A method of preventing the occurrence of side etch in a wet etching method to form a circuit layer which meets the requirement of a high circuit density. First, etching is partially done using etchant having a relatively high etching rate with a spray pressure of a relatively small value, then etching is carried out using a second etchant having a relatively low etching rate with a high spray pressure. In an optional finishing step, etchant containing abrasive is used.

In the field of printed circuit boards, a patterned metal layer is formed on a printed circuit board to ensure electrical connection with semiconductor chip elements packaged on the printed circuit board, or, in the case of a multilayer printed circuit board, to electrically connect one layer with another.
With the recent demands for high-quality high circuit density products, a high circuit density and high-integrated metal circuitization layer is particularly desired. This can be accomplished by forming a patterned metal circuitization layer from a metal layer. Methods which have been used for formation of a metal circuitization layer can be generally classified into two types; a dry etching method using no solvent, and a wet etching method which is an electrochemical method using solvent. Whichever method is employed, prior to etching, a mask of an organic film, i.e., photoresist, or the like, is formed on a portion of the metal layer which is not intended to undergo etching.
In one dry etching method, etching, for example, sputter etching, is carried out by impinging the metal layer disposed on a substrate on which mask formation is already complete, with ions in a plasma atmosphere. This removes the portion of the metal layer where there is no mask. Specifically sputtered ions react with the exposed portion of the metal layer to form a compound having a low boiling point, that is, a high vapor pressure, to consequently remove the metal layer. Alternately, the physical force of sputter ions enables the removal of atoms from the metal surface. This method allows etching to have good anisotropy in the direction perpendicular to the substrate surface; therefore it can be suitably used for forming a high circuit density pattern metal circuitization layer. On the other hand, it has disadvantages in that this method has low throughput, high cost and a low etching rate.
In one wet etching method, etching is carried out by contacting a corrosive solvent with the masked metal layer to chemically etch the portion on which there is no mask. Generally copper is employed as a metal layer because of high electric conductivity and good metal plating properties, in which case cupric chloride, ferric chloride, hydrogen peroxide/sulfuric acid mixture and the like can be used as the solvent (etchant). Etchant must be such that it dissolves the metal layer exclusively, but not the mask which can be a metallic or organic resist. One way of contacting etchant with a metal layer is, for example, by first placing an object to be etched inside a tank where etching is to be carried out and then spraying the metal layer with etchant. In order to realize a uniform etching, it is necessary that etchant temperature and composition are appropriately controlled., and the shape of spray nozzle, the spray pressure and the etchant quantity are suitably adjusted and controlled.
Compared to dry etching, wet etching is more suitable for industrial production because it has a higher throughput, and it is employed for various manufacturing processes because it is low in cost. However wet etching is inferior in etching anisotropy in the direction perpendicular to the substrate surface. As a result, wet etching does not necessarily form a high density circuit pattern. The reason is that wet etching is a process of dissolving and removing a metal layer using the chemical action of the etchant. Thus wet etching does not always proceed in the direction perpendicular to the substrate surface. Specifically, wet etching may proceed in the direction parallel to the substrate surface, which causes a patterned metal circuitization layer to have a trapezoidal cross-section rather than a rectangular cross-section. When wet etching is employed as described above, in order to satisfy a specified circuit space it is necessary to increase the circuit space of the design specifications to allow for etching parallel to the plane of the substrate surface. As a result, high circuit density is difficult to achieve with wet etching techniques and circuit line width and spacing cannot be optimized.
Past attempts to solve the problem of etching parallel to the plane of the substrate surface have been unsuccessful. For example, as is shown in FIG. 1, etchant 10 is sprayed on a metal layer 2, which is formed on a substrate 1 and on whose surface a mask 3 is formed having a desired pattern. This causes etching to occur and proceed on a portion 5 which is not covered with the mask 3. This process is, a process where the concentration of metal ions, which are created by a reaction at an interface between the metal layer and etchant, (solid-liquid interface) increases as the reaction proceeds.
In the early stage of etching, while the concentration of metal ions is relatively low, etching will proceed in the direction substantially parallel to the force of spray 10. As is shown in FIG. 2, however, as the concentration of metal ions becomes higher at the solid-liquid interface during the process of etching, the corrosive action of the etchant gets reduced at the portion where concentration of metal ions is higher (the existence of metal ions is stylized and represented by a symbol .smallcircle. in the figures). As a result, etching proceeds in a lateral direction (right under the mask) and substantially parallel to the substrate surface where concentration of metal ions is lower. Such a phenomenon is termed side etch. If side etch proceeds in such a way, it may even act on a portion 6 which is not intended to be etched. FIG. 3 shows the shape of a section of the metal layer where etching is complete and the mask 3 is removed. As shown in FIG. 3, the occurrence of side etch causes the circuit layer to have a substantially trapezoid-shaped cross-section.
FIG. 4 shows a more preferred circuit layer having circuit lines with a substantially square shaped or rectangular shaped cross-section. A space 1 between circuit lines is standardized by design, and circuit lines must be formed to meet the standard, for example, the space 1=50 .mu.m or more at both the upper and bottom surfaces thereof. Referring to FIG. 3, it is apparent that when a cross-section of the circuit line becomes more rectangular or square-shaped, the circuit lines can meet the preferred condition where space 1 is designed to be 1.sub.0 (1=1.sub.0). On the other hand, in the circuit lines of which the cross-section becomes substantially trapezoid-shaped as shown in FIG. 3, even if their space is designed to have a prescribed value of 1.sub.0 and the mask is formed to leave a space of 1.sub.0, the actual space between circuit lines becomes less than 1.sub.0 (1.sub.1 <1.sub.0) and the circuit line density cannot meet the standard. Consequently the circuit layers and the lines therein must be designed so that a space between circuit lines at the bottom of the circuit lines will become 1.sub.0. Referring to FIG. 3, again it is illustrated that side etching results in a less than optimal density metal circuitization layer because the space of the upper surfaces 12 must be designed to be greater than 1.sub.0 (1.sub.2 >1.sub.0) to meet the circuit line spacing design standard. Accordingly it is very desirable to prevent side etch in the manufacturing of high density circuit layer printed circuit boards.
Various attempts have been made to solve the problem of side etch. For example, Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 63-153889 discloses a technique of preventing side etch.
According to the technique, a protective coat against side etching is formed on a circuit layer when it has been half etched, then etchant is side-sprayed right down on it to promote etching exclusively in the direction perpendicular to the circuit layer. This method attempts to realize etching in the direction perpendicular to a substrate solely by physical means of spray pressure. A similar technique is also disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 4-66680. The patent application describes that side etch is prevented by spraying etchant on a circuit layer from a short distance and with a relatively high pressure in the early stage of etching. The methods which only use spray with a high pressure, however, are thought to have the following problems.
FIG. 5 is a stylized view showing possible problems of high pressure spraying. First, when spray 20 with a high pressure impacts a metal layer 2, a major portion of its flow takes a turn in the lateral direction and then hits the side of a mask 3 with a relatively high pressure. Consequently it causes deformation 21 in the mask layer, which may allow etching to proceed at some portion of metal layer 2 other than the desired portion. Further it may cause the mask layer to peel off. In addition a problem may also occur in the mask because spray 22 is directed at the surface of mask 3 for a long time. For example, the spray may cause minute pinholes on the surface of the mask, which may lead to the occurrence of etching at some portion of metal layer 2 other than the desired portion.
Other methods may be employed which allow etching to proceed in the direction substantially perpendicular to a substrate, in addition to utilizing physical force, as mentioned above, chemical means may be utilized. For example, Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 7-22383 discloses an etching method composed of two steps each of which employs etchant having a different composition. In particular, in a first step of the etching method, etchant having a relatively high etching rate is employed. After the etching reaches a prescribed stage, a second etchant of relatively low etching rate is employed. Compared with the method described above which uses spray pressure to cause etching to proceed in the direction substantially perpendicular to a substrate, this method is superior in preventing the occurrence of side etch and maintaining quality, but its drawback is that of a low etching rate.
Accordingly, the present invention makes use of a unique two-step etching process to solve the problem of low etching rate and results in circuit layers being etched into substantially square or rectangular circuit lines.

Method for wet etching and device used therein

International Business Machines Corporation


A control valve includes a valve case, a spool accommodated in the valve case, an electromagnetic solenoid operating the spool along a spool axis extending in a longitudinal direction, the valve case including a pump port, an advanced angle port, a retarded angle port, and an unlocking port, the spool being operated to at least five positions, and a lock control fluid passage formed inside the spool in an attitude along the spool axis, the lock control fluid passage allowing the fluid from the pump port to be supplied only to the unlocking port irrespective of the position of the spool when the spool is operated to any one of the positions at which the fluid is supplied from the pump port to the unlocking port.

