A system and method for enabling a user to input characters using a directional pad of a computing device. The directional pad is configured to generate directional inputs. The invention creates mappings for the directional inputs where each of the mappings associates at least one of the directional inputs with at least one of the characters. The user may activate one of the mappings by selecting one of the directional inputs. While the mapping is activated, the user may input a character by selecting a directional input associated with that character.

Although these mobile computing devices are very capable in terms of performance and versatility, they are often not as user-friendly as traditional desktop computers. One particular problem area with mobile computing devices is text input. Many applications on mobile computing devices involve text input. Because of the emphasis on mobility, these devices generally do not have a full keyboard for inputting text.
Several keyboardless inputting means are currently available for a mobile computing device. One particular means is the use of a touch screen, which integrates a touch sensitive pad with a display. Generally, a user enters text by writing or tapping on the touch screen using a stylus. A number of different methods may be used by the mobile computing device to enable the user to input text using the touch screen. For example, the mobile computing device may present a virtual keyboard on the touch screen, allowing the user to enter text by tapping on the virtual keyboard. The mobile computing device may also include handwriting recognition software so the user can virtually write the text input on the touch screen. Although the touch screen is capable, it is not very convenient for the user. In particular, the user is required to use two hands and exercise quite a bit of eye-hand coordination. The large size of the costly electronic components and the computing power required also render touch screen technology unfeasible in many applications.
Another keyboardless inputting means that is found on many existing wireless phones is multitap. Multitap uses a conventional number-key pad. Each of the numbers 2 to 9 on a number-key pad is uniquely associated with three to four letters of the alphabet. A user may enter a particular letter by pressing the number key associated with the letter. Since each number key is associated with more than one letter, the user may have to press the number key up to four times to cycle to the desired letter. Once the desired letter is found, the user has to wait until the selection is committed and the letter is inputted. The advantage of multitap is that it allows the user to enter text with one hand. However, multitap requires the user to move his fingers over eight different keys. This wide range of motion demands a great deal of attention by the user, which can be annoying and even dangerous in some situations. Also, multitap is a slow text input method because of the numerous key presses that are required and the wait state associated with each letter input.
An efficient and user-friendly means of inputting text continues to elude those skilled in the art.

System and method for inputting characters using a directional pad


A histogram, or resource status history table, for multiple resources is created and maintained. A transaction or resource manager arranges and/or reorders various resources into a sequence based on the histogram such that read-only resources are prepared first and a sole non-read-only resource need not be prepared, but only committed. The transaction manager heuristically determines the order that resources are driven to achieve last-agent optimization. The histogram is kept related to context, based on runtime and applications context to ensure that usage patterns by context are optimized without the need for the installation to know any usage patterns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to transaction processing and, in particular, to last-agent optimization in two-phase commits.
2. Description of Related Art
Any operation involving multiple entities that requires a homogeneous outcome requires some sort of external coordination to ensure that each entity receives the same outcome. A distributed transaction is one example of such an operation. A transaction generally has two possible outcomes: commit or rollback. To ensure that the outcome is homogeneous, a protocol known as two-phase commit is used. An entity that manages transactional resources is known as a resource manager.
In the two-phase commit process, each resource enlisted in the transaction is first asked to prepare to commit and, then, is directed to commit. During the first phase, resource managers confirm that it can successfully complete the commit by replying with an okay value. If all the resources are okay to commit, a log record is written to indicate the outcome and all the resources are committed. If any resource cannot confirm that the commit will succeed, all the resources are rolled back. If the outcome is rollback, no log record is generally written, because the default outcome is rollback (presumed abort). When all the resources execute the same outcome successfully, the outcome is said to be atomic.
A transaction manager is typically responsible for grouping and ordering the resources to be driven. Assuming that each call to prepare, commit, and rollback have to be driven to a subordinate resource over a network, a two-phase transaction results in one log write and 2n number of calls over the network, where n is the number of resources enlisted in the transaction.
If only one resource is enlisted in a transaction, the prepare phase and log write become unnecessary, as there is only one resource and, therefore, the outcome of the transaction will be atomic regardless of whether the prepare call is successful. In this case, the single resource is simply asked to commit, and the overall outcome is commit. If the commit fails, the overall outcome becomes rollback. This optimization is called one-phase commit or only-agent.
There is a need to further optimize the two-phase commit process that collapses select transactions that normally require a two-phase commit to a one-phase commit, (a/k/a last-agent optimization). When asked to prepare, a resource could return a read-only value if the resource has no updates to complete on the subsequent commit or rollback call. If there are n resources enlisted in the transactions, and the first n−1 resources vote read-only on the prepare call, then the remaining resource would become the only resource enlisted and a one-phase commit could be performed on it. This needed optimization is known as a last-agent optimization, because the last resource (or agent) would be able to perform the one-phase commit optimization and still maintain a homogenous outcome for the overall transaction. In this case, the total number of network calls required to commit the transaction would be reduced to n and there would be no need to log after the prepare phase.

Method, system, and storage medium for dynamically reordering resource participation in two-phase commit to heuristically optimize for last-agent optimization

International Business Machines Corporation


A first process of the invention comprises forming two constricted portions (28) at a quartz reaction tube (4), charging a solution of a compound of a rare earth element as a solution into the section between the constricted portions (28) for doping. By this, the doping concentration becomes uniform along the length of an optical fiber preform (30) with defects being rarely produced. This process does not involve any complicated operation.. A second process of the invention comprises impregnating a solution in the form of a mist in a soot-like core glass (26) by which it becomes possible to control the doping concentration in high accuracy.. A third process of the invention comprises impregnating a solution while controlling the concentration in response to a quantity of a transmitted laser beam through a soot-like core glass (26), by which the doping concentration is ensured independently of the density of the soot-like core glass.. A fourth process of the invention comprises repeating formation of a soot-like core glass (26) at different temperatures, by which a distribution of a doping concentration along the radial direction of the core can be arbitrarily set.

Light amplifiers in which light signals are directly amplified without conversion into electric signals have been extensively studied in various research and investigation facilities and expected as a key device of future light transmission systems. This is because the light amplifier is, in fact, free of any bit rate with ease in great capacitance and information from a multichannel can be amplified as a whole. One of such a light amplifier is a light amplifier which makes use of an optical fiber whose cores is doped with a rare earth element (or ion) such as Er, Nd, Yb or the like (which may be hereinafter referred to simply as "doped fiber") and wherein signal light and pumping light are introduced into the doped fiber in the same or opposite directions. The optical fiber amplifier using the doped fiber has the advantages that the gain is not of the polarization dependence with low noises and that the combination loss with a transmission path is small. This type of optical fiber amplifier may be particularly applied in the following manner.
(a) At the transmission side, the optical fiber amplifier is employed as an optical power booster to compensate for a possible loss or to increase the transmission power.
(b) At the receiving side, the optical fiber amplifier is used as an optical pre-amplifier to improve the receiving sensitivity.
(c) The optical fiber amplifier is used as a repeater to make a small-sized and reliable repeater.
With light whose wavelength is in the range of 0.8-1.6 .mu.m, production and application techniques of optical fibers using quartz glass adapted for long-range transmission have been established. The optical fiber is obtained by drawing an optical fiber preform in the form of a thick rod. The optical fiber preform should have a compositional gradient along the section thereof which is properly formulated as designed. A typical and known method of producing an optical fiber preform is one wherein a glass composition formed by chemical conversion of reactant gases is deposited on a quartz reaction tube such as by MCVD (modified chemical vapour deposition). In the MCVD process, reactant gases such as, for example, SiCl.sub.4 and O.sub.2 have been charged into the quartz reaction tube and heated to a level necessary for the reaction. While the heating zone or section is moved along the length of the quartz reaction tube, a fresh glass layer is deposited on the inner wall surface of the tube. A number of layers, e.g. 20-30 layers, are repeatedly deposited. The respective layers are individually controlled in composition, so that the composition of an optical fiber along the section obtained from the preform can thus be controlled. After deposition of the layers to a satisfactory extent, the quartz reaction tube is collapsed to obtain a rod-shaped optical fiber preform. This optical fiber preform is drawn to obtain an optical fiber.
In the MCVD process, it is usual to employ reactant substances which are able to be gasified at room temperature. For instance, there are used SiCl.sub.4 for obtaining SiO.sub.2 which is a main constituent of the optical fiber and GeCl.sub.4 for obtaining GeO.sub.2 used to control a refractive index.
For the production of doped fibers, it is not possible to obtain reactant substances of rare earth elements which are gasified at room temperature, like SiCl.sub.4 and GeCl.sub.4. For this reason, a practically satisfactory concentration of doped rare earth elements cannot be obtained only by the MCVD technique. Accordingly, there have been proposed methods of attaining a practically satisfactory concentration of rare earth elements in the following manner.
One of the hitherto proposed methods for fabricating optical fiber preformes adapted for producing doped fibers is a method wherein when a core glass is formed on the inner surface of a quartz reaction tube according to the MCVD technique, a compound of a rare earth element accommodated in a chamber formed at one end portion of the quartz reaction tube is heated with a burner and gasified. The gas is introduced into the quartz reaction tube along with a reactant substance which has been gasified at room temperature and is used as a core material, thereby depositing a core glass doped with the rare earth element. Another hitherto proposed method for producing a doped fiber is one which comprises the steps of (a) depositing a core glass in the form of a soot on the inner surface of a quartz reaction tube so that the core glass is not vitrified, (b) immersing the quartz reaction tube, wherein the soot-like glass has been deposited, in a solution containing a compound of a rare earth element as a solute, thereby impregnating the solution in the soot-like core glass, and (c) drying the solution and collapsing the tube.
With the former method, the vapor pressure of the rare earth element compound is so low that the compound is liable to settle out and the quartz reaction tube has an inevitable temperature distribution along the length thereof. Accordingly, the concentration of the doped rare earth element is apt to become non-uniform especially along the length of the optical fiber preform. In addition, it is difficult to accurately control the concentration of the doped rare earth element.
With the latter method, it is necessary that after deposition of the soot-like core glass on the inner surface of the quartz reaction tube mounted on a lathe, the quartz reaction tube have been once removed from the lathe and immersed in the solution. Subsequently, the quartz reaction tube is again set on the lathe and subjected to a collapsing step and the like, with attendant disadvantages that the method requires complicated operations with defects being likely to be produced. If the distribution in concentration of a rare earth element is caused to be produced along the radial direction of the optical fiber preform, it is necessary to immerse the quartz reaction tube in the solution a plurality of times. The above disadvantages are vital.
In the latter method, the amount of the impregnated solution in the soot-like core glass may vary depending on the conditions of the soot-like core glass including a grain size, leading to the problem that highly accurate control of the concentration of the doped rare earth element is difficult. If the doping concentration of the rare earth element is scattered, the gain and an optimum pumping light wavelength are also scattered in the optical fiber amplifier constituted of the doped fiber. This is why the concentration of the doped rare earth element has to be controlled in high accuracy.
The mode field of propagating light of an optical fiber has a so-called Gaussian distribution where the amplitude of the electric field is made high at the central portion of the core. Accordingly, the best amplification characteristic is not necessarily obtained when the distribution of the doping concentration of the rare earth element is constant along the radial direction of the core. Proper control of the distribution in concentration of the rare earth element may enable one to obtain optical amplification in an efficient manner. In this sense, the distribution in concentration of the rare earth element along the radial direction of the core should preferably be set in an arbitrary way.

