A process and device produce fibrous starch materials through extrusion of a dispersion or aqueous solution of starch material in a flow of saline coagulant. The dispersion or aqueous solution is extruded through a microporous tubular wall in an annular chamber surrounding the microporous wall to obtain an extrusion flux of starch material which surrounds the tubular wall. Coagulation of the starch material is carried out by feeding a flow of coagulation agent in the annular chamber parallel to the extrusion surface. The fibers obtained from the process or device are able to be used in the paper sector as a substitution for or in combination with cellulose fibers.

The present invention refers to a device and process for production of fibrous starch materials particularly destined for use in the production of paper and cardboard.
It is known that if aqueous colloid dispersions of starch in typical concentrations of between 5 and 40% by weight of anhydrous solid, is brought into contact with non-solvents (for example a saline solution of ammonium sulphate), it coagulates forming flakes of gel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,025 describes a process for the production of fibrils used as paper pulp using film forming polymers including substantially water-soluble starches. By the term "fibrils", materials showing a hybrid morphology which is between a film and a fiber are intended. The film forming polymer is dissolved in water to form a solution which is then injected into a precipitating means, preferably an organic non-solvent, such as an alcohol or a ketone, with the application of shearing stress in order to obtain the formation of fibrils which are then rendered more hydrophobic through subsequent treatment in an insolublising agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,442 describes a process for the formation of fibrils which, in order to improve the hydrophobic properties of the fibrils, uses starch insoluble in water having a high amylose content (50-80% by weight), which is coagulated in a saline solution, in particular ammonium sulphate. Said starch which is substantially insoluble in water, requires a stage in which it is dissolved in alkaline solution which causes problems in the coagulation stage and problems with respect to disposal of sulphates different from ammonium salts, which are formed in said stage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,699 describes a process for the production of a product having starch fiber morphology, through extrusion of a colloidal starch dispersion having a high amylopectin content in a coagulating agent. In the case where a starch having a amylopectin content of less than approximately 95% is used, it is necessary to chemically modify the starch to ensure the colloidal dispersion thereof in the aqueous system or, alternatively, the starch must be dissolved in the presence of alkaline hydroxides.
The use of alkaline hydroxides, particularly sodium hydroxide, makes the industrial application of the process described difficult, in that the coagulation stage carried out using ammonium sulphate results in the production of ammonia and formation of large quantities of sodium sulphate preventing coagulation and causing problems with respect to disposal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,480 describes a process that uses the product obtained according to the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,699, for the production of paper or cardboard according to conventional paper making technology. Said product has a short fiber morphology having a diameter of between 10 and 500 microns and a length of between 0.1 and 3 mm, obtained by extruding the starch dispersion via a die into a moving coagulation bath.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,168 describes a process of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,699, in which the colloidal starch dispersion adapted to be extruded is obtained by cooking an aqueous starch dispersion containing the coagulating saline solution.
In the above cited patent literature and in practical experimentation, various known devices can be used in order to finely break down the starch solution or dispersion and therefore favour a close contact with the coagulating agent, such as atomization nozzles, ejectors, mixers with stirrers, spinnerets or syringes. It has however been demonstrated experimentally that the type of device used strongly influences the final coagulated product and its properties. Devices in which the starch is coagulated in highly turbulent conditions (such as ejectors) or in which there is no ordered speed profile (mixers with stirrers), do not give rise to products with a fibrous structure, but somewhat provoke a fragmentation of the starch, with formation of flat scales (rolled onto each other) or a three dimensional aggregate.
The dimensions of these non fibrous products vary with the operating conditions and influence the characteristics of them. In the production process very small particles are lost during the separation and slow down the filtering operation in that they block the cloth; if used in the production of paper, they are not retained on the flat cloth with consequential loss of starch in the paper and an increase of COD in the paper factory waste water. On the other hand, very large particles do not integrate with the cellulose matrix fibers giving rise to defects in the produced paper.
Other negative aspect, verified for fibrids obtained from the previously described processes, consists of rather high water retention and solubility values.
A further product obtained from starch by coagulation processes, but having a fiber morphology, partly reduces the above listed disadvantages in that, thanks to its fibrous structure, it increases its compatibility with the cellulose fibers, reduces the water retention in that it is more easily filterable and reduces its solubility as it has a lower specific surface.
It would therefore be desirable to have a production of a product having fiber morphology, with dimension, size distribution and physical chemical properties such to be suitable for the production of paper and cardboard and in addition to be obtainable from low cost starch such as starch from maize or potato without adopting alkaline solutions of starch for the starch used.

Device and process for the production of fibrious starch materials


In a method for generating a measurement program of a product, a CAD file of the product is read and attribute data of the product is obtained from the CAD file. By creating a mesh over the attribute data of the product using a plurality of triangles, the method obtains coordinate information of measuring points of the product from the CAD file, arranges the measuring points of the product into one or more geometrical elements using a curve fitting method, and obtains measuring information of each geometrical element. By integrating the measuring information of each of the one or more geometrical elements into a predefined program model, a measurement program can be generated and displayed on a display device.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to measurement programs, and more particularly to a computing device for generating a measurement program of a product, and a method for generating a measurement program of a product using the computing device.
2. Description of Related Art
Image measurement machines (IMMs) are widely used in industry to measure manufactured parts. Measurements of an image of a manufactured part can determine if the manufactured part meets design specifications, so as to provide information for improvements in process control. Editing of measurement programs of IMMs can be a bottleneck in the manufacturing process. In order to edit a measurement program, a measuring process of the IMM needs to be recorded, and a designer needs to edit the measurement program according to the measuring process. To edit the measurement program, the designer must be experienced in editing measurement programs, and must do the editing and programming with design drawings of the manufactured part at hand. In the design drawings, an overlap of two feature elements may be shown. In such case, the overlap may contribute to the designer confusing the two feature elements; and when this happens, the editing and programming may be erroneous. Therefore, an improved system and method addressing the aforementioned issues are desired.

Computing device and method for generating measurement program of product

HONG FU JIN PRECISION INDUSTRY (ShenZhen) CO., LTD.


An improved trip mechanism for an overload relay includes a housing, a bistable armature mounted in the housing on a pivot for pivotal movement between two stable positions and fixed contacts within the housing. Moveable contacts are located within the housing and springs engage the moveable contacts and urge the same toward the fixed contacts to establish an electrical conducting relationship therebetween. Moveable, contact engaging posts are located on the armature and opposite of the springs for engaging the moveable contacts and moving them away from the fixed contacts against the bias of the springs for one of the two stable positions and for effectively disengaging the moveable contacts to allow the springs to move the moveable contacts into the electrical conducting relation. The relay further includes a latch surface carried by the housing and a spring mounted on the housing and having a latch finger for engaging the latch surface and retaining the armature in one of its two positions.

Overload relays are electrical switches typically employed in industrial settings to protect electrical equipment from damage due to overheating in turn caused by excessive current flow. In a typical case, the electrical equipment is a three-phase motor which is connected to a power source through another relay commonly referred to as a contactor. A typical contactor is a heavy duty relay having three switched power paths for making and breaking each of the circuits connected to the three phase power source. The motion required to make and break the contacts is provided magnetically as a result of current flow through a coil which in turn is energized by a current whose flow is controlled by another switch, typically remotely located.
In a conventional setup, an overload relay is connected in series with the control switch for the coil of the contactor. When an overload condition is detected by the overload relay, the same cuts off power to the coil of the contactor, allowing the contactor to open and disconnect the electrical equipment that is controlled by the contactor from the source of power to prevent injury to the electrical equipment.
In the past, overload relays have utilized resistive heaters for each phase which are in heat transfer relation with a bimetallic element which in turn controls a switch. When an overload is sensed as, for example, when there is sufficient heat input from the resistive heater to the bi-metallic element, the bimetallic element opens its associated switch to de-energize the contactor coil and disconnect the associated piece of electrical equipment from the source of power.
More recently, the resistive heater-bi-metallic element type of relay has been supplanted by electronic overload relays. See, for example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,495 issued Jan. 12, 1993, to Zuzuly, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. Outputs of such circuitry typically are relatively low powered and as a consequence, in order for the output to control the contactor coil current, a solid state switch may be required. The solid state switch may, in turn, control flow to a relatively low power contact mechanism which in turn is operable to control the flow of current to the contactor as well as to operate an indicator. In the usual case, the indicator will be a light which will be illuminated upon the occurrence of a disconnect resulting from an overload. One such contact mechanism is disclosed in my commonly assigned co-pending application entitled, "Trip Mechanism for an Overload Relay", Serial No. 08/838,904, Filed Apr. 11, 1997, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.
The trip mechanism therein disclosed uses so-called "bridging" contacts which is to say, an elongated contact bar is brought into contact with two spaced, fixed contacts as a result of movement of the armature. The contact bar is biased against a cross member on a post carried by the armature and which provides a fulcrum for the contact bar. Because the armature pivots, the contact bars are moved in an arcuate path as the armature shifts between two bistable positions and, of course, the contact bar may pivot somewhat on the fulcrum as well. Consequently, there is the possibility that one end of the contact bar will contact one of the fixed contacts before the other end of the contact bar contacts its associated fixed contact. Desirably, however, the contact bar should contact both fixed contacts simultaneously.
Additionally, there is concern for environmental grime being deposited on the contact surfaces of one or more of the contacts. Particularly when the electric circuit being made or broken by the contacts is of a relatively low power, such grime can interfere with the generation of a clean signal upon the closing of the contacts. Thus, the trip mechanism of my co-pending application provides for a measure of wiping of the fixed contacts by the moveable contacts when they closed to avoid the effects of such environmental grime. At the same time, it is desirable to provide substantial wiping wherein the wiping movement of the moveable contacts on the fixed contacts is a positively driven movement to assure that the desired wiping action will take place.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the above.

