An apparatus and computer-implemented method of determining a probability that a first track and a second track represent the same physical object. The apparatus and method fit a first order curve for a last n positions of the first track and the second track in a time domain; fit a second order curve for a last m (m>n) positions of the first track and the second track in the time domain; generate a maximum and minimum second order envelope for the first track and the second track, using a respective maximum acceleration of the first track and the second track; orthogonally place a probability curve over each of the first order curves for the first and second track, with each first order curve at a center of each probability curve for N sigmas extending to boundaries of each of the maximum and minimum second order envelopes; extract a first probability value from a point where the second order curve of the first track intersects the probability curve for the first track and a second probability value from a point where the second order curve of the second track intersects the probability curve for the first track; and determine the probability that the first track and the second track represent the same physical object from the first probability value and the second probability value.

1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to a computer-implemented method and apparatus for performing data fusion. In particular, when utilizing an active sensor, such as a radar, multiple radar tracks may be generated which represents the same physical object. The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method and apparatus for determining whether two or more radar tracks represent the same physical object.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are several methods of integrating data from multiple radars into a single system track file. The type of radar integration that should be used is a function of the radar's performance, the environment, and whether or not the radars are colocated. Several conventional integration methods which have been used are:
1. Track selection: Generate a track with each radar, and choose one of the tracks as the system track. PA1 2. Average track: Generate a track with each radar and weight, according to the Kalman filter's covariance matrices, the individual tracks to form a system track. PA1 3. Augmented track: Generate a track with each radar, choose one of the tracks as the system track, and use selected detections from the other radars to update the system track. PA1 4. Detection-to-track: Use all radar detections to update the system track; tracks may or may not be initiated by using all detections from all radars.
A prior art detection-to-track system is illustrated in FIG. 1. Radars 12 and 14, which include corresponding automatic detectors, provide inputs to a sensor input and control unit 16 which includes individual detection processors 18, 20. Each detection processor 18, 20 provides an input to a detection file 22, 24. The outputs from the detection files 22, 24 feed a data association integration circuit 26 which performs correlation of the track data received from the detection files 22, 24 and performs track entry and track update and writes the resulting outputs to a track file 28.
Theoretically, the detection-to-track method of integration yields the best tracks because all of the available information is used. However, the detections must be weighted properly and care must be taken so that bad data does not corrupt good data.
There are many advantages of radar integration. Probably the most important is that it provides a common surveillance picture to all users so that decisions can be made more effectively. Radar integration also improves track continuity and tracking of maneuvering targets because of the higher effective data rate. Improvement in track initiation times is a function of the target distance. For instance, long-range targets are usually detected by only one radar so that little or no improvement in initiation time is achieved. However, there could be an appreciable reduction in the initiation time for pop-up targets. Finally, the general tracking performance is improved in an electronic countermeasures (ECM) environment because of the integration of radars in different frequency bands located at different positions, providing both spatial and frequency diversity.
The main advantage of integrating different radar sensors is to provide classification and/or identification information on radar tracks. In general, other sensors do not provide position data of an accuracy comparable with radar data. The sensors can also alert each other to conditions which can cause the mode of operation to be changed. For instance, a strong direction-finding (DF) bearing strobe on a noise (jammer) source or emitter which cannot be correlated with any radar track may cause the radar to use burnthrough, lower its detection thresholds, or change its initiation criterion in the sector containing the DF bearing strobe.
As set forth above, radar integration has many advantages. However, most of the prior art methods relate to how to integrate two tracks, once it has been determined that integration is required. However, none of these methods actually determine when two tracks should be integrated because they represent the same physical object.

Method and apparatus for determining whether two radar tracks represent the same physical object


A pharmaceutical dosage form is provided that has a distinguishing characteristic and an identifier associated with the dosage form. The distinguishing characteristic is assigned from a limited set of distinguishing characteristics and is determined upon oral administration of the dosage form, or is detected in breath, bodily fluids, or tissues after ingestion, or injection or other non-oral administration. The identifier is associated with the dosage form and with the distinguishing characteristic. The identifier is associated with only one distinguishing characteristic but the distinguishing characteristic may be associated with multiple identifiers. The pharmaceutical dosage form may be used in a method to monitor compliance with a dosage regimen.

