An aspirator receiver forms part of a blood aspiration system for injecting fluid into a patient and withdrawing undiluted blood. The aspirator receiver has a housing with a passage occluded by a septum and in communication with the blood flow channel through the aspirator system. An aspirator comprises a cannula having a blunt tip surrounded by a shroud, the cannula being in communication with a blood receiving receptacle. The aspirator is applied to the housing with the shroud centering the cannula about and for penetration through the septum of the housing whereby undiluted blood may be withdrawn from the flow channel into the receptacle. Upon removal of the aspirator, the septum occluding the end of a standard vacuum-filled container is penetrated by the cannula whereby blood from the receptacle may be transferred into the container. The housing and container septa are of like external configuration and dimension and the shroud is complementary in dimension to facilitate transfer of the blood from the aspirator system to the receptacle and finally to the container.

In the above-noted U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,855 by one of the co-inventors hereof, there is disclosed an aspiration system for supplying fluid to and withdrawing undiluted blood from tubing connected to the blood vessel of a patient, for example, by an in-dwelling catheter, without opening the tubing system to atmosphere. In that system, a proximal section of tubing is placed in communication with a source of fluid under pressure, for example, intravenous fluid. The proximal tubing section extends to a two-way valve, which in turn is connected to an intermediate tubing section. The intermediate tubing section is connected to an aspirator receiver, in turn connected to distal tubing coupled to the in-dwelling catheter. In one position of the valve, the intermediate tubing section is connected with a fluid reservoir and in the other position of the valve, the intermediate tubing section is coupled with the source of fluid under pressure. The aspirator receiver includes a housing having a flow channel and a passage in communication with the flow channel and occluded by a septum. The septum is formed of resilient material such that a needle may penetrate the septum to withdraw blood from the flow channel and, upon withdrawal of the needle, the septum is self-sealing.
In that system, the fluid reservoir has a volume sufficient such that, when the valve is opened to afford communication between the reservoir and the intermediate and distal tubing sections and is closed to the source of fluid under pressure, sufficient resident fluid in those tubing sections can be withdrawn into the reservoir so that the aspirator receiver is filled with undiluted blood from the in-dwelling catheter through the distal tubing into the aspirator receiver flow channel. When the reservoir is full, a needle forming part of a syringe, may be inserted through the septum of the aspirator receiver and into communication with the blood in the flow channel. The undiluted blood under pressure thus fills the syringe. Once a satisfactory sample has been obtained, the syringe needle may be withdrawn from the aspirator receiver septum which automatically reseals. Pressure is then applied to the fluid temporarily resident in the reservoir to return such fluid to the tubing sections without loss of blood other than that actually removed for testing. Indeed, measurements can be made without any loss of blood by interfacing the blood analysis section directly with blood analysis sensors or membranes.
In our prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,607, there are also disclosed certain improvements in the above-described system, including a blunt cannula or needle for use with a preperforated septum. As explained in that application, the use of a blunt cannula or needle prevents accidental needlesticks typically associated with inserting a needle through septa or, more generally, when using unprotected needles. The blunt needle is thus used in connection with a preperforated septum which is also self-sealing. The tip of the blunt needle enables the force required to pass the tip of the blunt needle into the septum to be considerably less than the force required to penetrate the surface of normal intact human skin of the hand or arms whereby accidental misdirection of the blunt needle tip against the skin will not result in penetration of the skin. Hence, the risk of needlestick while obtaining blood sample through the septum is virtually eliminated.
In our U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,400 an improvement with respect to the two systems previously described is disclosed which eliminates the problem of blood spurting from the cannula tip when the cannula is removed from the septum of the aspirator receiver. The syringe typically has a bubble of air trapped within its interior chamber. The elevated pressure within the flow channel when the cannula is inserted through the septum positively pressurizes the syringe during sampling, compressing that air bubble. Upon removal of the cannula, the opening at the tip of the cannula is exposed to the lower atmospheric pressure, thus causing the pressurized air bubble within the syringe to expand and the blood to undesirably spurt from the tip of the cannula.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,400 that blood spurting problem is cured by enabling depressurization of the air bubble within the syringe while the cannula tip is occluded from fluid communication with the pressurized blood vessel. Although other means to occlude such fluid communication are included in the teaching, the preferred embodiment discloses the use of the septum to occlude the cannula near its tip. Particularly, a shroud is provided about the blunt cannula which, in cooperation with the aspirator receiver housing, indicates when the tip of the cannula is occluded within the septum during withdrawal of the cannula from the septum. Such occlusion indicator preferably includes cooperating detents on the aspirator receiver housing and the shroud affording sensory perception of the occlusion. When those detents engage, the sensory, e.g., tactile indication afforded thereby, permits the nurse to temporarily stop withdrawing the cannula from the aspirator receiver housing and to retract the syringe piston. This induces a negative pressure in the syringe barrel, enabling expansion of the trapped air bubble within the syringe. Upon full withdrawal of the cannula, the atmospheric pressure is at least equal to or greater than the pressure within the syringe thus eliminating the blood spurting problem.
Notwithstanding these various improvements in blood aspiration assemblies, there remains a significant problem in transferring the blood sample from the aforementioned syringe to another container, for example, the standard adult vacuum-filled container. A container of this type typically comprises a cylindrical glass or plastic tube closed at one end. Its opposite open end is normally occluded by a septum, i.e., a rubber stopper. Typically, a practitioner would penetrate the septum of the aspirator receiver with the needle of a conventional syringe, withdraw the needle once an adequate volume of blood had been withdrawn into the syringe, and then attempt to direct the needle tip for penetration through the septum of the vacuum container. Obviously, using that procedure, there is substantial danger of accidental needlestick during insertion of the needle of the syringe into the septum of the aspirator receiver, its withdrawal from that septum, movement of the syringe to the vacuum container, and attempted penetration of the rubber septum of the container.
This problem has been recognized and a very complex solution to the problem has been offered. Particularly, a blood protection system has been developed which is illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11 hereof. That system includes a sampling syringe S (FIG. 6) having a shrouded cannula C. The shrouded cannula is applied to the septum of an aspirator receiver R of an aspiration system AS to withdraw a blood sample. The cannula C is then removed from the aspirator receiver housing. The cannula, however, is too blunt to penetrate the septum 146, usually formed of rubber or like material, of the vacuum-filled container 148 to effect direct transfer of the blood sample to the container. Moreover, the shroud about the cannula does not match the septum on the standard adult vacuum-filled container C (FIG. 11). This system thus employs an intermediate blood transfer unit BTU which includes a bore at one end occluded by a septum 150 penetrable by the shrouded blunt cannula C. At the opposite end, there is provided an elongated cylindrical chamber 152 open at one end for receiving the vacuum-filled container C, septum end first. The container is advanced within this chamber such that a needle 154 forming part of the blood transfer unit may penetrate the septum of the vacuum container 148. The needle 154 is in communication with the bore at the opposite end of the blood transfer unit. When the container 148 and sampling syringe S are connected to the blood transfer unit, blood is then transferred from the sampling syringe S through its blunt cannula C, and through the septum 150 and bore at one end of the blood transfer unit BTU and then through the needle 154 of the blood transfer unit through the septum of the vacuum container for reception within the container. Direct transfer of blood from the sampling syringe S to the container 148 in that system is not possible because the blunt cannula C is not sufficiently sharp to penetrate the septum 146 of the vacuum-filled container 148. Also, the shroud 156 of the sampling syringe is too small to accommodate the septum of the vacuum-filled container.
According to the present invention, there is provided apparatus and methods for transferring blood between the aspirator receiver of a blood aspiration system and a standard adult vacuum-filled container which minimizes problems associated with needlesticks and consequent transmittal of infectious diseases and the need for any intermediate blood transfer unit. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an aspirator having at one end a cannula extending within, but radially spaced from, a surrounding shroud. The tip of the cannula is blunt yet sufficiently sharp to penetrate the septum of a standard vacuum-filled container. Direct transfer of the blood sample from the aspirator to the vacuum container is accomplished by (i) forming the septum of the aspirator receiver housing (including any surrounding portion of the housing) substantially identical in shape and dimension to the septum of the standard adult vacuum-filled container; and (ii) forming the interior of the shroud complementary to both the septum of the aspirator receiver housing (including any surrounding portion of the housing) and the septum of the standard adult vacuum-filled container. Further, the shroud extends distally beyond the tip of the cannula. While thus recessed from the end of the shroud, the cannula is exposed to engagement by an individual's finger inserted within the open end of the shroud because the interior diameter required to receive an adult vacutainer is larger than the adult human finger. The tip of the cannula is therefore formed sufficiently blunt to prevent penetration of intact human skin on an individual's hands and arms even upon application of casual inadvertent force.
To facilitate the transfer of the blood sample from the aspiration system to the vacuum-filled container, the aspirator includes an interior chamber or receptacle in communication with the bore of the cannula for receiving blood from the flow channel of the aspirator receiver through the cannula. The interior chamber can include a plunger for displacing the blood sample into the vacuum-filled container when the aspirator and container are connected.
Preferably, the end of the aspirator receiver housing having the passage occluded by the septum is substantially identical in shape and dimension to the end of the vacuum-filled container including its septum. Particularly, the aspirator receiver housing and vacuum-filled container ends are preferably cylindrical, similar or identical in diameter and complementary in diameter to the internal diameter of the preferably cylindrically-shaped shroud surrounding the cannula. In this manner, the aspirator may be centered over the septum of the aspirator receiver housing by engagement of the shroud about the housing end or septum to enable substantial coaxial penetration of the septum, preferably through a perforation in the septum. Penetration may therefore proceed without danger of breaking the cannula by canting it relative to the housing. Upon receipt of the blood sample within its interior chamber, the aspirator may be withdrawn from the aspirator receiver housing, preferably using the aspirator occlusion indicator of the previously mentioned application, to avoid the problem of blood spurting from the cannula tip upon complete removal of the aspirator. Once removed, the aspirator may be similarly centered upon the stopper of the vacuum-filled container by engagement of the shroud about the stopper. The blunt cannula is sufficiently sharp to penetrate the stopper of the vacuum-filled container without preperforating the septum. The plunger of the aspirator may then be actuated to facilitate displacement of the blood sample from the aspirator directly into the container. Upon separation of the aspirator and container, the stopper of the vacuum-filled container automatically seals.
In a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided, in combination with a blood aspiration system connected to a pressure transducer and a discrete container, an apparatus for transferring a sample of blood from the aspiration system to the discrete container comprising an aspirator including an axially extending cannula having a distal tip, the cannula having a bore with first and second openings adjacent opposite ends of the bore and a shroud extending about the cannula in transversely spaced relation thereto, the shroud extending axially beyond the distal tip of the cannula, an aspiration receiver which forms part of the blood aspiration system and which includes a housing having a flow channel for communication with the human vasculature for flowing blood through the flow channel, the housing having a portion for receiving the cannula to locate the first opening of the cannula in communication with the flow channel. Blood receiving means are coupled to the aspirator in communication with the second opening for receiving blood. The discrete container has an opening at one end and a stopper occluding the opening, the external configurations of the one end of the container and the housing receiving portion, respectively, being complementary to the internal configuration of the shroud whereby, (i) upon application of the aspirator to the aspirator receiver, the shroud engages about the housing receiving portion and centers the cannula for penetration of the housing receiving portion to locate the first opening in communication with the flow channel and thereby to communicate blood from the flow channel through the bore into the blood receiving means, and, (ii) upon removal of the aspirator from the aspirator receiver and upon application of the aspirator to the container, the shroud engages about the container end and centers the cannula for penetration through the septum of the container to locate the first opening in communication with the container and thereby to communicate blood from the receiving means through the bore into the container.
In a further preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided apparatus for transferring a sample of blood from a flow channel in fluid communication with an aspirator receiver to a discrete container closed at one end by a stopper, the flow channel being adapted for communication with the lumen of a blood vessel of a patient and a passage of the aspirator receiver opening through an aspirator receiver portion having a predetermined outside diameter and which passage is occluded by a septum, comprising an aspirator including an axially extending cannula having a distal tip, a first opening adjacent the tip for receiving blood from the flow channel upon penetration of the septum by the cannula, a second opening and a bore through the cannula extending between the first and second openings, the cannula being adapted for connection to a receptacle for communicating blood received through the first opening into the bore and through the second opening into the receptacle and a generally cylindrical shroud extending about the cannula in radially spaced relation thereto and extending distally axially beyond the distal tip of the cannula, the internal diameter of the shroud being at least as great as about 17.5 mm for successively receiving the aspirator receiver portion and the ends of the container enabling transfer of blood directly from the aspirator receiver to the receptacle and from the receptacle directly through the cannula to the container.
In a further preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided a method of transferring a sample of blood from a flow channel in an aspirator receiver of an aspiration system to a discrete container having a septum closing one end thereof wherein the flow channel is adapted for communication with the lumen of a blood vessel of a patient and the aspirator receiver has a housing portion for receiving a cannula, comprising the steps of providing a flow of blood from the patient into the flow channel, positively centering the cannula of the aspirator relative to the housing receiving portion by engaging a shroud on the aspirator about the housing receiving portion, penetrating the housing receiving portion with the centered cannula to place the cannula in communication with the blood in the flow channel, flowing blood from the flow channel through the cannula for reception in a receptacle in communication with the cannula, removing the aspirator from the aspirator receiver, positively centering the cannula relative to the septum of the container by engaging the shroud of the aspirator about the end of the container, penetrating the septum of the container with the centered cannula to place the container in communication with the blood in the receptacle and flowing blood from the receptacle into the container.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide apparatus and methods for the direct transfer of a blood sample from a blood aspirator assembly to an adult vacuum-filled container without injury from needlesticks, in a manner achieving a centering of the cannula relative to the septa thereby avoiding breaking the cannula, and without the need for any intermediate blood transfer unit.
These and further objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification, appended claims and drawings.

