A phase detector for detecting in real time the difference in phase between frequency pulse signals and data pulse signals, including a control signal generator for generating control signals corresponding to the occurrence of the frequency pulse signals and the occurrence or non-occurrence of the data pulse signals, and a circuit, operative during the occurrence or non-occurrence of the data pulse signals, for producing a phase error signal indicating differences between the real time occurrence of the frequency pulse signals and the data pulse signals. Another circuit of the phase detector, if needed, responds to the control signals to correct the integral of the phase error signal.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for comparing two signals and, more particularly, to a phase detector for detecting the difference in phase between frequency pulse signals and data pulse signals.
2. Background Art
In the processing of information generally, it often is necessary to compare two different signals to accomplish a variety of purposes. The comparison may result in the generation of an error signal representing a difference between the two signals. Circuitry may then respond to the error signal to minimize this difference between the two signals or perform some other function based on this difference, as is needed.
For example, a phase detector is conventionally used to detect the difference in phase between two signals. The phase detector may be used in a phase-locked loop that, among other components, has a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) whose output is a frequency pulse signal. The phase detector receives a stream of data pulse signals, together with the frequency pulse signal which is fed back from the VCO. Any difference in phase between the data pulse signals and the frequency pulse signal results in the generation of a phase error signal that is filtered and then used to control the VCO so that the frequency pulse signal and the data pulse signals become in phase.
Certain types of data pulse streams, such as those known as MFM disk data, can cause difficulty when inputted to a phase-locked loop via the phase detector. This is because the data pulse stream will have "holes" in it, meaning that there are no data pulse signals in the pulse stream for a given period, such as a "bit time" if the data pulse signals are binary digital signals. As is known, these "missing" data pulse signals can cause the phase detector to malfunction.
A prior approach to solving the problem of the missing data pulse signals is to arm the phase detector only if a data pulse signal occurs and to disarm the phase detector if a data pulse signal does not occur during the bit time. This technique uses a time delay device which receives in real time the stream of data pulse signals and outputs to the phase detector delayed data pulse signals which are to be compared to the frequency pulse signal of the VCO. The phase detector also receives in real time the stream of data pulse signals for arming purposes.
Thus, in operation, the data pulse stream is fed to the input of the time delay device as well as to the phase detector. If a data pulse signal occurs, the phase detector is armed and then, a short time later, receives the same, but delayed, data pulse signal which had been delayed by the time delay device. This delayed data pulse signal is then compared with the frequency pulse signal to produce the phase error signal. However, if no data pulse signal occurs during the bit time, the phase detector is not armed, so that it does not operate for phase detection purposes.
One problem with the prior solution is the requirement of a time delay device. In addition to requiring a time delay device which may be expensive, the delay must be precise, so as to have the phase detector properly compare its two input signals. The realization of such a precision time delay is not always easily accomplished. Also, the delay should be equal to one-half the cycle of the nominal frequency of the VCO. Therefore, if the nominal frequency of the VCO is to be changed, which may require using a different VCO in the phase-locked loop, then a new time delay device may be needed in view of the requirement that the delay be equal to one-half the cycle of the nominal frequency. Still furthermore, the arming and disarming of the phase detector has the disadvantage of causing the phase detector to change state between an operative or armed condition and a non-operative or disarmed condition.


An improvement to a continuous solvent extraction-steam-distillation process for the recovery of aromatic hydrocarbons in the range of C.sub.6 -C.sub.16 from a feed stream containing such aromatics and aliphatic hydrocarbons in the range of C.sub.5 -C.sub.16 which resides in using two extractive distillation zones thermally linked to recover heat and solvent, thereby resulting in a heat savings.

With the advent of the benzene-toluene-C.sub.8 aromatics fraction (known and hereinafter referred to as BTX) as the principal raw material in the manufacture of petrochemicals, outstripping ethylene in this regard, and the increased demand for aromatics as a component in gasoline to increase its octane rating and thus reduce or eliminate the need for lead, which has been under fire as a pollutant, aromatics processes availed of in the past have come under close scrutiny with an eye toward improving process economics, which can be translated into, among other things, the use of less apparatus and decreased heat requirements.

Separation of aromatic hydrocarbons from petroleum fractions


A temperature regulating device for a user's neck includes a housing that extends about the neck and has a base portion, and first and second side portions. The side portions each have an air duct extending from an air inlet to an air outlet in communication with air inlets of an air duct within the base portion. Two thermoelectric are devices located within each of the side portions. Each thermoelectric device is in thermal connection with a cold space member at exterior sides of the side portions for contacting the lateral sides of the neck. Two fans within the base portion are configured to pull air through the side portions past the thermoelectric devices to the base portion and out through the air outlets of the base portion. Only the side portions of the housing selectively heat and cool the neck near pulse points of the neck.

The core body temperature of the average adult human is normally about 98.6° Fahrenheit (about 37.0° Celsius). However, body temperatures vary depending on certain conditions such as physical activity, environment etc. Humans have trouble adapting to extreme temperature conditions.
If you're partaking in physically exerting activities in a hot environment, or even just exposed to a hot environment for a prolonged period of time, your body temperature could rise to dangerous levels. If your body temperature reaches about 104° Fahrenheit (about 40° Celsius), you could experience heatstroke. Lowering your body core temperature for short periods of time can help you avoid heatstroke, improve sleep, or reduce a fever, but it's important to do so safely so that your body temperature is not reduced too much.
If you are exposed to a cold environment for a prolonged period of time, your body temperature could lower to dangerous levels. It's important that you conserve body heat and raise your core temperature to avoid organ failure and even death due to prolonged low body temperature. Only a three degree reduction in body temperature (about 95° F. (about 35° C.)) is needed to induce hypothermia. Raising your body core temperature for short periods of time can help you avoid hypothermia but it's important to do so safely so that your body temperature is not increased too much.
Change in body temperatures can also exacerbate medical conditions of existing patients. For example, a temperature increase can make many people with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience a temporary worsening of their symptoms. Doctors believe that this occurs because heat causes nerves (whose myelin covering has been destroyed from MS) to conduct electrical signals even less efficiently. Additionally, for reasons that are not well understood, decreases in body temperature can also cause MS symptoms, usually spasticity, to flare.
Attempts have been made to provide personal cooling devices. For example see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,802,865 and 6,189,327, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in there entireties by reference. These personal cooling devices are evaporative type devices that fit around a person's neck or head. Body heat is transferred away by a fan-induced flow of moistened air. While such prior devices may provide the user with some perception of cooling, they are ineffective at rapidly reducing the user's core body temperature and cannot lower temperature below room temperature. Additionally, these prior devices require the user to replenish a water supply which can be difficult or even impossible under some conditions.
Other attempts to provide a personal cooling or heating device utilize Peltier thermoelectric devices. For example see U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,636, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. While such prior devices actively cool to provide the user with perception of rapid cooling or heating, these prior devices are designed to concentrate cooling the forehead or back of the neck. The area of the brain that senses and regulates body temperature is located in the base of the neck in an area of the brain called the brainstem. Cooling this spot down tricks the body into feeling like it is cooler than it really is. Thus, the process of cooling or heat may be stopped prior to adequately lowering or raising the user's body temperature. Additionally, using such inefficient cooling or heating spots on the body takes an undesirable amount of time to adequately lower or raise the user's body temperature.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a personal cooling and/or heating device that effectively and rapidly lowers and/or raises the user's body temperature.


Techniques and tools are described for augmenting search using association information. Searches can be performed using a combination of index information and association information. In some examples, index information is stored in a first data store and association information is stored in a second data store. Search queries can be received and modified using association information. Modified search queries can be executed using a combination of index information and association information. Index information can be generated by indexing a set of documents. Association information can be generated by monitoring user activity occurring between users and a set of documents.

Traditional search systems use vector space models and inverted indices to index documents. In a traditional search system, a collection of documents and their contents are analyzed and inverted indices are generated. The inverted indices are data structures that are optimized for quick retrieval of documents best matching a search query. Documents matching a search query can be returned with associated scores indicating how well the documents match the query.
Before an inverted index can be used for searching a set of documents, the inverted index must be built. Building the inverted index takes far longer than executing a query using the index. Due to the length of time needed to build the index, indexing a set of documents is typically performed periodically, such as once a day, once every few days, or at longer intervals.
Because indexing documents can take a substantial amount of time (especially if the number of documents to index is large), it can be difficult to maintain an index that represents frequently changing activity. For example, if a set of documents is indexed once a day at midnight, then changes to the documents that occur during the day will not be represented in the index until the documents are indexed the following night. When performing a search using such an index, the results will only reflect the state of the documents when they were indexed (i.e., changes to the documents since they were indexed will not be reflected in the results).
Furthermore, traditional search systems that index search terms within documents are only able to capture information represented within the documents themselves (e.g., text and other content of the documents). Traditional search systems do not represent other activity that may be occurring with respect to the documents.
Therefore, there exists ample opportunity for improvement in technologies related to improving document indexing and search technologies.

Augmenting search with association information


A wedge-like structure which is interposable between an object and its supporting substrate surface and whose thickness is adjustable for purposes of adjusting the tilt angle of the object relative to the substrate surface. The structure is comprised of a stack of generally flattened component members wherein a layer of a releasable adhesive composition is located between and bonded to adjacent component members that can have various configurations. The wedge-like structure is particularly well adapted for incorporation into a monitor support assembly that is located under a transparent window in the top portion of a work station so that the monitor tilt angle is adjustable relative to the assembly by the wedge-like structure.

