A holder of the present invention is formed of a leg portion having an opening at an upper portion thereof; a flange extending outwardly from a vicinity of the opening; outer pawls projecting from the leg portion to sandwich a peripheral edge of a fitting hole together with the flange therebetween; and thick frame portions. When the leg portion of the holder is inserted into the fitting hole, the outer pawls are resiliently deformed toward depressed portions of the leg portion. When an impact is applied to the holder, abutting surfaces of the outer pawls are strongly pressed against the peripheral edge of the fitting hole. However, side surfaces of the frame portions are pressed against the peripheral edge of the fitting hole to prevent damage of the outer pawls. Thus, the holder having a reduced inserting force and improved impact resistance can be obtained.

The present invention relates to a holder for mounting a fitting member to a member by inserting the holder into a fitting hole of the member and engaging a hook member of the fitting member therein, and an engaging mechanism thereof.
As shown in FIG. 14, a rear seat 80 in a vehicle is generally assembled such that a retainer 74 for the seat is inserted into a fitting hole 72 provided to a panel 70 on a rear side and outer pawls 76 are engaged therewith, and a seat wire 82 in a U shape provided on a back surface of the rear seat 80 is engaged with inner pawls 78 of the retainer 74 for the seat.
A leg portion 84 of the retainer 74 for the seat is formed in a bag or closed shape since a sealing property for shutting out water, odors and noises outside the vehicle is required. The leg portion 84 is integrally formed with the outer pawls 76.
Incidentally, in order to retain flexibility of the outer pawls 76 and reduce the insertion force of the seat wire 82, the leg portion 84 is made thin around the outer pawls 76. However, when the vehicle is collided and an impact is applied to the outer pawls 76, the thin portions L of the leg portion 84 may be broken.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention has been made, and an object of the present invention is to provide a holder having a reduced insertion force and improved impact resistance for a leg portion.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.

Engaging mechanism and a holder using therefor


Method and system for controlling the state of a system bus during live insertion and removal of a pluggable feature card (FC) by driving control signals, which are transferred over the system bus, to an active signal level, or by driving down level active control signals to a low signal level near ground level. By this mechanism, the system bus becomes immune to signal disturbances and thereby allows pluggable units to be live inserted and removed without causing adverse effects to the system such as a system reset or compromise of data integrity. During live insertion or removal, a Live Insertion Bus Controller (LIBC) acquires access to the system bus through its interface with a System Bus Controller (SBC), after it has been signalled by a live insertion mechanism associated with the FC that the FC is in the process of being live inserted or removed. After system bus access has been acquired by the LIBC and the LIBC has taken over the control of the system bus, it drives a subset of the system bus set of control signals to a state that is immune from insertion/removal signal disturbance. In parallel, the LIBC effects suspension of running timeout and watchdog operations currently being performed by the SBC. When the LIBC is informed that the insertion process has been completed, the SBC again acquires control of the system bus. The same procedural steps are performed in case of removal of an FC.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns computer systems in which pluggable units have to be inserted or extracted when the system is powered on. The invention particulary relates to a method and a system which allow the replacement or addition of such a unit without also requiring the system to be powered down thereby avoiding signal disturbances on a system bus of the computer system caused by that live insertion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various apparatus and methods for the rapid interconnection of electrical circuits, such as peripheral device interfaces or control circuits to computer busses, are known in the art. In an effort to minimize the impact of plugging into a digital bus, the normal procedure has been to shut down or disable the bus so that new devices would not disrupt data flow on the bus. Hereby particular control circuits are utilized which usually contain a voltage regulator. Circuit interconnections to the bus and for power and data transfer are accomplished via edge connectors. The edge connectors are mounted on a printed circuit board which is plugged into a corresponding receptacle for connection to the bus. Plugging in the board establishes electrical contact between the edge connectors and the corresponding bus receptacle and thus both provides power to the electronic components on the board and interconnects it with the bus in one operation. For hot plugging, the common method of interconnection is to increase the length of at least the ground contact on the edge connector, so that a ground contact can be completed prior to the electrical connection of the other contacts for the application of power and the transfer of data signals.
Another concept for controlled insertion and removal of circuit modules which are interconnected by a bus is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,737. According to the teaching of that reference, the operation of the bus is inhibited during the period a module is being inserted into a connector connected to the bus, and the bus is reactivated after the module has been inserted. When the module is to be inserted in an associated connector, a switch on the module is operated to provide an inhibit signal via the associated connector to a control circuit which inhibits operation of the bus. Upon full insertion of the module in the associated connector, the switch is operated to a second state in which the inhibit signal to the control circuit is reactivated. As a consequence, the control circuit again enables the bus to perform normal operations. However, quiescing of the bus during the insertion period has serious disadvantages, since there is no graceful way to manage peripherals or input/output (I/O) devices during the quiesce interruption.
A further approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,998 "Method and System for Placing a Bus on Hold During the Insertion/Extraction of an IC Card Into/From a Computer" assigned to Toshiba Corporation, which is particulary related to portable computers where a host IC card has to be inserted/extracted during operation of the computer. In such computer systems, when an IC card is extracted from an IC card holder, commonly a door has to be opened. A detection signal is output from a detecting circuit to a bus controller by detecting opening of the door. Upon receiving the detection signal, a hold request signal is output from the bus controller to a Central Processing Unit (CPU). In response to the hold request signal, a hold acknowledge signal is output from the CPU to the bus controller after the computer process to be executed is completed. A buffer control signal for disabling a buffer is output from the bus controller by receiving the hold acknowledge signal, thereby interrupting an access signal from the CPU, to hold a bus. As a disadvantage of that approach, there are no provisions which avoid bus disturbances of these signals which adversely affect the system, but allow further managing of peripherals during the live insertion procedure. Beyond that, the approach is not generally applicable to other live insertion systems. For example, it defines use of a door being opened or closed to indicate the progress of live insertion to the system. It requires the use of a buffer to isolate the CPU from the bus where live insertion occurs.
A further mechanism which provides the ability to quiesce a system bus in order to protect it against system malfunction is disclosed in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 35, No. 5, October 1992, pp. 391-394, and entitled "Method for Card Hot Plug Detection and Control". The proposed method serves to control system bus signal disruptions that may occur as a result of card hot plugging. A receiver circuit on each card detects when a card has been inserted and causes the system bus to be quiesced. When the card has been fully inserted, powered-on, and is otherwise ready for system bus operation, the system bus is allowed to run. When card removal is detected via a service bus, the system bus can again be quiesced.
From IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Volume 29, No.7, December 1986, page 2877, a circuitry is known for allowing a data cartridge to be hot plugged into an operating terminal without disrupting terminal operation. Other circuits are included in this circuitry to isolate the cartridge connector from the address, data and control busses to which it is logically connected. The buffer circuits are interposed between the cartridge connector and the busses to avoid bus noise. The buffer is kept in a high impedance state unless the presence of the cartridge has been indicated by an interrupt signal provided directly to a microprocessor.
An improved hot pluggable circuit is further disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,916 entitled "Precharge for Non-Disruptive Bus Live Insertion" which is assigned to IBM Corporation. That reference describes hot plugging of an electrical circuit into a separate non-quiesced signal network in an active system, such as a digital or an analog bus. The inventive concept proposed is the addition of a preconditioning network to precondition the electrical circuit to be hot plugged by partially precharging the parasitic input capacitances of the electrical circuit before hot plugging. The precharging of the parasitic input capacitances serves to minimize electrical transient effects on the active system. According to that approach each pluggable unit is precharged; the bus itself is not preconditioned.
When an electrical circuit such as a printed circuit board is inserted live into a signal network of an analog or digital system, the active system's signal voltage may be high, low, or a transition between these two states. No knowledge of the exact voltage level to be encountered is possible in an active system. Thus connection of the board to an analog or a digital bus can occur when the system signals are in any of the states noted above.
A more specific approach to prevent turbulence from being generated on a bus line when a bus connected substrate, i.e. a pluggable unit, is inserted or extracted in a hot-line state of a computer system, is disclosed in Japanese patent publication No. JP 512 7777 entitled "Substrate Insertion and Extraction in Hot-Line State" which is assigned to Fujitsu Ltd. The substrate is equipped with a first connector and a second connector. Through the first connector the substrate is connected to the bus of a CPU and a power source, wherein the second connector serves to connect the substrate to an electric power supply. Further a switch is provided which is operated at the time of insertion or extraction of the substrate in the hot-line state, as well as an interruption initiating circuit which initiates an interruption to the CPU when the switch is operated and first and second attachment/detachment detecting circuits. The first of these circuits generates a first connector attachment/detachment signal when the first connector is connected; the second circuit generates a second connector attachment/detachment signal when the second connector is connected. In particular a bus driver control circuit is provided which holds a bus driver high in impedance with the aforementioned connector signals. Further, a write register which holds the permission for insertion or extraction of the CPU in the hot-line state and which generates an insertion/extraction permission signal, is provided. When the CPU issues the permission for insertion or extraction in hot-line states, bus access is stopped. Thus the subject matter of that patent publication also depends on holding and stopping the bus, and placing it in a high impedance state during live insertion. But there are no additional provisions for immunity to spurious disturbances. A switch is used to interrupt the CPU's operation analogous to the door as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,998 cited above.
Another approach where the bus is set to a high level is disclosed in Japanese patent publication No. JP 2094 271 entitled "Interface Package" which is assigned to NEC Corporation. In order to prevent an adverse effect on the bus it is particulary proposed to use connector pins with two kinds of lengths, and setting the bus output to an open high level. The upper pins and lower pins of an interface package (IP) are set to long pins; the intermediate pins are set to short pins. A specific pin of the long pins is assigned as power terminal, it is first brought into contact when the IP is inserted, and it is last separated when the IP is removed. The long pins are adapted for a power cut-off detecting integrated circuit (IC) and a buffer IC. When the IP is inserted, the detecting IC is operated as soon as the terminal is brought into contact with the IP, and the output of the buffer IC is set to an open high level. Therefore that invention allows the bus to flood to an open high level during the live insertion progress. The sequencing during live insertion is controlled with different staggered pin lengths versus a door as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,998 or a switch as in the JP 512 7777. Staggered pin length sequencing, however, is not at issue for the present invention.