Apparatus and methods for transferring blood between aspiration assembly and an external container


The device for satinizing and embossing flat materials comprises an embossing roll and at least one mating roll, said rolls being connected to a driving system and adapted to be driven individually or in common and to be resiliently pressed against one another while the individual teeth are flattened, and the embossing teeth being designed such as to produce in the corresponding locations of said flat material during its passage embossed marks whose appearance varies according to the viewing angle of the observer and/or the kind and/or the position of the lighting source, the embossing teeth which produce said variable marks having a different geometrical shape and/or surface than the satinizing teeth intended for satinizing. To this end, the surfaces of said embossing teeth and/or portions of the tooth space bottom are provided with microstructures. These microstructures allow producing largely forgery-proof marks which may furthermore provide a very decorative effect.

A device of this kind is known from WO 02/30661 to the applicant of the present invention. This reference discloses the use of teeth whose geometrical shape and/or surface deviates from which of the satinizing teeth in order to produce signs with optical effects depending on the viewing position and/or the light source, thereby allowing to produce security features which are very difficult to copy. While the disclosed geometrical deviations of the tooth shapes and height are all comprised in the macroscopic range of 30 to 100  (micrometers), no details are specified with regard to the surface design of the teeth and of the tooth space bottom.
WO 02/076716 to the same applicant discloses devices for the treatment of flat materials in which an embossing roll provided with individual teeth cooperates either with a second mating roll provided with the same toothing and with a mating roll having no individual teeth, or only with a roll having no individual teeth. This allows to achieve particularly precise embossing operations for the above-described effects.
The device for satinizing a foil described in EP-B-925 911 to the applicant of the present invention, which is based on the knowledge from earlier patents of the same applicant, comprises two rolls which are arranged in a mutually displaceable manner such that a self-stabilizing effect results when the teeth of the rolls interpenetrate, thereby providing a high processing speed, on one hand, and a high precision, on the other hand. First of all, this allows a uniform satinizing operation, and with a corresponding machining of the teeth, a highly precise embossing of foils.
EP-A2-0 194 042 discloses an embossed object on the substrate of which first and second optically non-diffractive relief elements defining first and second patterns are embossed, the patterns having a uniform reflectivity and their appearance varying with the viewing angle. The specification discloses line patterns only, and no satinizing is intended.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Device for satinizing and embossing flat materials


Apparatus and method for reducing the interference of digital cellular telephones with hearing aids. A digital cellular phone is provided with a second antenna that transmits a local, low-power signal which fills in the gaps in the transmitted switched information carrier. This prevents the hearing aid from demodulating the low frequency switched carrier components of the digital cellular phone. Alternatively, the main antenna can transmit on a garbage frequency between time slots, or the hearing aid can detect and cancel the interfering signal.

