A preservative for plants is described whose active ingredient(s) are the compounds selected from the group consisting of olefin compounds and salts and esters thereof, N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)ureas, dipicolinic acid and derivatives and salts thereof, epoxy compounds and salts and esters thereof, and SH-reagents. The preservative is usable for keeping the freshness of plants, in particular fruits, vegetables and cut flowers, and cut flowers for a long period of time.

Known conventional active ingredient(s) for keeping freshness of fruits and vegetables after being harvested include, as active ingredient(s) intended for keeping freshness of fruits and vegetables in general, e.g. organic or inorganic germanium (Patent Appln. Disclosure No. 293,338/86), biochemical energy source substances, such as sugar phosphate, amino acid phosphate, amidophosphate, hydroxy acid phosphate, adenosine phosphate, guanosine phosphate, creatine phosphate, etc. (JP-A-257,371/87), kojic acid (JP-A-198,372/87), extracts from Chlorella with hot water, and tocopherol and/or lecithin (JP-A-171,641/87), oligosaccharides (JP-A-214,120/88), vitamin C, salts of vitamin C and/or esters of vitamin C, and gallic acid, or its derivatives (JP-A-22,138/88) and, as active ingredient(s) intended for foods containing fruits and vegetables, lysozyme, ascorbic acid, glucose, and glucose oxidase (JP-A-143,672/87), chitin oligosaccharides, N-acetylglucosamine, glucosamine, salts of glucosamine and salts of chitosan (JP-A-39,569/88), hinokithiol included with cyclodextrin (JP-A-240,765/88), hexose phosphate ferrous salt, or divalent iron compound and hexose phosphate (JP-A-251,073/88) and, as active principles intended for fruits in general, calcium acetate and calcium lactate and/or sodium acetate (JP-A-143,635/87) and coffee bean cakes (JP-A-133,938/88) and, as active principles intended for strawberry, organic acids, such as malic acid, tartaric acid, etc. and lactose, sucrose, etc. (JP-A-41,255/77) and, as active principles intended for pear, basic amino acids and vitamin C (Japanese Patent Publication No. 6,341/80) and, as an active principle intended for pineapple, gibberellin (JP-A-231,944/86).
On the other hand, known active principles for keeping freshness of cut flowers include, e.g. silver thiosulfate, aluminum sulfate, 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate, sugar, etc. (Nosanbutsu Ryutsu Gijyutsu Nenpo (Annual Report of Distribution Techniques for Agricultural Products), pp. 110-112 (1987)) and, as active principles intended for rose, metabolic sugars and phosphonic acids (JP-A-61,401/89), di-or trivalent basic organic carboxylic acids, and alkali salts thereof (JP-A-131,847/74), kinetin and 6-benzyladenine, which are a substance possessing a cytokinin activity (Science, 125 650-651, 1957, Plant & Cell Physiology 7 705-706, 1966, Hortscience 8 496-497, 1973), antiseptic/disinfectant (boric acid, chloride of lime, benzoic acid, salicylic acid, sorbic acid, dehydroacetic acid, propionic acid, isocyanuric acid, chlorous acid, hypochlorous acid, paraoxybenzoic acid, and esters thereof, lauryl trimethyl ammonium-2,4,5-trichloro-carbonilide, tribromosalicylateanilide, 3,4,4'-trichlorocarbonilide, hexachlorophene, bithionol, chloramine T, chloramine B halazon, etc.), nitrogen-containing compounds (urea, ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, ammonium carbamate, guanidine, alanine, glycine, chlorophyll, sodium nitrilo triacetate, etc.), phosphorus-containing compounds (polyphosphates, such as sodium tripolyphosphate, potassium pyrophosphate etc., and orthophosphate salts, such as monobasic sodium, monobasic potassium, monoammonium and dibasic sodium, dibasic potassium, and diammonium hydrogen phosphates, etc.), surface-active agents (anionic, cationic, or nonionic surface-active agents), inorganic builders (sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, ammonium carbonate, potassium sulfate, etc.), organic builders (citric acid, succinic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and gluconic acid and sodium salts thereof, pottasium salts thereof, ammonium salts thereof, etc.), solvents (monovalent or polyvalent lower alcohols, such as ethanol, propylene glycol, glycerol, etc.) (JP-A-24,750/74), 2-pyridinethiol-1-oxide (JP-A-98,001/84), ascorbic acid, isoascorbic acid, tryptophan, and thiourea (USP 3,320,046), kojic acid (JP-A-198,372/87), polylysine or its salts (JP-A-169,701/87), gallic acid or its derivatives (JP-A-22,138/88), and coffee bean cakes (JP-A-133,938/88).
At present, as preservatives for cut flowers, there is also customarily employed the preservative whose active ingredient(s) is silver thiosulfate. However, the problem of environmental pollution is worried, because silver included in the agents is a heavy metal. In addition, flowers to which the agents are effectively applied are limited to some types of flowers, such as carnation. Therefore, recently the development of a preservative demonstrating general effects which does not contain heavy metals has been desired.
There is known a case where cis-propenylphosphonic acid was employed as a synthetic precursor of phosphomycin which is one of antibiotics (J. of Organic Chemistry 35 3510-3512, 1970). In addition, it is a known case that 2,5-norbornadiene and cis-2-butene which are structural analogues of the cis-olefin compounds represented by the general formula (I) were used as materials for the study on plant-aging (Phytochemistry 23 2765-2768, 1984, PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM 63 114-120, 1985). These compounds are in the form of gas at normal temperature under normal pressure, so that they are not practical.
The N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)ureas represented by the general formula (II) were developed as a synthetic plant hormone having a cytokinin activity and are known to show an excellent effect as a plant growth regulator (Patent Publication No. 16,104/82). In the past and present, these substances have been employed as agricultural chemicals for agriculture as well as gardening. Phosphomycin, one of the epoxy compounds represented by the general formula (III), is known in general as an antibiotic (Science, 166, 122, 1969), and already available on the market.
Dipicolinic acid and its derivatives have been employed as, e.g. a leaf-falling promoter (Patent Publication No. 44,858/73).
The object of the present invention provides preservative which show the excellent effects on plants after being harvested.

Preservative for plants comprising dipicolinic acid


A system and method are provided for redundant control plane error handling allowing the inactive control plane to continue to act as a redundant failsafe when the inactive control plane database is in a compromised state which is below a certain predetermined level of maximum tolerable magnitude of error. Only if the inactive control plane database is in a state in which the errors associated therewith are intolerable, is a hard reset performed, or the reconciliation between the active and inactive control planes deemed to have failed.

In order to provide robust network services, network service providers often utilize redundant systems to ensure service to its customers. Redundant systems provide alternate equipment or components so that in the event of a failure in an active system which is currently providing services, there is an alternate inactive system ready to become active and take over to help ensure as minimal an interruption as possible and to avoid loss of data.
A standard component of network node equipment is a control plane or card which manages or controls the activities of the equipment and in particular a number of line cards which service the traffic flowing through the equipment. To provide redundancy protection, it is common practice to implement a second control plane to act as a backup in the event that the first control plane fails to operate. The control plane which is working and currently providing services is referred to as the active control plane while the redundant backup control plane is referred to as the inactive control plane. In order to ensure proper operation of the network equipment upon a redundant switchover, the state of the inactive control plane should be synchronized with that of the active control plane. Most importantly the active control plane database which houses important information regarding connections that are being carried by the network node including endpoint configuration information should be synchronized, in this case mirrored to, a redundant database of the inactive control plane. If the information in the inactive control plane database is not in synchronization when a redundant switchover occurs the connections or endpoint configurations could be dropped.
According to the current practice which is depicted in FIG. 1, network node equipment participating in communications with a network 10 is coupled by a protection switch 110 to the network 10 so that network traffic 30 can be diverted from active equipment to inactive equipment if a switchover is required. In FIG. 1, an active control plane 120 is logically aware 105 of a state of the protection switch 110. When the protection switch 110 is in active mode, network traffic 30 is directed toward active line cards (not shown) under the control of the active control plane 120. An inactive control plane 140 is also logically aware 115 of the state of the protection switch 110 so that if or when a protection switchover occurs it will become active.
The active control plane 120 includes an admin process 126 which administrates various functions on the active control plane 120 including an active control plane synchronization module 124 which is responsible for synchronizing an active control plane database 122 (DB1), which stores important data elements or attributes, with an inactive control plane database 142 (DB2) of the inactive control plane 140. Synchronization takes place in cooperation with an inactive control plane synchronization module 144 over a synchronization connection 130. The synchronization connection typically is established as an FTP connection upon a request from the admin process 126 of the active control plane 220 for reconciliation with the inactive control plane 140, although any type of connection which allows for the transport of data from the active control plane database 122 to the inactive control plane database 142 would suffice. The data elements or attributes are sent from the active control plane database 122 to the inactive control plane database 142 in the form of synchronization updates. Typically these synchronization updates comprise only state information which has changed in the active control plane database 122 and which needs updating in the inactive control plane database 142. The inactive control plane 140 also has an admin process 146 which administrates synchronization module 144. The admin process 146 checks the database synchronization updates for any errors before writing them to the inactive control plane database 142. The admin process 146 includes a process for initiating a hard reset on an error 148, which responds to any type of error raised during synchronization with a hard reset and full attempt at re-synchronization with the active control plane 120.
Having a hard reset on error directive responsive to an error during synchronization is a preferable resolution in the case that the error is inconsistent or caused by for example a transient hardware failure.
This solution however does not address the issue of a software error in an application being run on either control plane which may cause admin process 146 to detect an error has occurred in the synchronization of DB1 122 and DB2 142. In such a situation a hard reset would not constitute a remedy to the failure. In some cases where the error is consistent and cannot be resolved, the database synchronization process can fail or become trapped in a restart loop in which the inactive control plane 140 never becomes reconciled with the active control plane 120 rendering control redundancy ineffective and leaving the system susceptible to catastrophic failures leading to control complex outages and possible data service outages.
Existing solutions do not take into account that in some cases an error in synchronization is limited in scope or limited in impact within the node and upon the network in general while at the same time the absence of any type of control plane redundancy would in fact have enormous consequences should the active control plane fail. Currently, any error no matter how minor which indicates a synchronization failure is treated as an intolerable error which causes an automatic hard reset.

