A valve metering system for spraying agricultural chemicals to the soil from a driver-operated moving vehicle through nozzles substantially independent of pump pressure. The system has a valve which is driver presetable prior to spraying. The valve is driver adjustable while the vehicle is moving for increasing or decreasing nozzle flow. Indicating means readable by the driver from the moving vehicle during spraying indicates spray rate through the nozzles as a percentage of pump flow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for the metering of liquid agricultural chemicals and the like, and more specifically relates to a valve metering system which is adapted for use in such an apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various devices are known in the art intended for metering the application of liquid agricultural chemicals to the soil at a constant rate of liquid application per unit of soil area.
Pumps for the metering of liquid agricultural chemicals are disclosed, for example, in J. Blue, U.S. Pat. No. 2,696,785 and Horton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,108. In these devices anhydrous ammonia and other similar liquids useful in agriculture to the soil are applied to the soil in amounts varying with the speed of the vehicle to which the apparatus is attached.
Devices for the purpose of metering and distributing anhydrous ammonia and other similar liquids useful in agriculture from a vehicle to the soil at a constant rate of application per unit area are also known in the art. Particular examples are disclosed in Horton U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,909,191 and 3,346,006. These metering devices automatically compensate for back pressure fluctuations in the conduits leading to the distributing means.
A method and means of presetting the output rate of a centrifugal pump agricultural metering system is also disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,971. That system included a pump which received liquid from a supply tank and delivered it to a liquid discharge orifice means, the rate of flow through which is substantially proportional to the square root of the pressure thereon. The system also includes a line having adjustable orifice means therein controllable by the vehicle driver while the vehicle is moving for returning a portion of the pump delivery liquid to the tank and controlling upstream pressure. Orifice pressure Pn required to achieve a preselected application rate at a selected vehicle speed can be determined readily. For each such Pn there is a corresponding calculable, or ascertainable by test, pump system pressure Pc when flow to the discharge orifice means is shut off. A Pc pressure gauge is readable by the driver and also preferably a Pn gauge. Pn is first determined and then the corresponding Pc. The vehicle is moved at the selected speed with the pump being driven and flow to the discharge orifice means shut off while the driver adjusts the adjustable orifice means to preset the Pc corresponding to the determined Pn. Flow to the discharge orifice means can then be started to obtain substantially the preselected application rate at substantially all the vehicle speeds.

Liquid metering distributor for agricultural chemicals


A Fresnel liquid crystal lens and a 2D/3D switchable display panel are provided. The Fresnel liquid crystal lens includes a plurality of liquid crystal lens units. Each liquid crystal lens unit includes a first main electrode and two first sub electrodes disposed on a first substrate, a second main electrode and two second sub electrodes disposed on a second substrate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first and second substrates. The first sub electrodes are disposed on two opposite sides of the first main electrode, and a first gap is formed between the first main electrode and the first sub electrode. The second sub electrodes are disposed on two opposite sides of the second main electrode, and a second gap is formed between the second main electrode and the second sub electrode. In a vertical projection direction, the first main electrode overlaps the second main electrode, the first sub electrodes overlap the second sub electrodes, and the first main electrode partially overlaps the second sub electrodes.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a Fresnel liquid crystal lens and a display panel, and more particularly, to a Fresnel liquid crystal lens and a two-dimension/three-dimension (2D/3D) switchable display panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal lens (LC lens) is a lens having gradient phase retardation effect formed by liquid crystal material. When supplying the liquid crystal lens with driving voltage, the axial distribution of liquid crystal molecules will be modified to provide zoom effect. Thus, LC lens has been used in 3D display device (also known as stereoscopic display device) as a component for switch between 2D and 3D display modes.
The phase retardation variation of the conventional LC lens, however, is inferior to that of a real optical lens, and thus the lenticular effect and zoom effect of the conventional LC lens are not satisfactory. In addition, due to the interaction between rubbing alignment and fringe effect generated at the edge of electrode, disclination lines tend to occur between liquid crystal molecules, which causes optical defect when displaying. Also, the conventional LC lens has to be driven by a high driving voltage, which increases power consumption.

Fresnel liquid crystal lens and 2D/3D switchable display panel


A method for cleaning an exhaust gas containing ammonia and at least one silicon-containing compound selected from the group consisting of silane and chlorosilanes, which comprises contacting the exhaust gas with a scavenger comprising a metal salt which forms tight complexes with ammonia. This ammine-forming metal salt may be immobilized on a porous solid support. Suitable ammine-forming metal salts include the sulfates, nitrates, chlorides, bromides, iodides, and hydroxides of copper, cobalt, iron, and nickel. Suitable supports include materials which are compatible with the gas mixtures being cleaned and the reaction products of the sorption process and which are stable under the conditions of use. Useful support materials include zeolites, aluminosilicates, alumina, silica, silica gel, kieselguhr, and activated carbon.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to gas sorption compositions, apparatus, and associated processes, for effecting the sorptive removal of hazardous gases such as are widely encountered in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, such as silane, dichlorosilane, trichlorosilane, silicon tetrachloride in conjunction with sorptive removal of ammonia. The present invention further relates to a process of removing such compounds from gas streams with a single adsorbent.
2. Description of the Related Art
Silicon nitride films are extensively used in both silicon and gallium arsenide device technology. Silicon nitride is a dense insulator with a dielectric constant of 5.8-6.1, a refractive index of 1.98-2.05, and a density between 2.3 and 2.8 g/cm.sup.3. Unlike silica or phosphosilicate glass, it is an excellent barrier to alkali ion migration and is virtually impermeable to water, so it is used extensively as a cover layer in MOS technology. Its use has allowed unencapsulated circuits to be practical in many consumer applications. Because it restricts the diffusion of gallium, it is used as a "capping" material for gallium arsenide during the high temperature anneals that must be carried out after ion implantation steps. It is about 100 times more resistant to thermal oxidation than silicon, so that it can be used as a mask in a number of silicon-based VLSI processes which require selective oxidation of the semiconductor. It is used in radiation-hardened devices because of its superior radiation resistance over silicon dioxide.
A layer of silicon nitride may be grown on silicon by direct nitridation, but this process must be carried out at high temperatures (1000.degree.-1300.degree. C.) and is extremely sensitive to even trace amounts of water or oxygen. Furthermore, film thickness is greatly restricted by the low diffusivity of nitrogen through silicon nitride. Therefore, all silicon nitride films used in silicon and gallium arsenide technology are deposited, most commonly by chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
Silicon nitride films may be formed by chemical vapor deposition using silane and ammonia, hence: EQU 3SiH.sub.4 +4NH.sub.3 .fwdarw.Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 +12H.sub.2
Deposition can be accomplished at atmospheric as well as at reduced pressures. Typically large excesses of the nitrogen source ammonia are used in order to obtain optimal silicon nitride stoichiometry.
Silane is extremely flammable, reacting with air explosively in even low dilutions. Thus, some nitride systems use chlorosilanes which are safer to handle, as for example: EQU 3SiH.sub.2 Cl.sub.2 +4NH.sub.3 .fwdarw.Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 +6HCl
An excess of ammonia is again generally used, but the ratio of NH.sub.3 to chlorosilane does not need to be as high as when silane is used as the silicon-containing gas component.
The effluent gas stream from silicon nitride CVD reactors typically contains large amounts of unreacted silane or chlorosilane and ammonia, as well as reaction by-products such as hydrogen chloride and ammonium chloride in the chlorosilane process. These components must be scrubbed from the effluent gas stream, to very low levels, so that they are not released to the environment or to downstream equipment such as vacuum pumps.
The "Threshold Limit Value" or TLV (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists: "Threshold Limit Values and Biological Exposure Indices," 1987, Cincinnati, Ohio) and analogous "Permissible Exposure Limit" or PEL (U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration: 29 CFR 1910.1000) are concentrations of gases in workplace air, below which it is believed that routine exposure poses no risk of harm to personnel. These concentrations are thus benchmarks for effluent gas scrubbing. An adequate scrubber must remove hazardous gas components from the effluent gas stream to concentrations below the TLV or PEL.
Silane is considered toxic; its TLV and PEL are set at 5 parts per million (ppm). The consequences of release of silane into the workplace can be dire, for, in addition, it is extremely flammable, reacting with oxygen explosively even in very dilute form. The lower flammable limit for silane in air is 1.5%. For safety considerations, chlorosilanes are often used as alternative silicon sources. These materials are toxic and corrosive. They decompose readily in moist air or on mucous membranes to form oxidized silicon species and hydrogen chloride. Because of their ready hydrolysis to form HCl, TLVs and PELs have not been formulated for all chlorosilane compounds, but the TLV of HCl is used (5 ppm).
Ammonia is toxic and corrosive, as is hydrogen chloride. TLV and PEL for ammonia are 25 ppm and 50 ppm respectively, and for hydrogen chloride both TLV and PEL are set at 5 ppm.
When the silicon nitride is formed by the chlorosilane plus ammonia CVD process, large amounts of by-product ammonium chloride may be formed. This ammonium chloride is abrasive, and if it is not scrubbed from the effluent stream or prevented from forming, it is very destructive to vacuum pumps and any other downstream equipment. By-product ammonium chloride can also clog downstream ducts resulting in onerous maintenance and down-time for the facility.
A good effluent gas scrubber must not only remove hazardous gas components to below TLV/PEL, but must also possess several other attributes. It must operate safely, with no risk of explosion or spillage. It should have high capacity for the hazardous components, so that it need not require an extremely large volume for scrubbing or frequent change-outs. It must have high kinetic efficiency for scrubbing, so that high flow rate effluent gas streams may be scrubbed. Scrubbers of a simple, passive design are preferred, since they are likely to be more economical. Finally, the scrubber should convert the hazardous components of the effluent gas stream to stable, environmentally acceptable species that may be disposed of safely and economically.
The capacity of the scrubber is considered to be that amount of the hazardous gas component that can be sorbed per unit of scavenger, before breakthrough occurs. Breakthrough occurs when the hazardous component passes through the scrubber in concentrations higher than its TLV or PEL. Breakthrough may be monitored by a variety of commercially available hazardous gas monitors such as the MDA Toxic Gas Detector or the Gas Tech Detector Tubes, or colorimetrically.
In general, the known methods of scrubbing the effluent gas streams from CVD reactors include wet scrubbing, combustion (so-called "burn boxes"), plasma scrubbing, and dry scrubbing methods such as activated carbon.
Using wet scrubbing, the exhaust gas stream may be processed using aqueous solutions of relatively cheap reagents such as sodium hydroxide or potassium permanganate. However, wet scrubbing requires a large gas treating unit and the resulting large volumes of aqueous waste solutions may present problems as to environmentally acceptable disposal. In addition, the aqueous solutions used are very corrosive, and they thus can corrode fittings and connections and present risks to personnel and equipment in the event of an equipment failure. Commercially available aqueous ammonia scrubbers can scrub silane or chlorosilanes, but in the process they generate hydrous silica which clogs filters. In addition, the efficiency of aqueous scrubbers for silane is usually very low.
In combustion processes, the waste gases are brought into contact with air in a combustion chamber and are burned. When silane is used, such processes may present an unacceptable explosion hazard. In addition, combustion is not applicable to highly corrosive effluent gas streams such as are encountered from silicon nitride CVD processes.
The exhaust gas from the CVD reactor may be scrubbed by passing it through a plasma chamber (see Hammond, M. L., "CVD Exhaust-Safety and Environmental Sanity," Proc. Eur. Conf. Chem. Vap. Deposition, 8th, C2/449-C2/457, 1991). However, such a method requires fairly complicated, expensive equipment and is limited in application to low pressure processes.
The use of activated carbon beds to physically adsorb hazardous constitituents from semiconductor manufacturing gas streams is well established (see Calgon Carbon Corporation, "Ventsorb.RTM. for Industrial Air Purification," Bulletin 23-56b, 1986). Activated carbon, while highly efficient, scavenges hazardous gas constituents by both physical and chemical adsorption. Physically adsorbed constituents can later desorb unless the carbon is periodically treated by carefully controlled oxidation. The use of activated carbon to treat silane is especially undesirable because of the extreme flammability of silane and the combustible nature of carbon.
Dry scrubbing methods for silane have been described, wherein the silane reacts with a scavenger such as a metal hydroxide or metal salt immobilized on a solid support material (Kitayama, M., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,072; Gokcek, C., U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,823). In addition, similar dry scrubbing methods for removing ammonia from air or gas streams comprising hydrocarbons have been described (Chao, C., and Rastelli, H., U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,667). Such dry scrubbing methods have the advantage of being passive, simple systems. However, the simultaneous scrubbing of highly basic ammonia and the hydride gas silane with a single variety of scrubber or scavenger material has not been addressed.
Therefore, it would be a substantial advance in the art to provide gas sorption compositions which may be usefully employed to scrub the effluent gas stream from silicon nitride CVD processes and to remove all of the hazardous gas components, both from atmospheric pressure processes as well as in low pressure processes.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for cleaning an exhaust gas containing ammonia and a silicon-containing gas component such as silane and/or a chlorosilane compound.
Another object of this invention is to provide a dry scrubbing method for removing ammonia and a silicon-containing gas component(s) from an exhaust gas, providing a waste material that is very compact and which is improved in safety and environmental acceptability.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a method for cleaning an exhaust gas using a scavenger that has a high kinetic efficiency and a high capacity for ammonia and a silicon-containing gas component such as silane and/or a chlorosilane compound.

