A vertical two chamber reaction furnace. The furnace comprises a lower chamber having an independently operable first heating means for heating the lower chamber and a gas inlet means for admitting a gas to create an ambient atmosphere, and an upper chamber disposed above the lower chamber and having an independently operable second heating means for heating the upper chamber. Disposed between the lower chamber and the upper chamber is a vapor permeable diffusion partition. The upper chamber has a conveyor means for conveying a reactant there through. Of particular importance is the thallinating of long-length thallium-barium-calcium-copper oxide (TBCCO) or barium-calcium-copper oxide (BCCO) precursor tapes or wires conveyed through the upper chamber to thereby effectuate the deposition of vaporized thallium (being so vaporized as the first reactant in the lower chamber at a temperature between about 700.degree. and 800.degree. C.) on TBCCO or BCCO tape or wire (the second reactant) at its simultaneous annealing temperature in the upper chamber of about 800.degree. to 950.degree. C. to thereby replace thallium oxide lost from TBCCO tape or wire because of the high annealing temperature or to deposit thallium on BCCO tape or wire. Continuously moving the tape or wire provides a single-step process that effectuates production of long-length TBCCO superconducting product.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a furnace in which chemical or physical reactions occur, and in particular to a two chamber reaction furnace wherein the chambers are disposed substantially vertically in relation to each other and the temperature of each chamber thereof can be individually controlled, with the chambers being separated from each other by a vapor-permeable partition to thereby permit interaction between reactants situated in different chambers. Also included is methodology for the interaction of reactants.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In certain chemical and physical reactions between one or more reactants, it is not unusual for reactants to require two or more different temperatures, all above ambient, for steps of a reaction to proceed. When this is the case, current single-chamber, and therefore single-temperature, furnaces require multi-step procedures to accomplish complete reactions. Such multi-step procedures can include heating a first reactant at a given temperature for an appropriate time period in a furnace, and thereafter either increasing or decreasing the furnace temperature before adding a second reactant to the furnace for a second period of time. As is apparent, such a multi-step process is both inconvenient, time-consuming, and energy inefficient while additionally requiring invasion of the furnace chamber when reactants are incompletely reacted.
Current two-zone furnaces having a first temperature zone and a second temperature zone in horizontal relationship to each other permit vaporization of a material in one zone and vapor travel to the second zone for subsequent deposition thereof. However, one major drawback of horizontal zones is that vapor deposition is not uniform, but instead a gradient of deposition quantity occurs as the vapor travels horizontally through the second temperature zone.
Exemplification of a process wherein reactants thereof require different activation temperatures in order to yield the required end product is found in the manufacture of thallium-barium-calcium-copper oxide (TBCCO) substrates having superconducting properties. In particular, a TBCCO substrate is first annealed at temperatures of about 800.degree. to 900.degree. C., at which temperature thallium is highly volatile and can be lost from the substrate. Accordingly, an external source of thallium is usually needed to compensate for any thallium loss. In a single-chamber, fixed temperature furnace, this external source is usually vaporized thallium derived from a thallium source identical to the composition of the end-product to be produced. The thallium source is heated to a temperature between about 700.degree. and 800.degree. C., thus about 100.degree. less than the annealing temperature. In a single-chamber furnace, the initial TBCCO reactant is therefore annealed first at the higher temperature. Thereafter, at the lower temperature, the initial TBCCO reactant is exposed to thallium vapor which is normally combined with an oxygen background pressure and flow. Simultaneous annealing and thallium replacement thus cannot occur in a single-chamber furnace to produce the final TBCCO substrate end-product. Employment of a two-zone horizontal furnace permits simultaneous vaporization and deposition, but, as earlier noted, creates a deposition gradient and resultant non-uniformity of desired end-product.
In view of the above, it is evident that a need is present for a two-chamber furnace where reactants therein can simultaneously react uniformly to completion when different temperature values are required for respective reactants. Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a two-chamber reaction furnace wherein the chambers are situated substantially vertically in relation to each other and wherein the temperature of each chamber can be individually controlled.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vertical two chamber furnace wherein the chambers are separated from each other by a vapor-permeable partition to thereby permit interaction between reactants situated in different chambers and at different temperatures.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide methodology for producing a product wherein a first reactant thereof requires a first temperature while a second reactant thereof whose vapor is to be deposited on the first reactant is so vaporized simultaneously at a second temperature.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent throughout the description of the invention which now follows.


A magnetic incremental encoder includes a plurality of detection devices which are provided on an outer periphery of a rotational member at a predetermined phase difference, wherein each of the detection devices outputs signals which vary periodically in accordance with the rotational angle of the rotational member upon rotation thereof; wherein the plurality of detection devices are provided in sets of two detection devices on the outer periphery of the rotational member, wherein a phase difference between one of the sets of two detection devices and an adjacent another of the sets of two detection devices is determined according to the following formula:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic incremental encoder, and in particular, relates to a magnetic incremental encoder suitable for a survey instrument, such as a total station or theodolite.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a known survey instrument, such as a total station or theodolite, a magnetic incremental encoder is provided as an angle measuring device. The magnetic incremental encoder is provided with a magnetic drum which rotates together with a collimating telescope, and a magnetic sensor which detects the angular displacement of the magnetic drum. The magnetic drum is provided on its outer peripheral surface with a multipolar magnetization layer which is divided into T magnetized sections (T is a positive integer) arranged at an equal pitch. The magnetic sensor is opposed to the multipolar magnetization layer. The magnetic sensor is provided with, for example, four magnetroresistor elements which are spaced at a distance smaller than the pitch of the magnetized sections of the multipolar magnetization layer. Consequently, the angular displacement of the magnetic drum is detected with an accuracy depending on the pitch of the magnetized sections, by detecting the reluctance of the magnetroresistor elements which varies in accordance with the rotation of the magnetic drum. An angle smaller than that corresponding to one pitch is determined by interpolation calculation.
For a survey instrument, the deviation of a protractor is specified by JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) regulations, or the like. Accordingly, in a high precision survey instrument, two magnetic sensors are diametrically opposed to each other by 180 degrees, so that an arithmetic mean of the detection values of the two sensors is obtained to correct the eccentricity.
However, in case of a magnetic incremental encoder, the dividing number of the magnetized sections of the multipolar magnetization layer is smaller than that of an optical encoder, thus resulting in an increased pitch of the magnetized sections, and hence an influence of a harmonic error (harmonic distortion) within one pitch of the split sections is enhanced due to a dimensional error or deviation of magnetroresistor curves of the magnetroresistor elements from an ideal curve.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic incremental encoder suitable for a survey instrument, in which a plurality of harmonic distortions of an nth order (n is an optional integer) can be corrected simultaneously.
To achieve the object mentioned above, according to an aspect of the present invention, a magnetic incremental encoder including a plurality of detection devices which are provided on an outer periphery of a rotational member at a predetermined phase difference, wherein each of the detection devices outputs signals which vary periodically in accordance with the rotational angle of the rotational member upon rotation thereof; wherein the plurality of detection devices are provided in sets of two detection devices on the outer periphery of the rotational member, wherein a phase difference between one of the sets of two detection devices and an adjacent another of the sets of two detection devices is determined according to the following formula:
2xcfx80P+xcfx80/j; wherein P designates an arbitrary integer; and j designates one of the number of k orders, wherein k designates the number of orders of harmonic distortions to be corrected. The number of the plurality of detection devices is equal to 2k.
Preferably, the magnetic incremental encoder further includes a calculation device which calculates an arithmetic mean of the detection signals of the plurality of detection devices to obtain a detection angle whose harmonic distortions of k order have been corrected.
In order to correct k number of different order harmonic distortions, the phase difference between one of the sets of two detection devices and an adjacent another of the sets of two detection devices is determined by the above formula at a first order of j order of the number of k orders, wherein the one of the sets of two detection devices and the adjacent another of the sets of two detection devices constitute a group of detection devices.
Furthermore, the phase difference between one group of detection devices and an adjacent another group of detection devices of the plurality of detection devices is obtained by the formula at a j order other than said first order, of the number of k orders.
In order to correct nth order and mth order harmonic distortions, two sets of detection devices are provided; each set of detection devices including two detection devices, each detection device of the two sets of detection devices being arranged with a phase difference determined by one of the following formulae:
2xcfx80P1+xcfx80/n; and
2xcfx80P2+xcfx80/n;
wherein P1 and P2 are arbitrary integers. Each set of detection devices are arranged with a phase difference determined by the following formula:
2xcfx80P3+xcfx80/m;
wherein P3 is an arbitrary integer.
The rotary member is rotatably supported by a stationary portion of a device on which the magnetic incremental encoder is mounted, and the rotary member being provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof with a multipolar magnetization layer having split sections magnetized at an equal pitch of xcex; the detection devices being provided with magnetic sensors mounted to the stationary portion and opposed to the multipolar magnetization layer of the magnetic drum.
The magnetic sensors are each provided with eight magnetroresistor elements arranged with a phase difference of xcex/4 to detect the magnetic field which varies in accordance with the rotation of the magnetic drum. A detection signal is produced in accordance with the rotation angle of the magnetic drum, based on the detection outputs of four magnetroresistor elements which are deviated by xcex/2 and the detection outputs of the remaining four magnetroresistor elements which are deviated by xcex/2.
The calculation device can calculate the arithmetic mean of the rotation angles detected by all the magnetic sensors to obtain a rotation angle of the magnetic drum.
It is possible to provide additional detection devices, which have the same arrangement and number as the plurality of detection devices, are provided diametrically and symmetrically opposed to the plurality of detection devices, with respect to the center of rotation of the rotational member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a survey instrument is provided having a magnetic incremental encoder including a plurality of detection devices which are provided on an outer periphery of a rotational member at a predetermined phase difference, wherein each of the detection devices outputs signals which vary periodically in accordance with the rotational angle of the rotational member upon rotation thereof; wherein the plurality of detection devices are provided in sets of two detection devices on the outer periphery of the rotational member, wherein a phase difference between one of the sets of two detection devices and an adjacent another of the sets of two detection devices is determined according to the following formula:
2xcfx80P+xcfx80/j; wherein P designates an arbitrary integer; and j designates one of the number of k orders, wherein k designates the number of orders of harmonic distortions to be corrected. The number of the plurality of detection devices is equal to 2k. The magnetic incremental encoder constitutes at least one of a vertical and horizontal protractor.
The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-178306 (filed on Jun. 14, 2000) which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Magnetic encoder and survey instrument having magnetic encoder


