A center parking stand for a motorcycle which balances the motorcycle without substantially bearing the weight of the motorcycle. The stand includes a mounting portion which mounts the stand to the motorcycle and allows the stand to rotate between stowed and use positions. A pair of support legs extend away from the mounting portion and terminate in support surfaces adapted to engage a parking surface. The legs have a length which enables the stand to be moved from its stowed position to its use position such that the rear wheel of the motorcycle remains engaged with the parking surface during the entire parking procedure and while the motorcycle is parked. The legs cooperate with one another and take over, from the rider, the function of balancing the motorcycle in its substantially vertical, non-leaning, position while the wheels of the motorcycle remain responsible for carrying the weight of the motorcycle. The stand additionally incorporates features that function to prevent the motorcycle from falling over in the event the stand penetrates into the parking surface. These features cooperate to bias the motorcycle to the left and support the motorcycle in a leaning position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a motorcycle parking stand and, more particularly, to a center parking stand for use on large, heavyweight touring/cruiser class motorcycles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Large, heavyweight touring class motorcycles typically weigh between 1200 and 1300 lbs including the rider, passenger and luggage. These motorcycles are easily controlled by the skilled rider as long as there is a sufficient forward motion which will allow for unbalanced dynamic forces to be corrected. When the motorcycle is stopped, these dynamic forces give way to destabilizing static forces that require the rider to keep the motorcycle balanced in a vertical position using the rider's feet, legs, body motion or weight. Any unbalanced static force can turn precipitously into an uncontrollable dynamic force if an excessive lean angle develops during stopping or the parking process. The result is that the rider might be required to "lay down" the motorcycle risking, not only personal injury, but also damage to the motorcycle.
Typically, these large touring motorcycles, and sometimes smaller motorcycles too, are equipped with dual parking stands. One of these stands is a side stand which requires the rider to lean the burdened motorcycle to the left until the side stand contacts the parking surface and assists in supporting the motorcycle. In this leaned and awkward position, the rider and/or passenger then dismounts. Often the unbalanced forces being exerted on the suspension system and the stand cause the motorcycle to move and shift during the dismounting process. The second type of parking stand is known as a main or center stand. Use of the center stand first requires use of the side stand as described above to permit the rider to dismount the motorcycle. The dismounted rider then uprights the motorcycle off of the side stand and balances the motorcycle in the vertical position while standing beside it. While holding the motorcycle upright and standing beside it, the rider then, with one foot, lowers the main stand to the parking surface. A combination of forces cause the motorcycle to be raised upward and moved backward onto the center stand and into its parked position. These forces include exerting a standing pressure with one foot, typically the right foot, on a footlever of the center stand, maintaining the balance of the motorcycle with the left foot and left hand, and applying a lifting force with the right hand. As a result, the rear wheel of the motorcycle becomes elevated and remains suspended above the parking surface when the motorcycle is brought up on the main stand.
FIG. 1 illustrates a motorcycle 10 of the touring or cruiser variety. In the figure, the motorcycle 10 is parked on a side stand 12 of a known variety. To park the motorcycle 10, the motorcycle 10 is leaned to the left until the downwardly extended side stand 12 contacts the parking surface 14 and supports the motorcycle's unbalanced weight. The rider and/or passenger then dismount from this parked position. Later, the rider remounts, lifts the motorcycle 10 off the side stand 12 into an upright, balanced position and applies forward power to ride away.
FIG. 2 shows the touring motorcycle 10 parked on a main stand 16 of a known variety. In order to park the motorcycle 10 on the main stand 16, the rider first parks the motorcycle on its side stand 12 as discussed below. The rider then dismounts and stands alongside the motorcycle 10. The motorcycle 10 is then lifted off of the side stand 12 and simultaneously, while standing on one foot, typically the left foot, the rider balances the motorcycle 10 on its two wheels 20 and 22 by holding the handlebar 24 with one hand, the left hand. The rider places the other foot, the right foot, on a footlever 18, lowers the main stand 16 down to the parking surface, and lifts and pulls the rear of the motorcycle 10 upward and backward on a lifting handle 26 with the other hand, the right hand. The resulting timing and combination of forces raise the motorcycle 10 upward and rearward until it is resting on the main stand 16 with the rear wheel 22 of the motorcycle 10 suspended above the parking surface 14.
The above procedure is essentially reversed in order to ready and mount the motorcycle for riding. First, the rider stands alongside the motorcycle 10 with his left hand on handlebar 24 and his right hand on the lifting handle 26. Then, by pulling on the lifting handle 26, the motorcycle 10 is simultaneously lifted upward and pulled forward until it is off main stand 16. The side stand 12 is then lowered and the motorcycle 10 leaned onto the side stand 12 and into the parked configuration shown in FIG. 1. The motorcycle 10 can then be mounted by the rider and passenger, balanced by the rider in its upright configuration, the side stand 12 retracted into its stow position, and the motorcycle 10 ridden away using forward power.
Parking the motorcycle on the main stand is more desirable than using the side stand because of the greater stability it offers. However, most riders avoid this procedure because it is very strenuous and hazardous and since the rider may easily lose control of and drop the motorcycle during parking.
As seen from the above discussion, the parking stands presently in use and their methods of operation suffer from a number of inherent limitations. First, the side stand requires the rider to lean the stationary motorcycle from a balanced vertical position to an unbalanced leaning position. Additionally, both rider and passenger are required to dismount the motorcycle before it can be parked on the main stand. Parking the motorcycle on the main stand is strenuous and is a complex, coordinated procedure which requires the rider to lift the motorcycle from the side stand parking position, balance it while standing on one foot, raise the other foot to lower the main stand, and lift the motorcycle with the other hand while simultaneously applying a standing force on a footlever of the main stand. When the main stand finally reaches the park position, the rear wheel of the motorcycle is suspended above the parking surface.
As mentioned above, although parking on the main stand is the more secure of the two parking positions, most riders avoid this because of the combination of physical strength and coordination required to perform the procedure. When the main stand is being used, so much weight is exerted on the parking surface because of the raised rear end of the motorcycle that, if the surface is not sufficiently hard, the stand will penetrate into the parking surface. This often causes the motorcycle to fall over onto the ground damaging the motorcycle and potentially injuring any by-standers. This problem is more common when parking on blacktop surfaces where the sun heats the surface over the course of the day.
The ride away procedure from this type of main stand is essentially the reverse of the parking procedure. The rider stands alongside the motorcycle, lifts up and pulls forward on the motorcycle until it comes off the main stand, stops the forward motion while keeping the motorcycle balanced, lowers the motorcycle to the side stand parking position, and then mounts the motorcycle. The passenger can either mount the motorcycle while it is on its side stand or wait until it is balanced by the rider in the vertical position. After the motorcycle has been balanced upright, the rider raises the side stand with the left foot, shifts the motorcycle to gear and rides away. As with parking the motorcycle, removing it from the main parking stand can also be hazardous since it too requires a certain amount of strength and timed coordination.
With the limitations of the prior art in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a center or main parking stand which does not require use of the side stand during the parking procedure. Instead, during parking on the center stand the motorcycle is always kept in a balanced upright configuration or orientation.
Another object of this invention is to provide a center parking stand which allows the rider remains on the motorcycle during the entire parking procedure and ride away procedure.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a center parking stand which can replace the stock main stand provided with the motorcycle by the manufacturer.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a center parking stand which balances the motorcycle while parked but does not bear or support a significant amount of the motorcycle's weight.
A further object is to provide a center parking stand which reduces the likelihood that it will penetrate into the parking surface.
A still further object is to provide a center stand which converts, at least partially, into a side stand type of parking stand in the event of the stand penetrating into the parking surface.


An apparatus for the treatment of liquid by aeration is provided. The apparatus has a motor, a propeller carried by a motor-driven shaft, an air flow passage to the propeller, bearings supporting the shaft at a location spaced from the motor and at least one bearing seal between a bearing and the propeller. In accordance with the present invention, a module for releasably carrying at least one of the bearing seals is detachably secured about the shaft to faciliate removal of at least the bearing seals from the apparatus.

The present invention relates to aerators for the treatment of liquids and, in particular, to modules which facilitate the repair and/or replacement of bearings and/or bearing seals used in liquid aerators.
Aerators for the treatment of liquid, and particularly water, are known in the prior art. Such treatment is employed to encourage aerobic bacteria activity, as in the treatment of waste water, for example. Aerators may also be employed in the treatment of water bodies generally; such as to render them more potable, suitable for food production, or to return them to their natural state.
An aerator typically has a motor, a propeller carried by a motor driven shaft, a passage for airflow to the propeller and at least one bearing to support the shaft against deflection. In addition, a typical aerator includes bearing seals in association with each of the bearings in an attempt to block liquid from the bearings.
In the aerator described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,870 issued May 3, 1988, for APPARATUS FOR TREATMENT OF LIQUIDS, in the name of Peter S. Gross, a bearing and its associated bearing seal are supported in a tubular cantilever. Both the bearing and the bearing seal are press-fitted into the cantilever with the bearing seal acting to protect the bearing from the liquid being treated. Over a period of time, the bearing and the bearing seals will wear from use. The nature of the liquid being treated may also affect the life of the bearing and/or the bearing seal. In any event, when one or both of the bearing and/or the bearing seal is damaged, or otherwise impaired by wear or use, replacement is required. However, the very nature of the press-fit by which the bearing and the bearing seal are mounted renders them very difficult to remove from the housing. This is particularly true when repairs are attempted in the field. During the replacement procedure, damage to the aerator is a major concern.