System and method of fault tolerant reconciliation for control card redundancy


The present invention provides a material for the construction of external coverings accessible by humans or animals. It aims to increase the breakdown voltage between a high voltage VRF, high frequency source of energy and the human or animal, by adaptation of materials and structures. According to an embodiment of the invention, a structure is provided for the cover 18 used in MRI or NMR systems, which carries a greater proportion Vs of the voltage VRF across itself, thereby reducing the voltage Vg across the gap 22 and reducing the likelihood of breakdown.

FIG. 1 shows a partial cross-section of a known MRI (magnetic-resonance imaging) system 10 in operation. A field magnet 12 and gradient coils 14 with edge sections 17 provide a homogeneous magnetic field in an imaging region 15. RF coils 16 generate high energy RF fields, as required for MRI operation. A cover 18 covers the RF coils 16, gradient coils 14 and the field magnet 12. A patient bed 19 may also be provided, which provides support for a patient 20. The cover 18 is contactable by the patient. They patient 20 may contact the cover, for example with arms left to dangle beside the bed. A gap 22 typically exists between the RF coils 16 and the cover 18. The MRI system may be in the form of a cylinder, with the patient placed in the middle of the cylinder. The cover 18 may then form a cylindrical inner surface, for receiving the patient. In such instances, the cover may be referred to as a patient bore liner. The gas pressure in gap 22 may be reduced to 1-100 mbar, in order to reduce the transfer of acoustic noise from the magnet coils 12, 14, 16 to the patient 20.
This invention is concerned with breakdown between any high voltage, high frequency source and a human or animal body in proximity to the high voltage, high frequency source in a partial vacuum. The partial vacuum is present to reduce acoustic noise transfer, but has the unwanted side effect of reducing the breakdown voltage from the magnet coils to the cover.
FIG. 2 shows a partial cross-section of the system of FIG. 1, taken along the line II-II. The electrical properties of the structure of FIG. 2 will now be considered. Due to the nature of the human body, the patient 20 may be considered to be an electrical earth. RF coils 16 produce high voltage, high frequency signals across the gap 22 and the cover 18 to earth at the patient 20.
Simulations performed on one of the applicant's existing products—which includes a high frequency high voltage RF coil—showed RF electrical breakdown between the gradient coil 14 and the inside of the cover 18. The simulation was based on the arrangement shown in FIG. 1. From this simulation, a capacitive model was derived to describe operation of the system in breakdown conditions.
It is important to prevent any voltage breakdown across the gap 22, since such breakdown may cause electrical arcing of high voltage, high frequency RF energy from the RF coils 16 to the patient 20. In some MRI systems, the RF power may attain values in excess of 15 kW. Arcing of such power levels to the patient would cause injury. Considering the voltage distribution in steady state, the high voltage high frequency voltage VRF is split between a voltage drop Vg across the gap 22 and a voltage drop Vs across the material of the cover 18. The patient 20 is conductive and at an assumed ground voltage, so that VRF=Vg+Vs. The relative values of Vs and Vg are determined according to the ratio of the inverse of the respective capacitances Cs, Cg of the corresponding layers. In certain known arrangements, it has been found that 70% of the RF voltage is supported by the gap 22, while 30% is supported by the material of the cover.
FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram representing the capacitive model as used in the simulations mentioned above. In FIG. 4, C1 represents the capacitance between the RF coils 16; C2 and C3 represent the capacitance of the gap 22 between the gradient coil 14 and the cover 18, at respective ends of the apparatus; C4 represents the surface capacitance of the surface of the cover 18 which is exposed to the gap 22; C6 and C7 represent the capacitance of the material of the cover 18, at respective ends of the apparatus, and C5 represents the surface capacitance of the surface of the cover 18 which is directed toward the patient 20.
When no patient is in contact with the cover 18, the model assumes symmetry of the equipment, such that C2=C3, C4=C5 and C6=C7. With a patient in contact with the cover 18, this symmetry no longer holds. The capacitance C5 falls to zero, since the patient provides a resistive path in good electrical contact with the surface of the cover 18. The model in this state is shown in FIG. 5. With a patient in place, the capacitance C2, C3 of the gap 22 and the capacitance C6, C7 of the material of the cover 18 become dominant in defining the voltage Vg across the gap 22 (FIG. 2). In this situation, the proportion Vg of the total voltage VRF which is borne across the gap 22 is proportional to the distance dg across the gap. This follows from the fact that the capacitance Cg across the gap decreases in proportion to an increase in gap size dg. In order to reduce the likelihood of voltage breakdown between the high voltage, high frequency source (RF coils 16) and the patient, the proportion Vg of the total voltage VRF which is borne across the gap must be reduced, and/or the proportion Vs of the total voltage VRF which is borne across the cover must be increased.
Gap Size
One way of reducing the voltage Vg across the gap and so reduce the likelihood of voltage breakdown across the gap is to increase the capacitance across the gap by reducing the distance dg across the gap.
Permittivity of the Material of the Cover
The voltage Vg across the gap 22, being equal to (VRF−Vs), may be seen to be vary inversely with ds, the thickness of the cover 18, and proportional to εrs, the relative permittivity of the material of the cover 18. This follows from the fact that the capacitance Cg across the gap increases in proportion to εrs; while the capacitance Cs across the cover decreases in proportion to an increase in thickness ds. In an embodiment, εrs may be about 4.
Accordingly, the voltage Vg across the gap 22, which should be minimised, follows the following relationship:Vg∝εrs.dg/ds.
To achieve minimum Vg, one must minimise εrs, the relative permittivity of the material of the cover 18, while reducing the thickness dg of the gap and/or increasing the thickness ds of the material of the cover 18.
Gas Pressure & Gap Thickness—Paschen's Law
Another aspect affecting the electrical breakdown voltage of a medium is the electrical strength of the medium. Paschen's law states that the breakdown voltage for a discharge between electrodes in gas is a function of the product (pd) of the pressure of the gas, and the distance between the electrodes. The function has a minimum value for air at pd=0.55 Torr cm (0.733 Nm−1), indicating a breakdown voltage 352 V between electrodes 0.01 m apart. In one expression of the Paschen equation, the breakdown voltage Vbg of a gap in air is given by:Vbg=6.72√(pd)+24.36(pd)kV.
Since we wish to increase the breakdown voltage across the gap, thereby to reduce the likelihood of voltage breakdown across the gap, operation at the Paschen minimum value must be avoided. Operation with a pressure distance (pd) product above or below that of the Paschen minimum will provide an improved breakdown resistance.
In known MRI systems, the air or other gas in the gap 22 is typically at a very low pressure but above the Paschen minimum. This will reduce the breakdown voltage of the gap 22 from that of an equivalent gap filled with air at atmospheric pressure. Since the gap usually contains gas at less than atmospheric pressure, there is a risk of electrical breakdown. It would be advantageous to increase the pressure of the gas in the gap, since the present invention aims to reduce the risk of electrical breakdown across the gap 22. However, this is not a practical proposition since acoustic noise transfer through the gap would increase.
For an example of the system considered by the present invention, a gap of 0.005 m in air at a pressure of 75 Torr (10000 Nm−2), a pressure-distance product pd of 37.5 Torr cm (50 Nm−1), gives a breakdown voltage of approximately 2.8 kV. This is well above the Paschen minimum. The same gap filled with air at atmospheric pressure, giving a pressure-distance product pd of 507 Nm−1, would have a breakdown voltage of about 16.9 kV; a marked improvement over the breakdown voltage for the low-pressure gap.
On the other hand, if the pressure of the gas in the gap is reduced, less acoustic noise would be transmitted to the patient 20 from the MRI system 10. The reduced pressure gas is less efficient as a transport medium for sound. Since the patient 20 may be enclosed in a relatively small cylindrical enclosure, it is important to reduce the acoustic noise heard by the patient, since high levels of acoustic noise could increase a patient's feeling of stress when contained in the cylindrical enclosure. However, a reduced pressure of the gas in the gap 22 would lead to a lower breakdown voltage across the gap.
There are accordingly conflicting requirements for the pressure of the gas in gap 22. A reduced pressure is desirable for reduction of acoustic noise transmission, while an increased pressure is desired for increasing the breakdown voltage of the gap.
Reactance of Material of the Cover
An electrical breakdown of the gap 22 would in effect provide a resistive path between the high voltage, high frequency source (RF coils 16) and the patient 20. This could be harmful to the patient. By restricting the connection between the high voltage, high frequency source (RF coils 16) and the patient to a capacitive one, this risk is eliminated. The present invention aims to reduce the possibility of a resistive path being established between the high voltage, high frequency source (RF coils 16) and the patient 20.
To further reduce the proportion Vg of the total voltage VRF across the gap 22, the proportion Vs held across the material of the cover 18 may be increased. This may be achieved by providing a material of the cover 18 of higher reactance X.

