A MLD-SIMOX wafer is obtained by forming a first ion-implanted layer in a silicon wafer; forming a second ion-implanted layer that is in an amorphous state; and subjecting the wafer to a high-temperature heat treatment to maintain the wafer in an atmosphere containing oxygen at a temperature that is not lower than 1300° C. but lower than a silicon melting point to change the first and the second ion-implanted layers into a BOX layer, wherein the dose amount for the first ion-implanted layer is 1.25 to 1.5×1017 atoms/cm2, the dose amount for the second ion-implanted layer is 1.0×1014 to 1×1016 atoms/cm2, the wafer is preheated to a temperature of 50° C. to 200° C. before forming the second ion-implanted layer, and the second ion-implanted layer is formed in a state where it is continuously heated to a preheating temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a SIMOX (Separation by IMplanted OXygen) wafer based on a SIMOX technology among methods for manufacturing an SOI (Silicon On Insulater) wafer having a single-crystal silicon layer formed on a silicon single-crystal main body via an oxide film.
2. Description of the Related Art
As conventional methods for manufacturing an SOI wafer, there are known a bonding method for bonding two silicon wafers via an oxide film and a SIMOX method for implanting an oxygen (O+) ion from a silicon wafer surface to form an ion-implanted layer serving as an oxygen layer having a high concentration in a region at a predetermined depth in a wafer and applying a heat treatment to this wafer to change the ion-implanted layer into a buried oxide film (which will be referred to as a BOX layer hereinafter) In particular, an SOI wafer manufactured by the SIMOX method is called a SIMOX wafer.
A method for manufacturing a SIMOX wafer at an initial stage of development is based on a high-dose technology. In this method for manufacturing a low-dose SIMOX wafer, oxygen atoms are implanted into a silicon wafer with an implantation energy of approximately 200 keV at the rate of approximately 2×1018 atoms/cm2, a BOX layer is formed in the wafer in an ion-implanted state (as-implanted state), and then high-temperature annealing treatment is carried out. A crystal defect that has occurred in the SOI layer by this annealing treatment can be remedied, and the BOX layer can be reformed.
However, since in this high-dose technology for manufacturing the SIMOX wafer an oxygen ion dose amount is large, there has been a problem that many threading dislocations occur in the SOI layer, an ion implantation time is long and a manufacturing efficiency is poor, for example. This threading dislocation brings a leak current or deterioration in a heterointerface when a device is manufactured. As a result, an improvement in device performance or development of functionality may be obstructed.
Therefore, a low-dose technology has been developed in order to inhibit threading dislocations from being generated in an SOI layer and reduce an ion implantation time. In this method for manufacturing a low-dose SIMOX wafer, oxygen atoms are implanted from a surface of a silicon wafer at the rate of approximately 3.5×1017 to 4.5×1017 atoms/cm2 with an implantation energy of approximately 180 keV, and then a high-temperature heat treatment is carried out to form a BOX layer to be continuous in a surface direction parallel to the surface of the silicon surface. In a case where the implantation energy is 180 keV, the BOX layer that is continuous in the surface direction parallel to the wafer surface can be formed only when a dose amount is 3.5×1017 to 4.5×1017 atoms/cm2. A fluctuation range of this dose amount is called a dose window. In this high-dose technology for manufacturing the SIMOX wafer, a density of threading dislocations in the SOI layer can be reduced and an implantation time can be reduced to improve a manufacturing efficiency.
However, since the SIMOX wafer obtained based on this low-dose technology has a small oxygen ion dose amount, a film thickness of the BOX layer becomes thin, and reliability of the BOX layer is dubious. Further, in a case where a film thickness of the BOX layer to be formed is thin, when a particle adheres to a silicon wafer surface at the time of ion implantation, this particle functions as a mask so that an unimplantable part is apt to be generated in the ion-implanted layer formed in the silicon wafer. Although the ion-implanted layer becomes the BOX layer by annealing treatment, the unimplantable part serves as a pin hole that is one type of crystal defects to reduce electrical insulation properties. There has been a problem that a percentage of this pin hole density is higher than that of a high-dose SIMOX wafer, for example.
Thus, in order to inhibit generation of the pin hole in the BOX layer, there have been proposed a method for manufacturing an SOI substrate called an ITOX (Internal Thermal OXidation) technology where annealing treatment is performed to an ion-implanted silicon wafer and then oxidizing treatment is carried out in a high-temperature oxygen atmosphere, and an SOI substrate manufactured thereby (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 263538-1995(claim 1, claim 6, paragraphs [0009], [0010], [0025], and [0026], FIG. 1)).
In the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 263538-1995, oxygen atoms are first implanted from a surface of a silicon wafer at the rate of approximately 0.4×1018 atoms/cm2 with an implantation energy of approximately 180 keV. Then, the wafer having an ion-implanted layer formed therein is subjected to annealing treatment in an inert gas atmosphere containing oxygen whose concentration is less than 1.0% to change the ion-implanted layer into a BOX layer, and then this wafer is further subjected to a high-temperature heat treatment in an atmosphere containing high-concentration oxygen whose concentration exceeds 1%. When the wafer is subjected to the high-temperature heat treatment, high-concentration oxygen in the atmosphere enters the wafer from front and rear surfaces of the wafer to be diffused. When this oxygen stays to be laminated as SiO2 at a BOX layer interface portion, the BOX layer grows, thereby increasing a film thickness of the BOX layer. In a SIMOX wafer obtained by this ITOX technology, when SiO2 is laminated at the BOX layer interface portion, a pin hole generated in the BOX layer can be remedied, thus reducing a pin hole density. Furthermore, roughness of an interface between the BOX layer and the silicon wafer can be improved. As a result, electrical characteristics of a device can be homogenized.
However, even in this manufacturing method based on the ITOX technology, since an oxygen ion dose amount is as large as approximately 0.4×1018 atoms/cm2, an ion implantation time is long. Moreover, a high-temperature oxidizing treatment is required in addition to the annealing treatment, and hence there is a problem that the manufacturing efficiency is poor and the productivity is lowered.
Thus, in order to reduce the ion implantation time, there has been proposed a method for manufacturing an SOI wafer called an MLD (Modified Low Dose) technology where oxidizing treatment is applied to a wafer having two ion-implanted layers including an amorphous layer formed therein (see, e.g., Specification in U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,643 (claim 1, specification p. 1, the second right column, 11. 5 to 43, FIG. 1(a)).
In the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,643, ion implantation is divided into two processes, and oxygen atoms are implanted into a wafer having different temperatures each time. As a result, two implanted layers in different states, i.e., a high-concentration oxygen layer and an amorphous layer are formed in the wafer, and then this wafer is subjected to a high-temperature oxidizing treatment in a mixed gas atmosphere.
Specifically, in a state where the silicon wafer is heated, oxygen ions are first implanted at the rate of 2×1017 atoms/cm2 with an implantation energy of 185 keV to form a first ion-implanted layer serving as the high-concentration oxygen layer in the wafer. Then, in a state where this wafer is cooled, the oxygen ions are implanted at the rate of 3×1014 atoms/cm2 with an implantation energy of 185 keV to form a second ion-implanted layer in an amorphous state in such a manner that this layer becomes continuous with a surface of the first ion-implanted layer on a wafer front surface side. Additionally, when a lower portion of the second ion-implanted layer overlaps an upper portion of the first ion-implanted layer, high-concentration oxygen is contained in the amorphous layer. Further, a temperature of this wafer is increased in an inert atmosphere, e.g., argon containing 0.1 to 10% oxygen, and then this wafer is maintained at a high temperature in an atmosphere containing oxygen of 5 to 100% oxygen containing argon or the like. Maintaining the wafer at a high temperature in this atmosphere containing oxygen changes the first ion-implanted layer into a BOX layer. It is to be noted that the second ion-implanted layer contains high-concentration oxygen in the amorphous layer thereof, and hence re-crystallization does not smoothly advance at the time of increasing a temperature, and the second ion-implanted layer becomes a high-density defective layer including polycrystal, a twin crystal, or a stacking fault. A region in which this defective layer is formed has a property that oxygen readily precipitates. In a subsequent process of maintaining the wafer at a high temperature in the atmosphere containing oxygen, oxygen in the atmosphere containing oxygen enters the wafer from front and rear surfaces of the wafer to be diffused in the wafer, and oxygen is concentrated in this high-density defective layer to separate out as SiO2. The high-density defective layer having SiO2 precipitated therein becomes the BOX layer in this manner. Therefore, an ion dose amount that is as small as 2×1017 atoms/cm2 allows acquisition of a SIMOX wafer having a BOX layer whose thickness is the same as that obtained when implanting a double dose amount.
On the other hand, a SIMOX wafer having a BOX layer with a thin film thickness may be required depending on a semiconductor device manufacturer. However, according to the manufacturing method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,643, since oxygen in a high-temperature heat treatment atmosphere is apt to be precipitated in a high-density defective layer, production of a SIMOX wafer having a BOX layer with a thin film thickness is difficult.


