An electrophotographic photoreceptor, an electrophotographic photoreceptor cartridge, and an image forming apparatus, which are excellent in electrical characteristics such as a responsivity and at the same time, excellent in the crack resistance, are provided. Two kinds of charge transport substances each having a specific structure and a polycarbonate resin having a specific structure are combined, whereby the electrical characteristics such as responsivity and the crack resistance can be improved at the same time.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photoreceptor having excellent electrical characteristics and anti-cracking characteristics, an electrophotographic photoreceptor cartridge manufactured using the electrophotographic photoreceptor, and an image forming apparatus.
2. Background of Invention
Along with general-purpose applications of an electrophotographic technology, an image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic system has come into use in various image forming processes. In particular, downsizing of devices for office applications and the like is proceeding. In turn, as concerns the electrophotographic photoreceptor (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "photoreceptor"), size reduction proceeds and to keep step with speeding-up of the printing speed, out of characteristics of the photoreceptor, quick responsivity, that is, rapid attenuation of the surface potential after imagewise exposure, becomes an important condition. The responsivity corresponds to light attenuation for a given exposure dose and therefore, it also becomes a necessary condition in many cases to elevate the sensitivity. Furthermore, from the standpoint of achieving a high image quality, it is demanded that the electrical characteristics have repetition stability and the photosensitive layer is free from production of a geometric defect or attachment of a material.
Patent Document 1 discloses that a high-sensitive photoreceptor with good repetition stability can be obtained by using a specific fluorene-based compound as the charge transport substance. Patent Document 2 discloses a single layer-type photoreceptor in which a transfer memory is caused to hardly occur by using the above-described fluorene-based compound and a diphenoquinone-based compound. Patent Document 3 discloses that the sensitivity, repetition characteristics and transfer memory are improved by combining the above-described fluorene-based compound and a diamine compound.
Furthermore, along with cost reduction of an electrophotographic apparatus, use of an inexpensive member is expanding. In particular, as concerns the member that comes into contact with the photoreceptor, such as charging roller and developing roller, various additives and the like such as plasticizer are used and therefore, not only contamination of the photoreceptor surface is merely caused but also cracking attributable to an attached material is sometimes generated in the photoreceptor surface. Such a crack sometimes emerges as an image defect and becomes a fatal defect in view of image quality. There are various views as to the cause for a crack, but it is considered that cracking is partly attributed to elution of a photoreceptor component and formation of a void, which are caused by an attached material on the photoreceptor surface, and this is known to be improved by the composition of the photosensitive layer.
With respect to resistance against the above-described cracking, in Patent Document 4, whether cracking of a photosensitive layer after long time storage of a sebum-attached photosensitive layer, which is also called solvent cracking, occurs or not is described including the photosensitive layer compositions disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3. Observation results of cracking due to attachment of sebum are not only indicative of the effect of literal finger contact with the photosensitive layer but also applicable to a case where an extraneous material derived from a member such as roller is attached, and these properties are often collectively called crack resistance.
The crack resistance is evaluated in many cases by the presence or absence of cracking when, as described above, sebum is attached and the photoreceptor is stored for a long time. However, in this method, not only individual difference in the evaluation or reproducibility varies greatly but also quantitative determination of the crack resistance is difficult. In addition, the test by attachment of sebum cannot be a good evaluation method as the method for evaluating the resistance to the above-described component that is bled out from a member put into contact with the photoreceptor, because the mechanism of cracking differs or the load on the photoreceptor is often insufficient and the test results are diverged from each other in many cases.

Electrophotographic photoreceptor, electrophotographic photoreceptor cartridge and image forming apparatus


A novel reagent for clarification of an emulsion containing a salt and first and second surfactants is used in a method of clarifying emulsions which may contain inorganic, organic or biological particles to be measured. The reagent may be proved as kit of parts for in situ preparation thereof.

The clarification of O/W emulsions to the point where they are a transparent liquid is particularly important for analytical purposes. For example, solid insoluble particles in an emulsion can, if at all, only be determined with difficulties. If the emulsion is not clarified at least to the point where it is translucent, a count of solid insoluble particles in the emulsion by e.g. optical methods is not possible.
The quantification of biological contamination in emulsions is of particular importance, since emulsion in all areas where they are employed, but in particular in food, beverages and healthcare and/or cosmetic products, may become unusable and/or a health risk when the contamination by bacteria, yeast or algae exceeds certain threshold values.
With respect to determination of living microorganisms in emulsions it is highly desirable, to have a reagent and method which can clarify the emulsion into a completely transparent liquid in as short a time and at as low a temperature as possible in order to allow a fast and correct direct quantitative determination of the organisms e.g. by optical means. If the clarification of the emulsion is not complete, the counts may be incorrect e.g. due to remaining particle-like aggregates, and if the temperature is too high and the processing time is too long, the microorganisms may on one hand be destroyed, or, on the other hand, may proliferate both leading to false test results.
In particular with respect to milk which is a fat-in-water emulsion there are a number of methods described in the prior art which aim at the clarification of milk to form a transparent liquid (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,365 A, EP 0246987 B1, DE OS 17089 A1, DE 4017398 A1 and EP 0573054; the entire disclosure of all of these documents is herewith incorporated by reference into this specification). However, none of these methods proved to be satisfying under conditions of routine use.
It was the aim of the present invention to find a more satisfying solution for turning emulsions into transparent liquids.

Reagent for clarifying emulsions and method of clarification


A household appliance includes a loading level, and a receiving area for receiving the loading level. A guide device guides the loading level when the loading level is selectively displaced into or out of the receiving area along the guide device. Secured to the guide device is a retraction device for automatically displacing the loading level into the receiving area.

The present invention relates to a household appliance. The household appliance is in particular a dishwasher.
A dishwasher has a dishwasher cavity and at least one loading level which can be displaced into or out of the dishwasher cavity. For instance, the loading level may be a receptacle for items to be washed such as a top basket, a bottom basket or a cutlery drawer. The at least one loading level can be moved along a guide device provided in the dishwasher cavity. The guide device can be a guide rail for instance. The dishwasher may have a number of such loading levels.
DE 10 2011 005 257 A1 discloses a dishwasher having a retraction device for automatically retracting a receptacle for items to be washed into the dishwasher cavity. The retraction device has a spring element and a damping element. The retraction device is fixedly or detachably mounted on a rear wall of the dishwasher cavity. The retraction device is operatively connected to the receptacle for items to be washed with the aid of a snap hook.


A system for clipping an aneurysm which includes an aneurysm clip and an applicator that allows improved visual control during application. The aneurysm clip has a unitary, integral, cantilever spring and a unitary, integral, rigid ring. The cantilever spring has two arms, open in the unbiased position, provides a spring force, and defines the clipping force of the aneurysm clip. The cantilever spring also includes bulges positioned on the outer surface of the arms and a bend at the ends of the arms. The rigid ring slips over the arms, is retained by the bulges, and forces the arms together. The applicator includes a first leg including a pin adapted to engage the bend of the cantilever spring of the aneurysm clip and a second leg movable relative to the first leg which includes structure for engaging the rigid ring of the aneurysm clip. A scissoring or squeezing motion of the applicator handle moves the arms to slide the rigid ring on and off the arms of the cantilever spring of the aneurysm clip.

A cerebral aneurysm is an expansion of an artery in the brain into the form of a lump or balloon. Aneurysms are often located behind other blood vessels and at various angles. They may be difficult to reach. Moreover, access to a cerebral aneurysm is through a very small opening.
A cerebral aneurysm clip is a surgical instrument which clips the base part of a cerebral aneurysm to temporarily or permanently isolate it from the cerebral artery. For this purpose, the clip must maintain its pressure with high reliability as long as desired without injury to the wall of the blood vessel. Such injury might be caused, for example, by a shearing action of the clip arms, which results from improper alignment; improper clipping pressure; foreign material trapped in cracks and crevices formed in the clip design; surface imperfections on the clip material which can tear tissue; or the use of unsuitable materials to manufacture the clip.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional cerebral aneurysm clip 10. Clip 10 has a pair of blades 12 and 14 which are positioned to face each other. A coil spring 20, generally called a "torsion" spring, is formed between the base ends 16 and 18 of blades 12 and 14. Typically, coil spring 20 has one-and-one-half (as shown in FIG. 1) or two-and-one half coils. The free ends 22 and 24 of blades 12 and 14 clip the aneurysm. Blades 12 and 14 are opened and closed using the base end 26 of coil spring 20 as a fulcrum. The elasticity of coil spring 20 provides clip 10 with its clipping force.
FIG. 2 shows how conventional cerebral aneurysm clip 10 is applied using an applicator 40. Applicator 40 has a pair of jaws 42 and 44 which envelop and engage the bases 32 and 34 of blades 12 and 14 of clip 10. (As shown in FIG. 2, conventional applicator 40 is larger than the clip 10 which it applies; therefore, the combination of clip 10 and applicator 40 provides a larger visual obstruction than the clip alone.) When jaws 42 and 44 are compressed, bases 32 and 34 of clip 10 pivot toward one another about base end 26 and against the force of coil spring 20. That movement opens free ends 22 and 24 of blades 12 and 14. The neurosurgeon then positions opened free ends 22.and 24 of blades 12 and 14 around the vessel to be clipped. When jaws 42 and 44 are subsequently released, bases 32 and 34 of clip 10 pivot away from one another about base end 26 under the force of coil spring 20. That movement closes free ends 22 and 24 of blades 12 and 14 and clips the aneurysm in the vessel.
Distinguish an aneurysm clip from a "clamp." Clamps use malleable materials which close like a staple, lack the flexibility of a spring component, and cannot be removed. Consequently, clamps do not allow precise tailoring of the closing forces to (1) prevent dislocation, yet (2) prevent necrosis of the tissues due to overly high pressure. The clamping force is determined by how tightly the clamp is closed, not by a pre-calibrated spring force. In addition, clamps cannot form the complex shapes into which clips must be manufactured. The clip must be applied, through a very small opening, often deep inside the brain.
When operating on a deep-seated cerebral aneurysm, the neurosurgeon's visual control of the clip application is restricted by both the clip and the clip applicator. That problem has been identified, for example, in the article by A. Perneczky, "Use of a New Aneurysm Clip with an Inverted-Spring Mechanism to Facilitate Visual Control During Clip Application," J. Neurosurg 82: 898-899 (1995). Obstruction dimensions for an aneurysm clip and applicator are typically 9 mm by 5 mm. The 9 mm dimension represents the width of the clip coil (about 7 mm) plus the approximately 1 mm applicator head on either side enveloping the clip coil (see FIG. 2). These dimensions are large when compared to cerebral arteries as small as 1 mm in diameter.
One recent development (the Perneczky clip) inverts or reverses the clip action. The applicator grips the inside of the clip and does not envelop the clip. To open the clip, the applicator is opened; the applicator is closed to close the clip. This eliminates the applicator as a source of obstruction. Because the 1 mm obstruction by the applicator on either side of the clip is eliminated, the obstruction with this clip is typically reduced to the order of 7.times.5 mm.
A number of different materials are used to manufacture cerebral aneurysm clips. Most conventional aneurysm clips are limited, however, to metals and metal alloys (such as stainless steel and chrome-cobalt alloy steel) because the clips incorporate coil springs and metals and their alloys provide the necessary spring force to clip tissue. Unfortunately, most metals and metal alloys interfere with important diagnostic techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI or NMR), MRA, and CT-Scanning due to image degradation (haloing, starbursts, and "Black-Hole" obscuring) caused by the magnetic characteristic and high density of the materials. An exception is titanium, which has a very low magnetic susceptibility and density; therefore, it does not interfere with MRI, MRA, or CT-scan procedures.
Furthermore, the significant magnetic susceptibility of most metals and metal alloys presents the danger that clips made of these materials will move, rotate, or become hot in the intense electro-magnetic fields created. Aneurysm clips made of non-metallic materials including plastic, ceramic, or composites--and the exceptional metal titanium--present advantages, such as minimal interference with MRI, MRA, and CT-scan diagnostic procedures. The problem of metallic materials of construction has been discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,298 issued to Fujita et al.
The cerebral aneurysm clip of the '298 patent has blades made of synthetic resins or ceramics. The synthetic material can include, for example, fluorine or methacrylic resins or thermoplastics such as polyethylene or polypropylene. Table 1 of the '298 patent summarizes applicable ceramic materials. The advantage of such materials is disclosed as the ability to make X-ray and MRI examinations without interference from the materials. The materials also provide an advantage in that they are chemically stable and harmless to a living body, as well as being corrosion resistant and durable.
The first embodiment of the '298 patent is an otherwise standard clip improved by using plastic or ceramic material of construction. This embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 of that patent. The second embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 6-10 of the '298 patent. The second embodiment is a hinged clip, neither closed nor open unless biased, having blades 14a, 14b or 25a, 25b which pivot about a single point. The clip has an elastic spring member which is either compressed (see FIGS. 6 and 10) or stretched (see FIGS. 7-9) to apply a closing force on the blades. The spring member can be a sleeve shown as element 27 in FIG. 9.
The '298 patent does not disclose any way to prevent the elastic spring member from slipping on the clip. Moreover, the clipping force is not developed, in the clip of the '298 patent, by any cantilever action of the blades. Rather, the clipping force is developed by elastic springs which are made of rubber or other elastomers. Finally, the '298 patent does not disclose any type of applicator. It appears, however, that the applicator must envelop the clip and impair visibility.
Some conventional clip designs require that holes be drilled, components be welded or riveted, or recesses be formed. Machining processes are often required. Such manufacturing procedures introduce microcracks, voids, and crevices into the clip. Sharp corners of recesses and microcracks yield a clip undesirable for use as a cerebral implant. Thus, drilling, welding, riveting, and machining steps should be avoided in the processes of manufacturing an aneurysm clip; otherwise, the clip produced cannot satisfy the criteria required for a desirable clip.
The aneurysm clip disclosed by Lerch in European Patent Application No. 94108657.1 is an example of a titanium clip which requires problematic machining steps during manufacture. The clip is made from two rod halves, each half having a free end, a bump, a curved area, and a foot. The free ends of the clip halves form the clip jaws. The two rods are held together by a crimp (which has an edge or shoulder) on the feet. A ring rests on the curved area of the halves before the clip is applied. Before application, the ring jaws are spread apart. A hole is drilled through the ring and a rod is inserted in the hole so that it protrudes on either side of the ring. The ring is illustrated in FIG. 3 of the application.
The principle problem with the titanium clip disclosed by Lerch is the requirement that a crimp be provided. The crimp is objectionable, first, because it is an additional component that increases the cost of the clip and must be designed and formed with precision. Titanium and its alloys are notch sensitive; therefore, they are difficult to deform without cracking. Cracks are likely to occur when the crimp of the clip is formed. In addition, the crimp has an edge or shoulder that renders the clip undesirable for use as a cerebral implant. If a more malleable metal than titanium is used to form the crimp, the advantages of titanium would be lost and the risk of other problems (such as galvanic corrosion) arises. A crimping operation is difficult to implement with other, non-metallic materials of construction such as plastics and ceramics.
Similarly, the drilling operation on the ring may introduce microcracks, voids, and crevices into the ring. The protruding rod on either side of the ring yields undesirable extensions on a clip for use as a cerebral implant. Finally, like the crimp, the protruding rod of the ring is objectionable because it is an additional component that increases the cost of the clip and must be designed and formed with precision.
The applicator used to apply the clip has a pistol-like handle, a tube moved by the handle, and a fixed locator rod inside the tube (see FIG. 1 of the application). The locator rod has a seat with jaws on its end. With the tube pulled away from the clip, the jaws of the seat on the locator rod are positioned over the edges of the crimp on the clip (see FIG. 5 of the application). The user then slides the tube over the locator rod and forces the jaws of the seat on the locator rod around the edges of the crimp so that the locator rod holds the crimp of the clip (see FIG. 6 of the application). The user continues to slide the tube over the locator rod until an uptake slot on the end of the tube engages the protruding rod on either side of the ring. Using a wheel, the tube is rotated so that the uptake slot "catches" the protruding rod. Finally, the user slides the tube until the clip is within the tube and the ring is positioned over the bumps on the clip halves. This action forces the jaws of the clip together. (See FIG. 7 of the application.)
The applicator disclosed by Lerch surrounds the clip. Therefore, the applicator is larger than the clip and restricts the view of the neurosurgeon. During application, the neurosurgeon must accomplish the additional procedural step of rotating the tube so that the uptake slot of the applicator tube catches the protruding rod of the clip ring. This introduces another inconvenient and time-consuming procedural step (requiring the use of two hands), however, and is undesirable because the uptake slot may fail to catch the clip ring unless the step is performed correctly.
To overcome the shortcomings of existing aneurysm clips, a new cantilever aneurysm clip system is provided that reduces visual obstruction. An object of the present invention is to provide an improved aneurysm clip incorporating a cantilever spring force. A further object is a design that does not require coil springs and that can be easily manufactured from almost any material, including titanium, ceramic, plastic, or composites. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved applicator that is positioned next to, rather than around, the aneurysm clip, to further improve visual control. Another object of the present invention is to achieve an adequate closing force using less spring material than is required by conventional coil clips; therefore, the weight of the clip is reduced.


A method for joining non-woven fabrics having the following steps; opposing the same sides of a first and a second non-woven fabrics and, whereby superimposing end portions thereof, joining with heat bonding the end portions superimposed, opening the first and second non-woven fabrics at both sides of a fabric to the first and second non-woven fabrics in the opening state, while extending over them along the joining portion, and joining with heat bonding the third non-woven fabric to the first and second non-woven fabrics including the joining portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for joining non-woven fabrics. More particularly, it relates to a method for joining, via heat bonding, non-woven fabrics used for dust-proof working wear, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, it is well known that non-woven fabrics have the characteristics of airtightness. Making the best use of this airtightness, non-woven fabrics have been utilized for a dust-proof or surgical working wear, etc.
It is well known that, when working wear is made by non-woven fabrics of such characteristics, they have been joined to each other with sewing thread. However, when the above joining method for joining non-woven fabrics is used, many holes are made in them owing to sewing thread. Consequently, since airtightness is lost, it is impossible to make the best use of the characteristics of non-woven fabrics by sewing them together.
A method as shown in FIG. 1A has been provided, according to which method non-woven fabrics may be joined to each other without sewing thread. In the method as shown in FIG. 1A, the end portions 100A and 100B of two non-woven fabrics 100 and 200 are made to be opposed and superimposed. The superimposed portions are bonded with heat while the width W thereof is kept constant.
Taking this means of heat bonding as an example, there is also known super-sonic wave welding as well.
Sewing thread is not used in the method as shown in FIG. 1A. Hence, the airtightness of non-woven fabric can be maximally utilized.
However, the problems of the above conventional method are as follows, regarding the manufacturing efficiency of the method and the joining strength of the product manufactured by the method.
First, the manufacturing efficiency is low.
In the conventional method as shown in FIG. 1A, the end portions 100A and 200A of two non-woven fabrics 100 and 200 are bonded with heat, by means of superimposing them by width W. However, it is very difficult to keep the width W fixed throughout all the processes. For example, though the size of the width W must be originally kept constant from the first position 1 to the final position 2 as shown in FIG. 1B, there are instances where the non-woven fabric 200 becomes askew with the non-woven fabric 100 during the processes, and accordingly, the size of the width W is not kept fixed. In this case, since the method must be restarted, all the processes until then go to waste. Hence, the conventional method has the problem that the manufacturing efficiency thereof is low.
Another deficiency of the conventional method is that the joining strength of the product is small. In the conventional method as shown in FIG. 1A, in side view, the joining place of the non-woven fabrics 100 and 200 is only at one place a. Accordingly, there is the problem that the joining strength against forces f1 and f2 in the transverse direction is weak, as shown in FIG. 1A. Hence, the non-woven fabrics 100 and 200, which are joined each other, are easily torn apart by the operation of the above forces f1 and f2. Consequently, the airtightness of non-woven fabrics is lost or difficult to maintain.


A transliteration processing device according to one embodiment includes a character string acquisition unit that acquires a first alphabetic character string representing by alphabet a first word written in a first language having a specified script and a second alphabetic character string representing by alphabet a second word written in a second language having a different script from the first language, a determination unit that makes a determination whether a first consonant element included in the first alphabetic character string and a second consonant element included in the second alphabetic character string have a predetermined correspondence, and determines whether the first word and the second word have a transliteration relationship based on a result of the determination, and an output unit that outputs, as a transliteration pair, the first word and the second word determined to have a transliteration relationship by the determination unit.

Transliteration dictionary data where pairs of word written in one language (for example, Japanese) and words written in another language having a transliteration relationship with those words (which are referred to hereinafter as "transliteration pairs") are registered is used in various applications. For example, the transliteration dictionary data is used when making a product search with a keyword entered by a user on a website (EC site) that sells products (including services) on the Internet.
For example, when  in Japanese Katakana is entered as a search keyword in the above-described product search, a computer that performs the product search refers to the transliteration dictionary data and can thereby show, as search results, not only web pages containing the Japanese Katakana word but also web pages containing the alphabetical word "Beaujolais" having a transliteration relationship with the Japanese Katakana word .
Such transliteration dictionary data has been created (that is, transliteration pairs have been registered in the transliteration dictionary data) by hand or by machine learning based on learning data prepared in advance (for example, see Patent Literature 1 below).

Transliteration apparatus, transliteration method, transliteration program, and information processing apparatus


Various embodiments of the invention include an apparatus for removing particulates from the surface of a 3D printed workpiece. Various particular embodiments include a material removal apparatus having: an enclosure having a first inlet and a first outlet; a rotatable platform contained within the enclosure for positioning a 3D printed workpiece having particulate on a surface thereof; a pressurized fluid applicator connected to the first inlet and configured to selectively apply a pressurized fluid to the 3D printed workpiece; a vibration source configured to apply an adjustable vibratory frequency to at least one of the rotatable platform or the 3D printed workpiece; and a material reclamation unit connected to the first outlet configured to collect a material removed from the 3D printed workpiece.

Additive manufacturing (AM) includes a wide variety of processes of producing an object through the successive layering of material rather than the removal of material. As such, additive manufacturing can create complex geometries without the use of any sort of tools, molds or fixtures, and with little or no waste material. Instead of machining objects from solid billets of material, much of which is cut away and discarded, the only material used in additive manufacturing is what is required to shape the object.
In metal powder additive manufacturing techniques, such as selective laser melting (SLM) and direct metal laser melting (DMLM), metal powder layers are sequentially melted together to form the object. The process takes place in a processing chamber having a precisely controlled atmosphere of inert gas, e.g., argon or nitrogen. Once each layer is created, each two-dimensional slice of the object geometry can be fused by selectively melting the metal powder. The melting may be performed by a high powered laser such as a 100 Watt ytterbium laser to fully weld (melt) the metal powder to form a solid metal. The laser moves in the X-Y direction using scanning mirrors, and has an intensity sufficient to fully weld (melt) the metal powder to form a solid metal. The metal powder bed is lowered for each subsequent two-dimensional layer, and the process repeats until the three-dimensional object is completely formed.
In many additive manufacturing techniques, residual powder may remain on the surface of the resulting 3D object. Any residual powder must be removed prior to any subsequent heat-treatment of the object, e.g., annealing, case hardening, tempering, or precipitation hardening. Heat treating the 3D object without removing the residual powder may alter the geometry of the 3D object.
Current powder removal techniques may require manual manipulation of the 3D object. The 3D object may be large or heavy such that manual manipulation is burdensome. Current powder removal techniques may scatter the powder, into the air and onto the shop floor, resulting in lost or contaminated material. Reclamation of the material may burdensome. Respiration protection may also be required to reduce inhalation and ingestion of the removed powder material.

Powder removal enclosure for additively manufactured components


An acoustic coupling plate extends from the bridge or vibrato to the neck of the instrument. It acoustically couples the strings, the neck, the instrument body, and either a bridge or a vibrato to alter the acoustic attenuation of the instrument and to reduce the amount of multipath distortion. When a different tonality is desired, this acoustic coupling plate can be divide into two plates and shaped to produce a desirable dampening versus frequency curve. One of these plates acoustically couples the instrument body to the bridge/vibrato and the second plate acoustically couples the neck to the instrument body. A vibrato assembly for stringed instruments makes slight and rapid changes in the pitch of the tone produced by stringed instrument. Previously known vibrato assemblies use knife-edge hinges or rolling ball bearings to produce these variations. The vibrato assemblies described herein use flexure bearings to produce variations in the tension of the strings and thereby the pitch of the tones. These flexure bearing vibrato assemblies have the advantages of high strength, zero operational noise and rumble, and virtually zero friction and hysteresis. Additionally, flexure bearing vibrato assemblies provide a robust path between the instrument and the strings resulting in improved tonal quality, range, and sustain.

In a stringed instrument, the vibration of the strings consists of transverse deflections (waves) that propagate longitudinally (i.e., along the length of the strings) in both directions. The motion of the strings in the surrounding air converts their elastic and kinetic energy into acoustic radiation and heat. Thus, the transverse waves are attenuated as they propagate along the strings.
At the ends of the strings, some acoustic power is transmitted into the supporting structure due to its slight elasticity. However, an acoustic impedance mismatch between a string and the structure generally causes a large fraction of the power in the incident waves to be reflected from each anchor point as waves travelling in the opposite direction along the string.
The strings are themselves inefficient acoustic radiators, but they do produce some air-borne sound directly. Although most of this sound radiates away from the instrument, some radiates onto its surface. A severe mismatch of the acoustic impedance of the solid surface and that of air causes most of the incident acoustic power to be reflected from the surface and back into the air. Therefore, only a very small amount of acoustic power is transmitted to the structure in this way.
In the structure, acoustic power is dissipated by radiation from the surface into the surrounding air and by internal damping (friction). A small amount of acoustic power is transmitted from the structure back into the strings through the anchor points. Reabsorption of air-borne sound by the strings is negligible.
The flow of acoustic energy in a stringed instrument is shown schematically in FIG. 7. The circles labeled 120, 122, and 124 represent the strings, supporting structure, and air, respectively. The heavy (wide) and light (narrow) lines represent the primary and secondary acoustic power transmission paths, respectively. The broken (dashed) circle 126 and lines represent an optional electronic pickup (vibration transducer) and its primary and secondary acoustic inputs, respectively. It is assumed that the pickup is attached to the structure (as in conventional electric guitars) and is thus primarily sensitive to structure-borne sound. (Electromagnetic pickups sense string motion rather than structural vibration.)
In the structure, acoustic (elastic) waves can propagate along many different paths. The acoustic attenuation depends on the medium, path, and frequency. Hence, the materials and geometry of the structure influence the acoustic attenuation as a function of frequency which in turn determines the "tonal quality" or "tonality" of the instrument. (Tonal characteristics that musicians consider desirable depend, to a certain extent, on the style of music.) Multiple acoustic paths can also cause destructive interference (phase cancellation) of desirable frequencies. This effect is referred to as "multipath distortion".
It is thus apparent that acoustic coupling between the strings and the supporting structure and within the structure itself affects the quality of an "acoustic" (unamplified) instrument. In the case of an "electric" (amplified) instrument, its importance can be paramount. An acoustic coupling consideration of particular importance pertains to vibrato.
Vibrato is a slightly tremulous effect imparted to an instrumental tone for added warmth and expressiveness, consisting of slight and rapid variations in the pitch of the tone being produced. Stringed instruments, such as guitars, violins, violas, cellos, double basses, banjos, mandolins, etc., together with a few other instruments such as trombones, are unique in allowing the musician to produce any of a continuum of musical pitches by making slight variations in the position of fingers or in the configuration of the instrument. Among stringed instruments, this has led to the development and use of techniques to produce vibrato sounds by varying the position of the fingers along the strings.
Another way to produce vibrato sounds is by using a vibrato assembly that varies the tension of the strings while the fingers remain stationary. A conventional vibrato assembly (often called a tremolo tailpiece even though in stringed instruments tremolo usually refers to variations in the amplitude rather than in the pitch of the tone produced) has a bridge that rotates relative to the body of the stringed instrument about a knife-edge hinge or rolling ball bearings to produce variations in the tension of the strings and thereby variations in the pitch of the tone.
Previously known vibrato assemblies have several disadvantages. Knife-edge hinges and rolling ball bearings have friction that can produce wear on the pivoting surfaces and cause hysteresis (i.e., prevent the strings from returning precisely to their basic pitch). The pivoting of knife-edge hinges and rolling ball bearings produces undesirable noise and rumbling sounds that nearby electro-acoustic pickups on electric stringed instruments detect and transmit to the amplifier. Knife-edge hinges and rolling ball bearings allow acoustic micro slip (i.e., sliding friction in the transmission of elastic strain waves) that prevents the efficient transfer of acoustic energy between the strings and the instrument body. This results in a loss of tonal quality (i.e., the number and relative intensity of the harmonics), frequency range, and sustain (i.e., an absence of energy loss that allows the string to vibrate freely). Also, because of the high line-contact or point-contact stresses present, even slight overloads can damage knife edges or ball-bearing races and thus cause increased friction, noise, and acoustic losses.
For the reasons previously discussed, it would be advantageous to reduce multiple acoustic paths that cause destructive interference and distortion and to selectively alter the acoustic attenuation. Additionally, it would be advantageous to have a vibrato assembly for stringed instruments that exhibits no wear or hysteresis, does not create extraneous noise, efficiently transfers acoustic energy from the strings to the instrument body, and withstands rugged use.
The present invention includes an acoustic coupling plate that extends from the bridge or vibrato to the neck of the instrument. It acoustically couples the strings, the neck, the instrument body, and either a bridge or a vibrato assembly. It acts as an acoustic waveguide to reduce multipath distortion and can be used to alter the tonality of the instrument. The acoustic coupling plate can be divided into two plates and shaped to produce desirable damping characteristics (as a function of frequency). One plate acoustically couples the instrument body to the bridge/vibrato and a second plate acoustically couples the neck to the instrument body.
The present invention includes a vibrato assembly in which all relative motion between its parts is achieved by means of elastic flexural members. It is applicable to instruments having one or more strings. It has a vibrato base attached to the instrument (e.g., the body or the neck of the instrument), a vibrato armature means for supporting a string, and an elastic flexure pivot for allowing relative movement between the vibrato base and vibrato armature that varies the tension of the string. (The present use of the term "armature" is consistent with its use as the name of the moving part in wire strain gages, electromechanical relays, etc.) An instrument can have a single vibrato that varies the tension of all the strings or the instrument may have multiple vibratos, as many as one per string, each varying the tension of a subset of the strings. The present invention includes mounting the vibrato assembly to the acoustic coupling plate.
The acoustic coupling plate and vibrato assembly are effective individually, but synergistic in combination. The present invention includes mounting the vibrato assembly to the acoustic coupling plate or an integral construction.
The present invention has numerous advantages. It reduces distortion caused by multiple acoustic paths, alters the tonality of an instrument, and increases the versatility of a single instrument by enabling it to have a different tonality with just a change of the acoustic coupling plates. As an additional advantage, the strength of the plate permits the neck to be tapered for easy access to frets on the body of the instrument.
The vibrato assembly provides a robust path for the transmission of acoustic waves from the vibrating strings to the instrument body with minimal attenuation (energy loss) and distortion, resulting in improved tonal quality, range, and sustain. The absence of any sliding or rolling contact eliminates the problems of friction and wear. The lack of surface friction coupled with the inherent restoring moment of the flexure pivots results in very low hysteresis. If suitable materials are employed, the hysteresis will be essentially zero-the strings will return exactly to their basic pitch. The operational noise of high-quality flexure pivots is negligible in comparison with that of knife-edge hinges and rolling ball bearings and is undetectable by conventional electro-acoustic pickups. Also, it can be made sufficiently rugged to withstand accidents and abuse without performance degradation. An additional advantage of the present invention is that tonal characteristics can be altered by employing different materials.

Vibrato assembly and acoustic coupling system for stringed instruments


An apparatus for safely delivering a hazardous fluid substance to a receiving structure includes a supply cylinder containing the fluid substance and having a supply cylinder release port; a high pressure containment vessel having a vessel wall, for receiving and safely enclosing the supply cylinder; a high pressure first tube extending from, and in fluid communication with, the supply cylinder release port to a vessel port in the vessel wall; and a vessel valve in fluid communication with the first tube for controlling delivery of the fluid substance from the supply cylinder and from the vessel. The vessel valve preferably includes a fluid substance sensing valve assembly mounted in the vessel port, for automatically shutting off the flow of the fluid substance at the vessel port upon detection of the fluid substances outside the containment vessel. The vessel valve preferably includes a reduced orifice controller. A process of delivering a hazardous fluid substance from a supply cylinder having a supply cylinder release valve using the above-described apparatus, including the steps of placing the supply cylinder into the containment vessel; connecting the supply cylinder release valve to the tube extending within the containment vessel; opening the cylinder release valve and the vessel valve to deliver the fluid substance from the supply cylinder and from the containment vessel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of chemical gas and liquid containment and delivery systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and process for safely delivering a hazardous fluid substance such as chlorine gas from a supply cylinder to a receiving structure or system, such as to a distribution cylinder or to a pool chlorine gas treatment system, with secondary containment and otherwise in accordance with government regulations. These regulations specifically include Toxic Gas Ordinance No. 23450, Chapter 17.78 of the San Jose Municipal Code, and the Uniform Fire Code, Article 20, Hazardous Materials.
The apparatus includes a high pressure containment vessel for receiving and safely enclosing a supply cylinder having a release valve and containing a hazardous fluid substance at a pressure above ambient. A high pressure flex line extends from the supply cylinder release valve to an automatic gas sensing valve assembly mounted in a vessel port in the vessel wall. The gas sensing valve assembly automatically shuts off the flow of gas through the vessel port when a gas leak is detected outside the containment vessel. Chlorine gas passes through the valve assembly and into a receiving structure or system, such as a gas manifold having coupling ports to which one or more distribution cylinders, also known as service cylinders, are removably connected. A back-up, manually operated valve is also provided in series with the automatic gas sensing valve assembly. The sensing valve assembly has a fail-safe-to-close design and the back-up valve is fitted with spring-returned, normal-closed or quick-turn lever handled Hastaloy.TM. "C" ball valves. The sensing and back-up valves both have reduced-orifice controllers.
To meet secondary containment requirements, the gas manifold is enclosed within an exhausted enclosure connected to a gas scrubbing unit. The scrubbing unit is substantially smaller than scrubbers typically used in the industry, because most of the gas is automatically sealed within the supply cylinder by the sensing valve assembly and within any distribution cylinders by reduced orifice flow controller on the manifold coupling ports. Should the supply cylinder leak, the gas it contains may be released into the scrubbing unit at a very low rate, and alternatively may be released instead into a gas cylinder rather than scrubbed and wasted.
The delivery process is inventively passive, so that dependence upon electric power for safe containment and flow is eliminated. The process includes the steps of placing a supply cylinder into a containment vessel; connecting the supply cylinder release valve to a tubing means extending through a fluid substance sensing valve assembly in the vessel wall. Optional additional steps include delivery of the fluid substance from the gas sensing valve assembly into a gas manifold; and delivering the gas from the manifold into a cooled distribution cylinder. Fluid substance contained within the supply vessel and gas manifold is maintained at ambient temperature so that gas pressure is minimized for safe retention. The distribution cylinder or other receiving structure or system is cooled below ambient to receive gas at low pressure. In this way the flow of gas results from the pressure differential between the supply cylinder and receiving structure rather than from the mechanical action of drive means, so that fluid substance containment and apparatus operation is passive, and high pressures are safely avoided.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have long been gas delivery and transfer systems for delivering hazardous fluid substances from a supply cylinder, which is typically a one ton cylinder, into a receiving structure or system, such as a distribution cylinder, which is typically a fifteen or twenty pound cylinder. Recent government environmental and safety regulations have required that delivery or transfer take place within secondary containment. This has been accomplished in the chlorine industry in either of two ways.
One way has been to make the transfer in a room filled with massive and very costly scrubber equipment, so that if a leak develops, all gas in the supply cylinder can be very rapidly scrubbed from the air. This process makes it necessary to shut down operation in the room for one or more days and also results in the loss of all chlorine in the supply cylinder, both of these consequences being very expensive in addition to the cost of the scrubbing equipment. Should leakage take place during a power outage, particularly during a natural disaster, the scrubbing equipment would not function, so that the dangerous chlorine gas would escape into the neighborhood and into nearby ecosystems.
The other known way of transferring chlorine gas is with the use of what is known as a "coffin", which is essentially an ordinary sheet metal cabinet. The supply cylinder and distribution cylinder are both placed inside the coffin. The coffin has a release port opening into a powerful suction and scrubber assembly. In the event of supply cylinder leakage, the scrubber assembly must be activated immediately to rapidly draw away all of the escaping gas which includes the entire contents of the supply cylinder. The coffin would not contain the gas in the event that a power failure shut down the scrubber. Thus the problems of the scrubbing room are substantially presented by the coffin and scrubber containment system.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a hazardous fluid substance delivery system which provides the safe secondary containment required by law.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a system which is compact and which requires minimal shutdown time in the event of a fluid substance leak.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a system which safely retains any of the fluid substance leaking from the supply cylinder which has not reached the receiving structure or system, for gradual release into gas cylinders or into a scrubbing unit.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a system which can release gaseous substances at a slow, controlled rate and thus requires only a small, low capacity and inexpensive scrubbing assembly.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a system which safely and secondarily contains the vast majority of leaking fluid substance in the event of power failure such as during a natural disaster.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a system which automatically stops the flow of fluid substance from the containment vessel with a valve operated by a fluid substance sensing mechanism.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a system which delivers or transfers a fluid substance by passive, low pressure means and which is compact and economical to build and operate.

Apparatus and process for safely containing and delivering hazardous fluid substances from supply cylinders


A scalable pipelined pixel shader that processes packets of data and preserves the format of each packet at each processing stage. Each packet is an ordered array of data values, at least one of which is an instruction pointer. Each member of the ordered array can be indicative of any type of data. As a packet progresses through the pixel shader during processing, each member of the ordered array can be replaced by a sequence of data values indicative of different types of data (e.g., an address of a texel, a texel, or a partially or fully processed color value). Information required for the pixel shader to process each packet is contained in the packet, and thus the pixel shader is scalable in the sense that it can be implemented in modular fashion to include any number of identical pipelined processing stages and can execute the same program regardless of the number of stages. Preferably, each processing stage is itself scalable, can be implemented to include an arbitrary number of identical pipelined instruction execution stages known as microblenders, and can execute the same program regardless of the number of microblenders. The current value of the instruction pointer (IP) in a packet determines the next instruction to be executed on the data contained in the packet. Any processing unit can change the instruction that will be executed by a subsequent processing unit by modifying the IP (and/or condition codes) of a packet that it asserts to the subsequent processing unit. Other aspects of the invention include graphics processors (each including a pixel shader configured in accordance with the invention), methods and systems for generating packets of data for processing in accordance with the invention, and methods for pipelined processing of packets of data.

In three dimensional graphics, surfaces are typically rendered by assembling a plurality of polygons in a desired shape. The polygons (which are typically triangles) are defined by vertices, and each vertex is defined by three dimensional coordinates in world space, by color values, and by texture coordinates. Vertices can have other attributes, such as surface normals.
The surface determined by an assembly of polygons is typically intended to be viewed in perspective. To display the surface on a computer monitor, the three dimensional world space coordinates of the vertices are transformed into screen coordinates in which horizontal and vertical values (x, y) define screen position and a depth value z determines how near a vertex is to the screen and thus whether that vertex is viewed with respect to other points at the same screen coordinates. The color values define the brightness of each of red/green/blue (r, g, b) color at each vertex and thus the color (often called diffuse color) at each vertex. Texture coordinates (u, v) define texture map coordinates for each vertex on a particular texture map defined by values stored in memory.
The world space coordinates for the vertices of each polygon are processed to determine the two-dimensional coordinates at which those vertices are to appear on the two-dimensional screen space of an output display. If a triangle's vertices are known in screen space, the positions of all pixels of the triangle vary linearly along scan lines within the triangle in screen space and can thus be determined. Typically, a rasterizer uses (or a vertex processor and a rasterizer use) the three-dimensional world coordinates of the vertices of each polygon to determine the position of each pixel of each surface ("primitive" surface") bounded by one of the polygons.
The color values of each pixel of a primitive surface (sometimes referred to herein as a "primitive") vary linearly along lines through the primitive in world space. A rasterizer performs (or a rasterizer and a vertex processor perform) processes based on linear interpolation of pixel values in screen space, linear interpolation of depth and color values in world space, and perspective transformation between the two spaces to provide pixel coordinates and color values for each pixel of each primitive. The end result of this is that the rasterizer outputs a sequence red/green/blue color values (conventionally referred to as diffuse color values) for each pixel of each primitive.
One or more of the vertex processor, the rasterizer, and a texture processor compute texture coordinates for each pixel of each primitive. The texture coordinates of each pixel of a primitive vary linearly along lines through the primitive in world space. Thus, texture coordinates of a pixel at any position in the primitive can be determined in world space (from the texture coordinates of the vertices) by a process of perspective transformation, and the texture coordinates of each pixel to be displayed on the display screen can be determined. A texture processor can use the texture coordinates (of each pixel to be displayed on the display screen) to index into a corresponding texture map to determine texels (texture color values at the position defined by the texture coordinates for each pixel) to vary the diffuse color values for the pixel. Often the texture processor interpolates texels at a number of positions surrounding the texture coordinates of a pixel to determine a texture value for the pixel. The end result of this is that the texture processor generates data determining a textured version of each pixel (of each primitive) to be displayed on the display screen.
A texture map typically describes a pattern to be applied to a primitive to vary the color of each pixel of the primitive in accordance with the pattern. The texture coordinates of the vertices of the primitive fix the position of the vertices of a polygon on the texture map and thereby determine the texture detail applied to each of the other pixels of the primitive in accordance with the pattern.
A texture applied to a surface in space can have a wide variety of characteristics. A texture can define a pattern such as a stone wall. It can define light reflected from positions on the surface. It can describe the degree of transparency of a surface and thus how other objects are seen through the surface. A texture can provide characteristics such as dirt or scratches which make a surface appear more realistic. A number of other variations can be provided which fall within the general description of a texture. In theory, a number of different textures can be applied to the pixels of any primitive. Some graphics processors capable of applying multiple textures to the pixels of a primitive progress through a series of steps in which data describing the pixels of each primitive are generated, a first texture is mapped to the pixels of the primitive using the texture coordinates of the vertices, texels to be combined with each pixel of the primitive (to vary the color of each such pixel in accordance with the first texture) are generated or retrieved, the texels describing the first texture and the color data for the pixels of the primitive are blended to generate textured pixel data. Then, an additional texture is mapped to the same primitive using the texture coordinates of the vertices, texels for the additional texture are generated or retrieved, and the texels describing the additional texture are blended with the previously generated textured pixel data to generate multiply textured pixel data.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,744, issued on Dec. 25, 2001 and assigned to the assignee of the present application, describes a graphics processor including a pipelined pixel shader that can be operated to blend multiple textures with each pixel of a primitive in a single pass through the pipeline.
Some conventional pipelined pixel shaders can recirculate data through their stages. For example, to apply N textures (where N=1 or N=2) to each pixel of a primitive, such a pixel shader operates in response to a program to pass each pixel once through each stage. To apply 2N textures to each pixel of the same primitive, the shader operates in response to another program to pass each pixel once through each stage (to generate partially textured pixels by combining first texture data with each pixel) and then recirculate each partially textured pixel through the shader (by passing each partially textured pixel through each stage a second time) to combine additional texture data with each partially textured pixel.
Until the present invention, a pipelined pixel shader had not been designed with a scalable architecture in the sense that it could be implemented in modular fashion with any number of pipelined processing stages and still be operable in response to the same program (regardless of the number of stages). The inventors have recognized how to design a pipelined pixel shader with a scalable architecture so that it can be implemented with a low number of identical processing stages for applications in which it is acceptable to operate the pixel shader (in response to a program) with a high degree of data recirculation through each stage in order to perform a large number of texturing operations on each pixel, or with a high number of the same processing stages for applications in which it is desired to operate the pixel shader (in response to the same program) with no more than a low degree of data recirculation through each stage in order to perform the same number of texturing operations on each pixel.
Nor had a pipelined pixel shader been designed, until the present invention, to have a scalable architecture and also to be capable of executing conditional jumping and branching, looping, and other high-level flow control constructs. Nor had a pipelined pixel shader been designed, until the present invention, with each of its processing stages having a modular design so that each processing stage can be implemented in a scalable manner to include any number of identical pipelined instruction execution stages and be operable to execute the same sequence of instructions regardless of the number of instruction execution stages.

Method and system for scalable, dataflow-based, programmable processing of graphics data


A vending machine capable of preventing fraudulent use of false coins of a plurality of kinds. The number of slotted coins acceptable in one vending operation is preset in setting unit (112). The coins slotted into a coin slotting unit (101) are counted based on the sensing output from a counting sensor (104). When a refund operation is carried out while the number of coins slotted into the coin slotting unit(101) is equal to or larger than the preset acceptable number of coins set in the setting unit (112), the coin return in response to the refund instruction is inhibited as a fraudulent use.

The present invention relates to a vending machine accepting coins, and more particularly, to a vending machine in which fraudulent use with false coins can be largely prevented.
Generally, vending machines can sell various kinds of merchandise without necessitating human help, so that due to this convenience they are used in a wide variety of usage forms and they are installed in numerous places.
Such vending machines accept either coins only or bills and coins, and in particular coins are sorted into true or false by electrically or mechanically discriminating their material, diameter, surface pattern, etc.
However, among the coins of the world, there are coins that are very similar with regard to material, diameter, and surface pattern, and there are numerous incidents, in which such coins are treated and applied to fraudulent use with vending machines of another country. This is done by slotting into a vending machine a large amount of false coins corresponding to a certain denomination, and then either pressing the return button or pressing the return button after purchasing the merchandise of the lowest price.
That is to say, in vending machines that accept coins, the coins are reused as change, so that the coins that can be used as change are temporarily accumulated in an accumulation device also known as the coin tube, and for a sale of merchandise that requires change, the change is disbursed using the coins that have accumulated in the coin tube.
Therefore, when a large amount of false coins corresponding to a certain denomination is slotted into a vending machine, and then either the return button is pressed or the return button is pressed after purchasing the merchandise of the lowest price, then true coins accumulated in the coin tube are returned for the slotted false coins or as change, so that it is possible to get hold of the true coins in the vending machine, in exchange for the false coins.
In particular in recent vending machines, there is the tendency to enlarge the number of coins that can be accumulated in the coin tubes, in order to eliminate shortages of coins for change, which leads to a situation in which a large amount of true coins can be lifted from a vending machine with a fraudulent operation using these false coins.
Conventional methods for preventing fraudulent operation of vending machines using false coins include:
1) Increasing the precision with which coins are sorted into true and fraudulent; and
2) Prohibiting the use of coins that can be used fraudulently.
However, increasing the precision with which coins are sorted into true and fraudulent as in method 1) may lead to a situation in which, due to the increase of the precision with which coins are sorted into true and false coins that were previously accepted as true are now sorted as fraudulent.
That is to say, due to circulation, a certain degree of deformation, damage, etc. to the coins used in vending machines cannot be avoided, so that when the precision with which coins slotted into a vending machine are sorted into true and fraudulent is increased, then true coins with a certain degree of deformation, damage, etc. will be regarded as false coins and returned as well, so that the person servicing the vending machine will loose a valuable sales opportunity, and when slotted coins are not accepted and returned even though they are true, then the user of the vending machine will be hampered in his regular use of the vending machine and his mistrust in vending machines may increase.
Furthermore, if the use of coins that can be used fraudulently is prohibited as in method 2), then this causes some inconvenience if the coins that can be used fraudulently are, for example, the coins with the largest denomination accepted by this vending machine, but the function of the vending machine as such can be maintained.
However, if the coins that can be used fraudulently are coins with the denomination used most with this vending machine, then a regular functioning of the vending machine cannot be maintained.
That is to say, in method 1) of increasing the precision with which coins are sorted into true and fraudulent, there are intrinsic limits with regard to the increase of the precision, and method 2) of prohibiting the use of coins that can be used fraudulently, cannot be applied to cases where the coins that can be used fraudulently are coins with the denomination used most with this vending machine.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine, with which the fraudulent use with false coins of various denominations can be prevented effectively.
In order to achieve this object, the present invention is characterized in that a vending machine counting amount of slotted money, vending merchandise within a range of the counted amount of slotted money, and returning money corresponding to a return amount based on a refund instruction, comprises counting means for counting, by denomination, the number of slotted coins of the slotted money, setting means for setting, by denomination, an administrative value indicating number of slotted coins that is acceptable in one vending operation, and refund prohibiting means for prohibiting a coin refund operation based on the refund instruction, when the number of slotted coins counted by the counting means is equal to or larger than the administrative value set with the setting means.
Alternatively, the present invention is characterized in that a vending machine having a main control unit and a coin processing unit, wherein the main control unit counts amount of slotted money based on communication with the coin processing unit, calculates amount of money to be returned based on a refund request from the coin processing unit and gives the coin processing unit a refund instruction to refund coins corresponding to this amount of money to be returned, and wherein the coin processing unit returns coins based on this refund instruction, comprises counting means for counting, by denomination, the number of slotted coins, setting means for setting, by denomination, an administrative value indicating number of slotted coins that is acceptable in one vending operation, and prohibiting means for prohibiting sending of the refund request to the main control unit, if the number of slotted coins counted by the counting means is equal to or larger than the administrative value set with the setting means.
Alternatively, the present invention is characterized in that a vending machine counting amount of slotted money, vending merchandise within a range of the counted amount of slotted money, and returning money corresponding to a return amount based on a refund instruction, comprises a calculation means for calculating difference between the slotted coins in the amount of slotted money and the amount of money to be returned, and reception prohibiting means for prohibiting the reception of coins for a predetermined period of time after money corresponding to the amount to be returned is returned based on the refund instruction, if, the difference between the slotted coins in the amount of slotted money and the amount of money to be returned calculated by the calculation means is within a predetermined value.
Alternatively, the present invention is characterized in that a vending machine counting amount of slotted money, vending merchandise within a range of the counted amount of slotted money, and returning money corresponding to a return amount based on a refund instruction, comprises an slotted coin counting means for counting, by denomination, the number of slotted coins of the slotted money, setting means for setting, by denomination, an administrative value indicating number of slotted coins that is acceptable in one vending operation, a return operation counting means for counting number of coin return operations, based on the refund instruction given when the number of slotted coins counted by the slotted coin counting means is equal to or higher than the administrative value set with by setting means, and reception prohibiting means for prohibiting reception of coins when the number of coin return operations counted by the return operation counting means has reached a predetermined value.
Alternatively, the present invention is characterized in that a vending machine counting amount of slotted money, vending merchandise within a range of the counted amount of slotted money, and returning money corresponding to a return amount based on a refund instruction, comprises an slotted coin counting means for counting, by denomination, the number of slotted coins of the slotted money, setting means for setting, by denomination, an administrative value indicating number of slotted coins that is acceptable in one vending operation, a return operation counting means for counting number of return operations, when the refund instruction is given without sale of merchandise, and reception prohibiting means for prohibiting reception of coins if the refund instruction is given when the number of slotted coins counted by the slotted coin counting means is equal to or larger than the administrative value set with the setting means, and the refund instruction is issued without sale of merchandise, and if the number of return operations counted by the return operation counting means has reached a predetermined value.


An object of this invention is to provide a rewritable nonvolatile memory cell that can have a wide reading margin, and can control both a word line and a bit line by changing the level of Vcc. As a solution, a flip-flop is formed by cross (loop) connect of inverters including memory transistors that can control a threshold voltage by charge injection into the side spacer of the transistors. In the case of writing data to one memory transistor, a high voltage is supplied to a source of the memory transistor through a source line and a high voltage is supplied to a gate of the memory transistor through a load transistor of the other side inverter. In the case of erasing the written data, a high voltage is supplied to the source of the memory transistor through the source line.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrically erasable and rewritable nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, and semiconductor devices therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
A low cost fuse memory device has been required, for making redundancy of an incorporated SRAM due to increasing its capacity, for tuning a driver such as an LCD driver individually after implementation, and for enhancing user-friendliness of personal identification information (an ID code, a decryption key, or IC card etc.).
A fuse having a poly-silicon or a wiring metal layer melted down by a laser or a current surge or a fuse having a gate insulator broken down by high voltage has been used as a fuse memory device formed in the standard logic CMOS process. However, these fuses having the meltdown portion or the breakdown portion cannot be applied to the foregoing usage because these are not reprogrammable.
An electrically erasable and rewritable fuse of a nonvolatile device having a floating gate can be manufactured in the logic CMOS process. However, additional mask steps over the standard logic CMOS process for manufacturing the floating gate does not worth the cost, and a floating gate device manufactured in a standard CMOS process deteriorates in data-retention due to a thinner insulator of a highly integrated circuit
U.S. Pat. No. 6,518,614 B1 and JPA2004-056095 show a nonvolatile memory device that is manufactured in the standard CMOS process, and JPA2005-353106 shows a nonvolatile memory device without the floating gate manufactured without the additional mask steps.

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory using an adjustable threshold voltage transistor in a flip-flop


A method for patterning a photoresist film, capable of preventing a notching phenomenon occurring upon forming a pattern of the photoresist film having a single layer structure and thereby accurately forming a pattern of a metal wiring or a gate with a desired dimension even on a layer exhibiting a severe topology by removing a portion of the photoresist film coated over the layer having a severe topology up to a depth corresponding to 30% or below of the thickness of the photoresist film to form a recess, forming an planarized inorganic material layer on the recess, and selectively removing a predetermined portion of the photoresist film under a condition that the inorganic material layer is used as a mask.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming a pattern of a photoresist film and more particularly to a method for patterning a photoresist film capable of minimizing a scattering effect of a reflective light generated upon an exposure and thereby achieving an accurate patterning of the photoresist film having a single layer structure by forming an inorganic material layer over the photoresist film, patterning the inorganic material layer and then patterning the photoresist film by use of the patterned inorganic material layer as a mask.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In fabrication of a semiconductor device, a plurality of process steps to be applied to a substrate are generally necessary. As a result, the uppermost layer on the substrate may have a severe topology at its upper surface.
Where a photoresist film is coated over a layer having a topology in fabrication of a semiconductor device with a relatively large dimension, the topology does not cause any significant affect on the fabrication of the semiconductor device. However, such a topology may cause a significant effect in fabrication of a semiconductor device with a relatively small dimension.
For example, in formation of a desired pattern on the uppermost layer on a substrate utilizing a photoresist film having a single layer structure, a notching phenomenon may occur at the photoresist film due to a scattering of light caused by a topology of a layer over which the photo resist film is coated. In order to prevent such a notching phenomenon, there have been proposed various methods for planarizing the layer over which the photoresist film is coated.
In fabrication of a semiconductor device with a high integration degree inevitably involving a topology of not less than 1 .mu.m, however, use of a photoresist film having a single layer structure still encounters the notching phenomenon caused by the severe topology of the uppermost layer even when existing planarization methods are used. As a result, it is difficult to achieve an accurate control for a critical dimension of a photoresist pattern to be formed. This results in a severe degradation in reliability and operational characteristic of the semiconductor device finally fabricated.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, there has been proposed a new method of controlling the critical dimension by use of a multi-layer resist process utilizing a photoresist film having a multi-layer structure including two or three layers. However, this method is complex and expensive. As a result, it is difficult to use the method for mass-production of semiconductor devices.
For this reason, various methods have also been proposed which still use a photoresist film having a single layer structure, but overcome the problem caused by the topology of the layer over which the photoresist film is coated. Most of these methods involve removing a selected surface portion of the photoresist film physically and chemically, and subsequently removing the remaining portion of the photoresist film by use of a reactive ion etch (RIE) process. As such methods, there have been known a silylation method, a contact enhancement material (CEM) technique, an anti-reflective coating (ARC) process, and an alkaline treatment.
An example of such conventional methods will now be described in detail in conjunction with FIGS. 1A to 1D.
In accordance with the illustrated method, first, a general process step for fabricating a semiconductor device is carried out, thereby sequentially forming a plurality of patterns on a substrate 1, as shown in FIG. 1A. Because of such a formation of patterns, the uppermost layer, denoted by the reference numeral 2, on the substrate 1 has a severe topology. Thereafter, a positive photoresist film 3 having a single layer structure is coated over the entire upper surface of the uppermost layer 2 so as to achieve a patterning of the uppermost layer 2.
For the patterning of the uppermost layer 2, an exposure step is carried out. That is, the photoresist film 3 is selectively exposed to light emitted from a light source (not shown) under a condition that a mask 4 is disposed between the light source and the photoresist film 3, as shown in FIG. 1B.
This exposure step will be described in more detail. The mask 4 is used to expose only a selected portion of the photoresist film 3 to light. That is, the exposure light projected onto an opaque chromium layer 5 of the mask 4 is shielded by the opaque chromium layer 5 so that a portion of the photoresist film 3 disposed beneath the chromium layer 5 is not exposed to the light. On the other hand, the exposure light projected onto a transparent quartz substrate of the mask 4 transmits through the transparent quartz substrate so that only a portion of the photoresist film 3 not disposed beneath the chromium layer 5 is exposed to the light.
In practice no light is projected onto the photoresist pattern portion disposed beneath the chromium layer 5 of the mask 4 because the chromium layer 5 shields the light. However, this photoresist pattern portion disposed beneath the chromium layer 5 is exposed to reflected light resulting from a reflection of the light transmitting through the transparent quartz substrate portion of the mask 4 not disposed beneath the chromium layer 5. That is, the light transmitting through the exposed transparent quartz substrate portion of the mask 4 is projected onto the photoresist film 3 and the uppermost layer 2 both disposed beneath the exposed transparent quartz substrate portion and then reflected by the surface of the uppermost layer 2. This reflected light is projected onto a part of the photoresist film portion disposed beneath the chromium layer 5. As a result, a latent image is formed on the photoresist film portion disposed beneath the chromium layer 5.
After completing the exposure step shown in FIG. 1B, a development is carried out, as shown in FIG. 1C. By the development, the portion of photoresist film 3 not disposed beneath the chromium layer 5 of the mask 4 is removed, thereby forming a pattern of the photoresist film 3. At this time, a part of the photoresist film portion disposed beneath the chromium layer 5 intended not to be removed, but formed with the latent image is also removed.
As a result, the pattern of photoresist film 3 has at its lower portion a width W1 smaller than a width W2 at its upper portion, as shown in FIG. 1C. In other words, the width W1 of the lower portion of the photoresist pattern is smaller than an intended width corresponding to the width of the chromium layer 5, that is, the width W2.
As shown in FIG. 1D, the photoresist pattern corresponding to the remaining portion of photoresist film 3 is then set. Using the set photoresist pattern as a mask, an exposed portion of the uppermost layer 2 is etched, thereby forming a pattern of the layer 2. The pattern of layer 2 has a width smaller than an intended width.
Thereafter, the photoresist pattern is removed to expose the pattern of layer 2.
As apparent from the above description, in accordance with the conventional method, the profile of the photoresist film is degraded because a severe light scattering phenomenon occurs at the layer having a severe topology upon the exposure. This results in a degradation in uniformity of the critical dimension control, thereby preventing a pattern with a desired dimension from being obtained. As a result, it is impossible to obtain a pattern with a critical dimension for fabrication of a highly integrated semiconductor device. This results in a degradation in resolution.

Method for patterning photoresist film having a stepwise thermal treatment


A polycarbonate resin composition includes: (A) an aromatic polycarbonate in an amount of about 5 to about 95% by weight, (B) a siloxane-based polycarbonate in an amount of about 5 to about 90% by weight, and (C) a syndiotactic polystyrene in an amount of 0 to about 5% by weight. The polycarbonate resin composition can have excellent flowability, injection moldability, impact strength, chemical resistance, and transparency.

Polycarbonate resin is a polymeric material which is widely used as an exterior material for portable electronic devices such as mobile phones due to its excellent transparency and impact strength.
However, if a polycarbonate resin is used as an exterior material for portable electronic devices, typically a painting process is required to express a variety of colors. The polycarbonate resin can be exposed to the diluents solution of the paint during the painting process. The diluents solution can penetrate into the polycarbonate resin, which can reduce mechanical properties and impact strength of the polycarbonate resin.
Methods used to address these problems include blending the polycarbonate resin with ester-based polymers, blending the polycarbonate resin with sulfone-based polymers, and adding a rubber-based impact reinforcing agent to the polycarbonate resin. However, the polycarbonate resin may still have insufficient transparency and impact strength.

Polycarbonate resin composition having excellent chemical resistance

Abstract: In a preferred embodiment the siloxane-based polycarbonate comprises a compound represented by the following formula in the main chain thereof:


A cooling fan includes a frame base including a frame wall, a bottom plate and a cover plate for enclosing and defining a containing space. The vane wheel is installed in the containing space and provided for producing a cooling forced airflow when the vane wheel is in a forward rotation status and forming a strong wind area, and producing a dust discharging forced airflow when the vane wheel is in a reverse rotation status. The moving baffle module is rotably installed in the strong wind area, and the frame base includes a dust discharging opening configured to be corresponsive to the periphery of the strong wind area, and the dust discharging forced airflow is affected by the moving baffle module to discharge dust from the dust discharging opening to the outside.

In general, a cooling fan is provided for producing a forced convection to dissipate heat generated in the operation of an electronic product and lower the temperature during the operation of the electronic product. In recent years, notebook (NB) computers tend to be designed with a small thickness and the internal space of the notebook computers is reduced to an extent that already affects the internal space available for installing the cooling fan. What is more, present cooling fans require increasingly higher performance. In a long time of use, the airflow of the cooling fans is introduced through the air inlet continuously. The airflow is usually mixed with tiny dusts and cotton fibers which will be accumulated on the fins and inside the fan, and such accumulated dust may affect the internal flow channel and the input and output of air. As a result, the cooling effect of the cooling fan drops significantly.
The accumulated dust seals the interior of the fan. It is very difficult to clear the dust, and the dust accumulated in the fan affects the overall air input and output of the cooling fan. Therefore, the heat dissipating effect of the cooling fan is reduced significantly, and the service life of the cooling fan is shortened. Therefore, it is a main subject for related manufacturers to design a cooling fan with a dust discharging function that can maintain a high performance of the cooling fan and extend the service life of the fan.
In view of the aforementioned problems of the prior art, the inventor of this disclosure based on years of experience in the industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments and finally provided a feasible solution to overcome the problems of the prior art.


According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a photocurable composition which comprises a cyclic compound (a) represented by formula (1), an episulfide compound (b), and a photopolymerization initiator (c). In a preferred embodiment, the proportion of the cyclic compound (a) in the photocurable composition is 5-80 mass %, the proportion of the episulfide compound (b) is 20-95 mass %, and the proportion of the photopolymerization initiator (c) is 0.1-10 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of the sum of the cyclic compound (a) and the episulfide compound (b). In the formula, C represents a carbon atom, X represents S, Se, or Te, and a to f are integers of 0-3, provided that 8≥(a+c+e)≥1, 8≥(b+d+f)≥2, and (b+d+f)≥(a+c+e).

Since plastic materials are light in weight, excellent in toughness, and can easily be dyed, they are recently frequently applied to various optical materials. Properties that are particularly required for many optical materials include a high refractive index. As optical materials having a high refractive index, a number of episulfide compounds that can give optical materials with a refractive index of 1.7 or higher have been found (see Patent Documents 1, 2 and 3). As other technique for increasing a refractive index of a plastic material, a method in which inorganic particles are dispersed into an organic resin is well known. According to this method, however, haze is caused since light scattering caused by the particles cannot be avoided completely. Thus, use of an episulfide compound is more preferable in terms of light transmittance.
Since the method for curing a composition using an episulfide compound is mostly heat curing, there is large restriction on the usage thereof. Furthermore, a photocurable composition is also strongly desired for improving productivity. For example, in order to impart an optical function to a transparent substrate having a refractive index exceeding 1.73 such as lanthanum glass or sapphire glass, a photocurable composition that has a refractive index exceeding 1.73 and that can be provided with a fine structure is desired.
Patent Document 4 reports a cured resin product with a high refractive index that is obtained by photocuring an episulfide composition containing a photobase generator.
As a method for obtaining a cured resin product with a higher refractive index, a technique of copolymerizing a cyclic sulfur compound and an episulfide compound is known. Patent Document 5 reports that a sulfur-containing episulfide compound can be cured with heat and Patent Document 6 reports that an episulfide compound containing a cyclic skeleton structure compound having sulfur can be cured, to obtain a transparent resin having a refractive index exceeding 1.73, respectively. It is, however, generally difficult to use a cyclic sulfur compound for a photocurable composition with a high refractive index. Specifically, a typical cyclic sulfur compound S8 quenches optically active species due to the strong radical-inhibiting activity attributed to its polysulfide structure, while a cyclic sulfide compound that contains more carbon atoms than sulfur atoms is poorly effective in enhancing the refractive index.
Moreover, Patent Document 6 shows only an example of thermal polymerization and not photocuring, and thus it has no intension of using a photopolymerization initiator. Therefore, the property of inhibiting photoactive species is not considered at all.

Photocurable composition and optical material


A litter bin comprising a heavy base member adapted to rest on the ground, a litter container mounted on said base member through an annular rubber bush and a central bolt connecting the container to the base member and passing through the bush, an upwardly extending support pole secured to the base member, an arm pivotally attached to the top of the pole and having a lid attached to the end thereof at a position which normally is in overlying relationship with the litter container, an actuating mechanism associated with the container whereby the container may be tilted in substantially any direction through said rubber bush connection from its position under said lid to a position in which it is exposed for the receipt of litter or refuse.

This invention relates to Litter Bins, and more particularly to public Litter Bins, although the invention is equally applicable to Litter Bins for use within the home, office or factory.
The many existing designs of public Litter Bins suffer from various disadvantages.
In bins with no lid, the litter may be visually offensive, it may be blown out by wind, rain may enter and hasten decay thereby creating offensive odours, and cats dogs and birds may scatter the litter therein.
In bits with hand operated lids or flaps, operation is inconvenient when approaching the bin from some directions, and when unwrapping an article or peeling fruit or the like, a hand may not be available to hold the lid open. In addition, the lid or flap is usually soiled with litter and there is therefore the risk of soiling and contaminating the hand and hence the food being eaten.
In bins with foot operated lids or flaps, one must approach the bin from a particular direction, complex mechanical linkages are often required, and no design suitable for public use has been found.
Bins with partly open lids suffer to some degree the disadvantages of the open type and also restrict access when depositing litter.
The object of the invention is to provide a Litter Bin which at least substantially overcomes a majority of the above disadvantages.


According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus that includes a first power converter stage connected to a first side of a first transformer, and a second power converter stage connected to a first side of a second transformer. The apparatus further includes an interleaved multi-bridge circuit connected to the second side of the first transformer and to the second side of the second transformer. The apparatus further includes a controller that is configured to operate the interleaved multi-bridge circuit in a parallel mode in which the second sides of the first and second transformers are in parallel at a DC terminal of the interleaved multi-bridge circuit and in a series mode in which the second sides of the first and second transformers are in series at the DC terminal.

Electric power converters include AC to DC power converters, as well as DC to DC power converters. Electric power converters have a wide range of uses including, but not limited to, charging batteries and providing power to electronic devices.
Electric power converters are potentially dangerous due to high voltages and currents. A transformer may be used to provide electrical isolation between two electrical circuits. For example, an electric power converter may contain a transformer to provide electrical isolation between an input terminal and an output terminal.

Power converter with wide DC voltage range


Field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based self-adaption method and apparatus for a remote radio unit (RRU) interface protocol. The FPGA includes a type register. The method includes: an RRU loads an FPGA, the FPGA including one or more interface protocol types; the RRU accesses a baseband processing unit (BBU) by using any one of the interface protocol types; the RRU detects the current interface protocol type of the BBU; the RRU records in the type register a corresponding type identifier for the current interface protocol type; and the RRU configures the interface protocol type corresponding to the type identifier. Used for detecting and adjusting an interface protocol, ensuring the uniformity between the protocol and a peer-end device interface protocol, lowering the complexity for implementing normal communication, shortening the reconstruction time that a TD-SCDMA base station is evolved to a TD-LTE base station, and ensuring normal communication of devices in common networking.

In TD-LTE (Time Division Long Term Evolution), there is a widely used distributed structure consisting of RRU (Radio Remote Unit) and BBU (Building Base band Unit). It is a popular base station system architecture at present.
Currently, when a RRU is connected to BBU via fiber optic based on specific RRU interface protocol, RRU is required to support the need for evolving from TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronization Code Division Multiple Access) standards to TD-LTE standards smoothly. This leads to more types of RRU interface protocol supported by RRU, and normal access on the RRU side needs RRU interface protocols corresponding to BBU. For example, RRUs in current TD-LTE can be connected to BBUs of TD-SCDMA via fiber optic. As they have different communication standards, interface protocol incompatibility exists between RRU and BBU.
Therefore, to address one of the urgent issues, technical researchers in this field proposes an adaptive method and device based on FPGA RRU interface protocol to detect and adjust interface protocol, ensure consistency with peer device interface protocol, reduce complexity of normal communication implementation, shorten the time for transforming TD-SCDMA base station into TD-LTE base station, and ensure normal communication between devices in a common network configuration.

Adaptive method and device based on FPGA RRU interface protocol

DATANG MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


A method for the preparation of highly elastic foams of reduced compression hardness and having urethane groups is disclosed, in which the reaction of the polyurethane-forming materials is carried in the presence of 0.01 to 5% by weight, based on the polyol, of a compound, which has at least one polyoxyalkylene group and at least one anionic group in the molecule. The use of fluorocarbons to decrease the compression hardness can reduced appreciably by the use of this compound.

The invention is directed to a method for the preparation of highly elastic foams of reduced compression hardness having urethane groups by the reaction of polyethers having a molecular weight of 400 to 10,000 and containing at least two hydroxyl groups with polyisocyanates in the presence of cross-linking agents, catalysts and water and optionally in the presence of emulsifiers, stabilizers, organic blowing agents and further auxiliaries and additives.
Flexible polyurethane foams are used to a large extent in upholstered furniture and automobile industries. For the different uses and the different qualities desired therefor, it is necessary to be able to vary the apparent density and primarily also the compression hardness over a wide range.
Inorganic and organic fillers have already been used for preparing foams with increased compression hardness. The compression hardness can also be increased by polymerization reactions of the polyols used for foaming.
Compression hardness is lowered by the use of physical blowing agents, such as fluorocarbons or methylene chloride. The use of these materials is contrary to the endeavor, for environmental reasons, to limit the use of fluorocarbons as much as possible. The same is true for methylene chloride, which is physiologically not safe.
In formulations in which inert fillers are used in order to obtain other foam properties instead of an increase in hardness, according to the state of the art, the use of physical blowing agents is even indispensable when flexible foams are to be obtained. For example, considerable amounts of melamine or aluminum hydroxide are used in order to manufacture upholstered furniture and mattresses of high flame resistance on the basis of highly elastic, so-called HR foams. The increase in compression hardness, which is associated therewith, cannot be accepted for reasons of comfort, so that physical blowing agents must be used in considerable amounts.
The addition of compounds which contain at least one polyoxyalkylene group and at least one anionic group to formulations for the production of polyurethane foams is known from the art.
For example, the use of a mixture of polyoxyalkylene alkyl ether sulfate and a polyoxyethylene/polyoxypropylene polymer as emulsifier and dispersing agent for the manufacture of flexible polyester urethane foams is described in CS patent 253,786.
The use of anionic surfactants as foam stabilizers for the preparation of flexible polyester polyurethane foams is known from the German Offenlegungsschrift 11 78 595.
The use of nonylphenol polyoxyethylene ether sulfates as foam stabilizers for the preparation of rigid polyurethane or polyisocyanurate foams can be inferred from U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,251.
Japanese patent 56/152 826 discloses the use of carboxymethylated polyether polyols as trimerizing catalysts for the preparation of rigid polyisocyanurate foams. Derivatives of aminated, alkoxylated aliphatic alcohols with sulfonate or carboxylate groups as trimerization catalysts for forming rigid polyisocyanurate foams is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,811.
However, the use of such anionic surfactants for the preparation of highly elastic, so-called high resilient polyurethane foams cannot be inferred from the state of the art; nor is the use known of such surfactants for the preparation of polyurethane foams of reduced compression hardness.

Method for the preparation of highly elastic forms of reduced compression hardness having polyurethane groups