eUICC and network must fall back to an available subscription to recover the initial connectivity.
Chapter 3.5.12 "Fall-Back Mechanism" of GSMA "Remote Provisioning Architecture for Embedded UICC" DRAFT 1.39 29th April 2013 states that in the event of loss of network connectivity, as detected by the device, there is a need to change to the profile with fall-back attribute set. In this case the eUICC disables the currently enabled Profile (Profile A) and enables the Profile with Fall-back Attribute set (Profile B). The device reports network loss to the eUICC. The eUICC is configured to perform the fall-back mechanism if certain network connectivity issues are reported by the Device.


A method of shredding a block of material, which can be a block of cheese, includes moving blades about an axis and feeding a block of material in a feed plane toward the moving blades in a feeding direction, where the feeding direction is substantially perpendicular to the axis about which the blades move. A drive unit is provided that moves the blades about the axis, wherein the blades define a cutting perimerer, and a feed unit is provided that moves the block of material toward the cutting perimeter on a feed plane and in the feeding direction. In one embodiment, the blades are on a rotating drum and the feeding direction is generally perpendicular to and rotated about 90° from the axis about which the blades move. The plurality of blades cut shreds of material from a front face of the block.

Although the following description is focused on forming shreds from a block of cheese, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the present invention encompasses forming shreds from a block of any suitable material. As used herein, the term "shredding" refers to the process of shredding a block of material into shreds or slicing a block of material into smaller pieces.
Traditionally, machines for shredding cheese have been designed to cut non-continuous, blocks of cheese. For example, one known method of shredding cheese takes large blocks of cheese, typically having a height of about 7 inches, a width of about 11 inches, and a length of about 14 inches, and cuts up the large blocks of cheese into small, finite cubes of cheese having a height of about 1 inch, a width of about 1 inch, and a length of about 1 inch. The cubes of cheese are then shredded using a centrifugal shredder, such as the Model CC shredder manufactured by Urschel Laboratories, Inc, of Valparaiso, Ind. (the "Urschel shredder"). In the Urschel shredder, the cubes of cheese are dropped into a stationary cylindrical chamber housing a series of blades. The cylindrical chamber is positioned around a rotating plate having a series of impellers. The blades are lined up against the wall of the cylinder. The centrifugal force caused by the rotating plate moves the cubes of cheese from the center of the rotating plate out towards the edges of the rotating plate. As the cubes of cheese approach the edges of the rotating plate, the cubes of cheese are pressed up against the wall of the cylinder and the series of impellers drag the cubes of cheese across the wall and past the blades, resulting in the cutting of the cubes of cheese.
Such conventional shredders have some disadvantages. Centrifugal shredders use a considerable amount of energy in cutting the cubes of cheese, since the cheese must be moved across the rotating plate, pressed firmly against the wall of the cylinder, and dragged across the wall and past the blades in order to cut the cheese. Moreover, the large blocks of cheese must be formed and then cut into small cubes of cheese in order to use a centrifugal shredder.
Another known method of shredding cheese is to take long, narrow blocks of cheese, typically having a height of about 3.5 inches, a width of about 5.5 inches, and a length of about 14.0 inches, and use a cheese shredder having a cutting disc to cut the long, narrow blocks of cheese. The cutting disc rotates about an axis parallel to the length of the block of cheese. Such a cheese shredder is manufactured by Hobart Manufacturing Co. of Troy, Ohio (the "Hobart shredder"). In this arrangement, the long, narrow blocks of cheese are pressed up against the cutting disc which is comprised of a series of blades. As the cutting disc rotates, the long, narrow blocks of cheese are cut. In order to shred cheese with such a device having a cutting disc, the cheese must be formed into long, narrow blocks of cheese before the cheese can be shredded.
It is also known that certain manufacturing processes produce products that are not as easily shredded as products produced by other processes. For example, in one known process, cheese is melted and extruded into a thin sheet upon a surface such as a moving belt. In this process, molten cheese is fed into a manifold, which distributes the molten cheese in a layer onto a continuously moving endless belt, which is commonly called a casting belt. Such a process, and the apparatus used in such a process, is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,527,551 and 5,573,805. The thin, continuous sheet of cheese may have a width of about 36 inches, for example. The thin sheet may then be cut along its width to form a plurality of thin ribbons, and then the plurality of thin ribbons may be stacked on top of each other to form continuous, stacked ribbons of cheese. The stacked ribbons of cheese form or define a continuous block of cheese (i.e., a block formed from the stack of ribbons). Although processing the cheese to form a continuous block in the manner described above provides significant manufacturing advantages, conventional shredders such as the centrifugal shredders are not designed to handle stacked ribbons of cheese. Rather, such shredders are designed to handle finite cubes of cheese. The stacked ribbons of cheese formed by the casting belt arrangement are typically too thin to be shred by a centrifugal shredder.
Another known shredder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,855. In the shredding device disclosed in this patent, a continuous sheet of cheese from a casting belt is shred by a comb-like arrangement. The sheet is fed in a feed direction to a rotating comb with fingers that extend radially outward. The fingers sheer the thin sheet of cheese into shreds. At the point of contact between the fingers and the sheet of cheese, the fingers of the comb are substantially parallel with the sheet and extend in the feed direction. Thus, the shreds are formed from the sheet such that the length of each shred is parallel to the feed direction. One disadvantage of this arrangement is that the shreds have a uniform, substantially rectangular configuration. The shape of the shreds is dictated by the fingers in the comb. There is little ability to change the shape of the shreds. It has been found that the consumer, however, prefers a more traditional looking shred of cheese. Traditional shreds of cheese have a more feathered look. The feathered look is provided by the blade geometry and by shredding a block, instead of a sheet, of cheese.
Cheese shredders of the cutting disc-type are also not designed to cut stacked ribbons of cheese. Such cutting disc-type shredders used on a stack would result in unacceptable sizes and shapes for the shreds. The reason is that the path of the cutter does not follow the plane of the ribbons. As the blade in cutting disc-type shredders rotate, shreds would be formed in an arc across the face of the ribbons.
Therefore, a number of characteristics are desirable for an apparatus to efficiently cut ribbons of cheese, such as a block formed from continuous, stacked ribbons of cheese. Preferably, the apparatus cuts the cheese using less energy than traditional methods.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The invention relates to a package for enclosing a liquid food product. The package comprises an area having a tactile pattern for at least for indicating intended user grip and/or enhancing décor graphics. The invention also relates to a blank, a reel of blanks and a method of generating the tactile pattern.

