An apparatus for reduced-pressure gaseous phase epitaxial growth by suppressing contamination upon the machine parts constituting the rotary mechanical portion and suppressing contamination upon the semiconductor wafer by maintaining the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion to lie within a particular range, and a method of controlling the above apparatus. The apparatus comprises a purging gas introduction pipe 6 for purging the interior of the rotary mechanical portion, a purging gas exhaust pipe 7 for exhausting the gas introduced through the purging gas introduction pipe, a pressure adjusting valve 41 provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, a pressure gauge 21 for detecting the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion, and an arithmetic/control unit 31 for executing an arithmetic operation based upon the detected pressure and for controlling the opening degree of the pressure adjusting valve 41 provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, so that the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion assumes a proper value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth and to a method of controlling the apparatus. More specifically, the invention relates to an apparatus for reduced-pressure gaseous phase epitaxial growth maintaining, in a predetermined range, the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion of a susceptor on which is placed a semiconductor substrate such as silicon wafer and to a method of controlling the apparatus.
2. Prior Art
A reduced-pressure DVD apparatus is usually used for epitaxially growing a single crystal thin film on a semiconductor substrate such as silicon wafer in gaseous phase.
The conventional apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2. The apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth includes a processing furnace 1, a susceptor 9 that rotates while placing thereon a semiconductor wafer 8, a rotary mechanical portion 5 for rotating the susceptor 9, a gas introduction pipe 11 for introducing a film-forming gas into the processing furnace, a gas exhaust pipe 10 for exhausting the film-forming gas, a pressure adjusting valve 4 provided in the gas exhaust pipe 10 for exhausting the film-forming gas, a pressure gauge 2 for detecting the pressure in the processing furnace, and an arithmetic/control unit 3 for executing the arithmetic operation based on the pressure that is detected to control the opening degree of the pressure adjusting valve 4 provided in the gas exhaust pipe 10 that exhausts the film-forming gas, so that the pressure in the processing furnace assumes a proper value.
Being constituted as described above, the pressure in the processing furnace 1 is controlled to assume a predetermined value, and the semiconductor wafer 8 is processed under the predetermined pressure.
Further, a purging gas introduction pipe 6 and a purging gas exhaust pipe 7 are arranged for the rotary mechanical portion 5 disposed in the lower part of the processing furnace 1, and an inert gas such as argon gas is introduced through the purging gas introduction pipe 6 to purge the interior of the rotary mechanical portion 5. After having purged the interior of the rotary mechanical portion 5, the inert gas is exhausted through the purging gas exhaust pipe 7. Thus, the interior of the rotary mechanical portion 5 is purged with the inert gas to suppress metallic contamination generated by the rotary mechanical portion 5 from migrating into the processing furnace 1 and, hence, to suppress the processing furnace and the semiconductor wafer from being contaminated with metallic contaminants.
In the conventional apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth, however, the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion has not been controlled.
In the conventional apparatus, therefore, when a relationship between the pressure (p1) in the processing furnace and the pressure (p2) in the rotary mechanical portion is, for example, p1 greater than p2, the reactive gas (film-forming gas) used in the processing furnace enters into the rotary mechanical portion to contaminate machine parts such as bearings constituting the mechanical portion and the encoder, making it necessary to frequently clean the rotary mechanical portion. On the other hand, when the relationship between p1 and p2 is p1 less than p2 contrary to the above, the purging gas that has passed through the rotary mechanical portion and is contaminated with metals infiltrates into the processing furnace, and the semiconductor wafer being processed is often contaminated with metals.
In order to decrease the frequency for cleaning the interior of the rotary mechanical portion as much as possible and to minimize the metallic contamination upon the semiconductor wafer being processed, maintaining p1=p2 would be effective without, however, proper and explicit ranges for the two. Even when p2 could be set to lie in a proper range, a change in the pressure p1 in the processing furnace due to a change in the flow rate of gas in the processing furnace causes the pressure p2 to lie outside the proper range, and the above-mentioned harmful influence occurs.
In the conventional apparatus, it can be contrived to prevent the above-mentioned harmful influence by completely sealing the processing furnace from the rotary mechanical portion. In practice, however, a high sealing performance is not accomplished due to the structure of the apparatus; i.e., the rotary shaft for rotating the susceptor is extending into the processing furnace from the rotary mechanical portion. If it is attempted to maintain a highly reliable sealing performance, a new problem arouses in that the structure of the apparatus becomes complex and the apparatus itself becomes expensive.
The present invention was accomplished in view of the above technical assignment inherent in the prior art, and has an object of providing an apparatus for reduced-pressure gaseous phase epitaxial growth by suppressing contamination upon the machine parts constituting the rotary mechanical portion and suppressing contamination upon the semiconductor wafer by maintaining the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion to lie within a particular range, and a method of controlling the above apparatus.
In order to solve the above technical assignment, the apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth according to the present invention comprises a processing furnace, a susceptor disposed in the processing furnace and rotates while placing a semiconductor wafer thereon, a rotary mechanical portion for rotating the sucseptor, a gas introduction pipe for introducing a film-forming gas into the processing furnace, and a gas exhaust pipe for exhausting the film-forming gas, the apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth further comprising a purging gas introduction pipe for purging the interior of the rotary mechanical portion, a purging gas exhaust pipe for exhausting the gas introduced through the purging gas introduction pipe, a pressure adjusting valve provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, a pressure gauge for detecting the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion, and an arithmetic/control unit for executing an arithmetic operation based upon the detected pressure and for controlling the opening degree of the pressure adjusting valve provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, so that the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion assumes a proper value.
As described above, the apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth according to the present invention includes the pressure adjusting valve provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, the pressure gauge for detecting the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion, and the arithmetic/control unit for executing an arithmetic operation based upon the detected pressure and for controlling the opening degree of the pressure adjusting valve provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, so that the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion assumes a proper value. Therefore, the apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth of the invention makes it possible to control the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion to lie in a desired range, that could not be controlled by the conventional apparatus.
That is, the apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth according to the present invention suppresses the infiltration of the film-forming gas (reactive gas, etc.) into the rotary mechanical portion from the processing furnace, decreasing the contamination in the rotary mechanical portion. Besides, infiltration of the purging gas into the processing furnace from the rotary mechanical portion is suppressed, decreasing contamination for the semiconductor wafer.
Here, it is desired to provide a pressure gauge for detecting the pressure in the processing furnace, a pressure gauge for detecting the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion, and an arithmetic/control unit for executing the arithmetic operation based on the pressure in the processing furnace and the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion that are detected and for controlling the opening degree of the pressure adjusting valve provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, so that the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion assumes a proper value.
Thus, provision is made of the pressure gauge for detecting the pressure in the processing furnace, the pressure gauge for detecting the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion, and the arithmetic/control unit for executing the arithmetic operation based on the pressure in the processing furnace and the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion that are detected and for controlling the opening degree of the pressure adjusting valve provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, so that the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion assumes a proper value. Accordingly, even when the pressure in the processing furnace changes, the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion can be adjusted to assume a proper value.
It is desired that the apparatus for reduced-pressure gaseous phase epitaxial growth includes a pressure adjusting valve provided in the gas exhaust pipe for exhausting the film-forming gas, a pressure gauge for detecting the pressure in the processing furnace, and an arithmetic/control unit for executing the arithmetic operation based on the pressure in the processing furnace and the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion that are detected and for controlling the opening degree of the pressure adjusting valve provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, so that the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion assumes a proper value.
In the method of controlling the apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth of the invention for solving the above-mentioned technical assignment, further, when the pressure in the processing furnace is denoted by p1 and the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion by p2, then a ratio of p2 to p1 (P=p2/p1) is controlled to lie in a range 0.9xe2x89xa6Pxe2x89xa61.0.

Apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth and method of controlling the apparatus


A power supply having an input, wherein the power supply includes a multi-winding transformer having an input and a plurality of outputs, and a plurality of rectifiers to provide a plurality of DC output voltages, wherein each rectifier is coupled to an output of the multi-winding transformer. The power supply further includes a regulator circuit coupled between the transformer input and one of the transformer outputs, and configured to regulate an input voltage to the multi-winding transformer to minimize a variance of each rectifier DC output voltage.