The system is designed, in part, to address a problem of significant resources being spent on monitoring patients, or clinical drug study enrollees, in person to ensure they take a drug dosage and take it according to the appropriate dosing regimen. Certain pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics and treatments for tuberculosis, HIV, and malaria, must be administered according to a strict dosing regimen to ensure that the patient is properly treated, does not skip individual dosings or ceases treatment early. Besides the danger of the condition re-emerging following premature termination of treatment, certain bacterial and viral strains may become treatment resistant if the full treatment course is not followed or is not followed according to the dosage regimen.
Of course, the need to ensure patients take their medication is not limited to treating conditions in which development of a drug resistance organism is a concern. The clinic may be spending extra resources to ensure patient compliance with the dosing regimen solely to ensure that patients recover. Those resources could be better spent on medications if the clinic knows which patients take the medication and which patients do not.
To address these concerns, a significant amount of the public health money spent worldwide is not spent on the medicines themselves but instead is directed to efforts to ensure compliance with the dosing regimen. One of these methods is directly observed therapy (DOT), in which the patient visits the clinic to be administered the medicine under direct observation of the health care provider. Alternatively, the health care provider travels to the patient to directly observe administration of the medicine to the patient. In either situation, there is a waste of resources: either the patient is wasting resources traveling to a clinic on a periodic basis to ensure that someone observes that they are taking the medicine, or a health care provider is wasting resources traveling to the patient to directly observe the patient taking the medicine. For many patients who live in rural areas of developing nations, traveling to a health care provider can be very difficult, as many rural areas do not have a health care provider nearby, most people who are poor can cannot afford to own a car, and public transport is often unreliable or impacted by weather conditions or other factors beyond the control of the patient. These same factors also impact the ability of a health care provider to visit individual patients, but in addition, each health care provider may have numerous patients who are in geographically disparate locations. This situation limits the number of patients a single health care provider can monitor in person to ensure the patient complies with a drug dosage regimen.
This waste in resources is even more egregious because the group of patients who takes the medicine in the appropriate manner is treated the same as the group of patients that regularly fails to take the medication in the appropriate manner. Both groups are required to be directly observed by the health care provider. The inventor has determined that significant resources can be redirected from observing patients to instead providing medicines to treat patients if patients who comply with the dosing regimen are permitted to self-administer the medicine. The inventor has developed pharmaceutical compositions and methods to determine whether or not a patient is taking the medicine.
The compositions and methods disclosed herein also may be useful in clinical drug studies to determine whether or not a study subject is taking the study drug in the clinical study. In a clinical study, drug efficacy will be determined from the outcomes of the study, which makes the ability to determine if a study enrollee has taken the study drug according to the dosing schedule critical for determining the success or failure of a new drug. If the study enrollees do not take the drug or do not take it according to the dosing regimen, the drug may not be effective in treating the condition, or results from the study may not accurately reflect the true efficacy of the drug being studied. For example, if the results of a study include too many enrollees who failed to comply with the drug dosing regimen, statistically significant results of the study may not be attained, and the resulting outcome may provide only a marginal benefit to the company's objective because the results provide limited value in assessing the drug's safety and effectiveness. In addition, studies with results based on a low number of study enrollees may cause regulatory authorities (such as the FDA) to require additional studies or make negative inferences about the outcome, both of which add cost to and may delay the approval of the product—a significant negative financial result for the company.
There are a number of compliance systems and dosage forms in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,062,312 discloses an orally administrable medication composition that includes a visual marker. When the medication is orally ingested, the marker causes a coloration or discoloration of the oral and/or pharyngeal cavity of a subject. By visually observing the oral and/or pharyngeal cavity of the subject, one can determine whether medication has been ingested based upon the presence or absence of the coloration/discoloration. The '312 patent further explains that noncompliance is addressed by notifying the patient that compliance is being monitored and that should noncompliance persist, that information would allow a caregiver to alter the methods of medication delivery. For example, a child in school or daycare who requires daytime dosing of an antibiotic for recurrent ear infections could be given an antibiotic containing the marker. The child could then be checked for ingestion compliance immediately after scheduled ingestion, or if necessary, several hours after the scheduled ingestion. The verification could occur, for example, by visual inspection of the oral and/or pharyngeal cavity immediately after the delivery under natural light or several hours later by inspection under a light which causes fluorescence.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,981 is directed to a method of monitoring a therapeutic regimen in an animal. The method involves: a) providing to the animal a therapeutic compound and a detectable compound that passes into the bloodstream, excretory system, or other tissue or body fluid in detectable form; b) after a period of time, following step (a), sufficient for passage of a detectable amount of the detectable compound into the body fluid or tissue, collecting a sample of the fluid or tissue from the animal; and c) measuring or detecting the detectable compound, or a detectable metabolite thereof, in the sample, wherein the detectable compound involves one member of a specific binding pair, and detection is carried out using the second member of the specific binding pair.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,788 is directed to a method of monitoring compliance of a patient that has been placed on a medication maintenance program with a prescribed medication dosage by determining a normalized urine methadone concentration. According to the method, an unadulterated urine sample is obtained from the patient. The urine methadone concentration and urine specific gravity are measured. The normalized urine medication concentration is calculated as a function of the measured medication concentration in the urine and the urine specific gravity. The calculated normalized urine medication concentration is compared with an expected medication concentration value for the patient for the maintenance program prescribed to determine any significant differences therebetween as an indication of noncompliance. Alternatively, a urinary-parameter normalized urine medication concentration is calculated as a function of the measured medication concentration in the urine, the urine specific gravity and at least one selected pharmacokinetic parameter of the medication. The calculated urinary-parameter normalized urine medication concentration is compared with an expected medication concentration value for an average compliant patient for the maintenance program prescribed to determine any significant differences therebetween as an indication of noncompliance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,783 is directed to a method of monitoring therapeutic agent consumption. The method includes quantitative compliance markers and associated methods for monitoring patient compliance with medication prescriptions associated with compliance markers to eliminate the need for specific quantitative relationships for each new drug tested. According to the method of monitoring compliance of a patient who has been placed on a medication maintenance program with a prescribed medication dosage, the method includes (a) physically associating a compliance marker with a prescribed medication dosage prior to ingestion, (b) obtaining a sample of the patient's urine, (c) measuring the concentration of the compliance marker and its metabolites in the urine and the urine specific gravity, (d) calculating a normalized urine compliance marker and its metabolite concentration as a function of the measured compliance marker and its metabolite concentration in the urine and the urine specific gravity adjusted to account for the difference between the urine measured specific gravity and a preselected reference urine specific gravity, and (e) comparing the normalized urine compliance marker and its metabolite concentration with an expected normalized urine compliance marker and its metabolite concentration for the amount of compliance marker prescribed, as an indication of compliance or non-compliance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,650 is directed to a medication management system which includes three components to assist a patient to control, monitor and manage administration of prescribed medications. The system includes a patient component having a retrievable patient database of patient medical history, prior prescribed medications and current prescribed medications, and it includes a data transfer interface, e.g., a hardwired interface, such as an RS232 interface or infrared data transfer port. The system also includes a physician component having a retrievable physician's database of medication information and an input/output device enabling a prescribing physician to enter prescription information into the physician component. The physician's database is capable of receiving and storing patient data transferred from the patient component through said data transfer interface. The system finally also includes a pharmacist component resident on a pharmacist's computer. The pharmacist's computer is adapted to interface with the patient component to transfer prescription data to said pharmacist component. At least one of each of the physician component and the pharmacist component has the capability of searching a medication database to determine potential medication interactions with currently prescribed medications and identify those to the physician or pharmacist for selective downloading to the patient component so that the patient can be alerted to the potential interactions. The patient component has a scheduler which tracks a plurality of medication dose schedules and includes alarm functions to prompt a patient to take particular medications, reschedule them, and alert the patient to potential interactions between medications and/or provide caution information to the patient for administration of the medication.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,003 is directed to a method and apparatus for improving patient compliance with prescriptions that utilizes computer terminals to convert prescription information into electronic form as records for each patient. Each such patient record includes information about the patient from the prescription and the prescription itself. In addition, demographic information about the patient is obtained from other commercial databases and added to the patient record. Then a regression analysis is run on the patient records using the various data elements versus the compliance of the patient with the prescription to determine the relative importance of each variable in the prediction. The analysis is used to segregate the patients into demographic clusters and to associate champion intervention messages with each cluster. When a patient's prescription is entered in the system thereafter, the model is used to associate the patient with a cluster and to direct the champion message to that patient. Further, a regression analysis may be run on the patient data to create a model of likelihood of prescription compliance in general by the patient. The result is a probability equation that allows a score to be assigned to each record. Based on this score, the patients most likely to fail to comply with their prescription are sent the champion interventions. As new challenge interventions messages are created additional information is gathered and the regression analysis is re-run. If the challenge message is more successful, it is substituted as the new champion message. The results of these interventions are recorded and appended to the related patient record.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,415,447 is directed to an apparatus and method for prediction and management of participant compliance in clinical research. The system uses empirically derived algorithms to generate decision rules to determine participant noncompliance and fraud with research protocols in clinical trials allows for the identification of complex patterns of variables that detect or predict participant noncompliance and fraud with research protocol, including performance and enrollment goals, in the clinical trial. The data may be used to overall predict the performance of any participant in a clinical trial, allowing selection of participants that tend to produce useful, high-quality results. The present invention can also be used to monitor participant compliance with the research protocol and goals to determine preferred actions to be performed. Optionally, the invention may provide a spectrum of noncompliance, from minor noncompliance needing only corrective feedback, to significant noncompliance requiring participant removal from the clinical trial or from future clinical trials. The algorithms and decision rules can also be domain-specific, such as detecting non-compliance or fraud among subjects in a cardiovascular drug trial, or demographically specific, such as taking into account gender, age or location, which provides for algorithms and decision rules to be optimized for the specific sample of participants being studied.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,688 is directed to a therapeutic behavior modification program with a compliance monitoring and feedback system. The therapeutic behavior modification program, compliance monitoring and feedback system includes a server-based relational database and one or more microprocessors electronically coupled to the server. The system enables development of a therapeutic behavior modification program having a series of milestones for an individual to achieve lifestyle changes necessary to maintain his or her health or recover from ailments or medical procedures. The program may be modified by a physician or trained case advisor prior to implementation. The system monitors the individual's compliance with the program by prompting the individual to enter health-related data, correlating the individual's entered data with the milestones in the behavior modification program and generating compliance data indicative of the individual's progress toward achievement of the program milestones. The system also includes an integrated system of graphical system interfaces for motivating the individual to comply with the program. Through the interfaces, the individual can access the database to review the compliance data and obtain health information from a remote source such as selected sites on the Internet. The system also provides an electronic calendar integrated with the behavior modification program for signaling the individual to take action pursuant to the behavior modification program in which the calendar accesses the relational database and integrates requirements of the program with the individual's daily schedule, and an electronic journal for enabling the individual to enter personal health-related information into the system on a regular basis. In addition, the system includes an electronic meeting room for linking the individual to a plurality of other individuals having related behavior modification programs for facilitating group peer support sessions for compliance with the program. The system enables motivational media presentations to be made to the individuals in the electronic meeting room as part of the group support session to facilitate interactive group discussion about the presentations. The entire system is designed around a community of support motif including a graphical electronic navigator operable by the individual to control the microprocessor for accessing different parts of the system.
US 2005/0267356 is directed to packages of medications that have features for improving patient compliance with taking the medication. According to the abstract of the published application, the method involve generating and storing an identifier for a specific dosage instance of a specific patient, and creating a package that includes a mechanism for conveying the identifier. Once the package is created, a set of one or more medications that are prescribed to be taken by the specific patient at the specific dosage instance are placed in the package. The set of medications are placed within the package in a manner that prevents the identifier from being perceived from the mechanism until the package is opened. Once opened, the identifier is perceived and communicated back to an automated compliance system.
Although these systems describe various systems for detecting whether or not a patient has taken a pharmaceutical, the system require direct observation and therefore does not alleviate the problem of wasted resources spent in monitoring patient compliance. Further, the systems are complicated and do not provide a simple method that is easily implemented to determine compliance with a drug dosing regimen. Further, because the patient can easily discern the result of the compliance determination, they can also easily provide a false report of compliance that is indistinguishable from a true report.

Pharmaceutical compositions and methods for verifying dosing compliance


An electrical control device for a bicycle includes a housing and an assembly supported within the housing. The assembly includes a printed circuit board (PCB). The PCB includes a substrate and circuitry embedded within, attached to, or embedded within and attached to the substrate. The electrical control device also includes a communication device electrically connected to the circuitry and supported by the substrate. The communication device includes an antenna. The electrical control device includes a power source supported within the housing. The power source is electrically connected to the circuitry. The substrate is disposed between the power source and the antenna.

Traditional hand actuated control devices such as shifters and/or brake levers for bicycles and other handlebar-steerable vehicles may include levers and/or other mechanisms attached to handlebars. These mechanisms are configured to control various types of mechanical or electromechanical bicycle components, such as drive system components, braking components, and/or suspension components. Traditional levers or other devices may be specifically designed for particularly configured handlebar orientations and/or particular placement within a handlebar orientation. Further, the traditional mechanisms may include bulky parts or assemblies that are not easily placed in alternate positions throughout handlebar orientations, or in other locations of the bicycle.

Bicycle electrical control device and system


Rotary lance drives for rotating a lance for injecting gas and powdered reagents into molten metal include a reciprocating rotary lance drive and an associated method. A lance mount which facilitates loading of a lance into a lance drive is also disclosed. Various lance designs are described for improving dispersion of reagent and decreasing process time, including lances having non-circular refractory portions and lances having cross-port arrangements for more evenly distributed reagent discharge.