A known control valve disclosed in JP2011-1852A (hereinafter referred to as Patent reference 1) includes a phase control valve (referred to as an oil control valve for relative rotation in Patent reference 1) that sets a relative rotational phase by selectively supplying fluid to one of an advanced angle chamber and a retarded angle chamber, and a unlocking valve (referred to as a control valve for restriction in Patent reference 1) for releasing a restricted state by supplying a fluid to a restriction member.
According to the disclosure in Patent reference 1, a spool that structures a relative rotation control valve and a spool that structures a lock control valve are housed in a single valve body, and a part of the valve body is relatively rotatably fitted to a driven side rotation member of a variable valve timing control device.
JP2013-19282A (hereinafter referred to as Patent reference 2) discloses a control valve that houses a spool (referred to as a spool valve body in Patent reference 2) to be slidable within a valve body. The control valve disclosed in Patent reference 2 is configured to be operated to six positions, and a relative rotational phase of a variable valve timing control device (referred to as a valve timing control device) is displaced either in an advanced angle direction or a retarded angle direction by selecting one of the mentioned six positions. Further, the control valve disclosed in Patent reference 2 is configured to control a lock mechanism.
As disclosed in Patent reference 1, according to the construction that includes the phase control valve and the unlocking valve, the number of parts is large because two spools are required, which increases the device in size and costs.
According to the construction disclosed in Patent reference 2, the number of parts can be reduced because the control for the relative rotational phase and the control for the lock mechanism of the variable valve timing control device are performed using the single spool. However, because of that structure in which the single spool controls the relative rotational phase and the lock mechanism of the variable valve timing control device, numbers of land portions need to be provided on an outer surface of the spool and numbers of ports need to be provided at a valve body that houses the spool. According to the construction disclosed in Patent reference 2, the dimension in an axial direction of the spool is increased, the dimension of the valve body that houses the spool increases, and thus increasing the control valve in size.
A need thus exists for a control valve which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.


Oligonucleotides are provided having a nucleotide sequence complementary to at least a portion of the mRNA transcript of the human c-kit gene. These "antisense" oligonucleotides are hybridizable to the c-kit mRNA transcript. Such oligonucleotides are useful in selectively inhibiting proliferation of erythroid cells, particularly in disorders characterized by an elevated hematocrit due to over-production of erythrocytes. The antisense oligomers also have activity agent hematologic neoplastic cells and are therefore suitable as bone marrow purging agents.

The c-kit gene is the normal homologue of v-kit, the HZ4 feline sarcoma virus oncogene. It resides on human chromosome 4. The gene encodes a dimeric transmembrane glycoprotein receptor with tyrosine kinase activity that appears to be highly related to the receptors for colony stimulating factor-1 and platelet derived growth factor. (Yarden et. al., The EMBO Journal, 6, 3341-3351 (1987)). Like these receptors, c-kit also appears to belong to the immunoglobulin gene superfamily.
The mouse c-kit gene has been mapped to chromosome 5 where it was determined to be allelic with the dominant white spotting locus (W) (Chabot et al., Nature 335, 88-89 (1988). C-kit mutations are commonly found in W mice and, in addition to abnormalities affecting coat color and gonadal development, they also have a variety of hematopoietic defects. Macrocytic anemia is one of the most striking and profound of these abnormalities. The W.sup.42 mutation, associated with a particularly severe hematologic manifestation, has been shown to be due to a missense mutation leading to replacement of one amino acid and defective tyrosine kinase activity (Tan et al., Science 247, 209 (1990)). Such animals are also known to have about one-third of the erythroid burst forming units of healthy wild-type littermates (Goldwather et al., Exp. Heme. 18, 936 (1990)).
The ligand for the c-kit receptor has now been identified, molecularly cloned and expressed (Yarden et. al., The EMBO Journal, 6, 3341-3351 (1987)). The encoded protein, known as stem cell factor (SCF), mast cell growth factor (MGF), or steel factor (SLF) is the product of a gene which resides at the steel (S1) locus. Mice with S1 mutations have phenotypic abnormalities quite similar to those of W mice. The W mouse lacks, or has defects in, a critical signal transducing receptor encoded by c-kit. The S1 mouse has defects in the ligand which stimulates the receptor.
The importance of the c-kit ligand-receptor system in human hematopoiesis is unclear. No human mutations at the corresponding locii have been described. Studies in mice may have very limited applicability to human systems. Moreover, even if a tissue is shown to express a particular message, the importance of the message to expression of a cellular phenotype is not known until the cell is deprived of the encoded protein. Biological systems are redundant. Lack of a protein can often be compensated by another protein of the same family. It is therefore not predictable that inhibition of expression of a particular gene will result in altered phenotype.

Antisense of oligonucleotides to c-kit proto-oncogene and in vitro methods

Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education


A method for determining the performance of a control valve in a closed control loop by using a simulation model. A simulation model of a process control loop is provided, consisting of a unit process (2) including the flow equations of the valve, a process controller (4) and a process transmitter (3), to simulate a process with disturbances (6, 6'). The simulation model is connected to a real control valve (1), including a valve, an actuator and a positioner. The valve response is measured. The process variability during the process is determined.

A control valve and its operation is known and need not be described here in detail. A quarter turn valve can be for instance a ball valve or a butterfly valve. Examples of a ball valve are disclosed for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,578. A control valve is actuated by means of an actuator which moves the stem of the closure member between open and closed positions. An actuator can be operated by means of a cylinder-piston device which in turn is regulated by means of a valve positioner which operates the actuator in response to a control signal.
Control valves are often the most critical components in a control loop.
Control performance of an installed control valve depends primarily on the performance of the control valve but also on process conditions. There are three important factors which have to be taken into account in checking control preformance of an installed valve. They are
Installed flow characteristics and installed gain PA1 Static behaviour of a control valve PA1 Dynamic behaviour of a control valve PA1 Dead band PA1 Hysteresis plus dead band PA1 Repeatability PA1 Conformity/Linearity PA1 Dead time PA1 Time constant(s) PA1 Overshooting PA1 Settling time PA1 Stiction PA1 Lack of control valve maintenance PA1 Poor control valve sizing and selection PA1 Poor tuning of the process controller PA1 Poor process measurements PA1 Big disturbances PA1 providing a simulation model of a process control loop, consisting of a unit process including the flow equations of the valve, a process controller and a process transmitter, to simulate a process with disturbances; PA1 connecting the simulation model to a real control valve, including a valve, an actuator and a positioner; PA1 supplying actuating energy to the positioner; PA1 measuring the valve response; and PA1 determining the process variability during the process. PA1 a control valve, including a valve, an actuator, a positioner and means for supplying actuating energy; PA1 a computer with an I/O card; and PA1 a closed control loop simulator for simulating a unit process, a process controller and a process transmitter.
In analyzing loop performance it must be checked that the valve, actuator and positioner are correctly sized and selected. The best performance is usually achieved by a double acting actuator and a two-stage electropneumatic positioner. Double acting actuators are stiffer than spring return actuators because of the higher actuator pressure level. Therefore, they are less sensitive to disturbances, like dynamic torque or force, and they also give a fast valve response. It is important that the I/P (current to pressure) conversion of an electropneumatic positioner is inside the position feedback loop to compensate the errors by the feedback mechanism.
Control valves are often oversized because all the process data are not available and safety margins are used. If a valve is oversized, only a small part of the control range is in use. Many process controllers still have 10 bit D/A converters, which means about 0.1% resolution for the control signal. The theoretical resolution of input signal is, for example, 0.5% if only one fifth of the full control range is used.
Oversizing means poor control accuracy. For example, if the valve is oversized, then the control valve maximum relative installed gain is about 4 in a typical liquid flow application, and if at the same time, absolute position error in valve travel is 0.5%, then the maximum error in flow is 2.0%.
The control valve installed flow characteristics and gain affect also strongly control valve dynamics and dead time. If the gain varies strongly within the process operating range, also the operating speed of the control loop varies strongly. Control valve oversizing increases control loop dead time. Gain of an oversized valve is high whereby the controller gain must be reduced to prevent control loop instability. This means that the control valve input signal changes coming from process controller are smaller, which leads to strong increase in control valve dead time. This is a significant drawback in process variability.
Static behaviour of a control valve can be described with many different factors, such as
The first two are the most commonly measured nonlinearities of a control valve. They are mainly caused by a backlash and a high actuator load of the valve. Backlash can be removed only by valve maintenance. An actuator load can be decreased by reducing static friction and selecting a large enough actuator.
Repeatability and linearity of a control valve are usually adequate, because control loops are closed by feedback.
Dynamic perfomance of a control valve can be defined, for example, with the following factors
The first four factors can be measured from a step response curve. Results depend a lot on the step size and the valve initial position, because dynamics of a control valve are strongly nonlinear.
Analyzing methods and rules that are based on the linear control theory do not apply well to control valves. A frequency response is rarely used. The methods of frequency analysis are defined mainly for linear systems.
Generally, control valves have to be tested in many operating points.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,117 discloses a control system where an estimator is used to generate a simulation of a process according to the information it receives relating to the status of a real process. Other publications relating to valve control systems are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,109,692 and 5,261,437 and Finnish patent publication 53047. Different methods and systems for estimating process parameters are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,172,312, 4,674,028, 5,195,026, 5,267,139 and 5,357,424.
Process variability represents the quality of the process output of the controlling system. It can be defined in several ways, such as the maximum variability (difference between the maximum value and the minimum value within a certain measurement range); Integrated Error (IE); Integrated Absolute Error (IAE); etc.
The reasons for a high process variability are not easy to find without extra measurements. Poor process control can be caused, for example, by
Process variability is usually measured from sampled process values that are filtered from the real output of a process transmitter.
There are different criteria for analyzing the process variability. The easiest method is to measure the maximum variability of the process output signal. The second way is to calculate the control error area or an area factor between the setpoint and measured variable in a certain time scale. There are many well known integration methods in the control literature, for example ITAE, ITE, ITSE and ISTE. The third way to analyze process variability is to use more complicated signal processing methods.
It is usually difficult to estimate the influence of the control valve performance on the process variability. Flow control and tank level control loops have different sensitivity for control valve nonlinearities. In some cases, dead time is more significant than dead band, and vice versa.
Advances in control algorithms and measurements have been strong and give new possibilities to enhance control valve performance and testing. New smart control valves offer excellent chances to reach higher control performance.

