An improved lead extraction system using a rotatable hole saw electrode with a sharp cutting edge that is useful for the extraction and the removal of unwanted lead by a minimal invasive procedure. A lead extraction system suitable for radiofrequency ablation of scar tissues surrounding the implanted lead, is comprised of an outer catheter sheath and an inner delivery catheter having a distal end, a proximal end and at least one lumen extending therebetween, wherein a locking stylet is provided. In one embodiment, the lead extraction system has fluid infusion and irrigation means at its distal tip section and a rotatable hole saw electrode for loosening the target scar tissue by applying radiofrequency energy and cooled fluid to the said electrode and its contacted tissue.

Symptoms of abnormal heart rhythms are generally referred to as cardiac arrhythmias. An abnormally rapid rhythm is referred to as tachycardia, while the arrhythmia rates below the normal rhythm are termed bradycardia. Various factors affect the human heart rate and contribute to the changes of rate from what is termed the normal sinus rate range. These rates generally range in adults from 60 to 100 beats per minute. The heart includes a number of normal pathways which are responsible for the propagation of electrical signals from the upper to lower chambers, which are necessary for performing normal systole and diastole function.
Treatment of arrhythmias may be accomplished by a variety of approaches, including drugs, surgery, implantable pacemakers/defibriliators, and catheter ablation. While drugs may be the treatment of choice for many patients, they only mask the symptoms and do not cure the underlying causes. Surgical and catheter-based treatments can only cure some simple cases. Implantable devices correct the arrhythmia and prevent it from occurring unexpectedly.
Cardiac pacemakers, chronically implanted within a patient's body, and connected to the heart by at least one lead, are frequently used to control bradycardiac conditions. Recently, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, also implanted chronically in a patient's body and connected to the heart by at least one lead, can be used to control tachyarrhythmias and life-threatening fibrillations. There are generally two different types of body implantable leads used with cardiac pacemakers: one type, which requires surgery to expose the myocardial tissue, whereby an electrode is affixed to the epicardial tissue; the second type, which can be inserted through a body vessel, such as a vein, into the heart where an electrode contacts the endocardiac tissue. In the second type, the endocardial lead is often secured to the heart through the endocardial lining by a helix, hook, or tines affixed to the distal end of the lead. When the end of the lead contacts the lining of the heart at a desired location, the lead may be secured in place by utilizing lead securing means, such as screwing the helix into the heart tissue, anchoring the hook or engaging the tines.
Similarly, cardioverter defibrillators have used both epicardial leads, that is, leads with electrodes attached to the outside of the heart, and endocardial leads, that is, leads inserted into the heart through a body vessel.
With either pacing or defibrillation endocardial leads, fibrotic tissue may eventually encapsulate the leads, especially in areas where there is low velocity blood flow. When small diameter veins, through which the lead passes, become occluded with fibrotic tissue, the separation of the lead from the vein is difficult and can cause severe damage or destruction to the vein. Furthermore, separation may not be possible without constricting the movement of the lead.
In most cases, an endocardial lead will outlast its associated implanted device. However, the lead may become inoperative, or another type of lead may be required. Frequently, the existing lead is left in place, and an additional lead is implanted, rather than risking the removal of the old lead, which was now bonded to the surrounding tissue. Leaving the implanted lead in place, however, particularly in the heart, may further restrict the operation of various heart valves through which the lead passes. If several leads are left in place, operative procedures of the heart and its efficiency may be impaired.
In addition, infection may occasionally develop in or around a lead, requiring surgical removal In some cases, surgical removal may involve open heart surgery with its accompanying complications, risks, and costs. These risks are significant for the endocardial pacemaker lead. Because the endocardial defibrillation lead is larger and more complex, the complications associated with the removal of a defibrillation lead can be even greater.
Extraction of chronically implanted leads has been difficult in the past. The problems may include lead fragility and scar tissue encountered along the vein, as well as within the heart. Intravascular countertraction techniques using locking stylets and sheaths via the implant vein, or sheaths, snares, and retrieval baskets via the femoral vein have been described in the literature. Among them, scar tissue was the primary reason for partial or failed removal of a lead. Scar tissue was usually present in multiple locations; the venous entry/subclavian area and the ventricle were the most frequent sites.
Several methods for the removal of pacemaker leads have heretofore been proposed. One method involves a lead removal tool that utilizes a hollow, rigid tube and beveled rod tip for engaging and deforming the coil structure of the heart lead. However, if such a lead can not be removed because of some complication, the tip of the tool is nevertheless locked in place and could not be removed from the lead. Consequently, both the tool and the lead would have to be surgically removed. Moreover, the rigid tube of the tool could easily puncture a blood vessel or a heart cavity wall.
Another method for transvenously extracting a lead involves manual manipulation without the use of an external tool. However, such a method is not possible if the lead has become encapsulated in a blood vessel. Moreover, this method puts excessive strain and tension on the polyurethane or silicone insulation surrounding most pacemaker leads. Should the lead break, the broken inner coil and insulation could damage the heart or surrounding blood vessels. Surgical removal of the broken lead would be imperative. Moreover, if the pacemaker lead included tines, a cork screw, or another fixation device at the tip, pulling on the lead could seriously damage the wall of the heart.
Another technique has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,289. This method generally includes the use of a stiffening stylet, which can be inserted into the lead, and then engages the inner coil of the lead near the tip, allowing tension to be applied through the stiffening stylet close to the tip of the lead. This technique also uses a pair telescopic flexible tubes that are positioned over the lead to free fibrotic connections until the tubes are close to the distal tip of the lead. In a related U.S. Pat No. 5,632,749, Goode et al. teaches the use of an anchoring project or expandable means associated with the apparatus for lead extraction.
Another method has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,451. In this patent, Rosborough teaches the use of a flexible coil of flattened ribbon, whereby a cutting surface is provided at the distal end of the coil. It is also disclosed that the coil is radiopaque so that its use may be observed in the body by fluoroscopy or other suitable means.
What is particular interest to the present invention are radiofrequency (RF) ablation protocols, which have been proven to be highly effective in tissue ablation, while exposing a patient to minimal side effects and risks. Radiofrequency energy is also used in cutting the tissue, or separating implant parts and other substrates. Through a combination of the mechanical rotating force and the radiofrequency energy on a catheter-based device, extraction and removal of an implanted lead becomes feasible and less difficult.
There is therefore a need for a device which comprises a rotatable catheter shaft having a sharp cutting edge with RF energy delivery capability, that is useful for extraction and removal of undesired lead by minimally invasive procedures. It would be desirable for such a system to cut through the scars along an implanted lead by utilizing sharp edges of the electrode above-mentioned with assistance of RF energy for improved lead removal.


Disclosed is a flat panel display which comprises a substrate; a gate line formed on the substrate along a predetermined direction; and a gate electrode electrically connected to the gate line, and having a sheet resistance different from the gate line. With this configuration, a wiring resistance of the gate line can be lowered with minimizing the change of the process and without increasing the thickness of the gate line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat panel display and method of fabricating the same and, more particularly, to an active matrix flat panel display and method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An active matrix flat panel display can be provided with pixels arranged in a matrix form. In an active matrix flat panel display, the pixel generally comprises at least one thin film transistor, a pixel electrode controlled by the thin film transistor, and an opposite electrode corresponding to the pixel electrode. If an organic emission layer is interposed between the pixel electrode and the opposite electrode, the device is typically described as an organic light-emitting device, whereas if a liquid crystal layer is interposed therebetween, the device is typically called a liquid crystal display.
Such an active matrix flat panel display typically comprises pixels defined by a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines. The pixels can be arranged in a matrix form, and the matrix-like arranged pixels may be referred to as a pixel array. A gate driving circuit applying scan signals to the gate lines in sequence and a data driving circuit applying data signals to the data lines may be placed in the periphery of the pixel array.
Here, the wiring resistance of the gate line can cause the scan signal applied from the gate driving circuit to the gate line to be delayed. Further, the delay of the scan signal can deteriorate the picture quality at the pixels positioned far from the gate driving circuit. Hence, as the flat panel device becomes large, this problem can seriously affect the quality of the image on the flat panel display.
To solve the foregoing problems, another gate driving circuit can additionally be provided in the periphery of the pixel array. Thus one gate line can receive the scan signal from two gate driving circuits at both sides. However, this structure can increase the size of the panel.
Alternatively, to solve the foregoing problems, the gate line may be made thicker, thereby reducing its sheet resistance. However, a thick gate line can cause stress imbalance with other layers.

Flat panel display and method of fabricating the same


A ceramic electronic component includes external electrodes having conductive resin layers thereinside on respective two ends opposed to each other in a rectangular parallelepiped ceramic component body. Each of the external electrodes includes an underlying metal layer, an intermediate metal layer, a conductive resin layer, an external metal layer. A tip angle α between an outer face of a tip portion of the wraparound portion of the underlying metal layer and a surface of the ceramic component body is 20° or smaller, and a tip angle β between an outer face of a tip portion of the wraparound portion of the intermediate metal layer and a surface of the ceramic component body is 20° or smaller.