The typical lance drive comprises a rigid lance mount to which the lance connects. The lance mount may take a variety of forms, but must allow for used lances to be removed from the lance drive and for new lances to be mounted on the drive. In a known lance mount configuration, a swing-gate design is used to clamp the lance into the lance mount of the lance drive. This swing-gate consists of a thick steel bar sandwiched between two other steel bars. A pivot pin will be run through all three bars and will allow the middle bar to swing open like a gate. Once the lance is mounted to the lance and the gate is closed, a threaded rod with wing nut will anchor it firmly on the lance drive. Typically, the top of the lance will include a structural steel member, which can be round or square, to which the lance can be attached to the lance drive.
At the top of the lance is a connection to which reagent or gas transport piping or hose will connect. This connection could be threaded, flanged, or attached using other means. To allow movement of the lance, the top connection will typically be made with flexible hose. Once the lance is connected to the transport pipe or transport hose and the lance is firmly in the lance mount on the lance drive, the lance can be driven by the lance drive into the molten bath for treatment of iron or steel. Other than a vertical movement into the molten metal, the typical lance drive provides has no other range of motion to the lance. This "fixed" lance drive may be used with a bottom blow lance, a Tee lance, or a dual port lance.
To improve efficiency and reduce process time, rotary lance drives were developed that rotate the lance in addition to providing vertical movement. Rotary lance drives are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,068 (Gimond et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,563,405 (De Castro). Rotary motion distributes the powdered reagents to a larger reaction zone in the bath compared to fixed lance treatment. Known rotary lance systems use a Tee lance having two outlets, and the lance is rotated continuously through 360 degree circles.
Existing rotary lance drives, including a lance drive made by applicant, include a swivel connection at the top of the lance drive to allow for rotation of the lance without twisting the reagent supply hose feeding into the transport pipe or transport hose of the lance drive. In applicant's existing rotary lance drive design, shown in FIGS. 1-4, a swivel connection 2 is connected to a reagent transport pipe 4 which extends through the rotary lance drive mechanism to a connection 6 at the top of the lance 8. To rotate the lance, the existing rotary lance drive uses a motor 10 which rotates a hollow drive shaft 12 connected to the motor by a gear drive 14. The hollow shaft 12 is necessary to allow passage of the reagent transport pipe 4 from the swivel connection 2 to the connection 6 at the top of the lance 8. The hollow drive shaft 12 is supported by two rotary bearings 16 which are spaced sufficiently to take the radial and axial loads. The gear drive 14 is connected to an upper portion of the hollow drive shaft 12. A lower end of the hollow drive shaft 12 is rigidly connected to a lance mount 18 that clamps the lance 8 in place. In the existing rotary lance drive, the two rotary support bearings 16 are internal and require the entire drive mechanism to be disassembled for periodic maintenance or replacement. Another drawback is that the reagent transport pipe 4 has two connections (swivel connection 2 and lance connection 6) that are a source of leaks and require maintenance.
Regarding injection lances carried by lance drives, the most common lance design is the bottom-blow lance. In its center is a steel pipe through which gas and powdered reagents are transported into molten iron or molten steel. Typically, the top will include a structural steel member, which can be round or square, by which the lance can be attached to the lance drive. To protect the transport pipe from the molten metal, a lower portion of the lance will coated with a refractory material which insulates the pipe from the intense heat. The refractory portion has a circular cross-sectional shape. A variation of the basic bottom-blow lance is the Tee lance, which is less common than the bottom-blow lance but nevertheless is currently being used. The Tee lance has two separate discharge ports facing discharge directions which are 180 opposite one another. The two ports discharge ports are fed by a single main pipe conduit with a Tee at the bottom. As with the bottom-blow lance, the Tee lance includes a steel pipe defining the main conduit, a structural steel top, and a refractory bottom. The benefit of this design is that the powdered reagent is split into two zones instead of one. The standard Tee lance is currently the preferred design for rotary lance drives.
A dual port lance is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,661. The dual port lance includes two independent pipes through which two streams of powder reagent or gas can pass. This allows twice as much material to feed into the molten bath, thereby reducing the time needed to treat the metal. This offers a great advantage in minimizing treatment time which allows for more production by a steel mill.

Rotational lance drive and rotational lance injection method


A two-stage GM cryogenic refrigerator includes a displacer having a low-temperature side and a high-temperature side and a motor configured to drive the displacer. The motor is configured to be rotatable forward in cooling and backward in increasing a temperature. The cryogenic refrigerator further includes a resin provided on an outer circumferential surface of the displacer. A thickness of the resin is thinner on the high-temperature side than on the low-temperature side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cryogenic refrigerator, a cryopump and a displacer that include a resin provided on a surface of the displacer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a cryogenic refrigerator is known that uses a refrigerant gas such as a helium gas, drives a displacer in a cylinder, and generates cooling by expanding the refrigerant gas in the cylinder. For example, a Gifford-McMahon (which may be called "GM") refrigerator is used as a cryogenic refrigerator.
This GM cryogenic refrigerator once implemented can generate cooling of about 10 K by being made multistage. Accordingly, the GM cryogenic refrigerator is often used for a cryopump and the like that evacuate a vacuum chamber of a semiconductor fabrication apparatus and the like to make a vacuum.
Furthermore, one of the GM cryogenic refrigerators is configured to include a displacer, an outer circumferential surface of which is coated with a resin to improve a sealing characteristic as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3588644. Conventionally, a thickness of the resin is formed uniformly on the whole outer circumferential surface.

Cryogenic refrigerator, cryopump and displacer


A bicycle shift control mechanism that has an operating member, a wire take up member, a positioning ratchet and a position maintaining pawl. The operating member is movable between a rest position, a shift wind position and a shift releasing position. The positioning ratchet includes a plurality of winding teeth, a plurality of positioning teeth and a plurality of movement restricting teeth. The positioning teeth and the movement restricting teeth are non-concentrically arranged to form stair shaped arrangements. The position maintaining pawl selectively holds and releases the positioning ratchet upon movement of the operating member from the rest position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a bicycle shift control device or mechanism. More specifically, the present invention relates to a bicycle control device or mechanism that performs a shift release operation one shift at a time.
2. Background Information
Bicycling is becoming an increasingly more popular form of recreation as well as a means of transportation. Moreover, bicycling has become a very popular competitive sport for both amateurs and professionals. Whether the bicycle is used for recreation, transportation or competition, the bicycle industry is constantly improving the various components of the bicycle. In particular, control devices for shifting have been extensively redesigned in recent years.
Currently, there are many types of cable operated shifting devices currently being installed on bicycles. For example, some cable operated shifting devices have a single shift lever to operate a cable winding mechanism for both winding and releasing the cable. Other cable operated shifting devices have a pair of shift levers with a cable winding mechanism that rotates via a ratchet mechanism. With a two lever type of cable operated shifting device, operation of one of the shift lever causes the cable winder to rotate via the ratchet mechanism in one direction by one gear at a time. As a result, the cable is wound around the cable winder, and a shift is made by the shift mechanism from one gear to the next gear. Operation of the other shift lever causes the ratchet mechanism to be released and the cable winder to rotate in the other direction by one gear at a time. As a result, the cable that was wound on the cable winder is played out, and a shift is made in the opposite direction by the shift mechanism.
Some of these cable operated shifting devices allow for multiple gear shifts to occur in a single operation of a shift lever. While multiple shifting in a single operation has certain benefits, it also can have some drawbacks. In particular, with certain shifting devices with a multiple shifting operation, sometimes the shifter is difficult to control so as to perform a single shift. In other words, the rider will sometimes accidentally move the shift lever too far such that two gear shifts occur when only one is desired. This accidental multiple shifting operation is particularly problematic during a shifting operation in which the cable is released.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved bicycle control (shifting) device. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


Coatings as may be used in a gas turbine are provided. A cobalt based coating may include 15 to 40 wt % nickel, 15 to 28 wt % chromium, 5 to 15 wt % aluminum, 0.05 to 1 wt % yttrium and/or at least one of elements from lanthanum series, 0.05 to 5 wt % ruthenium and/or molybdenum, 0 to 2 wt % iridium, 0 to 3 wt % silicon, 0 to 5 wt % tantalum, hafnium, unavoidable impurities, and a balance of cobalt. A nickel based coating may include 15 to 40 wt % cobalt, 10 to 25 wt % chromium, 5 to 15 wt % aluminum, 0.05 to 1 wt % yttrium and/or at least one of elements from lanthanum series, 0.05 to 8 wt % ruthenium or iron, 0 to 1 wt % iridium, 0.05 to 5 wt % molybdenum, 0 to 3 wt % silicon, 0 to 5 wt % tantalum, 0 to 2 wt % hafnium, unavoidable impurities, and a balance of nickel.

