Provided is a thin-film piezoelectric element which reduces the influence of an oxide film left on the electrode film on the degradation of element characteristics, and a method of making the thin-film piezoelectric element. The thin-film piezoelectric element has ZrO2 as the main component of the outermost layer of the oxide film which covers the laminate. Young's modulus of the ZrO2 is 190 GPa, giving a significantly low value compared with Young's modulus of MgO, 245 GPa. Consequently, the influence of the oxide film on the reduction in the displacement magnitude of the piezoelectric film is smaller than the influence of the MgO thin film left in the conventional thin-film piezoelectric element. As a result, the thin-film piezoelectric element decreases the influence of the oxide film on the degradation of element characteristics compared with the conventional thin-film piezoelectric element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin-film piezoelectric element having a piezoelectric thin film and a method of making same.
2. Related Background of the Invention
A thin-film piezoelectric element in the field of this technology is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-229611. To manufacture the thin-film piezoelectric element disclosed in the patent publication, firstly two sheets of silicon substrates are prepared, and a film of MgO preferentially oriented on a (200 ) plane is formed on the surface of each substrate. Secondly, a first electrode film, a piezoelectric film, and a second electrode film are laminated in this order on each of the substrate having the formed MgO film thereon to prepare two sheets of laminate substrates. Thirdly, these two laminate substrates are stuck together using an adhesive in a position in which the respective electrode films face with each other. Fourthly, only one silicon substrate is removed by etching, followed by forming an electrode pattern on the surface exposed by the removal of the silicon substrate. After that, the other silicon substrate is removed by etching, thus to complete the making of the thin-film piezoelectric element. Even after removing the silicon substrate by etching, however, the MgO film is left on the top and bottom surfaces of the thin-film piezoelectric element.
The above-described conventional thin-film piezoelectric element has, however, problems. That is, as described in the patent publication, the MgO film degrades the characteristics of the element because the MgO thin film left on the thin-film piezoelectric element decreases the displacement magnitude of the piezoelectric film. Although the patent publication describes the improvement in the displacement magnitude of a piezoelectric film by removing the MgO film, the treatment needs additional work and time, which increases the manufacturing time and cost.
The present invention was completed to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thin-film piezoelectric element which reduces the influence of the oxide film left on the electrode film on the degradation of the element characteristics, and to provide a method of making same.

Thin-film piezoelectric element and method of making same


The cleaning process according to the present invention includes three main steps including supercritical extraction of soluble contaminants with a solvent composition, subcritical removal of particulate material with agitation, and solvent recovery and recycle. The supercritical extraction of soluble contaminants is performed by pumping a solvent composition into a cleaning vessel containing articles to be cleaned and pressurizing and heating the fluid in the vessel to a supercritical state. Then the subcritical phase is begun to remove particulate material from the articles by reducing the pressure and temperature of the solvent composition in the cleaning vessel to a subcritical state and reforming the liquid/gas interface. Agitation of the articles in the cleaning vessel is provided by recirculation of the solvent composition or by motion of a mechanical device within the cleaning vessel. Due to a density difference between gas and liquid in the subcritical phase, the degree of agitation and resultant particulate removal is maximized. The solvent composition recovery step preferably includes further depressurization of the fluid to separate and remove soluble and insoluble contaminants from the fluid, allowing this solvent composition to be reused. The system may be operated with any gas with suitable solvent properties such as carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide based mixtures, or other known solvents.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning system using a supercritical fluid as a solvent, and more particularly to the extraction of contaminants from articles by a cleaning process incorporating a pressure swing absorption of the contaminants in the solvent.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional solvent-aided cleaning processes for cleaning sensitive substrates such as fabrics or delicate electronic components have generally used dry cleaning solvents such as perchloroethylene. Due to concerns of air pollution, potential ozone depletion, occupational health and safety, and waste disposal, conventional dry cleaning solvents are being replaced with other less hazardous cleaning fluids. For these reasons, the eventual replacement of petroleum based solvents and chlorinated hydrocarbons as solvents would be desirable.
The use of a supercritical fluid or fluid mixture is being investigated as an alternative to conventional dry cleaning solvents. A supercritical fluid is a fluid which is capable of being compressed and heated to a state that exhibits high relative density and solvency compared to a gas under normal conditions while maintaining a low viscosity and surface tension. These properties make supercritical fluids desirable for use as solvents in cleaning processes. In particular, supercritical carbon dioxide has been used in garment cleaning processes to remove contaminants from garments.
One such cleaning system using supercritical carbon dioxide for cleaning of fabrics is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,455. In that system the cleaning is accomplished by agitation of the clothing within a pressurized vessel containing carbon dioxide in a supercritical state. The carbon dioxide is then drained, vaporized and then condensed to remove the contaminants which have been removed from the fabric. The carbon dioxide may then be reused in the cleaning system. Although the supercritical carbon dioxide in the system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,455 will remove many soluble contaminants such as oils and fats, it would be desirable to also remove particulate material which does not dissolve in the supercritical carbon dioxide.

Pressure-swing absorption based cleaning methods and systems


There are provided an apparatus and a method for executing calculation of a global motion vector (GMV) with a high degree of reliability. Local motion vectors (LMV) corresponding to blocks and block weights as reliability indicators of the LMVs of the respective blocks are calculated, and the global motion vector (GMV) is calculated on the basis of the block weights. By calculating a degree of reliability of the local motion vector (LMV) corresponding to each block of a target block and near-field blocks adjacent to the target block and a degree of similarity between the local motion vectors (LMV) of the target block and each near-field block, the block weight is calculated through arithmetic processing to which the degree of reliability and the degree of similarity are applied. With the present configuration, it is possible to efficiently calculate the global motion vector (GMV) with a high degree of reliability.