Method and equipment for determining the performance of control valve


A blockchain-based message transmission is provided. The system may include a plurality of silicon-based devices encapsulated in quantum cases. Each quantum case may include a quantum random number generator and a public key. The quantum random number generator may generate quantum-resilient random numbers to be used as private keys. The system may include a private network. The private network may include a subset of system's devices. A first device, included in the private network, may transmit a message to a second device included in the private network. A first quantum case that encapsulates the first device may intercept the message, generate a private key, encrypt the message using the private key, generate a data transaction block that includes message metadata, upload the data transaction block to a system blockchain and transmit the message to the recipient upon receipt of an approval from a majority of devices.

A blockchain is a distributed database of records or public ledger of all transactions or digital events that have been executed and shared among participants. Each transaction or digital event in the public ledger is verified by a majority of participants included in the system. Once a transaction or digital event is executed, it can never be erased. Therefore, the blockchain contains a certain and verifiable record of every single transaction.
Because of the unique characteristics specific to blockchain technology—i.e., no central database and the inability to erase a transaction—blockchain technology has the ability to revolutionize the digital world by enabling a distributed record of every online transaction that can be verified at any time in the future. Blockchain technology does not compromise the privacy of digital assets and the parties involved because the blocks, included on the chain, either do not include private data or include an encrypted version of private data. The distributed consensus and the anonymity are two important characteristics of blockchain technology.
One use of blockchain technology involves smart contracts. Smart contracts are computer programs that can automatically execute the terms of a contract. A smart contract may be made between two or more participating entities. When a preconfigured condition in a smart contract is met, payments between the parties involved in the contractual agreement can be executed, as per the contract, in a transparent manner.
Quantum computing is the use of quantum-mechanical phenomena such as superposition and entanglement to perform computations. The smallest bit in a quantum computer is called a qubit. Quantum computing differs from classical computing in such a way that each qubit can be in a zero state and a one state at the same time.
The amount of data that a quantum computer is able to hold and manipulate grows exponentially with the number of qubits included in the quantum computer. A quantum computer with n qubits is able to simultaneously represents 2n states. Therefore, two qubits can hold four states, three qubits can hold eight states and fifty qubits can hold 1,125,899,906,842,624 states.
It would be desirable to utilize blockchain technology in a quantum computing system. Such a system would harness the indelible and distributed properties of blockchain technology to secure communications within a quantum computing system.

Blockchain system for hardening quantum computing security


This invention relates to a process for the production of tetrabromobisphenol-A, which process features: a water and water miscible solvent reaction medium; a relatively high reaction temperature; and the presence, in the reaction medium, of unreacted Br.sub.2 during the feed of bisphenol-A to the reactor.

This invention relates to highly efficient processes for the preparation of tetrabromobisphenol-A.
Tetrabromobisphenol-A is one of the most widely used brominated flame retardants in the world. It is used extensively to provide flame retardency for styrenic thermoplastics and for some thermoset resins.
The commercial processes used to produce tetrabromobisphenol-A generally fall into three categories. The first category includes those processes in which substantial amounts of methyl bromide are co-produced along with the tetrabromobisphenol-A. Generally, up to 40-50 pounds of methyl bromide can be expected per 100 pounds of tetrabromobisphenol-A produced. The methyl bromide co-production is now considered desirable since there is a substantial market for this bromide as a fumigant and as a pharmaceutical or agricultural chemical intermediate. In most cases, the processes within this first category feature reacting bisphenol-A and bromine in methanol. The ar-bromination of the bisphenol-A is a substitution reaction which generates one mole of HBr per ar-bromination site. Thus, for the production of tetrabromobisphenol-A, four moles of HBr are generated per mole of tetrabromobisphenol-A produced. The HBr in turn reacts with the methanol solvent to produce the methyl bromide co-product. After the bisphenol-A and bromine feed are finished, the reactor contents are cooked for one to two hours to complete the reaction. At the end of the reaction, water is added to the reactor contents to precipitate out the desired tetrabromobisphenol-A product.
The second category of processes features the production of tetrabromobisphenol-A without the co-production of substantial amounts of methyl bromide and without the use of oxidants to convert the HBr to Br.sub.2. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,990,321; 5,008,469; 5,059,726; and 5,138,103. Generally, these processes brominate the bisphenol-A at a low temperature, say 0 to 20.degree. C., in the presence of a methanol solvent and a specified amount of water. The water and low temperature attenuate the production of methyl bromide by slowing the reaction between methanol and HBr. The amount of water used, however, is not so large as to cause the precipitation of the tetrabromobisphenol-A from the reaction mass. Additional water for that purpose is added at the end of the reaction. One drawback with this type of process is that it uses a fairly long aging or cook period after the reactants have all been fed and it requires additional process time for the final precipitation of tetrabromobisphenol-A via the last water addition.
In the third category are those processes which feature the bromination of bisphenol-A with bromine in the presence of a solvent and, optionally, an oxidant, e.g., H.sub.2 O.sub.2, Cl.sub.2, etc. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,929,907; 4,180,684; 5,068,463 and Japanese 77034620 B4 77/09/05. The solvent is generally a water immiscible halogenated organic compound. Water is used in the reaction mass to provide a two-phase system. As the bisphenol-A is brominated, the tetrabromobisphenol-A is found in the solvent. The co-produced HBr is present in the water. When used, the oxidant oxidizes the HBr to Br.sub.2, which in turn is then available to brominate more bisphenol-A and its under-brominated species. By oxidizing the HBr to Br.sub.2, only about two moles of Br.sub.2 feed are needed per mole of bisphenol-A fed to the reactor. To recover the tetrabromobisphenol-A from the solvent, the solution is cooled until tetrabromobisphenol-A precipitation occurs. This process type is not a panacea though, as there is the expense of handling, purifying and recycling the halogenated organic solvent. In addition, the cooling of the solution to recover tetrabromobisphenol-A entails additional expense and process time.
As long as there is a viable market for methyl bromide, the processes of the first category have been found to be commercially attractive. However, it is now being proposed, on an international level, that the use of methyl bromide as a fumigant be prohibited. Since the fumigant market is the main market for methyl bromide, a need is apparent for tetrabromobisphenol-A processes which do not co-produce a substantial amount of methyl bromide. This is a difficult task since such processes, to be commercially successful, will be required to economically produce tetrabromobisphenol-A without the benefit of the revenue realized from the sale of the co-produced methyl bromide.

Process for the preparation of tetrabromobisphenol-A


A power supply device includes a plurality of rectangular battery cells stacked in the thickness direction, and a plurality of separators interposed between adjacent battery cells. The separator includes an insulating separator frame that forms a defined space surrounded in a frame shape, and a separator core that is inserted into the defined space surrounded by the separator frame and is disposed between the adjacent battery cells.

In a power supply device including a plurality of rectangular battery cells, the plurality of rectangular battery cells are generally stacked with a separator having an insulating property interposed between the battery cells so as to configure a battery stack, and a pair of end plates disposed on both end faces of this battery stack are fastened with a bind bar (see PTL 1). In this power supply device, a plurality of battery cells are stacked while a short circuit between adjacent battery cells is prevented by stacking battery cells each having an electrode body housed in a metal battery case with a separator having an insulating property interposed between battery cells.
This type of power supply device is required to have a high energy density per volume or a high energy density per weight, and it is also desired to employ a battery having a high energy density per volume or a high energy density per weight in a rectangular battery cell that constitutes the power supply device.
With the development of high-capacity battery cells and power supply devices, it becomes a more important issue to ensure safety in power supply devices. Especially in the fireproofing test, a heat insulation property of the separator is important. The heat insulation property of a separator is determined by the thermal conductivity and the thickness of the separator, and the thickness of the separator also affects the outer dimensions of the power supply device, and thus is an important parameter that determines the outer shape and characteristics of a power supply device.
On the other hand, according to the application of a power supply device, it is very inefficient to configure a power supply device to have an outer shape that fits the specifications of each vehicle type in, for example, a power supply device mounted on a vehicle. For this reason, there is an active movement to develop a standard platform, that is, to normalize and standardize the outer dimensions of a power supply device that does not depend on the battery cell capacity.