Replaceable seal module for liquid aerators


The environment-friendly coffin according to the invention comprising a box assembly and a profiled lid assembly covering said box assemblies, with both assemblies being connected to each other by means of connecting elements, is characterized in that the coffin's box assembly (1) comprises a casing (3) made of natural stone plates, plate-shaped flats (10) with tapped bores (11) made in them, fixed to inner or outer surfaces of longer plate side walls (5) of said casing, plate-shaped metal washers (12) with tapped mounting bores (13) fixed to these inner side walls (5) and a tubular element (15) mounted inside casing (3), said element tubular being made of glass fiber mat or metal and fastened to inner surfaces of plate side walls (5) and to bottom (4) made of natural stone slab or made of natural stone slab and plate (27) made of a made of a wood-base material and fixed to said stone slab by means of glue-based sealing mass (17), whereas the profiled lid assembly (2) of the coffin has an outer casing made of natural stone in the form of a solid with bottom cascade-shaped cavity (23) or with trough-shaped cavity (32) with a profile of the truncated pyramid, with a lower side offset in the form of a slab frame (29), where in the inner surface of said casing there is insert (30) made of a wood-base material with the same profile fixed by means of a glue to which glass fiber mat (31) is glued.

(1) Field of the Invention
The subject of the invention is an environment-friendly coffin, resistant to bio-degradation and preventing bacteria- and fungi-containing substances occurring as a result of decomposition of a human corpse from penetrating into soil and ground waters. The invention represents an improved modification of technical solution revealed in Polish patent application for invention P-407427.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
From Polish patent No. P-379949 known is a coffin, designed especially for cremation, having the structure of a coffin box and a coffin lid, comprising two and three spatial structural systems, whereas each of such structural systems is determined spatially with respect to the another structural system fitting tight to it Spatial systems of the coffin box and the coffin lid are connected with each other by means of joints in the form of grooves and tongues.
Known from description of Polish utility model No W-121175 and invention No P-399618 is also a coffin for fast self-assembly comprising a box and a top attached thereto, where the box comprises two side walls, two endwalls, and a bottom connecting them, while its lid comprises two side walls, two endwalls, and a cover. Side walls of the coffin's lid are connected with the two endwalls by means of metal I-section shaped connectors driven into milled seats, and the lid top is connected with said side walls and endwalls by means of an eccentric angle joint, whereas side walls of the coffin are connected with its endwalls by means of I-section shaped connectors, while bottom of the coffin is connected with side walls and endwalls of the box by means of metal I-section shaped connectors, and all walls of both the coffin box and the coffin lid are made of a lacquered furniture board.
Known also from description of a Polish industrial design Rp-10893 is a coffin made of organic glass designed for burying human corpses in tombs, having a frame skeleton welded out of metal angle section and walls made of inorganic transparent or dimmed glass mounted in the frame structure of said skeleton. The bottom of the coffin is lined with a wooden plate with a moisture-absorbing insert mounted in it, and two grip handles are attached to each of its longer glass walls.
Further, from patent descriptions CN203139025 and US2009188089A1 known is a glass coffin designed with the objective to extend the period of preserving a human corpse, with body of said coffin made of toughened glass and equipped with an air conditioning system maintaining temperature and humidity at a constant level. By using a toughened glass to fabricate the body of the coffin, the coffin prevents the corpse from decomposing extending thus the period for which the corpse is preserved.
An inconvenience characterising coffins known from the prior art made either of wood, wood-base materials, or glass, consists in that they allow the substances generated in the course of decomposition of a human corpse to permeate to soil and ground waters. An additional inconvenience of technical solutions used in environment-friendly coffins known to date consists also in difficulties related to lifting the heavy stone lid of the coffin up to open position and insufficient rigidity of the inner cuboidal element made of glass fibre mat.
For clarity, in the following there are explanations of meaning of some terms used in this patent description, namely:                natural stone means also: granite, marble, quartzite, onyx, agglomerated marble, travertine, or natural stone veneer;        glass fibre mat means also: kevlar-carbon fibre, roving fabrics, glass-fibre reinforced polyester sections        a glue or a glue-based sealing mass means also: silicone, acrylic adhesive, a foam adhesive, an epoxy adhesive, epoxy resins, or polyurethane masses;        wood-base materials mean also: MDF boards, HDF boards, chipboards, hardboard, fibreboards, or OSB boards;        a grip handle means also: a single simple fixed handgrip made of metal and plastic, a single simple foldable handle, a simple flush-fitting handle or a handgrip with a jointing piece;        a hard material for bottom, lid, and box means: a wood, a metal, a plastic, a sintered quartzite, a sintered quartz, or a glass;        hard material for slat rectangular frames means: wood, a plastic, or a metal.


The invention relates to a dual clutch for a dual clutch transmission for transmitting a torque from a drive shaft to at least one drive shaft, which comprises a first clutch, a second clutch, and an electrical actuating device. The actuating device comprises a coupling slide, wherein a first slide of the coupling slide acts on the first clutch, and a second slide of the coupling slide acts on the second clutch, and the two slides are movable in such a way that by displacing the slides a recoupling process is controlled.

Dual clutch transmissions for the actuation of motor vehicles, which comprise two sub-transmissions, which in each case have a main clutch, are known from the technical field. The aforementioned main clutches are actuated by means of hydraulic actuating elements. Aside from these, clutches are known, which are actuated by means of electrical actuators, as for example electric motors, and suitable kinematics assigned to said actuators. A clutch is in each case actuated by a motor with an assigned kinematics, which is appropriately designed, independently of the other one.
With regard to clutches actuated by means of electric motors, the electric motors are constantly supplied with current not only for closing the clutches but also for keeping them closed. The result is that the electric motors have to be adequately sized and the power electronics have to meet the required demands. With regard to clutches, which are controlled by an electric motor, it must be ensured that each of the two clutches of the dual clutch transmission can in each case be completely closed by an electric motor independently of each other. For this purpose, each of the two available electric motors has to produce the maximum closing force, which requires adequately powerful and therefore expensive electric motors. If an error occurs, both of the clutches open, which in each case are driven by an electric motor, so that the drag torque of the internal combustion engine is no longer available and the engine brake is ineffective. Thus, on the one hand a blocking of the transmission is prevented; however, on the other hand, the engine brake is ineffective.
The European patent EP 1 178 234 B1 refers to a clutch arrangement. The clutch arrangement serves to transmit a torque from the drive shaft to an output shaft with a first coupling element and a second coupling element. The first coupling element is connected to the drive shaft and the second coupling element to the output shaft. Provision is made for an actuator, which specifies a nominal value for a torque to be transmitted with the clutch, as well as for an adjusting device, which uses the rotational power of the drive shaft for engaging and/or disengaging the coupling elements. The engaging and/or disengaging of the coupling elements results via a bevel toothed gear. The adjusting device is directly connected to the drive shaft and uses its rotational power squarely for positioning the coupling elements. In so doing, the actuating energy for the adjusting device, which is required for actuating the clutch arrangement, can be directly drawn from the drive train, respectively the drive shaft. The energy drawn from the drive train for an actuation of the clutch arrangement via the adjusting device is not initially used for driving an electric motor, an electric magnet or a hydraulic cylinder. On the contrary, the energy of the drive train is directly supplied without conversion to the adjusting device in order to actuate the clutch arrangement.

Dual clutch for a dual clutch transmission


An input unit inputs printing data. A detecting unit detects a current temperature of a thermal head which is used to print information associated with the printing data. A memory unit stores, instead of prints, a data packet of the printing data if it is determined that the current temperature of the thermal head provided by the detecting unit results in controlling the thermal head so it is not used for printing out the data packet of the printing data.