Work stations with monitors located under the working surface are coming into wide spread use. The monitor is characteristically located at an inclined angle for viewability through a transparent window in the working surface by a user who is seated adjacent to the work station. Examples of such work stations are found in Schairbaum U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,866, Price et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,755,009 and 5,071,204, Walters U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,010 and Lechman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,727.
Even when the under working surface monitor support assembly is adjustable, there is an apparent reluctance by a work station user to undertake adjustment of the monitor tilt angle. Evidently, such an adjustment is perceived to take too much time, or to be too complicated, or to be too risky (i.e., the monitor might be dropped).
The art needs a simple, reliable, and effective means for tilt angle adjustment of a supported member.

Monitor support structure for tilt angle adjustment


Disclosed herein are SOC devices with peripheral units having power management logic.

System-on-chip (SOC) integrated circuits are becoming ever more popular in various applications including embedded applications such as with set-top-boxes, mobile phones, portable media devices, and so on. Especially with portable SOC applications, power management functionality may be a desired aspect of many SOC implementations. One way to reduce power consumption is to control the clocks provided to peripherals in an SOC by slowing them down or turning them off dynamically when feasible.
FIG. 1 shows a typical power management implementation in an SOC. The depicted SOC portion has a core 101, clock control logic 102, power management logic 104, and peripherals 106 (e.g., graphics controller, universal serial bus client, universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter, and the like). The power management logic 104 typically has a timer to monitor system events indicating the state of a peripheral. When events indicate that a peripheral has a lack of activity for a period of time, the power management logic sends a request to the peripheral to enter it into a power saving state. The peripheral then responds by sending an acknowledge signal. This handshaking is typically necessary to avoid uncompleted, pending transfers or tasks (e.g., pending FIFO or bus transfers). When the power management logic receives the acknowledge signal, indicating that the peripheral is ready to go into a power reduction state, it gates off or slows down the clock provided to the peripheral. This is typically implemented via the clock control logic 102. Unfortunately, such schemes may have some drawbacks and thus, a new approach may be desired.


The present invention describes a product comprising least one pharmaceutically acceptable active in a mixture of a tri-ester and polyvinylpyrrolidone, and a process for producing the same. In further embodiments, the present invention also relates to a process for encapsulating the composition within soft gelatin shells. The resulting compositions and capsules provide an effective means for oral delivery of a wide variety of pharmaceutically acceptable actives.

Soft gelatin capsules, commonly referred to as softgels and seamless soft gelatin capsules, are each one piece capsules containing pharmaceutically acceptable actives or other compounds in a liquid or semi-liquid state. These capsules are fashioned, filled and sealed in one continuous operation. Soft gelatin capsules containing liquid pharmaceutical compositions provide an excellent system for the delivery of pharmaceutically acceptable actives. Soft gelatin capsules are a preferred dosage form for accurately dispensing liquids, offering a simple means of masking the unpleasant taste and aromas of many pharmaceutically acceptable actives. Soft gelatin capsules are also convenient, portable and easy to swallow.
Upon ingestion into the gastrointestinal tract the gelatin capsule ruptures releasing its contents. Unlike solids, softgels which contain a liquid do not first have to disintegrate prior to exhibiting a pharmacological action.
Soft gelatin capsules provide accurate and uniform delivery of a unit dose of a pharmaceutically acceptable active, an advantage which becomes especially important when delivering relatively small amounts of pharmaceutically acceptable actives. Soft gelatin capsules are also aesthetically appealing, especially when filled with a transparent liquid.
However, despite these advantages it is not always possible to prepare a liquid composition of the desired pharmaceutically acceptable active. Soft gelatin capsules are limited by the selection of solvents available for solubilizing and suspending pharmaceutically acceptable actives due to toxicity and capsule volume considerations.
Various methods have been employed to overcome this downfall. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,117, to Corbiere, issued Dec. 27, 1988; U.S. Pat. NO. 4,690,823, to Lohner et al., issued Sep. 1, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,684, to Bossert et al., issued Jan. 8, 1974; PCT Application No. WO88/02625, to Yu et al., published Apr. 21, 1988; European Patent Application No. 152,292, to Rogers, published Aug. 21, 1985. U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,603, to Szymanski et al., issued Feb. 11, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 2,580,683, to Kreuger, issued Jan. 1, 1952; Japanese Pat. No. 84044096, to Morishita, issued Jan. 26, 1984 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,961, to Coapman, issued Aug. 25, 1992.
The solvent system of the present invention has significant solvating properties able to dissolve relatively large quantities of pharmaceutically acceptable actives; producing concentrated solvent-active mixtures. Previous solvent systems utilized common solvents such as propylene glycol and polyethylene glycols; each providing excellent solvency but neither being completely appropriate for an important category of pharmaceutically acceptable active agents, the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory compounds. Without being limited by theory, it is believed that many nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory compounds, like numerous other pharmaceutically acceptable actives, are strong acids which react with hydroxylated and poly-hydroxylated solvent and plasticizer species such as propylene glycol, polyethylene glycols and glycerin forming the pro-drug ester of the active compound. The present inventor has found tri-esters, when pared with polyvinylpyrrolidone creates an excellent solvent system for, but not limited to, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory compounds and other acidic pharmaceutically acceptable actives, without the drawbacks of solvents containing reactive hydroxyl groups. Additionally, these tri-esterpolyvinylpyrrolidone systems allow for the facilitated selection of a plasticizer, by being nonsolvents for glycerin and possibly other plasticizers commonly used in soft gelatin capsule manufacturing. By being a nonsolvent, the tri-ester-polyvinylpyrrolidone system creates a barrier preventing the migration of the plasticizer from the soft gelatin shell into the pharmaceutically acceptable active/solvent fill.
Another advantage of the present tri-ester-polyvinylpyrrolidone solvent system is the tri-ester's water tolerance. This low water tolerance allows for the inclusion of additional water soluble pharmaceutically acceptable actives, expanding the range of activity of a single composition.
It is an object of the present invention to provide pharmaceutical compositions containing at least one pharmaceutically acceptable active in a mixture of a tri-ester and polyvinylpyrrolidone. Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for solubilizing or suspending at least one pharmaceutically acceptable active in a mixture of a tri-ester and polyvinylpyrrolidone. A further object of the present invention is to depict a process for preparing soft gelatin capsules containing a composition comprising at least one pharmaceutically acceptable active in a mixture of a tri-ester and polyvinylpyrrolidone; the soft gelatin shell being optionally transparent. A still further object of the present invention is to provide soft gelatin capsules containing at least one pharmaceutically acceptable active in a mixture of a tri-ester and polyvinylpyrrolidone, in which the soft gelatin shell is optionally transparent. These and other objects of this invention will become apparent in light of the following disclosure.

Pharmaceutical compositions and process of manufacture thereof


A vacuum separator is used to separate a pitch stream from a slurry hydrocracking reactor upstream of the product fractionation column. The process and apparatus removes pitch from the product streams to enable easier separation of light VGO from heavy VGO in a fractionation column.

Hydroprocessing includes processes which convert hydrocarbons in the presence of hydroprocessing catalyst and hydrogen to more valuable products.
Hydrotreating is a hydroprocessing process used to remove heteroatoms such as sulfur and nitrogen from hydrocarbon streams to meet fuel specifications and to saturate olefinic compounds. Hydrotreating can be performed at high or low pressures, but is typically operated at lower pressure than hydrocracking.
Hydrocracking is a hydroprocessing process in which hydrocarbons crack in the presence of hydrogen and hydrocracking catalyst to lower molecular weight hydrocarbons. Depending on the desired output, a hydrocracking unit may contain one or more beds of the same or different catalyst.
Slurry hydrocracking (SHC) is a slurried catalytic process used to crack residue feeds to gas oils and fuels. SHC is used for the primary upgrading of heavy hydrocarbon feed stocks obtained from the distillation of crude oil, including hydrocarbon residues or its mixture with gas oils from atmospheric distillation tower bottoms or vacuum distillation tower bottoms. Alternative sources of heavy hydrocarbon feed stocks include solvent deasphalted pitch or visbroken residues. In slurry hydrocracking, these liquid feed stocks are mixed with hydrogen and solid catalyst particles, e.g., as a particulate metallic compound such as a metal sulfide, to provide a slurry phase. Slurry hydrocracked effluent exits the slurry hydrocracking reactor at very high temperatures around 400° C. (752° F.) to 500° C. (932° F.). Representative SHC processes are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,755,955 and 5,474,977.
One difficulty with SHC processes is the increased risk of reactor fouling when operating at higher pitch conversion. Pitch recycle can be used to reduce the potential for reactor fouling and is necessary to achieve high pitch conversion. Incompatibility can also occur in fractionation columns or other vessels when different hydrocarbon streams are contacted with each other and form immiscible liquid phases due to thermodynamic phenomena.
In an SHC process, recovery of pitch is typically achieved by a vacuum fractionation column that cooperates with an upstream series of separators, stripper(s) and an atmospheric fractionation column. Atmospheric and vacuum fractionation columns provide streams with specified boiling point ranges that are transported to downstream upgrading units. The vacuum fractionation column separates an unconverted pitch stream from vacuum gas oil (VGO). Other recovered products include naphtha, kerosene and diesel.
SHC products typically require additional heating before delivery to a vacuum fractionation column. To achieve low VGO concentration and high pitch concentration in the vacuum bottom stream, the fractionator feed stream and column vaporization zones require high temperature to make up for losses in vacuum pressure encountered while passing through vacuum packing materials along the height of the column. Packing materials are added to achieve efficient separation of product streams. High temperature increases the risk of severe fouling. Otherwise, poor separation can result in high concentrations of VGO or even lighter products in the vacuum column bottoms.
Improved fractionation of pitch from VGO is needed in SHC recovery processes.