Process for fabricating an optical fiber preform


Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a mask for focus monitoring, comprising forming a first opening portion and a second opening portion in a surface region of a transparent substrate, the second opening portion having a pattern shape corresponding to a pattern shape of the first opening portion, and being surrounded by a stack film formed of a halftone film on the transparent substrate and an opaque film on the halftone film, and radiating a charged beam onto a first region which includes an edge of the second opening portion and inside and outside regions which are respectively located inward and outward of the edge of the second opening portion, to etch that part of the transparent substrate which corresponds to the inside region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a mask for focus monitoring, and also a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The importance of a focus monitoring technique in lithography has increased now that semiconductor devices have been so minute.
As the focus monitoring technique, e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-100392 proposes the following method: a reference monitoring mark and another monitoring mark having a pattern shape corresponding to that of the reference monitoring mark are formed on a photomask, and after transferring (projecting) those monitoring marks to a wafer, the direction and amount of defocus are determined based on the difference in dimension between the monitoring marks transferred to the wafer. For example, the reference monitoring mark is set such that the phase difference between exposure light passing through an opening portion of the reference monitoring mark and exposure light passing through a surrounding portion surrounding the opening portion is 180°, and the other monitoring mark is set such that the phase difference between exposure light passing through an opening portion of the other monitoring mark and exposure light passing through a surrounding portion surrounding the opening portion is 90°. When those two kinds of monitoring marks are transferred to the wafer, they satisfy a relationship in which the difference in dimension between the marks or the ratio between their dimensions is proportional to a defocus amount. The above relationship can be predetermined and stored as data. Therefore, the direction and amount of defocus can be obtained by actually performing exposure to measure the dimension difference or dimension ratio.
As the method for setting the phase difference of the above other monitoring mark at 90°, there are provided a method for etching part of a quartz substrate (transparent substrate) which corresponds to the opening portion and a method for etching part of a halftone film (phase shift film) which corresponds to the surrounding portion. These methods both use an FIB (Focused Ion Beam) apparatus.
However, it should be noted that the number of directions in which the FIB apparatus can scan a beam is only two. To be more specific, it can scan the beam in horizontal and vertical directions only. It is therefore extremely difficult to process the quartz substrate or the halftone film by using the FIB apparatus in accordance with the pattern shape of the monitoring mark, since the monitoring mark is shaped to include part in which an edge of an opening portion extends in oblique directions, like a wedge or rhombus. In order to improve the accuracy of the processing, it is necessary to increase a processing amplification to shorten the pitch of scanning of the beam or reduce the diameter of the beam. However, if such a method is applied, it inevitably takes long time to perform the processing.
In such a manner, it is impossible for a conventional method to form a monitoring mark with a high precision for a short time period by using a charged beam such as an ion beam.

Method for manufacturing mask for focus monitoring, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device


The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a light-shielding mask for curing a sealant, including the following steps: step 1: providing a transparent substrate (20); step 2: sequentially forming a metal layer (22) and a photoresist layer (24) on the transparent substrate (20); Step 3: carrying out exposure on an edge of the photoresist layer (24) to form an inspection mark (242); step 4: subjecting the photoresist layer (24) to exposure along a predetermined trace by adopting an edge exposure process, wherein the predetermined trace corresponds to a predetermined trace of a sealant to be formed in a liquid crystal display panel; step 5: removing the exposed portion of the photoresist layer (24) to expose the metal layer (22); step 6: subjecting the exposed portion of the metal layer (22) to etching and removing the unexposed portion of the photoresist layer (24); and step 7: forming a transparent protection layer (26) on the metal layer (22) and the transparent substrate (20). The present invention uses an edge exposure process to achieve exposure of the photoresist layer so that no specific masking plate is needed and the number of masking plates prepared can be effectively reduced, thereby reducing the cost the material for manufacture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of displaying, and in particular to a method for manufacturing a light-shielding mask for curing a cell sealant.
2. The Related Arts
A cell sealant is an adhesive used in a liquid crystal display panel for bonding two glass substrates of a thin-film transistor array substrate and a color filter substrate to prevent a liquid crystal material filled between the two glass substrate from leaking out. Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic view is given to show the structure of a conventional liquid crystal display pane, in which a cell frame 100 is formed by curing a cell sealant.
A conventional process first forms spacers on a surface of an alignment film and then uses the cell sealant to bond the glass substrates to form an empty liquid crystal cell. Later, with the size of the panel changing in a direction toward enlarged ones, the percentage of application of ODF (One Drop Filling) process is increased so that certain changes are made on the manufacturing process and the properties of the cell sealant also change.
The cell sealants are generally divided into two types, namely heat curing sealants and UV (Ultra-Violet) curing sealants. The conventional ODF process generally use the UV curing sealants. Due to the fact that the ODF processes are commonly adopted in new manufacturing lines, the UV curing sealants would become the main-stream sealants. The components of a UV curing sealant includes a photo initiator and a UV bonding agent. When the photo initiator absorbs UV, the photo initiator is caused to generate free radicals and cation reactive radicals. These free radicals or cation radicals, which are generally of high reactivity, may participate in chain extension reactions with acrylic unit or epoxy unit and the corresponding oligomers that are contained in the composition. Since the reactivity of the free radical reaction or the cation radical reaction is very fast, these reactants can complete the reaction in few seconds to few minutes and a polymer having desired properties is formed. The characteristics of the UV bonding agent may initiate a chemical chain reaction through the radiation of UV light in order to cure the sealant. A cured bonding substance can be formed in few seconds.
By irradiating UV light on the entirety of a liquid crystal display panel would result in property variation of some material components that constitute the panel and the performance of the material is affected so that, eventually, the quality and yield rate of the liquid crystal display panel are affected. Thus, it is a common practice that UV irradiation and UV curing are selectively applied to the sealant and light is shielded with a light-shielding plate in the area where no UV irradiation is necessary. Such a function can be realized with a light-shielding mask. Referring to FIG. 2, a light-shielding mask generally comprises: a pattern section 300 and a light-shielding section 500 set along an outer circumference of the pattern section 300. To carry out UV curing of the sealant of a liquid crystal display panel, UV light is allowed to pass through the pattern section 300 to irradiate the sealant to cure the sealant, while the light-shielding section blocks out the UV light, preventing the UV light from irradiating other materials of the liquid crystal display panel and causing variation of properties of the materials.
The location where the sealant may be applied is different for liquid crystal display panels of different sizes and different models. This makes it necessary to provide light-shielding plates of different sizes and different models to correspond to liquid crystal display panels of different sizes and different models.
Referring to FIGS. 3-6, a conventional process for manufacturing a light-shielding mask for curing a sealant is generally as follows. A metal layer 702 and a photoresist layer 704 are first coated on a substrate 700. Then, a masking plate 750 is applied to form a predetermined pattern on the photoresist layer 704 through exposure. Development, etching, and photoresist peeling are then carried out. Finally, a non-metallic protection layer 706 is coated on the pattern so formed. In this process, for exposure of the photoresist layer 704, the masking plate 750 must be provided with a pattern that is exactly the same as the predetermined pattern to be formed. This makes it necessary to provide different masking plates for manufacturing light-shielding masks of different sizes and different models for curing sealants. In other words, for each side and each model of the light-shielding plate for curing a sealant, there must be at least one masking plate corresponding thereto so that the manufacture cost is high and unified management may not be suitable.

