Disclosed are i) a lead-frame forming material which contains a light-sensitive material comprising (1) a diazo salt light-sensitive resin and (2) a water-insoluble but alkaline water-soluble lipophilic high molecular weight compound, ii) a lead-frame forming material which contains a light-sensitive material comprising a photodimeric light-sensitive composition, and iii) a lead-frame forming material which contains a light-sensitive material comprising (1) a water-insoluble but alkaline water-soluble resin, (2) a compound capable of generating an acid by irradiation with active rays or radiant rays, and (3) a compound containing at least one crosslinkable group by the action of the acid.

A lead-frame is a metal frame forming an extension line lead terminal with a die pad which is used for fixing a semiconductor pellet used in a plastic mold IC and a ceramics package IC. There is used for the metal frame, a lead-frame forming metal plate made of alloy mainly containing copper or copper-nickel as a material. In recent years, an element of an active metal series such as titanium and chromium has been added to the material as well. In any event, it is desired that the material used have good mechanical strength, high electric conductivity, high softening temperature, a coefficient of thermal expansion matching the coefficient of thermal expansion of a semiconductor pellet and a package material, secured flatness of a lead, small bending anisotropy, good heat releasing performance, and a low cost. A pattern is formed on the lead-forming metal plate by punching out or by etching with an etching solution. The punching out method can be carried out at a low cost and a precise pattern can be formed by the etching method.
In recent years, development in semiconductor and integrated circuit manufacturing accompanied with an increased demand for electronic parts using lead-frames has resulted in an increased requirement for providing lead-frame having uniform quality in large volume.
In manufacturing lead-frames, there has been used in the past, for example, an alloy plate mainly containing copper or an alloy plate mainly containing copper-nickel, and in order to remove rust preventives applied on the alloy plate, the alloy plate was subjected to a degrease treatment and an acid cleaning treatment. Then, a light-sensitive layer of a dry type film which is generally a negative type, is deposited or a liquid resist which is generally a negative type was coated, and dried on the plate to provide a light-sensitive material layer. After the light-sensitive layer was exposed through a prescribed etching pattern, it was then subjected to a developing treatment and any exposed parts of the light-sensitive layer were removed. Then, the alloy plate was dipped in an etching solution to form a prescribed etching pattern on the alloy plate surface.
For producing pattern-formed lead-frames with uniform quality in large volume by the use of a conventional lead-frame forming material as described above, a great many sheets of lead-frame forming materials have been prepared so far in the following manner: A great many sheets of metallic substrate, e.g., a great number of alloy plates as described above, are subjected to successive degreasing and acid cleaning treatments one after another in a batch treatment, thereby removing rust preventives coated on each sheet of the alloy plate, and each sheet of the thus treated alloy plate is coated with a light-sensitive material of a dry type which is generally a negative type by adhesion or deposition, or coated with a liquid resist which is generally a negative type by a coating method such as spin coating, each followed by drying, to provide a light-sensitive layer on the alloy plate.
The above-described conventional manners for preparing lead-frame forming materials have many problems as described below.
1. In the case of using a dry film, the preparation process is complicated. More specifically, the process comprises laminating a film on both surfaces of a resist, peeling off the film on one surface, adhering the bare surface of the resist to an alloy plate made of, e.g., copper, imagewise exposing the resist to light through the film on the other surface, peeling off the film on the resist surface, and developing the resist. In this process, the resist is frequently contaminated with dust upon adhesion of the dry film, thereby reducing to the yield. PA0 2. In the case of using a liquid resist, on the other hand, it is required that the resist be applied to both surfaces of every sheet of the plate by means of a rotary coating device such as spinner, thereby markedly deteriorating the productivity with an extremely great loss of the liquid resist, and further involving another serious problem of easy sticking of dust. PA0 3. After the degreasing and acid cleaning treatments as described above, a dry type film is adhered or deposited on both surfaces of the plate, and then the laminate is exposed to light with a mask film being placed on both the upper and lower surfaces thereof. If once fine dust is stuck on the dry film to be contacted with the mask film, it is not easy to eliminate the fine dust from the dry film. PA0 4. In the case of using a conventional dry film and liquid resist, the resist which is removed by development with a developer cannot be completely dissolved in the developer, but is partly released in the form of film. In some cases, there is a fear such that the resulting scum may reattach to the material to make it a rejected article. PA0 5. When a lead-frame forming material to which a conventional dry film or liquid resist has been adhered is allowed to stand for more than 3 or 4 days, the adhesion power becomes so strong that incomplete removal of the resist occurs, thereby making it impossible to form accurate patterns. PA0 6. Another problem arises when the etching pattern as described above is exposed to light. More specifically, a pattern formed mask film is placed on a lead-frame forming material on which a light-sensitive layer has been provided, and brought into close contact therewith. The close contact between the mask and the lead-frame forming material can be accomplished by various methods. For example, it can be squeezed by a roller on the mask film. Alternatively, the lead-frame forming material on which a mask film has been placed is set in a frame and then evacuated to remove the air between the mask film and the lead-frame forming material. Thus, it is tried to prevent a printing image from undercutting during exposure. However, in the roller squeezing method, it is hard to remove the air present between the mask film and the forming material. On the other hand, the evacuation method has a disadvantage in that it takes much time to remove the air from the central part because the air removal begins with the circumferential part, in the worst case, the air cannot be removed from the central part. PA0 7. The generation of pinholes and microscopic film peeling of the resist occasionally occur in the developing and etching steps. PA0 8. Still another problem is that it is difficult to realize a high resolution required as the market needs lead-frames with more pins and a higher precision. PA0 1. A lead-frame forming material which is prepared by coating a light-sensitive material on both surfaces of a metal web made of copper, copper alloy or nickel alloy, drying the coat, and winding it into a roll or cutting off at every fixed length and stacking thereof, wherein the light-sensitive material comprises (1) a diazo salt light-sensitive resin and (2) a water-insoluble but alkaline water-soluble lipophilic high molecular weight compound. PA0 2. A lead-frame forming material as described in item 1 above, wherein protrusions having a height from 0.5 .mu.m to 30 .mu.m are provided on the surface of the light-sensitive layer. PA0 3. A lead-frame forming material as described in item 1 above, wherein fine roughness from 0.05 .mu.m to 1 .mu.m is provided on the surface of the metal web made of copper, copper alloy or nickel alloy. PA0 4. A lead-frame forming material which is prepared by coating a light-sensitive material on both surfaces of a metal plate made of copper, copper alloy or nickel alloy, drying the coat, and winding it into a roll or cutting off at every fixed length and stacking thereof, wherein the light-sensitive material comprises a photodimeric light-sensitive composition. PA0 5. A lead-frame forming material as described in item 4 above, wherein protrusions having a height from 0.5 .mu.m to 30 .mu.m are provided on the surface of the light-sensitive layer. PA0 6. A lead-frame forming material as described in item 4 above, wherein fine roughness from 0.05 .mu.m to 1 .mu.m is provided on the surface of the metal web made of copper, copper alloy or nickel alloy. PA0 7. A lead-frame forming material which is prepared by coating a light-sensitive material on both surfaces of a metal plate made of copper, copper alloy or nickel alloy, drying the coat, and winding it into a roll or cutting off at every fixed length and stacking thereof, wherein the light-sensitive material is a negative resist composition which comprises (1) a water-insoluble but alkaline water-soluble resin, (2) a compound capable of generating an acid by irradiation with active rays or radiant rays, and (3) a compound containing at least one crosslinkable group by the action of an acid. PA0 8. A lead-frame forming material as described in item 7 above, wherein protrusions having a height from 0.5 .mu.m to 30 .mu.m are provided on the surface of the light-sensitive layer. PA0 9. A lead-frame forming material as described in item 7 above, wherein fine roughness from 0.05 .mu.m to 1 .mu.m is provided on the surface of the metal web made of copper, copper alloy or nickel alloy. PA0 (1) In the first embodiment of the present invention, the light-sensitive layer comprises a diazo salt light-sensitive resin and a water-insoluble but alkaline-soluble lipophilic high molecular weight compound. PA0 (1) Acrylamides, methacrylamides, acrylic esters, methacrylic esters and hydroxystyrenes containing aromatic hydroxyl group, such as N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)acrylamide, N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)methacrylamide, o-hydroxystyrene, m-hydroxystyrene, p-hydroxystyrene, o-hydroxyphenyl acrylate, m-hydroxyphenyl acrylate, p-hydroxyphenyl acrylate, o-hydroxyphenyl methacrylate, m-hydroxyphenyl methacrylate, and p-hydroxyphenyl methacrylate; PA0 (2) Acrylic esters and methacrylic esters containing aliphatic hydroxyl group, such as 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and 4-hydroxybutyl methacrylate; PA0 (3) Unsaturated carboxylic acids such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic anhydride and itaconic acid; PA0 (4) (Substituted) alkyl acrylates such as methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, propyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, amyl acrylate, hexyl acrylate, cyclohexyl acrylate, octyl acrylate, benzyl acrylate, 2-chloroethyl acrylate, glycidyl acrylate and N-dimethylaminoethyl acrylate; PA0 (5) (Substituted) alkyl methacrylates such as methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, propyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, amyl methacrylate, cyclohexyl methacrylate, benzyl methacrylate, glycidyl methacrylate and N-dimethylamylethyl methacrylate; PA0 (6) Acrylamides or methacrylamides such as acrylamide, methacrylamide, N-methylolacrylamide, N-methylolmethacrylamide, N-ethylacrylamide, N-hexylmethacrylamide, N-cyclohexylacrylamide, N-hydroxyethylacrylamide, N-phenylacrylamide, N-nitrophenylacrylamide and N-ethyl-N-phenylacrylamide; PA0 (7) Vinyl ethers such as ethyl vinyl ether, 2-chloroethyl vinyl ether, hydroxyethyl vinyl ether, propyl vinyl ether, butyl vinyl ether, octyl vinyl ether and phenyl vinyl ether; PA0 (8) Vinyl esters such as vinyl acetate, vinyl chloroacetate, vinyl butyrate and vinyl benzoate; PA0 (9) Styrenes such as styrene, .alpha.-methylstyrene and chloromethylstyrene; PA0 (10) Vinyl ketones such as methyl vinyl ketone, ethyl vinyl ketone, propyl vinyl ketone and phenyl vinyl ketone; PA0 (11) Olefins such as ethylene, propylene, isobutylene, butadiene and isoprene; PA0 (12) Vinylpyrrolidone, N-vinylcarbazole, 4-vinylpyridine, acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile; PA0 (13) Unsaturated imides such as maleimide, N-acryloylamide, N-acetyl methacrylamide, N-propionyl methacrylamide and N-(p-chlorobenzoyl) methacrylamide; PA0 (14) Unsaturated sulfonamides such as methacrylic amide, e.g., N-(o-aminosulfonylphenyl)methacrylamide, N-(m-aminosulfonylphenyl)methacrylamide, N-(p-amino)sulfonylphenyl methacrylamide, N-(1-(3-aminosulfonyl)naphthyl) methacrylamide, N-(2-aminosulfonylethyl)methacrylamide, acrylamide containing the same substituents as above, and methacrylic ester, e.g., o-aminosulfonylphenyl methacrylate, m-aminosulfonylphenyl methacrylate, p-aminosulfonylphenyl methacrylate, 1-(3-aminosulfonylnaphthyl)methacrylate, and acrylic ester containing the same substituents as above; PA0 (15) Unsaturated monomers having crosslinkable groups in its side chains, such as N-(2-(methacryloyloxy)-ethyl)-2,3-dimethylmaleimide and vinyl cinnamate, which may be copolymerized with monomers copolymerizable with the above-mentioned monomers; PA0 (16) Phenolic resins as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,257 and polyvinyl acetal resins such as polyvinyl formal resin and polyvinyl butyral resin; and PA0 (17) High molecular weight compounds obtained by alkali-solubilizing polyurethane, as disclosed in JP-B-54-19773 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent publication"), JP-A-57-94747, JP-A-60-182437, JP-A-62-58242, JP-A-62-123452, JP-A-62-123453, JP-A-63-113450, and JP-A-2-146042. PA0 (2) The light-sensitive composition to be used in the second embodiment of the present invention is a photodimeric light-sensitive composition. PA0 (3) The light-sensitive composition to be used in the third embodiment of the present invention has the following components:
In addition, the following new problems arise in the course of application of the material of the present invention.