Some existing carton-based packages for liquid foods comprise a tubular body extending between a closed bottom and a top. The bottom is typically planar such that the package can rest on a table, and the top typically comprises an opening arrangement.
Such disposable packages, particularly those for storing liquid foods, are frequently produced from a packaging laminate which consists of a core layer of paper, which layer is covered with a polymeric decor layer on a first, or outer, side. On the other side (i.e. the inner side facing the product to be enclosed) a multi-layer sheet is provided. The inner multi-layer typically comprises a first layer of polymeric material, a barrier film, and a second additional layer of polymeric material. The laminated packaging material is frequently supplied in the form of a continuous web being reeled on a storage reel and which, after having been unrolled from its storage reel converted, by means of folding, sealing, filling and folding into filled packaging containers in automatic filling machines.
Liquid food packages are provided in a number of different dimensions for enclosing liquid food, such as milk, juice, etc, of different volumes. For example, a juice package of the described disposable carton-based type may enclose a volume between 0.25 and 2 liters. Since the size of the package may vary widely, it may not be immediately clear for a user of the package how to grip the package in an optimum way for facilitating handling and pouring.
During the recent years there has been a technology development on how to design and position the opening arrangement in such a way the user is taught how to handle the package correctly. However, since different package providers, such as dairies etc, request specific designs of their packages such a solution may only be suitable in specific applications.
There is thus a need for a package which has improved handling and gripping capabilities.

