A system for performing pulsed RF FT EPR spectroscopy and imaging includes an ultra-fast excitation subsystem and an ultra-fast data acquisition subsystem. Additionally, method for measuring and imaging in vivo oxygen and free radicals or for performing RF FT EPR spectroscopy utilizes short RF excitations pulses and ultra-fast sampling, digitizing, and summing steps.

This invention describes a fast response pulsed Radiofrequency (RF) Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopic technique for in-vivo detection and imaging of exogenous and endogenous free radicals, oxygen measurement and imaging and other biological and biomedical applications.
The main emphasis is the use of low dead-time resonators coupled with fast recovery gated preamplifiers and ultra fast sampler/summer/summer/processor accessory. Such a spectrometer will be practical in detecting and imaging with high resolution, free radicals possessing narrow line widths. This method avoids factors compromising the imaging speed and resolution inherent in the existing Continuous Wave (CW) EPR imaging methods, where modulation and saturation broadening and artifacts of object motion are problems.
It is also possible to perform Fourier imaging and hence to produce image contrasts based on relaxation when using special narrow line free radical probes.
The response of tumors to radiation therapy and chemotherapeutic agents depends upon the oxygen tension. Hence, for an effective cancer therapy, measurement of molecular oxygen in tumors is vital1. Also in general medicine measurement of the oxygen status of ischemic tissue in circulatory insufficiency, be it acute as in stroke or myocardial infarction, or chronic as in peripheral vascular disease associated with numerous diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipedimias, etc., becomes an important tool for assessment and treatment of diseases. Although a variety of techniques are available for measuring oxygen tension in biological systems, polarographic technique is perhaps the most widely used one in clinical applications. However, this is an invasive technique. Besides patients' discomfort, the tissue damage caused by the probe electrodes leads to uncertainty in the values measured, especially so at low oxygen concentration (<10 mm Hg).
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) enjoys great success as a non invasive technique. NMR imaging, based on the perfluorinated organic compounds, has been used to study blood oxygenation of animal brains. Binding of oxygen to hemoglobin is also used in MRI of human brains to monitor oxygenation changes. However, these techniques lack sufficient sensitivity for routine applications.
Overhauser magnetic resonance imaging (OMRI), based on the enhancement of the NMR signal due to the coupling of the electron spin of an exogenously administered free radical with the water protons, is also attempted for in-vivo oxymetry. Here again the sensitivity is limited, since the organic free radicals used have low relaxivity since they don't possess the free sites for water binding as in the case of gadolinium based contrast agents. The Gd based contrast agents, however, have too short relaxation times for efficient spin polarization transfer. On the other hand, EPR oxymetry is very sensitive compared to MRI or OMRI for oxygen measurements, since it is based on the direct dipolar interaction of the paramagnetic oxygen molecule with the free radical probe.
EPR is generally performed at microwave frequencies (9 GHz). The use of microwave frequency results in substantial tissue heating, and, unfortunately, severely limits tissue penetration. Low frequency EPR has been attempted to achieve better tissue penetration. All of these studies but for the last cited one (from this lab) are done using Continuous Wave (CW) method.
Although low frequency EPR offers the potential for greater in-vivo tissue penetration, its use in continuous wave-based methods is severely limited by lack of sensitivity resulting from the physically imposed Boltzmann factor. Furthermore, sensitivity enhancement by signal averaging as done with CW methods may not be effective, since CW methods are band limited. Pulse EPR techniques, however, as presented in this application, utilize to advantage the very short electron relaxation times to enhance the signal to noise ratio in a very short time, which immediately leads to speed and sensitivity advantage in pulse EPR detection and imaging.
Further, the absence of any modulation in the FT method leads to true line widths, whereas in the CW methods finite modulation can, in the case of narrow lines, lead to artifacts and, therefore, severely limits the resolution achievable. Power saturation is another factor that extremely limits the resolution when detecting and imaging narrow line systems. Also for in vivo studies, any movement of the subject being studied poses severe problems in CW methods. Further, relaxation weighted imaging for contrast mapping is feasible mainly with the pulsed methods. Most of these advantages of pulse techniques over CW method are well established in MRI.
Application of pulse techniques to EPR has serious limitations. The very advantage of short relaxation time, which can in principle lead to virtual "real time" imaging, poses a challenge to the state of the art electronics for ultra fast excitation and data acquisition. Instrumental dead time problems become very severe, especially at low frequencies, since the ringing time constant, t=2 Q/w (where Q is the resonator quality factor and w is the carrier frequency), allows acquisition of signals only after a significant interval after excitation which can lead to loss of sensitivity.
The current invention addresses all of these problems and outlines pulsed EPR methodologies at radiofrequency region for in-vivo imaging of free radicals and oxygen measurement and imaging using suitable paramagnetic agents.
Apart from oxygen measurements, using appropriate, free radical probes, one can perform rapid imaging to map out blood vessels (for example, cardiac and cerebral angiography), study tissue characteristics and free radical metabolic intermediates in situ with or without using spin traps 21, 22 and offers also the potential to use administered paramagnetic contrast agents for imaging both normal and diseased tissues.
This invention has additional advantages as follows. Firstly, the magnetic field used is only about of 10 mT, orders of magnitude less than in MRI. Secondly, the sensitivity achievable is much higher than OMRI. Lastly, sensitivity enhancement, image resolution and imaging speed and T1 and T2 weighted imaging modalities are far superior to CW RF EPR.

In vivo imaging and oxymetry by pulsed radiofrequency paramagnetic resonance

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


A display device includes a flexible display panel, a light module and an optical film. The flexible display panel has a first axis and curving about the first axis as an axis of curvature. The light module is located on one side of the flexible display panel. The optical film is located between the flexible display panel and the light module. The optical film includes a substrate and multiple first strip microstructures. The substrate has a first side and a second side that are opposite to each other. The first side faces the light module while the second side faces the flexible display panel. The first strip microstructures are located on the first side of the substrate, and the first strip microstructures extend along a second axis.

For better viewing experience, plenty of companies have launched flat large-screen televisions (TVs). However, since the screens of these TVs are flat, the distances between the viewer and different areas of the screen vary from each other, which has a negative impact on users' viewing experience. Thus, some companies have launched curved large-screen TVs. In curved large-screen TVs, the distances between the viewer and different areas of the screen are approximately the same, which leads to better viewing quality. Nonetheless, as thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) is curved shape, which is also called curved thin film transistor liquid crystal display (CTFT-LCD), the uniformity of luminance and saturation is worsened and this affects viewing quality negatively. Therefore, it is important to improve the uniformity of luminance and saturation of the CTFT-LCD.


