Rotary seal valve/container assembly allowing withdrawal of a medical fluid contained in the container by the use of a device such as a syringe or IV set having a luer connector. The rotary seal valve includes: an elastomeric stopper having a cavity; a rotary seal bottom insert positioned in the bottom portion of the cavity; a rotary seal top insert, equipped with threads and serving as a male luer connector, rotatably engaging the bottom insert. One or more holes are provided in the bottom inset and top insert which holes are alignable with each other, by rotating the top insert, forming one or more channels through which the medical fluid is accessed. Upon rotating the top insert in opposite direction the rotary valve can be closed. A removable cap positioned over the rotary seal valve maintains the rotary seal valve in aseptic condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a rotary seal stopper used in association with a container, such as a bottle or vial, for the containment and delivery of parenteral solutions, such as diagnostic contrast media and drug formulations. More particularly, the invention relates to a needleless access means having a rotatable seal therein for opening and closing the container for delivery of the parenteral solution to a site through luer connections.
2. Report Developments
There is an increasing worldwide demand for medical safety devices including safety syringes and other transfer devices. Needle stick injuries number about one million per year in the U.S. alone, resulting in thousands of hepatitis C infections.
The prior art has developed numerous devices to prevent accidental needle strike injuries to practitioners and patients. Such injuries are known to spread infectious diseases including hepatitis and AIDS. One of the main features of these devices is the lack of exposed sharp needles. The closures or stoppers have built-in access means to the content of the containers, such as vials, cartridges and bottles. The closures or stoppers in these devices serve the dual function of hermetically sealing the container while allowing safe access to the content therethrough.
Stopper systems for containers such as vials and bottles are made of materials that are resistant to chemicals and pharmaceuticals such as corrosive materials, reagents, parenteral solutions and solid formulations reconstitutable with a solvent prior to use. The most commonly used stopper/container system for such products has been glass or plastic bottles and vials equipped with stoppers made of elastomeric materials. The system provides for good hermetical seal, safe storage and easy access to the content through the elastomeric stopper via the use of an infusion spike or a syringe when withdrawal of the content is desired. The elastomeric stopper used generally comprises an elastomeric base, such as natural or synthetic rubber and an inert coating covering at least some portions of the stopper. The coating used includes chlorobutyl rubber, polymeric fluorocarbon resins such as polytetrafluoroethylene and various thermoplastic films. The coating is intended to insulate the elastomeric stopper base from the contents of the container in order to prevent contact and possible chemical reactions therebetween.
Generally, the elastomeric stopper is of cylindrical shape and has a flange head portion overlying the open top end of the container. Integral with the head portion is a body portion which extends into the open end and seated in the neck portion of the container, the diameter of the body portion being somewhat larger than the inside diameter of the container so that a tight seal is created between the body portion and the wall of the container. The lower end of the body portion is beveled towards the central, longitudinal axis of the body portion to facilitate the insertion of the body portion into the container. The circular bottom surface that faces the contents of the container is substantially planar and is imperforate, having no recess therein. The head portion of the stopper is provided with a central recess extending downwardly from the top thereof a substantial distance into the body portion so that the central recess and the circular bottom surface define a diaphragm. The walls forming the recess are generally cylindrical but may be provided with one or more circular protuberances extending inwardly to terminate just short of the center line of the stopper. The circular protuberances serve to press against and hold the needle of a syringe when the needle is inserted through the recess to penetrate the diaphragm for removal of the contents of the container. The elastomeric stopper is held in position by a metal ring or cap usually constructed of aluminum. The metal ring or cap has a removable center opening for allowing insertion of the syringe needle into the container.
Various stopper and access systems exist in the prior art to hold and remove the contents of containers which are illustrated hereunder.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,289,677 and 2,326,490 disclose a rubber stopper for use in vials comprising: an outer wall which serves as a seal between the vial and the stopper; and an inner wall forming a chamber in the center of the stopper, the bottom portion of the inner wall serving as a diaphragm. A hollow needle, having a sharp end for piercing the diaphragm, and an outer end exposed for connection with a syringe, is carried by the outer wall. A syringe connected to the outer end of the needle and pushed inwardly effects piercing of the diaphragm thereby permitting aspiration of the contents of the vial.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,342,215 discloses a dispensing and sealing stopper for a vial comprising: a stopper body having a hollow needle therein, one end of said hollow needle is in constant communication with the contents of the vial, and the other end is sealed by a penetrable, thin membrane. When withdrawal of the contents of the vial is desired, a syringe is inserted into the stopper to penetrate the thin membrane and to engage the other end of the hollow needle. When the syringe is removed, the thin membrane self-closes to maintain the hollow needle and the contents of the vial sterile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,109 discloses an elastomeric stopper for a bottle, said stopper includes an annular protuberance which forms a second seal with the shaft of a spike inserted in the stopper to prevent leakage, blow-out and introduction of particulate matter into the fluid-containing bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,386 relates to an infusion unit which comprises: a flexible, large container, a small medicine vial and a pipe which serves to communicate between the large, flexible container and the small medicine vial.
The large container is adapted to hold a solvent or diluent, while the medicine vial contains a powdery medicine which is to be mixed and dissolved in the solvent or diluent contained in the large, flexible container. Upon dissolution, the mixed medicine is discharged through an outlet at the lower end of the large container for infusion into a patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,256 pertains to a drug withdrawal system for a vial. The withdrawal system comprises: a vial containing a medicament therein and closed with a rubber gasket; and an apparatus which snap fits on top of the vial. The apparatus comprises: a chassis and a cap which is attached to the cap by a living hinge.
The chassis is cylindrical and has vertical grooves on the external sides to facilitate handling. The top of the chassis has a central opening. The chassis includes a male luer lock adapter having external threads thereon, and a ferrule structure the lower end of which has a hollow sharpened lance. The apparatus is used with a syringe having a female luer lock connector which snap fits with the male luer lock adapter.
In use, the cap cover is opened, and a syringe is screwed onto the outer end of the adapter. The syringe is then tightened on the adapter which moves the lance downward and the lance penetrates the gasket on the vial thereby establishing flow communication with the content of the vial. The content of the vial is withdrawn by pulling back on the plunger of the syringe. The syringe is then removed with the content therein ready to receive a needle assembly for injecting the content into a patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,330 relates to a needleless access stopper used on containers with a cannula having a blunt, stopper penetrating tip.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,419 discloses a closure assembly having an elastomeric membrane capable of being ruptured by a luer connector.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,181 discloses a multiple use universal stopper having an M-shaped clastomeric membrane capable of being ruptured by a luer connector, wherein the M-shaped elastomeric membrane reseals itself after being punctured by the luer connector.
The present invention provides sealing and access means for containers, such as bottles or vials made of glass or plastic containing medical fluids, such as x-ray contrast media and parenteral liquids. The access means provides for hermatic sealing, safe handling, sterilization and storing. The sealing means are designed for multiple use so that the medical fluid can be accessed repeatedly. After each withdrawal of the desired amount of the medical fluid, the access means is closed thereby preventing contamination of the medical fluid by air-born particles, such as dust and bacteria.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a rotary seal stopper/container assembly is provided to allow access to a medical fluid contained in the container by the use of any external device that is equipped with a luer connector, such as syringe or cartridge barrels and IV sets.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for repeatedly accessing a medical fluid contained in a container equipped with the rotary seal stopper and closing the container after each use by rotating the rotary seal in order to prevent contamination of the medical fluid by air-born particles in the environment, such as dust and bacteria. The rotary seal stopper contains no xe2x80x9csharpsxe2x80x9d, such as sharp or blunt needle cannulas or spikes and, therefore, the use thereof does not have the risk of accidental injuries and transmittance of contagious diseases.
The rotary seal stopper/container assembly comprises:
a) a container, such as a vial, bottle, or a bag equipped with a rigid or semi-rigid exit port having an appropriate size sufficiently large to connectably receive the rotary seal stopper;
b) a rotary seal stopper assembled to the container; and
c) a removable cap covering the rotary seal stopper and the neck portion of the container or the neck portion of the rigid or semi-rigid exit port of a bag to maintain the rotary seal stopper in an aseptic condition prior to use.
The container used in conjunction with the present invention is made of glass or a polymeric material known in the art. When the container is made of glass it is in the shape of a vial or bottle. Plastic containers may be in the shape of a vial, bottle or bag. The vial or bottle is of rigid or semi-flexible polymeric material, while the bag is of a pliable polymeric material. In all the configurations the container is provided with a neck portion which is sufficiently rigid and is capable of retaining its dimensions when the rotary seal stopper is inserted thereinto. The container has a neck portion terminating in an open end to receive the rotary seal stopper which is inserted in the open end to seal the content therein and to maintain it in sterile condition.
The rotary seal stopper comprises:
an elastomeric stopper;
a thermoplastic rotary valve top insert; and
a thermoplastic rotary valve bottom insert, the rotary valve top and bottom inserts constituting the rotary valve. The rotary valve top insert is equipped with threads and thereby also serves as a male luer connector. The rotary valve is positioned into the elastomeric stopper such as by snapping the rotary valve into the elastomeric stopper. Alternatively, the rotary valve bottom insert may be shot molded into the elastomeric stopper followed by snapping the rotary valve top insert into the rotary valve bottom insert.
The elastomeric stopper having a head portion and a skirt portion is made of an elastomeric base, such as a natural or synthetic rubber preferably having an inert, polymeric coating thereon covering at least the medical fluid contacting portions of the stopper. Examples of elastomeric materials from which the stopper can be made include butyl rubber, isoprene rubber, silicone rubber, halogenated rubber and ethylene propylene therpolymer. Specific examples of a synthetic elastomeric rubber include: the CH2CF2xe2x80x94C3F6(C3F5H) and the C2F4xe2x80x94C2F3OCF3 series of elastomers made by DuPont under the tradenames of VITON(copyright) and CARLEZ(copyright); the fluoro-silicon rubbers, such as made by Dow Corning under the tradename of SILASTIC(copyright); and polyisobutylenes, such as VISTANEX MML-100 and MML-140; and halogenated butyl rubber, such as CHLOROBUTYL 1066 made by Exxon Chemical Company. These and other suitable elastomers may be made into the desired stopper configuration by known methods. Such methods typically include the use of a curing agent, a stabilizer and a filler and comprise a primary and a secondary curing step at elevated temperatures. The coating covering the elastomeric stopper may be of chlorobutyl rubber, polymeric fluorocarbon resins and thermoplastic films. The stopper is of cylindrical shape and has a flange head portion overlying the open top end of the container. Integral with the flange head portion is a skirt portion which extends into the open end and seated in the neck portion of the container. The inside diameter of the neck portion of the container is somewhat smaller than the outside diameter of the skirt portion so that a tight seal is created between the skirt portion and inside wall of the neck portion of the container. In the center portion of the stopper there is a cylindrical opening extending through the head and skirt portions of the stopper. The cylindrical opening is adapted to receive the rotary valve.
The rotary valve is made of thermoplastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polymethylpentene, cyclic olefin polymers, acrylic polymers and methacrylic polymers.
A removable cap encloses the rotary seal stopper and the neck portion of the container. The cap is made of plastic, or a metal such as aluminum. The cap at its bottom portion is sealed to the neck of the container by a tear strip. At the point of use the tear strip is removed followed by removal of the cap revealing the male luer connector with locking threads thereon. A female luer connector is then attached and the contents of the container is delivered to the patient via a tubing and catheter.
The method of accessing a medical fluid contained in a container equipped with the rotary seal stopper of the present invention comprises the steps of:
a) providing the rotary seal stopper/container assembly as described herein;
b) removing the tear strip and the removable cap thereby exposing the male luer connector in the rotary seal stopper;
c) attaching an external access means having a female luer connector to the male luer connector of the rotary seal stopper;
d) turning the rotary seal top insert in the rotary seal stopper to the open position; and
e) delivering the medical fluid contained in the container to a patient.


