A system for charging pressurized aerosol cans with liquid is provided combining a disposable syringe and filling machine. The syringe is loaded with a liquid, then placed in the filling machine and connected to the inlet of the pressurized container. The filling machine is activated and an electric motor or a hydraulic piston exerts force on the syringe to inject the liquid into the aerosol container.

The present invention relates to a device and system to allow for the preparation of a pressurized container of paint formulation of a desired color and gloss at the point of retail sale to the ultimate end user. Specifically, my invention relates to a system for injecting a paint composition into pressurized containers, and, more particularly, to an improved filling system for filling aerosol cans that uses a syringe assembly to measure and hold a desired paint formulation and to inject it into the pressurized container.
One of the most significant developments in the field of paints and other protective coatings is the introduction and development of aerosolized coatings, most commonly referred to as "spray paint." Retail stores have shelf upon shelf of these pre-filled pressurized containers of complete paint and coatings formulations, in every imaginable color and gloss that are "ready to use". These complete, pre-packaged spray paint containers provide the customer with a convenient means to purchase small quantities of paint in a readily useable spray container for easy application. Unfortunately, in situations where the end user has a particular color in mind or wants to match a particular existing color, the current art of spray paint forces the end user to select a paint color that in most cases is not the exact color that the user desires. This is because there is no convenient means to allow a consumer to select a color and have that exact color made at the point of purchase. Instead, the user must search a myriad of brands of spray paint in the hope of finding a color that at least comes close to the desired color. Often times, this causes the end user to travel from store to store in search of such a match. Another drawback of the conventional spray paint product is that the inability to prepare a final paint color at the point of sale directly affects the retailer. Because conventional spray paint is only available from the manufacturer in pre-selected and predetermined colors and gloss, the retailer is forced to stock and carry inventory for a large number of cans to accommodate a large number of colors and gloss finishes. This further requires the use of an inordinate amount of shelf space in the store, thus limiting the amount of other products that can be displayed.
A convenient solution to the above mentioned problems would be to allow the retail outlet at the point of sale to formulate the final color of the spray paint based on the end user's selections of color and gloss at the moment of sale. In this way only a very limited number of spray containers containing either a clear or neutral base paint formulation need to be stocked and shelved by the retailer. The end user can then select a final paint formulation that exactly matches his or her needs. Of course, once the final color is selected, there exists the problem of injecting the final paint formulation into the can. In a manufacturing setting large, non-portable paint filling machines are routinely used to inject paint formulations into pre-pressurized containers. However, at the retail level, such machines are non-existent or very rare. Existing paint filling machines are presently available as large bench mounted machines that are pneumatically operated to inject paint and the like into pre-charged aerosol cans. Some examples of these machines are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,302,163 and 6,138,720 and in the references cited in those two patents. Likewise, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,740,841; 5,647,408, Des. 361,581; 4,938,260, and 5,535,790, each describe various filing machine designs that can inject a complete "custom" paint formulation into a pressurized can. Such machines commonly include a large manually operated lever that is connected to a piston assembly that pneumatically injects a paint formulation from a reservoir through the aerosol valve and into the can. One drawback of these existing machines is that the clean up of the various components after an injection is tedious and time consuming.
Despite the improvements the art has seen in the design of paint filling machines, the art has not concerned itself with size, portability, or the need to efficiently prepare many final paint formulations at a retail store location in a short period of time. Although my earlier issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,705,359 and 6,135,165 describe a pressurized container containing certain paint additives that is eventually filled with a final water-borne paint composition of a selected color at the point of sale, those patents do not describe in detail any particular type of paint filling system that can be easily used at the point of sale location. My present invention now provides a new and improved compact aerosol can filling apparatus that includes a disposable syringe assembly that eliminates the need to clean the filling machine after each use.


A wellbore tool is provided to perform work in a wellbore by converting a chemical pressure source into a force exerted over a distance. The wellbore tool includes a pressure chamber sealed by a firing head and containing a power charge which includes a plurality of chemical components which are burned in a combustion reaction to generate gas. The combustion reaction of the power charge is initiated by a resistance heater which directly initiates the combustion reaction by receiving electrical energy and generating heat. The combustion reaction generates gas within the pressure chamber, the gas having a pressure which pushes a pressure responsive member into movement relative to the pressure chamber for providing a force over a distance to operate a downhole tool.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a wellbore tool utilized for performing work within a wellbore by converting a chemical pressure source into a force exerted over a distance for operating force actuated downhole tools.
2. Background of the Invention
Prior art wellbore tools have been utilized to provide power for operating and setting downhole tools. One example of such a prior art wellbore tool is a cable conveyed bridge plug for setting within a cased wellbore such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,637,402, entitled "Pressure Operated Well Apparatus, " invented by R. C. Baker et al., and issued to Baker Oil Tools, Inc. on May 5, 1953. A similar cable conveyed wellbore tool is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,695,064, entitled "Well Packer Apparatus," invented by T. M. Ragan et al., and issued to Baker Oil Tools, Inc. on Nov. 23, 1954. These patents disclose cable conveyed wellbore tools for setting a bridge plug within a wellbore casing. Both of the cable conveyed wellbore tools include a prior art power charge for providing energy to set the bridge plug within the wellbore casing. These cable conveyed wellbore tools were actuated by the percussion of a firing pin causing a cartridge to explode and ignite the prior art power cartridge, or combustible charge.
Another example of prior art wellbore tool is the wireline conveyed well packer apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 25,846, entitled "Well Packer Apparatus," invented by D. G. Campbell, and issued to Baker Oil Tools, Inc. on Apr. 31, 1965. The wireline conveyed well packer apparatus disclosed includes a power charge which is ignited to generate gas for setting the well packer apparatus within a wellbore. The power charge is ignited by passing an electric current down the wireline and exploding an igniter cartridge, which causes a flame to ignite the power charge.
An example of a prior art power charge for use in a wellbore tool to generate gas is a combustion charge disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,640,547, entitled "Gas-Operated Well Apparatus," invented by R. C. Baker et al., and issued to Baker Oil Tools, Inc. on Jun. 2, 1953. The combustion charge is comprised of combustion materials which, when ignited within a wellbore tool disclosed in the patent, will take at least one second for a maximum pressure to be attained within the wellbore tool. This prior art combustion charge includes both a fuel and a self-contained oxygen source. The combustion charge is ignited to generate a pressurized gas which provides a force for setting the gas-operated well apparatus. The combustion charge of the gas-operated well apparatus is ignited by exploding an igniter to start the combustion reaction for burning the combustion charge. The combustion charge, once ignited, burns in a self-sustained combustion reaction to generate the pressurized gas.
Another prior art wellbore tool is the wireline setting tool disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,692,023, entitled "Pressure Operated Subsurface Well Apparatus," invented by M. B. Conrad, and issued to Baker Oil Tools, Inc. on Oct. 19, 1954. The wireline conveyed wellbore tool includes a power charge which is burned in a combustion reaction to generate a pressurized gas. The power charge is ignited by electrically exploding an igniter cartridge which then emits a flame to start the power charge burning. Combustion of the power charge generates pressurized gas having a pressure which provides force for operation of the wireline setting tool to set a downhole tool such as a packer or bridge plug within the wellbore.
Each of the above-referenced patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,640,547, Re. 25,846, 2,695,064, 2,637,402, and 2,692,023, are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth and disclosed herein.
As disclosed in the above-referenced devices, these prior art wellbore tools for converting the chemical components of a power charge into a mechanical force exerted over a distance require at least a separate igniter cartridge for igniting the power charge. Typically, explosive components are used for these prior art igniter materials, such as, for example, gunpowder or lead azide. These types of igniter materials are easily ignited and represent hazards both to operators utilizing these materials in wellbore tools, and to successful completion of wellsite operations. Some of these types of primary ignition or igniter materials are susceptible to ignition from applications of small amounts of electric current, or even discharge of static electricity.
Further, due to the hazards of these igniter materials, special procedures and equipment are required for both transporting and storing prior art igniter materials. Due to the relative ease with which these igniter materials may be ignited, they are typically stored and transported separately from power charge materials to prevent exposure of a large energy source contained within the power charge from such relatively volatile materials included within prior art igniters.


A GaN epilayaer grown on a lattice mismatched saphire substrate is subjected to rapid thermal processing in order the reduce the defect density especially in the proximate the top (device) surface of the GaN epilayer.