Contact mechanism for electronic overload relays


A fan assembly. The fan assembly is applicable to a light source that produces heat. The fan assembly comprises a frame and an impeller. The frame comprises an opening, and a periphery of the opening has a curved surface. The impeller is disposed in the frame. When light emitted from the light source enters the opening, the light is blocked from penetrating the opening by the curved surface.

The invention relates to a fan assembly, and in particular to a fan assembly applicable to a light source producing heat.
With the continuous development of electronic devices, heat dissipation systems become necessary as temperature is significantly increased due to heat produced during operation. If heat is not appropriately dissipated, high temperature causes performance to deteriorate and may cause the electronic devices to fail. Particularly, since semiconductor and integrated circuits (IC) design has improved, the integrated circuit size has been reduced and the number of transistors per unit area has substantially increased, further concentrating heat energy. Thus, a heat dissipation system is required to effectively dissipate the excess heat and maintain working temperature.
Fan assembly is the most popular heat dissipation apparatus. FIG. 1A is a top view of a conventional fan assembly, and FIG. 1B is a cross section of FIG. 1A. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the conventional fan 10 comprises a frame 11, an impeller 15, and a motor (not shown). The motor is disposed in a motor base 12 to drive the impeller 15. The frame 11 comprises a body with an opening defined therein. The motor base 12 disposed in the frame 11 is supported by a plurality of ribs 13. The ribs 13 can be cylindrical, arced, or streamlined. The impeller 15 comprises a plurality of radially arranged blades 14.
In FIG. 1B, as known, when two ribs 13 are both connected to the motor base 12 and the frame 11, they are not located along the same diameter of the impeller 15, and the cross section of the two ribs 13 would be discontinuous. For clear illustration, however, the ribs are shown in their entirety in FIG. 1B.
During rotation of the impeller 15, a gap is formed between the frame 11 and the blades 14 to prevent contact therebetween, which produces friction and noise, as shown in FIG. 1A. If the fan assembly 10, however, is applied to an optical machine to dissipate heat of the light source (lamp) L, the emitted light Lp may partially penetrate the gap between the frame 11 and the blades 14, causing light loss, as shown in FIG. 1B. Consequently, projected light intensity is reduced, and if escaped light Lp continuously illuminates other areas or objects such as a desk, the surface of the desk can be damaged by the light. The escaped light not only damages the surroundings but also causes safety concerns.


An automated jump rope exercising device includes a frame, a power operated primary drive pulley system, and a plurality of auxiliary driven pulley systems that may be operably coupled to the primary drive pulley system. Each of the auxiliary driven pulley systems may be simultaneously rotated in a first synchronous path during operating conditions based upon input from the primary drive pulley. The device may further include a plurality of arms that may be conjoined to the auxiliary driven pulley systems respectively. A plurality of ropes may be detachably anchored to the arms, and each of the ropes may be simultaneously rotated during operating conditions. A user interface may be coupled to the primary drive pulley system thereby permitting the user to selectively adjust a tension level and rotational speed of the ropes during operating conditions.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to jump ropes and, more particularly, to an automated jump rope exercising device for enabling a single user to independently practice jump rope activities.
2. Prior Art
For many people, the thought of jump rope conjures up wistful memories of childhood, or visions of prizefighters training for a bout—but for thousands of youth worldwide today, jump rope, or skipping, is both serious business, and serious, joyful sport. Although some historians posit an origin for jump rope in the ancient rope making arts of India and China, its origins are in fact obscure. It is known that jump rope arrived in colonial New York with Dutch immigrants in the 1600s, and took firm root there. Here was a sport that required, at minimum, one child and one rope. Jump rope could involve three or more participants, two twirling a longer rope between them, and one skipping as the rope whirled overhead and underfoot. With two ropes twirling, the skipper went "Double Dutch", and the skipping grew more athletic and more complicated. Jump rope gave rise to skipping rhymes, the rhythmic, sing-song chanting of participants in time to the rope's revolutions.
Today, youth all over the world compete in international skipping competitions. Contemporary skippers have incorporated everything from the gymnastic moves of break dancing to the rhythms of hip-hop into their routines, and what began as a children's game has become a big-time sport. Whether skipping solo or with friends, jump rope offers a wholesome and positive social life, quite often to youth in the difficult neighborhoods of inner cities.
If there is any shortcoming or drawback associated with jump rope, it is simply that the more sophisticated forms of skipping have conventionally required at least three participants—one to skip, and two others to twirl the rope(s). It is also possible to fasten one end of the rope to a fixed object, and have one person twirl the rope while the other skips—the twirler, often, being the parent of the skipper.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,376 to Weston discloses a motorized jump rope apparatus that includes a first support assembly which includes a first end portion adapted to be supported by a ground surface. A battery-powered motor assembly is connected to the first support assembly, and a first jump rope assembly is connected to the battery-powered motor assembly at its rotational axis. The first end portion of the first support assembly may include a threaded portion adapted to screw into a ground surface. The first jump rope assembly includes a first mid-portion connected to the battery-powered motor assembly at the rotational axis of the battery-powered motor assembly. The second support assembly may further include an output drive assembly which is connected to the jump-rope-receiving portion. A second jump rope assembly and a third support assembly added to the second support assembly and the first jump rope assembly permit two jumpers to jump simultaneously. Unfortunately, this prior art reference does not enable a user to disengage the rope from the motor after the rope is caught in the user's legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,123 to Davis discloses an apparatus which provides an automatic method for turning both ends of jump rope. Providing a hands free method for turning a jump rope eliminates the need for parents or other children to turn the rope manually. The automatic jump rope apparatus consists of a pair of poles which are spiked on the bottom and fit in weighted bases so that they provide stability on flat surfaces and can be removed from the bases and driven into the ground to provide stability on uneven surfaces. One pole holds one end of the rope and allows it to be turned as rotational force is applied to the other end of the rope by a spring loaded crank assembly located on the opposite pole. The spring loaded crank assembly could be replaced by a battery powered motor which would provide the rotational force necessary to turn the rope. Unfortunately, this prior art reference does not enable a user to disengage the rope from the motor after the rope is caught in the user's legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,604 to Verdun discloses a jumping apparatus for developing a human's alacrity and also provides an aerobic, anaerobic, and physical exercise to the body. A unique and innovative piece of exercise equipment consisting of a hard plastic or fiberglass-coated octagonal base and a four-sided molded A-frame. An internal battery powers a motor that would be designed to rotate or pulsate back and forth at 180 and/or 360 degrees driving the telescoping shaft. As the individual activates the apparatus, the horizontal extension bar would pulsate or rotate at a desired pace, allowing the jumper to jump over the horizontal extension bar in the defined area. Unfortunately, this prior art reference does not enable a user to simultaneously rotate two jump ropes.
Accordingly, a need remains for an automated jump rope exercising device in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a device that is convenient and easy to use, is durable yet lightweight in design, is versatile in its applications, and provides a single user to independently practice jump rope activities.

Recreational rope turning device and associated method


For control of connections in cellular telecommunication systems, particularly setting up and releasing of connections, it is checked whether a radio resource control (RRC) connection is already active during setting up of anew mobility management (MM) connection. If an RRC connection is already active, explicit signaling is used. Otherwise, RRC level events can be used to implicitly control MM level events. During releasing of MM connections, it is checked if another MM protocol uses RRC connections, and if that is the case, the releasing of MM connections is signaled explicitly.

