A flexible magnetic membrane based actuation system comprising magnetic nanoparticles loaded into a polymeric material such as polyurethane and adapted to actuation of to and fro pumping motions of the membrane under application of magnetic field on the magnetic nanoparticles loaded membrane. More particularly, the present invention is directed to the said nanoparticles-loaded polyurethane magnetic membrane based actuation system adapted to function as displacement membrane for various activities requiring such to and fro motion. The magnetic membrane actuation is adapted to be controlled using electronic equipments to regulate the rate, force and frequency of displacement pulses. The magnetic membrane is thus capable of providing a simple, bio-compatible and cost effective means for displacement/mechanical work to assist functioning of various gadgets/medical devices including function as an artificial support system for heart, non-responsive diaphragm or a non-responsive sphincter, and thus capable of wide industrial applications.

Polymeric membranes are well known and used for variety of applications such as gas separation membranes, probing assemblies involving flexible membrane structures and similar applications.
To manufacture such polymeric membranes, a wide range of materials are used which include polyamides, polyimides, polyesters, polycarbonates, copolycarbonate esters, polyethers, polyetherketones, polyetherimides, polyethersulfones, polysulfones, polyvinylidene fluoride, polybenzimidazoles, polybenzoxazoles, polyacrylonitrile, cellulosic derivatives, polyazoaromaties, poly(2,6-dimethylphenylene oxide), polyphenylene oxides, polyureas, polyurethanes, polyhydrazides, polyazomethines, polyacetals, cellulose acetates, cellulose nitrate, ethyl cellulose, styrene-acrylonitrile copolymers, brominated poly(xylylene oxide), sulfonated poly(xylylene oxide), tetrahalogen-substituted polycarbonates, tetrahalogen-substituted polyesters, tetrahalogen-substituted polycarbonate esters, polyquinoxaline, polyamideimides, polyamide esters, polysiloxanes, polyacetylenes, polyphosphazenes, polyethylenes, polyphenylenes, poly(4-methylpentene), poly(trimethylsilylpropyne), poly(trialkylsilylacetylenes), polyureas, polyurethanes, and so-called ladder polymers, blends thereof, copolymers thereof; substituted materials thereof, and the like. It is further anticipated that polymerizable substances, that is, materials which cure to form a polymer, such as vulcanizable siloxanes and the like, may be suitable for making gas separation membranes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,380 relates to polymeric composite or asymmetric gas separation membranes, particularly, polymeric gas separation membranes in which the morphology of the membrane is designed to increase the entropic selectivity effects of the membrane; and a process for the fabrication of such membranes.
A membrane probing assembly, for example, is exemplified by the device shown in Rath European Patent Pub. No. 259,163A2. This device has the central portion of the sheet-like membrane mounted directly against a rigid support. This rigid support, in turn, is connected by a resilient member comprising an elastomeric or rubber block to the main body of the assembly so that the membrane can tilt to match the tilt of the device. Huff (U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,383) shows a closely related device wherein radially extending leaf springs permit vertical axis movement of the rigid support while preventing it from tilting so that there is no slippage or "misalignment" of the contact bumps on the pads and further so that the entire membrane will shift slightly in the horizontal plane to allow the contacts to "scrub" across their respective pads in order to clear surface oxides from these pads. The test probe system is directed to providing an oxide-abrading scrubbing motion to scrub the contacts residing on a membrane probe card. The membrane used is simply stated to be stretchable.
A second conventional form of membrane probing assembly is exemplified by the device shown in Barsotti (European Patent Pub. No. 304,868A2). This device provides a flexible backing for the central or contact-carrying portion of the flexible membrane. In Barsotti, the membrane is directly backed by an elastomeric member and this member, in turn, is backed by a rigid support so that minor height variations between the contacts or pads can be accommodated. It is also possible to use positive-pressure air, negative-pressure air, liquid or an unbacked elastomer to provide flexible backing for the membrane, as shown in Gangroth U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,339.
It is also known in the art to provide magnetically active flexible polymers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,113 relates to thermosetting and thermoplastic elastomers having magnetic filler packed within the elastomeric matrix and capable of being aligned and energized, before, during or after the molding of the elastomer. The magnetically-filled elastomers therefore provide useful permanent magnetic fields which being physically soft. The magnetic filler is aligned within the elastomeric matrix and energized by subjecting the magnetically-filled elastomer to magnetic energy before, during and/or after molding of the magnetically-filled elastomer. Vibration dampening devices employing elastomers and, more particularly, the magnetically-filled elastomers of U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,113 are also provided. In this invention the metallic or alloy particles are embedded in the elastomeric membrane adapted to be magnetized.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,360 is a patent entitled 'Nanoparticle-filled polymers' discloses polymer nanocomposite comprising: a. about 50-99 weight % polymer resin and b. about 1-50 weight % crystalline nanoparticles having particle size from about 1 nm to less than about 100 nm; a narrow particle size distribution and a chemically clean surface, said nanoparticles consisting of one or more metals, one or more metal oxides, one or more metal nitrides, one or more metal carbides, one or more metal sulfides, one or more metal fluorides, one or more metal chlorides, or a mixture thereof, wherein said polymer resin is chosen from the group consisting of: epoxy, polycarbonate, silicone, polyester, polyether, polyolefin, synthetic rubber, polyurethane, nylon, polystyrene, polyphenylene oxide, and polyketone and copolymers and blends thereof. Such filled polymers are directed to achieve improved mechanical/chemical properties, including scratch resistance, increased modulus while maintaining good ductility, also such polymers having improved dimensional stability for intended application as optical lens, epoxy-fiberglass composites, magnetic tape, paints and the like.
Thus the above mentioned state of the art reveals some applications and uses of electrometric membranes for various end use/applications. There is however no magnetic actuation of the membrane as an actuation system being targeted by any of such said prior arts.
It is also well known in the treatment of cardio thorasic ailments/disorders, that there is a lot of interest world wide on developing artificial hearts for a variety of purposes which involve artificially supporting the functioning of the heart by way of some external pumping actions.                1. For temporary support as a bridge to recovery of the native heart which is temporarily malfunctional.        2. For more long-term support, as a bridge to transplantation, to allow patients listed for heart transplant to survive till a suitable donor heart is found.        3. Long term support for an indefinite period, so called "destination therapy".
It is also known in related art that in most of the several pulsatile pumps which are currently available, a biocompatible polyurethane membrane is used whose displacement causes the blood to be shifted and pumped. This polyurethane is typically displaced, either pneumatically or by using an electric current. In both instances, when the pump itself is implanted inside the human body, the cables, enabling the said displacement either actuated electrically or pneumatically, have to traverse the skin barrier to enter the body and come out, leading to inevitable, high rate of infectious complications.
Thus the existing pulsating artificial heart pumps, generally, employing pneumatic, electrical or magnetic means for their functioning suffered from the limitations wherein the conductor for carrying the air or electrical current has to cross the skin barrier physically needing external source of power supply and this lead to complications due to infections. There has thus been a need in the art for driving artificial heart support systems involving preferably magnetic actuation, providing the energy transferred from outside the body without such crossing of the skin barrier or any physical connectivity of energy source through the body, thus avoiding chances of infection and related complications.
Several attempts have been made in this direction to develop an artificial heart pump made of biocompatible material ensuring desired reliable functional performance as an alternative to conventional pneumatic or electrically operated heart assist, device to be replaced with magnetically actuated cardiac assisting device to provide total support for different kinds of heart ailments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,228 is a prior patent by Royalty et al. which discloses an 'electromagnetic bi-ventricular assist device'. It basically consisted of a magnetic mat, an assembly of electromagnet, a transducer and a control circuit to regulate the compressive force applied to the heart. The magnetic mat, is a permanent magnet made from a flexible ferromagnetic material like samarium-cobalt, neodymium-iron or any superconductive material and coated with polyvinyl chloride or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) so that the exterior surface of the mat does not react with blood, tissues or organs. The mat can be positioned between heart and the pericardium to facilitate compression action of the heart/ventricle or selectively disposed anterior to both the heart and the pericardium. The mat is installed at site supported by strong and flexible mono-filament surgical threads for holding the mat with the rib cage or sternum.
The magnetic mat of the above cited prior art also involves an electromagnetic assembly mounted externally on the chest to control the desired degree of compression by said electromagnetic device which generates and discontinues alternately, electromagnetic field of desired intensity, in order to alternately compress the mat against vertebral body and then permit the mat to relax, thereby assisting the pumping function of the heart by applying compressive force only. A transducer attached to the electromagnetic assembly on the side opposite to the chest by rigid harness. The harness may include shoulder straps to prevent undesired vertical movement of the electromagnetic assembly when a person is in upright position. The transducer is the part of a feed-back control loop. When the electromagnetic assembly generates an electromagnetic field to repel the mat, an equal and opposite force is applied to the electromagnetic assembly itself, thus repelling the assembly away from the chest. Thus the electromagnetic field so generated by the assembly leads to compression of the pressure transducer in between the electromagnetic assembly and the harness. The transducer senses this compressive pressure and gives a voltage output, which is proportional to this pressure. A control circuit receives the signal generated by the transducer and controls the intensity of the electromagnetic field generated by the electromagnetic assembly as a function of the electromagnetic signal. This enables the control circuit to effectively control the degree to which the mat compresses the heart.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,460 discloses that a heart may be artificially contracted to pump blood by separate electromagnets on the exterior surface to the heart and by implanting another electromagnet inside any chamber of the heart and allowing controlled electric current through said selectively disposed electromagnet to attract each other in pair so as to co-operatively actuate pumping of the blood out of a heart chamber by the attraction of the electromagnets due to the magnetic fields created.
WO 00/61227 states that a heart can be artificially contracted to pump blood from the heart chamber using an artificial device that employs an electromagnetic force. The device includes electromagnetic coils attached to the ribs and permanent magnets placed adjacent to the electromagnetic coils. When a direct electric current is applied to the electromagnetic coils, the magnetic fields from the electromagnets and the permanent magnets interact so that the permanent magnets are repelled so as to apply contraction force causing blood pumping assistance for the heart.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,529 teaches about aiding the compression and relaxation of a heart chamber using ferromagnetic and diamagnetic pellets inserted into the anterior and posterior walls of the chamber. The pellets are inserted into the myocardial walls of the heart chamber by means of a delivery catheter. Electromagnetic fields, which are used to push and pull the pellets to compress and relax the hear chamber, are cyclically generated by electromagnetic field generators positioned on a patient's chest and back wall.
It is however experienced that the above state of the art of artificial heart pumping gadgets presently available and in use have some inherent complexities. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,228 involved placing the magnetic mat in between the heart and the pericardium requiring removal of a large amount of body tissues from this region by complex surgery. Further, the attachment of the magnetic mat/electromagnetic coils with the rib cage by flexible mono-filament threads also involves risks of being torn apart. Moreover, such magnetic mat/magnetic field due to electromagnetic attraction being compressive type, the external electromagnet assembly can only compress the heart to push out blood through the arteries but it cannot expand on its own to come back to its diastolic mode. Thus such a device is not capable of assisting heart ailments needing support for diastolic process too. Although U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,529 is directed to electromagnetic system that assist both systolic and diastolic ventricular function and that the electromagnetic assemblies are placed on chest and back wall, the insertion of ferromagnetic and diamagnetic pellets into the selective walls of the heart chamber is a very complex process and involve high cost and risk for implementing such process, affecting viability and easy adaptation to common heart patients at large.
Some of the most recently introduced cardiac assist devices in the art, are learnt to have used electric and pneumatic activation of a polyurethane membrane. Magnetic actuation to achieve consistent mechanical output as displacement pump has not yet been attempted or produced in a commercially viable form such as for cardiac assist and other organ disorder support purposes.