Process for sorption of hazardous waste products from exhaust gas streams


The invention concerns a device and a method for controlling a portable object life cycle, in particular a smart card, the life cycle being determined by successive state transitions, which states determine the services offered by the object. The object includes a processing unit, program storage units and data storage units, each storage unit having a content defining a plurality of configurations. The device controls the transition from a first state to a second state of the object and, preferably triggers actions when the transition crossover from one state to another occurs or when a transition crossover request is denied. The actions are dependent on the type of transitions implied in the requests for state transition crossover applied to the object.

The invention concerns portable electronic objects such as electronic microcircuit cards, known as smart cards, which, connected to electronic devices to enable the latter to perform particular functions in the context of one or more applications, require their life stages to be controlled. The said cards are in fact generally used in applications (banking, communication, identity, health etc) requiring a high degree of security against fraudulent usage. Thus, by way of example, the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,690 presents a smart card comprising several applications, access to which is protected by passwords, a password being dedicated to a user. Knowing a password, it is possible to select one application or another. However, it is not possible to deactivate an application or limit the use thereof whatever the user of the card as a function of the life stages of the said card.
The invention applies more generally to any independent on-board system provided with a processing unit and program and data memories.
In the world of smart cards it is known that the latter result from assembling a component (generally comprising a microprocessor in relationship with memories via communication buses), a module (produced by means of a conductive metal) to which the said component is connected (in the context of a so-called contact smart card) to enable the said component to be connected to an electronic reading and/or writing device (or coupler) and a card body or more generally a support on which the module/component assembly is integrated. In the context of a so-called contactless smart card, the said module is replaced by an antenna and the assembly formed by the component and the said antenna is integrated within the said support.
The life of a smart card can generally be broken down into two sets of stages following each other, corresponding respectively to the manufacture and use of the said card. Putting together the two sets of stages forms a life cycle of the said card. The manufacture of a smart card (with or without contact) consists of several stages.
This is because it is first of all necessary to have an electronic component which is initialised, insulated and then connected to a module. The said component and the module to which it is connected are subsequently integrated on or within a support (generally a plastic card body) itself printed for the purpose of identification or advertising. Subsequently the smart card thus obtained is initialised or programmed in order to meet the conditions of use in the context of applications.
The second set of life stages of a smart card corresponds to its use. This set can itself be divided into several stages, each corresponding, for example, to the implantation or elimination of services offered by the smart card to the user according to his profile, for example.
In addition different participants (component manufacturer, smart card manufacturer, card personalisation centre, card issuer or card carrier) act during the different stages of manufacture and use of a smart card. Thus the components are supplied and sometimes partly initialised by electronic component manufacturers on a silicon wafer. This phase corresponds to the step of manufacturing the component. The following step is the embedding phase carried out by the smart card manufacturer. It includes the insulation of a component from the silicon wafer, the connection of the said component to a module (or antenna), and the integration of the assembly on the support or card body. There follows the preparation of the application structure present in the electrically programmable memory of the component. This is the electrical personalisation stage which is carried out by the manufacturer of the smart cards or by a personalisation centre or a third party specialising in personalisation of cards or by the issuer himself who is ultimately responsible for the distribution of the cards on the market. This electrical personalisation phase can therefore be broken down into as many stages as there are players or intermediaries. Subsequently, during the use of the smart card, we have seen previously that it can be advantageous to distinguish several stages along with the change in the profile of the card user for example. For all these reasons, it is therefore important to rigorously monitor the life stages of a card in order to know at any time the current stage of the said card within its life cycle. In addition, it is essential on the one hand for access to the electrically programmable memory of a card component in write or read mode to be protected during the exchange of the said card (or component) during the different players and on the other hand for access to the said memory to be limited as the life stages of the card mentioned above follow each other, by activating or deactivating services for example. Finally, it is also sometimes necessary to validate the application context of the smart card before the carrier thereof uses it on the market. For example, a person issuing a smart card of the electronic purse type must be certain that the balance of the said card is indeed zero before issuing the card.
In order to attempt to meet these requirements, different solutions are used at the present time. Certain solutions are purely external to the smart card (physical security at the premises where the said card is manufactured, use of transportation means which are themselves made secure etc). Other solutions complementary to the first, but this time internal or implanted in the card, are also generally used. Use is thus made of secrets for protecting access to the component memory in read/write mode and also logic indicators for irreversibly monitoring the different life stages of the card. For this purpose, bits within a non-erasable memory of the component of the smart card are positioned at the active state at the end of the different life stages of the card (manufacture and initialisation of the component by the manufacturer of the said component, embedding and initialisation of the card memory by the smart card manufacturer, preparation of the application structure of the smart card memory by the personalisation centre or the card issuer etc). According to these indicators, the program (or operating system) executed by the microprocessor of the smart card component, implanted within one of the memories of the said card component, adapts its behaviour as the life stages of the said card follow each other. Thus functions can be modified, added or eliminated.
Whatever the solutions used at the present time, they are all based on the fact that the different players involved in the manufacture of a card are trusted third parties. Only persons liable to intercept components or cards during their transfer between two of the different players are deemed to be "potential fraudsters" and the solutions disclosed above make it possible to be free of them. The adaptation of the operating system of the card according to irreversible indicators affords a not insignificant advantage. Thus, if the manufacturers of the components or cards inscribe systems data or secrets, the card issuer will for example not be able to dispense freely with the said secrets or modify the said system data. However, this solution does not resolve the problem of a fraudulent initialisation of the card or an inopportune error during the said initialisation, carried out by one of the participants.

