Methods for predicting a remaining lifetime of an electric energy storage mechanism, in particular a battery in a motor vehicle and devices for implementing such methods are described in which the remaining lifetime is determined by extrapolation with the help of a mathematical model of the energy storage mechanism. This remaining lifetime is defined as the time until reaching any definable limiting values for the minimum efficiency or minimum storage capacity. The remaining lifetime is indicated and, when the level falls below a preselectable threshold, a warning is displayed. The parameters of the energy storage mechanism are adapted continuously to the real values over the lifetime. The anticipated remaining lifetime is determined by extrapolation from the values for the efficiency and/or storage capacity, based on a specifiable charge state and temperature and the minimum values required for the particular application, these values being calculated at regular intervals on the basis of the model and saved.

With electric energy storage mechanisms such as batteries, it is extremely important to predict the remaining lifetime until they become unusable, in particular in the case of lead batteries in motor vehicles. The battery may be replaced promptly due to a warning to the operator of the vehicle before an imminent battery failure, thereby preventing breakdown of a vehicle or failure of electric devices in the vehicle, in particular those critical for safety, such as x-by-wire systems. However, replacement of batteries too early must be avoided for cost reasons. Therefore, metrics tailored for the particular application and analyzable as accurately as possible are crucial for the useful life of a battery having parameterizable threshold values for a battery replacement display.
Various methods of determining the useful life (SOH=state of health) of energy storage mechanisms, in particular lead batteries such as those used in the automotive field, are known from the literature. One measure used for the state of aging of a battery is the decline in storage capacity in comparison with the new state, which is estimated, e.g., by monitoring such operating conditions as charge conversion, exhaustive battery discharge phases and ambient temperature (U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,408) or from the current and voltage curves in typical recurring load cases (engine start). In addition, the decline in efficiency is used as a measure of aging by observing the voltage dip when starting the engine (German Published Patent Application No. 197 50 309) or the temperature- and charge state-compensated dynamic internal resistance (German Patent No. 37 12 629, German Published Patent Application No. 100 49 495) over the lifetime of a battery.
The prevailing state of health of the energy storage mechanism is thus evaluated either on the basis of the prevailing storage capacity or the efficiency based on engine startup. The literature does not describe or analyze any more detailed criteria for the state of health applicable to different applications including combined applications (engine start, electric or hybrid vehicle, power supply to safety-critical electric consumers, . . . ). Nor is there any prediction of the remaining lifetime.

Method for predicting the residual service life of an electric energy accumulator


After a wiring substrate having, on its lower surface, an opening and terminals arranged therearound is provided, a sealing material is supplied to the lower surface of the wiring substrate, and a sensor chip is flip-chip mounted on the lower surface of the wiring substrate. The sensor chip has, on its front surface, a sensor surface and bump electrodes, and each bump electrode is thermocompression-bonded onto each terminal of the wiring substrate and the sensor surface is exposed from the opening. The sensor chip has, in its outer peripheral portion of the front surface, a first region where the bump electrodes are arranged and a second region where no bump electrode is arranged. The sealing material is supplied to a region planarly overlapped with the first region when the sensor chip is mounted later, and no sealing material is supplied to a region planarly overlapped with the second region.

A solid-state image pickup device is a photoelectric converter that converts an optical signal from an image to an electrical signal based on an array of pixels. On a main surface of a substrate of a solid-state image pickup device, an image pickup element is mounted with its light-receiving surface facing upward.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-72258 (Patent Document 1) discloses a technique regarding a camera module in which a semiconductor chip for an optical sensor is mounted and wire-bonded onto a wiring substrate.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-20532 (Patent Document 2) discloses a technique regarding an optical module in which an optical chip is mounted on a flexible substrate.

Manufacturing method of solid-state image pickup device


An electronic switch for a device in an automotive vehicle comprises an input pad mounted in an interior of the automotive vehicle, the input pad comprising a sensing mechanism operable to generate a plurality of control signals associated with a plurality of sensing positions of the input pad. The electronic switch further comprises a controller in communication with the input pad and the device, the controller configured to actuate a plurality of switch control functions of the device in response to the plurality of control signals.

Typically, automotive electronic control switches are mechanically based and provide relatively simple controls (radio buttons, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) knobs, etc.). These simple controls are functionally limited, not necessarily intuitive, and may be costly to change. Many of these controls also lack lighting which provides intuitive feedbacks, and haptic feedbacks, such as via vibrations or mechanical clicks.
Generally, these mechanically based switches or buttons for electrically actuated devices protrude from a surface of a corresponding device, and require a user to hold them or manipulate them to a determined location until the device has reached a desired position. Alternately, switch configurations may enable the user to move a switch to a position wherein the device is automatically actuated to one extreme position or to an opposite extreme position, but do not allow the user to actuate the device to a position other than these extreme positions via a relatively simple transitory touch or contact.
Moreover, these mechanically based switches or buttons are substantially inconvenient to the user as a relatively lengthy interaction or contact period with the switches may be needed to fully and properly accomplish a predetermined positioning of the switches.
Additionally, these mechanically based switches or buttons typically include moving parts, which tend to increase potential switch failures, limit their operations on complex surfaces or their placements or incorporations behind other surfaces.
Accordingly, there is a need for addressing the problems noted above and others previously experienced.


A chamber lid lifting apparatus operable to lift a chamber lid of a semiconductor processing chamber is provided. The chamber lid lifting apparatus includes a handle. The handle includes a short end and a long end that together form a lever. The short end is operable to be temporarily coupled to a lid pivot point of the chamber lid. The long end is operable to transfer an applied force to the short end. The transferred force is operable to lift the chamber lid at the lid pivot point.

Semiconductor processing chambers generally have relatively heavy lids. Typically, the lids are equipped with pneumatic/spring lift cylinders that assist a technician in opening the lids. However, during maintenance tasks or other tasks in which the assisting cylinders may not be used, a technician has to lift the lid unassisted. Often, these chambers are part of integrated tools where many chambers are in close proximity. Thus, it may be difficult for a technician to get good leverage in a suitable location for lifting a lid. As a result, the technician may be injured (for example, by straining his or her back) when trying to lift the lid without the help of assisting cylinders.
Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms "include" and "comprise," as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term "or," is inclusive, meaning and/or; the term "each" means every one of at least a subset of the identified items; the phrases "associated with" and "associated therewith," as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term "controller" means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.


An electromagnetic coupler comprising: a coupling waveguide adapted for receiving input modes along an input axis, propagating coupling modes along a coupling axis, and transmitting output modes along an output axis, the output axis being not parallel to the coupling axis; and an output waveguide disposed adjacent the coupling waveguide and adapted for receiving the output modes.

The present invention relates generally to the field of electromagnetic systems and more specifically to the field of coupling electromagnetic energy between waveguides.
In a wide variety of applications, photonic band gap (PBG) waveguides are used in combination with conventional dielectric waveguides and conventional optical fiber to form integrated optical circuits. However, conventional geometries used for electromagnetically coupling PBG waveguides with these conventional materials produce junctions where, because of optical mode mismatch, reflection and scattering dissipate a significant fraction of the optical power.
Opportunities exist, therefore, to reduce the power requirements of integrated optical circuits by designing new coupling geometries providing a higher efficiency junction.

Apparatus for coupling electromagnetic energy and method of making


Provided herein are a door choke and a cooking apparatus including the same. The cooking apparatus includes a front plate forming the front surface of a cavity, a door to open and close the cavity, and a door choke including a first attachment member attached to the door and including at least two bent parts and a second attachment member attached to the door and including at least two bent parts so as to be separated from the first attachment member to form a space, and a bending direction of the first attachment member and a bending direction of the second attachment member are opposite to each other. Thereby, effective electromagnetic interference shielding is achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door choke and a cooking apparatus including the same, and more particularly to a door choke which achieves effective electromagnetic interference shielding and a cooking apparatus including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a cooking apparatus using microwaves, for example, a microwave oven, uses microwaves of a high frequency (approximately 2.45 GHz) generated by a magnetron as a heating source.
When such high-frequency microwaves are irradiated into a space to accommodate food, i.e., a cavity, molecules of the food vibrate and thus the food is heated. Here, the high-frequency microwaves leak through a gap generated between the cavity and a door to open and close the cavity.
In order to remove the microwaves generated by the above-described magnetron, various methods have been attempted.