A production instructing apparatus which is provided with a file for storing the state of every product being manufactured and every stock product and a file for storing the producing capacity of each producing apparatus calculates the feeding quantity for each process for the insufficient quantity of the products through comparison of the shipping quantity of the products with the state of the products being manufactured and stock products, calculates the feeding date of required articles for the insufficient quantity of the products to the producing apparatus on the basis of the calculated feeding quantity and producing capacity, determines the scheduled date for delivery from the calculating result, judges whether or not the products are in time for the appointed delivery date by comparing the scheduled date for delivery with the appointed delivery date, and instructs feeding of materials, half finished products and the like for the products which would miss the appointed delivery date to the producing apparatus so that the products are produced preferentially. Accordingly, it can be prevented that the appointed delivery date be missed and the useless stock be generated while the feeding instruction is made precisely.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a production instructing apparatus which instructs feeding of materials, half finished products and the like required for production, and more particularly to a production instructing apparatus designed to produce products in proper quantities in compliance with a received order under the producing capacity thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
A producer makes a producing plan on the basis of contents of an order. Actually, it is detected before production of products whether or not the stock or half finished products can supplement the received order, and then a feeding plan is built only for the products falling short of supply, so that the material, half finished products and the like are fed to the producing apparatus according to the feeding plan.
By the way, according to the above-mentioned procedure, it disadvantageously takes quite a long time after the receipt of an order by a producer before the products are actually supplied. In addition, since there is a fear that the feeding quantity for products is miscalculated, this leads to an enormous instruction of the feeding quantity. When the feeding quantity is smaller than expected, it causes a delay of delivery, and when larger, it results in the unrequired stock.
Moreover, when the feeding plan is made, as the producing capacity of the producing apparatus which varies according to the producing state is not taken into consideration, sometimes products may not be completed on the expected date in spite of the actual feeding of materials, etc. if the producing capacity at that time is insufficient.
Even when the feeding plan is made according to a certain order of products, there may be a case where the delivery date of products of another order is earlier than this. Therefore, it is difficult to judge when the feeding dates of the respective products should be set. It is hard alike to instruct definitely the feeding priority of the products in each order.

Production instructing apparatus for feeding required quantities of materials to meet an appointed delivery date


In the computer 1, the control information for screen display incorporated in the keyboard and software is processed by CPU2 and sent to the display device 6 via the communication controller 5. The microcomputer 7 in the display device 6 fetches the control information from the communication controller 8 and controls a predetermined part of the video circuit 11 or deflection circuit 10. In this case, identification information is sent to the display device 6 from the computer 1 first and when it matches with the identification information stored in the memory 9, the above control is permitted.

The present invention relates to an information output system or display apparatus including a computer and an information output device such as a display device or a printer as a computer terminal and more particularly to an information output system, or display apparatus for performing various types of control such as the information output method and allowing or not allowing of information output from the computer connected to the above information output device via a communication interface.
In current display devices as computer terminals, a wide variety of display positions and sizes on the screen and video signal frequencies to be displayed are used depending on video signals to be inputted. Therefore, a display or a so-called multi-scan display has been used so that a display device can handle various video signals.
A microcomputer or a memory LSI is used to provide a most suitable display image for each video signal as this type of display device. Such a prior art is indicated in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-321475.
According to this prior art, the microcomputer controls the memory which stores information of the display position and size on the screen for each video signal beforehand and reads the information of the most suitable display position and size on the screen depending on the input video signal from the memory. The microcomputer outputs a control signal on the basis of the read information. This control signal is applied to the deflection circuit as a control voltage or control current through a D-A converter so as to control the voltage or current at a predetermined part of the deflection circuit. By doing this, the display size and position of the display device can be adjusted. When a video signal inputted to the display device is not a known signal, no corresponding information is kept in the above memory. Therefore, the switch mounted on the front of the display device is operated so as to input the adjustment information of the display position and size on the screen. The control circuit of the above microcomputer creates deflection control information on the basis of the above input information and adjusts the display position and size.
According to the aforementioned prior art, the display device obtains a most suitable screen display according to the input video signal. However, according to another prior art, the computer controls and changes the display status. Such a prior art is indicated in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-84688. According to this prior art, a discrimination pulse is superimposed at the blanking interval of a video signal outputted from the computer and the deflection frequency of the display device is changed on the basis of this discrimination pulse.
According to the former prior art among the aforementioned prior arts, the control of the display position and size on the screen is managed by the display device. Therefore, when adjustment is required or requested from the user of display device, it is necessary to perform manual adjustment using the adjustment switch of the display device each time and it is rather troublesome to operate the system.
According to the latter prior art among the aforementioned prior arts, the control can be operated by the computer. However, since the operation is such that the deflection frequency is simply changed on the basis of the discrimination pulse superimposed on the video signal, an image cannot be adjusted to the display image (display position and size) which is required by a user of the computer. Namely, there is a problem imposed that the status which is simply desired by the user cannot be obtained. Furthermore, no consideration is given to prevention of display (indication) of careless images (information) and restraining of unnecessary power consumption. Even if the discrimination pulse is superimposed at the blanking interval of the video signal, the video blanking level is generally shallow in the case of the display device, so that the discrimination pulse is displayed. Furthermore, the control is applied only in one direction from the computer to the display device and no information is sent in the reverse direction, so that there is another problem imposed that a malfunction cannot be avoided.


A method is described for the normalization and standardization of variabilities of electropherograms obtained with conductometric capillary electrophoresis. The variabilities may be associated with differences in the sample injection volume between two or more runs. Alternatively, the variabilities may be associated with alterations in the electroosmotic flow velocity of two or more runs.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is an electrophoresis technique utilizing small bore capillaries. CE provides methods for the separation of ionic species including macromolecules. The efficiency of CE can be relatively high, i.e. in excess of 400,000 theoretical plates, and thus is being explored for a number of different applications.
A typical CE system includes a 50-100 micrometer internal diameter silica capillary tube filled with a suitable electrically conducting buffer. The outlet end of the capillary is immersed in a reservoir containing the buffer and an electrode. A sample containing ions of interest is introduced into the inlet end of the capillary and then the inlet is placed in another reservoir containing the buffer and another electrode. Since a small diameter capillary is used in CE, a relatively high applied voltage can be used without the generation of thermal gradients in the capillary; thus the electrodes are connected to a power supply capable of delivering .sup..about. 30 kV per 100 cm of capillary. A detector is placed between the two electrodes to permit detection of various ionic species migrating in the capillary. A detector so positioned is often referred to as an on-column detector. Typically, an integrator is attached to the detector, such that the peak areas may be measured.
The movement of the sample ions of interest is controlled by two factors: the electrophoretic velocity and the electroosmotic flow velocity. The total migration velocity is the vector sum of these two terms.
Electrophoretic migration is the migration of the sample ion towards the oppositely charged electrode under the influence of the electric field. The electrophoretic mobility of any particular ion is the electrophoretic velocity per unit field strength.
Electroosmotic flow (EOF) is the bulk flow of the buffer in the capillary. EOF is due to the charge of the inside surface of the capillary which is in contact with buffer containing mobile counterions. For example, an unmodified silica capillary surface comprises silanol (Si--OH) groups that are negatively charged (Si--O.sup.-) when the pH of the buffer is greater than about 2, and positively charged (Si--OH.sub.2 +) when the pH is less than about 2. Alternatively, hydrophobic cations may be adsorbed onto the inside surface of the capillary to obtain a positively charged surface at higher pHs.
When the surface is negatively charged, then the mobile counterions, for example, sodium ions (Na.sup.+), migrate under the influence of the electric field and in the process drag the bulk solvent with them. Thus the direction of the electroosmotic flow is from the positive to the negative electrode when the surface is negatively charged.
When the surface is positively charged, then the mobile counterions of the positively charged surface, e.g. biphosphate ions (HPO.sub.4.sup.2-), migrate under the influence of the electric field and in the process drag the bulk solvent with them. Thus the direction of the electroosmotic flow is from the negative to the positive electrode when the surface is positively charged.
When the surface is not charged, then there is no electroosmotic flow, and any movement of analyte ions is due solely to electrophoretic mobility.
Thus, depending on the charge of the ions of interest, the nature and the extent of capillary surface charging and the polarity of the applied voltage, electroosmosis can augment, counteract or even override the electrophoretic movement. Since sample components to be determined must travel from the inlet end of the capillary to the detector which is located near the outlet end of the capillary, it is essential that they move in the desired direction. However, since the total migration velocity of the sample is the vector sum of the electrophoretic velocity and the electroosmotic flow velocity, it is possible that the charge of the sample is such that it would move away from the outlet electrode in the absence of electroosmotic flow; under these conditions the electroosmotic flow velocity of the bulk solution must be greater than the electrophoretic mobility of the analyte.
The detector used in the CE system is very important, and the type of detector used will usually depend on the properties of the compounds under analysis. Currently, there are a number of different detector schemes utilized in CE. These include direct and indirect photometric detection, direct and indirect fluorescence detection, as well as suppressed and non-suppressed conductometric detection. Other types of detection which may be utilized are mass spectrometry, radiometry and other electrochemical methods such as amperometry. These methods may be used either on-column or end-column, i.e. at some point after the outlet electrode.
While most organic molecules of interest display significant ultraviolet absorption such that direct photometric detection is practical, this is not the case for many inorganic ions or aliphatic carboxylic acids that display very low optical absorption. Thus indirect photometric or fluorescence detection may be utilized in these cases. For example, indirect fluorometric detection is described in Gross et al., Anal. Chem. 62:427-431 (1990); Bachmann et al., Journal of Chrom. 626:259-265 (1992); and Gross et al., Journal of Chrom. 480:169-178 (1989). Indirect photometric detection is described in Foret et al., Journal of Chrom. 470:299-308 (1989); Foret et al., Electrophoresis 11:780-783 (1990); and Henshall et al., Journal of Chrom. 608:413-419 (1992). Additionally, since electrical mobility is an intrinsic property of all ions, detection based on conductivity can be a desirable method for many uses of CE.
However, conductivity detectors are nonselective bulk property detectors. The signal arises from the difference in equivalent conductance or mobility of the charge carrier electrolyte ion and the analyte ion. In CE, a large difference in mobility of the carrier electrolyte ion and the analyte ion leads to excessive peak tailing/fronting, which means that there are practical restrictions on the choice of the eluent ion. This conflict between optimum sensitivity and separation efficiency represents the ultimate limitation of nonsuppressed conductivity detection in CE.
Electrolyte suppression, or the post run alteration of the electrolyte buffer such that the background "noise" of the buffer is decreased, has been explored for ion chromatography (see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,897,213; 3,920,397; 3,925,019; 3,956,559; 4,474,664; 4,751,004; 4,459,357 and 4,999,098), and recently for CE (U.S. Ser. Nos. 07/771,336 and 07/771,597, filed Oct. 4, 1991, herein incorporated by reference). These systems are referred to as "suppressed" systems.
When conductometric detection is utilized, aspects of the electropherogram from a CE run are different from an optically detected CE run. These phenomena are the subject of the present invention.
One problem with CE is that the sample volume introduced into the capillary may vary; samples are not easily injected onto the column by a fixed volume valve. This can be a problem in other chromatography systems as well, although many systems do employ a fixed volume valve. Instead, in CE, the samples are introduced into the capillary in several ways. Typical injection modes for CE are pressurization of the sample- or standard-containing vial for a fixed length of time (pressure injection), or the application of an electrical field for a fixed length of time (electrostatic injection). Thus CE sample injection methods are based on time of injection. This means that small variabilities in time, sample viscosity, pressure or hydrostatic height may result in variabilities of the sample volume injected. This may have a profound impact on the migration time and the size of the peaks.
Furthermore, these potential variabilities may make quantification of sample peaks difficult. Quantification requires that the injected volume of the sample and the injected volume of the standard be essentially exactly the same, or that the volume of each be precisely known to compensate for injected volume differences.
Another problem with CE and other systems relying on electroosmotic flow is that it is difficult to determine the electroosmotic flow velocity, and to detect any variations in this rate. For example, in CE, the electroosmotic flow velocity in a bare silica capillary can be affected by material adsorbed on the wall from the previous injection, which may alter the flow rate. Similarly, the flow rate of different capillaries may be different due to a variety of factors. The electroosmotic flow velocity will also change as a result of a change in applied voltage. Since the flow velocity will affect the migration times of the analyte peaks, i.e. total migration velocity of the analyte, this may be a serious problem. This takes on an increased significance if an integrator is used, since the integration is dependent on time; thus a decrease in the flow rate for a sample run may result in an increase in the peak area, and vice versa.
These two limitations are addressed by the present invention.