In image encoding such as compression of a moving image, motion vectors are detected, and a data compression process based on motion vector information is executed. In the MPEG system known as an image encoding system, for example, a process of dividing each frame into blocks and detecting a motion vector for each of the corresponding blocks of the current frame and the reference frame is executed. However, when motion vector information in block units is included in compression data, the data volume increases. When a camera is moved by, for example, panning, tilting, hand shaking, or the like, the most motion vectors of the respective blocks are common. In such a case, it is possible to reduce the data volume by setting not motion vectors in block units but a single motion vector corresponding to a single frame and performing an encoding process.
The individual motion vectors in block units are referred to as local motion vectors (LMV), and the single motion vector corresponding to the single frame is referred to as a global motion vector (GMV). Data encoding using the global motion vector (GMV) is employed in, for example, MPEG-4.
For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, there are two frame images 10 and 11 which are photographed at times t0 and t1. The two frames are frames which are photographed by moving a camera through for example panning, tilting, hand shaking, or the like, and a photographed image is moved as a whole as shown in the drawing.
When such an image is encoded, each frame is divided into, for example, a plurality of blocks of n pixels×n pixels. Conventionally, by detecting the motion vectors (MV) in respective block units, that is, the local motion vectors (LMV), data compression and restoration processes using the individual motion vectors in block units has been performed. However, when a camera is moved through panning, tilting, hand shaking, or the like, as shown in FIG. 1B, the motion vectors of any and every block become substantially the same vectors.
In such a case, as shown in FIG. 1C, by executing the image encoding using a single motion vector 21 which represents a motion of the entire screen, it is possible to greatly improve encoding efficiency. Such a vector, which represents the motion of the entire screen, is referred to as a global motion vector (GMV).
The global motion vector (GMV) can be represented as data which uses affine transformation and projection shadow transformation accompanied with not only simple parallel movement but also rotation, enlargement, and reduction by using a plurality of parameters, as shown in the drawing. As described above, as the encoding method to which the global motion vector (GMV) is applied, MPEG-4 or the like is employed.
In MPEG-4, the global motion vector (GMV) is applied, the image encoding method using global motion compensation (GMC) is employed as a standard, the global motion vector (GMV) is detected on the encoding device (Encoder) side, and restoration based on the global motion compensation (GMC) is executed by using the global motion vector (GMV) which is transferred from the decoding device (Decoder) side.
The global motion vector (GMV) is represented as data which uses parallel movement, rotation, enlargement, reduction, affine transformation, projection shadow transformation, and the like in a relationship of corresponding similar pixel positions (x, y) and (x′, y′) between the current frame and the reference frame as shown in FIG. 2, and normally a single global motion vector (GMV) is applied to a single frame image. It should be noted that a screen may be divided into pieces each having a size larger than, for example, a normal block size, and the global motion vectors (GMV) may be set for the respective pieces. That is, the number of the global motion vectors (GMV) is not limited to one for a frame image, and it may be possible to adopt a configuration in which a single global motion vector (GMV) as a common motion vector is set for a plurality of blocks included in the frame image or a plurality of global motion vectors (GMV) is set for a single frame.
In the case of a vector representing only for example parallel movement (translation), the global motion vector (GMV) is represented as follows by using two parameters [a0, a1].x′=x+a0 y′=y+a1
The global motion vector (GMV), in which parallel movement (translation) and rotation are considered, is represented as follows by using three parameters [a0, a1, a2].x′=sin a0x−cos a0y+a2 y′=cos a0x+sin a0y+a3
The global motion vector (GMV), which is compliant with affine transformation, is represented as follows by using six parameters [a0, a1, a2, a3, a4, a5].x′=a0x−a1y+a2 y′=a3x+a4y+a5
The global motion vector (GMV), which is compliant with projection transformation, is represented as follows by using eight parameters [a0, a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6, a7].x′=((a0x+a1y+a2)/(a6x+a7y+1))y′=((a3x+a4y+a5)/(a6x+a7y+1))
In a case of obtaining the global motion vector (GMV) from a moving image frame, as shown in FIG. 2, a process using a current frame and a reference frame is executed. The reference frame is photographed at for example a certain time previous or subsequent to the current time. As the method of obtaining the global motion vector (GMV), there are several methods. However, as one of the methods, there is a method of first obtaining the local motion vectors (LMV) in block units, which are divided regions of a frame image, and obtaining the global motion vector (GMV) by using the local motion vectors (LMV).
The method is a method of first obtaining the local motion vectors (LMV) in block units, selecting the local motion vectors (LMV) with high degrees of reliability from a plurality of local motion vectors (LMV) corresponding to the number of blocks, and obtaining a single global motion vector (GMV) on the basis of only the selected local motion vectors (LMV) with high degrees of reliability.
For example, in a case where p local motion vectors (LMV) corresponding to the number of p blocks is obtained, q local motion vectors (LMV) with high degrees of reliability are selected from p local motion vectors, and a single global motion vector (GMV) is obtained on the basis of only m local motion vectors (LMV) with high degrees of reliability, without using (p-q) local motion vectors (LMV) with low degrees of reliability.
As the reliability information of the local motion vectors (LMV), information as to whether or not it is possible to obtain clear feature point matching information through for example block matching between the current frame and the reference frame is used. Further, as the method of obtaining the single global motion vector (GMV) on the basis of the local motion vectors (LMV) with high degrees of reliability, for example, a least-squares method is applied.
A method of deriving the global motion vector (GMV) using the local motion vectors (LMV) is advantageous in that it can be executed as an extension of conventional local motion vector (LMV) calculation and the existing configuration can be used. However, there is a disadvantage in that, when the number of local motion vectors (LMV) with high degrees of reliability is small, the degree of reliability of the global motion vector (GMV) is extremely lowered.
As one proposal to solve the disadvantage, there is a technique disclosed in PTL 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-65332).
PTL 1 discloses, for example, a method of obtaining an average value of the local motion vectors (LMV) corresponding to the blocks, which are divided regions of a frame image constituting a moving image, and comparing with the average value.
However, when various different local motion vectors (LMV) are set in a certain image region, incidentally, the average value may become a vector approximate to a vector of a target block. In such a case, there is a problem in that exact processes may not be performed as the situation demands.

Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program


An apparatus and method for separating and removing ionizable components dissolved in fluids, such as for example, water, by separating said ionizable substances into fractions by the action of electric current and of Coriolis force. Liquid containing ionizable components is continuously fed in and the purified solvent and the solute in a concentrated solution are continuously removed while the liquid is rotated. Compound centrifugal force or Coriolis force causes the concentrated solution to move to a location where it can be effectively and continuously removed as well as causes the depleted liquid to move to a separate location where it also can be effectively and continuously removed. The invention can operate in several modes, the modes being electrolytic and electrostatic. The invention allows for almost universal application to removal of ionizable components and provides a cost effective and energy efficient continuous process to do so.