Flexible magnetic membrane based actuation system and devices involving the same

THE SECRETARY OF ATOMIC ENERGY, GOVT. OF INDIA


The present invention provides a method for producing a Group III nitride semiconductor single crystal having excellent crystallinity, and a method for producing a GaN substrate having excellent crystallinity, the method including controlling melting back. Specifically, a mask layer is formed on a GaN substrate serving as a growth substrate. Then, a plurality of trenches which penetrate the mask layer and reach the GaN substrate are formed through photolithography. The obtained seed crystal and raw materials of a single crystal are fed to a crucible and subjected to treatment under pressurized and high temperature conditions. Portions of the GaN substrate exposed to the trenches undergo melting back with a flux. Through dissolution of the GaN substrate, the dimensions of the trenches increase, to provide large trenches. The GaN layer is grown from the surface of the mask layer as a starting point.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a Group III nitride semiconductor single crystal and to a method for producing a GaN substrate. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for producing a Group III nitride semiconductor single crystal and to a method for producing a GaN substrate, which methods employ a flux method.
Background Art
A variety of methods for producing a semiconductor crystal are known, and examples thereof include vapor phase growth methods such as metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and liquid phase epitaxy (LPE). One technique of LPE is a flux method employing an Na flux. In the Na flux method, a molten mixture of Na (sodium) and Ga (gallium) is reacted with nitrogen at about 800° C. and some tens of atmospheres, for the growth of a GaN crystal.
In the Na flux method, a seed crystal is generally employed. Examples of the seed crystal employed in the method include a GaN substrate and a so-called template substrate, composed of a sapphire substrate and a GaN layer formed thereon through HVPE or a similar technique. Patent Document 1 discloses use, as a seed crystal, of a template substrate composed of a base substrate and an underlayer film formed thereon. The base substrate of the template substrate is made of sapphire or a similar material, and the underlayer film is formed of GaN, AlN, AlGaN, GaN/AlN, etc.
Patent Document 2 discloses an Na flux method which includes adding C (carbon) to a molten mixture. Through addition of carbon, generation of miscellaneous crystals is prevented, and nitrogen solubility is enhanced. However, mechanisms thereof have not been elucidated in detail.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2006-131454    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2011-132110
The Na flux method has a drawback in that a GaN seed crystal is molten (i.e., undergoes melting back) during the period from a start of crystal growth to the time when the nitrogen concentration of the molten mixture reaches a super-saturation level. When melting back occurs, the temperature distribution profile and composition of the molten mixture vary, and the surface of the seed crystal fails to have uniformity in thickness. Particularly in the case of addition of carbon to the molten mixture, the GaN seed crystal more readily undergoes melting back, and etching proceeds locally, thereby considerably impairing surface flatness, which is problematic. When a template substrate is employed as a seed crystal, in some cases, the template substrate partially undergoes melting back, and a part of the sapphire substrate surface is exposed. On the exposed area, GaN cannot grow.
In order to avoid the influence of melting back, the thickness of the GaN layer formed on the sapphire substrate is conventionally adjusted to as thick as 5 to 30 μm. However, forming such a thick GaN layer requires a long period of time, thereby impairing template substrate productivity. It is true that formation of a thick GaN layer avoids a problem that a GaN-non-growing area is provided due to exposure of the sapphire substrate through melting back. However, the seed crystal surface fails to have uniformity in thickness. Thus, uniform crystal growth of GaN cannot be attained.
Patent Document 1 discloses that, in order to suppress melting back during crystal growth of GaN, the operation temperature is maintained at a level lower than the growth temperature, and then the temperature is elevated to the growth temperature. However, when the growth temperature is lowered, undesired miscellaneous crystals are formed. Patent Document 1 also discloses that melting back occurs not only in the case of GaN but also in the case of AlN. Therefore, melting back might possibly occur also in the case of AlGaN.
However, in contrast to the conceivable melting back of AlGaN estimated from Patent Document 1, the present inventors have found that no substantial melting back occurs in the case of AlGaN, and that the amount of melting back of the seed crystal is suppressed to 500 nm or less. The inventors have further found that the quality of a crystal formed on a seed crystal can be remarkably improved by reducing the amount of melting back of the seed crystal to 500 nm or less.
Meanwhile, in the case where a GaN single crystal is grown on an underlayer through a flux method, the crystal properties of the GaN single crystal are inherited from those of the underlayer. That is, the dislocation density of the single crystal to be formed is inherited from that of the underlayer. This feature is the same in the case of the growth disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this case, the dislocation density of the GaN single crystal is about 1×106/cm2, and a smaller dislocation density is preferred. For example, a dislocation density of 1×105/cm2 or less is preferred. Thus, in order to produce a GaN single crystal having a smaller dislocation density, the dislocation density must be considerably reduced during the growth of a GaN single crystal.
Meanwhile, when a GaN single crystal is grown through a flux method, the underlayer undergoes melting back. Generally, the surface of the underlayer which has undergone melting back is not flat and has irregularities. In the subsequent growth of a semiconductor single crystal, some dislocations are bent, and, as a result, dislocations extending from the irregularities decrease. Although melting back can reduce a part of dislocations, the effect of reduction is not sufficient. Since melting back occurs in a nonuniform manner, difficulty is encountered in reduction of dislocations in the entire wafer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for producing a group III nitride semiconductor single crystal and method for producing a GaN substrate