An articulated seat cushion component for the seat of a vehicle may include a seat cushion component, wherein the seat cushion component is arranged to detach from a seat cushion of the seat and to be positioned between an occupant of the seat and an intruding body structure. The seat cushion component may be arranged to be integral with the seat cushion of a vehicle seat during when the seat cushion component is in an undeployed state. The seat cushion component may be arranged so that when the seat cushion component is deployed the seat cushion component detaches from the seat cushion of the seat of a vehicle and is positioned to protect a vehicle occupant during a side crash.

The present invention relates to an articulating seat cushion component for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a side crash. The present invention further relates to an articulating seat cushion component for protecting the thorax, abdomen, and pelvis of a vehicle occupant from vehicle intrusion during a side crash, by pushing on the occupant's pelvis.
During a side crash, an impact upon the side of a vehicle may cause the vehicle to push in towards the interior of the vehicle. Intrusion of the vehicle body structure during a side crash is a particular concern in smaller vehicles because the style of the vehicle may cause the gap between the side of the vehicle and an occupant's seat to be minimized.
To protect a vehicle occupant from intrusion by the vehicle body structure, crashes must be detected at a fast rate and protective devices, such as airbags, must be rapidly deployed to the proper position. This need for a rapid rate of responsiveness and a stiff component that can be reversibly positioned presents a challenge for protecting vehicle occupants during side crashes.

Vehicle seat with articulating cushion component


An alkali-free glass consisting essentially of from 60 to 74 mol % of SiO.sub.2, from 10 to 16 mol % of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, from 10 to 12 mol % of B.sub.2 O.sub.3, the molar ratio of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 /B.sub.2 O.sub.3 being from 1.0 to 1.5, from 0 to 5 mol % of MgO, from 0 to 5 mol % of CaO, from 0 to 12 mol % of SrO, from 0 to 12 mol % of BaO, and from 6 to 12 mol % of SrO+BaO, which contains substantially no alkali metal oxide and has a strain point exceeding 650.degree. C. and an average thermal expansion coefficient of at most 40.times.10.sup.-7 /.degree.C. within a range of from 50.degree. to 300.degree. C., and of which the weight loss per unit area after immersion at 25.degree. C. for 20 minutes in a liquid prepared by mixing a 40 wt % ammonium fluoride aqueous solution and a 50 wt % hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution in a volume ratio of 9:1, is less than 0.60 mg/cm.sup.2, the weight loss per unit area after immersion at 95.degree. C. for 20 hours in 0.1N HCl, is less than 0.20 mg/cm.sup.2, and the liquidus temperature is at most a temperature at which the viscosity is 10.sup.4 poise.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alkali-free glass which is suitable as a substrate glass for various displays or photomasks and which is essentially free from alkali metal oxides.
2. Discussion of Background
Heretofore, the following properties have been required for a substrate glass for various displays, particularly for the one intended to form a thin film of a metal or oxide on its surface.
(1) It is essentially free from alkali metal oxides. If an alkali metal oxide is contained, the alkali metal ion tends to diffuse in the thin film, whereby the film properties will deteriorate.
(2) It has a high strain point, so that when it is exposed to a high temperature during the process for forming a thin film, deformation of the glass and shrinkage due to stabilization of the glass structure are suppressed to the minimum levels.
(3) It has adequate chemical durability against various reagents to be used for forming semiconductors. Particularly, it has durability against hydrofluoric acid used for etching SiO.sub.x or SiN.sub.x or against a buffered hydrofluoric acid (BHF) containing ammonium fluoride and hydrofluoric acid as the main components.
(4) It has no internal or surface defects (such as bubbles, striae, inclusions, pits or scratch marks).
At present, Corning code 7059 glass is widely employed as a substrate glass for various displays or photomasks. However, this glass has the following drawbacks.
(1) The strain point is as low as 593.degree. C., and preliminary heat treatment to reduce the shrinkage of glass has to be carried out prior to a process for preparing the displays.
(2) The amount of elution into hydrochloric acid used for etching a metal electrode or a transparent conductive film (such as ITO) is substantial, and the eluted substance tends to recrystallize during the process for preparing displays, whereby it becomes difficult to prepare the displays.
In addition to solving such problems, in recent years, it has been required to provide a glass having a small thermal expansion coefficient, which is strong against thermal shock in order to increase the temperature raising or lowering rate during the preparation of displays and thus to increase the production throughput.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 160844/1989 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,808) discloses an alkali-free glass having a strain point of at least 625.degree. C., but the strain point does not exceed 650.degree. C.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 160030/1992 discloses an alkali-free glass wherein the amounts of SrO and BaO are limited to certain levels, and some examples have a strain point of at least 650.degree. C. and a thermal expansion coefficient of from 30.times.10.sup.-7 to 40.times.10.sup.-7 /.degree.C. However, such examples have a liquidus temperature which is higher than a temperature at which the viscosity is 10.sup.4 poise which is an index for forming, and they are difficult to form by e.g. a float process.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 263473/1994 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,595) discloses an alkali-free glass having a strain point exceeding 650.degree. C. and a thermal expansion coefficient of from 30.times.10.sup.-7 to 40.times.10.sup.-7 /.degree.C., but no evaluation has been made with respect to the resistance against BHF.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 201041/1989 discloses an alkali-free glass having a strain point of at least 600.degree. C. and a thermal expansion coefficient of from 40.times.10.sup.-7 to 50.times.10.sup.-7 /.degree.C.


A method and system for protecting an application that implements a communication protocol against exploitation of a communication-based vulnerability is provided. A protection system provides a protection policy that specifies how to recognize messages that expose a specific vulnerability and specifies actions to take when the vulnerability is exposed. A protection policy specifies the sequence of messages and their payload characteristics that expose a vulnerability. The protection system may specify the sequences of messages using a message protocol state machine. A message protocol state machine of an application represents the states that the application transitions through as it receives various messages. The message protocol state machine of the protection policy may be a portion of the message protocol state machine of the application relating to the vulnerability. The protection system uses the message protocol state machine to track the states that lead up to the exposing of the vulnerability.

Although the Internet has had great successes in facilitating communications between computer systems and enabling electronic commerce, the computer systems connected to the Internet have been under almost constant attack by hackers seeking to disrupt their operation. Many of the attacks seek to exploit vulnerabilities of the application programs or other computer programs executing on those computer systems. One of the most destructive methods of attacking a computer system has been to send a "worm" to a computer program. A worm is a self-propagating attack that exploits a vulnerability by taking control of the computer system and using that computer system to launch attacks (i.e., send the same worm) against other computer systems with the same vulnerability. A worm is a message or sequence of messages designed to exploit a vulnerability of the receiving computer program. Upon receiving the message or messages, the computer program performs some action that allows the worm to take control of the computer system.
Developers of applications and administrators of computer systems go to great effort and expense to identify and remove vulnerabilities. Because of the complexity of applications, however, it is virtually impossible to identify and remove all vulnerabilities before applications are released. After an application is released, developers can become aware of vulnerabilities in various ways. A party with no malicious intent may identify a vulnerability in an application and may secretly notify the developer so the vulnerability can be removed before a hacker identifies and exploits it. If a hacker identifies a vulnerability first, the developer may not learn of the vulnerability until it is exploited—sometimes with disastrous consequences.
Regardless of how a developer finds out about a vulnerability, the developer typically develops and distributes to system administrators "patches" that remove the vulnerability. If the vulnerability has not yet been exploited (e.g., might not be known to hackers), then a developer can design, implement, test, and distribute a patch in a disciplined way. If the vulnerability has already been widely exposed, then the developer may rush to distribute a patch without the same care that is used under normal circumstances. When patches are distributed to the administrators of the computer systems, they are responsible for scheduling and installing the patches to remove the vulnerabilities.
Unfortunately, administrators often delay the installation of patches to remove vulnerabilities for various reasons. When a patch is installed, the application and possibly the computer system on which it is executing may need to be shut down and restarted. If the vulnerability is in an application that is crucial to the success of an organization, then the administrator needs to analyze the tradeoffs of keeping the application up and running with its associated risk of being attacked and of shutting down a crucial resource to install the patch. Some administrators may delay the installation of the patch because they fear that, because of a hasty distribution, it might not be properly tested and have unintended side effects. If the patch has an unintended side effect, then the application (or the computer system) may be shut down by the patch itself. Administrators need to factor in the possibility of an unintended side effect when deciding whether to install a patch. These administrators may delay installing a patch until experience by others indicates that there are no serious unintended side effects.
Other methods are available for preventing the exploitation of vulnerabilities in applications. For example, if the source of an exploitation is known, then all messages from that source can be intercepted and discarded before they reach the application. The source of the attack, however, may not be precisely identifiable, resulting in messages from many benign sources also being discarded. As another example, a message that is attempting to exploit a vulnerability may have a characteristic (e.g., a file name that is too long) that can be detected and discarded before it is sent to the application.
Current methods for preventing exploitation of vulnerabilities are not completely satisfactory for various reasons. The installation of patches is not completely satisfactory because some administrators simply may not install patches fast enough to prevent exploitation of the vulnerabilities. Moreover, a patch could itself have side effects that are more disastrous than the exploitation of the vulnerability. The intercepting of messages to identify an attempted exploitation is also not completely satisfactory because the identifications are based on known exploitations and may not prevent unknown exploitations of the same vulnerability. It would be desirable to prevent the exploitation of vulnerabilities in a way that does not require patches and that is independent of any particular exploitation of the vulnerability.