The present invention relates to a thermal printing system (or thermal printer) using a thermal head for changing, according to input printing data, a color of proper parts of a recording sheet by causing the thermal head to come in contact with the recording sheet appropriately so as to print an image corresponding to the input printing data on the recording sheet. Such a recording sheet comprises a paper which is normally specially coated so that the special coating discolors when it is heated. One example of such a thermal printing system comprises a facsimile apparatus. The present invention in particular relates to a thermal printing system having a function for preventing the thermal head from being overly heated and having a function for preventing partial loss of printed information. Such partial loss of printed information may occur because the above-mentioned thermal-head over heating prevention function prevents the thermal head from further heated due to excessive rising of the temperature of the thermal head being detected.
In one example of such a facsimile apparatus according to related art, temperature detecting means such as a thermistor is provided for detecting a temperature of the thermal head. If the detected temperature of the thermal head reaches a predetermined value, operation of a printing strobe is terminated so as to stop heating of the thermal head. As a result of the heating stoppage, overly heating of the thermal head is prevented.
However, termination of the operation of the printing strobe such as mentioned above may result in a partial loss of printed information if the printing strobe operation termination occurs in the middle of the printing work. On the other hand, it may be possible, in order to prevent the termination of the operation of the printing strobe, to provide measures for reducing heat load applied to the thermal head while the printing strobe is operated. Such measures may comprise, for example, changing the resistance value and/or electric current associated with the thermal head, and/or adding a heat radiation plate into the thermal head. These measures are used for preventing heat from accumulating in the thermal head and thus for preventing the thermal head from being overheated. In this method, partial loss of printed information can be prevented but the thus printed information may become degraded due to insufficient heating of the recording (or printing) paper by means of the thermal head. Such insufficient heating may result from the above-mentioned reduction of the energy supplied to the thermal head.
Further, in the facsimile apparatus according to the related art, a printing strobe-width or strobe time-width (hereinafter used to refer to, a time period for which energy is applied to the thermal head) is determined in response to the magnitude of the detected temperature of the thermal head. Thus, a uniformity in the printing density can be realized even though the temperature of the thermal head tends to vary due to certain reasons, such as variation in ambient temperature and variation of current and/or voltage of the power source used for heating the thermal head.
In this method, however, a problem may occur in a case where a portable power source is utilized for heating the thermal head in the facsimile apparatus. The problem may occur due to a variation in the current and voltage of the portable power source, which variation occurs significantly in particular in a power source such as a portable power source. It is difficult to maintain a proper printing density only by altering the printing strobe time-width to correct the variation in the thermal head temperature due to the existence of such a significant variation in the current and voltage of the power source for heating the thermal head.

Thermal printing system having function for preventing over heating of thermal head


A downhole pump comprises a pump cylinder driven by a pneumatic cylinder. A compressor compresses air and delivers compressed air to the pneumatic cylinder under the control of first and second trip valves and a pilot valve. The trip valves control the pilot valve so that it alternately delivers the compressed air above and below the pneumatic cylinder piston to reciprocally drive the piston. The pneumatic cylinder piston connects to the pump cylinder via a pair of push rods to drive the pump cylinder piston to pump water from the well to an above-ground reservoir.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pneumatic drive systems for pumps and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a pneumatically driven pump system positionable within a borehole to pump fluids from a well.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the absence of electrical power, windmills remain the preferred device for pumping fluids, especially water, from the ground. Windmills typically comprise a vaned wheel connected to a shaft which is supported on a frame. As the vaned wheel rotates, gears transfer the rotational force developed by the shaft to sucker rods which connect to a downhole pump. The sucker rods drive the downhole pump to pump water from the well. Windmill driven pumping systems operate adequately provided there is a sufficient amount of wind to drive the windmill's vaned wheel. However, during periods of low wind activity, the vaned wheel supplies no power to the pump, resulting in periods of water shortages.
In an attempt to provide pumping power regardless of wind activity, U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,250, issued Nov. 9, 1982 to Payne, discloses storing energy developed by the windmill during high levels of wind activity for use during low levels of wind activity. In Payne, the drive shaft of the vaned wheel connects to a compressor which compresses air and stores the compressed air for later use. The compressor delivers the compressed air to a pneumatic cylinder positioned over the borehole of the well to reciprocally drive the pneumatic cylinder. Sucker rods connect the pneumatic cylinder to a down-hole pump so that the reciprocating motion of the pneumatic cylinder drives the pump to pump water from the well. Thus, the windmill disclosed in Payne operates on a continual and constant basis because it stores energy in the form of compressed air for later use.
Unfortunately, although the Payne windmill stores energy for later use, it suffers the same disadvantages as all windmills employing an above-ground pump drive system. Specifically, when the pump drive system resides above the ground, sucker rods must be utilized to deliver the driving force of the drive system to the pump. Sucker rods typically consist of wooden rods in twenty foot sections coupled together with metal connectors. Sucker rods are impractical because they are expensive and must be replaced often. The sucker rods must be replaced often because they are wooden and, as such, rapidly deteriorate in the water. Additionally, when the sucker rods are removed to permit work on the well, they must be continually wet with water to prevent their drying out. If they dry out before their return to the well, they fall apart within the well which results in their again having to be replaced.
Furthermore, if the sucker rods become misaligned within the borehole, the metal connectors coupling them together rub against the borehole casing as the sucker rods reciprocate. The rubbing of the metal connectors against the borehole casing results in holes wearing through the casing which causes leaking. Once the casing begins to leak, it must be replaced. Unfortunately, both the borehole casing and the labor involved in replacing it are extremely expensive. Accordingly, pump drive systems positioned above-ground are high cost systems requiring significant amounts of maintenance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,871, issued on May 31, 1983 to Beisel, attempts to overcome the above problems by utilizing a windmill which eliminates sucker rods. In Beisel, a windmill drives an air compressor which delivers compressed air directly into the well. The compressed air entering the well displaces the water and forces it from the well into the borehole and out an exit port from the bore hole. Although Beisel eliminates sucker rods, it is extremely inefficient and may only be employed in very shallow wells, typically 20 to 25 feet. That is, its windmill and compressor unit produce insufficient pressures within the well to drive water against the force of gravity for a distances of longer than the 20-25 feet. Thus, the Beisel device is impractical because most wells must exceed 20-25 feet in order to produce sufficient quantities of water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,926, issued on Nov. 20, 1979 to Hamrick, et al., discloses a windmill that eliminates the necessity of sucker rods and, further, places the pump drive system within the well. The Hamrick, et al. system includes a propeller driven shaft which pressurizes hydraulic fluid stored within a fluid accumulator. The accumulator delivers the fluid to a turbine located downhole to drive the turbine which, in turn, drives a pump to pump water from the well.
Although the Hamrick, et al. system eliminates sucker rods, it suffers from a serious disadvantage. Specifically, the Hamrick, et al. system presents the serious problem of well contamination. If the hydraulic fluid utilized to drive the turbine leaks into the well water, it would contaminate the well, thereby making the water undrinkable. With the well contaminated with hydraulic fluid, it would have to be cleaned or possibly abandoned. In either instance, the cost to the well owner is significant. Accordingly, the Hamrick, et al. system fails to provide an adequate solution to above-ground pump drive systems because its use presents a potential health hazard.
Accordingly, a system that provides a pump drive system positioned downhole which does not utilize hydraulic fluid is highly desirable.


A sheet stacking tray assembly may include a tray having a lead edge surface, a tray exit ramp having a first end and a second end, and a feeder having a feeder edge. The first end of the tray exit ramp may be configured to connect to the lead edge surface. The tray exit ramp may be convex relative to the lead edge surface and may extend beyond the lead edge surface. The tray exit ramp may include one or more first anti-stub surfaces, that may be configured to be positioned below a lead edge of a sheet in a sheet stack. The feeder edge of the feeder may include one or more second anti-stub surfaces that are complementary to the first anti-stub surfaces. The feeder edge may be configured to interconnect with the second end of the tray exit ramp to form a transition surface.

It is common for paper stacks, such as those located in a print tray, to be affected by environmental conditions. For example, paper may absorb moisture from the air which may induce the paper to curl along one or more edges. Typical resources include a tray connected to a feeder. The tray usually holds a stack of paper or other media that is fed from the tray to the feeder via a tray edge. However, it is common for a resource to transition down curled paper from a tray to a feeder in the same manner that normal paper is transitioned. Paper having downcurled edges is often difficult to feed from a tray because the edges commonly catch or stub on the tray en route to the feeder. In addition, even if the curled paper is properly fed, it is likely to cause a paper jam, which not only frustrates the customer but also reduces the overall feeding quality and capabilities of the printing device.


With a view to improving the heat transfer in exothermic reactions and simplifying the construction of the cooling system of the reactor, in particular a stirrer reactor, vertical boiling tubes which are sealed at the bottom are provided, above which is arranged a condensate collecting and liquid distributing chamber in which a sufficient layer of cooling liquid is constantly maintained by means of a liquid level regulator. Cooling fluid and the vapor produced flow in direct contact with each other as they are carried in counter current through the boiling tubes which have only single walls. The vapor passes through the layer of cooling fluid and is continuously discharged and preferably recovered. The condensate is preferably returned to the cooling system.