Material for electrical isolation and vibro-acoustic performance


While a book block (P) is nipped between a pair of clamping plates (1a, 1b) and passes through processing units (B to D) in succession, perfect book bind processing is carried out. Two or more of the processing units (B to D) have pairs of members (2b, 2c; 3c, 3d; 4a, 4b) which engage or come into contact with both sides of a back surface of the book block A thickness of the book block is measured by a measuring unit (6) before the book binding processing is started. When a thickness of next book block is measured by a measuring unit during the book bind processing of a previous book block, a control section (7) stores a measured value of the thickness of the next book block in a memory (8). When the previous book block reaches a predetermined position on a conveying path, a gap between the pair of members of the processing unit located upstream of a position of the previous book block is adjusted based on the measured value stored in the memory. Thereafter, a gap between the pair of members of the processing unit located downstream of the predetermined position is adjusted based on the measured value stored in the memory when the previous book block passes through the processing unit. After the book bind processing of the previous book block is completed, a gap between the pair of clamping plates is adjusted based on the measured value stored in the memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a book binding apparatus for perfect book binding. The book binding apparatus for perfect book binding comprises a conveying path, a series of processing units carrying out perfect book bind processing, a clamp unit provided with a pair of clamping plates and arranged for reciprocal movement along the conveying path, and a clamp unit driving mechanism reciprocating the clamp unit. The perfect-binding book binding processing is carried out while a book block is clamped between the pair of clamping plates and passes through the series of processing units in succession.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a conventional book binding apparatus continuously receiving book blocks of one book from a printer and a copying machine, and carrying out perfect book bind processing of book blocks one by one.
FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a structure of one example of such a conventional book binding apparatus. Referring to FIG. 4, the conventional book binding apparatus for perfect book binding comprises a conveying path F, a series of processing units (milling unit B, glue application unit C and cover application unit D) which are arranged along the conveying path F for carrying out the perfect book bind processing, a clamp unit provided with a pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b and arranged for reciprocal movement along the conveying path F (only clamping plates 1a and 1b are shown in FIG. 4), and a clamp unit driving mechanism (not shown) reciprocating the clamp unit.
A book block P is subjected to the perfect-binding book binding processing while the book block P passes through the series of processing units in succession after the book block P is nipped by the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b which is on standby at a book block inserting position A.
The pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b is composed of a stationary clamping plate 1a and a movable clamping plate 1b. The clamp unit comprises gap adjustment means (not shown) moving the movable clamping plate 1b in directions toward and away from the stationary clamping plate 1a. Before the book binding processing is started, the clamp unit is on standby in the book block inserting position A, and a gap between the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b is previously adjusted according to the thickness of the book block P. When the book binding processing is started, in the book block inserting position A, the book block P is placed on an aligning plate 1c arranged in the book block inserting position A in such a manner that a back surface of the book block P faces downward, the book block P is inserted between the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b of the clamp unit, and the book block P is nipped therebetween. Thereafter, the book block P is conveyed to the milling unit B by the clamp unit along the conveying path F.
The milling unit B comprises a milling cutter 2a and a pair of guide plates 2b and 2c. The pair of guide plates 2b and 2c is composed of a stationary guide plate 2b and a movable guide plate 2c. The movable guide plate 2c is moved by the gap adjustment means (not shown) in directions toward and away from the stationary guide plate 2b. A gap between the pair of guide plates 2b and 2c may be adjusted. Before the book binding processing is started, the pair of guide plates 2b and 2c is in a standby state where the gap therebetween is previously adjusted according to the thickness of the book block P. While the book block P nipped between the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b passes above the milling cutter 2a, both sides of a back surface portion of the book block P protruding from the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b are inserted between the pair of guide plates 2b and 2c. The both sides of the back surface portion of the book block P are thereby supported by the pair of guide plates 2b and 2c and the back surface of the book block P is grinded, and preprocessing for uniform application of glue on the entire back surface of the book block P is carried out. Then, the book block P nipped between the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b is conveyed to the glue application unit C.
The glue application unit C comprises a glue tank 3a filled with glue, a gluing roller 3b, and a roller 3c for wiping excessive glue off. The glue application unit C applies an appropriate thickness of glue on the back surface of the book block P. When the gluing operation is completed, the book block P nipped between the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b is conveyed to the cover application unit D.
The cover application unit D comprises a bottom plate 4c and a pair of nip plates 4a and 4b. The pair of nip plates 4a and 4b is composed of a stationary nip plate 4b and a movable nip plate 4a. A gap between the pair of nip plates 4a and 4b can be adjusted by moving the movable nip plate 4a by the gap adjustment means (not shown) in directions toward and away from the stationary nip plate 4b. Before the book binding processing is started, the pair of nip plates 4a and 4b is in a standby state where the gap therebetween is previously adjusted according to the thickness of the book block P. When the book binding processing is started, a printed cover Q is supplied onto the bottom plate 4c and the pair of nip plates 4a and 4b in a direction of an arrow S by appropriate conveying means such as a conveyer from a cover collecting section (not shown). Thereafter, the book block P nipped between the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b stops at a position where the back surface of the book block P is opposed to a spine of the cover Q. Then, the bottom plate 4c and the pair of nip plates 4a and 4b rise, the cover Q is pressed against the spine of the book block P by the rising bottom plate 4c and at the same time, the movable nip plate 4a is moved toward the stationary nip plate 4b, and thereby the cover Q is pressed against both sides of the back surface of the book block P, the cover Q is glued on the book block P and a bound matter is completed. Thereafter, the clamp unit returns to the book block inserting position A, where the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b is fully opened, the bound matter is discharged.
In the book binding apparatus for perfect book binding, it is often necessary to change the thickness of the book block P to be bound. In such a case, the gap between the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b of the clamp unit on standby, the gap between the pair of guide plates 2b and 2c on standby of the milling unit B, and the gap between the pair of nip plates 4a and 4b on standby of the cover application unit D need to be adjusted.
Therefore, the conventional book binding apparatus for perfect book binding comprises a measuring unit for measurement of the thickness of the book block P so that the gap between the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b on standby, the gap between the pair of guide plates 2b and 2c on standby of the milling unit B, and the gap between the pair of nip plates 4a and 4b on standby of the cover application unit D can be adjusted at once based on the measured value.
According to this structure, however, it is not possible to carry out the measuring operation of the thickness of the book block P, and the adjusting operation of the gap between the pair of guide plates 2b and 2c on standby and the gap between the pair of nip plates 4a and 4b on standby until the pair of clamping plates 1a and 1b returns to the book block inserting position A. When the thickness of the book block P is frequently changed, there is a problem that a rate of operation of the book binding apparatus for perfect book binding is significantly deteriorated.

Book binding apparatus for perfect book binding


A one time use cleansing device for inhibiting catheter associated urinary tract infections. An absorbent body includes a plurality of fingerlings extending outwardly from a front side of the absorbent body. First and second wings extend from a back side of the absorbent body. One or more liquid containing frangible vials are disposed between the first and second wings such that squeezing the wings together causes the vials to rupture, thereby releasing the contents of the vials into the absorbent body. The absorbent body and/or the one or more vials contain a cleansing agent of castile soap and tea tree oil designed to aid in the inhibition and/or prevention of catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs).

Catheters are routinely used during medical care. In many instances, catheters remain in the patient for extended periods of time. When a catheter remains in a patient for an extended period of time, the risk of infection becomes a concern. Particularly, with the use of in-dwelling catheters such as Foley catheters, bacteria gains easier access to the body via the catheter insertion into the bladder. Overgrowth of bacteria can colonize in the bladder and infection can occur, increasing hospital stay, cost and morbidity of patients.
Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI's) are thus a serious concern. CAUTI's are the most common type of nosocomial infection, accounting for 40% of all nosocomial infections, with over 1 million cases reportedly annually. The cost for CAUTI medical intervention is estimated above 451 million dollars annually in the United States alone.
It is therefore very important to cleanse the catheter and the catheter (perineal) area to decrease the number of bacteria around the catheter insertion in order to reduce the likelihood of contracting a CAUTI.
Today, the daily bath process in many hospitals involves the use of chlorexidine or similar wipes instead of soap and water. Chlorexidine wipes are antibacterial wipes that are used over all of a patient's body. However, chlorexidine or similar wipes are not suitable for the perineal area and thus the catheter insertion area as they are too harsh for the mucosal tissues in this region of the body.
In view of the above, what is therefore needed is a manner of cleansing a catheter insertion area in order to help prevent catheter associated urinary tract infections.

