An adjuster having a housing or lamp housing with an adjuster portion, a gear positioned inside the housing or adjuster portion, a control rod engaged to the gear and extending from the housing or adjuster portion, and at least one tang outside the housing or adjuster portion such that the tang engages the control rod and prevents rotation thereof. As such, rotation of the gear results in linear movement of the control rod. The adjuster may be positioned on a lamp housing, or other structure.

This invention relates generally to an adjuster and adjuster assembly, and in particular to an adjuster and adjuster assembly for use in connection with vehicle lamps.
Vehicles such as automobiles typically have several lamps including headlamps and fog lamps. These lamps generally include a housing sealed to a lens with a reflector and bulb therein. The reflector is usually pivotally engaged to the lamp housing at a plurality of points. The lamp housing is attached to the vehicle. Once the lamp assembly has been formed and installed into a vehicle, the aim of the lamp must be adjusted to comply with federal and state regulations. As a result of accidents, maintenance, and normal wear, often the aim of the lamp must be adjusted during the lifetime of the vehicle.
One method of adjusting the aim of the lamp involves using an adjuster. The adjuster may be formed as part of the lamp housing or may be a separate part that communicates with both the reflector and the lamp housing. One known type of adjuster comprises a body or main portion and a control rod extending therefrom. The body is engaged to the lamp housing. The body may be a separate part than the lamp housing and comprise an independent housing. Alternatively, the body may be part of the lamp housing and comprise an adjuster portion. The control rod is engaged to the reflector. Actuation or operation of the adjuster causes the control rod to longitudinally move with respect to the body of the adjuster. Such movement causes the reflector to pivot with respect to the lamp housing, thereby affecting the aim of the lamp.
One form of this type of adjuster is operated by an input shaft or driver such as a TORX®, flathead, or Philips® driver inserted into the adjuster. The body, the housing or the adjuster portion, of the adjuster has a mating input shaft, a gear, and a control rod positioned therein. The gear is functionally engaged to the control rod. An input shaft is inserted into the mating input shaft and interacts with the gear. Actuation of the input shaft results in rotation of the gear and movement of the engaged control rod. The gear translates actuation of the driver into movement of the control rod and adjustment of the aim of the lamp. Numerous variations of this concept exist.
In one variation of this concept, the gear is engaged to the control rod such that rotation of the gear causes the control rod to rotate. The control rod is threaded into the reflector or a grommet attached to the reflector. Therefore, rotation of the control rod causes the pivotally mounted reflector to move with respect to the adjuster and the lamp housing.
In another variation of this concept, the control rod does not rotate with respect to the adjuster. Instead, rotation of the gear about the control rod causes the control rod to move longitudinally with respect to the adjuster housing. This linear movement operates to push and pull the reflector, depending on the direction the gear is rotated. Currently, structures are provided inside the adjuster housing to prevent rotation of the control rod and to transfer rotation of the gear into linear movement of the control rod. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,676 to Lisak and U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,795 to Christian et al. disclose an adjuster having a control rod extending through a aperture in an adjuster housing. The control rod and aperture are shaped such that the aperture prevents the control rod from rotating therein. U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,133 discloses an anti-rotation insert seated within the housing. The control rod is inserted through the insert. The insert functionally engages the control rod and the housing such that the insert prevents the control rod from rotating therein. The adjusters disclosed in these patents typically have a large number of parts, are relatively expensive to manufacture and assemble, and require a large amount of torque to actuate
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved adjuster and adjuster assembly that solves these and other deficiencies in the prior art. Of course, the present invention may be used in a multitude of situations where similar performance capabilities are required.


A device to protect against accidental exposure to the needle on a hypodermic syringe. A flexible tubular covering is attached to the syringe surrounding the needle and extending beyond the tip of the needle. A cap is mounted on the end of the tubular covering to enclose the needle tip. An orifice extends through the cap such that as the cap is retracted towards the syringe, the tubular covering is flexed allowing the needle to pass through the orifice in the cap.

A large number of injections of various liquids into the human body with a syringe having a needle thereon occurs each day in numerous locations including doctors' offices, hospitals, mobile intensive care units and the like. It is well known that in the process of giving an injection, the person giving the injection may accidentally come in contact with the exposed needle tip. This problem is of great significance today in view of the AIDS epidemic. It is important that a protector be provided that prevents accidental exposure to the needle. Such protection must be simple and easy to use and inexpensive to manufacture because of the large number that must be provided.
The present invention relates to a device to protect against accidental exposure to the needle on a hypodermic syringe. A flexible tubular covering made of silicone or other elastomeric material is attached to the syringe surrounding the needle and extends beyonds the tip of the needle. A cap is mounted on the end of the tubular covering to enclose the needle tip. An orifice extends through the cap such that as the cap is retracted toward the syringe, the tubular covering is flexed allowing the needle to pass through the orifice in the cap. In the preferred embodiment, at least two-spaced slits extend down the tubing from a point below the cap mounting to a point above the syringe attachment such that when the cap is pushed toward the syringe, the slit tube compresses outwardly on each side of the needle allowing the needle to pass through the cap orifice. The compressed tube acts as a spring and returns the cap over the needle tip after use of the needle. The cap is cylindrical in shape with a reduced diameter base for attachment of the elastomeric tubing and is open at only the end of the cap forming the reduced diameter base. The orifice is in the other closed end and in one embodiment is placed off center such that the cap must be deliberately pushed to one side to align the orifice with the needle thereby tending to prevent accidental exposure of the needle when the cap is inadvertently moved toward the syringe.
In another embodiment, a horizontal slot is formed in the side of the cap and a plate is slidably mounted in the cap slot for orthogonal movement with respect to the longitudinal axis of the cap. An orifice is positioned at one side of the plate such that the plate orifice is aligned with the cap orifice only when the plate is orthogonally moved with respect to the cap. This action enables the needle to pass through the aligned orifices when the cap is pushed toward the syringe. If desired, a resilient spring may be positioned between the cap and the slidable plate such that plate will be biased to a normal first position to cause the plate orifice to be out of alignment with the cap orifice to prevent accidental exposure of the needle if the cap is inadvertently moved toward the syringe and such that the plate may be forced to a second position aligning the plate orifice and cap orifice for enabling needle exposure and simultaneously compressing the resilient spring so that the plate will be returned to the normal first position when the force is removed.
In one embodiment, the plate is formed of molded plastic and the resilient spring is S-shaped and integrally formed at one end with the molded plastic plate. Further, a projection is integrally molded on the other end of the resilient spring and a recess is provided in the interior of the cap on the side opposite the slot such that the recess receives the projection on the resilient spring to hold the resilient spring in a stable position in alignment with the slot and the cap.
If desired, where the outer end of the syringe around the needle has a first diameter, the flexible tubular covering is utilized that has a second diameter sufficiently smaller than the first diameter such that the flexible covering can be forced over the first diameter of the syringe outer end to frictionally hold the cap in the retracted position during use of the needle and release it after use to return the cap to its normal position covering the needle tip.
If desired, the flexible tubular covering may be in the form of a bellows that, in a normal position, holds the outer end or cap covering the needle tip and, in a second position, when the bellows is compressed, allows the needle to pass through the orifice in the cap and the cap retracted. Again, where the outer end of the syringe around the needle has a first diameter, the bellows has a mating tubular end adjacent the cap with a second diameter sufficiently smaller than the first diameter of the outer end of the syringe such that the mating tubular end can be forced over the diameter of the syringe outer end to frictionally hold the cap in the retracted position during the use of the needle and be released after such use to return the cap to its normal position covering the needle tip.
The cap may have a solid body with a base for attachment to the flexible elastomeric tubing and an orifice extending longitudinally through the solid body of the cap. A molded horizontal slot may be formed in the cap extending at least partially through the solid cap orthogonal to the orifice. A plate is slidably mounted in the cap slot for orthogonal movement between first and second positions and an orifice is formed in the plate out of alignment with the cap orifice in the first plate position such that when the plate is moved to the second position, the plate orifice is in alignment with the cap orifice to enable the needle to pass through the aligned orifices when the cap is forced toward the syringe. The plate may have a resilient annular band eccentrically surrounding and attached to it on one side thereof to form a spring member movable between first and second positions. An elongated flat member serves as the plate and is attached at one end to the inside of the annular band with the other end inserted in the cap slot. The other side of the annular band is attached to the outside of the cap in alignment with the slot. The band, in such configuration, holds the plate in a first position. When the band is squeezed, the plate is forced inwardly in the slot to a second position. An orifice is formed in the flat member such that, in the first position of the band, the flat member orifice and the cap orifice are out of alignment and, in the second position of the band, the flat member orifice is in alignment with the cap orifice to allow the needle to pass therethrough when the cap is forced toward the syringe.
If desired, the resilient annular band may be formed in the shape of an oval that eccentrically surrounds the cap to form a spring member movable between first and second positions. A first elongated flat member serves as the plate and is attached at one end to a first position on the inside of the annular band on the minor axis of the oval and extends into the slot. A semicircular orifice is formed in the outer end thereof. A second elongated flat member is attached at one end to a second position on the inside of the annular band diametrically opposed to the first position on the minor axis of the oval and extends into the slot such that the outer ends of the two elongated members overlap. A second semicircular orifice is formed on the outer end of the second elongated flat member such that, in the normal first position of the oval shaped band, the two flat members overlap each other to prevent the needle tip from entering the cap orifice and when the oval shaped band surrounding the cap is compressed along the major axis, the outer ends of the first and second flat members move away from each other until the semicircles in the two members form a complete circle through which the needle can pass to the cap orifice.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that protects against accidental exposure to the needle on a hypodermic syringe.
It is also an object to the present invention to provide a protective covering surrounding the needle and attached to the syringe with a cap on the outer end thereof beyond and covering the needle tip and having an orifice in the cap such that when the cap is forced toward the syringe, the needle may pass through the orifice in the cap for use.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a resilient covering for a hypodermic needle that has a memory such that when the covering is compressed to expose the needle, it is automatically biased to cause it to return to its initial position covering the needle when it is released.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a covering to protect against accidental exposure to a hypodermic needle, the covering having a cap on the outer end thereof that has an orifice through which the needle can pass. The covering is of such an inside diameter that it can frictionally adhere to the outer portion of the syringe below the needle to hold the cap in its retracted position until use of the needle is completed and then the compressed covering may be forcibly removed from its frictional engagement such that the compressed covering may return the cap to its initial position covering the needle tip.
It is also another object of the present invention to provide a bellows-type covering to protect against accidental exposure to a hypodermic needle, the bellows-type covering having a cap on the outer end thereof that has an orifice through which the needle can pass. The bellows has an outer end of such an inside diameter that it can frictionally adhere to the outer portion of the syringe holding the needle to hold the cap in its retracted position until use of the needle is completed and then the compressed bellows may be forcibly removed from its frictional engagement such that the bellows returns the cap to its initial position covering the needle tip.


