An optical scanner reduces the effects of external electrical noise and disturbing light that leaks therein during an image read operation. Light beams emitted by a plurality of light sources are synthesized so as to travel along a common optical path, the synthesized light beams are deflected by a polygonal rotating mirror and condensed. The condensed light beams fall on a beam splitting device. One of the light beams is projected on the image forming surface of a photosensitive member for image recording, another light beam scans the image surface of a document, and light scattered by the light reflecting from the image surface of the document is detected by photoelectric devices. The light beam projected on the document is modulated by a modulator in accordance with a fixed frequency, and signals provided by the photoelectric devices are demodulated by a demodulator.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical scanner incorporated into a laser printer or the like that records an image by an electrophotographic process, that is capable of reading image information from a document.
2. Description of Related Art
A known image reading optical apparatus capable of reading an image from the entire surface of a document obtains image information about the image by illuminating the surface of the document by, for example, a fluorescent lamp, guiding light reflected from the surface of the document by a reducing projection lens to, for example, a line sensor comprising a charge-coupled device (CCD), obtaining image information about one line of the image from the output of the line sensor, and scanning the surface of the document in a feed direction perpendicular to a scanning direction to obtain image information about the entire image.
A known optical image writing apparatus scans a photosensitive layer formed on the surface of a photosensitive drum in a scanning direction parallel to the axis of the photosensitive drum by deflecting a laser beam with a polygonal rotating mirror to form a latent image of an image on the photosensitive layer. The latent image formed by the optical image writing apparatus is developed into a toner image by a developing unit using an electrophotographic method, and the toner image is transferred to a recording sheet by a transfer unit, and the toner image is fixed to the recording sheet by a fixing unit to record the image on the recording sheet.
A prior art apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-199097 has both the foregoing image reading function and the foregoing image writing function, and uses optical parts common to an optical image reading unit and an optical image writing unit.
This apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-199097 detects light reflected from the scanned surface of a document to read an image formed on the document. Therefore, erroneous image information about the image is obtained or, at worst, there is the possibility that the apparatus is unable to read the image at all when disturbing light leaks into the apparatus.
Generally, the reflected light is detected by a photoelectric device and a photocurrent proportional to a quantity of light fallen on the photoelectric device and provided by the photoelectric device is amplified by an amplifier. The frequency of the photocurrent generated by the photoelectric device is at a minimum when the entire surface of the document is blank. The frequency is at a maximum when there are black dots or white dots on the surface of the document corresponding to a maximum resolution dependent on the diameter of a spot formed on the document by the scanning beam, the document being scanned continuously with the scanning beam deflected by the polygonal rotating mirror. Therefore, the amplifier must have a flat gain in a wide frequency range from the minimum to the maximum frequency. Such an amplifier has a large scale and hence it is impossible to construct the apparatus at a low cost. Moreover, when the operation of the amplifier is disturbed by noise, such as electromagnetic waves, the image information is affected by the noise and, consequently, an image having dark lines or blank spots is formed.

Optical scanner which reduces the effects of external electrical noise and disturbing light


A vehicle seat having a base that is carried by a floor on a seat adjuster that comprises two pairs of seat slide rails that permit the seat to be moved relative to the floor with at least one of the rails being of non-metallic, preferably plastic, construction. The non-metallic rails have an upper rail portion spaced from a lower rail portion defining a channel therebetween for receiving a flange of the other seat slide, preferably without requiring ball, roller or needle bearings. Preferably, the base and plastic rails are of one piece unitary construction for producing a low profile adjuster. Each of the other rails is preferably constructed of a metal, has a bottom wall anchored to the floor, and a pair of sidewalls with one of the sidewalls carrying the flange and the other of the sidewalls being notched. A latch is pivotally connected to the base enabling a grip of the latch to be lifted to free a latch tooth from a slide rail notch enabling the seat to be moved. The seat further includes a suspension that preferably is a single pivot suspension having deformable elastomeric springs that can be moved to adjust the firmness of the suspension. Each spring is preferably attached to the base or seat by a pivot enabling it to be swung about the attachment pivot toward or away from the seat pivot.

Vehicle seats typically have a suspension used to support a person sitting in a seat while maximizing their comfort. As such, suspensions for vehicle seats are designed to provide comfort to a seat occupant while minimizing or absorbing and dampening bumps and jolts due to uneven, rough or rugged terrain encountered while riding in a vehicle. In fact, designing suspensions for vehicle seating sometimes requires a designer to consider a number of factors, such as, for example: seat vibration, natural frequency of the seat and suspension, the suspension characteristics of the vehicle, the type of terrain that will be encountered by the vehicle, how far the seat suspension is capable of travelling to absorb shocks during operation, vehicle seat size and packaging constraints, how the seat and suspension will behave during a crash, component and suspension cost, suspension reliability and durability, how easy and cost-effectively the suspension can be mass produced, as well as other design factors.
These design factors apply not only to vehicle seat suspensions for automotive vehicles, such as trucks and automobiles, but also to seat suspensions for off-road vehicle applications, such as garden tractors, lawn mowers, smaller all terrain vehicles, other preferably self-propelled lawn and garden equipment, and the like. In many cases, design considerations for these types of off-road vehicles can be equally complicated in part because of the severe manufacturing cost constraints imposed by manufacturers. In short, because these vehicles are relatively low cost, manufacturers demand vehicle seating which is also low cost but which must be reliable, durable, and which minimizes shocks, jolts, bumps and vibrations encountered during vehicle operation to prevent them from being directly transmitted to a person sitting in the seat.
Most, if not virtually all, of the seat suspensions for these types of vehicles are single pivot seat suspensions because of their simplicity, reliability and low cost. A single pivot seat suspension has a seat attached adjacent one end, typically its front end, to a base or frame by a single pivot. Spaced away from the pivot, typically adjacent the rear end of the seat, is at least one and typically a pair of springs disposed between the bottom of the seat and the seat base or frame. During operation, the seat hingedly swings about the seat attachment pivot in response to jolts, bumps, shocks and the like allowing the spring or springs to help absorb and dampen them.
In the past, most, if not virtually all, of these springs were metallic coil compression springs that were fixed in one position relative to the seat pivot. While coil spring suspensions are known which permit adjustment of the location of the spring or springs relative to the pivot, they require time consuming and expense-adding fasteners to fasten one end of the coil spring to the seat suspension frame in a manner which allows spring position adjustments to be made.
An example of such a seat suspension is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,092 to Federspiel which discloses a suspension for a lawn tractor seat that has a single coil spring which is secured at one end by a nut threadably received on a bolt that extends through an elongate adjustment slot in the seat frame and also through a hole in the end of the spring to clamp the end of the spring to the underside of the seat.
However, the other end of the spring, although preferably vinyl coated, can eventually scratch or mar the finish of that portion of a fender assembly of the lawn tractor which underlies and supports the spring. Moreover, the nut and bolt used to secure the spring to the seat require unnecessary, time consuming and costly manufacturing assembly steps to attach the spring to the seat during manufacturing the seat assembly. Additionally, coil springs are becoming less favored by seat suspension designers because they have a generally constant spring rate throughout their range compression. For example, when they bottom out during a particularly severe bump or jolt such that the spring is completely compressed, they bottom out particularly hard exposing the seat occupant to discomfort and possible injury. Sill further, coil springs often provide little damping ability therefore exposing a seat occupant to a rather bouncy ride which can ultimately undesirably translate into discomfort, nausea, and, quite possibly, at least some difficulty in steering or maneuvering the vehicle. Finally, coil springs have also become disfavored because they are noisy and, even if vinyl or plastic coated, the coating can wear away undesirably exposing the finish of the lawn tractor directly to the spring.
More recently, springs constructed of a urethane foam material have been substituted for metallic coil springs. While these types of seat suspensions employing foam springs have performed admirably out in the field, they have not heretofore been known to be adjustable for seat occupants of different weights and for the different types of terrain that can be encountered by the vehicle. This is likely because foam springs are difficult to attach to a seat base or a portion of a frame underlying the seat as a result of their flexible construction enabling them to be compressed inwardly in just about any direction, unlike coil springs.
Therefore, as a result of posing at least some difficulty in attaching foam springs to a seat or seat base underlying the spring, foam springs are attached to a vehicle seat or base underlying the seat in a manner which fixes their position relative to the front or rear of the seat and relative to the pivot of the seat, if the suspension is of single pivot construction. More specifically, it is known that foam springs have been attached using time consuming and expensive fasteners in a manner similar to that used for securing coil springs to a seat suspension. In another known method of securing a foam spring, an end of the spring is captured between a pair of fingers of the seat or seat base by sliding the spring between the fingers from the side, also fixing the position of the spring relative to the seat suspension pivot.
Vehicle seat adjusters are used to enable the fore and aft position of a vehicle seat to be adjusted relative to a steering wheel or vehicle dashboard permitting a seat occupant to optimize their comfort by increasing or decreasing legroom. While vehicle seat adjusters which use roller, ball or needle bearings disposed between a pair of interlocking metal seat slide rails are well known, they are relatively expensive to manufacture. In addition, the ball bearings and slide rails raise the seat off the vehicle floor limiting their use to vehicles which have more seating room. As a result, these types of conventional seat slide rails are not commonly used on the rather compact and inexpensive seats that are used in smaller, more inexpensive off-road vehicles, such as garden tractors and the like.
What is needed is a seat suspension for non-metallic, urethane, and other compression springs which permits the suspension to be adjusted to tailor the characteristics of the suspension for the weight of a seat occupant or the terrain likely to be encountered by the vehicle to give a seat occupant more comfort and protection against injury. What is further needed is a seat suspension for an elastomeric spring that allows one or both springs of the suspension to be moved relative to the front or rear of the seat to provide seat suspension weight adjustment capability. What is also needed is a foam spring single pivot seat suspension that permits one or both springs to be moved relative to the vehicle seat attachment pivot to provide seat occupant weight adjustment capability. What is still further needed is a seat suspension that is able to accommodate both foam springs and other non-metallic springs of generally cylindrical substantially elastomeric construction that can be shaped for the type and direction of load encountered. What is also needed is a seat suspension that is able to accommodate non-metallic springs of generally cylindrical and substantially solid construction while providing seat occupant weight and vehicle terrain compensating adjustment. What is still further needed is a vehicle seat adjuster for relatively small off-road vehicle applications that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, durable, and which is of compact low profile construction.