Process and apparatus for recovering hydrocracked effluent with vacuum separation


An electrophotographic printer having an improved flexible drive chain cover located to protect the toning shell drive chain from contamination with toner dust. The electrophotographic printer may include a rigid drive chain cover located adjacent the flexible drive chain guard and locate so that the flexible drive chain guard and the rigid drive chain overlap.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a drive chain cover for use on a toning station employed in electrophotographic printers and copiers. More particularly, this invention relates to a drive chain cover assembly used to protect the toning station drive chain from contact with toner, which may cause damage to the drive chain, resulting in shortened useful chain life.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Throughout this disclosure, the term xe2x80x9celectrophotographic printerxe2x80x9d is to be construed to include printers and copiers employing electrophotographic means for image production. Electrophotographic printers that utilize a dry ink toner-based developer include a toning station having a toning shell that is used to transport the developer mix to an image development area where the toner is applied to a photoconductor that carries an electrostatic image. The toner interacts electrostatically with the photoconductor, temporarily bonding to the photoconductor before being transferred to the paper.
Typically, the toning shell is driven by means of a chain driven by a sprocket affixed to a shaft that ultimately is driven through gear box actuated by the main drive of the copier. Such drive chains are typically made of polymeric material, encasing pins that contact the cogs on the drive sprockets. In order to maintain appropriate chain tension, it is important that the drive chain remain flexible. However, contact with toner can damage the polymeric materials from which the drive chains are constructed, causing the chain to stiffen, dramatically limiting its usefulness and shortening the useful life of the chain, requiring its early replacement. Unfortunately, the drive chains necessarily reside in an environment in which contact with toner is a high probability. Although the toner is contained in a large toner reservoir, toner may be spilled by the printer operator when replacing the toner reservoir, and such spilled toner falls directly onto the drive chains. Additionally, during normal operation of the equipment, toner dust migrates from the development area of the printer, driven by air currents created by moving parts of the equipment. Thus, toner dust naturally migrates out of the image development area and into the open areas of the toning station, ultimately contacting the drive chains. Modifications to the toning station to minimize the amount of toner spillage and migration may be expensive and not feasible, given space constraints inside the printer.
Additionally, many toning stations open, with an upper portion pivoting away from a lower portion about a hinge joint, to allow for cleaning and maintenance of the toning station components. Any device used to protect the chains from contact with toner dust must therefore be compatible with opening the toning station, by physically permitting the upper portion of the station to pivot with respect to the lower portion of the station, and by not dumping accumulated toner dust onto the drive chains when the toning station is opened. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved means of protecting the drive chains from contact with toner dust.
The present invention solves these and other shortcomings of the prior art by including a flexible chain guard that covers the main toning station drive chain, shielding the chain from toner spills and directing the toner away from the chain when the toning station is opened. The flexible chain guard also works in conjunction with a rigid, fixed chain guard to shield the drive chains and drive sprockets from excessive toner dust contamination.
One embodiment of the present invention is an electrophotographic printer that includes a toning station having a rotating toning shell driven by at least one drive chain. A photoconductor is located in close proximity to the toning shell, defining an image development area therebetween. A flexible drive chain cover is located adjacent the image development area.
In another embodiment, at least a portion of the flexible drive chain cover is substantially planar, and includes a seal area located immediately adjacent the image development area, the seal area made from a fibrous material, such as felt, and engaging the photoconductor to reduce toner migration out of the image development area.
In a further embodiment, the electrophotographic printer also includes a rigid drive chain cover located adjacent the flexible drive chain cover, such that the rigid and flexible drive chain covers overlap. The rigid drive chain cover may be located on a toner replenisher assembly located adjacent the toning station.
In a further embodiment, the toning station includes an upper portion and a lower portion, connected by a hinge, the upper portion pivoting on the hinge to separate from the lower portion to provide access to the lower portion. The flexible drive chain cover is located adjacent the drive chain and remains adjacent the drive chain when the upper portion of the toning station is pivoted with respect to the lower portion of the toning station. The flexible drive chain cover flexes to allow the upper portion of the toning station to pivot with respect to the lower portion of the toning station.

Toning station drive chain cover assembly


A method for coating a substrate surface such as a syringe part by PECVD is provided, the method comprising generating a plasma from a gaseous reactant comprising an organosilicon precursor and optionally an oxidizing gas by providing plasma-forming energy adjacent to the substrate, thus forming a coating on the substrate surface by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The plasma-forming energy is applied in a first phase as a first pulse at a first energy level followed by further treatment in a second phase at a second energy level lower than the first energy level. The lubricity, hydrophobicity and/or barrier properties of the coating are set by setting the ratio of the O2 to the organosilicon precursor in the gaseous reactant, and/or by setting the electric power used for generating the plasma.

An important consideration when regarding syringes is to ensure that the plunger can move at a constant speed and with a constant force when it is pressed into the barrel. For this purpose, a lubricity layer, either on one or on both of the barrel and the plunger, is desirable. A similar consideration applies to vessels which have to be closed by a stopper, and to the stopper itself, and more generally to any surface which should provide a certain lubricity.
In glass syringes, silicon oil is typically used as a lubricant to allow the plunger to slide in the barrel. Silicon oil has been implicated in the precipitation of protein solutions such as insulin and some other biologics. Additionally, the silicon oil coating is often non-uniform, resulting in syringe failures in the market.

PECVD lubricity vessel coating, coating process and apparatus providing different power levels in two phases


In a method of packaging freeze dried vaccine in a bypass syringe sterilized syringes are disposed in rows in an aseptic dispensing machine. Doses of a solution or suspension to be freeze dried are introduced into the syringes. A temporary plug is inserted in the same machine into the mouth of the syringe body in a position allowing communication between the interior of the syringe body and the exterior. The syringes are introduced into a freeze drying machine. The vaccine is freeze dried. At the end of the freeze drying cycle the temporary plug is depressed in a controlled atmosphere in the freeze drying machine into a hermetic sealing position. The syringes are transferred into an aseptic dispensing machine. The temporary plug is removed. An intermediate piston-plug is fitted. The dose of solvent is introduced and an end piston-plug is fitted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method of packaging freeze dried vaccines in syringes and a plug for implementing the method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
So-called bypass syringes designed to contain a freeze dried active substance and a solvent are already known. Generally made from glass, these syringes have a generally cylindrical syringe body with a passage leading to the needle in the anterior part and a piston-plug in the posterior part coupled to a piston rod actuated by the user. The cylindrical cavity inside the body is divided into two parts, namely an anterior part containing the freeze dried active substance and a posterior part separated from the anterior part by an intermediate piston-plug and containing the solvent. A bypass is provided by a localized longitudinal rib in the glass. In an initial position the bypass communicates with the anterior part containing the freeze dried active substance and is inaccessible to the liquid because of the presence of the intermediate piston-plug. When the user depresses the end piston-plug the liquid depresses the intermediate piston-plug until it uncovers the bypass whereupon the liquid is expelled into the first part containing the freeze dried active substance. The dissolved active substance is expelled from the syringe through the needle after the two pistons come into contact.
However, these syringes are not generally used for freeze dried vaccines because these vaccines are extremely fragile, very sensitive to the relative humidity and temperature of their surroundings, so that it is not possible to carry out under industrial conditions in situ freeze drying in a freeze drying machine followed by fitting of the intermediate piston-plug and filling in a second, so-called dispensing machine because of the breakdown in the continuity of the environment. As a result freeze dried vaccines such as the particularly fragile Haemophilus vaccine, for example, must be packaged in syringes with no solvent so that the medical or nursing personnel must first draw up the solvent from a bottle.
The present invention proposes to remedy these drawbacks and to enable the packaging of fragile freeze dried vaccines in bypass syringes without compromising the quality of the vaccine.
Another objective of the invention is to implement this process using conventional freeze drying installations and conventional dispensing installations or installations which require only minor and temporary modification.