A manufacturing method of a plugged honeycomb structure including attaching a transparent sheet to an end face of a honeycomb structure; picking up an image of the end face; with respect to cells positioned at other than outermost peripheral portion of a honeycomb structure (usual cells), subjecting the picked-up image to image processing, recognizing positions to be plugged on said sheet, and with respect to cells positioned at outermost peripheral portion (outermost peripheral cells), positions of the cells are recognized based on an average cell pitch calculated from the positions of the cells, subjecting to a perforation treatment based on the recognized positions of the sheet, submerging an end portion into a plugging slurry in which a material of the plugging portions is slurried, filling holes made at the respective sheet with the slurry to form the plugging portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a honeycomb structure for use in a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and the like, in which one end portion of each cell is plugged.
2. Description of the Related Art
An exhaust gas discharged from an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine includes a large amount of particulates (particulate substances) containing, as a main component, carbon which is a cause for environmental pollution, and hence a filter for trapping (filtering) the particulates is generally mounted on an exhaust system of the engine.
Usually, in the filter for use in such a purpose, there is used a plugged honeycomb structure 1 including, as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and (b), a honeycomb structure 2 in which a plurality of cells 9 are separated by porous partition walls 7 and formed so as to communicate with two end faces, and plugging portions 11 arranged in complementary checkered patterns on one end face side and the other end face side of the honeycomb structure 2 so as to plug one of two opening ends of each of the cells 9.
After the exhaust gas flows into the filter including such a plugged honeycomb structure from one end face 3 of the filter and the particulates and the like included in the gas are removed from the gas, the gas flows out of the other end face 5. Specifically, the exhaust gas first flows into cells 9b having end portions which are not closed at the one end face 3 of this filter and having closed end portions at the other end face 5, passes through the porous partition walls 7, moves to cells 9a having closed end portions at the one end face 3 and end portions which are not closed at the other end face 5, and is discharged from these cells 9a. Then, in this case, the partition walls 7 function as filter layers, and the particulates in the gas are trapped by the partition walls 7 and deposited on the partition walls 7.
As a manufacturing method of the above plugged honeycomb structure, a method is known in which a transparent sheet or the like is attached to an end face of a formed honeycomb body, an image of the end face is picked up, then the picked-up image is subjected to image processing to recognize positions of the cells, positions of the sheet corresponding to the cells to be plugged are subjected a perforation treatment by laser processing or the like based on the recognized positions, then an end portion of the honeycomb structure is submerged into a plugging slurry including a slurried material of plugging portions, and end portions of the cells to be plugged are filled with the plugging slurry from holes made by the perforation treatment in the sheets (e.g., see Patent Document 1).
In this manufacturing method, as described above, the positions of the cells are recognized by the image recognition. Specifically, the image of the end face of the honeycomb structure picked up by a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera or the like is binarized. When a lump of black images in the binarized image have a predetermined cell shape (e.g., a quadrangular shape), or reaches a certain ratio (e.g., 80% or more) of a predetermined cell area, the images are regarded as the cells, and the positions of the cells are recognized. It is to be noted that images which do not have the predetermined cell shape and which do not reach the certain ratio of the predetermined cell area are regarded as foreign matters such as dust attached to the end face of the honeycomb structure, and the positions are not subjected to the perforation treatment by mistake.
However, among the cells, the cells positioned at an outermost peripheral portion of the honeycomb structure (cells which come in contact with an outer peripheral wall of the honeycomb structure) have a partially chipped shape as compared with the other cells, and areas of the cells are reduced. Therefore, in the above image processing, positions of the cells are not recognized as the cells in many cases. Even when the cells should originally be plugged, the positions of the sheet corresponding to the cells are not subjected to the perforation treatment, and the cells are not filled with the plugging slurry. As a result, any plugging portion is not formed, and cells having both end portions which remain to be opened are left.
In such cells having both the end portions which remain to be opened, a large part of the particulates in the exhaust gas which has flowed into the cells is not trapped, and passes through the honeycomb structure. Therefore, the presence of such cells is a factor for deterioration of a performance of the filter.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-300922

Manufacturing method of plugged honeycomb structure


A suture securing device includes an inner member defining a suture receiving passage extending between a distal end surface of the inner member and a second surface of the inner member. An outer member defines an opening for receiving the inner member such that suture extending from the second surface is secured between the inner member and the outer member. The second surface is a proximal end surface of the inner member, and a slot extends between an outer surface of the inner member and the passage. Suture is threaded through the inner member in a proximal direction, and the outer member is advanced over the inner member to cause the suture to double back in a distal direction. A suture securing cartridge includes a sleeve having an axial bore with the suture securing device disposed in the bore.

This invention relates to suture fastening.
One traditional method of fastening suture is simply by tying a knot in the suture. Alternatively, a suture clamp may be used. In a typical suture clamp, the suture is positioned between an open pair of arms which are then pivoted closed to capture the suture between them.


In order to ensure an easy operation, a decreased cost in maintenance and installation, and a safe and effective use of chlorine gas generated in a closed system, a new method for treating an etchant is offered. The method comprises the following steps of; 1 treating an etchant including copper (I) chloride or ferric chloride containing copper by means of an electrolysis using a diaphragm to withdraw copper electrolytically deposited in a cathode cell, 2 supplying chlorine gas generated in an anode cell into another etchant used in an etching process, thereby enabling the etchant to be regenerated.

