An object of the present invention is to provide an antioxidant composition that is effective in the living body against active oxygen species produced in the body. The present invention provides an antioxidant composition having the effect of suppressing three active oxygen species, i.e. hypochlorite radicals, hydroxyl radicals, and peroxynitrite radicals, with respect to active oxygen species produced in the body, the antioxidant composition comprising a mixture in which at least 20 mg of vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid or sodium L-ascorbate) as an agent to scavenge peroxynitrite active oxygen, and at least 2 mg of caffeic acid analogue compound(s), at least 10 mg of polyphenyol compound(s) or at least 1.5 mg of carotenoid compound(s) as an agent to scavenge hydroxyl radical active oxygen are combined with 100 mg of histidine-containing dipeptide, or sulfur-containing amino acids or analogues thereof obtained from animal extract as an agent for scavenging hypochlorite active oxygen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composition having anti-oxidative activity that is derived from natural extracts of animals and plants, and more particularly to an antioxidant composition that can exhibit anti-oxidative activity in the living body against active oxygen species which are produced in the body. The present invention provides a novel antioxidant composition that enables the preparation of food products and food product ingredients that provide protection against a wide range of lifestyle diseases, more specifically, protection against diabetes-related diseases in diabetic patients who have a markedly high level of active oxygen, by eliminating oxidative stress caused by active oxygen produced within the body.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years in Japan the increasing number of various geriatric diseases associated with an aging population and the increased human and economic burden of medical care thereof have become extremely serious problems. The aging of organisms and the onset of disease are, in a sense, inextricably related, and therefore it is unavoidable that as the population ages, the number of people with diseases will also increase. Thus, it is important to delay the progression of aging in humans as much as possible to suppress the onset of disease.
The primary cause of aging in human beings is the fact that the cells constituting the body are limited in the number of times they can divide and propagate to regenerate tissue, and the number of cellular divisions reaches its limit and tissue regeneration capability decreases because cells are subjected to various kinds of damage. Aging progresses due to factors that damage cells, for example, exposure to ultraviolet light and radiation, chemicals, etc., and to active oxygen that is produced within the bodies of living organisms. More specifically, active oxygen is a substance that is naturally produced by organisms that utilize oxygen to perform energy metabolism, and in that sense, it can be said that the aging we undergo occurs naturally. Therefore, the suppression of the harmful effects of active oxygen that is produced within the body plays an important role as a primary countermeasure to delay aging and suppress the onset of age-related diseases.
In the past various antioxidants have appeared on the market, but almost all were prepared from a single constituent or single starting material. However, there are many different active oxygen species produced in the body, and concrete examples include superoxide (O2−) produced from oxygen gas incorporated into the body. This O2− is converted to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) by an enzyme called superoxide dismutase (SOD), and the H2O2 goes on to generate a hydroxyl radical (OH•) by transition metal catalysis. In addition to H2O2, white blood cells produce active oxygen to destroy bacteria that invade the body, and these forms of active oxygen include the hypochlorite radical, nitric oxide radical, etc.
On the one hand, various species of antioxidants are used to remove these types of active oxygen, but sufficient investigations have not been performed to determine whether these antioxidants are effective against all active oxygen species or only a limited number of species thereof. The inventors investigated the effects of antioxidants on the oxidative degradation of protein by various active oxygen species, and these investigations revealed that different antioxidants are effective against different active oxygen species, and there are very few antioxidants that are effective against all active oxygen species in the body. In other words, substances that have potent antioxidative action include the following: against the hypochlorite radical (ClO•), the peptides anserine and carnosine, reduced glutathione (GSH), and sulfur-containing amino acids or analogs thereof that are present in the bodies of various species of animals; against the peroxynitrite radical (ONOO•), vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid, V.C.); and against the hydroxyl radical (OH•), vitamin E (α-tocopherol, V.E.). It has already been confirmed that combinations and compositions of antioxidants wherein antioxidants are used together rather than independently are effective in completely eliminating the damage caused by active oxygen produced in the body (see Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-025210).
In the past various antioxidants have been tested for the prevention of various types of diseases, and lifestyle diseases in particular. For example, these include polyphenols such as V.C., V.E., β-carotene, catechins, etc. However, when we look at the prevention of diseases, e.g., the prevention of diseases such as cancer, etc., by these antioxidants, few findings show that they are effective. Conversely, most results show that they have no clinical efficacy (see J. Kaikkonen, et al. Free Radicals Research, Vol. 33, p. 329-340, 2000), and antioxidants have not provided the effect of preventing diseases and aging as much as had been expected. Possible causes include the following: first, there are many active oxygen species produced in the body, and it is almost impossible to eliminate all of their damaging effects with a single antioxidant; furthermore, with the exception of V.C., most of the other antioxidants derived from plants have a structural backbone such as a phenol group, etc., that exhibits the property of lipid solubility, and polyphenols are so poorly absorbed by the human gastrointestinal tract that the amount absorbed into the body is no more than 1/1000 of the amount ingested orally, etc. Therefore, most of these antioxidants have not sufficiently displayed efficacy in the body even when they have demonstrated extremely potent antioxidant activity in vitro.
To overcome these deficiencies, it is important to have an antioxidant composition that can counteract the wide range of active oxygen species and to select materials that can sufficiently counteract the OH• produced in the process of energy metabolism. As noted above, the peptides anserine and carnosine, reduced glutathione (GSH), and sulfur-containing amino acids obtained from animal materials have strong antioxidant activity against ClO•; V.C., which is a water-soluble vitamin, has strong antioxidant activity against ONOO•; and V.E., which is a fat-soluble vitamin, has strong antioxidant activity against OH•. However, the strong antioxidant activity of V.E. against OH• is one that inhibits proteolysis, and when we compare it with other antioxidants derived from plants, this activity is approximately 1/5000 that of the carotenoid astaxanthin, 1/2000 to 1/1000 that of the polyphenol catechins and quercetin, and 1/1000 to 1/500 that of caffeic acid derivatives (Table 1). Therefore, even though V.E. is absorbed well by the gastrointestinal tract and it is distributed throughout the whole body, a large amount must be ingested to scavenge OH•. However, there are problems with V.E. because the maximum daily dose to be taken by adults is 300 mg, it is harmful if taken in excess, and because it is an oil, it suffers a loss of antioxidant activity during storage and food processing becomes difficult.


A cap for use with a beverage container comprising a housing that attaches to a beverage container, the housing comprising an opening for dispensing the contents of the beverage container and further comprising a valve activated by a valve button. A sensor within the housing estimates the amount of a fluid that has been dispensed from the opening and a display device is provided for displaying the amount of fluid that has been dispensed from the opening. The display device may be any type of display, including an LED display, and LCD display, or a plurality of indicator lights.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of beverage container caps and containers. In particular, the invention relates to a reusable, washable cap that can be used with a variety of different beverage containers.
2. Description of Related Art
The prior art includes reusable water bottles and other insulated and non-insulated beverage containers with removable caps of various types. Such beverage containers come in a huge variety of styles and configurations with caps ranging from simple threaded lids that must be completely removed to drink the beverage, to complex systems with straws, valves, and other mechanisms. Existing systems, however, have failed to meet the need for a beverage container and cap that is easy to carry, easy to use without unwanted spillage, and dishwasher safe. Existing beverage containers have further failed to meet the need to provide users with useful information during use of the container as part of various activities such as walking, hiking, biking, etc.
The present invention overcomes these problems, providing a dishwasher safe cap for a beverage container that can be carried by hand or securely attached to a belt, garmet, or bag, with a simple, reliable valve. The cap can be equipped with various sensors and output devices that provide a range of useful information to the user.


A front-mounted swimming snorkel has a forehead brace which pivots about an axis perpendicular to the snorkel tube to adapt to different swimmers' heads.

Swimmers in a swimming pool or an open body of water often use the front crawl stroke, where in order to breathe, a swimmer must either lift his or her head or rotate it to one side, which also rotates and disrupts the body alignment. While diving snorkels have long been used to permit divers to breathe when near the surface of the water without lifting their heads from the water, snorkels have only recently been developed to allow swimmers to breathe while using the front crawl or other strokes without lifting or turning their heads.
The present inventor has disclosed and claimed a front-mounted snorkel in International application no. PCT/CA2006/02912, filed 24 Feb. 2006, and issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,965 issued May 23, 2006, which are incorporated herein by reference. A front-mounted swimmer's snorkel is also disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. Des 406,333 of Finis, Inc. It has a snorkel tube positioned in front of the user's forehead and secured by a head-brace, which extends above the water surface and has at its lower end a mouthpiece held in the user's mouth and a water purge valve. A problem with the Finis snorkel is that the head brace is at a fixed angle relative to the mouthpiece tube, so it does not accommodate swimmers with differently shaped foreheads.
There is a need therefore for a front-mounted swimming snorkel which adapts to different swimmers with varying head sizes and shapes.