Method of packaging freeze dried vaccines in syringes and plug for implementing the method


A geometry compression method for sort middle, screen space, graphics of the standard graphics pipeline. The pipeline processes a 3D database having geometric objects such as triangles and textures into a display image which may be shown to the user on a display monitor. Lossless compression is achieved through redundancy elimination. Triangles are processed following their transformation to screen space, so that the vertex world 3D locations are determined in their projection to the screen 2D locations. Triangles may also be processed by back projecting the screen space scanlines to test locations against the world space triangles. The general technique is to identify the portions of the data that have little or no effect on the rendered output and remove them during compression. Specific examples disclosed include full packing, constant color, delta coding, edge sharing, slope coding, and color quantization.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer graphics and pertains more particularly to sort middle, screen space, graphics geometry compression through redundancy elimination.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Modern computer systems have become increasingly graphics intensive. Dedicated special purpose memories and hardware have been developed to meet this need. The majority of graphics systems are built to accelerate the standard graphics pipeline. As an example FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a graphics pipeline 10 having geometry processing 12 and rasterization 14. The pipeline 10 processes a three dimensional (3D) database 16 having geometric objects 18 and textures 20 into a display image 22 which may be shown to the user on a display monitor (not shown). The geometric objects 18 are typically polygons but may also be triangles, lines, and points. These are also known as primitives. For a particular primitive, its vertices or geometrical point locations (px, py, pz) are typically IEEE floating point values. Also, attributes such as colors, normals, and texture coordinates may be specified at each point or for an entire primitive. In binary, the floating point value is made up of one bit for the sign (S), eight bits for the exponent (E or exp), and twenty-three bits for the significand for a total of thirty-two bits. In the case of a triangle, there are three vertices generally having horizontal (x), vertical (y), and depth (z) coordinates in the form of (v0x, v0y, v0z), (v1x, v1y, v1z), and (v2x, v2y, V2z). These primitive vertex data of the geometric objects are sent for geometry processing 12.
During geometry processing 12, this primitive vertex data undergoes modeling transforms, viewing transforms, and viewpoint transforms. The resulting screen space primitives are specified by a number of setup variables. Now one has (v0x, v0y, v0z) in screen space. Setup variables include the starting values and slope of all of the parameters of the primitive. The number, precision, and type of setup variables will vary from application to application. Geometry processing output may include the screen space locations (x and y) of the triangle vertices, the shaded color values (red, green, blue, alpha), the depths (z), the slope of the edges, colors, opacities, and depths across scanlines, triangles, or both. Calculation of the setup variables may be done at the geometry processing stage or at the rasterization stage. This geometry information varies by the rasterization process used and the techniques disclosed below can work with many varieties of rasterization.
Turning now to FIG. 2, a diagram of scan conversion of two triangle types is shown. FIG. 2 is for illustration purposes only as there exist many equivalent methods to rasterize triangles. For both triangle types, edge 1, the longest side, is the primary vertical edge on which scan conversion starts. All scan conversion proceeds in horizontal lines across the triangle as shown. Textures 20 from FIG. 1 may be used as an auxiliary method for looking up a color of a pixel during the scan conversion process. The texture is literally painted onto the polygon by performing an inverse transform lookup from the pixel coordinate, to the polygon coordinate, into the texture space. Finally, the resulting rasterized data is displayed as the display image 22.
In general, the efficient utilization of the special purpose memories and hardware of the graphics system has not been fully considered. As graphics technologies and products become more prevalent in consumer areas, slim profit margins are demanding the utmost efficiencies. Images rendered from a large number of triangles can create a fundamental bottleneck in the system. Approaches to relieve this situation are to either modify the geometry to create fewer triangles or to compress the triangles that are given. While compression has been used to make many technologies possible, such as communications and video technologies, compression has not been used in conventional graphics systems. Compression is necessary to achieve efficiency in database representation to conserve disk storage, system memory, cache memory, and special purpose memories. Additional savings can be achieved by conserving system bus bandwidths, which becomes more critical with unified computer architectures where graphics and system memory are one and the same.
A definite need exists for a system having an ability to meet the efficiency requirements of graphics intensive computer systems. In particular, a need exists for a system which is capable of compressing geometric data in a skillful manner. Ideally, such a system would have a lower cost and a higher productivity than conventional systems. With a system of this type, system performance can be enhanced. A primary purpose of the present invention is to solve this need and provide further, related advantages.

Sort middle, screen space, graphics geometry compression through redundancy elimination

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Methods and systems are provided for detection of noise ingress into a network. In an aspect, multiple access devices on the network are analyzed for noise ingress. In another aspect, using characterization data of components in the network and the detection of the noise at the access devices, the location of the noise ingress can be determined.

Many communication networks include multiple access devices communicating with a hub device. Anomalies in a communication channel between an access device and the hub may induce signal distortions in the channel, thereby causing issues such as inter-symbol interference (ISI). Examples of such anomalies may include micro-reflections due to impedance discontinuities and the ingress of noise from external sources.
To compensate for anomalies, devices (e.g., transmitters and receivers) on the network may incorporate equalizers. For anomalies that are known and are static (e.g., do not change over time), equalizers with fixed parameters may be designed and utilized. For example, fixed equalizers may be inserted at amplifiers along a signal path to correct for amplitude tilt due to frequency dependent attenuation along the signal path (e.g., along a coaxial cable). Fixed equalizers, however, may be insufficient for mitigating dynamic anomalies that change over time, such as the ingress of noise through an unshielded signal path. Such anomalies may be induced, for example, by the momentary operation of a motor or transformer next to the signal path, or by an external transmitter outside of the communication system (e.g., cellular phone, wireless transmitter, etc.). To compensate for changing anomalies, adaptive equalizers may be used. Adaptive equalizers, as their name suggests adapt their characteristics according to changing distortions in the communication channel. Various algorithms may be used to determine the equalizers coefficients based on measured distortions in order to optimize signal transmission. The distortions are measured and the equalizer coefficients are calculated and updated in a sufficiently short amount of time in order to account for the changing environment.
While adaptive equalizers may improve signal transmission, not all distortions can be compensated for by using an adaptive equalizer. Thus, a need exists to be able to locate and correct the cause of dynamic distortions. However, finding the location of such distortions is problematic. For example, the source of the noise may not be generated by a device in the communication network (e.g., access device, splitter, etc.), and because the noise source may not always be present.


An improved paintball and gun therefor cooperate so that the range of the paintball and its accuracy are significantly improved. The external surface of the paintball is contoured so as to increase frictional interaction with air, and the barrel of the paintball gun interacts differentially with the upper and lower hemispheres of the ball so that significant backspin is imparted to the paintball. Accordingly, the paintball experiences lift in flight which substantially increases its range and accuracy. The interaction of the ball with the barrel may be wholly aerodynamic. The interior of the paintball is preferably baffled so that paint therein rotates with the shell, preventing the backspin from being damped out rapidly.

In recent years, the popularity of the combat game known as "Paintball" or sometimes "Survival" has increased dramatically. In one form of this game, players on two teams are each supplied with a paintball gun and a number of paintballs, that is, rounds of ammunition. The paintballs comprise a spherical gelatin or similar shell filled with a non-toxic, water-soluble, biodegradable paint. Paintball guns fire these paintballs at relatively low muzzle velocity. When a competitor is hit with a paintball, the ball ruptures, "painting" the target providing dramatic evidence of the hit, without substantially injuring the competitor. Paintball games are organized on levels from local competition to international matches, and paintball outings are often set up between competing teams used for executive training and relaxation, or for military training maneuvers and the like.
Paintball guns typically fire paintballs using compressed air, CO.sub.2, or nitrogen, but pump guns, requiring the player to repressurize a chamber by hand action before each shot, are also known. The present invention is relevant to both types of paintball gun.
Several patents are directed specifically towards paintball guns. For example, Gardner U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,427 shows an improved barrel for a paintball gun wherein a number of radial holes are drilled in the paintball gun's barrel in a spiral pattern in order to cause the paintball to spin around its longitudinal axis in flight. According to the Gardner invention, the paintball would be stabilized in flight solely by imparting angular momentum to the ball about its longitudinal axis; no aerodynamic effect would be induced thereby.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,609 to Tippman shows an automatic feed paintball gun wherein paintballs are automatically supplied to reload the gun. U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,282 to Dobbins is generally similar.
One problem with paintball guns and ammunition as presently constituted is recognized by Gardner, that is, that the effective range of the paintball guns is very limited. Essentially this is because the paintballs are rather large projectiles, typically 0.680 calibre (although 0.620 calibre paintballs are also available), are not very dense, and are fired at low muzzle velocities, for obvious safety reasons. The effect is that a rather large amount of drag is provided in comparison to the momentum provided to the paintball upon firing.
More specifically, the common rules for paintball competition specify an initial muzzle velocity of no more than 280-300 feet per second. A typical 0.13-0.16 ounce paintball is reasonably accurate up to about 50 feet, with a maximum flight of about 150 feet. Obviously, the players in paintball games would enjoy the games more if paintballs of increased range and accuracy could be provided without substantially increasing the cost of the paintballs or without increasing the initial muzzle velocity greatly, as this would increase the danger of accidental injury.
In most cases, a smooth-surfaced paintball is fired from a smooth-bore, uniform barrel. The result is a "knuckleball"--that is, a ball without spin. A ball without spin behaves unpredictably.
As noted above, the Gardner patent teaches a barrel for a paintball drilled in a spiral pattern, to induce spin about the direction of flight. This serves to stabilize the flight, as in the case of a properly-thrown football, but does not add to the effective range of the ball.
Non-spherical paintballs, specifically, oblate spheroid "football" shaped paintballs, have also been tried, with mixed success. In any case, non-spherical paintballs are not satisfactory because they must be loaded one by one into a magazine which insures their correct orientation; this is a significant detriment. Spherical paintballs, by comparison, can simply be poured loose into a container for supply as needed.
Conventionally, paintballs are smooth surfaced. Of course, it has been well known for decades that smooth surfaces are not optimal for all projectiles. For example, golf balls are dimpled so as to increase their lift, that is, to increase the range of the golf ball's flight for a given initial velocity and trajectory. See "The Flight of the Ball: Spin, Lift, and Drag", chapter 24 of The Search for the Perfect Swing, Cochran and Stobbs (1968). This reference describes clearly the manner whereby backspin imparted to a properly struck golf ball provides lift. Any backspin reduces the effective air pressure above the ball so that it is given aerodynamic lift. The dimples of the golf ball increase friction between the surface of the ball and the air, increasing the lift accordingly.
Prior art paintballs have not been provided with dimples or the equivalent, insofar as known to the present inventors. Similarly, the prior art known fails to suggest any paintball gun effectively imparting backspin to a paintball upon firing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,347 to Stolov shows an arrangement for propelling liquid-filled projectiles over long distances. For example, Stolov teaches firing water-filled projectiles over long distances to extinguish fires, irrigate remote areas, or the like. Stolov teaches that lift can be imparted to such projectiles, and therefore their range can be increased, if the surface of the projectiles is dimpled and if backspin is imparted. However, there is no suggestion that Stolov's teachings might be usefully applied to paintballs. More particularly, there is no suggestion in Stolov of anything remotely approaching a practical paintball gun. Stolov teaches a large magazine of large volume, very heavy projectiles. Backspin is imparted to these projectiles by supplying compressed air to jets located in the underside of a barrel. Stolov's teachings thus could not be applied to providing increased range to a paintball.