A nitride semiconductor is grown on a silicon substrate by depositing a few mono-layers of aluminum to protect the silicon substrate from ammonia used during the growth process, and then forming a nucleation layer from aluminum nitride and a buffer structure including multiple superlattices of AlRGa(1-R)N semiconductors having different compositions and an intermediate layer of GaN or other Ga-rich nitride semiconductor. The resulting structure has superior crystal quality. The silicon substrate used in epitaxial growth is removed before completion of the device so as to provide superior electrical properties in devices such as high-electron mobility transistors.

The present invention relates to nitride semiconductor structures and devices and to processes for making the same.
Nitride semiconductors such as gallium nitride and related semiconductors are widely regarded as desirable wide bandgap compound semiconductors. These materials have been adopted in optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes ("LEDs"), laser diodes and photodiodes, and have also been employed in non-optical electronic devices such as field effect transistors ("FETs") and field emitters. In optoelectronic devices, the wide bandgap of the material allows for emission or absorption of light in the visible-toultraviolet range. In electronic devices, gallium nitride and related materials provide high electron mobility and allow for operation at very high signal frequencies.
Nitride semiconductors typically are formed by epitaxial growth on a substrate. In an epitaxial growth process, the constituents of the semiconductor film to be formed are deposited on a crystalline substrate so that the deposited semiconductor material has a crystal structure patterned on the crystal structure of the substrate. Various epitaxial growth processes use different techniques for delivering the materials to the surface of the substrate. For example, in reactive sputtering, the metallic constituent of the semiconductor as, for example, gallium, aluminum or indium, is dislodged from a metallic sputtering target in proximity to the substrate in an atmosphere which includes nitrogen. In a process known as metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), the substrate is exposed to an atmosphere containing organic compounds of the metals and a reactive, nitrogen-containing gas, most commonly ammonia, while the substrate is at an elevated temperature, typically on the order of 700–1100° C. Under these conditions, the compounds decompose, leaving the metal nitride semiconductor as a thin film of crystalline material on the surface. After growth of the film, the substrate and grown film are cooled and further processed to form the finished devices.
To provide a high quality nitride semiconductor film, with relatively few crystal defects, the substrate used for crystal growth should ideally have a lattice spacing (spacing between adjacent atoms in its crystal lattice) equal to that of the nitride semiconductor to be grown. If the lattice spacing of the substrate is substantially different than that of the grown film, the grown film will have defects such as dislocations in the crystal lattice. Also, the substrate should have a coefficient of thermal expansion equal to or greater than that of the nitride semiconductor to be grown, so that when the substrate and nitride semiconductor are cooled to room temperature after growth, the substrate contracts to a greater degree than the film, placing the film in compression. If the coefficient of thermal expansion of the substrate is substantially smaller than that of the grown film, the film will tend to contract more than the substrate, placing the film in tension when the film and substrate are cooled. This can cause cracks in the film.
Gallium nitride based semiconductors are most commonly grown on crystalline sapphire wafers. Satisfactory results can be achieved on sapphire, despite a relatively large lattice mismatch between sapphire and gallium nitride. Silicon carbide, in theory, is a more desirable material for growth of high-quality gallium nitride, inasmuch as it has a smaller lattice mismatch. Moreover, silicon carbide has higher thermal conductivity than sapphire, which aids in dissipating heat from the finished device. However, high-quality, crystalline silicon carbide wafers are very expensive and, at the present time, are not available in large sizes greater than about 100 mm (4 inches) in diameter.
High-quality silicon substrates are widely available at reasonable cost. However, the lattice spacing of silicon is not well matched to that of gallium nitride. Moreover, silicon has a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than gallium nitride, so that gallium nitride films grown on silicon tend to crack when the film and substrate are cooled to room temperature. Moreover, silicon substrates are relatively poor electrical insulators. Where the deposited nitride semiconductor is used in certain electronic devices, such as FET's, the substrate causes significant electrical losses in the device and limits the performance of the device. For all of these reasons, silicon has not been widely adopted as a substrate for growing nitride semiconductors.
Various proposals have been advanced to compensate for the lattice mismatch and thermal expansion mismatch between the nitride semiconductors and silicon. For example, Nitronics, International Publication No. WO 02/48434, suggests using a "compositionally graded transition layer" formed on a silicon substrate and depositing a gallium nitride material over the transitionally graded layer. The transition layer may contain aluminum indium gallium nitride, indium gallium nitride or aluminum gallium nitride, with proportions of aluminum, indium and gallium varying from a back surface adjacent the substrate to a front surface upon which the semiconductor is to be grown. The compositionally graded layer may include a "superlattice," i.e., a crystalline structure having a periodic variation in composition as, for example, different amounts of aluminum, indium and gallium.
Another approach taught in Feltin et al., "Stress Control In GaN Grown On Silicon (111) By Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 79, No. 20, pp. 3230–3232 (Nov. 12, 2001), utilizes an aluminum nitride buffer layer in direct contact with the silicon substrate. A layer of gallium nitride is deposited over the aluminum nitride buffer layer, followed by a superlattice including alternating layers of aluminum nitride and gallium nitride, followed by further gallium nitride layers and superlattices and, finally, by a layer of gallium nitride at the top of the structure which constitutes the active semiconductor layer to be grown. According to the Feltin et al. article, this approach yields a high-quality, active layer.
Despite these and other efforts in the prior art, however, it has been difficult to grow high-quality gallium nitride-based semiconductors on silicon substrates. Moreover, devices such as FETs fabricated from gallium nitride-based semiconductors on silicon substrates have suffered from performance problems caused by the silicon substrate itself.

Semiconductor structures for gallium nitride-based devices


A drawbar assembly includes a shank that can slidingly engage a first hitch receiver having an interior opening with a first size, which may be a class I receiver with a one and one-quarter inch square opening and provisions for a one-half inch hitch pin. First and second adapter parts, each having two sides forming a right angle, are removably coupled to the shank on opposite sides. The drawbar assembly can slidingly engage a second hitch receiver having an interior opening with a second size, which may be a class III receiver with a two inch square opening and provisions for a five-eighths inch hitch pin. A threaded hitch pin may clamp the drawbar assembly to the receiver.

1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of vehicle load carriers; and more specifically, to coupling vehicle load carriers to a trailer hitch receiver.
2. Background
Many automobiles are equipped with a trailer hitch receiver which is generally a square tube that is securely coupled to the frame of the vehicle and capable of receiving a towing load. A tow hitch may be inserted into the receiver and secured by a hitch pin to provide an attachment for a trailer. The receiver provides a secure connection to the vehicle without requiring the actual trailer attachment, which may be a bulky protrusion, to be left in place permanently.
The receiver may provide a convenient means for attaching other accessories to a vehicle in addition to a tow hitch. For example, cargo bins or platforms and carriers for recreational gear such as bicycles, skis, and surfboards may be securely coupled to a vehicle using the receiver.
Receivers may be provided in various sizes based on the towing load they are capable of safely handling. For example, a class I receiver has a nominal one and one-quarter inch square opening and is rated for 200 pounds of tongue weight and a class III receiver has a nominal two inch square opening and is rated for 600 pounds of tongue weight.
When accessories are provided to be attached to a receiver, it may be necessary to provide models with different drawbars to be inserted into the receiver to accommodate the different sizes of receivers even though the greater load capacity is not required. This may require keeping more models of the accessory in inventory. This may also require the consumer to purchase a new accessory or a cumbersome adapter if they want to use the accessory on a vehicle having a different size of receiver.
It would be desirable to have a way of efficiently providing an accessory that can be used with more than one size of receiver.