Hinged headbrace for front-mounted swimming snorkel


A method, system and computer program product for allocating compute nodes among cloud groups. Policies are created for cloud groups for specifying conditions when a compute node will need to be borrowed by a cloud group as well as when the borrowed compute node is to be returned. Furthermore, priorities are assigned to the conditions in the policies for borrowing a compute node as well as to the cloud groups concerning borrowing compute nodes. A compute node is allocated temporarily from a first cloud group to a second cloud group based on the priority assigned to the second cloud group and the priority assigned to the monitored condition invoking the borrowing of the compute node as well as based on the monitored condition satisfying a condition in the policy for the second cloud group as to when the compute node will need to be borrowed by the second cloud group.

In a cloud computing environment, computing is delivered as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices as a metered service over a network, such as the Internet. In such an environment, computation, software, data access and storage services are provided to users that do not require knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services.
A cloud computing environment has a fixed number of hardware resources on which to run virtual workloads. These hardware resources are commonly referred to as "compute nodes." In a typical cloud environment, the compute nodes may be divided into task-specific groups. For example, a set of 15 compute nodes may be divided evenly between three departments in an organization. The subdivision of compute nodes may result in the situation where one of the cloud groups runs out of a resource even the cloud environment contains available hardware (i.e., compute nodes) assigned to another group.
Currently, when a compute node fails in a cloud group, the compute node is swapped with another compute node. However, there is currently no analysis being performed as to the duration of time necessary for the newly installed compute node to continue to replace the compute node. The newly installed compute node may no longer need to continue to replace the compute node and could be utilized by another cloud group with a greater need for the resource.
Furthermore, in response to increases in the workload to be handled by a task-specific cloud group, a compute node may be added to the cloud group to assist in handling the increase in the workload. However, there may be other cloud groups that also need an additional compute node for various other reasons, such as to preemptively take over duties of a compute node that may be failing or to replace a fully failed compute node. The additional compute node is not allocated among the task-specific cloud groups based on priority or policies thereby potentially allocating the compute nodes inefficiently.
Hence, there is not currently a means for allocating a compute node among cloud groups temporarily and based on priority and policies to more efficiently utilize cloud resources.

Dynamically allocating compute nodes among cloud groups based on priority and policies

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention resides in a method for cathodic protection of and/or chloride removal from a reinforced concrete structure. The method comprises the steps of: providing an anode comprising a conductive corrodible metal; providing a corrosive environment for said anode; electrically connecting the anode and the reinforcement of the concrete structure; distributing the current flow from the anode across a surface of the concrete structure; and positioning a humectant at said surface in an effective amount to increase the current flow from the anode. The present invention can also be used to migrate lithium into concrete, thus mitigating alkali-aggregate deterioration.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to the field of cathodic protection for reinforced concrete. The present invention is particularly applicable to a sacrificial cathodic protection system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cathodic protection is a proven means of stopping the corrosion of steel in waters, soils and moist, salty reinforced and prestressed concrete structures both above and below water and soil.
Work on adapting sacrificial anodes to reinforced and prestressed concrete structures began in the mid-1970's. Although such anodes could be made to work, problems with low power output and accommodation of the anode corrosion products prevented widespread use of the sacrificial anode technology.
The alternative to a sacrificial anode system is an impressed current cathodic protection system in which power from an outside source is used in concert with low corrosion rate anodes. This alternative does overcome the difficulties of low power output and accommodation of anode corrosion products. Many impressed current systems have been installed. However, they are costly and complicated.
Present sacrificial anode systems will work in hot, moist environments, such as the Florida Keys and similar coastal areas. However, they are too low power for above-water and soil concrete structures in the central and northern portions of the United States. They are also too low power to halt corrosion on structures in hot, moist climates wherein the steel is corroding at a high rate.
The causes of low power output are a low voltage or potential difference between the sacrificial anode and the corroding steel in salty concrete, generally less than one volt, and oftentimes less than 0.6 volts. In addition, concrete, even when wet, has a higher resistivity (resistance per unit area) than most wet soils and natural waters, up to 100,000 or more ohms-cm, which creates a circuit resistance of hundreds or thousands of ohms. Dividing the voltage, e.g., 0.6 to one volt, by the resistance, e.g., hundreds or thousands of ohms, resulting in a low current output.
Temperature greatly affects concrete resistivity. The lower the temperature, the higher the resistivity and thus the lower the current output.
The resistance is increased if the concrete layer immediately beneath the sacrificial anode dries out.
Additionally, sacrificial systems have the shortcoming of a finite life which often is less than the life of the structure involved. If the sacrificial systems are embedded in concrete or otherwise attached in a high cost manner, they are expensive to repair and/or replace.

Cathodic protection system for reinforced concrete


Apparatus and method for displaying control information of a plurality of cameras connected to a network includes structure and steps for: displaying a map showing locations at which the plurality of cameras are disposed; and displaying symbols representing the cameras in accordance with the locations at which the cameras are disposed so that the symbols overlap with the displayed map, while displaying symbols in different forms in accordance with different conditions of the cameras.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a control system for cameras connected to a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a known camera control system capable of operating one monitoring camera or a plurality of monitoring cameras by remote control from a distant place. Such monitoring cameras vary from a type in which a camera is fixed on a table so as to be always directed in one direction to a type in which a camera can pan, tilt, and zoom by external control. The latter commonly includes the function of changing both the direction of photographing and magnification by remote control from a monitoring center.
When a plurality of cameras are operated by remote control, where and in which direction the respective cameras are installed need to be indicated to the operator. For example, for a monitoring system in which many cameras are installed in a store, a factory or a building, a camera information display system has been proposed. In such a camera information display system, figures representing the cameras are displayed at the appropriate positions in accordance with the respective cameras so that the figures overlap with an installation position map.
According to the camera information display system, the user as an observer can visually understand the location of the camera being operated. However, the above system hardly provides the user with sufficient displayed camera information.
For example, although the user can recognize the location(s) of the camera(s) being controlled on the map, the user cannot easily understand from which camera one image on the display screen is sent or from which cameras a plurality of images on the display screen are sent, based on the displayed information on the map.
In addition, in the above system the user cannot easily recognize on the map whether or not the camera(s) can be externally controlled with respect to photographing conditions such as panning, tilting and zooming.
Further, conventionally, one communication terminal is connected to at least one camera, and an image taken by a selected camera is transmitted, or images (or a composite image) taken by selected cameras are transmitted, to the monitoring controller of a monitoring center through a computer network. The above system has no means for using the map to recognize whether the cameras are connected to the same communication terminal. For example, in connection with switching over cameras connected to the same communication terminal, if the user can utilize a video display window that is assigned to the communication terminal without changing the window, troublesome or time-consuming operations (such as switching over the video display window to another window or creating a new window) can be eliminated because the user immediately understands whether or not a desired image can be obtained from a different camera connected to the same communication terminal. Accordingly, the user would experience improved operability.

Apparatus and method for displaying control information of cameras connected to a network