Door choke and cooking apparatus including the same


A system of generating three-dimensional (3D) depth information is disclosed. A color and object independent local blurriness estimation unit analyzes blurriness of each pixel of a two-dimensional (2D) image. Subsequently, a depth assignment unit assigns depth information to the 2D image according to the analyzed blurriness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to three-dimensional (3D) depth generation, and more particularly to 3D depth generation by local blurriness estimation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When three-dimensional (3D) objects are mapped onto a two-dimensional (2D) image plane by prospective projection, such as an image taken by a still camera or video captured by a video camera, a lot of information, such as the 3D depth information, disappears because of this non-unique many-to-one transformation. That is, an image point cannot uniquely determine its depth. Recapture or generation of the 3D depth information is thus a challenging task that is crucial in recovering a full, or at least an approximate, 3D representation, which may be used in image enhancement, image restoration or image synthesis, and ultimately in image display.
A still or video camera as mentioned above typically includes, among other things, a lens, through which incoming parallel rays pass to converge and intersect at a focal point along a lens optical axis. The distance from the lens to the focal point is called the focal length. An object in the 2D image is in focus (or focused) if light from the object is, or is almost, converged, and is out of focus (or de-focus, defocused, or unfocused) if light from the object is not well converged. The de-focus or defocused object in the image appears blurred, and the blur degree, or blurriness, is in proportion to the distance or the depth. Therefore, a measure of the degree of de-focus is conventionally used to generate 3D depth information.
One conventional 3D depth information generation method is performed by collecting the blurriness of a specific area which is captured many times respectively with different distances. Hence, 3D depth information of the entire image can be obtained according to the collected blurriness and distances.
Another conventional 3D depth information generation method is performed by applying a 2D frequency transform or a high pass filter to respective areas of a single image in order to determine magnitude(s) of high-frequency component(s), representing respective blurriness. Hence, 3D depth information of an entire image can be obtained according to the blurriness. This method unfortunately fails when objects in the image have different colors, have the same, close or similar brightness, or have indistinct texture, as a result of difficulties being presented in differentiating the blurriness among the objects in such situations.
For reasons including the fact that conventional methods could not faithfully and easily generate 3D depth information, a need has arisen to propose a system and method of 3D depth generation that can recapture or generate 3D depth information to faithfully and easily recover or approximate a full 3D representation.


A basketball breakaway goal release apparatus, is designed to allow a basketball rim to pivot down under excessive pressure and reset to a normal horizontal playing position. The basketball breakaway goal release apparatus includes 1) a main support base assembly; 2) a basketball goal support assembly pivotally connected along an upper rear edge to the main support base assembly and 3) a positive release actuator mechanism operably mounted to the main support base assembly and the basketball goal support assembly. The positive release actuator mechanism includes a rocker arm assembly pivotally connected at one end to the main support base assembly and engageable with a roller track assembly under adjustable force of a compression spring member. After excess pressure is applied, the rocker arm assembly pivots relative to the roller track assembly to allow the downward pivotal movement of the basketball rim assembly.

Breakaway basketball goal release structures have become increasingly popular over the past decades and are believed to provide several benefits to the users of this type of equipment. Benefits include reduced damage to basketball backboard members, improved player safety, reduced stress on the backboard support structure, and adds to the excitement of the game of basketball and related dunking activities.
In the past, there have been numerous attempts to design and develop basketball goal release systems to provide the benefits as described above. Though these attempts have achieved varying degrees of success and/or acceptance, they are nonetheless subject to certain drawbacks. These drawbacks relate to location and geometry of component parts, cost of manufacturing, susceptibility of such parts to damage and wear, and difficulty of service and maintenance.
To date, there are two basic categories of breakaway rims being marketed. They are "positive locking rims" and "non-positive locking rims". Positive locking rims are designed to hold their position until an external force that is placed on a basketball rim reaches a level that will trip the basketball rim loose and allow it to pivot downward. This action relieves lever arm forces on the basketball rim that are being applied to a basketball backboard member and the support structure up to a point that basketball rim rotation is stopped. Non-positive locking rims are simpler structures whereupon, as more external force is applied to a basketball rim, more downward travel in the basketball rim will result. This increase in basketball rotation results in additional force being placed on the backboard and support structure with the maximum force being applied as rotation is stopped.
The advantage to a "positive locking rim" is that it can be set not to release until a preset level of force is applied to the basketball rim. Generally, this type of basketball rim will hold more closely to normal ball rebound characteristics of a standard non-movable basketball rim. "Non-positive locking rims" will generally not hold a normal rebound of a standard non-movable basketball rim unless the holding mechanism is tightened up to a point that basketball rim rotation is virtually eliminated. Of the two basic categories, the "positive locking rim" design is considered to be of higher quality.
Most "positive locking rims" use a detent or latch mechanism that secures the basketball rim in the playing position. The amount of force required to release the basketball rim from the playing positions is usually controlled by spring pressure placed upon a pin or ball that fits into a detent. Although this has been an accepted method for holding the basketball rim in a solid fixed position until an overload force is applied, this system is generally associated with a high degree of friction.
Unless all of the components in this system are in some way hardened so as to prevent wear, this detent or latch type of locking system has a tendency to lose the ability to hold a constant release setting. Therefore, constant maintenance is required on this type "positive locking rims" to ensure that they maintain acceptable levels of performance.
A more recent type of "positive locking" mechanism that has been invented is the breakover arm system and a system of this nature is found in Mahoney et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,289 issued Jun. 7, 1994. In this patent, a breakover actuator assembly consisting of breakover arm members which pivotally connected to each other and provides support to a basketball rim assembly with spring type pressure holding the breakover arm members in place. This system eliminates the wear associated with a latch or detent but is subject to considerable wear at the pivot points in the upper and lower breakover arm members and other pivot locations.

Basketball breakaway goal release apparatus


A low distortion filter circuit implementing variable gain amplification (VGA). An aspect of the present invention increases the degrees of freedom (number of components which can be independently programmed/changed to corresponding desired values) to achieve a desired combination of D.C. gain and filter characteristics (e.g., corner frequency, Q-factor, notch frequency, etc.). Such additional degrees of freedom are attained by including additional components in either on input block or a feedback block (implemented with reference to an operational amplifier), and by redesigning the other block using principles such as admittance concellation to remove the effects of such additional components. The blocks are designed such that a terminal of the programmable components is connected to a fixed/constant voltage (e.g., ground). Embodiments implementing bi-quad single amplifier with and without notch are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the design of filter circuits in integrated circuits, and more specifically to a method and apparatus to enhance flexibility of a low distortion filter circuit to provide variable gain amplification (VGA).
2. Related Art
A filter circuit generally refers to a circuit which selectively passes frequencies of interest, while inhibiting/blocking other frequencies of an input signal. Filter circuits are also often designed to perform an amplification operation, and provide an amplified output signal containing the frequencies of interest. Such amplification is often required, for example, due to the low strength with which signals are often received and thus to take advantage of full swing possible on an output path, as described below in further detail. Integrating the amplification operation in the filter itself (as compared to using a separate amplification stage) results in lower area power.
The amplification operation to be performed in filer circuits often needs to be designed to provide with variable gain amplification (VGA) as well. VGA generally implies that the amplification factor (output voltage level divided by input voltage level) needs to be different at different instances of time. VGA often enables an input signal (or components containing the frequencies of interest) to be amplified to a desired voltage level, when the input signal strength is changing with time. Such a feature may be used, for example, when the output signal (on an output path) of the filter circuit is sampled by an analog to digital converter (ADC), and it may be desirable to use the entire range of input voltages possible at the input of the ADC irrespective of the strength of the input signal.
The ability to vary the gain/amplification is often attained by having components with programmable values (e.g., ability to set the resistance value for a resistor). The programmability may be achieved by connecting multiple sub-components (typically in series or parallel), and making only some of the sub-components active or operational by the use of appropriate switches. In general, a switch is kept in one of open or closed state to make the corresponding sub-component operational, and in the other state of disconnect (or make non-operational) the sub-component. The active sub-components together form the component with a corresponding value.
It is often desirable that flexibility exist to obtain a desired value for components (each component containing one or more sub-components) being used to perform the filtering and amplification tasks. The flexibility is particularly important because a change of value of one component for one characteristic (for example to attain a desired amplification factor) may alter another characteristic (various attributes of the transfer function, such as corner frequency, Q-factor, notch frequency, etc.. As a result, the magnitudes of a number of components in the circuit would be dependent on each other due to such constraints posed by the filter circuit characteristics. The number of components that can be altered independently, without affecting the transfer characteristics, may be referred to as 'degrees of freedom'.
Filter circuits generally need to be implemented to provide low distortion, in addition to providing VGA and desired transfer function. It is typically desirable that a filter provide a linear response when the amplification factor is set to a constant value, and deviations from such a linear response is referred to as distortion. It is generally desirable to reduce/eliminate distortion since the output signal then would accurately represent the information in the input signals.
What is therefore needed is a filter circuit which provides enhanced flexibility such that a desired transfer function, desired amplification factor, and low distortion can be obtained.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.

Filter circuit providing low distortion and enhanced flexibility to obtain variable gain amplification


A method for welding together members consisting of precipitation age hardened materials includes the steps of selecting a weld filler material that has substantially the same composition as the materials being joined, and an age hardening characteristic temperature age threshold below that of the aging kinetic temperature range of the materials being joined, whereby after welding the members together, the resulting weld and heat affected zone (HAZ) are heat treated at a temperature below that of the kinetic temperature range of the materials joined, for obtaining substantially the same mechanical characteristics for the weld and HAZ, as for the parent material of the members joined.