A golf ball holder for displaying golf balls. The golf ball holder is manufactured from a thermoplas tic material. The holder is manufactured to accommodate from a single golf ball to an infinite number. A base portion supports the holder and the golf ball holder terminates in a top portion that seats a single golf ball. A side display portion extends from the base portion to the top portion and has a plurality of openings formed therein for receiving and retaining golf balls therein.

Various types of display devices are known in the art. Examples of some display devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,201,441; 2,083,973; 3,198,338; 4,103,773; 4,561,547; 4,892,197; and 5,381,895. The prior art displays suffer from various disadvantages.
For example, some prior apparatus for displaying items have elongated rectangular bases that are unstable. Further, these prior apparatus require the use of a large amount of material to form the display and they are therefore relatively expensive. These apparatus are also configured such that they encompass a large portion of each of the items making it difficult for all of the items to be seen. It is also difficult for the displayed items to be easily moved and maneuvered from one location on the display to another.
This is particularly, true with respect to prior display apparatus for golf balls. These prior golf ball holders or displays require a large amount of material and are relatively expensive. Further, these prior display apparatus are configured such that they--encompass large portions of the golf balls placed therein and thus cover any logo thereon. These prior golf ball display apparatus also do not allow for easy rearrangement of the golf balls or easy addition or subtraction.


A method and system for combusting a liquid fuel stream in a diffusion flame combustor by spraying the liquid fuel stream into a steam flow to produce a fuel/steam flow with atomized liquid fuel therein. The fuel/steam flow is further mixed before being combusted in the diffusion flame combustor to produce at least a first portion of an emission stream therefrom.

The current invention relates to liquid fuel injection methods and systems for use with diffusion flame combustors.
In diffusion flame combustors, there is a significant amount of NO.sub.x produced in the high temperature regions of flame. This is the result of NO.sub.x production being exponentially dependent on temperature. The prior art discloses injecting water or steam into the diffusion flame combustors, via an inlet separate from the fuel inlet, to decrease the peak flame temperature and lower the production of NO.sub.x.
The prior art discloses a number of problems resulting from injecting water or steam into the diffusion flame combustor. As the water or steam and fuel is injected into the combustor through different inlets, the combustion zone has uneven distributions of oil and steam resulting in locally hot and cold regions therein. The hot regions result in high NO.sub.x production and the cold regions result in high CO production, as the rate of CO oxidation to CO.sub.2 is much lower at reduced temperatures. Also, the stability of the combustion process is reduced with the injection of water or steam into the combustors due to unequal heat release from the hot and cold regions.

Diffusion flame combustor with premixing fuel and steam method and system


A medical imaging examination apparatus has a front wall with an opening to a cylindrical examination area into which a patient to be examined can be moved, and has an illumination arrangement for the illumination of the front wall over a large surface. The illumination of the front wall reduces feelings of fear on the part of a patient, and thus simplifies conducting examinations using the examination apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a medical examination apparatus for imaging of the type having a front wall with an opening to a cylindrical examination area into which a patient to be examined can be moved.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For the examination of a patient using a medical imaging apparatus, a part to be examined of the patient is brought into an examination area of the medical imaging apparatus. For example, in magnetic resonance tomography devices, computed tomography devices, and positron emission tomographs, the examination areas are usually cylindrical in shape. So that the entire patient can be brought into the examination area, the examination area has a diameter that is somewhat larger than the average shoulder width (approx. 60 cm). The examination area is surrounded by elements for imaging that are contained in a large housing, generally filling most of a room.
Upon seeing the large examination apparatus, simply the thought of being placed inside the tunnel-shaped examination area causes unpleasant feelings in most patients; when the patient is actually placed in the examination area these feelings can become stronger, to the point of claustrophobic panic attacks caused by the narrow surroundings. In other words, the sight of the examination apparatus, as well as the later placement of the patient into the examination area, together with its perceived narrowness, causes feelings of concern, anxiety or even fear in the patient.
In order to enable an examination to be carried out in spite of this fear, the patient is given a more or less strong sedative. This has the effect of limiting the patient's reactions well beyond the time required for the examination, and is often felt by the patient to be unpleasant or even damaging to the patient's health.
Translucent material is used in the illumination of, for example, advertising spaces or designer furniture. Due to its optical properties, e.g. its light conductivity due to its internal total reflection, it can be illuminated over large surfaces. An example of such a material is the polyester PET-G (polyethylene terephthalate glycol).
Light-emitting diode modules, for example the LINEARlight module made by the firm OSRAM, are used for example for light coupling in emergency beacons, in illuminated advertisements, or in path markers.

Medical imaging apparatus illuminated to reduce patient anxiety


A slide rail structure of a vehicle for sliding a seat relative to a vehicle floor can include a rail member having an upper opening portion, a slide member, and cover members disposed on the rail member. The rail member can also include lateral portions, upper portions and downward extending portions. Each of the cover members can include a fixed portion and a cover portion. The fixed portion further can include an attaching portion attached to the rail member, and a protruding portion that protrudes into the upper opening portion. The cover portion can be positioned upward of and spaced apart from the protruding portion, so as to normally cover the upper opening portion of the rail member without contacting the protruding portion. The cover portion can also contact the protruding portion so as to be restricted from being deformed downward when the cover portion is moved downward.

The present invention relates to a slide rail structure of a vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a slide rail structure of a vehicle that can slidably guide a vehicle seat with respect to a vehicle floor.
A conventional slide rail structure is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-112319. The slide rail structure has a rail member for slidably guiding a seat of a vehicle and having a U-shape in cross section. The rail member is mounted on a floor surface of the vehicle. Upper edges of the rail member are respectively bent inward, so that upper bent portions are formed. As a result, a guide groove is formed within the rail member. Further, the upper edges of the rail member are bent such that a clearance is formed between the upper bent portions. Therefore, the guide groove has an upper opening portion that extends in a longitudinal direction thereof. Conversely, a slide member is attached to a lower surface of the seat. The slide member is composed of a leg portion fixed to the seat, and a slider connected to a lower end of the leg portion. The slider slidably engages the guide groove of the rail member, so that the leg portion can move along the upper opening portion of the guide groove. According to this construction, the seat can be moved along the rail member. Further, the upper bent portions may effectively prevent the slider from being released from the rail member.
In addition, a cover member is attached to the rail member. The cover member has a pair of body portions that are respectively disposed on the bent portions, and a pair of cover portions that respectively oppositely extend from the body portions so as to cover the upper opening portion of the guide groove. The cover portions are formed of elastic materials, for example, soft rubber or elastomer, so as to be easily deformed. Therefore, the cover portions that normally cover the upper opening portion are easily spread out by the leg portion when the leg portion moves along the guide groove. Therefore, a sliding motion of the leg portion (the slide member) is not obstructed by the cover portions.
However, in such a slide rail structure, the cover portions of the cover member are easily deformed. Thus, when articles (e.g., a lighter, a pebble, or the like) fall onto the cover portions, the cover portions are deformed downward. As a result, such articles can easily enter into the guide groove from the upper opening portion. The articles that have entered the guide groove may disturb the sliding motion of the slide member.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved slide rail structure.