Gallium Nitride (GaN) is a semiconductor material which has lately been the subject of much attention by workers in the semiconductor arts. A key feature of this semiconductor material is the high bandgap (3.4 eV) which leads to two other desirable properties.
First the optoelectronic activity of this material is in the blue region of the spectrum. This is desirable to complement already existing optoelectronic materials which have optoelectronic activity in the red and green spectral regions in order to obtain a set of color sources or detectors which can nearly span the range of perceptible colors. Optoelectronic activity in the blue region is desirable, of its own right, because optical systems based on the smaller wavelength blue spectral region would have higher resolution capability. For example a GaN based semiconductor laser could be used in an optical disk system to achieve greatly increased data density.
Second the high band gap, allows for high temperature operation with out swamping the conduction band with thermally generated carriers. High temperature operation may arise in high power applications and medium power applications where the thermal management of the electronics is constrained by mechanical design constraints e.g. servo drive electronics located in a confined space.
Currently GaN semiconductors (e.g. devices) are not prepared from bulk GaN wafers or the like, as is silicon. Such bulk electronic quality GaN is not widely available. Rather GaN epitaxial layers (epilayers) are deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on a substrate of another material. Even if GaN wafers were available epitaxial layer deposition has other advantages which might recommend its use. It may be desirable to deposit a number of different semiconductor layers sequentially on a different material substrate in making a so called heterostructure device, or in making microwave integrated circuits it may be desirable to deposit the semiconductor material on a dielectric substrate, or it may be desirable for thermal management to use a thermally stable high thermal conductivity substrate rather than using bulk GaN.
A major problem which arises in conjunction with epitaxial GaN is the lack of a suitable inexpensive substrate which has a good lattice constant match to GaN. A good lattice match exists when the dimensions of the crystal lattice unit cell (in the directions parallel the interface surface) of the substrate and the crystalline material to be deposited (e.g. GaN) correspond (e.g. are equal). Silicon carbide and GaN match better (3% difference), however sufficient quality silicon carbide substrates are very expensive.
The epitaxial growth process can be divided into three stages. Initially isolated islands of the epitaxial material form, next the islands coalesce, and then bulk film growth takes place as more material accumulates on the surface.
When there is a poor lattice match, the epitaxial layer that is grown will have a high concentration of defects. These defects arise because different isolated portions of the initially deposited GaN (e.g. the islands) are aligned locally to the sapphire substrate crystal lattice. However because of the substrate-epitaxial layer lattice mismatch, the alignment of the many isolated portions are not consistent with each other, and they can not form a unified crystal and at the same time maintain their local alignment/adhesion to the sapphire. That is, translation symmetry operations corresponding to the GaN crystal does not describe the location and orientation of the isolated islands because they are aligned to the substrate which has a lattice mismatch vis-a-vis the GaN.
In practice, the defect concentration is highest near the substrate interface, and decreases toward the top of the epitaxial layer. The electronic devices (e.g. vertical (planar) bipolar junction transistors, field effect transistors, light emitting diodes, lasers) which are to be fabricated out of the GaN are fabricated in or on the top of GaN layer which may be appropriately doped to make n or p type semiconductor as is known in the art. The device region may extend into the epitaxial layer to a certain depth, e.g. 0.1.mu.. It is important that the top portion of the epitaxial layer which contains the device structures to be as defect free as possible because the defects can adversely affect manufacturing yield, device performance, and device lifetime. Crystal defects can allow metalization spiking into the device and even punch through device junctions leading to a non working device (reduced manufacturing yield) or a premature device failure. Defects can act as pathways for enhanced undesirable thermal migration of dopants, by which dopants migrate, leading to inaccurate doping profiles and poor device performance or device failure. The latter two problems would be aggravated in high power and perforce high temperature applications. Defects can also act as recombination-generation (R-G) centers which adversely affect carrier lifetimes and thereby device performance. In sum, reducing defect density in the upper (device) strata of epitaxial layers is desirable for electronic device fabrication.
Sapphire (hexagonal Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) is a readily available, high quality, inexpensive substrate material that offers good thermal stability and thermal conductivity. Unfortunately there is a large lattice mismatch (14%) between GaN and sapphire.
Referring to FIG. 3 a dark field transmission electron micrograph TEM photo is shown. This photo depicts a GaN epitaxial layer grown on a sapphire substrate which is below the border of the image (not shown). Also depicted is a tungsten silicide (WSi) metallization layer on top of the GaN epilayer. In this photo the thin vertically oriented white lines extending from the WSi layer into GaN is metal spiking of the WSi into the GaN which has been facilitated by the high defect density in the GaN layer. This extent of spiking is unacceptable for semiconductor device fabrication.
One prior art method used to reduce the defect density of GaN grown on sapphire stemming from the lattice mismatch is to first deposit a more amorphous (non crystalline) layer of GaN on the sapphire substrate. This thin layer is crystallized by a ramped thermal process, then an in situ doped GaN epilayer is grown. This epilayer has a high defect density. The present invention is intended to reduce the defect density beyond what is achieved with the forgoing technique.

Low defect density gallium nitride epilayer and method of preparing the same

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


The invention relates to a device in a cable tie. This comprises an elongated tie part (2) of a certain width and thickness, which at one end has an elongated insertion part (3) of lesser width than the tie part (2) and at its other end a locking head (1). In the latter there is, on the one hand, a through-opening (6) intended for tie part (2) and having a width substantially the same as the tie part (2) but a height greater than the thickness of the tie part (2), and on the other, in one transverse wall of the opening (6), a groove-shaped recess (7). The width of the recess (7) is such that it allows the insertion part (3) to be inserted into the opening (6) via the recess (7) forming a tie loop. Interacting members are provided on the tie part (2) and in the locking head (1) that are designed by positive interlocking engagement with one another to lock the tie part (2) relative to the locking head (1). At each edge of tile recess (7) there is furthermore a pin-shaped projection (11) pointing towards the through-opening (6) and designed to engage with corresponding grooves (12) running along each edge of the tie part (2) when tile tie part (2) is inserted into tile opening (6).

The present invention relates to a device in a cable tie according to the pre-characterising clause of the attached claim.
A cable tie of this type is described in more detail in SE 510 655.
In this cable tie the tightening force at which the head part is no longer capable of holding the tie part is largely determined by the wall thickness of the head part. Particularly disadvantageous in this context is the fact that the head part has a groove-shaped recess, which although it facilitates the introduction of the tie part nevertheless involves a weakening of the head part.
There is therefore a desire here to achieve a strong locking force with a relatively thin-walled and slender locking head.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,047 discloses a moulded plastics cable tie, which is designed so that it can be produced by a normal moulding process, in which the moulded parts and any inserts move in the same directions, that is across one another. A section of the cable tie is designed with locking flanges along the edges, which flanges extend upward and downward, that is to say out from both sides of the tie. When the said section of the cable tie is inserted into the locking head the cable tie forms a bridge-like reinforcement in the locking head due to the positive interlocking engagement between the locking flanges and parts in the locking head of complementary shape. The locking flanges give the cable tie greater thickness and flexural rigidity, which may limit the flexibility of the cable tie and thereby constitute a disadvantage when tying thin cable bundles.
The object of the present invention in cable ties of the said type is to produce a device, which appreciably increases the force that is required in order to forcibly break open the cable tie, whilst preserving the pliability and serviceability of the cable tie even when tying thin cable bundles. This is achieved by the means indicated in the characterising part of the claim.


The present invention facilitates and tracks personal referrals made via electronic networks. In a preferred embodiment, using electronic mail delivered to a participant interface 110, a central controller 100 provides a Web page through which an individual may enter the electronic-mail addresses of those whom he or she wishes to refer. This spares the individual the inconvenience of generating his or her own electronic-mail referrals, and also enables the central controller to determine the format and tone of the referral. The address or contents of the Web page includes a unique identifier that is exclusively associated with that individual and a specific offer 120. In this way, the series of referrals may be tracked, duplicate referrals to the same electronic-mail address may be eliminated, offers may be withdrawn or modified, and referrals about an expired or withdrawn offer may be prevented.

Word of mouth is a crucial factor in the success of many ventures, including the promotion of books, the sale of real estate, and the identification of job candidates. An appealing product or an interesting opportunity appears, and one person tells another, who tells another, who tells another. Such a series of personal referrals can quickly disseminate news about a product or an opportunity to a wide audience.
The Internet makes it possible for such personal referrals to reach a significantly wider audience. Unlike other communication media, the Internet presents no physical or financial barriers to personal referrals across vast distances. For example, the cost of sending electronic mail from New York to Boston is the same as the cost of sending electronic mail from New York to Tokyo. In contrast, sending postal mail or making a telephone call across the Pacific is significantly more expensive than doing so within the United States. And a face-to-face personal referral from New York to Tokyo obviously requires the purchase of a costly airplane ticket.
Although personal referrals via the Internet reach a wider audience than those made via other communication media, there are at least six fundamental limitations on the effectiveness of such referrals as a marketing method: (1) as a referral reaches each additional person, the continuation of the series depends on that person taking the initiative to contact someone else; (2) even if the series of referrals continues unabated, the marketer has no reliable means of identifying individuals who often make an above average number of referrals, or whose referrals often lead to successful outcomes for the marketer; (3) there is the possibility that an individual will receive the same referral from multiple parties, causing annoyance and ill will; (4) there is no way to control the manner in which each additional person in the series is contacted, i.e., the content and tone of the referral is left entirely to the individual; (5) after an offer has been modified, there is no way to prevent further referrals regarding the original version of the offer or to ensure that the latest version of the offer is always presented; and (6) after an offer has expired or has been withdrawn, there is no way to prevent further referrals regarding it.

