A light control system may include a signal coder (e.g., a flasher module), one or more motor vehicle light sources, and a signal decoder. The light control system may be a part of a motor vehicle taillight system. The signal coder may provide a selected signal. The selected signal may be a voltage signal having a modified portion when the signal coder is activated by a turn signal switch. The selected signal may be a substantially non-modified voltage signal when the signal coder is activated by a brake signal switch. The signal decoder may be coupled to the signal coder. The signal decoder may assess the selected signal from the signal coder to determine a selected lighting output of the motor vehicle light sources. The motor vehicle light sources may be coupled to the signal decoder. The motor vehicle light sources may provide the selected lighting output.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to motor vehicle lamp control. Certain embodiments relate to systems and methods for control of motor vehicle taillight assemblies.
2. Description of Related Art
Some automobiles (e.g., older or "classic" automobiles) may not have wiring schemes associated with more recent automobiles that allow for enhanced lighting displays for various lighting functions such as turn signaling, braking, and/or road lighting. An example of an enhanced lighting display is the sequencing of lights during turn signal operation in a taillight assembly to generate the appearance of movement in the taillight assembly. Creating such an enhanced display may include replacing the existing light source (e.g., a single light source) with multiple light sources that may be programmed to sequence in order to create the light movement effect. Enhanced lighting displays may be desirable for aesthetic and/or safety reasons.
Certain older automobiles may have only two wires connected to a taillight assembly. These automobiles often have a dual filament incandescent bulb in each taillight assembly with one wire connected to one filament. One wire may be connected directly to the automobile's headlight switch (i.e., the driving lights switch) so that one filament is used as a driving light source. The second wire may be wired to the brake switch (i.e., brake on/off switch) and also to the turn signal switch. When the brake switch is activated (e.g., the brake pedal is depressed) then a single filament in the incandescent bulb is illuminated. If the turn signal switch is activated, a flashing circuit may be activated (e.g., by a flasher module located at or near a driver's compartment of the automobile) to turn the power (i.e., the voltage and current) supplied to the same filament connected to the brake switch on and off so that the filament displays a flashing turn signal. This flashing display occurs whether or not the brake switch is activated.
Kits and methods currently used to provide enhanced lighting displays on these automobiles may involve installing a centrally located microprocessor and adding additional lighting and/or wiring. Examples of these types of kits and methods include: Hotronics LS-6 Taillight sequencer (Hotronics Products, Anaheim, Calif.), Advanced Turn Signals sequential systems (Sanford, N.C.), Lewis-Scott Sequential Turn Signals (Blink Blink, Austin, Tex.), and STS-1 and STS-2 systems (Web Electric Products, Mayfield Heights, Ohio). These kits and methods may provide an enhanced lighting display (e.g., a sequenced lighting display) in the taillight assembly without distinguishing between whether the brake switch is activated or the turn signal switch is activated.
Some kits and methods may be used to replace a dual filament incandescent bulb with three individual dual filament bulbs. Adding the additional bulbs may require additional wiring between the dash area of the automobile and the new bulbs. Mechanical modifications may have to be made to the automobile to allow for the additional wiring. Some kits and methods include electromechanical relays (e.g., high power relays) to provide current to the incandescent bulbs.
Additional mechanical apparatus (e.g., microprocessors, electromechanical relays, lighting, and/or wiring) may be expensive and/or be susceptible to installation errors. Additional mechanical apparatus may affect the value and/or the function of the automobile (e.g., especially rare or one of a kind automobiles).


A layout pattern generation method and device executing this method in which a symbolic layout of a semiconductor integrated circuit is generated, the sizes of transistors are changed by using the circuit connection information of the layout pattern, the correspondence information of the transistors whose sizes have been changed are generated by using the symbolic layout and the changed circuit connection information, the symbolic layout after the transistor sizes have been changed is generated by using the correspondence information, the generated symbolic layout is compacted, and then a new layout pattern is generated by using the compacted layout pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a layout pattern generation device for semiconductor integrated circuits and a method used by the layout pattern generation device, and more particularly, it relates to a layout pattern generation device and a method for semiconductor integrated circuits for generating a layout pattern in which transistor sizes in an existing layout pattern are changed.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams showing conventional computer Aided Design (CAD) systems for generating the layout pattern of a LSI (a large scale integrated circuit).
There is the "LAS" that is a product of CADENCE company as one of examples of the conventional CAD systems. This CAD system "LAS" comprises the symbolic layout synthetic means 2 and the compaction means 4 and the symbolic polygon conversion means 6, as shown in FIG. 1A.
In the conventional CAD system shown in FIG. 1A, a symbolic layout is synthesized based on the circuit connection information 1 by the symbolic layout synthesis means 2. Then, the symbolic layout 3 is compacted by the compaction means 4, the compacted symbolic layout is converted to polygon data items by the symbolic polygon conversion means 6. Thereby, the layout pattern 7 is generated.
FIG. 1B is a block diagram showing the configuration of another conventional CAD system.
The conventional CAD system shown in FIG. 1B comprises a polygon symbolic conversion means 9, a compaction means 11, and a symbolic polygon conversion means 13. In this CAD system shown in FIG. 1B, a symbolic layout 10 is generated based on an existing layout pattern 8 by the polygon symbolic conversion means 9. Then, the symbolic layout 10 is compacted by the compaction means 11, the compacted symbolic layout is converted to polygon data items by the symbolic polygon conversion means 13. Thereby, the new layout pattern 14 is generated.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of another conventional CAD system. The CAD system shown in FIG. 2 further comprises means for performing an optimization process for transistor sizes. That is, the CAD system shown in FIG. 2 has the function of the above optimization means in addition to the function of the conventional CAD system shown in FIG. 1B.
The information of the conventional CAD system shown in FIG. 2 is following: S. Kishida, et al., "Transistor Size Optimization in Layout Design Rule Migration", Proceedings of the IEEE 1994 Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, pp. 541-544).
That is, the CAD system shown in FIG. 2 comprises the circuit extraction means 15, the transistor size optimization means 17, and the symbol conversion means 18. In both the CAD systems shown in FIG. 1B and FIG. 2, the processes from the existing layout pattern process to the new layout pattern generation process are same. After these processes, in the CAD system shown in FIG. 2, data items as circuit connection information 16 are extracted from the new layout pattern 14 by the circuit extraction means 15. The transistor sizes are optimized by using the circuit connection information 16 by the transistor size optimization means 17. Then, the sizes of transistors in the compacted symbolic layout 12 are changed according to the result of the optimization process by the symbol conversion means 18. Then, the symbolic layout 19, whose transistor sizes has been changed, is compacted by the compaction means 11. The compacted symbolic layout 12 is converted to polygon data items by the symbolic polygon conversion means 13. Thereby, a new layout pattern 14 is generated.
After the new symbolic layout pattern is obtained, the circuit extraction means 15, and the symbolic polygon conversion means 13 are repeatedly processed.
In the conventional CAD system shown in FIG. 1A, it is possible to change the transistor sizes based on the circuit connection information and to apply the changed transistor sizes to the layout pattern. Thereby, it can be easily performed to change the layout pattern. However, there is a problem that it is impossible to generate a new layout pattern by using any existing layout pattern because this conventional CAD system shown in FIG. 1A generates a new layout pattern only by using the circuit connection information.
In the conventional CAD system shown in FIG. 1B, although it is possible to generate a new layout pattern, in which transistor sizes in an existing layout pattern have been changed, by changing parameters of the transistor symbols in symbolic data items, it must require many times to perform the new layout pattern generation process when the number of data items are large. In this case, if the transistor size changing operation is performed for the circuit connection information and this operation result can be reflected to or used for the layout pattern, the new layout pattern generation process can be executed efficiently. However, it is difficult in configuration and function to execute the above processes by the conventional CAD system.
As described above, it is impossible to change the transistor sizes in the conventional CAD systems without a hand process. That is, it is difficult to optimize the transistor sizes in the layout pattern by using the conventional CAD systems.
On the other hand, the conventional CAD system shown in FIG. 2 includes the function of the transistor size optimization process in addition to the function of the conventional CAD system shown in FIG. 1B. Therefore, the transistor size optimization process can be executed by the CAD system shown in FIG. 2. However, the conventional CAD system shown in FIG. 2 can execute the transistor size optimization process only by using a layout pattern in which the compaction process has already been completed. Therefore it must require many times to execute the transistor size optimization process. In addition to this drawback, there is the drawback that a compaction ratio or a compaction effect based on the changing of the transistor sizes becomes bad after the layout pattern is compacted one time.
When the transistor size changing process is executed by a hand processing in the conventional CAD system, the symbolic data items or the circuit connection information extracted from the layout pattern are used. Accordingly, when the number of data items are large, it becomes impossible to perform the transistor size changing process using the symbolic data items. Furthermore, it is difficult to use the circuit connection information extracted from the layout pattern by a hand processing.