A multi-layered printed circuit board for mounting and interconnecting the terminals of multi-terminal electronic components. The circuit board mounts the electronic components one side of the circuit board and provides for interconnecting the terminals of the electronic components. A transmission line arrangement is configured from layers of the circuit board for distributing a signal with fast rise and fall times to electronic components mounted on the circuit board. The transmission line arrangement includes a narrow conductive strip surrounded by four constant voltage conductors spaced from the narrow conductive strip by dielectric material. The constant voltage conductors comprise a first planar conductive layer above the narrow conductive strip and spaced therefrom by one of the dielectric layers, a second planar conductive layer below the narrow conductive strip and spaced therefrom by the other dielectric layer, and a pair of coplanar conductive strips between the two layers of dielectric material and lying parallel to and coplanar with the narrow conductive strip, one on each side of the narrow conductive strip. The invention additionally encompasses a panel board embodiment in which the transmission line arrangement, including at least two constant voltage planes surrounding the narrow conductive strip, is embedded in the multi-layered board.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to multi-layered printed circuit boards for mounting and interconnecting the terminals of electronic components. More specifically, the invention resides in an improvement in such boards wherein high speed signals are routed along a path having the characteristics of a transmission line.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Multi-layered printed circuit (PC) boards are generally of two types. Both types may have alternating layers of conductive and insulating material, the conductive layers carrying power, ground, and/or signals to be routed between the pins of the electronic components mounted on the board.
A first type of multi-layered printed circuit board, referred to herein as a panel board, uses a number of sockets and discrete wiring. The class of panel boards include:
Stitch-Wiring, where the interconnecting wires are welded to either the sockets or to pads on the printed circuit board which in turn are connected to the sockets; PA1 IDC, or Insulation Displacement Connections, in which the insulated wires are forced down into grooves or forks on the wiring end of the sockets; PA1 Soldering, where the insulated wires are soldered, directly or indirectly, to the sockets; and PA1 Wire-wrap, described in Leary et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,172 and others, where socket terminals are held in mounting holes in the insulative layers of the board. The socket terminals have sockets on one end for insertion of leads of electronic components, and posts on the other end for wrapping wire to make connections. PA1 1. Wire over ground; PA1 2. Microstrip; and PA1 3. Strip line. PA1 1. Cluster time critical logic elements reasonably close together--to within 50 to 70 mm of each other; PA1 2. Insure that the length of the stubs or lines attached to the clock's transmission line are limited to a maximum of 50 mm to 75 mm (2 inches to 3 inches). The desire here is to make sure that any reflections back down the stub take place during the clock's rise or fall time; PA1 3. Distribute the clock loads evenly across the various clock lines. This will insure that the clock's rise and fall times will, on the various traces, remain nearly equal; and PA1 4. Place a maximum of 2 stubs on a given transmission line tap or tie point. The desire here is to maintain a reasonably distributed loading on the clock lines.
As used in this specification, the term "panel board" will be understood to mean any of the above type boards or other boards to come in the future which have the design flexibility of being wired into different configurations by. interconnecting wires or other conductors not part of the printed circuit conductive layers themselves.
A second type of multi-layered printed circuit board (having "dedicated", custom, printed circuit interconnects) has no wire-wrap or other wire interconnect pins and makes all connections using patterns in the various conductive layers of the board. This second type of board usually has the power distribution planes located on the inner layers and many of the clocks and signals on the outer layers. This gives this type of board an advantage over the more general purpose "panel boards" described above which must use the board's outer layers for power and ground distribution.
While the present invention is equally applicable to all types of printed circuit boards, the distinction between "panel" (first type) and "dedicated" (second type) PC boards is made, because special consideration of high speed interconnection schemes have been ignored in panel boards, while some attention has been given to high speed signal distribution for many years in dedicated PC boards.
All of the above may be referred to as "wiring to directly interconnect electronic components". This definition differentiates dedicated printed circuit and panel boards from back plane wiring which simply distributes clocks from board to board.
It is important to recognize that the class of panel boards uses the panel to support the sockets and the decoupling capacitors and uses conductive layers to provide low impedance paths for power and ground. The component's power and ground pins are connected to the required or ground plane by means of solder clips or solder washers which connect the pin's socket to one of the board's outer layers. While this approach virtually guarantees that the components will see good clean power and ground, it rules out the use of the outer layers as a means of distributing clocks and timing signals. The result is that the user must design and maintain the board's clock distribution system using discrete wires or possibly twisted pairs of wires.
A Technician's initial design task involves estimating the propagation delays and adjusting the clock's routing to insure that these delays do not result in contention or conflicts. The main challenge here is keeping track of the clock's propagation delays and of the using device's requirements.
The maintenance of the clock distribution system during test and check out is a far more demanding and error prone task that tends to significantly increase the cost of developing and debugging a new digital system. As a design develops and matures, modifications are required that result in moving clock lines about and adding or deleting loads from the various clock lines. These modifications cause significant changes in the clock's propagation delays which in turn can cause a loss of operating and timing margins. The loss of these margins (the most important of which are data input setup and hold times) cause a digital system to become erratic, lose data, and to be very sensitive to changes in temperature and power supply voltages.
The purpose of an interconnection line in any digital system is to transmit information from one point of the system to another. For many electronic devices, the routing of signals through the conductive paths of a standard printed circuit board causes no difficulty in the integrity of the transmitted signal, since the lines are rather short, usually under 380 mm (15 inches) in length, and the frequency of the signals on the conductive paths can be rather low and may have slow rise and fall times. Moreover, the delay time along the line is of little or no concern, and in the time domain of concern, signal skew from line to line is insignificant. A typical example would be a hand or desk calculator wherein the clock rate for such devices is under 10 MHz.
However, as circuit speeds become faster and clock rates increase, the dynamic behavior of the interconnection line becomes increasingly important. The rise and fall times of logic elements, loading effects, delay times of the signal paths, and various other transient characteristics, all affect reliable operation of the system in which the circuit board is installed. For example, it is not unusual in fairly sophisticated high speed circuitry today to encounter signals with rise and fall times on the order of 1 nanosecond. In this discussion, the phrase "high speed" will refer to a signal having fast rise and fall times (typically between 0.5 and 3 nsec.) and not to the frequency of the signal having such rise and fall times, since the signals themselves may or may not have high frequency (high speed) changing of logic states.
Thus, independent of the frequency of the signal being transmitted along a conductive path in a printed circuit board, it is the leading and trailing edges which cause difficulty in the receiving circuit ascertaining which logic state is intended and what time that logic state occurs. This is due to many factors including "ringing" which occurs at the transition points between the two logic levels in a digital system. If the ringing is too intense, it may cause false triggering of the receiving circuit, for having passed through logical "1" and "0" states one or more times before settling down to its intended logical state level. On the other hand, if certain circuit components are introduced to reduce such ringing, such as series damping resistors, the ringing may be reduced, but the noise threshold of the system is impaired because of the diminishing of the separation between the logic levels at the output of the sending device and the input threshold levels of the receiving device.
An example of a high speed wire-wrap board can be found in the description and drawings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,172 in the name of Leary et al. While Leary et al. addresses the problem associated with the need for capacitive filtering the voltage layers in a multi-layered printed circuit board, and proposes to use close spacing of the voltage layers to provide a large distributive capacitance and thereby not require as many discrete isolation capacitors, Leary et al. does not address the problems associated with ringing on the signal lines carrying high speed signals from one component to another on the board. Leary et al. does recognize that high speed switching devices cause voltage spikes in the power lines and suggests a physical arrangement of the voltage planes and insulative layers as well as the interconnection with wire-wrap socket terminals to provide an improved panel board with minimum interference, through the power distribution layer, by the high speed operation of one device affecting the operation of an adjacent electronic device. Other prior patents related to multi-layered printed circuit boards include: U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,932 to Goodman which teaches the use of thick ground and voltage planes and discusses plated-through technology; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,196 to Doucet which uses termination resistors in a common single-in-line package and short wire-wrap pins to improve high speed signal transmission. Reference is also made to the article "HIGH-SPEED-CPU DESIGN, 40-MHz CMOS CIRCUITS SEND DESIGNERS BACK TO SCHOOL" in the magazine EDN, Mar. 2, 1992, Pages 67-76.
In the publication "MECL System Design Handbook", 4th edition, distributed by Motorola Semiconductor Products, Inc., Product HB 205, REV. 1, Pages 173-187, a good explanation is given of the problems associated with transmitting high speed signals along interconnecting paths in a digital system.
At Page 176 of the Motorola publication, a discussion of printed circuit board interconnects can be found. The layout rules discussed, however, refer to Motorola's line of MECL (Motorola Emitter Coupled Logic) devices which are in some ways less sensitive than some of the CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Silicon) devices used in large scale integration circuits. Accordingly, while the layout rules and suggested approaches to solving ringing problems may be different as between MECL and CMOS devices, the theory set forth in the aforementioned Motorola publication is quite adequate to explain the problems and indeed provides a good background discussion and analysis of the problems.
Page 43 of the Motorola MECL SYSTEM DESIGN HANDBOOK introduces the various types of printed circuit board transmission lines in common use. The Motorola publication recognizes that printed circuit board layouts range from the most simple single layer board with wired interconnects to the most elaborate multi-layered board with a complete transmission line environment. The use of conductive planes for maintaining noise free grounds and voltage supplies is recognized and discussed with similar results as those proposed in the Leary, et al. patent. It is also suggested to maintain constant characteristic impedance wherever transmission lines become necessary.
However, only three types of transmission line geometries are proposed by Motorola, representing the state of the art in printed circuit board interconnect technology (MECL SYSTEM DESIGN HANDBOOK, Pages 41-62 and 173-194). The three types of transmission line geometries are:
Each type uses a ground plane or a pair of ground planes.
In the wire over ground arrangement, a wire is simply routed from a source to its destination by laying the insulated wire as close as possible to the ground plane. This is useful for breadboard layouts as well as back plane wiring.
The second and third types of transmission line geometries employ conductive paths for the high speed signal in the makeup of the printed circuit board itself. In the microstrip configuration, a narrow width conductive strip is separated vertically from a ground plane by a dielectric medium. The dimensions of the narrow strip and the spacing relative to the ground plane are controlled to establish a pre-determined characteristic impedance.
The third type of line, a strip line, uses a narrow width conductive strip centered in a dielectric medium between two conducting planes. This type of line is used in multi-layered boards, and according to the Motorola publication (Page 179, right hand column), "is not seen in most systems." Furthermore, the publication goes on to state that "Since most designers need not concern themselves with strip lines, little is presented here about them."
U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,435 to Turner et al. teaches a method for interconnecting multilevel strip line circuitry.
The Motorola publication also has a good discussion on transmission line termination techniques beginning at Page 181. As earlier suggested, the approach to minimizing ringing is to provide proper transmission line termination to prevent reflections on the line so that ringing does not occur. Matching the impedance of the transmission line by a termination network accomplishes this objective.
In addition to line length and transmission line terminations, other factors must be considered in high speed systems. System speed requirements will ordinarily be the limiting factor for maximum fanout of the devices of concern. Capacitance increases with fanout and can cause rise and fall times to slow. Thus, as fanout increases, load capacitance (both device and interconnection capacitance) increases, resulting in longer rise and fall times. Larger fanout will normally result in longer interconnecting lines with their longer line delays, so ringing can become excessive. Under these conditions, use of properly terminated lines will result in best performance. A low impedance high-speed signal distribution system is better for driving the high capacitance loading of a large fanout configuration. Characteristic impedances of about 50 ohms to 100 ohms can be readily achieved using easily attainable manufacturing processes in the creation of transmission line configurations for high speed signal distribution in a printed circuit board. For MECL devices, Motorola appears to suggest a 50 ohm transmission line impedance. However, for CMOS devices it has been found more practical to use a characteristic impedance of closer to 100 ohms.
Unterminated line length for high speed lines must be kept to usually under 150 mm (6 inches), and in order to control ringing, fanout is, as indicated, limited. Moreover, as fanout increases, the maximum line length for interconnecting devices diminishes. In the Motorola publication at Page 51, for example, in using a strip line transmission line arrangement, the maximum line length (i.e. maximum un-terminated length) for a 50 ohm characteristic impedance transmission line must be kept shorter than 115 mm (4.5 inches) for a fanout of 8. When characteristic impedances are higher, on the order of 100 ohms, the same strip line transmission line configuration limits the line length to 53 mm (2.1 inches) for a fanout of 8 and even to 71 mm (2.8 inches) or less for a fanout of 4, such limitations being almost prohibitive, especially in a panel board design where it would be practically impossible to interconnect 8 devices with 71 mm (2.8 inches) of wire, and may be even extremely difficult to accommodate a fanout of 4 with that length of wire.
It should be understood that these severe limitations are equally applicable when interconnecting CMOS devices. The figures given above are representative for the MECL 10,100 series circuits but would apply to most modern CMOS devices because the rise and fall times are about the same for the two types of devices (albeit that device impedances are vastly different). One of the most important technical advancements derived from the present invention is the provision of a predictable clock distribution system that reduces the clock distribution uncertainties to a very minimum. The wiring board shown in the attached drawing is typically approximately 233 mm (9 inches) wide and 220 mm (8.5 inches) long. Wiring boards of this size have their clock lines implemented with discrete wires and have clock wiring runs as long as 1 to 2 meters (40 inches to 80 inches). This results in the board's clock signal having a propagation delay of 6 to 12 nanoseconds which is long compared to the typical device's setup and hold time requirements of 0.5 to 6 nanoseconds. It should be noted that the board used for this example is not large many of today's systems are using wiring boards of 400 mm.times.400 mm (16 inches.times.16 inches) and these boards can easily have clock wire runs of 4 meters (13 feet) or more. In this case the propagation delays are frequently in the 20 to 25 nanosecond range and the checkout and development times tend to soar. Most small or modest digital designs require many man weeks for testing and checkout while the larger boards like the 400.times.400 mm size boards can, and frequently do, require many man months.
It is difficult to quantify, but a very substantial, if not the majority, of the time spent on test and checkout involves problems with the setup and hold times of a device's inputs with respect to clock edges. Logic problems are usually easy to identify and fix. Timing problems, on the other hand, frequently involve a signal that goes true a nanosecond or so too early or too late. The difficulty of localizing this type of error is due to the problem of catching and seeing an event that occurs only at relative long intervals and, in no small part, to the fact that the error or fault tends to appear at a point in the system that is far removed from the place where the error occurred. The result is that the engineers and technicians spend a great deal of their time trouble shooting symptoms instead of causes.
There are several reasons why transmission line arrangements according to the prior art are unable to accommodate long lengths of line without encountering a ringing problem. One is that termination networks were either not used or were inadequate in a panel board environment. Another is that the "transmission line effect" defined by a pair of power planes above and below a thin narrow conductive strip sandwiched between two insulative layers in a "dedicated" PC board does not sufficiently confine the narrow strip with the result that the characteristic impedance varies over the length of the line as the narrow conductive strip passes by, and perhaps parallel to, other signal lines carrying fast changing signal information. Additionally, if the narrow conductive strip is a clock line, it may be influenced significantly by an adjacent clock line which is coplanar with it, since the upper and lower ground planes serve no capacity in isolating the clock lines or any other signal lines from the clock line of concern.
Thus, a narrow width conductive strip sandwiched between two ground planes does not approach the geometric configuration of a standard coaxial cable which has proven to be a very effective means for transmitting high speed signals across many feet of transmission length. Also, the lack of any isolation between clock lines or any other signal lines also represents a far departure from a standard coaxial transmission line in which the outside ground shielding would totally encapsulate and isolate the inner conductor and prevent cross interference between adjacent signal carrying lines. Moreover, in wiring panel boards, the use of embedded transmission line arrangements have not been used heretofore in any configuration.
It is therefore clear that there is a need for an improvement over the prior art printed circuit board arrangements, for the distribution of high speed signals along the signal path, which improvement would more closely approach the characteristics of a classical transmission line and would reduce cost associated with the design and development of digital systems. The present invention fulfills these needs.