For clarification of common terms used in this document, an overview of certain cellular telecommunication system configurations is presented in the following.
Proposals for third-generation systems include UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and FPLMTS/IMT-2000 (Future Public Land Mobile Telecommunications System/International Mobile Telecommunications at 2000 MHz). In these plans cells are categorised according to their size and characteristics into pico-, nano-, micro- and macrocells, and an example of the service level is the bit rate. The bit rate is the highest in picocells and the lowest in macrocells. The cells may overlap partially or completely and there may be different terminals so that not all terminals necessarily are able to utilise all the service levels offered by the cells.
FIG. 1 shows a version of a future cellular radio system which is not entirely new compared with the known GSM system but which includes both known elements and completely new elements. In current cellular radio systems the bottleneck that prevents more advanced services from being offered to the terminals comprises the radio access network RAN which includes the base stations and base station controllers. The core network of a cellular radio system comprises mobile services switching centres (MSC), other network elements (in GSM, e.g. SGSN and GGSN, i.e. Serving GPRS Support Node and Gateway GPRS Support node, where GPRS stands for General Packet Radio Service) and the related transmission systems. According e.g. to the GSM+ specifications developed from GSM the core network can also provide new services.
In FIG. 1, the core network of a cellular radio system 20 comprises a core network CN 931 which has three parallel radio access networks linked to it. Of those, networks 932 and 933 are UMTS radio access networks and network 934 is a GSM radio access network. The upper UMTS radio access network 932 is e.g. a commercial radio access network, owned by a telecommunications operator offering mobile services, which equally serves all subscribers of said telecommunications operator. The lower UMTS radio access network 933 is e.g. private and owned e.g. by a company in whose premises said radio access network operates. Typically the cells of the private radio access network 933 are nano- and/or picocells in which only terminals of the employees of said company can operate. All three radio access networks may have cells of different sizes offering different types of services. Additionally, cells of all three radio access networks 932, 933 and 934 may overlap either entirely or in part. The bit rate used at a given moment of time depends, among other things, on the radio path conditions, characteristics of the services used, regional overall capacity of the cellular system and the capacity needs of other users. The new types of radio access networks mentioned above are called UMTS terrestrial radio access networks (UTRAN). Such a network can co-operate with different types of fixed core networks CN and especially with the GPRS network of the GSM system. The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) can be defined as a set of base stations (BS) and radio network controllers (RNC) that are capable of communicating with each other using signalling messages.
The terminal 10 shown in FIG. 1 is preferably a so-called dual-mode terminal that can serve either as a second-generation GSM terminal or as a third-generation UMTS terminal according to what kind of services are available at each particular location and what the user's communication needs are. It may also be a multimode terminal that can function as terminal of several different communications systems according to need and the services available. Radio access networks and services available to the user are specified in a subscriber identity module 936 (SIM) connected to the terminal.
FIG. 1 further shows some details of the structure of a radio access network. A radio access network 932, 934 typically comprises one or more base stations 937 and a controlling unit 42. In UMTS radio access networks 932, 933 the controlling unit is called the radio network controller (RNC), and in GSM networks 934 the controlling unit is called a base station controller (BSC). The radio access networks typically comprise also other network elements such as transcoder units. FIG. 1 further shows a mobile services switching centres (MSC) 43 which basically controls circuit-switched connections of mobile stations 10 and a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 41 which basically controls packet switched connections of mobile stations 10.
In cellular telecommunication systems, connections are set up and resources reserved on demand and released when not needed. Moving mobile stations place additional requirements for the system, connections need to be transferred from one base station to another, which often requires a substantial change in the routing of the connection through the network. The exchanges of information between various network elements which are necessary for executing such functionality are handled by mobility management (MM) protocols and radio resource control (RRC) protocols. Mobility management protocols mainly take care of the mechanisms allowing a mobile station to move within the cellular network and security issues, while RRC protocols mainly take care of controlling the use of radio resources over the air interface, the connection between a mobile station and the BSC/RNC, and handovers. The execution of the RRC protocols is mainly performed by the mobile station and the BSC/RNC. Some parts of the RRC protocol, such as functionality related to inter-MSC handovers, are executed by the MSC. The execution of the MM protocols is mainly performed by the mobile station and the MSC. The protocols used in the GSM system are described further in the book "The GSM System for Mobile Communications" by Michel Mouly and Marie-Bernadette Pautet, ISBN 2-9507190-0-7, Palaiseau 1992.
In principle, the MM and RRC protocols are mainly separate. However, in order to reduce signalling, many MM functions are started or finished as a result of events in the RRC level, without explicit messaging in the MM level. For example, during releasing of a connection in the present GSM system, the MM protocol changes its state from a WAIT FOR NETWORK COMMAND state to the IDLE state as a response to releasing of the radio resources in the RRC level. Therefore, the releasing of radio resources in the RRC level implicitly acts as a control signal for the MM level. However, this approach creates problems in the new cellular systems under development, such as the UMTS system. Some of these problems are described in the following with reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 shows a mobile station 10 and the cellular network 20, various entities taking care of executing the protocols such as the MM protocol entity 11 and the RRC protocol entity 12 of the mobile station. At the network side, corresponding entities are the MM protocol entity 21 in the MSC and the RRC protocol entity 22 in the RNC. The MM and RRC entities are typically realized using software programs executed by a processing unit such as a microprocessor in the control unit of a MS or a network element.
Some services take care of the mobility management of their connections themselves, independently from the MSC. An example of such services is the GPRS service. Their independent mobility management results in the execution of a further MM protocol, which is separate from the MM protocol executed by the MSC. In GPRS, the SGSN executes its own MM protocol. The second MM protocol has corresponding MM protocol entities 13, 23 in the MS and in the SGSN. However, only one RRC protocol is used, since it is advantageous to have the control of all radio resources needed by the mobile station in a single protocol, and in a single controlling entity at each end of the radio connection. For example, it is advantageous to use only one ciphering mode for all transmissions of the mobile station, instead of negotiating and using one ciphering mode for connections via the MSC, and another ciphering mode for packet connections via the SGSN.
Since only one RRC protocol is used, MM level mechanisms based on implicit meanings of events in the RRC level do not work properly, when two MM protocols are used. For example, if packet transmission bearers are released while speech bearers are still active, at least some RRC connections 30 still remain in use. Since the packet connection MM entity 13 of the mobile station expects to observe the releasing of RRC connections as an indication of releasing of the MM connection 32, 34, it remains in the WAIT FOR NETWORK COMMAND state, since the RRC connections are still in use by the connections controlled by the other MM protocol 11, 31, 33, 21.
Problems also arise during establishment of connections. During the setup of a connection, the MM protocol authenticates the terminal and controls the starting of ciphered mode communication over the air interface. For example, if a packet data connection is set up when speech connections are already in use, the communication over the air interface is already ciphered, wherefore no ciphering is started for the new packet connection. However, since the reception of a ciphering mode command by the MS is interpreted as an indication of a succesfully performed set up of a MM level connection, the MM entity 13 in the MS 10 does not receive any indication of the setting up of the MM level connection.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A bakery tray includes a base member with a front end and a back end, and a pair of sidewalls extending upward from the base member and opposing each other between the front end and the back end of the base member. The sidewalls each have a pair of stacking blocks and a top rail with a pair of low stack recesses therein. The pair of stacking blocks includes a front block positioned a first distance from the front end and a rear block positioned a second distance from the back end. The pair of low stack recesses includes a front recess spaced from the front end by a distance corresponding to the second distance and a rear recess spaced from the back end by a distance corresponding to the first distance. By this structure, bakery trays are stackable in a low stack orientation and a high stack orientation.

The invention relates to a bakery tray and, more particularly, to a bakery tray that is stackable in different levels depending on an orientation of an adjacent tray.
Injection molded trays stackable in multiple levels are known. Such trays are typically well-suited for bakery items such as buns and muffins and the like. Depending on the product in the tray, for storage and transport, the trays may be stacked in a high stack orientation, which maximizes the space between the trays, and a low stack orientation, which reduces the space between the trays (e.g., for narrower products) and consequently minimizes a stack height to accommodate more product.
Stacking or destacking the bakery trays can be problematic, particularly as a height of the stack is above a stock person's shoulder level (so-called, "blind" stacking). Additionally, existing trays may not provide for destacking in multiple directions or for smooth destacking without the use of a fulcrum (lever action) from the low stack orientation. It would be desirable to provide a multi-level bakery tray where blind stacking and destacking is made easier.


A computer-implemented process receives a request to utilize one or more virtual data center (VDC) resources at a virtual data center and determines a particular service level applicable to request. Based on the particular service level and mapping information that indicates associations between VDC resource utilization policies and service levels, the process determines a particular VDC resource utilization policy corresponding to the request and causes completion of the request according to the particular VDC resource utilization policy. Another process determines that a resource utilization performance is incompatible with a requested service level and selects a new resource utilization based in part on the resource utilization performance information and mapping information. The process causes data distributed according to a prior resource utilization policy to be distributed according to the new resource utilization policy in one or more resources at a virtual data center.

The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Many enterprises and their computer systems utilize resources that are hosted by a virtual data center and are accessible through the internet, such as cloud storage, cloud computing, or cloud databases. In this arrangement, the enterprise is a client of a virtual data center (VDC). Such virtual data centers may provide a client with many benefits, including reduced costs, easier scalability, and a reduced administrative burden. However, a drawback of utilizing such VDC resources is that the performance qualities of the resources can change over time. For example, there may be significant variation in the time needed to complete a read operation or a write operation. The variance in quality can impact the operation of various client applications that rely on the resources of the virtual data center. Approaches for cost-effectively obtaining consistent performance from cloud storage units are needed.
Additionally, client needs for performance quality may also change over time. For example, the VDC may quantify the performance of its storage units according to redundant array of independent disks (RAID) levels and may establish a first level of RAID configuration or performance, or other data storage policies, for particular data storage units that are assigned to the client, but over time the client may determine that it needs different levels of RAID configuration or performance, or other data storage policies, to fulfill its needs. Adjustment of these policies is typically complicated, requires manual communication between the client and the VDC, and may be disruptive to data storage operations. One approach for meeting service level objectives is to overprovision the resources needed. However, these approaches require high levels of intellectual and capital investment. Approaches for accommodating the changing needs of the client while minimizing costs to the client are needed.