When further increasing engine efficiency, output power, availability and reliability in the current gas turbine development, this effort is often limited by temperature capacity and lifetime of protective coatings for protection against hot corrosion and oxidation and bonding thermal barrier coating on the hot turbine components. The currently used coatings are so called MCrAlY coatings developed by major gas turbine manufactures. Most gas turbine manufactures use there proprietary coatings since commercially available coatings are much less effective.
The term MCrAlY coatings is widely applied, wherein M means cobalt or nickel or a mixture of cobalt and nickel. These coatings may be used as corrosion resistant overlays or as bond-coats for use with thermal barrier coatings. Since in the first and second stage of a gas turbine metal temperatures may exceed 850° C. two predominant corrosion mechanics have been identified to be accelerated. One is the high temperature oxidation occurring at temperatures above 950° C. and the other mechanism is the so called type-I-hot-corrosion-occurring at approximately 850° C. to 950° C.
During the last ten years the demand for coatings in gas turbines increased, which led to an increase in price of the coatings, which contain comparatively large amounts of rare earth or minor elements which's availability is increasingly tight.
Today's MCrAlY coatings rely very much on yttrium incorporation to have so called pegging and scavenge effects to increase oxidation and corrosion resistance of the coatings.
However, it has been recently found that the yttrium content in MCrAlY may not be optimized. Nijdam T J, Sloof W G. (Acta Materia/ia 2007; 55:5980) reported that yttrium oxide inclusions in the protective aluminum oxide scale on top of the MCrAlY provide fast oxygen diffusion routes and therefore accelerate oxidation of the coating.
Further Smialek J L, Jayne Q T, Schaeffer J C and Murphy W H (Thin Solid Films 1994; 253:285; Smialek J L; Metallurgical Transactions A. Physical Metallurgy and Material Science 1991; 22A:739) state that a high sulfur content of bigger than 10 ppm (parts per million) existed in the current MCrAlY layer shortening coating lifetime.
Typically ceramic coating(s) are used on a hot gas component of a gas turbine, for example turbine blades, combustors, transition ducts, sealing segments, and nozzle guide vanes, providing the components with thermal insulating or sealing functions. For the thermal insulating, the ceramic coatings are called thermal barrier coatings (TBC) which are characterized by a low thermal conductivity and typically consist of zirconia stabilized by yttria generally deposited by plasma spraying and electron beam physical vapor deposition on the substrate. Often a bond-coat is necessary to avoid exceeding residual stresses caused by different thermal expansion of the substrate and the ceramic thermal barrier coating(s). Most often the bond-coat is applied on the surface as a MCrAlY bond-coat.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Coating, coating layer system, coated superalloy component


A method for manufacturing shallow trench isolation regions according to the invention uses a first stop layer and a second stop layer as two polishing stop layers, or a polishing stop layer and an etching stop layer, respectively. By performing chemical mechanical polishing twice, or performing chemical mechanical polishing one time and then etch back, the influence on subsequently formed shallow trench isolation regions caused by different sizes and densities thereof can be greatly alleviated.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing semiconductors, and in particular to a method for manufacturing shallow trench isolation (STI) regions.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that a device isolation region is used to electrically separate two adjacent devices from each other, thereby preventing an unexpected carrier flow therebetween in a substrate. For example, a typical device isolation region is formed between two field effect transistors (FETs) in a densely-packed IC, such as a DRAM so as to reduce a charge leakage between the FETs. In general, the device isolation region is formed by the LOCOS process. Since the LOCOS process has been increasingly matured, a device isolation structure with low cost and high reliability can be obtained by using the LOCOS process. However, the LOCOS process creates an unexpected stress and a bird's break around the device isolation structure. A device isolation structure with a bird's beak formed by the LOCOS process cannot efficiently insolate two adjacent devices from each other, particularly two adjacent small-small devices.
Due to the poor insulation of the device isolation region formed by the LOCOS process, it is intended to replace the device isolation structure with a scalable shallow trench isolation structure in a high density IC.
In a shallow trench isolation process, a trench is formed in a semiconductor substrate by anisotropic etching, and then the trench is filled with oxide to insulate two adjacent devices from each other, thereby forming a shallow trench isolation region. Since the formed shallow trench isolation structure is scalable and has no bird's beak encroachment as stated in the traditional LOCOS process, the shallow trench isolation process is suitable for the CMOS manufacturing.
FIGS. 1A-1E shows a method for manufacturing shallow trench isolation regions. First, referring to FIG. 1A, a pad oxide layer 102 is formed on a silicon substrate 100 by thermal oxidation, wherein the pad oxide layer 102 is used to protect the surface of the silicon substrate 100. Then, a silicon nitride layer 104 is formed on the pad oxide layer 102 by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD).
Referring to FIG. 1B, a photoresist (not shown) is formed on the silicon nitride layer 104 and then the silicon nitride layer 104, the pad oxide layer 102 and the silicon substrate 100 are etched to form trenches 110 and 112 in the silicon substrate 100. After that, the photoresist is removed.
Referring to 1C, a liner oxide layer 114 is formed on the inner surfaces of the trenches 110 and 112 by high-temperature thermal oxidation, wherein the liner oxide layer 114 extends to the top corners 120 of the trenches 110 and 112 to contact the pad oxide layer 102. Subsequently, the trenches 110 and 112 are filled with an insulator 116, such as a silicon oxide layer, by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD).
Referring to FIG. 1D, excessive part of the insulator 116 is removed by chemical mechanical polishing until the surface of the silicon nitride layer 104 is exposed, wherein the silicon nitride layer 104 functions as a polishing stop layer.
Referring to FIG. 1E, the silicon nitride layer 104 is removed to expose the pad oxide layer 102. Thereafter, the pad oxide layer 102 is removed by a hydrofluoric acid solution. As a result, shallow trench isolation regions 118a and 118b are formed.
However, in the prior method, there is a problem of non-uniformity owing to the different densities and sizes of the trenches 110 and 112. Furthermore, it is necessary to over-polish the insulator 116 to ensure that the insulator 116 cannot remain on the silicon nitride at all. This results in a first dent 130 created on the isolation region 118b, known as a dishing effect. Apart from the first dent 130, second dents 140 are formed at the top corners 120 during wet etching for removing the pad oxide layer 102 by a hydrofluoric acid solution, causing a kink effect. The kink effect not only decrease the threshold voltage of devices, but also cause a leakage current on the devices because corner parasitic MOSFETs relative to active regions are formed.

Method for manufacturing shallow trench isolation regions


A control system with slow-in-turn capabilities for use with a self-propelled, steerable vehicle, such as a lawn mower, is disclosed. In one embodiment, the system slows the vehicle speed when turns are made beyond a predetermined range and the speed is at or above a predetermined level, as determined by a speed control device operatively connected to the speed control structure of a motive device by a speed control linkage. This slowing results in increased traction for achieving tighter turns and also improves dynamic stability. Two different types of rack-and-pinion steering systems capable of being used with the control system are also disclosed.

Vehicles in the form of riding mowers and tractors having a traditional mechanical steering system with a steering wheel controlled by a seated operator are in widespread use. While this type of steering system generally provides an acceptable level of steer wheel traction and dynamic stability during regular turning at low speeds, problems occur during relatively sharp turns if the vehicle speed is relatively high and left unchecked. This is especially true in vehicles equipped with modern, Ackerman-type steering systems that allow the steerable wheels to pivot different amounts up to almost 90° in either direction (180° total) to achieve particularly tight turns.
For example, in the case of a self-propelled lawn mower, it is difficult if not impossible at high speeds to make the tight turn necessary to mow around a small round or circular object, such as a pole or shrub, without the operator actively reducing the vehicle speed. Even at moderate speeds, a sudden, sharp turn may also result in a lifting of the wheels from the ground and a concomitant loss of traction. This is deleterious, in that it allows the vehicle to essentially slide out of the turn and effectively miss the intended path of travel, which can not only be frustrating, but may also damage the turf. The lifting of the wheels also reduces dynamic stability and, hence, poses safety concerns. These concerns led the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to promulgate standards regarding the maximum amount of wheel lift permitted during a turn for self-propelled, rider-operated lawn mowers. To meet the standards, it is thus desirable to automatically reduce the speed of the vehicle as a turn is made in an effort to reduce the amount of wheel lift or eliminate it altogether.
In the past, others have proposed control systems that automatically slow a vehicle during turns in an effort to address and overcome the foregoing problems. One such system is disclosed in Toro's U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,617 to White, III. et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. While this "slow-in-turn" system may achieve the desired result, it is terribly complicated in design and, thus, expensive to manufacture, install, and maintain. The part of the system providing the slow-in-turn capabilities is also not well-suited for retrofitting on most existing vehicles, since it primarily applies to a specialized type of drive system. The particular embodiments of the system disclosed in this patent also slow the speed of the vehicle regardless of the degree of turning. However, for a certain range of turns, a reduction in vehicle speed is simply not required to maintain traction and achieve dynamic stability.
Another vehicle control system with slow in turn characteristics is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,310 to Peter, which is also incorporated herein by reference. However, it basically applies to machines with drive wheels controlled by individual clutches. Consequently, it is not well-suited for application to the current designs of the majority of lawn mowers, tractors, and similar vehicles that do not have such clutches.
A vehicle having extremely tight turning characteristics is described in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,920, which is also incorporated herein by reference. In view of the tight turning radius that can be achieved by this vehicle, it can especially benefit from the steer traction and dynamic stability enhancement provided by a slow-in-turn system. This patent proposes accomplishing the enhancement by providing individual left and right brakes for the drive wheels. Moreover, the speed of the individual driven wheels can be manually controlled to slow the vehicle down during a turn to improve both tracking and traction. While these arrangements thus provide beneficial slow-in-turn capabilities, both require active or independent manual input from the operator.
Accordingly, a need is identified for an improved vehicle control system with slow-in-turn capabilities. The system would automatically slow the vehicle during turns made beyond or outside a predetermined range, and especially during the sharpest of turns. The automatic nature of the system means that independent manual input by the operator would be unnecessary to make the speed adjustment. The system would also be simple and robust in both design and operation, thus keeping the manufacturing, installation, and maintenance expense at a minimum, yet without sacrificing functionality. This simplicity would also allow the system to be easily adapted for use with or retrofitted onto many types of existing self-propelled, rider-operated vehicles, such as riding lawn mowers, without significant cost or effort.