Multi-layered printed circuit board with transmission line capabilities


In the gas-cooled electric machine, the stator winding bars, which are connected to one another electrically and mechanically outside the stator core assembly (2) in the overhang space by means of metallic lugs, are provided with caps (8) which virtually completely surround the lugs while leaving free one or more approximately axially extending ducts (9). These ducts (9) are open towards the stator core assembly (2). At its end on the partition side, the cap (8) has an opening (10) which is freely connected to said ducts (9). A flexible line (11) leads from this opening directly into the suction chamber (14) of the fan (5).. As a consequence of the pressure difference between the suction chamber (14) and overhang space (13), some of the coolant conveyed by the fan (5) flows through said ducts and cools the rod ends and lugs (7).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a gas-cooled electric machine having a rotor, a stator and a housing surrounding the stator, having one or two stator winding bars which are located one above the other in a groove, are built up from mutually insulated component conductors and are connected to one another electrically and mechanically outside the stator core assembly in the overhang space by means of metallic lugs to form a winding, and having essentially radial slots or ducts in the stator through which cooling gas can be led and a fan on each machine side whose suction chamber is separated by a partition from the overhang space.
In this regard, the invention refers to a prior art such as emerges, for example, from the journal BROWN BOVERI TECHNIK 3-86, page 135.
2. Discussion of Background
In electric machines having an indirectly cooled stator winding, the gas flow which leaves the fan and passes through the winding overhang has so far been sufficient to cool the front brackets in the winding overhang, and especially the lugs which connect the individual conductor bars electrically and mechanically to the actual coil. In limit-rating machines, the winding overhangs and lugs can be endangered by excessive heating. Whereas the part of the winding embedded in the winding grooves is cooled in a targeted fashion, these exposed winding parts, as well as the lugs, are heated not only by the current flow but also by the electromagnetic fields in the overhang space. Particularly endangered in this case is the insulation in the region of the lugs and--if the lugs are not hard-soldered--the entire construction of the connecting conductors and the lugs.


Methodology and system for using vacuum pods to store/transport semiconductor wafers to efficiently reduce contamination of the wafers while reducing cost, cycle time, and process steps and tools without the need for a complete reconfiguration of processes/tools in the fabrication facility are disclosed. Embodiments include configuring a wafer pod with an isolated vacuum environment for storing and transporting semiconductor wafers; configuring a load port module with an isolated vacuum environment to interface with the wafer pod; transporting the wafer pod, including semiconductor wafers, to interlock with the load port module; creating a merged vacuum environment including the isolated vacuum environments of the wafer pod and the load port module; increasing a pressure level in the merged vacuum environment for creating a merged ambient atmospheric environment; and transferring the semiconductor wafers through a transfer chamber, with an isolated environment, from the load port module to a semiconductor wafer processing device.

Generally, to increase efficiency of an IC fabrication facility, semiconductor manufacturers seek to reduce the number of processes and apparatus that are utilized in the fabrication facility, or maximize their efficiency. In some instances, the size of an apparatus may be reduced to allow for a more compact facility layout or for additional apparatus in the same layout. Semiconductor fabrication facilities utilize various processes and apparatus in fabricating IC devices on semiconductor wafers, which may be stored and transported, from one processing station/apparatus to a next one. While the wafers are stored or transported, they may be subjected to direct or wafer-to-wafer airborne molecular contamination (AMC) or moisture causing failures during subsequent fabrication processes. In some instances, additional processes and an inert gas (e.g., nitrogen (N2)) may be utilized to overcome some of the contamination/moisture issues.
FIG. 1A illustrates an example wafer processing system that includes a wafer processing apparatus 101 interfacing with an equipment front-end module (EFEM) 103 (e.g., a transfer chamber), which interfaces with load ports (LP) 105. A front opening unified pod (FOUP) 107 may be used to store wafers as well as to dock at a LP 105 for delivering wafers to the processing apparatus 101. However, prior to or post processing of the wafers, they may be contaminated by AMC or moisture (e.g., directly or wafer-to-wafer) as the wafers are transferred and stored in the FOUP 107. Additionally, the material (e.g., plastic) of a FOUP 107 may absorb contaminants and later disperse them in the pod environment causing contamination of the wafers.
FIG. 1B illustrates another example wafer processing system where LPs 109 may be purged by using a suitable purging agent (e.g., N2), which may reduce AMCs and moisture in the FOUP 107 during storage and transportation of the wafers. However, this approach would require new LPs 109 with a high consumption of purging agent, purging of the FOUP in storage to maintain the FOUP environment, and frequent cleaning of the FOUPs. Additionally, although the LPs 109 and FOUPs 107 may have a purged atmosphere, the EFEM 103 does not and may still cause contamination of the wafers as they are transferred from and to the LPs 109.
FIG. 1C illustrates another example wafer processing system where wafer pods 111 interface with LPs 113, which directly interface with the processing apparatus 101. This configuration requires significant tool reconfiguration; for example, replacing load locks, modifying system software, and a faster automated material handling system (AMHS).
A need therefore exists for a methodology and system to efficiently reduce contamination of semiconductor wafers during storage and transportation of the wafers while reducing cost, cycle time and process steps and tools.