Method and device for controlling a portable object life cycle, in particular a smart card


In one aspect the present invention relates to the use of viral promoters in the expression of chimeric genes in plant cells. In another aspect this invention relates to chimeric genes which are capable of being expressed in plant cells, which utilize promoter regions derived from viruses which are capable of infecting plant cells. One such virus comprises the cauliflower mosaic virux (CaMV). Two different promoter regions have been derived from the CaMV genome and ligated to heterologous coding sequences to form chimeric genes. These chimeric genes have been shown to be expressed in plant cells. This invention also relates to plant cells, plant tissue, and differentiated plants which contain and express the chimeric genes of this invention.

A virus is a microorganism comprising single or double stranded nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) contained within a protein (and possibly lipid) shell called a "capsid" or "coat". A virus is smaller than a cell, and it does not contain most of the components and substances necessary to conduct most biochemical processes. Instead, a virus infects a cell and uses the cellular processes to reproduce itself.
The following is a simplified description of how a DNA-containing virus infects a cell; RNA viruses will be disregarded in this introduction for the sake of clarity. First, a virus attaches to or enters a cell, normally called a "host" cell. The DNA from the virus (and possibly the entire viral particle) enters the host cell where it usually operates as a plasmid (a loop of extra-chromosomal DNA). The viral DNA is transcribed into messenger RNA, which is translated into one or more polypeptides. Some of these polypeptides are assembled into new capsids, while others act as enzymes to catalyze various biochemical reactions. The viral DNA is also replicated and assembled with the capsid polypeptides to form new viral particles. These viral particles may be released gradually by the host cell, or they may cause the host cell to lyse and release them. The released viral particles subsequently infect new host cells. For more background information on viruses see, e.g., Stryer, 1981 and Matthews, 1970 (note: all references cited herein, other than patents, are listed with citations after the examples).
As used herein, the term "virus" includes phages and viroids, as well as replicative intermediates. As used herein, the phrases "viral nucleic acid" and DNA or RNA derived from a "virus" are construed broadly to include any DNA or RNA that is obtained or derived from the nucleic acid of a virus. For example, a DNA strand created by using a viral RNA strand as a template, or by chemical synthesis to create a known sequence of bases determined by analyzing viral DNA, would be regarded as viral nucleic acid.
The host range of any virus (i.e., the variety of cells that a type of virus is capable of infecting) is limited. Some viruses are capable of efficient infection of only certain types of bacteria; other viruses can infect only plants, and may be limited to certain genera; some viruses can infect only mammalian cells. Viral infection of a cell requires more than mere entry of the viral DNA or RNA into the host cell; viral particles must be reproduced within the cell. Through various assays, those skilled in the art can readily determine whether any particular type of virus is capable of infecting any particular genus, species, or strain of cells. As used herein, the term "plant virus" is used to designate a virus which is capable of infecting one or more types of plant cells, regardless of whether it can infect other types of cells.
With the possible exception of viroids (which are poorly understood at present), every viral particle must contain at least one gene which can be "expressed" in infected host cells. The expression of a gene requires that a segment of DNA or RNA must be transcribed into or function as a strand of messenger RNA (mRNA), and the mRNA must be translated into a polypeptide. Most viruses have about 5 to 10 different genes, all of which are expressed in a suitable host cell.
In order to be expressed in a cell, a gene must have a promoter which is recognized by certain enzymes in the cell. Gene promoters are discussed in some detail in the parent application Ser. No. 458,414 cited above, now abandoned, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Those skilled in the art recognize that the expression of a particular gene to yield a polypeptide is dependent upon two distinct cellular processes. A region of the 5' end of the gene called the promoter, initiates transcription of the gene to produce a mRNA transcript. The mRNA is then translated at the ribosomes of the cell to yield an encoded polypeptide. Therefore, it is evident that although the promoter may function properly, ultimate expression of the polypeptide depends at least in part on post-transcriptional processing of the mRNA transcript.
Promoters from viral genes have been utilized in a variety of genetic engineering applications. For example, chimeric genes have been constructed using various structural sequences (also called coding sequences) taken from bacterial genes, coupled to promoters taken from viruses which can infect mammalian cell(the most commonly used mammalian viruses are designated as Simian Virus 40 (SV40) and Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV)). These chimeric genes have been used to transform mammalian cells. See, e.g., Mulligan et al 1979; Southern and Berg 1982. In addition, chimeric genes using promoters taken from viruses which can infect bacterial cells have been used to transform bacterial cells; see, e.g., the phage lambda P.sub.L promoter discussed in Maniatis et al, 1982.
Several researchers have theorized that it might be possible to utilize plant viruses as vectors for transforming plant cells. See, e.g., Hohn et al, 1982. In general, a "vector" is a DNA molecule useful for transferring one or more genes into a cell. Usually, a desired gene is inserted into a vector, and the vector is then used to infect the host cell.
Several researchers have theorized that it might be possible to create chimeric genes which are capable of being expressed in plant cells, by using promoters derived from plant virus genes. See, e.g., Hohn et al, 1982, at page 216.
However, despite the efforts of numerous research teams, prior to this invention no one had succeeded in(1) creating a chimeric gene comprising a plant virus promoter coupled to a heterologous structural sequence and (2) demonstrating the expression of such a gene in any type of plant cell.

Chimeric genes for transforming plant cells using viral promoters


A ornamental planting landscape irrigation distribution and reservoir product and method ecosystem employing a substantially continuous panel on the soil surface on which ornamental landscape plantings is placed or produced, the panel having a primary, lateral water distribution structure which distributes water from a water charging inlet through the lateral area to the panel periphery, where it is restrained, the primary water distribution structure being such that when filled with water or completely submerged in water air is trapped by the gaps and spaces of the material for ornamental landscape plant usage.

