An ablutionary installation including a mixing valve having respective inlets for hot and cold water and an outlet for temperature controlled water, a temperature sensor for monitoring outlet water temperature and providing a signal representative of the outlet water temperature to an electronic controller, a user interface permitting selection of outlet water temperature up to a pre-determined temperature, the electronic controller being operable to compare the selected and sensed outlet water temperatures for controlling the mixing valve to adjust the ratio of hot and cold water delivered to the outlet according to the selected outlet water temperature, and apparatus for initiating a disinfection cycle to deliver water to the outlet at a temperature higher than the pre-determined temperature, wherein the initiating apparatus includes an operating sequence with at least two inputs.

This invention concerns improvements in or relating to ablutionary installations for washing such as baths, showers, washbasins and the like.
The invention has particular, but not exclusive application to single or multiple outlet installations such as may be employed both domestically in the home and commercially in a variety of situations including hotels, healthcare and leisure establishments.
Typical installations for showering in healthcare and leisure establishments employ thermostatic mixing valves for mixing and blending supplies of hot and cold water to provide a source of temperature controlled water. Such installations carry risks associated with the safe operation of the mixing valve to avoid the user being scalded by discharge of very hot water and with the reliable disinfection of the waterways to prevent the user being infected by the presence of bacteria in the water supply, especially legionella bacteria.
Accurate control of the outlet water temperature is therefore required in such installations to reduce the risk of scalding. Electronic thermostatic mixing valves are known that employ a control system including a temperature sensor to monitor the outlet water temperature and an electric motor to adjust the position of the proportioning valve to maintain the selected water temperature substantially constant.
These valves can provide a fast response to change in temperature of the outlet water but the known electronic thermostatic mixing valves can tend to instability where the pressures of the hot and cold water supplies are unequal. Various attempts have been made to improve stability while maintaining accurate temperature control.
One method used to keep an electronic thermostatic mixing valve stable is to build in a level of damping in the valve rate of correction. This has the disadvantage that the valve becomes sluggish in response and so a compromise has to be selected wherein the accuracy of control and damping are satisfactory for a specific set of operating conditions, including the specification of the shower spray to be used.
Another method is to provide a motorised addition to the control knob of a thermostatic mixing valve employing a thermostat containing a thermally responsive material where the filled thermostat deals with adverse inlet pressure changes whilst remaining stable and the electronic addition makes very small, damped adjustments to the mixing valve temperature selector knob to compensate for the small residual errors. The component count in this type of valve is quite high because there is a complete mechanical control system plus an electronic control system so the product cost is consequently moderately high.
A potential solution to these problems involves employing sensors for the pressure, temperature and flow rate of the hot and cold water at the inlets and the blended water at the outlet and to adjust the ratio of hot and cold water delivered to the outlet in response to change in any of these affecting the outlet water temperature. The provision of sensors for all these parameters adds considerably to manufacturing costs and adds to the complexity of the electronic control required to process the signals and generate a correction signal.
It is common practice for a trained technician to carry out tests on each mixing valve in an installation when it is commissioned and then at regular intervals to ensure that the mixing valves are working properly. This is highly labour intensive and carrying and recording the tests manually incurs significant costs. Moreover, while regular testing may enable a gradual deterioration in the performance of a mixing valve to be detected and rectified before a serious fault develops, such routine testing cannot eliminate the risks of scalding resulting from a catastrophic failure of a mixing valve between tests.
It is also common practice for the installation to be constructed from pipes and fittings that are made from materials approved for use in potable water supply systems with the hot water system maintained at a temperature above 60 degrees C. to kill any organisms and the cold water system kept below 20 degrees C. to prevent any organisms that are present from growing quickly. In this way, the risk of bacteria such as legionella surviving and breeding in the installation is considerably reduced. Problems can still arise, however, if any part of the system is not used for any length of time where water can stagnate in the pipe work allowing any bacteria that are present to grow. As a result, it is necessary to flush the system to prevent water stagnating in the pipe work. This currently requires a service engineer to manually open and close the outlets to flush the water from the pipe work. This is highly labour intensive and there is a risk that parts of the system may not be flushed if any of the outlets are missed which can result in harmful bacteria growing to produce a health risk when the outlet is next opened.
In addition, the installation may be disinfected at pre-determined intervals by flushing with water heated above 60° C. for a minimum time sufficient to kill any bacteria present in the waterways. Such elevated water temperatures would produce scalding and requires disinfection to be carried out in a controlled manner when no-one is present in the shower area where they could be exposed to the hot water.
Thermostatic mixing valves for mixing and blending supplies of hot and cold water to provide a source of temperature controlled water are also widely used for showering in domestic and commercial establishments such as hotels. In these installations, the user typically steps into a shower enclosure to operate the mixing valve. When the shower has not been used for some time, a dead leg of cold water between the mixing valve and the shower head is discharged on starting the shower so that the user experiences an initial shot of cold water that may last for several seconds until the water having the selected temperature is delivered to the shower outlet. This can be uncomfortable and may cause the user to adjust the mixing valve to increase the selected water temperature. This may result in water being discharged that is too hot. Although this may not be dangerous for many users, it is uncomfortable and, in the case of young children or the elderly, could cause scalding. This can be a particular problem when young children or the elderly are allowed to shower unsupervised. Often, they are unfamiliar with the operations of the controls and this may lead to inadvertent selection of water that is too hot.
Many users also like to stop the shower while applying soap or shampoo. As a result, the temperature setting of the mixing valve is lost when the valve is turned off and, when the valve is turned on again, the user experiences an initial shot of cooler water until the valve discharges water having the selected temperature. This is uncomfortable and requires the user to remember the valve position to return the shower to the original setting.


There is provided a power supply circuit including a first series regulator including a first semiconductor element and a first constant voltage source, and a second series regulator including a second semiconductor element and a second constant voltage source, wherein the first series regulator and the second series regulator are cascaded and an input voltage to the first series regulator is a high voltage equal to or greater than 500 V.

The present disclosure relates to a power supply circuit, a power supply system, and an electric storage device suitable for forming a low voltage from a high voltage.
There are known series regulators in which a voltage control semiconductor element is connected in series to a load, a constant voltage is supplied to the semiconductor element by a constant voltage source, and a voltage to be applied to the load is constantly maintained (for example, see JP 2003-259632A). The series regulators can apply a constant voltage, for example, even when a load varies.

Power supply circuit, power supply system, and electric storage device


A scan test circuit (100) including a path for capturing a control signal during a test mode is disclosed. Scan test circuit (100) may include a control supply circuit (20), a clock control circuit (30), a control signal test circuit (40), and a scan flip-flop (1). Control supply circuit (20) may receive a control signal (Enable signal), which may be used for enabling a clock signal (CLK) in a gated clock system. A control supply test circuit (40) may provide a signal path that can apply control signal (Enable signal) to scan flip-flop (1) for capturing. In this way, functionality of a combination circuit used for generating a control signal (Enable signal) may be verified.

A flip-flop or a latch circuit may be used to form a synchronizing circuit (hereinafter generally referred to as a register). A clock signal is typically supplied to the register for synchronization. However, when the number of registers is large, the capacitance load on the clock signal can affect operating speeds. In order to disperse the load of the clock signal, a buffer cell may be interposed between a clock signal supply source and the register. The buffer cell can be driven at a relatively low speed and may form a clock "tree" so that a clock signal does not drive too large a load. In this case, a gated clock system may be used. In a gated clock system a gate function that can mask the clock signal is added to the clock tree. The gate function masks the clock signal in a period of time that the clock signal is not required in the functional specification of a semiconductor integrated circuit.
A scan test method can be used to allow the semiconductor integrated circuit to be more efficiently tested. In a scan test method, registers in the semiconductor integrated circuit are connected in series (scan chain) and operate as a shift register. By doing so, data can be held or captured in the registers and then scanned off the semiconductor integrated circuit and compared with expected test data values on a tester.
Referring now to FIG. 5, a circuit schematic diagram of a conventional scan test circuit is set forth and given the general reference character 500. Conventional scan test circuit 500 is an example in which a gated clock system is applied to a scan test circuit.
Conventional scan test circuit 500 includes a multiplexer flip-flop (hereinafter referred to as a "scan FF") 1, an AND gate 4, a level latch 2, an OR gate 3 and an AND gate 5.
AND gate 4 receives a CLK signal and a SCANTEST signal and provides an output to a control input C of level latch 2. AND gate 4 provides an output based on an AND of CLK signal and an inversion of SCANTEST signal. Level latch 2 receives an Enable signal at an input D and provides an output Q1 to an input of OR gate 3. Level latch 2 functions as a hold time assuring transparent latch that latches the Enable signal.
OR gate 3 receives SCANTEST signal at another input and provides an output to an input of AND gate 5. AND gate 5 receives CLK signal at another input and provides an output to a clock terminal CLK of scan FF 1. Scan FF 1 receives a SCANIN signal, DATAIN signal, and a ScanEnable signal and provides an output Q2. Scan FF 1 functions as a scan register.
Enable signal can have a phase different from the CLK signal. Level latch 2 provides the Enable signal at a time of a trailing edge of the CLK signal during normal operation and holds Enable signal when CLK signal is high. In this way, output Q1 is not changed during the period that CLK signal is high and a gated clock signal can be supplied to the clock terminal CLK of scan FF 1 without glitches.
OR gate 3 and AND gate 5 function to supply the CLK signal to the clock terminal CLK of scan FF 1 so that the CLK signal is masked with output Q1 of level latch 2 in the normal operation and the CLK signal propagates through unchanged during the scan test.
In conventional scan test circuit 500, because the CLK signal is always supplied to scan FF 1 during the scan test, a capture operation that receives the DATAIN signal from, for example, a combination circuit and a shift operation that receives the SCANIN signal from a register that is one stage earlier in the scan chain can be executed by switching the ScanEnable signal.
However, an Enable signal is also output from the combination circuit. In a test operation conventional scan test circuit 500, the Enable signal is not captured and latched as data by scan FF 1 and is not provided to an external output terminal through a scan path. Thus, a failure of a logic circuit that generates the Enable signal may not be detectable. This can reduce the defect detection of the combination circuit.
If the above problem is solved by providing the Enable signal to an output terminal during a normal operation, the structure of the circuit can be complicated and the test pattern can be enlarged. Although the capacity of a memory mounted on an LSI tester is increased, the defect detection ratio is not greatly improved and a design cycle time and costs can be increased.
In view of the above discussion, it would be desirable to provide a scan test circuit which may operate to allow detection of a failure of a control signal, such as an enable signal. It would also be desirable to provide a signal path for a control signal to an output of a scan test circuit. It would also be desirable to provide a signal path for a control signal to an output of a scan test circuit that may also be used to output scan data and data provided by a combination circuit.