Package for storing liquid food, and a blank for forming a part of said package


Disclosed herein are a display device and a manufacturing method thereof, in which a sensing signal generated by touch input is received through at least two receiving channels. The display device includes a touch panel in which a plurality of driving electrodes receive a plurality of driving signals and a plurality of sensing electrodes generate a plurality of sensing signals by a touch input, wherein the driving electrodes and the sensing electrodes are arranged to intersect each other, and a sensing circuit device in which a plurality of receiving channels receive the sensing signals. The sensing circuit device is configured to receive one sensing signal generated by the touch input through at least two receiving channels.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to a display device to display an image on a screen and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display devices of the related art are devices to display a visual stereoscopic image.
Flat display devices of the related art, which have advantages over cathode ray tubes such as a smaller mounting space, decreased weight, decreased volume, higher image quality, easy implementation of a large screen display, and a flat display, have recently been developed.
A touch panel of the related art may be applied to a display device to provide an intuitive input method to a user. A display device of the related art capable of sensing touch input is widely used in various electronic apparatuses such as cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), navigation apparatuses, etc. In particular, with a recent increase in demand for smartphones, demand for display devices which are capable of providing various input methods in a limited form factor by sensing touch input has also increased.

Display device and manufacturing method thereof


A convertible garden tiller includes a chassis, a pair of wheels supporting the chassis, an engine mounted on the chassis capable of driving the wheels in a given direction and a plurality of earth working tines. Each tine is generally unidirectional, having a preferred direction of movement through the earth and is disposed on an elongated tine shaft which rotates about a longitudinal axis in response to operation of the engine. The tine shaft is also pivotable 180 degrees about a transverse axis, to selectively rotate the tines in the given direction as well as the second direction. This construction therefore provides that each tine moves through the earth only in its preferred direction of movement. The tiller also includes guide handles which are selectively pivotable from a position above the tines to a position above the wheels for alternately converting from a rear tine mode to a front tine mode. The wheels are driven by the engine when the guide handles are disposed in the rear tine mode and are automatically disengaged from the engine when the handles are pivoted to convert the tiller to the front tine mode. Further, the tines are replaceable with other implements such as an edger, aerator, power rake, snow-thrower or sickle bar.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to lawn and garden equipment and more particularly to a tiller which is convertible to selectively operate in front tine and rear tine configurations, as well as in both SRT and CRT modes.
2. Background Information
Several types of garden tillers exist for performing various tilling operations in gardens, flower beds, lawns and the like. Examples of these types include rear tine SRT ("standard rotating tine") tillers, rear tine CRT ("counter rotating tine") tillers and front tine tillers, also commonly referred to as cultivators. While each of these devices will till the earth, each particular construction is optimized for discrete operating conditions or operations.
One type of tiller is known as a rear tine SRT tiller. This machine typically includes power driven drive wheels, power driven tines and a handle which extends over the tines. Thus, during operation, the tines are located between the drive wheels and the operator. The designation SRT indicates that the tines rotate in the same forward direction as the drive wheels and thus cooperate with the wheels to propel the tiller forwardly. These types of tillers are best suited for tilling previously tilled soil or light sandy soil. SRT tillers are also very well suited for power composting.
Rear tine SRT tillers are not however, without their drawbacks. In particular, these machines are not particularly well suited for tilling hard soil, as the tines tend to skip and till only to a very shallow depth. In addition, they tend to be cumbersome and difficult to maneuver in tight areas, such as around existing plants or other obstacles.
Another type of tiller is known as a rear tine CRT tiller. This machine is structurally similar to the rear tine SRT tiller, with the exception that the tines rotate in the opposite direction, namely, opposite to the direction of rotation of the drive wheels. This construction solves some of the problems associated with the SRT tiller described hereinabove, namely, the tines penetrate to a deep depth even in hard soil or soil which has not been tilled previously. A general disadvantage however, of this approach is that the drive wheels tend to lose traction relative to the deep digging "counter rotating" tines. As a result, the tiller may stop moving forward or may even be pulled rearwardly against the forward pull of the drive wheels. Consequently, such tillers are generally very large and heavy, commonly in excess of 200 pounds, to provide the wheels with sufficient traction to consistently overcome the rearward pull of the tines. A drawback of such large machines however, is that they can be inefficient and cumbersome to operate for relatively light duty tilling, such as home garden use or other small area tilling. CRT tillers are also not suited for power composting.
A further type of tiller is known as a front tine tiller or cultivator. Such a machine typically includes a pair of non-driven wheels, power driven tines and a handle which extends over the wheels. During operation, the wheels are located between the tines and the operator and the tines rotate in the forward direction to propel the tiller forwardly. This type of tiller tends to be highly maneuverable and ideally suited for relatively light duty operations such as tilling small areas or areas between and around plants or other obstacles. The front tine tiller however, is not the best choice for routine tilling operations since the wheels trail the tines and therefore tend to leave tracks or ruts in the freshly tilled earth.
Rather than necessitate owning a separate machine for each of the above described tilling operations, it is desirable to have a single machine capable of operating effectively in more than one mode. For example, it would be convenient to provide a single tiller which is capable of operating in both rear tine SRT and CRT modes for effectively tilling both previously tilled earth, as well as hard packed soil. This may conceivably be accomplished by providing a reversing transmission for selectively changing the direction of rotation of the tines. A significant drawback of this approach however, is that the best performing tines tend to be unidirectional, having a preferred direction of movement through the soil. Generally speaking, such tines have convex leading edges and concave trailing edges. The convex leading edge serves to smoothly cut into and lift the soil while effectively allowing roots and grass to slide off the tine. Using a transmission to simply shift the tines into reverse rotation results in the tines moving through the soil leading with the concave, rather the convex surface. Such backwards movement is undesirable because the concave surface tends to snag and become entangled in roots, grass and other debris. Accordingly, this approach produces an inefficient CRT tiller.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a single tilling machine that can be quickly and easily converted by a user to several different operating modes, including both front and rear tine operation, as well as SRT and CRT tine rotation, while moving the tines through the earth only in their preferred direction of movement.