A method for deciding whether a movable object has been brought through a goal having a goal area defined by the goal, an internal magnetic field being measurable, within the goal area or in parallel with the goal area, which is larger than an external magnetic field present outside the goal area, the method including a step of generating the internal magnetic field within the goal, a step of providing information about a magnetic field experienced by the movable object, and a step of evaluating the information about the magnetic field to provide a goal statement by means of a detection that the movable object has passed through the internal magnetic field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a concept for making goal decisions by means of magnetic fields as may be employed, for example, in football for making goal decisions.
2. Description of Prior Art
For quite some time, various interest groups have wished to study and understand the sequence of movements of moving objects and/or persons, which requires an exact indication of the object's position in space and time. What is of particular interest here are, among other things, game balls, in particular in commercialized types of sport, such as footballs, or soccer balls, which are highly accelerated in three-dimensional space, as well as tennis or golf balls. The question of who was the last to touch the object of the game, how it was hit and whether it crossed a goal line further may be decisive for the outcome of the game, depending on the type of game.
Game devices that are used in high-performance sports, such as tennis balls, golf balls, footballs and the like, nowadays can be accelerated to extremely high speeds, so that the detection of the object during the movement requires highly sophisticated technology. The technical means employed so far—mainly cameras—either completely fail to meet the requirements set forth above, or meet them only to an insufficient degree; also the methods, hitherto known, for position finding by means of various transmitter and receiver combinations still leave a large error margin with regard to the spatial resolution of the position indication, with regard to the ease of use of the transmitter/receiver components required, and above all with regard to evaluating the data obtained by means of the transmitter/receiver system, so that it is not yet possible, or at least requires a large amount of effort, to evaluate the results obtained from this data as fast as possible.
It is not only in the field of commercial sports, where movable game devices may be employed, but it is also in the personal field that users have become more and more used to electronic devices indicating various pieces of information to give a user feedback as to how he/she has affected an object, or to provide him/her with information about where a game device is currently situated, for example.
A multiplicity of tasks, such as making goal decisions in a football match, presuppose knowledge of the position and/or orientation of a movable object, such as a ball. In football matches, the question of whether or not the ball has exceeded the goal line is, in critical situations, one of the most controversial topics. To this end, it is necessary that the position of the ball can be measured at the goal line within an accuracy range of about +/−1.5 cm. In addition, any influence exerted by persons who are moving close to the ball and/or cover the ball, must not play any part in this.
There are numerous methods by means of which a referee's goal decision may be reconstructed. These methods are based, for example, on two-dimensional or three-dimensional optical sensors having an evaluation system, on exploiting the known radar principle, or on a principle of radio localization. Evaluating video recordings, for example with goal cameras, generally requires a lot of effort, and a two-dimensionality of the image plane systems often yields distorted values.
With the principle of radio localization, a movable object, or the ball, is localized by means of electromagnetic wave propagation. For example, a receiver and/or transmitter is integrated into or attached to the ball which, upon request, may send data to a central transmitting/receiving device. The position of the ball may then be calculated, for example, from signal delay times and/or from differences between signals received at at least two different antennas. A disadvantage of radio localization consists, for example, in a shadowing and/or in a reflection of electromagnetic waves by certain obstacles, such as persons. For this reason, systems which are based on radio localization do not achieve the level of accuracy required for making a goal decision in football.
As has already been described, current localization methods are based, for example, on optical sensors having an evaluation system (video evaluation system), or they are based on the use of RF transponders within and outside the movable object, or the ball. Such localization methods for making goal decisions entail high investment and maintenance cost, sensitivity toward environmental conditions and a large outlay in terms of adapting the evaluation algorithms. For close-range localization, i.e. position determination regarding an object within a small area, systems using radio localization are not suitable, since with a small geometrical expansion, differences of various signal delay times are hardly measurable any more. Thus, the requirements placed upon systems for localizing a movable object are not met, or are met only to an insufficient degree, by this method with regard to economy, robustness, clock time and object independence, for accurate position determination for making goal decisions, for example within a range of a few centimeters.

Concept for making goal decisions by means of magnetic fields


A content storage system is provided. The content storage system may include a portable content repository device comprising a processor, a storage module, and a communication module. The storage module may store content (e.g., audio, video, images, or documents) from and transmit the content to various computing devices. The communication module may include a first wireless chip configured to communicate over an 802.11 wireless channel, and a second wireless chip configured to communicate over a Bluetooth channel. A computing device may communicate with the content repository device over the Bluetooth channel and/or the 802.11 wireless channel. The computing device transmits content to the content repository device for storage in response to generating the content. The content may include an access control that can be triggered by the content repository device to at least one of lock or delete the content from the computing device.

Communication between devices is typically performed over a network, such as the internet or a local area network. Users can access content through streaming services such as Netflix, for example. Those services typically have one or more server located remotely from the user and accessible via a website or application. Users that stream music, video, or other media from online services are at the mercy of their internet connection to access content. However, Internet access can be limited for a variety of reasons. Users on overseas flights may not have access. Those on domestic flights may have access in exchange for a relatively high fee. Users in remote areas that lack cellular service and landlines may also struggle to find internet access.
Even if service is available, it can be too slow to stream high-quality content. Many cable internet providers, for example, charge high prices for fast access with a basic package providing little bandwidth. In those instances, streaming services may have to degrade content quality to provide real-time access to the content. Furthermore, users often have multiple devices. Streaming services can limit the number of devices that can be active. Sharing login information for such services may be against the terms of service. Users in some instances are thus restricted from accessing their content on the device of their choosing based on factors beyond their control.
An alternative to streaming services is downloads which are stored on a single device and managed by digital rights management (DRM). The number of devices on which the media file can be stored is usually restricted. Often, users can only have a file stored on a single device. In order to download to the media to a second device, the user typically has to remove the file from the original device or disable the original device. Access on multiple devices is problematic.


A fuel tank having two opposite wall portions and at least one reinforcing element connecting these two wall portions, such reinforcing element comprising at least two parts linked by at least one rotating link. A method for manufacturing such tank.

Fuel tanks intended for motor vehicles, especially plastic fuel tanks, have to meet specifications that specify maximum permissible amplitudes of deflection on their lower skin. The deflections stated in these specifications usually have to be met during ageing tests in which the tank contains a certain quantity of fuel for a given period of time (typically several weeks) and at temperature (usually 40° C.). The purpose of these specifications is to ensure that vehicles maintain their road clearance and to prevent the skin of the tank from coming into contact with hotspots of the vehicle.
At the present time, hybrid vehicles and particularly cars operating in electric mode only, are characterized by a significant reduction of the volumes of air for purging the canister. In the context of the development of fuel systems for applications of this type, a pressurization of the tank is envisaged, since the generation of petrol vapors decreases as a function of the pressure. At pressures of 350 to 450 mbar, vapor generation is almost eliminated. Thus the canister is no longer affected by changes in the surrounding temperature. On the other hand, the mechanical strength/creep resistance of the tank must be increased since the deformations resulting from the pressurization are added to the deformations induced by the weight of the fuel.
Solutions have been proposed in the prior art with a view to enhancing the mechanical strength (including the creep resistance) of fuel tanks.
For instance, patent application WO 2010/122065 in the name of the Applicant describes a fuel tank having a lower wall, an upper wall and at least one reinforcing element connecting these two walls, said reinforcing element comprising a hollow plastic pillar, at least one part of which being a constitutive element of an accessory that has an active role in the tank.
Although the solution set forth above can work in some circumstances, there are nevertheless specific cases in which it can lead to problems owed to the fact that the top and bottom of the tank are not parallel due to:    blow molding tolerances;    deformations during part cooling;    deformations during thermal expansion;    deformations of tank shells not identical in top and bottom tank surface;    a specific non-parallel design of the top surface and the bottom surface of the tank.
In these cases, a traditional reinforcing element (either in the shape of a pillar or not) tends to concentrate stresses into localized regions of the reinforcement and/or the interface. More specifically, since no movement between the two opposite tank surfaces is allowed (this design not allowing any misalignment of the linked surfaces), all stresses are taken by the reinforcing element which in certain cases could create too high stress concentrations leading to break of the internal reinforcement after a long pressurized situation.

Fuel tank with improved creep resistance and method for manufacturing it

INERGY AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS RESEARCH (SociétéAnonyme)


A pneumatic tire includes an inner liner disposed inwardly in the tire relative to a carcass ply bridged between a pair of bead portions, the inner liner being formed of a first layer disposed inwardly in the tire, and a second layer disposed in contact with a rubber layer of the carcass ply, the first layer being a thermoplastic elastomer composition mainly containing a styrene-isobutylene-styrene block copolymer, the second layer being a styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer composition, (a) at least one of the thermoplastic elastomer compositions of the first and second layers containing a tackifier by 0.1 part by mass to 100 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of a thermoplastic elastomer component, or (b) the second layer containing the styrene-isobutylene-styrene block copolymer by 10 mass % to 80 mass % relative to a thermoplastic elastomer component thereof.