Method and system for filtering communications to prevent exploitation of a software vulnerability


A fishing lure comprising at least two wires having a first end and a second end, wherein a first portion of the at least two wires are intertwined with one another, and wherein a predetermined distance from the first end a first bend is made and distal to the first bend, a second bend is made, and predetermined distance from the second bend a second portion of the at least two wires are untwined and a loop is formed at the second end of each of the at least two wires, a head molded around a portion of the first end of the at least two wires, a hook affixed to the head, and at least one spinner rotatably attached to the loop at the second end of each of the at least two wires, wherein the spinner is able to freely oscillate and vibrate.

The present invention relates generally to the field of fishing lures, and more particularly to a fishing lure with a plurality of independently spinning extensions.
Sport fishing has been and continues to be enjoyed by a vast number of fisherman and has grown to the extent that it is now one of the largest participant sports. As the sport of fishing has increased in popularity, the fishing tackle industry has experienced growth, responding both to the needs of the participants.
A "spinnerbait" is a lure which combines both a "spinner" and some other type of fish attractor, along with a weight and a hook into a single form. The lure has a generally V-shaped wire form, and at one end of the wire form is attached one or more blades or "spinners" which rotate about a swivel as the lure is drawn through the water.
At the other end of the wire form, a lead body or weight is molded, and a hook is attached adjacent the weight. The hook is turned upwardly toward the other end of the wire form. Some type of device is attached to the area of the hook shank to further attract fish, most commonly being a soft plastic worm or grub or piece of pork rind, or alternatively a plastic or rubber skirt which extends rearwardly to hide the hook and "ripple" through the water as the lure is retrieved.
One drawback with the designs of spinnerbait is the tradeoff between structural rigidity and the ability to vibrate through the water. If the lure is made to handle a larger fish the lure requires a larger construction which reduces the ability of the spinner to vibrate through the water, and if the lure is designed to vibrate through the water, they lack the strength to withstand a larger fish. Thus, resulting in either broken or lost lures, or the inability to properly attract the fish.
Thus, it is desired to have a fishing lure that provides the structural strength of a larger lure, but with the spinners having the ability to vibrate through the water.


A device for chemical wet treatment of substrates has a tank containing a treatment fluid for treating the substrates. At least one substrate carrier for supporting the substrates within the tank is provided. At least one substrate lifting device for lifting the substrates off the substrate carrier is provided. A lifting apparatus for lifting and lowering the substrate carrier is positioned in the tank. The lifting apparatus has a first transport carriage connected to the substrate lifting device and a second transport carriage connected to a holder of the substrate carrier. The first and second transport carriages are connected to one another by a jointed connection.

The present invention relates to a device for chemical wet treatment of substrates in a tank containing a treatment fluid, with a lifting apparatus for introducing and removing at least one substrate carrier and the substrates, as well as a drying method which uses such a lifting device.
At present, an automatic wet treatment device comprises a number of containers or tanks for a sequence of chemical wet processes. After completion of a chemical process sequence or between process steps, substrates, for example, silicone wafers arranged in a cassette, are submerged into a rinsing tank and subsequently dried.
The drying of a substrate can, for example, be performed with a centrifuge, but also during the slow removal of the substrate from the rinsing tank.
From European document 0 385 536 a drying method is known in which, in addition to the slow removal of the substrate, a vapor originating from a bath is applied to the substrate whereby the vapor does not condense on the substrate but diffuses into the liquid. At the liquid meniscus on the substrate surface a concentration gradient is produced, and thus a surface tension gradient, which causes the movement of the liquid away from the substrate into the liquid and thus results in the drying of the substrate without residue. During the chemical wet treatment, respectively, the rinsing and drying, the substrates are secured in carriers, also called wafer cassettes, in slots which are formed on the inner surface of the sidewalls of the cassette. Such standard carriers especially have relatively large surfaces with edges and corners so that a relatively large amount of chemicals is transferred from one process tank into another, respectively from one bath into another, thus making the drying process more difficult. The edges and great surface areas of conventional carriers prolong especially the respective cleaning, rinsing, and drying steps during the treatment because relatively large amounts of liquid adhere to the surfaces, edges and corners and the removal of chemicals by rinsing is more complicated. However, when the carrier does not have lateral guides, there are no lateral guides provided for the substrates during lifting. In the known devices the lateral carrier guides are used to secure the substrates during lifting from the bath in order to protect the substrates during lifting from the carrier against tipping over.
From Japanese document 5-27 06 60 (A) a device of the aforementioned kind is known in which a lifting device with a transport carriage for introducing and removing the substrates and substrate carrier into and from a container for chemical wet treatment is provided. As in the case of introduction and removal disclosed in connection with the arrangement of European document 0 385 536 A, the substrates remain within the carrier so as to be removed and introduced together with the carrier.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,901 a substrate handling device is known in which a first transport carriage moves a carrier for the substrates and a second transport carrier moves the substrate into and out of the carrier. The introduction and removal of the substrates, respectively, the substrates carriers into and from a container for chemical wet treatment of substrates and the associated requirements and difficulties are not discussed in this document.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,069 a substrate handling device is known in which a substrate carrier is moved up and down with a lifting apparatus and, in addition, a piston-cylinder unit with a jointed connection to the lifting rod is provided in order to disengage the substrate carrier from the lifting movement.
From German Patent 34 25 267 a device for transporting and individually handling substrates is known according to which the substrates within the substrate carrier can be lifted and the substrates can also be lifted out of the carrier.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,093 shows and discloses a transporting and handling device with which objects can be lifted and transported whereby a control curve is used.
It is an object of the invention to provide a device, respectively, a method for the chemical wet treatment, especially for a rinsing and/or drying, with which a continuous and secure lifting, respectively, lowering of the substrates is possible.


Organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) and their compositions are described herein. one or more embodiments, the acceptor with an active layer of an OPV includes is a non-fullerene acceptor. Such non-fullerene acceptors may provide improved OPV performance characteristics such as improved power conversion efficiency, open circuit voltage, fill factor, short circuit current, and/or external quantum efficiency.

Organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) have sparked considerable interest in recent years owing to their flexibility, light weight, non-toxic nature and semi-transparency that makes them ideal for building integrated and building applied applications. Compared to the commercial solar modules that typically have power conversion efficiencies of PCE=15-22% of sunlight, organics have improved from 10% in 2016 to over 17% in 2019 for single junction devices. Advances have steadily continued, headed toward single junction thermodynamically limited efficiencies of ˜25%, with potentially higher efficiencies based on multijunction cells. This rapid advance has been paced by the development of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs).
In contrast to previously employed fullerene acceptors with their limited energy-level tunability and morphological and/or photochemical stability, the tunability of molecular structure, absorption spectra and electron energy levels of NFAs provide a range of opportunities for their use in semitransparent power generating windows. However, their reliability remains a major concern, as even the most stable devices reported so far degrade within only a few years (extrapolated to a 80% of their initial PCE, known as T80). This is compared to extrapolated intrinsic lifetimes of fullerene-based cells of thousands of years.