Cluster data is generated based on a history of storage operations. The cluster data may include an address range and an access history. The access history may comprise a bit pattern that represents a history of storage operations associated with a cluster. A prefix or counter may identify the number of storage operations identified in the bit pattern. The bit pattern and/or address range may be updated to reflect new storage operations associated with the cluster. The bit pattern then may determine when to cache data in a cache memory.

A computer system may copy data from a storage device into a cache memory. The computer system may reduce storage access times by servicing storage access requests from the faster cache memory. When the cache fills up, the computer system may invalidate some data from the cache memory and repopulate the cache memory with other data from the slower storage device.
The computer system may use different criteria for replacing data in the cache memory. For example, the computer system may use a least recently used (LRU) scheme that replaces data in least recently accessed cache lines with data recently accessed data from the storage device. In another example, the computer system may use a least frequently used (LFU) scheme that replaces data in the cache lines with the fewest number of accesses with the data recently accessed from the storage device. Some memory systems may use a combination of the LRU scheme and the LFU scheme. Derivative systems (such as ARC) have also been used to improve the effectiveness of caching in storage systems and provide resiliency against storage access patterns that cause undesirable replacement of data (thrashing of the cache).
The LRU scheme and/or the LFU scheme still may not provide the most efficient and/or effective replacement of data in the cache. For example, a first set of data may be invalidated in the cache while a second set of data in the cache remains valid. The computer system then may request the first set of data while the second set of data remains unused in the cache. The computer system may experience slower memory access times since the first set of data now has to be accessed from the slower storage device. Caching systems may track storage access patterns and predict which data will be accessed in the future and for how long that data will be relevant. However, tracking and predicting storage operations is computationally intensive and sometimes may not be possible. The ability to determine whether data should be cached and for how long is a desirable capability within a storage system.


A wafer storing, closed container for use in a clean room of a semiconductor manufacturing system is provided with an attached inert gas tank so as to eliminate the need to convey the container to an inert gas purge station to supplement the inert gas supply in the container due to leakage. A gas passageway is formed in a body of the container in such a manner that one end thereof is open inside the container. The other end is open outside the container. The portable inert gas tank is detachably connected to the other end of the gas passageway so as to automatically supplement the container with the inert gas.