Only about three percent of all the water on the globe is fresh water. With expanding population there is increasing competition for fresh water and in many areas of the world there is a growing dependence on water purified by various means. Commercial methods used for water demineralization of brackish and sea water include reverse osmosis, electrodialysis and several different distillation methods. Plants processing up to 45 million gallons per day (MGD) are in use to produce drinking water from sea or brackish waters at a cost ranging from $1.31 to $1.75 per cubic meter for the largest plants.
In addition to being overused, existing fresh water resources are also subject to contamination by industry, mining and urban sewage. Billions of gallons of metal-bearing and cyanide-bearing wastes are generated annually by U.S. industry. Vast volumes of water contaminated with heavy metals have accumulated at such sites as abandoned mines. Typical metal contaminants include lead, zinc, iron, and copper at levels ranging from 1000 to 10000 parts per million (PPM) by weight. Other contaminants may include gold, silver, platinum, and molybdenum, with lesser quantities of manganese, nickel, arsenic, barium, cadmium and chromium. Inorganic contamination consists mainly of cyanide, sulfate, nitrate and fluoride. More than 3000 contaminated sites have been identified at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities located across the Nation Ref. 1!. At these sites the soil and groundwater are contaminated with hazardous and radioactive chemicals, which include numerous organic substances, heavy metals and radionuclides from the nuclear industry, including uranium, plutonium, cesium (.sup.137 Cs), strontium (.sup.90 Sr), technetium (.sup.99 Tc) and tritium (.sup.3 H).
Legislation has been enacted to clean up these sites and to prevent the generation of new wastes. Two basic waste management approaches have been taken; one is waste disposal and the other waste reduction and resource recovery by means of appropriate waste treatment processes. Because of the magnitude of the problem and its estimated cost of about $1 trillion by the year of 2000, numerous waste treatment technologies have evolved. In its effort to identify applicable processes the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Ref. 2! has recently evaluated 55 such technologies and recognized the following 24 general types: adsorption, bio-adsorption, chelation chromatography, coagulation, flocculation, distillation, evaporation, froth flotation, gas hydrate formation, neutralization, reverse osmosis, ultracentrifugation, anaerobic trickling filtration, biological reduction, chemical precipitation, sedimentation, dilution, electrochemical and electrokinetic methods, filtration, freeze crystallization, ion exchange, oxidation, solvent extraction, and ultrafiltration. From these technologies and those yet to be developed, a few may be selected as possibly cost-effective to deal with the cleanup problem. Description of numerous processes used for the recovery of heavy metals appears in the literature Ref. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6!.
The process of this invention falls into the electrochemical and electrokinetic category along with electrodialysis and the electrolytic recovery processes, which are briefly summarized next. Extensive evaluation of the electrolytic processes appears in three recent review articles Ref. 4, 7, 8!. One of these cited 136 publications for this type of separation process. Generally, in electrolytic recovery metal is plated onto the cathodes from which it is subsequently stripped off and recovered in a batch operation. The process is also amenable for isolation of components from complex mixtures by selective reduction of metal ions Ref. 9!. The metals which have been recovered by electrolytic methods include at least Ag, Au, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Pd, Pt, Sn and Zn. One of the most common applications is the recovery of copper from sulfuric acid solutions Ref. 10!.
Waste systems in which metal concentrations approach one weight percent can be handled with conventional commercial electrodeposition apparatus. Very low metal concentrations pose a problem with metal recovery because of the formation of a polarized layer around the cathode, which leads to a low rate of diffusion of ions into and across the layer, low deposition rate and limiting extraction of the metal from the water. This problem has been addressed effectively by the use of "high surface area" (HSA) electrodes made of carbon-fiber mats Ref. 11! or of porous metallic electrodes. The carbon-fiber electrode has a surface area which can be about 12,000 times greater than the apparent area, leading to an enhancement of the mass transfer by several orders of magnitude. A depletion of the metal from the solution to levels less than 1 mg/L has been achieved for silver, which satisfies the EPA requirements. A similar system has been used to recover up to 99.9% of cadmium from waste solutions Ref. 12!. The HSA system is most effective at concentrations of less than 10 mg/L Ref. 13, 14!. The HSA system is also used effectively to destroy cyanide by anode oxidation Ref. 12!.
The instant invention is more closely related to prior art which teaches a means of separation of ionizable constituents from liquid solutions by the action of electric current and the earth's gravity. One of the processes is known as electrodecantation, in which colloidal substances are separated from ionic solutions Ref. 15!. Electrodecantation was for a time a commercial process for separating rubber latex and certain biological components. A variation of this process, known as electrogravitation (EG), has been reported for the separation of ionic substances from aqueous solutions. Two types of apparatus have been described, one by Frilette Ref. 16! and the other by Murphy Ref. 17!. In the first type, described by Frilette, an electrodialysis cell was used, having vertically disposed end electrodes, with two or more, spaced-apart semi-permeable, parallel membranes in between. The separation of the solute occurs in two steps. The first step is the electrodialysis process achieved by electromigration, whereby enhancement and depletion of the original solution take place in-between alternate pairs of membranes. The second step, taking place under the action of gravitational force, is the separation of the concentrated solution from the depleted solution, which collect at the bottom and the top of the cell, respectively. Frilette Ref. 16! demonstrated desalination of 0.1N NaCl solution in a cell using synthetic ion exchange membranes. His results and additional data by Kollsman Ref. 18! indicate that a partial desalination can be achieved by this technique. Typical brackish waters of 2000-3000 PPM were demineralized to less than 500 PPM. A number of patents appeared on the subject Ref. 18, 19, 20!. Kollsman Ref. 18! has also shown that the symmetry of electrogravitational cell performance with membranes permits electrical reversal with no change in external hydraulics, which means that the low-density desalted product water will always rise to the top while the dense, concentrated solution will fall to the bottom of the cells.
In the second type of EG apparatus, described by Murphy Ref. 17! an electrolytic cell was used consisting of a cylindrical cell having vertically-disposed, concentric, cylindrical, reversible electrodes of Ag/AgCl, without membranes. He used long (minutes) dc current pulses of alternating polarity for the electrogravitation process. With the Ag/AgCl electrodes, the Cl.sup.- ion is released at the cathode, while the Na.sup.+ ion migrates towards it. In this manner a concentrated solution is formed near the cathode, which then sinks downward. At the anode the Cl.sup.- ions are depleted by the formation of AgCl, while the Na.sup.+ ions are depleted by the migration toward the cathode. In this manner a depleted solution is formed near the anode, which rises to the top. The combined opposite motion of the two liquids results in convection which is essential to the EG process. Thus, the EG process operates in conjunction with either electrolysis or electrodialysis. In the said prior art of the second kind which employs reversible Ag/AgCl electrodes, only those aqueous solutions containing the chloride ion as the anion have been successfully separated by the prior art. They included the salts KCl, NaCl and hydrochloric acid, HCl. This prior art does not teach the separation of other anionic species, nor does it teach the separation of cations. However, separation of the latter is of particular interest as in the case of hazardous wastes containing heavy metals and nuclear wastes. The same prior art Ref. 17! also fails to teach separation of the solute at concentrations of less than several hundred PPM, nor scaling to high capacity nor increasing the efficiency of the process.
Electrogravitation never became a commercial process, probably because it operated at a slow rate and because it was not effective at low concentrations of the solute of less than about 200 PPM Ref. 21!.
Separating constituents of a solution into fractions under the influence of an electric current and centrifugal force by means of a electrodialysis apparatus has been proposed by Kollsman Ref. 18! but never demonstrated. Kollsman apparently failed to foresee the potential of major improvements in the process that can be brought about by the use of the centrifugal force, nor did he teach the design of the required apparatus.
Other prior art includes application of centrifugal force to augment the separation of sewage sludge and simultaneous separation of platable metals by electrolysis as proposed in a German patent by H. Reimann Ref. 22!. In this proposed process a rotating device is used consisting of an external cylinder container which also acts as a cathode, and an internal concentric cylindrical post which is the anode. Sewage sludge is fed from the top end of the concentric device which has its axis positioned vertically. The sludge is collected on the cathode walls, while the metals are to be plated on the anode post, which is contrary to the electroplating practice and which appears to be incorrect. It also appears that in this equipment the centrifugal force would hinder rather than assist the removal of the heavy metals from the solution. Moreover, there is no provision for a continuous process; once a substantial layer of heavy metal would build up on the center post electrode, the process would have to be interrupted and the electrode would have to be replaced. Furthermore, this equipment is not suited for polarity reversal which is highly desirable for the continuous operation.
In a process named "centrifugal reverse osmosis desalination" Ref. 23! centrifuigal force is used to advantage in reducing the high pressure pump requirements. The reference stated that a 3000 gallon per day prototype of this process was undergoing tests on a Canadian Navy vessel.
There exists prior art that combines the action of electrical field and centrifugal forces in the separation process. U.S. Pat. No. 1,230,524 issued to Schwerin Ref. 24! describes a method of separating substances in suspension in a liquid, comprising adding a suitable electrolyte to the liquid and subjecting the liquid and the substance in sol-state (a colloidal suspension of a solid in a liquid) therein to the simultaneous action of centrifugal force and an electric current. The electrodes in this apparatus are disposed concentrically.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,558,382 issued to Marx Ref. 25! discloses a process for an electrocentrifugal separation of liquid or solid particles from liquids comprising simultaneous utilization of an electric field and centrifugal force in a centrifuge equipped with rotating concentric cylindrical electrodes. In the separation of colloidal suspension the particles having density greater than the fluid will impinge on the inner wall of the outer electrode and the less dense particles on the outer wall of the inner electrode. No provision is made for a continuous removal of the solids needed for a continuous operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,967 issued to Anderson Ref. 26! discloses a method and apparatus for separating macromolecular substances by electrophoresis in a liquid gradient while it is being stabilized in a centrifugal field. This apparatus or method are clearly not applicable for a continuous demineralization of aqueous solutions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,135 issued to Gazda Ref. 27! discloses a method of deionizing a solution in an ultracentrifuge device also under the action of combined electric field and centrifugal force. Under the action of high centrifugal field, vaporization of the liquid takes place which facilitates the separation of the ions. In addition, electrolysis of the sodium chloride is said to take place with the formation of sodium hydroxide and chlorine. Reduction to practice in the form of desalination of a salt solution was described. However, the requirement of an ultracentrifuge precludes low-cost operation as well as purification of water on a large, commercial scale. Moreover, the vaporization of water and the electrolysis of salt are energy-intensive processes which would result in a high operational cost.
Prior art that is pertinent to the present invention is U.S. Pat. No. 3,196,095 issued to Wadsworth Ref. 28!. He discloses a method of purifying liquids by removal of solids in solution and particularly converting sea water to fresh water. This method comprises electrochemically concentrating solids in a portion of the liquid, leaving the rest of the liquid relatively free of the solids, and separating the concentrated portions from free portions by the action of centrifugal force. Wadsworth discusses removal of ions from fluid, giving as an example desalination of water, without providing any details or reduction to practice. Wadsworth also teaches continuous removal of ions that have been separated from the feed fluid.
While what he called an electrocentrifugal separation process is described in Wadsworth's patent, the design of the apparatus disclosed reveals serious flaws and deficiencies that would pre-empt any claimed effectiveness in the separation of dissolved solids from liquid solutions. A discussion of these deficiencies and their rectification by means of the instant invention is discussed later.
Other prior art, not involving either gravitational or centrifulgal forces is "electrochemical parametric pumping," described by Oren and Soffer Ref. 29a, 29b, 29c!. In this process ionic species, positive and negative are attracted to highly porous carbon electrodes via a double-layer capacitive process. By sequential charging, forward pumping, discharging, and reverse pumping, this process has been shown capable of high degree of separation of aqueous NaCl solutions at starting concentrations of 0.01 normal. The effluent in Oren and Soffer during charging is the diluent. During discharging the effluent is the concentrate.
Desalination by capacitive deionization has been reported involving the use of HSA aerogel electrodes Ref. 35, 36!. The apparatus and method is described in detail by Farmer in Ref. 36!. Neither involves the use of gravitational, centrifugal or Coriolis forces. Farmer's apparatus and method are similar to prior art described by Oren and Soffer in Ref. 29a, 29b, 29c!, referred to as `Electrochemical Parametric Pumping (EPP)`. The difference in Farmer's device is that he employs a a plurality of cells or stages, whereas Oren and Soffer used a single stage. However, Oren and Soffer expressly anticipated a multistage device for practical use.
The U.S. patent to Farmer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,858, discloses an apparatus that has cells connected electrically in parallel and intentionally directs fluid through the cells in a serpentine manner, which is a fluid flow in series between cells. The outflow for each stage is the feed for the subsequent stage. The concentrate is collected or rejected in each stage. Farmer also needs two systems in parallel to operate in any fashion of continuous operation. Farmer also uses constant voltage operation, and like Oren and Soffer mentioned above, the effluent during charging is the diluent, but during discharging is the concentrate. Farmer also employs low voltage at a high current.
Electromigration, which together with electrode processes is utilized in several of the deionization processes cited, as well as in the instant invention, is the transport of the dissolved ions through the liquid under the influence of applied electric fields, for the purpose of accumulating the ions at the electrodes of opposite polarity.
One means of accumulating them utilizes electrodialysis, described in Ref. 16 and 18. Another means is for the ions to undergo electrochemical changes such as oxidation or reduction, or simply, electrolysis. Still another way is to accumulate them by means of "double-layer" capacitive charging. The latter two means of accumulation are operative in the two different modes of deionization to be described further on, namely, the electrolytic mode and the electrostatic mode.
Gravitational and the centrifugal forces are utilized in several of the cited prior art as a means of separating the ionic species accumulated by electromigration from the depleted or purified liquid. In the instant invention centrifugal force along with Coriolis force are operative in the separation process. A brief discussion about these forces follows.
Gravitational force is referred to as the average force of earth's gravity on earth's surface. Gravity is commonly measured in terms of acceleration that the force imparts to an object on earth. The generally accepted average international value for acceleration due to gravity is 980.665 cm.multidot.s.sup.-2 (in English system, 32.17 ft.multidot.s.sup.-2). In the present description this value is also referred to as 1 G.
Centrifugal force is an apparent force associated with an object moving on a curved path, such as a ball on a string. The force that constrains the ball to move on the circular path is referred to as centripetal force, while the force that pulls on the string in an outward direction is centrifugal force. In this discussion centrifuigal force will also signify the force existing at any point at rest with the rotating system.
Coriolis force, also known as compound centrifugal force, and also as Coriolis acceleration, is additional force or acceleration acting on the motion of bodies in a rotating system. Thus, objects not at rest with the rotating system are subject to Coriolis force.
Wadsworth disclosed the use of electrodes preferably in the form of series of pairs of proximate conical sheet members or plates arranged co-axially. Under the combined action of electric field and centrifugal force, the concentrated, denser portion of the fluid is predicted by Wadsworth to flow along the radially inner wall of the conical electrode toward the periphery, while the depleted fluid is to flow on the radially outer wall of the opposite electrode toward the center. This situation may be possible in the case of an electrolytic mode and only at a constant d.c. polarity which Wadsworth teaches. Under periodically changing polarity, the concentrated, denser fluid would be formed also on the radially outer surface of the conical electrode. At this location the denser liquid would not flow along the electrode surface toward the periphery, but instead would traverse the space between the electrodes toward the opposite electrode, thereby becoming thoroughly mixed with the feed liquid and the depleted liquid. A similar situation would exist in the case of capacitive mode of operation where, as will be seen, dense liquids are formed on both electrode surfaces. The result of this shortcoming would be the absence of or very impaired desalination. It is to be noted that this problem would have surfaced had Wadsworth made an attempt to reduce his invention to practice. The present invention discloses an improved apparatus and method wherein such problems are circumvented as supported by specific examples.
The next deficiency in Wadsworth's patent is the crossover of the feed liquid and the concentrated liquid at the outer periphery of the conical electrodes, which causes further intermixing of concentrated and partially depleted fluids.
Another shortcoming of Wadsworth is the failure to constrain the fluids in between the electrodes from rotational motion. Such motion in fact takes place on account of the Coriolis force, which Wadsworth failed to take into consideration. Allowing the fluid to freely rotate also gives rise to further intermixing of concentrated, depleted and feed fluids. Wadsworth's patent also specifies that the feed liquid should flow from the bottom in between the electrode spacings weaving first toward the periphery, then toward the center and so on. In this manner, the Coriolis force would tend to accelerate the liquid in the forward direction when moving toward the center, then decelerate when moving toward the periphery, thereby causing still further mixing. The present invention not only constrains the fluids from free rotation but also takes advantage of the Coriolis force vector for optimum placement of the feed intake port, and the concentrate and the diluent and exhaust ports.
Still another weakness of the Wadsworth patent is that it specifies the use of continuous dc or pulsed dc current, apparently of the same polarity. This mode of operation would pre-empt the process from becoming continuous.
The present invention also specifically improves over prior art such as Oren and Soffer and the U.S. Farmer patent. Cells are connected in series but fluid flow is in parallel. Operation is continuous, without the need of a second system in parallel. Stages can be added radially or axially. Electrical connection between stages is preferably in parallel. Power input is high voltage and low current, which is more practical and cost effective.
Therefore, there is a real need in the art for improvements regarding separation of ionic substances from liquids. Waste-water treatment is a highly competitive field in which technological and cost advantages of a given process decide its success. The innovative features of this invention can be identified from the objects of this invention which include:
An improved apparatus and method for the separation of a variety of ionizable substances from liquid solutions, including but not limited to minerals, heavy metals, radioactive nuclides, and a variety of anions dissolved in water. PA1 An apparatus and method employing Coriolis force to maximize the rate of separation, the current and energy efficiency, and the level of purity of the treated liquid, such as water. PA1 An apparatus and method for separating components in a dynamic mode in which the process liquid is fed in and the depleted liquid and a concentrate flow out. This mode is suited for processing larger amounts of liquid, such as very large volumes needed for water desalination or the treatment of water wastes, such as surface mine water. Consequently, one of the objects of the invention for the dynamic mode is a capacity of water treatment of up to, but not limited to 1.5 million gallons per day (MGD) for a single mobile or transportable unit. PA1 A membraneless apparatus and process for the separation of a variety of ionizable substances, assisted by Coriolis force, to eliminate problems with fouling, downtime and additional expense. PA1 A continuous process, as opposed to a batch process to achieve cost-effective operation. PA1 Recovery of water of adequate purity for reuse, as for irrigation. PA1 Ability to concentrate the solute in a liquid form to facilitate recovery of valuable components or the disposal of hazardous substances. PA1 Process scalability for large-scale applications such as mine waste-water treatment. PA1 A system capable of being incorporated into fixed or mobile units for ex-situ surface waste-water treatment.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the accompanying specification and claims.