Layout pattern generation device for semiconductor integrated circuits and method therefor


Methods and compositions for needleless delivery of macromolecules to the bloodstream of a subject are provided herein. In one aspect, the invention provides a delivery construct, comprising a receptor binding domain, a transcytosis domain, a macromolecule to be delivered to a subject, and a cleavable linker. In certain aspects, the cleavable linker can be cleavable by an enzyme present in higher concentration at or near the basal-lateral membrane of a polarized epithelial cell or in the plasma than elsewhere in the body, for example, at the apical side of the polarized epithelial cell. In other aspects, the invention provides nucleic acids encoding delivery constructs of the invention, kits comprising delivery constructs of the invention, cells expressing delivery constructs of the invention, and methods of using delivery constructs of the invention.

Advances in biochemistry and molecular biology have resulted identification and characterization of many therapeutic macromolecules, including, for example, growth hormone, erythropoietin, insulin, IGF, and the like. Administration of these molecules can result in drastic improvements in quality of life for subjects afflict with a wide range of ailments.
However, administration of these therapeutic macromolecules remains problematic. Currently, therapeutic macromolecules are typically administered by injection. Such injections require penetration of the subject's skin and tissues and are associated with pain. Further, penetration of the skin breaches one effective nonspecific mechanism of protection against infection, and thus can lead to potentially serious infection.
Previous attempts have been made for needleless delivery of macromolecules to subjects. See, e.g., International Patent Publication No. WO 01/30,392. In these efforts, delivery vehicles are used to deliver macromolecules to a subject through polarized epithelial cells. However, these derivatives lack a cleavable linker that is cleavable by an enzyme at the basal-lateral membrane of a polarized epithelial cell. Without cleavage, the probability of induction of an immune response against the delivery vehicle and/or the macromolecule to be delivered is increased. Also, steric hindrance between the delivery vehicle and the macromolecule can reduce the activity of the macromolecule, reducing efficacy of the treatment.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need for new methods and compositions that can be used to administer macromolecules to subjects without breaching the skin of the subject. This and other needs are met by the methods and compositions of the present invention.


A process for manufacturing a Junction Field-Effect Transistor, comprises doping a semiconductor material formed on an insulating substrate with impurities of a first conductivity type to form a well region. The process continues by implanting impurities of a second conductivity type into said well region to form a channel region, and by implanting impurities of the first conductivity type in said well region to form a back gate region. The process continues by forming a trench to expose at least one sidewall of said channel region, wherein the trench extends far enough along the sidewall to expose at least a portion of said back gate region. The process continues by depositing polysilicon to fill said trench along the at least one sidewall of said channel region and at least a portion of said back gate region, wherein at least a portion of the polysilicon will form a gate contact. The polysilicon is then doped with impurities of a first conductivity type. The process concludes by annealing the polysilicon to activate the doped impurities and to cause the doped impurities to diffuse along the at least one sidewall of said channel region so as to form a top gate region. The top gate region extends far enough to make electrical contact with said back gate region.

Junction Field-Effect Transistors (JFETs) are made in active areas in semiconductor substrates where the active area is surrounded by field oxide. In the active area, a conductive area called a well is formed and that well forms a PN junction with the bulk substrate. That PN junction is called the back gate, and it is conventional to form a surface contact to the well so that bias can be applied to the well region for various purposes. This separate contact for the well consumes chip area and reduces the overall total number of devices that can be formed on any wafer.
In the well, a conductive channel region is formed, and in that channel region, conductive source, drain and gate regions are formed. These source, drain and gate regions form PN junctions with the channel region. In a new class of processes and structures which are the subject of patent applications previously filed by the assignee of the present invention, these source, drain and gate regions are very shallow. Each of the source, drain and gate regions has a surface contact.
The JFET functions to selectively switch current flow between the source and drain contacts. This is done by applying suitable voltages to the source and drain and applying a bias voltage to the gate contact which is such as to cause pinchoff when no current flow is desired and to open the channel when current flow is desired. Pinchoff is a condition where depletion regions from the gate-channel junction and the channel substrate junction meet and block current flow for lack of minority carriers in the channel. In an n-channel enhancement-mode JFET, current flows when the gate is biased to a positive voltage which is sufficient to cause the depletion regions to not meet, thereby opening the channel for conduction. Pinchoff is achieved by holding the gate at ground or a negative voltage Depletion-mode devices are also available which are normally conductive when a source-to-drain bias is applied and the gate voltage is below the pinchoff voltage. In these devices, the gate must be driven to a voltage adequate to cause pinchoff to cut off current flow.
All these devices require proper operation of the shallow PN gate-channel junction to operate as designed. If this junction is shorted, the device does not operate as a normal four terminal JFET.
In making JFETS, a class of processes exist in which a layer of silicon dioxide is deposited over the entire structure including the active area. Openings are etched in this oxide layer where the source, drain and gate and back gate surface contacts are to be formed. This layer is thin however, and the openings are etched with a process that can over-etch and eat away the field oxide at the edge of the active area so as to expose the sidewall of the active area. If the over etching is bad enough, the gate-channel, source-channel and drain-channel PN junctions can be exposed. Then when conductive polycrystalline silicon (hereafter polysilicon) or metal is deposited into the openings to form the surface contacts, the gate-channel, source-channel and drain-channel PN junctions can be shorted. This can render the device inoperative, but it can also be used to advantage to eliminate the surface contact for the back gate.

JFET with built in back gate in either SOI or bulk silicon


A testing apparatus includes a relay and a connector. The relay includes a coil, first and second single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switches. The first and the second SPDT switches include first and second contacts. The connector includes first and second hard disk drive (HDD) indicator pins, and first and second switch pins. The first contact of the first SPDT switch is grounded. The first contact of the second SPDT switch is connected to the power source. The first HDD indicator pin is connected to a power source. The second HDD indicator pin is connected to the second contact of the first SPDT switch and the second contact of the second SPDT switch. The first switch pin is connected to the power source. The second switch pin is grounded via the coil.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to testing apparatuses and, particularly, to a testing apparatus for detecting a power indicator and a hard disk drive (HDD) indicator of a computer.
2. Description of Related Art
At present, states of power and an HDD of a personal computer can be revealed by indicators. The power and HDD indicators need to be tested when testing the computer. However, an ordinary testing apparatus is complicated, large, and inconvenient to use.
What is needed, therefore, is a testing apparatus which can solve the above problems.

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A method of excimer laser annealing includes generating a focused long line beam with a laser beam output from at least one laser source; and scanning the long line beam in a direction perpendicular to a long axis of the long line beam along a surface of an amorphous semiconductor film on a substrate. The long line beam has a normalized beam angular divergence half-width φ=arctan(tan θy/sin θ) that is less than a critical value φc, where θy represents a beam angular divergence half-width measured along the long axis of the long line beam on the surface of the amorphous semiconductor film, θ represents a mean incidence angle of the long line beam on the surface of the amorphous semiconductor film, and φc is approximately 30°.

(a) Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a method of excimer laser annealing.
(b) Discussion of the Related Art
Excimer laser annealing (ELA) can be used to form transistors used for switches or driving circuits of display devices, such as an organic light emitting display device and a liquid crystal display device. In an ELA method, an excimer laser beam is irradiated to an amorphous semiconductor film formed on a substrate to locally heat and melt the amorphous semiconductor film and thereafter, crystallize the corresponding amorphous semiconductor film into a polycrystalline semiconductor film while cooling the heated amorphous semiconductor film. The crystallized semiconductor film can form a high performance transistor because of increased electron mobility.
Therefore, ELA is used for modern mass production of display devices. For manufacturing uniformity of the transistors of the display devices, the polycrystalline semiconductor film formed by ELA should be uniform. To improve the uniformity and electrical characteristics of the semiconductor film, rectangular grains may be formed. ELA control factors include energy density, the number of overlapping pulses, pulse duration, an incidence angle, a substrate temperature, etc.


A light emitting structure including a first conductive semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a second conductive semiconductor layer. A first electrode is electrically coupled to the first conductive semiconductor layer. A current blocking layer is provided adjacent to the light emitting structure, and includes a top surface disposed in the first conductive semiconductor layer by passing through the active layer. A first metal layer is provided over the current blocking layer and contacts the first conductive semiconductor layer, and a reflective electrode is electrically coupled to the second conductive semiconductor layer.

The embodiment relates to a light emitting device, a light emitting device package, and a light unit.
A light emitting diode (LED) has been extensively used as one of light emitting devices. The LED converts electrical signals into the form of light such as infra-red light, visible light and ultra-violet light by using the characteristic of a compound semiconductor.
As the light efficiency of the light emitting device is increased, the light emitting device has been used in various fields such as display apparatuses and lighting appliances.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.