Method and apparatus for storing and transporting semiconductor wafers in a vacuum pod


When a semi-automatic weapon is live fired, its firing pin is reset and is ready to be fired again. The shooter's hands remain in the firing position, and just the trigger finger and trigger are employed. But with dry fire practice, the shooter must remove a hand from the weapon and ratchet the slide to reset the firing pin, allowing the trigger to return to its unfired position. This must be done each time a shot is simulated. This invention provides, by incorporating a modified ammunition magazine in the weapon's magazine compartment, realistic muscle memory training by duplicating the action of the trigger, the feel and the sound of the release of the firing pin and the resetting of the trigger for additional trigger activations. It does not interact with the weapon's firing pin and does not require any alterations to the weapon such as disassembling and reassembling of parts.

Live firing is the best way to practice drawing and firing a weapon. The practice process builds muscle memory, and helps the shooter develop proper techniques of delivery and complete weapon control. There are several negatives of this type of practice. Using ammunition is an ongoing expense, and measures have to be taken to practice with safety. This could mean traveling to a firing range, providing safety equipment for the shooter and possibly others, and allotting special time in the schedule for the practice session.
Dry fire practice is a good substitute for live fire practice. Dry firing is another process of building muscle memory whereby a firearm, especially a pistol, is drawn, aimed, and fired without using live ammunition. This enables the practice of firing a weapon to proceed smoothly and accurately without all of the said negatives of live fire practice. Because no live ammunition is used, there is no ongoing expense, there is no need to use safety equipment, a special shooting environment is not necessary, and practicing can be accomplished in much less time.
Dry firing also allows the shooter to practice in the actual environment where the weapon may need to be used for protection such as in the home. With complete safety, actual shooting scenarios can be practiced in and around the home.
Practicing at the range can also be improved. When live fire is practiced at the range, the novice shooter usually has to spend a significant amount of time and expend a lot of ammunition getting accustomed to the report and recoil of the weapon. Before live practice begins, some dry fire practicing can be done. This gets the novice shooter accustomed to the trigger feel before having to deal with the recoil and the report of live firing.
A major negative factor occurs with most methods of dry firing because when a semi-automatic weapon is live fired, it resets its firing pin and is ready to be fired again until the magazine is empty. The shooter's hands remain in the firing position, and just the trigger finger and the trigger are employed. With normal dry fire practice, after the first activation of the trigger releasing the firing pin, the shooter must remove a hand from the weapon and ratchet the slide back in order to reset the firing pin. The shooter can then let the trigger return the to its unfired position. The weapon is then ready for another trigger activation. This must be done each time a shot is simulated. Doing this teaches improper muscle memory because it is not at all what happens during actual live fire.
Another negative for standard dry fire practice is that there is concern as to wear and tear on the constant releasing of a weapon's firing pin without it having the cushioning effect of the firing pin striking a round of ammunition.
There are some devices or systems that aid in dry fire practice, but none of the patented devices or systems address the "hands-free" trigger reset problem or the firing pin use problem.
Some patented training systems incorporate computer graphics into the training scenario. Other patents address the duplication of a weapon's recoil, laser marking of "shots", projecting images onto a screen, etc.
Here are a few examples of weapon training patents:


An apparatus for identifying, tracking and handling lumber to be cut-in-two includes a scanner and optimizer to scan the length of a board and to compare the scanned board to predetermined criteria so as to identify a board which, optimally, would be cut into two pieces along its length. An identification device applies a detectable indicator to the board. A transfer transfers in a downstream direction, the board from the scanner to the identification device, and from the identification device to a lug-loader loading device adjacent and immediately upstream of a lug loader. A detector cooperates with the lug-loader loading device so as to detect the detectable indicator on the board and to delay the loading of the lug loader following loading of the board into a lug space so that an immediately subsequent lug space behind and upstream of the board is left empty so as to receive a portion of the board cut from the board once the board is cut-in-two in a downstream trimmer or other sawing device.

Previously, a preferred method of processing longer boards identified as having greater value when cut into two pieces in the planermill was to utilize a "skip-a-lug" system. Generally, this process utilized a separate outgoing transfer section downstream of the lug loader. This enabled a board located immediately behind the board identified as a piece to be cut-in-two piece to be momentarily held back at the transfer transition, to thereby create an empty lug space. This conventionally required additional floor space in the mill, which may not be available in some installations, and it also added significant cost to a system and further induced rapid acceleration and deceleration in the affected transfers, which could lead to material handling problems.
The linear planermill scanning system according to one aspect of the present invention permits determination of a cut-in-two solution for any board meeting the criteria of that solution prior to the board arriving at the lug loader, thereby creating the opportunity to identify the piece as a piece to be "cut-in-two", and perform a lug inhibit operation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an efficient linear planermill layout which occupies a minimum footprint, which permits marking and identification of boards meeting a predetermined cut-in-two criteria and which permits a delayed passage of the board immediately following of the marked board on to a separate outgoing transfer section.
It is an object of this invention to provide a process whereby boards that are scanned and identified as having a greater value when cut into two pieces signals are marked by a device which applies an identification mark to one of the pieces of the board.
It is also an object to provide an optical identification mark recognition device such as a camera fixedly positioned near the terminal end of a backlog table to recognise the marked board.
It is also an object to provide a holdback hook or ducker arm positioned beneath a terminal end of a backlog table and which is activated to delay passage of the board immediately rearwardly of the marked board so that a transfer chain transporting the marked board may be sufficiently advanced that a clear lug space is created immediately behind the marked board before a following board is released.

Process and apparatus for identifying, tracking and handling lumber to be cut-in-two


The invention provides a self-watering system for a potted plant comprising a liquid container and an insert with an in use position against the potted plant pointing upper part (9), which extends at least partially through an opening in the pot (4) bottom. The invention is primarily intended for use in watering of potted plants ready for sale from e.g. horticultural greenhouses, but can obviously also be used for both the subsequent watering during the rest of the plant's life from end-users and for watering during the cultivation of a potted plant.

Often potted plants are transported in refrigerated trucks from the greenhouse to the supermarket, which can occur at as low as 3-4° C., where plant growth halt, and typically take 1-2 days. Afterwards the pot plants typically stand in the supermarket for up to approx. 4-6 days before they collapse. This applies, for example, to roses, which require special favorable living conditions, including efficient irrigation to keep them fresh.
There could easily lapse e.g. 10 days or longer from a potted plant finish growing until it ends at the end user's home, and during this period it is desirable that the plant is watered efficiently to avoid plant languish or even collapse. Supply of a sufficient amount of liquid during the whole period and the effective distribution of liquid volume to the plant roots are particularly desirable. Especially in supermarkets it may be difficult for busy staff to perform effective manual irrigation of the many different types of potted plants that have different water needs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,253 discloses a process for even watering a plant in a flowerpot, which is located on a foot inside a container of water. Footer ensure that raise the pot above water level, while absorbent wicks ensure that lead water from the container to the plant. Wicks one end attached to the foot while the other end manually forced through special openings on the side of the pot using a suitable rod when the pot is placed on the foot. This will require a cumbersome manual operation to this famous watering system works.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,819 discloses a different system of self-watering pot plants. The flowerpot is supported by the mating surfaces at several evenly spaced pins or skewers, made of a material capable of transporting water from the water container. The legs extend from the bottom of a water container through a corresponding number of openings made in the pot bottom, into the soil in the pot, so as to provide even watering when the water container containing water.
In order for the pot to rest stably on its legs, it is necessary to have at least three evenly spaced legs extending from self-watering container bottom to the pot bottom. It is not easy to arrange all the holes in the pot bottom above the corresponding number of frail and thin upwardly directing legs. It is time consuming and if only one leg is broken at least the water container must be discarded and the entire placement procedure is repeated. U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,819 also describes the use of a single water wicking leg. The water wicking legs have a water wicking base on which the flowerpot base is resting directly. This embodiment allows the container to contain only a limited amount of water because the pot will otherwise be in direct contact with irrigation water. A potted plant used in this self-watering design could easily be over-watered resulting in constantly flooded roots that will rotten.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,632 discloses a self-watering system for potted plant, which comprises a liquid container, wherein an insert is provided with a wick for transporting liquid from the liquid container. The lower part of the insert is adapted to the liquid container so that the insert is centred therein. The wick extends along the upper part of the insert and is then guided into the insert about halfway down. In the embodiment shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,632 the wick is wound around the upper part of the insert. This creates a long transport path from the liquid in the liquid container to the potted plant. Moreover it is difficult to draw the wick into the insert.
Hence, there exists a need for a new and improved self-watering system that can overcome the problems of the known self-watering systems. Because different types of plants and/or different types of growth media, potting soil, peat moss, peat or synthetic enriched growth media, such as rockwool added fertilizer, have different liquid needs and very different abilities to hold water, it is desirable to have a self-watering system that can accommodate these varying needs.