This invention relates to permanently installed irrigation systems and more specifically to underground, permanently installed irrigation systems for the irrigation and planting of landscape and flower beds that conserve water which decreases labor requirements for the installation of the flower bed.
The goal of any installed landscape and flowerbed irrigation system is to irrigate the target landscape plants as efficiently as is possible with minimum labor and parts, and therefore, the lowest installed cost possible. If these requirements are met, the water required to irrigate the landscape and flowerbed plants is conserved and the cost of installing the landscape/flower bed irrigation system is minimized. Current state of the irrigation systems for landscape/flower beds can be broken into three broad categories; sprinklers, drip and flood irrigation.
One of the earliest forms of irrigation is the flood irrigation concept. This type of irrigation requires that the flowerbed area to be irrigated be manipulated and contoured such that the water will flow into all of the required areas to be irrigated without leaving the intended area before the water has had sufficient time to soak into the surface soil. This requires labor intensive berming of the perimeter of the landscape/flower bed area and a source of water emission contained within the bermed perimeter. The benefits of this type of landscape/flower bed irrigation are low initial cost of the irrigation system with regard to materials and ease of installation. The drawbacks of this form of flood irrigation for a landscape/flower bed is inefficiency due to evaporation as the water sits on the surface of the bed and excessive loss of water due to deep percolation past the root zone of the plantings in the landscape/flower bed. Another drawback of the conventional landscape/flower bed with a flood irrigation system is the high level of labor required in the excavating and planting of the bed. The bed must have a berm completely around the perimeter and the landscape plants/flowers must be located at the proper depth. Also, for a healthy flowerbed it is often necessary to dig down 12 to 18 inches and amend the soil to provide suitable growing conditions for the plantings. For landscape and flower plants the soil must be of a texture to allow for water and air to be available to the plant at all times. Still another drawback of flood irrigation for flower/landscape beds is that by definition the entire area of the bed is flooded, providing moisture for the weeds/weed seeds which exist in the flower/landscape bed base soil, promoting the growth of the weeds. This unintended weed growth increases the labor requirement for maintaining a well-kept flower landscape beds. The unintended weed growth can also result in increased chemical herbicide weed killer usage, which can result in increased chemical run-off and environmental damage. Altogether, flood irrigation has been low on efficiency and high in labor requirements for landscape/flower beds installation of the bed and irrigation system.
The second form of irrigation to be discussed, sprinkler irrigation, is by far the most commonly used form of irrigation for landscape/flower beds. This form of irrigation utilized in flower/landscape beds consists of pipes located underground with shrub risers with spray nozzles threaded on them, referred to as fixed spray risers, or pop up spray head or sprinkler devices which pop up and then retract underground in between irrigation events. The spray nozzles affixed to either fixed risers or pop up risers spray out water in a pattern, which sprays out over the entire flower bed/landscape area. Due to the irregular shape and varying width of flower/landscape beds, it is often impossible to target spray head water only on the intended flower/landscape bed without significant over spray into unintended areas. Also, the distribution of water from these sprinkler devices is often interrupted in flower/landscape beds due to the height of the plantings in these areas creating irregular wetting patterns. Sprinkler irrigation in flower/landscape beds suffers from inefficiencies found in sprinkler irrigation of turf areas, namely high evaporation losses from being thrown in the air and evaporation from collecting on the leaf area material. In addition to the inherent distribution inefficiencies of broadcasting water through the air, sprinkler irrigation also suffers from the basic inefficiency of attempting to irrigate the entire flower/landscape bed while the planting area may only cover as little as 50 percent of the bed. In addition to irrigating the entire area automatically cutting the efficiency, the moisture not irrigating the bedding plants will irrigate weeds and weed seeds in the landscape bed soil, increasing again the need for herbicide chemicals. In all, sprinkler irrigation for flower/landscape beds, while being the most widely used form of irrigation, falls short of efficiency and is labor intensive and complicated to install and design.
The third form of prior art irrigation system is know as drip irrigation. Drip irrigation for flower/landscape beds comes in two installation methodologies, subsurface and surface drip irrigation. First for subsurface drip irrigation, a drip emitter line is buried six to twelve inches below the flower/landscape bed with the lines being twelve to eighteen inches apart. The emitters emit water at a rate from 0.5 to 2 gallons per hour and are subsurface drip emitter layout grid is to water the soil beneath the flower/landscape bed completely. The grid results in subsurface watering, but is subject to several limitations and inefficiencies. The physics of water movement through various textures of soil can act to limit the efficiency of subsurface drip irrigation. In a coarse soil, such as sand, the water moves outward and upward due to capillary action, but to a greater extent once the soil is saturated the water moves downward due to gravity force. This basic form of movement happens in all soil types, to the greatest extent in sand and to a lesser extent in a clay soil. As water drops below the drip line grid, which is already six to eight inches deep, it passes out of the root zone of flower/landscape plants. In addition to dropping below the root zone of the plantings, the fact that the grid irrigates the entire bed area, where the plantings may only occupy 50 percent of the bed area, the efficiency of the water placement is reduced. Placing the drip line below the bed surface creates several maintenance considerations, such as roots growing into the many individual, low flow emitter devices, cutting of the multiple emitter lines from shovels and maintenance tools, and plugging of the small emitter orifices with soil and sediment. The prevention of roots growing into the emitters can be accomplished by impregnating the plastic, which the emitters are molded out of with a chemical herbicide such as Treflan. To prevent damage from tools and shovels the lines must be buried as deep as possible, however this just makes the problem of water loss below the root zone greater. In addition to efficiency and maintenance concerns, there is also the increased labor requirements of installing the subsurface system.
In a modification of subsurface drip, U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,711, issued to Jonas Sipaila, entitled Subsurface Fluid Distribution Apparatus and Method, teaches a drainage and irrigation system based upon an unpressurized half pipe contained within a chamber filled with a significant depth of washed sand material. In this patent, it teaches excavation down to a required depth, laying of a liner, placement of a water channel, non-pressurized pipe, and filling with a washed sand material of significant depth (13 inches) to provide a growing root zone for the planted plant material. While this patent method does provide a controlled root zone, it is very expensive to provide the excavation and material for the root zone growth. Also, the method suffers from being the most labor intensive of all types of flower/landscape bed installation, requiring complete excavation to a significant depth and total replacement of the root zone growth material. Another limitation of this type of system is that it must be installed perfectly flat and in a descending order if more than one unit is installed in a serial manner. So that in addition to all of the additional labor requirements, there is extensive grading and leveling requirements. This system attempts to improve efficiency but does so at great expense in cost of labor and materials. It markedly increases the time required to establish a flower/landscape bed.
The next form of drip irrigation for flower/landscape beds is surface drip irrigation. In this form of drip irrigation, the drip emitters are located on the surface of the flower/landscape bed, typically with an emitter for each plant. This form of irrigation does provide increased efficiency due to watering at the plants only but is extremely sensitive to disturbance on the surface by tools and maintenance activities. This type of drip irrigation is the most utilized form of drip irrigation. The small molded and extruded plastic components of this form of irrigation are easily destroyed by normal gardening activities such as raking and digging, removing weeds, planting new flower/landscape beds, etc. Another danger is that because of the small diameter tubing and emitters that the point emission devices get moved away from the intended watering areas, increasing inefficiency in the irrigation system. While the surface drip irrigation system is not as labor intensive as the flood, sprinkler and subsurface drip irrigation systems to install, it is still fairly design and labor intensive to calculate the proper flow rate for each emitter/planting combination and the properly layout the entire system.
In a recent irrigation system for the irrigation of turf grass invented by the inventor of the current invention, U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,776 entitled Subsurface Mat Amendment System and Apparatus was developed to provide a simpler irrigation system specifically for the irrigation of turf grass. This system can be classified as a form of subsurface irrigation but because it is a continuous product intended for turf, it is not efficient for the irrigation of flower/landscape plantings.
Aside from the labor requirement of installing whatever form of irrigation system is selected for the flower/landscape bed, there is a significant element of labor required in the preparation of the flowerbed itself. Typical steps required to establish a flower/landscape bed in a typical turf grass lawn include: laying out the shape of the area, removing the turf grass, weeds and stones to a depth of 12 inches, bringing whatever soil amendments might be required for the soil base material, incorporating the amendments or tilling the soil to give a friable, open mixture of soil, creating border for the flower/landscape bed to prevent invasive turf grass and weeds from penetrating the bed, applying a weed killer to kill any weed or grass left in the bed, and then finally smoothing out the final surface of the bed. Once all of these tasks are completed, then the form of irrigation system can be installed to provide moisture to the plants within the bed.
All in all, no one prior art irrigation system for flower/landscape beds has been developed which is cost effective, easy to install, efficient and significantly reduces the labor requirement of installing irrigated flower/landscape beds, while also reducing the labor requirement of the actual preparation of the flower/landscape bed itself.

Modular, self contained, engineered irrigation landscape and flower bed panel


A unit for molding and heat treating food products, including a series of parallel, horizontal, upwardly facing generally U-shaped molds. A lid element extends under the bottom of each mold, and the entire mold assembly is fixed to support means which permit stacking of the units, the lid elements then engaging in the channel openings of an underlying unit, defining individual fluid-tight conduits which receive heat-conveying fluid for treatment, by heat exchange, of food products contained in the channels.

Units for the molding of food products, particularly for the cooking of hams, have already been proposed.
A unit of the above kind typically comprises an assembly of molds configured like channels arranged horizontally, side-by-side and parallel to each other, is their bottoms being directed downwards and their openings upwards. The assembly of the molds is fixed to support means which provide for the piling of units on one another.
Applicants' FR-A-2 672 270, relates to a unit of the above kind.
In some embodiments, each channel is attached to a plate that extends under its bottom, forming a double-bottom. The double-bottom plates serve as lid elements adapted to engage in the channel openings of an underlying unit in a pile.
The use of lids is particularly beneficial for cooking hams because the meat is then confined in a well-defined volume in which it is maintained under pressure which eliminates voids and determines its final shape.
Two main techniques have been used until now for the heat treatment of food products, in this instance for the cooking of hams.
The first uses chambers, cells or tunnels for cooking. These are enclosures with dimensions suited to receiving at least one "trolley", this term designating, in the art concerned, an assembly of a plurality of piled molding units movable on a rolling path. The enclosure is generally dimensioned to contain two to twelve trolleys.
Steam is generally diffused into the enclosure to cook the hams.
Plants of the above kind, which require good thermal insulation of the enclosure and use fans for circulating the steam used for cooking, are costly to acquire and to maintain.
There also arises a problem associated with contact between the heat-conveying fluid--steam in this instance--and the products to be treated, namely, a risk of microbial contamination of the products.
The second technique uses cooking tanks or pots of generally parallelepiped shape provided with a lid. The cooking is done in water heated either by means of an auxiliary device such as a boiler or within the tank itself, by heat exchange or by injecting steam.
Tanks of the above kind are not convenient to use because it is necessary to load the cooking units into them from above, for example using a winch or a traveling overhead crane.
Moreover, the contamination problem is also encountered with this method.

