A heater tool, which bonds by thermocompression outer leads of a TCP to electrodes on an array substrate, is fixed to a support block and is movable between a compression-bonding position, wherein the distal end portion of the heater tool presses the TCP to compression-bond the outer leads to the electrodes of the array substrate, and a waiting position wherein the distal end portion is spaced apart from the TCP. A pressing mechanism having a pressing member is mounted on the support block and movable in interlock with the movement of the heater tool. The pressing member presses the TCP to press the outer leads against the array substrate when the heater tool moves from the waiting position toward the compression bonding position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connecting apparatus such as a thermocompression bonding apparatus, which is used for, e.g., connecting an electrode substrate of a liquid crystal display and a printed circuit board mounted with electronic parts.
2. Description of the Related Art
Utilizing the features characterized by thinness, light weight and low electricity consumption, a flat panel display, represented by a liquid crystal display, has been recently used widely in such applications as display for personal computer, word processor, television and the like or as display for projection.
Among the flat panel displays, an active matrix type liquid crystal display, which comprises pixel electrodes and switching elements electrically connected thereto, has become the target of intensive research and development, because such display provides a good display image free of cross talks between the adjacent pixels.
Generally, an active matrix type liquid crystal display has an array substrate and an opposing substrate, which are positioned opposite to each other, and a liquid crystal composition is filled in the space between the substrates via an orientation layer. The array substrate has a glass substrate on which a plurality of signal lines and a plurality of scanning lines are arranged in a matrix and pixel electrodes are positioned via thin film transistors (hereinafter referred to as TFT), functioning as switching elements, in the neighborhood of each of the cross sections between the signal lines and the scanning lines. On the glass substrate, storage capacitor lines are provided in parallel to the scanning lines and insulating layers are provided between the scanning lines and the pixel electrodes so that storage capacitor is formed between the storage capacitor lines and the pixel electrodes.
The counter substrate has a glass substrate on which a matrix-shaped shading layer for shading the TFTs and the neighborhood of the pixel electrodes is formed, and a transparent counter electrode is positioned on the shading layer via an insulating layer.
Each of the signal lines and each of the scanning lines on the array substrate are electrically connected to a drive circuit board, which drives or controls the display panel, through a tape carrier package (hereinafter referred to as TCP) which comprises a driving element mounted on a flexible printed circuit board. The flexible printed circuit board has an insulating sheet formed of a heat-resistant material such as polyimide, and conductive lines formed on the insulating sheet.
Generally, the connection between the array substrate and the TCPs is made by the thermocompression bonding by use of a thermocompression bonding apparatus while an anisotropic conductive film that has a bonding resin containing electroconductive particle dispersed therein is sandwiched between the array substrate and the TCP.
The thermocompressing apparatus is equipped with a thermocompressing head which, while kept in a heated state, presses the lead portion of the TCP from above. Generally, the thermocompression head is equipped with a U-shaped heater tool comprising a pair of parallel legs and a distal end portion that couples the two legs at one ends. The distal end portion of the heater tool is pressed against the end portion of the TCP and the array substrate in a parallel manner.
In order to assure the compression bonding of all of many outer leads of the TCP to the electrodes of the array substrate by means of the above-mentioned thermocompressing head, it is necessary to uniformly press the outer leads of the TCP by means of the heater tool. That is, where the distal end portion of the heater tool has an inclination to the array substrate, part of the outer leads is not sufficiently pressed by the heater tool and, as a result, a connection failure can occur. The degree of parallel of the distal end portion of the heater tool may change at the time of exchange of the heater tool and, in addition, it may vary with time during the use of the thermocompression bonding apparatus.
Therefore, generally, the thermocompressing bonding apparatus has an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the degree of parallel of the distal end portion of the heater tool. The adjusting mechanism has a construction that a heater tool is attached to a support block which is rotatably mounted on a base so that the degree of parallel of the heater tool may be adjusted by rotating the heater tool together with the support block.
Heretofore, the constructions, which rotatably hold the support block, include a construction that utilizes a screw as the rotation shaft for the support block, a construction that holds the rotation shaft of the support block via bearing, and a construction in which the support block and the base each have a spherical support surface so that the spherical surfaces are slidably engaged with each other.
However, the support mechanism that utilizes a screw as a rotation shaft has looseness in the tapped hole which is formed in the support block and therefore the degree of parallel of the distal end portion of the heater tool tend to vary. And, the support mechanism that utilizes bearings tends to cause the variation of the degree of parallel due to the looseness of the bearings. Accordingly, a lot of time is necessary for the adjustment of the degree of parallel with a high-level of precision by means of the above-mentioned adjusting mechanism.
Meanwhile, in the adjusting mechanism that has spherical support surfaces, the problem is that the spherical surface preparation requires a high-level precision and it is very difficult to prepare a looseness-free support surface. As a result, the production cost is high.
Further, as a conventional adjustment mechanism, there is provided a mechanism wherein a movable portion of a micrometer is secured to a support block and the rotating amount of the support block is adjusted by means of the micrometer. However, the problem is that, since a large load is impressed on the micrometer at the time of adjusting operation, the precisely created screw threads easily deform thereby making it difficult to carry out highly precise adjustment.
Recently, a folded TCP has been increasingly used. The folded TCP has relatively long distance between the driving element and the outer lead ends and incorporated into a liquid crystal display while part of the flexible printed circuit board is in a folded state. In this folded TCP, the end portion of the flexible printed circuit board deforms three-dimensionally, for example in the shape of wave, depending on the case.
When the wave-like end portion of the TCP are superimposed over the predetermined location of the array substrate, the outer leads of the TCP do not make a uniform contact with the array substrate thereby producing partial lifting. Therefore, when the deformed end portion is subjected to the thermocompressing bonding treatment by means of the heat tool, the lifted portion is stretched owing to the pressing action of the heat tool thereby causing location error from the array substrate. As a result, it is difficult to precisely connect each of the outer leads to the corresponding electrode on the array substrate.
On the other hand, when carrying out the thermocompression bonding of the outer lead portion of the TCP to the electrodes on a circuit board by use of solder, there is a risk that connection failure may occur due to the lifting of the outer lead portion, because the heater tool is pulled up while the solder is in a molten state after the heater tool is pressed against the outer lead portion.


A transmission for a four-wheel drive vehicle having a multi-speed geartrain and power transfer mechanism incorporated into a common housing assembly. The multi-speed geartrain includes a input shaft, a mainshaft, and a plurality of constant-mesh gearsets arranged for selectively coupling the mainshaft to the input shaft for driven rotation at various speed ratios. The mainshaft can be selectively coupled to the power transfer mechanism for establishing two alternative power transmission routes. In particular, a synchronized range shift mechanism is provided for establishing a high-range transmission route and a low-range transmission route from the mainshaft to a primary driveline to define a two-wheel drive mode. A portion of the drive torque delivered to the primary driveline can be transferred automatically through a transfer clutch to the secondary driveline to establish an on-demand four-wheel drive mode. As an option, a mode clutch can be provided for permitting the secondary driveline to be locked to the primary driveline for establishing a part-time four-wheel drive mode.

The present invention relates generally to transmissions for use in four-wheel drive vehicles. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a transmission having a multi-speed geartrain and a power transfer mechanism contained in a single unit.
As is known, the majority of four-wheel drive vehicles are equipped with a transfer case mounted to a multi-speed transmission for directing power from the engine to all four wheels. To accommodate different road surfaces and conditions, many transfer cases are equipped with a mode shift mechanism which permits the vehicle operator to selectively couple the non-driven wheels to the driven wheels for establishing a part-time four-wheel drive mode in addition to the two-wheel drive mode. Other transfer cases are equipped with a transfer clutch that is passively or actively controlled in response to driveline slip for automatically delivering drive torque to the non-driven wheels and establishing an on-demand four-wheel drive mode. In addition, some transfer cases are also equipped with a two-speed range shift mechanism for permitting the vehicle operator to select between a high-range and a low-range four-wheel drive mode.
In an effort to minimize the overall size of the drivetrain used in four-wheel drive vehicles, it has been proposed to utilize a transmission of a transaxle-type normally used to drive the front wheels of a front wheel drive vehicle as a four-wheel drive geartrain. In particular, British Patent No. 2,035,930 to Jones et al. teaches of rotating the front wheel drivetrain (i.e., engine and transaxle) 90.degree. such that the transaxle outputs can be interconnected to the front and rear drivelines of the motor vehicle. While such an arrangement may provide an economical drivetrain layout for a full-time four-wheel drive vehicle, the practical applications for such an arrangement are severely limited. In particular, such an arrangement does not permit the vehicle operator to selectively shift "on-the-fly" between high and low four-wheel drive modes, nor can one of the outputs be selectively disconnected from its driveline for establishing a two-wheel drive mode.
Accordingly, the need exists for a transmission which can be used in most conventional four-wheel drive applications and which permits the vehicle operator to selectively shift between the available drive modes and speed ranges.