In recent years, in response to strong social demands for low fuel consumption of vehicles, weight reduction of tires has been sought. Among tire members, weight reduction and the like of an inner liner also have begun. The inner liner is disposed inwardly in a tire, and has a function of reducing an amount of leakage of air from inside to outside of the pneumatic tire.
Currently, a rubber composition for such an inner liner employs, for example, a rubber blend mainly containing a butyl rubber. The rubber blend contains the butyl rubber by 70 mass % to 100 mass %, and a natural rubber by 30 mass % to 0 mass %. In this way, the tire is provided with improved air permeability resistance. In addition to butylene, the rubber blend mainly containing the butyl rubber contains isoprene by approximately 1 mass %, which acts with sulfur, vulcanization accelerator, and zinc white to achieve cross-linking between rubber molecules. In the case of normal blend, the above-described butyl-based rubber needs to have a thickness of 0.6 mm to 1.0 mm for a tire of a passenger car, and needs to have a thickness of approximately 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm for a tire of a truck/bus. In order to achieve weight reduction of such tires, use of polymer, which is more excellent in air permeability resistance than the butyl-based rubber and can provide an inner liner layer with a thinner thickness, has been requested.
Conventionally, in order to achieve weight reduction of a tire, it has been proposed to use a film made of a material including a thermoplastic resin, instead of the above-described rubber composition. However, when a tire is manufactured using an inner liner of thin thermoplastic resin, the inner liner partially becomes too thin due to pressure in a vulcanization step, with the result that the finishing gauge of the inner liner in the resulting tire product becomes thinner than the designed gauge. In the thin portion of the inner liner thus finished, a phenomenon (open thread) in which a carcass cord looks to stand out takes place, thus giving a user an impression of bad appearance. In addition, when the inner liner is thin, gas barrier property becomes partially bad to decrease tire internal pressure, with the result that the tire may burst in the worst case.
Meanwhile, during traveling with the tire, large shear strain acts on a vicinity of a shoulder portion in the inner liner. When the material including the thermoplastic resin is used as the inner liner, this shear strain is likely to cause detachment at an adhesion interface between the inner liner and the carcass ply, with the result that air leakage takes place from the tire, disadvantageously.
Meanwhile, in order to achieve weight reduction of the inner liner, a technique also has been proposed to employ a thermoplastic elastomer material. However, it is known that a material, which is made thinner in thickness than the inner liner of butyl rubber and exhibits high air permeability resistance, is inferior to the inner liner of butyl rubber in terms of vulcanization adhesion strength with an insulation rubber or a carcass ply rubber adjacent to the inner liner.
When the inner liner has low vulcanization adhesion strength, air enters between the inner liner and the insulation rubber or the carcass rubber, thus resulting in a so-called "air-in phenomenon", in which small balloon-like objects appear. The multiplicity of such small spots in the tire give a user an impression of bad appearance. In addition, during traveling, the air causes detachment to result in cracks in the inner liner. Accordingly, the tire internal pressure is decreased, with the result that the tire may burst in the worst case.
Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-13646) proposes to improve strength in adhesion using a petroleum resin or a terpene resin in SIBS, which is a thermoplastic elastomer, as a tackifier. However, a polyamide-based polymer is blended in addition to the SIBS, so that flection cracking resistance is decreased, disadvantageously.
Meanwhile, Patent Literature 2 (Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-100675) proposes to improve adhesive property of a carcass ply rubber using, as a tackifier, a natural rosin, terpene, a chroman indene resin, a petroleum resin, an alkylphenol resin, or the like in a blended material having a polymer capable of cross-linking with SIBS by sulfur.
However, when the polymer capable of cross-linking by sulfur is contained by not more than 100 part by weight in a technique in which the polymer capable of vulcanization by sulfur is blended by 10 part by weight to 300 part by weight relative to 100 part by weight of the SIBS, the SIBS becomes a matrix (sea portion) and the polymer capable of cross-linking by sulfur becomes a domain structure (island portion). Accordingly, adhesion strength is not improved in a contact interface with the carcass rubber. Further, when the polymer capable of cross-linking by sulfur is not less than 100 part by weight, gas barrier property is decreased in rubbers other than the butyl rubber and adhesion strength is decreased in the butyl rubber. Moreover, depending on a polymer to be blended, viscosity becomes high, with the result that a film having a thickness of 600 μm or less cannot be fabricated, disadvantageously.
In Patent Literature 3 (W02008-029781), a tire is manufactured using strips of film layer stack in which a thermoplastic resin and a thermoplastic elastomer are blended. With the film layer stack, gas barrier property and adhesive property can be improved, whereby bonding can be achieved between the ribbon-shaped strips. However, in this technique, gauge is constant in a non-vulcanized raw cover of film layer stack. Hence, when the gauge is thinned, a buttress portion or the like in the finished tire after vulcanization may become thin.


Plant for the continuous casting of thick slabs, blooms or other similar steel products comprising an ingot mold and a series of containment and guiding rollers placed in the area below the ingot mold on both sides of the cast product, i.e. on the intrados and extrados, respectively. The rollers are arranged on at least three longitudinal rows and all have an axial length shorter that the width of the cast product. The rollers of a central longitudinal row are advantageously staggered with respect to the lateral longitudinal row rollers in such a way as to reduce the surface of the bulges created due to the ferrostatic pressure existing in the liquid core of the product at ingot mold outlet. Furthermore, the pitch between the adjacent rollers is advantageously always of different values so as to not cause the buckling of the bulges with a single frequency.

Numerous state of the art plants for the continuous casting of thick slabs and blooms are known. These plants use containment and guiding rollers arranged under the ingot mould to support and accompany along the bend below the product exiting the ingot mould whilst the solidification of all the steel takes place. On exiting the ingot mould the cast product is only partially solidified and is constituted by the solidified external part, known as the skin or shell, with a thickness that grows as the distance from ingot mould outlet increases, and a still liquid part, the so-called core or metal core. The solidification endpoint, i.e. the tip of the metal core, may be more or less distant from the ingot mould outlet section according to the casting speed of the plant. As continuous attempts are made to increase the casting speed in order to increase casting plant productivity, the length of the metal core may sometimes be important.
Due to the presence of liquid steel inside the cast product exited from the ingot mould, ferrostatic pressure exists, which presses from inside towards the exterior and causes the skin to deform in the stretches in which it is not supported by the containment and driving rollers: due to this ferrostatic pressure, bulges form on the surface of the cast product in the areas comprised alternatively between two rows of adjacent rollers. This phenomenon is known as "static bulging".
One problem that originates from the presence of such bulges is that of the surging of the liquid steel upwards due to the buckling of the bulges produced by the rollers during the advance of the thick slab along the rollerway. This pulsation is transmitted to the entire liquid metal column causing a pulsed variation of the meniscus level inside the ingot mould. This phenomenon is known as "dynamic bulging" and is amplified by the increase in casting speed; the meniscus oscillations may be so high as to make control of the ingot mould levels impossible with a consequent necessary interruption of the casting process and production loss. In the worst cases, meniscus oscillations may be such as to cause the liquid steel to leak from the ingot mould.
Another drawback caused by dynamic bulging is that relating to the internal and superficial skin cracks, which form due to the periodical bulging of the skin; these cracks create the presence of defects in the end product and may favour the rupture of the skin with consequent leakage of the liquid steel, a phenomenon known as "breakout".
A casting plant that offers a solution to the drawback is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,769, which describes a casting plant in which a thick slab guiding device is envisaged arranged immediately at the outlet from the ingot mould. The device is constituted by a number of segments that support series of rollers that constitute the thick slab containment guides. The rollers on one side are arranged with their axes staggered with respect to the opposite side of the thick slab; and the pitch of the rollers on both sides always remains constant. This particular arrangement is maintained for a stretch in which a liquid core is present in the thick slab. In any case, the solution offered by this plan is not satisfactory in those cases in which the casting speed is excessively high. In fact, the pulsation due to the passage of the bulges between the rollers continues to occur and is also due to the large volume of the bulges that in any case occur between two adjacent rollers. FIG. 1A, which illustrates a front view of a known casting plant of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,769, shows the amplitude of the area interested by the bulging phenomenon between two rollers, distanced at a constant pitch "p", and indicated with the dotted line.
Furthermore, a staggered arrangement of the rollers as envisaged by the above mentioned document does not make it possible to perform "soft-reduction", in order to reduce the thickness of the thick slab on outlet from the ingot mould and to improve the internal quality thereof.
A plant for the continuous casting of metal products that overcomes these drawbacks is therefore required.


A universal load-handling device to be used with an industrial truck comprising a longitudinal support fixable in a transverse direction to a lifting carrier in a transversally displaceable manner by a longitudinal-support drive; a plurality of prongs and a plurality of linear conveyors respectively assigned to the prongs, wherein the linear conveyors protrude vertically over the prongs, in order to carry the loading goods on the linear conveyors and to move the loading goods in the transverse direction relative to the prongs; and wherein the prongs are supported on the longitudinal support by a width-adjustment drive so that they are displaceable longitudinally.

The present invention relates to a universal load-handling device to be used with a (ground-based) industrial truck, particularly a storage and retrieval device, for picking up or delivering pallet-loading goods, in a palletless manner, from a transfer space or to a transfer space, in particular a rack-storage space, wherein each of the loading goods typically weighs up to 500 to 1500 kg, or is heavier. The invention further relates to a method for palletlessly picking up pallet-loading goods from a transfer space by means of the universal load-handling device.

