Embodiments of the invention provide methods and apparatus for transferring information from a sender to a receiver, a symbol is selected out of a plurality of symbols representing the information, wherein each of the plurality of symbols representing the information comprises a number of digits, the number of digits equaling a number of parallel lines coupling the sender and the receiver. The digits of the selected symbol are sent from the sender to the receiver, wherein, via each of the number of lines, a signal representing one of the number of digits of the selected symbol is transferred. In the step of selecting a symbol, the symbol is selected such that the symbol differs from a lastly transferred symbol by one digit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data transmission methods and devices for carrying out the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
High-speed data transfer across a transmission channel is always challenging, in particular as the data transfer rates are increased. Accordingly, there is a continuing need for improved data transmission methods and devices.

Sender, receiver and method of transferring information from a sender to a receiver


A water-based composition containing: (A) fine cellulose fibers having a number-average fiber diameter of 0.5 nm or more and 200 nm or less, and having a carboxy group content of 0.1 mmol/g or more, wherein the carboxy group forms a salt with an alkali metal; and (B) an additive containing one or more compounds having carbon atoms and nitrogen atom or atoms, wherein a ratio thereof per molecule of the compound (number of carbon atoms/number of nitrogen atoms) is 3 or more and 45 or less, wherein the content of the component (A) is 0.2% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less, and wherein the content of the component (B) is 3 parts by mass or more and 150 parts by mass or less, based on 100 parts by mass of the component (A), and wherein the water-based composition has a viscosity at 80° C. at a rotational speed of 30 rpm of 80 mPa·s or more. Since the fine cellulose fibers or a salt composite thereof of the present invention retains a high viscosity even under high temperatures, the fine cellulose fibers or a salt composite thereof can be suitably used in various industrial applications represented by thickening agents during gas and oil drilling, cosmetic applications, and other applications requiring manufactured article stability at high temperatures.

Conventionally, polymeric materials have been used in order to maintain thickening property and dispersion stability. The polymeric materials include, for example, water-soluble cellulose derivatives such as methyl cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose salts; synthetic polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, carboxyvinyl polymers, and polyethylene glycols; natural macromolecular polysaccharides such as quince seed, VEEGUM, xanthan gum, and hyaluronates; and the like. Among them, the cellulose fibers are abundant in nature, and have excellent biodegradability, so that the cellulose fibers are expected to be microfibrillated and applied in a wide range of fields.
For example, Patent Publication 1 discloses a viscous composition prepared by mixing fine cellulose fibers in which a C6-position hydroxyl group of a glucose unit in the cellulose molecule is oxidized to be modified to an aldehyde group and a carboxy group, with water is utilized in cosmetic base materials and toiletry article base materials. Since the above fine cellulose fibers in Examples are oxidized and then reacted with sodium hydroxide, it is suggested that a sodium salt is formed with the aldehyde group and the carboxy group.
Patent Publication 2 discloses that fine cellulose fibers in which a C6-position hydroxyl group of a glucose unit in a cellulose molecule is modified to a carboxy group, and the carboxy group is in the form of a salt of monoamines, are used in applications similar to those of Patent Publication 1.
In addition, in the oil fields producing petroleum and natural gases, it has been tried to use fine cellulose fibers. In the field of art, conventionally, a polymeric material as mentioned above has been used as a viscosity conditioner when drilling and drawing are carried out to form a film on a wall surface of a drilled hole to stabilize or the polymeric material is injected to an underground layer for improving productivity to allow swelling thereof, thereby forming artificial fractures. However, Patent Publication 3 discloses that a dispersion of fine cellulose fibers in water has been used in a drilling fluid, a fracturing liquid, a distribution fluid, or the like.
Patent Publication 1: WO 2011/089709
Patent Publication 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-126786
Patent Publication 3: WO 2011/089323


Aging and sagging subcutaneous muscles are treated by first applying a composition containing at least one acetylcholine precursor and/or at least one compound exhibiting catecholamine activity to the overlying skin area, and then electronically stimulating the overlying skin area using electrical pulses in amounts sufficient to cause the subcutaneous muscles to contract. Preferred compositions contain from about 1% to about 10%, more narrowly from about 0.25% to about 5% by weight of an alkanolamine such as dimethylaminoethanol, the calcium salt of 2-aminoethanol phosphate or mixtures thereof and about from about 1% to about 10%, more narrowly from about 1% to 5% by weight of a compound exhibiting catecholamine activity such as tyrosine. Preferred electronic muscle stimulating devices deliver electrical pulses via electrodes in the fingertips of a compact device that fits on the hand.

Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates primarily to the treatment of subcutaneous muscles and overlying skin, particularly for faces that have developed prominent lines such as the nasolabial folds, hanging of tissue from the mandibular region, and increased sagging of tissue around the eyes observed in aging and other conditions such as myasthenia gravis, but also for the treatment of other bodily areas wherein sagging is observed, such as in the chest and breast region, and the upper arms and legs. The invention provides methods for treating subcutaneous muscles and the overlying epidermis to ameliorate these changes, and improve a person""s external appearance. It also provides methods for preserving a person""s youthful appearance.
2. Description of Related Art
The external wrinkled appearance of aging individuals is caused by changes in both epidermal tissue and subcutaneous changes in muscle tissue. In aging, the epidermis thins and skin appendages atrophy. Hair becomes sparse and sebacious secretions decrease, with consequent susceptibility to dryness, chapping, and fissuring. The regularity of tissue structure is lost, and individual cells enlarge, but the total number of cells decreases approximately 30%. Intercellular collagen and elastin increases. The proportion of soluble collagen decreases, and there may be increased cross-linking between long-chain collagen macromolecules. Elastin loses its discrete structure and elasticity and has an increased calcium content.
Changes in underlying muscle tissue accompany changes in the epidermis. When muscles are at rest, a certain amount of tautness usually remains. The residual degree of contraction in skeletal muscles is called muscle tone. In aging individuals, the degree of contraction relaxes. The effects of gravity and lengthening muscles give a sagging appearance, which is particularly obvious in the face.
Previous treatments of flaccid skin and muscles from aging typically involved plastic surgery. The plastic surgeon cuts the skin and muscle and then pulls it taut, reducing some of the tissue and discarding it, then suturing it so that the facial, chest, arm, leg, and/or buttocks muscles remain tight. More recently, I suggested the use of topical compositions that penetrate the skin and shorten subcutaneous muscles, resulting in a lift in tissue on the face, chest, upper arms, upper legs or other areas of application, while at the same time improving the overall condition of the overlying skin. The compositions contain acetylcholine precursors such as alkanolamines and/or ingredients that produce catecholamine activity such as catecholamines and related compounds, alone or in combination with other ingredients and percutaneous penetration enhancers (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,554,647 and 5,879,690 to Perricone; these patents and others cited hereafter are expressly incorporated herein in their entireties by reference). While not wishing to be bound to any theory, these active ingredients seem to cause muscle contraction biochemically as described in my patents.
It would be desirable to provide treatments that augment topical compositions and reverse or diminish the effects of aging without cosmetic surgery, and to treat other conditions exhibiting sagging muscles such as those observed in myasthenia gravis.
It is an objective of the invention to provide new methods for the treatment of aging and sagging skin and subcutaneous muscle tissue. This is achieved by topically applying to overlying skin areas a composition containing at least one acetylcholine precursor such as an alkanolamine and/or at least one compound having catecholamine activity and then electronically stimulating the area with a muscle stimulator for a time sufficient to cause an observable increase in muscle tone. Preferred embodiments employ both an acetylcholine precursor such as dimethylaminoethanol or the calcium salt of 2-aminoethanol phosphate and a compound having catecholamine activity such as tyrosine, phenylalanine, dopa, or serotonin in the topical composition. Many embodiments also contain adjunct ingredients such as xcex1-hydroxy acids (e.g., glycolic acid), a fatty acid ester of ascorbic acid (e.g., ascorbyl palmitate), and/or lipoic acid. Electronic stimulation is affected in preferred embodiments using a hand device that delivers subcutaneous muscle stimulation through electrodes in the fingertips.

Subcutaneous muscle treatment using electronic stimulation and topical compositions


A main object of the present invention is to provide a practical slurry having a polar solvent as the dispersion medium for a sulfide solid electrolyte material. The present invention solves the above-mentioned problem by providing a slurry having: a sulfide solid electrolyte material, and a dispersion medium having at least one selected from the group consisting of tertiary amine; ether; thiol; ester having a functional group of a 3 or more carbon number bonded with a carbon atom of an ester bonding and a functional group of a 4 or more carbon number bonded with an oxygen atom of the ester bonding; and ester having a benzene ring bonded with a carbon atom of an ester bonding.

Recently, accompanied by rapid growth of information-related appliances and communication appliances such as personal computers, video cameras and portable phones, development of batteries used as the power source thereof has been regarded important. Moreover, also in the automobile industry, and the like, development of high output and high capacity batteries has been promoted for electric automobiles or hybrid automobiles. Nowadays, among the various batteries, lithium batteries attract attention in regard to the high energy density.
Since the lithium batteries currently commercially available utilize an electrolyte including a combustible organic solvent, improvement is required in terms of the structure and material for prevention of a short circuit or for mounting a safety device for restraining temperature rise at the time of the short circuit. On the other hand, since all-solid-state batteries with the batteries processed to be in an all-solid state with the electrolyte replaced by a solid electrolyte layer do not utilize a combustible organic solvent in the battery, the safety device can be simplified so that it is considered that they can provide the excellent production cost and productivity.
As the solid electrolyte material used for such a solid electrolyte layer, sulfide solid electrolyte materials are known. Moreover, as the solvent for applying the sulfide solid electrolyte materials in a wet process, for example, the non-patent article 1 discloses use of a non-polar solvent such as toluene and heptane.