Apparatus for treatment of food products


A new retractable deck for recreational vehicles for providing a deck for use with recreational vehicles. The inventive device includes a plurality of sliding rails secured to an underside of a vehicle. The sliding rails each have an inner portion and an outer portion. The inner portion is secured to the underside of the vehicle. Each outer portion is slidably disposed within each inner portion. Free ends of each outer portion have a support leg pivotally secured thereto. The support leg is positioned interiorly of the outer portion in a retracted orientation and essentially perpendicular to the outer portion in an extended orientation. A deck portion is removably securable to and extends across the plurality of sliding rails.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to decks and more particularly pertains to a new retractable deck for recreational vehicles for providing a deck for use with recreational vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of decks is known in the prior art. More specifically, decks heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art decks include U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,878 to Weaver; U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,306 to Stucky; U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,468 to Baumgartner et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,855 to Flanagan; U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,057 to Pauli; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 341,340 to Pothering et al.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new retractable deck for recreational vehicles. The inventive device includes a plurality of sliding rails secured to an underside of a vehicle. The sliding rails each have an inner portion and an outer portion. The inner portion is secured to the underside of the vehicle. Each outer portion is slidably disposed within each inner portion. Free ends of each outer portion have a support leg pivotally secured thereto. The support leg is positioned interiorly of the outer portion in a retracted orientation and essentially perpendicular to the outer portion in an extended orientation. A deck portion is removably securable to and extends across the plurality of sliding rails.
In these respects, the retractable deck for recreational vehicles according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a deck for use with recreational vehicles.

Retractable deck for recreational vehicles


A lithographic apparatus is presented in which vibrations induced by reaction forces exerted on a base frame BF by accelerations within the apparatus are eliminated without the need for complex positioning systems and several balance masses. This is achieved by using feed-forward control to apply a compensating force using actuators to the base frame, based on knowledge of the movements and accelerations of the substrate table and other parts within the apparatus.

1. Priority Information
This application claims priority from European Patent Application No. 03254266.4, filed Jul. 4, 2003, the contents herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
2. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus and a device manufacturing method.
3. Description of the Related Art
Lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, a patterning device may be used to generate a desired circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g. comprising one or more dies) on a substrate (silicon wafer) that has been coated with a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist).
The term "patterning device" as here employed should be broadly interpreted as referring to a device that can be used to impart an incoming radiation beam with a patterned cross-section, corresponding to a pattern that is to be created in a target portion of the substrate; the term "light valve" can also be used in this context. Generally, the pattern will correspond to a particular functional layer in a device being created in the target portion, such as an integrated circuit or other device (see below). Examples of such patterning devices include:                a mask: the concept of a mask is well known in lithography, and it includes mask types such as binary, alternating phase-shift, and attenuated phase-shift, as well as various hybrid mask types. Placement of such a mask in the radiation beam causes selective transmission (in the case of a transmission mask) or reflection (in the case of a reflective mask) of the radiation impinging on the mask, according to the pattern on the mask. In the case of a mask, the support structure will generally be a mask table/holder/holder, which ensures that the mask can be held at a desired position in the incoming radiation beam, and that it can be moved relative to the beam if so desired;        a programmable mirror array: one example of such a device is a matrix-addressable surface having a visco-elastic control layer and a reflective surface. The basic principle behind such an apparatus is that (for example) addressed areas of the reflective surface reflect incident light as diffracted light, whereas unaddressed areas reflect incident light as non-diffracted light. Using an appropriate filter, the non-diffracted light can be filtered out of the reflected beam, leaving only the diffracted light behind; in this manner, the beam becomes patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-addressable surface. An alternative embodiment of a programmable mirror array employs a matrix arrangement of tiny mirrors, each of which can be individually tilted about an axis by applying a suitable localized electric field, or by employing piezoelectric actuation mechanism. Once again, the mirrors are matrix-addressable, such that addressed mirrors will reflect an incoming radiation beam in a different direction to unaddressed mirrors; in this manner, the reflected beam is patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-addressable mirrors. The required matrix addressing can be performed using suitable electronic means. In both of the situations described here above, the patterning device can comprise one or more programmable mirror arrays. More information on mirror arrays as here referred to can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,891 and 5,523,193, and PCT patent applications WO 98/38597 and WO 98/33096, which are incorporated herein by reference. In the case of a programmable mirror array, the support structure may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required; and        a programmable LCD array: an example of such a construction is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,872, which is incorporated herein by reference. As above, the support structure in this case may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required.
For purposes of simplicity, the rest of this text may, at certain locations, specifically direct itself to examples involving a mask and mask table/holder/holder; however, the general principles discussed in such instances should be seen in the broader context of the patterning device as set forth here above.
In general, a single wafer will contain a whole network of adjacent target portions that are successively irradiated via the projection system, one at a time. In current apparatus, employing patterning by a mask on a mask table/holder/holder, a distinction can be made between two different types of machine. In one type of lithographic projection apparatus, each target portion is irradiated by exposing the entire mask pattern onto the target portion in one go; such an apparatus is commonly referred to as a wafer stepper.
In an alternative apparatus-commonly referred to as a step-and-scan apparatus—each target portion is irradiated by progressively scanning the mask pattern under the projection beam in a given reference direction (the "scanning" direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate table/holder/holder parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. Since, in general, the projection system will have a magnification factor M (generally <1), the speed V at which the substrate table/holder is scanned will be a factor M times that at which the mask table/holder is scanned. More information with regard to lithographic devices as here described can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,792, incorporated herein by reference.
During the manufacturing process, if the substrate table/holder(s) and/or mask table/holder(s) are moved by an actuator attached to the base frame, a reaction force will be exerted on the base frame. The forces involved can be large because the mass of the table is between 10 and 150 Kg, typically 40–70 kg and the accelerations of the order of 5–100 m/s2. Ideally the base frame is internally very stiff and would be stiffly connected to the floor, but in reality such connections have some compliance. Therefore, the forces can induce vibrations in the base frame which adversely affect the accuracy of the lithographic process, because they disturb the position sensors of the substrate and/or mask table.
To overcome this problem, a system of balance masses, such as that illustrated in FIG. 2, has been proposed. The base frame BF is stiffly connected to the floor 2 via connecting members 4. A substrate table/holder comprising a first element 6 and a second element 7 is supported on the base frame BF. A short stroke actuator 8 connects the first element 6 and the second element 7. The base frame BF also supports a balance mass 12 connected to the second element 7 of the substrate table by long stroke actuator 10.
To move the substrate that is situated on the second element 7, the short stroke actuator 8 is activated and generates a force to move the element 7. Simultaneously, the first element 6 is moved by the long stroke actuator 10 in such a way the short stroke actuator 8 remains operational because the relative position of first element 6 to second element 7 is kept constant. So the first element 6 keeps tracking the position of the second element 7. This is a so-called "slave position control loop". Applying this principle, the short stroke actuator 8 can be designed to be very accurate over a small working range (short stroke). The long stroke actuator 10 can be designed to be less accurate but it can operate on a large stroke (long stroke). The reaction force from actuator 10 is applied to the balance mass 12 that is left free to move in the actuated direction. By this, the reaction force cannot disturb the base frame.
Therefore, the net force exerted on the base frame is zero. The distance the substrate table WT and the balance mass 12 move relative to each other is determined by the ratio of their masses, according the law of conservation of momentum. Such a system is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,246. U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,441 discusses a similar system where a common balance mass is used for two object holders.
Various alternative systems of balance masses are known. For example in one such alternative system the balance mass described above may take the form of a sub-frame that supports the substrate table (that may consist of 1 or 2 elements). An actuator connects the sub-frame to the substrate table. The sub-frame is free to move relative to the base frame. When the actuator is operated, the sub-frame moves under the reaction force, as described above, but no vibrations are transferred to the base frame. A damping system can connect the sub-frame (balance mass) to the base frame to reduce the range of movement of the sub-frame.
In all the above systems, the balance mass is connected to the substrate table by an actuator. While these solutions reduce the forces transmitted to the base frame and the consequential vibrations of the base frame, the complexity of the systems introduces further problems. These systems are also difficult to adapt for use when the substrate table is moved with six degrees of freedom all of which generate large acceleration forces because the balance mass must then also be capable of six degrees of freedom.

Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method


A hydraulic control unit capable of being used in an automotive vehicle wheel brake system includes a pressure generator such as a master cylinder for a vehicle wheel brake system that includes automatic brake control features. Solenoid-operated valves are used to control the flow of brake fluid to and from the fluid pressure actuators for front and rear brakes. A fluid reservoir is used for storing hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic control unit. A source of electrical energy, such as a solenoid-operated valve, is used to heat the hydraulic fluid to reduce fluid viscosity and thus enhance control unit performance.