A method for producing a content data file for a desired print job including a plurality of customized versions of a printable work includes the step of receiving an electronic template of the printable work including a common portion and a customizable portion. A form accessible via a network is developed to allow each of a plurality of users to associate a corresponding customized content with the customizable portion via the network. The corresponding customized content together with the template defines a corresponding customized version of the printable work. A desired number of copies is associated with each customized version of the printable work, and the customized versions of the printable work and the corresponding desired number of copies are aggregated to produce a content data file for the desired print job.

It is often desirable to produce customized versions of a printable work, including customized content often selected to be of interest to an intended recipient. Many printing methods are available to print copies of a work and each has advantages and disadvantages based in part on the number of copies required. For example, a press, such as a web offset or gravure printing press, requires the production of an imaged plate prior to the printing process. The imaged plate and other complexities of the press process add expense such that in general, a larger number of copies in a print job is required in order to make the plate based printing process advantageous on a price per copy basis when compared to a non-plate based printing process. Recently, the ability of printers to produce customized versions of a printable work using a printing press has expanded significantly with the introduction of such processes as demographic binding and post-press processes such as ink jet or laser printing to add additional content to a work printed on a press. However, managing the content of such a print job can be a difficult task especially when the desired print job includes a large number of customized versions and when the common content portion and customized content portion are printed using separate printing processes such as printing with a press and also printing with an ink jet or laser printer.