Automatic tuning of virtual data center resource utilization policies


Profiling data includes accessing multiple collections of records to store quantitative information for each particular collection including, for at least one selected field of the records in the particular collection, a corresponding list of value count entries, each including a value appearing in the selected field and a count of the number of records in which the value appears. Processing the quantitative information of two or more collections includes: merging the value count entries of corresponding lists for at least one field from each of a first collection and a second collection to generate a combined list of value count entries, and aggregating value count entries of the combined list of value count entries to generate a list of distinct field value entries identifying a distinct value and including information quantifying a number of records in which the distinct value appears for each of the two or more collections.

This description relates to profiling data with source tracking
Stored data sets often include data for which various characteristics are not known. For example, ranges of values or typical values for a data set, relationships between different fields within the data set, or dependencies among values in different fields, may be unknown. Data profiling can involve examining a source of a data set in order to determine such characteristics.


In an auto-lock slide fastener slider, a slider body has on an upper wing front and rear attachment lugs and at a position near the rear attachment lug between the two lugs a locking-pawl-insertion hole and in front of the hole a forwardly sloping guide surface. An axle of a pull tab is movably supported on the guide surface. Over the pull-tab axle, a locking leaf spring, which has at one end a locking pawl, at the other end a hook and at the center a resilient tongue punched out upwardly so as to form a longitudinal opening, is placed on the upper wing so as that the locking pawl is inserted in the hole while the hook is slidably engaged with the front lug, and that a central projection is loosely inserted through the opening 23. A cover is mounted on the front and rear lugs so as to define a gap between the cover and the front lug. When the spring is moved forwardly, the locking pawl comes into contact with a front wall of the hole, so that the locking pawl can be protected.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an auto-lock slider, and more particularly to an auto-lock slide fastener slider composed of four members, i.e., a slider body, a pull tab, a locking leaf spring and a cover.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings shows a conventional auto-lock slide fastener slider which is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication o. Sho 62-490. In this conventional auto-lock slider, the upper wing 5' of a slider body 1' has on its upper surface front and rear attachment lugs 10', 11', at a position near and forward of the rear attachment lug 11' a locking-pawl-insertion hole 141 and at a position forward of the locking-pawl-insertion hole 141 a pair of guide projections 15', the front attachment lug 10' having on its top a semi-cylindrical projection 12'. A locking leaf spring 3', which has at one end a slot 42 and at the other end a downwardly bent locking pawl 24' of which base portion is stepped so as to form a horizontal portion 41, is slidably mounted on the upper wing in such a manner that the slot 42 loosely receives the semi-cylindrical projection 12' of the front attachment lug 10 and that the horizontal portion 41 is disposed between the guide projections 15' of the upper wing 5'. An axle 19 of a pull tab 2' is inserted between the upper wing 5' and the locking leaf spring 3'. A cover 4' is attached to the attachment lugs 10', 11' over the locking leaf spring 3'.
According to the conventional auto-lock slider of FIG. 7, since the locking pawl 24', which is slidably mounted on the upper wing 5', does not come into contact with a front wall of the locking-pawl-insertion hole 141 when the locking leaf spring 3' is moved to the front side, the locking pawl 24' tends to deform so that a reliable locking operation cannot be achieved, thus causing a limited degree of durability.


The present invention relates to a base station antenna comprising: a reflective plate; at least one first band radiation element positioned on the upper surface of the reflective plate, including a first power feed unit, and having a first wavelength (λH); and at least one second band radiation element positioned on the upper surface of the reflective plate, including a second power feed unit, and having a second wavelength (λL), wherein the first power feed unit is connected to a power feed line on the lower surface of the reflective plate, and the power feed line is shorted with the reflective plate at a short point spaced apart at a preset interval from the first band radiation element.

In multiband base station antennas, dual band antennas for wireless and cellular voice/data communications are generally used. Such a dual band base station antenna (BTS) operates in a low frequency band (824 MHz to 960 MHz) and a high frequency band (1710 MHz to 2170 MHz), and a global system for mobile communications (GSM), a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), personal communications service (PCS), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) third generation (3G) services, and the like may be provided through the dual band base station antenna.
However, a long-term evolution (LTE) fourth generation (4G) wireless communication system, which is rapidly spreading recently, operates in 44 frequency bands between 698 MHz and 3800 MHz, and users of an LTE mobile system may use multiple bands in the same area. Therefore, although conventional dual band antennas have been widely used due to the usefulness thereof, there has been a problem that the conventional dual band antennas are not sufficient to be applied to the LTE 4G wireless system that requires multiband characteristics.
In addition, the LTE system uses multiple input/multiple output communication technologies that require multi-input multi-output (MIMO) antennas. In this case, there is an increasing demand for the configuration of dual band base station antennas which are arranged in two or three columns and operating in a low frequency band of 698 MHz to 960 MHz and a high frequency band of 1710 MHz to 2690 MHz where LTE frequencies exist.
Referring to representative techniques generally known in the art, the configuration of a base station antenna disclosed in United States Patent Application Publication No. 2014-0139387 is shown in FIG. 1A. In this case, when forming a base station antenna that supports a multi-frequency band by using generally used radiation elements, high frequency band radiation elements 450, 452, 454, and 456 and low frequency band radiation elements 140B and 120B are used together in the base station antenna. However, when the high frequency band radiation elements and the low frequency band radiation elements are arranged in columns while being adjacent to each other at a predetermined interval, a resonance phenomenon occurs between the radiation elements operating in both bands so that the high frequency band radiation element may distort a pattern and VSWR characteristics of the low frequency band radiation element and may severely degrade a value of polarization isolation of the low frequency band radiation element.


A novel method for purifying hydrogen fluoride, capable of efficiently reducing the content of arsenic in hydrogen fluoride. The method includes the steps of (a) bringing a crude hydrogen fluoride containing arsenic trifluoride into contact with an oxidizing agent of a metal fluoride in a liquid state in a reactor to obtain a reaction mixture, wherein arsenic pentafluoride is formed by oxidizing arsenic trifluoride with the oxidizing agent of the metal fluoride through a liquid-liquid reaction; and (b) separating purified hydrogen fluoride from the reaction mixture by a separator, the thus obtained purified hydrogen fluoride having a lower content of arsenic than that of the crude hydrogen fluoride.

Hydrogen fluoride is industrially produced by reacting fluorite (containing CaF2 as a main component) with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) under heating (CaF2+H2SO4→2HF↑+CaSO4), and collecting the reaction mixture, which contains thus generated hydrogen fluoride (HF), in the form of a gas, followed by distillation.
A rude ore of fluorite may contain, in addition to calcium fluoride (CaF2) as a main component, impurities such as silicon dioxide (SiO2), calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and arsenic (As). Usually, a commercially available fluorite has already been purified, and those which are now used in the industrial production of hydrogen fluoride contain usually about 1% by mass of impurities such as silicon dioxide (SiO2), calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and arsenic (As). When hydrogen fluoride is produced by using such fluorite, silicon dioxide reacts with hydrogen fluoride to form silicon fluoride (SiF4). Silicon fluoride can be removed comparatively easily by distillation (silicon fluoride and hydrogen fluoride can be separated from each other by distillation, the former as a gaseous substance and the latter as a condensate). Calcium carbonate reacts with sulfuric acid to form calcium sulfate (CaSO4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). Calcium sulfate remains in a reacting furnace and is not mixed in hydrogen fluoride collected in the form of a gaseous substance, and water can be easily removed by simple distillation and also carbon dioxide can be removed comparatively easily by distillation. Therefore, both of them are not mixed in hydrogen fluoride. In contrast, arsenic, what kind of form which takes in fluorite is not clearly understood, reacts with hydrogen fluoride to form arsenic trifluoride (AsF3). Since a difference in a boiling point between arsenic trifluoride and hydrogen fluoride is small (a boiling point of HF is 19.5° C., a boiling point of AsF3 is 63° C.), it is difficult to completely remove arsenic trifluoride by distillation, and therefore arsenic trifluoride is mixed in hydrogen fluoride as a product.
Hydrogen fluoride is utilized as a starting substance for chlorofluorocarbon gases and fluororesins, which are fluorine chemical products, and is also utilized as an etching agent in the production of a semiconductor. When arsenic is mixed in hydrogen fluoride, there are problems that in the production of a chlorofluorocarbon gas, a catalyst can be poisoned, and that in the production of a semiconductor, arsenic can diffuse into a semiconductor device thereby exerting an adverse influence on operation of the device. Therefore, there is a demand for a high-purity hydrogen fluoride which contains as little arsenic as possible. In the process of producing a high-purity hydrogen fluoride in an industrial scale, a high-quality fluorite having an originally low content of arsenic is used as a reaction raw material, while a low-quality fluorite having a high content of arsenic is not used at present.