A transaction is sent over a communication link to a receiving node. The transaction includes data along with a tag identifying a data type of the data. The receiving node either forwards or processes the data according to whether the data type matches the type of data type processed by circuitry associated with the receiving node. Thus, a destination is determined for data transported on the communication link using a data type identifier sent with the data.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to electronic systems and more particularly to communication of data in such systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In computer systems such as personal computer systems, advances in input/output (I/O) bandwidth have generally lagged the advances in processing speed. That performance gap has resulted in systems being "I/O bound", and as a result, the systems have been unable to fully exploit increased CPU processing speed.
I/O bandwidth has been determined in large part by the interconnect buses in the system. In conventional interconnect buses, a master device requests data from a slave device (or vice versa) and the bus remains tied up until the transaction completes. During the time the bus is waiting for either the sender or receiver of data to fulfill their part of the transaction, the bus is "busy", thus blocking access to the bus by other masters. In order to improve bus utilization, more modern buses allow the master to send a transaction request to the slave and immediately release the bus. When the slave is ready for the transaction, the slave acquires the bus and completes the transaction with the master. Between the time that the master initiates the transaction, and the slave completes it, other transactions may be started and/or completed. This technique is known as "split transaction". In this scheme, each transaction is "tagged" so that when the slave is ready to complete the transaction, the master knows the request to which it corresponds. It is also generally allowed that transactions be completed "out of order", that is, in a different order than the order in which they were initiated.
Other solutions have been developed to address I/O bandwidth limitations. One such solution utilizes a point-to-point interconnect in which the bus is actually a fast serial link between nodes connected in a daisy-chain fashion (one device is connected to the other in succession and passes on anything that is not intended for it in both directions). One such bus is the HyperTransport™ as described in the HyperTransport™ I/O Link Specification, Revision 1.03 dated Oct. 10, 2001. Such buses have made advances in reducing or eliminating the bottleneck caused by I/O bandwidth limitations and have thus increased the potential gain available from additional processing speed as it becomes available.
Another traditional way of making more CPU processing power available in addition to increasing I/O bandwidth has been to off load tasks from the main processor onto a specialized co-processor. That has been done, e.g., in graphics processing in conventional personal computer systems. In such systems, graphics processing is performed by integrated circuit(s) that are separate from the CPU. The graphics processing circuits may be may be located on a separate graphics card. A specialized bus such as the Accelerated Graphics Processing (AGP) bus couples the graphics processing circuits to the rest of the system. As shown in FIG. 1, which illustrates an exemplary current personal computer system, the AGP bus 11 couples the north bridge integrated circuit 13 to graphics card 15. The north bridge 13 functions as the memory controller (among other roles) for memory 17. The graphics card 15 may include one or more graphics chips as well as memory.
It would be desirable to further simplify the transmission of data in computer systems to enhance system performance. Further, it would be desirable to enable the offloading of additional functions from the processor on other specialized coprocessor functions.


Reusable biopsy forceps having a handle located at the proximal end and an end jaw assembly located at the distal end. The handle and jaw assembly are connected by a flexible catheter tube. The handle includes a handle body, fluid inlet assembly, and catheter tube coupling. The jaw assembly consists of a housing composed of a first and second portion, which holds a pair of opposed jaws and a distal actuator. The distal actuator is connected to the handle by an operating cable located inside the catheter tube. The handle controls the jaws and contains a flush port to sterilize the interior of the catheter tube and the end jaw assembly. The reusable biopsy forceps may contain a locking mechanism that is attached to the arms of the biopsy forceps handle in order to aid in taking tissue samples.

Biopsy forceps are used to obtain tissue samples from a particular site in a patient's body for analysis. Such samples can be taken from the heart, stomach, lungs and the like. Typical biopsy forceps include a long flexible catheter tube having a pair of opposed jaws at a distal end and a handle at the proximal end. The physician can manipulate the handle to open and close the jaws.
In order to take a tissue sample from a patient, the physician must insert the catheter tube into a guide sheath which has previously been inserted into one of the patient's vessels. Next, the biopsy forcep's distal end is inserted into the guide sheath, which then guides it into the patient's vessel. From the patient's vessel the physician can direct the catheter tube to the site the physician wishes to biopsy. Once the catheter tube is directed to the biopsy site the physician can control the jaws using the handle, which remains outside the patient's body. By using the handle, the physician can open and close the jaws of the device in order to take a tissue sample. Once the tissue sample has been taken the physician must keep the jaws in a closed position to remove the sample from the patient's body. Once the sample has been removed from the patient's body it can then be examined.
When taking a tissue sample there is an ideal amount of tissue that is needed in order to perform the necessary testing. In order to prevent either too much tissue from being taken or not enough tissue from being taken in order to perform the testing varying size jaws are available. If too much tissue is taken from the biopsy site then there is a risk that the organ could be completely perforated or that so little tissue could be left after biopsy that it could rip or tear. If not enough tissue is taken from the biopsy site then the physician will have to perform multiple biopsies, which increases the risks to the patient and could also lead to perforation, ripping or tearing of the patient's organ. Therefore, certain biopsy forceps come in varying size jaws to enable the physician to take the appropriate size tissue sample for the organ being biopsied.
Once the physician has taken a tissue sample, the biopsy forceps must be cleaned before they can be used on the next patient. When a tissue sample is taken with inseparable biopsy forceps, the interior of the biopsy forceps becomes soiled. The soaking method of sterilization does not sufficiently clean the inseparable biopsy forceps because material gets caught in the interior of the biopsy forceps and soaking does not remove it.
To ensure adequate cleaning of the biopsy forceps new forceps were developed enabling replacement of the flexible catheter tube and end jaw assembly and the sterilization of the handle after every use. Replacement of the catheter tube and jaw assembly ensures that each patient has clean biopsy forceps because it eliminates the problem of the interior of the biopsy forceps being soiled. However, by replacing the catheter tube and jaw assembly for every biopsy that is performed, excessive medical waste is created. To eliminate the excessive medical waste problem, reusable biopsy forceps were improved to enable easier cleaning with cleansing ports.
In order to sufficiently sterilize the inseparable biopsy forceps a method was developed to flush out the interior of the catheter tube and jaw assembly of the forceps. This method involves flushing out the instrument's interior with a cleansing fluid by injecting the fluid through an inlet under enough pressure to dislodge any material that has been left inside the biopsy forceps during the taking of a tissue sample.
Also, once biopsy forceps are used they must either be replaced or refurbished in order to ensure that the jaws remain sharp enough to take another tissue sample. Some biopsy forceps have been developed with replaceable end jaw assemblies. Others have been developed that are replaceable where the catheter tube and handle meet, thereby replacing both the catheter tube and jaw assembly together. Still other biopsy forceps enable a physician to replace either the catheter tube or the jaw assembly or both. By enabling replacement of either or both the catheter tube and jaw assembly the biopsy forceps can be used longer by allowing for only replacement of the worn out part rather than completely replacing the biopsy forceps.
In addition to needing to be cleaned, reusable biopsy forceps must be refurbished as they get worn down to ensure they remain sharp enough to take a tissue sample. As biopsy forceps become dull there is an increased chance that using them could cause tearing or ripping of the patient's tissue. Initially to sharpen the jaws of the biopsy forceps conventional machining methods were used, however these methods often resulted in the jaw edges that were rough and not ideal for taking tissue samples. Later methods were developed to sharpen the jaws of the biopsy forceps using a chemical solution and a power supply. This electrosharpening method sharpens the jaws by delivering an electric current to the jaws in a chemical solution and removes any imperfections in the jaws edges leaving sharpened edges.
However, biopsy forceps have not yet combined an interior cleaning method with replaceable catheter tube or jaw assembly. Accordingly, what is needed are biopsy forceps with the means for replacement of the catheter tube and/or jaw assembly and an interior cleaning method. In combining both replaceable catheter tubes and/or jaw assemblies with an interior cleaning method the replacement frequency of biopsy forceps will decrease.


Herein disclosed is a portable wireless device, comprising: a first case 11 having a metal portion; a second case 12; a hinge portion 13 operative to rotatably connect the first case with the second case; a circuit board 18 having a ground pattern, the circuit board accommodated in the second case; and a feed portion connected to the circuit board, the hinge portion 13 having a rotating shaft 23 formed by a conductive metal, and the first case, the rotating shaft 23 and the ground pattern collectively function as an antenna element, wherein the portable wireless device further comprises a first conductor element 25 accommodated in the first case 11 in spaced-apart relationship with the rotating shaft 23 with a predetermined gap, the first conductor element having an electrical length substantially equal to a half wavelength of a wireless frequency.

Up until now, there has been proposed a portable wireless device capable of being folded exemplified by a foldable wireless cellular phone, the portable wireless device comprising an upper case, a lower case and a hinge portion rotatably connecting the upper case and the lower case to ensure the upper and the lower cases being in one of a state to be opened (hereinafter simply referred to as an opened state) and a state to be closed (hereinafter simply referred to as a closed state). This results in the fact that the portable wireless device has two advantages, one of which is user-friendliness in that it has a wide display to be watched in the opened state, while another of which is portability in that the portable wireless device has compact shape in the closed state.
In recent years, the wireless cellular phone is expected to be smaller and thinner than it used to be. The conventional portable wireless device capable of being folded comprises an upper case to have an antenna element accommodated therein, a lower case to have a feeding circuit accommodated therein, and a hinge portion having a feeder line to have an electric power supplied therethrough to ensure that the electric power is supplied from the feeding circuit to the antenna element, which is disclosed in patent document 1.
Additionally, in recent years, an antenna characteristic with the portable wireless device being placed on a desk with the fold closed, that is to say, "a stand-by mode" is regarded as an important feature. The conventional portable wireless device capable of being folded comprises a terminal accommodating a circuit board having a front surface (a first surface) and a back surface (a second surface) to respectively have antenna elements mounted thereon, which is disclosed in patent document 2. The conventional portable wireless device is operative to maintain telecommunication quality by utilizing the antenna element mounted on the second surface under the condition that the antenna characteristic of the antenna element mounted on the first surface is deteriorated caused by the desk and the antenna element being closely positioned with each other.
(patent document 1)
Japanese Patent Laying-Open Publication No. 2001-156898
(patent document 2)
Japanese Patent Laying-Open Publication No. 2002-368850


A lead for sensing and pacing a left ventricle of the heart includes a lead body having a proximal portion and a distal portion, a lumen extending through the lead body, a conductor extending through the lead body from the proximal end to the distal end and an electrode disposed on the distal portion of the lead body and electrically coupled to the conductor. A distal tip of the lead body is continuously deflectable upon advancement and withdrawal of a stylet through the lumen at the distal portion to access a selected branch of the coronary sinus. The distal tip of the lead body may be offset before or after continuously deflecting the distal tip.