Hydraulic control systems typically use fluid pressure pumps situated remotely with respect to powered actuators. Pressure distributor conduits extend between the high pressure side of the pump and the actuators. A fluid reservoir for hydraulic fluid is located on the inlet side of the pump.
Pressure distribution to the actuators is controlled by remote control valves that respond to control signals from a controller. Typical examples of a hydraulic control system of this kind may be seen by referring to U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,058 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,770. The '058 patent discloses an anti-lock brake system for an automotive vehicle, and the '770 patent discloses a yaw control system for an automotive vehicle. Control systems of this type are commonly used also for traction control purposes where wheel torque can be modulated in response to signals from wheel speed sensors that detect incipient wheel slip.
The pump in a control system for an automotive vehicle having anti-lock brake capabilities or yaw control capabilities receives a supply of low pressure hydraulic fluid from a reservoir. The pump distributes hydraulic fluid under high pressure to brake actuators. Anti-lock brake performance, traction control performance, and yaw control performance can be adversely affected during cold temperature operation by reason of the increased viscosity of the brake fluid. The ability of the system to apply braking torque to the vehicle wheels during operation of the system in certain control modes, --for example, when the driver is not applying braking pressure to the brake pedal, --may be degraded by cold operating temperatures because the increased viscosity of the brake fluid may restrict delivery of fluid to the brake actuators.
It is known design practice to compensate for the adverse affect of cold temperature by designing the hydraulic control system with large diameter pressure distribution conduits extending from the reservoir to the low pressure side of the pump, which reduces flow restriction in the flow path for the hydraulic fluid. It is known design practice also to provide for an increased pressure differential between the pump inlet and the hydraulic reservoir. This can be accomplished by using a pressurized reservoir or an auxiliary pre-charge pump or by applying master cylinder pressure with an electrically actuated booster. Pressurized accumulators also may be used in conjunction with a fluid pressure reservoir for storing reservoir fluid under high pressure to mitigate the effect of an increase in fluid viscosity as fluid temperature decreases.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,253,409 discloses a hydraulic brake booster system in which heat is generated by a fluid pump or by an independent heat source to increase oil temperature in the booster system. Such an arrangement would not be feasible, however, in an anti-lock brake system, a yaw control system or a traction control system where oil temperature on the inlet side of the control pump must be controlled to reduce viscosity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,954 discloses a hydraulic control system for an agricultural tractor. The system has a pre-charge pump that communicates at its inlet side with an oil reservoir. A heating element in the reservoir maintains an elevated oil temperature. This is intended to control viscosity in the valve circuit on the outlet side of the control pumps. Such a system would not be feasible, however, in an anti-lock brake system, a yaw control system or a traction control system for an automotive vehicle because of a lack of viscosity control at the inlet side of the control pump.

Hydraulic control unit with ambient temperature compensation during fluid pressure delivery


In a servo control system, a numerical control device and at least one servo amplifier are connected to each other with a serial bus to control a servo motor connected to the servo amplifier. In this system, data transfer systems of at least two types for the serial bus are set, and a data transfer system is selected by a parameter set in the numerical control device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a servo motor control system for controlling servo motors for shafts in machines such as various industrial machines, machine tools, and robots.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a servo motor control system, a numerical control device and servo amplifiers for driving and controlling servo motors are connected to each other with a serial bus, and the numerical control device exchanges data used to control the servo motors with the servo amplifiers through the serial bus. As a connection system between the numerical control device and the servo amplifiers with a serial bus, a daisy chain system achieved by an optical cable is known (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-13394).
When bit rates in serial communication between the numerical control device and the servo amplifiers or between the servo amplifiers are different from each other, communication between the numerical control device and the servo amplifiers or between the servo amplifiers cannot be established. A common bit rate must be used in communication between elements constituting the servo motor control system. When the servo motor control system is structured at the first, one data transfer system is employed at the same bit rate.
However, when some element (numerical control or servo amplifier) of the system breaks to exchange the broken element with a new element in use of the servo control system, bit rates may be changed to employ a different data transfer system. In particular, when a bit rate is high, an amount of data exchanged between the numerical control device and the servo amplifiers increases. For this reason, a new product tends to employ a transfer system in which a bit rate higher than a conventional bit rate is set. For this reason, when a new product is built as an element of an existing servo motor control system, bit rates are changed, the system cannot operate. This problem is frequently posed in a servo motor control system in a machine such as a machine tool having a long life.


Systems and methods for accessing configurable storage resources are provided. In some embodiments, an access controller for use in an information handling system is provided. The access controller may include a processor, a plurality of configurable storage resources coupled to the processor, and a network interface communicatively coupled to the processor and configured to allow simultaneous in-band and out-of-band access to the plurality of configurable storage resources. The processor may be configured to determine a configuration of the plurality of configurable storage resources, map the configuration to the plurality of configurable storage resources, and execute an application for managing the simultaneous access of the plurality of configurable storage resources.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Generally, an information handling system may include an access controller that provides an interface between the information software and the platform hardware in the system. The controller, such as a baseboard management controller (BMC), a chassis management controller (CMC), or a remote access controller (RAC), may manage and/or collect data from various components associated with the information handling system and may alert a user of any irregularities in those components. Additionally, the controllers may access storage components associated with the information handling system to perform various actions such as booting from the storage volumes, updating firmware, and other tasks.
Typically, there are two types of storage components associated with an access controller in an information handling system: unmanaged persistent storage and managed persistent storage. The unmanaged persistent storage, generally flash media (e.g., SD cards or soldered down eMMC), is typically used as server hypervisors and/or serves as a repository for data such as system diagnostics, drivers, etc. The unmanaged persistent storage is traditionally exclusively accessible by a host server. Managed persistent storage is typically a remotely-accessible flash media component (e.g., SD cards or soldered down eMMC) that can be controlled by a management subsystem of the information handling system. Since the two storage components can only be accessed a single domain, either by the host or remotely, providing redundancy and/or user flexibility is not available.

System and method for accessing storage resources


A hydraulic control apparatus for an automatic transmission including two frictional coupling devices of a first group and a plurality of frictional coupling devices of a second group, the control device including a second-group-engaging switching valve arranged to receive second engaging hydraulic pressures generated to engage the coupling devices of the second group and operable, upon reception of at least one of the second engaging hydraulic pressures, to generate a second-group-engaging pilot hydraulic pressure, and a fail-safe valve to receive at least one of first engaging hydraulic pressures generated to engage the two coupling devices of the first group and operable, upon simultaneous reception of the first engaging hydraulic pressure generated to engage one of the two coupling devices of the first group and the second-group-engaging pilot hydraulic pressure, to prevent application of the first engaging hydraulic pressure to the other of the two coupling devices of the first group.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a hydraulic control apparatus for an automatic transmission, and more particularly to techniques associated with a fail-safe arrangement to prevent interlocking of simultaneous engaging actions of some combinations of frictional coupling devices provided in the automatic transmission.
2. Discussion of Related Art
There is known an automatic transmission which includes two hydraulically operated frictional coupling devices of a first group and a plurality of hydraulically operated frictional coupling devices of a second group, and which is arranged to establish a selected one of a plurality of gear positions having respective different speed ratios, by simultaneous engaging actions of one of the frictional coupling devices of the first group and one of the frictional coupling devices of the second group. JP-2000-249219A discloses an example of this type of automatic transmission, wherein a clutch C1 and a clutch C2 constitutes the first group, while a clutch C3 and brakes B1 and B2 constitutes the second group. This automatic transmission is placed in one of first through third gear positions by simultaneous engaging actions of the clutch C1 of the first group and one of the clutch C3 and brakes B1, B2 of the second group, in a fourth gear position by simultaneous engaging actions of the two clutches C1 and C2 of the first group, and in one of fifth and sixth gear positions by simultaneous engaging actions of the clutch C2 of the first group and one of the clutch C3 and brake B1 of the second group.
The publication JP-2000-249219A also discloses a technical arrangement for preventing so-called "interlocking" of simultaneous engaging actions of some combinations of the hydraulically operated frictional coupling devices. This technical arrangement includes (a) a composite-pilot-signal valve operable to generate a pilot hydraulic pressure when the composite-pilot-signal valve receives engaging hydraulic pressures simultaneously generated to engage the two hydraulically operated frictional coupling devices (C1, C2) of the first group, and (b) a fail-safe valve 120 which is arranged to receive engaging hydraulic pressures generated to engage the plurality of hydraulically operated frictional coupling devices (C3, B1, B2) of the second group and the above-indicated pilot hydraulic pressure, and which is operable to prevent application of the engaging hydraulic pressure to a selected one of the frictional coupling devices when the at least two of the pilot hydraulic pressure and the engaging hydraulic pressures generated to engage the frictional coupling devices of the second group. The fail-safe valve cooperates with the composite-pilot-signal valve to prevent the interlocking of the simultaneous engaging actions of the two or more frictional coupling devices which are not normally available due to speed differences of the rotary elements associated with the frictional coupling devices in question but abnormally take place due to an electric failure or defect of solenoid valves or an operational failure or defect of the solenoid valves such as sticking of their spools (operational abnormality due to a foreign matter caught in the valve structure). The solenoid valves are provided to apply and remove the engaging hydraulic pressures to and from the frictional coupling devices. The above-indicated simultaneous engaging actions which cause the interlocking are those of the frictional coupling devices for establishing different gear positions of the automatic transmission. The interlocking would cause an undesirable variation of an output drive force of the automatic transmission, or an excessively large load acting on the friction members of the frictional coupling devices, which results in deterioration of the durability of the friction members.
However, the conventional technical arrangement for preventing the interlocking is arranged such that the fail-safe valve receives the engaging hydraulic pressures of the plurality of hydraulically operated frictional coupling devices of the second group, and therefore undesirably suffers from a relatively large number of hydraulic ports of the fail-safe valve, and an accordingly increased required diameter or length of the fail-safe valve. Therefore, the fail-safe valve tends to have a relatively large sliding resistance of its spool and suffer from an accordingly deteriorated operating response and an accordingly reduced resistance to sticking of its spool. These problems are serious where the number of the frictional coupling device of the second group is relatively large for establishing a relatively large number of the gear positions of the automatic transmission.