Method for managing desired print content of a print job


A catalyst for manufacturing carbon substances, such as carbon nanotube that has a diameter of 1000 nm or less, the catalyst containing at least iron, cobalt or nickel of a first element group and tin or indium of a second element group. The catalyst can be formed by at least tin and indium in addition to cobalt or nickel. The former catalyst provides a 2-component type catalyst and a multi-component type catalyst that is composed on the basis of the 2-component type catalyst, and the later catalyst provides a 3-component type catalyst and a multi-component type catalyst that is composed on the basis of the 3-component type catalyst.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to catalysts for manufacturing carbon substances which are carbon nanocoils having an external diameter of 1000 nm or less, or carbon nanotubes having a sectional diameter of nanosize, etc. More specifically, the present invention relates to the catalysts for manufacturing carbon substances which effectively cause the carbon substances to grow on the surface of the catalysts while a raw-material gas is under pyrolysis by means of a catalyst which contains at least more than two components, that is, which contains at least both a first element group including iron, cobalt and nickel and a second element group including tin and indium.
2. Prior Art
Diamond and graphite have been known as substances made from carbon (hereafter called "carbon substance"). The crystal structure of a diamond is stereo-structure and the crystal structure of the graphite is a two dimensional layer-structure. The utility of these two carbon substances is extremely limited due to the difficulty of technical treatment for them.
In order to utilize the heat resisting property and the strength of carbon, a research and development of carbon filament started actively in 1960. By weaving carbon filaments to form a woven sheet, and further by combining the woven sheet and resin to make a compound fiber, a compound fiber can be utilized in a wide region.
Since the method of manufacturing carbon filaments was established in the decade of 1980, it is succeeded to give car bodies lightness and strength by means of making car bodies from the carbon filaments. Furthermore, golf equipment and fishing rods which are formed with compound fibers have been brought into practical use. Thus many kinds of carbon goods have been used.
There are two methods for manufacturing carbon filaments, one is to remove the organic substance by means of calcinating organic fibers such as acrylic fiber, etc, another is a vapor-phase catalytic decomposition method in which the growth of carbon filaments is stimulated by means of decomposing hydrocarbon in gas phase by using catalytic particles.
Specifically, in the vapor-phase catalytic decomposition method, the fine powder of ferromagnetic metal such as Fe, Ni and Co is used. In this method the carbon filament is grown at the tip-end on which this catalytic powder adheres, while pyrolizing hydrocarbon at the tip end portion. Besides, a method that uses the catalytic powder of Fe.Co alloy is developed. However, most of the carbon filaments which are manufactured in these methods are curved in the middle portion, and it was difficult to grow carbon filaments with high linearity.
In such a situation, a discovery of fullerene was reported in the Nature magazine, Vol. 318 (1985) 162, by H. W. Kroto, J. R. Heath, S. C. O'Brien, R. F. Curl, and R. E. Smalley, which is expressed by C60 and a carbon molecule of a soccer ball shape. This fullerene is a new type of the carbon substances.
Nest, S. Iijima reported in 1991, in the Nature magazine; Vol. 354 (1991) 56-58 that he succeeded in the synthesis of a carbon nanotube with high linearity by means of an arc discharge method. The characteristic point of his method was to find carbon filaments with very high linearity in carbon substances heaped up on the cathode, which were produced by the ordinary arc discharge without using any catalyst. He named helical micronanotube the carbon filament, but at present, it is called a carbon nanotube.
Though the use of fullerene is not so much, the development for use of the carbon nanotube has been rapidly extended. In this circumstance, a carbon nanocoil, in addition, was discovered as a further new carbon substance. The carbon nanocoil was discovered in the process of researching carbon microcoil.
The fact that carbon fibers grow in a vapor phase, while being twisted in the manner of a rope, was first reported by Davis et al. (W. R. Davis, R. J. Slawson and GR. Rigby, Nature, Vol. 171, 756 (1953)). Since the external diameter of such carbon ropes is micro-size, such ropes are ordinarily referred to as carbon microcoils. Subsequently, various reports appeared concerning carbon nanocoils: however, since there was strong element of randomness involved in the production of such coils, the coils lacked reproducibility, and reminded in a state that was inadequate for industrial production.
In 1990, Motojima et al. (S. Motojima, M. Kawaguchi, K. Nozaki, and H. Iwanaga, Appl. Phys. Lett., 56 (1990) 321) discovered an efficient method for manufacturing carbon microcoils, and as a result of subsequent research, they established a manufacturing method that showed reproducibility. In this method, a graphite substrate which is coated with a powdered Ni catalyst is placed inside a horizontal type externally heated reaction tube made of transparent quartz, and a raw-material gas is introduced perpendicularly onto the surface of the substrate from a raw-material gas introduction part located in the upper part of the reaction tube. This raw-material gas is a mixed gas of acetylene, hydrogen, nitrogen and thiophene. The exhausted gas is discharged from the bottom part of the reaction tube.
In this manufacturing method, impurities such as sulfur and phosphorous, etc., are indispensable; and if the amounts of these impurities are too large or too small, carbon microcoils will not grow. For example, the coil yield reaches maximum, at a value of approximately 50%, in a case where thiophene-containing sulfur is added at the rate of 0.24% relative to the total gas flow. The reaction temperature is approximately 750 to 800° C.
Diameter of fibers constituting such carbon microcoils is 0.01 to 1 μm, the external diameter (outside diameter) of the coil is 1 to 10 μm, the coil pitch is 0.01 to 1 μm, and the coil length is 0.1 to 25 mm. It is characteristic that these carbon microcoils are of micro-size and have an amorphous structure. In another ward, the carbon microcoils are substances that amorphous fibers grow up in a coil shape without a hole.
In 1991, carbon nanocoils were discovered. Spurred by this discovery, research concerning carbon coils on the nanometer scale, i.e., carbon nanocoils was initiated. The reason for this was that on the nanometer scale, there was a possibility that a new physical property might be discovered, so that such nanocoils showed promise as new materials in electronics and engineering, etc., in nanometer region.
In 1994, Amelinckx et al. (Amelinckx, X. B. Zhang, D. Bernerts, X. F. Zhang, V. Ivanov and J. B. Nagy, Science, 265 (1994) 653) succeeded in producing carbon nanocoils. It was also demonstrated that while carbon microcoils are amorphous, carbon nanocoils have a graphite structure. Various types of carbon nanocoils were manufactured, and the minimum external diameter of these nanocoils was extremely small, i.e., approximately 12 nm.
The manufacturing method used by the above mentioned researchers was a method in which a metal catalyst such as Co, Fe or Ni is formed into a fine powder, the area around this catalyst is heated to a temperature of 600 to 700° C., and an organic gas such as acetylene or benzene is caused to flow through so that this gas contacts the catalyst, thus breaking down these organic molecules. The substance produced as a result consists of carbon nanotubes with a graphite structure, and the shapes of these nanotubes are linear, curvilinear, planar spiral and coil form, etc.
In 1999, Li et al. (W. Li, S. Xie, W. Liu, R. Zhao, Y. Zhang, W. Zhou, and G. Wang; J. Material Sci., 34 (1999) 2745) succeeded again in producing carbon nanocoils. In the manufacturing method used by these researchers, a catalyst formed by covering the outer circumference of a graphite sheet with iron particles was placed in the center, and the area around this catalyst was heated to 700° C. by means of a nichrome wire. This catalyst is a 2-component type catalyst consisting of graphite and iron. However, as the carbon nanocoils are carbon substance, the graphite is used as a basic material, so that this catalyst can be regarded as a 1-component Fe catalyst combined with graphite. This manufacturing method also showed a small coil production rate and was extremely inadequate as an industrial production method.
As described above, the catalysts for manufacturing carbon filaments and carbon nanocoil are limited to a one component type catalyst for which ferromagnetic metal such as Fe, Co or Ni is used as simple substance, to a two component type catalyst which is an alloy consisting of two ferromagnetic metals such as Fe.Co, or to a two component catalyst combining ferromagnetic metal and graphite.
In the course of analyzing such a conventional catalyst, the present inventors investigated a possibility of two and three component type catalyst and multi (more than three) component type catalysts which are constructed by adding non-ferromagnetic metals to the ferromagnetic metal such as Fe, Co, or Ni. As a result, the inventors reached to the invention which was published in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2002-192204. This invention disclosed a 3-component type catalyst comprising indium, tin and iron.
In more concrete terms, the 3-component type catalyst is formed by vacuum-evaporating an iron thin film on the surface of an ITO substrate which is a thin film being mixture of indium-oxide and tin-oxide. ITO is an abbreviation of Indium-Tin-Oxide. The ITO substrate is widely used as a raw material of semi-transparent electrodes in the field of semiconductor. It was found in a study that, when hydrocarbon gas is pyrolyzed in a reaction apparatus, a large amount of carbon nanocoils grow on the surface of the 3-component type catalyst.
The study shows that there is a possibility of synthesis of a large amount of carbon substances such as carbon nanotubes or carbon nanocoils by using adequate catalysts. There, however, might still exist unknown catalysts. Therefore, it would be very significant to consider again the construction of catalysts.

Catalysts for manufacturing carbon substances


An instrument for use in cartilage removal comprises an elongate body having a first end and a longitudinal axis having a longitudinal direction. A cartilage removal portion is coupled to the elongate body at the first end. The cartilage removal portion includes a plurality of serrated blades substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and adapted for removing material while moving in the longitudinal direction. Each serrated blade has a centroid located along the longitudinal axis.

In a bone fusion procedure, a surgeon removes cartilage from a joint between two adjacent bones and then attaches an implant to both of the two adjacent bones. Proper cartilage removal allows subsequent bone growth between the two adjacent bones to take place. Cartilage removal may be one of the most time-consuming and painstaking steps of a fusion procedure. Cartilage removal has been performed using curettes, rongeurs, or a shaver in an arthroscopic system.


Methods and apparatus for facilitating motion estimation in video processing are provided. Preferably, coordinates of a search area within a video frame are determined for each of a plurality of macroblocks (MBs) of a reference frame based upon a predicted location derived from the coordinates of the MB within the reference frame and motion estimation information. The video frame can be segmented into tiles and associated overlapping tile defined for at least some tiles. Search data is defined for each tile as pel data for each pixel within that tile and any associated tile. Macroblock searches are preferably conducted on a tile assignment basis with tile search assignments distributed among a plurality of processing elements. Each processing element preferably has a local memory it uses for the search data when performing a tile search assignment.

The processing of video data is generally well known in the art. Generally, data for video is defined by a series of frame images of an X by Y pixel resolution. For facilitating efficient processing, pixel (pel) data for each frame is customarily handled in macroblock (MB) groups. Typical MB sizes include 4×16, 8×8 and 16×16 row by column blocks of pel data. Usually each dimension is preferably some power of two when employing binary digital processing.
For various types of video processing, such as video encoding, frame rate conversion, super-resolution, etc., it is desirable to perform motion estimation by finding where MBs of image data (or altered versions thereof) that appear in a reference frame are located in a subsequent frame. Conventionally, the image data of a MB located at a particular coordinate location in a reference frame is searched for in a subsequent frame within a search block that surrounds the MB reference block location. For example, FIG. 1a illustrates MB 10a at a particular location within a reference and FIG. 1b illustrates a corresponding search area 12a in a subsequent frame for the MB 10a.
MB searches within search areas are typically performed using a pixel based comparison, such as using an accumulation of the sum of the absolute value of differences calculation comparison of the pel values of the MB 10a to corresponding pel values with respect to each MB-sized area within the search area 12a. To conduct a search, the pel data for the entire search area must be available. Where it is desirable to search for all of the MBs of a reference frame in a subsequent frame, such processing is highly calculation intensive and becomes more calculation intensive and time sensitive as resolution sizes and frame speeds increase.
A given search for a MB within a search area will not always obtain a positive result since the MB of the reference frame (or altered version thereof) may simply not be present in a subsequent frame. Quite often, however, the same or an altered version of the same MB will appear in a subsequent frame so that when that image (or altered version) is found in a subsequent frame, a motion vector can be defined for the MB based on the MB location in the reference frame and the MB location in the search frame. Where a motion vector for the MB was previously determined, the prior motion vector can also be used in the determination of an updated motion vector.
Where a reference frame MB (or altered version thereof) is located in the search frame and a motion vector can be determined, that information is useful in facilitating the efficient processing of the video data as a whole. However, there can be instances where the image of a MB is moving at such a high speed that it in fact appears in the search frame being searched outside of the corresponding search area and accordingly is not detected. In such cases, the opportunity for determining a motion vector for that MB of the frame image, and using it to facilitate efficient processing, is lost.
The size of the search area is typically selected to be a number of pixels larger in both height and width than the MB. Although it is possible to search an entire search frame for the MBs of the reference frame, the time needed to perform such searches is prohibitive. Generally, a smaller search window requires less time to perform a search, but has a greater chance of missing detection of a MB that actually appears in the searched frame, but beyond the boundaries of the search area.
The following provides an example of a search area size and relative location. If MB 10a represents pel data for a 4×16 block of pixels, the search area 12a may be selected as 12×24, i.e., 8 pixels greater in both height and width. For convenience, the pixel location of an upper left corner of a MB or search area can be used to define its location within a frame. Where the upper left pixel of MB 10a is located at coordinates Xi, Xj, of the reference frame, the upper left pixel coordinate of the search area 12a in the search frame for MB 10a can be located at coordinates Xi-4, Yj-4 to provide a surrounding four pixel search area about the relative location of the MB 10a in the reference frame.
Similarly, MBs 10b and 10c that are adjacent to MB 10a in the reference frame depicted in FIG. 1a, have corresponding search areas 12b, 12c in the subsequent frame. Since the MBs 10a, 10b, 10c are adjacent, there is a substantial overlap with the corresponding search areas 12a, 12b, 12c.
One context where motion estimation is typically used is video encoding. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a conventional video encoder that receives data for video frames as input and outputs an encoded bit stream of encoded video data. One common method for encoding graphics/video involves encoding using discrete-cosine transform (DCT) processing so the encoded video content is translated into DCT coefficients. To playback/decode such encoded video, the use of inverse discrete-cosine transform (iDCT) processing is one of the required steps.
For MPEG-2 video encoding, for example, the video is defined in frames of pixels represent by YUV values. DCT processing is then performed with respect to blocks of YUV pixel data to result in blocks of DCT coefficients that are quantized and entropy coded using a variable-length code (VLC) that results in much of the video data of an MPEG-2 encoded bit stream that generally also includes motion vector and audio data. To decode the video of such an MPEG-2 bit stream, the processes with respect to the VLC encoded data must be reversed, but some loss of data quality is sacrificed because the encoding quantization process is not fully reversible (i.e., MPEG-2 represents a lossy coding scheme).
Referring to the FIG. 2 example, the input video data generally includes YUV values for each pixel of each frame of a video. Macroblocks of pixel data are processed along a primary encoding path by transform component T that performs DCT processing to produce blocks of DCT coefficients that are then processed by a quantization component Q. The quantized blocks of DCT coefficients are then processed by an entropy encoder to produce the bit stream output.
To include motion vector data, additional components are provided. In particular, a motion estimation/compensation component is provided which executes a comparative search to find a new relative location of MBs of a reference frame in a subsequent video frame. The reference frame is typically generated from quantized blocks of DCT coefficients of a previously processed video frame by processing them through an inverse quantization component Q−1 and an inverse transform component T−1 to generate MBs of pixel data of a given reference frame.
Graphics processing units (GPUs) have been developed to assist in the expedient processing of video data. GPUs have been developed with expanded processing functionality through configurations that utilize single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) processing engines that include local data storage (LDS) memory and processing components known as shaders. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates a prior art GPU, namely the ATI Radeon HD 5800 series GPU. The Radeon HD 5800 series GPU has approximately 2.72 TeraFLOPS of processing power. This exemplary GPU features 20 SIMD engines, each with LDS memory and 16 processors (shaders), i.e., 320 shaders. The Radeon HD 5800 series GPU also sports 80 texture units, 4 per SIMD engine, and a Graphics Double Data Rate (GDDR) memory interface that offers approximately 150+GB/sec of peak bandwidth.