A new approach is disclosed for measuring the pressure of tight gas reservoirs, using information obtain from continuous injection prior to hydraulic fracture stimulation. The technique can be obtained utilizing either bottom-hole or surface pressure gauges and properly instrumented surface injection pumps. The analysis is completed by plotting injection and rate data in a specialized form from terms arranged in Darcy's radial flow equation to obtain a curve or trend. The key component to proper application of this technique is to obtain both baseline and one or more calibration data sets. These calibration data sets are obtained by either increasing or decreasing the injection pressure and/or rate from the baseline data. Initial reservoir pressure is assumed, but the calibration data indicates if the guess was too high or low. Accurate estimates of reservoir pressure may be obtained in a few iterations.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of exploration and production of hydrocarbons. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of determining reservoir pressure in hydrocarbon reservoirs.
2. Background of the Invention
Increasingly, hydrocarbon resource is being developed in low permeability reservoirs. For example, more than 50%) of the currently identified gas resources in the United States is found within tight gas and shale gas reservoirs (ref. Table 9.2 of the US EIA report titled "Assumptions to Annual Energy Outlook 2011" http://22.214.171.124/forecasts/aeo/assumptions/pdf/0554(2011).pdf). Estimation of reservoir pressure in tight gas, shale gas and tight oil reservoirs is important for variety of reasons including estimates for ultimate recovery, production forecasting and optimization of depletion planning. Completion designs, modeling studies and future field development decisions are all improved with better knowledge of current and historical reservoir pressures. However, reservoir pressure is difficult to determine in low permeability reservoirs using current well testing methods due to the long shut-in times required for the well test to obtain a reliable estimate of reservoir pressure. Injection testing during the completion phase performed prior to hydraulic fracturing in many cases has proven effective in determining reservoir pressures in low permeability reservoirs. These types of tests become less economically attractive to run if reservoir conditions are such that the fluid level within the wellbore drops below surface resulting in the well going on vacuum before sufficient data has had time to be collected. Running downhole pressure gauges is often not economically practical. In addition, as the permeability decreases, the monitoring time required increases, introducing a significant delay in the well completion. Obtaining reservoir pressure in a more economical manner has value in a number of ways. In marginally economic developments, it may present the only way to directly measure reservoir pressure. Mini falloff tests (MFoT) are the current accepted industry practice to obtain estimates of reservoir pressure in low permeability reservoirs. While MFoTs are generally conducted prior to hydraulic fracture treatments the time to obtain analyzable data could still require several days thus limiting the application of this method on a wide scale basis. The main reasons for this are wellbore storage and the need to obtain pseudo radial flow. Having a method where wellbore storage and obtaining radial flow were not limiting factors would greatly enhance the ability to obtain estimates of reservoir pressure. Should an MFoT be performed, having a prior independent estimate of reservoir pressure would allow for both a confirmation of reservoir pressure and improvements in permeability height estimates. If reservoir pressure and permeability are known then during production, rate transient analysis (RTA) can be more accurately applied to estimate fracture length and conductivity, thus allowing for improved understanding of completion efficiencies. Utilizing test results to establish relationships between reservoir pressure (pore pressure) and fracture and/or closure pressures within specific reservoir intervals, could potentially allow for using historically recorded fracture and/or closure pressures to provide estimates of historical field wide depletion. Documented results utilizing Eaton's correlation shows that comparing measured pore pressure to fracture and/or closure pressure could result in establishing trend lines for specific reservoirs. Applying previously documented fracture and/or closure pressures to these trend line relationships would yield estimated reservoir pressure at the time of each of the prior fracture simulations, thus providing estimates of historical fieldwide depletion. Establishing and utilizing these trend lines then could greatly leverage the test results far beyond the limited amount of actual test data actually measured. To have confidence in these trend lines a statistically meaningful set of measures reservoirs pressures must be taken.
Consequently, there is a need for an improved low-cost and accurate method of determining reservoir pressure in low permeability reservoir systems.

Method of determining reservoir pressure


An iron type golf club head body has a back portion with a recess defined by a perimeter wall therein, and the recess having a back surface for attachment of an adjustable medallion. In a set of golf irons, the recess areas are progressively larger as the irons get shorter in length. In lieu of providing a different size medallion for each club head in a set of irons, the adjustable medallion is designed to use one medallion to accommodate an entire set of irons. The medallion consists of top and bottom pieces that can slide to an either small size or an expanded size. An area between the pieces creates a gap that will vary in width depending upon the size of the club head.

To help the average golfer consistently hit the sweet spot of a club head, many golf clubs are available having heads with so-called cavity back designs with increased perimeter weighting. Another more recent trend has been to simply increase the overall size of the club heads, especially in the long irons. Each of these features will increase the size of the sweet spot and therefore make it more likely that a shot hit slightly off the center of gravity of the club head still makes contact with the sweet spot and flies farther and straighter as a result. A result of these sets of clubs is a much larger rear surface.
Usually, the rear surface of an iron club has a medallion affixed to it. The medallion may be selected to afford a measure of dampening, weight adjustment or just a place to put the manufacturer's logo. One problem area is that since the irons have various sized heads, it is often necessary to have various sized medallions to fit the different dimensions.
The individual golf club heads in a set typically increase progressively in surface area and weight as the clubs progress from the long irons to the short irons. Thus, because the club heads of long irons (i.e. 2, 3, 4) have smaller rear surface areas than the short irons (i.e. 8, 9), smaller sized medallions are needed as the irons progressively get longer. The present invention provides a solution to the need of various sized medallions.


A composition comprising cyazofamid and an organic base, a process for the preparation of such compositions, methods of use thereof and a multi-pack container comprising the composition.

Cyazofamid (4-chloro-2-cyano-N,N-dimethyl-5-p-tolylimidazole-1-sulfonamide) is an imidazole sulfonamide fungicide introduced by ISHIHARA SANGYO KAISHA, LTD and marketed under the tradename Ranman and having the following chemical structure:

Cyazofamid has a foliar and soil preventative action with some residual activity. Cyazofamid has very low water solubility and a short hydrolytic half-life.
The article "Photodegradation research of cyazofamid" (Journal of agro environment science, 2009, 28 (1):151-155), disclosed degradative dynamics of 10% cyazofamid suspension on the leaves of cucumber plant and in aqueous solution. It was concluded that cyazofamid had faster degradation rate in the aqueous environment. It was also noted that during the day, the degradative half-life of cyazofamid on leaves of cucumber was 63.6 h, while there was no significant degradation in darkness. Thus, it was concluded that natural light was important factor which affected degradation in natural environment. It was found that the photolytic rate of cyazofamid was accelerated with increasing pH value and temperature and increasing light intensity in aqueous solution, in which the light source and light intensity were the main influencing factor. Therefore, it is recommended that the application of cyazofamid should select low temperature and illumination of weak light in the evening so as to play greater efficacy. There have been numerous other attempts in the art to improve the storage stability of cyazofamid but none too successful.
US 20040039039 discloses synergistic combination of imidazole derivatives (cyazofamid) and a dithiocarbamate (Mancozeb). However, this publication fails to disclose a stable composition of cyazofamid.
WO2009123346 discloses a pesticidal aqueous suspension composition (liquid formulation) comprising a sparingly water-soluble pesticide, an organosilicone surface active agent, a viscosity-reducing agent, an antifoaming agent, a pH adjustor and a dispersant.
WO2010021404 (US2011144175A1) discloses a method for controlling degradation of Cyazofamid in solid formulation by using a stabilizer selected from the group consisting of epoxidized animal oil and/or vegetable oil, a nonionic surface active agent of polyoxyethylene, an anionic surface active agent of polyoxyethylene, a polyhydric alcohol and an inorganic basic substance. The preferred basic substance includes an alkali metal hydroxide, an alkali metal carbonate, an alkali metal bicarbonate, an alkaline earth metal hydroxide, an alkaline earth metal carbonate and an alkaline earth metal bicarbonate.
A need remains in the art for stable formulations of cyazofamid having improved storage stability. The present invention adequately addresses these and other needs existing in the art.
Thus, there is an unfulfilled need in the art for a storage stable formulation comprising cyazofamid with enhanced storage stability and reduced degradation.


A refurbishing method, refurbishing apparatus and refurbished article are provided. The refurbishing method includes accessing a plurality of rotatable components attached to a turbine assembly, the turbine assembly being a portion of a turbomachine, providing a predetermined volume of a buffered electrolytic solution in an electro-polishing tank, coupling the plurality of rotatable components to a power supply, immersing an immersion portion of at least one of the plurality of rotatable components in the buffered electrolytic solution, passing an electrical energy through the immersion portion of at least one of the plurality of rotatable components while the immersion portion is immersed in the buffered electrolytic solution, wherein an electrical flux to the immersion portion electro-polishes the immersion portion, separating the immersion portion from the buffered electrolytic solution, and applying a corrosion inhibitor to the plurality of rotatable components.

Gas turbines (GT) are often subjected to harsh operating conditions and prolonged operation times, leading to oxidation and corrosion wear of GT components. For GT compressor rotor blades, these factors cause surface finish degradation, adversely affecting the aerodynamic performance of the blades by increasing the coefficient of drag (CD) and resulting in reduced performance. Usually during major inspections, which are conducted at predetermined intervals, the rotor blades and stator vanes are manually scrubbed and/or cleaned to partially restore the surface finish of the blades and vanes. The scrubbing and/or cleaning of the rotor blades and vanes improves the surface finish, partially restoring GT output and efficiency. However, current methods of cleaning do not fully restore the surface finish to that of a new blade.
Manual scrubbing and/or cleaning of the rotor blades is a time-consuming process which results in a less than optimal surface finish of the blade. An alternative to manual scrubbing and/or cleaning of the rotor blades is electro-polishing of the rotor blades.
Electro-polishing of the rotor blades provides an improved surface finish of the blade, as compared to manual scrubbing. However, current electro-polishing practices require disassembly and/or transportation of the GT. Disassembly and transportation increase the GT downtime, resulting in lost productivity. Down time for transportation of the GT can be up to two months.
A refurbishing method that does not suffer from one or more of the above drawbacks is desirable in the art.