Hydraulic control device for automatic transmission


A privacy enclosure for use on a boat. The privacy enclosure includes a plurality of rigid wall structures that raise in a first vertical direction and extend in a second lateral direction to provide sufficient space for use as a changing room. The privacy enclosure includes a compartment within which a toilet may be located. The toilet can be slid out from the compartment into the interior of the enclosure for use.

A wide variety of enclosure arrangements have been provided for personal use on boats. A number of such enclosure arrangements include a soft-sided or fabric arrangement, such as a rail and curtain arrangement. In some arrangements, a curtain is drawn around an area for use as a changing area or a private toilet area. In other arrangements, a soft-sided fabric canopy unfolds to enclose a changing or toilet area.
The soft-sided fabric/curtain arrangements have several drawbacks. For instance, conventional curtain or fabric arrangements provide little to no structural stability, which can cause safety concerns in conditions when the boat is rocking and a user looses his or her balance. Without structural supports and having nothing to grasp, a user may fall through the curtain or fabric sides of the enclosures. Another drawback of these conventional arrangements is a lack of secured privacy, which can arise when the wind is blowing and the curtain or fabric side blows up or open. In addition, soft-sided arrangements generally provide no noise privacy or noise dampening that in tight quarters on a boat is desirable.
A need exists for a privacy enclosure having structural features to address such concerns for safety, secured privacy, and noise privacy. And yet, as can be understood, full-sized structures or cabin rooms addressing these needs can consume a substantial amount of space or be impractical on smaller boat configurations. Thus, it is further desirable to provide a privacy enclosure that can be stowed when not in use.
In general, improvement has been sought with respect to such enclosures, generally to better accommodate privacy, safety, and spatial concerns.


The radio station has DECT circuitry for processing one or more bit streams to be transmitted over a communication channel divided into successive 10 ms radio frames each having a plurality of timeslots, each bit stream being allocated one of the timeslots in each frame. The DECT circuitry extracts bit sequences from each bit stream and modulates each of the bit sequences to form a respective radio signal burst inserted into a timeslot allocated to the bit stream in accordance with DECT formats. A clock generator, including a crystal oscillator and frequency dividers, produces a first clock signal having a frequency adapted for set the bit rate of each bit stream to 32 kbit/s, and a second clock signal having a frequency adapted for setting the bit rate within each bit sequence to 1.024 kbit/s, whereby the DECT formats remain valid while the channel has a reduced spectra bandwidth.

The present invention relates to digital radio communications using time-division multiple access (TDMA).
In a TDMA system, a communication channel is divided into successive radio frames and each radio frame is divided into a plurality of timeslots. Multiplexed channels are formed over the communication channel by allocating the timeslots in each frame.
A TDMA radio system of widespread use is the so-called DECT system (xe2x80x9cDigital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunicationsxe2x80x9d), which has been standardized by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The DECT technology is used in various sectors, including residential telephony, business communications, and public access to other networks.
The DECT operating frequency band is 1,880-1,900 MHz. Each communication channel (one carrier frequency, or more if frequency hopping is provided) can support up to 12 full duplex channels, the frame duration being 10 ms. In a typical application, each channel has an information bit rate of 32 kbit/s in each direction, suitable for transmitting, e.g., a digital speech signal produced by an adaptive differential pulse code modulation (ADPCM) source. Due to the TDMA operation, the 32 kbit/s bit stream is split into 320-bit sequences distributed into the allocated timeslots of the successive frames, along with system and signaling information, the instantaneous bit rate within the timeslots being 1.152 MHz. Gaussian frequency shift keying (GFSK) is used to form the modulated radio signal bursts from those bit sequences.
Owing to the ETSI standardization, various manufacturers have designed DECT components and produce them at relatively low cost. In particular, the burst mode controller (BMC) is the digital circuitry used in the DECT physical layer to control the production of the radio signal from the different bit streams to be transmitted. All details about the DECT physical layer may be found in the ETSI Standard EN 300 175-2, Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT); Common Interface (CI); Part 2: Physical Layer (PHL), version 1.4.2, June 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of the conventional DECT frame structure. There are 24 timeslots per frame, i.e. 12 slots for the downlink (fixed part to portable part) followed by 12 slots for the uplink (portable part to fixed part). Each timeslot is 416.7 xcexcs long, which represents 480 bit periods. In a typical embodiment, each timeslot may support the transmission of a signal burst obtained by modulating a sequence of 440 bits (381.9 ps) including 48 synchronization bits (S-field), 388 information bits (D-field) and 4 additional bits (Z-field). The D-field includes 64 bits for signaling (A-field), 320 bits for traffic (B-field), e.g. from the ADPCM coder, and 4 additional bits for error detection (X-field). A guard time of 34.7 xcexcs (40 bit periods) is left after the burst at the end of the time slot to account for the propagation time between the FP end the PP and to enable switching of the carrier frequency if required. In another possible timeslot format, the A-field has only 32 bits, whereby the guard time is longer (56 bit periods).
In a number of applications, the spectral bandwidth, which can be used about a particular carrier frequency, is narrower than what has been provided for in the DECT standards. In particular, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued spectral specifications for wireless telecommunications in the 2.4 GHz range. Those specification require for each channel a maximum spectral bandwidth of about 1 MHz. When such requirement applies, the DECT system as it exists cannot be simply transposed because of the aforesaid 1.152 MHz instantaneous bit rate in the timeslots, which leads to spectral bandwidths significantly broader than 1 MHz.
For such applications, it would be desirable to use DECT components, whose design is well adapted to cordless applications and which are available at relatively low cost. In order to adapt DECT components to those requirements, a possibility is to use a quartz crystal having a lower oscillation frequency as a time reference by the BMC. Reducing the quartz frequency by a factor xcex1 (xcex1 1) reduces the bit rate within the timeslots to 1.152/xcex1MHz. A problem with this approach is that the timeslot pertaining to each channel, which contains 320 traffic bits, occurs every 10xc3x97xcex1ms, so that the rate of the input bit stream has to be changed from 32 kbit/s to 32/xcex1kbit/s. This implies the need to provide data and clock conversion for synchronization with other units. Changing the output bit rate of an ADPCM coder from 32 kbit/s to 32/xcex1kbit/s corresponds to changing the sampling frequency of the speech signal from 8 to 8/xcex1kHz. Therefore, the above-mentioned conversion implies converting the coded speech signal into analog form and re-sampling it at 8/xcex1 or 8 kHz. Such conversion significantly increases the complexity of the system. In addition, it is very difficult to synchronize several base stations together (as required in the DECT system in order to support the handover feature) when such base stations are connected to a switching system, e.g. PBX, because such systems typically transport standard 32 kbit/s ADPCM signals, and use a corresponding 8 kHz reference clock for synchronization.
Another possibility, which overcomes the above problems, is to divide the channel bit rate by an integer number (e.g. 2 or 3), while multiplying the timeslot duration by a corresponding number and keeping the 10 ms duration of the frames (with correspondingly less slots). Although this solution is simpler, it has the drawbacks of significantly increasing the power consumption of the portable units and decreasing the number of channels available for multiplexing.
An object of the present invention is to propose another, more convenient, approach to adapt the DECT technology to narrower spectral bandwidths.
A radio station according to the invention comprises DECT circuitry for processing at least one bit stream to be transmitted over a communication channel comprising successive 10 ms radio frames each having a plurality of timeslots, each bit stream being allocated one of said plurality of timeslots in each frame. The DECT circuitry comprises means for extracting bit sequences from each bit stream and means for modulating each of said bit sequences to form a respective radio signal burst inserted into a timeslot allocated to said bit stream in accordance with DECT formats. Each bit stream has a first bit rate controlled by a first clock signal and each of said bit sequences has a second bit rate controlled by a second clock signal. Clock generation means are provided for producing the first and second clock signals having frequencies adapted for said first and second bit rate to be substantially 32 and 1.024 kbit/s, respectively. The number of transmit timeslots per frame will be at most 10, preferably 9 or 10.