For years, hearing impaired persons have struggled to obtain equipment from telephone service providers that is compatible with standard hearing aid devices. A well known result of this effort is the "tele-coil", a magnetic field enhancing device in all public telephones in the United States that allows many hearing aid amplifiers to directly couple to the output of a standard telephone handset. Until recently, devices like the tele-coil provided good compatibility for the hearing impaired with the public telephone network.
Recently, however, it has become apparent that the current generation of digital cellular telephones, if not modified, will cause tremendous problems for the hearing impaired. Cellular telephones generally operate in the 0.8 to 2.0 GHz frequency region. Analog cellular telephones have not caused any interference with hearing aids. Existing digital cellular telephones, however, use a switched carrier that cycles on and off at a frequency of 50 Hz (USDC) or 217 Hz (GSM). The switched carrier is used because USDC and GSM phones use a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technique that allows 3 to 8 users to share the same frequency. The high frequency carrier has a relatively high energy when held next to a hearing aid users ear and is demodulated by the natural geometry of nearly every hearing aid on the market.
As described by Preves and by Arndt at the Hearing Aid Compatibility and Accessibility to Digital Wireless Telecommunications Summit Meeting held on Jan. 3, 1996, the internal wiring of the hearing aid acts as an antenna (or antennae) and the nonlinearity of the transistors in the amplifier stages (and in the FET preamplifier contained in the typical electret microphone) demodulates the "audio-band Morse code" modulation of the carrier. The harmonics of the 50 Hz or 217 Hz square wave modulation fall in the region of frequencies where the primary information in speech is carried, producing a masking noise. As demonstrated in a videotape prepared by the applicant and submitted to the conference, the result is often to make the cellular telephone unusable by the hearing-aid wearer.
At first, this problem was not widely noted, since digital service was not available in most areas and since all digital phones could be switched to analog, which has a continuous carrier that eliminates the audio interference. Hearing aid users who found themselves unable to communicate in the digital mode could simply switch to analog, which has a continuous carrier that eliminates the audio interference. Increasingly, however, analog service is being phased out in favor of digital service because of the larger number of users per allocated frequency that can be accommodated by digital service. Moreover, some of the newest digital phones use the European GSM version of TDMA, which does not permit analog (continuous carrier) operation but uses digital only operation where the carrier is switched at a rate of 217 times per second. Also, these new phones allow a higher level of emitted power.
At a BTE (Behind-the-ear) or ITE (full-size in-the-ear) hearing aid, the measured field strength generated by transmissions from a nearby hand-held cellular phone can be in the 3 V/m range when the hearing aid user is 1 meter away ("bystander" condition). When the cellular phone is to be used by the hearing aid wearer, however, the field strength seen by the hearing aid when the phone is brought to the ear can be in the 100-200 V/m range ("user" condition).
An informal estimate of the relative interference problems caused by the three digital phone schemes, GSM, TDMA, and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows a cartoon representation of the problem, likening the interference problem to that of driving over a road with spikes or speed bumps built in. Empirically, the worst interference is caused by the GSM system. In fact, the current driving force behind seeking a solution comes from the recent deployment of a pilot GSM system in the Washington, D.C. area.
It is possible to modify the design of such hearing aids so they become relatively immune to interference from 3 V/m "bystander" carrier strengths. Reports from engineers here and in Europe, however, indicate that it is impractical to reduce the sensitivity of many BTE and ITE hearing aid designs sufficiently to allow use of cellular phones. Many of these existing aids are intrinsically good designs from the audio and audiological standpoint, but use printed-circuit boards and hand wiring to the components and adjustment trimmers so that the minimum "antenna" size is still too large to allow adequate bypassing. Known shielding techniques, such as shielding the case with silver paint, may produce a 10-15 dB improvement. Also, it is known that bypassing each amplifier stage with a pi-filter may also provide incremental improvements. However, these approaches can only bring the effective immunity from perhaps 1-2 V/m to 10-20 V/m; still 20 dB shy of the needed immunity to the strong near field produced by digital wireless telephones held adjacent to the ear.
It is noted that In-the-Canal and Completely-in-the-Canal (CIC) aids presently in production are often completely immune to the 100-200 V/m field strengths generated by cellular telephones at the ear without special further effort. This comes about because of a combination of the shielding provided by the ear canal and the fact that their tiny size dictates use of integrated-circuit and hybrid designs where the wiring is necessarily so short that very little antenna length can exist. It is the approximately 1.5 million users of BTE hearing aids that is of primary concern of this invention, since many of these users have a hearing loss so severe that they must use BTE aids to obtain sufficient power and gain (requiring larger receivers than can fit in the canal) without feedback. Many of these users cannot hear the telephone output directly and must use their aids with the telephone.
Thus, there appears to be a need to bridge the 20-26 dB gap between the fully modulated 100-200 V/m strength of the present TDMA and GSM carriers and the perhaps 10 V/m immunity level that may be practical in BTE designs. In Europe, new hearing aids must only be immune to a 3 V/m field, enough immunity to prevent a nearby phone from interfering with a BTE hearing aid but not nearly enough immunity to allow the wearer of a BTE hearing aid to use a GSM or a United States TDMA phone.
The applicant has demonstrated empirically that CDMA does not present a significant interference problem under some conditions. However, the widespread deployment of CDMA cellular is still years away and a large installed base of TDMA cellular equipment is expected to exist for many years to come. There is a need, therefore, to make the existing cellular infrastructure compatible and accessible to the wearers of the millions of hearing aids currently in the field.

Method and apparatus for reducing audio interference from cellular telephone transmissions

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An electronic commerce system provides various features for assisting customers in locating items and generating orders from a merchant's electronic catalog, and for assisting customers and merchants in communicating about such orders. A user-definable categories feature allows customers and/or merchants to define search queries for searching the electronic catalog, and to store these search queries under user-defined category names for subsequent use. An “active quote” feature allows the customer to view and modify quantities of items selected for prospective purchase throughout various catalog browsing or viewing modes. A message audit trail feature allows a customer and a merchant to send messages to one another that are linked to a particular order, and to view an order-specific log of such messages.

In the field of Internet commerce, there are two major classifications of transactions. The first classification is business-to-consumer commerce, which typically involves a business selling its products or services to consumers over the Internet or other computer network. The other classification of electronic commerce is business-to-business commerce, which involves transactions between businesses.
Business-to-business electronic commerce transactions typically differ from business-to-consumer transactions in several significant respects. For example, in business-to-business transactions involving the sale of goods, it is common for a buyer to place orders periodically (e.g., once per month) for the same or a similar set of goods. In addition, each such order typically encompasses many different items, and relatively large quantities of such items. Further, in the course of a business-to-business transaction, it is common for the buyer and the seller to communicate with each other about the transaction.
It would be desirable to provide an electronic commerce system which accommodates these and other characteristics of business-to-business commerce.

Method and system for facilitating browsing of an electronic catalog of items


Offshore terminal apparatus which in various examples comprises a floating storage vessel which is spread-moored in fixed heading orientation to a seabed offshore by spread mooring lines, the floating storage vessel comprising a hull having bow and stern ends and which at either or both the bow end and the stern end is fitted with an extension section and includes coupling means on the extension section to couple spread mooring lines to the floating storage vessel.

Floating storage vessels may be employed for storing fluid products in large quantities at offshore locations. The floating storage vessel can be permanently moored at an offshore location and visited from time to time by a cargo vessel for loading or offloading. Examples of floating storage vessels of this kind includes those termed in the art as a floating storage unit (FSU), a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), and/or the like.
FSUs today are typically converted previously-in-service tanker vessels. Conversion of an existing previously-in-service tanker to a floating storage unit is the typical preferred option in the industry seen from a technical, schedule and commercial point of view.
U.S. patent application publication number US2019/0161146 describes a jetty-less offshore terminal in which a floating storage unit (FSU), is spread-moored to the seabed offshore. In one example, the offshore terminal includes a jack-up platform with equipment for regasification on one side of the floating storage unit. A cargo vessel is from time-to-time moored side-by-side to the other side of floating storage unit for ship-to-ship offloading fluid cargo from the cargo vessel onto the FSU. The side-by-side mooring allows a hose tor transferring the fluid cargo to be connected between the cargo vessel and the FSU without a dedicated utility unit to carry the hose across sea to the cargo vessel.
For large cargo vessels, tug assistance may typically be needed to help to control the movement of the cargo vessel sideward toward the floating storage vessel for side-by-side mooring. Mooring lines for mooring the cargo vessel to the floating storage vessel are passed between the cargo vessel and the floating storage vessel and tensioned.
Bringing a large cargo vessel alongside a floating storage vessel that is moored in fixed heading orientation by spread-mooring lines, can be especially challenging when doing so under adverse met-ocean conditions. For example, it can be challenging to control the movement of the cargo vessel and the assisting tugs and to provide the necessary fine control to bring the cargo vessel safely into correct mooring position alongside the floating storage vessel.