Slurry, production method for solid electrolyte layer, production method for electrode active material layer, and production method for all-solid-state battery


The present invention provides a condom with a wearing aid comprising a natural or synthetic rubber condom and a wearing aid, wherein, when the outer peripheral wall of the condom is rolled up from the open end of the condom toward the closed end thereof so as to be turned inside, a band-shaped elastic material is stacked on the outer periphery near the open end and rolled up together into the inside of an rolled up part, where the elastic material is selected from (1) a band shaped elastic high polymer material, as Material A provided with a number of cut off aperture parts or a number of cuts almost orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the band, or (2) an expandable bandage or an band-shaped non-woven stretch fabric as Material B.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a male contraceptive device comprising a condom and a wearing aid that is easily applied.
2. Related Background Art
A so-called condom of a male contraceptive device has a teat integrally formed with a closed end of a tip of the condom, and usually has a ring integrally formed with the open end of a back end. With the ring of this open end as a base, the outer peripheral part of the condom is rolled up toward the closed end so as to be turned inside to form a rolled-up part (as can be seen in FIG. 9), and then, it is packaged, respectively, and commercialized. At the application time, the closed end of the tip, which becomes the inside of the condom, is brought into contact with a tip of penis, and is applied on the penis while unrolling this rolled-up part.
However, since there is a trend that the thinner condom is the more preferred, the rolled-up part based on this ring ends up having a thickness (diameter) of only approximately 3 to 4 mm, which is very small compared to the size of a human finger, and results in the problem that the application is difficult at the application time.
Therefore, various devices have been proposed for eliminating this inconvenience.
For example, a ring to be used at the application time is proposed, in which guide rods having protrusions for preventing falling-off are assembled inside the rubber ring comprising irregularities for identifying the face side of the condom in a form to provide a space in the center for inserting the penis, and the bottom face sheet provided with an insertion port in the center is attached to the bottom of the rubber ring, and the condom is sandwiched up and down by the guide rods and the bottom face sheet. However, though this is relatively simple in the structure, if the rubber ring is prone to excessively deform, there will arise problems, for example, the bottom face sheet may be torn and broken; or such a tool has to be purposely provided for use at the application time; or the ring is easily contaminated by jelly coated on the condom and is difficult to keep clean (for example, see patent document 1).
Further, though disclosures are made for an application tool provided with a base to support the condom in an U-shaped cylinder and a groove to fix the condom as well as an annular condom applicator for holding the condom so as to make the application easy and the like, there are such defects that, after the condom is set once on the application device and the applicator, it is applied on the penis, and yet, it must be removed after the application; or it must be clean by itself as the time as it is contaminated with a coated jelly; or the condom must be purposely applied on the applicator or the like at the application time for use; or the applicator must be ready for use at all the time (for example, see patent document 2, patent document 3 and patent document 4).
Furthermore, a disclosure is made that, to make the application of the condom easy, when the rolled-up part is to be formed by rolling up the condom based on the ring of the open end, in case it is rolled up with at least a piece of tape shaped material or a pair of tape shaped material attached, this tape shaped material may be pulled to the root of the penis at the application time, and therefore the rolled-up part is unrolled to make the application easy.
However, according to this method, though there is an advantage of not using the applicator and other aids purposely, and tape material having smaller width and thickness is preferred, there occur several problems, for example, the difficulty in pulling the tape at the application due to the smaller width and thickness, the difficulty in rolling-up for forming a rolled-up part, or the difficulty in grasping the tape due to sticking thereof to jelly when the jelly is coated on the condom. On the other hand, when the width and/or the thickness of the tape is increased, for example only a part of the rolled-up part becomes bulky and looks bad. Further, although there is the advantage of easy pulling at the application when the both are increased, there occurs the problem that the shape of the rolled-up part is not circular but flat, which looks extremely bad, and in addition, the condom becomes difficult to be applied (for example, see patent document 5, patent document 6, patent document 7, and patent document 8).
Further, a condom formed by a soft film such as a poly vinyl chloride film is proposed. Here, since it is difficult to integrally form a condom with a poly vinyl chloride film, two sheets of the film are seamed by heat-sealing to form a side part of the condom having a shape that is slightly loose compared to the penis in erection. However, as some burrs are produced at the heat-sealed part, the condom must be formed so that the burrs face the penis side. In addition, since this condom is easily fallen off due to the size that is a little loose, to prevent the falling-off, a circular ring of an expandable silicon rubber of 5 mm in diameter that is a little smaller than the open periphery of the film condom is used at the neighbor hood of the root of the penis. However, as the condom is made by seaming two sheets of film by heat-sealing, pin holes are easily formed at the seam part, so that there may be a problem in the effect for contraception. Moreover, as burrs are formed at the seam part, the formed condom must be turned inside out to put the burrs to the inside of the condom. Also, some wrinkles may be formed even though the film is flexible, and the tips of some wrinkles may be hard enough to injure the vaginal wall or to cause pain, which is not always preferable, and a damage to the penis may be caused by the burrs.
Thus, since the condom of the flexible vinyl chloride film is formed a little larger than the penis, there are various problems such as easy formation of the wrinkle across the whole part of the condom and the difficulty in preventing the formation of the pin holes and the like, and such a condom is not practical (for example, see patent document 9).
Further, the present applicant has previously proposed, in the male contraceptive device comprising a condom and a wearing aid, an almost circular ring shaped product in the profile as a wearing aid in which the inner periphery of the ring shaped product is approximately equal to the size of the outer periphery of the condom and, moreover, provided with constrictions at one or more places from the outer periphery toward the inner periphery and/or from the inner periphery toward the outer periphery; or a wearing aid comprising a ring shaped product, of which profile is circular and, moreover, provided with constrictions at one or more places of the ring shaped product; or further, a wearing aid formed in a ring-shape by coil-shaped member. Although the condoms with these wearing aids are easy to produce and have a good advantage of easy application, there arises a problem that since these wearing aids are used as a core part when rolled up from the open end toward the closed end of the condom, the shape of cuts and compressions formed in the wearing aid and the coil-shaped member appears as the shape of the rolled-up part of the condom, and, for example, in the case of the coil-shaped member, the coil appears as a bellows-like rolled-up part, and the shape of the cuts and the compressions also appears in the rolled-up part as it is, and therefore, it looks bad, and in case of applying it on the penis, it feels like gritty, and the application is not always good (for example, see patent document 10, patent document 11 and patent document 12).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-165433
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-308336
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-14952
[Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-154260
[Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-56978
[Patent Document 6] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-252277
[Patent Document 7] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-197921
[Patent Document 8] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-24059
[Patent Document 9] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-47466
[Patent Document 10] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-264874
[Patent Document 11] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-306657
[Patent Document 12] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-306658
As described above, since condoms are small compared to the size of the human hand, and thus conventional condoms are difficult to apply on the penis, various attempts to apply the condoms more easily have been made. However, further improvements of condoms are needed that a feeling of application is good, their production is easy, there is no sense of incompatibility between the product appearance and the application atmosphere, application of a condom on the penis is smooth and easy, the wearing aid can be easily removed after application of the condom and the like.


In an active matrix substrate of a liquid crystal display using a TFT as a switching device for each pixel, a gate bus line and a drain bus line extending perpendicular to each other are formed simultaneously by patterning a metal film, and one of the two bus lines is broken to provide a gap across which the other extends. The gap is covered by an island structure of a gate dielectric film and a semiconductor layer formed to provide the TFT, and a supplementary bus line makes direct contact with the broken bus line on both sides of the gap to provide a bridge over the gap. The supplementary bus line is formed together with a pixel electrode by patterning a transparent conductor film. By this arrangement of bus lines, the total number of photolithography steps in the production process is decreased so that the production cost can be reduced.

