A stereoscopic image displaying apparatus is disclosed. The pixels of the displaying apparatus consist of a plurality of pairs of odd columns pixels and even column pixels, and optical polarizing means for passing only one of vertical and horizontal components of light rays installed in front of the odd column pixels and the even column pixels, wherein if a user wears polarizing glass, then the user can see a clear stereoscopic image regardless of the position of the user.

Generally, image displaying apparatus is classified into a panel type and a tubular type. In the panel type, there are EL (Electro Luminescent), PDP (Plasma Display Panel) and LED (Light Emitting Diode), etc., and in the tubular type, there are CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), etc.
As shown in FIGS. 1A to 1B, the plane type image displaying apparatus is constituted as described below. Pixels 2 are arranged in a transparent substrate 1 and connected to ICs 3 and 4. If image signals photographed by means of a camera are transmitted through the ICs 3 and 4 to the pixels 2, then the pixels 2 become luminescent for making a picture.
Meanwhile, tubular image displaying apparatus is constituted as illustrated in FIG. 1C and as described below. Pixels 12 are formed in the front panel of a picture tube 11 by spreading a phosphorescent material thereon, and a shadow mask 13 is installed in the picture tube 11 in such a manner as to keep a proper gap away from the front panel of the picture tube 11. Further, in the other portion of the picture tube 11, an electron gun 14 and a deflecting yoke 15 are installed. Electron beams projected by the electron gun 14 are deflected by the deflecting yoke 15, and impinged on the pixels 12 after passing through the shadow mask 13, so as for the pixels 12 to become luminescent and to make a picture.
However, the above described image displaying apparatus produce only plane images, i.e., 2-dimensional images, to users' unsatisfactorily. Therefore, recently there have been proposed stereoscopic image displaying apparatus for displaying images in a 3-dimensional form.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the pixels of the image displaying apparatus consists of odd column pixels 22a and even column pixels 22b, in which the odd column pixels 22a are connected to a column driving IC 23 and to a row driving IC 25 for left image signals and the even column pixels 22b are connected to a column driving IC 24 and to a row driving IC 25 for right image signals.
Further, in front of the pairs of the odd column pixels 22a and the even column pixels 22b, there is installed a convex lens screen 26 as a stereoscopic image producing means. The stereoscopic image displaying apparatus 21 as described above can be also applied to the tubular displaying apparatus such as cathode ray tube.
The stereoscopic image displaying apparatus 21 is operated as described below. An object is photographed by two cameras, and the image signals photographed by means of the left camera are sent to the column driving IC 23 for left image signals, while the image signals photographed by the right camera are sent to the lateral row driving IC 24 for right image signals. Then the left image signals energize the odd columns pixels 22a and the light rays therefrom is projected to the left after being refracted by the front convex lens 26 screen in the direction of arrows "L" of FIG. 2B. Meanwhile, the right image signals energize the even column pixels 22b and the light rays therefrom are projected to the right after being refracted by the front convex lens screen 26 in the direction of dotted arrows "R" of FIG. 2B.
Therefore, if a person watches the screen from the front, the image of the object photographed by the left camera is seen by the left eye of the watching person, and the image of the object photographed by the right camera is seen by the right eye of the watching person, thereby obtaining a stereoscopic effect.
However, such a stereoscopic effect can be obtained when the watching user is positioned at the exact front or within a limited angular range. However, if the user departs from the limited angular range, either set of the leftward or rightward projecting images cannot be seen by the user, or confusion is caused so as for the eyes of the watching user to be tired, thereby degrading the stereoscopic effect.


The present application relates to processes for coating surfaces and provides a method of forming a coating on a surface. The method involves bombarding a surface with particles having sufficient energy to remove surface material. At the same time an aerosol is delivered to the surface. The cooperative action of the particles impinging on the surface and the presence of the aerosol contribute to the formation of a coating on the surface.

Processes for treating metal or ceramic surfaces may be divided generally into different categories. These include:                Processes that modify the physical and or chemical nature of the existing surface        Processes that remove the existing surface to generate a new surface of different chemical and or physical characteristics        Processes that generate a new surface by the deposition of materials at the existing surface.
Processes that are employed to modify the chemical nature of the existing surface of devices include, for example, those used to nitride, carburise and carbonitride metallic devices to harden the metal surface in order to make the devices more resistant to abrasive wear. There are currently four principle methods by which titanium, titanium alloys and steels are nitrided. These are plasma nitriding (Rie et al., 1995), ion-beam nitriding (Chen and Juang, 1997), laser nitriding (Xue et al., 1997) and gas nitriding (Gil et al., 2002). The effectiveness of these methods is principally due to the facile diffusion of nitrogen into the titanium and ferrite phases in titanium and steel alloys respectively. The principle methods by which steels (and to a lesser extent titanium and titanium alloys) are carburized are plasma carburising (Dong et al., 2006), gas carburising (Li and Manory, 1995) and vacuum carburising (Chen and Liu, 2003).
Shot peening is a process whereby the physical nature of an existing device surface may be modified. In shot peening solid particulate is propelled at high velocity by means of a carrier fluid either wet or dry, typically water and air respectively, so as to impact the surface of a target substrate typically a metallic substrate. Shot peening has long since been established as a means to induce desirable stress properties in the surfaces of metallic devices wherein the impinging particles act as peening hammers causing a local plastic deformation at the surface rendering it less prone to cracking and corrosion. In addition to the significant pressures, large amounts of thermal energy, instantaneous temperatures as high as 1000° C. have been reported, are also generated locally at the surface in the vicinity of the impact.
Among those processes that modify surface chemistry by the removal of surface material such as, for example, oxides are chemical etching treatments, electro-dissolution treatments, electro-polishing treatments. Also in this category are abrasive processes such as grit blasting and sand blasting treatments. Grit and sand blasting are treatments wherein abrasive hard particles of micrometer dimensions are delivered to the surface at high velocities in fluid streams. The high kinetic energy of these particles results in high temperatures and pressures being generated locally on the device surface upon the particles impacting the surface. This also results in grains at the surface being removed resulting in atoms previously situated in the bulk now being situated at the surface. In a grit blasting process wherein the fluid stream is air and the substrate is of reactive metal, then these atoms formerly situated in the bulk will react rapidly with oxygen so as to form a new oxide layer at the surface.
Processes that deposit new materials at a surface include, for example, Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), electroplating, electro-polymerization, sol gel techniques and spray coating. Spray coating is a technique whereby a liquid is atomized and sprayed at a substrate. Usually the atomization process is one whereby high-pressure gas streams are used to disrupt the species to be atomized breaking it into small droplets. These drops are then carried in the gas stream to the surface. Typically the atomized species contains materials to be deposited at the surface as solutes or as suspended particles. These materials adhere to the surface as the carrier liquid evaporates usually through complex chemical coupling agents, such as silane linkages, epoxy linkages and cross-linking agents in the case of polymers, or through curing treatments that incorporate prolonged exposure to heat as for example in the case of sol-gel deposited ceramic coatings.
Shot peening and abrasive processes have been used extensively in surface science as a means to clean and condition surfaces in preparation for further treatments. A shot peening process is known for the simultaneous cleaning and painting of substrates (Kik and Schuurink, 1985). The advantage being that the delay between cleaning and painting is eliminated minimizing re-oxidation of the cleaned metal surface prior to application of the paint. Gruss and Shapiro, 1987 describe a process for the coating of printed circuit boards in which shot peening is employed to clean and condition the surface in preparation for subsequent coatings.
More recently, a number of techniques have been disclosed which use shot peening or abrasive processes as a means to modify the surface chemistry/composition of metallic and other substrates by embedding desired solid material in the surface and these techniques may be broken into three distinct methodologies.
In the first method a single type of single-phase solid particulate is used as the peening or abrasive media. In this method the shattered pieces of the particulate become embedded in the surface of the metal on impact. Such processes are mostly used to embed ceramic materials as the particles must have sufficient hardness size and mass to abrade or peen the surface. Examples include silica, alumina or calcium phosphate ceramics among others as in the patent of Arola and McCain (Arola and McCain, 2003) and that of Kuo (Kuo, 1995).
The second method also involves the use of a single type of solid particle as the peening or abrasive media but the particles themselves are comprised of multiple components usually a hard component that gives the particle mass and density and a softer component that is desired to embed in or attach to the surface on impact. Examples are to be found in (Muller and Berger, 2004; Bru-Maginez et al., 2002; Hisada and Kihira, 2004; Omori and Kieffer, 2000) and in the Rocatek™ bonding system for dental implants.
The third method is to mix different types of solid particulate media, a primary abrasive or peening material and a secondary material desired to embed or augment the surface, in the same fluid stream so that they impinge the surface simultaneously. Examples of this process may be found in (Babecki and Haehner, 1971; Chu and Staugaitis, 1985; Spears, 1988; Vose, 2006; Enbio Ltd. et al., 2008) where such processes are claimed to modify the surface composition of a variety of substrates with a number of materials including plastics, ceramics and metals. WO/2008/033867 teaches the use of grit blasting for the impregnation of metal oxide layers with solid particles delivered to the surface during a standard grit blasting treatment, the disruption caused to the surface oxide by the abrasive action allowing the smaller/softer solid particulate to become entrained in the oxide as it reforms.
These modified shot peening methodologies are limited in their surface modification capabilities for a number of reasons. Firstly the species augmenting the surface chemistry is restricted to solid materials.
In addition the augmented surface layer is a composition containing the embedded particulate and the reformed oxide of the target metal. While this presents the possibility of augmenting the surface layer of metals it is restricted to layers of approximately equal thickness to the native oxide layer on the metal substrate of interest. In many metals such as for example titanium, aluminium and alloys thereof this layer itself may be of the order of nano meters naturally limiting the concentration and nature of the desired particulate that may be incorporated into this thin surface layer.
Furthermore, the solid particulate desired to augment the surface may be in the sub-micron or nanometer size range, the handling of such solid-state particles generating respiratory and other health and safety hazards raises health and safety issues.