This invention relates to a closed container used in a semiconductor manufacturing system, in a clean room, for manufacturing semiconductor wafers, liquid crystal display boards, reticles, disks, etc.
One example of a semiconductor manufacturing system of this type is as shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 designates a surface treatment equipment incorporating a surface treatment oven or furnace for providing surface treatment to semiconductor wafers, the equipment 1 having two ports (described later) arranged in parallel; 2, a wafer inspecting device; 3, a self-running type positioning robot; 4, a wafer storehouse; 4A, the apron of the wafer storehouse 4; 5, a wafer washing device; and 6, a linear motor conveyor.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a part of the aforementioned surface treatment equipment 1. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 10 designates a closed container with an opening 11 which is sealingly closed through a seal 12 with a lid 13. The lid incorporates an automatic locking mechanism (not shown) with a rod 14. The rod 14 is moved back and forth, so that its end is engaged with the opening 11 of the container 10. Further in FIG. 4, reference numeral 15 designates a wafer cassette, in which a plurality of semiconductor wafers W (for instance twenty-five semiconductor wafers W) are set one above another. The wafer cassette 15 is set in the container 10 when conveyed. FIG. 4 shows the container 10 including the wafer cassette 15 which container is placed on a plate 16 of the surface treatment device 1. The plate 16 forms the abovedescribed port (or cassette taking-in-and-out port) 16A. The container 10 is locked onto the plate 16 with lever-type locking mechanisms 17, and thereupon the self-locking mechanism of the lid 13 is released. The wafer cassette 15 together with the lid 13 is placed on the stand 18 of a lift 18 and moved downwardly, and then only the wafer cassette 15 is conveyed to the surface treatment oven (not shown) by the conveyor (not shown). After the surface treatment of the semiconductor wafers has been accomplished, the wafer cassette 15 is moved back to the lid 13 set on the lift stand 18A. Thereafter, the lift stand 18A is moved upwardly, so that the wafer cassette 15 is brought into the container 10. Under this condition, the lid 13 is locked; that is, the container 10 is closed with the lid 13 thus locked. The container 10 thus closed is moved into the wafer storehouse 4 through the apron 4A by the robot 3. In the wafer storehouse 4, a stacking crane 7 is operated to set the container 10 at a predetermined position on a shelf specified by a central control device (not shown).
Semiconductor wafers or the like should be free from dust. Therefore, a semiconductor manufacturing process is carried out in a clean room having a clean atmosphere, and heretofore the wafer cassette 15 is not covered when conveyed from one processing device to another. However, as the integration of semiconductor circuits is improved, the wafer cassette 15 is handled as follows: That is, the wafer cassette 15 is set in the closed container 10 before moved between processing devices. In addition, the closed container 10 is filled with inert gas, to suppress the formation of natural oxide films on the semiconductor wafers.
The container is held closed. However, if it is left for a long time after being filled with an inert gas such as N.sub.2 gas, the gas leaks gradually, so that the density of N.sub.2 gas in the container is decreased.
Therefore, in the case where it is required for the container to have a high purity N.sub.2 gas atmosphere, or the container is held in the storehouse for a long time, it is necessary to supplement the container with more gas. For this purpose, the container is conveyed to the N.sub.2 gas purge station every predetermined period of time, and gas-purged. This makes the system intricate in operation.

Closed container to be used in a clean room


Densified boron carbide-aluminum, ceramic-metal composites that are substantially free of AlB.sub.12, AlB.sub.12 C.sub.2 and Al.sub.4 C.sub.3 result from a two stage process. Admixtures of boron carbide are densified under pressure in stage one, In stage two, the densified admixture is heat treated. In both stages, the temperature is less than 800.degree. C. If the temperatures do not exceed 600.degree. C., the resultant densified cermet has only three phases: a) boron carbide; b) Al.sub.4 BC; and c) aluminum.

The present invention relates generally to preparing ceramic-metal composites or cermets from boron carbide and aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or an aluminum compound that is reduced to aluminum or an aluminum alloy during processing. The present invention relates more particularly to the preparation of such composites at temperatures below 800.degree. C. The present invention also relates to the resultant cermets.