This invention relates to an active matrix substrate of an active matrix liquid crystal display and a method of producing the active matrix substrate.
The use of active matrix liquid crystal displays is rapidly expanding. In most of the current active matrix liquid crystal displays the switching device for each pixel is a thin-film transistor (TFT) using a semiconductor film. In most cases the semiconductor is amorphous silicon, but in some cases polycrystalline silicon or a compound semiconductor such as CdSe is used.
FIGS. 13 and 14 of the accompanying drawings show the construction of a coventional active matrix substrate of a liquid crystal display having a TFT for each pixel. On a transparent insulator substrate 50 such as a glass substrate, a gate electrode 52 and a gate bus line 54 are formed by patterning a metal film such as a chromium film. The electrode 52 and the bus line 54 are buried in a transparent dielectric film 56 such as a silicon nitride film. On the dielectric film 56, an island structure of a semiconductor film 58 such as an amorphous silicon film and an n-type semiconductor film 60 such as a phosphorus-doped amorphous silicon film is formed above the gate electrode 52 to provide a TFT. A drain electrode 62, a drain bus line 64 and a source electrode 66 are formed by patterning a metal film such as a chromium film or an aluminum film. A pixel electrode 70, which is in contact with the source electrode 66, is formed by patterning a transparent conductor film such as an indium-tin oxide (ITO) film. The gate bus line 54 and the drain bus line 64 extend perpendicular to each other, but these two bus lines must not intersect each other. So, the two bus Lines 56 and 64 are formed in two different layers.
In producing this structure, five photolithography steps are needed. The first photolithography is for forming the gate electrode 52 and gate bus line 54. The second is for forming the island structure of the semiconductor films 58, 60. The third is for forming contact holes in the dielectric film 56 to provide access to the gate bus line. The fourth is for forming the drain electrode 62, drain bus line 64 and the source electrode 66. The fifth is for forming the transparent pixel electrode 70.
If the gate bus line and the drain bus line can be formed in the same layer, there arises a possibility of decreasing the total number of photolithography steps and consequently reducing the production cost. In this connection, JP-A 60-128486 (1985) proposes the structure shown in FIGS. 15-16 of the accompanying drawings.
The active matrix substrate in FIGS. 15-17 differs from the active matrix substrate in FIGS. 13-14 in the following points. The gate bus line 52 is formed on the dielectric film 56. A contact hole 72 is used to connect the gate bus line 54 to the gate electrode 52 under the dielectric film 56. The drain bus line 64 on the dielectric film 56 is broken to provide a gap 65 so that the gate bus line 54 extends across the gap 58 without intersecting the drain bus line 64. Under the gap 65, a bridge electrode 76 is formed on the glass substrate 50 under the dielectric film 56, and the drain bus line 64 on both sides of the gate bus line 54 is connected to the bridge electrode 76 by using contact holes 74. In this structure the gate bus line 54 and the drain bus line 64 are formed in the same layer by patterning a metal film. However, the production of this structure still entails four photolithography steps: the first for forming the gate electrode 52 and the bridge electrode 76, the second for forming the island structure of the semiconductor films 58, 60, the third for forming the contact holes 72, 74 and the fourth for forming the drain electrode 62, drain bus line 64, source electrode 66 and the pixel electrode 70. Besides, this structure is not suited to large area displays because the total resistance of bus lines, viz. wiring resistance, greatly increases for the following reason. In this case the bus lines 54, 64 are formed of a transparent conductor such as ITO since the bus lines 54, 64 and the pixel electrode 70 are formed simultaneously. Conventional transparent conductor films are greatly higher in resistivity than metal films. For example, volume resistivity of ITO film is about 20 times as high as that of chromium film.

Active matrix liquid crystal display substrate with island structure covering break in signal bus line and method of producing same


A thermal interface facilitates heat transfer from an electronic component to a heat sink. The thermal interface has a generally planar substrate formed of a heat resistant material having a layer of adhesive formed upon one surface thereof. A layer of conformable, heat conducting material is formed upon the other surface of the substrate. The other layer of adhesive facilitates attachment of the thermal interface to either an electronic component or a heat sink, as desired. The layer of conformable heat conducting material deforms so as to enhance heat transfer from the electronic component to the heat sink.

The need for enhancing heat dissipation from some electronic components is well appreciated. Various electronic components, typically semiconductor devices, generate sufficient heat to adversely affect the operation thereof, if adequate heat dissipation is not provided. For example, power transistors and high performance CPUs typically generate enough heat to cause permanent damage to themselves.
According to contemporary methodology, the typical solution to such heat dissipation problems is to provide an external heat dissipator or heat sink to the electronic device. Such a heat sink ideally provides a heat-conductive path away from the electronic component to fins or other protuberances having sufficient surface area to dissipate the heat to the surrounding air. A fan is frequently used to assure adequate air circulation over the protuberances, so as to maintain desirable heat dissipation therefrom.
However, a common problem is that the surfaces of the electronic component and the heat sink, at the interface thereof, tend to be sufficiently irregular as to impede heat flow across the interface. The irregularity of the surfaces of the electronic component and heat sink at the interface thereof create air gaps or voids which reduce heat flow across the interface. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, heat flow across the interface improves substantially with better mechanical contact between the electronic component and the heat sink.
Although it is possible to machine the surfaces of the electronic component and heat sink at the interface thereof in order to improve the mechanical contact therebetween, it has been found to be prohibitively expensive to do so. Alternatively, contemporary methodology dictates that a viscous, heat conductive compound, typically silicone grease, be applied at the interface of the electronic component and the heat sink so as to fill voids formed therein. Thus, a substantially more complete and efficient heat path is provided from the electronic component to the heat sink.
However, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, the use of a silicone grease has inherent disadvantages. Silicone grease is inherently messy and tends to soil personnel, clothing, and equipment, as well as nearby electronic components. Silicone grease is difficult to effectively clean, particularly from electronic assemblies.
Further, such use of silicone grease entails properly metering and applying the same to the desired electronic components and/or heat sinks in order to be effectively and economically utilized. The metering and application of silicone grease is inherently difficult and time consuming. Costly machinery is required to automate the process.
Further, silicone based thermal greases inherently migrate, over time, away from surfaces upon which they are initially applied. This migration of silicone based thermal greases facilitates the formation of air gaps or voids at the thermal interface. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, such air gaps or voids substantially reduce heat transfer across the thermal interface.
In an attempt to overcome the well known deficiencies of silicone grease, various heat conductive pads have been developed. Such heat conductive pads are typically preformed to have a shape or footprint compatible with a particular electronic component and/or heat sink, such that they may easily be applied thereto prior to attaching the heat sink to the electronic component.
Two examples of such contemporary pad-type thermal interfaces are THERMSTRATE and ISOSTRATE (both registered trademarks of Power Devices, Inc. of Laguna Hills, Calif.).
The THERMSTRATE interface comprises thermally conductive, die-cut pads which are placed intermediate the electronic component and heat sink so as to enhance heat conduction therebetween. The THERMSTRATE heat pads comprise a durable, type 1100 aluminum alloy substrate having a thickness of 0.002 inch and are coated on both sides with a proprietary thermal compound. The thermal compound comprises a paraffin base containing additives which enhance the thermal conductivity thereof. Additives also control the response of the thermal compound to heat and pressure. THERMSTRATE is dry on assembly, i.e., at room temperature, yet provides excellent wetting at the operating temperature of the electronic component to which it is applied, so as to assure desired heat conduction.
The ISOSTRATE thermal interface is likewise a die-cut mounting pad and utilizes a heat conducting polyamide substrate, i.e., KAPTON (a registered trademark of DuPont) Type MT. The ISOSTRATE thermal interface likewise has a propriety paraffin based thermal compound utilizing additives to enhance thermal conductivity and to control its response to heat and pressure.
Both THERMSTRATE and ISOSTRATE thermally conductive heat pads are silicone free and provide a no-mess, no-waste permanent replacement for thermal grease and the like. Such thermally conductive pads eliminate the problems and expense of handling and soiling which are commonly associated with the use of silicone grease.
The process for forming thermal interfaces according to contemporary methodology is described in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,715 issued on Nov. 10, 1981 to Whitfield, et al. and entitled METHODS AND MATERIALS FOR CONDUCTING HEAT FROM ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND THE LIKE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,483 issued on Aug. 21, 1984 to Whitfield, et al. and entitled METHODS AND MEANS FOR CONDUCTING HEAT FROM ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND THE LIKE; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,113 issued on Sep. 25, 1984 to Whitfield, et al. and entitled METHODS AND MATERIALS FOR CONDUCTING HEAT FROM ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND THE LIKE, the contents of all three of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
However, to date, no pad thermal interface is known which provides adequate heat dissipation, is inexpensive to manufacture, and which utilizes an adhesive to attach the pad to either the electronic component or the heat sink.
The prior art practice of adhesively bonding the thermal interface to either the electronic component or the heat sink is well known. Such practice facilitates handling of the interface and also allows the heat conductive interface to be sold along with either the electronic component or the heat sink already in place thereon.
Generally, according to contemporary practice, the use of an adhesive material to attach the heat conductive interface to either the electronic component or the heat sink is thought to be undesirable. It is thought that the addition of such an adhesive layer to the interface would undesirably reduce heat conduction from the electronic component to the heat sink. This is particularly true since, according to contemporary methodology, the addition of an adhesive layer entails the addition of a substrate and the addition of a second adhesive layer.
For example, one prior art attempt to utilize adhesive to attach a pad thermal interface to either an electronic component or heat sink involves the fabrication of a pad having six layers, as discussed in detail below. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, heat flow is substantially reduced by such additional layers.
Not only does each individual layer impede heat flow, but, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, each interface of different adjacent layers additionally inhibits heat flow. Thus, each layer contributes three distinct impediments to heat flow. It introduces the material of which the layer itself is comprised, as well as the two interfaces at either surface of the layer. Thus, it will be appreciated that it is highly desirable to minimize the number of layers, and consequently the number of interfaces.
It has been found that the use of a thermal interface having six layers does not provide desirable heat transfer from the electronic component to the heat sink. Such a six layer pad is also expensive to manufacture. Thus, it is desirable to minimize the number of layers defining the thermal interface.
As is typical for attaching a heat sink to an electronic component, clips, clamps, fasteners, or other devices may be utilized so as to further assure adequate contact of the heat sink and electronic device at the interface thereof, and also so as to assure that the heat sink remains reliably attached to the electronic component. This is of particular concern since different adhesives have different curing rates and bonding strengths.
As such, it is beneficial to provide a thermal interface pad which is adhesively bondable to either the electronic component or the heat sink, which does not substantially reduce heat flow from the electronic component to the heat sink, and which does not substantially increase the manufacturing cost thereof as compared to contemporary thermal interfaces pads.