A microwave source system 1 extracts power in a predetermined microwave frequency band out of thermal noise power generated by a resistor (3) by using filter means (4), amplifies the power through a first amplifier (5) and a second amplifier (7), and outputs the power. The first amplifier (5) is variably controllable in gain and control means (6) controls the gain in such a way as to maintain the intensity of the microwave power output from the first amplifier 5 at a predetermined constant value. The second amplifier (7) has a predetermined gain. The resistor (3) is attached to one of the first amplifier (5) and the second amplifier (7), for example, to the second amplifier (7). Thereby, the resistor (3) receives heat from the amplifier (7). Output of the microwave source system (1) is supplied to, for example, a microwave discharge lamp (2). The microwave source system (1) having the above configuration can be compact and inexpensive without a need for a magnetron or a high voltage power supply.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave source system which generates and outputs microwave power (an electromagnetic wave in a microwave band).
2. Related Background Art
Microwave power of high energy is used as a wide variety of energy for a microwave discharge lamp, a microwave oven and the like. For example, in the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-249197, microwave power generated by a magnetron is supplied to a microwave discharge lamp to emit the light thereof. The microwave discharge lamp houses an emission cell (bulb) having a light emitting material sealed in the internal space of a resonator which resonates the microwave. The microwave discharge lamp supplies the microwave having a resonance frequency of the resonator to the internal space of the resonator and emits light by exciting the light emitting material in the emission cell by energy of the resonating microwave.
Furthermore, as is well known, the microwave oven heats food with microwave power generated by the magnetron.
The magnetron used for the source of the microwave power in the microwave discharge lamp or microwave oven and the like is relatively expensive and requires a high voltage power supply. Therefore, there has been a problem that it is difficult to reduce the device configuration including the high voltage power supply in size or weight. Furthermore, insulation measures are required against the high voltage power supply, which leads to a problem of easily causing upsizing of the system configuration associated with the insulation measures.
Moreover, the microwave generated by the magnetron is in a narrow band with the center of the band at a predetermined frequency. Therefore, if the resonance frequency of the resonator of the microwave discharge lamp changes due to thermal deformation or load change when the magnetron is used as a microwave source for the microwave discharge lamp, the microwave generated by the magnetron cannot be resonated in some cases. Consequently, light emission from the emitting material may be unsuccessful.


A mattress is disclosed that includes a sleeping side, a cushioning layer, an inner support compartment, and a fire-containing compartment disposed between the sleeping side and the inner support compartment. The fire-containing compartment includes first and second layers of fire-resistant material selected from the group consisting of a barrier sheet, a high loft batt, and a fire-resistant chemical. The cushioning layer is disposed between the first and second layers of fire-resistant material.

Since at least the late 1960s, mattress manufacturers have been concerned with fires in mattresses that have been associated with bedroom fires. During this time, some 30,000 bedroom fires were attributed to mattresses as most of the fires were determined to be caused by cigarette ignition of the mattress resulting from people smoking in bed. An additional 22,000 fires were attributed to open flame ignition of the mattress. Given the large number of fires attributed to cigarette smoking, federal standards were introduced in an attempt to limit the spread of fires that originated on a mattress.
In the late 1980s, open flame ignition surpassed cigarette ignition as the main cause of mattress fires. Later it was determined, through several studies, that the primary source of bedroom fires was the burning of bedclothes located on top of the mattress. Furthermore, it was found that the majority of these fires were caused by children playing with ignition sources such as lighters, matches and candles which then ignited the top-of-the-bed accessories such as sheets, blankets and pillows.
As a result of these surveys, studies were conducted to improve the understanding of mattress fires. These studies led to the development of a test apparatus that could accurately and consistently simulate the burning bedclothes ignition source.
The tests involved placing a mattress/foundation on top of a steel twin-sized bed frame which, in turn, rested on a cement fiberboard surface that formed the bottom of a catch pan. A pair of gas burners was designed to mimic the thermal impact of burning bedclothes. One burner was placed so as to impinge on the top of a mattress surface while the second impinges nearby on the mattress side. The flame generated by the side burner was allowed to burn for 50 seconds while the flame from the top burner burned for 70 seconds. The fires generated by these burners were monitored and it was observed that a typical mattress reached flash-over value in approximately three minutes.
As a result of these studies, California established a regulation (Technical Bulletin 603) that required that a fire on a mattress could not exceed 25 mega joules of heat in the first 10 minutes of the fire, or a peak rate of heat release of 200 kW over a 30-minute period. A problem associated with reaching this criterion is that it is difficult to place a fire-retardant barrier on the outside of the mattress as the treatment that allows a barrier to be fire retardant makes the mattress surface hard and uncomfortable to the touch. For this reason, the outer layer of a mattress is typically some type of quilt or ticking material that burns fairly easily and is considered sacrificial material.
In residential bedroom fires, three different types of people are at risk from the fire. The first of these is the person in the room in which the fire originates and is intimate with the fire. This person would normally be someone on the mattress. The second person is in the room in which the fire originates, but is not intimate with the fire. This could be someone sitting in a chair in the bedroom in which the mattress catches fire or a child who started the fire and is hiding behind a dresser. The third person is someone who is not in the room in which the fire originates and is also not intimate with the fire. This would include someone located in another room in the house in which the mattress catches fire.
The regulation promulgated in Technical Bulletin 603 provides a valuable 30-minute window for the people at risk to detect and escape a fire. Furthermore, the low-peak-heat-release limit will substantially delay the growth and intensity of a fire. Combined, these requirements significantly reduce the risk of rapid flashover to other parts of the residence and thus substantially expand the opportunity for consumers to escape a bedroom fire.
By reducing the size and growth rate of a fire, it is possible to reduce bed fire casualties by one-half to two-thirds. This is because extra time to escape the residence is provided, particularly for those individuals who are not intimate with the fire. Furthermore, additional time is also provided for a person on the mattress to escape with only isolated burns, if any.
In practice, mattress manufacturers follow either or both of two approaches to fire risk reduction: (a) reduce the likelihood of sustained ignition and (b) mitigate the consequences of an ignition. To help achieve these goals, typical fire-resistant mattresses have a fire-resistant barrier located near the outer layer of the mattress, with the outer layer being made of a quilt or ticking material. This fire-resistant barrier works most of the time; however, should the barrier fail, there is no way of preventing the fire from spreading rapidly through the mattress to the inner support compartment, thereby causing a flashover and engulfing the entire mattress in flames. For this reason, the ability to slow the spread of fire that has breached the first fire-resistant barrier would be an important improvement in the art.

Fire-resistant mattress having combustible material compartmentalized between fire-resistant layers


A fuel cylinder for storing a compressed fuel gas is modularized for mounting and supporting the fuel cylinder easily in a motorcar without reconstructing a conventional car-body and necessitating troublesome fuel pipe arranging work after mounting the fuel cylinder. The modularized fuel cylinder comprises a supporting frame fixed to the fuel cylinder, fuel pipes neighboring the fuel cylinder and a joint box on which the fuel pipes concentrate attached to the supporting frame integrally. The fuel cylinder module is detachably fixed to a car-body side supporting frame provided on a rear floor of the motorcar.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cylinder mounting structure in a motorcar running by a gas fuel such as natural gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 16 shows a prior art disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 7-186741 (1995). In this prior art, in a rear part of a car-body 02 of a motorcar 01 and within a trunk room in rear of a rear seat back 03 are mounted two fuel cylinders 06, 07 supported by a cylinder supporting frame 05. The cylinder supporting frame 05 is fixed to a car-body frame 08 through a rear floor 06.
The cylinder supporting frame 05 is constituted as a large-sized one body for it supports two fuel cylinders 06, 07. The cylinders 06, 07 is positioned up and down along a rear surface of the rear seat back 03.
Fuel pipes extending from the fuel cylinders 06, 07 will concentrate in the space formed under the upper fuel cylinder 06 and behind the lower fuel cylinder 07.
FIG. 17 shows another conventional supporting structure in case of mounting single fuel cylinder. The cylinder supporting frame 010 is formed beforehand as a rectangular framework of one body by right and left side members 011, 011 elongated in front and rear direction and front and rear cross members 012, 012 elongated in right and left direction and bridging over the right and left side members 011, 011.
The fuel cylinder 015 is pinched between the front and rear cross members 012, 012 and tightened by two fixing belts 013, 013 to be fixed.
A not shown fuel pipe extends from a cylinder cap 016 at an end of the fuel cylinder 015 directly below penetrating the floor.
Nowadays, a motorcar using natural gas as its fuel is manufactured by reconstructing a car for mass production using gasoline or the like as its fuel. Therefore, it is required that the reconstruction of the car-body is minimized and assembling is simple.
However, in the prior art shown in FIG. 16 having two fuel cylinders 06, 07 mounted, the cylinder supporting frame 05 for supporting the fuel cylinders 06, 07 is a large-sized one body. Therefore, for installing the fuel cylinders 06, 07, the cylinder supporting frame 05 is fixed to the car-body side beforehand, and then the fuel cylinders 06, 07 are brought into the car through the opening with the rear window removed to be supported by the cylinder supporting frame 05. Such a installing work is troublesome.
Since the cylinder supporting frame 05 is large-sized, installing of the frame 05 itself is not easy, and if the cylinder supporting frame 05 also must be brought into the car through the opening for the rear window because of a shape of a rear floor or the like of a customary car, there occurs many problems such that the opening of the rear window must be enlarged.
Moreover, even after mounting the fuel cylinder, arrangement of fuel pipes must be carried out utilizing a narrow space within the car-body that is not easy.
In the other prior art shown in FIG. 17 having single fuel cylinder 015 mounted, since the cylinder supporting frame 010 is formed beforehand as a rectangular framework of one body by bridging the front and rear cross members 012, 012 over the right and left side members 011, 011, the maximum width of the cylinder supporting frame is large, and it is difficult to bring an assembly of the cylinder supporting frame 010 and the fuel cylinder 015 into the car because of size of opening on the car-body side or the like, therefore, the frame 010 and the cylinder 015 must be installed separately so that the work is troublesome or reconstruction of the car-body is necessitated to cause a higher cost. Similarly to the former prior art, fuel pipe arranging work is troublesome.