Scan test circuit including a control test mode


A method and apparatus for manufacturing hollow plastic articles having a wall which at least partly consists of at least one core layer and two outer layers covering the core layer on both sides, in particular suitable for manufacturing preforms for bottles, wherein use is made of an injection-molding machine with a mold comprising at least one mold cavity, and an injection nozzle which, via an injection channel in the mold, connects to the mold cavity and has a central material feed channel, a needle of a controllable needle valve, which needle is active in the central material feed channel and can close or release the part of the central material feed channel located adjacent the injection channel, and at least one further material feed channel, opening into the central material feed channel, wherein first a plastic material of a first type for forming the outer layers is fed to the mold cavity and then at least one plastic material of a second type for forming at least one core layer. After the feed of the material of a second type and after the freezing of the material in the injection channel, material of the first type is fed to the central channel in at least the space before the free end of the needle, and then, the needle is moved to the injection channel for mechanically compressing, in the sprue of the plastic article located in the injection channel, the material located before the needle.

In the last few years, the use of plastic containers instead of glass containers has taken place on an increasingly large scale. As a consequence, the number of used plastic containers, such as bottles, also increases substantially. Although in principle, the used plastic bottles are indeed suitable, like glass bottles, for being refilled a number of times, the number of plastic bottles that are no longer suitable for being filled and sold again, and that should hence be considered waste material, increases as well. Usually, however, the material which the plastic bottles consist of is in fact suitable for being reused for manufacturing plastic bottles.
However, this involves the problem that it is often required that the reused material in the final product manufactured by means thereof, do not come into contact with the contents of the containers.
Sometimes, it is also desired for other reasons to provide a core layer of a different material in the wall, or a part thereof, of a plastic container. Such a core layer can for instance serve as a barrier layer to render the wall of the container to be formed impermeable to specific substances. For instance, the core layer can have special water-impermeable or oxygen-impermeable properties to prevent diffusion of water or oxygen through the container wall. Depending on the properties desired, such a core layer can consist of virgin or reused material.
A problem that may be involved in the use of a core layer is that the bond between the core layer and the material layers enveloping the core layer on the inside and the outside of the casing proves to be insufficient. In that case, the layers may come loose from each other, which may manifest itself when the preforms are inflated into bottles or when the preforms cool down, or during the use of the bottles, as a consequence of which the container may become useless.

Method of manufacturing hollow plastic articles


A transmission apparatus includes a digital circuit that has an input circuit into which packets are input at indefinite intervals; a measuring circuit that measures an interval during which no packet is input into the input circuit; a determiner circuit that determines, based on the interval measured by the measuring circuit, whether to insert a given frame between packets input into the input circuit; and a transmitter that inserts, based on a result of determination by the determiner circuit, the given frame between the packets input into the input circuit and sequentially transmits the packets with the given frame therebetween.

Following the recent development of Internet Protocol (IP) networks, Ethernet (registered trademark) has been suggested to replace services that have been provided over a dedicated line (for example, inter-enterprise communication). However, unlike a dedicated line, Ethernet is based on a different concept and thus has no scheme to ensure high-quality communication.
This has not been a problem in conventional IP networks since the networks are mainly used for data communication. On the other hand, fluctuation (variation in transmission delay) does not occur in optical transport networks (OTNs) such as synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) since the communication speed is based on n times the 64 Kbps for audio. As SDH is being replaced with Ethernet, implementation of dedicated line networks on Ethernet has come under consideration.
Thus, in the development of a means for replacing a transmission apparatus on a dedicated line requiring high-quality communication, it becomes a problem that fluctuation occurs in a long-haul transmission using Ethernet packets when the packets pass through multiple ring networks. For example, fluctuation occurs when the packet interval, which is constant at the transmission side, increases/decreases during transmission due to arbitration of signals from other systems. In audio communication such as Voice over IP (VoIP), for example, fluctuation becomes audio distortion.
For example, although Ethernet prioritizes the signals from the other systems and transmits packets of a high priority first, among packets that have arrived at the same time, fluctuation still occurs if the priority is the same. Further, a transmission apparatus of Ethernet has a function of operation administration maintenance (OAM), and regularly transmits OAM frames for inspection at the rate of, for example, 300 frames/second according to the ITU recommendation. These OAM frames that are regularly transmitted and inserted between packets are also one cause of fluctuation.
Fluctuation cannot be suppressed by prioritization since the OAM frames have a high priority and are more likely to be inserted between packets than other packets. Further, since stations through which the packets pass insert the OAM frames for respective purposes, the number of inserted OAM frames increases as the number of the stations increases, thereby increasing the fluctuation.
In SDH and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), technology is known that minimizes delay of packets due to insertion of OAM frame (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. H08-237254 and 2000-224175). In this technology, a null packet (null cell) that has a fixed length and is transmitted during an interval between packets is detected based on the header of each frame, and the OAM frame is inserted between the detected null packets.
However, the intervals between packets are indefinite in a communication network such as Ethernet where no null packet is transmitted during the intervals between packets. Thus, according to the conventional technology described above, the data length of a frame inserted between packets may be longer than the interval between packets. In this case, it becomes a problem that packets subsequent to the inserted frame are delayed, thereby increasing variation (fluctuation) in transmission delay.

Transmission apparatus and transmission method


A tab is provided, which includes a body having first and second opposing ends, a nose portion disposed at or about the first end of the body, a lift portion disposed at or about the second end of the body of the tab, and a rivet receiving portion disposed proximate the nose portion. The rivet receiving portion includes a generally planar portion, a rivet hole having a perimeter, and an upturned portion extending upwardly from the generally planar portion about the perimeter of the rivet hole. The upturned portion reinforces the rivet hole and has an arcuate cross section profile. An integral rivet extends through the rivet hole and is staked to affix the tab to a can end. The upturned portion is devoid of any corners or edges both before and after the integral rivet is staked.

Field
The disclosed concept relates generally to openers for opening containers and, more particularly, to tabs used to open can ends, such as beer/beverage can ends and food can ends. The disclosed concept also relates to can ends having tabs, and to tooling and associated methods for providing such tabs and can ends.
Background Information
A tab is typically secured to a can end by a rivet, and the can end is opened by lifting a lift portion of the tab and pulling upwards so as to pivot the tab about the rivet. Specifically, when the tab pivots after the lift portion of the tab has been lifted upwards, the opposite end (or nose portion) of the tab fractures a score line disposed on the can end, thereby permitting the end-user to access the contents of the can.
In the can making industry, large volumes of metal are required in order to manufacture a considerable number of cans. Thus, an ongoing objective in the industry is to reduce the amount of metal that is consumed. Efforts are constantly being made, therefore, to reduce the gauge (sometimes referred to as "down-gauging") the stock material from which tabs, can ends and can bodies are made. However, as less material (e.g., thinner gauge) is used, problems arise that require the development of unique solutions. By way of example, a common problem associated with efforts to down gauge tab stock material is that the rivet island (i.e., the portion of the tab including a rivet hole through which the rivet is received and staked to secure the tab to the can end) is prone to undesirably elongate or stretch. Consequently, the tab can unintentionally pull off of the rivet when the tab is actuated by a user. In other words, an opening failure occurs as the tab pops off the rivet prior to opening the score aperture of the can end to access the container contents.
There is, therefore, room for improvement in tabs, in can ends, such as beer/beverage can ends and food can ends which employ tabs, and in tooling and methods for providing such tabs and can ends.