Method and apparatus for facilitating and tracking personal referrals


The invention relates to reaction injection molded elastomers derived from high molecular weight polyether polyols, an aromatic diamine chain extender, a polyisocyanate and a hydroxyl-containing organotin catalyst. The reaction injection molded (RIM) elastomers of this invention are useful, for example, as automobile body parts.

Polyurethane and polyurethaneurea RIM elastomers require the use of tin catalysts for acceptable processing. In a system based on high molecular weight polyether polyols and aromatic diamine chain extenders, it is customary to use dibutyltin dilaurate to catalyze the hydroxyl-isocyanate (OH--NCO) reaction. Without this catalyst additive it is impossible to make a RIM part with sufficient green strength to be demolded. Yet, it is well known that the presence of tin catalyst in the final elastomer limits the thermal stability of the material since it can catalyze the unzipping of urethane bonds. The need for high thermal stability in RIM elastomers is the result of high paint baking temperatures. Physical distortion, cracking, oiling and blistering can be observed if tin catalyst is present to promote the chemical breakdown of urethane linkages.
One solution to this problem has been the use of polyurea RIM based on isocyanate-reactive components which do not contain OH group, e.g., aliphatic amine terminated polyethers as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,067. Since the reaction of the amino (--NH.sub.2) groups with NCO groups is so rapid, no tin catalyst is needed although there is still some benefit to their use in polyurea RIM elastomers as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,910. However, the drawback to this solution is the high reactivity of the aliphatic amine terminated polyethers which makes is difficult to achieve high modulus elastomers with good flowability. Additionally, these products are more expensive than conventional RIM polyols and are not available in "filled" versions such as polymer polyols, grafted polyols or PHD polyols.

Hydroxyl-containing organotin catalysts for making polyurethane rim elastomers


A conveyance device includes: moving members 3A and 3B that move along a table 7 for disposing an article 5 thereon; shafts 21A and 21B that are rotatably connected to the moving members 3A and 3B; a contact member 22 configured to come into contact with the article 5, the contact member 22 being connected to the shafts 21A and 21B; inhibiting mechanisms 23A and 23B that inhibit rotation of the shafts 21A and 21B so that the contact member 22 is held above the article 5, the inhibiting mechanisms 23A and 23B being disposed at the moving members 3A and 3B; and dogs 24A and 24B that come into contact, at a predetermined location with the inhibiting mechanisms 23A and 23B to deactivate inhibition of rotation of the shafts 21A and 21B by the inhibiting mechanisms 23A and 23B, thereby lowering the contact member 22 toward the table 7.

For example, to convey out an article disposed inside a chamber, a conveyance device that includes a bar for pushing out the article is used. The conveyance device inserts the bar from the front of the chamber toward the back of the chamber and pushes the article to outside the chamber by using the bar (refer to, for example, PTL 1). During insertion of the bar toward the back of the chamber, the bar passes above the article. The bar is lowered at the back of the chamber to a height that enables the bar to come into contact with the article and push out the article. A driving mechanism that changes the height of the bar may include, for example, a rack-and-pinion or may include a servo motor.


Electronic component cooling apparatus capable of permitting a fan to be removed from a heat sink without rotating both relatively to each other. A base section of a casing is provided at a corner thereof with a leg having an engaging section formed at a distal end thereof. The base section is also provided at another corner thereof with a terminal holder in which connection terminals are received. The terminal holder includes a terminal holding section, which is integrally provided on both sides thereof with a pair of engagement elements. The engagement elements each are provided at a distal end thereof with a hook and have an upper end formed into a length sufficient to permit it to be held by fingers. A heat sink is provided at a corner thereof with an engaged section engaged with the engaging section of the leg. The heat sink is also provided at another corner thereof with projections engaged with the hooks of the engagement elements. The upper end of each of the engagement elements is operated to release engagement between the engaging section and the engaged section.

This invention relates to an electronic component cooling apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for cooling electronic components incorporated in an electronic appliance such as a microprocessor unit (MPU) or the like.
Recently, a microprocessor unit tends to be increased in integration so that performance thereof may be enhanced. Unfortunately, this causes generation of heat from the microprocessor unit to be substantially increased, so that it is required to cool the unit. In order to solve the problem, an electronic component cooling apparatus called an MPU cooler is employed for forcibly cooling the microprocessor unit per se.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 15982/1991 discloses an electronic component cooling apparatus, wherein a fan mounting plate is mounted on a heat sink and then an axial fan commercially available is mounted on the fan mounting plate. The axial fan commercially available is so constructed that an impeller which includes a plurality of blades and is mounted on a rotor of a motor is fully housed in a casing provided therein with a cylindrical air duct.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,983 discloses an electronic component cooling apparatus including a heat sink formed with a fan holding recess, in which a commercially available fan is fittedly held.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,203 discloses an electronic component cooling apparatus, wherein a fan specially designed in such a manner that an impeller is not enclosed with a casing or the impeller is partially enclosed with or partially exposed from the casing is mounted on a heat sink. A portion of the casing exposed from the casing is received in a space defined by a plurality of radiation fins fixed on the heat sink, wherein the casing is fixed directly to the heat sink.
Direct fixing of the casing for the fan to the heat sink is carried out by adhesion techniques or by means of a plurality of fitting and/or engagement structures. The engagement structure is typically disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 339244/1994 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 15914/1995. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 15914/1995, an engagement structure is disclosed wherein a casing for a fan and a heat sink are rotated relatively to each other for releasing engagement therebetween. In the structure, it is required to provide a space which permits the fan casing and heat sink to be rotated relatively to each other.
However, the prior art constructed as described above fails to permit the fan casing and heat sink to be disengaged or separated from each other after assembling of the electronic component cooling apparatus or mounting of the electronic component cooling apparatus on an electronic appliance. Even when the apparatus may be constructed to separate both from each other, it requires the above-described space for rotation. Also, relative rotation between the fan casing and the heat sink causes wearing at a contact region therebetween.


The present invention relates to a method for separating epitaxial layers and growth substrates, and to a semiconductor device using same. According to the present invention, a semiconductor device is provided which comprises a supporting substrate and a plurality of semiconductor layers provided on the supporting substrate, wherein the uppermost layer of the semiconductor layers has a surface of non-uniform roughness.

A light emitting diode generally refers to a PN junction diode in which a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor are coupled.
In the light emitting diode (LED), when voltage is applied to the p-type and n-type semiconductors coupled to each other, holes of the p-type semiconductor are migrated toward the n-type semiconductor and electrons of the n-type semiconductor are migrated toward the p-type semiconductor such that the electrons and the holes are migrated into a PN junction.
The electrons moved into the PN junction are coupled to the holes while dropping from the conduction band to the valence band. Then, energy is released in the form of light according to an energy gap between the conduction band and the valence band.
Such a light emitting diode is a semiconductor device capable of emitting light and has various advantages such as eco-friendliness, low voltage, long lifetime, low price, and the like. Although such a light emitting diode has been typically used in an indicating lamp or in displaying numerals or other simple information, the light emitting diode has recently been used in many different applications, such as displays, headlamps of vehicles, projectors, and the like, with the development of industrial technologies, in particular, information display technologies and semiconductor technologies.
However, since it is difficult to fabricate a homogenous substrate for growing a semiconductor layer of the light emitting diode, the semiconductor layer is grown on a growth substrate having a similar crystal structure by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and the like.
As the growth substrate, a sapphire substrate having a hexagonal system is generally used. However, sapphire is a nonconductor of electricity and limits a structure of a light emitting diode to be formed thereon.
Therefore, various studies have been made to develop a technique for fabricating a vertical type light emitting diode by growing an epitaxial layer for the semiconductor layer on a sapphire substrate or a similar growth substrate, and separating the growth substrate.
To separate the growth substrate, the substrate may be removed by grounding. However, the grounding technique for removing the growth substrate, that is, the sapphire substrate, is associated with long processing time and high cost.
Therefore, a laser lift-off (LLO) method, a stress lift-off (SLO) method, or a chemical lift-off (CLO) method is generally used to separate the epitaxial layer from the growth substrate.
In the LLO method, an epitaxial layer is grown on a growth substrate, a bonding substrate is bonded to the epitaxial layer, and a laser beam is emitted through the sapphire substrate so as to separate the epitaxial layer from the growth substrate.
In the SLO method, a convex-concave pattern is formed on one surface of a growth substrate, only a partial region of the growth substrate is subjected to passivation with an insulation film such that an epitaxial layer can be grown only on the other region of the growth substrate, and the epitaxial layer is thickly grown and then cooled, thereby allowing the epitaxial layer to be separated by surface stress.
In the CLO method, a chemically vulnerable material is deposited in a predetermined pattern on one surface of a growth substrate, and then an epitaxial layer is grown and separated by electrochemically or chemically removing the chemically vulnerable material from the growth substrate.
Among these methods of separating the growth substrate, the LLO method has a problem in that properties of the epitaxial layer can be deteriorated by heat generated from a laser beam. Further, the SLO method or the CLO method has a problem that a process becomes complicated since a separate process for processing the surface of the growth substrate is performed before growing the epitaxial layer. In addition, the SLO method or the CLO method has a problem in mass production since it takes more time to separate the epitaxial layer in practice. Moreover, the application of the SLO method is not easy since the epitaxial layer must be grown thickly enough to be separated.