A mechanical power transmission system for an engine or motor driven vehicle is disclosed. The transmission of the present invention includes an input transmission, a compound planetary transmission, and an output transmission. The compound planetary transmission includes two input and two outputs. The input transmission has a single input connected to the engine or motor of the vehicle and two outputs connected to the two inputs to the planetary transmission. The output transmission includes two inputs connected to the two outputs of the planetary transmission and one output connected through suitable gearing to the wheels of the vehicle or any other mechanism to be driven by a motoring device at various speed ratios.

The prior art is replete with various transmissions for agricultural tractors and the like. Multispeed transmissions having countershafts are widely used in the power train of tractor arrangements because a plurality of rotating clutch assemblies and associated gears can be positioned on parallel shafts to allow considerable flexibility in adapting them to different space requirements and "gear spacing".
"Gear spacing" is the ratio change between gears which produces the change in vehicle speed when the operator shifts to a different gear. The smaller this gear spacing the better the optimum engine speed can be matched to the optimum ground speed. The more gear selections that are available, the finer the gear spacing can be designed. However, the number of clutches and gears increases with added gear selections, increasing the cost, etc.
"Shift quality" is the operator's perception of how smoothly a transmission reacts when making a shift. Many factors affect shift quality, such as rapid changes in speed of elements with large inertia within the transmission, poor timing of the pressure control, large torque interruptions at heavy loads, large gear spacing, and most of all, the number of clutch "swaps" required from one gear selection to the next. (A single clutch swap is defined as the disengagement of one clutch and the engagement of another clutch to complete a shift.) All currently manufactured powershift transmission have multiclutch swaps during some shifts in the operating range. It is difficult, if not impossible, to make multiclutch swaps smooth because during a shift, one or more of the engaging clutches opposes the direction of the shift. For example, in one typical transmission, during a triple clutch swap upshift from 6.sup.th to 7.sup.th gear, one of the clutches shifts up while the other two clutches shift down.
Any sequence of clutch engagements will cause torque reversals. This effect is inherent in all multiswap shifts of current designs. Only single clutch swaps can be shifted smoothly by overlapping the engagement of oncoming clutch with the disengagement of the outgoing clutch.
There are special applications for the type of vehicle using the transmission described herein where exact speed control is important, such as trenching or certain planting and harvesting operations, among others. In many of these applications, most of the engine power is used to drive the mechanism of the towed attachment through the power take off (PTO) with only part of the power used for the forward motion of the vehicle. Here, transmission efficiency is of secondary importance, with the primary importance being the ability to vary the ground speed at small increments independently of the engine. In such cases, an continuously variable transmission is desirable. Continuous variability can be achieved, for example, through the use of hydrostatic units, in which case, transmission efficiency is sacrificed. Other continuously variable transmissions include electrical generator-motor sets or variable friction drives.
Two types of the continuously variable transmission are of interest:
1. Continuous variability from a certain minimum vehicle speed to the maximum vehicle speed with full power transmission capability in one mode of operation, and continuous variability from zero to a certain low vehicle speed with maximum traction capability in another mode of operation. In the full power mode a means (such as a clutch) must be available to start the vehicle in motion at full load. As pertains to the present invention, this type will be called a partial continuously variable transmission (PCVT).
2. Continuous variability from zero to maximum vehicle speed with full power and maximum traction capability within a single mode of operation. As pertains to the present invention, this type will be called a full continuously variable transmission (FCVT).


This invention describes a double wall step-liner construction for a combustion chamber of a combustion turbine. The chamber is a series of concentric cylindrical segments stacked in overlapping arrangement such that the leading edge of each outer segment and the terminal edge of each inner segment are in general axial alignment so as to form a continuous double wall throughout the axial length of the step-liner configuration. Each cylindrical segment is attached at its inlet end and at its outlet end to the adjacent cylindrical segment by an annular transistion member formed of a wire mesh secured to each respective cylindrical segment with high temperature brazing. The relative thermal expansion between the inner and outer cylindrical segments (both axially and radially) is accommodated by deflection and distortion of the wire mesh transition members which also permits cooling air to enter between the overlapping segments and to be discharged therefrom into the combustion chamber with minimum interference.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a combustion chamber for a combustion turbine and more particularly to a step-liner combustion chamber having double wall construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Double wall step-liner combustion chambers for combustion turbines are known and have been used in certain turbines manufactured by the assignee corporation of the present invention. Such structure is adequately shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,058 and has the design advantage of convectively cooling the chamber by directing cooling air against the hot outer surface of the combustion chamber wall and providing film cooling by directing a layer or film of air on the inner surface of the combustion chamber wall. Although the double wall structure provides these advantages for cooling the chamber, the thermal gradient between the inner and outer walls results in relative thermal growth therein that produces stresses in the assembly that can result in early failure of the chamber. In recent years, the combustion turbine operating temperatures have been increasing, requiring ever-increasing temperatures within the combustion chamber. Such higher temperature chambers would be benefited by the efficient cooling provided by the double wall configuration but further increases to the temperature gradient and the resulting stresses would not be permissible if the chamber were assembled in the manner known in the prior art.

Double wall combustion chamber for a combustion turbine


An ink ribbon cartridge includes a detachable ink ribbon spool which may be rotatably mounted in a lower shell of the cartridge via first and second shank portions axially projected from opposite sides of the spool. The first shank is of a rod shaped configuration, and includes at least large and small circumference sections which are longitudinally spaced apart. According to such configuration, the spool may be installed only in a compatible ink ribbon cartridge having a lower shell including a first bearing member formed with a first bearing groove rotatably supporting the large circumference section of the first shank and having a width proportional thereto. A second bearing member is disposed adjacent to, and spaced apart from, the first bearing member. The second bearing member includes a second bearing groove having a width proportional to the small circumference section of the first shank. A third bearing member is formed at a location in said lower shell opposing the first bearing member such that the second shank of the spool is rotatably supported thereby. According to this, various configurations of spools and compatible lower shells may be realized which may be utilized for distinguishing between various types of ink ribbon, etc. Since a spool may only be mounted in a lower shell of compatible configuration, misassembly during manufacturing is prevented. In addition, user error, such as accidental installation of an inappropriate ink ribbon, may be surely prevented.