Fuel cylinder mounting structure in motorcar


A symmetric multicycle rapid thermal annealing (SMRTA) method for annealing a semiconductor material without the material decomposing. The SMRTA method includes a first long-time annealing at a first temperature at which the material is thermodynamically stable, followed by multicycle rapid thermal annealing (MRTA) at temperatures at which the material is not thermodynamically stable, followed in turn by a second long-time annealing at a second temperature at which the material is thermodynamically stable. The SMRTA method can be used to form p-type and n-type semiconductor regions in doped III-nitride semiconductors, SiC, and diamond.

GaN and other III-nitride alloys are a promising class of materials with favorable properties that have a broad range of technological applications. For example, the tunable direct bandgap between 0.7 and 6.1 eV make this class of materials attractive for photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. See S. Nakamura, T. Mukai and M. Senoh, "High-Power GaN P—N Junction Blue-Light-Emitting Diodes," Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 30, L1998 (1991); see also J. W. J. B. Luo, F. Ren, K. K. Allums, C. R. Abernathy, S. J. Pearton, R. Dwivedi, T. N. Fogarty, R. Wilkins, A. M. Dabiran, A. M Wowchack, C. J. Polley, P. P. Chow, and A. G. Baca, "dc and rf performance of proton-irradiated AlGaN GaN high electron mobility transistors," Appl. Phys. Lett. 79, 2196 (2001). The wide bandgap and mobilities achievable make III-nitrides suitable for power electronic applications while the radiation hardness of III-nitrides makes them suitable for extreme environments required in military and space environments.
Despite their having many promising characteristics, one of the major challenges for processing III-nitride materials, SiC, and diamond is the ability to anneal such materials at high temperatures. Thermal annealing of defects in semiconductors occurs by the diffusion of atoms within a solid material, so that the material progresses towards its equilibrium state. Annealing at high temperatures is a necessary step in semiconductor processing to repair implantation damage, activate implanted dopants, and repair damage induced by etching. See U.S. Pat. No. 8,518,808 to Feigelson et al., entitled "Defects Annealing and Impurities Activation in III-Nitride Compound," which shares several inventors in common with the present invention and which is hereby expressly incorporated into the present disclosure in its entirety. The ability to repair implantation damage and activate implanted dopants is imperative for precise control of the dopant profiles. Applications where this ability will be a key enabling step include implanted guard rings, which can be used for electric field spreading in vertical GaN diodes, and implantation/activation of dopants, which can be utilized in contact regions to lower contact resistance.
However, it is difficult to anneal defects in III-nitride semiconductors such as GaN and its alloys with InN and AlN and to activate impurities in the semiconductor material after growth of the semiconductor material, and especially after the implantation of dopant ions in the material. Temperatures required for the removal of defects induced by implantation of dopants such as magnesium (Mg) and the activation of impurities after their implantation are in the range of 1400° C., but GaN is not stable at atmospheric pressure and temperatures above 850° C., instead decomposing into Ga and N2.
There are some known approaches which partially solve the problem of GaN annealing. For example, GaN is stable when annealed at temperatures above 1400° C. under gas pressures above 1.0 GPa. See S. Porowski, I. Grzegory, D. Kolesnikov, W. Lojkowski, V. Jager, W. Jager, V. Bogdanov, T. Suski and S. Krukowski, "Annealing of GaN under high pressure of nitrogen," J. Phys., Condens. Matter., 14, 11097 (2002). However, such high gas pressures require special equipment and make such an annealing procedure not efficient for the industrial use.
In other cases, GaN can be annealed at temperatures higher than 850° C. if it is capped with a material that is more stable at high temperatures, for example, AlN. See S. Matsunaga, S. Yoshida, T. Kawaji and T. Inada, "Silicon implantation in epitaxial GaN layers: Encapsulant annealing and electrical properties," J. Appl. Phys., 95, 2461 (2004). Such an AlN cap can be made by AlN spattering or AlN MOCVD growth on the top of a GaN sample and allows annealing of GaN at temperatures above 1000° C. without noticeable nitrogen loss from GaN. The cap suppresses an escape of nitrogen from the GaN before pressure of nitrogen in the interface the between GaN and the AlN builds up and makes small cracks in the AlN film or breaks it.
Another approach allowing to enhance GaN annealing is rapid thermal annealing (RTA). See G. S. Aluri, M. Gowda, N. A. Mahadik, S. G. Sundaresan, M. V. Rao, J. A. Schreifels, J. J. A. Freitas, S. B. Qadri and Y.-L. Tian, "Microwave annealing of Mg-implanted and in situ Be-doped GaN," J. Appl. Phys., 108, 083103 (2010). Fast heating (in seconds) to the temperatures above 850° C. and cooling (in seconds) kinetically prevents GaN from the decomposition at temperatures above their thermodynamic stability. If high temperature is applied to GaN for a very short time, defects can be partially annealed without the GaN decomposing. The higher the temperature applied, the more different defects that can be annealed, but the shorter the annealing time that should be applied to prevent GaN from decomposing. During the fast heating only nitrogen from surface has time to leave GaN, and if RTA is combined with use of a cap, it is possible to heat GaN very fast up to 1400° C. without noticeable decomposition.
The use of RTA in combination with an AlN cap has been observed to restore the GaN structure damaged by implantation and activate implanted n-type impurities. See J. A. Fellows, Y. K. Yeo, R. L. Hengehold, and D. K. Johnstone, "Electrical activation studies of GaN implanted with Si from low to high dose," Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 1930 (2002).
However, this type of annealing hasn't created p-type conductivity in GaN samples implanted with Mg. The GaN lattice is highly damaged by implantation of the Mg ions and so is less stable than n-type doped or unimplanted GaN, and the time during which Mg-doped GaN can be exposed to the high temperature during RTA without decomposing is insufficient to obtain activation of the Mg ions. In addition, during non-equilibrium RTA of GaN, Mg may occupy too many available N-lattice sites and so doesn't become a p-type impurity.
To overcome the disadvantages of the known annealing approaches for GaN and other III-nitride semiconductors a new process, known as "multicycle rapid thermal annealing" (MRTA) was developed by some of the inventors of the present invention. See U.S. Pat. No. 8,518,808, supra, which describes the MRTA annealing process in detail. The MRTA process combines using a cap, applying moderate N2 overpressure, and rapidly applying multiple fast heating and cooling pulses to expose the sample to high temperatures for a sufficiently long time to obtain the diffusion processes required to remove defects and activate impurities in the material.
The efficiency of MRTA for diffusion-controlled defects annealing at temperatures above thermodynamic stability of material was demonstrated by electrical activation of Mg implanted in GaN showing for the first time p-type conductivity in Mg implanted GaN. See U.S. Pat. No. 8,518,808, supra. However, electrical conductivity along the surface of GaN after MRTA is not uniform. One of the reasons of such non-uniformity is slight degradation of the GaN crystalline quality caused by the MRTA process itself. These detrimental structural changes can be attributed to the formation of defects formed and quenched during rapid heating and cooling cycles. A new technique is required to improve MRTA.

Defects annealing and impurities activation in semiconductors at thermodynamically non-stable conditions