An optical communication module for communicating a light signal including a groove portion whose section is V-shaped and provided on the surface of an optical waveguide substrate, on one of two surfaces of which groove portion a mirror is formed by the coating with a metal film and in the vicinity of the other surface of which groove portion, a tip of an optical waveguide on the optical waveguide substrate is provided, whereby a signal light guided by the optical waveguide is reflected by the mirror of the metal film so as to be incident on a light-receiving element disposed on the surface of the optical waveguide substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical communication module in optical communication and, more particularly, to an optical communication module having a mirror which reflects a signal light and folds the same and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of conventional optical communication modules having a mirror for reflecting a propagated light which is provided midway through an optical waveguide to couple the propagated light with a light-receiving element is, for example, the optical communication module disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open (Kokai) No. Heisei 10-224310 which is illustrated in FIG. 10.
The conventional technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open (Kokai) No. Heisei 10-224310 is intended to realize an optical communication module for conducting bidirectional communication using signal lights of the same wavelength by a small-sized and simple structure. In the structure, a Y-branch type optical waveguide is formed on an optical waveguide substrate, a mirror is provided midway through a branch side waveguide for reflecting a propagated light to the side of the surface of the optical waveguide substrate, a light-receiving element is provided facing the crossover portion between the one branch side waveguide and the mirror, and a light-emitting element is provided facing the crossover portion between the other branch side waveguide and the mirror.
Because an Y-branch type optical waveguide which can be formed minutely and to high precision is used on the optical waveguide substrate and the light-receiving element and the light-emitting element are enabled to be surface-packaged on the optical waveguide substrate, an optical communication module for conducting bidirectional communication using signal lights of the same wavelength can be realized with a small-sized and simple structure.
Another example is the conventional optical communication module for conducting bidirectional communication using two signal lights of different wavelengths, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open (Kokai) No. Heisei 11-068705 and illustrated in FIG. 11.
The conventional art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. Heisei 11-068705 is intended to reduce crosstalk light which is leakage of an LD (laser diode) light as a transmitted light in a PD (photodiode) light as a received light down to a level causing no problem in practical use. In the module, an optical branch waveguide is formed on a plane substrate, a groove is provided at a branch portion of the optical branch waveguide, a dielectric multilayer filter for branching an input light into its penetration direction and a reflection direction according to its wavelength is inserted into the groove, and a transmission LD and a reception PD to be optically coupled with the optical branch waveguide are provided on the plane substrate.
With a penetration wavelength of the dielectric multilayer filter set to be as a reception wavelength of the reception PD and a blocking wavelength of the dielectric multilayer filter set to be as a transmission wavelength of the transmission LD and the transmission LD and the reception PD arranged at positions opposed to each other with the dielectric multilayer filter provided therebetween, bidirectional WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) optical communication is conducted.
A further example of conventional optical communication modules is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open (Kokai) No. Heisei 11-237529, which is illustrated in FIG. 12.
The optical communication module according to the conventional technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. Heisei 11-237529 has a structure in which with a buffer and a clad formed on the upper surface of an Si substrate to have slant surfaces, a signal light is folded upward and received by a PD by making the use of reflection caused by a difference in refractive indexes between air on the slant surfaces and the clad.
The above-described conventional optical communication modules, however, have the following problems.
First, with conventional optical communication modules having a groove of a small width, because of a structure in which a mirror and a filter are inserted into the narrow groove, much labor is cost for their manufacturing and moreover, automation of a manufacturing process is difficult, which make manufacturing costs extremely high.
Because the conventional art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. Heisei 10-224310, for example, has a structure in which a mirror is inserted into a groove formed slantwise and the conventional art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. Heisei 11-068705 has a structure in which a dielectric multilayer filter is inserted into a groove provided at a branch portion of an optical branch waveguide, both require extremely laborious work for inserting the filter or the like into a narrow groove.
Secondly, the conventional optical communication modules in which a signal light penetrating a filter at a groove portion is received by a PD need a groove to be formed to have an extremely small width in order to suppress loss of a received signal light at the groove portion. For this purpose, as a dielectric multilayer filter to be inserted, a filter whose material is thin and soft such as polyimide should be used, which makes handling of the filter at its insertion be worse than that of a filter of a hard material to make automation of a filter insertion process difficult.
Thirdly, in the conventional optical communication modules which output a signal light reflected on a filter at a groove portion from an optical waveguide to an external optical fiber, because a slant of the filter relative to an end surface of the waveguide largely affects coupling characteristics between a reflected light on the filter and the optical waveguide, the filter should be inserted very carefully so as not to slant relative to the end surface of the waveguide, whereby reduction in assembly costs is difficult.
Fourthly, the conventional optical communication modules in which a signal light is reflected from inside a substrate and received by a PD disposed on the surface of the substrate, which make the use of reflection caused by a difference in refractive indexes between air and a clad for the reflection of the signal light, need air within a groove portion having a reflection surface. In a case, for example, where an optical communication module is covered with a transparent resin or the like, because a refractive index of a transparent resin is closer to that of a clad than to that of air, reflection on a slant surface might not be obtained. Therefore, use of simplified sealing by transparent resins and use of packaging realized by protecting an optical system with transparent resins and by molding the entire system are impossible, resulting in limiting packaging methods.

Optical communication module and manufacturing method thereof


The present invention provides an apparatus and method for identifying and sequencing a biopolymer translocating a nanopore. The apparatus of the present invention provides a first electrode, a second electrode and a potential means for applying a bias ramping potential across the electrodes to produce resonant tunneling of current carriers between the two electrodes. As the bias potential is ramped across the electrodes the increase in tunneling current occurs as the carrier energy sequentially matches the conduction band energies of the translocating biopolymer. This technique allows for real-time identification and sequencing of a biopolymer as the band energy spectra of the individual portions of the bipolymer are recorded, differentiated and identified. A method for identifying the biopolymer is also disclosed.

Manipulating matter at the nanometre scale is important for many electronic, chemical and biological advances (See Li et al., "Ion beam sculpting at nanometer length scales", Nature, 412: 166-169, 2001). A number of sequencing techniques have been proposed at the micrometer and nanometer scale in response to the human genome project. These techniques have been largely developed to help characterize and understand expression of genes in vivo. A popular technique uses micro arrays and hybridization of cDNA to determine the presence or absence of a particular target gene. A target gene and probe are exposed in solution and bind if relative hybridization sequences match. Hybridization is indicative of the presence of the sequence or target gene. A dye may be employed with the target or probe to then determine existence and efficiency of hybridizations. The technique has been extended for use in determining the presence of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP'S) in target cDNA. Micro arrays provide the promise of being able to accurately and concurrently screen for a variety of diseases in a particular patient. Theoretically, a patient should be able to enter a hospital, have blood taken, DNA extracted and genes sequenced. The sequencing methods provide for a genetic blue print of the individual. This provides patient specific information to doctors regarding susceptibility towards disease or existence of genetic abnormalities. A few major drawbacks of the micro array technique concerns difficulty in manufacturing as well as the long time for effective hybridizations between probe and target (generally overnight to maintain high specificity). In addition, the large amounts of genomic DNA in a patient would require an inordinate amount of time and work. Therefore, new techniques are now being explored to more quickly sequence biopolymers. Systems that are on the nanoscale are both effective on resources (limited materials), but also may more closely mimic the processes already present in living cells (i.e. translocation processes). Therefore, nanopore technology has become a fundamental field area of interest to molecular biologists and biochemists alike.
It has been demonstrated that a voltage gradient can drive single-stranded biopolymers through a transmembrane channel, or nanopore (See Kasianowicz et al., "Characterization of individual polynucleotide molecules using a membrane channel", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 93: 13770-13773, 1996). During the translocation process, the extended biopolymer molecule will block a substantial portion of the otherwise open nanopore channel. This blockage leads to a decrease in the ionic current flow of the buffer solution through the nanopore during the biopolymer translocation. The passage of a single biopolymer can be monitored by recording the translocation duration and the blockage current, yielding plots with predictable stochastic sensing patterns. From the uniformly controlled translocation conditions, the lengths of the individual biopolymers can be determined from the translocation time. Furthermore, the differing physical and chemical properties of the individual monomers of the biopolymer strand may generate a measurable and reproducible modulation of the blockage current that allows an identification of the specific monomer sequence of the translocating biopolymer. These initially proposed systems suffer from a number of problems. For instance, some of the proposed systems required the self-assembly of pore forming proteins on membranes (i.e. α-hemolysin). Reproducibility of membranes and systems has been quite problematic. Secondly, commercial products require robustness not present in sensitive systems that require fluctuations of ionic currents for measurements. For these reasons, recent research has focused more on solid-state pore techniques that have an ability for high reproducibility and ease of fabrication. Such techniques as "ion beam sculpting" have shown some promise in fabricating molecular scale holes and nanopores in thin insulating solid-state membranes. These pores have also been effective in localizing molecular-scale electrical junctions and switches (See Li et al., "Ion beam sculpting at nanometer length scales", Nature, 412: 166-169, 2001).
These techniques have shown similar consistent results and current blockage with double stranded DNA reminiscent of ionic current blockages observed when single stranded DNA are translocated through the channel formed by α-hemolysin in a lipid bilayer. The duration of these blockages have been on the millisecond scale and current reductions have been to 88% of the open-pore value. This is commensurate with translocation of a rod-like molecule whose cross-sectional area is 3-4 nm2 (See Li et al., "Ion beam sculpting at nanometer length scales", Nature, 412: 166-169, 2001). This methodology, however, suffers from the limitation that only crude measurements of the presence or absence of the translocating polymer can be made. In addition, these systems are incapable of actually determining the primary sequences (order of monomeric units) of the translocating biopolymer.
A second approach has been suggested for detecting a biopolymer translocating a nanopore in a solid-state material such as Si3N4. However, it is well known that the tunneling current has an exponential dependence upon the height and width of the quantum mechanical potential barrier to the tunneling process. This dependence implies an extreme sensitivity to the precise location in the pore of the translocating molecule. Both steric attributes and physical proximity to the tunneling electrode could cause changes in the magnitude of the tunneling current which would be far in excess of the innate differences expected between different base-types under ideal conditions. For this reason, it is difficult to expect the simplest tunneling configurations to have the specificity required to perform sequencing.
For these reasons, there is a need for improved systems and methods that quickly and efficiently sequence translocating biopolymers in solid-state systems with high reproducibility and predictability. These and other problems with the prior art processes and designs are obviated by the present invention. The references cited in this application infra and supra, are hereby incorporated in this application by reference. However, cited references or art are not admitted to be prior art to this application.