Apparatus and method for video processing


A stable processing of a waste gas containing halogen-containing materials is rendered possible without fear of increase of the pressure loss or clogging of a louver unit near the waste gas inlet in a second moving bed due to accumulation of the halogen components. This can be accomplished by a process for the desulfurization and denitrification of a waste gas containing halogen-containing materials in addition to SO.sub.x and NO.sub.x comprising using a gas-processing apparatus consisting of a first moving bed and a second moving bed in which a carbonaceous adsorbent is moved from the upper part to the lower part, firstly feeding the waste gas to the first moving bed and passing it transversely through a carbonaceous adsorbent where desulfurization is mainly carried out, then adding ammonia to the waste gas having passed through the first moving bed, feeding it to the second moving bed and passing it transversely through the carbonaceous adsorbent where denitrification is mainly carried out, while feeding the carbonaceous adsorbent firstly to the second moving bed where the carbonaceous adsorbent is subjected to denitrification, then feeding the carbonaceous adsorbent to the first moving bed where the carbonaceous adsorbent is subjected to adsorption of sulfur oxides and then subjecting to regeneration, characterized in that a gas permeable partition plate is provided in parallel with the flow of the carbonaceous adsorbent in the second moving bed to divide the bed of the adsorbent into a bed at the inlet side of the waste gas and another bed at the outlet side, the carbonaceous adsorbent having moved downward in the bed at the outlet side of the waste gas is fed to the first moving bed as it is, and the carbonaceous adsorbent having moved downward in the bed at the inlet side of the waste gas, and adsorbed ammonium halides, is taken out of the system and subjected to regeneration.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved process for desulfurization and denitrification of a waste gas containing sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and halogen-containing materials such as hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, etc., more specifically a waste gas from combustion of coal, containing relatively large amounts of halogens, for example, about several ppm to 200 ppm of halogen components.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various methods have been developed and examined as to the desulfurization and denitrification technique of various combustion waste gas. Above all, it is expected that the desulfurization and denitrification method by dry process using a carbonaceous adsorbent will be increasingly used because of many advantages in that there is no problem of disposal of waste water and the process can be carried out with a reduced installation area.
The desulfurization and denitrification technique using a carbonaceous adsorbent consists of a method comprising passing a waste gas transversely through a reactor of a moving bed type wherein a carbonaceous adsorbent is vertically moved from the upper part to the lower part, whereby sulfur oxides are adsorbed and removed and nitrogen oxides are decomposed and removed by the aid of ammonia. In this method, when the concentration of sulfur oxides in a waste gas to be processed is low, the desulfurization and denitrification can simultaneously be accomplished in one reactor, but when the concentration of sulfur oxides is high, it is required to use a gas processing apparatus comprising a reactor consisting of a first moving bed and second moving bed, connected in series, in which a carbonaceous adsorbent is moved from the upper part to the lower part, and to effect mainly desulfurization by firstly feeding a waste gas to the first moving bed and passing the waste gas transversely through the carbonaceous adsorbent layer, and then mainly denitrification by adding ammonia to the waste gas passed through the first moving bed, feeding to the second moving bed and passing the waste gas transversely through the carbonaceous adsorbent layer. In this case, the carbonaceous adsorbent is firstly fed to the second moving bed, subjected to denitrification reaction, then fed to the first moving bed to adsorb sulfur oxides and the carbonaceous adsorbent whose activity is lowered by the adsorption of sulfur oxides in the form of sulfuric acid or ammonium salt is discharged from the reactor, followed by subjecting to regeneration and reusing.
In such a desulfurization and denitrification method by dry process, even if halogen-containing materials such as hydrogen chloride are contained in a waste gas to be processed, these materials can be adsorbed and removed together with sulfur oxides when the adsorption capacity of the carbonaceous adsorbent is sufficient. However, these halogen-containing materials are more difficult to be adsorbed on a carbonaceous adsorbent as compared with sulfur oxides and accordingly, when the concentration of sulfur oxides is high and the adsorption capacity of the carbonaceous adsorbent is not sufficient, or when a processing operation is carried out under such a condition that movement of the carbonaceous adsorbent is controlled to adsorb sulfur oxides up to near the saturation adsorption quantity, the halogen-containing materials are hardly adsorbed and are passed through the first moving bed, followed by reacting with ammonia gas added between the first moving bed and the second moving bed to form ammonium halides, entering the second moving bed with the waste gas and adsorbing on the carbonaceous adsorbent in the second moving bed. The carbonaceous adsorbent, on which ammonium halides have been adsorbed, is moved downward in the moving bed and fed to the first moving bed. When the ammonium halide-adsorbing carbonaceous adsorbent is contacted with a waste gas containing a large amount of sulfur oxides in the first moving bed, the sulfur oxides and ammonium halides are reacted to form ammonium sulfate and ammonium sulfite and to again generate hydrogen halide gases. That is, the halogen-containing materials contained in the waste gas are cycled and gradually accumulated between the first moving bed and the second moving bed. When the concentration of halogens is increased in the gas fed from the first moving bed to the second moving bed, the amount of ammonium halides formed by addition of ammonia gas is increased and the ammonium halides are adsorbed in large amounts on the carbonaceous adsorbent in the second moving bed, in particular, on the carbonaceous adsorbent at the gas inlet side, causing problems of increase of the pressure loss and clogging of an inlet louver.