A display device such as liquid crystal display device which restrains the entrance of static electricity into a scanning signal driver circuit or a video signal driver circuit includes a pair of substrates, a signal line, a capacitance line and a counter voltage line formed on one substrate of the pair of substrate, a pixel including a thin film transistor connected to the signal line, a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor and a counter electrode connected to the counter voltage line, a driver circuit formed on the one substrate and connected to the signal line and an interconnection layer disposed between the pixel and the driver circuit. At least one of the capacitance line and the counter voltage line is connected to the interconnection layer between the driver circuit and the pixel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display device, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display device in which a scanning signal driver circuit and a video signal driver circuit are formed on a liquid-crystal-side surface of one of substrates disposed in opposition to each other with a liquid crystal interposed therebetween.
2. Background Art
A liquid crystal display device includes a plurality of gate signal lines disposed in juxtaposition and a plurality of drain signal lines juxtaposed to intersect the plurality of gate signal lines on a liquid-crystal-side surface of one of substrates disposed in opposition to each other with a liquid crystal interposed therebetween. Pixel areas are respectively formed by areas each surrounded by adjacent ones of the gate signal lines and adjacent ones of the drain signal lines, and each of the pixel areas is provided with a switching element driven by a scanning signal from a corresponding one of the gate signal lines, and a pixel electrode supplied with a video signal from a corresponding one of the drain signal lines via the switching element.
In addition, a scanning signal driver circuit and a video signal driver circuit are formed on the liquid-crystal-side surface of the one of the substrates. The scanning signal driver circuit for progressively supplying scanning signals to the gate signals is formed on the side of at least one end of each of the gate signal lines, while the video signal driver circuit for supplying video signals in synchronism with the timing of supplying the scanning signals is formed on the side of at least one end of each of the drain signal lines.


The invention relates to a deep-drawing packaging machine and to a method of operating such a deep-drawing packaging machine, comprising a lifting device for a workstation, wherein a lower tool part connected to a stand and an upper tool part connected to a frame are coupled to each other and driven by a motor such that both tools may at least partially move together towards a film web.

DE 10 2010 019 634 A1 discloses a motor-driven lifting device for a cutting station of a deep-drawing packaging machine which moves a lower tool part or a cutting knife upwards towards a film web by means of a push rod driven by a motor. Here, an upper tool part or a counter knife is stationarily provided at the upper side of the film web. The production of packages containing products that project beyond the plane of the film web is not possible with this lifting device.
DE 197 34 513 A1 discloses a pneumatically driven lifting gear for a workstation of a deep-drawing packaging machine, wherein the upper tool part is coupled with the lower tool part via linkages in such a way that an upward motion of the lower tool part from the bottom to the film web is followed by a downward motion of the upper tool part from the top to the film web, the lifting motion of the lower tool part amounting to a multiple of the lifting motion of the upper tool part.

Deep-drawing packaging machine with lifting device

MULTIVAC SEPP HAGGENMUELLER GMBH & CO. KG


A wafer-level method for fabricating a plurality of cameras includes modifying an image sensor wafer to reduce risk of the image sensor wafer warping, and bonding the image sensor wafer to a lens wafer to form a composite wafer that includes the plurality of cameras. A wafer-level method for fabricating a plurality of cameras includes bonding an image sensor wafer to a lens wafer, using a pressure sensitive adhesive, to form a composite wafer that includes the plurality of cameras.

The development of imaging systems manufactured with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies used to fabricate integrated circuits has made cameras ubiquitous in high-volume consumer products, such as cellular phones and automotive camera systems. In the CMOS manufacturing process, integrated circuits, such as image sensors, are fabricated on a substrate called a wafer. A large number of image sensors may be fabricated on a single wafer. Similarly, a large number of identical lenses may be fabricated on a single substrate, using a single molding tool to shape all lenses, to form a lens wafer. For production of cameras with imaging objectives composed of multiple lenses, one or more lens wafers are stacked to make a lens wafer composed of multiple identical lens stacks, each forming an imaging objective. The image sensor wafer is diced to make individual image sensors, and the lens wafer is diced to make individual lenses or lens stacks. Cameras are then fabricated by disposing an image sensor on each lens or lens stack.

Wafer-level bonding method for camera fabrication


E. coli proteins have been identified that are useful as carrier proteins to improve a response to a polysaccharide immunogen conjugated to such protein. In particular, AcfD precursor protein (orf3526 polypeptide), Flu antigen 43 protein (orf1364 polypeptide), and Sel1 repeat-containing protein (upec-5211 polypeptide) have been shown to be effective. Additionally, these E. coli proteins can enhance the immune response to glucans, particularly fungal glucans.

Carrier proteins are used to improve the immune response to polysaccharide immunogens. Such carrier proteins can be particularly advantageous in the induction of an immune response in the very young and are therefore found in a number of pediatric vaccines. The recommended pediatric immunization schedule includes a significant number of vaccines including hepatitis B vaccine at birth; starting at six weeks, all of diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTaP), rotavirus, H. influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate, inactivated poliovirus and pneumococcal conjugates; starting at six months, inactivated influenza vaccines; starting at 12 months, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR), varicella, and hepatitis A; and after two years, meningococcal conjugate. Among this list, the following are polysaccharide conjugates: Hib conjugate (e.g., HbOC—a diphtheria CRM197 conjugate); pneumococcal conjugates (e.g., Prevnar—a diphtheria CRM197 conjugate and Synflorix—a protein carrier derived from non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae strains); and meningococcal conjugate (e.g., Menactra—a diphtheria CRM197 conjugate).
Adding new vaccines to the current pediatric immunization schedule can encounter two potential problems that must be addressed. First, the issue of carrier-induced epitopic suppression (or "carrier suppression", as it is generally known) must be addressed, particularly suppression arising from carrier priming. "Carrier suppression" is the phenomenon whereby pre-immunization of an animal with a carrier protein prevents it from later eliciting an immune response against a new antigenic epitope that is presented on that carrier (Herzenberg et al. (1980) Nature 285: 664-667).
As reported in Schutze et al. (1985) J Immunol 135:2319-2322, where several vaccine antigens contain the same protein component (being used as an immunogen and/or as a carrier protein in a conjugate) then there is the potential for interference between those antigens. Schutze et al. observed that the immune response against an antigen that was conjugated to a tetanus toxoid (Tt) carrier was suppressed by pre-existing immunity against Tt.
Dagan et al. observed that a combination of DTP vaccines with a Hib conjugate vaccine was adversely affected where the carrier for the Hib conjugate was the same as the tetanus antigen from the DTP vaccine ((1998) Infect Immun 66:2093-2098). Dagan et al. concluded that this "carrier suppression" phenomenon, arising from interference by a common protein carrier, should be taken into account when introducing vaccines that include multiple conjugates.
In contrast to Schutze et al. and Dagan et al., Barington et al. reported that priming with tetanus toxoid had no negative impact on the immune response against a subsequently-administered Hib-Tt conjugate, but suppression was seen in patients with maternally acquired anti-Tt antibodies ((1994) Infect Immun 62:9-14). Di John et al., however, observed an "epitopic suppression" effect for a Tt-based peptide conjugate in patients having existing anti-Tt antibodies resulting from tetanus vaccination ((1989) Lancet 2(8677):1415-8).
Granoff et al. suggested that a conjugate having CRM197 (a detoxified mutant of diphtheria toxin) as the carrier may be ineffective in children that had not previously received diphtheria toxin as part of a vaccine (e.g., as part of a DTP or DT vaccine) ((1993) Vaccine Suppl 1: 546-51). This work was further developed in Granoff et al. (1994) JAMA 272:1116-1121, where a carrier priming effect by D-T immunization was seen to persist for subsequent immunization with Hib conjugates.
In Barington et al. (1993) Infect Immun 61:432-438, the authors found that pre-immunization with a diphtheria or tetanus toxoid carrier protein reduced the increase in anti-Hib antibody levels after a subsequent immunization with the Hib capsular saccharide conjugated to those carriers, with IgG1 and IgG2 being equally affected. Responses to the carrier portions of the conjugates were also suppressed. Furthermore, a more general non-epitope-specific suppression was seen, as pre-immunization with one conjugate was seen to affect immune responses against both the carrier and saccharide portions of a second conjugate that was administered four weeks later.
Thus, given the confusion over the impact of "carrier suppression," having additional carrier proteins available for conjugation will be beneficial to reduce such adverse interactions.
Second, given the already crowded immunization schedule, addition of new vaccines to the immunization schedule will become increasingly difficult due to possible adverse interactions, but also due simply to the number of separate injections required. Thus, being able to combine vaccines into a single injection such as the DTaP or MMR vaccines is advantageous. Having additional carrier proteins that can enhance an immune response to a polysaccharide immunogen as well as induce an immune response to itself will be beneficial as it can allow combination of vaccines against different pathogens into a single injectable composition.
It is an object of the invention to provide further and/or better carrier polypeptides for conjugation to polysaccharide immunogens. It is also an object of the invention to provide carrier polypeptides for conjugation to polysaccharide immunogens where the carrier polypeptides can be used in immunization against pathogenic E. coli strains, and more particularly against intestinal pathotypes (e.g. EAEC, EIEC, EPEC and ETEC strains) as well as ExPEC pathotypes. It is also an object of the invention to provide conjugates with such further and/or better carrier polypeptides where the polysaccharide immunogen is a glucan polysaccharide, which in some embodiments can be used in immunization against fungal pathogens.

Polysaccharide immunogens conjugated to E. coli carrier proteins