Method for manufacturing light-shielding mask for curing cell sealant

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


A new plastic bag drying rack for drying plastic bags, especially re-sealable plastic bags, after they have been washed. The inventive device includes a base and a plurality of drying frames. The base has top and bottom faces. The base also has a plurality of spaced apart slots therethrough extending between the top and bottom faces of the base. The slots of the base are arranged in a number of rows on the base, with each row having a pair of slots. Each drying frame has top and bottom edges and a pair of side edges extending between the top and bottom edges of the drying frame. The bottom edge of each of the drying frames has a pair of spaced apart tabs extending therefrom. The tabs of each of the drying frames is inserted into the pair slots of an associated row such that each drying frame is upwardly extended from the top face of the base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to drying racks and more particularly pertains to a new plastic bag drying rack for drying plastic bags, especially re-sealable plastic bags, after they have been washed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of drying racks is known in the prior art. More specifically, drying racks heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art drying racks include U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,694; U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,244; U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,237; U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,137; U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,455; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 369,528.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new plastic bag drying rack. The inventive device includes a base and a plurality of drying frames. The base has top and bottom faces. The base also has a plurality of spaced apart slots therethrough extending between the top and bottom faces of the base. The slots of the base are arranged in a number of rows on the base, with each row having a pair of slots. Each drying frame has top and bottom edges and a pair of side edges extending between the top and bottom edges of the drying frame. The bottom edge of each of the drying frames has a pair of spaced apart tabs extending therefrom. The tabs of each of the drying frames is inserted into the pair slots of an associated row such that each drying frame is upwardly extended from the top face of the base.
In these respects, the plastic bag drying rack according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of drying plastic bags, especially re-sealable plastic bags, after they have been washed.


An illumination device which can be used as a front light or a back light by improving brightness unevenness in the vicinity of an LED without dropping entire brightness and a liquid crystal display device using the same. This illumination device 10 has a light source on a light entering face 27 of a light guide plate 20 and a light guide plate 20 in which prisms 25 for reflecting by polarization or emitting light out of the light guide plate 20 are formed on a light emission face or a light reflecting face thereof and a cylindrical lens 26 for orienting and magnifying light is formed on the other face.

In recent years, the liquid crystal display device for use in a personal computer has been demanded to have higher display quality in terms of color representation, high brightness and high resolution. The liquid crystal display device is basically constituted of a liquid crystal panel and an illumination device, which is an illuminating means. The liquid crystal panel is classified to transmission type and reflection type and the transmission type liquid crystal panel has the illumination device on its rear face while the reflection type liquid crystal panel has the illumination device on its front face.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a conventional transmission type liquid crystal panel. In the transmission type liquid crystal panel, as shown in FIG. 7, a polarizer 214 is incorporated between a glass substrate 210 and a glass substrate 212. Bus line is formed on the glass substrate 212. Liquid crystal 220 is sealed between the glass substrate 212 and a glass substrate 218. A color filter 224 is sandwiched between the glass substrate 218 and a glass substrate 222. A polarizer 228 is sandwiched between the glass substrate 222 and a glass substrate 226.
In the transmission type liquid crystal panel, the color filter and the liquid crystal are sandwiched between the polarizers and in the reflection type liquid crystal panel, the polarizer 214 is replaced with a reflecting plate such as a mirror. In either liquid crystal panel, when linearly polarized light passes through the liquid crystal, the phase is modulated due to its characteristic and then, it passes through the color filter and when it passes through or is intercepted, white and black representations are produced. When plural pieces of this dot are arranged, character information or image information is created. On the other hand, because the liquid crystal is a light receiving type device, the aforementioned information cannot be recognized visually on the liquid crystal alone.
To solve this problem, generally, the illumination device as an illuminating means is disposed on the rear face (back) in case of the transmission type liquid crystal panel and in case of the reflection type liquid crystal panel, it is disposed on the front face (front). Because the reflection type liquid crystal panel is illuminated by the sun light or indoor light, it does not need any illumination device under such a condition. However, unless it is located under such illumination environment, it needs the illumination device like the transmission type. The illumination device is constituted of a point light source and a light guide plate and light emitted from the point light source such as LED is entered into the light guide plate and then projected to the entire surface of the liquid crystal panel.
The LED is disposed on an end face of the light guide plate and the light guide plate is formed such that the bottom face (opposite face to light emission face) of the light guide plate has an angle. LED light leaking from the top face (light emission face) of the light guide plate due to collapse of total reflection condition is emitted through prism sheet disposed thereon. Usually, 3-4 pieces of the LEDs are used in every 2 inch size. Because no light exists between the LEDs, brightness unevenness called eye ball in Japanese language is generated particularly in the vicinity of a LED upon which the LED light impinge, the eye ball being formed such that the brightness is high on the front face of the LED while the brightness is low between the LEDs. In the vicinity of the LED, it is difficult to adjust brightness because the total reflection condition cannot be controlled well and in the vicinity of the LED, there were problems such as lower luminance is generated.
Then, for example, patent document 1(Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2004-006326) has disclosed art in which a prism is formed on a light emission face or an opposite face to the light emission face while rough surface (scattering face) is formed on an opposite face to the prism face in order to prevent a lower luminance in the vicinity of the LED.
However, because light is scatted by the rough surface of the light, there is a problem that entire lower luminance although brightness unevenness in the vicinity of the LED is improved.
Additionally, patent document 2(JP-A No. 2002-216530) has disclosed another art of changing the taper angle of the light emission face or the opposite face to the light emission face of the light guide plate partially to prevent a lower luminance in the vicinity of the LED.
However, there was a problem that a line appears at a position in which the taper angle changes, thereby dropping the display quality.
Further, patent document 3(JP-A No. 2003-114432) has disclosed still another art of providing a light guide plate having lens arrays on both side faces, a light polarizing device on a light emission face of the light guide plate and a light reflecting device on a face opposing the light emission face so as to ensure an appropriate emitted light distribution.

Illumination device and liquid crystal display device


A rack-mountable in-line surge protection system includes a chassis configured to mount to an equipment rack, the chassis including: an electrically-conductive buss, an electrically-conductive ground member coupled to the buss and configured and disposed to be connected to a grounding mechanism, and a plurality of electrically-conductive bias members coupled to the buss. The system further includes surge-protection modules configured to be removably inserted into and coupled to the chassis, the modules each including a printed circuit board and a plurality of receptacles for receiving connectors and coupling the connectors to the circuit board, the circuit boards each including a grounding contact portion and surge protection circuitry, where the chassis and the modules are configured such that the circuit boards are disposed between respective bias members when inserted in the chassis, with the grounding contact portion of each circuit board in electrical contact with at least a respective one of the bias members.

Surge protection is very important for many entities, e.g., for data (including voice as used herein) service providers. Surge protectors guard against undesirable bursts of energy ruining expensive equipment, causing data loss, and/or creating annoying if not hazardous sounds on voice lines.
Various products exist for providing surge protection to data lines (that may include, as used herein, voice and/or non-voice, e.g., Internet traffic or file transfer, communications). Typically, such systems provide surge protection for multiple data lines using hardwired surge protection circuitry. As this circuitry fails, which is a common occurrence, the systems can be returned to the vendor for repair/replacement of the failed circuitry, or be scrapped.


Devices for filling portable gas containers and, more specifically, devices to facilitate usage of portable gas cylinders in accordance with the safety criteria for a wide range of gases and commercial applications. The present invention provides a gas supply device to fill a portable container with an electronic label attached. The gas supply device includes a read device, and a control unit. When the portable container is connected to the device and to a gas source, the read device reads the electronic label, thus allowing a control unit to then control the supply of gas to the portable container based on the information encoded by radio frequency induction in the electronic label.

The present invention relates to a gas supply device comprising a portable container that can be coupled to a recharging base for filling purposes, said base itself being able to be connected to a gas source and including an area for receiving the portable container.
A device of this type is described in document U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,024 in the name of the Applicant.
The operational implementation of devices of this type, in particular in welding/cutting applications, has encountered problems connected with monitoring their use, especially in terms of compliance with the safety criteria relating to pressurized gas receptacles imposed by the local standards and/or by the industrial gas providers.
The assignment of electronic labels to "traditional" gas cylinders that cannot be recharged in situ has been proposed for some time now [see, for example, documents JP-A-06-094192 (Hitachi Seiki) and FR-A-2 685 519 (Gemplus Card)], but for identification and/or commercial distribution of the individual cylinders at the premises of retailers or end customers.
It is an objective of the present invention to propose an improved device to facilitate usage of portable gas cylinders in accordance with the safety criteria and offer increased capabilities, both for the user and for the industrial gas supplier, for a wide range of gases and commercial applications.