Vehicle control system with slow-in-turn capabilities and related method


A light-emitting hand-held surface profiler for scanning and profiling the surfaces of objects has a transparent housing, a focusable light source, a conical mirror aligned to redirect light emitted by the light source onto a surface to be profiled, an imaging sensor and a lens aligned to redirect toward the imaging sensor light reflected by the surface onto the lens. The light source, conical mirror, imaging sensor and lens are mounted within the housing and positionally referentially coupled to the housing.

The prior art has evolved surface profilers for scanning and profiling the surfaces of an object to determine the object's three-dimensional shape. Some surface profilers have touch probes which contact a surface of the object. Other surface profilers emit light or radiation (e.g. laser light) and detect its reflection from a surface.
Some light-emitting surface profiling systems have a laser scanner that is attached to a moveable arm equipped with encoders to determine relative motion of the scanner. The laser scanner is swept over an object and a camera takes images of the object's surface from multiple points of view as determined from the encoders. Reconstruction software processes the scanned data to produce three-dimensional surface maps of the object. However, the size of the moveable arm, the scanner and the camera inhibits use of such surface profiling systems to scan the interior of small objects.
Other light-emitting surface profiling systems for scanning the interior of objects have a laser mounted at the end of a stalk. Light emitted by the laser is incident on a target surface and imaged onto a camera by a lens positioned behind the laser. As the stalk tends to oscillate or move, accurate scanning measurements are difficult to obtain using such a surface profiling system.
As seen in FIG. 1A, triangulation may be used by light-emitting surface profilers to measure locations on a surface of an object which is illuminated by a light source, such as a laser 12, and obliquely viewed by a camera 14. Camera 14 incorporates an imaging sensor 16 for detecting light and a lens 15 for focusing and imaging light onto imaging sensor 16. In single point triangulation, laser 12 emits a laser beam 18 which is incident at a point (X,Y) on surface 10 of object 11. Laser beam 18 is reflected by surface 10 as laser beam 18′, and laser beam 18′ is imaged by lens 15 to a point (x,y) on imaging sensor 16. A laser beam 18 that is incident on another surface 10′ of object 11′ at a different point (X′,Y′) is reflected by surface 10′ as laser beam 18″ which is imaged to a different point (x′,y′) on imaging sensor 16. The relationship between locations on the surface of an object and locations on imaging sensor 16 is determined by the physical arrangement of laser 12 and camera 14. In particular, the distance between laser 12 and camera 14 (i.e. baseline 20) is fixed, as well as the angle θ between laser beam 18 and baseline 20. As such, the location of points (X,Y), (X′,Y′) on a surface can be determined from the measured location of points (x,y), (x′,y′), respectively, on imaging sensor 16.
Rather than illuminating a single point on a surface as seen in FIG. 1A, laser beam 18 may be spread so that a laser line 22 (i.e. a series of points) is projected onto surface 10, as seen in FIG. 1B. Line 22 is reflected and imaged as a corresponding line 23 on imaging sensor 16. The spreading of laser beam 18 advantageously allows more data points to be collected at once, as line 22 encompasses multiple points (X,Y) on surface 10 which are imaged on imaging sensor 16 as multiple points (x,y) on line 23. By fixing the physical arrangement of laser 12 and camera 14, triangulation techniques may be applied to determine the locations of points on line 22 on surface 10 from the measured locations of points on line 23 on imaging sensor 16.
The accuracy of light-emitting surface profiling systems using triangulation techniques may be affected by several factors. These include baseline shifts or variations. FIG. 2A illustrates the effect of moving camera 14 away from laser 12 by a distance s to define a new baseline 20′. As a result of this baseline shift, a point (X,Y) on surface 10—which would otherwise have been imaged at point (x,y) on imaging sensor 16 at baseline 20—is imaged at point (x′,y′) on imaging sensor 16 at the new baseline 20′. However, point (x′,y′) on imaging sensor 16 corresponds to a different point (X′,Y′) in the path of laser beam 18 at baseline 20. Therefore, a surface profiling system which is calibrated for a particular baseline 20 will not provide accurate measurements if camera 14 and/or laser 12 are moved to define a new baseline 20′. The difference Δd1 between points (X,Y) and (X′,Y′) corresponds to the error caused by the baseline shift.
Another factor which may affect the accuracy of light-emitting surface profiling systems is a shift in the direction of the light beam emitted by the light source. FIG. 2B illustrates the effect of changing the angle between laser beam 18 and lens axis 24 by an angle shift φ. As a result of this angle shift, light which would otherwise have been incident at point (X,Y) on surface 10 and imaged at point (x,y) on imaging sensor 16 is instead incident at point (X′,Y′) on surface 10 and imaged at point (x′,y′) on imaging sensor 16. The difference Δd2 between points (X,Y) and (X′,Y′) corresponds to the error caused by the angle shift.
There is a need for a surface profiler for scanning interior and exterior surfaces of objects in a range of shapes and sizes, which addresses the scanning inaccuracies and other disadvantages of prior art surface profilers.


A method for forming an aqueous polyurethane dispersion including providing an isocyanate (NCO)-terminated prepolymer with a side-chain reactive functional group by admixing (i) at least one diisocyanate, (ii) at least one difunctional polyol, (iii) a short-chain diol monomer having a side-chain reactive functional group or a modified clay thereof, (iv) at least one hydroxy carboxylic acid compound and (v) a hydrophilic cosolvent; neutralizing the NCO-terminated prepolymer with a tertiary amine; dispersing the NCO-terminated prepolymer in water; and admixing the NCO-terminated prepolymer with at least one chain extending agent comprising a hydrophilic diamine; wherein the short-chain diol monomer (iii) is expressed by structural formula (I):