Tab with reinforced rivet hole, and tooling and associated method for providing same


A method and an apparatus improving the coding efficiency by representing encoded data in a compact form by means of a pattern matching technique. A waveform vector similar to a partial signal waveform of an image signal in a predetermined group of waveform vectors is searched for. When a compression encoding is performed for information to identify the waveform vector searched for, similarity information, and a position in an image signal of the partial signal waveform in accordance with a predetermined encoding rule, the position in the image signal of the partial signal waveform is encoded through replacement with position information in a predetermined partial domain of the image signal. As a result, since the position in the image of the partial signal waveform that is the most similar to the waveform vector is encoded through replacement with the position information in the predetermined partial domain of the image signal, it is possible to represent the position more compactly.

In a conventional standard moving image encoding method such as ITU-T H.26x and MPEG series, DCT (discrete cosine transform) is used as a means to decrease spatial redundancy. Generally, when an image signal is represented in a spatial frequency domain, electric power has a tendency to concentrate at a low frequency level. The DCT performs an orthogonal transform for a block formed of 8×8 pixels in an image signal space, decomposes an image signal of a source image into a predetermined combination of bases, and obtains coefficients of the bases. The DCT has a characteristic of increasing the coefficient values, that is, a degree of bias with respect to a frequency component. Since the DCT especially concentrates the bias on a low frequency level that plays an important role in vision, the DCT can enhance compression efficiency by performing an adaptive bit distribution.
On the other hand, when encoding is performed at an extremely low bit rate, a resulting coarse quantization degrades a reconstruction of the coefficients. Consequently, there arise some problems in that it is impossible to reconstruct important bases to an intrinsic signal representation. Also, since the DCT operates a closed process on an 8×8 image block, the DCT has the tendency that a distortion caused by quantization noticeably appears in a boundary of blocks. That generates a block distortion and exhibits in the image an element that the original signal does not contain visually, whereby the element is recognized as a seriously noticeable noise.
A large number of bases are required to faithfully reconstruct a steep luminance fluctuation such as a step edge and a portion of waveform having a random pattern. In general, when a weight with respect to vision is considered, a code assignment for a coefficient corresponding to a high frequency level is weighted less than a low frequency level. As a result, the coefficient in the high frequency, which plays an important role in reconstructing the waveform, is lost. The loss of the coefficient causes harmful noise peculiar to the DCT and results in image quality degradation.
In order to overcome such a problem that the DCT entails in a high compression, a method such that a code representation thereof is free from a block structure is proposed. For example, the paper "Very Low Bit-rate Video Coding Based on Matching Pursuits" (R. Neff et.al, IEEE Trans. on CSVT, vol.7, pp.158–171, February 1997) discloses that a technique "Matching Pursuits" (pattern matching) is used to expand an inter frame prediction error signal in a linear combination of an over-complete basis set. In such a technique, since the larger number of bases (basic signal patterns) is available than the DCT and a unit of basis representation is not limited to a block, it is possible to obtain superior image quality with respect to vision at a low rate of encoding compared to the DCT encoding.
In order to take advantage of the "Matching Pursuits" encoding technique, however, the problem that there is a burden on implementation such as the number of operations necessary for the encoding side to perform the basis search is pointed out. Also, it is necessary to efficiently represent position information because the searched basis may be located at an arbitrary pixel position on an image plane.
On the other hand, there is an approach that an encoding distortion is eliminated by using hierarchical encoding. SNR Scalability mode (ISO/IEC 13818-2) in MGEG-2 and MPEG-4 Fine Granularity Scalability (FGS) mode (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11/N3908) follow this approach. Hereinafter, the hierarchical encoding aiming at compensating such an encoding distortion factor is called "quality hierarchical encoding". The quality hierarchical encoding technique is a technique such that an encoding distortion generated in an encoding picture in a base layer is separately encoded as an enhance layer and a decoding side sums signals obtained by decoding individual layers so as to enhance the quality of a decoded image. Regarding the quality hierarchical encoding technique, the necessary number of transmission bits increases by an amount of encoding data in the enhance layer. However, since it is possible to transmit the semantic content of a picture only in the base layer, the quality hierarchical encoding technique is favorable for a picture transmission required to accommodate flexibly to a network such as the Internet and a wireless network whose transmission condition (bit rate, packet loss probability, error rate and so on) varies over time.
In the MPEG-4 FGS, since the DCT is further performed for an encoding error signal in the enhance layer and the resulting coefficients are transmitted per bit plane, it is possible to transmit a picture in a manner such that the picture quality is gradually improving in the decoding side as its name suggests. However, the enhance layer still depends on the DCT and the DCT block structure, and a distortion component depending upon the block structure, which shows up in an encoding distortion component in the base layer, generates high order DCT coefficients. As a result, if little information is used in the enhance layer, the encoding does not work efficiently.

Image encoding method and apparatus, image decoding method and apparatus, and image processing system


The solid oxide fuel cell according to the present invention is directed to a support type or self-support type single cell in which four sides or opposite two sides of corners of the single cell are downwardly bent in an inverted U shape and have gas channels in the inner side and/or outer side with a straight line structure or lattice shape structure, so that a separating plate can be used without gas channels or channel support. A smooth flow of a reaction gas is implemented in the directions of the air electrode and the fuel electrode of a single cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid oxide fuel cell having gas channel and particularly to a solid oxide fuel cell having gas channels which is implemented in an electrode support type or electrolyte support type of which four sides or opposite two sides of corners of a single cell are downwardly bent in an inverted U shape and have gas channels inside and/or outside the single cell.
2. Description of the Background Art
A fuel cell is an energy generation apparatus in which a fuel gas and air are injected to a anode and an cathode, respectively. An ionic conduction is performed through an electrolyte, and an electrochemical reaction is performed in the fuel cell. Electricity is continuously obtained provided that fuel and air are provided under certain conditions based on the characteristics of an electrode and electrolyte of the fuel cell as an electron conduction is proceeded through an external circuit.
The fuel cell is a power generation apparatus with relatively high efficiency and produces relatively small amount of pollutant. There are various operating temperatures, electrode materials and applications depending on the kinds of electrolytes.
In a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) referred to as an advanced fuel cell, an oxygen or hydrogen ionic conduction in a direction of a dense solid electrolyte layer is obtained based on a smooth flow of a reaction gas in a direction of an end cell electrode, an electrical contact with a separating plate, and a dense sealing between two kinds of reaction gases. In the SOFC, an electromotive force produced through an electrochemical reaction in the electrode layers is used for generating power.
Particularly, the SOFC uses a thermochemically stable metallic oxide as an electrolyte. A fuel gas such as hydrogen, methane, propane, butane, etc. may be used without reforming into a fuel electrode and air gas at an air electrode which are provided in the SOFC.
In well known solid oxide fuel cell materials, a mixture of Ni and YSZ cermet is used as a fuel electrode. One or more powder selected from a group consisting of ZrO2+8Y2O3 group, CeO2 group, Bi2O3 group, and perovskite group is used as an electrolyte. Also LaSrMnO3 (LSM) is used as an air electrode. Cr-5Fe-1Y2O3, Ni base metal, stainless steel, or LaSrCrO3 is used as a separating plate or an interconnect. A glass or glass-ceramic is used as a sealant. The above materials are stacked with each other and coupled with other peripherals. Therefore, the whole power generation system is constituted.
The above described single cell has a fuel electrode (cathode) in one side and an air electrode (anode) in the other side with respect to the electrolyte. Each electrode layer is designed to have a porous structure for implementing easier electrochemical reaction. The intermediate layer corresponding to an electrolyte is designed to have a dense structure in which a fuel gas and an oxide gas(air) are not communicated with each other.
A tube type and a flat plate type are developed in the SOFC based on the type of a single cell. The tube type is first developed, but there is a problem for actually adapting it on lower cost SOFC because a production method is not easy. Referring to FIG. 1A, in the flat plate type, a separating plate 8 is generally used, thus separating a fuel gas and an oxide gas, and the separated gas is provided to a single cell 4. The separating plate 8 has a small electrical resistance in order for the generated electricity to be conducted well.
Referring to FIG. 1B, when a system is manufactured in a stack structure, a flat type single cell is provided between the separating plates, and a sealant or a sealing glass is provided between the separating plates in order for two gases to flow through both channels of the separating plate not to be mixed with each other. A gas supply must be smoothly performed in the electrode layers at both sides of the single cell. Particularly, the remaining portions in which the single cell and the separating plate are not contacted must be sealed in an insulation layer structure or a plate shape formed of a certain material having certain sealing and insulation properties, for example, ceramic glass.
Metal and ceramic materials are used as a material of the separating plate. Particularly, the materials must have good electrical conductivity and good gastight sealing property. The materials must have an anti-oxidation property at a certain operation temperature of a solid oxide fuel cell in the range of, for example, from about 400. to about 1000° C. for the reasons that the reaction gas may be separated with respect to the separating plate and may be supplied to the single cell in a state that the hydrogen which is a fuel gas is separated in the side of the fuel electrode (upper surface in the separating plate), and the air which is an oxidizing agent is separated in the side of the air electrode of the single cell (lower surface in the separating plate). Therefore, it is advantageous to use the metallic separating plate for actually using the SOFC power generation system rather than using the ceramic material which is not produced easily and expensive. As the temperature and the operating time are increased, the surface of the metallic separating plate at the side of air electrode is oxidized, so that the performance of the stack is decreased. As a result, the durability of the system is decreased.
The metallic separating plate is widely used for developing the SOFC stack of an intermediate temperature (from about 500. to about 850° C.) because there are many advantages that the metallic separating plates may be produced in various types compared to the ceramic materials. However, in case of the SOFC stack, the thermal expansion coefficient of metallic separating plate has a large value 1.2 through 2 times the thermal expansion coefficient (about 10×10−6/° C.) of the single cell at which the SOFC operates, so that a larger thermal stress occurs as the temperature is changed from a room temperature to a high temperature or from a high temperature to a room temperature in a temperature change (namely, thermal cycle) when turning on or off the SOFC power generation apparatus. Recently, as a single cell having an excellent performance is developed based on the SOFC technology, the same performance as the conventional method is achieved at a relatively low temperature (intermediate temperature). Therefore, the metallic separating plate is more widely used compared to ceramic materials.
The separating plate formed of a metallic material or a ceramic material is generally formed in a channel structure for implementing a desired electrical contact with a smooth gas flow of injected reaction gas. Particularly, the ceramic material is formed based on a press compaction method. The production process is not complicated, but in the case of the metallic separating plate, it is produced based on a machining method, not based on the press compaction method. Therefore, it takes a long time for producing the gas channel which is a necessary structure in the fuel cell. In this case, the production cost of the separating plate and the whole production cost of the SOFC stack increase.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are showing the construction of a single cell (FIG. 2A) in which four sides or opposite two sides of corners of a rectangular single cell in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/522,284 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,593,020, earlier filed by the same inventor as the present application) are bent in an inverted U shape and a stack construction (FIG. 2B) of a manifold type produced by using such a cell. The stack structure 11 includes a single cell 4, a gas channel 6, a channel support 7, separating plates 8 and 9, a porous insulating plate 10, a sealant groove 12, a first collector 14, a second collector 13, and as manifolds 15.
In the single cell and stack construction of FIGS. 2A and 2B, the fuel cell stack is produced in such a manner that the channel support 7 is provided between the grooves with the gas channel 6 on the separating plate 8, and the single cell 4 is coupled. The single cell 4 and the separating plate 8 are sealed using the porous insulation plate 10, namely, using a ceramic insulation felt and a sealing glass, for smoothing a sealed portion using the sealant groove 12 in the single cell 4 and the separating plate 8 and for preventing thermal stress. The above elements are coupled each other in the above sequence. The single cell and the above elements are finally stacked in vertical direction based on a necessary voltage for thereby producing the fuel cell stack.
It is possible to achieve an improved sealing condition by inserting sealant based on sufficient space (sealing groove) in which the portions needing a gastight sealing are separated, referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, compared to the method of FIG. 1 in which the flat plate type single cell is simply used. Therefore, since the sealing function is improved, the entire stacks may be heated or cooled, so that a desired thermal cycle property is obtained. A certain stack structure having a good durability is implemented.
However, in the case that the stack of FIG. 2B is produced using the single cell of FIG. 2A, the channel structures of the channel support 7 and the separating plate 8 are additionally provided. In the above separating plate, the production cost of the separating plate may be increased due to the above channel structures, and the production cost of the SOFC stack is increased. Therefore, it is needed to provide the single cell 4 of FIG. 2B with a channel structure during the molding process, so that it is possible to directly use a separating plate formed in a simple plate shape which does not have a channel structure of a fuel electrode or air electrode during a stack production. Therefore, a relatively lower cost separating plate may be obtained when producing a SOFC stack.