Adhesive thermal interface and method of making the same


A support for a therapeutical magnet formed by a receptacle having the same cross-section as that of a box containing a magnet. The box is formed by two open inverted and facing halves. A coupling between the two halves at the edges thereof. The two halves are stopped by an edging depression made in one of the two halves in which the end of the wall of the other half is coupled. The base of one half of the two halves of the box has a central hollow in which is attached and fixed a transparent sheet of the same thickness as the hollow. Attached to the lower face of the transparent sheet is a printed film, containing information text, covered by an adhesive film on both faces, one of which attaches to the bottom of the hollow and the other to the lower face of the transparent sheet. The base of the support has a passage with two holes through which passes a belt that moves freely through these holes. The belt has a buckle on one end and also a device to adjust and hold the belt to the part of the body to which the magnet is to be applied.

The present invention relates to a support for a therapeutic magnet.
As is well known, it has been proved that a magnetic field influences the human body. The cellular activity of the human body is influenced by an acceleration in the cellular changes because of the extra-cellular medium such as a magnetic field, which gives rise to the reconstitution of the electrical charge of the cellular membrane. Accordingly, the magnetic field exercises an influence on the permeability of sodium and potassium ions through the membranes, thus modifying the degree of excitability of the nerve and muscle tissue.
Moreover, at the level of transmission of nervous influxes, the influence of the magnetic field favors or inhibits the liberation of small quantities of neurotransmitters. At the level of cutaneous recovery, a staminic effect shows the action of the magnetic field on the autonomous nervous system by stimulation of the parasympathetic system. At the intracellular level, oxidative processes of mitochondria are increased by a greater consumption of oxygen. These findings are in agreement with known data on the physiology of pain that is usually accompanied by an oxygen deficiency at the tissue level.
The increase in local temperature caused by a magnetic field on a living tissue presumes an increase in blood circulation and the supply of oxygen to the zone.
It is also well known that the application of a static magnetic field to the human body has an unquestionable curative and improving action. The harmless nature of the magnetic field has also been demonstrated.
Aside from the therapeutical effects, numerous patients in various studies have indicated a general sensation of improvement in their health, and a decrease in the sensation of fatigue, as a result of the application of a magnet to the body. Therefore, magnets alleviate some illnesses and without any doubt have a positive effect on the general state of the person.

Parque Residencial Nuestra senora de la Merced, Bloque 5-3.degree.-C


An activation circuit for activating a power bridge circuit of a resonance converter, including an inductive activation transformer that transfers a pulsed control signal generated via a CMOS driver to the power bridge circuit, wherein a clamping circuit is arranged at the output of each CMOS driver, where the clamping circuit clamps a primary winding of the activation transformer to a ground potential during the dead time between two pulses of the pulsed control signal such that overvoltages, which otherwise arise when switching the activation transformer inductance, are thus clamped during a dead time and a circuit breaker switches off securely.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an activation circuit for activating a power bridge circuit of a resonance converter, which includes an inductive activation transformer that transfers a pulsed control signal generated via a CMOS driver to the power bridge circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Resonance converters function without pulse-width modulated (PWM) control. The power bridge circuit is always activated with a full pulse duty factor, where the switching frequency determines the transformation ratio and thus the output voltage.
In order to activate the power bridge circuit in the high voltage range, an inductive activation transformer is required to galvanically separate the control circuit from the power circuit. This activation transformer transfers a control signal to switch the circuit breaker arranged in the power bridge circuit.
The control signal is generally generated by CMOS drivers. Here, the control signal is a sequence of alternating positive and negative pulses with, in each instance, dead times occurring therebetween. The dead time between the pulses of the control signal provides for switching in the case of a zero voltage (Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS)) and protects the circuit breaker from a simultaneous switching-through. Otherwise a short-circuit would result.
A CMOS driver involves two MOSFETs connected in series, where the first MOSFET pulls the CMOS driver output towards a supply voltage and the second MOSFET pulls the CMOS driver output towards a ground potential.
In order to activate a bridge circuit via an activation transformer, two CMOS drivers are required. Their outputs are connected in such cases by a primary winding of the activation transformer. The activation transformer comprises two secondary windings on the secondary side, which are wound mirror-inverted. The pulses that can be tapped on the secondary windings are thus likewise opposite, in other words, a gate pulse is positive, while the gate pulse present on the other secondary winding is negative, and the gate pulse is negative while the gate pulse present on the other secondary winding is positive.
In the case of a switching cycle, the CMOS drivers are switched during a first pulse such that a current flows through the primary winding. For instance, the first MOSFET of the first CMOS driver switches its output to the supply voltage and the second MOSFET of the second CMOS driver switches its output to the ground potential. At the end of this first pulse, all MOSFETs switch off for the predetermined dead time. The second MOSFET of the first CMOS driver then switches its output to the first ground potential during a second pulse, and the first MOSFET of the second CMOS driver switches its output to the supply voltage so that the current flows through the primary winding in the other direction.
In most instances, CMOS drivers are optimized for a direct activation without activation transformers. They are therefore not well suited to driving inductive transformers. An overdimensioning of the CMOS driver in most instances helps. Such a measure is however generally not economical.
Problems arise in particular due to the dead time, during which energy flows from the power bridge circuit back to the CMOS drivers via the activation transformer. With inadequate dimensioning of the CMOS drivers, it may occur that the circuit breakers do not correctly block and that an excessively high gate residual voltage is present as a result of an upright energy flow.
This problem is preferred on account of leakage currents and unfavorable states, such as high temperatures, as a result of which this may finally result in the simultaneous through-switching of the power bridge circuit, which often ends in damage to the circuit on account of a short-circuit.
A further problem consists in a high impedance of the CMOS driver circuit, because two CMOS drivers are connected in series. Oscillations may occur here during switching, which negatively affect the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).

Activation circuit of a resonance converter


The present invention concerns methods and compositions for stably tethered structures of defined compositions, which may have multiple functionalities and/or binding specificities. Particular embodiments concern homodimers comprising monomers that contain a dimerization and docking domain attached to a precursor. The precursors may be virtually any molecule or structure, such as antibodies, antibody fragments, antibody analogs or mimetics, aptamers, binding peptides, fragments of binding proteins, known ligands for proteins or other molecules, enzymes, detectable labels or tags, therapeutic agents, toxins, pharmaceuticals, cytokines, interleukins, interferons, radioisotopes, proteins, peptides, peptide mimetics, polynucleotides, RNAi, oligosaccharides, natural or synthetic polymeric substances, nanoparticles, quantum dots, organic or inorganic compounds, etc. Other embodiments concern tetramers comprising a first and second homodimer, which may be identical or different. The disclosed methods and compositions provide a facile and general way to obtain homodimers, homotetramers and heterotetramers of virtually any functionality and/or binding specificity.

Man-made agents that incorporate multiple copies of both targeting and effector moieties are highly desirable, as they should provide more avid binding and confer enhanced potency. Although recombinant technologies are commonly applied for making fusion proteins with both targeting and effector domains, multimeric structures that comprise the same or different monomeric components to acquire multivalency or multifunctionality may be obtained only with judicious applications of conjugation chemistries.
For agents generated by recombinant engineering, problems may include high manufacturing cost, low expression yields, instability in serum, instability in solution resulting in formation of aggregates or dissociated subunits, undefined batch composition due to the presence of multiple product forms, contaminating side-products, reduced functional activities or binding affinity/avidity attributed to steric factors or altered conformations, etc. For agents generated by various methods of chemical cross-linking, high manufacturing cost and heterogeneity of the purified product are two major limitations.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for a method of making multivalent structures of multiple specificities or functionalities in general, which are of defined composition, homogeneous purity, and unaltered affinity, and can be produced in high yields without the requirement of extensive purification steps. Furthermore, such structures must also be sufficiently stable in serum to allow in vivo applications. A need exists for stable, multivalent structures of multiple specificities or functionalities that are easy to construct and/or obtain in relatively purified form.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods for generating stably linked complexes composed of homodimers, homotetramers or dimers of dimers and uses


A tow vehicle operating system is provided for wirelessly connecting a first lighting system of a towing vehicle to a second lighting system of a towed vehicle. A wireless transmitter on the towing vehicle broadcasts a linking signal having an identification code and an associated data indicating a present status of lights of the towing vehicle based on an illumination signal from the towing vehicle, over a selected one of a plurality of distinct channels or frequencies. A wireless receiver on the towed vehicle receives the linking signal and verifies the identification code, and transmits an acknowledgement signal to the transmitter, thereby locking in the selected channel or frequency for a wireless communication between the first and second lighting systems. Lights of the towed vehicle are operated in response to the associated data of the linking signal.