Universal load-lifting means for the palletless handling of goods to be loaded onto pallets

SSI Schaäfer Noell gmbH Lager- und Systemtechnik


A barrel nut type fastener (100) is provided for securement within an opening (20) to a panel ("P") by a threaded member ("T") that when rotationally advanced through the barrel nut causes free-ends (14) and (14') of resilient legs (10) and (10') to move away from each other and respectively engage and urge resilient fingers (16) and (16') into contacting engagement with opposite sides of opening (20) with sufficient force to secure fastener (100) to panel, ("P").

Fasteners for securing threaded members within openings through panels have been known for many years of which examples are respectively disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,426,799; 2,707,013 and 4,595,325 of which all are owned by the Assignee of the present invention and the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference and none of which operate in the manner of the fastener of the present invention.
For example, the fastening device of U.S. Pat. No. 2,426,799 is secured to a panel "A" by a squeezing force applied to its opposite faces by a threaded member "B" and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,707,013 a threaded member, such as a bolt or screw "1", is operative to spread a pair of legs "30" apart whose respective outer portions are formed into locking elements or fingers "35" that are urged directly against the surface of the panel surrounding the opening to secure the fastening device to the panel.
Although the fastener of U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,325 operates in a manner similar fastening device in U.S. Pat. No. 2,707,013 in that a threaded member "5" is operative to spread a pair of resilient legs "10" apart and cause tabs "18" to engage opposite edges of an opening through a panel "P.sub.2 " to secure the fastener within the opening to the panel, legs "10" are shaped entirely differently from those of the fastener of the present invention which features a pair of resilient fingers that respectively extend outwardly away from each other through respective openings through resilient legs for engagement with the panel edge surrounding the opening and further features legs that are in substantial parallel relationship with the threaded member for a prescribed distance of contacting engagement therewith.
Aside from the different manner by which the prior art fasteners (hereinbefore described) become secured to the panel by action of a threaded member, none feature an internally threaded nut portion operative to receive and threadingly engage external threads of a threaded member such as a bolt or screw rotationally advanced therethrough.


A recording system having a plurality of recording apparatuses connected to a network. The apparatuses can select a channel for receiving a broadcast signal and record reservations for recording a program broadcast through a broadcasting channel at a predetermined time of day. One of the apparatuses, denoted as a reservation-receiving recording apparatus, receives recording reservation information from a user and detects if there is any overlapping programs in time using received recording reservation information and prexisting recording reservation information stored in memory. The reservation-receiving recording apparatus sends to the network a recording reservation request including overlapping recording reservation information, if it detects broadcasting time period overlaps, wherein the overlapping recording reservation information causes the overlapping program to be recorded by another recording apparatus connected to the network instead.

The present invention relates to a recording system including recording apparatuses, for example, such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) recorder and a hard disk and a recording method and a recording apparatus which are used in the system.
There is a growing use of recording apparatuses having a complex of a DVD recorder and a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), for example, and even network connection terminals such as Ethernet (registered trademark) terminals in place of video tape recorders. Many of these recording apparatuses are designed to allow easy program recording reservations through a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that enables sorting on the base of a broadcasting channel or program genre while displaying electronic program information such as via an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) on the display screen of a television set (monitor receiver).
However, most recording apparatuses have only one TV (television) tuner mounted. Although these recording apparatuses allow making easy program recording reservations, it can be considerably problematic where a user wants to record a program televised on different channels at the same time of the day. If two programs that the user wants to record are televised at the same time of the day as described above, the user would have to give up recording one of the two programs.
However, there will be cases where programs are already recorded through the EPG, for example, where programs recording reservations made in the past, for example yesterday or the day before yesterday, and a program recording reservation made now are for the same time of the day. In these cases, it can be difficult for the user to correctly understand and remember the existence of any two program recording reservations by date, time of the day, channel or program name. Deciding which of two programs having reservations should be prioritized would require many steps, thus preventing the available convenient EPG from being fully used.
Considering the above-mentioned situation, Japanese Patent Application 2004-023326, described later, proposes technologies in which a recording apparatus (system) includes a plurality of personal computers connected to an IP (Internet protocol) network and are provided with a tuner function, each of which, as a server apparatus, manages the existence of a tuner function, operating conditions, and program recording reservations for individual personal computers connected to the same network.
In this case, the function of the server apparatus then operates as described below if there are two TV program recording processings on a personal computer connected to a relevant network or there is an insufficient empty capacity in a hard disk for recording the TV program. Namely, the function of the server apparatus asks an available other computer connected to the same network to record an intended TV program to prevent the recording of what is called a counter program and the suspension of program recording due to an insufficient storage capacity.
For the recording apparatus described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application 2004-023326, however, a plurality of personal computers would need to be connected to the same network. A server apparatus for managing individual personal computers would also invariably need to be provided, thus resulting in an uneconomical, large-sized recording apparatus.
However, DVD players and disk players will become more and more popular from now on. There is therefore a need for the realization of a system that will allow more flexible TV program recordings, such as allowing easily and inexpensively simultaneous recording of different TV programs broadcast through different TV channels at same time of the day using DVD players and hard disk recorders instead of multi-functional and high-performance information processing apparatuses such as personal computers.
In addition, oftentimes two or more recording units are connected to record TV programs. However, it would be desirable to be able to easily and correctly manage which recording unit is used and which TV program is recorded. As with the technologies described in the above-mentioned patent literature, recording units used and TV programs recorded could be managed in detail by providing a server apparatus for management use. It is desirable, however, to be able to simply and accurately mange recording histories without providing such a server apparatus for exclusive management use.
Considering the situation mentioned above, it is desirable to provide a system, method, and apparatus for allowing more flexible TV program recording and easy and accurate program recording management by connecting a plurality of recordings apparatuses, each of which is often used as a single unit, to a network.