Floating storage vessel with extension sections and offshore terminal


The invention concerns a steel, particularly a steel for mould tools for plastic moulding, having the following chemical composition in weight-%:0.43-0.60 C from traces to 1.5 Si from traces to 1.5 (Si+Al) 0.1-2.0 Mn 3.0-7.0 Cr 1.5-4.0 (Mo+), however max. 1.0 W 0.30-0.70 V max. 0.1 of each of Nb, Ti and Zr max. 2.0 Co max. 2.0 Ni balance essentially only iron and unavoidable impurities. After hardening and high temperature tempering at 520-560° C., the steel has a hardness of 56-68 HRC.

Mould tools for plastic materials are made of a great number of various steel alloys, including martensitic, medium alloyed steels. In that group there is a commercially available steel which nominally contains 0.6% C, 4.5% Cr, 0.5% Mo and 0.2% V and which is used for cold work tools and mould tools for plastic materials. Within the same group there is also found the standardised steel AISI S7 which is also sometimes used for inter alia mould tools for moulding plastic materials, and another commercial available tool steel, which nominally contains 0.55% C, 2.6% Cr, 2.25% Mo and 0.9% V. The two first named steels attained a desired hardness only after low temperature tempering, which may cause risk for retained tensions in the steel after heat treatment. It is true that the last mentioned steel may achieve an adequate hardness after high temperature tempering, i.e. tempering at about 550° C., on the other hand the hardenability of that steel is not particularly good.
It is the purpose of the invention to provide a mould steel for moulding plastic materials which has a better combination of features for the employment of the steel for the manufacturing of mould tools for plastic materials, than the tool steels which presently are commercially available. Particularly, the steel should have the following features:                Good ductility/toughness,        Good hardenability allowing through hardening in connection with conventional hardening in a vacuum furnace of products with thicknesses up to at least 350 mm,        Adequate hardness, at least 54 HRC, preferably at least 56 HRC, after hardening and high temperature tempering, which gives a high resistance against plastic deformation and, at least as far as certain applications are concerned, also an adequate wear resistance without nitriding or surface coating with titanium carbide and/or titanium nitride or the like by means of e.g. PVD- or CVD-technique,        Good tempering resistance in order to allow nitriding or surface coating with titanium carbide and/or titanium nitride or the like by e.g. any of said techniques without reduction of the hardness of the material for applications which require particularly good wear resistance of the tool,        Good heat treatment features,        Good grindability, machinability by cutting operations, spark machinability, and polishability.
Other important product features are:                Good dimension stability during heat treatment,        Long fatigue life.
Specifically, the invention aims at providing a matrix steel which can be employed as a material for mould tools for plastic materials, i.e. a steel which is essentially void of primary carbides and which in its use condition has a matrix consisting of tempered martensite.

Steel and mould tool for plastic materials made of the steel


A plasma display (PDP) has a front plate, a rear plate, barrier ribs formed in a space between the front and the rear plate so as to form discharge cells in the space, buses extended along the barrier ribs, and discharge terminals disposed in the discharge cells, respectively. The buses and the discharge terminals are electrically connected by straight resistors. Connecting parts are extended from the buses along the alternate barrier ribs so as to connect the buses and the resistors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (hereinafter abbreviated to "PDP") and, more specifically, to a DC PDP provided with electrodes and resistors of novel structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been proposed various types of gas discharge display panels and R & D efforts have been made for the development of large gas discharge display panels, and the enhancement of efficiency and definition. A so-called DC PDP is representative of those known gas discharge display panels. The DC PDP has two transparent insulating substrates, a group of cathodes and a group of anodes formed on the two substrates, respectively, and barrier ribs arranged in a grid between the two substrates to form discharge cells having discharge terminals. Gas discharges are induced in the discharge cells to emit light. In the DC PDP, suppression of sputtering of the cathodes as the result of impact by ions of the discharge gas is very important to extend the life of the dc PDP. A previously proposed method of suppressing the sputtering of the cathodes increases the pressure of a discharge gas confined in a PDP to reduce the kinetic energy of positive ions of the discharge gas. However, abnormal discharges due to the high pressure of the discharge gas must be avoided when the pressure of the discharge gas is increased. A previously method of avoiding abnormal discharges combines resistors of 50 to 1500 k( with the discharge cells, respectively, for current control.
The conventional DC PDP is provided with discrete resistors respectively for the discharge cells. A structure of such a configuration is unsuitable for miniaturization and difficult to fabricate. In addition, the different resistors have different resistances that cause difference in discharge current between the discharge cells, which entails difference in the intensity of light between the discharge cells. Such difference in the intensity of light forms an irregular luminance distribution on the screen.
In order to prevent the above drawback, the inventors of this application have developed such a structure that the resistors extend continuously through the plurality of discharge cells to connect the discharge terminals through connecting parts. In this structure, however, the discharge terminals are affected by the adjacent discharge terminals, and therefore they cause also the difference in the intensity of light between the discharge cells.


A device for fastening a curtain airbag tether to a vehicle structure has a bracket provided with a slot to engage the airbag tether and with a resilient tongue to couple the bracket with the vehicle structure at an opening provided in the vehicle structure.

Airbag devices for side impacts are known as curtain airbags and are usually fixed to the structure of a vehicle above the windows, on the roof panel. Traditionally curtain airbags comprise a folded cushion contained in a housing cover. The cover keeps it folded until the curtain airbag is deployed. To help curtain airbags deploy correctly, they are provided with a tether connected to the vehicle door pillar. Upon impact, the airbag is inflated and deploys downward to protect vehicle occupants from impact against the interior structure and windows of the vehicle and from contact with any glass slivers. The tether leads a curtain airbag to deploy in a correct way.
A commonly used arrangement for fixing the tether to the pillar of the curtain airbag provided door of a vehicle comprises a metal bracket, a nut and a screw. The bracket is provided with a through hole and is fastened to the vehicle structure by means of a screw and a nut, the tether being inserted in a slot of the bracket and being secured to it.
This fixing device firmly attaches the tether to the structure of a vehicle but has high production and assembly costs due to the need of screws and nuts and to the amount of time required for the assembly operation. Moreover the tightening torque of the screw-nut coupling must be checked by the vehicle manufacturer, this further step of the assembly process is time consuming and expensive.

Fastening device for curtain airbag tether


A vehicle includes front and rear suspension systems. The vehicle includes front left and right strut assemblies respectively including front left and right knuckles. Rear left and right strut assemblies respectively include rear left and right knuckles. The knuckles are common with one another with each knuckle having a common lower suspension attachment boss. The front left and right knuckles respectively receive front left and right connection members at the lower attachment boss. The connection members are respectively interconnected to the front left and right suspension components. The rear left and right knuckles respectively receive rear left and right connection members at the lower attachment boss respectively interconnected to rear left and right suspension components. The overall suspension for the vehicle is designed by determining the knuckle position parameters for one of the knuckles including such features as suspension member, brake, and wheel assembly attachment points. Similarly, the knuckle position parameters are determined for another knuckle in a different location or on a different vehicle. Common vehicle attachment points on the knuckles are then calculated for the vehicle.

This invention relates to a suspension system for a passenger vehicle, and more particularly, the invention relates to a reconfigurable strut assembly including an integrated strut cylinder and knuckle for use on at least two and preferably all of the corners of a vehicle.
Vehicle suspension designs typically use four individual knuckles at each corner of a vehicle to allow for various lower suspension geometry. Specifically, the orientation and attachment of the brakes, steering components, struts relative to the vehicle body, and other features are particular to each corner of the vehicle such that a unique strut and knuckle is required at each corner of the vehicle. That is, the front and rear struts and knuckles are different, and the left and right struts and knuckles are different. Furthermore, the knuckle designs are often specific only to one vehicle line. The lack of interchangeability of struts and knuckles within a vehicle line and with other vehicles adds significant tooling costs to the suspension component. Therefore, what is needed is an interchangeable strut assembly that may be used on more than one corner of a vehicle and across vehicle lines.