Solid oxide fuel cells having gas channel


A process for preparing polyhydroxy fatty acid amide compositions which are pumpable at temperatures between about 70.degree. F. (21.1.degree. C.) and about 120.degree. F. (48.9.degree. C.) by adding certain soluble inorganic salts or salts of C.sub.1-3 carboxylic acids to a heated polyhydroxy fatty acid amide preparation.

Polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactant is a desirable component of detergent compositions for its cleaning and mildness characteristics, but it can be difficult to handle in the plant and to formulate into a composition because of its high melting point. The melting point of a 50% N-cocacyl N-methyl glucamide mixture, for example, is about 142.degree. F. (61.1.degree. C.). It is difficult to pump concentrated polyhydroxy fatty acid amide unless it is diluted or heated to a temperature at or above its melting point. Polyhydroxy fatty acid amide is also often difficult to formulate into detergent compositions. For example, it may resolidify upon introduction to the cooler liquid ingredients. To get this component into solution often requires a great deal of stirring, heating above the melting point, diluting and/or use of solvents.
It has been found that a pumpable polyhydroxy fatty acid amide composition can be formed by mixing certain soluble inorganic salts or C.sub.1-3 carboxylate salts into heated polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactant. Surprisingly, sodium and ammonium salts do not yield this benefit. The polyhydroxy fatty acid amide composition is thus easier to handle in the plant and to formulate into detergent compositions, particularly liquid detergent compositions.
The use of N-alkyl glucamides in detergent compositions has been discussed. U.S. Pat. No. 2,965,576, issued Dec. 20, 1960 to E. R. Wilson, and G.B. Patent 809,060, published Feb. 18, 1959, relate to detergent compositions containing anionic surfactants and certain amide surfactants, which can include N-methyl glucamide, added as a low temperature suds enhancing agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,703,798, issued Mar. 8, 1955 to A. M. Schwartz, relates to aqueous detergent compositions containing the condensation reaction product of N-alkyl glucamine and an aliphatic ester of a fatty acid. It is also known to prepare a sulfuric ester of acylated glucamine as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,717,894, issued Sep. 13, 1955, to A. M. Schwartz.
European Patent 0 285 768, published Oct. 12, 1988 to H. Kelkenberg et al relates to the use of N-polyhydroxy alkyl fatty acid amides as thickening agents in aqueous detergent systems. Included are amides of the formula R.sub.1 C(O)N(X)R.sub.2 wherein R.sub.1 is a C.sub.1 -C.sub.17 (preferably C.sub.7 -C.sub.17) alkyl, R.sub.2 is hydrogen, a C.sub.1 -C.sub.18 (preferably C.sub.1 -C.sub.6) alkyl, or an alkylene oxide, and X is a polyhydroxy alkyl having four to seven carbon atoms, e.g., N-methyl, coconut fatty acid glucamide.

Process for preparing polyhydroxy fatty acid amide compositions


A power supply device includes a fuel-cell power device which supplies a direct current (DC) power to one or more load devices using fuel cells as an input source; and a control unit which controls an output from the fuel-cell power device. In the power supply device, when a load current supplied to the load device is changed, an output characteristic of the fuel-cell power device is shifted so that a rate of change in an output current of the fuel-cell power device becomes lower than a preset value. With the power supply device, even though the fuel-cell is used as a power source, a DC power supplied to the load devices can be gradually changed and therefore reduce environmental load.

Conventionally, there have been known various types of power supply devices as a power supply device in which multiple power devices operate in parallel and supply DC power to load devices.
As an example of such a conventional power supply device, a power supply device including two power devices in which output voltage monotonically decreases as output current increases is known (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication H10-248253). In the power supply device, the two power devices have different gradient angles in the output current-voltage characteristics. That is, when the output current changes by the same amount, an amount of change in the output voltage of one power device is different from that in the output voltage of the other power device.
In the above-described power supply device, each of the power devices is stabilized at a point where its output current-voltage characteristic is balanced with the load current, i.e., current supplied to the load devices. Therefore, a current and voltage outputted from each of the power device depend on the total amount of current (i.e., load current) consumed in the load devices.
Thus, in the power supply device in which the gradient angles of the output current-voltage characteristics of the two power devices are different from each other, the output voltage of each of the power devices, i.e., the voltage supplied to the load devices, varies on the magnitude of the load current. It is difficult to supply a stable voltage to the load devices. For example, when the output current of each power device is changed to a desired current value in the power supply device, it is necessary to horizontally move both the output current-voltage characteristics of the two power devices so as to maintain the voltage supplied to the load devices at a constant voltage before and after changing the output current, which makes the configuration complicated.
In order to solve such problem, a power supply device is considerable in which one of multiple power devices that operate in parallel is under constant voltage control and the others are under gradient control where DC voltage as output voltage monotonically decreases as output current increases. In this power supply device, the gradient-controlled power device outputs current to one or more load devices based on the output voltage of the gradient-controlled power device aligned with the output voltage (reference voltage) of the constant voltage-controlled power device.
In this case, a current corresponding to a deficiency in the load current is outputted to the load devices from the constant voltage-controlled power device. Accordingly, in this power supply device, even when the load current changes somewhat, the supply of power to the load devices can be stably performed while the voltage supplied to the load devices, i.e., the output voltage of a constant voltage-controlled power device is constantly maintained.
In the meantime, there is a case where a fuel cell is used as a power source that is connected to the power device described above. In this case, when a DC power supplied to the load devices from the fuel cell increases, a power supplied from a commercial-power-source power device using a commercial power source as an input power source, i.e., a power from an alternating current (AC) system can be decreased. By doing so, environment load can be reduced.
As for power generation using the fuel cell, hydrogen is used in generation and the hydrogen is produced from the town gas by a reformer. Thus, in order to change an amount of the power generated, it needs to perform a mechanical control such as adjustment of an amount of the town gas supplied to the reformer. There is a problem that a response to increase and decrease in the load current is lower in the power generation using the fuel cell than in the commercial power source.
Furthermore, when the load current has changed abruptly, the fuel cell operates to follow up the abrupt change in the load current, which leads to the problem of reduction in the durability of the fuel cells. For example, when the output of the fuel cells decreases abruptly, supply of the gas becomes excessive in the fuel cell and, accordingly, a generated voltage of the fuel cell increases. Then, the withstanding voltage property of a membrane for the fuel cell is deteriorated by the excessive voltage and therefore the durability of the fuel cells is reduced. On the other hand, when the output of the fuel cell increases abruptly, reaction in the fuel cell does not follow up the output, which may lead to reduction in the durability of the fuel cell.