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to power supplies and, more particularly, to an apparatus for supplying multi-channel, isolated, and stable DC power. While embodiments of the invention may be described with respect to a magnetic resonant imaging system, one skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be used in any device where multiple channels of isolated, stable DC power is desired.
When a substance such as human tissue is subjected to a uniform magnetic field (polarizing field B0), the individual magnetic moments of the spins in the tissue attempt to align with this polarizing field, but precess about it in random order at their characteristic Larmor frequency. If the substance, or tissue, is subjected to a magnetic field (excitation field B1) which is in the x-y plane and which is near the Larmor frequency, the net aligned moment, or "longitudinal magnetization", MZ, may be rotated, or "tipped", into the x-y plane to produce a net transverse magnetic moment Mt. A signal is emitted by the excited spins after the excitation signal B1 is terminated and this signal may be received and processed to form an image.
When utilizing these signals to produce images, magnetic field gradients (Gx, Gy, and Gz) are employed. Typically, the region to be imaged is scanned by a sequence of measurement cycles in which these gradients vary according to the particular localization method being used. The resulting set of received NMR signals are digitized and processed to reconstruct the image using one of many well known reconstruction techniques.
Typically, the magnetic field gradients Gx, Gy and Gz are generated by three separate gradient coils, respectively. Each coil is driven by a gradient amplifier, whose power output determines the peak amplitude and slew rate of the magnetic gradient. The peak amplitude primarily affects image resolution, while the slew rate most affects image acquisition time.
Gradient amplifiers comprise a major portion of the total cost of an MR imaging system. Typically, MR imaging systems have three gradient amplifiers, one for each axis in the Cartesian coordinate system (i.e. x, y, and z). Each gradient amplifier typically uses several galvanically isolated DC power supplies. For example, a typical MR imaging system may have 12 isolated DC channels supplying power to the gradient amplifiers. As the size of gradient amplifiers increase to provide improved imaging functionality, the size and cost of DC power supplies for those amplifiers also increase.
In a typical MR imaging system, the multiple DC channels needed to provide power for the operation of gradient amplifiers are typically supplied by DC-to-DC resonant converters or some combination of rectifiers and buck converters. For DC-to-DC resonant converters, a separate resonant converter is used for each DC channel. Isolation of the output from the input typically calls for a transformer to be added to each resonant converter. While it is possible for some resonant converter circuits to share a transformer, the 12 DC channels in a typical MR imaging system may result in multiple transformers in the system power supply. Also, for high-voltage operation, resonant converters use specialized components increasing the cost of the system. Resonant converters, which operate at high frequencies, include switches and rectifier diodes capable of handling elevated power levels at high frequencies, making the components more difficult to manufacture, and therefore more expensive. Similarly, the high-frequency transformers needed to operate resonant converters are also expensive and difficult to manufacture.
Buck converters, which typically use PWM-switching to modulate DC voltage input levels to the desired DC output level, also have some disadvantages with regard to size and cost. Like resonant converters, buck converters require a transformer to isolate the output from the input. A typical MR imaging system with 12 buck converters may have a number of transformers for power supply isolation. Additionally, each buck regulator may require an unregulated rectifier to convert the AC input into a DC input for the buck converter, an IGBT/Diode, and an inductor for proper operation of each buck regulator. For a typical MR imaging system using buck converters or resonant converters to supply DC power to its gradient amplifiers, the size, complexity, and cost of those power supplies increase significantly with the number of DC channels provided.
One of the factors that determine the size and cost of power supply components is their power rating, which indicates the maximum power that can safely flow through the device. To the extent that a power supply can be designed to minimize the required power ratings of its components, the material costs required to construct such a power supply are reduced. Another factor influencing component cost is the range of frequency operation. In general, components designed to operate at high frequencies are more costly than components designed to operate at lower frequencies.
It would therefore be desirable to have an apparatus to supply multiple channels of stable, isolated DC power in a cost effective manner.

Power supply for supplying multi-channel, stable, isolated DC power and method of making same


A light-quantity control apparatus includes multiple light-quantity control blades each configured to overlap with at least another one of the light-quantity control blades so as to form a light-passing aperture and each configured to rotate to change a size of the light-passing aperture. Each of the multiple light-quantity control blades includes a thick portion and a thin portion. The thick portion forms an outer end portion on an opposite side to the light-passing aperture in a rotation direction of the light-quantity control blade. The thin portion is formed in an aperture side blade area that overlaps with the at least another one of the multiple light-quantity control blades so as to form part of a circular overlap of the multiple light-quantity control blades and that includes an inner edge forming an edge of the light-passing aperture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-quantity control apparatus installed in optical apparatuses such as image capturing apparatuses and interchangeable lenses.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is desirable that a shape of a stop aperture as a light-passing aperture formed in such a light-quantity control apparatus (aperture stop apparatus) be a circle as closely as possible. For this reason, three or more multiple stop blades (light-quantity control blade) are often used in the light-quantity control apparatus in order to form a stop aperture whose shape is close to the circle.
Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. H2-48928 discloses an iris aperture stop apparatus that causes a driving ring rotatable around a fixed aperture formed in a base member to rotate multiple stop blades to form a stop aperture whose shape is a polygon close to the circle.
However, in the iris aperture stop apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. H2-48928, a load generated by overlapping of the stop blades may be excessively large.

Light-quantity control apparatus and optical apparatus


A gate valve having a body, a chamber housed in the body, a passage through the body that intersects the chamber, a gate for selectively opening and closing the valve, and a cutting edge on the gate. The cutting edge can sever any lines that may be in the valve and still seal after closing. The gate includes a recess formed to collect cuttings formed while severing the line.

During oil and gas production, wirelines are often lowered through some type of gate valve. Ideally, the wireline is removed from the well before the gate valve is closed. However, in some situations wireline removal prior to valve closure is not possible and the gate valve is closed on the wireline. Gate valves having wireline therethrough should be capable of shearing the wireline while closing and maintain a seal after the valve is seated. Accordingly, the gate valve sealing surfaces should be durable and able to withstand repeated cycling; this is especially true for gate valves used in the oil and gas industry. Since the valves are opened and closed often and usually under severe operating conditions, the durability of the sealing surfaces is important to avoid leakage and the necessity of having to frequently perform maintenance on the valves.
Typical wireline shearing gate valves require a hard brittle inlay, such as Stellite®, on the valve seating surface. The inlay provides a substrate with a high strength cutting edge. Valve materials are generally coated to improve valve durability. However, care must be taken when applying the hard inlay to avoid damaging the valve material coating. Inlay materials are generally not as durable as gate valve materials and can be easily scratched or damaged, thereby reducing sealing capacity.