System and method of recording and recording apparatus


A mixture including a high specific gravity masterbatch pellets group (A) with specific gravity within a range from 1.8 to 3.5, and a low specific gravity masterbatch pellets group (B) with specific gravity within a range from 0.5 to 1.6. The high specific gravity masterbatch pellets group (A) comprises m different columnar masterbatch pellets, each with a different specific gravity, and the low specific gravity masterbatch pellets group (B) comprises n different columnar masterbatch pellets, each with a different specific gravity. The high specific gravity masterbatch pellets group (A) and the low specific gravity masterbatch pellets group (B) satisfy a formula (1) shown below:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a masterbatch pellet mixture. Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-125095, filed Apr. 30, 2004, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
When compounding agents such as dyes, pigments or other additives are added to and mixed with a resin material, a method is used wherein first the entire quantity of the compounding agent is added to a small quantity of the resin material, and is carefully mixed and dispersed to generate a high concentration material, and the majority of the resin material is then added to this high concentration material to generate a product with the target concentration. This method offers certain advantages including the fact that the dispersion and mixing is completed within a short time period, and the fact that the process can be managed with ease. This high concentration compound material is called a masterbatch. In those cases where a thermoplastic resin is used as the aforementioned resin material, pellet-like masterbatches, which are produced by adding a high concentration of a compounding agent to the thermoplastic resin and then mixing to generate a uniform mixture, are already known. In the present invention, the resin used to adjust the masterbatch to the target concentration is termed the additional resin.
In a typical method of using masterbatch pellets, the masterbatch pellets and the additional resin pellets are first mixed together in a mixing device such as a tumbler mixer, and the resulting mixture is then supplied to a molding apparatus.
Examples of methods of supplying the aforementioned mixture of the masterbatch pellets and the additional resin pellets to the molding apparatus include free fall methods and air blow feeding methods. The problem that arises is that during supply of the pellet mixture to the molding apparatus, the pellet mixture separates and become non-uniform, depending on factors such as the transport distance and the method used, and as a result, the molded product develops compositional irregularities, making it impossible to produce a product with uniform coloring and functionality. Conventionally, the method typically employed to prevent this type of separation of the different pellets is that all the pellets are of substantially the same shape and size.
Furthermore, another method used for preventing separation is the method described below. This method uses a separate supply system wherein the masterbatch pellets and the additional resin pellets are not premixed, but are rather supplied separately to the molding apparatus using separate supply devices, and the masterbatch pellets and the additional resin pellets are then mixed immediately prior to entry into the material supply port of the molding apparatus. In this method, because the mixing of the masterbatch pellets and the additional resin pellets is conducted immediately prior to entry into the material supply port of the molding apparatus, separation of the pellets can be suppressed.
However, in recent years, demands for high functionality of molded products has increased significantly, resulting in a large increase in the number of different masterbatches containing specified additives. Furthermore, molded products of all different hues are now demanded, and therefore the number of different masterbatches containing the dyes or additives required for generating those different hues is also increasing. In the separate supply system described above, a separate supply device must be provided for each different masterbatch, and consequently the equipment costs associated with assembling a production line have become extremely expensive. The only way in which to reduce these equipment costs is to reduce the number of supply devices, and consequently the first method described above must be used, wherein a plurality of masterbatch pellets and additional resin pellets are mixed uniformly in a mixer, and this pellet mixture is then supplied to the molding apparatus.
As described above, if a number of different masterbatch pellets are mixed together, then a problem arises in that differences in the shape, size and specific gravity of the different masterbatch pellets, and/or with electrostatic effects, cause the mixture to undergo separation into a non-uniform mixture, with like pellets grouping together. This separation of different masterbatch pellets is particularly marked in those cases where masterbatch pellets with a large difference in specific gravity are mixed together. Pellet separation caused by differences in shape or electrostatic effects can be suppressed to some degree by a method such as regulating the shape and size of the pellets, and adding antistatic agents. However, the specific gravity of any particular type of masterbatch pellets varies depending on the specific additives, dyes or pigments added to the pellets. Accordingly, adjusting the specific gravity of a number of different masterbatch pellets to the same value is problematic.
In order to resolve this problem, a method has been disclosed in which the weight ratio (Wb/Wa) of the average weight (Wb) of a single masterbatch pellet relative to the average weight (Wa) of a single additional resin pellet is set to a value within a range from 0.45 to 0.95 (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 7-102155). However in this method, the average weight of each of the pellets must be set within a specific range, and in order to match the average weights, high specific gravity pellets must be reduced in size, and low specific gravity pellets must be increased in size. Because this leads to the situation where pellets of different specific gravity have different sizes, separation of the pellets can not be adequately prevented. High specific gravity pellets are particularly problematic as their small size means that pellet separation is more marked.
Furthermore, a masterbatch pellet mixture formed from a number of different masterbatch pellets in which the difference between the maximum and minimum apparent specific gravity values of pellets within the mixture is suppressed to no more than 0.5 g/cm3 has also been proposed. In order to adjust the apparent specific gravity values in this manner, a method is disclosed in which a foaming agent or a high specific gravity filler is added to each of the different pellets (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 7-216099). However in this method, in those cases where a foaming agent is added to the masterbatch pellets, molding problems can develop, including the appearance of silver streaking on molded product surfaces (a phenomenon wherein residual gas from the foaming agent occupies space between the molded article and the mold itself, causing streak shaped areas of surface roughness on the surface of the molded product) or the generation of holes in molded films. In contrast, in those cases where a high specific gravity filler is added to the masterbatch pellets, because the high specific gravity filler often comprises a heavy metal, the number of materials that can be added as a high specific gravity filler is reasonably limited due to environmental concerns. Furthermore, the addition of these foaming agents or high specific gravity fillers also affects the hue of the molded product, which is not ideal.
In addition, a method has been disclosed in which the masterbatch pellets and the additional resin pellets are supplied directly, using a quantitative supply device, to the upper section of a screw in the molding apparatus, without undergoing premixing in a blender or mixer (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 11-279282). However in order to ensure uniform supply of the pellets to the molding apparatus, the pellets used in this method must have a shape and size that falls within a specific range, and the difference in specific gravity between pellets must also be minimized. In particular, masterbatch pellets containing added titanium oxide, which has a very large specific gravity, must be restricted to a titanium oxide content within the masterbatch of about no more than 50% by mass in order to enable the difference in specific gravity values between pellets to be small, meaning a loss of freedom in terms of the range of possible compositions.
An object of the present invention is to provide a masterbatch pellet mixture, which when supplied to a molding apparatus, maintains a uniform mixed state and enables stable supply with no separation of the different pellets, even if the masterbatch pellet mixture comprises a mixture of high specific gravity masterbatch pellets and low specific gravity masterbatch pellets, thus enabling the production of a uniform molded product with no compositional irregularities.

Abstract: 0.5                                                                          (                          mm                              -                1                                      )                          ≦                                            ∑                              p                =                1                            m                                                  (                                                Hp                  Sp                                ×                Rp                            )                                -                                    ∑                              q                =                1                            n                                                  (                                                Hq                  Sq                                ×                Rq                            )                                      ≦                  12                                                                                (                              mm                                  -                  1                                            )                                                                          .                                              (        1        )


An ornament with a backlit film image having a substrate with an at least partially transparent portion viewable therethrough when backlit. A first end cap and a second end cap are configured to receive and retain a portion of the substrate in a substantially closed loop shape such that the first and second end caps and the substrate support one another into a substantially upright position to define an enclosure. A light source is disposed within the enclosure and positioned to illuminate the backlit film image at least partially viewable through the transparent portion of the substrate.

This invention relates generally to an ornament including backlit film bearing a custom image formed into a generally cylindrical shape and retained in the form of a hollow cylinder by circular upper and lower retainer caps. At least one of these retainer caps, such as the upper cap, has a small opening formed therein to receive a light source, such as a light mounted along an elongated strand of the type used for Christmas decorations.
Backlit film is generally known in the art for use in printing a custom image onto the film, and then backlighting the printed film to illuminate the custom image. Such backlit film is often used in the preparation of posters and the like of generally planar shape. Backlit film has recently become available for use in home printing applications, such as by use of an inkjet printer or the like for printing of a wide variety of home artwork, such as individual photographs of friends and relatives. Exemplary backlit film is commercially available in rolls of different sheet lengths suitable for use with wide format inkjet media from Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., under the brand name Kodak Premium Backlit Film, or from Hewlett-Packard Development Company of Houston, Tex., under the brand name HP Premium Vivid Color Backlit Film.
The present invention pertains to a relatively simple and easily constructed ornament having a three-dimensional shape, particularly such as a generally cylindrical shape, wherein backlit film bearing a custom image and formed into the desired size and shape is formed into a hollow cylinder and retained by upper and lower retainer caps, for selected assembly individually or in groups with an elongated light strand having multiple light sources. Each ornament is arranged with one of the light sources positioned therein to backlight the custom film image.


Hybrid tea rose plant having the high centered buds fully open to vary large flowers and dark green, leathery foliage resistant to rust and powdery mildew.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of rose plant of the hybrid tea class which was originated by me by crossing the variety xe2x80x98KRIcarloxe2x80x99, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,165, with an unnamed seedling.
The primary objective of this breeding was to produce a new rose variety having the high centered flower form of the female parent and the very long flower life and excellent disease resistance of the male parent. The objective was substantially achieved, along with other desirable improvements, as evidenced by the following unique combination of characteristics that are outstanding in the new variety and that distinguish it from its parents, as well as from all other varieties of which I am aware:
1. Very high, fully open flowers;
2. High centered buds and half open form;
3. Dark green, leathery foliage; and
4. Resistance to powdery mildew and rust.
5. xe2x80x98JACsallxe2x80x99 differs from its female parent xe2x80x98KRIcarloxe2x80x99 in that the parent has smaller flowers with smaller petals and has smaller foliage than xe2x80x98JACsallxe2x80x99.
6. The male parent has pink flowers with fewer petals that the flowers of xe2x80x98JACsallxe2x80x99 and the parent also has more prickles.
Asexual reproduction of this new variety by budding, as performed at Wasco, Calif., shows that the foregoing and all other characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations.

Hybrid tea rose plant named xe2x80x98JACsallxe2x80x99


A method and apparatus for electric-discharge machining a turbine blade are provided. The method includes the steps of: a) preparing a disc material divided into an first portion and a second portion on a basis of a symmetrical line, b) fixing the disc material, with the first portion facing upward, c) forming an initial profile of at least one of the plurality of blades at the first portion of the disc material using at least two roughing tool electrodes to concurrently form a roughing space at the first portion, d) leading at least two finishing tool electrodes into the roughing space to concurrently perform precise machining of the blade, e) turning over the disc material, fixing the disc material and repeating steps c) and d) on the second portion.