A manually operated pump sprayer that does not leak contents through the air inlet vent port during operation when the bottle is oriented so that the inlet vent port would be covered with liquid in a spray bottle to which the sprayer is mounted. The pump sprayer is devised as having an air inlet unit which includes the air inlet vent port in liquid communication with an extension tube which in turn is in liquid communication with a storage volume which in turn is in liquid communication with a liquid control orifice. An entrance end to the tube is positioned at a location farthest from the discharge exit opening of the sprayer, and the liquid control orifice is positioned closer to the exit opening such that when spraying in a downward direction such entrance end is always above the liquid level in the storage volume. Otherwise the entrance end is arranged as to be closer to the exit opening compared to the liquid control orifice such that when spraying in an upward direction the entrance end is above the liquid level in the storage volume.

This invention relates to hand-pump spray bottles for dispensing a liquid in a jet or atomization mode and, more particularly, to such a hand-pump having a novel air inlet unit that prevents the liquid from leaking out of the air inlet unit when the container is operated at an orientation that causes the air inlet unit to be covered with liquid.
Hand-pump spray bottles have become increasingly popular to eliminate the use of pressurized cans due to environmental concerns and high cost. Over one billion spray bottles are sold each year to dispense such liquids as glass cleaners, bathroom cleaners, waxes and oils.
These spray bottles have a feed tube with an open distal end that extends into the liquid contents and serves as a conduit to the hand-pump. There is an air inlet port, usually located in the hand-pump, that admits air into the bottle during part of the pump suction and pressure discharge stoke. This admitted air replaces the liquid that is dispensed in order to maintain approximately atmospheric pressure with the bottle. These spray bottles operate well under some conditions. However, if the feed tube distal end is within the liquid and the air inlet port is covered with liquid, as would occur when the bottle is operated at certain commonly encountered orientations, the hand-pump will dispense the liquid satisfactorily but liquid will leak out of the air inlet port. This leakage occurs with conventional spray bottles as well as with any of the numerous bottles that can operate in the inverted position, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,733,013; 4,775,079; and 5,624,060. This leakage is highly undesirable for any liquid since it is unpleasant to wet the hand and it is a waste of product. Any leakage, even the smallest amount, is completely unacceptable for any caustic liquids.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,252 discloses a hand-operated sprayer (FIG. 1 of the present drawings) that allows air to enter the bottle to replace the dispensed fluid in order to prevent the collapse of the bottle and to seal against liquid leakage from the bottle when the pump is not operated. This general concept is employed in most current trigger hand-pumps. Of particular and unique interest are passages 10 and 11 illustrated in FIG. 1 of the present drawings. The detailed description and operation of the '252 sprayer states that passage 10 in FIG. 1 (33 in the patent) "may be formed as a capillary tube of fine diameter whereby liquid leakage which might occur will be insignificant, yet air passage will be uninhibited." It will be shown in the detailed description of the present application that the short capillary tubes 10 and 11 of that prior art sprayer will not prevent leakage but merely restrict the quantity that is leaked.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,969 discloses a pump sprayer having a spiral vent path as shown in FIG. 2 of the present drawings. Like U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,252, the air vent restricts the liquid leakage by employing a small cross-sectional groove but additionally provides a long path to inhibit the flow of the liquid to the atmosphere. The spiral vent groove 21 illustrated in FIG. 2 is stated as having a length to restrict the free flow of liquid therethrough to avoid leakage and being sized so that, while dispensing in the inverted position, the rate of liquid discharge from the container is greater than the flow of air through the vent groove which thereby creates a vacuum in the container and effects a suck-back of air through the vent into the container. It will be shown in the following detailed description that the length of the spiral groove to prevent any leakage would have to be quite long and thus would not be practical for existing hand-pumps.
The aforementioned 366 parent patent discloses a hand-pump spray bottle that does not leak during hand-pump operation when held at an orientation where the liquid would normally contact the air inlet port. In that invention, the air inlet port is in circuit with a tubular section that acts as a holding volume for the liquid that would normally cover the air inlet port and leak to the atmosphere. Since the liquid is contained in the tubular section it will not leak into the atmosphere. While this invention will prevent leakage, the tubular section is too large to be accommodated in some hand-pumps. The size of the tubular section that is required in that invention is determined by the size of the air inlet port. When oriented so that liquid contacts the tubular section and the air inlet port is opened, as would occur during the operation of the hand-pump, the rate at which liquid enters the tubular section is controlled by the rate at which air flows out of the tubular section through the air inlet port to the atmosphere. The volumetric flow of air out of the tubular section through the air inlet port is inversely proportional to the square root of the density of the air. Since the density of the air is small compared to the liquid density, the size of the tubular section must be relatively large when controlled by the size of the air inlet port as compared to being controlled by a liquid orifice as in this invention. Since the minimum size of the air inlet port is limited by the manufacturing processes, the size of the tubular section is too large to be incorporated in some hand-pumps. The desirability of controlling the size of the tubular section (storage volume) by a liquid orifice rather than an air orifice will be made clear in the following description.
There is a need to provide an air inlet unit that can be incorporated into any hand-pump spray bottle that will admit air but will prevent any leakage of the liquid contents when the bottle is held at an orientation so that the air inlet port normally would be covered with liquid.

Leak-resistant manually operated pump sprayer


A structured abrasive article comprises a backing, a structured abrasive layer affixed to the backing, the structured abrasive layer comprising: a plurality of raised abrasive regions, each raised abrasive region consisting essentially of a close-packed plurality of pyramidal abrasive composites; and a network consisting essentially of close-packed truncated pyramidal abrasive composites, wherein the network continuously abuts and separates the raised abrasive regions from one another. The height of the pyramidal abrasive composites is greater than the height of the truncated pyramidal abrasive composites. Methods of making and using the same are also disclosed.

For years, a class of abrasive articles known generically as "structured abrasive articles" has been sold commercially for use in surface finishing. Structured abrasive articles have a structured abrasive layer affixed to a backing, and are typically used in conjunction with a liquid such as, for example, water, optionally containing surfactant. The structured abrasive layer has a plurality of shaped abrasive composites (typically having minute size), each having abrasive particles dispersed a binder. In many cases, the shaped abrasive composites are precisely shaped, for example, according to various geometric shapes (e.g., pyramids). Examples of such structured abrasive articles include those marketed under the trade designation "TRIZACT" by 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn.
Structured abrasive articles are often used in combination with a backup pad mounted to a tool (e.g., a disk sander or a random orbit sander). In such applications, structured abrasive articles typically have an attachment interface layer (e.g., a hooked film, looped fabric, or adhesive) that affixes them to the back up pad during use.
Conventional structured abrasive articles often have problems with "stiction", the tendency for the abrasive surface to stick to a workpiece when used in the damp abrading processes typical of industry. To reduce stiction, one solution has been to provide uncoated regions on the backing that separate regions of close-packed shaped abrasive composites; however, during manufacturing this approach can lead to aberrations in the structured abrasive layer (e.g., extraneous abrasive material weakly attached to the shaped abrasive composites as shown, for example, in FIG. 6) that result in wild scratches in a workpiece during use.

Structured abrasive article and method of making and using the same


The object of this invention is to provide a novel compound suited for use as a piezochromic material.. This invention relates to a crystal comprising an indolinospirobenzothiopyran derivative of the following general formula and its ring opened isomer. ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 stands for C.sub.1-20 alkyl, aralkyl, methacryloxymethyl or a methacryloxyethyl; R.sup.2, R.sup.3, R.sup.4, R.sup.5, R.sup.6 and R.sup.7 may for example be hydrogen; R.sup.8 may for example be hydrogen or methacryloxymethyl.. The invention further relates to a process for producing the crystal.