A financial institution customer is permitted to create an uncleared transaction record within the financial institution's account ledger for the customer in anticipation of actually making the transaction. Although maintained within the financial institutions electronic records for the account and appearing on monthly statements or printed transaction histories, uncleared transaction records are treated as account comments but the financial institution and are not employed in any manner to modify the account balance for the corresponding account. The uncleared transaction record may include a detailed description of the transaction as well as a unique transaction identifier, created by the customer or preprinted on a banking form such as a deposit slip. When the transaction is actually made, the real transaction record is annotated with the transaction identifier. Uncleared transaction records may subsequently be correlated to real transaction records utilizing the transaction identifiers during reconciliation. During reconciliation, corresponding uncleared and real transaction records may be merged with the transaction description within the uncleared transaction record appended to the transaction description in the real transaction record. Transaction records may be automatically merged or presented in pairs for manual merger.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to electronic banking and in particular to reconciling account transactions in electronic banking. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to creation and reconciliation of uncleared transactions in a bank ledger for a customer account utilizing electronic banking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic banking systems are being developed for and utilized by an increasingly large portion of the banking industry. In particular, efforts are being made--by the consortium Integrion, for example--to advance electronic banking services over the Internet for "Web-based" banking. Using such Web-based banking, customers may access their account within a financial institution (bank, credit union, etc.) for bill payment, account reconciliation, and other purposes.
The ledger currently available to consumers for Web-based banking is essentially the "cleared" or "scheduled" transactions. Cleared transactions are those which have completed the clearinghouse function and been posted to a customer's account, while scheduled transactions are those which have been cleared but have not yet been posted. Financial institutions provide no means for including ledger entries for anticipated transactions, such as a deposit which the customer has prepared but which will be actually taken to the bank later.
It is not currently possible, for example, for a Customer to employ an anticipated or uncleared transaction in reconciling the account. With personal finance managers, however, such as Quicken or Microsoft Money, transactions may be entered into a local ledger with an identifier of the transaction type, such as "Deposit of reimbursement check." The actual transaction may occur later, as when the deposit is made the next day. The information may be entered at the time the transaction is prepared, and no further action is required after the transaction actually occurs until the customer is ready to reconcile the local ledger with a bank statement. When reconciliation is undertaken, the personal finance manager may provide assistance in correlating transactions from a local ledger with the amounts in the bank statement.
For Web-based banking, there is generally no ability for customers to alter the online ledger to include information regarding a transaction which has not yet been submitted. Even if there were, when the transaction actually occurs the financial institution will typically enter a generic description, such as "Deposit" or perhaps "Walk-up Teller Deposit," in the account ledger, At reconciliation, this provides little benefit to the customer attempting to correlate the cleared, real transaction with an uncleared or anticipated transaction for the purposes of merging the transaction records. Unless the customer continues to keep paper notes of deposits or withdrawals, the customer is left to match amounts and/or attempt to identify unmatched transactions having the closest dates. This may be an extremely time-consuming and error-prone process.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide customers with a mechanism for creating transaction records for anticipated transactions. It would further be advantageous if the mechanism included the capability for automatic correlation with real transaction records.

Correlating transaction records via user-specified identifier creating uncleared transaction

International Business Machines Corporation


A system based on codes permits the management of static and dynamic object streams including virtual static objects, object I/O, typed object I/O, and object multiplexing and demultiplexing. System information consists of codes and non-code information which exists within objects which may be typed, and may exist within static or dynamic streams.

Conventional computer and communications systems store and retrieve, send and receive, and process information that may consist of symbols, strings, numbers, arrays, lists, commands, programs, messages, objects or other types of data as sequences of consecutive units of bits, bytes, octets, words, blocks, sectors, segments, pages, or other units. This information is typically referenced by addresses, often consisting of a series of absolute and relative locations, and delimited by length.
While different types of information may enter or leave the system through a single device, the different types of information are typically segregated within the system, and referenced by device identifiers, directories, file names, memory pointers and other forms of links that are created and maintained separately. In any given area of storage or memory, it is impossible to determine the information present, its type, structure or meaning without contextual information located elsewhere. This has traditionally required software that knows all of the information attributes including system location.
Even the most advanced contextual systems, object-oriented systems, while presenting new software and application capabilities to the user, still rely upon traditional addressing and linking structures within the system for segregating software and data, partitioning data constructs and managing memory.
Memory-mapped I/O, prevalent in every contemporary commercial microprocessor, perpetuates dependence on memory cell as the basic unit of data address and transfer.
Conventional microprocessor systems use memory-mapped I/O in which I/O operations require a data bus and an address bus. The data travels on the data bus between a single processor and I/O devices when the processor selects a read or write memory location and places the data in that location or register. Underneath the memory operation, a read or write operation is selected, a device address or code is selected, and the data is clocked onto the bus to initiate the transfer. This is a unit by unit process that uses a single data bus for bidirectional transfer, and only one unit transfer can occur at a time.
In addition, systems require additional leads and controls for contention and interrupt processing.
More complex systems, have no requirement that one processor control all bus activities, and devices can contend for bus use on a unit by unit basis. But operations still occur on a memory address and transfer count basis.
In order to optimize processing speed, engineering efforts have concentrated on maximizing bus width. Practical limits of semiconductor devices and circuit boards restrict on-board connectivity and off-board ports and paths. In particular, a single bus is used for both send and receive operations. Also, it is also not clear how fiber optics can be profitably employed using this bus technology.
Similarly, expanded address bus widths and address segmentation mechanisms have been devised to increase accessible memory address spectrums. But these approaches complicate board design, fragment system architectures, and increase system complexity.
Prior art systems where multiple units access a common or shared bus rely upon contention and collision sensing mechanisms to determine bus availability and arbitrate bus usage. Typically, the unit of information transfer is a function of the protocol, and bears no relationship to the size or type of information being transferred. Files or other information sequences which exceed this unit length must be transmitted in multiple, separate and distinct intervals of bus occupancy.
Communications systems, facilities and protocols treat communicated information as meaningless, structureless streams of bits and bytes. Protocols specify extensive protective envelopes, controls for ensuring reliable transmission, and transfer structures.
The separate and distinct mechanisms of memory management, memory-mapped I/O buses, and communications protocols create boundaries within and between systems that increase system complexity and preclude managing information on a unified and integrated basis.
Software modules that exclusively reference specific pieces of information must either have that information segregated from other information, or must include the added complexity of knowing and preserving the structure of all of the information. Specific locations and pointers must always be separately created and maintained. These requirements add further complexity to applications software.