Method and system for enabling nondisruptive live insertion and removal of feature cards in a computer system

International Business Machines Corporation


An austenitic stainless steel having excellent processability and surface characteristics and a method of manufacturing the austenitic stainless steel are disclosed. The austenitic stainless steel includes, by weight %, 0.005% to 0.15% of carbon (C), 0.1% to 1.0% of silicon (Si), 0.1% to 2.0% of manganese (Mn), 6.0% to 10.5% of nickel (Ni), 16% to 20% of chromium (Cr), 0.005% to 0.2% of nitrogen (N), the remainder iron (Fe) and other unavoidable impurities, wherein a degree of Ni surface negative segregation defined by the following Formula (1) is in a range of 0.6 to 0.9.(CNi-Min)/(CNi-Ave)  Formula (1),                where CNi-Min is a minimum concentration of Ni on the surface of the austenitic stainless steel and CNi-Ave is an average concentration of Ni on the surface of the austenitic stainless steel.

The present disclosure relates to a stainless steel used for sinks or the like, and more particularly, to an austenitic stainless steel having excellent processability and surface characteristics, which does not cause defects such as cracks and surface defects such as stripes, protrusions or the like, after processing into sinks.
Sink bowls of kitchen sinks are made of, generally, stainless steels. Specific general-purpose stainless steels are widely used as they have no problem in formability upon application to the shapes of general sink bowls.
However, recently, in order to enhance competitiveness in the market, many attempts to design sink bowls of various and complicated shapes have been made.
A material made of an austenitic stainless steel having poor processability makes defects such as cracks after processing. Furthermore, there are cases that the surface characteristics become poor due to protrusions formed on the surface after processing. Defects such as cracks or the like correspond to processing defects, which causes a decrease in production yield. When surface characteristics are poor, an additional process such as grinding is required, resulting in an increase of production cost.
For example, typically, STS 304 steel has been widely used for processing of sinks or the like. However, in the STS 304 steel, processing cracks and surface deterioration often occur as chronic problems.    Patent Document 1: Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2013-0014069 (Published on Feb. 6, 2013)

Austenitic stainless steel having excellent processability and surface characteristics, and manufacturing method therefor


The present invention relates to fluorinated silicate glass (FSG) with low dielectric constant and improved gap-fill characteristics. In the present method, a fluorinated silicon source, an optional fluorine source, an optional carbon source, a hydrogen source, and an oxygenator are used as the reactant gases. Inert or carrier gas(es) may also be used. In accordance with the present invention, the reactant gas mixture does not comprise a silane compound having the general formula SixHy, wherein x has a range of 1 to 2, y has a range of 4 to 6. The material deposited is thus referred to herein alternatively as “SixFy-only FSG” or “SixFy-only fluorinated oxide” (“SOFO”).

The present invention relates to the manufacture of integrated circuits, and more specifically, to methods, apparatus and systems for forming fluorinated silicate glass ("FSG") films with improved characteristics in a high-density-plasma chemical-vapor-deposition ("HDP-CVD") environment.
Semiconductor device geometries have dramatically decreased in size since such devices were first introduced several decades ago. Smaller feature sizes have resulted in the presence of increased aspect ratio gaps for some applications, for example, between adjacent conductive lines or in etched trenches. The aspect ratio of a gap is defined by the ratio of the gap's height or depth to its width. These spaces are difficult to fill using conventional methods. A film's ability to completely fill such gaps is referred to as the film's "gap-filling" ability. Silicon oxide is one type of insulation film that is commonly used to fill the gaps in intermetal dielectric (IMD) applications, premetal dielectric (PMD) applications and shallow trench isolation (STI) applications among others. Such a silicon oxide film is often referred to as a gap-fill film or a gap-fill layer.
Some integrated circuit manufacturers have turned to the use of high density plasma CVD (HDP-CVD) systems to deposit silicon oxide gap-fill layers. HDP-CVD systems form a plasma that is approximately two orders of magnitude or greater than the density of a standard, capacitively-coupled plasma CVD system. HDP-CVD systems generally operate at lower pressure ranges than low density plasma systems. The low chamber pressure employed in HDP-CVD systems provides active species having a long mean-free-path and reduced angular distribution. These factors, in combination with the plasma's density, contribute to a significant number of constituents from the plasma reaching even the deepest portions of closely spaced gaps, providing a film with improved gap-fill capabilities as compared to films deposited in a low density plasma CVD system.
Another factor that allows films deposited by HDP-CVD techniques to have improved gap-fill characteristics as compared to films deposited by other CVD techniques is the occurrence of sputtering, promoted by the plasma's high density, simultaneous with film deposition. The sputtering element of HDP deposition slows deposition on certain features, such as the corners of raised surfaces, thereby contributing to the increased gap-fill ability of HDP deposited films. Some HDP-CVD systems introduce argon or a similar heavy inert gas to further promote the sputtering effect. These HDP-CVD systems typically employ an electrode within the substrate support pedestal that enables the creation of an electric field to bias the plasma toward the substrate. The electric field can be applied throughout the HDP deposition process to generate sputtering and provide better gap-fill characteristics for a given film.
One HDP-CVD process commonly used to deposit a silicon oxide film forms a plasma from a process gas that includes silane (SiH4), molecular oxygen (O2) and argon (Ar). This silicon oxide film has improved gap-fill characteristics as opposed to some silicon oxide films deposited by other non-HDP-CVD plasma techniques and is useful for a variety of applications. Despite the improvement in gap-fill capability provided by HDP-CVD systems and the relatively good gap-fill characteristics of HDP-CVD silicon oxide films in particular, the development of film deposition techniques that enable the deposition of silicon oxide layers having even further improved gap-fill characteristics are desirable. Such improved silicon oxide film depositions are particularly desirable in light of the aggressive gap-fill challenges presented by integrated circuit designs employing minimum feature sizes of 0.18 microns and less.
One known way to improve the gap-fill capability of silicon oxide films is to add a fluorine-containing source gas to the process gas. Fluorine atoms are known to etch silicon oxide and it is known that the inclusion of fluorine into a silicon oxide deposition process results in etching simultaneous with deposition which in turn can improve the deposited film's gap-fill capability. The incorporation of fluorine into a silicon oxide film also has a primary benefit of reducing the dielectric constant of the deposited film. A silicon oxide film (also referred to as a silicate glass layer) that includes fluorine is often referred to in the industry as a fluorine-doped silicon oxide film or as a fluorosilicate glass (FSG) layer. However, a need exists to further lower the dielectric constant in the FSG film and improve gap-fill characteristics of the film.