A semiconductor memory device having a cell structure capable of maintaining a capacitance of a stacked capacitor at a satisfactory level, which is characterized in that in the first aspect, an insulation layer of an oxide film is formed on an upper surface of a polysilicon gate electrode and a side-wall of an oxide film is formed on the side surface thereof, and in the second aspect, after opening a storage electrode contact, another side-wall of an oxide film Is formed thereon. Accordingly, the space between the storage electrode contact and the polysilicon gate electrode can be made zero (0), that is, in a self-alignment form, resulting in a reduction in the necessary planar surface area of a memory cell to about 5 .mu.m.sup.2 or less.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device having, in a cell structure capable of satisfactorily maintaining the capacity, a stacked capacitor with a memory cell whose planar surface area can be made small.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A conventional stacked dynamic random access memory (DRAM) of the kind to which the present Invention relates will first be described below with reference to FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, the conventional stacked DRAM includes a semiconductor substrate 1; a field oxide film 2; a gate oxide film 3; a gate electrode 4 made of polysilicon; a side-wall 6 which is provided to the gate electrode 4 and which is made of an oxide film; an impurity diffusion layer 7; interlayer insulation layers 8, 14 and 16; a storage electrode contact 9; a first electroconductive film 10 which constitutes one part of a capacity storage electrode; a second electroconductive film 11 which constitutes another part of the capacity storage electrode; a capacity insulation film 12; a capacity opposed electrode 13; a bit line 15 which is made of a high melting-point metal silicide, and contacts impurity diffusion layer 7 to form a bit line contact 23 and an aluminum wiring 17.
An advantage in such a conventional semiconductor memory device as explained above is that, even where a planar surface area of the cell is made in the order of, for example, 10 .mu.m.sup.2 or less, the surface area of the first electroconductive film 10 constituting one part of the capacity storage electrode can be made sufficiently large, thereby allowing a sufficient capacitance to be maintained, so that the holding time of charge for information is made long and the resistance to soft-error due to radiations of such as alpha-ray is made higher.
However, a recent trend in this field is to make semiconductor memory devices further miniaturized in structure. With the progress of this trend, there is a strong demand for a planar surface area of a memory cell to be further reduced. If it is reduced, for example, to about 5 .mu.m.sup.2 or less, it becomes difficult to form the storage electrode contact 9 with a sufficient space (for example, about 0.3 .mu.m or more) being provided from the gate electrode 4 to maintain the electrical insulation between the capacity storage electrode 11 and the gate electrode 4. On the other hand, if the above-mentioned space is made as small as, for example, about 0.2 .mu.m or less in the prior art arrangement, there will be a problem in that the electrical insulation between the gate electrode 4 and the capacity storage electrode 11 can no longer be maintained. This is a problem to be solved by the invention in the conventional semiconductor memory device.

Semiconductor memory device having stacked capacitor cell


According to some embodiments, a set of images may be determined, including at least one training image and at least one image to be provided to a viewer. A reduced training image may be created based on the training image, and at least one enlarging parameter may be calculated based on a portion of the training image and a corresponding portion of the reduced training image. The enlarging parameter may then be used to facilitate an enlargement of a reduced image to be provided to the viewer.

Image information may be transmitted from a one device to another device via a communication network. For example, a Personal Computer (PC) might send a stream of video images to a viewer at a remote PC via the Internet. Because the rate at which image information can be transmitted may be limited (e.g., by a PC's modem), it may be desirable to reduce the amount information that needs to be transmitted. Moreover, it may be desirable to reduce the amount of information without degrading the quality of the image to an unacceptable degree.

Method, apparatus, article and system for use in association with images


An elevation change mechanism is disclosed for adjusting the elevation of a rotatable element of a rotary device in a direction parallel to the axis about which the rotatable element rotates. The rotary device can be: a filler, capper, labeler, a star wheel conveyor, or other rotary device. In some cases, the same motor that rotates the rotary device about the axis is used to move the elevation change mechanism in a direction parallel to the axis.

Various types of rotary devices are used for handling articles on automated handling lines. On an automated handling line that involves filling bottles with liquids, for example, such rotary devices may include fillers, cappers, labelers, and star wheel conveyors. Often such rotary devices will be provided with their own drive motor, such as a servo motor, for rotating the rotary device.
It may be necessary for automated handling lines to process articles such as containers of varying shapes and sizes. This has, however, created challenges for such rotary devices. For example, in the case of many current star wheels, each star wheel can only handle containers of a specific shape and size, so this requires changing the star wheel plates or disks each time a different container is introduced onto the handling line. This is undesirable as it is both time consuming and necessitates having to keep a stock of different-sized star wheel plates. In addition, in some cases, it is desirable to adjust the elevation of rotary devices to accommodate articles of different heights. Not all rotary devices are adjustable in height. In those cases when rotary devices are adjustable in height, the adjustability, if powered, often requires a separate motor to implement the adjustment.
The patent literature describes a number of efforts to improve such devices These include, but are not limited to devices described in: U.S. Pat. No. 1,981,641; U.S. Pat. No. 2,324,312; U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,154; U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,112; U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,695; U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,599; U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,105; U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,320; U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,753; U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,793 B2; U.S. Pat. No. 7,398,871 B1; U.S. Patent Publication US 2007/0271871 A1; U.S. Pat. No. 8,418,836 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2011/0272246 A1, both published in the name of Papsdorf; DE 19903319A; EP 0 355 971 B1; EP 0 401 698 B1; EP 0 412 059 B1; EP 0 659 683 B1; EP 0 894 544 A2; EP 1 663 824 B1; JP Publication JP 10035879 A; PCT WO 2005/030616 A2; and PCT WO 2009/040531 A1. Adjustable guide rails for star wheels are also described the patent literature, including in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,320 and PCT Publication WO 2005/030616 A2, as well as in U.S. Pat. No. 7,431,150 B2; PCT WO 2005/123553 A1; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,499,921, Orndorff.
The search for improved mechanisms for adjusting rotary devices has, however, continued. In particular, it is desirable to provide a rotary device that has a simple adjustment system that has increased flexibility to handle articles having many different sizes and configurations, and is less expensive to manufacture and/or operate than star wheels with multiple change parts, and other automatic adjustment options for such devices.

Elevation change system for a rotary device


A system and method for time division multiplexing multiple lower bandwidth signals into a high bandwidth signals such as a high-definition television signal. The invention provides an integrated transmission, distribution and routing signal format in which low-bandwidth signals are embedded in the active video and vertical blanking areas of a high-bandwidth signal. Data from the source data streams, including timing data, is formatted in packets, each packet comprising a plurality of channels. The packets are inserted into the high-bandwidth signal along with a header word providing a ‘data valid bit’ or ‘status bit’ for each of the channels, which identifies valid data words within the packet. The source data streams are accurately reconstituted by de-multiplexing according to header data specifying routing destination, stream ID, stream type, channel usage and stream clock reference for clock recovery at the receiving end.

There are presently numerous different standards utilized in standard-definition and high-definition television systems used in studio production, post-production and distribution of television signals. As a result, a large number of incompatible interfaces exist for the interconnection and routing of component and composite digital video signals through a production, broadcast or post-production facility. For example, the 270 Mbit/s signal standard defined in SMPTE 125M-1992 has a different bandwidth than the 360-Mbit/s signal defined in SMPTE 267M-1995 or the 540-Mbit/s signal defined in SMPTE 293M-1996. The high definition television (HDTV) video signal format used in many television facilities has a bandwidth of 1.485 Gbit/s.
The interfaces utilized for each respective signal format are incompatible with the interfaces utilized for other signal formats. This results in redundancy in the case of facilities using more than one signal format in the distribution and routing infrastructure.
While a high-bandwidth link, such as that used for high-definition component video, contains sufficient bandwidth to carry multiple low-bandwidth component or composite video signals, the final multiplexed signal must comply with the signal format of the high-bandwidth link (i.e. high-definition component video) or it will be altered or blocked completely by equipment located in the link which expects a signal that is compliant with the standard high-bandwidth format. In addition, clock recovery information in each individual low-bandwidth signal must be restored after the signals are separated or the signals will be unusable.