Power supply device, and separator for power supply device


A method of manufacturing a metal pipe clad cable having a fiber with an excess length housed therein, comprises the steps of preparing a metal pipe clad cable comprising a metal pipe and a fiber housed in the metal pipe, and passing said metal pipe clad cable through a plurality of sets of bending rolls. The metal pipe is repeatedly bent when passing through the plural sets of said bending rolls so as to generate a plastic deformation within the metal pipe and, thus, to impart an excess length to the fiber within the metal pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a metal pipe clad cable comprising a metal pipe and a fiber such as an optical fiber housed in the metal pipe, particularly to a method of imparting an excess length to the fiber housed in the metal pipe.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical fiber is usually in the form of an optical fiber cable consisting of a protective pipe of a metal or non-metal and an optical fiber housed in the protective pipe. When it is used under several conditions as, for example, a marine cable for optical communication, it is required that the optical fiber be protected by a metal pipe having a high corrosion resistance, which is made of, for example, a stainless steel (Japanese Industrial Standards JIS SUS). It is also required that the protective metal pipe be light in weight and small in diameter. An optical fiber cable comprising a protective metal pipe is also adapted for a thermal sensor used in an environment of high temperatures.
FIG. 1 exemplifies an optical communication cable having the configuration described above, showing seven optical fibers housed in an SUS pipe in a bundled state.
If the optical fibers are held stretched within the pipe, fatigue fracture of fibers may occur in any application after a long period of time, which seriously impair the performance of the optical communication cable. It is known to the art that the fatigue fracture occurs in the case where the tensile strain of the optical fiber exceeds 0.2%. Therefore, it is necessary to design and manufacture an optical communication cable in order that the excess length of the optical fiber over the length of the metal pipe is not smaller than -0.2% when installed and also during use of the cable.
FIG. 2 shows a solution to the problem described above, where an optical fiber is loosely inserted into a metal pipe such that the optical fiber has a positive excess length over the metal pipe.
The required excess length naturally differs depending on the applications and environments. In the case of a marine cable previously referred to, the required excess length is substantially 0%. If the cable is used as a thermal sensor for high temperature measurement, however, the expansion of the metal pipe is relatively large composed to that of the optical fiber (substantially 0%). It means that, in some cases, the optical fiber is required to have an excess length of as much as 0.6% in the installation stage. In other words, it is required that the excess length of the optical fiber be accurately controlled as desired to fall within the range of 0% to 0.6% in the manufacturing process of the optical fiber cable.
The two methods given below are known to the art as techniques of manufacturing a metal pipe clad cable:
(1) A long metal pipe prepared in advance is wound around a shaft. While the long metal pipe is vibrated, an optical fiber is inserted into the pipe from one end of the pipe (Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No 58-186110).
(2) A long metal tape having a desired thickness and width, which is prepared in advance, is shaped and welded into a pipe. An optical fiber is inserted into the pipe in the welding step (U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,790).
The length of metal pipe clad cable manufactured by method (1) is at most about 2,000 m. On the other hand, method (2) permits the length about 10 times as long as that manufactured by method (1), i.e., about 20,000 m, through the length depending on the length of the metal tape prepared.
When it cause to the control of the excess length, Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 3-267905 is proposed for method (1), where an elastic strain is imparted in tension to the metal pipe in the step of inserting an optical fiber into a metal pipe in an amount corresponding to the required excess length of the optical fiber, and the tension is released after insertion of the optical fiber into the pipe (hereinafter referred to as method 1-a).
For method (2), the control of the excess length is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,487. It proposes that, in the step of winding up a metal pipe clad cable continuously manufactured, an inert gas is introduced into the manufactured pipe to make the optical fiber pushed, under the control of the pressure, toward the outer circumferential surface of the pipe. In this case, the optical fiber is deviated from the axis of the metal pipe, with the result that an excess length over the metal pipe is imparted to the optical fiber (hereinafter referred to as method 2-a).
The excess length aimed to impart and obtained by method 1-a is only +0.15% as described in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 3-267905.
Meanwhile, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,487, the excess length can be imparted to the optical fiber by method 2-a is +0.2% at the maximum in the case of the particular product specifications and, in a special case, only -0.5%. Unless a desirable excess length is obtained regardless of the product specifications, the practical value of the method is low. In this sense, the scope of applications is limited in the case of method 2-a.
As described above, it is impossible to obtain an excess length of over +0.2% in either of method 1-a and method 2-a. Thus, a large excess length such as +0.6% cannot be imparted to the optical fiber in a metal pipe clad cable. It should also be noted that, in any of the conventional methods, an excess length is imparted in the manufacturing step of a metal pipe clad cable. It follows that, if it is found in the sampling inspection after manufacture of metal pipe clad cables that a desirable excess length is not imparted to the optical fiber, it is impossible to correct the excess length of the optical fiber, as desired. This means that it is unavoidable to discard the undesirable cables, leading to a marked reduction in the product yield. This problem is particularly serious in the case where the excess length control method includes such an unstable factor that the optical fiber is pushed, against the inner wall of the metal pipe, by controlling the gas pressure as in method 2-a. Neither of Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 3 -267905 nor U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,487 does teach at all how to adjust the excess length of the optical fiber after manufacture of a metal pipe clad cable. In other words, how to solve the problem described above is unknown in this technical field in general.

Method of forming cladded cable having fiber with excess length enclosed therein


The present invention relates to a stable, aqueous freshener composition for the reduction or elimination of malodors in air and on fabrics. The composition comprises from about 0.1% to about 3.0% by weight, hydrogen peroxide as a malodor oxidant; an effective level of undecylenic acid (and/or derivative thereof) as a malodor absorber preblended with a fragrance; a surfactant to solubilize the fragrance/malodor absorber blend; an acid based stabilizer in a range from about 0.008% to about 0.60% by weight; an optional pH buffer; and an aqueous carrier. The composition can be delivered via a spray dispenser for treatment of indoor air and fabrics. The composition has a pH of less than about 6 and does not contain ingredients known to soil, stain or damage fabrics. When applied as a fine mist, the composition delivers effective control of a broad range of malodors, while remaining imperceptible on surfaces when dry.

Air fresheners are products used in homes or commercial spaces to impart a pleasant smell. Some air freshener products simply deliver a fragrance; but most modern versions are designed to control malodors that may be present from food, tobacco, pets, the human body and other sources. The simplest approach to controlling malodors is fragrance masking, which is intentionally covering objectionable odors with a stronger fragrance or perfume scent. This approach typically requires a high level of fragrance to overcome the malodors, which may be irritating to breathing passages. Also, the scent of the fragrance used to mask odors may be objectionable as scent preferences can vary widely. Additionally, the malodor components are still present and may still be perceptible once the fragrance odor has dissipated.
Another approach to odor control is incorporation of an ingredient which absorbs, adsorbs, encapsulates, entraps or otherwise complexes with malodor molecules to reduce volatility or otherwise interfere with the perception of the malodor. This is referred to as odor neutralization in many cases. This mechanism does not involve a chemical breakdown of the malodor molecules by the odor control ingredient.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,101 assigned to Proctor & Gamble Co. discloses a sprayable composition to deodorize air comprising a hydrocarbon containing 12 to 18 carbon atoms, a propellant/carrier, and optionally a minor amount of pine oil. The proposed theory of why this composition works is called odor cancellation. As stated in the specification, odor cancellation does not encompass chemical interaction, and the components containing the C12 to C18 hydrocarbons are "extremely non-reactive". Since oxidizing components are reactive, these types of components are specifically excluded.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,495,097 assigned to Shaw Mudge & Co. discloses a composition for neutralizing odor comprising undecylenic acid (and/or derivatives thereof) and a fragrance. Further, undecylenic acid and/or derivatives thereof must be premixed with the fragrance at defined ratios and then introduced into a carrier or product which provides fragrance compositions that enhance neutralization of malodors while avoiding undesirable scavenging of fragrance. Undecylenic acid and derivatives thereof are neutralizing agents against malodor. This reference is hereby incorporated by reference as if its disclosure were set forth herein.
A chemical approach to odor control involves application of a reactive substance that eliminates the malodor molecule by changing it into a different molecule or molecules which are not malodors. This last approach is generally accomplished by oxidizing the malodor. An example is the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg odor) to elemental sulfur or sulfate ion. While this can be accomplished employing compounds such as sulfur dioxide, chlorine, ozone, or hydrogen peroxide; there are many problems with this approach. In large concentrations these oxidizing substances can corrode metal, damage other surfaces and are often harmful to people, especially to the lungs and breathing passages, including the nose. Fragrances are also very susceptible to oxidation such that these oxidizing substances can quickly neutralize fragrances. Lastly some of the oxidizing substances have odors of their own that may be unpleasant such as sulfur dioxide or chlorine.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0280665 assigned to S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. discloses a vapor phase hydrogen peroxide deodorizer in which the composition is directed to passive evaporation of the hydrogen peroxide into the indoor air space. This invention excludes processes whereby aqueous compositions are dispersed into indoor space, or applied as a bulk liquid, or spraying liquid droplets such as by spraying, misting, fogging or atomizing. Since the desire here is to create a vapor phase deodorizer, neutralization may require 300 minutes or more. It is not quick neutralization like the present invention.
Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizing and bleaching agent, meaning it will oxidize and destroy certain compounds. Typically the scents used in most cleaners fall into this group whereby they are destroyed. It would be difficult to find a scent that would stay stable in an aqueous peroxide solution. There are many that either degrade through oxidation by peroxide or induce instability in the peroxide itself. As stated in the Handbook of Detergents, Part D—Formulations, "Formulating a fragrance compatible with hydrogen peroxide is a difficult task since several common perfume ingredients, for instance aldehydes, can be unstable."
U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,192 assigned to S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. discloses the neutralizing "composition can also include other standard ingredients which do not adversely affect the stability of the bleach. Perfumes can be incorporated. However, care must be exercised in the solution containing a perfume as these compositions are mixtures of many compounds, some of which may be susceptible to degradation by the hydrogen peroxide. Generally less than 1% perfume is used".
U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,153 assigned to Bush Boake Allen, Inc. discloses "A problem in the field of odor modification is in the area of perfuming bleaching compositions. Because of the inherent ability of a bleaching agent to destroy odors, it is difficult to effectively perfume a bleaching composition so that the perfume remains stable during storage and is available for effective delivery without being altered or destroyed by the bleach".
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2009/0226389 discloses in Table 1 fragrances that are stable with hydrogen peroxide for a short period of time. The perfumes/fragrances are only needed to mask the ammonia smell in a hair coloring composition. The 2 components are mixed together just before use. It is only necessary that the perfume be stable for a few minutes because there is no need for a long shelf life, as needed for the present invention. Note that the list in Table 1 is not complete, nor accurate for the present invention, since the present invention also contains undecylenic acid or a derivative thereof. Therefore the perfume must also be compatible with undecylenic acid or a derivative thereof. The present invention does not contain ammonia and none of the perfumes mentioned is stated to have a long shelf life. None of the ingredients in Table 1 is suitable for the present invention. Hair coloring compositions are not compatible with air and fabric fresheners.
Aerosol sprays are well known and are available in the market place using a compressed gas propellant along with the liquid composition in a sealed metal container or a manual pump sprayer with the liquid composition in a plastic or metal container. For the propellant sealed containers, depressing the nozzle creates a mist of aerosol liquid droplets which can be applied to fabric or to room air to neutralize bad odors. For manual pump sprayers, the container is re-fillable and upon squeezing the trigger of the sprayer, a mist of aerosol liquid droplets can be applied to fabric or to room air to neutralize bad odors.