A semiconductor device having a substrate, a conductive intermediate layer deposited onto said substrate, wherein the intermediate layer serves as a back electrode, an optical reflector, and an interface for impurity gettering, and a semiconductor layer deposited onto said intermediate layer, wherein the semiconductor layer has a grain size at least as large as the layer thickness, and preferably about ten times the layer thickness. The device is formed by depositing a metal layer on a substrate, depositing a semiconductive material on the metal-coated substrate to produce a composite structure, and then optically processing the composite structure by illuminating it with infrared electromagnetic radiation according to a unique time-energy profile that first produces pits in the backside surface of the semiconductor material, then produces a thin, highly reflective, low resistivity alloy layer over the entire area of the interface between the semiconductor material and the metal layer, and finally produces a grain-enhanced semiconductor layer. The time-energy profile includes increasing the energy to a first energy level to initiate pit formation and create the desired pit size and density, then ramping up to a second energy level in which the entire device is heated to produce an interfacial melt, and finally reducing the energy to a third energy level and holding for a period of time to allow enhancement in the grain size of the semiconductor layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fabrication of semiconductor devices and more particularly to a method of fabricating highly efficient, thin film semiconductor devices using a low quality substrate and low temperature, optical processing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Thin film semiconductor devices, used extensively in a myriad of microelectronic and opto-electronic devices, have generated considerable academic and commercial interest in recent years. In particular, these "thin" film devices (i.e., solar cells), wherein the film thickness is less than the optical absorption depth, can exhibit high solar energy to electrical energy conversion efficiencies as compared to their "thick" film counterparts.
Optimal conversion efficiency for thin film silicon solar cells is generally thought to require a grain size of several hundred microns, preferably about ten times the film thickness, and a minority carrier diffusion length of about 50 to 100 .mu.m, or approximately twice the film thickness. In addition, to realize optimal efficiency, thin film solar cells must exhibit a variety of desirable optical and electronic properties. Such additional properties include low electrical resistivity, high optical reflectance, high optical confinement at the contact-semiconductor interface, and minimal absorption loss at the metal contact layer. Assuming the presence of all of these attributes, the theoretical efficiency limit for a single-junction, thin film multi-crystalline silicon solar cell is about 16% to 18%.
As interest in these thin film semiconductor devices intensifies, so too does the need for more efficient and economical designs. Unfortunately, simultaneous improvement in these areas, performance and cost, has been difficult due to a number of structural and functional limitations in semiconductor device fabrication. For example, most conventional semiconductor devices include costly, crystalline substrates which function as both the substrate for subsequent depositions as well as the semiconductor material itself. To make less expensive semiconductor devices requires the use of less costly, non-crystalline substrates. Unfortunately, most low-quality substrates (e.g., amorphous glass) cannot withstand the high processing temperatures required to produce a high efficiency film using conventional techniques. One conventional process for making silicon solar cells, for example, requires a thermal furnace with temperatures in excess of 850.degree. C. (the melting point of silicon is 1430.degree. C.). Such high processing temperatures place severe limitations on the choice of substrate (glass, for example, softens at about 500.degree. C.). In addition to their thermal lability, low-quality substrates typically include impurities which diffuse into the semiconductor material at high processing temperatures, thereby reducing the performance of the semiconductor or even rendering the device inoperative.
One way around the temperature limitation described above is to add a metal dopant, such as tin or copper, to the semiconductor material to depress the melting point, thereby facilitating deposition of the semiconductor at lower temperatures. This technique can work reasonably well for epitaxial growth on conventional crystalline substrates, such as single or multi-crystalline silicon. However, epitaxial growth of semiconductor materials directly on crystalline substrates (without a barrier layer) results in optical continuity (i.e., negligible index of refraction change) at the film-substrate interface. Unfortunately, optical continuity at the film-substrate interface reduces photovoltaic efficiency by enabling incident electromagnetic radiation to pass through the device, rather than being absorbed by the semiconductor material to produce electricity. Deposition of a metal-doped semiconductor on a non-crystalline or lattice mismatched substrate, on the other hand, can cause a number of problems including the formation of a very fine-grain semiconductor film, incorporation of residual metal at grain boundaries, and diffusion of metal at the interfaces. It is important that the semiconductor film have a relatively large grain structure to minimize the number of grain boundaries, or minority carrier recombination sites, which function as shunts to reduce flow of generated carriers between the semiconductor device and the external electronic circuit. Thus, although certain metals can effectively lower the melting point of the semiconductor material, which in turn reduces the deposition temperature and expands the choice of acceptable substrates, such techniques produce inefficient semiconductor devices, either because of optical continuity at the film-substrate interface or large carrier recombination losses at grain boundaries.
As previously mentioned, a grain size of several hundred microns is required for optimal conversion efficiency of thin film silicon solar cells. Unfortunately, conventional techniques can produce only small-grain silicon films at low processing temperatures. To effectively enlarge the grain size of this material, and thus reduce the number of grain boundaries or recombination sites, the film must be remelted and directionally solidified (i.e., re-solidified to position the grains in a columnar orientation) or annealed for very long durations. However, this grain-enhancement process requires extensive thermal heating which, as discussed above, prevents the use of most low-quality substrates.
Other electronic and optical properties affecting the performance of a photovoltaic semiconductor device include the device's optical confinement capacity, resistance due to electrical contacts, and optical reflectance. Forming thin, conductive metal layers on semiconductor materials is an essential step in the manufacture of microelectronic and opto-electronic devices to provide electrical contacts or current carrying paths to and from the semiconductor substance. During manufacture, such thin metal layers, or contacts, are applied to the semiconductor substance by any one of several well-known deposition techniques such as vapor deposition, sputtering, or electrolytic precipitation.
It is desirable to create an interface between the semiconductor material and the metal contact layer that has both low resistivity and high optical reflectance. Low resistivity is a primary requirement of any contact on a semiconductor device to reduce the barrier to carrier flow between the semiconductor device and the external electronic circuit. It is important, therefore, that the electrical contact be ohmic, even at very high current densities. Newer high efficiency solar cell designs utilize optical confinement techniques to capture and manage incident electromagnetic radiation so that more of it is absorbed in the semiconductor to produce electricity instead of escaping or being absorbed at the contact-substrate interface and dissipated as heat. Optical confinement is facilitated by highly reflecting interfaces where the contact joins the semiconductor material to prevent escape or absorption of the electromagnetic radiation at that interface and reflecting it instead back into the semiconductor for production of electricity. High optical reflectivity, therefore, is important to increase the amount of electromagnetic radiation energy absorbed by the semiconductor material, thereby improving the operation of the semiconductor device by increasing the number of photogenerated electrons available for collection. Unfortunately, it is difficult to provide both of these conditions simultaneously, low resistivity and high optical reflectance, at the semiconductor-metal interface using conventional methods. High optical reflectance requires a clean, abrupt semiconductor-metal interface, which is difficult to achieve. When a metal layer is deposited on a semiconductor, the contact is not electrically intimate, i.e., there is generally a layer of oxide which must be broken down by sintering or alloying. Conventional thermal processing produces a graded semiconductor-metal interface, which can provide a low-resistivity ohmic contact but does not provide high optical reflection, since the incident electromagnetic radiation at the interface can propagate into and through the graded interface to the metal and be totally absorbed and dissipated as heat.
While deposition techniques bond the metal layers to the semiconductor substance, the bond formed by such deposition techniques is usually not sufficient, either mechanically or electrically, to yield reliable, and sometimes even functional, devices. Consequently, the semiconductor must be processed further to improve the bonds between the conductive metal layer and the semiconductor material, for example, by either alloying or sintering the metal layers to the semiconductor surface, both of which involve additional high processing temperatures.
Sintering and alloying are two different processes that are used in semiconductor fabrication and which result in different electrical and mechanical characteristics, such as contact resistance, ohmicity, and bonding. Alloying generally creates a better bond and electrical contact with the semiconductor material because the metal layer and semiconductor material actually melt and meld together. Where semiconductor junctions or other thin film layers are close to the surface, however, such melting for alloying can disrupt or destroy the semiconductor structure or functions. Thus, a slightly lower temperature to produce sintering, which merely breaks down the interface oxide and remains more localized at the interface surfaces, may be more appropriate than alloying in those situations. Also, where there is heavy doping of the silicon, such as near a p.sup.+ -n or n.sup.+ -p junction, electrical contact between the doped silicon and the metal contact is easier to establish. Consequently, sintering, rather than alloying is usually sufficient. Therefore, it has become a general practice in the industry, particularly for solar cells and other opto-electronic devices, to alloy bottom metal contact layers to the bottoms of semiconductor substrates, while the top contacts, which are usually thin strips or grids near the junction, are only sintered to the heavily doped top surface of the semiconductor material.