System and method for time division multiplexing of asynchronous video and data signals


A block coding apparatus and method in an OFDM mobile communication system are provided. They reduce PAPR to 3 dB or less, while increasing a traditional block coding rate by twice, by use of complementary sequences. Therefore, spectral efficiency is improved by twice, maintaining the traditional error correction capability, and thus decoding is facilitated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a transmitting/receiving apparatus and method using block coding in an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) mobile communication system, and in particular, to a transmitting/receiving apparatus and method for reducing through block coding a high PAPR (Peak-to-Average Power Ratio) resulting from multiple sub-carriers.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, OFDM is a two-dimensional multiplexing scheme of TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) and FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing) in combination. An OFDM symbol is transmitted over sub-carriers forming a sub-channel.
By allowing the spectrum of each sub-carrier to overlap with orthogonality, OFDM increases the overall spectral efficiency. Since IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) and FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) provide OFDM modulation and demodulation, an efficient digital implementation of a modulator and a demodulator can be carried out. Furthermore, due to its robustness against frequency-selective fading and narrow-band interference, OFDM is effective for high-speed data transmission for the current European digital broadcasting and large-volume radio communication systems based on such standards such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.16 and IEEE 802.20.
Since an OFDM communication system transmits data over multiple sub-carriers, the amplitude of a final OFDM signal is the sum of the amplitudes of the sub-carriers. Hence, if each sub-carrier has the same phase, a very high PAPR results.
With a very high PAPR, an amplifier exceeds its linear operation range and a signal suffers from distortion after being processed by the amplifier in a typical OFDM communication system. Consequently, a transmitted OFDM signal does not have a constant amplitude variation due to the phase difference between sub-carriers. Moreover, backoff from an operating point from the maximum power available from the amplifier increases thereby decreasing amplifier efficiency and increasing power consumption. The high PAPR signal reduces the efficiency of a linear amplifier and forces the operating point of a non-linear amplifier into a non-linear region. As a result, the high PAPR introduces both in-band distortion and out-of-band spectrum regrowth.
Many techniques have been proposed for PAPR reduction. One of them is to use a pre-distorter having the non-linear and inverse function characteristics of a power amplifier to be linearized, for avoiding signal distortion. Also, a non-linear amplifier can be made to operate in a linear region through a backoff from its operating point. However, these methods have the shortcomings of circuit complexity in a high frequency band, low power efficiency, and cost increases.

Transmitting/receiving apparatus and method for reducing PAPR in an OFDM mobile communication system


Provided is a process for extracting conveyance records from unstructured text documents, the process including: obtaining, with one or more processors, a plurality of documents describing, in unstructured form, one or more conveyances of interest in real property; determining, with one or more processors, for each of the documents, a respective jurisdiction; selecting, with one or more processors, from a plurality of language processing models for the English language, a respective language processing model for each of the documents based on the respective determined jurisdiction; extracting, with one or more processors, for each of the documents, a plurality of structured conveyance records from each of the plurality of documents by applying the language processing model selected for the respective document based on the jurisdiction associated with the document; and storing, with one or more processors, the extracted, structured conveyance record in memory.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to computer systems and, more specifically, to real property rights management systems and methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Determining mineral rights to a plot of land can be a lengthy and costly process that involves multiple parties. Each party often analyzes hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of documents, such as deeds, wills, leases, and the like, in the process, with little-to-no coordination between the parties, who as a result often duplicate analyses. Generally, determining mineral rights to a plot of land is accomplished in several, relatively labor-intensive steps. A first step is examination of the county records to ascertain the mineral rights. In the process, a "landman" creates a "runsheet" which is often an Excel™ spreadsheet listing the relevant information of documents filed with the county clerk's office that are a conveyance of a fee mineral interest. There are different methods of keeping track of the ownership, including Excel™ spreadsheets and manually drawn flowcharts, often used in combination. After examination of the county records, the landman creates a mineral ownership report (MOR).
The process often also includes examination of the title and preparation of an original drilling title opinion by an attorney. In this step, the attorney examines the documents that affect the subject land. A second "landman" often prepares an abstract, which is a runsheet that lists instruments affecting the subject land, and makes an electronic copy of each instrument. The attorney generally prepares the original drilling title opinion based on the abstract and the runsheet. Similar to the landman that prepared the MOR, a title attorney will often either use an Excel™ spreadsheet or a hand-drawn, color-coded flowchart drawn out on butcher paper, commonly referred to as a "title flow."

Natural language processing for extracting conveyance graphs


Systems, apparatuses and methods are described herein for precision insertion. In various embodiments, a feeder device may be configured to feed an object such as wire from a wire source into a wire path. In various embodiments, a guidance device with a channel that at least partially defines the wire path may receive the wire fed from the feeder device. In various embodiments, a base may be provided for mounting at least one of a first substrate having a first aperture and a second substrate having a second aperture so that the first aperture of the first substrate is aligned with the second aperture of the second substrate. In various embodiments, the base may be configured to be movable relative to the guidance device to position the first substrate or second substrate so that the first or second aperture is aligned with the wire path.

A substrate such as a printed circuit board ("PCB") may be electrically and/or communicably coupled to another substrate via one or more interconnects. During manufacturing, substrates such as PCBs may sometimes be coupled to one another by hand. For example, a worker may guide, by hand, wires between various connection points and/or through apertures of multiple PCBs to interconnect the PCBs. This work may be tedious, repetitive, and prone to human error. Hand-coupled PCBs may tend to be assembled in a sloppy manner, which may lead to extra bulk, and potentially could cause the PCBs to malfunction. Moreover, even slight variability in wire insertion precision may affect circuit performance and consistency across PCBs.


A laminated plate structure including conduit and regent delivery means for a fluid delivery system is provided to deliver precise volumes of a plurality of fluids in sequence to a treatment reservoir. Fluid channels are formed in the plate structure to provide a means for delivering fluids from a plurality of fluid reservoirs attached to the plate structure to one or a plurality of treatment reservoirs attached to the plate structure. Each fluid is delivered by a system comprising a fluid reservoir, an inlet valve in fluid communication with the fluid reservoir, a positive displacement pump in fluid communication with the inlet valve and an outlet valve in fluid communication with the positive displacement pump all of which are attached to the plate structure. The means for delivering fluid and the fluid reservoirs are positioned on opposing surfaces of the plate structure. The plate structure is provided with vent holes for venting vapors that may be produced during formation of the plate structure.

This invention relates to a plate structure for use in fluid delivery system for delivering a plurality of fluids, in sequence to a treatment reservoir.
Prior to the present invention, fluid delivery systems have been available which minimize intermixing of fluids while delivering a precise amount of a fluid for chemical reaction. These systems are generally utilized for chemical processes involving a large number of sequentially effected chemical reactions such as in peptide synthesis, DNA synthesis or when sequencing proteins.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,736 discloses a valve block containing a capillary formed of capillary segments bored at about 30.degree. from a contact surface of the block. The junctions of the capillary segments are effected at the contact surface and within the block. The junctions at the contact surfaces form valving sites to which are engaged apertured sliding blocks which effect fluid communication with the capillary. While the sliding blocks are effective in providing the desired fluid flow, they wear too rapidly thereby causing undesirable leaks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,724 discloses a similar device but replaces the slider valves with diaphragm valves. The fluid is delivered through the valves from a pressurized fluid storage source. This system requires a vacuum assist to open the valves. This system is undesirable because the type of diaphragm valve used is susceptible to particulate contamination. The pressure drop through the valves is difficult to control which causes less accurate reagent delivery.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,845 discloses a fluid delivery system utilize a valve block assembly comprising a separate block for each valve site. The common conduit to the reaction site is alternatively a channel in a block and tubing connecting two adjacent blocks. This arrangement requires a plurality of fittings which are subject to leaking.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,446 discloses a valve block assembly which utilizes diaphragm valves. The valves serve to control fluid flow from a plurality of pressurized fluid reservoirs, in sequence to a common outlet reservoir. This system requires the use of conduits from the fluid reservoirs and fittings to valve blocks for each conduit. These fittings are subject to leakage. The fluid delivery systems of the prior art depend upon the use of positive pressure to deliver the fluid and upon the control of back pressure of the fluid reservoir in order to precisely control the amount of fluid delivered to a treatment reservoir. These systems require the frequent adjustment of the fluid delivery means as a function of back pressure. All of the systems set forth above depend upon the precise control of reservoir pressure and restriction through the tubing, channels and valves to control reagent delivery volume. They are very sensitive to variations of the removable reaction columns as regards the delivery volume and flow rate. Also, these systems deliver fluids against back pressures only up to about 10 psig.
Copending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/655,012, filed Feb. 14, 1991, and entitled "Conduit Plate for Fluid Delivery System" discloses a conduit plate for a fluid delivery system comprising four or five layers laminated together, including a plurality of notched openings for attaching external fluid processing components in fluid communication with the plate; and a single fluid conduit layer for effecting passage of fluids between different points on the solid plate. The plate, preferentially is formed of a ceramic material. A plurality of fluids are delivered in sequence to a desired point by means of a plurality of pumps, each comprising a diaphragm member, an injector (a passive outlet check valve), and a passive inlet check valve. The notched openings in the plate address a problem inherent in the manufacture of the solid plate wherein the dimensional tolerances of the solid plate are comparable or larger then the dimension of the passage within the plate so that mating parts can be aligned accurately only insofar as the plate itself serves to key the positions of external components mating to the plate. However, direct attachment of components to the solid plate places the solid plate under tensional forces that may cause breakage. The presence of a single conduit layer in the solid plate results in unique layout of fluid passages in the plate because passages cannot cross each other, an revisions in the fluid path are correspondingly made more difficult. Apparatus which utilize these plates are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,095,932; 5,095,938; 5,111,845 and 5,123,443.
It would be desirable to provide a system which eliminates the need of adjustment of the fluid delivery means. It would also be desirable to utilize a means to deliver accurate fluid volumes which is insensitive to back pressure. Such a system would result in improved system performance and reduced reagent consumption. It would also be desirable to provide a fluid delivery system which minimizes the use of tubes and tube fittings while minimizing the volume of the system as compared to presently available systems. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a fluid delivery plate which can be easily formed, defect free, which does not include easily frangible portions and which can have a reduced size as compared to plates of the prior art.