Process for the desulfurization and denitrification of a waste gas containing halogen-containing materials


A submersible pump drop pipe and casing assembly and method of manufacture is disclosed. The drop pipe/casing has a seated connector and base. The seated connector has a first and second cylinder section, the first cylinder section being used to align and direct the base into the seated connector and to provide lateral strength to the pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
Applicant's invention relates to a submersible pump drop pipe and casing assembly connection and method of manufacture for use in water well and related systems.
2. Background Information
In water well systems, a casing is inserted into the well to maintain the structure of the well. Within the well is placed a submersible pump to which is attached a drop pipe which carries the water from within the well to the surface. It is important in this system that the drop pipe not leak. Therefore, in modern practice pipes are joined together with couplings and sealed with large amounts of either cement or "pipe dope" to prevent leaking. The positioning of the couplings can take a great deal of effort to do properly. In addition, pipe "dope" and cement have long curing times which makes what should be a relatively short job incredibly time consuming. Unfortunately, with current practices and materials, well drillers do not have the ability to run the pipes into the well by simply and rapidly screwing one pipe into another.
Surprisingly, the present invention allows the driller to run one pipe into the well, align and screw in the next pipe, and continue until complete. No couplings are necessary. The pipes of the present invention do not require the use of large amounts of cements or pipe "dope" to obtain the water tight seal, only small amounts of threading compound need be used to ensure there is no accidental disconnection of the pipes in the future and to allow for the pipes to be easily disconnected in the future should the occasion arise. In addition, the driller does not spend time cleaning the pipe and threads of excess compound if maintenance must be made of the well pipes.
Of interest is that maintenance of well pipes can often create more problems than may have existed simply due to the design of current pipes. Existing pipe designs lack a significant degree of lateral strength such that if a section of pipe must be unscrewed and removed, the force needed to overcome the strength of the bonding agent can sheer the pipe and strip the threads. It is noteworthy; however, that the invention of the present application has a high degree of lateral strength. It was found that it takes 5,000 pounds of pull on a 2 inch pipe to break the pipe. In addition, it was found that laterally pushing on the pipe, a force of 1,000 pounds has to be exerted before the pipe will start leaking.
More specifically, the present invention utilizes two pipes for either the drop pipe or casing. When the two pipes are connected together a specially configured first cylinder section on the first pipe is used to align and direct the male threaded end of the second pipe into the first pipe to the second cylinder section which is also threaded. The two pipes are then screwed together. The water tight seal is formed by screwing the two ends of pipe together. In addition, because the first cylinder section extends out for approximately one inch, any lateral forces on the connection are exerted against the first cylinder section instead of on the second cylinder section, which is threaded. This gives lateral strength to the pipe.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Submersible pump drop pipe and casing assembly connection and method of manufacture


A vehicle seat adjuster having a single rail and an integral recliner mechanism on each side of the seat. The rails are secured to the floor by generally conventional floor supports. The recliner mechanisms each include rollers positioned both above and below the corresponding rail. Forward and rearward adjustment of the seat is obtained by moving the recliner mechanisms along the rails. In addition, each integral recliner mechanism includes upper arms that form the upright portions of the seat back frame. A seat back, preferably a molded seat back, is attached directly to the upper arms of the integral recliner mechanism.

The present invention relates to vehicle seats, and more particularly to adjusters for vehicle seats.
A conventional vehicle seat, and particularly a front vehicle seat, typically includes a seat frame and a seat adjuster. The seat adjuster typically includes a rail mechanism that is mounted to the floor of the vehicle and to the seat frame. The rail mechanism includes a separate rail assembly positioned on each side of the seat. Each rail assembly includes a first rail that is attached to the floor pan and a second rail that is attached to the seat frame. The rails are slidably interconnected to permit selective forward and rearward movement of the seat frame. Many conventional seat adjusters also include height adjustment mechanisms which allow the height of the seat to be adjusted. Often, the seat adjuster will include independent front and rear height adjustment mechanisms to permit adjustment of the angle of the seat.
The seat frame generally includes a cushion frame and a back frame that are separately mounted to the seat adjuster. The front and rear of the cushion frame are typically mounted to the front and rear height adjustment mechanisms while the back frame is typically secured to the second rail by a recliner mechanism. The recliner mechanism includes a first arm attached to the second rail and second arm attached to the back frame. The two arms of the recliner mechanism are pivotally interconnected to permit selective adjustment of the angle between the back frame and the seat adjuster.
There is an increasing trend in the automotive industry toward "integral restraint" or "all belts to seat" designs. In these designs, the seat belts are secured to the seat assembly rather than to the vehicle floor pan, body pillar or other structural member. These constructions facilitate assembly of the vehicle. However, because they are required to withstand the forces transmit through the seat belt, these designs require more strength than conventional designs. There is a current need for a relatively inexpensive, high strength seat adjuster that meets the strength requirements of an "all belts to seat" design.
Currently, the various components of a vehicle seat, such as the seat adjuster, the recliner mechanism, and the seat frame, are separately manufactured-usually by different suppliers. The seat components are often collected and assembled by one or more additional suppliers. The relatively large number of suppliers involved in the manufacture and assembly of a vehicle seat increases the costs of manufacturing and assembling the seat. Further, the multiplicity of connections between the various components raise quality control issues.


A position indicator is provided. The position indicator includes an external case, and a core having an indicating unit projecting outside of the case. The core is movably supported by the case. The core has a central axis extending along a lengthwise direction thereof. A guiding unit includes an inclined plane provided on one of the case and the core. An engaging unit is provided on the other one of the case and the core. The engaging unit is slidably engaged with the inclined plane such that the guiding unit guides movement of the core when external force is applied to the indicating unit of the core in a lateral direction with respect to the central axis of the core. A pressure detector is operably associated with the core for detecting pressure applied to the indicating unit based on the movement of the core with respect to the case via the guiding unit.

In recent years, personal computers have increasingly utilized coordinate input devices. A coordinate input device is typically configured to include a pen-shaped position indicator and a position detector. The position detector has an input plane via which a user can operate the position indicator to input characters or drawings by moving the position indicator along the input plane or pointing to specific locations on the coordinate input device. The position indicator includes a detecting unit for detecting pen-pressure against the input plane of the position detector when the user operates the position indicator on the coordinate input device.
An example of a conventional position indicator is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. H04-96212. This document describes a position indicator having a variable capacitor with a capacitance value which varies with respect to the pressure applied to the position indicator. More specifically, the above-identified document discloses a variable capacitor including a dielectric, a first electrode attached on one surface of the dielectric, a second flexible electrode placed on the other surface of the dielectric, a spacing unit providing a space between the second electrode and the other surface of the dielectric, and a pressure or displacement applying unit applying a relative pressure or displacement between the second electrode and the dielectric. According to this document a position indicator includes a tuning circuit having the variable capacitor as part of a circuit element. The position indicator having the configuration disclosed in the publication continuously changes a tuning frequency of the tuning circuit according to the capacitance of the variable capacitor and transmits information on ON or OFF status of a switch to a tablet with subsequent operational information.
Another example of a position indicator is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. H08-227336. The position indicator described in this document is a stylus pen capable of detecting pen-pressure, that is, a stylus pen having a pressure sensitive mechanism. The stylus pen includes a pen casing with an approximately cylindrical shape, a resonant circuit, and a pressure sensitive mechanism sensing the pen-pressure using a change in inductance generated by causing a relative displacement between a first magnetic body and a second magnetic body having a coil wound thereabout. The stylus pen further includes a pressing member having a contact unit receiving the pen-pressure and a rear end plane located approximately opposite to the contact unit. The rear end plane of the pressing member forms the first magnetic body. A second magnetic body has the coil wound thereabout such that a front end plane thereof is located a predetermined distance from the rear end plane of the pressing member. An elastic material member is arranged between the rear end plane of the pressing member and the front end plane of the second magnetic body. A first supporting unit is provided so as to hold the position of the second magnetic body against the pen-pressure applied via the pressing member and the elastic material member. A second supporting unit supports the pressing member in a non-parallel state when the rear end plane of the first magnetic body and the front end plane of the second magnetic body are not in parallel. The pen-pressure is detected by causing the first magnetic body to approach the second magnetic body to obtain a change in inductance of the coil wound around the second magnetic body. Subsequently, when the stylus pen is inclined against a position detecting plane, the pen-pressure is applied to the pressing member having the first magnetic body, the pressing member is inclined by the second supporting member, thereby causing one side of the first magnetic body to approach the second magnetic body. In this case, the pressing member is pushed so that at least the other surface of the first magnetic body is not separated from the second magnetic body. However, if the pen-pressure is applied to the pressing member in the lateral direction, the pressing member is not sufficiently pushed, and thus the pen-pressure cannot be detected accurately.
In general, writing tools such as pencils or brushes are used for calligraphy by inclining the writing tools and writing with the side surface of lead or brush. Specifically, the user writes with a pen or a brush in this manner to control the pressure applied thereto to express a subtle change in the thickness or density distribution of written lines. In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for a coordinate input device to simulate the aforementioned writing manner.
A position indicator disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H04-96212 includes a pressing unit that presses a variable capacitor, which only moves in an axial direction thereof. Consequently, when the user operates the position indicator in an inclined manner with respect to an input plane of a tablet, pen-pressure may not be detected by the tablet. When the position indicator is allowed to contact the input plane of the tablet at right angles, the pen-pressure is applied in the axial direction of the pressing unit of the position indicator, and hence the pen-pressure can be accurately detected based on the displacement of the pressing unit. However, when the position indicator is inclined against the input plane of the tablet, and the pen-pressure is applied in the lateral direction of the pressing unit of the position indicator, the pressing unit of the position indicator is not moved in the axial direction. As a result, pen-pressure may not be detected.

Position indicator and coordinate input device


A mechanism for opening and closing a portfolio blowing or stretching-blowing mold used to manufacture plastic containers. A stationary pin (4) supports two rotating half-molds (3), and two curved control arms (9) are joined at their one ends to the two half-molds on either side of the pin (4). A cam device includes a loose follower roller (16) on a support shaft (16a) parallel to the pin (4), and a guide cam (17) moves the roller perpendicular to (toward and away from) the pin (4). The connection between the roller and the other end of the two arms (9) includes a pair of normally parallel connection rods (13, 14) whose one ends individually support the shaft (16a) and a shaft (10) connecting the other ends of the arms (9), and whose other ends are mounted on a shaft (15) parallel to the shaft (4), the connection rods being oriented transverse to a mold joint plane (M) containing the pin (4) and the shaft (10). The connection rods are coupled by a ball and detent arrangement, which releases in the event of an excessive load.