Apparatus and method for biopolymer identification during translocation through a nanopore


A holder for paper rolls that include a centrally disposed through opening. A pivotally and rotably mounted telescopic tubular assembly holds to paper roll through the opening and includes other articulations that permit the selective pivoting movements of different telescopic sections to position the paper roll at the most convenient position. The holder is mounted to a flat surface by two spaced apart support assemblies. The telescopic tubular assembly includes at least two pivotally connected tubular members housed within each other. The outer tubular member holds the paper roll.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper roll holder, and more particularly, to the type in which the paper roll can be telescopically positioned in different places.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many holders for paper rolls, such as toilet papers rolls and towel paper rolls, exist. Typically, these designs are intended to rotably secure the paper roll in a minimum of space available. One of these designs is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,846 issued to the Anconas in 1988. While the Anconas' holder permits a user to position the roll in either a horizontal or vertical position, it lacks the features of telescopically extending the position of the paper roll as described and claimed in the present application.
Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.


A party plate comprising a first portion having a top surface for holding food and a bottom surface for resting on the forearm of a user; a second portion attached to said first portion having a beverage container support; an aperture in the second portion for receiving a thumb of a user; and an edge on the second portion for providing a non-fatiguing grip for the fingers of a user.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a food and drink serving tray, which rests on the forearm while in use, and which can be placed on a table if one wants to sit down. The plate also provides a pivot point around which weight can be shifted due to eating and drinking, while standing. A continuous tight grip of the plate is not required while standing and eating thus eliminating fatigue.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Several types of food serving plates or trays are known. One of the prior food serving trays is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,672. The patent discloses a food serving tray which rests on the forearm of the user and holds a cup in a cup retainer. The cup retainer, with cup, is held tight while resting the plate on the forearm. The plate, with the cup in the retainer, cannot be placed on a table as it would be off-balance. Additionally, the cup has to be held tightly continuously if one chooses to stand and eat. It is obvious that the latter is required, since the plate, with a cup in the cup retainer, cannot be placed on a table or temporarily set down. Another plate is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,144. The patent discloses a serving tray with a circular basin for a drink as well as a thumb hole for carrying the tray. The thumb is placed through an opening and, according to FIG. 2, the bottom of the thumb rests on a corrugated surface. The remaining fingers support the bottom of the plate. The described usage is impractical, if not impossible. When the bottom of the plate is being supported by the fingers it is physically impossible to have the bottom of the thumb on the corrugated lip on top of the plate. Instead, the side of the thumb, next to the index finger, ends up supporting the weight from the top. Consequently, there is no way to adequately compensate for weight shifts by a fork pushing down on the plate. In this case, as the latter, the thumb and other indexes must hold the plate tightly for the entire duration of use. This causes fatigue and discomfort. Neither situation is a comfortable fit where one would be apt to not feel compelled to put the plate down as soon as one was finished eating.


An inflator (10) includes a housing (30) defining a chamber (50). An end-burning pyrotechnic charge (60) is in the chamber (50) in the housing (30) for, upon ignition, producing inflation fluid for inflating an inflatable device. The charge (60) has a first predetermined burn rate at a first location along the length of the chamber (50) and a second predetermined burn rate at a second location along the length of the chamber spaced apart from the first location. The second predetermined burn rate is different from the first predetermined burn rate. The inflator (10) includes an initiator (112) for igniting the charge (60), and portions (34, 90, 110) for directing inflation fluid from the chamber (50) to the inflatable device.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vehicle safety apparatus and, in particular, to an inflator for an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device, such as an air bag.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to inflate a vehicle occupant protection device, such as an air bag, to help protect a vehicle occupant. The air bag is inflated by inflation fluid from an inflator. One common type of inflator uses a pyrotechnic material which, when ignited, generates inflation fluid in the form of gas under pressure to inflate the air bag. The air bag is inflated into a position between the vehicle occupant and a portion of the vehicle to help protect the vehicle occupant in the event of a vehicle collision or of an impact to the vehicle.
It is known to tailor the output pressure of the inflator, in order to inflate an air bag in a predetermined manner over a period of time. For example, it is known to begin inflating an air bag at first with inflation fluid at a relatively low pressure, then finish inflating the air bag with inflation fluid at a relatively high pressure. Some known inflators of this type have two actuatable pyrotechnic charges and a separate initiator for each stage. In such an inflator, vehicle electric circuitry separately controls actuation of the two stages of the inflator in response to one or more sensed conditions.


An information processing apparatus has login information acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of pieces of login information with user IDs for identifying users related with terminal IDs for identifying terminals for use by the users; terminal ID registration means for registering the acquired login information by relating each of the user IDs with the plurality of terminal IDs; delivery information generation means for generating different pieces of delivery information to be delivered to each terminal that are identified by the plurality of terminal IDs for each of the user IDs; and delivery means for delivering the generated different pieces of delivery information to the each terminals.

Systems are known as services provided on the Internet in which a user can log in on these services from a terminal used by the user to get the provision of these services. To be more specific, these systems are online games and membership information providing services provided by business enterprises, for example. These systems, each configured by a server and a terminal in general, allow users to log in on these systems from terminals of users and play games provided by the server and use information provision services therefrom.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Information processing system, information processing appartus, information terminal apparatus, information processing method, and information processing program


A method for the formation of a patterned resist layer on a substrate surface by patternwise irradiation with actinic radiation. The first step of the method is formation of a coating layer comprising a substituted triphenylene compound having a diameter of between 1 and 3 nm, a sensitizer which increases the sensitivity of the exposed layer to the actinic radiation used in a subsequent irradiation step and a cross-linker on the substrate surface. Subsequently the coating layer is irradiated patternwise, and unirradiated areas of the coating layer are removed. A resist material comprising a solution of: (i) as the principal resist material a triphenylene derivative having a diameter of from 1 to 3 rim, (ii) a sensitizer which increases the sensitivity of the resist material to actinic radiation, and (iii) a cross-linker capable of cross-linking molecules of the triphenyl derivative, the cross-linker optionally being constituted by a moiety attached to the triphenylene derivative.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to a resist material, particularly but not exclusively an electron beam resist material, and to a method for forming a finely patterned resist layer on a substrate surface using the resist material.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, the manufacturing process of various kinds of electronic or semiconductor devices such as ICs, LSIs and the like involves a fine patterning of a resist layer on the surface of a substrate material such as a semiconductor silicon wafer. This fine patterning process has traditionally been conducted by the photolithographic method in which the substrate surface is uniformly coated with a positive or negative tone photoresist composition to form a thin layer of the photoresist composition and selectively irradiating with actinic rays (such as ultraviolet light) through a photomask followed by a development treatment to selectively dissolve away the photoresist layer in the areas exposed or unexposed, respectively, to the actinic rays leaving a patterned resist layer on the substrate surface. The thus obtained patterned resist layer is utilized as a mask in the subsequent treatment on the substrate surface such as etching.
The fabrication of structures with dimensions of the order of nanometers is an area of considerable interest since it enables the realization of electronic and optical devices which exploit novel phenomena such as quantum confinement effects and also allows greater component packing density. As a result, the resist layer is required to have an ever increasing fineness which can by accomplished only by using actinic rays having a shorter wavelength than the conventional ultraviolet light. Accordingly, it is now the case that, in place of the conventional ultraviolet light, electron beams (e-beams), excimer laser beams, EUV and X-rays are used as the short-wavelength actinic rays. Needless to say the minimum size obtainable is primarily determined by the performance of the resist material and the wavelength of the actinic rays.
Various materials have been proposed as suitable resist materials. These include organic resinous materials such as methacrylic resin-based, polystyrene-based and novolac resin based materials. In the case of negative tone resists based on polymer crosslinking, there is an inherent resolution limit of about 10 nm, which is the approximate radius of a single polymer molecule.
It is also known to apply a technique called "chemical amplification" to the polymeric resist materials. A chemically amplified resist material is generally a multi-component formulation in which there is a main polymeric component, such as a novolac resin which contributes towards properties such as resistance of the material to etching and its mechanical stability and one or more additional components which impart desired properties to the resist and a sensitizer. By definition, the chemical amplification occurs through a catalytic process involving the sensitizer which results in a single irradiation event causing exposure of multiple resist molecules. In a typical example the resist comprises a polymer and a photoacid generator (PAG) as sensitizer. The PAG releases a proton in the presence of radiation (light or e-beam). This proton then reacts with the polymer to cause it to lose a dissolution inhibiting functional group. In the process, a second proton is generated which can then react with a further molecule. The speed of the reaction can be controlled, for example, by heating the resist film to drive the reaction. After heating, the reacted polymer molecules are soluble in a developer whilst the unreacted polymer is not (i.e. positive tone resist). In this way the sensitivity of the material to actinic radiation is greatly increased, as small numbers of irradiation events give rise to a large number of exposure events.
In other chemical amplification schemes, irradiation results in cross-linking of the exposed resist material, thereby creating a negative tone resist. The polymeric resist material may be self cross-linking or a cross linking molecule may be included. Chemical amplification of polymeric-based resists is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,712, U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,885, U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,139 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,870.
Other materials have been investigated as potential resist materials, including low molecular weight organic molecules (Yoshiiwa M, et. al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 69 (1996) 2605) and inorganic substances such as metal fluorides (Fujita J, et. al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 66 (1995) 3064). C60 (fullerene) demonstrates negative tone behaviour, but has low sensitivity (critical dose about 1×10−2 C/cm2). Various methanofullerene derivatives were subsequently shown to be useful e-beam resist materials by the present inventors, Appl. Phys. Lett. volume 72, page 1302 (1998), Appl. Phys. Lett. volume 312, page 469 (1999), Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. volume 546, page 219 (1999) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,617.
The present inventors have also previously reported on the use of certain polysubstituted triphenylene derivatives as electron beam resist materials as exemplified by EP 01159649 and "Polysubstituted Derivatives of triphenylene as High Resolution Electron Beam Resists for Nanolithography", A. P. G. Robinson, et al, J. Vac. Sci. Tech. B, 18, No. 6, 2730-2736, (2000).
These materials are cast in chloroform, toluene or monochlorobenzene and developed in certain alcohols (positive tone) or monochlorobenzene (negative tone).
It is an object of the present invention in one aspect to provide a novel photoresist material which obviates or mitigates one or more disadvantages associated with prior art resist materials.