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to waterborne polyurethane with a reactive functional group and a nanocomposite based on the waterborne polyurethane and, more particularly, to waterborne polyurethane with a reactive side-chain group and clay based on the waterborne polyurethane and, more particularly, to waterborne polyurethane added with a small molecular monomer with a reactive functional group to increase the molecular weight and enhance the physical strength, the chemical resistance, the mechanical strength, the hydrolysis resistance, the thermo-tolerance and wear resistance.
2. Related Prior Art
Waterborne polyurethane has been developed for about 60 years and commercialized for more than 30 years. Conventionally, to make waterborne polyurethane, polyol and a hydrophilic functional alcohol (or amine) monomer are pre-polymerized in a small amount of hydrophilic solvent and an excessive amount of di-isocyanate, and neutralized by an ionized compound. The hydrophilic solvent may be N-methyl pyrrolidone ("NMP"), methyl ethyl ketone ("MEK") or acetone. The ionized compound may be carboxylic group/tertiary amine or sodium salt. Thus, the pre-polymer of the polyurethane is ionized. As a molecular chain grows to a certain length, the activity of the terminal isocyanate is considerably reduced. Hydrophilic amine can be used to extend the molecular chain and then enlarge the molecular weight, thus producing waterborne polyurethane dispersion.
Early patents related to waterborne polyurethane are mostly focused on processes for making waterborne polyurethane. Recent patents related to waterborne polyurethane are mostly focused on improvement of the physical properties of waterborne polyurethane and applications of waterborne polyurethane. In Taiwanese Patent Nos. 293962 and 262197, waterborne polyurethane dispersion is disclosed for coating, adhering and gluing glass fibers. in Taiwanese Patent No. 228515, polyurethane, polyurethane-polyurea or polyurea dispersion that is self-crosslink at high temperature is used as paste for glass fibers so that the finished glass fibers exhibit improved processability and that plastics enhanced by the glass fibers exhibit improved mechanical properties. In Taiwanese Patent No. 191177, a di-isocyanate uretedione derivative is disclosed for use in waterborne polyurethane. The di-isocyanate uretedione derivative is made by addition aziridine in di-isocyanate uretedione.
The physical properties of waterborne polyurethane can be enhanced by a reactive design. For example, disclosed in Taiwanese Patent No. 225495 is polyurethane dispersion of reactive or post-crosslink polyurethane. In Taiwanese Patent No. 197134, there is disclosed waterborne polyurethane lotion and a related coating. Moreover, waterborne polyurethane dispersion derived from blocked aromatic diisocyanate has been disclosed in papers such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,181 and Progress in Organic Coatings, 48, 2003, 71-79.
In Taiwanese Patent No. 176144, disclosed waterborne polyurethane dispersion. When the temperature reaches a certain degree, isocyanate will be produced and reacts with any substance that contains the hydroxyl group. Such blocked waterborne polyurethane can be used in textile and on wood, paper and plastics.
However, to effectively emulsify and disperse the pre-polymer in water, a practical product must include aliphatic or cycloaliphatic di-isocyanate that is lowly water-reactive such as di-isocyanate ("IPDI"), hexamethylene diisocyanate ("HDI") and bis(cyclohexyl)methylene diisocyanate ("H12MDI"). These compounds are expensive, and their physical properties are no match of solvent-type counterparts because of the structure of aliphatic compounds.
However, many organic solvents are used currently such as toluene and dimethylformamide ("DMF"). These compounds pollute the environment and impose hazard to human health. As the environmental protection is getting more attention worldwide and laws and rules are getting tougher against environmental pollution, there is a growing need for low-pollutant and high-performance waterborne resin.
To solve the foregoing problems, conventionally, aliphatic or cycloaliphatic di-isocyanate is used at the ends of polyurethane pre-polymer to suppress reaction of the functional group ("NCO") with water in dispersion and therefore slow down the reduction of the NCO and avoid failure of dispersion. Related techniques can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,193,011, 5,714,561, 5,852,105 and 5,905,113, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0192283 A1, and European Patent Nos. 738,750 and 682,049.
In Journal of Polymer Science: Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 2004, 42, 4353-4369, disclosed waterborne polyurethane as methylene di-p-phenyl diisocyanate ("MDI")/IPDI mixture. The intermolecular forces and physical properties in relation to different concentrations of MDI have been discussed.
Disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2003/0027923 A1 and 2005/0020707 A1 is high-performance waterborne polyurethane. Reaction of the functional group ("NCO") of the aliphatic or cycloaliphatic di-isocyanate with water in dispersion suppress and therefore slow down the reduction of the NCO and avoid failure of dispersion. In the dispersion of prepolymer with aromatic isocyanate as a terminal group, reaction of the functional group of isocyanate with water is suppressed and the molecular chain is effectively extended. Toluene diisocyanate ("TDI") is used as an initiator without having to use any aliphatic or cycloaliphatic di-isocyanate. By strict control over the concentration of the functional group of NCO in the prepolymerization and the concentration of a chain-extending agent, waterborne polyurethane dispersion is made with excellent physical properties and stability in storage.
Except addition of a curing agent and changing the properties of the components, waterborne polyurethane nanocomposites have been widely studied, e.g., Macromolecules, 2006, 39, 6133 and Journal of Polymer Science: Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 2006, 44, 5801. Clay is lamination of silicate layers and an abundant, inexpensive inorganic material in the nature. Clay exhibits advantages such as excellent mechanical properties, thermo-tolerance, chemical resistance and a low expansion coefficient, and therefore is often used as an enhancing material for polymers. However, unmodified clay is hydrophilic and poorly compatible with polymers that are hydrophobic, and the silicate layers tend to be aggregated and cannot be evenly distributed. However, the clay is hydrophilic in nature and lacks the affinity for hydrophobic organic polymers. To improve its miscibility with polymers, the clay must be modified to become organophilic by widening the interlayer spacing with surfactants. In 1987, Toyota released a nanometer dispersed clay/nylon nanocomposite the first time. Since then, there have been some patents related to nanometer clay/waterborne polyurethane composites. In Taiwanese Patent No. 230181 for example, a method is disclosed for making waterborne polyurethane/clay nanocomposites. C6˜C18 alkyl diamine are used to modify clay, the modified clay is used with waterborne polyurethane to form a pre-polymer, and they form a stable dispersion after the molecular chain is extended.
In Taiwanese Patent No. 263628 for example, a method is disclosed for making modified clay and polyurethane resin/clay nanocomposites. A lipophilic modifier and a reactive modifier of a structure that includes —OH and —NH are used. The reactive modifier includes a functional group for reacting with polyurethane resin. The gallery between two adjacent layers of the modified clay is increased to 14.6 to 60 Å. In the composites and dispersion, the gallery between two adjacent layers of the modified clay can be increased by 5 to 10 Å, and the tensile strength and wear-resistance are increased.
In Taiwanese Patent No. 165322, a method is disclosed for modifying clay by a multi-functional organic material and an elastic nanometer clay/polyurethane composite made of polyurethane and multi-functional reactive organic clay to considerably increase the thermo-tolerance and mechanical properties of polyurethane but reduce the water-absorption of polyurethane.
In Taiwanese Patent No. 261594, a method is disclosed for making dispersion of waterborne polyurethane/clay nanocomposites and its use in coating. Nanometer clay is modified by long alkyl or quaternary ammonium salt and used as a flame retardant, and mixed and polymerized with synthetic polyurethane to produce waterborne polyurethane with flame-retardant property. In addition, 50˜75 wt % of unmodified clay that is hydrophilic can be added into the waterborne polyurethane. Hydrophilic, suspended, stable, composite emulsion is flame-retardant, and the clay renders the coating more flame-retardant and increases the tensile strength of the coating without jeopardizing the adhesiveness of the emulsion.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,901, disclosed are composite fibers and coating materials that include polyurethane resin and nanometer delaminated clay. The clay is modified by quaternary onium salts such as ammonium salts, phosphonium salts and sulphonium salts.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,975, a method is disclosed to prepare nanocomposites and films that include polyurethane resin and delaminated clay. The polyurethane/clay dispersion is made of aprotic polar solvents such as dimethylacetamide by solution intercalation. Hence, nanometer laminated inorganic polymer composites increase mechanical strength, thermostability, flame-retardant ability, solvent-resistance and gas barrier ability.
None of the foregoing papers is focused on using reactive monomer with selective reactivity to modify organic/inorganic clay and using the modified clay to make clay/waterborne polyurethane composites. Hence, there is still room for improving the physical properties of waterborne polyurethane.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.

Method for making waterborne polyurethane with a reactive functional group and a nanocomposite made of the same

Abstract: wherein, A is an azetidine-2,4-dione functional group

Abstract: or a malonamide-linked alkyl group

Abstract: and B is a nitrogen-linked di-hydroxy terminal group

Abstract: or tertiary amine-linked di-hydroxy terminal group

Abstract: wherein IDD was synthesized by methylenedi-p-phenyl diisocyanate and isobutyryl chloride using triethylamine as catalyst.

NATIONAL CHUNG SHAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A carbon nanotube (“CNT”) gas sensor includes a substrate, an insulating layer formed on the substrate, electrodes formed on the insulating layer, and CNT barriers that protrude higher than the electrodes in spaces between the electrodes to form gas detecting spaces. A method of manufacturing the gas sensor includes forming an insulating layer on a substrate, forming an electrode pattern on the insulating layer, coating CNT paste having a thickness greater than a thickness of electrodes in the electrode pattern on the electrodes and the insulating layer, and patterning and firing the carbon nanotube paste, including using a photolithography method, to retain only portions of the CNT paste coated on spaces between the electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carbon nanotube ("CNT") gas sensor and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a CNT gas sensor that has low operating temperature, low power consumption, and high sensitivity and a method of manufacturing the CNT gas sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a gas sensor measures the amount of a harmful gas using the characteristics of varying electrical conductivity or electrical resistance according to adsorption of gas molecules. Conventionally, a gas sensor was manufactured using a metal oxide semiconductor ("MOS"), a solid electrolyte material, or organic materials. However, the gas sensor that uses the MOS or the solid electrolyte material starts a sensing operation when the gas sensor is heated to 200-600° C. The gas sensor that uses the organic material has a very low electrical conductivity, and the gas sensor that uses carbon black and an organic complex has a very low sensitivity. In particular, when the gas sensor is manufactured using a complex of carbon black and an organic material, the gas sensor shows very low sensitivity.
Carbon nanotubes ("CNTs") have recently drawn attention as a new material that can be applied to various industrial fields due to their high electron emission characteristics and high chemical reactivity. In particular, the CNT is a material that has a very wide surface area compared to the volume of the CNT. Therefore, the CNT is very useful in fields such as hydrogen storing and the detection of a minor chemical component together with high surface reactivity. The advantages of the CNTs are derived from the properties of the CNTS. The CNTs, which are rolled carbon molecules formed by rolling graphite plates into cylinders (composed of sp2 bonds) that consist of carbons connected by hexagonal rings, and have a diameter of a few to a few tens of nanometers nm. The CNTs are strong, flexible, and do not easily wear despite repeated use, and have different electrical characteristics according to the shape of their rolled up structure and diameter.
When the CNTs are used in a gas sensor, there are advantages in that a sensing operation can start at room temperature, and sensitivity and speed of response are very high since there is a large variation in electrical conductivity when harmful gases such as NH3 or NO2 react with the CNTs in the gas sensor.
There is a conventional gas sensor in which CNTs are grown between field effect transistor ("FET") type electrodes using a chemical vapor deposition ("CVD") method. At this time, the CNTs are grown using a solution in which CNT bundles are uniformly distributed in a solvent, for example, dimethylformamide, chloroform, dichloroethane, or methylpyrrolidinone.
However, the kinds of solvent in which the CNTs can be distributed are limited. Also, when the gas sensor is used for a long period of time, stability of the gas sensor is reduced due to low adhesiveness between the electrodes having a very fine structure and the CNTs. Furthermore, the reproducibility of the CNT sensor layer is difficult due to the characteristics of the CVD method. In particular, in the case of a gas sensor in which a few CNT elements having high sensitivity are connected, the manufacturing reproducibility can be very important. Also, since the CNTs are stacked to a very low height in a thin film state (in particular, when the CNTs are horizontally grown), a sensing space is formed to be very small and sensitivity is very low. Therefore, there is a difficulty in detecting a stable gas such as carbon dioxide.