This invention relates to a method for treating an etchant, more specifically a method for treating an etchant including copper (I) chloride or ferric chloride containing copper, in which case, chlorine gas generated therein is used to treat other etchants for the regeneration.
It is generally known that a conductive pattern of e.g., an integrated circuit in a substrate is manufactured by solving copper in areas other than those corresponding to conducting lines to be used with the aid of a solution of copper (II) chloride ferric chloride.
It is desirable to regenerate the waste of etchant and thus to reuse it for other etching Processes from the view point of avoiding the environmental pollution and economic requirements, where the etchant waste contains copper (I) chloride produced in the following etching process: EQU CuCl.sub.2 +Cu.fwdarw.2CuCl,
or the waste is generated from the etching process in which the solution of ferric chloride is used. Several methods have been proposed for regenerating the etchant waste, where copper is withdrawn from the waste and then the etchant is regenerated. Some of the methods have already been applied to practical use.
In one of the most typical methods for regenerating the waste of etchant containing copper (I) chloride, CuCl in the waste is regenerated into copper (II) chloride CuCl.sub.2 with the aid of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide.
In this method, however, all contents of copper dissolved from the copper foil of the substrate into the etching solution are stored as copper (II) chloride CuCl.sub.2, thereby rapidly giving rise to an excess concentration of CuCl.sub.2.
Accordingly, an excess amount of etchant is usually supplied to a disposal tank in a factory of etching and, therefore, there is a danger of pollution which eventually occurs in the course of the disposal process of the excess etchant or its transportation.
In spite of the above-mentioned treatment with hydrogen peroxide, an improvement for etching has been proposed where the etchant waste is electrolytically treated, so that the etchant is regenerated by changing copper (I) chloride CuCl into copper (II) chloride CuCl.sub.2 with the aid of chlorine generated at the side of the anode in which the waste is transported, and at the same time copper can be electrolytically withdrawn from deposited copper ions as metallic copper at the side of the cathode in which the waste is similarly transported. This method has been disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication Sho 56-17429, and has already been applied to practical uses.
In this patent publication, the proper adjustment of liquid phase composition in the cathode cell of an electrolytic bath is particularly recommended.
In the method for withdrawing copper on the basis of the electrolytic process according to the Japanese Patent Publication Sho 56-17429, however, complicated operations are required for controlling the liquid phase composition, the respective flow rates of solution supplied to the cathode and anode cells, the balance in pressure, etc, because the liquid phase composition must be kept at a reduced copper concentration of less than 65 g/l for the composite solution of both copper (I) and copper (II) chlorides, under the conditions that the etchant waste is separately supplied into the cathode and anode cells. Moreover, no explicit description is given on the method for treating chlorine gas to be generated; without the treatment, a danger of deteriorating the working environment increases due to the generated chlorine gas.
Moreover, as for the etchant waste resulting from the etching process with a solution of ferric chloride, an electrolytic process is Particularly well known, in which the etchant waste is decomposited in an electrolytic bath having a diaphragm between the anode and cathode cells, so that metallic copper can be obtained from copper ions deposited onto the cathode, and at the same time the ferric chloride can be regenerated by oxidation at the side of the anode.
In such an electrolytic process, the etching solution after the dissolution of copper plates or copper foils in a printed circuit board contains trivalent iron ions, divalent iron ions, divalent copper ions and monovalent copper ions which result from ferric chloride and copper foils. In the course of electrolysis for such an etchant, the reactions of electrolytic reduction occur at the cathode of the electrolytic bath in the following sequence: EQU Fe.sup.3+ +e.sup.- .fwdarw.Fe.sup.2+,
and then, EQU Cu.sup.2+ +2e.sup.- .fwdarw.Cu.sup.+ .fwdarw.Cu.
In other words, ferric chloride is first reduced to ferrous chloride in the solution, and then copper (II) chloride is reduced to copper (I) chloride, thereafter a copper metal is deposited. If, therefore, the electrolysis is continuously performed with a closely circulated apparatus for withdrawing, and at the same time if a part of copper metal deposited onto the cathode, in particular powder of metallic copper fallen out of the surface of the cathode into the solution remains at the bottom, FeCl.sub.3 or CuCl.sub.2 which is newly supplied into the etchant reacts as follows: EQU FeCl.sub.3 +Cu.fwdarw.FeCl.sub.2 +CuCl EQU CuCl.sub.2 +Cu.fwdarw.2CuCl.
Accordingly, the copper which has once been deposited is again dissolved into the solution, thereby reducing the efficiency of copper recovery. In addition, the dissolution provides a considerable amount of CuCl in the regenerated solution. These drawbacks eventually result in a decreased efficiency of etching.
Taking into account these facts, the Japanese Patent Publication Sho 55-18558 has disclosed a method for continuously withdrawing copper by electrolysis of the etchant waste including ferric chloride containing copper and for regenerating the etchant of ferric chloride, in which case the electrolytic reduction process is divided into two steps: In the first step, ferric chloride and copper (II) chloride are reduced to ferrous and copper chlorides, respectively, and, in the second step, metallic copper is deposited.
In the method for withdrawing copper by electrolysis according to the above-mentioned patent publication, however, there are drawbacks due to the complicated installation which permits the reduction of the etchant to be performed just before the electrolytic deposition of copper occurs in the first step, and also due to the difficulty in controlling the liquid phase composition. In addition, similar to the Japanese Patent Publication Sho 56-17429, the method for treating the chlorine gas to be generated is not described. Therefore, there is a danger of deteriorating the working environment due to the resultant gas of chlorine.
Incidentally, if one is restricted only to withdrawing metallic copper from the etchant waste, it is possible to use so called cementation in which iron powder is put into the waste, thereby enabling copper to be reduced on account of the difference in ionization tendency. However, cementation provides an excess content of iron in the solution treated, reuse of the etchant is impossible and the used etchant is abandoned. As a result, this method cannot assure avoidance of pollution in the environment, nor of economic requirements.


A transport refrigeration system of the type which holds a set point temperature via heating and cooling cycles. The system includes a refrigerant circuit which includes a compressor, condenser, receiver, evaporator, and a mode selection means for selectively directing hot compressed refrigerant gas to the condenser, or, through a hot gas conduit to the evaporator. The system includes a prime mover, typically a diesel engine for driving the compressor. The system includes a first hot gas flow control means having a predetermined, limited, refrigerant flow capability for controlling the flow of refrigerant therethrough. It further includes a second hot gas flow means having a refrigerant flow capability which is substantially greater than the predetermined limited refrigerant flow capability of the first hot gas flow control means. The first and second hot gas flow control means are disposed in parallel fluid flow relationship in the hot gas conduit. Each of the hot gas flow control means is selectively operable to an open or closed condition. The hot gas flow control means may be opened or closed in any desired combination to achieve a desired hot gas flow rate through the hot gas line. In the preferred embodiment the predetermined limited refrigerant flow capability of the first hot gas flow control means is sufficiently small so that it will limit the suction pressure rise of the compressor to a level which will not overload the internal combustion engine.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to transport refrigeration systems of the type which hold a set point temperature by way of heating and cooling cycles, and more specifically to such systems which utilize hot compressor discharge gas for heating.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the transportation of perishable products, it is recognized that it is necessary to provide refrigeration for the cargo space. It is also well known that it is necessary to periodically provide heat to remove the accumulation of frost or ice from the refrigeration system evaporator. Also, when transporting perishable products through areas having a cold climate, it is necessary to provide heat to the cargo space to prevent excessive cooling or freezing of the perishable products.
A well known method for providing heat for defrost and heating cycles is to divert hot compressor discharge gas from the normal refrigeration circuit directly to the evaporator to achieve the desired heating. When such a system switches from cooling to heating or defrost a sudden rise in compressor suction pressure occurs, due to the sudden dumping of liquid refrigerant that has condensed in the heretofore dormant hot gas lines. When using higher pressure refrigerant such as R-502 or R-22, this pressure rise can stall the engine which drives the compressor. In the past, an orifice was installed in the hot gas line to minimize the instantaneous pressure rise to prevent stalling. This orifice, however, restricted refrigerant flow even when the over load protection was no longer needed.

High capacity hot gas heating system for transport refrigeration system


An apparatus for manufacturing a fluid flow cartridge for circulating a second fluid in heat transfer relationship with a first fluid includes first and second racks and a drive to reciprocate the first and second racks in relation to each other.

In previously disclosed fluid heat exchangers of this type, the barrel was commonly capped at its ends, and then the end caps were interconnected by hoses or the like with intake and discharge manifolds through which the barrel could be serviced with the fluid undergoing heat exchange. When under pressure, the barrel was vulnerable to losing one or the other or both of its caps, and because of the change in diameter from the barrel to the manifolds, the fluid undergoing heat exchange was often unable to fully drain from the barrel when the pressure on the barrel was relieved.