1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to a ribbon cartridge for a printer apparatus. Particularly, the invention relates to an ink ribbon cartridge for a heat sublimation or vapor type printer in which compatibility between the cartridge and an ink ribbon spool replacably mounted therein may be definitely established at the time of installation.
2. Description of The Related Art
Various types of ink ribbon cartridges are available for printing apparatus. Heat vaporization or heat sublimation printers generally use an ink ribbon having a sublimation dye thereon. The ribbon is arranged over a sheet of paper, or the like, on which an image is to be printed. Then a thermal head is energized in conformance with the image contours and heats the dye contained in the ink ribbon which is sublimated and transferred to the paper according to the thermal energy generated at the thermal head of the printer.
Some varieties of printers utilize an ink ribbon cartridge for full color printing in which a printing operation must be repeated several times, for example, three times for printing each primary color, magenta, cyan and yellow, resulting in a full-color image. In some such printers, a single ink ribbon cartridge is utilized in which an ink ribbon spool mounted therein is interchanged for printing each of the different colors.
One example of such a conventional. interchangable-spool type ink ribbon cartridge is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,114. The structure of such a cartridge is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. As may be seen, the ink ribbon cartridge comprises an ink ribbon 1 having a predetermined length and wound around a main spool 2. A free end of the ink ribbon 1 is connected to a take-up spool 3 for being wound onto the take-up spool 3 according to printer operation. The cartridge body is formed such that the spools 2, 3 are rotatably supported and accommodated in a lower shell 4, and an upper shell 5 is mounted thereon. The main spool 2 and the take-up spool 3 have substantially identical bearing portions which will be described hereinbelow.
Each of the spools 2, 3 has a cylindrical shank 2a, 3a at a first end thereof which is slightly larger in diameter than the winding surface of the spools 2, 3. The other ends of each of the spools 2, 3 are provided with a smaller diameter rod-shaped shank 2b, 3b. Flange portions 2c, 2d, 3c, 3d divide the shank ends 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b from the main winding surface of the spools 2, 3 so as to define a winding area for the ink ribbon 1 between pairs of flanges 2c, 2d and 3c, 3d respectively.
The lower shell 4 includes a window 6 in a central portion thereof for allowing access of the thermal head (not shown). Annular bearing portions 7, 7 are integrally formed with a side wall 4a of the lower shell, openings defined in the annular bearing portions 7, 7 are sized to receive the cylindrical shanks 2a, 3a of the spools 2, 3. At the other side of the lower shell 4, second bearing portions 8, 8 are formed for receiving the rod-shaped shanks 2b, 3b of the spools 2, 3. The second bearing portions 8, 8 are formed as wall segments within the lower shell, each of the wall segments having U-shaped grooves 8a, 8a respectively formed therein for receiving the shanks 2b, 3b. A reinforcing rib 9 is provided between each of the second bearing portions 8, 8 and a side wall 4b of the lower shell 4, which is opposite the side wall 4a.
An upper shell 5 includes a side wall that engages with and is mounted to the side wall 4b and includes a cover portion 11 disposed over the rod-shaped shanks 2b, 3b and having internal structure to cooperate with the second bearing portions 8, 8 to rotatably mount the spools 2, 3 at each end thereof. The structure of the cover portion 11 cooperates with the bearing portions 8, 8 of the lower shell 4, and includes springs 10, 10.
For loading the spools 2, 3 into the lower shell 4, the cylindrical shanks 2a, 3a of the main and take-up spools 2, 3 are inserted into the annular bearing portions 7, 7 and the rod-shaped shanks 2b, 3b may simply be dropped into the U-shaped grooves of the second bearing portions 8, 8 for rotatably mounting the spools 2, 3 in the lower shell 4. The upper shell 5 may then be snapped on over the second bearing portions and the ribbon cartridge complete with the second, rod-shaped shanks being secured in a rotatably pressed state.
According to this, referring to FIG. 7, a width B of the U-shaped groove 8a of the second bearing portion 8 of the take-up spool 3 particularly, is made to be slightly larger than a width A of the rod-shaped shank 3b of the spool 3 for assuring easy rotation thereof in a mounted condition.
Accordingly, an appropriate-ink ribbon cartridge may be selected according to a color to be printed, ribbon/printer compatibility, type of printing to be performed, a winding orientation of the ink ribbon, or of a printing surface thereof, etc. However, according to the above described ink ribbon cartridge structure, in a detachable spool type cartridge wherein the same cartridge body is re-used while ink ribbon spools are changed according to the above-listed criteria, the above cartridge structure does not allow a user to verify compatibility of the spool with the cartridge or the printer or printing job to be accomplished. According to this, a user may easily install an inappropriate spool into the lower shell 4 of the cartridge. Such error may cause a printing operation to be flawed, or at worst, may cause jamming or malfunction of the printer due to incompatibility between the ink ribbon and the type of printer.
Thus, it has been required to provide a detachable spool type ink ribbon cartridge in which compatibility of the spool (and thus the ink ribbon) may be reliably established at the time of installation of the spool into the cartridge body.


A fail-safe active bandpass filter circuit is disclosed; that is, one having voltage gain and which is arranged to be fail-safe in the sense that opens, shorts and component value changes will not cause the circuit to self-oscillate and thereby produce a spurious signal that would cause unsafe effects.

This invention relates to fail-safe control circuitry, and in particular, to circuitry that is particularly adapted for vehicle transportation control such that it must have fail-safe characteristics.
A basic requirement imposed on circuitry for controlling transportation systems is that it be fail-safe; that is to say, if a malfunction should occur, this should result in the activation of a device or the application of emergency equipment in such a way as to protect the passage of the vehicle and the security of its passengers.
Accordingly, in the design of control circuitry and, more particularly, in the design and construction of an active bandpass filter to be utilized in control circuitry or in a sub-system of a railroad control system, it is mandatory that such filter also possess fail-safe characteristics, by which is meant that it should not develop a spurious signal due to self-oscillation so as to produce unsafe effects.
Concomitantly with the objective of utilizing an active bandpass filter in certain applications is the need to construct such a filter such that it will have minimum space requirements and not require the use of inductors. Moreover, because of the small sizes made practical for filter applications, the possibility exists of replacing much bulkier devices such as decoder transformers used in detecting rate codes in certain kinds of apparatus.
In order to furnish the man skilled in the art with background material for the present invention, reference may be made to a Dec. 5, 1973 article in EDN by James J. Murphy entitled, "Derive Parallel T Current Gain Filters from Voltage-Null Network". That article describes certain modifications to a general parallel-T RC network useful as a voltage-null frequency selective network.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an active bandpass filter which has fail-safe characteristics.
Another object is to provide such a filter when it does not involve the use of inductors or the like.
A further object is to provide an active filter for control purposes that can replace much bulkier components in control systems.
The above and other objects are fulfilled by a primary feature of the present invention according to which the filter circuit comprises essentially two sections, the first of which forms a modified twin-T filter network, and the second of which includes a number of resistors which form a feedback path and attenuator. A pair of emitter follower buffers which have high input impedance and low output impedance serve to isolate the aforenoted two sections from each other. Each of these buffers includes a transistor and suitable output resistor
Other and further objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be understood by reference to the following specification in conjunction with the annexed drawing, wherein like parts have been given like numbers.

Fail-safe active bandpass filter using a modified twin-T filter


In a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, an insulating layer is formed on a refractory metal layer, and a contact hole in the insulating layer by a dry etching process using an etching gas. The etching gas includes one of:. a mixture gas of fluorocarbon and hydrogen; PA1 a mixture gas of hydrofluorocarbon and hydrogen; PA1 a gas of hydrofluorocarbon; and PA1 a fluorocarbon gas except for CF.sub.4.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device where a contact hole is perforated in an insulating layer formed on a refractory metal layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a prior art method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, an insulating layer is formed on a refractory metal layer, and a contact hole is perforated in the insulating layer by a dry etching process using CF.sub.4 gas. This will be explained later in detail.
In the prior art method, however, the etching rate ratio of the insulating layer to the refractory metal layer by the dry etching process using CF.sub.4 gas is not sufficiently large. Therefore, the refractory metal layer is overetched. As a result, an electrode or a connection layer deposited on the refractory metal layer is easily separated therefrom, which increases a contact resistance therebetween.
In addition, if the power of the dry etching process is increased to increase the above-mentioned etching ratio, the throughput is decreased.
On the other hand, assume that an insulating layer is formed on active regions of a semiconductor substrate. In this case, when the insulating layer is overetched, the active regions of the semiconductor substrate are exposed to CF.sub.3.sup.+ ions which causes damage thereof.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device capable of improving etching rate ratio of insulator to refractory metal


An yttrium-barium-copper oxide powder consisting of a powdery mixture of Y.sub.2 BaCuO.sub.5 with Ba.sub.3 Cu.sub.5 O.sub.8, which can be formed into a dense sintered body having excellent superconducting characteristics. An yttrium-barium-copper oxide superconducting body is manufactured by firing the above powder preferably at 820.degree.-980.degree. C. under oxidizing atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure of 0.01-0.5 atm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an yttrium-barium-copper oxide powder from which a dense sintered body having an excellent superconducting characteristics is obtainable and a process for manufacturing an yttrium-barium-copper oxide superconducting sintered body by using the above powder.
2. Related Art Statement
In superconducting bodies, to heighten the critical current density that is one of the superconducting characteristics is an indispensable requirement for putting the superconducting bodies to practical use. In superconducting sintered bodies, since high densification of the sintered bodies can increase the critical current density, extensive studies for obtaining dense sintered bodies have been carried out.
Heretofore, as a manufacturing process of YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7 (oxygen nonstoichiometry omitted) super-conducting sintered bodies, there have been known (1) processes wherein a YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7 powder is synthesized and then sintered, (2) processes wherein at least two kinds of powders are mixed together and YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7 is manufactured by reaction sintering, etc.
In the above processes (1) the YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7 powder is generally obtained by mixing predetermined amounts of Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder, BaCO.sub.3 powder and CuO powder, followed by calcining at 900.degree..about.950.degree. C. in the ambient atmosphere or oxygen. Other than the above, there is a manufacturing process of YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7 comprising synthesis by a co-precipitation method of a nitrate, oxalate or the like containing a predetermined amount of Y-Ba-Cu, followed by calcination and also a process comprising a gas phase synthesis method to obtain a YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7 powder directly, etc.
The above processes (2) include a process wherein a mixture of a Y.sub.2BaCuO.sub.5 powder with one kind or more of unknown phase powders (hereinafter referred to as "A-powder") is obtained by mixing predetermined amounts of Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder, BaCO.sub.3 powder and CuO powder, followed by calcining at 900.degree..about.950.degree. C. in vacuum (under an oxygen partial pressure of 10.sup.-4 atm. or less).
In the above-described processes (1) there has been presented a problem that dense sintered bodies cannot be obtained due to a poor sintering ability of YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7. Although the densification is possible to a certain extent by providing a YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7 fine powder by a co-precipitation method, a gas phase synthesis method or the like, there have been disadvantages such as a difficulty in composition control and an extreme cost increase.
In the case of the above-described processes (2), where the mixture of a Y.sub.2 BaCuO.sub.5 powder with A-powder is used, dense sintered bodies can be obtained owing to an excellent sintering property. However, A-powder has such a high reactivity with moisture, carbon dioxide and oxygen in the ambient atmosphere that difficulties have been encountered in storage and handling of A-powder.