The present invention relates to wireless taillight systems for vehicles, whereby a towed vehicle is wirelessly connected to a towing vehicle such that at least one of running, turning or stopping lights from the towing vehicle are transmitted to the towed vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to improvements in the operating systems for such wireless systems.
Conventional towing light assemblies are designed to address the problem occurring when a trailer, implement or other vehicle (hereinafter "towed vehicle") is being towed by a tow vehicle, the running, stop and/or turn lights of the tow vehicle are obstructed by the towed vehicle. Many jurisdictions require that the towed vehicle be equipped with supplemental indicator lights for signaling the intentions of the tow vehicle to other traffic. Accordingly, many towed vehicles are equipped with wired-in taillight systems including a connector, such as a jack configured for interfacing with the electrical system of the tow vehicle such that the towed vehicle's lighting system is synchronized with that of the tow vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,801 discloses a radio controlled light bar including a tow vehicle unit which is adapted to be electrically connected to the lighting system of the vehicle, and a trailer unit attached to the towed vehicle. The tow vehicle unit includes an analog to RF frequency converter, an RF oscillator, a modulator and a four-channel 900 MHz radio transmitter. The trailer unit includes a radio receiver, a decoder, an amplifier and a managing circuit. In operation, a light signal from the vehicle is converted from analog to RF by the frequency converter. The modulator impresses the light signal onto a carrier frequency as provided by the RF oscillator, and the radio transmitter transmits the signal through one of the four channels or frequencies. Each of the channels of the transmitter is dedicated to one or more of the signals for indicating braking, taillight, and left and right turning of the vehicle.
In the trailer unit, the radio receiver receives the signal transmitted from the tow vehicle unit. The decoder then demodulates the received signal from the RF oscillating frequency and decodes the signal into the light signal received from the vehicle, i.e., braking, taillight or turning. The signal managing circuit then outputs the light signal to the different light elements depending on the type of signal received.
A problem with such conventional units is that in some cases, interference is received from other wireless transmitters on nearby vehicles on the roadway, resulting in improper or faulty signals transmitted to the towed vehicle, with the resulting potential for misleading lighting displayed by the towed vehicles.


A method, system, and computer program product for discovering status of a network topology. A network management framework provides the ability to specify a method for determining how to gather status of a data processing system. A data gathering technique (DGT) may be dynamically adjusted to discovery or monitoring of devices within the data processing system. Different data gathering techniques may be employed in an effort to discover or monitor the devices. In addition, results of previous network data gathering may be stored for later use. These stored results may used to develop an order of relative capabilities for a managed device or devices as compared to other device or devices in the same network. Discovery and monitoring information may be obtained about one device or N devices within the network.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved data processing system and, in particular, to a method and system for multiple computer or process coordinating. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a method and system for network management.
2. Description of Related Art
Technology expenditures have become a significant portion of operating costs for most enterprises, and businesses are constantly seeking ways to reduce information technology (IT) costs. This has given rise to an increasing number of outsourcing service providers, each promising, often contractually, to deliver reliable service while offloading the costly burdens of staffing, procuring, and maintaining an IT organization. While most service providers started as network pipe providers, they are moving into server outsourcing, application hosting, and desktop management. For those enterprises that do not outsource, they are demanding more accountability from their IT organizations as well as demanding that IT is integrated into their business goals. In both cases, "service level agreements" have been employed to contractually guarantee service delivery between an IT organization and its customers. As a result, IT teams now require management solutions that focus on and support "business processes" and "service delivery" rather than just disk space monitoring and network pings.
Distributed data processing systems with thousands of nodes are known in the prior art. The nodes can be geographically dispersed, and the overall computing environment can be managed in a distributed manner. The managed environment can be logically separated into a series of loosely connected managed regions, each with its management server for managing local resources. The management servers can coordinate activities across the enterprise and can permit remote site management and operation. Local resources within one region can be exported for the use of other regions.
However, currently network status gathering relies on discovery commands such as a "ping" or a SNMP. Such a procedure is inefficient on systems where the "ping" is invalid or in networks where most systems are SNMP compliant (where no "ping" is necessary). At present there is no mechanism for allowing administrators to choose a method for determining how to gather a status of the network. At present, administrators cannot choose to perform SNMP commands first, "ping" commands first, SNMP commands only, or allow for dynamic solutions to be generated. Furthermore, dynamic solutions cannot be created by keeping track of how many machines are SNMP compliant and how many "ping" commands fail, being able to reverse the order of gathering the status of the network, or excluding one command or the other.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a method and system that dynamically gathers status of a network based on specified status gathering parameters so as to eliminate impact on system performance that is caused by invalid or unnecessary network monitoring operations.

Dynamic intelligent discovery applied to topographic networks

International Business Machines Corporation


A driving support apparatus of the present invention comprises an imaging device which picks up a peripheral image of a vehicle, a detecting device which detects action information of a moving object present around the vehicle, an information generating device which generates determination supporting information for supporting determinations at the time of driving the vehicle based on the action information; an information combining device which combines the determination supporting information with the peripheral image; and a display device which displays the peripheral image combined with the determination supporting information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving support apparatus which supports determinations of driving actions when a driver of a vehicle takes the driving actions such as changing lanes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in order to monitor peripheral statuses at the time of vehicle running, driving support apparatuses, which are provided with cameras for imaging peripheries and display the images on display screens so as to support the driving operation by drivers, are used (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-354466). When such driving support apparatuses are used, images picked up by the cameras can be displayed on displays in vehicle interiors. Accordingly, even areas which are out of sight of rearview mirrors or the like can be visible, so that the operationality of the drivers can be improved.