This invention concerns improvements made to opening and closing devices for wallet or portfolio-type blowing or stretching-blowing molds that can be used, in particular, for the manufacture of plastic containers such as bottles, flasks, etc., the mold comprising two half-molds pressed against each other in the closed position of the mold.
The invention is applicable to molding configurations in which the half-molds are mounted directly so as to rotate on a common swivel pin, and to molding configurations more frequently used because of their ease of use, in which the half-molds are detachably joined to respective supports, which are in turn mounted so as to rotate on the common swivel pin. To simplify the explanations provided, use will be made hereinafter only of the term "half-mold" it being understood that the half-mold alone or the half-mold and its base will be meant, depending on the configuration in which the invention will be embodied.
In molding equipment such as that designed for the manufacture of plastic containers, of the type incorporating, for example, several associated molds on a revolving plate or turret, the various movements required for the operation of the molds are controlled by cam and motion transmission mechanisms. This is especially true as regards the control of the opening and closing of the molds.
Numerous mold opening and closing devices are known, in particular that described in commonly assigned French Patent No. 2,653,058, which, by virtue of its operating principle, proves entirely satisfactory.

Opening and closing mechanism for portfolio blowing and blowing-stretching mold


A treadmill includes a base including two rest zones and a running zone arranged between the two rest zones; a running track disposed in the running zone of the base enabling a user to exercise thereon; and a detection module. The detection module includes a light emitter emitting light to cover the two rest zones and the running zone, and at least one light sensor detecting a position and a speed of the user according to a reflected light from the user.

Fitness has become an important issue for people all around the world, motivating more and more people to form the habit of exercising. The treadmill is one of the most common exercise machines at present. A treadmill of the related art provides functionalities such as speed adjustment, a timer, and various exercise modes so that users can adjust their exercise routine on the treadmill as needed.
In the prior art, when a user wishes to adjust the speed of the running track, manual operation of the control panel on the treadmill is required. However, since the user's physical strength will gradually decrease as the exercise continues, accidents may happen when the user tries but fails to reach the control panel from the farther end of the treadmill belt due to fatigue.
Furthermore, everyone has their own natural way of running. For example, some treadmill users habitually run towards a lateral side of the treadmill belt, which applies uneven pressure to the treadmill and hence is likely to shorten the lifespan of the treadmill after long-term use.
Therefore, one of the primary objectives in the art is to overcome the afore-mentioned shortcomings and provide a durable and safe treadmill.

Treadmill, control method and detection module for the same


A system reduces artifacts introduced by patient or table motion during generation of a composite image visualizing contrast agent flow. A system for generation of a composite medical image of vessel structure, includes an imaging device for acquiring multiple sequential images of vessel structure of a portion of patient anatomy in the presence of a contrast agent. An imaging processor aligns individual images of the multiple sequential images with a single particular mask image containing background detail of the portion of patient anatomy in the absence of contrast agent. The imaging processor forms data representing multiple digitally subtracted images by subtracting data representing the single particular mask image from aligned individual images of the multiple sequential images. The imaging processor associates different individual images of the multiple digitally subtracted images with different corresponding visual attributes and combines data representing the digitally subtracted images to form a composite image. A reproduction device presents the composite image to a user.

In order to study contrast agent flow, which is representative of blood flow, through vessels in an angiography image sequence, it is useful to generate a static representation of flow using a color spectrum to represent the time at which contrast agent reached a certain state within vessels (e.g., first entered, reached a peak, no longer seen). For angiography, a typical color spectrum uses red to represent early blood flow and blue to represent late blood flow. In order to generate optimum results, individual images in an image sequence need to be in substantially perfect registration with a mask image frame showing background image detail. An image comprising a static representation of flow is generated as a composite representation of images acquired over a particular time period. Therefore, image related motion that occurs due to, slight patient movement or slight X-ray table motion, for example, causes undesired mis-registration artifacts to appear in a resulting blood flow representative composite image. A system according to invention principles addresses the identified deficiencies and associated problems.

System for generation of a composite medical image of vessel structure


The power transmission system of an engine is mounted on the all-terrain vehicle and has a crankshaft driven by the engine and the crankshaft is arranged in a direction of width of a vehicle body. A sub-shaft is arranged parallel to the crankshaft and the rotation of the crankshaft is transmitted to the sub-shaft via gears. A primary shaft is concentrically mounted on the sub-shaft and is provided with a primary pulley having a variable groove width. A secondary pulley coupled to the primary pulley via a V-belt and having a variable groove width. The rotation of the crankshaft is transmitted to the primary shaft via the sub-shaft arranged parallel to the crankshaft.

A rough terrain vehicle or an all-terrain vehicle which is also called a buggy is a four-wheel off-road vehicle for one person and is used as a recreational vehicle for hunting and trail touring and is also used as a practical vehicle for agriculture. In such an all-terrain vehicle, an engine is mounted in a lateral direction in a vehicle body such that a crankshaft extends in a direction of vehicle width and a power transmission system for transmitting engine power to driving wheels is provided with a forward/backward switching mechanism, a belt type continuously variable transmission, a centrifugal clutch and the like (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 10-297294 and 2002-68070)
In a conventional all-terrain vehicle, an engine is mounted in a lateral direction in a vehicle body such that a crankshaft extends in a direction of vehicle width and on the front side of a rider's seat. Then, the crankshaft, a primary shaft of a continuously variable transmission to which the rotation of the crankshaft is transmitted, and a centrifugal clutch for transmitting the rotation of the crankshaft to the primary shaft at a time when the number of revolutions of the crankshaft is more than a predetermined number are concentrically mounted in the vehicle body. When the crankshaft, the primary shaft and the centrifugal clutch are concentrically arranged in this manner, a shaft length including the crankshaft and the primary shaft arranged concentrically with the crankshaft via the centrifugal clutch is elongated and hence the power transmission system for transmitting the engine power to driving wheels is elongated in size in a direction of width of the vehicle.
In the all-terrain vehicle, the power transmission system is arranged in the region from the front side of a seat toward a portion directly below the seat and a rider sits astride the seat to drive the vehicle. For this reason, when the power transmission system is elongated in size in a direction of width of the vehicle, the rider needs not only to drive the vehicle with his crotch widely opened when he drives the vehicle but also to open his crotch widely when he rides on and off the vehicle. Hence, the arrangement of the power transmission system of the conventional all-terrain vehicle raises a problem that the vehicle is hard to ride.