Many different welding techniques and processes have been developed for joining metal materials together. When metal materials are joined by welding, the physical integrity of the structural member formed is typically limited by the weld zone properties. The weld zone consists of weld filler material, a heat affected zone (HAZ), and the material joined. Significant distortion may occur in thick section members joined together by a welding process. Asymmetry of the weld, of the weld process with time, asymmetry of the weld filler build, and unbalanced residual stresses are primary causes of such distortion. In welding thick parts or materials having a high thermal conductivity, the substantial heat sinking property of such parts or material poses problems in obtaining satisfactory welds that specifically insure sidewall penetration and pass-to-pass penetration. To overcome these problems, known welding techniques typically utilize plural low volume weld passes and substantial preheating of parts in an effort to limit distortion, and insure weld penetration. Such techniques tend to limit the geometry of the parts joined, limit weld production rates, limit the physical integrity of the weld, and tend to increase the cost of production. The physical integrity of the weld filler, and the region (zone) of softened parent material resulting from the welding process, are primary limitations of the known techniques.
The problems noted above in welding metal members together are of particular concern when the associated materials are high performance materials and the application is high consequence. Examples of high performance material are precipitation hardenable alloys. Such alloys include but are not limited to nickel, aluminum, and copper dominated metals, and so forth. Copper-beryllium-nickel alloy plate material is one particular example of such precipitation hardenable alloy materials, and is of particular interest to the present invention, but the present invention is applicable for use with many other such materials. A number of references attempting to solve problems in the prior art associated with such materials, and the joining of members constructed of such material, are discussed below.
Swift, U.S. Pat. No. 1,986,303, teaches a method for welding copper, or copper alloys. It is indicated that carbon arc welding is preferred for welding copper alloys of copper. The method uses a higher voltage in the welding process to provide a longer arc, for producing stronger welds.
Corson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 1,990,168, teaches the heat treatment of copper alloys. More particularly, the heat treatment of copper beryllium alloys is taught.
Munson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,027,750, teaches a copper base alloy for providing improved hardness, strength, ductility, and a wide heat treating temperature range. Heat treating ranges are given for the various compositions shown.
Harrington, U.S. Pat. No. 2,275,188, teaches a process for improving the properties of precipitation hardenable copper base alloys. The alloys are subjected to "double aging".
Cooper, U.S. Pat. No. 2,325,041, teaches a method for joining beryllium into copper. The precipitation hardening of alloys of beryllium copper is discussed.
Turner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,031,568, teaches a process for arc welding copper material. The process involves welding copper in the presence of an inert gas, along with a welding filler rod mainly comprising copper, and also including boron.
Gilliland, U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,830, teaches a control system for providing remote welding of materials. The system includes remotely controlled motors for automatically feeding welding wire to the weld site, and control circuitry for controlling the operation of the welding head.
Wikle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,314, teaches a process for double age hardening of alloys of beryllium-copper.
Mesick et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,224, shows the use of a coated electrode for use in arc welding.
Godai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,441, teaches a welding process for providing a particular composition for welding wire used in a TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding process, whereby the arc and welding head are controlled for oscillating or weaving the resultant weld bead as it is being applied to the pieces being joined. Note in columns 15 and 16 of this patent, it is indicated that heat treatment of the weld bead is provided by the arc heat from the non-consumable electrode.
Stol, U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,703, teaches a welding method for preheating a consumable wire electrode immediately prior to melting in an electric arc during the welding process. Both tungsten inert gas and metal inert gas processing is taught.
Pedersen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,659, teaches a copper alloy welding filler composition for use in arc welding copper. The composition includes boron. and zirconium with copper.
Bosna, U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,465, teaches a system for both storing and feeding welding wire. The system is included in a robotic welding system.
Inagaki, U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,116, teaches a method for processing copper-beryllium alloys. The process includes heat treating the alloy at a temperature of 750.degree. to 950.degree. for a period of time within a range of one to four hours.
Church et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,013, teaches a method for heat treating copper beryllium alloys.
Penney et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,302, teaches a robotic system for controlling the feeding process in welding processes, for example.
Bienek et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,388, teaches a process for sealing a container storing radioactive material. A welding seam 17 is used in order to seal a cover or lid to the container.