The present invention relates to a process for cooling during exothermic reactions, and in particular in a stirrer reactor. Cooling fluid is constantly supplied from above into vertical boiling tubes which are closed at the bottom. The vapor produced is removed upwardly in counter current to the cooling fluid. The invention also relates to a reactor, and in particular a stirrer reactor, for carrying out exothermic reactions.
In a known reactor of this type (German Patent 952,435), the boiling tube is a so called "Field tube" i.e. it has a double wall. The cooling, fluid is carried down through the inner tube which is open at both ends while the vapor produced is drawn off between the two tubes and is condensed in a condensation chamber which is separated from the reaction chamber by a partition.
This reactor and the cooling process employed in it are only suitable for removing small quantities heat produced since the degree of heat exchange is not of great. The fact that the cooling tubes are double walled involves considerable constructional complication since the inner tubes must be supported by the outer tubes.
It is also known (British Patent 144,614), to control the temperature of chemical reactions by connecting vertical tubes partly filled with mercury to a collecting pipe. The mercury is evaporated by the heat evolved in the chemical reaction and the vapors are deposited in the upper, filled part of the tubes. The cooling circuit thus takes place inside the tubes. The vapors must not even reach as far as the transverse collecting pipe as this would involve the risk of the cooling tubes being unevenly filled and the only slightly filled tubes would burn through. For removing considerable quantities of heat, the tubes would have to be very long, which would adversely affect their stability.
The problem arises of finding a cooling process and a reactor which would provide a high rate of heat transfer and which would have a more simply constructed cooling system.

Reactor for carrying out exothermic reactions


An artificial surface having at least one compartment with a filler therein has the filler held in position by a vacuum.

An artificial surface suitable for contact by a human foot or other body part tends to lack the flexibility of a natural turf or other desired surface. Any activity or occupation, which requires long periods of standing or moving on foot, is enhanced by a reasonable flexibility of the surface. This reasonable flexibility can add to a person's reasonable endurance and minimize injury.
An artificial surface usually lacks the flexibility of a grass covered surface. This lack of flexibility can cause injury even if the contact with the surface is merely walking or standing.
Artificial surfaces, commonly known as artificial turf, are routinely used for playing surfaces on baseball field, a football field, or another playing surface. One difficulty in this artificial turf occurs because of the surface on which the turf must be mounted. This surface lacks the resiliency of grass and can many times cause injury to the players.
Typical injuries caused by an artificial surface occur to a knee or to a toe. There is even a vernacularly named disease call "turf toe", which refers to a big toe injury caused by artificial turf. What is desired is the provision of a surface with the required durability, while adding thereto the necessary flexibility for the surface in order to avoid the damage caused to knees or toes, or to an athlete in general.
Another use of an artificial surface is in the recreational area. A typical recreation surface requiring a variety of surfaces is commonly referred to as miniature golf. This game is typically played with a golf putter and a ball on various holes on a man-made course having various obstacles to add difficulty to the hole.
In order to add a further degree of difficulty to miniature golf, it is preferred for each hole to have a different surface. It is especially desirable if the different can be created without major construction problems.
While a standard golf course provides a highly desirable source of recreation, in dry areas, it is difficult to have a golf course. Water is sometimes a luxury in those areas. It thus becomes impossible to properly water a golf course, and achieve the preferred golf course appearance.
Compensating for the lack of water by an artificial turf surface for a golf course is difficult. Firstly, it is desired that each hole on the golf course be different. Differences are accomplished by varying the length and the terrain. The construction problems for varying the holes, within these parameters, put the idea of artificial turf out of reach for a golf course.
While an artificial surface does not soak, or absorb water, as a grass surface does, it is sometimes difficult to remove the water from the surface. Pushing the water off of the surface is time consuming and difficult. Clearly, a simpler method of removing water from the surface is desired.
It is highly desirable to combine the flexibility and durability of a grass field with the cleaning and drying ability and ease of maintenance of artificial turf. If these two factors can be combined, the advantages of artificial turf become very clear.
Furthermore, it is also desirable to provide the comfort underfoot for a person who must stand for a long period. Standing on a hard surface can induce fatigue. This fatigue can interfere with that person doing the desired work. Reduction of fatigue creates a great advantage.
Whether that person works in factory, a grocery store or other facility which requires a long period of standing, a flexible, durable, easily cleaned surface is also highly desirable. If a surface can provide fatigue reduction for a person with the surface being easily cleaned and having improved durability, great advantages are obtained.

Modified artificial surface and method and apparatus of making the same


The present invention relates to a process for the dispersion copolymerization of 35 to 70% by weight of vinyl substituted aromatic monomer and 30 to 65% by weight of conjugated diene monomer comprising carrying out the copolymerization in a reaction mixture containing a liquid aliphatic hydrocarbon dispersing medium, an anionic catalyst system, and a block copolymer dispersing agent comprising at least two polymer blocks wherein at least one of the polymer blocks is soluble in the dispersing medium and at least another of the polymer blocks is insoluble in the dispersing medium and the dispersing agent acts to disperse a random copolymer of vinyl substituted aromatics and conjugated dienes formed in the presence of the dispersing agent.

In prior art nonaqueous dispersion polymerization systems, an organic medium is utilized having poor solvent properties for the polymer being produced. A dispersing agent is utilized in the organic medium in order to disperse the polymer being formed throughout the medium. These dispersing agents are generally polymeric materials such as block copolymers, random copolymers, or homopolymers as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,098,980 and 4,452,960.
Styrene-butadiene rubbers (SBR) are elastomers and have generally been prepared in solvents in which SBR is soluble. Only SBR's having a styrene content of less than 35% are soluble in hexane or linear aliphatic solvents. SBR having a styrene content greater than 35% have been polymerized in aromatic or cycloaliphatic solvents via solution polymerization. These polymers are not completely insoluble in the linear alkane solvents, and in fact are highly swollen in these solvents. A process for the nonaqueous dispersion polymerization of styrene and butadiene monomers into a SBR having a styrene content greater than 35% would be highly desirable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispersing agent and anionic initiation system to promote the random polymerization of styrene and butadiene monomers in a nonaqueous dispersion into SBR having 35 to 70% by weight of styrene.
Such a nonaqueous dispersion polymerization process offers many advantages over solution polymerization processes including improved heat transfer, energy savings, higher polymer concentrations in the reaction medium, increased production capacity, and very high molecular weight polymers can be produced.

Dispersion copolymerization in liquid aliphatic hydrocarbons


A display device includes an array of pixels including a plurality of organic EL elements each having a pair of electrodes and an organic compound layer including a light-emitting layer and disposed between the pair of electrodes and includes a protective layer disposed on the plurality of the organic EL elements. The protective layer has a first protective layer made of an inorganic material, a second protective layer made of a resin material and disposed on the first protective layer, and a third protective layer made of an inorganic material and disposed on the second protective layer. The second protective layer includes lenses for diverging at least part of light emitted from the light-emitting layer. The lenses have an elongated concave shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device having organic electroluminescent (EL) elements and specifically relates to a display device having organic EL elements that can improve view angle characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Organic compound layers, such as electrodes of organic EL elements, light-emitting layers, and hole-transporting layers, are easily corroded or oxidized by reaction with moisture or oxygen in air. Such corrosion and oxidation significantly develop non-light-emitting portions, so-called dark spots, and cause characteristic degradation of the organic EL elements as time passes. Factors causing dark spots will now be described.
Usually, the surfaces of the organic EL elements are covered with a protective layer for preventing the organic compound layer from being brought into contact with moisture or oxygen in air. However, pinholes may be partially formed in the protective layer due to particles such as etching residues generated in the production process and dust. Then, oxygen and moisture penetrate through the pinholes into the insides of the elements to form dark spots. In order to prevent the penetration of oxygen and moisture, the protective layer may be thick so as to sufficiently cover the particles. However, since a protective layer made of an inorganic material, such as SiN, is formed by CVD or the like, it takes a long time to form the layer to be thick, resulting in a problem of increasing cost. At the same time, a design is proposed where a resin layer, which can be conveniently formed by application or the like, is formed for sufficiently covering the particles and a protective layer of a dense inorganic material is further formed on the resin layer.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-025765 discloses a sealing technique involving forming of a protective layer having a laminate structure composed of silicon nitrided oxide (SiON) layer/organic material layer/silicon nitrided oxide (SiON) layer on the upper electrode of the organic EL element.
Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-19148, in order to give satisfactory irradiation distribution and provide natural visibility, a micro optical element having negative refractive power is formed on the upper surface of a covering layer (for example, SiO2) covering the organic EL element.
Incidentally, combination of the protective layer having a laminate structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-025765 and the micro optical element (concave microlens) having a negative refractive index shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-19148 causes the following problems.
That is, when a microlens array made of a resin is disposed on a laminate structure serving as a protective layer, the microlens layer itself is exposed to the exterior atmosphere. Therefore, moisture in the atmosphere readily penetrates into the microlenses to cause changes in the refractive index and the shape due to swelling, resulting in a decrease in lens function.
In order to solve this problem, an outermost protective layer made of an inorganic material such as SiN may be formed on the surfaces of the microlenses. In such a case, the layer structure has five layers including the protective layer composed of three layers and the resin layer constituting the microlenses, which leads to an increase of cost.
In addition, in such a structure, the number of layer interfaces constituting reflecting interfaces is increased, and thereby the quantity of emitted light that is trapped in the element is increased. As a result, the total quantity of light extracted to the outside is decreased, and also thereby luminance in an oblique direction is decreased, which leads to degradation in view angle characteristics.