Recessed cutting edge for wire cutting gate valves


A lead-free plain bearing is formed by dispersing an alloy powder formed from 7-13 mass percent of Sn, 0.1-5 mass percent of Ag, and Cu on a backing, such as a steel plate, and sintering. The alloy powder may further include one or more of 0.05-0.5 mass percent of molybdenum disulfide powder and 0.1-2 mass percent of graphite powder. The bearing surface may be rough finished by machining to a roughness of 0.3-1 xcexcm Ra and then fine finished by polishing to a roughness of at most 0.1 xcexcRa.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lead-free plain bearing and a method for its manufacture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plain bearings are bearings that provide sliding contact between opposing surfaces of the bearing and the object being supported by the bearing. Plain bearings are used in a wide variety of equipment as journal bearings, thrust bearings, and guide bearings. Plain bearings are also extensively used as or as part of swash plates in swash plate pumps.
Swash plate pumps, also referred to as in-line axial piston pumps, are widely used as compressors in automotive air conditioning systems and as pumps for hydraulic systems of construction equipment on account of their compactness and efficiency. Such pumps typically include a swash plate and a plurality of cylinders parallel to a common axis, with each cylinder containing a piston directly or indirectly in sliding contact with the swash plate. The swash plate is at an angle to the axis, and the sliding contact between the swash plate and the pistons will cause the pistons to reciprocate within the cylinders to perform a pumping action.
Swash plate pumps may operate at very high speeds (frequently on the order of 8000 rpm), and an extremely high load may be applied to the surface of the swash plate by the pistons, so this surface must have excellent bearing properties, i.e., a high seizing pressure and a low coefficient of friction.
A typical swash plate has a multilayer structure in which a thin layer of a bearing alloy is joined to a backing in the form of a disk-shaped steel plate. The steel backing plate provides the swash plate with structural integrity and decreases the cost thereof, while the bearing alloy forms a bearing surface having the desired bearing properties. If a swash plate were made entirely of a bearing alloy, it would generally have inadequate strength for use at high rotational speeds under high loads, and since a bearing alloy usually has copper as a main component, such a swash plate would be prohibitively expensive.
In general, three different methods have been used for the manufacture of multilayer swash plates. These are the pressure bonding method, the melting method, and the sintering method.
In the pressure bonding method, a plate made of a bearing alloy is superimposed on a steel backing plate, and the two plates are subjected to rolling to bond the plates to each other. However, the bond between the two plates is not extremely strong, so when a swash plate formed by this method is used in large hydraulic equipment, there are cases in which peeling occurs, so the swash plate may have a short lifespan.
In the melting method, a molten bearing alloy is cast onto a steel backing plate and is cooled until it solidifies and is joined to the backing plate. The solidified bearing alloy has oxides remaining on its surface, and due to shrinkage occurring during solidification, the surface of the bearing alloy may become uneven, so it undergoes grinding to smooth it. Due to the abrupt heating of the steel backing plate by the molten alloy, there are cases in which its surface oxidizes or undergoes deformation due to thermal strains, so the backing plate is also subjected to grinding to smooth it. The multilayer structure which is obtained in this manner is punched with a press or cut with a laser to give it a desired shape, such as circular. Thus, the melting method is not only complicated due to the large number of steps it involves, but inclusion of oxides can take place during pouring and shrinkage cavities can be formed during solidification, so there can be wide variation in bearing properties with this method.
In the sintering method, a bearing alloy powder is uniformly dispersed to a prescribed thickness on a disk-shaped steel backing plate. The backing plate and the bearing alloy powder are then heated in a furnace in a hydrogen atmosphere to sinter the grains of the powder to each other and to the backing plate. At the completion of sintering, the grains of powder retain their granular shape, so the surface of the swash plate is extremely rough, like a file. The swash plate cannot be used in this condition, since the surface formed by the bearing alloy would grind away those portions of pistons or other members contacted by it. Therefore, in order to finish the bearing surface as well as to adjust its thickness, the bearing surface formed by the bearing alloy is subjected to machining with a lathe. The sintering method involves fewer steps than the melting method, and the joint strength between the bearing alloy and the backing plate is strong, so it is generally superior to the other two manufacturing methods.
The bearing alloy used for a conventional swash plate is LBC-3, which is an alloy containing 10 mass percent of Sn, 10 mass percent of Pb, and a remainder of Cu. It has extremely good bearing properties, so a swash plate including this bearing alloy can operate for long periods of time without seizing and with little wear either of the swash plate itself or of pistons or other member in contact with the swash plate. For these reasons, LBC-3 is presently the most widely used material for the bearing surface of swash plates.
When a swash plate is manufactured by the sintering method using LBC-3, powder of LBC-3 is uniformly dispersed atop a steel backing plate, and sintering is then carried out by heating in a hydrogen atmosphere in a furnace maintained at 800xc2x0 C. to obtain a multilayer member having a bearing surface. The multilayer member is refined by pressing with a 150-ton press, and then annealing is carried out in a hydrogen atmosphere in a heating furnace at 800xc2x0 C. in order to remove working strains and work hardening produced by the refinement. After annealing, finishing is performed with a cutting machine to obtain a roughness of approximately 0.5 xcexcm Ra.
Despite the good bearing properties of LBC-3, there has developed a need for a replacement for this material due to potential environmental problems. Although many metal portions of discarded automobiles or construction equipment are capable of being recycled, a swash plate with a multilayer structure generally cannot, since the bearing layer of the swash plate, usually containing a large amount of copper, is tightly joined to the steel backing plate of the swash plate, and the two cannot be readily separated from each other. If such a swash plate is simply melted with steel scrap, the copper in the bearing layer contaminates the steel and makes it totally unusable. Therefore, swash plates are usually disposed of by burial in landfills.
However, if a swash plate in a landfill is contacted by acid rain, the rain can eluate lead from LBC-3 or other lead-containing bearing alloys used in swash plates, and underground water containing such lead can end up contaminating drinking water supplies and creating the threat of lead poisoning. As a result, both the automotive industry and the construction equipment industry now desire a swash plate which does not contain lead, i.e., a lead-free swash plate.
Despite the obvious need for a replacement for LBC-3 and other lead-containing bearing alloys, lead has been considered indispensable as a solid lubricant in bearing alloys for bearings used under severe conditions such as the high loads and high rotational speeds which occur in swash plate pumps, so it has not been possible to simply omit lead from bearing alloys.
This invention provides a lead-free plain bearing which has properties equivalent to or better than those of plain bearings employing LBC-3 as a bearing alloy.
This invention also provides a method of manufacturing such a lead-free plain bearing.
The present inventors investigated the bearing properties of bearing alloys having copper as a main component and containing various metals other than lead as a solid lubricant. It was found that if a suitable amount of silver is added to a main component of copper, bearing properties roughly the same as LBC-3 are obtained. It was also found that the bearing properties of such a silver-containing bearing alloy can be further improved by the addition of one or both of molybdenum disulfide powder and graphite powder. It was further discovered that the surface roughness of a bearing alloy is an important factor in decreasing the initial wear of a plain bearing, i.e., the wear at the initial stage of use of the bearing.
Thus, according to one aspect of the present invention, a lead-free plain bearing comprises a backing and a powder consisting essentially of 7-13 mass percent of Sn, 0.1-5 mass percent of Ag, and a remainder of Cu sintered to the backing.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a lead-free plain bearing comprises a backing and a powder consisting essentially of 7-13 mass percent of Sn, 0.1-5 mass percent of Ag, at least one of 0.05-0.5 mass percent of molybdenum disulfide and 0.1-2 mass percent of graphite powder, and a remainder of Cu sintered to the backing.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a plain bearing includes dispersing a lead-free bearing alloy powder on a backing and sintering the powder to the backing to form a bearing surface on the backing. In a preferred embodiment, the method further includes refining the bearing surface by pressing and then annealing to remove working strains induced by the pressing. In order to give the bearing surface a desired smoothness, the method will generally include rough finishing of the bearing surface to achieve a surface roughness of 0.3-1 xcexcm Ra, and fine finishing by polishing to a roughness of at most 0.1 xcexcm Ra.
The backing frequently comprises a ferrous member, such as an iron or steel plate, having a shape suitable for the intended use of the bearing. For example, when the bearing is to be used as a swash plate, the backing will frequently be a steel disk. When the bearing is to be used as a journal bearing, the backing will typically be a steel plate capable of being formed into a cylinder.
A plain bearing according to the present invention can be used in a variety of different ways. For example, it can be used as or as part of a swash plate, as a journal bearing, as a thrust bearing, or as a guide bearing.
A lead-free plain bearing according to the present invention can exhibit bearing properties comparable to or superior to those of bearings employing LBC-3, even when used in severe operating conditions, such as in an automotive air conditioner compressor or in construction equipment. In particular, it has the excellent mechanical properties that there is no occurrence of damage or seizing of the bearing or members in sliding contact therewith over long periods of time. As a plain bearing according to the present invention does not contain lead, it can be disposed of by burial underground without causing environmental pollution. A manufacturing method for a plain bearing according to the present invention can reliably secure a bearing alloy to a backing, and it can make the initial wear of the bearing extremely small, resulting in a plain bearing which is ideal for use as a swash plate, for example.

Lead-free plain bearing and method for its manufacture


A method for delivering a message to a recipient in an environment with ambient noise includes the steps of recording the ambient noise in the environment at a certain time interval, analyzing the recorded ambient noise to obtain an average power Pnoise or a RMS amplitude Anoise of the ambient noise, providing a predetermined desired SNRdesired, calculating an average signal power Psignal or a RMS amplitude Asignal of the message to be delivered based on the Pnoise or Anoise and the desired SNRdesired, and adjusting a volume of the message to be delivered according to the Psignal or Asignal. Alternatively, the actual SNRactual will be computed and the message will be repeated if the SNRactual falls below the SNRmin. Systems for delivering a message to a recipient in an environment with ambient noise and computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for carrying out the methods are also provided.

Audio system messages in environments such as an automobile may be affected by both system components and external factors. The system components include, for example, sounds from the auto's radio or noise carried into the auto when the windows are open. The external factors include, for example, the noise caused when a baby is crying in the back seat or a freight train is passing in front of the car. While the system can possibly adjust the system components (such as by turning off the radio or closing the windows), it may be an annoyance to the end user. In addition, the external factors cannot be controlled by the system and may affect the Speech Intelligibility (SI) of the voice system.
Currently, systems attempt to make spoken information clearer by taking actions such as temporarily muting the radio or automatically adjusting the volume of a car radio depending on the level of engine noise. Such actions, however, are typically not sufficient to control external factors. They can also change the state of the system in ways the user may not want. Moreover, conventional techniques intended to make spoken information clearer generally do not take advantage of information provided by microphones typically found in voice systems. In addition, speaker placement is not fixed for some voice systems (such as an automated house) so delivery of the message cannot be guaranteed. For users to adopt voice systems critical information should be delivered with certainty. However, an overall solution has not been developed to solve the above problems.

System and method for improving message delivery in voice systems utilizing microphone and target signal-to-noise ratio


A rheology modifier which includes a mixture of short and long chain fatty acid esters is suitable for use in liquid surfactant-based compositions. A surfactant-based composition includes a surfactant, the rheology modifier, and water. The rheology modifier includes a mixture of alkyl glycoside fatty acid esters including a long chain fatty acid ester of an alkyl glycoside and a short chain fatty acid ester of an alkyl glycoside. The long chain fatty acid ester includes at least one fatty acid residue: R1(O)O—, wherein R1 is a C12 or higher hydrocarbon. The short chain fatty acid ester includes least one fatty acid residue: R2(O)O—, wherein R2 is a C6-C10 hydrocarbon.