Key materials for organic photovoltaics reliability

The Regents of the University of Michigan


Light emitted from a plurality of LED light sources can be introduced into a light guide and inwardly reflected (totally reflected) at a first reflective surface formed on the light guide to form a substantially collimated light. The substantially collimated light can then be inwardly reflected (totally reflected) at a second reflective surface and a third reflective surface. The light can then be led out of the light guide and emitted in a direction of illumination of the lamp. An increased amount of light provides a bright lamp. An arrangement of LEDs emitting different colored lights enables the different colored lights to be emitted at the same time or with time delays.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LED lamp with a light guide. More particularly, it relates to an LED lamp with a light guide for use in vehicle, traffic and other automotive/transportation type lamps in general, such as rear combination lamps, rear fog lamps, reverse lamps, turn signal lamps, stop lamps, traffic signal lamps, and tail lamps. The LED lamp may also be used in playing machines, utility lamps, or amusement lamps in general, such as pinball machines, video games, dance lights, festival lights, flash lights, spot lights, game machines, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 6 shows a structure of an LED light emitting unit 61 and an optical system in a lamp 60 according to the related art. The lamp can include an LED 51 light source, regarded as a point source of light, and a light guide 54 having a light incident surface, a light exit surface, a primary reflective surface 52, and a secondary reflective surface 53 formed thereon. A light emitted from the light source enters the light guide 54 through the light incident surface formed on the light guide 54. The light is then guided through the light guide 54 toward the primary reflective surface 52. The light reflected at the primary reflective surface 52 is guided through the light guide 54 toward the secondary reflective surface 53. The light reflected at the secondary reflective surface 53 is guided through the light guide 54 toward the light exit surface and finally exits externally through the light exit surface, thus tracing an optical path.
The LED light emitting unit 61 in the lamp 60 is structured such that the light guide 54 is symmetrically formed about a point and the single LED 51 light source is located at the center thereof. The light emitted from the LED 51 and which enters the light guide 54 through the light incident surface is reflected at the primary reflective surface 52 radially toward the rim and guided through the light guide 54. Then, it is reflected at the secondary reflective surface 53, which is formed on a concentric circle centered on the optical axis X of the LED 51 light source, and emitted externally through the light exit surface. Therefore, the light released externally through the light exit surface of the light guide 54 has a substantially equal amount of light per unit area. Accordingly, the lamp has less variation in brightness and better visibility (see JP-A 2002-216510, for example).
The lamp with the LED light emitting unit described above disperses the light emitted from the single LED light source. Therefore, the amount of light per unit area released externally through the light exit surface of the light guide is small and accordingly the lamp has relatively low brightness. The single light source can not release lights of two or more types which limits the applicable range of the lamp.


An exposure determination method for determining exposure by extracting feature image data including person's face data. A color original image is divided into many picture elements, each picture element is resolved into three colors of red, green, and blue to photometrically measure them, a histogram of hue values is obtained in accordance with the data obtained through photometry, and the obtained histogram is divided into mountains. Picture elements are classified into groups corresponding to the divided mountains by judging which divided mountain each picture element of the color original image belongs to, the color original image is divided for each group, and at least one of the divided regions is selected to extract the data for the selected region as feature image data. Then, exposure for a copying material is determined in accordance with the extracted feature image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure determination method and a person's face data extraction method, more particularly to a method for extracting feature image data such as data for density of person's face, which is used to copy a color original image to a color or black-and-white copying material and the exposure determination method for determining an exposure by using the extracted data.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portion most remarked for appreciation of a portrait is the face of the person. To finish a high-quality photo, it is necessary to print the person's face with a proper color.
Conventionally, the face region in the original image of a color film is specified by a light pen to extract the data for the density of a person's face and an exposure is determined so that the face color is properly printed according to the extracted density data. This type of art is disclosed in the official gazettes of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 62-115430, 62-115431, 62-1-15432, 62-189456, 62-189457, 63-138340, and 63-178222.
However, the above related art has a problem that printing requires a lot of time because the operator has to specify the face region for each image by a light pen. Moreover, it is difficult to realize automation because the operator has to visually specify the face region.
Official gazettes of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 52-156624, 52-156625, 53-12330, 53-145620, 53-145621, and 53-145622 disclose the following method for extracting the data for person's face by extracting flesh-color data.
That is, an color original image is divided into many photometric points, each photometric point is resolved into three colors of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) and photometrically measured, and it is judged if the color of each photometric point calculated from photometric data is kept within the flesh-color range.
Then, a cluster (group) of the photometric points decided as a color within the flesh-color range is used for face density data. For this method, however, because colors within the flesh-color range are assumed as face density data, flesh color of ground, trunk of a tree, and clothes, or portions other than face having a color close to flesh color are extracted as face density data. Moreover, when the same object is photographed under the same condition, it may not be possible to automatically extract face density data if the type of film differs because the color tone differs in photographed images. Further more, when the color of a light source for illuminating an object differs, it may not be possible to automatically extract face density data if the color of the light source differs because the color tone of a photographed image differs (for example, an image photographed by using a fluorescent light for the light source shows green tone).
To solve the problem caused by the difference of light-source color, it is only necessary to correct the light-source color before extracting photometric data within the flesh-color range. The light source can roughly be classified into sunlight, fluorescent light, and tungsten light. The color tone of sunlight depends on the season and time zone and also on direct or indirect light even if the season and time zone are the same.
Artificial light such as fluorescent light has various color tones because products are diversified. Therefore, it is difficult to correct the light source by specifying the type of light source for each light source. Even if light source correction can completely be performed, it is impossible to avoid extracting flesh color of ground and trunk of a tree or portions with a color close to flesh color. Therefore, it is impossible to take action when the type of film differs.


Gelators gel a variety of nonpolar and polar liquids. Moreover, gelation of various monomers with subsequent polymerization of the gelled monomers forms organic zeolites and membrane materials. An ionic gelator includes salts of compounds of the formula (I): EQU R.sup.1 R.sup.2 R.sup.3 X-R.sup.4 !.+-.Y.-+. (I). where R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 are the same or different hydrogen or organic groups including alkyl groups, alkenyl groups, alkynyl groups, aryl groups, arylalkyl groups, alkoxy groups, aryloxy groups; X is a Group IIIA or Group VA element; R.sup.4 is a steroidal group, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, an alkynyl group, an aryl group, an arylalkyl group, an alkoxy group or an aryloxy group; and Y is a Group IA or Group VIIA element or one-half of a Group IIA or VIA element, that is, a divalent counterion. The gelling agent composition may include a single isomer or mixtures of isomers of the formula (I). A non-ionic gelator also includes compounds of the formula: EQU R.sup.1 R.sup.2 R.sup.3 X (II). where R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3 and X are defined as above.