Carbon nanotube gas sensor and method of manufacturing the same


Provided is a resin composition for surface treatment of a steel sheet including a binder resin, graphene and a solvent. More particularly, as only a small amount of the graphene is included in the resin composition used for surface treatment of a steel sheet, a user-required electrical conductivity can be provided to the steel sheet.

A surface treatment method of coating a chromate film is generally used to provide corrosion resistance and coating adherence to a zinc plating steel sheet and zinc-based alloy plating steel sheet, an aluminum plating steel sheet, aluminum-based alloy plating steel sheet, cold-rolled steel sheet and hot-rolled steel sheet, which are used as materials for automobiles, electronic appliances and construction. However, according to the necessity of several countermeasures for a working environment and drainage treatment due to toxicity of hexavalent chromium, a chromium-free surface treated steel sheet which can meet various demand characteristics including corrosion resistance, alkali resistance and conductivity has been developed.
However, a conventional surface-treated steel sheet to which organic or combined organic-inorganic coating is applied has problems of discoloration and degradation in physical properties due to deterioration of a resin component as thermal stability of a coating component such as an organic material in a PDP panel is degraded during a long-term use at a high temperature of 200 to 250° C. or more.
To solve these problems of the surface-treated steel sheet, a coating steel sheet using a silicon-or fluorine-based resin having excellent thermal resistance has been used in the art. However, since the coating steel sheet is generally coated to 20 to 30 μm on an under coat having a thickness of approximately 5 μm so as to ensure durability, it cannot ensure electric conductivity, and is expensive. Therefore, the coating steel sheet has been used only for exterior materials for decoration of electronic appliances. As a surface-treated steel sheet for interior materials of an electronic appliance, an anti-fingerprint steel sheet having a coating thickness of approximately 1 to 2 μm on a zinc plating steel sheet has been widely used.
As shown in FIG. 1, such an anti-fingerprint steel sheet is generally formed to have a zinc plating layer on a top surface of the steel sheet and a resin layer including metal powder and/or a metal salt having conductivity on the zinc plating layer so as to provide conductivity in addition to corrosion resistance and/or alkali resistance.
Here, as the metal powder and/or metal salt used to provide conductivity to the resin layer, generally, zinc oxide is used in some cases, and to achieve 100% conductivity, the zinc oxide should generally be included in an amount of approximately 3 parts by weight or more based on a solid content of a conductive resin composition to form a resin layer.
Meanwhile, while materials known so far as a crystalline body of carbon are only graphite and diamond, in 1985, Kroto of Sussex University in the UK and Smalley of Rice University in the US found the presence of a fullerene referred to as a third carbon allotrope from an experiment of vaporizing a graphite using a laser beam, and in 1990, Kratschmer of Germany and Huffman of the University of Arizona succeeded in mass production of fullerenes using an arc discharge method instead of a laser beam, which served as a momentum for the active research of carbon materials. The most important result obtained from such research is discovery of a carbon nanotube.
A carbon nanotube is a tube-shaped material formed in such a manner that carbon atoms bind to one another carbon in a hexagonal honeycombed pattern, and a diameter of the tube is ultimately small on a nanometer (1/109 meter) level.
A carbon nanotube exhibits characteristics of a conductor or semiconductor according to a degree of a twisted structure and has a quasi-one-dimensional structure, unlike graphite and diamond respectively having characteristics of a conductor and a nonconductor. The carbon nanotube is not only a nano-structure having an unusual quantum effect, but also has characteristics of a quantum wire through which electric current theoretically flows at an ultra-high speed at room temperature with no resistance. In addition, the carbon nanotube has an electric resistance lower than graphite at room temperature, and is at least 100 times stronger than steel, very lightweight and chemically stable. The carbon nanotube increases in a magnetic property as a temperature lowers, which indicates that the carbon nanotube is diamagnetic.
However, graphene, which has an excellent conductivity at least 50% higher than that of the carbon nanotube, has also been discovered. Graphene has a thickness of one atom and is a good conductor having excellent electric performance. In graphene, electrons move as if they do not have a rest mass and have an unusual type of quantum hall effect.

Resin composition for surface treatment of steel sheet and surface-treated steel sheet using the same


A CPU of a speech ECU acquires vehicle position information. If it is determined from the position information and map data stored in a memory that the vehicle has moved between areas where different languages are spoken as dialects or official languages, the CPU determines a language corresponding to the vehicle position information and transmits a request signal to a speech information center to transmit speech information in the language. By receiving the speech information from the speech information center, the CPU updates speech information pre-stored in the memory with the speech information transmitted from the speech information center.

Systems for providing audio guidance according to the related art include, for example, an on-vehicle navigation system disclosed in JP 8-124092A. In this on-vehicle navigation system, an intersection guidance control process is executed by a map display control unit such that the current position of a controlled vehicle detected by a current position detection process will be displayed on a map of the relevant region read from a map data storing unit and displayed on a CRT display device. Further, the intersection guidance control process is executed to read a dialect or foreign language stored in a language database memory. The control process controls speech synthesis such that speech in the dialect or foreign language will be output to provide guidance for a right or left turn at an intersection, an announcement of the name of a place toward which the vehicle is headed after the right or left turn, or an instruction on a device operation. Thus, the speech of audio guidance is adapted to the dialect or language spoken in the region or country where the vehicle is traveling.
However, this on-vehicle navigation apparatus is required to have a storage device to store audio information in dialects spoken in various regions of a country or major languages in the world. Thus a storage device having an increased storage capacity results in an increase in the cost of the apparatus.

Audio guidance system having ability to update language interface based on location


One embodiment of the present invention provides an InGaAlN-based semiconductor light-emitting device which comprises an InGaAlN-based semiconductor multilayer structure and a carbon-based substrate which supports InGaAlN-based semiconductor multilayer structure, wherein the carbon-based substrate comprises at least one carbon-based layer. This carbon-based substrate has both high thermal conductivity and low electrical resistivity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the design of semiconductor light-emitting devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for fabricating InGaAlN-based semiconductor light-emitting devices on carbon-based substrates.
2. Related Art
Solid-state light-emitting devices are expected to lead the next wave of illumination technologies. High-brightness light-emitting diodes (HB-LEDs) are emerging in an increasing number of applications, from light source for display devices to light-bulb replacement for conventional lighting. Meanwhile, solid-state lasers continue to beam as the driving force in many critical technological fields, from optical data storage, to optical communication networks, and to medical applications.
In particular, recent success in the development of nitride-based InxGayAl1-x-yN (0<=x<=1, 0<=y<=1) (InGaAlN-based hereafter) LEDs and lasers (e.g., GaN-based LEDs and lasers) not only extends the light-emission spectrum to the green, blue, and ultraviolet region, but also can achieve high light emission efficiency. InGaAlN-based semiconductor light-emitting devices have been widely used in applications including full-color large-screen displays, traffic lights, backlight source, and solid-state lighting.
Successful epitaxial growth of InGaAlN-based materials typically requires matching of the lattice constant and thermal-expansion coefficients of the substrate and epitaxial layers. Consequently, unconventional substrate materials, such as sapphire (Al2O3), are often used to grow InGaAlN materials in order to achieve such matching. Furthermore, these light-emitting devices are typically configured to have both positive and negative electrodes fabricated on the same side of the device.
Unfortunately, the above-described light-emitting devices often suffer from low utilization of the light-emitting material, low light-emission efficiency, and low thermal conductivity through the sapphire substrate. A further problem is associated with the fact that a typical Ohmic-contact layer can absorb some light during the emission process, and hence causes negative impact on the electro-optical property of the device. Moreover, sapphire substrates are typically expensive and are complex to fabricate, and can therefore lead to high manufacture costs.
Silicon (Si) substrates have low cost and can facilitate easy fabrication. Recent successes in research efforts have allowed semiconductor light-emitting structures to be fabricated on conventional Si substrates. However, if InGaAlN-based materials formed on Si substrates are used to fabricate light-emitting devices with the same-side electrode configuration, the following problems can arise: (1) Si substrate can absorb light emitted from active region of the device; (2) the same-side electrode configuration can reduce wafer utilization; and (3) P-type Ohmic-contact layer can also absorb some emitted light. On the other hand, if the device is fabricated with a vertical electrode configuration such that one of the two electrodes is formed directly on the Si substrate surface and below the light-emitting structure, the wafer utilization can be significantly improved. Unfortunately, the presence of an Aluminum Nitride (AlN) buffer layer above this bottom electrode can increase the operation bias voltage of the device, while the light absorption issues remain unsolved.
In recent years, researchers have been experimenting with wafer-bonding techniques to construct LEDs with vertical electrode configurations. During wafer bonding, a second support substrate with low resistance is bonded to the top of the InGaAlN-based LED multilayer structure fabricated on a Si growth substrate. The Si growth substrate is subsequently removed through wet etching, which effectively transfers the InGaAlN-based LED multilayer from the initial growth substrate to the new substrate. This process allows fabricating the InGaAlN-based LEDs which emit light through the N-type layer while having a vertical electrode configuration. Such vertical-configuration LEDs can improve light-emission efficiency, increase wafer utilization, and reduce serial resistance of the LEDs.
Note that after transferring the InGaAlN-based multilayer structure to the new substrate, the heat dissipation property of the new substrate can have significant impact on the quality of the final device. These new substrates are typically either Si substrates or metal substrates. Although Si substrates are easy to process, such as dicing and cutting, they have inferior thermal conductivity in comparison with single-element metals such as copper and silver, and some high thermal-conductivity alloys. On the other hand, even though metal substrates, such as copper and silver have high thermal conductivities, they suffer from other problems, such as being difficult to cut and having a mismatching thermal expansion coefficient with respect to the transferred InGaAlN-based layers.
Hence, what is needed is a new substrate which has high thermal conductivity and is easy to process for supporting the InGaAlN-based multilayer structure transferred from the initial growth substrate.