Method and apparatus for welding precipitation hardenable materials


An optical clock signal recovery apparatus includes a mode-locked semiconductor laser that generates an optical pulse train polarized in a first direction. Optical components of the apparatus transmit a component of an input optical signal polarized in a second direction, perpendicular to the first direction, into the mode-locked semiconductor laser while blocking the component of the input optical signal polarized in the first direction, and transmit light exiting the mode-locked semiconductor laser polarized in the first direction, while blocking light exiting the mode-locked semiconductor laser polarized in the second direction. The transmitted exiting light is output as a recovered optical clock signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical clock recovery apparatus and method useful in, for example, the optical repeaters of a long-haul fiber-optic communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical communication networks are transporting increasing quantities of data over increasing distances. With the increasing distances come increased problems of optical signal degradation, including waveform degradation in both the temporal and frequency domains. The causes are optical loss, signal-to-noise-ratio degradation owing to the use of multiple optical amplifier stages, and waveform distortion owing to group velocity dispersion. As transmission distances increase, these problems become increasingly apparent.
For these reasons, repeaters are placed at intervals of a few tens of kilometers to a few hundred kilometers along the transmission route to regenerate optical signals by restoring their frequency waveforms and temporal waveforms to their original form.
To regenerate an optical signal, it is necessary to recover a clock signal synchronized with the clock signal that was used to generate the optical signal. The clock signal may be a train of pulses spaced on the time axis at intervals such that the pulse repetition rate is equal to the bit rate of the optical signal. Alternatively, the clock signal may be a sinewave signal with a frequency equal to the bit rate. In either case, the clock signal must be recovered from a degraded version of the optical signal.
The clock signal may be recovered as either an electrical signal or an optical signal. The term 'clock signal' will be used herein to refer to an electrical clock signal. If the clock signal is an optical signal, it will be referred to as an optical clock signal.
The input optical signal from which the clock signal or optical clock signal is recovered may have been generated from an optical clock signal of the pulse train type by modulating the pulse train according to a binary data signal. If an electrical clock signal is recovered, it may be used to recover data from the input optical signal, and then used to drive a semiconductor laser to produce an optical clock signal, which is modulated by the recovered data to regenerate the input optical signal.
One known method of recovering a clock signal from an input optical signal with a known bit rate is to use a photodiode, for example, to convert the input optical signal to an electrical signal and filter the electrical signal with a narrow-band electrical filter having a passband centered on or near the bit rate frequency, thereby selecting the frequency component of the electrical signal that matches the bit rate. The selected component is an electrical pulse train or sinewave with a repetition rate or frequency equal to the bit rate, that is, a recovered clock signal.
To meet the increasing demands placed on optical communication networks, much study has focused on methods of transmitting multiple channels in a multiplexed manner, and in particular on optical time division multiplexing (OTDM). In OTDM transmission, the bit rate of the multiplexed signal increases in direct proportion to the number of multiplexed channels. When the bit rate of an OTDM signal becomes as high as forty gigabits per second (40 Gb/s), at the present state of the art, recovery of an electrical clock signal becomes difficult, because the electronic devices used as optical-to-electric conversion elements and as components of electrical filters lack the operating speed necessary to keep up with the bit rates of multiplexed optical transmission.
Accordingly, all-optical clock recovery methods are being studied. These methods bypass optical-to-electrical conversion, and can recover an optical clock signal directly from an OTDM signal having a bit rate too high for the operating speeds of current electronic devices. The basic strategy is to feed the input optical signal into a mode-locked laser that generates optical pulses with a repetition rate approximating the bit rate of the input optical signal. Descriptions of this technique can be found in Japanese Patent Application Publications No. 07-506231 (now Japanese Patent No. 3510247 to Smith) and No. 09-167870 (now Japanese Patent No. 2751903 to Yano), and in the following publications:
Ono et al., 'Optical clock extraction from 10-Gbit/s data pulses by using monolithic mode-locked laser diodes', OFC'95 Technical Digest, ThL4.
Ludwig et al., '40 Gbit/s demultiplexing experiment with 10 GHz all-optical clock recovery using a modelocked semiconductor laser', Electronics Letters, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 327-329, 1996
Bao et al., 'Impact of Saturable Absorption on Performance of Optical Clock Recovery Using a Mode-Locked Multisection Semiconductor Laser' IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. 40, No 9, pp. 1177-1185, 2004
In a first method of all-optical clock recovery, described by Smith, a mode-locked laser of the fiber type is used. The optical pulses generated by lasing action are modulated by cross phase modulation (XPM) with the input optical signal, due to the optical Kerr effect, as they travel back and forth in the optical fiber. This causes the laser pulses to synchronize with the optical pulses in the input optical signal, so that when they exit the laser they form a recovered optical clock signal.
In a second method of all-optical clock recovery, described by Yano, Ono et al., Ludwig et al., and Bao et al., a passive mode-locked semiconductor laser employing a saturable absorber is used. The optical absorption coefficient of the saturable absorber changes in synchronization with the optical pulses of the input optical signal. As a result, the pulses of laser light generated in the optical resonator cavity of the passive mode-locked semiconductor laser synchronize with the optical pulses in the input optical signal and become a recovered optical clock signal. Recovery of a 160-Gb/s optical clock signal by use of a passive mode-locked semiconductor laser that generates an optical pulse train with a repetition frequency of 160 GHz has been reported by Arahira (the present inventor) and Ogawa in 'Retiming and Reshaping Function of All-Optical Clock Extraction at 160 Gb/s in Monolithic Mode-Locked Laser Diode', IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. 41, No. 7, pp. 937-944, 2005, indicating that methods using a passive mode-locked semiconductor laser are useful for all-optical recovery of clock signals from ultra-high-speed optical pulse signals, such as OTDM signals.
In a third method of all-optical clock recovery (described by Brox et al. in 'Self-Pulsating DFB for 40 GHz Clock-Recovery: Impact of Intensity Fluctuations on Jitter', OFC 2004 Technical Digest MF55), the optical signal is input to a self-pulsating laser, causing it to generate optical pulses at a repetition frequency synchronized to the bit rate frequency of the input optical signal. Brox et al. use a distributed feedback (DFB) laser with multiple electrodes, which allows the repetition frequency of the optical pulses to be varied over a wide range by varying the driving conditions of the electrodes.
A first major problem with the three methods described above is that in addition to a mode-locked laser or a self-pulsating laser they require a wavelength filter with a passband positioned at the lasing wavelength of the laser to remove the wavelength component of the input optical signal from the optical output of the mode-locked laser or self-pulsating laser, as noted by Bao et al. in the second paragraph in the left column of page 3 of the cited reference, and by Brox et al. in the second column of page 2 of the cited reference.
The problems that arise if the wavelength component of the input optical signal is not removed from the optical output of the laser will be explained in the detailed description of the present invention, with reference to experimental results. The need for an optical wavelength filter can also be readily inferred from the Yano patent. Although no wavelength filter is shown in FIG. 2 of this patent document, the input light injected into the laser propagates in the same direction as the light output by the lasing action of the laser, so the output laser light must be separated from the spent input light. In FIG. 3A in the patent to Smith, a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) filter is inserted for the apparent purpose of preventing unwanted wavelength components of the input optical signal from being included in the recovered optical clock signal.
The need for an optical wavelength filter increases the size, number of components, and cost of an all-optical clock recovery device employing any of the above methods. A more basic problem is that if the input optical signal has the same or nearly the same wavelength as the recovered clock signal, then no wavelength filter can exclude unwanted input optical signal components from the recovered optical clock signal. With a mode-locked laser, a further problem is that if the input optical signal and the recovered optical clock signal have the same wavelength, or nearly the same wavelength, the operation of the mode-locked laser becomes unstable due to optical injection locking, making it impossible to recover the optical clock signal.
A second major problem with the three methods above is that the optical clock signal recovery apparatus will not operate properly unless special care is taken. If a mode-locked laser is used, it must be driven so as to maintain a fixed relationship between the wavelength of the input optical signal and the wavelength of the recovered optical clock signal in order to control optical injection locking, as explained in paragraphs 0028 to 0037 of the Yano publication. Effective control of optical injection locking enables the frequency and phase of the lasing mode of the mode-locked laser to be controlled, but maintaining the stability of this state is extremely difficult with present control techniques.
When the wavelength of the input optical signal is so close to the wavelength of the recovered optical clock signal as to be inseparable by a wavelength filter, the mode-locked laser can easily slip between the optical injection locked state, in which the wavelength and phase of the mode-locked semiconductor laser are pulled toward and locked at the wavelength and phase of the input optical signal, and the non-locked state in which there is no fixed phase relationship between the input optical signal and the laser light. As a result, random optical beats arise between the lasing spectrum of the mode-locked semiconductor laser and the wavelength components of the input optical signal, making recovery of a stable optical clock signal difficult.
If optical injection locking could be controlled, it could be used to recover an optical clock signal, but there would still be practical problems, because the lasing spectrum of the mode-locked semiconductor laser would differ considerably, depending on whether the input optical signal was present or absent, as shown by Yokoyama et al. in FIG. 6 in the article 'Synchronous Injection Locking Operation of Monolithic Mode-Locked Diode Lasers', Optical Review Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 85-88, 1995. In this figure the lasing spectrum of the mode-locked semiconductor laser is concentrated around 1590 nanometers (nm) when the input optical signal is absent, but widens by being pulled down to the vicinity of 1585 nm when an input optical signal is present.
In the example described by Yokoyama et al. the input optical signal is an optical pulse train, so the conditions do not completely match the conditions under which an optical clock signal is normally recovered, but the mode-locked laser operates by the same principle, so the same change in the lasing spectrum of the mode-locked semiconductor laser can be expected to occur in optical clock recovery from actual input optical signals.
It follows that to recover an optical clock signal by use of optical injection locking, it would be necessary to take the changes in the lasing spectrum of the mode-locked semiconductor laser due to the input optical signal into account in the design of the mode-locked semiconductor laser. The changes in the spectrum of the optical clock signal recovered by a mode-locked semiconductor laser also depend on the wavelength of the input optical signal, and this too would have to be considered in the design of the mode-locked semiconductor laser.
A further problem with the use of optical injection locking is that if the input optical signal had a chirped frequency characteristic, the chirp would be transferred to the laser light output by the mode-locked semiconductor laser, that is, the recovered optical clock signal. The wavelength spectrum of the recovered optical clock signal would then include unwanted variations acquired from the chirped frequency characteristic of the input optical signal.
When optical injection locking occurs, at least one of the longitudinal lasing mode components of the mode-locked semiconductor laser matches the wavelength of the input optical signal. That is, there is a fixed correlation between the wavelength of the input optical signal and the wavelength of the recovered optical clock signal. More precisely, the wavelengths of the light output by the longitudinal lasing modes of the mode-locked semiconductor laser are limited to a group of wavelengths separated from the wavelength of the input optical signal by integer multiples of a wavelength equivalent to the repetition rate of the optical pulse train output from the mode-locked semiconductor laser.
The wavelengths of the longitudinal lasing modes of the mode-locked semiconductor laser are therefore not independent of the wavelength of the input optical signal. In the design of a practical optical clock signal recovery apparatus, the wavelength of the input optical signal and the wavelength of the recovered optical clock signal cannot be set arbitrarily. This constrains the design of practical optical clock signal recovery apparatus.
This constraint poses particular problems in systems in which the use of wavelength division multiplexing is contemplated. A specific problem is that optical injection locking may occur between the input optical signal and a longitudinal lasing mode of the mode-locked semiconductor laser that differs from the longitudinal lasing mode with maximum spectral intensity. In this case, if the wavelength of the input optical signal matches a particular grid wavelength, the center wavelength of the recovered optical clock signal, that is, the wavelength of the longitudinal mode with the maximum spectral intensity, will not in general match this particular grid wavelength, or any other wavelength in the WDM grid. That is, the wavelength of the recovered optical clock signal will belong to a wavelength grid different from the wavelength grid used in the WDM system, making the optical clock signal unusable in the WDM communication system without further alteration.
Even if optical clock signal recovery is carried out with the intensity of the input optical signal reduced to a level at which optical injection locking does not occur, the spectral characteristics of the recovered optical clock signal will still vary depending on the wavelength of the input optical signal. Further details will be given later, but the reason for this problem is that even without optical injection locking, a multiple modulation effect occurs due to optical resonance effects in the mode-locked semiconductor laser, and as a result, an effective modulation intensifying effect occurs. This problem becomes pronounced when the wavelength of the input optical signal approaches the lasing wavelength of the mode-locked semiconductor laser, making it susceptible to optical resonance effects. When this happens, a slight change in the wavelength of the input optical signal can produce large changes in the characteristics of the recovered optical clock signal, including its temporal jitter, pulse width, lasing spectrum, and so on. These problems must be worked around in the design of a practical optical clock signal recovery apparatus using a mode-locked semiconductor laser.
In consideration of optical injection locking and optical resonance effects, the relationship between the lasing spectrum of a mode-locked semiconductor laser and the wavelength of the input optical signal requires close attention in the design of a practical optical clock signal recovery apparatus. Besides adding complications to the design of the optical clock signal recovery apparatus, these considerations can restrict its range of use. An example is the restriction arising from the wavelength grid in a WDM system as described above.
The major problems of the conventional art are accordingly the difficulty of recovering an optical clock signal that does not include components of the input optical signal, and the tendency of the wavelength spectrum of the recovered optical clock signal to change when the wavelength of the input optical signal changes. Because of these problems, with the known types of optical clock signal recovery apparatus it is difficult to recover an optical clock signal that does not include components of the input optical signal and has the desired clock frequency, that is, has a repetition rate that matches the bit rate of the input optical signal, despite changes in the wavelength of the input optical signal.