In general, electric-discharge machining is a process of melting a portion of a work piece using an electric-discharge phenomenon and removing the molten portion from a nonmolten portion in order to machine a desired shape of the work piece. Specifically, in electric-discharge machining, the work piece and a tool-shaped electrode suitable for the desired shape as a cutting tool are arranged spaced apart in a dielectric machining fluid. A voltage of approximately 100V is applied there between, while a distance there between is gradually closed. At that time, a spark discharge is generated at a surface of the electrode or work piece. A material of the work piece is molten or evaporated at a discharging point where the spark discharge is generated, and the work piece adjacent to the discharging point is removed by pressure of the dielectric fluid. Fine craters are continuously formed by the discharge to perform cutting.
A turbine used in an engine for industrial applications or aircraft is a mechanical component used to obtain a rotational force from a combustion gas or pressurized air by compressing air. Such a turbine may be manufactured through the above described electric discharge. One example of a method for manufacturing a turbine blade using the electric-discharge machining is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-9436 ("the '9436 application"). A turbine provided according to the '9436 application is shown in FIG. 1. The turbine includes a disc 10 of a round plate and a plurality of blades 20 spaced apart from at regular intervals. According to the '9436 application, a plurality of reference elongated grooves 15 are formed along a flange of a disk material 1, as shown in FIG. 2. An upper right surface 11 and an upper left surface 12 are formed on the basis of the elongated grooves 15, as shown in FIG. 3, to form an upper portion relative to a symmetrical line S. After turning over and fixing the disk material, a second right surface 13 and a second left surface 14 are formed on the basis of the elongated grooves 15 to form a second portion relative to the symmetrical line S.
According to the '9436 application, in the case where there is no overlay between the blades 20, as shown in FIG. 4A, in other words, in the case of a>b, reference elongated grooves may be formed at a blade gap 10, and a tool electrode may be vertically moved to perform cutting working, as indicated by symbol P in FIG. 4A. However, when there is an overlay between the blades 20, as shown in FIG. 4B, in other words, when a≦b, since the gap between the blades 20 is not sufficient, it is not possible to form reference elongated grooves. In addition, a tool electrode is not vertically moved to perform cutting working.
A turbine with an integral shroud, in which a shroud integrally formed with outsides of the blades, cannot be manufactured through a conventional method of forming the reference elongated grooves 15 by moving the tool electrode from a cross section of the disk material 1 to the inside, as shown in FIG. 2.
Meanwhile, since the blades of the turbine are formed in a C-shape, a complete set of blades cannot be obtained through one electric-discharge machining. Accordingly, the blades are formed by electric-discharge machining the upper and second portions divided on the basis of the symmetrical line (S in FIG. 3). In this case, there is a problem in that a mismatch occurs between the upper portion and the second portion, as shown in FIG. 5. An electric-discharged machined portion at a boundary between the upper portion and the second portion is not smoothly joined and a protrusion or a stepped portion at a machined surface between the upper and second portions is formed. This obstructs a flow of fluid, such as combustion gas, passing thorough the blades, thereby causing an efficiency of the turbine to deteriorate.
In addition, one blade is formed by one tool electrode, and after the disc material is rotated in a circumferential direction, a next blade is formed by the one tool electrode. The turbine is electric-discharge machined by repeating the above process as many times as the number of the blades. Therefore, excessive machining time is required to form a plurality of blades. Also, there is another problem in that since it is difficult to keep a setting of each blade consistent; precision of the machining is seconded.

Method and apparatus for electric-discharge machining of a turbine blade


A system, method, and device for identifying data sources for a neural network are disclosed. The exemplary system may have a module for determining load curves for each selected data set. The system may also have a module for determining a global difference measure and a global similarity measure for each load curve of each selected data set. The system may have a module for determining a set of data sets with lowest value global difference measure. The system may also have a module for determining a set of data sets with largest value global similarity measure. The system may also have a module for determining a union of the sets of lowest value difference measure and the sets of largest value similarity measure. The system may also have a module for determining for each set in the union one of a local similarity measure and a local difference measure and a module for selecting a set of reduced data sets based on one of the local similarity measure and the local difference measure.

An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is a device in which several interconnected elements process information simultaneously, adapting and learning from past patterns. The ANN may be used to predict future responses of a control system that varies with time. For example, electric power consumption in the power generation industry may vary with time. In order to operate the power generation equipment efficiently it may be useful to identify future consumption patterns. Very Short Term Load Predictor (VSTLP) provides a tool for estimating demand for the system power output over a predetermined future time period, for example, 60 minutes or less from the current point in time.
The neural-network-based very short term load predictor (VSTLP) requires that the actual load data sources be determined and made available for offline training of neural networks that are to be used for online prediction and further online training/tuning to improve prediction accuracy performance. The load data of up to five full-day-long load curves is used for offline neural network training. A full-year worth of load data at a specified time interval is stored in the VSTLP database with 10-year worth of load data for holidays stored as well. Accordingly, a need exists for a device, method, and system that make efficient use of the off-line data to provide training of ANN-based VSTLP.

Identify data sources for neural network

Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution, Inc.


A liquid containing body includes a liquid containing vessel, and a casing member. The liquid containing vessel contains a liquid, and includes a supply member with a liquid supply opening that supplies the liquid to a liquid consumption apparatus. The casing member supports at least the supply member. The supply member has a cylindrical flow path section that defines the liquid supply opening. The casing member has a through hole forming section with a through hole. The cylindrical flow path section is insertable in the through hole. The casing member further has an engaging section that engages with the supply member to regulate movement of the cylindrical flow path section in an opposite direction to an insertion direction while the cylindrical flow path section is rotated with the insertion direction as an axial line in a state where the cylindrical flow path section is inserted in the through hole.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid containing body having a liquid containing vessel with a liquid containing chamber, which can contain liquid, inside a casing member.
2. Related Art
In the prior art, an ink cartridge (a liquid containing body) is known where an ink vessel (a liquid containing vessel) with an ink chamber (a liquid containing chamber), where it is possible for ink, which is supplied to an ink jet printer (a liquid consumption apparatus) which consumes ink (a liquid) by ejecting the ink, to be contained, is provided inside a casing member. There is a structure in the ink cartridge where the ink vessel with an ink pack, where it is possible for a relatively large amount of ink to be contained, as the ink chamber is positionally aligned using the casing member.
In detail, there is a structure in the ink cartridge in the prior art where the ink vessel (the ink pack), which is provided with a supply member (an ink guiding member) where a liquid supply opening where it is possible for ink to be discharged from the ink chamber to the outside, is supported inside the casing member (inside a bag containing section) in a state of being positionally aligned using a plurality of members (see JP-A-2009-220564 (Patent Literature 1), for example).


Embodiments of a needle stand are disclosed that include a base, an arching boom, and a tube, wherein the needle stand supports a biopsy needle. The base defines a plane and the base is configured to attach to a patient. The boom is attached to the base and has a length and a convex curvature and defines a plurality of holes along all or a portion of the length. The tube is sized to retain a needle handle of the biopsy needle. Each of the plurality of holes is sized to retain the tube and each of the plurality of holes defines an axis. The plane and each of the axes form a unique point of entry angle for the biopsy needle. In one embodiment, each of the plurality of holes is spaced at an interval along the boom that corresponds to about 10° increment in the angle.