The invention is directed to gelators and their use in gelling a plurality of nonpolar and polar liquids.
Gelation is one of the common forms of colloidal behavior, with gels having been prepared for many substances. A gel is a semisolid system having a high viscosity in the form of a jelly or paste. It is a two-phase colloidal system including a solid and a liquid in more solid form than a sol.
There are at least two general mechanisms of gel formation. The first involves the formation of a gel from an emulsoid. A fluid sol, which includes concentrated droplets of disperse phase scattered throughout a dilute solution of a dispersion medium, is cooled to a point where there is a disturbance of the equilibrium between the droplets and the surrounding dilute solution. The droplets draw the dilute solution into themselves, increase in size, and come into contact with one another forming cells like a honeycomb. This change results in a substantial decrease in fluidity of the sol, which progresses to a sponge-like structure representing a semi-solid jelly, otherwise known as a gel. Continuation of the process results in the viscous particles uniting to form a continuous phase, which encloses the droplets of what was previously the dispersion medium. The structure of the original emulsoid is thereby completely reversed with the more concentrated phase functioning as the dispersion medium, while the more dilute phase is discontinuous.
A second mechanism of gel formation involves the formation of a gel by cross-linking a polymer to form a network in a liquid medium. The liquid prevents the polymer network from collapsing into a compact mass and the network in turn retains the liquid. While some gels are cross-linked chemically by covalent bonds, other gels are cross-linked physically by weaker forces, such as hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces.
Gelled forms of organic solvents are of particular interest, with attention currently being focused on controlling the flammability of a large variety of organic solvents in order to significantly reduce fire hazard and improve the handling characteristics of the organic solvents.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,388,887 to Weissberger et al. discloses the use of 2-alkyl-substituted 1,4-dihydroxybenzene compounds as agents for producing stiff gels with liquid aliphatic hydrocarbons and liquid halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,751,284 to Hill et al. discloses "bodying agents" for gelling normally liquid hydrocarbons and other organic liquids. The gelling agents disclosed by Hill et al., are 2-component compositions, the first liquid component comprising an aluminum alkoxide in toluene or other aromatic hydrocarbon of high solvency power, and the second liquid component comprising a mixture of a low molecular weight ketone, water, and C.sub.6 -C.sub.18 fatty acids, preferably isooctanoic acids.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,033 to Kelly et al. discloses thickened, normally liquid hydrocarbons which are useful as fuel, as the charge in certain devices such as incendiary missiles, flame throwers, rockets, portable cooling stoves, and the like. The Kelly et al. process comprising mixing the normally liquid hydrocarbons with a very small proportion of solid, crystalline polypropylene. Surprisingly, according to Kelly et al., while propylene functions in the disclosed invention, polymers of other olefins, such as polyethylene and polybutenes were found to be completely ineffective. On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,635 to Sarem discloses gelled jet fuels produced by adding polyisobutylene, the resulting gel capable of being fluidized by high speed shearing, the fluidized gel then being suitable for pumping to a jet engine as a fluid.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,946 to Hiatt et al. discloses petroleum distillate fuel compositions in gelled form, the compositions are gelled at room temperature and liquid at elevated temperatures of about 55.degree. C. and above. The gelled compositions comprise 75-95 weight percent of a petroleum distillate fuel and from 5 to about 25 weight percent of a paraffinic hydrocarbon gelling agent containing from about 25 to about 35 carbon atoms per molecule with a melting range of about 140.degree. F. to about 155.degree. F.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,504 to Jones et al. discloses the production of gelled compositions containing gasoline and other normally liquid hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, xylenes, kerosene, naphthas, and the like, the compositions gelled by a process comprising dissolving a synthetic elastomer in a normally liquid hydrocarbon and treating the resulting solution with sulfur dioxide in the presence of a suitable catalyst, i.e., typically nitrates of the alkali metals, peroxides, hydroperoxides and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,973 to Iwama et al. discloses gelled hydrocarbon fuels prepared by gelling the hydrocarbon fuel with a fatty acid diethanolamide, diethanolamine, a fatty acid triethanolamine ester, or a triethanolamine. The compositions purportedly have the advantage that the gelled hydrocarbons are highly stable, have substantially reduced fluidity and still retain their desirable burning quality as fuels for heating means, reciprocating engines, diesel engines, jet engines and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,085 to Teng et al. discloses esters of hydroxypropyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl starch useful as gelling agents for organic solvents, the gelling agents particularly useful in gelling methylene chloride (useful in paint stripping) and ethyl bromide (useful in soil fumigants). The hydroxypropyl cellulose laurate derivative is disclosed as particularly useful as a gelling agent for jet fuel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,514 to Teng et al. discloses an improvement upon the invention of Teng et al. ('085, supra) by providing a gelled jet fuel having incorporated therein hydroxypropyl cellulose laurate and an additive comprising an elastic, high molecular weight, synthetic polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,594 to Tarpley discloses a thixotropic gel fuel composition comprising 5 to about 75 volume percent of solid carboniferous combustible material suspended in a liquid fuel and about 1 to about 10 weight percent of a substantially completely combustible gelling agent, said combustible gelling agent selected from the group consisting of natural and synthetic gums, resins, modified castor oil polymers and the like.
Other gelling agents have been used for organic liquids as well. U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,087 to Saito et al. discloses the use of a small amount of N-acyl amino acids or derivatives thereof, such as esters, amides, and amine salts of the N-acyl amino acids, as gelling agents for nonpolar organic liquids.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,719,712 to Vaterrodt discloses the formation of gels from solvents such as hexane, heptane, octane terpenes, sesqui-terpenes, benzene, ethyl acetate, and the like, including essential oils for use in the perfume industry. The gelling agent may be lanosterol, which is prepared by saponifying wool greases with sodium hydroxide, thereafter removing the lanoline acids as the insoluble calcium salt, and removing the lanolin alcohols by a suitable solvent such as acetone. The lanosterol is obtained from the lanolin alcohol filtrate by precipitation with acetone and methanol. The gelled hydrocarbons include 8-15% of lanosterol.
Terech, P. et al., J. Physique 46: 895-903 (1985) describes the results of a Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) study of a gel formed by a dilute solution (less than one weight percent solution) of a paramagnetic modified steroid, 3-beta-hydroxy-17,17-dipropenyl-17a-aza-D-homoandrostanyl-17a-oxy in cyclohexane.
Tachibana, T. et al., Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 53: 1714-1719 (1980), describes optically active 12-hydroxyoctadecanoic acids which form thermally reversible gels with aromatic solvents or carbon tetrachloride.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,961 to Weiss et al. describes a thermally reversible gel and a method for the formation of gels of certain organic liquids by adding to the organic liquid a gelling agent which is a cholesteryl and cholestanyl ester of anthracene and anthraquinone analogs and derivatives thereof. The mixture is heated until homogeneous and upon cooling a gel is formed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,580 to Bujanowski et al. utilize the same or similar gelator as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,961 for gelling organosilicon compounds. The gelation of organosilicon compounds is also mentioned in the patent to Weiss et al. The subject matter of these patents is incorporated herein by reference.
In an article by Lin et al., J. of Amer. Chem. Soc., Vol. 111, No. 15, pp. 5542-51, 1989, cholesteryl 4-(2-anthryloxy)butanoate and related molecules are described as a gelator for organic fluids. These gelators possess a butanoate linking group between the steroidal group in the anthryloxy group. See also Furman et al., Langmuir, Vol. 9, No. 8, pp. 84-88, 1993,and Mukkamala, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., pp. 375-6, 1995, which also disclose similar gelators.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,430 to Kido et al. describes a process for producing porous polystyrene gel by suspension polymerization in an aqueous system. More than 5 mol. % of a radical polymerization catalyst is added to styrene and divinyl benzene in an inert organic solvent. The organo solvent provides the porous nature of the material, which is formed by cross-linking the styrene with divinyl benzene. The porous polystyrene gel is used as a filler for chromatography.
However, in spite of the substantial research conducted in an effort to develop gelled organic solvents, a need has continued to exist for a gelator capable of gelling a wide variety of polar and nonpolar liquids. Moreover, there is a need for highly stable gelled material that is nontoxic and that may be fabricated into a membrane material for filtration purposes and an organic zeolite for control release of various compounds such as medicaments.


An integrated circuit having a cell arrangement is provided. The cell arrangement may include a memory cell and a reference cell. The memory cell has a first memory cell status and a second memory cell status. The reference cell is set to an intermediate memory cell status between the first memory cell status and the second memory cell status.

Recent developments in spin electronics have enabled the emergence of a new class of non-volatile memories, magnetic random access memories (MRAM). In general, MRAM exploits the electromagnetic properties of magnetoresistive materials to set and maintain information stored within individual magnetic memory cells, also called magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ). More specifically, digital information is stored within a magnetic memory cell as a bit, the state of which is indicated by the direction of magnetization within one magnetic layer of the memory cell relative to another magnetic layer of the memory cell. A typical magnetic memory cell may comprise two magnetic layers sandwiching a tunnel barrier layer. One magnetic layer has a fixed magnetic orientation, which may be referred to as the pinned magnetic layer or the reference layer. The reference layer serves as a reference for another magnetic layer within the cell. The other magnetic layer, also referred to as a free magnetic layer or storage layer, can be adapted to change its magnetic orientation relative to the reference layer such that logic states of a bit may be stored within the magnetic tunnel junction.

Integrated circuit, cell arrangement, method for manufacturing an integrated circuit and for reading a memory cell status, memory module


A method to provide privacy protection on a video includes performing people recognition on the video, when a registered person is recognized, determining if a privacy setting is turned on, and, when the privacy setting is turned on, performing privacy protection on the video. Performing privacy protection on the video includes pausing a recording of a live video, obscuring the registered person in the live video or a recorded video, or skipping ahead or deleting part of the recorded video.

A wireless security camera captures a live video and streams it over the Internet for remote viewing so a user stays connected with places, people, and pets, no matter where the user is located. Some wireless security camera manufacturers or third parties offer a recording service to store footage for the user to review afterwards.
Use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical elements.

Privacy for camera with people recognition


It is intended to provide a novel peptide which can exert higher antifungal effect also on a patient whose organ function is impaired with no side effect problems. The peptide comprises the following amino acid sequence: (1) SEQ ID NO:1: Lys -Arg-Leu-Phe-Arg-Arg-Trp-Gln-Trp-Arg-Tyr, (2) SEQ ID NO:2: Arg-Arg-Trp-Gln -Trp-Arg-Met-Lys-Lys-Tyr, (3) SEQ ID NO:3: Lys-Arg-Trp-Gln-TTp-Arg-Leu-Tyr, or (4) SEQ ID NO:4: Lys-Arg-Leu-Phe-Lys-Tyr, an antifungal agent comprising the peptide, a composition having a fungicidal and/or growth inhibitory action against fungus containing an effective amount of the peptide as an active ingredient, a medical apparatus/device which contains the peptide, whereby a fungicidal action is conferred, and a fungicidal and/or growth inhibiting method against fungus comprising administering the peptide and the like.