Yttrium-barrium-copper oxide powder and process for manufacturing yttrium-barrium-copper oxide superconducting sintered body


In a fuel injection valve, it is intended to enhance valve-closing responsivity while maintaining durability (anti wear property) of a collision portion between a stationary core and a movable core and valve-opening responsivity.

A fuel injection valve used for an internal combustion engine for an automobile (hereinafter will be called as "engine") comprises an electromagnetic coil, a movable valve element, a stationary core, a movable core and a spring (return spring), wherein end faces of the movable core and the stationary core are opposed to each other with a predetermined gap when the electromagnetic coil is not energized, and the return spring applies the spring load to the movable core and the movable valve element in the direction of valve-closing. The movable core is magnetically attracted toward the stationary core side against the spring force when the electromagnetic coil is energized and the movable valve element moves toward the stationary core side with the magnetic attraction to thereby make valve-opening.
Fuel is fed into a body of the injection valve from a fuel tank via a fuel pump and a fuel-feeding pipe, and is filled under pressure in a fuel passage from the inside of the hollow-stationary core to a seat portion in a nozzle body when the valve is closed. When the electromagnetic coil is energized with a fuel injection pulse signal, the valve opens only during the pulse time and fuel is injected. When the energization of the electromagnetic coil is turned off, the movable core is returned in the valve-closing direction together with the movable valve element by the return spring force and the movable valve element is pressed to the seat to make a valve-closing state.
Enhancement of a valve-closing response is of a key factor for enhancing a control accuracy of a fuel quantity of the electromagnetic injection valve. At the time when the fuel injection valve closes just after energization to the electromagnetic coil is turned off, it is known that a fluid resistance force (force due to a squeeze effect) occurs between the opposed faces of the movable core and the stationary core and that the fluid resistance force is caused by a fluid existing between the both opposed faces thereof so as to make interference against motion where the movable core removes from the stationary core. Such fluid resistance force tends to increase as the gap between the opposed faces of the movable core and the stationary core (so called fluid gap) decreases.
Conventionally, a variety of measures has been proposed for reducing such force due to squeeze effect.
For example, patent document 1 (JP-A-2003-328891) discloses that a protuberance is provided on the opposed face of a movable core with respect to a stationary core, and only this protuberance collides against the stationary core at the time of magnetic attraction so that portions other than the protuberance (non colliding portion) keep fluid gap.
Further, in place of such protuberance, patent document 2 (JP-A-2006-22727) discloses that an uneven surface of high-lying portions and low-lying portions is provided at least one of opposed faces of a movable core (armature) and a stationary core (namely, the upstream side end face of the armature and the downstream side end face of the stationary coil) by forming alternatively hard plating portions and non-plating portions on the core end face in a circumference direction thereof so as to keep fluid gaps on the low-lying portions by the height of the high-lying portions.
Still further, patent document 3 (JP-A-2005-36696) discloses that an annular collision face (a collision face with respect to a stationary core) with a limited width is provided on an annular end face of a movable core, and the collision surface is formed at an inner side with respect to a middle portion in the width direction of the annular end face of the movable core. Further, the document proposes to form tapered surfaces toward the inner side as well as the outer side from the collision surfaces and to apply anti wear plating on the annular end face. The proposed technology is intended to reduce squeeze effect by enlarging the fluid gap between the opposed faces of the movable core and the stationary core other than the collision surfaces through formation of the tapered surfaces.

Fuel injection valve for internal combustion engine

Abstract: An annular end face 106A of the movable core 106 in the fuel injection valve is provided with a collision portion 106C that collides to a stationary core 107 when the movable core is magnetically attracted toward the stationary core side and a non-collision portion that keeps a fluid gap between both cores at an area of an outer side or an inner side from the collision portion. The annular end faces of the stationary core and the movable core are coated with platings 30, 31 having anti wear property, and at least one of the platings of the stationary core and the movable core is formed in such a manner that the thickness thereof at the collision portion 106C is to be thicker and the thickness thereof at the non-collision portion is to be thinner.


A method for processing a radiographic image to obtain a processed image signal Sproc based on an original image signal Sorg. The method including the steps of: obtaining the original image signal Sorg representing the radiographic image based on radiographic image information transmitted through an object; obtaining an unsharp mask signal Sus corresponding to the original image signal Sorg; and conducting an operation presented by the formula: Sproc=A(Sorg)+B(Sus). In the formula, A(Sorg) is the function which does not include the unsharp mask signal Sus, B(Sus) is the function which does not include the original image signal Sorg.

Conventionally, the following radiographic system is known:
After radioactive rays have been transmitted through a photographic object, they are absorbed by a fluorescent substance, so that the radioactive ray image information is recorded in the fluorescent substance. Then the fluorescent substance is scanned and excited with laser rays, and light is emitted from the fluorescent substance. This emitted light is detected by a photo detector. Light beams are modulated by this detected radioactive ray image information, and the radioactive ray image is recorded on a recording medium such as a photographic film.
Compared with a conventional silver salt type radioactive ray photographic system, the above radioactive ray photographic system in which the fluorescent substance is used has a wide latitude of radioactive ray exposure so as to record an image. From this point of view, the above radioactive ray photographic system has a very high utility value. The above radioactive ray photographic system is effectively applied to an X-ray photographic system for photographing human bodies.
X-rays are harmful to human bodies when the exposure dosage is increased. Therefore, it is desirable to make an amount of information provided by one photographing operation as large as possible. However, X-ray photographic films to be used at present must have not only an aptitude for photographing but also an aptitude for observation. Therefore, the X-ray photographic films to be used at present have both aptitudes to some extent. For this reason, concerning the aptitude for photographing, the X-ray exposure latitude is not sufficiently wide, and concerning the aptitude for observation, the image quality is not sufficiently high for medical diagnosis.
In order to solve the above problems, the following method for processing radioactive ray images are disclosed:
(1) Japanese Patent Publication No. 62373/1987 (Conventional Example 1) PA1 (2) Japanese Patent Publication No. 62383/1987 (Conventional Example 2) PA1 X=Sorg-Sus. PA1 F(X) is described below. PA1 When .vertline.X1.vertline.<.vertline.X2.vertline., the inequalities F'(X1).gtoreq.F' and (X2).gtoreq.0 are satisfied. With respect to X0 that satisfies .vertline.X1.vertline.<.vertline.X0.vertline.<.vertline.X2.vertline., F(X) is a monotone increasing function that satisfies the inequality F'(X1) >F'(X2). PA1 F(Sorg)=(1+.beta.(Sorg)).multidot.Sorg PA1 G(Sorg, Sus)=-.beta.(Sorg).multidot.Sus PA1 P(Sorg, Sus)=(1+.beta.(Sus)).multidot.Sorg PA1 Q(Sus)=-.beta.(Sus).multidot.Sus PA1 A(Sorg): Function of Sorg excluding Sus PA1 B(Sus): Function of Sus excluding Sorg
This method is described below:
A fluorescent substance is scanned with rays of exciting light, so that radioactive ray image information recorded in the fluorescent substance is read out. After the image information has been converted into electric signals, it is reproduced on a recording medium in the following manner. An unsharp mask signal Sus corresponding to an extremely low frequency is found at each scanning point. Operation is carried out in accordance with the following expression. EQU S'=Sorg+.beta.(Sorg-Sus) (1)
where Sorg is an original image signal that has been read from the fluorescent substance, .beta. is an emphasis coefficient, and S' is a reproduction image signal. In this way, frequency components not lower than the above extremely low frequency are emphasized.
In the above expression, the unsharp mask signal Sus corresponding to the extremely low frequency is defined as a signal in which the original image is blurred so that the original image only contains low frequency components lower than the extremely low frequency component. In this method, the emphasis coefficient .beta. is simply increased in accordance with an increase of the original image signal Sorg or the unsharp mask signal Sus. Further, in this method, the unsharp mask signal Sus is found when the original image signals Sorg are simply averaged in the mask.
According to this method, the frequency components not lower than the extremely low frequency which are effective for medical diagnosis are emphasized so that the contrast can be enhanced. In this way, the medical diagnosis performance can be improved.
This method is described below:
An accumulation type fluorescent substance is scanned with rays, so that radioactive ray image information recorded in the fluorescent substance is read out. After the image information has been converted into electric signals, it is reproduced as a visual image on a recording medium in the following manner. An unsharp mask signal Sus corresponding to an extremely low frequency is found at each scanning point. Operation is carried out in accordance with the following expression. EQU S'=Sorg+F(X) (2)
(In this case, X and F(X) are expressed as follows.
where Sorg is an original image signal that has been read from the fluorescent substance, and S' is a reproduction image signal. In this way, frequency components not lower than the above extremely low frequency are emphasized.
In this case, values of F(X) can be stored in the form of a table.
There is a tendency that an artifact is generated in a region where the difference signal .vertline.Sorg-Sus.vertline. is high. From the viewpoint described above, according to this method, the frequency is more emphasized in a portion where the difference signal .vertline.Sorg-Sus.vertline. is high. Accordingly, it is possible to carry out image processing in which the generation of an artifact is suppressed.
According to the former conventional method described above, it requires a long period of time to carry out an operation. In order to reduce the operation time, it is suggested to employ a table-looking system in which the operation values are previously stored in the form of a table. However, when a ratio of emphasis of frequency, which is the emphasis coefficient .beta. in the conventional example 1, is changed in accordance with an increase of Sorg or Sus, the following problems may be encountered.
When the emphasis coefficient .beta. is a function which changes in accordance with a change in Sorg (in this case, the function is expressed by .beta. (Sorg)), the expression of the conventional example 1 can be transformed as follows. ##EQU1##
In this case,
(F is a function of Sorg, and G is a function of Sorg and Sus.)
When the emphasis coefficient .beta. is a function which changes in accordance with a change in Sus (in this case, the function is expressed by .beta.(Sus)), the expression of the conventional example 1 can be transformed as follows. ##EQU2##
In this case,
(F is a function of Sorg and Sus, and G is a function of Sus.)
In any cases, terms of both Sorg and Sus are included. Accordingly, when the values are stored in the table-looking system, it is necessary to provide a two-dimensional arrangement. Therefore, a large capacity of memory is required for storing the table.
In some cases, it is preferable that the table is calculated or transformed for each image. In this case, however, it takes a long period of time for table calculation. Therefore, it is not possible to reduce the operation time. Further, when .beta. is sharply changed, an artifact is generated, which may cause a wrong diagnosis. Further, when Sus is found by calculating a simple average of the signals in the mask, it is necessary to conduct a division, so that it takes a long period of time for operation.
In the latter conventional system described above, a table is required, the dimensions of which are (a range of values of Sorg+a range of values of Sus). Not only the addition and subtraction of each term but also the operation of the argument X (=Sorg-Sus) is required for each pixel. Therefore, it is difficult to shorten the operation time sufficiently. In order to omit the calculation of the argument X, X may be a function of Sorg and Sus like f (Sorg, Sus). In this case, however, a large capacity of table memory is required. Further, there is a description that f(X) may include a function of Sorg and/or Sus. In this case, a large capacity of table memory is also required in the same manner as that of the conventional technique (1) described before. In the description, there is provided no concept that the operation speed is increased when the function of only one of Sorg and Sus is added or subtracted.