Surface coating processes and uses of same


The present invention provides a system and method for an online optimization for a non-linear cognitive wireless. The optimization is achieved by using qualitative model on the system which provides information in the form of monotonic influence diagram. The influence graph represents the state (control variables, goal variables and intermediate variables) and their dependency information using a graphical model incorporating monotonicities information. The present invention also incorporates learning features to build a compact history for reducing bad configurations online. The invention also provides a control engine which achieves the near optimum control of the cognitive wireless network by using the network state information along with the qualitative model.

The complexity of modern wireless networks exceeds the ability of users and operators to optimally configure them. Autonomic capability is much of a necessity than desire and a viable solution to incorporate greater degrees of intelligence within the network itself. Exploitation of the Cognitive networking paradigm is an approach towards imparting autonomic capabilities to network elements. Cognitive networks are formed when a collection of communication nodes organize to achieve network-level goals with the aid of some form of local cognitive processing. It will involve important aspects such as radio resource management, network management, services delivery and secure configuration mechanisms.
One of the ways to improve the performance of a generic optimum solution search process is to incorporate an awareness of problem semantics into the algorithm. A typical optimization problem consists of the maximization or minimization of an objective function, expressed in terms of a set of variables with their respective domains, subject to a set of constraints. But, this does not include any domain specific concepts or facts. Use of domain ontology in the solution process could make it more efficient.
In general, optimization problems involved in wireless networks which are nonlinear. Many of the cause-effect relations involved are analytically in-tractable. Many of the traditional non-linear optimization algorithms are not suitable for on-line optimization due to their computational complexity and the requirement of a system model. Alternately algorithms following a black box approach such as genetic algorithms, simulated annealing, etc could be explored. However, they do not assure global optimality and do not use problem semantics to improve the solution search process.
Cognitive engine following a cognitive cycle has been proposed in literature for intelligent management of wireless communication links and networks. The cognitive engine is a computational module (software/hardware) that may sit at a terminal, base station or other network elements. The cognitive cycle involves steps such as sensing, analyzing, planning and acting along with learning in a dynamic environment. This engine supports autonomic behavior of the network such as self-configuration, self-optimization, self-healing etc.
Creating a dynamic model of the system is essential for imparting intelligent adaptive control of the system. This is generally done through analytic models, computational models, probabilistic models, rules etc. A suitable learning mechanism needs to be there to update the knowledge base.
For complex dynamic systems such as wireless networks, a complete and accurate model of the system is difficult and analytically in-tractable. A high resolution model that is not accurate may give good performance in certain situations but severely degraded in other cases. On the contrary a low resolution model that is accurate performance but more robust. Machine learning techniques can be used to improve the quality and accuracy of the model.
An online control approach directly experiments the system for a better configuration in the absence of a guiding model. In this approach there is a danger that the system may get into highly degraded performance levels or unacceptable operating points. However if there is a learning mechanism incorporated, the system can avoid such bad operating points/configurations in future. Further the use of a knowledge base that qualitatively model the system behavior can help in reducing the number of iterations.
An online control approach supported with a low resolution model and a learning mechanism would be a good option for cognitive engine for the intelligent and robust control of dynamic systems where high resolution accurate models are infeasible.
One or the other prior art provides a radio network management system which comprises at least one centralized node. The centralized node includes a radio transceiver having more than one adjustable parameter. The centralized node also includes at least one adaptive tuning engine configured to make changes to the at least one adjustable parameter. A weighted analysis function is configured to provide a weighted analysis based on the output of the at least one adaptive tuning engine. Further, a cognitive learning function is configured to provide feedback to make optimally directed adjustments to the at least one adaptive tuning engine.
Also, genetic algorithm (GA) approach is used to adapt a wireless radio to a changing environment. A cognitive radio engine implements three algorithms; a wireless channel genetic algorithm (WCGA), a cognitive system monitor (CSM) and a wireless system genetic algorithm (WSGA). A chaotic search with controllable boundaries allows the cognitive radio engine to seek out and discover unique solutions efficiently.
Some of the lacunae that exists in the prior art discussed above are that, firstly they discloses systems and methods that are not suitable for on-line optimization due to their computational complexity and the requirement of a system model. Some others treat the system as a black box and convergence of such approaches are slow with an element of uncertainty. There is a possibility of a grey box approach which is a middle path that exploits knowledge from an expert to guide through the optimization process more efficiently.
Therefore, there is a need of a system and method which is capable of providing a near optimum configuration for wireless networks by exploiting the qualitative knowledge of an expert on the system at a low complexity. The system and method should be capable of enabling reconfiguration of the network by controlling the network parameters while reducing the complexity.

Dynamic self configuration engine for cognitive networks and networked devices


A technique is described for terminating an optical fiber with low backreflection. At a selected end of the optical fiber segment, an endface is formed at a selected angle relative to the fiber axis. A suitable material is deposited onto the angled endface to form an angled reflective surface. The angled reflective surface is configured such that light propagating along the waveguide to the selected end of the optical fiber segment is reflected back into the optical fiber segment at an angle that prevents coupling of the reflected light into the fiber core. The reflected light is dissipated along the length of the fiber segment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of fiber optics, and in particular to systems and techniques for terminating an optical fiber with low backreflection.
2. Background Art
In a fiber-optic sensor, a reference light is launched into a sensor fiber and the resulting backreflected light is detected and analyzed. A fiber-optic sensor can be used, for example, to detect changes in shape and/or position based on the measurement of the amplitude/phase of distributed backreflection along the length of the sensor fiber. In a shape/position sensor, and in other sensor applications, it is of utmost importance to suppress backreflection coming from the tip of the sensor fiber. A strong reflection from the tip can adversely saturate the detector used to detect distributed backreflection, and consequently impair the accuracy and resolution of the shape/position sensing.
While conventional methods for terminating a sensor fiber are capable of reducing backreflection from the fiber tip, the sensor performance can become highly sensitive to touch or to backreflection or backscattering from nearby objects. In a shape-sensing application, a sensor fiber is typically deployed within a tightly confined region. Light emitted from the tip of the sensor fiber can be reflected by the surfaces of the confined region back into the sensor fiber and coupled into the fiber core. Furthermore, the properties of the medium surrounding the tip can alter the behavior of light at the tip, increasing reflectivity, for example.
One way to overcome this problem is to attach a backreflection-suppression element, such as a light-absorbing glass rod or fiber, to the tip of the sensor fiber. Light emitted from the sensor fiber tip propagates through the absorbing structure, and is attenuated by such an extent that reflection from nearby objects becomes insignificant. However, the addition of the light-absorbing structure poses a number of problems.
First, the attachment of a light-absorbing structure to the fiber tip affects the positional accuracy of the sensor because of the lack of a sensing element (e.g., Bragg grating) in the appended structure. The light-absorbing structure has to have a length of at least a few millimeters in order to provide sufficient suppression of light emitted from the fiber tip. Thus, the positional accuracy of the sensor tip is limited by the length of the added structure.
Second, the light-absorbing structure typically has a refractive index that is different from that of silica glass fiber. Therefore, in order to suppress backreflection from the interface between the sensor fiber and the light-absorbing structure, a special splicing technique is needed, involving the use of a thermal diffusion technique to achieve index matching. The special splicing technique calls for individual processing of each fiber sensor, thus making batch processing difficult. Further, the strength of the sensor tip is compromised. The presence of the spliced component means that the sensor tip is increasingly prone to breakage/fracture as it is passed through tight bends.

Termination of optical fiber with low backreflection


Provided is a driving assist system which includes an own vehicle velocity sensor, an adjacent vehicle velocity sensor, and a control device and where the control device makes constant velocity travelling by causing a velocity of an own vehicle to fall within a constant velocity range between a lower limit value and an upper limit value set based on a target velocity and, when the own vehicle travels on a passing lane and an adjacent vehicle travels on a cruising lane, if a relative velocity of the adjacent vehicle to the own vehicle falls within a set range, the control device performs speed-up adjustment to increase the velocity of the own vehicle in a range up to the upper limit value.

A device has been proposed that the device determines a lane as a recommended travel lane in which a vehicle travels at a velocity close to a set vehicle velocity, among a velocity of a preceding vehicle traveling ahead of an own vehicle on a cruising lane and a velocity of an adjacent vehicle traveling ahead of the own vehicle on an adjacent lane adjacent to the cruising lane (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). This device eliminates the need for a driver to determine a lane by driving the own vehicle to follow either the preceding vehicle or the adjacent vehicle.