Apparatus for making a barrel type fluid heat exchanger


This invention discloses an electrical slow cooker. Said slow cooker has an added thermal insulating layer, which is formed by filling foaming materials in the gap between the shell and the inner casing as well as between the pedestal and the inner casing, so as to improve the quality of the thermal insulation of the slow cooker.

A slow cooker is a culinary utensil, suitable for use in the oriental cuisine and especially suitable for use in Chinese stewing cuisine generally by cooking over a slow fire. An ordinary slow cooker is composed mainly of the body of the slow cooker, a heater and the thermal insulating layer outside the main body. When it is used, the heater slowly transmits heat to the main body while the thermal insulating layer outside of the main body maintains the main body's inner temperature to allow the water inside to be slowly heated for a sustained period of time so that food inside can be well stewed.
Prior art slow cookers mostly consist of a lid, a porcelain container (the main body), an inner casing (heat transmission medium), a heater, a shell (thermal insulating layer) and a pedestal. The porcelain container is in the innermost space, and the inner casing with a heater and the shell are one after another in the outer space of the porcelain container. The porcelain container is covered with a lid. When used, the heater transmits heat to the porcelain container so that food inside can be heated.
The prior art slow cooker has the following shortcomings: First, there is air in the gap between the shell and the inner casing. Since air does not possess superb heat-proof quality, a large amount of heat is transmitted through the air to the shell, and by heat radiation to the shell, and further to the outside air, which results in a high temperature of the shell and a huge loss of heat thereby having poor warmth-keeping effects.
Second, there is a gap of 2-4 mm between the inner casing and the porcelain container, which reduces heat conduction from the inner casing to the porcelain container.


The present invention provides a novel nootropic agent which is applicable to senile dementia, etc.. As a nootropic agent, for example, TRH (Thyrotropin releasing hormone) is hitherto known but involves defects that TRH is rapidly decomposed in vivo and, in its nature, cannot be orally administered.. The nootropic agent in accordance with the present invention comprises as a main ingredient the substance having the following chemical structure: ##STR1## wherein R represents a lower alkyl group. The effect on animals is remarkable and the toxicity is low. Therefore, the compounds of the present invention are expected to be utilized as drugs. When the society is considered to go toward advanced age, a great weight should be put on treatment of diseases in old age and medical significance of the present invention is extremely important.

As the population of aged persons increases, sinile dementia has been a serious problem but its therapy has not yet been established. Drug therapy by administration of a cerebral metabolism activator, a cerebral blood flow improving agent, a tranquillizer, a cholinergic agent, etc. has been attempted heretofore but its effect is not satisfactory and a new therapeutic agent has been desired in this field.
Recently, some compounds such as Aniracetam, Pramiracetam, etc. have been developed as nootropic agents but are not yet satisfactory in terms of their effects.
In Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 52-125166 etc.,TRH (Thyrotropin releasing hormone) compounds are disclosed and studies on nootropic activity of TRH have been advanced in these years.
It has been considered that TRH is principally a hormone for regulating release of thyrotropin (TSH) in pituitary gland of mammals. According to recent studies, however, it has been made clear that TRH not only releases TSH but . also widely exists in the central nervous system and possesses various activities [Ann. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol., 26, 311-322 (1986)].
It was known that TRH showed various useful activities and could be a useful medicine as a nootropic agent. It was also known that TRH was relatively rapidly decomposed in vivo and its penetration into the brain was not so good. Besides, it can be said that the activity itself of TRH is not so potent as expected and it has been demanded to develop derivatives having a more potent activity.
In addition, the effect of TRH cannot be expected by oral administration in its nature, which is a serious defect as a drug.
On the other hand, investigations have been made on histidylprolinamide derivatives including the compounds of the present invention which are known compounds as substances having an effective pharmacological activity; for example, these derivatives have been attempted to utilize as drugs for treating traumatic neurosis (Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 61-172828). However, no attempt has been made to investigate the compounds of the present invention by specifying them to specific pharmacological activity, thereby leading to materialization of some new drugs.


A vacuum source including an ejector is disclosed. In one example, vacuum is supplied via the ejector when a turbocharger has excess boost capacity. The approach can prioritize how excess boost may be used to provide vacuum.

Vacuum may be used to operate or to assist in the operation of various devices of a vehicle. For example, vacuum may be used to assist a driver applying vehicle brakes, turbocharger operation, fuel vapor purging, heating and ventilation system actuation, and driveline component actuation. Vacuum may be obtained sometimes from an engine intake manifold in normally aspirated engines because the intake manifold pressure is often at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure. However, in boosted engines where intake manifold pressures are often at pressures greater than atmospheric pressure, intake manifold vacuum may replaced or augmented with vacuum from an ejector. By passing pressurized air though the ejector, a low pressure region may be created within the ejector so that air can be drawn from a vacuum reservoir to the ejector, thereby reducing pressure within the vacuum reservoir. Nevertheless, use of ejector systems may not be desirable during certain engine operating conditions where there may be insufficient air flow from the compressor to provide a desired engine torque.
The inventors herein have recognized the above-mentioned disadvantages and have developed a method for providing vacuum, comprising: supplying air from a compressor to engine cylinders, the compressor having an air output capacity; directing air flow from the compressor to an ejector supplying vacuum to a vacuum reservoir when the compressor has capacity to supply more air than a desired cylinder air amount, otherwise inhibiting air flow from the compressor to the ejector.
By adjusting when air is supplied from a compressor to an ejector, it may be possible to supply a desired amount of vacuum to a vacuum system while at the same time providing an engine air amount that in near the desired engine air amount. For example, during a throttle application by a driver, air flow to an ejector can be inhibited. Shortly after the turbine spins up to speed, air flow to the ejector may be reactivated. Thus, generation of vacuum via the ejector may only be inhibited for a short period of time. Consequently, vacuum may be generated for a substantial amount of time even during vehicle acceleration when intake manifold pressure may be high. Further, if an engine torque demand exceeds a threshold level, air flow to the ejector may be inhibited to provide additional engine torque. Thus, an objective of providing engine torque may be granted priority over producing vacuum during some engine operating conditions. Additional vacuum may be provided via the ejector when the output capacity of the turbocharger compressor exceeds the desired engine air charge. In this way, it may be possible to provide vacuum to a vacuum system while providing a desired amount of torque.
The present description may provide several advantages. For example, the approach may improve engine fuel economy by providing vacuum based on vacuum use rather than simply supplying a high level of vacuum. Further, the approach can prioritize vacuum use and vacuum generation according to operating conditions.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for providing vacuum via excess boost


The purpose of the present invention is to provide a negative electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable batteries of which the capacity is high and of which the decrease of the discharging capacity through the cycles is low by improving the electron conductivity of the surfaces of the active material particle for the negative electrode. In order to achieve this purpose, an active material in the form of a composite particle comprising,a phase that can store a lithium ion and includes at least Sn and a phase that cannot store a lithium ion and an electronically conductive material coating part of or the entire surfaces of the above described particle, is used for the negative electrode in the present invention.