Apparatus and method for electrocoriolysis the separation of ionic substances from liquids by electromigration and coriolis force


Installed on a top of a structure (1) is a base stand (11) against which damping body (3) movably rests via a linear guide mechanism (12). Mounted between the damping body (3) and the structure (1) or between the damping body (3) and a top of a support housing (14) erected on the structure (1) is a characteristic-frequency adjusting spring or springs (13) with an initial tension being applied vertically. Movement of the damping body (3) causes the spring or springs (13) to be obliquely and longitudinally expanded to apply horizontal component to the damping body (3) upon restoring.

In a conventional damping device of this kind, as schematically and exemplarily shown in FIG. 1, guide rails 2 are mounted on a top surface of a structure 1 in parallel with a direction of oscillation of the structure 1, and a damping body or weight 3 rests against the rails 2 via wheels 4 horizontally movably along the rails 2. Interposed between an end face of the damping body 3 and a support frame 5 erected on the structure 1 on its one side in the direction of motion of the damping body 3 are an attenuator or damper 6 for attenuation of kinetic energy of the damping body 3 and a spring 7 for adjusting a characteristic frequency of the damping body 3. When oscillation of the structure 1 occurs, its oscillation energy is transmitted to the damping body 3 so that the damping body 3 is reciprocated on the guide rails 2 with delayed phase of 90° to the oscillation of the structure 1. Then, the kinetic energy of the damping body 3 is attenuated by the attenuator 6 to suppress the oscillation of the structure 1.
However, such damping device has a problem that mass, movement stroke and/or the like of the damping body 3 must be selected to afford an optimum damping effect to the structure 1 and a characteristic frequency of the damping body 3 must be matched with that of the structure 1, which adjustments are much difficult to perform.
More specifically, in the above-mentioned damping device, the characteristic frequency ω0 of the damping body 3 is given by the equationω0=(k/m)1/2
and attenuation coefficient μ is given by the equationM=c/{2(mk)1/2}
where m is mass of the damping body 3, k is spring constant of the characteristic-frequency adjusting spring 7 and c is an attenuating or controlling force of the attenuator 6 for attenuating the oscillation of the damping body 3. When the characteristic frequency ω0 of the damping body 3 is to be changed, the spring constant of the spring 7 may be changed from k to k1 to attain change of the characteristic frequency into ω0′=(k1/m)1/2. Such change of k into k1 may be performed by changing the force of the spring 7, which in turn may require adjustment of spring displacement. However, the change of the spring constant from k into k.sub.1 is accompanied with change of expansion/contraction stroke of the spring 7, which in turn constrains the motion of the damping body 3, leading to the lowered damping effect. Thus, in particular, the structure 1 with a lower characteristic frequency tends to have mechanical restrictions on the spring 7. For example, when the expansion/contraction stroke of the spring 7 is to be set to 100 mm, generally the spring 7 is required to have length five times as much into 500 mm, leading to a problem of increased two-dimensional space required for installation of the device as a whole.
As a damping device capable of setting a characteristic frequency of a damping body with no mechanical restrictions on spring, there has been proposed, for example, a damping device as schematically shown in FIG. 2 in which a damping body 8 with an arched bottom having radius of curvature R rests against two support rollers 9 arranged in a mutually spaced-apart relationship on a structure 1 so as to allow free oscillation into simple harmonic oscillation, or a damping device as schematically shown in FIG. 3 in which a damping body 10 with a V-shaped bottom of angle θ as damping mass equivalently analogous to simple pendulum rests against two support rollers 9 on a structure 1 so as to allow free oscillation.
However, these simple-harmonic oscillation type damping devices have a problem that characteristic frequency is hard to adjust after the radius of curvature R of the damping body 8 or the angle θ of the damping body 10 is once decided.
Moreover, as mentioned above, when the characteristic frequency ω0 of the damping body 3 is to be changed, such change may be obtained into ω0′=(k1/m)1/2 by changing the spring constant of the spring 7 from k to k1. In this respect, since the actual characteristic frequency of the structure 1 is not necessarily as designed, a plurality of springs 7 with different spring constants are needed to be prepared so as to choose one of the springs 7 which has the characteristic frequency corresponding to that of the structure 1; and whenever the characteristic frequency of the damping body 3 is required to be adjusted in response to change in characteristic frequency of the structure 1, the spring 7 must be replaced by that with a corresponding spring constant.
As a damping device capable of both setting and adjusting the characteristic frequency of a damping body irrespective of a spring constant of a spring, there has been proposed a damping device as schematically shown in FIG. 4 in which a damping body 10 with a V-shaped bottom as equivalently analogous to simple pendulum rests via liner plates 10a against two support rollers 9 which in turn are arranged in a mutually spaced-apart relationship on a structure 1 so as to allow free oscillation. In this damping device, adjustment of the characteristic frequency of the damping body 10 requires replacement of the liner plates 10a with those having different thickness, which replacement work is extremely troublesome in that large scale equipment and tools such as hydraulic jacks, lever blocks and/or chain blocks are needed at a site.
Thus, a primary object of the invention is to provide a damping device comprising a damping body adapted for horizontal reciprocal movement and a spring or springs for adjusting a characteristic frequency of the damping body and which allows the motion of the damping body not to be restricted even when spring constant and/or expansion/contraction stroke of the spring or springs is changed.
A second object of the invention is, in a damping device comprising a damping body adapted for horizontal reciprocal movement and a spring or springs for adjusting a characteristic frequency of the damping body, to provide a method for setting the characteristic frequency of the damping body in which the characteristic frequency of the damping body can be readily set and adjusted.