A cutter having a base portion, an ultrahard layer disposed on the base portion, and at least one relief groove formed on an outer surface of the cutter. The at least one relief groove is configured to form a relief gap between the ultrahard layer and an inside surface of a cutter pocket.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of fixed cutter bits used to drill wellbores through earth formations.
2. Background Art
Rotary drill bits with no moving elements on them are typically referred to as "drag" bits. Drag bits are often used to drill a variety of rock formations. Drag bits include those having cutters (sometimes referred to as cutter elements, cutting elements or inserts) attached to the bit body. For example, the cutters may be formed having a substrate or support stud made of carbide, for example tungsten carbide, and an ultra hard cutting surface layer or "table" made of a polycrystalline diamond material or a polycrystalline boron nitride material deposited onto or otherwise bonded to the substrate at an interface surface.
An example of a prior art drag bit having a plurality of cutters with ultra hard working surfaces is shown in FIG. 1. The drill bit 10 includes a bit body 12 and a plurality of blades 14 that are formed on the bit body 12. The blades 14 are separated by channels or gaps 16 that enable drilling fluid to flow between and both clean and cool the blades 14 and cutters 18. Cutters 18 are held in the blades 14 at predetermined angular orientations and radial locations to present working surfaces 20 with a desired back rake angle against a formation to be drilled. Typically, the working surfaces 20 are generally perpendicular to the axis 19 and side surface 21 of a cylindrical cutter 18. Thus, the working surface 20 and the side surface 21 meet or intersect to form a circumferential cutting edge 22.
Nozzles 23 are typically formed in the drill bit body 12 and positioned in the gaps 16 so that fluid can be pumped to discharge drilling fluid in selected directions and at selected rates of flow between the cutting blades 14 for lubricating and cooling the drill bit 10, the blades 14 and the cutters 18. The drilling fluid also cleans and removes the cuttings as the drill bit rotates and penetrates the geological formation. The gaps 16, which may be referred to as "fluid courses," are positioned to provide additional flow channels for drilling fluid and to provide a passage for formation cuttings to travel past the drill bit 10 toward the surface of a wellbore (not shown).
The drill bit 10 includes a shank 24 and a crown 26. Shank 24 is typically formed of steel or a matrix material and includes a threaded pin 28 for attachment to a drill string. Crown 26 has a cutting face 30 and outer side surface 32. The particular materials used to form drill bit bodies are selected to provide adequate toughness, while providing good resistance to abrasive and erosive wear. For example, in the case where an ultra hard cutter is to be used, the bit body 12 may be made from powdered tungsten carbide (WC) infiltrated with a binder alloy within a suitable mold form. In one manufacturing process the crown 26 includes a plurality of holes or pockets 34 that are sized and shaped to receive a corresponding plurality of cutters 18.
The combined plurality of surfaces 20 of the cutters 18 effectively forms the cutting face of the drill bit 10. Once the crown 26 is formed, the cutters 18 are positioned in the pockets 34 and affixed by any suitable method, such as brazing, adhesive, mechanical means such as interference fit, or the like. The design depicted provides the pockets 34 inclined with respect to the surface of the crown 26. The pockets 34 are inclined such that cutters 18 are oriented with the working face 20 at a desired rake angle in the direction of rotation of the bit 10, so as to enhance cutting. It will be understood that in an alternative construction (not shown), the cutters can each be substantially perpendicular to the surface of the crown, while an ultra hard surface is affixed to a substrate at an angle on a cutter body or a stud so that a desired rake angle is achieved at the working surface.
A typical cutter 18 is shown in FIG. 2. The typical cutter 18 has a cylindrical cemented carbide substrate body 38 having an end face or upper surface 54 referred to herein as the "interface surface" 54. An ultrahard material layer (cutting layer) 44, such as polycrystalline diamond or polycrystalline cubic boron nitride layer, forms the working surface 20 and the cutting edge 22. A bottom surface 52 of the ultrahard material layer 44 is bonded on to the upper surface 54 of the substrate 38. The bottom surface 52 and the upper surface 54 are herein collectively referred to as the interface 46. The top exposed surface or working surface 20 of the cutting layer 44 is opposite the bottom surface 52. The cutting layer 44 typically has a flat or planar working surface 20, but may also have a curved exposed surface, that meets the side surface 21 at a cutting edge 22.
Cutters may be made, for example, according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,623, whereby a relatively small volume of ultra hard particles such as diamond or cubic boron nitride is sintered as a thin layer onto a cemented tungsten carbide substrate. Flat top surface cutters as shown in FIG. 2 are generally the most common and convenient to manufacture with an ultra hard layer according to known techniques. It has been found that cutter chipping, spalling and delamination are common failure modes for ultra hard flat top surface cutters.
Generally speaking, the process for making a cutter 18 employs a body of tungsten carbide as the substrate 38. The carbide body is placed adjacent to a layer of ultra hard material particles such as diamond or cubic boron nitride particles and the combination is subjected to high temperature at a pressure where the ultra hard material particles are thermodynamically stable. This results in recrystallization and formation of a polycrystalline ultra hard material layer, such as a polycrystalline diamond or polycrystalline cubic boron nitride layer, directly onto the upper surface 54 of the cemented tungsten carbide substrate 38.
It has been found by applicants that many cutters develop cracking, spalling, chipping and partial fracturing of the ultra hard material cutting layer at a region of cutting layer subjected to the highest loading during drilling. This region is referred to herein as the "critical region" 56. The critical region 56 encompasses the portion of the ultrahard material layer 44 that makes contact with the earth formations during drilling. The critical region 56 is subjected to high magnitude stresses from dynamic normal loading, and shear loadings imposed on the ultrahard material layer 44 during drilling. Because the cutters are typically inserted into a drag bit at a rake angle, the critical region includes a portion of the ultrahard material layer near and including a portion of the layer's circumferential edge 22 that makes contact with the earth formations during drilling.
The high magnitude stresses at the critical region 56 alone or in combination with other factors, such as residual thermal stresses, can result in the initiation and growth of cracks 58 across the ultra hard layer 44 of the cutter 18. Cracks of sufficient length may cause the separation of a sufficiently large piece of ultra hard material, rendering the cutter 18 ineffective or resulting in the failure of the cutter 18. When this happens, drilling operations may have to be ceased to allow for recovery of the drag bit and replacement of the ineffective or failed cutter. The high stresses, particularly shear stresses, can also result in delamination of the ultra hard layer 44 at the interface 46.
One type of ultra hard working surface 20 for fixed cutter drill bits is formed as described above with polycrystalline diamond on the substrate of tungsten carbide, typically known as a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC), PDC cutters, PDC cutting elements, or PDC inserts. Drill bits made using such PDC cutters 18 are known generally as PDC bits. While the cutter or cutter insert 18 is typically formed using a cylindrical tungsten carbide "blank" or substrate 38 which is sufficiently long to act as a mounting stud 40, the substrate 38 may also be an intermediate layer bonded at another interface to another metallic mounting stud 40.
The ultra hard working surface 20 is formed of the polycrystalline diamond material, in the form of a cutting layer 44 (sometimes referred to as a "table") bonded to the substrate 38 at an interface 46. The top of the ultra hard layer 44 provides a working surface 20 and the bottom of the ultra hard layer cutting layer 44 is affixed to the tungsten carbide substrate 38 at the interface 46. The substrate 38 or stud 40 is brazed or otherwise bonded in a selected position on the crown of the drill bit body 12 (FIG. 1). As discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, the PDC cutters 18 are typically held and brazed into pockets 34 formed in the drill bit body at predetermined positions for the purpose of receiving the cutters 18 and presenting them to the geological formation at a rake angle.
FIG. 3 shows a prior art PDC cutter held at an angle in a drill bit 10 for cutting into a formation 45. The cutter 18 includes a diamond material table 44 affixed to a tungsten carbide substrate 38 that is bonded into the pocket 34 formed in a drill bit blade 14. The drill bit 10 (see FIG. 1) will be rotated for cutting the inside surface of a cylindrical well bore. Generally speaking, the back rake angle "A" is used to describe the working angle of the working surface 20, and it also corresponds generally to the magnitude of the attack angle "B" made between the working surface 20 and an imaginary tangent line at the point of contact with the well bore. It will be understood that the "point" of contact is actually an edge or region of contact that corresponds to critical region 56 (see FIG. 2) of maximum stress on the cutter 18. Typically, the geometry of the cutter 18 relative to the well bore is described in terms of the back rake angle "A."
In order for the body of a drill bit to be resistant to wear, hard and wear-resistant materials such as tungsten carbide are typically used to form the drill bit body for holding the PDC cutters. Such a drill bit body is very hard and difficult to machine. Therefore, the selected positions at which the PDC cutters 18 are to be affixed to the bit body 12 are typically formed during the bit body molding process to closely approximate the desired final shape. A common practice in molding the drill bit body is to include in the mold, at each of the to-be-formed PDC cutter mounting positions, a shaping element called a "displacement."
A displacement is generally a small cylinder, made from graphite or other heat resistant materials, which is affixed to the inside of the mold at each of the places where a PDC cutter is to be located on the finished drill bit. The displacement forms the shape of the cutter mounting positions during the bit body molding process. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,183 issued to Fang for a description of the infiltration molding process using displacements.
In addition to bit bodies being formed by infiltrating powered tungsten carbide with, a binder alloy in a suitable mold, a bit body can also be made from steel or other alloys which can be machined or otherwise cut and finished formed using conventional machining and/or grinding equipment. For example, a bit body "blank" may be rough formed, such as by casting or forging, and is finished machined to include at least one blade having mounting pads for cutting elements. The mounting pads may be formed by grinding or machining to include a relief groove.
PDC bits known in the art have been subject to fracture failure of the diamond table, and/or separation of the diamond table from the substrate during drilling operations. One reason for such failures is compressive contact between the exterior of the diamond table and the proximate surface of the bit body under drilling loading conditions. One solution to this problem known in the art is to mount the cutting elements so that substantially all of the thickness of the diamond table is projected outward past the surface of the bit body. While this solution does reduce the incidence of diamond table failure, having the diamond tables extend outwardly past the bit body can cause erratic or turbulent flow of drilling fluid past the cutting elements on the bit. This turbulent flow has been known to cause the cutter mounting to erode, and to cause the bonding between the cutters and the bit body to fail, among other deficiencies in this type of PDC bit configuration.
Other PDC bits known in the art have reduced the turbulent flow caused by the outwardly projected diamond table by including a relief groove formed in the cutter pocket of the bit body. The relief groove reduces the amount of compressive contact between the exterior of the diamond table and the proximate surface of the bit body under drilling loading conditions, thereby reducing the risk of fracture failure of the diamond table, and/or separation of the diamond table from the substrate during drilling operations. Additionally, the PDC cutter may be mounted so that it is substantially flush with the outer surface of the mounting position of the bit body, thereby reducing the amount of turbulent flow created by and outwardly projected diamond table. Thus, relief grooves often reduce diamond table failure, while retaining the benefits of flush mounting of the cutters on the bit body. However, the geometry and dimensions of a cutter pocket with a relief groove are often difficult to control. Additionally, cleaning a pocket with a relief groove requires more work and time.
Displacements are known in the art for forming relief grooves in the cutter pocket of a matrix bit body. U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,952 issued to Mensa-Wilmot, et al. discloses such a conventional displacement configured to form a relief groove in the cutter pocket on the PDC matrix bit body. This patent is incorporated by reference in its entirety. A conventional displacement 102 is shown in FIG. 4. The displacement 102 is a substantially cylindrical body having a selected length indicated by L, a diameter indicated by D and on one end, and a projection 104 having a selected width W. The length L and the diameter D are selected to provide a mounting pad (106 in FIG. 5) on the finished bit body having dimensions suitable to mount a selected cutting element. Typically, the cutting element affixed to the mounting pad (106 in FIG. 5) will be a polycrystalline diamond compact insert. The projection 104 has a substantially cylindrical shape and extends laterally past the exterior surface 102A of the main body of the displacement 102 by about 0.025 inches (0.63 mm). The displacement is affixed to the mold so that the mounting pad is formed to have a recess or relief groove positioned under a diamond table forming part of the cutting element affixed to the mounting pad.
FIG. 5 shows a blade portion of a bit body formed using a displacement, such as shown in FIG. 4. A blade 110 includes thereon a mounting pad 106, having the shape of a displacement. The radius of the mounting pad 106 is determined by the diameter of the displacement. Typically, this radius is selected to match the radius of the cutting element mounted thereon. A relief groove 108 is formed in the mounting pad 106 by having placed the displacement in the mold so that the projection was positioned outward and downward with respect to the blade 110. Shown mounted in the moutning pad 106 is a cutting element 112 consisting of a diamond table 114 affixed to a substrate 116. Typically, the substrate 116 is formed from tungsten carbide or similar hard material. The diamond table 114 can be formed in any manner known in the art for making diamond cutting surfaces for fixed cutter drill bits. The cutting element is typically bonded to the blade 110 by brazing the substrate 116 to the blade 110.
The diamond table 114 extends longitudinally past the surface of the blade 110 by an amount shown at E. The diamond table 114 has a thickness Z which is selected based on the diameter of the cutting element and the expected use of the particular drill bit, among other factors. Diamond table breakage may be reduced efficiently when the depth X of the relief groove 108 is selected so that the relief groove 108 extends back from the surface of the blade 110 at least about 40 percent of that portion (Z-E) of the thickness Z of the diamond table which does not extend past the edge of the blade 110.
While conventional PDC bit bodies have been designed to reduce diamond table failure, the accuracy of designing the cutter pocket has become more difficult, as has cleaning and preparing the pocket.
What is still needed, therefore, is a structure for a PDC bit body which reduces diamond table failure and increases accuracy of designing the cutter pocket.