System for managing information using codes and coded objects


An active material electronic device with a containment layer. The device includes an active chalcogenide, pnictide, or phase-change material in electrical communication with an upper and lower electrode. The device includes a containment layer formed over the active material that prevents escape of volatilized matter from the active material when the device is exposed to high temperatures during fabrication or operation. The containment layer further prevents chemical contamination of the active material by protecting it from reactive species in the processing or ambient environment. Once the containment layer is formed, the device may be subjected to high temperature or chemically aggressive environments without impairing the compositional or structural integrity of the active material.

Chalcogenide materials are an emerging class of commercial electronic materials that exhibit switching, memory, logic, and processing functionality. The basic principles of chalcogenide materials were developed by S. R. Ovshinsky in the 1960's and much effort by him and others around the world since then have led to advancements of the underlying science and an expansion of the field of application of chalcogenide materials.
Early work in chalcogenide devices demonstrated electrical switching behavior in which switching from a resistive state to a conductive state was induced upon application of a voltage at or above the threshold voltage of the active chalcogenide material. This effect is the basis of the Ovonic Threshold Switch (OTS) and remains an important practical feature of chalcogenide materials. The OTS provides highly reproducible switching at ultra fast switching speeds over many cycles of operation. Basic principles and operational features of the OTS are presented, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,271,591; 5,543,737; 5,694,146; and 5,757,446; the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference, as well as in several journal articles including "Reversible Electrical Switching Phenomena in Disordered Structures", Physical Review Letters, vol. 21, p.1450-1453 (1969) by S. R. Ovshinsky; "Amorphous Semiconductors for Switching, Memory, and Imaging Applications", IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, vol. ED-20, p. 91-105 (1973) by S. R. Ovshinsky and H. Fritzsche; the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Another important application of chalcogenide materials is in electrical and optical memory devices. One type of chalcogenide memory device utilizes the wide range of resistance values available for the active chalcogenide material as the basis of memory operation. Each resistance value corresponds to a distinct structural state of the chalcogenide material and one or more of the states can be selected and used to define operational memory states. Chalcogenide materials exhibit a crystalline state or phase as well as an amorphous state or phase. Different structural states of a chalcogenide material differ with respect to the relative proportions of crystalline and amorphous phase in a given volume or region of chalcogenide material. The range of resistance values is bounded by a set state and a reset state of the chalcogenide material. The set state is a low resistance structural state whose electrical properties are primarily controlled by the crystalline portion of the chalcogenide material and the reset state is a high resistance structural state whose electrical properties are primarily controlled by the amorphous portion of the chalcogenide material.
Each memory state of a chalcogenide memory material corresponds to a distinct range of resistance values and each memory resistance value signifies unique informational content. Operationally, the chalcogenide material can be programmed into a particular memory state by providing energy, most commonly an electric current pulse of appropriate amplitude and duration, to transform the chalcogenide material into the structural state having the resistance value associated with the particular informational content to be stored. By controlling the amount of energy provided to a chalcogenide material, it is possible to control the relative proportions of crystalline and amorphous phase regions within a volume of the material and to thereby control the structural (and memory) state of the chalcogenide material.
Each memory state can be programmed by providing the current pulse characteristic of the state and each state can be identified or read in a non-destructive fashion by measuring the resistance. Programming among the different states is fully reversible and the memory devices can be written and read over a repeated number of cycles to provide robust and reliable operation. The variable resistance memory functionality of chalcogenide materials is currently being exploited in the OUM (Ovonic Universal (or Unified) Memory) devices that are expected to appear on the market soon. Basic principles and operation of OUM type devices are presented, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,859,390; 6,774,387; 6,687,153; and 6,314,014; the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein as well as in several journal articles including "Low Field Amorphous State Resistance and Threshold Voltage Drift in Chalcogenide Materials", published in IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, vol. 51, p. 714-719 (2004) by Pirovana et al.; and "Morphing Memory" published in IEEE Spectrum, vol. 167, p. 363-364 (2005) by Weiss.
The behavior (including switching, memory, and accumulation) and chemical compositions of chalcogenide materials included within the scope of this invention have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,671,710; 6,714,954; 6.087,674; 5,166,758; 5,296,716; 5,536,947; 5,596,522; 5,825,046; 5,687,112; 5,912,839; and 3,530,441, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. These references also describe proposed mechanisms that govern the behavior of the chalcogenide materials. The references also describe the structural transformations from the crystalline state to the amorphous state (and vice versa) via a series of partially crystalline states in which the relative proportions of crystalline and amorphous regions vary underlying the operation of electrical and optical chalcogenide materials. Similar structural transformations have been reported more recently for the pnictide family of materials.
Current development of the chalcogenide materials and devices is also oriented toward the fabrication of arrays of devices. Chalcogenide materials offer the promise of high density memory, logic and neural arrays that can operate according to traditional binary data storage or according to a multilevel scheme. Chalcogenide arrays further offer the prospect of integrating, on a single chip, both memory and processing capabilities, thereby enabling high speed operation.
In order to expand the commercial opportunities for chalcogenide or pnictide phase-change memories, it is necessary to identify phase-change materials, device structures, and methods of programming that lead to optimized performance. Among the desirable operational characteristics are a high contrast between the resistances of the reset state and set state, low reset current, scalability of performance with decreasing device size, fast crystallization, reproducible performance over multiple cycles of operation, avoidance or inhibition of atomic migration, compositional stability, good adhesion between the active phase-change material and the electric contacts and surrounding layers of the device, stable long term storage of data, and consistent performance over a wide range of ambient conditions (including temperature and working environment).
An important commercial requirement for chalcogenide or other phase-change memory devices is endurance. Practical memories must function over an extended number of operational read/write cycles. Most current chalcogenide or phase-change memory devices are capable of operating for several million cycles before failure occurs. Various modes of failure have been identified as limiting the cycle life of chalcogenide or phase-change devices. Modes of failure include a stuck set condition, a stuck reset condition, open circuit failure, and shunting. To facilitate commercialization of chalcogenide or phase-change memory devices, it is desirable to extend the cycle life to at least several billion cycles of operation. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms of failure and to devise strategies for preventing failure.

Active material devices with containment layer


A method of removing beta-2 microglobulin from blood has the steps of removing blood from a patient, passing the blood through a material with a size and a structure selected so as to remove beta-2 microglobulin from the blood, and re-entering the blood from which the beta-2 microglobulin is removed into the patient.

The present invention relates to a method of removing beta-2 microglobulin from blood.
Beta-2 microglobulin, a protein, is found in very high concentrations in patients in chronic renal failure and on chronic dialysis. Beta-2 microglobulin is removed by the kidneys in the proximal tubes by endocytosis in a healthy individual. The molecule is the co-dimer in the dimeric structure of Class-1 HLA antigens. These antigens are found in high concentration on lymphocytes and are found on all nucleated mammalian cells. In patients will malfunctioning kidney, beta-2 microglobulin accumulates to 40 to 60 multiples of normal. The accumulation of beta-2 microglobulin is basis of the initiation of Dialysis-Associated Amyloidosis. This is a clinical entity that causes arthropathy and neuropathy. The primary effect is severe joint destruction and pain. Many patients require corrective surgery such as Carpal-Tunnel Laminectomies and Cervical Spine Laminectomy. In addition, they require use of analgesics and anti-inflammatory medications to treat the symptoms of DRA.
Attempts to remove beta-2 microglobulin have been made, as disclosed for example in A New Therapeutic Approach to Dialysis Amyloidosis: Intensive Removal of .beta..sub.2 -Microglobulin with Adsorbent Column by Fumitake Geijyo, Noriyuki Homma, Shin Hasegawa, and Massaaki Arakawa published in Department of Internal Medicine (II), Niigata University School of Medicine, Niigata, Japan.