Method for separating epitaxial layers from growth substrates, and semiconductor device using same


An example redundancy architecture is described that includes a plurality of nominal RF paths, a plurality of spare input RF paths, a controllable input switching system, a plurality of spare output RF paths, and a controllable output switching system. The controllable input switching system is configured to selectively link any one of the plurality of spare input RF paths to any one of the plurality of nominal RF paths while avoiding disruption of service on the other nominal RF paths. In addition, the controllable output switching system is configured to selectively link any one of the plurality of nominal RF paths to any one of the plurality of spare output RF paths while avoiding disruption of service on the other nominal RF paths.

Many satellite communication systems are designed to operate for many years. In order to maintain reliability and prolong the working life of a satellite payload, the payload may be equipped with spare or redundant units that are designed to be switched into a signal path when a primary unit fails. By way of example, a payload may include ten primary low-noise amplifiers and two spare low-noise amplifiers. When one of the primary low-noise amplifiers fails, one of the two spare low-noise amplifiers may be switched into a signal path of the failed low-noise amplifier.
Switching a spare unit into the signal path of a failed primary unit may involve sending a radio frequency (RF) command to an electromechanical switch. For instance, the electromechanical switch may have two positions: in a first position, the electromechanical switch may link a primary unit to a signal path; and in a second position, the electromechanical switch may link a spare unit to the signal path. If the primary unit fails, an RF command may be sent to the electromechanical switch, causing the switch to transition to the second position.
When multiple primary units and multiple spare units are included, a redundancy ring may be used to allow for replacing a primary unit with a spare unit. FIG. 1 conceptually illustrates an example configuration of part of a conventional communications satellite payload. As shown in FIG. 1, the communications satellite payload may include an input redundancy ring switch 102 that connects a plurality of input paths 104 to a plurality of nominal paths 106. The plurality of input paths 104 includes four primary input paths and two spare input paths. Each of the four primary input paths may lead to a corresponding primary input unit and each of the two spare input paths may lead to a corresponding spare input unit. The input redundancy ring switch 102 may include six switches, each of which can be positioned in a nominal position, an up position, or a down position. Initially, the six switches may each be positioned in the nominal position, such that a first switch S1 links "input 1" to "nominal path 1", a second switch S2 links "input path 2" to "nominal path 2", and so forth. As further shown in FIG. 1, the communications satellite payload may also include an output redundancy ring switch 110 that connects the plurality of nominal paths 106 to a plurality of output paths 112.
In operation, when one or more primary input units fail, individual switches of the input redundancy ring switch 102 are shuffled up or down to switch signals from the spare units into the plurality of nominal paths. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a fourth switch S4 and a fifth switch S5 may be switched to the up position, such that "input 4" is switched into "nominal path 3" and "spare 1" is switched into "nominal path 4". In addition, the first switch S1 and a sixth switch S6 may be switched to the down position, such that "input 1" is switched into "nominal path 2" and "spare 2" is switched into "nominal path 1".
When using a redundancy ring switch, such as the input redundancy ring switch 102 of FIGS. 1 and 2, the individual switches are controlled using special commands. In particular, the individual switches are controlled individually by sending high voltage pulses to the switches, with the pulse causing the switch to transition to a different position.
Moreover, when shuffling the switches of a redundancy ring switch to switch a spare path into a nominal path, a disruption of service occurs on other nominal paths. For instance, as discussed above, when replacing "input 2" and "input 3", disruption occurs on not only "nominal path 2" and "nominal path 3", but also "nominal path 1" and "nominal path 4". Specifically, "nominal path 1" is disrupted when "input 1" is switched to "nominal path 2", and "nominal path 4" is disrupted when "input 4" is switched to "nominal path 3".
In addition, individual switches of a redundancy ring switch can block each other, limiting the number of spare input paths that can be switched in. For example, referring back to FIG. 2, even if the input satellite payload included a third spare between "spare 1" and "spare 2" (not shown) and the input redundancy ring switch 102 included a corresponding seventh switch between the fifth switch S5 and the sixth switch S6 (not shown), the input redundancy ring switch 102 would be unable to switch the third spare into any of the plurality of nominal paths 106. This is because the switches adjacent to the seventh switch could not be shuffled up or down any further. This problem could be remedied by adding many more switches to the redundancy ring (e.g., adding a pair of switches every two nominal paths). However, adding more switches to a redundancy ring switch is costly and increases the weight of the payload.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cascaded redundancy architectures for communication systems


A battery backup circuit for an MOS memory which has a multiplexed pin (WE) that functions to provide backup power to a memory cell array (50) upon loss of primary power V.sub.cc. A voltage comparator (10) detects when the primary power V.sub.cc becomes less than the backup voltage on the WE terminal. Upon detection of loss of primary power the memory cell array (50) is powered by a connection to the WE terminal. A primary power status signal (POK) indicates the status of the primary power and is driven to a state indicating insufficient circuit voltage for normal operation when V.sub.cc drops below an acceptable limit or when there is inadequate substrate bias. The circuit of the present invention further generates an inhibit signal to prevent the operation of peripheral circuits (70) to write data into the memory cell array (50) upon detection of a failure of primary power. The inhibit signal is generated when primary power is lost or when the substrate bias is inadequate. A low-power auxiliary pump generator (92) provides a sufficient substrate bias to maintain the data pattern in the memory cell array (50) during the backup mode.

Heretofore bulk memories for computer systems have frequently utilized magnetic core technology wherein a large number of magnetic rings are employed with each ring serving as a memory storage element. The data state of the ring is dependent upon the direction of magnetization of the ring. A primary advantage of this type memory is that the information stored in the memory is not lost when power is removed. The rings remain magnetized in the selected states even when power is not supplied to the memory unit. A magnetic core memory can be reactivated and returned to use immediately upon reapplication of electrical power. There is no need to reload the programs and data into memory each time the power is disconnected.
In large computer systems, programs and data are frequently stored on disk memories so that the system can be initialized from disk, even after a power failure. But in smaller computer applications, programs and data are often entered manually and are not stored in any readily accessible manner. Therefore, a power loss which causes loss of the stored bit pattern in memory is a serious failure of the system which cannot be remedied by merely restoring main power.
There have recently come into widespread use semiconductor random access memories which have decided advantages over the older core type memories. In particular, the newer memories are faster, have lower power consumption and occupy less space. However, a serious drawback in the use of semiconductor memories is that each of the memory element circuits is volatile, that is, the information stored in the memory element is lost when power is removed from the memory circuit. With such a memory system the programs and data stored in the memory are lost whenever power is removed from the memory unit. Although the loss of power does not result in circuit damage, the loss of stored information does require that the system be reloaded with programs and data before processing can continue. The reloading of programs is a time consuming process which reduces the efficient utilization of a computer system. In certain types of systems a provision is made to transfer the contents of memory to disk when a failure is first indicated. But in many computer systems a power failure occurs so rapidly that all of the memory contents cannot be transferred to disk. This is particularly true for process control systems.
It has been proposed to solve the data loss problem by using an additional pin terminal on memory type semiconductor circuits and that this terminal be supplied with a backup power supply to maintain the data in the memory cells. But the mere addition of another pin does not fully solve the problem. The backup power supply generally comprises a battery system and as such cannot supply the heavy current requirements of semiconductor memories for any period of time. Further, there are now established standardized pin patterns for most integrated circuit memories and the addition of another pin dedicated to the backup power supply would constitute an inconsistency in the standards and would require substantial redesign in existing circuits.
Therefore, there exists a need for a backup power circuit for semiconductor memories wherein the standard pin configuration is not effected, the data pattern is retained despite a loss of the main power supply, and the circuit is internally powered down so that the power consumption used to retain memory is sufficiently small to be supplied by a backup battery of reasonable size, yet for a long period of time.