The present invention provides a circuit board having excellent productivity, particularly a circuit board having excellent productivity with respect to a semiconductor layer and source layer forming step, a display device, and a process for producing a circuit board. The circuit board of the present invention is a circuit board including an oxide semiconductor layer and an electrode connected to the oxide semiconductor layer, wherein the electrode is formed by essentially laminating a layer made of a metal other than copper and a layer containing copper.

Circuit boards generally have an electronic circuit including wiring lines, electrodes, switching elements and the like on a board, and are used as basic components of electronic devices such as display devices. An active matrix substrate which is a sort of circuit boards includes a plurality of wiring lines, a plurality of pixels, TFTs which are switching elements corresponding to pixels, and the like. The active matrix substrate is widely used in the production of, for example, liquid crystal display devices and EL (Electroluminescence) display devices which are used in a cellular phone, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a television receiver, and the like.
Hitherto, as a TFT included in the active matrix substrate, TFTs in which an amorphous silicon layer made of amorphous silicon are used as an active layer (hereinafter, referred to as an "amorphous silicon TFTs") have been widely used.
In recent years, as new semiconductor alternatives to amorphous silicon, metal oxide semiconductors such as a Zn—O based semiconductor (ZnO semiconductor) and an In—Ga—Zn—O based semiconductor (IGZO semiconductor) have been considered, and TFTs (oxide semiconductor TFTs) in which an oxide semiconductor layer made of these metal oxide semiconductors is used as an active layer have been proposed. Non Patent Literature 1 discloses an oxide semiconductor TFT having characteristics in which the mobility (saturation mobility) is approximately 5.6 cm2/Vs to 8.0 cm2/Vs and the threshold value is approximately −6.6 V to −9.9 V. On the other hand, the mobility of a general amorphous silicon TFT is ordinarily 1 cm2/Vs or less.
As seen from the above, since the mobility of an oxide semiconductor TFT is higher than the mobility of an amorphous silicon TFT, the use of an oxide semiconductor TFT has a merit of enabling the creation of a more multi-functional circuit board. For example, in the active matrix substrate in which the oxide semiconductor TFT is used, even when a gate driver (scan signal line driver) is formed integrally (monolithically) on a circuit board, such a large occupation area as in an active matrix substrate in which the amorphous silicon TFT is used is not required.
Amorphous silicon TFTs in the related art can be created by using, for example, a four-mask process disclosed in Patent Literature 1. In this four-mask process, halftone exposure technology is used, a resist pattern film having two kinds of film thickness is formed on a source metal layer for forming a source electrode, a drain electrode, a data signal line and the like, and the source metal layer and a semiconductor layer located thereunder are processed using substantially the same resist pattern film.

Circuit board, display device, and process for production of circuit board


Container conveying apparatus comprises a conveyor for conveying evenly spaced-apart containers and means for individually engaging containers and shifting containers laterally of the conveyor. Such container conveying apparatus may be used in association with container labelling apparatus where lateral movement of container on conveyor is desired preparatory to the next labelling step.

Systems which involve multiple step label applications in applying several different types of labels to various surfaces on a container necessitate control of the container position so that each particular label is consistently applied to each container. In the distillery, some food processing and pharmaceutical industries, it is often required to place a security seal or tax excise stamp on the top of the container or bottle in conjunction with other labels on the body and neck of each container.
With these types of labelling operations, there is often a need to shift the bottle on the conveyor while maintaining control on its position to accomplish a step in the labelling operation, such as applying a tax excise stamp on the top of the container. In other uses for container conveying systems, it may be necessary to shift a bottle or container laterally of the conveyor to accomplish other operations, such as taking a single row of conveyed containers and shifting every other one in a direction opposite to that of the other containers or simply shifting every other container out of the row laterally to now provide two parallel rows of containers. In instances where it is important to maintain container registration, control on its position, or even spacing between containers, then the shifting must be accomplished in an accurate, controlled manner.
Accomplishing a shift of containers on the conveyor, while maintaining control on container position, has been difficult to achieve. For example, well-known approaches such as using deflector plates to move containers in one direction or another as they are conveyed, is satisfactory insofar as establishing new lines of conveyed containers; however, it is necessary to incorporate into the newly formed line a bottle registration or bottle spotter mechanism to re-register the conveyed containers.
In instances where bottle position orientation is not important, yet it is still desired to divide a single row of conveyed containers into two or more rows or to regroup plural rows of conveyed containers, it is possible to obtain a machine which is timed to push conveyed bottles laterally on the conveyor. The difficulty with such pushing mechanisms is that at higher speeds they tend to upset conveyed bottles as they contact them to move them laterally of the conveyor.


A semiconductor device may include a first node coupled to a first pad to which a first voltage having a first voltage level is inputted; a second node coupled to a second pad to which a second voltage having a second voltage level is inputted; an internal voltage generation unit suitable for shifting a voltage level of the first node to generate an internal voltage having the second voltage level, and outputting the internal voltage to third and fourth nodes; a first internal circuit suitable for operating by employing a voltage of the second node; and a node coupling unit that electrically couples the second node to the third node during a test operation, and electrically separates the second node and the third node during a normal operation.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor device and a test system including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a conventional test system.
Referring to FIG. 1, the test system may include a plurality of semiconductor devices 110_1 to 110_n and a test device 120 for testing the plurality of semiconductor devices 110_1 to 110_n.
Each of the plurality of semiconductor devices 110_1 to 110_n may include a first pad P1 for receiving a first voltage VCCE and a second pad P2 for receiving a second voltage VCCQ. A plurality of internal circuits (not illustrated in FIG. 1) included in the plurality of semiconductor devices 110_1 to 110_n may operate by employing one of the first voltage VCCE received through the first pad P1 and the second voltage VCCQ received through the second pad P2.
The test device 120 may include a plurality of voltage pads VP1 to VPn. Each of the plurality of voltage pads VP1 to VPn may be coupled to one of the first and second pads P1 and P2 of the semiconductor device and may supply a voltage required for an operation of the semiconductor device during a test operation.
For a normal test operation of semiconductor devices, it is necessary to supply all the first and second voltages VCCE and VCCQ to each semiconductor device. To this end, at least two voltage pads of the test device 120 should be allocated for each semiconductor device. Therefore, the test device 120 having the n voltage pads should test the n semiconductor devices 110_1 to 110_n at least twice because it is not possible to test them all at a single time.

Semiconductor device and test system including the same


An optical assembly includes an optical subassembly containing a prefabricated long wavelength laser optically coupled to a prefabricated short wavelength laser located in a housing. The optical subassembly may be removably installed in the housing in which the short wavelength laser is contained. The short wavelength laser optically pumps the long wavelength laser resulting in a long wavelength laser output. The optical subassembly allows the independent fabrication, optimization and testing of the short wavelength laser and the long wavelength laser.

The U.S. government has a paid-up license in this invention and the right in limited circumstances to require the patent owner to license others on reasonable terms as provided for by the terms of contract No. MDA 972-97-3-0008 awarded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the U.S.
The present invention relates generally to optoelectronic devices, and, more particularly, to an optical subassembly used to convert a short wavelength laser output into a long wavelength laser output.
Light emitting diodes (LED""s), lasers, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), and the like (collectively known as light emitting devices) are widely used in many applications such as communications systems, medical systems, and display systems. These light emitting devices are commonly fabricated with epitaxial materials formed on a substrate, the epitaxial materials having a p-n junction, and an active or light generation region, formed therein and typically include at least one Bragg reflector. A Bragg reflector is a fundamental building block of many light emitting devices and is used to reflect and direct the light output of a semiconductor laser.
For lasers used in communication systems, and particularly for optical communications systems, it is desirable for the laser to emit a relatively long wavelength light on the order of approximately 1.3-1.55 micrometers (xcexcm) and, in some applications, emit that light in a single spatial mode and in a single longitudinal mode. Laser emission at a single spatial mode and at a single longitudinal mode results in laser emission at single frequency. A long wavelength, single frequency output allows the laser emission to be focused into an optical fiber and to perform well in communications systems in which very high communication rates over long distances are required. Most optical fiber communication systems in use today operate either at the dispersion minimum of 1.3 xcexcm or at the loss minimum of 1.55 xcexcm.
In the past, largely because of the difficulty in obtaining low resistance, high reflectivity DBR mirrors having good long wavelength active regions in the semiconducting material system (such as indium phosphide (InP)), long wavelength VCSELs have been achieved by optically pumping a long wavelength VCSEL cavity with a short wavelength laser. The short wavelength laser was combined with the long wavelength laser using techniques such as wafer bonding, or using optical adhesive to join the two lasers. One problem with wafer bonding is that it is costly and adds at least one additional processing step. Also, there is always the possibility of damage when exposing the material to the high temperature and pressures associated with wafer bonding. Similarly, using an optical adhesive to join the two lasers increases cost and adds processing steps.
Another problem associated with joining a short wavelength laser with a long wavelength laser is that the output of the long wavelength laser also includes a short wavelength output component. That is, the prior art long wavelength laser devices emit both long wavelength light and short wavelength light. This is problematic in optical communications systems particularly over short distances because the short wavelength emission obscures the information contained in the long wavelength signal for distances which are not sufficient to filly attenuate the shorter wavelength signal.
Another problem is the thermal interaction between the wafers that have been bonded or joined by an adhesive. The heat generated during the absorption process needs to be removed as it may limit the performance of the long wavelength output. Also, the heat generated by the short wavelength laser will dramatically affect the performance of the long wavelength output.
Therefore, an unaddressed need exists in the industry for a long wavelength laser that avoids the use of wafer bonding or using optical adhesive to join two laser devices.