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A catalyst deterioration-determining system determines deterioration of a catalyst arranged in the exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine. An ECU is responsive to an output from an O.sub.2 sensor arranged upstream of the catalyst or outputs from O.sub.2 sensors arranged upstream and downstream of the catalyst for controlling the air-fuel ratio of a mixture supplied to the engine by means of an air-fuel ratio correction value (first air-fuel ratio control). When the engine is in a predetermined operating condition, the system effects changeover from the first air-fuel ratio control to a second air-fuel ratio control which is responsive to the output from the downstream O.sub.2 sensor for controlling the air-fuel ratio of the mixture by means of the air-fuel ratio correction value. After the changeover has been effected, a time period is measured which elapses from the time the second air-fuel ratio control causes a change in the air-fuel ratio correction value from a richer side to a leaner side or vice versa with respect to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio to the time the output from the downstream O.sub.2 sensor is inverted from the richer side to the leaner side or vice versa with respect to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. It is determined that the catalyst is deteriorated, when the measured time period is shorter than the predetermined time period.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system for determining deterioration of a catalyst arranged in the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine for purifying exhaust gases emitted from the engine, and more particularly to such a system which determines deterioration of the catalyst by the use of an output from at least one oxygen concentration sensor arranged in the exhaust system.
2. Prior Art
Conventional methods for determining deterioration of catalysts for purifying exhaust gases from internal combustion engines include a method which comprises providing O.sub.2 sensors (oxygen concentration sensors) arranged upstream and downstream of a catalyst arranged in the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine, changing the air-fuel ratio of a mixture supplied to the engine, and measuring a time period elapsed from the time the air-fuel ratio is changed to the time the output from the O.sub.2 sensor arranged downstream of the catalyst changes from a leaner side to a richer side with respect to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or vice versa (e.g. Japanese Provisional Patent Publications (Kokai) Nos. 2-30915, 2-33408, and 2-207159), a method which is similar to the above-mentioned method but comprises measuring a first time period elapsed from the time the air-fuel ratio is changed to the time the output from the O.sub.2 sensor arranged upstream of the catalyst changes from the leaner side to the richer side or vice versa and a second time period elapsed from the air-fuel ratio is changed to the time the output from the downstream O.sub.2 sensor is changed from the leaner side to the richer side or vice versa, and measuring a time difference between the first and second time periods (e.g. Japanese Provisional Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2-310453).
Most of these conventional or known methods include calculating the sum or average value of the time period elapsed from the time the air-fuel ratio is changed to the time the downstream O.sub.2 sensor output changes from the leaner side to the richer side with respect to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio and the time period elapsed from the time the air-fuel ratio is changed to the time the O.sub.2 sensor output changes from the richer side to the leaner side, or the sum or average value of the time differences between the first and second time periods, and using the calculated sum or average value for determination of deterioration of the catalyst, to thereby ensure accurate determination of the catalyst deterioration.
Further proposed methods for determining deterioration of catalysts include a method which comprises comparing between an output from the upstream O.sub.2 sensor and an output from the downstream O.sub.2 sensor, such as a method of determining the ratio between the two sensor outputs (Japanese Provisional Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 63-231252), a method of determining the response ratio between the sensor outputs (Japanese Provisional Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 3-57862), and a method of determining the phase difference time between the sensor outputs (Japanese Provisional Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2-310453).
Further, a method of this kind has been proposed by U.S. Ser. No. 07/694,831 assigned to the assignee of the present application, which comprises switching an air-fuel ratio correction coefficient at a constant frequency, to determine an area difference between an output from the upstream O.sub.2 sensor and an output from the downstream sensor, and determining deterioration of the catalyst from the determined area difference (area difference method).
However, some of the above-mentioned prior art methods employ comparison between the outputs from the upstream and downstream O.sub.2 sensors. As a result, they can suffer from errors in the result of deterioration determination, which are due to variations in the characteristics of O.sub.2 sensors used and/or aging thereof. Particularly, the upstream O.sub.2 sensor, which is directly exposed to hot exhaust gases, undergoes faster deterioration than the downstream O.sub.2 sensor. The rate at which the determination proceeds is thus different between the upstream and downstream O.sub.2 sensors, which results in an error in the result of deterioration determination.
Also the area difference method proposed by the present assignee, referred to above, suffers from an error in the result of deterioration determination due to deterioration of the upstream O.sub.2 sensor. Another disadvantage of this method is that when the central value of the air-fuel ratio correction coefficient subjected to switching deviates from a value corresponding to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, it causes changes in the outputs from the O.sub.2 sensors, resulting in a variation in the determined area difference.
Further, all the above-mentioned prior art methods do not fully contemplate characteristics or action of the catalyst which are related to its O.sub.2 storage capacity, and therefore are unable to accurately determine deterioration of the catalyst. More specifically, in the prior art methods, measurement of the time period or the time difference elapsed or obtained at the time the downstream O.sub.2 sensor output changes from the leaner side to the richer side and measurement of the time period or the time difference elapsed or obtained at the time the downstream O.sub.2 sensor output changes from the richer side to the leaner side are made independently of each other, i.e. in a manner not related to each other. This results in inaccurate determination of deterioration of the catalyst.
Still further, the O.sub.2 storage capacity of catalysts in general varies with a change in the temperature of the catalyst, which causes a variation in the time period (CTL) elapsed before the downstream O.sub.2 sensor output changes from the richer side to the leaner side, also resulting in a low degree of accuracy of determination of the catalyst deterioration.

System for determining deterioration of catalysts of internal combustion engines


The present invention relates to a method of installing asbestos impermeable acoustical ceiling panels to an existing suspended ceiling system, and a bracket and asbestos impermeable ceiling panel therefor. This method utilizes existing light fixture supports so that existing light fixtures and any asbestos insulation need not be removed. The method generally comprises the following steps: a) providing a plurality of brackets having base and tee portions, a leg extending from the base, and a flange extending from the tee, b) aligning each bracket so that its flange engages the lips of the existing light fixtures, c) attaching the legs to the existing light fixture supports, and d) mounting the new ceiling panels on the tee portions of the brackets. The ceiling panel comprises a layer of acoustical material with an asbestos impermeable vinyl backing secured to its upper surface and an asbestos impermeable coating applied to its edges. Asbestos particles accumulating on the upper surface of the ceiling panel are easily vacuumed away.

Modern commercial buildings are typically equipped with suspended grid supported ceiling systems. These ceiling systems conceal electrical conduit, air ducts and fire protection systems hung from a concrete ceiling/floor slab. In older buildings, asbestos was sprayed on the structure for fire protection.
FIG. 1 shows a portion of a typical suspended ceiling system comprised of light fixtures 10, acoustic ceiling panels 20 and supports 30. Each light is equipped with an adjustable lug 12 that spans a pair of supports 30. These supports 30 usually comprise angle iron suspended from wire 32 that is anchored to a metal or concrete structure (not shown). Support angle 30 is typically L-shaped to form a ledge 34 that supports the edge of ceiling panel 20. Support 30 can also be U-shaped or have an additional H, Z or T shaped member attached thereto. Light fixture lugs 12 are provided with screws 14 for adjusting the height of the fixtures. Screws 14 enable the bottom surface 22 of ceiling panel 20 to be flushed out with a lower lip 16 of the light fixture 10. A well known manufacturer of such ceiling systems was Soundlock Corporation of 2004 Breckenridge Drive N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30345.
As noted above, in older buildings, a layer of asbestos insulation is often applied to the underside of the ceiling slab for fire protection purposes. This asbestos layer covers the underside of the slab and generally is applied after all necessary supports are anchored to the ceiling slab. The installation of new light fixtures or a new grid for the ceiling panel supports requires the removal of the asbestos layer.
Replacement or renovation of suspended ceilings is quite costly for buildings with asbestos insulation. Asbestos is carcinogenic and its removal is both time consuming and costly. Safety codes such as those provided by OSHA only allow workers to be exposed to a prescribed amount or area of asbestos at any given time. Therefore, large areas of floor space must be closed off for long periods of time during the removal process.
Ceiling panel replacement costs are further increased because existing light fixtures cannot be utilized. One reason for this is that extremely tight tolerances would have to be maintained during the manufacture of the ceiling panel in order to ensure proper fit and alignment with existing light fixtures. Another reason is that the old fixtures would be unsightly if left in place. The edges of these fixtures are generally worn, bent or rusted from years of use and the installation of new panels does not resolve this problem. New panels remain flush with the bottom surface of the lights and do not cover up the edges.
An additional problem associated with conventional suspended ceilings is that, over time, carcinogenic asbestos particles fall from the ceiling slab and accumulate on and penetrate the panels. This contaminates the panels and increases the likelihood that persons working in or occupying the building will be exposed to asbestos.
The present invention is provided to solve these and other problems.

Apparatus and method for refurbishing a ceiling grid to permit installation of ceiling panels


An object of the present invention is to remove foreign matter such as liquid droplets from air with high efficiency using a filter. This filter is used to purify air by removing foreign matter such as liquid droplets and dust from the air. A separation unit is formed with a port block and a separation cylinder, and the port block is formed with a primary port and a secondary port. A collection container is attached to the separation unit, and liquid droplets exhausted from an exhaust port formed at a lower end portion of a separation unit fall down into a collection container. A conical portion of the separation unit is formed with a communication hole through which the separation chamber and the storage chamber communicate with each other, whereby the separation chamber and the storage chamber become equal in pressure to each other.