The present disclosure relates to a ceramic electronic component including external electrodes having conductive resin layers thereinside on respective two ends opposed to each other in a rectangular parallelepiped ceramic component body, and a ceramic electronic component production method.
In relation to the ceramic electronic component, a multilayer ceramic capacitor illustrated in FIG. 1A is known (see FIG. 2 in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 11-219849 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1)). This multilayer ceramic capacitor includes external electrodes 120 having conductive resin layers 122 thereinside on respective two ends opposed to each other in a rectangular parallelepiped ceramic component body 110. The ceramic component body 110 includes a capacitance portion in which a plurality of internal electrode layers 111 (a total of six layers in the figure) have been laminated through dielectric layers 112 (a total of five layers in the figure). Each external electrode 120 has a rectangular end face portion 120a on each of end faces in a lengthwise direction (crosswise direction in FIG. 1A) of the ceramic component body 110, and a rectangular cylindrical wraparound portion 120b on respective parts of four faces around the end face, which are continuously formed. The external electrode 120 is composed of an underlying metal layer 121, the conductive resin layer 122, and an external metal layer 123.
Each underlying metal layer 121 has a rectangular end face portion 121a covering each of the end faces in the lengthwise direction of the ceramic component body 110, and a rectangular cylindrical wraparound portion 121b on respective parts of four faces around the end face, which are continuously formed. In addition, each conductive resin layer 122 has a rectangular end face portion 122a covering each end face portion 121a of the underlying metal layer 121, and a rectangular cylindrical wraparound portion 122b covering each wraparound portion 121b of the underlying metal layer 121, which are continuously formed. A value obtained by subtracting a thickness of the end face portion 122a from a length of the wraparound portion 122b is larger than a length of the wraparound portion 121b of the underlying metal layer 121. Furthermore, each external metal layer 123 has a rectangular end face portion 123a covering each end face portion 122a of the conductive resin layer 122, and a square cylindrical wraparound portion 123b covering each wraparound portion 122b of the conductive resin layer 122, which are continuously formed.
Incidentally, a multilayer ceramic capacitor including an external electrode having another metal layer between the underlying metal layer 121 and the conductive resin layer 122 is also known (see FIG. 3 in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 08-107039 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2)), but the value obtained by subtracting the thickness of the end face portion 122a from the length of the wraparound portion 122b of the conductive resin layer 122 is not larger than the length of the wraparound portion 121b of the underlying metal layer 121.
After the multilayer ceramic capacitor illustrated in FIG. 1A is mounted on a circuit board, specifically after each external electrode 120 is connected to each conductive pad corresponding to an external electrode of the circuit board using a bonding material such as a solder, even when a stress caused by deflection due to an external force of the circuit board, expansion or contraction due to heat of the circuit board, expansion or contraction due to electrostriction of the ceramic component body 110, or the like is applied to a connection part, the stress can be relaxed by the conductive resin layer 122 of each external electrode 120. That is, the direct stress to the ceramic component body 110 is avoided, so that cracks on the ceramic component body 110 due to the stress can be suppressed. In addition, since the value obtained by subtracting the thickness of the end face portion 122a from the length of the wraparound portion 122b in each external electrode 120 is larger than the length of the wraparound portion 121b of the underlying metal layer 121, the wraparound portion 122b can secure a high stress relaxation ability for the conductive resin layer 122.
Incidentally, it has been confirmed that, even in the multilayer ceramic capacitor illustrated in FIG. 1A, a crack CR illustrated in FIG. 1B occurs on the ceramic component body 110 when the connection part is repeatedly stressed or excessively stressed after mounting the ceramic capacitor on the circuit board. In addition, it has been confirmed that a base point of the crack CR is a tip of the wraparound portion 121b of the underlying metal layer 121, and furthermore multilayer ceramic capacitors of the same size have approximately the same crack angles θ relative to the surface of the ceramic component body 110.

Ceramic electronic component with crack protection and production method therefor


An aspect of the present invention achieves a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery laminated separator which has excellent heat resistance and exhibits an excellent initial battery characteristic when used in a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery. A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery laminated separator in accordance with an aspect of the present invention includes: a polyolefin porous film; and a porous layer which (i) is disposed on at least one surface of the polyolefin porous film and (ii) includes a heat resistant filler, the porous layer having a surface which has cracks, a ratio of a total area of the cracks to a surface area of the porous layer being 0.15% to 10%.

Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, particularly lithium ion secondary batteries, have a high energy density and are therefore in wide use as batteries for personal computers, mobile phones, portable information terminals, and the like. Such nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries have recently been developed as on-vehicle batteries.
For example, in known art such as that of Patent Literature 1, there are nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries including a porous insulating layer. In the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a crack is formed in a porous insulating layer at a folded portion of an electrode group, in order to improve impregnation of a nonaqueous electrolyte.

Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery laminated separator


A tire chain has an inside annular body, and a contractile connector including an elastic body connected and fixed to the inside annular body, a first connecting member and a second connecting member which are movable along the elastic body and are connectable, and a connecting and fixing tool which maintains a connected state of the connecting members. The first and the second connecting members are also connected to ends of the inside annular body. As the connecting members are moved along the elastic body, the effective length of the inside annular body changes due to the elastic body and thus, both ends of the inside annular body can be connected easily.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an inside annular body constituting the inside part of a tire chain.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Laid-Open Appln. No. 56-160206 teaches a contractile connector for the inner annular body of a tire chain.
The effective length of the chain is changeable by the above contractile connector within a range of a slit of a connecting plate. Therefore, when excessive force is applied to the chain on the occasion of jamming on the brakes, slip, etc., an end portion of the chain moves beyond the checking part of the slit and accordingly the effective length of the chain increases and the tire chain will not function.

Tire chain and the method of mounting it


An ammunition bunker rests against a military tank turret. The bunker's outward-facing walls are scored. The bunker wall facing the crew compartment is unscored. The ammunition stowed in the interior of the bunker points away from the crew compartment. The bunker is a separate and totally enclosed housing. The housing rests in a matching niche in the surface of the turret. One wall of the housing faces the crew compartment at a prescribed distance away from its wall. The roof of the housing consists of a number of separate plates resting in the interstices of a stationary grating. When the stowed ammunition explodes and the explosion increases the pressure inside the housing to a prescribed level, the pressure will break the scored walls apart at the scores, mold the wall of the housing that faces the crew compartment against the crew-compartment wall, and lift the plates out of the interstices in the grating.

The invention concerns an ammunition bunker resting against a military tank turret. The bunker's outward-facing walls are scored. The bunker wall facing the crew compartment is unscored. The ammunition stowed in the interior of the bunker points away from the crew compartment. When the stowed ammunition explodes and the explosion suddenly increases the pressure inside the housing to a prescribed level, the pressure will break the scored walls apart at the scores.
An ammunition bunker of this type is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,913 which corresponds to German patent 2 552 470.
Specially designed scores in the outward-facing walls of the known bunker leave it stable and resistant to attack from outside. If on the other hand the stowed ammunition should explode, the force of the explosion is intended to break the outward-facing walls apart at the scores without injuring the crew.
Tests have demonstrated, however, that the interior pressure often rises too rapidly during an explosion, especially when propulsive charges for several shells detonate inside a bunker simultaneously, to be released rapidly enough by the known approach alone. The unscored wall between the bunker and the crew compartment can succumb and the crew can be injured. The pressure could also be released more rapidly if the explosion lifted the roof of the bunker, but the conventional roofs are too heavy to be lifted readily.