The adjustable heat exchanger provides precise control of oven temperature in a pyrolysis reaction. The heat exchanger includes two sets of hollow non-circular discs, the discs of a movable set being interleaved with the discs of a stationary set. A first working fluid circulates through a heat source oven and through the hollow stationary discs, and a second working fluid circulates through the hollow rotating discs and a pyrolysis oven. The two fluids do not mix with one another, but are always completely separate from one another. Heat transfer depends upon the relative surface area of the rotary discs interleaved between the stationary discs. Minimum heat transfer occurs when the rotary discs are rotated to a position clear of the stationary discs, and maximum heat transfer occurs when the rotary discs are completely interleaved with the stationary discs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for controlling the temperature of pyrolysis reactions, and particularly to an adjustable heat exchanger having a plurality of alternating discs for transferring heat from one set to the other.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pyrolysis is the process of chemically breaking down or altering a substance by heat in an essentially oxygen-free environment. Pyrolysis is used in the manufacture of various materials and in the production of lighter fractions from crude oil, as well as in other industries. The process often requires very precise control of the temperature during the pyrolysis process in order to achieve the specific chemistry of the desired end result.
To date it has been extremely difficult to achieve such precisely controlled temperatures (other than in electric ovens), particularly in fluid-based ovens required for successful pyrolysis. Thus, an adjustable heat exchanger solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


An image recording method of recording an image onto an image recording surface by dot patterns by scanning a recording head having recording element units arranged in a direction intersecting a scanning direction, the recording element units having a light source and an optical system which receives light from the light source, forms light beams which are arranged two-dimensionally, and focuses the light beams on the image recording surface. The method includes: measuring displacement amounts of positions of light beam spots on the image recording surface generated due to a change in optical magnification of the optical system; changing a light-emitting timing at a time of start of scanning in the scanning direction, on the basis of a displacement amount in the scanning direction; and changing a resolution in the direction intersecting the scanning direction, on the basis of a displacement amount in the direction intersecting the scanning direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording method and an image recording device which record an image on an image recording surface. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image recording method and an image recording device which record an image onto an image recording surface by dot patterns, by scanning, along the image recording surface, a recording head which is structured such that a plurality of recording element units are arranged in a direction intersecting a scanning direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, various image recording devices have been proposed which record an image onto a recording medium by using a recording head which irradiates a light beam which is modulated in accordance with image data by using a spatial light modulator (a recording element) such as a digital micromirror device (DMD) or the like (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,723).
For example, a DMD is a mirror device in which a large number of micromirrors, at which the angles of the reflecting surfaces thereof are varied in accordance with control signals, are arranged two-dimensionally in L lines×M columns on a semiconductor substrate formed of silicon or the like. By irradiating light onto the DMD from a single light source, a plurality of lights corresponding to the resolution of the DMD can be independently modulated and controlled.
Generally, recording elements such as DMDs or the like are arranged in a grid-like form (the form of a matrix) such that the direction in which the respective lines are arranged and the direction in which the respective columns are arranged are orthogonal to one another. By disposing the recording elements at an incline with respect to the scanning direction, the intervals between the scan lines at the time of scanning can be made to be closer, and the resolution can be increased.
However, in optical systems including such DMDs, there are cases in which errors in the optical magnifications arise. When errors in the optical magnifications arise, the recording positions of the dot patterns become offset, and positional offset arises in the recorded image.
In order to overcome this problem, a mechanism for adjusting the optical magnification must be provided (see, for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0092993 A1). However, the optical magnification adjusting mechanism is extremely complex, and when the mechanism requires adjustment in order to accommodate changes over time, the work is extremely complex, which leads to poor operability.
It has been thought to planarly rotate the recording heads, which are arranged in two dimensions, so as to adjust the pitches between the respective dots. In this way, the pitches between the dots in the direction intersecting the scanning direction can be made to match. Note that, in the scanning direction, it suffices to absorb the error by changing the scanning speed.
However, when the recording head is structured such that a plurality of recording element units are arranged in a direction intersecting the scanning direction, a rotation adjusting mechanism must be provided for each of the recording element units in order to carry out the above-described adjustment. Further, cases in which the respective recording element units have different optical magnifications cannot be addressed.

Image recording method and image recording device for correcting optical magnification errors


An on-chip power supply regulation system for a VLSI circuit such as a dynamic RAM is disclosed. The system includes a high power supply voltage detection circuit and a power supply clamp circuit, where a clamped voltage generated by the clamp circuit biases the functional circuitry when the high power supply voltage detection circuit detects an overvoltage condition. The bias voltage applied to the functional circuitry in the normal operating condition can be a regulated voltage generated from the power supply voltage. Further included in the disclosed circuit is a burn-in voltage generation circuit and a burn-in voltage detection circuit, which can apply an accelerated voltage which depends upon the applied power supply voltage, when the power supply voltage is higher than during normal operation but lower than in the overvoltage condition enabling the clamp operation. A multiplexer connects the regulated voltage, the clamped voltage, or the accelerated voltage, to the circuit depending upon the level of the external power supply voltage. In this way, the offset between the accelerated voltage and the external power supply voltage can be optimized independently from the power supply voltage at which the accelerated voltage is enabled.