Method of removing beta-2 microglobulin from blood


The invention concerns a time-continuous delta-sigma analog-digital converter for the conversion of an analog input signal into a digital output signal, comprising an analog filter for the filtering of the analog input signal, a clocked operated quantiser, which contains at least one comparator (34) and which quantises the filtered analog signal outputted through the analog filter for the generation of the digital output signal, and a feedback arrangement with at least one digital-analog converter, which supplies to the analog filter at least one feedback signal on the basis of the digital output signal. According to the invention a calibration device (32) linked with the quantiser is stipulated, which is designed to determine at a predetermined point in time an offset error of the comparator (34) and subsequently to compensate for this (Itrim).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a delta-sigma analog-digital converter for the conversion of an analog input signal into a digital output signal, comprising:                an analog filter for the filtering of the analog input signal,        a quantiser clocked by a clock signal, which contains at least one comparator and quantises the filtered analog signal outputted through the analog filter for the generation of the digital output signal, and        a feedback arrangement with at least one digital-analog converter, which supplies to the analog filter at least one analog feedback signal on the basis of the digital output signal.
Furthermore the invention concerns a corresponding conversion method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
From DE 10 2004 009 611 A1, for example, a converter of this kind is of known art. In this prior art according to one form of embodiment a quantiser is provided which consists of one comparator and delivers a digital quantiser output signal with one bit resolution. In an alternative form of embodiment the quantiser has a plurality of quantising stages and delivers a digital output signal comprising a plurality of bits. The design and the function of the quantiser are not described in any further detail in this publication.
A fundamental problem with conventional continuous-time delta-sigma analog-digital converters is the so-called offset error of the one or more comparators that are used in the quantiser for the quantisation of the signal supplied. Such a comparator offset error can for example lead to the fact that for an input signal that lies just underneath the comparator threshold, the comparator output signal assumes a value that is stipulated for input signals lying above the comparator threshold. The reverse case is also conceivable. The offset error thus leads ultimately to the fact that under certain circumstances the comparator concerned comes to the incorrect decision. It is clear that this error affects the quality of the delta-sigma analog-digital converter disadvantageously. This problem is particularly serious if the quantiser has a plurality of comparators in order to deliver a comparison result with multiple bit resolution. In this case not only does the offset error of a comparator as such possess relevance for the conversion quality, but so also does the fact that the individual offset errors of the majority of comparators differ from one another in an undefined manner.
A possible option for improvement of the converter quality consists in making the total system less sensitive to offset errors in the region of the quantiser. However this is either linked with a relatively high level of complexity in terms of circuitry or possesses other disadvantages, such as e.g. a reduction of the converter resolution as a result of a reduction of the resolution of the quantiser. Another possible approach for improvement of the converter quality consists in implementing the one or more comparators of the quantiser according to established circuitry concepts using field effect transistors, wherein these transistors are however designed with a particularly large surface area and/or length. This would indeed reduce the offset error of the comparator, but leads to a disadvantageous increase in the power requirement, i.e. current requirement, of the comparator and the upstream part of the circuitry.

Delta-sigma analog digital converter with offset compensation


In a device for securing stock rails in railway switches comprising a bearing plate (2) for the stock rail (1), a slide chair (3) for the switch blade and an elongate spring element (6) for holding down the rail foot (1), the spring element (6) is insertable into a tunnel-shaped recess (5) of the slide chair (3) at a tension insufficient for holding down the rail foot (1), or without any tension at all, and is braceable relative to the rail foot (1) and the bearing plate (2) by a separate clamping wedge (10) extending transverse to the spring element (6). The spring element (6) has a cross section varying over its length and, starting from a central region in which it cooperates with the transverse wedge (10), tapers towards its two free ends and, on its free end (9) facing away from the rail foot (1), is designed to project towards the bearing plate (2).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for securing stock rails in railway switches comprising a bearing plate for the stock rail, a slide chair for the switch blade and an elongate spring element for holding down the rail foot, which spring element is insertable into a tunnel-shaped recess of the slide chair at a tension insufficient for holding down the rail foot, or without any tension at all, and is braceable relative to the rail foot and the bearing plate by a separate clamping wedge extending transverse to the spring element.
2. Prior Art
A device of the initially defined kind may be taken from Austrian Patent No. 321 345. An essential advantage of the known configuration resides in that driving in of the spring element may be effected without any tension, without having to overcome frictional forces during driving in. A defined spring tension that serves to brace the spring element against the rail foot is applied by the transverse wedge introduced subsequently. Since bracing of the spring element against the foot of the stock rail is not effected during the insertion of the spring element, the spring element can be readily inserted into the recess of the slide chair, wherein the spring element in that known embodiment is supported against the wedge in its central zone while the end facing away from the rail foot bears against the bearing plate.
In the known configuration a substantially plate-shaped spring element was used. Due to the spring element being deflected upon driving in of the transverse wedge, the spring element in such a configuration bears against the bearing plate over a more or less large portion on its side facing away from the rail foot of the stock rail, the bearing site being not precisely defined though. The exactly reproducible application of a defined spring force on the foot of the stock rail is affected by the undefined configuration of the abutment on the bearing plate. It must be initially assumed, in particular, that the transverse wedge driven in to define the spring force is to have but a relatively slight inclination in order to remain self-lockingly and safely in its position. Furthermore, the end position of the inserted transverse wedge is to correspond to the respectively desired application force. A shift of the bearing point of the end of the spring element facing away from the rail foot naturally also entails a variable force absorption of the spring element and a substantially uniform cross-sectional height of the plate-shaped spring element involves a relatively irregular force absorption of the stresses occurring in the spring.

Device for securing stock rails in railway switches


A main printed board having an electronic part contiguous to an apparatus main body at inside of a cabinet made of a synthetic resin is arranged to be proximate to other side walls of a ceiling plate portion and a bottom plate portion, a static electricity preventing plate having a width wider than that of the main printed board is hung from the ceiling plate portion to be proximate to the other side walls opposedly to the main printed board, a lower end of the static electricity preventing plate is extended to a vicinity of the main printed board, projected portions are integrally projected from the ceiling plate portion 1a to be proximate to a rear portion of a tray contained at inside of the cabinet, and lower ends of the projected portions are positioned downward from an upper face of the tray.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk apparatus for reproducing, recording or erasing a disk of, for example, a DVD player or the like, particularly for preventing an erroneous operation by static electricity from being brought about and resolving a so-to-speak sliding down phenomenon of a disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a background art, there is a technology of a DVD player disclosed in JP-A-6-251479 or the like, when an example thereof is explained in reference to FIG. 6 through FIG. 8, according thereto, a cabinet 1 made of a synthetic resin in a shape of a rectangular box is formed by a ceiling plate portion 1a, a bottom plate portion 1b and a front face plate portion 1c, an apparatus main body 2 is arranged at inside of a cabinet 1 to be proximate to one side walls 26, 27 of the ceiling plate portion 1a and the bottom plate portion 1b, and a periphery of the apparatus main body 2 in the cabinet 1 is arranged with an AV printed board 3 substantially in an L-like shape in plane view and a main printed board 4 having an electronic part A.
The apparatus main body 2 includes a main chassis 8 for supporting a tray 7 for mounting a disk D movably forward and rearward a, b, and an optical pickup 10 axially supported by the main chassis 8 movably upward and downward c, d centering on an axially supporting shaft 9 and a drive chassis 13 mounted with a spindle motor 12 having a turn table 11, a cam shaft 14 projected from a front face of the drive chassis 13 is fitted to a cam groove 15a of a cam slider 15, the cam slider 15 is arranged at the main chassis 8 slidably in left and right directions e, f orthogonal to forward and rearward directions a, b, and the drive chassis 13 is formed to move upward and downward c, d by sliding the cam slider 15 in the left direction e (or right direction f). Further, a disk holder 17 having a magnet opposed to the turn table 11 is arranged at a horizontal beam 18 hung between two side wall portions 8a of the main chassis 8. Further, in FIG. 6, numeral 19 designates a disk containing recess portion formed at a center portion of the tray 7, and numeral 20 designates a float up preventing piece extended from the two side wall portions 8a of the main chassis 8 to upper sides of two side edge recessed step portions 7a of the tray 7.
Explaining operation principle, a bold line of FIG. 6 and FIG. 7A show a play mode, the disk D is rotated at high speed by the spindle motor 12 by way of the turn table 11, information recorded on the disk D is read by the optical pickup 10, and an image is reproduced on a monitor.
When an unloading signal is inputted from the play mode, as shown by FIG. 7B, by moving downward d the drive chassis 13 by sliding the cam slider 15 in the left direction e (or right direction f), the disk D is delivered from the turn table 11 to the tray 7, thereafter, the tray 7 is moved forward a by passing a disk takeout port 21 of the front face plate portion 1c, the disk d is taken out from the tray 7 and a new one of the disk d is mounted onto the tray 7.
Successively, when a loading signal is inputted, as shown by FIG. 7A, after moving the tray 7 rearward b to contain at inside of the cabinet 1, by moving the drive chassis 13 upward c by sliding the cam slider 15 in the right direction f (or left direction e), the disk D on the tray 7 is pinched by the turn table 11 by the disk holder 17.
The main printed board 4 is constituted by a shape of a rectangular plate, three corner portion thereof are penetrated with inserting holes 4a, the main printed board 4 is mounted on a plurality of leg rods 28 integrally projected from a bottom face of the bottom plate portion 1b, by fitting a center inserting hole 4a to a locking pin 29 integrally projected from an upper face of the leg rods 28 and screwing screws 30 to screw holes of the respective leg rods 28 by passing the remaining two inserting holes 4a opposed to each other along a diagonal line, the main printed board 4 is fixed to the bottom plate portion 1b and is connected to the ground (grounded) by way of the screws 30.
Explaining a procedure of a static electricity test, as shown by FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, static electricity is generated while moving an electrostatic tester 33 along an outer periphery of the cabinet 1, and it is checked whether the apparatus main body 2, the AV printed board 3 and an electronic part A of the main printed board 4 are erroneously operated by the static electricity.