Damping device and method for setting natural frequency of damping body in the damping device

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.


A receiver termination circuit includes an internal AC coupling capacitor and an adjustable resistor forming an adjustable high-pass filter (HPF) at a receiver side of a transmission medium, and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) coupled to the adjustable HPF, the DAC configured to provide a signal having a low-pass filter response to the adjustable HPF to provide a DC restore function.

A modern application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) must meet very stringent design and performance specifications. One example of an ASIC is a circuit element referred to as a serializer/deserializer (SERDES). As its name implies, a SERDES converts a parallel bit stream to a high speed serial bit stream, transmits it across a channel, then the serial bit stream is converted back to a parallel bit stream. A typical SERDES is organized into blocks of transmitters and receivers having digital to analog conversion (DAC) functionality and analog to digital conversion (ADC) functionality. Normally, the receivers and transmitters operate on differential signals. Differential signals are those that are represented by two complementary signals on different conductors, with the term "differential" representing the difference between the two complementary signals. All differential signals also have what is referred to as a "common mode," which represents the average of the two differential signals. High-speed differential signaling offers many advantages, such as low noise and low power while providing a robust and high-speed data transmission.
Typically, it is desirable that high-speed differential input/output circuits (also referred to as input/output buffers, receiver/transmitter circuits, or receiver/driver circuits) use some form of differential and common mode termination (e.g., a resistive load) to match the differential impedance of the transmission medium (or channel). The transmission medium (e.g., printed-circuit board traces, transmission lines, backplanes, a differential wire pair, or cables) couples the transmitter output circuit to the receiver input circuit and provides a path along which the intended information travels.
In the past, a SERDES receiver was implemented using an external alternating current (AC) coupling capacitor. This is primarily done to isolate the DC signal levels between transmit and receive portions of the circuitry. The external AC coupling capacitor was connected to the transmission medium that connected the SERDES transmitter circuitry to the SERDES receiver circuitry. The external AC coupling capacitor had a typical value on the order of 10-100 nanofarads (nF). However, these external AC coupling capacitors contribute to parasitic losses and it is preferable to have them fabricated as part of the SERDES circuitry. However, an external AC coupling capacitor is generally too large to integrate onto the die using the same process used to fabricate the chip and is therefore typically located on a circuit board that houses the transmission medium.
Unfortunately, integrating an AC coupling capacitor having a value on the order of 10-100 nanofarads (nF) is very difficult using modern SERDES integrated circuit processing technologies. Making an internal AC coupling capacitor that can be fabricated as part of the die or chip presents design limitations due to the size and parasitic limitations of the capacitor. Moreover, these drawbacks become more pronounced when attempting to design and fabricate a receiver that can operate using both PAM 2 and PAM 4 modalities. The acronym PAM refers to pulse amplitude modulation, which is a form of signal modulation where the message information is encoded into the amplitude of a series of signal pulses. PAM is an analog pulse modulation scheme in which the amplitude of a train of carrier pulses is varied according to the sample value of the message signal. A PAM 2 communication modality refers to a modulator that takes one bit at a time and maps the signal amplitude to one of two possible levels (two symbols), for example −1 volt and 1 volt. A PAM 4 communication modality refers to a modulator that takes two bits at a time and maps the signal amplitude to one of four possible levels (four symbols), for example −3 volts, −1 volt, 1 volt, and 3 volts. For a given baud rate, PAM-4 modulation can transmit up to twice the number of bits as PAM-2 modulation.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional transmit driver and receiver termination network. The network 1 comprises a transmit (TX) portion 2 and a receive (RX) portion 4 connected by a transmission medium 21 comprising transmission line segments 22, 23, 24 and 25. In an embodiment, the transmission line segments 22, 23, 24 and 25 are adapted to transfer a differential signal. The transmit portion 2 comprises a transmit driver 6 and a transmit driver 8. The transmit drivers 6 and 8 deliver a differential transmit signal to resistors 7 and 9, respectively.
The output of the resistor 7 is provided to a transmission line segment 22 and the output of the resistor 9 is provided to a transmission line segment 24. The characteristic impedance of the transmission line segments is "Z0" and in an embodiment, can be 50 ohms. The transmission line segments 22 and 23 are connected by a capacitor 15 and the transmission line segments 24 and 25 are connected by a capacitor 16. The transmission line segments 24 and 25 also have a characteristic impedance of 50 ohms.
The signal INP is the positive transmit signal, also referred to as an input signal, provided to a receiver 13. The signal INN is the negative transmit signal, also referred to as an input signal, provided to a receiver 14. The terms "positive" and "negative" are relative because the signals INP and INN represent the components of a differential signal that exist around the common mode voltage, Vcm. A receiver termination resistor 11 terminates the INP signal to an AC ground; and a receiver termination resistor 12 terminates the INN signal to an AC ground. The values of the resistors 7, 9, 11 and 12 are chosen to represent the impedance of the transmission medium 21, comprising transmission line segments 22, 23, 24 and 25, respectively, which separate the transmit portion 2 from the receive portion 4 by a distance. The external AC coupling capacitors 15 and 16 are inserted into the transmission medium 21 to isolate the DC signal levels between transmit and receive circuitry, but create discontinuities in the transmission medium 21. In an embodiment, the value of each resistor 11 and 12 is nominally 50 ohms and the value of the external AC coupling capacitors is on the order of 10-100 nF.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an output signal of the transmitter drivers of FIG. 1. The output signal from the transmit drivers 6 and 8 is one where the common mode voltage is Vcm and is measured at the receiver inputs as:
                              V                                                              C                                                              M                =                                            I                                                                                N                                                                                N                        +                          I                                                                                N                                                                                P                                2                                    Eq        .                                          1
The external capacitors 15 and 16 create discontinuities in the transmission medium 21 and therefore, create noise in the system. This is in addition to the area, cost, and routability of inserting these "large" external AC caps into the system.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a way to fabricate an internal AC coupling capacitor onto a SERDES receiver circuit.

System and method for internal AC coupling with active DC restore and adjustable high-pass filter for a PAM 2/4 receiver

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


An amusement system for use by one or more participants includes weapons which may be carried, aimed and triggered by the participants to fire objects, such as paint balls, or electromagnetic energy, such as laser light. The participants wear sensors which generate signals upon participant being "hit" by an emission. The system includes a structure having a series of elongated passageways. Each passageway is divided by a central wall into a pair of trackways which lead from common entrance area at one end to a gaming area at the opposite end. Viewing areas in which the activities of the participants in the gaming area may be observed are disposed adjacent to the gaming area. Sensors are disposed along the passageways and in the gaming areas to detect the positions and activities of the participants to provide the signals to a central computer. The computer controls active displays disposed along the passageway and in the gaming area which simulate weapons and special sound and visual effects such as explosions and the like and displays which provide information to the participants as to their scores. The computer generates scores based on signals from the sensors to evaluate the players.