Scrub for inhibiting catheter associated urinary tract infections


A motor vehicle lock in a fitted state interacts with a striker. The motor vehicle lock includes an adjustable catch and an adjustable locking pawl. The catch is adjustable into a main locking state and into an opening state, and the locking pawl is adjustable into an entry state, and into a lifted state. The motor vehicle lock includes a tensioning mechanism. When the catch is in the main locking state and the locking pawl is in the entry state, the tensioning mechanism can be brought into a tensioned state in which the tensioning mechanism introduces a mechanical preload into the catch in its opening direction. The tensioning mechanism can be brought into a relaxed state, in which the preload originating from the tensioning mechanism is reduced or cancelled.

The known motor vehicle lock (DE 102 39 553 A1), from which the disclosure proceeds, is assigned to a motor vehicle door. In the fitted state the motor vehicle lock interacts with a striker pin or the like, which in one variant is arranged on the body of the motor vehicle, in order to secure the motor vehicle door. For securing engagement with the striker pin an adjustable catch is provided, to which an adjustable locking pawl is assigned. With the motor vehicle door closed, the catch is in its locking state, in which it is held by the locking pawl.
The catch of the known motor vehicle lock is preloaded in the opening direction by means of a helical spring. This spring preload is designed to ensure an adjustment of the catch into the opening state under all circumstances during the opening process. At the same time care must also be taken to ensure that when the motor vehicle door slams shut the striker encounters as little resistance as possible as it runs into the catch, in order to avoid locking noise. To prevent rattling noises at the point of engagement between the catch and the locking pawl, a catch bearing buffer is regularly provided, which acts on the striker. All in all, from an acoustic point of view the known motor vehicle lock represents a compromise at best.


According to some embodiments, methods and systems may be associated with enterprise application integration. A formalization platform may facilitate definition of Enterprise Integration Patterns (“EIP”) using a formal representation and defined execution semantics. The formalization platform may also execute model checking to find errors in the formal representation. An implementation platform may receive information from the correctness platform and translate the formal model generated by the correctness platform. The implementation platform may also configure implementation parameters of the translated formal model and simulate the EIP patterns to provide experimental validation. A correctness platform may receive information from the formalization platform and evaluate correctness of the EIP patterns defined via the formalization platform.

Recent business, technology, and social trends (e.g., business networks, cloud and mobile computing, and social media) lead to a modularization and distribution of business applications and devices. This may increase the importance of applications and business processes. Due to increased distribution, the resulting integration scenarios or programs not only become increasingly complex but are largely a composition of integration patterns that serve as an abstraction of the complex underlying integration semantics. Note, however, that the execution semantics of the integration patterns are only described textually and not formally defined. The missing formal semantics can result in the following types problems:                unclear (or proprietary) vendor-specific execution semantics (e.g., different behavior of a content-based router on different platforms);        no formal analysis (e.g., verification and model checking);        difficult, manual identification of design flaws and functional errors within patterns; and        incompatible pattern implementations (e.g., a user cannot be sure that the pattern behaves the same on all platforms).
These problems may hinder the ability of a user, creator, and/or vendor of an integration solution to precisely define required integration semantics and lead to costly manual validation (e.g., exhaustive testing) and bug fixing of already productive solutions. It is currently not possible to responsibly develop integration solutions. Besides the financial costs of development and validation, the speed of development (e.g., a lack of semantics leading to a steep learning curve) and damages to the platform vendors reputation (e.g., dissatisfaction with faulty integration logic) can have a major impact on Integration as a Service ("IaaS") cloud platform vendors.
It would therefore be desirable to provide responsible development based on formally defined integration semantics (which can be verified) in a secure, automatic, and efficient manner.

Responsible development process and definition of integration patterns and semantics


Image data of the interior of a sample (S) are sequentially created on the basis of reception signals at the time when ultrasonic waves are transmitted into the sample (S) so as to scan the interior thereof, movements of respective control points set on the image data are tracked so as to evaluate temporal changes of velocities of motions of the sample (S), and differences of timings of the motions in the sample (S) are color-displayed on the basis of the temporal changes of the velocities.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic equipment which transmits ultrasonic pulses into a sample so as to scan the interior of the sample, and which receives reflected waves from the sample, thereby to acquire the motion information of a tissue on the basis of the image of the interior of the sample, and a control method for the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment noninvasively obtains the tomographic image of a soft tissue in a living body, from the surface of the body by an ultrasonic pulse echo method. The ultrasonic diagnostic equipment transmits ultrasonic waves from an ultrasonic probe into a sample, it receives reflected waves created by the mismatching of acoustic impedances within the sample, by the ultrasonic probe so as to generate a reception signal, and it images the interior of the sample on the basis of the reception signal.
As compared with other medical image equipment, the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment has the following merits: By way of example, the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment is small-sized and inexpensive. It affords a high safety without exposure to X-rays etc. It is capable of blood flow imaging. This ultrasonic diagnostic equipment is employed for the diagnoses of, for example, the heart and the abdomen, and it is extensively utilized in urology, obstetrics and gynecology, etc. It has been known that the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment is useful for the diagnosis of the heart. It is very useful to objectively and quantitatively estimate the function of the tissue of the living body, such as a cardiac muscle.
As a remedy which is recently spotlighted, there is mentioned a cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) for the patients of serious cardiac failure. It has been attempted to employ the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment for the quantitative estimation for deciding the applicability of the cardiac resynchronization therapy or for deciding the effect of the medical treatment.
The cardiac resynchronization therapy will be briefly explained. The patient of serious cardiac failure often accompanies the contraction dyssynchrony of a cardiac wall motion. The heart is being moved by the conduction of electric signals. An intraventricular conduction disturbance sometimes arises in the patient of the serious cardiac malady. The intraventricular conduction disturbance is the occurrence of a deviation in a sequence in which the electric signals moving the cardiac muscle are conveyed. In a ventricle in which the electric signals ought to be conveyed substantially simultaneously over the entirety, the intraventricular conduction disturbance sometimes develops a part to which the electric signal is conveyed earlier and a part to which the electric signal is conveyed later, on account of the deviation. As a result, the contraction of the cardiac wall is not synchronized, and the heart fails to pump out blood sufficiently, to fall into the state of the cardiac failure.
The cardiac resynchronization therapy is the medical treatment in which an electric signal is artificially issued to such a disturbance, whereby the sequence of the electric signals to be conveyed to the heart is adjusted to assist in the pump function of the heart. Concretely, the medical treatment is done by embedding a pacemaker under the skin of the breast. The cardiac resynchronization therapy has already been performed for a large number of patients, and dramatic improvements in the symptoms have been verified.
On the other hand, there are cases as to which the improvements in the symptoms are not observed even when the cardiac resynchronization therapy is applied. The cases are cardiac failure ones. The patients of such cardiac failure cases have been verified to amount to about 30% of all patients. This is because whether or not the cause of the cardiac failure cases is the contraction dyssynchrony cannot be exactly judged.
In the present situation, the application criteria of the cardiac resynchronization therapy are stipulated to be less than 130 msec in the QRS width of an electrocardiogram waveform and to be 35% in the left ventricular ejection fraction (EF). In accordance with the criteria, patients who suffer from the cardiac failure, but who do not suffer from the contraction dyssynchrony are also included.
Therefore, there has been developed a technique which is intended to extract only the contraction dyssynchrony by a quantitative estimation method employing the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. The technique is disclosed in, for example, the official gazette of JP-A-10-262970. The official gazette of JP-A-10-262970 discloses to detect the motion velocity of a cardiac muscle (cardiac wall) by a Doppler method, and to calculate and analyze this motion velocity. The technique can automatically detect the peaks of the changes-with-time of motion velocities, displacements or the likes at the pluralities of parts of the cardiac muscle. In addition, the technique calculates time periods from a predetermined cardiac phase till arrivals at the individual peaks and then colors the ultrasonic image of the cardiac muscle in accordance with the time periods. Thus, the differences of the motion states of the whole cardiac muscle are outputted as color images. The differences of motion timings at the respective parts of the cardiac muscle can be imaged.
The ultrasonic diagnostic equipment has realized to image, not only a structure within a living body, but also the movement velocity of a tissue, by a tissue Doppler method. The tissue Doppler method measures the velocity of a part of intense reflection and comparatively slow movement, such as cardiac wall, and it presents a two-dimensional color display. In recent years, techniques for obtaining clinically more important information have been proposed by applying the function of imaging the movement velocity of the tissue by the tissue Doppler method. The techniques are, for example, the imaging of movement timings as employs the movement velocity distribution image of the tissue, velocity gradient imaging, displacement imaging, strain imaging, and tissue tracking which employs angular corrections.
The imaging of the movement timings as employs the movement velocity distribution image of the tissue performs the color coding of time periods in which the tissue movement velocities of individual pixels arrive at a certain threshold value or at peaks, by employing the movement velocity distribution image of the tissue as obtained by the tissue Doppler method. Thus, the movement timings of the tissue are imaged. This imaging is disclosed in, for example, the official gazette of Japanese Patent No. 3,187,008.
The velocity gradient imaging acquires a local velocity gradient in such a way that the velocity difference of two points spaced a predetermined distance, as to a movement velocity distribution obtained by the tissue Doppler method, is divided by the distance between the two points. In addition, this imaging acquires such local velocity gradients at the large number of points of the image so as to display the acquired gradients as an image.
The displacement imaging computes the quantity of the movements of the tissue by integrating values obtained in such a way that the velocity values of individual frames included in a predetermined time period are multiplied by an interframe time difference, as to a movement velocity distribution obtained by the tissue Doppler method.
The strain imaging obtains the strain distribution image of the tissue by employing the movement quantity distribution image obtained by the displacement imaging, or the velocity gradient image.
In obtaining the displacement image or the strain image, an integration process employing the values of a plurality of frames is required. As is usually considered, the integration of the values of the same pixels of the plurality of frames does not become the integration of the value of the same tissue as to the moving tissue. The tissue tracking which employs the angular corrections need to integrate the values while tracking the movements of the tissue.

Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment and control method therefor


A method of preparing .varies.-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester hydrochloride (.varies.-APM.HCL) from a reaction mixture of N-formyl-L-aspartic acid anhydride and L-phenylalanine methyl ester (PM), wherein .alpha.-APM.HCl is produced without isolating an intermediate by solid-liquid separation during the course of the reaction process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods in general, and in particular to industrial scale methods, of preparing .alpha.-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester hydrochloride (hereinafter referred to as ".alpha.-APM.HCl").
2. Discussion of the Background
.alpha.-APM is a dipeptide sweetener having a sweetness of about 200 times that of sucrose (cane sugar). Because of its extremely good sweetening properties and its low caloric value, it has been used significantly as a diet sweetener. It is expected that the wordwide demand for .alpha.-APM will exceed 10,000 tons before 1995.
.alpha.-APM.HCl may be prepared by a method in which water is added to a reaction mixture (either in the form of a solution or a suspension) of an organic solvent containing N-formyl-.alpha.-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester (hereinafter referred to as "F-.alpha.-APM"). The resultant mixture is heated, extracted with water and the resultant two layers are separated. N-formyl-.alpha.-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester which remains dissolved in the separated aqueous layer is then deformylated and the .alpha.-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester (hereinafter referred to as ".alpha.-APM") formed is crystallized out as its hydrochloride salt, and isolated.
Previous methods of producing .alpha.-APM.HCl include:
(i) a method of producing .alpha.-APM as its hydrohalide salt after deprotecting an N-protected-.alpha.-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester which is formed by a condensation of N-protected-L-aspartic anhydride and L-phenylalanine methyl ester (hereinafter referred to as "L-Phe-OMe" or "PM"); and
(ii) a method of producing .alpha.-APM as its hydrohalide salt after deprotecting an N-protected-.alpha.-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine which is formed by condensation of an N-protected-L-aspartic acid anhydride and L-phenylalanine (hereinafter referred to as "L-Phe") followed by methyl-esterifying the deprotected product.
One example of method (i) is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,039. The condensation reaction is carried out in an organic solvent, followed by evaporative removal of the organic solvent, isolation of the resulting F-.alpha.-APM or its PM salt as a solid, and finally deprotecting the formulated product to yield o-APM.HCl. This method, however, requires the isolation of the intermediate F-.alpha.-APM. Due to the complications and additional required steps for isolating this intermediate, this method is not suitable for industrial application.
One example of method (ii) is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,781. N-formyl-.alpha.-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine (hereinafter referred to as "F-.alpha.-AP") is formed by condensing N-formyl-L-aspartic acid anhydride and L-Phe in glacial acetic acid, followed by removal of the formyl group from the product to form .alpha.-L-aspartyl-L-phenylanine (hereinafter referred to as ".alpha.-AP"), isolation of the .alpha.-AP intermediate and finally esterification of the isolated intermediate to obtain .alpha.-APM.HCl. As with the other previously described method, this method also suffers the disadvantaqe of requiring isolation of an intermediate compound.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,562 illustrates a method of obtaining .alpha.-APM.HCl by esterifying isolated F-.alpha.-AP or .alpha.-AP with hydrochloric acid and methanol.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-143397 illustrates a method of preparing F-.alpha.-AP by condensing N-formyl-L-aspartic acid anhydride and L-Phe in water. In accordance with the method, it is also necessary to isolate F-.alpha.-AP and to deprotect and esterify it to obtain .alpha.-APM.HCl. Therefore, the method is also defective for industrial use.
In all of the above methods, F-.alpha.-AP or .alpha.-AP must be isolated during the procedure. In view of the complications and additional required steps for isolation of these intermediates, these methods are not suitable industrial methods. There is accordingly a need for methods not suffering the above disadvantages.

Method of preparing .alpha.-l-aspartyl-l-phenylalanine methyl ester hydrochloride


In a semiconductor device including a semiconductor substrate, a well formed on the semiconductor substrate, and a thick field insulating layer for surrounding an active area of the well, a contact structure is buried in a contact hole provided in the thick field insulating layer and connected to the well, so as to fix a voltage at the well.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device such as a CMOS-type static random access memory (SRAM) device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, one SRAM cell uses a flip-flop constructed by two cross-coupled inverters and two transfer transistors. In this case, each of the inverters has a load element and a drive transistor.
In view of the power consumption, a CMOS-type SRAM cell has been developed where the above-mentioned load element is constructed by a P-channel MOS transistor, while the above-mentioned drive transistor is constructed by an N-channel MOS transistor. This will be explained later in detail.
In the prior art CMOS-type SRAM cell, however, since the voltage at a well is not surely fixed to a definite voltage within the cell, a latch-up phenomenon may occur. In order to suppress or avoid such a latch-up phenomenon, the P-type impurity regions of an N-type well have to be sufficiently separated from the N-type impurity regions of a P-type well, which would reduce the integration density.
It is an object of the present invention to provide. a semiconductor device such as a CMOS-type SRAM device capable of suppressing or avoiding a latch-up phenomenon.
According to the present invention, in a semiconductor device including a semiconductor substrate, a well formed on the semiconductor substrate, and a thick field insulating layer for surrounding an active area of the well, a contact structure is buried in a contact hole provided in the thick field insulating layer and is connected to the well, so as to fix a voltage at the well.