In one embodiment, in accordance with the present invention, a method for incorporating human comprehension and interaction with device-to-device communication between devices as they occur in a person's immediate surroundings. The method includes detecting that a user is present, wherein the user is detected by a first instance of a smart assistant software executing on the first device. The method further includes identifying an occurrence of a monitored event. The method further includes, in response to identifying the occurrence of the monitored event, determining a task to be performed by a second device. The method further includes generating instructions for instructing the second device to perform the task, wherein the generated instructions include a verbal command and audibly emitting the verbal command, wherein the audibly emitted verbal command is within audible range of both the user and the second device.

The present invention relates generally to the field of device-to-device communication, and more particularly to device-to-device communication between Internet of Things (IoT) devices as events occur in a person's immediate surroundings.
In the technical field of IoT devices, communication to the IoT devices often includes human-to-device communication. For example, a user utilizes an application on a mobile device to raise the temperature on a connected thermostat remotely. Oftentimes device-to-device communication is also used in IoT scenarios. For example, a connected camera may notice debris on a floor, and communicate with a connected robot cleaner to dispatch the robot cleaner to clean up the debris. These interactions occur without direct user input.
A Smart Assistant is a software agent that can perform tasks or services for an individual. Smart assistant software can be used to create a "Smart Home" using IoT devices such as appliances, lighting, heating, air conditioning, TVs, computers, entertainment audio & video systems, security, and camera systems that are capable of communicating with one another and can be controlled remotely by a time schedule, from any room in the home, as well as remotely from any location in the world by phone or internet.

Contextually relevant spoken device-to-device communication between IoT devices

International Business Machines Corporation


Optical polishing methods and apparatus are disclosed for polishing and planarizing surfaces of a wafer or other workpiece. A polishing apparatus according to the present invention preferably comprises a dispenser for dispensing polishing agent between a polishing body and the surface of the object to be polished. The polishing apparatus moves the polishing body and the object being polished against one another. The polishing body preferably comprises a light-permeable substance. A film-thickness measuring device for measuring the thickness of a film on the object being polished is preferably positioned on the side of the polishing body opposite of the surface of the object being polished. The film-thickness measuring device preferably measures the film thickness by using a light source to irradiate the object being polished through the polishing body. The film-thickness measuring device then uses light reflected from the film of the object being polished to determine the film's thickness.

Circuit features in semiconductor devices such as integrated circuits have become increasingly small. The high-resolution photographic systems that project the circuit patterns necessary to form these small circuit features use short-wavelength light sources (e.g., ultraviolet light) and high-numerical aperture optics. Because the depth of focus of high-resolution photolithographic systems is small, the semiconductor wafers onto which circuit patterns are projected must be planar to a high degree of accuracy.
Semiconductor manufacturing has become increasingly complex, requiring numerous, complex process steps. During processing, the surface of the wafer does not remain planar.
A typical deviation from planarity is an abrupt discontinuity or "step" in wafer surface height. Any step in a conducting layer can cause increased resistance and decreased current-carrying capacity in the layer. A step in a conducting layer can also cause a break such that the conducting layer fails to provide any electrical connection.
A step in an insulating layer can cause the insulating layer to exhibit dielectric breakdown and a high leakage current or deterioration of pressure resistance. In addition, the height of such steps can exceed the depth of focus of photolithographic systems used to project circuit patterns. In other words, in order to increase the depth of focus to achieve higher resolution levels and to improve semiconductor reliability and yield, it has become necessary to ensure planarization of wafer surfaces in semiconductor devices before certain process steps are conducted.
With reference to FIG. 8, a conventional semiconductor polishing apparatus typically uses chemical-mechanical processing or chemical-mechanical planarization ("CMP"). The CMP apparatus is used to polish silicon wafers to a mirror surface.
The polishing apparatus of FIG. 8 comprises a polishing pad 2 mounted on a polishing wheel 1. The polishing wheel 1 rotates while a polishing slurry 6 drips from an outlet 5 of a dispenser 8. A wafer holder 3 holds a wafer 4. A pressure mechanism (not shown) applies a pressure 7, urging the wafer 4 against the polishing pad 2. The wafer holder 3 both rotates about its axis and slides across the polishing pad 2, thereby polishing the surface of the wafer 4.
While polishing the wafer it is preferable to measure the state-of-polish of the wafer 4. Various methods have been used for determining the state-of-polish of the wafer to determine when to stop the polish process. The state-of-polish of the wafer 4 at which polishing should stop is called the "endpoint." Endpoint determination methods include, for example, detecting changes in the frictional sound caused by polishing, and monitoring changes in the electrical current due to friction-induced resistance of the rotation motor as a result of changes in friction between the wafer 4 and the polishing pad 2.
Such conventional endpoint determination methods have various drawbacks, e.g., inaccuracy in the assessment of the polished state of the wafer and difficulty in accurately determining the thickness of the film or layer beneath the polished surface.
Optical methods of endpoint detection have also been used. In optical endpoint detection, slits are provided in the polishing wheel 1 and the polishing pad 2, through which a laser beam irradiates the wafer 4. A portion of the laser beam is reflected by the wafer 4; the reflected light is typically detected with an interferometer and used to assess the state-of-polish.
However, optical methods that require slits in the polishing wheel or the polishing pad increase the difficulty of the polish process and provide measurements of the state-of-polish of the wafer only at locations near the slits. For example, during a polish process the slits in the polishing pad 2 tend to migrate while the wafer 4 is rotated about its axis and moved laterally across the polishing pad. Such migration makes it difficult to detect a fixed endpoint for the thickness of the film on the wafer surface being polished and to measure the thickness of that film during the polish process.
In view of the foregoing, polishing apparatus and methods are needed to provide optical polishing that can continually determine a fixed-point film thickness on the object being polished during the polishing process. Additionally, polishing apparatus and methods are needed to provide optical polishing that does not require slits in the polishing pad or other polishing body while maintaining uniformity in film thickness following the polish process.


A millimeter wave sensor is provided for non-destructive inspection of thin sheet dielectric materials. The millimeter wave sensor includes a Gunn diode oscillator (GDO) source generating a mill meter wave electromagnetic energy signal having a single frequency. A heater is coupled to the GDO source for stabilizing the single frequency. A small size antenna is coupled to the GDO source for transmitting the millimeter wave electromagnetic energy signal to a sample material and for receiving a reflected millimeter wave electromagnetic energy signal from the sample material. Ferrite circulator isolators coupled between the GDO source and the antenna separate the millimeter wave electromagnetic energy signal into transmitted and received electromagnetic energy signal components and a detector detects change in both amplitude and phase of the transmitted and received electromagnetic energy signal components.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a millimeter wave sensor operating primarily on a single frequency to provide online inspection, preferably including continuous monitoring, of thin sheet dielectric materials, such as fabric, paper, plastic and other dielectric products with respect to macroscopic and/or microscopic properties such as density, homogeneity, for example internal flaws, structure, porosity, moisture content, and state of cure. More particularly, the invention relates to a sensor and instrument system operating primarily on a single frequency within the range of about 75-110 GHz with the frequency selected on the characteristics of the sample to provide greater resolution, sensitivity and other data important for the inspection. Of particular importance is the measurement of the amplitude and phase characteristics of the reflected/transmitted signal as a result of variations in properties of the material medium.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of microwaves for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of materials is gaining importance due to the inherently noncontact nature of the technique, good depth of penetration in low-loss dielectric materials, and the emergence of new and advanced materials that pose new NDE challenges that require new solutions. The material property that is sensed by microwave techniques is the change in dielectric properties, such as permittivity and loss factor.
"MILLIMETER WAVE IMAGING FOR NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION OF MATERIALS", Material Evaluation, Volume 52, Number 3, March, 1994 Pps. 412-415, by Nachappa Gopalsami, Sasan Bakhtiari, Stephen L. Dieckman, Apostolos C. Raptis, and Matthew J. Lepper, describes a millimeter-wave imaging system in the W band (75-110 GHz) for nondestructive evaluation of low-loss materials. The subject matter of the above-identified publication is incorporated herein by reference. A theoretical analysis of the millimeter-wave imaging is provided.
A W-band imaging system was initially developed for high resolution inspection of electrically thick samples of stratified dielectric slabs. The system operated either in a bistatic forward-scatter configuration with separate antennas to transmit and receive or a monostatic backscatter configuration with a single antenna used both to transmit and receive. The system offered minimal diffraction loss due to incorporation of Gaussian optic lens antennas. The antenna lenses had an aperture diameter D=12" and a focal length f=12" (i.e., f/D=1). The spot size of the beam at the focal point was about one wavelength (3-dB beamwidth) and had a depth of focus of about 10.lambda.. The backward-wave oscillator (BWO) source output frequency was stabilized using a source-locking frequency counter. A sample to be tested was mounted in a plane perpendicular to the incident beam axis within the focal depth of the antenna. In the monostatic case, a circulator or a hybrid coupler separated the transmitted and reflected waves. Only the amplitude of the scattered fields or the received power was measured with this apparatus. The output detected via a diode detector was amplified, digitized, and acquired by a personal computer. The computer also controlled a two-axis translation stage for scanning the sample.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved millimeter wave(MMW) sensor for on-line inspection of thin sheet dielectrics.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an improved millimeter wave (MMW) sensor for on-line inspection of thin sheet dielectrics that operates primarily on a single frequency within the range of about 75 GHz to 110 Ghz, that is compact and has a small size antenna, and that is self calibrating.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an improved millimeter wave (MMW) sensor for on-line inspection of thin sheet dielectrics that operates primarily on a single frequency within the range of about 75 GHz to 110 GHz with the single frequency selected on the basis of characteristics of a particular sample to provide greater resolution, sensitivity and other data important for the inspection.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an improved millimeter wave sensor for on-line inspection of thin sheet dielectrics that measures both the amplitude and phase characteristics of the reflected/transmitted signal as a result of variations in properties of the material medium.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an improved millimeter wave sensor for on-line inspection of thin sheet dielectrics that overcomes many of the disadvantages of prior art arrangements.