The development of lightweight, relatively inexpensive, battery-powered electronic transmitters and receivers has led to amusement systems which allow one or more participants to engage in simulated warfare. Each participant carries a "weapon" which can be triggered to send out a directional emission. Participants wear sensors which can detect a "hit" by an opponent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,058 discloses an amusement shooting game of this type which is played in a structure including paths along which the participants move and obstacles which they must negotiate to locate and hide from their "enemy." A central computer includes sensors which monitor the operation of the game in terms of the locations of the players and their hits upon one another and generates scores which are displayed to the players and special effects such as sounds and explosions. Systems of this type can provide the players with the "virtual reality" of a battlefield.
Somewhat related amusement systems have been developed in which the weapons carried by the players can be used to fire "paint balls" at opponents. The paint balls consist of thin plastic capsules carrying a marking fluid, which break upon impact with an object or another player to mark a "hit." Electronic sensors can detect a hit and score a player's performance.
An independent development is on the rise in popularity of in-line roller skates or "roller blades." This has led to the development of arenas in which the skaters repetitively skate in circles.


A method for making a non-magnetic alloy structure. Alloy samples are for by taking three volumes V1 of host matrix material having a first susceptibility X1 and adding to each of them one of three volumes V2, V3 and V4 of a magnetically compensating material having a second opposite susceptibility X2. The volume V3 is chosen so that (V1)(X1) =(V3)(X2). The volumes V2 and V4 are chosen so that V3/V1-V2/V1 is equal to 0.299 percent and V4/V1-V3/V1 is equal to 0.531 percent. The magnetizations of the alloy samples are determined and ploted as a function of their volume percentages. A volume percentage V5/V1 is determined from the plot, such that the volume percentage, V5/V1, has zero magnetization. This volume percentage V5/V1 is used to make nonmagnetic alloy structures having this volume percentage V5/V1.

The present invention relates to a non-magnetic alloy and method for making the non-magnetic alloy.
Most materials are magnetic to some degree, i.e., exhibit ferro-, ferri-, para-, or diamagnetic behavior of a degree classified by the value of magnetic susceptibility. In diamagnetic material the magnetization (resultant magnetic moment) is opposed to the applied magnetic field, while in paramagnetic material the magnetization is in the same direction. Materials in these two groups have weak magnetism compared to ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials. Furthermore, the magnetic properties of any of these types of materials can be isotropic or anisotropic.
The physical equation relating an applied magnetic field strength H to a resulting magnetization M is given by EQU M=(Xm)H
H is a magnetic field applied to a material. M is the resultant magnetic polarization produced in the material due to the magnetic field intensity. Xm is a dimensionless proportionality called the magnetic susceptibility of the material. Xm is a positive or negative scalar constant for weak isotropic magnetic materials. Xm is a tensor constant for weak anisotropic materials. Xm ia a scalar or tensor dependent on the applied field, for ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials.
A non-magnetic alloy is disclosed. The non-magnetic alloy has an overall susceptibility Xm of zero. Such an alloy assumes a magnetization of zero in the presence of a magnetic field.
There are may applications for a non-magnetic alloy. For example, magnetometers would benefit from a non-magnetic alloy. Such an alloy is particularly beneficial if the alloy has other properties that makes it suitable for fabrication as structures and gives it a low cost. Such magnetometers would be more sensitive to a magnetic field.
A binary non-magnetic alloy is disclosed. The alloy has a first material that will alloy with a second material. The susceptibilities of the two materials have opposite signs. The product and the volume amount of the first material equal the product of the susceptibility and the volume amount of the second material.
A method for making non-magnetic material is also disclosed. Magnetic materials having opposite susceptibilities are used. The magnetic materials are compatible for the formation of a homogeneous alloy. A host matrix of diamagnetic material is magnetically compensated by a paramagnetic material. Also, a host matrix of paramagnetic material could be magnetically compensated by a diamagnetic material. A first volume of a host matrix of weakly diamagnetic material is magnetically compensated by a smaller second volume of a of stronger paramagnetic material. A dilute distribution is formed in the host matrix. Also, a first volume of a host matrix of weakly paramagnetic material could be magnetically compensated by a smaller second volume of stronger diamagnetic material. Again a dilute distribution could be formed in the host matrix.
In the method, volume amounts of diamagnetic material are taken from a reservoir of diamagnetic material. Various volume amounts of a paramagnetic material that will alloy with the diamagnetic material, are added to the volume amounts of diamagnetic material. Alloy samples having diamagnetic material and paramagnetic material therein are thereby produced. The magnetization of each alloy sample is measured. The magnetizations of the alloy samples versus their percentages by volume of paramagnetic material to diamagnetic material are plotted. A percentage by volume of paramagnetic material to diamagnetic material that will produce an alloy sample that has a magnetization of zero is determined. A volume amount of paramagnetic material is mixed into a production volume amount of said diamagnetic material. A mixture is produced that has the same percentage by volume of paramagnetic material to diamagnetic material as the determined percentage. The components of the mixture are alloyed together. The resultant alloy is a non-magnetic alloy.
In the method, volume amounts of a paramagnetic material may be taken from a reservoir of paramagnetic material. Various volume amounts of a diamagnetic material that will alloy with the paramagnetic material, may be added to the volume amounts of paramagnetic material. Alloy samples having paramagnetic material and diamagnetic material therein may thereby be produced. The magnetization of each alloy sample may be measured. The magnetizations of the alloy samples versus their percentages by volume of diamagnetic material to paramagnetic material may be plotted. A percentage by volume of diamagnetic material to paramagnetic material that will produce an alloy sample that has a magnetization of zero may be determined. A volume amount of diamagnetic material may be mixed into a production volume amount of said original paramagnetic material. A mixture may be produced that has the same percentage by volume of diamagnetic material to paramagnetic material as the determined percentage. The components of the mixture may be alloyed together. The resultant alloy is a non-magnetic alloy.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A thin-film encapsulation structure of an active-matrix organic light-emitting, diode (AMOLED) is provided, and a touch electrode layer is disposed thereon. The thin-film encapsulation structure includes a first ceramic layer, an organic layer, and a second ceramic layer. The second ceramic layer has a first film layer and a second film layer; a side end of the second film layer is contracted inward so that a recessed first step portion is defined at the side end of the second film layer and a side end of the first film layer. The second ceramic layer is changed into a design of a multi-layer stacked structure, and a recessed step portion is formed at the side ends of the upper and lower layers. Therefore, the traces can be placed in a larger space and resistant to line breakage, thereby ensuring the yield and product performance.

It is known that with the continuous advancement of science and technology, image display technologies have also made a great progress. From the original cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors, display technologies begin to develop rapidly, not only in the size and weight of the display itself, and there is a big difference in the display principle.
In the current situation, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have been replaced CRT displays to be mainstream applications in the industry. However, although LCD displays have the advantages of light weight and better display effect, they still have some disadvantages, for example, there is still further improvements in viewing angles, refresh rates, volume, and power consumption.
In this regard, the industry has further developed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and has developed active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AMOLEDs) based on OLEDs as a next-generation display technology.
In that, AMOLED has many advantages such as self-luminescence, low driving voltages, high luminous efficiency, short response time, high resolution and contrast ratio, near 180° viewing angle, and wide operating temperature range, and can achieve flexible display and large-area full-color display. AMOLED is the industry recognized as the most promising display device. At present, AMOLED technologies are developing toward flexible, thin-film encapsulation and integrated touch functions.
In an example of a thin film encapsulation, referring to FIG. 2, a common AMOLED thin film encapsulation structure in the industry usually has three-layer structure: a ceramic layer 410, an organic layer 420, and a ceramic layer 430. A thickness of the first ceramic layer 410 ranges from 10 to 100 nm, and a thickness of the second ceramic layer 430 ranges from 500 to 2000 nm, so as to achieve waterproof and oxygen-proof effect required for the encapsulation.
Since a screen integrated the touch function further forms touch layer structures 510, 520, and 530 on a thin film encapsulation structure, a touch electrode layer 510 is connected to an integrated circuit bonding area through a boundary of the second ceramic layer 430. As shown in FIG. 3, if the second ceramic layer 430 is too thick, cross-line problem thereof may easily cause the breakage of the touch layer structures 510, thereby reducing the yield and affecting the product performance.
Therefore, there is indeed a necessary to develop a new type of thin film encapsulation structure of an AMOLED to overcome the disadvantages in the prior art.