A pneumatic device, such as a pneumatic cylinder, is supplied with air from a pneumatic source via a pneumatic line such as piping or hose. By connecting the pneumatic source and the pneumatic device via the pneumatic line, a pneumatic circuit is formed. Air to be supplied from the pneumatic source to the pneumatic device is handled as air to be treated, and the pneumatic circuit is provided with a filter for removing foreign matter, such as water droplets or oil droplets or dusts, included in the air to be treated.
As one type of the filter provided in the pneumatic circuit, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H07-328364 discloses a filter having a main block, that is, a port block formed with a primary port and a secondary port, and a filter element attached to the port block. The filter element is adapted to remove foreign matters from air flowing through the primary port, the matter being composed of liquid droplets such as water droplets, and dust such as powdery and granular materials, and to discharge the purified air to the secondary port. In order to receive the foreign matter, such as liquid droplets, removed by the filter element, a filter bowl, namely, a collection container is attached to the port block.
As a filter to be used in the pneumatic circuit, forms called air filter, mist filter, and micro mist filter are known, and these filters are defined according to foreign matter removal performance set on the basis of an inner diameter of an air hole of a filter element or the like.
A filter adapted to swirl liquid to remove foreign matter mixed in liquid coolant is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2011-51055. This filter is adapted to swirl liquid to remove foreign matter from liquid on the basis of the difference in specific gravity and centrifugal force between the liquid and foreign matter.
In a filter adapted to swirl air in a separation cylinder to utilize the difference in centrifugal force between air and foreign matter, in order to remove foreign matter such as liquid droplets or dust from air, the foreign matter falls down along an inner peripheral surface of the separation cylinder, while air purified by removing the foreign matter is supplied outside via an exhaust pipe disposed in the center of the cylinder.
In the filter adapted to swirl air to fall liquid droplets or the like in air into the collection container as just described, foreign matter such as liquid droplets fall down into the collection container via an exhaust port at a lower end portion of the separation cylinder, while being guided along the inner peripheral surface of the separation cylinder. If the inner peripheral surface of the separation cylinder has a conical shape and its inner diameter is gradually reduced toward the lower end portion of the separation cylinder, in particular, if a lot of liquid droplets are contained in air supplied from outside, foreign matter removal efficiency tends to be reduced.
In pursuit of the cause of the efficiency reduction, it was found that a bridge phenomenon may occur due to condensation of liquid droplets falling along a conical inner peripheral surface in the vicinity of the exhaust port. That is, when the pressure in a storage chamber of the collection container becomes higher than that of a separation chamber of the separation cylinder by a rapid drop or the like in secondary side pressure, a membrane is formed by condensation of liquid droplets in the vicinity of the exhaust port. Since pushing-up force due to the pressure in the storage chamber acts on this water membrane, the water membrane shuts the exhaust port without falling down. When this bridge phenomenon occurs, liquid shuts the exhaust port without falling down by its own weight into the collection container via the exhaust port, and liquid is mixed with air flowing toward the exhaust pipe and discharged via the secondary port, so that such a bridge phenomenon causes a reduction in foreign matter removal efficiency.
An object of the present invention is to remove foreign matter such as liquid droplets with high efficiency from air by using a filter.


A combination cryopump/getter pump including a cryopump section having a cryopump inlet, a getter pump section having a getter pump inlet, and a mechanism for coupling the cryopump section and the getter pump section to a single port of a process chamber to be evacuated. Preferably, a cylindrical cryopump section surrounds a cylindrical getter pump section. Preferably, the cryopump section and the getter pump section are coupled to the common port of the process chamber by a gate valve mechanism. In one embodiment of the present invention, the gate valve mechanism isolates the cryopump inlet and the getter pump inlet when in a closed position, and in another embodiment of the present invention the gate valve does not isolate the cryopump inlet from the getter pump inlet when in a closed position. Preferably, thermal insulation is provided between the getter pump section and the cryopump section to thermally isolate the two sections. The cryopump section preferably includes both a 15.degree. K array and a 80.degree. K array.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to vacuum systems and, more particularly, to cryopump vacuum systems used in conjunction with semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cryopumps are in common use with semiconductor manufacturing equipment. For example, in a physical vapor deposition (PVD) system, a cryopump is used to pump-down a processing chamber to a pressure typically of about 10.sup.-8 torr. The cryopump must be able to accomplish this task without introducing substantial amounts of contaminants into the processing chamber.
In FIG. 1, a prior art cryopump 10 is coupled to a port 12 of a processing chamber 14 by a gate valve assembly 16. The processing chamber 14 may be, for example, a PVD processing chamber. Cryopumps are also used to pump-down chambers of other types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. A cryopump 10 typically includes a substantially cylindrical casing 18 having an inlet 20 surrounded by a flange 22.
The cryopump 10 is provided with an inlet conduit 24 and an exhaust conduit 26. The inlet conduit 24 opens on the chamber 28 of the cryopump 10 and is typically provided with a shut-off valve 30. The exhaust conduit 26 also opens on the chamber 28, and is coupled to a mechanical pump 32 by a shut-off valve 34. The inlet conduit 24 allows the introduction of a purging gas (such as argon) into the chamber 28. The exhaust conduit 26 and pump 32 allow the removal of gases within the chamber 28.
Disposed within the chamber 28 of cryopump 10 are a number of chevrons 36a, 36b, 36c, and 36d. The chevrons are used to disperse gases flowing into inlet 20 within the chamber 28 and comprise a 80.degree. K condensing array or "80.degree. K array." The functioning of the 80.degree. K array will be discussed subsequently. Also disposed within the chamber 28 of cryopump 10 are a number of inverted cups generically referenced at 37. These inverted cups comprise a "15.degree. K array", which will also be discussed subsequently. The 15.degree. K array and the 80.degree. K array are surrounded by a cylindrical 80.degree. K radiation shield 39, and the 15.degree. K array is supported by a cold-head cylinder 41. The cold-head cylinder 41 is supplied with pressurized helium gas at an inlet 43a, and exhausts the helium gas at an outlet 43b. The cold-head cylinder 41, when supplied with the pressurized helium gas, cools the 15.degree. K array to about 15.degree. K, and cools the 80.degree. K which is supported above the cold-head cylinder 41 and the 15.degree. K array 37 to about 80.degree. K. That is, the 15.degree. K array is cooled to the neighborhood of the temperature of liquid helium, and the 80.degree. K array is cooled to the neighborhood of the temperature of liquid nitrogen.
As noted, cryopump assembly 10 typically includes both a 15.degree. K array and a 80.degree. K array. The 15.degree. K array typically takes the form of inverted cups provided with activated charcoal on their under-sides, and is super-cooled to about 15.degree. Kelvin by the cold head cylinder 41 such that the activated carbon "pumps" light gases, namely, helium, hydrogen and neon, through a chemical adsorption process. The 80.degree. K array typically takes the form of concentric metal chevrons, e.g. chevrons 36a-36d, and is operative to pump the heavier gases, such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, etc. by a chemical absorption process.
A new, or regenerated, cryopump is quite efficient, and can provide an ultrahigh purity vacuum of about 10.sup.-8 torr. The ultimate vacuum level attainable by the cryopump 10 is generally limited by its ability to pump hydrogen (H.sub.2). The 15.degree. K array of the cryopump 10 pumps hydrogen relatively slowly, which may allow hydrogen to integrate itself into a film being formed on a semiconductor wafer within processing chamber 14. This is due, in great extent, to the convoluted path that the hydrogen must make to the activated charcoal on the underside of the inverted cups 37 of the 15.degree. K array, resulting in very low "conductance" between these charcoal surfaces and the process chamber 14. This inability to effectively pump hydrogen is particularly problematical in PVD machines where the H.sub.2 can get "sputtered" into the film, thereby degrading the film quality.
Hydrogen is continually created within the processing chamber 14 due to, among other things, out-gassing from the stainless steel walls of the chamber 14 and through the decomposition of water on freshly deposited metal films such as aluminum. Since the 15.degree. K array is relatively inefficient in removing this hydrogen, it becomes quickly saturated, requiring "regeneration." Similarly, when the 80.degree. K array becomes saturated with heavier gases it, too, needs to be regenerated. This is typically accomplished by deactivating the cold head cylinder 41 and allowing the cryopump 10 to reach room temperature (approx. 25.degree. C.). At room temperature, the gases trapped within the 15.degree. K array and the 80.degree. K array are released within the chamber 28 and removed from the chamber by the pump 32. A purging gas, such as ultrahigh-purity (UHP) argon, may be released within the chamber 28 during this regeneration process to increase the pressure within the chamber 28, thereby increasing the heat transfer within the pump 32 and providing for a faster regeneration process.
A cryopump 10 is typically coupled to a flange 38 of processing chamber 14 by a gate valve assembly 16. The construction and use of gate valve assemblies is well known to those skilled in the art and, therefore, will not be discussed herein in detail. However, a typical gate valve assembly 16 includes a body 40 having an orifice 42 which can be aligned with the port 12 of the processing chamber 14 and with the inlet 20 of cryopump 10. The body 40 is typically provided with appropriate flanges and seals to provide a gas-tight connection between the cryopump 10 and the processing chamber 14. The gate valve assembly 16 includes a gate 44 and a gate-moving mechanism 46 which can move the gate 44 from the illustrated "open" position to a closed position as illustrated at 44'. When the gate 44 is in the closed position 44', a gas-tight seal is provided by a seal 48 to prevent gases and other materials from moving between the processing chamber 12 and the chamber 28 of the cryopump 10.
Because of the rapid saturation of the cryopump 10 with hydrogen and other gases, such as argon, from a PVD sputtering process, cryopumps have to be regenerated fairly frequently. For example, a cryopump coupled to a PVD machine will have to be regenerated from time to time. This is rather a costly procedure because the semiconductor manufacturing equipment must be taken "off line," thereby slowing or stopping the semiconductor manufacturing process.
It has been suggested that another type of pump known as the non-evaporable getter (NEG) pump be used in combination with cryopumps in an attempt to solve this problem. See, for example, "Non-evaporable Getter Pumps for Semiconductor Processing Equipment," by J. Briesacher et al, Journal of Ultraclean Technology, vol. 2, no. 1, 1990. However, as will be discussed subsequently, such combination pumps have been found in the prior to be impractical.
As well known to those skilled in the art, getter pumps utilize "gettering" materials comprising certain metal alloys which have a chemical affinity for particular gases. For example, a metal alloy including 70 percent Zr, 24.6 percent V, and 5.4 percent Fe, has a strong affinity for most gases other than noble gases. These "gettering" materials can therefore be used to quickly "pump" hydrogen through chemical adsorption.
While it is theoretically desirable to combine a cryopump with a getter pump, prior art solutions have been found to be less than desirable. For example, a getter pump could be provided in conjunction with a cryopump, such as by providing a getter pump next to cryopump 10 and mechanical pump 32 of FIG. 1. However, this leads to "form factor" problems because there is often not enough space around a piece of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to accommodate both a cryopump and a getter pump, along with their associated support hardware.
Another solution that has been suggested is to place the active elements of a getter pump within the chamber of a cryopump. However, such a solution tends to be impractical because of the incompatible operating and regenerating cycles of getter pumps and cryopumps. For example, the active elements of a getter pump operate best at about room temperatures, while the active elements of the cryopump operate at cryogenic temperatures, such as 15.degree. K and 80.degree. K. Furthermore, since the cryopump elements require frequent regeneration, the getter pump elements would have to be regenerated at the same frequency. This is a problem because getter pump elements can typically only be regenerated ten or so times, while cryopump elements can be regenerated hundreds of times. This would result in the rapid destruction of the expensive gettering material. Alternatively, if the gettering material were removed from the cryopump assembly prior to the regeneration of the active elements of the cryopump, the cryopump assembly would have to removed and replaced from the apparatus to which it is attached in a time-consuming and potentially system-contaminating procedure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,760 of Higham a combination cryopump/getter pump is disclosed including a pumping structure having an integral two-stage pump. The first-stage pump is a cryogenic pump having a pump chamber and cryo-arrays mounded on an expander for cryo-condensation of the principal gases present in the vacuum chamber. The second stage pump operates at room temperatures and includes one or more getter pumps whose principal function is to remove hydrogen molecules. A unitary housing is provided to enclose "in a single body" the first pumping stage and the second pumping stage. Therefore, the active elements of a getter pump are within the chamber of a cryopump, as described previously.
The Higham pump therefore has the aforementioned problem of having its cryogenic pump elements and the getter pump elements exposed to the same thermal and atmospheric environment. Since the cryogenic pump elements operate at cryogenic temperatures, and since the getter pump elements operate at near room temperature, the getter pump elements must be thermally shielded from the cryogenic pump elements, decreasing conductance. This conductance is also reduced due to the placement of the getter materials at the bottom of the pump. It should further be noted that the Higham pump eliminates the 15.degree. K array and, therefore, cannot pump neon or helium. The apparent reason to eliminate the 15.degree. K array is to eliminate the potential contamination of an integrated circuit manufacturing process by the charcoal in the array. Also, since the cryogenic pump elements are typically regenerated more frequently, it is necessary to regenerate the getter elements more frequently than would be otherwise required due to the sharing of the same pumping chamber, as described previously. In particular, the high temperatures used for getter regeneration (e.g.>450.degree. C.) will irreversibly damage cryopump elements, especially the Indium gaskets that they typically use. In addition, the high temperatures could damage the refrigeration system of the cryopump.
The prior art, therefore, does not disclose a combination cryopump/getter pump which meets the required form factor for use with semiconductor manufacturing equipment, which is easily used and maintained, and which addresses the special operating and regeneration problems of both cryogenic pump elements and getter pump elements.