Ammunition bunker resting against a military-tank turret


A sudden change in the repulsive force of a piston rod and the resulting excessive increase of the vehicular height are to be suppressed.. A small-diameter portion 10A and a large-diameter portion 10B are formed in the inner periphery of a pump cylinder 10, and a valve cover 21 is provided at the lower end of a pump rod 9 so as to accommodate an inlet valve 6 therein. The valve cover 21 has a discharge port 6a which when positioned within the small-diameter portion 10A is closed and which when positioned within the large-diameter portion 10B is opened to a pump chamber 12.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular height control device for use in, for example, an automobile, a motorcycle, or an industrial vehicle.
2. Prior Art
As a coventional vehicular height control device, for example, there has been provided such a self-pumping shock absorber as shown in FIG. 2. A brief description will now be given about this conventional device.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 15 denotes a cylinder disposed within a shell member 16 which is secured to the body of a vehicle. Numeral 11 denotes a piston rod secured to a wheel and having a piston 3 which is adapted to slide within the cylinder 15. Numeral 10 denotes a pump cylinder disposed within the piston rod 11. The pump cylinder 10 defines an oil passage 17 between itself and the piston rod 11, the oil passage 17 being in communication with upper and lower oil chambers 13,13 of a high pressure partitioned by the piston 3.
Numeral 9 denotes a pump rod held at one end thereof by a bottom (inner surface of the upper end) of the shell member 16. The opposite end of the pump rod 9 is inserted into the pump cylinder 10. Halfway through the pump rod 9 is formed a control orifice 2 which is open to the upper oil chamber 13 and which functions to lower the vehicular height.
Numeral 1 denotes an oil reservoir formed in the interior of the shell member 16. The oil reservoir 1 is in communication with a pump chamber 12 through the pump rod 9 and an inlet valve 6, the pump chamber 12 being formed within the lower portion of the pump cylinder 10.
Numeral 7 denotes an outlet valve disposed between the pump chamber 12 located in the lower portion of the pump cylinder 10 and the oil passage 17. Numeral 4 denotes a diaphragm which provides a partition between a high pressure chamber 18 and a gas chamber 5 in the interior of the shell member 16, the high pressure chamber 18 being in communication with the upper oil chamber 13.
Numeral 8 denotes a recess formed in part of the outer periphery of the pump rod 9 at a certain length in an axial direction thereof. The recess 8 functions so as to provide communication between the upper oil chamber 13 and the pump chamber 12 when its upper portion is positioned above the pump cylinder 10.
Next, the operation of this conventional shock absorber will be described. When the vehicular height becomes lower due to an increase in load on the vehicle, the whole of the shock absorber as a vehicular height control device undergoes a compressive force and is compressed thereby. At this time, the control orifice 2 and the recess 8 are positioned within the pump cylinder 10.
In this state, when an exciting force is exerted on the shock absorber during vehicular running, the oil present in the oil reservoir 1 flows, in an expansion stroke of the piston rod 11, into the pump chamber 12 through a communication pipe 19, through an oil passage 20 formed within the pump rod 9, and further through the inlet valve 6, respectively.
On the other hand, in a compression stroke which follows, the oil present in the pump chamber 12 is pressed by the pump rod 9 and flows into the upper oil chamber 13 through the outlet valve 7 and further through the oil passage 17 formed between the pump cylinder 10 and the piston rod 11.
Then, the oil present in the upper oil chamber 13 flows, in an amount corresponding to the volume of the oil which has thus entered the chamber 13, into the high pressure chamber 18 defined by the diaphragm 4 through a small hole 21 formed in the top of the cylinder 15 and further through an oil passage 22 formed along the outer periphery of the cylinder 15.
Consequently, the gas chamber 5 is compressed in proportion to the volume of the oil which has flowed into the high pressure chamber 18, and the chamber 18 becomes high in pressure, so that the repulsive force of the piston rod 11 increases, causing the vehicular height to increase.
On the other hand, the increase in pressure of the upper and lower oil chambers 13,13 and the resulting increase of the vehicular height cause the recess 8 to appear outside the pump cylinder 10, providing communication between the upper oil chamber 13 and the pump chamber 12, with the result that the pump chamber 12 becomes high in pressure.
Consequently, the inlet valve 6 is forced into a closed state, and this increase of the vehicular height is continued until oil is no longer pumped up into the pump chamber 12 from the oil reservoir 1.
Next, as the vehicular height increases with unloading of goods from the vehicle, the shock absorber stretches to the full length thereof, and when the control orifice 2 appears outside the pump cylinder 10, the upper oil chamber 13 and the oil reservoir 1 are brought into communication with each other through the orifice 2.
Accordingly, the oil present in the upper oil chamber 13 flows into the oil reservoir 1, and the capacity of the gas chamber 5 expands in proportion to the volume of the oil which has left the upper oil chamber 13.
As a result, the upper and lower oil chambers 13,13 decrease in pressure and the piston rod 11 becomes less repulsive, thus causing the vehicular height to decrease.
This decrease of the vehicular height continues until the control orifice 2 assumes a position inside the pump cylinder 10 to cut off the flow of oil between the upper oil chamber 13 and the oil reservoir 1.
In the conventional vehicular height control device, since it is constructed as above, a high pressure receiving rod area is equal to the sectional area of the piston rod 11 when the pump chamber 12 communicates with the upper oil chamber 13 through the recess 8, while when both chambers 12 and 13 are not in communication with each other, the high pressure receiving rod area is equal to an area obtained by substracting the sectional area of the pump rod 9 from the sectional area of the piston rod 11. For this reason the conventional device in question has involved the problem that the repulsive force of the piston rod 11 increases suddenly upon switching from the state of non-communication of both chambers to the state of communication in the expansion stroke and that therefore the vehicle becomes less comfortable to ride in and unstable in its steering performance.
In the pumping operation, when oil is sucked from the oil reservoir 1 into the pump chamber 12 in the expansion stroke, the high pressure receiving area is equal to an area obtained by subtracting the sectional area of the pump rod 9 from the sectional area of the piston rod 11.
On the other hand, in the compression stroke in which the oil present in the pump chamber 12 is forced out into the upper oil chamber 13, the high pressure receiving area is equal to the sectional area of the piston rod 11, so that upon switching to the compression stroke the pressure receiving area increases, causing a sudden increase in the repulsive force of the piston rod. This suddenly increased repulsive force acts like friction and thus results in deteriorated comfortableness.


A system and method for producing fuels and lubricant basestocks from gas oil boiling range feeds is provided. Desulfurization and conversion stages are used to form fuel and lubricant products. The product from a desulfurization stage can be fractionated, and a portion of the fractionated bottoms can be used as an input feed for a conversion or hydrocracking stage. The configuration can advantageously allow for reduced amounts of catalyst in the conversion stage.

Processing of gas oil feedstocks, such as a vacuum gas oil (VGO) feed, and other heavier feedstocks can pose a variety of challenges. One potential difficulty is presented by the boiling point range of the feed. Many of the high value uses of a gas oil feed can require conversion of at least a portion of the molecules in the feed to a lower boiling range. Some typical processes for conversion of feedstocks can include catalytic processes, such as some types of hydroprocessing. Unfortunately, hydroprocessing of such a feedstock can require substantial quantities of catalyst and hydrogen, leading to high costs for processing a feed.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,622,034 describes methods for hydroprocessing of a feed, such as a VGO feed, to produce a diesel product and an FCC feed. The initial feedstock is hydrotreated in a hydrotreatment zone. This produces an effluent that appears to have a sulfur content from about 200-1000 ppm. Some of the effluent from the hydrotreatment zone is then hydrocracked. After fractionation, at least a portion of the effluent that is exposed to hydrocracking is a diesel boiling range feed that appears to have a boiling range of about 140-382° C. and a sulfur content of about 100-2000 wppm. Optionally, a portion of the FCC feed can also be exposed to the hydrocracking. The effluent from the hydrocracking can be exposed to a post-treatment stage to remove any mercaptans formed in the naphtha portion of the hydrocracking product.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,449,102 describes methods for producing hydrocarbon products that include diesel products. The methods include hydrotreating a resid feedstock and separating the hydrotreated effluent into a gaseous and a liquid portion. The gaseous portion is combined with a gas oil feedstock and passed to a hydrocracking stage. In an example provided in the patent, the gas oil feedstock used in the hydrocracking stage has a sulfur content of more than about 2 wt %. The hydrocracked effluent is fractionated, the fractionation possibly resulting in a diesel range product.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,779 describes methods for producing hydrocarbon products that include diesel products. The methods include hydrotreating a feedstock and separating the hydrotreated effluent into a gaseous and a liquid portion. Part of the liquid portion is recycled to the hydrotreatment stage, while another part is described as being suitable as a feed for a fluid catalytic cracking process. The gaseous portion is combined with a hydrocarbon feed that boils below about 371° C. and is passed to a hydrocracking stage. The hydrocracked effluent is fractionated, resulting in a diesel range product.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,638,418 describes methods for processing at least two feeds. The first feed is hydrotreated in a first stage. It does not appear that a sulfur content for the hydrotreated effluent from the first hydrotreatment stage is specified. The hydrotreated effluent is then passed into a hydrocracking stage, along with a recycled portion of the hydrocracking effluent. Another portion of the hydrocracked effluent is fractionated to produce at least a low sulfur diesel. A gaseous effluent from the hydrocracking stage is mixed with a second diesel range feed and hydrotreated in a second hydrotreatment stage. This also produces a portion of low sulfur diesel.