Laminated conduit plate for fluid delivery system


A backing plate for a transparent substrate constructed of two polarizer sheets. The axes of polarization of the polarizer sheets are substantially orthogonal to each other. The backing plate thus absorbs more than 98% of incident light and prevents substantial reflection. The backing plate is especially adapted for use with a transparent substrate undergoing any photolithographic process.

Most integrated circuits are fabricated using photolithographic methods. An exemplary procedure is illustrated by the following steps. A silicon substrate is covered by a layer of a light sensitive coating, usually positive photoresist. Photoresist is a light sensitive material that polymerizes or de-polymerizes, or in other words changes chemically, when it is exposed to light. Positive photoresist de-polymerized by light is soluble in a particular solvent and can be washed away. Positive photoresist masked from light remains polymerized and is thus insoluble in the solvent and cannot be washed away. Negative photoresist polymerized by light is insoluble in the solvent and cannot be washed away. Negative photoresist that is masked from light remains unpolymerized and can thus be washed away, leaving the polymerized photoresist in the shape of the negative of the original mask pattern.
Using positive photoresist as an example, an integrated circuit is fabricated by placing a transparent mask having an opaque mask pattern on its lower surface on top of the positive photoresist. After the silicon substrate has been covered by the photoresist and the mask, the photoresist and the mask are exposed to incident light which de-polymerizes the exposed photoresist. The de-polymerized positive photoresist is then washed away leaving the polymerized photoresist in the shape of the original mask pattern. Washing away the de-polymerized positive photoresist exposes the silicon substrate over areas outside the mask pattern. As a result, the silicon is exposed for such semiconductor processes as doping, material deposition, etching, ion implantation, oxidation, etc. The areas covered by the polymerized positive photoresist are shielded from these processes. The quality of the circuit resulting from this procedure depends upon the precision and resolution of the pattern of polymerized photoresist.
The quality of the pattern produced in the photoresist by the procedure described above degrades if directly reflected or diffuse reflected light polymerizes the photoresist in areas under the mask pattern. Improperly polymerized positive photoresist is washed away to expose areas of the substrate that should be covered. The problem is illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. With reference to FIG. 1A, a layer of positive photoresist 10 coats the surface of a silicon substrate 12. A transparent mask 14 having an opaque mask pattern 16 formed on its lower surface is placed on the coating of photoresist 10. The mask pattern 16 is typically a very thin layer of chromium bonded to the surface of the transparent mask 14. With reference to FIG. 1B, the transparent mask 14 is exposed to incident light 18. Unwanted exposure of the coating of photoresist 10 can occur where rays of the incident light 18 pass through the coating of photoresist 10 (photoresist is generally transparent) and reflect from the surface of the silicon substrate 12. The incident light 18 reflecting from the surface of the silicon substrate 12 exposes the coating of photoresist 10 under the mask pattern 16, thereby causing the edges of the exposed portion of the coating of photoresist 10 to be indistinct or fuzzy. However, since the silicon substrate 12 is opaque, the incident light 18 reflecting from the upper surface of the silicon substrate 12 travels through only the coating of photoresist 10 before being reflected upward. Since the coating of photoresist 10 is relatively thin, the transverse distance traveled by the incident light 18 reflecting from the surface of the silicon substrate 12 is relatively short. Therefore, the reflected portion of the incident light 18 does not travel far enough in a transverse direction to affect more than a narrow fringe of the coating of photoresist 10 under the edges of the mask pattern 16. This small amount of excess polymerization does not substantially impair the resulting circuit.
Although the transverse shift of incident light does not present a significant problem for photolithography on an opaque silicon substrate, it does cause problems for photolithography on a transparent substrate. With reference to FIG. 2A, a coating of photoresist 20 covers the upper surface of a transparent substrate 22 that is supported by a backing plate 24. A transparent mask 26 having an opaque mask pattern 28 formed on its lower surface is placed over the coating of photoresist 20. With reference to FIG. 2B, the transparent mask 26 is exposed to incident light 30. The incident light 30 passes through the transparent mask 26, the coating of photoresist 20, and the transparent substrate 22, and is incident on the surface of the backing plate 24. Unfortunately, some of the incident light 30 reflects from the surface of the backing plate 24. Since the transparent substrate 22 may be substantially thicker than the coating of photoresist 20, the transverse distance traveled by the portion of the incident light 30 reflecting from the backing plate 24 may be substantial. As a result, when a photolithographic procedure is performed on a conventional transparent substrate, significant areas of the coating of photoresist 20 under the mask pattern 28 may be exposed. The reflecting portion of the incident light 30 exposing areas of the coating of photoresist 20 under the mask pattern 28 may be either non-diffuse light reflecting from the backing plate 24 having a smooth surface or diffuse light which reflects from the backing plate 24 having either an irregular surface or foreign particles or film on its surface.
In theory, purely columnar incident light does not present the problem described above because the columnar incident light reflects directly from the backing plate 24, and thus exits the coating of photoresist 20 over the same area that it entered. However, most incident light is not purely columnar and has transverse components. Also, as mentioned above, an irregular or dirty surface on the backing plate 24 may also diffuse purely columnar light back toward the masked portions of the coating of photoresist 20.
Several solutions to this problem mitigate but do not eliminate the reflection of light toward the masked portions of the coating of photoresist 20. Anodized aluminum or other darkened surfaces can be used on a light-absorbing backing plate 24 for transparent substrates. However, such surfaces do not absorb 100% of incident light. As a result, even dark surfaces reflect some incident light 30 back toward the masked portions of the coating of photoresist 20.
Attempts have also been made to solve the above-described problem by using columnar light and a backing plate 24 having a mirrored surface. However, as mentioned above, foreign matter such as particles or film inevitably contaminate the surface of the mirrored backing plate 24 and diffuse incident light toward the masked portions of the coating of photoresist 20. Any irregularities on the surface of the mirror would also reflect diffuse light toward the masked portions of the coating of photoresist 20. Finally, as mentioned above, the incident light 30 is generally not purely columnar and has transverse components as it reflects from the mirrored backing plate 24. As a result, such a mirrored surface on the backing plate 24 may exacerbate the problem of an improper polymerization of the masked portions of the coating of photoresist 20.
Although most photolithography is accomplished by placing a mask pattern over a coating of photoresist on a substrate and exposing the mask pattern to a source of incident light, a similar light pattern may also be generated directly by a projection printer. A projection printer projects a light pattern onto the coating of photoresist. This method results in the same kind of problems described above with respect to photolithography using a mask. With reference to FIG. 3, a transparent substrate 32 is positioned on a mirrored backing plate 34, and is covered with a coating of photoresist 36. Incident light 38 is projected from a projection printer 40 onto the coating of photoresist 36. The incident light 38 propagates through the coating of photoresist 36 and through the transparent substrate 32 to reflect off of the mirrored backing plate 34. Projection printers generally use light that is not perfectly columnar, as shown by the numeral 38 in FIG. 3, and therefore the reflections from the mirrored backing plate 34 travel a substantial transverse distance from the original incidence. Also, of course, even if the projected light was columnar, it would still be diffused by dirt, film, or other foreign matter on the surface of the mirrored backing plate 34. As a result, the reflected light from the projection printer produces fuzzy or indistinct edges in the resulting photoresist pattern.
The above-described procedures have been explained with reference to a positive photoresist in which the area of the photoresist exposed to the incident light becomes soluble in solvent as mentioned above. However, the discussion is equally applicable to the use of a negative photoresist in which the area of the photoresist exposed to the incident light becomes insoluble. As a result, the areas of negative photoresist corresponding to the mask pattern remain soluble and are washed away, leaving the silicon exposed in the shape of the mask pattern.

Backing plate for contrast enhancement of photolithographic images on transparent substrates and method of using same


A device for guiding a coin arriving in an entry (6) of the device to a selected one of a plurality of exits (12) of the device, comprising a movable guide (14) having a plurality of inlets (16) each leading to a common outlet (18), the guide being movable to position the outlet in register with any selected one of the exits, and the inlets being so arranged that one of them is in a position to admit a coin arriving through the entry irrespective of the position of the guide, whereby the coin is guided from the one inlet via the common outlet to the selected exit.