Semiconductor device capable of surely fixing voltage at well


A power supply comprises a first coupled to receive AC mains power that provides a first power level, a second stage that receives the first power level and that provides a second power level, a third stage that receives the first power level that provides a third power level, and a pulse width modulated switching block comprising a first modulation input, a second modulation input, the first modulation input receives a signal indicative of a voltage, current or power at the second stage output and the second modulation input coupled to receive a signal indicative of a voltage, current or power at the third stage output. The pulse width modulated switching block varying operation of the second stage to vary the second power level according to the signal indicative of the voltage, current or power at the second stage output and the pulse width modulated switching block varying operation of the third stage to vary the third power level according to the signal indicative of a voltage, current or power at the third stage output.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of switch mode power supplies, and amongst other things to power supplies that provide multiple output power levels.
2. Background
With the ever-growing demand upon power systems by the use of electronic devices that consume power non-linearly, the amount of apparent power that needs to be delivered is greatly increasing. One of the major problems associated with non-linear power supplies is the harmonic distortion of the current in the power supply grid. That is, non-linear power supplies convert the AC mains signal to a DC signal which results in a non-sinusoidal current being injected into the power grid. The non-sinusoidal character of the current is measured both in terms of power factor of the power supply and the harmonic content of the current waveform.
The production of a non-sinusoidal current can be understood with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the AC Mains voltage 5 is input through an Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) filter 10 and a bridge rectifier 15. Bridge rectifier 15 feeds a rectified voltage into capacitor 25 which is used to maintain a substantially DC voltage 17. DC voltage 17 is maintained constant except for a ripple component 27 (FIG. 2A) since there is a certain discharge from capacitor 25 due to the time constant (T) of the capacitor 25, is not sufficiently more than the inverse of the frequency of the AC mains voltage 5 to prevent some voltage discharge. As can be seen in FIG. 2A, the ripple component 35 will at certain times have a magnitude greater than the instantaneous magnitude of AC mains voltage 5. This will cause periods when no current flows through bridge rectifier 15 and the current 22 (FIG. 2B) at the input of bridge rectifier 15 will be discontinuous causing harmonic distortion and a poor power factor. A clamping circuit comprising a zener diode 30 and a diode 35 is used to protect MOSFET 100 from over voltages. Power supply regulation is performed using a flyback topology well known in the art.
The discontinuous current waveforms injected into the power grid can cause the neutral wiring to overload and burn. Further, the harmonic currents cause an under utilization of electrical distribution and generation equipment, thereby increasing the cost of power generation to the utility. Further problems associated with harmonic currents include errors in utility metering equipment, malfunctioning of utility relays, and interference with communication and control signals in nearby lines.
The problems associated with harmonic currents in utility systems have led to the formation of various national and international organizations that are directed toward creating standards to limit harmonic currents for various classes of non-linear power devices. One such organization is the International Electrotechnical Commission, which issued the IEC 1000-3-2 standard that calls for various maximum levels for harmonic currents. These harmonic currents are currents at frequencies that are whole number multiples of the AC mains line frequency.
The harmonic currents created by the circuit described in FIG. 1 is usually far in excess of the requirements of the IEC 1000-3-2 standards. Thereby, power supplies are being designed to improve the harmonic currents. The improvements generally include using added circuitry to decrease the current waveform distortion and to reduce the periods when there is no current flowing through bridge rectifier 15.
Referring to FIG. 3, a modified power supply circuit incorporating a separate power factor correction stage 120 along with a flyback stage 20 is depicted. The power factor correction stage 120 includes a switch mode power supply regulation chip 195, which can be a TOPSWITCH.RTM. device manufactured by Power Integrations, Inc. Chip 195 has three terminals, which includes a control terminal 196. The input into control terminal 196 is a current 200 which is a combination of a current 191 which is proportional to the instantaneous rectified voltage and a feedback current 192. Feedback current 192 will be zero until the voltage of capacitor 185 reaches a voltage greater than the reverse break down voltage of zener diodes 150 and 155. In a typical power supply this voltage is typically 400 volts. As the current 200 increases, the duty cycle of the MOSFET in chip 195 decreases.
The MOSFET current 198 is comprised of series of triangular pulses each having a duty cycle. The frequency of triangular pulses, which generally ranges between 25 and 200 kHz, is very high compared to the frequency of a half wave rectified AC Mains voltage 200 which is at 100 Hz (2.times.50 Hz) or 120 Hz (2.times.60 Hz). The average MOSFET current 198 that is the average of the triangular pulses is both continuous and a distorted sinusoid when viewed over a single period of the 100 Hz rectified AC mains signal. The diode current 199 is also a series of triangular pulses, the pulses being complimentary to the triangular pulses of the MOSFET current 198. Therefore, average diode current 199 is also both continuous and a distorted sinusoid when viewed over a single period of the 100 Hz half wave AC mains signal.
The average input current waveform 197 at the input of bridge rectifier 15 is kept substantially sinusoidal by allowing current to flow through the MOSFET that has a shape which forms a complete sinusoidal current waveform when added to the average diode current 199 flowing through the boost diode 155 as can be seen in FIG. 4.
Capacitor 25 filters both the high frequency currents due to device 195 and the line frequency ripple to provide a substantially DC output voltage. Capacitor 125 is appropriately sized to prevent the high frequency switching of chip 195 from affecting the input current 197.
The values of capacitor 180, resistors 160, 165, and 170 determine the dominant pole of the power factor correction stage 120. The dominant pole is generally set at approximately 10 Hz. The frequency of the dominant pole is used to maintain the feedback current 192 at a constant level within an AC Mains half cycle of 100 Hz. Maintaining current 200 at a constant level would create a duty cycle which is constant in each AC Mains half cycle which in turn would generate an average MOSFET current 198 flowing through chip 195 that would itself be sinusoidal. As such, the input current 197 would not be sinusoidal since it would be the sum of a sinusoidal average MOSFET current 198 and a non-sinusoidal average diode current 199. To compensate for the fact that a constant feedback current 192 would create an average MOSFET current 198 that is sinusoidal, a feed forward scheme is employed using a feed forward current 191 through resistor 190 that varies the duty cycle linearly with the instantaneous rectified AC line voltage magnitude as can be seen in FIG. 5. This way the average MOSFET current 198 is distorted and the resulting input current 197 is maintained as sinusoidal.
The flyback converter stage 20 is operated like a conventional flyback converter stage with a second device using optocoupler feedback. The flyback converter can also be replaced with a forward converter.
Power Factor Correction stages of the type described with respect to FIG. 3 have been able to achieve power factors in excess of 0.95 and Total Harmonic Distortions less than 9%. However, the addition of a power factor correction stage is costly in terms of components which results in a far larger bill of materials and power supply size, as can be seen by comparing the number of components in FIG. 1 to the number of components in FIG. 3. Further, the additional components decrease the reliability of the power supply.
Another problem associated with conventional power supplies is that the power supplies operate and draw power even when the device that they are supplying is in a "sleep mode". In a computer, a conventional power supply will operate drawing large amounts power even if the computer is utilizing only minimum power in "standby" or "sleep" mode. By drawing a large amount of power when the system is not operating, power costs to the end user increases without deriving any appreciable benefits. When in sleep mode different components of a computer utilize a different amount of power. For instance the monitor and keyboard need very little power to continue operation, while the random access memory may need more power than the keyboard or monitor.
It is therefore desired to create a power supply that can supply power to a computer that can supply power for the differing needs of the different systems of the computer.
It is additionally desired to create a power supply that has standby functionality to decrease power consumption and associated costs for end users.


The present invention provides an articulating retractor including: a plurality of distal segments, a distal segment of the plurality of distal segments being movable relative to others of the plurality of distal segments; a plurality of proximal segments, a proximal segment of the plurality of proximal segments being movable relative to others of the plurality of proximal segments, the proximal segment corresponding to the distal segment; and multiple sets of cables, the proximal segment connected to its corresponding unit of the distal segment, by a set of cables, such that movement of the proximal segment causes corresponding reciprocal movement of the distal segment. The mechanisms of the articulating retractor may also be combined in such a way to remotely mimic finger movements for manipulation of an object or body tissue.

The ability to easily remotely manipulate instruments and tools is of interest in a wide variety of industries and applications, in particular where it is desired to control movements of instruments or tools in spaces difficult to access by hand, or areas that might otherwise present a risk or danger. These can include situations where the targeted site for the application of a tool or instrument is difficult to access during surgical procedures, or the manufacture or repair of machinery, or even during commercial and household uses, where manual access to a targeted site is restricted or otherwise. Other situations can include, e.g., industrial applications where the work environment is dangerous to the user, for example, workspaces exposed to dangerous chemicals. Still other situations can include, e.g., law enforcement or military applications where the user may be at risk, such as deployment of a tool or instrument into a dangerous or hostile location.
Using surgical procedures as an illustrative example, procedures such as endoscopy and laparoscopy typically employ instruments that are steered within or towards a target organ or tissue from a position outside the body. Examples of endoscopic procedures include sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, and bronchoscopy. Traditionally, the insertion tube of an endoscope is advanced by pushing it forward, and retracted by pulling it back. The tip of the tube may be directed by twisting and general up/down and left/right movements. Oftentimes, this limited range of motion makes it difficult to negotiate acute angles (e.g., in the rectosigmoid colon), creating patient discomfort and increasing the risk of trauma to surrounding tissues.
Laparoscopy involves the placement of trocar ports according to anatomical landmarks. The number of ports usually varies with the intended procedure and number of instruments required to obtain satisfactory tissue mobilization and exposure of the operative field. Although there are many benefits of laparoscopic surgery, e.g., less postoperative pain, early mobilization, and decreased adhesion formation, it is often difficult to achieve optimal retraction of organs and maneuverability of conventional instruments through laparoscopic ports. In some cases, these deficiencies may lead to increased operative time or imprecise placement of components such as staples and sutures.
Steerable catheters are also well known for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Similar to endoscopes, such catheters include tips that can be directed in generally limited ranges of motion to navigate a patient's vasculature.
There have been many attempts to design endoscopes and catheters with improved steerability. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,780 to Sato; U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,381 to Ailinger et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,146 to Alotta et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,453 to Sakai describe endoscopic instruments with one or more flexible portions that may be bent by actuation of a single set of wires. The wires are actuated from the proximal end of the instrument by rotating pinions (Sato), manipulating knobs (Ailinger et al.), a steerable arm (Alotta et al.), or by a pulley mechanism (Sato).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,147 to Boury et al. discloses a steerable catheter having four wires that run within the catheter wall. Each wire terminates at a different part of the catheter. The proximal end of the wires extend loosely from the catheter so that the physician may pull them. The physician is able to shape and thereby steer the catheter by selectively placing the wires under tension.
Although each of the devices described above are remotely steerable, their range of motion is generally limited, at least in part because typically only a single cable set is employed in connecting links or segments of the steerable elements. As such, independent movement at each link or segment is not possible. Rather, the distal links or segments bend together as a unit or units. The steering mechanisms may also be laborious to use, such as in the catheter of Boury et al. where each wire must be separately pulled to shape the catheter. Further, in the case of e.g., endoscopes and steerable catheters that use knob and pulley mechanisms, it requires a significant amount of training to become proficient in maneuvering the device through a patient's anatomy.
Consequently, a device with enhanced remote maneuverability to controllably navigate complex anatomy may allow more efficient and precise advancement and deployment of surgical and diagnostic instruments and tools, as well as help decrease trauma to surrounding tissues, minimize patient discomfort, and decrease operative time and perhaps even patient morbidity during various surgical procedures. It would also be advantageous for such a device to provide a more intuitive and facile user interface to achieve such enhanced maneuverability.
A user interface that accurately translates finger movement of the human hand to a surgical instrument or tool is one way of achieving remote enhanced maneuverability. Although many attempts have been made to implement such a device, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,494 to Ortiz; U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,376 to Viola et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,813 to Daum et al., there still exists a need for a device with improved control and range of motion.
Thus, a device that not only provides a hand user interface, but an actuation mechanism that allows for close simulation of human hand movements to enhance remote maneuverability is highly desirable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A viscosity measuring device is equipped with a piezo-electric vibrator, an oscillator and a loss factor monitoring means. The elastic properties of the piezo-electric vibrator and the viscous resistance of the fluid are controlled so that the tangent of loss factor of the piezo-electric vibrator may change largely enough to measure the viscosity. The characteristics measuring device is equipped with a first ceramic plate, a piezo-electric element sandwiched between a pair of electrodes attached to one surface of this first ceramic plate, a second ceramic plate having a hollow portion therein sintered integrally with the first ceramic plate, and a lid disposed so as to sandwich the second ceramic plate between the lid and the first ceramic plate and so as to face the other surface of the first ceramic plate. The amount of a glass component on the other surface of the first ceramic plate is regulated to be smaller than that of the glass component on the one surface of the first ceramic plate. The device for measuring the viscosity of a fluid can easily measure the viscosity with the good reproducibility even in the flowing fluid irrespective of the magnitude of the viscosity, and an element and a device for effectively measuring characteristics such as viscosity, concentration and density of an acidic solution or a basic solution is easily provided.