Implantable medical devices for treating irregular contractions of the heart with electrical stimuli are well known in the art. Some of the most common forms of such implantable devices are defibrillators and pacemakers. Various types of electrical leads for defibrillators and pacemakers have been suggested in the prior art.
A broad group of those cardiac leads may be characterized by the fact that they are placed transvenously. These leads are introduced into the patient's vasculature at a venous access site and travel through veins to the locations where the leads' electrodes will implant in or otherwise contact coronary tissue. One large subfamily of the group of transvenously-placed leads are those that are implanted in the endocardium (the tissue lining the inside of the heart) of the right atrium or ventricle. Another subfamily of the group of transvenously-placed leads are those that are placed in the branch vessels of the coronary venous system to stimulate the left ventricle.
In general, directing a lead through a patient's vasculature can be a challenging proposition for a cardiac physician. For example, those leads that are placed in a branch vessel of the coronary venous system must be navigated to the right atrium of the heart, through the coronary sinus ostium, through the coronary sinus, and then into a desired branch vessel. To assist in such lead placements, a physician will typically use a device such as a guide wire or catheter with a pre-formed bend at its distal end. By rotationally manipulating the proximal end of the device, the distal end of the device can be pointed in a preferred direction, for example, toward a branch entrance. After the device has been placed, a lead will then follow either over the guide wire or within the catheter to the electrode placement site.
On occasion, a physician might wish to deploy a lead without first navigating another device in advance to the electrode placement site. The flexible nature of leads, though, is such that they exhibit very little inchessteerability inches or distal response to proximal manipulation. One response to this problem is to deploy a lead with a stylet or guide wire (hereafter simply referred to as a stylet) residing in the lead's central lumen to provide shape and steerability to the lead. The stylet would then be removed when lead placement was achieved.
Another response is to pre-form the distal end of the lead with a curvature adapted to facilitate access of particular anatomic features, for example, branch veins of the coronary sinus. It can be difficult to properly align the distal end of the lead to the branch veins so as to take advantage of the distal curvature of the lead. There is a need in the art for a device and method for aligning the distal end of an electrical lead with desired anatomical features.


A method for determining a location change based on contextual data is disclosed. The method may include gathering contextual data from ambient sensors of a device. The method may include determining a probability value that the device has changed location. The method may include comparing the probability value with a predetermined value. The method may include determining whether the location has changed based on the comparison of the probability value with the predetermined value.

A computing device may be configured to perform operations based on a location change. For example, the computing device may be configured to scan for available wireless networks when the location of the computing device has changed. As computing devices become more complex, they may include more sensors to gather data. Sensors may provide contextual data to a computing device. The contextual data may enable advanced operations to be performed at the computing device based on the contextual data. Contextual data may include gathering data from a location sensor such as a global positioning (GPS) sensor configured to provide location data to the computing device. Gathering GPS data may include engaging a central processor of a computing device to perform operations to gather the location data via the GPS sensor.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the figures to reference like components and features. Numbers in the 100 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 1; numbers in the 200 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 2; and so on.

Location change detection based on ambient sensor data


A plurality of marks (11) equidistantly provided on both side edge parts (1a) of a long medium (1), a plurality of first indicator holes (12) equidistantly given on at least one of the side edge parts (1a), and a plurality of second indicator holes (13) given on at least one of the side edge parts (1a) on a straight line different from a row of the first indicator holes (12) at spacings shorter than spacings of the first indicator holes (12) are provided, and the second indicator holes (13) are each provided to a side of a trailing-end mark (11b), and each gradually comes closer to a leading-end mark (11a) as the long medium (1) runs toward a trailing end.

A long medium having an adhesive sheet temporarily adhered to a release sheet is provided with a plurality of holes in which a sprocket, a tractor, or the like is engaged on a side edge part in a longitudinal direction, and runs with the sprocket or tractor being engaged in these holes to rotate. The long medium that is caused to run by using the sprocket or tractor does not diagonally run at the time of print output, compared with a scheme in which the long medium is interposed between rollers to be conveyed with a force of friction with the rollers, and thus the long medium can be caused to linearly run in a stable manner. Therefore, in a printer for outputting a long medium of several meters, for example, a long medium that is caused to run by using a sprocket or tractor without positional misalignment is used.
This long medium is used as a print medium on which figures and characters are to be printed indoors, outdoors, on a nameplate, or the like. For example, in a printer using a thermal head as a head, a dye on an ink ribbon is transferred onto a print layer to form a predetermined image. Then, after printing, the long medium is cut out by a printer-incorporated or separate cutting device into a predetermined shape, the release sheet is peeled off, and is then affixed to a predetermined place.
The long medium of this type has a roll shape, is set at a printer or the like, and is caused to run by a sprocket or tractor. When printing with a length of several meters is performed, if the long medium runs out in the course of printing, the long medium printed so far goes to waste. To prevent this, in the printer or the like, the set roll-shaped long medium is removed, and the roll diameter is visually checked. However, in visual checking, the remaining amount is visually estimated, and it is therefore difficult to correctly grasp the remaining amount.
Moreover, when the set roll-shaped long medium is removed and the remaining amount is visually checked, if the remaining amount is sufficient, the roll-shaped long medium is required to be set again. On the other hand, if the remaining amount is insufficient, a new roll-shaped long medium is required to be set at the printer or the like. The work of resetting the long medium requires a work of rewinding the long medium drawn from the printer or the like into a roll, and this work is cumbersome.
Meanwhile, a long medium is desired that allows the remaining amount of the long medium set at a printer or the like to be visually checked at ease.
For example, in Patent Document 1 discloses that indicators indicating the remaining amount are given to a long web. In Patent Document 1, specifically, first indicators are equidistantly given, second indicators are given at second spacings different from spacing of the first indicators, and each spacing between adjacent ones of the first indicators and a relevant one of the second indicators is changed along the length of the medium. However, when the length of the medium is desired to be visually checked before the medium is set at the printer or the like, while the length is indicated by the spacing between the adjacent ones of the first indicators and the relevant second indicator, it is not possible to grasp a visually-specific remaining length. For example, when an output of three meters is desired to be obtained, it is difficult to visually determine whether a medium has three meters or longer left by using the first indicators and the second indicators shown on the medium to be set at a printer or the like.
Moreover, Patent Document 2 also discloses that indicators indicating the remaining amount are given to a long web. Specifically, this Patent Document 2, discloses that multi-stage marks are provided on a long sheet and the remaining amount is shown with a pattern formed of combinations of the marks. When the remaining amount is shown with a pattern formed of combinations of the marks, a method of giving a pattern formed of combinations of black and white, that is, formed of a binary number, can achieve the highest resolution power.
However, when the remaining amount is displayed with a pattern of black and white, if the remaining amount is tried to be visually grasped only with the sheet the binary pattern is required to be decoded, and it is difficult for general users to grasp the remaining amount.


The instant invention relates to weatherable polycarbonate compositions (formulations or blends) comprising piperazinone or piperazine dione based HALS. These piperazinone or piperazine dione based HALS impart photostability to the polycarbonate formulations, thereby reducing yellowing or other forms of light induced degradation.

Formulations and blends comprising polycarbonates are known to degrade upon prolonged exposure to sun light or other forms of light. One of the effects observed is yellowing of the polycarbonate blend/formulation. This problem has been alleviated by the use of light absorbers or light blockers in the polycarbonate blends. Thus ultraviolet light absorbers (UVA) are known to be used in polycarbonate formulations to protect these formulations from degradation due to exposure to different forms of light.
Use of Hindered Amine Light Stabilizers (HALS) to stabilize polyolefins has been known. Commercially used HALS have been based mainly on 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidine, except for those based on piperazinones. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,190,571; 4,292,240; 4,480,092; and 5,071,981 disclose some of the piperazinone based HALS, while U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,919,234; 3,920,659 and 4,208,522 disclose some of the piperazine dione based HALS.
The use of HALS in polycarbonates is not very common. The stabilizing effect of HALS on polycarbonate formulations/blends has been described as "minor", see for example Thompson and Klemchuk in Polymer Durability, R. L. Clough et al., ACS Advances in Chemistry 249, 1995, pp 303-317. The use of UVA in polycarbonate formulations has provided a way to retard the rate of degradation of polycarbonates as a result of exposure to light. This method how ever does not offer a complete protection of polycarbonate formulations from light induced degradation or discoloration. There is thus a continued need for a method or formulation that will help protect polycarbonate based formulations/blends from degradation or discoloration due to exposure to light.
It has been surprisingly found that use of the piperazinone and piperazine dione based HALS, contrary to studies reported above, in compositions comprising polycarbonate significantly increases the photostability thereby slowing the degradation of the polycarbonate compositions. It has also been surprisingly found that the HALS can be combined with polycarbonates without any significant chemical reaction between the two and with the least effect on melt stability of the polycarbonate compositions.