Methods for improving low k FSG film gap-fill characteristics


A muzzle formed of a flexible sheet has a top, a bottom, and laterally spaced sides. A central hole in the muzzle is equally spaced from the sides, closer to the bottom than to the top. Two laterally spaced side holes are in the muzzle between the central hole and the sides. A restraint in a generally rectangular configuration has opposed free ends. Fasteners are secured to the restraint adjacent to the free ends. Attachment elements couple the muzzle and the restraint.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cat muzzle system and more particularly pertains to restraining and relaxing a cat during an examination and medical procedure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of animal muzzles is known in the prior art. More specifically, muzzles previously devised and utilized for the purpose of performing examinations and procedures on animals are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
While known devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the prior art devices do not describe a cat muzzle system that allows examinations and procedures to be performed in a safe, convenient and economical manner.
In this respect, the cat muzzle system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing examinations and procedures to be performed in a safe, convenient and economical manner.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved cat muzzle system which can be used for the purpose of allowing examinations and procedures to be performed in a safe, convenient and economical manner. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A debris flushing system for a percussive, fluid-activated apparatus includes a first and second separate and independent flushing system in the apparatus, each flushing system having a separate combination of passageways in the apparatus for fluid communication between an inlet port and a front piston exhaust chamber. Each flushing system has a separate seal and throttle combination for opening and closing its own passageways. A third, independent flushing system for flushing water can be added to the apparatus.

This invention relates generally to percussive, fluid-activated tools, and more particularly to systems used for flushing away debris caused by air-activated jackhammers. The function of flush air in a rock drill or jackhammer is to supply the drill steel with sufficient quantities of air to clean the dust and rock fragments from the front of the drilling bit. In some cases, water is also provided to prevent dust particles from becoming airborne. Typical drill construction provides air as the standard flushing method and water as an option. Consequently, both systems are not usually constructed from a unique set of parts.
The flush air is supplied to the drill steel usually through some type of rotary valve system with timed holes. The timing of the holes in the valve is usually such that air is supplied to the flush function as the drill operates. There is no flush system that is independent of, and in addition to, the flush system used for the percussive air that operates the drill.
If water is also used in the flush system, variations of the entire geometry are required in order to properly manage the water.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present devices and methods. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.

Flushing system for a percussive, fluid-activated apparatus


A high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device is provided in which variations of gain can be reduced and which can be manufactured at a low cost as compared with prior art devices. A high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device includes a semiconductor substrate; and a transistor which is formed on the semiconductor substrate and which has a plurality of first electrodes, a plurality of second electrodes, and at least one third electrode, a high-frequency signal input to the plurality of second electrodes being amplified by the transistor and output from the third electrode, wherein at least two first electrodes from among the plurality of first electrodes are each grounded via a capacitor, and the electrostatic capacitance values of the two capacitors are set at mutually different values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device formed on a semiconductor substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, microwaves and millimeter waves have come to be widely used.
Progress has been made in the formation of high-frequency circuits into monolithic ICs to achieve small size and light weight. Under these circumstances, intense efforts are being made to develop a high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device suitable for use as an MMIC as well.
FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating the construction of a conventional high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 mounted on the top surface of a mother board 100. The high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 of FIG. 5 comprises a field-effect transistor 1, an inductor 41, spiral inductors 142, 51 and 52, a capacitor 31, and a self-bias resistor 21 on the top surface of a semiconductor substrate 10, on the bottom surface of which a grounding conductor is formed. The high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 is formed as described below.
As shown in FIG. 5A, the field-effect transistor 1 comprising a gate electrode 11, a drain electrode 12, and a source electrode 13 is formed on the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 10 made of GaAs or the like. Here, the gate electrode 11 is formed of a first gate electrode 11a, a second gate electrode 11b, a third gate electrode 11c, a fourth gate electrode 11d, and a gate electrode terminal 11t. The drain electrode 12 is formed of a first drain electrode 12a, a second drain electrode 12b, and a drain electrode terminal 12t. The source electrode 13 is formed of a first source electrode 13a, a second source electrode 13b, a third source electrode 13c, a connection electrode 13s, and a connection section 13t1. Each of the above elements are formed so as to be positioned as described below. Here, the connection section 13t1 is a boundary portion between the third source electrode 13c and a connection conductor 14a.
More specifically, the first gate electrode 11a is positioned between the first source electrode 13a and the first drain electrode 12a. The second gate electrode 11b is positioned between the first drain electrode 12a and the second source electrode 13b. The third gate electrode 11c is positioned between the second source electrode 13b and the second drain electrode 12b. The fourth gate electrode 11d is positioned between the second drain electrode 12b and the third source electrode 13c.
An inductor 41 is formed of a strip electrode formed on the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 10, with one end thereof being connected to the gate electrode terminal 11t of the gate electrode 11 of the field-effect transistor 1 and the other end thereof being connected to a terminal conductor 71 substantially in a square shape formed on the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 10. The terminal conductor 71 is connected by a bonding wire 61 to an input terminal 101 formed on the top surface of the mother board 100. Here, a grounding conductor is formed on the bottom surface of the semiconductor substrate 10. A spiral inductor 142 has a strip electrode formed in a spiral shape on the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 10, with one end thereof being connected to the terminal conductor 71 and the other end being connected to a terminal conductor 74 substantially in a square shape formed on the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 10. The terminal conductor 74 is connected by a bonding wire 66 to a grounding conductor 103 formed on the top surface of the mother board 100.
A spiral inductor 51 is formed of a strip electrode formed in a spiral shape on the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 10, with one end thereof being connected to the drain electrode terminal 12t of the drain electrode 12 of the field-effect transistor 1 and the other end being connected to a terminal conductor 72 substantially in a square shape formed on the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 10. The terminal conductor 72 is connected by a bonding wire 63 to an output terminal 102 formed on the top surface of the mother board 100. A spiral inductor 52 is formed of a strip electrode formed in a spiral shape on the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 10, with one end thereof being connected to the terminal conductor 72 and the other end being connected to a terminal conductor 73 substantially in a square shape formed on the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 10. The terminal conductor 73 is connected by a bonding wire 64 to the grounding conductor 103 formed on the top surface of the mother board 100.
The capacitor 31 is formed at a position between the connection conductor 14a and a grounding conductor 81. The self-bias resistor 21 is formed at a position between the connection conductor 14a and the grounding conductor 81. The grounding conductor 81 is connected by a bonding wire 65 to the grounding conductor 103 of the mother board 100. As a result, the third source electrode 13c is grounded via a parallel circuit of the capacitor 31 and the self-bias resistor 21.
FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of the high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 of FIG. 5. In the conventional high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 constructed as described above, the bonding wires 61, 63, 64, 65 and 66 function as inductors at high frequencies. Therefore, in the conventional high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92, the respective values of the inductor 41, the spiral inductors 142, 51 and 52, and the capacitor 31 are set so as to have a desired gain at a predetermined frequency by taking the inductance values of the bonding wires 61, 63, 64, 65 and 66 into consideration.
FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating the frequency characteristic of the output end reflection coefficient and the gain in the high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 of FIG. 5, when the values of the inductor 41, the spiral inductors 51, 52 and 142, and the capacitor 31 are set and the lengths L of the bonding wires 61, 63, 64, 65 and 66 are varied as described below:
(1) The inductance value of the inductor 41=0.48 nH,
(2) The inductance value of the spiral inductor 142=1.3 nH,
(3) The inductance value of the spiral inductor 51=0.65 nH,
(4) The inductance value of the spiral inductor 52=1.2 nH,
(5) The electrostatic capacitance value of the capacitor 31=3 pF,
(6) The resistance value of the self-bias resistor 21=50 ohms.
Here, the lengths L of the bonding wires 61, 63, 64, 65 and 66 are set at values of 240 .mu.m, 300 .mu.m and 360 .mu.m, and the frequency characteristic of the output end reflection coefficient and the gain is shown for each case. As can be seen in FIG. 7, there is a gain of approximately 7 dB at the frequency of 10 GHz. That is, the conventional high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 constructed as described above amplifies an input high-frequency signal having a predetermined frequency and outputs the amplified signal.
However, when the conventional high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 is operated at a frequency exceeding 10 GHz, there are problems. For example, the high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 is greatly affected by variations in the inductance values caused by the variations of the lengths L of the bonding wires 61, 63, 64, 65 and 66. Therefore, when the high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 is mounted on the mother board 100, variations of the gain are increased at a predetermined frequency. Also, in some cases, these variations of the inductance values of the bonding wires 61, 63, 64, 65 and 66 may cause parasitic oscillation to occur, causing the amplification operation to become unstable. As a result, the yield during mass production is decreased and the manufacturing costs are increased, so the high-frequency amplifying integrated-circuit device 92 cannot be manufactured at a low cost.

High-frequency amplifier integrated-circuit device


The disclosed sorbents are for adsorbing sulfur compounds, particularly sulfur-containing aromatic compounds, from liquid hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline, cracked gasoline, diesel, high sulfur liquid fossil fuels, ultra-low sulfur fuel (ULSF) in fuel cell applications, and mixtures thereof. The sorbent compositions comprise one or more silicates having one or more metal nitrates admixed together. The one or more metal nitrates include iron (II) or (III), zinc (II), cadmium (II) and mercury (II) nitrate. The method of preparing and using the sorbents is also provided.