A catalyst for oxidation of ammonia is of the general formula (AxByO3z)k (MEmOn)f, wherein: A is a cation of Ca, Sr, Ba, Mg, Be, La or mixtures thereof, B is cations of Mn, Fe, Ni, Co, Cr, Cu, V or mixtures thereof, x=0-2, y=1-2, z=0.8-1.7; MemOn is an aluminum oxide and/or oxide of silicon zirconium, chromium, aluminosilicates, oxides of rare earth elements (REE) or mixtures thereof, m=1-3, n=1-2, k and f are % by weight, with the ratio f/k=0.01-1. The catalyst may be granules of different configuration, including blocks of honeycomb structure. The catalyst is thermally stable, resistant to thermal shocks. There is no water runoff.

The invention relates to catalysts for the process of oxidizing ammonia.
At present, platinum and its alloys with palladium and rhodium are the main industrial catalysts for oxidizing ammonia. Taking the high cost of metals of the platinum group into account, the problem of how to reduce the use and losses of platinoids becomes important. Several compositions of oxide catalysts have been developed in which ferric oxide, chromium oxide, cobalt oxide, or bismuth oxide are the active component.
An oxide catalyst is known which is prepared by mixing aluminum, ferric, calcium and chromium oxides, and subsequently tableting and calcining at 875-900xc2x0 C. (SU N 641985, 1979).
A catalyst for oxidizing ammonia is also known which comprises, % by weight, 90-95 ferric oxide and 5-10 chromium oxide, and is prepared by mixing ferric nitrates and chromium, curing at 315xc2x0 C., cooling, mixing with graphite and subsequently tableting and calcining at 560-650xc2x0 C. (Patent FR No. 2119121, 1972).
An oxide catalyst is known, which is prepared in the form of tablets and consists of ferric oxide and aluminum oxide (SU No. 1220193, 1986). The method for preparing the catalyst consists of mixing ferric oxide and aluminum hydroxide in an acidic medium, with subsequent thermal decomposition of the catalytic mass at 600-700xc2x0 C., grinding, tableting and caking the prepared tablets. Its serviceability in the second step of ammonia oxidation was shown in pilot tests.
Drawbacks of such catalysts are a substantial gas dynamic resistance of the catalyst layer, a change in the phase composition during service, and the presence of ammonia in the gas flow after the catalyst layer.
A catalyst having a perovskite structure for the selective oxidation of ammonia into nitrogen oxide with a yield of at least 90% is selected as the prototype (U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,300, 1989). Powders of perovskites of the series La1xe2x88x92xSrxMeO3, where Me=Co, Mn, and x=0.25-0.75, and LaMeO3, where Me=Co, Mn, Ni, Cr, Fe, were obtained by the method of coprecipitating tetraethyl ammonium from diluted solutions of nitrates taken in appropriate ratios and tested in a reaction of ammonia oxidation (samples were 0.005-0.1 g) at temperatures of from 500 to 1050 K and rates of the gas flow (1.5% by volume of NH3, 5% by volume of O2, balance helium) from 1000 to 10000 h1. However, in order to be used for industrial purposes, the catalyst should be formed into granules. The powders obtained by the coprecipitation method are not only not formed into honeycomb structures, but not into simple granules either.
The object of the present invention is to develop a high-strength, granulated catalyst, including a block catalyst having a honeycomb structure, for oxidizing ammonia, the catalyst having high activity, resistance to thermal shocks, not containing noble metals and making it possible to enhance the safety of the process by reducing the hydraulic resistance of the catalyst layer and stabilizing the gas flow.
The object is attained by using a catalyst in the reaction of oxidizing ammonia, which is a makeup of mixed oxides of the general formula (AxByO3z)k (MemOn)f, wherein: A is a cation of Ca, Sr, Ba, Mg, Be, La or mixtures thereof, B is cations of Mn, Fe, Ni, Co, Cr, Cu, V or mixtures thereof, x=0-2, z=0.8-1.7; MemOn is aluminum oxide and/or oxide of silicon, zirconium, chromium, aluminosilicates, oxides of rare earth elements (REE) or mixtures thereof, m=1-3, n=1-2, k and f are % by weight, with the ratio f/k=0.01-1.
Pure oxides and also an undivided mixture (metal mixture) of oxides of rare earth elements of the following composition, % by weight, may be used as oxides of REE: lanthanum oxidexe2x80x9430-33, ceryl oxidexe2x80x9445-55, praseodymium oxidexe2x80x945-6, neodymium oxidexe2x80x9410-13, samarium oxide mol,xe2x80x941-2, balance lanthanidesxe2x80x94not more than 1. Zirconium oxide additionally comprises an alkaline-earth metal, wherein the ratio of zirconium to the alkaline-earth metal in zirconium oxide is 9:1.
The catalyst may be made up of granules of different configuration, including blocks of honeycomb structure.
The method of preparing the catalyst consists of the following steps:
1) Preparing a powder of AxByO3z oxide.
Oxides of the AxByO3z series are prepared by the method of mechanochemical synthesis (L. Isupova, V. Sadykov, L. Solovyova / Monolith Perovskite Catalysts of Honeycomb Structure for Fuel Combustion // Scientific Basis for the Preparation of Heterogeneous Catalysts. 6th Int. Symp., Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), 1994, v. 2, p. 231]. In order to do this, the mixture of initial simple oxides, hydroxides or carbonates, taken in appropriate ratios, is subjected to mechanochemical activation, and then the powder is calcined at 600-800xc2x0 C. for 2-4 hours. The specific surface of the prepared complex oxides is 10-20 m2/g.
2) Mixing and forming.
Powder of the oxide according to 1) is mixed in a powder mixer with compounds providing, during calcining, oxides of Al, Cr, Si, Zr, REE or with aluminosilicates in an acidic medium. In order to enhance the resistance of the catalyst to thermal shocks, reinforcing aluminosilicate fibers may be additionally introduced into the composition of the paste during the mixing step. Used as the Al-comprising adhesive agent are: aluminum oxynitrate or pseudoboehmite; Cr-comprisingxe2x80x94chromic acid; Si-comprisingxe2x80x94kaolin; Zr-comprisingxe2x80x94zirconium oxynitrate; Ln-comprisingxe2x80x94lanthanide nitrates. In order to enhance the rheological characteristics of the paste, surfactantsxe2x80x94ethylene glycol, polyethylene oxide, carboxymethyl cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, glycerin, etc.xe2x80x94are added to the composition. Granules or blocks of honeycomb structure are formed from the obtained paste.
3) Thermal treatment.
The catalysts are dried at a final temperature of 120xc2x0 C., then calcined in air at 700-1100xc2x0 C. for 2-4 hours.


A system and method relating to creation of object(s) in an object hierarchy structure is provided. An object generator that in response to a command to expand a node/object provides a initiator node that facilitates generation of a new object within the object hierarchy upon expansion of the node. A display component concurrently displays the initiator node with the expanded node. The initiator node used for creating objects placed (e.g., in-line) within an object hierarchy structure. To create a new object, an instruction (e.g., user input) to expand a node having a initiator node is received. By selecting the initiator node and entering a name, an object of type defined by the initiator node is created. For example, once the object is created the user can enter information defining parameter(s) of the object. Information can be entered through a user interface box (e.g., text box) that is displayed upon the creation of the object. Also, a grid can overlay the object hierarchy structure allowing information to be entered directly into grid cell(s). The grid can further be employed to display defined parameter(s).

An object hierarchy structure, such as a computer tree, allows a user to quickly navigate through the hierarchy structure. Object hierarchies generally include parent node(s), which can be expanded, and child node(s) (e.g., that represent or map to real-world object(s)) that can be found within those parent nodes. A user can expand a parent node to view the contents of that node, or compress a parent node when the contents of the parent node are no longer need be visible. The nodes can correspond to objects of a variety of data types as well as application types. For example, base nodes as well as child nodes correspond to file or application directories, and the contents therein can be documents, media, applications etc.
Increasing advances in computer technology (e.g., microprocessor speed, memory capacity, data transfer bandwidth, software functionality . . . ) have significantly contributed to making the world a smaller place as well as increase global competition. More particularly, businesses and individuals of today produce and manage much more work product than counterparts of several years prior. Individuals often multitask numerous items (e.g., documents, spreadsheets, statements, presentations, media . . . ) as well as applications that facilitate managing and working with such items. As such, various software-based tools have been developed to aid user(s) with multi-tasking. One very powerful tool is a file management system, which allows users to quickly view and access directories and respective content. For example, a file management system can present directories and/or contents via a tree-based hierarchy (e.g., object hierarchy)—this is a very logical and user intuitive scheme for presentation of information associated with file management. However, file management systems are merely one example of numerous instances in which object hierarchy structures are useful to present information to user(s) and/or facilitate manipulation of information associated with object(s) of the hierarchy structure.
Creating a new object within an object hierarchy, however, has historically been a counterintuitive process. For example, in order to create a new object under a parent node, a user typically used a mouse right-clicked on the parent node and then navigated through several menus in order to select the desired object type (e.g., message, variable, port, etc.). Alternatively, after selecting a parent node, the user navigated through several options from the main menu in order to select the desired object type. Other techniques for ascertaining functionality include employing a right-click menu, a toolbar, and associated modeless tool windows such as a properties window. Although highly useful, such conventional object hierarchy scheme has not kept pace with the ever increasing demands placed on computer users to work faster and concurrently handle greater amounts of file and application types. Discoverability of how to perform an operation has often times been a confusing and daunting task for user(s). Conventionally, user(s) have been required to go through numerous steps (e.g., opening up a directory/node to view contents, accessing files therein, launching tertiary applications associated with respective files to effect various functionality . . . ) in order to accomplish a desired result. This has been overburdening to the user. Accordingly, an improved system and methodology to facilitate computer-based object management and manipulation is highly desired.