A via hole is first formed, and an embedded material is embedded in the via hole. A height of the embedded material is adjusted so that a surface thereof is between an upper surface of an SiOC film and that of an SiC film. After this, an SiN film, a TEOS film, and the SiOC film are etched by using a resist mask as a mask. However, etching of the SiOC film is stopped when a bottom of a trench formed in the SiOC film is lower than an upper surface of the embedded material and higher than that of the SiC film. Then, the resist mask and the embedded material are removed. The SiOC film is etched again by using the SiN film as a mask, and the SiN film and an exposed part of the SiC film are removed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device suitable for forming wiring layers
2. Description of the Related Art
Via-first dual damascene for which an SiO group interlayer insulating film is used is adopted in recent microfabrication of wiring layers. In the dual damascene, occurrence of a fence between vias or a level difference in a via is restrained by controlling a height of an embedded material. When controlling the height thereof, the height of the embedded material corresponds to a height of one of the interlayer insulating film lying on a lower side.
Meanwhile, a low dielectric constant film is used as the interlayer insulating film between the wiring layers with an aim of lowering parasitic capacitance between the wiring layers or the like in order to enable high-speed operation.
A prior art is described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-188329.
Also, when forming via-first dual damascene for which an SiOC group interlayer insulating film having low dielectric constant is used, occurrence of the fence between the vias or the level difference in the via needs to be restrained by controlling the height of the embedded material in the via.
Here, a problem when the height of the embedded material is inappropriately controlled according to a conventional manufacturing method is explained.
The problem when the height of the embedded material is too high is explained hereinafter. FIG. 6A to FIG. 6D are cross-sectional views showing a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device in order of processes when the height of the embedded material is too high.
As shown in FIG. 6A, on a wiring 101, an SiC film 102, an SiOC film 103, an SiC film 104, an SiOC film 105, a TEOS (Tetra Ethyl Ortho Silicate) film 106, and an SiN film 107 are first formed in this order. Then, a via hole 108 is formed in the SiN film 107, the TEOS film 106, the SiOC film 105, the SiC film 104, and the SiOC film 103. Thereafter, an embedded material 109 is embedded in the via hole 108. In this example, a surface of the embedded material 109 is between an upper surface of the SiOC film 105 and that of the Sic film 104. In other words, the embedded material 109 is higher than the SiOC film 105. After this, a resist mask 110 is formed by applying a resist on all surfaces and patterning it.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, the SiN film 107, the TEOS film 106, and the SiOC film 105 are etched by using the resist mask 110 as a mask until a surface of the SiC film 104 is exposed. As a result of this etching, a part of the SiOC film 105 remains on a side of the embedded material 109.
After this, as can be seen in FIG. 6C, the resist mask 110 and the embedded material 109 are removed by ashing.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6D, the SiC films 102 and 104 are removed by etching. At the same time, the SiN film 107, which has low etching selectivity against the SiC films 102 and 104, is removed. As a result of this etching, a trench 112 is formed, and the wiring 101 is exposed.
Thereafter, embedding of a wiring (not shown) or the like is carried out.
As described above, when the height of the embedded material 109 is too high according to the conventional manufacturing method, the part of the SiOC film 105 remaining on the side of the embedded material 109 during the process shown in FIG. 6B remains as it is in the trench 112, as shown in FIG. 6D.
The problem when the height of the embedded material is too low is explained hereinafter. FIG. 7A to FIG. 7D are cross-sectional views showing the method for manufacturing the semiconductor device in order of the processes when the height of the embedded material is too low.
First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the processes are carried out until the embedded material 109 is embedded in the via hole 108 in the same way as shown in FIG. 6A. However, in this example, the surface of the embedded material 109 is between an upper surface of the SiC film 102 and that of the SiOC film 103. In other words, the embedded material 109 is lower than the SiOC film 103. Then, the resist mask 110 is formed by applying the resist on all the surfaces and patterning it.
Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the SiN film 107, the TEOS film 106, and the SiOC film 105 are etched by using the resist mask 110 as a mask until the surface of the SiC film 104 is exposed. In this example, the embedded material 109 is lower than the height at which the SiC film 104 is formed; therefore, an edge of the SiC film 104 is somewhat etched during this etching process. Consequently, a part of the SiOC film 103 covered by an etched part of the SiC film 104 is etched deeper than the upper surface of the embedded material 109. Accordingly, a level difference occurs on the SiOC film 103.
After this, as can be seen in FIG. 7C, the resist mask 110 and the embedded material 109 are removed by ashing.
Next, as shown in FIG. 7D, the SiC films 102 and 104 are removed by etching. At the same time, the SiN film 107, which has low etching selectivity against the SiC films 102 and 104, is removed. As a result of this etching, the trench 112 is formed, and the wiring 101 is exposed.
Thereafter, embedding of the wiring (not shown) or the like is carried out.
As described above, when the height of the embedded material 109 is too low according to the conventional manufacturing method, the level difference formed on the SiOC film 103 during the process shown in FIG. 7B remains as it is, as shown in FIG. 7D.
Therefore, as explained above, the height of the embedded material 109 needs to be strictly controlled.
However, the fence between the vias or the level difference in the via occur due to influence of resist poisoning or difficulty in controlling the height of the embedded material. These problems lead to decrease of process yield and reliability.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device


Film of at least two layers having at least one side softening at a lower temperature and at least one side softening at a higher temperature, wherein the higher-softening side substantially consists of a thermoplastic polyurethane which softens at above 100.degree. C. on a Kofler hot bench and the median of the softening range is at least 15.degree. C. above that of the lower-softening layer and the matrix component of the lower-softening side consists of at least one hot-bonding thermoplastic material from the group comprising polyamides, polyesters and polyurethanes having a median of the softening range on a Kofler hot bench of below 100.degree. C. and at least one thermoplastic additive component containing hydrocarbon is added to the lower-softening layer.