Sulfur compounds in liquid hydrocarbon fuels have been linked to serious human health and environmental problems. For example, sulfur is a well known poison for catalytic converters in motor vehicles and the resulting SOX in exhaust gas is a major contributor to air pollution. Emissions from poisoned catalytic converters may contain high levels of combusted hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen and/or carbon monoxide which, when catalyzed by sunlight, form ground level ozone, referred to as smog. Consequently, rigorous efforts are currently underway in both European countries as well as in the United States of America1,2 to reduce the sulfur content in liquid hydrocarbon fuels from the current levels of 300-500 ppmw total sulfur down to 15-30 ppmw (15 ppmw of total sulfur for diesel fuel and 30 ppmw total sulfur for gasoline). More recently, the need for ultra-low-sulfur fuels in fuel cell application is also getting more and more important—the total sulfur concentration in liquid fuel has to be reduced to less than 1 ppmw for proton exchange membrane fuel cell and below 10 ppmw for solid oxide fuel cell.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established stringent sulfur control programs for gasoline and diesel fuel. The Tier 2 gasoline sulfur control program started in 2004 requires that, by 2006, all U.S. gasoline must have an average sulfur content≦30 ppm. The Ultra-Low-Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) program begins in 2006 and requires that highway diesel fuel must have a maximum sulfur content ≦15 ppm. Consequently, deep desulfurization is becoming a great challenge for environmental chemists, the petroleum refining industry, and others. As used herein, "ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel" is defined as having a maximum sulfur content ≦15 ppm.
Ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel (ULSD), less than 10 ppm total sulfur content in Europe (while ≦15 ppm in North America) has been produced in a hydrotreating facility based on SynTechnology at Scanraff, Sweden. Sweden was the first country to impose very strict quality specifications for diesel fuel, requiring a minimum 50 cetane number, a maximum of 10 ppm on sulfur content, and a maximum 5 percent on aromatics content. Other European countries are encouraging the early introduction of very-low-sulfur diesel fuel ahead of the shift to a European Union requirement for 50 ppm diesel in 2005. The United Kingdom and Germany have structured tax incentives for the early introduction of 50 ppm diesel fuel and have discussed incentives for introduction of a 10 ppm diesel fuel. BP's refinery at Grangemouth, United Kingdom uses a new higher activity AK30 Nobel catalyst (KF757) to produce 10 to 20 ppm sulfur diesel product. In the United States, Arco (BP Amoco) announced that it would produce a premium diesel fuel termed "EC Diesel" with less than 10 ppm at its Carson, Calif., refinery.
The production of ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel for clean, complete combustion and low emissions is of great significance. Diesel fuel is used for many tasks. In agriculture, diesel fuels more than two-thirds of all farm equipment in the United States, because diesel engines can perform demanding work. In addition, it is the most widely used fuel for public buses and school buses throughout the United States. America's construction industry depends on diesel's power. Diesel engines are able to do demanding construction work, like lifting steel beams, digging foundations and trenches, drilling wells, paving roads and moving soil, safely and efficiently. Diesel also powers the movement of America's freight in trucks, trains, boats and barges; 94 percent of American goods are shipped using diesel-powered vehicles. No other fuel can currently match diesel in its ability to move freight economically.
The removal of sulfur-containing compounds from liquid fuels in the petroleum industry is currently achieved by hydrodesulfurization (HDS) with a Co—Mo/Al2O3 or Ni—Mo/Al2O3 catalyst or by an adapted HDS process (e.g. by improving catalytic activity, increasing the process severity such as hydrogen pressure or designing new reactor configurations). HDS is highly efficient in removing thiols, sulfides, and disulfides but is less effective for refractory sulfur-containing aromatic thiophene, benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene and their alkylated derivatives as depicted in FIG. 1, especially those containing functional groups that hinder the ring sulfur atoms (i.e., 4,6-dimethyl-dibenzothiophene). The difficulty in their removal may be due to their aromaticity (stability and inactivity) and the steric hindrance. For diesel fuel, it is very difficult for the current hydrotreating technology to reduce the sulfur content to less than 50 ppmw, because the remaining sulfur compounds in current diesel fuel with 500 ppmw total sulfur level are mostly the refractory sulfur compounds which are difficult to remove. Consequently, the sulfur content in gasoline cannot be reduced to less than 30 ppmw by current hydrotreating processes. The major problem for deep desulfurization of hydrocarbon fuels is that the current hydrotreating technology results in high hydrogen consumption and significant reduction of octane number due to olefin saturation. Particularly, desulfurization of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) gasoline (containing 20-40 wt. % olefins) demands adsorbents of high selectivity to substantially reduce the amount of sulfur components while maintaining a minimum olefin saturation to provide a good octane number. In order to carry out deep removal of the sulfur compounds that account for only less than 1 percent of the fuel, 100 percent of the fuel needs to be processed at high temperatures under elevated pressures using hydrogen gas. The HDS process typically requires expensive catalysts, hydrogen gas, high-pressure equipment (up to 1,000 psig) and high-temperature (400-550° C.) to help produce environmentally-friendly low sulfur fuels.
Other approaches used to generate low sulfur fuels include costly biodesulfurization using bacteria that removes sulfur as a water soluble sulfate salt. In other approaches, sulfur oxidation using emulsified hydrogen peroxide has been pursued which requires extra post-processing to separate the oxidized sulfone (Unipure Corporation) and the Fischer-Tropsch process that produces non-oil-based synthetic diesel from natural gas. None of these approaches has been entirely satisfactory.
Sorbents have been also been developed to generate low sulfur fuels via sulfur adsorption. For example, Ag (I), Cu(I), Ni(II) and other transition metal exchanged Y zeolite-based adsorbents that allegedly work via π-complexation have been developed by two leading research groups of Song3 and Yang4 on a bench scale. The limitation of the π-complexation-based sorbents is lack of selectivity, because other olefinic and aromatic hydrocarbons in liquid transportation fuel can also be absorbed via π-complexation, thereby causing difficulty in maintaining a fairly good octane and cetane number. The use of clay minerals in sorbents has been studied as clay minerals occur abundantly in nature and because of their high surface area, adsorptive and ion-exchange properties, they have been studied for catalytic applications,5,6 in soil chemistry as well as effective sorbents for various water pollutants and are particularly cost effective. Clay-supported copper (II) and iron (III) nitrates (Claycop and Clayfen) have demonstrated unique oxidizing properties in organic synthesis. In Claycop and Clayfen, the copper and iron nitrates are immobilized on the clay surface by strict preparation techniques including dissolution of the metal nitrates in acetone, followed by careful removal of the solvent under reduced pressure to immobilize the salts on the clay surface. Clayfen is unstable, decomposes rapidly with the evolution of gas. The clay and metal nitrates are present in about a 1:1 weight ratio for both Claycop and Clayfen.
Accordingly, there is a need for a composition and method for effective and cost-efficient desulfurization of liquid hydrocarbon fuels including transportation fuels. There is another need for a composition and method to substantially reduce the refractory sulfur-containing aromatics from liquid hydrocarbon fuels. There is also a need for a composition and method for post-treating technology (polishing) to selectively remove residual sulfur compounds from liquid hydrocarbon fuels after a hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process to produce ultra low sulfur fuels. There is a further need for a composition and method that substantially removes a maximum amount of the sulfur components from fuels while substantially maintaining olefin and other hydrocarbon saturation to provide a good octane number. There is a still further need for a composition and method that is less expensive and more selective than the existing hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process and the transition metal exchanged zeolite sorbents. An additional need for a novel composition and method exists to produce low/ultra low sulfur liquid hydrocarbon fuels. A still further need exists for a sulfur removal composition and method that can be tailored for both refinery and non-refinery applications including on-site and on-board sulfur removal for fuel cell applications. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.

Sorbent compositions and desulfurization method using the same

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency


A solar power array includes solar power panels, where each solar panel provides output current and voltage, separate DC-DC converters, where each solar panel is connected to a unique DC-DC converter, where each DC-DC converter is designed to maximize the power from each solar panel, and where each DC-DC converter produces a high voltage output, a high voltage DC bus coupled to the DC-DC converters that receives the high voltage output, and a DC-AC inverter that inverts the high voltage DC on the high voltage DC bus to an AC power signal for distribution to one or more AC loads.