Gas supply device comprising a portable container and a recharging base

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance Pour L'Etude et L'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


The invention is directed to a process for the simultaneous removal of BOD and phosphate from a liquid containing ammonium, BOD, phosphate and magnesium, the method comprising: feeding the liquid to a reactor containing BOD-oxidising biomass; ensuring that the liquid in the reactor contains an excess to stoichiometry of ammonium and magnesium relative to phosphate, wherein the stoichiometry is related to the stoichiometry of struvite; oxidising at least part of the BOD; adjusting the pH of the liquid in the reactor at a desired value; forming solid material in the reactor, the solid material comprising struvite; separating at least part of the solid material from the reactor effluent; returning a part of the solid material to the reactor. The invention is also directed to a reactor for this process. The advantage of the process and the apparatus is that in one reactor both BOD and phosphate are removed from the liquid.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the simultaneous removal of BOD and phosphate from a liquid containing ammonium, BOD and phosphate and to an apparatus for use in such a process.
2. Description of Related Art
In municipal and industrial water applications phosphate-polluted wastewater is generated and phosphate removal techniques may be applied for the wastewater treatment. Conventional processes are based on the fixation in activated sludge or on the precipitation of phosphate as calcium or iron salt. The latter process generates huge amounts of a water-rich sludge, which has to be disposed of at continuously increasing costs. To minimise disposal costs, the sludge is often mechanically dewatered prior to disposal. Typically, even after dewatering, the water content of the sludge still amounts to 60% to 85% and a relatively large part of the disposal costs comes from the expensive disposal of water. Due to the high water content and the low quality of the waste sludge, reuse of phosphate is not an economically attractive option.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,049 describes a process for the treatment of raw water, comprising the biological denitrification of water in the presence of bacteria to produce a supply of water having a reduced nitrogen content and bacteria containing cell-bound nitrogen. The supply of water having reduced nitrogen content is aerated to release said cell-bound nitrogen in the form of ammonium ions (not nitrate or nitrite ions). The ammonium ions are precipitated in the form of struvite by treating the supply of water with magnesium ions and phosphate ions in a reactor to produce a substantially nitrogen free supply of water. In order to attain optimal conditions for the biological reaction, alcohol, sugar or organic acid is added as a carbon source for the bacteria. The precipitation preferably includes treating the water with magnesium and phosphate ions to precipitate the ammonium ions in the form of struvite (MgNH4PO4, MAP). This purification process requires at least four reactors and vessels: a denitrification reactor, an aeration vessel, a second reactor for the formation of struvite and a filtration or sedimentation vessel (tank).
EP1496019 (WO0308699) discloses a process and an apparatus for recovering magnesium ammonium phosphate as MAP crystals from wastewater containing high concentration organic substance, phosphorus and nitrogen such as a digested supernatant liquor of human waste sewage and septic tank sludge, a digested liquor of sludge and chemical plant wastewater. The sludge treatment process comprises treating a sludge mixed liquor formed in the biological treatment system for organic wastewater in an anaerobic digestion tank to effect the digestion of sludge, simultaneously adding a magnesium source to the anaerobic digestion tank to allow crystals particles of MAP to form and grow in the anaerobic digestion tank, withdrawing a sludge mixed liquor containing the crystals of MAP from the anaerobic digestion tank, separating and recovering solids containing MAP crystal particles from the withdrawn sludge mixed liquor, and returning part of the sludge mixed liquor after separation and recovery of MAP crystal particles to the anaerobic digestion tank.
Alternative processes may comprise the crystallisation of struvite, e.g. by using a suitable seed material like sand or minerals (Crystalactor® process) or by using granules ("Phosnix" process). In a process of the art, using a Crystalactor®, waste water is treated in an anaerobic biological reactor because of the low sludge production, the low energy consumption and the biogas production. The effluent is polished in an aerobic biological treatment plant. Phosphate is removed by struvite crystallization in a second reactor, by feeding MgCl2 and NaOH solutions into a part of the effluent of the anaerobic stage. In the "Phosnix" process, another process of the art, waste water containing phosphate is fed into a reaction vessel where magnesium is dosed, the pH is controlled and fine MAP crystals are formed. In the bottom part of the reaction vessel, MAP granules fluidized by air are retained and fine MAP crystals stick on the surface of the granules growing their size. Grown up MAP granules are discharged periodically from bottom of the reaction vessel.
A disadvantage of the process and the apparatus of the prior art is that it only provides facilities to remove phosphate, but BOD (biological oxygen demand) is not removed or BOD and phosphate have to be removed in different reactors. Another disadvantage is that extra chemicals may be needed to control the pH.

Process for the simultaneous removal of BOD and phosphate from waste water


A pneumatic tire for use on trucks, the tire comprising: a tread which includes a belt reinforcement structure, the belt structure including a pair of working belts, wherein the angle of the working belts range from about 16 degrees to about 30 degrees, wherein a low angle belt is positioned preferably between of the working belts, wherein the angle of the low angle belt is less than 5 degrees. The working belts are extensible, and preferably made of high elongation wire.

The commercial truck market is moving towards an increase in overall vehicle weight, which is due in part to the increase in weight of the motor and equipment. The increase in overall vehicle weight requires a tire capable of handling the additional loading. Thus, a tire with improved crown durability and increased load carrying capacity is desired.


A holder for a rod and reel combination as may be used for ice fishing is disclosed. The holder has an elongated arm pivotally supported on a wall, pail or fixture mounting bracket for adjustable movement in a horizontal plane; and a tubular sleeve is pivotally attached to the arm for removably receiving and holding a rod and its reel in such an orientation that the rod points downwardly for selective positioning over an ice fishing hole. An alarm finger movable between a restrained or cocked position and a tripped position for actuating an audible alarm is attached to the arm. A fishing line engagement member is operatively associated with the alarm finger in such a way that when a fish strikes and pulls the line, the alarm finger is released from its cocked position and moves to its tripped position to actuate the alarm.

Wall mounted rattle reels are in common use in ice fishing houses. Such reels may be mounted on the inside wall of a fishing house in such a way that the line is dispensed straight down from the reel into a hole in the ice formed inside the house. These reels have a rattle built into the reel mechanism so that when a fish strikes, and the line plays out, a rattle is heard to alert the fishermen. The rattle reel suffers from the disadvantage that the line must be pulled in hand over hand in order to land the fish.
A product known as "ROD RATTLER" has also been introduced to the market place. That rod incorporates a rattle reel mounted on a bracket arm attached to a wall, with a separate bracket arm extending from the reel support arm for the attachment of an ice fishing rod. This arrangement suffers from several disadvantages. When a fish strikes, the entire reel support arm and bracket assembly for the rod must be removed from the wall mount, along with the rod and rattle reel, and that bracket and support arm assembly interferes with use of the rod and reel when trying to land a fish. Moreover, the simple, inexpensive rattle reels do not provide the drag setting mechanisms and precision operating features of ordinary fishing reels, which are very advantageous in playing large fish.
There is thus a need for a way of holding and securing an ordinary ice fishing rod and reel assembly within an ice house, while awaiting a fish strike, while also providing an alarm signal when a fish does strike so that the rod and reel can be readily dismounted from its holder in order to play and land the fish. The rod holder disclosed herein meets that need.