Boron carbide-aluminum cermets having microstructures tailored by a post-densification heat treatment


The present disclosure provides a display panel and an electronic device. The display panel comprises: a substrate, wherein a metal layer and an anti-reflection film are disposed on the substrate, the anti-reflection film is disposed on a light-emitting side of the metal layer, and the anti-reflection film comprises a protective layer and a darkening layer; wherein the protective layer is disposed between the darkening layer and the metal layer, and a material of the darkening layer comprises at least one of MoaXbOc, MoaXbNd, MoaXbOcNd, MoaXbWc, MoaXbCc, or AlaObNc, wherein a, c, and d are rational numbers greater than 0, b is a rational number greater than or equal to 0, and X is at least one of tantalum, vanadium, nickel, niobium, zirconium, tungsten, titanium, rhenium, or hafnium. The display panel and the electronic device of the present disclosure can improve display effect and display quality.

With development of display panels, requirements for display panels have become higher, and contrast is one of important indicators to evaluate display quality of display panels.
The contrast relates to brightness of a bright state, brightness of a dark state, and reflectivity. In actual use, due to influence of ambient light, a part of ambient light enters display panels, and is reflected by metal layers in the display panels. However, the metal layers in current display panels have large reflectivity that causes a greater intensity of the reflected light, thereby influencing the contrast of the image and reducing display effect and display quality.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a display panel and an electronic device to solve the problem in current technology.
Technical problem: the contrast relates to brightness of a bright state, brightness of a dark state, and reflectivity. In actual use, due to influence of ambient light, a part of ambient light enters display panels, and is reflected by metal layers in the display panels. However, the metal layers in current display panels have large reflectivity that causes a greater intensity of the reflected light, thereby influencing the contrast of the image and reducing display effect and display quality.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a display panel and an electronic device to solve the problem in current technology.

TCL CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A method of reducing blockage in a reflector antenna includes disposing a feed mechanism in front of a first reflector and disposing a second reflector in front of the feed mechanism. The second reflector permits energy to pass that would otherwise have been blocked from being received or transmitted by the first reflector. A reflector antenna is also formed in accordance with this method. Another method of reducing blockage in a reflector antenna includes disposing a first feed mechanism in front of a first reflector and disposing a second antenna in front of the first feed mechanism. The first feed mechanism blocks energy from being received or transmitted by the first reflector. The second antenna receives or transmits energy blocked by the first feed mechanism. A reflector antenna is also formed in accordance with this method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to reflector antennas, and more particularly relates to a method and apparatus that reduce the effects of collector surface blockage in reflector antennas while increasing antenna gain and efficiency.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Parabolic antennas have been used for many years as an inexpensive fixed beam antenna in both transmit and receive applications. FIG. 1 shows an example of a center-feed parabolic antenna 10, which has been in common use in backyards as a satellite reception antenna.
Center-feed parabolic antennas 10 work very well in such applications. However, when sidelobe reduction is either desired or required, performance of this type of reflector antenna is limited by blockage of its collector surface 12 by its antenna feed structure 14. This blockage causes discontinuities in the illumination of the parabolic collector surface 12, which are manifested by an increase in undesirable sidelobe levels. FIG. 2 shows an antenna pattern of a parabolic antenna, such as the antenna 10 shown in FIG. 1, in which the sidelobe levels 16 have been increased due to blockage by its feed structure 14.
Therefore, there is an obvious need for a method of reducing the effects of collector surface blockage by feed structures and/or subreflectors in all types of reflector antennas.

Method and apparatus for reducing the effects of collector blockage in a reflector antenna


An improved method and apparatus for creating a context-sensitive pathsend in a asynchronous data packet network of the kind used typically in on-line transaction processing where a particular receiving server in a server pool must communicate with a particular originating client. By piggybacking messages and employing run-time binding to create a logical connection between the server and client, the present invention achieves a dramatic improvement in processing data packets and minimizing system resources. In a preferred embodiment the invention is backwardly compatible with existing context-free applications.