Solar energy arrays convert sunlight incident on individual panels of the array into electrical energy. The normal means for converting the solar energy into electrical energy is photovoltaic conversion. The electrical energy output from this photovoltaic conversion is direct current (DC). The DC electrical energy may then be converted to alternating current electrical energy by means of an inverter. The basic systems and methods for collecting solar energy, generating DC electrical energy, and inverting the DC to AC electrical energy are well known to those skilled in the art. However, the basic systems and methods often suffer from inefficiencies, particularly when applied in a large scale operation, such as supply power to a grid from a utility, commercial, or industrial power plant (above 100 kW power levels), as opposed to a small scale operation, such as supply power to a single residential house (around 3 kW). Hence, power engineers are constantly striving to improve efficiency of collection and conversion.

Solar power array with maximized panel power extraction


Although U.S. Pat. No. 8,182,784 teaches the recovery of potassium chloride from schoenite end liquor (SEL) using dipicrylamine as extractant, and consequently simplifies the recovery of sulphate of potash (SOP) from kainite mixed salt employing the scheme disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,041,268, the hazards associated with this extractant have thwarted practical utilization of the invention. Many other extractants for potash recovery have been disclosed in the prior art but none has been found suitable so far for practical exploitation. It is disclosed herein that the bitartrate ion, and particularly L-bitartrate, precipitates out potassium bitartrate very efficiently from SEL with ca. 90% utilization of the extractant. In contrast, recovery of potassium bi-tartrate from sea bittern directly is relatively much lower. It is further disclosed that this precipitate can be treated with magnesium hydroxide and magnesium chloride to throw out magnesium tartrate with ca. 90% recovery while yielding a nearly saturated solution of potassium chloride which can be utilized for the reaction with schoenite to obtain SOP. It is further demonstrated that the magnesium tartrate can be treated with an appropriate amount of aqueous HCl and added into a subsequent batch of SEL to throw out potassium bitartrate once again which demonstrates the recyclability of the extractant. The overall loss of tartrate over a cycle was ca. 20% but the dissolved tartrate remaining in the K-depleted SEL and KCl solutions can be precipitated out as calcium tartrate from which tartaric acid can be recovered by known methods, curtailing thereby the loss of tartaric acid per kg of KCl to <5 g. It is also demonstrated that through a similar approach, seaweed sap containing ca. 4% KCl can be concentrated to 20-22% KCl, with excellent utilization efficiency of tartaric acid, and this solution can similarly be utilized for SOP preparation. Potassium salts bearing other anions such as sulphate, nitrate, phosphate and carbonate can also be prepared from the isolated potassium bitartrate.

Potassium bearing aqueous solutions, viz., sea bittern left after recovery of common salt in solar salt work is a rich source of the element (20-25 g/lit potassium chloride). Similarly, the natural bittern of Greater Rann of Kutchh (Gujarat, India) is a perennial source of potassium. Evaporite based technologies rely on solar evaporation of bittern and require large amount of land area apart from favourable climatic conditions for consistent production of the potassic feedstock.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 7,041,268, May 9, 2006 by Ghosh P. K. et al. which teaches about an integrated process for the recovery of sulphate of potash (SOP) from sulphate rich bittern. However, this process depends on evaporation of intermediate streams for production of potassium chloride, required in the process. This creates additional demand for large amount of land area apart from need effective integration of plant & field operations.
Selective extraction of potassium offers a practical & implementable alternative to overcome the afore-mentioned impediments faced by evaporite based technologies.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 2,617,710, Nov. 11, 1952 by Kielland J. et al. which teaches an efficient method for extraction of potassium from dilute solution, e.g., sea water, using dipicryl amine as extractant. However, commercial implementation of the process poses serious operational & environmental issues owing to hazardous nature of dipicryl amine.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 8,182,784, May 22, 2012 by Paul P. et al. which teaches an efficient method for extraction of potassium from SEL, the potassium rich intermediate stream generated upon decomposition of kainite type mixed salt, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,041,268, in the form of potassium chloride, using dipicryl amine as extractant. However, in this instance also, commercial implementation of the process poses serious operational & environmental issues owing to hazardous nature of dipicryl amine.
Thus a need was felt to devise a process to selectively extract potassium from bittern & other K bearing aqueous solutions for production of potassic fertiliser using a recyclable, benign & environmentally safe extractant.
It was quite well known that potassium bitartrate (cream of tartar) has substantially lower solubility than sodium bitartrate. Cream of tartar, a derivative of wine industry attracted lot of attention, particularly in regard to recovery of tartaric acid & potassium salts.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 957,295, May 10, 1910 by Alberti A. et al. which teaches about process of recovering potash salts from wine lye (raw cream of tartar).
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 2,710,789, Jun. 14, 1955 by Boeri G. et al. which teaches about method for preparing substantially pure potassium nitrate from raw tartaric materials.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,230, Dec. 18, 1962 by Pescarolo B. et al. which teaches about process for extracting Tartaric Acid and Potassium in form pure potassium nitrate in the cold from tartaric acid, without the need of previous roasting of the tartaric raw material.
The above mentioned inventions used wine lees (raw cream of tartar—crude potassium bitartrate) as the potash bearing raw material. Moreover, the aforesaid patents do not teach us about recycling of the extractant, i.e., tartaric acid.
Reference may be made to the paper "Adaptation of the bitartrate method for the estimation of potassium in sea bittern" by Shukla, B. K. et. al (http://www.csircentral.net/index.php/record/view/88029) which teaches about the method for estimation of potassium content of bittern, by precipitating potassium as potassium bitartrate. Although developed as a method for analysis, the main disadvantages for practicing this process are that it requires addition of methanol/ethanol, & sodium hydrogen tartrate apart from tartaric acid for precipitation of potassium bitartrate.

Selective extraction of potassium chloride employing tartaric acid as safe, benign and recyclable extractant

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research


The present invention provides antimicrobial skin-preparation delivery systems useable to disinfect a surgical site for surgery. The delivery systems include an antimicrobial alcohol gel formulation contained within a sealed, flexible container and a gel formulation dispenser connected to the container. The gel formulation dispenser includes a container connector connected to the flexible container and a gel applicator having a sealed piercing member which is slidably engaged with the container connector. An applicator pad is porous and also has enlarged holes for passage of the gel formulation. The gel formulation dispenser pierces a seal in the container and delivers the antimicrobial alcohol gel formulation from the container to the surgical site. Flow rate of the gel formulation is largely controlled by the amount of external pressure of squeezing a user applied to the flexible container. The antimicrobial skin-preparation formula includes iodine, alcohol and gel.