Low-power battery backup circuit for semiconductor memory


Powders of carbides are mixed with a silicon nitride powder and powders of rare earth element oxides to obtain a mixture. The mixture is shaped and fired in a casing in a nitrogen atmosphere of 1,700.degree.-2,100.degree. C. under the conditions specified by the following formula: EQU (0.025x-0.05)<y.ltoreq.0.1x. wherein x is a firing time (hr) and y is the weight (g) of shaped material to be filled into casing divided by the internal volume (cc) of the casing.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a silicon nitride sintered material showing no strength deterioration at high temperatures.
With respect to silicon nitride sintered materials produced from raw materials containing oxides of IIIa group elements including rare earth elements, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7486/1973 discloses a process for producing a sintered material, which comprises mixing 85 mole % or more of silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4) with 15 mole % or less of at least one oxide selected from oxides of IIIa group elements, shaping the mixture, and sintering the shaped material in a non-oxidizing atmosphere. Also, Japanese Patent Publication No. 21091/1974 discloses a silicon nitride sintered material comprising 50% by weight or more of Si.sub.3 N.sub.4, 50% by weight or less of at least one oxide selected from Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 and oxides of La series elements and 0.01-20% by weight of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3.
In these silicon nitride sintered materials, however, there were problems that no sintered material having a high strength at elevated temperature could be obtained by mere additions of rare earth elements to silicon nitride and that addition having a Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 can give a high density but gives a grain boundary phase of low softening point and accordingly a significantly deteriorated high-temperature strength.
In order to solve the high-temperature strength problem, Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No. 100067/1988 discloses a technique of adding, to a Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 powder, rare earth elements of given composition and given amount and firing the mixture to obtain a silicon nitride sintered material having a specific crystalline phase and accordingly a high strength at elevated temperature.
The silicon nitride sintered material disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No. 100067/1988 can achieve a high strength at elevated temperature to some extent, but the high-temperature strength is lower than the room-temperature strength. This is presumed to be because the grain boundary is crystallized but, with the above composition, a vitreous phase still remains slightly in the grain boundary. In order to reduce the amount of the vitreous phase remaining in the grain boundary, there is considered an approach of adding rare earth element oxides to silicon nitride in large amounts relative to the amount of the total oxygen (expressed as SiO.sub.2) present in the silicon nitride, to achieve a sintered material containing a vitreous phase in an amount as small as possible. In this approach, however, it is difficult to achieve a high density sintered material and.
Further, there was a problem that in firing a silicon nitride raw material in a casing, the amount of the shaped material to be filled into the casing is not specified and the properties of the sintered material obtained vary greatly depending upon the amount of the shaped material filled into the casing, even when the same firing conditions (e.g. temperature, time, pressure) are used.
The present inventors found that a silicon nitride sintered material showing no strength deterioration at high temperatures can be produced by using the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No. 100067/1988 and by specifying firing conditions including the amount of shaped material to be filled into a casing. The finding has led to the completion of the present invention.

Process for producing silicon nitride sintered material


An espresso machine having a filter holder which holds a filter strainer and which can, with the assistance of a handel, be detachably locked to the housing of the espresso machine by way of a bayonet coupling or the like. The espresso machine has a discharge section having a water conduit, there being a chamber in the water conduit and a locking member in the chamber. The locking member locks the filter holder on the housing of the espresso machine when there is a predetermined pressure in the chamber and releases the filter holder as soon as the pressure in the chamber has fallen below a predetermined value.

The present invention relates to an espresso machine, particularly a steam pressure espresso machine which has a filter holder in which there is a filter strainer and which, with the help of a handle, can be detachably locked to the housing of the espresso machine by way of a bayonet coupling or the like.
In known espresso machines, a filter strainer sits in a filter holder which is provided with a handle and is connected to the espresso machine by way of a bayonet coupling. For placing ground coffee into and removing it from the filter holder, the filter holder is separated from the espresso machine. Under operating conditions, this filter strainer/filter holder unit is under a water pressure of 2-15 bar--depending on the type of machine; this water pressure presses hot water through the ground coffee disposed in the filter strainer. To ensure proper operation, the ground coffee is placed into and removed from the filter strainer so long as the espresso machine is still--or is again--unpressurized. See, for example, DE-C-457,865, FR-A-706,126 or CH-A-162,960.
If, in espresso machines of the above type, the filter holder is separated from the espresso machine under operating pressure, the hot water which would then escape under high pressure may scald the operator or the water pressure may catapult away the filter holder and cause injuries and/or damage to the machine or other property.
In pump espresso machines, which work with operating pressures exceeding 5 bar, it is hardly possible to separate the filter holder from the espresso machine under pressure because the pressing caused by the high pressure between the connecting elements of filter holder and espresso machine is so great that the bayonet catch practically cannot be released. Furthermore, the force-coupled water pump is switched off after the brewing process is completed and, thus, the water pressure is reduced immediately.
In steam pressure espresso machines, on the other hand, which work with pressures of 2-4 bar, safety precautions must be taken to reliably prevent the filter holder from separating from the espresso machine under operating pressure since, in these systems, the steam water pressure is maintained even after the drawing of the coffee is finished.


Provided is a stocking tool. The stocking tool includes a first adjustable rigid side member, a second adjustable rigid side member, and a handle operatively coupled to the first adjustable rigid side member and the second adjustable rigid side member. The first adjustable rigid side member and the second adjustable rigid side member move toward and away from each other to adjust a width defined between the first and second adjustable rigid side members. The handle is moveable between a locked position with the handle activating a locking device and an unlocked position with the handle deactivating the locking device. The width defined between the first and second adjustable rigid side members receives product on the shelf and the first and second adjustable rigid side members align the received product on the shelf.

Currently the stocking of product on shelves in a store, warehouse or otherwise includes a person charged with such a task to clear space on a shelf and load that space with product. Often times shelves are being stocked that are empty and person stocking must make decisions as to how much area to stock the product in and account for other products that must also be stocked on the same shelf. It can be difficult to stock a product within the predetermined amount of space allocated for that product on a shelf, particularly between other items and still keep the products accessible. It is further difficult to zone product to the front of a shelf, particularly between products on a shelf.


Food freshness indicator ink and method for the manufacture of a food freshness indicator ink. It comprises a varnish that constitutes between 90-98% of the total, the varnish comprising between 5-25% of the total amount of the varnish of at least one film-forming resin or at least one vinylic resin or a mixture thereof, between 10-25% of the amount of the resin of a plasticizer additive and between 50-75% of the total amount of the varnish of solvents, and between 2-10% of the total of metallic salts.

At present, quality and safety are key priorities for the food industry and the authorities, and that is why the current lines of research in Europe are focused specifically to ensure the quality and safety of food.
Obviously, the packing and packaging systems containing and protecting food during all their shelf life are also subject to this trend. In particular, the primary packaging, which is a vital element in ensuring the quality and safety of the packaged product, plays a crucial role in attaining this goal.
Furthermore, it has been found that the amount of discarded products along the supply chain, which could actually be consumed without problems, is worryingly high.
The availability of a system that reports in an individual, non-destructive way and in real-time the quality and safety of food is a complementary and valuable tool for achieving the objectives established by the European Union.
At present, the expiration date is set according to the date of production, so the first thing that is produced is the first thing that should be consumed, regardless of the storage conditions or the initial microbial load of the product, which sometimes causes the product to be discarded when it could really be consumed in perfect condition, or that poisonings occur through the consumption of a spoiled product.
In the prior art different inks are known that change colour with the change of the food's condition.
Thus, the German Patent No. 19605522, year 1996, in the name of KARLSRUHE FORSCHZENT which belongs to the state of the art, refers to a layer that is sensitive to an opto-chemical sensor having a metal complex of phthalocyanine fixed in a porous matrix.
European Patent No. 0449798 in the name of AVL MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS, year 1991, is also known, which refers to a method for quality control of packaged organic substances, preferably packaged food products, tea, coffee, tobacco and medicines, wherein the substances to be examined are brought into contact with a planar optical sensor element which is mounted inside the packaging and reacts to the change in the gas composition in the space above the sample through a change in colour or fluorescence. The change in one of the optical properties of the sensor element is detected visually or optoelectronically.
There are other patents which may be considered, such as US2006057022 "FOOD QUALITY INDICATOR", year 2005, which refers to an indicator that uses natural pH indicators and reacts to acids such as H2S. It is an indicator that cannot be used in a modified atmosphere.
Within the same group is Patent WO2011045572 "INTELLIGENT PIGMENTS AND PLASTICS", year 2010, which refers to an indicator such as a melted processed polymer composite for use in food packaging, which is sensitive to CO2, O2 and NH3, with indicators such as m-cresol purple, bromophenol blue, methylene blue, etc., being said dye or ink for coating or impregnating with inorganic pigments such as, SiO2TiO2, Al2O3, MgO, zeolites, which results, in the end, in a water soluble ink. As it uses CO2, it cannot be used in a modified atmosphere.
Thus, Patent WO2009/070760 "HYDROGEN SULFIDE INDICATING PIGMENTS", year 2008, refers to pigments that react to hydrogen sulphide, with application to environmental security. It is known that metals react to hydrogen sulphide by changing their colour; however, the colour change does not occur gradually nor is directly linked to the concentration of deteriorating compounds of food in controlled atmospheres inside the fresh product packaging.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,153,532, in the name of Johnson Matthey PLC, year 2001, is an antecedent which refers to a sensor for detecting food spoilage or the opening or rupture of the package comprising a metal complex fixed at or on a substrate, which complex is capable of releasing a detectable component.
Given this situation, and in order to ensure the quality and safety of food and decrease the amount of food wasted, it is of interest to provide tools and methods which provide information on the shelf life of food in real time, based on specific aspects of the product, such as for example, microbial load or physical and chemical characteristics, and not on the currently used estimation methods.
The closest document is the cited U.S. Pat. No. 7,153,532. This document primarily addresses the detection of the grade of freshness in packaged foods by an ink composition comprising indicator compounds, resins, solvents and additives. Thus, the change in the optical properties is undergone by the chromophores and/or fluorophores joined to the metal centre, showing a colour change and a change in fluorescence when the product is inedible. In addition, some of the elements used such as titanium or rare earths are not very suitable for the packaging of low cost food, since their cost does not compensate the economic cost of the product. Finally, the referred to document has the following limitations:                it requires an optical element for viewing, and        the indicator developed has included a metal complex whose manufacturing process on an industrial scale is not defined or optimized.

INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DEL EMBALAJE, TRANSPORTE Y LOGÍ´STICA (ITENE)


An electrical path can be formed through a transformable insulator between first and second conductors by applying a voltage between such conductors across at least one selected region of the insulator. Much of the current required to complete the link is provided from parasitic capacitance of the writing circuit or from capacitance which is removable from the circuit during normal operations. As a result, small transistors of less than 100 microamps may be used in the writing circuit which applies the programming voltage.

The technical field of this invention is solid state integrated circuit fabrication and, more particularly, methods for programming voltage programmable link structures sometimes called antifuses.
Programmable conductive paths, particularly "links" between two or more distinct layers of conductive materials such as metals, polysilicon or doped silicon are increasingly employed in solid-state integrated circuit fabrication to produce a variety of programmable circuits including, for example, field programmable gate arrays ("FPGAs"), programmable read only memories ("PROMs"), and other programmable electronic devices.
Most typically, such devices are "programmed" by the application of an electrical voltage to breakdown a dielectric disposed between two conductive layers and thereby establish an electrical connection across a region of the device which had previously been an insulator.
To be useful, link structures must remain insulating at the normal operating voltage for solid state devices (e.g., nominally five volts). On the other hand, they must reliably "break down" in response to a programming voltage which is higher than the normal operating voltage, but not so high as to damage other structures on the circuit (e.g., not more than about fifteen volts).
It is believed that there is a three stage process of breaking down the insulating layer and rendering it conductive. During the first high resistance stage of this process, the programming voltage, which may typically be in the range of between 20 and 10 volts, produces a low current with a current density of less than 10 mA/cm.sup.2 for periods of 0.01 to 10 milliseconds. At the end of this time, the conductance increases sharply and in a period measured in nanoseconds a typical link decreases in resistance by some ten orders of magnitude to a value of tens of ohms. This in turn causes a sudden increase in the current. In the final stage, which may last several microseconds, chemical reactions continue until a low resistance link is obtained. The final value of resistance depends on the amount of current passed through the link during the second and third stages. Typically, the current density that yields a ten ohm resistance value is 10.sup.4 A/cm.sup.2 or larger.
In a practical application such as in a field programmable gate array, transistors are deployed to provide the switching current necessary to leave the programmed links in a low resistance state. In one such commercial embodiment, it is necessary for these transistors to provide as much as five milliamps of current which in turn requires that the transistors be very large. Further, a number of these transistors may be in series, requiring a still further increase in transistor width to provide the necessary programming current. As a result of these requirements, there is a considerable waste in silicon area devoted to these programming transistors that could be better used to provide more logic modules to improve the overall functional capability of these arrays.

Voltage programmable links programmed with low current transistors


The invention aligns rows of blocks extending parallel to one another which are supported by a kiln car. The device provided holds the kiln car in a desired position relative to the device, then an up-and-down movable lifting mechanism provided with clamps is inserted between the rows of blocks, and the device adjusts the lifting mechanism transversely to the longitudinal direction of the rows of blocks until it strikes an adjustable fixed stop then inflates its clamps to thereby align the blocks. The blocks once clamped may be lifted off the car by the lifting mechanism, so that the cart can be treated, i.e. cleaned. The blocks are then replaced on the car in same position from which they were lifted, still aligned. The clamps are then released and the lifting mechanism is removed from between the newly aligned blocks.

A kiln car is used in baking bricks, whereby the bricks to be baked are stacked on rows of blocks supported by the car, after which the car is led through a kiln for baking of the bricks. After the bricks have been baked the bricks are usually removed from the car by lifting means provided with teeth which are inserted between the rows of blocks. In this connection it is important that the rows of blocks loosely supported by the kiln car always be in the correct position. In order to be able to ensure this, it is necessary that the rows of blocks be aligned regularly. To date, said aligning has been done by hand usually each row of blocks is aligned separately by means of a profile or the like which is laid along the row. Not only is this a time-consuming job, but it does not ensure that the various rows supporting a pack of bricks are all arranged parallel to one another and at the correct distance from one another.

Device for aligning and lifting blocks in kiln cars

Machinefabriek De Oude Rijn Pannerden B.V.


A connector guide mounted in front of a receptacle connector is provided with a latch that engages a connector mounted on a circuit board when a mating connector is inserted into the connector on the circuit board. The guide is separate from the plug connector and serves to align contact surfaces and provide strain relief to the receptacle connector.

The present invention relates generally to cable connectors and more particularly to cable connectors that have a structure which eliminates the need for a shielding cage or guide frame to be utilized with a mating circuit board connector.
It is a common practice in the electronic arts to connect cables to a circuit boards by terminating the cables to a connector, typically a plug connector, and then mating the connector to a receptacle connector that is mounted on a circuit board. A well-known problem with connecting cables to circuit board-mounted connectors is the tendency of the weight and movement of the cable to loosen the points of attachment of the receptacle connector to the circuit board, thereby breaking signal pathways and causing the circuit board to fail.
This may be prevented by the use of a large guide frame that is mounted to the circuit board to enclose the receptacle connector and which defines an opening into which a plug or similar connector may be inserted. However, such guide frames are large and take up valuable space on the circuit board that could be used for additional circuits or terminations. Additionally, such guide frames are typically die cast and are prone to breakage when dropped.
Connector receptacle strain is also a problem and may be caused by the weight, size and movement of the cable(s). Still further, a connector plug and its mating connector receptacle can sometimes be misaligned with respect to each other, needlessly complicating an assembly process. Accordingly, a device that aligns a plug connector to its mating connector receptacle without occupying much space and which could also relieve cable strain imposed on a circuit board-mounted connector is desirable.
Additionally, the use of large connector guide frames increases the space on a circuit board that can be used for other electronic components. And furthermore, guide frames are designed to totally encircle and house the connector(s) they are hosting.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an arrangement using a guide member that overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages and also provides the aforementioned desired benefits.


A method, apparatus and article of manufacture for mirroring a part model within a computer aided design computer system. A physical body, which is not directly accessible to the user is used for boundary representation of the non-mirrored part model, and a special mirror transformed instance of the physical body, called the logical body, is presented to the user. The logical body is a mirrored boundary representations of the same part model, and is not persistent to conserve computer resources. The invention uses face, edge, and vertex mapping to communicate between the two bodies, and uses matrix multiplication to perform the mirroring transformation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to feature based three-dimensional (3D) computer aided design (CAD) systems, and more particularly, to a method, apparatus and article of manufacture for instance based mirroring in feature modeling.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditional mechanical CAD systems model mechanical parts using boundary representations. Typical boundary representations use BODY, FACE, EDGE, and VERTEX to describe mechanical parts. For example, the part model in FIG. 1A has one body, six faces, twelve edges, and eight vertices.
Feature based CAD systems add feature recipes on top of boundary representations. A feature recipe comprises feature definitions, dependency identifications, and constraints. For example, the part model in FIG. 1B has one "base" feature and one "hole" feature which is constrained to two edges of the base feature by two dimensional constraints.
Dependency identification is an important part of the feature recipe. Dependency identification is used to identify geometric entities of the boundary representation on which the features depend. For example, the HOLE feature in FIG. 1B depends on the two edges that must be identified by the dependency identification information. Part of the dependency identification information must be stored with the boundary representation. This makes the boundary representation in feature based CAD systems different from that of traditional CAD systems.
Mechanical assemblies often contain pairs of parts that are symmetric to a plane. Instead of modeling both symmetric parts, CAD system users prefer to model only one half of the pair, and then perform a mirror transformation to obtain the symmetric counterpart, e.g., the mirrored part model.
In feature-based solid modeling, a mirrored part model should contain all of the original features in a mirrored form, and maintain the validity of the original feature recipe. A mirrored part model should behave the same as a non-mirrored part model in terms of modeling activities such as feature creation, alteration, and deletion.
Current mirroring require processing of feature recipes. Current mirror methods mirror the feature recipe itself, which requires programming a mirror method for each type feature of the CAD system, such as the EXTRUSION feature, the HOLE feature, etc. This approach is limited because of the amount of time required to write the programming, and further limited because new features will not have mirror methods without additional programming time for new releases of the CAD system.
Further, the mirror process of dependency identifications pose an even bigger problem for current mirroring methods. Without valid dependency identifications, a feature recipe would be useless. For example, the HOLE feature in FIG. 2 may be located incorrectly if the two edges (dependency identifications) are incorrectly mirrored. As a result, each type of dependency identifications in the feature recipe also needs dedicated programs for their mirror process.
As such, current mirroring processes are often complicated, time-consuming, error prone, and wasteful of computer resources.
It can be seen, then, that there is a need in the art for a mirroring method that avoids processing of feature equations. It can also be seen that there is a need in the art for a mirroring method that reduces the use of computer resources.