Method and apparatus for refurbishing turbine components


The device for displaying an image of the present invention is configured such as to have font data including the left-to-right reversion of the characters of the language written from right to left and also a reversion selection register in the OSD control section, wherein OSD picture data in the memory section are left-to-right reversed and transferred to VRAM when a language to be written from right to left is selected as a display language.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of displaying an image, a device for displaying an image and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, image display devices have come to have complicated setup menus due to high performance functionality. The world-wide market for image display devices which have setup menus which allow a choice of a language are increasing.
The configuration of a conventional image display device capable of performing resolution conversion and OSD (On Screen Display) video synthesis processing function has, as represented in FIG. 1, scaler section 100, A/D converter 101, video decoder 102, CPU 112, RAM for work area 113, ROM for storing program codes and setup data 114, ROM for storing OSD-related data 115 and bus line 116.
Scaler section 100 has input section 103 that selects a video signal of A/D converter 101 and video decoder 102, memory section 104 that stores the video signal selected at input section 103, resolution converter 105 that converts the resolution of the video signal stored in memory section 104, VRAM 106 for deploying the resolution-converted video signals, OSD control section 107 that controls the on-screen display of the OSD pictures, memory section 108 that serves as a work area for producing the OSD pictures, output section 109 that supplies video signals stored in VRAM 106, internal bus line 111 that connects the blocks within scaler 100, and interface section 110 that controls the communication between bus line 116 and internal bus line 116. VRAM 106 is provided with video storage section 106a, which stores video signals, and OSD picture storage section 106b, which stores OSD pictures. OSD control section 107 is provided with H/V address setup section 107a, which sets up the addresses in OSD picture storage section 106b.
In conventional image display devices capable of displaying a setup menu in a language selected from a plurality of languages, since many languages such as English, German and Japanese are written from left to right, the display layout of the setup menu is designed to be properly formatted when written in a language that is written from left to right. For example, setup item names are arranged on the left side of a screen and setup values and adjustment bars are represented on the right side of the item names, in a flush left representation (cf. JP 2000-206955).
In the above described on-screen layout, a problem has been encountered, however, that displaying a language to be written from right to left such as Arabic yields a representation that appears to be unbalanced and very clumsy, because the right-side display positions of the characters at the top of letter strings are not aligned.
In order to address this issue, while an invention has been described (cf. JP Patent No. 2563376) in which a language information processor section corresponding to a selected language executes any of flush left/right, left/right margin, right/left justification, indent, equal space and frame space procedures, and in the case where the selected language is Arabic, performs processing identical to that of English regarding flush left and left margin, nothing is specifically described regarding the way to write a right-to-left language (a language to be written from right to left) such as Arabic.
An invention of a method and apparatus for displaying bi-directional text has been described (cf. JP 2000-250515) in which an on-screen control function is provided, the function supporting a default language that is written in a first direction from left to right and a non-default language that is written in a second direction from right to left such as Arabic and Hebrew; reversing the order of characters in the portion of the non-default language in the text to be displayed on the screen; and creating a line break at a space between the characters in the line which is the closest to the end of the line, and displaying the space at the left end of the text window.
In conventional image display devices, since many languages such as English, German and Japanese are written from left to right, the display layout of the setup menu is designed to be properly formatted when written in a left-to-right language. For example, setup item names are arranged on the left side of a screen and setup values and adjustment bars are represented on the right side of the item names, in a flush left representation.
On the other hand, when a setup menu is displayed in a language written from right to left such as Arabic and Hebrew, it is preferred that setup item names are arranged on the right side of a screen, and setup values and adjustment bars are represented on the left side of the item names, in a flush right representation. In the invention described in JP 2000-250515, while the left-to-right written language can be converted into the right-to-left written language by reversing the order of characters, it is impossible to make the conversion from the writing style of setup item names arranged on the left side of a screen and setup values and adjustment bars arranged on the right side of the item names to the writing style of setup item names arranged on the right side of a screen and setup values and adjustment bars arranged on the left side of the item names. In order to convert the display order from the arrangement that setup item names are arranged on the left side of a screen and setup values and adjustment bars are displayed on the right side thereof to the arrangement that setup item names are arranged on the right side of a screen and setup values and adjustment bars are displayed on the left side thereof, it is necessary to provide new on-screen layout data for arranging setup item names on the right side of a screen and displaying setup values and adjustment bars on the left side thereof. This gives rise to the problem for increased ROM capacity.

Method of displaying image, device for displaying image and program


A semiconductor device drive circuit comprises first drive means for driving an IGBT, second drive means for driving the IGBT at lower speed than the first drive means, switch means for switching output of the first drive means and output of the second drive means for supply to a gate of the IGBT, and current decrease start point detection means for detecting a current decrease start point when a transition is made from a first period in which change in a collector current is moderate to a second period in which change in the collector current is abrupt when the IGBT is turned off. The switch means is operated so as to use the first drive means in the first period and the second drive means in the second period in response to output of the current decrease start point detection means.

This invention relates to a gate drive circuit of an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor which is an insulated gate self-extinction elements) of a switching semiconductor device and in particular to a gate drive circuit which enables suppression of a voltage surge during the turn-off operation and a decrease in a switching loss.
FIG. 18 is a block diagram to show a semiconductor device drive circuit described in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 5-328746, for example. In the figure, numeral 1 is an insulated gate bipolar transistor for controlling the conduction state between main electrodes in response to a voltage applied to a control electrode, numeral 1a is a control electrode, numeral 1b is a first main electrode, and numeral 1c is a second main electrode. For simplicity, the insulated gate bipolar transistor 1 will be hereinafter referred as the IGBT 1, the control electrode 1a called the gate 1a, the first main electrode 1b called the collector 1b, and the second main electrode 1c called the emitter 1c. Numeral 2 is an on-DC voltage source for supplying a voltage to turn on the IGBT 1, numeral 3 is an off-DC voltage source for supplying a voltage to turn off the IGBT 1, numeral 4 is switching signal generation means for generating a signal for turning on/off the IGBT 1, numeral 5 is on/off switch means for switching the on-DC voltage source 2 and the off-DC voltage source 3 in response to output of the switching signal generation means 4 for applying a voltage to the gate 1a of the IGBT 1, and numeral 6 is gate resistor switch means for switching gate resistors. The gate resistor switch means 6 is made up of a resistor 9, a resistor 10, and switch means 11. Numeral 7 is current detection means for detecting an electric current flowing into the IGBT 1 and numeral 8 is control means for controlling the gate resistor switch means 6 in response to output of the current detection means 7.
FIG. 19 is a flowchart to show a control method of the control means 8. In the control method, the control means 8 determines whether or not the conduction current is smaller than a reference current value based on output of the current detection means 7 for detecting the conduction current of the IGBT 1. If the control means 8 determines that the conduction current is smaller than the reference current value, it outputs a signal for switching the gate resistor so that the resistance value increases, and terminates the process. If the control means 8 does not determine that the conduction current is smaller than the reference current value, it does not output a signal for switching the gate resistor so that the resistance value increases, and terminates the process.
Next, the operation will be discussed with reference to FIGS. 18 to 21. When the switching signal generation means 4 outputs an on-signal, the on/off switch means 5 switches to the on-DC voltage source 2 for applying an on-voltage via the gate resistor switch means 6 to the gate 1a of the IGBT 1, turning on the IGBT 1. When the IGBT 1 is on, the current detection means 7 detects a conduction current of the IGBT 1 and the control means 8 determines whether or not the detected conduction current value is smaller than a given reference current value. If the control means 8 determines that the conduction current value is smaller than the reference current value, it supplies a resistor switch signal to the gate resistor switch means 6 for switching the switch means 11 so that the resistance value of the gate resistor increases. Specifically, the switch means 11 which is short-circuited is opened for using only the resistor 9 as the gate resistor. Next, when the switching signal generation means 4 outputs an off signal, the on/off switch means 5 switches to the off-DC voltage source 3 for applying an off-voltage via the gate resistor switch means 6 to the gate 1a of the IGBT 1, turning off the IGBT 1. At this time, since the switch means 11 is open, the turn-off operation is performed only with the resistor 9. If the control means 8 determines that the conduction current value is larger than the reference current value, the switch means 11 remains short-circuited and the resultant resistance of the resistors 9 and 10 is used as the gate resistor. Since the resistors 9 and 10 are connected in parallel, the resultant resistance becomes smaller than the resistance value of the resistor 9. Therefore, according to the operation, the gate resistance increases only if the conduction current value is smaller than the reference current value.
FIGS. 20A and 20B are waveform charts to show the effect of the gate resistance magnitude on the switching waveform when the IGBT 1 is turned off. It shows collector current Ic of conduction current of the IGBT 1, collector-to-emitter voltage Vce of the IGBT 1, and switching loss P of the IGBT 1. FIG. 20A shows the effect when the gate resistance is small and FIG. 20B shows the effect when the gate resistance is large. The larger the gate resistance, the more moderate the decrease rate of the collector current Ic when the IGBT is turned off. Thus, the collector-emitter voltage surge caused by applying the decrease rate of the collector current Ic to wiring inductance is decreased. However, the increase rate of the collector-to-emitter voltage Vce also becomes moderate at the same time, thus the switching loss P represented by the multiplication integral value of the collector current Ic and the collector-to-emitter voltage Vce is increased. Thus, the voltage surge can be suppressed by increasing the gate resistance value, but the switching loss is increased accordingly.
Here, the turn-off characteristic of the IGBT 1 will be considered. Fall time tf of the time between the collector current Ic starting to decrease and stopping decreasing when the IGBT 1 is turned off depends on the collector current Ic and has an increasing function characteristic with Ic, as shown in FIG. 21. In the large current region, the fall time tf is prolonged because of the device characteristic and the current decrease rate represented by (collector current/fall time) lessens as a logical consequence, thus the voltage surge does not cause a problem. In contrast, in the small current region, the fall time tf is shortened and the voltage surge increases, thus decrease countermeasures become necessary. Therefore, only when the conduction current is in the small current region, the gate resistance value is increased and the fall time tf is prolonged, whereby the voltage surge can be suppressed. At this time, the gate resistance value is lessened in the large current region, so that the switching loss is not increased.
The conventional semiconductor device drive circuit is thus configured and assumes the device characteristic of the IGBT with the fall time increasing with an increase in the collector current, thus can be applied only to specific devices. With the conventional semiconductor device drive circuit, the minimum value of the gate resistance is determined to suppress the voltage surge, thus the gate resistance cannot be lessened exceeding the limit of the voltage surge. As a result, measures of lessening the gate resistance for decreasing the switching loss cannot effectively be taken.