(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for measuring not only the viscosity of a fluid in a flowing state but also characteristics such as the concentration of the fluid. More specifically, it relates to a device for measuring viscosity and a device for measuring characteristics of a fluid which can carry out the measurement with precision irrespective of the degree of characteristics such as the viscosity of the fluid.
(ii) Description of the Prior Art
Many products such as chemicals, foods, lubricating oils and car waxes have been manufactured, used or sold in the form of fluids, and for the control of each manufacturing process of these products and for the assurance of their performance, it is important to measure viscosities of these fluids.
Therefore, various methods and devices for measuring the viscosities have been heretofore known, and examples of such measurement methods include a capillary tube method, a rotation method and a falling-ball method.
However, in the capillary tube method, a sample is taken from a fluid to be actually measured, and the viscosity of the sample must be then measured. Thus, it is difficult to continuously measure and observe the viscosity of the fluid in a flowing state in a manufacturing process or the like. Particularly in the case of the fluid having thixotropy properties, there is a problem that it is extremely difficult to precisely measure its viscosity in a predetermined flowing state.
With the intention of solving this problem, there have been suggested a method and a device for measuring the viscosity in which a piezo-electric vibrator is utilized, and for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 311250/1989, 213743/1990 and 189540/1991 have disclosed methods and devices for measuring the viscosity in which a piezo-electric element, particularly a quartz resonator is brought into contact with a fluid, and a change of resonance frequency or loss resistance at this time is utilized.
Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 148040/1991, another viscosity measurement device has been disclosed in which a bimorph vibrator is vibrated at a predetermined vibration frequency in a fluid, and impedance at this time is then detected.
However, of such conventional viscosity measuring methods and devices, the techniques described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 311250/1989, 213743/1990 and 189540/1991 are poor in the precision of detection, because the circle of an admittance chart is not round at the actual viscosity measurement and thus the loss resistance cannot be consistently determined on the basis of the diameter of the circle, so that the reproducibility of the loss resistance tends to become insufficient. Furthermore, since admittance corresponding to frequency in the vicinity of resonance frequency changes in two modes of maximum and minimum, the precision of the detection is not considered to be sufficient. In addition, there is a problem that an electrode attached to the vibrator is directly brought into contact with the fluid, and so owing to the influence of dielectric constant of this fluid, the precise viscosity measurement cannot be accomplished.
On the other hand, in the viscosity measuring device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 148040/1991, the bimorph vibrator has a relatively large amplitude, so that pulsation occurs in the fluid and this pulsation has a bad influence on the viscosity measurement. Moreover, as described above, the electrode of the vibrator is directly brought into contact with a fluid, and for this reason, there is another problem that the dielectric constant of the fluid has a bad influence on the viscosity measurement.
Furthermore, in such a conventional viscosity measuring device, for fluid having relatively high viscosity, the viscosity measurement can be done precisely to some extent. However, for fluid having relatively low viscosity, the piezo-electric element itself suffers mechanical resistance by vibration, and therefore the structure of the viscosity measuring device is largely restricted in order to permit the electrical constant of the piezo-electric element to change. Hence, the conventional viscosity measuring device has a problem that the viscosity cannot be measured with precision.

Device for measuring viscosity and device for measuring characteristics of fluid


Embodiments of the invention relates to cameras and flash photography, and to modulating intensity of light over time and space to subjects in an associated composition. As the composition of a photograph is created, subjects in the composition are metered and flash illumination is determined. A mask is created from an array of filters. The mask is a pattern of opacity of the filters, with the pattern modulating output of the flash. The mask pattern is applied to an associated flash head so that an exposure of the composition is made with the masked flash. Exposure of the subjects in the composition is balanced through a selective illumination of the subjects by the varied intensity created through the mask.

This invention relates to cameras and flash photography. More specifically, the invention relates to modulating intensity of light over time and space to subjects in an associated composition.
Flash units are often used in photography to acquire an image of a scene under low-light conditions. It is known that flash units produce a variety of undesirable effects and artifacts. Specifically, intensity of light emitted by the flash unit decreases based on the distance from the camera. Objects in an associated composition that are close to the flash unit tend to be over exposed, while objects that are more distant from the flash unit tend to be underexposed.

International Business Machines Corporation


HVLP spray gun capable of operating from a source of high pressure air. Compressed air is delivered to the gun through a relatively small diameter air hose. A pressure compensated control valve is mounted in the spray gun to reduce the air pressure delivered to an air/fluid nozzle to a predetermined pressure of no greater than 0.7 Kg/cm.sup.2 (10 psig). The control valve maintains a constant air pressure at the nozzle when either the atomization air flow rate is changed and/or the fan air flow rate is changed of the pressure of the source air changes.

With respect to the coating equipment industry in general, there exists many different methods to achieve atomization of a coating material for the desired purpose of coating a workpiece. In one general class of spray guns, compressed air is used to atomize the coating material. The most common air atomizing spray gun uses air pressures on the order of 1.75 to 3.5 Kg/cm.sup.2 (25 to 50 psig) to achieve atomization, although pressures as high as 5.6 to 6.3 Kg/cm.sup.2 (80 to 90 psig) or more may be used. These spray guns use a high air velocity which can sometimes reach sub to supersonic speeds to atomize the coating. However, the high air velocities impart a high velocity to the atomized coating material which in turn causes "bounce-back" of atomized coating particles from the painted surface, hence a less than ideal transfer efficiency. Atomized coating material which does not transfer to the workpiece is dispersed in the atmosphere to cause potential pollution problems and also increases the cost of coating the workpiece.
HVLP is a method of atomization utilized in paint spray gun atomizers, both hand-held and fixed mounted guns. Atomization is achieved in a similar manner to the more commonly know higher pressure air atomizing gun. The major difference is that an HVLP spray gun may not operate at dynamic air pressure of greater than 0.7 Kg/cm.sup.2 (10 psig) measured upstream of the air nozzle. The 0.7 Kg/cm.sup.2 (10 psig) limit for HVLP equipment is set by statute in some jurisdictions, such as the state of California. Reasonably good atomization occurs with HVLP spray guns because the relative size of the air jets in the air nozzle are significantly enlarged over the more conventional spray gun to pass a greater volume of air at the 0.7 Kg/cm.sup.2 (10 psig) limit than could be obtained with conventional air atomizing spray gun at an equal pressure. The resultant higher volume of air tends to compensate for the lower upstream air pressure, and therefore approximately duplicates the available energy at the point of atomization. Owing to the lower available air pressure upstream of the air nozzle, as well as the larger air jets, the relative velocity of the air stream at the interactive point of atomization is considerably lower than with conventional air atomizing guns. This lower air velocity contributes to an overall "softer" spray cloud which, in turn, provides less bounce-back of the atomized coating material from the painted surface. Consequently, transfer efficiency increases and environmental concerns are reduced.
In one of the most common HVLP spray gun systems, the flow of high volume low pressure air is generated by an electrically driven vane compressor typically called a turbine compressor. The air is delivered to the gun via a relatively large diameter hose in the high volume, low pressure condition. In order to carry the required air flow volume at the low pressure, the hose typically has an internal diameter of at least 2 cm (1/4 inch) and may have an external diameter of on the order of 2.5 to 4 cm (1 to 11/4 inches). As a consequence of the work imparted on the air by the turbine compressor, the delivered air will usually have an elevated temperature. The air is directed through the gun and through a manually operated proportioning valve generally at the front end of the gun, directly behind the air/fluid nozzle. The purpose of the proportioning valve is to direct the air to separate fan air and atomizing air ets in the air nozzle in order to control the relative amounts of air going to the different jets. The valve is typically designed to maintain a constant flow rate, so that a specific desired increase in atomizing air flow will cause a corresponding decrease in fan air. The reason for this is that the turbine compressor is typically a positive displacement, non-pressure compensated, non-pressure relieving device. Careful proportioning of the fan and atomizing air are thus important in order to prevent undesirable increases in back pressure between the gun and the compressor which could create excessive heat generation in the compressor, resulting in shorter compressor life. Thus, the fan and atomizing air must flow constantly from the air nozzle regardless of whether the paint is triggered on or off. One major drawback to such a system is that the relatively large and cumbersome air hose results in operator fatigue and also limits maneuverability of the spray gun. In addition, the adjustment of the fan air and atomizing air must be achieved through a delicate balance of both a bleed valve at the compressor and the proportioning valve on the gun.
Many facilities have "plant air" available with a line pressure of about 5.6 Kg/cm.sup.2 (80 psig). Where plant air is not available, a conventional air compressor may be available. A variation of the above described HVLP paint spray system replaces the turbine compressor with plant air or another source of compressed air in the 2.8 to 6.3 Kg/cm.sup.2 (40 to 90 psig) range. A manually adjusted self relieving air pressure regulator can be used to drop a relatively low flow of the high pressure air to a higher volume flow of low pressure air and such HVLP air is delivered through a large diameter hose to the spray gun. A constant air bleed is no longer needed in order to protect the compressor, provided the source includes a regulator of the self-regulating design. Nor is an air proportioning valve needed. However, a cumbersome air hose of the type used with a turbine compressor operated HVLP system must be used between the regulator and the spray gun to carry the needed air volume at a low pressure. Further, adjustments must be made at both the gun and the regulator to achieve proper atomization and a desired fan pattern.
An improvement to the HVLP spray gun operated from a high pressure air source involves delivering the high pressure air through a small diameter air hose to the spray gun and passing the air through either a calibrated fixed orifice or through an adjustable orifice in the form of a needle valve. The resulting pressure drop across the orifice provides the required lower air pressure at an expanded volume. Where an adjustable orifice is provided, the orifice at the valve seat can be suitably sized so that at the maximum open position and at the maximum supply air pressure, a dynamic air pressure of 0.7 Kg/cm.sup.2 (10 psig) is never exceeded downstream of the needle valve. The advantage here is that a smaller compressed air hose, typically no greater than 1 cm (3/8 inch) inside diameter may be used, as compared to the significantly larger diameter air hose required to deliver a high volume flow of low pressure air. The disadvantages are that a needle valve can be clogged by foreign debris and that because this valve is not self-compensating, it is also negatively affected by changes in supply air pressure. Hence, a slight dip in supply air pressure will cause a corresponding undesirable dip in atomizing and fan air pressure at the air nozzle. Also, owing to the non-pressure compensating feature of the needle valve or fixed orifice, the orifice needs to be sized based on the various air nozzle versions for a given HVLP spray gun. For example, if the orifice size is determined based on a wide fan air nozzle, then using a narrow fan air nozzle (having less air flow) would cause a higher back pressure tending to exceed the 10 psig limit. Therefore, the orifice must be sized to accommodate the back pressure limitations of the lowest flow air nozzle, which then compromises the maximum attainable operating pressure with the higher flow, wider fan air nozzles. The result is that the wider fan air nozzles tend to provide a relative lower degree of atomization than the narrow fan air nozzles.
It is therefore desirable that an HVLP spray gun be capable of receiving the required air via a small diameter compressed air hose for increased maneuverability and to be able to convert the supplied high pressure air into a predetermined constant low pressure high volume air flow having a pressure which does not exceed 0.7 Kg/cm.sup.2 (10 psig). It is further desirable that such a spray gun not be affected by the kinds of external influences described above, such as debris in the air line, air supply pressure variations, and various air nozzle designs which permit different air flow rates for a given gun operating air pressure.