Thin film encapsulation structure of AMOLED and manufacturing method thereof

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Concerning a resistance element comprising a laminated and sintered article of an insulating material substrate layer and a conductor layer formed on or embedded in the insulating material substrate layer, a material which is constituted of tungsten and carbon and has an atomic ratio of tungsten to carbon equal to 1:0.4 to 1:0.98 is used as said conductor layer. Such resistance element can be used at a temperature of 1400.degree. C. or more and even further at a temperature of 1500.degree. C. or more. The resistance element can increase its temperature rapidly to 1100.degree. C. or more within about 3 seconds without any control circuit. The resistance element is a rapid temperature-rise resistance element with a high ignition performance constituted of ceramics with superior durability including resistance to repetitions of temperature increase and decrease, and resistance to oxidation at a high temperature.

The present invention relates generally to a novel resistance element, and more particularly, it relates to a resistance element such as an electrifying type resistance element or a thermistor which can be rapidly heated up to 1100.degree. C. or more within about 3 seconds without installing any control circuit applying a computer or the like and which is excellent in durability, i.e., which can withstand the repetition of the temperature rise and oxidation in a high temperature of about 1500 to 1550.degree. C. in air and which can be used for the ignition of a gaseous fuel or a liquid fuel.
Heretofore, for the ignition of gaseous and liquid fuels such as natural gas, propane gas and kerosene, current-carrying type resistance elements made of ceramics are generally used.
In order to withstand such rapid temperature-rise as to reach 1000.degree. C. or more within about 2 to 3 seconds and a high temperature of about 1500 to 1550.degree. C. in air, this type of resistance element for the ignition is required to have excellent thermal shock resistance and oxidation resistance.
To meet such a requirement, conventional ceramics resistance elements have been normally manufactured by embedding a heating element such as tungsten or tungsten carbide in silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4) and then sintering it.
In this case, however, silicon nitride can scarcely be sintered, and hence a rare-earth element is used as a sintering assistant to accomplish densification. However, when the rare-earth element is added, there occurs a problem that the oxidation resistance deteriorates at a temperature of 1400.degree. C. or more. Therefore, in practice, the upper limit of the usable temperature is set to 1400.degree. C., but when the rapid heating is carried out, a control circuit applying a computer or the like is required, which results in the increase of cost. In order to avoid such an increase of the cost, it is necessary to heighten the maximum reach temperature of the resistance element. In the conventional resistance element, however, it is difficult to further heighten the maximum reach temperature. In fact, in view of the cost and the oxidation resistance, a temperature-rise rate is unavoidably sacrificed.
In addition, a conductor layer which is used in the conventional resistance element is, for example, a heating element comprising tungsten or tungsten carbide mentioned above, but if a part of tungsten is silicified, there is a problem that the resistance of the conductor layer increases and its properties deteriorate.


A moveable ball cart having a lower receptacle and an upper receptacle vertically stacked and spaced, with the top of each being open. Each of the receptacles is accessible through its top and through a vertically hinged door in a sidewall that pivots horizontally. The receptacles also have a floor sloped toward the door, to facilitate removal of balls from the cart.

Balls, such a basketballs, soccer balls and volleyballs, are a mainstay in athletic sports. In many facilities, such as school gyms, recreation centers, camps, and other facilities, a large number of balls are needed in order to accommodate the multiple simultaneous activities. Having a large number of balls can be inconvenient. Storage of the balls, when not in use, can be difficult; if not contained, balls can roll throughout the storage area. Having the balls easily accessible for users can also be inconvenient. Congestion occurs when multiple users simultaneously attempt to replace their balls in the storage area.
One attempt to store and transport a large number of balls to an area remote from the storage area has been in a flexible bag, which is often made from a mesh material. Although fairly inexpensive and easy to store when not filled with balls, filling a bag can be difficult, as the bag has no structure to hold open its mouth to provide easy access to its interior. A filled bag has a tendency to droop and sag when placed on the floor or other hard surface, with the balls moving to their lowest position in the bag. Also, a filled bag is often difficult to carry.
A better attempt to store and transport a large number of balls has been in a wheeled cart. The cart has a receptacle for holding the balls, and can be easily moved across a surface such as a floor. The number of balls contained and transported by the cart is limited by the size of the receptacle. Unfortunately, too large of a receptacle decreases the mobility of the cart.
What is desired is an improved cart that has a high storage capacity, and that is easy to load and unload.


A gradient coil device includes a major axis gradient coil, having an ellipse in a cross section generating a gradient magnetic field inclined in a major axis direction of the ellipse at a magnetic field space; and a minor axis gradient coil, having an ellipse in a cross section generating a gradient magnetic field inclined in a minor axis direction of the ellipse at the magnetic field space. A length of the minor axis field coil in the center axis direction is shorter than a length of the major axis gradient coil in the center axis direction. A maximum value of a residual magnetic field generated by the minor axis gradient coil at a space outside the magnetic field space is equal to or smaller than a maximum value of a residual magnetic field generated by the major axis gradient coil at a space outside the magnetic field space.

In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; Magnetic Resonance Imaging) devices, a target body (generally, a human being) is inserted into a static magnetic field (imaging region) generated by a magnet device, the target body is irradiated with RF pulses. A magnetic resonance signal generated in the target body is received, and a tomographic image for a medical diagnosis is obtained. During this, a gradient coil device generates, in an imaging region on which the target body is placed, pulsed gradient magnetic fields of which intensities linearly vary: in an axial direction of the double hollow circular cylinder shapes of a magnet device (a z axis direction); a lateral direction which is vertical to the z axis direction and in parallel to a floor (x axis direction); and a vertical direction (a y axis direction) which is vertical to the z axis direction, the x axis direction, and the floor, respectively. This adds position information in the target body (imaging region) to the magnetic resonance signal. On the other hand, the gradient coil device generates unnecessary magnetic fields (residual magnetic fields) in a region outside the imaging region. The residual magnetic field generates eddy currents in structures therearound and magnetic fields caused by the eddy currents adversely influence the tomographic image. Accordingly, the MRI device is provided with a shield coil through which a current flows in a direction opposite to that of the main coil in addition to the main coil generating the gradient magnetic field to suppress the residual magnetic field.
The gradient coil generally has a hollow circular cylinder shape having a cross section vertical to the z axis which is a circle and extends along an inner sleeve wall of a magnet device having the double hollow circular cylinder shapes. However, to reduce an oppressive feeling that the target body receives when the target body is inserted into the inner sleeve of the gradient coil, there is a proposal to modify the shape of the circle on the cross section to have an oblong shape to be made closer to a cross section shape of the human body (for example, Patent document 1, etc.). In Patent document 1, a shape on the cross section vertical to the z axis of the main coil and the shield coil of the gradient coil is an oblong shape, i.e., an ellipse shape. Further, in Patent document 1, a gradient coil has been proposed which includes a main coil having an ellipse shape on the cross section and a shield coil, disposed outside the main coil and having a circle on the cross section.
As described above, in the ellipse which is oblong, a major axis of the ellipse is directed to the x direction and a minor axis is directed in the y direction. Accordingly, an x main coil (a major axis gradient coil) for generating a gradient magnetic field in the x direction and a y main coil (a minor axis gradient coil) for generating a gradient magnetic field in the y direction are formed with such an ellipse which is oblong. In this case, because a distance to a center (in the z axis) of the imaging region from a position at a middle of one of a pair of the y main coils is longer than a distance from a position (on the x axis) at a middle of one of a pair of the x main coils, it is necessary to increase a magnetic energy for the x main coils to generate magnetic fields with the x main coils and the y main coils to have the same intensity in the imaging region. In Patent document 2, to solve this problem, the x main coils are arranged inside the y main coils (on a side of the imaging region), and y shields coil (miner axis shield coils) are arranged inside the x shield coils (major axis shield coils) (on a side of the imaging region).
Further, in Patent document 3, to suppress the eddy current to a minimum level, a gradient coil device has been proposed in which a length of the shield coil in the z direction is made longer than a length of the magnet device in the z direction.

Gradient coil device and magnetic resonance imaging device


An electronic package includes a circuit board and a capsule layer encasing the circuit board and forming an immersible electronic module. A housing receives the electronic module and forms a protective shell around the electronic module.