The organic compounds undergoing a reversible change of color on exposure to photic or thermal energy which are typical and best known are spiropyran derivatives and G. H. Brown: Photochromism (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1971), for one, can be consulted for a specific listing of such derivatives and their physical properties. However, when an attempt is made to exploit the hitherto-known spiropyran derivatives commercially in recording materials, they are found to have serious disadvantages. Thus, because the meta-stable species (ring opened isomers) are lacking in thermal stability in solutions as well as in polymeric binders, they tend to promptly revert to the ground state or fade out so that the chromic response at a necessary level cannot be sustained for a sufficient duration.
Meanwhile, as piezochromic compounds, there are known, inter alia, 9-(p-nitrophenylphenylmethylene)xanthene [J. Am. Chem. Soc., 79, 6020 (1957)], diflavine [J. Am. Chem. Soc., 80, 6312 (1958)], dehydrodianthrone [Chem. Ber., 100, 280 (1967), hexaphenylbiimidazolyl (Bull. Chem. Soc. Japan, 38, 685 (1965); ibid. 38, 2202 (1965); ibid, 43, 429 (1970)], tetraphenylvinyl dimer [Bull. Chem. Soc. Japan, 43, 1431 (1970)], phthalocyanine-cobalt complex [Journal of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan, 30, 521 (1972)] and hydroxycarboxylic acid derivatives [Japanese Kokai Patent Publication No. 132857/1988], as well as spiropyranthiopyrans [Japanese Kokai Patent Publication No. 46079/1977] and spirobenzopyranoxadiazoline derivatives [Japanese Kokai Patent Publication No. 42880/1977], both of which are commonly referred to briefly as spiropyrans. However, many of these known compounds have several problems that must be overcome, viz. some require a substantial pressure for coloration or have only a low contrast of color between the colorless state and the colored state, while others are too labile, as very compounds, to be utilized as industrial materials and still others involve a complicated route for synthesis.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a piezochromic compound which insures a sufficient color density in a stable manner.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a piezochromic compound which can be intensely colored with a relatively low pressure to give a large contrast of color between the colored and colorless states and is superior in thermal stability.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide an expedient process for synthesizing such a piezochromic compound.

Crystal comprising an indolinospirobenzothiopyran derivative and its ring opened isomer


High molecular weight polyamides having benzidine linkages are prepared using certain substituted benzidine monomers.

It has heretofore been a problem to incorporate benzidine in aramids without handling the monomer, a known carcinogen, The present process facilitates incorporation of such monomer into the polyamide chain by use of certain substituted benzidines. After the polyamide has been shaped, i.e., in the form of a fiber of film, the substituent may be driven off by pyrolysis. Certain of the polymers of the invention are capable of significant fiber tenacity increase on tensioned heat-treatment.

Aromatic condensation polyamides with pendant ester and amide groups


A method may involve: a node included in a cluster looking up a file in a metadata name cache; in response to a miss for the file in the metadata name cache, the node creating a metadata name cache entry for the file in the metadata name cache, where the metadata name cache entry includes a copy of a cookie associated with metadata allocated to the file; in response to a lock on the metadata changing state for the node, the node modifying the cookie associated with the metadata, where the lock changes state for the node in response to a request to a global lock manager for the lock on the metadata; and comparing the copy of the cookie stored in the metadata name cache entry to a current value of the cookie associated with the metadata to determine if the metadata name cache entry is valid.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer systems and, more particularly, to directory name lookup caches within a clustered file system.
2. Description of the Related Art
File systems organize and manage information stored in a computer system. Typically, information is stored in the form of files. File systems may support the organization of user data by providing and tracking organizational structures such as folders or directories. The file system may interpret and access information physically stored in a variety of storage media, abstracting complexities associated with the tasks of locating, retrieving, and writing data to the storage media.
Files are typically located by specifying a path to that file. The path may indicate which directories or folders include that particular file. A typical path is a sequence of directory or folder names, starting at the file system's root directory, and ending with the name of the file or directory being identified.
In some operating environments such as UNIX, information about each file in the file system is kept in a metadata structure called an inode. The inode contains metadata, which includes a pointer to the physical blocks containing the data in the file and information indicating the type of file, the permission bits, the owner and group, the file size, and the file modification date and time. Terms such as file nodes, file table entries, and snodes are also used to identify similar metadata structures. For example, the term "master file table entry" is used in some Windows™ based file systems.
File systems often include a special cache, typically called a DNLC (Directory Name Lookup Cache), to store pathname to inode translations. Without a DNLC, all pathname to inode translations involve scanning each directory in the path to get the inode identifiers for the targeted file and each of that file's parent directories. Since the directories are located on disk, these accesses can take a significant amount of time. A DNLC caches inode information for recently accessed files so that at least some of these disk accesses can be avoided.
As with other caches, problems with cache coherency can arise when multiple components in a system can act in ways that affect the validity of information in other components' DNLCs. For example, in a clustered system that includes multiple computing nodes, each node may be able to manipulate files in a particular file system. If one node has cached information for a particular file in its DNLC and another node renders that information invalid (e.g., by removing the file), the node with the cached information needs to be notified that its information for that particular file is no longer reliable. However, providing such notification may consume an undesirable amount of system resources.

Cookie-based directory name lookup cache for a cluster file system


Cementation slurries well suited for encasing reinforcing elements therefor, for example prestressed steel cable, while reducing the risk of embrittlement thereof, contain from about 1.5% to 3% by weight of homogenizing and exudation-reducing hydrophilic particulates (e.g., precipitated silica particles) that are inert in respect of liquids, have a specific surface area of greater than about 200 m.sup.2 /g and which are fragmentable during mixing and/or injection into multiple fragments having particle sizes ranging from about 5 to 300 nanometers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to water- and cement-based cementation slurries which are injected to encase reinforcing means therefor, in particular to encase prestressed steel cables, frames, braces, trusses, and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Satisfactorily encasing a prestressed steel armature, whether cable, frame, brace, truss, rod, wire, etc., is known to this art as being more difficult, the longer the encasing required. This length can be as much as 10 to 15 meters for a vertical cable, and several hundreds of meters for a longitudinal cable.

Cementation slurries for improvedly encasing reinforcing elements therefor


An optimal scanning method for coding/decoding an image signal is provided. In a method of coding an image signal through a discrete cosine transform, at least one is selected among a plurality of reference blocks. A scanning order in which to scan blocks to be coded of the reference blocks is generated and the blocks to be coded are scanned in the order of the generated scanning order. The at least one selected reference block is temporally or spatially adjacent to the block to be coded. When the blocks to be coded are scanned, probabilities that non-zero coefficients occur are obtained from the at least one selected reference block, and the scanning order is determined in descending order starting from the highest probability. Here, the scanning order is generated to be a zigzag scanning order if the probabilities are identical. The optimal scanning method increases signal compression efficiency.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-709, filed Jan. 7, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of coding/decoding an image signal, and more particularly, to an optimal scanning method for transform coefficients in coding/decoding of an image or video.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image signals, e.g., images or videos, are compressed or coded according to the standards of moving picture expert group phase 1 (MPEG-1), MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.261, H.263, or JPEG through a discrete cosine transform (hereinafter, referred to as "DCT"). Also, compressed or coded image signals are decoded through an inverse discrete cosine transform (hereinafter, referred to as "IDCT"). Selecting an optimal scanning method is a key point when trying to increase coding/decoding efficiency.
A scanning pattern described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,678 increases coding efficiency and is selected as a scanning pattern of MPEG-4 intra-coding. The scanning pattern of '678 uses a zigzag scanning pattern and a predefined scanning pattern.
Accordingly, the zigzag scanning pattern and the predefined scanning pattern are not efficient at coding all image signals. Also, since information on a selected scanning pattern should be coded with the image signals and provided to a decoder, the number of bits transmitted to the decoder increases. Further, the scanning pattern of '678 is predefined and thus there is a limit in selecting an optimal scanning pattern for various decoding blocks.
Scanning patterns described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,026 have a problem of reducing coding efficiency because a selected data word becomes too long if there are too many scanning patterns. Also, predefined finite scanning patterns used in '026 are not efficient in all image signals or data.

Optimal scanning method for transform coefficients in coding/decoding of image and video


A system and method for dewatering a subsurface vault housing a portion of a pipeline is provided. The dewatering system includes a fluid inlet pipe adapted for fluidly communicating with the pipeline and redirecting fluid being transported by the pipeline to a fluid pump system. The fluid pump system includes a pump capable of being operated solely by the redirected fluid for removing fluids, such as water, from within the subsurface vault. A fluid outlet pipe in fluid communication with the fluid pump system returns fluid not used to operate the fluid pump system back to the pipeline for being transported downstream from the dewatering system. A liquid level sensor is used for generating and transmitting a signal to a valve when the water within the subsurface vault exceeds a predetermined level for permitting the redirected fluid to flow to the fluid pump system.