In recent years, the density of components are integrated into single integrated circuit devices has increased at a high rate. Examples of such high density circuits include dynamic random access memories (dRAMs), which are now being fabricated at 4 Mbit and 16 Mbit single-chip densities. In order to accomplish such complexities while maintaining the size of the chip at reasonable and manufacturable levels, the minimum feature size of the transistors and other components must of course be reduced. For dRAM devices, which have generally been the most densely integrated devices in the industry, the size of features such as MOS transistor gates is generally at the smallest size manufacturable by available technology. In the example of 16 Mbit dRAM devices, transistor gate widths are expected to be in the range of 0.5 to 0.7 microns.
It is well known that MOS transistors which have gate widths, and accordingly transistor channel lengths, which are of sub-micron dimensions are subject to time and voltage dependent phenomena to which larger transistors are not subject. An example of such a phenomenon is transistor performance degradation due to channel hot-carrier effects. While certain techniques are available to reduce the susceptibility of transistors to channel hot-carrier effects, such as providing graded junctions as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,623 issued Nov. 2, 1982, and assigned to Texas Instruments Incorporated, the drain-to-source voltage nominally applied to the transistor structure remains a strong factor in the channel hot-carrier degradation of the transistor performance.
Furthermore, the storage element in dRAMs is commonly a thin film capacitor. It is well known that the data stored in dRAM capacitors may be upset by naturally occurring alpha particles. The degree to which data is lost in such events depends upon the capacitance of the memory cell, and accordingly the capacitance of modern dRAM cells is generally maintained above 35 fF for each cell, and preferably above 50 fF. Since it is desirable that the density of storage cells per unit area should be as large as possible, in order to maintain the necessary storage capacitance of 35 to 50 fF, the thickness of the capacitor dielectric must be reduced. Modern storage capacitors thus have dielectric thicknesses on the order of the equivalent of 10 nm of silicon dioxide, or less. However, with such thin capacitor dielectrics, both dielectric breakdown voltage and time-dependent dielectric breakdown rates degrade with thinner dielectrics, assuming a constant voltage applied thereacross.
For these reasons, the power supply voltages applied to such high density VLSI devices including dRAMs, other memories, and logic devices, are preferably reduced as the feature sizes decrease. In addition, since the power dissipation of the chip increases with increasing numbers of components integrated into the chip, a reduced power supply voltage would also reduce the device power dissipation. Many other circuits may still use a higher power supply voltages (e.g., 5 volts nominally) than is desired by the high density components described above (e.g., 3.3 volts), which makes the designer of systems incorporating these devices reluctant to provide an additional power supply in the system, due to the cost of such other supplies and the routing of an additional bias voltage.
It should also be noted that it is desirable that the performance of the integrated circuit should not vary strongly with the power supply voltage applied thereto, as such variation may increase the cost of production testing of the chip during its manufacture, but such variation may also cause system-level problems for the user.
Furthermore, in the field of dRAM devices, due to the large amount of thin capacitor dielectric on each device, manufacturers generally perform a "burn-in" operation during the test process of the chips. Burn-in is intended to stress the devices both by voltage and by temperature so that weak devices are removed from the population which is shipped to the user of the devices (i.e., removing the "infant mortality" portion of the reliability curve). On-chip regulation of the bias voltage for the memory array, for example, will preclude the direct application of the power supply voltage to the capacitors, however.
Referring first to FIG. 1, a power supply regulation system according to the prior art will be described in detail. The system of FIG. 1 provides a regulated voltage to memory array 125 when the circuit is biased at nominal V.sub.dd power supply voltages (e.g., from 4.5 volts to 6.0 volts) and provides a stress voltage to array 125 when a higher V.sub.dd level (e.g., above 6.0 volts) is applied, for example during such a burn-in operation. Reference voltage generator circuit 121, according to conventional designs such as a bandgap reference circuit and a voltage multiplier circuit, provides a regulated voltage on line MVA' to one input of comparator driver 122 and to stress, or burn-in, voltage generator circuit 115. The voltage on line MVA' is preferably at a voltage which is less than the nominal V.sub.dd power supply level during normal operation. For example, the voltage on line MVA' can be on the order of 3.3 volts.
Comparator driver 122 is of conventional design, and receives at its other input line VBIN' from burn-in voltage generator circuit 115. Comparator driver 122 in the system of FIG. 1 according to the prior art is constructed conventionally in such a fashion that array 125 is biased by the voltage which is the greater of the voltage on line MVA' and the voltage on line VBIN'.
Burn-in voltage generator circuit 115 according to the prior art system of FIG. 1 includes a differential amplifier 155 constructed according to a conventional design, including for example an n-channel MOS differential amplifier with a p-channel current mirror active load. Differential amplifier 155 is biased by an n-channel current source, which in turn is biased by a low voltage on line VREF, generated by reference voltage generator circuit 121. The second input to differential amplifier 155 is a voltage which is substantially three p-channel threshold voltages (i.e., 3V.sub.tp) below V.sub.dd, due to the series connection of p-channel transistors 150 between V.sub.dd and the second input to differential amplifier 155. Accordingly, the output of differential amplifier 155 on line VBIN' is at a high voltage when the value of V.sub.dd less 3V.sub.tp is greater than the voltage on line MVA' from reference voltage generator circuit 121.
The operation of the prior art system of FIG. 1 is illustrated by the dotted line portion of the transfer characteristic of FIG. 9. When the external power supply voltage V.sub.dd is above a certain level for operation, but below a value of approximately 6.3 volts, in this example, the bias of array 125 is at the voltage of line MVA', which in this case is on the order of 3.3 volts, as generated by reference voltage generator circuit 121. However, when V.sub.dd exceeds the voltage on line MVA' by 3V.sub.tp (V.sub.tp in this example being on the order of 1.0 volts), differential amplifier 155 will drive line VBIN' to the higher voltage of V.sub.dd less 3V.sub.tp. Comparator driver 122 will, in turn, present this higher voltage to array 125. As the external power supply voltage V.sub.dd continues to rise, the voltage applied to array 125 also rises, following the transfer characteristic shown by the dotted line in FIG. 9. In this way, the system of FIG. 1 according to the prior art can apply a stress voltage to array 125 which varies with V.sub.dd, so that a burn-in or other stress operation can be performed.
The system of FIG. 1 has limitations in its flexibility of operation, however. If, for example, a certain high stress voltage were desired to be applied to array 125, for example, a stress voltage on the order of 7.0 volts, according to the above-described example, an external V.sub.dd voltage of 10.0 volts is necessary. However, modern sub-micron transistors may not be capable of withstanding the stress of a 10.0 volt bias, and while the array in the system of FIG. 1 would not receive such a high voltage due to the operation of the system, there would be transistors in the periphery of the device (e.g., those transistors in reference voltage generator 121 and in burn-in voltage generator circuit 115) which are biased directly by V.sub.dd. Limitations on the voltage applied to these transistors could thus limit the maximum stress voltage which the system of FIG. 1 could apply to array 125.
In order to apply such a high stress voltage to array 125 according to the system of FIG. 1 without damaging peripheral transistors, the designer of the system could reduce the number of transistors 150 in burn-in voltage generator circuit 115, so that the difference between V.sub.dd and the voltage of line VBIN' during stress conditions would be reduced. By reducing the number of transistors 150 in burn-in voltage generator circuit to two, for example, a 7.0 volt stress bias could be applied to array 125 with only 9.0 volts applied to V.sub.dd. However, if the number of transistors 150 in the system of FIG. 1 were reduced to two, the system would apply the stress voltage at a lower level of V.sub.dd, in this case when V.sub.dd was 2V.sub.tp over the voltage on line MVA'. With a V.sub.tp on the order of 1.0 volts and the voltage on line MVA' at 3.3 volts in this example, the stress condition would be applied to array 125 when V.sub.dd exceeded 5.3 volts. Since a V.sub.dd of 5.3 volts is within the specified normal operating range of V.sub.dd for conventional dRAM devices, though, such a construction of burn-in voltage generator circuit 115 would result in stress of array 125 during normal operation.
It should therefore be evident that the system of FIG. 1 provides quite limited flexibility to the designer of the circuit using such a power regulation system, especially in selecting a stress voltage.
In addition, VLSI devices including small feature sizes as described above also may be damaged by overvoltage conditions which are inadvertently applied to the device by the user, or during test operations. Furthermore, since complementary MOS (i.e., CMOS) technology is now commonly used in VLSI circuits due to its reduced power dissipation and fast performance, latchup of CMOS structures at excessive power supply voltages, due to the parasitic thyristors inherent in CMOS, is also a concern.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an on-chip system for regulating the power supply voltage applied to various portions of a large scale integrated circuit.
It is therefore another object of this invention to provide such an on-chip system for regulating its internal bias voltages so that the performance of the chip is relatively stable with respect to the power supply voltage.
It is therefore another object of this invention to provide such a system which can apply a stress voltage to portions of the device, responsive to the power supply voltage applied externally to the device.
It is therefore another object of this invention to provide such a system which allows the stress voltage to be determined independently from the regulated internal bias voltage.
It is therefore another object of this invention to provide such a system which clamps internal bias voltages responsive to an excessive externally applied power supply voltage.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having reference to the following specification, together with the drawings.

Integrated circuit with improved on-chip power supply control


Provided is an ionization apparatus including: a holder configured to hold a sample; a probe configured to determine a part to be ionized of the sample held by the holder; an extract electrode configured to extract ionized ions of the sample; a liquid supply unit configured to supply liquid to a part of a region of the sample; and a unit configured to apply a first voltage between the probe and the extract electrode, in which the first voltage is pulse-modulated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ionization apparatus for a solid sample, a mass spectrometer including the ionization apparatus, and an image forming system.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a technology for ionizing a solid under the atmospheric pressure condition for component analysis of a surface of a solid sample.
In the document Yoichi Otsuka et al., "Scanning probe electrospray ionization for ambient mass spectrometry", Rapid Communications in mass spectrometry, 26, 2725 (2012), there is proposed an ionization method in which a very small volume of solvent is supplied to a very small region on a solid sample surface so that components of the sample are dissolved in the solvent, and then the components are ionized by an electrospray ionization method. The generated ions are introduced to a mass spectrometer so that a mass-to-charge ratio of the ion is measured, and hence the component analysis can be performed. In order to supply the solvent to the very small region of the solid sample surface, a probe is used. The solvent is continuously introduced to the probe. In a state where the probe is close to the solid sample surface, a liquid bridge is formed between the probe and the solid sample surface so that the components of the solid sample surface are dissolved in the liquid bridge. The solution in which the components are dissolved is ionized by applying a voltage thereto. The ionization method performed in the state where the probe stays close to the solid sample surface is referred to as contact-mode scanning probe electrospray ionization (contact-mode SPESI), and the ionization method performed in the state where the probe is vibrated so that the solvent is intermittently supplied to the solid sample surface is referred to as tapping-mode scanning probe electrospray ionization (tapping-mode SPESI).
In the above document, the probe is vibrated so that the probe is intermittently brought into contact with the sample surface, and hence the liquid bridge is intermittently formed. Therefore, a time period for forming the liquid bridge and a time period for ionizing are defined by a vibration condition of the probe such as vibration frequency, and hence cannot be determined freely. Therefore, depending on a condition such as the probe vibration or a solution flow rate, there is a problem in that when the components are consecutively measured by scanning the sample surface, sample components dissolved in the liquid bridge at a certain measurement point on the sample surface remain in another liquid bridge formed at a next measurement point, and hence the dissolved components at both measurement points cannot be analyzed correctly and separately.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ionization apparatus, mass spectrometer including ionization apparatus, and image forming system


A method for leaching of minerals and sequestration of CO2 is disclosed, wherein the method comprises forming a rock pile; injecting exhaust gas containing CO2 in the lower part of the rock pile; spraying leaching liquid on top of the rock pile; collecting enriched leaching liquid from a lower part of the rock pile; precipitating mineral carbonates from the enriched leaching liquid, or further extracting dissolved elements or compounds.