System for optically pumping a long wavelength laser using a short wavelength laser


A process for shortstopping a free radical polymerization of a conjugated diene and optionally a vinyl-substituted aromatic in an aqueous emulsion, using a hydroperoxide as initiator and a redox activator, comprising a divalent transition metal, a reducing agent and optionally being carried out in the presence of a modifier, and being performed by using as sole shortstopping agent an alkali metal polysulphide. This process results in the production of polymeric products which are free of carcinogenic nitrosamines.

This invention relates generally to the shortstopping (termination) of the polymerization of a conjugated diene optionally mixed with a vinyl-substituted aromatic in an aqueous emulsion, free radical polymerization process conducted at from -20.degree. to 70.degree. C., using a redox initiator. More particularly, this invention relates to the termination of the aqueous free radical emulsion polymerization of butadiene, optionally mixed with styrene (e.g. ESBR).
The field of aqueous emulsion free radical polymerization constitutes a well established art. The systems now used were generally established in the 1940's and the 1950's.
In emulsion polymerization processes, the monomer is emulsified in a medium such as water with the aid of emulsifying agents such as soaps and synthetic emulsifiers. Initially the monomer is present in the form of emulsion droplets dispersed in the continuous aqueous phase. According to the present invention the emulsion droplets play only a minor role and the polymerization in emulsion systems occurs primarily in the aqueous phase and not in monomer droplets.
Considerable work published in the last decades has shown that the process of emulsion polymerization is more complicated and more subtle than previously believed and several theories have been developed in order to explain the experimental data, such as particle size, the conversion-time relationship, the dependence of particle size and molecular weight on conversion, and the influence of surfactant, initiator and monomer.
The chain reaction in free radical emulsion polymerization is initiated by radicals that are generated either by decomposition of peroxides or diazo compounds or by an oxidation-reduction reaction (a redox couple).
Early free radical emulsion polymerizations which were carried out at 50.degree. C. or higher (hot polymerization), reflected the temperature dependency of the formation rate of free radicals and therefore, of polymerizations.
A subsequent research led to the discovery of oxidation-reduction reactions capable of generating radicals in sufficient numbers for adequate polymerization rates at temperatures as low as -40.degree. C. (cold polymerization).
Commonly employed dissociative initiators are potassium peroxydisulphate (K.sub.2 S.sub.2 O.sub.8), benzoyl peroxide and azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN), whereas cumene hydroperoxide and p-menthane hydroperoxide are oxidants for redox couples.
The combination of potassium peroxydisulphate with a mercaptan, such as dodecyl mercaptan, is used to polymerize e.g. butadiene and styrene. In hot recipes the mercaptan furnishes free radicals by its reaction with the peroxydisulphate, and it limits the molecular weight of the polymer by reacting with and terminating the growing polymer chain; the resulting thiyl radical initiates the growth of another chain. This use of mercaptan as a chain transfer agent or modifier is of great commercial importance in the manufacture of emulsion SBR and polybutadiene, since the mercaptan allows control of the toughness of the product, which otherwise may limit further processing.
The conversion rate to polymer at 50.degree. C. is 5-6%/hr. Polymerization is terminated at 70-75% conversion or less since higher conversions lead to polymers with inferior physical properties, presumably because of cross-linking in the latex particle to form microgel or highly branched structure.
A further improvement in SBR production could be attained by the use of more active radical initiating systems that permitted polymerization at 5.degree. C. with high rates of conversion. These cold SBR polymers produced at lower temperature, but stopped at 60% conversion were found to have superior properties as to those of hot SBR.
At 5.degree. C. a 60% conversion to polymer occurs in about 8-12 hours. In the persulphate hot recipe the mercaptan initiates and functions as a chain transfer agent, but in the cold redox recipes, the mercaptan is not essential to initiation. The main difference lies in the initiator systems.
The usually applied phosphates and ethylenediaminetetra acetic acid (EDTA) act as buffers and complex with ferrous ions, thereby maintaining a constant solubility and limiting its reactivity. This reaction is very rapid at 0.degree. C.; the emulsion components are in separate phase and the reaction occurs only at the interface. In many cold recipes auxiliary reducing agents, such as sulphoxylates are used as components of a redox cycle, i.e. the ferric ion is reduced to the ferrous state. Reducing sugars are no longer in widespread use because of their cost and susceptibility to bacterial attack during storage.
Although this initiator system is primarily used for so-called cold polymerizations, it will be appreciated that such system can also be used for higher temperature polymerizations.
For property control reasons, it is a well established practice, that the termination of the polymerization is effected by the addition of a shortstop, which reacts rapidly with radicals and oxidizing agents, thus destroying any remaining initiator and polymer free radicals and preventing the formation of new radicals.
The unreacted monomers are then removed: first the conjugated diene and more particularly butadiene by flash distillation at atmospheric then at reduced pressure; second the styrene usually by steam stripping in a column.
A dispersion of antioxidant is added to protect the product. The latex is optionally mixed with oil, and coagulated by the addition of dilute acid e.g. sulphuric acid and optionally a salt, e.g. aluminium sulphate or sodium chloride.
In particular, shortstopping compositions should meet the requirements as disclosed in e.g. D. C. Blackley "Emulsion Polymerization", Theory and Practice 1975, p. 406.
Such chemicals included for example mixtures of a water soluble sulphide, such as hydrogen sulphide, ammonium sulphide, or sulphides or hydrosulphides of alkali or alkaline earth metals and an organic compound possessing a quinonoid structure, such as quinone or an organic compound which may be oxidized to a quinonoid structure, such as hydroquinone; N-substituted dithiocarbamates; reaction products of alkylene polyamines with sulphur, containing presumably sulphides, disulphides, polysulphides and/or mixtures of these and other compounds; dialkylhydroxylamines, N,N'-dialkyl-N,N'-methylenebishydroxylamines, dinitrochlorobenzene, dihydroxydiphenyl sulphide and dinitrophenylbenzothiazyl sulphide. It will be appreciated that the efficiency of the selected shortstopping agent will be dependent on inter alia the type of the initiator to be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,469,017, herein incorporated by reference, discloses a process for the polymerization of butadiene-1,3 in aqueous emulsion in the presence of a peroxygen compound, comprising supplying to the emulsion, at a monomer conversion degree of 20 to 80%, an organic compound possessing the quinone structure and a water soluble inorganic sulphide of the class consisting of hydrogen sulphide, ammonium sulphide and alkalimetal sulphides and hydrosulphides, the said compound of quinonoid structure being supplied to the emulsion at least as soon as the said sulphide and in an amount from 0.001 to 0.05% by weight based on the amount of monomeric material originally present in the emulsion before polymerization and the said sulphide being supplied to the emulsion in an amount from 0.01 to 0.2% by weight based on the amount of monomeric material originally present in the emulsion whereby further polymerization of monomers is immediately terminated.
As suitable peroxygen compound were indicated hydrogen peroxide, an alkali metal or ammonium persulphate or perborate, and more particularly potassium persulphate, whereas as shortstopping co-component hydroquinone is preferably used. Especially from column 3, lines 19-21, it may be derived that when the sulphide is used without hydroquinone the polymerization proceeds to significantly higher conversion.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,602,078, herein incorporated by reference, discloses the use of N-substituted dithiocarbamates as effective shortstopping agents for emulsion polymerization reactions, resulting in the production of polymers with substantially improved properties which are substantially snow white.
Especially from column 1, lines 20-33 in relation to column 4, lines 62-68 of said patent, it may be derived that the employment of e.g. sodium sulphide and hydroquinone in emulsion polymerization should lead to difficulties and was not attractive.
More particularly from example II of U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,875, it is known that sodium thiosulphate and sodium sulphide respectively can not be regarded as active ingredients of the shortstopping agents obtained by reaction of alkylene polyamines with sulphur.
Moreover it was known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,662,876, that the polymerization in aqueous emulsion of a butadiene-1,3 optionally mixed with other copolymerizable monomeric materials, could be efficiently terminated by the addition to the emulsion at any desired stage of polymerization, of a combination of substances consisting of:
(1) a solution of an agent selected from the class consisting of sulphur, alkylthiuram polysulphides, alkyl xanthogen polysulphides and water-soluble inorganic polysulphides, and
(2) an aqueous solution of a water-soluble salt of dithiocarbamic acid, wherein substance (1) being added in amounts equivalent to from 0.01 to 0.10% by weight of sulphur and substance (2) being added in amounts of from 0.01 to 0.10% by weight, based on the weight of monomer initially present in said emulsion. Both U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,616,875 and 2,662,876 are herein incorporated by reference.
As a preferred inorganic, water-soluble polysulphide, sodium polysulphide was proposed. However, especially from example 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 2,662,876 it is learnt that sodium sulphide alone as shortstopping agent was significantly less active as compared with the sulphur-carbamate stopping agent.
A shortstopping agent for an aqueous emulsion polymerization of butadiene-1,3 hydrocarbons and mixtures of butadiene-1,3 hydrocarbons and compounds, which contain a CH.sub.2 .dbd.CH group and are copolymerizable with butadiene-1,3 hydrocarbons, e.g. styrene, comprising a combination of alkali metal-hydrosulphite, -hydroxide and -nitrite, wherein the amount of added alkali metal hydrosulphite being from 0.1 to 1 part by weight per 100 parts by weight of polymerizable monomeric material originally present, the added alkali metal hydroxide being from 0.5 to 3 mols per mol of added alkali metal hydrosulphite and the added alkali metal nitrate being from 0.1 to 2 mols per mol of added alkali metal hydrosulphite, was known from e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,322,736.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,477, herein incorporated by reference, discloses an improved process for shortstopping the polymerization of butadiene and styrene in an emulsion, free radical polymerization process conducted at a temperature of from about 40.degree. C. to about 60.degree. C., using potassium or ammonium persulphate as polymerization initiator, comprising the use of ascorbic acid or the sodium or potassium salts thereof, in a quantity of ascorbic acid or salts thereof of from about 0.1 to about 0.75 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of butadiene plus styrene charged in the polymerization system. Polymer produced does not discolour, does not have odour and appears not to contain chemicals detrimental to the use of the polymer in food- or drug-related applications. However, these shortstopping agents were indicated not to be used as shortstops in the cold redox or hot redox polymerization systems.
A preferred, more optimized, shortstopping agent for a redox initiation system which has been widely used on an industrial scale for many years, comprises a combination of dithiocarbamate and sodium polysulphide optionally mixed with sodium nitrite, the latter ingredient of which was regarded as useful for the prevention of undesired, uncontrolled polymerization of the non-converted monomers during the recovery of these monomers from the shortstopped polymerization reaction mixture.
This so-called wild polymerization will give rise to an increase in molecular weight of the final polymer and production of undesirable cross-linked polymer (popcorn polymer), which may lead to fouling of butadiene distillation and flashing equipment and even to bursting of pipes, as is disclosed in D. C. Blackley, "Emulsion Polymerization", Theory and Practice, 1975, p. 430-435.
However, a disadvantage of such combinations is that dithiocarbamates and nitrites are precursors for the formation of nitrosamines which are suspected to be carcinogenic.
It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art, that according to the the prior art, sulphides were only used, if any at all, as one of the ingredients of shortstopping agents and certainly not as sole shortstopping agent. This teaching is also disclosed in D. C. Blackley, "Emulsion Polymerization", Theory and Practice, 1975, p. 406-417, and particularly p. 416, and from the publications referred to therein.
On the other hand efforts in present research and development in the rubber industry has greatly increased to prevent the formation of N-nitroso compounds from possible precursors in shortstopping agents during emulsion SBR manufacture. Guidance on this is provided in for example by Japanese patent applications Nos. 58,005,349; 58,005,350; 58,002,337 and 57,212,243 and Russian patent No. 971,850 which are herein incorporated by reference.