Combination cryopump/getter pump and method for regenerating same


The invention relates to a novel catalyst for hydrogenation for hydrogenating at least one of dicarboxylic acid or its acid anhydride. The catalyst for hydrogenation according to a first embodiment is obtained by supporting at least one of palladium or platinum, and cobalt on a carrier, and subjecting the resulting carrier to a reduction treatment at 400 K or higher. The catalyst for hydrogenation according to a second embodiment is obtained by supporting at least one of palladium or platinum, and molybdenum on a carrier, and subjecting the resulting carrier to a reduction treatment at 500 K or higher.

Diol is a useful substance as a raw material of a polyester resin, a polyurethane resin, an adhesive and the like. A method for hydrogenating dicarboxylic acid such as succinic acid or maleic acid in the presence of a catalyst is known as a method for producing 1,4-butanediol as one kind of a diol.
Conventionally, a catalyst comprising a carrier such as silica having palladium and rhenium supported thereon (for example, Re—Pd/SiO2) is generally used as such a catalyst for hydrogenation (see Patent Literature 1 and Non-Patent literature 1). However, the Re—Pd/SiO2 catalyst is expensive, and for this reason, the development of more inexpensive alternative catalyst is desired.
As the catalyst for hydrogenation of this kind, Patent Literature 2 discloses a catalyst comprising a carrier having supported thereon at least one metal selected from rhenium, molybdenum, palladium, silver and nickel, together with ruthenium and tin. Furthermore, Patent Literature 3 discloses a catalyst containing at least two of 21 metals including rhodium, iridium, platinum, palladium and molybdenum, and a metal of Group 5, 6 or 7 in the periodic table. However, a catalyst comprising a carrier having supported thereon palladium and/or platinum, and molybdenum and/or cobalt is not disclosed.
On the other hand, Non-Patent Literature 1 describes a catalyst obtained by reducing Mo—Pd/SiO2 comprising silica having supported thereon palladium and molybdenum at 413 K in a liquid phase, but describes that this catalyst does not have catalytic activity to a hydrogenation reaction of succinic acid.

Production methods of catalyst for hydrogenation and diol


A system for analyzing expression levels and activity of a plurality of proteins is provided. A bio-displayed polypeptide binding component associated with a predetermined marker is used to bind the proteins of interest. The predetermined marker components are then amplified and detected in a high throughput manner.

The international pharmaceutical market is under increasing pressure to develop new methods for the identification of novel therapeutics and drugs. Most diseases are complex, with multiple genes contributing to susceptibility, initiation, progression and modulation of the disease. Unlike diseases caused by single gene defects, the majority of human diseases are determined by the additive and synergistic interactions between gene products and the environment. Common diseases are, in effect, emergent properties of a complex system. It may not be specific biological elements that are flawed, but a combination of conditions that gives rise to a diseased state. Analyzing these emergent properties and elucidating the network of such interactions can make it possible to identify optimal, valid targets and drugs to treat common diseases.
The central dogma of biology describes the transfer of genetic information from DNA to RNA to protein, with the vast majority of cellular activity being controlled at the protein level. While enormous progress has been made in the areas of DNA and RNA analysis, protein analysis remains labor-intensive and difficult. Protein analysis is further complicated because of the diverse activities and characteristics of proteins. Protein expression levels, catalytic protein activities, protein modifications, protein-protein interactions, protein-nucleic acid interactions, and protein-small molecule interactions combine in a multitude of ways to yield a highly complex network of interactions within cells. Elucidation of the functions of many proteins, and the pathways and networks in which they interact, can lead to the discovery of the overall biological properties of a given system. These properties reveal themselves, or emerge, as one proceeds along the experimental path.
To fully analyze the properties of a complex system, it is generally necessary to perform complex biological experiments, involving thousands of samples (see, e.g., Houston et al. (1997) Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 8:734–40). These experiments involve systematic perturbation of cellular systems and subsequent monitoring of hundreds of variables. Analysis of this information can be used to elucidate the emergent properties of the biological system and lead to a better understanding of the complex pathways involved in diseases. Systems currently available do not monitor the expression levels and functional state of hundreds of proteins within each experiment.
Current technologies for protein expression analysis can be placed into two categories: probing via immunodetection and direct visualization. Immunodetection methods, such as western blots and enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assays (ELISAs), use antibodies to recognize and bind to a protein and produce a corresponding signal (see, e.g., Gonzalez et al. (1998) Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 9:624–31; Sarubbi et al. (1996) Anal. Biochem. 237:70–5; Tijssen et al. (1991) Curr. Opin. Immunol. 3:233–237; and Woo et al. (1994) Clin. Lab. Med. 14:459–71). ELISA assays use antibodies produced by and harvested from a host that has been inoculated with an antigen, and are typically analyzed individually and occasionally in duplexes. Multiple antibodies can be used to map the physical structure of a protein.
In addition, a number of direct visualization technologies have been used to detect and monitor proteins. Two-dimensional gel systems are used for the large-scale analysis of complex mixtures of proteins. These systems are capable of analyzing up to 10,000 proteins in a single gel (see, e.g., Arnott et al. (1998) Anal. Biochem. 258:1–18; and Celis et al. (1999) Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 10:16–21), but are laborious to produce and challenging to analyze.
Another direct analysis method involves the construction of protein/reporter gene conjugates. In this case, the expression of a protein is monitored by detecting a expression of a detectable reporter protein, such as a green fluorescence protein, whose encoding nucleic acid sequence is physically coupled to the gene encoding a protein of interest (see, e.g., Gonzalez et al. (1998) Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 9:624–31; and Suto et al. (1997) J. Biomol. Screening 2:7–9). Reporter gene systems have been exploited in high throughput screening systems and provide information about the activity of a particular protein. There are issues related to the impact of the conjugates on gene. These reporter systems generally only allow one or two proteins to be monitored simultaneously and are limited to the cell types into which these constructs can be introduced.
Use of the different protein detection technologies listed above is limited to either measuring a few proteins in a large number of samples or measuring thousands of proteins in small numbers of samples. The need to monitor tens to hundreds of proteins, including their expression levels and functional state, in a high throughput fashion has yet to be fulfilled. Therefore, it is an object herein to fulfill this and other needs.