Resist material and method for forming a patterned resist layer on a substrate


A method of processing a workpiece may include forming a first layer on a first side of a base layer. The base layer may be part of a substrate including a plurality of layers. The method may also include forming a second layer on the first layer. A material of the second layer may include metal. The method may also include forming an opening in the second layer, forming an opening in the first layer by etching, and removing the second layer. The method may include dry etching of the first layer.

In manufacturing processes for integrated circuits (ICs), a variety of structures may be formed on a wafer. For example, wire traces, vias, transistors, capacitors, diodes, etc. may be formed on an IC chip. With the trend of increased computing power, packing density of IC components may be increased, or features may be further miniaturized. Accordingly, it is increasingly important to ensure that IC components are manufactured without defects to ensure yield. Forming miniaturized features on a wafer may involve complex processes with numerous individual steps. Errors in even one step may have the potential to dramatically affect the functioning of the final product. For example, pattern defects, uninvited particles (residuals), or the like may appear on a wafer or a mask during fabrication, and may thereby reduce yield. Modern day ICs are increasingly sensitive to defects, and thus, it is increasingly important to form structures free of defects.
A manufacturing process may include etching. Etching is a way to remove material from a wafer surface and may be useful for forming certain structures, such as holes, trenches, or vias, etc. In an etching process, an etchant may attack features on a wafer that are exposed. Thus, a mask may be used to cover features that should not be etched. Typically, a light-sensitive organic material, such as a photoresist, is used as a mask to transfer a pattern to a wafer. Upon selective illumination, part of the photoresist that is exposed may be cured, as in a negative photoresist, or is made more soluble to a developer, as in a positive photoresist. The wafer may be exposed to a developer solution and part of the photoresist may be removed. Then, the wafer may be etched in the locations that are not covered by the photoresist.
Etching may include wet etching or dry etching. In dry etching, such as ion beam etching (IBE), a wafer surface may be bombarded by high energy particles. When etching a wafer that is covered by a mask formed by photoresist, the photoresist may leave residues on the wafer surface. For example, photoresist that is bombarded by an ion beam may become hardened and may leave organic residue on the surface of the wafer even after development. Residue may have adverse effects on the resulting structures formed by etching. For example, in an aperture structure to be used with an electron beam inspection (EBI) tool, residues may cause charged'particles to scatter near edges of aperture holes. This may be a killer defect for an e-beam aperture.
Thus, an improvement in way of manufacturing holes, such as apertures, is desired.

Systems and methods for etching a substrate


A magnetic layer includes a first magnetic film and a second magnetic film which are coupled to each other by means of exchanged coupling of magnetic materials, and one of the magnetic films is made of a ferrimagnetic material having a magnetic compensation temperature. When information is reproduced by heating a magnetic reproducing track portion to a magnetically reproducible temperature by a light beam, the magnetization directions of the two magnetic films are opposite in a peripheral track portion having approximately room temperature, and the same in the magnetic reproducing track portion heated to the magnetically reproducible temperature. Consequently, crosstalk from the peripheral track portion is reduced, and a reproducing signal from the magnetic reproducing track portion is increased, thereby improving the S/N of the reproducing signal significantly. Consequently, it has become possible to provide a magnetic recording medium which can realize high-density recording and reproducing with less crosstalk while producing a reproducing signal with excellent S/N.

The present invention relates to a high-density reproducible magnetic recording medium which records and reproduces information magnetically with heating, and a magnetic reproducing method thereof.
Recently, there has been an increasing need for a memory device with a larger capacity to process multimedia information in a broad bandwidth. Among of all, high-density recording and reproducing techniques have been developed actively with rewritable optical disks, magnetic disks, and magnetic tapes.
One of the proposed techniques realizes high-density recording and reproduction by narrowing a track during the magnetic recording and reproduction by means of assist irradiation of light (which is referred to as light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing method, hereinafter).
Incidentally, one of the problems in realizing the high-density recording and reproduction is how crosstalk from a recording bit (hereinafter, referred to as adjacent bit) adjacent to a reproducing bit should be suppressed.
Accordingly, a light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing method which can reduce crosstalk from the adjacent bit is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 2617025 issued on Jun. 4, 1997 (corresponding to Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 176034/1992 (Japanese Official Gazette, Tokukaihei No. 4-176034, published on Jun. 23, 1992)), which is referred to as the first light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing method, hereinafter. Another light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing method which can also reduce crosstalk from the adjacent bit is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 2636957 issued on Aug. 6, 1997 (corresponding to Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 95201/1992 (Japanese Official Gazette, Tokukaihei No. 4-95201, published on Mar. 27, 1992), which is referred to as the second light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing method, hereinafter.
In the first light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing method, a ferrimagnetic material having a magnetic compensation temperature around room temperature is used as the recording medium. Here, information is recorded in the following manner: a light beam is irradiated to the recording medium along a target recording track to raise a temperature thereof around the curie temperature, and then an external magnetic field is applied to the target track by a recording magnetic head. Also, the information is reproduced in the following manner: a target reproducing track is irradiated by a light beam to raise a temperature thereof so as to increase magnetization in a target reproducing portion, and then a magnetic flux leaking therefrom is magnetically reproduced into information by a magnetic reproducing head.
According to the first light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing method, areas other than the reproducing portion are heated to the magnetic compensation temperature. Thus, the leaking magnetic flux is so small that crosstalk from a track adjacent to the target reproducing track, that is, crosstalk from the adjacent bit, can be reduced.
In the second light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing method, the information is reproduced in the following manner: a light beam is irradiated to a track adjacent to the target reproducing track so as to raise the temperature thereof around the magnetic compensation temperature. Consequently, an adverse effect of the leaking magnetic flux from the track adjacent to the reproducing track is suppressed, and therefore, crosstalk from the same, that is, crosstalk from the adjacent bit, can be reduced.
Incidentally, in order to suppress crosstalk from the adjacent bit during the high-density recording and reproduction, both the first and second light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing methods use ferrimagnetic materials having the magnetic compensation temperature as the recording media.
However, because the ferrimagnetic material has temperature characteristics that the magnetization varies sharply around the magnetic compensation temperature, each of the first and second light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing methods has the following problems.
That is, in the first light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing method, if room temperature varies during reproduction, corresponding non-zero residual magnetization is induced from the track adjacent to the target reproducing track. In the second light assist type magnetic recording and reproducing method, corresponding non-zero residual magnetization is induced from the track adjacent to the target reproducing track if the heating temperature varies during reproduction.
Consequently, a leaking magnetic flux is caused as crosstalk by the residual magnetization induced from the track adjacent to the target reproducing track, and overlaps with a reproducing signal, thereby deteriorating the S/N of the reproducing signal.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a high-density reproducible magnetic recording medium, from which a reproducing signal with excellent S/N is obtained, and a magnetic reproducing method thereof.
In order to fulfill the above and other objects, the magnetic recording medium of the present invention is characterized in that it has a magnetic layer which records a magnetization direction in accordance with information, and that the magnetic layer includes two magnetic films having the same magnetization directions in a reproducing area and opposite magnetization directions in the other areas.
According to the above arrangement, information is reproduced from the reproducing area in the magnetic layer of the magnetic recording medium.
Incidentally, in a conventional magnetic recording medium including a ferrimagnetic material having a magnetic layer of a single-layer structure, magnetization in an area (adjacent area) adjacent to the reproducing area in the magnetic layer is eliminated by keeping the adjacent area at the magnetic compensation temperature. Consequently, crosstalk caused by the magnetization in the adjacent area can be prevented, so that a reproducing signal obtained from the reproducing area is not adversely affected.
However, the magnetization of the ferrimagnetic material varies sharply depending on temperatures around the magnetic compensation temperature. Thus, only a slight shift from the magnetic compensation temperature in the adjacent area makes elimination of the magnetization impossible, thereby producing non-zero residual magnetization therein.
In contrast, according to the arrangement of the present invention, the magnetic layer includes two magnetic films, and the magnetization directions of these magnetic films are the same in the reproducing area and opposite in the other areas. Consequently, the magnetization of each magnetic film is intensified by the other in the reproducing area and cancelled out by the other in the other areas.
In other words, even if the temperature changes in the areas other than the reproducing area, the residual magnetization induced in each magnetic film is cancelled out, because the magnetization directions are opposite. Thus, crosstalk caused by the residual magnetization induced by a temperature change can be prevented in a reliable manner. On the other hand, because the magnetization directions of the two magnetic films are the same in the reproducing area, a total of the magnetization of each magnetic film becomes large, and so does a reproducing signal.
As has been discussed, according to the present magnetic recording medium, crosstalk can be prevented in a reliable manner, thereby realizing the recording at a higher density.
Also, in order to fulfill the above and other objects, the magnetic reproducing method of the present invention is a reproducing method for a magnetic recording medium having a magnetic layer including two magnetic films, characterized by having the steps of:
(a) aligning the magnetization directions of the two magnetic films in the reproducing area in the same direction; and
(b) aligning the magnetization directions of the two magnetic films in areas other than reproducing area in opposite directions.
According to the above method, the magnetization directions of the two magnetic films are aligned in the same direction in the reproducing area and in the opposite directions in the other areas. Consequently, the magnetization of each magnetic film is intensified by the other in the reproducing area, and in the other areas, even if the residual magnetization is induced by a temperature change, the residual magnetization of each magnetic film is cancelled out by the other.
Hence, not only can a large reproducing signal be obtained from the reproducing area, but also crosstalk caused by the residual magnetization in the other areas can be prevented in a reliable manner, thereby realizing the recording at a higher density.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the ensuing detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Magnetic recording medium and magnetic reproducing method