System and method for creation of an object within an object hierarchy structure


An exposure apparatus to be used with an exposure mask having an elastically deformable holding member and a light blocking film provided on the holding member and being formed with an opening pattern. For exposure, the mask is flexed, to be brought into contact with an object to be exposed. The apparatus includes a distance detecting device for detecting a distance between the exposure mask and the object to be exposed. The distance detecting device is adapted to detect the distance between the exposure mask and the object to be exposed before the exposure mask is flexed. The apparatus also includes a distance controlling device for controlling the distance between the exposure mask before the mask is flexed and the object to be exposed, on the basis of a signal from the distance detecting device.

The lithographic technologies have been advanced and diversified, and novel lithographic methods have been proposed as emerging lithographic technologies. An example is a lithographic exposure method using near-field light that enables ultra-fine processing beyond the diffraction limit of light.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,730 proposes an exposure apparatus based on an exposure method using near-field light, wherein an exposure mask is made of a resilient material and wherein, by elastically deforming the mask to follow the surface shape of a resist, the whole surface of the exposure mask is brought into intimate contact with the resist surface, whereby exposure using near-field light is carried out.
In the exposure apparatus and exposure method disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent, first, the exposure mask and the object to be exposed are brought close to each other up to a predetermined distance and then, the exposure mask is elastically deformed (flexed) to bring the exposure mask and the object to be exposed into contact with each other. In such a structure, however, if the distance between the exposure mask and the object to be exposed deviates from the predetermined distance, the amount of extension of the exposure mask to be elastically deformed would change, and it would cause a change in the size or spacing of a pattern to be transferred to the object to be exposed. Such a problem has never been considered in the near-field exposure technologies.

Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and exposure mask


An optical recording medium 1 includes a support substrate 2, an information layer 3 formed on one of the surfaces of the support substrate 2, a first resin layer 4 formed on the information layer 3 and having a thickness of 30 to 200 μm, a moisture-proof layer 5 formed on the other surface of the support substrate 2, a second resin layer 6 formed on the moisture-proof layer 5 and having a thickness of 30 to 200 μm, and a label layer 7 formed on the second resin layer 6, and has such a structure that a laser beam is irradiated through the first resin layer 4. The second resin layer 6 contains 0.5 to 2.8 mass part of a silicon antifoaming agent with respect to 100 mass part of an ultraviolet curing resin, and is formed by a screen printing method.

The present invention relates to an optical recording medium, and more particularly to an optical recording medium capable of forming a resin layer having an excellent surface shape and minimizing a warp while preventing an increase in a cost.
Conventionally, optical recording media represented by a CD and a DVD have been utilized widely as recording media for recording digital data. These optical recording media can be classified into read-only optical recording media which can neither once write nor rewrite data, for example, a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM, write-once optical recording media which can once write data but cannot rewrite data, for example, a CD-R and a DVD-R, and rewritable optical recording media capable of rewriting data, for example, a CD-RW and a DVD-RW.
In order to reproduce data from these optical recording media, a laser beam set to have a power for reproduction is irradiated on the optical recording media and a reflected light is read so that the data are reproduced. A recording mark formed on the optical recording medium has a reflectance for the laser beam which is different from reflectances in the other regions. For this reason, the quantity of the reflected laser beam is varied depending on the presence of the recording mark. Accordingly, the quantity of the reflected laser beam is detected by a photodetector and is converted into an electric signal so that a reproducing signal is generated and the data are reproduced.
For this reason, it is necessary to reliably cause a laser beam reflected by the optical recording medium to be incident on the light receiving surface of the photodetector in order to read the data recorded on the optical recording medium as desired.
In the case in which a great warp is generated on the optical recording medium by a change in a temperature or a humidity during use, however, the angle of incidence of the laser beam on the optical recording medium fluctuates. For this reason, there is a possibility that the reflected laser beam might not be reliably incident on the photodetector.
In order to reproduce the data recorded on the optical recording medium as desired, accordingly, the warp of the optical recording medium is to be reduced. For example, Patent Document 1 has disclosed an optical recording medium in which the warp is reduced by the formation of a layer for preventing the warp on the back side of the optical recording medium.
The optical recording medium described in JP-A-4-195745 comprises a first dielectric layer formed on the surface side of a substrate and a second dielectric layer formed on the back side of the substrate and having a coefficient of thermal expansion which is equal to that of the first dielectric layer. In such an optical recording medium, a stress and a bending moment which are generated on the first dielectric layer are cancelled with a stress and a bending moment which are generated on the second dielectric layer depending on a change in a temperature or a humidity during use. Thus, a warp is prevented from being generated on the optical recording medium.
On the other hand, in recent years, there has been proposed a next generation optical recording medium having a larger capacity and a higher data transfer rate. In such a next generation optical recording medium, a wavelength λ of a laser beam is reduced and a numerical aperture NA of an objective lens for collecting a laser beam is increased to enhance a recording density.
When the wavelength λ of the laser beam is reduced and the numerical aperture NA of the objective lens is increased, however, there is a problem in that an angle error permitted for the tilt of the optical axis of the laser beam to the optical recording medium, that is, a tilt margin T is greatly reduced as shown in the following equation (1).
                    T        ∝                  λ                      d            ·                          NA              3                                                          (        1        )
In the equation (1), d represents a distance from a light incidence plane to the surface of an information layer on which data are to be recorded, that is, a thickness of a layer through which a laser beam is transmitted before the laser beam reaches the information layer. As is apparent from the equation (1), the tilt margin T is decreased when the wavelength λ of the laser beam is reduced and the NA of the objective lens is increased, and is increased when the thickness d of the layer through which the laser beam is transmitted is reduced.
Therefore, the next generation optical recording medium has such a structure that a thin resin layer having a thickness of 30 to 200 μm is formed on the information layer and a laser beam is irradiated from the resin layer side to record and reproduce data. Consequently, the tilt margin is enlarged.
For this reason, the next generation optical recording medium usually has an asymmetrical structure in which an information layer and a resin layer are sequentially laminated and formed on a support substrate having a thickness of approximately 1.1 mm and two disk-shaped substrates having a thickness of 0.6 mm are stuck with the information layer interposed therebetween differently from a DVD optical recording medium having a symmetrical structure.
In the next generation optical recording medium, however, the thicknesses of the support substrate and the resin layer are different from each other. In the case in which a warp is apt to be generated on the optical recording medium, particularly, the support substrate and the resin layer are formed by different materials due to a change in a temperature or a humidity, therefore, physical properties such as a rigidity, a coefficient of linear expansion, a Young's modulus of elasticity and an internal stress of the material forming the support substrate and the material forming the resin layer are different from each other. For this reason, the warp is generated on the optical recording medium still more easily.
As described above, in the next generation optical recording medium, particularly, there is a problem in that a warp is apt to be generated. Also in the next generation optical recording medium, therefore, there has been made a trial that a resin layer having almost the same physical properties as the physical properties of a resin layer formed on the surface side of the support substrate is formed on the back side of the support substrate and stresses applied to the surface and the back face of the support substrate are offset to reduce the warp to be generated on the optical recording medium.
In order to form the resin layer having almost the same physical properties on the back side of the support substrate, however, it is necessary to carry out a spin coating step to form the resin layer, and to then invert the support substrate and to perform the spin coating step again. Furthermore, a label is generally formed on the back side of the optical recording medium in order to display data recorded on the optical recording medium or the type of the optical recording medium or to give a decorative design. A label layer for forming the label is usually obtained by a screen printing method in place of a spin coating method. For this reason, there is a problem in that a producing step becomes very complicated, causing an increase in a manufacturing cost.
In order to prevent the increase in the manufacturing cost, therefore, it is effective to form the resin layer on the back side of the support substrate by the screen printing method and to provide the resin layer and the label layer by the same forming method to simplify a manufacturing process.
However, a resin layer having a thickness of 30 to 200 μm is much thicker than the label layer, and it is necessary to use a screen printing plate which has a greater opening width and is coarser as compared with a screen printing plate to be used for forming the label layer in order to form the resin layer by the screen printing method. In the case in which the resin layer is formed by using such a coarse screen printing plate, the flatness of the surface of the resin layer is easily damaged so that the shape of the surface of the resin layer is transferred to the label layer to be formed thereon. For this reason, there is a problem in that the external shape of the label layer is deteriorated.
In the case in which the flatness of the surface of the resin layer is considerably damaged, particularly, the thickness of the resin layer becomes non-uniform. Therefore, the external appearance of the label layer is adversely affected, and furthermore, physical properties are made greatly different from those of the resin layer on the surface side of the support substrate. As a result, there is also a problem in that it is hard to prevent a warp from being generated on the optical recording medium.