The release of CO2 from combustion of fossil fuels and from industrial processes such as cement production, roasting of ores, and steel production has gained much interest in recent years due to the influence of CO2 on the environment and effects such as global warming. Many of the sources of CO2 such as emissions from power plants comprise only a few percent CO2 and accordingly huge amounts of emissions have to be treated to separate the CO2 formed during combustion. Much focus has been on methods for CO2 capture using liquid absorbents. These processes, so far, have had a high energy demand and have resulted in a CO2 stream for which permanent storage or reuse has to be secured in a secondary process.

Leaching of minerals and sequestration of CO


A golf bag comprising a cover lid, a base bracket and a tubular body disposed therebetween is provided. The golf bag bas a tubular configuration and is provided with a supporting legs set such that the golf bag can stand firmly on the ground. The supporting legs set includes a pair of supporting legs, a spring member which is disposed between supporting legs and the driving plate. Characterized in that the cover lid and the base bracket are well supported by a supporting rod and the supporting legs set. The underside of the base bracket is provided with a planar portion, an inclined portion, a first slot and a second slot. The driving plate of the supporting legs set is pivotally attached to the first slot with its inner portion. The outer portion of the supporting legs set which is connected to the first spring member is received within the second slot. By this arrangement, the tubular body can be made from soft material since the cover lid is suitably supported by the supporting rod. The driving plate is also hidden under the inclined portion of the base bracket. In light of this, the golfer and boy will not stumble.

In a conventional golf bag, it generally comprises a tubular body and an annular cover disposed at the top of the tubular body. A base bracket is disposed at the bottom of the tubular body. The outer periphery of the base bracket is pivotally mounted with a driving plate. A positioning stand is fixedly disposed at the side portion of the tubular body. A pair of supporting legs are disposed at the positioning stand. A V-shape spring is connected to the supporting at one end and the other end of the spring is connected to the driving plate. When the golf bag is pressed by the user as it has been disposed at the ground toward the direction of the driving plate such that it is tilted upward, with the inclined movement, the driving plate will move the V-shape spring upwardly such that the supporting legs are extended outward. By this arrangement, the golf bag can be readily supported by the supporting legs and the driving plate and stand inclinationally on the ground.
Even the conventional golf bag which can be readily stood inclinationally and vertically, can still be improved to have a better result.
1. In order to make the driving plate to have a better driving torque to drive the spring member, the driving plate is designed such that it has an extended length which may project over the outer periphery of the golf bag. On the other hand, the lower end of the V-shape spring member is also connected to the outer surface of the driving plate. Even this design may readily drive the extending spring member, however the extended driving plate can be an obstruction to the owner, if especially the golf bag is standing vertically.
2. Since the V-shape spring member exerts a stronger force to the supporting legs for extending outward, a reactive force will also exert on the outer wall of the tubular body. In order to overcome the reactive force applied from the spring member, the tubular body should be made from rigid or hard material. Undesirably, the overall weight of the tubular body is inevitable increased. This is really a burden to the golf boy.


The present invention provides a solution suitable for forming a composite oxide type dielectric thin film containing at least one organometallic compound dissolved in at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of cyclic or acyclic diethers, alkyl-substituted cyclic monoethers, mono- or di-branched alkyl monoethers, alkoxy alcohols, diols, and acetoacetic esters, or dissolved in a solvent mixture comprising at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of cyclic and acyclic saturated hydrocarbons, and at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of cyclic or acyclic diethers, alkyl-substituted cyclic monoethers, mono- or di-branched alkyl monoethers, alkoxy alcohols, diols, acetoacetic esters, and unsubstituted or alkyl-substituted pyridine. These solutions can be used in a metal oxide chemical deposition method (a MOCVD method, a chemical vapor deposition method using an organometallic compound) to prepare composite oxide (for example, barium strontium titanate) type dielectric thin films on substrates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solution raw material containing at least two organometallic compounds for forming a composite oxide dielectric thin film used for a dielectric memory such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), a dielectric filter, and the like, by a metal oxide chemical deposition method (a MOCVD method, a chemical vapor deposition method using an organometallic compound).
2. Description of the Background
As the degree of integration of DRAM increases, use of conventional SiO2 for a dielectric thin film used as a capacitor becomes more difficult, and use of a composite oxide type (an oxide containing at least two metals) dielectric material having a high dielectric constant has been investigated. Examples of such dielectric materials include lead titanate (PT), lead titanate zirconate (PZT), lanthanum lead titanate zirconate (PLZT), strontium titanate (ST), barium titanate (BT), barium strontium titanate (BST), and the like. Particularly, BST is most excellent from the viewpoint of dielectric characteristics.
For thin films of such composite oxide type dielectric materials, a sol-gel method has been conventionally intensively studied in which a film is formed on a substrate by spin coating using metal alkoxides as raw materials. The sol-gel method is capable of easily controlling the film composition because no metal component is vaporized. However, a capacitor electrode of DRAM has a step, and the step increases and is complicated as the degree of integration increases. Therefore, it is difficult to uniformly form a dielectric thin film on the electrode as a substrate by the spin coating method.
Therefore, in recent few years, formation of a dielectric thin film by the MOCVD method with excellent step coverage (the property of adhesion to the surface of a complicated shape having a step) has been actively studied in expectation of higher integration of a device. As an organometallic compound as a raw material, an organometallic complex or a metal alkoxide containing xcex2-diketone compound as a ligand, such as dipivaloylmethane (DPM) or the like, is generally used. Both an alkoxide and xcex2-diketone complex are used as metal raw materials for Ti, Zr, Ta and the like, and xcex2-diketone complexes are mainly used as raw materials for Sr and Ba.
The MOCVD method is a method comprising vaporizing a metal raw material by heating under reduced pressure, transporting the vapor to a deposition chamber, pyrolyzing the vapor on a substrate, and adhering the produced metal oxide to the substrate. In the case of the above composite oxide type thin film, at least two types of organometallic compounds must be used as raw materials. Therefore, control of the amount of the raw material compounds supplied to the deposition chamber, i.e., control of the film composition, is very important for the MOCVD method because compounds have different volatilities.
In formation of the dielectric thin film by the MOCVD method, conventionally, an organometallic compound as a raw material is vaporized by heating, and the generated vapor is transferred to the deposition chamber to form the film. However, an organometallic compound, particularly a DPM complex recommended for use in the MOCVD method, has low stability and volatility, and thus volatility deteriorates during use, or an increase in heating temperature for increasing volatility causes pyrolysis before the vapor of the raw material compound reaches the deposition chamber. Therefore, it is difficult to stably transport the raw material to the deposition chamber, thereby causing a problem in which the expensive raw material is disposed of at each time of film deposition. Also it is difficult to control the film composition, thereby causing a problem in which a thin film having good dielectric characteristics cannot be stably formed.
In order to solve these problems, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-158328 discloses that a solution raw material containing all organometallic compounds dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF) is used for the MOCVD method. This solution in a liquid state is supplied to a vaporization chamber arranged before the deposition chamber according to a method referred to as a liquid raw material supply method, and the vapor generated by vaporization in the vaporization chamber is sent to the deposition chamber to form the thin film. In a liquid state, particularly, the DPM complex is stable, and thus the raw material can be repeatedly used. Also, since the heating temperature for vaporization is decreased, it is possible to avoid pyrolysis before the raw material reaches the deposition chamber, and improve controllability of the film composition.
As a similar liquid raw material supply method, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-132776 discloses that a solution of a specified Ba complex (a complex in which two molecules of dipivaloylmethane and one molecule of ethylenediamine are coordinated with a Ba atom) dissolved in THF is used as a raw material. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-247650 discloses that a solution of a metal alkoxide in an organic solvent which boils at the same time as the metal alkoxide is used as a raw material for CVD. Examples of such solvents include alcohols such as ethanol, methanol, propanol, and the like; ethers such as ethyl ether, methyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, and the like; ketones such as methyl ethyl ketone, dimethyl ketone, acetone, and the like. Particularly, ethanol, tetrahydrofuran, and methanol are preferred.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-321039 filed in 1994 discloses that a flash vapor method (the same as the liquid raw material supply method) comprising dissolving a solid compound as a raw material for CVD in an organic solvent, and sending a small amount of the solution to a vaporizer heated to simultaneously vaporize the solid compound and the organic solvent has been studied for a few years.
Also Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7503759 discloses that a raw material for CVD is dissolved in a solvent capable of doing co-flash evaporation and is then supplied. Examples of such a solvent include ethers, amines, and alkanols (alcohols). Specifically, isopropanol (IPA), and a solvent mixture of THF/IPA/tetraglyme at 8/2/1 are used.
However, as a result of study conducted by the inventors, it was found that even when a dielectric thin film is formed by the MOCVD method using a solution raw material containing an organometallic compound as a raw material dissolved in THF, composition control is very difficult, and a thin film having the intended composition cannot be easily obtained.
For example, it was found that a raw material such as titanium alkoxide (e.g., titanium tetraisopropoxide) as a Ti raw material, or bis(dipivaloylmethanato) barium complex [Ba(DPM)2] as a Ba raw material tends to react with THF in THF at room temperature to form an nonvolatile reaction product, and the raw material present in the solution is partially vaporized, thereby significantly decreasing the amount of the raw material vaporized.
On the other hand, bis(dipivaloylmethanato) strontium complex [Sr(DPM)2] as a Sr raw material is stable in THF at room temperature. However, since the complex is solvated by the polar solvent in THF, the complex is present in the form of [Sr(DPM)2L1] (wherein L is a solvent, i.e., THF, and n is an integer), and is vaporized in this form. However, in vaporization, the solid raw material [Sr(DPM)2] and the liquid Ln have greatly different evaporation temperatures, and thus Ln is dissociated by heat in the course of evaporation to easily cause the phenomenon that the Sr raw material is not sent to the deposition chamber. Also THF is polymerizable, and thus produces ring opening polymerization by heating in evaporation, thereby making the complex unstable.
Therefore, the use of the THF solution makes unstable the supply of a raw material vapor to the deposition chamber, and has the large possibility of producing a composite oxide having a metal composition ratio completely different from the composition ratio of the metal raw materials in the solution. It is thus difficult to control the film composition, and it is still impossible to realize stable production of a dielectric thin film having a predetermined composition. The use of the above solvent mixture of THF/IPA/tetraglyme at 8/2/1 containing THF as a main component produces substantially the same results. A solution raw material containing alkanol such as IPA as a solvent also has difficulties in controlling the composition.
It is an object of the present invention to solve this problem. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a solution useful for producing a dielectric thin film by the MOCVD method having excellent controllability of film composition and permitting stable supply of the above organometallic compounds as raw materials to the deposition chamber without producing pyrolysis of the organometallic compounds as raw materials and nonvolatile products, thereby permitting the secure formation of a dielectric thin film having a predetermined composition.
The present inventors found that by using a polar solvent such as a cyclic or acyclic diether, alkyl-substituted cyclic monoether, mono- or di-substituted alkyl monoether, alkoxy alcohol, diol, or acetoacetic ester, or a solvent mixture of a non-polar solvent such as saturated hydrocarbon and one of these polar solvents in place of THF, making the Ti raw material and Ba raw material nonvolatile, and dissociation of the Sr raw material are eliminated or significantly decreased, thereby permitting stable supply of vapors of these raw materials to the deposition chamber. This resulted in achievement of the present invention.
The present invention therefore provides a solution raw material for forming a composite oxide type dielectric thin film by the MOCVD method, comprising a solution containing at least one organometallic compound as a raw material dissolved in at least one solvent selected from cyclic or acyclic diethers, alkyl-substituted monoethers, mono- or di-branched alkyl monoethers, alkoxy alcohols, diols, and acetoacetic esters.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a solution raw material for forming a composite oxide type dielectric thin film by the MOCVD method, comprising a solution containing at least one organometallic compound as a raw material dissolved in a solvent mixture containing at least one solvent selected from cyclic and acyclic saturated hydrocarbons, and at least one solvent selected from cyclic or acyclic diethers, alkyl-substituted monoethers, mono- or di-branched alkyl monoethers, alkoxy alcohols, diols, acetoacetic esters, and unsubstituted or alkyl-substituted pyridine.