Driving assist system and driving assist method


An apparatus for simultaneously inspecting and treating a pet for the presence of unwanted insects by applying an insecticide or ointment directly to a pet's skin, hair, or fur. The apparatus comprises a blower to part the pet's hair or fur, a light to enhance visibility, a detachable pump sprayer to disperse the insecticide or ointment, and tweezers to grip and extract an insect.

a. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to insecticide dispensing devices. More specifically, it relates to devices for applying insecticide directly to an animal's skin, hair, or fur.
b. Background Art
It is well known that a major problem for pet owners is trying to control fleas and ticks on their dogs and cats. Fleas and ticks are tough. It is, therefore, necessary to get the insecticide directly on these insects in order to kill them. The insects, however, sense you are after them and hide in the pet's coat Known devices do not provide a means for parting the pet's coat that works in conjunction with a means for illuminating the hiding insects.
The most common methods used to achieve direct application of the insecticide on the insects are flea and tick baths, and insecticide sprays. If an insecticide bath is used, the entire pet is soaked with the insecticide, which needlessly wastes a great deal of insecticide, unless the pet is entirely covered with fleas or ticks. Similarly, using existing devices for applying insecticide by spot spraying or using an application comb are also ineffective and require the pet owner to waste a substantial amount of insecticide. With these latter methods, the pet owner tries to compensate for the deficiencies in the techniques by saturating the pet. This is the only way to ensure that the insecticide reaches an insect hiding deep within the pet's fur or hair.
Therefore, these prior art methods are costly and time consuming. In addition, using an excessive amount of a toxic insecticide may harm the pet or the person applying the substance.

Pet flea elimination device with light and air sources


Electrode adapted to be placed in contact with the skin of a patient for reducing the surface resistivity of the skin of the patient and comprising a member formed of a dry-conductive material and having an outer surface adapted to be placed in contact with the skin of the patient. A composition is disposed on at least a portion of the surface of the member. The composition as is the surface of a plurality of water-containing vesicles.

This invention relates to an electrode which is adapted to be placed in contact with the skin of the patient and for reducing the surface resistivity of the skin of the patient and method.
In the use of certain types of electrodes which are characterized as dry electrodes and which contain very little or no water such as polymer composites (polymers filled with a conductive filler). There is no water present to help moisturize the surface layer of the skin of the patient upon which the electrode is placed. It has been found that this lack of moisture is particularly important upon the initial application of the electrode to the skin until there is a natural build up of moisture in the skin of the patient which typically occurs after a period of time, as for example, four minutes or more. There is, therefore, a need for an improved electrode which has the capabilities of reducing the resistivity of the skin particularly immediately upon placing the electrode in contact with the skin.
In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrode and a method which reduces the surface resistivity of the skin.
Another object of the invention is to provide an electrode and method of the above character which is particularly useful for dry-type electrodes.
Another object of the invention is to provide an electrode and method of the above character in which the surface of the electrode is treated.
Another object of the invention is to provide an electrode and method of the above character which involves a composition which can be readily applied to the surface of the electrode.
Another object of the invention is to provide an electrode and method of the above character in which the tackiness of the surface of the electrode is substantially unimpaired.
Another object of the invention is to provide an electrode and method of the above character in which the surface treatment does not have deleterious effects on the skin of the patient.

Electrode for reducing the surface resistivity of skin and method


A method and apparatus for making a pretrip diagnosis and identification of generator set problems which could cause shutdown or undesired operation of the generator set.

The present invention pertains generally to the field of generator sets. In particular, the present invention pertains to engine controls for generator sets used to power heating and cooling devices for controlling the temperature of cargo containers.
Containerized shipment of goods has become a widely accepted means of transporting cargo around the world. Modern containers can be stacked on the decks of a ship for shipment overseas. When a container ship arrives at a port, the containers can be efficiently removed from the shipment by crane. At the port, the containers can be stacked for further ship by truck or rail. When the containers are shipped by truck, a single container is usually placed on a semi-trailer chassis. Each rail car generally can support up to four containers.
When the cargo includes perishables such as food stuffs or flowers, the temperature in each of the containers must be controlled to prevent loss of the cargo during shipment. For shipments of perishable goods, specialized containers have been developed which include temperature control units for refrigeration and/or heating. While on board ship, the containers can be connected to a ship's generator for power to the temperature control units. When the containers are in port, they may be connected to a power source provided by a local utility.
When, however, the containers are in transit by railcar or truck, generator sets must be provided to power the temperature control units. Such generator sets usually include a diesel engine to power a generator which in turn provides electric power to the temperature control units. Such generator sets can be clipped directly to a container or fastened to a trailer chassis.
During shipment, the temperature control units and generator sets must operate for extended periods of time. For example, when lettuce is shipped from California to the northeastern United States, the sets may run periodically for several days. During this extended period of time, the temperature control unit and generator set will operate for extended periods without inspection by transportation workers. This is particularly true in the case of rail transportation where scores of railcars may, for extended periods, be in transport while accompanied by only two or three workers.
During these extended periods when the temperature control units and generator sets are substantially unmonitored by transportation workers, the generator sets may experience "nuisance" shutdowns, causing a loss of power to the temperature control unit. This may result in a loss of the perishable cargo. This is particularly true if ambient temperature conditions are very hot or very cold. A nuisance shutdown is usually caused by a transitive condition which may exist briefly, but does not involve a chronic generator set problem which will persist when the transitive condition abates. Thus, the engine or generator set could be restarted if an operator notices that the shutdown had occurred.
In addition to nuisance shutdowns, the generator may shutdown for a non-transitive cause. For example, there may be a chronic generator set problem such as loss of engine coolant. In such a case, the generator could not be safely restarted without risking permanent damage to the engine.
As providing a consistent source of power to the container temperature control units is essential if the loss of perishable cargo is to be prevented, a number of methods and apparatus have been proposed for controlling generators. None of the these, however, have addressed the serious problem of correcting generator set nuisance shutdowns during an extended period where the generator set is unattended. Further, they have inadequately dealt with non-transitive causes of engine shutdowns.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,068 to Schultz et al. discloses a microprocessor based generator set controller apparatus and method which monitors various engine and generator faults and uses the generated signals to control the operation and output of the engine generator system. Schultz et al. also discloses the controller includes self diagnostic and serial communications ports.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,330 to Crook discloses an automatic electric power generator control that automatically starts the generator engine and the generator when a demand is made for electric power. U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,553 to Hosie discloses a control system for controlling electric generating apparatus including electrically heated combustion engines. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,305 to Wineland et al. discloses a method and system for delaying mechanical loading of an internal combustion engine by an alternator during startup of the engine by inhibiting the field winding current of the alternator until the engine reaches a predetermined operational condition.
Thus, what has not heretofore been provided is a method and apparatus for restarting an unattended, nuisance shutdown generator set. Further, prior methods and apparatus have inadequately served to prevent engine shutdowns for non-transitive causes. Such an apparatus would provide substantial advantages in the field of container shipment and particularly in the container shipment of perishable items.

Automatic pretrip for engine powered generator


A mobile handset device collects sensor data about the physiological state of the user of the handset. The mobile handset device receives multimedia content, which is consumed on the mobile handset. In a deployment phase, the sensor data is used to classify the user's emotional response to individual pieces of media content consumed on the mobile device. A classification model built in a training phase may be used to map sensor data to classification labels indicative of the user's emotional response to multimedia.

Users of a mobile handset device (or "smartphone"), have the opportunity to view a variety of different documents, photos, videos, music, applications, and other types of multimedia on their smartphone. For the creators and publishers of the multimedia content (such as designers, authors, artists, and programmers), getting feedback on the content from users is very important, as it drives the content creators and publishers to improve their products and to direct their efforts to new opportunities.
However, getting feedback from users on the quality of multimedia content used on a mobile handset is difficult. Current state-of-the art approaches include, but are not limited to: having users review the content through a quantitative metric system, such as through a rating scale of one to five stars or through written text, either of which can be given at an online or physical store; and measuring the indirect lift of the media by measuring sales of associated products, or visits to the store or website of the creator or publisher. All of these conventional approaches are problematic because the user must actively provide an evaluation of the multimedia, where such an evaluation is susceptible to bias or memory recall.
Another approach is counting the number of times that the user consumes the multimedia (by reading, watching, or listening). However, this count can still be inaccurate and too coarse. For example, many multimedia files are consumed only once (such as media received via email), so a conclusion from access counts is inadequate.

Using physical sensory input to determine human response to multimedia content displayed on a mobile device


The mounting and stretching of a fabric cloth at a distance from a base proceeds by utilization of mounting bodies made of cardboard mounted adhesively onto the base. The cloth is stretched over the upper edges of the mounting bodies and is temporarily mounted by pins.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of mounting a fabric cloth to be painted in a stretched manner, specifically a silk cloth, at a distance above a base. It relates further to a apparatus for practicing such method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When painting a fabric cloth, specifically when performing the so-called silk painting it is of a large importance that the fabric cloth does not abut or contact the base at any location, because then the paint deposited would flow through at the areas of the contact under the contours of the figures to be painted, the so-called Gutta-contours.
This problem has been solved until now by complicated clamping or stretching frames for pieces of cloth to be painted.