Instance-based mirroring method in feature modeling


An outdoor portable collapsible outdoor convection oven including a first side plate; a second side plate opposite the first side plate; a bottom plate releasably attached to the first side plate and the second side plate without requiring the use of a separate fastener; a food shelf disposed between the top plate and the bottom plate and releasably attached to the first side plate and the second side plate without requiring the use of a separate fastener; a top plate opposite the bottom plate, wherein the top plate is rotatably and releasably attached to the first side plate and the second side plate; and a back plate rotatably and releasably attached to the first side plate and the second side plate without the use of a separate hinge device and a separate fastener.

Outdoor ovens (e.g., reflector ovens) are oftentimes useful for cooking food in an outdoor environment. However, the design of some conventional outdoor ovens leads to inefficient and poor cooking conditions. For example, some conventional outdoor ovens are heavy and therefore not very portable. In another example, some conventional ovens require large amounts of fuel (e.g., wood) to generate the requisite heat to properly cook the food disposed within the oven. In a further example, while cooking the food in the oven, the food is difficult to access which can lead to the inability to rotate the food as needed and/or the risk of burning the user while reaching into the oven to maneuver the food.


A probe card assembly is disclosed. The probe card assembly includes a probe card plate, a probe core, and an expansion gap defined in the probe card plate. The probe core includes a bonding portion for fixing the probe core to the probe plate. The expansion gap surrounds the probe core. Another probe card assembly is disclosed. The another probe card assembly includes a probe card plate, a tube, and a probe core. The tube is configured to be inserted into an opening of the probe card plate and configured to be securely fixed to the probe card plate. The probe core includes a bonding portion for fixing the probe core to the tube.

The semiconductor industry continues to have a need to access numerous electronic devices on a semiconductor wafer. As the semiconductor industry continues to grow, devices become smaller and more complex. Many electrical devices, most commonly semiconductor devices and on-wafer electrical interconnects, are electrically tested. Some of these tests require sensitive measurements, with electrical isolation between channels of the probe card on the order of 1010 to 1014 Ohms. Some types of testing (e.g., reliability testing, or the like) may generally require long measurement periods, which can be in the range of several hours to several weeks. Reliability testing also generally includes a wide range in temperatures, which can be anywhere from about ambient to about 400° C. As the semiconductor devices get smaller, so do the contacts (generally referred to as pads) used to test the devices. Relatively smaller pads, which can be in the range of about 50 μm by about 50 μm (or even smaller), requires relatively smaller probes and relatively higher precision of probe alignment.
Multisite testing is one approach for increasing test sample size without further increasing the test durations. Multisite testing relies on testing relatively more portions of the semiconductor wafer simultaneously. Multisite testing, particularly multisite testing over a wide range of temperatures (e.g., about ambient to about 400° C. as mentioned above) includes additional challenges. For example, in order for a probe card to contact multiple sites on the semiconductor wafer over a range of temperatures, the probe card generally will need to change in size by about the same amount as the semiconductor wafer and generally must remain substantially flat over the various temperatures. Mismatches in expansion or changes in flatness of the probe card can cause positioning errors between the probes and the semiconductor wafer pads.
Probe cards are often constructed of a variety of materials, such as, but not limited to, metal alloys or the like for a probe card plate and ceramics or the like for a probe core. The materials are generally selected based on the low thermal expansion of silicon and ceramics in order to provide relatively high electrical isolation. The materials, however, generally have different coefficients of thermal expansion, which can cause a buildup of stress between the components, and can even cause shifting between the components. Unless the probe sites are adjustable, which is generally not the case due to the amount of time, limited access, and complexity involved, shifting is problematic as it affects the alignment between the probes and the semiconductor wafer pads. As a result, the components of the probe card assembly are generally bonded together. Bonding the components together can lead to deformation, and even fracture, of the components or the bonds between them when testing across a large temperature range.

Probe card with stress relieving feature


The invention relates to a process of repairing a MCrAlY-coating of an article, which has being exposed to the hot gases of, for example, a gas turbine. The MCrAlY-coating is examined and repaired only locally where it is needed and then, subsequently, on top of the MCrAlY-coating the article is aluminized and/or chromized, avoiding the stripping of the whole coating and re-coating over the entire surface of the article. This is for replenishing the coating of Al and/or Cr that become depleted during engine operation, in an easy, cost and time saving manner.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7xc2xa7119 and/or 365 to Appln. No. 00112068.2 filed in Europe on Jun. 5, 2000; the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The invention relates to a process of repairing a coated component according to the preamble of claim 1.
Most turbine components are coated for protection from oxidation and/or corrosion with, for example, a MCrAlY coating (base coat) and some are also coated with a thermal barrier coating (TBC) for thermal insulation. The demands of operation of the parts in a gas turbine often lead to the degradation of the coating before the structural integrity of the underlying part itself is degraded. Hence, the base coat and TBC must be removed and reapplied. Such processes are known from EP-A2-813 930, EP-A1-298 309 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,227
The coatings must be replaced because during service they degrade by forming protective aluminium and/or chromium oxides on the surface, which periodically spall off and must be replaced by fresh Al and/or Cr from the coating. Hence, Al and/or Cr diffuses from the interior of the coating towards the coating surface to continually replenish the protective oxides. It is known that the level of degradation of a coating (i.e. the remaining life) can be characterised by the amount of Al and/or Cr, left in the coating compared with the amount first present in the originally applied coating. It is also known that turbine blades and other components have only local areas of extremely high surface temperature during operation, whereas the rest of the component surface has a moderate temperature. This means that the environmentally protective coatings are degraded by far the most in these local areas of high temperature, which constitute about 5 to 20% of the total surface area of the whole component, and only moderately over the rest of the surface area. For older gas turbine engines where components operate at a low temperature, it is widely practised to locally replace the depleted coatings (MCrAlY) in the local hot areas, but leave the rest of the coating alone since it is not yet depleted in Al and/or Cr to the point that it cannot survive another inspection interval of the engine operation
However, modern gas turbines operate at higher temperatures, where local hot spots on the blades completely deplete Al from the MCrAlY coatings, and partial depletion of Al from the coating over the rest of the blade is such that they usually can not survive another inspection interval. Therefore the entire coating must be stripped and replaced. The stripping of the coating involves a treatment with very aggressive acid which also removes some of the base material of the blade, may lead to weakening of the material at the surface, is expensive and time consuming. Re-coating of the blade is also expensive, and both operations have a certain scrap rate due to problems in the process.
It is an object of the present invention to find a method of restoring enough Al and/or Cr to the partially depleted MCrAlY-coating on the cooler parts of the turbine blades so that it could survive a complete inspection interval of engine operation, while only locally repairing the xe2x80x9chot spotsxe2x80x9d which are completely depleted and beyond such restoration due to the excessive coating spallation.
According to the invention a process was found of repairing an article with a MCrAlY-coating after use of the article in a high temperature environment where the MCrAlY-coating is repaired locally and the article is aluminised and/or chromised on the surface of the article on top of the MCrAlY-coating
This method saves both time and investments costs because stripping and recoating using usual plasma spraying would be unnecessary. On the other hand is it possible to replenish the amount of Al and Cr in the depleted surface of the article in an easy way.
The areas requiring local repair of the MCrAlY coating are by definition subject to the highest levels of depletion of Al and/or Cr. Associated with this depletion will be a significant thickness of depleted (non-functioning) MCrAlY coating and also of oxide scale. If the repair MCrAlY coating material is to properly bond to the substrate, all of the oxide scale must be removed, as much of the depleted coating as possible, without affecting the base material under the coating unless this also has been oxidized. Therefore, it is highly advantageous to prepare the areas requiring local MCrAlY repair by cleaning using any conventional means such as local chemical etching, grit blasting, grinding or other abrasive methods. This will ensure a long lasting bond of the newly applied coating material to the substrate.
Another advantage comes from the fact that the method is also applicable even when a ceramic coating is existent. The ceramic coating, which is on top of the MCrAlY-coating, can be removed with any possible means before applying the steps of the method of the invention and the article is re-coated with a ceramic coating thereafter.
In another embodiment the aluminising and/or chromising takes place before the local repair of MCrAlY which is still possible to fulfil the same desired effect.
A further advantage would be that the problem of plugging the cooling holes with sprayed coating would be avoided. Since cooling holes offer local protection from high temperatures, the coating would not require local replacement close to the cooling holes. Thus, the coating could be locally replaced in the hot areas and then the entire blade aluminised without plugging the cooling holes with sprayed coatings. In any case it is possible to mask the cooling holes during the local coating repair or aluminising method according to the invention to avoid a reduction of the size of the cooling holes during the proposed method.
Of course, an article comprising an inner and an outer surface with a MCrAlY-coating will be aluminised and/or chromised at the said inner and at the said outer surface.
The enrichment with Al and/or Cr within the MCrAlY-coating is optimised when the aluminising and/or chromising is followed by a diffusion heat treatment. Alternatively a xe2x80x9chigh activityxe2x80x9d aluminising can be used so that Al is deposited not only at a surface layer of the MCrAlY-coating, but diffuses into the MCrAlY-coating. Preferably the aluminising takes place with a gas phase method.
In another advantageous embodiment, the local repair of the MCrAlY-coating takes place with a corrosion resistant coating containing a high amount of Cr. With that embodiment the corrosion resistance is enhanced at those areas most vulnerable thereby increasing the overall life time of article.
An article as it is claimed can possibly be a blade or a vane or any other part of a gas turbine engine coated with a MCrAlY-coating and exposed to a high temperature. environment.