Hydroprocessing of gas oil boiling range feeds

EXXONMOBIL RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING COMPANY


A motor vehicle parking lock device has at least one locking element for locking a parking lock piston in a positive-fit manner and a release unit having at least one electromagnetic actuator for releasing the parking lock piston. The release unit has a hydraulic and/or pneumatic actuator acting parallel to the electromagnetic actuator and which releases the parking lock piston at least in the event of a failure of the electromagnetic actuator.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a motor vehicle parking lock device.
German patent document DE 10 2005 060 583 A1 discloses a motor vehicle parking lock device having a locking element for locking a parking lock piston in a positive-fit manner, and having a release unit having at least one electromagnetic actuator for releasing the parking lock piston.
German patent document DE 10 2006 049 639 A1 discloses a parking lock device that is locked by means of a hydraulic or pneumatic actuator.
European patent document EP 1 855 033 A2 discloses a motor vehicle parking lock device having a parking lock piston which is hydraulically or pneumatically actuatable and having a locking device, wherein the parking lock piston may be brought into the parking position by means of a spring.
U.S. patent document US 2007/125619 A1 discloses a motor vehicle parking lock device having at least one locking element for locking a parking lock piston in a positive-fit manner, and having a release unit that has at least one electromagnetic actuator for releasing the parking lock piston. The release unit has a second actuator acting parallel to the electromagnetic actuator and which is provided for releasing the parking lock piston at least in the event of a failure of the electromagnetic actuator.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a simple motor vehicle parking lock device.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a motor vehicle parking lock device having at least one locking element for locking a parking lock piston in a positive-fit manner, and having a release unit, which has at least one electromagnetic actuator for releasing the parking lock piston.
In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention the release unit has a hydraulic and/or pneumatic actuator acting parallel to the electromagnetic actuator and which releases the parking lock piston at least in the event of a failure of the electromagnetic actuator. Redundant release of the parking lock piston may thus be achieved, so that the parking lock piston may be released in a particularly advantageous manner, even in the event of a failure and/or a defect of the electromagnetic actuator. A design of the motor vehicle parking lock device may thus be simplified, so that the motor vehicle parking lock device may be designed for a fairly large operating range in a particularly simple manner. A robust, simple motor vehicle parking lock device may be provided in this way. A "parking lock piston" should be understood as an axially movable piston which is movably coupled to a parking lock pawl for engaging and disengaging a parking lock. The term "locking the parking lock piston" should be understood as an axial fixing of the parking lock piston, and thus a retention of an engaged or disengaged state of the parking lock. The term "release of the parking lock piston" should be understood as a detachment of the axial fixing of the parking lock piston. In the present context, the term "parallel" should be understood as a magnetic force that is generatable by the electromagnetic actuator and a hydraulic and/or pneumatic force that is generatable by the hydraulic and/or pneumatic actuator have the same effect, specifically, release of the parking lock piston, whereby the release in each case may be carried out by the electromagnetic actuator or by the hydraulic and/or pneumatic actuator. The term "provided" should be understood as specially programmed, designed, equipped, and/or situated.
Further, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the locking element has a positive-fit contour provided for locking the parking lock piston in a hydraulically and/or pneumatically non-overpressurable manner. Reliable locking of the parking lock piston may thus be achieved, so that unintentional release of the parking lock piston may be avoided. The term "in a hydraulically and/or pneumatically non-overpressurable manner" should be understood as meaning that a release of the parking lock piston due to a hydraulic and/or pneumatic force acting on the parking lock piston that is provided for switching the parking lock piston is not possible.
Additionally, the motor vehicle parking lock device has a single-acting actuating cylinder that is provided for switching the parking lock piston into a non-parking position, and has a spring which is provided for switching the parking lock piston into a parking position. The motor vehicle parking lock device may be simplified in this way. A "single-acting actuating cylinder" should be understood as an actuating cylinder that is provided solely for forming a single pressure chamber that is provided for the hydraulic and/or pneumatic switching of the parking lock piston. The term "pneumatic switching of the parking lock piston" should be understood as an axial displacement of the parking lock piston into an axial position associated with the parking position or the non-parking position. A "parking position" should be understood as a position in which a parking lock is engaged. A "non-parking position" should be understood as a position in which the parking lock is disengaged and/or is designed as a driving position. A "pressure chamber" should be understood as a chamber which includes at least one stationary wall and at least one movable wall and which may be acted on hydraulically and/or pneumatically.
In particular, it is advantageous for the motor vehicle parking lock device to have an operating medium pressure supply, and a switching valve which in a first valve position fluidically connects the hydraulic and/or pneumatic actuator to the operating medium pressure supply, and in a second valve position fluidically connects the actuating cylinder to the operating medium pressure supply. The parking position and the non-parking position may thus be switched in a particularly advantageous manner. An "operating medium pressure supply" should be understood as a unit composed of hydraulic and/or pneumatic elements, for example a pump, a switching valve, a line, a diaphragm, and/or the like, which is/are necessary for supplying the switching valve with an operating medium.
It is also advantageous when the locking element is provided for locking the parking lock piston in the parking position and in the non-parking position. A particularly advantageous motor vehicle parking lock device may thus be provided in which the parking lock piston may be reliably locked in the parking position and in the non-parking position.
Furthermore, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method for releasing a parking lock piston of a motor vehicle parking lock device, in particular a motor vehicle parking lock device according to the invention, in which the parking lock piston is released by an electromagnetic actuator and/or by a hydraulic and/or pneumatic actuator. An emergency release may thus be achieved in a particularly simple manner.
In addition, for the method a parking lock piston locked in a non-parking position is released by the hydraulic and/or pneumatic actuator, and a parking lock piston that is locked in a parking position is released by the electromagnetic actuator. An advantageous release of the parking position and of the non-parking position may be achieved in this way.
Further advantages result from the following description of the drawing.
One exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawing. The drawing, the description, and the claims contain numerous features in combination. Those skilled in the art will also advantageously consider the features individually and combine them into further meaningful combinations.

Motor vehicle parking lock device having at least one locking element


A rain gauge includes a cylindrical tubular water holder and a flat surface having large rainfall value indicators upon it arranged so that they indicate an amount of rain that has fallen with reference to the water in the water holder and thus are easily readable from a distance. The tubular water holder can be rotated so that indications on it are visible through the curved surface of the cylindrical tube and thus magnified below the water level but not magnified above the water level.

This invention relates to rain gauges.
Rain gauges are known that include a rain collector and large numerals and or words indicating the height of the water in the rain collector. In this class of rain gauge, the rain collector has indications, such as lines, on it to indicate the graduations of water height and the numerals are large enough to be read from several yards away.
One prior art type of rain gauge in this class of known rain gauges includes an adjusting mechanism at the top to collect water from a wider area than the cross section of the rain collector so that the water rises at a multiple of the rainfall per square inch but in proportion to it so there is room for larger numbers on the tube itself to indicate the amount of rain per square inch that has fallen. This type of device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,606 granted Aug. 13, 1991 to Robert C. Geschwender, et al.
With the prior art it was possible to print large numbers on the curved surface because of its expanded scale; however, with a rain gauge with a normal scale and low cost glass tube collector, there is insufficient area to print large clear numbers that can be easily read due to the reduced size and the curved surface of the collector.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a novel rain gauge.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a rain gauge in which it is exceptionally easy to read the numerals indicating the amount of rain that has fallen.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a rain gauge in which large numerals on a substantially flat surface are used to indicate the height of the water in a rain collector.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a rain gauge with an exceptionally clear indication of water height indicated on the holder for the rain gauge.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a rain gauge that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture as compared to prior art rain gauges.
In accordance with the above and further objects of the invention, the rain gauge of this invention comprises a water holder arranged with a flat surface to indicate with large flat numerals and/or words the height of the rain in the holder. In the preferred embodiment, the rain holder is a transparent tube with indicator marks upon it showing height of water and some of which indicate a scale below the water level. The tube can be separated from the flat surface that indicates the level of the water to facilitate emptying and cleaning and the like. Thus it includes a mounting means for the water holder that is mounted together with the flat surface with the large numerals or other lettering upon it. In the preferred embodiment, the flat surface is integrally formed with the mounting means for the water holder. Means are also provided to mount the rain gauge upright.
The large numerals cooperate with the indications on the water holder to indicate the level of the water as the water rises. The surface of the water is clearly indicated. This is done in the preferred embodiment by having the indications such as calibration and water level indicator lines seen through a curved water holder, thus providing magnification for the indications seen through the curved surface and the water up to the surface of the water above where the indications will appear much smaller. However, any other mechanism might be used such as a float of the type described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,606.
From the above description, it can be understood that the rain gauge of this invention has advantages of being easily readable from a distance and easily manufactured.


A digital camera, which captures images and transfers the captured images to a host computer, includes an image sensor exposed to image light for capturing the images and generating image signals; an A/D converter for converting the image signals into digitized image data; a digital interface for transferring the digitized image data to the host computer; means for controlling the image sensor in at least two different camera configurations, each configuration including configuration information defining a plurality of camera parameters; and means for communicating at least part of the configuration information along with the digitized image data to the computer via the digital interface.