Liquid aqueous compositions containing surfactants, such as shampoos, liquid soaps, body washes, facial cleansers, other personal care, pharmaceutical and industrial products, typically contain thickeners in order to increase the viscosity of the liquid composition. This enables convenient delivery and handling of the formulated product.
Traditional thickeners which have been used in such compounds include a diversity of anionic, cationic and nonionic synthetic polymers, such as carboxylated and quaternized polyacrylates and polyvinyl compounds. Typical nonionic synthetic polymers include polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and alkoxylated polyols containing lipophilic substituents, such as PEG150 distearate, and ethoxylated methyl glucoside esterified with a fatty acids. Other thickeners which have been used include naturally derived anionic and cationic gums, such as chemically modified cellulose, xanthan gum, tara gum, and guar gum, and a variety of inorganic clays, salts, and electrolytes. A comprehensive list of rheology modifiers is found in the International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook by T. Gottschalk and H. P. Breslawec, "International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook," pages 3974-3977, 14th Edn, Personal Care Products Council Publisher, Washington, D.C., USA (2012). Additional information regarding the physical and chemical mechanisms through which the different thickeners confer viscosity to surfactant compositions is discussed in E. Desmond Goddard, "Principles of Polymer Science and Technology in Cosmetics and Personal Care," Cosmetic Science and Technology, 1 edition (Mar. 10, 1999), Informa HealthCare, and in "Polymers in Aqueous Media—Performance through Association," J. E. Glass, Editor, Advances in Chemistry Series No, 223, American Chemical Society, Washington D.C. (1989).
One group of nonionic thickeners includes relatively low molecular weight compounds of various types, such as nonionic alkoxylated surfactants, aliphatic amides, fatty alcohols, hydrophobically modified alkoxylated molecules, which are able to provide increased viscosity to liquid surfactant-based compositions. The mechanism through which these compounds increase the viscosity of aqueous surfactant compositions is thought to be by selective association with the surfactant micelles themselves. These compounds are often referred to as associative thickeners or micellar thickeners because they thicken through association with a surfactant, perhaps through hydrophobic or lipophilic substituents on these small molecules.
Preparation of fatty acid modified, alkoxylated polymers using sugar polyols is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,252,826; 4,264,478; 4,323,468; 4,324,703; 4,364,930; 4,687,843; 4,708,813; 5,744,062; 6,320,065; 6,727,357; 6,808,701 and 7,297,667 and European patent EP1329255. Alkoxylated glycoside polymers that have been hydrophobically modified with a variety of hydrocarbons are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pub. Nos. 20010051142; 20020123625; 20020165104; 20030095942; 20030108506; 20030130162; 20030158065; 20030181715; 20030194387; 20040048766; 20040057921; 20040062730; 20040081632; 20040086470; 20040136943; 20050164896; and 20060019861.
One problem with using such compounds as thickeners is that they tend to have characteristics which make them less attractive for use in human personal care products. For example, they are typically prepared from petroleum-derived precursors, and as such are not considered to be environmentally acceptable or renewable materials. In addition, a number of them are ethoxylated compounds. Due to the presence of residual dioxane in the product as result of the preparation procedure, there is a concern about their toxicity. Similarly, aliphatic amines, such as cocamide-DEA and others, can contain residual amines that are believed to form nitrosamines during the shelf life of the product, which are considered to be carcinogens. These conventional thickeners therefore may be unsuited to use in aqueous surfactant-based liquid cleansing compositions for personal care, where the desire is to have as high a concentration as possible of naturally derived or renewable ingredients.
The esterification of polyols, such as sugars or saccharides such as glucose, mannose, galactose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, starch, cellulose and their derivatives including sorbitol, sorbitane and alkyl polyglucoside, has been studied. Examples of fatty acid esters formed from these sugars are disclosed in PCT applications WO/1992/003060 and WO/2004/031244, where the resulting esters are complex mixtures of polyesters which are used as fat substitutes in food products. As potential thickener components of a surfactant-based personal care composition, however, these esterified materials have some disadvantages. The polyols themselves are typically mixtures of various unstable sugars. Hence, the quality of the resulting esterified product tends to be poor. In addition, the polyol tends to decompose, undergoing significant forms of rearrangement during esterification at temperatures above 130° C., including oligomerization, caramelization or even charring. This results in discolored, dark products containing significant levels of polysaccharides and other intractable species. To address the instability of these common sugars, catalytic enzymes have been proposed, which allow the esterification to be effected under milder reaction conditions, as disclosed in EP 0 507 323. However, the yields of esters using enzymes as catalysts tend to be very low, making them unsuitable for commercial production of such compounds.
U.S. Pub. No. 20120015893 and EP 2 415 454 A1, for example, disclose esters of sorbitan, such as sorbitan sesquicaprylate, in a cleansing composition, such as a shampoo. US Pub. No. 20110092405 discloses surfactant compositions for cleansing formulations thickened with fatty acid esters of glycerol. Both of these polyols suffer from some stability problems.
US Pub. No. 20060024256 discloses the use of fatty amphiphiles in surfactant compositions, but requires the amphiphiles to be incorporated into a dispersed gel network phase to be effective.
The exemplary embodiment provides a micellar thickener suitable as a rheology modifier in surfactant-based compositions.

Alkyl glycoside-based micellar thickeners for surfactant systems


The present invention relates to a pyrrole-substituted indolone derivative, a preparation method therefor, a composition comprising the derivative, and use thereof. The pyrrole-substituted indolone derivative has a structure shown in formula (I) below. The present invention further relates to use of the pyrrole-substituted indolone derivative for treating receptor tyrosine kinase-mediated diseases, and to a pharmaceutical composition comprising compounds having such a structure for treating related diseases such as tumors.