InGaAIN light-emitting device containing carbon-based substrate and method for making the same


One or more embodiments of the invention set forth methods for performing quantity takeoff computations from computer aided design (CAD) drawings. The user initiates the quantity takeoff of an instance of a drawing object by manually selecting one or more geometries that visually represent the instance. The quantity takeoff engine identifies or creates a takeoff object that is associated with the drawing object. A takeoff object may include the dimension of geometry to quantify, the object parameter to be quantified, and the takeoff calculations to be performed. The takeoff measurement tool quantifies the instance and adds markup information to the CAD drawings to represent the determined quantity. Subsequently, the quantity takeoff engine performs takeoff calculations and adds the quantity and cost information to a takeoff report representing all previous selected instances. Advantageously, these techniques allow the user to incrementally create takeoff reports without making any manual measurements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer software. More specifically, the present invention relates to techniques for generating quantity takeoff data from computer aided design drawings.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term computer aided design (CAD) generally refers to a broad variety of computer-based tools used by architects, engineers, and other construction and design professionals. CAD applications may be used to construct computer models representing virtually any real-world construct. Commonly, CAD applications are used to compose computer models and drawings related to construction projects. For example, a CAD application may be used to compose a three-dimensional (3D) model of a house or an office building. Once composed, these CAD models are often used to generate a variety of two-dimensional (2D) and 3D views such as plan, profile, section, and elevation views. Additionally, such models may be used to generate architectural, construction, engineering, and other documentation related to the construction project.
A common requirement of construction projects is to generate an estimate of the cost of the project from the building drawings. This estimate can then be used as part of the bidding process or as part of the pricing process. Takeoff is an estimation of the quantities needed to construct a project based on the drawings and specifications. Quantity takeoff is the first part of the estimating process. The remainder of the estimating process includes determining your material selection and cost. Quantities may include numerical counts, such as the number of doors and windows in a project, but may also include other quantities such as the volume of concrete or the lineal feet of wall space.
Today, the quantity takeoff process is typically performed manually. For example, a project manager may use a printout, a pen, and a clicker to manually count objects depicted in a set of construction documents. The project manager may physically mark each instance of an object in a CAD drawing, using the clicker to maintain an instance count. A digitizer is often used for taking measurements from the printout. The project manager or cost engineer evaluates each drawing element individually, identifies the material associated with the element, identifies and quantifies the appropriate dimension of the element, calculates the element cost, and adds the element cost to the overall cost estimate.
One drawback to this approach is that it has proven to be error-prone. Also, this approach is both labor intensive and time consuming. Moreover, if the project design is modified after the original cost estimate is calculated, the takeoff process may need to be repeated. If the takeoff process is not repeated after design changes, accumulated inaccuracies in the cost estimate may adversely affect the bidding or pricing process. Another drawback to this approach is that it is difficult and expensive to accurately assess the cost impact of different design choices.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is a more effective and flexible technique for estimating the cost of a construction project. That is, for more effective and flexible techniques for generating quantity takeoff data.

Systems and methods for performing quantity takeoff computations from computer aided design drawings


Complexity requirements of the Live Video Streaming application are addressed by introducing spatial and temporal redundancy at the stream and networking layers and combining it with advanced reconstruction techniques at the client side. A system includes: a plurality of single or multiple content sources; weighted temporal redundancy generator; a network, coupling the single or multiple content sources and weighted temporal redundancy generator, wherein the network distributes data of the sources and generator; and a plurality of single or multiple content consuming entities, coupled to the network.

The present invention relates to the field of video transmission, and more specifically to a system for live video streaming through a data or communications network to a client.
Live video streaming is a difficult technical challenge due to latency constrains, communications network bandwidth and system robustness. Such streaming gains exponential complexity once multiple points of view or channels require multiplexing. Examples are multiple Picture-in-Picture, Channel guide, and Multiuser Videoconferencing.
Low latency requirements and real-time content make the application of retransmission protocols, large jitter buffers and pause and play/buffering (trick play) techniques almost impossible. Complex communications network topology, with lack of control over intermediate nodes (e.g., the Internet), require a unidirectionally robust protocol with low latency built-in into the Client-Server (Application-Cloud) solution.
Adding to this complexity is the need to deliver multiple content streams to multiple clients with per-client stream multiplexing patterns. This typically calls for powerful video transcoding operations at the server such as, but not limited to, MCU (multiconferencing unit) in case of videoconferencing. The role of such operations is to compose a multiplexed image based on per-client requirements from the original full resolution streams arriving from multiple sources. This step allows the reduction of bandwidth and decoding requirements at the client which would otherwise be exposed to all the incoming full resolution streams.
For example, live concert streaming may present multiple camera views in the client application showing main/selected camera content in full resolution and additional cameras in low resolution preview mode for interactive selection or dynamic switching between views. Clicking on the preview channels switches to the full resolution stream from the selected source, while previous full resolution content falls back into preview mode.
Content switching may be accomplished manually, via user control, or automatically as in case of videoconferencing with multiple participants and full resolution content selection based on voice activity (e.g., active talker detection).
Another important property of live video streaming such as sporting events for example, is that interruption of the content flow has a more drastic impact on the user experience compared to loss of high resolution details. An example of this problem is a "freeze" of live streaming of a soccer match in a family living room during a critical shot, while all the neighbors are already screaming "goal!"
Therefore, what is needed is a new and improved way to deliver multiple content streams to multiple live video clients with per-client stream multiplexing patterns.

Live streaming using multiple content streams


A hermetic compressor may include a crankshaft having an input shaft rotatably supported on the cast-iron block along the crankshaft axis and connected to the electric motor rotary output, and an eccentric crankpin orbitally rotating about the axis as the crankshaft is rotated. A pair of opposed pistons may lie on the common plane. Each piston may be pivotably connected to one of the connecting rod piston ends to drive the pistons in an oscillatory manner within the cylinders as the crankshaft rotates. The piston and cylinder pairs may cause fluid to be pumped from the inlet port to the outlet port as the piston oscillates varying the volume of the enclosed space bound by the piston and the cylinder pairs.

A general hermetic compressor includes a motor portion and compressor portion sealed in a hermetic container. A compressor may be classified as reciprocating, rotary, or any other type where a refrigerant is compressed. In general, a hermetic compressor has a crank shaft coupled to a rotor of the motor part that transfers power to reciprocating pistons. The reciprocating pistons compress the compressible gas within a cylinder. Reciprocating pistons may be arranged in offset horizontal planes that cause unwanted forces on the crankpin and crankshaft. In order to compensate for the unwanted forces, larger crankshaft bearings may be required.
A lower part of the hermetic container may be filled with oil or a condensed fluid. An oil path is formed in an axial direction of the crank shaft, and an oil feeder is installed at a lower end of the oil path so as to be immersed in oil. As the crank shaft rotates, oil is pumped along the oil path to be fed, supplying the required components with lubrication. The hermetic container may be filled at the factory to properly seal the container. A factory fill may require additional transportation and installation costs.

Method and equipment for improving the efficiency of compressors and refrigerators