In one conventional type of alloying process, metallized semiconductors, i.e., semiconductor substrates with metal contacts deposited thereon, are heated in an alloying furnace to a sufficiently high temperature to melt both the metal and the immediately adjacent substrate material, thereby improving the bond between the two materials and producing the desired electrical and mechanical characteristics. Such furnace alloying is frequently performed at temperatures in excess of 400.degree. C. and for as long as thirty minutes. Exposing the metallized semiconductor to such temperatures in a furnace over such an extended time heats up the entire semiconductor structure uniformly and creates an isothermal condition within the semiconductor. Unfortunately, such heating deep into the semiconductor material prevents the use of most low-quality substrates and, even with high-melting point materials, tends to degrade the semiconductor and reduce its performance.
Another problem with the furnace alloying process is that the atmosphere around the metallized semiconductor and the entire furnace are heated along with the individual metal layers or contacts and the semiconductor substrate. Not only does this heating of the atmosphere around the semiconductor waste energy, it also encourages degradation of the electrical characteristics of the metal layers due to atmospheric impurities. One form of this degradation is oxidation, which significantly degrades the electrical characteristics of the metal layer. It is well-known that even small traces of oxygen in the atmosphere surrounding the metallized semiconductor can oxidize the metal layer. Consequently, most furnace alloying processes require that the process be performed in a vacuum, or they require the use of a highly purified inert atmosphere, such as argon or helium, to reduce oxidation of the metal layer. Obviously, the creation of such special, purified environments is expensive.
Another, more popular alloying technique, commonly referred to as optical processing or rapid thermal alloying (RTA), bombards the metallic depositions on the semiconductor from the solid metal bottom side or from all sides, for a few seconds with pulsed, high intensity visible and infrared light, such as light produced by a high intensity CW visual light lamp. This pulsing of the metallized semiconductor with electromagnetic radiation results in a rapid increase in the temperature of the metal layer and the semiconductor substrate, thereby alloying the metal with the semiconductor substrate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,362 to Salathe et al., describes a slight variation of this RTA technique wherein narrow regions of the metallic layers are alloyed with the semiconductor by heating the regions with a focused beam from a Nd:YAG (four-level infrared) laser. Other examples of these techniques can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,486 to Patalong et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,221 to Wu, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,177 to van de Ven et al.
Unfortunately, however, RTA suffers some of the same drawbacks as the furnace alloying process. For example, the RTA process usually illuminates a semiconductor device from both the top and bottom sides, the bottom side typically being the solid metal base or contact. Because the metal deposited on the bottom side is reflective, the outside surface of the bottom metal layer reflects a substantial portion of the incoming electromagnetic radiation back to the surrounding atmosphere, heating both the atmosphere and the outer surface of the metal. Of course, heating the outside surface of the metal enough to alloy the inside surface of the metal to the semiconductor material only exacerbates the contamination and oxidation problems described previously. Accordingly, the RTA process must also be performed under vacuum or in an inert environment. Even with such special inert environments, oxidation is still so prevalent in RTA that it is common to redeposit a metal layer over the alloyed metal in an attempt to re-gain the electrical integrity of the oxidized metal.
As discussed previously, "thin" film photovoltaic devices can exhibit high solar energy to electrical energy conversion efficiencies due to reduced minority carrier recombination in the bulk. It is important to minimize the minority carrier recombination sites in the semiconductor film, since recombination reduces the carrier flow between the semiconductor device and the external electronic circuit. In other words, fewer recombination sites provides an increased open-circuit voltage and fill factor, i.e., a higher quality and more efficient photovoltaic cell. Thus, because of their reduced volume, thin semiconductor films comprise relatively few recombination sites, and hence offer higher efficiencies, than thick films. Unfortunately, this reduced film thickness also means less absorption of optical photons. Thus, an important consideration in the fabrication of high efficiency thin films is to include some type of optical confinement technique to effectively increase the optical path length and hence absorption. Most existing techniques involve texturing surfaces of semiconductor devices, including masked chemical etching, unmasked chemical etching, and laser and mechanical grooving. Front surface etching has been used to reduce surface reflectance and to scatter incoming, normally incident light at oblique angles within the device. However, a disadvantage of front side texturing is that it causes an increased dark current, hence a lower open circuit voltage and fill factor. Also, texturing on the junction side of a semiconductor device, which is usually, but not necessarily always, on the front side, with previously used techniques can result in textured peaks that break the junction and cause shunting, which can seriously damage or destroy the device. Therefore, backside texturing is preferred over front side texturing, if other antireflective measures such as antireflective coatings are used on the front surface. Because light trapping is needed only for light that reaches the backside, i.e., less absorbing light, backside texturing can be quite effective.
Backside texturing, however, also has had its problems, one of the most significant of which is that the backside is usually used for the metal electrical contact. Conventional methods for producing backside texture without front texture involve chemical etching or otherwise texturing the back surface prior to deposition of the metal contact layer, which requires masking the front surface to avoid damage during the backside etching process. The device then has to be thoroughly cleaned before deposition of the metal contact layer. Also, the initial semiconductor-metal interface, while bonded in the deposition process, still has a high resistivity that must be lowered substantially, either by alloying or sintering, to be useful as an electric contact for the photovoltaic device. However, conventional alloying, even with the newer rapid thermal alloying (RTA) techniques, is difficult to control and tends to create a deep, graded alloy layer at the semiconductor-contact interface that absorbs light and dissipates the energy as heat, instead of reflecting the light back into the semiconductor material where it can be absorbed and converted to electricity.
Another problem commonly associated with the fabrication of thin film semiconductor devices is the high absorption loss at the metal contact layer as a result of the thin semiconductor film. Because the thickness of the semiconductor material in thin film devices is much less than the absorption length of incident electromagnetic radiation (i.e., complete absorption of long wavelength radiation requires a film thickness of several hundred microns), multiple passages through the semiconductor layer are required to effectively increase the optical path length and hence absorption of incident radiation by the semiconductor. Unfortunately, multiple passages require multiple reflections at the semiconductor-metal interface, which typically increases the optical absorption by the metal contact layer, resulting in the dissipation of energy as heat. Thus, although thin film devices can theoretically provide high photovoltaic conversion efficiencies because of the reduced minority carrier recombination in the bulk, devices based on conventional designs typically suffer from high absorption loss at the contact layer.
Given the number and variety of constraints in semiconductor device fabrication, it is not surprising that simultaneous improvement in device performance and cost is difficult to achieve. To make less expensive devices requires the use of low-quality semiconductor substrates which, unfortunately, cannot withstand the high processing temperatures used in conventional fabrication methods. Moreover, low-quality substrates typically include impurities which can diffuse into the semiconductor material at high processing temperatures, thereby reducing the performance of the semiconductor. Also, for optimal device performance, the design must provide light trapping and immunity to impurity diffusion.
Recognizing the need to reduce deposition temperatures, several researchers have used metal dopants to depress the melting point, thereby facilitating deposition of the semiconductor at a lower temperature, followed by thermal processing in an attempt to enhance the grain size. However, as discussed previously, this technique produces inefficient semiconductor devices, either due to optical continuity at the film-substrate interface or large carrier recombination losses at grain boundaries. Such methods are also expensive, with costly substrates and generally high production costs. Other researchers have investigated the use of ceramic materials as substrates, the composition and effectiveness of which are not known.
One researcher has attempted to reduce production costs by proposing a multi-junction semiconductor device using a glass substrate. Although this design features a thin semiconductor film and should provide high photovoltaic efficiency, it unfortunately suffers some of the same drawbacks as conventional fabrication methods. For example, formation of the junctions in this device may involve high processing temperatures, which can soften the substrate and allow diffusion of impurities from the substrate into the semiconductor material. Moreover, although this process incorporates a low-cost substrate, the overall production costs for this device remain high due to the expense associated with multi-layer depositions.
A need therefore exists for an improved fabrication process to produce high efficiency, low-cost semiconductor devices using low quality substrates and low processing temperatures. This high efficiency semiconductor should feature a variety of desirable optical, electronic and mechanical properties, including large grain size, low electrical resistivity, high optical reflectance, high optical confinement (or optical discontinuity) at the contact-semiconductor interface, minimal absorption loss at the metal contact layer, and an impurity barrier and gettering medium at the contact-semiconductor interface to prevent diffusion of impurities from the substrate into the semiconductor. Ideally, this high efficiency device should have a semiconductor film with a minority carrier diffusion length of about twice the film thickness, and a grain size of about ten times the film thickness. Until this invention, no such process or device existed.