The present invention relates to a negative electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable (secondary) batteries, and a production method for the same, of which the capacity is high and of which the discharge capacity has been improved so as not to deteriorate through the cycle usage.
In recent years, the demand for lithium ion rechargeable batteries, which have high electromotive force and high energy density, has greatly expanded along with the development of mobile communication equipment and portable electronic appliances. Lithium metal can be used for the negative electrode.material of this type of lithium rechargeable batteries in order to gain high energy density. However, dendrite deposits on the negative electrode at the time of charging, and when the charging and discharging are repeated the dendrite grows to stick out of the separator to reach the positive electrode side, which may cause the problem of internal short circuit.
Moreover, the deposited dendrite occupies a relatively large surface area, which enhances the reaction activation, and reacts with the solvent in the electrolyte on the surface so as to form an interface film like solid electrolyte, which lacks the electron conductivity. Thereby the internal resistance of the battery becomes high or a particle isolated from the network of the electron conductance are generated, which becomes the factor of lowering the charging and discharging efficiency, that is the cycle characteristics. In this way, the lithium rechargeable batteries where lithium metal is used as the negative electrode material have problems with the safety and the cycle characteristics.
At present, a battery has been put in practical use by utilizing a carbonaceous material, which can store and desorb a lithium ion as the negative electrode material alternating the lithium metal. Since no metal lithium deposits on the negative electrode made of carbonaceous material, usually there is no problem of the internal short circuit due to dendrite. In the case that graphite is used as the carbonaceous material, however, the theoretical capacity is 372 mAh/g, which is only one tenth of the theoretical capacity of lithium as a simple metal, and therefore, a capacity of a satisfactory level can not be obtained.
As a negative electrode active material, which can make the capacity higher, Sn of a simple metal is known which forms a compound with lithium. The compound of Sn which includes the largest amount of lithium is represented by the formula Li22Sn5, and in the case this compound is used, typically no metal lithium deposits and there is no problem of the internal short circuit due to dendrite. And the electrochemical capacity between this compound and Sn as a simple substance is 993 mAh/g, which is larger than the theoretical capacity of graphite.
In addition, a negative electrode material which comprises an intermetallic compound including at least one of the group 4B elements, P and Sb and having a crystal structure of CaF2 type, ZnS type or AlLiSi type has been proposed (the Japanese unexamined patent publication Hei-9(1997)-63651) as a compound negative electrode material of which the capacity is higher than that of the carbonaceous material. And a composite particle, which comprises an active material as a simple substance or a compound capable of the intercalation and the desorption of the lithium ion and carbonaceous material has been proposed as the negative electrode material (the Japanese unexamined patent publication Hei-11(1999)-135120).
However, there is a problem with Sn, which forms a compound with lithium and has a higher capacity than that of the above described carbonaceous material, in that Sn is inferior to the carbonaceous negative electrode material in the charging and discharging cycle characteristics. That is to say, because of the expansion caused by the formation of a compound with an stored lithium due to the charging reaction and contraction caused by a lithium desorption due to the discharging reaction, the active material particle becomes minute or fine. In other words, two phases with a volume difference are repeatedly converted to each other through the charging and discharging reaction, which causes the distortion of the material and generates a crack so as to make the active material particle further minute. Between the minute active material particles the electron conductivity is lost which leads to electrochemical inactivity, and the charging and discharging capacity is lowered.
On the other hand, a negative electrode material, which comprises an intermetallic compound containing at least one of the group 4B elements, P and Sb and has the crystal structure of CaF2 type, ZnS type or AlLiSi type, has been proposed as a negative electrode material having an improved cycle life characteristics e been improved instead of the above described simple substance such as Sn (the Japanese unexamined patent publication Hei-9(1997)-63651). This material is supposed to have better charging and discharging cycle characteristics than that of the Lixe2x80x94Pb alloy negative electrode material and have a higher capacity than that of the graphite negative electrode material. However, the discharging capacity in the charging and discharging cycles, up to 10 to 20 cycles, decreases remarkably and even the capacity of Mg2Sn, which seems to have the best characteristics, decreases to approximately 70% of the initial capacity after about 20 cycles. It seems that this is because even the active material particle in those materials expand or contract slightly, which makes it difficult to maintain the contact condition with the conductive agent after the charging and discharging, therefore, the contact degree between the active material particle and the conductive agent is deteriorated.
Moreover, a composite particle, which comprises an active material formed of a simple substance or a compound capable of the intercalation and desorption of the lithium ion and a carbonaceous material, has been proposed as a negative electrode material (the Japanese unexamined patent publication Hei-11(1999)-135120). The composite particle of this active material and the carbonaceous material is obtained by coating the active material comprising a simple substance or a compound capable of the intercalation and desorption of the lithium ion with the carbonaceous material. However, either the simple substance or the compound forming the internal active material stores or desorbs the lithium ion not like the carbonaceous material, which coats the surface of the active material, and therefore, the particle itself expands and contracts as described above.
In addition, it is difficult to coat only the surface of the active material including a Sn atom with the carbonaceous material and it is also considered difficult to prevent the active material from becoming deteriorated due to the expansion and the contraction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a negative electrode material for non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable batteries, which uses an active material particle including the element Sn of high capacity, and which maintains the contacts between the active material particle and the conductive agent without breaking into minute particle even after the expansion and the contraction are repeated along with the absorption and desorption of lithium in an electrochemical manner so as to improve the charging and discharging cycle life characteristics.
In order to solve the above described problems, the present invention provides a negative electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable batteries comprising; an active material composed of a lithium ion storing phase, which contains at least Sn and a lithium ion non-storing phase, and an electronically conductive material, which coats at least a part of the surface of said active material. In other words, the present invention provides a negative electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable batteries comprising an active material in the form of a composite particle of; an active material particle having a lithium ion storing phase, which contains at least Sn as the component and a lithium ion non-storing phase; and an electronically conductive material which coats at least a part of the surface of said active material particle.
In the negative electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable batteries, it is preferable that the lithium ion storing phase further contains, as another component, at least one type of element selected from the group consisting of the group 2 elements, the transitional elements, the group 12 elements, the group 13 elements and the group 14 elements in the periodic table, and the another component and Sn form a solid solution or an intermetallic compound.
Further, it is preferable that the electronically conductive material coats 10% or more of the entire surface of said active material.
Further, it is preferable that the electronically conductive material is at least one selected from the group consisting of an electronically conductive polymer, a carbonaceous material and a metallic material.
Further, it is preferable that the carbonaceous material includes a fibrous carbon.
Further, it is preferable that the fibrous carbon is in a fiber shape having a lattice spacing d002 of (002) plane of 3.35 to 3.70 xc3x85, a length of 1 to 20 xcexcm and a diameter of 0.1 to 0.5 xcexcm, and the fibrous carbon in the carbonaceous material is in a range of 1 to 20 wt % of the active material and the electronically conductive material.
Further, the present invention provides a production method of an active material for a negative electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable batteries, said active material being composed of a lithium ion storing phase, which contains at least Sn, and a lithium ion non-storing phase; and an electronically conductive material, which coats at least a part of the surface of said active material. In other words, the present invention provides a production method of a composite particle for a negative electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable batteries, said composite particle comprising an active material particle having a lithium ion storing phase, which contains at least Sn as the component, and a lithium ion non-storing phase; and an electronically conductive material, which coats at least a part of the surface of said active material particle.
The production method comprises the steps immersing a negative electrode active material particle into an organic solvent containing a conductive polymer material dissolved, and drying said active material particle to coat at least a part of the surface of said active material particle with said conductive polymer material to give said active material.
Another production method of the present invention comprises the step of applying a mechanical energy comprising a compressive force and a grinding force to a mixture of a negative electrode active material particle and an electronically conductive material to coat at least a part of the surface of said active material particle with said electronically conductive material through a mechanochemical reaction to give said active material.
Further, the present invention provides a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, comprising a positive electrode capable of a reversible electrochemical reaction of a lithium ion, a non-aqueous, electrolyte comprising a lithium salt dissolved in an organic solvent and the above-mentioned negative electrode.
In particular, the above described active material, i.e. composite particle, which functions as a so-called negative electrode material, comprises a core active material particle and a shell electronically conductive material coating, in which the active material particle enhances the capacity and the conductive material maintains the contact with the active material particle even when the active particle repeats the expansion and contraction along with the storing (absorbing) and disorption of lithium ion in an electrochemical manner and, therefore, the cycle characteristics can be maintained and improved.

Negative electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable batteries