A flat panel display (7) generally includes a front substrate (79) and a rear substrate (70) opposite thereto. The front substrate is formed with an anode (78). The rear substrate is formed with a cathode (71) facing the anode. Several sidewalls (72) are interposed between the front substrate and the rear substrate. A plurality of getter devices (82) are arranged on the front substrate. Thereby, a chamber between the front substrate and the rear substrate is maintained as a low-pressure vacuum. Each of the getter devices includes a base (820), a getter layer (822) comprised of non-evaporable getter material formed thereon, and securing wires (84) arranged on the base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat panel display, and particularly to a flat panel display having non-evaporable getter material.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Flat panel displays are packaged vacuum microelectronic devices that are used in connection with computers, television sets, camcorder viewfinders, and other electronic devices. Flat panel displays generally have a rear plate and a front plate facing one another across a narrow vacuum gap. In large flat panel displays, a number of spacers are positioned between the rear plate and the front plate to prevent atmospheric pressure from collapsing the plates together. The rear plate typically has a base substrate upon which a number of sharp, cone-shaped emitters are formed, an insulator layer positioned on the substrate having apertures through which the emitters extend, and an extraction grid formed on the insulator layer around the apertures.
One problem with flat panel displays is that the internal components continuously outgas, which causes the performance of flat panel displays to degrade over time. The effects of outgassing are minimized by placing a special material to absorb the gas (commonly called getter material) within the sealed vacuum space. Accordingly, in order to absorb the gas in the vacuum chamber over a flat panel display's lifetime, a sufficient amount of getter material must be incorporated into the flat panel display before it is sealed.
The getter material generally includes two types: evaporable, and non-evaporable. The former is not suitable for use in flat panel displays because of the possible short-circuit caused by evaporating metal film. When non-evaporable getter materials are used, they are usually arranged in a corner of the flat panel device, but the conductance from the outgassing site to these getters are limited by the narrow space between the flat plates, causing reduction of the getters' absorption efficiency and in consequence the display's performance and lifetime. There are also according solutions in which a separate space for containing getter materials is added to the device, but the structure thereof becomes complicated and the manufacture cost will be increased.
What is needed, therefore is to provide a flat panel display having non-evaporable getter material that has a high absorption efficiency.

Flat panel display having non-evaporable getter material


A process for treating a bentonite having a montmorillonite content of at least 85% which, when activated with sodium ions dried and ground, does not swell more than about 2.5-fold when gradually added to deionised water at room temperature and when crushed dried and calcined to an LoI of less than 4% at 190xc2x0 C. absorbs 16 to 22% by weight of water in a controlled environment at 25xc2x0 C. and a relative humidity of 40% by weight, which process comprises the following steps in the following order: i) drying to a moisture content from 25 to 35% by weight; ii) conditioning by crushing, mixing and/or extruding; iii) addition of water to form an extrudable paste having a moisture content of 25 to 40% by weight; iv) extrusion through a die preferably from 4 to 10 mm in diameter; v) drying to a moisture content from 10 to 14% by weight; vi) calcining at 120 to 250xc2x0 C. to an LoI of less than 4% at 190xc2x0 C.; and vii) reduction to particles.

This invention relates to a process for treating a bentonite and a bentonite treated by the process that is suitable for use as a softener in soaps, laundry bars, and other detergent compositions for fabrics.
Bentonites which are colloidal aluminum silicates have previously been proposed as softeners for detergents based on their swelling and ion exchange properties. However, in general, bentonites form a gel on contact with water and the presence of the gel on the surface of the bentonite particles tends to prevent penetration of water into the particles and hence inhibits dispersion of the bentonite material.
The process of this invention differs from traditional processes for treating bentonite in that traditional processes seek to retain the high gelling and high swelling properties of the starting material. If these properties are retained, when bentonite particles make contact with water a gel is formed at the water/bentonite interface which acts as a barrier to further water penetration into the interior of the particle. This is known as xe2x80x9cgel blockingxe2x80x9d. As a result of gel blocking, the bentonite particles have to remain in contact with water for many hours before penetration of the water into the particles and complete gelling of the bentonite is achieved. For this reason measurements of gelling are not normally carried out on bentonite until it has been in contact with water for around 24 hours. The purpose of the invention, on the other hand, is to degrade the gelling and swelling properties of the original starting material with the result that the particles disperse very rapidly in water without gel blocking and this makes the material particularly suitable for use as a softener.
In more detail, bentonite consists of platelets of aluminosilicate spaced apart and held together by metal cations. The structure already contains some water of crystallisation between the platelets. If the bentonite is heated to such a high temperature that this initial water is driven off, the bentonite largely loses its ability to re-absorb water and therefore to swell and gel.
The process of the present invention breaks down the original structure of the bentonite whilst driving off the initial water, so that the bentonite loses its ability to swell and gel. The original platelets however remain and these are the basis for the softening properties. Thus, when the treated bentonite material according to the invention is introduced into water there is little or no gelling but instead the particles rapidly disintegrate and disperse.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,934 discloses a method of beneficiating (i.e. purifying) bentonite in which a liquid suspension of the bentonite is subjected to shear to bring about homogenisation but there is no attempt to degrade the original structure and it is clear that the product retains its gelling properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,893 describes a method of treating a bentonite with the purpose of increasing its water absortion and water-swellable properties.
GB-1468482 describes a method of treating montmorillonite which involves drying the material at a temperature well below that required to drive off the initial water.
FR-2498586 describes a method of treating bentonite which, although involving extrusion of a bentonite paste, results in a product which retains its gelling properties in water.
The present invention provides a process for obtaining a treated bentonite by selecting an initial bentonite starting material with relatively low gelling and swelling properties, drying this at a sufficiently high temperature substantially to drive off its initial water content, and extruding the resulting material under high shear conditions in the form of a paste so as further to degrade its initial structure.
This process, involving the treatment of a bentonite raw material having a specific composition and specific properties, results in a bentonite product having a reduced tendency to gel on contact with water so that when used in detergent compositions such as laundry formulations it improves dispersion without reducing the softening properties.
More preferably according to the invention we provide a process for treating a bentonite having a montmorillonite content of at least 85% which, when activated with sodium ions dried and ground, does not swell more than about 2.5-fold when gradually added to deionised water at room temperature and when crushed dried and calcined to an LoI of less than 4% at 190xc2x0 C. absorbs 16 to 22% by weight of water in a controlled environment at 250xc2x0 C. and a relative humidity of 40% by weight, which process comprises the following steps in the following order:
(i) drying to a moisture content from 25 to 35% by weight;
(ii) conditioning by crushing, mixing and/or extruding;
(iii) addition of water to form an extrudable paste having a moisture content of 25 to 40% by weight;
(iv) extrusion through a die preferably from 4 to 10 mm in diameter;
(v) drying to a moisture content from 10 to 14% by weight;
(vi) calcining at 120 to 250xc2x0 C. to an LoI of less than 4% at 190xc2x0 C.; and
(vii) reduction to particles.
The conditioning step involves working the material so that it becomes extrudable.
The starting material is a low swelling and low gelling bentonite preferably comprising at least 85%, and preferably at least 95% by weight, of montmorillonite. It preferably shows by XRF analysis at least 4.0% and more preferably at least 5.0% magnesium oxide, and yet more preferably has a chemical composition by weight as follows:
It may also contain small proportions of other minerals.
One particular bentonite suitable for use in the invention has the following chemical composition by weight:
In order to confirm suitability for use in the invention a sample of the bentonite starting material made into a 28% w/w slurry in deionised water may be activated with sodium carbonate at a level calculated to give optimum swelling, dried at 50xc2x0 C. to a moisture content from 8 to 14% by weight, then ground so that at least 90% of the particles are not greater than 75 microns in diameter. The resulting material is then gradually added to deionised water at room temperature and if suitable should not swell more than about 2.5-fold. For example, if 2 g of the resulting material is added very gradually to 100 ml of deionised water at room temperature in a 100 ml measuring cylinder, it should not swell to more than 16 ml over 24 hours.
Further, the bentonite raw material, when crushed, dried and calcined at a temperature from 120 to 250xc2x0 C. so that at 190xc2x0 C. it showed an LoI of less than 4% by weight, should absorb from 16 to 22% water by weight when placed in a controlled environment for 12 hours at 250xc2x0 C. and having a relative humidity of 40%.
Preferably the calcining step is at a temperature of 150 to 250xc2x0 C.
Preferably, the bentonite raw material is air dried to a moisture content of about 30%. Preferably, it is then conditioned by being ground and crushed (e.g. in a pan mill) and extruded through slots or holes 10 to 20 mm in diameter, prior to the addition of water and the extrusion step which is preferably performed in a pelleting mill or other extruder.