Polycarbonate compositions comprising hindered amine light stabilizers


A heat conductive silicone composition is provided, which includes (A) an organopolysiloxane having the formula (1):{(CH2═CH)R12SiO1/2}L(R1SiO3/2)m(R12SiO)n{O1/2SiR12—R2—SiR1(3-a)(OR3)a}o  (1)wherein R1 represents monovalent hydrocarbon groups, R2 represents an oxygen atom or a bivalent hydrocarbon group, R3 represents an alkyl group, alkoxyalkyl group, alkenyl group, or acyl group, L and o represent numbers from 1 to 10, m represents a number from 0 to 10, n represents a number from 5 to 100, a represents an integer from 1 to 3, and when m=0, L+o=2 and R2 is a bivalent hydrocarbon group, (B) a heat conductive filler, and (C) an organopolysiloxane other than the component (A). Even upon high-level packing with the heat conductive filler to obtain a highly heat conductivity, the composition still exhibits favorable handling and moldability properties.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat conductive silicone composition which, even upon high-level packing with a heat conductive filler in order to achieve a silicone composition that is highly heat conductive, still exhibits favorable handling and moldability properties, and also exhibits favorable physical properties following curing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As printed circuit boards and hybrid ICs with mounted electronic components such as transistors, ICs, and memory modules and the like have trended towards higher levels of packaging density and higher levels of integration, heat conductive silicone compositions such as heat conductive silicone greases, heat conductive silicone gel compositions, and heat conductive silicone rubber compositions have been increasingly used to ensure effective heat radiation from these devices.
In order to improve the thermal conductivity of these types of heat conductive silicone compositions by high-level packing of the composition with a heat conductive filler, heat conductive silicone rubber compositions comprising an organopolysiloxane, a hydrolysable group-containing methylpolysiloxane, a heat conductive filler, and a curing agent (patent reference 1), and heat conductive silicone rubber compositions comprising a curable organopolysiloxane, a curing agent, and a heat conductive filler, wherein the surface of the filler has been treated with an oligosiloxane containing silicon atom-bonded alkoxy groups (patent reference 2) have already been proposed.
However, if an attempt is made to further improve the thermal conductivity of these types of heat conductive silicone compositions by the high-level packing of a heat conductive filler such as alumina or the like, then a problem arises in that the physical properties of the compositions deteriorate significantly following curing.
[Patent Reference 1] U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,957
[Patent Reference 2] U.S. Pat. No. 6,380,301


An information collection system is provided, which can automatically calculate an operation or a travel path of a tag reader for collecting information of an RF tag. The information collection system of the present invention moves, in a movable area of a two-dimensional map, the tag reader along a surface of an object by referring to a three-dimensional map to emit radio waves while moving an information collection robot, records, upon reception of tag ID from the RF tag, a position of the information collection robot at the time as a data acquisition position, and calculates a path passing through data acquisition positions of all the recorded data as a moving sequence in a movable area of the information collection robot.

The present invention relates to a technology of automatically collecting information of an ID tag.
A radio frequency-identification (RFID) system is known in which an ID tag containing information regarding an article is attached to the article, and the information is obtained wirelessly from the ID tag to carry out management. In such an RFID system, information in the ID tag can be obtained even from a remote position by a sensor such as a tag reader. As a technology which uses this characteristic, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2005-320074 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses a technology which uses a mobile robot in which a tag reader is installed, and collects information of an ID tag and a position of the ID tag, from which the information has been obtained, by using the tag reader, which has narrow directionality, and changing radio wave intensity, thereby collecting position information of an article to which the ID tag is attached.

Information collection system and information collection robot


A double-balanced wide band RF mixer includes a first bifilar balun transformer coupling a high level source of RF signal to the primary windings of a pair of trifilar balun transformers. The two output windings of each trifilar transformer are connected in series with the drain-source circuits of a pair of FET transistors which are alternately activated by a symmetric local oscillator signal. An IF signal with reduced second order products of the RF signal is developed between the output windings of the two trifilar balun transformers.

This invention relates in general to CATV mixers and in particular to commutating type single and double-balanced resistive RF mixers that are operable with high level RF input signals.
It is known, for example, to provide a receiver having an ultra high frequency upconverting mixer wherein a local oscillator (LO) frequency of 1.1 gigahertz is used to develop a 600 megahertz intermediate frequency (IF) from a 500 MHz radio frequency (RF) input signal. In many applications the signal to noise ratio of the receiver is critical, making it desirable to pre-amplify the received RF signal so that it can be processed in a linear manner by the mixer. Any non-linearities, such as those present in conventional diode mixers, give rise to intermodulation and other forms of distortions. Because of their relatively linear channel resistance, GaAs MESFETS have been used in an unbiased drain configuration to form narrow band, signal-ended resistive mixers. The solution to the problem of achieving low intermodulation distortion with high signal handling capacity in a wideband balanced mixer has, however, still eluded the art.
In an article entitled "A GaAs MESFET Mixer With Very Low Intermodulation," by Steven A. Mass in the IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory Techniques, Volume MTT-35, #4, April, 1987, the foregoing prior art type of resistive mixer for high frequencies is described. The mixer described has low intermodulation distortion but, since it is a single-ended device, i.e., it uses a single GaAs MESFET with both RF and IF signals appearing across the drain-source terminals of the MESFET, it is usable over only a relatively narrow frequency range, thereby limiting its use in many applications.
Another article, entitled "High Dynamic Range Mixing With the Si8901", by Ed Oxner in the March, 1988 issue of hr (ham radio), shows a doubly balanced commutation-type MOSFET mixer. The mixer is constructed in a bridge configuration with four MOSFETS and is usable over a relatively wide frequency range. This mixer suffers a disadvantage in that the source terminals of the MOSFETS cannot be connected to ground. Furthermore, the symmetric LO source feeding the gate electrodes is not an ideal floating source. Consequently, the control voltage applied to the gates is a combination of the LO voltage and the RF or IF voltage and the mixer switching action can be readily affected by signals other than the LO signal, which is certainly not an ideal situation. A similar mixer is shown in Siliconix Application Note AN85-2, "A Commutation Double-Balanced MOSFET Mixer of High Dynamic Range", January 1986.
The commutating single-balanced resistive mixer of the cross-referenced application Ser. No. 281,156, U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,163 includes a very tightly coupled trifilar balun transformer for commutating the RF signal into the IF port and includes a pair of GaAs MESFETS for high speed switching. The mixer has a relatively low conversion loss (about 6db), good 50 ohm matching at both the RF and If ports, a two-tone third order intercept of about +36 dBm to +40 dBm and is capable of converting an RF frequency range of about 50-550 MHz into an IF frequency of about 600 MHz.
The commutating double-balanced resistive mixer of the present invention provides improved noise performance and has the added advantage of decreased LO leakage into the RF port and even order intermodulation products of the RF signal.

Double-balanced high level wide band RF mixer


A semiconductor device includes first level wires; a low-dielectric constant film on the first level wires; first flat vias embedded in the low-dielectric constant film connected to the first level wires, each via having a first length in a longitudinal direction of the first level wires and a second length in a orthogonal direction to the first direction on a plane where the first level wires are disposed, aspect ratio of at least one of the first and second lengths to a height perpendicular to the plane is over 1; and second level wires disposed on the low-dielectric constant film connected to the first vias.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more specifically to a via structure suitable for arrangement in a layer under a bonding pad of a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
With miniaturization and improvement in density of semiconductor devices, transmission delay, signal interference due to crosstalk between adjacent wires, and the like have been examined in wiring technology. In terms of wiring, copper (Cu), which has lower resistance than aluminum (Al), is used instead of Al, and techniques to keep interconnection resistance lower are adopted. In terms of interlayer insulating films, consideration has been made for a technique to reduce electric capacity between wires by using a low-dielectric constant film (low-k film) with a lower relative permittivity than that of a silicon oxidation (SiO2) film.
To realize an insulating film with a small relative permittivity, for example, an insulating film with a relative permittivity k of not more than 3, the density of the insulating film needs to be reduced. However, the reduction of the density of the insulating film reduces the mechanical strength of the insulating film. Therefore, mechanical impact in bonding processes or packaging processes induce detachment or cracks of the insulating film. In some cases, membrane stresses of a plurality of insulating films in multilayer wiring cause cracks in the insulating films. When a strong mechanical impact is applied to a via located in a layer under a bonding pad section in the bonding or packaging process, the via absorbs the impact and is displaced. The low-dielectric constant film with low mechanical strength which is adjacent to the displaced via is then damaged, thus the reliability is lowered.

Semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device


A method is presented which eliminates the extra steps by an application to call a graphics function. The method eliminates the intercepting layer or program between the application and the graphic functions. The method may call hardware and software graphics functions directly and thus requires fewer processing steps and thereby reduces the amount of work the host computer must perform. The method and apparatus enables copy image data into a computer screen window faster than a comparable image display system that intercepts every call that an application makes to a graphics function.. The method and apparatus enables an application program to directly control the location of image data in memory. The present invention enables movement of image data within memory or out of memory to make room for higher priority images. These features enable an application program to move image data between memories for different displays so that an image can move between screens.. The method and apparatus enables display of images that are too large to fit on a single display memory to be broken into smaller sections referred to as "chunks". Each image chunk is small enough to fit within a single display memory so that large images can be displayed by writing each smaller chunk to a single display memory and then displaying all the chunks together and so that the entire image appears on the display screen.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for commanding a dedicated graphics controller to display image data inside of a window on a computer display screen. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of sending commands directly from a host computer application program to a dedicated graphics controller. The host computer application prepares the image data and passes a copy command to an external dedicated graphics controller to display the image data. The external graphics controller copies the image data to video display memory so that the image appears in a computer screen window. The invention is directed to the problem of reducing the amount of time it takes to display an image in a window on a computer display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image display systems utilizing windows on a computer screen are well known in the art. These image display systems use various combinations of graphics functions implemented in hardware and software to display image data on a computer screen. Hardware and software implementations of graphics functions are well known in the art. A well known software graphics package is the Macintosh graphics package. A well known hardware graphics implementation is the Raster OPS Display Board.
Graphics hardware is much faster than graphics software because the hardware is usually dedicated and designed to run graphics only. The software, however, runs on a host computer and shares computer processing time with all the other applications that run on the host computer. These other host applications are chores that the host computer must maintain, such as keeping track of keyboard input and reading data from disk. The graphics response time suffers as a result of this time sharing in a software implementation of a graphics function.
Vendors have turned to hardware graphics functions to speed up their image display systems. The hybrid systems use a combination of hardware and software graphics functions, and are therefore faster than the systems that use software only. These hybrid systems typically intercept requests or calls to graphics functions and then decide whether to use the hardware or the software to carry out the requested graphics function.
Developers typically have chosen to implement these hybrid systems as transparent systems. In a transparent system, an application program can not detect the presence of the graphics hardware when it calls a graphics function. The hybrid systems, of course, run faster than the software only systems and because the hybrid systems are transparent, they can run the same application code that was written for the software only systems. This means you do not have to write new software to move from a software only system to a hybrid system. Therefore, these transparent systems are attractive to some users. However, transparency can create problems as well.
In order to appear transparent to an application running on a host computer, hybrid image display systems typically trap or intercept an application program's calls to graphics functions. The hybrid system then decides whether to process the call with a hardware or a software graphics function. This creates a problem. Trapping or intercepting function calls means that there are extra steps involved in processing a function call and therefore there is more work for the host computer to perform.
These extra steps effectively create an extra layer of decision making between the requesting application and the graphics functions. Extra steps are required to trap the graphics function calls and extra steps are required to decide how to process each one of them. There are extra steps required to call the hardware and extra steps required to call the software. This means additional overhead for each and every graphics request, even those requests that do not use the hardware. The cumulative result of trapping on every graphics function call is a degradation of the system response time for the image display system. These transparent systems actually slow down the system response time to some degree while trying to speed the system up.
Transparent hybrid systems also inhibit an application program's direct control over the location of image data. Transparent systems typically run with applications that utilize a high level graphics command language like the Macintosh graphics package. These high level commands do not inform an application as to the specific location of image data in memory. Therefore, an application using these high level graphics functions cannot effectively manage the location of image data in memory. This problem typically presents itself in multi-monitor implementations.


The present invention relates to a friction material having a fibrous base material as a primary layer and a secondary layer comprising a mixture of carbonaceous material and friction modifying particles on at least one surface of the primary layer for use as an anti-shudder friction material.

New and advanced transmission systems and braking systems are being developed by the automotive industry. These new systems often involve high-energy requirements. Therefore, the friction materials technology must be also developed to meet the increasing energy requirements of these advanced systems.
In particular, a new high performance, durable friction material is needed. The new friction material must be able to withstand high speeds wherein surface speeds are up to about 65 m/seconds. Also, the friction material must be able to withstand high facing lining pressures up to about 1500 psi. It is also important that the friction material be useful under limited lubrication conditions.
The friction material must be durable and have high heat resistance in order to be useful in the advanced transmission and braking systems. Not only must the friction material remain stable at high temperatures, it must also be able to rapidly dissipate the high heat that is being generated during operating conditions.
The high speeds generated during engagement and disengagement of the new transmission and braking systems mean that a friction material must be able to maintain a relatively constant friction throughout the engagement. It is important that the frictional engagement be relatively constant over a wide range of speeds and temperatures in order to minimize "shuddering" of materials during braking or the transmission system during power shift from one gear to another. It is also important that the friction material have a desired torque curve shape so that during frictional engagement the friction material is noise or "squawk" free.
In particular, transmission and torque-on-demand systems incorporate slipping clutches mainly for the fuel efficiency and driving comfort. The role of the slip clutch within these systems varies from vehicle launching devices, such as wet start clutches, to that of a torque converter clutches. According to the operating conditions, the slip clutch can be differentiated into three principle classes: (1) Low Pressure and High Slip Speed Clutch, such as wet start clutch; (2) High Pressure and Low Slip Speed Clutch, such as Converter Clutch; and (3) Extreme Low Pressure and Low Slip Speed Clutch, such as neutral to idle clutch.
The principal performance concerns for all applications of the slip clutch are the prevention of shudder and the energy management of the friction interface. The occurrence of shudder can be attributed to many factors including the friction characteristics of the friction material, the mating surface's hardness and roughness, oil film retention, lubricant chemistry and interactions, clutch operating conditions, driveline assembly and hardware alignment, and driveline contamination. The friction interface energy management is primarily concerned with controlling interface temperature and is affected by the pump capacity, oil flow path and control strategy. The friction material surface design also contributes to the efficiency of interface energy management.
Previously, asbestos fibers were included in the friction material for temperature stability. Due to health and environmental problems, asbestos is no longer being used. More recent friction materials have attempted to overcome the absence of the asbestos in the friction material by modifying impregnating paper or fiber materials with phenolic or phenolic-modified resins. These friction materials, however, do not rapidly dissipate the high heat generated, and do not have the necessary heat resistance and satisfactory high coefficient of friction performance now needed for use in the high speed systems currently being developed.
The present invention is an improvement over the Seitz U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,650 reference which involves a multi-step impregnating and curing process; i.e., a paper impregnated with a coating composition, carbon particles are placed on the paper, the coating composition in the paper is partially cured, a second coating composition is applied to the partially cured paper, and finally, both coating compositions are cured.
The present invention is an improvement over the Smith et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,659 which involves the use of carbonaceous fibers derived from oxidized polyacrylonitrile based fibers.
In other friction materials, metallic fibers combined with carbon materials were included in the friction material for wear resistance. For example, Fujimaki et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,590 describes a friction material having metallic fibers, filler, carbon particles, carbon fibers and phenolic resin. However, the metallic based friction materials do not have sufficient porosity and compressibility to be capable of high fluid permeation capacity during use. Also, the metallic based friction materials are not sufficiently resilient or elastic, yet resistant to compression set to be capable of withstanding high facing lining pressures of up to about 1500 psi (approximately 105 kg/cm2). The metallic based friction material also is not capable of withstanding high surface speeds of up to about 65 m/second which are generated during engagement and disengagement of the new transmission and braking systems.
The present invention is also an improvement over earlier co-owned patents by the assignee herein, BorgWarner Inc., for friction materials. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,307 relates to a friction material having a base impregnated with a curable resin where a porous primarily layer comprises at least one fibrous material and a secondary layer of carbon particles covering at least about 3 to about 90% of the surface of the primary layer. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,883 relates to a base material having a primary layer of less fibrillated aramid fibers, synthetic graphite, and a filler, and a secondary layer of carbon particles on the surface of the primary layer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,856,244 relates to a friction material comprising a base impregnated with a curable resin where the primary layer comprises less fibrillated aramid fibers, synthetic graphite and filler; and a secondary layer of carbon particles and a retention aid. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,507 relates to a process for producing the friction material where at least one surface of the fibrous material which comprises less fibrillated aramid fibers is coated with carbon particles and a retention aid, impregnating with a phenolic or modified phenolic resin, and curing. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,750 relates to a friction material comprising a fibrous base material impregnated with a curable resin where the fibrous base material has a porous primary layer of less fibrillated aramid fibers, carbon particles, carbon fibers, filler material, phenolic novoloid fibers, and optionally, cotton fibers, and a secondary layer of carbon particles which cover the surface at about 3 to about 90% of the surface.
In addition, various base materials are described in commonly owned BorgWarner Inc. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,753,356 and 5,707,905 which describe base materials comprising less fibrillated aramid fibers, synthetic graphite and filler. Another commonly owned patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,176, relates to non-metallic fibrous base materials comprising less fibrillated aramid fibers, carbon fibers, carbon particles and filler.
Yet another commonly owned patent application, Ser. No. 09/707,274, now allowed, relates to a friction material having a porous primary layer and a secondary layer of silica particles covering about 3 to about 90% of the surface of the primary layer. In a preferred aspect, the friction modifying particles comprise at least one of silica particles, resin powders, carbon powder or particles and/or partially carbonized powder or particles and mixtures thereof.
In order for friction materials to be useful in "wet" applications, the friction material must have a wide variety of acceptable characteristics. The friction material must be resilient or elastic yet resistant to compression set, abrasion and stress; have high heat resistance and be able to dissipate heat quickly; and, have long lasting, stable and consistent frictional performance. If any of these characteristics are not met, optimum performance of the friction material is not achieved.
It is also important that a suitable impregnating resin be used with the fibrous base material in order to form a high-energy application friction material. The friction material must have good shear strength both when saturated with the wet resin during impregnation and when saturated with brake fluid or transmission oil during use.
It is also important, under certain applications, that the friction materials have high porosity such that there is a high fluid permeation capacity during use. Thus, it is important that the friction material not only be porous, it must also be compressible. The fluids permeated into the friction material must be capable of being squeezed or released from the friction material quickly under the pressures applied during operation of the brake or transmission, yet the friction material must not collapse. It is also important that the friction material have high thermal conductivity to also help rapidly dissipate the heat generated during operation of the brake or transmission.
As far as is known, there is no disclosure of friction material for use in transmission systems which includes a fibrous base material comprising a primary layer having deposited thereon at least a partial covering of a secondary layer of friction modifying particles that comprises a mixture of silica materials and carbon particles.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved friction material with reliable and improved properties compared to those of the prior art.
A further object of this invention is to provide friction materials with improved coefficient of friction characteristics, "compression modulus", "hot spot" resistance, high heat resistance, high friction stability and durability, porosity, strength, and elasticity.
As a result of extensive research in view of the need for a better friction material, a friction material with improved characteristics has been developed by the invention. The present wet friction material is useful in "wet"applications where the friction material is "wetted" or impregnated with a liquid such as brake fluid or automatic transmission fluid during use. During use of the "wet" friction material, the fluid is ultimately squeezed from or is impregnating the friction material. Wet friction materials differ greatly, both in their compositions and physical characteristics from "dry" friction materials.