A device for inactivating enzymes in soybeans comprises a generally air tight pressure cylinder having an axial screw which moves the soybeans from an upstream end to a downstream end where the inactivated soybeans are discharged. The screw has three zones, an upstream feed zone, a central agitation zone which runs about 1/2 the length of the pressure cylinder, and a downstream feed zone. A steam jacket is placed over the pressure cylinder especially in the area starting with the beginning of the agitation zone, and also an infeed pipe for the feeding therein of a buffer solution.

Of known liquid foods obtained from oil seeds, soybean milk is the most common, the soybean being considered a kind of oil seed. There have been provided various proposals for the production of soybean milk from soybeans. However, soybean milk as produced by known methods is likely to become easily deteriorated in quality due to changes of surrounding conditions during storage, and such deterioration is accompanied by a disagreeable soybean odor, a roughness, a disagreeable bitterness, astringency, etc.
In addition, as soybean proteins are sensitive to heat and chemicals, the conventional techniques are often unable to cope with unexpected difficulties which often occur in the production of an acceptable and stable soybean milk.
Many proposals have been made to solve these problems so that improved soybean milk can be made which is consistently stable against changes in the surrounding conditions and without deterioration of quality even after longer than normal storage, but none of these proposals has been particularly successful.
It has previously been proposed by one of the present inventors to provide a method for the production of liquid food from oil seeds which method includes inactivating the enzymes in said oil seeds, noting Japanese examined patent publication No. 56-44701, but it has been found that the liquid foods obtained according to such method are not sufficiently stable when changes in surrounding conditions occur, and the liquid foods obtained easily deteriorate in quality under such conditions.

Apparatus for inactivation of enzymes in oil seeds


A game for play between two or more players/teams with a deck of clue cards each having a set of scrambled words imprinted thereon and an unsolved main word thereabove which is represented only by blank spaces and its first and possibly second letters to serve as a clue. The players/teams take turns drawing clue cards and attempting to unscramble the scrambled words and solve the main word with a set time period. The main word is a synonym or the name of a category of which the scrambled words are like synonyms or elements of the category, respectively. A second deck of cards having only one scrambled word thereon are provided to play bonus and challenge rounds. Points are awarded according to how many words are solved by each player/team and the first player/team to reach 100 pints wins the game.

This invention relates to word games and, more particularly, to a word game played between opposing teams which take turns trying to unscramble a series of scrambled words which are part of a category or synonym of a word which must also be solved.
Games which require use of the mental faculties are of increasing popularity with many being geared especially to the where the players are posed with a question from a chosen topical category which they must answer correctly to advance their playing piece on the game board.
Other adult-oriented games which relate more to "word" solving as opposed to "question" solving, as is the present game, are OUTBURST!.RTM. sold by Hersch and Company and HUGGERMUGGER.RTM. sold by The Huggermugger Company. In playing OUTBURST!.RTM., each team must shout out words which are elements of a category given to them by the opposing team. The opposing team holds a list of the correct words which are checked off as the playing team names them. All words on the list must be named within a prescribed time period to win points.
In playing HUGGERMUGGER.RTM., a "mystery-word" must be solved with one letter of the mystery-word being revealed to a player each time that player correctly answers a question given from one of four different categories which are: luck of the draw; spelling; definitions; or scrambled words. The first to solve the mysteryword wins the game.
In the scrambled word category, which is the only portion of HUGGERMUGGER.RTM. similar to the present game, the player is given a series of six letters and must unscramble the letters to form an actual word. If the player's answer is a legitimate word other than an intended answer, he may receive credit for a correct answer.


An advanced video display terminal (VDT) screen shielding method and apparatus includes an electric resistance lower than or equal to 10.sup.5 .OMEGA.(R.ltoreq.10.sup.5 .OMEGA.), a transmittance between 1/3 to 2/3, a fiber diameter D.ltoreq.MIN(D.sub.1,D.sub.2). Wherein D.sub.1 =VD.times.25.4.times.0.8/RV.times.0.16 or D.sub.1 =VD.times.25.4.times.0.6/RH.times.0.16, D.sub.2 =VD.times.PA.sup.3 -QA.sup.2 +RA-S, P=1.342.+-.0.002, Q=2.032.+-.0.002, R=1.011.+-.0.002, S=0.116.+-.0.002 and the aperture is a circle, ellipse, polygon, square or other transfigure. A formed angle .ltoreq.45.degree. of the fabric is horizontally against cathode ray tube. This screen-shielding method could suitably reduce glare and reflected lights, eliminate electrostatic charges and low frequency radiation, and prevent Moires and/or Newton Rings. This screen-shielding apparatus includes a frame, the high conductive fabric and a suitable ground wire, and is installed in front of the surface of the CRT.

Use of video display terminals (VDT) in data processing equipment, office automation equipment, video games and TV is increasing rapidly. But as know, the glare and reflected light generated from the surface of a cathode ray tube (CRT) can cause eye fatigue, added eye pressure, headache, etc. Emission of low frequency radiation and electrostatic charges from a VDT can be even more harmful. At the 1986 and 1989 International Scientific Conference, aimed at Work With Display Units (WWDU), a number of such cases were reported by scientists and doctors. In their reports, it was noted that electrostatic charges can attract bacteria or pollutants with an opposite charge to the screen. Thereafter, other bacteria or pollutants having the same charge can bombard the operator when replaced by the bacteria on the screen.
In addition, a controversy over non-ionization radiation has continued on for years. Though electromagnetic radiation generated from screen is well below an injury-causing level, such low frequency radiation does exist. Some old-fashioned or inferior VDTs emit radiation over the limit permitted by government regulations and guidelines. A prior art anti-static CRT has been developed to overcome this problem. The prior art method of coating the CRT surface with a thin, transparent conductive layer leaves a high electric resistance impending conduction. Moreover, the thin transparent layer, results in reflection and diffusion of light.
VDTs are available with many different characteristics. For instance, they can vary in viewing diagonal from 5" to 40"; in screen surface they can vary from cylinderical, spherical to flat surfaces; in color from mono-chrome, 2-color, 4-color, 16-color, even to 160-million color; in resolution from 160X200, 320X200, 640X200, 640X480, to 4096X4096. In fact, in any type of CRT whether monochromatic or color, a few naturally defective points like missing phospher dots (M.P.D.), blemishes and small scratches are admitted. In color CRT especially, a heat-causing expansion of aperture of the shadow mask thereof, which is generally iron material or iron-nickel alloy, may sometimes lead to the phenomenon of distorted images, Moires and/or Newton Rings. In prior art U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,253,737; 4,468,702; 4,760,456; 4,788,597; 4,974,935, solution of such problems are not presented.
The device of patent '737 is directed to overcoming glare and reflected light. However, because pollutants can easily be attracted to and stick to the mesh, the viewing is obstructed and Moires and/or Newton Rings occur. The device of patent '702 uses nylon yarns with a conductive thread-woven central area. This weaving is very complicated, but does not produce any better result than the present invention. The device of patent '597 includes a conductive mesh, a moveable frame in size adapted to CRT front frame (bezel) and a ground wire. The bezel construction result is very complicated resulting in a significant increase in cost.
The device of patent '935 includes a conductive mesh, a rigid frame and a ground wire, and is characterized by a fiber diameter between 20-100 .mu.m, an aperture between 45-230 .mu.m and formed angle with frame between 10.degree.-45.degree.. In experiments it was found to be unable to fit any kind of VDT.

Advanced VDT screen shielding method and apparatus