The particular device to be described is designed specifically for guiding coins which have been validated by an electronic coin validator to different paths which respectively lead to different storage locations each for a particular denomination of coin. In that situation, the validator will determine the denomination of the coin, and the validator will control the guiding device so that it will deliver that coin to the path which leads to the correct storage location for coins of that denomination.
There is a requirement for different coin denominations to be stored separately, in coin mechanisms which have to give change, for example in vending machines, and in coin mechanisms which have to pay out prizes, for example in gaming machines.
Devices for separating incoming coins onto different paths have generally been referred to as coin sorters and include passive types and active types. In passive coin sorters, such as window sorters, the path of the coins is provided with fixed mechanical features so designed that coins of different denominations, because of their different dimensions, will depart from the path at different points and thereafter will travel to different storage locations. As the number of different denominations to be sorted increases, it becomes more and more difficult to design passive sorters that will operate reliably, and they become undesirably large. In active coin sorters, typically a group of independently solenoid actuated gates is provided which can be switched into different configurations to divert an incoming coin onto anyone of a number of outlet paths. These also tend to become bulky as the number of coin denominations to be sorted increases, and the plurality of actuators required makes them, fairly costly and increases the chance of mechanical or electrical failure.
The present invention aims to provide an active coin sorter which is compact, especially in height, relatively simple in construction, and capable of sorting coins onto a relatively large number of paths.


The invention relates to a method for producing powdery plastic particles having as spherical a structure as possible, wherein a starting product (30) made of plastic, in particular a viscous to solid starting product (30), is brought into contact with a smooth surface (24) of a body (20), which is moved at a speed v of at least 5 m/s relative to the starting product (30). In the contact area (34) between the starting product (30) and the body (20), the starting product (30) is heated locally, and is flung in powdery form out of the contact area in the direction of movement of the body (20).

Grain sizes may be smaller than 500 μm, such as smaller than 100 μm, e.g., particles in the range from 30 to 100 μm. The maximum upper limit may be specified as 800 μm. The lower limit may be in the nanometer range. The deviation from a spherical shape may be such that the smallest cross-sectional dimension of a particle is not less than 20%, preferably not less than 50%, of the size of the largest cross-sectional dimension of the same particle.
Powdery material of such kind is needed for many purposes, for example for 3D printing, for powder coating etc. The more spherical the individual particles are, the more flowable the powder is.
A device for producing powdery substances of such kind is known from German Patent No. DE 20 2016 106 243 U1. In this case, a hot molten mass of the starting product is fed to a nozzle device from which the molten mass emerges and separates into small droplets, which fall downwards. These droplets are cooled with cryogas and collected in a bottom region.
A similar device and corresponding method are also known from European Patent No. EP 945 173 B1. U.S. Pat. No. 6,903,065 B2 describes this method according to the abovementioned European patent specification EP 945 173 B1. It relates to the production of typical particle sizes from 50 μm to 300 μm, in particular larger than 100 μm.
In these methods, each plastic used as the starting product is heated up so that it can be sprayed. However, this heating process must not be continued above temperatures at which the plastic changes noticeably. Excessive heating leads to the initiation of chemical processes in the plastic which result in an unacceptable change. In this regard, the length of time for which the plastic is kept at elevated temperature also seems to be significant.
It is further known to first dissolve plastics in a solvent and to recover the particles therefrom, for example by atomizing or spraying the solution obtained and keeping the droplets obtained isolated until the solvent has substantially evaporated. With this method, it is not necessary to bring the plastic to a higher temperature, which means that chemical changes do not represent a cause for concern. However, the solvent infiltrates the plastic.
It is also not possible using the conventional methods and devices to produce plastic particles having the desired roundness.

Method and device for producing powdery substances from plastic


An ISDN modem is preprogrammed to operate by any one of multiple ISDN protocols, and is provided with a setup program wherein, with the modem connected to an ISDN switch, the multiple protocols are automatically tested one-at-a-time until one is found by which a successful connection to the switch may be made, or until all fail. In the event a successful connection is made, that protocol in use at the time of the successful connection is selected for continued use. In the event that all preprogrammed protocols fail, a user is offered an input mechanism whereby an alternative protocol selection may be entered for trial.

The incredible success and rapid growth of the Internet has understandably generated a demand for ever-increasing bandwidth in accessing information on the Internet. As a result, ISDN equipment has become very attractive to many people in both offices and homes. Instead of the 28.8 kbits/sec or 33.5 kbits/sec that are usually possible under ideal circumstances, which are rare, an ISDN modem delivers reliably from 56 kbits/sec to 128 kbits/sec, depending on circumstances.
Even though ISDN equipment is popular, the fact remains that configuring ISDN modems can be quite tricky and time consuming, especially for the uninitiated. One of the reasons this is so, is that in addition to the normal set of modem set-up parameters in North America there are a variety of ISDN standards. Because there are a number of standards that may be used it is necessary when configuring an ISDN modem to program the standard used by the local switch of the phone company into the modem or adapter device in order for device to work properly
There are three main standards, which are National ISDN, which is more or less the standard ISDN, AT&T ESS5 Custom, and Northern Telecom DMS100 Custom PVC01 or PVC02. The standards pertain in large extent to the data protocol of data packets communicated on the phone line, and the differences in this regard are not critical to the present invention, and are well-known to those with skill in the art, so are not described in detail here. What does happen is that in the various standards the way a phone number is presented in dialing is different. For example, in one standard a number to be dialed may have to be preceded by a pound-sign (#), in another by an asterisk (*), and in another by the letter (N).
Typically a local phone company tries to notify customers and potential customers of the local standard, but due to very large volume and other reasons, the information doesn't always get out to the right people as needed. As a result, there is a lot of guesswork involved for most ordinary folks in configuring an ISDN modem. A typical conventional procedure is presented below.
What is clearly needed is a system that allows a user to plug in a modem and expect it to work (plug-and-play configuration), without having to deal with what type of communication standard the local phone company might be using.

ISDN modem capable of self-configuring to use one of a variety of pre-programmed ISDN protocols


An optical glass which has an Abbe's number (νd) of 50 to 59, has the property of not easily reacting with a press mold, a low-temperature softening property, excellent glass stability and high refractivity, and is suitable for precision press-molding. The optical glass comprising B2O3 and SiO2 as essential components and having a B2O3 and SiO2 total content (B2O3+SiO2) of 45 to 70 by mol % and an SiO2 content/B2O3 content molar ratio (SiO2/B2O3) of from 0.1 to 0.5, the optical glass further comprising, by mol %, 5 to 15% of La2O3, 0.1 to 8% of Gd2O3, provided that the total content of La2O3 and Gd2O3 is 8% or more, 0 to 10% of Y2O3, 3 to 18% of Li2O, provided that the molar ratio of the content of Li2O to the total content of B2O3 and SiO2 [Li2O/(B2O3+SiO2)] is over 0 but not more than 0.2, 0.1 to 15% of ZnO, 2 to 20% of CaO, 0 to 5% of BaO, provided that the content of BaO is smaller than the content of ZnO, 0 to 5% of SrO, 0 to 5% of MgO, provided that the molar ratio of the total content of MgO, CaO, SrO and BaO to the total content of B2O3 and SiO2 [(MgO+CaO+SrO+BaO)/(B2O3+SiO2) is from 0.1 to 0.4, and 0 to 5% of ZrO2, and having a refractive index (nd) and an Abbe's number (νd) which satisfy the equation (1),νd≧308.5−150×nd (in which 50≦νd≦59)  (1).

The process of heating a pre-molded glass material formed of an optical glass, i.e., a preform and precision press-molding the preform with a press mold to produce an optical element such as an aspherical lens, a microlens, a diffraction grating, or the like is called "precision press-molding process" or "mold optics method", and is well known.
There are various optical properties that are required of glasses to be used for the precision press-molding, and one of such properties is that an optical glass has an Abbe's number (νd) of 50 to 59. There has been known a phosphate-based optical glass that is not for precision press-molding but has such optical properties, as is a glass described in JP-A-58-25607.
Meanwhile, when attempts are made to materialize a glass that exhibits an Abbe's number (νd) of 50 to 59 and that is suitable for the precision press-molding, on the basis of such a phosphate-based composition disclosed in JP-A-58-25607, there is caused a problem that a reaction between the glass and the surface of a press mold during precision press-molding damages the surface of the precision press-molded article or causes foaming, or that the glass is melt-sticks to the surface of the press mold.
The precision press-molding method has a characteristic feature in that the molding surface of a press mold is precisely transferred to a glass to form an optical-function surface such as a lens surface precisely by press molding. When the above damage or foaming takes place on the surface of a precision press-molded product, it is required to carry out a surface-removing process such as polishing or the like, and the above characteristic feature of the precision press-molding method is impaired. A glass to be used in the precision press-molding method is hence required to have the property of having no or less reactivity with the molding surface.
In the precision press-molding, further, it is required to set the press-molding temperature at a lower temperature than the temperature employed for general glass press-molding, so that a glass to be used for the precision press-molding is required to have the property of being softened at a low temperature (low temperature softening property). Further, the glass is required to have excellent stability for forming a preform from the glass in a molten state without causing the devitrification thereof. Moreover, it is required to impart the glass with higher refractivity for increasing the added value of the glass as an optical glass.
Therefore, the optical glass, which exhibits an Abbe's number (νd) of 50 to 59 and is suitable for the precision press-molding, is required have the property of having no or less reactivity with a molding surface, the low-temperature softening property, excellent glass stability (devitrification resistance) and high refractivity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Optical glass, preform for precision press-molding, process for the production of the preform, optical element, and process for the production of the element