Multiplexed protein expression and activity assay


Embodiments of the invention include a method and apparatus for encoding data and a system for transmitting and/or storing data, in which the data is encoded and precoded in a manner that does not violate previously established data constraints, such as modulation encoding constraints. The method includes the steps of modulation encoding the data using a modulation code defined by at least one modulation constraint, parity encoding the modulation encoded information, and precoding the encoded information. The precoding step either partially precodes information bits and precodes parity bits, precodes information bits but not parity bits, or precodes both information bits and parity bits in such a manner that does not violate modulation constraints. Also, the parity encoding step can be performed in such a manner that does not violate modulation code constraints.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to digital information transmission and/or storage methods and systems. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for encoding, precoding and decoding digital information transmitted and/or stored within such systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data encoding systems and methods add redundancy and/or parity bits to streams of digital data to be transmitted and/or stored to reduce the data's susceptibility to corruption. Data corruption typically occurs in the form of interference, such as intersymbol interference, and/or noise, such as channel noise. Applying error correction coding to data prior to its transmission or storage allows a receiver or data read device to detect and sometimes correct errors introduced into the data by interference and/or noise. In this manner, data encoding systems and methods can reduce or eliminate the need to retransmit or rewrite corrupted data, or to identify data loss if rewriting is not possible. Some types of error correction coding schemes include convolutional coding, block coding, and Reed-Solomon coding.
An important development in the area of soft decoding was the discovery of turbo codes. Turbo codes typically involve an iteratively decodable combination of two or more systematic convolutional or block codes (i.e., convolutional or block codes where the output bits of the encoder include unaltered input bits.) This iterative approach later was applied to a particular class of block codes called Product Codes, resulting in Turbo Product Coding (TPC).
The use of turbo codes often helps to approach channel capacity. Also, another reason for the appeal of turbo codes is the ability to implement turbo codes in integrated circuits with advanced technology process. This feature typically frees system designers of concerns about many issues regarding the internal operation of the turbo coder or decoder.
A conventional coding arrangement includes one or more encoders, such as a modulator or modulation encoder, and/or an ECC encoder (e.g., a Reed-Solomon encoder), and/or a parity encoder (e.g., a TPC encoder), and/or a precoder. The modulation encoder transforms data into codewords according to a given constraint. The modulation encoder constrains the data stream to improve the performance of the channel synchronization and detection.
The ECC encoder typically encodes data to protect it from different channel distortions including random noise and error bursts. For this purpose, the ECC encoder calculates the ECC parity of the codeword and inserts one or more ECC parity symbols into codeword. Thus, the ECC encoder makes codewords distinct enough from one another even in the presence of a certain amount of channel noise. An example of an ECC encoder is a Reed-Solomon encoder. The parity encoder typically calculates the parity of a codeword and inserts one or more parity bits into the codeword. One conventional type of parity encoder is a TPC encoder. The ECC encoder targets to improve frame/symbol error rate, while the parity encoder is designed to improve bit error rate.
The precoder works to improve the performance of any of the above-mentioned error-correction schemes by using one or more transfer functions or other conventional data manipulation techniques. One conventional precoder can be defined by the transfer function 1/(1+D), where D stands for unit delay. Other conventional precoders include, but are not limited to, the precoder defined by the transfer function 1/(1+D2) and/or the precoder defined by the transfer function 1/(1+D3).
When used with the 1/(1+D) precoder, the output from the modulation encoder presents a data stream having a non-return-to-zero inverse (NRZI) waveform shape. That is, the encoder output is in NRZI notation, which means that a "1" designates the recording of a transition and a "0" represents the lack of a transition. In this situation, the 1/(1+D) precoder converts an NRZI data stream into a data stream in non-return-to-zero (NRZ) notation, where a "1" represents a logical high level and a "0" represents a logical low level. In a more general sense, any precoder converts an unprecoded data stream into a channel NRZ data stream.
One concern with many conventional data encoding schemes is that the insertion of parity bits by the parity encoder may violate constraints on the data established by the modulation encoder, especially if the encoded data subsequently pass through a precoder. However, as mentioned previously, precoders are useful for performance improvement.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a data encoding method, apparatus and system that provides parity encoding and precoding without violating modulation code constraints.

Method and apparatus for encoding and precoding digital data within modulation code constraints


A storage circuit 2 in the form of a master slave latch includes a slave stage 6 serving as a bit storage circuit. The slave stage 6 includes an inverter chain which when operating in a normal mode includes an even number of inverters 10, 12 and when operating in an random number generation mode includes an odd number of inverters 10, 12, 14 and so functions as a free running ring oscillator. When a switch is made back from the random number generation mode to the normal mode, then the oscillation ceases and a stable pseudo random bit value is output from the bit value storage circuit 6.

1. Field of the Invention
This Invention relates to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to the field of storage circuits for receiving and storing a data value.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide data processing systems which include storage circuits that receive and store data values. Known storage circuits that receive and store data values include, for example, master-slave latches, transparent latches and the like. These storage circuits serve as sequential elements which receive a data value from outside the storage circuit, store that data value and then output that data value to another portion of the system.
Within some data processing systems it is desirable to have hardware which is able to generate a pseudo random bit value, which may be used in combination with other pseudo random bit values or circuitry to generate a multi-bit pseudo random number. Pseudo random numbers are useful for a variety of purposes, such as in security related applications. One example of a pseudo random number generator is described in granted U.S. Pat. No. 8,285,767 which is assigned to the same assignee as the present application. This pseudo random number generator is a self-contained circuit which is dedicated to the generation of a random bit value.

Storage circuit with random number generation mode


A toner for electrostatic latent image development containing at least a binder resin and a colorant, wherein [Fe]/[C] satisfies the following formula (1) where [C] indicates the carbon content (%) and [Fe] indicates the iron content (%) of the toner determined through X-ray fluorescence analysis,0.00005≦[Fe]/[C]≦0.0002.   (1)

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner for electrostatic latent image development and an electrostatic latent image developer for electrophotographic devices (for image formation device) such as duplicator, printer and facsimile that are driven according to an electrophotographic process.
The invention also relates to a image formation method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Impurities especially aromatic ingredients with low-molecular weight in toner for electrostatic image development (hereinafter this may be simply referred to as "toner") that is used in a method of visualization of image information via electrostatic image formation through electrophotography cause some problems in that they often give an offensive odor when toner is used or when a toner container is opened. For toner fixation on copy paper, known are a pressure fixation method and a thermal fixation method. The thermal fixation method includes, for example, oven fixation, flash fixation, pressure fixation, hot roller fixation. In general, hot roller fixation is widely used in electrophotographic duplicators, etc. The method enjoys an extremely high thermal efficiency in fusing a toner image onto a sheet on the surface of a hot roller, and it enables rapid image fixation and is extremely effective in rapid image duplication.
However, the method includes heating a toner image, in which, therefore, minor ingredients in the toner may be released in the air to give an offensive odor to users. With recent down-sizing of duplicators and printers in the art, there is much increasing the opportunity of using them near workers in offices. In addition, there is also increasing the opportunity of using them in ordinary homes. As a result, there are increasing problematic cases where the offensive odor released from toner gives an unpleasant feeling to users. The odor level organoleptically detectable by man is 0.1 ppm or less, and is extremely low.
One cause of offensive odor from electrophotographic devices is ozone generation through corona discharging in the devices, but the ozone smell has been drastically reduced by technological innovation to provide contact charging such as roller charging or brush charging or provide improved corona dischargers capable of preventing ozone generation as much as possible and, as a result, other cases have relatively increased where the toner smell caused by toner gives an unpleasant feeling. A filter or the like to adsorb ozone and odor may be fitted to the body of electrophotographic devices, which, however, is disadvantageous in point of production costs and is troublesome as requiring periodic exchange for its deodorizing function maintenance.
Another method heretofore known for reducing the odor from toner includes reducing the impurities in the binder resin in toner. For example, JP-A-8-328311 proposes odor reduction through reduction in the monomer remaining the binder resin. On the other hand, JP-A-7-104514 says that the reduction in the volatile component in resin is not enough for odor level reduction since the chemically-unstable substance existing as a minor component in the starting material for toner is decomposed during toner production and the resulting volatile substance causes the generation of an offensive odor from toner, and it discloses a technique of removing the odor of the starting material as a measure to solve the odor problem with the final product toner.
JP-A-8-171234 says that the substance to cause odor is an oxidation product of benzaldehyde in toner, and discloses a method of reducing the benzaldehyde content of toner. On the other hand, JP-A-9-230628 discloses a method of reducing the amount of alkylmercaptan (this is one of odor-releasing substances in toner), which is a molecular weight-controlling agent for resin and is indispensable to the basic properties of toner, to the lowermost level necessary for toner so as to prevent odor generation from toner while preventing the toner fixation capability from being worsened.
JP-A-3-105350 discloses a method of adding an alkylbetaine compound to toner in which the compound reacts with odor substances and adsorb them; JP-A-2002-123038 discloses a method of adding any of phyton-cides, catechins or metal phthalocyanines to toner; and JP-A-2002-131980 discloses adding any of macrocyclic lactones or macrocyclic ketone compounds to toner for the purpose of neutralizing the odor of the chain transfer agent in toner resin. In these, however, the compound added inevitably adsorbs some other effective toner component because of its structure, therefore often resulting in that it detracts from the basic quality such as the charging property of toner. JP-A-2-240663 discloses a method of toner deodorization, which includes keeping toner in contact with a deodorant for 5 hours or more in a step of grinding and classifying toner particles. However, the method is still problematic in that it takes a long time to produce toner and it could not always sufficiently reduce the odor of the produced toner.