An improved method for encoding, error detection and restoration of corrupted database files comprises generating a unique record code in each record of a record file, and when a memo file is present, generating a unique memo code in each memo of the memo file for identifying the correlation of the memo to one particular record field and one uniquely identified record. Error detection is achieved by verifying locations of record codes in record files; memo codes in memo files; and the correlation between memo codes in memo file and the record codes in record file. Integrity of record file is restored by searching for record codes and rewriting the located records in correct file structure positions. Memo file integrity is restored by searching for memo codes and rewriting memos in correct file structure positions, and memo pointers are corrected by using the method's correlation between record codes and memo codes to locate correct memos in the memo file.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to methods for restoring data from damaged or corrupted computer files, specifically to a method for uniquely encoding database files, and using the encoding method to accomplish reliable error detection and restoration of the database files after they are corrupted.
2. Introduction
One of the primary uses for computers, whether for personal desktop computers or mainframe computers, concerns the processing of database information. A database is a collection of information arranged in an organized, easier-to-find manner. A typical database might include financial and accounting information, demographics and market survey data, bibliographic or archival data, personnel and organizational information, public governmental records, private business or customer data such as addresses and phone numbers, etc.
Database information is usually contained in computer files arranged in a pre-selected database format, and the data contents within them are maintained for convenient access on magnetic media, both for storage and for updating the file contents as needed.
A conventional computer database, of the dBase type, comprises a data record file having a plurality of fixed byte-length records; and an optional file, for storing larger variable byte-length data, commonly known as the memo file. Both types of files typically include a file header with file structure information, and a data region that contains the useful data. The record file header may contain file structural information such as byte-length of a record, position of the first record in a file, and number of records in a file. The memo file header typically contains the location of the next available memo position. Variation might exist, to include for example information within the header indicating other formatting details or other characteristics of the file contents. Corruption of header errors is not difficult to detect or repair. A more difficult task involves detecting errors and restoring the contents of data regions in either record or memo files, when such files become corrupted or damaged.
In a record file, the data region consists structurally of one or more equal length records positioned sequentially one after the other at fixed interval positions in the file structure. Each record is subdivided into one or more fields, with each field containing a single type of data such as binary, alphanumeric or other type of data. Each record has the same number of fields and same field types. One or more of the fields may also be memo fields storing memo pointers. Memo pointers are numerical values which indicate the positions of "memos", the variable byte-size data units in the memo file. Instead of individual byte-count memo size variations, sometimes memos are made up of larger sized entities called "memo blocks", each block of memo data having a suitably convenient predetermined byte size, e.g. 512 bytes. In older database memo files, such as Borland dBaseIII, memos were only constructed to store text information. However, newer memo files, such as Microsoft FoxPro memo files, can also store graphics, multimedia, or any other digital or binary-coded information. For purposes of this invention, no distinction is made between these different memo file data unit types, and they are simply referred to as memos.
A database file may be corrupted (damaged) for a number of reasons, including application program bugs, the crashing of the database application program, the crashing of the operating system, and the rebooting of the computer when the program is running, among other reasons. Corruption may occur in the header and/or the data region. Corruption in the data region may include offsets that separate adjacent valid records or memos by extraneous bytes; incorrect memo pointers that reference wrong memos; illegal memo pointers that reference non-existent memos; and cross-linked memo pointers that reference the same memo. Offsets disrupt the structural positions of records or memos, i.e., they cause the records or memos to be arranged at incorrect byte-count positions within their respective files.
The description of prior art and preferred embodiment focuses on dBase type databases having separate record and memo files. However, concepts discussed can be applied to database files having records, memos and other information combined in a single file, such as Microsoft Access and similar database files.
3. Description of Prior Art:
A variety of approaches have been suggested for users of computer database programs, as suitable means for ensuring data integrity and restoring corrupted database files. Such error detection and restoration methods found in the prior art can be classified into three categories.
The first category is a simple periodic backup, in which duplicates of the files are made on either the same storage device, such as a hard disk, or a separate storage device, such as a backup diskette, tape cassette or other removable media. Errors are detected in such a system only when the system fails or the errors are grossly apparent, while small cumulative errors in data may go undetected for extended periods of time. Furthermore, data entered or generated since the last backup cannot be recovered after database becomes corrupted. Also, many users fail to make periodic backups.
The second category provides automatic duplication of data or transaction loging on the same or another storage device. Examples of such and similar systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,280,611; 5,404,502; and 5,404,508. When data becomes corrupted the same or secondary device still has the uncorrupted data available. However, such real-time recovery systems are only adaptable to large system installations, requiring expensive hardware and software support often beyond the budget of individuals and small businesses.
The third category includes file repair utilities (FRU's) known to the prior art which can provide some amount of protection from file damage and corruption, but are nonetheless limited in many respects. A first type of FRU, such as "Norton Utilities FileFix" published by Symantec, has limited capability since it repairs only header damage. It cannot detect errors in the data region, and cannot effect necessary repairs to prevent file damage in the data region. Furthermore, it must be activated by a user, and requires the user to stop using the application program while the FRU is in operation. A second type of FRU, such as "dSalvage", distributed by Hallogram Publishing, can be used to repair both header and data region damage, but requires manual user intervention and considerable user skills in its operation and furthermore has limited error detection capability. A third type of FRU, such as "FoxFix", developed by XiTechnics Corporation, is substantially automatic, and requires no user interaction. It is fast and efficient, but it can detect and repair only very limited data region corruption problems. For example, it cannot reliably detect or repair offset record damage, nor resolve incorrect, illegal or cross-linked memo pointers.
Error detection methods incorporated in prior art FRU's have attempted to ensure file integrity of database files by one of three types of approaches, each of them having serious limitations: The first type of approach involves detection of record offset errors in the record file. There is no reliable way to scan through the record file and determine that each record is where it is supposed to be. An example method attempts to scan the first byte of each proper record position for the traditional delete flag which can contain either a space, `` character, or a `*` deleted flag character. Anything else indicates a record error. However, normal data in the rest of the record may contain `*` characters and spaces are frequent. Hence detecting those two characters in first byte is not an indication of correct record positions.
The second type of approach detects offset errors in the memo file. Both traditional dBase files and newer file variations lack unique characters to indicate the starting position of a memo in a memo file. One exception is FoxPro file memos, which use a 0001 (hex) and 0002 (hex) byte value sequence at the start of memos to distinguish text memos from graphical memo types. However, this is not a reliable means for locating memos, since 0 byte values are very common in memo files and can be followed by a random 1 or 2 byte value.
A third type is detection of memo pointer errors. The only two such errors that can be detected by prior art FRU's are illegal pointers, those which point beyond the end of the file, and, in some cases, invalid pointers, those which do not point to a memo start position or where plurality of pointers point to the same memo. The plurality of memo pointers pointing to same memo are sometimes referred to as cross-linked pointers. There is no prior art found in any FRU software providing a method to determine which of the cross-linked memo pointers is correct, nor a method how to correct the other memos. Furthermore, the available prior art cannot in fact determine that a pointer is correct. A pointer can be the only pointer to reference a valid memo position, yet it may reference an incorrect memo.
Reliable error detection is important not only in cases when data corruption become obvious to the program user, but also in cases when no errors are apparent. Business and government operations with accumulating undetected errors can have serious consequences.

Error detection and recovery of database files


In a high-temperature protective arrangement for an electronic device, which as such generates heat, the electronic device is enclosed by a heat protective enclosure provided with gaps for permitting heat removal by air convection. The heat protective enclosure is coated with a material which is subject to swelling under the action of heat to a multiple of the thickness of the original coating whereby a heat-insulating layer is formed and the gaps are closed. Electronic components of the electronic device are disposed within a housing. The heat generated by the electronic components is passed to the housing which is surrounded at a spacing substantially on all sides by the heat protective enclosure.

The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of a heat protective enclosure for an electronic device.
The present invention also relates to a new and improved construction of a heat protected electronic device.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a new and inventive construction of a heat protective enclosure as well as an electronic device protected by such enclosure against the action of high temperature such as produced on the exterior, for example, by a fire. In such arrangement, the electronic device is disposed within a housing which is surrounded by the heat protective enclosure.
Frequently there exists the necessity of maintaining full operability of the electronic device at least for a limited period of time even under the action of strong heat such as caused, for example, by an external fire. This is particularly true for critical security devices located in environments exposed to a fire hazard such as fuel storages or aircraft drive motors or engines. It is frequently impossible placing such electronic devices outside of the environment which is exposed to the fire hazard.
Protection from the action of strong heat possibly may be effected by heat insulation. For this purpose, insulating materials might be applied to an electronic device. The electronic device also might be disposed in an additional housing which is fire-protected.
A heat protected electronic device of the aforementioned type is known, for example, from British Published Patent Application No. 2,151,410A, published on Jul. 17, 1985, and is used in connection with the flight data memory unit of an aircraft. Therein, a mechanically resistant protective shell is provided with an internal liner made of a material which has a high melting point and low thermal conductivity. Printed circuit boards supporting solid-state memory devices are arranged within the liner and are preferably surrounded by a further shell. The high-temperature melting material of low thermal conductivity melts only at temperatures of about 1100.degree. C. and maintains the flight data memory unit at a temperature below or up to about 200.degree. C. for more than 4 hours even under the action of a fire.
This known heat protected electronic device permits heat insulation against the action of strong heat from the exterior. Many electronic devices, however, generate heat loss to an extent such that removal of the thus produced heat becomes indispensable. Preventing the heat removal by means of insulating material or a fire protective housing, will induce the risk of self-overheating of the electronic device. Moreover, a fire protective housing may be accompanied by an increase in space requirement and weight of the electronic device. This represents a serious disadvantage particularly in connection with the use thereof in an aircraft.
In order to remove the heat produced during normal operation of an electronic device, it is known, for example, from German Patent Publication No. 1,135,065, published on Aug. 23, 1962, to connect the chassis of the electronic device to a housing which is provided with air passage openings in the bottom wall and in the side walls. The cross-sectional area of the passage openings in the bottom wall is controlled by means of a bimetal-controlled plate. In this manner there is generated a cooling air flow through the housing in adaptation to the heat generated by the electronic device itself. Also, it is known from German Utility Model No. 7,505,337, published on Aug. 14, 1975, to provide supports, into which printed circuit boards are inserted, with aeration slots at their upper and lower surfaces.

Heat protective enclosure and heat protected electronic device


An antistatic resin composition and molded products therefrom are described, having good antistatic effect and mechanical strength regardless the type of the molding method. The composition includes a thermoplastic resin (A) and an antistatic agent (B), wherein a refractive index difference between (A) and (B) is not more than 0.02. The antistatic agent (B) includes at least one material selected from the group consisting of (B1) and (B2). (B1) is a polyetheresteramide derived from a polyamide having a Mn of 200-5000 and an alkyleneoxide adduct of bisphenol having a Mn of 300-5000. (B2) is a block polymer having a structure such that blocks of a polyolefin and blocks of a hydrophilic polymer having an volume resistivity of 105-1011 Ω·cm are bonded together alternately and repeatedly via at least one bonding mode selected from the group consisting of ester bonding, amide bonding, ether bonding, imide bonding and urethane bonding.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antistatic resin composition. More particularly, the present invention relates to an antistatic resin composition, and resin molded products molded from the antistatic resin composition that have permanent antistatic effect and good mechanical strength.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, one method to make a thermoplastic resin have permanent antistatic effect is to add polymer having a polyoxyalkylene chain into the resin. Such a method is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. Hei 03-255161, Hei 03-258850 or 2002-321314.
However, in any of the above methods, the molded product may sometimes have no antistatic property or low mechanical strength, depending on the type of the molding method used.