Semiconductor device drive circuit with voltage surge suppression


A rowing machine having a supporting frame with a seat movable thereon. The supporting frame is pivotally attached to an upright support of a base frame. A lifting device is pivotably interposed between the supporting frame and the base frame for adjusting the angle of the supporting frame relative to the base frame.

1. Fields of the Invention
The invention relates to a rowing machine, and more particularly, to a rowing machine having a lifting device for adjusting the angle of a supporting frame relative to a base frame.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rowing machine is a fitness device having a mechanism with two oarlike handles (or a movable bar), foot braces, and a sliding seat, allowing the user to go through the reciprocating motions of rowing in a racing shell.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,069 teaches a rowing exerciser with magnetic resistance having a supporting frame on which a seat moves for supporting the operator's body. This configuration allows the operator to stably sit on the seat during exercise. However, individual adjustment to weight is not possible, height and physical condition of each operator. The reciprocating motion of the rowing machine at a single angle can't meet different requirements of operators any more.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An exemplary embodiment of a system for updating electronic shelf labels (ESLs) comprises multiple ESLs, and a gateway connected to the multiple ESLs to update data of the multiple ESLs. Each ESL comprises a transceiver having a media condition detector to detect whether other ESL(s) perform an update at the time slot, a controller, a memory, and a random number generator randomly selecting one of multiple time slots of a frame when an ESL update procedure begins, wherein the time slot corresponds to an index stored in the memory by the controller. The ESL performs the update at this time slot when none of said other ESL(s) performs the update at the time slot. When said other ESL(s) performs the update at the time slot, the controller enables the random number generator to randomly select another time slot from a next time frame.

ESL is a small display device, which may replace paper labels and provide information of product names and prices. An ESL system typically includes more than thousands to tens of thousands of ESLs and a gateway. This gateway may be connected to a back-end point of sale (POS) system, update the contents of the ESLs via infrared or low-power wireless RF, to synchronize with product information of a POS system database. The store usually updates an ESL system at several fixed times, such as begins to update all ESLs' contents before the business hour 8:00 in the morning. The used wireless transmission medium bandwidth of ESL is limited, may not allow multiple ESLs to be updated simultaneously. In order to reduce power consumption, the ESL system may not always turn on the wireless module. There are two types of methods for updating ESL(s) to solve these problems. One type is the central assigned schedule, and the other type is the on-demand wakeup.
The central assigned schedule is directly assigned by the gateway, and then notifies each ESL the update time point. The ESL only turns on the wireless transceiver module at the time point assigned by the gateway and communicates with this gateway to update. When the ESL system begins the update, the gateway broadcasts each ESL the time of update. As shown in the example of FIG. 1, it is assumed that an ESL system includes three ESLs A, B, C. When the update begins, such as indicated by an arrow 110, all ESLs (i.e., ESL A, ESL B, and ESL C) together turn on their respective wireless transceiver module to receive the update schedule message broadcasted by the gateway, and ESL A, ESL B, and ESL C update in accordance with the time point specified in this message. Usually, the gateway issues a preamble signal before a predetermined update time, all ESLs at a same time wake up together triggered by an internal clock, after listening to the preamble signal, wake up again at a predetermined time to receive addresses and information according to the time point specified in the afore mentioned message, and return confirmation signals.
The ESL updating method of the central assigned schedule has a variety of variations. As shown in the example of FIG. 2, a power saving method in the ESL system includes a host computer to determine when messages will not be transmitted to any ESL within a time period p beginning from a time point t (step 202). The host computer transmits a power saving message to the ESL (step 204), and the contents in the message contain the time point t and the time period p. After the ESL receives the message, it enters the power saving mode beginning from the time point t, until passing the time period p (step 206). In other words, in this method updating the time point is not decided by the ESL itself, while the host computer directly determines the time point of the communication between the ESL and a gateway.
The on-demand wakeup method requires a wireless transceiver module configured on each ESL to receive update information, and also requires a receiver module configured to delicately receive specific wireless trigger signal(s). This trigger signal receiving module usually is a low power or passive radio frequency (RF) receive element, and the gateway or the host computer does not directly inform each ESL of the update time point. As shown in the example of FIG. 3, when a host computer wants to update an ESL 300, it first issues a trigger signal 322. The trigger receiving unit 342 in the ESL 300 receives this trigger signal, decodes and determines the recipient is itself, then wakes up a radio data communication unit 344 of the ESL 300 and begins to communicate with the base station to receive update information. Another technique discloses that a server host computer transmits a time-sharing control signal. After the ESL receives the control signal, it decodes the control signal to set next wakeup time point.
Many ESL update techniques have been proposed. In general, in the aforementioned two types of ESL update technology, the update procedure or period of the central assigned schedule relies on the gateway or the host computer arranges and notifies each ESL for each ESL update. When the schedule message that the gateway transmits to the ESL is interfered by interferences to lead to a communication failure, some or all ESLs may not receive the schedule, and the gateway needs to perform re-schedule and re-notification. In the actual application environment such as the environment of the store, due to the store environment being complex and full of changes, such as interference by consumers carrying all kinds of electronic appliances or crowded environment may completely obscure the line of sight of the ESLs and the gateway, the ESL is unable to receive the update schedule message, or unable to complete the update at the specified update time, and both may cause update failure for the affected ESL. Although there are corresponding solutions for this problem, for example, the staff completes the update manually with a hand-held device, but this method may increase the burden of labor cost. While the on-demand wakeup method requires additionally the receiver module configured and dedicated to receive the specific wireless trigger signal for each ESL, it increases the hardware cost of each ESL.

System and method for updating electronic shelf labels and updating apparatus and method of an electronic shelf label

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A motor includes a rotor having a permanent magnet fitted thereon, and a stator having an inner peripheral surface spaced a predetermined distance from an outer peripheral surface of the rotor in opposed relation thereto, and the stator is press-fitted in a motor case to be fixed thereto with its outer peripheral surface. A plurality of projecting portions are formed on an inner peripheral surface of the motor case. Recess portions for engagement with the respective projecting portions are formed in the outer peripheral surface of the stator. When the stator is press-fitted into the motor case, the stator is fixed to the motor case with inner bottom surfaces of the recess portions serving as press-fitting surfaces. The projecting portions of the motor case are engaged respectively in the recess portions of the stator, thereby preventing the rotation of the stator relative to the motor case.