In a typical on-line transaction between a plurality of clients and one or more servers in a server pool, the client applications may send a voluminous number of very brief messages or requests (often tens of thousands of data packets each less than 32 k in size) that have to be processed by a particular server in the server pool. The clients and servers work independently (asynchronously) of one another, and the transmission of data by the network connecting client and server is asynchronous as well, as the data packets are sent in a message forwarding scheme. It would be advantageous in such an I/O asynchronous world if a collection of messages could be given "context" so that a specific server could service the collection of messages in as expeditious manner as possible, without having to resort to costly and time-consuming look-up and queuing processes every time a message was received, as in the prior art. One attempt to solve this problem is to provide the messages, server and client applications with information to establish a sort of temporary dedicated connection between server and client. The present invention is directed towards such a "context-sensitive dialog."
Other programs have attempted to provide for context sensitive dialogs ("pathsends"), such as Tuxedo, Encino, and CPIC (the protocol for some of these programs can be found in publications by the XOpen standard committee), but the present invention provides for a novel and improved dialog that has numerous advantages over any prior efforts.

Method and apparatus for context sensitive pathsend


An aquarium filter arrangement including a filter housing and a filter cartridge positionable within a filter chamber of the filter housing. The filter arrangement includes a hinged cover connected to the filter housing. The hinged cover is designed to collect condensation when the cover is in an open position, and empty the collected condensation into the filter chamber when the cover is closed. The filtering housing also includes guides located above the filter chamber. The filter cartridge can be positioned within the guides during maintenance of the aquarium.

To maintain an ecological balance within an aquarium, it is necessary to keep the water in the aquarium clean. Cleaning is often accomplished by pumping water from the aquarium to a filter device, filtering the water through a filter medium, and returning the filtered water to the aquarium.
As aquarium water passes through the filter media, various particulates trapped by the media can gradually slow or block the passage of water through the media. Thus, it is necessary for the user to periodically remove and replace the filter media. As can be understood, the filter media is typically submerged within the filter housing during operation, and is therefore saturated with water when initially removed from the filter housing. A user is therefore required to either hold the filter media over the aquarium until the water drains from the media, or attempt to dispose of the filter media without dripping water on electrical components or other items or articles that can either be damaged or stained from the water.
Also, aquarium water is often heated to maintain a particular temperature range within the aquarium for the fish. Covers positioned on top of filter housings are frequently subject to condensation caused by the temperature differential between the heated aquarium water contained within the filter housing and the ambient room temperature. In conventional arrangements, when the cover is lifted and removed, a user must again take care to not drip the condensation onto electrical components or other items.
In general, improvement has been sought with respect to such arrangements, generally to accommodate ease of use and improved safety and convenience.


A fiber material storage device for a textile includes a storage chute having a chute housing and a supply line leading into the storage chamber. Fiber material is pneumatically conveyed with conveying air into the storage chamber. A cleaning unit in the storage chamber cleans contamination from the conveying air and includes a cleaning chamber. A semipermeable dividing wall is situated between the storage chamber and the cleaning chamber to retain the fiber material in the storage chamber and allow the contaminated conveying air to flow into the cleaning chamber. A filter element is situated in the conveying air flow between the cleaning chamber and outer surroundings to retain the contamination in the cleaning chamber and allow filtered conveying air to escape into the surroundings. The cleaning housing has a collection chamber situated underneath the cleaning chamber, wherein the contamination retained by the filter element settles in the collection chamber.

FR 1.498.901 A describes a storage device for fiber material, which comprises a storage chute for storing the fiber material. The storage device includes a semipermeable dividing wall between a chute housing of the storage chute and a cleaning housing of a cleaning unit. The dividing wall retains the fiber material in the storage chamber and allows the contaminated conveying air to flow into the cleaning chamber. It is disadvantageous in this case that the entire conveying air volume has to be extracted. For this reason, a large amount of energy is required for cleaning the conveying air, whereby the process of cleaning the air and operating this installation is very expensive.
A problem addressed by the present invention is therefore that of creating a storage device as well as a device comprising a storage device of this type, with the aid of which the cleaning of the conveying air can take place in an energy-efficient and, therefore, cost-effective manner.

Storage device for fiber material comprising a cleaning unit


This invention aims at improvement of heat-treatment technology for manufacture of large amounts of polybenzazole fibers. The fibers are heat treated using steam as the heat treatment gas in a device that provides for a rapid, cocurrent, countercurrent or both cocurrent and countercurrent flow of steam.