A low light level detection and imaging device including a photon sensing and counting device for image detection that is capable of detecting/imaging low photon flux levels over a wide spectral range using either image tube or solid state readout. The sensing and counting is composed of a detector stack having several photoconductive layers, at least one layer of the stack being an amorphous Selenium layer that is capable of high gain avalanche multiplication. The stack further includes an amorphous Silicon layer deposited on the amorphous Selenium layer to absorb infrared and ultraviolet radiation to enhance responsivity in the red and near-IR region, whereas the purpose of the amorphous Selenium layer is to provide high responsivity in the blue region and also to provide avalanche gain or multiplication of the photo generated carriers in both the amorphous Silicon or Selenium layers. Hence, the Selenium avalanching layer 12 provides low noise amplification for carriers injected from the Silicon layer into the Selenium layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to low light level detection and imaging devices and more particularly to a photon sensing and counting device for image detection. It has applications in photomultiplier tubes (PMT), image intensifier tubes and solid state imaging sensors.
2. Description of the Background Art
References relating to the technology of photosensor devices using amorphous Selenium for charge multiplication are as follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,613 issued Nov. 14, 1995 to Andoh et al. entitled METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A CAMERA DEVICE and U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,882 issued Mar. 21, 1995 to Andoh et al. entitled CAMERA DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME disclose a camera device having favorable multiplication characteristics (quantum efficiency) as well as improved sensitivity in a visible light region (especially the region on the red side) and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The camera device includes a hole injection stop layer, a first photoelectric converting layer including selenium, a second photoelectric converting layer having spectral sensitivity characteristics which are different from those of the first photoelectric converting layer, a third photoelectric converting layer including selenium, and an electron injection stop layer. As a result, it is possible to improve multiplication characteristics (quantum efficiency) and to improve the sensitivity in the visible light region (especially the
U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,255 issued Mar. 31, 1992 to Ishioka et al. entitled AMORPHOUS PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION DEVICE WITH AVALANCHE discloses a photoelectric conversion device which comprises: a photoconductive layer made of amorphous semiconductor material which shows charge multiplication and which converts photo signals into electric signals; and a substrate having electric circuits or the like (for example switching elements) for reading the electric signals. The amorphous semiconductor material used according to the invention shows the charge multiplication action under predetermined intensity of electric field so that a high sensitive photoelectric conversion device having a gain which is not smaller than 1 is realized.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,839 issued Aug. 28, 1990 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,521 issued Dec. 19, 1989 to Tanioka et al. entitled PHOTOCONDUCTIVE DEVICE AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME discloses a photoconductive device having a photoconductive layer which includes an amorphous semiconductor layer capable of charge multiplication in at least a part thereof is disclosed. The method of operating such a photoconductive device is also disclosed. By using the avalanche effect of the amorphous semiconductor layer, it is possible to realize a highly sensitive photoconductive device while maintaining low lag property.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,975 issued Feb. 13, 1990 to Shimomoto et al. entitled TARGET OF IMAGE PICKUP TUBE HAVING AN AMORPHOUS SEMICONDUCTOR LAMINATE discloses a target of an image pickup tube is formed by laminating at least a transparent conductive film, an amorphous layer consisting essentially of silicon, and an amorphous layer consisting essentially of selenium in the above order on a light-transmitting substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,562 issued Nov. 28, 1989 to Ogawa et al. entitled METHOD OF MAKING A PHOTOSENSOR discloses a method of making an image pickup tube target using an amorphous photoconductive layer. When an electrode, an amorphous semiconductor layer; etc. are provided on a substrate, the steps of ion etching away a surface of the substrate and forming the electrode are performed so that a target is produced in which no defects are substantially caused in a reproduced image even in a high electric field is applied across the target.
U.S. Pat. 4,701,394 issued Oct. 20, 1987 to Inoue et al. entitled IMAGE FORMING MEMBER FOR ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY discloses an image-forming member for electrophotography comprises a photoconductive layer including as constituting layers, a hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer and an amorphous inorganic semiconductor layer. The amorphous inorganic semiconductor layer is laminated on the hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer to thereby provide a heterojunction.
At present, the state of the art in low light level imaging is based on image intensifier tubes followed by a tapered fiber optic face plate followed by a charge coupled device array to image the output screen. To achieve the resolution required of such a system is very costly and its performance under bright light leaves a lot to be desired.
The present invention provides an improved solid state imager or vidicon type tube with higher sensitivity and wider spectral band to enable more cost effective and higher performance TV sensors to be achieved. Broadening the spectral band of image pick up tubes and solid state image sensors allows the detection of objects that a human eye can not see. This is achieved by adding infrared and ultraviolet absorbers ahead of an avalanche multiplying layer and injecting excited hole type mobile carriers into the a-Se avalanching layer.

Broadband multicolor photon counter for low light detection and imaging


A method of cleaning a solid surface which is particularly effective for a surface having a complicated structure including slots and holes comprises immersing the solid surface in a cleaning slurry comprising a cleaning liquid and abrasive particles which are soluble in the cleaning liquid, the cleaning liquid comprising a saturated solution so as to greatly reduce the dissolution of the abrasive particles in the cleaning liquid.

The present invention is directed to processes for cleaning a solid surface and, in particular, processes for cleaning a part such as a metal workpiece, a printed circuit board and the like, utilizing an aqueous cleaning slurry.
Parts washers of various kinds are known to those skilled in the art as having great utility for mechanics and others working in a variety of occupations, particularly those working in industrial plants, maintenance and repair services, and the like. The parts washers referred to herein include soak tanks, so-called hot tanks, immersion type parts cleaners with or without air agitation, spray washers (continuous or batch) and ultrasonic baths. Generally, parts washers are used to remove all types of contaminants adhered to a solid surface such as metal including such contaminants as greases, cutting fluids, drawing fluids, machine oils, antirust oils such as cosmoline, carbonaceous soils, sebaceous soils, particulate matter, waxes, paraffins, used motor oil, fuels, etc.
Until recently, metal surfaces were cleaned of most oily and greasy contamination in such parts washers as referred to above by use of organic solvents. Existing solvents, with or without special additives, are adequate to achieve good cleaning of most dirty, greasy, metal parts. A great number of solvents have been employed to produce metallic surfaces free from contamination. These wash solvents generally include various hydrocarbons and halogenated hydrocarbons. The degree of success achieved with each of these wash solvents is generally dependent upon the degree of cleanliness required of the resultant surface.
Recently, however, the various hydrocarbon and halogenated hydrocarbon cleaning solvents previously employed have come under scrutiny in view of the materials employed, and in particular, the environmental, health and safety impacts from the usage of the various materials. Thus, although the halogenated hydrocarbon solvents such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and trichloromethane, methylene chloride and trichloroethane (methyl chloroform) are widely used in industry for cleaning, their safety, environmental and cost factors coupled with waste disposal problems are negative aspects in their usage. A world-wide and U.S. ban on most halogenated hydrocarbon solvents is soon in the offing by virtue of the Montreal Protocol, Clean Air Act and Executive and Departmental directives. The hydrocarbon solvents such as toluene and Stoddard solvent and like organic compounds such as ketones and alcohols on the other hand are generally flammable, have high volatility and dubious ability to be recycled for continuous use. These, plus unfavorable safety, environmental and cost factors, put this group of solvents in a category which is unattractive for practical consideration. Most useful organic solvents are classified as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which pollute the atmosphere, promote formation of toxic ozone at ground level, and add to the inventory of greenhouse gases.
Alternative processes have been developed for removing contaminants from solid surfaces other than the use of organic solvents. Among such alternatives include blast cleaning processes in which an abrasive is directed against a contaminated surface by means of a pressurized fluid stream such as air or water. Unfortunately, hard abrasives such as sand, aluminum oxide, steel shot and the like may actually harm the underlying surface during treatment. Not only metal surfaces but nonmetallic surfaces such as glass or silicone such as used to form printed circuit boards have also been cleaned of contaminants comprising oils, greases, waxes, fluxes and the like using a blast cleaning process in which the blast medium comprises fine particles of dry ice. While such methods are readily useful in affecting the cleaning of parts having relatively uniform shapes or flat boards, such methods cannot easily clean the whole surface of a printed circuit board on which many electronic parts are mounted, or parts having complicated structures or containing holes since it is not easy to direct the motion of the blast medium to effectively reach such surfaces.
Water blasting systems have been used in which the water blast stream contains insoluble abrasive particles. Besides causing possible harm to the surface of the substrate due to the abrasive action of the hard particles as described above, such water blasting process often leaves residues of fine insoluble particulates on the substrate. If the substrate is of complex configuration, contains holes or includes precision moving parts, it is obvious that the presence of the particulate residues can degrade the usefulness of the part and possibly harm the part during use thereof. It is known, however, to utilize water soluble abrasives in the water blast stream. While the use of the water soluble abrasives eliminates the problem of insoluble residues remaining on the part inasmuch as the parts can be washed with water to dissolve any remaining particulate abrasive, the wet blast process itself like the purely dry blast process is equipment intensive requiring containment means such as blast cabinets or blast room installation, compression equipment, supply hoppers, hoses and nozzles and means to accurately dispense the abrasive into the pressurized fluid stream and is labor intensive. Further, if water soluble abrasives are used in a pressurized water stream, the problem of abrasive solubility and maintaining abrasive particle size to clean effectively poses further problems. This latter problem has been overcome by using a fluid stream comprising a saturated solution to limit abrasive solubility in the fluid stream and maintain abrasive particle integrity. Copending, commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 105,406, filed Aug. 12, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,990 and Continuation-in-part application (Docket 23693A) filed concurrently herewith describe water blasting with a water soluble abrasive contained in a saturated solution.
Another alternative cleaning process provided to eliminate the various negative aspects of the known organic solvent washing and degreasing systems, involves the use of aqueous detergent systems. Unfortunately, aqueous cleaning systems are not without their own problems. For example, certain of the aqueous cleaners are exceedingly alkaline having pHs of 13 and above such as sodium hydroxide or include organic solvents such as alkanolamine, ethers, alcohols, glycols, ketones and the like. Besides being highly corrosive, the exceedingly high alkaline aqueous solutions are highly toxic and can be dangerous to handle requiring extreme safety measures to avoid contact with skin. Organic solvent-containing aqueous cleaners present the problems regarding toxicity, volatility or the environment as expressed previously. On the other hand, it is most difficult to obtain an aqueous detersive solution at moderate pH which is effective in removing greases and oils and other hard to clean soils and the like and which would not be corrosive such as to metal substrates. Further, to provide effective cleaning using aqueous detersive solutions at moderate pH, it is often necessary to utilize high temperatures well upwards of 150.degree. F. and typically approaching 170.degree.-195.degree. F. Obviously, the use of such elevated temperatures, long residence times and additional vigorous mechanical cleaning such as brushing, spraying, blasting adds costs to the cleaning method.
Still another alternative to the mere use of organic solvents is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,969. In this patent, there is disclosed an apparatus for cleaning a solid surface which comprises a cleaning bath containing a cleaning liquid which contains insoluble particles and further includes means for bringing the cleaning liquid into an eddy-flow state. The insoluble particles may be particles such as glass, silicon, alumina, calcium carbonate and cerium oxide. The liquid can include pure or deionized water, a detergent and an organic solvent. The means for bringing the cleaning liquid into an eddy-flow state may be a stirring apparatus or a vibration generating apparatus and the like. The problem with this cleaning procedure is the use of insoluble abrasives. Thus, abrasives which are very hard, can actually harm the underlying surface which is to be cleaned. Further, as previously stated, particles of the insoluble abrasive may remain in the crevices of a substrate which has a complicated structure. This residue of abrasive particles may actually cause damage to the substrate being cleaned during use. For example, a precision part or a printed circuit board may actually fail during use due to the pressure of a residue of insoluble abrasives.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning system which overcomes the environmental, safety and health hazards found in purely organic solvent cleaning systems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning system which is safe to use, not a hazard to the environment and requires reduced labor, equipment and energy costs relative to the concerns and costs associated with previous organic solvent cleaning, aqueous detergent cleaning and abrasive blast cleaning processes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning system which can readily clean complicated parts and surfaces which have variegated structure, holes, slots and the like.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an aqueous based cleaning system which can be used to effectively clean contaminants from surfaces at neutral to moderate pH and which any residues of the cleaning system can be readily removed with an aqueous rinse.
These and other objects of the invention can be readily discerned from a description of the invention which is set forth in more detail below.