Most of fungi having pathogenicity for human have two-phase property that is to say, they can take both a yeast form and a mycelium form depending on environmental conditions. Some of the fungi do not have the two-phase property. In the yeast form, they exist as a single cell having a egg-like sphere, and will divide and grow through a process of budding. The mycelium form show a branched filamentous structure that is called mycelium, which consists of tandem cells with a cylindrical-shape or of multinuclear and elongated cells.
Such fungi include Candida, Cryptococcus, Aspergillus, etc. Candida are a normal inhabitant in oropharynges and digestive organs of healthy individuals. Cryptococcus are not only very often contained in soul and feces of a pigeon and a mouse, but also present in a humid place such as in a room. They will be carried by wind and contact humans. Aspergillus have been found since early times in soul and feces of birds, and recently they are very often found also in an air conduct and filter in a hospital. Although these fungi have a low infectious capacity for healthy individuals, they will release tissue-destructing substances such as exotoxin, endotoxin and protease. Most of the fungi will grow in patients receiving administration of anticancer agents, immunosuppressive agents, steroid agents, and broad-spectrum antibiotics, and show characteristics of opportunistic infection. Cell-mediated immunity in healthy individuals would sufficiently function against these fungi and serve as phylaxis. But, as the cell-mediated immunity in the above patients has been compromised, the infection would be permitted. Especially, in the cases of patients suffering from malignant diseases, patients with a transplanted organ, patients treated in an intensive care unit and the like, the above fungi would cause deep-seated mycosis such as deep candidiasis, or candidaemia, and would often have a severe outcome.
Amphotericin B belonging to polyenes is known as a therapeutic agent against these mycotic diseases. Antifungal agents such as flucytosine, ketoconazole and miconazole of imidazoles are known as well.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 3472821, Novel peptide, and Composition comprising the peptide    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent No. 3546231, Novel peptide, and Composition comprising the peptide    [Non-Patent Document 1] Oral Diseases (2004) 10, 221-228, Fungicidal effect of three new synthetic cationic peptides against Candida albicans

Peptides and compositions for inhibiting fungal growth


A quick connector coupling has either a linear or an angled female coupling member, a male coupling member which is attached to a radiator, a bushing, a sealing means, and a locking ring, which maintains the connection of the male coupling member and the female coupling member. The male member has at least one chamfered surface, which is complementary to a chamfered surface on the bushing element. The locking ring is disposed around the female coupling member and has a plurality of indentations which pass through apertures positioned around the collar end of the female member. These indentations interconnect with an annular groove around the male member when coupled to the female member, securing the connection.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Radiators, also known as heat exchangers, generally comprise a metallic header tank and connection pieces that are brazed onto them for connection of radiator hoses used to cool the engine. Generally, these hoses are attached by means of a barbed flange brazed onto the radiator upon which the radiator hose is slipped onto and secured by means of a hose clamp. Some hose clamps not only require placement at the proper location on the end of the hose as the hose is slipped over the barbed flange but, in addition, require manual tightening. Others utilize spring clips, but still require considerable manipulation in terms of properly locating the spring clip and then releasing pressure on the clip to allow the same to close tightly upon the hose and the nipple within the hose at that location.
Both of these types of connections, while effective in preventing leakage at the interface of the hose and the radiator, require considerably manual work to remove and replace and thus are not particularly economical, especially in a manufacturing assembly operation.
Furthermore, routine maintenance and repairs over the life of the vehicle often call for the hoses to be removed and replaced several times, causing wear on the end of the hose from repeated handling.
As a consequence, more recently, there have been proposals for so-called "quick-connect" couplings where it is merely necessary to fit one coupling half, associated with the heat exchange fluid conduit, to the other coupling half, associated with the heat exchanger header. One such proposal is found in German Patent Publication DE 100 17 679 C1, while another is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,848,723.
Despite the advantages in the cited prior art, there is the need for a quick connector for a fluid conduit to attach to a radiator, which is simple and economical to manufacture and provides a superior seal between the conduit and the radiator, while still allowing for the quick separation when necessary.


A transfer device for transferring solid articles, comprising: a cylindrical member which has a supply opening formed at one end portion and a discharge opening formed at the other end portion, such that an angle formed between an axis of the cylindrical member and a horizontal plane is not more than 75.degree.; a transfer member which is rotatably provided in the cylindrical member; the transfer member including a rotary shaft extending along the axis of the cylindrical member and a helical vane projecting from a peripheral surface of the rotary shaft such that lead angle of the helical vane at its outer peripheral edge ranges from 3.degree. to 25.degree.; and a drive member so as to rotate the transfer member about the axis of the cylindrical member at a rotational speed of not more than 500 r.p.m.