This invention relates to a motor and an electric pump.
One related motor disclosed, for example, in JP-A-2005-168098, is known. Namely, as shown in FIG. 6, the motor 91 has a cylindrical stator 93 fixed to an inner peripheral surface of a motor case 92. The stator 93 is formed by superimposing together a plurality of electromagnetic steel sheets each made of a steel material which is a magnetic material having high magnetic permeability. As shown also in FIG. 7, a plurality of teeth 93a are formed on and project from an inner peripheral surface of the stator 93 at predetermined intervals, and conductor wires are wound on these teeth to form coils 94.
As shown in FIG. 6, an output shaft 95 is inserted in and rotatably supported on the motor case 92 through a pair of bearings 96a and 96b, and a rotor 97 is mounted on the output shaft 95 for rotation therewith. A tubular magnet 98 is fixedly mounted on an outer peripheral surface of the rotor 97, and this magnet 98 is disposed in such a manner that its outer peripheral surface is opposed to the inner peripheral surface (more accurately, distal end surfaces of the plurality of teeth 93a) of the stator 93 through a slight clearance. Namely, the rotor 97 and the magnet 98 are rotatably supported in a space formed within the stator 93 (more accurately, generally defined by the distal end surfaces of the plurality of teeth 93a). The rotor 97 is rotated by a rotating magnetic field produced by energizing the coils 94.
The motor of this construction has been used as a power source of an electric pump suited for use as a fuel pump, a water pump, an oil pump, a hydraulic pump of a transmission, etc., for a vehicle. For example, an electric pump is disclosed in JP-A-2005-337025, in which in order to reduce the number of component parts and also to achieve a compact design, a single common shaft serves as an output shaft of a motor and also as a drive shaft of a pump.
However, in the above related motor, the stator is mounted on the motor case by press-fitting the former into the latter. Therefore, there has been a fear that following problem might be encountered. Namely, as shown in FIG. 7, the stator 93 is formed such that a transverse cross-section of its outer periphery has a circular shape, and the motor case 92 is formed such that a transverse cross-section of its inner periphery has a circular shape. The outer diameter of the stator 93 is substantially equal to or slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the motor case 92. When the stator 93 is forced or press-fitted into the motor case 92 through one open end thereof with a predetermined force, the stator 93 is fixed to the motor case 92, with its outer peripheral surface held in intimate contact with the inner peripheral surface of the motor case 92.
When the stator 93 is thus press-fitted into the motor case 92 to be fixed thereto, the stator 93 receives a compressive force (external stresses) from the motor case 92 over the entire periphery thereof. As a result, compressive stresses (internal stresses) directed outward from its center occurs in the stator 93. It is commonly known that when such compressive stresses occurs in the stator 93, magnetic properties of the stator 93 are adversely affected, so that iron loss (core loss) increases. In order to suitably prevent the rotation of the stator 93 relative to the motor case 92, it is necessary to secure a certain degree of press-fit interference which is the dimensional difference between the outer diameter of the stator 93 and the inner diameter of the motor case 92. However, as the press-fit interference increases, the compressive stresses occurring in the stator 93 increases and hence the iron loss increase. Further, as the iron loss of the stator 93 increases, the amount of heat generated in the motor 91 increases, which leads to a lowered efficiency of the motor 91. These problems are encountered commonly with the type of motors in which a stator is press-fitted in a motor case to be fixed thereto as in the above related motor.
In recent years, there is still a tendency for vehicles to be computerized, and therefore it has been required to further reduce power consumption. Motors also are not an exception, and it has been required to secure a higher efficiency. Furthermore, in the case where the motor is used as the drive source of the above electric pump, the lowered efficiency of the motor leads to a lowered output power of the electric pump. In this respect, also, it has been strongly desired to secure the still higher efficiency of the motor.


An electromechanical brake actuator (2) includes a housing (1), a first housing part (3) configured as a housing flange for attaching the electromechanical brake actuator (2) to a disc brake (38), a second housing part (4) for receiving a drive (6), a third housing part (5) arranged between the first housing part (3) and the second housing part (4) and connected to the first housing part (3) and the second housing part (4), a motor (37), a gearbox (7), and a tappet (9) or a spindle for actuating a disc brake (38). The housing (1) is an aluminum die-cast formed part. The first housing part (3) and the second housing part (4) have planar contact surfaces (34, 34a) configured to receive plates of a two-plate die-casting machine during the forming process of the housing (1).

Housings are generally used to receive and protect components. In the vehicle sector, housings have to satisfy more stringent requirements, in other words high rigidity coupled with the lowest possible weight. Particularly in the region of the wheel suspension, housing parts are also greatly exposed to environmental conditions such as stone chips, dust, and snow. Furthermore, there is generally only a small amount of space available in the region of the wheel suspension for the installation of components. Current developments for the actuation of disc brakes extend to electromechanical brake actuators. Electromechanical brake actuators have a plurality of components that have to be protected from the environmental influences that have been described among other things. In addition, components such as a gearbox, a cam disc and a motor of the electromechanical brake actuator work together, which is why the components have to be fixedly arranged or mounted in the housing. In the course of lightweight design developments, an additional challenge for the electromechanical brake actuator is to be as light as possible in construction.

Electromechanical brake actuator for disc brakes


According to various embodiments, a method for processing a carrier may include: performing a dry etch process in a processing chamber to remove a first material from the carrier by an etchant, the processing chamber including an exposed inner surface including aluminum and the etchant including a halogen; and, subsequently, performing a hydrogen plasma process in the processing chamber to remove a second material from at least one of the carrier or the inner surface of the processing chamber.

In general, semiconductor processing, e.g. for manufacturing an integrated circuit, may include a plurality of processes in various technologies, typically including layering, patterning, doping, and/or annealing. A process for removing material from a carrier during semiconductor processing may include dry etching, as for example plasma etching, ion beam milling, or reactive ion etching (RIE). A plasma process, as for example reactive ion etching, may be performed in a processing chamber (e.g. in a plasma processing chamber). The plasma may be provided by means of an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source or by means of a capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) source from a plasma-forming gas (e.g. from a gaseous etchant or from a reactive gas).

Method for processing a carrier, a method for operating a plasma processing chamber, and a method for processing a semiconductor wafer


An apparatus for filling and sealing intravenous solution bags in a sterile environment. Each bag has a weldably sealable opening for introducing intravenous solution into the bag. The apparatus includes a generally sealed enclosure defining an enclosed interior space sized and shaped for simultaneously containing a plurality of the intravenous solution bags to prevent contamination of the bags. Further, the apparatus includes an intravenous solution delivery system positioned at least partially inside the interior space of the enclosure for delivering intravenous solution through the openings of the bags to fill the bags while the bags are in the enclosure. In addition, the apparatus includes a welder positioned at least partially inside the interior space of the enclosure for hermetically sealing the openings of the bags after they have been filled with intravenous solution and while they are in the enclosure.

This invention relates generally to filling and sealing intravenous solution bags and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for filling intravenous solution bags in a sterile, sealed enclosure and sealing the bags by vibration welding.
Previously, intravenous solution bags have been filled in clean rooms under hoods capable of maintaining sterile conditions within specified limits. The bags are sterilized before being taken into the room to prevent the room from being contaminated, and they are re-sterilized after being filled to ensure sterility of the bag as shipped. However, some solutions are damaged if the bags are sterilized after being filled. Thus, the bags must be processed in a very sterile environment to prevent contamination during the filling and sealing processes so that re-sterilization is not required. Clean rooms capable of maintaining the necessary sterile environment are expensive to build and operate. Further, these rooms are highly inefficient because everything in the room, including any workers, must be sterilized before entering the room.
Conventional intravenous solution bags are made of thermoplastics such as vinyl. Usually, the opening through which the bag is filled is sealed by heating the bag in the vicinity of the opening to a temperature sufficient to melt portions of the bag and then pressing the melted portions of the bag together as they cool to weld the opening shut.
Several methods have been used to heat the bag. One such method is radio frequency welding in which high frequency electromagnetic radiation is directed toward the bag to heat the plastic. If any solution is present on the outside surface of the bag, electrical arcing can occur which may damage the bag and/or the radio frequency welding machine. Another method of sealing the bag is ultrasonic welding in which a portion of the bag is clamped between a sonic horn and an anvil. The horn vibrates against the bag at very high speeds (e.g., 20-40 kHz or more). As the horn vibrates, it moves toward and away from the bag and heats the bag, first at the outside surface and then farther inward. Because the outside surface of the bag is heated first and the inside surface must be melted to weld the opening shut, the bag melts through its entire thickness during ultrasonic welding. Melting weakens the bag and prevents it from being suspended from above the weld. Therefore, the bag must be supported both below the weld to prevent it from rupturing and above the weld to prevent it from spilling. Further, the operating parameters used in ultrasonic welding must be closely controlled or inferior welds are made. Thus, ultrasonic welding is difficult to perform consistently.

Apparatus and method for filling and sealing intravenous solution bags


The metal oxide media includes oxides and hydroxides of iron, and other metals. The material is derived from basic-oxygen steel-making process, and includes a high calcium content. The oxide surfaces facilitate the adsorption of phosphorus, and the increased pH facilitates the precipitation of calcium and other phosphates. The oxides are a catalyst for converting organic phosphorus to inorganic form. Limestone may be added to the oxides, to ensure a long-term source of calcium, and to maintain high pH for long periods.