Optical clock recovery apparatus and method and birefringent medium


Aluminum chloride is removed effectively from compound mixtures containing organochlorosilanes such as are produced in the direct synthesis, by adding a diluent containing organochlorosilanes and optionally chloromethane to a solids content <15% and a concentration of compounds having a boiling point >71° C. of less than 25%, and evaporating this diluted mixture into a volatile product stream and an AlCl3-containing solid.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for removing AlCl3 from organochlorosilane mixtures.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the preparation of organochlorosilanes, product streams are obtained which may comprise aluminium chloride in different concentrations as a function of the process/operation. Depending on the conditions, for example the temperature and the chemistry of the organosilanes, the AlCl3 is dissolved at least partly in the liquid organochlorosilane stream and thus cannot be removed by filtration. Being a Lewis acid, AlCl3 can exert highly disruptive influences depending on the process temperature.
An effective distillative removal of organochlorosilanes and AlCl3 is possible only at moderate temperatures up to about 150° C., since AlCl3 exhibits the tendency to sublime and at least partly distils overhead with the organochlorosilanes when higher temperatures are employed. According to Ullmann's Encyclopaedia of Industrial Chemistry, AlCl3 has a sublimation temperature of 181.2° C. at 101.3 kPa.
According to Ullmann's Encyclopaedia of Industrial Chemistry, AlCl3 has a sublimation temperature of 181.2° C. at 101.3 kPa.
Disruptive Influences of AlCl3 are, for example:
1. At relatively high temperatures, AlCl3 reacts with siloxanes, for example methylchlorodisiloxanes, to form aluminosiloxanes. Depending on the degree of branching of these aluminosiloxanes, they are viscous to solid and can thus clog process equipment such as pipelines, or greatly reduce heat transfer as a result of deposits in the region of heated process equipment such as heat exchangers. The formation of such aluminosiloxanes is described, for example, in "W. Noll, Chemistry and Technology of Silicones, 1968, pages 238 and 340-342 (1).
2. AlCl3, even at low temperatures, is an excellent catalyst for the exchange of the organic ligands and the Cl and H ligands in organochlorosilanes, especially in the presence of Si—H compounds. These reactions are sometimes used selectively for the preparation of certain organochlorosilanes. However, this ligand exchange may also be disruptive when the AlCl3 has not been added deliberately and the product spectrum is thus shifted in an undesired direction. Such ligand exchange reactions are described, for example, in (1), pages 57-66 and J. Organomet. Chem. 260 (1984), 31-39, H. Schmölzer, E. Hengge (2).
FR 2761360 states that, for example, the selective addition of compounds of the (R)—Si—(OR) type can reduce the catalytic effectiveness of AlCl3 in relation to ligand exchange. However, this method has the following disadvantages: an additional substance has to be used, which increases cost, and subsequently has to be destroyed/disposed of again, and which complicates the distillative workup of the organochlorosilanes.
3. AlCl3 catalyses the decomposition of methylchlorodisilanes in the direction of methylchloromonosilanes and oligo-/polysilanes; in the presence of Si—H bonds, this reaction begins at as low as from approx. 105° C. The oligo-/polysilanes formed may be viscous to solid and insoluble, and may induce the problems described under point 1. The formation of these oligo-/polysilanes is described, for example, in (2).
The presence of AlCl3 is particularly disruptive in the processes below:
1. Direct Synthesis of Methylchlorosilanes According to Müller-Rochow.
In the direct synthesis of methylchlorosilanes, silicon is reacted with MeCl in the presence of various catalysts at about 265-310° C. This forms a mixture of various methylchloro(hydro)silanes, and also methylchlorodisilanes, methylchlorodisiloxanes and hydrocarbons. The Si used typically contains 0.1-0.3% Al, and an increase in the amount of Al, for example by adding an aluminum-containing alloy to the reaction system is likewise known. Irrespective of the source and of the form used, AlCl3 forms at least partly from the aluminium and, owing to the temperatures, the system comprising the reaction products and unconverted starting materials leaves via the gas phase.
In "Catalysed Direct Reactions of Silicon; K.M. Lewis, D.G. Rethwisch; Elsevier 1993; Chapter 1" (3), FIG. 3 on page 18 shows a schematic flow diagram of the process, in which the solid-containing reaction products from the direct synthesis are condensed, the solids are removed and the crude silane is fed to the distillation. "Ullmann's Encyclopaedia of Industrial Chemistry Vol. A 24, page 26" describes a similar process.
The liquid crude silane mixture prepared in this way comprises, in addition to the methylchloromonosilanes, also AlCl3, methylchlorodisilanes, disiloxanes and hydrocarbons. This means that the reactions described under "disruptive influences" occur during the distillative workup even when only the filtered crude silane mixture freed of solid is used further.
In (3) on page 22-28, the following further workup method is specified as an alternative:
"Gases separated in the cyclone and filter are fed into the bottom of a scrubber in which products with normal boiling points less than about 170° C. are separated from metal chlorides and other higher boilers. The distillate is fractionated into an overhead stream containing compounds boiling at or below 71° C. and a side stream composed essentially of the cleavable disilanes. The bottoms, containing solids and methylchlorosilanes, are purged periodically and sent to waste disposal."
The disadvantages in this process are: Since the methylchlorosilanes are a mixture of many different substances having a wide boiling point range, it is not possible simultaneously to drive all utilizable products out of the bottoms of the scrubber and/or of the fractionation unit and to keep the temperature for the driving-out of the organochlorosilanes so low that the disadvantages described do not occur. In other words, the scrubber or the fractionation unit is operated at temperatures at which the reactions catalysed by AlCl3 do not occur to a noticeable extent, and the loss of utilizable methylchloro(di)silanes is automatically accepted. However, when these plants are operated at a higher temperature at which almost all utilizable products are driven out, the undesired side reactions occur to an increased extent, and the higher-boiling fractions, for example the disilane fraction, simultaneously comprise not inconsiderable proportions of entrained AlCl3. The residues which occur are suspensions composed of liquid organochlorosilanes and solids. A workup or disposal of such product streams is generally to be classified as problematic.
When FIGS. 4 and 5, page 25, 26 and illustrative text in (3) are considered, it can be seen that the AlCl3 introduced with the crude MCS direct reaction mixture is discharged with the disilanes in the direction of column A and will cause the problems already described many times, in this region or in the downstream disilane workup at the latest.
2. AlCl3-catalysed High Boiler Workup.
EP 829484 A, for example, describes the AlCl3-catalysed cleavage of high boilers from methylchlorosilane synthesis by means of HCl or H2 or corresponding mixtures. EP 155626 A, for example, describes the AlCl3-catalysed conversion of high boilers and low boilers in the direction of more utilizable monosilanes. In the workup of these reaction products, comparable problems occur to those which have been described for the direct synthesis.
3. Amine-catalysed Disilane Cleavage.
Various methylchlorodisilanes which are obtained as a by-product in direct synthesis may be converted using hydrogen chloride directly to methylchloromonosilanes (disilane cleavage). This reaction is catalysed, for example, by tertiary amines such as tributylamine, and is described in (3) on page 30-31. However, AlCl3 forms complexes with amines which have only a greatly reduced, if any, catalytic activity, i.e. when AlCl3 is present in sufficient amounts in the disilane cleavage, the reaction comes to a standstill.

Method for separating aluminium chloride from organochlorosilanes


The invention relates to a measuring device, in particular a hand-held measuring device for locating objects enclosed in a medium, using high-frequency electromagnetic signals. Said device comprises a housing (82) and at least one high-frequency sensor, which is located in the housing and has a first antenna assembly (10) containing at least one first antenna element (12), the latter preferably emitting and/or receiving signals on a first polarization plane. According to the invention, the antenna assembly (10) has at least one additional antenna element (14), whose polarization plane is rotated in relation to the polarization plane of the first antenna element (12). The invention also relates to a method for locating objects enclosed in a medium, using high-frequency electromagnetic signals, in particular a method for operating a hand-held locating device comprising a plurality of antenna elements (12, 14; 11, 13), in which the measuring signal can be transmitted and/or received on different polarization planes.

The present invention relates to a measuring device and a method for locating objects enclosed in a medium using high-frequency electromagnetic signals in a frequency range between 1 and 5 GHz.
As a recent development, high-frequency electromagnetic signals are used in addition to inductive sensors—which have been known for a long time—to locate objects enclosed in a medium. Measuring devices of this type include, e.g., antennas for radiating high-frequency radar signals and microwaves.
Antennas for devices that are designed to detect objects such as lines or pipes in walls are generally optimized for transmitting and/or receiving high-frequency (HF) radar signals. An antenna of this type is known, e.g., from DE 10104863 A1.
The antenna described in DE 10104863 Al is a single-pieced, planar antenna, which is fixed in position with high mechanical stability on a printed circuit board and generates a relatively symmetrical radiation pattern with largely reduced minor lobes and/or sidelobes. The known antenna is composed of an electrically conductive plate, which includes two angled lateral sections on diametrically opposite edges, the angled lateral sections serving as conducting arms for coupling the antenna to a power supply network.
Locating devices with an antenna may be used in particularly diverse manners, since they are not limited to magnetic materials or the presence of a power supply network. Instead, they register a change in the dielectric constants of the material to be investigated, thereby making it possible to detect, e.g., plastic pipes, air inclusions, and cavities during a measurement.
Devices of this type have a disadvantage, however, namely that they are influenced by the structure of the wall, ceiling or floor, i.e., of the material surrounding the enclosed object. This influence may be relatively great, in some cases even greater than the influence of the enclosed object itself. With radar devices, it is therefore difficult to distinguish between wall structures and inhomogeneities of objects.