There are generally two types of electronic cameras, those that produce motion images and those that produce still images. Typical motion cameras include motion video cameras and computer-connected cameras like the Color QuickCam.TM. camera sold by the Connectix Corporation, and typical still cameras include the Kodak line of digital cameras, including the DC40 and DC50 cameras sold by the Eastman Kodak Company. With motion video cameras, it is typical to input images to a computer via a "frame grabber" board. In this case still images and motion images are captured using a single field or frame of the video. Therefore, the processing for motion and still images, performed in hardware inside the camera, is the same whether still or motion images are captured.
With electronic still cameras, the output processing is typically oriented toward still images, since still image capture is the object of the camera. U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,170, entitled "Hand-manipulated Electronic Camera Tethered to a Personal Computer", describes a digital still camera tethered to a computer for capturing an image and providing the captured image to the computer for storage therewith. Capture of images can be initiated from the camera, but its shutter button, which is controlled pursuant to a status signal from the computer, is used only to initiate the capture of still images.
If the electronic still camera provides another mode, it is typically subsidiary to the main purpose. For example, in U.S. Ser. No. 08/367,399, filed Dec. 30, 1994 (entitled "Electronic Camera Having Dual Modes for Composing and Capturing Still Images" and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention), an electronic still camera is described in which a motion mode is used to provide a "preview" image on an LCD viewfinder prior to still mode capture. The camera does not output the motion image data, but simply displays the motion data on the LCD display. Being part of its fixed signal processing, the camera does not allow the user to affirmatively elect between the motion and the still mode.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,244, entitled "Computer Input Scanner Incorporating Multiple Scanning Modes", describes a film scanner useful as an input device for a computer. The film scanner is operable in two modes: the first mode is a low resolution monochrome prescanning mode used for composing (zooming and cropping) the image, and the second is a high-resolution color sequential mode in which three successive high resolution color scans are obtained. Two user-controlled switch functions on the scanner are used: one to continuously capture low resolution frames in the prescan mode, and the second to initiate a high-resolution scan. These switch functions, however, always perform the same task, that is, either to initiate prescan or to capture a high resolution image.
While describing two modes of operation in some cases, the prior art does not allow flexibility in user selection of these modes, or in the communication of mode information between a host computer and the camera. As a result, the functionality of user-controlled switches, e.g., the shutter button, remains fixed.

Multi-mode digital camera with computer interface using data packets combining image and mode data


A housing type joint including: a housing formed by arranging at least three arcuate segments in a circumferential direction with gaps; an elastic ring arranged in the housing for hermetically sealing end portions of a pair of pipes; a fastening band arranged so as to surround an outside surface of the housing and having loop portion at both ends thereof; and a fastening unit that makes the loop portions at both ends of the fastening band closer to each other, in order to make the arcuate segments closer to each other or in contact with each other; wherein the elastic ring has engagement projections at positions located in a circumferential direction thereof with gaps, correspondingly to the respective arcuate segments, each engagement projection extending outward in a radial direction of the elastic ring; each arcuate segment has a positioning hole into which each engagement projection is inserted; and a fastening-band guiding part is provided on an outside surface of each arcuate segment for guiding the fastening band.

As a housing type joint that hermetically seals connecting portions of small-diameter pipes such as water-supply pipes, a housing type joint having a structure shown in FIG. 8 is used in various industrial fields.
The housing type joint as shown in FIG. 8 consists of: a pair of semicircular joint segments 1, 2 made by casting; bolt seats 3, 3 integrally formed at both end portions of one semicircular joint segment 1; bolt seats 4, 4 integrally formed at both end portions of the other semicircular joint segment 2; a space 7 formed in the semicircular joint segments 1, 2 for containing end portions of two pipes 5, 6; an elastic ring 8 arranged in the space 7 formed in the semicircular joint segments 1, 2 for sealing the end portions of two pipes 5, 6; two fastening portions 9, 10 that form both side walls of the space 7 in the semicircular joint segments 1, 2 and that are engaged in circumferential grooves 5a, 6a provided at the end portions of two pipes 5, 6; and two bolt-nut fastening units 11 that are inserted through openings 3a, 4a provided at the bolt seats 3, 4 of the semicircular joint segments 1, 2 for making the semicircular joint segments 1, 2 closer to each other or in contact with each other.
When the elastic ring 8 arranged in the space 7 of the semicircular joint segments 1, 2 is pressed to outside surfaces of the end portions of the two pipes 5, 6, the end portions of the two pipes 5, 6 are hermetically sealed. In addition, when the fastening portions 9, 10 provided at the semicircular joint segments 1, 2 are engaged in the circumferential grooves 5a, 6a provided at the end portions of the two pipes 5, 6, positions of the two pipes 5, 6 are fixed.
However, in the above conventional housing type joint, the semicircular joint segments 1, 2 are made by casting. Thus, the total weight of the housing type joint is heavy and it is difficult to make the housing type joint compact. In addition, it is not easy to assemble the housing type joint at a workplace as well as to attach and remove the housing type joint to and from the two pipes.


A power outlet that has a moveable ground pin disposed in a receptacle and has a normal position with the pin extended and an inserted position. An actuator arm with a projection member is coupled to the ground pin and a rotational cam stop abuts the projection member. A pushrod is included that has a shaft, a lever member coupled to the shaft, and a notch for receiving at least part of the cam stop therein. A circuit breaker is disposed in the outlet and has a switch with an OFF position, and an ON position for activating the circuit breaker. The switch is coupled to the lever member. When the ground pin is actuated into the inserted position, the projection member slides away from the receptacle, rotating the cam stop such that it is clear of the notch and the pushrod thereby is enabled to throw the switch from the OFF position to the ON position. The actuator arm spring independently returns the ground pin to the normal position when the pin is removed from the receptacle and works in conjunction with the pushrod spring to throw the switch of the circuit breaker from the ON position to the OFF position if the pin is removed with the circuit breaker switch in the ON position such that the ground pin is returned to the normal position.

For a number of years power outlets with safety interlocks have been used in shipping yards for providing power to refrigerated devices on shipping docks. In operation, when a pin from a device is inserted into a receptacle of one of these outlets, no power is provided to the device until a safety interlock is deactivated, which enables a circuit break thereby allowing the device to receive power.
Typical power outlets with safety interlocks use one large spring to return both the ground pin and pushrod to their normal positions when a pin is withdrawn from the receptacle. This design makes pin insertion very difficult because of the great force needed to insert a pin that requires forcing a ground pin inward, which is highly tensioned. Still other power outlets use one spring for the ground pin and another spring to serve in pushrod return, but the springs do not work in conjunction to return the pushrod to its normal position when a pin is removed with the circuit breaker activated. Thus, a large spring is required to provide tension on the push rod, making it difficult to push inward to activate the circuit breaker. Typical power outlets also use a complicated system of push rods, levers, pulleys, springs, and cams to provide a safety interlock. These complex designs are labor intensive and do not lend themselves to simple field servicing.
Typical power outlets also do not have a cam stop for providing the safety interlock that prevents the pushrod from actuating the circuit breaker while a pin is uninstalled in the receptacle. Further, because a cam stop is not supplied in current designs, no cam stops are rotated by inward movement of the ground pin when the pin is installed in the receptacle to enable the circuit break to be activated.


A system and a method for reporting in a supply chain involving an enterprise and at least one partner are provided. A request from a network system for access to real-time data stored in an existing partner system is received at a partner coordinator component. The real-time data relates to a transaction in which the partner is involved. The partner coordinator component is integrated with the existing partner system, and the network system maintains a context for the transaction. The data is converted at the partner coordinator component into a format usable by the network system. The converted real-time data is provided to the network system, thereby enabling the network system to generate real-time reports of the transaction for the enterprise.

Vertically integrated, centrally managed business models are rapidly giving way to decentralized business models leveraging outsourcing. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are responding to cost and competitive issues by divesting operations and outsourcing key functions, such as manufacturing, distribution, logistics, service, and inventory management. The rationale behind outsourcing is simple: focus on core competencies, and for everything else, transfer responsibility to various types of service providers (or "partners") who can employ economies of scale and provide geographic coverage for product distribution, service, and manufacturing.
In addition to its common sense appeal, outsourcing has delivered significant financial value to both the OEMs and the growing clusters of companies that support them. Outsourcing, however, along with globalization and system/application proliferation, has caused a dramatic increase in complexity across supply chains due to the lack of information systems to coordinate operations. Consequently, many companies have instituted enterprise and collaborative planning across supply chains.
Recent initiatives in outsourcing and collaborative planning have exposed a critical flaw in today's extended supply chains: they are not configured for the efficient execution that was once possible when companies were vertically integrated. Managing a supply chain has become an extremely complex task that previously developed systems with an enterprise-focused approach cannot adequately support. These enterprise systems were designed to support one centralized, static, standardized business process, as opposed to business processes governed by individual business agreements. Furthermore, collaborative planning solutions do not coordinate execution across supply chains. Instead, they focus on macro-level parameters, long planning horizons, and data that is frozen days or even weeks before and after events actually occur. The primary challenge remains unmet: effectively coordinating execution of actions and events across a supply chain even as service and lead-time requirements become more stringent and partners come and go.


Polymers and copolymers synthesized by means that yield a narrow range of molecular weights can have different properties than polymers synthesized by conventional means. In order to obtain such polymers, however, polymerization must be controlled. One type of controlled polymerization is the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) process, which has characteristics of a living polymerization. The present invention discloses a group of dithioesters and trithioesters suitable as chain transfer agents for RAFT polymerization. The present invention also discloses RAFT polymerizations conducted in aqueous media.