Photosensitive compositions, useful in lithographic printing plates which can be developed with aqueous developing solutions, comprise a diazo resin, an acid-substituted ternary acetal polymer, and a copolyester of an unsaturated dicarboxylic acid and an oxyalkylene ether of an alkylidene diphenol. The acid-substituted ternary acetal polymers are comprised of recurring units which include three six-membered cyclic acetal groups, one of which is unsubstituted or substituted with an alkyl or hydroxyalkyl group, another of which is substituted with an aromatic or heterocyclic moiety, and a third of which is substituted with an acid group, an acid-substituted alkyl group or an acid-substituted aryl group.

It is well known to prepare photosensitive compositions comprising a photosensitive agent and a polymeric binder and to utilize such compositions in the preparation of lithographic printing plates which can be developed with aqueous neutral or alkaline developing solutions. In such compositions, it is common practice to utilize a diazo resin as the photosensitive agent. The lithographic printing plates typically comprise a metal substrate, such as a substrate of anodized aluminum, which is coated with a photosensitive composition comprising the diazo resin, the polymeric binder and other ingredients such as colorants, stabilizers, exposure indicators, surfactants, and the like.
Many different polymers have been proposed for use as binders in the aforesaid photosensitive compositions. Particular advantages have been achieved by the use of acetal polymers as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,652,604, 4,741,985, and 4,940,646.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,604, the acetal polymer contains acetal groups of three types, namely six-membered cyclic acetals, five-membered cyclic acetals and intermolecular acetals. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,985, the acetal polymer is a mono-acetal containing a six-membered cyclic acetal group. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,646, the acetal polymer contains vinyl acetal units derived from an aldehyde that contains hydroxyl groups.
Acetal polymers can be advantageously utilized in lithographic printing plates in which the layer containing the acetal polymer and the diazo resin is the sole radiation-sensitive layer. They can also be usefully employed in so-called "dual layer" plates. In this type of lithographic printing plate, a radiation-sensitive layer containing a diazo resin is coated over an anodized aluminum support and a radiation-sensitive layer containing a photocross-linkable polymer is coated over the layer containing the diazo resin. Such dual layer plates are described, for example, in British Patent No. 1,274,017. They are advantageous in that radiation-sensitive layers containing diazo resins adhere much more strongly to most anodized aluminum supports than do radiation-sensitive layers containing photocrosslinkable polymers. Thus, the enhanced performance provided by photocrosslinkable polymers is achieved without sacrificing the excellent adhesive properties of diazo resin compositions.
Copending commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 738,088 filed Jul. 30, 1991, "Photosensitive Compositions And Lithographic Printing Plates Containing Acid-Substituted Ternary Acetal Polymers" by John E. Walls and Larry D. LeBoeuf describes an important advance in the art relating to the use of acetal polymers in radiation-sensitive compositions and lithographic printing plates. The novel acetal polymers described in this patent application are acid-substituted ternary acetal polymers exhibiting improved properties in comparison with previously known acetal polymers.
More specifically, the acid-subsituted ternary acetal polymers described in the aforesaid copending patent application Ser. No. 738,088 are polymers with recurring units represented by the formula: ##STR1## and x=0-8
m=0-8 PA1 y=0-8 PA1 p=0-8 ##STR2## and n.sub.1 =0-25 mole %, preferably 3 to 15 mole % PA1 n.sub.2 =2-25 mole %, preferably 5 to 15 mole % PA1 n.sub.3 =10-70 mole %, preferably 15 to 50 mole % PA1 n.sub.4 =10-60 mole %, preferably 12 to 45 mole % PA1 n.sub.5 =10-45 mole %, preferably 15 to 30 mole %
As indicated by the above structural formula, the acid-substituted ternary acetal polymers can be tetramers, in which the recurring unit comprises a vinyl acetate moiety and first, second and third cyclic acetal groups, or pentamers in which the recurring unit comprises a vinyl alcohol moiety, a vinyl acetate moiety and first, second, and third cyclic acetal groups.
All three of the acetal groups are six-membered cyclic acetal groups, one of them is unsubstituted or substituted with an alkyl or hydroxyalkyl group, another is substituted with an aromatic or heterocyclic moiety, and a third is substituted with an acid group, an acid-substituted alkyl group or an acid-substituted aryl group.
The acid-substituted ternary acetal polymers described above provide lithographic printing plates characterized by improved abrasion-resistance, improved resistance to chemical attack, extended press performance and enhanced rollup properties in comparison with the acetal polymers of the prior art. Lithographic printing plates utilizing the acid-substituted ternary acetal polymers described above as polymeric binders also have the important advantage that they can be processed in aqueous alkaline developing solutions containing very low concentrations of organic solvents. This is highly advantageous in view of the high costs and environmental concerns associated with the use of organic solvents. Since the acid-substituted ternary acetal polymers are fully soluble in aqueous alkaline developing solutions, they avoid the problems encountered with binders that cause the coating to break-up in particulate form.
While the acid-substituted ternary acetal polymers described above provide many important advantages in the manufacture of lithographic printing plates, they suffer from the disadvantage that the ability of the printing plate to resist blinding is not as good as is desired. In the lithographic printing plate art, the term "blinding" refers to inability to adequately take up the printing ink and agents which enhance ink receptivity are often used to avoid or decrease blinding.
More specifically, blinding is an erratic phenomenon occurring during the printing process where the image, in part or totally, loses the ability to carry any or all of the ink being applied. Blinding has been one of the most frustrating and nebulous anomalies pressmen have had to cope with in the printing process. Numerous studies and resulting presentations, papers and articles have been devoted to the subject. The transition to aqueous plates, recycled paper, environmentally safer fountain solutions and less expensive inks have exacerbated the issue of blinding. Present aqueous products are inherently less ink receptive than their solvent processable forerunners. The changes in ink, paper and fountain solution coupled with changes in press design aimed at increased running speeds have created a combination of conditions favorable for permitting blinding. Typically, calcium and barium salts are known to support the occurrence of blinding. This stems from components in the ink being extracted and interacting with components in the fountain solution and/or ink to form hydrophilic salts that either chemically or physcially become part of the image.
Certain polyvinyl acetals, for example, commercially available FORMVAR and BUTVAR resins, are less susceptible to blinding than the above-described acid-substituted ternary acetal polymers. However, the problem with these resins is that a developer with a high content of organic solvent must be used. Particulate development and the drawbacks associated therewith are then encountered. The goal is to achieve a system in which the coating is inherently highly oleophilic, develops in a dissolving manner and is capable of use with a developer having a maximum content of water.
It is toward the objective of providing improved photosensitive compositions and improved lithographic printing plates, capable of effectively meeting the needs of the lithographic printing plate art, that the present invention is directed.

Photosensitive compositions and lithographic printing plates containing acid-substituted ternary acetal polymer and copolyester with reduced propensity to blinding


The present invention relates to an improved electrodeionization (EDI) module and apparatus adapted to transfer ions present in a liquid under the influence of an electric field.

Electrodeionization (EDI) is a process for removing ions from liquids, such as water, by sorption of these ions to a material capable of exchanging these ions either for hydrogen ions (for cations) or hydroxide ions (for anions) and removal of the sorbed ions by the application of an electric field between an anode and a cathode.
A typical EDI module has at least one diluate compartment through which the liquid to be processed is passed and at least one concentrate compartment taking up the ions removed from the liquid in the diluate compartment. The diluate compartment is therefore often also called "product channel" and the concentrate compartment is therefore often also called "waste channel".
At the outer edge of one side of the diluate compartment there is typically an anion permeable membrane which defines the outer limit of the diluate compartment on that side. The outer limit on the opposite side of the diluate compartment is typically defined by a cation permeable membrane. One or more concentrate compartments are formed on the opposite sides of the membranes from the diluate compartment. In particular, concentrate compartments are typically formed between the anion permeable membrane from the cathode side and the cation permeable membrane from the anode side. An anode side compartment (also called anode compartment) and a cathode side compartment (also called cathode compartment) is a compartment containing the anode or the cathode, respectively, and delimited by a membrane. Depending on type of membranes delimiting an electrode compartment (and type of neighbor compartment) the electrode compartment acts for decationization, or deanionization or concentration of an acid or a base. Thus, typically an anode compartment delimited by an anion permeable membrane concentrates an acid, while an anode compartment delimited by a cation permeable membrane becomes depleted in salt cations. Likewise, a cathode compartment delimited by a cation permeable membrane concentrates a base, while a cathode compartment delimited by an anion permeable membrane becomes depleted in salt anions.
The diluate compartment is filled with ion-exchange materials through which the water to be deionized flows. The ion-exchange materials in the diluate compartment selectively sorb the ions from the liquid upon exchange for hydrogen ions (for cations) or hydroxide ions (for anions). By the applied electric field, the sorbed anions are transferred towards the anode and the sorbed cations are transferred towards the cathode. Once they pass through the respective ion permeable membranes, they are passed into the concentrate compartment. The concentrate compartments may be filled with ion-exchange material or with inert liquid permeable material and a liquid flows through each concentrate compartment to thereby rinse it and transport the ions to waste.
The ion-exchange material employed in EDI modules is often made of polymer resin in the form of polymer beads, as described for instance in EP 1 282 463 B1. Alternative ion-exchange materials have been produced in the form of nonwoven or woven fabrics made of fibers that contain anion-exchange and cation-exchange functional groups, as described for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,205 and US 2006/0091013. A combination of ion-exchange resin beads and fabrics is described in WO 2005/011849 A.
Ion-exchange materials in the form of nonwoven or woven fabrics or porous blocks allow intensifying the purification process and porous blocks further allow simplifying the assembly of the modules. Such materials are typically produced by grafting of porous or fibrous substrate followed by chemical treatment thereby introducing ion-exchange functionality to the material. In the following, they are also simply called "grafted materials".
Grafted materials allow further possibilities of special arrangements of ion-exchange materials inside compartments of an EDI module, which are hardly possible with a bed of ion-exchange resin beads.
Regarding the construction of a diluate compartment in EDI, the patent application JP 07-100391 A describes layers of ion-exchange nonwoven fabrics arranged in parallel with liquid flow, adjacent to a membrane of the same polarity and separated by a neutral open mesh screen, while in U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,205 the screen is supposed to have ion-exchange capacity. In case an ion-exchange screen is used, the water dissociation is electrochemically enhanced at the bipolar interface between the grafted materials oriented perpendicular to the electric field, and the generated H+ and OH− ions regenerate grafted materials and can be exchanged for ionic or ionizable contaminants thereby removed from water. In the EDI apparatus, as disclosed in FIG. 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,205, all layers are oriented parallel to the membranes and the liquid flow, the fibrous materials increase the active surface for ion removal, but since they exhibit resistance to flow compared to the open mesh screen, most of the flow streams through the channel between the fibrous materials filled by screen. In this case a long flow path is required to purify water to high resistivity. Together with the fact that compartments with layers parallel to membranes are relatively thin, e.g. 3 mm-5 mm, the assembly will require a relatively high membrane area per volume of water produced and result in relatively high material cost.
An improvement was disclosed in US 2006/0091013 where the layers of grafted materials are positioned perpendicular to the membranes and to the flow direction, as shown in FIG. 2 of US 2006/0091013. In this case thicker compartments can be used that reduces the pressure drop and material cost. Since all water can pass through the fibrous materials with high specific surface area, the ions should be removed efficiently in a relatively short path, which results in very good purification performance. The authors of US 2006/0091013 state that for achieving excellent purification performance it is important that water passes alternatively many times through the contacts between cation- and anion-exchange materials, typically 10 contacts between counter-polar layers of grafted materials per 1 cm of diluate channel length, which requires a complex equipment or extensive labor for cutting the layers and assembling the modules.
The electrochemically enhanced water dissociation with generation of H+ and OH− ions required for regeneration of grafted materials substantially occurs at the interface between grafted material and a counter-polar membrane, as illustrated in FIG. 5. The water dissociation could be enhanced on the interface between adjacent layers of grafted materials, but the orientation of the layers parallel to the electric field is not favored for this. Here an electrochemically enhanced water dissociation can occur due to a certain "roughness" of the interface between two fibrous materials and due to a deviation of the electric field lines from the parallel orientation between the electrodes, e.g. caused by different conductivities of materials over the length of the module. It is considered that the regeneration of materials with such orientation in the electric field may require a relatively high potential drop to be applied and may result in a relatively low energy efficiency for the deionization process.
As a further disadvantage of the technique described in US 2006/0091013, due to the orientation in a plurality of thin layers where H+and OH−ions are migrating in opposite directions, some of them can be driven by concentration difference to the interface between the counterpolar layers where they will recombine to water and thus will not be available for exchange with ionic and ionizable contaminants from water. In a similar way the salt ions, which are already removed from water and migrate inside corresponding ion-exchange material can recombine on the interface between counterpolar grafted materials and thus be rejected back into water, thereby decreasing the current efficiency of the purification process. The decrease of current efficiency through the recombination of H+and OH−ions to water and the rejection of removed salt anions and cations into water of the diluate compartment will be pronounced even stronger with an increase of the compartment thickness. Moreover, a considerable amount of the ions generated at the membrane/grafted material interface immediately pass through the corresponding membrane (H+ ion through the cation permeable membrane and OH− ion through the anion permeable membrane) and are forwarded directly into the respective concentrate compartment without participating in the regeneration of grafted materials. This further decreases the current efficiency and provokes strong local pH variations on the surface of the corresponding membrane in the concentrate compartment, which might be unwished due to the risk of scaling formation or materials degradation.
Object Of The Invention
An object of the present invention is to provide an EDI module benefiting from the advantages of flow-through ion-exchange materials in terms of an intensified purification process and enabling special arrangements of ion-exchange materials, which do however not suffer from the above-described drawbacks of the known EDI modules and apparatuses with regard to complexity of manufacturing and assembly of the modules, the flow-through channels between the ion-exchange material without sufficient interaction with the ion-exchange material and a decreased current efficiency.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an EDI apparatus which enables the purification of aqueous liquids for the production of water of high purity or ultra-pure water with unprecedented efficiency and at low costs of both manufacture and operation as well as a method for purifying a liquid, in particular water, with unprecedented efficiency and at low costs of operation and maintenance.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a laboratory water purification system which can be readily used in a laboratory and provides purified water on demand.

Electrodeionization module and apparatus


A sheet conveying device, which is incorporated in an image forming apparatus, includes a sheet holding and conveying roller pair having two rollers to convey a sheet while holding the sheet between the two rollers at a nip where the two rollers contact each other, and a gate member disposed movable with rotation of the sheet holding and conveying roller pair to correct skew of the sheet in a sheet conveying direction when a leading end of the sheet in the sheet conveying direction abuts against the gate member. The gate member has a contact surface against which the sheet abuts. The contact surface of the gate member is disposed upstream from the nip of the sheet holding and conveying roller pair in the sheet conveying direction. A setting position of the contact surface is adjusted according to thickness of the sheet.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to a sheet conveying device that conveys sheet such as paper and an image forming apparatus that incorporates the sheet conveying device.
2. Related Art
Image forming apparatus includes copier, printer, facsimile machine, plotter, and multifunctional apparatus including at least two functions of the copier, the printer, the facsimile machine, and the plotter. Such image forming apparatus is currently demanded on the market to perform a paper handling operation of a wide variety of sheets of paper different in type, thickness, size, and the like. Specifically, printers are expected to be faster while handling the above-described variety of sheets of paper. Moreover, there is an increasing demand of the market for image position accuracy.
At present, as a paper position correcting mechanism for enhancing the image position accuracy, a known skew correcting mechanism corrects skew in which a sheet is conveyed while diagonally displaced with respect to a sheet conveying direction.
Another known shift mechanism corrects positions of an image and paper in a sheet width direction (a main scanning direction) orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction.
One method of the skew correcting mechanism is a nip method in which a nip is formed by forming one of a registration roller pair as a rubber roller and the other as a metal roller and diagonal displacement is corrected by abutting a leading end of paper against the nip.
An example of the skew correcting mechanism discloses a method in which a drive roller of each of registration roller pair and each of gate members, against which a leading end of paper abuts, are formed integrally.
In this method, after abutting the leading end of the paper against the gate members to correct the diagonal displacement, the rollers of the registration roller pair are rotated to convey the paper and the gate members are rotated in synchronization with rotation of the registration roller pair to move aside from a sheet conveying path.
The gate members with respect to a subsequent sheet can be repositioned in a short time by a single turn of the registration roller pair. Therefore, skew correction (diagonal displacement correction) of the sheets conveyed at high speed can be performed and intervals between the conveyed sheets can be reduced.
Furthermore, each of the gate members has a sheet conveying guide portion. When the sheet is convened to a conveyance roller pair disposed downstream from the registration roller pair in the sheet conveying direction, a driven roller of the registration roller pair separates form a drive roller thereof.
After a trailing end of the sheet passes between the two rollers of the registration roller pair, the driven roller comes into contact with the drive roller again.
By employing a method in which the two rollers of the registration roller pair contact with pressure, are rotated, and the gate member is repositioned, high-speed skew correction can be performed irrespective of length of the sheet.
In a shift mechanism, a sensor that detects an end of the sheet is provided to the sheet conveying path, so that a positional displacement of the sheet and an image from each other is calculated. Based on detection results obtained by the calculation, a skew correcting mechanism is moved in the main scanning direction to align the image.

Sheet conveying device and image forming apparatus incorporating same


An electrically-powered scooter including a front wheel, a rear wheel and a frame assembly. A handlebar assembly and a seat assembly are supported by the frame assembly. The frame assembly includes a left frame rail and a right frame rail spaced laterally from one another and extending between the handle bar assembly and the seat assembly. A battery support extends between the left and the right frame rails at a position intermediate the handle bar assembly and the seat assembly. A battery is supported by the battery support. In one arrangement, the battery support includes an enclosure defining a battery storage chamber. The enclosure includes a guide member configured to engage a guide recess of the battery to guide the battery into the battery storage chamber. In another arrangement, the battery may include a recharging port, an axis of which defines an oblique angle with an axis of the battery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to electrically powered scooters. More particularly, the present invention relates to a battery mounting arrangement for an electrically powered scooter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to concern for environmental damage associated with emissions from internal combustion engines, alternative means of propelling vehicles has received increased attention. Electric motors have been used to propel vehicles with some degree of success. However, batteries used to provide electricity to power the electric motors have been relatively large in size in order to provide an acceptable range of travel on a single charge of the battery. While battery size presents an issue for all vehicles, it is even more relevant for smaller vehicles, such as scooters, for example.
Motorized scooters have traditionally been relatively small in proportion and simple in appearance. It is desirable for a scooter to have a relatively large open area between a handle bar assembly and a seat of the scooter, in order to permit an operator to easily mount the scooter. Such a construction is referred to as a "step through" vehicle arrangement. In addition, preferably a relatively large open area is defined between the seat assembly and the rear wheel of the scooter in order to accentuate the lightweight appearance of the vehicle.
One challenge presented in adapting an electric power unit in a scooter is the positioning of a suitably sized battery, while still maintaining the traditional appearance of a scooter. For example, prior electrically driven scooters have been unable to adequately maintain the desired open space between the handle bar assembly and the seat assembly. In addition, prior battery positions have rendered removal of the battery difficult. Furthermore, prior arrangements have not protected the battery from contamination from foreign material, such as water, for example, to a satisfactory level.

Battery mounting arrangement for electrically powered vehicle


A system for installing and removing a temporary concrete barrier from a bridge deck includes a bolt, a star washer, a flat washer, a two-part sleeve, and a barbed nut. A method of using the system includes the steps of positioning the temporary concrete barrier at a desired location on the bridge deck; drilling a mounting hole in the bridge deck; filling the mounting hole with epoxy; inserting the barbed nut and two-part sleeve into the mounting hole and epoxy; inserting the bolt into the two-part sleeve and the barbed nut; waiting for the epoxy to set, tightening the system so that the temporary concrete barrier is held in place with respect to the bridge deck; loosening the system and removing the concrete harrier when it is no longer needed; and filling the mounting hole with epoxy after the concrete barrier is removed.

The present invention relates generally to temporary concrete barriers used in the construction industry. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a system and method of installing and removing a temporary concrete barrier from a bridge deck.
Systems and methods for installing and removing temporary concrete barriers from a bridge deck are known in the art. These systems and methods typically involve drilling holes completely through bridge decks and securing temporary concrete barriers to the bridge deck using conventional nuts and bolts. Connecting temporary concrete barriers in this manner, however, can be expensive because the nuts used to secure the barriers must be connected to the bolts on the underside of the bridge deck and expensive lifts are required in order to access this area. This method can also create an unsightly appearance when the bolts are later removed and holes are left in the bridge deck. Thus, there is a need for a system and method of installing and removing temporary concrete barriers from bridge decks that does not suffer from these disadvantages.

System and method of installing and removing a temporary concrete barrier from a bridge deck


An ultrasonic probe apparatus and a method of manufacturing the ultrasonic probe apparatus are provided. The ultrasonic probe apparatus may include at least one first tile which transmits an ultrasonic beam toward a target object, and at least one second tile which receives an ultrasonic beam which is reflected from the target object.

1. Field
The following description relates to an ultrasonic probe apparatus which includes a send-only first tile which transmits an ultrasonic beam and a receive-only second tile which receives an ultrasonic beam.
2. Description of Related Art
A diagnostic ultrasound system is an apparatus that may radiate, from a surface of a target object or body, an ultrasonic beam toward a desired part inside the target object or body, and may obtain, for example, an image which relates to a cross section of soft tissues or an image of a blood flow, by using a reflected ultrasonic beam.
The diagnostic ultrasound system may include an ultrasonic probe apparatus that may obtain ultrasonic data by transmitting an ultrasonic beam toward the target object and receiving an ultrasonic beam which is reflected from the target object.
In particular, the ultrasonic probe apparatus may obtain imaging data relating to the target object by transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic beam while moving along with the target object, which remains in contact with the ultrasonic probe apparatus.

Ultrasonic probe apparatus and method of manufacturing ultrasonic probe apparatus


The present invention addresses a solution of improving precision with which requested torque at a time of a transient operation is realized in a control device for an internal combustion engine that controls torque that is generated by an internal combustion engine by control of an air amount by means of a throttle. To this end, the present control device calculates a target intake pipe pressure for realizing a target air amount, and calculates predicted pump loss from the target intake pipe pressure. By adding the predicted pump loss to requested torque to the internal combustion engine, 360° indicated requested torque that should be realized in a compression/expansion strokes is calculated. An air amount for realizing the 360° indicated requested torque is calculated as the target air amount, and an opening of the throttle is determined based on the target air amount.

In the torque demand control of an internal combustion engine for an automobile, more particularly, a gasoline engine, which has been conventionally proposed, requested torque to the internal combustion engine is determined from the acceleration operation amount by a driver. Subsequently, the air amount for realizing the requested torque is determined as a target air amount, and the throttle opening is determined in accordance with the target air amount.
Incidentally, the air amount that is controlled by a throttle affects the magnitude of the torque that is generated by fuel being combusted from a compression stroke to an expansion stroke. However, to be precise, the torque that is generated by an internal combustion engine is not determined only by the torque generated by combustion of the fuel. The value that is obtained by subtracting pump loss from the torque generated by combustion of the fuel is the torque that is generated by the internal combustion engine, namely, indicated torque of the internal combustion engine. Accordingly, in order to calculate the target air amount necessary for realization of the requested torque accurately, the pump loss that is generated from an exhaust stroke to an intake stroke is desirably taken into consideration.
The art of using pump loss in calculation of the target air amount in torque demand control is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-291803. According to the art that is disclosed in the literature, the pump loss is calculated based on a pressure difference between atmospheric pressure and an intake pipe, and the engine speed. Indicated requested torque is calculated by adding the pump loss to the requested torque, and the target air amount is calculated from the indicated requested torque.
However, the art disclosed in the above described literature has a problem. The art disclosed in the above described literature calculates the actual value of the pump loss from the actually measured value of the intake pipe pressure by the intake pipe pressure sensor, and uses the actual value of the pump loss in calculation of the target air amount. Since the intake pipe pressure changes in response to movement of the throttle, a change also occurs to the pump loss by the change of the intake pipe pressure at a time of a transient operation when the throttle is moving. Namely, by the throttle operations, the value of the pump loss that is used in calculation of the target air amount changes. Therefore, in the art disclosed in the above described literature, hunting occurs to the operation of the throttle at the time of a transient operation, and there arises the fear that control cannot be quickly performed to achieve the air amount that can realize the requested torque.

Throttle control device for controlling engine torque