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An in situ soil remediation system may be used to remove or reduce levels of mercury contamination within soil. The soil remediation system may also remove or reduce levels of other contaminants within the soil. Mercury may be vaporized within the soil by a heating system. The vaporized mercury may be removed from the soil by a vacuum system. The vaporized mercury may pass through heated risers that elevate the vaporized mercury. After the vaporized mercury passes from the heated risers, the vaporized mercury may be allowed to cool, condense, and flow downward to a treatment facility. Removing mercury from the soil as a vapor may provide an economical, safe, and efficient way to remediate mercury contaminated soil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to treatment of contaminated soil. An embodiment of the invention relates to in situ thermal desorption soil remediation of mercury contaminated soil.
2. Description of Related Art
Contamination of soil has become a matter of concern in many locations. "Soil" refers to unconsolidated and consolidated material in the ground. Soil may include natural formation material such as dirt, sand, and rock, as well as other material, such as fill material. Soil may become contaminated with chemical, biological, and/or radioactive contaminants. Contamination of soil may occur in a variety of ways, such as material spillage, leakage from storage vessels, and landfill seepage. Additional public health concerns arise if the contaminants migrate into aquifers or into air. Soil contaminants may also migrate into the food supply through bioaccumulation in various species in a food chain.
There are many methods to remediate contaminated soil. "Remediating soil" means treating the soil to remove soil contaminants or to reduce contaminants within the soil (e.g., to acceptable levels). A method of remediating a contaminated site is to excavate the soil and to process the soil in a separate treatment facility to eliminate or reduce contaminant levels within the soil. Many problems associated with this method may limit its use and effectiveness. For example, dust generation that accompanies excavation exposes the surrounding environment and workers to the soil contamination. Also, many tons of soil may need to be excavated to effectively treat even a small contamination site. Equipment, labor, transport, and treatment costs may make the method prohibitively expensive compared to other soil remediation methods.
Biological treatment and in situ chemical treatment may also be used to remediate soil. Biological and/or chemical treatment may involve injecting material into the soil, such that the material reacts and/or moves contamination within the soil. A material injected during a biological or chemical treatment may be a reactant configured to react with the soil contamination to produce reaction products that are not contaminated. Some of the reaction products may be volatile. These reaction products may be removed from the soil.
The material injected during a chemical treatment may be a drive fluid configured to drive the contamination toward an extraction well that removes the contaminant from the soil. The drive fluid may be steam, carbon dioxide, or other fluid. Soil heterogeneity and other factors may, however, inhibit uniform reduction of contaminant levels in the soil using biological treatment and/or chemical treatment. Furthermore, fluid injection may result in migration of contaminants into adjacent soil.
Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is a process that may be used to remove contaminants from subsurface soil. During SVE, some vacuum is applied to draw air through the subsurface soil. Vacuum may be applied at a soil/air interface or through vacuum wells placed within the soil. The air may entrain and carry volatile contaminants toward the vacuum source. Off-gas removed from the soil by the vacuum may include contaminants that were within the soil. The off-gas may be transported to a treatment facility. The off-gas removed from the soil may be processed in the treatment facility to eliminate or reduce contaminants within the off-gas. SVE may allow contaminants to be removed from soil without the need to move or significantly disturb the soil. For example, SVE may be performed under roads, foundations, and other fixed structures.
Permeability of subsurface soil may limit the effectiveness of SVE. Air and vapor may flow through subsurface soil primarily through high permeability regions of the soil. The air and vapor may bypass low permeability regions of the soil, allowing relatively large amounts of contaminants to remain in the soil. Areas of high and low permeability may be characterized by, for example, moisture, stratified soil layers, and fractures and material heterogeneities within the soil.
Water may be present within soil. At a certain level within some soil, pore spaces within the soil become saturated with water. This level is referred to as the saturation zone. In the vadose zone, above the saturation zone, pore spaces within the soil are filled with water and gas. The interface between the vadose zone and the saturated zone is referred to as the water table. The depth of the water table refers to the depth of the saturated zone. The saturated zone may be limited by an aquitard. An aquitard is a low permeability layer of soil that inhibits migration of water.
Reduced air permeability due to water retention may inhibit contact of flowing air with contaminants in the soil during SVE soil remediation. Dewatering the soil may partially solve the problem of water retention. The soil may be dewatered by lowering the water table and/or by using a vacuum dewatering technique. These methods may not be effective methods of opening the pores of the soil to admit airflow. Capillary forces may inhibit removal of water from the soil when the water table is lowered. Lowering the water table may result in moist soil, which may limit air conductivity.
A vacuum dewatering technique may have practical limitations. The vacuum generated during a vacuum dewatering technique may diminish rapidly with distance from the dewatering wells. The use of vacuum dewatering may not significantly decrease water retention in the soil. This method may also result in the formation of preferential passageways for air conductivity located adjacent to the dewatering wells.
Many types of soil are characterized by horizontal layering with alternating layers of high and low permeability. A common example of a layered type of soil is lacustrine sediments, characterized by thin beds of alternating silty and sandy layers. Attempts to conduct SVE in such layers results in airflow that occurs substantially within the sandy layers and bypasses the silty layers.
Heterogeneities may be present in soil. Air and vapor may preferentially flow through certain regions or layers of heterogeneous soil, such as gravel beds. Air and vapor may be impeded from flowing through other regions or layers of heterogeneous soil, such as clay beds. Also, for example, air and vapor tend to flow preferentially through voids in poorly compacted fill material. Air and vapor may be impeded from flowing through overly compacted fill material. Buried debris within fill material may also impede the flow of air through soil.
Some components of soil contamination may be toxic. Such soil contamination may include mercury, mercury-containing compounds such as dimethyl mercury, radioactive materials such as plutonium, volatile hazardous compounds, and combinations thereof. Placement of wells or use of invasive testing procedures to identify the location and extent of the soil contamination may require special measures to ensure that the surrounding environment and workers are not exposed to contaminated vapor, dust, or other forms of contamination during installation and use of the wells or testing procedures. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, placing dust or vapor producing operations within enclosures to prevent release of contaminants to the environment, treating air within such enclosures to remove or reduce contamination before releasing the air to the environment, equipping workers with appropriate protective clothing, and/or equipping workers with appropriate breathing filters or separate source air supplies.
In some cases, removal of some contaminants from affected soil may be impractical, but removal of other contaminants may be desirable. For example, soil that is contaminated with radioactive material may also be contaminated with other contaminants such as mercury, mercury-containing compounds, hydrocarbons, and/or chlorinated hydrocarbons. Removal of the radioactive material may be impossible or impractical, but it may be desirable to remove or reduce other contaminants within the soil to inhibit such contamination from migrating to other areas through the soil.
The presence of water within the ground is often a problem for construction projects. The problem of water presence and/or water recharge may have to be overcome for some construction projects. A barrier to water migration into a selected area may be established by forming a freeze wall surrounding the selected area. The use of freeze walls to stabilize soil adjacent to a work site and to inhibit water migration into the work site has been implemented during construction of tunnels and shafts and during excavation work. In a typical application of freeze wells at a work site, freeze wells are inserted into the soil and a wall of frozen water and soil is formed around a selected area. The soil within the selected area is then excavated to form a hole. Supports may prevent the walls defining the hole from falling in. The freeze wall may be allowed to thaw when sufficient support is installed to prevent collapse of the walls. Alternatively, work within the hole formed by the removal of the soil may be completed relying on the frozen wall of water and soil to prevent the hole from collapsing. The frozen wall of water and soil may be allowed to thaw after completion of the work within the well.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,679 issued to Ljungström, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, describes creating a frozen barrier to define a perimeter of a zone that is to be subjected to hydrocarbon production. Material within the zone is pyrolyzed by convectively advancing a heating front through the material to drive pyrolysis products toward production wells. U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,544, issued to Krieg et al., which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, describes establishing a closed cryogenic barrier confinement system about a predetermined volume extending downward from or beneath a surface region of Earth, i.e., a containment site.
Mercury contamination in soil presents a serious long-term hazard. Instances of widespread health problems resulting from mercury contamination have been documented in many countries around the world. Some mercury contamination is due to spills from industrial sources. For example, mercury spills from vessels that were used as electrodes in chloro/alkali plants are known sources of mercury contamination. Mercury contamination and mercury compound contamination may have occurred at mining and ore processing sites, battery manufacturing facilities, and may also be due to spills, leakage, and/or breakage of barometers, manometers, thermometers, mercury switches, and other mercury containing instruments and vessels. Unacceptable levels of mercury or mercury compounds may also be present in industrial and/or municipal sludge.
Elemental mercury may enter into soil if the pressure head of mercury exceeds the capillary entry pressure of the soil. The mercury may continue to move downward through the soil until the mercury encounters a low permeability layer in which small pore sizes result in high capillary pressures that prevent entry of the mercury. Mercury will typically pass into soil having a porosity greater than about 100 millidarcies. When the mercury reaches a barrier that it cannot pass into, the mercury may flow laterally along the barrier and pool in low places. A portion of a mercury spill that passes through soil may remain within pores of the soil. The amount of mercury retained within the pores of the soil may depend on pore shape and on mercury saturation. Typically, the pore space in a clean sandy soil will hold from 5% to 20% by volume of residual mercury per pore volume of the soil.
The physical properties of mercury may make mercury hard to remove from soil. The density of mercury (13.5 g/cc at 20° C.) may make it difficult to pump mercury out of soil. The retention of a portion of mercury within soil pore space may make it difficult to remove mercury from the soil so that the soil is no longer considered to be contaminated by mercury. The low vapor pressure of mercury (e.g., 0.0012 mmHg at 20° C. and 0.2729 mmHg at 100° C.) may make removal of mercury by a soil vapor extraction process at low or slightly elevated temperatures too time consuming to feasibly remediate mercury contaminated soil.
Mercury contaminated soil may be treated by soil excavation and subsequent treatment of the soil to remove the mercury. Excavated soil may be treated by leaching the mercury from the soil and/or by heating the soil to remove the mercury. Removal, treatment, and transportation of mercury containing soil may not be practical for large contaminated sites. Other types of soil contaminants, such as organic and/or radioactive contaminants, may be present in mercury contaminated soil. Safety considerations due to the presence of mercury and other types of contaminants may weigh against the use of excavation and subsequent treatment of mercury contaminated soil as a remediation method for treating the soil.

Soil remediation of mercury contamination

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


A method of making a porous three-dimensional object. The method comprises: a) positioning a first layer of particles on a build plate; b) heating the first layer of particles sufficiently to fuse the particles together to form a first build layer having a first porosity; c) exposing the first build layer to a laser beam to form one or more pores, the exposed first build layer having a first modified porosity, the laser beam being emitted from an optical fiber; d) adjusting one or more beam characteristics of the laser beam prior to or during the exposing of the first build layer, the adjusting of the laser beam occurring prior to the laser beam being emitted from the optical fiber; e) positioning an additional layer of particles on the exposed first build layer; f) heating the additional layer of particles sufficiently to fuse the particles together to form a second build layer having a second porosity; g) exposing the second build layer to the laser beam to form one or more pores, the exposed second build layer having a second modified porosity, the laser beam being emitted from the optical fiber; h) adjusting one or more beam characteristics of the laser beam after fusing the particles to form the second build layer and prior to or during the exposing of the second build layer, the adjusting of the laser beam occurring prior to the laser beam being emitted from the optical fiber, and i) repeating e), f), optionally g) and optionally h) to form a three-dimensional object.