The present disclosure relates generally to subsurface vaults. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a dewatering system and method for a subsurface vault.
Subsurface maintenance vaults, of the type used as underground storage compartments, typically house a portion of a pipeline transporting fluids such as gas and water. Subsurface vaults are often infiltrated with fluids, particularly water, due to rain, snow, water runoff, etc. The water often becomes stagnant inside the vault, thus making it difficult to access the pipeline and typically requiring removal of the water from the vault, i.e. dewatering the subsurface vault, prior to entering the vault, often causing delay in accessing the vault. Moreover, if the water within the subsurface vault is not removed, over a prolonged period, the stagnant water can cause the pipeline and other metallic structures within the subsurface vault, such as staircases, pipeline valves, etc., to corrode, substantially reducing the life of the gas pipeline and other structures within the subsurface vault and/or increasing maintenance and replacement costs.
In the prior art, dewatering systems are disclosed for dewatering underground facilities, especially gas and oil wells. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,284 describes a dewatering method and system for dewatering a gas well on an intermittent, cyclical period which operates to eject water from the well without loss of gas from the well. The system includes a casing pressure bleed line having a shut off valve, and a first and second gas regulator. The casing bleed line connects to a timer which in turn is connected to a normally closed first motor valve and a normally open second motor valve. The dewatering system is operated when the first and second motor valves permit liquid and entranced gas to pass into a gas flow line and a liquid separator system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,514 describes a method and apparatus for dewatering a gas well having a diverter valve for introducing liquid into a tubing of the gas well. The diverter valve is maintained closed when the liquid level drops below a selected level. A fluid responsive gas lift valve utilizes annulus gas to lift the liquid within the tubing from the well, and hence, dewater the well.
It is an aspect of the present disclosure to provide a dewatering system and method for a subsurface vault housing a portion of a pipeline where fluid being transported via the pipeline is used as a power source for the dewatering system.

Dewatering system and method for a subsurface vault


The present invention provides a vapor deposition system for a film forming systems that promote an efficiency of utilizing an EL material and is excellent in uniformity or throughput of forming an EL layer and a vapor deposition method. According to the present invention, vapor deposition is carried out in a deposition chamber by moving an evaporation source holder 903 on which six containers 911 filled with an evaporation material are set at a certain pitch with respect to the substrate. The evaporation holder 903 is transported from an installation chamber 905 by a transport mechanism 902b. A heater is provided in a turntable 907. Throughput can be improved by heating the evaporation holder 903 in advance of transporting containers into the evaporation holder 903.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fabricating system having a film formation system for depositing materials which can be deposited by vapor deposition (hereinafter, an evaporation material), a light-emitting device which has a organic compound containing layer made as a light emitting layer using the fabricating system and a fabricating method thereof. Specifically, the present invention relates to a film formation method (a vapor deposition method) and a fabrication system for forming a film by vaporizing an evaporation material from a plurality of evaporation sources provided to be opposite to a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, research related to a light-emitting device having an EL device as a self-luminous light emitting device has been activated. The light-emitting device is referred to as organic EL display or organic light-emitting diode. Since these light-emitting devices have characteristics such as rapid response speed that is suitable for moving picture display, low voltage, low power consumption driving, they attracts an attention for a next generation display including new generation's mobile phones and portable information terminals (PDA).
The EL device has an organic compound containing-layer as a light-emitting layer. The EL device has a structure that the organic compound-containing layer (hereinafter, referred to as an EL layer) is sandwiched between an anode and a cathode. Electro luminescence is generated in the EL layer by applying an electric field to the anode and the cathode. Light emission obtained from the EL device includes light emission in returning to a base state from singlet excitation state (fluorescence) and light emission in returning to a base state from triplet excitation state (phosphorescence).
The EL layer has a laminated structure typified "a hole transporting layer, a light-emitting layer and an electron transporting layer." EL material for forming an EL layer is classified broadly into a low-molecular (monomer) material and high-molecular (polymer) material. The low-molecular material is deposited using a vapor deposition system.
The existing vapor deposition system has a substrate holder where a substrate is set, a crucible encapsulating an EL material, in other words an evaporation material, a shutter to prevent the EL material to be sublimed from rising, and a heater for heating an EL material in a crucible. Then, the EL material heated by the heater is sublimed and deposited on a rolling substrate. At this time, in order to deposit uniformly, the distance between the substrate and the crucible needs to be 1 m or more.
According to the above-described vapor deposition system and the above-described vapor deposition method, when an EL layer is formed by vapor deposition, almost all of the sublimated EL material is adhered to an inner wall, a shutter or an adherence preventive shield (a protective plate for preventing a evaporation material from adhering to an inner wall of a deposition chamber) at inside of the deposition chamber of the vapor deposition system. Therefore, in forming the EL layer, an efficiency of utilizing the expensive EL material is extremely low i.e. about 1% or less and fabricating cost of a light-emitting device becomes very high.
Further, according to the vapor deposition system of the related art, in order to provide a uniform film, it is necessary to separate a substrate from an evaporation source by an interval equal to 1 m or more. Therefore, the vapor deposition system per se grows in size, a period required for exhausting each deposition chamber of the vapor deposition system is prolonged and therefore, a film formation speed is slowed down and throughput is lowered. Also, in using a large area substrate, it may be a problem that the film thickness between a center portion and a marginal portion of a substrate is uneven. Further, the vapor deposition system has a structure for a rotation of a substrate and therefore, there is a limit in the vapor deposition system aiming at a large area substrate.
Further, there is a problem that the EL material is easily oxidized and deteriorated due to a presence of oxygen or water. However, in forming a film by a vapor deposition method, a predetermined amount of a evaporation material put into a vessel (glass bottle) is taken out and transferred to a vessel (representatively, crucible, or vapor deposition boat) installed at a position opposite to an object to be deposited at inside of a vapor deposition system and there is a concern that the evaporation material is mixed with oxygen or water or an impurity in the transferring operation.
Further, when the evaporation material is transferred from the glass bottle to the vessel, the evaporation material is transferred by human hands with a glove or the like at inside of a pretreatment chamber of a deposition chamber provided with a glove or the like. However, when the glove is provided at the pretreatment chamber, the chamber cannot be subjected to vacuum, the operation is carried out under atmospheric pressure and there is a high possibility of mixing an impurity. Even when the transferring operation is carried out at inside of the pretreatment chamber subjected to a nitrogen atmosphere, it is difficult to reduce moisture or oxygen as little as possible. Further, although it is conceivable to use a robot, since the evaporation material has a powder-like shape and therefore, it is very difficult to fabricate the robot for carrying out the transferring operation. Therefore, it is difficult to perform steps of forming an EL device, in other words, from a step of forming an EL layer above a lower electrode to a step of forming an upper electrode, by an integrated closed system preventing an impurity from being mixed.
Hence, the present invention provides a vapor deposition system of fabricating systems that promote an efficiency of utilizing an EL material and is excellent in uniformity or throughput of forming an EL layer and a vapor deposition method. Further, the present invention provides a light-emitting device fabricated by the vapor deposition system and the vapor deposition method according to the present invention and a method of fabricating the light-emitting device.
Further, the present invention provides a fabricating system for vapor-depositing an EL material efficiently to a large area substrate having a size of, for example, 320 mm×400 mm, 370 mm×470 mm, 550 mm×650 mm, 600 mm×720 mm, 680 mm×880 mm, 1000 mm×1200 mm, 1100 mm×1250 mm or 1150 mm×1300 mm. Also, the present invention provides a vapor deposition system that makes a whole surface of a large area substrate uniform with even thickness.
Further, the present invention provides a fabricating system capable of preventing an impurity from being mixed into an EL material.

Fabrication system, light-emitting device and fabricating method of organic compound-containing layer

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A method and system for pulling a crystal frequency are provided, thereby allowing wireless stations to use less accurate crystal oscillators and dramatically reduce cost. A first frequency offset can be determined using a temperature-based method. This temperature-base method can include detecting a temperature substantially that of the crystal oscillator and then using that temperature to determine the first frequency offset. A second frequency offset using a closed loop frequency estimate-based method can also be determined. This frequency estimate-based method can include synchronizing the crystal frequency to a presumed, accurate frequency of a controlling device to determine the second frequency offset. Both the first and second frequency offsets can be used to pull the crystal frequency. A synthesizer can also be pulled to fine tune a carrier frequency derived from the crystal frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a crystal oscillator and particularly to a system and method of using both open-loop, temperature-based and closed-loop frequency estimate based techniques for pulling the frequency of that crystal oscillator.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wireless personal handy phone system (PHS) frequently uses crystal oscillators to generate a frequency for controlling reception and transmission of signals between terminals. Unfortunately, a crystal oscillator generates a frequency that can vary due to changes in ambient temperature. To overcome this problem, many PHS transceivers include a crystal oscillator as well as associated components to provide temperature compensation of the output frequency. This type of crystal oscillator circuit is called a temperature compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO).
These TCXOs are typically quite accurate, e.g. within as little as +/−0.1 ppm (parts per million) versus +/−20 ppm for a non-TCXO. (Note that a frequency tolerance is the amount of frequency deviation from a particular center frequency at ambient temperature, e.g. referenced at 25 C. This frequency tolerance is defined using a maximum and minimum frequency deviation specified in ppm.) However, the accuracy of such TCXOs is offset by their corresponding manufacturing cost. For example, a TCXO could add upwards of $1 per station, thereby significantly adding to the cost of manufacturing a wireless device. Moreover, recently implemented communication systems can use less exacting frequency calibration. For example, PHS (which is increasingly being used in Asia) can provide high-quality voice and data transmission at low cost, but requires carrier frequency accuracy only within ±3 ppm and digital system clock accuracy of ±5 ppm. Therefore, a need arises for a system and method of tuning the frequency of a crystal oscillator with an accuracy usable in a PHS system.

Frequency offset correction techniques for crystals used in communication systems