Solution raw material for forming composite oxide type dielectric thin film and dielectric thin film


A wireless User Equipment (UE) controls a wireless network slice type that has slice requirements. In the UE, source Radio Resource Control (RRC) circuitry exchanges source signaling with a source Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF). During the exchange of the source signaling, target RRC circuitry exchanges target signaling with target AMFs and determines AMF characteristics. The target RRC circuitry compares the AMF characteristics to the slice requirements and selects one of the target AMFs based on the comparison. The source or target RRC circuitry exchange additional target signaling with the selected one of the target AMFs to use the wireless network slice type. User-plane circuitry exchanges user data with the wireless network slice which is controlled by the selected target AMF.

Wireless communication networks provide wireless data services to wireless user devices. Exemplary wireless data services include machine-control, internet-access, media-streaming, and social-networking. Exemplary wireless user devices comprise phones, computers, vehicles, robots, and sensors. The wireless user devices execute user applications to support and use the wireless data services. For example, a smartphone may execute a social-networking application that communicates with a content server over a wireless communication network.
The wireless communication networks have wireless access nodes which exchange wireless signals with the wireless user devices over radio frequency bands. The wireless signals use wireless network protocols like Fifth Generation New Radio (5GNR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (WIFI), and Low-Power Wide Area Network (LP-WAN). The wireless access nodes exchange network signaling and user data with network elements that are often clustered together into wireless network cores. The network elements comprise Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMFs), Session Management Functions (SMFs), User Plane Functions (UPFs), and the like. The wireless access nodes are coupled to the wireless network cores over backhaul links.
A wireless network slice comprises a set of network elements like an SMF/UPF combination or just a UPF. The wireless user devices may request a specific type of wireless network slice like a low-latency slice or a machine-communication slice. The AMFs interact with other network elements to authorize the wireless user devices to use the wireless network slices. In some cases, the AMFs perform AMF reselection to other AMFs due to overloads or user mobility. Unfortunately, the wireless user devices do not effectively control their wireless network slices. Moreover, the wireless user devices do not efficiently optimize the AMFs that control their wireless network slices.

Wireless user equipment (UE) control over wireless network slices based on slice requirements


An image forming apparatus, includes: a main body; a cover configured to be provided so as to be capable of being opened and closed with respect to the main body; an attachment unit configured to be provided on the cover; a unit configured to be attached to the attachment unit; a positioning member configured to, on closing of the cover, position the unit with respect to a member attached to the main body or the main body; a guiding member configured to guide the unit to the positioning member; and a protrusion configured to be provided at the guiding member to protrude in an attaching direction of the unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transfer device and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, there are known electrophotographic image forming apparatuses in which a secondary transfer unit is attached to a cover of a main body to allow easy handling of a paper jam occurring between a secondary transfer roller and an opposed roller or neighboring parts thereof (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-259449, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-139436, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-85867). In this case, when the cover is opened, the secondary transfer roller can be separated from the opposed roller, thereby to facilitate removal of jammed paper.
In some of image forming apparatuses having a secondary transfer unit attached to a cover as described above, the secondary transfer unit is configured to be easy for a user or the like to replace for further improved maintenance properties.
However, on replacement of the secondary transfer unit, when the cover is closed while the secondary transfer unit is imperfectly attached to the cover, the secondary transfer roller may not be correctly positioned, thereby exerting influence on image formation and the like after the replacement. In addition, when the secondary transfer unit is not correctly positioned at closing of the cover, the components may be broken.
The problem of improper attachment of the unit to the cover may also arise in units other than the secondary transfer unit.
Accordingly, in light of the foregoing circumstances, there is needed to provide an image forming apparatus that allows suppression of occurrence of improper attachment of the unit.

Transfer device and attachment of the transfer device to a cover of an image forming apparatus


A device and a method are provided for receiving items of product information over a satellite digital audio radio (SDAR) network and locally storing the information therein. A mobile device is provided that comprises a control section and mobile information storage in electrical communication with the control section. The control section is adapted to communicate the items of product information received over the SDAR network to said mobile information storage.

In our mobile society, there is a demand for mobile communication that allows a person to roam freely while maintaining the ability to send, receive, and access information from many locations. A wide range of wireless systems are in use today and more are now scheduled for imminent future deployment.
Examples of conventional wireless devices commonly found in vehicles include AM/FM radios, television receivers, satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) receivers, global positioning system (GPS) devices and other wireless receivers. In today's mobile environment, many consumers rely on these and other modern technologies to efficiently accomplish tasks that once required additional forethought and pre-planning. More specifically, consumers have increasingly relied on satellite technology due to its added advantages.
For example, a service is currently offered (using GPS technology) that presents users with step-by-step directions that guide them along an efficient route to reach a specific destination based on their tracked position, and, services even provide an indication, or warning, when the user strays from their designated course. Other consumers have subscribed to satellite radio (SDARS technology) primarily for a consistently high quality signal that is made available using digital technology. Not only does the digital signal provide a clearer, crisper audio output, it often carries with it information that describes and classifies the contents therein. For example, some receivers display the title, author, and the like of music playing on the receiver.
Satellite radio is additionally preferred in regions where traditional radio transmissions are unavailable due to limitations resulting from the surrounding geographical environment. Satellite radio, as compared to conventional AM/FM radio is provided substantially free from on-air/audio advertisements, i.e. commercials, or the like. Currently, however, satellite radio subscribers must pay a premium to subscribe to, or access, the service.

Device and method to store product information