This invention relates to a method of heat treating polybenzazole fibers in order to improve the physical properties of the fibers.
Polybenzazole fibers, such as polybenzoxazole fibers, are expected to be the super fibers of the next generation because they can have a modulus two or more times higher than the modulus of poly-p-phenyleneterephthalamide fiber which is representative of super fibers on the market now.
The best modulus for polybenzazole fiber is not obtained unless the fiber is heat-treated. Conventional heat treatment methods are described in J. Mater. Sci., 20, 2727(1985) and H. D. Ledbetter, S. Rosenberg, C. W. Hurtig, Symposium Proceedings of The Materials Science and Engineering of Rigid-Rod Polymers, Vol. 134, 253 (1989). These conventional heat treatment processes for polybenzazole fibers must be conducted at temperatures of 500.degree. C. or more since the rigidity of the polybenzazole molecule is very high. Conventional fiber heat-treating equipment tends to be expensive, and the amount of time required can lead to heat treating becoming the bottle neck of industrial fiber production.
Heat treating is required in order to improve the modulus of polybenzazole fibers. This invention provides a new method of heat treatment which eliminates the necessity for prolonged high temperature heat treatment of polybenzazole fibers. Polybenzazole (IIPBZII) fibers include fibers made of polybenzoxazole ("PBO") or polybenzothiazole ("PBT").

Steam heat-treatment method for polybenzazole fiber


Methods for diagnosing a subject as a candidate for removal of a solid tumor without preoperative chemoradiation therapy, and methods for treating patients having solid tumors, who have one or more of genomic instability, elevated double stranded DNA breaks, elevated gamma-H2AX foci, or elevated replication stress and/or double stranded break-signalling (DSB-signalling) biomarkers in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) are provided herein.

Rectal cancer is a common disease, with an estimated incidence of approximately 39,220 patients in the United States (American Cancer Society: Cancer Facts and Figures 2016. Atlanta, Ga.: American Cancer Society, 2016). Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (nCRT) or pre-operative chemoradiation therapy is considered the preferable adjuvant standard of care in the management of locally advanced (stage II/III) rectal cancer (Preoperative short-term radiation therapy in operable rectal carcinoma. A prospective randomized trial. Stockholm Rectal Cancer Study Group. Cancer 1990, 66, 49-55). However, not all patients respond to chemoradiation therapy (CRT) and it is hard to segregate likely responders and non-responders to CRT.
Radiation treatment is not without side effects, both acute and chronic; so optimal patient selection is important in limiting the number of patients who are harmed by radiation without benefit. One recent study found 14% of patients suffered from grade 3 or 4 toxicity (Tepper et al., J. Clin. Oncol., 2011, 29, 4604-4606). Neoadjuvant chemoradiation produces a pathologic complete response (pCR) in approximately 20%-30% of patients, affording these patients improved overall survival. The absence of residual cancer in resected specimens following neoadjuvant chemoradiation (ypT0) have led some authors to question the need for radical surgical resection of the rectum, and propose observation or local excision to confirm pathologic CR and remove persistent disease (Habr-Gama, Colorectal Dis., 2006, 8, Suppl. 3, 21-24). Conversely, approximately one third of patients show minimal to no pathologic response following chemoradiation, and therefore may not benefit from the treatment (Roy et al., J. Surg. Oncol., 2012, 105, 130-134).
nCRT is currently also the standard treatment for locally advanced esophageal carcinoma (EC) and advanced lung cancers. Locally advanced EC accounts for about 57% of newly diagnosed patients. For many patients, nCRT has been demonstrated to deliver substantial benefit; however, complete eradication of the tumor occurs in only about 30% of patients who receive nCRT, and CRT is toxic. At present, there is no clinically actionable biomarker to predict which EC patients are likely to respond to nCRT. As a result, many patients are exposed to this toxic, DNA damaging therapy (radiation and chemotherapy) without benefit. Therefore, it is important to be able to identify patients a priori who have a higher likelihood of responding to nCRT. Thus, it is extremely valuable to develop biomarkers that may help predict response to pre-operative CRT.

Methods for diagnosis and treatment of patients having solid tumors