The present invention generally relates to antimicrobial pre-operative skin-preparation delivery systems and more specifically, the present invention relates to antimicrobial, such as povidone iodine (PVP-I), alcohol pre-operative antimicrobial skin-prepataions in a gel form and delivery devices for the skin-preparations.
Standard surgical procedures require the surgical site to be disinfected prior to surgery. Effective pre-operative cleansing of the surgical site is critical to reducing the risk of infection to the patient. Pre-operative skin preparation is therefore as important as the prophylactic antibiotic treatment in control of infection.
Microorganisms on the skin can be transient or resident. Transient microorganisms lie on the surface of the skin, while resident microorganisms are found at deeper sites in the skin, for example, in skin hair follicles. During pre-operative procedures it is desirable to initially kill the microorganisms relatively quickly to reduce the length of time to prepare the patient for surgery. It is also important that the antimicrobial activity can be sustained throughout the surgical procedure by the skin-preparation.
Iodophore has been widely used as a disinfectant and as a pre-operative skin preparation. Pre-operative skin-preparation liquid solutions such as PVP-I scrub and paint solutions are commonly used to disinfect the surgical site prior to surgery. Liquid pre-operative skin-preparations have been stored in liquid containers and dispensed from the liquid containers for application to the surgical site. Existing iodophore skin-preparation solutions typically include iodine, surfactant and a buffer system to provide appropriate pH in an aqueous system. The solutions typically contain an active ingredient of 7.5% to 10.0% povidone iodine. These concentrations of iodine are desirable to provide effective and extended killing of microorganisms.
The conventional method of application of a skin-preparation is to pour bottled skin scrub (7.5% PVP-I) onto a tray, dip a dry sponge into the skin-preparation and apply the soaked sponge to the surface of skin. The skin-preparation is applied from the center to the peripheral areas of the skin site with a circular motion for two to five (2-5) minutes. The sponge provides a physical force to spread the skin-preparation evenly and to remove dead skin cells and skin debris to help the delivery of the skin-preparation to the exposed bacteria. The site is then blotted dry and a skin-preparation paint (10% PVP-I) is applied to the site for two (2) minutes. Conventional skin-preparation systems include several parts and are rather cumbersome to handle. An improved skin-preparation delivery system which does not require the conventional multi-step operation and which requires a shorter time of application is highly desirable and will improve the efficiency and reduce waste.
One existing skin-preparation applicator includes a rigid plastic outer bottle and an applicator head having a sponge. A breakable glass ampule is contained within the rigid plastic bottle. The sealed glass ampule contains a liquid skin-preparation prior to use. The applicator is used by fracturing the glass ampule which releases the liquid skin-preparation. The applicator is tilted to point the applicator head downward such that the liquid skin-preparation travels from the fractured glass ampule to the applicator head. Flow control of the liquid skin-preparation is obtained by varying the amount of tilt of the applicator, and also to some degree, the sponge on the head of the applicator controls the liquid flow rate. A filter screen is provided at the applicator head to trap broken glass from the fractured ampule.
Aqueous iodophore skin-preparations tend to run on the patient""s body to areas that don""t require disinfection, for example, between the patient and the operating table, and may accumulate on those undesired areas where the iodine can cause skin irritation in certain patients. Gel has been added to povidone iodine to reduce running of the skin-preparation. It provides a film texture allowing the antimicrobial to localize at the desirable surgical incision site without reducing the thickness of iodine from the site. Typically, the iodine content of the gel form is about 10.0% w/v or the effect of antimicrobial activity would not be prominent. Povidone iodine containing gel has been stored in containers; however, such containers have not been designed for holding and effectively delivering the povidone iodine gel to a surgical site. In addition, it is desirable if the applicator can be designed such that the skin-preparation flow rate can be controlled to prevent free flow, particularly for liquid skin-preparations.
Although iodine gel provides the advantage as described, it kills microorganisms at a relative slower rate than other antimicrobial agents such as alcohol. Alcohol has long been recognized as a disinfectant which reduces bacteria, fungi, and some viruses at a great speed. However, alcohol alone evaporate quickly. The disinfection action of alcohol does not continue once the alcohol evaporates from the skin. Accordingly, alcohol alone lacks the prolonged ability to disinfect the surgical site.
Various existing containers have been used to store and dispense liquid products, for example, liquid products such as skin-preparation solutions. However, such liquid containers have not been designed for safely storing and effectively delivering antimicrobial alcohol gel skin-preparations. It is desirable to protect pre-operative skin-preparations from contamination while being stored in a container. Also, liquid dispensers typically restrict the flow of the liquid to reduce excessive or uncontrolled dispensing of the liquid. Such liquid dispensers may not adequately protect or provide adequate flow of gels because of the container structure and the different flow characteristics of gels compared to liquids. Furthermore, some existing containers and dispensers have relatively complex constructions which may require numerous components that can result in increased manufacturing costs.
The present invention beneficially provides antimicrobial gel skin-preparation delivery systems which hold and dispense antimicrobial alcohol gel skin-preparations. The delivery systems are capable of being manufactured and shipped with the skin-preparation protectively sealed within a flexible container while providing quick and easy penetration of the seal to open the container for delivery of the skin-preparation.
The present invention by adding alcohol to iodine gel provides further benefits of a rapid and sustained antimicrobial activity, localization of skin preparation by forming a film on the skin, and a single-step of shortened time period application. The invention also provides an opportunity to lower iodine concentration requirement thus reducing the incidence of irritation of certain patients. All these characteristics, in combination, are not described in the precedent skin-preparations or storage and delivery systems.
The present invention provides antimicrobial alcohol gel pre-operative skin-preparation delivery systems for storing and delivering skin-preparations. The skin-preparation delivery systems are easily, efficiently and cost effectively manufacturable and reliably store and deliver antimicrobial alcohol gel formulations. The antimicrobial alcohol gel formulation is protectively sealed within a flexible container until use of the formulation is desired. A gel formulation dispenser is activated to allow delivery of the antimicrobial alcohol gel formulation from the container to a desired site.
The opening to the container is induction sealed with an aluminum foil seal which provides a gas impermeable seal. The gel formulation dispenser has a shoulder hat abuts the sealed edge of the container. The shoulder provides additional integrity nd tightness to the seal between the aluminum foil and the edge of the opening to the container. The gel formulation dispenser has a hollowed spike which can be used to activate the delivery system by sliding the spike toward the seal of the container. The spike can be slid toward the seal by pressing the gel formulation dispenser and the container towards each other. The spike is situated in a non-activated position before use and punctures the aluminum foil seal when placed in activated position which then allows the iodine alcohol gel formulation to flow through the hollowed cavity of the spike. The formulation flows from the hollow spike to an angled sponge head for application to the patient. The angled sponge has openings or holes and is ergonomically designed for skin contact. The ergonomically designed sponge effectively contacts and conforms to contours and folds of the skin. Typically, the sponge is used against the targeted skin area and scrubs the skin from the center to the peripheral areas in a circular movement. The total extractable of the sponge of the dispenser is within the limit of medical devices. The flow rate of the iodine alcohol gel formulation is controlled by the amount of pressure squeezed onto the container by the user""s hand, because the container has flexible walls. The container itself forms a handle of the delivery system and is sufficiently far enough away from the skin to avoid direct touch to the skin by the gloved hand holding the delivery system.
The gel formulation dispenser is connected to the container and has two separate and distinct locked positions, non-activated and activated positions. The formulation dispenser insures that the delivery system is maintained in the non-activated position until activated by a user and also contributes to a single use nature of the system. The skin-preparation delivery system is a single use system because the formulation dispenser cannot be returned to the non-activated position after activation under normal use. Also, the gel formulation dispenser reduces or eliminates accidental opening of the container because the gel formulation dispenser must be manually moved from the non-activated position to the activated position.
The volume of the new skin-preparation delivery system can be easily varied by using different sized containers. Different surgical procedures may require differing amounts of the skin-preparation. By varying the size of the container, the skin-preparation delivery system can be customized for particular surgical procedures. This can reduce waste of skin-preparation use by avoiding oversized delivery systems. Use of multiple delivery systems for a single surgical procedure can also be avoided by customizing the size of the container for the procedure. Accordingly, the present invention can be customized to provide the desired amount of skin-preparation for one or more specific surgical procedures.
Once the skin-preparation delivery system is placed in the activated position, the gel formulation dispenser defines a gel delivery pathway. The gel delivery pathway through the gel formulation dispenser is designed according to the flow characteristics of the antimicrobial alcohol gel formulation such that a desired flow rate of the formulation is achieved. For example, the desired flow rate of the antimicrobial alcohol gel formulation may be a flow rate which quickly and easily delivers the viscous gel formulation from the container to the desired site. Preferably, the antimicrobial alcohol gel formulation is a PVP-I alcohol gel formulation; however, other viscous or non-viscous antimicrobial formulations may be used with the new delivery systems.
The present invention also provides iodine alcohol gel antimicrobial skin-preparations useable to disinfect a surgical site for surgery. The new pre-operative skin-preparation quickly and effectively kills microorganisms when applied to the surgical site. The skin-preparation continues to effectively inhibit microorganism growth in the applied area for a relatively long period of time. Application of the skin-preparation is highly controllable because it does not easily run when applied to a patient. The antimicrobial skin-preparation meets or exceeds the Food and Drug Administration""s proposed performance requirement for pre-operative skin-preparations.
The antimicrobial skin-preparation formula includes iodine, alcohol and gel. The concentration of iodine is relatively low compared to existing skin-preparations. However, the new skin-preparation kills microorganisms quickly upon initial application to the skin and continues to kill microorganisms over an extended period of time. The skin-preparation includes an alcohol at 60.0%-90.0% v/v, an iodophor (iodine) at 1.0%-15.0% w/v, and a gel at 0.1%-20.0% w/v. A preferred antimicrobial skin-preparation includes ethanol at 62.0% v/v, povidone iodine at 5.0% w/v, and gel at 7.5% w/v. Other active and enhancing substances such as surfactants can also be included in the formula.
One advantage of the present invention is that it provides new iodine alcohol gel antimicrobial pre-operative skin-preparation delivery systems which efficiently and effectively store and deliver antimicrobial alcohol gel formulations.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide skin-preparation delivery systems which can be customized to deliver a desire amount of skin-preparation for a particular surgical procedure.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide skin-preparation delivery systems which reduce or eliminate contamination of the formulations yet provide quick and easy activation of the system for delivery of the formulations.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide skin-preparation delivery systems having gel formulation dispensers which are designed for delivery of antimicrobial alcohol gel formulations.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide povidone iodine alcohol gel antimicrobial pre-operative skin-preparation delivery systems which are easy to use, cost efficient to manufacture, an reliably store and deliver antimicrobial alcohol gel formulations.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide single use skin-preparation delivery systems.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide skin-preparation delivery systems which have no glass components.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide skin-preparation delivery systems which provide improved flow control of the delivery of iodine alcohol gel formulations.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide skin-preparation delivery systems having a flexible container which contains an iodine alcohol gel formulation.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide antimicrobial alcohol gel formulations which are easily removed after surgery.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading this disclosure including the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Antimicrobial alcohol gel pre-operative skin-preparation delivery system