Cancer has become the disease that poses the biggest threat to health of human beings in modern society. To date, many anti-cancer drugs available in the market are still cytotoxic drugs discovered in the last century, which kill a vast number of normal cells during tumor treatment, causing intolerable side effects to patients, and another intractable problem of drug resistance comes up as these drugs are extensively used.
Tumor vessel inhibition represents a new method developed in the late stage of last century for tumor treatment, and its research was based on the theory proposed by Folkman that survival, growth and metastasis of tumors rely on an extensive network of neovessels (Folkman. J. et. al. N. Engl. J. Med., 1971, 285, 1182-1186). It has been found in a large amount of clinical research that tumor tissues contain many neovessels, and growth and metastasis of tumor cells require a large number of vessels to supply sufficient oxygen and nutrients. Inhibition of neoangiogenesis in tumors can "starve" tumor cells to death, while inhibition of neovessels have little impact on normal cells because there are very few neovessels around normal cells which results in vessel inhibition-based anti-tumor drugs having characteristics such as high efficiency, safety and low toxicity.
Vessel inhibition may be classified into direct inhibition and indirect inhibition. Direct inhibition is an action on vascular endothelial cells to inhibit angiogenesis, extension and nutritional support to tumor cells of vessels. The main method currently used here is metronomic therapy with a cytotoxic drug, which can mitigate side effects of the cytotoxic drug but has difficulty in improving the damage caused by the drug to human bodies. Indirect inhibition suppresses neoangiogenesis by inhibiting angiogenic factors required for angiogenesis (Cao, Y. et. al. Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol., 2001, 33, 357-369.). The process of angiogenesis includes activation of vascular endothelial cells under the action of an activator; secretion of proteases from the endothelial cells to degrade the basal membrane; migration and proliferation of the endothelial cells; formation of the lumen of neo-capillaries; and recruitment of pericytes to stabilize the peripheral structure of the neo-capillaries. Under physiological conditions there are two kinds of factors acting on angiogenesis, namely angiogenesis inhibitors and pro-angiogenic factors. Angiogenesis inhibitors may be categorized into two major types according to their functional specificity: one type is angiogenesis inhibitors specifically acting on endothelial cells, including angiostatins, endostatins and the like; and the other type is angiogenesis inhibitors non-specifically acting on endothelial cells, including cytokines, tissue metalloproteinase inhibitors, serine protease inhibitors, tumor suppressor gene products and the like. Pro-angiogenic factors include epidermal growth factor (EGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and the like (Hanks, S. K., et. al. FASEB, 1995, 9, 576-696). High-level expressions of various pro-angiogenic factors can be seen in different types of tumors, such as a high-level expression of EGF typically seen in epithelial cell tumors, and a high-level expression of PDGF typically seen in glioma. Current strategies for developing an anti-cancer drug against the tumor neoangiogenesis pathway mainly focus on increase in angiogenesis inhibitors and decrease in pro-angiogenic factors, wherein inhibiting high-level expressions of pro-angiogenic factors, especially by targeting the VEGF/VEGFR signaling pathway, has become the mainstream objective of current studies.
VEGF is a glycoprotein in human bodies and plays an important role in angiogenesis. The human VEGF family includes VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C, VEGF-D, VEGF-E, and PLGF. VEGF can selectively act on VEGFR (VEGF receptor) which is a class of tyrosine kinase trans-membrane proteins. Binding VEGF to VEGFR changes the conformation of VEGFR, and results in dimerization of the receptor and also phosphorylation of intracellular tyrosine sites, thereby activating downstream transduction pathways (Joukov, V., et. al. EMBO J., 1996, 15, 290-298). Extensive studies show that the VEGF/VEGFR signaling transduction pathway is the most important pro-angiogenic and migration pathway in cells. By inhibition of this pathway, growth and migration of endothelial cells can be inhibited, and in turn the growth of tumors can be inhibited. Currently, several such drugs have been approved and more than 30 drugs are in clinical trials. One important drug is a recombinant humanized VEGF monoclonal antibody called bevacizumab (trade name Avastin), which is the first approved drug against angiogenesis in tumors and is capable of specifically binding VEGF-A to block the VEGF/VEGFR pathway. This drug achieved great success initially after its approval, but the problem of drug resistance gradually emerged from its long-term use. Further studies reveal that specific inhibition of VEGF-A causes cells to release a large amount of other pro-angiogenic factors such as PLGF and FGF, and such a phenomenon is called angiogenesis rescue reaction. To solve the drug-resistance problem, one possible strategy is to develop multi-target inhibitors.
Sunitinib is just a multi-target anti-cancer drug developed by Pfizer, which is an inhibitor acting on multi-target tyrosine kinases and can effectively inhibit receptor tyrosine kinases such as VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, VEGFR-3, PDGFR-13, and c-Kit, FLT-3. By inhibiting these proteins, sunitinib blocks expression of various pro-angiogenic factors in cancer cells, so that an objective to suppress neoangiogenesis and "starve" cancer cells to death can be realized (Abrams, T. J. et. al. Mol. Cancer Ther., 2003, 2, 1011-1021). Furthermore, sunitinib also shows direct specific inhibition against cancer cells having mutations in c-Kit and FLT-3. Sunitinib was approved by FDA in 2006, mainly for treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors and renal cell carcinoma, as the first anti-cancer drug approved for two kinds of indications at the same time. Although sunitinib shows remarkable anti-tumor efficacy, side effects such as lack of power, bone marrow depression and fever are still found in patients clinically administrated with sunitinib. Sunitinib shows strong accumulation in tissues and cannot be taken continuously, and in clinical scenarios its administration is performed successively for four weeks and is then stopped for two weeks. However, it is shown in research that neoangiogenesis in tumors recovers during the drug withdrawal. Therefore, it is necessary to modify the chemical structure to lower toxic side effects, optimize the druggability, and find safer and more efficacious medicaments.

Pyrrole-substituted indolone derivative, preparation method therefor, composition comprising same and use thereof

Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.


A containment device, such as a cuvette, for use in amplifying and detecting nucleic acid material at a contained detection site. A waste compartment provided downstream from the detection site is provided with fold lines that give the compartment a bi-stable configuration, so that it can expand to relieve back-pressure that otherwise builds up in such a containment device. Also, optimal locations of flow paths between compartments are described to minimize back-flow of upstream reagents into the feeder paths that are yet to be used by subsequent compartments.

It is known to do PCR or other forms of DNA amplification in a containment device, using, for example, a flexible pouch. Such is described in EPA 381,501, wherein flow of target and reagents proceeds past a detection chamber and into a dead-end waste compartment.
Although such a device is very effective, the use of a dead-end waste compartment can create on occasion a problem. That is, sufficient back-pressure from incoming flow can be created so as to interfere with the sequential reactions desired at the detection chamber. For example, back pressure tends to stress the detection chamber to the point that beads used to anchor the target can themselves become dislodged.
The most obvious solution to back-pressure caused by a dead-end waste compartment is to vent that compartment to the atmosphere. However, that is unacceptable since it defeats the first principle of PCR devices, namely that of keeping contained the amplified product.
Accordingly, prior to this invention it has not always been possible to ensure that no undesirable back- pressure will be created by a waste compartment such as might interfere with optimum results.

Positive flow control in an unvented container


There is provided an image processing device including: a motion vector acquirer, a position generator, a weight calculator and an image generator. The acquirer acquires motion vectors with respect to a reference frame for pixels of an input frame. The position generator generates first position information indicating a position on a first frame on a basis of position information in the input frame and the motion vector of the pixel, for each pixel of the input frame. The calculator calculates a weight depending a distance from the position indicated by first position information to a pixel of the first frame, for each pixel of the first frame. The generator calculates an output pixel value, for each pixel of the first frame, on a basis of the weight and a pixel value of the pixel in the input frame, to generate an output frame.

There is an image processing device that performs a super-resolution process on an image by aligning and superimposing a plurality of frames of a low-resolution image. However, this image processing device simply superimposes the frames in units of an integer number of pixels, and a grid-like artifact (noise) is occasionally generated. To remove the grid-like artifact, it is necessary to perform "TV (Total Variation)" regularization.

Image processing device, image processing method and non-transitory computer readable medium


The present invention provides for in one embodiment an archery exerciser training device designed to eliminate or minimize target panic, develop muscle memory, and warn up muscles before using a bow and arrow. The training device consists of a cylindrical tube with an attached handle. Within the tube is a gas compression spring with integrated plungers mounted on either end. Each plunger further includes an axle on which two wheels are opposingly mounted. A cable is mounted to one plunger at the distal end of the device and the cable travels in a zig-zag fashion around the four wheels and out of the plunger at the proximal end of the device and terminates in a loop, thereby creating a pulley system. The exposed loop of the cable is pulled in a rearward direction, approximating the motions made when drawing a bowstring. When the exposed loop is pulled, the distal plunger is forced rearward, thereby compressing the gas spring and creating an opposing force approximately equal to a typical draw weight of a bowstring. When the cable is released, the gas spring extends, pushing the distal plunger forward, and pulling the exposed cable back within the cylindrical tube in a safe and controlled manner. The process may be repeated over and over as necessary to sufficiently develop and train the archer's shooting muscles, and to warm up the muscles prior to shooting.

It is well known in the art that virtually all archers suffer from a condition known as "target panic." Target panic is an involuntary, psychological condition which commonly results in the premature release of an arrow, or at least a strong desire to do so. Target panic also often prevents an archer from holding the bow site on target or bow steady while aiming at a target because the archer may fear missing the target, is anticipating the release of the arrow or is too focused on establishing proper shooting posture and positioning and, therefore, is unable to accurately aim. Developing appropriate "muscle memory" can reduce or eliminate the undesirable effects of target panic, and can take the archer's mind away from pulling the trigger. Therefore, it is important for archers to regularly practice to train the muscles involved in the shooting process. Such training preferably should be accomplished without the fear of throwing an actual arrow.
Various prior art devices exist to help archers develop proper shooting muscle control and memory. Previously such devices simply comprised a pair of grips connected by an elastic cord, such as the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,191, issued Sep. 2, 1986 to Remme. Later devices built on this basic idea and included various contraptions that attached to a bow or bowstring, such as the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,365, issued Oct. 1, 1991 to Carella, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,413 issued Nov. 17, 1992 to Carella. Other devices, such as the archery training aid disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,320 issued May 3, 1988 to Wiard, incorporate electronic components intended to visually alert an archer when a full bowstring draw has been accomplished. However, most prior art devices currently on the market are long, bulky mechanism which either attach to the bow or have their own handles. Such devices are not easily transported or stowed, and many do not offer the ability to adjust the bowstring draw length.


The invention “simulation device and method for studying the influence of wetland plant litter decomposition on water quality”, belongs to the ecological engineering field. The simulation device comprises a distributing reservoir, a planting pool and a discharge bay, and the three are connected successively through a first-level pipeline; the distributing reservoir is used to supply water to the planting pool; the discharge bay is used to collect wastewater discharged from the planting pool; the planting pool comprises a plurality of planting units; the planting unit is a container-like structure and used to hold the planting substrate and plant wetland plants on the planting substrate. By using the simulation device and/or simulation method of the invention, the whole process of the influence of plant litters especially wetland plants litters on water quality under natural state can be highly simulated and restored.