In a polymer or copolymer synthesis, achieving a product with a desired molecular weight and a narrow weight distribution, or polydispersity, requires a controlled process. Polymers with a narrow molecular weight distribution can exhibit substantially different behavior and properties than polymers prepared by conventional means. Living polymerizations provide the maximum degree of control for the synthesis of polymers with predictable well-defined structures. The characteristics of a living polymerization include: polymerization proceeding until all monomer is consumed, number average molecular weight as a linear function of conversion, molecular weight control by the stoichiometry of the reaction, and block copolymer preparation by sequential monomer addition.
It has been stated that living polymerization to give polymers of low molecular weight distribution requires the absence of chain transfer and termination reactions. In a living polymerization, the only "allowed" elementary reactions are initiation and propagation, which take place uniformly with respect to all growing polymer chains. However, it has also been shown that if the chain transfer process is reversible, polymerization can still possess most of the characteristics of living polymerization.
It has been found that the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) process suppresses termination reactions through the addition of a suitable thiocarbonylthio compound, also known as a dithioester, to an otherwise conventional free radical polymerization. Control in such a RAFT process is thought to be achieved through a degenerative chain transfer mechanism in which a propagating radical reacts with the thiocarbonylthio compound to produce an intermediate radical species. This process decreases the number of free radicals available for termination reactions that require two free radicals.
Although RAFT polymerizations have been demonstrated to work under a variety of conditions, further research is required to demonstrate the effectiveness of RAFT polymerizations in aqueous solvent systems. Specifically, there is a need to develop dithioester chain transfer agents that are both soluble and stable in water. Also, there is a need to develop dithioesters that are tailored to the monomer being polymerized.

Chain transfer agents for raft polymerization in aqueous media


A card connector includes an insulating housing, signal terminals disposed in the insulating housing, a shell worn around the insulating housing, a tray with a platform being protruded on a top face thereof, and an ejector pivoted on a top plate of the shell and rotatably paralleling to the top plate. The tray is slidably disposed between the insulating housing and the top plate of the shell along a front-to-rear direction and defines two card slots arranged side-by-side at two sides thereof. One end of the ejector has a pushing portion projecting sideward beyond one side plate of the shell, and the other end of the ejector protrudes forward to form an ejecting portion which resists against the back of the platform for pushing the tray to slide frontward out of the card connector by pushing the pushing portion rearward to drive the ejector to clockwise rotate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a card connector.
2. The Related Art
Along with the development of modern information technology, card connectors are used more and more frequently in electronic products for connecting electronic cards with the products. Also various specifications and capacity of electronic cards such as secured digital (SD) cards and subscriber identity module (SIM) cards are provided for users in our daily life. A known card connector is designed with double card slots for different specifications of the electronic cards, wherein the double card slots are arranged to overlap with each other. The card connector has an ejection module of multiple rod structure.
Because the ejection module is a multiple rod structure which has a very complex structure and needs large space in the card connector, the card connector is unable to meet the miniaturization requirements for modern mobile phones and other electronic products.

Card connector for different specifications of electronic cards


An alignment system for a workpiece printing machine comprises a stencil support and a workpiece support, and a planarity control mechanism having at least two actuators arranged to effect relative rotation of the stencil support and workpiece support about both the horizontal axes.

Industrial screen-printing machines typically apply print media, such as solder paste or conductive ink, onto a planar workpiece, such as a circuit board, by applying a medium (e.g. solder paste) through a stencil using an angled blade or squeegee. To ensure that the stencil aligns correctly with the workpiece, the relative position of markers provided on the stencil and workpiece, in the plane of the workpiece (which is conventionally denoted the X-Y plane and is generally horizontal), are measured and subsequently aligned. One or more cameras may be used to optically measure the positions of the markings.
Typically, the stencil and workpiece are then aligned in the X-Y plane by means of actuators which act on a stencil support to move the stencil supported thereon relative to the workpiece. The extent of movement required is determined by the preceding optical measurement. Such alignment normally occurs over the single X-Y plane, using two degrees of freedom. Subsequently, the stencil is brought into contact (or near contact) with the workpiece, by effecting relative movement between the stencil and workpiece in a direction normal to the workpiece (conventionally denoted as movement along the Z-axis).
A known alignment system 1 providing this functionality is schematically shown in FIG. 1. Here the system 1 is shown from above, looking down onto the X-Y plane, the X, Y and Z axis directions being shown for clarity. A stencil support 2 is provided for supporting a stencil 3 thereon in the X-Y plane. The stencil is arranged to overlie a workpiece support 4, upon which a workpiece is supported in use. The relative positions, in the X-Y plane, of the stencil 3 and workpiece are optically determined by a camera system (not shown). So that the stencil support 2 may be moved both translationally and rotationally in the X-Y plane, and relative to the printing machine, three actuators are statically mounted on the printing machine to mechanically cooperate with the stencil support 2. Two alignment actuators 7, 8 act at lateral areas of the stencil support 2 to impel the stencil support 2 to move in the ±X direction. The other alignment actuator 9 acts at a relatively central area of the stencil support 2 to impel the stencil support 2 to move in the ±X direction. It can be seen that if actuator 9 is activated on its own, the stencil support 2 will be translated along the Y axis, while it may be translated along the X axis if both actuators 7 and 8 are activated in tandem. Rotation of the stencil support 2, or combined rotation and translation, may be achieved by selectively activating a combination of actuators 7, 8 and 9. All of the alignment actuators 7, 8, 9 are held in fixed positions by mounting on the printing machine, for example on a static structure or frame of the printing machine.
While in this system the stencil support is actuated to move relative to the workpiece support, in other systems actuators may act directly on the workpiece support to achieve relative movement.
After alignment, the print medium is applied to the workpiece through the stencil by depositing the medium onto the upper surface of the stencil and sweeping the squeegee across the upper surface in or parallel to the X-Y plane, forcing the print medium through the apertures of the stencil. Subsequently, the workpiece and stencil are separated.
It has been found through extensive research that control of the angle of separation between the stencil and workpiece is crucial to controlling print quality. However, a problem exists in that known printing machines have no ability to automatically correct for planar alignment errors outside the initial machine build stage, or during subsequent manual calibrations.
The present invention seeks to address this problem and achieve multi-planar alignment (with three degrees of freedom) of printing stencils to workpieces within an industrial screen-printing machine.
In accordance with the present invention this aim is achieved by providing a planarity control mechanism effective to selectively rotate the stencil support about the X and Y axes so that the stencil is parallel, or at a predetermined angle, with the workpiece.
This aim is also achieved in accordance with the present invention by the provision of a clamp assembly which is operable to permit rotation and translation of the stencil support during alignment and clamp the stencil support to prevent local movement along the X, Y and Z-axes when aligned.

Planarity alignment of stencils and workpieces


A battery package (22) for use in a battery identification system (10) comprises a housing, at least one energy storage device (21) contained within the housing and a reflecting device (24) coupled to an external portion of the housing for reflecting electromagnetic radiation towards an electronic product (12) having a electromagnetic radiation detector (16).

Batteries or battery packs for portable electronic products come in a variety of chemistries, voltages, capacities, discharge rates and, for rechargeable batteries, a variety of charge rates as well. There are many factors that are considered in optimally charging and discharging a battery including cell temperature, external temperature, cell pressure, peak voltage, rate of change in voltage, and load requirements to name a few. These factors can typically be communicated to and from the battery and the electronic product as well as to and from the battery and charger. In some instances, the electronic product may communicate to and from the charger via the battery. Thus, a battery pack may require several contacts to communicate these factors between the battery and the electronic product or charger. Typically, the more information required, the greater number of contacts required. Additional contacts will increase the manufacturing cost of a battery pack and reduce its water sealing integrity. Therefore, a need exists for a battery pack that will provide all of the desired information to an electronic product such as a radio or a charger and that will not further reduce its water sealing integrity.


A water blast gun support apparatus and methods for enabling the operator to direct the gun by a joystick attached to a pneumatic sinusoidal biasing control unit. Depending upon the direction the joystick is pointed by the operator, a controlled flow of air is delivered to pneumatic motion producing actuators which move the water blast gun to the desired position and maintain this position when the operator moves the joystick to its neutral position. The support apparatus absorbs the thrust of the water so that the operator is relieved from having to physically counter the force of the water.

Water blast cleaning guns are used to clean exterior walls and the like. These guns are typically carried by and manually operated by a person. Operating such a gun is an especially fatiguing occupation since the user must constantly direct the blast while physically countering the force of the water or be is knocked backward by its force. Such fatigue often adversely affects the operator's ability to concentrate on directing the water blast at the surface that needs to be cleaned.

Water blast gun support apparatus and methods


Embodiments of methods of forming silicon nitride spacers are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of forming silicon nitride spacers atop a substrate includes: depositing a silicon nitride layer atop an exposed silicon containing layer and an at least partially formed gate stack disposed atop a substrate; modifying a portion of the silicon nitride layer by exposing the silicon nitride layer to a hydrogen or helium containing plasma that is substantially free of fluorine; and removing the modified portion of the silicon nitride layer by performing a wet cleaning process to form the silicon nitride spacers, wherein the wet cleaning process removes the modified portion of the silicon nitride layer selectively to the silicon containing layer.