The invention is associated with a refill cartridge for a stick which applies product by rubbing onto a surface, comprising a tube-like element, which is designed to be tightly closed at both ends and of which one end is designed to fit tightly onto a tube element of the stick; a longitudinally displaceable plunger with a screwthreaded bore--onto which a screwthreaded spindle of the adhesive stick projecting from the tube element is designed to be screwed--being non-rotatably guided in the tube-like element; and the tube-like element being filled with a product which bears against the plunger at one end and, the product in an extension of the screwthreaded bore, is formed throughout with a bore in which the screwthreaded spindle engages when the refill cartridge is fitted onto the stick. The bore in the product is formed via the tube-like element being releasably closed at its free end by a sealingly fitted cap-like closure element, the cap-like closure element being internally formed with a pin-like projection which fills the intended area of the bore extending throughout the product in a liquified state. After the product solidifies, removal of the cap and its associated pin-like projection leaves the bore fully formed in the product.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a refill cartridge for a stick which applies product by rubbing onto a surface, such as an adhesive stick.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Refill cartridges of this type and a corresponding method for filling them are known from applicants' DE 41 20 969 A1 and also from DE 41 16 581 A1. They are particularly suitable for refilling adhesive sticks, but also other sticks which apply product by rubbing onto a surface, such as deodorant sticks, lipsticks, lubricant sticks, shaving soap sticks or crayons. The main advantage of these refill cartridges is that, when the stick is empty, its key non-consumable elements can be repeatedly reused by quasirefilling of the stick with a refill cartridge, for which purpose the initially closed refill cartridge is fitted onto and secured to the stick, the screwthreaded spindle of the stick being introduced into the refill cartridge and screwed into the plunger so that it can then engage in the bore formed over the entire length of the product of the refill cartridge.
Although a refill cartridge of the type in question has considerable advantages, it has been found that the production and filling of such a refill cartridge with initially liquid product involve disadvantages in view of the need to form a bore throughout the product to receive the screwthreaded spindle. Thus, in the method according to DE 41 20 969 A1, the empty refill cartridge closed at its bottom end is initially introduced into a mold in which a pin extending over the mold--for receiving the screwthreaded bore of the plunger and for forming the bore extending throughout the product--is arranged at the bottom of the mold concentrically of its longitudinal axis. The product is then poured in and, after the product has solidified, the pin forming the bore in the product has to be removed. The refill cartridge then has to be tightly closed at both ends to ensure that the product does not come into contact with the surrounding air.

Refill cartridge for a stick and a method for filling the cartridge


Data transformation in a distributed system of applications and data repositories is described. The subsystems for the overall framework are distributed, thereby allowing for customization to require only isolated changes to one or more subsystems. In one embodiment, a source code repository is used to receive and store source code. A build subsystem can retrieve source code from the source code repository and build it, using one or more criteria. By building the source code, the build subsystem can generate an artifact, which is executable code, such as a JAR or SQL file. Likewise, by building the source code, the build subsystem can generate one or more job specifications for executing the executable code. In one embodiment, the artifact and job specification may be used to launch an application server in a cluster. The application server can then receive data transformation instructions and execute the data transformation instructions.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Many large-scale data analytics systems are designed to efficiently run large-scale data transformation jobs. Such large-scale data analytics systems apply transformations to one or more input datasets to generate one or more output datasets. Such data analytics systems include multiple subsystems that are tightly coupled, making it difficult to add new transformation features, as changes to support such features need to be made across many subsystems. For example, expanding existing workflows to support a new coding language will require making changes to many tightly coupled subsystems. Furthermore, transformations may operate on data that is subject to security restrictions. Developers may wish to author transformations in any of several programming languages. Auditors may wish to track the origin of columns in transformation output and yet with current systems it is difficult to know which transformation or elements thereof contributed to particular output columns in an output dataset. Thus, there is a need for a distributed data analytics system that allows for efficient development and deployment of new features to one or more subsystems without having to make changes to all subsystems.
While each of the figures illustrates a particular embodiment for purposes of illustrating a clear example, other embodiments may omit, add to, reorder, and/or modify any of the elements shown in the figures.

Extensible data transformation authoring and validation system


The methods and apparatuses disclosed herein operate to change the orientation of an absorbent article. The apparatus includes a transfer apparatus having a frame that is rotatable about a first axis of rotation and a transfer member that is rotatable about a second axis of rotation. The method includes advancing an absorbent article in a machine direction. The absorbent article is defined by a longitudinal centerline intersected by a lateral centerline at a center. The method includes rotating the absorbent article from a first orientation where the longitudinal centerline extends in a cross direction to a second orientation where the longitudinal centerline extends in the machine direction. The method includes shifting the absorbent article such that the center of the absorbent article shifts from a first cross-directional position to a second cross-directional position. The steps of rotating the absorbent article and shifting the absorbent article may occur concurrently.

Along an assembly line, various types of articles, such as diapers and other absorbent articles, may be assembled by adding components to and/or otherwise modifying an advancing, continuous web of material. In some processes, advancing webs of material are combined with other advancing webs of material. In other processes, individual components created from advancing webs of material are combined with advancing webs of material, which in turn, are then combined with other advancing webs of material. In some cases, individual components created from advancing web or webs are combined with other individual components created from other advancing web or webs. Webs of material and component parts used to manufacture diapers may include: backsheets, topsheets, leg cuffs, waist bands, absorbent core components, front and/or back ears, fastening components, and various types of elastic webs and components such as leg elastics, barrier leg cuff elastics, stretch side panels, and waist elastics. Once the desired component parts are assembled, the advancing webs and component parts are subjected to a final knife cut to separate the webs into discrete diapers or other absorbent articles.
With reference to FIG. 1A, in some converting processes, discrete chassis 14 spaced apart from each other are advanced in a machine direction MD and are arranged with a longitudinal centerline 16 parallel with the cross direction CD. The discrete chassis 14 may be positioned such that a lateral centerline 18 of the chassis 14 is aligned with a machine direction centerline MDC. Opposing waist regions of the discrete chassis 14 may be joined with continuous lengths of elastically extendable front and back waistband webs advancing in the machine direction. While connected with the chassis 14, the front and back waistband webs may be maintained in a fully stretched condition along the machine direction MD, forming a continuous length of absorbent articles. The continuous length of absorbent articles may then be folded in a cross direction CD. During the folding process in some converting configurations, one of the front and back waistband webs is folded 180° into a facing relationship with the opposing waistband. The continuous length of absorbent articles may be cut into discrete absorbent articles 10, such as shown in FIG. 1A, and advanced to a packaging operation.
As a result of folding the absorbent articles 10 180° in the cross direction CD, in some converting configurations, a center 12 of the folded, discrete absorbent article 10 is offset from the machine direction centerline MDC as shown in FIG. 1B. In some processes, it may be necessary to rotate the folded, discrete absorbent article 10 in order to change the orientation of the discrete absorbent article 10 for downstream processing, such as packaging. However, some processes for rotating a discrete absorbent article 10 are configured to rotate the discrete absorbent article 10 about the center 12 of the discrete absorbent article 10 as shown in FIGS. 1B-1D. As a result, the center 12 of the folded discrete absorbent article 10 may be offset from the machine direction centerline MDC as shown in FIG. 1D. Consequently, it may be necessary to position downstream equipment off center from the machine direction centerline MDC in order to advance the folded discrete absorbent articles 10 along a centerline of the downstream equipment. However, due to size and space constraints in some converting operations, it may not be feasible to position equipment away from the machine direction centerline MDC.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a process and apparatus for rotating and shifting a discrete absorbent article such that the discrete absorbent article is aligned with a machine direction centerline.