Wetland plants play an important role in sewage purification and other aspects. There are many kinds of wetland plants and they have strong regional characteristics. There are large differences among different wetland plants in the ability to remove pollutants. However, a large number of wetland plants will cause more plant litter inevitably. Therefore, screening plant litter with faster decomposition rate and poor pollution ability has important theoretical and practical significance for wetland water quality purification and water environment restoration. There have been many reports on the study of using wetland plants such as Phragmites communis, Typha orientalis and Zizania latifolia to construct constructed wetlands to treat sewage by scholars at home and abroad. Wetland plants play an important role in constructed wetlands. However, there are few reports on how these plant litters are treated and what impact they will have on water quality.
It's shown by researches on litter decomposition of wetland emergent plants that, different decomposition rates of wetland plant litter have different impacts on water body. However, the decomposition of emergent plants is mostly decomposition after plants lodging, and there are few studies on the standing decomposition of emergent plants as well as the difference between lodging decomposition and standing decomposition, Which kind of emergent plant litter will have a greater impact on the water body, and that the mixed decomposition of plant litter will aggravate or reduce the second level pollution to the water quality need to be further verified. The main wetland emergent plants studied at home and abroad are Phragmites communis, Typha orientalis, Oryza sativa, silvergrass, Zizania latifolia, sparganium, scirpus tabernaemontani, juncus effusus, water-garden Iris, arrowhead, rhizoma alismatis, acorns calamus, etc.
At present, the research on sewage purification efficiency of wetland plant mainly focuses on small indoor area research, and the research device is usually an independent closed container. As to every wetland plant grown in each container, except litter, other factors that may affect the changes of water quality indicators are uncontrollable. It is impossible to restore the situation that litter in the natural state fall into the water body and thus affect the water quality.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a simulation device and method to highly simulate and restore the influences of wetland plant litter on water quality under natural conditions, which can be used to study the influences of wetland plant litter on water quality.

Simulation device and method for studying the influence of wetland plant litter decomposition on water quality

RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF FORESTRY NEW TECHNOLOGY, CHINESE ACADEMY OF FORESTRY


A method for determining sequential hardware equivalence between two designs and whether one design can replace another design is disclosed whereby the designs are compared utilizing OBDD representations of the designs. The set of states in each of the designs that are equivalent to each other, equivalent-state-pairs, is first determined and it is then determined whether there exists a sequence of inputs that can take all states pairs to the equivalent-state-pair set. This results in a declaration of equivalence in the two designs. An essential reset sequence is then determined, which is then represented by the sequence of inputs to move the designs to a reset state. This, therefore, gives an essential reset sequence for the design and also gives the essential reset states for the design. The essential reset states of the design can then be compared to all states of the designs and, if they are equal, the design is replaceable.

Sequential machines present unique problems to providing reliable designs. Often original sequential machine is reimplemented in a new fabrication technology or reimplemented within a given fabrication technology, In practice, the new sequential design must be checked against the original, whether the new design is implemented by hand or through the use of a synthesis tool. This area of comparison is referred to as "design verification". Present design verification techniques are inadequate to check for functional equivalence, since they utilize a partial simulation of the sequential behavior of a new design by itself or in its intended environment.
Synchronous designs generally are modeled at the gate level in terms of combinational elements and Primitive Storage Elements (PSEs). APSE is a device that shifts its input to its output on a clock event and holds its value until the next clock event. An example of a primitive storage element is a simple D-flip-flop (without enable or reset). Most real storage devices, such as D-flip-flops with an enable, reset, and both Q and Q outputs. can be modeled as a network of these primitive storage elements together with combinational logic. However, one of the limiting factors of all state machines utilized in, for example digital computers, is the length of time required for signals to propagate through all of the logic gates between PSEs. Therefore, an original design is often modified to shorten the length of the signal propagation time.
There are three important areas in design verification. These are formal verification, synthesis, and Automatic Test Pattern Generation (ATPG), With respect to ATPG, a machine is designed so that when the machine is actually fabricated, it can be tested to determine whether the fabricated system is equivalent to a flawlessly fabricated design. With respect to synthesis, design verification is required to show that a resynthesized design is equivalent to an original design or that a synthesized design conforms to its specification. In synthesizing a design, a designer can provide the storage elements and logic equations relating storage elements to each other and to the inputs and outputs of the design. Then a synthesis machine is allowed to generate a design from this information. The third, formal verification, allows a designer to determine not only if his design is equivalent to another known design, but also if his design is equivalent to itself.

Apparatus and method for determining sequential hardware equivalence

Microelectronics & Computer Technology Corporation


The inventive method for protection of creative works is accomplished by creating a creative work, securing the creative work using biometric information of an author of the creative work, and restricting an access to the creative work to the author and select users, who are authorized by the author and whose biometric information is registered with a biometric security database.

In view of the tremendous opportunities and advantages of cybernetics and phenomenal growth of internet, mobile technologies, digital instrumentation, there have arisen serious concerns in the arena of protecting intellectual property rights of creative digital works, for example, software, digital images, digitized music, e-books, etc. The growth of digital information transmission worries copyright holders who fear that the new technology threatens their rights because of greater piracy, increased theft of digital works at the information transfer stage and widespread sharing of digital works.
Piracy copying of software, particularly software adapted to run on personal computers, is an extensive problem to software vendors which annually costs them large amounts of money. On average, the software industry loses about US$11 to US$12 billion in revenue to software piracy annually. The conventional methods employed to protect software against unauthorized utilization by demanding a password for the installation or operation of a specific computer program or program package, for example, have not provided sufficient security.
Several attempts have already been made to establish arrangements in which simply typing a required password is not sufficient to gain access to a program. For example, systems have been proposed which require that a special hardware unit is connected to the computer to make it possible to utilize a given program. This unit may take the form of a blind plug (also termed "dongle"), for example, which is connected directly to one of the input-output terminals of the computer, and containing fixed tables, identity number, or the like, stored in an internal memory from which information is read upon the request of a programmed additional routine included for this purpose in the application program in question. The unit may also take the form of a card reader station, or the like, in which a card is inserted, the matter stored on the card in principle being similar to that of the blind plug above. Usually the checking procedure involves that the additional routine of the program makes a direct comparison of the program identity, for example, and a corresponding item of information present in the stored table. Thus, an arrangement making it possible to use a certain computer program or a computer program package only if the permission of the copyright holder really exists would be of great importance.
One attempt to address the above challenges was a proposed utilization of biometric access control systems by the sending and receiving party to authenticate the identity of the sending and receiving party. The use of biometric technologies has previously gained some acceptance in the field of content access control, and so, application of such technologies to the goal of securing copyrighted content is a reasonable approach.
Biometrics is a field of technology aimed at utilizing one or more unique personal characteristics of an individual, ranging, for example, from their fingerprints to their hand vein pattern, odor, iris image, or their DNA, to authenticate their identity. Biometric technologies are typically of two types—passive and active. Passive biometrics either do not require the individual who's identity is being verified to do anything other than to enable a certain biometric characteristic to be acquired by the system (e.g., by placing a finger on a fingerprint scanner, by looking into a retinal scanner, or by looking in the direction of a facial scanner). Active biometrics require the individual who's identity is being verified to perform one or more predetermined actions in order to enable the system to acquire the representation of one or more appropriate biometric characteristics (e.g., by providing a signature, by speaking, by squeezing a certain object, etc.). Certain types of biometric systems may incorporate a combination of active and passive biometric approaches. The various types of biometric systems are discussed in greater detail in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/332,017 entitled "MULTIPLATFORM INDEPENDENT BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM", which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
It would thus be desirable to provide a system and method for restricting access to creative digital works to one or more specific identified individuals. It would further be desirable to provide a system and method for preserving the identity of the author of a particular creative work and the date and location of its creation. It would additionally be desirable, to provide a system and method for registering, tracking and biometrically verifying identities of users/licensees of various creative works.

System and method for protection of creative works


Various techniques are provided to process infrared images. In one implementation, a method of processing infrared image data includes receiving infrared image data associated with a scene. The infrared image data comprises a plurality of pixels arranged in a plurality of rows and columns. The method also includes selecting one of the columns. The method also includes, for each pixel of the selected column, comparing the pixel to a corresponding plurality of neighborhood pixels. The method also includes, for each comparison, adjusting a first counter if the pixel of the selected column has a value greater than the compared neighborhood pixel. The method also includes, for each comparison, adjusting a second counter if the pixel of the selected column has a value less than the compared neighborhood pixel. The method also includes selectively updating a column correction term associated with the selected column based on the first and second counters.