An integrated post-amplifier and laser driver assembly is provided that is implemented as a single integrated circuit and includes a plurality of amplifiers or other control devices or circuits configured to implement various effects concerning data signals received and/or transmitted by a transceiver in conjunction with which the integrated post-amplifier and laser driver assembly is employed. A digital control interface is included in the integrated post-amplifier and laser driver assembly and is configured to receive a control signal from an external digital controller. A glue logic module, and associated digital to analog controllers, of the integrated post-amplifier and laser driver assembly parse the control signal and generate and transmit corresponding analog signals to one or more of the amplifiers so as to implement processing of a data signal received from the optical receiver, as well as the control of data transmission by way of a suitable transmitter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to high speed data transmission systems. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and devices that integrate post-amplifier and laser driver functionality with a digital control interface within a single integrated circuit, thereby resulting in reduced manufacturing costs as well as improvements in operational efficiency and functionality.
2. Related Technology
Many high speed data transmission networks rely on optical transceivers and similar devices for facilitating transmission and reception of digital data embodied in the form of optical signals. Typically, data transmission in such networks is implemented by way of an optical transmitter, such as a laser, while data reception is generally implemented by way of an optical receiver, an example of which is a photodiode.
Various other components are also employed by the optical transceiver to aid in the control of the optical transmit and receive components, as well as the processing of various data and other signals. For example, such optical transceivers typically include a driver configured to control the operation of the optical transmitter in response to various control inputs. The optical transceiver also generally includes an amplifier configured to perform various operations with respect to certain parameters of a data signal received by the optical receiver.
In conventional optical transceivers, the driver and amplifier are implemented by way of separate integrated circuits ("IC") that are placed on a printed circuit board ("PCB") and electrically connected with each other and with the optical transmitter and receiver. One drawback to such an approach however, is that the two separate ICs take up a relatively large amount of space on the PCB, often necessitating the use of a two-sided PCB. This type of approach is problematic however, at least because such two-sided PCBs are generally more expensive and more difficult to manufacture than a single-sided PCB.
Another concern with conventional optical transceivers relates to the control circuit interface typically employed. Generally, the control circuit serves to direct both the processing of various data signals, as well as certain operational aspects of the optical transmitter and receiver. In conventional optical transceivers, the driver and post-amplifier communicate with the control circuit by way of corresponding analog interfaces. One problem with such an arrangement is that the need for multiple interfaces necessarily requires additional PCB space and complicates the manufacturing process.
As suggested by the foregoing, the implementation of post-amplifier and driver functionality in the form of discrete components gives rise to some redundancy in terms of the various components that are required. In addition to necessitating, for example, multiple interfaces, such arrangements also typically require respective sets of registers and monitoring circuits for the post-amplifier and for the laser driver. As in the case of the interfaces, these additional components take up additional space on the PCB and increase manufacturing costs and complexity.
With more particular reference to the analog interfaces between the control circuit and the post-amplifier and laser driver, it was suggested earlier that implementation of such analog interfaces requires the control circuit to communicate with the optical transceivers by way of analog signals. However, the use of such analog signals, at least where such use is required by the employment of analog interfaces, may limit the functionality of the control circuit and/or the optical transceiver.
In view of the foregoing, it would be useful to be able to integrate the post-amplifier and laser driver in such a way that their respective functionalities could be implemented in a single-sided PCB, while at the same time minimizing redundant components and functionality. Moreover, the integrated post-amplifier and laser driver should include a single digital control interface that will serve to enhance the flexibility and functionality of the optical transceiver, and related devices, by providing the ability to receive and process multiplexed digital control signals that include data pertaining to a variety of signal control parameters. Finally, the integrated post-amplifier and laser driver should implement suitable digital-to-analog converters ("DAC") which will allow conversion of digital control signals to an analog form that that can be used in the processing of various data signals, as well as in the control of certain operational aspects of the optical transmitter and optical receiver.

Integrated post-amplifier and laser driver assembly with digital control interface


The invention relates to a method of managing the operation of a seat (10) fitted with an actuator (24) including means (42, 44) for monitoring at least one variable characteristic of the force produced by the actuator (24), means (41) for measuring the position of the actuator, and means (36) for controlling the actuator, the method comprising the steps consisting in:                measuring the or each characteristic variable;        evaluating the or each characteristic variable on the basis of a predetermined evaluation criterion; and        while the actuator is in operation, implementing an appropriate action on the seat as a function of the result of said evaluation.

In passenger transport vehicles, such as airplanes and trains, it is known to provide seats that are fitted with electric actuators. Each seat generally includes leg rest and a seat back that are movable relative to a seat proper. The leg rest and the seat back are hinged to respective ends of the seat proper, and each is associated with an electric actuator enabling it to move. The seat itself is sometimes movable as a whole relative to the deck or floor under the control of an actuator.
In order to avoid the leg rest or the seat back injuring a passenger while it is moving, or indeed in order to avoid damaging baggage placed on the track of the moving element, it is known to measure continuously the electric current being drawn by each actuator. If current consumption exceeds a predetermined threshold value, then the actuator is stopped immediately.
When a seat element controlled by an actuator encounters an obstacle, that element is stopped or braked. The electric motor of the actuator driving the element is then blocked, so the current drawn by the motor increases in very significant manner. Stopping the actuator whenever high current is detected in its motor serves to avoid damaging the seat or the obstacle it has encountered.
The current thresholds that lead to stopping are set at relatively high values in order to enable the actuator to be capable of operating while exerting a large force on the seat or the seat element during normal displacement.
Under certain circumstances, even when no obstacle is encountered, it is necessary for an actuator to be capable of producing a large force in order to move a moving element, in particular because of the way the seat is designed. This applies, for example, when a seat element needs to travel up a ramp while it is moving.
Thus, in certain circumstances, the protection provided by making use of a current threshold can be insufficient for providing effective protection to baggage, to the limb of a passenger, or to the seat itself.

Method of managing the operation of a seat, and a seat implementing the method

Abstract: Said evaluation comprises a step of measuring the position of the actuator. Said evaluation criterion for the or each measured characteristic variable as used for said evaluation depends on the position of the actuator.


Metadata determines treatment of content by automated systems, including “user generated content” web sites. The metadata may be conveyed with the content or may be determined by other techniques, including systems based on digital watermarking or content fingerprinting. In some arrangements, treatment depends on the temporal length of a content excerpt that matches a pre-existing work. In others, treatment depends on popularity—either of the content, or a pre-existing work from which it was derived. A great variety of other factors and contexts can also be considered. Automated tools to preliminarily identify possible “fair use” can be realized; further determination may be made by human evaluators (including crowd-source approaches).

Web site operators sometimes receive DMCA "take down" notices from media companies, alleging that content hosted on their web sites is copyrighted and should not be distributed. There is a growing need for automated tools to help web site operators pro-actively identify such content and treat it in a manner that might avoid the need for take-down notices. This need perhaps is felt most acutely by so-called "social networking" sites, to which individual users upload audio, video and picture files—content that is sometimes original, and sometimes not (and sometimes a combination).
Various techniques can be employed to automatically identify copyrighted content. One is to examine content data for a digital watermark embedded by the content owner to signal that the content is copyrighted and should not be reproduced. Such techniques are detailed, for example, in commonly-owned application Ser. No. 09/620,019, filed Jul. 20, 2000, and patent publication US20020052885.
Another approach is to try and identify the content by pattern recognition techniques (sometimes termed "fingerprinting" or "robust hashing"). Once the content is identified, a metadata database can be consulted to determine whether distribution of the content should be allowed or prohibited. (Such techniques are detailed, e.g., in Haitsma, et al, "A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System," Proc. Intl Conf on Music Information Retrieval, 2002; Cano et al, "A Review of Audio Fingerprinting," Journal of VLSI Signal Processing, 41, 271, 272, 2005; Kalker et al, "Robust Identification of Audio Using Watermarking and Fingerprinting," in Multimedia Security Handbook, CRC Press, 2005, and in patent documents WO02/065782, US20060075237, US20050259819, US20050141707, and US20020028000.)
Other techniques and systems related to the technology detailed herein are disclosed in patent publications US20080051029, US20080059211, US20080027931, US20070253594, US20070242880, US20070220575, US20070208711, US20070175998, US20070162761, US20060240862, US20040243567, US20030021441, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,185,201, 7,298,864 and 7,302,574, and in provisional application 61/016,321, filed Dec. 21, 2007.
Part of the difficulty is that some of the content uploaded to web sites may include copyrighted material, yet qualify as "fair use"—such as parody, or commentary/criticism. ("Tolerated use" is a stepchild of fair use, and encompasses arguably infringing uses that are commonly overlooked by rights holders for reasons such as concern about adverse publicity, or out of desire for the exposure that such use affords.) Existing automated techniques do not make provision for "fair use" (nor for "tolerated use"). Instead, known techniques typically flag as objectionable any content that is determined to include any copyrighted material.
Described below is an illustrative arrangement that allows a more nuanced assessment of content data—one that responds differently, depending on context, environmental factors, and/or other circumstances.