Method of mounting a fabric cloth to be painted in a stretched manner and apparatus for practicing such method


Systems and methods are disclosed for a gas production system to efficiently maintain a pressure of a gaseous output stream within a tight pressure range when the system changes normal operation to backup operation. In one preferred embodiment, during normal operation a backup vaporizer is kept in cold standby by directing a small portion of a liquefied gas stream away from the main heat exchanger to the backup vaporizer. In this way, the backup vaporizer is able to respond immediately to a shutdown of the main gas production system. During normal operation, the output of the backup vaporizer is recombined with the gaseous output stream to any avoid loss of product thereby increasing efficiency.

Industrial gas consumers frequently request a relatively tight control in pressure variations of pressurized gas produced from a gas production facility. It is desirable that pressure variations remain within these relatively tight limits regardless of disruptive events that inevitably occur at the industrial facility, at least upon occasion. For example, such events may include stopping operation of the air separation unit for scheduled as well as non-scheduled plant shutdowns.
Similarly, it is also optimal to other users of pressurized gas to minimize pressure variations and to maintain the pressures in a desired range.
In modern air separation units, internal compression processes may be utilized to directly obtain gases under pressure at the cold box outlet. The liquefied gas is extracted from a distillation column, a separator, or a vessel. The liquefied gas may then be compressed by a pump and vaporized under pressure to produce high-pressure gaseous product, e.g., high-pressure gaseous oxygen.
When the normal production of gaseous products stops for any cause such as, for instance, purity upset, scheduled or non-scheduled shutdowns, or other reasons, the delivery of the gaseous products may be maintained by a backup system that may include one or more liquid storage tanks, pumps, and a backup vaporizer of various types. The switch over from normal mode to the backup mode has, in the prior art, generally produced a pressure fluctuation of the gaseous product in the pipeline connecting the air separation unit to the consumers.
To satisfy the customer requests regarding pressure fluctuations, mainly during air separation unit upset or shutdown, several possible solutions have been proposed. Each solution has advantages, but also has significant disadvantages.
One solution would provide a high-pressure gaseous buffer tank installed down stream of the back-up vaporizer. This method provides a very fast response time, but is a capital-intensive solution.
Another proposed solution would involve providing a high-pressure liquid tank installed upstream of the backup vaporizer. This solution provides a relatively fast response time, but is also capital intensive and is limited in the range of operating pressure permitted by this solution.
Another proposed solution would involve running a backup vaporization pump at an extremely reduced rate to minimize the start-up time of the backup pump, and the vaporizer. This method has a very fast response time, but it is liquid and energy consuming.
Consequently, improved systems and method are needed to minimize pressure fluctuations that occur during air separation unit upset or shutdown while simultaneously considerably reducing the capital investment required to effect such systems and methods. It would be desirable to have a simpler system, that is low in energy consumption, useable at all operating pressures, and which has a very fast response time. Those of skill in the art will appreciate the present invention that addresses the above and other problems.

Backup system and method for production of pressurized gas

Air Liquide Process & Construction, Inc.


A method of using a single-headed bonder (80) to form bonds to bond pads (16) is provided. A single-headed bonder (80) includes a capillary (22) having a capillary face (40) with a long dimension along a first axis (BB) and a short dimension along a second axis (CC). The long dimension of the capillary face (40) is aligned in a first orientation such that the bond pads (16) are bonded in a first direction associated with the first orientation. The capillary (22) is then rotated to place the long dimension in a second orientation such that all the bond pads (16) are bonded in a second direction associated with the second orientation. In place of rotating the capillary (22), a second single-headed bonder (90) having a capillary (22) rotated to the second orientation can be used to bond bond pads (16) in the second direction. Transportation between bonders can be done manually, by a transport mechanism (60), by a robotic arm (70), or other suitable means.

Integrated circuit devices are typically formed by mounting an integrated circuit chip on a lead frame and coupling these two elements to form an assembly. The integrated circuit chip and lead frame may be encapsulated. Typically, the chip includes a number of bond pads that may be positioned about the chip according to a predetermined spacing. The lead frame typically includes a number of leads about a perimeter thereof. One type of lead frame, for example, has a generally rectangular shape with each side of the rectangle having a number of leads. Typically, the leads have a relatively narrow elongated shape with a longitudinal axis that is generally perpendicular to the side of the lead frame on which the lead is located. A lead frame may be said to have an X and Y axis. Therefore, leads on one pair of opposing sides of the lead frame have longitudinal axes extending generally in the X-axis direction. Leads on the other pair of opposing sides of the lead frame have longitudinal axes extending generally in the Y-axis direction. Some leads may have longitudinal axes that are offset from the X-axis and Y-axis directions.
To couple the integrated circuit chip to the leads of the lead frame electrically, a wire bonding technique is often used. A wire bonding machine may have a spool of a bonding wire mounted on the machine. The bonding wire may be threaded through a capillary mounted to an ultrasonic horn of the wire bonding machine. The horn may be manipulated to move the capillary both vertically and horizontally. Typically, the wire bonding machine includes a device for heating or applying a spark to an end of the bonding wire that protrudes from an exit end of the capillary. The molten wire may form the shape of a ball that is placed on a target bond pad by manipulating the horn to move the capillary.
After this bond pad bond is created, a sufficient amount of bonding wire is released to allow the capillary to be moved to a location near an inner end of a target lead of the lead frame. The capillary is manipulated to connect the bonding wire to the inner end of the target lead and partially cut the bonding wire so bonding wire can be drawn from the exit end of the capillary as the capillary is raised by the horn until a sufficient length of bond wire protrudes from the exit end of the capillary in preparation to break the bond wire at the partially cut portion of the bond wire. The end of the bond wire is now free to form a new bond between a new target bond pad and target lead. Any type of suitable bond may be made at either the bond pad or the lead, including ball bonds, stitch bonds, and wedge bonds. A ball bond may be used, for example, at the bond pad. A stitch bond may be used, for example, at the lead. To complement the bonding process, the assembly components may be heated. Also, ultrasonic energy may be applied.
Problems in wire bonding techniques arise in part from the desire to increase the number of bond pads and leads in a given assembly and to make lead frame/chip assemblies smaller and smaller. This may require that the bonding pads located on the chip be made smaller and be spaced closer together. The same can be said for the leads on a lead frame.
The exit end of a wire bonding capillary is often called the capillary face. Previous capillaries have had a circular face. A disadvantage of having a capillary with a circular face is that the spacing between bonds is limited. After a bond is made at a particular bond pad, for example, if the adjacent bond pad is too close, then the capillary face may strike the ball bond that has been made at a first bond pad during the process of making a bond on an adjacent bond pad.
One method for solving this shortcoming is to use a wire bonding capillary with a non-circular face. This type of approach is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,804 issued to Test, et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. Test, et al. shows a capillary having a non-circular face. The face of the capillary may have a shape that includes a pair of opposed convex sides joining a pair of opposed concave sides. The capillary may be generally described as having a longitudinal axis extending across the midpoints of the convex sides and through its center. The capillary allows ball bonds, for example, to be made closer to one another than with a circular capillary face. The capillary can also make strong stitch bonds. Typically, the stitch bond is made by the capillary having its longitudinal axis generally oriented along the longitudinal axis of the target lead. Some wire bonding machines, known generally as dual-headed bonding machines, utilize two such capillaries. One capillary is used to make the ball and stitch bonds in the X-axis direction of a given assembly and the other capillary is used to make the ball and stitch bonds in the Y-axis direction of the assembly.
A problem arising in this situation is that not all bonding machines are dual-headed bonding machines. Instead, there are single-headed bonding machines that have one capillary aligned in one direction. While this type of set up can make bonds in one direction, due to the noncircular face of the capillary, they cannot make adequate bonds in the other direction without some sort of modification to the bonder or the capillary. Thus, a need exists for a method of making integrated circuit devices using a capillary with a non-circular face in single-headed bonding machines.

Method for making an IC device using a single-headed bonder


The storage bag includes two sidewalls with peripheral edges and the sidewalls being attached together along at least a portion of the peripheral edges. One or more additional sidewalls may be disposed within the bag, and these additional sidewalls may be connected to form an inner bag. Any inner bag sidewalls may be laminated to the outer bag sidewalls or hang loose from the outer bag sidewalls. One or more of the sidewalls may include an adhesive for adhering to an opposing sidewall or item in the bag, a thin perforated layer disposed over an adhesive, a line of perforations for tearing, and/or one or more perforations for venting. Furthermore, processes for manufacturing a storage bag are disclosed.

The use of storage bags for containing items to be stored, such as food items, is generally known in the art. Such storage bags include freezer bags provided in various sizes for containing food items, such as meats, in a sealed manner in a freezer environment. It is desirable for such bags to have a reclosable or reusable closure effective to provide an airtight seal. Further, in use of such storage bags, it is desirable to eliminate any air contained within the storage bag and seal opposing sides of the bag to prevent reentry of air in order to minimize contact of the bag contents with air and reduce the possibility of freezer burn, such as may occur as a result of dehydration of a food item stored in a low humidity, freezer environment. Similarly, for other items not stored in a freezer environment, it is beneficial for the preservation of the items to minimize air contact when stored within a storage bag.
There continues to be need for a storage bag suitable for use in containing stored items in a freezer or other environment, and in which an item may be sealably retained in the bag and air contact with the stored item may be minimized.