Measuring device and method for locating objects enclosed in a medium, using high-frequency electromagnetic signals


Compounds according to formula (I) wherein the radicals R1, R2 and R3 are as herein defined, and wherein Ar represents an aryl group or heteroaryl group, preferably phenyl, n is 1 or 2, and the radical X represents a group selected from —C(Ra)(Rb)—, —C(Ra)(Rb)—C(Ra)(Rb)—, —C(Ra)═C(Ra)—, OC(Ra)(Rb)— or SC(Ra)(Rb)—. These compounds and their pharmaceutical acceptable salts are used in pharmaceutical compositions as prostaglandine D2 receptor antagonists useful in the treatment of CRTH2-mediated diseases such as respiratory, inflammatory or allergic conditions among others.

Prostanglandin D2 (PGD2) is a cyclooxygenase metabolite of arachidonic acid. It is released from mast and TH2 cells in response to an immunological challenge, and has been implicated in playing a role in different physiological events such as sleep and allergic responses.
Receptors for PGD2 include the "DP" receptor, the chemoattractant receptor-homologous molecule expressed on TH2 cells ("CRTH2"), and the "FP" receptor. These receptors are G-protein coupled receptors activated by PGD2. The CRTH2 receptor and its expression on different cells including human T-helper cells, basophils, and eosinophils are described in Abe, et al., Gene 227:71-77, 1999, Nagata, et al., FEBS Letters 459:195-199, 1999, and Nagata, et al., The Journal of Immunology 162:1278-1286, 1999, describe CRTH2 receptor. Hirai, et al., J. Exp. Med. 193:255-261, 2001, indicates that CRTH2 is a receptor for PGD2.
Ulven and Kostenis, J. Med. Chem., 2005, 48(4):897-900 reports the synthesis of analogs of ramatroban that are selective potent CRTH2 antagonists. CRTH2 antagonists are also reported in PCT Published Application WO2003/097598.

Indole derivatives as CRTH2 receptor antagonists


A beverage vessel or carafe 20 includes a container 22, an upper body 24 which is secured to the container, a handle 28 which extends between the upper body 24 and the container 22, a spout 30 formed in the upper body and a lid 34 which located in an opening 32 of the upper body. A seal 52 or 52a is located between, and compressed by, the container 22 and the upper body 24 to preclude the beverage from undesirably entering a chamber 70 of the carafe 20. A rib 98 of the upper body 24 cooperates with a pocket 110 of the container 22 to secure the upper body with the container. A fastening element 142 is attached within a pocket 140 formed on an outer surface of the container 22 and includes a sleeve 148 which fits snugly within a hole 156 of an end 38 of the handle 28 and is secured in this firm assembly by a threaded fastener 164. A compliant handle cover 180 is assembled with the handle 28 to provide a firm but tactile comfort for one who uses the carafe 20.

This invention relates to a beverage vessel, and particularly relates to a beverage vessel for containing liquid beverages and for facilitating the dispensing of the beverages therefrom.
A beverage vessel is a container which is frequently referred to as a carafe and is used to temporarily store a hot or cold liquid beverage therein. At least the container of the carafe can be composed of materials such as, for example, glass or metal. The carafe can be used to transport the contained beverage from one location to another such as, for example, from a kitchen to a serving area. In addition to functioning as a container, the carafe typically includes structure, such as a spout and a handle, for facilitating the selective dispensing of the beverage therefrom.
In the storing and dispensing of hot beverages, such as coffee or tea, the carafe may be structured to maintain the beverage in the heated state for eventual pleasant consumption. This is frequently accomplished by structuring the container of the carafe with two spaced walls.
When handling a carafe for transporting and dispensing the hot or cold beverage contained therein, it is important that the handle of the carafe be firmly secured with the container to facilitate proper and comfortable handling of the beverage-containing carafe. Further, in areas other than the normal flow paths of the beverage being dispensed, it is important that appropriate seals are provided and firmly secured to avoid unexpected, and potentially harmful, leakage.


The present invention provides an improved method for staining slides using immunochemical reagents. The method comprises the following steps. The assay region of a slide (the region containing the tissue section) is washed with an improved rinsing solution comprising water and a detergent. An evaporation inhibitor liquid is applied to the slide to cover the assay region. For antigens requiring unmasking, the tissue section is combined with an improved, stabilized proteolytic enzyme solution. The slide is rinsed, and the evaporation inhibitor liquid is reapplied to the slide. A primary antibody in an improved diluent containing globulins from the same species as a second antibody is combined with the tissue section for a time sufficient for substantially complete antibody binding. The slide is rinsed, and the evaporation inhibitor liquid is reapplied. A labeled second antibody in the improved diluent is combined with the tissue section for a time sufficient for substantially complete antibody binding. The slide is rinsed, and the evaporation inhibitor liquid is reapplied to the slide. Color development reagents, including, in a preferred embodiment, a stabilized diaminobenzidine (DAB) solution, are combined with the tissue section for a time sufficient for color development. Following rinsing, the tissue section is ready for analysis.

Four main methods using peroxidase (HRPO) are now generally recognized for immunostaining. The method are based on the immune reaction of an antigen to be detected in the specimen complexing with an antibody specific for the antigen. The methods differ, primarily in the manner of detecting the antigen-antibody complex. The methods are the direct method, an indirect method using an enzyme-conjugated secondary antibody specific for the species of the primary or first antibody, the peroxidase-anti-peroxidase (PAP) method, and an indirect biotin-avidin method using a biotin-conjugated secondary antibody and a complex of a biotin-conjugated peroxidase and either avidin or strepavidin.
All of the immunohistochemistry methods, as well as other immunochemical methods, are multi-step procedures which consist of a sequence of reagent additions, incubations, and washings. Most of these procedures require highly trained personnel and the results can vary significantly between laboratories. Automated systems have been explored to introduce cost savings, uniformity of slide preparation, and reduction of procedural human errors.
For both automated and manual methods, there are a number of critical points to be considered. Care must be exercised to avoid the loss of specimen from the slide. Thorough washing of the specimen between reagent applications is essential particularly to remove unbound antibody as residues would be amplified. Excess liquid must be removed to avoid unwanted dilution of antibodies, yet specimens must never be allowed to dry out. Enough antibody reagent must be applied to completely cover the slide area where the specimen may occur, but waste has to be kept to an absolute minimum.
In addition, many of the reagents used in immunohistochemical methods as well as immunochemical methods, such as enzyme solutions and peroxidase color development reagents, have limited stability at the working temperature and even at room temperature. This necessitates frequent preparation of the reagents. Furthermore, nonspecific antibody binding, leading to erroneous results, remains a problem.
Methods and reagents that improve results and minimize reagent preparation would facilitate both manual and automated immunohistochemical methods. Many of the improvements could be readily applied to related immunochemical methods such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), immunofluorescence assays and in situ hybridization.

Immunohistochemical staining method and reagents therefor


A fuel cell system having one or more desiccants is disclosed. The desiccant is capable of sorbing water vapor present in the fuel cell system to reduce the amount of water that sorbs to a liquid water-sensitive electrolyte.