Process for repairing a coated component


A display environment for a plurality of display devices is described. In one or more implementations, a display environment of an operating system of a computing device is configured to display a plurality of shells that support user interaction with the operating system by launching a first shell for display on a first display device of the computing device and launching a second shell for display on a second display device of the computing device such that the first and second shells are displayable simultaneously by the computing device.

Users have access to an ever increasing functionality that may be provided by computing devices. From browsers to word processors, spreadsheets, calendaring and email applications, and so on, a user may execute a wide number of applications at any one time to view information from these applications.
In order to increase the amount of information that is viewable at a particular time, a user may employ a plurality of display devices (e.g., monitors) that are communicatively coupled to a single computing device. In this way, a user increases an amount of area that is available to display data from the applications that are executed on the computing device. However, this increase in display area could also negatively affect traditional techniques for user interaction that were generally based on a single display device.

Display environment for a plurality of display devices


A method of manufacturing a grinding wheel, and a grinding wheel. After a first overcoat layer is formed on each of CBN abrasive grains, a second overcoat layer that is plastically deformed under a pressure lower than a pressure under which the first overcoat layer is deformed, is formed on the outer side of the first overcoat layer to manufacture coated abrasive grains. The coated abrasive grains are subjected to pressure-molding to be formed into a prescribed shape under a pressure that is equal to or higher than a pressure under which the second overcoat layer is plastically deformed. The second overcoat layers are deformed and flow to form a molded material having a structure in which the first overcoat layers contact each other, and the flowing second overcoat layers are moved into clearances between the coated abrasive grains. By sintering this, CBN abrasive grains are dispersed at a prescribed distance that is determined by the degree of outer radius of each first overcoat layer, and vacancies are arranged therebetween at a prescribed density.

Patent Document 1 describes that, in order to improve the dispersiveness of abrasive grains in a vitrified bonded grinding wheel in which abrasive grains of CBN or diamond are used, abrasive grains coated each with a single overcoat layer are subjected to pressure-molding and then sintered to manufacture a grinding wheel containing vacancies.

Grinding wheel manufacturing method and grinding wheel


A computer-implemented method includes requesting, using a branch controller, an operating status of at least one application of a first plurality of applications executing in a first core site using a first User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ping, the first UDP ping being transmitted to a first network controller included in the first core site through a first VPN connection between the branch controller and the first core site; and receiving, using the branch controller, the operating status of the at least one application of the first plurality of applications using the first UDP ping received through the first VPN connection.

In certain enterprise implementations, virtual private networks (VPNs) can be used to connect a branch network to services provided from a core site or another branch site of the wide area network (WAN). Some examples of such services include firewalls, storage as a service, remotely accessible virtual machines, and collaborative tools.
A virtual private network (VPN) is a network connection in which data that transits the VPN is tunneled through some larger network (such as the Internet), as opposed to running across dedicated links to the private network. Commonly, such data is encrypted prior to being transmitted, thus not benefiting from the DNS and routing intelligence of the larger network. One common application of a VPN is to secure communications (such as confidential information used by employees when working at a branch office or remotely for a company) through a public network.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are being increasingly deployed, over the existing Internet infrastructure, in support of B2B, supply chain logistics, and as a networking cost-reduction for an enterprise when communicating to its own branch offices. Alternative solutions, such as multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), are often too costly, resulting in the increasing deployment of VPNs to communicatively couple branch offices to core sites of a WAN. Typically, a business will organize its VPNs for a site or geographic area to connect to a single VPN gateway (also referred to as a VPN concentrator). Each gateway may support many independent VPN connections from many remote systems, or remote gateways to smaller branch office networks, or suppliers (for example). In many examples, the term "VPN connection" refers to an "IP Sec tunnel", defined in IETF RFC2401. These connections may be controlled using a paradigm called software defined wide area network (SD-WAN). SD-WAN often uses a branch gateway on the branch network to communicate via one or more VPN connections through one or more internet service provider (ISP) modems to one or more VPN concentrators (VPNCs) at one or more core sites.

Determining operating statuses of applications in different datacenters and switching access between the applications

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


This invention presents a novel write line segmentation architecture for writing magnetoresitive random access memories (MRAM). Only the memory cells in a selected segment get a high hard axis field generated by a write line current. Memory cells of deselected segments do not receive this hard axis field. This prevents an undesired state change in particularly sensitive memory cells.

This invention relates generally to semiconductor memory devices, and particularly to write line architectures for magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) storage cells.
Semiconductor devices are used for integrated circuits in a wide variety of electrical and electronic applications, such as computers, cellular telephones, radios, and televisions. One particular type semiconductor device is a semiconductor storage device, such as random access memory (RAM) and flash memory. These semiconductor storage devices use an electrical charge to store information.
A recent development in semiconductor memory devices involves spin electronics, which combines traditional semiconductor technology and magnetism. Rather than using an electrical charge to indicate the presence of a binary xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d, the spin of an electron is used. An example of such a spin electronic device is a magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) storage device, which includes conductive lines positioned perpendicular to one another in different metal layers. The place where the conductive lines intersect is known as a cross-point. In between the perpendicular conductive lines is a magnetic stack. The magnetic stack is placed at the cross-point, sandwiched between the conductive lines.
An electrical current flowing through one of the conductive lines induces a magnetic field around the conductive line. The induced magnetic field can align (or orient) the alignment (or orientation) of magnetic dipoles in the magnetic stack. The right hand rule is a way to determine the direction of a magnetic field induced by a current flowing in a particular direction. The right hand rule is well understood by those of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention.
A different current flowing through the other conductive line induces another magnetic field and can realign the polarity of the magnetic field in the magnetic stack. Binary information, represented as a xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d, is stored as different alignments of the magnetic dipoles in the magnetic stack. A current of sufficient strength flowing through one of the conductive lines is sufficient to destroy the contents of the magnetic stacks coupled to it. However, currents flowing through both conductive lines are required to selectively program a particular magnetic stack.
The alignment of the magnetic dipoles in the magnetic stack changes the electrical resistance of the magnetic stack. For example, if a binary xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d is stored in the magnetic stack, the resistance of the magnetic stack will be different from the resistance of the same magnetic stack if a binary xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d is stored in the magnetic stack. It is the resistance of the magnetic stack that is detected and determines the logical value stored therein.
However, due to manufacturing variations, different magnetic stacks require magnetic fields of differing strength to realign the magnetic dipoles. For example, one magnetic stack may require a stronger magnetic field to realign its magnetic dipoles than another magnetic stack. To ensure that any magnetic stack can be realigned, magnetic fields of sufficient strength much be used. However, if the magnetic fields are too great, then overly sensitive magnetic stacks may be unintentionally realigned, resulting in the unintended destruction of data.
Because MRAM devices operate differently than traditional semiconductor memory devices, they introduce design and manufacturing challenges. A need has therefore arisen for a write line architecture to minimize the probability of erroneously realigning the magnetic dipoles of unselected magnetic stacks.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a MRAM storage device featuring a segmented write line architecture comprising a plurality of MRAM memory cells arranged into segments, a first master wordline that is decodable using address bits to select a single local wordline, a second master wordline that is decodable using address bits to select the single local wordline, a return line coupled to the local wordline, wherein the local wordline is coupled to a segment of MRAM memory cells and the first and second master wordlines provide a current of desired magnitude to align the MRAM memory cells and the return line is used to sink the current used to align the MRAM memory cells.
The present invention provides a number of advantages. For example, use of a preferred embodiment of the present invention permits the realignment of a selected magnetic stack with educed probability of inadvertently realigning an unselected magnetic stack by eliminating any unselected magnetic stacks seeing (being exposed to) the hard axis field. Also, the present invention provides a nearly invariant write current along the write line due to a decrease in the amount of parasitic write current encountered by the write current. An invariant write current increases the certainty of the occurrence of a realignment operation. The invariant write current also permits a reduced write margin to help ensure that unselected cells are not unintentionally realigned.
Additionally, since the present invention eliminates any unselected magnetic stacks being exposed to the hard axis field, a higher hard axis field can be used to ensure the realignment of the magnetic stack with a lower soft axis field to further reduce the probability of realigning an unselected magnetic stack due to exposure to the soft axis field.
Also, the plurality of write current lines permits a reduction in the size of the current sources, making them easier to place in the layout of the MRAM memory array.