In a driving stage for driving the two differential amplifier output stages of a subscriber line interface circuit, the driving stage is adapted to generate four driving currents in dependence on, on the one hand, transversal and longitudinal signals incoming to the driving stage and, on the other hand, a reference current, and to supply these driving currents in pairs to the two inputs of the differential amplifier output stages, all four of the driving currents being larger than zero.

The invention relates to a driving stage for driving the two differential amplifier output stages of a subscriber line interface circuit, said driving stage being adapted to generate four driving currents in dependence on, on the one hand, transversal and longitudinal signals IT and IL, respectively, incoming to the driving stage and, on the other hand, a reference current IR, and to supply these driving currents in pairs to the two inputs of the differential amplifier output stages.
A purpose of a subscriber line interface circuit is, among others, to supply a subscriber line with current.
In a switching centre, the subscriber lines are in an idle condition during most of the time, i.e. the lines are open. Since the power losses in the subscriber line interface circuits constitute a considerable portion of the total power loss of the switching centre, it is very important to keep the power losses in the subscriber line interface circuits as low as possible in idle condition as well as during a call.
Normally, the output stages of analogue subscriber line interface circuits are of push-pull-type and operate in class-AB, which means that a certain idle current flows through the same.
Traditionally, the output stages of analog subscriber line interface circuits have been driven by means of current from two driving stages which normally operate between ground or +5V and battery voltage which nominally is -48V in connection with telephony. In order to obtain sufficient linearity in the driving of the output stages, the driving stages usually are designed to work in class-A which means that an idle current always will flow in the driving stages from ground or +5V to the battery voltage. This idle current has to be large enough in order to be able to drive the output stages to the maximum output current that is required, and is therefore dependent on the current amplification of the output stages.
Thus, relatively large currents which are independent of each other flow from ground or +5V to the battery voltage through driving stages and output stages also when the subscriber line interface circuit is not supplying any current. In this idle condition, it is of great importance that the power consumption of the subscriber line interface circuit is low. Considerable contributions are provided by the idle current of the driving stages as well as of the output stages.
Therefore, in the idle condition, the power loss caused by the driving stages and the output stages should be as low as possible.
Moreover, it is of great importance that the driving stages are able to drive the respective output stage across all of the available voltage range.

Driving stage for driving differential amplifiers of a subscriber line interface circuit


A cooling handpiece and method for use in therapeutic, cosmetic or aesthetic, diagnostic, exploratory, interventional or other medical procedures, the handpiece for use in conjunction with a controllable energy source such as coherent light, non-coherent light or laser light, ultrasound energy, radio frequency energy and other types of electromagnetic and mechanical energy, the handpiece comprising a main body portion adapted for directing the energy to target tissue, the main body portion further adapted for receiving a removable reservoir containing coolant fluid, the reservoir having an attachment means for releasable attachment of the reservoir to the handpiece, and the handpiece having a controllable valve for delivery of a portion of the coolant fluid to the target tissue.

In medical and other types of laser applications, laser delivery handpieces are widely used. With the development of optical fibers and solid-state lasers, complex arrangements of collimating lenses, mirrors and filters have been replaced with small, efficient laser delivery devices utilizing fiber optics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,995 issued Jun. 4, 1991 to Levy teaches a surgical treatment and method for cutting tooth tissue. A handpiece for cutting dentin and enamel is disclosed which contains a hollow tube connected to an external source of cooling fluid. The apparatus has a number of drawbacks, however, including the need for peripheral tubing and other connections to control and laser source. In practice, these plurality of external connections make the device awkward to use. Furthermore, if the coolant source is located farther than about 0.5 to about 1.0 meter from the outlet end positioned to direct coolant onto the tissue being cooled, either significant insulation is required or a considerable purge time will be necessary to deliver coolant fluid at a low temperature to the desired location on demand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,418 issued Sep. 6, 1994 to Ghaffari teaches an optical system for treatment of vascular lesions. In addition to the drawbacks noted above, principally the need for external connections and complicated piping, insulation and purging requirements, the cooling system in intended to cool the sapphire lens of the system. The patent also refers to a system for the control of skin temperature.
Recently, a great deal of attention has been given to selective cooling of biological tissue during thermally mediated therapeutic procedures. B. Anvari et al., Selective Cooling of Biological Tissues: Application for Thermally Mediated Therapeutic Procedures, Phys. Med. Biol. 40 (1995) 241-252. Methods and systems have been proposed based on models of heat conduction in various types of tissue at various levels beneath the skin. In certain dermatological applications the objective has been to produce a photo and/or thermal effect primarily to subsurface tissue, without destroying or altering superficial structures. Examples of such procedures include laser treatment of port wine stains and the clinical treatment of other dermatoses, lesions and tattoos. Experiments have been performed that use, for example, infrared radiometry to measure the thermal response of in vivo human skin to cooling by a cryogen spurt.
While a information has been gained from these studies and others about the effect of such cooling on biological tissue during such operations, very little effective or efficient equipment is commercially available. Often, applying spurts of cryogenic materials to a site of laser delivery results in splashing of the cryogenic liquid and/or unconfined and uncontrollable cooling.
Therefore, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide an improved handpiece for performing thermally mediated medical, therapeutic, cosmetic and other procedures with selective cooling of surface tissue.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide a light, unrestricted handpiece for such procedures.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide an apparatus with an on-board cryogen or other coolant fluid reservoir.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide such apparatus which allows visualization of the remaining amount of coolant fluid and which is refillable.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide such apparatus in which both coolant and laser energy are both delivered in a controlled, confined manner to avoid delivery of both laser energy and coolant to undesired locations.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide such apparatus with a refillable cryogen fluid reservoir.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide such apparatus with a removable cryogen fluid reservoir.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide a handpiece for delivering energy such as from a laser or other therapeutic device to target tissue, the handpiece having an on-board cooling system comprising individual disposable or re-usable cylinders or cartridges of cryogen or other cooling fluid which couple to the handpiece and can be replaced conveniently and efficiently as needed.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide a handpiece with coolant for delivering energy, including laser, radio frequency, ultrasound and other sonic energy, electromagnetic, chemical, mechanical and other types of energy.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide methods of using such apparatus, in medical and aesthetic procedures including but not limited in any way to wrinkle removal, hair removal, tattoo removal, port-wine and other pigmentation adjustment, etc.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide apparatus and methods for reformation of collagen.


A collector structure in a bipolar transistor on a semiconductor substrate is surrounded by trench isolations. A well region has a first impurity concentration and extends in an upper portion of the semiconductor substrate surrounded by the trench isolations. The well region is a first conductivity type and a burying layer horizontally extends under the well region. The burying layer is positioned shallower than the bottom of the trench isolations. Collector plug electrodes extend in a vertical direction and along inside walls of the trench isolations. The collector plug electrodes are the first conductivity type and have a second impurity concentration higher than the first impurity concentration. The collector plug electrodes have a bottom level which is about the same as the bottom of the trench isolations. A collector diffusion layer extends in a vertical direction and along inside vertical walls of the collector plug electrodes. The collector diffusion layer has a bottom level which extends horizontally beneath the collector plug electrodes so that the bottom of the collector diffusion layer is deeper than the bottom of the trench isolations so as to have the collector diffusion layer contact the burying layer.