Many variants of plastic films are known. Hot melt adhesive films are a particular embodiment. Hot melt adhesive films, their properties and advantages, together with processes for the production thereof from conventional granulated and powdered hot melt pressure sensitive adhesives are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,117 (Grace) or DE 2 114 065 (Plate Bonn). DE 3 911 613 (Audi), for example, describes the use of hot melt adhesive films. A general classification of adhesives may be found in Habenicht, Kleben, Springer Verlag, Berlin 1986. Hot melt adhesive films are known in embodiments as films having adhesive properties on both sides as well as laminating films having adhesive properties on only one side.
According to the prior art, films consisting of at least one hot-bonding, low-softening layer of a polymer resin and at least one higher-softening layer of a second polymer resin are known as laminating films. Film structures consisting of at least one low-softening and one higher-softening layer are known from the packaging sector, in particular from food packaging. The films used in this sector are usually produced from polyolefins, which have only low hot-bonding properties. In contrast with the use of laminating films, in which a bond is formed between a film with adhesive properties on one side with inter alia a non-adhesive substrate, in heat sealable packaging two heat sealing layers are fused together.
Laminating films thus differ from pressure sensitive adhesive films produced from a support which is coated with a pure pressure sensitive adhesive, as are for example described in WO 92/22619 (Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company). It is not only at elevated temperatures that these films offer inadequate adhesive power and they may moreover too readily be detached from the substrate.
Known applications for laminating films is the provision of a skin on porous articles, such as for example foams, woven goods and non-woven materials. The purpose of providing this skin is inter alia to produce a smooth surface and thus provide protection against the penetration or passage of fluids, generally to provide protection against water. Foam systems may thus be protected inter alia against rotting by the provision of a skin. The articles provided with a skin in this manner may moreover readily be printed or painted, which is not straightforwardly possible with porous surfaces.
In industrial applications, the properties of the widely used and low cost polyolefins are often insufficient, such that laminating films made from engineering thermoplastics such as polyamides, polyesters or also combinations thereof must be used. This is particularly the case when substrates with polar surfaces are to be covered or when not only the adhesive, but also the cohesive properties of the adhesive are of decisive importance. If the laminating films are additionally intended to have elastic properties, polymer resins from the group of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) are readily used for the layer which softens in the higher temperature range. This group includes both low-softening grades, so-called hot melts, and higher-softening standard grades.
TPU are readily used as the higher-softening layer in known elastic laminating films made from thermoplastic materials as they offer a wide range of relevant properties, such as elevated abrasion resistance and elevated tear strength combined with elevated elongation at break and good resilience. Commercially available TPU are in principle suitable as the higher-softening layer of laminating films, in particular those TPU which are already used for single-layer films or for the raw material formulations on which they are based.
Single-layer films made from higher-softening TPU, processes for the production thereof and the use thereof are known according to the prior art, for example from EP 0 308 683 (BF Goodrich), EP 0 526 858 (Elf Atochem), EP 0 571 868 (Wolff Walsrode) or EP 0 603 680 (Wolff Walsrode). The structures described in these documents may be incorporated into laminating films as the higher-melting layer or layers or have already been incorporated into known laminating films of this type. The production of TPU films using substantially incompatible polymers as flatting agents in TPU elastomers is also described, for example, in DE 41 26 499 (Elastogran).
Laminating films for industrial applications preferably have better hot-bonding properties on one side. Their bond properties are moreover usually specially tailored to the substrate onto which they are to be bonded. The hot melt adhesive layer of the laminating film is preferably selected from the same class of materials as the substrate. For industrial applications, the raw materials for the hot melt adhesive layer are thus preferably selected from the group of raw materials comprising the classes of thermoplastic polyamides, polyesters and polyurethanes. Conventionally, these hot melt formulations are not homopolymers, but instead copolymers. Decisive material characteristics such as melting point, softening point, crystallisation behaviour and modulus of elasticity may be adjusted by copolymerisation. Within the stated classes, both more elastic and more rigid formulations are known.
Prior art hot melt raw materials offered for sale, which are available for film production, are conventionally offered for sale as granulated or powdered products. Since they are often also used as raw materials for the formulation of crosslinking adhesives, they preferably have hydroxyl end groups. If the Kofler hot bench softening range of the lower-softening layer is distinctly above 100.degree. C., it is possible by means of purposeful cooling of the low-melting layer to produce the low-melting layer without an additional release layer. Such films made from polyamide are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,986 (Allied Chemical Corporation). Corresponding films with a layer of copolyamide and a layer of TPU are described in EP 0 382 236 (BF Goodrich).
However, there is often a requirement to select the hot melt adhesive or heat sealing raw materials for the lower-softening layer such that they have a comparatively low softening range of below 100.degree. C., so that they do not damage the material to be laminated or provided with a skin during processing. Such a requirement is common for the provision of a skin on foamed plastics. Hot melt adhesives with Kofler hot bench softening ranges of below 100.degree. C. are thus conventional for this application. The melting points or melting range maxima of the lowest softening, commercially available adhesive raw materials are around 50.degree. C., measured to DIN 53 736. Due to the molecular weight and crystallite size distributions conventional in plastics, the melting or softening range of such a material extends over a wide temperature range of often up to 20.degree. C., which means that these materials may have an appreciable tendency to stick or block even at relatively high ambient temperatures and should thus often be classed as permanently tacky.
If laminating films are to be produced with a layer of very low-melting polymer resins, a release layer is often necessary for passage over rollers during production and/or in order to prevent blocking on the reel, because using such permanently tacky materials means that a web coated on one side with such an adhesive layer and wound into a roll, reel or winding cannot be unwound from the roll again because the front of the film sticks to the reverse. A permanent bond on the reel need not be formed to impair the processability of such a roll. In elastic materials such as TPU, even slight increases in the force necessary for unwinding may mean that the materials are so severely deformed under the tensile load that they can no longer reliably be processed.
In order to overcome the stated disadvantage, the free surfaces of the adhesive layer in known prior art elastic laminating films are provided with backing or release webs, which may readily be removed before the web is processed or bonded to a substrate. According to the prior art, the term backing or release layer is taken to mean a web which covers at least one of the sides of known prior art laminating films and is wound together with the laminating film, in order to prevent sticking or blocking of the individual turns of the roll on the reel. When the laminating film is unwound from the roll, the release layer remains on one side of the laminating film, but must be removed before the laminating film is put to its intended use.
If laminating films are to be produced which are provided with a heat sealing or hot melt layer which softens at below 100.degree. C., at least one release layer is always necessary according to the prior art in order reliably to prevent blocking on the reel. Such structures made from TPU are described, for example, in DE 1 964 059 Kalle). JA 61 086 262 (Toppan Printing), EP 0 002 465 (Bayer) or EP 0 024 740 (Plate Bonn) describe further processes for the production of such films. The last of these documents even describes the possibility of providing the laminating film with a release or protective film on both sides.
In the simplest case, polyethylene films may be used as release layers for laminating films having at least one layer from the group of the above-stated engineering thermoplastics, the polyamides, polyesters and TPU, which polyethylene films, even when unsiliconised, do not permanently adhere to polyurethane, copolyamide and copolyester hot melt pressure sensitive adhesive films and may thus be peeled off without further treatment. Prior art release layers may also consist of papers, films or other webs provided with silicone or other usual non-stick materials such as, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene.
The release layer materials must be produced separately, so increasing the price of the laminating films offered for sale. They are generally not wanted by the processor, who must separately unwind and often dispose of the release layer. They thus increase the cost of using laminating films and constitute an additional environmental impact.
Due to the dull, low-slip nature of the smooth surfaces of the low-softening layer of laminating films, various precautions must be taken during production and (further) processing in order to ensure rapid and unproblematic guidance of the film webs during production, use or conversion. One problem associated with the use of dull films is the formation of creases, which arise when tension is applied to the web and must be smoothed out before winding onto the reel or before contact with the substrate. Methods which may be considered for this purpose include inter alia the use of coated rollers and the greater than usual use of spreader rolls. In this connection, the processor in particular has considerable interest in a simplified and thus lower cost method of web guidance.
As an alternative to using release layer materials, it is also known to provide tacky or readily blocking materials with lubricants in such a manner that slip is achieved in machines and blocking on the reel is prevented. Using such materials in the lower-softening layer of the laminating film modifies the adhesive properties of this layer. The systems known for this purpose have the disadvantage that, due to surface occupation, they modify the adhesive or heat sealing properties or strength in such a manner that they do not achieve the initial performance of the unmodified material, even if processing parameters such as temperature, pressure and time are adjusted. Such lubricant, slip or non-stick systems are described, for example, by Brotz in Taschenbuch der Kunststoff-Additive, Gachter, Muller (eds.), 2nd edition, Hanser Verlag, Munich 1983.
It is also known to emboss fine structures on one side of the film, such that the contact area between the front and reverse of the laminating film is minimised on the roll. However according to the prior art, it is necessary to add a small proportion of wax to at least one layer in order reliably to prevent blocking. Here too, an unwanted reduction in adhesive properties occurs due to migration of the wax to the film surface.
The object of the present invention is accordingly to provide a laminating film for providing a skin on porous materials, which film may be stored without a release layer on the higher-melting or lower-melting side, without blocking on the reel and without losing its hot-bonding properties. The film should moreover be easier to pass through conventional machinery than known prior art laminating films. It should also be possible to process them under the conditions conventional for known laminating films. Such conditions include in particular processing on thermal laminating calenders, processing on flat bed thermal laminators and bonding activated laminating films to substrates in a press downstream from the activating station.

Laminating film without a release layer, process for the production thereof and use thereof


An aseptic or sanitary pipe or tube fitting including a first ferrule having an outer radial surface, a counterbore and an inner annular surface, and a second ferrule having an inner radial surface, an outer radial surface and an outer annular surface matingly engaging the inner annular surface and inner radial surface of the first ferrule, a recess in the outer radial surface and an O-ring forced into the recess by the inner radial surface of the first ferrule.

In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,994, entitled "Aseptic Pipe Joint," issued Apr. 4, 1989, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,617, entitled "Seal for Aseptic Fitting Assembly," issued Dec. 31, 1991, seal ring assemblies are shown and described for aseptic processing systems. These seal assemblies have particular application in the processing of foods and other products such as pharmaceuticals which require careful handling and appropriate precautions to provide sanitary equipment and thereby prevent contamination of the product. The seal-type assembly in the '994 patent is used to provide a seal in the ferrules of the pipe joints. This type of seal assembly, because of its circular configuration, does not provide a continuation of the internal surface of the pipe joint which would result in small trappings and build up of product in the joint.
The aseptic seal ring assembly described in the '617 patent uses a seal in the form of a U-shaped metallic ring filled with a resilient material such as rubber. The ring includes an enlarged flange on the end of each of the legs of the rings which are deformed to provide a metallic seal between the flanges of the pipe joint and the U-shaped rings. In this regard the U-shaped ring is provided with radial surfaces which are rotated into alignment with the radial surfaces of the pipe joint forming a metal-to-metal seal between the ring and the ferrule. This requires precise alignment in order to achieve metal-to-metal contact between the flanges.


A competition game system designed such that tactical data created based on respective results of input operations to manual operation sections of two game apparatuses are transmitted and received between the game apparatuses to allow a competition game having an identical event to be progressed in each of the game apparatuses based on the transmitted and received tactical data. Each of the game apparatuses comprises an action-setting section 305 adapted to create player-side tactical data corresponding to a content of an input operation from the manual operation section 10A, a communication control section 306 adapted to transmit the player-side tactical data created by the action-setting section 305, to the opponent's game apparatus, and receive opponent-side tactical data from the opponent's game apparatus, through a communication section 130, a determination section 307 adapted to determine a competition result, based on the player-side and opponent-side tactical data, and an image display control section 302 adapted to display a game image onto a display unit 3 according to the determined competition result. The competition game system of the present invention makes it possible to efficiently achieve a competition game while exchanging minimum data between a plurality of game apparatuses having the same configuration, without setting a master-servant relationship to the game apparatuses.