The invention relates to fuel cell desiccants.
A fuel cell can convert chemical energy to electrical energy by promoting a chemical reaction between two gases.
One type of fuel cell includes a cathode flow field plate, an anode flow field plate, a membrane electrode assembly disposed between the cathode flow field plate and the anode flow field plate, and two gas diffusion layers disposed between the cathode flow field plate and the anode flow field plate. A fuel cell can also include one or more coolant flow field plates disposed adjacent the exterior of the anode flow field plate and/or the exterior of the cathode flow field plate.
Each flow field plate has an inlet region, an outlet region and open-faced channels connecting the inlet region to the outlet region and providing a way for distributing the gases to the membrane electrode assembly.
The membrane electrode assembly usually includes a solid electrolyte (e.g., a polymer exchange membrane, also more generally referred to as a proton exchange membrane, both references commonly abbreviated xe2x80x9cPEMxe2x80x9d) between a first catalyst and a second catalyst. One gas diffusion layer is between the first catalyst and the anode flow field plate, and the other gas diffusion layer is between the second catalyst and the cathode flow field plate.
During operation of the fuel cell, one of the gases (the anode gas) enters the anode flow field plate at the inlet region of the anode flow field plate and flows through the channels of the anode flow field plate toward the outlet region of the anode flow field plate. The other gas (the cathode gas) enters the cathode flow field plate at the inlet region of the cathode flow field plate and flows through the channels of the cathode flow field plate toward the cathode flow field plate outlet region.
As the anode gas flows through the channels of the anode flow field plate, the anode gas passes through the anode gas diffusion layer and interacts with the anode catalyst. Similarly, as the cathode gas flows through the channels of the cathode flow field plate, the cathode gas passes through the cathode gas diffusion layer and interacts with the cathode catalyst.
The anode catalyst interacts with the anode gas to catalyze the conversion of the anode gas to reaction intermediates. The reaction intermediates include ions and electrons. The cathode catalyst interacts with the cathode gas and the reaction intermediates to catalyze the conversion of the cathode gas to the chemical product of the fuel cell reaction.
The chemical product of the fuel cell reaction flows through a gas diffusion layer to the channels of a flow field plate (e.g., the cathode flow field plate). The chemical product then flows along the channels of the flow field plate toward the outlet region of the flow field plate.
The electrolyte provides a barrier to the flow of the electrons and gases from one side of the membrane electrode assembly to the other side of the membrane electrode assembly. However, the electrolyte allows ionic reaction intermediates to flow from the anode side of the membrane electrode assembly to the cathode side of the membrane electrode assembly.
Therefore, the ionic reaction intermediates can flow from the anode side of the membrane electrode assembly to the cathode side of the membrane electrode assembly without exiting the fuel cell. In contrast, the electrons flow from the anode side of the membrane electrode assembly to the cathode side of the membrane electrode assembly by electrically connecting an external load between the anode flow field plate and the cathode flow field plate. The external load allows the electrons to flow from the anode side of the membrane electrode assembly, through the anode flow field plate, through the load and to the cathode flow field plate.
Electrons formed at the anode side of the membrane electrode assembly represent oxidation of the anode gas during the fuel cell reaction. Electron consumption at the cathode side of the membrane electrode assembly represents reduction of the cathode gas during the fuel cell reaction.
For example, when hydrogen and oxygen are the gases used in a fuel cell, the hydrogen flows through the anode flow field plate and undergoes oxidation. The oxygen flows through the cathode flow field plate and undergoes reduction. The specific reactions that occur in the fuel cell are represented in equations 1-3.
H2xe2x86x922H++2exe2x88x92xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
xc2xdO2+2H++2exe2x88x92xe2x86x92H2Oxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2)
H2+xc2xdO2xe2x86x92H2Oxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(3)
As shown in equation 1, the hydrogen forms protons (H+) and electrons. The protons flow through the electrolyte to the cathode side of the membrane electrode assembly, and the electrons flow from the anode side of the membrane electrode assembly to the cathode side of the membrane electrode assembly through the external load. As shown in equation 2, the electrons and protons react with the oxygen to form water. Equation 3 shows the overall fuel cell reaction.
In addition to forming chemical products, the fuel cell reaction produces heat. One or more coolant flow field plates are typically used to conduct the heat away from the fuel cell and prevent it from overheating.
Each coolant flow field plate has an inlet region, an outlet region and channels that provide fluid communication between the coolant flow field plate inlet region and the coolant flow field plate outlet region. A coolant (e.g., liquid de-ionized water) at a relatively low temperature enters the coolant flow field plate at the inlet region, flows through the channels of the coolant flow field plate toward the outlet region of the coolant flow field plate, and exits the coolant flow field plate at the outlet region of the coolant flow field plate. As the coolant flows through the channels of the coolant flow field plate, the coolant absorbs heat formed in the fuel cell. When the coolant exits the coolant flow field plate, the heat absorbed by the coolant is removed from the fuel cell.
To increase the electrical energy available, a plurality of fuel cells can be arranged in series to form a fuel cell stack. In a fuel cell stack, one side of a flow field plate functions as the anode flow field plate for one fuel cell while the opposite side of the flow field plate functions as the cathode flow field plate in another fuel cell. This arrangement may be referred to as a bipolar plate. The stack may also include monopolar plates such as, for example, an anode coolant flow field plate having one side that serves as an anode flow field plate and another side that serves as a coolant flow field plate. As an example, the open-faced coolant channels of an anode coolant flow field plate and a cathode coolant flow field plate may be mated to form collective coolant channels to cool the adjacent flow field plates forming fuel cells.
PEM fuel cell membranes have been made from perfluorosulfonic acid polymers such as NAFION(trademark). It can be advantageous to hydrate such membranes to maintain performance. As a result, it is common for the maximum operating temperature for such membranes to be less than 100xc2x0 C. (e.g., about 80xc2x0 C.) at atmospheric pressure. At such conditions, another problem may arise in fuel cell systems where the hydrogen fuel stream is derived from a processed hydrocarbon such as natural gas or methanol, in that carbon monoxide may be present as a by-product of the fuel conversion process, and carbon monoxide can poison most fuel cell catalysts (e.g., platinum based) at temperatures of about 100xc2x0 C. or lower. Therefore, it can be desirable to provide a higher temperature, CO tolerant fuel cell system.
Acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes have been developed that may be operated at temperatures above 100xc2x0 C., for example 150-200xc2x0 C. Such membranes are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,525,436, 5,599,639, and 5,945,233, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. In such membranes, a PBI film is typically synthesized and then doped with a strong acid such as phosphoric acid or sulfuric acid to produce a polymer with the acid anion bound to the protonated PBI.
This invention relates in part to the discovery that high temperature acid-doped fuel cell membranes can be damaged if water is allowed to condense onto such membranes as they are cooled. For example, while the relative humidity of fuel cell reactants in a xe2x80x9chigh temperaturexe2x80x9d PEM fuel cell operating at temperatures above 100xc2x0 C. (e.g., 150-200xc2x0 C.) may be low, the dew point of such a mixture may be such that liquid water will condense onto the membranes in the fuel cell stack when the stack is cooled from its operating temperature.
As previously discussed, some solid electrolytes are formed of PBI that is doped with phosphoric acid. The phosphoric acid is added to the PBI to enhance the proton conducting properties of the electrolyte. In general, the interaction of water vapor with the PBI electrolyte during operation of the fuel cell or system does not leach the phosphoric acid from the PBI electrolyte. However, when exposed to liquid water (e.g., condensed water vapor formed upon cooling of a fuel cell or fuel cell system after shut down), the liquid water can leach the phosphoric acid from the electrolyte, rendering the electrolyte less useful (e.g., by decreasing the ability of the PBI electrolyte to conduct protons).
Under certain embodiments of the present invention, a desiccant system is provided to prevent water condensation in high temperature PEM fuel cells. A desiccant can be placed in the fuel cell or system so that, after shut down, water (e.g., condensed water vapor) can sorb to the desiccant as the fuel cell or system cools. Furthermore, because fuel cells and fuel cell systems typically operate at temperatures greater than about 100xc2x0 C., water sorbed on the desiccant can be desorbed during operation of the fuel cell or system, allowing the desiccant to be regenerated for re-use in the fuel cell or system. Thus, a fuel cell or a fuel cell system containing a water-sensitive solid electrolyte and a desiccant can demonstrate a relatively long useful life and/or relatively good performance. The fuel cell or the fuel cell system can be simple and/or inexpensive to make.
Generally, the desiccant has a higher water sorption capacity at room temperature than at the operating temperature of a fuel cell or fuel cell system (e.g., greater than about 100xc2x0 C.). The desiccant can be formed of, for example, molecular sieves, silica gels and/or clays. In some embodiments, the desiccant is formed of granules (e.g., granules in a water-permeable container). In certain embodiments, the desiccant is in the form of a compressed block. The desiccant can be in the form of a coating (e.g., a coating on a portion of the fuel cell or fuel cell system that is exposed to water vapor, such as a manifold or a channel in a flow field plate). More than one desiccant can be used.
In one aspect, the invention features a method of managing water in a fuel cell having a solid PBI electrolyte. The method includes operating the fuel cell at a temperature above about 100xc2x0 C., shutting down the fuel cell so that the fuel cell cools, and contacting a reactant gas with a desiccant disposed within the fuel cell. The desiccant has a higher water sorption capacity at room temperature than at 100xc2x0 C. so that water present in the reactant gas sorbs to the desiccant as the fuel cell cools.
The method can further include, after shutting down the fuel cell (e.g., cooling to less than about 100xc2x0 C.), operating the fuel cell at a temperature above about 100xc2x0 C. so that water sorbed to the desiccant desorbs from the desiccant. Optionally, after shutting down the fuel cell, the fuel cell can be valved off so that gases cannot flow through the fuel cell. In some embodiments, the reactant gas may contact the desiccant as the reactant gas flows through the fuel cell in a reactant gas stream. In still other embodiments, reactants may be circulated across the desiccant as the fuel cell or system cools.
In another aspect, the invention features a fuel cell stack that includes at least two fuel cells, a manifold and a desiccant disposed in the manifold. One fuel cell includes two flow field plates and a solid PBI electrolyte between the flow field plates. The other fuel cell includes two flow field plates and a solid electrolyte therebetween. Each flow field plate has an inlet in fluid communication with its respective outlet. The inlet and outlet of one of the flow field plates in one fuel cell are in fluid communication with the inlet and outlet, respectively, of one of the flow field plates in the other fuel cell. Likewise, the inlets and outlets, respectively, of the other two flow field plates in the fuel cell stack are in fluid communication. The manifold is in fluid communication with the inlet of one of the flow field plates from each fuel cell. The desiccant is capable of sorbing water vapor present in the fuel cell stack to reduce the amount of water that sorbs to the solid PBI electrolyte.
The fuel cell stack can include one or more additional manifolds in fluid communication with the inlet and/or outlet of one or more of the flow field plates. One or more additional desiccant(s), formed of the same or different material(s), can be disposed in the additional manifold(s).
In a further aspect, the invention features a fuel cell system that includes a fuel cell having two flow field plates, a solid PBI electrolyte disposed between the flow field plates, an inlet line, and outlet line, two valves and a desiccant. The inlet and outlet lines are in fluid communication with the inlet and outlet, respectively, of one of the flow field plates. One valve is disposed along the inlet line and is capable of restricting gas flow through the inlet line. The other valve is disposed along the outlet line and is capable of restricting gas flow through the outlet line. The desiccant is disposed inside the fuel cell system between the valves.
In some embodiments, the desiccant is in the inlet and/or outlet line (e.g., the cathode gas inlet line, the cathode gas outlet line, the anode gas inlet line and/or the anode gas outlet line).
In certain embodiments, the desiccant is coated on a portion of the fuel cell system (e.g., an inlet line, an outlet line, a manifold, and/or one or more channels of one or more flow field plates).
In another aspect, the invention features a fuel cell that includes two flow field plates, a solid PBI electrolyte between the flow field plates, and a desiccant on a portion of one of the flow field plates. The desiccant is capable of sorbing water vapor present in the fuel cell to reduce the amount of water that sorbs to the solid PBI electrolyte.
The desiccant can be coated on one or both of the flow field plates (e.g., on one or more channels of the flow field plate(s)).
Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description, drawings and claims.