The present invention relates to a bipolar transistor with a reduced collector series resistance and a method for fabricating the same.
In conventional fabrication methods for the bipolar transistors, a burying layer is formed on a semiconductor substrate and an epitaxial layer is grown on the burying layer. In order to shorten these conventional fabrication processes for the bipolar transistors, it was, however, proposed to form an n-type highly doped diffusion layer by an ion-implantation at a high energy in the range of 1 MeV to 2 MeV. In this method, an n-type burying layer and an n-type well layer overlying the n-type burying layer may be formed by use of the same mask but at different ion-implantation energies. This may shorten the fabrication processes for the bipolar transistors. This method for fabricating the bipolar transistor will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B.
FIG. 1A is a cross sectional elevation view illustrative of the conventional bipolar transistor wherein the n-type burying layer and the n-well layer overlaying the n-type burying layer have been formed by ion-implantation at different energies by use of the same mask.
FIG. 1B is a plane view illustrative of the conventional bipolar transistor illustrated in FIG. 1A.
The bipolar transistor is formed on a p-type semiconductor substrate 201. Trench isolations 209 are formed within trench grooves 207 formed in the p-type semiconductor substrate 201 so that the bipolar transistor is formed in a region surrounded by the trench isolations 209. An n.sup.+ burying layer 210 is formed in the p-type semiconductor substrate surrounded by the trench isolations 209 by an ion-implantation of n-type impurity at a high ion-implantation energy. An n-well region 211 is then formed, which overlies the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 by a subsequent ion-implantation of n-type impurity at an ion-implantation energy lower than the ion-implantation energy used for forming the n.sup.+ burying layer 210. Field oxide films are selectively formed on a surface of the substrate A p-type intrinsic base region 221 is formed in an upper region of the n-well region 211. A collector diffusion layer 227 is selectively formed in an upper portion of the n-well region 211. The collector comprises the n.sup.+ burying layer 210, the n-well region 211, and the collector diffusion layer 227.
Graft base regions 234 are formed to surround the intrinsic base region 221. Base plug electrodes 232 are formed, which are in contact with the graft base regions 234. An emitter region 233 is formed in an upper portion of the intrinsic base region 221 to form a vertical n-p-n structure. The emitter region 233 may be formed by diffusion of an n-type impurity from an emitter plug electrode 229 into the intrinsic base region 221. Electrode interconnections 237 are formed in contact holes to be made into contact with the base plug electrodes 232, the emitter plug electrode 229 and the collector diffusion layer 227.
In the above bipolar transistor, a current flows downwardly from the collector diffusion layer 227 through the n-well region 211 to the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 and then flows laterally through the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 for subsequent flowing upwardly from the n-well region 211 to the intrinsic base region 221. When the bipolar transistor is placed in an active state, a space charge region extends under the intrinsic base region 221 and over the n.sup.+ burying layer 210. Namely, the intrinsic base region 221 is connected through the space charge region to the n.sup.+ burying layer 210. The space charge region is extremely lower in effective resistivity to current than the n-well region 211. Further, since the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 is higher in impurity concentration than the n-well region 211, the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 is much lower in effective resistivity to current than the n-well region 211. Current tends to flow through a region having a lower resistivity than other region surrounding the region, for which reason the current flows in a current path which extends through the n-well region 211 as short as possible but through the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 as long as possible. As a result, the current path extends downwardly from the collector diffusion region 227 through the n-well region 211 to the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 and further extends laterally through the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 and moreover extends upwardly from the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 through the space charge reign to the intrinsic base region 221. In the current path described above, the space charge region and the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 are much lower in effective resistivity to current than the n-well region, for which reason an effective collector series resistance is defined mostly by the resistance of the n-well region 211 under the collector diffusion region 227. Since the thickness of the n-well region 211 is determined in consideration of a base-collector withstand voltage, it is unlikely that the thickness of the n-well region 211 can be reduced. The collector series resistance of the above bipolar transistor is, therefore, substantially defined by the resistance of the n-well region 211 when the current flows from the collector diffusion region 227 to the n.sup.+ burying layer 210 downwardly. As described above, the resistivity is defined by the impurity concentration. The n.sup.+ burying layer 210 has a high impurity concentration in the order of 1.times.10.sup.19 atoms/cm.sup.3, whilst the n-well region 211 has a lower impurity concentration in the order of 1.times.10.sup.13 atoms/cm.sup.3. If, in order to reduce the resistivity of the n-well region 211, the impurity concentration of the n-well region 211 is increased, then this raises problems with crystal defects caused by crystal damages in ion-implantation at high dose. Remarkable crystal defects cause leakage of current between collector and base or between emitter and collector.
In the above circumstances, it was practically difficult to reduce the collector series resistance to less than 100 .OMEGA.. If the collector series resistance is not sufficiently reduced and the bipolar transistor is made to operate in a large collector current region, then the bipolar transistor is likely to be saturated or its cut off frequency lowered, thereby the required good properties can not be obtained.
In order to settle the above problems with a high collector series resistance, there was proposed another bipolar transistor with a lateral n-p-n structure in place of the above vertical n-p-n structure. A typical one of the conventional lateral n-p-n structure bipolar transistors will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. This conventional lateral n-p-n structure bipolar transistor is disclosed in the Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 64-15973.
FIG. 2A is a cross sectional elevation view illustrative of the conventional bipolar transistor wherein a highly doped n-type collector diffusion layer laterally surrounds an n-type epitaxial layer which surrounds an intrinsic base region so that a collector plug electrode is connected via the n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer to a highly doped n-type burying layer whereby currents flow from the collector plug electrode through the n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer to the highly doped n-type burying layer.
FIG. 2B is a plane view illustrative of the conventional bipolar transistor illustrated in FIG. 2A.
On a p-type semiconductor substrate 301, field oxide films 304 are selectively formed to define an active region on which a bipolar transistor is formed. A highly doped n-type collector diffusion layer 306 is formed to laterally surround an n-type epitaxial layer 303 which surrounds an intrinsic base region 307. A ring-shaped emitter region 309 is formed in an upper portion of the intrinsic base region 307. A collector plug electrode 305 is formed in contact with the n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer 306. An n.sup.+ burying layer 302 is formed under the intrinsic base region 307 and under the n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer 306 so that the collector plug electrode 305 is connected via the n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer 306 to the n.sup.+ burying layer 302. Currents flow from the collector plug electrode 305 through the n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer 306 to the n.sup.+ burying layer 302. The currents then laterally flow through the n.sup.+ burying layer 302 and thereafter upwardly flow through a space charge region formed under the intrinsic base region 307 to the intrinsic base region 307, wherein the space charge region is formed only when the bipolar transistor is in active state. The current path comprises the n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer 306, the n.sup.+ burying layer 302 and the space charge region under the intrinsic base region 307. Namely, the current path is free of a highly resistive region, for which reason the collector series resistance of the bipolar transistor illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B is lower as compared to that illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The bipolar transistor illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, however, is difficult limitation to lateral scale down due to the following reasons.
The n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer 306 is formed by a diffusion of n-type impurity from the collector plug electrode 305 into the n-type epitaxial layer 303. The diffusion is continued until the impurity reaches the top of the n.sup.+ burying layer 302 whereby the collector plug electrode 305 is connected via the n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer 306 to the n.sup.+ burying layer 302. Since the impurity diffusion is isotropic, there is both vertical diffusion and lateral diffusion. In consideration of the structure of the bipolar transistor, it is required that the n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer 306 is separated by the n-type epitaxial layer 303 from the intrinsic base region 307. Notwithstanding, the lateral diffusion of impurity from the collector plug electrode 305 forms the n-type highly doped collector diffusion layer 306 which laterally extends from the collector plug electrode 305 toward the intrinsic base region 307. Accordingly, it is essential that the collector plug electrode 305 is spaced in a lateral direction from the intrinsic base region 307 by a distance larger than a lateral diffusion distance. This provides a limitation to the lateral scaling down of the bipolar transistor. The above diffusion process may also limit increases in impurity concentration of the collector diffusion layer 306. Namely, it is difficult to cause the collector diffusion layer 306 to possess an impurity concentration as high as the n.sup.+ burying layer 302. This limitation to the increase in the impurity concentration of the collector diffusion layer 306 results in a limitation to a reduction in collector series resistance of the bipolar transistor.
In the above circumstances, it had been required to develop an improved bipolar transistor having a substantially reduced collector series resistance and also having a structure suitable for a substantial space down in lateral directions.