Millimeter wave sensor for on-line inspection of thin sheet dielectrics


Neutron activation measurement techniques may be used to evaluate various properties of a subterranean well structure. In an example implementation, a logging tool can be positioned within a wellbore, such that neutrons generated by a neutron source are directed towards well structure. In response to the neutrons, the well structure emits gamma rays. A portion of the gamma rays can be detected by a gamma detector. To enhance the well structure's response to neutron activation, the well structure can be constructed of materials that include one or more doping materials. The inclusion of these doping materials can increase the number of gamma rays that are emitted when neutrons are directed into the well structure, and these emitted gamma rays can be more easily identified based on their energy level.

In the field of logging (e.g., wireline logging, logging while drilling (LWD) and measurement while drilling (MWD)), various techniques can be used to identify a variety of characteristics of a subterranean well structure and the surrounding earth formations. In some examples, well logging can be conducted by sound, electrical current, electromagnetic waves, or high energy nuclear particles (e.g., gamma particles and neutrons). In an example usage, well logging can be used to evaluate the quality or integrity of a well structure. The accuracy of this determination is not only important for correctly assessing the quality of construction of a well, but also is critical in identifying well damage during the course of oilfield operations. These assessments are essential to the safety and economy of these operations.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

Downhole evaluation with neutron activation measurement


An adjustable hydrostatic pump (10), in particular a piston pump, is proposed, whose cam ring (22) is adjustable via a hydromechanical adjusting assembly (35) and which has a device for active noise abatement. A pressure chamber (39) of a adjusting piston (37) acting upon the cam ring (22) is acted upon by pressure changes, via an additional control unit (47) parallel to the hydromechanical pressure controller (41), in such a way that the oscillating actions of power-train forces on the hydraulic fastening of the cam ring (22) are reduced, thus lessening the noise produced by the piston pump.

The invention is based on an adjustable hydrostatic pump.
German Utility Model DE-GM Yt 04 126 discloses such a pump, in an embodiment as a radial piston pump, in which as the adjusting device, a cam ring is provided, whose eccentricity is considered the definitive variable for the pump adjustment or pump swiveling. The cam ring is retained in position by two different-sized hydraulic adjusting pistons, of which the larger adjusting piston is part of a hydromechanical adjusting assembly. The noise produced by such a piston pump is. very greatly dependent on the rigidity of the hydraulic fastening of the adjusting device, that is, the cam ring. The noise produced increases as the rigidity of the hydraulic fastening of the cam ring lessens and is caused by the components of the power-train forces acting in the direction of the adjustment. Depending on the rigidity of the fastening, this leads to a more or less pronounced deflection of the entire power train at the pace of the piston as it moves in and out of the pump pressure chamber. The noises that occur then may be annoying in some applications, where especially quiet operation is desired. Comparable conditions to the radial piston pump pertain to the axial piston pump as well, in which the adjusting device is embodied as a swash plate, and to a vane cell pump, which likewise has a cam ring as its adjusting device.
In a prior German patent application P 44 10 719.6, it has also already been proposed, in an adjustable radial piston pump, to provide active noise abatement, but here the adjustment of the cam ring is done via an electrohydraulic closed-loop control device. The intervention for noise abatement is done here via an electrohydraulic control valve, but many adjustable hydrostatic pumps lack such a valve.
From German patent disclosure OF 37 CO 573 A1, a radial piston engine is also known, in which an additional combustion chamber in the control journal can be charged from the high-pressure side via a throttled connection. As a function of the rotary position, the piston bore in the rotor is made to communicate briefly with this combustion chamber, and a rise in pressure is effected before this piston bore comes to communicate with the actual high-pressure control slit. In various cases, the noise reduction attendant on the lessening of the feed flow pulsation is insufficient, especially since the abrupt changes in force that occur as the piston emerges from the high-pressure side cannot be taken into account. No further description of the nature of the adjusting assembly is provided.