Conventional processes for forming silicon nitride spacers typically result in under etching of a silicon nitride layer or over etching of underlying silicon containing layers of a substrate. Under etching of the silicon nitride layer may leave excess material proximate a gate stack/silicon layer interface (e.g., "foot" formation), thereby resulting in a poorly defined interface that may lead to a degradation in device performance. Over etching of an underlying silicon containing layer may reduce a thickness of the silicon containing layer to an extent that the silicon containing layer may fully amorphize during subsequent processes thereby leading to device failure.
Accordingly, the inventors have provided an improved method for forming silicon nitride spacers.

Methods of forming silicon nitride spacers


A cassette with embedded temperature sensors that is disposed within a load lock is disclosed. The temperature sensors may be disposed in a plurality of shelves of the load lock cassette to monitor the temperature of each of a plurality of workpieces disposed in the load lock. The output of these temperature sensors may be provided to a controller, which controls when the load lock is opened. The load lock cassette may also include cooling channels to accelerate the cooling of the workpieces to improve throughput. The cooling may be controlled using closed loop control, where a controller monitors the temperature of the workpieces during the cooling operation.

Load locks are used to transfer a material from a first environment to a second environment, where the pressure within the first environment differs from that in the second environment. Often, a load lock is used to interface a high vacuum environment with an atmospheric environment. When transitioning from the atmospheric environment, the load lock opens to accept the material. Once the load lock closed, the air is exhausted from the sealed chamber. The load lock then opens to allow the material to be removed in the high vacuum environment. When transitioning from the high vacuum environment, the load lock introduces air to return the chamber to atmospheric pressure before opening.
In certain embodiments, workpieces may be processed in the high vacuum environment at an elevated temperature and placed in the load lock after processing. The workpieces are then allowed to cool and are returned to the atmospheric environment. However, there is currently no method to directly measure the temperature of individual workpieces in the load lock and provide closed loop control of the cooling of those workpieces. Thus, the workpieces are cooled using an open loop method for a predetermined amount of time. Consequently, there is no way to know when the workpieces have cooled below a certain threshold temperature, below which it is permissible to open the load lock and remove the workpieces.
This may present issues. If the predetermined amount of time is too long, the process efficiency is reduced, as the workpieces could have been removed earlier. Conversely, if the predetermined time is too short, the workpieces will be at an unacceptable high temperature. This may cause a safety hazard, such as burns to the operators handling these workpieces. Further, the containers used to hold and transport these workpieces may not be able to withstand these elevated temperatures.
Therefore, a load lock that is able to monitor the temperature of individual workpieces disposed therein would be beneficial. Further, it would be advantageous if the load lock was also able to control the cooling process.


The present invention provides a custom color toner having a first particle size. Colored particles are attached to the surface of the base toner in an amount sufficient to provide a predetermined color to the base toner. The colored particles have a second particle size less than the first particle size.

Custom colors are used in many printing and packaging applications to supplement process colors made by combinations of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). A typical example of a custom color is "Coca-Cola red".
Customer selectable colors are typically utilized to provide instant identification and authenticity to a document. As such, the customer is usually highly concerned that the color meets particular color specifications. For example, the red color associated with Xerox' digital stylized "X" is a customer selectable color having a particular shade, hue and color value. Likewise, the particular shade of orange associated with Syracuse University is a good example of a customer selectable color. A more specialized example of customer selectable color output can be found in the field of "custom color", which specifically refers to registered proprietary colors, such as used, for example, in corporate logos, authorized letterhead, and official seals. The yellow associated with Kodak brand products, and the brown associated with Hershey brand products are good examples of custom colors that are required to meet exacting color standards in a highlight color or spot color printing application.
The various colors typically utilized for standard highlighting processes generally do not precisely match customer selectable colors. Moreover, customer selectable colors typically cannot be accurately generated via halftone process color methods because the production of solid image areas of a particular color using halftone image processing techniques typically yields nonuniformity of the color in the image area.
Further, lines and text produced by halftone process color are very sensitive to misregistration of the multiple color images such that blurring, color variances, and other image quality defects may result. As a result of the deficiencies noted above, customer selectable color production in electrostatographic printing systems is typically carried out by providing a singular premixed developing material composition made up of a mixture of multiple color toner particles blended in pre-selected concentrations for producing the desired customer selectable color output. This method of mixing multiple color toners to produce a particular color developing material is analogous to processes used to produce customer selectable color paints and inks. In offset printing, for example, a customer selectable color output image is produced by printing a solid image pattern with a premixed customer selectable color printing ink as opposed to printing a plurality of halftone image patterns with various primary colors or compliments thereof.
The disclosures of custom color for toners in the prior art usually involve mixing toners of different colors together in one developer. This approach has the problem that toners of one color may develop at a greater rate than toners of another color, due to differences in charge, adhesion, or other characteristics, causing a color shift over time. Various means of solving this problem have been disclosed, such as mixing toners directly in the developer to control the final color, or making the toner mixtures compatible by encapsulating the pigments within the toner particle or by applying varying surface treatments to equalize the triboelectrification properties
Several patents describe the apparatus that can be used for mixing differently colored toner particles into a single developer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,751,430 describes a toner purging development apparatus and method for producing custom colors. This patent provides custom colors by removing the first quantity of toner particles having a first color from the sump, and allowing the loading, of a second quantity of toner particles having a second and different color.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,618,654 describes a custom color printing system including an apparatus for developing a latent image with a custom color toner. A replaceable reservoir unit is provided for mixing and supplying the custom color toner to the donor member. An array of toner dispensers is provided for supplying various primary color toners, as required, to achieve the custom color. In such an operational environment, replaceable containers of premixed customer selectable color developing materials corresponding to each customer selectable color are provided for each print job. Replacement of the premixed customer selectable color developer materials or substitution of another premixed color between different print jobs necessitates operator intervention that typically requires manual labor and machine downtime, among other undesirable requirements. In addition, since each customer selectable color is typically manufactured at an off-site location, supplies of each customer selectable color printing ink must be separately stored for each customer selectable color print job.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,292,643 describes a traveling wave transport system that will transport individual toner colors and mixes them before they reach the photoconductor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,239 describes a method to replenish the developer with the correct ratio of the individual color toner components by using calorimetric measurement of the replenished developer.
Chemical means of mitigating the differences in the triboelectric properties of the individual toner components are described in several patents. U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,692 describes preparing toner by preparing encapsulated latexes of individual colors and then carrying out an aggregation step to prepare toner particles. While this method would work, emulsion aggregation is generally restricted to vinyl-based binders and not to the polyester based toners that are preferred for high quality imaging. US Publication 2005/0095521A1 describes the use of surface treatment to equalize the tribocharging properties. While the initial charge of these particles may be the same, aging of the developer usually causes embedment of the surface treatment particles into the toner which will cause their tribocharging properties to be different. U.S. Pat. No. 5,204,208 describes method of applying a polymeric shell to individual colored toners to 'encapsulate' the pigment. While this method would succeed, it involves expensive manufacturing processes.
Most color printers have a set of 4 colorants that are used to provide the normal gamut of colors. It is desired that in order to produce a custom color outside this gamut, the toner with the basic color should be utilized and modified to provide the custom color. This invention describes a method of achieving this.
The main object of this invention is to utilize a toner with one of the primary colors and to modify it to produce a custom color.
Another object is to be able to achieve this simply and at a low cost.
Yet another object is that the modified toner of the present invention be durable under aging of the developer and maintain its triboelectric properties.
Yet another object of this invention is to be able to prepare a custom color toner with any suitable binder and with toner made by any conventional or chemical manufacturing method.


A system and method are disclosed for bottom-up modeling and prediction of asset anomalies. In one embodiment, the system receives first sensor data from a first sensor, the first sensor associated with a first asset; smooths the first sensor data; determines a first stage within sensor data, the sensor data including the first sensor data; determines a first set of anomalies within the first stage; generates a first asset state space associated with the first asset; trains a base model describing a first group of one or more assets, the first group of one or more assets including the first asset; and trains, using the base model, a final model particular to the first asset.

By 2020, there will be over 30 billion connected devices and the total volume of data generated by IoT will reach 600 ZB per year. However, only 26% of companies have reported that their IoT initiatives have been successful. Drawing insights from Big Data is complex and is mostly done manually today. The majority of companies claim that the lack of data science skills is their most significant hurdle. Because of this shortage, companies that are starting to get into IoT do not have a sufficient data science team. Furthermore, developing a data science team is also a large-scale investment that will not necessarily generate profitable results. Even with a large data science team, because of the complexity of analyzing the data and the number of components involved, the time needed to generate outcomes is significant. Additionally, 80% of the problems that companies are dealing with today are new and unknown which means the complexity is through the roof. However, there are few that fully understand the complexity of building their own models and algorithms. As a result of this, there is a need for AWL tools that enable data science professionals to become more efficient.
Additionally top-down modeling, where an asset is not modeled using its sub-components, and clustering techniques are not scalable and do not model the inner dynamics of the asset, and are not able to account for the fact that there could be a number of different types of anomalies in the subcomponents of an asset.