Conventional systems for treating domestic waste water, including domestic septic systems, have concentrated on oxidising organic carbon, and on completing the nitrification of ammonia to nitrate.
It has largely been left to naturally-occurring processes to remove phosphorus in the waste-water. However, the problem of contamination of lakes etc by phosphorus is troublesome in some cases to the extent that further habitation cannot be allowed around the lake unless steps are taken to reduce the phosphorus contamination.
It is recognised that there is a need for a treatment system for removing phosphorus from waste water, that is effective, does not put other pollutants into the water, is passive (in the sense of needing little input of energy, replenishment materials, and attentive and skilled service). It is recognised that, in order to be acceptable from the regulatory standpoint, the materials the system uses have to be very cheap.
It is an aim of the invention to provide a barrier of a very inexpensive treatment material, in the flow-path of the contaminated water, the barrier being permeable enough to allow the water to pass therethrough, and the treatment material being such as will remove the phosphorus and other contaminants.
It is known to inject liquids such as FeCl.sub.3 or Al.sub.2 (SO.sub.4).sub.3 into municipal sewage; this causes precipitation of, for instance, FePO.sub.4, which collects as sludge. However, as a general rule, treatment by adding a liquid is disadvantageous from the service and maintenance side, in that the liquid cannot be added just once and then left, but must be added regularly. Thus, an add-a-liquid treatment system is contra-indicated for the domestic situation. Domestically, a passive system is desirable, which means, at least insofar as the treatment system is to be simple and inexpensive, that the treatment material must be a solid. Also, in a domestic system, by contrast with a municipal system, a treatment mechanism that causes the formation of sludge is contra-indicated, because sludge would clog the tile-bed or other soakaway facility. In the domestic situation low cost, and passiveness, are critical.


A metal contaminated spent catalyst or regenerated catalyst from a biomass conversion unit may be subjected to an ammonium wash in order to remove potassium. The ammonium wash may include ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium hydroxide, ammonium acetate, ammonium phosphates, and mixtures thereof. Acidity and catalytic activity of the biomass conversion catalyst is restored by the removal of potassium contaminants.

Renewable fuel sources may be obtained by converting a biomass feedstock into useful biofuels and/or specialty chemicals. For instance, a bio-oil containing stream may be produced by subjecting a biomass feedstock to fast pyrolysis, slow pyrolysis, liquefaction, gasification, enzymatic conversion or another chemical conversion reaction in the presence of a catalyst, such as zeolite, in a biomass conversion unit.
Chemically combined minerals as well as metals (calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, manganese, aluminum, silicon, chromium, iron, phosphorus, sulfur, etc.) from the biomass accumulate on the catalyst during the conversion reaction. This dramatically decreases the surface area and the micropore volume of the catalyst and markedly influences physical chemical properties and performance of the catalyst. Catalytic activity is therefore significantly decreased.
Among the metals which accumulate on the catalyst, potassium has been found to be distributed across and within the catalyst particles, in contrast to calcium and magnesium which are enriched in the external shell of the particles. Potassium can poison the acidic sites of a zeolite catalyst, leading to a significant decrease in catalytic activity. Typically, regeneration of such catalytic materials requires the removal of the metal contaminants by harsh demetallization chemicals. In addition, this process is carried out ex-situ from the reaction system, and requires shutting down of the reactor, unloading the spent catalyst and then transporting the spent catalyst to a chemical processing facility.
An alternative process is needed for removing potassium from a metal contaminated catalyst used in a biomass conversion process by reactivating the catalyst. Such alternatives would desirably be conducted under milder conditions than those presently offered and render restoration of the physical chemical properties of the catalyst.
It should be understood that the above-described discussion is provided for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope or subject matter of the appended claims or those of any related patent application or patent. Thus, none of the appended claims or claims of any related application or patent should be limited by the above discussion or construed to address, include or exclude each or any of the above-cited features or disadvantages merely because of the mention thereof herein.

Process of reactivating a metal contaminated biomass conversion catalyst


A separator including a vessel, a tray assembly positioned within the vessel, and a wall structure arranged to accumulate a first liquid and a second liquid. A first automatic drain valve is operable to automatically allow liquid accumulated above a first liquid outlet to pass from the vessel in such a way as to maintain a volume of the first liquid above the first automatic drain valve to create a liquid seal over the first automatic drain valve, and a second automatic drain valve is operable to automatically allow liquid accumulated above the level of an open upper end of the wall structure to pass from the vessel in such a way as to maintain a volume of the second liquid above the second automatic drain valve to create a liquid seal over the second automatic drain valve.

Natural gas extracted from the ground typically includes a number of impurities and contaminants that are carried with the gas, such as water, oil, liquid hydrocarbons, solids, drilling mud, sulfur compounds, and others. Natural gas is typically decontaminated, dehydrated, and otherwise processed prior to being sold by consumers. An important part of the processing of natural gas is the removal of water from the natural gas because water can cause gas line clogging and bursting when the water is trapped in the gas line and freezes due to cold weather, for example.
A number of systems exist for dehydrating natural gas to remove water and other liquids from the natural gas. Most of these dehydration systems involve passing natural gas through, or contacting natural gas with, one of a number of known desiccant fluids, such as tri-ethylene glycol. Desiccant fluids essentially dissolve or otherwise absorb water, liquid hydrocarbons, and other liquids and contaminants from natural gas. The dehydrated natural gas is discharged from the dehydration system for use or as sales gas, and the "wet" desiccant fluids are typically recycled through the dehydration system to be regenerated (or returned to a "dry" state) and reused to dehydrate natural gas.
One of the steps of recycling wet desiccant fluids may include processing wet desiccant fluids with a three-phase separator, known as a flash separator, to separate gas and hydrocarbon liquids from the wet desiccant fluid. Several prior art three-phase glycol separators have been suggested. However, such separators rely on float level controllers and motor valves to control the levels of glycol inside the separator. Such float level-controllers and motor valves are complicated to use, require constant adjustments in the field, and are inherently unreliable and known to cause frequent malfunctions and delays. Further, the efficiency of separation of the float level-controlled prior art devices is largely dependent on operator skill and training, which coupled with the frequent need of adjusting the float level controllers and motor valves, results in inconsistent separation, shortened life of the desiccant fluids, and gas dehydration process inefficiencies.


A silver halide color photographic material comprising a support having on one side thereof at least one silver halide emulsion layer corresponding to each of the colors cyan, magenta, and yellow in which each of the colors cyan, magenta and yellow, respectively, are formed, wherein the layer which forms a magenta color is a green sensitive layer comprising (A) at least one coupler represented by formula (I) or formula (II) below ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R'.sub.2 and X are as defined in the above specification and (B) silver halide grains which have been spectrally sensitized in such a way that they have a peak sensitivity between 540 nm and 555 nm by at least one spectrally sensitizing dye represented by the formulae (A), (B) and (C) below ##STR2## wherein W.sub.1, W.sub.2, V.sub.1, V.sub.2, V.sub.3, V.sub.4, V.sub.5, V.sub.6, R.sub.21, R.sub.22, R.sub.23, R.sub.24, R.sub.25, R.sub.26, R.sub.27, R.sub.28, R.sub.29, Y, X.sub.1, X.sub.2, X.sub.3 and the subscripts, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s and t are defined as in the above specification, with the proviso that at least one of R.sub.21 and R.sub.22 ; at least one of R.sub.23, R.sub.24 and R.sub.25 ; or at least one of R.sub.26, R.sub.27, R.sub.28 and R.sub.29 represents an alkyl group or an aralkyl group which contains a sulfo group or a salt thereof a carboxyl group or a salt thereof, or a hydroxyl group provided that the speed at the spectral sensitivity peak wavelength of the green sensitive layer is twice or more of the speed at 500 nm.