High efficiency low cost thin film silicon solar cell design and method for making


The present application discloses methods and systems for calibrating a scanning system. The scanning system comprises a light-transmissive platen defining a top surface and a bottom surface, a controller, a document handler, and a scanner bar for recording image data from documents at various document heights. In one embodiment, the calibration method proposes the use of two calibration strips in a document scanning system that has both platen scanning and Constant Velocity Transport (CVT) scanning modes. In another embodiment, a scanner is disclosed with a dual calibration target or a single calibration target that is manufactured with two (2) different heights to correct the illumination profile at the CVT scanning height or at the platen scanning height.

The disclosure relates generally to a scanning system, and more particularly concerns to calibration of scanners for the scanning of original hard-copy images into electronic form, as would be found, for example, in a digital copier or other scanner.
Document handlers (which are also known as a "constant-velocity transports," or CVTs) are devices that draw individual sheets from a stack of sheets, and sequentially allow the image on each sheet to be recorded, typically by a photoreceptor (in a "lightlens" or analog copier) or by a photosensitive device (in a digital copier, scanner, or facsimile). In a common arrangement, a document handler also has a conventional main platen, on which single sheets can be manually placed, as well as a smaller CVT area, typically adjacent the main platen, which is used by the document handler when sheets are being passed therethrough. In a typical design, when a single sheet is being recorded through the main platen, the photosensitive device with associated light source (or "scan head") is moved relative to the platen to record the entire image; when the document handler is being used to expose images through the smaller CVT area, a photosensitive device is typically left stationary under the smaller CVT area, and the motion of the sheet caused by the document handler provides the necessary relative motion of each sheet past the photosensitive device.
In the practical, day-to-day use of a document handler, the responsivity of the document handler and platen change over time and the changes in the system must be compensated for periodically, in order to ensure consistent output. The periodic compensation of the system for changes in responsivity is known as "calibration" of the scanning device. Common sources of long-term performance variation over time include the declining intensity, primarily due to process variations, of the internal light source. Another performance variation can be attributed to platen and CVT scanning, typically at different heights, due to illumination intensity changes (depth of illumination) at different heights from the light source. A light source targeting platen scanning would require one calibration at the platen height which would be at a different calibration from that required for CVT scanning due to the difference in scan height and the associated depth of illumination change compared to documents at the platen. Current calibration techniques tend to split the difference and balance Image Quality (IQ) between the two scanning modes generating a compromise calibration.
There is, therefore, a need for methods and systems that can optimally control the calibration of a scanner and separately a document handler based upon imaging height, thereby correcting for process variations and other factors that may adversely affect exposure of an image being scanned. This allows the selection of the optimum calibration for a particular system to give the best range and signal characteristics.

Document handler using dual height calibration target for automatic calibration


A method and apparatus for holding a screw captive to a printed circuit board (PCB), with a channel formed through the apparatus and a mounting hole formed through the PCB being in alignment to allow a screw to pass therethrough.

The vast majority of current day computer systems make use of one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs) mounted within a computer system's chassis by way of screws protruding through holes formed in those PCBs. However, with such use of screws comes the attendant disadvantage and inconvenience of the screws being loose components.
An increasingly commonplace solution is captive screws, i.e., screws that are held captive to the PCB with which they are associated by way of a captivating component often referred to as a ferrule, or in some cases, referred to as a retainer. A ferrule, or retainer, retains itself to the PCB, and in turn, retains a screw to the PCB by retaining the screw to itself. Various forms of ferrules exist, but with various drawbacks including risk of damage to the PCB and/or requirements for a hole that is much larger than would actually be required for the screw to be used, alone. A further drawback is that many of the current types of ferrule protrude through the PCB, and this protrusion can be difficult to accommodate in various chassis designs. Yet another disadvantage is that at the time the PCB is assembled, the ferrule typically requires a separate step to be installed, thereby adding to the time and/or cost required when installing components on a PCB (also commonly referred to as 'populating' a PCB).

Surface mount captive screw ferrule for PCB


An adhesive of the present invention is used for polarizing plate to provide a transparent protective film on at least one side of a polarizer and comprises a resin solution comprising a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin, a crosslinking agent and a leveling agent containing an acetylene skeleton-containing compound, wherein 0.01 to 10 parts by weight of the leveling agent is added to 100 parts by weight of the polyvinyl alcohol-based resin. The adhesive for polarizing plate can provide a satisfactory wettability when applied to transparent protective films and allows the production of polarizing plates to have water resistance at high temperature and satisfactory optical properties.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adhesive for polarizing plate. The present invention further relates to a polarizing plate and manufacturing method thereof using the adhesive for polarizing plate. The polarizing plate alone or an optical film obtained by laminating the polarizing plate can constitute an image display such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display or PDP.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the liquid crystal displays, for example, it is indispensable to dispose polarizers on both sides of a glass substrate providing a surface of a liquid crystal panel according to an image formation scheme adopted in the display. A polarizer is generally obtained in a procedure in which a polyvinyl alcohol-based film is dyed with a dichroic material such as iodine, thereafter, the film is crosslinked with a crosslinking agent and then, mono-axially stretched to thereby form a film. Since the polarizer is manufactured by stretching, it is easy to shrink. Since a polyvinyl alcohol-based film comprises a hydrophilic polymer, the film is very easily deformed especially in a humidified condition. Since the film itself is weak in mechanical strength, there has been a problem that the film is torn. Hence, adopted is a reinforced polarizing plate manufactured in a procedure in which a transparent protective film or transparent protective films each made from triacetyl cellulose or the like are adhered to on one side or both sides of a polarizer. The polarizing plate is manufactured by adhere the transparent protective film onto a polarizer using an adhesive.
In recent years, the range of uses of liquid crystal displays has been increased and extended to cover from portable terminals to large screen home TVs, and their standards have been defined for each application. In particular, portable terminal applications, which must be portable for users, strongly demand durability. For example, polarizing plates are required to have water resistance to such an extent that their properties and form will not change even under humidified conditions, further humidified conditions at high temperature such as conditions causing dew condensation.
As mentioned above, a polarizer may be reinforced in strength with a transparent protective film to form a polarizing plate before use. As an adhesive for polarizing plate used in adhesion of the polarizer and the transparent protective film to each other, an aqueous type adhesive is conventionally preferable and, for example, a polyvinyl alcohol-based adhesive obtained by mixing a crosslinking agent into a polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution has been employed. A polyvinyl alcohol-based adhesive may cause peeling at the interface between a polarizer and a transparent protective film in a humidified environment. This is considered because a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin, which is a main component of the adhesive, is a water-soluble polymer and a possibility of dissolution of an adhesive occurs in a situation of dewing. In order to cope with the problem, a proposal has been offered of an adhesive for polarizing plate containing a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin having an acetoacetyl group, and a crosslinking agent (see JP-A No.7-198945).
On the other hand, when a polarizer and a transparent protective film are laminated together with the aqueous polyvinyl alcohol-based adhesive interposed therebetween in the process of preparing a polarizing plate, it is desired to improve the wettability of the transparent protective film by the adhesive. For example, therefore, it is proposed that the transparent protective film should be subjected to activation treatment such as corona or plasma treatment (see JP-A No. 2006-178191). In some cases, however, even after the transparent protective film is subjected to activation treatment, the activation is insufficient so that sufficient wettability cannot be obtained, depending on the type of the transparent protective film. In order to improve wettability, it is also proposed that an additive such as a fluoro surfactant or any other surfactant, a specific acrylic resin, or a silicone leveling agent or any other leveling agent should be added to the adhesive. However, mixing the additive into the adhesive can undesirably reduce the adhesion (particularly water-resistant adhesion) or lead to the production of polarizing plates with degraded optical properties.
The polarizing plate may be manufactured by a method (precoating method) including the steps of applying the aqueous polyvinyl alcohol-based adhesive to a transparent protective film and then laminating a polarizer to the transparent protective film after or without drying or by another method (simultaneous coating method) including the step of laminating a transparent protective film to a polarizer, while interposing the adhesive between them by coating. Since wettability is required to be good in the precoating method, however, polarizing plates obtained by the precoating method have a problem in which they can suffer from visible unevenness.

Adhesive for polarizing plate, polarizing plate, manufacturing method therefor, optical film and image display