Adjustable hydrostatic pump with additional pressure change control unit


A cantilever type probe comprises a cantilever-shaped displacement element and a tip which displacement element has a first electrode layer, a first piezoelectric material film and a second piezoelectric material film which films are laminated on opposite sides of the first electrode layer, and a second electrode layer and a third electrode layer which layer are laminated on outer surfaces of the piezoelectric material films, and which tip is connected with a leader electrode located at a free end of the surface of the displacement element; wherein in the width direction of the cantilever both ends of the first electrode layer protrude outward more than each end of the second and third electrode layers. A scanning tunneling microscope comprises the cantilever type probe, a driving means for displacing the probe, a stage for specimen so as to approach and locate the specimen to the tip, and a potential applying means for applying a bias voltage between the tip and the specimen. An information processing apparatus further comprises a second potential applying means for applying a pulse and bias voltage between the tip and the recording medium; wherein an information is written on the recording medium and an information in the recording medium is read out by electric current flowing between the tip and the recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cantilever type probe for a scanning tunnel microscope (hereinafter referred to as "STM"), and a scanning tunnel microscope provided with the probe.
The present invention further relates to an information-processing apparatus which records, reproduces and erases information by an STM technique employing the above cantilever type probe.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, scanning tunnel microscopy has been developed which enables direct Observation of the electronic structure of atoms on a surface of a conductor (G. Binnig, et al.: Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, (1982) 57). With this technique, real spatial images of materials, whether single crystalline or amorphous, can be measured with extremely high resolution (nanometer or less). The STM utilizes a tunnel current which flows between a metallic tip and an electroconductive substance when a voltage is applied between the probe and the substance which are brought as close as about 1 nm. This tunnel current is highly sensitive to the change of distance between the two, and varies exponentially. Accordingly, real spatial surface structure can be observed with a resolution of atomic order by scanning the surface with the probe while keeping the tunnel current constant. The analysis by use of the STM is limited to electroconductive materials. However, the STM is coming into use for structure analysis of a thin insulation film formed thin on a surface of an electroconducitve materials. Such an apparatus and method are advantageous in that the observation can be conducted with low electric power without impairing the medium since the apparatus and the method utilize detection of extremely weak current. Furthermore, the apparatus can be operated in the atmosphere, and are promising for a variety of application fields.
In particular, the technique is becoming practical for high density recording-reproducing, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 63-161552, 63-161553, etc. This method employs a probe electrode similar to that of STM, and conducts recording by varying the voltage between a probe and a recording medium, the recording medium being a material exhibiting memorizable switching characteristics in its voltage-current characteristics, e.g., thin films of chalcogens and .pi.-electron type organic compounds. In this method, the reproduction is conducted by utilizing the difference of the tunnel resistance between recorded areas and non-recorded areas. In such a recording system, a recording medium that changes its surface shape with the voltage applied to the tip may be used.
In the operation of the STM or the recording and reproducing by application of the STM, it is important to control the distance between the specimen and the sample or the recording medium in the order of angstroms, and to control the two-dimensional scanning with an accuracy of several ten angstroms in recording and reproducing the two-dimensionally arranged information. Furthermore, simultaneous driving of a plurality of probes (namely, multiplication of the probe) is proposed to improve the functionality, particularly, to speed-up the recording-reproduction system. With the multiple probes, the relative position of the probe and the medium has to be three-dimensionally controlled with the accuracy mentioned above within the area where the multiple probes are used.
Heretofore, the control of the probe has been conducted by using a lamination type piezoelectric element or a cylindrical piezoelectric element attached at the probe side or the medium side. Such elements, which are capable of larger displacement, are not suitable for integration, and are disadvantageous in use for the multiprobe type recording-reproducing apparatus. The tip module may be fitted onto a cantilever of several hundred .mu.m long, and the cantilever may be driven by a piezoelectric element to avoid this disadvantage.
In a known method, a cantilever having a multilayer structure constituted of a thin piezoelectric film, a metallic film, and so forth is prepared by utilizing a technique of forming a fine structure on a substrate in a semiconductor production process (T. R. Albrecht, et al.: "Microfabrication of Integrated Scanning Tunneling microscope", Proceedings Fourth International Conference on Scanning Tunneling Microscopy/Spectroscopy, 1990).
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional cantilever type probe. The probe includes piezoelectric thin films 101, 102; piezoelectric film-driving electrodes 103, 103', 105, 106, 106': a tip 108; a probe leader electrode 109; a silicon substrate 100; and a thin Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 film 113. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an STM apparatus employing the cantilever type probe. The STM of the block diagram includes a bias applying power source 201, a tunnel current amplification circuit 202, a cantilever driver 203, a cantilever 204, a probe 205, and a test specimen 206. The tunnel current I.sub.t flowing between the probe 205 and the specimen 206 is detected, and the cantilever is driven by application of feedback so as to keep I.sub.t constant, whereby the gap between the probe 205 and the specimen 206 is kept constant.
In conventional cantilever type probes piezoelectric film-driving electrodes including an upper electrode, a lower electrode, and an intermediate electrode formed of the same width. Consequently, positional deviation 110 of the driving electrodes, as shown in FIG. 5, in forming the pattern of the electrodes is caused by an aligning error, which disadvantageously leads to a change of the effective electrode areas. This positional deviation arises in a mask alignment in photolithography process, and is usually within .+-.3 .mu.m depending on the mask aligner employed. This positional deviation makes the area between the counter electrodes in the displacement regions 111, 111' smaller than that in the displacement regions 112, 112', which reduces the displacement, and disadvantageously result in twisting of the cantilever. Therefore, when this cantilever is used in STM operation or STM recording-reproducing apparatus, the moving direction of the cantilever is changed to cause positional deviation relative to the coordinate of access, making the stable operation thereof difficult. When the twisting is larger, the end portion of the cantilever may be brought into contact with the specimen rather than the probe, which may damage the specimen or the recording medium.

Cantilever type probe, and scanning tunnel microscope and information processing apparatus employing the same


A device for the magnet-assisted catheter intervention comprises magnets for controlling a magnetic tip of a catheter. An x-ray device serves to generate three dimensional ambient images of a patient. A data processing unit calculates the probability of the magnetic tip colliding with an obstacle in the body of the patient from the ambient images and the current position of the magnetic tip and if necessary acts mechanically on the guide element so as to generate a haptically perceivable signal, with which guide element the movement of the catheter is controlled.

Starting from this prior art, the object underlying the invention is thus to create a device for controlling a magnetic element in the body of a patient, which prevents collisions in the body of the patient as far as possible.
This object is achieved by a device with the features of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments and developments are specified in the dependent claims.
The device is characterized in that a monitoring device monitors the position of the magnetic element in the body of the patient on the basis of location information supplied by the navigation device. The monitoring device applies a control device with control signals, which act mechanically on the guide element when the magnetic element approaches an obstacle in order to generate a haptically perceivable signal.
The mechanical effect on the guide element indicates to the user that a collision is imminent. The user is then able to change the desired movement direction of the magnetic element so as to prevent the magnetic element from colliding with the surrounding tissue. The particular advantage of the signal which can be haptically perceived at the guide element is that the signal is directly communicated in conjunction with a guide process. If a guide process is carried out by a user and the user reaches for the guide element, a warning signal is directly transmitted to the user's hand. Thus the user need not first associate the significance of optically or acoustically communicated warning signals with the danger of collision, but the significance of the haptical warning signal is instead intuitively clear to the user.
With a preferred embodiment, the control device is an inhibitor, which counteracts the force effect of the user on the guide element when the magnetic element approaches an obstacle.
The inhibitor counteracting the force effect of the user on the guide element allows a counteracting force to be communicated to the user when the magnetic element approaches the obstacle, said counteracting force indicating to the user that the magnetic element is located in the vicinity of an obstacle. Misdirections are hereby effectively avoided.
The inhibitor preferably exerts a force on the guide element, which is increases as the distance between the magnetic element and the obstacle diminishes. The extent of the danger of collision or the severity of the collision is hereby communicated intuitively to the user.
The navigation device has a position image generator in order to determine the necessary location information, said position image generator determining a current position image of the magnetic element in the body of the patient. In this way, the position image generator can evaluate current x-ray images from an x-ray device or current ultrasound images from an ultrasound device. Furthermore, the navigation device has an ambient image generator, which advantageously generates current ambient information about the ambient of the magnetic element. In this way, the ambient image generator can evaluate image information supplied by an x-ray device, an ultrasound device or by a magnetic resonance device depending on the application case.
Furthermore, it is possible for the ambient image generator to refer back to the ambient information stored in a data base.
The navigation device finally features a position analyzer, which relates the current position of the magnetic element to the ambient information. The monitoring device is then able to determine on the basis of the location information supplied by the position analyzer whether a movement of the magnetic element desired by the user by actuating the guide element results in its coming into proximity with an obstacle and if necessary, to apply the inhibitor with suitable control signals in order to inhibit the movement of the guide element.
To register the position image and the ambient image, the position analyzer advantageously refers back to markers which are fixed to the body of the patient or to the magnetic element.
Advantageously, the magnetic element can be the tip of a catheter or a part of an endorobot or the entire endorobot.

Device and method for controlling a magnetic element in the body of a patient


A barbeque grill unit is provided with at least one removable handle that is readily removed and attached to the grill body to provide a grill unit having a reduced overall length when the removable handle is detached, thus promoting the convenient packing, shipping, storing, and use of the barbeque grill unit. In one embodiment, the cooking equipment apparatus comprises a grill body having an outer surface and an interior and at least one removable handle adapted for selective attachment with the grill body to facilitate handling of the cooking equipment apparatus. A first coupling member is located on the outer surface of the grill body and a second coupling member is located on the handle, with the first and second coupling members adapted to being selectively engaged such that the handle is attached with the grill body.

The grilling of food is a popular method of food preparation, particularly in a recreational setting. Outdoor grilling is particularly popular in the summer time as a way to avoid introducing additional heat into an interior of a living environment as well as itself being a recreational activity. Further, outdoor grilling is often done at parks and campgrounds, as it is a convenient means of food preparation at locations that are away from normal residential areas. Portable grills are often used in such remote locations, as they are readily transportable as opposed to large, residential outdoor style grills. The demand for portable grilling methods is evidenced by the great many portable grills that exist in the marketplace. Examples of portable grills can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,431 issued to Koziol, U.S. Design Pat. No. D282,619 issued to Fitzgerald, U.S. Design Pat. No. D461,360 issued to Bossler and in the Webber® Go-Anywhere® line of grills. Previously, people have used utensils to lift and open the lids of barbeque grills in order to avoid touching the hot handles. These lifting utensils do not normally remain coupled to the grill when not being held by the user.