Yellow, magenta and cyan tri-color photographic couplers are generally included in the light-sensitive layers and the color development processing of the exposed photographic material is carried out using so-called color developing agents in order to form a color photographic image. Colored dyes are provided by a coupling reaction between the oxidation product of an aromatic primary amine and the couplers. Systems which have as high a coupling rate as possible and which have good color forming properties are preferred for forming high color densities within a limited development time. Moreover, the colored dyes should be brilliant cyan, magenta and yellow dyes with little in the way of subsidiary absorptions (side-absorptions) to provide color photographic images which have good color reproduction.
On the other hand, the color photographic image which is formed must have good storage properties under various conditions. These storage conditions include dark storage conditions where the color photographic image is affected by heat and humidity and illuminated storage conditions where there is exposure to sunlight or indoor lighting, etc., and not only changes in the color of the color image, but also yellowing of the white background are of great importance.
The couplers which function as color image forming agents play an important role here, and much work has gone into making improvements by modifying the coupler structure with a view of satisfying the requirements of color photographic materials as outlined above. Conventionally 5-pyrazolone derivatives have been used in the main for the magenta couplers which are important from the viewpoint of visual sensitivity, but the dye images formed from these couplers have an absorption not only in the green light region as intended, but also unwanted absorptions in the blue and red light regions and they cannot be said to perform satisfactorily. Furthermore, the 5-pyrazolone derivatives are liable to yellowing on exposure to light and under conditions of high humidity and they are unsatisfactory from the viewpoint of image storage properties.
The magenta couplers represented by formulae (I) and (II) shown below are excellent couplers in that they are superior with respect to the light absorbing properties of the dye image and in that there is little yellowing of the white background, but they are liable to give rise to reduced speed during development and, in particular, there is a serious practical difficulty in that this trend becomes more pronounced as the coating liquid ages during the manufacture of the photographic material and when the coated photographic material is stored for an extended period of time.
The spectral sensitivity distribution obtained by spectral sensitization is of importance from the viewpoint of color reproduction. The spectral sensitivity distribution of a film material (a photographic material for taking a photograph) is preferably such that it is able to reproduce colors with a fidelity as approaching the human visual sensitivity distribution, but the circumstances are quite different from those of film material in the case of a print material (a photographic material for print). A print material is normally exposed through the cyan, magenta and yellow color dye image of a negative or positive film material and so it must have spectral sensitivity peaks corresponding to the hues of each of the color dyes in the negative or positive material.
The absorption spectrum of the magenta dyes in a film material normally has a peak wavelength between 540 nm and 555 nm and it has long been known that the preferred spectral sensitivity peak wavelength of the green sensitive layer of a print material corresponds to this region, but with the combinations of this invention, it has been found that the speed at 500 nm of the green sensitive layer is also of great importance with respect to color reproduction.
That is to say, the magenta couplers utilized in the present invention give a very sharp hue and so the colors such as red, green, blue, etc., can be reproduced with a high brilliance but, on the other hand, the colors of the green color system have often tended to reproduce as dark colors.
As a result of thorough investigation, it has been found that this tendency of the colors of the green color system to be reproduced as dark colors has a corresponding relationship with the speed at 500 nm of the green sensitive layer.

Silver halide color photographic materials containing combinations of magenta couplers and sensitizing dyes


A system for management and control of audio-related equipment. The system is a common architecture that provides the capability to manage, monitor and control all of the audio-related equipment in an audio system. To facilitate messaging between audio-related devices, each of the audio-related devices may be assigned a node ID a sequential manner as each audio-related device powers up. The system may also include a method for discovery of audio-related devices on an audio network. In some examples, a PEM may be located geographically remote from the audio-related devices. Accordingly, error logging, alarming and system operation may be monitored to provide troubleshooting from a remote location.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to audio systems, and more particularly, to a system for management of audio related equipment.
2. Related Art
Use of an audio system to amplify audio signals is well known. Typically, an audio system operates to amplify an audio signal with an amplifier and drive one or more loudspeakers. Such audio systems can range from relatively simple configurations having only a few components, such as in a retail clothing store, to large complex systems, such as those used in a concert hall performance.
Configuration of an audio system usually involves the physical placement and interconnection of the devices that make up the audio system. In addition, some of the devices, such as an amplifier, typically include user configurable settings. The settings may be configured at the preference of the user to achieve the desired audio system performance. As the size and complexity of an audio system increases, the amount of interconnections and settings may also increase. In addition, the devices in the audio system may become more geographically dispersed. Accordingly, operation, maintenance and troubleshooting of the system may become more challenging. This is especially true in audio systems that are repeatedly disassembled and re-assembled in various configurations, such as in the case of a touring musical group.
Additionally, the monitoring of multiple audio systems that are geographically remote from each other is also difficult task. For example, the monitoring of the audio systems for retail stores spread throughout a geographic region may involve audio components that are miles apart. Typically, error reporting or journaling of these dispersed audio systems is not possible from a remote location. Instead, a technician may have to travel to the location of the audio system to perform error testing and maintenance, which increases the cost of maintaining the audio systems. In addition, the systems may not be functional until the technician reaches the location to diagnose and fix the error.

System for audio related equipment management

Harman International Industries, Incorporated


The present invention is a fabrication method of a light-emitting device characterized by ejecting a solution containing a luminescent material toward an anode or a cathode under a reduced pressure and characterized in that in a duration before the solution is arrived at the anode or the cathode, the solvent in the solution is volatilized, the remaining part of the luminescent material is deposited on the anode or the cathode, and thereby formed a light-emitting layer. By the present invention, a baking process for thickness reduction is not required after applying the solution. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a fabrication method with high throughput although the method is low in cost and simple.

A display for displaying an image is one of the light-emitting elements indispensable in modern living. The display for displaying an image takes a variety of forms matched to applications, ranging from so-called a television monitor to a liquid crystal display rapidly developed in recent years and an organic EL display expected for future development. Particularly, a liquid crystal display and an organic EL display are light-emitting elements to be driven on low voltage, which are the most important image displays from the viewpoint of energy saving.
Among them, an organic EL display draws the greatest attentions as a flat panel display element in the next generation.
In the emission mechanism of an organic EL display, a thin film (hereinafter, described "organic thin film") structured of a light-emitting body composition is provided between electrodes to flow current whereby the electrons injected from the cathode and the holes injected from the anode recombine at a luminescent center in a light-emitting body film and form a molecule exciton, to thereby utilize a photon released upon returning of the molecule exciton to the ground state.
Incidentally, the sort of the molecule exciton formed by the light-emitting body composition can be a singlet excitation state and a triplet excitation state. The present specification includes a case where any one of the excitation states contributes to light-emitting.
In such an organic EL display element (hereinafter, described "organic EL element"), an organic thin film is usually formed as a film as thin as below 1 μm. In addition, because a light-emitting body film itself is a self-light-emitting type element given out light, an organic EL element does not require a backlight as used on the conventional liquid-crystal display. Accordingly, it is a great merit that an organic EL element can be extremely fabricated thin and lightweight.
Moreover, for example in an organic thin film of nearly 100-200 nm, the time of from a carrier injection to a recombination reached is approximately several ten nanoseconds in the light of the carrier mobility in the light-emitting body composition film. Light-emitting is reached on the order of within a microsecond even if the course of from a carrier recombination to a light-emitting is included. Accordingly, very high-speed of response is also one of features.
Furthermore, because an organic EL element is a carrier-injection type light-emitting element, it can be driven on direct-current voltage, and hardly cause a noise. In addition, by forming a uniform ultra-thin organic thin film having nearly 100 nm in film thickness and using a suitable organic material, a driving is also possible on a voltage of several volts. Namely, an organic EL element, because of a self-light-emitting type and a wide in viewing angle, is well in visibility. Besides, an organic EL element also possesses the properties of thin and lightweight, high-speed responsibility, driving in direct-current and low voltage, and the like, and thus is expected as a light-emitting element in the next generation.
In order to fabricate such an organic EL element, there is an essential need of an art to form a thin film of a light-emitting body composition. In the liquid crystal display for example, in order to achieve a full-color display, there is a necessity to regularly form an organic thin film for functioning as a color filter on a glass substrate. On the other hand, in an organic EL element, a charge transport material for transporting the holes and electrons injected at an electrode and a luminescent material for light-emitting are a light-emitting body composition. These compounds must be formed with a filmy form between electrodes.
As techniques for forming such an organic thin film, various methods have been developed including a Langmuir-Blrogett method (LB method), a monomolecular film stack method, a dip coating method, a spin coat method, an inkjet method, a print method, a evaporation method, or the like. Among them, an inkjet method has particularly a merit that an organic material can be used with high-efficiency, a configuration of an apparatus is simple and can be reduced in size, and so on. Technically, it is already approximated to the practical application level. The basic technology concerning an inkjet method is disclosed in Patent Document 1, etc.
Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H10-12377
An inkjet method is an art that an inkjet system employed on the conventional printer is converted to a thin film forming, which is a method to apply droplets on a pixel to pixel basis by using, in place of ink, a solution or a dispersion liquid containing a light-emitting body composition as a material of an organic thin film. By volatilizing the solvent contained in the droplet, a thin film is formed on the individual pixel. By controlling the position of the droplet attached on a substrate, it is possible to form an arbitrary micropattern.
However, because the droplet deposited on the pixel (actually, pixel electrode provided in each pixel) contains a great amount of solvent component, there is a need of a process for volatilizing a solvent component (hereinafter, described "baking process") in order to remove a solvent component. Namely, after applying a droplet by an inkjet method, the pixel entirety is heated to volatilize a solvent component and thereby the remaining solute (material of an organic thin film) is formed with a thin film. Accordingly, in a case where the solvent of the solution containing a light-emitting body composition has a low vapor pressure, time is required in the baking process. Besides, a droplets attached on the neighboring pixels is ready to mix together, and the formation of a microscopic thin film pattern is hindered. In addition, when a solvent component is left in the thin film, the solvent volatilizes with time and a degasification phenomenon is caused. Therefore, a factor incurring a deterioration in the organic thin film and ultimately a deterioration as a light-emitting element is caused. Furthermore, if the heating temperature is raised to remove the solvent component completely, it results in destruction in the composition of an organic thin film having a low heat resistance.
In this manner, a formation method of the organic thin film based on ink jet method is advantageous in low cost and simple. However, a formation method of the organic thin film based on ink jet method has a problem in baking process, and thus is an art left room for improvement.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Inc.