Bipolar transistor with a reduced collector series resistance


A method for treating skin conditions, such as rosacea and sensitive skin, that manifest as a tendency towards flushing and blushing is provided. Also provided herein, are compositions for the treatment of rosacea and sensitive skin that are comprised of at least one antioxidant selected from the following groups of antioxidants: (a) phenolic compounds that contain at least one hydroxyl group connected directly to a benzene ring and to another unsaturated chemical grouping, (b) sulfur-containing compounds that contain at least one sulfhydryl groups or sulfur-containing compounds that contain at least one disulfide group, or (c) polyene compounds that have conjugated systems of double bonds.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method and composition for treating skin disorders, such as rosacea and sensitive skin, with free radical scavengers, which are also known as antioxidants. More particularly, the present invention involves the treatment of rosacea by the topical application of a cosmetically acceptable formulation containing free radical scavenging compounds. The terms "radical scavenger(s)" and "antioxidant(s)" are used interchangeably herein.
Numerous cosmetic and medical treatments have been developed in an attempt to treat sensitive skin and related conditions. The condition of sensitive skin is evidenced as a tendency of the skin towards flushing and blushing. The skin disorder rosacea is an example of such a related condition. It is a common skin disorder that manifests itself, at different stages, as vivid skin redness, prominent vascularization, papules, pustules and swelling, as well as a predisposition to flushing and blushing. Rosacea is normally localized on the cheeks, chin, nose and forehead, but can also occur in the retroauricular areas, or on the chest, neck, back or scalp. Although the disorder has been observed in all age groups and in both genders, it is more common in women between the ages of 30 and 50 years. Also, it is most widespread in fair-skinned people.
The predisposition to flushing and blushing can be evoked by a variety of non-specific stimuli including UV light, heat, cold, chemical irritation, emotions, alcoholic beverages, spices, coffee and tea. In general, the rosacea-afflicted skin is abnormally sensitive to chemical and physical insults. The frequent flushing and blushing in rosacea eventually leads to permanent skin redness.
The exact mechanisms responsible for the flushing and blushing response in rosacea patients, and the cause of rosacea, are unknown. Several hypotheses have been put forward but none have taken root due to a dearth of scientific observations. It has been proposed that the causes of rosacea may be one or several of the following: (i) alimentary, (ii) psychological, (iii) pharmacological, (iv) infective, (v) climatic and (vi) immunological.
Current treatments for rosacea include the following:
(1) Antibiotics, such as topical tetracyclines, clindamycin, and erythromycin, have been used. Tetracycline is effective orally but not topically. PA1 (2) Metronidazole has been used as a topically applied gel. Metronidazole 0.75% gel is sold under the trademark MetroGel. The gel has an effect on papules and pustules, but has been reported to be ineffective against skin redness, telangiectases or flushing. PA1 (3) Drying lotions with 2% to 5% sulfur have been used to treat rosacea. Sulfur creams have obvious aesthetic disadvantages. PA1 (4) Imidazole drugs, e.g. ketoconazole, have been shown useful to treat rosacea. These drugs are potent antimicrobial agents and the safety of their continuous use by chronic rosacea patients is questionable. PA1 (5) Corticosteroid drugs are used only in severe cases. However, the potential side effects limit the duration and the skin area of corticosteroid treatment. PA1 (6) Retinoids, such as 13-cis retinoic acid, (isotretinoin), have been used for systemic treatment of rosacea but with far greater risks of side effects than, for example, antibiotics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In addition, various patents and patent applications address the treatment of rosacea and sensitive skin.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,651 to Garrison et al., assigned to the assignee of the present application, teaches the use of formulations containing a combination of salicylic acid and lactic acid to address sensitive skin and rosacea.
European Patent Application No. EP 756,862 A1 to L'Oreal describes the use of bradykinin antagonists to treat sensitive skin and rosacea.
In European Patent No. 737,471 A2 to L'Oreal, the applicant claims that alkaline earth metal salts are beneficial in ameliorating rosacea.
European Patent Application No. 734,729 A1 to L'Oreal claims that a calcitonin gene related peptide antagonist is useful for treating rosacea of neurogenic origin when incorporated into topical formulations.
European Patent Application No. EP 722,928 A1 to Centre International de Recherches Dermatologiques Galderma claims that certain bicyclic aromatic compounds that affect cell proliferation are useful for treating a variety of skin conditions including rosacea.
Substance P antagonists in a topical formulation are claimed in European Patent Application No. EP 722,722 A1 to L'Oreal for treating "neurogenic skin reddening."
USSR Patent Application No. SU 1776411 A1 describes a method for treating rosacea by using trichopol and additional agiotropic preparations, and ointment containing trichopol, camphor oil, solutions of adrenaline and retinol acetate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,073 to Saurat et al. claims the use of dermatological compositions containing retinoids for treatment of rosacea.
German Patent Application No. DE 4123615 A1 to Albert Weinberg proposes to treat rosacea with a cosmetic tonic containing amino acids.
A topical aqueous gel containing metronidazole and polyacrylic acid for treating rosacea is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,378 to Borgman. A similar system is described in PCT Patent Application No. WO 88/06888 to Curatek Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 88/00465 to Schering Aktiengesellschaft Berlin und Bergkamen teaches the use of C.sub.7 -C.sub.13 dicarboxylic acids, preferably azelaic acid, to treat rosacea.
PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 93/20817 teaches a method of treating superficial inflammation associated with rosacea by topically applying compositions containing specific nitroimidazoles disclosed therein.
German Patent Application No. DE 3514724 A1 to Albin F. Jereb suggests that a combination of precipitated sulfur, vitamins, progesterone, testosterone propionate and menthol could lead to improvements in rosacea.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,893 to Spangler, describes the use for rosacea treatment of a topical formulation containing 1,1-dichloro-2-O-(-chlorophenyl)-2-(p-chlorophenyl)ethane.
Alternate treatments for rosacea and sensitive skin, that are more effective or that have fewer drawbacks, are needed.

Composition and method for treating rosacea and sensitive skin with free radical scavengers


In the dual-band mixer of this invention, a current combined load is presented and is shared by two separate working frequency bands. In the invented dual-band mixer, a switch is provided to connect and disconnect an adjust capacitor series to the load inductors. By determining the capacitance of respective capacitors and the inductance of the load inductors, it is possible to generate resonance with related parasitic capacitances at particular frequencies, such that value of the load inductors may be changed. This enables the invented mixer to work with selected frequencies according to the operation of the switches. In addition, a systematic methodology is proposed to implement the design of the invented dual-band mixer. The efficient design method is approved by a 2.4/5.2-GHz CMOS mixer implementation.

Due to the wide application of the wireless communications nowadays, lower-cost and wider-bandwidth wireless communications devices have been a target of research and development in the industry. In order to satisfy the needs in the wireless applications, the industry has been driven to migrate to the 2-6 GHz frequency range. For wireless LAN applications, industrial standards target the carrier frequency to either the 5.2-GHz band, by the IEEE 802.11a standard, or the 2.4-GHz band, by the IEEE 802.11g standard. Dual-band transceivers are thus proposed by the industry to provide more flexible and convenient usages of the wireless LAN systems.
Among the dual-band transceivers as announced, most of them contain two different mixers in one transceiver chip. Under such a design, circuit of the transceiver chip is made even complicated and dimension of the chip would be made twice that of a single-band mixer, since all the circuit elements are duplicated. Among all the elements inductors at the load are the most space-consuming component, since 4 load inductors, 2 for each mixer, are required in the differential architecture of the circuit. This becomes a main obstacle in reducing the cost of dual-band applications.
In order to shrink the chip size, it is possible to merge two mixers into a single mixer. This may reduce number of inductors at load in the differential architecture from 4 to 2. However, the load of the mixer was designed to operate at only one specific frequency. As a result, such dual-band mixer can only be used in a dual-band receiver, not a dual-band transmitter. A load that can be shared by two bands was proposed by using a band pass filter with a notch at output to divide the pass band into two different bands. See S. Lavasani et al.: "Pseudo-concurrent 0.18/spl mu/m dual-band CMOS LNA," Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium, pp. 8-10, June 2003. The circuit was simplified because 2 bands used shared elements. Unfortunately, under such a design an extra inductor was added to the load to introduce the notch. As a consequence, it still required 4 inductors at load to form a differential architecture.
It is thus necessary to provide a novel dual-band mixer wherein elements may be shared by two bands and no additional inductor will be needed.
It is also necessary to provide a dual-band mixer wherein working frequency bands may be easily selected.


An apparatus for controlling idle speed of an engine is disclosed. The engine is able to perform stratified charge combustion and uniform charge combustion. A fuel injection valve directly injects fuel into the combustion chamber to perform either stratified charge combustion or uniform charge combustion in accordance with the running state of the engine. An automatic transmission is operably coupled to the engine to selectively load the engine. The engine power is increased for avoiding a decrease in the idle speed of the engine when the transmission starts to operate while the engine is idling. However, the power increase is delayed from when the transmission starts operating. The amount of fuel injected from a fuel injection valve is increased to increase power of the engine during stratified charge combustion. The amount of air supplied to the combustion chamber is increased to increase power of the engine during uniform charge combustion. The delay is longer during stratified charge combustion than during uniform charge combustion.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the idle speed of engines that perform stratified charge combustion and uniform charge combustion such as cylinder fuel injection type engines.
In a typical engine, fuel is injected into an intake port from a fuel injection valve to charge a mixture of fuel and air to the associated combustion chamber in a uniform manner. An intake passage is opened and closed by a throttle valve, which is operated by manipulating a gas pedal. The opening of the throttle valve adjusts the intake air amount (and ultimately the amount of uniformly mixed air and fuel) that is supplied to the combustion chambers of the engine. This controls engine power.
However, when performing uniform charge combustion, a high level of negative pressure is produced by the throttling action of the throttle valve. This increases pumping loss, which is generated when the mixture is drawn into the combustion chamber from the intake port. To attempt to solve this problem, stratified charge combustion has been proposed. In stratified charge combustion, the throttle valve is opened wide, and fuel is supplied directly into each combustion chamber. This provides a mixture having a relatively low air-fuel ratio in the vicinity of the ignition plug. As a result, ignitability is enhanced.
In such an engine, each combustion chamber is provided with a uniform charge fuel injection valve and a stratified charge fuel injection valve. The uniform charge injection valve uniformly disperses fuel into the combustion chamber and the stratified charge injection valve injects fuel toward the vicinity of the ignition plug. When the engine load is small, fuel is injected from the stratified charge injection valve. Thus, the fuel is supplied in a concentrated manner about the ignition plug. The throttle valve is almost fully opened to perform stratified charge combustion. This improves fuel efficiency and decreases pumping loss.
Incidentally, several techniques for controlling idle speed of engines have been proposed. The idle speed of current engines is generally set relatively low for enhancing fuel economy. In an engine provided with an automatic transmission, shifting the selector lever from a non-drive position to a drive position increases the engine load and thus lowers the idle speed. The decrease of the idle speed is likely to stall the engine. Therefore, the idle speed controlling techniques control the engine to increase the power when the engine load is increased thereby preventing the idle speed from dropping. This stabilizes the idle speed.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-39736 discloses a technique for controlling the idle speed. An idle speed controlling apparatus according to the publication inputs a signal that indicates an increase in the engine load (load signal) when a selector lever is shifted from a non-drive position to a drive position. After a predetermined period of time (delay time) has elapsed since inputting the signal, the apparatus controls the engine to increase the power. Actual increase of the engine load caused by shifting the selector lever takes place with a delay after the apparatus inputs a load signal. The apparatus of the Japanese publication is designed to deal with this delay. That is, the apparatus increases the power of the engine in accordance with the delay. Also, the apparatus changes the length of the delay time in accordance with the position of the selector lever (drive position, first gear position) when the lever is shifted from a non-drive position to a drive position.
However, employing the idle speed controlling apparatus of the above publication a stratified charge combustion engine, causes the following problems. When stratified charge combustion is performed, the throttle valve is widely open. Therefore, the power of the engine is increased by increasing the amount of fuel injection without changing the amount of intake air. Contrarily, when uniform combustion is performed, the power of the engine is increased by increasing the amount of intake air by enlarging the opening of the throttle valve (or an idle speed control valve). At this time, the amount of fuel injection is also increased for maintaining the air-fuel ratio.
As described above, the engine power is increased differently when stratified charge combustion is performed from when uniform charge combustion is performed. Accordingly, when the engine is commanded to increase the power, the time lag between inputting the command signal and the actual power increase is different when stratified charge combustion is performed from when uniform charge combustion is performed. Specifically, when stratified charge combustion is performed, the power increase of the engine is completed in a relatively short period of time after the command signal is inputted to the engine because only the injection fuel amount into the combustion chambers is increased. On the other hand, when uniform charge combustion is performed, the opening of the throttle valve (or the opening of the idle speed control valve) is increased and then the increased amount of air, which corresponds to the increase of the valve's opening, must flow into the combustion chamber from the throttle valve. Therefore, the time period between inputting a command for increasing power and the resulting power increase is longer in uniform charge combustion than in stratified charge combustion.
If the time period between the input of a command for increasing engine power and the resulting increase of the engine power is short, the engine power may be increased before engine the load is increased. In this case, the idle speed of the engine is increased, and the subsequent increase of the engine load results in a shock to the engine. This causes the idle speed to drop abruptly. If the time period is excessively long, on the other hand, the engine load may be increased before the power of the engine is increased. The increased load causes the idle speed to drop before the engine power is increased. This may stall the engine.