The present disclosure relates generally to a needle stand for a biopsy needle and more particularly to a needle stand that is easily and quickly adjustable to account for the three degrees of freedom for the entry of the biopsy needle in the patient.
Tissue sampling in which soft tissue biopsy needles are used may require situations in which the clinician needs to release the needle after inserting it at least part of the way to targeted tissue, leaving it cantilevered in the patient. For example, there may be a need to use fluoroscopy or other imaging to confirm proper needle placement, or to move the patient to a different treatment or imaging room. As another example, the clinician may need to rest or reorient himself or herself to appropriately support the needle.
Often a needle stand is used to support a partially- or fully-inserted biopsy needle cantilevered in the patient. Typically, a needle stand can also be used to guide and stabilize the needle at a chosen angle and location while the needle is inserted through the skin of a patient. The support and maintenance of position provided by a needle stand frees the clinician to perform other tasks that may also be required during the medical procedure.
One type of needle stand currently used includes a clip for holding a needle and a guide arrangement for supporting the clip and directing the needle at a desired angle relative to the patient's body. The clip is attached to a rail portion of the guide arrangement, and the position of the clip is adjustable laterally along the rail portion as the clinician may need for the particular patient. The clip includes a releasable connection such that the needle can be disengaged from the guide arrangement by a lateral movement of the clip and/or guide arrangement relative to the longitudinal axis of the needle. Moreover, the needle handle is not directly supported by the clip. Instead, a portion of the thin needle structure is supported by the clip and rail portion. As can be appreciated, the thin needle is a relatively weak portion, that can be broken or otherwise damaged while retained in the clip. Differently-sized clips are required for each stand, so as to match the gauge of the needle sleeve and needle cannula that are used, because the needle cannula may jiggle or shake in the clip if the clip does not hold the needle cannula firmly. The needle stand also typically includes a base for support itself when placed on a body surface. The guide arrangement is hingedly connected to the base to allow for adjustment of the desired angle of the needle. Therefore, adjustment of the orientation of the needle requires adjusting the clip laterally on the rail portion and adjusting the guide arrangement about the hinge on the base. Adjusting all of these components is complicated, requires moving many parts to accomplish the change, and is time consuming for the clinician.
In lieu of a needle stand, a medical practitioner may simply hold the needle in place while image guidance or fluoroscopy is used to locate the biopsy needle within the patient. As such, there is a risk that the medical practitioner will be exposed to X-rays or other radiation during the image guidance. Alternatively, the medical practitioner may tape the biopsy needle against the skin of the patient. However, tape can be ineffective when used on a biopsy needle in maintaining the desired position and depth of the needle.
Thus, there is a need for improvement in this field.


A method for collecting airborne particles and microorganisms by injecting them into a swirling air flow from where they are removed onto a dry surface, a surface coated with an adhesive material or a surface wetted by a liquid that is swirled onto that surface from a liquid reservoir below. The swirling air motion and the aerosol injection into it are achieved by pushing or drawing the airborne particles and microorganisms through one or more nozzles that are directed at an angle towards the collection surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the methods of collecting airborne particles and microorganisms. In particular, the present invention relates to the method of collecting aerosol particles by injecting them into a swirling air flow so that they are removed from the suspending air onto the surface over which the flow swirls.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prominent methods by which airborne particles and microorganisms are collected for measurement or control purposes are by inertial impaction, centrifugal removal or impingement into a liquid. Particles or microorganisms suspended in air are herein referred to as "aerosol particles." In inertial impaction, the aerosol particles are drawn into a nozzle which is directed toward a solid plate; aerosol particles with high inertia impact onto the plate and are collected by it. The embodiment of this method is usually referred to as an "inertial impactor." A common problem with the impactor is the bounce of particles from the surface when the force of particle rebounding exceeds the particle adhesion force.
Another method is that of aerosol particle removal by centrifugal force. The embodiment of this method is usually referred to as a "cyclone." In a cyclone, the aerosol is drawn into a cylindrical chamber so that the air makes one or more rotations inside before leaving the chamber through a tube at its center. Particles with sufficient inertia move centrifugally toward the inner wall. The problem with this method is that particles that enter the cyclone near its inner effluent tube have a great radial distance to traverse. This method is, therefore, not effective for particles less than a few micrometers in diameter. Also, it does not provide a sharp particle size separation between the collected and uncollected particles.
A third method is that of aerosol particle impaction into a liquid. The embodiment of this method is usually referred to as an "impinger." In an impinger, the aerosol is impacted into a reservoir filled with liquid. The problem with this method is that the air flow produces bubbling in the liquid reservoir through which already collected particles may be reaerosolized into the effluent air flow. An impinger is commonly used only with liquids having the viscosity and surface tension characteristics of water or similar liquids.

Method for collecting airborne particles and microorganisms by their injection into a swirling air flow


By reducing the effect of particle bombardment during the sequence for forming a metal silicide in semiconductor devices, the defect rate and the metal silicide uniformity may be enhanced. For this purpose, the metal may be deposited without an immediately preceding sputter etch process, wherein, in a particular embodiment, an additional oxidation process is performed to efficiently remove any silicon contaminations and surface impurities by a subsequent wet chemical treatment on the basis of HF, which is followed by the metal deposition.