Method and system for determining content treatment


An apparatus and method for rapidly identifying the chemical compositions and concentrations of solutions and for discriminating among solutions of different chemical compositions and concentrations of the solution is monitored by applying across a predetermined volume of the solution a predetermined voltage for a predetermined time after which the application of voltage is terminated and the voltage time characteristic measured across the solution as the voltage decays is compared with an empirically obtained voltage versus time characteristic for a solution having a standardized composition and/or concentration.

Many solutions for industrial, medical, or other purposes cannot be readily distinguished by the senses. That is, they may look similar. e.g., colorless or of similar color. and may smell alike, e.g., odorless or having similar odors. For safety and/or hygienic reasons, depending on the nature of the solutions, it may be inconvenient or even dangerous to taste or even touch them.
Various chemical tests are known for identifying or distinguishing among various solutions. These tests generally require that the subject solution be mixed with chemicals or other contaminating substances which render the portion of solution that is tested, thereafter, unusable. Also, chemical tests are generally time consuming, require stocking and restocking of the test chemicals, and necessitate a disposal apparatus for discarding the test solution.

Voltage characteristic comparator for discriminating solutions


The vision sort system provides a semi-automated sort system that requires no other action from the user other than picking up a box and placing on a skid. The vision sort system is most effective in a manual sort system. The vision sort system integrates various operational technologies in order to provide staff with information to ensure the packages are sorted to the correct destination. Validation feedback is provided to ensure no missorts occur. Information is collected on the package and final destination for tracking purposes. Benefits of the vision sort system include sort accuracy, package visibility, and reduced requirement for sort knowledge by operator and revenue recovery (cube and reweigh) on all packages. This application is perfect for pick and pack systems that are in-motion and any transportation sortation facility. This is applicable for any product including mail or non packaged items.

In the transportation industry, packages are processed (scanned and sorted) through different types of sortation areas. There are two major issues with a manual sort system, staff must know where to sort freight (based on postal code or sort code), and freight must be sorted to the correct location or the piece will be missorted causing customer frustration and additional cost to the company. Prior methods are expensive and labour intensive. They also require secondary technology to fulfill tasks such as manual scanners forcing operators to carry objects. Accordingly, system and method that enable improved package sorting remains highly desirable.
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.


A measuring head clamp-on device for ultrasonic flow measuring heads includes a guide element for receiving at least one measuring head protective housing for at least one measuring head and includes at least one clamping unit connected to the guide element, and thereto connected clamping device for detachably fastening the guide element to the measuring tube, wherein the guide element is non-positively or positively connected to at least one apparatus for centering and clamping the same on the measuring tube, so that the guide element is oriented and fastened parallel and with a defined distance to the apex of the measuring tube irrespective of the tube diameter.

The inventive solution for a measuring head clamp-on device for ultrasonic flow-measuring heads lies within the technical field of ultrasonic flow measuring technology.
A pair of ultrasonic measuring heads is placed onto the outside of a tubing. By means of a measuring transducer, an ultrasonic pulse is generated alternately in both measuring heads and, after having passed through the tube wall and the medium in the tube, is received by the respectively other measuring head. Via the measured transit time difference (with or counter to the flow of the medium), the tube parameters and the flow profile, the flow quantity is calculated in the measuring transducer.
A precondition for these measurements is a secure transmission of the ultrasonic pulses from the measuring head into the tube wall. This is achieved by a suitable coupling means, the aligned orientation of the measuring heads, along the tube axis relative to one another, and by the contact pressing of the measuring heads onto the tube wall. The orientation of the measuring heads and the contact pressing are the functions of a measuring head clamp-on device.
The ultrasonic measuring heads are currently generally fitted by means of rail-like fastening systems, these being fastened to the tube with metallic band clamps or chains.
In addition to the rail-like systems for receiving one or more measuring head pairs, there are also fastening systems having receiving fixtures for receiving a single measuring head. The measuring heads are positioned by the fastening systems, and in most cases the measuring heads are pressed by means of spring elements elastically against the tube wall.
For instance, measuring head fastenings for ultrasonic flow meters, which fastenings guarantee a defined contact pressing force, are known. The measuring head fastenings are designed for fixed installation and offer a continuous, constant contact pressing of the measuring heads onto the tube.
In clamp-on flow measurement, the two sound transducers which are necessary to produce a sound path are arranged on the tube such that the sound path runs on the diameter of the tube. To this end, the sound transducers can be arranged on opposite sides of the tube. This is then the so-called direct arrangement (DE 102011005170 B4, DE 102005047790 A1). Alternatively, the reflex arrangement is possible, in which the sound transducers are arranged on the same side of the measuring tube and the sound signal is reflected once on the opposite inner side of the tube (DE 102008029772 A1).
In DE 102008034411 A1, a method and a measuring system for determining and/or monitoring the flow of a measuring medium through a measuring tube, comprising at least two ultrasonic measuring heads, is described. In addition, a method for fitting such a measuring system is disclosed. To this end, the measuring system has a measuring head holder, which can be detachably fastened to the measuring tube via a fastening mechanism. The measuring head housing with the ultrasonic measuring heads forms a unit fastenable to the sensor holder and detachable from the sensor holder. In the course of the assembly, the ultrasonic measuring heads are pressed with a predefinable force onto the measuring tube. A fastening plate, as part of the sensor holder, has on the side facing towards the measuring tube a prismatic bulge, which can be created as a bend in the fastening plate. The fastening plate is fastened at its front and rear end directly to the measuring tube, by means of U-bolts or band clamps.
In Patent Specification U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,278 A, the sensor holder is fastened by means of band clamps on the measuring tube by means of nuts and bolts.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,683 B1, the measuring sensors are fastened on a rail and, with the aid of two tube clips, on the measuring tube. In order to adjust the distance between the two sensors, at least one sensor can be released from the tubing. Likewise, its fixing strap can be released. Both can be refixed after a reorientation.
EP 1840528 B1 discloses a rail for the displaceable fastening of ultrasonic measuring heads on the measuring tube.
In DE 102005052550 B3, a fastening device for fastening a holding device, for holding the measuring transducer, to the support is disclosed. The fastening device consists of a ratchet device and a main body, which latter is fastened with a knurled nut on the ratchet device. A centering apparatus consists of a groove into which a boss can be guided in order to be able to orient a guide frame securely in the longitudinal direction relative to the tube.
In the same way, U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,936 A shows that the mounting is provided with two legs, which do not readily allow adaptation to all possible tube diameters. In US 20120085164 A1 is represented a view from which it is evident that the smaller is the tube diameter, the more tightly will the measuring head rest on the tube. The guide element cannot be variably oriented.
In DE 102004052489 A1 is disclosed an apparatus which enables the sensor to be pressed directly against the tubing. For this, a coupling mat made of an elastomer or a metal foil is provided between the sensor and the tubing. The design serves to enable an increased contact pressure of the sensor.
WO 1998017980 A1 shows the possibility of adapting the spacing of the measuring device in accordance with the curvature of the tube by the use of spacers. The spacers are provided with pins and can be inserted at different positions prior to the clamping device being fitted onto the tube. A certain adaptation to different tube diameters is thereby possible, though a stepless adaptation is not provided.
In particular, the measurement of gases places an increased requirement on a sufficiently large measuring head pressing, since in this case damping elements are fitted to the tube walls in order to minimize background noise in the tube wall. In order to achieve a sufficiently good signal coupling despite these damping elements, a sufficiently high contact pressure of the measuring heads against the tube is in this case particularly important.
Most existing solutions fail to meet the requirement for a defined contact pressing force which is achieved irrespective of the know-how and skill of the user. If the user, for instance, fastens the measuring head clamp-on device with too little contact pressing force, a poor to inadequate coupling of the measuring heads to the tube is realized and no good signal coupling results therefrom. Or the measuring head clamp-on device is fastened with a too high contact pressing force, resulting in a too great load for the components used.

Measuring head clamp-on device for ultrasonic flow-measuring heads

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