There has been proposed a music game system using a musical adaptation game apparatus designed to adapt for a piece of music, such as adaptation to a rhythm pattern, as disclosed in the following Patent Publication 1. This music game system is intended to allow each of plural persons to play the game in a different part of musical instruments. The music game system comprises first and second musical adaptation game apparatuses which are connected to each other through a communication section for transferring information about the progress of musical rendition. The communication section includes an information transmitting section provided in the first musical adaptation game apparatus, and an information receiving section provided in the second musical adaptation game apparatus.
Based on the above configuration, the music-rendition progress information is transferred between the first and second musical adaptation game apparatuses to allow the adaptation to be manually operated from respective adaptation operation sections of the first and second musical adaptation game apparatuses while synchronizing the game apparatuses with each other, so that each of the persons can play the game in a manner close to an actual music rendition, e.g., by manually operating each of the adaptation operation sections in his/her part.
In the music game system disclosed in the Patent Publication 1, it is necessary to have a scheme capable of configuring master/slave control means for assigning one of the game apparatuses undergoing an earlier input of a coin, to a master game apparatus, and assigning the other game apparatus undergoing a later input of a coin, to a slave game apparatus. Thus, the game apparatus has a problem about complexity in configuration, addition of a master processing required for the master game apparatus, and increase in volume of information to be transmitted from the master game apparatus.
In view of the above problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a competition game system capable of efficiently achieving a competition game while exchanging minimum data between a plurality of game apparatuses having the same configuration, without setting a master-servant relationship to the game apparatuses, and to provide a game apparatus for use in the competition game system.
Patent Publication 1: JP 2000-237454A

Competition game system and game apparatus


A sheet inspection apparatus for a sheet-fed offset printing press includes an endless conveying unit, a plurality of gripper units, and an inspection unit. The conveying unit has a conveying path and a return path and conveys a sheet delivered from a printing unit. The gripper units are supported by the conveying unit at a predetermined interval along a sheet conveying direction to grip one end of the sheet. The inspection unit is arranged on an opposite side of the conveying path with respect to the return path to optically inspect a printed state of the sheet conveyed on the conveying path. The inspection unit is arranged at a position where an optical inspection operation for the sheet at an inspection position on the conveying path is not impeded by the gripper units traveling on the return path.

The present invention relates to a sheet inspection apparatus for a sheet-fed offset printing press, which detects a misfed sheet in a defective printed state after printing of sheets.
Generally, in a sheet-fed offset printing press of this type, to inspect the printed state of a sheet upon completion of all printing processes, the inspection process is provided after the operation of the impression cylinder of the final printing unit. In this case, when the printed state is to be inspected on the impression cylinder of the final printing unit, the trailing edge of the sheet which has passed between the impression cylinder and a blanket cylinder is pulled to the blanket cylinder side due to the viscosity of the ink on the blanket cylinder, and the sheet largely swings, resulting in so-called instability of sheets. For this reason, determination of properly conveyed sheets and misfed sheets cannot always be exactly performed.
Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-64748, a frame is added in a delivery unit continuing to the printing unit. A support plate functioning as a printing paper stabilization means for straining a sheet conveyed by an ejector chain is arranged in this frame in correspondence with the inspection unit such that the sheet is inspected in the sheet conveying unit of the delivery unit.
However, since the inspection unit is set between the impression cylinder of the final printing unit and the delivery unit, an inspection unit adjustment operation or maintenance operation for cleaning paper dust adhering to the detection unit of the inspection unit or anti-setoff powder can hardly be performed, and the maintenance operation takes a long time. Additionally, the sheet conveying unit of the delivery unit has a dryer unit for drying a printed sheet. When the inspection unit is set to be close to this dryer unit, an electronic circuit including electronic components constituting the inspection unit is adversely affected by heat generated by the dryer unit. As a result, the inspection unit erroneously operates to impede to properly inspect the printed state.

Sheet inspection apparatus for sheet-fed offset printing press


A process and apparatus for water purification has a stationary electrode opposing a movable electrode which are positioned about a passageway for the water to be purified. The stationary electrode and movable electrode form an arc gap, and the arc gap is fed with a voltage from a pulsatile power supply. The arc gap is reduced when the current is below a first threshold and increased when the current is above a second threshold, and the arc gap change is realized by controlling a motor attached to feeder rollers coupled to the movable electrode. The apparatus causes the formation of oxide nano-particles providing durable bactericidal action.

A significant amount of research and development has been undertaken in recent years towards environmental clean-up operations, and in particular to the purification and decontamination of ground water, waste water, and drinking water. A variety of techniques have been used in the prior art to destroy or remove contaminating and toxic materials such as trace organic and inorganic compounds; substances which produce color, taste and odor; pathogenic bacteria; and harmful suspended materials.
These techniques include the use of shock waves created by ultrasonic vibrations and exposing the water to ultraviolet radiation (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,473 to Darwin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,792 to Sauska and EP 959046 to Yoshinaga et al.).
Electricity has also been employed as a decontamination agent, such as by introducing positively charged ions into a water stream to cause coagulation and separation of particles, and by the passing of electric current within a fluid chamber (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,782 to Davies; U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,865 to Cole; U.S. Pat. No. 6,346,197 to Stephenson; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,321 to Robbins). In this case, the current flowing between the anode and cathode has a toxic effect on microorganisms nearby.
The utilization of ozone for the purification and disinfection of water is a known and effective technique (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,740 to Grader et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,044 to Baumgartner; U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,528 to Sasaki et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,216 to Agueda; U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,576 to Olsen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,887 to Gastman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,778 to Steiner at al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,524 to Story U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,831 to Wang; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,945 to Swales et al.). However, it has not yet come into widespread use, such as the general acceptance and widespread use of chlorine.
Various techniques for water purification containing organic concomitants based on contacting the water with ozone in the presence of various mixed catalysts are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,578 to Turk; U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,610 to Ishii; U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,820 to Pedersen; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,264 to Tanaka. In particular, the heterogeneous catalyst utilized in U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,578 comprises water insoluble salts, for example, insoluble carbonate, sulfate, oxide, halide or sulfide of such metals as copper, cadmium, and group VIII metals, etc.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,820, the water enriched with ozone is passed through a catalyst, consisting of activated carbon as the carrier for metal oxides including iron oxide, cobalt oxide, nickel oxides, manganese oxide. Furthermore, the catalyst can contain one or more of the noble metals, e.g., platinum or palladium.
A technique is known in the art, sometimes under the name electro-hydraulics, which utilize high-energy electrical discharge into a volume of liquid for the purpose of disinfecting water, changing chemical constituents and recovering metals and other substances from liquids or slurries (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,564 to Allen; U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,120 to Allen et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,606 to Juvan). According to this technique, an electro-hydraulic shock wave within the liquid, intensive light radiation and thermo-chemical reactions are initiated by arc discharge into a spark gap formed by the electrodes immersed in the liquid. One of the drawbacks of this technique is associated with the fact that in the repeated discharging of a high-energy electrical arc across the gap between electrodes, the electrodes are rather rapidly eroded and burned up. Similarly, switching components are consumed by burnup.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,513 to Goriachev and U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,915 to Green et al. describes a water purification technique which concurrently uses a synergistic combination of pulsed mechanical shock waves, ultraviolet radiation, and ionization of the water stream, as disinfecting and purification actions within the water to be treated. The water treatment system of this technique includes a pair of electrodes extending transversely across and through a discharge chamber. Contaminated water is introduced into the chamber through an intake port where it passes either through or proximate to the discharge area. A pulse power unit delivers a rapid sequence of arc inducing electrical pulses across the electrodes, thereby producing a series of electric discharge arcs across the discharge area between the electrodes. The arcs are of sufficient energy whereby a plasma inducing arc is sustained through the water across the electrodes, generating lethal levels of ultraviolet radiation, as well as mechanical shock waves having the capacity of directly killing microorganisms and weakening others. Furthermore, molecules of water proximate to the discharge area are broken down into excited radicals, including hydroxyl ions and free oxygen, which combine with organic chemicals to eliminate them from the water stream.
RU Pat. No. 2136600 to Boyev et al. describes a technique for water purification by means of barrier high energy electric discharges formed as a result of the application of a pulsed electric field applied between the electrodes to an air-water mixture formed from water jets and drops. The pulsed electric filed is characterized by the pulse duration shorter than 0.5 microseconds, the slope of the pulse's front grater than 109 V/s and the amplitude of the field strength being in the range of 20-100 kV/cm. For this purpose, the high voltage pulses are applied with the frequency higher than 50 Hz. The frequency magnitude f is selected from the condition
  f  ≥      50              v      h      where v is the speed of the water flux and h is the height of the electrode system. The values of the pulse parameters were chosen such that the conductivity of the system at these pulse conditions is significantly small, i.e., the water is an electrical insulator.
The electrode system includes a set of electrodes implemented in the form of two combs. One of the combs is coupled to the generator of the high voltage pulses, while the electrodes of the other comb are grounded. The electrodes are covered by an electrical insulating barrier in the form of tubes made of quartz glass.
Various configurations of the electrode system that can be utilized in the device for water purification are disclosed in RU Pat. Nos. 2136601; 2136602 and 2152359 to Ryazanov et al.
In particular, RU Pat. No. 2136601 describes a discharge chamber including a high voltage and grounded electrodes implemented in the form of a volume grid wherein the high voltage electrode is arranged between the grounded electrodes. RU Pat. No. 2136602 describes an electrode system wherein the grounded electrode is in the form of a cylinder, while the high voltage electrode is in the form of a cylindrical brush which is housed within the ground electrode. RU Pat. No. 2152359 describes a discharge chamber including a high voltage electrode is implemented in the form of a volume grid, while the grounded electrode is configured as a perforated partition implemented in the form of hollow cylinders.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,513 by Goriachev et al describes a water decontamination system which provides for the passage of an electric discharge through a liquid to be decontaminated.
Each of the systems relying on electrical discharges also includes a fixed separation distance between electrodes, and when the electrodes erode, some form of readjustment of the interelectrode gap becomes necessary. Additionally, the use of an optimal electrode spacing for the selection of a particular nano-particle size is not possible with the prior art configurations.