An image generated by an infrared imager, such as, for example, a microbolometer-based infrared imager, typically includes noise. For example, the dominant source of noise may be due to temporal, 1/f, and/or fixed spatial noise, and a typical infrared imaging system may include calibration algorithms to try to minimize these types of noise.
As an example, an infrared imaging system generally uses an internal shutter that lets the infrared imaging system acquire an image against a uniform target to perform calibration procedures. However, there are some drawbacks associated with this type of procedure. For example, the requirement of a shutter increases manufacturing costs of the infrared imaging system. In addition, the calibration procedure does not correct for noise sources beyond the shutter (e.g., due to a lens or other components within the optical path). Also, the scene temperature may be different from that of the shutter and the detector elements response to irradiation may not be completely linear. As such, a correction made at the shutter temperature may not be appropriate for the particular scene that the infrared imaging system is imaging. Moreover, during offset calibration using the shutter, the infrared imaging system may not be available to capture images of a scene, as desired by a user.
Human observers are particularly sensitive to high frequency spatial noise that is typical of infrared imagers. Low pass filters can be used to reduce noise but this blurs the image and lowers the system performance.
As a result, there is a need for improved techniques directed to infrared imaging and processing of infrared images that may reduce spatial, temporal, and/or 1/f type noise without relying on a shutter or requiring a uniform scene and that may introduce no or minimal blur.

Systems and methods for processing infrared images


A load lifting device includes a lower structure, an upper structure movable with respect to the lower structure between a lowered position and a raised position, a scissors-like pantograph, including at least two arms mutually articulated according to an X-shape, connecting the upper structure to the lower structure, and an actuator device controlling the position of a connecting element which connects the actuator to one arm of the pantograph and having a cam-following element cooperating with a fixed cam. The actuator is articulated to the connecting element around an axis which is located below the articulation axis of the connecting element to the arm of the pantograph, in such a way that, when the actuator is activated to cause the lifting movement of the device, the connecting element acts as a pushing strut subjected substantially to compression between the cam and the articulated arm. Preferably the actuator includes a hoist device with a belt, cord, or chain engaging a number of pulleys.

The present invention relates to a lifting device of the type comprising:
a lower structure,
an upper structure movable with respect to the lower structure between a lowered position and a raised position,
a linkage connecting the upper structure to the lower structure and including at least one articulated arm,
an actuator operatively interposed between the lower structure and the linkage, for controlling the movements of the upper structure between its lowered position and its raised position,
a connecting element between the actuator and the linkage, said connecting element being articulated to said arm of the linkage and being provided with a cam-follower element cooperating with a fixed cam.
A device of the above indicated type is disclosed in JP 2000 238996.
The invention relates in particular to a lifting table with a pantograph linkage of the scissors-type.
As is known, pantograph-type lifting tables enable a movable frame (or platform) to be moved from the lowered position to the raised position while keeping it horizontal, even in case of an off-line mass. Basically, these pantograph-type lifting tables include a fixed base frame, with means for anchoring it to the floor, a movable frame for receiving the articles to be moved and four arms coupled to each other, in a scissors fashion, so as to provide a pantograph-type linkage, which is moved by suitable lifting means.
The lifting table device is shaped so as to occupy the volume of a parallelepiped defined by the two sides of the movable table, whereas its height varies from a minimum value, when the lifting table is closed (platform in the lowered position) up to a maximum value, when the table is opened (platform in its raised position). The pantograph-type lifting tables are particularly useful for automation of large manufacturing processes, also in case of heavy masses to be handled.
The lifting means may be of many types, depending upon the needs and the required forces; for instance, hydraulic cylinders, electric cylinders, or motor and reduction gear units with associated transmissions can be used.
Pantograph-type lifting tables are highly flexible and can be used both as lifting means, or as presses or as pushing devices. Lifting tables, however, have a huge drawback, which is implicit in their own way of operating. Indeed, due to the specific configuration of their linkage, at the beginning of the lifting phase, starting from the closed condition of the pantograph linkage, the vertical movement is hindered by a number of unfavorable leverages, so that the force required for lifting is much greater than the weight to be lifted and is variable throughout the entire movement. In particular, when the pantograph-type table is in its lowered (closed) position, if it has to be lifted by a lifting device operating under the table, during the first lifting step forces that are at least three or four times higher with respect to the actual weight to be moved vertically should be applied. It is evident therefore that there is an interest in developing a lifting device able to exploit all the potential advantages offered by the pantograph lifting tables, while overcoming the above mentioned drawback.
The above mentioned JP 2000 238996 solves the problem only partially, due to the provision of a fixed cam cooperating with a cam-following element carried by the above mentioned connecting element which connects the lifting device to the linkage. However, the arrangement shown in this document is not satisfactory, in particular because the above mentioned connecting element is subjected to a deflecting force during the lifting movement and therefore is not able to transmit the force applied by the actuator with a high efficiency.


A ring construction 10 for providing a visual indication that the wearer is mourning or otherwise honoring the memory of a deceased loved one. The ring construction 10 includes a generally C-shaped ring body member 20 provided with a slidable sleeve member 30 that acts as a closure for the peripheral opening 21 in the ring body member 20. The sleeve member 30 is provided with a loop element 32 adapted to be operatively engaged by a length of chain 50 for joining two identical ring constructions 10, 10' together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of jewelry in general, and in particular to a mourning ring construction that is designed to perpetuate the memory of a departed loved one.
2. Description of Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,609,993; 3,890,801; 5,131,243; 5,412,956; and 3,423,956, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse ring constructions.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical ring construction that not only alerts others to the fact that a loved one has passed away, but also contains a hidden message relative to the deceased that will offer solace and comfort to the bereaved.
As it stands right now, there is no practical way for an individual to silently signal to a casual observer that they are in mourning and/or that their spouse is deceased.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new type of ring construction that will serve as a silent visual indicator to others that the person wearing the ring is either in mourning and/or their spouse is deceased, and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention.


A putter is provided with concentrations of mass in the toe and heel portions, and the putter head is otherwise configured so that its center of gravity is approximately midway between the toe and heel of the putter head. Maximum stability within practical constraints is achieved by an especially configured hosel which slants upwardly and forwardly from proximate the heel of the putter head and positions the putter shaft so that its longitudinal axis intersects an imaginary line at a point forward of the face of the putter with the imaginary line being normal to the face of the putter and passing through the center of gravity thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to golf clubs and more particularly to a putter having an improved balanced design.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known by everyone who plays golf, putting has plagued all types of players, and the quest for improved putters and putting techniques never ends. As recently as about 30 years ago, engineering principles were applied to the design of putters for the first time, and a design which became known as "heel-toe balanced" was devised. Prior to this innovation, putters where for the most part essentially flat, platelike structures commonly referred to as "blade" putters.
Briefly, a putter designed in accordance with the "heel-toe balance" principle has its mass concentrated in the heel and toe of the putter head. This provides an increased moment of inertia that causes the putter head to resist twisting whenever the golf ball is struck at a point on the putter face which is away from the "sweet spot" of the putter. Such a putter is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,405 which issued on Jul. 3, 1962.
In addition to having the heel-toe balance, my putter design disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,405 has another design feature which is commonly referred to as "face balance". A face balanced putter is one having equal moment arms, i.e. the concentrated masses at the heel and toe are equally distant from the axis of rotation. This is accomplished by connecting the shaft of the putter centrally between the toe and the heel of the putter so that it is located proximate the center of gravity.
The face balancing design concept has been accomplished in another manner such as that fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,265 issued on May 4, 1976 to David L. Taylor. In this case, the shaft is attached to the putter head proximate the heel, and the shaft is bent into a special configuration. The special bends in the shaft are located at its lower end, to conform to the Rules of Golf as defined by the United States Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient regulating body of Scotland. The shaft bends locate the longitudinal axis of the shaft, as defined by the straight portion of the shaft, so that the axis will pass through the center of gravity of the putter head.
I have been marketing another unpatented variation of a putter incorporating the face balanced design concept which I have identified as the "Z" putter. In this particular putter the shaft is bent so that the longitudinal axis of the straight portion of the shaft will intersect a line which extends normally from the face of the putter head with that line also containing the center of gravity of the putter head. This particular version of the face balanced design concept adds a still further putter head stabilization feature to the art of putter head design. By off-setting the shaft axis forwardly of the center of gravity of the putter head, a lever arm is added to the moment of inertia of the putter head about the rotational axis of the shaft. This, of course, further increases the moment of inertia in comparison to a face balanced putter which has its axis of rotation passing through the center of gravity.
Even though the fully balanced prior art putters described above are theoretically ideal, many golfers shy away from center shafted putters, putters with bent shafts, and putters without a hosel. The reasons for this vary considerably, but it all reduces down to personal preferences and what a golfer feels comfortable using.
The most popular putters used today have a hosel extending upwardly from proximate the heel of the putter head a distance of from about two to three inches relative to the sole of the head. The lower end of the shaft is usually secured in a socket-like boss formed on the upper end of the hosel. Such putters are typically heel-toe balanced but are not face balanced due to the rearward disposition of their upwardly extending hosel.
A particular prior art putter marketed under the tradename ZAAP by the Tommy Armour Golf Company, has a hosel and is both heel-toe balanced and face balanced. To accomplish such balancing, the ZAAP putter has its hosel extending upwardly and forwardly from proximate the heel of the head at about a 45.degree. angle and the socket-like boss is disposed at an angle of about 125.degree. relative to the hosel.
The angular orientation of the hosel of the ZAAP putter may disturb some golfers by distracting or otherwise interfering with the high degree of precision visual alignment required for good putting. In addition to such possible optical distraction, the ZAAP putter is configured so that the rotational axis defined by the putter's shaft passes through the center of gravity of the putter and thus lacks the additional stabilizing influence provided by off-setting the shaft axis forwardly of the putter's face so that the shaft axis intersects with the imaginary line which extends formally from the face of the putter head and contains the center of gravity of the putter.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and useful putter which overcomes some of the shortcomings and disadvantages of the prior art.