Process for shortstopping an emulsion polymerization


A thin film layered member having high heat dissipation efficiency is composed of at least two diamond layers and at least one interlayer. The diamond layers and the interlayer ape alternately laminated and the diamond layers form outer surfaces of the thin film layered member. When this member is applied to a heatsink or the like, thermal stress to an element mounted thereon can be reduced because of a laminated structure comprising an interlayer having a high coefficient of thermal expansion and diamond layers having a low coefficient of thermal expansion. Further, the interlayer includes a carbide forming metal, which reacts with carbon atoms constituting a diamond in a laminating process and to form a carbide at an interface between the interlayer and the diamond layer, thereby realizing strong bonding therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film layered product which may be used to make electronic heatsinks as submounts for high-power semiconductor lasers and devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the demands for integration, high power and high responsibility of electronic devices have increases, it has become important to drain away the heat generated by an element itself quickly to the outside so as to improve the performance of the device. A circuit substrate for electronic parts requires insulation and the technique of forming an electric conductor on the substrate is especially important. On the other hand, a heatsink for high energy output elements such as a power transistor and semiconductor laser needs a different technique of dealing with extremely high heat energy density. Especially, the heat dissipation efficiency of a heatsink is required to be as high as 100 times that of the circuit substrate. Severe electrical and mechanical properties are also required.
In some conventional devices such as a semiconductor laser element and a high frequency device, natural or artificially synthesized diamond excellent in thermal conduction is used as a heatsink (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 120979/1975). A conventional heatsink, however, has the following disadvantages. There is a difficulty in processing to make a heatsink by thinning single crystal diamond; there is a limitation in the area to be used which depends on the size of the original single crystal diamond; and it is expensive.
It has also been proposed to apply to a heatsink a diamond thin film synthesized by CVD method under the low pressure as a self-standing polycrystalline film or one deposited on an appropriate material having high thermal conductivity (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 146793/1986 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 245463/1992). These prior arts, however, have the following disadvantages. Compared with a coefficient of thermal expansion of a metal used for a submount or silicon used generally as a device material, a coefficient of thermal expansion of diamond is extremely small, which causes thermal deformation of the heatsink. Handling is difficult because a diamond polycrystalline film is easily cracked. A heatsink of a single film lacks reliability in insulation because a solder material may exude through a crack. Furthermore, the roughness of a surface of a CVD polycrystalline film reaches 1 to 10 .mu.m and polishing of the surface will be needed depending on purposes, which will raise the cost.
Furthermore,it has been proposed to utilize as a heat conducting substrate a layered product in which CVD polycrystalline diamond films are bonded by organic resin or glass (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 333266/1992). This publication also refers to metallic brazing and discloses a composite interlayer filled with diamond particles as adhesives to improve thermal conductivity. For a practical use as a heatsink, however, it has been found that further inventive effort is necessary to improve the insufficient heat dissipation efficiency of the layered member bonded by organic resin or glass, and to ensure enough adhesion between a layered product and an element bonded on one surface of the layered member or a heat dissipating material bonded on the other surface thereof by metallic brazing.