The use of high-power fiber-coupled lasers continues to gain popularity for a variety of applications, such as materials processing, cutting, welding, and/or additive manufacturing. These lasers include, for example, fiber lasers, disk lasers, diode lasers, diode-pumped solid state lasers, and lamp-pumped solid state lasers. In these systems, optical power is delivered from the laser to a work piece via an optical fiber.
Various fiber-coupled laser materials processing tasks require different beam characteristics (e.g., spatial profiles and/or divergence profiles). For example, cutting thick metal and welding generally require a larger spot size than cutting thin metal. Ideally, the laser beam properties would be adjustable to enable optimized processing for these different tasks. Conventionally, users have two choices: (1) Employ a laser system with fixed beam characteristics that can be used for different tasks but is not optimal for most of them (i.e., a compromise between performance and flexibility); or (2) Purchase a laser system or accessories that offer variable beam characteristics but that add significant cost, size, weight, complexity, and perhaps performance degradation (e.g., optical loss) or reliability degradation (e.g., reduced robustness or up-time). Currently available laser systems capable of varying beam characteristics require the use of free-space optics or other complex and expensive add-on mechanisms (e.g., zoom lenses, mirrors, translatable or motorized lenses, combiners, etc.) in order to vary beam characteristics. No solution exists that provides the desired adjustability in beam characteristics that minimizes or eliminates reliance on the use of free-space optics or other extra components that add significant penalties in terms of cost, complexity, performance, and/or reliability. What is needed is an in-fiber apparatus for providing varying beam characteristics that does not require or minimizes the use of free-space optics and that can avoid significant cost, complexity, performance tradeoffs, and/or reliability degradation.
Porous structures are commonly used for the creation of lightweight components, filtration, sorption media and acoustic dampening. These properties make porous structures very useful. Often, porosity characteristics within a single bulk material are held relatively constant by the manufacturing process, although this is not so in the case of polymer foams, which may have a non-porous skin created on the outer surfaces. Manufacturing techniques for porous objects materials often employ assemblage with additional structures to be useful, which raises the cost and complexity of those items. Furthermore, the porous areas within the assembled structure are limited to the fixed porosity of the individual porous component.
It is noted that while additive manufacturing techniques, also referred to as 3D printing, can create voids in material. However, the resolution of the voids and/or the ability to vary or otherwise tailor the porosity is limited.
Therefore, manufacturing processes that allow tailoring of pore structures and/or porosity, and that can efficiently manufacture materials of varied pore structure and/or porosity would be a welcome addition to the art.

Method of forming pores in three-dimensional objects


A content transmitter transmits content over a network, and includes: an input section configured to obtain the content, a first kind of information indicating, based on at least one of the destination and transmission method of the content, whether transmission of the content is permitted or not, and a second kind of information specifying the destination of the content; a control section configured to determine, by reference to the first and second kinds of information, whether or not to transmit the content to the destination and rewrites the first kind of information; and an output section configured to output the content and the first kind of information that has been rewritten.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a technique for transmitting content over a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computer networks have been rapidly developing these days, it has become very easy to transmit some content such as a video clip or an audio file from one computer terminal to another.
However, as such content to transmit often includes sensitive confidential or personal information, there is an increasing demand for safe and secure telecommunications controls that can eliminate the risk of information leaking. Thus, in response to such a demand, various access control systems and methods have been proposed to realize safe and secure telecommunications controls.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-297063 discloses that an access control may be carried out using an ID and a password assigned to each individual user when he or she attempts to transmit some content. On the other hand, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-354067 discloses a technique for performing an access control by making a router, which is located between a server and a group of clients, decide whether to relay or discard the given content on a content basis and on a client basis. Furthermore, PCT International Application Japanese National-Phase Patent Publication No. 2005-529519 discloses a technique for performing an access control by providing an authentication field, which indicates either a mode that permits distribution to outside of a network or a mode that prohibits distribution to outside of the network, for content data.

Content transmitter, content transmitting method and program

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


Provided is a leakage current compensation circuit including: a compensation MOS transistor, which has a drain and a source connected to each other, and a bulk connected to a ground terminal, and is configured to generate a compensation current that is equal in magnitude to a leakage current of a MOS transistor of a current output circuit; and a current mirror circuit, which has an input terminal connected to the drain and the source of the compensation MOS transistor, and an output terminal connected to the MOS transistor of the current output circuit. The leakage current compensation circuit includes the MOS transistor for compensation for the leakage current, which has a small area, and is capable of compensating for a gate leakage current.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a leakage current compensation circuit configured to compensate for a leakage current of a MOS transistor, and to a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a circuit including a MOS transistor, in general, circuit constants are determined to design electrical characteristics of the circuit after modeling the MOS transistor as an ideal element without leakage current. However, in an actual MOS transistor, there are parasitic diodes between a source and the bulk and between a drain and the bulk. A reverse leakage current of the parasitic diode, which increases especially at high temperature, deteriorates electrical circuit characteristics. Further, a leakage current from a gate of the MOS transistor also deteriorates electrical circuit characteristics.
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a related-art leakage current compensation circuit.
The related-art leakage current compensation circuit is configured to compensate for a reverse leakage current IL of a parasitic diode 411 of a MOS transistor 401 which has a drain to which a circuit 20 is connected and a gate to which a circuit 30 is connected.
Since reverse bias voltage is applied between the drain and the source of the NMOS transistor 401, in the parasitic diode 411 of the MOS transistor 401, the reverse leakage current IL flows to the bulk of the MOS transistor 401. As a result, a current flowing to the circuit 20 increases by an amount of the reverse leakage current IL. The reverse leakage current IL is a current error with respect to the operating current of the circuit 20, and hence deteriorates circuit performance.
The leakage current compensation circuit includes a MOS transistor 402 configured to generate, as a compensation current, a reverse leakage current IC of a compensation diode 412, and a current mirror circuit which includes MOS transistors 403 and 404 configured to supply, to the MOS transistor 401, an output current with use of the compensation current IC as an input current. The MOS transistor 401 and the MOS transistor 402 are transistors of the same type and the same size due to a process structure, and a gate of the MOS transistor 402 is connected to a ground terminal VSS so that the MOS transistor 402 is set to be in an OFF state. Thus, the reverse leakage current IC of the compensation diode 412 and the reverse leakage current IL of the parasitic diode 411 become equal to each other in magnitude. Accordingly, the reverse leakage current IL generated in the MOS transistor 401 is compensated for by the leakage current compensation circuit (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-340246).
However, in the related-art leakage current compensation circuit, it is required that the compensation MOS transistor 402 have the same size as that of the MOS transistor 401 in order to generate a compensation current IC having the same magnitude as that of the reverse leakage current IL, which is generated in the MOS transistor 401 and is to be compensated for. Accordingly, an area of the layout pattern greatly increases.
Further, compensation of the leakage current is limited to a reverse leakage current of a diode, and a leakage current from a gate, which tends to increase accompanying with miniaturization in the manufacturing process, cannot be compensated for.

Leakage current compensation circuit and semiconductor device


A shielding device for serving as an electromagnetic shield includes a shield body having a top piece and a plurality of sidewall pieces, and an electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) structure disposed on the top piece of the shield body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a shielding device served to shield electronic components in wireless communication apparatuses and, more particularly, to a shielding case that is capable of mitigating interference between the electronic components that are shielded by the same shielding case.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern day wireless communication apparatuses such as cellular phones or GPS tracking systems are becoming more and more complex as technology develops. Consumers demand smaller devices that still maintain good reception, high overall performance and large frequency range. Component placement is crucially important at RF frequencies, as interference from various components can hinder or block reception of signals. To avoid as much as possible any unwanted influence of electromagnetic radiation from devices such as RF power amplifiers or baseband chips, it is known to shield such radiation sources by encasing the radiation sources in metallic shielding cases.
However, when the RF transceiver and the RF power amplifier, which are mounted on the same printed circuit board (PCB) in a wireless communication apparatus, are encased together by only one shielding case, a so-called power amplifier (PA) pulling effect easily occurs in direct-conversion transmitter (DCT) architecture. It is believed that the PA pulling effect is caused by the higher-order harmonics power originated from the RF power amplifier, which adversely affects the signal integrity of synthesizer within the same frequency channel. As a result, the RF transceiver and the RF power amplifier are typically covered with two independent shielding cases, respectively, in order to prevent the PA pulling effect.
There is a need in this industry to reduce the manufacturing cost by using single shielding case instead of multiple shielding cases on a PCB to encase the RF transceiver and the RF power amplifier in one enclosed space. The challenge is how to suppress the PA harmonic power.


This invention relates to a method of heating an insulating layer, such as is found in semiconductor devices, in which a formation has been etched through a layer of resist comprising reactive etching the resist, inhibiting absorption of or removing water vapor and/or oxygen at the exposed surfaces of the etched formation and filling the formation with conductive metal in the absence of said water vapor and/or oxygen.