A tube wall, division wall, or wing wall section (10) for a circulating fluidized bed boiler with improved erosion resistant characteristics has a reduced diameter tube section (40) adjacent the refractory covered by an abrasion resistant refractory tile (60). The refractory tile (60) is mounted to the reduced diameter tube section (40) with the upper edge of the refractory tile outside of or not extending beyond a solids fall line of solids in the fluidized bed to eliminate exposed discontinuities.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of circulating fluidized bed boilers and, in particular, to a new and useful configuration for reducing or eliminating tube erosion in the region of the top of the refractory covering on lower furnace walls, or on wing walls or division walls.
2. Background of the Invention
In circulating fluidized bed boilers, the problem of erosion of tubes at the top edge of refractory lining is well known.
In a circulating fluidized bed boiler, reacting and non-reacting solids are entrained within the enclosure by the upward flow of gases which carry some solids to the reactor exit at the upper end of the reactor. Other, larger quantities of solids are recycled within the reactor enclosure as heavier solids initially carried upwards fall back against the flow of gases. Since the velocity of the upward flow of gases is often much lower in the cooler gases adjacent the circulating fluidized bed enclosure walls and heat transfer surfaces within the circulating fluidized bed, most of the solids fall near the walls or heat transfer surfaces.
The amount of solids falling adjacent to the walls and surfaces increases progressively toward the bottom of the circulating fluidized bed. The density of the bed is higher in the lower regions of the furnace, and as a result, the walls and surfaces in the lower regions are subject to increased erosion from contact with the solids.
Further, the reactions occurring in the circulating fluidized bed create chemical reduction conditions against which the walls and heat transfer surfaces must be protected. A protective material (further called refractory) is often used to coat the walls and exposed surfaces in the lower regions of the circulating fluidized bed. The refractory material, anchoring and installation is expensive, since it must withstand high temperatures (typically between 1400xc2x0 and 1800xc2x0 F.), contact erosion from solids, and chemical reduction and by-products from the combustor reactions. The refractory also reduces the efficiency of the heat transfer. For this reason, refractory is only applied to the walls and exposed surfaces to as low an elevation in the reactor region as possible considering corrosion and erosion conditions. At the point on the walls and surfaces where the refractory terminates, a discontinuity is formed where erosion of the metal of the tubes forming the walls occurs. The erosion is typically in a band about xc2xc to 3xe2x80x3 wide adjacent the top edge of the protective material. Tube wall erosion is found in an area between 0 and 36 inches above the top of the refractory.
One method for reducing this erosion is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,340 to Belin et al. in which the walls of the enclosure are bent into and out of the solid flow stream to reduce the incidence of solids on the refractory discontinuity.
An alternative known method is to place a protective overlay material on the tube at the refractory discontinuity as a shield. The protective overlay extends from below the termination of the refractory to several inches above the discontinuity. Unfortunately, the protective overlay suffers the same erosion and must eventually be replaced in an expensive and time consuming procedure.
None of the prior methods are completely successful in eliminating erosion near the refractory.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an efficient alternative tube section design for a wall, wing wall, or division wall which reduces tube erosion adjacent a refractory discontinuity in a circulating fluidized bed boiler.
Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is drawn to a tube wall section for a circulating fluidized bed boiler which has a swaged section of tubes above a refractory discontinuity partly covered by an abrasion-resistant refractory tile or shaped refractory. The refractory tile or shaped refractory is mounted over the swaged section and a lower adjacent reduced diameter tube section covered by the refractory. The membrane bar between adjacent tubes is modified in the swaged tube section and reduced tube diameter section to permit mounting of the refractory tile or shaped refractory over the tubes. A mirror image swaged section may be provided below the reduced diameter tube section to bring the tube back to the original or another diameter in the tube wall covered by refractory.
The refractory tile may be mounted in one of several alternative ways. In one embodiment, bolts or studs, and nuts, may be used to secure the refractory tile. Alternatively, locking clips which are connected to the bottom of the refractory tile segment may be used. A locking tab mount may be used with the locking clips. The tabs extend upwardly between adjacent swaged tube sections where the tabs are held between the modified membrane bar and the regular membrane bar to secure the refractory tile in place. The shaped refractory is held in place by studs and anchors welded to the tubes and membrane.
The original tube diameter above the tapered portion of the swage and the inner surface of the membrane bar define the fall line for solids within the circulating fluidized bed, while the swaged tube section with the modified or displaced membrane bar creates a space which is outside the fall line. The protective abrasion resistant refractory tile or shaped refractory resumes the fall line and covers the exposed tube sections down to the refractory. The top edge of the refractory tile or shaped refractory is outside the fall line as well, so that the discontinuity line is not simply moved upwards.
In another aspect of the present invention, the above-described concept is applied to refractory discontinuities on wing walls or division walls located within the furnace of a circulating fluidized bed boiler. As will be described later, in such applications the refractory tiles would be shaped slightly differently and applied back to back on both sides of the section comprising the wing walls or division walls. Where the membrane bar is stepped back for the enclosure walls, it is simply stopped, leaving a gap, for such wing walls or division walls inside the furnace.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

Wall protection from downward flowing solids


A constant light output ballast circuit capable of regulating lamp current to a substantially constant level independent of the number of fluorescent lamps on load. The circuit incorporates a power factor control circuit and an electronic ballast circuit having a secondary winding on its output transformer. The voltage on the secondary winding, which is proportional to the ballast circuit's output voltage, is fed back to the power factor control circuit to regulate the DC output voltage supplied to the electronic ballast circuit and thereby maintain a constant lamp current.

This invention relates to current regulation and more particularly to regulating lamp current to a constant level independent of the number of fluorescent lamps that are added to an electronic ballast.
Electronic ballast circuits are used in the operation of fluorescent lamps. An electronically controlled supply, such as a power factor correction circuit or other type of regulated supply, is used to provide the supply voltage to the electronic ballast circuit. Electronic ballast circuits are usually self-oscillating circuits and generally produce the high output voltage necessary for a fluorescent lamp to arc over. Once the fluorescent lamp arcs, a reactive impedance is used to limit, or ballast, the current through the lamp. This reactive impedance is reflected back into the oscillator circuitry causing the oscillator to shift in frequency. The greater the number of lamps added to the circuit, the greater the shift in frequency. A change from one to four lamps can create an oscillator frequency change of 25%, approximately a drop from 32 kHz to 24 kHz. This drop in frequency cuts the lamp current proportionately. Since most lamp manufacturers will not warrant their product for operating currents above 10% of the rated operating current, electronic ballasts are, in general, limited to lighting four lamps running at 80% of their rated current yielding only 80% of their light output.
The usual method to increase this light output is to increase the frequency of oscillation or increase the size of the lead-in, ballasting, capacitor to the fluorescent lamp. However, this method requires the swapping out of components and is difficult to maintain and to operate. Another alternative is to increase the supply voltage to the output circuit. However, this can be costly in reference to the high voltage components that may be necessary.
In view of the above, there is a need for a ballast circuit that can maintain a substantially constant lamp current regardless of the number of lamps on the circuit.


A method for preventing or for treating cancer in a mammal, where the cancer cells express at least a part of an alpha fetoprotein molecule at the cell surface. The method comprises creating an immune response in the mammal to at least part of the amino acid sequence of an alpha fetoprotein molecule, where the immune response comprises activating alpha fetoprotein peptide specific T lymphocytes against the cancer cells, and where the part of the alpha fetoprotein molecule is selected from the group consisting of residues 137–145 of SEQ ID NO:2, and residues 325–334 of SEQ ID NO:2 and a combination of the preceeding.

Primary liver cancer is a major cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer, having a global incidence of approximately 1.2 million cases per year. In some areas of the world, such as Southeast Asia and Subsahara Africa, hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common types of malignancies. The high frequency of the disease appears to be related to the high incidence of viral hepatitis in these regions.
Curative therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma is currently limited to individuals with nonmetastatic disease and involves surgical resection of the tumor with or without liver transplantation. Even surgical resection and transplantation, however, do not cure most tumors because of recurrence after resection. Chemotherapeutic approaches to treatment have been largely ineffective.
Therefore, there remains a need for an effective treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma. The treatment should ideally be suitable for use in lesser developed countries that have the highest incidence of the disease. Further, the treatment should be appropriate for use in individuals with unresectable tumors and with metastatic disease.

Method and compositions for treating hepatocellular cancer

The Regents of the University of California


An image recording apparatus including: (a) a head assembly including (a-1) recording heads having respective nozzle opening surfaces and (a-2) a head frame supporting the recording heads; (b) annular protrusions each of which is to be brought into contact with the head assembly, so as to surround the plurality of nozzles opening in the corresponding nozzle opening surface; (c) a supporting tray elongated in a supporting-tray longitudinal direction and supporting the annular protrusions; (d) a movement mechanism configured to move the head assembly and/or the supporting tray, and (e) a positioning pin projecting from a pin-located portion of the supporting tray. The pin-located portion is outside the annular protrusions, and is located in a center of the supporting tray in the supporting-tray longitudinal direction. The head frame has a positioning hole, into which the positioning pin is to be introduced upon contact of each annular protrusion with the head assembly.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The features herein relate to an image recording apparatus configured to record an image on a recording medium by ejecting droplets onto the recording medium.
2. Description of Related Art
As an inkjet printer for recording an image on a recording medium such as recording sheet, by ejecting ink droplets onto the recording medium, there is an inkjet printer including an inkjet recording head having a nozzle opening surface in which a plurality of nozzles open such that the ink droplets can be ejected through the nozzles toward the recording medium. In such an inkjet recording head, the recording head could suffer from poor ejection performance due to, for example, entrance of paper powder into the nozzles and considerable increase of viscosity of ink in the nozzles. Meanwhile, there is known technique for sealing the nozzle opening surface with a cap unit during non-use of the printer, for preventing deterioration of the ejection performance of the recording head.
Where the inkjet printer is line-type, a plurality of large-sized inkjet recording heads are employed. In such a case, the plurality of recording heads have respective nozzle opening surfaces requiring a large-sized cap unit that are arranged to seal the nozzle opening surfaces. Since the size of the required cap unit is inevitably large, it is difficult to maintain accuracy of positioning the cap unit and accordingly difficult to reliably seal the nozzle opening surfaces. For increasing the accuracy of positioning the cap unit, the cap unit and a mechanism for moving the cap unit would require complicated constructions.