Reactant conditioning for high temperature fuel cells


A cooker has a pan of circular configuration with an open upper end receiving a circular lid and a bottom having apertures therein. A disk shaped drip tray disposed below the pan and having upstanding lugs thereon is selectively moved between raised and lowered positions using opposite latching mechanisms which adjustably couple the drip tray to the pan. In the raised position, the drip tray engages the bottom of the pan and the lugs on the drip tray extend into and close the apertures in the pan. In the lowered position, the lugs are removed from the apertures, permitting greases, fats and similar substances to drain through the apertures and onto the drip tray. The latching mechanisms permit separation of the drip tray from the pan for separate cleansing thereof such as by placing in a dishwasher. When food cooked in the pan is ready to be served, the pan and attached drip tray are placed within an opening in a circular serving tray which has removable trays positioned about the circumference thereof for holding food items such as toppings for the food cooked in the pan. An electrical heating element embedded within the bottom of the pan provides heat for cooking.

1. Area of the Art
The present invention relates to cooking appliances, and more particularly to appliances in which apertures in the bottom of a cooking pan are selectively opened and closed to provide discharge of greases and other such liquids which accumulate within the pan during the cooking process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to provide a cooking appliance in which food is cooked in a pan having a removable lid and which is mounted on a base for collecting greases which are drained from the pan during the cooking process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,793 of Hu, et al. describes such a cooking appliance.
It is also known in the art to provide a pan or other cooking enclosure having apertures therein which are selectively opened and closed to drain juices, fats and the like from the cooking pan. U.S. Pat. No. 2,028,649 of Conroy discloses several different embodiments of such apparatus.
It is still further known in the art to provide various arrangements for collecting and disposing of juices, fats and other such material in cooking appliances. Examples of such arrangements are provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,024 of DeMars, U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,693 of Collard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,324 of Noh, U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,293 of Rassieur, U.S. Pat. No. 2,732,696 of Baker, U.S. Pat. No. 718,367 of Merritt, and British Patent No. 2,261,360 of Lin.

Cooker with latching drip tray for selectively opening and closing grease dispensing apertures in cooking pan


A fuel level measurement device has a fuel level sensor carried by a fuel level float at the distal end of a pivoting float arm of the device which is preferably part of a fuel pump module located inside of a fuel tank preferably for automotive applications. Preferably a sealed arcuate chamber of the float is defined between an electrically conductive cover and a variable electric resistor which preferably is a generally non-conductive ceramic substrate that carries an electrically resistive ink strip. A track exposed in the arcuate chamber has a concave shape that generally faces upward so that a rolling member changes position due to the forces of gravity within the chamber as the float arm pivots generally up and down with changing fuel levels in the tank. The rolling member is electrically conductive and completes the circuit between the electrically conductive cover and the variable resistive ink strip. The sealed chamber provides the pathway for the rolling member and preferably at least in part the buoyancy for the float.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a known pre-assembled fuel pump module 10 for an automotive vehicle being inserted into a liquid fuel tank 12 through an access hole 14 defined by a peripheral edge 16 of a tank wall 18 that defines an interior or fuel chamber 20. The pump module 10 has an elongated electric fuel pump 22 disposed typically in the fuel chamber 20 when assembled and a substantially cylindrical flange 24 attached to the fuel pump 22 via a pair of parallel posts of a bracket 26. When fully assembled to the tank 12, the flange 24 engages salably to the peripheral edge 16 of the fuel tank wall 18, and the pump 22 is suspended within the fuel chamber 20 from the flange 24, and bracket 26.
The known fuel pump module 10 has an elongated fuel level measurement device 28 that sends a fuel level signal, via a pair of electric wires 30, to a fuel level indicator or meter typically mounted to an instrument panel of the vehicle (not shown). The wires 30 are connected to a variable resistor 32 on a card 34 snap fitted or seated within a plastic base 36 pivotally connected to the bracket 26. The pair of wires 30 extend through the flange 24 projecting outward from the tank 12.
An elongated wiper-type arm 38 has a base end 40 bent at an approximate right angle and carried pivotally by the plastic base 36 to pivot about an arm axis. An opposite distal end 42 of the wiper arm 38, also bent at an approximate right angle, pivotally carries a buoyant or hollow plastic float 44 that pivots about a float axis that is substantially parallel to the arm axis.
The buoyant float 44 is generally planar or low-lying and rectangular or cylindrical in shape and floats on the surface of fuel contained within the tank 12. As the fuel level changes, the float 44 rises or lowers with the fuel surface causing the wiper arm 38 to pivot at the base end 40, thus wiping or sweeping electrically conductive contacts 46 across contacts 48 of the variable resistor 32 producing a fuel level signal carried by the wires 30 to the fuel level indicator (not shown). The length of the wiper arm 38 is dictated by the shape or depth of the tank 12. That is, the wiper arm 38 must be long enough to allow the float to float upon the surface of fuel between a minimum and maximum elevation (i.e. Empty to full fuel tank conditions).
The variable resistor 32 has a series of contacts 48 imprinted upon the circuit board or card 34 and generally arranged side-by-side forming a semi-circular or arcuate orientation to preferably coincide with the pivoting axis of the wiper arm 38. Preferably the card 34 has a ceramic substance. The resistor 32 is connected electrically to one of the two wires 30. The second wire is electrically connected to a semi-circular or arcuate contact 50 also imprinted upon the card 34 and preferably coinciding with the pivot axis. The contact 50 is spaced radially from the resistor 32 and the series of contacts 48 and extends circumferentially with the series of contacts 48 so that the electrical contacts 46 mounted on the bottom side of a non-conductive or plastic saddle 52, attached to the base end 40 of the wiper arm 38, engage and electrically bridge or connect the neutral contact 50 with a predetermined one, or a few, of the series of contacts 48 as the wiper arm 38 is swept across the card 34 by the remote buoyant float 44 responding to the varying fuel level.
The electrical resistance of variable resister 32 changes electrical resistance by mechanical movement of the wiper arm attached to the distal float 44 that is responsive to changes in fuel level in the fuel tank 12. The contacts 46 of the saddle 52 are adapted for contacting specific contacts 48 of the variable resistor 32 electrically bridging across to the neutral contact 50 as the saddle 52 and arm 38 sweep there across to complete the variable resistor circuit.
As the level of fuel within the fuel tank 12 changes, the float 44 and wiper arm 38 move and thereby cause the saddle 52 to slide over the arcuate resistive contacts to change an effective length of the variable resistor 32 between the terminals and thereby vary the effective resistance of the variable resistor 32. In accordance with the change in resistance, the current or voltage across the resistor card changes and, thus, effects a change—such as from "Full" toward "Empty"—in a remote fuel level indicator (not shown).
In use, resistive areas and conductive contacts 48 of the variable resistor 32 are generally exposed to the harsh fuel environment in the fuel tank 12. Heptane fuels and especially those containing alcohol supplements can erode the resistive areas and conductive contacts 48, 50 causing sporadic or noisy fuel level indication/measurement. Expensive manufacturing techniques such as the application of coating to the resistor assembly and special housings must be applied to limit erosion. Moreover, existing fuel level sensors can perform erratically when a wiper contactor 46 falls in between, and momentarily out of contact with adjacent, and worn, contacts 48 of the variable resistor 32. In other words, a portion of the variable resistor is momentarily opened or interrupted, thereby causing voltage or current spikes to be output from the fuel level sensor to a liquid level indicator. This problem increasingly occurs as the conductive contacts 48 and edges of the wiper contactors 46 wear out. Another problem involves "catching" of wiper contactor corners on angled conductive contacts 48. When a saddle 52 sweeps across the resistive contacts 48, the sharp corners of the contactors can "catch" on the angled conductive contacts 48, thereby causing noisy operation of the variable resistor 32.