An xe2x80x9cactive cachexe2x80x9d, for use by On-Line Analytic Processing (OLAP) systems, that can not only answer queries that match data stored in the cache, but can also answer queries that require aggregation or other computation of the data stored in the cache.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to database management systems performed by computers, and in particular, to an active cache approach to caching multi-dimensional data sets for an on-line analytical processing (OLAP) system that uses a relational database management system (RDBMS).
2. Description of Related Art
(Note: This application references a number of different publications as indicated throughout the specification by reference numbers enclosed in brackets, e.g., [x]. A list of these different publications ordered according to these reference numbers can be found in the xe2x80x9cDetailed Description of the Preferred Embodimentxe2x80x9d in Section 9 entitled xe2x80x9cReferences.xe2x80x9d Each of these publications is incorporated by reference herein.)
On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) systems provide tools for analysis of multi-dimensional data. Most systems are built using a three-tier architecture, wherein the first or client tier provides a graphical user interface (GUI) or other application, the second or middle tier provides a multi-dimensional view of the data, and the third or server tier comprises a relational database management system (RDBMS) that stores the data.
Most queries in OLAP systems are complex and require the aggregation of large amounts of data. However, decision support applications in OLAP systems need to be interactive and demand fast response times. Different techniques to speed up queries have been studied and implemented, both in research and industrial systems. These include pre-computation of aggregates in the RDBMS, having specialized index structures, and caching in the middle tier.
The problem of pre-computing a cube has been studied in [AAD+96], [ZDN97], and [RS97]. [SDNR96] deals with the issue of the space required for pre-computation. Picking GROUP-BYs to pre-compute has been studied in [HRU96] and [SDN98]. [RKR97] and [KR98] consider the problem of efficient organization of the cube data.
In the field of caching, [SSV] presents replacement and admission schemes specific to warehousing. The problem of answering queries with aggregation using views has been studied extensively in [SDJL96]. [SLCJ98] presents a method for dynamically assembling views based on granular view elements which form the building blocks.
Semantic query caching for client-server systems has been studied in [DFJST]. A recent work on semantic caching is based on caching Multidimensional Range Fragments (MRFs), which correspond to semantic regions having a specific shape [KR99]. Each dimension in a MRF either covers the entire range on the dimension or is a point selection on the dimension.
Another kind of caching is chunk-based caching, which is a semantic caching method optimized for the domain of OLAP systems. Chunk-based caching was proposed in [DRSN98]. The motivation of chunk-based caching is to allow a query to take advantage of overlap with previous queries, even if the later queries are not totally contained in the previous queries.
Generally, these different caching techniques have focused on using cached results from a previous query as the answer to another query. This strategy is effective when the query stream exhibits a high degree of locality. Unfortunately, it misses the dramatic performance improvements obtainable when the answer to a query, while not immediately available in the cache, can be computed from data in the cache. The present invention considers answering queries by aggregating data in the cache.
The present invention discloses a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for caching multi-dimensional data sets for an on-line analytical processing (OLAP) system. An xe2x80x9cactive cachexe2x80x9d is used, wherein the cache can not only answer queries that match data stored in the cache, but can also answer queries that require aggregation or other computation of the data stored in the cache.

Active caching for multi-dimensional data sets in relational database management system


A pair of separator lenses are attached to the top surface of a light-shield box. A leg portion having bifurcate legs and made of a transparent resin protrudes at each of the two sides of the bottom surface of the light-shield box. The leg portions are bonded to a package of an autofocus IC with an ultraviolet-curing-type adhesive.

The present invention relates to an assembly of a passive-type autofocus module that is incorporated in an autofocus camera.
As is well known, recent autofocus cameras have a passive-type autofocus module which measures a distance to an object by forming its image on a one-dimensional image sensor and processing a resulting image signal.
FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) show a conventional autofocus module assembly, in which reference numeral 1 represents an autofocus IC; 2, a pair of separator lenses arranged side by side; and 3, a light-shield box. The autofocus IC 1 is formed by sealing an IC chip 1a in a mold package 1b made of a transparent resin. Leads 1c are laterally extended from the mold package 1b.
To assemble the above module, first the lenses 2 are attached to the top surface of the light-shield box 3, which is then mounted on the package 1b at a predetermined position. Then, an ultraviolet-curing-type adhesive 4 applied between the package 1b and each of bifurcate leg portions 3a protruded at the two sides of the bottom surface of the light-shield box 3 is illuminated with ultraviolet light from a position laterally spaced from the light-shield box 3. As a result, the adhesive 4 sets to bond the leg portion 3a to the package 1b. By virtue of the use of the ultraviolet-curing-type adhesive 4, mere illumination by ultraviolet light accelerates the setting reaction to provide a short setting time without necessitating a heat treatment, which might adversely affect the autofocus IC 1.
However, the following problems occur in setting the ultraviolet-curing-type adhesive 4 applied between the light-shield box 3 and the package 1b of the autofocus IC 1 by illuminating it with ultraviolet light.
Since the conventional light-shield box 3 is made of an opaque resin, when ultraviolet light is emitted from light sources provided near the light-shield box 3 (on both sides of a conveyer in an actual production line), part of the light is blocked by the bottom face and the back face of the leg portion 3a and does not reach the adhesive 4, to produce non-set portions, which may cause a bonding defect. To avoid this problem, in the conventional assembling process, an additional light source is provided so as to illuminate the adhesive 4 in a different direction, i.e., toward the back face of the leg portion 3a of the light-shield box 3. However, in an actual production line, it is difficult to do so because a conveyer, various jigs, etc. may act as obstacles. Further, the increase of the number of light sources results in an increase of power consumption.


Raffinate is catalytically hydrodewaxed to lube basestock in a mixture containing between 0.01 and 1 weight percent of pour point depressants comprising the copolymer residue of a mixture of 1-alkene comonomers selected from the group consisting of C.sub.3 -C.sub.28 1-alkenes. The mixture is contacted with hydrogen and shape selective metallosilicate catalyst particles under mild hydrodewaxing conditions to produce an increased yield of lube basestock having a pour point below -25.degree. F. and viscosity index greater than 100.

Lubricating oils for the most part are based on petroleum fractions boiling above about 232 degrees C. (450 degrees F.). The molecular weight of the hydrocarbon constituents is high and these constituents display almost all conceivable structures and structure types depending in large part on the type of crude oil from which they were prepared.
The rational in lubricant refining is that a suitable crude oil, as shown by experience or by assay, contains a quantity of lubricant base stock having a predetermined set of properties such as, for example, appropriate viscosity, oxidation stability, and maintenance of fluidity at low temperatures. The refining process imposed to isolate that lubricant base stock currently consists of a set of subtractive unit operations which removes the unwanted components. The most important of these unit operations include distillation, solvent refining, and dewaxing, which basically, except for catalytic dewaxing, are physical separation processes in the sense that if all the separated fractions were recombined one would reconstitute the crude oil.
A lubricant base stock (i.e. a refined oil) may be used as such as a lubricant, or it may be blended with another lubricant base stock having somewhat different properties. The base stock, prior to use as a lubricant, may also be compounded with one or more additives such as pour point depressants, antioxidants, extreme pressure additives, and viscosity index (V.I.) improvers. As used herein, the term "stock," regardless whether or not the term is further qualified, will refer only to a hydrocarbon oil without additives. The term "solvent-refined stock" or "raffinate" will refer to an oil that has been solvent extracted, for example with furfural. The term "dewaxed stock" will refer to an oil which has been treated by any method to remove or otherwise convert the wax contained therein and thereby reduce its pour point. The term "waxy," as used herein, will refer to an oil of sufficient wax content to result in a pour point greater than -4 degrees C. (+25 degrees F.). The term "base stock" will refer to an oil refined to a point suitable for some particular end use, such as for preparing automotive oils.
The current practice for the preparation of high grade lubricating oil base stocks is to vacuum distill an atmospheric tower residuum from an appropriate crude oil as the first step. This step provides one or more raw stocks within the boiling range of about 288 degrees C. (550 degrees F.) to 565 degrees C. (1050 degrees F.) and a vacuum residuum. After preparation, each raw stock is extracted with a solvent, e.g. furfural, phenol or chlorex, which is selective for aromatic hydrocarbons, and which removes undesirable components. The vacuum residuum usually requires additional step to remove asphaltic material prior to solvent extraction. The raffinate from solvent refining is then catalytically dewaxed.
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 28,398 describes a process for catalytic dewaxing with a catalyst comprising zeolite ZSM-5. Such a process combined with catalytic hydrofinishing is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,938. Catalyst dewaxing of raffinate using zeolite catalyst such as ZSM-5 is further described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,181,598 and 4,259,170, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The manufacture of lube oil base stocks is designed to produce a product according to very strict specifications for pour point, viscosity, viscosity index and product flash point. Often, improvements in one or more of these product parameters can be achieved only by adversely affecting other product parameters or at the expense of the overall yield of useful product. However, if improvements can be realized in the specification for viscosity index, for instance, without deleteriously affecting the achievable specification for the remaining product parameters very substantial economic benefits can accrue to the process of manufacturing of lube oil stock. If an improvement in the downstream processing of the lube oil cut from a crude oil can be improved to produce a lube oil stock with one or more properties exceeding the required specifications, the refinery operator is left with a variety of options on how to exploit the improved performance, all of which lead to a betterment of the economic performance of the refinery.
The art of lube base stock production is generally carried out by dewaxing raffinates by solvent dewaxing or catalytic dewaxing under conditions which produce a predetermined or target pour point for the base stock. Suitable materials are then added to the base stock to augment the base stock properties and meet the required specification, such as viscosity index. In catalytic dewaxing of raffinates to useful base stock having a predetermined pour point produced over medium pore zeolite catalysts, such as ZSM-5, viscosity indices (VIs) generally suffer substantial debits relative to solvent dewaxing.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement to the process of catalytic dewaxing of raffinates for production of lube oil stock wherein the dewaxed product is produced at a much lower pour point under mild dewaxing conditions.
A further object of the present invention is to provide the aforenoted improvements while providing a base stock that exhibits a higher viscosity index (VI) rather than the reduced viscosity index typically found for lube produced by catalytic dewaxing and to achieve this object while maintaining or improving upon the overall product yield.

Catalytic dewaxing of lube basestock raffinates in contact with pour point depressants