Scalable and bottom-up approach to automated anomaly detection


A method and apparatus for removing a composite attached to a material to be treated by dry ashing using a gas including a halogen element and a gas including a hydrogen element or using a gas including fluorine, a gas including oxygen and a gas including chlorine in a reaction chamber containing the material therein for use in manufacturing a semiconductor device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to method and apparatus for removing a composite attached to a material to be treated by a dry etching for use in a photo resist or a surface treatment of a semiconductor manufacturing process or the like.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a conventional apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor or the like, it is important and essential to conduct a photo etching process (PEP) with an organic compound film such as a photosensitive photoresist as a mask in finely processing a printed circuit board, a compact disc or a laser disc. Then, this organic compound photoresist is removed after finishing a processing such as an etching and an ion-implanting of a main plate or board. The removal of the photoresist is mainly carried out in a wet chemical etching process, e.g., in a mixed solution of a sulfuric acid and a hydrogen peroxide or another mixed solution of the former mixed solution and water added thereto, or in a dry plasma etching process, e.g., in a dry ashing with oxygen gas dissociated by discharge.
In the wet chemical etching process, there are some problems in controlling the acidic solution and the safety of the operation. Particularly, this process is not suitable for a process for manufacturing a semiconductor which dislikes a process using a liquid, and further, when an organic compound photoresist is used for patterning a metallic electrode material such as aluminum or the like in a semiconductor producing process, the metallic electrode can be eaten easily by the acidic mixed solution of the sulfuric acid and the hydrogen peroxide. Thus, the application of the wet chemical etching process is restricted.
In the dry plasma ashing process which removes the problems of the wet chemical etching process, the organic compound photoresist can be removed in the dry ashing by the oxygen plasma. In this case, a material to be etched is placed in a barrel type or parallel plate type reactor, and the oxygen gas introduced therein is dissociated by the discharge therein to produce the oxygen plasma. The organic compound photoresist is removed using the oxygen plasma. In this process, as compared with the wet chemical etching process, the processing is conducted in a simple way and the material to be etched is not limited to the nonmetallic materials. However, in the dry plasma ashing method, the electric discharge is practiced in the reactor containing the material to be treated in order to attain a certain removing speed in practice, and hence the material is damaged on its surface or a resist residue is produced on the surface.
An example of a process for producing a gate electrode on a semiconductor plate of a MOS semiconductor device in a conventional photo etching process using an oxygen plasma will be described in connection with FIG. 1.
First, a phosphorus-added polycrystalline silicon film 3 for a gate electrode is formed on a semiconductor base plate 1 via an oxide film 2 formed thereon, and an organic compound photoresist film 4 is applied over the polycrystalline silicon film 3, as shown in FIG. 1a. Then, a pattern light exposure is carried out and is then developed so as to obtain the desired partial resist film 4a on the gate electrode film 3, as shown in FIG. 1b. By utilizing the partial resist film 4a as a mask, a partial gate electrode film 3a right under the partial resist film 4a is left by etching the other part of the polycrystalline silicon film 3 in the reactive ion etching (RIE) process or the like, as shown in FIG. 1c. Finally, the partial photoresist film 4a is removed from the polycrystalline film 3a in the dry plasma ashing process using the aforementioned oxygen plasma, as shown in FIG. 1d.
However, when the partial photoresist film 4a is removed from the gate electrode film 3a, as shown in FIG. 1d, the residues 5 of the ashed organic compound may be often produced on the surfaces of the gate electrode film 3a and the oxide film 2. Further, by the attack of the charged particles produced by the discharge during the removing step of the photoresist film 4a, the damages may be caused in the oxide film 2 and the semiconductor plate 1. Accordingly, in the MOS semiconductor device produced as described above, the residues 5 may affect bad influences to the followed processes or the characteristics of the semiconductor, for example, the resistivity of the oxide film may be deteriorated.
These problems arise in both the barrel type and the parallel plate type ashing reactors. In the latter reactor, the charged particles mainly impact against the surface of the material to be removed during the discharge, and thus the damage of the material is larger than that in the former reactor.
Further, in the oxygen plasma ashing process, usually, the charged particle such as oxygen radical and ozone does not react with the photoresist of the material to be removed at a practical speed at a low temperature such as below approximately 100.degree. C., and hence heat or another energy instead of the heat is added to the material placed in the plasma. When the material is heated, the inside of the photoresist is carbonized. Therefore, it is more difficult to remove the residues of the organic compounds exposed by the charged particles during the dry plasma ashing, and the residues are apt to remain on the surfaces of the material, in comparison with another process including no dry plasma ashing step.
In order to completely remove the residues 5, it is necessary to perform the oxygen plasma ashing for a long time, for instance, more than one hour, which is inconvenient and disadvantageous for realizing the manufacturing process, and further in such a long oxygen plasma ashing process, the damage to the material is enlarged. Then, the temperature in the reactor is raised to more than 100.degree. C. for improving the etching rate, but this requires a large and complicated processing apparatus. Further, in turn, the residues are liable to be produced at the high temperature, and the residues cannot be completely removed.
On the other hand, nowadays, a pattern size of an integrated circuit for a semiconductor is remarkably diminished to such as a submicron order in a common process. As steps in a semiconductor manufacturing process proceed, a surface of a base plate becomes more uneven and more complicated. When a fine pattern is formed on the uneven and complicated surface of the plate, the dimensional accuracy is remarkably lowered. That is, the dimensions become smaller in the convex surface portions and larger in the concave surface portions.
In order to overcome this problem, a multilayer resist method has been developed. In this case, for instance, an aluminum film is applied over an uneven semiconductor base plate with an uneven aluminum surface, and then a first photoresist is overlaid on the uneven aluminum film with a flattened photoresist surface. Then, a thin film of a material such as silicon oxides having a resistance against the oxygen plasma is uniformly applied over the flat surface of the first photoresist, and a second photoresist is then evenly formed over the flat surface of the plasma-resistant film. The pattern light exposure and the developing of the second photoresist film are conducted to form the desired pattern thereof with an excellent dimensional accuracy because the surface of the second photoresist film is uniform, and then the etching of the plasma-resistant film is carried out in a certain direction, for example, perpendicular to the flat surface plane of the second photoresist, using the patterned second photoresist as the mask. Next, the first photoresist film is etched in the predetermined direction perpendicular to the flat surface plane of the plasma-resistant film, in the oxygen plasma ashing process using the plasma-resistant film as the mask to form a pattern having a high dimensional accuracy. Further, the etching of the aluminum film laid over the semiconductor plate is performed in the oxygen plasma ashing process using the patterned first photoresist film as the mask with an accurate etched pattern on the uneven semiconductor base plate in the same manner as above.
However, in the aforementioned etching processes using the oxygen plasma, the etched aluminum of the aluminum film is sputtered and attaches to the side walls of the patterned plasma-resistant film, the etched first photoresist and the etched aluminum film during the plasma ashing process.
FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an etching process of an aluminum film 13 applied over an oxide film 12 of a semiconductor base plate 11 using a patterned photoresist 14 laid on the aluminum film 13. In this embodiment, during the reactive ion etching process, a charged particle 16 perpendicularly impacts on the aluminum film 13 to sputter the aluminum film 13, and an etched aluminum spatter 17 attaches to the side walls of the photoresist 14 or the patterned aluminum layer 13a to form aluminum film walls 15 thereon, as shown in FIG. 2a. The aluminum film walls 15 can prevents the attacks of the charged particles and thus plays an important roll to form a precise and fine pattern. However, after the aluminum pattern forming by etching using the photoresist as the mask is finished, the photoresist 14 can be removed by the dry plasma ashing process, but the aluminum film walls 15 cannot be removed, as shown in FIG. 2b.
Such film walls of a material to be etched may be formed regardless of the kind of the material during the dry plasma ashing process. For instance, when a polycrystalline silicon is etched, silicon film walls are formed in the same manner as the aluminum film walls when the aluminum material is etched, as described above. Usually, the aluminum film walls can be removed in the wet chemical etching treatment, for example, using an etching solution including a hydrofluoric acid, but, at the same time, the aluminum pattern and the insulating material of silicon oxide film below the aluminum pattern can also be etched in the etching solution. In the case of the polycrystalline silicon, the gate oxide film under the polycrystalline silicon pattern can be etched as well.
When a halogen radical having a strong reactivity, obtained by activating a gas including halogen element or elements such as fluorine is used for etching, the halogen radical can solely react with the organic compound film to remove it. However, when the photoresist or the gate electrode formed on the silicon or silicon oxide base film is etched by the halogen radical alone, the base film is also etched, and hence the halogen radical alone cannot be used for the etching process. Further, the etching rate of the organic compound film using the halogen radical alone becomes approximately 1000 .ANG./min which is not so quick, in practice.

Method for removing composite attached to material by dry etching