The invention relates generally to electronic packages, and, more particularly, to sealed electronic packages for use in rugged environmental conditions.
The proliferation of electronic devices in modern vehicles creates a number of manufacturing challenges in packaging the electronic devices to adequately protect electronic components and ensure reliable operation thereof. Especially for electronic packages which are mounted on the exterior of a vehicle, providing adequate protection for electronics can become a daunting task.
For example, electronic monitoring of brake wear for trucks, buses, and larger vehicles has become desirable to ensure proper performance of the vehicle and to comply with applicable regulations. By sensing an operating condition of the brakes for the vehicle or trailer, a warning signal may be provided to an operator of the vehicle, such as through a dashboard light or indicator, that one or more of the vehicle brakes should be serviced. Unacceptable or dangerous operating conditions may therefore be avoided, and inconvenient physical inspection of the brakes need not be as frequent.
To correctly monitor the condition of the brakes, the electronics and sensing mechanisms must be located underneath the vehicle near the brakes themselves, and are therefore exposed to varying temperature, pressure and moisture conditions, as well as exposed to a variety of engine fluids, lubricants, grease, brake fluids, debris, gravel, roadway composition coatings and by-products. Electronic components must therefore be carefully packaged to withstand such a harsh operating environment and reliably operate.
One known approach for protecting electronics from harsh environments is to contain the electronic components within a housing, and then fill or pack the housing with a silicon potting compound to insulate electronic components from adverse environmental conditions. The silicon potting compound, however, tends to result in bulky electronic packages. In one application for a brake wear monitor system, the housing of the electronic package must have a slim profile on the order of 0.5 inches or less. Achieving a profile such as this with silicon potting compounds is problematic. A suitable alternative to silicon potting compounds to protect electronic sensor packages is desirable.


A sealing system seals the perimeter of insulated hinged double doors. The sealing system includes first and second exterior seals made of a monolithic, resilient and elastically deformable material. The first exterior seal has an elongated lobe for contacting the exterior of said door, and both of the first and second exterior seals have an interior lobe which contact one another when the doors are closed. The sealing system further includes first and second inner seals made of a monolithic, resilient and elastically deformable material, each having a pair of spaced-apart sealing lobes. The inner seals are mounted to respective doors in a staggered fashion, such that the respective pairs of sealing lobes interact with one another to create a redundant, weather-resistant and thermally robust seal when the double doors are closed.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to seals, and in particular, to seals that are adapted to seal doors such as those associated with semi-trailer trucks, boxcars, shipping containers, and buildings.
2. Description of Related Art
Seals that are used on the doors of truck trailers may be designed to help insulate the contents contained within, and may be formed as a plurality of separate door-edge sections that are joined at their respective corners using molded corner blocks joined to adjacent pairs of the door-edge sections via glue or silicone caulk, for example. These multi-piece seals may be expensive and difficult to install and maintain.
Other seals may be pre-formed to fit a given truck door size. These seals normally cannot be substantially deformed without compromising the effectiveness of the seal, and are therefore packaged and shipped as a single, door-shaped piece in a large, flat shipping container having approximately the same dimensions as the door to which the seal will be mounted. This relatively large shipping size and configuration adds to the overall cost of implementing such a pre-formed seal.
What is needed is an improvement over the foregoing.


A novel subtype of the P.sub.2 -purinergic receptor, referred to as the P.sub.2U2 receptor, is disclosed. This receptor is activated by four of its agonists in the following order of specificity: UTP>UDP>ADP>ATP. Nucleic acids encoding the receptor and associated screening and therapeutic methods also are disclosed.

Purinergic receptors are cell surface receptors that interact with extracellular adenine or uridine nucleotides and nucleosides. These receptors are present throughout the central nervous system and peripheral tissues and play a role in numerous physiological responses.
The purinergic receptors are broadly divided into two major receptor types, P.sub.1 and P.sub.2, which are defined by their level of interaction with the adenine nucleotides and nucleosides. Where P.sub.1 receptors are activated by adenosine and exhibit a potency order of adenosine>AMP>ADP>ATP, P.sub.2 receptors are activated by ATP, UTP, ADP or UDP and exhibit a potency order of ATP.gtoreq.ADP>AMP>adenosine. As more has become known about the purinergic receptors and the wide range of physiological responses in which they play a role, the P.sub.1 -and P.sub.2 -type classifications were no longer sufficient to accurately portray this complex family of receptors. Therefore, receptor subtype categories have been developed. For example, the P.sub.2 -type purinergic receptors are now classified as P.sub.2Y -, P.sub.2U -, P.sub.2T -, P.sub.2X - and P.sub.2Z -subtypes. A review of the P.sub.2 -type purinergic receptors can be found in Harden, et al., Ann. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 35:541-579 (1995).
Classification of the P.sub.2 -type purinergic receptors has been difficult because there are no published selective P.sub.2 -receptor antagonists and there are few ATP or ADP receptor-subtype specific agonists. In addition, it has been difficult to compare the relative order of potency of P.sub.2 -purinergic receptor agonists. Hence, this subtype has presented numerous challenges in the identification and characterization of its members.

P2u2 purinergic receptor and nucleic acid encoding the receptor


A printing machine includes a printing cylinder that is fitted with plates for printing the width of N pages. A web of material is printed and is then cut longitudinally, by an elongate cutting device, into printed webs. The number N of pages is a whole number that is divisible by three and the total width of N pages is less than the width of the printing cylinder. A width of N+1 pages is greater than the width of the printing cylinder. The elongate cutting device can be arranged, on one boundary, between a Kth and a Kth+1 page, wherein k is one third or two thirds of N. At least one of the resulting partial webs is guided through a former. The former is oriented so that the direction of travel of the web entering the former is transverse to the direction of web travel in the elongated cutting device. The former has a width that is equal to, or greater than two thirds of the width of the printing cylinder, but is less than the entire width of the printing cylinder.

A folding structure of a printing press is known, for example, from W. Walenski "Der Rollenoffsetdruck" [Rotary Offset Printing], 1996, pages 186 and 187, in which a web of material is cut into two partial webs. During a further course of production of the printed product, the partial webs are placed on top of each other and are cut, either in the center, or are again cut longitudinally. In such a case, as discussed in Walenski, at page 81, the width of the pages of four page wide webs, which pages are imprinted side-by-side, would each be a quarter of the width of the printing cylinder, or could be slightly less, if a web of lesser width than that of the printing cylinder is to be imprinted.
If the number of pages of a printed product to be produced is not sufficient to fill four pages side-by-side, the plate cylinder can also be equipped with a reduced number of printing plates. This will equip it for printing a web of three-quarter width or of half width or of one quarter width side-by-side with three, two or one rape. At least a quarter of the width of the plate cylinder, and therefore at least a quarter of the production capacity of the press remains unused in each such case.
If such a press is to be used for semi-commercial printing in particular, various printing jobs, with unfavorable page formats, may need to be printed, in which, in such unfavorable page formats, four pages side-by-side are wider than the plate cylinder, or in which unfavorable page formats, with four pages placed side-by-side, the entire width of the plate cylinder is insufficiently utilized, but in which unfavorable format twice the number of pages to be printed would exceed the width of the plate cylinder.
EP 0 814 044 A1 discloses a web guidance of several partial webs. The partial webs are cut by a longitudinal cutting device located in the direction of web travel to a former. The former is oriented in such a way that its entry direction extends transversely with respect to the web running direction in the area of the longitudinal cutting device.
DE 20 39 544 B shows a web guidance in a printing press and having a longitudinal web cutting device which is positioned in such a way that it cuts a web into a ⅓ and a ⅔ partial web. The two partial webs are conducted to a former which can be moved transversely with respect to the web running direction.


The present invention relates generally to managing acknowledgements for multicast data in a wireless network. According to certain aspects, embodiments of the invention allow for adopting appropriate acknowledgement mechanisms to address the particular need of different applications, for example in terms of throughput, latency and delay. According to certain other aspects, embodiments of the invention can, depending on link conditions, vary the frequency of the acknowledgements to sinks, vary the application packet size and/or remove sink devices from the multicast group and reach them instead via unicast transmission or via an access point.

As WiFi networks become increasingly ubiquitous, new applications for WiFi are continually being developed. For example, the original IEEE 802.11 standards did not include any support for multicast or groupcast transmissions in the wireless network (i.e. a basic service set, or BSS), which would be useful for applications such as audio and video distribution. Recently, however, the IEEE 802.11aa standard included definitions for multicast/groupcast transmissions, including a mechanism where a WiFi access point (AP) can provide reliability by allowing for retransmissions of multicast/groupcast (MG) data. The retransmissions can be in response to acknowledgements (i.e. BlockAck) or lack thereof from receiving devices. However, there is currently no mechanism for applications to support transfer of data with varying delay, throughput and latency requirements depending on user experience.
Moreover, the sink devices that are receiving the multicast content can be positioned at different locations and experience different link conditions. However, there is currently no mechanism to change the frequency at which acknowledgements for each of the sink devices is requested. Similarly, with changes in application packet size there is a variation in the performance in the packet transfer delay and also the medium efficiency. While a higher packet size improves the medium efficiency it also increases the transfer delay of the application content. However, there is currently no mechanism to change packet application size based on link conditions.
Accordingly a need remains for a solution to these and other problems.

Methods and apparatuses for managing acknowledgements for multicast data in a wireless network

Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.