The present invention generally relates to transfer devices in which solid articles such as tablets, capsules, granules and powders are transferred efficiently along a transfer face of a helical vane provided in a cylindrical member without causing damage to the solid articles. More particularly, this invention relates to a transfer device in which the fluidity of the solid articles is raised and moisture absorption of the solid articles is prevented during their transfer, while also facilitating efficient removal of dust or other foreign particles, mixed into transfer space, and efficient rinsing and drying of the transfer device at the time of its maintenance.
Generally, in production processes of solid articles such as granules and powders, the solid articles are transferred horizontally, upwardly or downwardly and between neighboring production processes. Meanwhile, since the surfaces of pharmaceutical tablets or capsules are readily damaged by external force applied during their transfer so as to be subjected to cracks or chips and since the entry of foreign matter into the pharmaceutical tablets or capsules should be prevented such that strict quality level of the pharmaceutical tablets or capsules is required to be maintained, great care should be given to their transfer.
Conventionally, in order to transfer solid articles such as tablets, mechanical transfer devices have been employed and include a bucket conveyor, an inclined belt conveyor and a brush conveyor disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-13153 (1991).
As shown in FIG. 1, the prior art bucket conveyor includes a number of buckets 202 mounted on a vertically circulating conveyor 201. Solid articles supplied from a discharge opening 204 of a preceding process 203 are received by a bucket 202 disposed below. Bucket 202 is then conveyed upwardly by a belt conveyor 201 such that the solid articles accommodated in the bucket 202 are discharged to a supply opening 207 of the next process 206.
However, in the prior art bucket conveyor, since the solid articles are supplied into or discharged from the bucket, the solid articles are readily subjected to impact at the time of their supply or discharge so as to be damaged on their surfaces, thereby resulting in a risk of cracks or chips of the solid articles. Therefore, it is especially difficult to use the prior art bucket conveyor for transfer of pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, disassembly, assembly and maintenance of the bucket conveyor cannot be performed easily. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to rinse the bucket conveyor in its assembled state and the bucket conveyor cannot be rinsed with water. Hence, when solid articles of one kind are replaced by solid articles of another kind, mutual contamination may take place. Therefore, troublesome cleaning operation, in which several workers manually wipe over the bucket conveyor for a long period of time is necessary. Thus, the replacement of the solid articles of one kind by the solid articles of another kind is not easy. In addition, since a transfer path of the solid articles opens outwardly, the bucket conveyor can be neither converted to in-line application nor closed, thereby resulting in the risk of entry of foreign matter into the bucket conveyor.
As shown in FIG. 2, the prior art inclined belt conveyor 214 includes a supply portion 211 and a discharge portion 212, which are both disposed horizontally, and an upwardly inclined intermediate portion 213. Solid articles supplied from a preceding process 215, to the supply portion 211 disposed below, are transferred upwardly by the belt conveyor 214 and then, discharged from the upper discharge portion 212 to a supply opening 217 of the next process 216.
Disassembly and assembly of the prior art inclined belt conveyor 214 are also not easy. Furthermore, the inclined belt conveyor 214 in its assembled state cannot be rinsed with water. Thus, the prior art inclined belt conveyor 214 has drawbacks similar to those of the prior art bucket conveyor.
As shown in FIG. 3, the prior art brush conveyor includes an inclined cylindrical member 221 having a supply opening 223 and a discharge opening 225, formed at its lower portion 222 and its upper portion 224, respectively. A helical coil 226 is fixed to an inner surface of the cylindrical member 221 and a rotary brush 228 is rotatably provided along an axis 227 of the cylindrical member 221. Solid articles supplied into the supply opening 223 from a preceding process are pushed outwardly by the rotary brush 228 so as to be rotated along the inner surface of the cylindrical member 221. Since the helical coil 226 is fixed to the inner surface of the cylindrical member 221, the solid articles are transferred upwardly along the coil 226 so as to be discharged to the next process from the upper discharge opening 225. This prior art brush conveyor has the advantage of being easily converted into in-line application or being closed.
However, in the prior art brush conveyor, since the solid articles are depressed against the inner surface of the cylindrical member 221 during their transfer by the rotary brush 228, so as to be rubbed against the inner surface of the cylindrical member 221, the solid articles may be damaged on their surfaces. Accordingly, it is difficult to use the prior art brush conveyor for transfer of pharmaceutical tablets or the like. Meanwhile, in the prior art brush conveyor, if the solid articles penetrate into the rotary brush 228, so as to be brought out of contact with the coil 226, the solid articles are merely rotated about the axis 227 of the cylindrical member 221. Thus, the solid articles cannot be transferred upwardly along the coil 226. In other words, only a portion of the solid articles, those which remain adjacent to the inner surface of the cylindrical member 221, are transferred, thereby resulting in poor transfer efficiency.
Furthermore, in the prior art brush conveyor, since only a portion of the solid articles, are transferred upwardly, friction between the solid articles and the coil 226 must be increased. For example, in the case of sugar-coated tablets, if the angle of inclination of the cylindrical member 221 is set at 20.degree. or more, the solid articles cannot be transferred upwardly even if the number of revolutions of the rotary brush 228 is raised. In addition, since it is desirable that the friction between the solid articles and the coil 226 be minimized to prevent damage to the solid articles, high friction of the solid articles with the coil 226 for transferring the solid articles upwardly and low friction of the solid articles with the coil 226 for preventing damage to the solid articles are contradictory to each other. Consequently, in the prior art brush conveyor, if the solid articles are to be transferred without causing damage to the solid articles, the angle of inclination of the cylindrical member 221 cannot be increased.
Meanwhile, in order to solve the above mentioned problems of the conventional transfer devices, the applicant disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Nos. 6-211100 (1994) and 7-194587 (1995), shown in FIG. 4, a transfer device 230 which is capable of transferring solid articles, such as tablets, efficiently without causing damage to the solid articles, is closed as a whole so as to enable so-called in-line rinsing in its assembled state, which may be disassembled and assembled simply through reduction of the number of its components, and which may be easily maintained. This transfer device 230 includes a cylindrical member 232 having a supply portion 231 provided at one end, a central shaft 234 extending through an axis 233 of the cylindrical member 232 and a helical vane 235 provided around the central shaft 234. A transfer space 236 is defined between a peripheral surface of the central shaft 234 and an inner surface of the cylindrical member 232. A transfer face 237 is formed on one of the opposite faces of the helical vane 235 such that solid articles 238 supplied into the transfer space 236 from the supply portion 231 can be transferred along the transfer face 237 towards the other end of the cylindrical member 232.
As shown in FIG. 4, where the solid articles 238 are to be transferred vertically downwardly, the helical vane 235 is not required to be rotated. In other words, the solid articles 238 are gravitationally transferred while helically turning around the central shaft 234. On the other hand, where the solid articles 238 are to be transferred horizontally or upwardly, the axis 233 of the cylindrical member 232 is set to a transfer direction and the helical vane 235 is rotated about the axis 233 of the cylindrical member 232, so that the solid articles 238 are displaced along the central shaft 234 so as to be transferred.
In the known transfer device 230 referred to above, since the solid articles 238 are integrally transferred without much change of relative position, the solid articles 238 can be transferred efficiently without being subjected to external force such as impact force. Furthermore, since the transfer space 236 is covered by the cylindrical member 232, the transfer device 230 can be closed easily. Thus, in-line rinsing of the transfer device 230 can be performed. Furthermore, since the number of components of the transfer device 230 is quite small, maintenance, such as disassembly and assembly, can be performed easily. However, the known transfer device 230 has the following inconveniences (1) to (5).
(1) Since the solid articles 238 are displaced on the transfer face 237 formed on one face of the helical vane 235, the surfaces of solid articles 238 may be damaged if frictional force applied from the transfer face 237 to the solid articles 238 becomes extremely large. Such may be the case where the transfer rate of the solid articles 238 is increased.
(2) Where the solid articles 238 are formed by powder, the so-called bridging phenomenon of the powder may occur, thereby resulting in the risk of clogging the transfer space 236.
(3) Since the transfer space 236 is enclosed within the cylindrical member 232, the flow of ambient gas of the solid articles 238 is small. Therefore, the solid articles 238 are likely to absorb moisture due to the rise of humidity in the transfer space 236 and thus, may lose their superficial gloss or be deformed. For example, when humidity reaches 80%, the external appearance of sugar-coated tablets may be injured due to dissolution of the surfaces of the sugar-coated tablets or loss of gloss of the of the sugar-coated tablets.
(4) Since the flow of ambient gas of the solid 238 is small, it is difficult to remove dust and other foreign matters mixed in between the solid articles 238.
(5) As the transfer face 237 is formed on one face of the helical vane 235, the helical vane 235 has corner portions in the vicinity of the central shaft 234. Since it is difficult to pass cleaning fluid and drying air through the corner portions, the corner portions of the helical vane 235 cannot be rinsed or dried easily.
Moreover, the present invention also relates to a transfer device acting as a supply device for supplying solid articles into a vessel which is provided with the supply device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a supply device for supplying pharmaceutical tablets such as sugar-coated tablets, uncoated tablets and film coated tablets, pharmaceutical solid articles such as granules, powders and capsules or solid articles such as candies into various vessels including transfer vessels such as a container, a tank and a flow bin, a tank, a drum, and a hopper and where the vessel is provided with the supply device.
Where pharmaceutical tablets, such as sugarcoated tablets, uncoated tablets and film coated tablets, pharmaceutical solid articles, such as granules, powders and capsules or solid articles, such as candies, are supplied into a container, the solid articles may strike a bottom of the container or impinge upon one another thereby resulting in failures, cracks or chips on surfaces of the solid articles. Especially in the case of pharmaceutical tablets, defects such as cracks and chips pose a serious problem. Accordingly, various attempts to mitigate the impact of the fall have been made.
For example, in a container 241 formed by a flow bin as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of flat plates (baffles) 242 inclined towards a bottom 241b of the container 241 are provided in the container 241 at multiple stages from a supply opening 241a. Solid articles 243 are supplied into the container 241 from the supply opening 241a and fall to the bottom 241b while sequentially hitting the baffles 242. However, by adding baffles 242 the container 241 becomes structurally complicated. Furthermore, since the baffles 242 are required to be attached to the interior of the container 241 by welding, production costs of the container 241 rise. In addition, it becomes more difficult to rinse the container 241, even in its disassembled state. Meanwhile, it is impossible to prevent impacts even though the solid articles 243 fall onto the baffles 242. In addition, since the container 241 is not suitable for storing fine powder, it is difficult to use the container 241 for both pharmaceutical tablets and powdery solid articles.
On the other hand, a device shown in FIG. 6 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 6-135522 (1994). This known device includes a cylindrical member 255 standing vertically from the vicinity of the bottom of a container (not shown). A plurality of screw members 257, each formed with a helical groove 256, are provided in the cylindrical member 255 so as to be spaced a predetermined interval from each other by a collar 258. Meanwhile, an upper lid 259 having an inlet 259a is mounted on an upper end of the cylindrical member 25S and a lower lid 260 having an outlet 260a is mounted on a lower end of the cylindrical member 255. Furthermore, openings 255a and 255b are formed at portions of a side wall of the cylindrical member 255, which correspond to the collars 258, respectively. Solid articles are supplied into the cylindrical member 255 from the inlet 259a. The solid articles are, in turn, guided by the helical groove 256 while being turned helically so as to fall into the container from the outlet 260a. When the solid articles have accumulated on the bottom of the container, the outlet 260a is closed by the accumulated solid articles. Thus additional solid articles supplied from the inlet 259a remain in the helical groove 256 of the lowermost screw member 257. If solid articles are further supplied into the cylindrical member 255 from the inlet 259a, the solid articles remaining in the helical groove 256 of the lowermost screw member 257 eventually reach the lower opening 255a and are, in turn, discharged from the opening 255a. If the solid articles are further accumulated in the cylindrical member 255 so as to close the opening 255a, the solid articles remaining in the helical groove 256 of the intermediate screw member 257 rise and thus, are discharged from the upper opening 255b. In the known device of FIG. 6, as the amount of accumulated solid articles increases, the solid articles are discharged sequentially first from the outlet 260a, then from the lower opening 255a and finally from the upper opening 255b.
However, in the device of FIG. 6, since the solid articles still must fall into the container or out of openings 255a and 255b, the solid articles may be subjected to cracks or chips in dependence of their strength. In this device, the solid articles are not discharged into the container until the solid articles remaining in the helical groove 256 reach the upper opening 255b after the outlet 260a and the lower opening 255a have been closed by the accumulated solid articles. Furthermore, in this device, based on conditions such as size of the openings 255a and 255b, positions of the openings 255a and 255b, the type of the solid articles to be supplied, the amount of the solid articles supplied per unit period, a phenomenon may occur in which the solid articles fall into the container from the openings 255a and 255b before sufficient solids have accumulated at outlet 206a. If the solid articles fall from the openings 255a and 255b as described above, the solid articles may be subjected to failures, cracks and chips.
Furthermore, in this device, since the only portions of the cylindrical member 255 which remain open are the inlet 259a, the outlet 260a, and the openings 255a and 255b little ventilation in the helical groove 256 occurs, so that the solid articles may be damped. Especially, in the case of sugar-coated tablets not subjected to sufficient cool drying after the coating process. In this case, the tablets may be damped according to ambient conditions such as temperature, so that water may condense on the coated surfaces of the tablets, thereby resulting in loss of gloss of the surfaces of the tablets. Another problem occurs printed if the solid articles are damped. A printed portion of one solid article may impinge upon a nonprinted portion of another solid article at the time of the fall so as to transfer the print of one solid article to a nonprinted portion of the other. Moreover, since the solid articles are discharged from a plurality of openings 255a and 255b, the amount of supply of tablets and the types of the usable tablets are restricted.
The device of FIG. 7, disclosed by application in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 61-127420 (1986), shows a transfer device acting as a supply device which includes a helical chute 281 for guiding tablets and a lift means 282 for displacing the helical chute 281 upwardly while rotating the helical chute 281 in a predetermined direction. In this prior art supply device, the amount of solid articles accumulated in a container 283 increases as the lowermost position of the helical chute 281 is lifted, such that the falling distance of the solid articles is maintained at a predetermined value.
In the conventional supply device of FIG. 7, since the direction of discharge of the solid articles 273 into the container 283 changes in response to the rotation of the helical chute 281, the solid articles 273 are uniformly accumulated in the container 283. Moreover, since the solid articles 273 are discharged from a lower end of the helical chute 281 continuously, efficiency for supplying the solid articles 273 is excellent. However, since the lift means 282 and a control means for controlling the lift means 282 are required, the conventional supply device is structurally complicated. Thus, it is difficult to perform maintenance checks and production cost tend to be high.

Transfer device for transferring solid articles


There is provided an RF tag reader including an omission-in-reading determining section which determines that an RF tag belonging to a predetermined group might be unread when tag information is not acquired from an RF tag, which belongs to the group and whose tag information is not acquired yet, within a predetermined time after tag information corresponding to any one of a plurality of RF tags grouped as the predetermined group is acquired.