Toner for electrostatic latent image development, electrostatic latent image developer containing the toner, and image formation method using the developer


A pipe joint for connecting a plain pipe end. The joint has a bell which has a socket defined therein. The socket includes an axis, a conical surface, a first cylindrical surface of smaller diameter extending from one end of the conical surface, a bottom of the socket adjacent the first cylindrical surface for seating the pipe end, and a second cylindrical surface of larger diameter extending from the other end of the conical surface. A gasket is disposed adjacent the conical surface prior to sealing with the conical surface acting as a gasket seat during sealing of the gasket. A gland is provided and has a radially extending handle for rotating the gland from outside the bell. A breech lock mechanism is provided which includes internal segments on the second cylindrical surface of the socket and corresponding, cooperating external segments on the gland, the internal and external segments having matching, mirrored inclined plane surfaces for engagement with each other. The engagement of the inclined surfaces of the internal and external segments of the breech lock mechanism and rotation of the means causes axial movement of the gland relative to the socket. A thrust restraining grip ring can be provided in an annular tapered cavity on in inner circumferential surface of the gland ring. The bell can have a radially extending handle which the gland handle can abut.

This invention is a joint to be used with pipe or fittings for water and sewer systems and the like. However, it is specifically designed for use with fittings. The major objective of the invention is to provide a reliable seal with an improved assembly method with the incorporation of a restraint system.
Over the last century at least, many different systems for forming a pipe joint or fitting having a joint have been developed, especially for pipes of larger diameter. Generally, these joints are of the bell and spigot type. Two main types are in use today with some variants. These are the push-on joint fitting and the mechanical joint fitting. They are readily understandable by the manner in which they are assembled.
The assembly process of prior known systems is as follows:
Push-On Joint Fittings: (See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,963,298 and U.S. Pipe, Field Lok.TM. brochure) The pipe end and the socket are first cleaned, removing any debris or paint build-up. The gasket, which is usually shipped separately, is then placed inside the socket in the gasket seat by looping the gasket and forcing it into place, compressing the gasket slightly in the circumferential direction which causes the gasket to remain in place.
The plain end of the pipe must then be provided with a beveled or tapered end in order to push it past the gasket in the fitting. A pipe, which can be cut in the field, must have its end beveled by grinding prior to insertion into the socket.
It is now necessary to attach a jacking mechanism to the pipe end and the fitting bell in order to force the tapered end of the pipe past the gasket until the pipe bottoms out in the socket. It takes a considerable force to insert the pipe end past the gasket and with short lengths of pipe, control during the insertion becomes quite a problem. The short piece of pipe tends to buckle out of alignment during the force application, hence the necessity for complicated special rigging to provide this force in a controlled way.
In order to reduce the force required, the beveled end of the pipe and the gasket surface in the socket are now lubricated with a soft soap.
The pipe end is then placed carefully into the socket, placing the beveled end on the gasket surface. The pipe end is then jacked into the socket to the depth marked on the pipe surface. The jacks are then removed.
In some cases, joint restraint is provided by special gaskets with steel clips, molded into the gasket. In these cases, the joint must be jacked in the reverse direction after assembly to insure that the clips have locked onto the pipe. If disassembly is necessary, thin shims must be hammered into the joint to lift the clips out of their locked positions prior to jacking the joint apart with the special rigging.
The assembly of these previously known push-on fittings can be a complicated and somewhat time consuming process. For this reason, the major portion of the fittings market is not push-on joint fittings, but rather mechanical joint fittings.
Mechanical. Joint Fittings: As stated above, the majority of the fittings used in the United States are provided with the Standardized Mechanical Joint conforming to the requirements of ANSI/AWWA C111/A21.11, "Rubber-Gasket Joints for Ductile-iron Pressure Pipe and Fittings".
The mechanical joint consists of a tapered gasket seat, a tapered or "wedge shaped" gasket, and a follower ring or "gland". Both the bell of the fitting and the gland are provided with a flange having axial bolt holes. While regular bolts can be used, special "T-Bolts" are generally used to connect the gland to the bell of the fitting. The number of bolts required depends upon the size of the pipe, ranging from four, on the 3-inch size, and eight, on the 12-inch size, to thirty-two on the 48-inch size pipe.
In assembling the joint, the pipe end and socket are first cleaned. The gland is then placed over the plain end of the pipe with its special compression "lip" pointing toward the end of the pipe. The gasket is then lubricated and stretched over the end of the pipe with its tapered surface toward the end of the pipe. No bevel on the pipe is required. The plain end is then inserted into the socket of the fitting until the end bottoms out in the socket. No special rigging is required. The gasket is then brought forward and inserted into the gasket seat, caulking or pounding it into place if necessary. The gland is now brought into position touching the gasket, and the T-bolts are inserted into the holes of the fitting bell and through the holes in the gland. The nuts are screwed onto the bolts and tightening begins. The bolts must be tightened in a "star" pattern, in order to maintain alignment during tightening. First tightening one bolt then the opposite bolt, 180 degrees from the first, then the bolt 90 degrees from the last one, and so on, until all bolts have at least 75 to 90 ft.-lb. placed on them for sizes 3-inch through 24-inch and more for the larger sizes. This is an arduous and time consuming task and requires experience, skill, and strength on the part of the worker.
A phenomenon exists during the tightening of the T-bolts which makes the task of bringing all bolts within a range of 75 to 90 ft.-lb. of torque very frustrating. As one bolt is tightened, bringing the gland closer to the bell, the adjoining bolts loosen. That is, as tightening proceeds, a bolt is brought to 75 ft.-lb., the next bolt is also brought to 75 ft.-lb., and so on, until all of the bolts have been tightened at least once, the first bolt is then checked, only to find that it is extremely loose. The act of tightening all bolts, even in a star pattern, has loosened some of the bolts. The bolts must be tightened and re-tightened until all bolts are within the range of torque specified. This may ordinarily take five or more repetitions before the torque on all bolts is stabilized.
A second frustrating experience is that after tightening, if the joint is left for about thirty minutes, the bolts will loose torque, due to what is commonly referred to as "cold flow" of the gasket. Although if the original torque level was above the 75 ft.-lb. level the joint will not ordinarily leak, the fact of the loss of torque makes determining the cause of a leak very confusing. It is often very difficult to determine if the bolts were or were not tightened properly.
Most fittings are also installed in a trench, making access to the bolts on the bottom of the joint a problem. The most frequent complaint is a leaky joint caused by loose bolts on the bottom of the joint usually due to the difficulty of getting to these bolts.
One benefit of a mechanical joint is that the joint requires no unusual equipment to assemble. Secondly, if a mistake is made, the mistake at least can be remedied since disassembly is reasonably simple. Disassembly of a push-on joint is complicated, requiring special tools, and often results in having to cut the pipe in order to undo the joint. Although it requires skill and some strength to assemble the mechanical joint, mistakes can be corrected and the use of simple tools has kept the mechanical joint the most used joint for fittings.
Other variants of pipe joints and fittings exist. The prior art patents describe two mechanisms having somewhat similar actions. One is referred to as a "Bayonet locking ring". This bayonet ring is a gland ring having integral protruding segments on its outer surface which interact with like integral segments in the bell of a pipe to retain the ring in the bell. This bayonet ring imparts no forward motion and can usually be rotated by hand. This mechanism is referenced in Bram, U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,706, Oct. 16, 1973. The second mechanism is a "Breech Lock" ring also having integral protruding segments on its outer surface which interact with like segments in the bell to retain the gland ring and also impart forward motion when the ring is rotated. These segments have an inclined surface and can either be an interrupted single thread screw or separate and wedge-like. In this invention, the segments are separate and wedge-like. The breech lock ring is usually used also to compress some type of gasket and must be tightened using more force than can be applied by hand. It can be seen in Kennedy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,531, Sep. 6, 1983.


A method for transmitting a stream includes: receiving a streaming request from a stream receiver, in which the streaming request includes a stream identifier and a type of the stream receiver; obtaining an encapsulated stream by performing protocol encapsulation on a stream corresponding to the stream identifier based on a streaming protocol corresponding to the type; and transmitting the encapsulated stream to the stream receiver.

In an intelligent traffic information control project, stream data (e.g., video data) are obtained by accessing a large number of road intersection security monitoring cameras, for subsequent artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm processing and for processing the stream data on a browser side (e.g., playing videos for lane marking).
In the related art, streams (e.g., video streams) are pulled from streaming services of different manufacturers by adopting private streaming servers and integrating Software Development Kits (SDKs) of different manufacturers. However, access protocols of various camera suppliers are different, qualities of different SDK implementations of different manufacturers are uneven, and protocols are incompatible with each other. Therefore, the stream may not be directly processed on the browser side, which reduces the real-time performance of the stream.

Method for transmitting stream, streaming server and storage medium

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