A flush actuator device with a foot pedal for actuating a flush action at a toilet is provided. The flush actuator device may replace or supplement a manual handle on a conventional toilet and allows flushing action to be initiated by depressing a foot pedal on a floor surface adjacent the toilet. With the flush actuator device, a flush action can be performed using the foot pedal without necessitating any contact with the other parts of the toilet which may be deemed dirty or unsanitary, particularly in public restroom settings. A method of installing the flush actuator device onto an existing toilet is provided. Further, a method for actuating flushing of a toilet using a flush actuator device having a foot pedal is described. The ability to retroactively fit the flush actuator device to an existing toilet eliminates the need for complicated and expensive plumbing fixture replacement.

The standard toilet design and construction have remained largely unchanged for decades. In this regard, a toilet typically includes a rear tank or reservoir containing a quantity of water that is released into the bowl of the toilet to "flush" waste products through a siphon and an outlet connected to the bottom of the bowl when a flush valve within the reservoir is opened to permit water flow from the reservoir into the bowl. The flush valve then re-closes so that the reservoir can be refilled with water from a water supply for the next flushing action. The flush valve is typically coupled by a chain or some similar mechanical link to a handle mounted on the exterior of the reservoir. By rotating the handle, the chain is pulled by lever action to lift the flush valve off its seat and initiate the discharge of water into the bowl.
Toilets and specifically these handles are viewed as highly unsanitary by many users, particularly in public restroom settings where many different persons use those facilities. Accordingly, many users choose to actuate the handle using their foot rather than their hand, or even worse, choose to not flush the waste products at all. Such flushing by foot often is a violent action that can damage the handle or toilet and/or can lead to slips and falls that can injure the user.
As such, it would be desirable to provide an improved mechanism for allowing users to more easily actuate flushing of toilets in these types of settings that avoids the potential problems raised by the conventional design. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide such improved mechanisms in a manner that can be retrofitted to existing toilets so that expensive fixture replacement can be avoided by businesses and other parties that maintain restrooms.


The invention provides improvements in reagents for use in electron transfer dissociation ionization techniques for use in mass spectrometry, particularly for sequencing peptides and proteins using mass spectrometric techniques involving electrospray ionization and MS/MS characterization of fragment ions. The novel reagents used in the inventive methods allow for more effective determination of protein sequences, especially of long peptides or post-translationally modified protein fragments. Use of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons azulene, homoazulene, and acenaphthylene, and homodimers and heterodimers thereof, are described.

Mass spectrometry has become a powerful technique for the determination of the structure of organic compounds, and has been applied to polypeptides (proteins) to ascertain the amino acid sequences of such polymers.
Electron Transfer Dissociation (ETD) is a gas-phase ion/ion oxidation-reduction reaction that utilizes an anionic species to transfer an electron to a multiply charged cation, i.e., a polyprotonated (polycationic) organic or biomolecular compound, usually a polypeptide, resulting in the dissociation of the compound into structurally informative product ions. These dissociation product ions can then be analyzed by any suitable mass spectrometric technique. This is particularly useful when the molecular species is a protein or peptide, as amino acid sequence information can be obtained thereby. In typical implementations of ETD, both the reagent anions and the precursor cations are confined in at least two dimensions within a radio frequency (RF) electrodynamic field.
In the most commonly employed techniques, reagent and precursor (polycationic) ions are simultaneously trapped by the electrodynamic fields within two-dimensional (2D-linear) or three-dimensional RF quadrupole ion trapping devices that also serve as mass analyzers. Generally, ETD reaction kinetics are pseudo first order, as the number density of the reagent ions within the overlapping clouds of trapped reagent and precursor ions is much larger than that of the precursor ions. Therefore the rate of conversion of precursor cations to product cations is approximately proportional to the initial concentrations (number density) of reagent anions (which are relatively stable throughout the reaction period). Utilizing low m/z (mass-to-charge ratio) reagents achieves reaction rates that are faster than those achieved with higher m/z reagents by allowing the ion trap to be operated such that the intensity of RF confinement fields (applied electrode voltage levels) during the reaction are greater, enabling creation of a higher density reagent anion cloud in the confining RF quadrupolar field, and therefore providing correspondingly higher reaction rates, whilst also allowing the retention of low m/z product ions following the ETD reaction by maintaining a sufficiently low m/z (mass-to-charge) cutoff (LMCO). This allows most of the possible C- and N-terminal product ions to be retained by the device. The faster reaction rates allow the mass spectrometer to generate ETD product ion spectra at a higher rate (which translates to shorter effective "scan" times), enabling mass spectrometric methods that can more thoroughly interrogate purified analytes introduced from a chromatographic column. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,534,622, by certain of the inventors herein.

Reagents for electron transfer dissociation in mass spectrometry analysis

University of Virginia Patent Foundation


In an entire region exposure unit, a platform section and a local transfer mechanism are arranged in one direction. The local transfer mechanism is provided with a local transfer hand. A substrate on which a resist film having a predetermined pattern is formed is held by the local transfer hand. A light-emitting device is attached to the upper portion of the local transfer mechanism. Strip-shaped light is emitted from the light-emitting device toward below. The local transfer mechanism operates such that the local transfer hand is moved relative to the light-emitting device. At this time, the light-emitting device irradiates one surface of the substrate that is moving horizontally with the strip-shaped light. The resist film is modified by the light.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure device which performs exposure processing on the substrate, a substrate processing apparatus, a method for exposing a substrate and a substrate processing method.
(2) Description of Related Art
Substrate processing apparatuses are used to subject various types of substrates such as semiconductor substrates, substrates for liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, optical disks, magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, and photomasks, and other substrates to various types of processing.
Such a substrate processing apparatus generally subjects a single substrate to a plurality of different types of processing successively. The substrate processing apparatus as described in JP 2003-324139 A is constituted by an indexer block, an anti-reflection film processing block, a resist film processing block, a development processing block, and an interface block. A stepper, which is an external device separate from the substrate processing apparatus, is arranged adjacent to the interface block.
In the above-mentioned substrate processing apparatus, a substrate carried out of the indexer block is transferred to the stepper through the interface block after being subjected to anti-reflection film formation and resist film coating processing in the anti-reflection film processing block and the resist film processing block. After the resist film on the substrate is subjected to exposure in a predetermined pattern in the stepper, the substrate is transferred to the development processing block through the interface block. After development processing is performed on the resist film on the substrate in the development processing block such that the resist film having a predetermined pattern is formed, the substrate is transferred to the indexer block.

Exposure device, substrate processing apparatus, method for exposing substrate and substrate processing method

SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd.