An extension plate for use in a compactor includes an elongate body extending between a first surface configured to be coupled to the compactor frame and a second surface configured to be coupled to a support of the compactor. The first surface includes a first opening aligning with an opening into an interior of the compactor. A second opening in at least one of the elongate body or the second surface communicates with the first opening to allow passage of a hose through the extension plate and through the opening in the frame into the interior space.

Compactors are typically used to compact material, such as hot asphalt, loose gravel, soil or other material. While compactors can be constructed in a variety of configurations, generally, compactors are vehicles including one or more cylindrically shaped drums that function as wheels that compress material underneath. The drums may have a smooth surface, or may include features, such as teeth, depending on the material to be compacted. For example, in paving roads typically an asphalt paver spreads hot, loose asphalt approximately to a desired grade. The asphalt paver is then followed by a compactor having one or more smooth-surfaced drums, which rolls over the loose asphalt, thereby compacting it to a hard surface. This process may be repeated several times in a series of layers until a final desired grade is reached. By way of further example, gravel or other material may be spread to an approximate grade and then compacted by a compactor.
In order to provide efficient operation of the compactor, it is desirable to provide the operator with visibility of the maximum width of the drum surface. Not only does good visibility of outer drum edges allow an operator to determine precisely the area that he or she is compacting, it allows the operator to ensure that the drum surface remains clean, such that the compactor provides the desired surface quality to the compacted material. For example, because hot asphalt is generally sticky, asphalt can stick to the surface of a drum of the compactor instead of being compacted with the rest of the asphalt, resulting in voids in the asphalt surface. Thus, it is desirable for the operator of the compactor to be able to see the outer drum surface in order to determine whether asphalt or other material is sticking to the drum and, if necessary, take appropriate corrective action. Moreover, compactors often include sprayers that maintain a wet outer drum surface in order to minimize the opportunity for asphalt or other material to stick to the drum. Maximum visibility of the width of the drum surface allows the operator to determine whether the sprayers are functioning properly in order to deter asphalt from adhering to the drum surface.
The drums of compactors are typically operated hydraulically with hoses extending from one or more control valves located in the interior of the compactor to a hydraulic drive unit located in the interior of the drum. To withstand high pressures common in hydraulic systems, hydraulic hoses associated with the hydraulic systems of compactors must be robust, and, as a result, often have limited bending or arcing radii. Depending upon the hose routing, the hydraulic hoses may present obstacles to the visibility of the drum surfaces, particularly toward the outer drum edges.
In order to pass through the frame of the compactor to the control valve, various fittings are often used to compensate for the large bending radius of the hoses as well to allow passage of hydraulic fluid through the frame of the compactor from the compactor's exterior to its interior. For example, bulkhead fittings ("bulkheads" for short) are fittings designed to allow the passage of hydraulic fluid through a wall, such as through a metal plate of a compactor frame. Generally, a bulkhead is a hollow cylinder configured to extend completely through a hole in the wall and connect to a hose at each end, such as by threads, a quick-connect mechanism, or other mechanism. Because hydraulic hoses generally terminate in a fitting, such as a male or female connector, that is wider than the outer diameter of the hose, passing a hose through a hole in the frame without a bulkhead would typically result in undesirable wear to the outer surface of the hose. Rather than bending a hydraulic hose in a wide arc in order to guide it to a bulkhead, 90-degree fittings or other degree bends are often used to allow a hydraulic routing to make sharper turns than would be possible by simply arcing a hose.
The inclusion of multiple fittings in a hydraulic routing increases labor costs associated not only with initial installation, but also with integrity testing and ongoing maintenance. Once the compactor is assembled, each connection of a fitting to the corresponding routing requires testing to ensure that the hydraulic system does not leak. Moreover, each fitting connection is a potential location for a future leak during the life cycle of the compactor. Accordingly, it is desirable to minimize the amount of fittings used. In order to minimize production costs, it is further desirable that frame of a compactor be usable with various widths of rollers.

Extension plate for a compactor and method


The method of the invention enables a coating to be made on at least one face to be protected of a metal substrate and/or article in order to improve its performance in terms of resistance to wear by friction, in particular at high temperature. The method comprises the following steps:                providing a flexible sheet derived from at least one plate obtained by the technique of casting a strip by silkscreen printing from a viscous material made of a binder and a metal powder of a superalloy;        cutting said flexible sheet to the dimensions of said face to be protected of a metal substrate and/or article in order to constitute a preform;        placing said preform on said face to be protected of a metal substrate and/or article; and        raising the assembly to a temperature enabling a coating to be formed by establishing a bond between said preform and said face to be protected.

There exist numerous applications in which metal articles are exposed to high temperatures. Such applications relate, for example, to a variety of aerospace applications and also to terrestrial operations where parts are used in gas turbine engines.
In all these applications, it is important to provide means for avoiding excessively fast wear of articles subjected to friction or contact in normal use, given that such wear considerably shortens their lifetime and can lead to real problems concerning performance and safety.
Articles of this type, such as rolling parts or cams, usually present a contact surface that is not plane and that may be more or less irregular in shape.
Conventionally, such articles are coated, in particular on their contact surfaces, with a coating that improves their ability to withstand wear at high temperatures.
Usually, the coatings are deposited by various techniques such as vapor deposition, plasma sputtering, electrolysis, chemical means, etc.
Given that the contact surface for coating may present a shape that is very complex, it is difficult to obtain uniform thicknesses by using those direct deposition techniques. In addition, the cost and the limitations of those deposition techniques do not enable large thickness to be obtained for such protective coatings.

Method of making a coating on a metal substrate and/or an article, such a coating, such a metal substrate and/or an article, and a cam forming such an article


An umbilical cable assembly is created by a process which, in an embodiment, fits an abandonment cap onto an end of an electrically conductive cable as well as a polyethylene disc into which a set of connection pins have been pre-molded. The abandonment cap is injection molded onto the end of the electrically conductive cable where a cylindrical volume of polyethylene is concurrently injection molded to the polyethylene disc. In certain embodiments some of the connection pins are connected to the umbilical's conductive power core. The abandonment cap, fitted to an umbilical exposed end, includes an injection molded, substantially cylindrical volume of polyethylene disposed over the cable sheath; the disc in which a set of connection pins have been pre-molded; the concurrently injection molded, substantially cylindrical volume of polyethylene disposed over the disc; and a protective cover disposed at least partially over the disc proximate an exposed end of the umbilical's conductive power core.

Umbilicals, such as those used subsea, and their components often need to be accessible for performance monitoring during the installation process. In many cases those same components need to be sealed from seawater ingress prior to final overboading from the installation vessel. Therefore special sealing caps, often known as abandonment caps are assembled onto the previously exposed ends of the cables.
The abandonment caps currently used use resins and oils that are problematic to transport offshore and by air due to their chemical nature, the resins also have a limited shelf life. Current products are those that utilize tapes, adhesives, resins and heatshrink sleeving, these are notoriously unreliable due to the dissimilar materials used for sealing which leave an interface for leakage. Their success also relies on the fitter's skill and attention to detail. In addition they do not facilitate testing while fitted to the cable.
Current art cables are typically manufactured with low density polyethylene conductor insulation rather than ethylene propylene copolymer (EPC) insulation. Low density polyethylene has a lower melt index making the molding process more difficult to accomplish because of washing away of the insulation and push over of conductors during the injection process. This problem would be more pronounced the smaller the conductor size.
A current cap design incorporates an epoxy resin that requires a minimum cure time of 4 hours. Therefore, for a typical umbilical with multiple MV power cores and LV cables, even when using multiple technicians assembling caps as parallel activities, the elapsed time is significant. It can easily be in excess of 12 hours per umbilical. For a project with multiple umbilicals the time taken to fit these caps represents a significant additional vessel time and therefore cost. Additionally, this process requires the umbilical to remain in a position hanging off the back of the installation vessel for those 12 hours while the caps are installed. This is not a preferred situation from the perspective of risk and fatigue accumulation in the umbilical.

Molded testable long term subsea abandonment cap for electrical cables and method of manufacture


A blanking die apparatus includes a first blanking die including an upper die shoe including an upper die shoe cutting surface and a lower die shoe including a lower die shoe cutting surface. A second blanking die includes an upper die shoe including an upper die shoe cutting surface and a lower die shoe including a lower die shoe cutting surface. The second blanking die movable on a base in a feed direction to increase and decrease a dimension of a blank formed between the first blanking die and the second blanking die.

Straight blanks may be cut using a single die that cuts one blank per stroke. The blanks may then be shaped, for example, in a stamping process into a stamped part. There are also blanking dies that can form two blanks in one stroke. Often, the straight blanks are formed from a metal sheet material that is wound into a coil and delivered to the die in portions for blanking operations. Blanking dies are useful for their reliability and repeatability to form blanks of particular dimensions. However, there may be a need to form blanks of different dimensions.
Accordingly, a need exists for blanking die apparatuses that cut multiple blanks in a single stroke that can cut blanks of different dimensions without changing positions of blank cutters on a particular blanking die.

Adjustable width blanking die apparatuses

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


A shrub shelter assembled from modular, interlocking components forms an inverted-V-shaped device to protect shrubs, bushes, small trees and other plants from the damaging effects of falling ice and snow. The assembly of the preferred embodiment utilizes a modular hinge assembly connecting a front framework panel to a rear framework panel. The framework panels are themselves assembled from modular legs, modular horizontal slats, and optional modular vertical slats. Leg extenders enable the height of the shelter to be easily varied, and leg anchors are used to firmly attach the shelter to the ground. Assembly is very simple and fast, and requires no tools.

Different methods and devices have been used in the past to protect plants, shrubs and trees from damage by falling ice and snow, especially under the eaves of buildings. Some methods have involved binding plant branches with twine and securing a covering of burlap or other mesh-like material around the plant. The use of wire or tubular frameworks and similar mesh-like coverings have also been employed, but all such methods have been marginally successful, at best, and are unsightly in appearance.
Prior devices that provide adequate protection for such plants, shrubs and trees are lacking in one or more of the following attributes: durability and attractiveness, ease of assembly and disassembly, portability and storability, adaptability to various plant heights and shapes, and economic manufacture of a device to permit simple user assembly, without the use of separate parts or fasteners, and a reasonable consumer investment.
Wooden shrub protectors have also been used in colder climate regions, but they are expensive to fabricate, are time and labor intensive in their assembly, and are difficult and expensive to maintain from the deteriorating effects of weather. Other known protection devices offer a solution to some of the above lacking attributes, but not all. For example: the "Shrub Protector" of Greenman and Pelky U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,643 has advantages of being portable and inexpensive but employs outdated technology using wooden slats as supporting side members. The slats must be procured separately, time-consumingly fitted with several pieces of hardware and fasteners, and are subject to deterioration from weather conditions. Storability, upon disassembly, may also be problematic without the use of separate containers to hold its various parts.
Similarly, the "Plant, Shrub and Tree Protector Garden Panel" of Thomas U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,673 requires several parts and fasteners as well as considerable set-up time in its initial assembly and reconfiguration. The height adjustment feature is quite limited by the fixed lengths of the sheet-like plates and is an added initial cost to consumers who may not need this at all, or perhaps for a considerable length of time.
The "Shrub Protector" of Wagner U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,935 incorporates a feature to adjust its legs to irregular land conformation surrounding a shrub, but does little to provide continuing protection for shrubs or trees which may grow beyond its overall height. Additionally, the device may now be cost prohibitive, being constructed of aluminum, stainless steel and other such materials, especially in light of technological advances in the use of high-impact plastics, extruded polyvinyl and the like.
Whatever the advantages, features and benefits of the references cited above, none of the devices completely overcome difficulties associated with prior art devices nor satisfies the purposes of the interlocking shrub shelter of the present invention.

Modular interlocking shrub shelter and method of assembly


A semiconductor device may be manufactured by employing an ashing process for removing a photoresist in a process chamber, wherein the ashing process comprises: removing the photoresist for a first predetermined process time by flowing one or more oxygen and nitrogen source gases into the process chamber at first predetermined pressure, power, and temperature conditions; removing a surface portion of a polymer (e.g., from a previous etching process) for a second predetermined process time by flowing a mixture of one or more water source gases (e.g., H2O) and a fluorocarbon (e.g., CF4) into the process chamber at second predetermined pressure, power, and temperature conditions; and removing remaining photoresist for a third predetermined process time by flowing an oxygen source gas (e.g., O2) gas into the process chamber at third predetermined pressure, power, and temperature conditions.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device which is capable of suppressing defects that may occur due to a remaining polymer, since polymer produced by a previous etching process can be removed during an ashing process for removing a photoresist on a surface of the device.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A photolithography process for patterning a semiconductor device is one of the most important processes among various manufacturing processes of semiconductor devices. According to a typical photolithography patterning process, photoresist application, soft baking, exposure, baking ("post-exposure" baking), and development processes are sequentially performed. After such a photolithography patterning process, an ashing process is performed for removing the photoresist without causing damage to the semiconductor device, generally using an O2 plasma.
A conventional photolithography and ashing processes will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1A to FIG. 1D, with an example of a method of fabricating a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor.
A capacitor used in an analog circuit (for example, a CMOS analog logic circuit) usually has a polysilicon-insulator-polysilicon (PIP) structure or the MIM structure. Different from a MOS capacitor or a junction capacitor, such a capacitor is typically bias-independent, and thus high precision is required.
One may select either the PIP structure or the MIM structure, depending on the target use. For example, the MIM structure is usually used for a semiconductor device intended to operate at a high frequency. In more detail, since the characteristics of the high frequency device are quite dependent on RC delays, the MIM structure using a metal having good electrical characteristics is often selected for such a high frequency device.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a barrier metal layer 13, a metal layer 15, and an anti-reflection coating (ARC) layer 17 are sequentially deposited on an insulation layer 11 in a semiconductor substrate (generally having one or more lower structures below the insulation layer 11, not shown) so as to form a lower metal line. An insulation layer 19 such as a silicon nitride layer is formed on the ARC layer 17. Further, titanium (Ti), titanium nitride (TiN), or a Ti/TiN bilayer is deposited thereon as an upper electrode by a sputtering process so as to form an upper metal layer 21.
Subsequently, an upper electrode photoresist pattern 23 is formed by depositing (usually by spin-coating) a photoresist layer over the entire silicon substrate and then patterning the photoresist layer. Then, a reactive ion etching (RIE) process is performed using the upper electrode photoresist pattern 23 as an etching mask. By the etching process, exposed regions of the upper metal layer 21 and the insulation layer 19 are removed so as to form the upper electrode. A polymer 1 (refer to FIG. 1B) may form on exposed surfaces of the device during such an etching process.
Referring to FIG. 1B, oxygen (O2) gas is inserted into a vacuum process chamber, and then high frequency power (i.e., an RF power) is applied thereto so as to generated a white glow (plasma) discharge. During the ashing process for removing the photoresist pattern 23, O radicals generated by the O2 plasma react with the photoresist so as to form reaction products, and the reaction products are exhausted or removed from the chamber by vacuum. Subsequently, a wet cleaning process is performed in order to remove the polymer 1 produced during the etching of the upper metal layer 21.
However, as shown in FIG. 1B, the polymer 1 produced in the previous etching process may react or otherwise combine with the photoresist and remain on the ARC layer 17. Although the ashing with O2 plasma shows a good ashing rate and good removability, plasma damage may be caused to the device. Furthermore, surface hardening may occur during the ashing process, which may cause adverse effects.
Referring to FIG. 1C, in order to form a lower electrode, another photoresist layer (not shown) is formed by applying a photoresist over the entire structure having the upper electrode. Subsequently, the photoresist layer is patterned such that a lower electrode photoresist pattern 25 partially exposes the lower metal line. At this time, a region 3 may be formed at the lower electrode photoresist pattern 25 by the polymer 1 remaining from the previous processes. The region 3 may function as a partial etch mask, as is explained with regard to FIG. 1D.
Now referring to FIG. 1D, a reactive ion etching process is performed using the lower electrode photoresist pattern 25 as an etching mask. By the etching process, exposed regions of the ARC layer 17, the metal layer 15, the barrier metal layer 13, and the interlayer insulation layer 11 are removed to a predetermined width so as to form the lower electrode. When the region 3 occurs at the lower electrode photoresist pattern 25 in the previous process, it negatively affects the etching process for forming the lower electrode (e.g., by blocking exposure of the ARC layer 17 from the etch process for some period of time). Thus, an unetched region 5 may also occur at one or more layers in or under the lower electrode (e.g., the metal layer 15, the barrier metal layer 13, and/or the insulation layer 11).
As described above, according to the art, a polymer produced during a metal etching process may not be fully removed, and may remain through subsequent processes, thereby resulting in a negative effect such as a partial mask region. In this case, a process margin for a subsequent process may deteriorate, and the yield of semiconductor devices may also deteriorate.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention, and therefore, it may contain information that does not form prior art or other information that is already known in this or any other country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device


The electrode of the present invention includes a current collector and an active material-containing layer formed on one side or both sides of the current collector. The active material-containing layer has a thickness of 20 to 200 μm per one side of the current collector, and diethyl carbonate permeates the active material-containing layer at a rate of 0.1 g/(cm2·min) or higher. Further, the method for producing an electrode of the present invention includes the steps of: forming an electrode precursor by forming an active material-containing layer on one side or both sides of a current collector; and compressing the electrode precursor. In the electrode precursor forming step, the active material-containing layer is formed such that the active material-containing layer has a higher porosity in a portion close to the current collector then in other portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrode used in lithium-ion secondary batteries and the like and to a method for producing the electrode.
2. Description of Related Art
Nonaqueous electrolyte batteries typified by a lithium-ion secondary battery are characterized by their high energy density, and thus have been widely used as power sources for portable devices such as a portable telephone and a notebook personal computer. There is a trend toward a further increase in the capacity of lithium-ion secondary batteries as the portable devices have become more sophisticated. Hence, it is necessary to further increase their energy density.
As one of the means of increasing the energy density of a lithium-ion secondary battery, an active material-containing layer formed on one side or both sides of a current collector has been increased in thickness. However, an increase in the thickness of the active material-containing layer leads to an increase in the distance from the active material-containing layer to the current collector, which makes it difficult for an electrolyte to permeate into the vicinity of the current collector from the surface of the active material-containing layer, so that the charge-discharge characteristics may not be improved.
To solve this problem, JP 2008-251401 A, for example, proposes an electrode in which the active material particle size distribution in the lower portion of the active material-containing layer (i.e., the portion of the active material-containing layer close to the current collector) has a larger peak than that of the active material particle size distribution in the surface portion of the active material-containing layer (i.e., the portion of the active material-containing layer on the side opposite to the current collector) and the thickness of the lower portion makes up 50 to 90% of the total thickness of the surface portion and the lower portion.
In the electrode described in JP 2008-251401 A, while the electrolyte permeability improves in the surface portion of the active material-containing layer because the porosity of the surface portion increases, the electrolyte permeability tends to deteriorate in the lower portion of the active material-containing layer because the porosity of the lower portion declines contrary to the surface portion.
With the foregoing in mind, the present invention provides an electrode in which the active material-containing layer has improved electrolyte permeability in the lower portion.

Electrode and method for producing the same


The invention relates to an aqueous ink composition for use in ink jet printers comprising an aqueous carrier; a pigment; and a copolymer comprising a hydrophilic segment having an acidic function group, and a hydrophobic segment having a hydrolytically stable siloxyl substituent.

Ink jet printing is accomplished by ejecting ink from a nozzle toward paper or another print medium. The ink is driven from the nozzles toward the medium in a variety of ways. For example, in electrostatic printing, the ink is driven from a nozzle toward a medium with an electrostatic field. Another ink jet printing procedure, known as squeeze tube, employs a piezo-electric element in the ink nozzle. Electrically-caused distortions of the piezo-electric element pump the ink through the nozzle and toward the print medium. In still another ink jet printing procedure, known as thermal or bubble ink jet printing, the ink is driven from a nozzle toward the print medium by the formation of an expanding vapor-phase bubble in the nozzle. These various printing methods are described in "Output Hard Copy Devices", edited by Durbeck and Sherr, Academic Press, 1988 (see particularly chapter 13 entitled "Ink Jet Printing").
Ink compositions for use in ink jet printers generally comprise deionized water, a water-soluble or water-miscible organic solvent, and a colorant. Generally, the colorant is a soluble dye. Unfortunately, inks comprising soluble dyes can exhibit many problems, such as poor waterfastness, poor lightfastness, clogging of the jetting channels as a result of solvent evaporation and changes in the dye's solubility, dye crystallization, ink bleeding and feathering when prints are formed on plain papers, poor thermal stability, chemical instability, and ease of oxidation. Many of these problems can be minimized by replacing the dyes used in ink formulations with insoluble pigments. In general, pigments have superior properties with respect to dyes, such as good waterfastness, good lightfastness, good image density, thermal stability, oxidative stability, the ability to perform intercolor ink mixing, and compatibility with both coated/treated and plain papers.
In pigmented ink compositions, the pigment dispersion is generally stabilized by a polymeric component. For example, Ma et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,698, disclose an ink composition comprising pigment, aqueous medium, and an acrylic/acrylate block copolymer as a stabilizing agent. Destabilization of the pigment dispersion can result in precipitation of pigment in the nozzle of the ink jet printer which can eventually adversely impact the printing process. Most prior art pigment dispersions will irreversibly clog the nozzle of ink jet printers when left standing in the atmosphere for an extended period of time (e.g., 6 hours).
While prior pigmented ink compositions for ink jet printers did show transient stability for the pigment dispersion, improved pigment ink dispersion is desired to meet the demanding needs of commercial ink jet printers.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved pigmented ink composition for ink jet printers.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following disclosure.

International Business Machines Corporation


There is provided a substrate separation device and method for separating a growth substrate from a laminate structure which includes a support substrate, a semiconductor layer, and the growth substrate. The device includes: a first base which is configured to hold the laminate structure thereon, and includes a first holding unit configured to hold the support substrate defining a bottom surface of the laminate structure and a heating unit configured to heat the laminate structure; and a second base including a second holding unit disposed above the first holding unit and configured to hold the growth substrate defining an upper surface of the laminate structure.

Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments described in the present disclosure relate to a substrate separation device and a substrate separation system.
A laser lift-off (LLO) method is largely used in separating a growth substrate in a process of manufacturing a vertical type light emitting diode (LED). The LLO method is a technique of growing semiconductor epitaxial layers on a growth substrate, bonding a support substrate to an uppermost semiconductor epitaxial layer, and subsequently irradiating a laser beam through the growth substrate to separate the growth substrate from the epitaxial layers.
Here, after bonding the support substrate, bowing may occur due to a difference in coefficients of thermal expansion between the growth substrate and the support substrate. In this case, a focal point of a laser beam may be changed, leading to a failure to transmit energy to an interface between the growth substrate and the epitaxial layers accurately, thereby failing to properly separate the growth substrate.
Failure of transmission of a laser beam due to a defect in the growth substrate, deposition of a metal thin film, contamination, or the like, causes an epitaxial layer or a buffer layer to partially remain, which may damage the growth substrate or the support substrate in the process of separating the growth substrate.

Substrate separation device and substrate separation system


The present invention is a semiconductor device and a method of providing such a semiconductor device which allows a high junction breakdown voltage and a high field turn on voltage, while allowing the field oxide thickness to be limited and being independent of a misalignment of the mask. A method in accordance with the present invention for providing a semiconductor device including a field oxide, the field oxide including a field oxide boundary wherein the field oxide is located within the boundary, the method comprising the step of implanting a first implant area into the substrate, including areas proximate indistance to a junction area, the first area being implanted with a first implant concentration and implanting a second implant area distal to the junction area, the second implant area being implanted with a second implant concentration, wherein the depth of the implant is controlled by the energy level, wherein the implant of the second implant area is independent of a misalignment of a mask.

As semiconductor devices become progressively smaller, conventional methods of solving existing problems are becoming obsolete. One such problem is to avoid what is referred to as "junction breakdown". Junction breakdown is a phenomenon which short circuits the semiconductor devices such as those used in nonvolatile memory. Another such problem is to increase what is referred to as the "field turn on voltage". Field turn on voltage is the voltage at which the field oxide located between the various transistors or devices, typically located in a memory, allows communication between the devices. It is desirable to provide a field turn on voltage high enough to prevent communication between the various devices.
To increase the junction breakdown voltage, the field implant concentration can be lowered. However, to increase the field turn on voltage, either the field oxide thickness can be increased or the field implant concentration can be increased. If the field implant concentration is increased, however, it will result in an undesirable decrease of the junction breakdown voltage.
The conventional method for increasing the junction breakdown voltage is to lower the field implant concentration. The conventional method for increasing the field turn on voltage is to use a thick field oxide. However, as the semiconductor devices become increasingly smaller, the range of acceptable field oxide thicknesses become increasingly more limited.
For further background information regarding issues involving semiconductor manufacturing, see Silicon Processing for VLSI Era vol. II, Processing Integration, by Stanley Wolf, Lattice Press, 1990; and Semiconductor Devices Physics and Technology, S. M. Sze, 1985, copyright to Bell Labs.
One solution, such as the channel stop implant architecture manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., solves the problem of increasing the junction breakdown voltage and increasing the field turn on voltage while limiting the oxide thicknesses. This architecture uses a low field implant concentration to increase junction breakdown voltage and an area with high field implant concentration located away from the source/drain junction to increase the field turn on voltage. Although this architecture is acceptable for many applications, it is dependent upon correct alignment of a mask used in producing the area with the high field implant concentration located away from the source/drain junction. If this mask is misaligned, the high field implant concentration area may be created too close to the source/drain junction, thus decreasing the junction breakdown voltage.
There is a need for a device and method for providing a semiconductor device which provides for a high junction breakdown voltage and a high field turn on voltage which does not require a thick field oxide and is independent of a misalignment of the mask. The present invention addresses such a need.

Channel stop implant profile shaping scheme for field isolation


A plaster hole restoration insert employs a shield which opens as an umbrella once inserted through a hole in a wall and which is propped or jacked against the interior of the wall with the hole by a ratchet type jack extending through a hub in the center of the shield and bearing against the opposite side of the wall. The shield may be trimmed to fit, or more than one shield may be employed for a larger hole. The shield has hinged fingers projecting from the hub with a flexible membrane or sheet extending between the fingers. The fingers are limited in their hinging movement to provide a backstop for plaster restoration of the hole. A removable handle is provided to facilitate the propping of the insert against the interior of the hole.

Most walls built are hollow. A typical interior wall is formed with wood or metal stud framing on certain centers with large sheets of gypsum or plasterboard secured to the framing. The seams in the board are taped and finished, and the wall is then painted or papered. Ceilings may be formed by boards secured to rafters and finished in the same way.
Holes are sometimes made in such walls or surfaces, such as by a door knob punch out, other accidents, or even maliciously. While small holes such as those used for picture hooks are easy to repair, larger holes or punchouts are not.
There are two generally employed methods of repairing such larger holes. One is to secure a tape-like patch over the hole and then smooth a plaster compound or grout over the patch. When it dries, the wall is repainted or papered. Unfortunately, the spot soon becomes visible. The repair spot also cannot withstand any contact pressure. It is so weak, a person could put a finger through the wall, and any significant contact distorts the wall and finish. Such repair systems simply are not a restoration of the wall or surface. They are cosmetic and of short life.
Another repair system is to remove or cut out a section of the board which includes the hole and replace it with a sized cut section spanning the centers of adjoining studs. The replacement section is usually rectangular having a width dictated by the stud centers and a height dictated by the size of the hole. When the repair section is in place, the seams are taped and troweled as with the installation of new board. While the seams along the stud centers are generally reliable because of the stud support, the seams spanning the studs are not. Any pressure against the insert section will soon make the top and bottom or spanning seams visible distortions marring the appearance of the wall.
The most desirable way to repair walls would be to restore the gypsum or plaster material to the hole. While plaster can be applied with a trowel or spatula to smooth over the wall surface, the hollow nature of the wall makes this impractical. Without an interior plug, form, or backstop, the plaster would literally fill the hollow wall cavity and entomb anything inside the wall such as wiring or outlet boxes.


Disclosed herein is an optical router based on dynamic wavelength assignment, for receiving data signals and an aggregate control signal from servers, and comprising a modulation module and a wavelength selection module, which comprises a multi-wavelength light source for generating an input carrier having wavelengths, and a carrier processing unit for separating the input carrier into carriers and for guiding the carriers to the modulating units based on the aggregate control signal. The modulation module comprises an optical coupler and modulating units in one-to-one correspondence with the servers. Each modulating unit is adapted for receiving the data signal from the corresponding server and for modulating the received carrier into an optical signal based on the data signal. The optical coupler is adapted for aggregating the optical signals into an aggregate optical signal.

Many data centers, relying on coaxial infrastructure, are burdened and unable to keep up with the growing thirst for bandwidth posed by the multimedia and cloud services of the Internet, and by telecommunication in general. In place of traditional cables, optical fiber has become the primary and most researched transmission medium, be it long-distance or last-mile, for its compactness, low attenuation, high capacity, and immunity to electromagnetic interference.
Wavelength-division multiplexing is widely adopted in the optical communication industry to increase the per-fiber transmission rate and reduce material cost by aggregating signals of several wavelengths onto a single fiber. A wavelength-division multiplexer requires light of a given wavelength as input, often from a tunable laser, which is expensive considering the temperature and wavelength control modules attached to it.

Optical router and terminal devices therewith based on dynamic wavelength assignment

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


One embodiment disclosed relates to a method of visually locating a memory module. An electronic communication is received by circuitry on the memory module to be visually located. A beacon state in the memory module is activated due to receipt of the electronic communication. A beacon device on the memory module is electronically turned on when the beacon state is activated to draw attention to that memory module. Another embodiment disclosed relates to an apparatus to visually locate a memory module in a memory system with a plurality of memory modules. The apparatus includes a system board, a plurality of memory modules, and an LED unit on a memory module. The beacon unit includes a beacon device and control circuitry for turning on the beacon device when an electronic communication to turn on the beacon device is received by that memory module.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to memory systems.
2. Description of the Background Art
In today's computer industry, dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) are one of the dominant memory technologies. DRAMs are the preferred choice for large main memories because they are inexpensive, fast and consume little power. DRAMs are typically manufactured in discrete semiconductor packages having different input/output (I/O) data widths of, for example, sixteen, thirty-two, or sixty-four, or more data bits.
The number of data bits that a computer can simultaneously address and manipulate, i.e., the computer bus width, is typically much larger than that commonly available with DRAMs. To accommodate these bus widths, groups of DRAMs are typically packaged together to form memory modules, such as, for example, DIMMs (Dual In-line Memory Modules) and other types of memory modules.
FIG. 1A shows a side view of a conventional memory system 100 with two DIMM modules. The memory system 100 includes a CPU or memory controller 102 affixed to a motherboard 106 and two dual in line memory modules 108a and 108b. The two memory modules 108a-b shown each includes N memory devices 112 connected in parallel. Assuming for purposes of discussion that N is equal to eighteen, the eighteen memory devices 112a-N on each memory module 108a and 108b are connected to the memory controller 102 by a data bus 114, which includes board trace portions 116, a connectors 118 and a module trace portions 120.
FIG. 1B shows a block diagram of the memory structure of the memory modules of the memory system 100 shown in FIG. 1A. In FIG. 1B, the data bus is 72 bits wide where 64 bits are used for data and 8 bits are used for error correction. Each of the eighteen memory devices on the memory module 108a-b is 4 bits. The eighteen memory devices are connected in parallel so that for each memory operation, the output onto the data bus 114 is 72 bits wide.
FIG. 1C shows a clock pulse for reading or writing to a memory location of the memory system 100 shown in FIG. 1A. The memory controller 102 reads a single word or memory location from a single memory module at a time. Assuming a single data rate (SDR) system and a read operation, the memory location in memory module 108 having the address 000000 is read at the clock edge t1. The contents of the memory location is 72 bits wide. No memory operation occurs at clock edge t2. A second memory location having the address location 000001 in memory module 108 is read at the clock edge t3.
FIG. 2A shows a side view of a conventional memory system 200 having eight DIMM modules. Similar to the configuration shown In FIG. 1A, the memory system 200 shown in FIG. 2A includes a CPU or memory controller 202 affixed to a motherboard 206. However, this configuration includes eight dual in line memory modules 208a-h instead of the two DIMMs 108a-b shown in FIG. 1A. The eight memory modules 208a-h shown each includes N memory devices 212, The memory controller 202 is connected to the eight memory modules 208a-h by a data bus 214, which includes board trace portions 216, connectors 218 and module trace portions 220.
FIG. 2B shows a block diagram of the memory structure of the memory system 200 shown in FIG. 2A. In the system shown, the data bus is 144 bits wide where 128 bits are used for data and 16 bits are used for error correction. Preferably each memory module Includes eighteen memory devices (N=18), each memory device being 4 bits wide. For each memory module, the memory devices are connected in parallel. Data is read from two memory modules simultaneously, so that for each memory operation, the output onto the data bus 214 is 144 bits wide.
FIG. 2C shows a clock pulse for reading or writing to a memory location of the memory system 200 shown in FIG. 2A. The memory controller 202 reads a single word or memory location from a single memory module at a time. Assuming a double data rate (DDR) system and a memory read operation, the memory location in memory module 208a having the address 000000 and the memory location in memory module 208e having the address 000000 are both read simultaneously at the clock edge t1. A second memory location in memory module 208a having the address location 000001 and a second memory location having the address 000001 in memory module 208e are both read simultaneously at the clock edge t2.
The above-discussed relatively simple memory systems are merely illustrative examples discussed for background purposes. There are numerous other memory system configurations, some much larger and more complex than those discussed above. With the ubiquity of memory systems in computer systems, improvements in the methods and apparatus for utilizing and maintaining such memory systems are highly desirable.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The invention provides a method for determining the activation status of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) pathways in either cell samples or patient samples by measuring receptor dimerization and relative amounts of protein-protein complexes or activated effector proteins that are characteristic of an RTK pathway. The invention also provides a method of using such status information to select patients responsive to pathway-specific drugs, and more particularly, to methods for measuring ErbB receptors and receptor complexes and using such information to select patients responsive to ErbB pathway-specific drugs. Preferably, methods of the invention are implemented by using sets of binding compounds having releasable molecular tags that are specific for multiple components of one or more complexes formed in RTK activation. After binding, molecular tags are released and separated from the assay mixture for analysis.

Signaling pathways between the extracellular environment and the nucleus of a cell involve the formation of many molecular complexes in which multiple proteins are assembled to directly or indirectly induce molecular events, such as enzyme activation or de-activation, Gomperts et al, Signal Transduction (Academic Press, N.Y., 2002). Such pathways and their components have been the subject of intense investigation because of the role aberrant pathway behavior plays in many disease conditions, especially cancer, e.g. McCormick, Trends in Cell Biology, 9: 53-56 (1999); Blume-Jensen and Hunter, Nature, 411: 355-365 (2001); Nicholson et al, Cellular Signalling, 14: 381-395 (2002); and the like. It has been observed that many cancers are associated with an accumulation of mutations or other genetic alterations that affect components of signaling pathways (e.g. by over expression), particularly those pathways involved with cell proliferation, cell motility, differentiation, and cell death, e.g. Blume-Jensen and Hunter (cited above).
Receptor tyrosine kinases are an important class of receptor that are involved in many fundamental cellular processes including cell proliferation, survival, metabolism, and migration, e.g. Schlessinger, Cell, 103: 211-225 (2000). Prominent families of this class include epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR or Her1), platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), and vascular endotheilial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), Blume-Jensen and Hunter (cited above). The class of receptor tyrosine kinases is so named because when activated by dimerization, the intracellular domain of RTKs acquire tyrosine kinase activity that can, in turn, activate a variety signal transduction pathways. Because of this property, many receptor tyrosine kinases have been used as targets for drug development, and several promising clinical-phase drugs, such as Iressa and Tarceva, have been designed to inhibit RTK activity, e.g. Taxler, Expert Opin. Ther. Targets, 7: 215-234 (2003). The availability of convenient methods for measuring pathway activation would lead to better understanding of drug mechanisms, and to better drug selection and disease management.
Signaling pathways have been difficult to study not only because of their complexity and interconnectedness, but also because of the disruptive procedures required for analysis of intracellular complexes, e.g. Weng et al, Science, 284: 92-96 (1999); Machida et al, Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, 2.4: 215-233 (2003); Price et al, Methods in Molecular Biology, 218: 255-267 (2003). A wide variety of techniques have been used to study cellular protein-protein interactions and complexes, including immunoprecipitation, chemical cross-linking, yeast two-hybrid systems, tagged fusion proteins, bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET), fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), mass spectroscopy, and the like, e.g. Golemis, editor, Protein-Protein Interactions (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, 2002); Price et al (cited above); Sorkin et al, Curr. Biol., 10: 1395-1398 (2000); McVey et al, J. Biol. Chem., 17: 14092-14099 (2001); Salim et al, J. Biol. Chem., 277: 15482-15485 (2002); Angers et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 97: 3684-3689 (2000); Jones et al, Proteomics, 2: 76-84 (2002); and Petricoin III, et al, The Lancet, 359: 572-577 (2002). Unfortunately, such techniques are difficult to apply, generally lack sufficient sensitivity to provide an accurate picture of the state of a signaling pathway, and/or cannot measure multiple components or interacting components that are crucial for pathway activation.
In view of the above, the availability of a convenient and sensitive assay for determining activation status of RTK signaling pathways, particularly signaling pathways activated by ErbB receptors, would lead to significant medical advances, especially in the area of cancer treatment and drug development.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Receptor tyrosine kinase signaling pathway analysis for diagnosis and therapy


A quarter turn fastener employed to affix a component to a structural base plate includes bar code indicia to verify installation and locking of the fastener. The fastener is positionable in an insertion position relative to the base plate for insertion through a receptacle, and rotatable one quarter turn to releasably secure it, and the component to the base plate. It includes resilient arms to urge an attachment portion of the fastener against the rear surface of the base plate which are configured to obscure at least a portion of the bar code indicia in any position other than the locked position. When rotated to the locked position, the attachment portion is urged against the rear surface of the base plate the resilient arms do not obscure the bar code indicia. Anti-rotation lugs releasably engage the receptacle to releasably latch the fastener in the locked position.

This disclosure is directed to rotatable fasteners to connect an attachable component to a base or anchor. More particularly, it is directed to an arrangement for verification of a completed connection between the fastener and the base.
In the assembly of various structures, for example automotive vehicles, rotatable fasteners commonly referred to as "quarter turn" fasteners are often employed to attach equipment to the vehicle body. One such use involves attachment of side curtain airbags to the roof rail of the vehicle. Such fasteners advantageously attach to a base plate or anchor previously secured to the roof rail. Such fasteners may also include an energy absorption mechanism which, on inflation of the curtain airbag, absorbs energy of inflation to reduce the resultant force application to the vehicle structure. Such a fastener is known, and is disclosed in International Publication WO 2010/117322, published Oct. 14, 2010, and entitled "Fastener for Air Bag Curtain."
In the assembly of consumer products such as automotive vehicles, manufacturers take precautions to ensure ultimate quality and reliability of the product. Quality assurance involves review and inspection of processes involved in assembly to verify the accomplishment of specific tasks, such as correct and complete connection and fixation of attached elements. Quality control is an important aspect of the securement of fasteners such as described for affixation of the curtain airbag within an automotive vehicle.
Commonly, electronic recognition equipment is employed to monitor the assembly process. Often such electronic sensing is associated with a central processing unit (computer) which, in response to a recognized anomaly, provides output signals to trigger an alarm or other signal, or control an action.
One effective approach to verification is to provide bar code numerization of components to be secured and program the computer to generate an output signal in response to the results of the comparison of input data received from verification sensing to information stored in the computer readable medium.
The present disclosure applies the bar code recognition function available at the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to ensure complete and proper affixation of the fasteners to the base anchors. Toward that end, the fastener is configured to block scannable access to the bar code indicia unless affixation to the vehicle roof rail is correct and complete.

Verification arrangement for fastener system


An antimicrobial filter cartridge having a perforated core member wrapped with a first microporous membrane, which is in turn overwrapped with second and third microporous membranes. The membranes are covered with a criss-cross wrapping of antimicrobial treated yarn. The filter cartridge is sized so as to fit tightly into a cartridge housing of a fluid filtration system. Fluid passing through the cartridge housing will be filtered by the filter cartridge to remove microorganisms from the water and which prevents the growth of bacterial and other microorganisms on the filter media.

In recent years, the public has become increasingly aware of the deteriorating quality of our nation's and the world's water supply. Pollutants, biological and toxic waste and other contaminants are being introduced into water supplies at an ever increasing rate, making such water supplies unfit for drinking and other necessary uses. For example, medical patients with low immunity are now being requested not to drink tap water, and disease and illnesses linked to poor quality drinking water have increased dramatically in recent years. This problem is especially significant outside the United States where water quality has deteriorated to an all time low, with the major source of such contamination primarily being bacterial in nature. Many known solutions that currently exist to purify water, however, generally are too expensive or are not feasible in certain locations.
Of current filtration systems available, reverse osmosis systems are one of the most common solutions for improving water quality. Generally, these systems use a sediment removal filter in conjunction with activated carbon and a bacteriostatic membrane coated with oxides and halide of silver, as described in detail by Nishino in U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,013, placed between the filter and the water outlet. The membrane will prevent certain bacteria from leaving the filter and will retard their growth on the surface of the membrane, but will not check bacterial growth on the activated carbon or the ability of bacteria to multiply and produce toxins. Other mechanical filters such as ceramic filter cartridges that filter out bacteria of about 1 micron in size also are ineffective in retarding bacterial growth as the bacteria are collected on the surface of the filter.
Another type of biocidal reverse osmosis system is described in detail by Von Medlin in U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,919. Von Medlin further teaches the use of a polyiodide resin that releases iodide upon contact with bacteria and viral organisms to combat bacterial growth, and uses granular metal alloys and activated carbon to remove iodides released in the water. If not removed, these iodides would be harmful to human beings. In fact, EPA "Policy on Iodine Disinfection", initially developed in 1973 and reaffirmed in 1982, is that iodine disinfection is for short-term only, whenever iodine-containing species remain in the drinking water.
Thus, it appears that while a portion of the bacteria within the water supply will be caught by these filters, such trapped bacteria are allowed to grow within present water purification systems. Thus, the filters become a breeding ground for bacteria and toxins, possibly subjecting persons to potential harm by ingestion of toxic trace metals such as silver and copper halides, and other contaminants not filtered out of the water.
There has also been considerable development in wound or wrapped filters in which yarns are wrapped in varying patterns and layers about a perforated core. Increasing the number of layers and the tightness of the wrapping of the yarns generally has been found to be more effective at trapping particulate matter in the filter, but also suffers from the drawback of restricting the flow of water through the filter, thereby causing a pressure drop in water flow through the system. Typically, water pressure in a municipal water line in the United States runs between 60-80 psi. As conventional wound filters become more particulate laden, the pressure drop in the line caused by the restriction in water flow through the water filter increases upwards of 15-20 psi or greater. Such a pressure drop is an even greater problem overseas as line pressures generally are lower, on the order of 35 psi or less, so that the use of such filters cause the water flow to be so significantly restricted as to unduly limit the system.
In addition, activated carbon currently is used in many types of filters for removing odors, dissolved organics and unpleasant tastes from water supplies. A drawback to using activated carbon in filters is, however, that carbon is a source of nutrients for bacteria and once infected, carbon filters generally allow rapid multiplication of bacteria on the filters. As a result, carbon filters generally are required to have a warning to use only microbiological safe water for filtration through such filters. As a consequence, in many countries outside the U.S., where waters are not safe from microbiological contaminants, the use of such carbon filters can be dangerous and thus is generally not feasible. This has led to regulations banning the use of carbon in filters for certain uses and in certain areas.
It therefore can be seen that a need exists for an inexpensive and safe to use filter cartridge for a water filtration system that can filter microscopic organisms and prevent bacterial and viral growth within the filter media, without releasing life harming biocides that have to be further filtered out and which does not unduly restrict water flow through the system.


A method for sharing signaling event data in a telephony system can include receiving within a first service logic component an event from a telephony signaling network. An event context can be determined for the event and asynchronously stored within an event context cache communicatively linked with at least said first service logic component and a second service logic component.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of telephony and, more particularly, to exchanging information between service logic components in a telephony network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telecommunication companies continually create new telephony services and/or features (hereafter "services") to be offered to subscribers. Often, these services require the interaction of multiple service logic components. One common example is call control service logic and transaction service logic. While the call control service logic is associated with setting up the voice communication aspects of a telephone call, the transaction service logic provides the foundation for non-voice processing aspects of a telephone service such as 800 number translation, database querying, Short Message Service (SMS), Local Number Portability, and other transaction-based services or service components. Thus, to implement a given telephony service, call control service logic often must interact with transaction service logic.
For example, if a telephone call is to be transferred to another directory number as a result of a number translation performed by the transaction service logic, the call control service logic must be able to obtain the call transfer information from the transaction service logic. That is, responsive to receiving a telephone call, the call control service logic must query the originating service, in this case the transaction service logic, to determine how to handle the telephone call. Traditionally, this interaction between different service logic components has been accomplished through the use of a service-to-service messaging protocol.
Through the service-to-service messaging protocol, a receiving service can determine contextual information regarding a given telephone call. Accordingly, the receiving service, in this case the call control service logic, with reference to the contextual information, can process the telephone call. The service-to-service messaging mechanism, however, has disadvantages. One such disadvantage is that the originating service must remain active to provide information in the form of multiple messages to any receiving services in need of contextual information to complete a call. The originating service becomes the "master" and the receiving service becomes the "slave". The originating service remains active solely to provide needed messaging functions for receiving services despite the fact that the primary function of the originating service has completed. In consequence, costly memory and processor resources are consumed for the duration of the service-to-service lifetime.
Another disadvantage is that the cost of updating a service-to-service messaging protocol can be very high. Notably, each service logic component that relies on the service-to-service messaging protocol must be updated along with the protocol itself. Thus, at a minimum, two service logic components must be updated for a given protocol enhancement. In consequence, multiple nodes within a telephony network may have to undergo a coordinated update process.
These types of issues have been a hindrance to the development of the Intelligent Network (IN) as well as Advanced Intelligent (AIN). Although multiple protocols such as SR-3511, 1129 CORE, CORE INAP, and the like have been developed, no global standard has emerged. Additionally, the cost model for maintaining a service control point (SCP) has begun to rival that of maintaining a telephony switch. Moreover, as services implemented using the SCP cost model are resource intensive, the need to utilize memory and processor resources for the duration of the service-to-service lifetime further increases the cost of service implementation, deployment, and maintenance.

Service logic context cache for signaling events

International Business Machines Corporation


A system is used for determining efficacy of a sterilization cycle. A biological sterility indicator exhibits fluorescence in response to biological activity which is indicative of bacterial growth in the biological sterility indicator. The biological sterility indicator is exposed to the sterilization cycle and is placed in a fluorescence reading apparatus. The fluorescence from the biological sterility indicator is read to obtain a first fluorescence reading. The fluorescence from the biological sterility indicator is re-read to obtain a second fluorescence reading. The efficacy of the sterilization cycle is determined based on the first and second fluorescence readings.

The present invention relates to a system for determining the efficacy of a sterilization cycle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for reading fluorescence from a biological sterility indicator in order to determine the efficacy of the sterilization cycle.
The sterilization of equipment and devices is critical in some industries. For example, hospitals and other medical institutions must commonly and frequently sterilize equipment and devices used in treating patients. The particular type of sterilization cycle used to sterilize such equipment can vary based on the particular equipment or devices being sterilized and based on the particular preference of the entity performing the sterilization cycle. However, all such sterilization cycles or processes are typically designed to kill living organisms which might otherwise contaminate the equipment or devices being sterilized.
Various sterilization cycles use different methods or techniques for sterilization. For instance, such sterilization cycles may include the administration of steam, dry heat, chemicals, or radiation, to the equipment or devices being sterilized. Steam sterilization is typically efficacious when the equipment being sterilized are exposed to steam having a temperature in a range of 121.degree.-132.degree. C. The equipment being sterilized are preferably exposed to the steam sterilization for approximately three minutes at 132.degree. C., and ranging to 30 minutes at 121.degree. C. One form of chemical sterilization involves exposing the devices to be sterilized to ethylene oxide gas. The devices being sterilized are exposed to the ethylene oxide gas for approximately one hour at 65.degree. C. to approximately four hours at 30.degree. C. Dry heat sterilization typically involves exposing the devices being sterilized to temperatures in a range of approximately 180.degree. C., or higher, for at least two hours.
In many environments, the efficacy of the sterilization cycle is critical. Therefore, sterility indicators are used to determine the efficacy of the sterilization cycle.
The sterility indicators have taken a number of forms in the past. For example, biological indicators and chemical indicators are well known in the art. In conventional biological indicators, a test organism which is many times more resistent to the sterilization process than most organisms which would be present by natural contamination, is coated on a carrier and placed in a sterilizer along with the articles to be sterilized. Thus, the sterility indicator is exposed to the same sterilization cycle as the devices being sterilized. After completion of the sterilization cycle, the carrier is incubated in nutrient medium to determine whether any of the test organisms survived the sterilization procedure. Growth of a detectable number of organisms normally takes at least approximately 24 hours.
The sterility indicator is then examined to determine whether such growth has taken place. If so, such growth indicates that the sterilization cycle has not been efficacious, and it can be assumed that the devices which were subject to the sterilization cycle are not sterile.
Commercially available chemical indicators utilize chemicals which indicate sterility by color changes, or change from a solid to liquid state. One advantage to such chemical indicators is that the results are known by the end of the sterilization cycle. However, the results only indicate, for example, that a particular temperature has been reached for a certain period of time, or that ethylene oxide gas was present, during the sterilization cycle. The chemical indicators do not indicate whether conditions necessary for eliminating the organisms of interest have been achieved. Thus, the industry has shown a preference for biological indicators which use living organisms.
Another type of prior biological indicator is disclosed in Matner et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,167). Matner et al. describes a biological indicator in which a flexible polypropolene vial contains a spore strip which has a viable population of Bacillus Stearothermophilus spores. The vial also contains a growth medium which is a modified cryptic soy broth contained in a crushable glass ampule. The presence of a spore-associated enzyme, alpha-glucosidase, indicates spore growth in the biological indicator. The presence of alpha-glucosidase is measured by using a nonfluorescent substrate, 4-methylumbelliferyl-alpha-D-glucoside. The non-fluorescent substrate is converted by the active spore-associated enzyme to a fluorescent product.
If the sterilization cycle is not efficacious, both the spore and the enzyme remain active. The enzyme converts the substrate to a fluorescent product. Therefore, the fluorescence in the vial is detected, after an incubation period, to determine the efficacy of the sterilization cycle.
While Matner et al. represents a significant advancement in the art, the system for reading the biological indicator set out in Matner et al. suffers from a number of disadvantages. In order to detect spore growth activity through fluorescence, prior reading apparatus which were used in reading the biological indicator such as those set out in Matner et al. required the biological indicator to incubate for typically at least one hour. After the incubation time, the vial was placed in the reading apparatus and the fluorescence within the vial was read. The incubation time required to obtain an accurate reading in such a prior reading apparatus was significantly longer than desired.
In addition, the prior reading apparatus must be calibrated after a predetermined time out period (such as 12 hours of operation) or whenever power is interrupted to the unit. The calibration process requires multiple operator steps and is quite cumbersome. Further, the calibration is performed using a biological indicator which has been subjected to the sterilization cycle, and which is assumed to be sterile. Thus, the calibration is essentially performed against an unknown value.

Minnesota Mining and Manfacturing Company