This is a Continuation of International Application No. PCT/GB00/00651, filed Feb. 24, 2000.
This invention relates to a method of treating an insulating layer such as found in semiconductor devices.
As the designers of semiconductor architecture push the devices within the semiconductors closer and closer together, the permittivity of the insulating layers which are formed between the connecting metal tracks, becomes more significant. The trend is therefore to produce insulating materials with lower and lower dielectric constants (k) One approach to forming such materials is to introduce carbon into the insulating material and such a method is described in our co-pending International Patent Application PCT/GB97/02240, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In order to form the metal tracks separated by the insulating-layer or to connect those tracks to other tracks or devices formed in the semiconductor material on which the insulating layers are deposited, it is necessary to etch into or through the insulating layer and subsequently fill those recesses with electrically conducting metal. Such recesses are generally formed by coating the upper surface of the insulating layer with a photo-resist, removing certain parts of the resist using photo-lithographic techniques, etching through the exposed openings in the resist to form the recesses and then removing the layer of resist by reactively etching the resist using oxygen.
However, it has been found that where the insulating layer contains carbon, the dielectric constant increases as a result of the reactive oxygen etching, the side walls of the formation are etched creating barrelling and there are subsequent problems with filling the recesses with metal.
From one aspect the invention consists in a method of treating an insulating layer in which a formation has been etched through a layer of resist comprising reactive etching the resist (for example with a plasma process), inhibiting the absorption or removing water vapour and/or oxygen at carbon depleted sites of the exposed surfaces of the etch formation and filling the formation with conductive metal in the absence of said water vapour and/or oxygen.
The inhibiting step may include supplying hydrogen with or to an etchant gas, e.g. oxygen and/or it may comprise supplying nitrogen with or to the etchant gas. Preferably the step of inhibiting includes supplying a gas which is the source of reactive hydrogen and/or nitrogen with or to the etchant gas. In one embodiment the gas may be NH3. Where the etchant gas is oxygen, the ratio of oxygen to the gas may be approximately 3:1 and similar ratio""s may be appropriate with other etchant gases.
In an alternative arrangement the inhibiting step may be performed by maintaining the substrate under vacuum until the metallisation step is completed or there may be a removal step including heating the insulating layer prior to metallisation to outgas the insulating material.
Preferably the insulating layer has a dielectric constant of less than 4 and/or includes carbon. More particularly the dielectric constant is below 3.5 and most preferably below 3.0.
The carbon concentration in the dielectric film is most preferably more than 10%.
Although the invention has been defined above it is to be understood it includes any inventive combination of the steps set out above or in the following description.


Digital interface circuitry links a number of solenoid-driven, multiple-p, single-transducer pressure-scanning devices to a digital data acquisition microprocessor system having a random access interface which directs operation of the microprocessor CPU. Pulses from the CPU are utilized by the digital interface to step the scanning solenoid and command the CPU to scan the current inputs from the pressure devices. The digital interface receives a digital signal from a binary encoder when the pressure scanning system has reached the last active pressure port and then returns the scanning system to home position and inputs the next user command to the CPU.

The present invention relates to circuitry for controlling the operation of multiple-port, single-transducer pressure-sensing devices for inputting data to a digital data acquisition system.
In the prior art, gathering pressure data from a plurality of points has been performed by pressure-scanning apparatus which utilizes a single transducer stepped from port to port by solenoid or motor drives. A controller for the scanning apparatus defines which port is currently sampled.
In gathering test data, such as temperature, from a plurality of points by utilizing a separate transducer for each point, digital computers have been utilized to control scanning of the points and to receive and record the data. Where pressure data is also to be received from multiple-port, single-transducer pressure-scanning devices, control of the apparatus has been clumsy.

Digital interface circuit for control of pressure scanner

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


Techniques for generating a target digital media item based on a source digital media item are described. A digital media item may be a song, a video clip, an album, or any length of audio or video. When adjusting the bit count for a portion of the target digital media item, instead of using the same set of parameter values used in a perceptual model for each portion of the source media item, the set of parameter values may be modified to encode the portion of the source digital media item. In this way, how audio or video is perceived is taken into account when adjusting a proposed bit count for a given portion of the target digital media item. Thus, while maintaining the same statistical bitrate as before increased digital media quality is achieved.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it is not to be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art, merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Digital media coding, or digital media compression, algorithms are used to obtain compact digital representations of high-fidelity (i.e., wideband) signals for the purpose of efficient transmission and/or storage. A central objective in (e.g. audio) coding is to represent the signal with a minimum number of bits while achieving transparent signal reproduction, i.e., while generating output digital media which cannot be humanly distinguished from the original input, even by a sensitive listener.
Advanced Audio Coding ("AAC") is a wideband audio coding algorithm that exploits two primary coding strategies to dramatically reduce the amount of data needed to convey high-quality digital audio. Signal components that are "perceptually irrelevant" and can be discarded without a perceived loss of audio quality are removed. Further, redundancies in the coded audio signal are eliminated. Hence, efficient audio compression is achieved by a variety of perceptual audio coding and data compression tools, which are combined in the MPEG-4 AAC specification. The MPEG-4 AAC standard incorporates MPEG-2 AAC, forming the basis of the MPEG-4 audio compression technology for data rates above 32 kbps per channel. Additional tools increase the effectiveness of AAC at lower bit rates, and add scalability or error resilience characteristics. These additional tools extend AAC into its MPEG-4 incarnation (ISO/IEC 14496-3, Subpart 4).
AAC is referred to as a perceptual audio coder, or lossy coder, because it is based on a listener perceptual model, i.e., what a listener can actually hear, or perceive. A common problem in perceptual audio coding is bitrate control. According to the concept of Perceptual Entropy, the information content of an audio signal varies dependent on the signal properties. Thus, the required bitrate to encode this information generally varies over time. For some applications bitrate variations are not an issue. However, for many applications a firm control of the instantaneous and/or average bitrate is desired.
The three basic bitrate modes for audio coding are CBR (constant bitrate), ABR (average bitrate) and VBR (variable bitrate). CBR is important to bitrate-critical applications, such as audio streaming. Unlike CBR, in which bitrates are strictly constant at each instance, ABR allows a variation of bitrates for each instance while maintaining a certain average bitrate for the entire track, thereby resulting in a reasonably predictable size to the finished files. Although VBR allows the bitrate to vary significantly, the sound quality is consistent.
A CBR codec is constant in bitrate along an audio time signal, but is typically variable in sound quality. For example, for stereo encoding at a bitrate of 96 kb/s, an encoded speech track, which is "easy" to encode due to its relatively narrow frequency bandwidth, sounds indistinguishable from the original source of the track. However, noticeable artifacts could be heard in similarly encoded complex classical music, which is "difficult" to encode due to a typically broad frequency bandwidth and, therefore, more data to encode.
Simultaneous Masking is a frequency domain phenomenon where a low level signal, e.g., a narrow-band noise (the maskee) can be made inaudible by a simultaneously occurring stronger signal (the masker). A masked threshold can be measured below which any signal will not be audible. The masked threshold depends on the sound pressure level (SPL) and the frequency of the masker, and on the characteristics of the masker and maskee. If the source signal consists of many simultaneous maskers, a global masked threshold can be computed that describes the threshold of just noticeable distortions as a function of frequency. The most common way of calculating the global masked threshold is based on the high resolution short term energy spectrum of the audio or speech signal.
Coding audio based on an audio perceptual model (i.e. psychoacoustic model) encodes audio signals above a masked threshold block by block. Therefore, if distortion (typically referred to as quantization noise), which is inherent to an amplitude quantization process, is under the masked threshold, a typical human cannot hear the noise. A sound quality target is based on a subjective perceptual quality scale (e.g., from 0-5, with 5 being best quality). From an audio quality target on this perceptual quality scale, a noise profile, i.e., an offset from the applicable masked threshold, is determinable. This noise profile represents the level at which quantization noise can be masked, while achieving the desired quality target. From the noise profile, appropriate quantization step sizes are determinable. The quantization step sizes are a significant determining factor of the coding bitrate.
After a block of audio data has been encoded, a bit count for that block of audio data is determined. If the bit count is too high (i.e., given the particular CBR or ABR target bitrate), then one way to reduce the bit count is to increase the quantization step sizes uniformly across all frequency bands of the block of audio data. Although this adjustment may effectively reduce the bit count, the adjustment does not take into account how audio is perceived differently at different frequencies. This may cause unacceptable noise to be generated at certain frequencies when the encoded audio is decoded and subsequently played.
Based on the foregoing, there is room for improvement in audio coding techniques.
In the foregoing description, AAC has been described as an example audio coding algorithm. However, embodiments of the invention are not limited to AAC. Any audio or video coding algorithm that employs a perceptual model may be used, such as MP3, AC-3, and WMA.