The invention includes methods for precisely and accurately etching layers of wide bandgap semiconductor material. According to one aspect of the invention, the method includes providing a multi-layer laminate including at least a first and second layer of wide bandgap semiconductor material, measuring a first conductance of the first layer of semiconductor material, partially etching the first layer of semiconductor material a first amount, measuring a second conductance of the first layer of semiconductor material etched the first amount, and utilizing the first and second measured conductance to determine a time required to etch the first layer of semiconductor material a second amount.

Wide bandgap semiconductor devices are devices constructed from wide bandgap materials, e.g. generally having an energy gap greater than 2.5 eV, such as Silicon Carbide (SiC), Zinc Sulfide, and Gallium, Aluminum, and Indium Nitride related compounds. Wide bandgap semiconductor materials typically include properties that are desirable for constructing power devices, including, among other things, a wide bandgap, a high thermal conductivity, high breakdown field strength, and a high electron saturation velocity. One example of such a power device is a bipolar junction transistor (BJT). BJT's are well-known and frequently used semiconductor devices that are generally defined by two back-to-back p-n junctions formed in a semiconductor material in close proximity. In operation, current enters a region of the semiconductor material adjacent one of the p-n junctions called the emitter. Current exits the device from a region of the material adjacent the other p-n junction called the collector. The collector and emitter have the same conductivity type and include a thin layer of semiconductor material having the opposite conductivity positioned between them, referred to as the base.
One of the requirements for an operable and useful device is an appropriate semiconductor material from which it can be formed. The most commonly used material is silicon (Si), with recent attention being paid to materials such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Indium Phosphide (InP). While the potential of SiC is recognized, appropriate techniques for producing devices is lacking, because the requirements of specific devices are often difficult to achieve using SiC. For instance, performance optimization in a device, such as a BJT for an RF power amplifier, requires minimizing base resistance, maximizing power densities, and minimizing parasitics. To accomplish these characteristics, the geometry and spacing of the thin base layer and the thicker emitter layer, as well their respective contacts, must be carefully controlled. Furthermore, such devices require careful control of the conductivity and thickness of the layers to achieve desired oscillation frequencies and power gains.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, such careful control of layer thickness requires precise etching. This is especially true in constructing BJT devices from SiC, as the thicker emitter layer must be accurately etched away without removing the thin base layer, which directly influences the device performance. Unfortunately, however, conventional SiC etching methods do not always result in uniform etch times, even where the layer thickness is known, thereby making it difficult to accurately control etching during device construction.

Wide bandgap semiconductor device construction


A one-piece molded water chamber in the form of an annulus having a large open segment which permits the chamber to serve as a yoke which can be positioned on the ground surrounding the trunk of small trees at the base of the trunk. The water chamber is made of a strong, semi-rigid material so that the segmental opening can be spread apart to permit it to fit around a tree trunk which may be somewhat larger in diameter than the size of the open segment. The chamber is continuously fed with water from a standard garden hose. The wall of the chamber is pierced with a single row of water orifices which are distributed along a line around the upper, outer diameter of the annular body. This arrangement permits the watering of a tree outward, around the drip-line beneath the tree's outer foliage. In addition, this arrangement also prevents introducing water into the soil around the region immediately surrounding the tree trunk. This watering pattern is specifically intended to prevent disease and decay of growing trees prior to reaching their full-grown state.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a water supply yoke which is intended to sprinkle water in an annular pattern on the ground around the drip-line, so called, beneath a trees outer foliage. It is specifically intended to keep water away from the inner soil around the trunk of a tree.
2. Description of Prior Art
A serious problem in the growing and cultivation of trees arises when a tree is attacked by disease and/or by animal life such as small worms and insects which live within its body. Such disease and attack is accentuated if the ground around the trunk, as well as the trunk itself, is permitted to be saturated with standing water. It is common practice with the average homeowner to water trees at the base of the trunk, frequently in a depression in the ground around the base. This practice promotes the debilitating disease and decay of a tree. The watering distribution device described herein is intended to eliminate this condition, thereby promoting the cultivation of healthy trees.
The preliminary search for possible similar or like devices which may already have been covered by patent disclosures resulted in the examination of the following patents:
______________________________________ (1) No. D253224 - Irrigator For Plants Filed 6/20/77 (2) No. D278075 - Plant Irrigator Filed 4/5/82 (3) No. D278076 - Root Irrigator Filed 6/23/82 (4) No. D303913 - Tree Soaker Filed 10/19/87 (5) No. D318403 - Tree Soaker Filed 7/11/89 (6) No. 4087938 - Tree Watering Device Filed 3/2/77 (7) No. 4199106 - Irrigation Hose Filed 7/31/78 (8) No. 4498627 - Spray Hoop Filed 8/30/82 ______________________________________
My examination of the above eight items leads to the following judgements:
(1) Des. 253224: This patent describes an annular manifold tube having sprinkler orifices distributed over its 360 degree circumference. It is designed to be placed over small plants which have limited height and foliage. Since it is not a split, open annulus it cannot be positioned around taller growing trees. This limitation frustrates the requirement to distribute water solely around the outer drip-line of the tree.
(2) Des. 278075: This patent describes a rigid, U-shaped rectangular three-sided manifold which can be positioned to fit around three sides of a tree, leaving the fourth side of the tree lacking in coverage of water. The manifold takes the form of an accordion section at the two corners joining the three straight sides. The manifold directs the water both inward, toward the tree trunk, as well as outward, away from the tree trunk, thereby frustrating the requirement to distribute water solely around the outer drip-line of the tree.
(3) Des. 278076: This patent descries a variation of the manifold of patent No. Des. 278075 described in (2) above. In this case the manifold, which is extremely similar to (2) above, is given the title "Root Irrigator"; its cross section is tubular in shape rather than square. This manifold also directs water from its sprinkler orifices both inward toward the tree trunk as well as outward, away from the tree trunk, thereby frustrating the requirement to distribute water solely around the outer drip-line of the tree.
(4) Des. 303913: This patent describes a flexible soaker-hose which can be positioned around a circle laid out beneath the drip-line of a tree, providing the tree has a drip-line circumference which will not exceed the maximum length of the soaker-hose. A problem arises should an uninformed user decide to coil this soaker-hose in a tightly-wound spiral close to the base of a tree trunk thereby encouraging the onset of disease and decay of a tree. Further, because of its unweildy size and bulk, this soaker-hose requires an unusually large storage compartment or shelf when not in use. When more than one soaker-hose is employed, this limitation increases the storage problem.
(5) Des. 318403: This is a patent which is derived from the patent D303913 described in (4) above and it is disclosed by the same author. The only difference between the two devices is that the water feed hose is attached to one end of this soaker-hose whereas, in the soaker-hose D303913 described above (4), the water feed hose is connected in the center of the soaker-hose length. Therefore, this soaker-hose suffers from the same limitations described above.
(6) U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,938: This patent describes a relatively large water tube which consists of two identical but separate halves of a doughnut-shaped circular tub which are positioned around the trunk of a tree. Water from inside the split, circular tub seeps into the ground around, and adjacent to, the trunk of a tree, thereby frustrating the requirement to keep water out of the ground immediately surrounding the trunk of the tree. If this tub were made sufficiently large in diameter to wet the ground solely around the outer drip-line of many trees it would have to be of an enormous, impractical size. Further, the cost of a unit such as this would be substantially higher than the cost of my device.
(7) U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,106: This patent describes a double-layer, laminated thermoplastic film in the form of a long linear tape, or duct. The two layers of film are laminated together in a pattern which forms a flat duct or water tube having regularly spaced orifices through the laminated seams which permit water from the internal, central duct to exit onto the surrounding ground. This invention has no relevance, either in form or in function, to my water distribution yoke.
(8) U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,627: This patent describes a large vertically-oriented spray hoop through which children may run and play, as they often do when they jump through the spray from a garden hose or a lawn sprinkler. It is intended to be in the category of toys and has no relevance to the problem and device which I am disclosing herein.

Water distribution yoke for tree cultivation