A semiconductor structure is provided. The semiconductor structure comprises a substrate, including isolation regions and a device region between adjacent isolation regions; a plurality of fin structures, formed on the device region of the substrate; and an isolation layer, formed on the substrate. A top surface of the isolation layer is lower than top surfaces of the fin structures. A height of each fin structure exposed by the isolation layer is identical.

In semiconductor manufacturing, with the development trend of very large scale integrated circuits, the feature sizes of integrated circuits (ICs) are continuously reduced. In order to accommodate the reduction of the feature size, the channel length of metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) may be reduced accordingly. However, as the channel length of the devices is reduced, the distance between the source and the drain of the devices is also reduced. Therefore, the ability of the gate in controlling the channel may be deteriorated, and thus pinching off the channel by the gate may become more and more difficult. As such, the sub-threshold leakage phenomenon, i.e. the short-channel effect (SCE), may more easily take place.
Therefore, to better accommodate the reduction of the feature size, the semiconductor process gradually switches from planar MOSFET devices to more efficient three-dimensional (3D) transistor devices, such as fin field-effect transistors (Fin-FETs). In a Fin-FET, the gate may be able to control an ultra-thin structure (i.e., a fin structure) from at least two side surfaces. As compared to a planar MOSFET device, the gate in a Fin-FET may demonstrate stronger ability in controlling the channel, and thus the SCE may be suppressed. In addition, as compared to other devices, Fin-FETs have better compatibility with the existing IC manufacturing.
However, the electrical performance of the conventional semiconductor structures may still need to be improved. The disclosed semiconductor structures and fabrication methods are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems in the art.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corporation


A method of manufacturing a large-sized, thin-walled, elongated molding of fiber reinforced, hardenable synthetic resin where at least one layer of reinforcing fiber is laid against a form-retaining, rigid inner mold part, a flexible outer mold part is placed against the fiber layer, a liquid, hardenable synthetic resin is flowed into the mold cavity through openings in the mold parts to substantially fill the mold cavity, and a reduced pressure is induced within the mold cavity to cause the flexible outer mold part to be tightly drawn against the fiber layer and toward the inner mold part, air to be removed from within the resin, mold cavity and fiber layer and to cause the resin to flow into the fiber layer and mold cavity, whereby a high fiber-to-resin content molding is produced. The reduced pressure is maintained until the resin has sufficiently hardened as to be shape sustaining. Multi-channeled cores may be placed in the so-formed mold cavity to improve the uniformity of resin distribution.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a large-sized, thin-walled, elongated object, i.e. a molding, of fiber reinforced, hardenable synthetic resin. The invention more particularly relates to such a method for the manufacture of a molding which is of such large size that the molding cannot be carried out by conventional injection molding machines, blow molding machines, vacuum molding machines, and the like, but must be carried out by human labor placing reinforcing fibers against a mold surface, with subsequent closing of the mold and flowing hardenable resin therethrough. Such large-sized moldings include boat hulls, windmill rotor blades, motor coach bodies, and the like.
In the prior art, moldings of this nature were carried out by laying at least one layer of reinforcing fibers against a form-retaining, rigid inner mold part, such that the layer is substantially co-extensive with the inner mold part. That laying of the fiber layer against the inner mold part (which may actually consist of a plurality of layers of fibers) is, usually, done by human hands. The layer is normally substantially coextensive with the inner mold part, although in this regard, for special moldings that fiber layer need not be completely coextensive with the inner mold part. For example, the inner fiber layer may have openings which are intended to become, for example, passageways in a boat or motor coach housing, or equipment openings or portholes and the like. Nevertheless, in the more usual sense, the fiber layer is substantially coextensive with the inner mold part.
After the fiber layer is laid against the inner mold part, a form-retaining, rigid outer mold part is placed against the fiber layer so as to form a mold cavity between those two mold parts. Usually, the inner mold part is in the general form of a female mold part and the outer mold part is generally in the form of a male mold part, although for certain moldings, the reverse may be true. In any event, the two form-retaining, rigid mold parts form a mold cavity with the fiber layer disposed within that mold cavity.
Thereafter, a liquid, hardenable synthetic resin is flowed into the mold cavity through one or more openings in at least one of the mold parts, to at least substantially fill the mold cavity, and usually entirely fill the mold cavity. In this regard, there are a number of techniques for filling the mold cavity with the synthetic resin which have been used in the art. For example, some of those techniques include flowing the resin through the mold cavity in such a volume so as to exceed the volume of the mold cavity, so that some resin overflows the mold cavity and, consequently, carries some entrapped air within the fiber layer and mold cavity out of the mold cavity. However, in all of the techniques, the mold cavity is at least substantially filled with the synthetic resin.
The general technique of filling the mold cavity is that of flowing the synthetic resin through one or more openings in at least one of the mold parts. The openings may be in the inner mold part or the outer mold part or they may be in the juncture between the two mold parts. Also, more usually, there is at least one opening at a lower part of the mold, so that the resin flows upwardly through the mold and through the fiber layer, and, consequently, will remove more air trapped within the mold cavity and fiber layer as the resin moves through the mold cavity.
As noted above, the general methods in the art for filling the mold cavity have, as a purpose, the removal of some of the air trapped within the mold cavity and the fiber layer. However, that flow of resin, even an upwardly flow of resin, is not sufficient to remove all, or even most, of the air trapped in the mold cavity and fiber layer, and the art, generally, attempts to remove further air from the mold cavity and fiber layer by inducing a reduced pressure within the mold cavity. This reduced pressure will pull trapped air from the mold cavity and the fiber layer out of the mold cavity. It is, of course, well recognized in the art that it is imperative to remove as much of the trapped air as possible from the mold cavity and fiber layer, since any air trapped in the molding itself will constitute voids, and large voids or a concentration of voids may cause potential weak spots in the molding.
To achieve the reduce pressure, at least one vent is placed in at least one of the mold parts and is connected to a vacuum source sufficient to remove air from within the mold cavity and the fiber layer. This reduced pressure will also remove some of the air trapped in the resin flowing in the mold. In this regard, as the resin is flowed through the mold cavity, the liquid resin has a tendency to entrain air, and the reduced pressure will pull some of that entrained air from the resin, as well as from the mold cavity and the fiber layer. The vent or vents may be in either the mold parts, or formed at a juncture between the mold parts (constituting a vent, in part, in each of the mold parts) and at least one or more vents is generally placed at an upper portion of the mold cavity, so as to more efficiently remove air from the mold cavity, fiber layer and resin.
The vacuum source which achieves the reduced pressure in the mold cavity is, generally, not a relative high vacuum source. As can be appreciated, both the inner and outer mold parts are form-retaining, rigid mold parts, in order to provide the mold definition required for the molding. Since the surface area of the two mold parts is quite large for such large-sized moldings, high vacuum sources and high reduced pressure cannot be tolerated. Otherwise, one or both of the mold parts would deform under the reduced pressure, and, thus, disrupt the required mold definition.
After the mold cavity has been filled with resin, and the reduced pressure within the mold cavity withdraws such air as is capable of being withdrawn, the reduced pressure is continued, and the filled mold is left at rest, for solidification of the hardenable resin. In this regard, typical resins are epoxy resins, polyester resins, and vinylester resins. Other hardenable resins may be used, depending upon the particular molding involved, but the foregoing are the more normal resins used in such large size moldings.
While resins that cure at elevated temperatures may be used, e.g. up to temperatures up to and in excess of 100.degree. C., these resins are more difficult to use, since the resin must be cured with added heat, e.g. large ovens or heat lamps. Therefore, more usually, these resins are room-temperature cure resins, which is usually defined as curable at a temperature between about 15.degree. C. and 30.degree. C. It is preferred that the liquid resin be a room-temperature cure resin, since moldings of this large size are often performed in the outside ambient weather or performed in large buildings where only about room temperature, e.g. 15.degree. to 30.degree. C., can be maintained.
The time for solidifying the resin, i.e. initially curing the resin, can vary with the particular resin, the catalyst used, and the ambient or heated temperature, but generally speaking the initial curing time is at least an hour, and more usually four to six hours, but may extend for longer times. For many resins, with particular catalyst, in order for the resin to completely cure, some days are required, but after the initial curing, i.e. solidification, of the resin, at least the inner mold part may be removed.
As can be appreciated from the prior art method of molding such large, thin-walled moldings, such as boat hulls and the like, it is necessary to have two form-retaining, rigid mold parts, i.e. the inner mold part and the outer mold part. The contours of these two mold parts must be complementary in order to achieve the required mold definition therebetween. Since these mold parts are quite large, it is also obvious that the cost of manufacturing these mold parts is also quite high. Further, since the mold definition between the two mold parts depends upon the retaining of the contours of these rigid mold parts, the degree of reduced pressure in the mold cavity should be carefully controlled, since an inappropriate reduced pressure could cause one or both of the mold parts to buckle and spoil the required mold definition. With low reduced pressures, it is difficult to remove all or most of the air from the mold cavity, fiber layer and resin, and often quite undesired voids in the molding results from the trapped air, and these voids, in some cases, may constitute potential weak portions of the molding, while with high reduced pressures buckling of a mold part may result.
Further, since two rigid mold parts are used, there is no possibility of compressing the fiber layer therebetween. This results in relatively low fiber-to-resin ratios, e.g. 3.5 to 4.5 fiber/6.5 to 5.5 resin. Most of the strength of the molding is from the fiber, and, hence, the lower ratios result in lower strengths of the molding.
In the above-noted parent application, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference and relied upon for disclosure, there is disclosed a method of manufacturing such large-sized thin-walled, elongated moldings wherein the outer mold part is a non-form-retaining, flexible outer mold part, e.g. a flexible sheet or film made of plastic. When such flexible outer mold part is used, the reduced pressure tightly draws that flexible outer mold part against the fiber layer, and therefore the fiber layer functions to provide the required mold definition between the inner mold part and the outer mold part. This also compresses the fiber and results in a much higher fiber/resin ratio. With this arrangement, careful control of the reduced pressure is not required.
That application also discloses elongated cores which extends in the longitudinal direction of the molding. The cores have at least one resin supply duct extending in the longitudinal direction of the core, which duct functions to allow the liquid resin to flow therethrough and distribute that resin in the fiber layer, while the flexible outer mold part is tightly pulled against the fiber layer and toward the inner mold by means of the reduced pressure.
That application also discloses the disposing of a plurality of strips having longitudinal passageways in a direction substantially transverse to the direction of the cores such that the strips will further cause distribution of the resin from the cores and into the fiber layer.
Thus, the molding process described in the parent application is a substantial advance in the art of manufacturing such large-sized, thin-walled, elongated moldings. In one aspect of the present invention, it has been found, however, that the cores and strips described in the parent application do not distribute the resin in the fiber layer to the uniformity that would be desired. Thus, in this aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for more uniformly distributing the resin in the fiber layer.

Method for manufacturing a large-sized object of fiber reinforced synthetic resin


A method of augmenting an intervertebral disc nucleus by injecting or otherwise adding to a disc nucleus a plurality of particles of natural, collagen-rich tissue. The mean particle size of the pieces of natural, collagen-rich tissue may be between 0.25 mm and 1.0 mm. The particles may be dehydrated before implantation, and rehydrated after implantation, or they may be implanted in a “wet” state—such as a slurry or gel. Radiocontrast materials may be included to enhance imaging of the injected material. Other additives may include analgesics, antibiotics, proteoglycans, growth factors, stem cells, and/or other cells effective to promote healing and/or proper disc function.

A healthy intervertebral disc facilitates motion between pairs of vertebrae while absorbing and distributing shocks. The disc is composed of two parts: a soft central core (the nucleus pulposus) that bears the majority of the load, and a tough outer ring (the annulus fibrosis) that holds and stabilizes the core material.
As the natural aging process progresses, the disc may dehydrate and degenerate, adversely affecting its ability to adequately cushion and support the vertebral bodies. This natural desiccation, which in its more advanced state is often referred to as "black disc" because of the disc's dehydrated appearance on Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI], can cause discomfort to the patient as the vertebrae to come closer together—compressing the spinal nerves and causing pain. Even in a less advanced degenerative state, such as when the disc annulus is substantially sound, surgical treatments for augmenting, repairing, or replacing the disc and/or the disc nucleus are indicated.
Techniques for addressing degenerative disc disease have heretofore relied primarily on disc replacement methods. In cases in which a dehydrated and/or degenerating disc was augmented before disc replacement was required, the augmentation materials have primarily been synthetic devices that expand, are inflated, or deploy expanding elements when implanted into the disc.
Synovial joints are the most common joints of the mammalian appendicular skeleton, representing highly evolved, movable joints. A typical synovial joint comprises two bone ends covered by layer of articular cartilage. The cartilage is smooth and resilient, and facilitates low-friction movement of the bones in the joint.
The bone ends and associated cartilage are surrounded by a joint capsule—a "sack" of membrane that produces synovial fluid. The capsule and fluid protect and support the cartilage and connective tissue, carrying nutrients to the articular cartilage and removing the metabolic wastes.
The articular cartilage is a thin (2-3 mm) layer of hyaline cartilage on the epiphysis of the bone. It lacks a perichondrium, and thus has a limited capacity for repair when damaged. Additionally, the natural aging process can cause the articular cartilage to degenerate somewhat, reducing its capacity to protect and cushion the bone ends.
Zygapophysial joints, better known as facet joints, are the mechanism by which each vertebra of the spine connects to the vertebra above and/or below it. Each joint comprises two facet bones—an inferior facet and a superior facet—with the inferior facet of one vertebra connecting to the superior facet of an adjacent vertebra. The joints facilitate movement of the vertebra relative to each other, and allow the spine to bend and twist.
As in all synovial joints, where the facets contact each other there is a lining of cartilage lubricated by a thin layer of synovial fluid. The cartilage and synovial fluid decrease friction at the joint, extending joint life and preventing inflammation and associated pain.
As the natural aging process progresses, the cartilage covering the joint may deteriorate and start to fray. The fraying process may cause pieces of cartilage to break free, and the previously smooth surfaces may become rough. The facet bones then begin to rub together, creating friction which leads to further deterioration of the joint. Moreover, the nerves associated with the joint become irritated and inflamed, causing severe pain and restricting movement of the spine.
Techniques for addressing degeneration of synovial joints in general, and facet joints in particular, joint have heretofore relied primarily on injections to block pain and reduce inflammation. This treatment is only temporary though, and rarely leads to any significant improvement of the underlying condition.
A need therefore exists for materials and methods effective for augmenting intervertebral discs and/or synovial joints with natural materials. The present invention addresses those needs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compositions and methods for treating intervertebral discs with collagen-based materials


A fluid dispenser device such as a pump or a valve designed to be fitted to a neck of a receptacle, said device comprising:

The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser device such as a pump or a valve designed to be fitted to a neck of a receptacle so as to form a fluid dispenser. Such dispenser devices are in wide use in the fields of perfumes, of cosmetics, or indeed of pharmaceuticals, for dispensing liquid to semi-liquid substances. In general, such a device comprises a body in which a piston can be caused to slide by depressing a pusher, and a fixing member for fixing the body to the neck of the receptacle. A dip tube may also be used to bring the fluid from the receptacle into the body, the dip tube having a free end situated in the vicinity of the bottom of the receptacle and a top end fixed to the dispenser device.
In general, the top end of the dip tube is fixed to the body of the device which, for this purpose, forms a connection sleeve in which the end of the dip tube is inserted by force.
Such a device is described in Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,915.
An object of the present invention is to propose another solution for fixing the dip tube to the dispenser device.
In the invention, the connection means that make it possible to fix the dip tube to the dispenser device are formed by the fixing member.
Advantageously, the fixing member is in fixing engagement with an inside wall of the receptacle neck. The term xe2x80x9cfixing engagementxe2x80x9d is used to mean that it is the contact between the fixing member and the inside wall of the neck that fixes the body to the neck. The fixing member is thus extended towards the bottom of the body, preferably by surrounding it with tightly-fitting contact, so that the fixing member forms the connection means at its bottom end. The connection means may advantageously be in the form of a connection sleeve similar to the connection sleeve of a conventional body as in the described prior art.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the fixing member forms an inlet valve seat for a moving inlet valve element.
Advantageously, the inlet valve seat is formed by the connection sleeve.
In another feature of the invention, the body and the fixing member co-operate to form an inlet valve chamber in which a moving valve element is held captive.
According to another characteristic, at least a portion of a delivery channel for delivering the fluid from the body extends between the fixing member and the body.
In addition, the fixing member is provided with snap-fastening means for snap-fastening in the neck.
The invention also provides a fluid dispenser equipped with such a dispenser device.

Abstract: a body in which a piston can be caused to slide by depressing a pusher;

Abstract: a fixing member for fixing the body to the receptacle neck; and

Abstract: a dip tube for bringing the fluid from the receptacle to the body, the dip tube having a free end situated in the vicinity of the bottom of the receptacle and a fixed end held by connection means;

Abstract: wherein the connection means are formed by the fixing member.


Apparatus and method for increasing the concentration of a chemical substance in a fluid comprise a micro-fluidic elongated channel formed in a substrate, with the channel being in fluid-flow communication with an ambient region along its elongated dimension. In general, the fluid includes first and second chemical substances having different vapor pressures. The apparatus includes an evaporation controller for increasing the evaporation rate of the fluid from the channel into the ambient region, thereby increasing the concentration of the higher vapor pressure (HVP) substance in the portion of the fluid remaining in the channel and increasing the concentration of the lower vapor pressure (LVP) substance in the portion of the fluid evaporated into the ambient region.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to micro-channel chemical apparatus and methods for increasing the molar concentration of a chemical substance in a fluid.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In some applications it is necessary that reactive agents, such as hydrogen peroxide, be used in a highly concentrated form. When highly concentrated, however, some reactive agents exhibit short shelf lives, which means that only limited quantities of the agent may be inventoried. In addition, some highly concentrated reactive agents may be unstable and/or unsafe.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for maintaining such reactive agents in relatively dilute form and then concentrating them as needed.
In addition, it would be desireable for the apparatus to be realized in a miniaturized form, so as to make it more readily portable and reduce the expense of the concentrating process.


The present invention is a fluid dispensing device, connectable/disconnectable to/from a container. The device, actuable by a trigger, comprises both closing means comprising a turnable nozzle and means for locking the sliding of a dispensing piston.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manually actuated fluid dispensing device provided with actuation locking means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has long been known that it is very useful to provide dispensing devices, for example with a trigger, with closing means suitable for closing the dispensing holes provided at the end of the dispensing duct, so that in the closed configuration, the accidental fluid escape is prevented.
Such undesired escape can occur during the transport of the bottles, for example due to an increase in temperature which makes the pressure inside the container increase, or in the household field.
An example of a dispensing device provided with closing means is described in document U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,888.
However, the presence of the closing means does not completely solve the problem of undesired fluid escapes.
During transport, or even in the household field, the bottle trigger may be accidentally pressed, thus causing the leak of fluid from device zones other than the dispensing holes, closed by the above closing means.

Manually actuated dispensing device provided with actuation locking means


A compliant bimanual rehabilitation system. The device allows for the user or operator's hands to be coupled with a variety of coupling stiffnesses and in a variety of symmetry modes, leading to enhanced rehabilitation of the impaired arm. Structurally, the device includes a carrier assembly slidably coupled to a base along a y-axis, an upper assembly rotatably coupled to the carrier assembly along a z-axis, handle slides slidably coupled to the upper assembly along an x-axis, compliant handle assemblies coupled to the handle slides, and handles coupled to the compliant handle assemblies. Encoders and load cells can also be positioned accordingly to monitor the position of the components and force applied to the device. Spring stacks can be coupled to the compliant handle assemblies to adjust coupling stiffnesses. The handles are indirectly linked to each other to facilitate rehabilitation of the paretic arm using the sound arm.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to bimanual rehabilitation. More specifically, it relates to a device and method for bimanual rehabilitation for persons with hemiparesis.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The goal of upper-limb rehabilitation following a stroke is to enable a person to use both hands in activities of daily living. Of the new rehabilitation methods proposed and tested in recent years, many show positive results [1] [2], but there is a need for a more effective method that clearly shows better results than traditional methods. A common thread among the successful studies is that the amount of time spent training the affected arm plays an important role in improving the functional ability of the affected arm. As it is difficult for therapists to devote as much time as is needed, researchers have looked to robotic techniques, bimanual techniques, and other techniques to supplement the rehabilitation.
Traditional and Robotic Rehabilitation Techniques
Conventional stroke rehabilitation therapies, such as the Bobath method [3] and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation [4] have been used for decades. However, these methods are time-consuming and require significant effort from physical therapists. Forced use [5] and the more recently developed Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy [6] bind the sound arm and force the individual to use only the paretic limb; however, this therapy is only viable for small to moderate impairment.
In recent years, robotic technologies have been used to provide rehabilitation to individuals, allowing access to rehabilitation for longer and more frequent periods of time. However, recent publications have noted that it is unclear whether robotic methods have the potential to produce greater benefits than conventional techniques when practiced for the same amount of time [1] [2].
To allow patients greater access to rehabilitative training, several methods have been developed to allow patients to rehabilitate at home [7] [8]. However, many of these home-based methods use a home computer with limited accessories that cannot provide assistance forces and can only operate over a small workspace. These methods are able to provide some benefit, but the rehabilitation effect is limited to individuals already having relatively high motor function.
Bimanual Rehabilitation
Bimanual rehabilitation allows individuals with hemiparesis to use their sound arm to help rehabilitate their impaired arm through simultaneous bimanual motions. Bimanual rehabilitation shows promise as a means of low cost home use rehabilitation. The key mechanism of rehabilitation is that the same neural signal is sent to both arms, which results in the same proprioceptive feedback from each limb since the arms are constrained to move together. Sending the same efferent signals to each limb results in similar afferent signals from the limbs, which helps re-train the motor pathways to the impaired side/limb [9] [10]. Several research groups have studied certain aspects of coupled and uncoupled bimanual rehabilitation [11] [12] [13] [14] [15], but few studies have examined what the ideal physical parameters for bimanual interaction should be.
The foregoing studies [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] either did not physically connect the hands or coupled the hands rigidly, and few studies have analyzed the effect of the coupling stiffness. An effective coupling stiffness is likely an intermediate stiffness, since a soft coupling would prevent severely impaired individuals from using this training method. With a completely rigid connection, the individual is likely to apply minimal force in their impaired hand since the healthy side would dictate all the motions [1] [16].
Further, it is not currently known which types of symmetry modes are most effective for bimanual rehabilitation. Mirror motions have been the most commonly used in bimanual rehabilitation studies to date. However, most daily tasks occur in a visual reference frame where the hands move in the same direction. Three common reference frames used in bimanual rehabilitation are Mirror or Joint Space Symmetry (JSS), Visual Symmetry (VS), and Point Mirror Symmetry (PMS) [17] [18](see FIG. 1).
Preliminary studies of bimanual symmetric motions on healthy participants have shown that it is easier to follow and recreate motions in VS and JSS than in PMS [19] and that a coupling stiffness of 200 N/m or greater resulted in better path following and motion coupling. These studies were performed on a pair of PHANTOM OMNI force feedback devices.
Certain devices and methodologies for bimanual rehabilitation do exist in the art, though most use either a rigid physical coupling or a large robotic device to effect the coupling, since the best combination of bimanual symmetry modes and coupling stiffnesses is unknown. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,850,579 to Whitall et al. (also published as EP B1 and WO2001056662 A1) relates to a device for bilateral upper extremity training for patients with a paretic upper extremity, and more specifically, to a device providing bilateral upper extremity training that facilitates cortical remodeling. However, the bilateral arm trainer of Whitall et al. includes two separate handles on slides for each hand and the two motions are uncoupled except via the person's control, thus failing to provide physical coupling of the motions together in multiple symmetry modes.
U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2012/0029391 A1 to Sung et al. relates to a bilateral upper limbs motor recovery rehabilitation and evaluation system for patients with stroke. However, Sung et al. focuses on evaluating the amount of asymmetry an individual with stroke has. The system is designed to allow an individual to move bilaterally with both arms and measures the difference between the two arms and defines metrics to aid in evaluation. It does not include a semi-compliant physical connection or a method to switch between different symmetry modes.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,038,579 to Wei et al. relates to a system adapted to stroke patients for training and evaluating bilateral symmetric force output. However, the focus of Wei et al. is the force being mediated by a motor, which becomes costly and less user-intuitive for a home-user thereof.
Symmetric Motions for Bimanual Rehabilitation. Hernando Gonzalez Malabet, Rafael Alvarez Robles, and Kyle B. Reed. Oct. 18-22, 2010, Taipei, Taiwan relates to the development of bimanual rehabilitation for home-use. Although this publication is relevant to bimanual rehabilitation, it is more theoretical in nature and furthers an understanding of how people couple motions, but does not discuss a device or method for coupling the hands.
Peter S. Lum, David J. Reinkensmeyer, Member, IEEE, and Steven L. Lehman, Associate Member, IEEE. Robotic assist devices for bimanual physical therapy: preliminary experiments. IEEE transactions on rehabilitation engineering, vol. 1, no. 3 sefizmber 1993 relates to the development of a device, operating under simple control laws, to assist a disabled hand, allowing performance of coordinated bimanual tasks. However, this publication is focused on bimanual wrist actuation and would not be conducive for whole arm movements.
Peter S. Lum, Steven L. Lehman, Associate Member, IEEE, and David J. Reinkensmeyer, Member, IEEE. The bimanual lifting rehabilitator: an adaptive machine for therapy of stroke patients. IEEE transactions on rehabilitation engineering, vol. 3, no. 2, June 1995 relates to the development of inexpensive bimanual lifting rehabilitators, each designed to retrain coordination in a specific activity of daily living, which could be used by physical and occupational therapists. This paper is focused on performing motions bimanually, but not on using one hand to assist the other during a reaching task. The "rehabilitator", rather than the person's healthy hand, assists the impaired hand, and the device enables only a limited type of rehabilitation.
Matic Trlepa, Matja{hacek over (z)} Mihelj a Ur{hacek over (s)}ka Puhb and Marko Muni. Rehabilitation Robot with Patient-Cooperative Control for Bimanual Training of Hemiparetic Subjects. Advanced Robotics: Volume 25, Issue 15, 2011 relates to the development and validation of a bimanual training system that stimulates the use of both arms of hemiparetic subjects. The adaptive assistance control adjusts the contribution of the unaffected arm, thus reducing the load on the paretic arm. This paper presents a bimanual rehabilitation method that couples the motions of both hands through an "adaptive assistance" paradigm that works by controlling how much force the sound arm can contribute to the overall motion using admittance control. The coupling in this system is effected by a rigid coupling to a robotic device, rather than a passive compliant coupling, and enables limited symmetry types.
Accordingly, what is needed is a more effective device and methodology for bimanual rehabilitation. However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the field of this invention how the shortcomings of the prior art could be overcome.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate disclosure of the invention, Applicants in no way disclaim these technical aspects, and it is contemplated that the claimed invention may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.
The present invention may address one or more of the problems and deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. However, it is contemplated that the invention may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claimed invention should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed herein.
In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge, or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.

Compliant bimanual rehabilitation device and method of use thereof


A closure for a container is disclosed. The closure includes a cap seal and an overcap removably fastened to the cap seal, where the overcap includes a decorated film fused into a top surface of the overcap.

Liquid pharmaceutical products for application to a patient by a syringe are typically packaged in containers which are sealed with a stopper inserted into a neck of the container. A metallic cap seal is typically applied over the exterior opening of the neck to cover the end of the rubber stopper. The cap seal is secured to the neck by crimping the cap seal around a shoulder of the neck. The cap seal includes a small diameter hole at its center, facilitating the insertion of a needle of the syringe into the container. Limited amounts of information about the product may be imprinted on the cap seal.
A removable overcap is sometimes attached over the cap seal. The overcap may display limited amounts of product information such as the container's contents, brand name, dosage or strength of the medication in the container. The mechanism for attaching the overcap to the cap seal is expressly designed to be altered when the overcap removed from the cap seal, thus preventing replacement of the overcap on the cap seal. Consequently, the absence of the overcap on a container is a positive indication that access to the medicament or tampering of the container has been attempted. Such an overcap is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,853.
The process of preparing containers of medicaments for shipment to a distributor typically includes steps of: (1) sterilizing an empty container, (2) filling the container with a medicament, (3) placing the rubber stopper in the neck of the container, (4) attaching the overcap to the cap seal, (5) sealing the end of the container with the cap seal/overcap assembly, (6) sterilizing the sealed container and (7) labeling the container with the contents of the container and other information related to the manufacturing history.
Particularly in the case of containers holding medicaments, it is of the utmost importance that the information on the labeling of each container correspond to the actual contents of the container and include such information that allows for traceability of the contents to the history of manufacture. Thus, information should ideally be associated with each filled container from near the moment that the container is filled.
Presently, however, it is not possible to include with each container at the time of filling, all of the required information on the container contents and on manufacturing the container contents, since labeling applied to the container at the time of filling would not survive the autoclaving step following filling, and there is insufficient room on the cap seal and/or on the overcap to include all of the required information. Further, the destination for each filled container is not known at the time the container is filled. Since the minimum information to be applied to a label is generally prescribed by law, and such laws vary from country to country, the labeling of containers can not be done until the destination of a particular lot of containers is determined. Such determination may not be made until after a specific lot of the containers has been shelved for a period of time. In order to reliably determine the contents of the containers in a lot that has been shelved, samples from each lot are generally taken from the shelved lot and the contents of the samples determined analytically prior to labeling. Such a procedure is time consuming and expensive.
A further problem associated with labeling of the containers is one of counterfeiting. Such counterfeiting may utilize packaging and labeling identical to legitimate articles such that even an experienced end user pharmacist or medical practitioner is unable distinguish the counterfeit article from the legitimate article.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of tagging a container of medicament with information which provides: (1) a high level of confidence that the labeling on a container reflects the actual contents of the container, and (2) a high level of confidence that the container was filled by the manufacturer identified on the label. Preferably, the method of tagging would allow for the tagging to be applied substantially concurrently with the filling of the container with medicament such that sampling of the containers in a shelved lot would be unnecessary. Preferably, the method of tagging would also provide for storing information related to not only the container contents, but also information related to packaging and distribution of the individual containers.


Methods and apparatus for digital image editing using multitouch gestures in which two or more digits may be used to select a region of an image via a multitouch device. The number of digits used may indicate the shape of the region being selected. The selected region may be applied to the image or to another image according to an image editing technique using an implement held or manipulated with the other hand, such as a stylus or cursor control device, or using one or more digits of the other hand. Image editing techniques in which the multitouch gestures and application methods may be used may include various techniques that sample pixels from a selected location in an image and apply the sampled pixels to other pixels in the image or to another image.

Description of the Related Art
Multitouch is a technology that provides hardware and software that allows computer users to control various applications via the manipulation of multiple digits on the surface of (or, for some devices, proximate to) a multitouch-enabled device. Multitouch technology generally consists of a touch-enabled device (referred to as a multitouch device) such as a touch-sensitive display device (computer display, screen, table, wall, etc.), touchpad, tablet, etc., as well as software that recognizes multiple, substantially simultaneous touch points on the surface of the multitouch device. Conventional touch-enabled technologies (e.g. a computer touchpad, ATM screen, etc) recognize only one touch point.
Clone Stamp and Other Image Editing Techniques
A clone stamp image editing technique, implemented as a clone stamp tool, may be used to paint one part of an image over another part of an image. A clone stamp technique may, for example, be used to duplicate objects in an image, or to remove defects from an image by copying pixels from another location onto a location of a defect. In conventional implementations of a clone stamp technique, user interactions are performed using cursor control device and keyboard inputs, or combinations thereof (e.g., control-click, option-click, alt-click, etc.) Conventional clone stamp tools may provide the user with the ability to select a brush tip for use with the clone stamp tool, so that the user can control the size of the clone area, by selecting a brush tip using cursor control device and/or keyboard input. In addition, using conventional clone stamp tools, selecting a sampling point involves positioning the pointer (cursor) at a desired location in an image using the cursor control device and performing a keyboard-cursor control device combination. For example, the combination may be an Alt-click in a Microsoft® Windows® (WINDOWS) operating system or an Option-click in an Apple® Macintosh® operating system (MAC OS).
Other image editing techniques similar to the clone stamp technique, such as a healing brush technique and a spot healing technique may be provided by some image editing applications. However, conventional methods for implementing and using these other techniques are similar to those described above for the clone stamp technique: the user interactions of these conventional methods are performed using cursor control device and keyboard inputs, or combinations thereof (e.g., control-click, option-click, alt-click, etc.)

Methods and apparatus for image editing using multitouch gestures


A touch-sensing display panel including a display panel and a touch-sensing unit is provided. The touch-sensing unit includes a plurality of first sensing series and a plurality of second sensing series. The first sensing series are electrically insulated from one another. Each first sensing series includes first touch pads and first bridge lines. Two neighboring first touch pads disposed on a same first sensing series are electrically connected with each other through one of the first bridge lines. The second sensing series are electrically insulated from one another. Each second sensing series includes second touch pads and second bridge lines. Two neighboring second touch pads disposed on a same second sensing series are electrically connected with each other through two second bridge lines which are at least 140 micrometers apart. A touch-sensing substrate is also provided.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat panel display. More particularly, the present invention relates to a touch sensing display panel.
Description of Related Art
Based on different sensing types, a touch-sensing panel can be generally categorized into a resistance touch-sensing panel, a capacitive touch-sensing panel, an optical touch-sensing panel, an acoustic-wave touch-sensing panel and an electromagnetic touch-sensing panel. The capacitive touch sensing panel is characterized by short response speed, favorable reliability, satisfactory durability, and so on. Therefore, the capacitive touch-sensing panel is widely used in the electronic products. According to structural and manufacturing differences, the capacitive touch sensing-panel can be further classified into an Added-on type touch sensing panel and an On-cell/In-cell type touch-sensing panel. In the process for manufacturing the Added-on type capacitive touch-sensing panel, the sensing series are formed on an auxiliary substrate, and then the auxiliary substrate having the sensing series formed thereon is adhered to an outer surface of a display. Apparently, the Added-on type touch-sensing panel possesses a certain thickness. Comparing with the Added-on type touch-sensing panel, the On-cell/In-cell type touch-sensing panel is more favorable for the slimness and lightness of the monitor.
Not only the On-cell/In-cell type touch-sensing panel but also the Added-on touch-sensing panel confronts the problems of the poor yield during the production or the decreasing of the yield due to the electrostatic discharge. For instance, in the conventional method for manufacturing the On-cell/In-cell touch-sensing panel, the touch-sensing circuit is usually manufactured on one surface of the substrate before the color filter thin film is formed on the other surface of the substrate. At the time the color filter thin film is formed, the touch-sensing circuit is easily broken due to the poor yield during the production or is damaged due to the electrostatic discharge. In addition, when the user's finger touches the On-cell/In-cell type touch-sensing panel and the Added-on touch-sensing panel, the electrostatic discharge possibly happens and leads to the damage of the touch-sensing circuit.
In the conventional capacitive touch-sensing panel, the metal bridge lines disposed on the crossover region, where the X sensing series intersect the Y sensing series, are used to couple the neighboring touch pads to each other to avoid the short circuit happening on the X sensing series and the Y sensing series around the crossover region. For instance, the two neighboring touch pads in the X sensing series or the Y sensing series are electrically connected to each other through a metal bridge line. When the electrostatic discharge happens, the metal bridge line may possibly fuse which leads to the X sensing series or the Y sensing series cannot be operated normally. Hence, the conventional technique (such as the technique disclosed in R.O.C. patent No. TW M344544) provides a design in which the two neighboring touch pads are electrically connected to each other through two parallel metal bridge lines. The aforementioned design can improve the issue of the decreasing of the yield due to the electrostatic discharge. However, when the two metal bridge lines are too close to each other, the visual effect is seriously affected.

Touch-sensing display panel and touch-sensing substrate


Provided are a method and apparatus for recording/reproducing holographic information. The apparatus for recording/reproducing holographic information includes an optical pickup which irradiates light on a holographic information storage medium and receives irradiated light, wherein the optical pickup comprises a focusing optical system having a numerical aperture (NA) during recording that is lower than the NA during reproduction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for recording/reproducing holographic information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technology for storing information by using a hologram has been widely used. In such technology, information is stored in an optical interference pattern shape in an inorganic crystal or a polymer material that is sensitive to light. Optical interference patterns are formed by using two coherent laser beams. In other words, interference patterns are formed when a reference light and a signal light having different paths interfere with each other, cause chemical or physical changes in a photosensitive information storage medium and are recorded thereon. A light that is similar to the reference light used to record information is irradiated on interference patterns recorded on the information storage medium so as to reproduce information from the recorded interference patterns. This causes diffraction due to the interference patterns and as such, the signal light is restored and information is reproduced.
Examples of technology for storing information by using holograms include a volume holography method by which information is recorded/reproduced in one page units by using volume holography and a micro-holography method by which information is recorded/reproduced in single bit units by using micro-holography. In the volume holography method, a large amount of information can be processed simultaneously. However, since an optical system must be very precisely adjusted, it is not easy to adopt the method in an apparatus for storing information for general consumers.
In the micro-holography method, two condensed light beams interfere with each other at a particular point of focus and thus form fine interference patterns, which are moved on a plane of an information storage medium, and a plurality of interference patterns are recorded on the information storage medium to form a plurality of recording layers. The recording layers are superimposed upon each other in a depth direction of the information storage medium to form a multi-layer structure so that information can be recorded three-dimensionally on the information storage medium.
In the micro-holography method, signal quality during reproduction is greatly affected by the diffraction efficiency of a recorded hologram. The diffraction efficiency of the recorded hologram is determined according to a difference in refractive indices of the information storage medium on which the hologram is recorded and which forms interference patterns, and according to the thickness of the recorded hologram. The diffraction efficiency of the recorded hologram is increased by an increase in the difference in refractive indices of the information storage medium and the thickness of the recorded hologram.
However, since the thickness of the recorded hologram is inversely proportional to the square of a numerical aperture (NA) of an optical pickup focusing optical system, when the NA is increased so as to increase a recording capacity, the thickness of the recorded hologram is lowered and as such, reflectivity is reduced by geometric progression. In other words, when the NA of the optical pickup focusing optical system is increased so as to increase the recording density, the diffraction efficiency of the recorded hologram is lowered and due to the lowered diffraction efficiency of a recording mark, it is difficult to obtain good signal quality during reproduction of the information storage medium. When the information storage medium having a threshold response is used so as to record a smaller mark than an optical minimization limit, signal quality due to the lowered diffraction efficiency of the recorded hologram may be further degraded.

Method and apparatus for recording/reproducing holographic information


The present invention relates to a process for separating 2-butanol from tert-butanol/water by adding of tert-butanol such that the water concentration lowers to less than the limit concentration of the distillation boundary line connecting the two azeotropes TBA/water and SBA/water and is subsequently worked up by distillation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for separating 2-butanol (also referred to below as secondary butanol or SBA) from tert-butanol/water mixtures which are obtained in the dissociation of tert-butanol (TBA), in particular tert-butanol prepared from industrial C4-hydrocarbon mixtures, into isobutene and water.
2. Discussion of the Background
Isobutene is a starting material for the production of butyl rubber, polyisobutylene, isobutene oligomers, branched C5-aldehydes and C5-carboxylic acids. It is also used as an alkylating agent and as intermediate for the preparation of peroxides.
In industrial streams, isobutene is present together with saturated and unsaturated C4-hydrocarbons. Isobutene cannot be separated economically from these mixtures by distillation because of the small boiling point difference or the very low separation factor between isobutene and 1-butene. Isobutene is therefore isolated from industrial hydrocarbon mixtures by converting isobutene into a derivative which can easily be separated off from the remaining hydrocarbon mixture and redissociating the isolated derivative into isobutene and the derivative-forming agent.
The following procedure is usually employed to separate isobutene from C4 fractions, for example the C4 fraction from a steamcracker. After the major part of the multiply unsaturated hydrocarbons, mainly butadiene, has been removed by extraction (or extractive distillation) or selective hydrogenation to linear butenes, the remaining mixture (raffinate I or hydrogenated cracking C4) is reacted with alcohol or water. Use of methanol as alcohol gives methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and use of water gives tert-butanol (TBA). After they have been separated off, both products can be dissociated to give isobutene in a reversal of their formation.
The dissociation of TBA is easier to carry out than the dissociation of MTBE and gives smaller amounts of by-products and is thus the preferred method of isolating isobutene. The dissociation of TBA is preferably carried out in the gas or liquid phase in the presence of an acid with partial conversion of TBA.
If isobutene-containing hydrocarbon streams in which linear butenes are also present are used for preparing TBA from isobutene, small amounts of 2-butanol (SBA) are also formed.
Whether this presents any further problem depends on how the resulting reaction mixture is worked up to give pure TBA or a TBA/water azeotrope. Owing to the low 2-butanol content of the reaction mixture, the maximum permissible 2-butanol concentration of, for example, 0.2% by mass in the TBA or in the TBA/water azeotrope is not exceeded.
If, however, the industrial TBA or TBA/water azeotrope is partially dissociated into isobutene and water, separating off the isobutene formed results in a TBA/water mixture enriched in 2-butanol (SBA). This mixture is unsuitable for the preparation of commercial quality TBA or TBA/water azeotrope without 2-butanol being separated off. It is likewise not practical to prepare isobutene from this mixture, because an increasing 2-butanol content also results in an increase in the concentration of linear butenes in the isobutene, so that the specification of the latter cannot be achieved. It is therefore necessary to discharge part of the 2-butanol while avoiding losses of TBA.
In a process for separating SBA from mixtures of SBA, TBA, and water without losses of TBA, however, it is difficult to separate by distillation since this three-component system displays a distillation boundary line which connects the binary water/TBA azeotrope at about 11% by mass of water (the literature reports values at atmospheric pressure of from 10 to 12.5% by mass) (point B in FIG. 1) and the binary water/SBA azeotrope at about 28% by mass of water (the literature reports values at atmospheric pressure of from 26.7 to 32% by mass) (point C in FIG. 1). This distillation boundary line separates two distillation fields. The above three-component system, shown in FIG. 1, thus displays two distillation fields: distillation field 1 in the region A-B-C-A and distillation field 2 in the region B-E-D-C-B. In the distillation field 1, the high boiler is water, the low boiler in this region is the TBA/water azeotrope and the intermediate boiler is the SBA/water azeotrope which cannot be separated off in pure form.
To discharge SBA from an integrated TBA-isobutene plant, it is most economical to use the stream which is richest in SBA for this purpose. However, the streams obtained in the dissociation of TBA have a relatively low SBA content. They usually have compositions lying in the distillation field 1. These streams usually further comprise small amounts of additional substances whose presence need not, however, be considered in this context. If an attempt is made to work up such a mixture having a composition in the region of distillation field 1 by distillation, it is possible either to isolate pure water as high boiler and a mixture of SBA/TBA/water as top fraction or else obtain the TBA/water azeotrope as lowest-boiling mixture in the distillate from a column and obtain a higher-boiling mixture comprising SBA/TBA/water with a high water content at the bottom. Thus, for mass balance regions and owing to the unfavorable position of the distillation lines, the SBA content cannot be increased sufficiently for discharge of this stream to be economically viable. The miscibility gap in the system (cf. FIG. 1: C-F-G-C) can also not be used economically for separation of the components or increasing their concentration.

Process for separating 2-butanol from tert-butanol/water mixtures


A method of fabricating an X-ray mask including forming a membrane layer on a wafer and forming a layer of X-ray absorbing material on the membrane layer. A pattern is defined on the absorbing layer with positions that are predistorted in accordance with the following equations, and their extensions if desired: EQU .DELTA.Y=M.sub.y Y+.delta.Y EQU .DELTA.X=M.sub.x X+.delta.X. where:. M.sub.y and M.sub.x are the X and Y magnification errors; PA1 .delta.Y includes the terms .alpha.X.sup.4 +.beta.X.sup.2 +.gamma. where,. .alpha. includes the terms a.sub.1 Y.sup.3 +a.sub.2 Y PA2 .beta. includes the terms a.sub.3 Y.sup.3 +a.sub.4 Y PA2 .gamma. includes the terms a.sub.5 Y.sup.3 +a.sub.6 Y;. and with corresponding equations for .delta.X. The pattern is then formed in the absorbing layer to form an X-ray mask.

Generally, for convenience and because standard semiconductor tools can be used in the fabrication process, X-ray masks are formed on a semiconductor wafer, such as a silicon wafer. The silicon wafer operates like a frame and support for the mask. A thin membrane is deposited on the upper surface of the wafer in the form of a thin layer. A layer of X-ray absorbing material, such as some safe heavy metal or alloy, is deposited on the upper surface of the membrane layer. The X-ray absorbing layer is patterned by applying a hard mask material and resist. The resist is patterned (or exposed) with an electron beam (E-beam) device and a hard mask is formed by etching the hard mask layer through the patterned photoresist layer. The hard mask is then used as an etch mask to pattern the X-ray absorbing layer. At some point in the process the wafer is etched from the membrane layer in a circle or a rectangle to form a thin membrane. The mask thus allows X-rays to pass through the thin membrane and portions of the X-ray absorbing layer that have been etched away. The entire procedure is known as a process flow and two different process flows are commonly used.
In the first process flow, commonly referred to as a wafer flow, all processing is done on the wafer with one of the final steps being the back etching of the silicon wafer to form the membrane. The wafer flow was primarily created to solve formatting issues. It allows X-ray mask processing to be conducted in semiconductor tools that are not dramatically different from the standard wafer processing tools supplied by the industry. The X-ray mask specific processing steps (membrane formation and wafer mounting to a support ring) are at the end of the flow. This minimizes the modifications necessary to both the tools and the wafer processes. However, the creation of the membrane and the mounting of the wafer creates significant pattern displacement errors (.about.0.15 .mu.m) in the mask.
The second process flow is commonly referred to as a membrane flow. In the membrane flow the membrane is formed early in the process (generally after absorber deposition) and the remaining processing is carried out on the membrane. The membrane flow process was derived to remove the errors in the wafer flow process by conducting the mask specific processing steps before the absorber layer is patterned. While this greatly reduces the errors associated with membrane formation and wafer mounting, it also increases the modifications to both the equipment (the tools must accept an X-ray mask format rather than a wafer) and the processes (the patterning defining process steps are carried out on a membrane rather than a wafer).
The major problem in the formation of X-ray masks is that the membrane layer generally is formed with tension stress and the absorbing layer develops stresses during the process or flow. These stresses are altered radically by the patterning of the absorbing layer and by the removal of the portion of the wafer required to form the membrane. The various stresses produce distortions in the pattern, which distortions are, or result in, displacement of portions of the pattern. To offset these distortions the pattern written on the absorber is predistorted in an attempt to cancel the displacements. The problem is that while some of the major distortions have been offset, many residue or minor errors are not offset and, thus, greatly limit the accuracy and usefulness of X-ray masks.
It is a purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved methods of fabricating X-ray masks.
It is another purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved methods of fabricating X-ray masks which compensate for residual errors so as to greatly improve the accuracy.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved methods of fabricating X-ray masks including the use of a new function which can accurately describe the movement expected from all parts of a rectangular membrane in a simple closed form.

Method of fabricating X-ray masks with reduced errors


Apparatus configured to produce polysilicon by chemical vapor deposition, including a reactor vessel having an inner surface defining at least a portion of a chamber, the inner surface having a lining of quartz ceramic. The apparatus also includes a silicon substrate disposed within the chamber of the reactor vessel, the silicon substrate having a deposition surface upon which polysilicon is deposited. Methods of producing polysilicon using such apparatus, as well as methods for applying the quartz ceramic lining onto a reactor vessel, are also provided.

Polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon, poly-Si, or simply "poly") has been a key material in the semiconductor and solar industries. It has been generally produced by a thermal decomposition and deposition process. For example, the "Siemens C-process" or "Siemens Method," developed in the early 1950s, currently produces the majority of the polysilicon in the world. In the process, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor can be used with trichlorosilane (TCS, chemical formula SiHCl3) and hydrogen as reactant gases (working gases). At a suitable temperature, the reaction of the reactant gases occurs and produces polysilicon, which is deposited on high-purity thin silicon rods ("slim rods") provided in the CVD reactor.
Energy consumption of the CVD process for manufacturing polysilicon is significant due to the high temperature required for the process. The silicon rods are typically heated by resistive heating by electricity. However, the efficiency of the resistive heating can be low because much of the heat generated is dissipated in the CVD reactor, with the exiting gases, and through the reactor wall. For example, the production of 1 kg of polysilicon using existing CVD reactors can require as high as 75 kWh. In addition, the deposition of silicon on the silicon rods is limited because as the silicon rods grow in dimension, the core of the rods are at a higher temperature so that the temperature at the deposition surface of the rods is sufficient for the thermal reduction of silicon. As polysilicon can melt at about 1410° C., excessive heating of silicon rods having large cross dimension can create an avalanche which causes demolition of the rods and interruption of the manufacturing process. Thus, when the diameter of the silicon rods grow to about 120 mm, the manufacturing operation is stopped and the silicon rods harvested.
To reduce radiation loss of heat in the process, it has been proposed that the internal surface of the reactors be coated with gold or silver. However, the coating of internal walls of reactor is highly technically difficult, expensive, and inconvenient as the reactor need be dismounted and delivered to the reactor manufacturer's site. Further, deposition of Si containing films on the gold or silver surface can impair the reflection properties of the gold or silver coating. Cleaning and drying operation can be time consuming, and can lower the quality of gold coating as well as result in decreased productivity of reactor.
In certain CVD reactor design, a quartz bell jar is used inside the reactor, and silicon rods are house inside the jar. Such a quartz jar typically has thin wall, through which IR radiation can easily pass. As such, additional heating can be provided to the CVD process from a heat source outside of the jar. Quartz jar having greater thickness is difficult to construct especially for commercial size CVD reactors.
Hence, there is a need to improve the existing CVD reactors to provide higher energy efficiency and productivity for the production of polysilicon.

Chemical vapor deposition reactor having ceramic lining for production of polysilicon


A replacement ankle joint includes a tibial member and a talar member. The tibial member has a bearing forming a concave surface which engages a curving dome surface of the talar member. The tibial member and talar member slide along the curved surfaces relative to one another to provide flexion and extension. The dome has tapering side walls which are complementary to side portions of the tibial bearing. The tibial member includes a wide base plate proximate the bearing which attaches to the tibia and fibula.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a replacement ankle which is permanently implanted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prosthetic devices which are implanted for replacement of joints are well known. Such implants take the place of the body's own joints which fail, such as may be required for patients suffering from rheumatism, degenerative or traumatic arthritis. A number of problems are associated with joint replacement. The joint should function in a manner which simulates the natural joint, providing substantially the same degree of motion. In particular, for ankle replacements, the joint should supply at least the same degree of motion as is required for walking. In addition, the joint should not occupy more space in the body than the natural joint. Problems also arise in connecting the replacement joint to bone and tissue. The joint should also be as easy to implant as possible without the use of surgical cement, so that intricate operations are not required, reducing the chances of complications. The joint must have sufficient strength and durability to withstand the weight and stresses which are applied.
Ankle joints pose additional problems due to the weight supported and the range of motion required for walking. Attachment of the tibia which extends substantially vertically is difficult, as portions of the fibula may also be removed for implants. Matching the pivot point of the joint is critical, as misalignment may lead to difficulty in walking and other motions, which may cause the patient considerable pain. The durability of a replacement joint is also important, as the ankle experiences high stresses during walking, running, and jumping as well as fatigue over time. These stresses may crack or fracture ankle components of replacement joints, which absorb a substantial amount of the pressures during the aforementioned activities.
It can be seen then that a replacement ankle is needed which is inexpensive and easily implantable while providing sufficient range of motion which approaches that of a natural ankle joint. It can also be seen that the utility of such an ankle is increased if the ankle occupies a space comparable to that of the natural ankle and is durable enough to withstand the stresses which are placed upon an ankle joint.


The present invention provides an entity projection in a client. The entity projection is an encapsulation of data, from an owning service, and residing on a consumer of that service. The entity projection provides an abstraction that conforms to an entity programming model on the consumer. The entity projection may illustratively include a subset of the properties of an entity in the owning service, the subset being only those properties required by the entity and those properties desired by the consumer.

The present invention deals with entities in service oriented systems. More specifically, the present invention deals with the generation of a projection of an entity, owned by an owning service, on a consumer (which may also be a service) in a service oriented system.
A service is a system that a consumer of the service interacts with through a set of coarse-grained messages. A service oriented application may be composed of one or more services. Each of these application services typically contains a set of entities. Entities, in general, encapsulate data and provide a rich programming model for creating, reading, updating and deleting the data owned by the service.
Services typically contain private data and public data. The private data is encapsulated in an internal entity so that, within the service, the programming model provides access to all of the data and associations contained in the internal entity, but external to the service, the internal entity is not exposed through the service interface. However, public data is encapsulated in a publicly available entity which is available to consumers of the service.
It is common for a consumer of a service to access data of an entity owned by the service. One prior way for enabling this had the consumer directly access the owning service's data store. However, direct access to the owning service's data store requires the consumer of the data to have knowledge of the technology and table structure used by the owning service to store data in its data store. Similarly, such direct access allows the consumer to potentially view and change private data within the service. This is problematic for a number of reasons, and is discouraged in applications that honor the publicly known tenets of service orientation. These are set out in an article by Don Box entitled Code Name Indigo: A Guide to Developing and Running Connected Systems with Indigo, MSDN Magazine, January 2004. Basically, allowing an external service or client to bind directly to the owning service's data (either by access to the service's private entities or by directly accessing the data store which the service stores its data in) is a technique that compromises data integrity, the autonomy, and the explicit boundaries of the service in a service oriented environment. Instead, all communication with a service should occur using standardized message exchange.
In addition, many developers wish to develop systems in which the services are autonomous. Synchronizing and replicating data locally to the consumers of the service is often done to achieve such autonomy, because a given service does not then require the owning service to be available to retrieve data and process requests. However, a consumer may only be interested in a subset of the properties of the entity in the owning service.
In the past, in order to access only part of an entity, the consumer was required to have table-level access to the data in the owning service (which violates the tenets of service orientation as mentioned above), or it had to request the entire entity through the owning service's interface. Of course, an entity may have a very large number of properties (often in the hundreds) and a consumer may only require access to a very small number (such as five) of the properties. The consumer will normally not wish to incur all the overhead for processing such a large data set, when it only needs a small subset of the data.
This becomes even more important if functionality is provided to synchronize associated data to a local data store. Synchronization is the process through which data is replicated to a local data store and maintained by applying changes made to the owning service's data store to the consumer's data store. For instance, a consumer may wish to periodically synchronize a subset of the data from the owning service's data store to its own local data store. The consumer's local data store may be remote from the owning service's data store and may even be on a laptop computer or other mobile device. If the consumer is required to synchronize unwanted properties of an entity, this can greatly increase the amount of time and processing overhead required to perform the synchronization process. Further, when bringing a consumer on line, the initial synchronization of data can become burdensome and consume undesirable amounts of time and processing overhead.
Services also typically expose a plurality of publicly available data contracts. The data contracts identify the publicly available entities and the properties contained within those entities and specify how the entities are associated or related. Upon being queried through an interface, the service will generally provide access to data in the publicly available data contracts to the requestor.