Water decontamination apparatus and method


A billet is rolled in a rolling mill into a first process section in a succession of roll stands arranged along a first pass line. The first process section is either delivered as a finished product to a cooling bed or alternatively slit into second and third process sections which are subjected respectively to additional rolling in finishing blocks arranged on second and third pass lines parallel to the first pass line. At least one of the finishing blocks is shiftable onto the first pass line in order to subject the first process section to additional rolling prior to delivering it to the cooling bed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to rolling mills, and is concerned in particular with an improvement to the finishing section of a single strand bar mill.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The roll stands of conventional bar mills are usually aligned along a single pass line. Where slitting is being practiced, the roll stands of the roughing and intermediate mill sections are again aligned along a common pass line, with two sets of roll stands in the finishing section being aligned along parallel pass lines arranged to receive the slit sections. In both cases, the arrangement of the roll stands in the finishing section imposes severe limitations on the range of products the mill is able to produce.


An image display apparatus includes: a light modulation device having an electro-optic effect in which a refractive index changes according to electric field intensity; a plurality of control points provided on a surface of the light modulation device; and an electric field control section configured to control voltage values to be applied to the plurality of control points, and to form electric field displacement surfaces having a predetermined image pattern in the light modulation device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus, and also to a three-dimensional image display apparatus and a three-dimensional image display system in which a calculated interference fringe (computer generated hologram) is used to display a three-dimensional image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally known are image display apparatuses for displaying an image which is formed in a light modulation device by applying a voltage to the light modulation device. Such image display apparatuses include a liquid crystal display (LCD), for example.
Here, the light modulation device is a device having an electro-optic effect. The electro-optic effect is a phenomenon caused by applying an electric field to a substance, and specifically, is a phenomenon in which the refractive index of a substance changes according to the electric field intensity applied to the substance.
Referring to FIGS. 1(a), 1(b), 2(a), and 2(b), an image display apparatus using a conventional light modulation device will be described. Known as the image display apparatus using the conventional light modulation device is an image display apparatus having a simple matrix electrode structure shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) and an image display apparatus having an active-matrix electrode structure shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b).
As shown in FIG. 1(a), in the image display apparatus having the simple-matrix electrode structure, electrodes 23 are provided in an X-axis direction on the top surface of a thinned light modulation device 25 and electrodes 24 are provided in a Y-axis direction on the bottom surface of the thinned light modulation device 25.
Each of the intersections between the electrodes 23 in the X-axis direction and the electrodes 24 in the Y-axis direction corresponds to a pixel electrode 23a corresponding to each pixel constituting an image to be displayed by the image display apparatus having the simple matrix electrode structure, as shown in FIG. 1(b).
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2(a), in the image display apparatus having the active-matrix electrode structure, plural electrodes 23 are provided on the top surface of a light modulation device 25 and an electrode 24 is provided on the bottom surface of the light modulation device 25.
As shown in FIG. 2(b), each of the electrodes 23 has plural pixel electrodes 23a corresponding to each pixel constituting an image to be displayed by the image display apparatus having the active-matrix electrode structure. It is configured that a transistor which can be turned on and off independently is provided for each pixel electrode 23a. The electrode 24 is grounded.
In the conventional image display apparatuses having the simple matrix electrode structure or the active-matrix electrode structure, a voltage value to be applied to each pixel electrode 23 is controlled based on the gray-scale value of each pixel constituting an image to be recorded in the light modulation device 25.
However, in the conventional image display apparatuses having the simple matrix electrode structure or the active-matrix electrode structure, since a voltage value to be applied can be changed only on a pixel-electrode-23a basis, a rectangular region (pixel) shown in FIG. 3 has the same gray-scale value.
Thus, there is a problem in that the precision of images which can be displayed by the conventional image display apparatus is limited by the size and shape of each pixel electrode 23a.
In other words, the conventional image display apparatus has a problem in that since the miniaturization of the pixel electrodes 23a is limited, a quantization error in an image to be displayed becomes large, making it impossible to display the image with high precision.
Further, the conventional image display apparatuses have a problem in that crosstalk caused by voltages to be applied to pixel electrodes 23a is generated between adjacent pixels (rectangular regions).

Image display apparatus, three-dimensional image display apparatus, and three-dimensional image display system


In the present invention, an A/D converter is utilized to feed the relative positions of the gyro mirrors as well as the gyro body temperature to a digital processor. The processor can then calculate the optimum initial position for the gyro mirrors and direct the analog control loop into that position.

Ring laser gyros are now well known and are similar to those shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,373,650, issued to Killpatrick, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,390,606, issued to Podgorski. In such ring laser gyros, the ring laser can have moveable mirrors that are traditionally used to control the length of the cavity to an integer number of wavelengths of light. Doing so allows the ring laser beams to be operated at maximum intensity. Previously, a random start-up of the analog control circuits could yield an operating position that might be difficult to maintain over a wide temperature range without running out of mirror transducer authority. That is, the mirror position may only be translationally controlled within the operating limits of the transducer design, generally only several wavelengths of the laser beam light.
For ring laser gyros in general, the path length of a ring laser gyro must be kept constant at an integral number of wavelengths of light for proper gyro operation. Large gyros, however, can mode hop, or change their path lengths by an integral number of wavelengths during a mission without serious degradation in output performance. However, in some laser gyros having a closed-loop optical path length, for example 2.0 inches on a side or leg, the laser beam may extinguish (stop operating) when its transducer mirrors are shifted from one mode to another. Of course, the laser beams operating within a ring laser gyro must not be allowed to extinguish since loss of data will result and navigation errors will be incurred. Therefore, it is desirable that ring laser beams acquire a "mode" at power up, and maintain that same mode (or path length) throughout a mission.
The moveable mirrors on a ring laser gyroscope are traditionally positioned by an analog path length control loop that acts to stabilize the gyro cavity path length to an integer number of wavelengths of the laser light. After initially setting the gyro laser cavity to a length equal to "n" wavelengths, the control loop must then maintain that exact cavity length, although arbitrarily chosen, throughout the mission. Subsequent temperature changes will expand or contract the laser block material of the ring laser gyro control loop is intended to position the mirrors to counteract those material changes which directly affect the closed loop optical path of the ring laser gyro.
In some instances, manufacturers of ring laser gyros are finding it difficult to manufacture a gyro that can maintain a constant path length over a wide temperature range. Specifically, the yield may not be as high as they desire.
However, several methods are being used to increase the yield of gyros that can maintain a constant path length over a wide temperature range. They include (1) extending the range of authority of the transducer mirrors to allow a wider range of movement and (2) thermally stabilizing the gyro block to minimize the material changes thereof, thereby minimizing the required compensation. However, these techniques are generally costly, and also have other undesirable weight and size effects.

Laser gyro smart digital PLC acquisition control


A wire drawing machine having a watching system of the wire diameter at one or more watched locations in the machine. The diameter is measured by measuring the wire speed as compared to the reference wire speed at a reference location where the diameter is accurately known and held in a register. This value, together with both speed values, are sent to a computer module for calculating the wire diameter and sending this to the computer output. When a new wire enters in the drawing machine, the operation is temporarily inversed that is the lastly computed diameter is temporarily taken as the reference diameter and stored in the register, and from there the new reference diameter at the entrance is calculated and entered in the register.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wire drawing machine having a watching system of the wire diameter at a watched location.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wire drawing machine comprises a number of passes, from one to ten or even more, the one downstream after the other, and in each pass the wire diameter is reduced. In order to watch over the good operation of the machine, it is desirable to watch the diameter at one or more specific locations, e.g. at the exit of one or more of the passes. Due to the wear of the drawing-die indeed, the wire diameter at the exit of such pass becomes greater and greater, and after a certain time, when the diameter exceeds the tolerance limit, the die has to be replaced. It is however not easy to continuously measure the diameter of a wire traveling at a speed of 2 to 12 m/sec, because mechanical systems are disturbed by the movement of the wire and optical systems are disturbed by dust or other pollution, or are very expensive. For that reason, in practice, the operator of the machine simply measures the wire manually when the machine is stopped for whatever reason, and when the diameter appears to have somewhat approached the limit, he replaces the drawing-die as a precautionary measure. In this way, die consumption is higher than it should be. That is, if the operator were able to continuously watch the wire diameter during the operation of the machine, he would only replace the die when it is really necessary.
Although the need of watching the wire diameter at the exit of a drawing pass has been explained hereabove, and although the explanations hereinafter will refer to watching the diameter at the exit of the drawing pass, it is clear that the invention is not limited to a watched location at the exit side of a drawing pass, but can also be usable at an entrance side thereof.

Wire drawing machine with diameter watching-system


A system of volume health checking and recovery. The system comprises a health engine capable to check the health of a first volume that is a snapshot mirrored volume of a second volume; and a recovery engine, communicatively coupled to the health engine, capable to perform a recovery process if the first volume is unhealthy. Recovery can be performed via at least one of five methods.

Servers, such as database servers, email servers, file servers, and so forth, hold large amounts of data. Checking the health of this data may disrupt online services on the servers because it requires a lot of CPU power and places a strain on the storage system. Disruption of services leads to slower system performance causing inconvenience for users and administrators. Accordingly, a new system and method is needed that enables volume health checking without placing a strain on the storage system and using a lot of CPU power.

System and method of volume health checking and recovery