According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor device including a semiconductor substrate, a lower electrode film formed on the semiconductor substrate, a dielectric film formed on the lower electrode film, and an upper electrode film formed on the dielectric film, wherein the lower electrode film, the dielectric film and the upper electrode film construct a capacitor in a predetermined region on the semiconductor substrate, the dielectric film is separated from the upper electrode film outside the predetermined region, and the dielectric film is formed continuously with respect to an adjacent cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the device, more particularly to a capacitor cell structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a structure of a capacitor cell in a semiconductor device according to a conventional example. In FIG. 6, a silicon substrate 201 is provided with an active region 202. On the silicon substrate 201, a gate 200 is formed which is constructed of a gate oxide film 203, gate electrodes 204, 205 and a gate side wall/cap SiN film 206.
Furthermore, a flattened insulating film 207 is formed which surrounds the gate 200. On the insulating film 207, multilayer interlayer films 208, 209 and 210 are formed. In the insulating film 207 and the multilayer interlayer films 208, 209 and 210, contact holes are formed. In each contact hole, a poly-Si plug 211 and a W-plug 213 (and a barrier layer 212) are formed.
On the multilayer interlayer film 210, a barrier layer (a TiSi film or a TiAlN film) 214 and a lower electrode (an Ir film) 215 of a capacitor are formed so as to be connected to the W-plug 213. In consequence, the active region 202 is connected to the capacitor lower electrode 215 via the poly-Si plug 211, the W-plug 213 and the barrier layer 214.
Furthermore, on the capacitor lower electrode 215, a ferroelectric capacitor insulating film (Pb(Zr, Ti)O3) 216 and a capacitor upper electrode 217 are formed. On the capacitor upper electrode 217, an Al2O3 film 218 and an SiO2 film 219 are formed. The Al2O3 film 218 and the SiO2 film 219 function as a mask for processing the capacitor upper electrode 217, the capacitor insulating film 216, the capacitor lower electrode 215 and the barrier layer 214 by reactive ion etching (RIE).
When the capacitor is formed by the RIE processing, a capacitor cover film 220 and an interlayer insulating film 221 are formed so as to surround the capacitor. Furthermore, in the interlayer insulating film 221, a contact 222 and a wiring line 223 are formed so that they extend through the capacitor cover film 220, the second mask film 219 and the first mask film 218 to be connected to the capacitor upper electrode 217 and they electrically couple TE to TE between capacitor cells arranged adjacent to each other (a so-called dual damascene structure).
In addition, it is particularly to be noted that after the interlayer insulating film 221 is RIE-processed and an opening for the contact 222 and a groove for the wiring line 223 are formed, recovery annealing is performed in an oxygen atmosphere at 600 to 650° C. for about one hour to alleviate plasma damages in the capacitor insulating film 216.
In the above conventional capacitor structure, since the surface of the capacitor processed by the RIE process comes into contact with an interface between the upper electrode and the ferroelectric film, the ferroelectric film and an interface between the ferroelectric film and the lower electrode of the capacitor, the capacitor is largely damaged during the etching. Therefore, problems occur that a quantity of signals required for operating the device cannot be obtained, or the signals decrease and reliability of the device deteriorates.
Moreover, there is a problem that a fence is attached to the processed surface during the etching of the capacitor lower electrode, which is a cause for short-circuiting between the upper electrode and the lower electrode or increasing a leak current flowing through the capacitor. The reliability of the device deteriorates.
It is to be noted that in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-342974, a semiconductor storage device is disclosed. The semiconductor storage device has a data storing capacity element including a lower electrode, a capacity insulating film constituted of a ferroelectric film or a highly dielectric film and an upper electrode successively formed on a semiconductor substrate provided with a transistor; an insulating barrier film to prevent diffusion of hydrogen into the capacity insulating film; a bit line formed on the insulating barrier film; and a bit line load capacity element including a load capacity lower electrode constituted of the lower electrode or an upper electrode, a load capacity insulating film constituted of an insulating barrier film, and a load capacity upper electrode constituted of a bit line.
In Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-311941, there is disclosed a flat plate type capacitor including a lower wiring line formed at a predetermined portion of a semiconductor substrate; a lower electrode electrically connected to the lower wiring line; a concave dielectric film formed in an upper portion of the lower electrode; a concave upper electrode which is larger than the lower electrode and which is formed in an upper portion of the dielectric film; a first upper wiring line electrically connected to the lower electrode; and a second upper wiring line connected to the upper electrode.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


In a coffee extracting apparatus in which an extracting container (51) extracts coffee essence from coffee powder with being supplied with hot water of substantially normal pressure and elevated temperature, a water control valve (48) controls a feed of the hot water to the extracting container. The hot water is fed to the extracting container with being pressed in a water feeding device (43). The coffee essence is taken out from the extracting container together with the hot water through a filter member (53, 54) supported by a support member (52).

This invention relates to a coffee extracting apparatus of a percolating type for extracting coffee essence from coffee material or powder by supplying hot water to the coffee powder.
As a coffee extracting apparatus of the type, use is conventionally made of a hot water feeding cylinder type extracting apparatus and an espresso extracting apparatus.
A conventional hot water feeding cylinder type extracting apparatus comprises an extracting container having an outlet opening for extracting coffee essence from coffee powder with being supplied with hot water of substantially normal pressure and elevated temperature. A filter member is used to cover the outlet opening of the receiving container and supported by a supported member in the manner known in the art.
However, the conventional hot water feeding cylinder type extracting apparatus is at a disadvantage in being unable to obtain the liquid coffee extract of amply high concentration because the operation thereof is devoid of a step of prewetting and steaming. It is further at a disadvantage in being unable to attain accelerated extraction of coffee essence because the hot water in the hot water feeding cylinder is forced by the hot water feeding piston into the extracting cylinder and consequently the rise of the pressure in the extracting cylinder is slow.
A conventional espresso extracting apparatus has a structure which will later be described in conjunction with the figure. The conventional espresso extracting apparatus is at a disadvantage in requiring the reheating device for accommodating the hot water of elevated temperature and increased pressure to be in a strong structure proof against pressure, further requiring the water heating device for heating the cold water of increased pressure to be in a structure proof against pressure, also necessitating provision of a water pump, a check valve, etc., and consequently entailing an high cost of equipment.

Coffee extracting apparatus having a control valve for controlling a feed of pressed hot water to an extracting container


The present invention entails a game and game board apparatus. The game board apparatus includes a map of the United States with each individual state comprising a puzzle piece and wherein there is inscribed on the game board apparatus the number of electoral college votes controlled by each respective state. In addition, the game apparatus includes a series of state playing cards with each state playing card identifying a state, the number of electoral college votes of that state, a list of presidents produced by that state and other state information. The object of the game is to accumulate the most electoral college votes. In order to collect electoral votes the basic thrust of the game entails accumulating a selected number of contiguous or so-called isolated states and once such has been accumulated then the electoral college votes of those contiguous states or isolated state or states are acquired by the player who has accumulated the contiguous states.

Game and game boards involving Presidents of the United States have long been popular. For example, see the disclosures found in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,709,926; 4,865,327; 357,184; 3,068,010; 1,292,180; 1,115,431; 4,643,426; 4,085,938; and 4,092,028.
While many of these president's games are in fact educational, they have not for the most part, been interesting, consuming and exciting to play. Moreover, many of the president's games of the prior art have not really incorporated a realistic approach to the presidential election process.
Thus, there is a need for a presidential game that is both educational and exciting to play while at the same time entails a realistic approach to the presidential election process.

Game of presidents and the electoral college voting system


Provided is an apparatus and method for reducing noise in an image, the apparatus including a reference image creator unit to create a reference image based on chrominance about a plurality of channels included in an output image obtained from an image sensor of a camera, and a noise reduction unit to perform noise reduction for the respective channels using the created reference image. The plurality of channels may include at least one of a green channel, a red channel, and a blue channel.

1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to an apparatus and method for reducing noise in an image, and more particularly, to technology for reducing noise in an image by an image signal processor configured to create a color image using a single color filter array Bayer pattern image that is output from an image sensor of a camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
To capture a shake-free image in a low illumination environment, a shutter speed may need to be decreased, and sensitivity or an International organization for standardization (ISO) speed may need to be increased. Accordingly, a Bayer pattern image in which noise is amplified may be created.
In a widely used digital image input device, such as a digital camera and a smart phone, for example, an image signal processor may create a color image using a color filter array Bayer pattern obtained from a charged coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor. A noise reduction module may perform a functionally important role in an image signal processing chain.
In the case of failing to effectively remove or reduce noise present in a Bayer image, the noise may result in an adverse affect, such as a degradation of the quality of an image in a color filter array interpolation module configured to create a red, green, blue (RGB) image, for example.
Accordingly, noise reduction technology of a Bayer pattern image may be important for an image input apparatus to create the high quality image.
In particular, according to an increase in sensitivity or an ISO speed of a captured image, additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and impulse noise may be amplified. Accordingly, there is a need to effectively reduce noise.

Apparatus and method of reducing noise of image