In recent years, an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system attracts attention and is widespread in the distribution sector, for example. The RFID system includes an RF tag (also referred to as an RFID tag), which includes an IC chip and an antenna and is attached to a product, and an RF tag reader and writer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a reader and writer), which reads information stored in the memory of the RF tag IC chip in a non-contact manner and writes information into the memory of the RF tag IC chip in a non-contact manner.
As processing in the RFID system, for example, there is processing of reading the information collectively from a plurality of RF tags during inventory work in a store or the like (hereinafter, referred to as batch read). In this case, the reader and writer emits radio waves over a distant range of several meters and executes communication with unspecified RF tags attached to a plurality of products in order to read the information stored in the RF tags collectively. In general, the RF tags to be read are disposed in a spatially wider range than the read range of an antenna of the reader and writer. Accordingly, during inventory work or the like, the tag information is acquired from RF tags while moving the antenna of the reader and writer to change the communication range.
In a known reader and writer, however, omission of reading occurred frequently because communication was generally performed while moving an antenna of the reader and writer. For this reason, a technique for detecting omission of reading and acquiring information from a tag which was not read is proposed. However, since reading work is performed while moving, the user is frequently beyond the range where communication with an unread tag is possible.

RF tag reader and RF tag information acquisition method


A vinyl weld seam cleaner having a fixed support head and a movable support head. The movable support head accommodates windows of varying widths. Each support head has an upper and lower machine head that houses a tool head. The tool heads have interchangeable tools. The machine head and tool head cooperate together to allow tools on the tool heads to move in three dimensions. The tools can clean and machine at a 45.degree. angle along a weld seam or at a 90.degree. angle relative to the top, sides and bottoms of a window frame. The window frame is engaged by an inner conveyor belt that moves the frame into and out of a first cleaning position for cleaning and machining the top corners of the window frame, and into and out of a second cleaning position for cleaning and machining the bottom corners. The inner conveyor includes fixed and movable fences, tabletop back fences, and clamps. The top corners are simultaneously cleaned and the bottom corners are simultaneously cleaned. The tool heads present themselves at a 30.degree. angle toward the window frame.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the manufacture of window frames and, in particular, to the cleaning of weld seams on vinyl window frames.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vinyl window frames are composed of four members affixed at the ends by welding. Each member has a 45.degree. angle at each end and forms a four-corner window frame when completed. The welding operation along the 45.degree. angle leaves a welding bead along the weld seams. The bead is not aesthetic and interferes with the window fitting, and must be removed or cleaned. After the cleaning of the corners is completed, other operations are performed on the windows such as drilling and routing.
Present vinyl window frame weld seam cleaners provide a cleaning mechanism for the window corners, but cannot perform other operations such as drilling or routing. This is because the tool head and tools on the tool head perform their cleaning operations along an X and Y plane, and must be positioned at a 45.degree. angle for aligning with the weld seam. Other tool operations are performed at a 90.degree. angle with respect to the front, back or sides of the window frame, and require additional tool heads placed perpendicular to the top, bottom and sides of the frames to be machined to perform these operations.
An example of a single tool head corner cleaner is a manually run cleaner that takes a single window corner at a time. The window is rotated at a 45.degree. angle by the operator and the corner placed in a 45.degree. angle guide. The tool head is positioned in front of the operator and performs its cleaning operations. The operator then initiates the cleaning operation and the corner is cleaned. The operator then rotates the window to do another corner until all four corners have been cleaned. Additional tool operations are performed at a separate station. The speed of the cleaning is largely dictated by the skill and speed of the operator of the cleaning process and the speed of the subsequent machining operation.
A two machine headed tool cleaning machine call be manually operated or can be automated. In either case, each machine head is placed at a 45.degree. angle transverse with one another. The window frame is loaded such that both corners of the front of the window frame are cleaned simultaneously by the machine heads. The tool heads of the machine head present themselves and clean along the X and Y axis. A second operation must be performed by loading the other back of the frame to clean the remaining two corners. Additional machine operations may be performed on a separate station, or additional tool heads may be added for 90.degree. operations. The entire operation is time consuming, tedious and operator dependent.
A four-headed window weld frame cleaner includes four heads positioned at different 45.degree. angles that simultaneously clean all four corners of the window. The machine heads again present themselves at a 45.degree. angle and clean along an X and Y axis. Additional tooling operations may be performed at a separate station or additional tool heads added at each corner to perform 90.degree. operations.
If one head is not operational in a one-, two- or four-headed machine, the entire machine cannot be used. Additionally, operations performed on the front, back or sides of the window frames cannot be accomplished by these machines, and must be performed at a separate station or additional tool heads must be added to the current machine. Most of these machines must be reprogrammed and/or be manually adjusted to be used on windows of different sizes and types.
The present invention alleviates the problems with the prior art by providing a fully automated two-headed window cleaner, that performs both 45.degree. and 90.degree. operations on all four corners of a vinyl window frame in a single operation. The present invention can be used on a variety of different types and sizes of windows without adjustment or reprogramming. Finally, the present invention performs operations faster and more efficiently than the prior art.


The invention concerns a cryogenic system (1) for vitrifying a substance comprising biological material to be preserved in a receiving region of a thin tube (8), comprising a tank (10) containing a bath (11) of a cryogenic agent and a support member (80) mounted on said tank in a predetermined first position in which said tube is orientated upright, the receiving region being immersed in a liquid zone (17) of said bath, and an opening of said tube being situated above said bath, in a zone of ambient air above said bath, in order to introduce the substance into the tube, the support member being mounted on said tank in a second predetermined position, in which said receiving region is immersed in the liquid zone and said opening is situated immediately above said liquid zone, in a gaseous zone (18) of said bath above said liquid zone and below said zone of ambient air, and being raised from said second position.

Packaging casings for biological material configured to be plunged into a liquid cryogenic agent conventionally form part of a packaging set comprising, in addition to the casing, a carrier comprising a receiving zone for a volume of substance comprising biological material, such as an embryo or an oocyte.
The casing comprises a thin tube having a predetermined inside diameter, into which the carrier is configured to be inserted. The thin tube is generally formed from a polymer material having the capacity to be easily welded while providing good sealing. The thin tube has an opening at a first end while it has a weld in the neighborhood of the opposite end.
A first known vitrifying system comprises a tub configured to contain a certain volume of liquid nitrogen.
To package the predetermined volume of biological substance, this is deposited beforehand on the carrier, then the carrier is inserted into the thin tube by its opening. A weld is then made in the neighborhood of the first end of the thin tube so as to hermetically seal the casing. The casing welded at both ends is lastly plunged fully, that is to say immersed, in the liquid nitrogen to vitrify the biological substance.
A second known vitrifying system comprises a tub that is also configured to contain a certain volume of liquid nitrogen, and a cover configured to be placed on the tub and comprising a wall extending to be situated over the liquid nitrogen. The cover has cut-outs provided in the wall and each of which is configured to keep the tube of a casing engaged in the cut-out in a substantially vertical orientation.
This second system is illustrated for example in American "design patent" U.S. D642,697 S.
The packaging of the biological substance is carried out in the following way: The thin tube of the casing is engaged in the cut-out of the cover such that the portion of the thin tube receiving the biological substance to vitrify is immersed in the liquid nitrogen, while the end portion of the thin tube comprising the opening is not immersed in the liquid nitrogen and is located above the cover, in the ambient air.
The biological substance is deposited on the carrier, which is inserted into the thin tube by its opening in the ambient air. A weld is then made in the neighborhood of the first end of the thin tube so as to hermetically seal the casing. If need be, the casing welded at both ends may be plunged fully, that is to say immersed, in the liquid nitrogen to vitrify the biological substance.

System and method for vitrifying a biological substance


In one aspect, an artillery projectile apparatus is provided that includes a carrier projectile containing a payload, and a fuze disposed at an ogive of the projectile and which is configured to eject the payload when the fuze is detonated. The fuze includes a receiver configured to receive location information from a radionavigation source and a processor configured to acquire position data from the receiver. The processor is also configured to estimate a projectile flight path using the position data, to determine intercept parameters of the artillery projectile relative to an ejection plane of its payload cargo, and to adjust an ejection event initiation command time of the payload in accordance with the determined intercept parameters. In some configurations, the present invention dramatically decreases range errors typically associated with delivering artillery payloads to specific targets.

Studies performed on the long-range accuracy of the current U.S. Army artillery shell stockpile have suggested that at ranges above 20 kilometers, numerous rounds must be fired to achieve a lethal effect on the target. Area saturation can be used to defeat or immobilize a target, at the costs of delaying advancing troops from reaching the target and allowing an enemy some opportunity to evade an assault. Additionally, conventional munition inaccuracies require friendly fire target standoff distances of greater than 600 meters, which prevents suppressive fire in support of target engagement by advancing troops for as much as 20 minutes.
Precision weapons are being developed to increase range, to significantly reduce the conventional munition logistic task and to resolve the battle engagement time and mobility issues. However, precision weapons are expensive, and their high accuracy may not be required for conventional munition ranges.

Accuracy fuze for airburst cargo delivery projectiles