Process for treating bentonite and products thereof


Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques to provide location sensing of a virtual map derived from sensors of a computing device moved about an interior of a structure. An apparatus for location sensing includes a processor component; and a refined trajectory generator, an inconsistent constraint identifier for identifier inconsistent constraints used to generate the refined trajectories, and an updated constraint set generator for updating the constraint set to remove the identified inconsistent constraints. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Computing devices have long provided the ability to track a location relative to the surface of the Earth through receiving wireless signals from multiple global positioning system (GPS) satellites and deriving a current location from the indications of timing within those signals. Using GPS coordinates, computing devices have been able to update existing maps of a location or to form maps of unknown or previously untraveled locations on the Earth's surface. As the computing device travels a path, a virtual map of the path of travel may be formed using GPS coordinates. Furthermore, the position of the computing device within the virtual map may be ascertained and represented based on GPS coordinates.
Thus, users of such computing devices that receive GPS signals are able to form a virtual map of a traveled path and visualize their current location on the virtual map. Unfortunately, the availability of such functions provided by computing devices typically ceases once the users of those devices go indoors and/or under a structure or other formation that blocks access to GPS signals. Depending on the thickness and/or material makeup of portions of such structures, access to GPS signals may become intermittent or distorted, or may be entirely cut off.
Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) techniques have been used to form virtual maps of indoor spaces in the absence of GPS signals. SLAM techniques rely on recognizing locations that have been previously visited. Accordingly, accurate implementation of SLAM techniques often requires complex perceptual sensors, such as Lidar sensors or image detection equipment, in order to accurately detect locations that have been previously visited. Forming a virtual map of an indoor space using consumer computing equipment, such as, a smart phone or tablet computer, remains difficult.

Techniques for improving location accuracy for virtual maps


A method is described for selecting an enrollment image or standard from multiple close-up images of a subject such as a human eye. The selected image is the one image that best represents the appearance of that subject to an image processing system which identifies subjects by comparison of later taken images of subject to the selected image.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to selecting the best master enroll image used for identifying individuals from facial images, and more particularly from images of the eye. The master image may be used either in its original form or it may be used to compute a biometric code, such as an iris code which is stored and used for later comparisons.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are several methods known as biometrics for recognizing or identifying an individual from personal biological characteristics. Some of these methods involve imaging of the face or eye and analyzing the facial features, retinal vascular patterns of the eye, or patterns in the iris of the eye. In recent years there has been a demand for more reliable systems to identify individuals, particularly those persons who desire access to a secured area or system. A common example of such a secured system is automated teller machines which allow authorized users to conduct banking transactions. Many of these systems are used by a wide variety of people. Very often these people demand quick as well as accurate identification.
A technique for accurately identifying individuals using iris recognition is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,349 to Flom et al. and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,560 to Daugman. The systems described in these references require a clear and representative master enroll (template) image of the eye. The master enroll image is the image chosen to represent the unique characteristics of an individual, in this case, the characteristics of an individual's iris. The master enroll image is used as input to Daugman's algorithm to generate an iris code. The iris code extracted from the master enroll image is compared to a second iris code extracted from a current image of an individual whenever that individual's identity needs to be determined or verified. The present invention relates to selecting the best master enroll image to be used in such systems.

Method of selecting the best enroll image for personal identification


Radial tire including a crown, two beads extended by sidewalls including a radial carcass reinforcement, the carcass reinforcement extending into the crown and anchored in each bead to at least one element that is inextensible in the circumferential direction, the tire including in at least one sidewall a supplementary reinforcement formed of rubber with reinforcing elements inclined relative to the circumferential direction and wherein, when viewed in meridian cross-section:                the supplementary reinforcement includes at least one group of at least two strips that extend in the circumferential direction;        each strip, of width Li essentially equal to or greater than the total width Lt of the reinforcement divided by the total number of strips in the group concerned, is formed of rubber reinforced by a plurality of cables or wires inclined at an angle α between 30° and 90°;        within any one group, each circumferential strip is superimposed partially with an adjacent strip.

As is known from the prior art, a radial tire has areas called beads designed to cooperate with the seats and flanges of a mounting rim, the said beads comprising a reinforcement structure in the circumferential direction, to which the carcass reinforcement is anchored. Radially on the outside of the carcass reinforcement is arranged a crown reinforcement comprising at least two plies whose role, among others, is to hoop around the said carcass reinforcement when the tire is being pressurized for use above the said beads. Radially outside the crown reinforcement is positioned a tread with a plurality of reliefs that form the pattern of the tire. Between each bead and each axial end of the crown extends a sidewall of the tire whose function is to provide a mechanical link between the said bead and the said crown while undergoing more or less pronounced bending during rolling.
This bending leads to substantial deformations associated with the marked variations of the sidewall curvature and when a tire is used on rough ground with numerous bumps or obstacles, the combination of forces can give rise to breaking of the sidewall rubber or even damage to the carcass reinforcement. To overcome this problem it has been proposed to add to the tire sidewalls at least one ply of rubber reinforced with cables, the said cables making a non-zero angle with the radial or meridian direction. Document U.S. Pat. No. 3,464,477 proposes to add within each sidewall and on the inside of the carcass reinforcement a reinforcement extending on either side of the half-way height of the sidewall and over a fraction of the radial height of the said sidewall. This solution, however, which is very effective, has a disadvantage related to the fact that having regard to the radial heights of sidewalls, it is often difficult to obtain in the tire the desired angle of the reinforcements, let alone that the said reinforcements are subjected to stresses that have an adverse effect on their mechanical resistance even on account of the variable curvatures they undergo in the tire due to the sidewall deformations.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,192 describes a tire structure comprising in its sidewalls at least one supplementary reinforcement armature designed to protect the said sidewalls against aggressions during rolling, this reinforcement being formed by the winding in the circumferential direction of strips that comprise reinforcing elements orientated circumferentially; in the said document the strips are arranged edge to edge in a meridian direction. This solution raises many manufacturing problems since it requires the reinforcements orientated circumferentially to be positioned on a tire blank that has already been shaped.
Consequently, there is need for a solution that enables the reinforcement of tires intended to roll over difficult ground, but one which does not have the disadvantages of the technical solutions of the prior art mentioned above, and in particular one which makes it possible to shape the tire in the form of a toric blank produced on a building drum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,796 describes a tire structure for carrying heavy loads (in particular, for use on civil engineering vehicles), in which at least one of the sidewalls has a supplementary reinforcement consisting of one or more layers comprising inclined reinforcements; in one variant, it is specified that each layer comprises a plurality of circumferential strips separate from one another within the same layer.