Method and apparatus for changing the orientation of an absorbent article


A film capacitor suited to car-mount application, excellent in heat cycle tolerance and humidity resistance, and high in productivity, while maintaining low heat generation and low inductance characteristic is provided. The film capacitor comprises a film capacitor element, a bus bar as metal terminal connected to electrode of this film capacitor element, and a case for containing them, in which the film capacitor element and bus bar are packed within the case by plural layers of epoxy resin compositions, and the plural layers of epoxy resin compositions are composed so that the coefficient of linear expansion is smallest in the composition disposed in the uppermost layer.

A metallized film capacitor is generally used by putting a capacitor element in a case to prevent invasion of surrounding humidity, and armoring by pouring various potting resins. Roles of potting resin and case are retention and insulation of contained capacitor element and components, and prevention of deterioration of characteristics. It is hence necessary to select materials excellent in mechanical strength, low water absorption, heat resistance, heat cycle resistance, and electrical characteristics (insulating performance). Potting resins include epoxy resin and urethane resin.
Recently, in inverter system for driving motor of hybrid electric vihicle(HEV), film capacitors excellent in dielectric strength, low loss and temperature characteristics are gradually replacing the existing aluminum electrolytic capacitors. Since car-mount capacitors are used in cold district, and hot and damp district, as higher heat cycle resistance in a wide range of temperature and humidity is demanded than in consumer electric appliances. It is also required to have a structure small in heat generation if a high ripple current flows, or a structure having low inductance characteristics in order to suppress generation of surge voltage.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional film capacitor. In an ordinary structure of film capacitor, a metal terminal 23 connected to an electrode 22 of a film capacitor element 21 is projected from a potting resin 24. In this case, when a heat cycle from low temperature (for example, −50 to −40° C.) to high temperature (for example, 90 to 120° C.) is applied, a thermal stress is generated due to difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the potting resin 24 and metal terminal 23, and the potting resin 24 may be cracked it not withstanding the stress.
To overcome such problem, it has been proposed to prevent crack by improving armoring resin materials.
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. H5-18020 (document 1), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S56-101731 (document 2), and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S54-63300 (document 3), by using two or more layers of resin as armoring material of film capacitor element, it is proposed to improve the environmental resistance, mechanical strength, and explosion-proof property. In these proposals, the resin of first layer directly covering the film capacitor element is made of a urethane resin of smaller strength and elasticity than epoxy resin, and the second layer at the case opening side is made of epoxy resin.
For example, document 3 does not relate directly to film capacitor, but suggests improvement of heat cycle resistance, by blending inorganic filler by 40 to 95 vol. %, so that the difference in coefficient of linear expansion between the conductor or electric device and hardened matter of thermosetting resin for covering them directly may be 15 ppm/K or less.
However, the prior arts involve some problems as discussed below. In the structure of document 1 or document 2 in which urethane resin is disposed around the film capacitor and an epoxy resin is disposed on the upper layer, if exposed to temperature of −40° C., the epoxy resin layer of surface is cracked.
In the car-mount film capacitor, a low inductance characteristic is demanded in order to realize low exothermic property and suppress surge voltage. To satisfy these requirements, the bus bar electrode terminal connected to the film capacitor element is broadened in width (increased in sectional area), so that low resistance and low inductance are realized. However, in the structures disclosed in document 1 and document 2, when the bus bar electrode buried in the resin is broadened, it is found that cracks are likely to be formed in the armor resin. In particular, at ambient temperature of −40 to 100° C., cracks are formed in all samples in heat cycle test.
When the film capacitor element is covered with a soft urethane resin, the element size increases, and when expansion or shrinkage amount increases, motion of film capacitor element cannot be restrained, and repetitive stresses occur in the electrode portion of film capacitor element, thereby increasing tanδ.
Or when the film capacitor element is covered with urethane, moisture is absorbed easily, and humidity resistance is not expected. Or as in document 3, when the amount of inorganic filler is increased so as to decrease the coefficient of linear expansion of hardened matter, liquid viscosity when pouring the resin (60° C.) becomes very high, 5000 to 20000 mPa·s. If such resin is poured in a large amount, voids are likely to occur in the resin, and pouring time must be extended, and other problems occur in working efficiency and productivity.
When the technology of document 3 is applied in film capacitor, difference in coefficient of linear expansion from metal electrode material is decreased, and cracks of resin upon heat cycle may be prevented, but difference in coefficient of linear expansion is increased, to the contrary, from the film capacitor element having the coefficient of linear expansion about one digit higher, and capacitor characteristics are likely to deteriorate in long-term heat cycle durability.

Film capacitor and method of manufacturing the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The invention aims at providing a folding type radio terminal, a call start method and a call start program which allows the user to start a call with a simple operation. On the folding type radio terminal, when a motor driving button is pressed while an incoming signal is being received with a top lid open with respect to a main unit, a controller drives a motor to open the top lid. When a top lid state detector has detected that the top lid is fully open or a predetermined time is measured by the timer from the driving of the motor, the controller 155 shuts down the motor. The controller performs call connection processing in response to the incoming signal so as to place the radio terminal in the call state. This starts a call.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a folding type radio terminal, a call start method and a call start program which provide the call-ready state with a simple operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A call by using a folding type portable telephone set is performed usually with unfolding the telephone set. When a call arrives to a folding type portable telephone set, the user unfolds the folding type structure of the telephone set with his/her hands and presses an off-hook button to start calling. The Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60145/1989 (U.S. Pat. No. 2,015,664) discloses a portable telephone set which automatically answers an incoming call when its folding type structure is unfolded with the hands of the user. The portable telephone set described in the patent gazette comprises a folding type cabinet, unfolding/folding detecting means for detecting unfolding/folding of the cabinet and call signal detecting means for detecting a call signal. When the cabinet changes from the closed state to open state while a call signal is terminating, the portable telephone set is automatically placed in the call state.
In this way, the related art portable telephone set requires an action of unfolding the cabinet although this action automatically places the portable telephone set in the call state. Unfolding/Folding of the cabinet is usually made with both hands of the user. The user takes time in unfolding the cabinet when one of his/her hands is occupied, which delays the answer. Thus, a folding type portable telephone set which requires only a simple operation to answer an incoming call without using both hands of the user has been in demand.

Collapsible radio terminal, conversion start method and conversion start program


A load control apparatus outputs a PWM signal to a switching element to control a load. The switching element is connected between a power supply and a grand in series with the load. An abnormal increase detecting unit outputs an abnormal increase detection signal when detecting abnormal increase in applied voltage, which is applied to the load, relative to target voltage. An abnormal decrease detecting unit outputs an abnormal decrease detection signal when detecting abnormal decrease in the applied voltage relative to the target voltage. An operating state monitoring unit outputs a normally operating signal when the load normally operates. A signal combining unit generates a combined signal by combining the abnormal increase detection signal, the abnormal decrease detection signal, and the normally operating signal and outputs the combined signal via a common signal output terminal.

Conventionally, a fuel pump control device as a load control apparatus is provided in a vehicle and configured to output a diagnostic signal to the exterior of the fuel pump control device. For example, such a fuel pump control device is configured to output the diagnostic signal, which indicates high level in a state of normally operating and low level in a state where malfunction occur. In such a conventional structure provided with such a fuel pump control device, an engine electronic control unit (engine ECU) may be provided to receive such a diagnostic signal. In this case, the engine ECU may be capable of detecting occurrence of malfunction in the fuel pump control device based on the diagnostic signal. However, the engine ECU may not be capable of recognizing an operating state of the fuel pump control device based on the diagnostic signal.
JP-A-11-263240 discloses an example of performing malfunction diagnosis for an apparatus, which is provided for controlling a motor in a vehicle. In such a structure, the fuel pump control apparatus may be mounted on a flange of a fuel pump module inside a vehicle. In this case, it is difficult to make contact a probe directly with the control apparatus from the exterior of the vehicle in order to perform a malfunction diagnosis, unless a service hole or the like is provided in the vehicle body. Therefore, in general, a diagnostic signal is outputted to and monitored by an engine ECU or the like. Conventionally, it is hard to detect an operating state of the motor for a pump, without monitoring a diagnostic signal. Here, when the number of signal wires for outputting signals increases according to increase in the number of the monitored objects, another problem may occur. In JP-A-11-263240, an H-bridge inverter circuit is provided for manipulating a motor for a power steering. In this structure, voltage applied to the motor is determined based on a difference, which is obtained by A/D-converting each terminal voltage. The obtained voltage is compared with a drive instruction signal value, thereby various operating states are detected. However, in JP-A-11-263240, A/D conversion of each terminal voltage and a microcomputer for calculating the difference obtained by the A/D conversion are required. Accordingly, an operating state cannot be easily distinguished. The above problems may occur not only in a motor for a fuel pump, but also in other various loads in a structure having a constraint in arrangement.

Load control apparatus and method for processing diagnosis signal for the same