Method and apparatus for controlling idle speed of stratified charge injection engine


Genetically modified isopropylmalate synthases, processes for preparing a C7-C11 2-ketoacids utilizing genetically modified isopropylmalate synthases, and microbial organisms including genetically modified isopropylmalate synthases are described. The genetically modified isopropylmalate synthases, processes for preparing a C7-C11 2-ketoacids, and microbial organisms including genetically modified isopropylmalate synthases can be particularly useful for producing corresponding Cn_1 aldehydes, alcohols, carboxylic acids, and Cn_2 alkanes both in vivo and in vitro.

Concerns about the future scarcity, cost, and environmental impact of obtaining and using fossil fuels have stimulated interest in the exploitation of cheap, renewable biomass as alternative sources for both fuels and chemicals made from them. As crude oil prices have risen, bio-based chemicals and industrial products have become attractive alternatives to their petroleum-derived counterparts. Fermentation processes using anaerobic microbial organisms offer a promising path for converting biomass and agricultural wastes into useful products, while at the same time remediating problems that may be encountered in disposal of low-value agricultural commodities and food processing byproducts/wastes. Some of the useful products that can be prepared from low-cost biomass feedstocks are longer chain aldehydes, alkanes, alcohols, alkenes, and carboxylic acids, including in particular C6-C10 alcohols.
C6-C10 alcohols are produced using petrochemical and natural raw material routes. The petrochemical processes are based upon ethylene oligomerization. The Ziegler process uses aluminum to mediate ethylene oligomerization at high pressure to generate tri-alkyl aluminum species which are then carefully oxidized under dry air and hydrolyzed to yield a Poisson distribution of terminal alcohols ranging from C2-C26 (even number carbon chains only). Hydroformylation of olefins produced by ethylene oligomerization processes such as the Shell Higher Olefins Process (SHOP) followed by reduction, yields alcohols with odd number carbon chain lengths. The conversion of fatty acids of natural oils such as palm kernel and coconut through the standard oleochemical transformation of hydrogenation, transesterification and reduction is also employed to make long chain alcohols with the bulk of the alcohols having carbon chains >C10. The lack of selectivity to narrow carbon chain length distribution is a significant drawback of the current production methods. The Ziegler process also suffers from the co-production of hydrated alumina (Al2O3 [H2O]x). Thus, identification of better (i.e. selective to a small range of carbon chain length) and less expensive methods to produce C6-C10 alcohols, alkanes, and carboxylic acids would be of great utility. However, microorganisms often fail to produce many of the petrochemical based products at economically viable rates or yields. Metabolic engineering has been extensively employed to either to build pathways and/or to channel metabolites toward the pathway of interest. Currently, ethanol is the most common biochemical made using microorganisms. However, economically viable methods for producing C6-C10 alcohols and carboxylic acids are being actively pursued in both the biofuel and chemical industries.
The success in the production of natural amino acids by microbial fermentation has generated significant interest in utilizing the amino acid biosynthetic pathways for producing chemicals of interest, including the longer chain alcohols, alkanes, and carboxylic acids. Of particular interest are the 2-ketoacids, which are key intermediates during amino acid biosynthesis and which are amenable to different types of modifications that can be exploited for the biosynthesis of chemicals inside the cells. Three enzymes within the leucine biosynthetic pathway are involved in elongating 2-ketoacids and can operate to convert 2-ketobutyrate or 2-ketoisovalerate to a longer chain 2-ketoacids. These enzymes are generally referred to, without reference to any specific microbial organism, as isopropylmalate synthase, isopropylmalate isomerase, and isopropylmalate dehydrogenase. In E. coli specifically, these enzymes are referred to as LeuA (GenBank: Accession No. NC 000913.3 Gene ID: 947465), LeuB (GenBank: Accession NO. NC 000913.3 Gene ID: 944798), and LeuCD (GenBank: Accession No. NC 000913.3 Gene ID: 94576 and Gene ID: 945642), respectively. The feasibility of extending the length of 2-ketoacids inside the cell via engineering of the LeuA gene product of E. coli has also expanded the range of biochemicals that can be produced from 2-ketoacids. In E. coli, LeuABCD genes extend the length of 2-ketoacids by one carbon unit, as observed during leucine biosynthesis, in which they work together to convert 2-ketoisovalerate (a 5-carbon acid) to 2-ketoisocaproate (a 6-carbon acid). The expansion of the active site of LeuA allowed for the recursive extension of the C4 ketoacid, 2-ketobutyric acid [2-ketobutyrate], to a C9 2-ketoacid, 2-ketononanoic acid [2-keto-nonanoate].
However, there is a continued need for the development and engineering of isopropylmalate synthase, isopropylmalate isomerase, and isopropylmalate dehydrogenase for a more efficient production of C7-C11 2-ketoacids in a variety of microorganims Additionally, there is a need to produce isopropylmalate synthases, isopropylmalate isomerases, and isopropylmalate dehydrogenases with a varied catalytic efficiencies in order to better regulate the recursive extension of the C4 ketoacids, such as 2-ketobutyrate or 2-ketoisovalerate, to a C7-C11 2-ketoacid to match a microorganism's cellular metabolism with 2-ketoacid elongation.

Processes to prepare elongated 2-ketoacids and C5-C10 compounds therefrom via genetic modifications to microbial metabolic pathways


A coolant delivery device for an internal combustion engine, in particular for a motor vehicle, includes a pump, a an activatable electric motor, a shut-off valve, a return line, a heating device, and a common module housing. The pump is configured to deliver liquid coolant, and includes a suction port configured to connect to a tank, and a pressure port for the coolant and which is assigned to the engine. The motor is configured to drive the pump. The valve is assigned to the suction port. The return line is configured to connect to the tank, and includes at least one check valve. At least the pump, motor, valve, heating device, and the at least one check valve together form a delivery module and are positioned in the common module housing.

Coolant delivery devices of the type mentioned in the introduction are already known from the prior art. Owing to increasing demands on exhaust-gas emissions, internal combustion engines are increasingly being optimized with regard to their consumption. For this purpose, firstly, the compression of the air masses introduced into the cylinders of the internal combustion engine is increased. Such internal combustion engines however cannot be operated with optimum operating characteristics, in particular with optimum consumption, at operating points with high load, because the operating point is limited by the knocking tendency of the internal combustion engine and the high exhaust-gas temperatures that are generated. To reduce the knocking tendency, it is known for ignition times to be retarded, wherein, however, for the same demanded power, the fuel consumption increases. To reduce the exhaust-gas temperatures, it is known for the air-fuel mixture to be enriched with additional fuel, as a result of which the fuel consumption is however likewise increased.
A further possible measure for reducing the knocking tendency and for lowering the exhaust-gas temperatures is the injection of liquid coolant, in particular water, either directly into the combustion chambers of the internal combustion engine or into the intake tract thereof. For this purpose, coolant systems are known which store a liquid coolant, in particular water, in a tank and convey it by means of a coolant delivery device to an actuatable injection valve in order to inject the desired quantity of coolant or water. A coolant delivery device that is required for this purpose commonly has a pump, an electric motor which drives the pump, a shut-off valve which is assigned to a suction line of the pump, and a heating device. The heating device serves for thawing frozen coolant or water that is present in the system in order to ensure fast operational readiness of the system after a start of the internal combustion engine even in the presence of ambient temperatures below the freezing point of the coolant, and to protect the system against damage owing to icing of the liquid-conducting components. Pressure control of the system is achieved by means of a return line which is fluidically connected to the tank. By means of the heating device, it is possible for remaining coolant liquid to be heated and melted as required in order to achieve that the coolant is made available quickly and/or icing damage is prevented.

Coolant delivery device for a cooling system of an internal combustion engine, in particular of a motor vehicle, cooling system, and internal combustion engine