1. Field of the Invention
Generally, the present invention relates to the field of fabrication of integrated circuits, and, more particularly, to semiconductor devices having metal silicide portions on semiconductor regions to reduce the resistance of the semiconductor regions.
2. Description of the Related Art
In modern ultra-high density integrated circuits, device features are steadily decreasing to enhance device performance and functionality. Shrinking the feature sizes, however, entails certain problems that may partially offset the advantages obtained by the reduced feature sizes. Generally, reducing the feature sizes of, for example, a transistor element may lead to a decreased channel resistance in the transistor element and thus result in a higher drive current capability and enhanced switching speed of the transistor. In decreasing the features sizes of these transistor elements, however, the increasing electrical resistance of conductive lines and contact regions, i.e., of regions that connect transistor areas, such as drain and source regions, with the periphery of the transistor element, becomes a dominant issue, since the cross-sectional area of these lines and regions decreases with decreasing feature sizes. The cross-sectional area, however, determines, in combination with the characteristics of the material comprising the conductive lines and contact regions, the resistance thereof.
The above problems may be exemplified for a typical critical feature size in this respect, also referred to as a critical dimension (CD), such as the extension of the channel of a field effect transistor that forms below a gate electrode between a source region and a drain region of the transistor. Reducing this extension of the channel, commonly referred to as channel length, may significantly improve device performance with respect to fall and rise times, when operating the transistor element in a switched mode, due to the smaller capacitance between the gate electrode and the channel and due to the decreased resistance of the shorter channel. Shrinking of the channel length, however, also entails the reduction in size of any conductive lines, such as the gate electrode of the field effect transistor, which is commonly formed of polysilicon, and the contact regions that allow electrical contact to the drain and source regions of the transistor, so that consequently the available cross-section for charge carrier transportation is reduced. As a result, the conductive lines and contact regions exhibit a higher resistance unless the reduced cross-section is compensated for by improving the electrical characteristics of the material forming the lines and contact regions, such as the gate electrode, and the drain and source contact regions.
It is thus of particular importance to improve the characteristics of conductive regions that are substantially comprised of semiconductor material such as silicon. For instance, in modern integrated circuits, the individual semiconductor devices, such as field effect transistors, capacitors and the like, are primarily based on silicon, wherein the individual devices are connected by silicon lines and metal lines. While the resistivity of the metal lines may be improved by replacing the commonly used aluminum by, for example, copper and copper alloys, process engineers are confronted with a challenging task when an improvement in the electrical characteristics of silicon-containing semiconductor lines and semiconductor contact regions is required.
With reference to FIGS. 1a-1d, an exemplary process for manufacturing an integrated circuit containing, for example, a plurality of MOS transistors will now be described in order to illustrate the problems involved in improving the electrical characteristics of silicon-containing semiconductor regions in more detail.
In FIG. 1a, a semiconductor device 100, which may represent a MOS transistor, comprises a substrate 101, such as a bulk silicon substrate, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, or any other appropriate carrier material on which is formed a silicon-containing semiconductor layer. For convenience, in FIG. 1a, the substrate 101 is to be considered as having formed thereon an appropriate silicon-containing layer, in which are formed drain and source regions 107 including appropriate extension regions 107e. As will be explained in the following, the drain and source regions 107 are to receive a metal silicide region therein so as to enhance the conductivity of the drain and source regions 107. Located between the drain and source regions 107 and the respective extension regions 107e is a channel region 102, above which is located a gate electrode 103, which may be comprised of polysilicon. The gate electrode 103 may also receive a metal silicide region thereon to reduce the resistivity. The gate electrode 103 is separated from the channel region 102 by an appropriate gate insulation layer 104, which may be comprised of, for instance, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, or any other appropriate material composition. Moreover, spacer elements 106 including appropriate etch stop layers or liners 105 are formed at sidewalls of the gate electrode 103, wherein it should be appreciated that the spacers 106 and the etch stop layers 105 may represent two or more individual spacer elements and corresponding etch stop layers that may have been used during the formation of the semiconductor device 100 as shown in FIG. 1a. Finally, a protective layer 108 is formed above the substrate 101 to cover exposed portions of the semiconductor device 100, such as the gate electrode 103 including the spacers 106 and surface portions of the drain and source regions 107.
A typical process flow for forming the conventional semiconductor device 100 as shown in FIG. 1a may comprise the following processes. After the formation of appropriate active regions in the substrate 101, i.e., within a corresponding silicon-containing crystal-line layer, an appropriate vertical dopant profile may be established within the respective active regions by well-established isolation techniques, such as trench isolation techniques and the like, so as to allow the formation of transistor elements, capacitors and the like. For convenience, any such isolation structure and dopant profile is not shown in FIG. 1a. Thereafter, the gate insulation layer 104 may be formed by appropriate oxidation and/or deposition techniques, during which an insulating layer having a desired thickness and material composition is formed on the surface of the semiconductor device 100. As previously discussed, in modern integrated circuits, critical dimensions of circuit features, such as the gate length of MOS transistors, i.e., in FIG. 1a, the horizontal extension of the gate electrode 103, have reached 100 nm and significantly less. Hence, due to the reduced gate length, the cross-sectional area of the gate electrode 103 is also significantly reduced, thereby requiring an efficient technique for increasing the conductivity of the material in the gate electrode 103, which is typically accomplished by forming a metal silicide therein.
Thereafter, a gate electrode material, i.e., polysilicon, may be deposited by well-established low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) followed by well-established photolithography techniques to pattern the gate electrode material, thereby forming the gate electrode 103 and the gate insulation layer 104, as shown in FIG. 1a. Next, the extension regions 107e and the drain and source regions 107 may be formed by a sequence of implantation processes, wherein the gate electrode 103 and any appropriate sidewall spacers may be used as an implantation mask. For instance, the spacers 106 may represent the entire spacer structure so as to obtain a laterally profiled dopant concentration as is required for the drain and source regions 107 and the extension regions 107e. Thereafter, or intermittently during the implantation sequence, appropriate anneal processes may be performed to activate the dopants and to substantially re-crystallize any crystalline defects caused by the preceding implantation. Next, the silicon dioxide layer 108 may be formed, for instance, by well-established chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques on the basis of TEOS or silane with a thickness of approximately 10-50 nm to appropriately protect the device 100 during the handling and processing for preparing the device 100 for the formation of metal silicide regions in the gate electrode 103 and the drain and source regions 107. That is, after the formation of the silicon dioxide layer 108, the device 100 may be conveyed to a corresponding silicidation module, in which further process steps for the formation of metal silicide regions may be performed.
Consequently, the semiconductor device 100 is subjected to a cleaning and removal process 109, wherein, in a first step, appropriate cleaning processes are performed to substantially remove any particles and metals from the silicon dioxide layer 108. Thereafter, the oxide layer 108 is removed by a wet chemical etch process on the basis of hydrofluoric acid (HF), wherein, in accordance with well-established process recipes, process parameters, such as temperature, concentration of the hydrofluoric acid, reaction time and the like, are adjusted to leave a significant portion of Si—H bonds on exposed silicon-containing surface portions, such as on the gate electrode 103 and the drain and source regions 107. Without intending to restrict the present application to the following explanation, it is believed that the Si—H surface is highly advantageous for the subsequent actual silicidation process to promote the chemical reaction between an appropriate metal to be deposited and the Si—H bonding containing surface portions.
FIG. 1b schematically shows the semiconductor device 100 after the cleaning and removal process 109, wherein the silicon dioxide layer 108 is removed. Moreover, the device 100 is subjected to a further cleaning and activation process 110, in which a sputter etch process is performed in an appropriate sputter deposition tool prior to the metal deposition process, thereby removing further contaminants from the exposed surface portions and also making the exposed silicon surface reactive with respect to the metal that is subsequently to be deposited. The corresponding surface portions activated by the particle bombardment in the sputter etch process 110 are indicated as 111. Thereafter, the process parameters of the process 110 are appropriately changed to initiate the deposition of an appropriate refractory metal, such as cobalt, nickel and the like, on the activated surface portions 111 and also on the insulating portions of the spacers 106.
FIG. 1c schematically shows the semiconductor device 100 with a correspondingly formed metal layer 112. After the deposition of the metal layer 112, the semiconductor device 100 may be subjected to a heat treatment to initiate diffusion of metal from the layer 112 into the activated portions 111, as is indicated by the corresponding arrows. Depending on the type of metal used, the temperature and the duration of the heat treatment may be selected so as to form a desired amount of metal silicide in the gate electrode 103 and the drain and source regions 107. For example, during the formation of a cobalt silicide, a first heat treatment may be performed at temperatures of approximately 500-600° C., thereby creating substantially cobalt monosilicide, which, however, typically exhibits a moderate high electrical resistance. After the first heat treatment, a second heat treatment at a lower temperature may be performed to convert a significant amount of cobalt monosilicide into a cobalt disilicide, which exhibits a desired low electric resistance. During the first and second heating steps or after the second heating step, an appropriately designed selective etch process may be performed to remove any non-reacted metal of the layer 112. It should be appreciated that other process schemes may be used, depending on the metal used and other process and device specific requirements. For instance, during the formation of a nickel silicide, the process parameters may be selected so as to substantially suppress the formation of nickel disilicide, since nickel disilicide exhibits a significantly higher electrical resistance compared to nickel monosilicide. Thereafter, appropriate heating steps may be performed to thermally stabilize the respective metal silicide formed in the gate electrode 103 and the drain and source regions 107.
FIG. 1d schematically shows the semiconductor device 100 after the completion of the above-described silicidation process so that corresponding metal silicide regions 114 are formed in the drain and source regions 107 and in the gate electrode 103. Although the metal silicide regions 114 may significantly enhance the conductivity of the respective regions, a number of difficulties may arise with the above-described conventional process sequence, in particular when extremely scaled semiconductor devices are considered, in which any non-uniformities of the metal silicide regions 114, as well as any defects, may considerably affect the overall behavior of the device 100. For example, silicide defects 114b may be observed on insulating areas, such as the sidewall spacers 106, which may be difficult to be removed and which may possibly provide a conductive path between actually isolated device regions. Moreover, regions 114a may be observed within the metal silicide regions 114, in which a reduced amount of metal silicide or no silicide at all has been formed during the preceding silicidation process, thereby rendering the corresponding metal silicide 114 highly non-uniform with respect to its current drive capability. Consequently, especially for highly scaled semiconductor devices, the area 114a may significantly degrade the overall performance of the semiconductor device 100.
In view of the situation described above, there exists a need for an improved technique that enables the formation of metal silicide regions while avoiding or at least reducing the effects of one or more of the problems identified above.

Technique for reducing silicide defects by reducing deleterious effects of particle bombardment prior to silicidation


A method and apparatus for receiving conditional access information (CAI) on one or more of a plurality of tuners while the user is selecting different channels is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of receiving the CAI on a first tuner tuned to a first channel; identifying the first tuner as the tuner receiving the CAI; and commanding the second tuner to receive the CAI after receiving a command to retune the first tuner from the first channel to a second channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for providing video program material to subscribers, and in particular to a method and system for ensuring reception of conditional access information in multi-tuner receivers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Media programs such as video and audio information can be distributed to households via a variety of methods including terrestrial transmitters, cable, the Internet, and satellites. Each of these media distribution systems implement a large number of channels, and are therefore capable of providing a large number of concurrently broadcast media programs to each household.
While existing systems provide a large number of channels, there is a trend towards even greater numbers of channels and greater bandwidth requirements on existing channels to accommodate, for example, HDTV. With regard to satellite-based media program distribution systems, the increased channels and bandwidth demands can be satisfied by the introduction of additional satellites and/or the use of additional transponders on the satellites.
In order to receive signals from each of the plurality of satellites, ground stations can include multiple antennae (each directed to a satellite of interest) coupled to a single tuner, multiple receiving elements (referred to as low noise block converters, or LNBs) using a single reflector, or multiple antennae and multiple tuners.
At the same time, it is important that the media programs transmitted by the satellites be protected from unauthorized reception and/or reproduction. This is accomplished by encrypting the media programs, and broadcasting data that (along with hardware disposed at the receiver station) is used to decrypt the media programs.
Unfortunately, when consumers go from one channel to another, the channel selection may require the receiver to switch from one tuner to the other (since the second channel is being transmitted by a different satellite than the first channel). In some cases, this switching from one tuner to the other can temporarily interrupt the reception of the information required to decrypt the desired media information. This problem is especially notable when the user is rapidly changing channels, or "channel surfing."
What is needed is a system and method for assuring that the information required to decrypt media programs is readily available, even in circumstances when a channel command requires switching tuners from one to another. The present invention satisfies that need.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for ensuring reception of conditional access information in multi-tuner receivers